I second Craig’s sentiment, and start the new year off with my new favorite web-celeb, Bambi. She’s a part of Smoking Gun’s year-end display of mug shots. Her face speaks volumes.

While we here at FP don’t so much do New Year’s resolutions, 2002 was a terribly interesting year, and I for one am looking forward to more of the same in ’03. Happiness and good health to all in the coming year.

I’ve only read the (strangely touching) section on ema, but this web site looks really cool: Quirky Japan Homepage.

I don’t actually copy all the FP items from BoingBoing, it just seems like it. Here’s some cool labels from products containing drugs that are no longer legal. Check out the “Dragees Antiseptiques au Menthol” that were also au cocaine, “pour affections de la gorge.”

Here’s a few posters from Poland in the 50s- amazing design, and they look strikingly like the American WPA posters from the 30s and 40s. All of them offer an interesting intersection of politics, art, and attempts at social engineering.

Through the immensely interesting and perceptive blog by Bruce Sterling, a link to the changing face of the War of the Worlds.

A concern-making article about problems with iPod battery life- I wonder if there is any data on whether the new batteries work any better.

Update: lots of people have ended up looking at this page, so I figured I’d better update the information. Turns out that updating the iPod software makes the battery life much longer. It’s 8 hours instead of the 10 it started out being when I first got it, I’m betting that it’s the clock they added. Now all of my accessories tell me the time. Fwuh.

Here’s what a Poultry Offal Icer does. About what you’d expect.

Another source of excellent words: Offal Separator.

Hot damn! Penn & Teller have a new series, called Bullshit! Premièring on Showtime 24 January.

It’s time for people to roll out their best-of lists for the year, so here’s one from my excellent co-worker Angie B. She has excellent taste in books for teens, so I plan to read each of her top ten books for teens in 2002 (in order by author):

Catalyst by Laurie Halse Anderson
Feed by M.T. Anderson
Born Confused by Tanuja Desai Hidier
This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen
The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
Coraline by Neil Gaiman
The Son of the Mob by Gordon Korman
Left for Dead by Pete Nelson
This Land Was Made for You and Me by Elizabeth Partridge
What Happened to Lani Garver by Carol Plum-Ucci

with honorable mention to:
Three Clams and an Oyster by Randy Powell
The Parallel Universe of Liars by Kathleen Jeffrie Johnson
Seven for a Secret by Mary C. Sheppard
Gossip Girl series