The Latest from Boing Boing

Darkly Surreal UK Comedy Masterpiece "Jam"

Posted: 26 Mar 2009 07:27 PM PDT

Richard Metzger is the current Boing Boing guest blogger

Reclusive British comedy genius Chris Morris came out with his darkly surreal masterpiece of weirdness, "Jam" (based on his "Blue Jam" radio show) in 2000, but sadly because of expensive music rights issues, "Jam" has seldom been seen outside of the UK. This is a shame, because "Jam" is a uniquely...um... well... ah...hmmm... I hesitate to call it "comedy" because it's so odd and disturbing, but if I called it "David Lynchian" comedy, we'd be in the right ball park at least. "Jam" is like a bad --make that very bad-- acid trip played for laughs. Take a look at one of the show opens:

Not exactly "funny ha ha" stuff. In fact, there's nary a traditional "joke" in the entire series. There are six episodes of "Jam" and although I'd classify myself as a huge fan of the show, six episodes of something like this is plenty!! The style would've become a creative dead end. But a great talent like Chris Morris wasn't to repeat himself anyway --his next project, the wonderfully vicious satire of dotcom dickheads, "Nathan Barley" was quite a shift away from the brooding psychopathy of "Jam." I eagerly await his feature comedy debut, rumored to be about Islamic terrorists and suicide bombers.

This is one of my favorite "Jam" moments, "Mister Lizard" featuring the always brilliant actor, Mark Heap --he's in tons of stuff-- as a creepy television repairman.

Here's another great "Jam" clip with another UK comedy auteur, Julia Davis, creator of the "wheelchair Gothic" classic, "Nighty Night" as a particularly stupid woman:

Shimmer science fiction magazine issue 10 -- free download

Posted: 26 Mar 2009 05:13 PM PDT

Mary Robinette Kowal sez, "For Shimmer magazine's 10th issue, we've got twelve fantastic new stories and an interview with none other than Cory Doctorow. In honor of Cory's work with Creative Commons, we are giving away the pdf of this issue as a free download."

Issue Ten (Thanks, Mary!)

Kenneth Anger's "Mouse Heaven"

Posted: 26 Mar 2009 04:43 PM PDT

Richard Metzger is the current Boing Boing guest blogger

Kenneth Anger's creepy/funny homage to Mickey Mouse:

Boing Boing Video Live at GDC: Playfish, Chalice Games, Mockingbird Games, Joystiq, Alice Taylor, Telltale Games

Posted: 26 Mar 2009 05:19 PM PDT

Day 3 of Boing Boing Video's live coverage of the 2009 Game Developers Conference in San Francisco with Killscreen TV + Offworld. We're streaming live video around the clock on our new Ustream channel. Tune in for conversations in our BBV@GDC studio with hosts including Matty Kirsch from Killscreen TV and Xeni from Boing Boing, visits from fellow Boing Boing bloggers, and the following special guests today, Thursday March 26, 2009:

Alice Taylor of Channel 4 and Wonderland

John Seggerson of Telltale Games

Derek Johnson of Chalice Games

Troy Gilbert of Mockingbird Games

Sebastien de Halleux of Playfish Games

and our pal Kevin Kelly from Joystiq

For BB + Offworld's complete video and blog coverage of GDC09, visit offworld.com/gdc09.

Chat room after the jump, below!

(Special thanks to our live stream host Ustream TV, to Wayneco Heavy Industries, and to our transportation provider at Virgin America. Video Crew members in the house this week: Jolon Bankey, Wes Varghese, Derek Bledsoe, Xeni Jardin, and Killscreen TV's Matty Kirsch and Allison Kingsley).

Ramp House for skateboarding

Posted: 26 Mar 2009 12:07 PM PDT

Maria Zacharopoulou commissioned Archivirus Architecture and Design to transform her Athens home into a "skatable habitat." The result is the stunning Ramp House. From AR Plus (snips of photos by Theo Vranas):

The architect wanted the 'skateboarding' element to be more than simply putting a mini ramp in the living room. Rather, the ramp, the bowl and all the interpretations of those terms would actually become the building elements for this space. It is intended to be a 'ramp house' and not a 'house with a ramp'. Straight lines are curved and the flat surface becomes a ramp or a bowl. Basic house elements such as the fireplace and storage units are hidden inside the ramp forms.

The Ramp House (Thanks, Dave Gill!)

Previously:

IFTF's alternate reality game about the future of caring

Posted: 26 Mar 2009 11:51 AM PDT

My Institute for the Future colleagues Jason Tester and Rachel Hatch have launched a new alternate reality game in collaboration with United Cerebral Palsy and AARP. Titled Ruby's Bequest, it's all about the future of caring in the United States. Ruby's Bequest takes place in the fictional 2011 community of Deepwell where folks are sharing their stories, solutions, and worries about how to best care for each other, in sickness and health. Participants have already contributed nearly 200 personal stories and advice about how we can work together to build better structures for caring, from elder care to health care systems to community involvement. Please check it out!

Set in the fictional town of Deepwell, Ruby's Bequest begins with news of a sizeable bequest from Ruby Wood to strengthen the ecosystem of caring in the community. Charged with improving the town's caring infrastructure the residents of Deepwell have created the online forum at www.rubysbequest.org to solicit the whole community and beyond to participate and achieve this mission. Participants are invited to share their own experiences on caring and care giving by logging on, creating a profile and contributing text, photos, videos, and other personal narrative. Subject matter provided in the fictional narrative will include things like "caring from a distance," "tough conversations," "making the system work (better!) and so on. These subjects are intended to spark further discussion and debate among the community at large about other aspects of caring.

"The caring infrastructure as we know it is changing fast. Federal and local services that we once relied upon—from adult day care to Medicare and Social Security—are quickly eroding," said Jason Tester, IFTF researcher and lead developer of Ruby's Bequest. "This means that more of the burden of caring will fall to individuals and communities in the near and long term. A key charter of the Institute is to encourage broader and deeper examination of our future now so that the public can help shape it and be better prepared to face it."

Ruby's Bequest

Previously:

Mythbusters accidentally shatter windows in small town

Posted: 26 Mar 2009 12:49 PM PDT

Our pals at Mythbusters made a big bang in the the small town of Esparto, California. Their aim was to "knock the socks off" a mannequin with an explosion of ammonium nitrate. The boom blew out some residents' windows that Mythbusters replaced. One woman whose glass was shattered was delighted by the surprise. Others, not so much. From KCRA.com:

"Course all the neighbors ran out into the street. We didn't know what was going on," said Paul Williams, who heard the explosion...

Williams said the school and others in town should have been notified the blast was going to happen.

Chief Barry Burns, of Esparto Fire Department, had several firefighters on hand for the explosion. He said he made the decision not to notify anyone in town for safety sake.

"Mythbusters is supposed to be a really popular show. Everybody would have been out there. We would have had to cancel it because it would have been too dangerous," Burns said.

Mythbusters 'Big Bang' Shatters Windows (Thanks, Jess Hemerly!)

Cute Video of Cute Song by Cute Kid About Internet + Gaming Etiquette Is Surprisingly Cute

Posted: 26 Mar 2009 09:36 AM PDT

Gabe Delahaye at Videogum points to this gem, and says, "I copied out the lyrics so that they're easier for you to cut and paste into your Livejournal."

While chatting, first greet happily / Use polite words in a cordial way / During the game always be open, honest and do the right thing / Be careful on the keyboard / I know who did it (be careful) / I know I am the internet guardian angel / I will be the first to protect / I want to be the first to protect / Though faces are unknown, it's a warm neighborhood / Precious Internet friend / Precious Internet friend (friend!) / Netiquette!

Kids Sing A Made Up Song About Netiquette The Darndest Things

Charles Hugh Smith: "Survival+" e-book serialized at Of Two Minds

Posted: 26 Mar 2009 08:30 AM PDT

Richard Metzger is Boing Boing's current guest blogger

Soon, I'll be taping an interview with Charles Hugh Smith and posting it here at Boing Boing. In the meantime, Charles has posted Chapter 2 of his new (free) e-book, "Survival+" at his Of Two Minds blog, which I encourage you all to visit daily. Many of you reading this are starting to wonder what society will look like: in a few months, a year from now, five years from now and Charles Hugh Smith is an indispensable thinker and tour guide for what we should be preparing for. I believe that he's one of the sharpest, smartest --and sanest-- writers around today, and I enjoy batting ideas around with him corresponding over email, some of which makes it into his more informal columns. I'm pleased and grateful to have a forum here at Boing Boing where I can help promote his work. Some recent Charles Hugh Smith essays: Survival+ Chapter 1 The Dematerialization of America The Return of Big Government and the (de facto) Welfare State Has Capitalism Failed? The Road to National Insolvency What's Obvious III: Some Transformations Will Be Positive End of An Era: What's Not Coming Back Of Two Minds: An Interview with Charles Hugh Smith

Web Zen: "c" zen

Posted: 26 Mar 2009 07:50 AM PDT

c zen

candle
colourlovers
childhood
circus
charm school
corrections

previously on web zen
b zen

Permalink for this edition. Web Zen is created and curated by Frank Davis, and re-posted here on Boing Boing with his kind permission. Web Zen Home and Archives, Store (Thanks Frank!)

Super Mario mosaic table

Posted: 26 Mar 2009 07:40 AM PDT

Ivan covered this found coffee-table with a pushpin Super Mario mosaic (protected by plexiglass) and painted and decorated the legs to match. Apparently pushpin mosaics are unexpectedly hard on the thumbs.

Super Mario Coffee Table (Thanks, Ivan!)

EU ready to screw up European Internet with Telcoms Package

Posted: 26 Mar 2009 07:36 AM PDT

Glyn sez, "The EU's Telecoms Package is back for its second reading. The French are attempting to push through their 'three strikes and you're out' approach again, the UK are attempting to get rid of net neutrality and get rid of peoples right to privacy. The ITRE/IMCO committee are meeting on the 31 March 2009 to dicuss these and other alarming amendments. The Open Rights Group have more details:"

One of the most controversial issues is that of the three-strikes strongly and continuously pushed by France in the EU Council. Although most of the dispositions introducing the graduate response system were rejected in first reading of the Telecom Package, there are still some alarming ones persisting. France is trying hard to get rid of Amendment 138 which seeks to protect users' rights against the three-strikes sanctions and which, until now, has stopped the EU from applying the three-strikes policy. Also, some new amendments reintroduce the notion of lawful content, which will impose the obligation on ISPs to monitor content going through their networks.
The UK government is pushing for the "wikipedia amendments" (so-called because one of them has been created by cutting and pasting a text out of the wikipedia) in order to allow ISPs to make limited content offers. The UK amendments eliminate the text that gives users rights to access and distribute content, services and applications, replacing it with a text that says "there should be transparency of conditions under which services are provided, including information on the conditions to and/or use of applications and services, and of any traffic management policies ."...
Also a very dangerous amendment to the ePrivacy directive is introduced by the UK, allowing the telecommunications industry to collect a potentially unlimited amount of users' sensitive and confidential communications data including telephone and e-mail contacts, geographic position of mobile phones and websites visited on the Internet.

Click through to find out more about what you can do.

Telecom Package in second reading - dangerous amendments? (Thanks, Glyn!)

Remixes of the paranoid London police "anti-terror"/suspect your neighbours posters

Posted: 26 Mar 2009 06:35 AM PDT

Yesterday's remix challenge -- to mock the ridiculous new "anti-terrorism" posters the London police have put up that tell you to spy on your neighbors -- was a smashing success. I've collected the 25 or so that came in to date below (sorry if I missed one or two -- I did it all by hand!) -- click through to see them all and prepare to laugh and weep and laugh and weep.

Lovely kinetic baby toys made from reclaimed wood and plastic

Posted: 26 Mar 2009 05:57 AM PDT

Sprig toys are lovely, heavy-duty and made from reclaimed plastic and wood in a shop in Colorado. The toys are kinetic and drive their internal motion from their wheels, not batteries.

Out in the backyard lives a magical world called Sprig Hollow.
Our friends Bee and Butterfly, the architects of Sprig Hollow, specifically designed all the farm vehicles for maximum utility in water, sand and garden environments. All of the vehicles at Sprig Hollow come equipped with detachable tools and water-resistant materials in order to sustain play and expand possibilities. The playful, cartoon-like designs of our chunky vehicles, characters and play sets make them irresistible to preschoolers, and parents love the eco-friendly, kid-powered construction. So jump into a place where imaginations blossom as preschoolers and their grown-ups play and learn in the fresh air! Recommended for ages 3 and up.

Sprig Toys Sprig Toys manufacturer's site (via Babygadget)

European criminal mastermind's DNA turns out to be tainted forensic swab

Posted: 26 Mar 2009 05:50 AM PDT

A cotton swab may be the most wanted criminal in Europe. For years, cops across southeastern Europe have hunted an cop-killing eastern European woman whose DNA turned up at 17 crime scenes. The crimes were wildly diverse, geographically separated, and had no visible pattern.

You see where this is going, right? It's now believed that the DNA was introduced to the forensic swabs at the factory, and that cops have been hunting someone who probably sticks q-tips in baggies all day and has never committed a crime.

It now turns out that the several-hundred-men task force might have really been chasing a phantom. Alarmed by the apparent randomness of the crimes, involving both highly professional work and seemingly amateur break-ins, they started checking for contaminations in the labwork. The likeliest suspect now are the cotton swabs used to collect evidence at the crime scene. All the swabs used in the forensics works were sourced from the same supplier, a company in northern Germany that employs several eastern-European women that would fit the profile. Even more incriminating, the state of Bavaria lies right in the center of the crimes' locations, without ever finding matching DNA in crimes on its territory. Guess what: they get their cotton swabs from a different supplier.
By the way: contaminated cotton swabs aren"t as trivial to avoid as one might think. It's relatively easy to sterilize cotton to prevent infections. Forensics however require a complete destruction or removal of any DNA contamination, which is apparently a lot harder.

The Heilbronn DNA Mixup (Thanks, Oliver!)

Portable LCD projector that looks like an 8mm film camera

Posted: 26 Mar 2009 07:02 AM PDT

Brando's latest dubious-but-promising gadget is a cigarette-pack-sized, battery powered LCD projector shaped like a retro 8mm film ~~projector~~ camera. No idea if the image quality or light intensity are any good, but the concept's lovely. I don't know that I'd risk $219 on it, though.

Retro Cuboid Tiny Handheld Projector

Blackened lung cigarette lighters

Posted: 26 Mar 2009 05:40 AM PDT

I don't know anything about this public cigarette lighter shaped like blackened lungs, but I assume they were part of an anti-smoking campaign, somewhere.

Light Up Your Lungs

Anatomical models for artist's reference

Posted: 26 Mar 2009 02:51 PM PDT

An exhibitor at the Game Developers' Conference was selling these anatomical models (from anatomytools.com) for use as artist's reference -- they were very beautiful, and my photos came out great (if I do say so myself).

Anatomical models

Homebrew banjo game-controller by RIT students

Posted: 26 Mar 2009 07:26 AM PDT

One of my highlights from the Game Developers' Conference for me was the "Oh No Banjo" exhibit, showing off student work from the Rochester Institute of Technology's "Alternative Controllers Seminar." The students gutted a guitar game-controller and built a very credible banjo using its buttons and electronics, then wrote custom software and musical arrangements for it (apparently the ~~Scruggs people~~ rightsholders wouldn't let them use "Duelling Banjos," even for a noncommercial, student project). I played it for a while and found it very fun -- I totally rocked the banjo for MC Chris's "Fett's Vette."

Final Reports and Pictures from the Alternative Controllers Seminar

My photos

British local governments deploy anti-teenager pink lights designed to make kids ashamed of their appearance

Posted: 26 Mar 2009 05:26 AM PDT

British local councils have a new weapon in their arsenal of devices that collectively and indiscriminately punish teenagers simply for being young. The new tool is a pink overhead light designed to exaggerate acne, with the intention of making children so unhappy and insecure about their appearances that they go somewhere else (mind you, these councils are almost certainly also allocating funds to helping teenagers cope with low self-esteem and avoid the problems associated with it, such as depression and vulnerability of recruitment into violent activity).

Other weapons in the arsenal against youth include the "Mosquito" -- an annoying high-pitched tone that adults can't hear, that shopkeepers and councils have deployed against teens and kids (and, of course, any babies that happen to be in the area), and "anti-kid steps" that are supposed to prevent the menace of kids staying in one place, talking to one another.

Anti-teenager "pink lights to show up acne" (Thanks, Dan!)

(Image: BBC)

Previously: