AP reports the State Department is recovering from a series of major network breaches targeting its headquarters and offices that deal with China and North Korea: Investigators believe hackers stole… Read the rest of the article: US State dept. computers pwned, Asia offices targeted

Last week, news surfaced that the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office issued a patent to Friendster covering online social networks (previous BoingBoing post). The company applied for the patent before… Read the rest of the article: Friendster patents social nets: SixDegrees cofounder responds

At the Burbank-based workshop of Sword & Stone, master blacksmith Tony Swatton forges handcrafted pieces — some futuristic, some historically accurate — for use in TV, movies, and on stage.… Read the rest of the article: Metal armour stiletto heels from Babylon 5 by Sword & Stone

Lenny and Meriel draw designs in sand with a rake, then fly a camera-equipped kite above to photograph the results. Link (Thanks, wade)

Artist Mleak crafted these lockable metal stiletto heels as an exploration of female power and gender roles: These 5" stiletto heels are entirely metal, fabricated by hand, with a cast… Read the rest of the article: Metal stilletos as art-analysis on… aw hell they're just cool.

Through The Canary Project, photographer Susannah Sayler and a team of researchers, writers and designers are collecting photographs that document global warming and displaying them on and offline. This month,… Read the rest of the article: Canary Project: global warming documented in photos

Noah at Defensetech says, From the halls of Montezuma to Inchon to Fallujah, the United States Marine Corps have proved themselves to be the meanest, toughest, most resourceful warriors on… Read the rest of the article: Make wine, not war: Marines' cabernet "Jarhead Red"

The French-born photographer died of cancer this weekend in Santa Monica, CA. She was 60. Snip: Leroy was 21 years old in 1966 when she took a one-way ticket to… Read the rest of the article: War photojournalist Catherine Leroy dies

Contributors on the Mumbai metblog and other local sites are posting media, timelines, and their reactions to the explosions that killed and injured hundreds today. Mumbai metblogger Selma Mirza writes:… Read the rest of the article: Blasts kill hundreds in Mumbai: local bloggers react

Tomorrow night, the PBS series POV will air "Tintin and I," Anders Østergaard's biography of Tintin creator Hergé. An accompanying online feature at PBS.org explores the growing acceptance of comic… Read the rest of the article: To watch: "Tintin and I" PBS doc on Hergé, Tue. July 11.

Virginia governor Timothy M. Kaine today issued a ceremonial pardon to Grace Sherwood, who 300 years ago became the only person in that state to have been convicted as a… Read the rest of the article: Witch of Pungo pardoned by Virginia governor, 300 years later

At News.com, Declan McCullagh reports the FBI plans to require ISPs to create wiretap hubs for surveillance. The draft legislation would also require networking gear manufacturers to build "backdoors" in… Read the rest of the article: FBI plans new net-wiretapping push

MySpace users are being tricked into installing adware on their PCs through embedded video links that appear in "friend" profiles, according to several blog reports today. Clicking on the "play"… Read the rest of the article: Adware to MySpace users: Thanks for the add!

Following up on previous BoingBoing posts (one, two) about a data security weakness in Sprint's automated phone support system for wireless customers, Jennifer Walsh Kiefer of Sprint Nextel Public Affairs… Read the rest of the article: Update: Sprint responds, fixes "data leak" in voice-bot system

UPDATE (1PM PST, 7/10/06): Sprint has responded, and the security vulnerability outlined in this post has been addressed: Link. On Friday, I posted word from BoingBoing reader Steve Parkinson that… Read the rest of the article: Update: Sprint automated phone line leaks customer data

Hm, spacecasting? China's first lunar explorer will broadcast music back down to Earth during its flight next year, say officials. Chinese citizens are invited to vote on which 30 tunes… Read the rest of the article: American Idol in space: China to beam voted-on tunes to Earth

A NYT piece by James Glanz on how the Iraqi army salvages 50-year-old tanks and creaky Soviet military vehicles once used by Saddam Hussein's forces: The hulking machine – a… Read the rest of the article: Iraqi army reuses old Cold-War-era Soviet armored vehicles

Citing "irreparable injury to the creative artistic expression in the copyrighted movies," an appeals judge has ruled that producing, selling or renting edited versions of motion pictures violates US copyright… Read the rest of the article: Judge rules against movie de-filthers (and remixers)

Wikipedia defines "flash mob" as [A] group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, do something unusual for a brief period of time, and then quickly disperse. They… Read the rest of the article: Use of term "flash mob" dates back to 1800s Tasmania?

UPDATE (1PM PST, 7/10/06): Sprint has responded, and the security vulnerability outlined in this post has been addressed: Link. BoingBoing reader Steve Parkinson has discovered a customer data security hole… Read the rest of the article: Security blunder: Sprint Wireless leaks customer data