The Latest from Boing Boing

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• D&D-style map of C++
• Database of all the toxins in your cosmetics and personal care products
• Zombie jello mold
• Jabba the fursuit
• Happy 35th Anniversary, 10-cent Beer Night
• Countrywide founder accused of insider trading
• Wails and Mumbles
• Claw gloves
• Passive-aggressive umbrella-cops foil Tiananmen reportage
• Iranian media mistakes Kasper Hauser comedy group as a "virtual reality 'terrorist' group," of "cyber hackers"
• Heartbroken cereal litigant loses suit over non-existence of "Crunchberries"
• Monster head kiddie car
• Visualizing how a dirty Congresscritter turned campaign contributions into earmarks
• DC's buried gubmint s33kr17 wires patrolled by rapid-response goon-squad
• This is what it sounds like when apes laugh
• TOSBack: EFF's real-time tracker for changes in terms of service on popular Internet sites
• Chart showing policies that led to the econopocalypse
• Kevin Kelly's Internet Mapping Project
• Nontoxic metal alloy that is liquid at room temperature
• BB Video + PopSci: Frozen on Video - Theo Gray Sculpts in Solid Mercury, with Some Help from Liquid Nitrogen
• US Military's Secret Terror-Tagging Tech
• Tiananmen Square, + 20
• Knife Throwers Just Want a Little Respect
• David Carradine, RIP
• Recently on Offworld
• Chicago Tribune creates papercraft tribute to lying politico
• Zina Saunders - New York Artist
• Left 4 Dead 2: zombie game is scarier than the original, which is plenty scary
• Zombie Little Ponies
• Inflatable, portable "clean room"

D&D-style map of C++ Posted: 04 Jun 2009 11:21 PM PDT Here's a treasure-map showing the relationships of C++ and its many offshoots, proponents, clones and pretenders. Алёна C++ Coral Cache mirror of map (Thanks, Fipi Lele!) Previously: XKCD's log-scale map of the observable universe - Boing Boing Funny map of online communities in the style of a D&D map - Boing ... Kevin Kelly's Internet Mapping Project - Boing Boing

Database of all the toxins in your cosmetics and personal care products Posted: 04 Jun 2009 11:16 PM PDT James sez, "The web site Skin Deep covers the issues related to the lack of oversight regarding the safety of cosmetics:" Skin Deep is a safety guide to cosmetics and personal care products brought to you by researchers at the Environmental Working Group. Skin Deep pairs ingredients in more than 42,000 products against 50 definitive toxicity and regulatory databases, making it the largest integrated data resource of its kind. Why did a small nonprofit take on such a big project? Because the FDA doesn't require companies to test their own products for safety. A sample listing: AMERICAN BEAUTY DOUBLE LUSH MASCARA PLUS PRIMER (ALL SHADES) Ingredients in this product are linked to: Cancer Developmental/reproductive toxicity Violations, restrictions & warnings Allergies/immunotoxicity Other concerns for ingredients used in this product: Neurotoxicity, Endocrine disruption, Persistence and bioaccumulation, Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive), Multiple, additive exposure sources, Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs), Enhanced skin absorption, Contamination concerns, Occupational hazards, Biochemical or cellular level changes The level of detail is amazing. Skin Deep: Cosmetic Safety Reviews (Thanks, James!)

Zombie jello mold Posted: 04 Jun 2009 11:10 PM PDT ThinkGeek's Crawling Zombie Torso Gelatin Mold is just what every elegant dinner party needs, especially if you make an aspic-and-baby-marshmallow gelatin salad with it. Crawling Zombie Torso Gelatin Mold (Thanks, Alice!)

Jabba the fursuit Posted: 04 Jun 2009 11:05 PM PDT I'm not sure what's so "supreme" about the Jabba the Hutt Supreme Edition Costume, but man, you would certainly play some pretty weird "naughty Hutt and stern bounty hunter" scenes with it. Jabba the Hutt Supreme Edition Costume (via Wonderland)

Happy 35th Anniversary, 10-cent Beer Night Posted: 04 Jun 2009 06:40 PM PDT (Bill Gurstelle is guest blogging here on Boing Boing. He is the author of several books including Backyard Ballistics, and the recently-published Absinthe and Flamethrowers) 35 years ago today, on June 4, 1974, one of the most infamous events in sports history occurred. In 1974, the Cleveland Indians played at the extremely capacious Municipal Stadium. Unfortunately, the '74 team was mediocre at best, so there weren't many fans (about 8000 was normal) and the place often looked deserted. The Cleveland brain trust hit on what they thought was a great idea to increase attendance - 10 cent beer night. Well, beer night worked. Lots of people did show up, about 25,000 in fact. The Tribe took on the Texas Rangers that evening. The box score shows the Rangers surged to a 5-1 lead in the early innings. The fans took it harder than normal since they had been drinking cup after 10¢ cup of Strohs beer pretty much since the gates opened. According to Wikipedia: . . . the crowd in attendance continually misbehaved. A woman ran out to the Indians' on-deck circle and flashed her breasts, and a naked man sprinted to second base as Grieve hit his second home run of the game. A father and son pair ran onto the outfield and mooned the fans in the bleachers one inning later. The ugliness escalated when Cleveland's Leron Lee hit a line drive into the stomach of Rangers pitcher Ferguson Jenkins, after which Jenkins dropped to the ground. The fans in the upper deck of Municipal Stadium cheered, then chanted "Hit 'em again! Hit 'em again! Harder! Harder!" As the game progressed, more fans ran onto the field and caused problems. Ranger Mike Hargrove (who would manage the Indians and lead them to the World Series 21 years later) was pelted with hot dogs and spit, and at one point was nearly struck with an empty gallon jug of Thunderbird. By the time the ninth inning rolled around, a full fledged riot broke out. Umpire Nestor Shylak, (my all time favorite umpire by the way) after dodging rocks and ripped out stadium seats forfeited the game to Texas. There have been no more unlimited 10-cent beer nights since.

Countrywide founder accused of insider trading Posted: 04 Jun 2009 04:32 PM PDT The SEC charged Countrywide Chief Executive Angelo Mozilo with securities fraud. He is accused of "selling his Countrywide stock for nearly $140 million in profits while knowing that Countrywide's business model was deteriorating." Countrywide's Mozilo accused of fraud

Wails and Mumbles Posted: 04 Jun 2009 02:38 PM PDT (Bill Gurstelle is guest blogging here on Boing Boing. He is the author of books including Backyard Ballistics, and the recently-published Absinthe and Flamethrowers) Hydroxatone is so effective, it was given away in gift bags at international film festivals! - advertisement for Hydroxatone, a very expensive wrinkle cream flogged constantly on late night cable television and talk radio stations. Allo! I am Marcel, zee scienteest in charge of gift bag quality control at ze large internationale film festivals. Every day, I am faced with ze daunting task of carefully evaluating the products of the thousands of companies eager to put free samples in the gift bags of Hollywood stars. But only the best products, like Magic Jack or Almighty Cleanse make it through our rigorous, film-festival gift-bag quality control. As hard as I try to safeguard ze integrity of our gift bags, sometimes the unfortunate occurs. One time, during a screening of Rochelle, Rochelle at Cannes, and against my better judgment, I allowed Kevin Trudeau to place inferior quality promotional ball point pens in ze gift bag. One of them leaked ink on Halle Barry's cashmere sweater. If Angelina Jolle had not taken the Shamwow from her gift bag and blotted up ink, mon Dieu, I would left be sweeping streets in Marseilles.

Claw gloves Posted: 04 Jun 2009 02:01 PM PDT The mad Ukrainian leather-artists Bob Basset have a pair of claw gloves to go with the claw shoes from earlier today. I sense a theme (especially when combined with one of their smashing Cthulhu fetish masks). Paw for hand. Лапы для рук Previously: Cthulhu mask on eBay - Boing Boing Leather Cthuhlu mask from steampunk gas-mask artist - Boing Boing Leather fetish pilot mask - Boing Boing Claw shoes - Boing Boing

Passive-aggressive umbrella-cops foil Tiananmen reportage Posted: 04 Jun 2009 01:54 PM PDT In this BBC news video, a reporter with all the necessary documentation tries to visit Tiananmen Square with a cameraperson, only to find himself surrounded by umbrella-wielding goons who use their unfurled bumbershoots to block every shot the camera-person tries to catch. Media banned from Tiananmen Square (Thanks, Nat!)

Iranian media mistakes Kasper Hauser comedy group as a "virtual reality 'terrorist' group," of "cyber hackers" Posted: 04 Jun 2009 02:25 PM PDT Kasper Hauser, the comedy group that wrote the supremely funny parody of the SkyMall catalog called SkyMaul: Happy Crap You Can Buy From a Plane, has a new book out called Obama's Blackberry, which the Iranian media seems to think is some kind of terrorist hacker document. Jesse Thorn says: The Iranian State-funded english-language TV network Press TV is currently reporting that Kasper Hauser, the noted "virtual reality 'terrorist' group," of "cyber hackers" have plans to "circulate President Barack Obama's private text messages." Press TV wrote: American publisher Little Brown has decided to circulate President Barack Obama's private text messages after cyber hackers cracked into his Blackberry. The publisher announced plans to expose the president's messages on June 8. "Virtual reality 'terrorist' group Kasper Hauser" hack into Obama's Blackberry

Heartbroken cereal litigant loses suit over non-existence of "Crunchberries" Posted: 04 Jun 2009 12:47 PM PDT A woman sued the Cap'n Crunch people because her cereal didn't contain any "crunchberries": On May 21, a judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California dismissed a complaint filed by a woman who said she had purchased "Cap'n Crunch with Crunchberries" because she believed "crunchberries" were real fruit. The plaintiff, Janine Sugawara, alleged that she had only recently learned to her dismay that said "berries" were in fact simply brightly-colored cereal balls, and that although the product did contain some strawberry fruit concentrate, it was not otherwise redeemed by fruit. She sued, on behalf of herself and all similarly situated consumers who also apparently believed that there are fields somewhere in our land thronged by crunchberry bushes. Reasonable Consumer Would Know "Crunchberries" Are Not Real, Judge Rules (Thanks, @czelticgirl!)

Monster head kiddie car Posted: 04 Jun 2009 11:44 AM PDT Anyone know who built this superb monster head kiddie car? I want to have them write a how-to for MAKE!

Visualizing how a dirty Congresscritter turned campaign contributions into earmarks Posted: 04 Jun 2009 11:43 AM PDT Gabriela from the Sunlight Foundation sez, It comes as no surprise that Indiana Democrat Pete Visclosky's favorite word to say in Congress is "Indiana." While staying out of the spotlight in Washington, he has been a champion for his Northwestern Indiana congressional district, bringing home millions of federal dollars to create jobs and win fans. Since the decline in manufacturing, new jobs have become essential for this Rult Belt region and Visclosky, from his position on the House Appropriations Committee, has sought to get as big a piece of the federal pie as he can for his constituents. This hard work bringing home federal dollars has made Visclosky a national news name as his connection to a lobbying firm, the PMA Group, which represented many of the recipients of federal money earmarked by the congressman, has brought him under investigation by the FBI. In the past two weeks, Visclosky's offices and campaign committess have been subpoenaed and he has reliquished control of the Energy & Water Appropriations Subcommittee to Rep. Ed Pastor. All of this is due to the connection between campaign contributions flowing from the PMA Group and their clients to Visclosky's campaigns and the millions of dollars in earmarks to PMA Group clients that Visclosky secured in his post on the powerful House Appropriations Committee. After studying campaign contribution data for 1998-2008 (compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics) and earmark data for FY2008 and FY2009 (from both Taxpayers for Common Sense and Legistorm), the connection between those PMA Group clients that contributed money to Visclosky's campaigns and the earmarks they received is clearly evident. The visualization -- created by the Sunlight Foundation's terrific designer Kerry Mitchell -- shows how connected the earmarks are to the receipt of campaign contributions. Vis-a-Visclosky: Or How I Learned to Take Campaign Contributions and Turn Them Into Earmarks (Thanks, Gabriela!)

DC's buried gubmint s33kr17 wires patrolled by rapid-response goon-squad Posted: 04 Jun 2009 11:25 PM PDT DC is apparently riddled with secret fiber-optics carrying national security stuff -- and it's maintained by a gang of Men In Black in black SUVs who will show up at a fiber break in minutes and send you and your backhoe to Gitmo if you're unlucky enough to break one of the unmarked conduits. Within moments, three black sport-utility vehicles drove up, a half-dozen men in suits jumped out and one said, "You just hit our line." Whose line, you may ask? The guys in suits didn't say, recalled Aaron Georgelas, whose company, the Georgelas Group, was developing the Greensboro Corporate Center on Spring Hill Road. But Georgelas assumed that he was dealing with the federal government and that the cable in question was "black" wire -- a secure communications line used for some of the nation's most secretive intelligence-gathering operations... Black wire is one of the looming perils of the massive construction that has come to Tysons, where miles and miles of secure lines are thought to serve such nearby agencies as the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the National Counterterrorism Center and, a few miles away in McLean, the Central Intelligence Agency. After decades spent cutting through red tape to begin work on a Metrorail extension and the widening of the Capital Beltway, crews are now stirring up tons of dirt where the black lines are located. Metro Dig at Tysons Stirs Underground Intrigue (via Schneier)

This is what it sounds like when apes laugh Posted: 04 Jun 2009 11:44 AM PDT Wanna hear primates laugh? It's infection, I guarantee it! Audio samples within. Primatologist and psychologist Marina Davila Ross of the U.K.'s University of Portsmouth led a team that tickled the necks, feet, palms, and armpits of infant and juvenile apes as well as human babies. The team recorded more than 800 of the resulting giggles and guffaws. Apes Laugh, Tickle Study Finds (Thanks, Marilyn!)

TOSBack: EFF's real-time tracker for changes in terms of service on popular Internet sites Posted: 04 Jun 2009 11:47 AM PDT The Electronic Frontier Foundation just launched "TOSBack: The Terms-Of-Service Tracker" which gives you realtime feed of the changes to terms of service in 44 online services (you know, all those sites whose terms are "subject to change without notice"). I want one of these that tell you which bits are enforceable. "Terms of service form the foundation of your relationship with social networking sites, online businesses, and other Internet communities, but most people become aware of these terms only when there's a problem," said EFF Activism and Technology Manager Tim Jones. "We created TOSBack to help consumers monitor terms of service for the websites they use everyday, and show how the terms change over time." At www.TOSBack.org, you can see a real-time feed of changes and updates to more than three dozen polices from the Internet's most popular online services. Clicking on an update brings you to a side-by-side before-and-after comparison, highlighting what has been removed from the policy and what has been added. EFF Launches TOSBack - A 'Terms of Service' Tracker for Facebook, Google, eBay, and More TOSBack | The Terms-Of-Service Tracker

Chart showing policies that led to the econopocalypse Posted: 04 Jun 2009 11:16 AM PDT Barry Ritholtz sez, "Contrary to the nonsense being fed to the public, the credit crisis and economic collapse was not an accident or the result of a 'perfect storm.' Rather, it was the result of deliberate policies that were pursued over the course of many years." 7 Factors That Led to Crisis (Thanks, Barry!)

Kevin Kelly's Internet Mapping Project Posted: 04 Jun 2009 11:09 AM PDT In February my friend Kevin Kelly handed out sheets of paper at the TED conference and asked people to draw a map of the Internet, indicating their "home" on the map. So far he's collected over 60 hand drawn maps. My daughter Sarina drew one. At Kevin's site you can print a page and submit your own map, too. I hope he publishes a book of them. Internet Mapping Project

Nontoxic metal alloy that is liquid at room temperature Posted: 04 Jun 2009 11:02 AM PDT I loved Theo Gray's frozen mercury fish but, as he says, mercury is bad for you. If you want to play with a nontoxic metal that melts at low temperatures, you can buy little bottles of it at scitoys.com. Simon Field, the proprietor, sells two kinds. In the photo above, I am holding two small vials of liquid metal. The vial on the right contains gallium, an element that melts at 29.76° Celsius (85.57° Fahrenheit). The vial on the left is an alloy that contains gallium, indium, and tin, and melts at -20° Celsius (-4° Fahrenheit). You can do a lot of fun things with these. For instance, you can put a drop of gallium on a sheet of aluminum foil and it will combine with the aluminum, dissolving a hole in it. Nontoxic metal alloy that is liquid at room temperature

BB Video + PopSci: Frozen on Video - Theo Gray Sculpts in Solid Mercury, with Some Help from Liquid Nitrogen Posted: 04 Jun 2009 09:00 AM PDT (Download MP4) Boing Boing Video teams up with PopSci and Theo Gray to bring you today's episode -- in which the MAD SCIENCE author shows you how to make delicious mercury-sicles shaped like fishies and turtles! Okay, okay, you're not supposed to eat them at all. In fact, the safety precautions in the production of this episode were probably more extreme than in any video we've ever published, because even the tiniest amount of mercury is incredibly toxic to humans. I don't want to spoil the surprise here, so -- hop on over to PopSci.com for the whole story on this dangerous but beautiful experiment in how to work with mercury as a solid: Frozen on Video: Theo Gray Sculpts in Solid Mercury, with Some Help from Liquid Nitrogen. Where to Find Boing Boing Video: RSS feed for new episodes here, , subscribe on iTunes here. Get Twitter updates every time there's a new ep by following @boingboingvideo, and here are blog post archives for Boing Boing Video. (Thanks to Boing Boing's video hosting partner Episodic, to Paul Adams and Mike Haney of PopSci, and to Theo Gray and photog Nick Mann!) Previously: BB Video: The Flaming Bacon Lance of Death, from Theo Gray's book "Mad Science" Mad Science: Experiments You Can Do at Home, But Probably Shouldn ... Lovely Steampunk-esque Science Teaching Instruments. - Boing Boing Periodic Table Printmaking Project - Boing Boing Photographic Periodic Table of Elements Cards, Puzzles, Personalized Posters Periodic table rendered in photos, and in wood

US Military's Secret Terror-Tagging Tech Posted: 04 Jun 2009 10:57 AM PDT David Hambling over at the Wired.com Danger Room blog writes, The story that the CIA uses tiny homing beacons to guide their drone strikes in Pakistan may sound like an urban myth. But this sort of technology does exist. The military has spent hundreds of millions of dollars researching, developing, and purchasing a slew of "Tagging tracking and locating" (TTL) gear -- gizmos designed to keep covertly tabs from far away. Most of these technologies are highly classified. But there's enough information in the open literature to get a sense of what the government is pursuing: laser-based reflectors, super-strength RFID tags, and homing beacons so tiny, they can be woven into fabric or into paper. Inside the Military's Secret Terror-Tagging Tech (Wired Danger Room, thanks Noah Shachtman)

Tiananmen Square, + 20 Posted: 04 Jun 2009 09:03 AM PDT Rebecca MacKinnon of Global Voices has been tweeting a number of noteworthy items related to today marking the 20th year since the massacre at Tiananmen Square in China. Among them: Secretary of State Hilary Clinton's statement, calling for prisoner release. And this article by James Fallows in the Atlantic on the hordes of plainclothes cops in the square today, whose presence is intended to block any photography or video coverage that would remind people of the incident. Also, this piece in the Financial Times, in which a reporter who was there 20 years ago says that Western news misrepresented the protesters and got the narrative wrong. In related items, do read this New York Times piece about the exiled Tibetan poet Woeser, featured among "China's New Rebels." You may also want to read this earlier profile about the blogger/poet/dissident in the Times (Thanks, Laird). And one of the principal student leaders in exile flew to China this week, attempting to surrender to the Chinese government in a final act of protest.

Knife Throwers Just Want a Little Respect Posted: 04 Jun 2009 09:01 AM PDT When not blogging on BB, Bill Gurstelle writes books like Backyard Ballistics and The Art of the Catapult. His latest, Absinthe and Flamethrowers is now on sale everywhere. I experimented with knife throwing as a consequence of writing Absinthe and Flamethrowers. It's quite entertaining and I've been recommending knife throwing anyone who'll listen (well, almost anyone.) It's much different experience than, say, throwing pub darts. To me, one really can't compare the bold, red-blooded flush of satisfaction derived from a perfect, cold steel stick in a target with the rather dainty, epicene feeling one gets when tossing a dart. It's harder to learn, but once you get the hang of it, it's a terrific. Knife throwers, as portrayed in popular culture are usually strange and menacing; from crazy Bill the Butcher in Gangs of New York to the murderous twins Mischka and Grischka in Octopussy, to Rookwood in V for Vendetta. I did some research on knife throwers in the media - invariably they're portrayed as weirdos. How strange are they? Behold just a few a of the movie summaries I've gleaned from Internet sources having knife throwers as their focus: The Unknown (1929) : Alonzo is an apparently armless knife thrower who uses his feet to encircle Estrellita with blades. Estrellita falls in love with Alonzo (she fears men's arms), so he goes to a hospital and has his amputated. Meantime Malabar cures Estrellita of her fear of men's arms, so Alonzo tries to have him killed during a circus act. Santa Sangre (1989): A young man is confined in a mental hospital. Through a flashback we see that he was traumatized as a child, when he and his family were circus performers: he saw his father cut off the arms of his mother. Back in the present, he rejoins his surviving and armless mother. Against his will, he "becomes her arms" and the two undertake a grisly campaign of murder and revenge. Mad love (1935): An insane surgeon's obsession with an actress leads him to replace the severed hands of her musician lover with the hands of a knife murderer which still have the urge to throw knives. The Flintstones (1962): Fred becomes suspicious when Wilma's former boyfriend and circus knife thrower Rodney Whetstone shows up and strange things start happening.

David Carradine, RIP Posted: 04 Jun 2009 08:22 AM PDT The 72-year-old actor of "Kung Fu" and "Kill Bill" fame passed away in Thailand today.

Recently on Offworld Posted: 04 Jun 2009 08:29 AM PDT Thought motion control was the only trick Sony worked up for their E3 appearance? Over at Offworld we looked at some of the developments that went unmentioned at their press conference, including a portable augmented reality game for their PSP (above) that sees you discovering and Pokemon-battling creatures conjured out of thin air, and Echochrono, a time-warping PSP game that sees you enlisting the ghosts of your own previous playthroughs to help you advance through its puzzling levels. Elsewhere we rounded up some of Sony's other E3 developments: the first look at the PSP's littler LittleBigPlanet, the retro-vector design-your-own-PS3-shooter Gravity Crash, the fantastically robust and intuitive track editor for their "race, create, share" kart game ModNation Racers, the latest look at gritty PS3 thriller Heavy Rain, and our guess that Hideo Kojima's newest portable Metal Gear Solid will include 4-player simultaneous play in its main storyline. Finally, we looked at the 'Rock Gods' joining the adventure for Double Fine's Brütal Legend including Judas Priest's Rob Halford, Motorhead's Lemmy Kilmister, Lita Ford, and, of course, Black Sabbath's Ozzy Osbourne, and saw how Nintendo plan to mix competitive and cooperative elements in their updated classic New Super Mario Bros Wii.

Chicago Tribune creates papercraft tribute to lying politico Posted: 04 Jun 2009 07:05 AM PDT Indiebass sez, "For the very narrow niche of people who are interested in both papercraft and politics, the Chicago Tribune has created this Sen. Roland Burris (D-IL) 'Pinocchio' pdf with real Nose Grows with Lies action! Personally, I'm more interested in the papercraft side of it, and I'm more impressed the Chicago Tribune thought 'you know what would get a point across? Papercraft!'" PDF Link (Thanks, Indiebass!)

Zina Saunders - New York Artist Posted: 04 Jun 2009 08:13 AM PDT (Bill Gurstelle is guest blogging here on Boing Boing. He is the author of books including Backyard Ballistics, and the recently-published Absinthe and Flamethrowers) I had a chance to converse with artist Zina Saunders at the GEL 2009 conference in New York City last month. (GEL stands for Good Experience Live, which is something like an East Coast mini-TED conference. Basically, the organizer, Mark Hurst, invites schedules a day of 20-minute talks given by interesting people with unusual experience. Each presenter speaks about what makes up good experience.) Saunders does a lot of work for the magazines and newspapers,(the political stuff is wickedly funny depending on your outlook) but she may be best known for her delightful collection of New York City slice-of-life portraits called Overlooked New York. It's a huge and creatively rendered look at New Yorkers do interesting things below the radar. They raise pigeons on the rooftops of their flats and long distance swim in the East River. If you visit the site, be sure to check out the story of the Puerto Rican Bike Men. http://www.overlookednewyork.com Also as it turns out, both Zina and I find the fire plugs and sprinkler connections on New York City sidewalks unexpectedly interesting. They reflect, albeit imperfectly, the neighborhood in which they reside. The ones on the upper west side are all shiny and new, while the ones in the grittier parts of town are beaten up and covered with unfriendly looking spikes. http://www.drawger.com/zinasaunders/

Left 4 Dead 2: zombie game is scarier than the original, which is plenty scary Posted: 04 Jun 2009 06:44 AM PDT Left 4 Dead -- a first-person, team-play zombie game -- is one of the most compelling, nightmarish, cinematic games I've ever seen. Part of it is the excellent play mechanics, part of it is the music (which has its own AI subsystem to ensure that it follows your play and makes appropriate, dramatic swellings at all the right times), part of it is the superb writing -- but it's mostly the fact that computer generated zombies are supposed to inhabit the uncanny valley, so these undead critters seem incredibly lifelike. And now there's a sequel in the works, and holy crap, it looks even scarier. Watch this trailer and tell me that this thing won't give you bad dreams and twitches for months. Left 4 Dead 2 PC GamesTrailer - E3 2009: Keep Fighting Trailer (via Wonderland) Previously: Kingston Trio do "Zombie Jamboree" - Boing Boing Left 4 Dead: Savage beyond belief - Offworld Left 4 Love: Alexandria Neonakis' latest valentines - Offworld Why Left 4 Dead has the best tutorial ever... and why you never ... Ragdoll Metaphysics: Left 4 Dead, The Thinking Man's Braindead ... Left 4 Dead SDK/mod tools go into open beta - Offworld Would You Like To Play A Game? Left 4 Dead Edition - Offworld E309: First look at Valve's <em>Left 4 Dead 2</em> Surly Hate Machine: Dance to everything Left 4 Dead's Francis can ... An umbrella fit for a zombie apocolypse - Offworld Kingston Trio do "Zombie Jamboree" - Boing Boing Zombie high heel shoes - Boing Boing Zombie cake topper - Boing Boing Zombie Hello Kitty cake - Boing Boing Babylon Fields -- clips from CBS's zombie necrophilia pilot ...

Zombie Little Ponies Posted: 04 Jun 2009 05:56 AM PDT Flickr user dbx1 has created a lovely series of zombie My Little Ponies. My Little Zombie Pony (via Street Anatomy) Previously: My Little Ponies in elaborate media drag - Boing Boing My Little Pony Carbine, Care Bear Body Armor, and other fictional ... Little Pony Borg - Boing Boing Skelebunnies: filthy, funny comics about the skinless bunnies who ... BDSM Black Canary Barbie - Boing Boing Hello Kitty sander - Boing Boing

Inflatable, portable "clean room" Posted: 04 Jun 2009 05:49 AM PDT The Servershield is an inflatable, ventilated portable "clean-room" (not actually hermetically sealed) for servers, presumably useful if you have to keep computers running on the playa or other disaster area. Inexplicably, it's advertised for "mainframe" computers, which bodes poorly for the technical know-how of the manufacturer; surely that's a standard commodity rack beneath the cocoon? Four small ventilator/filter units provide a clean ventilating airflow keeping the machine temperature stable and importantly clean and dry. The cover simply drops over the machine and forms a semi airlock/seal as it rests on the floor around the machine. The machine requires no modifications whatsoever and continues to work as originally designed taking air through the body of the machine and exhausting around the top rim . A small independently powered digital temperature readout is fixed to the cover showing machine working temperature within the cover. Openings in the cover are provided to allow quick and easy access to the machine without removing the cover. Servershield (via Red Ferret)

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