"Free Culture"

Lawrence Lessig released his latest book, and you can download and read it for free. If living in an open, free culture is important to you, or if you take photos, draw, write, make music, or in general create anything, you'll need to read this book:

Download the PDF version here:

"Ghost Town" - notes from the dead zone This was actually popular a month or two ago, but it was so popular the site was taken down. A beautiful, epic pictorial essay from a Russian woman who reports on her rides through the Chernobyl "dead zone" from her 147hp Kawasaki Ninja, equipped with dosimeter. If you've ever seen the brilliant movie "Stalker", this is it in real life - abandoned projects, hotels with trees in the rooms, and rusted tanks in the middle of fields:

Is your identity safe? The story of how American medical records and credit histories are being exposed outside the U.S. with no privacy guarantees. One reporter's fascinating detective work through an international chain of subcontractors. Did you know that Canada and Russian have comprehensive data protection laws, but the U.S. has no such laws on the national level?

"Congress Moves to Criminalize P2P"

Thanks to a new bill just drafted. Read the book "Free Culture" first and then see if this makes sense to you:

Trixie, the baby with the most comprehensive Web site in the world. With real-time sleep, bottle, and diaper telemetrics, a blog, gallery, forum, archives, and voting topic:

"U.S. students shun computer sciences":

A list of current scandals in the government:

The first device ever with an electronic paper display, a reading device, hits the shelves next month, with a 170dpi screen:

A new system for powered saws detects skin contact in 5 milliseconds and stops the blade:

Check out the videos, using hot dogs as replacement fingers:

A portable, cordless soldering tool that runs on 4 AA batteries, heats in one second, and cools in two:

All about the Minato Motor, which leverages magnetic effects to produce more electricity than it consumes. Sound wacky? They've just sold 40,000 motors to a major convenience store chain:

Here's info on the motor and anecdotes from 1997. Mr. Minato got his inspiration for the motor while playing piano. It's not hard to see why, the magnets are arranged like black keys on a keyboard:

A bicycle tire that never needs inflating:

"Soya-powered planes promise greener air travel"

This would be a great pilot project for Hawaii - 40% soya-based carbon-neutral jet fuel:

The pros and cons of Quorn, the "fungus-based meat substitute" that was introduced to the U.S. in 2002:

"Citizen Kubrick"

A reporter's journey through the massive, immaculately organized, and sometimes bizarre archives of the Stanley Kubrick estate:

Musician Kevin Shields created one of the most expensive, influential and highly praised albums of the last two decades - "Loveless". Here's his first interview in 12 years:

Banksy, who puts the "grr" back into graffiti - here's how to mix revolution with art:

"Music industry way off track with song and dance about falling sales"

At least in Australia:

Less is more A 3D art contest, made with code no bigger than 256 characters:

What you've always wanted to know: What happens to a gummi bear when soaked in water overnight?