The Latest from Boing Boing |  |
- British Airways adds a "fly next to your children" fee
- Nabokov Edits Kafka's Metamorphosis
- Twist Barbie
- Storm-sewer dwellers of Las Vegas
- Anti-Cthulhu PSA for young netizens
- Al Franken reads the Fourth Amendment to DoJ official at PATRIOT Act hearings
- Plants Vs Zombies fan-video
- Daily photos of a healthy cervix for one month
- Rocket-shaped air blower for removing dust
- Bravo Gustavo, an excuse to wave your iPhone around like a conductor's baton
- Dramatic Tweets
- Spike Jonze Loves You So
- Put a satellite into orbit for $8,000
- Hobbit advance payment fraud letter
- Brain wave specs made from kit
- Love to Love You Bradys: The Bizarre Story of The Brady Bunch Variety Hour
- Iron Melies Moon fence yields teachable moment
- Pro-literacy fundraiser sf/f anthology: LAST DRINK BIRD HEAD
- Augmented iPhone app shows you crappy fast food joints
- 30 Mosques Gets 1-Up'd
- Miruko: Wearable eyeball robot interface
- 500 Pound Planet: Chapter Three
- Magritte painting swiped in daylight heist
- Comics in the Classroom
| British Airways adds a "fly next to your children" fee Posted: 25 Sep 2009 01:29 AM PDT British Airways has broken new exciting new ground in the race to make flying as awful as possible: they have announced a fee (ranging from £10-60 per passenger) for advance seat selection, explaining that this will be the only way that families and other groups travelling together can be assured that they'll be sitting next to each other. I wonder what happens if you don't pay it while flying with a two-year-old in her own seat; do they seat her at the other end of the plane from you and explain to the strangers on either side of her that they're responsible for her well-being for the duration? Best part: BA is billing this as a way of improving the flight "experience" because you can now be certain you'll get the seat that you want. War is peace, love is hate, the airline industry cares about passengers. A BA spokeswoman said: "Customers frequently request specific seats, but in the past we've only been able to confirm them 24 hours in advance or on the day.British Airways sets seat charges |
| Nabokov Edits Kafka's Metamorphosis Posted: 24 Sep 2009 11:17 PM PDT |
| Posted: 24 Sep 2009 10:42 PM PDT Not sure if this is Shonen Knife playing "Twist Barbie" but I like it. |
| Storm-sewer dwellers of Las Vegas Posted: 24 Sep 2009 10:48 PM PDT The UK Sun (an admittedly sensationalist source) claims that hundreds of people are living in the storm sewers beneath Las Vegas, scraping by on coins left in slot machines. The underground community is documented in a recent book called Beneath the Neon. Lost Vegas (Thanks, Bas!) (Image: AUSTIN HARGRAVE) |
| Anti-Cthulhu PSA for young netizens Posted: 24 Sep 2009 10:07 PM PDT  I don't know anything about this PSA advising young people to stay away from chat rooms lest the cute boy on the other end turn out to be Cthulhu, waiting to take their sanity, but I certainly support its message. |
| Al Franken reads the Fourth Amendment to DoJ official at PATRIOT Act hearings Posted: 24 Sep 2009 10:05 PM PDT Al Franken's Senate career just keeps on getting better: this week he read the Fourth Amendment ("no Warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.") aloud to a high-ranking Department of Justice official who was making the case for renewing the PATRIOT Act's provision for roving wiretaps. "That's pretty explicit language," noted Franken, asking Kris how the "roving wiretap" provision of the Patriot Act can meet that requirement if it doesn't require the government to name its target.Al Franken Reads the 4th Amendment to Justice Department Official (via Greg Laden) Previously: |
| Posted: 24 Sep 2009 10:02 PM PDT Here is an absolutely adorkable fan-video for Plants vs Zombies by some talented Australian plants and zombies. A Lawn Defence at Any Hour (via Wonderland) Previously: |
| Daily photos of a healthy cervix for one month Posted: 24 Sep 2009 10:00 PM PDT  I love the citizen science motivation behind this doula/student midwife's project to photograph her cervix every day through one entire month: "to better understand my cycle and the changes in my cervix throughout the month." Beautiful Cervix Project (Thanks, Fipi Lele!) |
| Rocket-shaped air blower for removing dust Posted: 24 Sep 2009 02:47 PM PDT  I've never used Giottos Rocket Blaster. I just like the way it looks. From Cool Tools: This rubber rocket doesn't provide as much pressure as Dust-Off. But it does exhale a forceful-enough blast for dusting photo/electronic gear, and standing upright on its base sidelines as playful desk dressing/stress-relief toy. I squeeze the oblong bladder (the rocket's body) and a burst of air entering through a hole at the bottom exits the narrow hard plastic red nozzle. |
| Bravo Gustavo, an excuse to wave your iPhone around like a conductor's baton Posted: 24 Sep 2009 02:39 PM PDT  The LA Philharmonic has a brand new Guitar Hero-inspired conducting game that lets you pretend to be music director Gustavo Dudamel. It's available on iPhone and on the Web. |
| Posted: 24 Sep 2009 02:49 PM PDT Bassam Tariq is a Boing Boing guestblogger who is the co-author of 30 Mosques. A blog that celebrated the NYC mosques during the Islamic month of Ramadan. He currently resides in Harlem, New York. A dramatic reading of tweets. The guy reading Lohan is the best. Who do you think should be read next? (thanks James, No You First) |
| Posted: 24 Sep 2009 02:53 PM PDT Bassam Tariq is a Boing Boing guestblogger who is the co-author of 30 Mosques. A blog that celebrated the NYC mosques during the Islamic month of Ramadan. He currently resides in Harlem, New York.
Is anyone here following We Love You So? A blog Spike Jonze and Co. set up giving us a nice glimpse into all the little insights and influences that helped bring Where The Wild Things Are to life. The photo above is from their Where the Wild Things Ought To Be Contest, a cute photoshop competition that has some really clever entries. Ch ch check it out- http://weloveyouso.com |
| Put a satellite into orbit for $8,000 Posted: 24 Sep 2009 01:03 PM PDT  R.U. Sirius interviewed Randa Milliron, CEO of Interorbital Systems, "a 'rocket and spacecraft manufacturing company' that locates itself at the Mojave Airport and Spaceport in Mojave, California. They recently announced that they were offering to send people's personal satellites into low-earth orbit on a NEPTUNE 30 rocket for the low low low cost of $8,000." |
| Hobbit advance payment fraud letter Posted: 24 Sep 2009 12:04 PM PDT Stephen sez, "In re-reading the Hobbit, I realized that the opening chapters made it sound like Thorin was running a con. From there, I wondered what Thorin's pitch would look like if it were a modern con, which resulted in me writing a Nigerian 419 fraud letter for the Hobbit." Dear MR BAGGINS, Fellow Conspirator,Hobbit 419 |
| Brain wave specs made from kit Posted: 24 Sep 2009 11:55 AM PDT  I really like the way George's brain machine spectacles turned out! (More pics here.) He built them using Mitch Altman's Brain Machine Kit, available from Maker Shed. |
| Love to Love You Bradys: The Bizarre Story of The Brady Bunch Variety Hour Posted: 24 Sep 2009 11:50 AM PDT Susan Olsen, who played Cindy ("the youngest one in curls") will be signing copies of her new book, Love to Love You Bradys: The Bizarre Story of The Brady Bunch Variety Hour, at the Santa Monica Public Library on September 26 at 1pm. Derek Thomas of the LA Weekly calls The Brady Bunch Variety Hour "one of most hallucinogenically bad variety shows to have ever aired on television." Susan Olsen ... tells all in Love to Love You Bradys: The Bizarre Story of The Brady Bunch Variety Hour — including how Maureen McCormick was constantly coked up and why Robert Reed was totally okay with dressing up as Carmen Miranda.Susan Olsen booksigning in Santa Monica |
| Iron Melies Moon fence yields teachable moment Posted: 24 Sep 2009 09:11 PM PDT  Jeff sez, An iron fence on W. 21st St. in New York depicts the classic image of a rocket crashing into the Man in the Moon from Melies' 1902 pioneering science fiction film, Le Voyage dans la Lune (A Trip to the Moon).Melies Moon Fence (Thanks, Jeff!) |
| Pro-literacy fundraiser sf/f anthology: LAST DRINK BIRD HEAD Posted: 24 Sep 2009 12:32 PM PDT Jeff VanderMeer sez, LAST DRINK BIRD HEAD FOR CHARITY: Party, Pre-Orders, Awards, and More (Thanks, Jeff!) |
| Augmented iPhone app shows you crappy fast food joints Posted: 24 Sep 2009 11:01 AM PDT  Bionic Eye is a $0.99 augmented reality app for the iPhone to help you find fast "food" chain restaurants. From Cult of Mac: Designed for the iPhone 3GS, Bionic Eye is an augmented reality app that overlays information about nearby points of interest over the iPhone's camera. Hold the camera up to the building in front of you, and thanks the iPhone's GPS and compass, the screen is overlaid with little virtual signs that say what's inside. It also includes virtual signposts showing the way to the nearest subway station or Starbucks coffee shop.Bionic Eye iPhone App Points the Way To the Nearest Hooters |
| Posted: 24 Sep 2009 08:13 AM PDT Aman Ali, a BoingBoing guest blogger, is the co-author of 30 Mosques, a Ramadan adventure taking him to a different mosque in New York City every day for a month.  For the month of Ramadan, my friend Bassam and I gave you guys an insight into how Muslims across the United States observe Ramadan with our project 30 Mosques in 30 Days. But Iranian-American Jason Rezaian gives an interesting and critical look at Muslims observing Ramadan in five predominantly Muslim countries. Rezaian talks about how local cultures can sometimes twist Islam's religious practices. Take his Dubai story for example: Dubai tends toward gluttony every month of the year, but during Ramadan, things are even more over the top, with nearly every eating establishment offering an Iftar fast-breaking gut-buster at sundown. It's Dubai doing what it does best: using its limited resources for its own commercial advantage. Even American fast-food outlets in Dubai offer Ramadan Value Meals, usually adding a dessert to the already calorie-packed meal deal. At the Dubai Mall, McDonald's was the only major international food chain that didn't have a special offer, just a banner that read: "Ramadan Kareem"--"Happy Ramadan."Slate: My Ramadan World Tour |
| Miruko: Wearable eyeball robot interface Posted: 24 Sep 2009 10:38 AM PDT Everybody needs a robot eye on their sleeve to look out for invisible monsters. "Miruko," a wearable eyeball-shaped robot with a built-in camera and wi-fi capabilities, is designed to augment human perception by sensing and reacting to objects that cannot be seen with the naked eye.Miruko: Wearable eyeball robot interface |
| 500 Pound Planet: Chapter Three Posted: 24 Sep 2009 05:01 PM PDT Jesse Brown, a BoingBoing guest blogger, is the host of TVO's Search Engine podcast. Professional animators script, record, and "lock" audio before animating a frame. Josh Dolgin and I are not professional animators. We wanted 500 Pound Planet to have a loose, improvisatory feel. So we decided on a general plot outline, a handful of settings and scenes and a cast of characters. For each character, we animated a number of facial expressions, hand gestures and lip-positions, so that we could figure out what they're saying at any point and drop it in. This "worked" in a sense, but also made for a lot of crazy, since everything was infinitely malleable. We could always record more, tweak a line, second-guess a plot point- whatever. The process became so maddening that we bickered constantly over every detail and bit by bit, that's what the film became about- our spiteful, imploding "marriage", which we kept alive for the sake of the children- our deformed, clay puppet kids. Enjoy! Previously: 500 Pound Planet: Prelude 500 Pound Planet: Chapter One 500 Pound Planet: Chapter Two |
| Magritte painting swiped in daylight heist Posted: 24 Sep 2009 08:12 AM PDT  Two armed thieves entered the Musée Magritte in Brussels at 10am this morning and made off with surrealist René Magritte's Olympia, valued at £3 million. One of the thieves rang the bell and asked to be let in. When he entered he pulled a gun and ordered the woman who answered the door to let his accomplice in. A policeman said: "There were three museum workers inside at the time and two Japanese tourists. All five of them were ordered out the back and told to keep quiet by the man with the gun. "In the museum the other person stole the painting and they both made good their escape. They seemed to know which painting they wanted to steal - they took the whole painting off the wall, including the frame." What usually happens to stolen paintings? Do the thieves hold them for ransom, do they sell them to private collectors who have secret museums in the homes, or what? |
| Posted: 24 Sep 2009 06:20 AM PDT Jesse Brown, a BoingBoing guest blogger, is the host of TVO's Search Engine podcast. When I was a kid I was often reprimanded and sometimes even kicked out of class for drawing comics in school. Now, research has shown that comics are a great way to turbo-charge literacy in reluctant readers (especially in boys), and comics are suddenly being welcomed into classrooms all over the world. With this in mind, my partners at Bitstrips and I have developed Bitstrips for Schools, an educational comic-making service. We piloted it last spring in a handful of Ontario classrooms, and the kids went crazy for it, creating almost 3000 comic strips in six weeks time (see video). Their creativity has astounded me, as have the incredibly cool and dedicated teachers I've had the chance to work with (link). Bitstrips for Schools has since been licensed by the Ontario Ministry of Education, which means that 2 million kids now have at their fingertips the tools to make their own comics. We also just introduced a "self-serve" option that lets teachers outside of Ontario buy cheap one-classroom licenses. So yes, in interests of full disclosure, this is a plug for a website I have an interest in. But it's also a website I'm super proud to be a part of! |
What Is Last Drink Bird Head? That's the catalyst editors Ann and Jeff VanderMeer provided to over 80 writers in creating this unique anthology, with all proceeds going to ProLiteracy.org. All each writer got was an email with "Last Drink Bird Head" in the subject line and the directions "Who or what is Last Drink Bird Head? Under 500 words." Like any surrealist writing game, it either sparked a response or it didn't. | You are subscribed to email updates from Boing Boing To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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