Esref Armagan painted the artwork above. He's been blind since birth. He creates his oil paintings using his hands instead of brushes. From Armagan's Web site: He needs absolute quite… Read the rest of the article: Blind painter Esref Armagan

In New York's Queens borough, there's a group of Trinidiadian teens who trick out their BMX bikes with insane sound systems. Directors Nicolas Randall and Joe Stevens shot a short… Read the rest of the article: Video: soundsystems mounted to BMX bikes

Earlier this week, I posted artist Drew Friedman's terrific portrait of George W. Bush as The Joker. "Now, the flip side," he wrote me today. Drew Friedman's Obama portrait (Time)… Read the rest of the article: Drew Friedman: Barack Obama portrait

Here is a newly published photo of the Montauk Monster, the strange beast that recently washed ashore on the South Shore of Long Island, New York. Sadly, it appears that… Read the rest of the article: More on the Montauk Monster

Ian sez, "The four-episode miniseries Masters of Science Fiction aired last August. The full six-issue series (including the two never-aired episodes) will be released soon on DVD. SFScope is giving… Read the rest of the article: Masters of Science Fiction DVD giveaway

The DHS has disclosed its official policy on laptop border seizures: they can take your laptop, or anything else, for no reason at all, forever, and disclose anything they find… Read the rest of the article: DHS border policy: we can steal anything from you, read all your data, and disclose it to anyone we want

Joi Ito's got a new book coming out — a collection of photos of people he knows through the free culture/copyfight movements. They're lovely portrait shots and they're all CC… Read the rest of the article: Joi Ito's Freesouls: a book of CC-licensed portraits of, and essays by, copyfighters

Ah, just look at this fantastic artifact from the innocent era before the War on Fun kicked off — a beautiful big bangy chemistry set, advertised in the September, 1955… Read the rest of the article: Chemistry set ad from the pre-War-on-Fun days

Watch this episode in Flash above, or download here: MP4 link. BBtv WORLD is our recently-launched series on Boing Boing tv featuring first-person views of life around the globe. This… Read the rest of the article: BBtv WORLD: Through the eyes of the pueblo. (Guatemala)

Tor and Expanded Books have released part two of the video interview/book trailer they shot with me and John Scalzi, talking about our new young adult novels — my Little… Read the rest of the article: Doctorow and Scalzi talk YA science fiction — video part 2

Mother Jones Magazine has outed a private spy named Mary Lou Sapone AKA Mary Lou McFate, who infiltrated various gun-control groups on behalf of the NRA, posing as a fiery… Read the rest of the article: Profile of an NRA spy who infiltrated gun-control groups

The good folks at Public Knowledge have produced a fantastic video explaining the MPAA's "Selectable Output Control" proposal — the idea that a TV show should be able to disable… Read the rest of the article: Public Knowledge's "Selectable Output Control" video — show this to your friends and get them to take action

Jake von Slatt sez, "I am fortunate to work with someone who has been involved with ReaderCon, the annual literary science fiction convention in Massachusetts, and when he mentioned that… Read the rest of the article: Readercon's Steampunk panel – the podcast

Bonnie sez, "When you're at San Diego Comic-Con, it's nearly impossible to walk more than a few feet and not run into a fan in costume. Every year the convention… Read the rest of the article: ComicCon's best Star Wars costumes

BrookynTwang sez, "Check out this video for the Large Hadron Rap, by far the greatest physics rap of all time. The flow is halfway decent, and it accurately covers a… Read the rest of the article: Large Hadron Rap, best supercollider rap ever

David Rees's Get Your War On — absolutely my favorite political comic — has been animated by 23/6, and it's an incredibly successful adaptation, keeping the low-fi look and feel… Read the rest of the article: Get Your War On, the animated series

Recently at Boing Boing Gadgets, we wondered at new MacBook features, loved on Dell's Studio Hybrid mini PC, and listened to a HP support horror story for the ages. Joel… Read the rest of the article: Recently at Boing Boing Gadgets

NASA confirms, beyond any earthly doubt, that water really really really does exist on Mars. Laboratory tests aboard NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander have identified water in a soil sample. The… Read the rest of the article: NASA: "We have water" on Mars.

A retrospective art exhibition featuring art from BLAB! is opening tomorrow, August 1, at the Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art on the campus of Kansas State University in Manhattan,… Read the rest of the article: BLAB! retrospective art exhibition

The Ridemaster Pro is a £40,000 rocking horse. Sold by Racewood Simulators, the Ridemaster Pro is equipped with sensors, mechanics, and a display for virtual outdoor rides. From The Telegraph:… Read the rest of the article: Horseback riding simulator