How do you fight off a shark attack? Pull its tail, apparently. That's what happened today in Australia when a dive instructor was bitten in the leg and butt and a swimmer yanked the shark's tail, which then fled.

The Jon Stewart/Stephen Colbert "Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear" is under way! (We're live-blogging the whole thing here.) Check out some photos from the event below—and send in your own to tips@gawker.com.

Indonesia's Mount Merapi volcano erupted for the third time today, sending ash nearly 20 miles from the mountain. At least 35 people have died and nearly 50,000 people who live nearby have moved to government run camps.

[The National Mall looks quiet, but wait until all the Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert fans storm D.C. for the "Rally to Restore Sanity And/Or Fear" tomorrow. Enjoy it, and that other thing that happens this weekend. Image via Getty]

Yesterday, we published the anonymous account of a young man from Philadelphia who had a naked sleepover with Delaware GOP senatorial candidate Christine O'Donnell three years ago. Some people did not like that! Here's why we'd do it again.

If you're anything like us, you've spent the last few weeks conceptualizing and constructing your Halloween costume. Why let all that hard work go to waste when you could post some pictures here and win a prize?

With his approval rating "hover[ing] in the low 20s" and an election day referendum to reverse his greatest legislative victory, California's steroidal governor is set to leave on a low note. His fancy fingers, however, will continue to shine.

The University of South Carolina will be offering a class called "Lady Gaga and the Sociology of Fame" beginning next spring, taught by an obsessed professor with a Gaga fansite. Finally a college class with so many real world applications.

Unemployed 36-year-old Colm Coss has been jailed for 18 weeks after trolling Facebook memorial sites and posting "abusive messages." He was charged after sending letters to neighbors containing his address, photos of himself and bragging about being a troll.

Does Tom Cruise have a crush on Jeremy Renner? Are Kat Von D and Jesse James engaged? Was Shape wrong to put LeAnn Rimes on their cover? Friday gossip is full of perplexing questions.

Since Halloween (and the premiere of The Walking Dead) is on Sunday, there are sure to be lots of zombies walking around. Thankfully we have undead expert Mac Montandon here to answer your questions. He'll be live in the comments!

A presidential commission yesterday found that BP and Halliburton knew that the cement mixture used to seal the Macondo well before the oil spill had "repeatedly failed lab tests." You should probably grab some Halliburton shares while they're hot.

Delaware Republican Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell's campaign has responded to our story earlier today about her 2007 Halloween one-night stand. "I am not a witch," it begins. Just kidding! The statement, which was posted to O'Donnell's Facebook page, is below.

[A striking French university student holds a sign that reads "'Sarkozy babies are in the street and we are going to wipe your ass." Workers have been striking for a week over something or other. Image via Getty]

Trevor Case, a 22 year-old in Lincoln, Nebraska, suspected that his girlfriend was sneaking around on him. So he waterboarded her. For her own good.

Howard K. Stern, Anna Nicole Smith's former lawyer, and one of her doctors were found guilty of conspiracy for feeding the prescription drug addiction that eventually killed her. Now Ms. Smith only has one posthumous court case to be decided.

The Way We Live Now: wrapped in copious robes of flowing cotton. Cotton hats, cotton shoes, a flowing cotton train trailing behind us, sleeping on heaping mounds of cotton. Cotton is money! Everything else is not.

A public housing cleaner found a mattress she feared had bedbugs. She dragged it into the hallway, lit it on fire, and ran away. Now she has been charged with arson. (N.B. "Call an exterminator" is the correct response.)

In your ignominious Thursday media column: Conrad Black has big plans, new hires at Fast Company, Conde Nast's memo-writing abilities are woefully inadequate, and the wee New York Times Co. lives in a tiny dollhouse.

[Photo via Getty Images]