Metallica live in London,2003

Metallica is an American heavy metal band that formed in 1981 in Los Angeles, California. Metallica's line-up has primarily consisted of drummer Lars Ulrich, rhythm guitarist and vocalist James Hetfield, and lead guitarist Kirk Hammett, while going through a number of bassists. Currently, the spot is held by Robert Trujillo. Metallica's early releases included fast tempos, instrumentals, and aggressive musicianship. The band earned a growing fan base in the underground music community and critical acclaim with the 1986 release Master of Puppets, described as one of the most influential and "heavy" thrash metal albums. The band achieved substantial commercial success with its self-titled 1991 album, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200. In 2000, Metallica was among several artists who filed a lawsuit against Napster for sharing the band's copyright-protected material for free without the band members' consent. Despite reaching #1 on the Billboard 200, the release of St. Anger alienated many fans with the exclusion of guitar solos and the "steel-sounding" snare drum. The group has won seven Grammy Awards and has had five consecutive albums peak at #1 on the Billboard 200, making Metallica the only band to top the chart five consecutive times. Metallica is the fifth highest-selling music artist since the SoundScan era began tracking sales in 1991. (more...)

Halloween

The Treehouse of Horror episodes are the annual Halloween specials in the animated series The Simpsons. Each episode consists of three separate, self-contained segments, which usually involve the Simpson family in some horror, science fiction, or supernatural setting. Considered non-canon, they always take place outside the normal continuity of the show and completely abandon any pretense of being realistic. The first Treehouse of Horror episode aired on October 25, 1990 as part of the second season and was inspired by EC Comics horror tales. The episodes are known for being far more violent and much darker than an average Simpsons episode. As of 2008, there are 18 Treehouse of Horror episodes, with one airing every year, and the newest episode, "Treehouse of Horror XIX", is scheduled to air on November 2. Episodes contain several trademarks, including the alien characters Kang and Kodos, "scary names" in the credits, a special version of the opening sequence, and parodies of horror and science fiction films. The show's staff regard the Treehouse of Horror as being particularly difficult to produce as the scripts often go through many rewrites, and the animators typically have to design new characters and backgrounds. (more...)

Eta Carinae

Eta Carinae, a hypergiant luminous blue variable star in the Carina constellation and one of the most massive and most luminous stars yet discovered, and the bipolar Homunculus Nebula which surrounds it. The nebula was partly created in an eruption of Eta Carinae, whose light reached Earth in 1843. Eta Carinae itself appears as the white patch near the center of the image, where the two lobes of the Homunculus touch.

Radix auricularia

... that the freshwater snail Radix auricularia (pictured) serves as a host to numerous parasites, some of which can infect humans?
... that an intense rivalry between composers Francisco Asenjo Barbieri and Emilio Arrieta helped rekindle the popularity of Spanish opera during the mid 19th century?
... that USS Philippines (CB-4) and USS Puerto Rico (CB-5) were scheduled to be the fourth and fifth of six Alaska-class "large cruisers" of the U.S. Navy, but were canceled prior to construction?
... that tin(IV) fluoride, a chemical compound of tin and fluorine, is used in toothpaste to prevent dental decay?
... that the largest group of Asian residents in Germany are Vietnamese, totalling 83,526 people as of 2004?
... that Against All Odds is a video game developed by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees designed to teach players about the plight of refugees?
... that Dorothy Miner was acknowledged as the person "who helped establish the legal right to designate landmarks" in the U.S. for her role in Penn Central Transportation Co. v. New York City?

A NeXT station with monochrome monitor

NeXT was an American computer company headquartered in Redwood City, California that developed and manufactured a series of computer workstations intended for the higher education and business markets. NeXT was founded in 1985 by Apple Computer co-founder Steve Jobs after his forced resignation from Apple. NeXT introduced the first NeXT Computer in 1988, and the smaller NeXTStation in 1990. Sales of the NeXT computers were relatively limited, with estimates of about 50,000 units shipped in total. Nevertheless its innovative object-oriented NeXTSTEP operating system and development environment were highly influential. NeXT later released much of the NeXTSTEP system as a programming environment standard called OpenStep. NeXT withdrew from the hardware business in 1993 to concentrate on marketing OPENSTEP for several OEMs. NeXT also developed WebObjects, one of the first Enterprise web application frameworks. WebObjects never became very popular because of its initial high price of $50,000 but remains a prominent early example of a web server based on dynamic page generation rather than static content. Apple purchased NeXT on December 20, 1996 for $429 million, and much of the current Mac OS X system is built on the OPENSTEP foundation. WebObjects is now bundled with Mac OS X Server and Xcode. (more...)

Tzipi Livni

United States Special Forces carry out a raid in Syria, killing eight.
Kadima Party leader Tzipi Livni (pictured) calls for early elections in Israel following a failed attempt at creating a coalition government.
Severe flooding in Yemen caused by Deep Depression ARB 02 kills 65 and displaces 20,000.
A bomb attack in Zagreb, Croatia kills Ivo Pukanić, the owner of the newspaper Nacional.
The Indian Space Research Organisation successfully launches Chandrayaan-1, an unmanned lunar exploration mission.
A bomb blast in Imphal, India kills 17 and injures more than 30.

Remnants of hurricane ARB 02 over Yemen

Severe flooding in Yemen caused by Deep Depression ARB 02 (pictured) kills 58 and displaces 20,000.
A bomb attack in Zagreb, Croatia kills Ivo Pukanić, the owner of the newspaper Nacional.
The Indian Space Research Organisation successfully launches Chandrayaan-1, an unmanned lunar exploration mission.
A bomb blast in Imphal, India kills 17 and injures more than 30.
Several additional amino acids are found in vials from the 1953 Miller–Urey experiment that probed the origin of life.
The United Nations General Assembly elects Turkey, Austria, Japan, Uganda, and Mexico to two-year terms on the Security Council.