Hard Sudoku Puzzle (and Solver Website)

I was trying to do this Sudoku puzzle without writing down anything other than the correct solution. That failed miserably, and even after I gave up on my "no scratchwork" rule, it still wasn't easy. I wondered if there was an website that would solve it for me, and of course there is. How difficult do you think this one is? Got a harder one for me to try?

2				7		1	4	3
	3			4		5	2
	8							2
3	6			2	4
		5				6	1
			6				3
		8
4					1			8

Puzzle 136 from "Sudoku to go" by Will Shortz (the NYT crossword guy)

He's baaaack

Those of you who are non-Techers never got to meet Mason.
Heck, I should never have gotten to meet Mason.
Mason was a Caltech student who graduated in 1998, well before I arrived. Once or twice a year, though, he would appear on the couch in our house's gathering area known as Lower Crotch. Long after everyone he went to school with had moved on with their lives, I would walk down the stairs and find him sitting there in the same sweat pants, faded Lloyd shirt and sneakers with the same messy, curly hair.
But anyway, eventually I graduated and I didn't really ever think of him again. Except he keeps reappearing! Last month, it was in a friend of a friend's wedding pictures, and this week in a press release about Caltech's latest book of pranks (he's an editor).

"The Legends of Caltech series contains a collection of first-hand accounts
and remembrances of high jinks past, compiled by the Herculean efforts of a
handful of alumni. This latest installment, edited by alums Autumn Looijen
('99) and Mason A. Porter ('98), illuminates Caltech student life and the
schemes that often stemmed from late-night study sessions fueled by donuts
and caffeine. Colorful escapades described in Legends III include pranks
ranging from the elaborate to the simple: reprogramming fellow classmates'
clocks to run backwards; reengineering a building elevator to consistently deliver
passengers two floors below where they wanted to go; or freezing a dormitory
hallway floor to create a rink for "alley broom ball" (ice hockey a la Caltech)."

Anyway, this is a pretty long post for a pretty short purpose, which is basically to say: look guys, Mason edited a book of pranks, isn't that weird? Oh, and also the book is named Legends of Caltech III: Techer in the Dark.
Yeah.

Good South Park article

Here's an article discussing the different roles of Matt Stone and Trey Parker in producing South Park. I really didn't know it worked the way it is described in the article. South Park's a great show, and I think the movie is the greatest comedy of all time, and it's interesting to see how they've kept it together for so long.

(Found through Digg.)