A US judge has granted political asylum to a family who said they fled Germany to avoid persecution for home schooling their children. Uwe Romeike and his wife, Hannelore, moved to Tennessee after German authorities fined them for keeping their children out of school and sent police to escort them to classes. Mike Connelly, attorney for the Home School Legal Defence Association, argued the case. He says, "Home schoolers in Germany are a particular social group, which is one of the protected grounds under the asylum law. This judge looked at the evidence, he heard their testimony, and he felt that the way Germany is treating home schoolers is wrong. The rights being violated here are basic human rights."

XorNand writes "Television's Mr. Wizard, Don Herbert, died today at 89. He introduced generations of young viewers to the joys of science. Herbert, who had bone cancer, died at his suburban Bell Canyon home near Los Angeles."

AtomicSnarl writes "When Carlisle, PA, police noticed their traffic stop was being videotaped, they arrested the fellow with the camera for felony wiretapping. From the story: 'Kelly is charged under a state law that bars the intentional interception or recording of anyone's oral conversation without their consent... An exception to the wiretapping law allows police to film people during traffic stops.. [An assistant DA] said case law is in flux as to whether police can expect not to be recorded while performing their duties.'"

Telltale Games, makers of the recent Sam and Max episodic series of adventure games, has announced that they've gotten ahold of $6 million in funding. GamesIndustry.biz references the press release, which states that a San Francisco-based venture capitalist firm took the plunge ... apparently based on the power of the digital distribution methodology. Telltale's CEO and co-founder Dan Connors said, "This funding will allow us to stay on the cutting edge of innovation by building out our team and our tools, and by taking on new licenses for the episodic treatment ... Telltale has it all-a great group of people who are changing an industry while doing what they love," said Granite Ventures managing director Chris Hollenback, who has now joined Telltale's board of directors." Considering that a year ago no one was sure if the Sam and Max games would work in this format, I think this is telling about the future of games and digital distribution.

Capcom titles will be appearing on Valve's Steam service, reports GameDaily. "The first game to come to Steam under this agreement will be Devil May Cry 3, scheduled for later this week. Following that in the next few weeks will be Onimusha 3 and then Lost Planet: Extreme Condition on June 26 (which is day-and-date with the retail PC version). And later this year Steam will get Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix."