The Latest from Boing Boing

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• Lawyer asks judge to force rival to wear nicer shoes
• Pages Books in Toronto to close
• French hackers unveil the HADOPI router: cracks nearby WiFi and makes your traffic traceable to your neighbors
• Transformer Chewy
• Dozens of US Military personnel spotted on Nazi networking site
• Uighur crisis in Xinjiang: an overview
• Mutton Busting: children riding terrified sheep.
• Behind the Scenes at le Bernardin: blacklight for crabshell
• Dushechka, or how I learned to love baseball and bluegrass
• Creative Commons comes to Google Image Search
• Bruce Sterling's closing talk at Reboot -- life in the next decade
• Amazon Kindle contract sucks
• Oh, beautiful for Palin's lies
• Digital Open youth innovation expo: submit early and maybe win a Flip
• Stella Im Hultberg's Memento Mori gallery show in LA
• Johnny Ryan's Exorcist print
• Computer learns sign language
• Citizen Engineer: open source hardware comic and kits
• Genome wager between Lewis Wolpert and Rupert Sheldrake
• An interview with Sarah May Scott
• Recently on Offworld: hyper-scale war, experimental gameplay, WoW Peggle
• Charlie Stross's autobiography
• Charles Babbage comic
• China Mieville talks about his new hard-boiled/fantastic novel

Lawyer asks judge to force rival to wear nicer shoes Posted: 10 Jul 2009 04:45 AM PDT A lawyer in Florida filed a motion to force his rival to upgrade to newer shoes, on the grounds that his homely old hush puppies gave him an unfair advantage by projecting an air of unsophisticated honesty to the jury. 3. It is well known in the legal community that Michael Robb, Esquire, wears shoes with holes in the soles when he is in trial. 4. Upon reasonable belief, Plaintiff believes that Mr. Robb wears these shoes as a ruse to impress the jury and make them believe that Mr. Robb is humble and simple without sophistication. . . . 6. Part of this strategy is to present Mr. Robb and his client as modest individuals who are so frugal that Mr. Robb has to wear shoes with holes in the soles. Mr. Robb is known to stand at sidebar with one foot crossed casually beside the other so that the holes in his shoes are readily apparent to the jury . . . . 7. Then, during argument and throughout the case Mr. Robb throws out statements like "I'm just a simple lawyer" with the obvious suggestion that Plaintiff's counsel and the Plaintiff are not as sincere and down to earth as Mr. Robb. 8. Mr. Robb should be required to wear shoes without holes in the soles at trial to avoid the unfair prejudice suggested by this conduct. Motion to Compel Defense Counsel To Wear Appropriate Shoes (Image: funeral for a pair of shoes 2, a Creative Commons Attribution photo from marco annunziata's Flickr stream)

Pages Books in Toronto to close Posted: 10 Jul 2009 04:40 AM PDT Toronto's Pages bookstore, one of my favorites in the world, is set to close after a rent-hike left it unable to remain in its 30 year Queen Street location. I worked at Bakka, the science fiction bookstore, when it was just a few doors down from Pages (which has a phenomenal periodicals and underground, design, art, and culture book sections, as well as some of the friendliest, most knowledgeable staff you could hope to meet), and I remember when we lost our lease after a rent hike. The store eventually landed back on Queen Street after being acquired by a new owner, but it was touch and go for years. Apparently Pages can't find anywhere else to go and will be shuttering. I'm gutted -- Pages was always one of the highlights of my trips back home to Toronto. "Landlords seem to be recession-proof at this point," he says. "They're just keeping their prices up." Currently, Glassman figures he's getting a good deal at $235,000 a year. But landlord Yoram Birenzweig, VP of Pinedale Properties, says the true market value at 256 Queen West is $100 a square foot - which my calculator tells me is $400,000 a year. That's not what he's demanding Glassman pay, but even if they split the difference, it's all too much for Pages. Glassman keeps stressing his relationship with Birenzweig is genial and that he's not getting screwed over. "It's life," he says. "He appreciates what we're doing, [but] for him, if you can, you should make more money," he says. The article goes on to mention that another great Toronto bookstore, This Ain't the Rosedale Library, rescued itself by moving to Kensington Market from Church Street. I've been to the new location and it's fantastic -- a great store for a great neighborhood. Visitors to Toronto, take note. Pages bookstore going down (Image: Matthew Kim)

French hackers unveil the HADOPI router: cracks nearby WiFi and makes your traffic traceable to your neighbors Posted: 10 Jul 2009 04:33 AM PDT French hackers claim to have sabotaged Internet forensics by creating a firmware for routers that cracks nearby WiFi networks and routes your traffic through them at random, creating false trails leading to your neighbors instead of you. They're calling it the HADOPI Router, in honor of Nicolas Sarkozy's crazy Internet law of the same name. HADOPI originally required ISPs to disconnect users after three unsubstantiated claims of copyright infringement (Princeton's Ed Felten compared this to giving publishers the power to take away all the printed matter in your household if you were accused of committing three acts of illegal photocopying or cut-and-paste). The law was initially defeated in the French parliament, then it passed on reintroduction, only to be struck down by France's high court on the grounds that it violated human rights. Undaunted, Sarkozy has reintroduced the bill, on a fast track, with a provision that creates a five-minute judicial review prior to account termination, fines and imprisonment for those accused of illegal file-sharing. The French HADOPI Router hackers created their technology to highlight the unreliability of network forensics under the best of circumstances, and to create a veneer of plausible deniability for any accused: "Your honor, I must have been the victim of a neighbor with a HADOPI router." A hacker known only as 'N' says he has developed some software known as 'Hadopi Router', a term first penned by bloggers who devised the concept. 'N', who is said to have previously worked manufacturing routers, says he and a few friends wrote 'Hadopi Router' in order to prove that the evidence gathered by the Hadopi agency is unreliable. "It locates Wi-Fi networks in the neighborhood, then begins to crack all their passwords," says 'N'. "Once we have the keys, we can create a virtual access point," which in basic terms means using the Internet connection without the account holder's knowledge. 'N' says that if an 'owned' router has its password changed, the system automatically switches to another Wi-Fi signal in the neighborhood and starts to attack the new password. Additionally, 'N' claims that with Hadopi Router it is possible to monitor activity on the cracked networks but one of his accomplices called 'V' says they have no bad intentions. Hackers Undermine Piracy Evidence With Hadopi Router Previously: France's three-strikes copyright rule is unconstitutional and ... French "three-strikes" copyright law passes -- but may be dead ... French film-makers and science fiction writers protest new anti ... For sale: One French Internet, slightly sarkoed - Boing Boing French government nukes crazy Internet law in open revolt against ... Entertainment industry's greedy lobbying is their undoing - Boing ... U2's manager wants the power to cut off your Internet connection ...

Transformer Chewy Posted: 10 Jul 2009 03:30 AM PDT Susannah Breslin is a guestblogger on Boing Boing. She is a freelance journalist who blogs at Reverse Cowgirl and is at work on a novel set in the adult movie industry. An MTV International promotional spot created by Universal Everything starring a Mister Furry with whom I would like to cuddle. (Via Copyranter)

Dozens of US Military personnel spotted on Nazi networking site Posted: 09 Jul 2009 04:58 PM PDT The Southern Poverty Law Center, a hate-group watchdog organization based in Alabama, will present documentation to Congress on Friday about the presence of active duty military personnel on the white supremacist social networking site newsaxon.org. On that website, SLPC spotted 40 users who claim to be serving in the military, an apparent violation of Pentagon regulations prohibiting racist extremism in the ranks. Mark Potok, editor of the Intelligence Report, a magazine produced at the law center, [said] "The Pentagon really has shrugged this off and refused to look at this in any serious way." On the newsaxon.org website, which Potok termed "a racist version of Facebook run by the National Socialist Movement," many participants list their branch of service, base location and hometown on colorful pages festooned with Nazi art and Confederate battle flags. Some say they have served or will soon be deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. Several include pictures of themselves in camouflage combat uniforms. One participant under the username "WhitePride85," who said he is a 24-year-old staff sergeant from Madison, Wis., wrote: "I have been in the Army for over 5 years now ... I am a SSGT ... I have been in Iraq and Kuwait ... I love and will do anything to keep our master race marching. I have been a skinhead forever." Watchdog group: Dozens of active-duty troops found on neo-Nazi site (Stripes.com, via Wired.com Danger Room) Screengrab: In his "about me" section, newsaxon.org user "SoldatAMG" describes himself as a "Sergeant in USMC stationed at Camp Lejeune (...) recently returned from my 3rd trip to Iraq. I fight every day to stem the tide of multicultturalism and to ensure that my children have a better world. SIEG HEIL!"

Uighur crisis in Xinjiang: an overview Posted: 09 Jul 2009 04:48 PM PDT (Image: "Karakorum Highway, Xinjiang" by flickr user pmorgan.) For folks struggling to understand the current explosion of ethnic unrest in what the government of China officially refers to as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, this Far East Economic Review essay by Calla Weimer may be helpful reading. Snip: What makes Xinjiang so volatile is a simmering resentment by the native Uighur people against repression by the Han majority. Uighurs in many respects are denied the opportunity to live the life they desire. They are inhibited in the practice of their Islamic faith. They are limited in their access to economic opportunity. And, not unlike their Han Chinese counterparts, they are denied basic freedoms of expression and assembly. China's ethnic-minority problems are deeply rooted, and resolving them will require change of a systemic nature. China is not a society that embraces pluralism. Difference is seen as a threat and little quarter is given to alternative points of view or ways of life. The government controls many aspects of people's lives and livelihoods, and local officials have a great deal of power within that context, power that is subject to abuse whether toward Han or toward minorities. But minorities suffer more under a system where prejudices can weigh on official behavior. This in turn brews resentment among those systematically victimized. An acrimonious dynamic builds and festers. This can happen with minority groups anywhere, but in China there is more scope for those who have power to abuse it. And there is no voice for those who have grievances. All Eyes on Xinjiang (FEER, via @rmack)

Mutton Busting: children riding terrified sheep. Posted: 09 Jul 2009 05:09 PM PDT Urlesque has posted a collection of videos that document a sport I wish did not exist: "Mutton Busting." And while 'mutton busting' sounds categorically filthy, it is, in fact, merely the act of a child riding a hyper sheep bareback. I'm of the mind that it's, ah, not a good thing for the child or the sheep. But here I am, suggesting in muted horror from the safety of my desk that you watch the videos. Mutton Busting, In Which Parents Let Their Young Children Get Tossed From Sheep

Behind the Scenes at le Bernardin: blacklight for crabshell Posted: 09 Jul 2009 04:21 PM PDT From a photo-essay "narrated" by chef Eric Ripert with delicious little details about what goes on behind the scenes at the world-famous, Michelin 3-star NYC restaurant Le Bernadin: When serving crab, it is very important to get out each tiny piece of shell that might have been left behind and that is a difficult job. To make the task easier, we inspect the crabmeat under a black light. The shells glow under this light and they are easy to pick out. Behind the Scenes at Le Bernardin (aveceric.com, via @blam)

Dushechka, or how I learned to love baseball and bluegrass Posted: 09 Jul 2009 02:07 PM PDT Guestblogger Marina Gorbis is executive director at Institute for the Future. As my son gets ready to move out of the house to go to college, I've been thinking about another Russian writer who captures universal human themes that resonate over a hundred years later: Anton Checkhov. His story "Dushechka" or, in English translation, "The Darling," has many layers of meaning. Indeed, the Russian word Dushechka originates from the Russian word "dusha" or soul, and thus the title alone has multiple meanings -- soul mate, someone who is all soul, or has a great soul. I'm not going to do Dushechka justice in this post so please forgive me, dear Russian literature fanatics. The heroine of "The Darling" is a young woman, Olenka, who becomes passionate about whatever her loved ones are involved in. First she marries a theater owner and all she talks about is theater. She speaks with contempt of the public, of its indifference to the arts, of its boorishness and insensitivity. She weeps at unfavorable revues and argues with editors. When her husband dies, she marries a timber merchant. Suddenly, lumber is the most fascinating subject on earth as far as Olenka is concerned. She manages her husband's business affairs and dreams of boards, planks, beams, and joists. When the second husband dies, Olenka takes up with a veterinary surgeon. Her acquaintances find out about this simply because she suddenly becomes overwhelmingly concerned with the sanitary conditions of animals: "The health of domestic animals ought to be as well attended to as the health of human beings." And so it goes. It is hard to be a parent and completely avoid turning into a Dushechka just a bit, particularly in this day and age of high parental involvement. Whether we like it or not, we become engaged in our kids' passions and pursuits, and often absorb them as our own. That brings me to baseball and bluegrass. For years after coming to the US, I had absolutely no interest in baseball. In fact, I didn't get it at all -- there just wasn't enough action on the field as far as I was concerned. Once, someone invited me to a party in the box at San Francisco's Candlestick Park where many people watched the game on a TV screen. My reaction? "This would be great if you could only switch to a different channel." I was convinced that you had to be born in America to understand and appreciate baseball. This all changed when Greg, my son, joined his first T--ball team. I grew to love baseball as he moved from T-ball to Little League. We are now proud San Francisco Giants season ticket holders. My husband told me he knew I was fully on board when he heard me say after a pitch, "That was a mean slider!" Similarly, I found myself falling in love with the most American of music genre -- bluegrass. This happened when the building housing the music room in my son's school had to close for repairs, and the kids could not use their favorite electric instruments to play rock music. Instead, John Fuller, music teacher and bluegrass musician, brought out acoustic instruments outside--mandolin, guitars, upright base--and Greg, a 5th grader at the time, suddenly discovered bluegrass. Within a few months, he and his buddies had a bluegrass band and were playing at festivals and farmers' markets. And I, who was raised on Bach and The Beatles, suddenly found myself camping out at various bluegrass festivals, hanging out with bluegrass musicians, and learning to love Bill Monroe and Earl Scruggs, among others. As Greg gets ready to leave for college, the cautionary image of "Dushechka" looms big on my mind. I am going to a lot of ballgames and listening to a lot of bluegrass musicians, probably more than ever before. Am I trying to ensure that my adopted passions continue as Greg moves out, and that I don't turn into a Dushechka? If that is the case, thank you Chekhov for a cautionary tale. The Portable Chekhov (Amazon) Previously: Collecting dead souls in social media - Boing Boing Socialstructing: Bringing Social Back into Our Economy and ... From Odessa to the Future - Boing Boing Guest blogger: Marina Gorbis - Boing Boing

Creative Commons comes to Google Image Search Posted: 09 Jul 2009 12:53 PM PDT Fred sez, "Image search on Google has just become a bit easier and a little less scary: Google officially launched the ability to filter search results using Creative Commons licenses inside their Image Search tool. Searches are also capable of returning content under other licenses, such as the GNU Free Documentation License, or images that are in the public domain." Advanced image search page (Thanks, Fred!)

Bruce Sterling's closing talk at Reboot -- life in the next decade Posted: 09 Jul 2009 12:50 PM PDT " Mike sez, "In his closing talk from last month's Reboot conference in Copenhagen, Bruce Sterling guesses at what it will be like to live through the next ten years: 'It is neither progress nor conservatism because there's nothing left to conserve and no direction in which to progress. So what you get is transition. Transition to nowhere.'" Bruce Sterling - reboot 11 closing talk (Thanks, Mike!)

Amazon Kindle contract sucks Posted: 09 Jul 2009 12:47 PM PDT Courtesy of the Science Fiction Writers of America, Celia sends us "an annotated copy of the Kindle contract. Based on my decidedly non-lawyerish interpretation of this contract and the annotations, I think it says that Amazon now owns everything it wants to own, and you're out of luck if you don't like that." Publishing contracts are generally kind of bogus to begin with, but this is a real pinnacle of bogosity. Neither party may assign any of its rights or obligations under this Agreement, whether by operation of law or otherwise, without the prior written consent of the other, except that (i) Amazon may assign any of its rights and obligations under this Agreement without consent and (ii) you may assign all of you [sic: your] rights and obligations under this Agreement to any corporation or other entity domiciled in the United States without consent in connection with the sale of all or substantially all of the assets of a Title; provided that you shall give Amazon written notice of any such assignment no later than ten (10) business days following such assignment. Subject to the foregoing limitation, this Agreement will be binding upon, inure to the benefit of and be enforceable by the parties and their respective successors and assigns. Amazon can sell this contract - indeed, the whole Digital Books business - to anybody it wants, and your contract rides along with the sale. We revert to the essential necessity for you to be able to terminate this Agreement any time you want under the blue highlighted language in Section 9. Amazon Kindle Contract Review and Annotation (Thanks, Celia!) Previously: Tim O'Reilly: Kindle needs to embrace standards or die - Boing Boing Kindle owners start to lose text-to-speech on purchased books ... When it comes to the Kindle, authors are focused on the wrong risk ... Wil Wheaton vs. Authors' Guild vs. Kindle - Boing Boing Some Kindle books have secret caps on the number of times you can ...

Oh, beautiful for Palin's lies Posted: 09 Jul 2009 12:43 PM PDT Andrew Sullivan has rounded up all the documented major, easily verified lies of Sarah Palin. It's an impressive list, a kind of "portrait of the candidate as a frootbat." Palin lied when she said the dismissal of her public safety commissioner, Walt Monegan, had nothing to do with his refusal to fire state trooper Mike Wooten; in fact, the Branchflower Report concluded that she repeatedly abused her power when dealing with both men. Palin lied when she repeatedly claimed to have said, "Thanks, but no thanks" to the Bridge to Nowhere; in fact, she openly campaigned for the federal project when running for governor. Palin lied when she denied that Wasilla's police chief and librarian had been fired; in fact, both were given letters of termination the previous day. Palin lied when she wrote in the NYT that a comprehensive review by Alaska wildlife officials showed that polar bears were not endangered; in fact, email correspondence between those scientists showed the opposite. The Odd Lies Of Sarah Palin: A Round-Up (via Making Light) Previously: Sarah Palin's legal team doesn't understand DNS - Boing Boing La Pequeña Sarah Palin (Thank you Jesus) - Boing Boing Who scrubbed Wikipedia's entry for Sarah Palin just before nom ... Sarah Palin in 30 seconds - Boing Boing Mad Magazine on Sarah Palin - Boing Boing Vlad and Boris: Love Song for Sarah Palin, our Alaskan Neighbor ...

Digital Open youth innovation expo: submit early and maybe win a Flip Posted: 09 Jul 2009 10:52 AM PDT Are you a young maker or know one? There is still a month to submit projects to The Digital Open, an online expo for open technology projects created by people aged 17 and under from around the world. The Digital Open is a project of the Institute for the Future in partnership with Sun Microsystems and Boing Boing. The deadline for submissions is August 15 but if you enter your project (even if it's not finalized) by July 24, you may win one of five Flip Ultra Camcorders. Grand prizes in the Digital Open include laptops running OpenSolaris and other fun gear. Entries will be judged by Eric Wilhelm of Instructables, Dale Dougherty of MAKE, Kati London of Area/Code, Graham Hill of Treehugger, Linda Rogers of Sun, Nick Bilton of the New York Times, Lawrence Lessig, our own Xeni Jardin, and many other interesting folks. The Digital Open Previously: Digital Open: online tech expo for young people - Boing Boing BB Video: IFTF, Sun, and Boing Boing Launch Digital Open Youth ...

Stella Im Hultberg's Memento Mori gallery show in LA Posted: 09 Jul 2009 10:54 AM PDT One of my favorite painters, Brooklyn artist Stella Im Hultberg, has a solo show of new work opening Friday, July 10, at Thinkspace Gallery in Los Angeles. Along with work on paper, canvas, and wood panel, she's also showing a series of small painted wood figures. Seen here, "Penumbra" (oil on canvas, 12" x 14"). The works in the exhibition, titled Memento Mori, are also viewable online. Memento Mori Previously: New paintings by Stella Im Hultberg - Boing Boing Stella Im Hultberg's beautiful drawings - Boing Boing Roq La Rue Gallery: Hultberg, Sol, Badrak, Hiemstra - Boing Boing Smitten: art by Hultberg, Kawasaki, Sol, Milne, and KuKula - Boing ...

Johnny Ryan's Exorcist print Posted: 09 Jul 2009 10:16 AM PDT Love-him-or-hate-him comix artist Johnny Ryan just issued four new hand-screened prints in editions of 100. My favorite is Johnny's take on The Exorcist. The print is 11.5" x 16", six color, and just $30. Johnny Ryan prints

Computer learns sign language Posted: 09 Jul 2009 10:07 AM PDT Researchers made progress enabling a computer to teach itself British Sign Language by analyzing video footage. The scientists from the University of Oxford and University of Leeds first programmed a machine vision algorithm so the computer could identify the shapes of hands in the video. From New Scientist: Once the team were confident the computer could identify different signs in this way, they exposed it to around 10 hours of TV footage that was both signed and subtitled. They tasked the software with learning the signs for a mixture of 210 nouns and adjectives that appeared multiple times during the footage. The program did so by analysing the signs that accompanied each of those words whenever it appeared in the subtitles. Where it was not obvious which part of a signing sequence relates to the given keyword, the system compared multiple occurrences of a word to pinpoint the correct sign. Starting without any knowledge of the signs for those 210 words, the software correctly learnt 136 of them, or 65 per cent, says Everingham. "Some words have different signs depending on the context – for example, cutting a tree has a different sign to cutting a rose." he says, so this is a high success rate given the complexity of the task. "Computer learns sign language by watching TV" Previously: Boing Boing Gadgets at CES (Video): Krown Sign Language Translator ... Sign language video glossary - Boing Boing Ukranian TV sign-language lady blew whistle on crooked vote ... Koko the Gorilla uses sign language to request dental work - Boing ...

Citizen Engineer: open source hardware comic and kits Posted: 09 Jul 2009 09:55 AM PDT Our pals at Adafruit Industries have launched a new series of kits that include a full color comic book/zine. The first volume of Citizen Engineer is all about SIM card hacking and has the parts to build your own SIM card reader/writer. Citizen Engineer (via MAKE:)

Genome wager between Lewis Wolpert and Rupert Sheldrake Posted: 03 Jul 2009 11:47 AM PDT I received the following press release on June 3 (forwarded to me by Douglas Rushkoff). I honored the embargo date of July 9. In the spirit of famous scientific wagers by notable scientists, such as Stephen Hawking and Richard Feynman, two leading biologists, Professor Lewis Wolpert and Dr Rupert Sheldrake, have set up a wager on the predictive value of the genome. The wager will be decided on May 1, 2029, and if the outcome is not obvious, the Royal Society, the world's most venerable scientific organization, will be asked to adjudicate. The winner will receive a case of fine port, Quinta do Vesuvio, 2005, which should have reached perfect maturity by 2029 and is being stored in the cellars of The Wine Society. Prof Wolpert bets that the following will happen. Dr Sheldrake bets it will not: By May 1, 2029, given the genome of a fertilized egg of an animal or plant, we will be able to predict in at least one case all the details of the organism that develops from it, including any abnormalities. Prof Wolpert and Dr Sheldrake agree that at present, given the genome of an egg, no one can predict the way an embryo will develop. The wager arose from a debate on the nature of life between Wolpert and Sheldrake at the 2009 Cambridge University Science Festival. Prof Wolpert believes that all biological phenomena can in principle be explained in terms of DNA, proteins and other molecules, together with their interactions. He is convinced that it is only a matter of time before all the details of an organism can be predicted on the basis of the genome. Dr Sheldrake believes that the predictive value of genes is grossly over-rated. Genes enable organisms make proteins, but they do not contain programs or blueprints. Instead, he thinks that the development of organisms depends on organizing fields called morphogenetic fields, which are not inherited through the genes. Famous scientific wagers in the past include Richard Feynman's bet of$1000 that no-one could construct a motor no bigger than 1/64 of an inch on a side. He lost. Stephen Hawking bet fellow cosmologist Kip Thorne that Cygnus X-1 would turn out not to be a black hole (Hawking lost). And in 1980 biologist Paul Erlich bet economist Julian Simon that the price of five mineral commodities would rise over the next ten years. In fact they fell. The wager will be reported in full in The New Scientist on 9 July where there will also be articles stating their cases by both Prof Wolpert and Dr Sheldrake. Lewis Wolpert's book How We Live and Why We Die: The Secret Lives of Cells is published by Faber and Faber and the new edition of Rupert Sheldrake's A New Science of Life is published by Icon Books.

An interview with Sarah May Scott Posted: 09 Jul 2009 08:10 AM PDT Susannah Breslin is a guestblogger on Boing Boing. She is a freelance journalist who blogs at Reverse Cowgirl and is at work on a novel set in the adult movie industry. (Self-portrait by Sarah May Scott) At Mayday Productions, blogger Sarah Scott writes about life with a spinal cord injury. Her writing is searingly honest, brutally revealing, and wickedly self-aware. The after is where it really gets grand, gets epic, gets to where one memoir could never be enough. Truly epic shit doesn't start to go down until the very moment you decide to start living again, to start crawling your way back into the light and out of the darkness. I know enough to know now I'll never fully leave the darkness completely, but the reprieves at this point seem to be enough to keep me going for now. sometimes. But no one wants to hear about the after, because it doesn't arc as much as it shakes and shudders in fits and spurts until eventually you recognize an ersatz normalcy has filled the void you left somewhere in all the fallout. I interviewed her for Boing Boing about life in a wheelchair, if she considers herself a cyborg, and her plans on becoming a female Hardiman. SB: Tell me your story. SS: The story that everyone wants to know from the start is why I use a wheelchair. I was 29, one minute racing my road bike, and the next "tits up in a ditch" and a paraplegic. That was nearly four years ago. Prior to that, I was your basic hot mess, but that's a longer story than there is room for here. I will say that PTSD has figured in for a longer time than I ever realized until I was injured. For once in my life, and this always sounds crazy, but after everything I've been through I actually like who I am for the first time in my life, chair and all. I am a small-town girl from State College, PA, though I spent some time in NYC and Philadelphia before returning after my accident. These days I live in a very rural area with my crazy mutts. SB: Are you a cyborg? SS: I am not a cyborg, but I am getting closer and closer to being a terminator. My back is already full of titanium, and I've got a radio-controlled device in my abdomen that feeds medication into my spinal canal. If the trials go well, I hope to get my chance at being the female Hardiman with the ReWalk system. You can start calling me Ripley when that happens. In a sense, being in a chair is like being a cyborg/object to a lot of people, somehow not quite human. I think all women know what it is to feel like an object to a certain degree, but I found it to be much different when you're viewed as a asexual woman and a person of very vague use if any. It made me very early on understand that to survive I was going to have to change how my self-worth was measured. SB: Why do you blog? SS: I started blogging for a few reasons. I was desperately lonely and going through all these sort of insane experiences that no one could understand, and I was desperate to be able to explain them in such a way that people would be able to understand without reverting to all the chair stereotypes that I was just a bitter, mean, crazy person now. There were a lot of people in my life that didn't make the transition to be able to see me first and the chair second, and it was heartbreaking. I thought online I could control things in such a way that people would see me again. In the beginning, it was very much about control. As things have evolved, I started to ease up on that obsessive level of control and start showing the darkness too. It turned out to be hugely therapeutic for me, and I hope that it humanized me for a lot of people as well. More than anything, I want people to see me as a person and not as an object of pity or otherwise. My story is really about grief and catastrophic change, and I think most people at one time or another in their lives can relate to that. Something that wasn't diagnosed early on was that I had a Traumatic Brain Injury during the accident, and my brain works a lot differently now. I can't remember shit, repeat myself constantly, fuck up words, and these creative floodgates opened up and haven't closed since. I see the world so differently, which I think is a big reason why I became so insanely drawn to photography and writing. I write and take pictures because I have to, it gives meaning to my life even if I forget from time to time that I have any. SB: What do people not understand? SS: Most people forget that I'm a very ordinary person living under extraordinary circumstances, and that I'm also incredibly shy to the point of near social phobia in some cases. The things that make healing the most difficult is all the shit I carried with me before the accident, things that become unavoidable after being catastrophically injured. I don't think I'll ever stop grieving, but I do know that everyday it gets a little less painful.  SB: If we could open you up and look inside, what would we find? SS: Under all the armor, I'm someone who's been trying to survive one way or another my whole life, but never had a map or a guide to know how. My hope is that you'd find a lot of resilience and hopefully some beauty along with it. I like to think that I'm finally becoming on the outside the person who was hiding in there all along, but for many reasons wasn't able to be. I'm really, really hoping there's a photographer in there, but only time will tell. Sarah's blog, Tumblr, Flickr, Twitter, Etsy, and service dog training blog.

Recently on Offworld: hyper-scale war, experimental gameplay, WoW Peggle Posted: 09 Jul 2009 08:18 AM PDT A game developer that's been tirelessly evolving what they hope to be the most all-encompassing soldier sim doesn't exactly sound like typical indie fare, argues columnist Jim Rossignol, but their indie-style ambition is there and is typified by their latest, Arma II. See as proof: the collection of videos Rossignol includes in his column, which may be some of the most spectacularly hyper-real Offworld has ever seen, with gratuitous 200 v. 200 plane low-flying dogfights, suicidal jet pilots, and tanks v. chicken battles. That indie spirit continues elsewhere as the creators of World of Goo and Henry Hatsworth return to their roots and re-launch the Experimental Gameplay Project with disco-dancing Robotron games (above) and surprisingly compelling generative evolutionary worm sims, with more new games to come every month. Elsewhere we saw, of course, the mind-blowing Portal in ASCII video, the upcoming European debut of chiptune showcase Blip Festival, watched German TV pair up a games design vet and a new champion of art gaming for a lengthy discussion, fan-made Chrono Trigger T-shirts, and upcoming shirts for indie favorite Cave Story. Finally we saw World of Warcraft-themed Peggle now downloadable as a free standalone game, and our usual 'one shots': Left 4 Dead via LittleBigPlanet, Hello Mario & Luigi, an awesome tribute to Monkey Island's Guybrush Threepwood, and Castle Crashers in Lego.

Charlie Stross's autobiography Posted: 09 Jul 2009 06:40 AM PDT Charlie Stross has just wrapped up a 12-part, 25,000-word autobiography explaining how he came to find himself writing some of the weirdest, freshest, wildest post-cyberpunk fiction in the field. I was stressed out for most of two years. I'm an alpha-type personality to begin with, but this wasn't funny. I was writing fiction (and articles for Computer Shopper) as a therapeutic distraction. Around the middle of 1998, I figured that the novel I'd written in 1995-96 Singularity Sky was about ready, and mailed it off in the direction of Tor in New York, where it sat on a certain editorial director's desk for the next eighteen months. I wrote and sold a couple of short stories, and began work on a project which I was workshopping with some other local writers; a strange humorous horror novel/spy thriller about a hapless geek who's fallen into a government department for dealing with ... look, you probably know where this is going, right?. This was strictly a weekend activity, to distract me from the weekday stress cycle: compartmentalising my life helped me deal with Datacash. But it probably didn't help enough. For most of the end of 1998 and the first half of 1999, the uttermost bane of my life was an ecommerce subsidiary of Bank Paribas called KLELine. They were offering a credit card solution over SSL, which had certain attractions for some of our customers, being (a) French, and (b) able to do some funky and useful things, or so they said. The trouble from my point of view was ... well, they weren't terribly clear on open source, for starters, or on public APIs, which was somewhat more serious. And when I got in deeper, I discovered some horrifying shortcuts in their API. Like, oh, once a credit card transaction hit their servers they'd process it, but the acknowledgement might well disappear into the bit bucket if the poor-quality leased line between London and Paris chose that particular moment to crap out. And the exchange rate for the transaction in question would be pulled out of a hat in accordance with the phase of the moon or something, and a subsequent refund or cancellation request wouldn't go through at the same exchange rate if there was a currency fluctuation. How I got here in the end: my non-tech autobiography (Thanks, Charlie!) Previously: Charlie Stross literary salon with Krugman, MacLeod, et al - Boing ... Stross on the future of gaming - Boing Boing Stross and me on the WELL - Boing Boing Charlie Stross and me at Plokta.con, May 1 - Boing Boing Stross's future-rant - Boing Boing Economics in fiction with Stross, VanderMeer, et al - Boing Boing Charlie Stross interview podcast - Boing Boing

Charles Babbage comic Posted: 09 Jul 2009 06:19 AM PDT Mark from the BBC sez, "Hello, we've got a fabulous short comic strip about Victorian genius and computer pioneer Charles Babbage. It was drawn by ace animator Sydney Padua. It's so good I thought it deserved a much bigger audience." Tech Lab: Sydney Padua (Thanks, Mark!)

China Mieville talks about his new hard-boiled/fantastic novel Posted: 09 Jul 2009 06:17 AM PDT Rick Kleffel sez, "I've recently posted an interview with China Miéville about his new book, The City & The City -- certainly one of the most unusual books you could read this year. He talks about the challenges of working in two genres -- the fantastic and the hard-boiled mystery genre -- in one novel." A 2009 Interview with China Miéville MP3 Link (Thanks, Rick!) Previously: Mieville's 50 sf/f novels for socialists - Boing Boing China Mieville's Socialist Review Christmas story - Boing Boing Open seminar on Mieville's Iron Council - Boing Boing Mieville on Tolkien - Boing Boing Trotskist sf author Mieville interviewed - Boing Boing Steampunk anthology - Boing Boing

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The Latest from Boing Boing

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• Response to IEEE paper that characterizes P2P as undesirable and illegal
• Rupert Murdoch reporters in the UK illegally hacked thousands of peoples' data
• Australian anti-censorship video trying to get on Qantas
• Pneumatic alarm-clock that wakes you by bouncing the bed up and down
• Creative Commons licensed secret society for promoting girls' literacy
• Hello, space rendezvous
• Sci-fi couture on the runway
• @BBVBOX: recent guest-tweeted web video picks (boingboingvideo.com)
• Death by Chocolate (no, really): worker dies in hot cocoa mixing vat
• Guatemala: Charges against Twitter user finally dropped
• Wal-Mart's Twitter Account Comes with a 3,379-word Terms of Use Agreement
• Appreciation of "jumping hour" watches that display time as linear
• Pope damns medical patents
• Australian govt memo, 1968: Women become "spinster battle axes;" "men usually mellow"
• Vancouver Olympics to feature US-style "free speech zones"
• Robert Charles Wilson podcast
• Travis Louie's "Monster?" group art show
• Watch out for that lampshade!
• Man, our president is cool.
• Fun times for the Bicycle Film Festival
• Is that a shoe on your head or are you just happy to see me?
• Music and the mind
• God Bless America
• Eco-friendly textile coffins
• Rice paddy crop art of the year
• Rushkoff: "Google's War On The PC"
• Collecting dead souls in social media
• PES animations: Human Skateboard and Fireworks
• United Breaks Guitars, the complaint anthem

Response to IEEE paper that characterizes P2P as undesirable and illegal Posted: 09 Jul 2009 05:11 AM PDT Kyle Brady, a computer science student, sends us, "a critique of a major IEEE article by Lawrence G. Roberts where he automatically assumes P2P traffic is illegal, unwanted, and should be filtered - then develops the technology to do so." Consider, for a moment, the issue most often cited for "traffic shaping", the practice of filtering a users traffic based on the type and source: legality of content. While there is an abundance of content with questionable copyright origins based on the current interpretations of the DMCA (in America), there is also a sea of legal content being acquired by the same means: Nine Inch Nails, Radiohead, and a number of other musical artists have experimented with a freely available online distribution method, in addition to countless young movie producers that are only interested in their content being available and seen. How can network monitoring practices differentiate between "legal" and "illegal" P2P traffic? Filtering by content source, such as a band's official website vs. IsoHunt, is impractical - the content available via the official source is likely licensed for free distribution and sharing by other means. Filtering by traffic size, as in number of bytes transferred, is a gray area at best - setting an arbitrary size for acceptable P2P traffic, or any type of traffic, creates artificial pricing levels, not to mention potentially endorsing the acquisition of questionably sourced content. There is really only one option left, and it is what most ISPs choose in such cases: filter by traffic type. I've never understood the ISP/admin approach to P2P that says, "We've provided you with a pipe so you can access the Internet, but stop accessing the Internet so much!" If users want P2P, then P2P is what makes paying for an ISP valuable, so why would ISPs want to reduce its availability? That's like a phone company that discovers that teenagers use phones to send a lot of texts to one another, overwhelming their capacity (based on assumptions about how much text users will want to send) who then throttles text-sending rather than changing their assumptions about use-patterns. Incorrect Base Assumptions About Network Management (Thanks, Kyle!)

Rupert Murdoch reporters in the UK illegally hacked thousands of peoples' data Posted: 09 Jul 2009 05:05 AM PDT British journalists working for Murdoch papers have been on a crime spree, hiring private eyes to illegally hack into the voicemail and data of thousands of people, including " tax records, social security files, bank statements and itemised phone bills"; Murdoch has paid out over £1M so far to hush it up. The head of the Conservative party's communications is a former Murdoch exec who from the time that much of this crime was committed by his staffers. Senior editors are among those implicated. This activity occurred before the mobile phone hacking, at a time when Coulson was deputy and the editor was Rebekah Wade, now due to become chief executive of News International. The extent of their personal knowledge, if any, is not clear: the News of the World has always insisted that it would not break the law and would use subterfuge only if essential in the public interest. Faced with this evidence, News International changed their position, started offering huge cash payments to settle the case out of court, and finally paid out £700,000 in legal costs and damages on the condition that Taylor signed a gagging clause to prevent him speaking about the case. The payment is believed to have included more than £400,000 in damages. News Group then persuaded the court to seal the file on Taylor's case to prevent all public access, even though it contained prima facie evidence of criminal activity. As civil liberties campaigner Dr Ian Brown notes: There are two particularly troubling aspects to this story. The Metropolitan Police, Crown Prosecution Service and Information Commissioner's Office all had prima facie evidence of these crimes, but have declined to take action against News Group. And, mobile phone companies continue to allow access to messages using voicemail PINs set to defaults that are apparently known throughout the media. Perhaps in future: 1. Law enforcement agencies will take action against those discovered to be breaking the law, whether or not they work for powerful newspaper groups? 2. Mobile phone companies will not leave their customers' communications wide open to abuse? 3. Government agencies and companies will think a little more carefully before building up large collections of sensitive personal data that will inevitably be sold to the highest bidder? Murdoch papers paid £1m to gag phone-hacking victims

Australian anti-censorship video trying to get on Qantas Posted: 09 Jul 2009 05:00 AM PDT CensorDyne Australian Censorship by rasterblaster Itsumishi sez, "Remember that absurd Internet Filtering Scheme Stephen Conroy and the Australian Government has been continuing to push onto the Australian population? Well GetUp the amazing organisation that has been involved in a lot of great campaigns in Australia has created a very hilarious advertisement they're hoping to get onto every Qantas flight in the country while for next sitting in Parliament. The idea is that most politicians will be flying at some time during this time and they'll be a captive audience. Anyway, the ad is brilliant and they need donations to get it on air, please help!" Censor this? (Thanks, Itsumishi!) Previously: Net censorship down under: Australian government to block protest ... Electronic Frontiers Australia spokesman receives death threat for ...

Pneumatic alarm-clock that wakes you by bouncing the bed up and down Posted: 09 Jul 2009 04:52 AM PDT I wish the video was embeddable, as this has to be seen to be believed: the alarm-clock is attached to a pneumatic gas-lift under a bed that picks it up and bounces it up and down like a lowrider car: Built by reader "Kevin" for a contest, this computer-controlled alarm clock is touted as the world's largest. To be more specific, he "mounted a large air cylinder to the head of [his] bed and a valve, controlled by a computer, which [he programmed] to wake [him] up in the morning." Continue reading to see it in action." World's Biggest Alarm Clock Shakes You Out of Bed, is Computer-Controlled (via /.) Previously: Review of Bandai Gun alarm clock - Boing Boing Boing Boing: Ikea's Slabang alarm clock Annoying alarm-clock roundup - Boing Boing Sony alarm clock controlled by Nintendo light-gun - Boing Boing Boing Boing: Alarm clock wakes you with a noisy hovering chopper Boing Boing: Alarm-clock with USB hub Boing Boing: Roger Wood's exploding alarm-clock Puzzle alarm clock - Boing Boing Fire bell alarm clock Darth Vader Alarm Clock Infallibly Polite Alarm Clock, voiced by Stephen Fry iHome iH41 iPod / iPhone dock / alarm clock twists for bedtime ... Articulated bedside lamp meets alarm clock with the Lamplight ... St. Louis Aerial Clock Radio brings 1920s airplane cockpit ... Bellacor Atomic Alarm Clock bring 1984 to wake-up time - Boing ...

Creative Commons licensed secret society for promoting girls' literacy Posted: 09 Jul 2009 04:46 AM PDT AD sez, "Girls Guild is an ancient secret society complete with a mythological back-story set in Atlantis, secret code and handshake, nemesis, and (perhaps) soon-to-be-ubiquitous symbol -- but with a twist: all of the secrets, iconography and legends are available for retooling, embellishment and propagation under a Creative Commons license." This looks like fun, notwithstanding that Girls Guild appears to be so ancient as to have predated the apostrophe. Introducing Girls Guild (Thanks, A. D. Ammann!)

Hello, space rendezvous Posted: 09 Jul 2009 04:28 AM PDT Susannah Breslin is a guestblogger on Boing Boing. She is a freelance journalist who blogs at Reverse Cowgirl and is at work on a novel set in the adult movie industry. I'm not sure what this video about, but I'm pretty sure it has to do with astrophysics. "Docking," by Mato Atom, who describes himself as a "hobby astronomer without a telescope." (Thanks, Matt!)

Sci-fi couture on the runway Posted: 09 Jul 2009 04:11 AM PDT Susannah Breslin is a guestblogger on Boing Boing. She is a freelance journalist who blogs at Reverse Cowgirl and is at work on a novel set in the adult movie industry. A little "Blade Runner," a little "Metropolis," a little "Coneheads," things got science-fiction-inspired on the Jean Paul Gaultier runway yesterday during the Fall 2009 Paris couture shows. (Image credit: Left and right: Monica Feudi; center: Simone Manzo)

@BBVBOX: recent guest-tweeted web video picks (boingboingvideo.com) Posted: 08 Jul 2009 10:35 PM PDT (Ed. Note: We recently gave the Boing Boing Video website a makeover that includes a new, guest-curated microblog: the "BBVBOX." Here, folks whose taste in web video we admire tweet the latest clips they find. I'll be posting periodic roundups here on the motherBoing.) Richard Metzger: Caught in the Act: The Full Story (most genius thing I've seen in... days) Link Richard Metzger: Michael Jackson's video nasty Unseen footage shows Jacko squirming in horror as he's quizzed over sex Link Richard Metzger: Anderson Cooper vs Sarah Palin's Insane Spokeswoman Meg Stapleton Link Jesse Thorn: Stay with this music video by the Salteens and you will be rewarded. Link Andrea James: What song is this? Link Susannah Breslin: Welcome to Nollywood: Link Richard Metzger: Religion is bullshit! Best George Carlin routine of all? Link Xeni Jardin: a crying baby, auto-tuned (Kanye still sounds better) Link (ht: Tara McGinley) Xeni Jardin: Executive Koala Link (HT: @Beschizza) Andrea James: Spongebob censored Link R. Stevens: British Royal Military Guard does Thriller: Link Sean Bonner: Pedobear live action movie trailer: Link R. Stevens: Raindrops Keep Fallin' on Galactus Link via @chrispiascik Andrea James: How "reality" became so easily manipulated Link Susannah Breslin: Oh, so delightful: Link (via @notcot) Robin Sloan: Webcam choreography. Keep watching, b/c it just keeps getting better: Link (Thx @mwesch) More @BBVBOX: boingboingvideo.com

Death by Chocolate (no, really): worker dies in hot cocoa mixing vat Posted: 09 Jul 2009 12:24 AM PDT A 29-year old worker died today when he fell into a giant vat of hot chocolate at a New Jersey factory. Hope someone at the scene had the presence of mind to question the oompah-loompahs. A spokesman for the local prosecutor's office said the man appeared to have died instantly from a blow to his head by a paddle mixing the chocolate. His colleagues at the factory tried to shut down the mixer, but were too late. Local journalists met some of the workers in the car park, covered in chocolate and seemingly in dismay. BBC report here (Thanks, Antinous)

Guatemala: Charges against Twitter user finally dropped Posted: 08 Jul 2009 09:37 PM PDT Oh, this is righteous and terrific news. Remember Jean Anleu, the mild-mannered, book-loving, code-writing geek who was jailed in May by the Guatemalan government over a single tweet he posted during that country's political crisis? He's a free guy now. The case against him was thrown out today by a Guatemalan appeals court. He has been absolved of all charges. Prensa Libre has a comprehensive article in Spanish here, and this link takes you to Spanish-language audio of the proceedings today. Friends are still collecting funds to cover @jeanfer's sizeable legal bills. If you care to donate, you can do so to his friend Manolo's PayPal account (manolo@manoloweb.net, yes I have vetted it, and yes it's real). Previously: Guatemala: Conversation With @Jeanfer, Twitterer Facing Up to 10 Years In Prison for One Tweet. Guatemala: Entrevista Con El Tuitero @jeanfer Guatemala: Twitterevolution, "YouTube Sedition," and Deepening ... Guatemala: "El Efecto Streisand," Update on Twitter User Arrested ... Guatemala: Twitterer Released from Jail, Now Under House Arrest ...

Wal-Mart's Twitter Account Comes with a 3,379-word Terms of Use Agreement Posted: 08 Jul 2009 09:03 PM PDT Only lawyers, EULA collectors and legal obsessives will find this funny, but it cracked me up: care to access the 140-character pearls of wisdom streaming forth from Wal-Mart's Twitter account? Well, first you have to agree to the 3,379-word Terms of Use agreement that comes with it. I know, I know, a lot of big corporate entities on social networking sites likely put forth equally verbose TOUs, but -- a "Twitter Discussion Policy"? Awesome overkill. It all starts here. (via @zephoria)

Appreciation of "jumping hour" watches that display time as linear Posted: 08 Jul 2009 06:17 PM PDT On the Watchismo blog, Mitch celebrates the launch of the Urwerk King Cobra CC1, a remake of the original "jumping hour" watch, explaining why he's so fascinated with these remarkable, largely extinct timepieces. Time is usually - nearly always - displayed by a circular indication: one dial and two (or three) with the time displayed around a perpetual circle. However, this 360° representation of time goes against everything we learnt as we grew up drawing a straight line on a blank page and marking it Past, Present and Future. Why do we think of time as travelling in a straight line yet display it rotating around a circle? The answer is straightforward: mechanisms that continually rotate are much simpler to produce than those that trace a straight line then return to zero. In fact, the latter is so difficult that, until now, nobody has ever managed to develop a production wristwatch with true retrograde linear displays. Urwerk King Cobra CC1 Reintrepretation of 1958 Patek Philippe Cobra Prototype Linear Retrograde Cylinder Jumping Hour Watch Previously: Watchismo Xmas guide - Boing Boing Spherical pocket watch - Boing Boing Mechanical "LED watch" from 1970 - Boing Boing History of calculator watches - Boing Boing Pocket-watch made from carved bone - Boing Boing Early calculator watch prototype - Boing Boing

Pope damns medical patents Posted: 08 Jul 2009 05:57 PM PDT The Pope's latest encyclical (a kind of churchy APA) decries "excessive zeal for ... intellectual property, especially in the field of health care." Section 22 of the letter, entitled "Human Development in Our Time," laid out the Pope's vision of human development goals. It also highlighted the failings of the current system, citing rigid ideology, consumerist "superdevelopment", corruption, and "cultural models and social norms of behavior .... which hinder the process of development." Casting a strikingly pragmatic tone, the encyclical underscores the complexity of development issues, which "should prompt us to liberate ourselves from ideologies, which oversimplify reality in artifical ways, and ... lead us to examine objectively the full human dimension of the problems." Pope Benedict XVI encyclical letter denounces excessive zeal for assertions of intellectual property rights in knowledge

Australian govt memo, 1968: Women become "spinster battle axes;" "men usually mellow" Posted: 09 Jul 2009 04:20 AM PDT Nat sez, "Spinster battlaxe Skud passed me this 1968 minute from the Director of the Trade Commissioner of Australia explaining why women are ineligible for postings. It's a jawdropalicious blast from the sexist past": Even conceding these points, a woman could not stay young and attractive for ever, and later on could well become a problem. (vii) A spinster lady can, and very often does, turn into something of a battleaxe with the passing years. A man usually mellows. Nat continues, "Bearing in mind this sage advice, I've already begun to regretfully decline my daughter's requests for education and social opportunities, explaining to her that "she could not be regarded as a long-term investment in the same sense as we regard" her brother." Minute to the Director, Trade Commissioner Service (Australia) (Thanks, Nat!)

Vancouver Olympics to feature US-style "free speech zones" Posted: 08 Jul 2009 05:52 PM PDT Craig sez, "Looks like Vancouver is getting free speech areas just like the RNC! Yipee! It's so nice of them to set up these areas. I'm sure that even though they're optional, all us polite Canadian folks will be encouraged to full advantage of the designated areas." Good to see the Olympics upholding its tradition of fostering international brotherhood through brutal authoritarian crackdowns, venal rent-seeking, and remorseless forced relocation of unsightly poor people. The head of security for the 2010 Games, RCMP assistant commissioner Bud Mercer, told Vancouver city council on Tuesday, however, that protesters will not be required to limit their activities to the areas. You're free to use them, if you like, but anywhere you participate in lawful protest is legal and lawful in Canada. It doesn't have to be in a free speech area," said Mercer. 2010 Olympic security plans include 'free speech areas' Some homeless to be moved out of security zones (Thanks, Craig!) Previously: Vancouver Olympics will own words like "winter," "2010" and ... London 2012 Olympic logo, a la goatse - curiously appropriate ... London 2012 Olympics: We only buy security tech from sponsors ... Vancouver cops affirm your right to take pictures - Boing Boing China wants sun on demand for Beijing Olympics - Boing Boing Weather modification for the Beijing Olympics - Boing Boing Tibet and the China Olympics: calling out the sponsors - Boing Boing

Robert Charles Wilson podcast Posted: 08 Jul 2009 05:49 PM PDT Mitch writes in with news of his latest Copper Robot podcast, "Robert Charles Wilson discusses his latest novel, Julian Comstock: A Story of 22nd-Century America, which is the most fun novel you'll ever read about the collapse of Western civilization and the end of religious freedom and democracy in America. It's an adventure story about the son of pious snake-handling parents in a small town, who leaves home in the company of the nephew of the President of the United States, and goes off to war and New York. The novel has adventure and romance and comedy and sea voyages and rooftop foot-chases and leaping from building to building. It's great fun. I also talked to Wilson about his 24-year career, past books including Darwinia and Spin, his writing process and favorite tools, and how working for a Canadian civil rights education was great education for a writer." Science fiction writer Robert Charles Wilson (Thanks, Mitch!) Previously: Julian Comstock: Robert Charles Wilson's masterful novel of a post ...

Travis Louie's "Monster?" group art show Posted: 08 Jul 2009 02:43 PM PDT Travis Louie, whose art we've featured many times on BB, is curating a large group show opening this Saturday, July 11, at CoproGalley in Santa Monica, CA. The theme and title of the show: "Monster?" Seen above, clockwise from top left, Mark Garro's "Allure," Bob Eggleton's "Eye Monster," Audrey Kawasaki's ""While You're Sleeping," and Jessica Joslin's "Phineas." The entire show is viewable online as well. Monster? show preview (Thanks, Kirsten Anderson!) Previously: Making a Monkey -- Jessica Joslin shows us her workspace - Boing Boing Jessica Joslin: new exhibition of sculptural beasties - Boing Boing Marco the Monkey sculpture by Jessica Joslin - Boing Boing Jessica Joslin's bone sculptures - Boing Boing Preview of Audrey Kawasaki's upcoming solo show in Tokyo - Boing Boing Audrey Kawasaki new painting exhibition - Boing Boing Audrey Kawasaki's new painting series - Boing Boing Audrey Kawasaki: Juxtapoz profile - Boing Boing

Watch out for that lampshade! Posted: 08 Jul 2009 01:19 PM PDT Susannah Breslin is a guestblogger on Boing Boing. She is a freelance journalist who blogs at Reverse Cowgirl and is at work on a novel set in the adult movie industry. If you liked "RoboGeisha," you'll love "Hausu"! I don't know anything about this movie, except that it was made in 1977, it involves a murderous lampshade, and you should probably not watch it if you don't like blood fountains, disembodied body parts, light fixtures, screaming cats, screaming cat paintings, or screaming cat paintings spewing blood. Maybe in the comments somebody would like to tell us what they're hollering about? Probably NSFW due to some disembodied boobs. (Via Buzzfeed)

Man, our president is cool. Posted: 08 Jul 2009 01:04 PM PDT Susannah Breslin is a guestblogger on Boing Boing. She is a freelance journalist who blogs at Reverse Cowgirl and is at work on a novel set in the adult movie industry. The Big Picture takes a big pixel look back at President Obama's first 167 days in office. He looks cool in pretty much every picture. Well played, Barry, well played. (Image credit: Samantha Appleton)

Fun times for the Bicycle Film Festival Posted: 08 Jul 2009 11:53 AM PDT Susannah Breslin is a guestblogger on Boing Boing. She is a freelance journalist who blogs at Reverse Cowgirl and is at work on a novel set in the adult movie industry. Sure, it's a tad Bat for Lashes, but who's keeping track? This delightful promo spot for the Bicycle Film Festival, a "celebration of bicycles through film, art, and music" underway in Minneapolis as of today through July 12, was brought to you by this isn't happiness, one of my favorite blogs.

Is that a shoe on your head or are you just happy to see me? Posted: 08 Jul 2009 11:33 AM PDT Susannah Breslin is a guestblogger on Boing Boing. She is a freelance journalist who blogs at Reverse Cowgirl and is at work on a novel set in the adult movie industry. From the lovely collection of self-portraiture by Kimiko Yoshida. This one has something to do with minotaurs and Picasso. (Via NOTCOT)

Music and the mind Posted: 08 Jul 2009 11:08 AM PDT Music can have an overwhelmingly strong hold on the human mind, dramatically swaying our emotions and evoking memories. How come? The new issue of Scientific American Mind surveys recent research on music and the mind. For example, the power of music may come from its influence on regions of the brain responsible for language, feelings, movement, and other unrelated systems. It could also be an important vehicle for emotional communication and connection from which societies emerge. The article looks at studies supporting such theories. From SciAm Mind: The musical tongue may also transcend more fundamental communication barriers. In studies conducted over the past decade, cognitive psychologist Pam Heaton of Goldsmiths, University of London, and her research team played music for both autistic and nonautistic children, comparing those with similar language skills, and asked the kids to match the music to emotions. In the initial studies, the kids simply chose between happy and sad. In later studies, Heaton and her colleagues introduced a range of complex emotions, such as triumph, contentment and anger, and found that the kids' ability to recognize these feelings in music did not depend on their diagnosis. Autistic and typical children with similar verbal skills performed equally well, indicating that music can reliably convey feelings even in people whose ability to pick up emotion-laden social cues, such as facial expressions or tone of voice, is severely compromised. Recently, in a clever experiment, acoustics scientist Roberto Bresin and his co-workers at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm garnered quantitative support for the idea that music is a universal language. Instead of asking volunteers to make subjective judgments about a piece of music, scientists asked them to manipulate the song—in particular, its tempo, volume and phrasing—to maximize a given emotion. For a happy song, for instance, a participant was supposed to manipulate these variables by adjusting sliders so that the song sounded as cheerful as possible; then as sad as possible; then scary, peaceful and neutral. The researchers found that the participants—expert musicians and, in another study, seven-year-old children—all landed on the same tempo for each song to bring out its intended emotion, be it happiness, sadness, fear or tranquility. These findings, which Bresin reported at the 2008 Neuromusic III conference in Montreal, bolster the idea that music contains information that elicits a specific emotional response in the brain regardless of personality, taste or training. As such, music may constitute a unique form of communication. "Why Music Moves Us" Previously: Oliver Sacks explains how your brain does music - Boing Boing Oliver Sacks on music and amnesia - Boing Boing Seizures caused by music - Boing Boing

God Bless America Posted: 08 Jul 2009 10:51 AM PDT Susannah Breslin is a guestblogger on Boing Boing. She is a freelance journalist who blogs at Reverse Cowgirl and is at work on a novel set in the adult movie industry. Artist: Zina Saunders, "Alaskan Roulette," July 4, 2009. (Thanks, Zina!)

Eco-friendly textile coffins Posted: 08 Jul 2009 10:50 AM PDT A textile company and coffin manufacturer are jointly introducing a new line of coffins made from wool or organic cotton. From a press release: This is an innovative coffin and something completely new for the alternative coffin market, but the use of wool in burials is nothing new. The Burial in Wool Act of 1667 made it a legal requirement for the dead to be buried in woollen shrouds in an attempt to boost the struggling woollen industry of the time. With the current social eco agenda, rising concerns on the environmental impact of burials and this innovative product, the industry has come full circle." And from the description of the casket seen here, the Swaledale model: The Swaledale coffin is made in Yorkshire using pure new wool, supported on a strong recycled cardboard frame. Wool is a fibre with a true "green" lineage that is both sustainable and biodegradable. The interior is generously lined with cotton and attractively edged in jute. Independently tested and accredited for strength and weight bearing, the Swaledale's unique design combines the highest environmental standards with an attractive and soft feel. Designed to differ from the traditional wooden coffin, it offers a contemporary style with comfortable handling. The concept is completed with a personalised embroidered woollen name plate. All the materials used in the Swaledale coffin are readily biodegradable and suitable for cremation and all types of burial. Hainsworth "Natural Legacy" coffins Previously: Boing Boing on GOOD: "DIY Funerals and the Quest for Authenticity ... Xeni on the road in West Africa: Coffin Shaped Like Taxi ... Coffin sofas -- Boing Boing Gadgets - Boing Boing Coffin made from recycled paper - Boing Boing Boing Boing: HOWTO make a cheap coffin out of Ikea parts

Rice paddy crop art of the year Posted: 08 Jul 2009 10:31 AM PDT It's the season of rice paddy art in Japan and Pink Tentacle has collected some exquisite examples! The massive artworks are grown through the strategic arrangement of rice plants of varying hues. From Pink Tentacle: The largest and finest work is grown in the Aomori prefecture village of Inakadate, which has earned a reputation for its agricultural artistry. This year the enormous pictures of Napoleon and a Sengoku-period warrior, both on horseback, are visible in a pair of fields adjacent to the town hall there. Rice paddy crop art (2009) (Thanks, Tara McGinley!) Previously: Giant rice paddy art - Boing Boing Video: Crop Circles of Google Earth - Boing Boing Political "crop circle" - Boing Boing

Rushkoff: "Google's War On The PC" Posted: 08 Jul 2009 10:30 AM PDT Doug Rushkoff is bullish on Google's plans to launch a Chrome OS (I blogged the news here on Boing Boing last night). Snip from his essay today in The Daily Beast: In a sense, Google is just bringing computing back to the way it was supposed to be. When Steve Jobs toured Xerox PARC and saw computers running the first operating system that used windows and a mouse, he assumed he was looking at a new way to work a personal computer. He brought the concept back to Cupertino and created the Mac, then Bill Gates followed suit, and the rest is history. What Jobs didn't happen to notice was that the computer operating system he witnessed and copied wasn't meant as a way to organize the software and data on a single machine--it was actually a way for computers on a network to share resources. Not only files, but the software to work with them. The computers themselves were to be just dummies--terminals from which to run software and access files that were stored on someone else's expensive computer. Instead, our operating systems have moved away from sharing and towards ownership. We buy a big powerful machine and do everything on it ourselves. This suits software and hardware companies just fine: they create new, bloated programs that require more disk space and processing power. We buy bigger, faster computers, which then require more complex operating systems, and so on. (It's as if the car companies and asphalt industry worked together, building roads that required new kinds of cars, and then cars that required new kinds of roads.) Google's War On The PC (Daily Beast) Rushkoff is also the author of the recently-released book Life, Inc.. Previously: Rushkoff on Apple fanboy rage at Steve Jobs for having the ... Rushkoff is Back WFMU's The Media Squat with Douglas Rushkoff radio show Douglas Rushkoff teaching online course: Life Incorporated The Economist Gets Something Right The End of Money and the Looting of America

Collecting dead souls in social media Posted: 08 Jul 2009 04:51 PM PDT Guestblogger Marina Gorbis is executive director at Institute for the Future. Yesterday I posted an essay on Socialstructing--creating organizations around social connections rather than against them. I believe these types of organizational forms are growing and diffusing rapidly throughout the economy. However, I do not see them as panaceas from all our ills since they have a potential to bring with them new kinds of inequalities, exclusions, and Ponzi schemes. So this post looks at potential unintended consequences of socialstructing. One of the best things about speaking Russian (possibly the only thing), is that it gives you an ability to access Russian literature in the original. Over the years I've tried many different translations of Russian writers and was disappointed every time. Nothing compares to the original. Maybe it is impossible to do justice to these texts because many Russian words are so deeply rooted in a uniquely Russian context and life circumstances. What I love about writers such as Gogol and Chekhov is that in portraying life in 19th century Russia they managed to capture universal themes of human inner struggles, desires, and life ironies. They created prototypes of characters and circumstances that are as real today as they were 150 years ago. People just work through those circumstances with a whole new suite of tools and technologies. That leads me to one of my favorite pieces of Russian literature -- Nikolai Gogol's Dead Souls, a novel first published in 1842. The story revolves around the exploits of Chichikov, a personality populating the lower rungs of the Russian society. Driven by a desire to enhance his social standing, Chichikov develops an ingenious scheme. He goes around Russian villages buying up records of dead serfs. It's a brilliant idea that capitalized on a unique and grotesque feature of the feudal Russian society -- ownership by landlords of the people who lived and worked on their land. The number of "souls" one owned was a measure of one's economic and social status. Landowners in fact paid taxes based on how many serfs or "souls" they owned. The government kept count of owned "souls" and this count was based on government census numbers. Unfortunately, the census took place only infrequently and many landowners ended up paying taxes on their dead serfs. Grasping an opportune moment between the two censuses, Chichikov bought records of these dead souls from landowners eager to lighten their own tax burdens. Papers certifying Chichikov's ownership of 400 "souls" rapidly elevated Chichikov's status: landed gentry opened their homes to him, tried to give away their daughters in marriage, and celebrated him at town functions. And all it took was a record of ownership of hundreds of "souls." So every time I see another article or an ad about how to acquire more followers on twitter, friends on Facebook, or otherwise collect more "souls" for money, fame, or reputation, I start thinking about Chichikov. He did come to an ignominous end, finally fleeing town. Makes me wonder. Dead Souls Previously: Socialstructing: Bringing Social Back into Our Economy and ... From Odessa to the Future - Boing Boing Marina Gorbis on organizational change - Boing Boing Guest blogger: Marina Gorbis - Boing Boing

PES animations: Human Skateboard and Fireworks Posted: 08 Jul 2009 09:06 AM PDT We've featured the incredible stop-motion animation of PES before. Here are two I hadn't seen before, "Human Skateboard" and "Fireworks," that are my new favorites. eatPES Previously: Stop motion film by PES: Western Spaghetti - Boing Boing Stop motion film maker: PES - Boing Boing Funny yule log screensaver from PES films - Boing Boing

United Breaks Guitars, the complaint anthem Posted: 08 Jul 2009 09:49 PM PDT Udpate: United Airlines has responded. Bottom line: YouTube complaint videos appear to work. Instead of a complaint letter, the band "Sons of Maxwell" have posted a music video aimed at United Airlines over the destruction of one of their guitars on a trip last year: [We] were traveling to Nebraska for a one-week tour and my Taylor guitar was witnessed being thrown by United Airlines baggage handlers in Chicago. I discovered later that the $3500 guitar was severely damaged. They didnt deny the experience occurred but for nine months the various people I communicated with put the responsibility for dealing with the damage on everyone other than themselves and finally said they would do nothing to compensate me for my loss. So I promised the last person to finally say no to compensation (Ms. Irlweg) that I would write and produce three songs about my experience with United Airlines and make videos for each to be viewed online by anyone in the world. United Breaks Guitars (YouTube, via Graham Linehan)

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The Latest from Boing Boing

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• Human Genre Project: short stories and essays about genes and genomics
• CC licensed kids' book art from India
• Google Chrome OS
• Under the Sun: Gordon "Violent Femmes" Gano's jangly and playful new solo album
• Hackers on a Plane: American hackers tour European hackerspaces
• Time-lapse of 1990 LA mall
• Abusive "coal-thugs" try to break up anti-mountaintop-removal festival
• Guerrilla swimming pools made from dumpsters
• iPhone app lets you squash Wall Streeters
• Radiohead manager to launch new record label
• @BBVBOX: recent guest-tweeted web video picks (boingboingvideo.com)
• Hot off the haute couture runway
• Michael Jackson's everlasting death spectacle and "Paedogeddon"
• Bordertown/Borderlands fantasy series to get another volume
• Did you know that Ron Jeremy has a pet tortoise?
• Israeli debate on biometric database melts down when MP starts screaming at blogger for videoing the proceedings
• Documentary about Michael Jackson trufans: "We Are The Children"
• Ignite coming to LA on July 21
• Would you like to be near Michael Jackson's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for a mere $90 a day?
• Welcome to the e-wasteland
• Michael Jackson to be buried brainless, coroners say brain must "harden" so tests can be completed.
• Sandia Labs' new SunCatcher power system resembles Magritte painting
• Socialstructing: Bringing Social Back into Our Economy and Organizations
• Fireworks hammers
• Welcome back to the guestblog, Susannah Breslin!
• Creepy vintage print ads
• Flexible "camera" fabric
• Walt Disney and Salvador Dalí's Destino film
• Video: Portal, re-made in ASCII
• North Korea's first beer commercial

Human Genre Project: short stories and essays about genes and genomics Posted: 08 Jul 2009 02:57 AM PDT SF writer Ken MacLeod and his pals at the ESRC Genomics Policy and Research Forum at the University of Edinburgh have just launched "The Human Genre Project:" The Human Genre Project is a collection of new writing in very short forms -- short stories, flash fictions, reflections, poems -- inspired by genes and genomics. Starting with just a few pieces at its launch in July 2009, the collection will grow and develop over time. Please check back regularly to see what has been added. The project was conceived by Ken MacLeod, writer in residence at the Genomics Forum, who also edits the collection, and was inspired by Michael Swanwick's Periodic Table of Science Fiction. The Human Genre Project is an initiative of the ESRC Genomics Policy and Research Forum, part of the ESRC Genomics Network, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and based at The University of Edinburgh. The Human Genre Project

CC licensed kids' book art from India Posted: 07 Jul 2009 11:33 PM PDT Maya sez, "Pratham Books is a non-profit trust that publishes high quality books for children at affordable prices and in multiple Indian languages. We have already uploaded some of our books under a CC-license on our Scribd account. We have also started uploading illustrations from our books for people to remix and reuse on our Flickr account. Over the weeks, we will upload more illustrations and add to our existing archive." Pratham Books on Flickr Pratham Books: Pratham Books - Remixing Illustrations: (Thanks, Maya!)

Google Chrome OS Posted: 07 Jul 2009 10:50 PM PDT Nine months after having launched the Chrome web browser, Google just now announced the Google Chrome Operating System, "an attempt to re-think what operating systems should be." Google plans to offer the OS for use on a wide array of devices in about a year. Snip from the official Google Blog: Google Chrome OS is an open source, lightweight operating system that will initially be targeted at netbooks. Later this year we will open-source its code, and netbooks running Google Chrome OS will be available for consumers in the second half of 2010. Because we're already talking to partners about the project, and we'll soon be working with the open source community, we wanted to share our vision now so everyone understands what we are trying to achieve. Speed, simplicity and security are the key aspects of Google Chrome OS. We're designing the OS to be fast and lightweight, to start up and get you onto the web in a few seconds. The user interface is minimal to stay out of your way, and most of the user experience takes place on the web. And as we did for the Google Chrome browser, we are going back to the basics and completely redesigning the underlying security architecture of the OS so that users don't have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates. It should just work. Introducing the Google Chrome OS

Under the Sun: Gordon "Violent Femmes" Gano's jangly and playful new solo album Posted: 07 Jul 2009 10:36 PM PDT My boyhood chum Paul Simcoe emailed me last week to sing the praises of the new Gordon Gano and the Ryans album Under the Sun. Paul and I grew up together, raised on the Violent Femmes (Gano's earlier band), and now that Paul's running Toronto's most excellent Criminal Records, he's a real treasure-house of kick-ass music suggestions. Though the album isn't due out until Sept 1, Yep Roc, Gano's label, was kind enough to send me the album in MP3 form, and I've been seriously rocking to it ever since. It reminds me most of the Violent Femmes' underrated third album, The Blind Leading the Naked, with its mix of jangly, upbeat pop songs, semi-serious religious themes, and a few slow numbers that are more reminiscent of the track Good Feelings from the Femmes' eponymous debut album. My standouts from this disc are Man in the Sand, Oholah Oholibah, Red, and Wave and Water, whose video was just released on YouTube (see above). I don't usually review stuff far in advance of release date, but Under the Sun was worth jumping the gun for; I've scheduled this post to run again at the beginning of September to remind you that the disc is out. Gordon Gano & The Ryans (Yep Roc) (Thanks, Paul!)

Hackers on a Plane: American hackers tour European hackerspaces Posted: 07 Jul 2009 10:08 PM PDT 2600 Magazine's Emmanuel Goldstein sez, Hackers on a Plane is one of those unique hacker events that defy all of the odds that the mainstream throws our way. What if a bunch of hackers got together and chartered space on a commercial airline, then journeyed throughout Europe to take part in various hacker conferences and see the emerging hacker spaces in several different countries? Not only is this very possible, but it's all completely organized. It's the perfect way to experience this summer's hacker activities on a global scale and at an affordable price. But we have a serious dilemma. Not all of the tickets have been sold, no doubt due to the lousy economy and other such mundane issues. As those people who refuse to let reality get in the way, the hacker community needs to come together and keep this project from falling short, a fate that would probably doom future such endeavors. So if you have any dream of being a part of Hackers on a Plane, or know others who might be interested, now is the time to step forward. We only have to sell around ten tickets for the expenses to be covered and this needs to be done by the 10th of this month to fulfill terms with the airline and all that fun stuff. This is what you get. For a total cost of $1618.03, you get round trip airfare from New York City, accomodations while you're away, admission to both PlumberCon and HAR, and a full tour of hacker spaces in Austria, Germany, and Holland. You leave New York the morning of August 4th and return the afternoon of August 18th. Hackers on a Plane: A Brief History (Thanks, Emmanuel!)

Time-lapse of 1990 LA mall Posted: 07 Jul 2009 10:04 PM PDT MALL MANIA 1990 time-lapse from Joel Fletcher on Vimeo. Joel sez, "Just posted on Vimeo: A journey back in time to Los Angeles area shopping malls circa 1990." MALL MANIA 1990 time-lapse (Thanks, Joel!)

Abusive "coal-thugs" try to break up anti-mountaintop-removal festival Posted: 07 Jul 2009 10:00 PM PDT Apollo sez, "This is a YouTube video of some West Virginia pro-coal thugs (dressed in Massey issued uniforms) crashing the peaceful 23rd annual Mountain Keepers Festival. The festival is a gathering of West Virginians who live in the hollows that are being destroyed by Mountaintop Removal mining, and their fellow advocates from all over the country. At one point the most vile of the thugs threatens a man and his child verbally and with a throat slitting gesture. Simply appalling." Mountain Madness - Invasion of the Coal Thugs (Thanks, Apollo!)

Guerrilla swimming pools made from dumpsters Posted: 07 Jul 2009 09:59 PM PDT Katherine sez, "A group called Macro/Sea is taking used construction dumpsters and lining them to create swimming pools. It's throwing pool parties at undisclosed locations in Brooklyn (I think what they're doing may technically be illegal). One of the people involved is skateboarding legend Jocko Weyland. The current dumpster pools are phase one in a more ambitious plan to reclaim disused strip malls." Dumpster Diving (Thanks, Katherine!)

iPhone app lets you squash Wall Streeters Posted: 07 Jul 2009 04:46 PM PDT Susannah Breslin is a guestblogger on Boing Boing. She is a freelance journalist who blogs at Reverse Cowgirl and is at work on a novel set in the adult movie industry. Squash the $treet is a game for your iPhone that enables you to express your violent dislike of all those smarmy bankers that Americans like to blame for the economic collapse. Financial Crisis? Let your rage rain down on the crooks and swindlers who caused it. Watch the shady bankers, creepy fraudsters and corrupt CEOs flee their gilded offices, sprinting for the nearest escape vehicle. Squash and flick the snarky scoundrels up and down the streets and sidewalks in the festering heart of the city where all the thievery and greed began. Recoup your losses with the monetary awards you receive from successfully squashing the white-collared criminals who stole your retirement savings. Fund your unending vengeful rampage with precious metal bonuses hoarded from certain embezzlers who just couldn't grab enough. Be a responsible steward: avoid bankruptcy or your bubble will burst. Special features include: "Special powerups that boost your squash rate and resentment streak," "Bloody spatter effects," and "Panicked voice-acting and screams by actual bankers." Sounds like fun! Squash the $treet (Thanks, RW!)

Radiohead manager to launch new record label Posted: 07 Jul 2009 05:30 PM PDT (Image courtesy Flickr user Rainsoaked) Brian Message, best known as one of the managers for the best band in the world, is said to be launching a new record label that will allow artists to retain greater ownership of their intellectual property. This article in NME says the new label, Polyphonic, plans to offer artists a 50% base share of profits, with that percentage increasing as an act grows more successful. Reports also indicate that Polyphonic's primary method of distribution will be online. Although specifics details have not been released, the new company's policies look set to place emphasis on the digital distribution of music and may see release plans similar to Radiohead's 2007 album 'In Rainbows', which fans could choose how much to pay for when downloading it. Polyphonic is a joint venture between Message's company ATC and management firms MAMA Group and Nettwerk Music Group, reports the Telegraph. (via PSFK) More in the aforementioned Telegraph article: Radiohead manager teams up with Mama Group to launch record label

@BBVBOX: recent guest-tweeted web video picks (boingboingvideo.com) Posted: 07 Jul 2009 04:34 PM PDT (Ed. Note: We recently gave the Boing Boing Video website a makeover that includes a new, guest-curated microblog: the "BBVBOX." Here, folks whose taste in web video we admire tweet the latest clips they find. I'll be posting periodic roundups here on the motherBoing.) Andrea James: The Tupperware Container of Ironic/Coincidental Hollywood Deaths, hosted by physicist Dr. Franklin Ruehl Link Sean Bonner: I have to admit that this Journey cover that @mackreed just tweeted is pretty awesome. Link Andrea James: Pinky the Cat asks: What are crimes against humanity? Link Susannah Breslin: "I was never very good at being human": Link Susannah Breslin: 3D porn is the next big thing, er, maybe [NSFW]: Link Susannah Breslin: 10 Best Robot Crotch Shots: Link Susannah Breslin: Rye Rye, 18, "Bang," featuring MIA: Link Jesse Thorn: One of the most insane comedy sketches ever: Kurt & Kristen's "Kristen Schaal is a Horse" Link Susannah Breslin: "Treat Me Like Your Mother" teaser, Jack White, Jonathan Glazer: Link Susannah Breslin: Air New Zealand employees get nakedish so you won't die: Link Susannah Breslin: A freaky stop motion face paint video wants to give you the willies: Link Susannah Breslin: That awesome shoot out ad won big at Cannes Lions: Link Susannah Breslin: New York's Grey Gardens, courtesy Barnum & Bailey: Link Jesse Thorn: Bruno answers questions from Digg users: Link Richard Metzger: Best Hendrix cover of all time? Caresse P-Orridge (newly married) and Sickmob 1988 Link Laughing Squid: Psychedelic Spongebob SquarePants promos Link More @BBVBOX: boingboingvideo.com

Hot off the haute couture runway Posted: 07 Jul 2009 04:21 PM PDT Susannah Breslin is a guestblogger on Boing Boing. She is a freelance journalist who blogs at Reverse Cowgirl and is at work on a novel set in the adult movie industry. One of my favorite fashion blogs is Jak & Jill, which showcases the work of photographer Tommy Ton. The image you see here comes fresh off the Givenchy runway in Paris, where Fashion Week is getting underway. Is this a burqa? What do you call this kind of face jewelry? I don't know, but I love it. (Image credit: Tommy Ton)

Michael Jackson's everlasting death spectacle and "Paedogeddon" Posted: 07 Jul 2009 04:39 PM PDT (Image courtesy Tunnelbug) Recovering music industry exec John Niven wrote a hilarious/disturbing piece for the Independent (UK) today on the surreal, ongoing spectacle surrounding Michael Jackson's death, and the willful omission of any mention of those child abuse allegations from most of the coverage. The barrage of utterly inane celebrity tributes ("inspirational", "a true hero", "a genius", "a gentle soul" "a treasure") was to be expected. The howling fans across the world, broken and gibbering nonsense for the rolling TV news crews ("he ... he died for all of us" etc), the inevitable autopsy results in a few weeks, with their Swiss laboratory inventory of prescription tranquilisers, all this too is standard operating procedure. What has stunned me and truly floored me in the past week or so has been the complete sidelining by the entire media of Jackson's later life. Across the board, from every news channel to all the quality papers, there has been wholesale collusion in the notion that "he was a great artist and, yes, there was some, umm, troubling stuff later on, but let's forget all that right now and just celebrate the music". Hang on a minute. I'm not the kind of person to start Paedogeddon-style witch-hunts gratuitously, but ... I thought I'd find some real analysis of the "troubling stuff" somewhere. But here's what we're getting: "Another beautiful boy is gone, wiped out in an instant." This was Germaine Greer in The Guardian. She made no mention at all of the multiple accusations of child abuse levelled at Jackson (although she was unintentionally hilarious when she wrote of his art no longer being fuelled by his ability to "run with the kids on the block". Uh, Germaine, love, they'd be more likely to be running away from him). Michael Jackson: Bad! And very dangerous (Independent.co.uk, via @beschizza) Niven is the author of the novel Kill Your Friends. Update: BB commenter "ESCAPINGTHETRUNK" points us to the archive of Maureen Orth's pieces for Vanity Fair on the Jackson molestation charges. And Marc Powell reminds us that the term "Paedogeddon" is a reference to this.

Bordertown/Borderlands fantasy series to get another volume Posted: 07 Jul 2009 01:55 PM PDT Now here's some cool news: Holly Black and Ellen Kushner have sold another volume of stories in the venerable and beloved Bordertown series. This was a series of linked stories and novels about a world in which the Kingdom of the Fairy returns to Earth, connected by a mystical gateway, and about the goings-on in the Bordertown that sits in between the world of humans and the world of magic, a town where technology and sorcery only work intermittently and runaways, rejects, nutcases and heroes gather. It had an incredibly powerful impact on me as a young reader, sparking a lifelong love-affair with contemporary fantasy. I've been invited to write a story, and I leapt at the chance. Other writers committed or "expressing interest" include Charles De Lint, Emma Bull, Will Shetterly, Neil Gaiman and Kelly Link. I don't have the faintest idea what I'm going to write, except that it will probably revolve around a group house or squat. BORDERTOWN LIVES!!! (Image ganked from "The Journal of Mythic Arts")

Did you know that Ron Jeremy has a pet tortoise? Posted: 07 Jul 2009 02:02 PM PDT Susannah Breslin is a guestblogger on Boing Boing. She is a freelance journalist who blogs at Reverse Cowgirl and is at work on a novel set in the adult movie industry. The Independent did one of those things where they ask someone famous a bunch of questions, and this time they asked Ron Jeremy. The Hedgehog. The San Fernando Valley's Hirsute Thespian of Our Times. There's a lot of pressure to perform when you're the best-known [porn] actor in the world; my biggest fear is that I'll be in a scene and I'll suck, and people will say, "Just look at that flaccid noodle." I'm getting older and it feels more of a strain, but I'm still enjoying doing the scenes. Credo: Ron Jeremy, porn star, 56 (Image credit: Robert Yager)

Israeli debate on biometric database melts down when MP starts screaming at blogger for videoing the proceedings Posted: 07 Jul 2009 01:46 PM PDT Jonathan sez, I'm Jonathan and one of the bloggers for the Israeli Blogger Coalition against the biometric database. Our government is currently pushing, with heavy pressure from certain corporations, to establish a national mandatory biometric database. Today, I went with Eran Vered, a fellow blogger and video producer to video the hearing about the biometric database in the Israeli Parliament (Knesset). After around half an hour of filming, the staff from the Immigration Authority (coming to lobby the database) noted that Eran can film them as well and passed a note (shown on video). A few minutes afterwards, Eran was "Excused" out of the hearing, where former minister of Interior, Meir Sheetrit, who is the champion for the database, suddenly screamed for no apparent reason. While Eran did have a special permission to film in the Knesset (as you cannot enter it with any camera without that permission) it seems quite strange. Sheetrit's anger towards Eran was unexplainable, as he is eager to pass this bill into law without any public debate. The bill itself allows confidential regulation and confidential procedures for use of the database and that are not subjected to any public review. I'd be more than glad if you can help us promote our struggle against this bill. ח"כ מאיר שיט-רית רוצה מאגר ביומטרי אבל מגרש צלם מהדיון (Thanks, Jonathan!)

Documentary about Michael Jackson trufans: "We Are The Children" Posted: 07 Jul 2009 01:53 PM PDT Filmmaker Dianna Dilworth emailed me last week with a link to her documentary about hardcore Michael Jackson fans like the fellow above: We are the Children. "It's a look at the lives of the fans during the trail a few years back," she says -- specifically, trufans out showing support for their idol during the pop star's 2004-05 trial on child molestation charges. As folks who follow me on Twitter already know, I find the cable news MJ-death-marathon spectacle to be a sad reminder of the state of -- well, the pathetic state of American cable news. I mean, what was that? Nine days of wall to wall "Michael Jackson: STILL DEAD"? But thoughtful works like Dilworth's film, works that examine the lives of the "happy mutants" who are utterly devoted to this pop culture figure, I find fascinating. Do yourself a favor today: turn off the TV, stream this instead. You can view Diana's film online for free at SnagFilms, a new ad supported film content site (Flash embed). Or, you can buy a DVD here.

Ignite coming to LA on July 21 Posted: 07 Jul 2009 01:33 PM PDT Brady Forrest says: Ignite is coming to LA! As always speakers will get 20 slides that auto-advance every 15 seconds. We're going to be holding the geek event at Cinespace in Hollywood on 7/21. Submit a talk now. This will be the first Ignite in Los Angeles; it is co-hosted by LA Geek Dinner. Doors are open at 6:30 for Geek Dinner. The Ignite talks will run from 8:00-9:30. Please RSVP to the Geek Dinner list on Upcoming. If you're working on an interesting project, have an unusual skill, or just some interest that would be fun to share with everyone, please submit a proposal to: http://bit.ly/IgniteLA Ignite LA is being organized by Brady Forrest, Matt Forrest, Dan Gould, and Heathervescent. It is a free event. If you're not familiar with Ignite check out some videos on the Ignite Show. Image Courtesy of Anitakhart

Would you like to be near Michael Jackson's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for a mere $90 a day? Posted: 07 Jul 2009 01:51 PM PDT Susannah Breslin is a guestblogger on Boing Boing. She is a freelance journalist who blogs at Reverse Cowgirl and is at work on a novel set in the adult movie industry. Yes, you would. Of course you would! Just because you didn't make it to today's moving tribute to everyone's favoritest King of Pop, it doesn't mean you can't comfort yourself by living as close as, well, you can to his star on the Walk of Fame. Sure, it's a sad consolation prize, but it's something ... Isn't it? Thanks to Craigslist, you can rent a one-bedroom MJ "memorial," uh, suite for dollars a day: "$90 / 1br - Michael Jackson memorial - 1 bedroom apt in Hollywood." "Walk to Michael's Star on Hollywood Blvd. just a few blocks away," the landlord touts. I say go for it.

Welcome to the e-wasteland Posted: 07 Jul 2009 01:09 PM PDT Susannah Breslin is a guestblogger on Boing Boing. She is a freelance journalist who blogs at Reverse Cowgirl and is at work on a novel set in the adult movie industry. London-based photographer Sophie Gerrard has created a photo series called "E-wasteland," a graphic look at the toxic effects of electronic waste on India's land and its people. Every year, Gerrard writes, 20 to 50 million tons of electronic waste are generated worldwide. India has become one of the world's largest dumping grounds for e-waste. E-waste is highly toxic. It contains lead, cadmium, mercury, tin, gold, copper, PVC and brominated, chlorinated and phosphorus based flame retardants. Many of these heavy metals and contaminants are extremely harmful to humans as well as to animals and plants. The Basel Convention, of which the UK and India are signatories, bans the transportation of hazardous or toxic waste from the developed world to developing countries. This illegal toxic trade is, therefore, in direct violation. E-wasteland: The growing problem of e-waste in India (via riley dog)

Michael Jackson to be buried brainless, coroners say brain must "harden" so tests can be completed. Posted: 07 Jul 2009 05:13 PM PDT Pop star Michael Jackson will be laid to rest today in a Los Angeles cemetary without his brain. Doctors investigating the cause of his death are retaining it for an undetermined period of time so they can perform further tests. [The] LA coroner's office has still not completed its tests on Jackson's brain, and the singer's family have been advised that unless they wish to wait, he must be buried without it. Jackson died from an apparent cardiac arrest on 25 June. Though his body was released the next day to relatives, his brain was not. The pop star's inert brain must "harden" for at least two weeks before doctors can conduct their neuropathology tests. Doctors will examine Jackson's brain to help determine the cause of death, suspected of being linked to painkillers. Such examinations can also reveal unknown diseases, evidence of alcohol abuse or whether Jackson has suffered overdoses in the past. Removing the brain is the "only way to carry out the tests" according to a source for the Mirror. "The tissue has to be examined. I can't tell you how long that is going to take." Michael Jackson to be buried without his brain (Guardian UK, via @laughingsquid / Image courtesy Flickr user El_Enigma)

Sandia Labs' new SunCatcher power system resembles Magritte painting Posted: 07 Jul 2009 12:45 PM PDT The news release from Sandia National Laboratories says the SunCatcher power system (above) unveiled at the National Solar Thermal Test Facility today is the result of a design partnership with Stirling Energy Systems and Tessera Solar. But I think they really designed 'em with Belgian surrealist painter René Magritte. Yes, I know he died in 1967, but the gubmint's secret art-zombie time travel machines address that matter. Duh.

Socialstructing: Bringing Social Back into Our Economy and Organizations Posted: 07 Jul 2009 01:32 PM PDT Guestblogger Marina Gorbis is executive director at Institute for the Future. My mother knew well the value of social capital, although she probably never heard the term. In the Soviet Union where she lived and where I grew up one couldn't survive without it. She traded social capital on a daily basis. It meant that despite being a widow with very little money, despite not having a high position or a membership in the "privileged" class (the Communist Party), she was able to provide a relatively good life for her family. We never worried about having enough food, my sister and I always wore fashionable (by Soviet standards, at least) clothes, took music and dance classes, went to good schools, spent summers by the seashore, went to the symphony, and otherwise took advantage of a lifestyle that seemed much beyond our means. How was my mother able to provide all these things? She certainly couldn't afford them on her pitiful wages as a physician in a government-run clinic in Odessa, Ukraine. Social capital--networks of relationships with friends and acquaintances -- is what accounted for her ability to provide for a relatively comfortable, albeit not luxurious, lifestyle. While there was no meat to be found in any store in the city, my mother got it regularly (along with other provisions) through the director of a supermarket, who was also a husband of a close colleague. I got into music school in exchange for my mother treating the director of the school. We could get Western medicines because my mother was friendly with the head of a large local pharmacy. Our apartment was always filled with people who my mother was counseling, diagnosing, treating, and prescribing medicines for. No money was ever exchanged. Ever mindful of Stalin's purges and his fabricated case against Jewish doctors' alleged conspiracy to poison Soviet leadership, she was too afraid to have an underground private medical practice or take money for her services. "With my luck, I would be the first to be caught," she always said. The people who could be regularly found in our home or whose homes she visited dispensing medical services were her substitutes for money. They and many other "connections" she built over a lifetime were her doors to resources -- from tangible commodities such as food, medicines, and clothes, to information, services, and emotional support. Our story was not unique. All around us, amid empty stores, low salaries, dismal productivity numbers, and fraying infrastructure, people seemed to live normal "middle class" lives. An economist would have a hard time explaining how this was possible by looking at economic statistics or by walking around the stores and markets in Russia in the 1960's and 70's. Visitors to the Soviet Union, in fact, were always amazed at the gap between what they saw in state stores--shelves empty or filled with things no one wanted--and what they saw in people's homes--nice furnishings and tables filled with food. What bridged the gap was the informal economy, an economy driven by social rather than financial capital. This economy was deeply rooted in the myriad relationships people like my mother used to acquire goods, services, information, education, and many other things. They did not do this consciously--no one was teaching them how to grow their network or increase their following the way many social marketers are eager to teach us today, they just did this to survive. The web of social relationships was an invisible fabric that permeated the economic life and made that particular society work. Social capital has served a critical role in the economic life of the Soviet Union and continues to do so in many poorer countries today. Teodor Shanin, an eminent sociologist, has invented a field of study called "peasantology," which looks at how people survive in informal economies. Shanin argues that peasants inhabit an economic structure entirely different from either capitalism or socialism. The key element of the peasant economic structure is the existence of dense and vibrant social and family networks that provide members access to necessary resources. Researchers observed the phenomenon first in Africa years ago where they could not find any economic explanation for how the majority of the population survived. They didn't own land. They didn't seem to have any assets. Marxist and market economists had always dismissed such activity as marginal. However, as Shanin argues, one is hard pressed to see something as marginal when half of mankind lives like this. In fact, social capital also plays an important role in developed economies, as many researchers such as Manuel Castells and Robert Putnam, among others, have shown. However, far too often we have pushed social capital and notions of non-monetary currencies out of our economic thinking and economic interactions. One can in fact view the whole history of economic development as a long path of taking local, familiar, personal, and social out of economic relationships and replacing them with professional, impersonal, and highly institutionalized economic interactions centered on exchanging one form of capital--money. It is hard to argue that this has brought great efficiency to our economic life and has resulted in spectacular growth rates in societies that have followed the path. In the process, we have built organizations and regulatory frameworks that allowed us to scale what previously were familiar, often familial, economic relationships to include anonymous strangers, thus allowing for aggregation of resources across geographies and social boundaries. Organizations we created and that dominate our economic landscape today, with a limited liability corporation as its crowning glory, have been great innovations in their time and enablers of much of our prosperity. They massively increased the scale of economic interactions and at the same time became institutional proxies for the kind of trust we previously reserved for our neighbors and family. We have become successful at the art of operating at scales massively beyond the local village and beyond the boundaries of social relations. We know how to organize people and resources for the ultimate goal of maximizing monetary returns. Along the way, we developed a host of management theories and practices that have become bibles to generations of working men and women. And the corporate culture we created spread well beyond the business realm. As Doug Rushkoff points out in "Life Inc.," corporatism or corporate way of thinking has permeated our culture, language, philanthropic organizations, schools, and media. It is how we've come to think about getting things done. We almost cannot conceive of a world without hierarchical organizational charts, mission statements, departments, and clear sets of corporate rules and incentives. All of this is about to change. Computing and communications technologies are not only linking us into a one global village, one global brain, they are also adding a new layer of sociality to our interactions and are making it possible for us to engage in new kinds of transactions with each other outside of existing organizational boundaries. They are making it possible for us to gain access and build trust that we previously outsourced to organizations. They are also taking anonymity out of many economic transactions. We can gain new levels of knowledge about strangers by following their Twitter streams, looking up their friends on Facebook, checking their reputations as buyers and sellers on E-Bay, measuring their contributions to Wikipedia, watching their Youtube videos. We can lend our money directly to people and projects we find appealing on Kiva.org rather than entrust the money to banks to invest anonymously and without any say from us. Even public relations is changing from relying on official public releases to increasingly whispering to the right people in one's social network (as an example see this recent article in the NYT). We are bringing a whole new level of sociality, familiarity, and connectedness to our economic interactions. In a word, we are socialstructing our organizations, i.e. reorganizing them around social connections rather than against them. But social connections we organize around are different from face-to-face relationships our ancestors grew up with. We are witnessing a rise in what I call information-driven sociality -- sociality that derives from our ability to get direct access to strangers and remove their anonymity by giving us access to information trails they leave behind, thus providing us with knowledge about many aspects of their selves--interests, reputations, online contributions, musical tastes, even buying preferences. In the process, the raison d'etre for many types of organizations we created over the past few centuries -- organizations needed for aggregating resources and enabling transactions between anonymous strangers -- is disappearing. Amplified with the collective intelligence, access, and resources embedded in social connections with multitudes of others, we are now increasingly able to achieve the kind of scale and reach previously achievable only by large organizations. Driven by information-driven sociality, the next decade will usher in a whole new array of organizational models, new forms of currencies, and new sets of work practices. At the same time we will need to create new regulatory frameworks suited for organizational forms based on principles of social connectivity and familiarity. Remember the old adage of "Keep social out, don't bring it into the workplace?" The new adage is "Social is business, bring it in." Previously: Guest blogger: Marina Gorbis - Boing Boing From Odessa to the Future - Boing Boing

Fireworks hammers Posted: 07 Jul 2009 11:37 AM PDT Explosives at the end of sledgehammers? Big fun! (Thanks, Tara McGinley!)

Welcome back to the guestblog, Susannah Breslin! Posted: 07 Jul 2009 11:40 AM PDT I am delighted to welcome back a returning Boing Boing guestblogger: author, photographer, and blogger Susannah Breslin. She has written for Details, Newsweek, Harper's Bazaar, The Daily Beast, Radar Online, Variety, Salon, Wired News, The New York Post, The LA Weekly, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Vancouver Sun, The San Francisco Examiner Playboy.com, Nerve, Arena (UK), and Max (France). She has appeared on CNN, FOX, Playboy TV, "Politically Incorrect," UK Channel 4, and NPR. She is writing a novel that's set in the adult movie industry. She is beautiful, as you can see from the above photo; she is talented, as you will see from the posts to follow; and she is rather tall: 6'1". Susannah Breslin online: Blog, Twitter, Flickr.

Creepy vintage print ads Posted: 07 Jul 2009 10:42 AM PDT RetroComedy posted their picks for "15 Creepiest Vintage Ads of All Time." Above are my faves from the bunch. (Thanks, David Steinberg!)

Flexible "camera" fabric Posted: 07 Jul 2009 10:14 AM PDT MIT researchers developed light-detecting fibers that could eventually be woven into a "fabric camera." Instead of counting on a single lens, the new system would use a web of the fibers as a distributed imaging surface. Imagine a shirt where the entire back is a "camera." From MIT News: The researchers, led by Associate Professor Yoel Fink of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (DMSE), emphasize that while such an application and others like it are still only dreams, work is rapidly progressing on developing fabrics capable of capturing images. In a recent issue of the journal Nanoletters, the team reported what it called a "significant" advance: using such a fiber web to take a rudimentary picture of a smiley face. "This is the first time that anybody has demonstrated that a single plane of fibers, or 'fabric,' can collect images just like a camera but without a lens," said Fink, corresponding author of the Nanoletters paper. "This work constitutes a new approach to vision and imaging." "'Flexible camera' replaces lens with fiber web"

Walt Disney and Salvador Dalí's Destino film Posted: 07 Jul 2009 10:00 AM PDT Here is Destino, the collaboration between Walt Disney and Salvador Dalí. Production began in 1945 and the film didn't premier until 2003. Apparently, it will finally see an official home DVD release in 2010 along with a documentary about the two artists' history together. Destino (Wikipedia) (Thanks, Kirsten Anderson!) Previously: Dalí: Painting & Film - Boing Boing Disney/Dali Oscar nomination has execs in a tizzy - Boing Boing

Video: Portal, re-made in ASCII Posted: 07 Jul 2009 09:44 AM PDT Over at Offworld, we've just dug up what'll probably be the most mind-bending video of the week: the first look at Joe Larson's 'demake' of Valve's PC/Xbox 360 hit Portal, rendered entirely in ASCII. Its best trick that puts it a leg up on the 2D Flash version: a 'through the portal' view that recaptures everything that made the original game so awe inspiring to experience for the first time (also: its simple 1-character companion cube, and the Donkey Kong tribute toward the end of the video). Watch the video on Offworld.

North Korea's first beer commercial Posted: 07 Jul 2009 08:46 AM PDT The first TV commercial in North Korean history is now on the air. It's an ad for a Taedonggang beer described as the "Pride of Pyongyang" and the ad promises that beer will reduce your stress. North Korea launches beer advert (via MeFi!) Previously: North Korea claims to have invented anti-hunger noodles - Boing Boing North Korea offers free email on new gov website - Boing Boing Video, photos from North Korea "Arirang" state culturefest - Boing ... Giant rabbits to solve hunger in North Korea - Boing Boing North Korea's 100000-person pixelboard - Boing Boing North Korea promotes vacations with wacky Flash movie - Boing Boing North Korean video game arcade - Boing Boing

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The Latest from Boing Boing

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• Cardboard Tube Fighting League comes to NYC, Philly
• Fallout cosplay scene in Russia
• Get-together July 9 in Chicago
• Pirate Party comes to Canada
• Spherical pocket watch
• Famous and obscure musicians benefit from free downloads
• Friends promote debut novel of writer who has post-stroke aphasia
• Don't Copy That Floppy sequel promises prison beatings for copying
• HOWTO make delicious, beautiful unhealthy food out of gross, unhealthy fast-food
• North Carolina "sewer monster" is not a new Chris Cunningham video
• Honduras: Photo-essays of ongoing crisis by James Rodriguez
• Haystack, anti-censorship tool specifically for users in Iran, to launch soon.
• Pez Candy Inc sues Museum of Pez Memorabilia for copyright infringement
• Reverse-engineering SSNs from publicly available data
• @BBVBOX: recent guest-tweeted web video picks (boingboingvideo.com)
• First music video shot on iPhone 3GS? Reyna Perez, "Love Love Love."
• Justice Department to review wireless carriers for anti-competitive practices
• From Odessa to the Future
• Guest blogger: Marina Gorbis
• Little Brother wins the Prometheus Award for libertarian science fiction
• Author Michael Stackpole: I don't worry about pirates
• Photos of prison DIY tech
• Farewell, Joel Johnson
• Amazing hot rod auction
• MAKERS, my next novel, serialized online
• Recently on Offworld: Twitter in WoW, trains in games, Clockwork Orange in 8-bits
• Canadian ISPs say identifying traffic is inevitable, no, wait, impossible
• Sony patent for any object as vidgame controller
• John Keel (RIP)
• Artwork and book about clouds

Cardboard Tube Fighting League comes to NYC, Philly Posted: 06 Jul 2009 11:52 PM PDT Ravin sez, "Hello, I'm Ravin Pierre, I'm not an actor but I portray one on the television. I'm co-founder of Cardboard Tube Fighting League out of Seattle. One weekend only, I'm traveling to the east coast (again, Tube Fight - Washington DC 2008) to seed new groups in Philly and NYC. I'm big into DIY and creative costume enthusiasm, as most Boing Boing readers are, I'm hoping they will show up in their best cardboard costume and battle." 7/12: Cardboard Tube Fighting League Tournament - New York City, NY (McCarren Park) 7/11: Cardboard Tube Fighting League Tournament - Philadelphia, PA (Near Philly Art Museum, Rocky Steps) (Thanks, Ravin!)

Fallout cosplay scene in Russia Posted: 07 Jul 2009 01:38 AM PDT Check out the astounding, elaborate Russian cosplay scene for the game Fallout II (mangled Google Translate text below Thanks to Denisvi in the comments for a much-improved translation; you do indeed pass the Turing Test!)! On June 21st, 2009, at one of the abandoned air-defense bases in St. Petersburg region, a game based on "Fallout 2" universe took place, organized by "Albion" workshop. Some 300 people participated in the game, working with workshop group, tech support group and emergency/medical services. And, of course, the players themselves, who prepared for the game over the course of many months. Much was accomplished by the workshop crew: sealed military bases, including the memorable Sierra from Fallout II, were built; plot and game coordination accomplished, including rapid response by the creators to changes in game environment. Players were hard at work as well. They made authentic costumes, modified airsoft guns to the point of being unrecognizable, outfitted a special car, operated establishments such as cinema, working radio station, few bars, hospital, casino and much more. Combined efforts of workshop people and players made the world come to life for two short days. Fallout 2009 «Ничто человеческое» (Thanks, Bill!)

Get-together July 9 in Chicago Posted: 06 Jul 2009 11:41 PM PDT I'll be in Chicago on July 9 to see a production of the highly praised theatrical adaptation of my novel Little Brother. The July 9 show is sold out (performances run until July 18), but Bill Massolia, who wrote the play and runs the company, has organized a get-together beforehand. If you're in Chicago, I'd love to see you and say hi! Meet Cory Doctorow before the show. July 9, 5:45pm to 7:00pm. Jack's Bar & Grill/404 Wine Bar 2856 North Southport Ave. Chicago 773-404-8400 I love the name of the Wine Bar -- though I worry about it being not found. Jack's 404 Little Brother, the play

Pirate Party comes to Canada Posted: 06 Jul 2009 11:36 PM PDT Robbo sez, "With the CRTC [ed: Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Canada, analogous to Ofcom or FCC] holding hearings on network management, the arrival of the Pirate Party movement in Canada can only be welcome news to those of us participating in the copyfight. While it's not likely they will have much clout within the halls of parliament, the conventional rules of *mis*representation don't apply when a party, political or cultural movement is driven by such a focused issue. It is enough to acheive the means by which it can be raised in debate - not just in parliament but also the media and the streets - so as to ensure public awareness of the actions of elected representatives and to subsequently steer them to the public's will and not be merely (and silently) beholden to the influence of corporate lobbies. Arrrrr, eh?" Pirate Party of Canada Free music, movies for all? Copyright-fighting Pirate Party comes to Canada. (Thanks, Robbo!) Previously: Swiss Pirate Party - Boing Boing Swedish Pirate Party membership surges after Pirate Bay verdict ... New Pirate Parties spring up all over Europe - Boing Boing Famous Swedish poet explains why he's voting for the Pirate Party ... Germans protest new Internet Berlin Wall - Boing Boing Pirate Party leader talks strategy and tactics - Boing Boing Sweden's Pirate Party - political arm of the pro-piracy ... US branch of "Pirate Party" launches - Boing Boing

Spherical pocket watch Posted: 06 Jul 2009 11:31 PM PDT Watchismo's got a freakish and wonderful new pocket watch, the Eris: Either way, this watch, designed by students from l'Ecole d'Arts Appliqués Genèva is a 100 % Swiss made product by Pierre Junod Switzerland and can be worn as a pocket watch, pendant or used as a small desk clock. The Materials are white hour hand & orange minute hand, anthracite anodized aluminum case, laser engraved figures, mineral glass, Swiss quartz movement, each watch is sold with a natural rubber strap to hang from your neck, a wall, anything you wish to have time fly by. The time is displayed with two pointers (extended from hidden hands) floating around the "equator" of the globe. The minutes indicated on the upper hemisphere and the hours highlighted down below. Eris Planetary Sphere Watch (Thanks, Mitch!) Previously: Watchismo Xmas guide - Boing Boing Pocket-watch made from carved bone - Boing Boing Boing Boing: History of electric watches Early calculator watch prototype - Boing Boing History of armored military watches - Boing Boing Pictorial history of kids' watches - Boing Boing Steampunk "gothic pirate spaceship" watch - Boing Boing History of slide-rule wristwatches - Boing Boing

Famous and obscure musicians benefit from free downloads Posted: 06 Jul 2009 11:28 PM PDT "Shot in the Back of the Head," the top-selling iTunes track off Moby's new, self-released album "Wait for Me," is also the song he released as a free download, which has been available for months and remains available as a free download. In related news, Henrik sez, "Imagiro explains why they released their debut album What to Do and How to Do It (yes, the title is inspired by an old BoingBoing post) on a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license and made it freely available at the same time as they market it through the ordinary channels of music distribution. They did this with the blessing of KODA, the Danish rights-holders society. It is available in mp3, ogg and flac formats, the latter of which via bittorrent." First of all, releasing What to Do and How to Do It on a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license is a very clear way of communicating to the users of the album what uses we think are fair. We love when people make remixes and mash-ups and thus combine old works to create new ones. By allowing non-commercial uses and derivatives everyone can use our music, e.g. as background for a Youtube-video or post remixes on a blog. However, if you want to use the music for a commercial or release the remix commercially, you'll have to ask us first and agree to a contract. Free Download an iTunes Shot In The Arm For Moby Why Creative Commons? (Thank, CF and Henrik!)

Friends promote debut novel of writer who has post-stroke aphasia Posted: 06 Jul 2009 11:22 PM PDT Greg sez, "Albert Borris' debut novel, a YA book called Crash Into Me, comes out today... but back in December, Albert suffered a massive stroke that left him unable to get words out on paper or verbally in the proper order. He's a writer unable to write... and currently unable to help promote his own book. Fellow young adult and middle grade debut authors in the Class of 2K9 of which Albert had been co-president, are working together along with others to help spread the word so that Albert's novel gets the attention it deserves... and which he is unable to help generate." When Owen, Frank, Audrey, and Jin-Ae meet online after each attempts suicide and fails, the four teens mak e a deadly pact: they will escape together on a summer road trip to visit the sites of celebrity suicides...and at their final destination, they will all end their lives. As they drive cross-country, bonding over their dark impulses, sharing their deepest secrets and desires, living it up, hooking up, and becoming true friends, each must decide whether life is worth living--or if there's no turning back. Crash Into Me Press Release -- Albert Borris, Crash Into Me Albert Borris (Thanks, Greg!)

Don't Copy That Floppy sequel promises prison beatings for copying Posted: 06 Jul 2009 11:23 PM PDT The sequel to the venerable Don't Copy That Floppy video (an embarrassing 1992 rap video about the evils of software piracy, produced by the Business Software Alliance) is apparently ready to ship, and it's a doozy. Taking a page out of The IT Crowd's playbook, suggesting that copying your friends' music, movies and code will lead to you being imprisoned and then forced into brutal slavery by other cons (seriously). The BSA are, of course, big proponents of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, which would require signatories to send noncommercial copiers to prison, so I suppose that there's something to this threat. I wonder if anyone at the BSA ever sits down and says, "You know, if we keep making stuff like this, eventually people are going to start thinking that giving us money for software only funds more efforts to imprison their loved ones, and thus they should really pirate stuff, if only to starve us of cash for these batshit excursions into private law." Anti-Piracy Ad from The IT Crowd by axepourhomme Don't Copy That 2 - COMING SOON! (via /.)

HOWTO make delicious, beautiful unhealthy food out of gross, unhealthy fast-food Posted: 06 Jul 2009 11:07 PM PDT The Fancy Fast Food blog is dedicated to remixing horrible fast food so that it looks and tastes great, even it still has all the nutritive value of a sack of greasy, heavily salted fiberglass. Here's tortellini made from a pair of Taco Bell Fancy Burrito Supremes: Think outside the tortilla. Carefully unwrap the Burrito Supremes and soft taco, and extract their stuffings in a bowl. Carefully rinse off each of the tortillas, and then briefly steam them in a steamer to soften and moisten them. Then lay each tortilla on a cutting board and cut circles in it using a small circular cookie cutter, or simply an empty tin can measuring around 2 1/2" in diameter. Take the filling and put a small amount in each small tortilla circle, then fold it in half and pinch it into a tortellini shape. The moisture should keep it sticky enough to stay put. Pile the tortellinis on a plate. Next, cut open and pour the contents of the sauce packets in a measuring cup, then generously drizzle the sauce over the tortellini. Garnish with parsley and serve with Sierra Mist in a wine glass. Fancy Fast Food (via Kottke)

North Carolina "sewer monster" is not a new Chris Cunningham video Posted: 06 Jul 2009 11:10 PM PDT I first encountered the video embedded above last week, but shrugged it off as (a) someone's colonoscopy home movie repurposed for internet lulz, (b) stealth marketing campaign for a Cloverfield sequel, or (c) a portrait of Sarah Palin's soul. As usual, I was wrong. Snipped from i09's post with the delightful title, "Public Utilities Group Confirms "Sewer Monster" Is Real, But Doesn't Know What It Is" -- [The] city of Raleigh, North Carolina, is responding as the viral video of a seething blob in the city sewers made its way across the internet yesterday. Marti Gibson is the Environmental/EMS Coordinator for Public Utilities in the city of Raleigh, North Carolina, and she has been as confused as the rest of us. When she first looked at the video, she emailed our anonymous source to say it was a slime mold that was in the phase of its lifecycle where it looks like a throbbing, breathing animal (see io9's report on slime molds from a few weeks ago where we talked about this exact thing). She assured our tipster that any water passing by this slime would pass through a treatment plant and be thoroughly cleansed. But then, a few hours later, Gibson retracted her statement in an email... Click for the rest of the story, including pictures that will probably make you hurl. Spoiler alert: IT'S A SEETHING MASS OF DISGUSTING GRODY WORMS, WRITHING IN BUSBY BERKELEY-STYLE SYNCHRONIZED SQUIRMEOGRAPHY, BATHED IN WARM, DELICIOUS RAW SEWAGE. You're welcome! (HT: Doug Lussenhop)

Honduras: Photo-essays of ongoing crisis by James Rodriguez Posted: 06 Jul 2009 10:26 PM PDT Photojournalist James Rodriguez, whose work in Guatemala I've blogged here before, is in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, covering the popular response to the coup d'etat that occurred on June 28th. I share with you a special photo-essay about yesterday's tragic events at Toncontin Airport, in Tegucigalpa, where the Army opened fire against civilians killing at least 4 and injuring dozens. (...) BBC News has published the best video so far of the Army's repression against the protesters. The army's shooting can be clearly seen: Video link. All work here in Honduras has been self-financed. If you would like to contribute to MiMundo.org, you can do so via Rights Action here - it is tax deductible in the U.S. and Canada. Tragedy at Toncontin: Army Shoots and Kills Protesters / Tegucigalpa, Honduras. (MiMundo.org) See also this related, recent photo-essay from Honduras by Rodriguez: Mel, Our Friend, the People are with You! / Tegucigalpa, Honduras (MiMundo.org) Previously: James Rodríguez: revisiting genocide in Rabinal, Guatemala Guatemala: Mayan Activists Protest Dirty Deeds of a Canadian ... March for civil war "desaparecidos" in Guatemala: photos (Guatemala) Letter to a Forcibly Disappeared Son Guatemala: Twitterevolution, "YouTube Sedition," and Deepening ... Honduras: Photos of Coup Honduran coup is the first successful military coup d'etat in the ...

Haystack, anti-censorship tool specifically for users in Iran, to launch soon. Posted: 06 Jul 2009 08:11 PM PDT Cyrus Farivar blogs, Dare I say it, “green hat” hacker extraordinaire Austin Heap (See SF Chron a few weeks ago) and a group of domestic and foreign techie folks wanting to help Iran have announced the upcoming release of Haystack. Heap writes on his blog that it’s a “new program to provide unfiltered internet access to the people of Iran. A software package for Windows, Mac and Unix systems, called Haystack, will specifically target the Iranian government's web filtering mechanisms. Here's the Haystack site (nothing there at the time of this blog post). Related reading: Clerical Leaders Defy Ayatollah on Iran Election (NYT)

Pez Candy Inc sues Museum of Pez Memorabilia for copyright infringement Posted: 06 Jul 2009 08:43 PM PDT (Photo by Plug1 of whatimseeing.com) Oh, this is stupid and sad. Pez Candy Inc., makers of pixel-y candy dosed out in those iconic character dispensers, is suing the Burlingame Museum of Pez Memorabilia for copyright infringement. Doctor Popular blogs about it over at Laughing Squid: The suit, filed last week, claims that the museum deceives the public into believing they are operating under the authority of Pez and asks that the museum’s 7 foot tall replica of Pez dispenser be destroyed. The lawsuit also takes issue with the museum’s sales of toy truck Pez dispensers which had been modified with Obama and McCain logos during last years elections. The museum has been opened since 1995 and is said to be the only place in the world were you can see every Pez dispenser ever made. Pez Suing Burlingame Museum of Pez Memorabilia (Laughing Squid) Update: The love that dare not Pez its name. At left, Scott Beale snapped this scandalous pic proving what Star Wars slashfic scribes have long known: The 'droid hearts Chewie, as evidenced in two giant Pez dispensers. Lawsuits be damned. C-3PO & Chewbacca, Together At Last. Previously: Pez museum opens HOWTO mount a Pez dispenser on a camera's hot-shoe Pez Theater Pez MP3 player now taking orders Pez dispenser USB drive mod RFID credit card modded into Hello Kitty Pez Dispenser 1962 Pez machine Cast bronze Boba Fett Pez head

Reverse-engineering SSNs from publicly available data Posted: 06 Jul 2009 07:24 PM PDT Computer scientists at Carnegie Mellon University have figured out how to predict Social Security numbers from publicly accessible birth data with frightening accuracy. The researchers analyzed a public information source known as the "Death Master File," which includes birth data and SSNs for people who have died. The scientists found that in many instances, if you know the date and state in which a person was born, you can deduce their SSN. With just two attempts, the researchers correctly guessed the first five digits of SSNs for 60 percent of deceased Americans born between 1989 and 2003. With fewer than 1,000 attempts, they could identify the entire nine digits for 8.5 percent of the group. There's only a few short steps between making a statistical prediction about a person's SSN and verifying their actual number, Acquisti said. Through a process called "tumbling," hackers can exploit instant online credit approval services -- or even the Social Security Administration's own verification database -- to test multiple numbers until they find the right one. Although these services usually block users after several failed attempts, criminals can use networks of compromised computers called botnets to scan thousands of numbers at a time. "A botnet can be programmed to try variations of a Social Security number to apply for an instant credit card," Acquisti said. "In 60 seconds, these services tell you whether you are approved or not, so they can be abused to tell whether you've hit the right social security number." Social Security Numbers Deduced From Public Data (Wired Science) Predicting Social Security numbers from public data: Abstract (text) and full article (PDF) (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)

@BBVBOX: recent guest-tweeted web video picks (boingboingvideo.com) Posted: 06 Jul 2009 04:53 PM PDT (Ed. Note: We recently gave the Boing Boing Video website a makeover that includes a new, guest-curated microblog: the "BBVBOX." Here, folks whose taste in web video we admire tweet the latest clips they find. I'll be posting periodic roundups here on the motherBoing.) Jesse Thorn: Bill Withers performing "Hope She'll Be Happier" at Zaire '74, from the new documentary "Soul Power": Link Sean Bonner: Bad Dog Bad Hog. I dare you to sit through 30 seconds without clawing your eyes out. Link Richard Metzger: I can't explain it, you really just have to see it for yourself Link Richard Metzger: Give this reporter many raises Link Andrea James: Failed fabricated 50s fad: The Duoped Link Sean Bonner: Bert and Ernie go totally BRUTAL!! Link Robin Sloan: Jeff Scher has a new hand-drawn kaleidoscope of a video up at the NYT! He celebrates tiny, subtle moments: Link Jesse Thorn: "You look like a prostitute's sofa." - Zach Galifianakis to Jordan Morris, (pitching a Vegas "Hangover" revue) Link Susannah Breslin: The Prada Transformer is a Rem Koolhaas-designed building that can change its footprint: Link Andrea James: Reagan-era makeovers. 80s bonus: Facts of Life's Mindy Cohn Link (thx Calpernia) Laughing Squid: "Lego Arcade" by Michael Hickox featuring classic arcade games recreated using stop-motion animation of Legos Link Richard Metzger: Eddie Murphy 'Kill the White People' reggae song Link Jesse Thorn: awesome story of a drunk extra on the set of Being John Malcovich. "Hey Malcovich, think fast!"Link Jesse Thorn: Batman: Number One. Very funny short from Eric Truehart. Link Susannah Breslin: A bunch of dudes pretend to play weird instruments: Link Richard Metzger: Old guy dances for Jesus! Hilarious Link More @BBVBOX: boingboingvideo.com

First music video shot on iPhone 3GS? Reyna Perez, "Love Love Love." Posted: 06 Jul 2009 04:26 PM PDT Ari Kuschnir of m ss ng p eces has co-directed what I am fairly certain is the first "pro" music video shot entirely on the new iphone 3GS: "Love Love Love," by Reyna Perez. My capsule review: I love love love. About the artist, and the making of: Reyna Perez has embraced the concept of digital collaboration with her self-titled EP. She recorded each song in Brooklyn on acoustic guitar at a home studio and emailed the tracks to producer Michael Maurice (Curio Sound) in Denver. Over the course of 2 months, Maurice mastered her songs into full fledged productions using Logic software and his own instruments. "I've given them a warm analogue sound, without using any actual analogue equipment; it's a testament to the times, and I'm very happy with the results," says Maruice. The final mixes arrived via ftp on Friday, June 17th, the same day the iphone 3GS hit the streets. Video producer Ari Kuschnir, Reyna's fiancee, purchased the iPhone after a two hour wait, made shorter by listening to the tracks. Hearing the new music and playing with 3GS, he had an idea. Why not debut Reyna with the first iPhone music video? "It became clear that the phone's camera quality was good enough to shoot a music video. It seemed fitting for the project." Over the next few days, the plan and the team came together. Within a week, through a series of collaborations much like the mastering of Reyna's EP, the video was complete. Here's the video, and here's Reyna on Facebook, and here she is on reverbnation.com. Previously: BB Video: "Ssshhh," by Hess is More, dir: m ss ng p eces (music ... Joe The Plumber, meet Dave The Fisherman - Boing Boing

Justice Department to review wireless carriers for anti-competitive practices Posted: 06 Jul 2009 02:59 PM PDT The DOJ is reviewing large American telecoms including ATT and Verizon over concerns the companies have abused the increasingly centralized market power they've gained in recent years, according to an item in the Wall Street Journal today: The review of potential anti-competitive practices is in its very early stages, and it isn't a formal investigation of any specific company at this point, the people said. It isn't clear whether the agency intends to launch an official inquiry. Among the areas the Justice Department could explore is whether wireless carriers are hurting smaller competitors by locking up popular phones through exclusive agreements with handset makers, according to the people. In recent weeks lawmakers and regulators have raised questions about deals such as AT&T's exclusive right to provide service for Apple Inc.'s popular iPhone in the U.S. The Justice Department may also review whether telecom carriers are unduly restricting the types of services other companies can offer on their networks, one person familiar with the situation said. DOJ Opens Review of Telecom Industry (WSJ.com)

From Odessa to the Future Posted: 06 Jul 2009 02:16 PM PDT Guestblogger Marina Gorbis is executive director at Institute for the Future. At the end of workshops at the Institute for the Future we often ask participants to sum up their experience in one word or one sentence. Applying the technique to myself, I would sum up my whole life in one phrase: From Odessa to the Future. Right around my 50th birthday I found myself in a position of Executive Director of IFTF, a venerable 40-year old think tank in Palo Alto, California. An honor, for sure, but an honor that for me meant many hours of reflecting on an amazing arc one's life can take, an arc that in my case started in a three room (not three bedroom, three room) apartment I shared with my mother, sister, and grandparents on a street named after a radical and obscure left-wing German politician and historian Franz Mehring in a city most famous for its steps forever immortalized in Sergey Eisenstein's movie Battleship Potemkin. This arc has brought me to the heart of Silicon Valley and to the most unlikely of occupations--a futurist. Although in a funny way, my past may have given me the best training for a futurist, at least the kind of futurism we practice at IFTF. It taught me on a visceral level a lesson that we always try to impart on others: no one can predict the future. If you asked me or anyone around me 35 years ago what would I be, the most likely answer would've been an "engineer." A good bet since most educated Russian Jews are engineers, many of them here in Silicon Valley. I did spend one unhappy year studying naval engineering (this may explain my decision to emigrate at the age of 18). No one around me knew any futurists other than the gypsy fortunetellers regularly trolling the streets of Odessa. You can think of me becoming a futurist as one of those black swan events Nassim Taleb writes about. My personal experience has also led me to wonder about the unintended consequences of most things we do or that happen to us. I have come to believe that Steven Johnson's apt book title Everything Bad is Good for You applies to many realms much beyond video games and popular culture. I am finding that many things we strive for or think are desirable are actually bad for us and vice versa, things that we thought were bad turn out to be good (unless they kill you, of course). Or to be precise, I don't think they are good or bad per se but that when we make judgments about something being good or bad, we simply cannot foresee the totality of consequences and that among this totality of consequences there are necessarily some good things and some bad. Prosperity and abundance that we all strive for and that many people have come to America for bring with them huge environmental and oftentimes social costs; lower living standards are simply more sustainable. Abundance of opportunities leads to stress and tyranny of choice, which we experience on a daily basis, from our shopping experiences to the kinds of stressful choices our young people are facing when deciding on colleges or careers. Compulsory education turns many kids off learning. In contrast, kids deprived of educational opportunities, treasure schooling. Just read stories of Afghan girls who were banned from schools under the Taliban and how exalted they were at being able to go to one-room crammed schools. Compare it with kids in many American schools who think of going to school as a punishment. I often think of Solzhenitsyn who once remarked that the freest he ever felt was in the gulag. Who could've thought that in the most oppressive of places one can attain great spiritual freedom? By no means do I advocate depriving people of incomes or kids of schools. I also would not recommend taking spiritual vacations to the gulag. I just like to think about complexity of outcomes and possibilities that often go against the grain of conventional wisdom or clear-cut solutions. I guess this would make me a bad politician. But this is what I like to think about, write about, and debate about, and this is what I hope to engage the awesome Boing Boing community in conversations about.

Guest blogger: Marina Gorbis Posted: 06 Jul 2009 02:03 PM PDT I'm pleased to introduce our next guestblogger, Marina Gorbis. Marina is executive director of Institute for the Future, a 40-year-old non-profit thinktank in Palo Alto where I'm a research director. IFTF helps companies, governments, foundations, and other organizations think about longterm future trends to make better decisions in the present. Marina a terrific thinker, an effective administrator, a generous person, and a humble soul. She's also very funny, a tad cynical, and a hardcore bluegrass fan -- all traits I appreciate in a friend and mentor. I'm delighted that Marina's agreed to spend some time with us. From Marina's bio: A native of Odessa, Ukraine, Marina is particularly suited to see things from a global perspective. She has directed international programs and led international development projects for SRI (formerly Stanford Research Institute) in China, Japan, Vietnam, India, and Eastern Europe. Marina has also authored publications on international business and economics, with an emphasis on regional innovation and competitiveness. In addition to serving as IFTF's Executive Director, Marina led the Technology Horizons Program for several years, focusing on the innovation at the intersection of new technologies and social organization. She has initiated a Global Ethnographic Network (GEN), a multi-year ethnographic research program which tries to develop an understanding of daily lives of people in Brazil, Russia, India, China, and Silicon Valley, in an attempt to integrate their voices into IFTF's forecasts. She has also led several major private client engagements at IFTF, the most recent being a global Science & Technology Forecast for the UK Government's Department of Science & Technology. She holds an M.P.P. from the University of California, Berkeley, a certificate in international business from the University of London, and a B.A. in industrial psychology, also from the University of California, Berkeley. California, Berkeley. Marina Gorbis at IFTF

Little Brother wins the Prometheus Award for libertarian science fiction Posted: 06 Jul 2009 01:06 PM PDT Wouldya lookit that! I've won the Libertarian Futurist's Society's Prometheus Award for my novel Little Brother! As with all the other awards LB has been up for this year, I'm even more honored by the company I'm in than the award itself; this year's Prometheus nominees included Charlie Stross's Saturn's Children, Matter by Iain Banks, The January Dancer by Michael Flyn, Opening Atlantis by Harry Turtledove, and Half a Crown, the wrenching conclusion to Jo Walton brilliant Farthing/Ha'penny alternate history trilogy. And this year's Prometheus Hall of Fame winner was Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. These books and these writers are all incredibly humbling company to find oneself among. The Prometheus will be given out at the WorldCon, and the award includes an actual, no-fooling gold coin. So yes, I'll be walking around the Montreal Worldcon with a pocket full of gold, don't tell anyone. 2009 PROMETHEUS AWARDS FINALISTS ANNOUNCED

Author Michael Stackpole: I don't worry about pirates Posted: 06 Jul 2009 11:37 AM PDT Bestselling novelist Michael Stackpole says he's making great money selling fiction directly off his site; he doesn't worry about pirates, "People downloading my stories from the big torrent sites were never going to buy them anyway. It's no money out of my pocket." and "He even admitted to downloading some of his own books from bittorrent sites if he didn't already have a digital copy, saying it was far easier than scanning it in himself." Rather than simply changing the method of delivering stories to readers, Stackpole believes digital formats will change the nature of the stories themselves. At the very least, authors should tailor their work to these new mediums. He cited what he referred to as "the commuter market," people who read two chapters per day on their half hour train ride to work. It's an ideal market for fiction broken into 2,500 word chapters, and could presage a resurgence of serial fiction. "It's kind of like a return to the Penny Dreadfuls," he said. "But the readers today are more sophisticated, so we as writers need to put more work into it." It was interesting to hear the formulaic way Stackpole approaches writing. He described how the method of writing old pulp stories could easily be adapted for modern audiences by eliminating certain ubiquitous but unecessary subplots and adding a bit of character development. A serial detective story should be, "70 percent case, 30 percent soap opera," with a little more soap in a later story to satisfy readers interested in a character's developing personal life. Even amidst all this embracing of change, Stackpole reassured his audience that digital formats were not sounding the death knell for paper books. "Cars did not kill off horses. Digital publishing will not kill off books. It _will_ change the way they are written and retailed." The Best Way To Break Into Science Fiction Writing Is Online Publishing

Photos of prison DIY tech Posted: 06 Jul 2009 11:54 AM PDT I've always found DIY prison culture to be absolutely fascinating. Inmates are makers by necessity. In 1999, photographer Marc Steinmetz created this fascinating series of photographs depicting DIY tech found in prisons. The series is titled "Escape Tools." From the artist's site: (Above left), Rope Ladder with wooden rungs disguised as chess pieces; found and confiscated in an inmate's cell in Wolfenbüttel prison, Germany, around 1993. (Above right), Immersion Heater made from razor blades; found in a cell in 'Santa Fu' jail in Hamburg, Germany. Jailbirds use these tools to distil alcoholic beverages forbidden in prisons. Your typical inmate's moonshine still includes a plastic can containing fermented fruit mash or juice, an immersion coil of some sort, a rubber hose, and a plastic receptacle for the booze. Escape Tools (via Street Use)

Farewell, Joel Johnson Posted: 06 Jul 2009 10:17 AM PDT Joel Johnson, who led the launch of Boing Boing Gadgets and Offworld, is moving on to work on other projects. We're grateful for all of Joel's hard work and passion and we're eager to see what he does next. He is truly a unique signal worth paying attention to in a very noisy space. Thanks for everything, Joel. We'll miss you. - The Boingers

Amazing hot rod auction Posted: 06 Jul 2009 10:04 AM PDT These two amazing hot rods will be up for bid in September's Icons Of Speed & Style auction at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. Many of the vehicles look like rad Revell plastic model kits or Hot Wheels. That's because those scale models and Hot Wheels were based on some of these actual cars. From the auction listings: 1850 'Boothill Express' Custom Show Rod: Built by Ray Fahrner, Boothill Express is based on the 1850s funeral coach that reportedly carried James Gang member Bob Younger to his grave. Powered by a 426 cu. in. Chrysler Hemi with extra-tall Hilborn fuel injection stacks, it has been the subject of numerous scale models and is certainly one of the wildest and most iconic custom creations to come from the show rod era of the 1960s. 1965 Dodge "Deora" Concept Car: A radical design interpretation of the Dodge A100 forward-control pickup truck, the Deora's striking lines were penned by California-based designer Harry Bradley and constructed in stunning detail by the Alexander Brothers of Detroit. Their unique creation was honored with the coveted Ridler Award in 1967, and it was pulled out of storage in 1998 before being fully restored back to show quality with the assistance of Harry Bradley himself. Immortalized by various Hot Wheels cars and AMT scale models, the Deora is one of the most recognizable and desirable 1960s Concept Cars. Icons of Speed & Style auction

MAKERS, my next novel, serialized online Posted: 06 Jul 2009 10:13 AM PDT Pablo from Tor has the details on a cool new promo they're doing to promote my next book, Makers, which'll be published in the fall (HarperCollins UK will publish it in the UK, Australia, NZ, and other parts of the commonwealth). Makers tells the story of a group of hardware hackers who fall in with microfinancing venture capitalists and reinvent the American economy after a total economic collapse, and who find themselves swimming with sharks, fighting with gangsters, and leading a band of global techno-revolutionaries. The first 50,000 words of Makers were serialized on Salon some years ago under the title Themepunks. Starting today around noon (Eastern Standard Tribe, of course), and throughout the rest of the year, Tor.com will be serializing Makers, Cory Doctorow's upcoming novel, which goes on sale from Tor Books in November.. We'll be serializing the entirety of the novel, with a new installment every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, until the whole thing is finished, sometime in January 2010. Each installment of Makers will be accompanied by a new illustration by Idiots'Books (idiotsbooks.com), which will interconnect with the other illustrations in the series, and offer limitless possibilities for mixing and matching the illustrations in the series. In a week or so, after we've posted a number of tiles, we'll release a Flash game in which users will be able to re-arrange the illustration tiles on a grid and create their own combination of layouts. I'm planning on repeating the tribute to booksellers I made with the free release of Little Brother, introducing every section of the serial with a little hymn to some bookstore or other; booksellers are clearly on the side of the angels (I speak as a former bookseller!). However, I'm doing this one a little differently; rather than write up my favorite booksellers, I'm asking for your favorite bookstores -- in the comments for each section of the serial, I'd like you to write up testimonials for your favorite stores. I'll pick three every week to add to that week's installments, by way of spreading the love around. Announcing Cory Doctorow's Makers on Tor.com Cory Doctorow's Makers, Part 1 (of 81) (Thanks, Pablo!)

Recently on Offworld: Twitter in WoW, trains in games, Clockwork Orange in 8-bits Posted: 06 Jul 2009 09:11 AM PDT Recently on Offworld we found a rapid-fire set of developments to kick off a long weekend, including the launch of TweetCraft which is, as you might imagine, World of Warcraft's first in-game Twitter client (above), and which ensures that you'll never have to leave the comfort and still irresistible allure of Azeroth. We also watched the first 17 minutes of Double Fine's hard metal adventure Brutal Legend, as narrated by LucasArts legend Tim Schafer, and saw indie devs Polytron finally officially announce that their debut game Fez is headed to Xbox Live Arcade in early 2010. We also found two pair of custom Legend of Zelda low-top sneakers, Donkey Kong played on the side of a building in Post-Its, a website completely devoted to the mis-uses of trains in games (!), an upcoming unmissable chiptune showcase in Montreal, and finally understood the gnawing wolf-at-the-door drama of spending $17,500 on a single NES game. And finally, our themed 'one shots' for the day: Wii Fit as an Atari 2600 game, and, even more wonderfully, an Atari 2600 version of A Clockwork Orange (and Dostoevsky and Kant and Proust [!]).

Canadian ISPs say identifying traffic is inevitable, no, wait, impossible Posted: 06 Jul 2009 07:30 AM PDT Michael Geist sez, The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission hosts long-awaited network management hearings this week, pitting Canada's telecom and cable companies against a broad range of consumer, creator, and technology groups in a fight that may help clarify whether Canada has - or should have - net neutrality laws. My weekly column notes that as the Commission weighs the various claims, it would do well to consider the testimony it heard just a few months ago during the February new media hearings. For example, Shaw Communications's network management submission states "traffic management is necessary to ensure that Shaw's customers continue to have access to fast, reliable and affordable service." It adds the "traffic shaping process uses deep packet inspection (DPI) technology to identify packets that are associated with P2P file-sharing applications and to slow those packets down, limiting the amount of available capacity P2P traffic consumes." Yet when CEO Jim Shaw was asked about the prospect of identifying traffic during the new media hearings, he told the Commission, "we can only tell you how many bits are coming in or out. We don't know what kind of bit it is. It could be anything from an e-mail to a porno. We don't know that. We spend no time trying to figure out what bits are going to your house. We just don't know." Perhaps foreshadowing the outcome of the net neutrality hearing, MTS Allstream acknowledged "when a commercial interest attempts to violate the principle of openness, as it is defined by the open culture movement, there tends to be a very dramatic and forceful rebuking." CRTC Net Neutrality Hearings Open Amid ISPs' Conflicting Claims (Thanks, Michael!)

Sony patent for any object as vidgame controller Posted: 06 Jul 2009 06:32 AM PDT Sony has filed a patent for a system that allows any object, from a coffee mugs to a book, to be mapped and used as a controller in a video game. Rob has more over at Boing Boing Gadgets. "Sony files patent on any-object motion control"

John Keel (RIP) Posted: 06 Jul 2009 06:27 AM PDT Legendary Fortean author John Keel has died. A personal influence on my own interest in anomalies and fringe theories, Keel is best known for his 1976 book The Mothman Prophecies, an investigation into strange phenomena that reportedly occurred around Point Pleasant, West Virginia, in 1966-1967. Of course, that book was made into a Hollywood film in 2002. However, The Mothman Prophecies just scratched the surface of Keel's experiences in the realm of high weirdness. Keel's friend and fellow Fortean author Loren Coleman has written an obituary over at Cryptomundo. "John A. Keel has died"

Artwork and book about clouds Posted: 06 Jul 2009 12:40 PM PDT Martin John Callanan, artist-in-residence at University College London's Environment Institute, used satellite data to create a small 300mm terrestrial globe depicting cloud coverage from a single second in time. He first showed the work, titled A Planetary Order, last week at an event also celebrating the publication of Extraordinary Clouds, a new book by the UCL Environment Institute's writer-in-residence, Richard Hamblyn. The cloud-themed projects are profiled in a short video from the university. "UCL writer and artist-in-residence look to the skies" Previously: Weird ice balls in London? - Boing Boing Clouds that look like UFOs - Boing Boing Are these awesome clouds a result of the shuttle launch? - UPDATED ... Night-shining clouds - Boing Boing Boing Boing: Tropospheric clouds that are half-rainbow Boing Boing: Crazy "lenticular mammatus" clouds over Joplin, MO Weird clouds in Hastings, Nebraska, 2004 - Boing Boing

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The Latest from Boing Boing

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Multitouch surface made from commodity PC components Posted: 06 Jul 2009 05:14 AM PDT I just caught a demo of the Tactable multitouch surface, which grew out of an MIT Media Lab project. It's an impressive product, a mid-sized table with a sharp projector set underneath the glass. It uses an array of moderate-resolution optical sensors to tell where it's being touched, and the sensors have variable focus, so they can sense 3D gestures over the surface as well as contact with the surface itself. The projector's good and bright, and the picture looked good in a well-lit room (albeit a darker corner of same). And being optical, the sensors can also recognize objects laid on the surface, reading bar-codes, text, shapes, etc. It opens up a myriad of possibilities for game design, some kinds of creative workflow (sound and video editing) and other situations where novel UIs are apt to unveil new possibilities. One thing I really liked about it all is that it's just a PC running a bunch of commodity hardware -- a projector, some sensors -- with cool software on the back-end. This is invention-by-recombination at its finest, and it means that the price and performance of the surfaces are tied to the broader markets for optical sensors, PCs and projectors, which points to a rosy future. The company's business model is building and selling the things, simple enough, so they don't make any pretense about top-s33kr1t stuff within. Tactable Previously: DIY multi-touch interface - Boing Boing iPhone + multitouch + goatse = arrghhhhhh - Boing Boing

Smell of fear Posted: 06 Jul 2009 05:10 AM PDT New research suggests that anxiety triggers the release of a scent that causes other humans who smell it to empathize with you. This may have evolved to help speed up spread of fear within a population so groups can get away quickly from dangerous situations. To run the experiment, University of Dusseldorf psychologist Bettina Pause and her colleagues had students undergoing brain scans sniff absorbent pads taken from the armpits of other students just before a final exam and, separately, while they were exercising. Pleasant. None (of the sniffing students) perceived a difference between the two types of sweat, but the pre-exam sweat had a different effect on brain activity, lighting up areas that process social and emotional signals, as well as several areas thought to be involved in empathy... A previous experiment found that sweat from skydivers activated anxiety circuits in sniffers' brains. Fellow students smell your exam fear Previously: Horseradish smell fire-alarm for waking up deaf people - Boing Boing Using Google maps to enter reports of strange smells - Boing Boing Astronaut describes what space smells like - Boing Boing

Finding Oz: How L. Frank Baum Discovered the Great American Story Posted: 06 Jul 2009 04:59 AM PDT Finding Oz by Evan I. Schwartz is a new book that tells the story behind the story of The Wizard of Oz and its creator L. Frank Baum. Smithsonian magazine gives a taste of the tale in a brief profile of Baum, who wrote his masterpiece in 1898, at the age of 40. Apparently, Baum was so convinced of his manuscript's magic that he framed the pencil he had used to write it. From Smithsonian: With his skepticism toward God—or men posing as gods--Baum affirmed the idea of human fallibility, but also the idea of human divinity. The Wizard may be a huckster—a short bald man born in Omaha rather than an all-powerful being—but meek and mild Dorothy, also a mere mortal, has the power within herself to carry out her desires. The story, says Schwartz, is less a "coming-of-age story … and more a transformation of consciousness story." With The Wizard of Oz, the power of self-reliance was colorfully illustrated. It seems appropriate that a story with such mythical dimensions has inspired its own legends—the most enduring, perhaps, being that The Wizard of Oz was a parable for populism. In the 1960s, searching for a way to engage his students, a high-school teacher named Harry Littlefield, connected The Wizard of Oz to the late-19th-century political movement, with the Yellow Brick Road representing the gold standard—a false path to prosperity—and the book's silver slippers standing in for the introduction of silver—an alternate means to the desired destination. Years later, Littlefield would admit that he devised the theory to teach his students, and that there was no evidence that Baum was a populist, but the theory still sticks. Frank Baum, the Man Behind the Curtain (Smithsonian) Finding Oz: How L. Frank Baum Discovered the Great American Story (Amazon)

Cantina song from Star Wars on a Chapman Stick Posted: 06 Jul 2009 12:04 AM PDT Dustin sez, "Musician Guillaume Estace plays a rendition of the famous "Cantina Theme" from Star Wars IV on a Chapman Stick, a guitar-like instrument designed solely for finger-tapping. It's really cool the way it lets him play the bass and melody simultaneously - I want one!" This is my wife's ringtone (the original, not the Chapman Stick version) and so I hear it a lot; this guy does a GREAT job with it! Star Wars "Cantina Band" on Chapman Stick (Thanks, Dustin!)

Manchester's steampunk difference engine adventure Posted: 05 Jul 2009 10:41 PM PDT The Manchester International Festival is putting together a touring, educational steampunk show based on the difference engine, Charles Babbage's mechanical computer. Oh, to live in Manchester! Travelling from past to future through a landscape of machines and ideas Walk the Plank and Thingumajig Theatre have created an interactive journey through the courtyard of Manchester's Town Hall. The audience will help inventor and mathematician Charles Babbage find the clues to repair his Difference Engine; solve the spider's riddles, hidden in the worldwide web; persuade the counting madman to open the gates to the Hall of Shadows...and discover the secret workings of the steampunk arcade. Alongside the show, a programme of engagement with six local schools is being led by The Centre for Urban Education. As part of the Creative Partnerships 'Enquiry' programme, children, young people and their teachers are working with creative practitioners to explore their ideas. They will develop a new creative learning resource based on the themes of the performance and linked to the science, technology, history, engineering and maths curricula. The Difference Engine...a steampunk adventure (Thanks, Ed!) Previously: Difference Engine unboxed at Silicon Valley Computer Museum ... Difference Engine mechanical computer made from legos - Boing Boing

Desperate-to-leave LinkedIn users rename accounts "delete delete delete" Posted: 05 Jul 2009 10:37 PM PDT Clay Shirky sez, "While googling around for instructions on deleting my Facebook profile, I discovered a form of digital graffiti which is one part last-ditch strategy to three parts _cri de coeur_: accounts renamed by frustrated LinkedIn users desperate to get off the service. I have no idea how common this is, but in just two searches, I came across a Mr. Delete This Account from the San Francisco area, who turns out to have company, as there are three other Mr. Delete This Account's on the service (San Diego; Enid, OK; and Liege, Belgium). There are also two users named Delete My Profile, four named Delete This Profile, and no fewer than ten named Unsubscribe Unsubscribe (the Humbert Humbert of the 21c.) There is also some unintentional hilarity on individual profile pages -- one of the Unsubscribe Unsubscribes is a Relationship Manager, while a user with the first name of 'delete delete delete' and the last name of 'delete delete delete' is a Hospitality Professional in Australia. LinkedIn is very solicitous about asking "Would you like to add delete delete delete delete delete delete to your network?" Um, no." This was how I got rid of my LinkedIn account in the end, and why I never signed back up again. (Thanks, Clay!)

Cheap facts: what happens to science fiction when knowing something can be done and doing it are nearly the same thing Posted: 05 Jul 2009 10:32 PM PDT My new Locus column, "Cheap Facts and the Plausible Premise," explores what it means for science fiction when the cost of knowing something falls to zero, and when the difference between knowing something can be done and doing it narrows away to nothing. Tell someone that her car has a chip-based controller that can be hacked to improve gas mileage, and you give her the keywords to feed into Google to find out how to do this, where to find the equipment to do it -- even the firms that specialize in doing it for you. In the age of cheap facts, we now inhabit a world where knowing something is possible is practically the same as knowing how to do it. This means that invention is now a lot more like collage than like discovery. Cheap Facts and the Plausible Premise

Tim O'Reilly: Kindle needs to embrace standards or die Posted: 05 Jul 2009 10:29 PM PDT Tim O'Reilly predicts the imminent demise of the Kindle ebook reader unless it makes the move to open standards and abandons DRM and proprietary formats. I've been trying to get someone at Amazon to answer my basic questions about the "DRM-free" option for authors and publishers ("Does the EULA prohibit a reader from moving a DRM-free file to a non-Kindle?" "Is there a patent or other restriction that prevents competitors from making readers or converters for the DRM-free files?" and "Can DRM-free files be remotely downgraded, the way that the DRM'ed files have had their read-aloud functionality taken away after the fact?") and been totally stonewalled, as have O'Reilly. Kudos to Tim for a great editorial and especially for the use of "strategy tax" -- what a great phrase! So we sold GNN to America Online in June 1995. Big mistake. Despite telling us that they wanted to embrace the Web, they kept GNN as an "off brand," continuing to focus on their proprietary AOL platform and allowing Yahoo! ( YHOO - news - people ) to dominate the new online information platform. So it was with a feeling of deja vu that I listened in mid-2007 to the promises of Amazon about the potential of its new proprietary e-book platform. While no payment is required to participate, there are clearly onerous restrictions that could limit the growth of the market: a proprietary file format, and the requirement that the e-books only be sold by Amazon.com. The file format was a problem for us from the get-go: Amazon's Kindle file format doesn't provide support for tables or for so-called monospaced fonts, two formatting features that we use heavily in our line of technical books. And there is a viable alternative: Epub, the open format from the International Digital Publishing Forum, is based on the Web's native format, HTML, and provides full table and font support. This is the first "strategy tax" paid by those who embrace proprietary platforms: They can't support the needs of every niche and must prioritize their support for mainstream needs. Why Kindle Should Be An Open Book (via /.) Previously: Some Kindle books have secret caps on the number of times you can ... Kindle owners start to lose text-to-speech on purchased books ... If you lose your Amazon account, your Kindle loses functionality ... When it comes to the Kindle, authors are focused on the wrong risk ... Report from protest for blind rights at Authors Guild yesterday ... My DRM and ebooks talk from O'Reilly Tools of Change for ...

Chris Anderson on managing tech for abundance Posted: 05 Jul 2009 10:21 PM PDT Chris Anderson's stirring Wired editorial "Tech Is Too Cheap to Meter: It's Time to Manage for Abundance, Not Scarcity" accompanies the launch of his new book Free: The Future of a Radical Price, asking technologists to consider what it means to manage abundant hard drives, networks, and processors, rather than scarce ones. (You can also get a free downloadable audiobook from the link) Perhaps the best example of a glorious embrace of waste is YouTube. I often hear people complain that YouTube is no threat to television because it's "full of crap"--which is, I suppose, true. The problem is that no one agrees on what the crap is. You may be looking for funny cat videos and think my favorite soldering tutorials are of no interest. I want to see funny videogame stunts and couldn't care less about your cooking tutorials. And clips of our own charming family members are of course delightful to us and totally boring to everyone else. Crap is in the eye of the beholder. Even the most popular YouTube clips may totally fail in the standard Hollywood definition of production quality, in that the video is low-resolution and badly lit, the sound quality awful, and the plots nonexistent. But none of that matters, because the most important thing is relevance. We'll always choose a "low-quality" video of something we actually want over a "high-quality" video of something we don't. A few months ago it was time for my kids to choose how to spend the two hours of "screen time" they're allowed on weekends. I suggested Star Wars and gave them a choice: They could watch any of the six movies in hi-def on a huge projection screen with surround sound audio and popcorn. Or they could go on YouTube and watch stop-motion Lego animations of Star Wars scenes created by 9-year-olds. It was no contest--they raced for the computer. It turns out that my kids, and many like them, aren't really that interested in Star Wars as created by George Lucas. They're more interested in Star Wars as created by their peers, never mind the shaky cameras and fingers in the frame. When I was growing up, there were many clever products designed to extend the Star Wars franchise to kids, from toys to lunch boxes, but as far as I know nobody thought of stop-motion Lego animation created by children. Tech Is Too Cheap to Meter: It's Time to Manage for Abundance, Not Scarcity (Image: Rodrigo Corral) Previously: Chris Anderson responds to plagiarism blog-storm over "Free ... FREE: Wired's Chris Anderson explores the Divide-By-Zero problem ... Wired's Chris Anderson Discusses Next Book -- "Free" - Boing Boing Video of Chris Anderson about his upcoming book: Free - Boing Boing

Buy Robert Anton Wilson's medical marijuana card Posted: 05 Jul 2009 04:26 PM PDT The medical marijuana card belonging to bOING bOING patron saint Robert Anton Wilson (RIP) is up for auction on eBay. It's one of many of RAW's personal items that his daugther, Christina, is auctioning to help pay off her father's large debts. From the medical marijuana card auction listing: As we all know (or should) RAW was a great champion of decriminalizing marijuana. In his late sixties, when his post-polio syndrome started getting bad, he really found great relief and was a staunch supporter of WAMM. WAMM is Wo/Man's Alliance for Medical Marijuana, located in Santa Cruz. His doctor gave him the necessary paperwork and here is his official WAMM card granting him the right to use marijuana medicinally. He is of course, patient # 2323. There is no signature, but his picture is emblazoned on the front with a twinkle in his eye... Robert Anton Wilson's Medical Marijuana Card Previously: Boing Boing: Robert Anton Wilson (RIP) Robert Anton Wilson on the 23 engima - Boing Boing Reason magazine on Robert Anton Wilson - Boing Boing Boing Boing: Robert Anton Wilson needs our help Boing Boing: Note from Robert Anton Wilson and his daughter

Man arrested for defacing TV at Sears Posted: 05 Jul 2009 03:52 PM PDT This Cincinnati gentleman was charged with criminal damaging after taking a permanent marker to a $1600 plasma TV at Sears. According to WCPO, Jordan Puckett, 20, was caught on surveillance video drawing a one foot penis on the screen. "A motive is not yet know." Man's Alleged Organ Artistry On TV Brings Charge (Thanks, Tara McGinley!)

Sarah Palin, via Twitter: God told me to sue the internet Posted: 05 Jul 2009 09:06 AM PDT Wonkette has a post up about @AKGovSarahPalin's crazy late-night twitter bender. She's gonna have to give up that handle, no? Anyway, after you slog through all the crazy ungrammatical Palinglish rambling, the point seems to be that a "higher calling" has directed her to file anti-defamation lawsuits against a number of news websites for having reported the news that she quit her post as governor of Alaska (her "news conference" to that effect is embedded above). From Wonkette: [A]fter crazily quitting her elected position as governor of Alaska, via an alarming backyard last-minute press conference void of any explanation , at the classic 4 p.m. hour of the Friday-Holiday news dump, Sarah Palin is now twatting on the twitter about how her Anchorage attorneys are going to SUE THE AMERICAN MEDIA, for saying "WTF?" Honestly, this is what Sarah Palin twatted on Saturday Night, July 4th, Independence Day, in America. Her link goes to (of course) Scientologist nut and sub-literate weirdo Greta Van Susteren's blog on FoxNews.com, where Greta has helpfully (?) posted seven pages of legal threats from Palin's lawyers, although you can't actually read beyond the first vague page of whining bullshit, because Greta/Fox can't figure out how to operate the Internet. But, from other websites, we gather Palin's lawyers plan lawsuits against MSNBC, the New York Times, the Huffington Post, the Washington Post, individual bloggers in Alaska, and other such anti-Palin forces such as "rain on your wedding day" and static cling. Related reading: Anchorage Daily News article, hilarious. Vanity Fair article: It Came from Wasilla (and "Don't Blame Us"). (via @Andrew Baron) On his excellent "nedslist" mailing list, Ned Sublette wrote this concise and spot-on appreciation of the official text of Palin's goodbye speech: [W]hat Roland Barthes would have called the pleasure of this text has to be savored in full to draw out its pure nuttiness. It's hard to know what to appreciate more: the all-caps prepositions; the sentence fragments that begin the fifth and sixth paragraphs, the run-on sentences, the frequent exclamation points!, the quotation from her parents' refrigerator magnet, the basketball analogy, the proposed logic of quitting so as not to be a quitter, or the grammatically incorrect final sentence framing the misattributed punchline, which was actually said not by General Douglas MacArthur but by General Oliver P. Smith. I especially like the capital O of "Outside" in "Outside special interests," which reminds us that the world consists of two parts: Alaska, and Outside. But what I most enjoy is the authenticity of this text; there can be no question that Governor You Betcha wrote it herself {wink}.

Fatal monorail collision at Walt Disney World Posted: 05 Jul 2009 08:10 AM PDT Eric sez, "The operator of a monorail at Walt Disney World died Sunday morning when two monorails crashed. About five or six guests were on the monorail at the time of the accident, but they are not seriously injured." It happened at the Ticket and Transportation Center station. A person who was on the scene reported to the news stations that they head a loud explosion and saw the mangled trains in the station. They tried to run to get people out of the front of the crashed train. They saw a family make it out, but the driver [ed: news report cuts off here] The monorails involved were the pink and purple trains, according to Local 6 in Orlando; pink was moving and hit purple, which was stationary. Breaking news: Two monorails crash at Disney World overnight, one Cast Member dead (Thanks, Eric and John!)

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The Latest from Boing Boing

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• Nintendo DS glucose reader plugin for kids with diabetes
• Matt Webb on the role of the designer in the 21st century
• Cheap Trick releases an album on 8-Track
• Threadless tees in cake form
• Airplane toilet gobbles a whole roll of TP
• @BBVBOX: recent guest-tweeted web video picks (boingboingvideo.com)
• Sarlaac pillow
• Luggable 75 lb "laptop" from 1968
• Weather Channel: no more smooth jazz
• Drew Friedman: painting of The Monkey Girl
• Tripping "Terminator" arrested
• Dead Gnomes: idiotically grinning ghastly garden gnomes
• Reality show gives points to clerics for converting Atheists
• One-ton manta cyclonic feeding frenzy

Nintendo DS glucose reader plugin for kids with diabetes Posted: 05 Jul 2009 03:26 AM PDT Tim sez, "This is the pre-launch page for the Bayer 'Didget', a blood glucose meter which plugs in to the DS / DS Lite's Slot-2. Consistent glucose testing by the diabetic child (or adult, presumably) is rewarded with points in a game that can be used to buy items or unlock levels. As with the the 'iPlayer' hardware video decoder for the DS which Cory recently posted, the downside is that the new DSi doesn't have a Slot-2. Bayer's DIDGET meter was developed in conjunction with Paul Wessel -- the parent of a child with type 1 diabetes. Paul noticed that although his son Luke was constantly losing his blood glucose meter, he could always find his Nintendo Game Boy. It was this observation that inspired Paul and Bayer to work together to develop the first and only blood glucose meter that connects to the Nintendo DS and Nintendo DS Lite gaming systems to reward children for good testing habits. Bayer's DIDGET Blood Glucose Meter (Thanks, Tim!)

Matt Webb on the role of the designer in the 21st century Posted: 05 Jul 2009 12:55 AM PDT " Here's my friend and neighbour Matt Webb (part of the Schulze and Webb design consultancy) addressing Copenhagen's Reboot conference on what the role of a designer was and is in the 21st century. It's a great Webbrant, thought-provoking, learned, wide-ranging, weird and great. Reboot (via Warren Ellis)

Cheap Trick releases an album on 8-Track Posted: 05 Jul 2009 12:52 AM PDT The latest cheap trick from Can-rockers Cheap Trick is an album released on an 8-track tape. Bah! My album will be released in the form of incidental grooving on the side of a thrown pot made in the style of ancient Greek potters! As you might imagine, finding a manufacturer today for the 8-track version of Cheap Trick's The Latest wasn't easy. "There was a lot of looking under rocks," admits Frey, who finally found a small plant in Dallas, Tex., for the retro-fit. "They're expensive to make, and they don't make very many at a time," he says of the cartridge which will sell to the public for something close to $30. The new album, issued on Cheap Trick's own label, is comprised of 12 songs broken into four sets of three songs each - suites that unfortunately don't fit nicely into the four 10-minute programs of standard 8-tracks, but which may be available at some point as a three-for-the-price-of-one deal on iTunes. As Frey explains the discount, "We're kind of more worried about being ignored than being ripped off." Cheap Trick brings back the 8-track

Threadless tees in cake form Posted: 05 Jul 2009 12:49 AM PDT A reader writes, "Take one part Threadless shirt design and one part cake mix, add in some fondant and frosting and you have Threadcakes: An online cake contest based on transforming Threadless designs into cakes." Threadcakes Gallery! :: Threadcakes: A Threadless Cake

Airplane toilet gobbles a whole roll of TP Posted: 05 Jul 2009 12:46 AM PDT Behold the awesome suction power of the airplane toilet, capable of slurping up an entire roll of toilet paper in one go. Don't clog the tank, though, or chunks of shit-ice will start to fall off the undercarriage, killing people with icy B.M.s (pun courtesy of Mr Spider Robinson). The Airplane Toilet Paper Experiment (Thanks, Fipi Lele!)

@BBVBOX: recent guest-tweeted web video picks (boingboingvideo.com) Posted: 04 Jul 2009 04:44 PM PDT (Ed. Note: We recently gave the Boing Boing Video website a makeover that includes a new, guest-curated microblog: the "BBVBOX." Here, folks whose taste in web video we admire tweet the latest clips they find. I'll be posting periodic roundups here on the motherBoing.) Richard Metzger: America! F*CK YEAH!! Link Andrea James: RT @Channel101 Celebrate America's freedom and might Channel 101 style: Link Andrea James: Penn & Teller burn the U.S. flag Link Jesse Thorn: particularly like the t-shirt in this ukulele version of the Beastie Boys' Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun Link Jesse Thorn: Your Yo Gabba Gabba knock-knock joke of the day, with Paul Scheer and Jack McBrayer: Link Susannah Breslin: I, for one, welcome our new sushi robot overlords: Link Jesse Thorn: Footage from a 1982 tech show hosted by Bill Murray. "R2D2 was cute, he was funny, he was a fine fine actor." Link Jesse Thorn: Trailer just released for Ricky Gervais first written & directed film, The Invention of Lying: Link Susannah Breslin: Michael Jackson face transformation: Link Richard Metzger: Girl freaking out on acid caught on video Link Susannah Breslin: Dance like a polygon, you mad fool, you: Link Richard Metzger: Vivienne Westwood meets her hero, environmentalist James Lovelock by @rodstanley Link Susannah Breslin: Grace Jones hulahoops to "Slave to the Rhythm": Link Richard Metzger: Church of Michael Jackson @davidschneider Link Susannah Breslin: The great love and infinite sadness of strange animals in and out of love: Link Richard Metzger: Lulu sings The Man Who Sold the World 1974 Link Laughing Squid: The 50 Greatest Movie Trailers of All Time as ranked by @IFCdotcom Link Susannah Breslin: A boy, a girl, and his alter-ego: Link Richard Metzger: RT @robertpopper Live (Religious) Phone Sex Link Jesse Thorn: I saw this doc "Soul Power" over the weekend, and it was amazing. James Brown, Bill Withers, Fania AS & more. Link Richard Metzger: Church exorcism of gay teen -if it doesn't work, will they burn him at the stake? Link Susannah Breslin: Banksy assaults the Bristol Museum, spray paint can in hand: Link Robin Sloan: Remember "The Neverending Story"? Remember Falkor? Here's my code-art homage: Link More @BBVBOX: boingboingvideo.com

Sarlaac pillow Posted: 04 Jul 2009 02:26 PM PDT Flickr user scrumptiousdelight created this Sarlaac monster in pillow form for Stitch Wars, a Star Wars crafting show. Note all the little details, like the Boba Fett helmet on one of the tentacles. saarlac pitlow monster (via Wonderland)

Luggable 75 lb "laptop" from 1968 Posted: 04 Jul 2009 12:17 PM PDT Harry sez, "Computers weren't portable in 1968 (they tended to fill entire rooms), but even then, the yen for portable computing was there. In 1968, Computerworld reported on a carrying case that turned a Teletype machine into a 75-pound mobile terminal--wheels were optional." The Laptop, Circa 1968 (Thanks, Harry!)

Weather Channel: no more smooth jazz Posted: 04 Jul 2009 11:16 AM PDT The Weather Channel will no longer have a "smooth jazz" soundtrack behind its "Local On the 8s" segments. Instead, they will play rock. Fortunately, you can still turn down the TV volume and crank your CD of "The Weather Channel Presents Smooth Jazz," which actually hit #1 on the Billboard's Current Contemporary Jazz Album Chart. From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "I think we've been doing an injustice to our viewers playing, for the lack of a better word, elevator music on the segments for all these years," said Geoffrey Darby, the cable network's new executive vice president of programming, Thursday. "People would have it on but they wouldn't be watching and they wouldn't be listening," said Darby, who pushed for the change after joining the network in February. "We wanted music that would get their attention —- and this has." Weather Channel turns to rock

Drew Friedman: painting of The Monkey Girl Posted: 04 Jul 2009 03:38 PM PDT Drew Friedman continues his new series of portraits depicting legendary circus and carnie sideshow freaks. The paintings are for a private collector, who I wish was me. Fortunately, Drew says they'll eventually be collected in a book. Seen here is Julia Pastrana Percilla Lauther aka "Percilla The Monkey Girl." Her story is strange, tragic, and also quite touching. From J. Tithonus Pednaud's fantastic site, The Human Marvels: In the late 1930's, while performing with the Johnny J. Jones Exposition, Percilla met fellow marvel Emmitt Bejano, the Alligator-Skinned Man. Despite her heavy beard and his ichthyosis a sweet romance blossomed between the unique couple. The pair saw past their physical differences. Emmitt was a man with calloused skin who spent performance intermissions submerged in vats of ice water because he could not sweat. Emmitt was quite literally 'thick skinned' and he had a 'hard shell to crack' but beneath he was a compassionate, gentle, charming and passionate man. Percilla, despite looking more beast than beauty, was elegant, eloquent and possessed and enchanting singing voice. Before long Percilla realized that the gentle Emmitt was the love of her life and the two eloped in 1938. Percilla The Monkey Girl (Human Marvels) Drew Friedman's The Monkey Girl (Drawger) Previously: Drew Friedman draws Schlitzie the Pin Head - Boing Boing

Tripping "Terminator" arrested Posted: 04 Jul 2009 09:03 AM PDT On Tuesday, Sean Stanley Smith, 19, ran around Lake Tahoe's casino arcade naked until police subdued him with a taser. They arrested him for indecent exposure. According to the Record Courier, "He reportedly told officers he had ingested marijuana and LSD, and was running naked because he thought he was 'the Terminator.'" He'll be back. "Naked 'Terminator' arrested at casino" (via Dose Nation)

Dead Gnomes: idiotically grinning ghastly garden gnomes Posted: 04 Jul 2009 07:07 AM PDT Out of the Blue's "Dead Gnome" line features garden gnomes with pistols in their mouths, or holding up the dripping heads of decapitated brethren, industriously sawing their own hands off, hanging from a gibbet, grinning glassily at the arrow that's pierced their heads, and so on. It's the wet, happy grins that get me. Dead Gnome (Thanks, Alice!)

Reality show gives points to clerics for converting Atheists Posted: 04 Jul 2009 06:55 AM PDT A new Turkish game-show asks clerics to convert atheists and awards prizes for the most conversions; I think the atheists should get points for resisting the pitch, too -- it's only fair (and the atheists should win supreme if the cleric loses faith altogether!). A new game show on Turkish television will pit a Greek Orthodox priest, a rabbi, an imam and a Buddhist monk against one another in attempt to convert atheists to their respective religions. In each episode of Penitents Compete, to be broadcast by Turkey's Kanal T television station in September, the four faith guides will try to persuade 10 atheists of the merits and truth of their creeds... An eight-member team of theologians will vet contestants to ensure they really are atheists before deciding who will participate in the show. Faiths compete on Turkish game show (via Derren Brown)

One-ton manta cyclonic feeding frenzy Posted: 04 Jul 2009 06:51 AM PDT Marilyn sez, "Pretty cool photos from July National Geographic. These manta rays in the Maldives have a 12-ft-wingspan, and the photographer Thomas Peschak was right in among them during feeding frenzies to get these shots. I especially like the last one in this gallery, which shows them lining up one behind the other in chain feeding behavior before swirling into a spiral formation for cyclone feeding, a behavior rarely seen outside the Maldives." Feeding Frenzy (Thanks, Marilyn!)

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The Latest from Boing Boing

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• Wear patterns as information leakage from security keypads
• Hitler finds out Michael Jackson has died (Der Untergang remix)
• djBC's Muppet mashups
• HOWTO build a radio in a POW camp -- the real life King Rat
• Landmark buildings of the world as acrylic rings
• If woowoos ran the emergency room
• Compuserve shuts down
• Massive bank fraud in massively multiplayer game EVE
• Ghost Town: The Bumpy Road To Bodie
• The Don Martin Dictionary
• Music video of stochasticity for Radiolab science podcast
• Andy Warhol paints Debbie Harry on an Amiga
• Record sleeve table and syringe chandelier
• Cool projects on Make: Online
• New images of the lunar surface
• World's oldest basketball shoes
• Summer Reading List by Roy Christopher
• The Choppers (1961)
• @BBVBOX: recent guest-tweeted web video picks (boingboingvideo.com)
• Ript: the dude equivalent of a padded bra
• NAACP comic from early 1960s
• Awesome pixel-art in cross-stitch form
• Video of Walt Disney World's Obamabot

Wear patterns as information leakage from security keypads Posted: 04 Jul 2009 01:02 AM PDT Bruce Schneier points out that keypad wear is a form of "information leakage": "There are 10,000 possible four-digit codes, but you only have to try 24 on these keypads. The first is most likely 1986 or 1968. The second is almost certainly 1234." Information Leakage from Keypads

Hitler finds out Michael Jackson has died (Der Untergang remix) Posted: 04 Jul 2009 12:50 AM PDT Video. Adolf Hitler is pretty pissed off to learn that Michael Jackson has died and won't be able to perform at his birthday party. Evidences the true marks of a great internet meme: infinite expandability, extremely bad taste in multiple respects, and an unfairly long lifespan. (via @andrewbaron) Previously: EFF chairman makes a Downfall remix The Downfall of HD-DVD (video) Hitler plans Burning Man Canadian prime minister Harper gets the Hitler/Untergang remix ... Hitler finds out about new Watchmen ending

djBC's Muppet mashups Posted: 03 Jul 2009 10:48 PM PDT djBC, consistently my favorite mashup producer/creator (he's the guy behind the Beasties/Beatles remix "The Beastles"), has released an entire album of remixes of Muppet music! He sez, "In honor of my daughter's first birthday- and one month late- I'm rolling out 'Muppet Mashup.' Ten mashups, remixes, and covers of music from The Muppet Show and Sesame Street. With the legendary McSleazy (of MTV Mash and GYBO), Dunproofin, ATOM, Martinn, Uncanny Valley and yours truly, dj BC. I'm particularly proud of my 'I'm Happy' track, which is built on Edwinn Starr loops, Muppet Show samples, and a fun, funky playground acapella from some little girls on Sesame Street." I've just listened to this straight through, with the baby, and we were both captivated. Bravo! Mashups, remixes, and covers of music from The Muppet Show and Sesame Street. Coral Cache mirror of the entire album Previously: djBC's album of legit mashups: Strictly Mixed and Mashed - Boing Boing Santastic II: Xmas mashups from djBC and friends - Boing Boing Boing Boing: New album of Beatles/Beasties mashups - drop-dead ... Boing Boing: Best mashups of 2005 Mashup Xmas album - Boing Boing

HOWTO build a radio in a POW camp -- the real life King Rat Posted: 03 Jul 2009 10:42 PM PDT This first-hand account of the construction of a clandestine shortwave radio by British POWs in a Japanese camp in Singapore really reminds me of James Clavell's magnificent novel King Rat, my all-time favorite war-novel, which revolves grippingly around the construction, discovery and consequences of a hidden shortwave in the Changi camp (both Clavell and Ronald "St Trinian's" Searle were interned in this camp). BJ: Can I just ask you - the components for the low voltage battery cells that you produced, where did you get all the components from? RGW: Well, zinc wasn't hard, there was some sheet zinc lying on the aerodrome and we pinched quite a bit of that because that would be eaten away during the use of the cells for the low voltage. I don't know what would have happened if that ran out. I think someone produced two lantern cells which did for a while, but it was mainly on this home-made cell system, which wasn't efficient but nowhere near as inefficient as the rectifier was. We must have been consuming... Ah Ping said he had to turn up a lot of power to keep the lights what they wanted. We were dispersing such an amount of power in this four test tube rectifier for the high tension. A variable capacitor was another component we had to bring in. We couldn't make a variable capacitor, it was impossible. We had to take two plates off the one we had to get a high enough frequency. Yes, I can't remember why we didn't go up a bit in inductance; it was largely a trial and error business really. Except that in a regenerative receiver you had some idea when you were near a station because the receiver was so sensitive as all regenerative receivers are. It had a piece of meat skewer type wood which I had a hole drilled in by a pen-knife, and we glued this in with some of our glue or something, into the capacitor shaft so that we could tune it by holding a little stick across it, fixing it at about six inches because one couldn't get one's hands any closer to the set because it was in a state of very near oscillation where the maximum sensitivity is, just before it bursts into oscillation. With a fairly clear HF band, it wasn't long before we knew roughly, by putting a couple of marks on the stick, where it was. We knew that the Voice of America was due for a transmission and I don't think we ever knew the frequencies because the BBC didn't announce frequencies, they just came on the air and broadcast. Construction of Radio Equipment in a Japanese POW Camp (via Make)

Landmark buildings of the world as acrylic rings Posted: 03 Jul 2009 10:25 PM PDT Etsy seller Plastique's got laser-cut acrylic rings boasting pointy world monuments. As knuckledusters, they create the possibility of growling, "Right, mate, you're geography," before you bust your opponent in the chops. world landmarks acrylic ring set (white) (via Neatorama)

If woowoos ran the emergency room Posted: 03 Jul 2009 10:23 PM PDT "Homeopathic A&E," a sketch from the British comedy show That Mitchell and Webb Look invites us to imagine an emergency room (A&E is British for Accidents and Emergencies, the UK equivalent of ER), as run by newage woo woos. That Mitchell and Webb Look: Homeopathic A&E (via White Coat Underground)

Compuserve shuts down Posted: 03 Jul 2009 10:20 PM PDT After 30 years, Compuserve is finally, totally, mostly dead (the email addresses still work). I was always a local BBS and GEnie guy, but there's no doubting the power and influence of Compuserve in introducing the idea of networked communications to a generation, and proving the business-case for commercial online activity: The original CompuServe service, first offered in 1979, was shut down this past week by its current owner, AOL. The service, which provided its users with addresses such as 73402,3633 and was the first major online service, had seen the number of users dwindle in recent years. At its height, the service boasted about having over half a million users simultaneously on line. Many innovations we now take for granted, from online travel (Eaasy Sabre), online shopping, online stock quotations, and global weather forecasts, just to name a few, were standard fare on CompuServe in the 1980s. CompuServe users will be able to use their existing CompuServe Classic (as the service was renamed) addresses at no charge via a new e-mail system, but the software that the service was built on, along with all the features supported by that software, from forums for virtually every topic and profession known to man to members' Ourworld Web pages, has been shut down. Indeed, the current version of the service's client software, CompuServe for Windows NT 4.0.2, dates back to 1999. CompuServe Requiem (via Beyond the Beyond)

Massive bank fraud in massively multiplayer game EVE Posted: 03 Jul 2009 10:15 PM PDT The chairman of the virtual bank in EVE Online, a space-trading/piracy game, absconded with billions of virtual credits, swapping them for $5,000 in cash to make a house payment. The embezzlement caused a run on the bank and has rocked the economy of EVE. The run on the bank has come to about 600 billion ISK, which has been withdrawn. However, we have a very big group of excellent supporters, who have deposited about 105 billion ISK sitting in Sweep to keep us liquid. We are extremely grateful for this. Currently the run seems to be mostly over with only a slightly higher withdrawal rate still, than deposit rate. That's to be expected, and in-line with EBANK's strategy to shrink to a more managable level. EBANK has always been extremely sound, due to our massive reserves. Our checks and balances have proven themselves to work as a mitigation device and by having the reserves spread out over several directors, the embezzlement was kept to a minimum. However, the run on the bank had the potential to do great damage to EBANK as people frantically made withdrawals to ensure they would not be caught if the bank ran short. We have also had several offers from very large entities, regarding big loans, should we need to cover any insolvency. Frankly, this has yet to be needed. But we are grateful for the support. Billions stolen in online robbery New perspective on EVE Online's latest bank embezzlement (via /.) Previously: Why the EVE Online industrial espionage econopocalypse is "fun ... EVE Online's economist speaks -- economics as an experimental ... Should online-game Ponzi scammer go to prison? - Boing Boing Massively Multiplayer economics -- good discussion thread - Boing ... Charlie Stross's Halting State: Heist novel about an MMORPG ... In-game Ponzi scheme - Boing Boing In-game cash marketplaces and Napster -- the arbitrage of time ...

Ghost Town: The Bumpy Road To Bodie Posted: 03 Jul 2009 04:09 PM PDT Stephen Worth says: When I was very small, I had one of those horses on springs. I would jump on it and bounce around furiously while my Dad would urge me on, calling out to me to "Ride that horse down the bumpy road to Bodie!" Before I was born, my family had taken a trip to the High Sierras and my Dad and Mom never forgot the potholes they had to navigate their 56 Chevy station wagon over. It was a memory they spoke of often. When I got a little older, I got a chance to visit Bodie with them, navigating a slightly more modern Chevy station wagon over those same potholes. Bodie became a lasting part of my consciousness as well. On my personal blog, Late Night Coffee Shops, I just posted a documentary on Bodie (and its nine inhabitants) from the mid-1950s. If you love the otherworldly feeling of stillness in places like this as much as I do, this video will make your day and fill your dreams with the beautiful sound of wind blowing through sun bleached boards. Ghost Town: The Bumpy Road To Bodie

The Don Martin Dictionary Posted: 03 Jul 2009 03:52 PM PDT Richard Metzger pointed me to the Don Martin Dictionary. Martin was one of my favorite Mad cartoonists. His sophisticated absurdism was the opposite of Dave Berg's middlebrow sitcom humor (but I liked him, too). The Don Martin Dictionary

Music video of stochasticity for Radiolab science podcast Posted: 03 Jul 2009 03:23 PM PDT Higher Mammals made a song and video to accompany Radiolab's recent show about stochasticity. If you don't already know about Radiolab, it's a terrific science podcast produced for WYNC public radio. Radiolab Stochasticity Bonus Video!

Andy Warhol paints Debbie Harry on an Amiga Posted: 03 Jul 2009 02:24 PM PDT This week, Cory posted a Talking Heads video and I followed up with a Laurie Anderson clip. For the trifecta of posts related to NYC's downtown scene in the 1980s, here is a video of Andy Warhol painting Debbie Harry on an Amiga computer at a Commodore press event in 1985. Previously: Andy Warhol and the Commodore Amiga 1000 - Boing Boing Debbie Harry in the New York Times - Boing Boing Interview with Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol - Boing Boing Warhol, Spielberg, Bianca Jagger on a hotel bed... - Boing Boing Andy Warhol perfume - Boing Boing

Record sleeve table and syringe chandelier Posted: 03 Jul 2009 01:43 PM PDT While BB Gadgets' Rob is fond of Bughouse's Album Side Table made from old LP jackets, I prefer the Hypolux Chandelier, constructed from plexiglass plates, commercial syringes, and a ballchain suspension.

Cool projects on Make: Online Posted: 03 Jul 2009 01:14 PM PDT Make: Online has published a number of cool projects recently. Sew a cute Morse code key leg strap Diana Eng's frilly and fashion-forward Morse code key. Diana Eng (best known from Project Runway and her book Fashion Geek) is our current guest author. Besides being a geek-chic fashion maven, Diana is also a ham operator and on a mission to introduce a new generation of hobbyists (especially women) to ham radio. In this project, she makes a sexy garter strap to hold her new Morse key. Shrinky Dink gaming minis Sean Ragan shows you how to make some sweet home-baked gaming components using Shrinky Dink plastic and binder clips. More on making Light Bricks As a follow-up piece to Alden Hart's LED Light Brick project in MAKE, Volume 18, the atuhor shares more ideas for molding and casting the acrylic bricks to house your LED board, including using machinable wax to create a life-mask face to house your array. Disco face, baby!

New images of the lunar surface Posted: 03 Jul 2009 11:49 AM PDT NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has sent back its first photos of the moon. The photo above was taken near the moon's Mare Nubium region. The man in the moon is just outside the frame. From NASA: Older craters have softened edges, while younger craters appear crisp. (The image) shows a region 1,400 meters (0.87 miles) wide, and features as small as 3 meters (9.8 feet) wide can be discerned. The bottom (faces) lunar north. LRO's First Moon Images Previously: Lunar junk - Boing Boing Secret museum on the moon's surface - Boing Boing Lunar home designer - Boing Boing Alan Shepard's lunar golf - Boing Boing Lunar vehicles that didn't make the cut - Boing Boing Lunar "ark" proposed - Boing Boing

World's oldest basketball shoes Posted: 03 Jul 2009 11:39 AM PDT These may be one of the oldest pairs of basketball sneakers in the world. The shoes were manufactured by the Colchester Rubber Company which shut down in 1893. Vintage clothing dealer Gary Pifer paid 50 cents for them at an estate sale in Vista, California. From CafeTerra: "In a instant, I knew this discovery would be re-writing basketball and sneaker history, as these sneakers are 25 years older than the 1917 Converse All-Stars", added Pifer. The Colchester Rubber Co. was located in Colchester, Connecticut and was in business from 1888 to 1893. "World's first basketball sneakers 116 years old found at an estate sale" Previously: Space-sneakers like a Japanese toe-sock - Boing Boing Chocolate sneakers - Boing Boing Robert Williams line of Vans sneakers - Boing Boing

Summer Reading List by Roy Christopher Posted: 03 Jul 2009 11:19 AM PDT Roy Christopher has assembled his annual summer reading list, which includes book recommendations from several of our friends and former guest bloggers. Gareth Branwyn: A trend I'm noticing in books recently is that there are an increasing number that trade in danger – anti-Nanny State books. No, not those Dangerous Book for Boys and Girls. Those are rubbish. I'm talking about books like Theo Gray's tremendously awesome Mad Science: Experiments You Can Do at Home – But Probably Shouldn't (Black Dog & Leventhal) and Bill Gurstelle's Absinthe and Flamethrowers (Chicago Review Press). Gray's book has a bunch of enticing experiments that are so well-documented and gorgeously photographed, you don't have to do them yourself, but if you decide you want to, Gray tells you the real dangers involved and what you have to find out on your own to do them safely and successfully. Treating us like adults. What a concept. My friend Bill Gurstelle's book first looks at reasons for living dangerously, mapping what he calls the Golden Third, those people who take risks, who aren't afraid to live a certain degree of risk,… but not too much risk. Be too risk-taking and you might not survive, not reproduce, don't take any risks, and you won't move the culture, innovation, etc. forward. All the action is in that Golden Third. After these ruminations on the why of living dangerously, he gets into some projects and activities, the "art" of living dangerously, from "thrill eating" (stuff like fugu that can theoretically kill you) to Bill's main bailiwick, teaching you how to spectacularly blow shit up (hence "flamethrower" in the title). Richard Metzger: Life Inc.: How the World Became a Corporation and How to Take it Back by Douglas Rushkoff (Random House, 2009): Ever get the feeling that you're trapped on a hamster wheel of predatory "Corporatism"? An unwitting participant in a system that you didn't sign up for in the first place? What happens when the operating system of the corporate Moloch runs amok. Never Trust a Rabbit by Jeremy Dyson (Duck Editions, UK, 2001): Great macabre short story collection from the silent member of The League of Gentlemen. "Never trust a rabbit. They may look like a child's toy, but they will eat your crops." Hungarian proverb. Summer Reading List by Roy Christopher

The Choppers (1961) Posted: 03 Jul 2009 11:09 AM PDT "The choppers call him 'Torch.'" Many thanks to the The Isotope Guerrilla Cult Theatre for uploading this 1961 movie about a gang of kids who steal and strip down cars to turn into hotrods. If you cool cats like classic hotrod cars, bad boys from the other side of the tracks, sexy blondes in tight shirts, insipidly catchy songs, goofy teen idol good looks, and the world's biggest cell phone... this one is for you! Hot rods, hot rock, and hot hair are the jewels in the juvenile delinquency crown of THE CHOPPERS. This classic drive-in exploitation flick features the debut of sixteen year-old Arch Hall Jr. as Cruiser, the spoiled rich kid with a taste for crime and his band of troubled teens who call themselves cool names like Torch, Flip and Snoop, and specialize in stripping cars in record time. This is the movie that made you mom weak in the knees and your daddy worried about the crowd you run with. Featuring the some exceptional less-than-hit songs from the awesome Arch Hall Jr, including non-classics like "Konga Joe" and "Monkey In A Hatband". (Thanks, Brian!)

@BBVBOX: recent guest-tweeted web video picks (boingboingvideo.com) Posted: 03 Jul 2009 09:54 AM PDT (Ed. Note: We recently gave the Boing Boing Video website a makeover that includes a new, guest-curated microblog: the "BBVBOX." Here, folks whose taste in web video we admire tweet the latest clips they find. I'll be posting periodic roundups here on the motherBoing.) Sean Bonner: The Crazy Frog Brothers doing Axel F. For great justice. Link Andrea James: Ryan (an animation on an animator) Link Xeni Jardin: From the guy who brought you cult film classic THE ROOM, Tommy Wiseau's "The Neighbors." Link (via @bonniegrrl) Richard Metzger: Pink Slip - I won't describe it, but if you dare, it's NSFWish Link RT @toschie Sean Bonner: Today's Grindcore history lesson: Napalm Death Link Xeni Jardin: Hidden MacBookPro feature: it Transformersifies itself into robo-ship + flies away. OK, not rly but watch. Link Sean Bonner: Santa gets blown up by girls in skimpy outfits with big guns. WIN/FAIL you be the judge. Link Jesse Thorn: First episode of Andrew WK's new show Destroy, Build, Destroy! is currently free in iTunes: Link Andrea James: The most fortuitous engineering disaster in history: The Salton Sea Link Sean Bonner: Can I have my own Japanese coffee making robot too? Link Susannah Breslin: Screw the environment. Gay Talese cares about the cut of his cuff. Link Xeni Jardin: Every Zach Galafianakis clip from Tim + Eric, evar: Link (via @ericwareheim, but blocked outside USA) Jesse Thorn: The hilarious Tig Notaro performs a signature bit, "No Moleste": Link Susannah Breslin: Inside the Erotic House [NSFW]: Link Andrea James: Hypnotic time lapse of balloon festival (worth sitting through the :30 ad) Link