Learn Python The Hard Way -- Zed Shaw's book on programming Python, written as 52 exercises: Each exercise is one or two pages and follows the exact same format. You type each one in (no copy-paste!), make it run, do the extra credit, and then move on. If you get stuck, at least type it in and skip the extra credit for later. This is brilliant—you learn by doing, and this book is all doing.
When The Revolution Comes They Won't Recognize it (Anil Dash) -- nails the importance of Makers. Dale Dougherty and the dozens of others who have led Maker Faire, and the culture of "making", are in front of a movement of millions who are proactive about challenging the constrictions that law and corporations are trying to place on how they communicate, create and live. The lesson that simply making things is a radical political act has enormous precedence in political history.
Truthy -- project tracking suspicious memes on Twitter.
UK Open Government License -- standard license for open government information in the UK.

Of Tandoori and Epicuration (JP Rangaswami) -- Curation is the process by which aggregate data is imbued with personalised trust.
Siri -- a personal assistant iPhone app, like IWantSandy but with voice recognition.
Evaluating the Reasons for Non-use of Cornell University's Institutional Repository -- great lessons for all open data projects. The reward structure established by each discipline largely defines the motivation behind faculty behavior. As eloquently stated by the economist, "While we are going through a digital revolution - in the way we teach and communicate with each other - the reputation of being published in the print journals is still the strongest incentive for motivation." This position was largely echoed by the engineer, who stated "what is holding us to the journal is the promotion procedure. This is about a problem of measurement with how Cornell evaluates my work." That said, there are real risks associated with changing one's practices, especially when one assumes the role of an early innovator. As the communication faculty member summarized, "There has to be a better way than the current system, but I'm not willing to be on the leading edge in using that system." (via JHW)
Google Voice Transcriptions Annotated as Poetry -- found art that reminds us that it's hard to wreck a nice beach.
WHATEVER THIS IS (Caller: My friend Christina)

Hey mister
it's Christina
just left you a message and then
I got your message and realized
you're stuck out

but I'll try you.

But yeah, just trying to be tomorrow
(if you get the chance)
And if you're a few Karen in China the next day
Council lot more
eating minnows on the step
and give me a little

I'll be hanging around then and I am
well,
whatever this is.

Mimo Monitors -- USB-powered external monitors for your laptop or desktop, and you can daisy-chain them for multiple external monitors. Opens the possibility of task-specific monitors (one for chat, one for email, one for shell, one for code, ...). Monitors are 7" (800x480) and there's even a touchscreen option. (via James Duncan)
The Secrets of Malcolm Gladwell -- how to give a talk like Malcolm Gladwell. A short read and interesting. (via thestrategist)
Plupload -- a nice widget to handle file uploads (drag'n'drop, resizing, etc.). Has backends for Flash, Gears, HTML5, Silverlight, and Yahoo's BrowserPlus, selects the best that's available. (via Simon Willison)
The Coming Data Flood (Sunlight Labs) -- Three and a half years after their launch of data.dc.gov They're looking at incredible exponential growth. Last year they saw more than a doubling of new datasets being released. It isn't crazy to suspect we'll see the same exponential curve of data growth coming out of the federal government and other municipalities as they follow suit.