Jason from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography sez, “I just got done with a new text-based interview, in fact, with British science-fiction author Ian McDonald, in which we talk in depth about his new novel ‘The Dervish House’ which Cory raved about last week, including a detailed look at the kind of research McDonald does in order to write books like these.” IM:... 

This is your last chance to buy tickets for the first-ever ORGCon in London tomorrow: it’s a day-long meeting on the digital rights situation in the UK and what we can all do to improve it. As Britain moves to censor more of the net than ever, to disconnect families on the self-regulated say-so of the entertainment industry, and to spy on more and more of our net-traffic, there has never been... 

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Livecheap enumerates five common grocery store product-categories that delivery less stuff at higher prices — things like diluted bleach, plumped chickens, and hint of fruit “juice” that are mostly water. (via Consumerist) Tags: stuff, grocery, ripoffs, fruit, product categories  Read More →

Weitzner Limited makes wallpaper by weaving strips of newspaper on a loom and backing it with paper. It’s not guaranteed against sun-fading, but it can be vacuumed clean. [Insert joke about finally finding a 21st century newspaper business model here] Recycled newspapers for interior design lets you read between the walls Piano roll wallpaper Dot-to-dot wallpaper Fanciful handmade wallpaper... 

The last roll of Kodachrome film to come off the production line was processed last week at Dwayne’s Photo Service in Parsons, Kansas. The photos were shot by the photographer who took the famous “Afghan Girl” picture for National Geographic in the ’80s. Some of the images from The Last Roll of Kodachrome will be published in the magazine sometime in the future. In the meantime,... 

From Britain’s Daily Telegraph: The cross-dressing man was caught with the animal in the dry moat of King Henry VIII’s Pendennis Castle overlooking Falmouth Bay in Cornwall. … As the two ladies spotted the cross dresser he ran away. Later one of [their] dogs chased after the man; by the time the women had caught up, the man was having sex with the pet. Castle staff then restrained... 

Durian. Its flesh is so stinky that it’s banned from some restaurants and hotels. The fruit is native to southeast Asia and has been part of the regional diet since prehistory. It’s rich in vitamin C, potassium, and good fats and proteins. In Java, durian is believed to be an aphrodisiac (if you’re not sure about this, maybe try one of these durian-flavored condoms!). 19th century... 

Microsoft sank at least a quarter of a billion dollars into the Kin, its recently canceled cellphone. This is on top of its $500m acquisition of Danger, absorbed in order to develop it. Notwithstanding Kin’s shortcomings as a product, the most entertaining aspect of the cock-up is that it appears to be the result of ego battles in Redmond: rumor has it that Kin was throttled in its billion-dollar... 

Love the spiders in your garden? Put the little critters to work for you by turning their abandoned silk webbing into thread: ” I have also encountered many abandoned webs, which gave me the idea of harvesting these out-of-use webs for their silk. Having walked into so many webs, I know how unbelievably strong and stretchy their threads are. Spider silk, in fact, is the strongest fiber ever...