Our hardware hacking friends at Adafruit Industries have revserse engineered how Apple's battery charging tech works. PT says:

In this 7 minute video we explore the mysteries of Apple device charging. Usually device makers need to sign a confidentially agreement with Apple who want to say "works with iPhone / iPod" and never talk about how the insides work.

When you fly Virgin America Airlines, you can enjoy original Boing Boing Video episodes (and short films, animations, remixes, and music videos from creators whose work we dig) on our in-flight entertainment channel. We're somewhere north of CNN and south of Fox News on the free satellite TV dial. — Read the rest

To commemorate the ninth anniversary of 9/11, the Dove World Outreach Center will hold a Quran burning. Senior pastor Terry Jones, organizer of "International Burn A Quran Day," is also the author of the book Islam Is Of The Devil, which I'm sure is a convincing demonstration of intellectual rigor and celebration of diversity. — Read the rest

What is a blob? It's a giant plastic bag filled with air, placed in a lake.

What do you do with the blob? One person sits on one end the end of the blob. Another person climbs a tower and jumps onto the other end of the blob, launching the sitter into the air. — Read the rest

Over at Submitterator, TinChicken shares this family photo from the December 91/Jan 92 issue of Threads, a magazine "for people who love to sew." Ah, where to begin…
Knitmare

Over at the Submitterator, mistergog points to this totally disgusting and weird news story and summarizes for the squeamish: "A dog bit off a man's long-infected big toe while he was passed out from a drinking binge. Upon waking, he goes to the hospital, where he is told he has diabetes. — Read the rest

Etsy seller Ikymagoo offers these handsome PVC "Sea Cucumbers" speakers for $200/pair in red, yellow, or white, but you can also build your own based on the notes the maker has posted on the DIY Audio Projects Forum! That same forum is where I spotted the shoe speakers. — Read the rest

YouTube remixer "landstrider" transforms the "Washing Machine Brick Cycle" video into a death dirge with googly-eyed pathos and emoticon monologue. And yet, we ROFL.

Washing Machine Self Destructs REMIX [YouTube]

A coffee mug in the form of a Canon 24-105mm lens. Complete with lens-cap lid, rubber-grip focus and zoom rings, and auto-focus switch with actual switchability. I am wowed, but concerned that I might mistake it for an actual lens one foggy morning, when I am in need of both forms of focus assistance. — Read the rest

Alex Balk of The Awl spotted an amusing moment of rhetorical self-abuse at the Wall Street Journal today.

"The center may be built where planned. But it will not go easy or without consequence to the politicians intent on jamming the project down the public throat, in the name of principle.

Peter Miller's The Smart Swarm: How Understanding Flocks, Schools, and Colonies Can Make Us Better at Communicating, Decision Making, and Getting Things Done is half popular science book, half business book, covering one of my favorite subjects: emergent phenomena, such as the way that ants find optimal routes to food sources. — Read the rest

This is an interview with Bernadette Music, 43, of Norwood, Ohio, who is in trouble with the law for calling 911, multiple times, as part of her efforts to find a date. She's also been in court for allegedly using her apartment hallway as a restroom. — Read the rest

"IN THE FIRST INSTALLMENT OF THIS SERIES [we will] INTRODUCE YOU TO SOME OF THE INFORMATION REGARDING BRIAN MAY'S IRREFUTABLE TIES WITH FREEMASONRY, ILLUMINATI, AND THE OCCULT. LATER WE WILL GO INTO EVEN MORE SINISTER TERRITORY, INCLUDING THE IDEA THAT BRIAN MAY IS A HANDLER/PROGRAMMER OF MONARCH SLAVES AND THE EVIDENCE FOR THE ARGUMENT THAT MAY AND HIS OCCULT TIES WERE INVOLVED IN THE DEATH OF LEGENDARY QUEEN FRONTMAN FREDDIE MERCURY (TO BE DISCLOSED IN THE UPCOMING PART II: FREDDIE MERCURY, THE BLOOD SACRIFICE). — Read the rest

Recently, while doing some research on the carbon footprint of food, I ran across some studies that reported Americans ate, on average, 3774 calories of food each day.

Something about that smelled funny to me.

Sure, Americans eat a lot. But 3774 calories a day? — Read the rest

As Germans love David Hasselhoff, so do young science nerds love Nikola Tesla. Why? My personal theory is that the alchemy involves one part "rooting for the underdog" and two parts "promise of ray guns".

Either way, it's hard to argue with a cultural trend that brings us the likes of The Five Fists of Science, wherein Tesla and Mark Twain battle equally historical villains, (Mark Twain is to journalism nerds as Nikola Tesla is to science nerds. — Read the rest

Dave Bullock shot a photo gallery for Wired News at the recent DefCon hacker conference in Las Vegas. Above: the official DefCon badge, second from left, was one of a number of electronic neckwear gizmos offered. "Limited-edition breathalyzer badges (left) from the Null Space Labs hacker space in Los Angeles were given to some attendees. — Read the rest

So much to groove on in this Fresh Air radio interview with Queen guitarist Brian May (and photo slideshow). Apart from being a rock legend, he's into antique stereographs, interplanetary dust, and writing books on the history of the universe. — Read the rest

Ryan Singel at Wired News submitted a Freedom of Information Act request for Federal Trade Commission records related to a purported complaint by Adobe against Apple for banning iPhone developers from using its authoring tools to make iPhone apps. The FTC rejected Wired.com's — Read the rest

Ted Balaker of ReasonTV interviewed Neill Franklin, the Executive Director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition.

Commentators like Bill O'Reilly claim that ending the drug war would lead to more children being abused by drug-addicted parents. But 33-year law enforcement veteran Neill Franklin sees it differently.