On Metafilter, user Flex has a fabulous collection of links to public domain and freely available children's books, from the antique to the modern.

Andrew Hyde wrote and self-published a great-looking travel book and put it up for sale on Amazon, iBooks, B&N, and an indie marketplace called Gumroad that retails the PDF. The… Read the rest of the article: Indie author gets sticker shock from Amazon "delivery fees"

Thingiverse user Krest has posted a file to help you print your own scale armor on your MakerBot or other 3D printer: "Print, paint, and tie together, that's it." Although… Read the rest of the article: 3D printed scale armor

A group of Spanish activists organized under the #QuerellaPaRato ("Lawsuit for Rato") hashtag, have raised a large private fund to pay for a civil action against Rodrigo Rato, the disgraced… Read the rest of the article: Spanish activists raise money to sue bank boss at center of financial crisis

Last year Kyle Thiessen created a series of "fake month at the museum" five-minute short films that explore different odd facts from history and the natural world. I've just started… Read the rest of the article: Fake Month at the Museum: fun facts, snarkily delivered, slathered in awesomesauce

Etsy seller Packmania is selling this gigantic CAD$40 Legend of Zelda map/mural: 97×32" (8 FEET BY NEARLY 3 FEET!). Amazing wall mural of the map of The Legend of Zelda… Read the rest of the article: Giant NES Zelda map wall-hanging

In the wake of a series of very high-profile password leaks, Brian Krebs talks to security researcher Thomas H. Ptacek about the best practices for securing passwords. The trick isn't… Read the rest of the article: HOWTO securely hash passwords

Here are ten clever sucker bets from Richard Wiseman. They're a good mix of physics, logic, low trickery, concept-shifting, misdirection, topology, and breathtaking chutzpah. Seriously, I can't believe that he… Read the rest of the article: Clever sucker-bets

Cody Shaw, a first year Co-op Electrical Engineering student at the University of Waterloo, spun up these wonderful electronic business cards for his job-search: set a 9V battery on the… Read the rest of the article: Electronic business-card with blinkenlights show

The IEEE's Computer and Reliability Societies recently published "Embracing the Kobayashi Maru," by James Caroland (US Navy/US Cybercommand) and Greg Conti (West Point) describing an exercise in which they assigned… Read the rest of the article: Students assigned to cheat on exam use doctored Little Brother cover and many other clever methods

Ars Technica's Nate Anderson writes about the FTC's lawsuit against Streaming Flix and its billing partner, Billing Services Group. The companies are accused of putting random charges on peoples' phone… Read the rest of the article: FTC sets sights on scammy "crammers" who bill your phone a fortune for services you don't need, want, or use

Last Friday, June 8, I was immensely, fantastically thrilled to receive an honorary doctorate in computer science from the Open University, an institution I have long held in high esteem… Read the rest of the article: On receiving an honorary doctorate in computer science from the Open University

Laurie Penny takes a look at G4S, the scandal-embroiled "private security firm" (they're not technical mercenaries because the "security" people who work from them are usually born in the same… Read the rest of the article: G4S: the scandal-embroiled "private security" behemoth that will provide 10,000 "security contractors" to London 2012

Oldredjalopy DeviantArt piece "The Kessel Run" is a bit Star Wars, a bit Cannonball Run, and a whole lot of awesomesauce. The Kessel Run (via Super Punch)

Henry Rothwell has an epically long, epically snarky review of Prometheus, entertainingly and engagingly written. Its fundamental point is that science fiction films are visually consistent, not logically consistent (the… Read the rest of the article: Snarky (but accurate) Prometheus review

Neal Stephenson and the good folks at the Subutai Corporation are looking to raise $500,000 on Kickstarter to fund CLANG, a rich, detailed and faithful swordfighting game. I've heard tell… Read the rest of the article: Neal Stephenson kickstarts realistic swordfighting game

The Atlantic's Max Fisher does a survey of foreign tour guides to the USA and finds in them a frank view into how America is viewed outside the USA. Travellers… Read the rest of the article: How the world's travel guides describe America

An interesting piece from The Atlantic's Alex Madrigal points out that the coveted 18-34 male demographic is no longer the most important force in technology consumption and purchasing. He quotes… Read the rest of the article: Women beat 18-34 men for tech adoption and purchasing power

New from Ukrainian fetish/steampunk mask makers Bob Basset, the "60 monstr" — a little bit Creature from the Black Lagoon, a little bit steampunk, and a whole lot of happy… Read the rest of the article: Black Lagoon-esque mask from Bob Basset

Robbo sez, "John Boswell is well know for making cool musical concoctions with auto-tuned scientists explaining the glory and wonder of the natural universe – the Symphony of Science. Now… Read the rest of the article: Autotuned Mr Rogers tribute