Malcolm Gladwell has some excellent articles archived online, previously published in the New Yorker. The ones I read were about job interviews (interesting), new findings on menstruation and the pill (effecting) and the woman who runs the world (fascinating!)
A programming article describing how the author wrote a faster XML parser (in Java) than a “popular DOM-based parser”. Slightly interesting because he uses a different data structure instead of the usual tree. But there are plenty of unbelivably slow Java parsers for XML, especially those that implement a DOM interface.
“Evolution of Weaponry” By Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, is a blunt summary of the physical and psychological methods men use to make it easier for us to kill one another. Grossman is described on his site as a former US Army Ranger and “expert on killing”. Oddly, he has the same name as a famous Israeli author, who has a reputation as both a frail nerd and a political dove.
Remote scripting in Javascript – basically, calling the server without changing the browser window. Done without frames, using DHTML and a hidden layer or Iframe. Very nice, actually.