Daily Shizu... neither a Daily, nor a Shizu...

I've wasted a lot of time trying to decide which candidates to vote for in tomorrow's civic election. But I've wasted a lot of time on a lot of different things, so that's more a "Sad Statement of Same-old Business-as-Usual" than any particular comment on the "Sad State of Our Democratic Process." I mean, if there were awards for procrastination and time-wasting, I'd be in Stockholm accepting the Nobel, y'know what I mean?

But here are a few of the non-election time-wasting diversions I've struggled with of late.

We're coming up on the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812... and apparently the war hasn't quite ended as far as some in the U.S. are concerned. I didn't know there is a revisionist movement under way, but thankfully Douglas Coupland is on guard for us. (CBC)

Library and Archives Canada has started a flickr stream for posting photos from the 19th Century. (CBC) (Flickr)

Archaeologists are saying they've uncovered the world's oldest shaman grave. Some quick notes: it's 12,000 years old, has animal remains and a human foot, along with the skeleton of an elderly female. (NatlGeo)

But to Ancient Rome. Funny enough, I mean that literally. Or virtually literally. Or something like that: Google Earth now has a layer where you can explore ancient Rome in 3D. (GoogleBlog)

And further proof of my whack-brain theory that our Universe is a smaller structure within a "larger" Universe (and that "smaller" Universes exist within what we call "sub-atomic" space) and so on into infinity on either scale in a form of Universal Relativity: apparently unknown "structures" are tugging at the edges of our 'hood. (NatlGeo)

An interesting article in the Georgia Straight by Verne MacDonald about the ongoing evolution of "amnesia" regarding World War I, as developed through fictional accounts. Interesting tidbit: On the first day of the Armistice, November 11, 1918, the killing actually increased compared to the previous daily average. And, in fact, the casualties on all sides in Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944, was actually less than the casualties on the first day of Armistice in 1918. (Straight)

And thanks to kottke. here's the amazing story of the discovery of photos showing the destruction at Hiroshima. Lest we forget. (DesignObserver)

On a brighter note, there may be a cure for AIDS through bone-marrow transplant. Or it "could be a fluke." (Wired)

Wired.com has a feature on classic Apple and Microsoft computer manuals, including the preliminary Macintosh business plan (designed on a Xerox PARC). Moof moof. (Wired)

Congratulations to India, who today landed an unmanned probe on the moon. (CBC)

Let's end with Louis Armstrong and Johnny Cash performing Blue Yodel No. 9 in late 1970.