Admin note: GeekPress will be taking a brief hiatus. We'll be back July 7!

Did this comet save Christianity and change the course of history? (Via Rand Simberg.)

Beware the latest PayPal scam -- i.e., a misleading e-mail message that looks like it comes from PayPal but actually originates from offshore con artists.

Could you pass the 8th Grade Exam of 1895? Warning -- it's surprisingly difficult. (Via Linkfilter.) Update: Our friend Jimmy Wales points out that this test might have actually been for evaluating prospective teachers, not students.

Multimonitor flight simulator: Awesome visual layout! (Via Slashdot.)

Strange data packets are circulating around the internet. Computer security experts aren't sure if this is a precursor to an upcoming attack.

Don't brush your teeth for more than 2 minutes.

NASA's proposed MXER space tether consists of "miles and miles of cart-wheeling cable in orbit around the Earth." Operating "like a giant sling, the cable would swoop down and pick up spacecraft in low orbits, then hurl them to higher orbits or even lob them onward to other planets."

Update on virtual reality and simulated touch sensations. (Via Techdirt.)

The Slug Maze-O'-Death. (Via EliteGeek.)

Lightweight transparent magnets may be useful for creating new memory storage media.

Turn yourself into a genius with transcranial magnetic stimulation, aka TMS. (Via David Lewis.)

Google doesn't like people using the word "google" as a verb (i.e., "to google" a potential blind date prior to meeting him/her in person) for fear that the company might lose its commercial trademark if it becomes an ordinary word. (Via Ars Technica.)

The DNS system is 20 years old today.

Real-life levitation techniques. (Via Linkfilter.)

This nanoguitar is only 10 micrometers long. Plus, "[t]he guitar has six strings, each string about 50 nanometers wide, the width of about 100 atoms. If plucked -- by an atomic force microscope, for example -- the strings would resonate, but at inaudible frequencies." (Via Linkfilter.)

Amazing Ping Pong: I wish I could play table tennis like this. (Via Memepool.)

The DejaView Camwear 100 is a wearable videocamera that's constantly recording that most recent 30 seconds of your life. Some people call it a "TiVo for your life". (Via Techdirt.)

The flexible Gummi handheld computer doesn't use a mouse or stylus for input. Instead, the user bends it with his or her fingers.

Pot/kettle/black: Orrin Hatch is apparently a software pirate.