Wednesday, July 22, 2009

The Latest from Boing Boing

The Latest from Boing Boing

Link to Boing Boing

Intergalactic Playground: engrossing, insightful history of sf aimed at kids

Posted: 21 Jul 2009 08:45 AM PDT

Science fiction scholar and critic Farah Mendlesohn's latest book, The Intergalactic Playground: Children and Science Fiction is a keen-eyed, affectionate, insightful and cranky look at science fiction novels aimed at kids. Mendlesohn starts with some of the earliest kids-lit, from the thirties, and surveys all they way up to the present day, looking at how changes in work, adolescence and science education have changed the sort of work that gets published for young people.

In particular, Mendlesohn looks into the way that "extreme sport readers" -- kids who devour books at the rate of one or two a day -- have dropped out of the modern conception of how kids read (and how many of today's adult science fiction fans were that kind of reader in their childhoods). She also takes issue with the idea that books have to sneak up on kids in order to teach them things -- that kids never read fiction with the explicit goal of finding out how and why the world works -- an idea that has hammered a stake through the didactic traditions of science fiction.

Intergalactic Playground combines reader surveys, extensive literature review, and a distillation of the fights waged on kids-literature mailing lists, synthesizing them into a deep, intelligent, and engrossing read.

Intergalactic Playground


Local Man Rambles About Obsolete Tech: One Plane Displays!

Posted: 22 Jul 2009 12:55 AM PDT

Jason Torchinsky is a guest blogger on Boing Boing. Jason has a book out now, Ad Nauseam: A Survivor's Guide to American Consumer Culture. He lives in Los Angeles, where he is a tinkerer and artist and writes for the Onion News Network. He lives with a common-law wife, five animals, too many old cars, and a shed full of crap.

For some reason, I've always found old, obsolete display technology fascinating. I'm hoping some of you out there will too, since I drone on about it for over four minutes here. Still, one plane displays are pretty obscure and hard to find information about, so hopefully you'll find your four minutes adequately spent. If not, let me know and I'll see about giving you four of my minutes to make up for it.



Sussex cops try to suppress publication of damning traffic-cam photos by claiming copyright

Posted: 21 Jul 2009 11:25 PM PDT

The Sussex, England police are trying to suppress publication of images from speed cameras -- images that show technical shortcomings in the cameras -- by claiming that they are copyrighted. Copyright is meant to protect creativity; I'm not sure who the aggrieved artist is meant to be here. Is there some tortured constable who spent hours on a ladder getting the composition of the camera's shots just right?
"It has been brought to our attention that the photographs from the Gatso camera, produced for your recent court case, have been published on TheNewspaper.com website," Sussex Police Solicitor Alexandra Karrouze wrote to Barker in a June 28 letter. "The content of these photographs are the property of Sussex Police and publication of them is a breach of copyright. They should be removed from the website forthwith. If they are not removed further action may be contemplated."

Sussex Police did not send any copyright notice to TheNewspaper, nor did Karrouze respond to requests for clarification and comment. The agency became particularly upset with Barker in May after he threatened legal action against the Sussex Speed Camera Partnership for insisting that he had been speeding even after his court acquittal. The agency had no choice but to issue a swift apology.

"The partnership accept that such an assertion should not have been made and have apologized unreservedly to Mr Barker for this error," the partnership said in a statement.

Barker believes that the local council and police do not want motorists to know that a time-distance calculation can be performed on the images to check the vehicle's speed against the radar reading. A difference of more than ten percent between the two figures renders the machine's speed estimate "unreliable" under UK guidelines.

UK Council Considers Speed Camera Photos Copyrighted (Thanks, Richard!)

Giant database of English medieval soldiers online

Posted: 21 Jul 2009 11:18 PM PDT

Kudos to Professor Anne Curry of the University of Southampton and Dr Adrian Bell of the University of Reading for putting a 250,000-record database of the English medieval soldiers online; a great boon to historians, scholars, and the curious:
The detailed service records of 250,000 medieval soldiers - including archers who served with Henry V at the Battle of Agincourt - have gone online.

The database of those who fought in the Hundred Years War reveals salaries, sickness records and who was knighted.

The full profiles of soldiers from 1369 to 1453 will allow researchers to piece together details of their lives.

Medieval battle records go online (via /.)

Cthulhu mask -- the sequel

Posted: 21 Jul 2009 11:20 PM PDT

Why we should(n't) go to space -- Kim Stanley Robinson

Posted: 21 Jul 2009 11:16 PM PDT

Here's Kim Stanley Robinson, author of the stupendous Red Mars books, in the Washington Post explaining why we shouldn't go to space -- and why we should.
The creation of a cosmic diaspora is just one argument for putting humans in space -- a bad one. But now, as human-made climate change has thrust us into the role of stewards of the global biosphere, new reasons, good ones, have emerged. Indeed, keeping our space ambitions relatively local -- within our own solar system -- can help us find solutions for the climate crisis.

It has been said that space science is an Earth science, and that is no paradox. Our climate crisis is very much a matter of interactions between our planet and our sun. That being the case, our understanding is vastly enhanced by going into space and looking down at the Earth, learning things we cannot learn when we stay on the ground.

Studying other planets helps as well. The two closest planets have very different histories, with a runaway greenhouse effect on Venus and the freezing of an atmosphere on Mars. Beyond them spin planets and moons of various kinds, including several that might harbor life. Comparative planetology is useful in our role as Earth's stewards; we discovered the holes in our ozone layer by studying similar chemical interactions in the atmosphere of Venus. This kind of unexpected insight could easily happen again.

Return to the Heavens, for the Sake of the Earth (via Making Light)
Previously:


PowerPoint considered militarily harmful

Posted: 21 Jul 2009 11:13 PM PDT

Writing in the Armed Forces Journal, retired Marine T.X. Hammes excoriates PowerPoint and its impact on decision-making in the military:
Our personnel clearly understand the lack of clarity and depth inherent in the half-formed thoughts of the bullet format. In an apparent effort to overcome the obvious deficiency of bullets, some briefers put entire paragraphs on each briefing slide. (Of course, they still include the bullet point in front of each paragraph.) Some briefs consist of a series of slides with paragraphs on them. In short, people are attempting to provide the audience with complete, coherent thoughts while adhering to the PowerPoint format. While writing full paragraphs does force the briefer to think through his position more clearly, this effort is doomed to failure. People need time to think about, even perhaps reread, material about complex issues. Instead, they are under pressure to finish reading the slides before the boss apparently does. Compounding the problem, the briefer often reads these slides aloud while the audience is trying to read the other information on the slide. Since most people read at least twice as fast as most people can talk, he is wasting half of his listeners' time and simultaneously reducing comprehension of the material. The alternative, letting the audience read the slide themselves, is also ineffective. Instead of reading for comprehension, everyone races through the slide to be sure they are finished before the senior person at the brief. Thus even presenting full paragraphs on each slide cannot overcome the fundamental weakness of PowerPoint as a tool for presenting complex issues.

The next major impact of slide-ology has been the pernicious growth in the amount of information portrayed on each slide. A friend with multiple tours in the Pentagon said a good rule of thumb in preparing a brief is to assume one slide per minute of briefing. Surprisingly, it seems to be true. Yet, even before the onslaught of the dreaded quad chart, I saw slides with up to 90 pieces of information. Presumably, some thought went into the bullets, charts, pictures and emblems portrayed on that slide, yet the vast majority of the information was completely wasted. The briefer never spoke about most of the information, and the slide was on screen for a little more than a minute. While this slide was an aberration, charts with 20 items of information portrayed in complex graphics are all too common. This gives the audience an average of three seconds to see and absorb each item of information. As if this weren't sufficient to block the transfer of information, some PowerPoint Ranger invented quad charts. For those unfamiliar with a quad chart, it is simply a Power Point slide divided into four equal quadrants and then a full slide is placed in each quadrant. If the briefer clicks on any of the four slides, it can become a full-sized slide. Why this is a good idea escapes me.

Essay: Dumb-dumb bullets (Thanks, Bill!)
Previously:


Beautiful, sustainable, *glowing* Penny Arcade conference table

Posted: 21 Jul 2009 11:11 PM PDT

Jeffrey sez, "We just finished making this fancy table for Penny Arcade. It's full of crazy teak and resin inlay, all sustainable woods, and get this: the moon center bit glows in the dark. We made it that way as a surprise, and didn't tell them about it prior! You can see it in the 'making of' video that's at the end of the blog post. To make it even better, it costs the same as a normal boring 'mid-level' large conference table from an office furniture store. Take that, Ikea and DWR.com!"

Penny Arcade themed conference table (Thanks, Jeffrey!)

Flickr set for Stitch Wars, Star Wars-theme craft show

Posted: 21 Jul 2009 07:46 PM PDT

Carrie McLaren is a guest blogger at Boing Boing and coauthor of Ad Nauseam: A Survivor's Guide to American Consumer Culture. She lives in Brooklyn, the former home of her now defunct Stay Free! magazine.

A flickr set of Stitch Wars--a Star Wars-themed craft exhibit in Lauderdale, Florida--is now online. I know shit about Star Wars, but this little blue man with the white hat and the dead ram is kinda cute. stitch-wars.jpg Link (via Daddytypes)

Video: Girl happily hula-hoops to a happy Geggy Tah track.

Posted: 21 Jul 2009 07:15 PM PDT


If the video above doesn't mellow you out, nothing will. Maddy says, "Geggy Tah has been in the news recently with a challenge over Pharrell's appropriation of their classic '90s gem 'Whoever You Are,' but this is a cute video of a gal doing a hula-hoop routine to one of their less known songs." Hooping to Geggy Tah's Holly Oak Tree.

More about charges that Clipse/Pharrell ripped off Geggy Tah's work (and the resulting lawsuit): Stereogum, Daily Swarm, TMZ, Prefix, Velvet Rope. (Thanks, Doug!)

Classic video games reimagined as backyard "off your butt" games

Posted: 21 Jul 2009 06:01 PM PDT

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Brian Crecente over at Kotaku has a terrific post up about backyard adaptations of classic video games. I can imagine playing them for lulz myself, but they're particularly cool for parents with bored kids at home on summer break:
Here, mostly for my amusement, is a collection of games meant to be enjoyed outdoors. I've taken some of my favorite video games and tried to turn them into the sorts of games you play with friends on the lawn, in a park or anywhere there's space.

Included are homages to Katamari Damacy, Super Mario Bros. Pac-Man, Space Invaders, Frogger, and Metal Gear Solid. Enjoy, but don't blame me if you break something... even a sweat.

Printable PDFs for 6 games here. Included: Katamari StickWithMe, Pac-Tag, Leapfrogger, Dodge Space Invaders, Metal Hear Hide and Sneak, and Super Hopscotch Bros. (hahahah!)

Ignite is coming to LA tonight, July 21, 2009

Posted: 21 Jul 2009 05:48 PM PDT

Ignite is in LA tonight!
200907211747Ignite captures the best of geek culture in a series of five-minute speed presentations on topics ranging from The Best Way to Buy a Car to Hacking Chocolate. Imagine that you're on stage in front of an audience of hundreds of people, doing a five-minute presentation using a slide deck that auto-forwards every 15 seconds, whether you're ready or not. What would you do? What would you say? Could you stand the pressure? Every week, find out how some of the smartest minds on the planet dealt with this situation as your host, Brady Forrest, highlights a different talk from Ignites around the world.

Brady Forrest says:

Ignite is coming to LA! As always speakers will get 20 slides that auto-advance every 15 seconds. We're going to be holding the geek event at Cinespace in Hollywood on 7/21.

This will be the first Ignite in Los Angeles; it is co-hosted by LA Geek Dinner. The LA G33k dinner was kind enough to let us take over their July dinner to host the first Ignite. LA G33k Dinner, founded by Heathervescent brings people with a passion for technology and the internet together over a meal where conversations happen, friendships form, and collaborations on various projects occur. L.A. Geek Dinner is an inclusive event. Find them on Facebook.

The event is free. We're hosting it at Cinespace on July 21:

6:30pm Geek Dinner starts

8pm-9:30 Ignite talks

10pm Cinespace opens to the eneral public for Dim Mak (you're welcome to stay for the band)

While the event is free, you are responsible for paying for your own food/drinks from Cinespace if you want 'em. Please RSVP to the Geek Dinner list on Upcoming.

Ignite LA is being organized by Brady Forrest, Matt Forrest, Dan Gould, and Heathervescent. If you're not familiar with Ignite check out some videos on the Ignite Show.



EFF's Surveillance Self-Defense International: 6 tips for protecting free speech

Posted: 21 Jul 2009 05:52 PM PDT

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has just published "Surveillance Self-Defense International: 6 Ideas For Those Needing Defensive Technology to Protect Free Speech from Authoritarian Regimes and 4 Ways the Rest of Us Can Help."

Here's a snip from the introduction:

effpng.jpgThe Internet remains one of the most powerful means ever created to give voice to repressed people around the world. Unfortunately, new technologies have also given authoritarian regimes new means to identify and retaliate against those who speak out despite censorship and surveillance. Below are six basic ideas for those attempting to speak without falling victim to authoritarian surveillance and censorship, and four ideas for the rest of us who want to help support them.
The document is also available as a PDF.

Shaq at the Shaolin Temple

Posted: 21 Jul 2009 05:45 PM PDT

17908307.jpg Though that might have made a great Wu-Tang album title, it is simply an explanation of what you're seeing in the delightfully surreal snapshot above, TwitPic'd by @THE_REAL_SHAQ himself. Along with that photo, he texted:
Ive been alotta place but being at the shaolin temple n china has brouhht a tear to my eye buddha blessed
Reverent salutations to you, Mr. O'Neal.

John Hodgman: Seven roles in which he'd have been swell.

Posted: 21 Jul 2009 05:25 PM PDT

Yahoo launches new home page, now with more Boing Boing!

Posted: 21 Jul 2009 05:17 PM PDT

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We are delighted to see that the new Yahoo front door design (previously code-named Metro) has gone live today, with Boing Boing as one of the featured content partners. You can add Boing Boing, Boing Boing Gadgets, BB Video, and Offworld feeds to your My Yahoo home page with a couple of easy clicks. Woohoo, Yahoo! (Special thanks to the Yahoo team who added Boing Boing to the revamped mix.)

RIP "Baby Paul" Cullen: Dogtown, Z-Boy, youngest member of the original Zephyr skate team.

Posted: 21 Jul 2009 01:58 PM PDT

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Today on the way to my office in Venice Beach, I saw the following words spray-painted on the wall outside of a local skateboard shop: "RIP, Baby Paul."

Skate/punk/hip-hop photographer Glen E. Friedman last night posted the very sad news about the untimely passing of an early skateboard culture icon: Paul "Baby Paul" Cullen is reported to have died of a heroin overdose this week, though his surviving family have not confirmed cause of death. He leaves behind a child. His brother, Brian Cullen, sends word that those who mourn his death are invited to attend a memorial service at Saint Monica's Catholic Church in Santa Monica, CA, this Saturday at 1030am.

Friedman photographed "Baby Paul" in the 1970s as the young skater ascended to fame. He describes what it was like to see Paul in New York a few summers ago, some 25 years later. He was not well.

He was here for only a few days with his girlfriend and new baby, and he was in sad shape. I felt really bad about seeing him like this, Since I didn't have change I gave him $20 instead of the $10 he asked for. We spent less than 15 minutes talking on a street corner. When I got home, i told my wife that night i'd probably never hear from him ever again. I never did.

He was several years younger than me. He was like a mascot for the original Zephyr team, he was a shredder, the original mini-shredder (before Bella Horvath, before Eric Dressen, before "Mini-Shred"). Photogenic, energetic, and a pure menace to society (I say that in the most admiring way).

We talked off and on over the years, like you do with people you've known for a long time that you do remain in touch with even if it's only rare. Particularly after the DogTown documentary came out but also a lot since i included a photo of him across the title page in The Idealist. I tried to encourage him to make amends with some of those he had trampled over, to clean up, or stay sober, but for someone like me it's never easy.
Read the full blog post, with comments from friends and family, and view more early photos of Paul Cullen by Glen Friedman.

Related thread at surfermag here.

Prominent Black professor arrested for entering own home while Black

Posted: 21 Jul 2009 01:34 PM PDT

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Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr., director of the W.E.B. DuBois Institute for African and African American Studies, was recently arrested at his own home in Cambridge, Mass. when a neighbor called the cops, presuming him and the also-not-white man he was with to be burglars. Gates described the incident as part of a "racial narrative" playing out in a biased criminal justice system. In this Washington Post article, he explains what happened. Gates was arriving home after a trip to China where he is working on a documentary film, and found the lock to his house had been tampered with. The Moroccan driver who had driven him home from the airport helped him push the door in.

Gates's home is owned by Harvard so he picked up the phone to call the university's real estate maintenance office. Before he could finish the conversation, a police officer was standing on his porch and asking him to come out of the house.

"Instinctively, I knew I was not to step outside," Gates said, describing the officer's tone as threatening. Gates said the policeman, who was in his 30s and several inches taller than him, followed him into his kitchen where Gates retrieved his identification.

"I was thinking, this is ridiculous, but I'm going to show him my ID, and this guy is going to get out of my house," Gates said. "This guy had this whole narrative in his head. Black guy breaking and entering."

After handing the officer both his Harvard and Massachusetts state identification, which included his address, Gates said he began to ask the officer this question, repeatedly. "I said 'Who are you? I want your name and badge number.' I got angry."

According to Gates's account, the officer refused to give it. The police report says, however, that the officer identified himself. "I weigh 150 lbs and I'm 5' 7''. I'm going to give flack to a big white guy with a gun. I might wolf later, but I won't wolf then."

But Gates did keep asking for the officer's name and said he began to feel humiliated when his question was ignored. He then said: "This is what happens to black men in America."

Gates Says He Is Outraged by Arrest at Cambridge Home

Gates is also founder of the Root.com, which is owned by The Washington Post. (via Ned Sublette)

Flashback to 1933: US ad industry digs Hitler

Posted: 21 Jul 2009 01:35 PM PDT

Carrie McLaren is a guest blogger at Boing Boing and coauthor of Ad Nauseam: A Survivor's Guide to American Consumer Culture. She lives in Brooklyn, the former home of her now defunct Stay Free! magazine.

hitler-on-advg.jpg
It's pretty well-known that Hitler and his propaganda minister, Paul Joseph Goebbels, looked to American advertising for inspiration. What I didn't realize was how proud the advertising industry was about it. In its July 20, 1933, issue, Printers' Ink, one of the lead advertising trade journals of its time, speaks approvingly of Hitler's methods:

[Hitler] has depended almost entirely upon slogans made effective by reiteration, made general by American advertising methods...[S]logans on billboards and newspapers and in publications of national circulation have made a new Germany which has raised much excitement, made many changes.

Many changes, indeed. And many more to come!

It continues:

"As is well known, the word propaganda in Germany is used synonymously with the word advertising. Although in this country and in Great Britain propaganda has the unfortunate connotation of being free instead of being paid for, this distinction does not exist in Germany."

Ah, yes, that unfortunate connotation of freedom! Interesting that this is the only negative connotation of "propaganda" at this time. In fact, the (American) author makes sure to point out that in the Hitler speech that follows the word "propaganda" should be read as "advertising." Apparently, the trade mag wants credit for schooling the Führer.

The article then goes on to quote Hitler at length talking about something that Americans who worked in advertising at the time already believed: that the masses are morons who respond only to simple messages repeated thousands of times (a perspective I discuss at length in my book).

Seventy-some years later, this belief is as popular with the powers that be as it was in 1933. Which, if nothing else, provides a shred of evidence connecting the makers of the Head-On commercial to the Nazis.

Official video for "88 Lines About 44 Women"

Posted: 21 Jul 2009 01:16 PM PDT


Marc Campbell of The Nails made a video of his song "88 Lines About 44 Women."

In the 30 years since 88 LINES ABOUT 44 WOMEN was first recorded there has never been a video version authorized by THE NAILS. Of the dozens of videos on youtube that pay homage to the song, this is the only version created by a member of the band, me. So, here's the world premier of 88 LINES the video. Hope you enjoy it. I had fun making it.
It was worth the wait!

The video is NSFW in a 1950s National Geographic sort of way.

(Via Dangerous Minds)

World's Greatest Internet Freakout Contest (win a microwave)

Posted: 21 Jul 2009 01:16 PM PDT


Videogum.com Senior Editor Gabriel Delahaye says,

You know that kid who posted a video on-line about a month ago of his brother having a freakout because their mom suspended his World of Warcraft account? Well, that was a pretty good freakout, sure, but since then the two of them have posted four more freakouts. FAKE. And if you're going to post a fake freakout, then the freakout should really be a lot better. These guys have not stepped their game up. And I think the title of World's Greatest Freakout is being used a little loosely by them. They are teenagers just trying to have fun, sure, but they should be more careful. With words.

That is why we are hosting the World's Greatest Freakout Contest.

Let's beat that kid at his own game. Winner gets a microwave.

Secrets of the injection moulder

Posted: 21 Jul 2009 01:10 PM PDT

Here's a fascinating post on the IDSA Materials and Processes blog about the things you can learn about injection moulding from studying the "ejection marks" on the surface of plastic objects:

So I noticed the marks on the lid of my mother-in-law's trash can and thought about what that says about how this part was made and how this might be something an industrial designer would need to understand. What I was looking at was the ejection mark placed on an angled surface. Because this large HDPE (high-density polyethylene) part will be somewhat soft when it is ejected or pushed out of the mold, the molder needed to be able to bear on several points close to the perimeter of the part (because just pushing on the middle would probably permanently distort the warm part).

Further inspection of this part also showed that the gates (injection points for the part) was on the underside, or opposite side of the part, which told me that the part probably rode back with the moving half of the mold and then was ejected after the side action (see the lip used to lift the lid?) retracted.

What's That?: Ejection Mark On Angled Surface (via Beyond the Beyond)

Scenes from an oxytocin party

Posted: 21 Jul 2009 01:20 PM PDT

Oxytocinparty

I don't know if this is real or not, but here is a video of a purported oxytocin party, where people take tablets of oxytocin, the love and trust hormone.

Oxytocin has been in the press quite a bit in the last few years with nicknames like the bonding hormone, the trust hormone and the cuddle drug. Many studies have expanded our knowledge of the effects of oxytocin beyond its most known synthetic form Pitocin, given to induce labor in pregnant women.

Literally translated in Greek to "quick birth," the neurotransmitter oxytocin (ox-ee-TOE-sin) is naturally released in women's bodies during childbirth, breastfeeding, nipple stimulation and orgasm. It is found in equal amounts in both men and women but its affects are felt more by women because of their levels of estrogen and prolactin, which increase the effects. Testosterone in men has the opposite effect, in turn negating many of the effects of oxytocin.

Its presence in the body is associated with an increase in recognizing facial cues, bonding, the reduction of anxiety and an overall increase in levels of trust. As part of its anti-anxiety effects, it also helps relax and reduce blood pressure and cortisol levels. In men's, oxytocin may facilitate healthy erections and sperm ejaculation.

Oxytocin Party (Via Dose Nation)

NASA secretly launched a moon rock into space to celebrate lunar landing's 40th

Posted: 21 Jul 2009 01:09 PM PDT

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Robert Pearlman of collectspace.com says, "Forty years to the day after it was found and collected by Neil Armstrong, a moon rock is helping NASA mark the anniversary of the first lunar landing from on-board a perch that is closer than any Apollo-returned lunar sample has ever come to its original home."

Full story on Robert's blog here. Image above: The Apollo 11 moon rock, seen here before its launch, is now on the International Space Station. (Credit: NASA/collectSPACE).

A Johnny 5 Painting with Scrolling Text

Posted: 21 Jul 2009 11:36 AM PDT

Jason Torchinsky is a guest blogger on Boing Boing. Jason has a book out now, Ad Nauseam: A Survivor's Guide to American Consumer Culture. He lives in Los Angeles, where he is a tinkerer and artist and writes for the Onion News Network. He lives with a common-law wife, five animals, too many old cars, and a shed full of crap.

You don't see too many Johnny 5/El Debarge paintings around, right? I made one a while back I thought you might like to see-- it incorporates some LED scrolling text, which I think has been absent from painting for far too long.



UK cops threaten to bust woman who videos her boyfriend's search on terrorism charges

Posted: 21 Jul 2009 11:11 AM PDT

Richard sez, "A woman was handcuffed, detained and threatened with arrest for filming officers on her mobile phone - who abused the abysmal UK terrorism laws."
Atkinson's mobile phone recorded part of the incident at Aldgate East underground station on 25 March, one month after Section 58(a) - a controversial amendment to the Terrorism Act - came into force, making it illegal to photograph a police officer if the images are considered "likely to be useful" to a terrorist...

The opening part of the mobile phone clip shows two uniformed police officers searching her boyfriend, Fred Grace, 28, by a wall in the station. Atkinson said she felt that police had unfairly targeted Grace, who did not have drugs in his possession, and decided to film the officers in order to hold them to account.

Seconds later, an undercover officer wearing jeans and a black jacket enters the shot, and asks Atkinson: "Do you realise it is an offence under the Terrorism Act to film police officers?" He then adds: "Can you show me what you you just filmed?"

Atkinson stopped filming and placed her phone in her pocket. According to her account of the incident, which was submitted to the Independent Police Complaints Commission that night, the officer tried several times to forcefully grab the phone from her pocket.

Failing to get the phone, he called over two female undercover officers from nearby. Atkinson said he told the women: "This young lady had been filming me and the other officers and it's against the law. Her phone is in her right jacket pocket and I'm trying to get it..."

A second female officer approached her and said, incorrectly: "Look, your boyfriend's just been arrested for drugs, so I suggest you do as we say."

Atkinson claims the male undercover officer who initially approached her repeatedly threatened her with arrest, stating: "We believe you filmed us and that's against the law so we need to check your phone." When Atkinson protested, the officer replied: "I don't want to see myself all over the internet."

After officers made calls to the police station, possibly for legal advice on the situation, the handcuffs were removed and Atkinson was released.

She said the officers walked away - all but one of them refused to identify themselves to her.

Woman 'detained' for filming police search launches high court challenge (Thanks, Richard!)
Previously:


Lego Microtome biological specimen slicer

Posted: 21 Jul 2009 01:30 PM PDT



A microtome is a small machine that biologists use to slice specimens into very thin sections to examine under a microscope. Instructables user lemonie made his own out of Lego! In this video demo, the device cuts garlic in slices just 250 microns thick. That's about twice as thick as a human hair. Seems like the Lego Microtome could be scaled up for slicing paper-thin prosciutto! Lego Microtome (Thanks, Christy Canida!)

"Pop Music" performed by popping balloons

Posted: 21 Jul 2009 10:46 AM PDT

Ross Harris says: "My daughter and I made a video / song using only balloons and helium."

Terrific. I wanted it to be longer.

New research on shark repellents

Posted: 21 Jul 2009 10:47 AM PDT

Chemist Eric Stroud is the proprietor of SharkDefense, a company that develops new shark repellents. His aim is to protect sharks from people, keeping them away from trawling nets and fishing lines. Apparently, approximately 12 million sharks are accidentally ensnared each year. Some of Stroud's experimental repellents are extracted dead sharks themselves. The odor, which smells like stinky feet, is quite abhorrent to the sharks. From Smithsonian:
500 Sdlogo1 Magnets made from iron, boron and neodymium are another promising repellent being developed by SharkDefense. Eric Stroud discovered their repellent potential by accident. According to Stroud, he and colleague Michael Hermann were playing with magnets near a research tank containing lemon and nurse sharks. After spotting a broken pump, Stroud set a magnet down on the tank's side, and the sharks took off. He thinks that the magnets may overload the sharks' Ampullae of Lorenzini. These tiny pits found along a shark's head are used to detect faint electrical signals emitted by prey, in the same way a doctor uses an EKG to detect the electricity generated by your pumping heart. The magnets are unlikely to cause pain, says Richard Brill, a SharkDefense collaborator at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. He and others hypothesize that it's equivalent to a bright flash of light. You wince because it's overloading the visual receptors in your eyes. "It's the same idea with the sharks, except it's overloading these electrical receptors, " Brill says. Stroud has been using stationary magnets so far, but he also sees potential in spinning magnets, which generate a greater magnetic field.

Stroud and his team are also working with electropositive metals, which produce a current when placed in seawater and also possibly affect sharks' electromagnetic sense organs. Scientists are testing the metal repellents as a solution for the dogfish bycatch problem. Researchers found that the metals, when attached to fishing lines, reduced shark bycatch by 17 percent in Alaskan fisheries. But when the experiment was repeated in the Gulf of Maine, the results were negligible. "We think the dogfish are just going after two different preys," says Stroud, who is completing a Ph.D. in chemistry at Seton Hall University. Rice speculates that the metals may not affect Northeast dogfish because the sharks are using smell more than their Ampullae of Lorenzini to detect prey.
"Stopping Sharks by Blasting Their Senses"

Piglet with monkey face

Posted: 21 Jul 2009 10:35 AM PDT

Here's another photo of the mutant pig with the "monkey face" that I posted about last year. From the London Paper:
Monkeypigggg The bizarre animal also has rear legs which are much longer than its forelegs, causing it to jump like a kangaroo instead of walk.

At the time, locals flocked to the home of Feng Changlin when news of the piglet spread in Fengzhang village.

"It's hideous. No one will be willing to buy it, and it scares the family to even look at it!" Feng said.
"Pig born with the face of a monkey" (via Fortean Times)
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