adbusters

 TV networks have repeatedly turned down advertisements from the Culture Jammers Media Network (a.k.a AdBusters). If you want to see why, this page has a good selection of "uncommercials". Finally, CNN Headline News has agreed to air one that promotes the biggest Culture Jammer effort, Buy Nothing Day. The 15-second spot will run Nov. 19 at 4:06 p.m. (EST) and Nov. 20 at 7:06 p.m. (EST), but here's the video if you want to see if beforehand.

 Terror Sex? "On the one hand, September's events led to a spike in 'terror sex,' the much-reported need for sexual connection in times of heightened fear. But at the same time, the tanking economy has resulted in a marked drop in business, as clients -- just as the general public -- cut back on spending and struggle with post-traumatic anxiety. The competing dynamics make America's multi-million dollar prostitution industry look like a microcosm of the country at large -- confused, unpredictable and shaken, but resilient. And in some cases, booming."

 In this week's NYTimes Magazine, Fouad Ajami writes "What The Muslim World Is Watching," a condemning report about the Al-Jazeera network: "Although Al Jazeera has sometimes been hailed in the West for being an autonomous Arabic news outlet, it would be a mistake to call it a fair or responsible one. Day in and day out, Al Jazeera deliberately fans the flames of Muslim outrage."

 How the biohazard symbol came to be.

 This picture of Afghan men in a bathhouse resonates with all sorts of interesting connotations.

 The ideas behind Microsoft's Q-Video aren't that unique, but the implementation of some of the technology (face recognition and language processing) is. Here's a report on what might be the next generation of video search.