Yak Shaving -- [MIT AI Lab, after 2000: orig. probably from a Ren & Stimpy episode.] Any seemingly pointless activity which is actually necessary to solve a problem which solves a problem which, several levels of recursion later, solves the real problem you're working on.

#500 XP Hack -- If you're like many Windows XP users who have to enter a password every time their computer sluggishly boots up, then you'll want to read Brainfuel's tutorial on how to get your computer to load all those programs before you ever have to enter your password.

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#501 Photoshop Hack -- Stencil Revolution has a brief, simple tutorial explaining how to turn a color photo into a single layered stencil. (HT: LifeHacker)

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#502 Webdesign Tool -- Layout Gala has an incredible collection of downloadable CSS layouts. The designs cover just about any configuration you'd need, so if you've been wanting to change the layout of your blog, this handy resource might have a ready-made solution.

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#503 Know Your Fallacies -- Begging the question -- the term for a type of fallacy occurring in deductive reasoning in which the proposition to be proved is assumed implicitly or explicitly in one of the premises. (Example: "Only an untrustworthy person would run for office. The fact that politicians are untrustworthy is proof of this.")

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#504 Google School -- Google SketchUp is a free, easy-to-learn 3D modeling program that enables you to explore the world in 3D. With just a few simple tools, you can create 3D models of houses, sheds, decks, home additions, woodworking projects - even space ships. And once you've built your models, you can place them in Google Earth, post them to the 3D Warehouse, or print hard copies.

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