ahoy, hoy or pirates' progress

Yarrggg, mateys! The Pirate Party (die Piratenpartei) secured a significant number of seats in Berlin's general state-election, and they are able to aptly celebrate their victory with International Talk like a Pirate Day (EN/DE). That's really something. I wonder if excitement over the opportunity to use this patois helped to rally the voters and to mutually raise awareness about electronic privacy and public-domain issues.

Another fabulist tradition of adventures and incredible yarns has just recently been re-kindled: after publishing its collected stories and taking a two year hiatus, Damn Interesting appears to be returning with more bizarre and engrossing vignettes that are certainly more enduring in terms of scholarship, research and interest than the daily buzz, but it is also a treat to have fresh dispatches from the weird and wonderful.