Boing Boing » chicago http://boingboing.net Brain candy for Happy Mutants Wed, 19 Jun 2013 18:02:43 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1 Suburban Express bus-line sends bullying, cowardly legal threat to Reddit, discovers Streisand Effect http://boingboing.net/2013/04/27/suburban-express-bus-line-send.html http://boingboing.net/2013/04/27/suburban-express-bus-line-send.html#comments Sat, 27 Apr 2013 16:47:28 +0000 Cory Doctorow http://boingboing.net/?p=227013
A convicted cybersquatter named Dennis Toeppen now runs the Suburban Express bus service that is used to take students home from university in Illinois, Indiana, and Iowa to Chicago. Suburban Express attracts many online complaints from riders who object to the company's policy of fining riders $100 (charged automatically to their ticket-purchase credit-card) if they present the wrong ticket when they board, and other, similar policies -- and who allege that the company hunts down its online critics and bans them from riding.

But Toeppen and Suburban Express went too far when it threatened a volunteer Reddit moderator with a defamation suit for failing to police the company's critics on the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign subreddit, where a banner read, "Don't ride Suburban Express! They're likely to sue you, have terrible reviews, and also this." The banner implied that an anonymous Reddit commenter who accused Suburban Express critics of of being "lonely virgins" was run by Toeppen or his representatives.

The ensuing negative publicity (and a stern note from Ken "Popehat" White) frightened the bullying, cowardly company into withdrawing its threat. But with any luck, the company's public conduct will warn its potential customers away and make the offers presented by its rivals more attractive. If I was running a competing bus service, I'd be buying ad space on the subreddit in question, running ads that say, "Ride with us, we don't fine you, we don't ban you for complaining, and we won't threaten to sue you if you aren't happy!"

The company has developed a bad reputation online, with reviewers on Yelp and commenters on reddit sharing stories of what they claim are the company’s cutthroat business practices. For example, the company's ticket policy includes a "ticket fraud" clause that hits riders who hand the wrong ticket to a driver with a $100 fine, charged to the credit card used to purchase their ticket. "In the event that ticket is used to obtain transportation on another day or at another time," the company's policy statement reads, "or to or from a Chicago area stop other than printed on your ticket, you will be charged full fare for the trip you actually rode PLUS $100 penalty. You will also be permanently banned." The company also has a history of suing passengers for violating its terms and conditions—it has filed 125 tort and contract damage lawsuits against passengers this year alone, according to a report from a student newspaper.

The terms of service don't include not speaking ill of the company online, but apparently they might as well. Some commenters have accused the company's owner, Dennis Toeppen, of hunting down negative reviewers and banning them from the company's buses.

The Internet cauldron of opinion boiled over for Suburban Express after an incident on March 31. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign graduate student Jeremy Leval took to Facebook, describing a driver he saw make derogatory comments to an international student who was having difficulty understanding him—“If you don’t understand English, you don’t belong at the University of Illinois or any ‘American’ University," he reportedly told her.

Update: Aaand here it is: a rival company, Peoria Charter, is advertising to Suburban Express customers with a campaign that stresses that they don't sue their customers. They're offering $2 off if you book tickets on their coaches with the promo code "nolawsuits" -- thanks, Murph!

Express to Internet Hate: Bus company threatens redditor with lawsuit [Sean Gallagher/Ars Technica] ]]> http://boingboing.net/2013/04/27/suburban-express-bus-line-send.html/feed 16 Why the stuff you don't see at the museum matters http://boingboing.net/2012/12/31/why-the-stuff-you-dont-see-a.html http://boingboing.net/2012/12/31/why-the-stuff-you-dont-see-a.html#comments Mon, 31 Dec 2012 17:03:25 +0000 Maggie Koerth-Baker http://boingboing.net/?p=203289 Chicago's Field Museum isn't just a science museum. It's also a research center, especially for archaeologists and anthropologists who come to the museum to make use of its extensive collections of artifacts — only a tiny fraction of which is on public display at any given time.]]>

Chicago's Field Museum isn't just a science museum. It's also a research center, especially for archaeologists and anthropologists who come to the museum to make use of its extensive collections of artifacts — only a tiny fraction of which is on public display at any given time. Unfortunately, the museum is currently up to its neck in debt, and part of the current administrators' plan to deal with that problem is to restructure the research department and cut back on curators and staffing there.It's hard to understand why this has the archaeology community so on edge unless you really understand what the Field Museum has in those vast Indiana-Jones-inspiring storage collections. Here's Michael Smith, an archaeologist who studies the ancient Aztecs, explaining why the Field Museum is so important to his work and that of his colleagues.

The photo above shows an Aztec flute in the museum. I have excavated many small fragments of these objects in Aztec domestic middens, but never an entire example. When one just has the animal's ear, or a segment with a hole, or a fragment of the mouthpiece, it is hard to figure out just what these are pieces of. It is through study of the whole flutes in the Field Museum or other museums that I learned to interpret the tiny fragments of musical instruments, and of many other unusual items, from my excavations. Or consider our knowledge of Aztec music. Scholars such as Adje Both have reconstructed aspects of Aztec music by studying flutes like this and by playing them (and recording the tones and doing analyses of the sound diagrams). Museums are the only places with the resources for such research, and the Field Museum is one of the most important in the U.S. and the world.

Read a Chicago Tribune story on the Field Museum's debt problem.

]]> http://boingboing.net/2012/12/31/why-the-stuff-you-dont-see-a.html/feed 3 Cory in Evanston, IL tonight http://boingboing.net/2012/10/11/cory-in-evanston-il-tonight.html http://boingboing.net/2012/10/11/cory-in-evanston-il-tonight.html#comments Thu, 11 Oct 2012 14:37:06 +0000 Cory Doctorow http://boingboing.net/?p=186627 Pirate Cinema tour (if you're coming, you can RSVP here).]]> Pirate Cinema tour (if you're coming, you can RSVP here). Tomorrow, I head to NYC for appearances at Comic-Con and WORD Books in Brooklyn (here's our video remix contest), and thence to Philly, Bethesda, Edmonton, and many other US and Canadian cities (here's the whole schedule). Be there, or be unprepared for the end-times! ]]> http://boingboing.net/2012/10/11/cory-in-evanston-il-tonight.html/feed 2 Cory in Naperville, IL tonight http://boingboing.net/2012/10/10/cory-in-naperville-il-tonight.html http://boingboing.net/2012/10/10/cory-in-naperville-il-tonight.html#comments Wed, 10 Oct 2012 11:45:54 +0000 Cory Doctorow http://boingboing.net/?p=186296 Pirate Cinema tour, which wraps up tomorrow night at the Evanston Public Library.]]> Pirate Cinema tour, which wraps up tomorrow night at the Evanston Public Library. Anderson's is one of the nation's great indie bookstores, ranking in my books with the likes of Powell's, and they're especially committed to kids' and YA books, doing tons of outreach to schools across the midwest. I hope you'll come out tonight and show them the love they've earned! After Chicago, I go to NYC for Comic-Con and an appearance at WORD in Brooklyn (check out the video remix contest) and then on to Philly, Bethesda, Edmonton and many other cities -- check the full schedule for more. ]]> http://boingboing.net/2012/10/10/cory-in-naperville-il-tonight.html/feed 6 Cory in Deerfield, IL tonight http://boingboing.net/2012/10/09/cory-in-deerfield-il-tonight.html http://boingboing.net/2012/10/09/cory-in-deerfield-il-tonight.html#comments Tue, 09 Oct 2012 14:50:48 +0000 Cory Doctorow http://boingboing.net/?p=185965 Pirate Cinema tour.]]> Pirate Cinema tour. I've got two other stops in the Chicago area: tomorrow, it's Anderson's Books in Naperville; on Thursday it's the Evanston Public Library. From there, I go to NYC for Comic-Con and an appearance at WORD in Brooklyn (check out our mashup video contest!), and then to Philiadelphia and many other cities in the US and Canada. Here's the whole schedule. Be there or be oblong! ]]> http://boingboing.net/2012/10/09/cory-in-deerfield-il-tonight.html/feed 3 Pinochet 2.0: US economist talks Honduras' military dictator into establishing a private city owned and regulated by offshore corporations http://boingboing.net/2012/09/24/pinochet-2-0-us-economist-tal.html http://boingboing.net/2012/09/24/pinochet-2-0-us-economist-tal.html#comments Mon, 24 Sep 2012 22:16:16 +0000 Cory Doctorow http://boingboing.net/?p=182813 Honduran president Porfirio Lobo came to power in a military coup and presides over the most murderous nation on earth. Now he has announced hastily assembled plans to desginate a region in his country to be a "charter city," owned and operated by offshore corporations, a plan inspired by a Chicago-trained economist called Paul Romer from NYU's business-school. The city will have all its laws -- labor laws, environmental laws, criminal codes, civil codes -- set by a private corporation that is unaccountable to anyone except its shareholders, to whom it will owe a duty of maximum profit. Honduran activists have attempted unsuccessfully to have the nation's supreme court hear their case, which rests on the legality of ceding governance over sovereign territory to foreign powers, and on indigenous land claims.

Critics say it will allow a foreign elite to set up a low-tax, sympathetically regulated enclave where they can skirt labour standards and environmental rules.

"This would violate the rights of every citizen because it means the cession of part of our territory to a city that would have its own police, its own juridical power, and its own tax system," said Sandra Marybel Sanchez, who joined a group of protesters who tried to lodge an appeal at the supreme court.

Ismael Moreno, a correspondent for the leftwing Nicaraguan magazine Envio, compared the charter cities to the banana enclaves, which were run on behalf of a foreign elite. He also spelled out the environmental risks, particularly if one of the development sites is the Sico valley, an area of virgin forest on the Mosquito Coast.

"This model city would end up eliminating the last agricultural frontier left to us," he wrote.

Chicago's economists have a grand tradition of helping military dictators establish unregulated zones where human rights take a backseat to profit, including their enormous contributions to Augusto Pinochet's murderous regime, which established the fundamental kinship between high profits and death squads.

Honduras to build new city with its own laws and tax system to attract investors [The Guardian]

'Catastrophe': Critics Slam Neoliberal Plan for Privatized Cities in Honduras [CommonDreams]

(via MeFi) ]]> http://boingboing.net/2012/09/24/pinochet-2-0-us-economist-tal.html/feed 136 Kids and Mozilla hack my novel Little Brother http://boingboing.net/2012/08/01/kids-and-mozilla-hack-my-novel.html http://boingboing.net/2012/08/01/kids-and-mozilla-hack-my-novel.html#comments Thu, 02 Aug 2012 04:34:52 +0000 Cory Doctorow http://boingboing.net/?p=174500 Little Brother.]]> I'm proud and excited beyond words to see the running notes from the work being done in Chicago by a group of students and a facilitator from the Mozilla Foundation's Hive NYC on a number of video projects using Mozilla's Popcorn technology and my novel Little Brother. Here's an introductory set of notes on the project from leahatplay at Mozilla's Hive Learning Network NYC.

The result is the following challenge: To create a video that builds on the interactive and participatory nature of the web through peer sharing and collaboration. In practice, it’s a scavenger hunt with digital media content generation. Teams are given lists of assets to collect and lists of Popcorn features to include in their video. Then they work together to collect assets to build videos with specific themes and characteristics. We insert mini-challenges throughout the activity. To the users they seem like funny digressions. For us they are designed to have a cumulative effect. The goal of the mini-challenge is to fine-tune thinking about the web’s infrastructure and provide a practice space for producing engaging web content that can be incorporated into the final deliverable.

We begin the day by cutting the activity sheets into sections. Since the steps of creating the web-native video will be “unlocked” by different mini-challenges, having everything on-hand and easily accessible is key. Pizza arrives early so we fuel up. I’m wearing my “Adopt Mozilla” T-shirt, it has become crucial gear for these moments when I channel my inner Tim Gunn and RuPaul. Our goal for the experience is a sense of levity, fun and exploration that we hope will encourage the teens to seek out different styles and modes of production.

Popcorning Chicago ]]> http://boingboing.net/2012/08/01/kids-and-mozilla-hack-my-novel.html/feed 1 Chicago turned into giant Monopoly board by street artist(s) http://boingboing.net/2012/07/04/chicago-turned-into-giant-mono.html http://boingboing.net/2012/07/04/chicago-turned-into-giant-mono.html#comments Wed, 04 Jul 2012 14:47:26 +0000 Cory Doctorow http://boingboing.net/?p=169108 Bored, who turned the city into a huge, spread-out game of Monopoly, complete with enormous Chance cards containing marriage proposals and massive dice.]]>
Colossal has the story of a massive, awesome street-art installation in Chicago created by Bored, who turned the city into a huge, spread-out game of Monopoly, complete with enormous Chance cards containing marriage proposals and massive dice.

After a few desperate tweets and some emailing, I finally got in touch with the artist (or artists!) known as Bored. The person (or group) chooses to remain anonymous but expressed via email their dissatisfaction at the lack of quality street art around Chicago. Saying specifically that “the goal of this entire project has been to present something different than a stencil painted on the ground or a poster pasted to a wall. Something 3-dimensional that can be picked up, beaten down, kicked, yanked, grabbed, and broken. And if someone ever put forth the effort to remove it, like a weed it will always grow back. And if left alone it will evolve into something different.”

While there are a number of good street artists in Chicago, this is definitely a welcome change of pace. I’m really excited to see this project evolve and hope they have more ideas brewing.

New Street Artist ‘Bored’ Turns Chicago Sidewalks into an Alternative Monopoly Game ]]> http://boingboing.net/2012/07/04/chicago-turned-into-giant-mono.html/feed 4 Tracking the arrest and harassment of journalists at US protests http://boingboing.net/2012/05/20/tracking-the-arrest-and-harass.html http://boingboing.net/2012/05/20/tracking-the-arrest-and-harass.html#comments Sun, 20 May 2012 19:27:28 +0000 Xeni Jardin http://boingboing.net/?p=161922 has an update on police harassment, detention, and arrest incidents involving journalists at protests this weekend. He says, "I have been tracking, confirming and verifying reports of journalist arrests at Occupy protests all over the country since September.]]> has an update on police harassment, detention, and arrest incidents involving journalists at protests this weekend. He says, "I have been tracking, confirming and verifying reports of journalist arrests at Occupy protests all over the country since September. Help me by sending tips and tweets to @jcstearns and tagging reports of press suppression and arrests with #journarrest." According to his tracking, 85 journalists have been arrested in 13 cities while covering Occupy-related protests.]]> http://boingboing.net/2012/05/20/tracking-the-arrest-and-harass.html/feed 6 NATO protests in Chicago: Police van drives into protesters, web video reporters detained, held at gunpoint (photos+video) http://boingboing.net/2012/05/20/nato-protests-in-chicago-live.html http://boingboing.net/2012/05/20/nato-protests-in-chicago-live.html#comments Sun, 20 May 2012 16:40:34 +0000 Xeni Jardin http://boingboing.net/?p=161878 C.S. Muncy "Occupy" movement participants and an array of protest groups are among those gathering in Chicago this wekeend to demonstrate outside the NATO summit.]]>

Photo: C.S. Muncy

"Occupy" movement participants and an array of protest groups are among those gathering in Chicago this wekeend to demonstrate outside the NATO summit. Sunday, protesters are ramping up for the largest demonstration of the weekend. So are police and Homeland Security agents. Today, thousands of demonstrators are marching to the convention center where President Obama and other world leaders are meeting. Four men have been arrested on terror charges. Lawyers for the men now referred to by some protesters as the "NATO 4" claim undercover agents set up a bomb plot, and entrapped the suspects.

Photo: C.S. Muncy

Saturday night, at about 10:40PM local time, a Chicago Police van "drove into a crowd of demonstrators who were attempting to cross westbound over the Jackson Street bridge at the Chicago River," according to this video report and testimony from people who were present.

Chicago Police van number 6751, accelerated as it passed through the crowd, striking several people and seriously injuring one victim who was later transported to the emergency room. The extent of the victim's injuries are not known. The driver of the van made no attempt to ascertain the condition of any of the people that were struck. Witnesses watched as the van passed through the phalanx of police surrounding the scene and drove away from the area. Had there been a civilian driving, they would certainly have been charged with a hit-and-run on a pedestrian in the roadway and taken into custody once they had been apprehended. No order to disperse had been given to the crowd.

Also last night, a group of independent web video journalists report having been been harassed, detained, and handcuffed by Chicago police. They claim their gear was damaged and video documenting police attacks on protesters destroyed. Below, from the WeAreChange YouTube feed (many videos there from the Chicago protests):
Luke Rudkowksi, Tim Pool, Jeoff Shively, Dustin & Jess were driving home after covering a NATO protest in Chicago only to have their car raided by police.

And in related news: At the time of this blog post, there are reports that the City of Chicago website has been DDOS'd. Over the weekend, there were reports of other such DDOSes.

Follow the Chicago protests today as they unfold, with the livestreamers the Chicago police and Homeland Security are following: Tim Pool's web video stream, Luke Rudkowski's web video stream. On Twitter: Geoffrey Giraffe (@jiraffa), Tim Pool (@timcast), Luke Rudkowski (@lukewearechange).

Photo: C.S. Muncy

]]> http://boingboing.net/2012/05/20/nato-protests-in-chicago-live.html/feed 127 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans to return their medals to protest war on terror at Chicago NATO summit this weekend http://boingboing.net/2012/05/16/iraq-and-afghanistan-veterans.html http://boingboing.net/2012/05/16/iraq-and-afghanistan-veterans.html#comments Wed, 16 May 2012 19:38:24 +0000 Cory Doctorow http://boingboing.net/?p=161230 Iraq Veterans Against the War is bringing veterans to the NATO summit in Chicago on May 20 to ceremonially return the medals they were awarded for serving in Afghanistan and Iraq.]]> Iraq Veterans Against the War is bringing veterans to the NATO summit in Chicago on May 20 to ceremonially return the medals they were awarded for serving in Afghanistan and Iraq. The group's statement -- which will be reiterated to NATO's representatives -- is:

We were awarded these medals for serving in the Global War on Terror, a war based on lies and failed polices. This endless war has killed hundreds of thousands, stripped the humanity of all involved, and drained our communities of trillions of dollars, diverting funds from schools, clinics, libraries, and other public goods.

They are calling on supporters to rally with them:

Iraq Veterans Against the War calls on fellow service members, veterans, Chicagoans, and everyone who believes in justice, dignity, and respect for all peoples to join us in the streets on May 20th. On this day, we will hold a nonviolent march to the site of the NATO summit where we will ceremoniously return our military service medals. We will demand that NATO immediately end the occupation of Afghanistan and relating economic and social injustices, bring U.S. war dollars home to fund our communities, and acknowledge the rights and humanity of all who are affected by these wars. We wish to begin a process of justice and reconciliation with the people of Afghanistan and other affected nations, fellow service members, veterans, and the American people.

]]> http://boingboing.net/2012/05/16/iraq-and-afghanistan-veterans.html/feed 30 Chicago Writers Conference seeks funds http://boingboing.net/2012/04/16/chicago-writers-conference-see.html http://boingboing.net/2012/04/16/chicago-writers-conference-see.html#comments Mon, 16 Apr 2012 23:00:54 +0000 Cory Doctorow http://boingboing.net/?p=154851 The Chicago Writers Conference is Chicago's only homegrown mainstream literary conference focusing on practical business advice for fiction and non-fiction writers alike.]]>

Bill Shunn sez,

The Chicago Writers Conference is Chicago's only homegrown mainstream literary conference focusing on practical business advice for fiction and non-fiction writers alike. The brainchild of Mare Swallow, it will feature such editors, agents, and authors as Chuck Sambuchino, Christine Sneed, Robert K. Elder, and Jennifer Mattson.

But it can only happen with support! The CWC is in the final eight days of its Kickstarter campaign and still needs to raise over $4000 for equipment rental, web development, speakers' travel expenses. There are lots of great incentives remaining for various donation levels, including art, signed books, and query letter or story manuscript critiques from Chuck Sambuchino and William Shunn. Please help, and support Chicago's long tradition of literary excellence!

Make the Chicago Writers Conference a Reality! (Thanks, Bill) ]]> http://boingboing.net/2012/04/16/chicago-writers-conference-see.html/feed 0 TSA searches body-casted three-year-old in a wheelchair http://boingboing.net/2012/03/19/tsa-searches-body-casted-three.html http://boingboing.net/2012/03/19/tsa-searches-body-casted-three.html#comments Mon, 19 Mar 2012 16:10:55 +0000 Cory Doctorow http://boingboing.net/?p=149953

Here's a video of a Chicago TSA operative searching a three year old boy who is in a wheelchair, wearing a body-cast, on the way to his family trip to Disney World. The boy's parents were not allowed to hold him or touch him to comfort him during the procedure.

A toddler in a wheelchair is stopped by the TSA at ORD (O'Hare Airport in Chicago) and forced to into a sequestered area. On his way to a family vacation in Disney, this 3 year old boy is in a body cast for a broken leg. Despite assurances from his father that "everything is ok", he is physically trembling with fear while he watches his two siblings, mother, father, grandfather and grandmother pass through along with everyone else...only to be singled out.

TSA Nabs Suspected Al Queda Terrorist At O'Hare International Airport, A toddler in a wheelchair (via Reddit) ]]> http://boingboing.net/2012/03/19/tsa-searches-body-casted-three.html/feed 200 Ten-year employee fired for skipping lunch to work http://boingboing.net/2012/01/19/ten-year-employee-fired-for-sk.html http://boingboing.net/2012/01/19/ten-year-employee-fired-for-sk.html#comments Thu, 19 Jan 2012 19:08:38 +0000 Cory Doctorow http://boingboing.net/?p=139694 Chicago real estate company Equity Lifestyle Properties Inc. fired a receptionist named Sharon Smiley for violating company policy and working through her lunch break. She had worked for them for ten years. Because she was fired, she was ineligible for unemployment benefits.

After a protracted legal battle, she won her benefits claim.

After being fired, Smiley learned she was ineligible for unemployment benefits because she had been discharged for misconduct connected with her work.

She appealed to the Illinois Department of Employment Security's board of review three times, was denied, then took her case to a circuit court. That court ruled Smiley, who did not challenge the firing, was eligible for benefits.

Smiley received a check with a lump sum on Nov. 28 for several months of unemployment, a percentage of her previous salary. Then she received a check every two weeks for $528 until she obtained her latest job last month.

The appellate court of Illinois affirmed the circuit court ruling Jan. 11, saying the "insubordination arose from [Smiley's] efforts to perform additional work for [her employer], beyond what was required of her," as first reported Monday in the Chicago Tribune.

Chicago Woman Fired for Doing Work at Lunch Wins Unemployment Claim (via Neatorama) ]]> http://boingboing.net/2012/01/19/ten-year-employee-fired-for-sk.html/feed 73 Lawsuit: store owner tried to ruin my life over a bad Yelp review, posted fake blog claiming I was thieving, crack-addicted prostitute http://boingboing.net/2012/01/13/lawsuit-store-owner-tried-to.html http://boingboing.net/2012/01/13/lawsuit-store-owner-tried-to.html#comments Fri, 13 Jan 2012 23:21:00 +0000 Cory Doctorow http://boingboing.net/?p=138926 A lawsuit filed by Chicago's Cecelia Groark claims that Krunch Kretschmar, owner of a store called Bottled Grapes, created a fake blog about her nonexistent drug problems, thieving, and prostitution to retailiate for a negative review on Yelp. She says she bought a Groupon for a wine pairing class but got the runaround when she tried to book it, and a rude email when she complained. She posted on Yelp, and that, she says, is when Kretschmar sent an email telling her he was going to ruin her: "Now every time a company for a job or someone searches YOU on google they will read my side of the story."

The suit claims the blog Kretschmar created and published stated the following: “Cecelia troubles began when she started Embezzling from her last employer to support her drug addiction. While her treatment in the Cook County jail did little to help her, she is continuing to fight her demons everyday. Now turning to the Oldest profession to gain the funds need to support her habits, she is now trying to turn a new leaf. We wish her well.”

Groark has never met Kretschmar, who the suit claims, posted the blog to convince Groark to remove her Yelp review and to embarrass, harass, and ridicule her.

Lawsuit: Wine Expert Lashed Out At Woman After Bad Yelp Review ]]> http://boingboing.net/2012/01/13/lawsuit-store-owner-tried-to.html/feed 76