Free Republic

Police were involved in an unusual kind of chase on a motorway near Gothenburg on Saturday night. Their quarry was not escaped prisoners or speeding motorists, but rather two circus llamas. The camelids had escaped from Circus Maximum in Vallhamra, and made their way to the E20 motorway, the principal route between Stockholm and Gothenburg. Police tried to catch the creatures, but their efforts served more to alarm them, and they ran backwards and forwards across the motorway, Expressen reports. The chase continued for an hour before circus staff and police managed to catch the frightened llamas.

New game-like computer software is empowering ordinary citizens to help design better cities. Can the professionals and the public learn to play well together? ___ FIFTEEN YEARS AGO, the future of urban planning arrived in the form of a wonkish but strangely addictive new computer game. In SimCity, a player assumed the twin roles of mayor and city planner, creating elaborate cityscapes, managing zoning, transportation, and growth, while fighting off poverty, crime, traffic, and pollution. SimCity went on to become the best-selling game title in history, but its reach has extended far beyond the realm of ordinary gameplay. As Princeton...