Dooce Talks Britney Heather Armstrong, writing about Britney: "So many things in Hollywood are airbrushed and glossed over, made to seem impossibly perfect, and here is this superstar living life without mechanically choreographing her movements, allowing some of us to feel a little less alone because even with all that money and fame she still makes mistakes. She is showing every glaring wrinkle of motherhood, and that is fundamentally a beautiful thing."

MMORPG If you recognize the title of this post, I'm talking to you.

How important is the "game", as opposed to the "community"? Or, another way to put it, is this: Isn't your social interaction with other players just (or more) important than the game?

I recently saw someone playing UO, and it looked like watching paint dry. I then realized that many of the players on that server were actively involved with bulletin boards associated with the server. It seemed to me that the "game" was merely an excuse to interact with real people via the Internet.

This was my conclusion with UO. Is it the same with WoW, or is WoW more about the game, than the socializing. Help me out, here, people. Just trying to understand the appeal. Personally, I've never played a MMORPG. (I am familar with 3D multiplayer action games, such as MoH and CoD, in which the game is essentially all-consuming, and there is not time for chit-chat or socializing. Action drives the game, not social interaction.) Drop me a line with your thoughts, if you get a chance.

Larger Portions British Psychological Society: Why Larger Portions Cause Us to Eat More (via kottke)

Omnivore Dilemma A little Kottke humor for you.

World Cup Americans couldn't care less about World Cup Soccer. It's hard to get excited about any sporting event in which the overall winner can be determined by something as trivial as a penalty kick (or whatever they call it).

Spider-Man 3 Trailer Go here for the new Spider-Man 3 trailer.

Bench Antics I can't even make this stuff up.

Office 2007 Take a test drive, here: Microsoft Office 2007 Preview.

'Breathtaking' Waste and Fraud in Hurricane Aid Your tax dollars at work.

Your Safe Deposit Box What should you keep in your Safe Deposit Box? Here's a list.

Superman Returns James Berardinelli really liked the new Superman movie. The very first film I saw in a theater was the original Superman in 1978. Will the new film be in the same league as the original?

DirecTV Titanium For $20 per day, you can get EVERY channel that DirecTV offers and 10 DVRs. Somebody needs to get a life.

WGA is Spyware WindowsSecrets.com: WGA is Microsoft Spyware - Here's a good quote from this commentary piece: "Abusing PC users' need for security patches is a betrayal that Microsoft can ill afford. Whoever the marketing geniuses are who've seized Microsoft's security infrastructure to push out spyware, they need to be fired."

Lazy Magnolia Party Pig I now have a Party Pig filled with Lazy Magnolia Southern Pecan Ale in my fridge. Yummy.

AntiRebate.com Do you hate mail-in rebates as much as me? Then check out AntiRebate.com, a site that features genuinely discounted items each day - without rebates.

ClearSky Bluetooth VoIp Phone for Skype ClearSky Bluetooth VoIp Phone - For users of Skype, this TrendNet product looks really cool.

Free 411 Calls Want free 411 calls? No problem! Dial 1-800-FREE-411. You may have to listen to a 12-second ad.

Windows Vista Torrent Get Microsoft Windows Vista Beta 2 via this (sort of) official torrent file.

Airline Seating Guide Consumer Guide to Airline Seating - Get the best seat possible when flying.

Yankees Go Yankees! They're ahead of BoSox today.

Download Vista from Microsoft Read about it here. I've been running Windows Visa Beta 2 for about two weeks and I'm very impressed. If you don't have at least 512 MB of RAM, don't even think about installing it. A word of caution: this is BETA software. Do NOT install this on a production PC. This is for test boxes only. Go to Microsoft's site here to get your copy today.

Police Shooting Go here and watch both videos and be sure to read the accompanying commentary.

Sandals with Built-In Bottle Opener I want a pair of these.

Billy Preston Sometimes called the 'Fifth Beatle', Billy Preston is the reason 'Don't Let Me Down' and 'Get Back' are two of my favorite Beatles tunes.

How to PhotoShop Your Ugly Face Via Kottke, here's a step-by-step guide on how to Photoshop your ugly face.

50 Weight Loss Tips Chris Pirillo: 50 Weight Loss Tips. Fifty? How about one: Eat Less!

Mississippi Beer Lazy Magnolia - I can recommend Southern Pecan, Blue Heron and Jefferson Stout. I've had all of their 'Standard' beers, but I've only had one of their seasonal beers. There are five more to try.

The Break-Up We did not enjoy The Break-Up at all. Is it a comedy? Is it a drama? A little of both? The movie itself doesn't know. Thumbs down.

One Brooklyn Park One Brooklyn Park - Awesome! In 2000, I had an office in the first floor of this massive Brooklyn, NY building. It was a shipping/factory complex at that time. As you can see, however, the new owners will transform it into an impressive residential development, if their plans are approved by the State of NY.

VistaGuru.org VistaGuru.org - A little project I'm working on as a hobby. Once Vista is actually released, I would like to develop this site as an effective one-stop Vista resource.

20 Things You Won't Like About Vista ComputerWorld.com: 20 Things You Won't Like About Vista - "The software giant is favoring security and IT controls over end-user productivity. Don't get me wrong, security and IT manageability are very good things. But some of the people actually using the Beta 2 Vista software describe their experience as akin to that of a rat caught in a maze."

Tour of Windows Vista Beta 2 Ars Technica: A Tour of Windows Vista Beta 2.

Superman Returns All of your questions about the new Superman movie are answered here.