May the Fourth Be With You, Empire, Comics, Clips, LEGO; Space Battles, Rocket Science; Universe, "I'm not saying it was aliens."; Trekkies

May the Fourth Be With You

• Star Wars: Episode VII Cast Announced
• "Star Wars" almost didn't get made—"The studio had low expectations for the epic that changed movies forever." Salon
• Star Wars toys made me who I am—"In praise of action figures from a long time ago (1978)." Salon
• Once-lost Star Wars-related short to screen for the first time in 33 years—"How a college script debuted before Empire, went MIA, and revived as Jedi hits 30."
• Officially Licensed Star Wars Luke Skywalker Cermonial Jacket with Medal of Yavin
• STAR WARS High Fashion Gowns Stuns/Geeks Out New York Fashion Week
• West Wars
• That escalted quickly.

Empire

• Darth Vader and Son
• Stormtrooper
• Deathstar

Comics

• 'The Star Wars' that almost was
• Bruce Timm Concept Art for Star Wars comic
• 80s High School

Clips

• Bill Hader on Conan
• Jason Schwartzman, Patton Oswalt, Billy Dee Williams do "Star Wars" karaoke Salon
• Never-before-seen "Star Wars" blooper reel surfaces Salon
• Star Wars Episode IV (Deleted Scenes) - Tosche Station
• Star Wars Episode IV (Deleted Scenes) - Luke & Biggs
• ECCC 2012: Star Wars Trilogy: The Radio Play
• Party rock Cantina Band

LEGO

• LEGO 'Yoda Chronicles' builds on 'Star Wars' legacy
• Lego Sandcrawler rolls through 'Star Wars' universe
• Meet the 23-ton X-Wing, the world's largest Lego model—It's frickin' huge.
• Anatomy of a Logo: Star Wars
• Star Wars Lego prank

Space Battles

• Trampoline to Space? Russian Official Tells NASA to Take a Flying Leap
• Matt Reed: So reliant on Russia, it's scary
• Replacing Russian Rocket Engine Isn’t Easy, Pentagon Says
• SpaceX says rocket purchases violate Russian sanctions, gets injunction—"Lockheed-Martin and Boeing's joint venture barred from buying Russian engines."

Rocket Science

• NASA to conduct unprecedented twin experiment
• NASA Wants Ideas for Mission to Jupiter's Icy Moon Europa
• NASA reveals its next generation Tron spacesuit
• Video Confirms SpaceX Pulled Off the Nearly Impossible Falcon 9 Landing

Universe

• Dark matter found? Gamma rays at centre of Milky Way promise clue to mystery of universe
• 'Runaway' Star Cluster Breaks Free from Distant Galaxy
• A "wimpy" dwarf fossil galaxy reveals new facts about early universe

"I'm not saying it was aliens."

• The telescope big enough to spot signs of alien life on other planets
• False Signs of Life on Alien Worlds
• Search for extraterrestrial life clouded by exomoon atmospheres
• Plait: Alien worlds, extraordinary and mundane

Trekkies

• William Shatner, of 'Star Trek' Fame, Gets NASA's Highest Civilian Honor
• Shut up, Wesley: The annoying (and entertaining) kids of Star Trek
• 'Star Trek' meets 'Star Wars' in an incredible sci-fi mashup

Sochi; LEGO; Let It Go; Back to the Future; Movies; Television; Music; Comics; Superhero Flicks; Pranks

Sochi

• Sochi's popularity problem: Why haven't the Olympics been bigger?—NBC's coverage sucks. Salon
• Bode Miller interview: U.S. Olympic skier responds to criticism of NBC—He was a class-act in trying absolve Cooper's badgering, but NBC was just cunt-astic in this regard.
• Pussy Riot attacked with whips by Cossack militia at Sochi Olympics—"Members of group set upon by uniformed Cossacks and plainclothes security men as they tried to record new song."
• Why Snowboarders Hate Shaun White—Is he really so bad [WaPo]?
• Under Armour suits blamed for slow US speedskaters at Olympics
• Canadian snowboarder Michael Lambert pierces the Sochi bubble
• The Onion: Olympic Village Tour: See Where The Athletes Live, Train And Fuck Each Other

LEGO

• The Lego Movie—"A clever, vivid, funny, oddly profound movie … about plastic bricks."
• Fox Host Attacks The Lego Movie—"... for pushing "an anti-business message to kids."
• Here Is The Number Of LEGO Bricks It Took To Make 'The Lego Movie'
• Everything Is Awesome About the LEGO Movie's Blooper Reel
• LEGO 2014 Oscar Movie Posters
• Google and LEGO team up for new Chrome experiment that lets you build anything in your browser
• 12-year-old builds low-cost Lego braille printer—"A seventh grader's science fair project turns into a quest to develop a customizable low-cost printer for the blind."

Let It Go

• Multilingual 'Let It Go' from 'Frozen' will melt your heart—Check out the full translated versions by Anais Delva (in French), Takako Matsu (in Nihongo) and Malinda Reese (via Google Translate).
• Caleb Hyles—So far the best male cover of the song I've watched that's on the original pitch. Omar Cabán's version is two steps lower, but still enjoyable.
• Christine Bianco's Diva-liciousness—Fun to listen to a second time with your eyes closed.
• Alex Boyé's Africanized version featuring One Voice Children's Choir and 11-year-old Lexi Walker
• ThePianoGuys' mash-up with Vivaldi

Back to the Future

• Back to the Future's Self-Tying 'Power Laces' Are Coming in 2015
• 'Back to the Future' Musical Confirmed for 2015
• Album: Eric Stoltz as Marty McFly

Movies

• Theater Owners Call For Shorter Movie Trailers, Fewer Spoilers
• How to spot a winter turkey at the movies
• "Gravity" revives "sensation cinema" of Hollywood's silent era—"Alfonson Cuarón's latest provides the kind of visceral moviegoing experience big tentpole movies seldom do." Salon
• The Truths Behind 'Dr. Strangelove'—The Soviets did have a doomsday machine, and a rogue American officer could have launched a nuclear attack."
• The real Maleficent: The surprising human face behind the "Sleeping Beauty" villain—"Move over, Angelina Jolie. I've uncovered the long-forgotten model for the original cartoon witch." Salon
• Video: Fight Club minus Tyler Durden
• Toy Story with real toys
• 10 Movies Roger Ebert Really Hated

Television

• Jay Leno: goodnight, and good riddance—"After 22 years, perennial 'nice guy' Jay Leno is about to hand over the reins of The Tonight Show to the younger, funnier Jimmy Fallon. What took him so long?"
• Why French people love "The Big Bang Theory"—"Against the odds, the uber-American sitcom 'The Big Bang Theory' has taken over France." Salon
• It's Elementary, Sherlock: How the CBS procedural surpassed the BBC drama
• Jeopardy's Controversial New Champion Is Using Game Theory To Win Big
• Hail to the Sleaze—"House of Cards returns more ridiculous than ever. Thank goodness for that."
• Why Netflix Is Winning—"Its shows aren't as good as HBO's, but there's more to business than quality."
• Blast from the Past: Five Reality Shows With Better Romance Track Records Than The Bachelor/Bachelorette

Music

• Classical music in America is dead
• An Insider's Account of The Beatles' American Invasion
• Watch That Wild Imagine Dragons/Kendrick Lamar Grammy Performance

Comics

• Help 'Guardians Of The Galaxy's Rocket Raccoon Creator Bill Mantlo, A Hero In Need
• English Professor urges students to study comic book heroes
• Ka-Pow! Marvel Opens Massive Comic Book Images Archive And API To Fans, Developers
• JL8 creator Yale Stewart is writing a series of Superman kids' books
• Where In The World Is ComiXology?—Digital comics getting more popular.
• Blast from the Past: The Science of Superheroes: Beyond the Incredible

Superhero Flicks

• 'Fantastic Four' Cast Revealed
• Man of Steel from a Baby's Perspective
• How Warner Is Rebranding 'Batman Vs. Superman'—Here's a fan-made teaser trailer.
• Tom Hiddleston Had a Hell of a Week

Pranks

• Devil Baby
• Chucky
• Carrie

LEGO Day, LEGO-lution, LEGO Movies, LEGO Builds, LEGO Tech; Data Privacy Day, NSA Spying

LEGO Day

• Beautiful Lego
• Lego advert in 1981
• A LEGO a Day
• Challenge accepted
• Showcase of PH tourism spots in Lego map
• Picture This: Lego That Purse

LEGO-lution

• What Happened with LEGO
• Lego, you are dead to me—"Give Lego credit for innovating after losing patent protection on its bricks. It's now a $4 billion company built on brilliant licensing deals and increasingly expensive, specialized sets. Which is exactly why I'm starting to hate it so, so much."
• Legos Are Getting Angrier And That's Not Funny, Study Says
• Girls' Legos Are A Hit, But Why Do Girls Need Special Legos?
• Lego building expert says he's sad for the children after helicopter destroyed at Cairns Central
• Lego thief pleads guilty—"Prosecutors say 67-year-old John Strang shoplifted as much as $600,000 worth of goods since 2007." Salon

LEGO Movies

• This LEGO Hogwarts includes everything from Snape's classroom to the Chamber of Secrets
• James Bond LEGO concept sets
• Lego Serenity
• Lego Casino Royale

LEGO Builds

• Behold an amazing 200,000-piece Lego alien city—"Artist Mike Doyle has created an absolutely jaw-dropping extraterrestrial Lego city called K'al Yne."
• A New Eiffel Tower Building Set for Paris-Loving LEGO Fanatics
• Lego tower measuring 11 stories claims Guinness record
• A Lego Set for Budding Architects, With No Instructions

LEGO Tech

• LEGO Mindstorms EV3
• Lego machine removes DRM from Kindle e-books—"Lego Mindstorms, a Kindle, and a laptop combine into an art project that is an automated system for scanning e-books and creating DRM-free versions."
• The 7 Most Ridiculously Advanced Machines Built Out of LEGOs
• LEGO Hot Rod: 500,000-Piece Working Replica Runs on Air
• Apple Engineer Creates Elaborate Drawing Machine, Using Legos
• Lego prosthetic leg

Data Privacy Day

• If You Used This Secure Webmail Site, the FBI Has Your Inbox—"While investigating a hosting company known for sheltering child porn last year the FBI incidentally seized the entire e-mail database of a popular anonymous webmail service called TorMail."
• Spy Agencies Probe Angry Birds and Other Apps for Personal Data—Plug those leaks.
• Tech Giants, Telcos Get OK to Release Stats on NSA Spying—Ploy to have their lawsuits dropped?
• Here's Why Obama's Surveillance Transparency Deal With Tech Companies Doesn't Matter
• British Judge Rules Google Can Be Sued In UK Over Privacy Case
• Apple's Tim Cook: 'There is no backdoor. The government doesn't have access to our servers'
• Joy of Tech: Google buys Nest

NSA Spying

• German TV: Edward Snowden says NSA is involved in industrial sabotage
• Wanted dead by US officials, Snowden tells German TV
• The NSA's Losing Argument
• On Children's Website, N.S.A. Puts a Furry, Smiley Face on Its Mission NYT
• Democrat Dianne Feinstein proves an obstacle to Obama’s push for changes at spy agencies WaPo
• Republicans Blast Their Own—"Bush era Republicans are making their anger known after the RNC passed a resolution denouncing the NSA's blanket surveillance.'"
• Andrea Mitchell Had To Interrupt An NSA Discussion With Breaking Bieber News—Mainstream media eats up all-too convenient distraction.

International Privacy Day, Surveillance, Your Rights Online, Facebook; Lego Day, Entertainment, Tech, Ships

International Privacy Day

• How Generation Y really feels about online privacy
• 112th Congress Finished Its Term By Taking Away More of Your Privacy, In The Worst Possible Way
• For the first time, a small data breach draws a big fine ($50K)
• Student Suspended for Refusing to Wear RFID Tracker Loses Lawsuit
• How-to stop getting tracked in your Browser

Surveillance

• Surveillance Strategy Is 'Privileged and Confidential,' FBI Says
• U.S. Spy Law Authorizes Mass Surveillance of European Citizens: Report
• Now The FBI Has A Program That Scans Emails For 3,000 Suspicious "You're Up To No Good" Phrases
• Court Again Says It's Okay For The Feds To Snoop Through Your Digital Info Without Telling You
• Anti-surveillance activists turn smashing CCTV cameras into a competitive game

Your Rights Online

• Google stands up for Gmail users, requires cops to get a warrant—"As e-mail privacy laws stall in Congress, Google pushes for stronger standard."
• Nokia: Yes, we decrypt your HTTPS data, but don't worry about it
• Yahoo Mail users quietly given HTTPS security option following pressure from privacy advocates

Facebook

• Facebook's Graph Search Makes It Official: You Are Its Product--It could be the greatest invation of privacy ever.
• On Facebook, users can no longer hide from search results
• Yes, Randi Zuckerberg, Please Lecture Us About 'Human Decency'

Lego Day

• My buddy made this out of Legos...
• Cool anatomical sculptures of Lego people
• How many Legos are needed to build your house?
• How tall can a Lego tower get?
• Lego Mystery Box redux
• 1.8-million-Lego map of Japan will make you feel like Godzilla
• "hello."
• Now that's customer service! Lego tracks down rare train set for Asperger's boy, 11, who saved up for it for two years only to discover it was no longer made

Entertainment

• Movie Scenes in Lego
• A Life Size Lego Hobbit Environment!
• Shaun of the Dead Lego set
• Lego Minecraft fuses best of both worlds
• Lego Dalek

Tech

• Canadian teenagers send Lego man into space—"Using home-stitched parachute and equipment found on Craigslist, two 17-year-olds send Lego-naut 80,000ft into the air."
• Drone made of Lego takes flight.
• Video: Supercomputer made of 64 Raspberry Pis and Lego bricks

Ships

• Awesome Lego Builder Crafts a Massive Replica of Khan's Sweet 'Star Trek II' Space Ride
• Serenity insanity - Giant Lego Serenity spaceship astounds
• Lego Battleship

Abortion and Birth Control, Religion, Culture Clash, Male Rape, Sexism

Abortion and Birth Control

• Melinda Gates challenges Vatican by vowing to improve contraception--"Catholic philanthropist predicts women in Africa and Asia will soon ignore church teaching on birth control." And she also pledged $560 million for contraception.
• Republicans vs. Women--"Even with a persistent gender gap in a presidential election year, House Republicans have not given up on their campaign to narrow access to birth control, abortion care and lifesaving cancer screenings. Far from it." NYT
• Planned Parenthood Sues Arizona For Blocking Low-Income Women's Access To Health Clinics
• Philippines birth control: Filipinos want it, priests don't--"In the Philippines, access to contraceptives is limited for the most part to those with the means to pay. The Catholic Church has fought a 'reproductive health bill' in the legislature that would change that."
• Hundreds protest toughening Spain's abortion law--"Hundreds of Spaniards protested Sunday against the conservative government's proposal to roll back women's abortion rights, including in cases where the fetus is deformed."

Religion

• Dominican Republic abortion ban stops treatment for pregnant teen with cancer
• Girls denied cervical cancer jab--"Some schools in England have opted out of the HPV vaccination programme because their pupils 'follow strict Christian principles' and 'do not practise sex outside marriage.'"
• Parents deny daughter life-saving transplant--"An Auckland girl suffering a rare kidney disease has been put into the guardianship of the High Court because her Jehovah's Witness parents will not consent to her receiving a life-saving kidney and liver transplant."

Culture Clash

• Afghan female rights activist killed in latest act of violence against women
• 'Disgusted' by Her Dating, Man Beheads His Daughter, 20, In India NYT
• Pakistan policeman kills sister for wearing jeans

Male Rape

• Men Outnumber Women Among American Rape Victims
• US broadens definition of rape; includes male victims--"[T]he first major revision to the definition in more than 80 years."
• The silent male victims of rape

Sexism

• Michael Smerconish: Lazar Greenfield's 'Semengate' Stuns Scientific Community--"Dr. Greenfield noted the therapeutic effects of semen, citing research from the Archives of Sexual Behavior which found that female college students practicing unprotected sex were less likely to suffer from depression than those whose partners used condoms (as well as those who remained abstinent)."
• Science – It’s a Girl Thing (Insert Facepalm Here)
• 'You know what men are like': Indonesia to ban mini-skirts over links to rape
• Lego tries to get less sexist--"The toy maker's female-centric "Lego Friends" send a bad message for girls. But now there's hope for change." Salon
• Sexist Humor No Laughing Matter, Psychologist Says
• Seventeen Magazine Vows to Show Girls 'as They Really Are
• 'Princeless': A Fairy Tale Parody Where the Princesses Are Rescuin' For Themselves

New York, New York; We Built These Cities; Money, Money, Money; The 'Shopped 'Shopped Song; Never Gonna GIF You Up

New York, New York

• Reasons to Love New York 2011
• Photos of 1980s New York City
• What really cleaned up New York Salon
• The Evolution of the New York Skyline--What it most probably look like in 2030.
• Blast from the Past: I LEGO N.Y. NYT

We Built These Cities

• A cabbie's view of Chicago--"A gritty new book chronicles the author's strange passenger encounters while driving a taxi around the Windy City." Salon
• The Grand Rapids LipDub--Grand Rapids' response to Newsweek calling it a "dying city."
• Rust Belt chic: Declining Midwest cities make a comeback Salon
• Five Years After Banning Outdoor Ads, Brazil's Largest City Is More Vibrant Than Ever
• No One Wants to Move to Vietnam’s New Cities
• When Modern Cities Become Ghost Towns
• London, France's sixth biggest city
• It's true: Cities are meaner--"Urbanites are viewed as selfish and unconcerned about others. Research proves it -- but for surprising reasons." Salon
• Australian cities jump in global cost rankings
• Architects And Engineers Say These Are The Most Amazing Tall Buildings Of The Year

Money, Money, Money

• Dowling Duncan redesign the US bank notes
• The Mysterious Imagery of The Dollar Bill
• Art with Dollars
• Travel Money
• Canada: The penny's days are numbered

The 'Shopped 'Shopped Song

• Software to Rate How Drastically Photos Are Retouched--Check out some samples.
• How Andrew Brooks is Photoshopping the World
• North Korea, most of Asia terrible at Photoshop Salon
• An Honourable Photoshop Master- BaoJun Yuan
• Epic Photoshop Clone
• How to properly conceal alcohol in your Facebook pictures
• This is what happens when I get bored at work

Never Gonna GIF You Up

• Far Better Than 3-D: Animated GIFs That Savor A Passing Moment
• The Art of the Animated GIF
• The Art Of The GIF
• iwdrm.tumblr.com
• Happy Birthday to the GIF: The Internet's Greatest Treasure Turns 25--Here's a montage.

Space Day: May the Fourth Be With You, Star Wars Lego, Sun and Moon, Solar System, Universe, Dark Matter, Space Station

May the Fourth Be With You

• Star Wars Uncut: Director's Cut
• Top 10 Worst Changes Made to Star Wars
• "Return of the Jedi" is the Best Star Wars Movie of All Time
• Troops
• Jedi Assholes
• "Punch it..."
• "It's a Trap!"

Star Wars Lego

• Lego Plays Star Wars Secret Santa
• LEGO Superstar Destroyer
• LEGO Chess Set
• LEGO fun
• Daddy Stormtrooper
• Damn It Chewy!
• Storm Tripper

Sun and Moon

• Top 10 Sun Myths
• Huge tornadoes discovered on the Sun
• When did the giant impact that formed the Moon take place?
• Watch how the Moon was formed
• 'Earth's other moons

Solar System

• Rise of the Super-Earths Salon
• Venus to Appear in Once-In-A-Lifetime Event
• Jupiter's melting heart sheds light on mysterious exoplanet
• I've never been so scared of Jupiter
• Uranus takes a pounding more frequently than thought

Universe

• Voyager 1 has made it to "cosmic purgatory" according to NASA.
• The Known Universe by AMNH
• 'The Scale of the Universe,' by Two Teenage Brothers
• Infant galaxy offers tantalizing peek at early Universe
• Symphony of Science - 'The Big Beginning'
• Galaxy Song

Dark Matter

• Australian Student Astronomer Finds Universe's Missing Mass
• Astronomers map the universe's dark matter at unprecedented scale
• Dark-Matter Mystery: Why Are 400 Stars Moving as if There's Nothing There?
• Dark matter theories challenged by galaxy discoveries
• The dark matter pelting your body right now: A guide

Space Station

• Amazing Timelapse Video from the Space Station
• Space station crew excitedly awaits private spaceship visit
• Blast from the Past: Funnyman Colbert gets less lofty namesake

Lego Week, Occupy Congress, Debt and Deficits, Economics, Europe, Greece, China

Lego Week

• How LEGO Bricks Work
• LEGO GBC 20 modules
• LEGO Alphabet Spaceships
• Working Lego Super-8 projector
• Fantastic Posters Released of Aragorn & Frodo for the Lord of the Rings LEGO Sets

Occupy Congress: 17 January 2012

Debt and Deficits

• Chart: A Hidden Source Of Budget Deficits
• U.S. debt is now equal to economy
• Paul Krugman: Keynes Was Right NYT
• U.S. wants leaner military; budget growth to slow
• Death of Pennies

Economics

• Ponzi Planet: The Danger Debt Poses to the Western World--Who owns the world’s sovereign debt?
• Money As Debt
• xkcd: Money

Europe

• France to lose AAA credit rating
• German GDP 'likely to have shrunk' in fourth quarter
• Italy and France Team Up against Germany--"Germany has long insisted that austerity be the primary strategy used in confronting the ongoing euro-zone debt crisis. Italy has now joined France in demanding a more nuanced approach...."
• Swiss bankers charged in $1.2 billion tax fraud
• The mafia is now Italy’s largest 'bank'
• Tony Blair and the £8million tax 'mystery'
• Iceland rejects Chinese bid for resort land

Greece

• In Greece, fears that austerity is killing the economy --Pharmacists are 'pleading for aspirin '.
• The Greek parents 'too poor' to care for their children--And the children are 'dumped in the streets'.
• Greece's Growing, Overqualified Agricultural Sector

China

• Why Every Maker Should Learn Chinese
• Chinese learning to be compulsory from 2013--In Pakistan.
• Cost of metals used in hi-tech devices soars as China limits supplies
• Data theft case may test US, China ties
  
• Why we left our factories in China--The flip side.
• Report: Half of China's millionaires want to leave
• These Chinese Beef Cattle Graze In A Garbage Dump

Lego Week, Bread and Caucuses, Vote Machinations, Campaign Financing, Corporate Personhood, Corporations

Lego Week

• Lego Creative ads
• "Imagine"
• Bus stop
• Lego Anatomy
• Lego Cased Computer Crunches Efficiently For A Good Cause

Bread and Caucuses

• Iowa: The Meaningless Sideshow Begins
• Are the Republican candidates all crazy?
• Republicans turn their back on the Enlightenment
• Conservative activists scramble to stop Mitt Romney
• Yahoo! News Funny or Die GOP Online Cyber Debate Thanks gymini29!

Vote Machinations

• Election Law Experts Say James O’Keefe Allies Could Face Charges Over Voter Fraud Stunt
• Judge tosses suit to keep Obama off Alabama ballot, new case filed
• Why Americans are fleeing the GOP and Democrats

Campaign Financing

• Pandering to the Rich, Now in Handy Chart Form
• Super PACs: The WMDs of Campaign Finance--"How the opaque and increasingly powerful organizations are shaping the future of American elections -- and how they might be stopped."
• Billionaire gives $5 million to pro-Gingrich group--"His friend needed his help (NYT)."
• Mitt Romney's $12 Million Mystery Super-PAC Man
• US Supreme Court upholds federal ban on foreign campaign contributions.

Corporate Personhood

• Court: Super Bowl massacre letters weren't threats--"A man who sent letters to news media about his plans for a massacre at the 2008 Super Bowl in Arizona should not have been convicted of mailing threatening communications because the law covers threats addressed to people, not corporations, a federal appeals court in San Francisco ruled Friday." Emphasis mine.
• The Fight to End Corporate Personhood Comes to NYC
• Corporate Personhood Worse, Ending It Easier, Than You Think

Corporations

• Chris Hedges: Corporatist America
• Bill McKibben: Time to get corporate cash out of Congress
• Maximizing shareholder value is "the dumbest idea in the world"

Lego Week, Facebook and Your Privacy, Anonymity, Identity Theft, Marketing, Private Lives

Lego Week

• Lego HK UMP 45
• Lego Man: Halo fan builds amazing Master Chief costume
• Pepper spray cop
• Lego model of The Large Hadron Collider
• Lego Heroica: fun adventure gaming for kids

Facebook and Your Privacy

• US congressmen: Facebook evading privacy questions
• It’s Not All Facebook’s Fault--You're as much to blame for the site's privacy woes as Mark Zuckerberg.
• Will Facebook privacy crackdown stifle Zuckerberg’s grand plan?
• Mark Zuckerberg's Private Photos Shared in Facebook Glitch
• Facebook Privacy Undermined: Google Now Sees Your Embarrassing Comments
• ACMA finds Facebook photos are not private--"Australia’s communications regulator has ruled that television networks are not breaking the industry’s code of practice when publishing photos lifted from a public Facebook profile."
• In Which Eben Moglen Like, Legit Yells at Me for Having Facebook

Anonymity

• How to Create a Fake Identity and Stay Anonymous Online
• Think You're Anonymous? Google Analytics May Prove Different
• EFF declares premature victory in Nymwars

Identity Theft

• Why Twitter’s "verified account" failure matters
• How to steal an identity in seven easy steps
• Stolen iPhone? Your iMessages may still be going to the wrong place

Marketing

• Court Approves Lawsuit Against Toyota Over Cyberstalking Ad Stunt
• Advertisers must let consumers skip online tracking
• Bill Would Let Video Consumers Disclose All Their Choices NYT

Private Lives

• A Day in the Life of Privacy
• Supreme Court takes case on pilot's privacy--"The Supreme Court took up an important privacy case... that traces to the mid-2000s when the Social Security Administration and Department of Transportation exchanged confidential information related to thousands of private pilots."
• Amazon wins fight to keep customer records private
• Actress sues Amazon for revealing her age
• "Privacy is for paedos"--Former News of the World man and tabloid veteran Paul McMulla says at the Leveson inquiry, "...in 21 years of invading people's privacy I've never found anybody doing any good".
• Judge Rules Dorm Room Search for Evidence of Prank Email Illegal
• Net giants challenge French data law

Lego Week, Television, I want my empty V, Jersey Shore, South Park, Commercials

Lego Week

• Lego Is for Girls
• 8-foot-tall Lego Man washes up on Florida beach, held in custody
• A Full Sized House for Lego Loyalists and a Lego Replica of Settlers of Catan
• Time Twister LEGO Clock Spends Most of its Time Telling the Time
• Extreme Lego organization methods

Television

• Watch the Media-Conspiracy TV Funhouse Segment SNL Banned in 1998--Word of the day: Media-poly.
• CBS beats FCC again in Janet Jackson 'wardrobe malfunction' case
• If TV Shows Had Truthful Titles
• The Silent Wonder Years--Incredibly awkward.
• Jonny Quest opening title sequence redone as stop motion
• When "celebrities" sue cartoons Salon
• Death of the TV remote control

I want my empty V

• MTV blows its street cred Salon
• Get on TV? Hey, Smack Me Again! NYT
• xkcd: MTV Generation

Jersey Shore

• Watching 'Jersey Shore' might make you dumber, study suggests
• New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie vetos Snooki Subsidy
• A Series of Dispatches From Jersey Shore's New Intern
• Abercrombie asks Jersey Shore cast not to wear their items-Is it really bigoted?
• MTV's 'Jersey Shore' Brings Profits to Local Businesses, Despite Reputation
• MTV's Geordie Shore upsets locals
• The Irish Jersey Shore - No, Seriously...

South Park

• Uncomfortable truth of why 'South Park' rules
• National Review: An Uncensored Look At 'South Park'
• Infograph: A Few Things You Might Not Know About 'South Park'
• Man who threatened 'South Park' creators gets 25 years in prison
• The gang as girls

Commercials

• Wait for it...
• Smart thief caught on cam
• Tidy up for your girlfriend

Lego Week, Iran, Venezuela, Tyranny, Hacking, International News

Lego Week

• 'Brick' breaker: Lego bible too racy for Sam's Club
• These Are the First Lego Sets Ever Launched Into Space
• Lego Army from the Sarasota Chalk Festival
• Incredible LEGO Daily Planet Pits Superman and Young Justice Against Brainiac
• If Area Dad Steps On Legos One More Time The Onion

Iran

• Iran nuclear crisis: Sanctions 'beginning to bite'
• Iran Calls Threat of Sanctions From European Union 'Economic War' NYT
• Iran Is Now Gearing Up For Its 'Greatest War Games Ever' In The Strait Of Hormuz
• Iran says it will close Strait of Hormuz if crude exports blocked
• Iran judge sentences American, Amir Mirzaei Hekmati, to death for spying

Venezuela

• Venezuela Will Not Recognize World Bank Ruling in Exxon Case NYT
• US expels Venezuela's Miami consul Livia Acosta Noguera
• Iran's Ahmadinejad begins 4-nation Latin American tour in Venezuela, seeking allies' support

Tyranny

• Alastair Smith on political tyranny: How to be a dictator
• The Unconstitutional Constitution--Hungary's slide to dictatorship
• Inside Turkmenistan's Surreal Presidential Election--"The only real question: By what margin will tyrant Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov rig the vote?"
• Yemeni Government Approves Immunity for President
• Iran squeezes Web surfers, prepares censored national intranet

Hacking

• Gordon Brown's Downing Street emails 'hacked'--"Computer crime by press may be as widespread as phone scandal."
• James Murdoch: I didn't read crucial phone-hacking email
• Phone hacking: Andy Coulson sues News Group Newspapers--"Former News of the World editor Andy Coulson is suing his ex-employer over its refusal to pay the legal fees he's incurred in the phone-hacking scandal."

International News

• German president urged to resign over threats to newspaper editor--But he says he's not going to resign.
• Viewpoint: Anwar acquittal boosts Malaysia's opposition--"To the great surprise of many of his followers, Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim was found not guilty of the sodomy charge brought against him by a former aide."
• India fails to pass anti-corruption law: Attention now turns to electoral politics, and who takes the blame
• China activist Ni Yulan and her husband go on trial--"Two Chinese rights activists have gone on trial in Beijing, accused of fraud and libel for their work providing legal help to people whose homes have been seized by the government."
• Justice delayed 30 years in Guatemala
• Haiti 2 years later: Half a million still in camps
• MP Aidan Burley sacked after 'Nazi' party guest photo--Guess his regrets weren't good enough.

Lego Week, Church and State, Ultra-Orthodox Judaism, Afghanistan, Atheism, Scientology, International News

Lego Week

• 2011 in Lego: the year's news - in pictures
• Lego tells Europe how to rebuild, brick by brick
• Paul Di Filippo reviews Cult of Lego
• Occupy Wall Street: the Lego Set
• See the world's tallest lego tower

Church and State

• David Cameron says the UK is a Christian country
• Schools insert God into Australian anthem
• Bishop of London attacks top public school after it demolishes its chapel

Ultra-Orthodox Judaism

• A Clash of Cultures in the Holy Land--"Ultra-Orthodox Jewish groups in Israel would like to see gender separation in public, and some have stooped to harassing women -- and even children -- to get their way. With thousands of Israelis protesting against the growing influence of the super-religious, the rift in Israeli society is getting deeper."
• Petition to protest ultra-Orthodox discrimination against 7-year-old Beit Shemesh girl
• Israeli ultra-orthodox Jews clash with police--They've done this sort of thing before.

Afghanistan

• Either Your Phone Plays Taliban Ringtones, or You Die--"Vendors in Kabul are doing a brisk trade in Taliban ringtones. Because Afghans report that the Taliban kill travelers at clandestine checkpoints if they don’t hear one of their messages on someone’s phone."
• Can Theater Transform Kabul?--"Established in 2005, the Aftaab Theater provides a refuge and sense of liberation for young people seeking to carve out a future in a country where many feel out of control of their own lives. Those behind the rejuvenation of the theater hope that it can play a role in reviving the creative and artistic freedoms that fell victim to the dictates of Taliban rule."
• Afghan women boxing for equality--"Female boxers in Afghanistan - overcoming threats from conservatives who think the sport is taboo - are hoping to win gold at the London Olympics. "

Atheism

• Penn Jillette: An Atheist's Guide to the 2012 Election
• Do Christians believe in atheists? UBC study finds believers distrust atheists as much as rapists
• Christians issue death threats over Twitter hash tag

Scientology

• Conflict at the heart of Scientology is exposed in bitter email outburst--A high-ranking member isn't happy with the way the money is being handled.
• Scientology's Cruise Ship as Prison: The Voice Interviews Valeska Paris
• The Church of Scientology’s friends in Washington Salon
• Russian court bans Scientology literature as ‘extremist’
• Church of Scientology facing back-pay claims

International News

• Vatican stunned by Irish embassy closure
• Canada "honor killings" on trial: An Afghan immigrant allegedly killed his daughters
• Catholics prepare for first new translation of the English Mass in decades
• A Jew of No Religion--"An Israeli novelist gets a legal writ of divorce between Jewish ethnicity and religion."
• Girl's baptism banned by judge after court battle--"[A magistrate] determined that the girl should make up her mind about being baptised when she was older."
• Police shave mohawks off punks at Indonesia concert
• Boy 'tortured and drowned' over witchcraft claims, court told

Star Wars Weekend, Posters and Lego, Media, Fucks News, Hoodwinking the News

Star Wars Weekend

• What "Star Wars" can teach my son about life Salon
• Why 'Star Wars' Is Secretly Terrifying for Women
• The real George Lucas has been imprisoned for 20 years while an impostor ran amok, making prequels

Star Wars Posters

• The classic 'Star Wars' poster and The Force of history
• Lovely Star Wars posters--Created by same guy who made this cool retro Thor poster.
• Star Wars Posters by Tom Whalen
• Incredible Star Wars Propaganda Posters
• Hungarian Film Posters

Lego Star Wars

• Avanaut's Photostream
• Star Wars' Battle of Hoth, LEGO Style!
• Legoland trains Web cam on 'Star Wars' Miniland

Media

• Bill Moyers Discusses Independent Media and Fighting Back Against Unbridled Corporate Greed and Power
• WashPost: criminal law is not for political elites--What's telling is that these are the newspapers protecting these guys and no longer putting them to a higher standard like they used to. Salon
• Keith Olbermann on Why He Left MSNBC - and How He Plans to Get Even
• Aaron Sorkin: What I Read
• MSNBC Replaces Fox News

Fucks News

• How Roger Ailes Built the Fox News Fear Factory
• The Elephant in the Green Room--"The circus Roger Ailes created at Fox News made his network $900 million last year. But it may have lost him something more important: the next election."
  
• The Chasers on Fox News
• How You End Up Bankrolling Fox News: News Corp. and Rupert Murdoch Weasel Out of Paying Taxes
• Study: Fox News Viewers “Most Misinformed” Of All News Consumers
• Anderson Cooper Criticizes Sean Hannity For Misleading Edit
• Jon Stewart to Bill O’Reilly: Fox News is a 'selective outrage machine'
• Megyn Kelly and Fox News Helped Sen. Ensign Cover-Up His Crimes
• Regulators Reject Proposal That Would Bring Fox-Style News to Canada
• Fox fooled by "Muslim ban on padded bras" hoax

Hoodwinking the news

• Urban fox hunt video was hoax aimed at the media, say film-makers
• Pranksters print spoof NY Times
• Instant replay: Alleged yo-yo champ dupes TV shows