Wider Angle: Links for 4.11.07

I'm a bit late learning about shabu, an incredibly concentrated variety of crystal meth. "Most of the home-cooked speed in Denver is only 10 to 20 percent actual crystallized methamphetamine, adulterated with toxic by-products of the makeshift ingredients used in crude manufacturing processes. While any tweaker with a hot plate can whip together a batch of bathtub speed, Shabu requires a trained chemist working in a fully equipped laboratory with uncorrupted components. The result is pharmaceutical-grade meth -- 95-plus percent pure."

Scarier still is Fentanyl, a synthetic form of heroin that is much like the opiate, but about 100 times stronger. According to an article I read in Details, a dose the size of two grains of salt placed on your hand would kill you. It's becoming one of the most popular drugs in LA.

Why do kids start using drugs in the first place? "Kids do drugs because they realize that adults have lied to them about it. If they are to discover the truth, they have only one course of action: Do drugs." Of course, the lies are usually about relatively harmless recreational drugs, so kids are never encouraged to investigate on their own for fear of discovering the truth, so they never learn about the much more dangerous drugs parents don't know about. Then they get into real trouble. [via reddit]

These 60 second spots seem like they'd be anti-drug, but they're actually pro-online privacy and directed at kids. Amazingly, they're also really good. [via waxy]

The Tower of Terror was modeled in Half-Life 2. Amazing. Ride the ride from your desk. [YouTube]

If you haven't yet filed your taxes, don't forget to request the Telephone Excise Tax refund -- only available this year, by request, to make up for an illegal tax on telephone service. [via The Nation]

If you enjoy Internet radio, please take five minutes to help save it! The RIAA has convinced the Copyright Royalty Board to hike royalty rates well past what virtually all webcasters can afford. Even NPR. The RIAA thinks that limiting the music people can listen to will result in more sales. Sound reasoning if I've ever heard it. So please call or email your representative and tell them to STOP the RIAA from fucking our music, or we could face a very dark (and very quiet) day on the Internet very soon.

Lots of times the older (free) version of software is superior to the updated one. When that happens, check oldversion.com to see if they have what you're looking for.

Firefox shortcut: ctrl/cmd+L highlights the address bar. Nice! [thanks Mike]

The top 10 most hated things online, according to Google, include SBC Yahoo DSL and Brooklyn. [via waxy]

EMI is letting iTunes go sans DRM, but apparently Microsoft is making the whole Zune store DRM-free. Didn't see that coming.

Google Labs debuted a free 411 service. Call 1-800-GOOG-411 to try it out. [via Paul Terry Walhus on Twitter]

My Maps was also officially launched on Google Maps, allowing users to create their own annotated maps and share them.

Hans Groiner reinterprets the music of Thelonius Monk. [YouTube]

Domain name prices are arbitrarily being raised 7%, yielding another $27 million per year for the domain monopoly Verisign.

So far, this is the best random YTMND creation I've seen. Create your own, randomly.

I Can Has Cheezburger? has some great photos of animals with captions. Stupid and very funny.

Interview with Mindy Kaling from The Office at Onion AV Club. "I'm not good at anything except writing jokes. I wasn't good at sports, I wasn't good at anything artsy, ever. I think there was a real worry for a while about what I would be good at. I was just this chubby little Indian kid who looked like a nerd."

The International Herald Tribune wonders if, despite all the hype, Timbaland could make it as a pop star, or if he'll fade back into the background, just making beats.

Over 3,000 American troops have been killed in Iraq. Not to mention 650,000 civilians, a number that has been reconfirmed.

Dick Cheney is a Creep. [YouTube] [via kottke]