Boing Boing » brazil

Promotional DVDs smell like pizza when played

Cory Doctorow — Wed, 22 May 2013 23:08:13 +0000

A Brazilian ad agency has built a campaign for Domino's "Pizza" that uses a heat-sensitive coating on rented DVDs; when the disc is played, the heat from the player heats up the coating and causes it to emit a pizza-like odor; the coating also changes appearance and becomes a picture of a pizza with an ad for Domino's.

In partnership with 10 video rental stores in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, the brand used rented DVDs as media. About 10 discs each of 10 different new release titles such as Argo, 007, Dread And Dark Knight were stamped with thermal ink and flavored varnish, both sensitive to the heat.
While people were watching the movie, the heat of the DVD player affected the disc. When the movie ended and they ejected the disc, they smelled pizza. They also saw pizza: the discs were printed to look like mini pies, and carried the message: "Did you enjoy the movie? The next one will be even better with a hot and delicious Domino's Pizza."

A DVD That Smells Like Domino's Pizza

Running on a long, deep pool of ooblek

Cory Doctorow — Fri, 03 May 2013 01:05:37 +0000

This 2006 gameshow clip shows contestants running back and forth atop a deep pool of non-Newtonian fluid -- ooblek -- without sinking in. They run, they skip, they hop, and maintain admirable aplomb atop the surface. It gets especially nice when the host stops in his tracks and sinks down into the mucky depths.

Non-Newtonian noodles

Brazil's music collecting societies convicted of forming an illegal cartel

Cory Doctorow — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 16:35:46 +0000

Ronaldo Lemos sez,

The Competition Authority in Brazil (CADE) convicted om March 20th the country's six major collecting societies and their central office (ECAD) - responsible for the collection of music royalties for public performance in Brazil - of formation of cartel and abuse of dominant position in fixing prices. According CADE, the Ecad and its associations not only organized to abusively fix prices, but also created barriers of entry for new associations to join the entity.
All entities will have to pay a fine of R$38 million (approximately US$ 20 million) and will have to reorganize the whole collection system, both by offering arrangements beyond the "blanket license" model, the only license ECAD and their associations made available for the performance of music, and by allowing each association to compete for different prices.
The rapporteur of the Case, Elvino Mendonça, said after the conviction: "The behavior of cartel is visible. The current collection system prevents all forms of competition. ECAD and its associations abused their market power and fixed prices. The evidence is abundant."

Ecad é condenado por formação de cartel por órgão de defesa da concorrência (Thanks, Ronaldo!)

New Brazilian environmental political party based on social networking

Cory Doctorow — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 23:19:41 +0000

Gmoke sez, "Former Brazilian Environment Minister Marina Silva and recent Green Party Presidential candidate (she came in third to force a run-off election) launched the Sustainability Network in Brasilia on 16 February, 2013 and seeks to collect the required 500,000 signatures by September 2013 to become a legally recognized political party. From Sustainability Network's political manifesto (PDF):

We believe that networks, as a means for meeting and organising, are an invention of the present that bridge to a better future. Therefore, it is through networking with society that we want to build a new political force, with alliances underpinned by an Ethics of Urgency, aiming to construct a new model of development: sustainable, inclusive, egalitarian and diverse.

Former Brazilian Minister’s New Party Mixes Sustainability, Social Media · Global Voices (Thanks, Gmoke!)

(Image: José Cruz/Agencia Brasil (CC BY 3.0))

Brazilian Birds: ambient internet radio station of bird calls in the Amazon

Xeni Jardin — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 17:06:39 +0000

My new ambient-sound-while-working internet radio jam: Brazilian Birds.

(Photo: Toucan eye, a Creative Commons image from doug88888's photostream)

Supervillains: DC meets the real world

Cory Doctorow — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 20:56:43 +0000

Here's a remix of the DC supervillains crossed with real-world bad guys, courtesy of Brazilian graphic designer/illustrator Butcher Billy.

Legion of supervillains | Chill Hour (Thanks, Marine!)

Just look at this banana-shaped, banana-flavored ice-cream in an edible gelatin banana-skin.

Cory Doctorow — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 04:15:43 +0000

Just look at it.

The Peeled Banana Ice Cream

Organized crime, bureaucratized

Cory Doctorow — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 01:39:30 +0000

Brazilian organized crime investigators intercepted several interminable conference calls made by crime gangs, some of whose members were in prison, but were able to participate thanks to smuggled cellular phones. You'd think that being a crook would mean freedom from crushing bureaucracy, but you'd be wrong.

A Federal Police recording recently heard by Folha de Sao Paulo involves a 10-hour discussion between five members of the First Capital Command (PCC) gang. The conversation involved two inmates and three gang members based outside of the prison. According to the newspaper, the talk was all business: topics included trafficking drugs to Paraguay and Bolivia, and the distribution of marijuana and cocaine inside Brazil.
The call, recorded on February 10, 2011, was one of many recorded between October 2010 and May 2012 as part of an ongoing investigation known as Operation Leviatã, targeting organized crime in Sao Paulo. The Ministry of Justice, which is currently processing the recordings, said that on average such conference calls involve four gang members, although recordings illustrate that as many nine gang members have taken part in a single call.

Brazil Prison Gang Conducted 10-Hour Conference Call (via Making Light)

Terrifying ghost-elevator prank

Cory Doctorow — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 20:01:39 +0000

Here's footage of a vicious and terrifying prank from a Brazilian candid-camera show, in which victims were put in an gimmicked elevator whose lights went out, allowing a small girl in horror-makeup to sneak out of a hidden compartment and "appear" when the lights came back on, ready to scream at them.

Extremely Scary Ghost Elevator Prank in Brazil (via Super Punch)

Brazil to roll out national radio-chip ID/surveillance/logging for all vehicles

Cory Doctorow — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 12:59:18 +0000

In Brazil, a new regulation requires drivers to add radio ID tags to their car windshields, which broadcast "vehicle year or fabrication, make, model, combustible, engine power and license plate number." This will be read by checkpoints throughout the country, and centrally processed and retained, in a system called Siniav. The administration claims that this system will be "confidential and secure" because its contractors will sign confidentiality agreements. The system will also be integrated into wireless toll-road collection. Here's some auto-translated detail from a release by Brazil's National Traffic Department (Denatran):

What are the uses of the system? * Identification of traffic conditions on stretches of road where there Siniav antennas installed.
* Development of origin-destination matrices displacement vehicles, virtually in real time, with the installation of antennas Siniav at strategic points in each city.
* Determination dependable fleet circulating in the country, by location, including the Automobiles licensed in one municipality and exclusively circulating in another.
* Obtaining data for planning and management of public transport systems, including its fleet of vehicles.
* Integration with the project Siniav Brazil-ID (linked to treasury area), helping with mapping the displacements of cargo across the country.
* Greater control the movement of vehicles in the border area since the Brazilian vehicles will be identified when leaving the country. The system also enables the placement of the nameplate vehicle electronics in vehicles foreigners entering Brazil.
* Conducting surveillance (blitz) selective, with instant identification through an antenna Siniav, fixed or mobile, vehicles circulating illegally, whatever the cause.
* Surveillance electron speed and movement of vehicles in places and / or times when such service is prohibited.
* Interoperability in automatic toll collection on highways, allowing a single nameplate vehicle is used by all dealerships. It is up to Detrans deployment of electronic vehicle identification plates on vehicles and the cost of such equipment.
If the thief start the transmitter in a robbery, the radars can detect the vehicle?
Yes Like all vehicles possess the chip, which does not possess will be detected immediately by going through one of the antennas scattered throughout the country. The checkpoint nearest police will be alerted.

Vehicles need to have electronic monitoring until 2014 (auto-translated)

Veículos precisarão ter monitoramento eletrônico até 2014

(Thanks, Ethan!)

Crononauta: stylized photos of Brazil's abandoned public clocks

Cory Doctorow — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 19:02:46 +0000

Brazilian artist Diego Kuffer writes, " I have a new series of photos called 'Chrononaut'. It's about how experience shapes the way we perceive the world and reality. Also, it pictures public clocks in Sao Paulo that are abandoned, because it isn't allowed anymore to post ads in public spaces, as part of a law that forbids this kind of visual pollution."

diego kuffer » Crononauta

Mystery panties incinerated

Rob Beschizza — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 13:01:45 +0000

Two weeks ago, Brazilian legislators rushing into congress left an unusual item in their wake: a pair of women's underwear. No-one has claimed them since, and they were subsequently incinerated. "We have a suspicion as to who the owner is," congressman and professional clown Francisco Everardo Oliveira Silva told Reuters' Brian Winter, "but we're not going to turn him in."

Anatomical art-school ads

Cory Doctorow — Tue, 01 May 2012 16:38:28 +0000

DDB Brazil's poster campaign for the art school at the Museu de Arte de São Paulo displays famous painters who appear to have been dissected, revealing organs depicted in their iconic painting styles. Street Anatomy has the whole set. Shown here: Dali (above) and Van Gogh (right). It's a pity no one's making those t-shirts, they're fab, especially the Van Gogh.

Art School Dissected

Brazil's copyright societies indicted for fraud, new law demands efficient, transparent collecting societies

Cory Doctorow — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 12:44:47 +0000

Ronaldo sez, "I am writing because something relevant happened in Brazil two days ago regarding the local copyright collecting societies (analagous to Ascap and BMI in the US). After more than 6 months of investigation by a Senate special inquiry commission, 15 directors have been indicted for various types of fraud and crimes. Also, the Senate is proposing a new law to completely revamp the copyright collection system, based on principles of transparency, efficiency and tech improvement (I helped the Senate draft the law). I believe this might be interesting for people outside Brazil for various reasons. Both because it paves the way to a more transparent and accountable copyright collection system, and also because it is a huge contrast with cases like Megaupload: in Brazil it is the copyright societies that are been indicted for fraud."

The part that I'm excited about is "principles of transparency, efficiency and tech improvement." Collecting societies are based on the idea of statistically sampling music usage and remitting funds based on the analysis. Given that we live in the age of analytics, it's unforgivable that the basic algorithm for collection distribution is "all the money goes to the big four labels, except for some scraps that we give to a few indies, and the rather titanic rake we keep for ourselves." I think the 21st century is waiting for a collecting society run with the institutional transparency of GNU/Linux and the analytic efficiency of Google.

CPI do Ecad propõe novas leis e órgãos para gerir direitos autorais (Thanks, Ronaldo!)

Hilary Clinton to world governments: the world will divide into "open" and "closed" societies based on their Internet policies

Cory Doctorow — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 21:19:20 +0000

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has repeated her view that the world's governments should respect Internet freedom, telling the Brasilia Open Government Summit that the world is dividing into "open" and "closed" societies characterized by their attitude towards net freedom. It's a laudable sentiment, but as they say, "We know you love freedom, we just wish you'd share." After all, America is one of the world's leading exporters of Internet censorship and surveillance laws (in the form of its intervention into copyright laws, as well as instigating unaccountable, secret copyright treaty negotiations like ACTA and TPP. They're also the world's leading exporter of Internet surveillance and censorship technology, thanks first to the US national requirement that telcoms companies buy equipment that allows for direct police surveillance, and the aggressive sale of this surveillance and control technology to the world's dictatorship by US firms.

Speaking at the inaugural meeting of the Open Government Partnership in Brasilia, she said countries could only become more secure and peaceful if they were open. "In the 21st century, the US is convinced that one of the most significant divisions between nations will be not between east or west, nor over religion, so much as between open and closed societies," she said.
"We believe those governments that hide from public view and dismiss ideas of openness and the aspirations of their people for greater freedom will find it increasingly difficult to create a secure society."

It's particularly galling that Secretary Clinton made these remarks even as the US Congress is poised to pass CISPA, which establishes a national US regime of censorship and warrantless surveillance.

Open or closed society is key dividing line of 21st century, says Hillary Clinton

(Image: Clinton Rally 90, a Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike (2.0) image from kakissel's photostream)

3D printed shoes

Cory Doctorow — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 22:14:00 +0000

The Smithsonian's Design Decoded blog reports on the latest developments in 3D printed footwear, including the fashion designers and students who are experimenting with printing out shoes using cheap materials that only last for "one lap down a runway." As Andrew writes on the Makerbot blog, "the artist worked with what was available to push the limits of the design, and the design will drive the demand for the needed materials. This is truly a case where life will catch up to imitate the art." Sarah C. Rich expands:

As materials science advances, injection molding may give way to 3D printing—a strategy that’s widely used in design studios for pushing formal boundaries, but as yet not ubiquitous on the footwear market. Most polymers used in 3D printers are too hard and inflexible to make a comfortable shoe, although fashion students and designers have not been deterred from producing them, if only for one lap down a runway. The existing concepts invariably look rather sci-fi, with web-like lines that wrap the foot.
Swedish designer Naim Josefi envisions a consumer environment in which a shopper’s foot would be scanned in-store, and a shoe printed on demand that perfectly fit the wearer’s anatomy. Brazilian designer Andreia Chaves’s Invisible Shoe pairs a common leather pump with a 3D-printed cage-like bootie, while Dutch fashion designer Pauline van Dongen’s Morphogenesis shoe more closely resembles a platform wedge. And at the London College of Fashion, student Hoon Chung created a line of 3D printed shoes for a final project, which look perhaps the closest to contemporary styles, though the molded shapes betray a high-tech production method.

These Shoes are Made for Printing (via Makerbot blog)

(Image: Andreia Chaves’s Invisible Shoe)

Super Mario marching band at Carnival in Rio

Cory Doctorow — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 20:39:12 +0000

Here's a bloco (a marching-band) at Rio's Carnival performing the Super Mario soundtrack, complete with Mario-themed signs, dancing, and enormous verve.

Super Mario Bloco em Santa! (Thanks, igorz!)

Brazil: Answering work emails after hours is overtime

Xeni Jardin — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 16:19:18 +0000

Workers in Brazil who must answer work emails on their mobile phones after their job shift ends can qualify for overtime pay under a new law. The Star via Slashdot (via @evgenymorozov).

Brazilian police car rams smuggler's airplane

Cory Doctorow — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 06:49:55 +0000

According to its title, this video shows a Brazilian police car ramming the wing of a smuggler's small twin prop airplane. A commenter named pvbernhard translated the dialogue:

0:13 - I'm going to hit the wing - I'm going to hit the wing. Do not shoot.
0:23 - Drop one there. [one police officer get out of the car] I will get the others.
0:27 - Police! Get out! Get out!

Policia Federal Bate com Carro na Asa Do Avião Pata Impedir Fuga De Suspeitos 01 11 2011 YouTube

Turning a 2l soda-bottle into a "lightbulb"

Cory Doctorow — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 22:39:44 +0000

Brazilian favela-dwellers without reliable electricity have an alternative means of supplying light to enclosed spaces that have no/insufficient windows (either because they are abutted on all sides by other buildings, or because the walls are made of materials that make it impractical to add windows). They suspend 2l soda bottles filled with a water/bleach solution from the ceiling, with the open tops poking out into the daylight. Sunlight refracts off the water in the bottle and turns it into a "lightbulb" that has been measured as supplying illumination comparable to a 50w incandescent bulb.

(Thanks, Phil!)

Use a 2-Liter Bottle as a 50 Watt Light Bulb lightbulb hack [youtube.com]

Dance-battle between pole-dancing champs

Cory Doctorow — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 19:43:57 +0000

Oona Kivela, winner of the I Pole World Cup, and Grazzy Brugner, organizer of Miss Pole Dance Brazil, held an impromptu dance-battle at Rio's Up Dance Studio, performing crazy, acrobatic routines that stagger the imagination and inflame the senses. It may be NSFW, but it's pretty wild acrobatics.

(Thanks, Fipi Lele!)

Hottest Dance Battle Ever [break.com]