[an error occurred while processing this directive]

Thursday, January 31, 2002

Are you tired of lameass

Are you tired of lameass pseudorandom numbers? For around $500, you can get honest-to-god true random numbers with this black box that samples thermal electronic noise and spits out ones and zeros at a rate of 50,000 bits a second. (If you can't afford it, you can buy a CD-ROM with random numbers for around $50.) Link Discuss

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 04:54:45 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

A casino with monsters! That's

A casino with monsters! That's how Tim Mitchell of the wonderful Mooslessness blog describes the new massive multiplayer game, Project Entropia.

Project Entropia will have a real economy system that allows you as a user to exchange real life money into PED (Project Entropia Dollars) and then back into a real currency again. Project Entropia will be free of charge with no monthly costs.

Link Discuss

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 04:46:58 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

I added several new designs

I added several new designs and items to the Boing Boing store. Link Discuss

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 02:09:27 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

I usually don't post ukulele

I usually don't post ukulele related stuff here (I save it for my ukulelia blog), but I profiled ex-British Invasion popstar Ian Whitcomb for the LA Weekly and he's such a character I figured some of you would be interested. Link Discuss

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 11:43:10 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Open source docs on demand.

Open source docs on demand. DOSSIER is a company that sifts through and makes sense of the avalanche of documentation for open source projects like FreeBSD, then prints and binds a hardcopy book of these docs to your specifications and ships it to you. LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Paul!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 08:10:36 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Copy-protected CDs revealed. This tech

Copy-protected CDs revealed. This tech article deconstructs, in detail, the protections applied to music CDs that are "protected" (i.e. broken) with Cactus Data Shield, like Universal's Fast and the Furious disc, and describes how you can use off-the-shelf software to read and copy these discs on your PC, so you can make mix discs and backups, and so you can move your music to your hard-drive and MP3 player.LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Fred!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:26:43 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Wednesday, January 30, 2002

Twisted kids' book Photoshopping. The

Twisted kids' book Photoshopping. The mad geniuses at Something Awful have been up to it again -- this time, they're competitively warping the covers of beloved children's books. Hey, isn't it about the one-year anniversary of All Your Base? LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 08:10:39 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

A descent into madness, via

A descent into madness, via soccer. A British couple were driven slowly but surely mad by neighborhood kids who used the side of their house for goalposts in their pickup football games, thump-thump-thumping the ball against their wall around the clock for years. It ended in tragedy yesterday when the husband stabbed the father of one of the kids in the chest, killing him.

"Each time we complained the children replied with foul and abusive language and sang out, 'We shall not be moved'. The overall effect of the thumping football was to ruin our marriage. We are still married - just - legally."

LinkDiscuss (via New World Disorder)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:30:26 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

The biggest sex-scandal you never

The biggest sex-scandal you never heard of. Chu Mei-Feng is a Taiwanese politician whose sex life was documented and then made famous with a hidden pinhole camera that recorded her having sex with a married businessman. The video became an Internet sensation and rocked the Far East's psyche last week, even as the Taiwanese government tried to stop its distribution. The scandal continues as the identity of the secret taper is debated and the existence of more secret video is speculated on. Evan at the Daze Reader has put together a great overview of the event.LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Evan!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 11:46:53 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

SEC: Financial hoaxters. In an

SEC: Financial hoaxters. In an effort to wise consumers up to the dangers of investing, the SEC has produced a series of hoax pages shilling for capital-seeking startups. Consumers who try to invest are sent "Gotcha" messages telling them to be more careful in the future.LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Higgins!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 11:37:39 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Mutant corn takes over Mexican

Mutant corn takes over Mexican village. A rural Mexican village is being overrun by an illegal strain of GM corn that is growing everywhere -- from the cracks in the sidewalk to people's gardens. The corn is very high-yeild and fast-growing, but is susceptible to frequent blights that have been wiping out cultivated stalks before they are harvested. LinkDiscuss (via New World Disorder)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 11:17:01 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Universal radio in your PC.

Universal radio in your PC. GNU Radio is an open-source software-defined radio project. Used in conjunction with minimal hardware, GNU Radio can use your PC to tune and output cellular, FM, and TV signals. Such a tuner could be used in conjuction with codec software for decoding HDTV, satellite and other "protected" signals, which is gonna make it awfully hard to make any kind of security measures on new broadcast technologies stick.LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Fred!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 11:00:54 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

A racing game for your

A racing game for your spreadsheet. Who knew that Excel had such wicked Easter Eggs? LinkDiscuss (via Fojo)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:56:27 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

A rights-management solution in search

A rights-management solution in search of a problem. MediaSignature is a network-attached filter aimed at ISPs. In the MediaSignature box is a database of known copyrighted song "fingerprints." All traffic into or out of the ISP passes through the MediaSignature, and when a transfer of a song is identified, MediaSignature generates a fingerprint from the song-in-transit and compares it to the list of known fingerprints; if the song appears on the blacklist, the file-transfer is stopped. In other words, an ISP with one of these boxes installed will know about every song every one of its users transfers, and will terminate the downloads of any copyrighted songs, or pop up a browser window offering to sell the track in question through a "legitimate" vendor.

It's unclear whether the process of generating the fingerprint database is a copyright violation in and of itself, but MediaSignature sidesteps the issue by charging labels for the privilege of adding their songs to its database.

What is clear is that ISPs don't need this technology. Under the DMCA, the ISPs are "safe harbors" -- common carriers who have limited liability for the traffic that passes over their wires. If you break the law over your ISP's bandwidth, you're liable, they aren't.

But as soon as an ISP start buying and installing equipment that attempts to regulate their users' activities, it is making a tacit admission that it can and should continue to do so; it surrenders its Safe Harbor protections, and so must continue to purchase and install ever-more-baroque and privacy-invading technology to show that it is taking reasonable steps to police its users.

We each of us pay our ISPs hundreds of dollars every year to provide a service to us -- we're their customers, not the media companies. Let's hope that our ISPs keep that fact in mind as companies like MediaSignature make their pitches. Link Discuss (Thanks, Fred!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:53:14 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

John Ashcroft believes calico cats

John Ashcroft believes calico cats are signs of the Devil, according to this November column by financial guru Andrew Tobias. Link Discuss

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 09:47:03 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Muggers who rip off cellphones

Muggers who rip off cellphones in the UK will face sentences of 18 months to five years for their troubles. Opponents of the new law point out that it costs 27,000 pounds a year to keep a mugger in jail, and a stolen cellphone can be deactivated for the price of a 10p phonecall from a callbox. Over 1,000,000 cellphones were stolen in the UK last year. LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 08:40:37 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Amazing geek how-to documents a

Amazing geek how-to documents a recipe for building a sub-$6,000 terabyte storage array (or, as the how-to calls it, "Your local Library of Congress.") This is the kind of stuff that archive.org and Google do, building giant, redundant arrays out of consumer hardware whose reliability at the individual drive/computer level is quite low, but whose reliability in aggregate is stunning. It's another example of how a bottom-up, redundant approach to problem-solving is cheaper, more flexible and more reliable than centralized, top-down approaches.LinkDiscuss (via /.)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:56:02 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Anarchist popstars Chumbawumba got $100,000

Anarchist popstars Chumbawumba got $100,000 for the use of one of their tracks in a GM commercial. They've donated the filthy lucre to watchdog/activist organizations that will use it to monitor, document, criticize and publicize GM's labor practices.LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:49:01 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Here's a cool gadget: The

Here's a cool gadget: The Extendit Cat5-1000 is a pair of boxes. One plugs into the monitor and USB port of your computer, the other plugs into a monitor and whatever USB devices you want to use, and between them you can string up to 250 feet of Cat-5 Ethernet cable. It's been a couple years since I was last a sysadmin, but boy, it sure woulda made my life easier if I could have remotely connected monitors and keyboards to machines using the networking wire built into the walls.LinkDiscuss (via MacNN)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:36:17 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Downtown Wellington, the capital of

Downtown Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, is almost entirely wired with Gigabit Ethernet, built around a mesh of fibre lines that have been pulled along the city's trolleycar right-of-ways. Businesses have enough bandwidth for VoIP, videoconfernecing and Internet access with more to spare. The network uses low-cost Debian Linux boxen for mail and other services. Anyone know what it takes to get a visa to move to EnZed?LinkDiscuss (via /.)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:32:07 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Amazing story of a Bay

Amazing story of a Bay Area social worker who scored a fantastic real estate deal ($261K for a two-story, four-bedroom, finished basement, terraced back yard with multiple decks, with a view no less) by buying a former S&M dungeon whose previous owner had been sent to prison for torching his lover.

Perhaps it was the floor-to-ceiling mirrors and orange shag carpet that greeted you at the entrance. Or the urine-colored tiles that covered the stairs and the living room, whose floors slanted toward a drain in the middle of the room. Or the black-felted bedroom with its glow-in-the-dark-crucifix platform bed, perfectly angled for whipping. Or perhaps it was the meth lab, or the pot-growing sun room. Or the "dungeon" in the basement where five years before the former owner had fatally torched his lover.

Or perhaps it was the small things, like the five-gallon can of lubricant, or the collection of penis stretchers, the trapeze, the electronic enema, the little hole allowing someone in the kitchen to watch people in the basement, the names of Satan's helpers spray-painted on walls or the hawk droppings that caked the surfaces of the upstairs bedrooms.

LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Zed!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:47:43 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

The grifter who used forgery,

The grifter who used forgery, lies and other fraud to steal the sex.com domain from its original owner and build it into a multimillion-dollar porn empire claims that he can't pay the court-ordered $65,000,000 settlment owed to his victim because to do so would cause him to starve to death while giving every cent he earns to the injured party.

"Just how is the defendant expected to live? How is the defendant expected to purchase the necessities of life, such as toilet paper, food, clothes and etc.?" Cohen wrote, in the self-authored filing. He compared the court order to a "death warrant" and said it was issued "in violation of the defendant's constitutional rights."

In addition to sentencing him to death, Cohen claims that the court is also sentencing him to a life of involuntary servitude under Gary Kremen, the would-be recipient of the judgment.

"It's saying for the rest of my life that everything I own must go to Gary Kremen," Cohen said. He claims in his filing that the judge's ruling has turned him into a slave, in violation of the 13th Amendment of the United States Constitution, which abolished slavery.

Link Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:31:49 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

The current War Against Silence

The current War Against Silence music-zine opens with a lovely reminiscence of "Space: 1999."

And Space: 1999 was never intended as academic futurism, so critiquing its vision of a future we're now past is a wildly pedantic exercise, but part of the reason I'm still going to watch the rest of the episodes is that they depict a simultaneously mis-extrapolated and poignantly naive idea of the future that has become basically unrecoverable in the two and a half decades since. The technological errors are the most blatant, of course. The moonbase has a single computer (called "Computer", the way you call a stray cat "Kitty" and then get stuck with it), which has the expressive intelligence of a middle-school math teacher and the analytical power of a small toaster oven. Every device and instrument on the base has a special-purpose user-interface, most of which consist of rows upon identical rows of unlabeled buttons, which lends any effort to operate one while on camera the approximate verisimilitude of a four-year-old steering a chair around using a frisbee. The abundant CRTs are apparently only capable of transmitting video feeds or oscilloscope waves, so all actual important data output is produced on little scraps of calculator tape, which technicians are forever tearing off and puzzling over as if they've just been issued a receipt for the last line they spoke. All doors, despite having intricate control-panels on the wall beside them, are opened and closed using what appear to be Sears-surplus television remote-controls, which in close-ups turn out to have telephone keypads that do not contain zeroes. The feet of the space-suits seem to be Converse All-Stars with the logos scratched off...

LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Fred!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:21:01 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Tuesday, January 29, 2002

Dick Cheney, pornographer? For Gerard

Dick Cheney, pornographer?

For Gerard Van der Leun, it was an unusual meeting. Mr. Van der Leun, vice president for Internet ventures at the General Media Corporation, was approached last year by Enron, at the time an energy-trading company little known outside the financial pages. The Enron visitors proposed an agreement to provide video on demand to consumers through a high- speed connection, using programming from General Media. Mr. Van der Leun said he was surprised, since Enron, a company in conservative Texas, did not seem a likely partner with General Media, which owns Penthouse magazine. Mainstream companies like Enron, he said, are generally wary of teaming with players in the sex-video market: "If someone goes to porn," he said, "they're desperate."

Link Discuss

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 09:00:59 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Remember Kay Hammond, the British

Remember Kay Hammond, the British tech entrepreneur who was too busy to go through the messy business of courtship in order to find a husband and so decided to put her hand in marriage up for auction? Well, she's found her bidder/husband, an anonymous fellow who bid over 250,000 pounds.LinKDiscuss (Thanks, Amanda!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 04:01:21 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Doug Kaye has written a

Doug Kaye has written a great whitepaper on "swarming" P2P content distribution systems, where a file's availbility in a network increases as a function of its demand -- if traditional client-server is a Tragedy of the Commons where the most valuable resources' availablity dwindles away to zero, P2P CDNs are a Commons where the sheep shit grass, where the act of consuming a resource actually increases its availability. Here's the PDF of Doug's paper -- nice work, Doug!LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 03:57:39 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

This guy has got a

This guy has got a working TCP/IP stack running in a robotic Lego brick, and thinks he's got enough capacity left over to compile and install a little bitty Webserver. Wow!LinkDiscuss (via /.)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 03:54:02 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

iPass, an 802.11 networking company,

iPass, an 802.11 networking company, is footing the bill to install free WiFi networking in a bunch of airports (Twin Cities, Newark, JFK, LaGuardia and Detroit Metro, with more to come). Another nail in Mobile$tar's coffin!LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Erik!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 03:38:48 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

US Patent #6,293,874. User-Operated Amusement

US Patent #6,293,874. User-Operated Amusement Aparatus For Kicking the User's Buttocks. Link Discuss (Thanks, Matt!)

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 02:17:19 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Stunning gallery of clocks

Stunning gallery of clocks made from Nixie tubes ("These neon-filled numeric displays, also known as 'numicators', consist of an outer mesh anode, with ten cathodes (or 11/12 with decimal point/points) shaped to form numbers. They were popular in the 1960s and early 70s when the first logic ICs became available, the 7441 or 74141 TTL devices often being used as a driver, and can still sometimes be seen in old electronic test equipment.") Link Discuss (Thanks, Rob!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 12:11:58 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Google slams pop-up ads.If you

Google slams pop-up ads.

If you are experiencing pop-ups generated by one of these malicious programs, you may want to remove the pop-up program from your computer. One program that attempts to detect and to uninstall pop-up programs is available at http://download.cnet.com/downloads/0-10106-108-63806.html. We have no relationship with the individuals who created this software and cannot vouch for it ourselves.

If you feel you were deceived when you installed a program that creates pop-ups, you may want to take action. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) handles complaints about deceptive or unfair business practices. To file a complaint, visit: http://www.ftc.gov/ and click on "File a Complaint Online", call 1-877-FTC-HELP

LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 11:30:58 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Excellent collection of "Versus" remixes

Excellent collection of "Versus" remixes (like the Public Enemy Versus Dexy's Midnight Runners" MP3 I posted here a couple weeks ago. Michael Jackson versus Eminem!LinkDiscuss (via Grabbing Sand)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:53:30 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Lawrence Livermore labs has banned

Lawrence Livermore labs has banned WiFi, citing security concerns. Link Discuss

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 10:50:09 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Good (but small) bubblegum comic

Good (but small) bubblegum comic archive, "Existential Pud." I love the blotchy blue ink. Link Discuss

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 10:24:23 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

From the guy who

From the guy who brought you "Get Your War On," it's "Get Your Enron On!" Link Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 08:50:09 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Just a quick note to

Just a quick note to say that last night our monthly visitor tally climbed over 100,000 -- more than we've ever gotten before. Thanks for reading, folks.LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 08:40:27 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

The Meeting Pot is a

The Meeting Pot is a wireless coffee-pot that pings your co-workers and friends when you brew a fresh pot, creating an impromptu meetingspace.

Community building in coffee break rooms is important in modern offices. Simply the aroma of coffee evokes togetherness.

The Meeting Pot attempts to distribute this sense of awareness. When the coffee maker is turned on, it transmits the aroma to remote locations.

LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Tyler!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 08:36:45 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

A 15-year-old in Washington state

A 15-year-old in Washington state was charged with "Possession of Drug Paraphenalia" when a narc-dog pointed out his locker and a search turned up three film cannisters he used for fishing tackle. One of the cannisters contained a micro-smidge of something green that tested positive for THC, but wasn't in sufficient quantity to provide a basis for a drug-charge. Only one problem: Simply possessing drug paraphenalia isn't a crime in Washington state -- as the 15-year-old found out when he started looking around online. He took over his own case and fought it all the way to the State Supreme Court -- and won.

Judge Baker, apparently irritated at the prosecution's inability to outsmart a minor in her court, reportedly stated to Joshua, "Don't laugh when you leave this courtroom, thinking you have beat the system because you have looked these things up yourself. We are going to get you down the road."

LinkDiscuss (via Fark)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 08:32:55 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

An EU environmental reg that

An EU environmental reg that took effect on Jan 1 makes it illegal to toss away ozone-depleting refrigerator/freezer foam, so Britons have taken to dumping their disused fridges in empty fields.

Residents say unsightly dumps of old appliances have sprouted across the land since people began secretly abandoning them in fields after European environmental regulations took effect on Jan. 1, making it illegal to discard the ozone-depleting foam insulation from fridges and freezers.

LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:48:41 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

The kidnapper who took a

The kidnapper who took a WSJ reporter is demanding better treatment for the PoWs unlawful combatants at Camp X-Ray, over email from his kidnapperguy@hotmail.com account.LinkDiscuss (via K5)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:37:55 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Black and White -- which

Black and White -- which I had a fair bit of fun playing on my Toshiba laptop until the game abruptly stopped working -- is being released for OSX and OS9. I think I'll give it another try...LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:31:45 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Monday, January 28, 2002

Stephen King claims he's run

Stephen King claims he's run out of ideas and is retiring from writing. Holy moly.

It may not be for a while (two or three years), but King seems to know his final book is on the drawing boards. As he outlined to the TIMES, this year will bring a book of short stories and the long delayed FROM A BUICK EIGHT (which he discussed in his non-fiction book ON WRITING) and then he's on to write the last three books in the DARK TOWER series. He hopes to finish the TOWER novels within a year. Then?

"Then that's it. I'm done," he says. "Done writing books... You get to a point where you get to the edges of a room, and you can go back and go where you've been, and basically recycle stuff. I've seen it in my own work. People when they read BUICK EIGHT are going to think CHRISTINE. It's about a car that's not normal, OK? You say, 'I've said the things that I have to say, that are new and fresh and interesting to people.' Then you have a choice. You can either continue to go on, or say I left when I was still on top of my game. I left when I was still holding the ball, instead of it holding me."

Link Discuss (via Fark)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 08:51:04 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Ireland is putting up the

Ireland is putting up the world's largest offshore wind-farm, which'll crank out 520 megawatts, juice enough for 500,000 homes. Good to see that some countries are taking the Kyoto Accord seriously.LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Trash!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:42:05 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

The EverQuest economy. Based on

The EverQuest economy.

Based on a review of thousands of completed auctions for "EverQuest" items and in-game currency, Castronova concluded that players earn an average wage of $3.42 for every hour they play the game and collectively produce annual gross "exports" of more than $5 million.

Link Discuss

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 03:23:08 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Reason #359 I'm glad to

Reason #359 I'm glad to be a freelancer: Ronald W. Castle Sr., a 54-year-old supervisor with the Onondaga County (N.Y.) social services department, was arrested for masturbating on his co-worker's telephones and coffee mugs. Link Discuss

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 02:56:43 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

The new Palm i705 handheld

The new Palm i705 handheld features an "always on" wireless Internet connection. It costs $450 plus $40 a month for unlimited Internet use. Link Discuss

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 10:07:33 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Tom Tomorrow, the political activist/cartoonist

Tom Tomorrow, the political activist/cartoonist who draws "This Modern World," has a blog. While This Modern World is occassionally obvious and overly didactic, the same messages in prose form seem positively punchy on the blog. This is going into my daily list.

We've got wealthy executives making off with millions while their investors and employees get the shaft, a laughably hamfisted parable of class warfare and corporate excess--except that it's true. Ken Lay might as well be wearing a top hat and a monocle, lighting cigars with hundred dollar bills...

And soon, we'll have sex. As the London Telegraph reports this morning, "Enron was a company in love with itself. Office affairs were rampant, divorce among senior executives an epidemic, and stories of couples steaming up glass-walled offices after late-night meetings were the talk of Houston."

Villainy, fraud, sex, death and a stonewalling White House. You think this thing is just going to blow over?

Excuse me while I wipe the tears of laughter from my eyes.

LinkDiscuss (via A Whole Lotta Nothing)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:47:53 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Jason Kottke is donating all

Jason Kottke is donating all of his Amazon Affiliate money -- $275 or so this quarter -- to the EFF. Good on ya, Jason! Link Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:16:37 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

White Stripes' new music

White Stripes' new music video is made of animated Lego and is totally mesmerizing. Link Discuss (Thanks, Matt!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:45:18 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Air Canada -- Canada's national

Air Canada -- Canada's national airline, which has been bailed out by the taxpayers again and again, has been granted permission to snap up its competitors and then been bailed out again by the taxpayers, that Air Canada -- has announced that it's going to trim and otherwise ass-ify it's frequent flier program, taking the biggest dump of all on the super-duper-tuper gold fliers (i.e., me). God, Air Canada sucks.LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:40:10 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Sunday, January 27, 2002

Unbelievable names portal, with links

Unbelievable names portal, with links to lists of every conceivable kind of name: Female hippie names, Jamaican bus names, unpopular American names, cheese names, Finnish name pronunciation guides -- I am in heaven.

Jamaican Bus Names

Illustrious Rat Fink
Iron Teeth
Flying Bomb
Retaliator
Professional Boops
Popsickle
Intersepter

Link Discuss (via MeFi)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 11:24:32 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Zeropaid is a great P2P

Zeropaid is a great P2P and file-trading portal with links to the current official and third-party servient apps for a whole whack of networks (Hotline, Carracho, Gnutella, Kazaa, etc), as well as good P2P/sharing news.LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Charles!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:55:48 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Patrick writes: "Presented by guggenheim.com,

Patrick writes: "Presented by guggenheim.com, a really cool history of the motorcycle with a kickass flash presentation and including audio commentary by the likes of Dennis Hopper (providing commentary for the Harley Davidson chopper his castmate Peter Fonda rode in Easy Rider) and plenty of detailed looks at various historical bikes." This really does kick ass.LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:51:54 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Hilarious gallery of rejected

Hilarious gallery of rejected iMac designs. 1/28, 10AM: Fixed the link Link Discuss (Thanks, Joey!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:38:33 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Mindbogglingly cool toy raygun

Mindbogglingly cool toy raygun site, with thousands of photos, along with critical essays and histories of rayguns and accessories through history. Link Discuss (Thanks, Patrick!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 09:03:32 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Nice glossary of spook lingo:

Nice glossary of spook lingo:

BACKSTOP -- an arrangement between two persons for the express purpose of substantiating a cover story or alibi.

BAG JOB -- surreptitious entry, break and enter.

BETTY BUREAU -- FBI slang for a female support person who has worked for the FBI her entire career.

BIOGRAPHICAL LEVERAGE -- blackmail info.

Link Discuss (Thanks, Ken!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:43:37 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Jeff Baham, who, as "Chef

Jeff Baham, who, as "Chef Mayhem" is the brains behind doombuggies.org (the Web's greatest Haunted Mansion tribute site) and eBay's best Haunted Mansion tchotchke supplier, has a blog! It's really great, too.

Also heard from an ex-imagineer, and he had a couple interesting comments...

"...since the big layoffs at WDI (they are literally shutting the place down, selling off the tools in all the warehouses, firing people who have been there 20 years, etc.), I'm pretty much frustrated with the theme park industry. There just isn't the sort of money and quality (with the exception of the Tokyo DisneySea stuff I did) being spent any more."

"But I was very pleasantly surprised with the "Nightmare" rehab. It was very well done! It made me a little upset, though - because I pitched a whole Nightmare dark ride to go in Fantasyland up at WDI about 4 years ago... The people who make those decisions told me "We will probably never do something like that." Of course, people in the parade dept. down at Disneyland were given carte blanche! Yes - WDI had almost nothing to do with the Nightmare rehab. Even the Jack figure was built down at the park, not MAPO (traditionally the manufacturing arm of Imagineering). It's kind of sad - it feels like Imagineering (at least how it is supposed to function) is not going to be around much longer...."

LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 04:21:36 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Ashcroft is sick of

Ashcroft is sick of semi-nude classic WPA sculptures showing up in the background of his media events, so he's ordered massive draperies to cover the statues' chestular appendages while he's running his mouth. Link Discuss (via Fark)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 03:36:00 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Having trouble importing your Eudora

Having trouble importing your Eudora mailboxes into OSX's Mail.app? Eudora Mailbox Cleaner is a freeware app that munges your Eudora files for better import.LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 03:19:03 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Great gallery of homemade and

Great gallery of homemade and converted MAME consoles.LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Patrick!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 11:30:51 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Key West, the famously

Key West, the famously tolerant tourist mecca, is up in arms over wild chickens. Many of the fowl are overly aggressive gamecocks escaped from cockfighting pits (an aggressive rooster is a scary goddamned animal, too), while others are just wild birds. The 2000 birds wander the streets, block traffic, attack people and crap everywhere, prompting the city to begin an initiative to move about 1,000 of the chickens to egg-farms on the mainland, over howls of protests from chicken-loving Key Westians. Link Discuss (Thanks, Michael!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:57:46 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Jaw-dropping gallery of covers from

Jaw-dropping gallery of covers from Italian pulp novels. For sale. Wow wow wow. They sure ain't cheap, though.LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Enrico!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:47:21 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Women: Can't master the art

Women: Can't master the art of peeing standing up? Try a disposable mechanical assist with the Freshette. Kate sez: "Having used it myself for a few years I can vouch for its convenience. By the by, the women in my family all refer to it as the pee-nice, rather than the 'Freshette.'"LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Kate!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:38:01 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Really sweet gallery of vintage

Really sweet gallery of vintage Atari industrial concept illustrations.LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Jens!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:30:45 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

This LOTR parody -- made

This LOTR parody -- made by splicing together footage from Casablanca and (I think) other classic films -- is wonderfully executed and pretty damned funny, but at nearly nine minutes long, the joke kinda drags on and on. 18.5MB Quicktime file.LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Chris!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:20:43 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

PictoPlasma is a gallery of

PictoPlasma is a gallery of thousands of "character" illustrations from logomarks, campaigns and products. Unfortunately, it has one of the most confusing, poorly made interfaces I've ever had the misfortune of using (unlabelled buttons whose labels only appear on rollover, no hotlinks in the text, no statusbar or locationbar), and so even through the work is really cool, the design makes it hard to spend a lot of time playing with it.LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Lisa!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 09:59:18 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

MAME -- Multiple Arcade

MAME -- Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator -- is a giant, distributed OSS project to emulate on our computers the video-games we grew up playing at arcades. The problem is that most of these games aren't realy as much fun without joysticks, trackballs, and big pushbuttons. Brad King's Wired News story about the creator of MAME talks about the growing craze for building big, standup consoles with every imaginable control up front and a kick-ass networked PC inside. Link Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 09:40:59 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Saturday, January 26, 2002

Marvellous high-science-weirdness from Jaron Lanier:

Marvellous high-science-weirdness from Jaron Lanier: He's proposing to encode all human writing as DNA and splice that DNA as true-breeding information into the genes of the notoriously hardy cockroach. In a million years, when our descendents are slowly rising from the rubble of the coming apocalypse, the giant killer cockroaches that they slay for their suppers will contain all the libraries of the world. Paging Brewster Kahle! Link Discuss (via The Schism Matrix, thanks, Derek!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 04:23:49 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Down but not beaten: Boing

Down but not beaten: Boing Boing is back after a 28-hour downtime. The #$%^& ISP that services our cage took our line down for "routine maintenance" that went blooie and kept us offline for a day and change. Argh. Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 12:19:28 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

NY Times' "Enron for Dummies"

NY Times' "Enron for Dummies"

To keep its mystique alive and its stock price growing, it set up partnerships where it could bury its losses, or generate imaginary revenues. Here's one of the more audacious examples, pieced together by The Wall Street Journal: Enron invested a bunch of money in a joint venture with Blockbuster to rent out movies online. The deal flopped eight months later. But in the meantime Enron had secretly set up a partnership with a Canadian bank. The bank essentially lent Enron $115 million in exchange for Enron's profits from the movie venture over its first 10 years. The Blockbuster deal never made a penny, but Enron counted the Canadian loan as a nice, fat profit.

Link Discuss

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 10:00:49 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Friday, January 25, 2002

Afterslash makes Slashdot manageable by

Afterslash makes Slashdot manageable by collecting each day's stories and top five comments on a single page. Link Discuss (via MeFi)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 11:36:52 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

After an eBay seller bilked

After an eBay seller bilked a group of buyers out of $150,000 on bogus laptop sales, the rip-ees formed a collective vigilante squad and tracked down the scamster using online tools to collect and organize their intel, which included the seller's mother's phone number, his alternate addresses, etc. Some of 'em have gotten refunds, but may are still out big bucks. Link Discuss (via MeFi)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 11:34:57 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Singapore has a grossology museum.

Singapore has a grossology museum.

Visitors can challenge their sense of smell and learn about odor-causing bacteria by sniffing unmarked bottles containing mouth, foot, anus and armpit scents.

Link Discuss

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 12:19:58 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

A Woman’s Guide to Peeing

A Woman’s Guide to Peeing While Standing Up Link Discuss

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 12:17:17 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Bizarre logo on the

Bizarre logo on the CIA's website. Link Discuss

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 12:08:19 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

A big collection of abridged

A big collection of abridged movie script parodies. Read the one for A.I. Link Discuss

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 11:58:12 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Funny: "ENRON CEO QUITS TO

Funny: "ENRON CEO QUITS TO JOIN NIGERIAN FIRM, ASKS YOUR ASSISTANCE, BANK ACCOUNT NUMBER Lagos, Nigeria - Saying he had found a venue more worthy of his talents, Kenneth Lay resigned today as chairman of Enron to join a Nigerian government ministry which needs your confidential assistance in the transferring of offshore funds into a new company of Nigeria that will provide incredible profit on paper by the trading of energy." Link Discuss

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 11:52:09 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

New evidence suggests that the

New evidence suggests that the Biblical tyrant King Herod didn't die of the clap, but rather of gangrene of the genitals. Ewww. Link Discuss (Thanks, Chris!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:56:33 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Bruce Schneier and Adam Schostack

Bruce Schneier and Adam Schostack of Zero Knowledge have penned a wonderful, balanced whitepaper laying out a security map for Microsoft's Trustworthy Computing initiative, spelling out, piece by piece, the root causes of the security problems in MSFT products, and a roadmap for mitigating them in the future.

Originally, e-mail was text only, and e-mail viruses were impossible. Microsoft changed that by having its mail clients automatically execute commands embedded in e-mail. This paved the way for e-mail viruses, like Melissa and LoveBug, that automatically spread to people in the victims' address books. Microsoft must reverse the security damage by removing this functionality from its e-mail clients, and from many other of its products. This rigid separation of data from code needs to be applied to all products.

Microsoft has compounded the problem by blurring the distinction between the desktop and the Internet. This has led to numerous security vulnerabilities, based on different pieces of the operating system using system resources differently. Microsoft should revisit these design decisions...

Office: Macros should not be stored in Office documents. Macros should be stored separately, as templates, which should not be openable as documents. The programs should provide a visual interface that walks the user through what the macros do, and should provide limitations of what macros not signed by a corporate IT department can do.

Internet Explorer: IE should support a complete separation of data and control. Java and JavaScript should be modified so they cannot use external programs in arbitrary ways. ActiveX should eliminate all controls that are marked "safe for scripting."

E-mail: E-mail applications should not support scripting. (At the very least, they should stop supporting it by default.) E-mail scripts should be attached as a separate MIME attachment. There should be limitations of what macros not signed by a corporate IT department can do.

Link Discuss (via /.)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 09:43:45 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

American Talibert

Found online: Jim Henson's Crossfire: Bert faces treason charges for his association with ObL. Old net.memes never die. Link Discuss (Thanks, scourge!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 08:04:29 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Bosses need help

A study of help-desks has uncovered the unstartling fact that bosses -- managers, supervisors and other members of the pointy-haired cohort -- account for a disproportionate volume of tech-support calls.

It's also worth noting that board level users are far more likely to to acquire expensive mobile computing toys without having any real mission-critical need for them, and hence the motivation to master them properly; which is what the field force is likely to do.

Link Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:44:25 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

.NET for Mac users

This is a terrific, no-hype technical overview of MSFT's .NET technology specifically targetted at Mac users.

C#

Pronounced "C sharp", the goal of this C-ish language is to bring modern programming concepts to a simple, elegant language rather than forcing software developers to master the disaster that is C++.

Although James Gosling (the inventor of Java) thinks that C# isn't, my opinion is that Sun should've stuck with their original feeling — panic. While Sun has racanted on promises to relinquish control of Java to standards bodies, C# is already an ECMA standard. By 2010, I predict that Java will be an also-ran.

Microsoft will be using C# for more and more of their own product development, including future versions of Office.

C# is to .NET as Objective-C is to Cocoa.

Link Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:47:27 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Russian prison amnesty

Russia's overcrowded prisons are regularily emptied by crime- or circumstance-dependent general amnesties, the most recent of which was an amnesty for all incarcerated mothers.

According to Justice Ministry figures published last November and quoted by Interfax news agency, 493 children under the age of three live in Russian prisons.

Link Discuss (Thanks, Nat!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:29:00 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Thursday, January 24, 2002

Red baiting, 21st-century style

Dubya fired 500 unionized workers in the United States Attorneys' offices, Interpol's U.S. branch, the Criminal Division, the National Drug Intelligence Center, and the Office of Intelligence Policy and Review, on the grounds that unionized workers would not be "consistent with national security requirements and considerations." Hey, I guess Red-baiting is back. Link Discuss (Thanks, Nat!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:37:50 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Websense has pardoned Boing Boing

Websense has pardoned Boing Boing -- no longer are we classified as a porn site in their filter database. Now, bring on the PORN!

Thank you for writing to Websense.

The site you submitted has been reviewed and the master database has been modified so that it will be correctly filtered under the category of Information Technology. The site was accidentally miscategorized when it was initially entered into our database. This update will be available in the next database published.

Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:33:39 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Defaced website gallery

Nice gallery of mirrors of hacker-defaced websites. It's kinda disappointing how unimaginative the defacements are. Link Discuss (Thanks, Patrick!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:31:00 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Scopes Monkey Senator

The Scopes Monkey Sentaor, Sen. Hochstatter of the Washington State Senate, is pushing a bill that would make it illegal to teach evolution in the uppermost Pac Northwest.

(8) The legislature finds that the teaching of the theory of evolution in the common schools of the state of Washington is repugnant to the principles of the Declaration of Independence and thereby unconstitutional and unlawful.

(9) All textbooks and curriculum that teach the theory of evolution shall be removed from the public schools forthwith and replaced with textbooks and curriculum that teach the self-evident truth of creation.

Link Discuss (Thanks, Nat!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:26:32 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

RIP, Peter Gzowski

RIP, Peter Gzowski, the king of Canadian radio. I grew up listening to Gzowski's Morningside every day. I'm going to miss him. Link Discuss (Thanks, Amanda!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:53:42 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Dave Stewart is a 78

Dave Stewart is a 78 record collector fanatic, and he's transferred 188 Hawaiian songs from 1925-1938 onto a single MP3 CD, called "Waikiki is Good Enough for Me." Over nine hours of music for $20! If you like old timey, tin pan alley, steel guitar, ukulele, hot jazz music, you've got to get it. Link Discuss

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 01:16:33 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

The cult of Enron? Link

The cult of Enron? Link Discuss

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 12:11:43 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

New Scientist article about an

New Scientist article about an email experiment that tests psycholigist Stanley Milgram's hypothesis that everyone is connected to everyone else by six or fewer degrees of separation. Link Discuss

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 11:59:48 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Afghani refugees ignored, POWs take the limelight

A Kiwi editorial blasts Australians and the international community for their failure to address the plight of the noncombantant refugees starving themselves to death in camps in the Australian desert while wringing their hands at the treatment of captured fighters in Cuba.

Neville Roach, chairman of the Council for Multicultural Australia, said: "Every time a humanitarian issue is raised in relation to asylum-seekers, their deviousness and criminal intent is proclaimed.

"The way that the government has handled these issues has given comfort to the prejudiced side of human nature. Compassion seems to have been thrown out of the door."

Link Discuss (Thanks, Nat!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 11:18:04 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Minolta's new teensy digital camera

David Pogue reviews Minolta's teensy high-powered digital camera in the NYT:

At 3.3 by 2.8 by 0.8 inches, it's smaller than a 10-slice stack of Kraft American Cheese slices. This is a big deal: you can actually carry it in a shirt pocket.

It's impossible to overstate the importance of this thing's flatness. You can forget you have it with you. During the holidays, a significant limb of the Pogue family tree came to our house (at one point, 16 people). I whipped out the camera and snapped away whenever I saw something worth snapping. Every so often, I hooked up the camera to a laptop running Mac OS X that I left on a coffee table.

Link Discuss (Thanks, Michael!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 11:12:06 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Free Winona t-shirts

$15 "Free Winona" t-shirts are the new hot fashion statement in LA, as post-ironic beautiful people take up the cause of everyone's favorite kleptomaniac hottie. Link Discuss (Thanks, Boogah!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:34:42 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

The other green meat

A new GM strain of Spinach/Pig hybrid pork has been invented by Japanese scientists, promising low-fat treyfe and high-iron haram in the Brave New World of the Other Green Meat. Link Discuss (Thanks, Nat!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 09:55:11 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Nanowalkers: Teensy, high-accuracy robots from MIT

This new MIT microrobotics project sounds really cool: Nanowalkers are "fully autonomous and are being designed to make nearly 10,000 movements per second. They will be able to move in three dimensions, with precision as much as 10 million times better than current assembly robots." Discuss Link (via Meerkat)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 08:18:31 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Satanistic Potter prompts Penn police boycott

A Pennsylvania police department refused to direct traffic at a YMCA fun-run to protest the Y's use of Harry Potter books in their children's reading programs. The problem? Harry Potter promotes witchcraft and hence Satanism. Link Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:51:44 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

The 555 directory

555, the exchange used by authors and filmmakers when they want to avoid subjecting some luckless bastard floods of phonecalls from the kinds of cranks who see a number of TV and immediately reach for their phones, has gotten its own directory:

555-2735 Warren Ratliff The Pelican Brief
555-2960 Adam's Ribs M*A*S*H

Link Discuss (via Memepool)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:40:26 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Who's got the best merchandise? We do!

Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later: Boing Boing is finally up for a Blogging award, in the category of "Best Merchandise." Weird. Link Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:34:58 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Applescript used as low-jack on iMac

A stolen iMac is recovered by k-rad AppleScript hacking. The machine in question had a copy of the screen-sharing Timbuktu app installed, along with Timbuktu's DynDNS-like nameservice, which meant that the iMac's owner could locate and take control of the machine whenever it was dialled up to the Internet. This is a wonderful account of his battle to get his machine back. At first, he flirts with erasing his machine's drive remotely, but ultimately he solves it in an even sharper way, by reconfiguring the AOL client on the iMac to dial his home number, which gave him a caller ID trace through which he eventually recovered his computer. Link Discuss (via /.)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:22:45 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Osmonds light Olympic torch

A Utah Olympics means many things, including an all-Osmond torch-lighting. Link Discuss (Thanks, Amanda!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:39:58 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Wednesday, January 23, 2002

Artist-blessed Gnutella

Furthurnet is a cross-platform P2P file-sharing network built on the Gnutella protocols, populated primarily by MP3s that community-minded arists have licensed for free distribution. Link Discuss (Thanks, Fred!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:17:09 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

iSwipe: Multi-protocol file-sharing tool

iSwipe is a multiprotocol file-sharing app for OSX that searches for and retrives files from Hotline, Gnutella, OpenNap, and ftp servers. Currently, there are over 30,000,000 files available through it. Cool! Link Discuss (Thanks, Fred!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:48:58 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Good LA Weekly article about

Good LA Weekly article about lowbrow art. Link Discuss

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 06:11:01 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Googlewhacking

Googlewhacking is a new net.sport -- the idea is to find a pair of common words, like "schadenfreude carburetor" that appear together on only one page in Google's index. Fun! Link Discuss (Thanks, Pat!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:46:04 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Banned!

Boing Boing is banned by Websense -- if your employer uses Websense to filter the Internet, this is what you're gonna see. Woo hoo, we've hit the bigtime! Link Discuss (Thanks, Suzanne!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 01:49:39 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Our own David Pescovitz gets

Our own David Pescovitz gets written up in the San Francisco Chronicle about a Reality Check retrospective he hosted. Link Discuss

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 12:54:31 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Poe's stranger

Every year, on the anniversary of Poe's death, a mysterious stranger shows up at his grave and lays some cognac and roses on it.

A black-clad man arrived at 2:59 a.m. Friday, marking the poet's birthday with the traditional graveside tribute: three red roses and a half bottle of cognac. Only this and nothing more.

It is a rite that has been carried out by a mysterious stranger every Jan. 19 since 1949, a century after Poe drank himself to death in Baltimore at age 40.

Link Discuss (Thanks, Nat!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 12:51:32 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Fancy Food Show

Wired News rounds up their picks from the Fancy Food Show:

Faster foam: For latte lovers who can't stand the pressure of steaming milk, there's a solution. The aerolatte looks like an electric toothbrush, but with a whisk head instead of a brush.

Zap a mug of milk with the gadget for 10 seconds and presto! Foam for your morning drink.

Link Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 12:30:51 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

My birthday's coming in

My birthday's coming in a mere six months -- start saving up for one of these beautiful, $1000 life-size King Tut mummycase-cum-hinged-shelving units today. Want. Link Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:22:28 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

NYT: "Emerging from an early

NYT: "Emerging from an early retirement he began more than a decade ago, Stephen Wozniak, one of Silicon Valley's legendary computer designers, has caught start-up fever and is forming a company to develop consumer products based on wireless and global positioning satellite technologies." Link Discuss

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 10:21:46 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

This is the site about

This is the site about the Getty exhibition David and I went to last Friday (where we saw the chess-playing robot). Be sure to check out the video of the trapeze automation, Antonio Diavolo. Link Discuss (Thanks, David!)

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 10:00:24 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Air Canada is trying to

Air Canada is trying to hunt down the high-mileage flyers behind érrorplan, a movement founded by Air Canada super-duper-gold customers to call the quasi-monopoly on its crappy, brain-damaged service (I once got off a Montreal-Toronto bizclass flight to discover that all off the "Priority" baggage had been lost in transit!). The érrorplanners are papering AC lounges around the world with their fliers and hosting a great little site for collecting and sharing horror-stories.LinkDiscuss (via MeFi)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 09:50:36 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Scientific American article about how

Scientific American article about how the DMCA act is screwing things up for computer hobbyists, traditionally a great font of innovation:

AiboPet [handle of the hobbyist] violated that copyright when he cracked the robot's source code to reverse-engineer software that allows Aibo owners to teach their pets to dance, speak, obey wireless commands and share the color video that serves as their vision, among other things. None of the programs are usable without Sony hardware and software. They earned AiboPet no money. He never revealed the encryption code or the program he used to defeat it. Still, because the DMCA makes it illegal to break any encrypted digital code, AiboPet's actions made him a criminal. The fun began when Sony decided to treat him like one.

Link Discuss

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 09:50:15 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Check out this amazing high-tech

Check out this amazing high-tech custom-car interior (as the site sez, "It's like a Radio Shack exploded in there"). Wow!LinkDiscuss (via MeFi)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 09:43:29 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Are you a US citizen

Are you a US citizen disgruntled with with Microsoft settlement? Here's your chance to speak out before the settlment is finalized.LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Jamais!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 09:32:31 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Apple's released a technote on

Apple's released a technote on the new G4 iMac, with lots of lovely details on the guts and bolts.LinkDiscuss (via Blogaritaville)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 09:29:16 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Woz has started up a

Woz has started up a mysterious new business that will apparently use small, low-cost GPS bugs that keep track of everyday objects.LinkDiscuss (via /.)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 09:20:48 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

AT&T is getting out of

AT&T is getting out of the 1-900 business. They're not saying why, but it may have something to do with the overwhelming popularity of 900 services for phone-sex, psychics and other unsavory uses, and the concomittant charge-backs and fly-by-nights.LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 09:17:04 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

A German firm announces low-cost

A German firm announces low-cost fuel-cells that fit in laptops.

Recharging the battery will only involve replacing the liquid fuel and won't require shutting down the computer. "The content of our prototype cartridge holds 120 ml methanol and generates about 150 Wh -- enough to power a 15W notebook computer for 10 hours," Stefener explained.

LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 09:06:38 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Italian fascists use Lord of

Italian fascists use Lord of the Rings -- the book and the film -- to promote their message of "physical strength, leadership and integrity."LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Nat)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:03:36 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Italian teenaged girls are collapsing

Italian teenaged girls are collapsing after touring a museum display featuring Egyptian mummies; "The Mummy's Curse" is blamed. LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Nat)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:00:39 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Tuesday, January 22, 2002

Want a cheap apartment in

Want a cheap apartment in San Francisco's precious Noe Valley? Want a boyfriend? This guy can supply both!

I decided this place was feeling just too big so I thought I would look for a roommate and then I remembered that I was looking for a girlfriend too so why don't I just throw all my eggs in one basket and go for the whole Shibang. Kittenkaboodle. Ball of wax. Whatever. This might sound nuts but I bet there is some lovely woman out there saying to herself, " GOD I wish I could find a good man... with a full size refrigerator and new tile in the bathroom."

LinkDiscuss (via EvHead)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 08:21:38 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

The first generation of XP

The first generation of XP users are about to experience MSFT's loving caress in the form of complete lockdown of their systems if they don't fill in a registration form (above and beyond the registration process XP users went through when they serialize their OS installation). This lockdown makes it nearly impossible to recover your data, and can't be removed if your computer's network settings have any problems.LinkDiscuss (via Interesting People)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 08:03:56 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

The Pope says the Internet

The Pope says the Internet is OK, but only if the world's governments take all the nasty porn and stuff offline.

"The Internet offers extensive knowledge, but it does not teach values and when values are disregarded, our very humanity is demeaned," he said, adding that the system focused people's attention on an "almost unending flood of information."

"Yet human beings have a vital need for time and inner quiet to ponder and examine life and its mysteries," he said. "Understanding and wisdom are the fruit of a contemplative eye upon the world, and do not come from a mere accumulation of facts, no matter how interesting."

Link Discuss (via Interesting People)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:59:38 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

The latest distributed computing app

The latest distributed computing app -- help find a cure for thrax with your screensaver. It's underwritten by MSFT and Intel, so Macs and Lin boxen aren't welcome. Link Discuss (via Interesting People)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:57:03 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Further to yesterday's vac-toilet incident:

Further to yesterday's vac-toilet incident: Gruesome JAMA account of a woman who got sealed to a flushed vacuum toilet, only to have her small intestine sucked out of her body.LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Cam!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:54:01 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Dead inkjet printers -- there's

Dead inkjet printers -- there's a nigh-infinite volume of 'em (I know I've got a couple-three scattered around the world). These guys decided to dispose of their dead printer in a permanent fashion: by dropping it repeatedly off a parking garage, (inspired by the brilliant fax-machine-beat-down from Office Space) photographing the results.LinkDiscuss (Thanks, poq!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:51:12 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

I'm a sucker for these

I'm a sucker for these "Awful Actress and Celebrity Photos." Anyone know where I can find more?Link Discuss

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 05:12:15 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Yay! A new Rudy Rucker

Yay! A new Rudy Rucker novel is excerpted in Infinite Matrix. Link Discuss

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 10:34:22 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Jason Salisbury of Atom Grid

Jason Salisbury of Atom Grid meets the actress who jammed with Spock in the "hippie episode" of Star Trek. Link Discuss

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 10:05:22 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Cloud 9, a British ISP,

Cloud 9, a British ISP, has tired of continuous hacker-launched Denial-of-Service attacks and has ceased operations. Launching a DDoS attack iks trivial; defending against one is nigh-impossible. This bodes rather ill for the future.LinkDiscuss (via /.)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:19:14 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

I've linked to this

I've linked to this before (it was the first link I ever posted here), but it bears repeating. My pal Roger Wood is a goddamned genius. He's an assemblage sculptor who makes these marvellous, whimsical, beautiful clocks-as-sculptures. I was over at Roger's studio last night, looking around at his latest work, and boy, is he ever good. What's more, he's better -- every time I drop by Roger's place, I see works that are more controlled, more witty, more charming than ever. He's 60 years old, and he's just hitting his stride. He should be rich and famous. But he's not. He's just barely scraping by, just barely making rent, no matter how hard he works at it, he just can't get a break. He trucks his stuff to crafts fairs in the US, places it in chic stores in Toronto, holds open houses and gallery shows, but frustratingly, he has yet to achieve the kind of fame and recognition he so richly deserves. He should be a hip, Hollyweird fad; a SoHo must-have; a cult favorite and the subject of a New York Time magazine pull-out. It's so frustrating.

So, spread the word. Do you know a gallery owner, a set-dresser, a high-end decorator or a personal shopper? Pass out Roger's URL. Even if you don't, send Roger a note letting him know how great his stuff is. He's paid his dues, and he deserves a break. Link Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:43:23 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

One of ObL's 53 siblings

One of ObL's 53 siblings registered the international trademark for "Binladin" (he spells his name differently) a year ago, but says that he won't use it.LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:29:24 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Superbowl ads, like Herman Miller

Superbowl ads, like Herman Miller chairs, have come to be symbolic of dotcom excess and empty suits. Is it any wonder, then, that there are Superbowl ad-slots going begging, with the event only two weeks away?LinkDiscuss (via Fark)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 04:59:14 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Common sense is creeping into

Common sense is creeping into the Georgia State legislature, where a sweeping zero-tolerance-for-weapons-in-schools bill has resulted in discplinary action being taken against students who bring such potentially dangerous items as a Tweety Bird keychain fob to school. Now, Georgia lawmakers are trying to modify "zero tolerance" to include "common sense."

Marable also brought up the case of a Georgia Eagle Scout who returned to school from a weekend expedition with a broken ax in his car. The ax was discovered during a random search of the car, and the boy was punished, Marable said.

"He had no history of an intent to do harm and yet he had been treated as if he had brought a gun onto campus," he said. "We've had many cases along that line."

Link Discuss (via Fark)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 04:56:44 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Brewster Kahle explains the inner

Brewster Kahle explains the inner workings of the Internet Wayback Machine on the O'Reilly Network.

What's amazing to me is the fact that the hardware is free. For doing things even in the hundreds of terabytes, it costs in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. When you talk to most people in IT departments, they spend a couple hundred thousand dollars just on a CPU, much less a terabyte of disk storage. You buy from EMC a terabyte for maybe $300,000. That's just the storage for 1 TB. We can buy 100 TBs with 250 CPUs to work on it, all on a high-speed switch with redundancy built in. Something has changed by using these modern constructs that are heavily used at Google, Hotmail, here, Transmeta. There's a whole sector of companies that are more cost-constrained than say, banks, that just buy Oracle and Sun and EMC.

LinkDiscuss (via EvHead)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 04:35:45 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Peggy Lee, my first

Peggy Lee, my first great crush, died yesterday at 81. You could do a lot worse than to get the free 100-track subscrption from eMusic and download a couple albums' worth of her lovely music. Link Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 04:08:58 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

"My Flamboyant Grandson," a new

"My Flamboyant Grandson," a new sf short story by George "Civilwarland in Bad Decline" Saunders in the current New Yorker.

Then one day I had a revelation. If the lad likes to sing and dance, I thought, why not expose him to the finest singing and dancing there is? So I called 1-800-CULTURE, got our Promissory Voucher in the mail, and on Teddy's birthday we took the train down to New York.

LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Dan!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 03:58:54 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Monday, January 21, 2002

Soviet motherhood medals ("Order of

Soviet motherhood medals ("Order of Mother-Heroine," "Order of Maternal Glory") available for sale. These put me in mind of the scary gold-plated paper-doll-children necklaces that my grandmother (and her friends in the retirement community in Ft Lauderdale) wears, their hands soldered together, one for every grandchild, the names and DOB of each child engraved in the backs of their gilded avatars.LinkDiscuss (via Memepool)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:31:38 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

A woman's bum was vacuum

A woman's bum was vacuum sealed to an airplane toilet when she flushed while sitting. Nat sez "She should have farted." Link Discuss (Thanks, Nat!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:06:28 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Women in a blind study

Women in a blind study were found to have an instinctive attraction to men who smelled like their fathers.LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:03:17 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

I review the Xircom Palm

I review the Xircom Palm m500 802.11 module in the new ish of Mindjack:

802.11 isn't just a technology, it's a movement, an ad-hoc world of open base-stations around the world. Just haul out your 802.11-equipped device and start hunting about for a network. If you're in a major city, chances are you'll find one before you go a block. Forget 3G and Blackberry and all those other pale imitations of connectivity: community wireless is the real shit: fast, unmetered, insecure and out of control.

LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 02:38:34 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

A company is shipping an

A company is shipping an external Dual-USB iBook charger that juices two batteries to full charge in 2.5h. Want!LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 02:16:33 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Celestia is the most beautiful

Celestia is the most beautiful planetarium app I've ever seen. I downloaded it a half hour ago and I've been zooming around the galaxy with OSX ever since. Wonderful, lovely shareware.LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Jamais!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 02:05:51 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Street-gangs in Orange County have

Street-gangs in Orange County have formed gameclans and have taken to hanging out in late-night Internet cafés during intense frag-parties, which often break up into real, violent gang wars. Link Discuss (via New World Disorder)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 12:52:59 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Hitler's relatives, naturalized Americans living

Hitler's relatives, naturalized Americans living under assumed names, have agreed to a tell-all book.

He decided, therefore, to travel to Germany and make full use of the Hitler family connections. His father and uncle helped him find work but the young William Patrick thought that he deserved something better than the book-keeping jobs he was given. He eventually fell foul of his uncle when he suggested that if he wasn't found something more befitting a member of the Fuhrer's family, he would go public with rumours that the Nazi leader's grandfather was an Austrian Jew.

This prompted an ultimatum by Hitler: William Patrick was ordered to renounce his British citizenship and take a senior position in the Third Reich. The young man instead chose to flee from Germany. It was now 1939 and he received a cold welcome in London, so he left England with his mother for a lecture tour of America on the subject of "My Uncle Adolf".

LinkDiscuss (via New World Disorder)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 12:50:21 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Marc Laidlaw writes "Infinite Matrix

Marc Laidlaw writes "Infinite Matrix is excerpting Rudy Rucker's new book starting today."

The people of Flat Matthewsboro were nearly as tall as me. Each had two arms, two legs, and a head; they were like silhouettes, like animated Egyptian hieroglyphs. Their heads had an eye on either side and the slit of a mouth on top, with the mouth nestled right into the hair. The eyes were flat gleaming triangles, and the fronts of their eyes bulged. Their flat skins wrapped around their edges like rinds on slices of salami. Their clothes were stringy wrappers outside their skins, like threads of icing on the rims of gingerbread men and women

LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Marc!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 12:36:15 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

A contributor to a subway

A contributor to a subway afficiandos' mailing list fantasizes about riding the train to heaven:

The conductor announces that the next stop will be Heaven. The distance from the Brighton tracks through the sky to the Heaven station is the longest distance between any two stations on the ride. It is about as long as Dekalb Ave. to Canal Street over the bridge, would be.

LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Hal!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 12:33:39 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Review of a biography of

Review of a biography of Typhoid Mary.

How can we know what it was like to be a poor, immigrant, middle-aged, single woman trying to support herself while keeping one step ahead of public health officials and the police, taking jobs as a cook in private homes and always leaving when typhoid fever broke out, as it almost inevitably did? Anthony Bourdain, author of Typhoid Mary, An Urban Historical attempts to provide as clear a picture of Mary as the scant historical record, supplemented by his personal experience, allows.

Link Discuss

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 09:51:07 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

A company that makes fraud-detection

A company that makes fraud-detection systems for banks and phone companies says it has a program that can analyze email to determine whether or not it is truthful. Link Discuss

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 09:47:47 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

John Fanzine is a funny,

John Fanzine is a funny, beautifully designed Brit Webzine.LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 08:58:48 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Step-by-step instructions for connecting a

Step-by-step instructions for connecting a surplus PrimeStar satellite mini-dish to an 802.11 base-station for use as an external, high-gain antenna.

Things You Will Need:

1. A Primestar dish.  (You may use any old dish, but if it is bigger than the Primestar the gain will be higher, and it may not be within the Federal Communications Commission rules for use within the United States.)

2. A juice can (about 4 inches in diameter and at least 8 inches long)

Link Discuss (Thanks, John!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:59:07 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Mari-Chan is a Japanese

Mari-Chan is a Japanese artist who has created a marvellous pantheon of disturbing cartoon iconography, twisted mutations of Sanrio and other characters that are both amusing and thought-provoking. Link Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:50:46 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

It turns out that Japanese

It turns out that Japanese copyright law does make provision for fair use quotations for criticism and reporting! So much for the Online Fanart Protection league's wholesale demand for permission before quoting.

(Quotations)Article 32. (1) It shall be permissible to make quotations from a work already made public, provided that their making is compatible with fair practice and their extent does not exceed that justified by purposes such as news reporting, criticism or research.

(2) It shall also be permissible for the press or other periodicals to reproduce informatory, investigatory or statistical data, reports and other works of similar character which have been prepared by organs of the State or local public entities or independent administrative organs for the purpose of public information and which have been made public under their authorship, provided that the reproduction thereof is not expressly prohibited.

LinkDiscuss (Thanks, evang!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:37:38 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

We are two! It has

We are two! It has been two years since the Boing Boing blog's first post:

Friday, January 21, 2000

Street Tech Reviews and news for gadget-lovers and propeller heads of all stripes.

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 14:07

On a related note, it has been one year, one week and one day since I joined Boing Boing:

Saturday, January 13, 2001

Hey, Mark made me a guest editor! Those junk rockets were damned cool -- how about a junk clock to accompany them?

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:52

We've had a lot of fun making Boing Boing, lemme tell ya. Your suggestions, lively feedback, patience and enthusiasm are always great to come home to.LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:13:06 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

DynCorp, the US Defense contractor

DynCorp, the US Defense contractor recently nailed for trade in teenaged slavegirls in Bosnia, is also up to its armpits in the drug-trade in Columbia, where they are assisting the DoD in, ahem, eliminating the drug trade. So, the military liberates Bosnia and DynCorp enslaves it; the DoD tries to end the coca and heroin trade in Columbia and DynCorp props it back up again. With contractors like that, who needs terrorists?LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Andrew!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:32:32 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Virgin is launching a cellular

Virgin is launching a cellular SMS service for the express purpose of flirting (i.e., sending explicitly sexual messages).LinkDiscuss (via Meerkat)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:26:51 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

A Slashdot poster who misspells

A Slashdot poster who misspells the same way as the Anthrax mailer got a visit from the FBI recently -- they'd read his Slashdot posts after they were featured on America's Most Wanted (!) and decided to pay him a visit.LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:04:52 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

The story of Tijuana's accidental

The story of Tijuana's accidental zoo: As Mexican officials confiscate exotic animals from would-be smugglers and put them to pasture in one of the city's largest park, the park itself has slowly but surely become a zoo, complete with lions, tigers and exotic reptiles. LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:02:25 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Operating an online casinos may

Operating an online casinos may be wildly profitable, but it doesn't matter a whit if you can't get the credit-card companies to approve your transactions.LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 04:58:56 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Sunday, January 20, 2002

A new airbag-vest for motorcycle

A new airbag-vest for motorcycle riders inflates within 30 milliseconds of impact. The vest's accelerometers are hooked into a black box that buffers two seconds' worth of data, so that the moments leading up to a crash can be analyzed in hindsight. Snow Crash, anyone?LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:42:42 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Tolkien fans are the latest

Tolkien fans are the latest opressed minority in Kazahkstan. They like to go off into the woods dressed as Middle-Earthlings and have weekend-long Tolkienfests. The local secret police take a dim view.

Victims of the crackdown have been beaten and detained for up to three days without charge, according to a report by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting. One victim, the leader of a well-known punk rock band, was forced to squat in a tiny jail cell that was half-filled with water...

The most frequent form of harassment is less severe, said a Tolkienist, who spoke on condition of anonymity. She said Tolkien enthusiasts were stopped in the street and ordered to remove their costumes and surrender their rubber axes and home-made wooden swords. The threat of a three-day detention on charges of carrying a concealed weapon is used to extract a bribe of up to $A8, a large sum by the standards of Kazakhstan.

LinkDiscuss (via MeFi)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:24:30 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Lord of the Rings, the

Lord of the Rings, the abridged version:

                      IAN HOLM          There you are, you sage old wizard!They smoke from IAN MCKELLEN'S PIPE.                   IAN HOLM (CONT'D)          Ah, Ian, you truly have the finest          weed in Middle Earth.                     IAN MCKELLEN          Heh.  Both of our names are Ian.                       IAN HOLM          Holy shit! You're right!IAN HOLM falls backwards, laughing hysterically.                  IAN HOLM  (CONT'D)          Dude! Every time I laugh, I think          it's my lung trying to escape a          little bit.  Maybe that's what          laughing is.  Lungs use humor to          trick us into letting them escape.          Whoa.                     IAN MCKELLEN          Holy shit dude, you're so fucked          up.                       IAN HOLM          Oh, wanna see something cool? This          will totally trip you out.IAN slips on the RING OF POWER and turns invisible.                   IAN HOLM (CONT'D)              (invisible)          Whoa, where'd I go? Where'd I go?          Ha ha!              (removing the ring)          Isn't that awesome?

LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Nat!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:01:22 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

New World Disorder's a blog

New World Disorder's a blog with great stuff! I wish their descriptions were a little less terse, though.LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:00:45 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

An Indian magician-turned-politician is enlisting

An Indian magician-turned-politician is enlisting an army of hundreds of fellow stage-prestidigitators to hypnotize and entertain voters in his election campaign.LinkDiscuss (via New World Disorder)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:00:32 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Stray fighting dogs are interbreeding

Stray fighting dogs are interbreeding with dingos in the Australian bush and producing a race of giant super-dogs that are terrorizing the countryside.LinkDiscuss (via New World Disorder)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:00:18 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

A whistle-blower who was fired

A whistle-blower who was fired after he described the actions of employees and execs at DynCorp, his estwhile employer and a US military contractor in Bosnia, has been vindicated in a sting operation. The whistle-blower was concerned that DynCorp's representatives were trading in human flesh, namely young teenaged girls who were bought and sold as sex slaves. So much for liberating them, huh?LinkDiscuss (via New World Disorder)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:00:01 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

The new generation of hobos

The new generation of hobos are still hopping freighters and riding the rails, but now they're using the Net to plan rides and trade notes about railyard bulls.

He enjoys partying in new towns and running into other train-hoppers and hobos. But most of all, Snyder enjoys the views. Of all the places he has seen, Oregon is the most scenic to travel by freight train, he says.

"Hobos call a boxcar a wide-screen TV," says Snyder, dressed in a dusty pair of black overalls and layers of sweatshirts and jackets. "I just like traveling. That's why I do it."

Snyder is a full-time train-hopper, but he knows of people who pay $200 to ride the rails with someone experienced and college students who train-hop on summer breaks.

LinkDiscuss (via New World Disorder)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:30:04 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Phoenix airport security detained and

Phoenix airport security detained and questioned Gen. Joseph J. Foss -- a retired Marine Corps General, former Governor of South Dakota and former president of the NRA -- for 45 minutes. The problem is that he was carrying his Medal of Honor, which was awarded to him by FDR for shooting down 26 enemy planes in the South Pacific (facts attested to by the inscription on the back of the medal). Foss is one of about 140 surviving recipients of the Medal of Honor. Foss was nonplussed by the incident, and called for common sense in addition to heightened security. Jeez. Just: Jeez.LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:25:21 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Twelve years of regular visits

Twelve years of regular visits from Jehova's Winesses drove this woman clear over the edge -- so she went down to the local Kingdom Hall during Sunday services and started pounding on the door, hollering out offers of free magazines.LinkDiscuss (via MegoSteve)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:55:15 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

When selling a lamp on

When selling a lamp on eBay becomes a descent into madness.

I WOULD LIKE TO ADD THAT I HAVE SPENT 11.00 ALREADY TO LIST THIS LIGHT , IF IT DOESNT SELL THIS ROUND IM SETTING IT ON FIRE AND RUNNING IT OVER WITH A TRUCK..THEN POSTING IT AS FOR FREE ON EBAY ..HOWS THAT FOR SELLING! YOU EBAY ANTAGINSTS COULD NOT POSSIBLY SAY SOMEONE HAS THE LIGHT CHEEPER THEN ! HOW'S THAT STRIKE YA MR PRICE CHECKER ....HE HE HE HE HE HE MABE NEXT WEEK SOME ONE WILL EMAIL SAYING THERE GRANDFATHER HAS ONE HE'S GIVING AWAY MABE SO....OR MABE ILL HAVE LUCKY DEAD BEAT EBAYERS PICK A NUMBER AND THEN GIVE IT TO THE JERKOFF WITH THE CLOSEEST NUMBER ....NO BETTER YET SINCE I ALREADY SPENT 11.00 LISTING IT ILL JUST ASK FOR MY LISTING FEE BACK HOWS THAT A NEW LIGHT WITH EXTRA LENSES FOR 11.00 AND ILL PAY SHIPPING ..WHAT A DEAL ......

Link Discuss (via MegoSteve)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:52:16 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Some PDFs from the Aussie

Some PDFs from the Aussie government describe the immigration morass.Link, LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Nat!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:31:34 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Refugees in Australia are on

Refugees in Australia are on a hunger-strike to protest their indefinite detention there. To make the point more forcefully, they've sewed their lips shut.

Some background reading on the Australian immigration department's site tells the history: Boat-people -- refugees washing up on the shores of Australia -- got a very good break in the 70s, when they were mostly Vietnamese. But as time went by, public pressure convinced the Australian government to more thoroughly investigate claims before granting refugee status to new arrivals. Seems like a good enough idea -- there was speculation that Khmer Rouge war criminals and other mass-murderers were arriving as poor displaced people -- but over the years the Australian refugee system has clotted up, so that new arrivals -- including women and children -- are indefinitely detained in remote walled quaratines that are little more than jails.

Any Australians in the readership want to comment?LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Nat!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:29:41 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Saturday, January 19, 2002

Rodgers Townsend, an ad agency,

Rodgers Townsend, an ad agency, created this very clever and very funny commercial for an "Ad-Man" action figure, with lots of snotty digs at the biz.LinkDiscuss (via MeFi)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 09:52:10 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Animal rights activists are concerned

Animal rights activists are concerned that Snow Dogs, Disney's new movie about Siberian Huskies, will create a Husky fad that will end in tragedy -- as happened with Dalmation puppies after 101 Dalmations. Link Discuss (Thanks, Amanda!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 09:40:02 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Japanese Copyright law has no

Japanese Copyright law has no provision for fair-use. That means that it's illegal in Japan to excerpt copyrighted works, even if for discussion or criticism, without the rights-holder's permission. A group of Japanese fan artists have created a campaign to educate foreigners about this unusual law, and to get non-Japanese to remove fan art that has been posted without permission, regardless of the circumstances. I understand that there are cultural differences at play here, but it seems to me that putting rightsholders in charge of the discussions of their works is a bad idea -- I don't understand how fair and honest criticism can function without the ability to excerpt without permission.

Many foreigners think that they are not "stealing" because of the credit, but the Japanese authors, WE prohibit reusing without permission, so that will be same as stealing TO US. So if you want to use Japanese fanarts, why don't you just follow Japanese's rules?

LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 09:36:52 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

My pal Bill Shunn's excellent

My pal Bill Shunn's excellent story, "Dance of the Yellow-Breasted Luddites," is on the preliminary Nebula ballot -- and on the Web! Read it here:LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 11:55:09 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Philips is threatening to ship

Philips is threatening to ship CD burners that can copy "copy-protected" CDs, and hang the legal consequences of engaging in circumvention.

[The] protection system is not a protection system as such, but simply a mechanism for stopping the playback of music. This interesting claim allows him to contend that the protection systems are not covered by the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, and lays the ground for the mother of all sue-fests with the number of large and rich companies who are most certainly not going to agree with him.

LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:28:43 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

RoadWired -- who make

RoadWired -- who make some of my favorite high-tech laptop bags and other travel accessories -- are trying out a new line, the APS Bags. APS bags are padded sleeves, suitable to be carried as shoulderbags or used as inserts in larger bags. The APS bags are wonders of craftsmanship and forethought: RoadWired has lined them with a Bell-Labs-developed space-program fabric that magically wicks away moisture, mitigating corrosion in your laptop's sensitive clock crystal, keyboard contacts and other components. It has a corrugated plastic bumper on its underside that prevents the wince-evoking clunk that you hear whenever you set your latptop bag down on a hard surface, and it's got heavy-duty zippers that gasket shut to keep out dust and crap. I got to play with a prototype of one of these while it was in development, and I really loved it -- it was the perfect way to protect my iBook before throwing it into a larger courier bag. RoadWired is also shipping PDA and media version of the APS case -- collect the whole set! Link Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:11:51 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Good comprehensive guide to cereal

Good comprehensive guide to cereal advertising mascots through the ages. Unfortunately, every page has a dumbass MIDI soundtrack accompanying it. Nothing like the goddamned Beetlejuice soundtrack, arranged for Casiotone and toy piano, mixiing itself into my MP3 of Django Reinhardt doing Honeysuckle Rose. What's worse is there's no way to switch it off, short of turning off music in my browser.LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Kate!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 04:38:13 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Friday, January 18, 2002

Funny page of Japanese Engrish.

Funny page of Japanese Engrish. Link Discuss (Thanks, Sandro Larson!)

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 10:48:38 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

David Pescovitz and I just

David Pescovitz and I just got back from an evening at the Getty Center where Lawrence Weschler interviewed magician and magic historian Ricky Jay. Jay told a lot of great stories about old magicians despite the lousy questions and cues thrown his way by Weschler (author of Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonders, a book about The Museum of Jurassic Technology). The highlight of the evening was a demonstration of the chess playing automaton, a hand-cranked robot that played chess against a volunteer from the audience (David was selected to go on stage as a "referee.") Here's a description of the automaton from James Randi's site. The one we saw didn't have a human stuffed inside the cabinet. Either it was remotely controlled or a confederate was called up to play against the automaton. If anyone else was at the show, I'd love to hear your theory of how it worked. Link Discuss

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 10:22:17 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

AOL to buy RedHat? Holy

AOL to buy RedHat? Holy crap!LinkDiscuss (via /.)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 08:35:18 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Check out Jef "Acme.com"

Check out Jef "Acme.com" Pozkanzer's awesome "Pencil Thing" sculpture! Link Discuss (Thanks, magdalen!

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:08:28 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Who owns Pooh? The heirs

Who owns Pooh? The heirs of a literary agent who bought the merch rights to Winnie the Pooh from AA Milne in the 30s are gaining legal ground against Disney, who they claim owe them $200 million plus. The courts were unimpressed that Disney had destroyed several boxes of documents including one labelled "Winnie the Pooh -- Legal Problems."LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Amanda!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:16:57 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Help ridicule virus hysteria! Vmyths

Help ridicule virus hysteria! Vmyths is holding the annual Computer Virus Hysteria Awards: nominate in a variety of categories:

Best government fearmonger
Given to the person or agency that exudes hysteria

Best corporate fearmonger
Given to the person or company that exudes hysteria

Best quotation
Given for the pithy comment that exudes hysteria

Best news event
Given for the breaking story that exudes hysteria

LinkDiscuss (via NTK)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:11:28 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

The SF Chronicle is bringing

The SF Chronicle is bringing Zippy the Pinhead back, in response to massive reader outcry. Stefan notes that "to provide karmic balance, 'Family Circus' is coming back too." Link Discuss (Thanks, Stefan!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:05:22 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Here's an offensively hysterical article

Here's an offensively hysterical article about war-driving and open 802.11 networks. The author implicitly discounts the possibility that base-station owners are leaving their network unsecured in order to provide a service to the community at large -- just as SMTP hosts were largely "unsecured" in the early days of the Internet, a time-space with many parallels to today's nascent wireless movement. Link Discuss (via Interesting People)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:01:05 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Celebrities photoshopped into Goth

Celebrities photoshopped into Goth splendor! Mmmm, goth Olsen Twins! Link Discuss (Thanks, Jamais!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 11:26:09 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

This looks like a great

This looks like a great OSX utility:

Carbon Copy Cloner (CCC) is a cloning utility developed with AppleScript Studio. The purpose of CCC is to assist you in copying your entire Mac OS X installation from one partition to another as easily as possible. Contrary to some misinformation, it is possible to clone your startup volume without Disk Warrior, Retrospect, or any commercial product -- the tools you need are already installed with Mac OS X! CCC puts a friendly interface on these tools to make cloning easy.

LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:44:24 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Japanese website with pictures of

Japanese website with pictures of unusual ukuleles. (Thanks, Gary!)Link Discuss

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 10:33:47 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Jenny sez: "Look, BUST is

Jenny sez: "Look, BUST is just about the best damn women's magazine to come out in the last 10 years. Their publisher folded in October, but they're still coming out with their spring issue as planned. They need peope to subscribe or renew their subscriptions now! They just gave me an illustration assignment, and I want to see it published!! You can renew subscriptions on their website. thanks." I've just poked around some of BUST's back numbers and this is really nice stuff -- like vintage Sassy for grown-ups.LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Jenny!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 08:25:56 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

The OpenAP project ("All Your

The OpenAP project ("All Your Base Stations Are Belong To Us") is a community effort to write Linux-based firmware for various 802.11-base-stations, rendering them more flexible and configurable than previous, and stripping away the dependence on hardware vendors for better software to run on their gear. Neat!LinkDiscuss (via /.)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:47:35 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Disgruntled Housewife is a great

Disgruntled Housewife is a great zine-style site, chock-a-block with beautiful design and sharp, witty prose:

* Even the most continental man loves creepy suburban food. Keep Velveeta and ground beef on hand. If your man's a snob, give your June Cleaver cassaroles fancy names. He'll gobble them up.

* Despite their packaging charm, canned meat products are to be avoided. Spam is for laughing at, not for eating.

* Anything good is better with bacon. (Thanks, Christopher!)

* Butter, butter, butter!

LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Kate)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:45:38 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Tasteless-but-funny classic post from Craig's

Tasteless-but-funny classic post from Craig's List:

Where can we get an abortion for our pedigree dog? Our lovely Pedigreed Minature Poodle was violated by our neighbors Golden Retriever.

LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Kate)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:42:54 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

The new digital TV standard

The new digital TV standard may make home taping with off-the-shelf gear impossible, and the DMCA may make rolling your own gear illegal. The EFF reports on the upcoming TV-pocalypse.LinkDiscuss (via /.)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:40:20 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Robert Reed, the actor who

Robert Reed, the actor who played Mike Brady, has been excised from all new Brady Bunch memoribilia. The Washington Post investigates the story and is stonewalled by the studio, and so speculates that this comes down to the fact that Reed was gay and died of AIDS, and hence has been expurgated, Trotsky-style, from the official Stalinist Brady brand. but gets the real story from the managers of Reed's estate -- they've chosen to remember the actor in other ways. (Thanks for catching my blunder, Erik -- I changed coasts last night and I'm really jetlaggy) Link Discuss (Thanks, Rick!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:37:48 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Episode Heaven is a terrific

Episode Heaven is a terrific downloadable-TV directory, with links to dozens of sites that host Real, DivX and MPEG versions of great shows like Futurama, the Simpsons, Ali G and South Park.LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Yaron!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:32:46 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

CodeCon is a P2P event

CodeCon is a P2P event for hackers, not suits. It's running Feb 15-17 at the DNA Lounge, the San Francisco club owned by jwz, legendary ex-Netscape-hacker-cum-Club-Owner. Cool, open-source P2P projects -- like BitTorrent and Peek-a-Booty -- will be demoed and hackers will get the chance to chat with one another about their ongoing work.

Topics which won't be found at CodeCon include:

* SET and other white elephant, unimplemented standards
* Philosophy of X.509 and PKI or other top-down, irrelevant standards
* Digital Rights Management and other other technologies which impair individual liberty
* Mathematical cryptography lacking practical implementation
* Political debate about key escrow
* Vendor sales pitches for closed-source, feature-crippled libraries
* Enterprise security architectures with no relevance to the public Internet

LinkDiscuss (via /.)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:29:47 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Thursday, January 17, 2002

My pal George Scriban has

My pal George Scriban has a blog, and I had to find out about it from Dave Winer's site! Damn you, George! Seriously, though -- George is one of the best industry analysts I know. He's cogent, comprehensive and has a sense of humor.

there's something galling about the legal pissing contest between Akamai and Digital Island (now a unit of Cable & Wireless, plc). both companies are arguing that they should be in a position to claim ownership of the most basic technologies behind physically-based content delivery networks: two-level DNS, and adaptive routing to a cache based on traffic conditions. two networks enter, one network leaves.

i doubt there was ever a better reason to replace these guys with P2P content distribution. take a look at these presentations from O'Reilly P2P 2001in Washington, DC.

LinkDiscuss (via Scripting News)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 09:24:51 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

How to diaper a monkey.

How to diaper a monkey. The parents of the kid born with the tail need to talk to this lady. Link Discuss (Thanks, Kip!)

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 09:07:47 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

The title just about says

The title just about says it all: "How to diaper a monkey." LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Kip!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 09:02:08 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Suddenly Everything Sucks: funny Microsoft

Suddenly Everything Sucks: funny Microsoft billboard liberation. Link Discuss (Thanks, Bruce Ellis!)

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 04:19:41 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Remember David McOwen, the guy

Remember David McOwen, the guy who got charged with numerous counts of hacking for installing distributed.net -- a client for a distributed computing project to brute-force solutions to cryptosystems -- on the university computers he was the sysadmin for while they were sitting idle over the Xmas break? He's gotten off with a slap on the wrist.

Under the terms of the deal, announced today, McOwen will receive one year of probation for each criminal count, to run concurrently, make restitution of $2100, and perform 80 hours of community service unrelated to computers or technology. McOwen will have no felony or misdemeanor record under Georgia's First Offender Act.

Link Discuss (via Interesting People)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 02:14:22 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

A software developer working on

A software developer working on a PhD in English Lit is publishing his dissertation on Emily Dickinson, along with scans and text of Dickinson's letters, hyperlinked and semantically identified with XML, as an "open source" work of scholarly research.

My dissertation project will be an electronic edition of a body of Emily Dickinson's correspondence. For the most part, I'm writing the software for the edition myself from the ground up, and I intend to release it all as Free Software under the GNU General Public License (GPL) when I'm finished. For components I don't write, such as the operating system, Web server and database system, I will choose Free/Open Source options whenever available

Link Discuss (Thanks, Nat!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 02:00:20 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

The secret diaries of Aragon.Day

The secret diaries of Aragon.

Day Four:
Stuck on mountain with Hobbits. Boromir really annoying.
Not King yet.

Day Six:
Orcs killed: none. Disappointing. Stubble update: I look rugged and manly. Yes!
Keep wanting to drop-kick Gimli. Holding myself back.Still not King.

Day Ten:
Sorry no entries lately. V. dark in Mines of Moria. Big Baelrog.
Not King today either.

LinkDiscuss (Thanks Steve!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 01:56:10 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Tangible evidence of the danger

Tangible evidence of the danger of keeping goofy exotic pets: a Detroit Delaware man was killed and eaten by his monitor lizards. Link Discuss (Thanks, Amanda!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 01:50:09 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Not only did the egomaniacal

Not only did the egomaniacal multi-millionaire Ralph Nader (darling of the trial lawyer lobbyists) screw up the election, but apparently he's a big liar too. Link Discuss

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 01:18:13 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Two years ago Timothy Lee

Two years ago Timothy Lee turned down an offer to sell the cool.com domain name for $8 million in cash and $30 million in stock. Today, he can't find anyone willing to pay a fraction of that for the name. Link Discuss

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 10:44:50 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

As the economy circles the

As the economy circles the drain, big biz loses its sense of humor and fair play, and starts to muscle struggling tech magazines who run uncomplimentary stories, threating to pull advertising unless the blows are softened. All too often, the result is a kind of corporate-utopic stroke-off, with magazines running feel-good features in an effort to keep their few remaining advertisers in the pipe.LinkDiscuss (via Interesting People)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 08:36:59 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

A Musilm baby born

A Musilm baby born with a tail in India is being hailed as the reincarnation of the Hindu monkey-god Hanuman. Link Discuss (Thanks, John!

posted by Cory Doctorow at 08:15:28 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

New silicon materials research has

New silicon materials research has demonstrated a means of making silicon into a low-yeild explosive. The New Scientist speculates on the security and countermeasures uses of such materials -- your cellphone, once identified as stolen, could smolder itself into uselessness (triggered by the cell network) or go bang after warning any nearby theives and bystanders to get clear. Laptops with Internet or radio-based low-jacks could cook their drives and components, and downed spyplanes could cook their seekrit mind-control rays into crapola. Link Discuss (Thanks, Bill!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:48:12 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Number portability makes it possible

Number portability makes it possible for consumers to change cellular providers without losing their cellphone number. This makes it possible for consumers to change providers when service gets crappy or the prices go up. In other words, number portability keeps carriers honest. Which is why we don't have it, despite the fact that number portability was supposed to be universal as of 2.5 years ago, by law. Instead of implementing it, mobile carriers have dragged their heels, and now they're petitioning to have the requirement eliminated. Bastards.LinkDiscuss (via Interesting People)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:43:32 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Wednesday, January 16, 2002

Nice tribute to the music

Nice tribute to the music of the Follin brothers, who scored and recorded the groovy, catchy, high-energy soundtracks for Commodore 64 (and other system) games. Unfortunately, the music is in strange formats (.SID and .NSF), but it should be easy to find a freeware MP3 converter. LinkDiscuss (Thanks, H0L!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 08:56:45 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Nice utility page that automatically

Nice utility page that automatically detects spyware in your Windows Explorer browser, and generates instructions for removing it. I dunno if it works, 'cause I'm Mr. OSX these days.LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Higgins!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 08:13:45 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

I've avoided The Pretzel until

I've avoided The Pretzel until now, since most of the stuff I've seen has been kinda obvious and unfunny. But this rewriting of Beck's Devil's Haircut ("Devil's Pretzel") tickles my Allan-Sherman-primed funnybone.

Something's wrong 'cause my windpipe's closing
chest feels like it's near exploding
earphoned bully boys walking other places
Spot & Barney staring, Nipper faces

LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Lia!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:49:19 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

With Apple ripping and killing

With Apple ripping and killing the envelope on the PC form-factor front, it's no surprise that other vendors are doing the same. Here's Intel's gallery of "Concept PCs" with all kindsa not-so-crazy form factors: Hey, look, it's a box! On its side! With a bulge! Or it's a miniature Vegas hotel! Or it's a toilet seat! These remind me of SGI's lame-ass experiments in whacky form-factors in the early 90s.LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Dan!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:25:23 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Enron employees, former and current,

Enron employees, former and current, are making extra cash by selling off instantaneously ironic items from their estrwhile employer, such as the Enron Risk Management Manual, the Enron Code of Ethics book, and the Enron "Vision and Values" crystal paperweight.LinkDiscuss (via MeFi)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:03:20 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

This supersite covers every scandal,

This supersite covers every scandal, ethics violation, lie and broken promise by Shrub and his cronies and Cabinet.LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Nat!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:00:35 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

A plaque erected to

A plaque erected to honor James Earl Jones for his contribution to Black America has a fatal typo: it thanks James Earl Ray (the man who shot MLK) for "keeping the dream alive." Duh.LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Dana and TimmyT!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 04:51:20 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Stefan sez: "'Third Culture' impresario

Stefan sez: "'Third Culture' impresario John Brockman occasionally asks his sci-lit braintrust deep questions. This time he's asked them to come up with the questions. An interesting and wide-ranging assortment, ranging from 'Are space and time fundamental concepts or are they approximations to other, more subtle, ideas that still await our discovery?' to 'Why do we decorate?' (Brian Eno)." This is good, meaty stuff, and there's days of reading here.LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Stefan!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 04:44:39 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Continuing the novelty music theme:

Continuing the novelty music theme: Here's a nice mix of a groovy Beck tune crossed with AC/DC's Highway to Hell.LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Bill!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 11:21:16 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

LA Times article on outsider

LA Times article on outsider music.

Barely able to tune their instruments, let alone play them, the Shaggs' drumming sounded "like a peg-leg stumbling through a field of bald Uniroyals," rock critic Lester Bangs once wrote.

Link Discuss

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 09:58:53 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Got an Aiport Base Station

Got an Aiport Base Station and a Windows box? Up until now, you've had to use cranky, Java-based configurators to set up and run your Airport. No more: Apple just released a Windows-based configurator for their excllent Airport Base Stations.LinkDiscuss (Thanks, jerry!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 09:53:25 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Zachary sez: "In the vein

Zachary sez: "In the vein of Public Enemy vs. Dexy's Midnight Runners,someone has mixed Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit with Destiny's Child's Bootylicious -- though you more or less getthe whole song/remix here." I dunno. This is good, but in more of a Superfreak/Can't Touch This way.LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Zachary!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 09:21:55 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Toshiba's announced 10GB and 20GB

Toshiba's announced 10GB and 20GB version of the teeny, fast drive that Apple put in the iPod -- can a 20GB iPod be far behind?Discuss Link

posted by Cory Doctorow at 08:51:33 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

First-person account of a dotcom

First-person account of a dotcom CEO who sold his company, cashed out and went to work at McDonald's for a while to see what life was like on $12k/year.

4.  nobody thanked me.  i worked hard.  i got paid peanuts.  i even ate mcdonald's food during my break (deducted from my pay).  it was intense:  the cash register was complex, people want their food NOW, the lines get deep, the mcflurry must be made just right.  i was trying hard and i was doing an ok job.  now, i've been the leader/manager for most of my life.  i've had plenty of crap jobs, but i've been the boss for the past few years.  i faithfully read my fast company magazine and my harvard business review.  i've been taught countless times the value of a leader/manager showing appreciation for people's effort.  however, my instinct has often been that showing appreciation really isn't too necessary for good people.  they just take pride in a job well done --- and, anyway, they can read my mind and see the appreciation.  well, from day 1 at mcdonald's, i was yearning for someone there to say "thanks".  even a "you're doing ok" would suffice.  but, no.  neither management experience -- nor reading about management --- teaches this lesson as well as being an under-appreciated employee.

Link Discuss (Thanks, Nat!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 08:43:16 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Whoopee! Twelve new downloadable Wallace

Whoopee! Twelve new downloadable Wallace and Grommit one-minute shorts will be released soon!LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Amanda!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 08:40:31 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Unprintable Zagat's outtakes:Why eat here

Unprintable Zagat's outtakes:

Why eat here when you can take the vegetables from the garbage can?

The only thing authentic about this joint is the heartburn and the check

I get sick from the food every time. At least it has consistency

Food tastes like socks

Waitresses trained by Joseph Stalin

The cockroaches are more energetic than the management

The Bronx Zoo with Food

LinkDiscuss (via Other Than Linguistics)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 08:01:15 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Here's a collection of strange

Here's a collection of strange recipes -- included are both recipes with exotic ingredients (cow udders, moose noses) and kids' recipes for thinks that look gross (Cheez-Wiz based "Boogers on a stick"). These kinda remind me of PJ O'Rourke's account from Holidays in Hell, of being taken out for glasses of cobra blood in Singapore: "You're probably wondering what cobra blood tastes like. Well, it tastes like chicken -- blood."

	LOCUST BISQUE 
	
	1 gallon locust shells 
	2 onions, roughly chopped 
	1 clove garlic, chopped 
	1 celery stalk 
	2 carrots  
	1/2 tsp. powdered mace 
	salt and pepper to taste 
	1 cup whipping cream 

Link Discuss (Thanks, Kate!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:06:34 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

The Toronto Star asks us

The Toronto Star asks us to pity Mayor Mel "The Chimp" Lastman's poor handlers, who are charged with the Herculean task of babysitting the city's infantile, grandstanding, wick-dipping, lying, evil troll of a mayor, 24/7, lest he go off and befriend more mass-murdering heroin runners in full glare of the cameras' lights. LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Amanda!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:55:35 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Sci American rounds up the

Sci American rounds up the dumbest patents ever -- 3D pie-charts, training manuals, focus groups. LinkDiscuss (via /.)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:21:27 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Tuesday, January 15, 2002

I yearn to own one

I yearn to own one of these amazing 802.11 testers. About the size of a Coleco Football game (thanks, Rael!), the Locust is a handheld GPS/802.11-analyzer with a serial interface and a compact-flash slot. Wander the streets with one of these in your hands and you'll pinpoint (and log!) the location, strength, SSID, and direction of every 802.11 base-station you come in range of. This thing will be indispensible once I start putting up semi-legal high-powered antennae to give my Airport base-station enough range to reach me anywhere in the city limits... The page has screenshots of a Win32 app that it comes with, but I got to playw ith a nice OSX version of their software last week at MacWorld.LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 01:58:28 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

This. Is. Amazing. David Friedman

This. Is. Amazing. David Friedman has engaged in one of the most thorough acts of alternate history I've ever seen. He's invented an animated TV show about Bill and Hillary Clinton -- The Adventures of L'il Bill and Hil and Friends -- that ran for eight seasons. He's produced episode guides, a collectibles pricing guide, fan art...A complete mythology for this show that never was.LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 01:51:46 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Well, the Current Situation must

Well, the Current Situation must be officially over, 'cause air rage is back.LinkDiscuss (Thanks Pat!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 01:29:55 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

The new iMac fits real

The new iMac fits real nice in the Pixar logo, doesn't it?LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Mike!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 11:20:10 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Story of the XXXChuch, a

Story of the XXXChuch, a ministry devoted to stamping out porn. The ministry rented out a booth at the AVN tradeshow, the adult version of CES where the pornaratti meet and greet. LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Rich!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 11:17:22 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

The latest Japanese beverage craze

The latest Japanese beverage craze is here! VAAM is made from "hornet juice," a fluid secreted by young hornets and consumed by older hornets as a natural go-faster-juice.

The women's marathon winner at the Sydney Olympics has revealed the secretof her success --- she drank the stomach juices of giant, killer hornets that fly 100km a day at up to 25 km/hour. Naoko Takahashi, aged 28, from Japan, consumed the hornet juice during training and the race itself after scientists discovered that it had astonishing powers to boost human stamina.

LInkDiscuss (Thanks, Elias!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:57:05 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

This is one bizarre gig:

This is one bizarre gig: A guy in Lubbock, TX has taken on the task of cleaning up four dump-trucks' worth of pennies that were recovered with steamshovels from the wreckage of a US Mint truck. The pennies are mixed up with road-dirt, soil and other crud, and need to be separated, cleaned and prepped to be put back into circulation.

"I hope we can find somebody to take them in bulk rather than having to roll all of them" into 50-cent packs, he said.

LinkDiscuss (via Fark)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 08:57:29 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Somewhere between food porn, foodie-ism

Somewhere between food porn, foodie-ism and extreme eating is ChowHound, a lyrical journal devoted to food and eating.

There are tons of loose olives, but not more so (or better quality) than other "tons of olives" places you know. In fact, let me emphasize: this is NOT a gourmet store. It's on a separate playing field from places like Sahadi, Zabar's, Gourmet Garage. This isn't a foodie Shangri-la for the crustiest bread, the plumpest carrots, the most artisinal cheeses. There are OTHER stores for that sort of thing. There's no food porn, no spotlit exquisiteness whatsoever. This is about packaged stuff. It's the holy land of packaged products. Not elite brands, not fancy gourmet items. There are a lot of terrific olive oils at even more terrific prices, but none come in particularly pretty bottles. This is the most diverse, most surprising, most scarily well-thought out and lovingly selected gigantic collection of international (and local) packaged foods you've never heard of all in one place. Kozy Shack analogs of every culture. Vegemite is stocked here sans irony.

Link Discuss (Thanks, Kate!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 08:46:03 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

BootCD is an OSX utility

BootCD is an OSX utility that creates a bootable CDROM for your Mac. About time!LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 08:08:59 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

National Guardsmen on airport duty

National Guardsmen on airport duty are being equipped with BlackBerry two-way pagers from which they can query sensitive governmental files on suspected terrorists. Guess this means improved BlackBerry coverage in the terminals.LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:57:30 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Monday, January 14, 2002

In Finland, your speeding fines

In Finland, your speeding fines are tied to your income -- neat idea. Not fun, though, if you're a senior Nokia exec who got a $100,000 fine for racing your Harley down a residential street, then took a huge pay-cut when your stock-options were revalued post-bust. Yikes!LinkDiscuss (via Interesting People)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:01:16 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Handspring's signed a deal with

Handspring's signed a deal with mm02, a giant European telco. Treo phones are gonna be spread all over Europe -- lucky bastids. I got to play with a Treo last week at IDEO design, and man, that is one sweet phone/PDA; the first such that I'd consider owning.LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 09:57:19 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Apple's corporate counsel --

Apple's corporate counsel -- a pack of utter goons, it appears -- have been sicced on the poor schmucks at the Church of Satan. They've repeatedly nastygrammed the Satanist's webmaster, demanding that he take down his "Made with Macintosh" banner and the "Think Different" parody with Anton LaVey that had run. The Satanists say that they're just free-thinkin' iconoclasts who made their site with a Mac, and they wanna tell the world about it. Why the hell is Apple dicking around with this crap? Link Discuss (Thanks Andrew!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 09:54:27 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Collected Usenet writings from "Tae,

Collected Usenet writings from "Tae, the paramedic from hell." These stories are incredibly grotesque but equally compelling. Just not while you're eating.

Upon arrival, my partner and I walked up a flight of stairs to a teenager's room. A male of about 13 - 15 years old, was hanging from the ceiling. He had been dead for at least a couple of hours. The physical signs? Incontinence of the bladder, a light-blue tinge to his extremities - positive Smurf-sign, both orbits of his eyes were bulging forward, his tongue was out - and quite blue. What was interesting to note was the distension of some of the large veins on his forehead, and the petechiae over his face. Petechiae are small reddish-spots that occur when capillaries burst under the skin - usually due to a increase in pressure.

Link Discuss (via Making Light)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:55:33 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Wonderful gallery of bootleg

Wonderful gallery of bootleg action figures. Link Discuss (via MeFi)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:01:09 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Great Dan Gillmor editorial describing

Great Dan Gillmor editorial describing how Google has devalued once-precious domain names. Free, fast and accurate, Google's made it possible to immediately locate just about anything online, far more reliably than was possible by punching in random domain-names. The result is that owning _____.com is no longer as important as it once was.

The most interesting from a domain-name point of view is this: With the rise of search tools that unerringly bring you to the page you want, the need for a highly specific domain name -- one that a casual Web user would be able to guess -- has practically disappeared.

Link Discuss (via MeFi)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:54:08 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Adobe's threatening to discontinue Asian-language

Adobe's threatening to discontinue Asian-language versions of its software if the Chinese don't do something about software piracy. This seems pretty shortsighted, as it almost guarantees that the number of legit copies of Adobe apps in use in China will drop to zero.LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:10:43 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Holy freaking crap. As of

Holy freaking crap. As of Friday, every piece of luggage on every plane in America will have to be screened for explosives. However, there is virtually no infrastructure in place to do the screening. Be prepared for fantastic-bordering-on-comical delays. I'm flying SF-Toronto on Thursday, and the back other way on Tuesday. I'll let you know how it goes. Urp.

In a meeting with the Chicago Sun-Times editorial board last week, American Airlines Chairman and CEO Donald Carty said the airline is "trying to cobble together a series of things without bringing down the system" but declined to give away details. Carty said on the first couple of days "as many as 5 percent" of flights might be slightly delayed. "We may run into trouble if it is a bad weather day. You could have a rough time."

Each of the screening options has drawbacks.

The explosive detection machines, which use a combination of X-ray and CAT-scan technology, have an up to 20 percent false alarm rate. They're also expensive--costing about $1 million apiece--and there are only 160 of them nationwide.

Manual inspections are slow and open to human error.

Matching bags to passengers won't deter suicide bombers.

Bomb-sniffing dogs, while highly accurate, can't work for long periods without a break. And there are only about 175 FAA-certified dogs nationwide.

LinkDiscuss (via Plastic)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:08:02 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Vernor Vinge -- proto-cyberpunk, computer

Vernor Vinge -- proto-cyberpunk, computer scientist -- wrote this wonderful whitepaper on the "Singularity," whereupon post-humans become too intelligent to interact with the meatpeople who preceded them.

Another symptom of progress toward the Singularity: ideas themselves should spread ever faster, and even the most radical will quickly become commonplace. When I began writing science fiction in the middle '60s, it seemed very easy to find ideas that took decades to percolate into the cultural consciousness; now the lead time seems more like eighteen months. (Of course, this could just be me losing my imagination as I get old, but I see the effect in others too.) Like the shock in a compressible flow, the Singularity moves closer as we accelerate through the critical speed.

LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Roy!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:41:26 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

The Guestbar's back! This week,

The Guestbar's back! This week, it's Charlie Stross. Charlie's a hell of a science fiction writer, a fantastic tech journo (specializing in the world of Open Source and Free Software) a mad Englishman and a resident of Scotland.LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:12:52 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Here's an excellent, searchable gallery

Here's an excellent, searchable gallery of Disney clip-art.LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Bob!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 08:24:57 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Interesting -- if irresponsible --

Interesting -- if irresponsible -- speculation that the e-book industry could be saved by JK Rowling publishing Harry Potter five exclusively in ebook format. Rowling's already got a huge ebook following if the popularity of the hand-scanned and OCRed bootleg editions are any anything to judge by.

What if Rowling turned her back on the notoriously screwy publishing industry and, like Dylan, went electric? In a business so economically farpotshket that even Scholastic hasn't shown a recent consistent profit -- this despite the biggest market share of any publisher since Gutenberg -- what if Rowling inked an exclusive deal with Random, or the Rocket E-Book people, or any other e-publisher who hasn't already gone belly up?

LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Amanda!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:53:20 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

The kraken wakes! A

The kraken wakes! A Scottish fisherman's dredged up a rare giant squid. These things are enormous and no one has ever seen one alive. The beak on this thing was powerful enough to sever steel cables. Link Discuss (via Meerkat)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:39:51 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Here's a cool idea for

Here's a cool idea for preserving your iPod's screen: use half a Write-Right, the popular screen-protecting stickers for Palms and other PDAs. What is it about a cool new gadget that brings out the Martha Stewart impulse in nerds?LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:54:42 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

A Japanese prof claims he

A Japanese prof claims he invented the Segway -- fifteen years ago.LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:49:24 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Wonderful downloadable MP3s of e.e.

Wonderful downloadable MP3s of e.e. cummings reading his poetry on Salon today. Their audio section really kicks ass -- I wish they'd refresh it more often.LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:41:42 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Futurefeedforward's outdone itself this week,

Futurefeedforward's outdone itself this week, with the best lede in its history.

June 3, 2046

Nanocelebrities Dance on Head of Pin

CAMBRIDGE--Researchers at the MIT Media Lab announced Friday the successful construction of a nano-scale "boy band" capable of performing complex, synchronized dance routines on the head of a pin. "Creating [the band] was part of a larger, long-term effort here at the Lab to humanize nano-scale user interfaces," notes Professor Ambrose Stone, director of the research team. "[The band] will act as goodwill ambassadors from the world of ubiquitous [nano-electro-mechanical devices]."

LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:38:53 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Korea is switching 120,000 civil

Korea is switching 120,000 civil servants from Windows to Linux, and has announced an anticipated savings of 80 percent in the bargain. LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:31:21 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

A Dutch priest, having noticed

A Dutch priest, having noticed the Christian allegory in JK Rowling's novels, is holding Harry Potter-themed masses for kids.

The priest from Haren, however, told the Haagse Courant newspaper: "The story of Harry Potter starts with an alternative reading of the story of the three kings, there is a speaking snake and, like Jesus, Harry Potter was a very obedient boy.

LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:25:55 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

New bandage technology will heal

New bandage technology will heal persistent wounds -- bedsores and other uclers -- faster. The bandages are lined with the injured person's own cultured skin cells, which stimulates growth.

The key to the technique is a coating which cells can attach to and grow on, but which releases the cells after the disc is applied to the wound. The CellTran team has adapted the process used to coat the inside of drinks cartons to deposit a thin film of an acrylic acid polymer onto their discs. The polymer remains intact in a growth medium but dissolves when applied to wounds.

LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:22:47 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Fantastic history of the EFF

Fantastic history of the EFF from the LA Times. The reporter does a great job, getting quotes from many of the founders, covering the current activities, and talking to the EFF's current brilliant staff.

Later Gilmore smiles when he is asked if he thinks the EFF's work is more vital than ever before. No, not really, he says. "What we've been doing has been needed all along. You always need the Constitution. Right?"

LinkDiscuss (via /.)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:17:52 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

You know those cost-of-virus stats,

You know those cost-of-virus stats, Nimbda cost n billion, CodeRed cost x billion, and so on? Ever wonder how those numbers are generated? They're made up. Wired News covers the story of Computer Economics, a firm charged with producing numbers-by-rectum.

"We're starting to hear reports from people, stating that they know for a fact that their co-workers are opening viruses to get a 'vacation day.'" Erbschloe said sometimes it's a deliberate act of sabotage because employees hate their job, or they just want to knock the network offline so that they can relax for a day.

LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:02:24 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Sunday, January 13, 2002

Mel "Dingbat Mayor of Toronto"

Mel "Dingbat Mayor of Toronto" Lastman's done it again. Just as Toronto's law enforcement machine was gearing up for the largest-ever in-city gathering of Hell's Angels, Dipshit Mel was heading down to the bars to get his picture took shaking hands with an outlaw biker. This is the same gang that recently wound up a war in Quebec that killed 160 people, including elementary school students. This is the same gang that runs guns, hard drugs and prostitutes in and out of Toronto. Nice going, Mel. Hope your competition plasters that pic on every one of her campaign flyers come re-election time.LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Amanda!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 09:20:41 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

The problem with education today

The problem with education today is TV and video games, not chronic underfunding, says the Shrub.LinkDiscuss (via Meerkat)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 08:59:06 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Saturday, January 12, 2002

Terry Pratchett's Bromeliad trilogy (Truckers,

Terry Pratchett's Bromeliad trilogy (Truckers, Diggers, Wings) is being adapted for CGI-based film by the director of Shrek! Pratchett gets a million bucks for the rights, but, more importantly, he gets an assload of exposure in the USA, where no one appears to have heard of him, despite the fact that 10% of all books sold in the UK are written by him. LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Amanda!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 11:14:21 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Brad Templeton speculates on post-human

Brad Templeton speculates on post-human intelligence.

To upload a mind it is necessary only to understand the lower level workings of the brain enough to recreate them in another medium. One need not understand much about the higher level activities which bring about conscious and intelligent thought. Just as a hardware engineer can build a computer which can play chess knowing only about how transistors and logic gates work. The chess software she simply copies. To build a real AI requires that we actually either understand how intelligence works -- which we are not close to doing, or perhaps that we understand its mid-level functions and create something we can turn intelligent by raising it over the course of many years, just as we do with our own babies.

However, the uploading scenario presents a rather disturbing conclusion. The first super-beings may not be based on humans at all, but instead may be apes.

In the course of modern science, it is always the case that we experiment with animals first, years before we attempt anything on people. It's the ethical way, and in many cases the only legal way. As such, as we develop the technology to scan or convert an existing brain into an artificial form, we'll try this first on animals. We'll start with lower ones, and then work up to our closest relatives, the chimpanzee and bonobo.

LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Jamais!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:01:18 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

The Washington Post has run

The Washington Post has run a four-part series chronicling the rise and fall of Michael Saylor, a dotcom entrepreneur who founded a data-mining company called MicroStrategy whose stock went from $300/share to $4. Saylor's story is one of monumental hubris, excess and shady accounting -- he was fond of telling his employees that they could "bend reality through strength of will."

It's funny, you keep hearing about these dotcom billionaires who were brung low by their own hubris and the crashing economy, but most of the dotcom entrepreneurs I know -- yerstruly included -- lived modest lives in small apartments, worked tirelessly to bring cool shit to the world, hired and nurtured oddball autodidactic wunderkinds with marvellous ideas and strange attitudes that would previously have relegated them to academe or non-technical work. They spent real money on stuff like comfortable chairs, shit-hot computers and bandwidth, not limos, blow and lavish parties. They drew modest salaries and put their personal lives, health, and families on hold while chasing the dream of changing the world -- not of getting fantastically wealthy.

And along the way, the dotcoms made some great stuff happen. People who never would have joined the distributed conversation of the Internet have signed on in droves, lured by strange and often hyperinflated marketing campaigns; a generation of kids logged in and got skilled in the strange, packet-switching arts; my grandmother's boyfriend got a computer and learned to use it so that he could day-trade.

Yes, any number of these "revolutionary" startups crashed and burned, but three out of four new businesses have always failed in the first couple years. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of people got a fast and thorough education in entrepreneurship, technology, and, most importantly, user-experience. To my mind, the thing that most characterized the dotcom boom was the shift in perception that held that when something's absence frustrates you, you should go out and build it; when something sucks, you should improve it.

Hurrah, then, for the dotcoms and their hubris. Hurrah for the notion that we can all of us learn to write the code that guides our culture and our lives. Hurrah for hard work and risk-taking. Hurrah for a willingness to change the world.LinkLinkLinkLinkDiscuss (Thanks, Jason!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:58:06 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Matthew was lucky enough to

Matthew was lucky enough to spend the week at CES. His favorite toy was the Hiptop. He sez:

Unlimted GPRS web/data/email,instant messages/chat with multiple people, & it's a 3 freq. GSM phone ( $200 for phone+$30/month service,)

I'm willing to bet that this is going to blast past the Blackberry/Rim and will earn the ultimate tech accolade: banning from high school classrooms. The unlimited data is going to seriously fuck with the phone guys.

Love the design! The screen flips out and changes the screen orientation! Feels awesome in your hand! Comes with a camera for mailing photos.

Link Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 12:21:57 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Borland, a software vendor, has

Borland, a software vendor, has taken bad user-licenses to new heights. Their latest license grants them permission to enter and audit your premises on 24h notice, with you bearing the cost if they discover a more than five percent discrepancy between the licenses you've purchased and the number of installations present. The license also requires you to waive your right to a jury trial, forever, in the event of a license dispute. Nice. All this and you are paying them.LinkDiscuss (via Interesting People)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 12:12:13 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Gallery of beatiful, but

Gallery of beatiful, but poorly scanned antique playing cards. Actually, the scans seem pretty good, but the site's maintainer has increased the size of the JPEGS with the height and width attributes, which has created a lot of uggle. Link Discuss (Thanks, Mena!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 12:05:50 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Maya Angelou is writing Hallmark

Maya Angelou is writing Hallmark cards. (Ms. Angelou also wrote the current Hall of the Presidents show at Walt Disney World)

"I have yellow pads all over the place," she says. She remembers reducing five pages to "The wise woman wishes to be no one's enemy, the wise woman refuses to be anyone's victim."

LinkDiscuss (via MeFi)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:17:52 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Friday, January 11, 2002

Email postcards based on the

Email postcards based on the wonderful covers of Jonathan Carrol's equally wonderful novels.LinkDiscuss (via Cloudmonkey)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 03:54:52 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

An Optigan with two discs

An Optigan with two discs for sale on Craig's List -- only $175! (The Optigan is this crazy old Mattel organ that optically reads music and plays it back in extreme lo-fi)LinkDiscuss (Thanks, spingo!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 03:08:29 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

I just got the go-ahead

I just got the go-ahead on a collection of my short stories from Four Walls/Eight Windows press! Now, I need a title. I've come up with a few:

• Tough Jellybean
• Craphound and Other Stories
• The Short Stories of Cory Doctorow
• Ragtime (kidding, kidding)
• Boing!
• Enthusiasm for the Devil
• Whacked

None of these make me jump up and down with delight. Do you have any suggestions? I'll put together a (non-binding!) poll once I've got a good pool of possibilities. New: An autographed copy and an acknowledgement in the book if you come up with the winning title -- good suggestion, druidbros! Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 03:02:47 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

ReplayPC is an open-source PVR

ReplayPC is an open-source PVR application for Windows, Linux, and OS X. I'm not clear on whether this is meant to stand alone, tied to a video-capture-card, or whether it's meant to work in concert with a ReplayTV unit to rip the contents of the drive to DivX or a similar format so you can take your favorite shows along with you on your laptop.LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Jet!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 02:47:15 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Here's a Python script for

Here's a Python script for pluralizing English nouns with 99% accuracy:

samePlural = (lambda word: word in ('sheep', 'deer', 'fish', 
                 'moose', 'aircraft', 'series', 'haiku', 'scissors'),
              lambda word: word)
alwaysAddS = (lambda word: word in ('delf', 'pelf', 'human',
                  'roman', 'lowlife'),

Link Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 02:07:33 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

YEAH! Disney's making a film

YEAH! Disney's making a film based on the Haunted Mansion. Woo! Boo-yah! Hell yeah! (Let's just pray it doesn't stink-o the way that the Tower of Terror movie with -- shudder -- Steve Gutenberg did). Also in the works: a Country Bear Jamboree movie and a Bruckheimer (!) flick about The Pirates of the Carribean.LinkDiscuss (Thanks, vemene!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 01:13:37 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Philips, who hold the patents

Philips, who hold the patents on CD-audio, are making noises to the effect that since CD copy-protection breaks the standard they've established, they will withhold certification of copy-protected discs. In other words, copy-protected CDs will no longer officially be classed as CDs, but rather as round bits of shiny plastic of dubious utility. A fair summation if you ask me. The original story's in German, but here's a Babelfish translation.LinkDiscuss (via /.)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 12:29:43 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

eMusic's posted three full albums'

eMusic's posted three full albums' worth of MP3s by Klezmer geniuses "The Flying Bulgar Klezmer Band." You can sign up for the free 100-track/30-day trial now and download 'em at about 100k/sec. For my money, this is some of the finest Yiddische music ever recorded.LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 12:00:33 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Check out this amazing Flash-based

Check out this amazing Flash-based animated clock! I want to project this on my bedroom wall, 24/7.LinkDiscuss (via EvHead)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 11:43:49 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Great InformationWeek story about OpenCola

Great InformationWeek story about OpenCola Folders:

OpenCola Ltd. wants to cut through the information glut of peer-to-peer networking. As the company's founder Cory Doctorow puts it, the key is "discovering the things we don't know we don't know." He's not stuttering but identifying a real problem with information searches--it's tough to ask for something until you know it exists.

LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Scott!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:34:38 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Bill Gates dressed up as

Bill Gates dressed up as Harry Potter to deliver his CES keynote. Link Discuss (via NTK)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:24:12 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

The new generation of super-coasters

The new generation of super-coasters exert g-forces in excess of 6.5, which some doctors warn is sufficient to induce brain damage. Ah, the lengths we go to to tittilate a jaded public.LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Adingdong!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 09:41:07 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

A quasi-defunct dotcom is doing

A quasi-defunct dotcom is doing a reverse-takeover deal with the world-famous NYC peeler-club Scores to take the titty bar public and expand it into a giant, national chain. Link Discuss (via Fark)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 08:04:51 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Good review of XPlay, the

Good review of XPlay, the tool that lets you use your iPod with your Windows box. Link Discuss (via /.)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:59:00 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Wow! This is an outstanding

Wow! This is an outstanding pictorial history of the defunct and disappeared rides at Walt Disney World, put together by a former cast-member who's got tons of pix of the insides of the old favorites like "If You Had Wings."LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Charles!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:55:25 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Even though the SadMind Linux

Even though the SadMind Linux worm has been around since last May, I've never heard of it -- the crazy thing about it is that it uses infected Linux hosts to trash Microsoft IIS server.LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Patrick!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:51:06 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

The popunder/popup ad-killer site is

The popunder/popup ad-killer site is awesome. Just click through the links on this page and you'll opt out of half a dozen of the biggest popup/popunder sites on the Internet. Kick ass!LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Raffi!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:47:34 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Photos of the PodMate, a

Photos of the PodMate, a device that you plug into your iPod to turn it into a universal remote.LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:33:39 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

MeshNetworks, a kick-ass 802.11-style wireless

MeshNetworks, a kick-ass 802.11-style wireless relaying network based on demilitarized tech, has received aen experimental spectrum license from the FCC to continue live testing. Woo!LinkDiscuss (via Interesting People)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:16:37 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Thursday, January 10, 2002

Google's launched a current news-headline

Google's launched a current news-headline service, one that automatically associates multiple versions of the same story from different news-sources.LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:22:07 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Nice Dan Simmons interview. I

Nice Dan Simmons interview. I particularily like his approach to genre-switching (Have I mentioned here yet that I started work on my third novel, a giant, weird-ass fantasy thing called "A Stranger Comes to Town, a Stranger Leaves Town," just after Xmas? I'm 10,000 words or so into it, and it's totally different from my past two SF novels)

I promised myself more than 20 years ago that if I were ever lucky enough to write full time and continue to be published, that I would write what I wanted to write, enjoy creating different types of novels in different fields of literature just as I enjoy reading such a wide variety of quality fiction. This is a nightmare for publishers. They are quite right to assume -- assume hell, they know -- that any writer who becomes a bestselling author does so by defining his or her audience and then sticking with them. Readers are human -- they like what they like and they feel abandoned when a writer whom they've championed moves away from what they like to read. It's a form of betrayal and I understand the anger when a friendly reader asks me -- "When is the next Hyperion novel coming out?" and I respond "Never." But a writer who responds primarily to readers' imperatives has already sold his soul. I've been lucky that whenever one publisher gives up on me -- gives up on me hammering away at one type of book until we achieve bestseller status -- another publisher gives me the benefit of the doubt.

LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Nat!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:14:59 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

A new compression tool promises

A new compression tool promises to shrink data by a factor of 100 (previously, information science wonks held that the best compression possible was ten to one, based on research by Bell Labs's Dr. Claude Shannon). This promises to squeeze a CD's worth of text into 640k -- less than half a floppy. The New Scientist thinks its credible, too. LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Higgins!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:00:22 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

A personal edition of Maya

A personal edition of Maya -- the premiere digital-imagery generation tool, used for effects in Star Wars and other big-budg flicks -- is being released as a free learning tool for non-commercial uses. The commercial version goes for $7500!LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 09:50:41 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Awesome pictorial history of ICBMs

Awesome pictorial history of ICBMs and their bases.LinkDiscuss (Thanks, John!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 12:54:09 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Dumpster divers in San Jose

Dumpster divers in San Jose retreive hundreds of European cardboard boxes, stamp them with "box #__ of 93 - please ask your neighbor for details - BiTNET b0x Project (c)2001." Hilarity ensues. Link Discuss (Thanks, Higgins!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 12:52:26 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Got a DirectTV dish? You

Got a DirectTV dish? You can get a DirecTiVo mark II -- skinny, fast, network-ready and sexy as hell -- for FIFTY BUCKS. Woo! Gak -- I really screwed this up. See the Discuss link for more. Link Discuss (Thanks, Jet!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 12:46:53 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Fine downloadable Country and Western

Fine downloadable Country and Western covers of Pink Floyd classics from Luther Wright and the Wrongs. Don't miss the jaw-harp and cattle-calls in "The Wall!"LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Nat!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 12:22:00 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Nice homebrew iPod car-mount in

Nice homebrew iPod car-mount in a Mustang.LinkDiscuss (via iPodHacks)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 12:08:39 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Norweigan cops have arrested Jon

Norweigan cops have arrested Jon Johansen, the 18-year-old kid who cracked the DVD Content Scrambling System, so that he could watch DVDs on his Linux box. This is revolting.LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 11:37:58 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Forget TiVo remotes! I want

Forget TiVo remotes! I want remote-controlled DNA!

Tagging strands of DNA with tiny gold particles could allow scientists to switch genes on and off inside the body by remote control. The method could be used to tell cells when to produce specific proteins, such as insulin.

LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Derek!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:43:41 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Good article from The Ephemera

Good article from The Ephemera Society of America about Victorian-era goldfish trading cards. Look at how beautiful the designs were back in those days! What happened? Link Discuss

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 09:43:07 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Who needs HamsterDance when you've

Who needs HamsterDance when you've got iMacDance?LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Lally!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 09:38:00 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Punk baby clothes!LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Michael!)

Punk baby clothes!LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Michael!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 09:25:23 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

"Strategic Wakeup for Power Napping."

"Strategic Wakeup for Power Napping." The Jetlog 24x7 PowerNapping Springboard Module is a Visor plugin with a button and a set of headphones. As long as your hand is on the button, the headphones are silent; once your hand slips off, the cans start beeping until you wake up. The idea is to allow napping without REM sleep, compliant with NASA's Fatigue Countermeasures Program.LinkDiscuss (Thanks, ronks!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 09:19:34 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Teresa's got a nice explication

Teresa's got a nice explication of non-mathematical cryptanalysis on her wonderful blog today:

This confirms a principle taught me by my friend who used to do this sort of thing professionally, back when he was working for his uncle. He says that there are five basic kinds of cryptanalysis, and that under real-world conditions,

The strong-arm mathematical kind takes a far distant back seat to the faster, more reliable, and more effective kinds; to wit:

a) checkbook cryptanalysis
b) black bag cryptanalysis
c) rubber hose cryptanalysis
d) dumbshit cryptanalysis

As he explained it to me, checkbook cryptanalysis is where you pay someone in the target organization to give you the keys. It's the the commonest and most effective method. Black bag cryptanalysis is where you break in and steal the code key, or (as in the case of Mr. Scarfo) plant a bug that makes more sophisticated codebreaking unnecessary. Rubber hose cryptanalysis is where you get hold of someone who knows the key and beat or otherwise torture him-or-her into Telling All. Dumbshit cryptanalysis is what happens when a guy in the organization absentmindedly leaves the code key in the pocket of the trousers he sends to the dry cleaner. Planting a very sympathetic barmaid in the guy's favorite bar probably counts as dumbshit cryptanalysis too.

LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 08:31:02 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

British cops are being asked

British cops are being asked to save money by curtailing the use of their beloved electric kettles. I say, send 'em all to a Rainbow Gathering and teach 'em to make "sun tea."LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 08:29:08 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Today on "Tom the Dancing

Today on "Tom the Dancing Bug:" The John Ashcroft Players present Our Bill of Rights.LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 08:19:14 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

FLOW is an amazing, psychotropic

FLOW is an amazing, psychotropic Flash presentation from hoogerbrugge.com, the people who gave us "Modern Living."LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Marc!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 08:11:42 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Nice Sci American piece: "Any

Nice Sci American piece: "Any sufficiently advanced extraterrestrial intelligence is indistinguishable from God."

Ergo, the probability that an ETI only slightly more advanced than we are will make contact is virtually nil. If we ever do find an ETI, it will be as though a million-year-old Homo erectus were dropped into the 21st century, given a computer and cell phone and instructed to communicate with us. The ETI would be to us as we would be to this early hominid--godlike.

LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Dave!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:55:04 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

4500+ people have signed this

4500+ people have signed this online petition: "Peter Jackson to Write and Direct Star Wars Episode III"

We hereby, the undersigned, in spirit of our raped childhood's, ask that George Lucas give over his reign as director and writer of Episode III to one Peter Jackson. To allow complete control of all necessary story lines and dialogue for Peter Jackson to make a film as he sees fit.

LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Elias!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:49:58 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

This is the funniest goddamned

This is the funniest goddamned track I've ever heard -- Public Enemy Versus Dexy's Midnight Runners. Like the poetry of Emily Dickinson as sung to the tune of the Gilligan's Island theme, but way more rocking.LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Kev!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:09:08 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Wednesday, January 9, 2002

Delicious gallery of the

Delicious gallery of the world's airlines' barf bags. Link Discuss (via On Lisa Rein's Radar)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:53:44 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

How do you improve the

How do you improve the miserable diets of tots in the industrialized world? Give them mobile phones, so they'll spend all their pocket-money on prepaid cellular cards instead of sweets.

Mobile phones quell sweet tooth: The food industry in Britain is blaming cell phone use for declining chocolate sales.

Simon Mowbray from the trade magazine The Grocer told The Sunday Telegraph chocolate sales have fallen from $3.9 billion to $3.7 billion because youngsters are spending more money on mobile phones than on candy.

"Children are walking into news agents, and instead of buying a Mars bar they are scrabbling together enough change to buy a £5 ($7.20) top-up card so they can keep using their mobiles," lamented Mowbray.

LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:42:59 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

The Rio Riot MP3 player

The Rio Riot MP3 player has a 20 Gbyte hard drive, and can hold 5,000 songs. Link Discuss

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 05:00:05 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Great Kevin Kelly editorial: "The

Great Kevin Kelly editorial: "The Web Runs on Love, Not Greed."

As the Internet continues to expand in volume and diversity without interruption, only a relatively small percent of its total mass will be money-making. The rest will be created and maintained out of passion, enthusiasm, a sense of civic obligation, or simply on the faith that it may later provide some economic use. High-profile portal sites like Yahoo and AOL will continue to consolidate and demand our attention (and maybe make some money), while millions of smaller sites and hundreds of millions of users do the heavy work of creating content that is used and linked. These will be paid entirely in the gift economy.

Will we ever appreciate this web woven out of love and greed for the fabulous miracle it is? Perhaps as more of the world wins access to it, and more of our books, and movies, and history are added, we will come to see it as a dream come true, a collective dream created by people like you and me, sharing what they love. Who would have guessed that at the end of a harrowing year, the heart of this gift and miracle already beats?

LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 12:54:34 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

CDBaby is a cool online

CDBaby is a cool online CD store that takes a $4 cut from every disc and passes the remainder onto the artist: $8-$10 per disc versus the $1 an artist with a label can expect to receive. The store is paying out a million bucks a year to indie artists, and sales are rising. Unfortunately, I can't order any of the intriguing-sounding discs in their catalog because: 1) I don't know where I'm going to end up living in a month or so, so I don't want to take a chance on having the disc shipped to me; 2) they only make downloadable available as Real streams, which I can't play under OSX.LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 12:03:56 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

The heirs of the Three

The heirs of the Three Stooges fortune have successfully sued a t-shirt maker over the unauthorized use of the Howards' likenesses.

"The claims of celebrities, especially dead celebrities, are eating into the First Amendment," said Barnett, who teaches at the University of California at Berkeley's Boalt Hall School of Law.

Link Discuss (Thanks, Gary!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 08:46:55 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Ilana's trying to come up

Ilana's trying to come up with popculture charity auction items, like the ones that Robin Hood have sold off for big bucks in the past:

1) You, Gwyneth and Madonna at Deepak Chopra's exclusive resort for 1 week taking various courses, meals, therapies together.

2) Private hockey lesson with Wayne Gretsky

3) Party for 25 children on the set of Jurassic Park

4) Dinner with U-2

Can you come up with some? Post to the Discuss link! Link Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 08:33:42 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Great gallery of the works

Great gallery of the works of collage artist Stephen Kroninger. LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Christopher!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:44:16 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Here's a directory of

Here's a directory of GIFs of letters from Elvis, wherein he offers his services to Nixon as a secret G-Man who could rat out the counterculture and his fellow rock-n-rollers. Link Discuss (Thanks, Adingdong!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:29:52 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Some weird-ass search-engine-spammer has associated

Some weird-ass search-engine-spammer has associated Denise's name with porn by spoofing Google with fake pages with her content that link through to sex sites.LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:16:16 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

23 Myths About the Internet.

23 Myths About the Internet. Fabulous. Some of my faves:

Myth: As the Internet becomes less technology-oriented and more culturally-oriented, those with humanities and business backgrounds shall have advantages over those with technological backgrounds.

Fact: As the Internet intertwines technology, business, and the humanities, without a firm grounding in technology, one can no longer fully understand business nor the humanities.

Myth: The Open Source movement is about socialistically or communistically sharing source code, with elite administrators and Wall Street bankers ultimately calling the shots.

Fact: The Open Source movement is about individuals following an aesthetic in creating elegant software which works, wherein administrators must harbor the deepest respect for individuality and freedom.

Myth: First movers had the advantage when it came to building viable businesses on the Internet.

Fact: True originality can take its time, as long as the execution is brilliant.

Myth: The content worlds (publishing, music, etc.) shall be revolutionized by corporations leveraging the Internet.

Fact: The world of content shall be revolutionized by individuals leveraging the internet. The intrinsic beauty of the Internet is that a central bureaucracy of middlemen has no practical function, and on the Net, the poetry must serve the people rather than the traditional bureaucratic prejudices.

LinkDiscuss (via K5)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:13:12 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

A Canadian court upheld the

A Canadian court upheld the use in evidence of DNA obtained by giving a murder suspect a stick of gum to chew. Coming soon to a "Law and Order: Criminal Intent" near you!LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:03:06 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Tuesday, January 8, 2002

JUAN GARCIA ESQUIVEL (1918-2002) Link

JUAN GARCIA ESQUIVEL (1918-2002) Link Discuss

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 10:53:24 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Great article on the economics

Great article on the economics of intellectual property, using algebraic economics.

The purpose of copyright is to increase social gain. It does this by:

1. Providing protection from piracy so that producers have improved odds of getting producer surplus.

2. Expire so that the works that are produced maximize their social gain by becoming free after a certain amount of time.

Unfortunately copyright law is doing the second purpose pretty poorly. The 95 year time limit in the United States is far too long to maximize social gain. After 95 years very very few works still have social gain left to be gained by the freedom. Also there is no requirement that the full source code be provided at the expiration of the copyright. This means that for a piece of software it will take 95 years to get freedoms 0 and 2, and freedoms 1 and 3 will never happen unless the publisher wishes them to.

LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:20:23 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Ashcroft or Tailgunner Joe McCarthy

Ashcroft or Tailgunner Joe McCarthy -- take the quiz and see if you can tell the difference between one and the other. I didn't do so hot, myself.

3. there have been a few voices who have criticized. Some have sought to condemn us with faulty facts or without facts at all. Others have simply rushed to judgment, almost eagerly assuming the worst of their government before they've had a chance to understand it at its best.

__ McCarthy | __ Ashcroft

LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Nat!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:11:32 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Kick-ass Ninja enthusiast site.Ninjas can

Kick-ass Ninja enthusiast site.

Ninjas can kill anyone they want!  Ninjas cut off heads ALL the time and don't even think twice about it.  These guys are so crazy and awesome that they flip out ALL the time.  I heard that there was this ninja who was eating at a diner.  And when some dude dropped a spoon the ninja killed the whole town.  My friend Mark said that he saw a ninja totally uppercut some kid just because the kid opened a window.

And that's what I call REAL Ultimate Power!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Nat!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 04:50:49 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Crazy uses for Coca-Cola.Got The

Crazy uses for Coca-Cola.

Got The Trots?? Keran from New Zealand wanted to share this Coke tip with us; "While living in Papua New Guinea as a child, my father and I got a bad case of the trots. (As you often do in 3rd world countries). We went to the Doctor, and he told us the most effective treatment would be to get a 2ltr bottle of coke, take the top off and let it go flat, and up to room temperature, then drink 1 glass every couple of hours. BINGO... all fixed up inside!" Thanks Keran... I won't be going out of the country with out a supply of Coca Cola!!

LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Mark!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 04:34:01 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Woo hoo! After a long

Woo hoo! After a long hiatus, Marc Laidlaw's writing SF again, and you can read his latest story, "Sleepy Joe," on Inifnite Matrix for free. It's a treat, and Marc's a wonderful, wonderful writer. I still think about Dad's Nuke, his first novel, every couple weeks, even though I last read it when I was a teenager.LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 04:25:52 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

TiVo announces the next gen

TiVo announces the next gen of PVRs. I am sporting major technowood.

-- Up to 60 hours of recording time without the hassles of videotape
-- Sleeker dimensions of 15" width by 11.5" depth by 3" height for convenient fit in home entertainment systems
-- As with all TiVo standalone units, the TiVo DVR Series2 is compatible with and connects easily to virtually every television model available. It also works with VCRs, TV antennas, cable systems, and satellite systems.
-- Improved patented remote control that allows for easy program recording as well as control of multiple TiVo's in the home.
-- Enhanced graphics engine
-- 2 USB expansion ports to connect to peripheral devices like digital cameras, network adaptors, MP3 and CD players, etc.
-- Ready to run multiple entertainment services such as digital music, digital photos, video party games and broadband video-on-demand.

(Emphasis mine))LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Jet!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 04:14:49 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Ted Nelson's Ur-hypertext project Xanadu

Ted Nelson's Ur-hypertext project Xanadu is open-source and online. Link Discuss (via Scripting News)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 11:01:02 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

The cluelessness deepens: Cory Doctorow,

The cluelessness deepens:

Cory Doctorow,

Thank you for removing the powerpoint presentation from your website.  Now I must ask that you remove my name and the name of the hotel from your website as you do not have permission to use either.

Thank you,

Joseph Crosby

Link Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:51:49 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Watson is the coolest OS

Watson is the coolest OS X app I've seen in ages. It's Ur-client for Web services, with pluggable modules -- including Zip Code and Stocks lookup, eBay tracking, phone numbers, movie listings, und zo weiter. The individual UI-panes for each service are beautifully and intelligently laid out and realized. Go download it! (Or, go buy a nice Mac, install OS X on it, and download it!) LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:41:03 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

I had a good laugh

I had a good laugh after reading "Bernard Shifman Is A Moron Spammer." Be sure to listen to the voice mail messages that Shifman leaves. He gets madder and madder with each one! Link Discuss

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 10:28:26 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Security Staff at Reagan Airport

Security Staff at Reagan Airport forced a seputgenerian Congressman to strip to his underwear, refusing to believe that the thing that was ringing the magnetometer was his artificial hip.LinkDiscuss (via Interesting People)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:21:31 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

An unexploded British WWII bomb

An unexploded British WWII bomb was discovered underneath Albert Speer's Nazi Olympics Stadium in Berlin.LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:21:14 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

One of the new Euro

One of the new Euro coins lands on heads more often than tails.LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:20:58 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Wired News's Leander Kahney reviews

Wired News's Leander Kahney reviews iPhoto, Apple's new "iTunes for pictures." I imported my 4,000 image library to iPhoto yesterday (which took a lot of manual work and time), and discovered that with 4,000 pics, iPhoto grinds to a sluggish and ugly pace, even on my iBook 600, running 10.1.2 with 640 MB of RAM. Can't wait for version 1.1 to ship!LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:20:49 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Charities, having examined the cost

Charities, having examined the cost of refurbing and using obsolete computers donated by well-meaning patrons, have started to turn away junk machines.

"It's not uncommon that a nonprofit gets a donation, finds out that the computer is not going to work for them, then they're stuck with the cost of recycling the computer. It can end up hurting them," said Joan Fanning, executive director of NPower, which provides low-cost, onsite IT support and training to nonprofits.

LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:19:52 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

More info on the Mira,

More info on the Mira, MSFT's new kick-ass wireless monitor/remote-control device. I love the name of this thing: Spanish for "look" and a false cognate for "mirror." Nice.LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:19:25 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Just happened upon this nice

Just happened upon this nice quote from "God's Debris," Scott Adams new novel (which is by turns frustrating and wonderful). It's a Socratic dialogue between a courier and an old man:

"Think about this," [the old man] continued. "As we speak, engineers are building the Internet to link every part of the world in much the same way as a fetus develops a central nervous system. Virtually no one questions the desirability of the Internet. It seems that humans are born with the instinct to create it and embrace it. The instinct of beavers is to build dams; the instinct of humans is to build communication systems."

"I don't think instinct is makis us build the Internet. I think people are trying to make money off it. It's just capitalism," I replied.

"Capitalism is only part of it," he countered. "In the 1990s investors threw money at any Internet company that asked for it. Economics went out the window. Rationality can't explain our obsession with the Intneret. The need to build the Internet comes from something inside us, something programmed, something we can't resist.

LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:19:06 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Nice style-guide from The Guardian.LinkDiscuss

Nice style-guide from The Guardian.LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Matthew!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:18:38 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Prostitutes invade Tokyo DisneylandA reporter

Prostitutes invade Tokyo Disneyland

A reporter for the magazine arranges to meet one of the girls at Disneyland, recognizing her instantly by the Mickey Mouse ears she had promised to wear. He pays the girl 50,000 yen for a four-hour session, three hours of which are spent indulging in the Magic Kingdom's pleasures.

The couple promptly head off to Space Mountain, one of the amusement park's most popular rides, and the action begins. The young, wicked witch tells the reporter he's free to touch her wherever he likes while they're on the ride. Their fun ends with the woman in the process of rousing the reporter's sleeping beauty, but Shukan Jitsuwa doesn't mention whether it's a dumbo or mini.

LinkDiscuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:18:16 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

My friend Yuichi in Japan

My friend Yuichi in Japan sent me this link to a motherlode of fantastic Japanese GIF animations. Wow!LinkDiscuss (Thanks, Yuichi!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:17:37 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Geez:Dear Webhost,Please provide written authorization,

Geez:

Dear Webhost,

Please provide written authorization, either electronic or hard copy,for use of the Powerpoint Presentation titled "Yours is a very badHotel".

Thank you,

Joseph Crosby
General Manager
DoubleTree Club Hotel Houston

Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:17:13 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Monday, January 7, 2002

The results are in

The results are in -- over 200 of you voted, and I've tabulated the results on this page. Thanks for the votes! Link Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 09:40:07 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Napster's CEO has gone to

Napster's CEO has gone to Congress to press for compulsory licenses for downloadable music, so that the big labels would be forced to allow their competitors to distribute music online for a set fee. Link Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:24:03 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Wil McCarthy speculates on the

Wil McCarthy speculates on the physics of the One Ring.

The real power of the One Ring comes from its ability to command the other rings, and so enslave the elvish and dwarvish and human rulers of ancient Middle-earth. This is actually very easy to arrange: the Ring is simply the master node of a wireless network, and is able to send commands and receive telemetry from the other rings, including their locations and the spoken words of the people around them. The reverse is not true: the One Ring sends out no telemetry, and obeys no commands. It can't be tracked at all unless it is used, and even then its location cannot be determined except in vague geographic terms. Also, since this network is known to operate over thousands of miles, across many mountain ranges and such, it must have a satellite relay. This is supported by the fact that Gollum, who kept and used the ring in an underground lair for hundreds of years, was not detected. The satellite(s) also presumably play a role in tracking the other rings' locations, which is one of the specific powers called out in Sauron's campaign slogan.

Link Discuss (Thanks, Jamais!

posted by Cory Doctorow at 02:43:40 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Here's some extremely surreal Usenet

Here's some extremely surreal Usenet spam:

So you like to comprehend a computer housemaid ? Do you like to own a blue soldier ? Today , SHIELD gives you the answer . SHIELD is a computerize gas kitchen which is controlled automatically and intelligently. It is a world wide invention , is a new generation of the gas kitchen.. What is the benefits that SHIELD brings to us ? Firstly , it will relieve you out of the kitchen ,you shouldn't be in when you cook the food .Second ,it solved the problem that the food would be burned ,the soup be out and the gas be leaked .And it will make your family safer and healthier .Do you want to understand much more merits about SHIELD?

Link Discuss (Thanks, Stefan!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 11:41:49 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Nice Toronto Star profile fo

Nice Toronto Star profile fo a woman who writes hypertext kids' books. Link Discuss (Thanks, Amanda!

posted by Cory Doctorow at 11:35:55 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

A TiVo hacker has connected

A TiVo hacker has connected his PVR to his PC, and is publishing the contents and schedule from his TiVo on the Web. Link Discuss (Thanks, Dan!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 11:32:10 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Forced by public outcry to

Forced by public outcry to abandon the practice of selling euthanized strays for rendering at a pet-food company, St Louis shelters are now sending the dead animals to landfills. Link Discuss (Thanks, Jon!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 11:29:54 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Good Salon piece on Michael

Good Salon piece on Michael Moore's fight to get HarperCollins to sell his latest book, which is critical of Bush and other political figures. They had 'em printed and warehoused just before 9/11, and after the Current Situation metastasized, they asked him if he wanted to add a chapter dealing with it. He agreed, but then Harper asked him to start removing chapters as well, and pay half the cost of reprinting besides. "They wanted me to censor myself and then pay for the right to censor myself!" Link Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 11:22:41 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Terrific story about the Unix

Terrific story about the Unix hackers who preserved the early days of Usenet -- the basis for Google's new archive. Link Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:20:08 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

What to do with

What to do with those pretty cardboard boxes your Macs came in? Why, make a sofa out of 'em! Link Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:58:52 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Sunday, January 6, 2002

Canadians can't keep a

Canadians can't keep a secret. Time Canada's site has put their new ish online, including a feature story on Apple's new machine. Time's gonna be in so much trouble.

If the new iMac functions as well as it's supposed to, it will simplify your digital life like no other machine can. You can buy a PC with a flat-panel display and a built-in DVD burner for around $1,800, the same as the equivalent iMac. But it won't work as well. In part, that's because Apple gives away a number of core programs (iTunes, iMovie, iDVD and, starting this week, iPhoto) that allow you to control your creative life. They do what other PC software does. But they do it better.

Apple's secret, which doubtless comes from Jobs' early flirtation with Zen Buddhism, is knowing what to leave out, understanding that in the complex world of computers, less is way more.

For instance, iPhoto, a program for handling those digital pictures, is superior to anything else out there for the amateur. How? When you connect your camera to the iMac, archiving pictures happens automatically-the pictures are uploaded and organized by "roll" and archived together as thumbnail images laid out on one endlessly scrolling digital contact sheet. A slider on the side of the contact sheet lets you instantly enlarge and examine hundreds of pictures at a glance, the better to find the one you're hunting for. This works far better than the PC alternative, which would have you manually labeling each picture you archive ("Joe at the Beach") or accepting a meaningless default name, like A2393745. (Best feature of the new program: point-and-click together a 10-page photo album of your favorite pics, pay $30 and an online publisher will print and mail you your own hardcover book.)

Link Discuss (Thanks, Joey and Noel!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 09:23:53 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

The new iMac. Link Discuss(Thanks,

The new iMac. Link Discuss(Thanks, Noel!)

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 08:51:55 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Common Dream is running a

Common Dream is running a snotty, funny list of ten things do do while you're waiting for high-alert to lower.

7. Ignore nonsense talk about how the government is taking away civil liberties. The government is doing what it must in this time of emergency. It is seizing power to better protect you and our way of life. Attorney General John Ashcroft has thoughtfully explained all of this in detail.

Link Discuss (Thanks, Nat!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 03:38:22 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Nat writes, "The New York

Nat writes, "The New York Times reports on life under Afghanistan's warlords. Women don't have to wear veils now, but with commanders stealing food from the poor to sell to western journalists in hotels, the people of Afghanistan can't be very thankful to America for their 'liberation.'" Link Discuss (Thanks, Nat!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 03:35:43 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

The SF Chronicle is

The SF Chronicle is dropping Zippy the Pinhead, the fantastic surrealist comic strip, from its pages. You can help bring Zippy back!

Editors listen to readers---especially via SNAIL-MAIL. Here's how you, the loyal S.F. Chronicle Zippy fans, can help bring Zippy back to the comics pages. WRITE (yes, on paper, the medium which editors pay most attention to):

Mi-ai Parrish, Associate Editor
S.F. Chronicle
901 Mission St.
San Francisco CA 94103

Link Discuss (Thanks, Robert!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 02:47:47 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Lovely and stylish duct-tape

Lovely and stylish duct-tape wallets. Link Discuss (Thanks, BoMo!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 02:32:35 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

This gives me the

This gives me the fear: Rubber duckies with celebrity heads, including James Brown, Carmen Miranda, and Babe Ruth. Link Discuss (Thanks, Steve!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 02:24:03 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

The NYT is reporting

The NYT is reporting on the proliferation of branded consumer goods in the Islamic world that sport ObL's likeness. Link Discuss (Thanks, Steve!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 02:10:59 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

The iPodBay is a

The iPodBay is a homebrew solution that lets you synch and charge your iPod by shoving it in a slot in the front of your Mac. Link Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 02:04:05 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

My publisher's asked me

My publisher's asked me to send them an author photo to use in publicity/book-jackets/etc on my upcoming novel, "Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom." Richard Kadrey was kind enough to snap some portraits yesterday, and now I can't choose which one to send in. I've built a little survey where you can rate my top 16 -- I'd love to get your feedback! (BTW, if anyone out there has a recco for a good hosted survey script, please lemme know -- this is just an ugly mailto form whose output I'm manually aggregating in Excel). Link Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 01:52:37 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Saturday, January 5, 2002

Amusing gallery of potential

Amusing gallery of potential banners to go on the Apple homepage as they wind up the hype machine for Monday's announcement. Link Discuss (Thanks, Chris!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:15:46 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Sheriff Joe Arpaio -- the

Sheriff Joe Arpaio -- the Dr. Mengele of the American Penal System -- has foisted a new indignity on the prisoners in his charge. Now, you can watch live streaming Webcams from inside the jail, in exchange for your demographic info (see, it's revenue-positive!), and thrill to prison-rape, beatings and humiliation.

This is a real life transmission of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office Madison Street Jail. Instances of violence or sexually inappropriate behavior by detainees during the booking process may occur. Viewer discretion is advised. This is a jail not a simulation. The persons in this transmission are either employees of Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, other police agencies in Maricopa County or arrestees. Under the United States and Arizona Constitution a person is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

(Sure was nice of 'em to remind us of that innocent-until-proven-guilty stuff, huh?) Link Discuss (Thanks, Patrick!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 01:41:47 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Nice gallery of rotten

Nice gallery of rotten vintage comic-book ads. Link Discuss (via Fark)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 01:35:50 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Check out this fantastically

Check out this fantastically weird Japanese animated GIF showing two salarymen going Mortal Kombat on each other. Link Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:30:46 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Karl Schroeder delves into the

Karl Schroeder delves into the science behind the novel and noteworthy space-travel tech he's invented for his forthcoming book, Permanence. Permanence literally floored me -- I picked up the manuscript, started reading it on my way out the door, and found myself, hours later, sitting cross-legged on the floor by the door, still reading. The science behind Karl's stories is wonderful.

The Schroeder cycler is initially accelerated from the Earth or a colony star to some percentage of lightspeed. The velocity would be determined by how long the cycler can survive the battering of hard radiation at speed, and also by the turning radius required by its course. Once in motion, we leave the cycler in motion. It uses a combination of Lorentz Force turning and gravitational slingshot (if feasible) to alter its trajectory so that it passes by a number of stars in succession, finally returning to Earth to begin the cycle again. Even at half lightspeed, a typical cycler might take a century or more to make such a grand circuit of local interstellar space; however, if new cyclers are being launched every few years, there could eventually be more than enough of them to supply all the traffic that the solar system can afford to send out.

Link Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 08:02:43 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Winnipeg has banned smoking in

Winnipeg has banned smoking in places were children are present. Coffee Time donuts franchisees have responded by banning children.

For Ms. Jonasson, the idea that a place dedicated to jelly-filled confections would allow parents with children to use only the drive-through window is insulting.

"I will never come back here," she said outside the store. "There are plenty of places in this town where I can buy coffee with my kids -- and they're smoke-free, too."

But inside the Coffee Time, smokers puffed away, unrestrained and happy. "Viva la Coffee Time," one puffer shouted.

Link Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:19:12 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Castro's OK with Taliban soldiers

Castro's OK with Taliban soldiers being stashed on Cuba. Link Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:15:59 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Someone is auctioning off a

Someone is auctioning off a pint of melted snow from the big Buffalo blizzard last week.

I've run out of places to shovel it to, so I decided to part with some of it by selling it to you! It will be shipped USPS priority mail for $7.50 in a glass canning jar.

Link Discuss (Thanks, Pat!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:08:58 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Fantastic directory of whitepapers on

Fantastic directory of whitepapers on the subject of Terrorism, Nonlinearity & Complex Adaptive Systems. There are days worth of reading on this page. Link Discuss (via Obedo)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:04:33 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Neat little H2G2 entry on

Neat little H2G2 entry on feral children through history. Link Discuss (via Obedo)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:01:22 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Great article about obsesseive Mac

Great article about obsesseive Mac fans who make incredibly detailed cardboard models of their machines while waiting for Apple to ship the real deal. When I was living in rural northern Costa Rica, someone sent me the Apple fliers for the new Quadras, and I drew up detailed plans to build one out of scrap lumber. I never actually built it, though. I guess I'm more of a conceptual artist. Link Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:55:12 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

I just lost an hour

I just lost an hour of my life playing with this wireframe animation studio, in which you manipulate a fascinating, detailed human form. Link Discuss (Thanks, Dennis)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:49:52 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Friday, January 4, 2002

Fuji has developed a 3GB

Fuji has developed a 3GB floppy -- was The Steve premature in removing floppy drives from Macs? Link Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:49:41 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

The Multinational Monitor's published its

The Multinational Monitor's published its list of the ten worst corporations of 2001. Who knew that Sara Lee had killed 21 people with bad hot-dogs? Link Discuss (via K5)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:19:22 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Rep. Rick Boucher sent a

Rep. Rick Boucher sent a letter off to the RIAA this week asking them to consider that they may be breaking the law with their latest copy-protection tech:

"I am particularly concerned that some of these technologies may prevent or inhibit consumer home-recording using recorders and media covered by the" Audio Home Recording Act (AHRA), Boucher wrote. "Any deliberate change to a CD by a content owner that makes (the allowed personal copies) no longer possible would appear to violate the content owner's obligations."

Link Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 01:53:06 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Price Edward Island makes seatbelts

Price Edward Island makes seatbelts for dogs mandatory. Stephen King was nearly killed by a distracted driver who was trying to keep his dog out of a cooler full of meat. Link Discuss (Thanks, Michael)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 01:23:48 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Bush Watch is a news-site

Bush Watch is a news-site for people with an abiding mistrust of the President.

The Bush Justice Department induced the president to sign an order asserting executive privilege over its "deliberative documents" that would inform the public of answers to questions like: Why did Justice decline to indict an F.B.I. supervisor who admitted taking money from Flemmi's gang? Why did Justice help defend a hit man in California who killed a man while in the witness protection program?... Is the White House counsel explaining to the president the scope of the powers being asserted in his ill-advised orders? "Executive privilege" was restricted by the Supreme Court in the Nixon case and further circumscribed by the courts in Clinton's frantic attempts to place himself above the law. Why is Bush, so early in his term and with little to hide, going down this road to upset our system of checks and balances? Maybe it's hubris; popularity breeds contempt. When you're sailing up there around 90 percent, your advisers tell you that wartime is the perfect time to put those Congressional pipsqueaks of both parties in their place. Maybe it's ultra-cleverness; by wrapping the latest self-levitation in the mantle of protecting a former administration's reputation, you dream of winning liberals' support. It's another mistake that will come home to haunt the Bush presidency. Call me Cassandra, but history will not look kindly on those who let ends justify means -- and let helpful hoodlums get away with murder. --William Safire

Link Discuss (Thanks, Nat!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 01:01:10 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Ever since Reagan shut down

Ever since Reagan shut down the Office of Technology Assessment in retribution for their thumbs-down on the wishful-thinking science behind Star Wars, US lawmakers have had no systematic way of educating themselves on scientific matters, and have made bad laws and policies as a result. Now there's a movement afoot to bring back the OTA and a semblance of rationality to the collisions of laws and science (maybe they'll even kick the USPTO in the ass!).

"On anthrax they'll listen to an expert. On cloning they won't," he said.

"I think your basic beliefs override [scientific knowledge] and on those issues [such as cloning], scientists are divided down the middle," explains Rep. Ralph Hall (D-Texas), ranking member of the House Science Committee, who is often considered more conservative than his Republican counterpart Boehlert.

But for those issues that do require a basic background of science, OTA supporters see it as the best solution.

"In the search for new information, [lawmakers] already have contacts with people," Guston said. "They put together a hearing that shows the same perspectives, even if they're varying perspectives, of the people that put together the hearing."

Holt sees his colleagues' lack of scientific knowledge as a reflection of a nationwide problem.

"The way science is talked about at most schools," he said, "is that science is for scientists, and everyone else stays away from it.

"The result is that we have a citizenry that turns away from science. So do their representatives."

Link Discuss (Thanks, Nat!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 12:55:34 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

The WTC's architect was a

The WTC's architect was a favorite of the Saudi royal family and the leading edge of modern Islamic architecture. A Slate article traces the Islamic significance of the Twin Towers.

Yamasaki received the World Trade Center commission the year after the Dhahran Airport was completed. Yamasaki described its plaza as "a mecca, a great relief from the narrow streets and sidewalks of the surrounding Wall Street area." True to his word, Yamasaki replicated the plan of Mecca's courtyard by creating a vast delineated square, isolated from the city's bustle by low colonnaded structures and capped by two enormous, perfectly square towers—minarets, really. Yamasaki's courtyard mimicked Mecca's assemblage of holy sites—the Qa'ba (a cube) containing the sacred stone, what some believe is the burial site of Hagar and Ishmael, and the holy spring—by including several sculptural features, including a fountain, and he anchored the composition in a radial circular pattern, similar to Mecca's.

Link Discuss (Thanks, Nat!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 12:49:27 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Tourists are invading Antarctica, threatening

Tourists are invading Antarctica, threatening its fragile ecosystem. Scientists and governments are pushing for the creation of an "Antarctic Code" that would limit tourist activities in the UN World Heritage site.

"We're also seeing more and more adventure tourism. There's jet-skiing, iceberg-climbing, marathons, even surfing. It will push tourism into more and more pristine areas.

"We do not want to see areas around Antarctica becoming like parts of Mount Everest, with waste lying around every corner," he added.

Link Discuss (Thanks, Nat!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 12:43:40 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

A Finnish SF magazine has

A Finnish SF magazine has done a special on Canadian science fiction writers. If you savvy Suomi, check out the interviews with and stories by Peter Watts and Doug Smith. Link Discuss (Thanks, Doug!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 11:40:52 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Bell Canada's ExpressVu satellite service

Bell Canada's ExpressVu satellite service now comes with a TiVo-style personal video recorder -- Canadians, rejoice! Does anyone have any detail on whose tech they're using for the PVR? (Broken website -- follow the link below, then click "Ontario") Link Discuss (Thanks, paulbel!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 11:36:35 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

iPod PDA: A software company

iPod PDA: A software company will relase an iPod application that lets you store,retreive and manipulate PIM-type info (addresses, calendar, notes, etc) on your iPod. They store all this stuff as MP3s, filling the ID3 tags with all the info, and leaving the songfile part empty -- this idea's been around since the iPod first shipped, but these guys are going a couple steps farther.

Panorama iPod Organizer doesn't require any special software to be installed on the iPod. Instead, the cleverly designed utility simply exports the data as tiny MP3 files that are compatible with iTunes (the audio tracks themselves are silent). The iPod is synced to the Mac, all of the contact info is automatically transferred to the iPod. Worried about Panorama iPod Organizer gobbling up too much storage space on your iPod? Fear not -- ProVUE said that 1,000 contacts will use less than 0.1 percent of the space on the iPod's hard disk drive.

Link Discuss (via Meerkat)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 11:30:20 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

More patent absurdity. [This] is

More patent absurdity.

[This] is a patent recently issued for a multi-threaded name server.

It is absurd enough to issue the patent, since the idea of multi-threading a name server to improve response should be painfully obvious to anyone "skilled in the art" and if it's obvious it can't be patented.

Interestingly, the patent specifically references BIND Version 8 (BIND is the name server that most of the internet uses to map domain names to addresses) and says that it could be improved if multi threaded (an amazing intuitive leap that most undergraduates should be able to make, much less "skilled" practitioners).

What make this the prize winner for "you've got to be kidding" is that BIND Version 9 IS multi threaded AND it was released BEFORE the patent application was filed.

If the applicant and examiner knew about BIND 8 as it was referenced in the application, how could they possibly have ignored version 9 which is a working implementation of what the patent claims to have invented that was available before the application was filed.

They might be able to claim ignorance had they not referenced BIND 8, but since they did it is unconscionable that they granted the patent ignoring the obvious prior art of BIND 9.

Another example of how the patent office is out of control.

Link Discuss (via Interesting People)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 11:26:05 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Slashdot reported yesterday on a

Slashdot reported yesterday on a small Vancouver company that is claiming to have a viable patent on RSS and RDF, the system by which Internet sites describe and syndicate their content. I assumed that that it was just bluster, since the patent itself is so clearly bullshit -- invalidating prior art has been published at least ten years ago, three years before these goons filed their notice-to-extort patent application. But it appears that I was wrong. These guys have hired a gang of sleazy IP bounty hunters who've already sent dunning letters to O'Reilly, Dave Winer and others. If these guys get their way, newsisfree, Meerkat, and other fantastically useful sites, services and tools will be killed by punitive licensing fees, and a vital, thriving Internet technology will die. Again, what a nice job the USPTO is doing in stimulating innovation. Link Discuss (Thanks, Rael!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:41:19 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Bikini Masterpiece Theatre. Video of

Bikini Masterpiece Theatre. Video of saucy outtakes from the works of Shakespeare delivered by semi-naked women in bikinis. First Naked News, now this. Link Discuss (Thanks, Tom!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 09:33:38 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

A US District court has

A US District court has ruled that Indianapolis's ban on violent arcade games is unconstitutional, and ordered the city to pay the video game industry $318,000 in court costs. I always knew the Consititution was good for something! Link Discuss (via /.)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 09:15:37 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Whet's a lovely new e-zine,

Whet's a lovely new e-zine, mostly fiction, with a slick Flash UI and nice, clean design. The stories are mighty fine, too! Link Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 09:01:55 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Dave sez: "On2 is Open

Dave sez: "On2 is Open Sourcing their 'personal video recorder' software. This was the guts behind the video email product that they killed last year. I guess they've decided to let the public finish the job. Combined with P2P this could be oh so cool, if the right people ran with it.

"PS. I checked out the download site, and the 'personal recorder' is not available yet. But their opensource codec is there, so its worth a visit. Best ever compression for QT. Really." Link Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 08:36:28 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Great Moments in Cereology:

Great Moments in Cereology: Check out this marvellous gallery of human-generated crop-circles. Link Discuss (via Nutlog)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 08:16:33 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Here's a novel usage for

Here's a novel usage for SMS: Kiwis are receiving short messages on their mobile phones to warn them of the UV index at different locations in New Zealand, in order to avoid sunburn as they go about their daily round in the punishing antipodean summer. Link Discuss (via Meerkat)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:46:40 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

EFF co-founder John Gilmore rails

EFF co-founder John Gilmore rails against the licensing regime that the IFPI (the quaintly named "International Federation of the Phonographic Industry," which the international equivalent of the RIAA) is attempting to impose on the world. The scheme would require every CD burned to bear the serial number of the burner that made it, so it would be traceable back to its author. Gilmore lionizes the Ukraine for its resistance to the regime.

The equipment and blanks for pressing CD's are the musical equivalent of printing presses and blank paper for written works. In order to 'prevent' the 'piracy' of musical 'books', here's the direct translation of what the IFPI demanded of the Ukraine, and what the US Government spent years trying to force down the Ukranians' throats:

* close down and prosecute printing plants that have been involved in high volume printing

* seize and destroy all private property accused of copyright violation

* carry out regular and unannounced inspections of printers

* introduce and enforce strict paper production control regulations, includling the compulsory use of identification watermarks in the printing machinery, and control of trade in printers and blank paper

* introduce new 'protection' laws for foreign record companies, and appropriate criminal penalties for copyright "and related rights" infringement

Link Discuss (via Meerkat)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:40:03 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

A hockey-dad who beat his

A hockey-dad who beat his ten-year-old son's coach to death after he refused to limit roughhousing during practice ("That's what hockey is all about") goes on trial. Link Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:10:16 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Pay for ads! CabTV is

Pay for ads! CabTV is the most recent step towards bladerunnerdom. Toronto cabs are being outfitted with the giant TV sets that flick on when the meter's running, looping a continuous eight-minute reel of ads. Passengers can turn down the sound, but the only way to switch off the picture is to put your boot through it. Which I may have to do. Link Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:08:02 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

A man who's been on

A man who's been on the run for 20 years, ever since he assassinated a former Iranian diplomat, made the critical mistake of appearing in a docudrama about Afghanistan. Of course, when Kandahar was made last year, it was just an obscure festival-circuit "little film," but now it's a boffo smash hit, and even the Shrub's requested a private showing. With all this exposure, it was only a matter of time before the assassin was identified. Link Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:01:34 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Thursday, January 3, 2002

Bill's going to demo a

Bill's going to demo a new wireless monitor called the AirPanel at CES. It's a flatpanel display that you can lift off its desktop stand and carry around with you, so you can watch DVDs and console windows as you move from room to room. Link Discuss (via Raelity Bytes)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 09:34:51 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Cisco is demonstrating Ethernet-over-barbed-wire, battery-jumper-cables,

Cisco is demonstrating Ethernet-over-barbed-wire, battery-jumper-cables, and lamp cords. Too cool. Link Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 09:15:29 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

The US Military is planning

The US Military is planning to stash Afghani POWs in Cuba. Link Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 02:15:26 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Maybe Apple's planning on a

Maybe Apple's planning on a joint venture with Nintendo to sell a MacGameCube? Link Discuss (Thanks, Phil!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 01:05:43 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Joey writes, "This web page

Joey writes, "This web page will make you think your Windows system's been hacked by showing you what looks like a n up-to-the-minute screenshot of your current drive's contents. The trick is a combo of a misleading filename extension and the <iframe> tag." Now, go fool your friends! Link Discuss (Thanks, Joey!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 12:01:30 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Is this what Apple's going

Is this what Apple's going to announce on Monday? It's a scan of the cover of the MacWorld press book, showing a flat-panel display with a stylus laying across it. Doesn't look anything like an iWalk. Link Discuss (Thanks, Jamais!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:33:55 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

The Brunching Shuttlecocks' Geek Heirarchy

The Brunching Shuttlecocks' Geek Heirarchy is hilarious. At the top are Science Fiction Writers (ahem), who consider themselves less geeky than Science Fiction Fans, who consider themselves less geeky than Anime Fans, Gamers, Heinlein Fans and Fanfic Writers, and so on, down to "People Who Write Erotic Versions of Star Trek, Where All the Characters are Furries, Like Kirk is an Ocelot or Something, and They Put a Furry Version of Themselves in as the Star of the Story." Link Discuss (Thanks, Stefan!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:06:54 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Found Magazine catalogs and

Found Magazine catalogs and showcases the best found objects its readers and editors turn in: photos, tapes, electronics, notes, etc. Link Discuss (via Memepool)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 08:34:28 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

A jerk who decided to

A jerk who decided to get rid of his fiancée's hated Arab-American boss by making up fairy-tales connecting him to the 9/11 terrorists has been given a 21-month sentence.

Prosecutors requested Barresi be given more than the normal six-month sentence for such violations because of the "heightened anti-Arab sentiment."

Barresi told federal authorities right after the attacks that on Sept. 7, his fiancee's boss told him that he could "not wait for you Americans to blow up and die," authorities said.

Link Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 08:26:00 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Here's a misleading story from

Here's a misleading story from the BBC, claiming that the Internet has shrunk. What's actually happened is that a bunch of people who hysterically registered gobs of domains in 1999/2000 in the hopes of getting rich off domain-speculation have let them domains lapse. The number of pages, users, bits transferred, IPs in use, and hosts (both routable and non-routable) is of course up. Link Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 08:16:35 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

IBM is buying up discarded

IBM is buying up discarded obsolete desktop and laptop PCs, running them through a "disassembly line," and recycling whatever parts it can scavenge. Link Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 08:12:48 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

The British Natural History Museum's

The British Natural History Museum's dinosaur browser lets you find and learn about dinos by name, shape, or period. Sort lists of dinos by family, period, etc, and automatically retreive commercial artwork and library database entries from the detail view. Endless hours of dino-fun! Link Discuss (Thanks, Tom!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 08:01:32 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Behind the Music that Sucks.

Behind the Music that Sucks. Bill writes "This site has numerous animations which 'explain' why a list (try one) of popular recording artists suck. VERY funny. And not for little kiddies or those easily offended!" This is some hella funny stuff. Link Discuss (Thanks, Bill)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:52:12 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Space Age Pop has extensive

Space Age Pop has extensive notes on the composers, artists, track-selections and liner-note mavens of the golden age of bachelor-pad music.

Like pulp fiction, liner notes may one day come to be appreciated as works of literature. And when they do, it's certain that Stan Cornyn will be viewed as the Jim Thompson of liner notes. He's already scored at least one scholarly article ("The Composition of Celebrity: Sinatra as Text in the Liner Notes of Stan Cornyn," Gilbert L. Gigliotti, in Frank Sinatra & Popular Culture: Essays on an American Icon, Len Mustazza, Ed., Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 1998).

Link Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:47:42 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Rael speculates on what Apple's

Rael speculates on what Apple's really going to unveil on Monday.

A flat panel, in size somewhere between a Palm and and that of my 12.1" diagonal iBook display. As for brains, we're not talking TabletPC here; just enough to power a remote desktop client a la X/VNC/Timbuktu. OS X and something Graffiti-ish. 802.11b wireless networking provides the link between the iPad (yes, I said iPad) and any networked Macintosh -- whether a peer-to-peer ad hoc network or Internet away.

Link Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:44:01 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Justin Hall spent New

Justin Hall spent New Year's Eve in Tokyo Disneyland! He's written a somewhat purple account of the night -- especially cool is the story of Japanese teenagers sacked out in the foyers of the rides and the aisles of the restaurants, trying to stay warm through the overnight stay in the park.

What happens when you invite tens of thousands of people to an all-night DisneyLand party? They turn TomorrowLand Terrace into a vagrant-packed encampment where all floors and free spaces are stuffed with the unseemly sleeping.

Against the walls, people had claimed spots to sit up asleep, with their heads on their knees. People actually eating some of the burger and fry fare formed another row or two in front of them. When they finished they stayed where they were, contorted into some sort of acceptable form of non-physical contact with those around them, and slept as best they could on aged colored carpet trod on by millions before them. All this as space-age sound-effects muzak versions of space-themed songs played. I heard Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun" played by a series of whangs and whoops and whizzles as though I were surrounded by Casio synthesizers having a family reunion. In Seattle.

Link Discuss (Thanks, Steve!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:39:03 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Ecstasy labs in Australia are

Ecstasy labs in Australia are turning out Harry Potter brand E's. Link Discuss (via Fark)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:27:30 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Here's the MacSlash iWalk thread,

Here's the MacSlash iWalk thread, with some convincing arguments suggesting that the iWalk is a hoax:

Still01
* FCC Tags, etc. but no Serial Number? Prototypes have big "NOT FCC APPROVED" Stickers, and Final products have Serial Numbers

* It's in Germany. The speaker says "Simply Amazing" in the turnaround.mov in German. There is a European power plug in the desk. The site is German(Just get a 404 error). Prototype units don't leave the US of A.

* An Audio In port? No New Mac has Audio In...what would you need this for? Recording? It might be useful, but why not an actual built-in Mic?

Still02
What is that middle port supposed to be? It resembles a Palm sync port, in size anyway, but that's what firewire(or gigawire) would do, sync and charge.

Link Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:21:02 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Here's a mirror of the

Here's a mirror of the iWalk videos. Link Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:16:51 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Remember the iWalk, Apple's

Remember the iWalk, Apple's rumored PDA that surfaced just before the iPod shipped? It's back. Apple's been running some hot teaser-on-teaser action on their homepage for the past week, leading up to MacWorld San Francisco on Monday, and now SpyMac has put up a site with stills and videos showing the iWalk in action. The pictures show a device somewhere between the size of an iPaq and a Newton, with a Firewire and headphone jack, a jog-wheel, and a stylus. The videos depict an OSX-like boot screen, hot 90-degree rotation of the workspace (a la the Newton 2100) and handwriting recognition. The site is heavily slashdotted, so you may have to hit your reload button a couple hundred times to load it.

Sent to us by a source close to spymac.com, below you will find exclusive pictures and three quicktime movies of the iWalk. Some points we should make:

The case appears to be leather, but this has not been confirmed by us .

The unit is designed to work for both left and right handed people. Below, you will see a video showing the "jog-wheel" being turned, apparently this is the method used to switch between left and right-handed orientations.

On the top of the unit are the following ports: audio-out, audio-in, "unknown port," firewire. On the bottom there is: IRDA and the power switch.

Link Discuss (Thanks, Matthew!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:11:42 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Wednesday, January 2, 2002

In Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson

In Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson describes the conundrum of children's pyjamas: "You can have 'em flame-retardant or non-carcinogenic, but not both." A similar hard choice has emerged in the results of cancer researchers at Baylor College in Houston, who've figured out how to restrict cancers in lab-mice, with the unfortunate side-effect of prematurely aging the specimens. The upshot seems to be that you can choose to be cancer-free or long-lived, but not both. Link Discuss (Thanks, Pat!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:11:53 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Excellent small portfolio of Hank

Excellent small portfolio of Hank Ketchum's non-Dennis the Menace work. (Ketchum was a big influence on Love & Rockets' Jaime Hernandez.) Link Discuss

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 04:14:38 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Bastards. "A secret group of

Bastards. "A secret group of developed nations conspired to limit the effectiveness of the UN's first conference on the environment, held in Stockholm in 1972. The existence of this cabal, known as the Brussels group, is revealed in 30-year-old British government records that were kept secret until this week." Link Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 03:56:41 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Fine craftsmanship and dubious

Fine craftsmanship and dubious taste are exhibited in this pipe memorializing the destruction of the World Trade Center Towers. Link Discuss (Thanks, Marc!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 03:47:00 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Dozens of mistakes and continuity

Dozens of mistakes and continuity problems with LOTR:

In the scene where Sam and Frodo are in the field with the scarecrow, you can plainly see a car cruising past in the distance, from right to left.

Link Discuss (via Fark)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:12:07 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Idea-a-Day is a fun web

Idea-a-Day is a fun web site where people send in ideas for inventions. I subscribe to the mailing list so I don't have to check the site every day.

Design flip-flops or beach shoes that leave obscene (or otherwise) words or images imprinted in the sand. The more offensive the messages, the more popular the footwear will prove with the holidaying youth on foreign sands.

Link Discuss

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 09:16:21 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Joey writes "Esoteric Fandom: A

Joey writes "Esoteric Fandom: A site devoted to Becky (Otto's ex-fiancée) from The Simpsons, who was voiced by Parker Posey and appeared in only one episode." Link Discuss (Thanks, Joey!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:54:43 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Save Unicom! Chip Rosenthal registered

Save Unicom! Chip Rosenthal registered Unicom.com twelve years ago. Unicom, Inc., registered the trademark five years ago. Being a big corporation with money to waste (apparently), the idiots at Unicom, Inc., have take it upon themselves to sue poor Chip for -- get this -- cybersquatting, even though his domain was registered seven years before Unicom, Inc. registered their trademark. Head on over to Chip's site, kick him a couple bucks over Paypal for his defense, sign the guestbook and have a wry chuckle at the lameness of the Internet Carpetbaggers at Unicom, Inc. Don't miss Chip's lawyer's letter back to Unicom's goons for a marvellous example of setting someone to rights. Link Discuss (via Fark)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:50:24 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Tuesday, January 1, 2002

Nearly 100,000 lawless off-road racers

Nearly 100,000 lawless off-road racers congregate on the dunes near San Diego and pelt cops who try to calm them down with rocks.

"It's a real mess down there," a Forest Service ranger said. "We don't want to send any officers down there because we can't be sure they'd be safe." ...

"We've put this in the frame of a forest fire or a natural disaster," said Roger Scott, a spokesman for the National Park Service...

Link Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 09:55:06 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Alleged Christians in New

Alleged Christians in New Mexico rang in the New Year by burning Harry Potter books, Shakespeare, Cosmo, and the Lord of the Rings. Protestors came out to give 'em what-for:

"I spent 27 years in the military so they could burn books," said Alamogordo resident Mike Kizer, who stood with the protesters. "They're doing what they believe is right, and we're doing what we believe is right."

"I served in the Persian Gulf ... I don't need this Nazi garbage in my country," said Lincoln County resident Alfonso Lucero.

Tempers ran hot and indignation was evident through shouts and picket signs. Signs bore allusions that ran the gamut from the Nazis, the Taliban and Osama bin Laden to Fahrenheit 451 and used car salesmen.

Link Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 09:29:42 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Remember the fantastic Map of

Remember the fantastic Map of Springfield I posted a couple weeks back? Here's the map's creators' site, with an equally fantastic Springfield Yellow (heh) Pages. Link Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 09:17:48 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Step-by-step, lavishly illustrated dollar-bill

Step-by-step, lavishly illustrated dollar-bill origami, including spiders, specs, rings, and, of course, t-shirts. Link Discuss (via Aparna)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 08:18:59 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Part two of "The Spiders,"

Part two of "The Spiders," e-sheep's brilliant science fiction comic about Afghanistan, is up. It is fantastic and chilling and wildly imaginative and inspiring. Link Discuss (via MeFi)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:34:46 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Rael's come up with a

Rael's come up with a brilliant aphorism to describe the value of "found" metadata over explicitly produced metadata:

"Metadata is the vapour trail we leave behind, not something we construct"

Link Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:24:31 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Fantastic collection of free

Fantastic collection of free fonts based on movies, TV shows, foodstuffs, autos, videogames and so on. Link Discuss (via Aparna)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:14:11 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

The Massachusetts State Lotto's winning

The Massachusetts State Lotto's winning numbers last night were 2-0-0-2. Link Discuss (via MeFi)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:08:22 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

The Swiftpull is the

The Swiftpull is the coolest corkscrew ever invented. It is a joy to hold, a miracle to use, and a strong incentive to alcoholism. Link Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:54:21 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

The Institute for the Secularisation

The Institute for the Secularisation of Islamic Society is devoted to challenging and reforming parochial government.

Practical Goals

• To create a network of secularists and freethinkers in Islamic countries.
• To establish a women’s network to provide mutual support and to highlight the plight and the achievements of women in Islamic societies.
• To report on recent research findings on the origins of Islam and the Koran.
• To provide an alternative source of information and comment for the media on Islamic issues.
• To publicise acts of terror and oppression.
• To honor the memory and promote the work and thought of those martyred in the cause of freedom of expression.
• To attract writers, academics, politicians and activists as members of the Institute and as contributors to the debate.
• To establish a database of books, articles and news reports, an annotated bibliography of texts of interest, and a suggested reading list.
• To seek funding for Institute activities, including the translation of important texts.
• To publish a web-based newsletter: "Secular Islam."

Link Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:48:46 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Grim and vivid account of

Grim and vivid account of beggars and charity in Mumbai.

A small hand takes mine. A tiny three-year-old half-naked boy with a bowl hair cut and his trousers hanging off wants something. I offer him 20 rupees and am astonished when he pushes it back at me. He quietly says 'Milk powder'. What? 'Milk powder'. His sister needs it. 'Where can we get it?' 'Here...' He drags me to a street stall. A tin with 60 servings is 250 rupees, about £4, way beyond the pockets of most of the people here who need it. In case you are interested, in case you want to boycott them for the rest of your life, the splendid manufacturer of this product is Nestle.

Of course I buy the stuff for the heartbreaking boy and inside my stomach churns. A girl arrives and our Liverpool friends buy her the same. I give the boy the powder and he hugs it like a toy. We ask him his sister's name. 'Shika. She will grow big.' We go to a bar and try not to weep for this awful place which has made it necessary for that wee boy to understand the difference between 20 rupees and milk powder. We absolutely f**king hate it here. A friend emails to say that when she went to Mumbai, she cowered in her room and wept.

Link Discuss (Thanks, Static!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 04:12:04 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

RIP Science Fiction writer Jack

RIP Science Fiction writer Jack Haldeman. Damn. From a listserv:

This from Jack's daughter Lori, via Jane Yolen:

Jack Carroll Haldeman, II -- December 11, 1941 - January 1, 2002.

Brother. Father. Husband. Friend.

True to form, he chose a moment when nobody was looking at him-- he always did cringe at being the center of attention. He went peacefully, as the family was sitting around him, telling jokes and laughing.

The URL given is down. The link below is to the Google archive: Link Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 03:32:45 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

The Boing Boing year in

The Boing Boing year in review. Have a peek at the Excel spreadsheet linked below for charts, stats and loads of time-wasting goodness!

Month	Visitors	Links		Month	Visitors	Links
Jan	33,011	81		Feb	13,877	72
Mar	17,521	103		Apr	25,562	225
May	35,765	282		Jun	33,408	198
Jul	33,661	209		Aug	45,754	284
Sep	44,570	277		Oct	63,156	349
Nov	54,270	277		Dec	76,395	359

Link Discuss

posted by Cory Doctorow at 02:12:29 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

[an error occurred while processing this directive]