To appeal to the "maniacs" (Japanese for "someone who knows too much,") IO Data has included two features for collectors of the drives - and I'm not making this up - by installing the included "Cute" software, your desktop wallpaper will automatically change to a corresponding Gundam wallpaper. When you take it out, it will go back to normal. The second feature is the screensaver, which when you purchase and use more than one of these drives, will add the respective characters to the ensuing action. You too can engage in intergalactic space combat for about $55 USD for a USB 2.0 mecha, or $45 for a USB 1.1 mecha.

5 Additions such as "humorous" gnomes and stone cladding (£15,000)
6 Textured finish to ceilings (£14,000)
7 uPVC windows (£12,500)
8 Smell of pets (£10,000)
9 Poor DIY (£10,000)
10 Avocado bathroom suite (£8,000)
11 Nightmare neighbours (£7,500)

I tried all sorts of blogs, both new and old, political and tech, but the ones that were blocked were completely random. Like I said before, waxy.org is blocked (screenshot), but similar sites are not. Gawker is blocked (screenshot), but no other gawker media site is (wonkette and gizmodo are fine). Acts of Volition seemed strange to block (screenshot), since it's a pretty tightly focused tech/design blog. On the purely humorous side, Oliver Willis is considered not a "Chat" site like the rest of the blocked blogs, but a "Sex" site (screenshot). I bet the #joiito army is not going to be happy when they hear that Joi Ito's site is blocked (screenshot).

One of the reasons we singled out media in "V for Vendetta" was because it is one of the most useful tools of tyranny. We invite it into our own home every night; I'm sure that some of us think of it as a friend. That might be a horrifying notion but I'm sure there are people who think of television as perhaps one of their most intimate friends. And if the TV tells them that things in the world are a certain way, even if the evidence of their senses asserts it is not true, they'll probably believe the television set in the end. It's an alarming thought but we brought it upon ourselves. I mean, I think that television is one of the most diabolical -- in the very best sense of the word -- inventions of the past century. It has probably done more to degrade the mind and intelligence of its audience, even if they happen to be drug addicts or alcoholics; I would think that watching television has done more to limit their horizons in the long run. And it has also distorted our culture.

TV and politics have always made inevitable bedfellows, but the results have been disastrous. Look at the situation we have now. Let's say that tomorrow someone who is a political genius were to emerge -- and I'm not expecting this to happen, but say that it did. Say that a politician emerged who seemed, for once, basically competent, who seemed to be able to do their job as well as the average cab driver, comic writer or journalist. If they were the most intelligent, visionary, humane political thinker in the history of mankind, but were also fat, had some sort of blemish or something that made them less than telegenic, we would not be able to elect them. All we're able to elect are these telegenic, photogenic crypto-Nazis. As long as they look good. I suppose it's too early to go into my rant on Ronald Reagan? That would be tasteless.

Once inside, Nicola marveled at not only the remarkable natural features of the cave but signs of human presence, including walls and old shoes and walls made of stones...

"It's amazing," Nicola told National Geographic News. "When I go into a cave I have special boots, because an ankle sprain deep in a cave could be serious business. I have special wicking underwear, so I don't get hypothermia, a special suit, special gloves for gripping things. I have three independent light sources—that's a standard rule. This is all for a day trip into a cave, and yet this is a situation where average people lived here for nearly a year."...

Richard Allan has a great solution to this problem:

What this is doing is forcing Parliament to look at how it handles other people reproducing the material on the Official Parliamentary Website. It would look awful if Parliament were to try and stop people from using what is and should be public information. But the public interest would not be served by people of dubious motives giving false information by doctoring the official record.

What is the answer? Perhaps a Creative Commons license for the House of Commons which can allow re-use of material without payment but subject to conditions such as repetition in full without alteration? I am starting to think there is a good campaign here to ask Parliament to use appropriate Creative Commons licenses for all its output?

Russell Simmons owns a loft facing ground zero. Since 9/11 there's been extremely limited access to the building, but this morning our good friend, photographer Glen E. Friedman get in for a few minutes to make a statement which will be up through the RNC. Here's a bunch of pictures from inside and out.

This book attempts to bring readers into the fray by teaching them, step-by-step, how to build fun, useful, and k001 projects using Wi-Fi. Thanks to Wiley Publishing, the entire first chapter is available for download as a non-DRM'd PDF file here. This chapter teaches the basics of Wi-Fi and shows you how to terminate a cable and choose a pigtail for any wireless project. Also, at the last SOCALWUG meeting, I gave a highly interactive (i.e. Comments/Questions/Answers) presentation about the book. Slides here, Video here, Meeting notes here.

The sting from an irukandji tentacle can cause irukandji syndrome, entailing severe pain, anxiety, paralysis and a potentially fatal rise in blood pressure. Researchers have found that one rare species also causes an extra symptom of prolonged erections in male victims.

DreamWorks Animation, based in the Los Angeles suburb of Glendale, California, would be controlled by Katzenberg and Geffen. Katzenberg would be chief executive and Geffen would sit on the board, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission... Roger Enrico, former chairman and CEO of PepsiCo Inc., would be chairman of the new company. Spielberg would not hold a seat. Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, an initial DreamWorks investor, would sit on the board and could cash out some of his original investment, although the filing does not say he will.

The key device, which is about the size of a small box of wooden matches, slides into a slot in the dashboard. The next step in starting the car, according to the quickstart guide, is to press the POWER button. I had to laugh — this car boots up. I really enjoyed pressing that button.

Bobby Martin sez: Matt said that *other people* had reported getting much worse than the Prius advertised milage, but he was unable to reproduce those results - he got 54 mpg.

Update: BoingBoing reader Charles Statman of Longview, Texas -- the very municipality which begat this maelstrom of morality and malformed memes -- says: "There is absolutely, positively NOTHING to do in Longview Texas. Teenage sex is the whole point of life there. Hell, Longview is more boring than Silicon Valley. Instead of preaching an outdated theme, these holy rolling abusers of outdated flash interfaces should be educating kids and handing out condoms."

"In my opinion... it looks like a fox with Cushing's Syndrome. An adenoma of either the pituitary or hyperplasia or adenoma of the adrenal gland cortex produces hyperadrenalcorticism (Cushing's Disease in humans). This syndrome causes a thinning of the epidermis of the skin and hyperpigmentation - which you see in this animal - thin, patchy dark colored skin - also you see a distinct pattern of hair loss, similar to what is shown in these photographs - Loss of hair on the body with retension on head and lower extremities - Hair also becomes brittle. Additionally the animals become very thin with weird weight distribution - bodies become somewhat barrel shaped. So my reply is this photo depicts a fox with an endocrine disorder."

1. Reuters reported a letter from an al-Qaeda group that said “it supported U.S. President George W. Bush in his reelection campaign, and would prefer him to win in November rather than the Democratic candidate John Kerry, as it was not possible to find a leader ‘more foolish than you (Bush), who deals with matters by force rather than with wisdom.

2. A top CIA expert on al-Qaeda has concluded that al-Qaeda loves President Bush, and might go so far as to plan an election attack to rally the country around Bush.

3. Even administration officials concede “al-Qaeda has morphed into a loose and expanding association of regional terror cells [and] the Iraq war has fueled rather than doused the fires of jihad.”

Swing State Summer Break is a 100% volunteer-operated program for progressives of all ages and their allies, who volunteer to do grassroots, electoral work during the months leading up to the election.

We make it ultra-convenient, easy, and fun to get involved in the nationwide effort to defeat Bush this November. Just tell us which states you're interested in, and when you have time to do it, and we'll take care of the rest.

"Our data suggest that contagious yawning is a by-product of the ability to conceive of yourself and to use your experience to make inferences about comparable experiences and mental states in others," Gallup told New Scientist.

"It is mimicking the way we manipulate our hands. We have constant feedback from tactile sensors, so it is moving very slowly. In the first experiments, the books really got damaged because it was pressing too hard. Now it touches gently."

Called the "Flower Speaker Amplifiers", the gadget made by Let's Corp is hidden in a vase or a potted plant and sends music at just the right frequency to vibrate up the stems and then be converted into audible sound by the plant as a whole.