Mousewrites sez, "Steampunkwallpaper.com is a collection of wallpapers with a steampunky theme. I've taken it into my damn fool head to make one wallpaper a day for the next year, (15 so far) and I realized that I don't have quite enough ideas (my list of ideas is around 130 right now). I know that there's some people that don't like steampunk, but hell, there's some people who don't like coffee, either. No accounting for taste, I suppose! I love Boing Boing, and was hoping that the collective might give me some ideas? All my wallpapers are Creative Commons remix licensed, as well." Link (Thanks, Mousewrites!)

Rick Kleffel sez, "John W. Campbell Award winning author Jay Lake will be in the studio on Saturday, July 12 for GeekSpeak, to be interviewed by RIck Kleffel, Lyle Troxell and Sean Cleveland. We'll be taking your phone calls at 1-800-655-5877, or you can email me your questions in advance (agony@trashotron.com). We'll be talking with Jay about his latest novels, Mainspring and Escapement and the widespread interest in the the Steampunk aesthetic. We want your live voices on the air, so be sure to call!" Link (Thanks, Rick!)

See also: Jay Lake's "Mainspring": Clockpunk adventure

New Babbage is Second Life's magnificent steampunk city, "bringing together the combined interests of Steampunks from around the world to a place they can roleplay and be creative." Link to video, Link to New Babbage homepage (Thanks, Josh!)

This brass and leather Soviet gas-mask is the genuine article, not a steampunk fetish-fashion prop (though, of course, it could be both). Link (via Wired Gadget Lab)

Update: I take it back: it's a sculpture from the Ukraine, on sale on eBay

Jake van Slatt sez, "During a recent book signing in Seattle William Gibson was asked about the Steampunk modding craze. I think it was really cool that he was aware of us! In addition he commented: 'My one complaint is, they make these things look all shiny and new...I think they should look...distressed.' Well, Kevin just sent me some pictures of his Steampunk Keyboard and I think he's managed just that!" Link (Thanks, Jake!)

PingMag has a great interview with Kogoro Kurata, a Japanese ironsmith whose works range from staircases to robots to typewriters to bulldozers, all of which seem to have come from a rusty dimension of grim, skeletal force.

One thing that gets me once in a while is just that the colour of iron is always black! [laughs] Sometimes it can be boring, so I would rather use wood. My basic material is always iron, but I’ll use other materials as decoration to escape its monotone characteristic. On the other hand, I think the texture of iron is really important in my works so I don’t paint them either. I’ll probably always work with iron — as long as my body holds out! [laughs]

Link (Thanks, Frankie!)

Etsy seller FringeLore has a dab hand at making steampunk inflected jewelry and sculpture -- lots of dented and scratched and polished clockworks and gears. Link (Thanks, Olga!)

Steampunk maker Jake von Slatt sez, "I've been into human powered vehicles for a long time, far longer then my current passion for steampunk. So I got very excited when Eric and Alan (aka Steuben's Wheelmen) sent me some new pictures of their completed and fully steampunkified tadpole trike!" Link (Thanks, Jake!)

When I got back from my book tour earlier this month, I was delighted to discover that the handmade steampunk keyboard I'd ordered from Datamancer had arrived. I unpacked and connected it right away and I've been using it ever since, every day, here in my office. The action is great, a little like well-oiled manual, a little like one of the classic indestructible IBM clacky sysadmin keyboards. The keys are shaped like tombstones (I got to specify that) and the three little crystalline lamps on the top right corner light up for power, caps-lock and numlock. There are plenty of gracenotes, too -- like the heavy metallic keyboard cable and the legend "Aether" on the spacebar. It wasn't cheap, and it took eight weeks to arrive, but man, was it worth it. Link, Link to pictures of my keyboard in situ

The Marginal Revolution blog poses the musical question, "If you were transported back to the middle ages, what would be the top strategy for thriving?" Given that most of us can't make gunpowder from scratch (and don't have up-to-date smallpox vaccinations), dreams of becoming a technological pre-Enlightenment billionaire guru are probably not realistic (stipulating that "realistic" is probably not a good word to use in respect of responses to hypothetical time-travel questions).

First build grubstake by minstrelsy. I hope you remember some three chord Stones songs, or perhaps some blues. Next, I would suggest the magic of fractional reserve banking in a market town. Expand the banking operations to other market towns. Hire bodyguards. Loan money to the king. Loan money to the other king. Start a war. Loan money to the Pope, etc.
Posted by: Rebunga at Jun 6, 2008 12:15:47 PM

Link

Last night, I had the enormous pleasure of attending White Mischief, the semi-regular steampunk variety night at the Scala in London's King's Cross. White Mischief featured tons of bands, hilarious Victorian comedy, obscene and delightful sword-swallowing, and hundreds and hundreds of revellers in steampunk costume (some of whom were BB readers and were kind enough to introduce themselves!). I snapped a bunch of pix (pictured here, goggles from Got Steam), as did many others. Have a look at the Flickr whitemischief tag for more. Link

See also:
White Mischief steampunk night, King's Cross London, June 7
White Mischief, London's steampunk variety night

Alex Holden made this stupendous steampunk* Dalek out of junk, shampoo bottles and paint.

The main body is made from a plastic Dalek bubble-bath bottle I bought very cheaply at Woolworth's in the post-Christmas sales. At the time I had no idea what I could use it for, but it looked too cool to pass up. I disassembled it and spray-painted the parts with a can of gold Plastikote paint after masking off the two silver arms on the front. The wheels, cylinders, chimney stack, and 'bumpers' came from a rather tacky brass model of Stephenson's Rocket I bought for £5 at a car boot sale. The brass brush on the end of the gun is the head of a rotary wire brush attachment that came with a mini-drill set. The pressure gauge, dome, whistle, safety valve, water level gauge, and valve are all bits and pieces I had lying around the workshop (I used to be into model engineering). All the brass parts were painstakingly cleaned and polished with Scotchbrite, Autosol, and Brasso. It is held together with a combination of screws, hot melt glue, and cyanoacrylate glue. I left the plastic bottle inside the body because the neck acts as the turret bearing - I haven't opened it so it must still be full of bubble-bath!

Link (Thanks, Bonnie!)

*STEAMPUNK! STEAMPUNK! STEAMPUNK! Isn't that the most lovely word you've ever heard? I just want to say it all day long! STEAAAAAAAAAAMPUNK!

Cole sez, "I make highly sustainable furniture out of aluminum that involves no fasteners or moving parts. My furniture will last functionally for hundreds of years and it's aesthetically pleasing as well. Watch out, I am currently designing a table in a steampunky style."

PS: Steampunk! Hurrah! More steampunk! Link (Thanks, Cole!)

Reece sez, "My Lords, ladies and gentelmen, Greetings and Jubilations! May I be so bold has to ask you to please take a ganders at ones Steampunked t-shirt. A rather whimsical satire of the R2 droid. Jolly good it is too - if I do say so myself! What-O! Reece" Link (Thanks, Reece!)

PS: Punk, brothers, steam with care!
Steam in the presence of the passen-gaire,
A blue steampunk for a six steam fare,
A buff steampunk for a four steam fare,
A pink steampunk for a two steam fare,
Punk in the presence of the passen-gaire!

This short video demonstrates a working steam-powered photograph on display at a Danish exhibition, though the proud steampunk maker is British. Pato, whose girlfriend shot the video, says, " He stood there playing records all afternoon, tinkering with his machine while spinning tunes. How freaking awesome is that?" Link (Thanks, Pato!)

PS: Steampunk, steampunk, steampunk, steampunk, steampunk, steampunk, steampunk, steampunk, steampunk. Steampunk!

Hurrah! The White Mischief steampunk variety night is returning to King's Cross, London, for Saturday June 7!

White Mischief is next Saturday, June 7, 8pm-3am at Scala in King's Cross, themed to another Jules Verne novel, this time "Around the World in 80 Days".

For members of the public, tickets are still available - including group discounts for bookings of five people and above - though we strongly recommend people book ahead, as advance tickets are far cheaper than those bought on the door and previous shows have sold out.

The four rooms and two stages are being themed by set dressers who worked on Punchdrunk's Masque of the Red Death. Interactive adventures will include a "trip around the world in a hot air balloon"; and a chance to discover the ancient Oriental mysteries inside the Hall of Oracles. Parisian "petit gypsy string orchestra" will be playing sets at unexpected quarters spontaneously around the building.

Live bands and vaudeville / circus performers will be arriving by every means of conveyance from all four corners of the globe.

Flying in from Berlin, Miss Behave, one of the few surviving female swordswallowers (and a Guinnness World Record holder who is about to start her own run at the Roundhouse); from Spain, snake dancer Seffi; from Japan, DJ Lady Kamikaze, playing vintage jazz and blues; from Turkey, the band Oojami, complete with their own Sufi dancer; from the United States, "electro chamber rock" band The Outside Royalty and DJ duo Theodora Goes Wild and Sheriff Marshall Lawman ; from Africa to London, DJ Todd Hart, playing an all-African set; from Australasia, acerbic compere Dusty Limits; from the UK, outrageous diva, the Radio 1 playlisted Ebony Bones...

Of particular interest to fans of Victoriana might be the Penny Dreadfuls, a "Victorian comedy troupe" whose sketch comedy has been a hit on BBC7, Radio 4 and at Edinburgh...and Miss Amundsen, Bipolar Explorer, a steampunk enthusiast herself, who will be performing an aerial act above the audience's head while playing an accordion.

Link to event details, Link to photos of the previous attendees, Link to line-up, Link to Facebook page for White Mischief

See also: White Mischief, London's steampunk variety night

Update: Toby adds, "I just received this message from Jason Willbourn at Stentor Industries who will be attending White Mischief and has specially made these brilliant 'Around the World in 80 Days' steampunk rayguns/pith helmets/goggles."

Steampunk Maker Jake von Slatt sez, "Here's a delightful short from some SF Steampunks I met at Maker Faire. I'm not sure if they are LARPers, but from the appearance of a McIntosh MC240 tube amp and a _serious_ electronics workbench in one scene, I know that these are the sort of kids that Marcus Yallow would've hung out with! " Link (Thanks, Jake!)

Steampunk maker Art Donovan has just finished a whole whack of fantastic steampunk lamp designs. These are illuminating in the extreme. Link (Thanks, Art!)

In today's Boing Boing tv, More gems from Bay Area Maker Faire 2008: Boing Boing co-editor David Pescovitz speaks with Kaden Harris, author of Eccentric Cubicle, and the brains behind Eccentricgenius.ca -- eccentric antiques from a parallel universe. He shows us his Silicon Projectile Centrifuge (a lovely lethal weapon that shoots marbles at high velocity), a combination lamp/bong, and other exotica from the halls of beautiful Eccentric Manors.

Then, Xeni is zapped by Jack Sparx, who uses his body as an electrical transformer, zapping all who come near with low-level shocks in the name of science. As Xeni demonstrates, the jolts from his mini-Tesla Coils are not *that* low-level, either.

Bonus: ironic t-shirt catwalk; Xeni and the BBtv crew stopped Maker Faire attendees in their tracks, and asked them to explain their hipster t-shirts.

Link to Boing Boing tv episode with discussion and downloadable video.

Previous Boing Boing tv episodes from Maker Faire:

Star Simpson's fuzzy logic, MacGyver, MIT lasers, and trippy glasses: Maker Faire with Phil Torrone

Combat robots, warring battleships: Xeni at Maker Faire

(special thanks to Scott Beale, Eddie Codel, and Waneco Leisure Industries)

The cover story on the Boston Phoenix this week is a wicked, long feature on steampunk!

The 19th century ushered in the era of the amateur: a wild-eyed tinkerer in a lab had the capacity to stumble upon a discovery that just might alter society, a common theme paralleled in Victorian and Gothic fiction and, now, in Steampunk. “I find the optimism of Steampunk rather refreshing,” says Rich Nagy, a/k/a Datamancer, a popular Steampunk artisan originally based in New Jersey but now living in California who was represented at the Maker Contraptor’s Lounge. “Steampunk has a way of making technology, which is becoming more transparent and taken for granted every day, seem novel and fun again,” adds Nagy. That much is clear in his finely wrought pieces, like the “Computational Engine” computer casemod and his sophisticated “Steampunk Victorian Laptop,” a Hewlett-Packard ZT1000 laptop with a clockwork-under-glass display that, when it’s closed, looks like an ornate antique music box. It turns on with a clock-winding key. In effect, Steampunk is poised to bring the proletariat craftsman his 21st-century renaissance.

Though Steampunk’s artisanal outputs have stolen much of the mainstream limelight so far, there is a whole other creative side to the scene that has received little attention in comparison. Countless bands have formed, filing their music under the Steampunk genre or citing Victorian fantasy as a muse. One of them, Vernian Process, is the solo project of San Francisco–based Joshua Pfieffer. A true testament to the notion of the ambitious dabbler, Pfieffer has no musical training, and writes songs with the aid of basic audio-production software. “The atmosphere is actually more important to me than writing good hooks, or melodic structure,” he says of his music, which he makes free to download. “I feel that what I do represents the genre as I would like it to sound.”

Link (Thanks, Jake!)

One of my favorite blog posts of 2007 was the gallery of steampunk watches made by Haruo Suekichi, none of which were for sale. Now, Suekichi has teamed up with Chief magazine to sell two each of a Suekichi men's watch and Suekichi women's watch ($1200 and $800 respectively). Not cheap, but zomg, these are some beautiful timepieces. Link to men's watch, Link to women's watch See also: Artisanal steampunk watches of Japan

Richard Morgan's "Steampunk: Remembering Yesterday's Tomorrow" is an excellent, long feature on the steampunk phenomenon that was commissioned by the New York Times, but ultimately cut. He's put the whole piece online anyway:

Sara Brumfield, a software designer in Austin, Tex., agrees. “The Victorian home was a haven away from all the industrial changes. So machines would be invited into your home instead of just invading your home,” she explains, before admitting, “Look, I work with software all day. So much of the technology we have is not perfect at all; it’s just good enough to work. So we should stop worshipping it.”

She keeps her home steampunk and heavy on antique styling. Her website, The Steampunk Home, recently gushed over the analog dials on Kenmore’s new PRO Series refrigerators.

Her living room features a chemical flask as a vase, a brass steamship clock (a wedding gift), a three-foot-tall 1930s-era radio she found at a garage sale, an ornate brass lamp with red glass she bought at a bazaar in Istanbul, thick red velvet curtains, dark wood flooring, a dulcimer handmade by her husband’s grandfather and distressed Victorian floorlamps with frosted bowls. For a few dollars a pound, she scrounged a salvage yard for a sack of gears that she is using to replace the knobs on her bedside tables. Her bed itself is lit with a brass swing-arm lamp she bought at a thrift store for $10. Her pride and joy is a self-made sun jar in her kitchen, a shredded $6 solar light she put in a frosted hermetic jar to use as a nightlight (it charges during the day and glows at night).

Link (Thanks, Richard!)

See also: Steampunk in the New York Times

The New York Times fashion and style section has a nice piece today on the aesthetic influence of steampunk on fashion and art:

Devotees of the culture read Jules Verne and H. G. Wells, as well as more recent speculative fiction by William Gibson, James P. Blaylock and Paul Di Filippo, the author of “The Steampunk Trilogy,” the historical science fiction novellas that lent the culture its name. They watch films like “The City of Lost Children” (with costumes designed by Jean Paul Gaultier), “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” and “Brazil,” Terry Gilliam’s dystopian fantasy satirizing the modern industrial age; and they listen to melodeons and Gypsy strings mixed with industrial goth.

They build lumbering contraptions like the steampunk treehouse, a rusted-out 40-foot sculpture assembled last year at the Burning Man festival in Nevada and unveiled last month at the Coachella music festival in Southern California. They trawl eBay for saw-tooth cogs and watch parts to dress up their Macs and headsets, then show off their inventions to kindred spirits on the Web.

And, in keeping with the make-it-yourself ethos of punk, they assemble their own fashions, an adventurous pastiche of neo-Victorian, Edwardian and military style accented with sometimes crudely mechanized accouterments like brass goggles and wings made from pulleys, harnesses and clockwork pendants, to say nothing of the odd ray gun dangling at the hip. Steampunk style is corseted, built on a scaffolding of bustles, crinolines and parasols and high-arced sleeves not unlike those favored by the movement’s designer idols: Nicolas Ghesquiere of Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen and, yes, even Ralph Lauren.

Link (Thanks to all the dozens of people who suggested this!)

Last month, I mentioned Ann and Jeff Vandermeer's Steampunk anthology in passing, but the book deserves better than that. I've just spent several highly entertaining hours with my advance review copy and I'm knocked out. What a great piece of work this is, from the fascinating triumvirate of essays that recount the history of steampunk in literature and describe its contemporary appeal to the top-notch works of fiction inside, from forgotten proto-steampunk gems by Michael Moorcock and James Blaylock to contemporary pieces from Neal Stephenson, Jay Lake, Ted Chiang and Paul Di Filippo (among many others). Summer's almost here -- time to do some leisure reading, and what better place to start than here? Link

Jake von Slatt sez, "On Saturday May 3, on the main stage at Maker:Faire Heather Gold will leading a discussions about sub-culture through the lens of Steampunk. Participating in the discussion will be Cap'n Robert of Abney Park, artist, photographer and editor from SteamPunk Magazine Libby Bulloff and myself, Jake von Slatt. Please join us via the live stream and chat and lob us some of those tough and insightful comments!" Link (Thanks, Jake!)

Mary sez, "While looking for something else entirely, I stumbled upon this eBay auction for an Antique Steam Pulley Driven Workshop with Lights. Good heavens. It’s got a lathe, jig saw, drill… It’s like a steampunk Shopsmith, but it’s real." Link (Thanks, Mary!)

Heather sez, "A new painting & print from the fabulous Suzanne R Forbes is on Etsy. $10 of each print purchase goes to the EFF. "

Miss Eva G posed for me in her SOMA loft, dressed in her own fabulous steampunk finery, with an antique crossbow she brought back from China. The painting took several sittings with Miss E and then many hours of work painting in the detailed background. She is defending early implements of the computer revolution, Jacquard punch cards and IBM cards, a CDV of Ada Byron, and Charles Babbage’s Difference Engine No. 2. An apple core represents Turing, eaten up by the intolerance of his era. Also prominently displayed are so

me wonderful modern creations- The Steampunk Laptop by Datamancer and the Steampunk Flatpanel and Keyboard by Jake Von Slatt- who were kind enough to allow me use their work in the painting. The packet-sniffing rat under the desk is a nod to the EFF’s most recent victory; the EFF logo appears among the luggage stickers on the trunk. I added the bullet shells at the last minute when I learned that Miss E. is a crack shot.

Link (Thanks, Heather!)

Jake von Slatt sez, "The inexorable march of technology has rendered my 4:3 aspect ratio 19" LCD mod and my pump-less water cooled PC obsolete, so when I saw at 24" wide screen monitor on sale for $299.00 I grabbed it with the intent on making a Victorian All-in-One PC."

I connected the plastic top and bottom together with some lengths fo aluminum angle iron and then give them a coat of Krylon semi-flat black spray paint. When the paint was dry I masked off some of the trim using "FROG Tape" from Inspired Technologies - it works much better then regular painter's masking tape.

I hand painted the trim with a brush and small pot of gold paint which I then proceeded to spill into my lap. The Lady von Slatt has taken to calling me Goldmember.

Next I fabricated the back from perforated aluminum and pop-rivets.

Link (Thanks, Jake!)

Here's a great in-depth build report from a steampunk mouse project in Custom PC:

I'd decided to use mahogany for the mouse body to give it a satisfyingly rich colour that would go well with the brass I'd be adding later. I bought a 1/4-in sheet of wood (picture 3), measuring 3in wide by 36in from a Hobbies shop. Using what was left of the mouse base and PCB as a template, I cut a hole in the wood with a fretsaw, and then sanded it for a snug fit.

Sorting out the scroll wheel came next. It was constructed from clear plastic and illuminated by a blue LED (picture 4), which wasn't exactly appropriate for a Steampunk-themed design. I desoldered the LED and used 22mm copper heating pipe to fashion a new wheel. I cut a very short length of the pipe (around 7mm) and carefully smoothed the edges using emery cloth on a flat surface. The 'wheel' had to be gradually reduced in diameter until it was a snug fit, before using Araldite to glue the two parts together. I used a Dremel for most of this work, before sandpapering it to finish it off.

Link (Thanks, Alex!)