The blog Nanobot is asking for donations from people who find it useful, because otherwise "NanoBot is in danger of coming to an unceremonious, crashing halt."

The request seems reasonable, but the argument goes on in a curious way: "Information needs to be free, and nanotech information in particular needs an open and free forum such as this one."

So people must pay because information needs to be free? The logic here is getting very weird. And tell me again why information should be free instead of paid for, especially when Wall Street is full of people desparate for information about nanotech on the theory that it is the next investment Golconda.

I suppose it is nice of Nanobot to subsidize the investment community, but there is something nutty about making it into a moral imperative.