The bloggers at the official Star Wars Web site had a bit of fun with the Obama administration’s response to a petition asking them to build a Death Star.

CNET News:

…we were told that we must use the official statement and that we must follow corporate policy to defer all press requests to corporate communications.

We were in an impossible situation as journalists. I could have quit right then. Maybe I should have. I decided that the best thing for my team was to get through the day as best we could and to fight the fight from the other side.

Going forward, I will do everything within my power to prevent this situation from happening again.

Anyone else want to join me in calling bullshit on her statement? She didn’t do “everything within my power” to stop it this time. What makes us believe that she will next time?

VL Automotive is making a version of the Fisker Karma hybrid luxury car with the engine from a Corvette instead.

Emily Willingham looks at the danger of sensationalistic reporting in science journalism. Lessons apply to tech journalism too.

Ever thought that a particularly nasty comment trolls can “poison the well” for an otherwise good article? There’s now science to reinforce that opinion.

The New Yorker: In the January 7th issue of the magazine, Adam Green profiles the pickpocket Apollo Robbins. In this video, Apollo demonstrates some of his tricks and techniques, using Green as his victim. Amazing to see Robbins work. You … Continued

io9:

Since June 2010, Jonason Pauley and Jesse Perrotta have been filming a shot-for-shot live-action remake of Pixar’s Toy Story, using human actors as the human characters and real toys for Woody and the gang (and the original Toy Story audio track). The toys move with a combination of stop-motion photography and good old-fashioned puppet strings and wires.

Do yo have far too much time on your hands? Then you might want to do what these guys did!

The southern grasshopper mouse eats scorpions and tarantulas, then howls at the moon in a bload-soaked frenzy afterwards.

Fortune: Two years ago, Brown attempted to teach Watson the Urban Dictionary. The popular website contains definitions for terms ranging from Internet abbreviations like OMG, short for “Oh, my God,” to slang such as “hot mess.” But Watson couldn’t distinguish … Continued

Aaron Swartz, an influential computer programmer who worked on the RSS 1.0 spec and the site Reddit, committed suicide on Friday at age 26.

Apple’s design influence on the consumer electronics industry is obvious to attendees of CES.

Petitions.whitehouse.gov is an official way that anyone with a grievance can try to lobby public support for their cause directly with the White House, and if they garner enough signatures, the administration will find the right person to consider the … Continued

Ars takes a look at a $17,000 hunting rifle that uses a Linux-powered scope to help aim bullets.

Mikko Hypponen’s Windows phone error message makes us happy we’re using iPhones.

John Herman at Buzzfeed breaks down the recent CNET kerfuffle over a rescinded CES award.

Point counterpoint in the debate over gender diversity at tech conferences.

A town outside of Birmingham, England is home to a pub that serves what may be the largest steak in the world: a 9-pound monstrosity.

An entrepreneurial couple have turned to Indiegogo to raise money to take their cookie business to the next level.