Below are simple links to other interesting stuff I've come across on the web in the last day or two; they may or may not concern literature or photography, or indeed the arts at all. You can click here to learn more about how I compile this list and what software I use, if you're interested.

India close to initiating national ID system; American tech companies clamoring to provide its database
Did you know that India is getting closer and closer to finally initiating its version of a national unique ID system, basically their equivalent of the US's social-security numbers? (And by the way, for a country with over a billion people, can you even imagine that they've so far never had a system to actually uniquely identify its citizens? And you thought it was hard to get a driver's license in America!) Here, a fascinating article at TechCrunch on the massive behind-the-scenes competition between such American companies as Microsoft, Yahoo and IBM, on who's going to get to create the database that will put together this ID system.

Mexico in the process of restoring Diego Rivera's most important murals
Yet another fascinating article from the always great GlobalPost.com, this time on the efforts underway in Mexico right now to restore the most famous governmental murals of controversial artist Diego Rivera, just in time for the bicentennial of Mexico's independence and the centennial of the Mexican Revolution.

AMA urges federal government to ratchet down "danger" level of marijuana
Yet another sign that we may actually be seeing the decriminalization soon of marijuana in the US -- the American Medical Association is now officially urging the federal government to move pot down its list of controlled substances, from the "Schedule 1" classification it currently has. For those who don't know, the US officially recognizes five levels of controlled substances; type 1 contains things like heroin, while type 5 is for such barely narcotic substances as Tylenol 3 (which contains trace amounts of codeine).

Disneyworld starts installing 90-second videogames in its waiting lines
Wow, here's useless yet fascinating news -- Disneyworld has started experimenting with short-play large-group videogames in its attraction waiting lines, starting with a setup on Space Mountain that lets up to 86 people at once play a massive group game that lasts officially 90 seconds. Sheesh, wish they had things like that at Six Flags when I was growing up! I still have nightmares about hour-long waits for the Screaming Eagle in the height of summer.

F-cking Chr-st, now Sarah Palin is complaining about 'God' phrase on coins
J-sus F-cking Chr-st -- is there ANYTHING that these nutjobs can't turn into a liberal conspiracy?

Major new show on Modernist architect Eero Sarrinen opens in NY
The New York Times has a nice overview of the new museum show "Eero Saarinen: Shaping the Future" -- for those who don't know, this was the 20th-century architect most responsible for bringing the Modernist mindset into the mainstream, not only through his widely copied furniture but also such high-profile projects as Dulles Airport andSt. Louis's Gateway Arch.