Synergon is a BLARP: a business live-action role-playing game. Players create fantasy characters who start out as low-level corporate drones and then perform boring, soul-destroying repetitive tasks set by a… Read the rest of the article: Synergon, a business LARP: escape into drudgery!

From Reason.com, a review of Ammon Shea's The Phone Book: The Curious History of the Book That Everyone Uses But No One Reads, which explores some of the remarkable technologies… Read the rest of the article: Phone books: Facebook 0.01

Craft writes up the making of George Schnakenberg's astounding Banksy "Flower Thrower" graffiti costume, which transformed its wearer into a living piece of iconic stencil-art. Amazing Banksy "Flower Thrower" Costume… Read the rest of the article: Banksy stencil-art Hallowe'en costume

Indian Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh blames India's declining owl populations on the wealthy parents of young Harry Potter fans who want their own pet owls to carry messages for them.… Read the rest of the article: Declining Indian owl population blamed on Harry Potter fans

Robbo Mills sends in this episode of his Rufus the Dog kids' show, a social justice-oriented retelling of "The Troll Under the Bridge." He says, Social justice and kids TV… Read the rest of the article: The Troll Under the Bridge, social justice edition

My latest Locus column, "A Cosmopolitan Literature for the Cosmopolitan Web," is up: it's a piece on the way that science fiction's insistence that all laws are local prefigures the… Read the rest of the article: Science fiction tells us all laws are local — just like the Web

Helen sez, HIGHRISE/Out My Window is a brand-new interactive documentary. It features first-person stories from 13 cities internationally, with an eclectic soundtrack, exploring the experience of life in the concrete… Read the rest of the article: Interactive documentary set in highrises around the world

Zoe Williams's extraordinary textile artworks blend tentacles, felted bunnies, and miscellaneous anatomical bits and pieces to makes something that looks like Hellraiser crossed with the plushie aisle at Toys R… Read the rest of the article: Plushie mutant artwork of Zoe Williams

This 1940s ad for a revolting, glistening mound of goop topped with process meat-ite is an entry in the LiveJournal Vintage Ads gross food contest. It's certainly stiff competition! A… Read the rest of the article: Mound of glistening starch topped with processed meat-ite

Charlie Stross links to an official transcript of the Nov 1 debate in the UK's House of Lords in which the Tory life-peer Lord James of Blackheath (a respected industry… Read the rest of the article: UK Lord claims mysterious Foundation wants to give Britain £17B, no strings attached

Redditor This_comment_has built this insane Hallowe'en mecha walker costume out of aircraft aluminum and sheet metal. The Reddit thread is a hilarious collection of nerdgasmic worship and internet miseryguts whining… Read the rest of the article: Mecha Walker Hallowe'en costume

This cute Lego Star Wars video presents a revisionist look at the original Star Wars trilogy in which the prime moving force was the off-stage bumbling of Jar-Jar Binks. (via… Read the rest of the article: Star Wars Revisionism: it was all Jar-Jar's fault

Robert J Wiersema's second novel, Bedtime Story, is a spooky, fast-moving horror novel that asks whether the power of storytelling can be something less-than-wonderful. Christopher Knox is a failing novelist… Read the rest of the article: Bedtime Story: Supernatural thriller about the dark side of "getting lost in a good book"

I'm just finalizing my schedule and packing list for ICON 35 A Steam Powered Convention of the Future, the science fiction convention in Cedar Rapids, IA, where I'm guest of… Read the rest of the article: ICON 35: science fiction convention in Cedar Rapids, IA this weekend (I'm guest of honor!)

My latest Guardian column, "Jack and the interstalk: why the computer is not a scary monster," explains the way my 2.5-year-old daughter and I use my computer as part of… Read the rest of the article: How I use the Internet when I'm playing with my kid

German publisher Springer Verlag decided not to infect the 40,000 ebook titles it sells to libraries with DRM — though the booksellers that carry Springer titles still insist on DRM… Read the rest of the article: Publisher sells DRM-free ebooks to libraries

Time to start planning your geeky Channukah Bush, Kwaanza Foliage or Christmas Tree with Etsy-seller UseYourDigits' laser-cut game-controller ornaments. Controller ornaments – Red Tint (via Wonderland) Geeky xmas ornaments galore… Read the rest of the article: Game controller ornaments

Rupert Murdoch's Times Online paywall experiment has released some highly selective statistics this morning. According to the Times's spin, they've got some 200,000 paid users for their paywalled newspaper site,… Read the rest of the article: Times Online claims 200K paid users: but where's the detailed breakdown?

(Click above to enbiggen) Here's a sneaky fact that's fun to know: the UK-only special edition boxed set of the IT Crowd (which comes complete with its own awesome tabletop… Read the rest of the article: IT Crowd Box Set has no region, can be viewed anywhere

Here's an amusing metaphor for polarized US politics: take two Useless Machines (a box with a switch: when you press the switch, a hand shoots out of the box and… Read the rest of the article: Duelling useless machines: a metaphor for polarized politics