Miss Teen South Carolina, Lauren Caitlin Upton became an internet sensation after her mangled answer to an interview question at the Miss Teen USA pageant Friday. This morning, she gave a better answer on NBC’s Today Show.

Personally, my friends and I, we know exactly where the United States is on our map. I don't know anyone else who doesn't. And if the statistics are correct, I believe there should be more emphasis on geography in our education so people will learn how to read maps better.

Link (with video) -via a comment on Boing Boing (believe it or not)

High school students in Austin, Minnesota pulled this prank via an underground tunnel connecting the two school buildings. Keep your eye out for the chicken and the cow! Push play or go to YouTube. -via Cynical-C

The Muppet Show Cake decorated by Heather Haynes of Clarksville, Indiana won a blue ribbon at the Kentucky State Fair in the Special Techniques category. Flickr user Adam Newbold posted a set of photographs of it from all angles. http://www.flickr.com/photos/withoutform/sets/72157601654815836/detail/ -via Grow-A-Brain

Four baby hedgehogs are being raised by the staff at New Forest Otter, Owl and Wildlife Park in England. Mary, Mungo, Midge and Slappy take comfort by snuggling up with a cleaning brush. The brush has been used to sweep a yard, so it smells like the great outdoors, and the bristly texture may be reminiscent of their mothers. Link -via Reddit

The iPood baby creeper is a perfect gift for your favorite geek baby! Link

Pink for girls, blue for boys? It wasn’t always so! Bad Science takes a look at the recent news that scientists found a preference for pink in females. The actual experiment involved adults, so it does not solve the genetics-vs-culture question. More surprisingly, according to early 20th century literature, pink should be designated for boys, and blue for girls! Link -via Reddit

Set your alarm clocks for early Tuesday morning (or some other time, depending on where you are) and check your weather forecast for clouds.

A total eclipse of the Moon occurs during the early morning of Tuesday, August 28, 2007. The event is widely visible from the United States and Canada as well as South America, the Pacific Ocean, western Asia and Australia. During a total lunar eclipse, the Moon's disk can take on a dramatically colorful appearance from bright orange to blood red to dark brown and (rarely) very dark gray.

NASA has published a series of handy charts so you can find out when the lunar eclipse will be visible in your time zone. http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/LEmono/TLE2007Aug28/TLE2007Aug28.html -via Fark

Designer Roger Arquer has an art project called Fish Bowls, in which each bowl makes a statement. This one, named “Don’t Piss Me Off”, is about the the power of life and death. Fourteen bowls are pictured at dezeen. Link -via J-Walk Blog

The story of the Bobby, the tailless raccoon reminds me of the old song The Cat Came Back {wiki}. Push play or go to Live Leak. -via Arbroath

Better think twice before asking a stupid question! This picture is from Flickr user matildaben. Link -via Reddit

What do you see in this picture? Underneath the houses and “lawns” is an airplane factory! The Army Corps of Engineers covered the entire works with camouflage to protect the facility from Japanese attacks during World War II. See more pictures at Think or Thwim. Link -via Reddit

Retronyms are terms that became neccessary to distinguish the original from new alternatives. Some examples:

George H.W. Bush
A rare example of a living person with a retronym. Until his son, George W. Bush, also became President, George Bush rarely, if ever, used his middle initials.
Manual transmission (Also standard transmission)
Automotive transmissions were all manual, of course, before the invention of the automatic transmission.
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Originally released in 1977 under the title Star Wars. The new title was applied in a 1981 re-release after the decision to make additional films, allowing Star Wars to refer to the entire series.
World War I
Originally this was called "The Great War" and commonly believed to be "the war to end all wars". However, when a second war enveloped Europe, Asia, and much of the Pacific, it became necessary to distinguish them. Similarly, the 1991 war in the Persian Gulf, formerly called "Desert Storm" or just the "Gulf War", is now (since the 2003 invasion of Iraq) often referred to as "The First Gulf War".

Link (via Dark Roasted Blend)

Eat with the Diet Fork and lose weight! Only $8.95.

* Shorter and dulled teeth inhibiting user from grasping larger pieces of food at any one time
* Smaller triangular shaped surface area allowing dieter to hold less food than many other forks
* Uncomfortable grip compelling user to put fork down between bites, slowing the user's eating speed

Hmm, I think this fork may be more likely to lead you to eat with your hands instead of eating less. Link -via Mookie

This award-winning 2001 Lego stop-motion animation recreates the opening scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark, with a surprise ending. Push play or go to College Humor. Link to more about the movie. -via Look at This

Ursi’s Blog always has “fine things for your delight”, including a selection of live webcam feeds in her sidebar. If you follow her site, you saw a family of storks raising their babies recently. Now she has a feed of a webcam trained on a hummingbird feeder. Depending on the time of day, you can see lots of hummingbirds in real time! The tiny screengrab here doesn’t do them justice. There are also links to other selected webcams. Link