More on:
Justice Department says no to net neutrality here.
Federal Court rules Patriot Act statute unconstitutional here.
No peaches for the Treasurer here.
Southwest Airlines fashion police here.
Airline sacrifices goat here.

It’s called Groovle. Based in Ontario, Groovle allows you to create a custom Google homepage (provided that you like to use a basic Google search page without widgets).

Groovle has a bunch of custom pages they have already designed, with images ranging from planets to half-naked celebrities. You can also upload your own image and create a homepage with a photo of your choice. I’m surprised it took so long for someone to come up with a way to create custom homepages for people who don’t know how to make custom Google search engines.

But chances are you missed these stories: the first reporter is allowed inside the Terrorist Screening Center, dogs hunt down pirated DVDs, and graffiti for the blind.

More on:
NPR story on the Terrorist Screening Center here.
DVD-sniffing dogs here.
Braille Graffiti project (with video) here.

(audio clip from Dr. Strangelove)

After pressure from the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, the Department of Defense has shut down an evangelical group’s plan to send free copies of its video game to American soldiers serving in Iraq.

“Left Behind: Eternal Forces” is a PC-based role-playing game, in which your mission is to convert non-believers and kill the Antichrist’s army. The group planning to send the game overseas, Operation Straight Up, is an evangelical entertainment group whose leaders include champion kickboxer Jonathan Spinks and actor Stephen Baldwin.

More on:
“Left Behind: Eternal Forces” here.
Operation Straight UP here.
Max Blumenthal breaks the story here.
Department of Defense cancels the plan here.
Military Religious Freedom Foundation here.

Some of DARPA’s projects are patently utilitarian, such as a net that catches rocket-propelled grenades, brain-controlled prosthetics, and a device that can translate spoken languages.

But then there are the weird projects. Like lizard robots. Or cyborg moths. Oh, and don’t forget pig feces.

More on:
DARPA here.
DARPATECH official website here.
Live blogging of DARPATECH here.
Slate Magazine review of DARPATECH here.
Brain-operated prosthetics here.
Pig feces research here.
Luke’s Binoculars here.

Now you can.

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) announced yesterday a deal with Amazon.com to distribute DVD copies of The Archives’ public domain video footage.

The NARA has more than 200,000 motion picture titles (newsreels, documentaries, government films, etc.) that are available as part of the public domain. Now, for $19.99 each, you can order your own DVD copies of the Universal newsreels, from 1920 to 1967. According to the National Archives, other holdings will soon be available, as well.

More on:
NARA Press Release here.
Washington Post article here.
Titles currently available at Amazon here.

Internet Archive, based in The Presidio in San Francisco (along with all the other non-profits in the universe), has just launched the demo version of an amazing project, called The Open Library.

You’ve probably heard a lot about how various organizations have been dreaming up this idea of putting all the world’s books together into one virtual library.

The Open Library is it. It’s just in the beginning stages, but it’s incredibly impressive and exciting. And free.

And, of course, open. So you can contribute your own scanned books, article critiques, and catalouging know-how.