Sea ice in the Arctic has sunk to its lowest level since satellite record-keeping began, fully opening the most direct route through the Northwest Passage, the European Space Agency said Friday.

The much-coveted shortcut connecting Asia to Europe through the Canadian Arctic has been historically impassable.

This could save around 5,000 kms per trip from Europe to Asia, as opposed to the Panama Canal route. This also adds to the growing evidence of global warming.

When I visited Hungary in the summer, the language was totally alien to any other language I am remotely familiar with. Being from the Finno-Ugric group, it is remotely related to Finnish, and little else.

From the signs in the airplane, I learned that the word "dohány" means "smoke", i.e. tobacco. This was confirmed from shops, and even the name of a street in the Jewish section of the city.

Marry our daughter is an American web site that claims it is a referral service for those wanting to marry young girls.

They say that their "service" centers on the fact that it is legal under US law to marry young girls (aged 14 to 16) with the consent of their parent or guardian.

Moreover, they advertise a set bride price for each girl ranging from $20,000 to $50,000. They even stress that the practice of the bride price is biblical and that the entire site is driven by

Two studies in British universities conclude that friendships formed in online social networking sites, such as Facebook, are not as close as once made face to face.

They also have the interesting observation of the type of people who are friend collectors. These just try to accumulate as many "friends" as they can via other friends, even if they do not know them that much.

Via the CBC.

Earlier, a contribution pool was put up for Axl Buytaert, Dries and Karlijn's first boy.

Today, Axl is one month old! Happy first month Axl.

The contribution pool is about to close soon, so those .

Please show that you care by donating any amount you wish in US Dollars or Euro, using Paypal or credit card.

Also, promote this ChipIn widget on your web site(s), Digg, or any other means.

Drupaller Noel Hidalgo is traveling the world in seven months, on a budget of $7,777.

The purpose of the trip is documenting Drupal, Open Source, free cultures, social innovators, and global change, as well as many other aspects of his experience.

Check the web site, aptly named Luck of Seven.

Noel met Drupal founder, Dries Buytaert, In Antwerp, and interviewed him.

Winnipeg police say they've arrested a scam artist who used an e-mail scheme to con an 84-year-old man out of more than $30,000.

The victim received a large number of e-mails between April and September offering him $1.5 million in exchange for his help in unblocking funds held in an account in Nigeria ... Tempted by the promise he'd become an easy millionaire, the man wired more than $30,000 to Ghana, police said.

Meet Annie!

Annie is the grandmother of my friend Jim. She lives in Toronto, and is 99 years old.

A few years ago, she went to the public library and took some computer courses in order to learn how to use them.

Jim lives in Waterloo, and stays in touch with her via a web cam and occassional instant messaging using MSN on a Windows computer. The photo above was taken from the web cam, and you can see the monitor's reflection in her eyeglasses.

I am not a supporter of the Muslim veil (Niqab or Burka, among other names), as I think it is more cultural than religious. But I certainly do not mind someone wearing it for whatever reasons she may think.

Now,
Elections Canada said that veiled women will not have to uncover their faces to have their identity verified for the upcoming elections.

CBC reports:

I have a picture of Salma, my youngest daughter, titled the girl with the curly hair. Cute picture, proud father, normal blog stuff ...

Today, I got this request from someone called Senthil (assuming he is from India), requesting that I link back to his site about hair care tips and hair loss remedies from that page.