The Infoworld article is pretty funny, and confirms what many have long assumed. However, while I'm just as anxious as anyone else to see earlier iterations of IE get their deserved due, a wider breakout shows something else: http://gs.statcounter.com/#browser_version-ww-daily-20120101-20120402

In linked three-month period by browser version, notice that IE9 also has the same corresponding spikes (albeit smaller) on weekends. Possibly that reflects no active choice on part of home users who just use the default install (while corporate continues to play catch-up). But it might also represent a segment that simply continues to prefer IE (the "web-compliant" kind).

The first link (filament/coronal sphere event) is apparently a wrong link and not what the poster is referring to. Try the second link for a flat photo, third link for the SDO interactive camera page. I tried the AIA settings; it shows up in a lot of them. This may be a "standard" event (I have no clue one way or the other), but it's monstrously large; I'd love an explanation or link to similar solar event if it's not totally anomalous.

However, no request for fantasy would be complete without a hat-tip to Ballantine's early 70s series. These were not like the latter-day watered-down Tolkein formulaic series that seem to litter the shelves now, but were resurrected and republished older works (many English) from a time when that decidedly less poetic paradigm hadn't yet gelled. Many formative hours were spent rooting through used bookstores looking for paperbacks with the backwards/forwards B logo and the fabulous, seminal cover art. Some I enjoyed or that at least left an impression: HP Lovecraft's "Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath", any of the Lord Dunsanys, a few of the Lin Carters (don't remember the names offhand), Cabell's "The Wood Beyond the World", David Lindsay's highly odd metaphysical and unresolved "A Voyage to Arcturus", and Peter Beagle's "The Last Unicorn" (yeah, I went there, deal with it ... and for that matter, toss on "A Fine and Private Place" although it's really off-topic here). Along similar lines, Jack Vance's Dying Earth series is fun. Hell, I think Ballantine actually put out a version of "Orlando Furioso"; that and Spenser's "Faerie Queene" ought to still have some eyeballs looking at them. If I recall correctly, all the Ballantines go well with expensive imported Krautrock vinyl for ambiance and, um, mood-altering enhancers. But for some reason, those details get a little fuzzy.

Does the public have an expectation of high production values, or does Hollywood just insist that's what they want? I think there is an unaddressed hunger for story-telling that is not being met by Hollywood at any level. Laugh at Bollywood's production values if you like but somehow they address that need without the Department of Defense-level budgeting required in the latest craptastic American action flick. Bowfinger on the topic of movie expense: "That's after gross net deduction profit percentage deferment ten percent of the nut. Cash, every movie cost $2,184."

Typical Slashdot readers are probably not aware of what Burden is actually notorious for in fine arts circles. As a relatively early performance artist back in the 70s, he had his hands nailed to a VW Beetle crucifixion-style. Apocryphal variants regarding this performance piece when I was in art school had him being fully nailed and driven around LA that way, which would certainly have upped the fun level had it only been true. (Just in case you might be wondering if his current interest in cars is in any way... obsessive.)