The list makes me feel old, since I'm not familiar with a lot of the names of wealthy young singers and actors -but my kids know them! Find out who the richest working teenagers are at Socyberty. Pictured is Vanessa Anne Hudgens, star of High School Musical. Link -Thanks, RJ!

Eugene Allen served eight presidents over three decades as White House Butler. He shared a birthday with Gerald Ford, was personally invited to Jack Kennedy's funeral, and sat at a state dinner with the Reagans.

He was there while America's racial history was being remade: the Little Rock school crisis, the 1963 March on Washington, the cities burning, the civil rights bills, the assassinations.

When he started at the White House in 1952, he couldn't even use the public restrooms when he ventured back to his native Virginia. "We had never had anything," Mr Allen, 89, recalls of black America at the time. "I was always hoping things would get better."

Allen retired in 1986. WAtoday has a fascinating account of his years in the White House, a story with a twist that made a Fark forum cry. http://www.watoday.com.au/world/us-election-2008/butler-who-saw-racial-history-being-remade-20081107-5k79.html -via Fark

Monifa is the new baby pygmy hippopotamus at the Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia. The endangered species arrived three weeks ago in a difficult breech birth. Monifa was unable to stand or feed herself, and has been nursed around the clock by zookeepers.

Keepers Renae Zammit and Tracy Roberts spent a fortnight sleeping with and hand-feeding Monifa from a teated syringe until she was nursed to full health.

The infant has now moved into her own pen and is ready to follow the footsteps of her father Timmy, the last pygmy hippo born at Taronga Zoo 23 years ago.

Monifa has now doubled in weight and is drinking from a bowl, content to suckle the thumb of her keepers. A delighted Misss Zammit said Monifa was already showing signs of playfulness.

"She's such an inquisitive little thing and loves bath time, she even turns somersaults in the water," she said.

Link to story (with video). Link to photo gallery. -via Fark

(image credit: Kate Geraghty)

A photograph of North Korean leader Kim Il Jong was released Wednesday to dispel rumors that he is ill or dead. The UK's Times newspaper and the BBC cried "Photoshop!"

In the photo, the shadow cast by Mr Kim's calves runs in a different direction to the shadow cast by the soldiers on either side of him, the Times pointed out. In addition, a black line running along the stand on which the soldiers are positioned mysteriously vanishes on either side of Mr Kim - suggesting his picture may have been superimposed onto the image.

Such a suspicion was reinforced when a BBC designer examined a close-up, and discovered apparently mismatched pixels to the right of Mr Kim's legs.

Link -Thanks, JEFFSss!

(YouTube link)

A film about a girl revisiting her memories of her childhood spent with her mother. Hand drawn animation set to piano music by Chopin. A film by Hyun-min Lee.

After you watch this, you might want to call your mom. -via I Am Bored

This could be fun! Major Output is a pixel drawing and sharing site. Use the drawing application to make your own little pixel picture and upload it to share. Or look through the drawings for one to use on your site. Codes are available for each drawing. Link -Thanks, Erik!

An article from The Onion or a protest about the economy? Neither. The National Toy Hall of Fame has chosen the stick as an inductee.

The lowly stick, a universal plaything powered by a child's imagination, has landed in the National Toy Hall of Fame along with Baby Doll and the skateboard.

The trio was chosen Thursday to join the Strong National Museum's all-star lineup. Previous inductees range from the bicycle and Mr. Potato Head to Crayola crayons and the cardboard box.

Curators at the Rochester museum say the stick is a special addition. They praised its all-purpose, all-natural, no-cost qualities and its ability to serve either as raw material or an appendage transformed by imaginations into something else.

Link -Thanks, Sid Morrison!

Marty made this Bender costume and won the Boston Pizza Halloween Costume contest with it. Then he posted the story of how he did it. Link -Thanks, Marty!

(YouTube link)
Corey Vidal is a professional YouTube producer. He's also a singer, but he didn't sing all the parts in this tribute to the music of John Williams. That honor goes to Moosebutter, a comedic barbershop quartet. Vidal lip-syncs to all four parts. Link -Thanks, AJ!

Surya is a dance club in London that harnesses the movement of dancers to create energy! Jez has been there, and wrote about the club:

Club4Climate, the parent company owned by Andrew Charalambos launched Surya in King’s Cross, London as the UK’s first ecological club and create a green print for others to follow. Surya itself goes beyond the concept of sustainability and into the realm of ecology, generating surplus energy but recognises the need to engender a ‘gentle revolution’ which can include millions and not the few so a ten point manifesto outlined by Dr. Earth which
can be easily adopted by bars, clubs and pubs all over the world.

Surya is only the second ecological club on the planet, a flagship venture and a pioneer of ecological excellence. The club has an energy, self-generating dancefloor which by combining materials such as quartz crystals, ceramics, cutting edge technology and the dancing motion of clubbers generates enough energy to power up to 50% of the clubs energy requirements. A wind turbine and a solar energy system makes the club 100% fully sustainable and an advanced alternative energy system is so effective that it will produce a surplus of electricity which is freely donated to the private residents closest to the building. The club has also installed the latest air flush, waterless urinals and low flush toilets and automatic taps to ensure maximum water saving and the latest innovations in ecological air conditioning units.

Link to website. Also see Dr. Earth's 25 Steps to Becoming a Greener Being. -Thanks, Jez!

(Metacafe link)
This time-lapse video shows how 40,000 crickets eat an entire head of lettuce in an hour's time. -via the Presurfer

Artist David Kemp made this dog out of ladies boots! It will go up for auction November 15th at The Exchange in Penzance, England. http://www.callbackauction.com/node/103 -Thanks. supaswag!

Coffee, that is. Here are ten benefits and 11 potential health risks associated with drinking coffee. But it's up to you to weigh how important or risky each finding is.

The key is quantity and quality. For those consuming moderate amounts of coffee (3-4 cups/day providing 300-400 mg/d of caffeine), there is little evidence of health risks and some evidence of health benefits. However, some people, including persons with hypertension, osteoporosis, heart disease, pregnant women, children, adolescents, and elderly may be more vulnerable to the adverse effects of coffee.

At least, coffee is far less toxic and more healthier than the sugar-laden drinks like soda.

Each item includes a link to the original research. Link -Thanks, Karen!

(YouTube link)
Music by Gnarls Barkley, video directed by Chris Milk. Not for the extremely squeamish. I think everyone has had an episode that made you feel this way. -Thanks, Brian!

Ken Mink, a full-time student at Roane State Community College in Harriman, Tennessee, scored two points in a game Monday night against King College. The 73-year-old sunk two free throws in Roane State's 93-42 win.

"I found myself on the free-throw line 52 years after my last college game," Mink told the Associated Press. "I said, 'Just relax and shoot it like you know how to all day long.' I just floated the shots in there. I'm in the books now. I can relax a little bit."

At 73, Mink ought to be relaxing a lot.

Mink last played college basketball 52 years ago at Lees College in Jackson. Ky. He lost his spot on the team and was expelled after someone soaped the basketball coach's office. Mink still insists he didn't do it.

Link -Thanks, Geekazoid!