[an error occurred while processing this directive]

Sunday, April 30, 2006

Street art at Chernobyl site

"Radiating Places" is an archive of photographs documenting street art in the abandoned town of Pripyat, near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Shown here, a mural by Kim Köster. "The determining factor is absence," begins the artists' mission statement. Link (site built in Flash), via Wooster Collective (Thanks, Reverse Cowgirl!)

Reader comment: Daniel Cuthbert -- who just returned from Pripyat -- says,

Just wanted you to know, it seems that 70% of these "images" are fake and have been added using photoshop. They werent there 5 weeks ago when i was in Pripyat doing my story.

BoingBoing reader Laura says that's not the case:

This extensive Flickr set by Ellen Datlow includes photos of street art captured during a tour of Chernobyl and Pripyat: Link.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 02:15:41 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

US pays for 150 clinics in Iraq, but only manages to build 20

Snip from a story by James Glanz in today's NYT:

A $243 million program led by the United States Army Corps of Engineers to build 150 health care clinics in Iraq has in some cases produced little more than empty shells of crumbling concrete and shattered bricks cemented together into uneven walls, two reports by a federal oversight office have found.

The reports, released yesterday, detail a close inspection of five of the clinics in the northern city of Kirkuk as well as a sweeping audit of the entire program, which began in March 2004 as a heavily promoted effort to improve health care for ordinary Iraqis. The reports say that none of the five clinics in Kirkuk and only 20 of the original 150 across the country will be completed without new financing.

reg-free Link. See also: Rebuilding of Iraqi Pipeline as Disaster Waiting to Happen , and The Iraqi Pipeline Fiasco.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 01:58:47 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

BBS splash banners from the '80s and early '90s

At Penguin Pete's blog, a newly uploaded archive of ASCII and ANSI banners from ye olde bulletin board days. Parts one, two, three, four, five, and six. (Thanks, Hosiah!)

posted by Xeni Jardin at 01:29:52 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Are the dishes in the dishwasher clean or dirty?

HOWTO embroider this frisky little content status indicator for your dishwashing machine: Link (thanks, Violet Blue!)

posted by Xeni Jardin at 12:58:18 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Free music: 1961 synthesized speech audio, remixed.

Enterprising remixer Lee Govatos has transformed that 1961 Bell Labs proto-computer voice into a funky freestyle track. Link to "He Saw The Cat."

And here are recently-uploaded liner notes from the 45-year-old found flexidisc: Link. (thanks, Andrew Tonkin)

Previously: 1961 record of computer speaking and singing

posted by Xeni Jardin at 12:43:51 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Video: Mexican police shoot striking miners in Michoacan

BoingBoing reader Daniel Armando says,

This is a video of Mexican police shooting at striking miners in Michoacan, Mexico.

The footage is from last Thursday, when the State Police and a Federal agency tried to throw the miners out of the plant they were occupying. In the video you can see the police shooting at the striking miners and an helicopter flying around the site also shooting at the people on the ground. The shooting was apparently done by the State police, but the federal agents did not intervene. Mexico's attorney general has declared that the federal government wil not investigate. Two young miners, ages 19 and 24 named Mario Alberto Castillo y Hector Alvarez were killed by shotgun wounds.

The miners at the Sicartsa plant in Michoacan, Mexico owned by Grupo Villacero, have been on strike for close to 20 days now. They want, among other things, better safety conditions after the widely reported collapse of a mine in the north of Mexico on February 19. The accident was said to have been caused by poor safety conditions.

The footage is being streamed in the website of mainstream newspaper El Universal. I had to do a screen capture of this video because the source website was using shockwave to stream it.

Link

Reader comment: inspector42 says,

I guess the recent shooting of two striking mine workers in Mexico demonstrates that their employer, Grupo Villacero, certainly can "mix it up with the best of them", as described on the company's Yahoo Finance page: Link.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 12:31:36 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Feds claim privilege in attempt to dismiss EFF domestic wiretap suit

Ryan Singel, co-editor of Wired's new 27BStroke6 blog, says:

The Federal Government stepped in today and told a federal judge that national security secrets are at stake in the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) lawsuit that alleges AT&T helped the government spy on citizens without warrants.

The government wants the suit dismissed, but does not admit that AT&T did indeed build secret spying rooms.

Link to blog post. A PDF copy of the 8-page government motion filed Friday night is here, along with the EFF's response. (Thanks, Vidiot)

posted by Xeni Jardin at 12:20:07 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Today in DC: large Darfur rally

Drew says, "Today between 3rd and 4th streets in front of the Capitol in Washington D.C. there is a rally to protest the ongoing violence in Darfur, and to pressure the Bush administration to take action. Speakers at the rally will include Barak Obama, Elie Wiesel, Paul Rusesabagina, and George Clooney. Link."

Image: a phonecam snapshot from the rally, uploaded a few minutes ago by Flickr user dchasteen.

Update: Here's an AP story on the demonstration: Link.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 12:06:00 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Neil Young streams new anti-war album for free online

Neil Young's new record "Living With War" was made available Friday for streaming in entirety online. Link. (thanks, Benjamin)

posted by Xeni Jardin at 11:50:31 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Canadian user rights petition tabled in Parliament

Russell sez, "A batch of signatures for the Petition for Users' Rights in Canadian Copyright were tabled on April 25, 2006. This is the first batch tabled in this recently elected parliament, which will mean we will now get a response from the new Conservative government. It is critically important that Canadians make use of this petition to ensure that parliamentarians know their views. The Digital Copyright Canada forum also has a form letter on our front page for Canadians to send to their Members of Parliament." Link (Thanks, Ruseell!)

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

Firefox plugin lets you download YouTube, Google and other vids

Javi sez, "I've just created this firefox add-on: VideoDownloader. It allows you to download videos from Youtube, Google, Metacafe, iFilm, Dailymotion... and other 60+ video sites ! And all embedded objects on a webpage (movies, mp3s, flash, quicktime, etc)! Directly! Just one click! You don't need to copy&paste URLs any more!" Link (Thanks, Javi!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:33:46 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Animal costumes made from ski-gloves, flippers, tights, etc

This gallery of photos of homemade animal costumes showcases how the ingenious use of stockings, tennis-balls, sleeping bags, ski-gloves, tennis-racket covers and other commonplace items can produce striking and amusing animal disguises. Link Link to creator's site (Thanks, Gsch!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 04:52:36 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Cory's "Shadow of the Mothaship" podcast begins

I've just posted part one of the podcast of my story "Shadow of the Mothaship," a strange, stylised Scientology/Alien-Invasion/Oedipus story. Link to part one, Link to podcast feed

posted by Cory Doctorow at 04:07:02 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Saturday, April 29, 2006

Stephen Colbert kicks ass at White House press corps dinner

Stephen Colbert's routine at last night's White House Press Corps dinner sounds like one of those perfect moments of comedy and commentary -- someone, find me a transcript!

Colbert, who spoke in the guise of his talk show character, who ostensibly supports the president strongly, urged the Bush to ignore his low approval ratings, saying they were based on reality, "and reality has a well-known liberal bias."

He attacked those in the press who claim that the shake-up at the White House was merely re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. "This administration is soaring, not sinking," he said. "They are re-arranging the deck chairs--on the Hindenburg."

Colbert told Bush he could end the problem of protests by retired generals by refusing to let them retire. He compared Bush to Rocky Balboa in the "Rocky" movies, always getting punched in the face--"and Apollo Creed is everything else in the world."

Link (Thanks, Stefan!)

Update: Thanks to Butter71 for links to the transcript and video! w00t!

Update 2: Here's a high-quality torrent of the video.

Update 3: Youtube mirror (Thanks, Jon!)

Update 4: Alternative Quicktime link, Quicktime of Colbert's "audition reel" (Thanks, Krup!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 11:33:31 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Cinema owners try to lure us back to the movies

Cinema owners are freaking out over plummeting attendance. For me, going to the movies has stopped being nearly as much fun because of the crummy movies, the door-searches, the camera-confiscations, the nonstop advertising, security guards scanning the audience with infrared goggles, and especially the dumb anti-piracy nag-PSAs (hint to cinema industry: if I'm spending £13 to get into the cinema, I'm not a pirate, I'm a customer).

They propose to fix this by jamming cell-phones and creating nicer auditoriums. This seems like a pretty ineffectual band-aid to me. Better movies, fewer ads, eliminating invasive searches, infrared scanning, and no insulting pre-film notices would go a lot further to luring me back into the dark.

The mantra at ArcLight Cinemas in Hollywood is ``ease, comfort and control.'' Besides reserved seating, the 15-screen complex has online ticketing and 21-Plus Screenings, where, if you're 21, you can bring alcohol into the theater.

``People complain about sticky floors, dirty bathrooms and zombie staff,'' said the ArcLight's Robert Brugeman. ``To get their attention, you have to offer a premium product.''

Theater owners are also taking aim at cell-phone users. NATO has made solving the cell-phone problem a ``high priority'' and is looking into jamming cell-phone signals.

Link (via Digg)

Update: Brian sez:

One particularly good theatre that has had no trouble luring me back again and again has been the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin - and why other theatre owners worldwide haven't hit upon it's recipe for success, I don't know.

The Drafthouse, first of all, bans children except for special events. Each seat comes with a table area where you have a full restaraunt selection (including beer & wine) and you can order before or during the movie using order cards. The cost is roughly the same as you'd get at a diner, and you can get a burger and fries with drink for the same price you'd pay for a popcorn, twizzler & drink at othe theatres.

And that's just for the "regular" movies that anyone else shows. They also show strange, odd indie films, host film festivals (right now, QT fest for Quentin Tarantino Fest is being held where Tarantino chooses his favorite movies) they have silent movies with live accompanyment, they have Videoke (Karaoke but with acting!) and they have two big shows: The Sinus Show (a live performance similar to but for trademark purposes completely different from Mystery Science Theatre 3000) and Foleyvision, where the sound to the movie is turned off and all voice acting, sound effects, and music are performed live in the theatre.

In short, it's a movie theatre that has all but seen the studios as inconsequential to the product it sells - which is entertainment. They get their biggest sellers - and biggest crowds - running old 80s films and having three local live actors in the studio heckling them. If they needed to, they could still run the place on public domain footage.

Update 2: Peter sez, "The St. Louis Cinema company owns three theaters in the area, featuring a cry-baby matinée. A designated time and day when children are allowed.

Their third theater, the Moolah, is an old Moolah/Shriners temple that was converted into a cinema/bowling alley (in the basement, decorated with full 50's bowling decor). In the theater are a few regular cinema seats, lining the walls and filling the balcony seating. The main seating area, however, is filled with soft leather couches and love-seats, equipped with coffee tables... all this in a historic moolah temple with original decor. ie: an inlayed decorative dome in the ceiling with soft, color-changing lights."

"A full bar is on premises and drink specials are often fit with certain films. (like $2 white russians when they re-screened the Big Lebowski)"

Update 3: Nim sez, "Oregon's McMenamin brothers have, over the years, bought up old hotels, schools, and even an old insane asylum and converted them into excellent combinations of restaurants, breweries, hotels, and movie theaters. All their locations feature McMenamins beer, often brewed on site."

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:23:48 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Smithsonian's sellout to Showtime slammed by Congress

The House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations has written a letter to the Secretary of the Smithsonian, blasting the museum for inking a secret deal with Showtime to make the network the sole commercial user of Smithsonian footage in documentary films:

The Subcommittee requests the Board of Regents to immediately review this contract to determine whether it violates the spirit if not the letter of the Smithsonian Trust and to consider changes to the contract which would fully guarantee that its terms are limited to a narrow set of programs and not a bar to other legitimate commercial filmmakers who we believe have the right to reasonable access to the collections and staff. The Subcommittee requests that this matter be brought to the attention of the Board of Regents at its May 2006 meeting and that a response be provided to the Committee regarding these concerns within 90 days.

In addition to our concern about this particular contract, we would be concerned about any future agreements that are negotiated in secret, without Committee consultation, which commercialize Smithsonian resources or which appear to essentially sell access to Smithsonian resources. While the Committee recognizes that budget shortfalls, in particular the need for funds to repair and maintain an aging infrastructure, require the Smithsonian to be aggressive and imaginative in its fund raising, these actions are often controversial and raise the risk of damaging both Congressional and public support for the Institution.

Link, Link to WashPo article mentioned in letter (Thanks, Carl!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:16:29 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Manuals for hundreds of consumer electronics items

UsersManualGuide.com links to hundreds of PDF manuals for consumer electronics from air conditioners to VCRs -- great for lost manuals and garage-sale scores. Link (via Gizmodo)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 09:57:43 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Wallaby milk: proof against antibiotic resistant bacteria

Milk from lactating wallabies is effective in combatting antibiotic-resistant bacteria:

A newborn wallaby lacks a developed immune system and relies on compounds in its mother's milk to protect it against diseases.

Ben Cocks, of the Victoria Department of Primary Industries, in Melbourne, said: "A huge amount of development happens in the pouch, and during that time they just rely on milk." The molecule, called AGG01, also kills other types of bacteria and fungus.

Link (via Futurismic)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 09:56:05 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

HOWTO mount a Pez dispenser on a camera's hot-shoe

A simple mod: trim the base of a standard Pez dispenser and it'll fit in the "hot shoe" clip on top of your high-end camera -- great for kids photographers or anyone who wants a sugar-storage unit integrated with her Nikon. Link (via Make Blog)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 09:33:51 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Copyright-progressive Canadian musicians event May 1 in Toronto -- UPDATED

The Canadian Music Creators Coalition -- major artists who are demanding that record labsls stop suing their fans and locking them down with DRM-crippled music -- are holding a public event at Toronto's Horseshoe tavern on May 1:

Where: The Horseshoe Tavern,
370 Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario
When: Monday, May 1, 2006. 10:30 am – 12 noon
To RSVP, or receive further information about the event, please contact press@musiccreators.ca.

Link (Thanks, Thomas!)

Update: Keith from CMCC sez, "Unfortunately, the event Monday is a press conference and not a public forum, concert or anything of the like. We appreciate everyone's support, but we'd like to keep tomorrow's press conference to accredited media only (makes it easier for us to organize). We'll hopefully have some sort of public event(s) when the initial push to meet with the Ministers is over."

posted by Cory Doctorow at 09:24:44 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Sales brochures for extinct computers - Univac, Wang, Apple ///

The Computer History Museum has published a collection of 261 sales brochures for extinct computers, from the Univac to the Apple /// and lots of assorted Wangs, Zilogs, Bendixes and others. These are lovely and fascinating. Link (Thanks, Xavier!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 09:21:12 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Documentary on radical free school - inspiring

This YouTube video is the trailer for a documentary called "Voices from the New American Schoolhouse," which chronicles the radical education practiced at the Fairhaven School in Upper Marlboro, MD. Fairhaven appears to be a classical free-school, in which kids self-govern, design their own curriculum, and tutor their peers. I went to publicly funded schools like this from grade four to graduation, and they were the most important factor in the way I conduct my own adult life. Attending schools like this teaches many kids to run their own lives, blazing their own trail, inventing their own careers, and trying anything. Useful skills in a world where any job that can be described is likely to be outsourced.

The documentary is narrated principally by the school's bright, well-spoken students, who are eloquent and passionate advocates for open education. Link (Thanks, Danny!)

Update: Mike adds, You can buy the full length version of 'Voices from the New American Schoolhouse' at the Fairhaven website."

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:04:16 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Friday, April 28, 2006

Sony screwing artists out of iTunes royalties, customers out of first-sale

Sony musicians including Cheap Trick and the Allman Brothers are suing the record label for screwing them out of their royalties on sales of music on iTunes and other digital music services.

At issue is whether the music sold through these services is a "license" or a "sale." Sony pays less to its artists for sales than for licensing (Sony artists reportedly earn $0.045 for each $0.99 song sold on iTunes). Naturally, Sony claims that the songs sold on iTunes are sales and not licensing deals.

This is where it gets interesting. As Brad Templeton and others have pointed out, Sony and others have long maintained that what you get when you buy an iTune is a license, not ownership of a product. That license prohibits you from doing all kinds of otherwise lawful things, like selling your music to a used-record store, loaning it to a friend, or playing it on someone else's program.

But if Sony says that it's selling products (and therefore only liable for 4.5 cents in royalties to its artists) and not licenses, then how can it bind us, its customers, to licensing terms?

According to the suit, the record company is treating digital downloads like traditional record sales, rather than licensed music, triggering a different royalty deal.

Under that old rubrik, the record company deducts fees for the kind of extra costs they used to incur when records were pressed on vinyl, including packaging charges, restocking costs and losses due to breakage.

Link (via /.)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:47:39 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Last ninja speaks: "Always be able to kill your students"

Grand Master Masaaki Hatsumi is the last living apprentice of the last "fighting ninja," Toshitsugu Takamatsu. At 76, he continues to train would-be ninjas, and the AP's Hans Greimel spent a day at his studio, collecting ninja wisdom like "Always be able to kill your students."

In many ways, the curly-haired, wide-eyed Hatsumi has been a victim of success: He has helped make ninja an international household name by training followers from Chile to South Africa. But he also has watched his legacy co-opted by goofy caricatures such as "Mutant Ninja Turtles" and schlocky Hollywood send-ups like "Beverly Hills Ninja."

"I think it's pathetic," Hatsumi says of the ninja's modern image.

Link (via /.)

Update: M Otis Beard sez, "Did you know there is a documentary film about Toshitsugu Takamatsu, with Masaaki Hatsumi in it as well?  It's a Japanese film, the title in English is "Takamatsu Toshitsugu, the Last Real Ninja".  It's based upon a black-and-white movie filmed in the '60s that shows Takamatsu Sensei teaching Hatsumi Sensei in a park. Takamatsu Sensei demonstrates unarmed techniques and weapon techniques from the nine schools, with comments in Japanese (subtitled in English) by Hatsumi Sensei. "

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

Dirty snitches earn $50 for fingering fellow students smoking pot

Doug says: "Every year on 4/20, students and residents gather on Farrand Field at CU Boulder to defy the authorities and smoke marijuana publicly. This year, the University of Boulder Police Department fought back by taking pictures of as many participants as possible. They have a website with photos up, offering an $50 reward to anyone who positively identifies someone who was photographed. Nothing about what the authorities plan to do with the information is posted. Scary." Link

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 08:24:10 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Phil Torrone plays with new Logitech Orbit webcam

Phillip Torrone of Make made a video showing off the funny things you can do with Logitech's Orbit webcam. Link

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 06:45:45 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Human Enhancement Technologies and Human Rights con, May 26-28

James Hughes, author of the remarkable book Citizen Cyborg is chairing a conference called "Human Enhancement Technologies and Human Rights" at Stanford on May 26-28. Hughes is with the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, and argues eloquently for the need for social institutions to support human enhancement technologies to ensure that they make all peoples' lives better, rather than widening the gap between rich and poor. This looks like a fascinating conference.

What, if any, limits should be considered to human enhancement? On what grounds can citizens be prevented from modifying their own genes or brains? How far should reproductive rights be extended? Might enhancement reduce the diversity of humanity in the name of optimal health? Or, conversely, might enhancements inspire such an unprecedented diversity of human beings that they strain the limits of liberal tolerance and social solidarity? Can we exercise full freedom of thought if we can't exercise control over our own brains using safe, available technologies? Can we ensure that enhancement technologies are safe and equitably distributed? When are regulatory efforts simply covert, illiberal value judgments?

Between the ideological extremes of absolute prohibition and total laissez-faire that dominate popular discussions of human enhancement there are many competing agendas, hopes and fears. How can the language of human rights guide us in framing the critical issues? How will enhancement technologies transform the demands we make of human rights?

With the Human Enhancement and Human Rights conference we seek to begin a conversation with the human rights community, bioethicists, legal scholars, and political activists about the relationship of enhancement technologies to human rights, cognitive liberty and bodily autonomy. It is time to begin the defense of human rights in the era of human enhancement.

Link

posted by Cory Doctorow at 01:19:27 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Robot Lego CD thrower can shatter discs

Hammerhead is a robotic Lego CD thrower that can hurl CDs hard enough to shatter them. It even has an auto-loader so you don't have to get up from the sofa to change the CD. Link (Thanks, Jake!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 01:14:27 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Pagan Island -- trailer for 1961 schlock movie

I love the urgency in the narrator's voice-over for this 1961 B-movie Pagan Island: "Seaman William Stanton -- who has drifted in an open liferaft for nine days without much food or water after his tanker caught fire an exploded finds himself shipwrecked on a small uncharted south sea island! He finds to his amazement it is inhabited only by BEAUTIFUL NATIVE GIRLS!"Link (via Yesbutnobutyes)

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 11:01:29 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Video: "C for Cookie," Sesame Street spoof of "V for Vendetta"

A spoof of the V for Vendetta trailer, recast with Sesame Street characters. A for Awesome. Link (Thanks, Ash)

posted by Xeni Jardin at 10:57:59 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

DHS visitor tracking chief calls for global ID system

Snip from govexec.com story by Jonathan Marino:

The head of the Homeland Security Department's visitor tracking program on Tuesday called for the creation of a "global ID management system" to make travel easier while enhancing security...

[Jim] Williams said he wants to join forces with several DHS agencies to develop a global identification system that would cut wait times, reduce government fees for travelers, fight illegal immigration and, perhaps paramount, better defend nations from terrorists.

The US VISIT chief, who already oversees identity inquiries for nearly every visitor who enters the United States, said a worldwide identification system will better link nations in the fight against terrorism. In his speech, he likened al Qaeda operatives and sleeper cells - including the ones that attacked on 9/11 - to "submarines" that must surface to kill.

Link, via the Politech mailing list. More background on RealID here.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 10:53:28 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Gallery of old carnival chalk prizes

Eric Renner took some beautiful pinhole photos of carnival chalk prizes.

Concurrent with the earliest days of American radio, film, and comic strips, three dimensional carnival chalk figures were won as prizes at carnivals throughout the United States (1915-1940s). These gaudy, tantalizingly tasteless doll-sized fantasy figures were used to symbolize, idolize, and replicate the first Hollywood stars, radio personalities, and cartoon characters from the Sunday comics. People of all ages would stream to local carnivals, a longed-for form of entertainment, to play games of chance hoping to win a carnival chalk prize of their choice to take home. Harmless as this seemed, the evocative qualities in these stereotypical figures only reinforced the American population's deepest roots toward gender roles for women, men, race bias, and fantasy.

Link (via Rashoman)

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 10:46:57 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

A Grand Unified Theory of YouTube and MySpace

A terrific Slate piece by Paul Boutin about the factors contributing to YouTube's success: it's easy to use, and it doesn't "tell you what to do." Snip:

The guys behind YouTube hit the sweet spot. Most important, they made it head-slappingly easy to publish and play video clips by handling the tricky parts automatically. Given up on BitTorrent because it feels like launching a mission to Mars? If you've sent an e-mail attachment, you've got the tech skills to publish on YouTube.

To post your own video, sign up for a free account and go to the Upload page. Select your file, click the Upload Video button, and you're done! YouTube's servers convert your vid to a standardized format, but you don't need to know what that format is. If you send the URL to your aunt, it'll play in her browser without spraying the screen with pop-ups and errors.

You don't have to upload video to use YouTube. If you just like to watch, it's even easier. There's no software to install, no settings to muck with. The video auto-plays as soon as you load the page, without launching more windows—why can't CNN do that?

Three months ago, I predicted Google Video would become the hottest thing on the Net. I was wrong, and I think Google has failed to take off for the simple reason that it's more annoying to use than YouTube. To begin with, you have to install Google's special uploading application. When I tried to upload the same clips I'd posted to YouTube, Google's app wouldn't let me. I combed through the FAQ and found this: "While we also support other digital formats such as QuickTime, Windows Media, and RealVideo … submitting your files in these formats may significantly delay us from using them on Google Video." Come on, guys. Whatever happened to "I'm Feeling Lucky?"

Link. Don't miss the lip-sync clip he links to. And Sam Anderson has a separate piece on Slate that takes a kiddingly serious look at the lip-sync genre.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 10:29:06 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

High-tech hooker pumps

"The Aphrodite platform shoes will have an alarm system, which emits a piercing noise to scare off attackers. The shoes are also outfitted with a GPS receiver and an emergency button that relays both the prostitute's location and a silent alarm signal to public emergency services. Where there are problematic relations with law enforcement, the shoes will relay the signal to sex workers' rights groups."Link.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 10:12:58 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Scans from Uncensored magazine (1968)

Bostworld has scanned some pages from a tawdry exploitation magazine published in 1968 called Uncensored.

Magazines like Uncensored will always hold a special place in my heart. They served as my childhood introduction to such things as hippies, homosexuality, drug abuse and celebrity debauchery. In this way, they played a vital role in the development of my understanding of the world we live in.

These excerpts are outrageous enough on their own; they need no smirking commentary to nudge them into the realm of irony. The reader will either find tasteless expressions of masculine insecurity and xenophobia entertaining or the reader won’t.

Link (via PCL Linkdump)

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 09:54:18 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Two new Hot Wheels cars designed by Coop

Coop showed me the prototypes for his new limited-edition Hot Wheels cars a few weeks ago, and I damn near drowned in my own drool. Gorgeous designs, beautifully produced. Link, and the story of how this came to be is here (along with a super-hot promo poster, also designed by Coop).

posted by Xeni Jardin at 09:49:53 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Space Development conference in LA May 4-7

The speaker lineup for the 25th International Space Development Conference next week in Los Angeles looks amazing: Apollo astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Rusty Schweickart, NASA Deputy Administrator Shana Dale, SpaceShipOne designer Burt Rutan, "Science Guy" Bill Nye, Space Exploration Technologies' Elon Musk, X PRIZE founder Peter Diamandis, "space tourists" Dennis Tito and Gregory Olsen, JPL director Charles Elachi, and Neil deGrasse Tyson of the Hayden Planetarium. Link.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 09:36:36 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Punk 77: new RE/Search book out, LA launch event on Sat 29

V. Vale of RE/Search Publications (also the creator of seminal punk zine Search & Destroy in 1977) says,

On Saturday, Beyond Baroque in Venice will host an event celebrating the release of PUNK 77 (a newly expanded third edition). We'll be screening rare, '70s Punk films (mostly not on video) and I'll host a panel discussion of "The '70s Punk Revolution" with DEVO founding theorist GERALD V. CASALE; GRAEME REVELL, founding mastermind behind '70s punk/industrial pioneers SPK. A Q&A will follow.

More...

posted by Xeni Jardin at 09:09:33 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Singularity conference at Stanford on May 13

Tyler Emerson of the Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence says,

The Singularity Summit takes place at Stanford on May 13, 9:00am-5:00pm at Stanford Memorial Auditorium. Speakers include

- Ray Kurzweil, inventor, futurist, author of "The Singularity Is Near"
- Douglas Hofstadter, cognitive scientist, author of "Gödel, Escher, Bach"
- K. Eric Drexler, nanotechnology pioneer, author of "Engines of Creation"
- Nick Bostrom, director of the Oxford Future of Humanity Institute
- BoingBoing's own Cory Doctorow

and many more.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 08:54:38 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Immigrants' rights rallies on May 1 throughout US

BoingBoing reader Gwen says,

http://www.nohr4437.org/ has listings for many May 1 rallies in protest of HR4437 and seeking amnesty for and tolerance toward immigrants. The site's awful, you have to scroll down for links to regional May 1 events info. Here's a site specific to the SF Bay Area events. Legal info for marchers: This new legal info site is for students who are being persecuted for asserting their rights, and includes info specific to high school students'/minors' rights in California. the ACLU's Immigrant Marches info is here, and printable Bustcard for the DIY Planner set is here.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 08:49:08 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Web Zen: Food Art Zen

vegetable orchestra
biscuit city
jim victor
liz hickok
meredith allen
minimiam

Image: Food sculptor Jim Victor with his chocolate Harley-Davidson.

Web Zen Home, Store (Thanks Frank!)

posted by Xeni Jardin at 08:22:12 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Part one of machinima epic "Bloodspell" online under CC license

Hugh "Nomad" Hancock sez,

Strange Company have just released the first episode of their Machinima feature film, BloodSpell, under Creative Commons licensing (including a nice little rant on the page about why they're releasing three years' work for free.)

It's described as a "post-goth punk fantasy adventure" about a world where some people are infected with magic in their blood - when the blood is spilled, the magic comes out.

Over 10,000 man-hours of work have gone into BloodSpell, 99% of which were volunteer work. The full film will be about the same scale as the first Star Wars movie in terms of number of sets, characters, and number and complexity of action sequences.

There's some damned fine storytelling and editing/production work here -- machinima is still finding its legs, discovering what it's for, and the Strange Company folks are at the forefront of using the medium for feature-length drama, really getting beyond short comedy pieces. Link, Internet Archive mirror (Thanks, Hugh!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:23:31 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

French DRM law gets ugly - protest May 7/2PM Place de la Bastille

A French proposal to change the way DRM is protected under law has been hijacked by entertainment companies and DRM vendors, and now promises to be one of the worst DRM laws in the world.

Previously, we wrote about the new French DRM law proposal, which held out the promise of being the first real attempt in the world to balance the legal protection of anti-user technology with the public interest. The activists of EUCD.info were concerned that the proposal was being hijacked by Universal/Vivendi, and this has come to pass.

EUCD.info's Jérémie Zimmermann sent us the following, shocking account of how the French law went from being fair and balanced to being a one-sided gimme to entertainment companies and their arms-dealers. Don't miss the last paragraph, where Jérémie announces EUCD.info's planned street-demonstration on May 7, at 2PM at the Place de la Bastille:

Jérémie writes:

The French Senate will consider a major revision to its copyright law on May 4th, 9th and 10th. This law will implement the EUCD (the European equivalent of the DMCA) and change French author's rights and copright. It was voted by the first chamber on Feb 21st. This will be the final parliamentary step of the examination process, as a shortened "emergency procedure" was called on such a crucial subject.

The Senators are grouped by commissions. The "Commission of Cultural Affairs" that is in charge of this law voted for proposed amendments. They were made public a few days ago, and the "rapporteur" (overseer/project leader) of the law, M. Thiollière will defend them so they can be examined and voted during the public debates.

There's bad news for a revolutionary proposal (Article 7) that requires DRM makers to allow anyone to build interoperable technology. This was strenuously objected to by Apple and the US Department of Commerce but it was unanimously voted in at the last moment during the first meeting. Now it stands to be completely neutered:

• Gone is the requirement that anyone may ask a regular court of justice to force a DRM publisher to give information needed for interoperability. Now a "high regulation authority of technical measures" will have sole discretion as to whether this information will be available.

• Previously, "information needed for interoperability" covered "technical documentation and programming interfaces needed to obtain a copy in an open standard of the copyrighted work, along with its legal information." Now this has been changed to "technical documentation and programming interfaces needed to obtain a protected copy of a copyrighted work." But a "protected" version of the work can't be played back in a different player, which means interoperability won't be attained with this clause.

• Previously, the only condition for receiving information needed for interoperability was to meet the cost of logistics of delivering the information. Now, anyone wanting to build a player will have to take a license on "reasonable and non discriminatory conditions, and an appropriate fee." When using information attained under such a license, you will have to "respect the efficiency and integrity of the technical measure."

• DRM publishers can demand the retraction of publication of the source-code for interoperable, independent software, if it can prove that the source-code is "harmful to the security and the efficiency of the DRM."

• A clause put forward by EUCD.INFO (a organization that sprung from the Free Software Foundation France, and whose members helped write this article) has been radically altered. Previously, it stated that "A protocol, a file format, a method of transforming or encrypting information cannot be as such considered as a technical protection measure." Now it has been changed to "The components of a technical measure, like a protocol, a file format, a method of transforming information, are still protected by the article XY." This is an article in the existing French industrial property law describing what is patentable and what isn't. Thus, this clause now imposes software patents on France!

• Article 7bis has been struck. This Article required DRM publishers to disclose the source-code of their systems to special computer security division of the French Army in charge of military infrastructure.

This all shows that the "Cultural Commission" has failed utterly to come to grips with the social cost of legal protection for DRM -- free competition, protection of innovation, computer security, technological independence, privacy, etc. They've been captured by DRM lobbyists and the content industries. The new Article 7 follows the exact recommendations from Thomson an ex-French company that isn't worth much by now, except for its patents and some DRM project that Microsoft is interested in.

The French Libre Software associations are calling on their members and supporters to contact their Senators and tell them what's wrong with Article 7. STOPDRM.info, a new organization that organized flash-mobs in music superstore and in front of the stockholders-meeting of Vivendi-Universal will continue organizing events and protests. Feel free ask more info by contacting the members of the EUCD.INFO initiative and to come along the anti-DRM march starting at 2PM, Place de la Bastille, on May the 7th.

posted by Cory Doctorow at 03:37:13 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Thursday, April 27, 2006

Laughing Squid reviews Valleyschwag

Scott Beale of Laughing Squid takes a look at the latest shipment from Valleyschwag, which sends you "t-shirts, ballcaps, notepads, stickers, keychains, and other booty" from Silicon Valley companies for $15 a month. Link

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 08:30:21 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Sears Explains Compact Disc Technology circa 1983

Alainsane sez, "The 1983 Sears Wishbook explained to potential customers, 'A laser sounds boring until [we explain] how it works.' Sears provided as much information as it thought necessary to arrive at its 'clean, ear-pleasing music' conclusion and then offered up its modest $589 price tag." Link

Update: Michael sez, "If you use the consumer price index to compare ’83 to ’06 dollars, the $589 Sear's CD player should actually be $1,192."

posted by Cory Doctorow at 04:47:29 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Not just numerically cool: 6.6.6 is National Day of Slayer.

For reasons that only the dark vengeful lords of hell, dry ice, and mullets know, June 6, 2006 is National Day of Slayer. Link (thanks, Sean Bonner!)

Previously: Numerically cool dates in 2006

Reader comment: Dan says,

that date is also the date that the new movie 'the omen' premeirs. i'm making the website which will launch monday: Link.

Reader comment: Menno says,

To update the list even more, 666 is also the dat Entombed will release their new album [1] aswell as my own wedding [2]

Reader comment: Kevin says,

Slayer is touring right now with Lamb of God and will be playing in san diego on june 6th 2006. ive got my ticket. :-) i figure if Satan is going to rise up anywhere on that day, odds are it will be at a slayer concert. im keeping my fingers crossed...

posted by Xeni Jardin at 04:47:13 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Pentagon's Brit hacker: I was just hunting UFOs, man.

UK national Gary McKinnon, whose hacking exploits we've covered before on BoingBoing, told prosecutors he broke into US government computer systems because he wanted to find out whether aliens and UFOs exist.

During his two-year quest, McKinnon broke into computers at the Pentagon, NASA and the Johnson Space Center as well as systems used by the U.S. army, navy and air force. U.S. officials say he caused $700,000 worth of damage and even crippled vital defense systems shortly after the September 11 attacks.

Link (Thanks, Johnny)

Reader comment: James says,

I'm a system administrator in the Navy, and also happened to have been stationed at a command in Naval Weapons Station, Earle, one of the sites compromised. Earle is a small base in New Jersey that consists mainly of a three mile pier with a few ammo ships. Why he thought there would be information pertaining to UFOs on unclassified computers, on a network that supported maybe 25 people, is beyond me.

Reader comment: Rob says,

This podcast contains an interview of MacKinnon that is pretty hilarious. "yeah, i was smoking a lot of cannabis then..."

posted by Xeni Jardin at 04:45:09 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Chernobyl 20-year mark underscores need for transparency

Alex Steffen at Worldchanging blog says,

What if we made the anniversary of Chernobyl an annual opportunity to make sure we're not doing other dumb and potentially disastrous stuff now? (...) No technology is in itself trustworthy, and changing the world demands widespread understanding of and democratic control over science and its fruits. The Chernobyl disaster should have seared into our minds not only a disgust for radioactive pollution, but also a hatred of secrecy and elite control.

Link

Reader comment: Jim says,

My friends and I (the "weirdos" of our high school) did something similar on the 26th to remind people about human stupidity... we Wrote "Otrava. V'spomitye Chornobool" or "Poison. Remember Chernobyl" on our hands. When written in Russian, people get curious and ask you what's written on your hand, giving the perfect opportunity for a "don't be stupid" talk. All and all, not many people asked, but it's still a way to raise awareness of the dangers the disaster still pose. You can find a crappy camera phone pic of my inked-up hand here.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 04:35:29 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Giant paperclips for magazine and coat-racks

The Big Clip is a giant, pop-art paperclip that's big enough to clip large catalogs and magazines together across their whole covers. You can chain them together and hang them from the ceiling to make dangly coat-hangers, too. Link (via Cribcandy)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 04:24:08 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Nancy Reagan antidrug vid with Whitney "crackiswack" Houston

Kitsch-culture ephemera collector Ethan Persoff points us to a..

Long-lost 1980's Nancy Reagan anti-drug music video, "STOP THE MADNESS", The only music video to ever be sponsored by the White House. Barely aired even when it was new we have found and digitized a broadcast master for you to download and keep.

Featuring noted abstainers: New Edition, LaToya Jackson, Whitney Houston, David Hasselhoff, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tootie from the Facts of Life, the Goodyear Blimp, Casey Kasem (!) and many others

Starring Boogaloo Shrimp from the Breakin' movies - no, we're not making this up. BEWARE - this is poison. I personally gave up drugs sixteen times in a row after watching this. I overdosed on refusal.

Link to downloadable Quicktime link and lyrics. Link to more information, along with where a copy was found and what they took in trade.

Reader comment: Jesse McCann says,

Note the Nancy Regan Anti-Drug Music Video was produced and directed by Barbour and Langley, the gents who went on to create COPS.

Reader comment: rdeaguiar says,

Beyond Whitney Houston, video also includes Stacy Keach (convicted of cocaine smuggling, 1984), Lyle Alzado (steroid user who died of brain cancer he attributed to his steroid use) and John Matuszak (NFL player who died of heart failure at 38).

Reader comment: Tom says,

The "Stop the Madness" video Xeni posted reminded me of the mashup where Nancy and Ronald Reagan proclaim, among other things:

* Tonight I can report to you that Vice President Bush smokes marijuana regularly.
* Our goal is to expand drug trafficking at all levels of government and in the private sector.
* And there's one more thing... Nancy and I are hooked on heroin.

Links to the video and shortened audio version are here.

Reader comment: Factwino sez

The credits list Tim Reid as a writer for Stop the Madness. Some of you may remember him from his role as Venus Flytrap on WKRP in Cincinnati.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 04:17:01 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

HOPE hacker con: July 21-23 in NYC; call for speakers open.

Organizers of HOPE this week announced more details on edition 6 of the hacker confab. Richard Stallman will keynote, and the call for speakers and presos remains open through May 15. Link, here's the con-blog, hotel updates, listserv subscribe instructions. The event takes place July 21-23 in NYC. (thanks, Macki)

posted by Xeni Jardin at 04:01:33 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Canadians demand access to govt data

Michael sez, "A group of geeks, lawyers, academics, policy experts, geographers, and librarians have joined together from across Canada to fight the evils of Crown Copyright (a Canadian thing) and proprietary formats. We're fighting to get access to our civic data - from high-res maps to minutes of city meeting."

Our goals are:

1. To encourage all levels of governments (county, municipal, provincial, federal) to make civic data and information available to citizens without restrictions, at no cost, and in useable open formats.

2. To encourage the development of citizen projects using civic data and information.

Link (Thanks, Michael!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 03:50:41 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Democracy net-video client goes Linux

The Linux version of Democracy player -- a free and open Internet TV client -- launched today. Democracy combines VLC (which plays any video format), BitTorrent (which makes it possible to share large files without spending large sums) and RSS (which lets you subscribe to automatic feeds of video) to make a simple, elegant system for discovering, retrieving and viewing video. It's intended to provide a platform for indie and alternative TV, and it works equally well for TV from mainstream outlets.

The Linux release completes the set -- now there are working players for the Mac, Windows and Linux. The project actively welcomes code contributions from the community, and is overseen by the nonprofit Participatory Democracy Foundation. Link (Discolosure: I am a proud member of the Board of Directors of the Participatory Culture Foundation)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 03:48:16 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Copyfight documentary opens in NYC tonight

Twila sez, "'Alternative Freedom' will premiere TODAY in New York City's east village at the Two Boots Pioneer Theater on April 27 and run until May 3. The event is sponsored by the NYU freeculture group. The night of the premiere the directors (Twila & Shaun) will be doing a Q&A to discuss the film. On Satuday, Lawrence Lessig will introduce the film and talk afterwards."

While Congress changes our copyright laws under the behests of a few powerful corporations, individuals across the United States are losing their digital rights. Activists are working together to change this oppressive regime and create an alternative of freedom.

Two filmmakers uncover the most important legal battles of our time: Copyright Law and Digital Rights Management. Featuring interviews with DJ Danger Mouse, Lawrence Lessig and more.

Link (Thanks, Twila & Shaun!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 03:42:49 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Glenn "Instapundit" Reynolds interviews sf author Vernor Vinge

On the "Glenn and Helen Show" podcast this week, an interview with Hugo winner Vernor Vinge about his new novel, Rainbow's End." Glenn Reynolds explains:

We talk to him about the Singularity -- and how it may come from the superhuman "ensemble behavior" of ordinary humans with powerful computers linked via the Internet rather than through the development of superhuman artificial intelligence -- about signposts indicating how we're doing, about humanity's prospects for utopia or extinction, and related minor issues. We also discussed writing science fiction (the secret, he says, is "brain parasitism," taking advantage of readers' smarts), whether college is becoming obsolete, mind uploading, and the joys (or lack thereof) of virtual-reality sex, a question that perplexes Helen.

Link.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 03:17:08 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Free MP3: 1961 record of computer speaking and singing

Remixers, start your engines. On a blog dedicated mostly to 50's pop music, this wonderful post about a collector who found a "synthesized speech" flexi record from 1961 in a junk shop. On this MP3 copy of that record, you'll hear a computer reciting Shakespeare and singing "A Bicycle Built for Two". Link to "Hal's Father," on Music You (Possibly) Won't Hear Anyplace Else. (Thanks, Andrew Tonkin)

Reader comment: Coop says,

That recording is in fact, the direct influence on HAL 9000 in 2001: A Space Odyssey. Kubrick researched space travel and computers for years during the extensive pre-production on 2001. He was given this same recording by Bell Labs, and was inspired to recreate the singing computer's performance as Dave disconnects HAL 9000's higher functions. Not sure where I got this info- it's either from the big Kubrick bio, or the documentary that came out a few years ago. Wikipedia claims that it was Arthur C. Clarke's idea.

Reader comment: Yann Seznec says,

Similar to your "1961 record of computer speaking and singing" post - Electronic musician Deltasleep found a crazy old RCA Mark II Demonstration record and has posted the mp3s on his blog. The RCA Mark II was a massive synthesizer at Columbia University in the late 50's used by people like Milton Babbitt...the wikipedia entry has more info. This record talks about how synthesizers will change the music world, has some hilariously bad renditions of pop songs, and even attempts some computer speech. Link

Reader comment: David New Abernathy says,

ibm's interactive speech demo also contains samples of non-english speech synthesis from ibm...

Reader comment: Donald Ankney says,

The "Bicycle built for Two" recording is actually a fairly seminal work is the development of electronic music -- it was originally done at Bell Labs by Max Matthews, who has been characterized as the father of computer music. The full version actually goes through several verses and includes accompaniment. It's available on CD as part of a great computer music retrospective: Link

posted by Xeni Jardin at 03:06:52 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Pez Theater

Steve White is getting ready to tour the south and midwest with his fabulous Pez Theater show. Enjoy sample videos here.
Link

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 02:32:46 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Free MP3: folk cover of Public Enemy's "Bring the Noise"

21stcenturylit.com has posted an mp3 of indie author and "This American Life" contributor Brent Runyon (THE BURN JOURNALS) belting out a folk cover of Public Enemy's "Bring the Noise".

If you like this, may I suggest two more MP3s of white people doing nerdy folk covers of old-school hiphop tracks: here's a previous BB post, Joan Baez-esque cover of NWA's Straight Outta Compton, and another old post, Nerd folksinger covers Baby Got Back.

Link (thanks, Scott, thanks Jon Adams)

Reader comment: David Gruenberg says,

Considering the brouhaha about Snoop Dogg I am nominating my favorite rap cover by a white artist; Gin and Juice by the Gourds.

Link to video. Reader comment: Thomas says,

The Gourds site is pretty lame. You have to join their Yahoo group (and submit a comment to the moderator, and then wait to be approved) just to check out the video. Jumping through all of those hoops just to check out a video is not an effective way to promote your music.

Reader comment: Anonymous sez,

Cat Power did several rap covers, including Snoop Dogg's "Gin and Juice" and a cover of "Cross Bones Style." Not sure if all the covers were for one LP or just cuz. But both are kind of haunting, not unlike the "Straight Outta Comptom" cover you folks linked to. The "Cross Bones Style" cover is on Matador's 10 Anniversary CD compilation, called "Everything is Nice".

Whether either song is on the web, freely and visibly (if ya know what I mean), I'm unsure. Matador Records used to give away some singles for all of its recording artists via its site but alas it is finicky aobut what is given away these days. Not that there is anything wrong with that from a biz standpoint.

And, in all fairness, one of the most consistantly, great indy labels does still gives freebies of audio and video; just not for the aforementioned covers Cat recorded. Here's Cat Power's page which contains links to her site.

Reader comment: Scott says,

Folk artist Luka Bloom did a wonderful version of LL Cool J's "I need love" in the early 90s: Link

Reader comment: Jordan (Woodpecker's banjo player) says,

Just wanted to point you to Woodpecker's cover of Public Enemy's 911 is a Joke. Link

Reader comment: Ben says,

I don't want to perpetuate this forever, but I thought I'd point out that The Unholy Trio has a cover of Bring the Noise as well, including a (NSFW) video. The song was on a Bloodshot Records compilation from 2000. Their myspace page has the song available for download.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 02:32:04 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

27BStroke6: New WIRED blog on security, privacy, hackery.

"Investigative reporter Ryan Singel and senior editor [and famed hacker] Kevin Poulsen scare peace-loving people with phantoms of lost liberty, in a daily briefing on security, freedom and privacy in the wired world." So far, it looks pretty awesome. Link.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 02:17:54 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Rhinestone internet slang jewelry

Common chat acronyms exalted in bargain bling. Link (thanks, Jen Collins!)

posted by Xeni Jardin at 01:43:56 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Street Tech-Incubated Game Wins Mensa Prize

Gareth Branwyn says: "Street Tech Senior Editor Nate Heasley's boardgame Wits and Wagers has been selected as a winner of the Mensa Select Mind Games prize for 2006! The game, which involves betting on answers to trivia questions, was co-developed by Nate, along with Dominic and Satish of North Star Games. Rumor has it they still won't let Nate into the high-IQ society, but we're putting him through a routine of Soduko and Tangrams to improve his scores."
Link (Here's the Board Game Geek Link -- Thanks, Jon!)

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 01:36:03 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Kate Braverman on R.U. Sirius podcast

Kate Braverman, author of the intense, visionary, and funny memoir Frantic Transmissions to and from Los Angeles, is the guest on The RU Sirius Show this week. posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 12:18:59 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Eames Demetrios presents "Discover Kymamerica"

A few years ago, LA MOCA had a terrific exhibit about the work of designers/architects/filmmakers Charles and Ray Eames. The day I was at the exhibit, their grandson, Eames Demetrios was there, too. He had a big smile on his face the whole time.

Like his grandparents, Demetrios is a multi-talented designer/writer/artist. This Sunday at Meltdown Comics (7522 W. Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles CA 90046), Demetrios will use maps, photos, and slideshows to present his research into Kymaerica, which he describes thusly:

Kymaerica is a land (and some waters) somewhat co-existent with our linear world and a general landscape quite similar to large parts of what we would call North America. There are about 80-90 districts, containing over 4000 gwomes. A gwome is cognate word meaning ‘footprint of (the) nation.’ Usually it refers to a nation (so the terms are often used interchangeably), but it is actually a term for a physical area within a district which has a unified political structure. Kymaerican influences and stories are everywhere in our linear world and likely vice versa. But there also many wonders in Kymaerica not easily found here.

Accordiong to the press release, "the exhibition will include a detailed report of recent Kymaerica installations in Paris and Joshua Tree, as well as historical anecdotes and discussion of various other gwomes throughout Kymaerica. Expect photos, maps, and offbeat revisionist geography galore." Link

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 11:24:12 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Artist designs cute looking spycams, razorwire, etc.

A German artist named Matthias Megyeri has started a company called Sweet Dreams Security, which makes security items like padlocks, alarms, and razorwire that look cute and happy.

Examples of Mr Megyeri's art include padlocks designed to look like teddy bears, heart-shaped chains, and glass fir trees embedded in concrete, designed to replace broken bottle shards, which are now illegal.

While they look delicate, the top of the fir tress is very sharp, to deter people from climbing the wall.

Link (Thanks, Carl!)

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 10:45:11 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Diane Feinstein constituents - say no to banning MP3 streaming!

A Pledgebank campaign is looking for constituents of California Senator Diane Feinstein to sign on to vote against her if she keeps on supporting the PERFORM act, which will ban MP3 streaming and mandate DRM for Internet audio. Link (Thanks, Bri!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 02:22:11 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Frank Zappa's anti-censorship letter

Frank Zappa sent a long, fascinating letter about the "Parental Music Resource Center" (a mid-80s music censorship outfit) elaborating on why he objects to censorship. The scanned letter, including its hand-addressed envelope, is available on Flickr. Link (Thanks, Burnt!)

Update: Paul sez, "This link has Frank Zappa's full testimony before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, back in September 1985. It includes a great prepared statement of Frank's. You can also read the testimony of musicians John Denver, and Dee Snyder of Twisted Sister (God, I wish I'd been on a field trip in D.C. on THAT day.) In addition to the historic value of the testimony given (remember these were the hearings that led to the 'voluntary' labeling that is in widespread use today) there is also great comedic value in hearing, for instance, Jeff Ling of the PMRC (Parent's Music Resource Center, Tipper Gore's little hellspawn) read lyrics from the Mentor's song 'Golden Showers' before a panel of senators ('Bend up and smell my anal vapor. Your face is my toilet paper.') This hearing was masterfully remixed by Frank on the twelve-minute-plus 'Porn Wars' track on the release 'FZ Meets the Mothers of Prevention' to great effect."

posted by Cory Doctorow at 09:39:29 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

New blog about wacky crap on TV in Japan

If you went gaga over that "lizard attacks girls wearing meat hats" video a while back, this will be welcome news. BoingBoing reader Gavin Purcell just launched a new blog about odd (at least to Westerners) stuff on television in Japan.

After visiting Japan a few times, I found myself totally foregoing all tourist-type things to hang out in my hotel room and watch TV. I understand very little Japanese but in some ways that made the experience much more charming and fascinating. I think you'll agree that there's something very unique about Japanese TV programming that you just don't get anywhere else. And now, thanks to sites like YouTube and Google Video, there's now a bunch of Japanese TV clips online and it allows me to feed into my love of the stuff.

Link

posted by Xeni Jardin at 07:58:25 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Two found ads that taste great together: Campari, choco.

Rose of yarnivore blog points us to an award-winning TV ad for Campari with a genderfuck theme.

"A sumptuously filmed ad about two beautiful people in a posh bar, in which all is not as it seems," she says. "Safe for work, basically, if you don't put the sound on -- but if it makes your heart go pitter-pat, your cow-orkers might hear." Link (flash video).

And Susannah Breslin points us to another interesting ad for (I guess?) some kind of Israeli snack food. I'm thinking the stuff inside those starchy squares is chocolate, but all of that is beside the point (yes, it's work-safe / via.).

Campari and choco-snacks don't go together, but strangely these two ads do.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 07:40:22 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Moment of S&M couture zeitgeist: Balenciaga prison cuff

A silver cuff by Nicolas Ghesquière for Balenciaga. Photo: Denko Ivanisevic (style.com). Link (Thanks, Reverse Cowgirl!)

posted by Xeni Jardin at 07:19:24 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Consumer Electronics Association ad campaign slams RIAA

The Consumer Electronics Association is taking a brave stand against the entertainment companies' attacks on the public's right to record from digital radio. This is brilliant -- and maybe it signals that the CEA's members will stop manufacturing technnoloogy that controls their customers instead of empowering them. (Click for larger image) Link

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:48:25 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Predecessors of anti-game hysteria: anti-novel, anti-waltz, anti-phone!

Attacking games as corrupters of youth is nothing new -- historically, self-declared protectors of innocence have damned novels, the waltz, movies, telephones, comics, and rock and roll as one-way tickets to delinquency. Tom Standage catalogs the hystericaal media responses to historical new art-forms from the novel onwards:

Novels
"The free access which many young people have to romances, novels, and plays has poisoned the mind and corrupted the morals of many a promising youth; and prevented others from improving their minds in useful knowledge. Parents take care to feed their children with wholesome diet; and yet how unconcerned about the provision for the mind, whether they are furnished with salutary food, or with trash, chaff, or poison?"
- Reverend Enos Hitchcock, Memoirs of the Bloomsgrove Family, 1790

The Waltz
"The indecent foreign dance called the Waltz was introduced ... at the English Court on Friday last ... It is quite sufficient to cast one's eyes on the voluptuous inter­twining of the limbs, and close com­pressure of the bodies ... to see that it is far indeed removed from the modest reserve which has hitherto been considered distinctive of English females. So long as this obscene display was con­fined to prostitutes and adulteresses, we did not think it deserving of notice; but now that it is ... forced on the respectable classes of society by the evil example of their superiors, we feel it a duty to warn every parent against exposing his daughter to so fatal a contagion."
- The Times of London, 1816

Link

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:40:10 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

LED Throwies at Maker Faire

The Graffiti Research Lab was at Maker Faire last weekend with a large black bus and a bunch of raw materials to make LED Throwies. Huong Ngo of G.R.L. was kind enough to explain to me how to make a Throwie. Here's a 1 minute video. Link

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 04:57:13 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Chernobyl, 20 years later: map of historic nuclear accidents

A Google Map with markers and short descriptions on sites where major nuclear accidents have occurred throughout history. Link (Thanks, Laurent)

Reader comment: John says,

I like this use of google maps, especially since there's a debate in ireland right now about building a nuclear reactor, but Laurent hasn't checked his facts. An exclusion zone of 4000 sq km around Chernobyl would mean I couldn't sit here in Dublin to point out the error.

Reader comment: Xopl sez,

4000 square miles does NOT mean 4000 miles in every direction. It means it is the square root of 4000 per side. It CAN be 4000 square miles of exclusion around Chernobyl and he CAN be sitting in Dublin.

Reader comment: Thomas Cowart says,

Reader John is incorrect. 4000 sq km is a square that is about 63.25 km (or about 40 miles) on each side. Since the exclusion area is probably circular, this is a radius of about 35 kilometers (22 miles) around the area. Dublin isn't _that_ close to Chernobyl.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 04:34:03 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

SC anti-dildo legislator says "let's export our drug users!"

South Carolina congresscritter G. Ralph Davenport, Jr. -- the genius who wants to outlaw sex toys in that state -- also wants to pay foreign governments to haul off convicted drug users, then have their happy-fun way with them:

Notwithstanding another provision of law, the department may enter into agreements with foreign countries for the confinement of inmates convicted of drug related offenses or offenses related to the sexual abuse of children.

Link

posted by Xeni Jardin at 04:21:00 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Airlines to cram more butts on flights with "standing-room"?

"Airbus has been quietly pitching the standing-room-only option to Asian carriers, though none has agreed to it yet. Passengers in the standing section would be propped against a padded backboard, held in place with a harness, according to experts who have seen a proposal." Link to article by Christopher Elliott in the NYT. (Thanks, Peter Graham)

Reader comment: Christopher Bowns says,

Airbus has denied the plans, see also this CNN story. The Wikipedia entry has it at the top of the Design section: "The A380-800 can carry 555 passengers in a three-class configuration or up to 853 passengers in a single-class economy configuration."

Reader comment: Jörg Cassens says,

The "experts who have seen a proposal" might have seen this: jpeg link.

As far as I know, this is scanned from an internal magazine for Airbus employees from 2003. It features a picture of standing-row "seats". But this is not something Airbus was actually trying to sell at that time, but a mock-up designed by some younger Airbus executives participating in a kind of creativity-boosting workshop.

Although they say the results of the workshop are to be further investigated, I think the caption of the picture says what Airbus thinks: "The 'passengers' take their seats (hopefully not for a long-haul flight.)"

posted by Xeni Jardin at 04:15:32 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Thrilflight on a restored, vintage B-17 "flying fortress"

BoingBoing pal Todd Lappin says,

Want to travel in time? To visit the future, you'll have to pay the Russians millions to fly you up to the International Space Station. But for just a few hundred bucks, anyone can turn back the clock 60 years by going for a flight aboard a World War II-era bomber.

"Nine O Nine" is a B-17G Flying Fortress that was restored by the Collings Foundation. One of only fourteen B-17s still flying in the United States, the group also flies a restored B-24 Liberator and a B-25J Mitchell.

I went for a flight aboard the B-17 when it visited Moffett Field, California in 2002, and it was worth every penny. The Collings Foundation has now finalized their 2006 schedule, which will take these three warbirds to dozens of airports across the U.S. this spring. (Mark your calendars, kids.)

Photoset, full-size version of the image above, and Collings Foundation schedule.

Reader comment: Steve Musselman says,

I read your blurb on the the B-17 "thrillflights," featuring the "Nine O' Nine." I'd also like to bring the B-17 "Yankee Lady" owned and operated by the Yankee Air Museum. The also offer rides in historical aircraft, not just their B-17, but also a B-25 and a C-47. Last year, they suffered the misfortune of an accidental fire in their hangar, but they are still offering rides in their aircraft. Their website can be found at yankeeairmuseum.org.

Reader comment: Hal Eckhart says,

My father flew about 50 missions on B-17s and B-29s over Europe and Japan and even once ditched a B-17 in the English Channel. One thing that young people don't realize is that these monsters are unpressurized. They flew at high altitudes on oxygen and endured subzero temperatures. My dad came back with perforated eardrums and lifelong back problems from maintaining constant pressure on the foot pedals on missions that ran as long as 18 hours. On occasion, they would even do two missions back to back with half an hour to sleep. Link

Reader comment: Michael says,

The link is to some of my comments and thoughts about the link you posted regarding the WWII bombers. My grandfather flew a b-24 named "The Shady Lady" after he joined the air force at the age of 17. He didn't talk about his time in the war often and when he did you could feel how uncomfortable he was. The 'good' wars take their toll just like the bad ones, even if you win.

Reader comment: Ed says,

After reading your interesting write up of the Thrillflight B17, I was reminded of another B17 touring the country and offering rides. "EAA is offering historic flight experiences in its beautifully restored B-17G Flying Fortress “Aluminum Overcast.” This aircraft is an example of the American heavy bomber that helped turn the tide of battle in World War II. Fly a mission back in time and feel the might of this magnificent aircraft, just as those brave young men did more than 50 years ago." Link

posted by Xeni Jardin at 04:08:01 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Jasmina Tesanovic: Preachers and Fascists, Out of My Panties

Jamina Tesanovic
Belgrade, April 24, 2006

Preachers and Fascists, Out of My Panties
(Italian feminist slogan, Milano rally, January 2006)

Easter is not a religious feast anymore. This is Serbian Jihad, said a young man, a hip icon in the young generation of writers and musicians.

Only a few days ago, a new law on the church was passed in the Parliament, notwithstanding its outrageous piety and lack of public debate. In this country, or what's left of it, where no law on church existed since 1945, this law spins the wheel of history past that year to centuries before. The Serbian church becomes a state within the state, a privileged entity out of reach of civil law.

Even honest priests and believers are scandalized by such fundamentalism. As somebody said: why do we need such a church law at all? It's enough to have an amendment in the constitution guaranteeing freedom of all religions. Like in the US -- but the problem is that we don’t even have a constitution yet.

More...

posted by Xeni Jardin at 03:58:47 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Movie: United 93

I was wrong. Universal Pictures held a preview screening of United 93 last night in Hollywood. I went with a friend, expecting something exploitative, schlocky, and agenda-laden. The film was none of those things. I can't imagine how this story could be told any better in film. I don't know how you'd review something like this, other than to ask: Was it respectful? Was it faithful to fact? Was it real? Yes to all three. I walked out of the theater thinking that this is what the film captured best: All the systems we trust to protect us failed on September 11. But the best of human nature is to do good, regardless of cost. That is what happened on this flight, and in many other places, on that day. Link (thanks, PC)

Reader comment: Paul says,

While it is inferred that one or many passengers attempted to get into the cockpit at some point, there is no evidence that the events on the plane (or off for that matter) actually occurred. Unfortunately, this may be how most of the country will remember it...

Reader comment: Anonymous says, "While the United 93's flight recorder did not determine the cockpit was breached, there is evidence that a charge was attempted, as Wiki notes:"

-Other persons who made phone calls to relatives include passenger Honor Elizabeth Wainio and flight attendants CeeCee Lyles and Sandra Bradshaw. They all mentioned charges to the cockpit by way of final words. Reference was also made by the flight attendants to using boiling water on the hijackers. What happened afterward is uncertain but the black box recordings revealed that, contrary to popular belief, the passengers were never able to enter the cockpit.

- In April 2002, in an unprecedented action, the cockpit voice recorder was played by the FBI to relatives of the victims of the hijackings. Further details were released by the 9/11 Commission in July 2004.

Its full contents have not been made public. However, media reports of the tape indicate that the charge by the passengers and crew did take place. (these transcipts were made public at the moussaoui trial)

- The 9/11 Commission found from the recordings that, contrary to what many have believed, the passengers did not succeed in entering the cockpit before the plane crashed. The 9/11 Commission ruled that the actions of the crew and passengers prevented the destruction of the Capitol building or the White House by causing the hijackers to abort the attack on their intended target.

Reader comment: Avi Solomon says,

United Airlines Flight 93 Cockpit Voice Recorder Transcript has been released here(though not the voice recording): PDF link. The hijackers seem to have held a flight attendant hostage in the cockpit. It seems clear that the passengers were on the verge of pushing into the cockpit when the terrorists decided to end it by flipping the the plane into a downward dive. The plane was then about 20 minutes flying time from Washington D.C. Incidentally a 5th terrorist intended to be on United 93 (to make a team of 5 as on the other hijacked flights) may have been prevented from entering the US by an alert customs inspector: Link

posted by Xeni Jardin at 02:49:37 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Flarf festival video: absurdist 'net poetry jam

BoingBoing reader Jordan says,

Following up on previous BoingBoing posts about "flarf", video clips from last week's Flarf Festival are starting to appear on YouTube. Highlights include Rodney Koeneke's "Pizza Kitty," Michael Magee's "Mainstream Poetry," and Drew Gardner's "Chicks Dig War" (NSFW for obscenity, critique, and silliness).

Link. Oh, my, the titles: "Nugatory Wax Milk Goats," "Squirting Ringworm Taco," and "Squid Versus Assclown" promise greatness.

Reader comment: Gary Sullivan says,

Gina Myers provides an account of the first two nights of the Flarf Festival on her blog, a sad day for sad birds: Link. Other blog reports of the event, some more vivid than others ("Imagine ... the lit crit section of your favorite bookstore being buried beneath six tons of yelping pigeon diarrhea") can be read at the following: ululate.blogspot.com, odalisqued.blogspot.com, garysullivan.blogspot.com, mappemunde.typepad.com, and comboarts.org.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 01:09:51 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Report: China net authorities blocking Technorati

On his blog today, Tom Raftery reports that net-censor authorities in China have blocked access to Technorati. Link (thanks, Damien)

posted by Xeni Jardin at 12:54:54 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Jim Houser exhibit at Merry Karnowsky Gallery in Los Angeles

(Click on thumbnail for enlargement) This Place is Ours Now is the name of Jim Houser's new art exhibition at at Merry Karnowsky Gallery (170 S. La Brea, Los Angeles, CA 90036)> The show runs from May 6th-June 3rd. An opening reception is planned for Saturday, May 6th from 8-11 PM. Link

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 12:37:06 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Boris Artzybasheff's As I See back in print

(Click on thumbnails for enlargement) Ken Steacy Publishing has just released a reprint of the almost-impossible-to-find 1954 book As I See, by artist Boris Artzybasheff. This 88-page book is filled with incredibly detailed pencil drawings on the subject or war, mental illness, and the strangeness of the human condition. Wired has a brief item about As I See in the May 2006 issue. Link (Previous Artybasheff coverage on Boing Boing here.)

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 12:27:34 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

HOWTO sharpen a knife

This tutorial on knife-sharpening in amazingly comprehensive:

Knife sharpening is not difficult. It is not shrouded in mystery. With a little knowledge, a little geometry, a couple of tricks and some inexpensive tools, knife sharpening can be fairly easy and extremely rewarding. At the very least it’s a great skill for the toolbox. You’ll come away from this clinic with a better understanding of edges, steel and how to maintain your knives yourself. Or, if you decide to send them out, you’ll know how to make sure you’re getting what you want – and what you pay for.

Link (via Megnut)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 12:23:13 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Catalog of nearly 1 million BBC programs online

The BBC has posted an online interface into catalog of 946,614 BBC radio & TV programmes, dating back 75 years -- searchable by category, cast and crew. This is a treasure-trove of data. Link to catalog, Link to Tom Loosemore's commentary (via Ben Hammersley)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 12:19:48 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Kitchen-clock features cascade of falling Tetris blocks

This beautiful kitchen-clock features an electronic display down which cascade a never-ending stream of Tetris blocks. Link (Thanks, Amy!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 12:17:35 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Ingenious homeless person's golf-cart from Palm Springs

This amazing homeless person's golf-cart crammed with stuff was snapped in posh Palm Springs. Link (Thanks, Alan!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 12:15:42 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Up for trade: afternoon with Alice Cooper

The guy who is attempting to barter his way from a single red paperclip to a house through a series of trades has a new item up for barter: an afternoon with Alice Cooper:

Kyle MacDonald just traded the rented house he had up for trade in Phoenix for an afternoon with Alice Cooper. A girl who works for the 80s heavy metal hero at his restaurant asked Alice to help her get one free year of rent, and he agreed to spend an afternoon with one lucky fan. Kyle MacDonald is trading his way up to owning a house.

Link (Thanks, Tyler!)

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

Major Canadian artists reject suing fans and crippling CDs

Ren sez,

Remember when all of those Canadian record labels walked out on CRIA, the Canadian equivalent of the RIAA? Well, a bunch of them just launched a new coalition for Canadian musicians called the "Canadian Music Creators Coaltion," and their founding principles are pretty rad:

1. Suing Our Fans is Destructive and Hypocritical
2. Digital Locks are Risky and Counterproductive
3. Cultural Policy Should Support Actual Canadian Artists

This remarkably reasonable and consumer-friendly stance is backed by some big artists, too. For example:

Barenaked Ladies, Avril Lavigne, Sarah McLachlan, Chantal Kreviazuk, Sum 41, Stars, Raine Maida (Our Lady Peace), Dave Bidini (Rheostatics), Billy Talent, John K. Samson (Weakerthans), Broken Social Scene, Sloan, Andrew Cash and Bob Wiseman (Co-founder Blue Rodeo)

So go by their CDs as a thank-you for this welcome breath of sanity!

Link (Thanks, Ren and James and Michael!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 12:09:38 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Bed made of corrugated cardboard

The itbed is a futon-stand made from folded cardboard stabilized with lengths of webbing. it folds flat, weighs almost nothing, and assembles in a hurry. Link (via OhGizmo)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 12:07:57 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Cheap War of the Worlds cover-art: squid photos

Larry Knox was commissioned to produce a cover for a reprint of HG Wells's War of the Worlds, on the cheap. So he headed to a Chinatown fish-market, bought some squid, and faked it! Link (Thanks, Larry!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 12:05:47 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

The Tactical Ice Cream Unit coming to Los Angeles

The Machine Project in Los Angeles is presenting Aaron Gach's Tactical Ice Cream Unit on Friday, April 28, at 8pm.

The Tactical Ice Cream Unit (TICU) rolls through the city in an act of intervention that replaces cold stares with frosty treats and nourishing knowledge. Combining a number of successful activist strategies (Food-Not-Bombs, Copwatch, Indymedia, infoshops, etc) into one mega-mobile, the TICU is the Voltron-like alter-ego of the cops' mobile command center. Although the TICU appears to be a mild-mannered vending vehicle, it harbors a host of high-tech surveillance devices including a 12-camera video surveillance system, acoustic amplifiers, GPS, satellite internet, a media transmission studio capable of disseminating live audio/video, and of course, ice cream. With every free ice cream handed out, the sweet-toothed citizenry also receives printed information developed by local progressive groups. Thus, the TICU serves as a mobile nexus for community activities while providing frosty treats and food-for-thought.

Mr Gach will be answering questions, discussing the various activities of the Center for Tactical Magic, and offering a close up view and tour of the Tactical Ice Cream Unit.

Link

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 10:28:18 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Shipping containers celebrate their 50th birthday

Todd Lappin says: "Today is a major anniversary in the history of transportation and logistics, because today, the now-iconic steel shipping container celebrates its 50th birthday. No word on where to send presents or cake, but here's some background (From The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger, by Marc Levinson):

By dramatically lowering freight costs, the container transformed economic geography. Some of the world's great ports - London and Liverpool, New York and San Francisco - saw their bustling waterfronts decay as the maritime industry decamped to new locations with room to handle containers and transport links to move them in and out. Manufacturers, no longer tied to the waterfront to reduce shipping costs, moved away from city centres, decimating traditional industrial districts. Eventually, production moved much farther afield, to places such as South Korea and China, which took advantage of cheap, reliable transportation to make goods that could not have been exported profitably before containerisation.

Link

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 09:14:19 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

California got its name from fanfic

California's name comes from fan-fiction:

California is named after the island of California, home of Queen Calafia, her beautiful black amazons and their man-eating griffins, as all detailed in Garcia Ordonez de Montalvo's Las Sergas de Esplandian, which was the Sword of Shanarra of its day, a highly unauthorized but popular sequel to the much more highly respected Amadis de Gaul, more The Lord of the Rings of its day. At the end of Don Quixote, Cervantes had this to say about Esplandian: "Verily the father's goodness shall not excuse the want of it in the son. Here, good mistress housekeeper, open that window and throw it into the yard. Let it serve as a foundation to that pile which we are to set a-blazing presently."

That being said, Las Sergas de Esplandian was the pulp novel the conquistadores had on board when they sailed around and encountered the Baja peninsula. What's more, when the Portola party went up the coast, thinking the descriptions in LSdE were based on actual travelers' tales, they thought the California condors were Queen Calafia's big black man-eating griffins.

And so on to the present day where California is ruled by Conan the Barbarian.

Link

Update: Ape Lad points out that Idaho got its name as the result of a hoax: "When a name was being selected for new territory, eccentric lobbyist George M. Willing suggested 'Idaho,' which he claimed was a Native American term meaning 'gem of the mountains'. It was later revealed Willing had made up the name himself, and the original Idaho territory was re-named Colorado because of it. Eventually the controversy was forgotten, and modern-day Idaho was given the made-up name when the Idaho Territory was formally created in 1863."

Update 2: Andrew sez, "The author of the quoted blurb is off in the placement of their Don Quixote quote. It's not from the end of Don Quixote, but rather from Volume I, Chapter VI, when the curate and barber go through Don Quixote's library and dispose of books they deem improper (or, rather, that Cervantes deems worthy of mockery) -- which means it's near the very beginning of Don Quixote, rather than the end."

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:21:37 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Xeni Tech on NPR: Living in Star Trek -- for real.

On this week's edition of the NPR program "Day to Day":

Tony Alleyne loved the Star Trek universe so much, he wanted to live in it. So after a bitter breakup, he remodeled his condominium to look like the inside of the Starship Enterprise.

Since then he's started a science fiction interior design business to recoup the cost, and now he's an Internet hero.

Link to "Xeni Tech: Living in the 'Star Trek' Universe -- For Real." Image: a recently upgraded transporter room inside Mr. Alleyne's "Star Trek Apartment." Last year, he placed the apartment on auction at eBay for a price he knew was steep -- $2 million. He plans to auction it again next month at a more modest price.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 05:07:34 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Kids eat a bag of chips for every hour they spend watching TV

A US study has concluded that children consume the caloric equivalent of a bag of potato chips for every hour they spend in front of a television. Food advertising in implicated in causing unconscious eating among young viewers.

The study followed 550 children aged 11 to 13 over a period of 20 months. For each hour they spent watching television, their food intake was found at the end of the period to have increased by 167 calories a day. (A packet of crisps contains around 180 calories, while a can of Coke has 140)....

Numerous scientific studies have shown that children who watch more TV have a higher calorie intake, but advertisers argue that this is a result of their more sofa-bound lifestyle rather than of the adverts they are watching.

Dr Wiecha, however, said her work contradicted this. "Although children and youth are encouraged to watch what they eat, many youth seem to eat what they watch," the report's authors wrote.

Link

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

RIP Jane Jacobs, urban activist

Jane Jacobs has died at 89 in Toronto. Jacobs was an urban activist and writer about cities. Her book Death and Life of Great American Cities is the best book I've ever read about cities -- how they work, how they change. Reading that book rendered visible whole rafts of secrets about how the world around me functioned. It was like taking off a blindfold.

"The key with Jane was that she believed that the world was a complex place. It was not a simple place, it was a complex place, and you couldn't just think in straight lines," said Sewell.

"You had to think about context, how things fit together. That was the key about her."

"Jane Jacobs will be remembered as one of the great urban thinkers of our time," Toronto Mayor David Miller said Tuesday in a statement.

"Her contributions and insights have forever changed the way North American cities are developed.

Link (Photo credit: Juan Freire, Flickr) (Thanks, Dave!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 04:37:29 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Mark Cuban's new radio show on Sirius

The Wall Street Journal reports:

Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. said Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban will host a weekly talk show on Sirius, starting this summer. The New York subscription-based satellite radio company said Mark Cuban's Radio Maverick will air Sundays from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. on Sirius channel 102. Sirius said Mr. Cuban, a billionaire technology entrepreneur who bought the Dallas Mavericks basketball team in 2000, will take calls from listeners and talk with guests while discussing sports, business and everyday life.

Link. On the "pho" digital entertainment list today, Mr. Cuban said "You can bet I'm going to be talking about the 'new' and 'improved' Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA)."

posted by Xeni Jardin at 04:30:24 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Why fan fiction is so important

Teresa Nielsen Hayden, an editor at science fiction publisher Tor Books, posts this stirring defense of fan fiction, or fanfic:

In a purely literary sense, fanfic doesn’t exist. There is only fiction. Fanfic is a legal category created by the modern system of trademarks and copyrights. Putting that label on a work of fiction says nothing about its quality, its creativity, or the intent of the writer who created it.

The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction this year went to March, a novel by Geraldine Brooks, published by Viking. It’s a re-imagining of the life of the father of the four March girls in Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. Can you see a particle of difference between that and a work of declared fanfiction? I can’t. I can only see two differences: first, Louisa May Alcott is out of copyright; and second, Louisa May Alcott, Geraldine Brooks, and Viking are dreadfully respectable.

I’m just a tad cynical about authors who rage against fanfic. Their own work may be original to them, but even if their writing is so outre that it’s barely readable, they’ll still be using tropes and techniques and conventions they picked up from other writers. We have a system that counts some borrowings as legitimate, others as illegitimate. They stick with the legit sort, but they’re still writing out of and into the shared web of literature. They’re not so different as all that.

Link

posted by Cory Doctorow at 04:19:01 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Hourglass-shaped desk-clock - lovely

This striking desk-clock is shaped like an hour-glass, with hours displayed on the bottom and minutes on the top. Link (via Popgadget)

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

New magazine from Make: Craft

From the makers of MAKE -- CRAFT, a new magazine devoted making cool stuff. It's launching in Fall 2006 and will be edited by Carla Sinclair (my wife!). Link

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 01:51:53 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Make robo-logo

(Click on thumbnail for enlargement) I demonstrated the Gocco printer at the Maker Faire last weekend, and printed this little robot I drew onto the canvas bags handed out to attendees. Learn more about these cool printers at Save Gocco! Link

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 11:19:58 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Tattoos inspired by webcomics

A gallery of ultra-nerdy tattoos from webcomics. This self-referential tattoo is my favorite. Link (thanks, Marisa!)

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 10:53:32 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Jenny Hart's roller derby embroidery patterns

Jenny Hart, founder of Sublime Stitching, just started selling her roller derby embroidery iron-on patterns for $3. Carla has used Jenny's patterns before (she embroidered a tiki dishtowel) and really enjoys it.

Flaming skates, a bat to thump rivals with...you're set with this sheet. Iron these babies on your messenger bag or decorate a sweat towel to offer the jammer as she zooms by. She'll thank you later- if she doesn't roll over you first. Bruises not included.

One 8 1/2 x 11" sheet of multi-imprinting, iron-on embroidery patterns. Just iron on to any fabric and stitch along the lines. Each pack comes with complete instructions for getting started in embroidery!

Link

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 10:41:06 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Cory's a Locus Awards finalist in three categories

Just found out that three of my works from 2005 are finalists for this year's Locus Award: Best Fantasy Novel (Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town), Best Novella (Human Readable) and Best Novelette (I, Robot). Thanks to everyone who voted for me -- fingers crossed for the win in one or more of those catgories! Link

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:59:13 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Monday, April 24, 2006

Bossa Nova greats cover Disney songs

I just scored Bossa Disney Nova, a Japanese CD of legendary Brazilian bossa nova artists performing groovy, loose interpretations of Disney classics. It's completely enchanting: with performances like the Jota Morales Group's "Parada Eletrônica na Rua Principal" (Main Street Electrical Parade) and especially the demented DJ 524's Incredible Samba Band mix "Mickey Mouse Club Samba" you can't miss. It's just genius. Link (Amazon's pulled their listing for this, here's the same CD at Amazon UK)

Update: Nicky sez, "half.com has a dozen or so used & new copies of the CD for sale. It seems to have been re-released in 2005."

Update 2: Mark found a more complete version that's cheaper than the UK version at the Hong Kong HMV site.

posted by Cory Doctorow at 08:02:06 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

How fiction paperbacks lose or make money

Livejournaller and Tor employee Anna Louise has posted a brilliant, engrossing exposition on the economics of fiction publishing -- how a publisher makes or loses money on a book. It uses real numbers from real books to illustrate in painstaking depth how marketing, printing, and preparation costs interact with margins from different retailers and wholesalers to make or break a book. I think that every writer alive (myself included) harbors some cherished illusions about how publishing works. This lucid, entertaining and vivid portrait of the inside workings of a fiction publisher is an excellent way to disabuse yourself of them.

Book #1 is a mass market romance novel called Crichton is an Idiot by a brand new author named Aeryn Sun. She doesn't know anyone, and no one's heard of her. You, her loving and caring editor, call in every single favor you've got, but no one has time. You do not take this as a bad sign that no one really likes the book at all, but you take everyone at their word. (This is your mistake. Although, of course, you've already bought the book -- there's not much you can do at this point.) Your closest friend, an author who sometimes hits the Waldenbooks Top 20 Romance List, gives Aeryn a pity blurb.

"Crichton is an Idiot is a romp through a crazy alternate reality!" --nationally bestselling author Buffy Summers

At the meetings, people shake their heads and sigh, but you are an obnoxious editor who loves your book. You bother people enough until your publisher gives you a full page 4/c (four color -- aka full color) ad in Romantic Times BookClub Magazine, and puts four other small books in the ad, so the price gets split. You bug more people, and you get 4/c bound galleys and a mailing to a couple of independent bookstores and a bookmark for the author to hand out.

The publisher tells you to get some in house reads, because she isn't sure this is a wise use of resources -- without blurbs, you're going to have a hard time. Plus, you're on your second cover -- the art department just can't get it right. You spent $4,500 hiring an artist. Now the art director is working on the cover himself, using stock art. You still have to pay for stock art -- it costs $1,400.

Link (via Copyfight)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 04:52:19 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Tom Rielly on Maker Faire

Tom Rielly of TED wrote a great review of the Maker Faire on the TED Blog.

Where can you find a man riding a giant giraffe robot, a fire-spewing electric cart equipped with sheep's wool seats, a plug-in Prius that gets 100 mpg, teams playing Segway Polo, model rocket launches, fashion shows with inflatable dresses, and parents and children enjoying every minute of it? Why, at Make: magazine's first ever Maker Faire, held this weekend in San Mateo, CA, bien sûr.

Link

Update: Here's Bonnie Burton's review of the show.

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 04:08:06 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Pokemonetise: Making money off of obsessive collection response

Some nice new jargon: "Pokemonetise: to make money by appealing to the stupid human instinct to collect dumb things." I have been lured in by pokemonetising more than once, I admit. Link

posted by Cory Doctorow at 03:31:54 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Photogs: tell your TSA horror-stories here

Tyler sez, "Kathleen Shafer, an MFA candidate at the Maryland College Institute of Art, has created a blog to ask photographers to email her with their TSA-related horror stories. Mostly she's soliciting stories of how TSA has failed to follow its own guidelines in handling film and/or cameras at airport security screening stations, potentially destroying film. This is a big deal to photographers: Imagine spending $1500 to travel and shoot for an upcoming gallery show, only to have TSA destroy it at a screening station." Link

posted by Cory Doctorow at 03:30:10 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Proposal to let employees use personal laptops

Here's a fascinating proposal for anywone who's ever fought corporate IT for the right to use their personal laptop at work, or on the road (and who wants to carry two laptops?):

Basically treat the employee's laptop as you would treat the employees's pants: require it, pay the employee enough to buy it, and provide the infrastructure that works with it, but that's all. Give the employee the price of one laptop per two years, plus, say, the price of one major troubleshooting session per six months.

Link (via Kottke)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 03:28:46 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

DMCA revision proposal will jail Americans for "attempting" infringment

A new proposed set of amendments to the US's loathsome DMCA -- the 1998 copyright that paves the way to censorship, arresting security researchers, and creating monopolies for entertainment and DRM companies -- will make the law even worse. The Department of Justice has proposed the amendments to Congress, and IPac and others have action-pages up that will help you fight them. Texas's Lamar Smith sponsored a bill to pass the amendments into law. If you have the poser to campaign for Smith's opponent, the 2006 elections would be a good time to do so -- that guy's evidently so deep in Hollywood's pockets that he'll send Americans to jail for downloading music.

The new law would send you to prison for attempting to infringe copyright. It would make it even more illegal to own tools that could be used to remove copy-restrictions, like DVD-ripping software -- it could even bust Symantec for making software that removed the Sony rootkit malicious software that the company distributed with its CDs last year:

This is a concerted effort to escalate Hollywood's war on America by creating a generation of criminals and sending them off to jail. That's right: the "Intellectual Property Protection Act of 2006" (IPPA) would double the authorized prison terms for existing copyright infringement, create a host of new offenses, and establish a division within the FBI to hunt down infringers. The Members of Congress in the pockets of the Hollywood cartels want to divert $20 million a year and FBI agents from fighting real criminals so they can go after people without computers.

Link (via Digg)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 03:27:02 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

VIsta's endless parade of warnings won't create security

Vista, the new version of Windows, throws up an endless, irritating parade of "security" warnings anytime you do anything remotely out of the ordinary. Bruce Schneier nails how this will fail to create security, but will, instead merely cover Microsoft's ass:

Paul Thurrott: OK, fine. You can click a Continue button to "complete this operation." But that doesn't complete anything. It just clears the desktop for the next dialog, which is a Windows Security window (Figure). Here, you need to give your permission to continue something opaquely called a "File Operation." Click Allow, and you're done. Hey, that's not too bad, right? Just two dialogs to read, understand, and then respond correctly to. What's the big deal?

What if you're doing something a bit more complicated? Well, lucky you, the dialogs stack right up, one after the other, in a seemingly never-ending display of stupidity. Indeed, sometimes you'll find yourself unable to do certain things for no good reason, and you click Allow buttons until you're blue in the face. It will never stop bothering you, unless you agree to stop your silliness and leave that file on the desktop where it belongs. Mark my words, this will happen to you. And you will hate it.

Schneier: These dialog boxes are not security for the user, they're CYA security from the user. When some piece of malware trashes your system, Microsoft can say: "You gave the program permission to do that; it's not our fault."

Warning dialog boxes are only effective if the user has the ability to make intelligent decisions about the warnings. If the user cannot do that, they're just annoyances. And they're annoyances that don't improve security.

Link

posted by Cory Doctorow at 03:18:48 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Limerick skewers SmartFilter

One of the winners of this year's BBSpot limerick contest skewers everyone's favorite dumbass censorware company, SmartFilter:

If SmartFilter can't tell porn apart
From a site that posts links to some art
(As BoingBoing likes to do),
And will block it for you,
Then their filter is not very smart.

Link

posted by Cory Doctorow at 03:15:36 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Hole opens in home, swallows man

A massive hole suddenly opened up in the kitchen of an Alta, California home, swallowing the owner and killing him. From CNEWS:

Authorities say the home, built in the 1980s, may have been sitting atop a decades-old underground mine. Recent rains could have softened the ground under the home, in an isolated area near Lake Alta.

"It's unbelievable," Placer County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Dena Erwin said. "From the front of the house, it's absolutely normal. Then, in the middle of the house, is this enormous hole."

Link (via Fortean Times)

posted by David Pescovitz at 11:03:45 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Randy Glass, stipple master

Artist Randy Glass is best known as one of the Wall Street Journal's stipple portrait illustrators. I love his product, animal, and food illos too. Link (via Drawn!)

posted by David Pescovitz at 10:36:55 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Robots photoshopped into fine art

Today on the Worth1000 photoshopping contest: Robots inserted into fine art; I love love love this robotic adaptation of Don Quixote. Link

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:27:27 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Sunday, April 23, 2006

Weird booms across the US

A series of strange window-rattling booms or rumbles have been heard and felt in recent months in Alabama, North Carolina, Mississippi, and, on April 4, in San Diego County. The latest disturbance was said to have set off car alarms, caused waves in a backyard pool, and shook double steel garage doors. It wasn't an earthquake. And the Federal Aviation Administration has no record of planes breaking the sound barrier at the time. Apparently, nobody seems to know what the hell caused the disturbance. From the San Diego Union-Tribune:

By noon on the day of the incident, The San Diego Union-Tribune was being inundated with e-mails from people wondering what could have caused the strange tremors.

“My garage door is double steel and it weighs about 500 lbs.,” a man in University City wrote. “It was rattling back and forth like a leaf in the wind for about 3 or 4 seconds.”

A Mission Beach resident compared the sensation to “somewhere in between an explosion and an earthquake.” A woman in Carmel Valley noted that the rattling was very distressing to her cats...

Among bloggers and Web-based conspiracy theorists, one of the leading explanations for the San Diego disturbance is that the military is testing a top-secret spy plane called the Aurora, which supposedly can travel several times the speed of sound.

“Sir, I've never even heard of that plane before,” an Air Force spokeswoman in Virginia responded when asked about the possibility.

Even UFO experts are baffled by what happened in San Diego. Asked whether a flying saucer might have caused such an event, Peter Davenport of the Seattle-based National UFO Reporting Center said, “Probably not.”

“UFOs almost never generate sonic booms or shock waves,” he added. “They accelerate so rapidly that they leave a vacuum in the sky, much the way lightning does.”

Link (Thanks, Loren Coleman!)

UPDATE: Many readers commented on the UFO expert's quote, pointing out that lightning causes thunder.

UPDATE: If you'd like to share your thoughts on this strange phenomenon, please follow the link to the San Diego Union-Tribune article and email the author, as per his request at the bottom of the story.

posted by David Pescovitz at 04:59:49 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Nepali photoblog with protest reports: Phalano.com

The photoblog Phalano.com is publishing many images each day from the ongoing demonstrations in Nepal. A post from Saturday describes a "sea of protestors" flooding Kathmandu, on the seventeenth day of a nationwide general strike.

Shown here, at left (link to source, shot by Shanker Kharel), this demonstrator has shaved a message into his head. I can't read it, but would welcome a translation from a BoingBoing reader. At right (link to source, shot by Chandra Sekhar Karki) police in Kathmandu beat a protestor with sticks.

The government has imposed a mandatory curfew in Kathmandu. A site admin's message on Phalano.com asks for reader forgiveness over resulting technical difficulties: "We are currently unable to upload your comments due to curfew... we apologize for this!"

Reader comment: Anonymous says,

You asked for a translation of "Loktantra". The Nepali language used "Prajatantra" to mean "democracy". "Praja" means "subjects" (of a King or monarch), so "Prajatantra" actually means "the rule of subjects", which obviously is unsatisfactory. So the new term "Loktantra" was coined. "Lok" means "folk" - so "Loktantra" would be full democracy, as opposed to a half-hearted version.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 04:22:23 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

RIAA sues family that doesn't own a PC

The RIAA has filed a file-sharing suit against a family in Rockmart, GA. The family doesn't own a computer.

Good to see a real standard of care in place over there at RIAA sue-your-customers HQ; this is probably more profitable in the long run than suing people who do share music, since those people are statistically more likely to spend money on CDs. Focusing on shaking down people who don't own PCs will keep the music industry from alienating its diehard fans.

"I don't understand this," Walls said. "How can they sue us when we don't even have a computer?"

Walls also noted that his family has only resided at their current address "for less than a year." He wondered if a prior tenant of the home had Internet access, then moved, leaving his family to be targeted instead.

However, the RIAA's lawsuit maintains that Carma Walls, through the use of a file-sharing program, has infringed on the copyrights for the following songs: "Who Will Save Your Soul," Jewel; "Far Behind," Candlebox; "Still the Same," Bob Seger; "I Won't Forget You," Poison; "Open Arms," Journey; "Unpretty," TLC; No Scrubs," TLC; and "Saving All My Love for You," Whitney Houston.

Link

posted by Cory Doctorow at 03:04:07 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Maker Faire photos

BB pal Scott Beale of Laughing Squid posted his first set of photos from MAKE: Magazine's big Maker Faire happening this weekend in San Mateo. If you're in the area, please come by today! I was thrilled not only by the hundreds of projects and demonstrations but also the many thousands of people there of all ages walking around with wonder and delight in their eyes! Photos above: Jeffrey McGrew and Jillian Northrup of Because We Can, Mr. Jalopy's World's Biggest iPod, and one of the Faire's happy attendees.
Link to Laughing Squid post, Link to Maker Faire, Link to MakerFaire-tagged photos on Flickr

posted by David Pescovitz at 09:01:39 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Saturday, April 22, 2006

Boing Boing ambigram

This Boing Boing ambigram is pretty cool -- it says "Boing Boing" both upside-down and right-side-up. Link (Thanks, Carlos!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 03:43:47 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Digital cameras have unique "noise" fingerprints?

A researcher at SUNY Binghamton reports that he can tell which camera took any given photo by matching the photo's unique "weak noise-like pattern of pixel-to-pixel non-uniformity."

Like actual fingerprints, the digital "noise" in original images is stochastic in nature – that is, it contains random variables – which are inevitably created during the manufacturing process of the camera and its sensors. This virtually ensures that the noise imposed on the digital images from any particular camera will be consistent from one image to the next, even while it is distinctly different.

In preliminary tests, Fridrich's lab analyzed 2,700 pictures taken by nine digital cameras and with 100 percent accuracy linked individual images with the camera that took them.

(via MeFi)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 03:42:02 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Court throws out RIAA attempt to sue little girl

A judge in Michigan has thrown out a case where the RIAA attempted to sue a small child for file-sharing, after failing in its attempt to prosecute the child's mother. The recording industry attempted to have a "Guardian Ad Litem" appointed, which would have made it possible to sue Britanny Chan, the daughter, who was 13 at the time of the alleged acts; they also sought to have Brittany's family pay for the expensive guardianship. They failed to meet the procedural requirements for this, and the court threw out their case. Link (Thanks, NelC!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 03:40:12 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Mitch Kapor: Politics is Architecture, and Architecture is Politics.

"I’ve become completely convinced that we need to begin a process of fundamental political change in the U.S.," says Mitch Kapor.

"Not in the form of a new party per se, but a new multi-faceted movement of ideas, organizations, and cultures, based around a vision of democracy which is fundamentally open, participatory, and decentralized."

Kapor is developing those ideas on his blog (posts so far: 1, 2, 3). Here's a preliminary peek at what he's thinking (article continues after the jump):

When it comes to building a new movement, the converse proposition, “politics is architecture” holds true as well. The architecture (structure and design) of political processes, not their content, is determinative of what can be accomplished.

More...

posted by Xeni Jardin at 02:54:52 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

SaveTheInternet.com: fight to preserve 'net neutrality

Snip from the manifesto for SaveTheInternet.com, which launches on Monday:

We believe that the Internet is a crucial engine for economic growth and democratic discourse. We urge Congress to take steps now to preserve network neutrality, a guiding principle of the Internet, and to ensure that the Internet remains open to innovation and progress.

Network neutrality is the Internet’s First Amendment. Without it, the Internet is at risk of losing the openness and accessibility that has revolutionized democratic participation, economic innovation and free speech.

From its beginnings, the Internet was built on a cooperative, democratic ideal. It has leveled the playing field for all comers. Everyday people can have their voices heard by thousands, even millions of people. Network neutrality has prevented gatekeepers from blocking or discriminating against new economic, political and social ideas.

More...

posted by Xeni Jardin at 02:46:20 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

South Carolina may outlaw sex toys

Death penalty? Check! Handguns? Check! "Hello Kitty" vibrators? Bzzzzt! Banned in South Carolina, if a proposed bill is made law:

Lucy’s Love Shop employee Wanda Gillespie said she was flabbergasted that South Carolina’s Legislature is considering outlawing sex toys. But banning the sale of sex toys is actually quite common in some Southern states.

The South Carolina bill, proposed by Republican Rep. Ralph Davenport, would make it a felony to sell devices used primarily for sexual stimulation and allow law enforcement to seize sex toys from raided businesses.

Link (thanks, Baptiste)

posted by Xeni Jardin at 02:13:52 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Library design from salvaged passenger jets

Memepunks sez,

Architects Lot-Ek have designed a public library made from the reclaimed fuselages of 727/737 passenger jets. The fuselages are the one part on an airliner that is more expensive to recycle than it is to just junk. Hundreds of old jet bodies litter the countryside, and now someone finally found a use for them.

Link to an architectural news website from Argentina (the architects' own website is all crudded up with Flash, with no direct linking possible to the library design images).

posted by Xeni Jardin at 01:50:50 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Knitta, please: urban "knit tags" for purls gone wild

"Knit taggers" craft unsolicited cozies for stuff out there in the world like car antennas, door handles, and stop signs, unleashing a fury of fuzzy on an unsuspecting public. How you like my stitches, bitches? Link (thanks, Grace M)

posted by Xeni Jardin at 01:41:39 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Chernobyl, 20 years later: "Nuclear Nightmares"

At the Pixel Press website: "Nuclear Nightmares," a stunning series of photographs by Robert Knoth with reporting by Antoinette De Jong.

The photo-essay documents the ongoing human impact of Chernobyl on those who survived, their children, and the extended communities around them.

This photo (link to full-size), taken by Knoth in Minsk, Belarus:

Twin brothers Michael and Vladimir Iariga, 16 years old. Michael, with hydrocephalus, is five minutes older than Vladimir, who is deaf.

(...) Some areas in the closed zones around Chernobyl are so contaminated that they will have to remain closed off for up to 900 years.

Link (thanks, Ray Brown)

Reader comment: Mike says,

Thanks for letting people know that there are still repercussions from the Chernobyl disaster 20 years later. I've been fortunate to work with the Chernobyl Children's Project based in Boston as they help children in the region who suffer from radiation-related ailments. CCP provides medical care to those in need and, thanks to the generosity of volunteer host families, brings groups of children to the U.S. for month-long visits. A series of events to commemorate the anniversary of the disaster and to make sure these children aren't forgotten.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 01:32:34 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Man with 12 nails in his head

An Oregon man suffering from a terrible headache went to a hospital for an examination. Turns out he had 12 nails in his head. And he had put them there himself. From the Associated Press:

The man at first told doctors he had had a "nail gun accident." It wasn't until later that the patient admitted he'd used meth and the injury was a suicide attempt.

The patient was in remarkably good condition when he got to OHSU, according to the study. While even one nail to the head can be fatal, these nails came close to major blood vessels and the brain stem but did not pierce either.

The nails still posed a threat to the patient's health and doctors decided to operate quickly. Because of the number of nails, doctors decided to fully sedate him rather than keep him partially awake, which is done in some surgeries to monitor neurological responses.

Surgeons were able to remove the nails with needle-nosed pliers and a drill because the nail heads did not penetrate the skull.

Link

UPDATE: BB reader Jason Gill recalled that the 2001 Darwin Awards honored another gent who shot himself a dozen times in the head with a nail gun and lived. Link

posted by David Pescovitz at 11:49:44 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Friday, April 21, 2006

CIA fires senior officer over secret prison leaks

Snip from NYT article:

The Central Intelligence Agency has dismissed a senior career officer for disclosing classified information to reporters, including material for Pulitzer Prize-winning articles in The Washington Post about the agency's secret overseas prisons for terror suspects, intelligence officials said Friday.

The C.I.A. would not identify the officer, but several government officials said it was Mary O. McCarthy, a veteran intelligence analyst who until 2001 was senior director for intelligence programs at the National Security Council, where she served under Presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush.

Link

posted by Xeni Jardin at 08:24:44 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Chernobyl: 20 years ago this month.

On 26 April 1986, at 1:23 AM, reactor number four at the Chernobyl nuclear power station exploded. The radiation released was over a hundred times more than that of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

At Chernobyl.info, a site dedicated to the longterm consequences of the disaster, there's a list of commemoration activities planned around the world for April 26, 2006. The site also contains historic details, an extensive index of projects aiding survivors, and interviews with people who lived through the disaster.

A related NPR news item ran today: "Voices of Chernobyl': Survivors' Stories" by Melissa Block featured some incredibly moving personal accounts from survivors who lost friends, family, and all their worldy posessions: Link to archived audio.

There are plans to install a new, billion-dollar cover over the disaster site to more effectively contain the 200 tons of radioactive fuel still present. The structure will cost about a billion dollars, and is scheduled to be in place by 2009. More info here, and NPR also ran a story on this today with background from Warren Stern of the U.S. State Department: Link.

A "sarcophagus" -- a steel and concrete shell built soon after the disaster to contain the radiation is increasingly unstable. Engineers plan to slide an enormous Quonset hut-shaped cover over a breached reactor to keep more radiation from reaching the atmosphere.

(image: Vladimir Repik/Reuters, 1986. "An aerial view of the fourth reactor of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant after its explosion.")

posted by Xeni Jardin at 08:01:35 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

In memoriam: Computing pioneer Kathleen Antonelli

Jessica Reed says:

Kathleen McNulty Mauchly Antonelli,one of the earliest computer programmmers and widow of ENIAC and UNIVAC co-inventor John Mauchly died last night at age 85.

She and other women mathmeticians were recruited to work on the secret ENIAC computer during WW2. Since then Antonelli contributed to the understanding of early computer history through speeches and articles.

I am one of 29 grandchildren of this entirely remarkable woman.

Link to a site with Ms. Antonelli's biography.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 07:31:56 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Ask.com CEO Steve Berkowitz ankles for MSN

Snip from WSJ article:

The Redmond, Wash., software maker next week is expected to announce that Steve Berkowitz is joining Microsoft as the vice president in charge of MSN, the Microsoft division that includes the MSN Internet portal and search businesses.

The appointment is part of a recent restructuring at Microsoft that attempts to retool the company to better compete with Internet search giant Google Inc.

Link (paid subscribers only) and here's an extensive entry on John Battelle's Searchblog with more background: Link.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 06:31:58 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Access to Knowledge copyfight con kicks off at Yale

David sez,

This evening is the start of the blockbuster Yale Law School ISP Access to Knowledge (A2K) conference. The conference's major goal is to bring together different strands of the A2K movement -- access to medicines, telecoms, textbooks, software, libraries, to name a few -- and build normative frameworks and coalitions to pave the way for substantial political change. Jack Balkin just kicked off the conference by arguing that A2K is not just an issue of economic development, it is a demand of justice and democratic participation.

The conference brings together an astounding collection of scholars, activists, and government officials to bang their heads together and help figure out how best to promote access to knowledge for human development. Among the leaders here are Sisule Musungu, Jack Balkin, Jamie Love, Manon Ress, Rinalia Abdul Rahim, Geidy Lung, Terry Fisher, Richard Jefferson, Yochai Benkler, Rishab Aiyer Ghosh, Theresa Hackett, Richard Owens, John Howkins, Ronaldo Lemos, Joaquim Falcao, Madhavi Sunder, Anupam Chander, Volcker Grassmuck, William Drake, Lawrence Liang, Michael Geist, Anriette Esterhuysen, and many many more. Wow.

Conference notes will go up on Lawmeme and the conference wiki. Speakers and the conference schedule are on the official site.

Link (Thanks, David!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 04:06:18 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Upcoming numerically cool dates in 2006

Some cool upcoming dates in 2006:

06:06:06 06/06/06 (6 minutes and 6 seconds past 6 on June 6th, 2006)

11:10:09 08/07/06 (10 minutes and 9 seconds past 11 on 8th of July 2006 in the UK system or on 7th of August 2006 in the US system)

(Thanks, Khurram!)

See also: A moment in time: 01:02:03 04/05/06

posted by Cory Doctorow at 03:50:33 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Miroslav Tichý's home made camera

Ben says: "The Micheal Hoppen Gallery in London is holding an exhibition of Czech photographer / artist Miroslav Tichý, displaying some of his hand-developed prints. His photographs were shot on his home-made camera, which in itself is a work of art."

Tichý wandered his small town in rags, pursuing his obsession as an artist with the female form by photographing in the streets, shops and parks with cameras he made from tin cans, childrens spectacle lenses and other junk he found on the street. He would return home each day to make prints on equally primitive equipment, making only one print from the negatives he selected.

Link

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 03:33:50 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Hacker-con videos: "150 hours of hardcode nerd education."

Videos from the Chaos Communication Congress, a hacker con, are online -- Tim Pritlove calls this "150 hours of hardcode nerd education."

The 22nd Chaos Communication Congress (22C3) is a four-day conference on technology, society and utopia. The Congress offers lectures and workshops on a multitude of topics including (but not limited to) information technology, IT-security, internet, cryptography and generally a critical-creative attitude towards technology and the discussion about the effects of technological advances on society.

The Chaos Communication Congress is the annual congress of the Chaos Computer Club e.V. (CCC). The Congress has established itself as the "European Hacker Conference" bringing in people from all over Europe and even further away.

Link (Thanks, Jake!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 03:32:25 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Laptop stand designed for airplane seat-back tables

The Aviator laptop stand is specifically designed to elevate your laptop and position its screen on a narrow, cramped airplane seat-back tray. I nearly blew my wrists out writing novels on airplanes, typing with my hands practically vertical. This $20, flat-folding 9oz laptop stand could be a godsend if it works as well as it looks like it would. Link (via Gizmodo)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 03:21:42 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Floral-print pliers

These floral pliers are genius -- provided the finish holds up! Also: floral box-cutters! Now I want a floral nailgun! Link (via Gizmodo)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 03:18:55 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

PimpMySnack: homemade, gigantic versions of snack food

PimpMySnack documents projects to recreate familiar snack foods at gigantic scale -- huge home-made candy bars ahoy!

Is this the biggest KitKat Chunky in the world – I do hope so! It looks magnificent, and whilst I chickened out of writing “PimpMySnack.com in chocolate dribbles on the top, I started to wonder how on earth this thing could be eaten. I should have realised. The chocolate is way too thick at the corners, but for a first attempt, it is something to be proud of, and to love.

Link (via Wonderland)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 03:11:03 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Cute tiki plush doll

The excellent and gorgeous tiki blog, Humu Kon Tiki, has an entry about a neat-looking tiki plush doll, designed and made by Kristen Tercek. Link

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 03:10:44 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Mark Ryden's book, Fushigi Circus

Last Gasp is the only US company I know of that is selling Fushigi Circus, a 128-page book of Ryden's paintings.

"Fushigi Circus" is a hardcover, clothbound collection of the works of Mark Ryden. This Japanese language book features newer works, including Blood, Sweat, Tears, and The Creatrix, and a survey of 55 of Mark Ryden's most impressive works from past shows to the present.

Mark will have a book signing for "Fushigi Circus" at MOCA in Los Angeles, California on Saturday, May 13th, 3 pm to 5 pm:

MOCA Store
250 S. Grand Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 621-1710 • www.moca.org • mapquest directions

A special boxed limited edition of "Fushigi Circus" will be released in summer 2006. We'll send additional information about the boxed set as it becomes available.

Link

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 03:05:51 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Hypothetical and awesome US stamps

On the Worth1000 photoshopping contest: things you'd like to see on US stamps. I'm inordinately fond of plane-crash infographics as shown here, and also the Brady Bunch set, but there's tons more here to love. Link

posted by Cory Doctorow at 03:04:10 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Thieves discover abandoned Soviet missile silo full of cash

Thieves who broke into a decommisioned missile silo in Kostroma, Russia discovered that the silo was full of expired Soviet Rubles, according to the Regnum news agency.

Four men from Nizhny Novgorod found the silo that had had missiles dismantled and put on maintenance decades ago in accordance with the Soviet disarmament program. They targeted the metals inside and said they had had no idea about the money hidden in the shaft.

Link (via JWZ)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 02:47:46 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Xeni cameo in Diesel Sweeties

Congrats to Xeni on her cameo in the nerd super-comic, Diesel Sweeties! Link (Thanks, Dennis!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 02:33:46 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Bush administration wants mandatory website labeling

Snip from a CNET News.com report by Declan McCullagh:

Web site operators posting sexually explicit information must place official government warning labels on their pages or risk being imprisoned for up to five years, the Bush administration proposed Thursday.

A mandatory rating system will "prevent people from inadvertently stumbling across pornographic images on the Internet," Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said at an event in Alexandria, Va.

The Bush administration's proposal would require commercial Web sites to place "marks and notices" to be devised by the Federal Trade Commission on each sexually explicit page. The definition of sexually explicit broadly covers depictions of everything from sexual intercourse and masturbation to "sadistic abuse" and close-ups of fully clothed genital regions.

Link. Many responses brewing, including this one from the Internet Content Rating Association (ICRA):

[W]e vigorously oppose an added measure included in the draft bill which would require Web sites with sexually explicit material -- material that is legal, but potentially harmful to minors -- to use a government-mandated labeling system. ICRA strongly believes that self- regulation of legal Internet content leads to the best balance between the free flow of digital content and the protection of children from potentially harmful material.

Link.

And ISPs are squarely in the crosshairs on this one. Snip from Red Herring article:

“The investigation and prosecution of child predators depends critically on the availability of evidence that is often in the hands of Internet service providers,” he said. “This evidence will be available for us to use only if the providers retain the records for a reasonable amount of time.

“Unfortunately, the failure of some Internet service providers to keep records has hampered our ability to conduct investigations in this area,” he added.

Mr. Gonzales said he has asked experts at the DOJ to examine the issue and provide him with recommendations. He plans to ask the heads of the major ISPs to cooperate with the effort.

Link

posted by Xeni Jardin at 11:37:51 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

In memoriam: aerospace pioneer Scott Crossfield

From the LA Times obituary:

Scott Crossfield, a legendary test pilot who became the first man to fly at twice the speed of sound in 1953 and later flew and helped design the X-15 rocket-powered research aircraft, was found dead Thursday in the wreckage of his single-engine plane in mountains near Ranger, Ga. He was 84.

Crossfield's plane, a Cessna 210A, was found about 50 miles northwest of Atlanta a day after it dropped off radar screens during a flight from Alabama to Virginia, authorities said Thursday. There were thunderstorms in the area when radar contact was lost; the cause of the crash was under investigation.

Link. Image (courtesy NASA): Scott Crossfield in cockpit of the Douglas D-558-2 after first Mach 2 flight in 1953. (thanks, Kazys Varnelis)

posted by Xeni Jardin at 11:31:33 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Graham Roumieu: how movie theaters suck

Graham Roumieu, one of my favorite illustrators, has a really funny graphix-essay on the CBC website about what's wrong with the movie theater experience today. Shown here:

Complaint 2:
The bathrooms are just too darn far to walk to.

Trekking all that distance: (a) is exhausting, and (b) takes so long that there is a good chance of missing some of the crucial plot points of Big Momma’s House 2 during the time you are gone. With the new discrete seat service, all you’ll have to do is hit a button on your armrest and an attendant will be with you promptly.

Link. Previous posts about Graham's work here.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 11:03:49 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Web Zen: ASCII zen

ascii art dictionary
ascii artist
toogle
generator
image to ascii/html
flashcii
ascii art wikipedia
Web Zen Home, Store (Thanks Frank!)

posted by Xeni Jardin at 10:58:32 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Video of dementedly awesome fake MacPlus video-game that never was

Paul Robertson's Pirate Baby's Cabana Battle Street Fight 2006 is a completely bad-ass short film that I can't stop watching. I blogged some of the test-sequences for this one back in March, but now that the whole thing's online, I'm loving it even more.

Pirate Baby etc is a screen-movie made from a side-scrolling Mac Classic game that never existed, but should have. It's a demented flick in which two kung-fu player-characters kick the everloving crap out of zombies, monsters, and baddies in a series of progressively weirder battles whose power-ups, animations, and black-and-while pixel-gore are a delight to all the senses. Someone should make this game. Link (Thanks, Carla!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 08:50:23 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

UK prank show will use airplanes/choppers in insane stunts?

A poster identifying himself as working for "Balls of Steel," a prank-show on the UK's Channel 4, has posted an unbelievably weird set of questions to a pilots' message board.

The questions ask what steps he will need to take to get airplanes and helicopters for use in a series of incredibly dangerous pranks, apparently for the show's next season. The pilots respond with a general air of incredulity and anger:

One sketch involves dropping a load of water from an aircraft onto a group of sunbathers in a park.. I have a PPL so know that there's a lot of issues sourrounding this but this could be rigged with some tricky camera work. The main problem, I think, would be getting hold of an aircraft capable of dropping water- does anyone know of any crop-spraying or firefighting aircraft in the UK that would be suitable for this?

Another sketch is filming a car travelling slowly on what initially appears to be a road- when the camera pans out the car is actually in at the head of a queue of aircraft.. Having spoken to some friends who own aircraft I know this would be not too too expensive with small aircraft e.g. pa28s but does anyone know of any airfields that regularly move larger aircraft and might let us quickly set this shot up with them?? (Unlikely I know!!)

Finally another idea is to use a helicopter to disrupt an outdoor dinner party with its downwash. The shot would be set up so that the party goers are actually extras but do you guys think the CAA would shoot this idea down straight away??

Link

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:55:10 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Thursday, April 20, 2006

US businessman pleads guilty in Iraq corruption case

Snip from a NYT article by James Glanz:

The American businessman at the center of a widening corruption inquiry in Iraq pleaded guilty on Tuesday to federal charges of conspiracy, bribery and money laundering for illegally obtaining millions of dollars of construction contracts at the heart of the American-led rebuilding program in 2003 and 2004.

The court papers describing the plea agreement, motions filed by the legal team representing the businessman, Philip H. Bloom, 66, and interviews with contractors and government officials in Iraq make it clear that the case is certain to expand. The court papers, focusing narrowly on Mr. Bloom's contracting work in the south-central Iraqi city of Hilla, indicate that at least three more senior Army Reserve officers are likely to be implicated.

Link.

Related, previous BoingBoing posts: 
-  Army officer charged with using Iraq $$ to pimp out NJ crib 
-  Report: Iraq bid-rig scheme exposed, ex-con took bribes 
-  Jordan bombings, and the creation of chaos 
-  The Twilight World of the Iraqi News Stringer

posted by Xeni Jardin at 03:59:20 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Gun safety vid: Jason 90210 Priestley + cartoon eagle

dwlfennell says,

I found an educational video entitled "Learn Gun Safety with Eddie Eagle" a few days ago at Goodwill. The video was produced by the NRA in 1992 with "Beverly Hills, 90210" heartthrob Jason Priestley as host. The animated cast includes a group a multi-racial youngsters lucky enough to actually find something interesting in their parents' closets and an anthropomorphic bald eagle who "raps" to the children about what they should do if they find a firearm.

Link. Features people and anthropomorphic eagles talking on oldschool brick cellphones.

Reader comment: brad says,

The Bay Area magazine The Wave used to run reviews of strange videos written by a guy named 'seanbaby'. This link goes to seanbaby's review of the Jason Priestly/Eddie the Eagle video (from the May 2003 issue of the magazine).

And that "a guy" would be seanbaby.com!

posted by Xeni Jardin at 02:59:23 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

NASA's new breakthrough in black hole simulation

Snip from NASA announcement:

According to Einstein's math, when two massive black holes merge, all of space jiggles like a bowl of Jell-O as gravitational waves race out from the collision at light speed. Previous simulations had been plagued by computer crashes. The necessary equations, based on Einstein's theory of general relativity, were far too complex. But scientists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., have found a method to translate Einstein's math in a way that computers can understand

Link, and space-o-licious MPEG video here: link. (Thanks, John Parres)

posted by Xeni Jardin at 02:48:24 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Early digital zine "Chaos Control" reissued online

Bob Gourley says,

Before the web as we know it was in wide use, Chaos Control Digizine was published in Macintosh HYPERCARD format. It was cheap (actually free until the color version came out) and provided a lot of possibilities for interactivity and multimedia. These issues were posted on various online and BBS services, as well as distributed on disk (floppy!) Looking at these Hypercard issues again, they stand up pretty well (despite an overuse of Kai’s Powertools in the color editions!). To provide a peek at the origins of Chaos Control Digizine, we’ve posted issues #2 and #8 for downloading. Of course you’ll need a Macintosh to view them, as well as the Hypercard player (follow the link below if you need it.) Unfortunately, Hypercard was never updated for OSX, so it will launch classic mode. Please ignore any weirdness, such as text occasionally getting cut off due to font issues , as these ARE over a decade old!

Link

posted by Xeni Jardin at 02:38:19 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

To do in Second Life tonight: CC head attorney speaks!

Wagner James Au from Second Life says,

Creative Commons general counsel Mia Garlick, known in Second Life as Mia Wombat (fetching picture of her avatar here) is speaking tonight at 6pm PST on the big island of Kula, the isle just purchased by Joi Ito for events like this. SL accounts are free, so to attend, just create one and in the interface, click Map, type "Kula 4" in Find Region, hit Enter, then Teleport.

Link

posted by Xeni Jardin at 02:33:58 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Google: Pay-to-send email is lame

Danny O'Brien, who is debating Esther Dyson tonight in San Francisco on the question of whether you should pay to send email, says,

Google says its user-filters work fine, and it won't take money from senders to skip them, as AOL is planning in its Goodmail deal: "Gmail does not accept payment to bypass its filters, nor are there plans to charge senders to reach Gmail users"

Link to WebPro News article.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 02:28:59 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Robot to break robot swimming record

A temperature- and salinity-monitoring robot will swim from Greenland to Spain, gathering global warming data as it cruises. If all goes as planned, it will break the robot swimming distance record. Snip:

An autonomous underwater vehicle, or AUV, Spray is a joint venture between the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in California. When deployed, it will act as an aquatic sentinel, gathering data on temperature, currents and salinity that will help scientists better understand the role of oceans in regulating the global climate. The main point of the Greenland-Spain run is to test its endurance -- if successful, the robot will break its own record of 1,864 nautical miles for the longest distance ever traveled by an AUV. But the big goal, which researchers hope to meet by 2011, is to deploy hundreds of these gliders worldwide, giving scientists a constant telepresence in the ocean.

Link to PopSci article (via therawfeed, thanks, Nick Douglas)

posted by Xeni Jardin at 02:24:12 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Psychedelic fish

A new scientific study in the journal Clinical Toxicology reports on two men who suffered long, bad trips after eating Sarpa salpa fish in Mediterranean restaurants. This kind of hallucinogenic fish poisoning, called Ichthyoallyeinotoxism, was previously only reported in the Indo Pacific. From Practical Fishkeeping magazine:

The effects of eating ichthyoallyeinotoxic fishes, such as certain mullet, goatfish, tangs, damsels and rabbitfish, are believed to be similar to LSD, and may include vivid and terrifying auditory and visual hallucinations. This has given rise to the collective common name for ichthyoallyeinotoxic fishes of "dream fish"...

Indoles, with similar chemical effects to LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) are believed to be responsible and may be consumed when the fish eat algae or phytoplankton containing the chemicals. All of the species effected by ichthyoallyeinotoxism are algal grazers.

Others have claimed that different species of ichthyoallyeinotoxic fishes, such as Kyphosus fuseus, contain much more potent hallucinogens, such as dimethyltryptamine or DMT, which is considered to be one of the world's most mind-bending hallucinogenic chemicals.

Link

posted by David Pescovitz at 02:07:14 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

To do in NYC tonight: Flarf (absurd net-inspired poetry) fest

BoingBoing reader Jordan says,

Following up on an earlier BoingBoing post that referenced Bruce Sterling's comments about Flarf, The first "Flarf Festival" begins tonight at 8 pm at the Medicine Show Theater, 52nd Street between 10 & 11 in NYC. Admission is $8 each night, or $20 for a three-night pass. Link to event info. Also, there's a more definitive Flarf anthology at Jacket: Link.

While I'm at it, I found a pretty awesome piece of readymade flarfetry in my junkmail folder. Maybe I'm just googly-eyed over spam text because of all the Flarf posts, or maybe it's because 4/20 is the kind of day that tends to make people spaced out -- but this one seemed special. I'll dig some more up and see if I can, like, get a book deal or a federal grant for 'em or something. Full text after the junk. I mean, jump.
More...

posted by Xeni Jardin at 11:43:46 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

San Berdoo bluenose orders removal of scholarly manga book from public libraries

Bill Postmus, the chairman of the board of supervisors in San Bernardino County, California has banned Manga: 60 Years of Japanese Comics from public libraries, citing it as obscene. What a jerk.

The 2004 trade paperback, written by Paul Gravett and published by Harper Design, is a history of Japanese comics, and includes, in several chapters, discussion of adult comics that depict sex and violence. The violence was apparently not an issue, nor was the fact that the reproductions of panels that feature sexual situations were, as far as we could tell, all R-rated and treated in a serious, scholarly way. Postmus' statement and the local newspaper coverage made much of the fact that the book contains "sex with animals," but we couldn't find it; we must not have looked as hard.

Link (thanks, Rogier!) Ray says: "The offending picture was on page 144, a picture of a fairy having sex with a squirrel. The original image was from Bondage Fairies.

"What probably got the book pulled was the fact that it was shelved as a Young Adult book, despite a Library Journal article mentioning the numerous pictures of sex and gore. It's a great book, but it needs to be shelved as an adult book."

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 10:36:29 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Make's Phillip Torrone on G4 TechTV

In anticipation of the fabulous Maker Faire this weekend (over 10,000 people are expected to come!), Make senior editor Phillip Torrone appeared on G4 TechTV. Here's a video clip from the show. Link

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 10:15:58 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Jasmina Tesanovic, Belgrade: Floods and Bombs

Jasmina Tesanovic
Floods and Bombs
April 20, Belgrade

For the first time in my recent life, we Serbians are the first headline on CNN news without any mention of Milosevic or war crimes. Our new specialty is floods, global warming I guess, political neglect I am sure, and young girls in high heels.

Trust me, I am not joking: Serbian young girls whose high heels pierced the sandbags meant to keep the rising water away from decent citizens who sleep innocently... their menacing shoes now outrank Iranian nuclear weapons. Time is money in the world of big broadcast. TV publicity for the Croatian seaside... Montenegro casinos and then surfers in Serbia... and hey, surfers close to my street! Serbian teens dragged past on cars, jeeps, on homemade surfboards.

I am looking for kids that I know personally... It reminds me of the bombing days when our kids used to cruise in those few buses spared in those idle days of no schools. The kids would jump into buses and visit the bombed building and craters in order to see bodies or weapons or soldiers, or fallen planes, anything that would make the invisible long boring bombing into a real issue in their minds. I could never convince them that the dust of a crater might have depleted uranium or that an unexploded bomb might go off. As my daughter put it at the time: if I have to die, I choose to be killed with my best friend Sarah and not with my mom sleeping at home. How could I object to that kind of argument?

More...

posted by Xeni Jardin at 10:14:39 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Chad's "Design For Television" (1960)

Stephen Worth, director of ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive says:

"Today at the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive, we digitized a lesson on design for television written by the cartoonist, Chad in 1960. It has amazing images from 1950s animated commercials and examples of vintage storyboards, from thumbnails to finished boards.

"Chad was a Disney animator who created the very first commercials for television way back in 1938, when there were no more than fifty television sets in the entire country. He was a pioneer of 'funny animal' comics as well. He passed away last year in his nineties.

"Another great cartoonist that more people should know about!" Link

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 10:08:03 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

It's JerryTime nominated for Emmy

The wonderfully weird webshow, It's JerryTime, has been nominated for an Emmy. Congratulations, Jerry and Orrin! Link

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 09:49:52 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Don Cheadle's new Uganda doc Journey into Sunset

Last May, actor Don Cheadle and his family traveled to Kampala, Uganda for a fundraiser screening of Hotel Rwanda to benefit the "night commuters" of Northern Uganda. These are the children who have to flee their homes every night and hide in urban camps to avoid being forced to fight in the rebel Lords Resistance Army.

Filmmaker and longtime ABC News producer Rick Wilkinson traveled with the Cheadle family, and documented what they found in a 24-minute short called "Journey Into Sunset." The film profiles the lives of some of these children, some of whom did not manage to avoid being kidnapped:

They lived or died at the will and whim of their captors. They were forced to fight. And some commited horrible atrocities. We meet some of the kids managed to escape the clutches of the LRA. They're free now, but the scars on their souls will never heal.

I first heard about the film when I met Rick a few weeks ago in Los Angeles, at the home of a mutual friend. I haven't seen it yet, but it sounds and looks incredible, from what's on the website.

Rick now shares word with BoingBoing that the film will premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in NYC on April 26, where both he and producer John Prendergast will present for a Q&A. Journey will also be screening at the Boston Film Festival, the Atlanta Film Festival, and (probably) the Maui Film Festival, all of which take place in June.

I can't wait to see this film. Link to website, and here are screening details for the Tribeca premiere on (April 26, with a few more NYC screenings over the week that follows.

Image above: Cheadle with "night commuter" children at a camp called "Noah's Ark," photo by Rick Wilkinson. (Thanks, Scott Shulman and Rick Wilkinson!)

posted by Xeni Jardin at 09:11:01 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

To do in SF this weekend: HOWTO Podcast workshop

My NPR News colleague Stacy Bond shares word that San Francisco-based AudioLuxe will be holding another podcasting workshop this weekend. Some blogosphere pals attended the last edition, and all the reviews I heard came back enthusiastically positive. Stacy 'splains:

We're holding another Content Crash Course this weekend, April 22nd and 23rd. We’re doing them monthly now. This time around, Tom Krymkowski – a stellar mixing engineer who works on a couple of rather well-known SF podcasts and travels around the country with NPR’s Next Generation Radio – will handle the technical side of the class; he’ll cover things like setting up a mix and choosing a good mic.

As usual, I’ll cover the content stuff: writing for the ear, booking hot guests, streamlining the production process and so on.

More...

posted by Xeni Jardin at 09:00:01 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

The Integraton, an architectural icon of fringe UFOlogy

The Integratron is a delightful "acoustically perfect tabernacle and energy machine sited on a powerful geomagnetic vortex in the magical Mojave Desert." Aircraft engineer George Van Tassel began construction on The Integratron in 1954 based on designs provided to him by extraterrestrial architects. "The Integratron is a machine, a high-voltage electrostatic generator that would supply a broad range of frequencies to recharge the cell structure," the late Van Tassel once said. Today's Los Angeles Times tours The Integratron where the Retro UFO Space Convention will take place next weekend. From the LA Times (photo by Irfan Khan):

(Van Tassel) built the dome for $150,000 over 18 years starting in 1957, claiming that he was inspired by a predawn meeting with a visitor from Venus named Solgonda.

Van Tassel and his family lived in a hollowed-out chamber under Giant Rock, a seven-story free-standing boulder plopped on the edge of Landers three miles north of the dome.

He didn't complete the electrostatic device at the heart of the dome before he died in 1978, and his plans and equipment to finish the 50-megavolt Integratron disappeared soon after his death.

The outlandish dome and its unlikely location are "a monument to one man's field of dreams," said Joanne Karl, 51, one of three sisters who own the dome and have worked to restore it.

Link to LA Times article, Link to The Integraton home page (Thanks, Paul Saffo!)

posted by David Pescovitz at 08:46:59 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Debating Digg's methodology: editor- or user-driven?

On ForeverGeek today, a critical post questions the ranking methodology behind Digg, a website that clusters news and links of interest from around the web. As more readers "digg" a link, that link ranks progressively higher, the idea goes. The higher a url climbs on the Digg charts, the more people end up seeing it, and so on.  But critics say the site's administrators may be skewing the system by applying their own editorial selection.  Link to "Digg Corrupted: Editor's Playground, not User-Driven Website."

Fark.com founder Drew Curtis tells BoingBoing:

About a year and a half or so ago we added headline voting to Fark. The idea was that TFers could submit and vote on funnier headlines for articles approved to Fark's main page that hadn't shown up elsewhere yet.

We had to disable the feature because the funniest ones weren't getting picked.

Social engineering self-selects the least-offensive crap right to the top. It's a great idea but it doesn't scale.

This isn't the first time critics have poked around with Digg's innards. David Johnson at RealTechNews has a 2005 post on the topic here.

A quick scan of the web doesn't reveal any rebuttal statement from the Digg folks, but I'd welcome the opportunity to post a response here. (Thanks Drew Curtis!)

Reader comment: Andrew Fisher says,

Here is a reply on some Digg practices from founder Kevin Rose: Link.

Reader comment: And here's a more thorough response from Kevin Rose:

Recently it was brought to our attention that several users have created accounts to mass digg and promote stories. While these accounts appear to be valid, they have in certain instances been used for automated in-order (scripted) digging. This is a violation of our terms of service and the accounts have since been banned.

As you can imagine with over 250,000 registered users (and adding thousands more per week) we are constantly monitoring and looking for user SPAM/fraud. Internally, we have several methods for detecting fraud which results in DOZENS of banned accounts per day.

The banning of forevergeek.com: Aside from the dozens of user reports, several accounts were created to artificially inflate the digg count of their stories. When a single URL hits a threshold of reports, our standard procedure is to block that URL from submission (spam control). Again, mass fraud digging is in violation of our terms of service.

Missing stories: A common question we receive is the confusion surrounding missing stories. Once a story has received enough user reports it is automatically removed from the digg queue or homepage (depending on where the story is living at that time). The number of reports required varies depending on how many diggs the story has. This system is going to change in the near future. Shortly after the next major launch of digg (v3.1), reported stories will fall into a 'buried stories' bin. Users will have the ability to pick through this story bin and vote to have a story reinstated should they believe it was falsely reported. Expect to see this feature in the next few months.

On a personal note: It has been pointed out that I too have dugg these fraud stories. I digg stories I enjoy reading and currently track over 40 users within digg. If it's good content, I digg it.

Link (thanks, Andrew Fischer)

posted by Xeni Jardin at 08:35:43 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Samurai helmet with antlers on eBay

This handsome Samurai hat is currently up for auction on eBay. From the item description:

This Suji Kabuto features classic handcrafted 16 plate design. Each plate is capped by brass fukurin trim most likely added in the Edo period. The Hachi metal shows a great deal of age and has a beautiful multi layered tehen at the top. The patina on the metal is quite nice. The visor is also trimmed in fukurin. The 5 lame Shikoro is finished with a black lacquer and blue lacing. The liner is partially intact but can easily be replaced. The wakidate are very impressive with the use of Deer Antlers on either side of the Kabuto.

Link to eBay auction, Link to more information from Shogun Armory (Thanks, Michael-Anne Rauback!)

posted by David Pescovitz at 08:29:48 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Google in China: The Big Disconnect

Snip from an extensive feature by Clive Thompson in the NYT:

The small rooms were full of eager young Chinese men in hip sweatshirts clustered around enormous flat-panel monitors, debugging code for new Google projects. "The ideals that we uphold here are really just so important and noble," Lee told me. "How to build stuff that users like, and figure out how to make money later. And 'Don't Do Evil' " — he was referring to Google's bold motto, "Don't Be Evil" — "all of those things. I think I've always been an idealist in my heart."

Yet Google's conduct in China has in recent months seemed considerably less than idealistic. In January, a few months after Lee opened the Beijing office, the company announced it would be introducing a new version of its search engine for the Chinese market. To obey China's censorship laws, Google's representatives explained, the company had agreed to purge its search results of any Web sites disapproved of by the Chinese government, including Web sites promoting Falun Gong, a government-banned spiritual movement; sites promoting free speech in China; or any mention of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. If you search for "Tibet" or "Falun Gong" most anywhere in the world on google.com, you'll find thousands of blog entries, news items and chat rooms on Chinese repression. Do the same search inside China on google.cn, and most, if not all, of these links will be gone. Google will have erased them completely.

reg-free Link (Thanks, Kathryn Cramer)

posted by Xeni Jardin at 08:08:40 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Firefox plugin cracks PDF copy-restriction

Sherwood sez, "This Firefox extension allows you to view linked PDFs as HTML, allowing the same copy protection bypass mentioned in Cory's Use Gmail to break PDF copy restrictions post." Link

Update: SAPO suggests breaking the DRM with MacOS X:

* Open the restricted PDF in ColorSync.
* Choose File: Save as, and name it whatever you like.
* Open the saved file in Adobe Reader or Preview and enjoy!

posted by Cory Doctorow at 03:11:59 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

New CC-licensed illustrated SF novella from gonzo writer Sundman

John Sundman, author of the gonzo science fiction novels Acts of the Apostles and Cheap Complex Devices has released a new Creative Commons-licensed, illustrated novella, The Pains:

Mr. Lux knew he should pray, but somehow the pains made prayer impossible. He thought, I am twenty-four years old. I am going to die with my body crushed to liquid and my head neatly garroted off by a thin layer of woven fabric that weighs less than eight ounces. He sensed his mouth moving as if to laugh at the thought, but the laugh was frozen in his immobile torso. Can't laugh. Can't breath. I guess I can’t call for help either. But he could still move his head, which he now did, deliberately, casting his eyes around the sparse cell, nine feet wide by twelve feet long, that had been his home for the last three years.

The ancient whitewashed fieldstone walls did not lend themselves to decoration. Centered on one wall, above him and to his left, there was a simple noosifix precariously hanging from an irregularity in a rock. On the opposite wall, to his right, hanging from a nail driven in to a chink in the cement, there was a kitschy airbrushed painting of a thatched cottage surrounded by flowers and with a pair of bluebirds sitting at the apex of the roof. In the short wall beyond his feet there was a narrow casement window with diamond-shaped leaded-glass panes through which he could see blurry hints of trees green with tiny leaves of early spring. Below the window were a desk and chair. On the desk: a Holy Tibble; a Fredian missal; copies of Byte, Datamation and Electrical Engineering Times; a textbook on nonlinear circuits, and one Alfred the Drinking Duck perpetual motion toy.

Link

posted by Cory Doctorow at 02:10:08 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Self-weighing luggage

Ricardo Beverly hills haas a line of self-weighing luggage with in-built scales that tell you how much they weigh before you get to the airport and get dinged for overweight charges. Link (via Red Ferret)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 01:23:38 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

CustomerMade conference streaming in a few hours

Denmark's Innovation Lab and O'Reilly Media are hosting the CustomerMade conference tomorrow, April 20. It starts just a few hours from now Denmark time. (Previous post about CustomerMade here.) For those of us who couldn't make it to Copenhagen, the Innovation Lab is streaming the proceedings on LabTV Live beginning at 8:30 GMT (12:30am PST). CustomerMade should be a great appetizer for MAKE's big Maker Faire in San Mateo this weekend! From the CustomerMade site:

The outsourcing of key business functions – from textile production to software - to low cost labour countries is one of the key trends of the past five years. The next wave of outsourcing is starting to take place in the heart of the home market: the market itself is taking over all phases of production, from concept development and design to finished product. The phenomenon of ‘user-driven innovation’ goes beyond do-it-your-selfing, customization, and personalization. It’s no longer a matter of choosing between models – customers are designing the very models they choose.

Link to LabTV Live, Link to CustomerMade info

posted by David Pescovitz at 09:22:40 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

R.U. Sirius interviews Blag Dahlia of The Dwarves

Funny conversation with Blag Dahlia of the seminal punk rock band The Dwarves on this week’s RU Sirius Show Link

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 08:59:35 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Video to end civil war in N Uganda

Andy sez, "Invisible Children is a non-profit that has been fighting to end a horrifying 20 year war in Northern Uganda. They've organized a national protest event for April 29th. They just released this insane & amazing music video to help promote the event. Definitely worth checking out and definitely an organization worth supporting." Link

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:53:25 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Weird Japanese "instructional" vid: Let's Sexy English

I don't know the story behind this kooky/pervy morsel. If appearances are true, it's a Japanese instructional video that teaches English phrases for picking up gaijin hotties. It could also be an excuse to drool over chicks clad in teacher and schoolgirl uniforms who say dirty words in lo-res. Perhaps one of our Japanese-speaking readers can clue us in. Link

Reader comment: Anonymous Japanese speaker says,

I think it's the intro gimmick from some porn. Check out the extremely cautious mosaicing when the girl reveals her panty-clad cockpit to Taro. I've got 1000 yen right here that says that after they move onto standard porn sex (maybe with some forced English cries of pleasure). The other proof is the "nukenagara manaberu" that the main teacher says at the start -- "you can learn while jerking off". It's not at all uncommon for Japanese porn videos to be that direct about helping the viewer masturbate. I dunno about overseas.

Also, the reason "omanko" (cockpit) is censored and "ochinchin" isn't because "omanko" is a stronger word than "ochinchin". "Ochinchin" is more like "willy" than "dick", but "omanko" really is like "pussy", or maybe even "cunt".

Reader comment: NH says,

This *does* appear to be an instructional video on talking dirty in English. I've only studied Japanese for a little while now but I gather that the female host is telling the audience ("mina-san") that she and the women behind her are "sexy teachers" ("watashi-tachi sexy sensei ga") and that they are glad to meet you. Before holding up a giant cue-card spelling out "dick" she explains that they'll begin with "simple study" ("kantana-kara-no-benkyoushimashou"). Following that, but before the totally hot conversation (or train wreck of words, but who's counting?) they go from "simple study" to.... "not-simple study." You wish I was kidding. If you're baffled by what the symptoms of a nasty case of taro could involve, you should see a doctor immediately.

Reader comment: Alex Waters, who presumably speaks Japanese and is not just pulling our cockpit, says:

It's indeed an instructional video on talking dirty in English, and it's HILARIOUS. But they encourage you to drool as well - the viewer is offered a choice of studying either conversation or "masterbation" [sic]. After the teachers introduce themselves, they inform us that in order to learn to converse, we must first study some basic vocabulary. (Note to readers: Are you SURE you know the definition of "cockpit"?) As an interesting aside, it's acceptable to talk about dicks, but all the instances of "manko" - "pussy" in Japanese - are bleeped out, and one character is censored when it's written onscreen as well.

After finishing up with vocabulary, the "Sexy Senseis" move on to real world applications - the conversation lesson! It simply must be seen to be believed. Luckily for the English speakers out there, the conversation lesson is all in English, and subtitled in both English and Japanese.

I can't WAIT to try out my new conversation skills and see if they work.

Reader comment: Rachel says,

Another noteworthy detail: it's pretty clear that none of the caucasian women in the video are native speakers of English.

It wouldn't surprise me at all if they were Russian, as there's a pretty large population of women from the former Soviet republics doing sex work in Japan. But their accents didn't sound Russian, so maybe they're from somewhere else. Anyway, sexual negotiations are definitely one of the more important purposes Japanese men have for conversational English.

On the site hosting the Youtube vid, it said the women were "overdubbed", but it sounds pretty clear to me that those were their real voices; they just don't speak English clearly because it isn't their native language.

Reader comment: Mark Malamud says,

I just got back from japan, and the video appears to be a parody of one-minute instructional english videos they're showing on jr trains and subways in japan (at least on the yamanote line).

posted by Xeni Jardin at 05:28:56 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Canned, fruit-flavored luxury oxygen on sale

A new group of manufacturers are marketing canned oxygen as a luxury pick-me-up, for when regular air won't do. It comes in flavors, and has been likened to bottled water: a thing you can get for free that you might pay money for anyway.

As far as the "new" canned oxygen product goes, it's not just plain ol' pure oxygen. You don't think that marketers would attempt to sell oxygen in a can without spicing it up and making it a bit more "extreme". Why breathe flavorless, odorless oxygen; when you can breathe "Mountain Breeze", or "Mint Escape". Canned oxygen manufacturers are creating all sorts of flavors and essences to add to their oxygen products including lemon flavor, Eucalyptus, cherry, mint, and a host of others. If you thought bottled water is big, wait until this product hits full stride. If you said to yourself back in the eighties, "who would pay for water in a plastic bottle", you might not want to miss out twice. The market has proven that ideas such as this, built on a foundation of being pure, fresh, and clean; can be destined to succeed.

Link (via Futurismic)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:26:50 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Spanish Love/Hate ambigram

Inspired by the Love/Hate ambigram t-shirt (a shirt that says Love when looked at directly, but Hate when viewed in a mirror) Ricardo asked Carlos Carpio Hernández, a well-known Spaniard ambigramist, to create a Spanish-language version, pictured here. It says "amor" (love) - and "y odio" (and hate) in mirror-writing. Link (Thanks, Ricardo!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:12:51 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Does microcredit help the developing world

Thomas Dichter has published an essay that is critical of "microfinance" -- the practice of making small loans to poor people in developing countries, the funds from which are intended to bootstrap entrepreneurial ventures, thus providing lasting means to move to self-reliance.

Dichter's critique is twofold: microfinance has been touted too widely and broadly, which has polluted the pool of microfinance as the technique is applied to individuals who can't benefit from it; and that the lack of microfinance isn't the root of the problem of poor people in failed states -- their problem is that their countries are ineptly led, and microfinance can't fix this.

I think it's useful to keep microfinance -- an idea I find personally exciting, based on the small-time entrepreneurs I've known in the developing world -- in perspective, but I find myself frustrated by this critique.

Every useful movement draws hangers-on who want to hitch their wagons to it -- that's why every dotcom had a P2P strategy when P2P investment was hot. This isn't an indictment of the idea -- just the reverse: carpetbaggers are most likely to affix themselves to useful things, not useless ones. Useful things draw money and attention, money and attention draw hustlers.

And it is certainly true that the problems of the developing world are deeper than the lack of microcredit: bad leaders and manipulation from the developed world are at the root of the problems of the developing world. But Dichter's critique doesn't advance a program for turning these problems around, just notes that microcredit is, of itself, insufficient to solve them. It's true, but to the extent that microcredit turns subsistence living into more comfortable living, it frees up resources for civic participation and political movements.

Richter does note that many microcredit funds target only very poor people who are indeed needy, but who haven't demonstrated any particular entrepreneurial acumen, and so many of those loans don't turn into successful, sustained self-reliance (of course, most businesses started in the developed world fail in the first three years, too). Paradoxically, those who have started small businesses are often ineligible for microcredit, because they've already come up with the money to start a business.

This is indeed a problem, and one that can and should be addressed. But I think that this substantial criticism of the systemic flaw in microcredit eligibility is really separate from the presence of bandwagon-jumpers and the inability of microcredit to topple dictatorships.

Microcredit evangelism is a familiar story for our industry: An idea that, after all, can produce some modest changes in the life of poor people (cash flow smoothing, confidence building, etc.) but that really works well only in some circumstances, is carried off by hype and urgency, offered as much more than it really is, and applied everywhere. As it grows it is inevitably caught up in the decades-old incentive structure of the development aid industry - people and institutions are rewarded for mobilizing and moving money, and for acting on the mistaken notion that the way to solve poverty is to go directly to the poor themselves. Since the 1970s, time and again our industry trades- in complex and contextual approaches to development (institutional, legal, governance, and other reforms) for bandaid solutions that produce at best marginal changes, but satisfy the need to be perceived as "doing something for the poor." Again, the question needs to be asked: Is the goal to ease the pain or to cure the disease?

Link (via Futurismic)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:04:55 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Competive eating book author interviewed

Salon interviews Ryan Nerz author of Eat This Book: A Year of Gorging and Glory on the Competitive Eating Circuit -- a book about people who competitively overeat, consuming (for example) 53 and one-quarter hot dogs in 12 minutes at events with names like the "Wing Bowl."

What else is really hard to eat and keep down competitively?

From what I understand, hot dogs really are the toughest because there's all that sodium and nitrates and then there's the bun -- most eaters dunk the buns in water because they are easier to swallow.

What are "meat sweats"?

When I first heard the term I thought it was another made-up term on the circuit. But then I heard people talk about it, and I don't know what it is about meat, but in the same way that asparagus emanates through your urine, meat perfuses through the skin. It's the essence of meat coming through you.

Link (Note: If you visit Salon via Boing Boing links, you are exempted from watching the Salon "day-pass" advertisement)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 04:48:36 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Armchair incorporates 5m of bookcase

The Bibliochaise is a gorgeous armchair that integrates five linear metres of book-shelf into its exterior. Regrettably, the manufacturer's site is built entirely of Flash and individual items can't be linked to -- link below goes to Gizmodo post on the chair. Link

posted by Cory Doctorow at 04:40:46 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Untapped comics riches - article from 1933 Modern Mechanics

From Charlie, this "1933 scanned article from Modern Mechanix discussing all of the then-successful comic artists, how they got their start, and how comics are made and distributed. Includes Ripley's Belive it or Not, Buck Rogers, Mutt & Jeff, Mickey Mouse, Popeye, Rube Goldberg and a lot more."

The "funnies" you read every day bring $8,000,000 a year to a small group of 200 cartoonists. How they rose to the top and how you can enter their select circle is told here by leading comic artists.

THAT laugh you had today over your favorite funny strip is worth money-- $200 to $1,000 a day to the cartoonist that made you chuckle.

His pen and ink characters are part of a great $8,000,000 industry that is far from overcrowded and that is practically depression proof.

Link

posted by Cory Doctorow at 04:31:23 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Sofa made from old tires

This beautiful sofa made from old tires was made by Italian designer Zak and exhibited at this year's Milan Auto Show. Link

posted by Cory Doctorow at 04:23:38 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Modern PC built into a Commodore PET/CBM

Flickr user ZSX modded an old Commodore PET/CBM to contain the guts of a modern PC, and documented the build with photos and notes. Link (via Make Blog)

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

Cory's story "Craphound" in Finnish

Toni Jerrman of the Finnish sf magazine Tähtivaeltaja has translated my story Craphound and released the translation under a Creative Commons by-nc-sa license.

Craphoundilla oli rautainen kirpputorikarma viheliäiseksi muukalaispaskiaiseksi. Hän oli niin loistava seulomaan esiin sen ainokaisen kultajyvän hillittömästä hyödyttömyyksien koskesta, etten voinut olla pitämättä hänestä – tai ainakaan kunnioittamatta häntä. Mutta sitten hän löysi cowboy-arkun. Minulle se merkitsi kahden kuukauden vuokraa, mutta Craphoundille se tyydytti vain jotain omituista muukalaisten rihkamafetissiä.

Link

posted by Cory Doctorow at 03:16:41 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Cute pink tank cozy

Link. Crafted for a peace protest in Copenhagen. The fluffy pom-pom dangling from the end of the gun barrel is a thoughtful touch. (thanks, Gillian!)

Reader comment: Ike says, "This Little Dee comic from March '06 appears to be the inspiration: Link."

Reader comment: Thomas Shaddack says,

The earliest incarnation of the pink tank meme that's known to me is the art project from April 28, 1991, when a tank standing in Prague as a monument was painted bright pink. The author of the prank was David Cerny, a Czech artist. Link.

Army painted it back green between May 1 and May 2 the same year. A group of members of the Federal Assembly then painted it back pink at May 12, as a reminder that there is no art project that can not be politicized. The monument was later disassembled and the pink tank is now in a military museum in Lesany. Link.

In 2002, a similar tank was painted pink in London: Link.

Reader comment: Allen Knutson says,

Monty Python's Big Red Book describes the exploits of the Pink Panzer AKA the Naughty Nazi. I forget if he drives a pink tank.

Reader comment:Jon Power says,

I used to live in Croydon, a horrible borough of Sarf London mate (South London). There was a builder who caught the second biggest marlin, had it stuffed, shipped back to Croydon and stuck on the roof of his house. But the Council told him to take it down because he didn't have planning permission to put a stuffed marlin on his roof. So to show his distress at the Council's decision, he would drive a pink tank around the Council offces in the centre of town. Around and around and around. It was only a small tank, but it was very pink. He built up a procession of his firm's lorries including one with an enormous pig, which no doubt represented the planning officers he was in dispute with. This went on for months, much to the pleasure of his staff, who got paid to annoy everyone. Every few days, at lunch time, the pink tank and pig procession would begin and go around and around. Happy days. Sadly, I have no photos and I cannot find one online. Perhaps other readers in Croydon can find one?

posted by Xeni Jardin at 02:25:21 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

CNET launching new online/broadcast TV network

Earlier this week, CNET announced a new VOD service that will package video content for online and on-TV distribution. Cox, TiVo and TVN are distribution partners with CNET TV, and video will also become available at the CNET website in the second half of 2006. Link to press release. (Thanks, D.A.!)

posted by Xeni Jardin at 01:42:49 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Phonecammed subway masturbator gets off (on 2 years probation)

Part-time NYC jackoff artist and full-time chauvinist jackass Dan Hoyt gets no fine or jail time -- just two years probation -- despite boasting that his phonecam-snapping victim would "probably want to go out with me." Barf. Instead of taking pictures of sexual harassers on trains, perhaps crime victims should consider using their cellphones as projectile nonlethal defense mechanisms. Nothing says "no thanks" like a Treo upside the head. 

posted by Xeni Jardin at 11:15:53 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Zach Trenholm's caricatures

Zach Trenholm is one of the best caricaturists alive, and his depictions of the American Idol judges in today's LA Times is an example of why I believe that. With just a few lines, he completely captures the look and personality of the celebrities he draws.

Link to LA Times article about American Idol.

Link to Zach Trenholm's portfolio.

Draw! magazine, Vol 7, has an excellent interview with Zach Trenholm. The interview is not online, but you can order a back issue for $9 from the publisher.

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 10:48:41 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Report: Yahoo implicated in 3rd China dissident case

The journalists' advocacy group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reports today that newly obtained court documents show Yahoo played a role in the imprisonment of yet another Chinese internet dissident:

Reporters Without Borders has obtained a copy of the verdict in the case of Jiang Lijun, sentenced to four years in prison in November 2003 for his online pro-democracy articles, showing that Yahoo ! helped Chinese police to identify him.

It is the third such case, following those of Shi Tao and Li Zhi, proving the implication of the American Internet company.

(...)According to the verdict, Yahoo ! Holdings (Hong Kong) confirmed that the email account ZYMZd2002 had been used jointly by Jiang Lijun and another pro-democracy activist, Li Yibing.

Link, and here is a PDF Link to the English translation of the court document.

Snip from a related AP item:

Yahoo's Hong Kong unit gave authorities a draft e-mail that had been saved on Jiang's account, the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders said, citing the verdict by the Beijing No. 2 People's Court. The group provided a copy of the verdict, which it said it obtained this week. (...)

Entitled "Declaration," the draft was similar to manuscripts called "Freedom and Democracy Party Program" and "Declaration of Establishment" that were recovered from a computer and a floppy disk owned by two other Internet activists, the verdict said.

Link.

In other news related to China and the 'net: blogger and filmmaker Hao Wu remains in jail. The former Earthlink and Excite employee was detained by authorities in Beijing nearly 60 days ago, but has not been charged with a crime. And to begin his visit to the United States, China's president Hu Jintao dined at Bill Gates' home last night. Image: President Hu with Ballmer and Gates. (Andy Clark/AFP/Getty Images) 

Previously:
- PEN files complaint against Yahoo over Shi Tao
- HK lawmaker: Yahoo unit had role in Shi Tao's jailing
- Report: verdict confirms Yahoo helped jail Li Zhi
- NPR: Yahoo may have aided in jailing of second China writer
- Xeni's LAT op-ed: war, blogs, news, and profit.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 10:23:52 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Baby, You Mean The World Of Warcraft To Me

Snip from an Onion op-ed by the velvet-voiced "Kevin Spivey":

You are the sun, the moon, the Cinderhide Armsplints of the Monkey. There is so much we have to offer one another. Unfailing loyalty, a Strength of 250, someone who can go out for snacks in the heat of battle. Can't you see we're made for each other?

Darling, no orc can keep me from you. I would make my way into the heart of Moonglade and fight an army of trolls just to be by your side. I would go up against Varimathras, the ruler of the Undead himself, if he so much as hinted that he was a danger to you. Make no mistake, I would get aggro on anyone who would threaten you.

This is, of course, provided the system is not down due to a faulty patch.

Link (Thanks, Frank!)

posted by Xeni Jardin at 10:10:38 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

A history of computing, in postage stamps

Link

(Thanks, Evan!)

posted by Xeni Jardin at 09:58:04 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Guess what this thing is and win $15

Random Good Stuff is having another one of its famous "Guess what this is and win $15" contests. If you think you know what this is, don't email me about it. Instead, go to Random Good Stuff and post your answer there. Link

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 09:54:33 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Christopher Wilde: currency collages

Christopher "C.K." Wilde snips and glues incredibly detailed collages out of paper money from around the world. The teeny-tiny web jpegs are beautiful; in person, the paper originals must be overwhelming. Link (Thanks, Reverse Cowgirl!)

posted by Xeni Jardin at 09:46:34 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Photos: alt.christian portraits in Ukraine and Colorado

Portraits of born-again Christians by photographer Johann Rousselot: New Life Church of Colorado Springs, and the Embassy of God, in Ukraine. (Thanks, Violet!)

posted by Xeni Jardin at 09:37:32 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Web zen: contribute zen

just curious
question swap
sketch swap
hand collector
visual dictionary
Web Zen Home, Store (Thanks Frank!)

posted by Xeni Jardin at 09:23:00 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Former Disney chief Eisner invests in 'net TV company

Michael Eisner announced earlier this week that he has invested in Veoh Networks, a San Diego-based company that delivers TV and video content online. Eisner will become a board member, and hasn't disclosed the amount of his investment...

But according to the company, Veoh has raised $12.5 million in venture financing from Eisner, Spark Capital and Time Warner.

Link to reg-free NYT story with details (Thanks, D.A.!).

posted by Xeni Jardin at 09:07:36 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Cartoon Network hosts benefit online art auction

kit says: "There is an online preview, prebid site for a benefit art auction. The work being auctioned off is by many of the luminaries of the animation world. Included are works by Stephen Hillenberg (SpongeBob), Craig McCracken(PPG's & Fosters), Genndy Tartakovsky (Dexter's Lab,Samaurai Jack) Tim Biskup, Craig Kellman, Butch Hartman (Fairly Odd Parents) and many more. Lots of original artwork with the money going to a good cause." Link

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 09:08:24 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Blogger makes fun of scary-looking pregnant instructional doll

Chris says: The blog Scary Toy Clown has a hilarious writeup of Gaumard Scientific's 'Interactive NOELLE Childbirth Simulator.'

"I presume this is what it looks like when you knock up a Realdoll." Link

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 09:00:01 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Pink -- New video by Charlie White

Charlie White's new video, "Pink," is really trippy. The pink bear reminds me of the robot bear in A.I.
Link (Thanks, Piggy!) (Previously on Boing Boing)

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 08:54:30 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Designer uses rubber bands to turn himself into Frankenstein's monster

Larry Knox, a designer faced with a very low budget to design a cover for Frankenstein, turned himself into the monster with the help of some rubber bands and Photoshop. Brilliant!

Larry says: "Armed with no budget to speak of and a 5 megapixel digital camera I was "faced" with the dilemma of creating a classic horror icon without being too dirivative or hokey for my employer, Prestwick House, Inc, an educational publisher of public domain titles. I came up with this idea, and although a bit painful, I achieved my goal and won an award for my efforts to boot! Sales have increased dramatically too. I came up with this step-by-step process and have received a lot of positive feedback from teachers and students." Link (thanks, Larry!)

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 08:43:18 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Crazy NOLA mayoral candidate doctors Disneyland photo - again

A bizarre NOLA mayoral candidate has been caught doctoring photos of herself standing in Disneyland. For the second time.

Kimberly Williamson Butler is the crazy New Orleans mayoral candidate who got busted for using a campaign photo of herself standing in what appeared to be the French Quarter, but which was revealed to be the New Orleans Square at Disneyland. The telltale was that the Disneyland trash-can was visible in the picture.

So Butler's campaign has "fixed" the photo -- they took out the trashcan, after getting threats from Disney's lawyers. Link (Thanks, Travis!)

Update: Ste3ve sez,"J Man, a talented young member of the Doombuggies.com message board came up with a much better photoshop of Kimberly Williamson Butler's photo for her mayoral candidacy."

Update 2: Matt sez, "The website has been updated once again. Now the Disneyland photo is gone completely, replaced by something that looks like a campaign poster."

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:50:03 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Comic makes funny of MPAA/RIAA

This is a way-funny comic-strip about the entertainment industry's "business model." Link (Thanks, Chris!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:56:21 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Footracers in San Fran will push a Katamari Damacy ball

Racers in San Francisco's notorious funny-footrace Bay to Breakers will run it while pushing a giant cardboard Katamari Damacy ball!

You've played it. You've rolled it. You've hummed that tune over and over again. And now it's time to put your katamari where your hands are, and join [info]soundhive and i for Bay To Breakers, as we roll a FREAKING HUGE cardboard katamari that shall be carved out of refrigerator boxes, and decorated with elements of the city that we've rolled up along the way. You can come as yourself, or choose from a blithering variety of roll-tastic cousins and kings of cosmoses. It's crowded, it's nerdy, it's way to early in the morning. But by Jumboman, i've got to do something with all this extra carpetfoam that i've got in my garage. The weekends leading up will have katamari construction as well as costume making for those dolicephalic heads.

Link

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:53:51 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Where He-Man came from

This interview with Roger Sweet, creator of the He-Man franchise, recounts the story of the birth of the Masters of the Universe:

[Mattel president] Ray Wagner had passed on Star Wars because the license property apparently required $750,000 upfront. At the time, for an unproven property, that was a highly exorbitant sum. So Wagner had Mattel's Prelimary Design Department - of which I was a member - Come up with viable male action figure concepts. I had been real impressed by Frank Frazetta paintings and I [submitted an idea] that I called monster fantasy. But it was actually a barbarian fantasy...

When I first saw the [first year of the] Masters of the Universe line all together I thought it was somewhat weak because it was low-tech and it was conservative. My concept of MOTU was that it combined everything- low-tech, high-tech, past, present and future. I wanted MOTU to be as expansive as possible and do anything that was appealing. I would love to see a G.I. Joe segment in MOTU. I wouldn't mind seeing a character like [Child's Play] Chucky in it.

Link

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:41:39 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Feebs demand chance to censor muckracking journo's papers

Derek sez, "George Wash. U archive has the papers of Jack Anderson who investigated and wrote about Watergate, CIA assassination schemes, and countless scandals. The FBI is trying to demand first access to the papers so they can remove anything they deem 'top-secret'."

Were he alive today, Jack Anderson "would probably come out of his skin at the thought of the FBI going through his papers," said Kevin N. Anderson, the journalist's son. If papers were taken -- even if some were stamped "declassified" and returned -- that would "destroy any academic, scholarly, and historic value" of the archive, Kevin Anderson adds.

The FBI would not comment for this article.

Link (Thanks, Derek!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:39:26 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Video of a congested street in India

Here's a hypnotically captivating video of a congested street in India. The pedestrians, scooter drivers, impossibly tiny-car drivers, and huge-truck drivers seem to have ESP because everything flows so smoothly. Some band should use this for their music video.

Hob Gadling says: If you've visited India, you'll know that driving is akin to a martial art. (They don't give black belts yet, but they should!) Here's a video I found on 'It Rocks Everything' showing a small intersection in India.

Things to look out for:
* The pedestrian momentarily trapped between a car and a scooter
* The white car in the top right corner which goes the wrong way

Of course, India has one of the world's worst automobile accident statistics, but as I kid growing up in Mumbai, I crossed much busier streets and lived to tell the tale. (However, anyone else from India will tell you, I had it easy growing up in Mumbai, most other cities are worse!)

Link

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 01:37:52 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Man fined $50 for using device to change traffic signals

A man from Longmont, Colorado was fined $50 when the cops caught him using a gizmo that supposedly changes traffic lights from red to green. he says he paid $100 on eBay for it. He had been using it for two years, and says the thing "paid for itself" by saving him time spent waiting for signal lights to change.

The device, called an Opticon, is similar to what firefighters use to change lights when they respond to emergencies. It emits an infrared pulse that receivers on the traffic lights pick up.

Niccum was cited after city traffic engineers who noticed repeated traffic light disruptions at certain intersections spotted a white Ford pickup passing by whenever the patterns were disrupted.

(Buy your own "traffic control preemptive device" here for just $299.99.) Link (Thanks, Kelly!)

Reader comment: Trevor says: "I work at a city in Southern California and I asked our Traffic Engineers about 'personal use' of the infrared preemptive devices. Not only did they say you would get in trouble (duh!), but they also said it wouldn't work because for most cities, when you use the preemptive device it changes all the lights to RED. Which makes more sense because it's safer for the emergency vehicle, they already have the right-of-way and with all the lights switched to red they don't have to worry about anybody turning in front of them..."

Reader comment: Jon says:

Just thought I'd contribute a little factual information. I'm a traffic engineer that enjoys designing traffic signals for a living. The use of signal "preemption" equipment is VERY common in Northwest states, (like Oregon where I live) and is installed at 80% or more of existing signalized intersections. The right to preempt signals is normally assigned to fire/paramedic vehicles, though some cities/counties also allow ambulances and/or police this capability. In every case I'm familiar with, the preempting vehicle receives a GREEN light and all other movements are shown a RED light. Why, because the green light is needed to move blocking vehicles out of the way!

The most common technology uses an infrared light, mounted to a vehicle, that pulses at a fast rate (15,000 Hz +/-). If the equipment is less than 10 years old it likely has the ability to ID the vehicle by reading a digital signature in the infrared beam. It is virtually impossible for a unauthorized person to take advantage of this system. Further, most modern signal systems are able to log preemption activity, making it easy to find an offender.

One last thing, it is a federal offense to tamper with traffic signal preemption. SAFETEA-LU made illegal use of a 'traffic signal preemption transmitter' (MIRTS et al). The original bill, HR 1122 introduced in the 109th Congress in March 2005 was incorporated into SAFETEA-LU shortly thereafter and passed with the rest as Public Law No: 109-059 on 8/10/2005.

Reader comment: Jeremy says: "In response to your article about the guy being fined for using a traffic preemption device I thought I'd point out a DIY solution. iHacked.com has instructions that will supposidly allow you to build your own. I haven't tried it, but from reading the instructions it looks like anyone who is comfortable with a soldering iron should be able to put one of these together." Link

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 01:22:16 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Excellent faked video: Air Force One tagged with spray paint

This video is fake. But it looks convincing to me. It shows Marc Ecko tagging the US President's Air Force One jet with the words "Still Free." Link (Thanks, Bill!)

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 01:02:41 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

ScienceMatters@Berkeley, April 2006 issue

My new issue of ScienceMatters@Berkeley is now online. I hope you enjoy it! Inside:

* Nanowired: a novel nanoscale transistor

* Island Tales: digging through two thousand year-old garbage

* Improving Impoverished Children's Brains: diet, games, and fun spur neuron growth

Link

posted by David Pescovitz at 11:31:56 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Midget Motors -- maker of the King Midget automobile

I was flipping through an April 1960 issue of Popular Science and came across this tiny ad (Click on thumbnail above for enlargement) for the "new" King Midget, billed as the "World's Lowest Priced Car."

A quick Google search revealed the International King Midget Car Club, Inc. which has a nice history of this cute/ugly little vehicle.

Midget Motors Corporation was started in 1946 by a couple of WWII civil air patrol pilot buddies. They sold the King Midget as a single passenger kit. The engine was not included, but you could install any one-cylinder engine you wanted into the car. Later, you could buy the King Midget fully assembled, with a rip-roaring 6-horsepower engine in it. It came in one color: "California Cream."

Among all automobiles ever manufactured, throughout the world, King Midget holds one untouchable record. King Midget was the only small car continuously manufactured for nearly a quarter of a century; from 1946 until operations ceased in 1970. In addition, Midget Motors Corporation was the sixth largest automobile manufacturer in the United States for a number of years.

Supposedly, the Midget is back, or will be soon, with a 72-Volt electric kit on the way, and gas and diesel versions to follow. Link

Reader comment: Joey says: "Just wanted to add that the King Midget Jamboree, an annual event, will be held Aug. 10-13 in Athens, Ohio. More info will be available on the King Midget Car Club website as the date gets nearer.

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 11:26:51 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Neatorama's "Four Things I Love ABout LA" list

A while back, Coop tagged me to compile a "Four Things I Love About LA" list. I posted my list on Mad Professor, and tagged four other Los Angelinos. Today, Alex S. of Neatorama published his list, and it's neat. He wrote about "4 Neat Things about the Streets of LA," "Four Neat LA Signs," "Four Neat LA Museums," "Four Neat Places to Eat and Drink in LA," "4 Neat LA Buildings," and "4 Neat LA Art Installations."

Police Chases

On average, 15 people in try to drive away from the cops in LA on any given day - much more than any other parts of the country!

Indeed, car chases (remember OJ’s famous slow speed chase?) are a part of LA - they are often televised ("breaking news") and they consistently garner high ratings.

Link

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 11:02:36 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

How much toilet paper is enough?

Cottonelle Kids toilet paper is designed to assist kids in using the "right amount" of toilet paper each time. According to the directions, the "paw prints show kids how much toilet paper to use. Kids follow the prints to the puppy and tear off the right amount." At Parent Hacks, Asha Dornfest points out that the "right amount," according to Cottonelle, seems to be about five squares, and that simply may not be enough:

Everyone's got their own method -- some fold, some wrap, some crumple, and all these configurations require different amounts of toilet paper. How can such a personal ritual be standardized? Indeed, should it be?

If you must know more (including the answer to "When I tear the toilet paper, the perforations on the two plies don't line up. How do I fix this?") be sure to read the Cottonelle Kids FAQ. Or, perhaps you'd like to print out some super-fun Cottonelle Kids puzzles and games.

Link to Parent Hacks, Link to Cottonelle Kids site

posted by David Pescovitz at 10:44:20 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Amy Crehore's "Monkey Love Series" prints for sale

Painter Amy Crehore just opened the "Monkey Love Store," and is selling six high quality prints from her astounding "Monkey Love" series. Link

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 10:29:53 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Cryptid photo contest winner

Last year, I posted that Hasbro-owned Wizards of the Coast was sponsoring a $1 million bounty for a photo leading to a live capture of a Bigfoot, Nessie, Yeti, or other cryptid. They "reconsidered based on safety concerns" and instead decided to offer $5,000 for "the photo that best perpetuates the mystique surrounding the hunt for the legendary creatures." Seen here is part of the winning entry, a shot of Mothman taken by 13-year-old Erik Starn of Wayne, Pennsylvania. More info at Cryptomundo.
Link

posted by David Pescovitz at 10:26:00 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Ballet conducted by the Earth

Today is the 100th anniversary of the earthquake that destroyed San Francisco in 1906. To commemorate the centennial, engineer/artist Ken Goldberg collaborated with composer Randall Packer and San Francisco Ballet principal dancer Muriel Maffre to create a dance, titled Ballet Mori, conducted by the Earth. At the premier performance earlier this month, Maffre danced in response to a musical composition modulated live in real time by the fluctuations of the Earth's movement as measured by a networked seismometer at the Hayward Fault.
Link to project page with video, Link to NPR's Weekend America story, Link to Wired magazine article

posted by David Pescovitz at 10:14:45 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Jasmina Tesanovic, Belgrade: Scorpions Trial, April 13

[Ed. Note: This essay is part of a series of first-person accounts by Ms. Tesanovic from the "Scorpions" war crimes trial in Belgrade. Members of the "anti-terrorist" police unit are accused of atrocities against civilians during the war in former Yugoslavia.)

Jasmina Tesanovic
Belgrade, April 13, 2006

Hague Links

Today' s session was closed for the audience, however we Women in Black managed to get a permit to attend since that is our trade, the judge said.  She judged me from head to foot as I entered her office, seated me and signed the permit, but then once inside she asked us not to write about the testimony of the protected witness A because he asked so.

And I won't, also because all he said I already knew and wrote in the sessions before: I guessed out in previous reports what this link witness from Hague said. It wasn't that hard but his testimony has the impact of evidence, that's why it is important and closed for the public.

His body language is that of a troubled man who is hiding something but saying as much as he can He sounds intelligent and sly. He says a historical phrase, there always is one; a normal person would not execute such order, not that I was normal then, but a normal person would say NO, there have been examples in history of people who did it and got away with it.

Asked as to what is normality for him he explained thoughtfully: a normal person would not go to fight a war, he would stay back home. Once you are there you stop being normal.

[Image: Goranka Matic, Srebenica, 2002.]
More...

posted by Xeni Jardin at 06:55:39 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Eyeing Iran nuclear site history with Google Earth

Kathryn Cramer says,

Ogle Earth's Stefan Gens found some new high-resolution imagery of Iran's nuclear processing facilities and turned them into an overlay: New satellite imagery of Iran's nuclear sites - now on Google Earth.

And Stefan explains,

The Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) has released new commercial imagery of Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities taken by DigitalGlobe just a few weeks ago. The images are in a PDF report by Paul Brannan and David Albright, the latter an ex-UN arms inspector and nuclear proliferation expert. (ISIS, whose motto is "Employing science in the pursuit of international peace" has impeccable non-partisan credentials.)

The PDF is fascinating, but the main images lack easy historical comparisons. Luckily, Google Earth already has very high resolution imagery of both the Natanz and Isfahan sites from a few years ago, also taken by DigitalGlobe. What I've done is repurpose the images from the PDF, which are annotated, as overlays on Google Earth, so that we can see the progress in the construction at both sites over the past few years.

Link

posted by Xeni Jardin at 06:03:37 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Use Gmail to break PDF copy-restrictions

Andreas sez, "Gmail's 'View as HTML' functionality allows you to view a wide range of attachments inside your browser - it seems like it doesn't respect the copying restrictions defined inside PDF files, allowing you to copy or print them without any problem (some conversion related layout issues aside)." Link (Thanks, Andreas!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:20:11 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

The novel Heinlein would have written about GW Bush's America

Red Lightning, the latest novel from John Varley, is the book Robert A Heinlein would have written if he lived in George Bush's America. Varley is a kind of latter-day, humanist Heinlein, someone who writes science fiction of great imagination and verve (I stole all the best stuff in my first novel, Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, from John Varley stories), with so much soul they like to tear your heart out.

Red Lightning is a loose sequel to Red Thunder, an homage to Heinlein's juuvenile novels (hands down his best works, BTW: tight, fast-moving, and funny-inspirational), especially Rocketship Galileo. In Red Thunder, an idiot-savant Cajun physicist invents a physics-defying power-supply that his young cousins use to travel to Mars -- after paying a local graffiti tagger to burn a huge mural down the side of their spaceship. It's boys-own-adventure sci-fi with sex and cussing, and it's just the kind of book that I've loved to hell and back since the age of 13 or so.

Red Lightning is much darker, but also even better. It's the story of the next generation of "Martians" who live on a tourism-driven Mars made possible by the power-source detailed in the first book. Ray is the son of Manny, the hero of Red Thunder, and he's a Martian the way that Heinlein's protagonist in "The Menace from Earth" is a Loonie (just one of many loving, sly nods to Heinlein in this book). He ends up on Earth after a natural disaster threatens his family there, and finds himself embroiled in a Katrina-style search-and-recovery mission -- but he's also exposed to the state of the planet, which is not so good.

Earth has been overrun by Homeland Security. The Internet disappears for days at a time, or is blacked out in some regions. Armored, faceless goons maraud and imprison in the name of "security" with impunity. Ray barely makes it out, and when he does, he's glad to return to the sane and gentle environs of Mars -- until the Homeland Security types land there, too.

Heinlein was an ideological libertarian. You could call his politics right wing, and they were, on many of the left-right axes. But Heinlein never would have sat still for the Patriot Act and the daily and deep incursions on liberties that have come to characterise life in America and increasingly Britain and other parts of the world. He never would have accepted that you had to take away freedom to save liberty.

It's easy to forget that today, amid all the debate, to forget how authoritarian we've become, how much we're willing to put up with today -- indiscriminate wiretapping, illegal detention of "enemy combatants" and a TSA with the charm of Stasi goons and the moral instincts of a viper.

Varley brings it home for us, tells us what old man Heinlein would have said about all of it. And he does it in the frame of a cracking, exciting space-adventure tale that'll have you laughing and cheering as it goes (especially when the vaderoid Homelanders try to take Mars and get destroyed by their own lack of acclimation to low gravity).

There are few writers whose work I love more than John Varley's, purely love -- but now that I've finished Red Lightning, I love his stuff even more. Link

posted by Cory Doctorow at 01:36:41 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Hilarious hijinx with security guards who hate building-photographers

Thomas Hawke has a special gift for getting into hilarious trouble photographing buildings from public spaces -- check out the latest installment:

So today there I was minding my own business shooting 45 Fremont in downtown San Francisco when all of a sudden a Shorenstein Company employee security guard decides to give me the finger in my photographs of the building. Next thing you know I get the typical hassle. Except normally when the guards come out all polite like and all this guy instead comes out middle finger a blazing and telling me that I'm not allowed to photograph the building from the public space.

He goes on to tell me how he doesn't like to have his photograph taken, etc. (hint, if you don't like your photograph taken, probably best not to come swaggering out of a public building middle finger a blazin', remember any old asshole can have a blog these days). And insists on telling me how if I want to photograph the building I'm going to need to get approval from building management. blah, blah, blah.

Link

posted by Cory Doctorow at 12:33:02 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Monday, April 17, 2006

Photo pool: laptop stickers

Link (Thanks, Jason Schultz)

posted by Xeni Jardin at 09:41:10 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

NYPD installing lots of surveillance cams -- but don't snap back.

New York City's police department is placing 500 surveillance cameras throughout the city, at a cost of $9 million, in an effort to prevent crime and terrorism. Hundreds more cams will follow if $81.5 million in requested federal grants comes through. The additional funds would be used to build a surveillance "ring of steel" designed after a similar system in London's financial district. And we all know how perfectly London's surveillance cam system has protected that city.

Link to AP item by Tom Hays, which includes the predictable line, "Police officials insist that law-abiding New Yorkers have nothing to fear because the cameras will be restricted to public areas." (Thanks, A.V.)

In related news, the NYPD may be snapping images of you, but don't try to snap back. From the Village Voice:

[P]olice evidently aren't so keen on surveillance when the cameras are turned on them­particularly when those cameras show them abusing free-street-parking privileges. On March 27, two volunteers from the advocacy group Transportation Alternatives were detained for taking pictures of police officers' private cars, which were parked on the sidewalk outside the Fifth Precinct in Chinatown. The volunteers say they were held and questioned at the precinct for about 20 minutes and instructed to erase the pictures.

"It was intimidating. I was afraid they were going to arrest me," says Brian Hoberman, 37, who works as a researcher for the city's Rent Guidelines Board.

Link to post on Declan McCullagh's politech list.

Reader comment: AV says,

Here's a website that tracks video camera abuses that have made the news: Link. Scroll down or search for the word "troopers" and note how traffic cameras can be tilted and panned and how they were used for non-traffic watching by state troopers: Link, and Link.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 09:15:10 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Found vinyl gem: "Go Home You Foreign Communist"

This blog entry includes a downloadable MP3 of an early '70s funk-soul song titled "Go On Home You Foreign Communist." There appears to be some confusion about who's performing it, but one commenter credits it to Al C. Bailey, on Ron Paul Records. It's pretty awesome. Link. (Thanks, Jesse)

posted by Xeni Jardin at 08:44:58 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Billboard Liberation Front hits a Chevron ad in SF

The Billboard Liberation Front has "apprehended, rehabilitated, and discharged" another site in San Francisco.

The advertisement, which had been attempting to sell and distribute petrochemicals, was corrected to promote the U.S. Department of Defense and their private subcontractors operating in Iraq.

Link (Thanks, dolface)

Correction: The BLF didn't do this, their comrades at the California Department of Corrections did. Their site's down right now, but here's a portfolio. (Thanks, Milton Rand Kalman!)

posted by Xeni Jardin at 08:37:51 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Flarf: highfalutin word for spam/wordjunque poetry

Some experimental poets pried open their spamfolders, spied inside some chatrooms, and discovered raw material for Burroughsian cutups therein. The idea isn't new, but the name of the resulting genre will be to many: "Flarf." Snip from a Flarfifesto:

The initial aesthetics of Flarf went largely unarticulated, but they can probably be approximated by the following recipe: deliberate shapelessness of content, form, spelling, and thought in general, with liberal borrowing from internet chat-room drivel and spam scripts, often with the intention of achieving a studied blend of the offensive, the sentimental, and the infantile.

Here's the origin myth:

Flarf came about a couple of years ago when Gary Sullivan submitted a deliberately bad poem to Poetry.com, one of those vanity companies that lures the unsuspecting with lavish praise of their poetry and then offers to "publish" it for an exorbitant fee. Theorizing that no submission, no matter how heinous, would ever be treated with anything other than solicitous fawning, he sent in a poem titled "Mm-hmm":

Yeah, mm-hmm, it's true
big birds make
big doo! I got fire inside
my "huppa"-chimp(TM)
gonna be agreessive, greasy aw yeah god
wanna DOOT! DOOT!
Pffffffffffffffffffffffffft! hey!
oooh yeah baby gonna shake & bake then take
AWWWWWL your monee, honee (tee hee)
uggah duggah buggah biggah buggah muggah
hey! hey! you stoopid Mick! get
off the paddy field and git
me some chocolate Quik
put a Q-tip in it and stir it up sick
pocka-mocka-chocka-locka-DING DONG
fuck! shit! piss! oh it's so sad that
syndrome what's it called tourette's
make me HAI-EE! shout out loud
Cuz I love thee. Thank you God, for listening!

Link to post on Bruce Sterling's blog, and here's the epicenter: The Flarf Files.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 08:25:29 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

NBC "Today" seg about YouTube

The Today Show aired a segment today about all the weird crap you can find on YouTube, and I was among the guests.

As usual, though, I'm not the interesting part. The interesting part is the chick with the fake bunny-teeth. Or the dude backwardsbackflipping off a barn. Or maybe the man with the giant wasp in his hand. That is quality internetelevision.

Link to archived "Today Show" clip. PS: I've been lying all along. My real name is "Xeni Hardin," as that NBC link clearly shows, and the ensuing phonetics gags practically write themselves.

Hey, and here's something funny on YouTube. Some people fill this poor guy's office with balloons, and he totally loses his shit. Link to "lookatmebeingserious.com." Dialogue to remember: "Where'd the AIR come from? You used the air that COSTS MONEY!" (Thanks, Andrew)

posted by Xeni Jardin at 08:10:55 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Jasmina Tesanovic, Belgrade: The Muslim Women

[Ed. Note: This essay is part of a series of personal accounts from the ongoing "Scorpions" war crimes trial in Belgrade. Members of this "anti-terrorist" police unit are accused of widespread atrocities against civilians during the war in former Yugoslavia.)

Jasmina Tesanovic
Belgrade, April 12, 2006

The Muslim Women

Belgrade is sinking today, heavy rain. The link to Hague is back: the cassette owner witness today is going into details with the bad guy who became good by pleading guilty as to how many people he shot. "I don’t know," says the witness, "two or three people."

"For me it is very important if it is three or six," says the indicted. "Because I am a moral person."

Sighs from the audience. Today we are sitting in the usual crowd with relatives of victims and criminals, but there is a new, third lot in dark suits and fancy caps. The wife of one war criminal asked the men in suits, "Who are you, if I may know."

"We are the police," says one, slightly embarrassed. He meant the secret police.

She retreats in awe. I guess her husband claimed too that he was on a secret mission. A mission of secretly executing as many people as he could.

[Image: Goranka Matic, 2002. Jasmina explains what's going on in this photo: "Women cross the borders, starting from Belgrade and going through the countries of former Yugoslavia, meeting women, friends, pacifists. This site is Vukovar Croatia, a city often mentioned in my texts because the Yugoslav army destroyed it. The Scorpions were based there, too, before going to Bosnia."]

More...

posted by Xeni Jardin at 04:02:33 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Maps show which religious group is where in USA

American Ethnic Geography uses US census Glenmary Research Center data to draw shaded maps of the US that show which religion's adherents live where. Link (via Futurismic)

Update: Chad sez, "I noticed Pastafarianism was unrepresented in this study. I've remedied this."

posted by Cory Doctorow at 03:55:51 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Law paper: Legal Implications Of The Word "Fuck."

Snip from a legal essay titled, succintly, FUCK:

This Article is as simple and provocative as its title suggests: it explores the legal implications of the word fuck. The intersection of the word fuck and the law is examined in four major areas: First Amendment, broadcast regulation, sexual harassment, and education. The legal implications from the use of fuck vary greatly with the context. To fully understand the legal power of fuck, the nonlegal sources of its power are tapped. Drawing upon the research of etymologists, linguists, lexicographers, psychoanalysts, and other social scientists, the visceral reaction to fuck can be explained by cultural taboo.

(...) Taboo is then institutionalized through law, yet at the same time is in tension with other identifiable legal rights. Understanding this relationship between law and taboo ultimately yields fuck jurisprudence.

Link to paper by Christopher M. Fairman, of the Ohio State Moritz College of Law. More about the paper on Daniel Solove's blog here. (Thanks, Prof. Solove!)

posted by Xeni Jardin at 03:46:35 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Smells like mujahideen spirit

The Pentagon wants to track evildoers by their "odortype" -- the unique set of chemical compounds found in "human emanations" such as urine or sweat. Snip from Defensetech post:

Darpa's "Unique Signature Detection Project (formerly known as the Odortype Detection program)" aims to sniff out genetic markers in "human emanations (urine, sweat, etc.)" that "can be used to identify and distinguish specific high-level-of-interest individuals within groups of enemy troops."

"Recent experimental results" show that chemical compounds in a mouse's "urinary" scent produces an "odortype" that's unique to each individual rodent, Darpa observes in its original solicitation for the project. "Although experimental data for humans is far less quantitative," the agency is hoping that a similarly "genetically determined," "exploitable chemosignal" can be found in people, too.

Link (thanks, Noah Shachtman and Dave Carr!)

Reader comment: Jutta says, "the article you posted reminded me of something..." Snip from fas.org item, which appears to be a transcript from a VOA broadcast:

DURING THE COLD WAR, THE STASI ALSO KEPT WHAT MR. LEGNER DESCRIBED AS "SMELL SAMPLES" OF PEOPLE -- CLOTH SAMPLES CONTAINING THE SCENT OF INDIVIDUALS THAT COULD BE USED FOR DOG TRACKING AND IDENTIFICATION PURPOSES. WE FOUND THESE SAMPLES IN SEALED GLASS BOTTLES.

Link

posted by Xeni Jardin at 03:37:46 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

MSFT, YHOO to build data centers near NSA's in WA?

According to this AP item, Microsoft and Yahoo may soon build massive data storage facilities in a rural corner of Washington state known for wide open spaces and potato farms. Coincidentally (hmmmm?), the site is not far from a large NSA data-mining facility. BoingBoing reader Stricky thinks something sinister may be afoot:

What if the NSA, using the combined research muscle of both Yahoo and Microsoft were developing a supercomputer. ... (dramatic pause) ... A supercomputer that ... (another dramatic pause) ... runs on POTATOES! If that's the case then God help us. God help us all.

Link to AP story. And remember, potatoes have EYES.

Previously:
NSA Echelon Facility at Yakima, WA.

Reader comment: Sej sez,

Did you see this entry about a 500-potato battery on the MAKE Blog? Link.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 03:34:20 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Animal-shaped humidifiers

These adorable, animal-shaped humidifiers are actually called "Adorable Humidifiers" -- they come in dog, cat, elephant, panda, or frog. . Link (via Gizmodo)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 03:22:23 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Games are "democratic fiction"

Games designer/entrepreneur and novelist Greg Costikyan has written a provocative piece about how games and stories fit together. His premise is that games democratize fiction: with fiction, the author tells the audience how the story goes; with games, the story is made by the audience.

Thinking about this recently, and about what Manifesto is trying to do, it occurs to me that the video game industry has, in some ways, betrayed the democratic nature of the form it sells. The game industry, even if the product it promotes is democratic and interactive in nature, is structured virtually identically to entertainment media that predate it. Creators contract with publishers, who do their best to screw them financially; marketing is "top-down," broadcast-style, with a carefully crafted message disseminated via PR and advertising to consumers; publishers, console manufacturers, and retailers jointly act as gate-keepers to narrow consumer options; and gamers are viewed as little more than sheep to be fleeced, induced by a glut of advertising and manipulated press attention to go to the store and buy the next game in the franchise.

Now, let's think about this a little. There are essentially two groups in this value chain who love games: the people who create them, i.e., developers; and the people who consume them, i.e., gamers. Everyone in between is a necessary evil, a means of getting games from developers into the hands of gamers. But it's also everyone in between who basically doesn't give a rat's ass about games, and indeed, would probably be happier selling detergent, or working in film. For developers, and for gamers, games are something special; for the intermediaries, they're just another SKU in a packaged goods industry.

Link

posted by Cory Doctorow at 03:16:38 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Hundreds ask Smithsonian not to sell out to Showtime

Carl Malamud sez, "215 people have signed a letter to Secretary Small of the Smithsonian Institution expressing their grave concern over the joint venture with Showtime. Ken Burns will be joining me for a public briefing tomorrow (Tuesday, 4/18) to discuss the issues."

At issue is the publicly funded Smithsonian's plan to give the commercial Showtime network the exclusive first-refusal right to the documentary footage in its film archive, a move that would turn Showtime into the sole supplier of documentaries made using the public's video that has been entrusted to the Smithsonian.

The Smithsonian Institution is not merely a business venture. It is a publicly chartered guardian of our national heritage, created by the U.S. Congress "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men." In your FY2005 Annual Report, you noted that the Institution receives 75% of its revenue from federal appropriations, government grants, and government contracts. The Institution is governed by a Board of Regents appointed from all three branches of our government. The Smithsonian Institution is a public trust in the truest sense of the term. The Institution, as a public trust, operates as custodian of our shared heritage. As Secretary Joseph Henry stated in his first annual report in 1847 in considering the role of the Institution in formally accepting the bequest of James Smithson: "The bequest is for the benefit of mankind. The Government of the United States is merely a trustee."

Link (Thanks,Carl!)

See also Smithsonian's Showtime deal: critical attorneys shred it
Smithsonian's Showtime sellout needs FOIA sunshine

posted by Cory Doctorow at 03:04:37 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Internet stalking, "online impersonation," and the law

Snip from a story about some of the more serious forms of ad hominem online harassment, by Tom Zeller in today's New York Times:

In about half the cases, victim and perpetrator appear to be strangers. For the rest, it can be deeply, disturbingly personal.

Earlier this month, a Suffolk County police officer, Michael Valentine, was indicted on 197 counts of stalking, unauthorized use of a computer and other charges after hacking into the Yahoo e-mail account of a woman he had briefly dated and posing as her in online communications.

The Suffolk County District Attorney's office also charges that Mr. Valentine, of Lake Grove, accessed the woman's personal profile on the dating site Match.com, sending electronic "winks" and other communications to 70 different men on the site. At least two showed up at the woman's home for dates.

Link to "Sinister Web Entraps Victims of Cyberstalkers." (Thanks, Mike Outmesguine)

posted by Xeni Jardin at 02:46:02 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Fish banquet for 200 cats

Yangmei villagers in Jiangmen, Guangdong Province, bought 200 cats to combat a rat problem that had plagued their farmland, according to the China Daily. As a thank you to the cats, the villagers were kind enough to serve them a "sumptuous fish banquet. Link

posted by David Pescovitz at 02:16:07 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Dirty dishes: femme fatale pinup gloves for chorrrrres

Too scrumptious for their purported purpose -- housecleaning -- but these bevampified dishwashing gloves might just work with a matching latex French maid costume.

Featured sex kittens include Tura Satana (Faster Pussycat, Kill! Kill!), Poison Ivy from The Cramps, and Bettie Page. There are ukelele ladies, volcano goddesses and tiki babes, too. Painted in acrylic, glass-framed, and "not intended for practical use." Well, chuh!

Link (via tinynibbles, and sexblo.gs)

posted by Xeni Jardin at 01:56:22 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Oreo sculptures

Here's a gallery of Oreo sculptures created by schoolkids. This work, titled "Emperor Snowman," is by Shari Riley's Second Grade Class in LaCrosse, Wisconsin.
Link (via Neatorama)

posted by David Pescovitz at 01:50:49 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

How AT&T wants to turn the Internet into mere TV

Salon has an excellent article on "Network Neutrality," the premise that all Internet traffic should be delivered at the same rate, regardless of who sent it. AT&T, which is once again trying to become the monopoly data carrier in the USA wants to blackmail companies with high-bandwidth applications into paying ransom to get their packets delivered preferentially.

AT&T's justifications for this are transparent crapola, like accusing Google of wanting to use its pipes for free (Google pays a fortune for bandwidth), and saying that only giant companies like AT&T itself care about this, since "the little guy [in the garage] is not streaming movies" -- despite the existence of companies and nonprofits like YouTube and the Participatory Culture Foundation.

I think it's pretty clear that this is nothing more than raw greed from AT&T, but I'm not sure what to do about it. The leading proposals are to get the FCC to regulate AT&T to ensure neutrality. I can see the logic in that: AT&T gets all kinds of legal breaks and access to public resources, so why shouldn't the public's government muscle it into giving the public the best deal possible?

That said, I'm not sure I agree. What we're talking about here is getting the FCC to write up rules dictating what firewall rules ISPs can and can't have. I'm an ISP right now -- my laptop is WiFi rebroadcasting the Ethernet Internet access I'm getting at my hotel. Anyone can be an ISP. Do we really want the Feds to tell us what we can and can't do with our network configurations? Do we believe that they can move fast enough and smart enough to do a meaningful job of it?

Maybe the answer is just more ISPs. More long-haul pipe (either physical or wireless), more rights-of-way cleared in cities, more of everything -- especially information about what a bunch of carrion-feeding, lying jackals AT&T are, and who else you can give your business to.

Gary Bachula, vice president for external affairs of Internet2, a nonprofit project by universities and corporations to build an extremely fast and large network, argues that managing online traffic just doesn't work very well. At the February Senate hearing, he testified that when Internet2 began setting up its large network, called Abilene, "our engineers started with the assumption that we should find technical ways of prioritizing certain kinds of bits, such as streaming video, or video conferencing, in order to assure that they arrive without delay. As it developed, though, all of our research and practical experience supported the conclusion that it was far more cost effective to simply provide more bandwidth. With enough bandwidth in the network, there is no congestion and video bits do not need preferential treatment."

Today, Bachula continued, "our Abilene network does not give preferential treatment to anyone's bits, but our users routinely experiment with streaming HDTV, hold thousands of high-quality two-way videoconferences simultaneously, and transfer huge files of scientific data around the globe without loss of packets."

Not only is adding intelligence to a network not very useful, Bachula pointed out, it's not very cheap. A system that splits data into various lanes of traffic requires expensive equipment, both within the network and at people's homes. Right now, broadband companies are spending a great deal on things like set-top boxes, phone routers and other equipment for their advanced services. "Simple is cheaper," Bachula said. "Complex is costly" -- a cost that may well be passed on to customers.

Link

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

Hunting with the vice-Peep

Here at BoingBoing, we have an informal moratorium of sorts on any more "Cheney Hunting Joke" or "Easter Peeps" posts. But moratoriums (moratoria?) were made to be broken, and Mark hasn't kept his earwax promise anyway.

Link.
BoingBoing reader Chris, who submitted the image, shares the dialogue that surrounded its creation:

My wife: “Very proud” and “Nice, Hon.”
My five-year-old: “What is dad doing now? He’s out on the deck playing with Easter candy.”
My three-year-old: “I want my truck back! Mom, dad won’t let me have my truck!

Link

Reader comment: Marv says,

"I saw some tacky 'Candy Crosses' at Walgreen's last week and saw an opportunity to hurt a peep and offend a whole bunch of people all while making a tasty snack."

Link. Here at BoingBoing, we prefer to call them "chocofixes."

posted by Xeni Jardin at 01:34:38 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Happy slapping idiot knocked out by victim

Watch this moronic happy-slapper get knocked out and kicked in the ribs by a victim who didn't appreciate being attacked. Link (Times Online story here) (Thanks, Webbie!)

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 01:05:49 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Wooden motorcycle

Dig this wood motorcycle photo that was submitted to MAKE:!
Link to MAKE:Blog, Link to another photo at Rat Bike Zone

posted by David Pescovitz at 12:30:00 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Beautiful illustrations from The Wonder Book of Science

Maraid has added some scans of gorgeous illustrations from The Wonder Book of Science to her Flicker account. Link

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 11:57:57 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

1950 Popular Mechanics on making of Pinocchio

Amid says: "One of our site readers found a 1940 issue of POPULAR MECHANICS with an article on the making of Disney's PINOCCHIO. He scanned in the 9-page article and I've posted it on the Brew. There are some incredible (and incredibly bizarre) Disney Studio photos in the piece." Link

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 11:19:38 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Cilantro haters band together

About 15 hundred years ago, people started thinking it was cute to add loathesome cilantro to my favorite cuisines: Indian, Thai, Indonesian, and Mexican. For years, I've been hoping that reports would come out announcing that cilantro causes cancer. I've wondered how much it would cost to genetically engineer an insect or fungus that laid waste to cilantro crops. So far, no luck. At least I can cry on the shoulders of other cilantro depisers at IHateCilanto.com. The first-person cilantro stories are fun to read.

That summer, a group of us decided to spend a week or so camping on the beach on the Pacific side of Costa Rica, which involved a 12 mile trek from where we left the van. Supplies were divided up between the group, and I wound up lugging some of the food items, including the cilantro. About half way to the beach, my future wife and I halted at a bluff, ostensibly to watch some soaring King vultures. When all of the group had passed by, I threw the cilantro off the bluff. The two of us bonded over our little secret, and love was born. The rest of the group never figured out what happened to the cilantro, which lead to frantic digging through packs and prolonged bitching when dinner time came around. Needless to say, I ate better for that week than I did for the rest of the trip. "

Link

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 10:22:32 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Argentine lake monster photos

Is this Nahelito, the cryptid that lives in Nahuel Huapi Lake in Argentina and Patagonia? From Scott Corrales's translation of an article in El Cordillerano Edición where this photo and another were published today:

Photos were left behind by anonymous reader at the newsroom.

The man came to our newsroom, spoke to the receptionist and left her an envelope with three photos and a note that read: "This is not a tree trunk with a capricious shape. This is not a wave. Nahuelito showed his face. Lake Nahuel Huapi, Saturday, April 15, 9 a.m. I’m not giving my personal information to avoid future headaches." We are presenting the images. Let each one reach his/her own conclusions.

Link to Cryptomundo post, Link to original El Cordillerano Edición article

posted by David Pescovitz at 10:01:46 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

The Bikini Babe PC

IZ Reloaded says: "I love the Bikini Babe PC made by Japanese master pc modder Katsuya Matsumura. He has built some really impressive pc mods in the past but I think this time, he has really outdone himself with this sexy piece of work." Link

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 06:50:10 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Cory's Anda's Game in Russian, Kurzweil interview in Italian

My story Anda's Game has been translated into Russian, and my interview with Ray Kurzweil has been translated into Italian. Anda's Game was translated for publication in Game.EXE, a Russian gamer mag; the Kurzweil interview was translated by Giovanni Elia, a generous reader. I've released both translations under Creative Commons by-nc-sa licenses -- copy 'em, play with 'em, just don't charge money for 'em.

Anda's Game in Russian, Kurzweil interview in Italian

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:06:27 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

State of the Blogosphere: *Lots* more blogs, posts, spam

Dave Sifry, the founder of Technorati, has posted the latest in his quarterly series of infoporny statistical tracking of blogs, which he calls the "State of the Blogosphere." Technorati indexes all the blogs it can find -- which is most of the public blogs on the Internet -- and organizes, indexes, and republishes them as feeds, watchlists, and trendspotting reports.

In the first part of this quarter's roundup, Dave covers off the increased, never-ending growth of the blogosphere -- more blogs, more posts, and lots more spam. Also: bloggers type more about new technology products than they do about the State of the Union address.

* Technorati now tracks over 35.3 Million blogs
* The blogosphere is doubling in size every 6 months
* It is now over 60 times bigger than it was 3 years ago
* On average, a new weblog is created every second of every day
* 19.4 million bloggers (55%) are still posting 3 months after their blogs are created
* Technorati tracks about 1.2 Million new blog posts each day, about 50,000 per hour

Link (Disclosure: I am a proud member of the Technorati, Inc advisory board)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 03:44:18 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Marvin from HHGTTG moves to Second Life

A resident of the Second Life virtual world who owns a UK branding company has started to move the characters he represents into the game, starting with those managed by Disney, one of his clients. The first into the virtual world is Marvin, the Paranoid Android, from the Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy movie.

During the movie's production, Fizik Baskerville and his team created the Marvin avatar based on the production designer's specs, using that to plan a marketing campaign for their client, Disney. "We did that not only for Hitchhiker's... we did it for Pirates of the Carribean 2/3 and Chronicles of Narnia." Using SL's avatar customization tools, "Within a short period of time we have [characters from these Disney films] walking around those ideas as avatars."

Link (Thanks, James!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 03:37:11 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Sunday, April 16, 2006

Laptop sleeves with acrylic spikes

Foofbags are spiky, multicolored acrylic laptop sleeves that look like a triceratops's document-case. They're beautiful. Link, Link to manufacturer's site (via Wonderland and thanks, Dino!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:57:51 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Homebrew Mobile Phone Club for DIY phone hobbyist fun

The Homebrew Mobile Phone Club is a new organization modelled on the Homebrew Computer Club, the seminal Silicon Valley hobbyist organization that gave birth to the personal computer. It was once inconceivable that a person could own or build a computer -- computers were multi-million dollar behemoths that giant corporations owned and built. The Homebrew Computer Club convened a place where hobbyists turned the inconceivable into the practical and now we have all the technology that's followed since, from the Osborne to the Apple ][+ to today's screaming-fast laptops.

Mobile phones are a lot like mainframes. While it's common for average people to own phones, it's inconceivable that the average person will build, reprogram, or make meaningful improvements to her phone.

Thus the Homebrew Mobile Phone Club: a physical and virtual club to do to mobile phones what Jobs and Woz did to computers.

I'm announcing the formation of the "Silicon Valley Homebrew Mobile Phone Club." Our purpose is to provide support and guidance for individuals building their own "convergence devices." We're going to have monthly meetings where we discuss designs and applications with the idea that two heads is frequently better than one. Don't toil in solitude, trying to get your latest wireless hardware hack to work. We're "hackers" only in the classic sense, no phone cloners please.

Our first meeting will be held at 7:00PM on the evening of the first Thursday of May (May 4th, 2006) at an as of yet undetermined location. (We'll announce the location here as soon as we know it.)

Link

posted by Cory Doctorow at 03:47:11 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

GW Bush's iPod contains "illegal" (according to RIAA) music

In the video linked below, we see that President Bush's iPod contains songs by the Beatles; since no Beatles songs have been licensed for the iTunes Music Store yet, these must have come from ripped CDs. Remember last February, when the RIAA told a federal agency that ripping CDs is illegal? I wonder if they'll bring charges.

Nor does the fact that permission to make a copy in particular circumstances is often or even routinely granted, necessarily establish that the copying is a fair use when the copyright owner withholds that authorization. In this regard, the statement attributed to counsel for copyright owners in the MGM v. Grokster case is simply a statement about authorization, not about fair use.

Link (Thanks, Jason!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 02:47:30 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

History of Easter candy

This article briefly traces the fascinating secret history of eating sugar to celebrate the resurrection of Christ:

In Europe, during the early 1800’s, Chocolate was all the rage. It was the treat of choice for most middle and upper class denizens. Chocolatiers sought to use the image of the egg as a way to celebrate Easter and sell their products.

The symbol of the egg, which was already being used in Easter festivities at this time, had been a pagan symbol representing fertility and re-birth in pagan times. It had been adopted as part of the Christian Easter festival and it came to represent the ‘resurrection’ or re-birth of Christ after the crucifixion and some believe it is a symbol of the the stone blocking the Sepulcher being ‘rolled’ away. It was during this time the first chocolate Easter egg appeared in Germany and France and soon spread to the rest of Europe and beyond.

Link (via /.)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 01:15:49 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Fan fiction community for McDonald's breakfast sandwiches

This LJ community is devoted to writing fiction about the McDonald's McGriddle -- a breakfast sandwich with 21g of fat, 225mg of cholesterol and 1640mg of salt -- presumably with tongue planted in cheek.

This is a LiveJournal community for writers of McGriddle Fan Fiction, Breakfast Fan Fiction, and McGriddle Creative Writing. While our primary focus is on Fan Fic involving the McDonald's McGriddle, we extend membership to writers of any sort of breakfast food creative writing (i.e. McMuffins, Bagel Sandwiches, Pancakes, etc).

Rules:

I will delete any posts that do not adhere to the rules.

* Keep it reasonably clean. Nothing worse than PG-13.
* Be courteous. If You don't like someone's post, keep it to yourself. No flaming.
* Keep it focused on breakfast products. I don't want to hear about any french fries.

Link (via Kottke)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 01:13:59 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Protest fence made from toilets

Robin Sutton and Allen Lade, of my old hometown Cincinnati, Ohio, wanted to put up a 6-foot-high cedar fence in their yard but the government of Anderson Township where they live denied the request for a zoning variance. Apparently, the fence wouldn't "fit in with the look and feel of Anderson Township" and needed to be a minimum of 45 feet away from the street. So instead, Sutton and Lade installed a surrealist display of yard art where the fence would be. They've decorated their property line with 15 toilet planters, dozens of multi-colored toilet brushes, an array of pinwheels, toy skeletons, and assorted other oddities. (Photo from the couple's Anderson Township Zoning Protest site.) From the Cincinnati Enquirer:

As Lade puts it: "It's colorful. It's bright. It's humorous. It's pointed..."

They added the skeletons for Halloween. For Christmas, they strung 2,800 lights in their backyard. They invited neighborhood children to spray-paint the toilet brushes.

"It's fun," Sutton said. "But it's also a reminder of basic property rights. It shows the absurdity of being told you can't put up a fence..."

Paul Drury, Anderson Township's assistant director of development services, said he gets occasional calls about the yard display.

"Most of them are inquiries about why they're allowed to do that," he said. "We haven't found any zoning violations."

Link to Cincinnati Enquirer article, Link to more info and photos at the Anderson Township Zoning Protest site (Thanks, Charles Pescovitz!)

posted by David Pescovitz at 10:43:03 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Terrorist movie plot contest

Mark W. says:

Noted security specialist Bruce Schneier is sponsoring a contest on his blog for people to come up with the most ridiculous yet plausible movie-plot security risk. The winner gets a free copy of his book "Beyond Fear", and maybe even the chance to discuss their idea with a real-world movie producer...

From his site: "It is in this spirit I announce the (possibly First) Movie-Plot Threat Contest. Entrants are invited to submit the most unlikely, yet still plausible, terrorist attack scenarios they can come up with.

"Your goal: cause terror. Make the American people notice. Inflict lasting damage on the U.S. economy. Change the political landscape, or the culture. The more grandiose the goal, the better.

Assume an attacker profile on the order of 9/11: 20 to 30 unskilled people, and about $500,000 with which to buy skills, equipment, etc."

Link

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 09:52:14 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Charming travel short animation made from airport infographics

Airport is a short film about a guy who goes on a plane journey, checks into a hotel and comes home -- but the wonderful gimmick is that the entire film consists of animated airport infographics of little ped-people interacting with each other and with ped-style illustrations of taxis, water-fountains and planes. It's utterly charming. Link (Thanks, Iain!)

Update: Martin sez, "budding animators may be interested in the full collection of 50 standard symbols available free of charge in .gif and .eps format at AIGA."

Update 2: Chris sez, Here is a link to the full set of symbols in both .eps and .gif format for Windows users like myself.

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:46:56 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Synonyms for "blogject"

Here's a list of words that various people have used to describe blogjects -- objects that produce a vapor-trail of Internet data, objects that exist as 3D data and are produced to order, objects that are made and remade. As a vocabulary lesson it's pretty hypnotic.

acculturated objects
actual / virtual / fictional objects
ambiguous objects
appropriated / reappropriated objects
augmented objects
autonomous objects
banal objects
blobjects
boundary objects
bridging objects
by-products
chindogu
co-created objects
co-existent objects
collaborative designed objects
commodities / comm-oddities
computationally enabled objects
container-objects

Link (Thanks, Bruce!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:20:24 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

What would a BBC "public service game" look like?

Alice on the Wonderland blog gives a British spin on this week's earlier post on what a "Corporation for Public Games" -- a PBS for MMORPGs -- would look like. Alice talks about what the BBC does, what it's supposed to do, and why and how a BBC-run virtual world would work if it was to fulfil the Beeb's remit to "educate, inform and entertain."

If the BBC were to stand up and proclaim that it were to produce 'public service games' from here on in, it would be a disaster. What a horrible thought. Does it proclaim that it produces public service drama? No it doesn't. How about public service Doctor Who, or public service Strictly Come Dancing? Public Service Teletubbies?

Link

posted by Cory Doctorow at 04:43:23 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Saturday, April 15, 2006

Photos of malfing fire-retardant foam filling a hangar to one storey

A test of a foam fire-retardant at a hangar at South Dakota's Ellsworth AFB was supposed to run for 15 seconds, but something went wrong and it ran and ran, until more than a storey of foam filled the hangar, spilling out onto the runway and environs. The photos of this are stupendous -- imagine an airplane hangar filled, filled, FILLED with shaving cream. Even better are the looks of confused hilarity on the faces of the air force personnel in the shots. Link (via JWZ)

Update: Many have written to say that the Air Force now says that this was intentional.

posted by Cory Doctorow at 04:51:33 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Photoshopped kids' versions of great works of art

Today on the Worth1000 photoshopping contest: classic works of art as executed by their creators as small children. My favorite is pictured here: MC Escher's "House of Stairs" as graded by a stroppy art teacher: WRONG WRONG WRONG! Link

Update: Bernardo sez, " The lovely Worth1000 Escher-inspired kid-style drawing contains elements from Concave And Convex, Waterfall, and Belvedere, not House of Stairs."

posted by Cory Doctorow at 02:42:05 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

More on strange ice falls in California

The San Francisco Chronicle's science writer Keav Davidson looks into the odd ice falls in California this week. (My previous posts on the ice chunks that fell are here and here.) From the article:

Legends about plunging ice go back for centuries. They didn't begin to receive serious scientific attention until a few years ago, however, when Spain and other countries were pelted by the mystery intruders.

Possible explanations range from the mundane to the bizarre.

One theory is that ice is somehow forming on the outside of aircraft, perhaps in areas that aren't protected by deicing equipment, said David Travis, a climatologist at the University of Wisconsin at Whitewater. Last year, he and 11 others co-wrote an article on the ice-fall mystery in the Journal of Atmospheric Chemistry.

Lead author Jesus Martinez-Frias of the Planetary Geology Laboratory in Madrid and his colleagues have collected reports of 40 cases around the world since 1999 of puzzling falling ice, or "megacryometeors," as they call the strange objects.

Martinez-Frias hypothesizes that the ice forms in the upper atmosphere by a process similar to the formation of hail inside thunderstorms but without a thunderstorm.

Link (Thanks, Loren Coleman!)

posted by David Pescovitz at 09:49:24 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Friday, April 14, 2006

Chinese Google is Song of the Grain

At Virtual China, my Institute for the Future colleague Lyn Jeffery tells the back story of 谷歌 ("song of the grain"), the Chinese name for Google. (In an earlier post, Lyn follows the fun that Chinese bloggers are having with the Google logo and riffing on what other "song of the grain" services might be called in Chinese.) Apparently, the company had been working on a name since 2002. From Lyn's translation of an E-Business World article:

A 2005 survey by CNNIC showed that there was no time to wait. 43% of Chinese Internet users referred to the search engine with the English word "Google," 26% used a Chinese pronunciation, "gougou" ("dog dog") and 13% used a Chinese pronunciation, "gugou," that sounds like "ancient dog." Google undertook its own survey and discovered an even larger range of imaginative pronunciations, including "guoguo" (fruit fruit) and "gougou" (check check)...

The final choice, 谷歌 (goo-guh, song of the grain), appeared to Google's Asia Pacific Chief Marketing Officer, Wang Huainan, late in 2005. It means "Song of the Grain," expressing the abundance of harvest, but also "Song of the Valley"--a reference to the company's Silicon Valley roots, according to Zhang Jing, Director of Marketing, Asia Pacific.

Link

posted by David Pescovitz at 08:41:15 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Yuri's Night: spacemen branded me with Yuri Gagarin's head!

If there's a lesson to be learned from Yuri's Night, it's this: space nerds know how to have fun.

More than 90 "global space parties" went down this week in 33 countries on all seven continents, commemorating 45 years since the first human space flight by Yuri Gagarin and the 25th anniversary of the first US Space Shuttle mission with John Young and Robert Crippen.

Here are photos. I went to the party in Houston, near NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC). If the other fêtes were half as fun, the world had a wonderful time.

Houston's edition took place at the scifi-themed Flying Saucer bar, and many NASA JSC folks were in the house -- including human space exploration engineer John Connolly.

Among the Russian guests present, RSK Energia's Viktor Sheviakyov, who is NASA's Moscow Support Group Lead for the International Space Station Program (ISSP), and Sergey Sharygin of Russia's federal space agency Roscosmos.

Cosmonaut Salizhan Sharipov (in the cellphone snapshot at left) showed up, too. He spent the better part of 2005 in space, on ISS 10.

Organizers handed out stick-on tattoos of Yuri Gagarin's space-helmeted head.  After Mr. Sharipov dunked one in beer and applied it to his own forearm ("They are more permanent that way!" he said), he insisted on tattooing me in a marginally-appropriate location. 

I protested, the cosmonauts persisted. How do you argue with space-1337 dudes who've been floating for half a year?

"I have to hold my hand here for at least thirty seconds so the tattoo works!" explained Mr. Sharipov.

Don't know how they count out there on the space station, but here on Earth, that meant ten solid minutes of his palm on my chest. He was right though, it worked: JPEG link.

Sharipov's colleague Oleg Kotov was in Houston, training for a pending ISS mission that will be his first time in space. I asked him when he was scheduled to depart -- "When they think I'm ready," he said, grinning.

He and other cosmonauts typically spend about as much time training in America as they do in Russia. Kotov said he'd been training for six weeks in Houston, six weeks at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre, and back again, for most of the past year.

More...

posted by Xeni Jardin at 06:03:49 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

More weird ice falls on California

Earlier this week, I posted about a huge chunk of clear ice that mysteriously fell in an Oakland park last weekend. Yesterday, another hunk, the size of a microwave over, apparently crashed through the metal roof of a rec center at Loma Linda University in San Bernardino County. From the San Francisco Chronicle:

At the time, Loma Linda was enjoying a classic spring day, blue skies with not a cloud in sight and temperatures in the 60s...

The ice slammed into the gymnasium roof, pushing through metal, wood and insulation and landing near a wall...

Opaque, a brilliant white with black specks that might have been inflicted upon its crash landing, the ice tore a hole that measured about 2 � 1/2 feet by 1 foot, said (Loma Linda Fire Department division chief Rolland Crawford).

While the slab broke apart on impact, the largest chunk retrieved was the size of a bowling ball. The university put that chunk into a freezer for safekeeping.

"The ice was not blue, it was not clear, it was completely white,'' Crawford said.

Crawford believes the ice toppled from a passing, unheard airplane.

Link (Thanks, Paul Saffo!)

posted by David Pescovitz at 05:15:28 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

HOWTO subject HDCP crippleware for video to attack

As part of his ongoing series on the failings in the HDCP video crippleware being build into HD TVs, video-game consoles and PCs, Princeton engineering prof Ed Felten describes how easy it is to subvert the system:

...[I]t has a very large problem: if any [forty] devices conspire, they can break the security of the system.

To see how, let’s do an example. Suppose that Alice, Bob, Charlie, and Diane conspire, and that the conspiracy wants to figure out the secret vector of some innocent victim, Ed. Ed’s addition rule is “[1]+[4]”, and his secret vector is, of course, a secret.

Link

posted by Cory Doctorow at 04:22:31 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

How Sun's "open DRM" dooms them and all they touch

David Berlind has written about Sun's "Open DReaM" crippleware project, a DRM that pretends to be "open source" and an "open platform" in a cynical bid to curry favor with copyfighters and studios. The gimmick is that Sun's technology has to be run as signed code on trusted computing hardware, which means that while you can see the code, you can't change it, improve it, or build on it.

Once you have code you can't modify on hardware you can't access, "open source" can't be meaningfully used to describe a project. The key to free and open source software is the right of users to understand, modify, and distribute their changes to the tools they use -- to continue a tradition as old as the Enlightenment and as fundamental as the scientific method.

Sun's project doesn't subvert DRM, it subverts open source. It complies -- barely -- with the letter of older OSS definitions, while gutting their spirit. It's a car with the hood welded shut, with an "open" engine underneath the welding-seam.

This is a betrayal of the OSS community by Sun, which should know better. There is no market for Open Dream. No music listener woke up this morning wishing for a way to do less with her music. If Sun wants to compete with the Microsoft-controlled Open Mobile Alliance (which this project is really all about), then they should deploy set-top home Java servers (Sun, after all, is in the Java business and the server business, not the crippleware business) that grab music and video off the net, air and through the analog hole on your home theater, organize it, sort it, transcode it, and load it onto your laptop and phone -- and that use the paid mobile data networks run by the carriers (3G, EVDO, GPRS) to stay in synch.

This is a business-model that plays to Sun's strengths, that delivers value to carriers and handset vendors, and that doesn't set Sun on a doomed path to finding a way to deploy a  technology of sufficient brokenness to court Hollywood.

Stipulate that Sun will be able to get an entertainment company or two to sign up to use its crippleware. Then it gets a bunch of licensors of its technology -- companies that are willing to subject themselves to Sun's terms -- opt in and start producing crippleware products that Hollywood will put some content on.

What happens when Hollywood demands more restrictions than Open Dream presently delivers, and threatens to withdraw its content? Will Sun stick to its guns and cost its licensors their businesses by refusing to tighten the screws?

Apple may have a monopoly on supplying players for iTunes music, but at least it isn't beholden to any other company when it comes time to negotiate with the labels on the degree to which iTunes is crippled. I mean, Edgar Bronfman, Sr, managed to get the Swiss banks to give back all that Nazi gold, while Edgar Bronfman, Jr can't even get Steve Jobs to charge $1.50 for a Warners MP3.

There is no positive outcome for this. At best, it will be another costly failure for an IT company that can't afford many more of these. At worst, it will sow confusion about what "open" means (much like Microsoft's "Shared Source" initiative was meant to do See update below) and lead vendors and their customers into a trap that gives Hollywood leverage to montonically ratchet restrictions ever-tighter. Link

Update: At the urging of Bill Hilf, I re-visited the Microsoft "Shared Source" initiative mentioned above, which I hadn't looked closely at since its inception some years ago, when it primarily was a means of permitting Microsoft software vendors to look at, but not make new works from, or disclose Microsoft, code.

Today, I'm happy to report that the Shared Source initiative has adopted several licenses, including some that are short, elegant, meaningful free software licenses that grant maximal freedom to their adopters. Bill reports that 30 percent of the shared source releases from Microsoft fall under these permissive licenses.

posted by Cory Doctorow at 03:16:40 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Retired generals diss Donald Rumsfeld

On Making Light, Jim Macdonald rounds up anti-Rumsfeld comments from retired generals who are "no longer under military discipline and able to say aloud what they've long thought privately."

Lt. Gen. Gregory Newbold: "We need fresh ideas and fresh faces. That means, as a first step, replacing Rumsfeld and many others unwilling to fundamentally change their approach. The troops in the Middle East have performed their duty. Now we need people in Washington who can construct a unified strategy worthy of them..."

Retired Maj. Gen. Eaton: "He has shown himself incompetent strategically, operationally and tactically, and is far more than anyone responsible for what has happened to our important mission in Iraq," wrote Eaton, who now lives in Fox Island, Wash.

He added: "Mr. Rumsfeld must step down."

Link

posted by Cory Doctorow at 02:31:28 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Disney's DVD players explode

Disney's portable DVD players explode sometimes:

About 102,000 Disney branded portable DVD players are being recalled because the battery packs sold with the players can overheat and possibly burst when recharging, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said on Thursday.

Link (Thanks, Xeni!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 02:25:33 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Catholic League: South Park's Matt and Trey are "little whores"

William Donohue of the Catholic League is not a big fan of South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker.  This week's Easter episode -- with a censored Mohammed, and Christ crapping all over Bush and the American flag -- didn't make his heart grow fonder, but it sure gave him a good case of pottymouth:

"'The ultimate hypocrite is not Comedy Central. That's their decision not to show the image of Muhammad, not Parker and Stone,' he said. 'Like little whores, they'll sit there and grab the bucks. They'll sit there and they'll whine and they'll take their shot at Jesus. That's their stock in trade.'"

Link

Previously:
- Recut: South Park's "de-Muhammed-ed" episode
- Easter South Park episode: Jesus shitting on Bush and US flag

Reader comment: Yaanu says,

Actually, according to reports, CC actually did censor the image of Mohammed from "Cartoon Wars Pt. II". From the Wikipedia, it says they said "In light of recent world events, we feel we made the right decision." For more information, I suggest you call 1-800-222-3334.

Reader comment: Tracy R. Twyman says,

Have you heard about the direct reference to the president of Comedy Central at the end of the second South Park Mohammed episode? When Kyle is pleading with the president of the Fox Network to air the image of Mohammed in The Family Guy uncensored, he says at one point, specifically:

“You can’t do what he [Cartman] wants, just because he’s the one threatening you with violence. Yes, people can get hurt. That’s how terrorism works. But if you give in to that, Doug, you’re allowing terrorism to work. Do the right thing here.”

This is the only such reference to "Doug" in the script. Everywhere else in the episode, this character is simply referred to as “Mr. President.” This "Doug" is undoubtedly Doug Herzog, the President of Comedy Central.

I blogged about it, and posted the relevant audio clip here.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 02:00:43 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Stupid crap that female tech writers have to put up with

A few weeks ago, tech journalist Annalee Newitz noticed (with delight) that one of her columns had been slashdotted. But when she went to check out the thread, she was disappointed to see that most comments had more to do with her body than her body of work -- something many female tech writers experience with some regularity. This week, Annalee wrote a column about it, and she concludes that the world of Slashdot is actually evolving into a less sexist place.

Was I really gorgeous, or was I ugly? Wasn't it OK to evaluate my looks because my column wasn't really "professional," but rather "humorous"? (As if I haven't been writing this column seriously and professionally for six and a half goddamned years.) And, my favorite, wasn't it OK to talk about my looks because I write about sex? (This comment was followed by links to several articles I'd published about technology and sex, as if writing about vibrators somehow meant I was "asking for it.")

My friends said, "Ignore it." They said, "Those guys are morons." They said, "Let's just read and write things in other places where men aren't dicks."

Yet slowly I began to feel the same way about their comments that I feel when a right-winger tells me that if I want to promote socialism, I should just move to another country. The problem is, I love my country. It fucking rocks. And I love Slashdot too. I don't want to run away. This is my home, and I want to stay here and fight for justice. I want women to get excited by all the cool articles on Slashdot and not get driven away by a community that values them for their bodies instead of their thoughts.

Link

posted by Xeni Jardin at 01:46:45 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Project to put a monument to the Bill of Rights in every state capitol

DAQ sez, "This is a project to put a monument for the Bill of Rights in every state capitol in the U.S. Interesting fact; Chris Bliss (the infamous viral video juggler of internet fame of late) is the founder and president of the movement. You can hear an interview with him specifically about it on Penn Jillette's radio show from his Wednesday, April 12th broadcast." Link

posted by Cory Doctorow at 01:46:28 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Yochai "Coase's Penguin" Benkler releases new book under CC license

David Tannenbaum sez, "Yochai Benkler just released his brand new book, The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom, under a CC license, along with a wikinotes wiki for commentary and cooperative augmentation. The book presents Benkler's pathbreaking work on social cooperation over digital networks in a delicious romp from software to telecom to medicines in the developing world. I wouldn't be surprised if this book does for the 21st century what Wealth of Nations did for the 19th. There is a book party open to the public tonight in NYC, at the super-cool digital "atelier," Eyebeam."

Benkler is one of my favorite writers about the economics of commons-based production. His paper, Coase's Penguin, does a better job of making sense of how the "economy" of contribution to free and open source software works than anything else I've ever read. How exciting!

In the networked information economy, the physical capital required for production is broadly distributed throughout society. Personal computers and network connections are ubiquitous. This does not mean that they cannot be used for markets, orthat individuals cease to seek market opportunities. It does mean, however, that whenever someone, somewhere, among the billion connected human beings, and ultimately among all those who will be connected, wants to make something that requires humancreativity, a computer, and a network connection, he or she can do so — alone, or in cooperation with others. He or she already has the capital capacity necessary to do so; if not alone, then at least incooperation with other individuals acting for complementary reasons. The result is that a good deal more that human beings value can now be done by individuals, who interact with each other socially, as human beings and as social beings, rather than as market actors through the price system. Sometimes, under conditions I specify in some detail, these nonmarket collaborations can be better at motivating effort and can allow creative people to work on information projects more efficiently than would traditional market mechanisms and corporations. The result is a flourishing nonmarket sector of information, knowledge, and cultural production, based in the networked environment, and applied to anything that the many individuals connected to it can imagine. Its outputs, in turn, are not treated as exclusive property. They are instead subject to an increasingly robust ethic of open sharing, open for all others to build on, extend, and make their own.

Link (Thanks, David!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 01:42:46 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

The Cowsills perform "Folsom Prison Blues"

Spike Priggen of Bedazzled has an excellent video of The Cowsills performing "Folsom Prison Blues."
Link (Bob Cowsill is performing tonight at Pickwick's Pub in Woodland Hills. I think I might go. If anyone is interested in coming, it would be great to meet you!)

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 01:35:17 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Jasmina Tesanovic, Belgrade: New Normality

Jasmina Tesanovic

New Normality  
Belgrade: 11th April, 2006

The city is flooded. The Danube is rolling at high speed through Northern Serbia. If it were not a drama it could be romantic fun. If we didn’t know that the changing climate is no longer natural, we would paddle in rowboat and sing with mandolins. Instead we know it's sure to get worse with global warming, electricity cuts, bad Internet connections...

Today from Hague tribunal, on video link, a protected witness is speaking at the Scorpions Trial. The connection is bad but his message comes through with full impact. He looks flat and distorted on the screen, like a cartoon character, his egg shaped head is protruding towards the indicted Scorpions while his body shrinks behind his words, delayed and out of sync with the image.

He is so far and yet so near: he is the guy who owned the video cassette with the execution of the six Muslim civilians. After repeated death threats he leaked it to the Hague tribunal judges though Natasa Kandic, our heroine on this grim war stage.

More...

posted by Xeni Jardin at 01:29:24 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Patent for life expectancy wristwatch

The Kircher Society has uncovered a patent for a watch that tells you how much time you have left to live, based on your life expectancy. Link

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 01:26:28 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

1953 Mechanix Illustrated: "How Nuclear radiation Can Change Our Race"

Over at Finkbuilt, Steve Lodefink reprints the opening spread from a 1953 Mechanix Illustrated article, "How Nuclear radiation Can Change Our Race," that comes with a great illustration by comic book artist Kurt Schaffenberger.

“Now hear this Earth! I am Mutant Man, Homo Superior! I have been created by radiation forces out of the loins of you, the human race, after your great terrible Atom War. Yes, I am a step up and beyond you, and I am now your master for better or worse. You created me in your blind, savage, senseless war of atomic radiation. You have only yourselves to blame if I turn out to be your — Frankenstein Monster!”

Will this voice someday thunder ominously over the World from a Mutant Man, not a human being, but as far beyond us as we are beyond the ape man? Will a new race, spawned out of the hellish radiation of a World-Wide Atomic War, go on to challenge Man’s supremacy on Earth?

Link

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 01:13:23 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Fretboard Journal second issue available now

Not many new magazine titles interest me. It's rare to find magazines that are the inspired work of people who love great design, the written word, and the subject of whatever it is the magazine is about. That's because most magazines are launched by big companies to fill some kind of perceived hole in the market into which ads can be pumped in.

The Fretboard Journal is not like one of those shake and bake corparate launches. The second issue just came out, and even though I'm not a stringed-instrument fanatic (I do like ukuleles), the editors' love for guitars, ukes, basses, madolins and banjoes radiates off the pages and is infectious.

Everything about The Fretboard Journal -- published by Amazon.com's former music editor, Jason Verlinde and edited by guitar author and historian Michael Simmons -- is an example of the right way to make a magazine. The paper is thick and coated just right for the luscious color photographs and rich black and white photographs. The design is thoughtful and playful but always respectful of the fact that the articles are meant for reading. The articles are enjoyable to neophytes and (I suppose) old salts alike.

The second issue has a cover story about Neko Case and her tenor (4-stringed) guitar collection, a story written by a guy who made a fantastic sculpture of Blind Willie Johnson, an interview with experimental guitarist Richard Bishop, a profile of premiere banjo maker Chuck Ogsbury, a gallery of gorgeous vintage string packets from the early 20th century, a profile of C.F. Martin III, a review of a 20-CD set of Django Reinhardt's work, and more.

A one-year subscription is $34. Link

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 12:48:22 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Wiki gang-sign t-shirt materializes, as do "WEBSIEEETE!" shirts.

Link, as foretold earlier this week.

Can I get a LOL up in here? (Thanks, horncologne, and Chris!)

Reader comment: Noel Black says,

Hi Xeni.

I'm the "Toilet Paper dude" that Sean Bonner disparages so freely in this BoingBoing post. 

You can tell him to suck on this.

Previously:
- Wiki gang hand-sign (bitches)
- Tshirt of "blog gang hand-sign" rips off blogger?

Update: Wireless tech expert Mike Outmesguine appears to be the leader of a certain WiFi Posse. 

Update: Noel "toilet paper dude" Black now has a post up titled, "Websieeete T-Shirts Now Up Your Face at the TP, Sean Bonner, you big jerky poo poo pants."

Man, "poopoo pants?" Shit's gettin' serious around here. I think somebody needs a time-out, or at least a good nap before snacktime. Disclaimer: this is all friendly.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 11:23:35 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Marine returning from Iraq is on no-fly terror list

A marine reservist who spent the past eight months in Iraq was told he couldn't board a plane from Los Angeles to Minneapolis because his name showed up on a terrorist "no-fly" watch list. Link (Thanks, Xopl)

posted by Xeni Jardin at 11:12:10 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

To do in SF: BigWheel race down "crookedest street"

On Easter Sunday, the annual Bring Your Own Big Wheel (BYOBW) race will once again swoosh down Lombard Street in San Francisco.

Link to details for the April 16 event, with video and photos from previous races (these guys have been at it for six years). (Thanks, Scott Beale!)

posted by Xeni Jardin at 11:05:16 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

TV networks and affiliates challenge FCC on "indecency"

Four television networks -- ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox -- and their respective affiliates are challenging an FCC ruling that several programs were indecent because of language. Snip:

The move represents a protest against the aggressive enforcement of federal indecency rules that broadcasters have complained are vague and inconsistently applied. Millions of dollars in fines have been levied based on those rules.

The appeals challenge the FCC's finding that profane language was used on the CBS program "The Early Show" in 2004, two incidents on the "Billboard Music Awards" shows broadcast by News Corp.'s Fox in 2002 and 2003 and various episodes of the ABC show "NYPD Blue" that aired in 2003.

Link to AP item. (thanks, Jamin)

posted by Xeni Jardin at 10:59:36 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Life-sized chocolate rooms with lickable walls

For about US $4500, a company in the UK will create an "interactive and edible" chocolate room for you, complete with chocolate chandeliers and sugar wallpaper. Diabetics croak on the spot if they put one foot inside, and this definitely violates the old mom-adage: "never try to eat anything bigger than your head." Link (Thanks, Ivy, and Allen Knutson)

posted by Xeni Jardin at 10:51:43 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Recut: South Park's "de-Muhammed-ed" episode with crapping Jesus

Yesterday, Cory blogged about what may be the most outrageous South Park episode yet, in which Jesus shits on Bush and the US flag -- but the prophet Mohammad couldn't be shown in another scene, because Comedy Central wouldn't allow it. Here's some video, here's another. I watched it last night and ROFLed.

BoingBoing reader Gavin says, "Some very enterprising person took the old episode of South Park which featured the likeness of Mohammed and cut-n-pasted it into last night's episode. Score one for freedom of expression!" Link. Update: or not. YouTube has removed the clip: "This video has been removed due to copyright infringement." (Thanks, Scott Ellis).

Luke says, "Comedy Central already aired an image of Mohammed. This clip from an old South Park episode (#69), originally aired July 4, 2001, depicts the prophet Mohammed as a member of the 'Super Best Friends.' Times change? Or is the "refusal" of Comedy Central this time just part of the episode?"

(Thanks, Berny and James Roe!)

posted by Xeni Jardin at 10:33:18 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Explosive but edible Chocolate Bomb

Snip from product description:

Our advice would be to place the bomb on a tray or solid plate in the centre of a cleared table, place the safety guard (included) around the bomb with further clear space around that. Light the wick and stand well back and wait. Do not remove the cardboard base from the bomb and like a firework do not return to the bomb once lit in the unlikely event it should fail to explode. (safety instructions included)

Due to the "explosive nature" of this bomb we can not deliver to outside the UK.

Link (Thanks, Candy Addict)

Previously:
Chocolate Russian Roulette

posted by Xeni Jardin at 10:11:09 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Found photos of LaPorte, Indiana

When I first found FOUND Magazine several years ago, I was absolutely delighted. Every issue is packed with bizarre found stuff like love letters, nasty notes left on cars, to-do lists, homework assignments, doodles, photos, etc. FOUND co-founder Jason Bitner recently found a find so amazing that he created a wonderful book about it. I can't recommend LaPorte, Indiana highly enough for fans of photography, ephemera, or curiosities. Looking at these anonymous people is deeply moving. From the book's companion Web site:

For more than thirty years, box upon box of studio portraits sat in the back of a local diner in LaPorte, Indiana. Shelved next to cases of ketchup and mustard, these photographs--all 18,000--marked the town's most important milestones: births, first communions, graduations, weddings, promotions, anniversaries, and retirements. The photographer, Frank Pease, could not bear to toss them, and they eventually found a home in the back B & J's American Café, located downstairs from Pease's studio. There they remained until uncovered by Found Magazine's Jason Bitner.

Link

posted by David Pescovitz at 10:06:15 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

ATF agents rid university of deadly ninja threat

Agents from the US bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearm agents detained a “suspicious individual” on a Georgia college campus -- a guy dressed up in a ninja costume, on his way to a party on campus.

Jeremiah Ransom, a sophomore from Macon, was leaving a Wesley Foundation pirate vs. ninja event when he was detained. After being held in investigative detention, he was found to have violated no criminal laws and was not arrested.

“It was surreal,” Ransom said. “I was jogging from Wesley to Snelling when I heard someone yell ‘freeze.’” Ransom said he thought a friend was playing a joke before he realized officers had guns drawn and pointed at him.

Link to story in The Red and Black, a paper for the University of Georgia. Image: from an unnamed student’s cameraphone, ATF officials pin down part-time ninja Jeremiah Ransom.

Reader comment: Fred says,

[The] ninja was supposedly "doing quick peeks". Now he wants to sue. Link to onlineathens.com story, Bugmenot login: greana/grenada

posted by Xeni Jardin at 10:05:26 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

New Orleans to lose free municipal wireless network?

Snip from a story summary from NPR's All Things Considered:

In the weeks after Hurricane Katrina, the city of New Orleans built a free wireless Internet network, covering downtown and the French Quarter. It's the only network of its kind that's owned and operated by a major U.S. city. But once Louisiana's governor lifts the state of emergency in the region, the network will become illegal.

Link to archived radio segment. (Thanks, jesse himmelstein)

Reader comment: Bridget Wynn says,

I noticed the article about New Orleans possibly losing its WiFi, and I wanted to let you know the city of New Orleans has approched Earthlink to take it over, thus putting into the hands of a private company and making it legal again.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 10:00:32 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Typing to one million

In 1982, Les Stewart of Mudjimba, Australia, sat down at his manual typewriter and started punching out all of the numbers from one to one million, in words. He finished in 1998. He apparently holds the "World Record for Typing Numbers in Words." From the International World Record Breakers' Club:

When asked why he has undertaken this time consuming and repetitious task, Les says that he has little else to do now that he has been classed as an invalid, and can no longer work. Besides that, Les enjoys typing and used to be a police typing instructor before his sickness which meant his withdrawal from the force. Typing an average three pages a day with one finger since April 1982, Les said his secret was to type for 20 minutes on the hour, every hour

Link (via Kircher Society)

posted by David Pescovitz at 09:48:36 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Webby Awards nominees, including BoingBoing!

We're honored to have been nominated for the 2006 Webby Awards in the "Blog - Culture/Personal" category along with such terrific sites as Rocketboom, TreeHugger, Cute Overload, and We Make Money Not Art. Wow! The entire list of nominees across all of the categories is quite amazing and we really appreciate being included. The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences picks the Webby Awards winners, but anyone can vote in the Webby People's Voice Awards until May 5. Winners will be announced May 9.
Link to 2006 Webby nominees, Link to People's Voice voting site

posted by David Pescovitz at 09:20:20 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

HOWTO make an Easter Chocolate Peep "Turducken"

An Easter Turducken consists of one Cadbury Cream Egg, surrounded by marshmallow Peep, crammed deep inside the body of a hollow chocolate bunny. "It is my policy to avoid ingesting foods that contain the letter sequence 'turd,'" says one commenter on this instructional blog entry.  Link (Thanks, Kate Hopkins)

posted by Xeni Jardin at 08:53:43 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Folk ballad celebrates AMZN CEO's plans to go to space

The UK band Neon Trees has recorded a kicky folk-ballad about Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos's plans to build a private space vessel -- something they first read about here on BB.

Jeffrey wants to buy a spaceship
Jeffrey wants to save your life
Jeffs going to make a lot of money  

Jeffs going to take a real long
Jeffrey took a real long
Jeffs going to take a real long flight!

Link (Click on the first music track in the MySpace listing) (Thanks, Joanna!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:36:37 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Vespa shipping hybrid scooters

Vespa has unveiled two hybrid scooters that deliver 25 percent more power and use 20 percent less petrol. You plug them into a standard European 220V socket for three hours to charge them, or run them on normal gas-engine mode. They can run battery-only at low speeds, which is useful in indoor/zero-emissions environments. The helmet-space under the seat has been replaced with a stack of 12V/26Ah batteries.

The company has developed two versions, based on their Vespa LX 50 (shown above, with 50cc gas & 1000W electric motor) and the more sleek and powerful Piaggio X8 125 (125cc gas & 2500W electic motor).

Link (via Digg)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:12:17 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Program forces Epson printers to use "empty" carts until they run out

AV sez, "This is a free program (apparently made in Russia?) that will allow you to actually use your Epson ink cartridges until they truly run out, vs when the digital management chip on it stops you and forces a replacement." No idea if this works or not, but given how dirty the printer business is when it comes to forcing you to buy overpriced consumables, it seems plausible. Link, Link to guide for HP printers (Thanks, AV!)

Update: Broccoli sez, "it does work, I've saved a couple of non-functioning printers from the scrapheap with that trick. Here's a photo tutorial on the Epson ink trick."

Update 2: K sez, "I got a mailing today about a class action suit being settled by Epson. It is in regards to programming that indicates that ink cartridges are empty when they are not."

Update 3:Andrew sez, "While it is true that cartridges stop printing before they are empty, it is to prevent the printer from forcing air through the printheads and causing them to rupture. Unlike HP who attach a disposable printhead to each cartridge, Epson uses one high-quality printhead that is not user-servicable. In other words, if you print too many pages, you're risking ruining your printer. I know people who have used this without a problem, and others who have permanently damaged their printers with it. YMMV. "

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:08:58 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Call for a "Corporation for Public Games" like public TV of yore

In this exciting and visionary article, David Rejeski at Serious Games Source argues that the US needs a "Corporation for Public Gaming," modeled on the "Corporation for Public Brpadcasting." He has a fascinating history of how TV was perceived before the public broadcasters came on the air, and there's a really parallel to the current perception of games as unworthy "mere entertainments."

The saccharine sweet family shows of the 50s and 60s gave way to harder biting social commentaries like All in the Family. In 1967, the same