Wlliam Gibson snippet, dissing the Devil, Christian sex-aid store, our sun as a gravitational lens…

• 1 – RELATIVELY NEW CARPET
  Another wee snippet from Sir Bill of Gibson; I believe these are genuine snips from his work in progress, so avoid if you hate spoilers, or drool on the glass if you’re hungry.
  (tags: cyberpunk literature excerpt snippet writing sf scifi fiction science Gibson William)
• 2 – Rootkit
  A cheeky little short-short at 365tomorrows that will bring a smile to any fan of open source software.
  (tags: humour Windows Linux software source open story short sf scifi fiction science)
• 3 – 5 excellent places to find DRM-free science fiction
  Does what it says on the tin. Link via BoingBoing.
  (tags: DRM commons creative download ebooks sf scifi fiction science books free)
• 4 – Wired News: God Bless This Lube
  “Book22, named for the twenty-second book in the Bible, “Song of Solomon,” is a new adult novelty store positioning itself as a Christian source of intimacy products for married couples.” I’m pretty sure this isn’t a spoof, either.
  (tags: accessories fun erotic religion Book22 store toy aid sex Christian)
• 5 – What the Devil? Prince of Darkness Is Misunderstood, Says UCLA Professor
  “He’s not the enemy of God, his name really isn’t Lucifer and he isn’t even evil. And as far as leading Adam and Eve astray, that was a bad rap stemming from a case of mistaken identity.” I knew they were lying to me about my buddy.
  (tags: Bible stories characteristics mythology Christianity religion Lucifer Satan devil)
• 6 – ‘Techno Addicts’ pose employer liability, says Rutgers researcher
  In the near future, you may be able to take your boss to court for hooking you on that nice new Crackberry he just gave you.
  (tags: ICT careers commerce Blackberry addiction liability employer devices communications connection technology business)
• 7 – Journalism without the journalists
  “Thomson Financial, the business information group, has been using computers to generate some stories since March and is so pleased with the results that it plans to expand the practice.” I smell redundancies in the major media houses, real soon.
  (tags: futurism blogging automatic financial business stories compile programs news journalism computer)
• 8 – The FOCAL Mission: To the Sun’s Gravity Lens
  Who needs ground-based telescopes when we have a huge natural lens just waiting to be used?
  (tags: systems star distant imaging telescope probe FOCAL lensing gravitational astronomy space)
• 9 – Oil and water mix and un-mix on demand
  This could be useful for cleaning up oilslicks…but everyone seems much keener on using it to extract more oil from the ground. No surprises there then.
  (tags: clean-up spill ecology science chemistry surfactant reversible mix immiscible water oil)
• 10 – A Test Instrument for HF/LF RFID
  Open-source plans for RFID ripper/cloner/hack-em-abouter device now available for download. Enjoy your new passport!
  (tags: source open scanner device cloning hacking RFID technology security electronics)