• Coming to an ID Card Near You: Your DNA – “Can there be any doubt that the UK government will, at some point, try to add DNA to the other biometrics on the card?” Scary stuff.
• How to spot a hidden religious agenda – Apparently this article was pulled from the New Scientist website shortly after it was published which is a bid odd as there’s nothing scientifically objectionable.
• Tea really does taste better from your favourite cup – “Your daily brew tastes better from your favourite mug.”

• Ryanair’s New Emergency Instructions Could Be Real One Day – Funny. Though we probably shouldn’t give them ideas.
• Liberal Democrats – Freedom Bill 2009 – I didn’t hear about this first time around, but it sounds like a good idea. As one of the commenters noted, even if it doesn’t go anywhere it might make the Government justify why these laws are needed when there are perfectly good, less draconian one already in place.
• Among the Inept, Researchers Discover, Ignorance Is Bliss – “People who do things badly … are usually supremely confident of their abilities — more confident, in fact, than people who do things well.” I can’t actually remember how I stumbled across this link any more, but it makes fascinating reading. Does kind of make you a little paranoid, though.
• 10 Geeky Tricks for Getting Out of Bed in the Morning – I should probably read this more closely when I’m properly awake. I’m getting worse and worse at getting up in the morning…

• ID Card Database *Already* Breached – “Yes, that will be a good excuse, won’t it: honest guv, I just inadvertently clicked on Gordon Brown’s ID card information….” Does anyone still think they’re a good idea? I especially like the argument that because it’s been broken it’s more secure. Nice.
• Who profits from the App Store? – A rather more balanced piece about the iTunes App Store than we typically see. Certainly I’m nearer the one copy a day end of the spectrum than the quarter of a million dollar in a couple of weeks you normally see in articles like this… (via @neilinglis)
• Straw slaps ban on Iraq debate docs – How, in a democracy, does one person get to decide this? Surely taking a country to war is in the public interest?!

• The League of Moveable Type – Most free or open source fonts I’ve seen have been pretty poor but these guys seem to have the right idea.
• Government plans travel database – “When your travel plans, who you are travelling with, where you are going to and when are being recorded you have to ask yourself just how free is this country?”
• Learning and Working in the Collaborative Age: A New Model for the Workplace – Fascinating ten minute video on what Pixar look for in candidates, summarised as Depth, Breadth, Communication and Collaboration. Given those criteria I’m guessing they’re very selective!

• NetNewsWire and iPhone-Sized Data – “Lesson learned: It’s not enough for an iPhone app to sport an iPhone-optimized user interface. It needs iPhone-sized data, too.” I agree with this in principle but I’ve been thinking how I’d apply it to my iPhone application, Yummy, and coming up with a blank. How can you decide in advance which bookmarks you’ll want to see? Most recent? Those with a particular tag? I can’t think of an option other than ‘all.’
• The Inauguration of President Barack Obama – In case you’re not sick of the inauguration already, here are some great images of the day.
• Gordon Brown withdraws plan to keep details of MPs’ expenses secret – “The PM said proposals for reforms of MPs’ expenses would provide ‘more transparency’ than in most other parliaments around the world.” I’m not convinced that this is a standard we should aspire to. Let’s face it, our parliament is more open that North Korea and less tyrannical than Iran’s but really that’s not much of an achievement.

• Withnail tourism – Must head up to the lakes, or at the very least dig out my DVD.
• Bush Street Renamed Obama Street in San Francisco – Welcome to the White House, President Obama!
• Bush: ‘Our Long National Nightmare Of Peace And Prosperity Is Finally Over’ – On the eve of Obama’s inauguration it’s instructive to look back to Bush’s 2001 speech…

• 6 days to stop MPs concealing their expenses – I’m appalled that they’re trying to stop the public finding out how they’re spending our money! How about some accountability?
• Yummy 2.0 Quick Overview – New version of my iPhone delicious.com client. Lots of new features, including a web preview, integration with various Twitter clients, view by tag, improved search, streamlined bookmark editing… the list goes on!
• If you’ve nothing to hide… – Double standards from MPs. Who’d have thought?

George W. Bush stars in the latest (and little publicised) in the gory Saw movie franchise. In it he discovers some interesting new “enhanced interrogation” techniques and finds that getting out, with no recourse to legal representation or trial, is, quite literally, torture.

• Ars Book Review: “Patent Failure” – Interesting book review about the effect of patents on an industry. Apparently cost more money than they make in anything but chemical and pharmaceuticals.
• Lucky to be a Programmer – I don’t program as much as I used to but this explains why I love to when I get the chance.
• WordPress 2.6 – Usual drill. I’ve upgraded to the latest version of WordPress, the underlying software of ZX81.org.uk. If you see anything wrong please let me know!
• 20 Amazing Facts About Voting in the USA – Still in any doubt that computerised voting machines are a bad idea for free and fair elections?

• Review: Charming Wall-E Sweeps Up Trash, Hearts – Seems that being bought by Disney has not cramped Pixars style. Definitely one that I’ll see at the cinema.
• Labour fifth as Tories win Henley – When Labour get fewer votes than the BNP in a by-election there is a big problem…
• Legal, British P2P ‘by end of year’ – Is the music industry finally ready to embrace new distribution models?