Dan Lockton, writing on the Architecture of Control blog, quotes Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who responded to an 1847 proposal to regulate the design of bridges with this quote: In other… Read the rest of the article: Awesome quote from 1847 decrying technology regulation

Rep. Mike Ferguson (R-N.J.) has introduced a bill to cripple all digital radios. The Audio Broadcast Flag Licensing Act of 2006 (H.R. 4861) requires all digital radio makers to build… Read the rest of the article: House introduces mandatory radio-crippling law

Elliott Back's personal site about Cornell University has attracted a nastygram from the university, which argues that it's possible that someone (presumably someone very foolish) might mistake his site (whose… Read the rest of the article: Cornell University harasses maker of Cornell blog

Now open for voting on tomorrow's Worth1000 photoshopping contest: animals remixed with household objects. Link

The USC's Julian Bleecker has just published an astonishingly awesome paper called "A Manifesto for Networked Objects – Cohabiting with Pigeons, Arphids and Aibos in the Internet of Things," subtitled,… Read the rest of the article: Manifesto for "blogjects" — objects that blog

A site for and effects house that build static and animatronic prop animals for use in films has a page of used animal props, including animatronics, for sale, from surprised… Read the rest of the article: Used animatronic critters for sale

Master game designer Raph Koster ponders the thinness of the role of the healer in massively multiplayer roleplaying games, and noodles around with ideas for a healer-centric game: Picture an… Read the rest of the article: What would an MMORPG about healing be like?

Check out these amazing fan-tees for the fine and funny nerd sitcom, The IT Crowd: Roy: Yeah, you do know how a button works, don't you? No, not on clothes.… Read the rest of the article: Fan t-shirt for The IT Crowd

Today the Escape Pod podcast included a wonderful short story by Paul Di Filippo, a consistently great science fiction writer. The story is "Little Worker" and it's pure gold Di… Read the rest of the article: Di Filippo's story "Little Worker" as a podcast

Small Beer Press, which publishes wonderful science fiction and fantasy titles like Kelly Link's Magic for Beginners, is having a giant sale to raise cash to cover its printers' bills.… Read the rest of the article: Giant sale at Small Beer Press, excellent sf/f small press

Scott Granneman has an excellent editorial on the risks of DRM at SecurityFocus; Soctt's an educator and a security expert, and his perspective on this is informed by both those… Read the rest of the article: SecurityFocus on DRM

An LJ user has posted photos of a bizarre Ziggy Stardust comic where David Bowie, Mick Jagger, Freddie Mercury, Ozzy Osbourne and Batman (!) fight crime together. The commentary is… Read the rest of the article: David Bowie fights crime with Batman in old comic

Here's artwork from an upcoming Transformers minicomic set in the early part of the 20th century, featuring steampowered, steampunk transforming robots! Link (Thanks, Morgan!)

Frank Cifaldi has uncovered a long-lost Penn and Teller video game that was never released in stores, and Waxy is hosting a torrent of it. The game involves lots of… Read the rest of the article: Long-lost Penn and Teller videogame for download

A special Australian committee on copyright and DRM has published its findings, and has recommended a drastic scaling-back of the protections given to DRM in most countries. Australia was arm-twisted… Read the rest of the article: Aussie gov't report on DRM: Don't let it override public rights!

Someone's build an amazing, detailed model of Main Street, USA from a Disney park out of legos! Link (Thanks, Robynne!) Update: James sez, "The Disney mainstreet was part of an… Read the rest of the article: Disney Main Street built from legos

Philadelphia Weekly covers the FreeCulture anti-DRM demonstrations last weekend: Saturday's protest focused on educating consumers about digital rights management (DRM), which is one way companies protect digital media. It's come… Read the rest of the article: Media coverage of last weekend's anti-DRM protest in Philly

The Hugo nominations process closes on March 10. If you attended the World Science Fiction Convention in Glasgow in 2005 or if you're registered to attend the WorldCon this year… Read the rest of the article: Hugo nominations close on Mar 10

Here's the final crop of transit maps — thanks for the amazing, spontaneous outpouring of creativity that's created all of these, and for all the great notes of encouragement. I… Read the rest of the article: Anagram transit maps for Brisbane, Syracuse, Chicago

Steve sez, "The Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame in Seattle, of which Octavia Butler was an Advisory Board member, is holding a public memorial at the Museum tomorrow… Read the rest of the article: Octavia Butler memorial tomorrow night at Seattle's SF Museum