As you may remember from your foreign language classes, the dictionaries always seemed to leave out the important words. Namely, swearing, obscenities and insults. Well, never fear, for Swearsaurus has come to your rescue.

Covering a massive 165 languages worth of filth, there are enough foreign insults to brighten anyone's Monday. So, if the need to tell someone to "go die in the street" in Cantonese, go check it out because Swearsaurus has you covered.

The other day I came across this article discussing possible countermeasures to Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) that have been used to great effect against the American military in Iraq. One promising solution produces a high frequency microwave field that is supposed to take out an IED's electronics and is called Neutralizing Improvised Explosive Devices with RF, or NIRF for short.

Okay, maybe it is a sign that I play too many MMORPGs, but I read that as the military is planning to nerf IEDs. It could have been coincidental, but I have a suspicion that these researchers are probably gamers...

Warning: The following post may cause sensitive readers to become desensitized.

It appears the word of the day is prostitution. First, I stumble across an interesting look at the history of prostitution last night (I highly recommend the whole History's Mysteries series, by the way). Then, today, courtesy of Boing Boing, comes a link to the Guide to Occupational Health and Safety in the New Zealand Sex Industry. Not only did I find it interesting to learn that New Zealand has a regulated sex industry, but in addition, that industry is regulated by a 100 page guide.

Ah, will the wonders of prostitution never cease?

Figures. The one time my browser crashes is right when I near the end of typing up a nice long post. Well, anyway, it looks like I at least have good use for this next tip. I cannot really remember exactly what my witty and entertaining banter was, so here is the nitty-gritty in short form:

Four runs of cheap vodka through a Brita water filter can turn it into expensive vodka.
This also works with various other substances including tequila.
A tool was created and is marketed specifically for this task.
Those expensive hangover cure pills? It is just a simple antacid and activated charcoal (which is much cheaper).

First, a television series, then a beauty pageant and now a magazine. Looks like plastic surgery has gone fully mainstream. Luckily, my beauty is all natural, but if you really want some more in-depth information, Aspen Times has what you are looking for.

Hooray for corporate-enhanced holidays! Call me odd, but somehow I just cannot fully trust a company that insists the true meaning of a holiday is buying their product.

Anyway, if you insist on buying something, make it something interesting at the very least. What is interesting about chocolate and flowers you may ask? Chocolate sushi, that's what!

Social networking sites always seemed to be an odd beast to me. I suppose that for all my techno-lust, I just did not get it. Everything seemed just a little too forced for this introvert.

Well, recently, an unorganized trend has invaded the world of organized networks. I have known of a few of these sites, such as del.icio.us and 43Things, but little did I know that there is already a name for this trend, tagging:

On social networking sites like Orkut or Friendster, people join, and then declare their alliances to each other explicitly. On sites that employ tagging, the networks emerge, implicitly, out of the shared interests of users. Order isn't proclaimed, it just happens.

Unfortunately, 43Things has been dogged recently by secret ties to corporate empires, but the way I see it, writing down your goals is the first and most important step to actually achieving them. So, go have a look and maybe you'll see a few of my goals or bookmarks floating around out there in that great, gelatinous cyberspace I call home.

Hey! It is Wacky Wednesday! Well, actually, no, it is not, but I do have a few random links if that makes you feel any better.

First, and I might as well get it out of the way since every other site in existance has already mentioned it, is Google Maps. I think the smooth-scrolling feature is nifty.

Next, is the latest fad in Japan, keychain cacti. Why, you ask? I do not know either, but I will go with the tried and true, "because we can."

And finally, comes another piece from the east (hey, that was near rhyme!). According to a Taiwanese Boing Boing reader, "orz" is a meme that has swept through Asia over the past year. I am sure this will come in handy for some of my IM-using friends. See if you can guess what it is before you click-away.

Mark Cuban is not only owner of the Dallas Mavericks, but also a regular blogger and apparently, fairly tech-saavy. Last week, an editorial written by him showed up on his blog and over at CNET. In my opinion, it is a smart piece about the crossroads we are quickly approaching over digital rights and intellectual property. These could be very interesting times depending on how the dice fall.

Well, I had a posting all ready for you, but my subject went and exceeded his bandwith limit. Luckily, being the Moogle that I am, I found myself a plan B. Unfortunately, plan B does not have the some of the background details and history that plan A had.

On to the subject at hand, this has to be one of the coolest case mods that I have ever seen. Not only did he manage to wedge a fully-functioning XBox into a vintage Millenium Falcon, but he also repainted and added accurate, working lighting.

Now, if only I had enormous piles of unspent cash, this is exactly the kind of thing I would buy.

This is not the freshest news, but amusing nonetheless. It is always nice to see the softer side of a man whose daily aspiration is to crush all opposition under his technology-encrusted loafer.