Just ten days after it was launched, the Bundesdance  is taking Germany by storm. Inboxes across the country have been filling up with links to this hilarious piece of political satire which lets you put dancing shoes on your favorite politicians  (there are at least two versions). Nowadays politicians are keen to show their human side in an effort to win votes, but Bundesdance was surely not what they had in mind. Game maker Herburg Weiland's creation lets you watch Chancellor Gerhard Schröder get the groove on, whilst opposition leader Angel Merkel struts her funky stuff in the background. Conservative leader Edmund Stoiber gets similar treatment as he works his hips to a choice of musical tracks. The game even lets you choose the backing dancers. Should you wish, you can select Pope Benedict XVI to work his magic in the background; other variables include the mood and theme of the party. Want to throw a party at the unemployment office for those dastardly politicians who have failed to deliver jobs for the Germans? Well, go ahead! Its hopelessly addictive and irreverently amusing. And don't be put off by the German language. If you're unsure of the translation, just click around and watch those politicians feel the beat!

The Art of the Obit

Obituaries, like everything that appears as news, vary widely depending on who's doing the writing. The bare basic facts of a life are fleshed out to create a story , with color and meaning added in . With high-profile figures, most media outlets don't bother to wait until the person is on death's door-step  to begin weaving their obit -- a practice that sometimes backfires  if the piece runs before the subject actually, you know, dies.

Obituaries are their own art form  (and thus have their own fans) and practitioners have follow their own codes . For many people, the obit is the only chance they have for their names to appear in print. And even if you don't die famous, you can always hire a professional to write one for you .

Shuttle Damage Through the Years

Now what? The Space Shuttle "Discovery," of course, is drifting through space together with the International Space Station as planned. But engineers and scientists on the ground are frantically trying to figure out exactly how great the damage to the spacecraft might be after piece of foam insulation from the external tank fell off at launch. It remains, however, unclear whether the piece actually struck the wing of the "Discovery." Nevertheless, NASA is taking the possibility seriously, especially considering the disintegration of the "Columbia" in 2003 after foam insulation knocked heat resistant tiles off one of the wings.