Richard Stallman writes for the BBC in It's not the Gates, it's the bars: "Gates may be gone, but the walls and bars of proprietary software he helped create remain, for now".... ...

Usually I'm just amused by the self-loathing articles and columns in the Sunday Times, but lately they've been pushing more pieces on plastic surgery (in no way a reflection of recent ad placements, I'm sure). Elective plastic surgery freaks me out - why risk death, permanent pain or disfigurement to 'fix' some imaginary flaw that doesn't even bother anyone else? An article today, The man who wants to reshape your private parts, is a step too far: "My customers say, 'You know what, I don't like the length of my labia minora. I don't want the small lips projecting outside... ...

A very real and interesting example of the ways in which assumptions made by archaeologists determine how they view the evidence. The implications, if anyone ever had time (and the guts) to go back and review the documentary records from previous digs, could be huge. DNA reveals sister power in Ancient Greece University of Manchester researchers have revealed how women, as well as men, held positions of power in ancient Greece by right of birth. Women were thought to have had little power in ancient Greece, unless they married a powerful man and were able to influence him. But a... ...

The same-sex marriages in California almost made me cry. On the Age: California ushers in gay marriage era - the couple in their 80s are amazing. And the BBC: California ushers in same-sex weddings Why are the bigots so bothered about gay marriage? Surely they can't all be closet cases?... ...