One of the key villain scenes in the latest Bond film, Quantum of Solace, takes place at an outdoor performance of Tosca. From Wikipedia:

The sequence, where Bond stalks the villains during a performance of Tosca, required 1500 extras. The production used a large model of an eye, which Forster felt fitted in the Bond style, and the opera itself has parallels to the film.

The WaPo has an interesting write up about the scene. If you have already seen the film, or don’t mind spoilers, the clip is available on YouTube.

“It turns out that things that work very well are also very beautiful. It is sort of an ancient design concept that goes back to Pythagoras — that the universe is designed in … an aesthetic, rational way. That still seems to hold up in the case of the violin.” –Sam Zygmuntowicz

Oxford researchers compiled a list of the ten most annoying phrases in common use today. There are a lot of good ones in the comments, too.

YouTube has several new features, including the ability to add closed captions to videos.

This pretty much comes naturally to me, but in case you need some tips, the Boston Globe printed up a neat chart on how to nap.

I don’t use IM much anymore, but I have found myself using Facebook’s built in chat feature. So, I have been very pleased with the Facebook Pidgin plugin.

The 2008 MLB World Series set a record low for viewership. Like, lowest viewers ever. Even though I declared the season officially over after the Dodgers were knocked out, I actually ended up watching all 5 games, along with like fifteen other people.