posted by Xeni Jardin at 10:34:08 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Massive telecom satellite blows up on launch

Link | YouTube clip (Best part: the logo appears at the end of the video, as if the people behind this are very proud of the mishap)

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 09:03:11 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Giant penis visible on Microsoft map photo

Some years ago, teenage schoolboys at Bellemoor school, Southampton, UK played an end-of-term prank on their teachers. Specifically, they burned a 20ft-long cock into the school's grass lawn using weedkiller.

The teachers had it reseeded, and the incident passed into memory. However, in the interval between the grass dying and the restoration work...

Enter an aerial survey! More importantly, an aerial survey that would later sell its imagery to Microsoft's Virtual Earth Google Maps clone.

Hence, the giant cock was preserved for ever in the soft threads of the Net. It can be viewed at this URL.

The GoogleBird passed over some other time, sadly, so here is the James Dobson-approved version.

Reader comment:

Alex says:

Here's some giant cocks captured by an actual SATELLITE, rather than the microsoft aerial plane! (And on Google maps too!) Link

I'm sure you already know this, but it crops up on Boingboing quite frequently.

The "giant penis visible from space" article at the guardian is wrong. None of this imagery is actually "space" imagery. Most of it is collected by planes flying at 8k-10k feet -- Google Maps and Microsoft Live switch between actual satellite imagery and digital orthophotos when the resolution becomes advantageous to do so.

For instance, Google Maps' data of the site comes from here.

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 08:59:04 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Powder turns bathwater into thick slime

The goo is a completely harmless powder that soaks up 400 times it's own weight in water. When the fun's all done, add the disolver sachet and the goo dissapears.

Gelli Baff is just SPA (sodium polyacrylate). Sounds like they've found a fun way of marketing sodium polyacrylate, a non-toxic, water-absorbing polymer that's used in everything from disposable diapers to agriculture. You can buy a whole pound of it from Steve Spangler's site for $20, as well as SPA in granular form, which can be used as fake snow.

A lot of other substances work well for "busting" the slime once you're done playing, table salt is one, but lots of other household products will do it as well, try some out!

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 08:53:31 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Minister "lucky" after tumour spotted on TV

Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Conor Lenihan had a lucky escape after a eagle-eyed doctor diagnosed a tumour on his face as he spotted him speaking on television.

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 08:25:13 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Brits! Act now to save the BBC from Microsoft

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:18:31 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Jay Lake's comedy sf mashup contest

*Repo Man from UNCLE--Emilio Estevez is recruited for a shady job that turns out to be working for an undercover spy network that has developed a flying car/time machine.

*A Boy and His Dogma: A young archangel rescues the mother of God from a gang of roving ex-angels and attempts to conform to her human expectations. Rated R for the grisly ending where Alanis Morissette and Alan Rickman... well, I won't give it away.

*The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy Quest - Dent Arthur Dent discovers that all of his adventures were scripted episodes from an old TV show, the Heart of Gold is actually a 14" plastic model lit with Christmas lights, the Vogons are just big lumps of latex with Warwick Davis pulling levers inside, and Alan Rickman actually went insane holding up both ends of a conversation between Dr. Lazarus and Marvin the Paranoid Android.

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:15:35 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Dr Who Tardis USB hub

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:50:09 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

O'Reilly Emerging Tech conference earlybird reg closes Monday!

The program is still being finalized, but already there are any number of exciting presentations on the slate, including:

• MMOG: Modestly Multiplayer Online Game Building Workshop -- a half-day session on building tiny, federated virtual worlds
• Toward a New Animism: Old Interaction Paradigms for an Everyware World, Adam "Everyware" Greenfield's presentation on figuring out how to live in a world where all our possessions are smart enough to be trouble
• If Paper Could Talk, What Would It Say?, presented by Osborne-creating PC hero Lee Felsenstein, on using printed codes to store machine-readable audio
• No Program Left Behind: Liberating TV from the Tyranny of the Ephemeral, wherein BBC maverick Tom Loosemore (BBC Backstage) opens the kimono on the Pandora Box, a PVR that can record every TV program on every channel at once and archive them all for nine months
• Super Ninja Privacy Techniques for Web App Developers -- Marc "Wesabe" Hedlund explains the fine, subtle, transcendental points of maintaining privacy through good application design
• From Pixels to Plastic: the always gnomic and fascinating Matt Webb on the coming revolution in outputting pixel-based designs in solid, volumetric plastic
• Your Web App as a Text Adventure -- I loved this thesis-statement: "Quite bluntly, if your web application can't easily be adapted as a classic text adventure, your application has serious problems on multiple levels"
• Body Hacking: Quinn Magnet Sense Norton takes us on a stomach-churning adventure through the world of extreme body-mods
• RFID Guardian: A Personal Platform for RFID Privacy Management -- when I saw Melanie Rieback present her prize-winning paper on RFID firewalls at USENIX LISA in DC, I knew we had to have her at ETECH; her research on the security of RFIDs shows how we are sleepwalking into a world of incredible instability and insecurity

In 2007, we expect internet access to be instant, music collections to fit into our pockets, and communication as a constant. Technology is so tightly woven into our lives that at times we scarcely notice it. And yet, there are innovators, hackers, and thinkers plotting revolutions—often by simply reexamining underlying assumptions we already take for granted. From the infrastructure supporting mass-market players, the promise of mass computing, and alternative energy sources to personalized medicine, movie magic, web heresies, and talking paper, ETech 2007 explores the technological rejiggering and changes in perspective that are poised to blast off into the realm of magic. Join us March 26-29, 2007 in San Diego, CA—be a part of the ideas, tools, and discussions happening today that will give rise to the magic of tomorrow.

(Disclosure: I'm a proud volunteer on the Emerging Tech programming jury)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:46:19 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

National Gorilla Suit Day

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:22:43 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Database pioneer Jim Gray missing at sea

Gray's wife, Donna, told Coast Guard officials that her husband last contacted her by cell phone at about 10 a.m. Sunday and spoke of his plans. When he did not respond to her cell phone calls Sunday evening, she contacted the authorities at about 8:30 p.m.

Within an hour, the Coast Guard sent out a radio message alerting ships in the area to watch for Gray's vessel. On Tuesday, the search extended west 78 miles past the Farallon Islands...

Gray's yacht was a Canadian-made C&C 40, a sturdy fiberglass vessel with the dual capability of racing and offshore cruising. The Coast Guard said it was well-equipped with high-tech communications and safety gear, including a marine radio...

"Jim is a giant in the computer industry but a generous giant who will always take time to collaborate with other scientists or help students in their career," said UC Berkeley computer science professor David Patterson.

"We are hoping against hope he's tied up in a some cove with a dead cell phone."

posted by David Pescovitz at 10:29:25 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Snakes eat poisonous toads and collect their poison

Some R. tigrinus snakes carry toxins called bufadienolides in their nuchal glands, sacks located under a ridge of skin along their upper necks. When threatened, they arch their necks, exposing the poisonous ridge to an antagonist. The clawing and biting of hawks and other predators most likely rips the skin and lets the poison ooze out, potentially blinding the snake's attackers, says herpetologist Deborah Hutchinson of Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va. "It might not kill the predator but it would be noxious enough to deter predation," she says.

posted by David Pescovitz at 08:44:57 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Cute looking kid's show from Spain: Pocoyo

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 07:59:39 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Glasses that vibrate you into alertness

posted by David Pescovitz at 03:12:56 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Man in 25 day fugue state

By that point, Bieger had somehow made his way to a suburb about 20 miles from his Dallas home, holes worn in the rubber soles of his canvas shoes. He had lost 25 pounds, and a full white beard covered the normally clean-shaven educator's face...

...More than three months after the episode, he says he has only vague memories of those days on the streets of Dallas, one of America's most crime-ridden cities.

He recalls being stopped and frisked by police officers, who were looking for a suspect in a holdup at a pizzeria. There was also a smoky bowling alley. He remembers waking up cold on a playground, wearing shorts and a T-shirt with fall temperatures dropping into the 50s. Another time, he says, he awoke under a construction trailer.

He says he cannot recall what he ate to survive. But when he was found, he had jelly packets from a fast-food restaurant in his pockets and half a stale bagel.

posted by David Pescovitz at 02:44:51 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

NPR Xeni Tech: Storm Victims' Remains Exhumed in Guatemala

Today on NPR "Day to Day," the second segment in a 5-part series I filed called "Guatemala: Unearthing the Future," about how technology is being used to solve historic problems. Today's piece follows the FAFG, a group of forensic scientists who are working to exhume and identify the remains of victims buried in a mudslide caused by Hurricane Stan.

- - - - - - - - - -

Link to "Storm Victims' Remains Exhumed in Guatemala," a profile on the work of the Forensic Anthropology Foundation of Guatemala, with streaming audio (Real/Win).

MP3 Link for today's segment.

Link to narrated slideshow. More photos here.

"Xeni Tech" home, and podcast feed

- - - - - - - - - -

Before the mudslide, there were more than 50 homes in the Tzujutil Mayan village of Panabaj. Now, the houses and hundreds of the people who lived in them are 10 feet underground. Along the edges of the site, makeshift memorials stand as monuments to the dead.

The Guatemalan government cordoned off the zone as a high-risk area, and had no plans to recover the dead. But survivors resisted and joined with the Forensic Anthropology Foundation of Guatemala (FAFG) to unearth the victims.

For more than a decade, the FAFG has exhumed mass graves from political massacres that took place during Guatemala's decades-long civil war. This time, they are working in the wake of a natural disaster. The country's army has offered to help with the exhumation, but the mudslide survivors have refused. The military killed 13 unarmed civilians in Panabaj in 1990.

Along with tractors to clear the 400,000 square-foot mudslide site, FAFG is using mapping software and other technology to create a secure database on the remains. As of today, the FAFG has uncovered 82 sets of human remains, and identified nearly 60. They believe there may be as many as 500 bodies in all.

IMAGES: Top, FAFG workers exhume victims of the October 5, 2005 mudslide in Panabaj. (photo - courtesy FAFG). | A makeshift memorial marks the site where one family was buried alive (photo - Xeni Jardin) | When a corpse is unearthed, forensic anthropologists with the FAFG radio their tech team for a code that will help to track all that becomes known about the victim. (photo - courtesy FAFG) | 8-year-old Juan Ramirez survived that night, and said villagers at first thought the noise was an airplane, not a mudslide. (photo - Xeni Jardin)

Previously:

posted by Xeni Jardin at 01:23:55 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Horizontal gene transfer explains evolutionary jumps

Rice University study models "Horizontal Gene Transfer," a mechanism for evolution where big chunks of DNA migrate between different species via bacteria. This results in faster and more sudden evolutionary branching than what you get with the more familiar mechanisms of sexual selection or random single-point mutations caused by radiation, copying errors, etc.

Now I feel better about eating those tomatoes with the fish genes in them! (Flavr Savr)

Reader comment:

Roger says: I just wanted to correct the misconception that Horizontal Gene Transfer occurs in plants and animals. Also, Flavr Savr tomatoes haven't been around for about ten years and never had fish genes in them.

I have a blog post here explaining it.

I just wanted to point out that while previous commenter Roger says horizontal gene transfer doesn't occur in plants and animals, the posted article quotes a "Michael Deem, the John W. Cox Professor in Biochemical and Genetic Engineering" as saying:

"We know that the majority of the DNA in the genomes of some animal and plant species – including humans, mice, wheat and corn – came from HGT insertions"

This seems to be at odds with Roger's position.

A quick comment on the post-discussion for the “Horizontal gene transfer explains evolutionary jumps” story. I think Roger may be mistaken when he says horizontal gene transfer does not occur in plants/animals.

In humans, oncoviruses (1) cause tumors through insertion of their viral DNA into human host DNA -- a process known as transformation (2). It’s been a while since my last university BioChem course, but once the viral DNA has been incorporated into the host’s genome I think it’s safe to say that you’ve had a HGT event -- one between a virus and a human.

When you consider that viruses and bacteria also routinely pick-up DNA from their hosts (a process called ‘natural competence’ 3) it becomes clearer how this process might be important evolutionarily.

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 11:01:00 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Funny rant about Cheerios graph

First up, a glucose drink! The breakfast of champions! Who hasn't left the house of a morning, pausing only to swallow down a couple of cans of Tango or Lucozade? I'm reminded of Bill Bryson's "Rated FIRST against the Ford El Crappo for safety!" diatribe on advertising - if a glucose drink is the only competition then Cheerios can't be doing too well against anything more sensible. But wait! Sugary energy drinks aren't the only competition! The other condition is.. no breakfast! Which actually beats Cheerios in the first half hour! Clearly, the subjects were still mulling over the pseudo-scientific crap they'd just read on the Cheerios box and couldn't concentrate on... whatever it was they were given. In the end, of course Cheerios come out on top but it hardly tells you anything you didn't know before -- as the only solid food in the experiment you might equally read the result as, "Cheerios - better for you than starvation."

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 10:41:57 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Interior shots of Putin's jet

Previously on Boing Boing:
• Inside the Sultan of Brunei's private jet
• The time I flew on the Enron corporate jet to meet Jeff Skilling

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 10:21:56 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Police use stun guns on greased, naked student

Officer Doug Staysniak was monitoring the lunch period when Killian, with long hair and a full beard, ran in the room toward students, who screamed and ran away. The officer is normally assigned to a middle school and did not recognize Killian as a student, Gaylor said.

Police said that an administrator ordered Killian to stop, but that the student made a sexual gesture and kept running.

Killian is in jail and charged with inducing panic, public indecency, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 10:10:37 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Apple pays defendants' legal fees in free-speech victory

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

UK X-ray scanners in lamp posts

The UK has already introduced lamp post mounted CCTV with speakers and microphones built in. Now the UK may be the first to introduce X-ray scanners in lamp posts, to scan for hidden weapons, drugs and bombs.

The only drawback appears to be organising and maintaining the resources to follow up on suspects, not the obvious concerns over civil liberties.

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 10:04:03 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Bald eagle lugs deer head into power lines

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 09:51:50 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Toronto Transit Camp - an unconvention to improve The Better Way

An ad-hoc gathering at the Gladstone Hotel of designers, transit geeks, bloggers, visual artists, tech geeks and cultural creators passionate about transit in Toronto and the TTC. It is a platform for Toronto's talented design community and enthusiastic transit users and fans to demonstrate their creativity and contribute to a better way for Toronto's transit system. The content and ideas generated in this open unconference will be delivered to the TTC for their consideration in their work.

Date: Sunday, February 4th
Time: 9:30am to 5:00pm
Location: Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen Street West, Toronto
Attendance: Maximum attendance - 100
Cost: FREE for participants!
Registration: See our page on the registration process.

Update: Check out Steph's awesome explanded TTC map -- fantasy-league subway stations!

posted by Cory Doctorow at 08:27:52 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

RU Sirius radio - with Cory!

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:15:20 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Inside organized credit-card fraud

From bedrise to bedrest, seven days a week, he rode the boards and forums of his and other carding sites using the online nickname El Mariachi. He recorded private messages and IRC chats for the FBI as "carders" schemed to, among other things, sell stolen credit and debit card numbers, defraud the George Bush and John Kerry campaign sites, drain hundreds of thousands of dollars from bank and investment accounts, sell access to Paris Hilton's T-Mobile account and run phishing scams against U.S. Bank and the FDIC. He did it all while battling denial-of-service attacks against his site and dodging attempts by his old partner Taylor and other carders to track his whereabouts and out him as a fed.

Just as his enemies were closing in on him in September 2004, the FBI pulled the plug on his work and cut him loose. But not before Thomas had given authorities a valuable look at the internet's underworld, though the strain of leading a double life nearly broke him.

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:14:29 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Monday, January 29, 2007

More bad science on kids' food packages

Previously on Boing Boing:
• Bad science fact on a Happy Meal bag

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 08:33:15 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Captain Eeyore - underground Disney character mashup

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:00:38 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Cory's Toronto book launch this Thu

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:27:04 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Defective by Design pickets Vista launch in NYC

DefectiveByDesign members turned out today in New York City (despite the bitter cold!) to spread the message that Vista's DRM is a danger to computer users. We were joined by folks from the BadVista.org campaign who distributed free software to the guests lining up to attend the launch event.

See also:
Tagging DRM stuff on Amazon with DefectiveByDesign
Why Apple is to blame for iTunes DRM
Anti-DRM demonstrators in hazmat suits storm Bill Gates keynote
200 ways to fight DRM this Tuesday
Newsweek on the anti-DRM movement
Friday: call RIAA execs and tell them "No DRM!"
Protest DRM in NYC this Saturday!

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

Vista DRM cracked?

As described, Ionesco's hack is quite ingenious, and it subverts the system in a way that bypasses its fail-safes. Ionesco leads technically sophisticated Free Software projects, and is a credible source of such a break.

Vista launched this week, and it's already broken. As with previous multi-year DRM development efforts, this one disintegrated like wet kleenex on contact with the general public. Now that Vista, HDCP, Blu-Ray and HD-DVD are all broken, it seems like the millions of dollars and thousands of work-hours sunk into these systems was mis-spent. The only benefit that these anti-copying systems confer to the companies that developed them is the right to sue competitors -- and that benefit could have been had by shellacking a one-atom-thick layer of token DRM onto their systems, just enough to be able to invoke the DMCA. Everything else was just gold-plating, wasted money.

The great thing about the code I’ve written is that it does NOT use test signing mode and it does NOT load an unsigned driver into the system. Therefore, to any A/V application running, the system seems totally safe — when in fact, it’s not. Now, because I’m still booting with a special flag, it’s possible for Microsoft to patch the PMP and have it report that this flag is set, thereby disabling premium content. However, because I already have kernel-mode code running at this point, I can disable this flag in memory, and PMP will never know that it was enabled. Again, Microsoft could fight this by caching the value, or obfuscating it somewhere inside PMP’s kernel-mode code, but as long as it’s in kernel-mode, and I’ve got code in kernel-mode, I can patch it.

To continue this game, Microsoft could then use Patchguard on the obfuscated value…but that would only mean that I can simply disable Patchguard using the numerous methods that Skywing documented in his latest paper.

See also:
Report: HD-DVD copy protection defeated
Felten and Halderman on high-def DRM crack
HD-DVD/Blu-Ray cracker muslix64 interviewed

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:00:59 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

British Starbucks are filthy

India, Russia, Brazil and Egypt are to be targeted this year. There are 530 branches in the UK and, with profits soaring, the company has said it aims to add 50 per year, about half of them in the south east of England. Anyone can now calculate their 'Starbucks density' using a locator on the company website: a person in Regent Street in London is within five miles of 166 branches.

It is proof the formula works even in a nation of tea drinkers, but Simon feels one element was lost in the move across the Atlantic: 'Starbucks is dirtier in Britain. Americans have been taught to do part of the labour, and they clean up after themselves. In the US, part of Starbucks' appeal is its cleanness.'

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:46:45 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Disney hijacking Alice, Snow White, et al in New Zealand

Disney's application to IPONZ for a trade mark on Alice in Wonderland. The specification of goods and services for which trade mark protection is sought is very lengthy: from furniture to food, clothing to CDs.

You may be astonished at the breadth of the application being lodged by a company that has done no more, in this case, than produce adaptations of classic works of children's literature. Ditto for Snow White, Peter Pan, Pinocchio and a list of characters from those works.

This is not trivial. It would be understandable for Disney to try and protect its interpretations of existing characters, but its application for so-called "word marks" implies something much more than that: it implies exclusive rights to use all those characters. There have been at least 14 English-language films based on Carlo Collodi's 1883 novel The Adventures of Pinocchio (which itself drew on classical sources), and many more in other languages. If Disney was to obtain such trade marks (which cover "motion picture films"), would it then become impossible to make - or at least market - another one without Disney's permission? Would it be a copyright lockout via the back door?

Update: Tony sez, "a "wordmark" does not protect the word itself, but the word written in a specific way (font, color, small/capital letters, etc.)."

Update 2: Mark sez, "a wordmark does indeed protect the word in the abstract, in any script or color. A fancy logo that is only protected in its distinctive form is usually referred to as a 'combined mark' (combining word and figurative elements). Whether Disney will prevail in getting a wordmark "Alice in Wonderland" for 'motion pictures' is another question - as the post points out, the application has not been granted yet. Arguably, Alice in Wonderland is descriptive for films - it describes the type of story told, not the source (producer) of the film."

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:04:56 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Guinea pig rescuers

"They're hilarious. They are so comical. They talk to you. They've got so many different vocalizations," (Karen Oehlers) said. "They're like the stuffed animal you had as a child, except come to life."

Those who are approved to adopt a guinea pig have to sign a contract stating that they won't feed it to another animal or eat it themselves.

"Nobody's gonna eat my pigs," Oehlerts said.

posted by David Pescovitz at 02:42:32 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Jim Flora website update

Link (Many more Flora links here)

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 12:45:11 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

TV pirate transmission from 1987

posted by David Pescovitz at 12:33:07 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Paul Krassner

Paul sent me the the unedited version of an article, which was trimmed down by the LA Times, purely because of space limitations. Here it is in its entirety.

The Parts Left Out of Chicago 10

by Paul Krassner

In 1967, Abbie Hoffman, his wife Anita and I took a work-vacation in Florida, renting a little house on stilts in Ramrod Key. We had planned to see The Professionals. “That’s my favorite movie,” Abbie said. “Burt Lancaster and Lee Marvin develop this tight bond while they’re both fighting in the Mexican revolution, then they drift apart.” But it was playing too far away, and a hurricane was brewing, so instead we saw the Dino Di Laurentiis version of The Bible. Driving home in the rain and wind, we debated the implications of Abraham being prepared to slay his son because God told him to. I dismissed this as blind obedience. Abbie praised it as revolutionary trust.
More...

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 12:25:42 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Wire frame kitchen

posted by David Pescovitz at 12:04:21 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Map of current emergencies around the world

A mother and daughter, who recently died in mysterious circumstances in Lagos, have been suspected to have died of the deadly bird flu disease, thus, giving rise to speculations of a possible human-to-human infection of the disease in the country. The two were said to have died within two weeks after they allegedly ate a chicken the mother bought for the family during the Christmas and New Year celebrations at a popular chicken market along Ikorodu Road, Lagos.

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 11:54:31 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Ice from sky crushes car roof

Previously on Boing Boing:
• Ice ball blows hole through roof Previously on Boing Boing:
• 200-lb ice chunk falls on Oakland
• More weird ice falls on California

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 11:46:54 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Jet wheel well stowaway found dead at LAX

Wheel well stowaways usually die from cold, lack of oxygen, or getting crushed in the landing gear, but once in a while one of them survives.

In 2000, a man survived a flight from Papeete, French Polynesia, to Los Angeles. His core body temperature when he was found at LAX was 79 degrees, well below what is normally fatal. A Cuban man made it alive to Montreal in the wheel well of a plane in 2002. And in 1999, an 18-year-old Senegalese man survived a five-hour flight to France, but died after he stowed away on another flight later that year.

More typical are cases like Sunday's discovery of the body at LAX. Authorities are uncertain, however, of the survival rate of wheel-well stowaways, because bodies that fall out of flying aircraft may not be recovered. Stowaways unable to secure themselves can fall more than 1,000 feet when landing gear doors open. Experts believe that many of those who fall out are already dead or unconscious.

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 11:31:35 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Bedbug "plague" continues to grow

New York City apartment dwellers lodged 4,638 bedbug complaints in fiscal 2006, up from none three years earlier. Complaints ballooned 67% in the first half of this year from their pace a year earlier.

"There's a new plague," said Dini Miller, an entomologist at Virginia Tech University.

Bedbugs were virtually eradicated from the U.S. in the 1940s and 1950s, Miller said. The cause of their resurgence is not officially known, though theories include increased international travel in which the bugs hitch a ride on clothing or in luggage and decreased use of pesticides such as DDT.

Bedbugs are reddish-brown blood-sucking insects about a quarter of an inch long with a flat, oval shape. Drawn by body heat, they attack at night and inject an anesthetic that makes them virtually undetectable during their mealtime.

Update:

Utah Rescuers Plaugued by Bedbugs, a National Problem (Thanks, Dustin!)

Previously on Boing Boing:
• Bedbugs on the rise

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 11:19:54 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

New mom, 67, lied about her age to clinic

Bousada, a Spaniard, sold her home in Spain to raise 30,000 pounds ($60,000) to pay for the treatment in the United States. She chose donor eggs from a "pretty, brown-haired 18-year-old" and sperm from a blond, blue-eyed Italian American.

"I picked them from photos in a catalog. It was a bit like studying an estate agent's brochure and choosing a house," the paper quoted her as saying.

First she went through hormone therapy, which allowed her to have periods for the first time in 18 years. She became pregnant on the first attempt.

Previously on Boing Boing:
• Wristwatch fertility monitor
• Rod Stewart's DIY fertility clinic

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 11:15:58 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Disney's employee manual, 1943

Nothing like a jolly little illo of a demon stabbing you with a pitchfork to illustrate the "Discharge" section.

If you find it necessary to leave the lot for any reason during working hours, be sure to get a rain-check in the form of an "OFF THE LOT" pass. Then don't forget to punch out through the Time Office. If you are leaving on Company business, your pass may be signed by your Department Head or Unit Manager. In all other cases your pass must be signed by Hal Adelquest.

Remember, you will be paid for time spent off the lot ONLY if this period is covered by an "OFF THE LOT" pass.

Update: Humuhumu sez, "I think perhaps, though, that it might be worth pointing out that this brochure was produced during the years that the Disney Studios were essentially under occupation by the U.S. Government, as they aided in the war effort. Aninmation history fans already know how much the on-site military operation changed those years at Disney, but the wider general Boing Boing audience may not know that. It's what makes this brochure particularly fascinating (and partially explains some of the more draconian aspects)."

posted by Cory Doctorow at 11:10:31 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Maker Faire 2007: call for Makers

Organized by the staff of Make and Craft magazines, Maker Faire is a newfangled fair that brings together science, art, craft and engineering in a fun, energized, and exciting public forum. The aim is to inspire people of all ages to roll up their sleeves and become makers. This family-friendly event showcases the amazing work of all kinds of makers--anyone who is embracing DIY and wants to share their accomplishments with an appreciative audience. Last year, we had 20,000 people at Maker Faire.

Maker Faire Bay Area will take place May 19-20, 2007 at the San Mateo Fairgrounds. We are also adding Maker Faire Austin for October 20-21, 2007 at the Travis County Fairgrounds. This call is primarily for Maker Faire Bay Area but you can indicate if you are interested in participating in Maker Faire Austin.

We encourage you to join the fun and propose a maker exhibit, performance or workshop. You can submit a proposal through the web using the link described below or you can come show us your work at a Maker Faire "audition" on Saturday, February 24 at TechShop in Menlo Park, CA.

We invite proposals for Maker workbench exhibits, workshops, presentations and performances for the Maker Faire. We are interested in proposals from individuals as well as from groups such as hobbyist clubs and schools.

posted by David Pescovitz at 10:38:39 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Radiation patients triggering dirty bomb alarms

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission first recommended in 2003 that doctors warn patients they may set off alarms after being injected or implanted with radioisotopes. That came after police stopped a bus that set off a radiation detector in a New York City tunnel. They found one of the passengers had recently undergone thyroid treatment with radioiodine.

In August, the British Medical Journal described the case of a very embarrassed 46-year-old Briton who set off the sensors at Orlando airport in Florida six weeks after having radioiodine treatment for a thyroid condition.

He was detained, strip-searched and sniffed by police dogs before eventually being released, the journal said in its "Lesson of the Week" section...

There were nearly 20 million nuclear medical procedures performed in the United States in 2005, up 15 percent from four years earlier, so the number of people who could potentially be mistaken for terrorists is enormous.

"We hope that people who have radiation detectors are aware of the problem ... and that they treat people with respect," (said Henry Royal, past president of the Society of Nuclear Medicine).

posted by David Pescovitz at 10:19:46 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Iguana's penis removed

Remedies from cold water to introducing female iguanas into his enclosure all failed and it was decided that an operation was the only solution to the problem...

A spokesman at the zoo, speaking with the casual, blasé manner of someone who hasn't just had their penis cut off, said: 'Male iguanas - including Mozart - have two penises, so this is unlikely to be a big problem for him.'

posted by David Pescovitz at 09:57:14 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

NPR "Xeni Tech" - Guatemala: Unearthing the Future (and new podcast)

This week on NPR "Day to Day," a five-part series of reports I brought back from Central America: "Guatemala: Unearthing the Future."

One European visitor in the 1800s called this country "Land of the Eternal Spring," and its volcanoes, ancient ruins, and rich Mayan culture make the place feel mythic even today. But suffering also defines Guatemala, and scars from a decades-long civil war have yet to heal. The war that claimed more than 200,000 lives ended ten years ago, but its lingering effects have left some 80% of the population in poverty. In this series, you'll hear stories from people who are trying to fight that, applying innovative, home-grown technologies to solve old problems.

The first of these reports focuses on a group called the Forensic Anthropology Foundation of Guatemala (FAFG), a nonprofit comprised of technologists, anthropologists, and archaeologists who unearth mass graves from political massacres. They work to identify the dead and return the remains to their families for dignified reburial. The process begins with the hard work of the exhumation itself, but they also use DNA forensics and software they develop themselves, so they can identify a greater portion of the remains, and preserve evidence that could be used in criminal trials. FAFG staff routinely deal with death threats from those who do not support their work.

- - - - - - - - - -

Link to "A Database for the Dead," with streaming audio (Real/Win).

MP3 Link for today's segment.

Link to narrated slideshow.

Also today, NPR is launching a "Xeni Tech" podcast where these reports (and everything else I file for the network) will be available in DRM-free MP3: Link.

- - - - - - - - - -

Images (2007/Xeni Jardin): Above, FAFG anthropologist Raquel Doradea logs information about another incident -- this information will be entered into their database, along with testimony from survivors. Below, her colleague Patricia Ixcoy works on remains from a 1982 massacre that killed 26 K'iche Maya people in Kanakil, a rural pueblo in the department (think:state) of El Quiché. The bones look charred because the victims were first shot, then set on fire.

See also some recent posts on a "reporter's notebook" blog from the Guatemala trip:

posted by Xeni Jardin at 08:34:21 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Brits swarm cargo-beach for BMWs and toxic waste

Ignoring health warnings and threats of prosecution, hundreds of people foraged among containers washed from a stricken cargo vessel on the southern English coast on Monday, hauling off booty that included BMW motorcycles, shoes, diapers, beauty cream and carpets.

The scavengers descended on beaches at Branscombe after rescue tugs towed the 62,000-ton cargo vessel, the Napoli, to a sandbar just offshore to prevent it from breaking up at sea and spilling thousands of tons of oil and cargo. The cargo includes hazardous chemicals.

Television footage showed people inside shipping containers or carrying away items such as gearboxes, steering wheels and Bibles. Local people were seen using gurneys to carry away their haul. The police said 15 new BMW motorcycles were taken away, one of them by people using a small tractor as they raced against the tides to grab what they could.

(Thumbnail taken from a larger image credited to Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)

Update: Dubi sends in a Flickr photoset of the cargo-ship and its detritus.

posted by Cory Doctorow at 08:16:31 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Sunday, January 28, 2007

Bad science fact on a Happy Meal bag

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 08:18:26 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Donald Norman's favorite gadgets

Who would have thought it -- a better stapler. This is a great example of how even the most mundane, commonplace commodity can be improved. Staplers look pretty simple and their design has not changed much, until now. Many's the time I have had to redo a staple, pulling out the original, bad staple, and trying to do it right: push straight down, hard -- but neither too slow nor too fast. Bah.

PaperPro completely rethought the operation. On the outside, the stapler looks just like the old-fashioned kind, but try it once and be convinced forever. Pushing down on the top cocks a spring. Then, the spring releases -- bam! -- all the energy at once, and the staple shoots into the paper. Effortless. And in my many uses, never a single failure. And I staple a lot, especially as I crank out draft chapter after draft chapter. My stapler says it can do up to 25 pages, but in actuality, it does a lot more.

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:52:10 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Tangle Tamer -- wonderful product

The pain is over since we started using this rechargable electric detangling brush. The motor makes the eight plastic protuberances oscillate at a high frequency. The brush goes through tangled hair like a hot knife through butter. Well, maybe not that quickly, but it is so much better than a comb or brush that there's no comparison.

I learned that a Nokia phone charger recharges the brush, too, which eliminates the need to take along an extra charger on vacations. Link

Reader comment:

Erica says:

Thanks for the advice; I've been looking for something like this forever! On your recommendation, I ordered one, and I am already completely in love with it. I have three feet of extremely fine hair that is FULL of tangles every morning when I wake up, and this comb-thing is already making my mornings MUCH happier. Also, a wonderful aside, it came with an "important safety instructions" card that says to keep it away from water, even though they tell you to use it on wet hair, and to "Never use while sleeping."

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 06:56:48 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Carl Malamud's "10 Government Hacks"

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:15:24 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

MySpace post leads to murder conspiracy charges for 6 teen girls

Six teen girls in rural Tennessee have been charged with conspiracy to commit homicide. Their high school principal contacted authorities after learning of a "hit list" with 300 names, and a MySpace post that included the word "kill."

School officials said the list, discovered in a classroom trash can, mostly named students and faculty members but also included Tom Cruise, Oprah Winfrey and the Energizer Bunny.

Sequatchie County High School Principal Tommy Layne said that he initially considered it a joke, but that authorities then found the ninth-graders' online MySpace pages and postings that included the word "kill."

(...) There was no evidence that the girls had weapons or that an attack had been imminent, Huth said. The girls, ages 14 and 15, were charged with conspiracy to commit criminal homicide late Wednesday and taken to a juvenile facility.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 03:42:33 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Baby Meat facts pamphlet, and soylent infant snausages.

A couple of weeks ago, I started a personal experiment: go vegan, with a diet composed mostly of local produce and unprocessed whole foods. Partly out of curiosity, also to see what the health impact might be, and to explore what daily life is like when you're able to eliminate specific products produced by means you don't want to support. If it felt good (and it has), I'd planned to continue indefinitely.

Well, screw all that -- I should have read this first. PDF Link to "BABY: Eat Healthy, Live Healthy." A contemporary take on Swift's "Modest Proposal," or perhaps the work of this dude.

And it appears the babetarian foods movement already has a mantra: Link to ytmnd.com feature, from which i snagged the image below. (Thanks, Damion!)

Previously on BoingBoing:

Reader comments: Devon says,

In your baby eating post, I can't believe you didn't include the brilliant take on Swift's "A Modest Proposal" that rapper $trick9 does. Video Link.

The sandwich you posted a picture of under the "Baby Meat facts pamphlet" post is more commonly known as a "California Cheeseburger," as coined by [Simpsons character] Chief Wiggum in the museum of crime: Link.

Wiggum: Now, what I am about to show you next may shock and educate you. Hold onto your values as we step through the looking glass into a hippie pot party.
[flicks a switch, lighting a mannequin with a joint crudely stuck to his mouth]
Wiggum: While Johnny Welfare plays acid rock on a stolen guitar, his old lady has a better idea.
[lights up another mannequin, of a woman opening wide to eat a baby sandwich. (That's a sandwich with a baby in it, not a really tiny sandwich.) The crowd gasps]
Wiggum: That's right, she's got the munchies for a California Cheeseburger.

Here is a totally inappropriate name for a restaurant in the Philippines: Link.

Maybe it’s serendipitous coincidence, but we just got back from the Chicago suburbs, only to see your story on baby meat. While out in the burbs, I snapped the attached picture. I never thought Naperville, Illinois would be so forward thinking!

Will says,

Here's some evidence of baby-savoring that I recently came across in Beijing.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 03:08:33 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Nominate articles for "Year's Best Tech Writing"

So now I’m asking for your help. The good people at Michigan are collecting nominees for the best writing on tech subjects in the year just passed. This could include magazine, newpaper or online articles and columns, and certainly includes blog postings. Don’t think of “tech” too narrowly– I won’t! Ideally, though, the choices will be grokable by a general audience, and no longer than 5000 words. So please rack your brains and scan your memory circuits to recall the best stuff you saw–or maybe even wrote yourself.

See also: Levy's Perfect Thing: eye-opening iPod book (Thanks, Steven!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 03:02:05 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Jonathan Lethem: remix my stories!

These stories are for filmmakers or dramatists to adapt. They're available non-exclusively -- meaning other people may be working from the same material -- and the cost is a dollar apiece.

There's a simple written agreement to sign, which imposes a couple of restrictions, and that's it -- once you've paid your dollar and signed the agreement, you're free to adapt or mutate the story as you please.

posted by Cory Doctorow at 02:59:07 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

More live 3D Naomi Campbell on Mon. Jan. 29

Live! 3D! Naomi! Online! Again! Monday! Link. Photographer Nick Knight talks about the project on his blog, where you can also see 3D renders and view video essays from the photographer.

In this one, Knight explains how he became interested in 3D body scanning:

It seemed to me that this was a step between 2D photography, and 3D sculpture. It has been used a lot in the film world and gaming world, but in fashion it hasn't been used very much... [Naomi] is... a blank canvas on which fashion photographers and designers communicate to their audience.

The 3D body scanner device Knight is using for the Live Naomi project comes from UK-based scanning technology firm Rapido3d: Link. (thanks, Susannah Breslin!)

Previously on BoingBoing:

posted by Xeni Jardin at 01:18:43 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

International Alchemy Conference this October in Vegas

"The emphasis is on real alchemy," the website proclaims. "Discover the secret history of alchemy and how it is practiced today! Learn the secret formulae and processes of the alchemists! Learn how to set up an alchemical laboratory in your own home!" Conference takes place October 5-7, in -- where else? -- Las Vegas. Link. (Thanks, Pam)

posted by Xeni Jardin at 12:59:52 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Vernacular video: the state of "the people's medium"

Snip from an essay by Tom Sherman, via Bruce Sterling's blog:

Recombinant work will be more and more common. Sampling and the repeat structures of pop music will be emulated in the repetitive deconstruction of popular culture. Collage, montage and the quick-and-dirty efficiency of recombinant forms are driven by the romantic, Robin Hood-like efforts of the copyleft movement.

Real-time, on-the-fly voiceovers will replace scripted narratives . Personal, on-site journalism and video diaries will proliferate.

On-screen text will be visually dynamic, but semantically crude. Language will be altered quickly through misuse and slippage. People will say things like I work in several mediums [sic]. Media is plural. Medium is singular. What's next: I am a multi-mediums artist? Will someone introduce spell-check to video text generators?

Crude animation will be mixed with crude behaviour. Slick animation takes time and money. Crude is cool, as opposed to slick.

Slow motion and accelerated image streams will be overused, ironically breaking the real-time-and-space edge of straight, unaltered video.

Digital effects will be used to glue disconnected scenes together; paint programs and negative filters will be used to denote psychological terrain. Notions of the sub- or unconscious will be objectified and obscured as quick and dirty surrealism dominates the creative use of video.

Travelogues will prosper, as road films and video tourism proliferate. Have palm-corder and laptop, will travel.

Extreme sports, sex, self-mutilation and drug overdoses will mix with disaster culture; terrorist attacks, plane crashes, hurricanes and tornadoes will be translated into mediated horror through vernacular video.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 12:44:58 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Unhappy Meals: NYT essay on the politics of nutrition

Snip from an extensive (12 online pages!) essay in today's New York Times by UC Berkeley journalism professor Michael Pollan, author of “The Omnivore’s Dilemma”:

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

That, more or less, is the short answer to the supposedly incredibly complicated and confusing question of what we humans should eat in order to be maximally healthy. I hate to give away the game right here at the beginning of a long essay, and I confess that I’m tempted to complicate matters in the interest of keeping things going for a few thousand more words. I’ll try to resist but will go ahead and add a couple more details to flesh out the advice. Like: A little meat won’t kill you, though it’s better approached as a side dish than as a main. And you’re much better off eating whole fresh foods than processed food products. That’s what I mean by the recommendation to eat “food.” Once, food was all you could eat, but today there are lots of other edible foodlike substances in the supermarket. These novel products of food science often come in packages festooned with health claims, which brings me to a related rule of thumb: if you’re concerned about your health, you should probably avoid food products that make health claims. Why? Because a health claim on a food product is a good indication that it’s not really food, and food is what you want to eat.

Previously on BB:

posted by Xeni Jardin at 12:19:07 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

UK journalist jailed for hacking into royals' phones

A British journalist was jailed for four months today for hacking into more than 600 messages on the mobile phones of aides to the royal family, including from Prince William. Clive Goodman, 49, the royal editor of the News of the World tabloid, was sent to prison alongside researcher Glenn Mulcaire, 36, who received a six month sentence.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 12:13:16 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Bruce Sterling to keynote at Freedom to Connect, DC, Mar 5/6

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:49:06 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Stop-motion video game animation made with candles

posted by Cory Doctorow at 08:00:56 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Homebrew AT-ST walker teaches itself

Most of the construction of the robot is brass tubing soldered together with a small pencil torch. The wiring on the legs was run through the tubing so it is not visible. The brass tubing is also used for the bearings in the leg joints. The white plastic pieces were machined from UHMW (a plastic similar to nylon). To be different, I made the circuit board for the control system into a 3-D shape out of 9 separate panels to give the robot a unique look (intended to be a streamlined version of the AT-ST walkers from the Star Wars movies). This was also my first attempt at a homemade surface mount double-sided PCB. The IC's are SOIC packages and the resistors and capacitors are 1206 size packages. It was really no harder to make than a through-hole PCB. I used a product called "Press-n-Peel Blue" to make the boards and I tin plated them with "Tinnit" so they don't corrode. It was interesting to do a PCB layout for a 3-D shape. It gives flexibility that you don't have with a typical flat PCB. I'm currently designing another robot and plan to try some smaller IC packages and to use 0805 resistors and capacitors. Stay tuned for the results.

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:18:02 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

I am Robert A Heinlein

Robert A. Heinlein
Beginning with technological action stories and progressing to epics with religious overtones, this take-no-prisoners writer racked up some huge sales numbers.

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

EULA that really tells it like it is

By accessing this Web site in any way, shape, or form, directly or indirectly, you (hereinafter, PEON) grant Neil W. Van Dyke and his duly authorized agents (hereinafter, collectively, NEIL) carte blanche, including but not limited to unrestricted use and abuse of PEON's personal information, personal property, personal anatomy, and increasingly precarious emotional state.

This agreement may be be altered at any time by NEIL. Quietly changing a document somewhere on the Internet shall constitute notification. It is incumbent on PEON to locate these changes, seeing as how PEON grants automatic blanket consent to any such changes.

Should any part of this agreement be found illegal, the remaining parts shall remain in full force. Parts found merely unethical or tasteless may be doubled in magnitude, solely at the discretion of NEIL.

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

Printcrime audio from Beam Me Up radio

Link (Thanks, Paul!)

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

Saturday, January 27, 2007

Japan's health minister: Women are "birth-giving machines"

The number of women aged between 15 and 50 is fixed. Because the number of birth-giving machines and devices is fixed, all we can ask for is for them to do their best per head, although it may not be so appropriate to call them machines.

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:04:43 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

TiVo's DRM breaks Slingbox - UPDATED

Update: Larry sez, "The Slingbox Pro doesn't have an HDMI input; it has a connector that looks exactly like HDMI, even fits an HDMI cable, but it's not HDMI. It's a connector for Sling's optional HD dongle, which accepts only component video, not HDMI. Component video is DRM-proof, more or less, although some video source devices may limit the resolution on component output, or make it impossible to view output on both component (for the Slingbox) and HDMI (for the TV) simultaneously. The TiVo series 3 doesn't have this limitation... you can hook up the TV via HDMI, the Slingbox via Sling's component video dongle, and watch until your eyes fall out of your head."

Update 2: John responds, "Larry's comment doesn't really apply to my situation, but I should have been clearer. My original email didn't go into the details of my Slingbox set-up, but here it is if you'd like to add it.

"I've got the original Slingbox (now called Classic). I've got a Series 3 Tivo and a Samsung TV with an HDMI input. The Tivo connects to the TV with an HDMI cable. In addition, the Tivo also connects to the Slingbox via the S-Video cable. When the TV is on, the Slingbox will play all video. When the TV is off, the video on my Slingbox is disabled on most (but not every) channel. Sorry, the details are boring, but the situation is annoying none the less."

posted by Cory Doctorow at 02:58:30 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Google founder regrets censoring China

Since moving into China, Google has been compared to Microsoft because of its dominant position and power. "We are very sensitive to people talking about us in that way," said Mr Brin. Mr Page described the differences between the two technology companies by saying "we have very open partnerships, we are very clear about being fair with revenues."

See also:
Exiled Tibetans in Dharamsala protest Google censorship in China
Google in China: The Big Disconnect
Censorship: Comparisons of Google China and Google
Hacktivists parody Google logo for protest, China human rights fundraiser
Report: China blocking Google.com; censored Google.cn to be only option?
Not just in China: Google localized, censored in Azerbaijan?
Update: reports China is blocking Google.com, censored Google.cn becoming only option
Record companies: Google should censor the US, same as China
Okay, *do* be evil: Google launches censored google.cn in China
Google.cn: Tibetans protest, misspellers evade, updates. Harsh words for US tech firms from House at China 'net hearings
Tech firms blasted over China policies on Capitol Hill
Proposed law targets tech-China cooperation
China 'net censorship: not one big brother, but many
Report: Online news of protest deaths blocked by China authorities
Google logo redesigned by Students for Free Tibet
Bloggers in China break silence on violent suppression of protest
China official: What 'net censorship? What jailed journalists
Tibetan poet's blogs shut down in China censorship wave
Net censorship: HOWTO bypass China's Great Firewall
China Communist party official: our net censorship modeled on West

posted by Cory Doctorow at 02:54:29 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

BoingBoing week in review: Jan 20-27, 2007

posted by Xeni Jardin at 01:53:27 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Sweden to be first country with official embassy in Second Life

There are reports today that Sweden plans to open the first officially sanctioned embassy inside Second Life. Embassy officials won't be issuing visas or passports there, but they may just be wear rainbow codpieces when they offer you a Cyberian Angel Exotic Massage.

Link to Notes from Sweden blog post, here's a news article: Link. (thanks, Gabriel)

posted by Xeni Jardin at 12:50:07 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Murdered spy Litvinenko was killed with radioactive teapot

British officials say police have cracked the murder-by-poison case of former spy Alexander Litvinenko, including the discovery of a "hot" teapot at London's Millennium Hotel with an off-the-charts reading for Polonium-210, the radioactive material used in the killing.

A senior official tells ABC News the "hot" teapot remained in use at the hotel for several weeks after Litvinenko's death before being tested in the second week of December. The official said investigators were embarrassed at the oversight.

The official says investigators have concluded, based on forensic evidence and intelligence reports, that the murder was a "state-sponsored" assassination orchestrated by Russian security services.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 12:21:27 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Web zen: goth zen

destinations
dolls
dating
portraits
text files
the anticraft

Web Zen Home, Store (Thanks Frank!)

posted by Xeni Jardin at 12:06:10 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Anti-cocaine TV ad from Colombian government

Here's a gross but brilliant anti-coke PSA from the government of Colombia, which features one particularly desperate addict. Link (thanks, Nebe Barnett)

Previously on BoingBoing:

posted by Xeni Jardin at 12:00:17 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Overdue unicorn chaser

By popular demand (apparently the Mongolian death worm's eye sting is long-lasting): happy rainbow rooftop unicorn on an Indiana farm, spotted in google maps: Link. (thanks, Dave Shpritz)

posted by Xeni Jardin at 11:46:54 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Haruhi Suzumiya Dance: like Numa Numa, en masse, in Japan

BoingBoing reader ~~Pocky~~ points us to an anime fan tribute dance craze in Japan.

"In America you have the Numa Numa Dance. In Japan, we have the Haruhi Suzumiya Dance. The dance is from a popular anime . But now everyone recreates their own version it." Link to a YouTube video montage of some examples. Here is the original dance: Link. Japan's TV star "Hard Gay" did a version too: Link. And here's a Gundam version: Link.

Reader comment: Agent86 says,

If you want to learn how to do the dance yourself, you can try the step-by-step instructions at the SOS-dan website: Link. But please note, "The dance uses quite a lot of muscles not normally used... aching might result." There is also a companion video, slowed down and mirrored horizontally for your learning pleasure at: AVI Link

posted by Xeni Jardin at 11:26:27 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Whups: Nazi toy soldiers in Seoul Apple retailer's display

Alec Porter says,

I was stunned to see these handpainted Nazi toy soldiers on display in the Apple store in Korea's biggeset mall, in Seoul. It's not an official Apple Store, but it's certainly Apple's representative in Korea; everyone who shops for Apple considers that the place.

Korea is not know for being sensitive about the Holocaust or Nazi Germany. Perhaps they'd say the same about the west and how we're not very sensitive about Japanese Imperialism, and the horrors it inflicted on Asia. Still, this is pretty shocking.

Reader comments: Michael Shaughnessy, who is a professor of German at Washington & Jefferson College, says:

While tasteless, and Hitler in no way represents today's' Germany, Korea seems to have an obsession with all things German. You can see this in the use of German as a marketing language. Here are some interesting examples of German as an advertising language in Korea.You have to assume that most people don't know the significance of the language, but find it attractive nonetheless. Link. This mirrors the use of English is used in many European countries.My research deals with visualization of culture and students and I put together a collection of some examples during a research trip. Link.

A few years ago I was in Korea and travelling outside of Seoul. I noticed a big ad in a newspaper with a picture of Hitler and a pig. I asked my guide to translate and he said the ad encouraged pig farmers to use this company's nutritional supplements "to raise a master race."

The BoingBoing post about Nazi 'toys" at an Apple store in Korea could use a bit more context. First, there are no Nazi toys on display at the store. Clearly, the picture is of hand-painted models. These are not toys for children. Just like every other country in the world, there are people in Korea who study and enjoy history by painting models and trying to make historically-accurate miniture scenes. You can walk into any model shop in America and buy models of German tanks and Japanese planes from the Second World War. These stores are not being disrespectful of history. (It's likely that the customers know more about history than most people do.)

Why are the models of Nazis at the store in Korea? Commonly, stores that sell models (tanks, trains, cars, soldiers and robots) lend some of the better work done by their customers to stores in the same mall. At Co-Ex, the mall in the post, you can see some really interesting models just outside the movie theater. The Apple store is not using Nazi toys to promote its wares. It is most likely taking part in a common form of cross-promotion.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 11:12:12 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Paintings inspired by Kaiju (scary Japanese monsters)

BoingBoing reader munkao says,

Hi Boing Boing. I love you. My name is munkao, and I am an artist from Malaysia. I recently did a series of Kaiju-inspired paintings for a two-man show at Giant Robot San Francisco: Link. Robert Bellm is the other artist and his fantastic art can be found on that website, too. Thanks Boing Boing! you have kept me company for many years!

posted by Xeni Jardin at 11:06:40 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Jewish porno can't use kosher symbol, says upset Rabbi

“As a leading company in the area of kosher food certification, companies are only contractually authorized to utilize the Kof-K trademark to promote and/or market their food products,” the letter said.

The symbol is the trademarked property of the Kof-K company, which is based in Teaneck, N.J., and certifies food like bread, juice and cookies as abiding by kosher standards. Those who observe Jewish dietary laws consider any food lacking one of a handful of such symbols, known as hechsherim, as treif, or unkosher.

Mr. Cohen, the son of a Moroccan Israeli and the third generation of his family involved in the pornography industry, was a bit perplexed. “I thought, what — they own a letter?” Mr. Cohen said in an interview.

They do. And they have for more than 30 years, said Rabbi Yehuda Rosenbaum, the administrative director of the company.

Reader comment: Anonymous says,

I think there's an important point glossed over in your blog post... "Kof-K" isn't *the* kosher symbol, it's *one company's* kosher symbol. It's not "a letter", as the porn producer indicates; it's a great big Hebrew letter with a tiny little English letter inside it, something that doesn't appear anywhere in any language. Basically it's a trademark in the classic sense, used to indicate that a bunch of rabbis in New Jersey approve of a particular product. While the bounds if intellectual property laws have often been stretched to the breaking point, this one seems pretty cut-and-dry. It's their brand, and they don't approve of it's use. I'm sure Good Housekeeping would feel the same way if their symbol was used to promote Mop Porn.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 10:49:30 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Friday, January 26, 2007

Star Wars drawing book

I was happily surprised by You Can Draw Star Wars, written by Bonnie Burton and illustrated by the supremely talented artists who work for Lucas. While the book focuses on the character, robots, and vehicle of Star Wars, the lessons in the book are valuable for drawing anything.

One unique feature of the book is the use of tracing paper overlays that have the rough pencil drawings on them. The pages below them contain the finished drawing. Special sections include inking and coloring, and creating a comic book. Link

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 05:22:32 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Magic or Madness kids' fantasy trilogy concludes with "Magic's Child"

In the Magic or Madness series, we are introduced to a magic system in which those born to magic die a little every time they use it -- but go insane if they refuse to use it (hence the title).

Reason Cansino, the 15-year-old narrator, starts the series by being separated from her maddened mother, and being sent to live with her "evil" grandmother. There, she learns that magic-wielders can extend their lives by drinking the magic of others, draining them to live.

By book three, the cast of characters includes nigh-omnipotent deceased relatives, evil, dysfunctional parents, and a trio of spunky young people whose hormones war with their senses.

I won't spoil the conclusion for you, but there's something really disturbing and thought-provoking that happens by the end of the book, a direction I hadn't expected and that has me thinking about it still.

This trilogy is ready-made for smart, curious kids who look to fantasy for more than escape -- who look to fantasy literature to stretch their understanding of the real world. Link

See also: Kids' fantasy novel blends magic with modernity - Tolkien meets Coupland

posted by Cory Doctorow at 04:14:13 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Autistic person translates from her language

The first part is in my "native language The first part is in my "native language," and then the second part provides a translation, or at least an explanation. This is not a look-at-the-autie gawking freakshow as much as it is a statement about what gets considered thought, intelligence, personhood, language, and communication, and what does not.

posted by Cory Doctorow at 04:02:28 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Walking elephant car from 1947

Powered by a four cylinder Chevy engine, all hydraulics, tucked neatly inside the body cavity. The elephant literally skates along at speeds of up to 20 mph.

Stuart made three of the in 1947. One is permanently housed in a museum in Austria, one as well used for decades by the Hudson Department store in Detroit (it was later sold to a private museum in Chicago where it resides today) and one was kept by the inventor. It is the latter pictured here and it comes to us from his family who cared for it after his demise. In all likelihood, it will be the only one ever to come up for public auction.

posted by Cory Doctorow at 03:57:38 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

HD-DVD/Blu-Ray cracker muslix64 interviewed

IMHO, AACS is totally busted. The only thing I can see for now to prevent the attack I have described is to put different keys on every disc! It will cost a fortune for the manufacturing, so I'm not sure they will go that way...

People say I have not broken AACS, but players. But players are part of this system! And a system is only as strong as his weakest link. Even if players become more secure, key extraction will always be possible.

I know many people of the industry try to cover up this breach, by saying I have only poked a tiny hole in AACS, but it is more serious than that. Only the future will tell.

The AACS security layer is almost the same for both HD-DVD and Blu-ray, so they are both busted for good.

The only extra security layer is for the Blu-ray format, and it's called BD+. BD+ is not there yet, and I don't know when it will be. May be my "exploits" will speed up the adoption of BD+, we will see...

See also Report: HD-DVD copy protection defeated

posted by Cory Doctorow at 03:54:56 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Fox to Canada: control Montreallers or we attack

"In Quebec, it is much more advantageous because you get both English and French. You cover a bigger part of the world," said Ellis Jacob, chief executive of the Cineplex Entertainment theatre chain. "They are using Canada because they can have the movie out on the street in the Philippines and China before it even releases there."

Jacob said he was warned in a letter from Bruce Snyder, president of Fox's domestic distribution, that if Canada doesn't do something to curb its growing piracy problem, Hollywood will.

"They are definitely thinking about delaying releases in Canada," said Jacob. "This is very, very bad for our Canadian consumer and it's bad for the industry as a whole."

posted by Cory Doctorow at 03:50:49 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Problems with Jedi

The core point is that the Jedi are not to be trusted:

1. The Jedi and Jedi-in-training sell out like crazy. Even the evil Count Dooku was once a Jedi knight.

2. What do the Jedi Council want anyway? The Anakin critique of the Jedi Council rings somewhat true (this is from the new movie, alas I cannot say more, but the argument could be strengthened by citing the relevant detail). Aren't they a kind of out-of-control Supreme Court, not even requiring Senate approval (with or without filibuster), and heavily armed at that? As I understand it, they vote each other into the office, have license to kill, and seek to control galactic affairs. Talk about unaccountable power used toward secret and mysterious ends.

3. Obi-Wan told Luke scores of lies, including the big whopper that his dad was dead.

4. The Jedi can't even keep us safe.

5. The bad guys have sex and do all the procreating. The Jedi are not supposed to marry, or presumably have children. Not ESS, if you ask me. Anakin gets Natalie Portman; Luke spends two episodes with a perverse and distant crush on his sister Leia, leading only to one chaste kiss.

See also R2D2: Secret leader of the rebellion

posted by Cory Doctorow at 03:48:20 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Grocery store-zilla

posted by Cory Doctorow at 03:43:12 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Stick-figure web-toy

posted by Cory Doctorow at 03:39:45 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Map of connections between characters in the New Testament

posted by Cory Doctorow at 03:36:19 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

SF podcast: "How Lonesome a Life Without Nerve Gas"

Link, Link to text of story, Link to subscribe to Escape Pod podcast feed, Link to Hooting Yard

See also:
Cory's Printcrime audio on Escape Pod
Escape Pod -- great sf story podcast
Paul Di Filippo's "Shadowboxer" - Twilight Zonesque story podcast
Di Filippo's story "Little Worker" as a podcast
Podcast of Cory's story, "Craphound"
Science fiction podcast: a modern Paul Bunyan story (funny!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 02:44:20 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Giant magnet used to pull steel splinters from eye

Previously on Boing Boing:
• Implanting a magnet in your fingertip adds a sixth sense
• Black, magnetic silly putty
• Dangerously strong magnets
• Anti magnetic ribbon site

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 02:35:04 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Halliwell's four-star movies

Here's a link to an online list of all the top scoring films from the notoriously stringent Halliwell's film guide.

Single-handedly authored by Leslie Halliwell (until his death in 1989) his yearly updated eponymous guide is considered to be one of the most authoritative, balanced and (crucially) comprehensive critical lists of the movie canon.

It pioneered the four-star rating system whereby films only receive one (or more) stars if they are remarkable, interesting, challenging or brilliant. Most films in the guide receive no stars with only a handful (well, 251) receiving a four-star rating. this top grade has long been considered one of the highest accolades for the discerning film director. The Halliwell's Four Star list has been accused of favouring Black and White films from the '30s and '40s but, needless to say, that is some of its charm

Reader comment:

Dave says:

While Halliwell's Film Guide may well be the most comprehensive in print, but "most authoritative [and] balanced" is far off the mark! Halliwell was an absolute master of waffle (meaningless remarks like "Some people have found pleasing things in it") and gross inconsistencies. He'll compliment a film and then give it no stars at all, and then he'll diss another film for being average and then give it two stars. Usually an entertaining read, but far from balanced.

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 02:05:02 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Ray Harryhausen tribute site with lots of good clips

I'll never forget the first time I saw the rousing and meticulously choreographed skeleton fight in Jason, in which a team of seven undead creatures spawned from a hydra’s teeth are acrobatically knocked, flipped, and stabbed out of commission by Jason and his cohorts, or the gray-skinned, 20-foot-tall Cyclops who gets seriously pissed off when Sinbad and his crew impale him with spears.

This website has short clips of the monsters from most of Harryhausen's movies. Link (Thanks, Joe Alterio!)

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 01:59:14 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

R. Crumb's Bigfoot covers for Fate

Previously on Boing Boing:
• Old copies of Fate magazine
• R. Crumb and Aline Crumb in the New York Times

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 01:26:43 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Woman saves husband from mountain lion attack

Jim Hamm, who was trying to tear at the face of the cat, told his wife to grab a pen from his pocket and stab the cat in the eyes. She did, but the pen broke.

"That lion never flinched," she said. "I just knew it was going to kill him."

Nell Hamm picked up the branch again and this time slammed it butt-end into the cat's snout. The lion had ignored her until then. Finally, she had its attention. The cat stepped back, and glared at her with its ears pinned back.

"I thought he was going to attack me," she said.

Instead, the cat slipped into the ferns and disappeared.

Previously on Boing Boing:
• Zoo lion kills man who thought God would protect him
• Mule vs mountain lion

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 12:59:02 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Earwax pick comes with LED

Previously on Boing Boing:
• The joy of earwax picking in Japan
• Excellent video of earwax picking
• When will I stop writing about earwax cleaning?
• Asians carry gene for dry earwax
• The earwax cleaning madness must stop, says reader
• Still more on Japanese ear cleaning
• Ear coning is a scam
• How to clean your ear with a bobby pin
• Ear Cleaning Manga

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 12:47:14 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Explosion rocks Marriott hotel in Islamabad

posted by Xeni Jardin at 11:38:13 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Bush no longer "miserable failure": Google tackles googlebombs

After just over two years, Google has finally defused the "Google Bomb" that has returned US President George W. Bush at the top of its results in a search on miserable failure. The move wasn't a post-State Of The Union Address gift for Bush. Instead, it's part of an overall algorithm change designed to stop such mass link pranks from working.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 08:25:17 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Photo: cartwheels in a swimsuit at the South Pole

posted by Xeni Jardin at 08:17:05 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Faux cocaine seduces the ladies: creepy '80s TV ad

UPDATE: Turns out this ad came from a long-running adult cable access show produced by none other than SCREW Magazine's Al Goldstein.

You can buy a DVD of archived editions of the show, including weird ads they ran like this one for SynthCoke: Link.

From 1975 to 2002, MIDNIGHT BLUE was late-night cable's most depraved cavalcade of politics, pornography and perversion... meet the real legends behind DEEP THROAT... Carol Connors: Uninhibited bisexual co-star, extreme animal lover, and mother of award-winning actress Thora Birch. Harry Reems: The prolific porn stud whose criminal indictment on obscenity charges galvanized Hollywood. Gerard Damiano: Hairdresser turned visionary porn director... Chuck Traynor: Linda Lovelace's bluntly outspoken husband, manager and alleged abuser... And much more, including the show's original commercials for swinger clubs, adult toys and escort services that dropped jaws and pants all over New York City and lit the fuse on the battles against the FCC that still rage today.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 08:12:43 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Record label crackdown on 30+ yr old vinyl bootlegs on eBay?

Warner Music Group and Universal Music Group (and probably others) have been cracking down on the sale of 30-year old + vinyl bootlegs. Most of these recordings are of concerts, sometimes unreleased demos, etc and were manufactured decades ago. Many titles are collectable and have sold sometimes for hundreds and even thousands of dollars, their value being more of an artifact than contraband. Recordings of Brian Wilson, Led Zeppelin and Neil Young, for example, have been removed from my listings by eBay under a program caled VeRO. Link.

Someone is out there searching for certain titles and artists and requesting their removal from ebay. I can't tell whether the system is powered by computer searches or the eyeballs of bottom-of-the-totem-pole record company interns. It just seems a little up-tight. Record companies aren't making a cent off of ANY used LP auctioned on eBay so why the big fuss over these obscure collector-fetish objects?

Here is a list of who participates: Link.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 07:28:52 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

South Korea: hostage to Microsoft

Remember how Active X controls were and continue to be a significant vector of viruses and malware because Microsoft originally architected Active X to run by default instead of with a user action? Maliciously programmed websites would be able to automatically install software on users' computers just by visiting a web page in IE 6. In IE 7 and in Vista, Microsoft has re-architected Active X controls in such a way to make them "more safe" by requiring a user action for the control to run. This is obviously impacting every web site and company that uses active X controls on their websites, which include just about every website in Korea that handles any kind of secure transaction. Every online bank, every governmental agency, every ecommerce site. Without enough time to re-architect Korean websites, 3 S. Korean governmental ministries, the Ministry of Information and Communication, the Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs, and the Financial Supervisory Service, warned S. Korean users that upgrading to Vista would disable the user from making any secure transaction online. Can you imagine spending thousands of dollars on a new machine (because the requirements of Vista generally require new hardware) and a new OS from Redmond only to be locked out of any secure transaction online? It's Kafkaesque.

To add insult to injury, the monopolist who absolutely controls the Korean market for computers won't delay the launch of Vista to allow for Korean websites to re-code their sites. "We've been testing Vista with banks and other service providers since September, but we encountered more delays than we expected. We plan to release the product as scheduled.

Link

See also: How DRM will harm the developing world
Norway's public broadcaster sells out taxpayers to Microsoft
MSFT employee: Cory is a liar and a Communist, MSFT is good for Norway
Help Norway build an open streaming video platform!

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:44:15 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Barenaked Ladies TV interview on DRM

See also:
Barenaked Ladies Are Me tour - great music, politics, and tech!
Barenaked Ladies release album on USB stick
Barenaked Ladies go remix crazy
BNL endorse Jack Layton
Hollywood's MP denounces "users," "EFF members" -- video
New Barenaked Ladies single as free, remixable multitracks
Barenaked Ladies guy on Universal's DRM SpiralFrog service
Canada's New Democratic Party embraces copyfighting musicians
Barenaked Ladies frontman on copyright reform

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:26:33 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

French psychiatric hospitals, 1950s photos

In 1954 Jean-Philippe Charbonnier documented French Psychiatric hospitals and this exhibition includes rarely seen photographs from the series.

Some of the photographs were first published in Réalités in January 1955. Here a selection of the original reportage is shown followed by the magazine layouts - published in the magazine with two fluffy cats on the cover. It is interesting to see that a number of most most powerful images were not published due to the sensitivities of the 1950s and that the eyes of the patients are at times masked to protect their identities.

In 2006 a 24 page booklet Jean-Philippe Charbonnier: HP hôpitaux psychiatriques was published by Le traitement contemporain n°4 in conjunction with gallery Agathe Gaillard.

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:21:13 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Vegas cops launch "Sin City" recruitment campaign

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

Video of retro Commodore programs

posted by Xeni Jardin at 04:07:57 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Web art archivists look to porn for guidance

"I guarantee that a wealth of pornography from the late 20th century will survive in digital distributed form (because) it's a social model that's working extremely well," said Kurt Bollacker, digital research manager at the Long Now Foundation, a nonprofit fostering several digital-works preservation projects. Bollacker spoke Thursday at a symposium called "New Media and Social Memory" at the University of California at Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive.

He held up the adult industry--always the digital pioneer--as one example of a self-selected community on the Web that swaps images and videos so regularly and widely that that activity will ultimately help preserve an archive over years. Similarly, he pointed to successful niche archives like the Multi-Arcade Machine Emulator, or MAME, a collective of programmers who preserved video games from the 1980s with CPU and hardware emulators.

"Anyone interested in preserving digital art should evaluate ongoing distributed data efforts," said Bollacker, who has a background in artificial intelligence and previously worked with the Internet Archive, a Web preservation project.

BoingBoing reader Patrick Tufts went to the event and says, "This was a good talk - mostly not about porn, but when you bring up a topic like this in the afternoon of an all-day seminar, it's going to get someone's attention."

posted by Xeni Jardin at 03:56:29 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Queer as Sheep: blog tizzy over animal homosexuality study

Snip from a New York Times piece by John Schwartz about blog controversy over a study that sought to determine why some sheep prefer to bonk others of their own gender:

Charles Roselli set out to discover what makes some sheep gay. Then the news media and the blogosphere got hold of the story.

Dr. Roselli, a researcher at the Oregon Health and Science University, has searched for the past five years for physiological factors that might explain why about 8 percent of rams seek sex exclusively with other rams instead of ewes. The goal, he says, is to understand the fundamental mechanisms of sexual orientation in sheep. Other researchers might some day build on his findings to seek ways to determine which rams are likeliest to breed, he said.

But since last fall, when People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals started a campaign against the research, it has drawn a torrent of outrage from animal rights activists, gay advocates and ordinary citizens around the world — all of it based, Dr. Roselli and colleagues say, on a bizarre misinterpretation of what the work is about.

The story of the gay sheep became a textbook example of the distortion and vituperation that can result when science meets the global news cycle.

reader comment: Hugo says,

Ben Goldacre wrote a good article in the Guardian concerning this rather impressive misunderstanding. Link

The Sunday Times January 28, 2007
Corrections

The report “Science told: hands off gay sheep” (News, December 31) contained several inaccuracies in its description of research into the brain’s role in sheep’s sexual partner preference being conducted at Oregon Health & Science University and Oregon State University. The research is aimed at understanding the role of the brain in sexual attraction. The researchers deny that they were trying to “cure” homosexuality in sheep, a statement that is backed up by their published studies. The research included a study that limited androgen in sheep to determine if this resulted in same partner preference. Our report misconstrued this experiment. The researchers also stress that contrary to our report they have had no success in altering the sexual preference of the animals. The research is funded by the National Institutes of Health and is not being conducted to improve farm productivity. The authors of our report were not science specialists and we should have ensured that the story was checked by the science editor before publication. We apologise for the errors and any subsequent confusion.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 07:59:37 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Buzz Aldrin Talks About Mars Colonization

The Wired News blog Table of Malcontents has posted an interview with astronaut Buzz Aldrin about his new documentary In The Shadow Of The Moon which is premiering at the Sundance film festival this week. John Brownlee of Wired News says, "He gave us some of his thoughts on what it was like to land on the moon, pre-flight jitters, and about his thoughts on a slew of matters, from religious extremism to Martian colonization."

John, I hope for your sake that you did not ask him to swear on a bible that he had been on the moon.

Here's a snip from the interview:

Q: You are a big proponent of manned missions to Mars. Would Mars be any more hospitable?

Aldrin: Conditions on Mars are much better. But in order to get to Mars, it takes a much bigger effort. And you can’t just go and then turn around and come back right away. The planets are not in the right position. Mars requires that we stay for a considerable period. You have to come back from Mars before the next people arrive, so if you don’t bring everybody back, it’s empty there, and that’s no way to build up permanence. You have to keep leaving more and more people there and have the confidence to do that.

Q: Would you want to be left on Mars?

Aldrin: Well, you’re not really left on Mars. It’s just that the train doesn’t come by for a year and a half. And no, I don’t think I’m suited to that.

Previously on BoingBoing:

posted by Xeni Jardin at 07:22:35 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Hassled at the US border? EFF wants your stories.

Have you had any difficulties entering or leaving the United States? If so, EFF would like to hear from you.

After focusing attention on the Department of Homeland Security's secret Automated Targeting System (ATS), we're keen to uncover and document its effect on the law-abiding public. We're interested in hearing from any travelers who have had repeated problems at the border or have been told by government agents that they are on a "list" or that there is some unexplained "problem" that needs to be resolved.

Please share your story with us by writing travel@eff.org and providing as much detail as possible. We will treat all responses confidentially and may contact you to follow-up.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 07:14:11 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Mongolian death worm documentary online

(Image by by Belgian painter Pieter Dirkx, from a Wikipedia article on the death worm.)

Link

Previously on Boing Boing:
• Brain worms in Texas
• Worm from a pork taco
• Six horrifying parasites
• Hairworms brainwash grasshoppers into watery suicide

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 03:16:56 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Vista Suicide Note -- rebuttal and response

"Do things such as HFS (Hardware Functionality Scan) affect the ability of the open-source community to write a driver?

"No. HFS uses additional chip characteristics other than those needed to write a driver. HFS requirements should not prevent the disclosure of all the information needed to write drivers. "

This claim is directly contradicted by a document by the same author which states:

"Such tests could involve loading a surface with an image, and then getting the chip to apply various visual effects to the image and reporting back the resulting pixels. "

and then later on:

"The internal workings of the graphics chip must be kept secret, such that a hacker building an emulator could not find out the required information."

So this document, the primary reference for Vista's content protection, states exactly the opposite of what's said in Microsoft's response, namely that standard chip functionality (in this case graphics rendering in a GPU) is exercised for HFS, and that the device details have to be kept secret to prevent someone emulating the functionality.

posted by Cory Doctorow at 03:00:01 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Dart coat hooks

posted by David Pescovitz at 02:27:40 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

HOWTO make your own laptop PC

This, my first original computer design came out of frustration and I hope one day we will see a case that allows people to bolt together their own laptop in a weekend - and not have to spend days in the shed annoying the neighbours with my angle grinder and learning how to mig weld aluminium like I did!

There are 'bare bones' kits from some manufacturers, but you are still expected to pay through the nose. To have one designed around standard Mini-ITX components would be great for the kind of people who do not want a laptop that we can fit in an envelope, rather a unit that we can use all around the house for a decent price.

I decided to create a laptop that at any point, I could upgrade every component as they grew too old.

posted by David Pescovitz at 02:09:58 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

ReasonableAgreement.org - the anti-EULA

Who knows if this stuff is enforceable? The case law is all over the place. What if you're under-age? Drunk? Using someone else's computer -- do you agree on your parents' behalf when you install software at their place over the holidays?

Frankly, it's all bullshit. The way the system should work is, you buy something, you own it. The law of the land governs your interactions with the seller. What's the point of having a consumer-protection law if all it takes to get around it is to announce that you've agreed to waive your rights by buying something? If consumer protection laws don't protect people who buy stuff, whom do they protect?

That's not to say that we can't have reasonable agreements -- like when you and your boss sit down and draw up your employment contract, negotiating the terms on which you'll work. But the idea that an agreement can be made by shouting, "By standing there doing nothing, you agree to let me stab you in the eye!" is just dumb.

Enter the anti-EULA. Here's the text of it:

READ CAREFULLY. By [accepting this material|accepting this payment|accepting this business-card|viewing this t-shirt|reading this sticker] you agree, on behalf of your employer, to release me from all obligations and waivers arising from any and all NON-NEGOTIATED agreements, licenses, terms-of-service, shrinkwrap, clickwrap, browsewrap, confidentiality, non-disclosure, non-compete and acceptable use policies ("BOGUS AGREEMENTS") that I have entered into with your employer, its partners, licensors, agents and assigns, in perpetuity, without prejudice to my ongoing rights and privileges. You further represent that you have the authority to release me from any BOGUS AGREEMENTS on behalf of your employer.

It's no more enforceable than any of the other dumb-ass, abusive agreements out there, but this one works for you. It's time to stop "agreeing." It's time to come up with some real, reasonable agreements.

The good people at Bumperactive have printed up stickers -- receipt-sized, laptop-sized and bumper-sized -- and MondoTees have t-shirts ("BY READING THIS T-SHIRT, YOU AGREE..."). I don't make any money off of this, and part of every sale goes to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a charity that sticks up for your rights.

There's no copyright in any of this. Make your own shirts, sell 'em or give them away. Stickers, stationery, window-signs, door-knockers, welcome-mats -- whatever. Do it, make as much dough as you can, just spread it around.

Buy stickers

Buy t-shirts

Submit abusive EULAs to the Small Print Project

(Thanks to Steve Simitzis for suggesting this!)

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

Man building next-generation sundial

"My original goal in this," he said... "was to produce an accurate timepiece with no moving parts—an original creation that combined art and science, drawing from the long traditions of both in its design, and incorporating the finest craftsmanship and latest technology in its construction." What really set his idea apart, however, was his intention to base the dial on an unusual type of map, and to center the map on the very spot where the dial would stand. The map's meridians of longitude would serve as the sundial's hour lines, creating a union of time and space for that particular location—something no dialist or clockmaker had ever before achieved...

Today the work of measuring precise time has been relegated to government agencies such as the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C., the International Earth Rotation Service at the Paris Observatory and the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures in Sevres, France, all of which measure a second by the interval it takes a cesium atom to vibrate 9,192,631,770 times. Because the Earth goes its own way in space, however, heedless of atomic time, "leap seconds" are periodically added to our years to keep our clocks in sync with the turning of our planet. A sundial requires no such adjustment. "A sundial lets you see the Earth turn," Andrewes says. "Of course you know it's turning, but when you witness the shadow moving across the dial you feel something. Many people have no idea why the seasons occur—that the hemisphere tilted toward the Sun actually changes from winter to summer. Time has become separated from space, and I think that's a mistake."

posted by David Pescovitz at 10:25:08 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Screams kill chickens

A court ruled the boy's screaming was "the only unexpected abnormal sound" and that the 443 chickens trampled each other to death in fear.

The boy's father was ordered to pay around £117 in compensation to the owner of the chickens.

posted by David Pescovitz at 10:04:12 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Diebold voting machine key copied from pic on Diebold site

In another stunning blow to the security and integrity of Diebold's electronic voting machines, someone has made a copy of the key which opens ALL Diebold e-voting machines from a picture on the company's own website. The working keys were confirmed by Princeton scientists, the same people who discovered that a simple virus hack on the Diebold machines could steal an election. Absolutely incredible and another example of how Diebold's e-voting machines pose a great threat to the electoral process.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 07:19:34 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Radically reconfigurable articulated "sofa"

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:52:11 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Tax-authorities deploy anti-cheat web-spider

The spider can also be configured and trained to look at particular economic niches -- a useful feature for compiling lists of business in industries that traditionally have high rates of non-filing. "For instance, weight control (yields) 85,000 hits, some for products ... also services," says Sweden's Hardyson.

Once the web pages are screen-scraped, Xenon's Identity Information Extraction Module interfaces with national databases containing information like street and city names. It uses that data to automatically identify mailing addresses and other identity information present on the websites it has crawled, which it puts into a database that can be matched in bulk with national tax records.

As illuminating as Xenon is for the tax man, the data-mining effort poses dangers to citizen privacy, said Par Strom, a noted privacy advocate in the world of Swedish IT.

"Of course it's not illegal," said Strom. "I don't feel quite comfortable having a tax office sending out those kind of spiders."

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:46:53 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Community Created Content. Law, Business and Policy

I came to know Herkko and Ville as hard-brawling copyfighters from Electronic Frontiers Finland and Creative Commons Finland, people who were equally comfortable putting on a suit and going to a UN copyright treaty meeting or hacking in their pajamas, exposing Finland's corrupt copyright minister as she called copyright activists terrorists.

It's a rare person who can bridge policy debates and the board room, and these folks are among the best.

The text of the book is available as a free PDF, too.

This book presents an overview of the complex legal, business and policy issues in community created content. First, the book briefly treats the major doctrines in copyright law as well other (Finnish and international) laws regulating community created content services. Anyone wishing to start a new service should have a general understanding of the most relevant laws that affect community created content services.

Then, the book turns to open content licensing. Creative Commons is a leading but somewhat controversial project. However, Creative Commons copyright licenses are tested and can be recommended for most community content services – with the general reservations that apply to all licensing decisions.

From law the book switches to business. It is subject to wild guesses what is the real business impact of community created content in the long term. In fact, the impact is already difficult to measure as the boundaries between community content and traditionally produced content blur. One scenario is that what one can today label as “community created content” will be just “content” in the future.

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:43:36 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Big scientific publishers' anti-open-networks campaign exposed

Nature published an article yesterday about big scholarly publishers meeting with a PR firm to propagandize against open access. The report has to be read to be believed, but here's a sample that gives a good picture of the type and degree of spin proposed:

From e-mails passed to Nature, it seems Dezenhall spoke to employees from Elsevier, Wiley and the American Chemical Society at a meeting arranged last July by the Association of American Publishers (AAP). A follow-up message in which Dezenhall suggests a strategy for the publishers provides some insight into the approach they are considering taking.

The consultant advised them to focus on simple messages, such as "Public access equals government censorship". He hinted that the publishers should attempt to equate traditional publishing models with peer review, and "paint a picture of what the world would look like without peer-reviewed articles".

[...] In an enthusiastic e-mail sent to colleagues after the meeting, Susan Spilka, Wiley's director of corporate communications, said Dezenhall explained that publishers had acted too defensively on the free-information issue and worried too much about making precise statements. Dezenhall noted that if the other side is on the defensive, it doesn't matter if they can discredit your statements, she added: "Media messaging is not the same as intellectual debate".

Reader comment: Laust says,

The NIH which is the world's leading funder of medical research actually has a pretty OK open access policy, which is beginning to have an effect on many of the journals in the medical field (...which happens to be my area) because they have to provide open access (I think): Link

I'm a manuscript coordinator for the Journal of Abnormal Psychology, an American Psychological Association publication. This is a pretty big deal, for instance, we (Abnormal) can't publish any articles funded by the Wellcome Trust (an important source for research funding in the UK) because the Wellcome Trust says the APA needs to deposit published material(like PubMed) funded by the WT within a 6 month time frame. However, the APA subscribes to the NIH's policy of depositing articles within 11.5 months of publication. So, not only do we miss out on potentially important research, we reject any manuscripts funded by the WT out of hand because we'd never be able to publish them.

The head of the Association of American Publishers for the last ten years has been Pat Schroeder--yes, the same Pat Schroeder who was known as a progressive in the House of Representatives for 24 years is now Big Publishing's favorite lobbyist. Once a friend to librarians, she now treats them, with their advocacy of fair use, as the enemy (Link), and the feeling is mutual. Link.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 06:10:28 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

93-year-old blogger: "It Bothers Me That I Have To Go"

I've floated on the remark "Been there, done that" for some time now, but the notion that the moment is approaching when I can no longer say this bothers me. The truth is, I don't want to go.

There are many reasons. For too long I have behaved as if I could postpone going indefinitely, and thus have so many things that I must do first. I don't want my successors to find out how much I could have done that isn't done, not by a long shot. There are numerous notes and letters I must write. There are places I've wanted to travel, but never had the chance. Actually, each of you can, if you think yourself into my age, fill out the list. At least you can try to understand why I say that I hate to go.

Previously on Boing Boing:
• Meet a 92-year-old blogger
• Newspaper profiles world's oldest blogger

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 11:06:53 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Monorail made from wingless airplanes

# The actual Tram car is constructed from de-commissioned Boeing 727's, 737's, and 757's that are stripped of their wings, engines, and tails.
# The fuselages become compartments equipped with solar cells and battery storage.
# These compartments are attached to a rail system by permanent magnet regenerative motorized wheels.
# Power is provided through solar electricity, wind power, regenerative breaking and fuel cells.
# The system of single rails is hung from suspension cables, made level with support cables.

posted by Cory Doctorow at 08:00:52 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Tag Cloud for 2007 State of the Union Address

posted by Xeni Jardin at 05:19:53 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Mummified baby discovered in storage space

The body was "very well preserved. In my experience, I have not seen remains in that condition after such a long time," said Police Lt. Mark Woods...

The daughter was notified by the warehouse owner that rent on the storage bay was overdue and the contents would be sold at auction if the account was not brought up to date, police said. She flew from New Jersey to examine the contents of the storage bay and made the gruesome discovery.

The daughter...told police she did not know of any stillbirths or abortions in the family...

posted by David Pescovitz at 03:08:43 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Gallery of "Japanese only" establishments

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 02:53:47 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

HOWTO photograph smoke

“In my opinion,” explains Graham, “the key technical factor is to adequately light the smoke so that it stands out from the background.”

While smoke in itself can be an interesting subject matter, Graham points out that in his photos, the smoke itself isn’t the subject matter, it is merely the tool used to create unusual photographs: “I am not trying to create pictures of smoke; I am trying to create pictures by using smoke”.

posted by David Pescovitz at 02:50:05 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

HOWTO become a cryptozoologist

In high school, any of the following will assist with having a vocation related to or specifically one that enhances your interests in cryptozoology: biology, human anatomy, zoology, anthropology, psychology (for interviewing), criminal investigations, and so forth. You also need to be a good communicator, so take writing or English classes where papers are written. Then you can build on those courses and grades to assist you to get into college.

Before college, the best way to follow a passion, for example, in the Loch Ness Monster is to study hard, and stay on track to get into a college by taking high school classes on environmental studies, biology, or aquatic studies (if offered). In high school, if you want to learn more about Bigfoot, take courses in biology, zoology, anthropology, and psychology. You have to creatively link your favorite cryptid with the related areas of study, because, frankly, no one has courses on the Death Worm of Mongolia or Mothman or Thylacines in high school.

posted by David Pescovitz at 02:28:58 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Warm hands by blowing into gloves

posted by David Pescovitz at 02:21:36 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Interview with photographer of inter-generational Japanese

1984: Parents Mitsuaki Ohwada/tattooist and Akie Ohwada/housewife. The child Keiko Ohwada is an elementary school student. Bruce: “Her parents were tattooists and the girl got a huge shock when she entered a sentō, a public bath, for the first time. Until that event it was in her mind that all the adults must have tattoos. Everybody around the house had some and it was a very natural thing for her.”

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 02:03:08 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Memoir of a kidnap victim

Alpert had to employ every psychological trick in the book to keep his captors from killing him.

From the New York Times' review:

There are many tense moments. Sen, without warning, begins raving, screaming out sick, violent fantasies of murder and mayhem. “I remained frozen in sheer terror, silent and unflinching, hoping he would not act,” Mr. Alpert writes. Gradually, he realizes that Sen is singing along to a Busta Rhymes rap on the radio.

When the gang offers Mr. Alpert free sex with one of the women, he calculates feverishly. A refusal might be interpreted as racism. On the other hand, the loss of dignity might make him seem less sympathetic, easier to inflict pain on. He says no, very politely.

Mr. Alpert and his captors inhabit different worlds. The men laugh at Mr. Alpert’s $49 Florsheim shoes. They examine his watch and ring with contempt. They cannot understand why, at his age, he is not married with children. Mr. Alpert tells them that his parents wonder the same thing. His money earns him a measure of respect, and, as the hours drag on, Ren and Sen ask for free, much appreciated legal advice.

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 01:59:57 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Mike Love's Geneaology of Influence

Genealogy of Influence allows you to visually trace the connections between the most influential writers, artists, philosophers, scientists, and mathematicians of Western culture. You can pull up a short bio (stripped from Wikipedia) by hovering over a person's name, or click through to the full Wikipedia article. I also made a colorful hierarchical image of the same data. Link

Similar wikipedia graphs: Pathway, 34all, xkcd

posted by David Pescovitz at 12:15:31 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Google's biased suggestion

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 12:05:04 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Skid mark underwear hides money from burglars

The "Brief Safe" is an innovative diversion safe that can secure your cash, documents, and other small valuables from inquisitive eyes and thieving hands, both at home and when you're traveling.

Items can be hidden right under their noses with these specially-designed briefs which contain a fly-accessed 4" x 10" secret compartment with Velcro® closure and "special markings" on the lower rear portion.

Leave the "Brief Safe" in plain view in your laundry basket or washing machine at home, or in your suitcase in a hotel room — even the most hardened burglar or most curious snoop will "skid" to a screeching halt as soon as they see them — wouldn't you?

Made in USA.

One size.

Color: White (and Brown).

Reader comment:

Stephen says:

Seems like a smart idea, except that a laundry basket makes a great grab-bag for thieves. Last time I was burgled, the thief took my half-empty laundry basket, tossed in all nearby electronics, threw some more clothes on top, and walked out the front door like he was going to the laundromat.

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 11:59:06 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Tijuana cops lose guns, get slingshots

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 10:41:15 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

China vows to "purify the Internet"

But he made it clear that the Communist Party was looking to ensure it keeps control of China's Internet users, often more interested in salacious pictures, bloodthirsty games and political scandal than Marxist lessons.

The party had to "strengthen administration and development of our country's Internet culture", Hu told the meeting on Tuesday, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

"Maintain the initiative in opinion on the Internet and raise the level of guidance online," he said. "We must promote civilized running and use of the Internet and purify the Internet environment."

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:26:52 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Ian McDonald's bollypunk "River of Gods" has a US edition

River is the story of India's 100th birthday, when the great nation has fractured into warring subnations on caste, religious and cultural lines. Like McDonald's other great novels, the story is beyond epic, with an enormous cast of richly realised characters and a vivid, luminous vision of techno-Hinduism that beggars the imagination. Take, for example, Town and Country, a soap-opera acted out by AIs (or "aeais") who lead double-lives -- each AI character has another role, as the actor who plays the character, in a "meta-soap" where their squabbling, indiscretions and marriages are tabloid fodder for the soapi magazines that dote upon them.

This is just one of dozens of conceits in a novel that combines the best themes from books like Out on Blue Six and Desolation Road, handles them with the masterful hand visible in Scissors Cut Paper Wrap Stone and the Sturgeon-award-winning Tendeleo's Story, and folds in all the contemporary themes in sf like the Singularity and the cratering of cyberpunk memes and spits out a 575-page epic that I couldn't put down until I'd finished it.

Ian McDonald has been one of my favourite writers for some 15 years now, and the amazing thing is, he's getting even better.

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:26:24 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

UK prosecutor: terrorism is a crime, not an act of war

It is critical that we understand that this new form of terrorism carries another more subtle, perhaps equally pernicious, risk. Because it might encourage a fear-driven and inappropriate response. By that I mean it can tempt us to abandon our values.

London is not a battlefield. Those innocents who were murdered on July 7 2005 were not victims of war.

We wouldn't get far in promoting a civilising culture of respect for rights amongst and between citizens if we set about undermining fair trials in the simple pursuit of greater numbers of inevitably less safe convictions. On the contrary, it is obvious that the process of winning convictions ought to be in keeping with a consensual rule of law and not detached from it. Otherwise we sacrifice fundamental values critical to the maintenance of the rule of law - upon which everything else depends.

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:21:20 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Scary "prehistoric" shark caught on video

Marine park staff caught the 5 foot (1.6 meter) long creature, which they identified as a female frilled shark, sometimes referred to as a "living fossil" because it is a primitive species that has changed little since prehistoric times...

"We think it may have come close to the surface because it was sick, or else it was weakened because it was in shallow waters," the official said.

posted by David Pescovitz at 10:18:34 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Robert Anton Wilson memorial celebration February 18

Join Together at the Robert Anton Wilson Cosmic Meme-Orial & Lasagna Levitation Celebration!

Hail Eris! All Hail Bob!

Celebrate the life, work and continued multi-dimensionality of Robert Anton Wilson by joining us in a giant, jammin' Translation Celebration and 8th Circuit Soiree!

. Reconnect with old friends. Make new, like-minded friends. Share ideas. Exchange email addresses. (It's like the Internet, only in person.)

. Be a part of Bob's Raucous Processionary Send-Off as his ashes sail out of the cove and rejoin his beloved's in the Pacific!

. Watch continuous video clips of RAW from Deepleaf Production's "Maybe Logic" documentary and from his numerous Trajectories videos.

. Expand your mind (and your tummy) with hors d'ourvres, soft drinks, and a cash bar.

. Expand your neighbors' minds by sharing remembrances and anecdotes at the open mic! (Brevity and levity are appreciated!)

. Mingle, nosh, remember, appreciate, celebrate!

. And above all, Keep the Lasagna Flying!

RAW DATA:
Where: The Cocoanut Grove, on the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk in Santa Cruz, CA

When: Sunday, February 18, 2007
Time: 1 - 6 PM
Tickets: $23 each [Proceeds go to Amnesty International]
Limited number available! To purchase tickets, or for additional information, click here: Link

Update:

Here's a blog that plans to cover different wakes around the world for RAW. Link

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 10:17:14 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Google Sues Leo Stoller for Racketeering

Steve Bryant says,

Ha! Google has finally sued Leo Stoller, the litigation-happy attorney who claimed (and forged documents to prove) that he owns the trademark "Google."

Stoller made the news in 2005 for successfully suing companies like Paramount and Northrop Grumman, claiming that he owned the trademark for "stealth" (as in "stealth bomber" and the godawful movie "Stealth").

Stoller has also claimed trademarks on the words "star lite," "dark star," "sentra," "stradivarius," "24-karat," "phalanx," "play the angle," and "chutzpah."

Image (via Wikipedia): "Some of the claimed 'famous trademarks' in Stoller's Rentamark.com site when it was online."

Previously on BoingBoing:

Reader comment: Steve says,

I typed the web address into the way back machine on archive.org and it turned up results for who Leo's site looks like from 2000-2006: Link. Also i thought some of these slogans he claims to own were interesting, especially "Absolute Power" since that is the Gym i go to in Brooklyn.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 09:30:41 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Videos of "20 greatest guitar solos"

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 09:24:38 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

1984 article about Atari science modules

AtariLab stations invite experimentation. They are easy to install, simple to use, and accept either joystick or keyboard input. Data sets are displayed on four-color graphs, and results can be seen quickly.

The AtariLab Starter Set ($89.95) helps students explore principles of temperature and heat energy. It contains a hand-held electric temperature sensor, a standard alcohol bulb thermometer, a 16K program cartridge (disk versions of the program cartridges are being produced for Apple and Commodore computer systems), a 144-page manual, and the AtariLab interface box which connects the sensor to Port 2. The interface box is used with every AtariLab module, but only comes with the Starter Set.

When running, the Temperature Module turns your Atari into a colorful recording thermometer capable of measuring temperatures between - 5 and 45 degrees Celsius (23-113 degrees Fahrenheit). It records the temperature over time periods from 10 seconds to 24 hours. As temperature readings are taken, they are plotted on the screen in full color. Data also may be stored on disk or sent to a printer.

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 09:12:47 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Model-T snowmobile hacks

Folks (in the 1920s and 1930s) could mail-order bolt-on kits to change their old model T into a snowmobile! It was a pretty simple conversion, with an extra rear axle and treads in the back, and skis bolted on in place of the front wheels. As a hot rodder, I've always harbored a secret urge to build one of these beasts!

We'd mentioned Model T snowmobiles a couple weeks ago at the Hemmings Auto Blogs. The Model T Ford Club of America does have a chapter devoted specifically to those snowmobiles, and we will attend the chapter's annual meeting in a couple of weeks at Lake George, NY, and have coverage at the blog.

Oh, and the Model Ts weren't the last automobiles converted to snowmobile duty either, though successors were usually one-offs, such as the Chevrolet Nova-based sled (seen here) and the converted Nash Metropolitan.

posted by David Pescovitz at 09:03:49 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Fighting e-voting in the UK and all of the EU

Our headline event, “Electronic Voting: A challenge to democracy?” [8 Feb] features a distinguished set of speakers with considerable practical and academic knowledge of electronic voting systems around the world. Their experiences will make for fascinating listening, we’re looking forward to stimulating debate and questions from the audience.

Our workshop for activists [6 Feb] will be the first time Europeans will have gathered together to formally discuss and organise around the challenge that e-voting presents our democracies. It will be a very exciting starting point for future collaboration.

We’re also extremely proud to be able to present a special screening of “Hacking Democracy”, [6 Feb] a film which manages to make the problems e-voting poses completely accessible to a non-technical audience. It’s a powerful film so we’re sure that the audience will have plenty to discuss with the co-directors and MPs forming a panel at the end of the screening.

(Disclosure: I am a proud co-founder of, and advisor to, the Open Rights Group)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:57:35 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Public transit upholstery of the world

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:52:28 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Before Second Life was SL, it was a cheesy '80s Belgian band

And you know, some say it still is. Link to the original "Second Life," whose two releases were titled -- presciently -- "Why," and "Who Cares." (thanks, Ramona).

posted by Xeni Jardin at 06:00:07 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

How best to disinfect kitchen sponges? Nuke 'em.

Reader comment: drkptt says,

The St. Petersburg (Florida) Times ran the story about sterilizing sponges in yesterday's paper without the warning to only nuke damp sponges. A correction in today's paper (can't find online link) said that a number of readers contacted the paper because their dry sponges had in fact ignited in the microwave. Link

Nota bene: I microwaved my sponge, and it made my entire house smell like microwaved sponge. It's not for the faint of nasal cavity.

If you throw your sponge into a saucepan full of water with a lid and let the water boil on a stove for a little bit, it does the same thing and is much safer (little risk of over-drying the sponge and igniting in a microwave). Several sponge wrappers say this. After this, the sponge will smell clean but will be VERY hot.

I have found that merely sticking my sponges in the dishwasher is the easiest way to disinfect them. This eliminates the smell, and also prefents the problem of burned fingers. It works really well.

Every once and a while, usually every month, I throw my old sponge away and use a new one.

Just wanted to mention that the Megan Dooley's comment is wrong. The whole point of the link was that "disinfection" does NOT occur without certain temperatures being achieved. The dishwasher may clean them, but it certainly doesn't disinfect them. BoingBoing rocks.

I stand corrected! I did find this link to an article from Healthlink, from the Medical College of Wisconsin that has some more info on the subject, with some fascinating information on Colony Forming Units, and how different methods of cleaning reduce them (soaking in soapy , hot water, boiling, nuking, dishwashing, etc). From now on I'm going to dishwash and then nuke, as the article says.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 05:54:33 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Old copies of Fate magazine

I used to read "Fate Magazine" when I was a kid. I really dug the illustrations on the covers through the fifties, before they changed to a bland text cover with no images. I accidentally discovered a web site for "Fate." It has a bunch of the old covers where they're selling back issues, and they have posters and trading cards. It looks like they're still publishing, and they've gone back to the cool illustrated covers. The magazine itself is a collection of stories about ghosts, UFOs, and other paranormal phenomena and Forteana.

I was introduced to Fate around 1970, when my mother bought a subscription from a door-to-door magazine salesman. We didn't have a lot of disposable income at the time, but my mother felt sorry for the guy selling subscriptions, so she bought the cheapest magazine on the list, which was Fate. The covers had become horrible by that time, but I was fascinated by the articles (and the ads for the Rosicrucians).

You can buy the back issues from Fate's website. Link

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 10:05:07 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Cavalcade of Casper Cartoons

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 09:48:57 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Artists contribute to help little girl

I'm writing to tell you about a little girl named Ava Cipriani, and her ongoing battle with childhood cancer. The art and vinyl communities have rallied to help her through donations of original art, toy customs and more to ease the cost of her mounting medical costs.

The helping hand kicks into a new gear with the opening of the Wishing Well benefit show at Monkeyhouse Toys (in Los Angeles) this Saturday, January 20th from 4 to 8 PM and runs through January 31st. The show will feature custom art toys, paintings, limited edition prints, handmade plush, sketches, signed celebrity memorabilia from a wide range of artists.

After the show closes, remaining pieces will then be auctioned on eBay starting on February 1st for ten days. I'm writing to ask that you donate any art (or anything else) you can. Please view the links below for further history on Ava. She's a darling girl with a wonderful spirit.

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 09:41:50 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

RU Sirius interviews Will Franken

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 09:36:16 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Dorkbake oven contest

1. We are inviting teams or individuals to construct small baking ovens using only the heat of a 100-watt incandescent bulb.

2. The makers of said ovens shall compete in a public bake-off with said ovens on the evening of Feb 3rd. Ingredients will be provided to all competitors at the event.

3. Winners shall be judged on engineering, aesthetics and tastiness. Prizes include subscriptions to MAKE and CRAFT, a free class at Machine, electronic kits and other goodies.

4. The name Easy-Bake Oven is property of Hasbro and shall not be mentioned again.

5. A Registration fee of $13.37 per team is required to compete.

Update:

Original image by Richard Horne who illustrated the wonderful book How to Survive a Robot Uprising.

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 09:33:10 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

1961 juvenile delinquent public education film

Update:

Archive.org has a much higher quality version of the film: Link

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 09:27:35 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Weird railroad vehicles

So-called "track motor cars," railroad rolling stock built on motor-vehicle chassis, are as old as road vehicles. Struggling local railroads frequently hacked them together so that they could transport work crews or haul mail without the expense of running a steam locomotove.

Perhaps the most interesting of these was the Rio Grande and Southern "Galloping Goose." Actually, there were eight Geese, all different, at various times in the history of that railroad. The history of the Geese is sketched out here.

A larger photo gallery is here, where you can see that some of the Geese were unholy hybrids of car, train, bus and semitrailer: Link (image below)




They were perhaps the oddest piece of railroad rolling stock ever built.

Lots of track motor cars leave the road tires on and jack the steel wheels out of the way when leaving the rails. Here's one in use in Alaska: Link

Triple Crown has a line of semitrailers with rail bogies that regularly ride the Norfolk Southern: Link

You might also be amused by the Railbike: Link

posted by David Pescovitz at 08:04:44 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

GREs: Cheating == copyright infringement

If I reproduce test questions in any manner I am subject to a copyright infringement lawsuit and any other action(s) ETS may take.

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:58:18 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Video websites that pay: an extensive report

New revenue opportunities are emerging with the recent boom in video viewing on the Web. On this chart, I've tried to list all of the Web sites that enable independent video producers to make money from their work. I've ranked the sites subjectively, based on how much traffic and buzz they've been attracting, and also how likely it seems that a video producer would actually manage to earn a significant return by posting a video to them. (Media companies with large libraries have a wider range of options for monetizing their content, including Apple's iTunes Music Store, Movielink, and Vongo.)

The majority of these sites are geared shorter-form content, but a few, like Brightcove, EZTakes, and GreenCine, make it possible for producers of hour-long or feature-length projects to generate revenue. Most of these sites don't demand exclusive rights to a video, and I've tried to highlight the few that do, like The Yahoo! Current Network and TurnHere.

Below the main chart, there are two supplemental charts: one lists Web video sites that have announced plans to enable producers to make money with their videos, but haven't yet gone live, and another chart lists DVD-burning services, which help producers sell good old-fashioned DVDs of their work.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 07:32:29 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Xeni on KUOW radio's "The Works"

Link to archived audio for "The Works: How to Learn About Technology / Meeting of the Microsoft Minds / XXX Root Beer."

[Xeni] joins host John Moe for a discussion on learning about technology. Plus, the announcement of Apple's "iPhone" has generated a lot of excitement. How are the folks attached to Microsoft's "Zune" feeling right about now? We'll discuss that and other Microsoft news with our Microsoft Minds, Brier Dudley of the "Seattle Times" and Todd Bishop of the "Seattle P-I". And, we reach into our archive to bring you one of our favorite stories from The Works: a visit to "XXX Root Beer" in Issaquah.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 07:18:10 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Congo: park rangers murdered, hippo poaching continues

Snip from Getoutdoors blog:

A few weeks back we blogged about WildlifeDirect, a website started to allow African Park Rangers to blog and communicate to the outside world about their activities. One of the blogs, Congo Rangers, has been trying to stop the slaughter of hippos, while defending themselves from roving bands of rebels. It looks like in both cases, the dangers to the rangers and hippos continue, with both rangers and hippos dying at the hands of marauding rebels. A post from the Jan 22nd on the danger facing the park rangers and murder of two park rangers:

I have just heard that rangers from Lulimbi and Kabaraza have had to flee their stations. This follows threats of an imminent attack on the two stations by Mai Mai and Interehamwe rebel groups. We have alerted MONUC who are on their way now, to assess the situation, but things aren’t looking good. We are not sure where exactly the rangers have fled to, but recent attacks on Lulimbi and Kabararaza will be fresh in their minds. The last time Kabaraza was attacked, over 300 rebels surrounded the station, killing the two rangers on night watch and launching a vicious attack on the rest of the station with hand held rocket launchers and heavy weapons.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 07:10:18 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Neocon buzzword bingo

How to play:

* 1. Tune into CSPAN, PBS, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, the Fascist News Netw...errr, FOX, or even one of the traditional three networks.

* 2. Wait for a NeoCon or proxy to appear at a speaking engagement, press conference, interview, or talking head confrontation.

* 3. Mark off squares as buzzwords are used.

* 4. Celebrate any 5 in a row by shouting "I am not a terrorist" loudly enough that the perfectly legal wiretaps can pick it up.

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 04:40:22 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Science experiment explosion video

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 04:31:40 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Barium-nitrate battery breakthough

EEStor claims that, using an automated production line and existing power electronics, it will initially build a 15-kilowatt-hour energy-storage system for a small electric car weighing less than 100 pounds, and with a 200-mile driving range. The vehicle, the company says, will be able to recharge in less than 10 minutes.

The company announced this week that this year it plans to begin shipping such a product to Toronto-based ZENN Motor, a maker of low-speed electric vehicles that has an exclusive license to use the EESU for small- and medium-size electric vehicles.

By some estimates, it would only require $9 worth of electricity for an EESU-powered vehicle to travel 500 miles, versus $60 worth of gasoline for a combustion-engine car.

Reader comment:

Dan says:

The EEStor ultra capacitors will certainly be an awesome technology if they work out, but it's important to note that these are not batteries. Batteries store energy by electrochemically converting ions to neutral species at electrodes, supercapacitors work by building up a densely charged surface that actually violates electronuetrality, called the "double layer". Because the creation of this double layer is an absorption/adhesion phenomenon and not a chemical reaction it is much faster (hence why typical capacitors have at least 10X the power density of the best battery) and there is little degradation over time and use (thus the capacitors can be cycled almost endlessly while the best lithium-ion batteries have cycle lives of 10 K at best).

The classic trade-off, however, is that because this double layer is such an affront to nature, the amount of charge it can store per unit mass of the cell is a small fraction of what a battery can store per unit mass. In the past ten years tricks using extremely high surface area electrodes for capacitors have narrowed the gap, but currently the best ultracaps still only have 5% to 10% the energy storage capability per unit mass. The EEstor folks are claiming a 2X improvement over Li-Ion in energy density while maintaining the 10x improvement in power density. If this pans out it will be a truly amazing feat, but because it's such a massive improvement in an area that many folks have been plowing at for a while, these initial blurbs should be taken with a pretty coarse grain of salt.

I did my grad work on electrochemistry of systems similar to these.

FYI/FWIW - the chemical compound of interest is not Barium Nitrate. It's Barium Titanate.

BIG difference!

As has already been noted, these systems are electrochemical capacitors, and not batteries per se.

Although, Dan's comment is not strictly correct either.

Batteries chemically store energy which can be released via reduction and oxidation of chemicals at their respective electrodes.

Electrochemical capacitors create charged double layers of ions (BTW, ions are molecules/atoms that carry a net positive/negative charge). The separation of charge that occurs in this double layer is stable and reversible.

Classical capacitors accumulate a charge via a plate-dielectric structure.

You COULD think of the electrochemical capacitor as the molecular equivalent of a capacitor. Although, the analogy is very simplistic.

Yup,

The devil is in the details...

It's all vaporware until I see it on the shelf...

But it's still good fun.

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 04:25:23 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

County treasurer in Michigan falls for Nigerian scam

Thomas Katona, 56, was arraigned in Harrisville today after an investigation that began in December when county officials learned he had directed eight unauthorized wire transfers totaling $186,500 to beneficiaries linked to the Nigerian Advance scheme, Cox said in a statement. Investigators also found that Katona had wired $72,500 of his own money to the same accounts.

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 04:15:39 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Texas court says deep-linking is copyright infringement

[Robert Davis, who runs Supercrosslive.com] argued that he did not actually copy any material, he only provided a link to it which opened the material in a user's media player, but the court ruled that that link broke the law.

"The court finds that the unauthorized 'link' to the live webcasts that Davis provides on his website would likely qualify as a copied display or performance of SFX’s copyrightable material," said Lindsay. "The court also finds that the link Davis provides on his website is not a 'fair use' of copyright material as Davis asserts through his Answer."

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 04:06:16 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Shoe rolodex

posted by David Pescovitz at 03:40:11 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Germany and France challenge iTunes DRM

Apple is being challenged once again to open up its DRM by consumer groups in Europe. This time, Germany and France have joined the slowly-growing number of countries who are asking Apple to allow the protected songs purchased from the iTunes Store to be played on other music players besides the iPod. Norwegian Consumer Ombudsman Bjoern Erik Thon told the Associated Press that France's consumer lobby group, UFC-Que Choisir, and Germany's Verbraucherzentrale are now part of the European effort to push Apple into an open DRM system, with more countries considering joining the group.

posted by Cory Doctorow at 03:23:36 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Psychology of magical thinking

Children exhibit a form of magical thinking by about 18 months, when they begin to create imaginary worlds while playing. By age 3, most know the difference between fantasy and reality, though they usually still believe (with adult encouragement) in Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy. By age 8, and sometimes earlier, they have mostly pruned away these beliefs, and the line between magic and reality is about as clear to them as it is for adults.

It is no coincidence, some social scientists believe, that youngsters begin learning about faith around the time they begin to give up on wishing. “The point at which the culture withdraws support for belief in Santa and the Tooth Fairy is about the same time it introduces children to prayer,” said Jacqueline Woolley, a professor of psychology at the University of Texas. “The mechanism is already there, kids have already spent time believing that wishing can make things come true, and they’re just losing faith in the efficacy of that...."

(In recent experiments at Princeton University.) researchers demonstrated that young men and women instructed on how to use a voodoo doll suspected that they might have put a curse on a study partner who feigned a headache. And they found, similarly, that devoted fans who watched the 2005 Super Bowl felt somewhat responsible for the outcome, whether their team won or lost. Millions in Chicago and Indianapolis are currently trying to channel the winning magic.

“The question is why do people create this illusion of magical power?” said the lead author, Emily Pronin, an assistant professor of psychology and public affairs at Princeton. “I think in part it’s because we are constantly exposed to our own thoughts, they are most salient to us” — and thus we are likely to overestimate their connection to outside events.

The brain, moreover, has evolved to make snap judgments about causation, and will leap to conclusions well before logic can be applied.

posted by David Pescovitz at 03:23:35 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Fast Forward 1: wonderful new sf anthology

Volume one has some stupendous stories. In Kage Baker's humorous space opera "Plotters and Shooters," a dysfunctional space-station's cherished defense corps are upset by a tightly-wound otaku. In Elizabeth Bear's creepy "Something-Dreaming Game," a kid's game of autoerotic asphyxiation is the key to communications with an alien race. In Ken MacLeod's sacrelicious "Jesus Christ, Reanimator," the returned Christ has to convince a skeptical world that he's not just a nanotech Bush-robot. Ian McDonald's "Ranjeev and Robotwallah" takes place in the same world as his brilliant epic novel, River of Gods, a cyberpunk balkanized India haunted by AIs. Gene Wolf's "Hour of the Sheep" has the dreamlike feel of his best work. There are also great contributions from Sargent and Zebrowksi, Robert Charles Wilson, Mary Turzillo, and Justin Robson. At 400+ pages, there's plenty here for everyone.

There is, however, one absolute knock-out story in this that is among the most exciting pieces of fiction I've read in years: Paul Di Filippo's incredible "Wikiworld," a vividly imagined, funny and weird story about a world run on gifts, wikis, rough consensus and running code. Anders and Di Filippo have put the story online, so you can get an idea of what's in store for you with this excellent volume.

Anyway, this little islet would serve me well, I figured, as both home and base for my job—assuming I could erect a good solid comfortable structure here. Realizing that such a task was beyond my own capabilities, I called in my wikis. The Dark Galactics. The PEP Boyz. The Chindogurus. Mother Hitton's Littul Kittons. The Bishojos. The Glamazons. The Provincetown Pickers. And several more. All of them owed me simoleons for the usual—goods received, or time and expertise invested—and now they’d be eager to balance the accounts.

The day construction was scheduled to start, I anchored the Gogo Goggins on the western side of my island, facing the mainland. The June air was warm on my bare arms, and freighted with delicious salt scents. Gulls swooped low over my boat, expecting the usual handouts. The sun was a golden English muffin in the sky. (Maybe I should have had some breakfast, but I had been too excited to prepare any that morning.) Visibility was great. I could see drowned church spires and dead cell-phone towers closer to the shore. Through this slalom a small fleet of variegated ships sailed, converging on my island.

posted by Cory Doctorow at 02:42:32 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Craft Vol. 2 on sale today

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 02:21:32 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

High school librarian: why books are a hard sell

Typically, many people in my line of work no longer have the title of librarian. They are called media and information specialists, or sometimes librarian technologists. The buzzword in the trade is "information literacy," a misnomer, because what it is really about is mastering computer skills, not promoting a love of reading and books. These days, librarians measure the quality of returns in data-mining stints. We teach students how to maximize a database search, about successful retrieval rates. What usually gets lost in the scramble is a careful reading of the material.

Students are still checking out the standard research fare -- the Thomas Jefferson biography, the volume of literary criticism on Jane Austen -- but few read it. The library checks the books back in a day later, after the students have extracted the information vitals -- usually an excerpt or two to satisfy the requirement that a certain number of works be cited in their papers...

I recently spoke with a junior who was stressed about her decreasing ability to focus on anything for longer than two minutes or so. I tried to inspire her by talking about the importance of reading as a way to train the brain. I told her that a good reader develops the same powers of concentration that an athlete or a Buddhist would employ in sport or meditation. "A lot out there is conspiring to distract you," I said.

She rolled her eyes. "That's your opinion about books. It doesn't make it true."

posted by David Pescovitz at 01:22:53 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Machu Picchu is in Nepal, errs Royal Nepal Airlines

Peruvian mountaineer Ernesto Malaga, who was visiting India last month, noticed the blunder on a poster hanging on a wall in the airline's office in New Delhi. Peruvian authorities requested explanations from the airline via the embassy.

"The airline ... offered apologies to Peru for using the picture of the Machu Picchu Sanctuary on a poster to promote their country and assured that the lamentable error has been corrected," the statement said.

"As a consequence, the Nepalese airline fired an employee in the rank of a manager ... It is concluded that it was an isolated error," it added.

posted by David Pescovitz at 12:03:34 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Man takes construction equipment for joy ride

posted by David Pescovitz at 11:55:41 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Crowd control in Mecca pilgrimage

As the mêlée thickened, first the throng stopped passing steadily onto the bridge and instead moved in waves, so that individuals would be repeatedly stopping and starting. But then, as the crowd became even denser, it changed to another mode in which clumps of people were jostled in all directions, apparently at random and against their wish to move steadily towards the jamarat.

"Pilgrims were being pushed around," says Helbing. If they stumbled and didn't get back on their feet quickly enough, they were trampled. The movements look like those in a fluid when it becomes turbulent, which hasn't been seen before in human motion....

For the 2007 Hajj, Helbing consulted with the Saudi authorities to plan a new route and schedule that pilgrims would be compelled to follow, rather than meandering at will to the jamarat. "All 1.5 million registered pilgrims got a timetable and a route in order to distribute them uniformly in space and time," says Helbing. In case the more-than-a-million unregistered participants confounded this plan, they also had the capacity to use real-time data from surveillance cameras to alter the schedule, guided by their models of crowd behaviour. That capacity wasn't needed this year, but the scheme is in place for future...

Helbing says that several of the new measures were controversial, with some experts worrying it would make things worse. But the scheme was a success. An important step was to introduce a one-way system, with roads designated only for walkers coming from the stoning back to the camp. "Last year you had to push a lot to get to the camp," says Helbing. "This year you could comfortably follow the stream all the way. Everyone was very happy."

posted by David Pescovitz at 11:25:48 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Neuroscience of altruism

The scans revealed that a region of the brain called the posterior superior temporal sulcus was activated to a greater degree when people perceived an action -- that is, when they watched the computer play the game -- than when they acted themselves, Tankersley said. This region, which lies in the top and back portion of the brain, is generally activated when the mind is trying to figure out social relationships.

The researchers then characterized the participants as more or less altruistic, based on their responses to questions about how often they engaged in different helping behaviors, and compared the participants' brain scans with their estimated level of altruistic behavior. The fMRI scans showed that increased activity in the posterior superior temporal sulcus strongly predicted a person's likelihood for altruistic behavior.

According to the researchers, the results suggest that altruistic behavior may originate from how people view the world rather than how they act in it.

"We believe that the ability to perceive other people's actions as meaningful is critical for altruism," Tankersley said.

posted by David Pescovitz at 10:56:15 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

HOW to isolate stem cells from a placenta at home

The placenta is a very valuable human tissue, although the proper recycling of it is not placentophagy, but to isolate stem cells from its amnion layer, and store them for later regenerative purposes for the whole family. Human amniotic epithelial cells (HAECs) from the placenta are alternative replacements of human embryonic stem cells and have the potential to differentiate to all three germ layers in vitro. These cells are very close to those earlier and broadly multipotent amniotic fluid-derived stem cells, that made the big buzz lately on the web, published by De Coppi, Atala et al. in Nature Biotechnology. Here I would like to show, although I do not provide any warranty and can not give any guarantee, that isolating stem cells from the placenta is not more difficult than making a steak...

posted by David Pescovitz at 10:15:17 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Was a Murphy Mover used to build pyramids?

James Murphy said his Apex Delivery and Lifting System - or Murphy Mover - is more than just an explanation. It's a nearly energy free way of lifting and moving large objects.

It doesn't take much power and doesn't need any major outside energy - just gravity.

Reader comment:

Joscha says:

This idea might have something going for it: The major problem of the Egyptians should not have been the energy necessary to accelate the blocks, but the friction between the rocks and the ground - they did not use iron tracks and wheels, after all.

Murphy's idea may indeed present a solution to that problem. I guess he proposes to construct a swing on four legs. The front pair of legs allows for some movement with respect to the hind legs. Now, if you set the block into a swinging motion, the center of gravity will alternate between front and hind legs. So, whenever the weight is centered on the front legs, the hind legs come off the ground and can be pushed forward with little effort. When the block rocks back again, the front legs come off the ground and can be pulled forward as well. Thus, the whole contraption "ratchets" forward, possibly even along an incline.

Murphy's contraption will not violate any law of physics. All energy necessary for lifting the block over the height of the incline and to overcome the friction inherent in the mechanism will have to be added by continously pushing the pendulum. (Your confusion might be related to the impression that Murphy claims that this thing would need no energy to lift things, while his claim is simply that you need considerably less energy for moving a suspended object than for sledding it over the ground.)

I can picture that a group of workers is busy with ropes attached to the suspended block, pulling at it in regular invervals to get it into a swinging motion, while another pulls ropes connected to the legs, ratcheting them forward.

That said, I do not think that Murphy's invention has a practical application in contemporary building: A crane is a better solution of overcoming the friction problem - simply by lifting the goods.

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 10:09:38 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Star Wars space battle re-enacted with hands

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:02:54 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Transforming Optimus Prime papercraft

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:00:03 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Sen. "Series of Tubes" Stevens introduces DOPA II: the sequel

It didn't take long for at least one member of Congress to reintroduce legislation aimed at further restricting Internet access at schools and libraries. As reported by ZDNet and Linda Braun of the ALA, Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska has introduced what they describe as "identical language" to DOPA, the Deleting Online Predators Act of 2006. If DOPA had become law, it would have forced schools and libraries receiving E-Rate subsidies to block access to commercial interactive services, including online social networks and blogging tools. But the bill expired when the Dems took over Congress.

Stevens re-introduced the bill the first day of the new session, and he added some new twists to it, according to ZDNet:

"Stevens didn't stop there, packaging his reincarnation of DOPA with another failed proposal that would require all sexually explicit sites to be labeled as such, according to a copy of the bill obtained by CNET News.com. Although it has encountered opposition from civil libertarians, the idea gained bipartisan support within Congress, passing unanimously as an amendment to a massive communications bill that ultimately died."

From what I can tell, DOPA Jr. doesn't have a title yet, nor any cosponsors, though it's referenced as Senate Bill 49, or S. 49. The Library of Congress hasn't posted the text of the bill yet, but it has this brief summary:

"Title: A bill to amend the Communications Act of 1934 to prevent the carriage of child pornography by video service providers, to protect children from online predators, and to restrict the sale or purchase of children's personal information in interstate commerce."

Previously:

Reader comments: Gorc Kat says,

"..and to restrict the sale or purchase of children's personal information in interstate commerce." Personally, I welcome that snippet- imagine the sudden influx of 13 year olds to websites that previously sold users info to ad companies. Like Peter Pan, I'll be a boy forever!

posted by Xeni Jardin at 08:36:47 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Canadian Heritage Minister Oda in the pocket of recording execs

"Moreover, the government documents reveal incredible access for CRIA to the highest levels of the Canadian government. CRIA was busy arranging an event for government officials within days of the election which led to a sponsored lobby session on March 2nd that included a government-funded lunch and a private meeting with Minister Oda. New documents reveal that this was merely the tip of the iceberg. Four weeks later (on April 1st), CRIA hosted a private lunch at the Juno Awards for Bev Oda featuring Henderson and the presidents of the major music labels followed by an artist roundtable. Six weeks after that (on May 16th), Graham Henderson was granted another meeting with Bev Oda, this time to counter the news that the indie labels had left CRIA and that the CMCC had launched." Link (Thanks, Michael!)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:08:47 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Cory speaking at UCLA, Friday, Feb 9

The UC Digital Arts Research Network (UC DARnet) is a transdisciplinary Multicampus Research Group of University of California faculty who utilize digital media for cultural and theoretical research and in their creative production. UC faculty established DARnet in 1997 to lay the foundation for a UC-wide program to facilitate collaborative research and teaching within a distributed digital arts and humanities community.

Culture is in the midst of an increasingly rapid shift to computer-mediated forms of creative production, distribution and communication. The role of digital media is fundamental to this shift.

Media Artists create a natural bridge across the traditional disciplinary divide between the humanities and the sciences. UC DARnet, provides an opportunity for critical engagement and conceptual dialogue between humanists, scientists, and those in the media arts.

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:33:41 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

HOWTO knit a treehouse

First find a tree with two strong, relatively horizontal limbs within four or five feet of each other. Cast on to one limb by wrapping it in rope (I prefer 3/16” nylon), then use a long circular needle to knit the first row of loops. (Since your local yarn store doesn’t carry ten-foot long circular needles in a two- inch diameter, try the hardware store. Buy a length of plastic tubing, carve a set of needle ends out of 2” dowel, and use duct tape to smoothly attach them.)

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:30:49 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Internet users' aliases are private, rules NJ court

A New Jersey state appellate court yesterday affirmed that any personal information given to internet service providers must remain private. "Yes, this indicates that New Jersey, like a lot of states, is ahead of the curve on Internet privacy," said Kevin Bankston, a staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a San Francisco-based digital rights group.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 05:19:09 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Big record labels contemplate switch to DRM-free MP3s?

Executives of several technology companies meeting here at Midem, the annual global trade fair for the music industry, said over the weekend that at least one of the four major record companies could move toward the sale of unrestricted digital files in the MP3 format within months.

Most independent record labels already sell tracks digitally compressed in the MP3 format, which can be downloaded, e-mailed or copied to computers, cellphones, portable music players and compact discs without limit. The independents see providing songs in MP3 partly as a way of generating publicity that could lead to future sales.

For the major recording companies, however, selling in the MP3 format would be a capitulation to the power of the Internet, which has destroyed their control over the worldwide distribution of music.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 04:49:43 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Iranian bloggers react to gov's latest blogging crackdown

This week, the BBC's Persian news service talked to six Iranian bloggers about the move, which is widely seen as the latest attempt by the Iranian government to control the media. Here was the response from Tehran-based blogger Abolhassan Mokhtabad:

This law is about registering companies. But there is a difference between weblogs and companies. The government should trust its citizens and tolerate them.

But concepts of trust and tolerance do not exist in the current government. The drive to curb the media started with the newspapers. Now they are widening the scope to include the internet.

The Iranian government should remember what is happening in China. Nearly 30 thousand people are currently employed to control Chinese weblogs. Beijing is spending a lot of money in controlling the flow of information.

This is impractical and impossible to do in Iran. It will also provoke even sharper criticism of the Iranian government.

Previously on BoingBoing:

posted by Xeni Jardin at 04:36:47 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Monday, January 22, 2007

RIAA's pathetic CES showing

Update: Brent sez, "kudos to the Digital Freedom group for their impressive CES showing this year. Here's a snapshot of their booth, which was located at the entrance of a high-traffic concourse area at the CES."

posted by Cory Doctorow at 11:04:36 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Talk the Talk: Slang of 65 American subcultures

OIL: Synthol, a banned substance some bodybuilders inject to increase apparent muscle-size.

INSTAGOTH: A person who suddenly begins to dress goth and call him- or herself a goth. Not a compliment.

MUNCHKIN: A player who insists on having an unreasonably powerful character, or who builds a character that is a very robust in some respects and very weak in others. The practice is frowned upon by more serious gamers, and the term is derogatory.

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:21:56 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Gold-farmers' trade association

This is embarrassing — the gold farmer and RMT companies in Korea, such as ItemBay and Item PlayForum, have formed an industry association in order to have more leverage with the Korean government, given its recent moves towards regulating digital asset trading. This means, I think, that they beat the actual game companies to it. It’s called the “Digital Asset Distribution Promotion Association,” and the CEO of ItemBay will be its first head.

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:07:41 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Disneyland: WAIT IN FIVE LINES just to get in

You have always understood that waiting in lines at Disneyland is one of the most oft heard guest complaints on record. What you didn’t fully realize is that the waiting game begins well before entering the park. In addition, you're shocked by exactly how many of these lines there are; five in all, with each wait feeling more substantial than the last, especially if you’re arriving with the morning rush.

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:04:21 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Tiki aquarium

posted by Cory Doctorow at 09:59:23 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

China nukes Marxists.org

While the attacks continued and greatly degraded MIA performance, we were understandably cautious about rebuilding the kernel and trying again. On January 15, the server became unresponsive and we asked for it to be remotely rebooted, taking the opportunity to bring it up with the new kernel...

The bottom line: there is a significant probability that we will not be able to find and deploy an acceptable solution in time to meet the February 1 lights-out date. This means that the MIA will be off the air. We will make every attempt to bridge the gap with the help of our dedicated mirror operators though we may need to stop serving some of our more "expensive" content such as MP3s and PDFs. There is also a chance that our ultimate solution may require us to make a long-term evaluation of the type of content we serve and make things like PDFs available via alternate distribution channels (e.g. BitTorrent). However, despite our recent litany of seemingly fatal problems, the MIA remains a strong organization with a wealth of content, committed to providing the premiere electronic library of Marxist writings. Despite the political, technical, or economic pressures, rest assured that we will find a way to keep these works available to the world.

posted by Cory Doctorow at 09:56:15 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Microsoft's pay-to-edit Wikipedia meddling: Wales not amused

[T]here's an interesting piece [by Rick Jeliffe on the O'Reilly Network] about how Microsoft tried to hire people to contribute to Wikipedia. Not wanting to do the edits directly, they were looking for an intermediary to make edits and corrections favorable to them. Why? According to the article, it was apparently both to let people know that Microsoft will not 'enable death squads with their UUIDs' and also to fight the growing consensus that OOXML contains a useless pile of legacy crap which is unfit for standardization."

I asked Wikipedia Founder Jimmy Wales today how he felt about Microsoft's apparent attempt to manipulate Wikipedia with cash for their own gain.

Mr. Wales shared an email he'd sent to O'Reilly contributor Rick Jeliffe about the matter:

I hope you will publicly reject it as being unethical. Point out to them that people have been banned from Wikipedia permanently for doing what they are asking you to do. We consider it a grave violation of community trust, and Microsoft should be ashamed of themselves for asking.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 09:02:50 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Jasmina Tešanović: "Good Morning, Fascist Serbia!"

"Good Morning, Fascist Serbia!"
Jasmina Tesanovic

photo by Stephanie Damoff

These elections, the most important since the toppling of Milosevic seven years ago, have proved that time can stand still. One third of the population still votes for the fascist Radical Party, whose leader Seselj is in jail in The Hague. Between dramatic hunger strikes, Seselj raves politically against the vast conspiracies of "the West." I know a translator who was forced to translate those speeches of his; driven mad, he resigned.

Here in Belgrade, half an hour after the official results were confirmed, my gay friend and a Woman in Black activist were attacked and beaten in the streets by joyful skinheads.

Yesterday, young voters in their early twenties were crying in front of the school where they were supposed to vote. I interviewed them. They told me they were desperate because they cannot vote for what they want in their lives, but only against what they fear.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 08:14:06 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

FedEx cargo plane lifts off with new missile defense system

An MD-10 cargo jet equipped with a Guardian anti-missile system from Northrop Grumman lifted off from Los Angeles last week on a commercial flight:

The FedEx flight marked the start of operational testing and evaluation of the laser system designed to defend against shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles during takeoffs and landings. Adapted from military technology, Guardian is designed to detect a missile launch and then direct a laser to the seeker system on the head of the missile and disrupt its guidance signals. The laser is not visible and is eye-safe, the company said.

Defensetech has been covering this for some time: Link 1, 2, 3, 4.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 07:48:32 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Vogue's "camwhore" photo spread mimics web video tarts

In the Vogue Italia photospread "Live on the Web," shooter Steven Meisel "confirms our life-long conviction that fashion photographers deep inside (sometimes not so deep) really wish they could be pornographers," observes the blog Fashion Addict Diary: Link to scans.

Vogue Italia 01/07 depicts "horny teens" engaging in simulated raunch before the watchful eyes of webcams. What's different here? The faux camsluts wear Balenciaga. Here's the spread excerpted on Vogue's website, but warning: seizure-inducing Flash abounds. Link. Oh, everybody's Cobrasnake these days. (Thanks, Susannah Breslin!)

posted by Xeni Jardin at 07:41:24 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Appeals court dismisses Kahle et al. v. Gonzales

Unfortunately, we've lost again.

In this appeal (passionately argued by Larry Lessig) we hoped to establish that "the change from an “opt-in” to an “opt-out” copyright system altered a traditional contour of copyright." A successful appeal would have opened uncountable orphaned works (especially books and films) to unrestricted public use.

The 9th Circuit disagreed and affirmed the District Court's decision, saying "The Supreme Court has already effectively addressed and denied Plaintiffs’ arguments" in Eric Eldred's case.

Both the Internet Archive and the Prelinger Library will continue to digitize public domain materials and make them available online for free.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 07:29:40 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

P-mail: Paper-based messaging. Like email but slower!

BoingBoing reader Gary Kemble says,

Inspired by "Get a First Life" I've developed P-mail: Paper-based e-mail. Print out the template, write to your friends, and 'post' the letter! P-Mail: 'It's like e-mail, only slower'

Reader comment: Marilyn Terrell of National Geographic Traveler magazine says,

When I read your post about P-mail, I immediately thought of the perfect way to send it: using Brian Sack's ingenious Apple iPad: Link.

The P-Mail thing reminded me of this service Staedler runs: Link. I can't vouch for its quality, as I haven't actually used it, but it claims to handwrite messages you input and send them to any address in Australia.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 07:26:05 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Terrorist sympathizer Andy Griffith rails against Patriot Act

Sheriff Andy Taylor lectures Opie on the ethical and legal issues around unauthorized eavesdropping in this clip from the Andy Griffith Show. Link (Thanks, Jason Schultz!)

Reader comments: Guilherme Roschke from epic.org says.

I shared the video with my colleagues here at the Electronic Privacy Information Center. With some digging, one of my colleagues figured out that this show aired on October 30, 1967.

That's two weeks after the Supreme Court heard the oral arguments in Katz vs. United States. The FBI had tapped a phone booth without a warrant, and convicted a gambler based on that. The Katz court overturned the conviction, stating that the 4th amendment prohibits this sort of a wiretap without a warrant.

For more on Katz, see wikipedia: Link.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 04:01:12 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Love & Rockets: 25 years exhibit

posted by David Pescovitz at 03:52:20 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Convert a faucet to a drinking fountain

posted by Cory Doctorow at 12:21:18 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Video-game scarves from Etsy's Urban Princess

posted by Cory Doctorow at 12:18:45 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Giant Space Invaders scene visible from space

...one of the fun things that happened over the weekend was that Chris DiBona announced that Google were going to be doing a flyover of the campus and that we should take the opportunity to make some interesting art projects that would subsequently be visible from Google Maps and Google Earth. So we did.

posted by Cory Doctorow at 12:13:42 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Rubber slapper - billy club alternative from 1933

Rubber slappers have taken the place of wooden clubs familiarly known as billies, in the hands of Indianapolis police. Invented by Chief of Police Michael Mor-risey, of that city, the new weapon is a flat, heavy block of rubber with a slot for the fingers It is declared more humane and fully as effective as a club, for it can deliver a stunning blow without drawing blood or cracking a rioter’s skull. In the photograph above, an officer compares the slapper with the stick formerly carried.

posted by Cory Doctorow at 12:10:15 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Does sprawl make us fat?

(University of British Columbia urban planning professor Lawrence) Frank's team, like the other groups, found that areas with interspersed homes, shops, and offices had fewer obese residents than did homogeneous residential areas whose residents were of a similar age, income, and education. Furthermore, neighborhoods with greater residential density and street plans that facilitate walking from place to place showed below-average rates of obesity.

The magnitude of the effect wasn't trivial: A typical white male living in a compact, mixed-use community weighs about 4.5 kilograms (10 pounds) less than a similar man in a diffuse subdivision containing nothing but homes, Frank and his colleagues reported.

So far, the dozen strong studies that have probed the relationships among the urban environment, people's activity, and obesity have all agreed, says (Reid Ewing of the University of Maryland at College Park's National Center for Smart Growth Research and Education). "Sprawling places have heavier people," he says. "There is evidence of an association between the built environment and obesity."

posted by David Pescovitz at 11:54:23 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Telescoping building with magnetic monkeys - a tin toy

posted by Cory Doctorow at 11:52:43 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Skinny, smart multifunction pen gizmo

posted by Cory Doctorow at 11:47:10 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

R. Crumb and Aline Crumb in the New York Times

(Goldsmith) earns money buying used R. Crumb comics on eBay, taking them upstairs for Mr. Crumb to sign and reselling them “for quadruple” on the Internet, Mr. Goldsmith said, smiling...

Another village newcomer is Christian Coudurès, a printmaker, who moved from Paris. When he was depressed after breaking up with a girlfriend, Ms. Crumb decided he was a project she wanted to take on.

“When I first met him, he was in bad shape, drinking a lot,” she said. “I decided I needed to save this worthy person.” Mr. Coudurès eventually became what Ms. Crumb calls her “second husband.”

The Crumbs have long had an open marriage, that brave (and largely discarded) institution of the 1960s. Mr. Crumb travels to Oregon once a year to rekindle a relationship with an old girlfriend.

Speaking of Mr. Coudurès, Mr. Crumb said, “Between the two of us, we kind of make an ideal husband, because he can do all the masculine things I can’t do.” He cited Mr. Coudurès’s talents for wiring, plumbing, engaging in shouting matches with the highly energetic Ms. Crumb and driving a car...

Comics have always bound the Crumbs. Aline and Robert met in 1971 after she heard about a large-rumped woman named Honeybunch Kaminski created by Mr. Crumb for his Snatch Comics series. Ms. Crumb, whose surname from her first marriage was Kominsky, bore a physical resemblance to Honeybunch, and she set out to meet the famous R. Crumb.

“She was the first woman I met whose emotions didn’t scare me,” Mr. Crumb said.

posted by David Pescovitz at 11:25:47 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Train/bus hybrid

posted by David Pescovitz at 10:51:42 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

BB housekeeping: auto-loading Flash in our RSS feed

posted by Xeni Jardin at 08:04:12 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Mini-comic of Cory's Printcrime

To assemble the mini, download and print the PDF, then follow the directions included to fold it into a no-staple origami 8-page mini-comic -- it's all under a Creative Commons Noncommercial Sharealike license -- share it, tweak it, remix it, just don't sell it. 4MB PDF

Update: Martin adds, "My most recent work is in Fantagraphics' MOME: Link, Link

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:13:40 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Pre-screened traveller program a boon to terrorists

The truth is that whenever you create two paths through security -- a high-security path and a low-security path -- you have to assume that the bad guys will find a way to exploit the low-security path. It may be counterintuitive, but we are all safer if the people chosen for more thorough screening are truly random and not based on an error-filled database or a cursory background check.

I think of Clear as a $100 service that tells terrorists if the F.B.I. is on to them or not. Why in the world would we provide terrorists with this ability?

We don’t have to. Clear cardholders are not scrutinized less when they go through checkpoints, they’re scrutinized more efficiently. So why not get rid of the background checks altogether? We should all be able to walk into the airport, pay $10, and use the Clear lanes when it’s worth it to us.

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:54:25 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Astroturfers attack PETA in the NYT

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:22:59 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Danish happiness unravelled?

The Danish football triumph of 1992 has had a lasting impact. This victory arguably provided the biggest boost to the Danish psyche since the protracted history of Danish setbacks began with defeat in England in 1066, followed by the loss of Sweden, Norway, Northern Germany, the Danish West Indies, and Iceland. The satisfaction of the Danes, however, began well before 1992, albeit at a more moderate level. The key factor that explains this and that differentiates Danes from Swedes and Finns seems to be that Danes have consistently low (and indubitably realistic) expectations for the year to come. Year after year they are pleasantly surprised to find that not everything is getting more rotten in the state of Denmark.

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:21:14 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Personal vehicles on abandoned light rail tracks

posted by Cory Doctorow at 04:49:36 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Legendary NYC record store launches MP3 store

WN: How does Other Music plan to price the MP3s? And how will the revenue from digital sales be split among the store, labels and bands?

Madell: We will be selling high-quality files without DRM copy protection (our music is encoded at 320 Kbps rather than 192, the iTunes model, so the sound will be much better). All our pricing is not set yet, but we will definitely have to be a little more expensive than iTunes -- probably $10.99 per album rather than $9.99. I hope we can more than make up for the price with our selection, service, knowledge, features and, of course, the quality files. As for the label deals, this business works on percentages; you split revenue with the label for sales, and typically labels make 65 to 70 percent of the retail price.

posted by Cory Doctorow at 04:26:06 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

R2D2: Secret leader of the rebellion

For the next 20 years, as far as 3PO knows, he is the property of Captain Antilles, doing protocol duties on a diplomatic transport. He is vaguely aware of the existence of the princess but doesn't know much about her. Wherever 3PO goes, being as loud and obvious as he always is, his unobtrusive little counterpart goes with him. 3PO is R2's front man. Wherever they land, R2 is passing messages between rebel sympathisers and sizing up governments as potential rebel recruits - both by personal contact and by hacking into their networks. He passes his recommendations on to Organa.

Yoda is out of the picture by this stage, using the Force-infused swamps of Dagobah to hide himself from Vader and the Emperor. Or something. He is meditating on the future and keeping in touch with Obi-Wan via the ghost of Qui-Gon Jin, which as comm systems go has the virtue of being untappable. Obi-Wan, on Tattoine, keeps in touch with Bail Organa and the other Rebel leaders by courier, of which more later.

As Star Wars opens, R2 is rushing the Death Star plans to the Rebellion. R2, not Leia. The plans are always in R2. What Leia puts into him in the early scene is only her own holographic message to Kenobi. Leia's own mission, as she says in the holographic message, is to pick up Obi-Wan and take him to Alderaan - or so she thinks. Actually, her father just wants her to meet Kenobi, which up to this point she never has. There's a reason for that.

posted by Cory Doctorow at 04:22:27 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Every ad in Times Square

posted by Cory Doctorow at 04:19:31 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Work from bed with the Ergopod

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

The Invisible Enemy in Iraq: drug-resistant supergerm

In this month's issue of Wired, an article by Steve Silberman about Acinetobacter baumannii, a drug-resistant supergerm infecting the US military's evacuation chain:

Since Operation Iraqi Freedom began in 2003, more than 700 US soldiers have been infected or colonized with Acinetobacter baumannii. A significant number of additional cases have been found in the Canadian and British armed forces, and among wounded Iraqi civilians. The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology has recorded seven deaths caused by the bacteria in US hospitals along the evacuation chain. Four were unlucky civilians who picked up the bug at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC, while undergoing treatment for other life-threatening conditions. Another was a 63-year-old woman, also chronically ill, who shared a ward at Landstuhl with infected coalition troops.

Behind the scenes, the spread of a pathogen that targets wounded GIs has triggered broad reforms in both combat medical care and the Pentagon's networks for tracking bacterial threats within the ranks. Interviews with current and former military physicians, recent articles in medical journals, and internal reports reveal that the Department of Defense has been waging a secret war within the larger mission in Iraq and Afghanistan - a war against antibiotic-resistant pathogens.

Reader comment: Eric says,

After reading your post regarding the Acinetobacter baumannii outbreak among US soldiers, I was reminded that up until very recently most military conflicts were hugely affected by disease. Half of all US casualties in world war 1 were from the flu, not the enemy. In the US Civil War, again about half of the deaths were due to disease. Link.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 03:58:46 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Sunday, January 21, 2007

1984 online comic

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:23:03 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

China 'net video mocks Kim Jong Il's yen for embargoed Hen

Anonymous points us to "North Korea's 007," a political satire video said to have been produced by someone named "Hu Ge" and other internet filmmakers in China:

North Korea's 007, a currently very popular short movie by some Chinese netizens, mocks Kim Jong Il and his secret agent buying Hennessy XO wine from Chinese black market.

As of 3:27 AM, January 20, 2007, China Standard Time, the movie has been watched 1,993,567 times on a single site (6rooms.com) and received 1620 comments.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 06:41:16 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Dance Dance Revolution versus library fines

For example, if a teen has overdue books, she will dance-off against the person, and if the teen wins, the librarian will waive the fines.

In addition, when the kids get into squabbles amongst themselves, she tells them to take it to the mat and dance off against each other.

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

CEA to RIAA: you make yourself look evil

Bainwol said the CEA president, because of his pleas to abandon restrictions and liberalize fair use policies, sometimes resembled “a fringe, ideological leader”: “We are in a very, very significant transition,” Bainwol said. “Technology is the basis of our future. We have to be able to monetise product and, every time we try, you want to make it available for free so people can buy devices. Gary stretches the concept of fair use to the point where the notion of ‘fair’ has been eliminated. You have to protect the market value. [Gary] wants to morph fair use into a concept that justifies any consumer behavior to the point where you eliminate the value of property. Kids grow up not understanding that music and movies are intellectual property. You teach disrespect for intellectual property. Gary takes a concept, morphs it, makes us look like we’re evil.”

Shapiro countered: ”I don’t make you look evil - your lawsuits against old people around the country make you look evil. You’re very good at paraphrasing things I never said.”

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:32:18 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Haunted Mansion coffin papercraft

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:28:49 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Clarke Award shortlist for best sf of 2006

End of the World Blues: Jon Courtenay Grimwood – Gollancz
Nova Swing: M. John Harrison – Gollancz
Oh Pure and Radiant Heart: Lydia Millet – William Heinemann
Hav: Jan Morris – Faber & Faber
Gradisil: Adam Roberts – Gollancz
Streaking: Brian Stableford – P.S. Publishing

posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:20:07 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

First Life: SL parody with zero sympathy whatsoever.

Scott Beale says,

Get a First Life is a hilarious Second Life parody by Vancouver web geek and Northern Voice co-organizer Darren Barefoot. Membership perks include “going outside” and the ability to “fornicate with your own genitals”.

Update: "Get a First Life" creator Darren got a "Proceed and Permitted" letter (the opposite of a "cease and decist") from Linden Labs:

This is an interesting bit of follow-up news that I thought might interest you guys. I don't know if it's common for Linden to do this, but I thought it was classy.

Today I awoke from my nap to a letter (via the comments on the announcement) from Linden Labs, the creators of Second Life. 'Ah, well', I though, 'here come the lawyers'. But no. To their enormous credit, they sent me what I can only describe as a 'proceed and permitted' (instead of 'cease and desist') letter. Here's an excerpt:

"We do not believe that reasonable people would argue as to whether the website located at http://www.getafirstlife.com/ constitutes parody – it clearly is. Linden Lab is well known among its customers and in the general business community as a company with enlightened and well-informed views regarding intellectual property rights, including the fair use doctrine, open source licensing, and other principles that support creativity and self-expression. We know parody when we see it."

Hilarious.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 01:15:18 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Lucky duck survives gunshot and 2 days inside fridge

posted by Xeni Jardin at 11:55:22 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Instapundit: Vista DRM may crap up commercial HD video, but...

My big worry about Vista was that its copy-protection schemes would make producing my own content harder. Maybe they will, I'm not sure, but it seems pretty clear that the end result of all this copy protection will actually be a quality advantage, from the viewer's perspective, on the part of unprotected content.

Now you'll be able to tell the "professional" product because it looks worse than amateur products. That's hilarious. And with things like Sony's new HD network that's open to amateur content, this may make a big difference in what people watch, especially as I note that once you get an HDTV you become much more sensitive to issues of video quality. So perhaps all the fancy HDTVs people are buying will be showing homemade video because it looks better. Maybe this is all a clever Microsoft plan to take Hollywood down, all while appearing to do its bidding.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 07:16:28 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

LACMA's Magritte exhibit: This is not fair use

Inside, they've hung many of Magritte's famous works, and, accompanying these works, they've placed dozens of contemporary sculptures and paintings that riff off of Magritte, making fun of him or paying homage to him or commenting on him. These are canonical fair uses -- an artist who takes from another artist and uses his work to make new work. In these other works, from the likes of Warhol and Antin, there are instances of Magritte's work being duplicated in photos and paint.

So far so good -- there's a clear message from the paintings in the exhibit: culture is well-served by liberal rules that let one person remix another's creation.

But that message is undermined by the exhibition policy on photos: no photos are allowed in the exhibit. If you take out your camera, one of the bowler-hatted guards will come up to you and shout at you (literally shout at you!): "No photos allowed!" They won't even let you take out a phone or PDA and make notes with it, in case you're sneakily taking photos on the premises.

This is a riddle: does the Magritte exhibition celebrate fair use, or deny it? Does it want to inspire us to remix Magritte, or warn us off the idea of reproduction without permission?

The rest of LACMA has a laudable photos-encouraged policy, but the special exhibits contain loaned works and many of the lenders stipulate that no photos be allowed. When I quizzed the LACMA curators about this by email, they admitted that many of the works in the special exhibit could probably be photographed, but that it would be complicated to set up a room where photos were allowed and another room where photos aren't allowed.

I sympathize with the curators' desire to get the best works possible for their exhibit, but one has to wonder -- would they accept loans of paintings that came on the condition that those who viewed them had to salute, stand on one leg, or promise to vote Republican?

If the point of the exhibit is to show us the wonders of fair use, how can LACMA justify taking paintings in on terms that betray fair use?

This isn't new, of course. Lots of curators sign up to take works in on these terms. The Greenwich Observatory Museum, a science museum that celebrates the use of technology to capture the world around us, has a no-photos policy that apparently stems from promises made to the owners of the antique clocks on display.

When we absolve curators of responsibility for defending our fair use rights, we make this situation worse. It's true that banning photography makes more money for museums. It helps them run penny-ante picture-postcard rackets. It makes borrowing works cheaper and easier.

But a curator's job is to inform and educate, to spread culture and to preserve it. The works in a museum aren't its property -- they're its responsibility. Public galleries are supposed to disseminate our global heritage, not lock it away from us. The more museums and galleries accept onerous lending terms, the more standard they become

The curatorial staff at LACMA were very nice when I emailed them. They offered to let me photograph the exhibit as a member of the press. They offered to loan me a pencil and paper so that I wouldn't have to take out my phone to make notes.

But they wouldn't answer any of my questions about fair use and the exhibit. If they believe that the collectors who own Warhol's paintings have the right to stop me from photographing his work, does it follow that they believe that all the photographers and designers whom Warhol took from without asking should have had the same right?

In other words: what's the point of the LACMA Magritte exhibit? Is it to teach us to love fair use, or to abandon it?

Link

Update: Here's Magnus's remix of the Ceci N'est Pas Une Pipe painting.

Update 2: And another from Jeremiah.

Update 3: Freddy sez, "for some time now we have been using a version titled Ceci N'est Pas Groovecore with a graffiti'd pipe as part of our online identity. It is featured in the slide show on our MySpace page.

Cathy sez, "I agree that art museums should let people take photographs inside. I was rudely stopped from using my camera, but managed to take a couple of photos on the sly anyway. They said it was the policy not to let anyone take photographs in the special exhibits, but the permanent ones I could snap away -- Link, Link.

Jake has, "A somewhat hastily made but very clever Magritte remix for our *nix-using friends."

Update 4: Magnus adds, "This is from the streets of Vienna, from a graffitied wall: 'das ist keine gallerie' - this is not a gallery" -- Link, Link

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:15:55 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Children of Men uses CC sample

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

Ubuntu studio - Linux for multimedia creation

I'm pretty excited at the idea of an Ubuntu optimized for multimedia creation -- the regular Ubuntu is so solid and well-thought-out, so I have a lot of hopes for Ubuntu Studio. Link (via /.)

See also: Ubuntu for non-geeks

posted by Cory Doctorow at 04:33:07 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

What's the landmass of World of Warcraft?

To measure a square mile, you first need to define what a mile is. As "a mile" doesn't even have the same length on different places on our earth, that isn't trivial. The basic definition of a mile is coming from Roman times, defining a mile a 1000 double steps of a marching legion. The soldiers had to walk through all of Europe anyway, so you just needed to count their steps and had the place all measured up with few extra effort. Clever guys, these Romans. But on Azeroth "steps" aren't that easy to count, and the length of legs between the different races varies widely. But interestingly all races move at the same running speed, so it makes sense to define the mile by the time it takes to run it. On earth, a marathon runner has a running speed of about 12 miles per hour. As everybody on Azeroth is a hero, lets just define the Azerothian running speed as 12 mph as well. This effectively defines an Azerothian mile as "the distance you can run in 5 minutes", without using any speed enhancing items of course.

posted by Cory Doctorow at 04:23:55 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Eboy's Tower of Incompatibabel

posted by Cory Doctorow at 04:21:17 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Saturday, January 20, 2007

Cinderella's exclusive bedroom in Disney World

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:34:27 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Cory as a Lego minifig

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:29:53 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Give-away orange lederhosen re-surface in Chinese board-game

Bavaria Beer, a Dutch brewer, doesn’t just make a hearty beer, they’ll also sell you bright orange pants with a lion’s tail attached. You can buy them here but they were originally given away if you bought enough beer. Bright orange is the color of Dutch pride and the Lion is the symbol of Dutch soccer so it would seem the perfect novelty garment. People who drink your beer get a free pair of lederhosen, the company gets some free adverstising as “Bavaria” is emblazoned across the chest. Chances are you’ll get a few people to wear them to the game. You want to see a sea of orange? Look around for Dutch soccer fans on flickr...

Scrappy Chinese manufacturer, Wang Ming, saw an opportunity where others saw a crisis and pressed the excess pants into service as props in a baffling looking board game named Smack The Lion. Wang Ming makes 3 products: Plastic trees, Industrial oven hand protection, and Family Game. While I’m sure they make a nice tree, Family Game has a weirder back story.

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:26:45 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Unicorn chaser

And now, we pause for a Unicorn Moment. From the lovely and talented R. Stevens of dieselsweeties.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 12:19:07 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Big factory pig farms are some of America's worst polluters

I decided to try out veganism a little over a week ago -- so far I feel great, and it's a lot easier than I thought. A number of things inspired me to give it a go, including Joi Ito's blog entries about his own vegan bodyhacking experiment, and this Rolling Stone article by Jeff Tietz. A friend had a copy sitting on the couch, open to this page, and I couldn't take my eyes off the story.

It's an investigative piece on how Smithfield Foods, America's largest hog slaughterer, circumvents law, pollutes like crazy, and creates antibiotic and vaccine-laden pork products that feed our country. I don't intend to become one of those annoying vegangelicals who tries to convert everyone to tempeh, but this was just a fascinating read:

Smithfield's holding ponds -- the company calls them lagoons -- cover as much as 120,000 square feet. The area around a single slaughterhouse can contain hundreds of lagoons, some of which run thirty feet deep. The liquid in them is not brown. The interactions between the bacteria and blood and afterbirths and stillborn piglets and urine and excrement and chemicals and drugs turn the lagoons pink.

Even light rains can cause lagoons to overflow; major floods have transformed entire counties into pig-shit bayous. To alleviate swelling lagoons, workers sometimes pump the shit out of them and spray the waste on surrounding fields, which results in what the industry daintily refers to as "overapplication." This can turn hundreds of acres -- thousands of football fields -- into shallow mud puddles of pig shit. Tree branches drip with pig shit.

Some pig-farm lagoons have polyethylene liners, which can be punctured by rocks in the ground, allowing shit to seep beneath the liners and spread and ferment. Gases from the fermentation can inflate the liner like a hot-air balloon and rise in an expanding, accelerating bubble, forcing thousands of tons of feces out of the lagoon in all directions.

The lagoons themselves are so viscous and venomous that if someone falls in it is foolish to try to save him. A few years ago, a truck driver in Oklahoma was transferring pig shit to a lagoon when he and his truck went over the side. It took almost three weeks to recover his body. In 1992, when a worker making repairs to a lagoon in Minnesota began to choke to death on the fumes, another worker dived in after him, and they died the same death. In another instance, a worker who was repairing a lagoon in Michigan was overcome by the fumes and fell in. His fifteen-year-old nephew dived in to save him but was overcome, the worker's cousin went in to save the teenager but was overcome, the worker's older brother dived in to save them but was overcome, and then the worker's father dived in. They all died in pig shit.

Previously on BoingBoing:

Reader comments:

(Unintentional?) Smithfield Ham Pron?

Check out the screenshot in my post. It's from this part of the Smithfield website here: Link.

Damn, now that's some juicy ham pron if I've ever seen it.... I just want to stick my tongue right in the midd... (OK... I'll stop).

Here's an employee site regarding Smithfield Farms' labor practices: Link.

B..b..but Smithfield can't possibly be a polluter. They have a web page that shows they got an Environmental President's Award award! Link.

I dig your post about Pig farms and Smithfield Foods in particular. I only want to ad that if you really want to turn people off to their products, I can think of no better way than their own (vintage drive-in) advertising. Enjoy! Video Link.

Here's a link to the pig farm in google maps for the site referenced in the "Pork's Dirty Secret" article.

[Ed note: those big, pink "lakes" in that map detail above, next to what look like housing for the pigs? Filled with pigshit.]

If you go through the Smithfield site, they link to worldwatermonitoringday.org. They said they were involved with this for the last three years. However if this is going on for the last several years, where are the result from before? There is no link to previous years result. Also will the actual data be made public or will it get filtered?

Just saw your pig postings about the trouble Smithfield plant in Tar Heel, NC as I got back from the Science Bloggers Conference where folks from OnlineNewsHour began their talk with a bit from their 2004 show called "Pigs and Politics": A snip from the transcript:

"North Carolina's ten million hogs produce twice as much feces and urine as the populations of the cities of Los Angeles, New York and Chicago combined. Industrial farms, most with thousands of hogs each, store the waste in open-air pits, called lagoons. They spray the waste, untreated, as manure on adjacent fields."

Tasty.

Look at these crazy pictures of a festival in Taiwan where it appears they sacrifice 2,000 pigs: Link.

I was reading about the (horrific) pig farm article and couldn't believe there was no mention of the unintentional goatse of the farm's aerial map. From the user comment "Here's a link to the pig farm in google maps for the site referenced in the "Pork's Dirty Secret" article.", the photo is SO TOTALLY goatse it's hilarious.

*sigh* I've never been so conflicted about eating meat after reading that post. So I hope Choppy the two faced pig either brings a smile or a WTF. Reminds me a bit of Cy the kitten. Link.

Speaking of the poor pigs, ever seen a state of the art Jarvis bung dropper? Link. Be sure to watch the vid at upper right: Link. Not to be confused with a bung cleaner: Link. Or bung ring expander: Link. Or lung gun: Link. Or spinal cord remover: Link. Other fun links for kill floors and carcass prep: Link.

Go veggie! I attached a pic of the best way to taste a pig.

More...

posted by Xeni Jardin at 11:04:21 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Web Zen: barnyard zen

sheep ringtone
squow
sinister ducks
kungfu bunnies
cows with guns
these little pigs
chicken a day
cowscapes
cluck of july

Web Zen Home, Store (Thanks Frank!) Image: From the Cowscapes series by photographer Rachael Sudlow. To purchase a print, email rachael.sudlow at gmail.com. Below, kung fu bunnies, which is insane.

Update: some of you have complained of an auto-loading Flash embed with sound for the "kung fu bunnies" in this post -- there was never a flash embed in this post, just a jpeg that links to the Flash content. But we did a little digging and learned that BoingBoing's feed was configured to pre-load linked-to Flash items under certain circumstances, so we've turned that off. Sorry for the annoyance!

posted by Xeni Jardin at 10:00:54 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Barbaro: a racehorse and his online fans.

My NPR "Day to Day" colleague Luke Burbank did an amazing piece this week about the huge, passionate, came-from-nowhere online community of Barbaro fandom. You gotta see the fanmade videos, chock full of race footage and love, and set to the music from the likes of Enya, Michael Bolton, or Andrea Boccelli. "Believe in Barbaro," reads the metadata. From Luke's introduction:

The racehorse Barbaro is recovering this week from his latest setback, a diseased hoof. As he convalesces, an online community of thousands is following his progress breathlessly. Last spring, Barbaro was a contender for the Triple Crown. He had won the Kentucky Derby and was a favorite to win the Preakness Stakes in Baltimore.

Then fate struck. Not far out of the gate at the start of the Preakness, Barbaro shattered his right hind leg. It was a heartbreaking development, accented by images of his visibly distraught jockey, Edgar Prado. Barbaro's career was effectively over.

But his life as a cause celebre was just beginning. YouTube is full of Barbaro tribute videos and photo montages such as this one, all set to tearjerking music. At another site, 14,000 candles have been "lit" in his honor. On various message boards, people post fervent messages expressing hope and admiration for the struggling racehorse. One couple even invited Barbaro to their wedding.

Reader comment: Dave Warner says,

Barbaro was recently voted "Sports Human of the Year" at Gawker sports blog Deadspin.com, in no small part because of the fervent fan base he's developed -- a fan base that has declared Deadspin to be "garbage." In particular, Dee Mirich of Merrillville, IN, has become a cult figure at Deadspin for her "Affirmed" messages. Check the link for all of Deadspin's posts about Barbaro and his fans.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 09:51:34 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Nathan Myhrvold meets the penguins

There's probably a great Linux joke in here, but I'm not funny enough to come up with it. Technologist and former Microsoft executive Nathan Myhrvold visited the Falklands[ / Islas Malvinas], and took some amazing photographs of penguins and other creatures there. Dr. Myhrvold is CEO and managing director of Intellectual Ventures, a private entrepreneurial firm he founded with his former Microsoft colleague, Dr. Edward Jung. Snip from an essay about what he observed on the islands:

It turns out that there are some reasonably well developed scientific theories of cuteness.

Penguins look like little people – their bipedal stance, walking gait and proportions look like a tiny toy person. Self-love is something humans are good at, so it is natural to find these animals compelling. Their behaviors also happen to map well to human behavior – or at least one can naively imagine so because they are stereotypically similar to some of our own actions.

That covers penguins, but there are some more universal aspects of cuteness. I once studied to be a cartoonist (alas, I wasn’t funny enough) and in that field they have this very well figured out. The rule of thumb is that if you want a cartoon character to be cute, you draw it so that the total body height is between 2.5 and 3 times the height of the head. This gives you a Mickey Mouse, or Tweety Bird sort of character. You then make the eyes a large fraction of head height – little beady eyes are not cute. To make a heroic character – say Superman, Spiderman or Captain America you want 7.5 to 8 heads high. It always has amused me that being a pinhead looks heroic.

Reader comment: Jeff says,

You should link to Mhyrvold's article on the future of digital photography, it's a must read. Direct link here. Excerpt:

I'm eagerly awaiting Canon's next move, probably to 25-plus megapixels. I'm what marketing people call an early adopter, but mark my words - you'll own a 16- or even a 25-megapixel point-and-shoot in a few years, and it will not stop there. By some estimates, your eyes have an effective resolution of more than 500 megapixels. If you can see it, why shouldn't a camera record it? The reason many pictures don't turn out is that in daytime the human eye can easily perceive a dynamic range of 10,000:1, while at night it is more like 1,000,000:1. Meanwhile, color slide film can record only about 32:1, and digital cameras, about 64:1.

In many situations, this forces a choice - do you expose for the light parts of the scene and let the dark parts go dead black, or save the shadows and turn the bright parts pure white? Future digital sensors will fix this, with ever broader dynamic range and greater light sensitivity (the ISO rating).

Focus is another problem. How many of your pictures wind up fuzzy? Autofocus technology can help, but cameras today still have a limitation on how much of a scene can be in focus at one time, known as depth of field. If you focus on the flower in front of you, the mountain in the background is apt to be fuzzy. Yet technically there is no reason we can't get essentially infinite depth of field, again by using more digital processing.

Javier Rodruiguez says,

My impression concerning your post would have been much better if you just said "Islas Malvinas" instead of Falklands (...) they always belonged to Argentina, not just a matter of sovereignty but simply geology (it's physically undeniable that they are inside South America's continental platform). I guess you regard colonialism as evil, as much as many of us do.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 09:33:54 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

BoingBoing week in review: Jan 15-20, 2007

Above: "Pac Man's secret," by Ape Lad.

Here are a bunch of BoingBoing posts from the past week that (a) people talked about or linked to a lot (b) we were particularly obsessed with.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 08:47:44 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Cory's Duke University book launch, Feb 22

Where: Love Auditorium, Levine Science Research Center
When: Feb 22, 5PM

A reminder: I'm also having launches in Toronto (Feb 1), San Francisco (Feb 8, with Rudy Rucker), and Vancouver, San Diego and Los Angeles (details TBD).

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:18:00 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Personal blimp

Our aircraft is one of the safest in the sky. There are lots of reasons for this. But the single most important one is that it flies at low altitudes and low airspeeds. Going low and slow is not only beautiful, it's also safer. In addition, our design gives the pilot more control than any other type of lighter-than-air aircraft.

The notion that blimps explode comes from the famous Hindenburg accident of 1937, that aircraft was filled with highly flammable Hydrogen gas. Nobody really knows how the Hindenburg fire started. But once it did, the Hydrogen ignited and the famous fireball resulted. Amazingly, even with the intense fire, 2/3rds of the people onboard survived. In any case, neither we nor anybody else today has an airship filled with Hydrogen.

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

Apple's next product photoshopping contest

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:00:50 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Jewelry shaped like molecules

posted by Cory Doctorow at 04:59:00 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Pac Man bathroom

posted by Cory Doctorow at 04:54:34 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Friday, January 19, 2007

Drugs and Poisons blog

From an entry titled Teh Overdose: Drugs and poisons that you shouldn't kill yourself with

Ro-15-4513

Reverses the behavioural effects of ethanol. It stops you from being drunk. It does this horrible, horrible thing by blocking the action of ethanol at GABA receptors in the brain. The worst part is that it can't even be used to treat alcohol poisoning, since it doesn't block the respiratory depression that is usually what kills you if you drink way too much. If that wasn't it enough, it also increases the risk of seizures. So not a big winner with anyone.

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 09:41:07 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Grand Canyon employees not "silenced" as PEER claimed

The referencing of sources who wish to remain anonymous (like those who PEER executive director Jeff Ruch claimed gave him the information about the silenced park employees) is quite common in journalism and, in fact, there are laws protecting whistleblowers . The fact that no such reference was made until I pointedly accused Ruch of flatout lying makes me, well, skeptical of this explanation. His final statement to me doesn’t make me any less skeptical:

We are issuing an amended release today that
1. deletes reference to what interpretive staff can and cannot say and
2. features the NPS official statement that they provide geological information to the public.

posted by David Pescovitz at 09:31:55 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

TSA refuses to screen air cargo

U.S. Congress to the TSA: "Please screen the cargo that goes into planes. We'll be safer." TSA response: "No."

We're safer if they DON'T screen the cargo, I guess, and focus their energies on taking away water, yogurt, and semi-gelatinous pie.

Previously on Boing Boing:
• TSA doesn't allow Zippo camera case past security Link
• TSA confiscates miniature bats at Louisville airport Link
• TSA arrest villain for possession of rubber band ball Link
• TSA confiscates folding car key, calling it a "switchblade" Link

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 09:19:36 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Sign forbids photography of lousy statue

Reader comment:

David says:

For readers who want to know more: The eraser is a sculpture by Swedish sculptor Claes Oldenburg, who is best known for his oversize sculptures of everyday objects. A gallery of his large scale projects can be seen on his website.

It reminds me of the quote by designer Paul Rand, who said something like: "If you can't make it good, make it big. (And if you can't make it big, make it red.)"

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 09:05:47 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Some Zune tracks are crippled with no-sharing flags - guess which

Curious about this, I conducted a test of my own. I pulled down the top 50 songs downloaded from Zune Marketplace, using my Zune Pass subscription. I then created a playlist of those 50 songs, and attempted to wirelessly send the whole playlist to my wife's Zune.

When the transfer completed, a message appeared on my player: "Can't send some songs because of rights restrictions. 29 of 50 songs sent to Carrie's Zune".

posted by Cory Doctorow at 09:00:12 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Heir to dictator moves into $35 million Malibu home

The exotic-car-loving playboy newcomer to the exclusive cliff above Malibu Pier, heir to one of the most ruthless dictators in the world, now sits behind two guard shacks with the likes of Dick van Dyke, James Cameron, Larry Hagman, Mel Gibson and other biggies.

Perhaps his politically active Malibu neighbors don’t know that Equatorial Guinea, on the west coast of Africa, with only 540,000 inhabitants, has neither a free press nor free speech. Its people are among the world’s poorest, surviving on less than $1 a day, yet because of plentiful oil and natural gas, the country is the second richest in gross domestic product per capita, just behind wealthy Luxembourg.

Reader comment:

Hannes says:

Equatorial Guinea has not the second highest GDP per Capita. In nominal terms it comes out on place 59, and when measured at Purchasing Power Parity (PPP), which takes into account the different price levels in countries, so that countries with a lower price level score higher, it comes out on place 42.

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 05:40:36 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Update: Canadian spy coins a "mistake"

Previously on Boing Boing:
• Spy coins update Link
• Canadian coins bugged? Link
• Russia spy HQ has giant batman mural in floor Link
• Technology for parents to spy on kids Link
• CIA's goofy spy-robots Link
• FAA grounds LA Sheriffs' plans for "spy plane drones" Link
• Lockheed Martin designing tiny "maple seed" spy plane Link
• High-voltage machine shrinks quarters to the size of dimes Link

posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 05:05:21 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Marion Peck limited edition goes on sale January 24

"The Mysterious Miss Wu", by Marion Peck, is a limited edition, signed and numbered giclee print on archival canvas. This print comes in a custom, hand carved, teak wood framed with an antique gold-leafed finish. Published by Porterhouse Fine Art Editions. Sold framed only. Framed Size: 15" x 10", Image size: 9.75" x 7.75" Edition of 30, signed and numbered

Previously on Boing Boing:
• "Regina Gloriae Naturae," based on Mark Ryden’s painting "The Creatrix" Link
• Rosie's Tea Party Link
• Mark Ryden's book, Fus