The Lowereast blog brings to attention a curated section of Flickr called The Commons. Although this section is associated with the Library of Congress, everyone is free to contribute and use the images.

A feature that the Lowereast blog notes as worthy is The Commons' NASA section, showing off some beautiful photography of yesteryear that highlights man's first steps in the manned space program.

In a somewhat untraditional partnership, Snoop Dogg and Symantec's Norton want you to show off your lyrical skills on the subject of cybercrime and enter the "Hack is Wack" cybercrime rap contest.

Winners get to fly to Los Angeles, chill with Snoop Dogg's management to learn about the business (how much fun does that sound?), get tickets to a Snoop Dogg concert and receive a laptop "pimped out" with, wait for it... Norton Internet Security 2011. Sadly, a one-on-one with the Dogg himself to discuss the pros and cons of using Microsoft Windows is not part of the package.

Did you know that where Highway 401 intersects with highway 400 it is not only the busiest road in the province, it's the most heavily travelled in all North America? Its average annual daily traffic volume is 432,000 vehicles -- and that was in 2006, the latest full year for which figures are available. In the spring of 2009, a peak of about 455,000 vehicles was counted there.

Mark Richardson, Editor of Wheels, has put together a listing of the oldest, the fastest, the busiest, the most ghastly, the worst, the most isolated, the most temporary, the most advanced, the longest and, of course, the most beautiful roads in the Province of Ontario. They're all here, just a click away.

In his new book, The Grand Design, British Physicist Stephen Hawking says God wasn't necessary for the creation of the universe. Instead, he believes that the unravelling of a complex series of theories will explain the universe.

Despite the word "complex", the book doesn't sound like it will be for a selected few. Instead, it follows on the success of A Brief History of Time where complicated topics are discussed in a way even non-physicists can understand.

From New Scientist's review: "The Grand Design, [...] is Hawking's first popular book in almost a decade. It duly covers the growth of modern physics (quantum mechanics, general relativity, modern cosmology) sprinkled with the wild speculation about multiple universes that seems mandatory in popular works these days. Short but engaging and packed with colourful illustrations, the book is a natural choice for...

As news have reported last night, the hostage-taking situation at the Discovery Channel building ended after police shot and killed the gunman, James Lee. Reportedly, Police described the gunman as having "concerns" with Discovery's programming, but would not elaborate. The concerns appear to be of an environmental nature.

James Lee's website, SaveThePlanetProtest.com, has been down since trying yesterday, but you can still see his demands via Google's Cache here.

What happens when you take Family Circus and you mix it with Jersey Shore? This scary thing happens...

Garfield Minus Garfield is a site dedicated to removing Garfield from the Garfield comic strips in order to reveal the existential angst of a certain young Mr. Jon Arbuckle. It is a journey deep into the mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against loneliness and depression in a quiet American suburb.

For all its championing of transparency, secret-sharing website Wikileaks.org is more secretive than almost any media organization. You can help shed some light on Wikileaks by submitting your tips and documents to: leaks@wikileakileaks.org. Anonymity guaranteed.

WikiLeakiLeaks.org will process this data using the highly-scientific criteria of "does it look legit?" and post it here with commentary. (The site was created by Gawker to reportedly give WikiLeaks a taste of its own medicine...)

"Today I bring you a story that has it all: a solar-powered, low-cost, open source cellular network that's revolutionizing coverage in underprivileged and off-grid spots," tells us Julie Bort of Network World. "It uses VoIP yet works with existing cell phones. It has pedigreed founders. Best of all, it is part of the sex, drugs and art collectively known as Burning Man. Where do you want me to begin?"

"The third edition of the Oxford English Dictionary," tells us the guardian.co.uk's Aida Edermariam, "will probably never be printed". With the print market disappearing, the new edition of the Oxford English Dictionary will be online-only. Many of its rivals -- Collins, Chambers et al. -- have already launched free web versions. But Aida asks: "which one is the wordsmith's best friend?"

There are many reasons why you can get to feel a bit lonely, or maybe just in need of some fresh new people to talk to. Our lives can get in a rut, we work hard these days, kids and obligations get in the way of social activities but most of all; the world gets bigger all the time. We meet many people every day but often just do not connect with them. The Secretclub is one way of connecting to strangers in a fun, safe and easy way.

There are some books that will bore you to tears. Books that are a waste of time just sitting there on the shelf. But you have to read them, because they are relevant, or because they help you understand things, or because just because. This series of articles looks at some of these books. This instalment: We The Living by Ayn Rand.

The other night, after a smashing game of Dungeon and Dragons, I said bye to my friends, turned on my lights, hopped on my trusty metal steed and started pedalling home down Yonge Street. In front of me was a woman riding her bike. Since she wasn't going fast enough for my taste, I made a point of passing her. She didn't like that. The pseudo race that followed proved to be one of the most competitive challenges I have ever endured.

They were starting a new life together. She was happy.Wasn't she? This was everything she ever wanted. At least, it was now. It hadn't been hard leaving the city. She had graduated with honours. All that was left for her in the city was post-doc, or that extended master's program she had once worked so hard to get accepted to. It's not hard to give up dreams if new dreams come.

Why Other People Think I Should

And Why They Are Wrong

Elections are coming up here in the Netherlands, Europe. Because of this I have been subjected to just about every cliché there is about the subject. But I do not vote. I made a very conscious decision not to vote and in fact I urge everybody to follow my example.

She walks the last stretch home. It's nearly summer, which means their street is nearly not as depressing. Post-war brownstone blocks. Satellite dishes on the tiny balconies. Garbage bags at the door, waiting to be collected.

Once this was paradise. Her uncle and father helped her renovate the small apartment. Two men who shared her tastes, and her unshakeable belief that, in fact, their tastes, their beliefs, their opinions, were in a way better than anyone else's. People she could work with.

This video shows you what people are really using the iPad for. Is anyone really surprised?

Some people say she has her life planned out, but she knows that is not true. You can't plan for the inevitable. It is like the difference between knowing and believing. And she believes.

Talk about tattoos. Talk about music. Talk about whatever. She feels out of place. She feels intimidated. It's not her, she tells herself. She is cool. It's them. The old guys staring at her. The normal people. The conformists. The ever so non-conformist conformists, all looking the same.

Until a few nights ago, I was the proud owner of a jail-broken iPhone 3G. A recent crash and a forced firmware upgrade left me locked out of my own phone. It has now become obvious that Apple is the superior force, Steve Jobs knows better and that I will no longer attempt to do what I believed was only fair with a phone I thought I actually owned.

There are some books that will bore you to tears. Books that are a waste of time just sitting there on the shelf. But you have to read them, because they are relevant, or because they help you understand things, or because just because. This series of articles looks at some of these books. This instalment: The Communist Manifesto.

As a sci-fi geek, whose only criteria for a good television show is the word "star" in its title, I was quite interested when in recent news scientists started toting the abilities of their latest toy, the Kepler telescope. The Kepler is a satellite named after some German astronomer, whose mission is to search the skies for planets that are similar to our own. The scientist have made the bold claim that, within the next four to five years, we could soon discover earth-like planets capable of harbouring life, hinting that aliens may really be out there. Are they? Of course.

The issue's rather long, and since the general tone of editorials seems to lower people's spirits to that of meagre slaves, this is it.