The Latest from Boing Boing |  |
- Brits: sign petition to kill three-strikes law
- Augmented reality rig that turns you into a character in a third-person game
- Sex advice from D&D players
- Redhead 12-year-old assaulted over Facebook message citing South Park episode?
- The Glenn Beck Party?
- Fantastic faux-floor illusions
- Thus you shall go to the stars: Michæl Paukner
- Hugo Chavez, cannibalism apologist
- Witch bottle from the 18th century
- Video: Lady Gaga before she became famous
- Heroes and sociopaths: behavioral twins?
- Traffic cameras used to harass and limit movement of peaceful protestors
- Saturday Morning Science Experiment: Microwave Lava
- Owner of trendy Manhattan restaurant Paradou plumbs new depths of evil bad-bossitude
| Brits: sign petition to kill three-strikes law Posted: 22 Nov 2009 05:04 AM PST Britons: here's a petition to the Prime Minister to abolish the new Digital Economy bill's provisions that will require ISPs to cut off your household's internet access if anyone living there (or using your network) is accused of three acts of copyright infringement: This petition has been set up in response to the Government's proposal to cut off internet access to those who are caught illegally downloading copyrighted files. We think this has one fundamental flaw, as illegal filesharers will simply hack into other peoples WiFi networks to do their dirty work. This will result in innocent people being disconnected from the internet. What's more, such a punishment should be dealt with in the proper way, in a court of law. This guilty until proven innocent approach violates basic human rights. Tell your friends. Previously:
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| Augmented reality rig that turns you into a character in a third-person game Posted: 22 Nov 2009 04:59 AM PST Marc Owens's augmented reality project "Avatar Machine" puts its users in VR helmets that display the world around them as though they were playing a third-person game, so that their own body is seen from behind. Owens theorizes that "The system potentially allows for a diminished sense of social responsibility, and could lead the user to demonstrate behaviors normally reserved for the gaming environment." Avatar Machine (via Beyond the Beyond) Previously:
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| Posted: 22 Nov 2009 04:54 AM PST Nerve is running "Sex Advice From Dungeons & Dragons Players," answering questions about RPGs, role-playing, and finding mating opportunities among the nerdy. It's a delight. Sex Advice From Dungeons & Dragons Players (Thanks, Fipi Lele!) Previously:
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| Redhead 12-year-old assaulted over Facebook message citing South Park episode? Posted: 21 Nov 2009 05:18 PM PST LA County detectives are investigating an assault on on a 12-year-old boy which may have been incited by a Facebook group message referencing a 2005 South Park episode. "The boy was kicked and hit in two separate incidents (...) by as many as 14 of his classmates." The attack followed a Facebook message promoting that date as Kick a Ginger Day." Sadly, not the first time for such stupidity. |
| Posted: 21 Nov 2009 03:13 PM PST Fox News spokesdouche Glenn Beck is seeking a more direct role in American politics, though it sounds mostly like a clever marketing campaign: "He will promote voter registration drives and sponsor a series of conventions across the country featuring conservative speakers, all leading up to a rally in Washington in August to coincide with the release of his book on conservative proposals for the country." |
| Fantastic faux-floor illusions Posted: 21 Nov 2009 04:45 PM PST   I was reading a Cool Tools review of a company that puts any image on blinds, wallpaper, or flooring, and one of the comments led me to some fantastic illusions made using photo prints on the floor. More info on the bathroom floor and elevator from the Amazing Illusions blog. UPDATE: Turns out the bathroom was for a Photoshop contest and so, is faux. I hope somebody makes it real though! (Thanks, Dean Putney!) |
| Thus you shall go to the stars: Michæl Paukner Posted: 21 Nov 2009 01:44 PM PST  Sic itur ad astra = Latin for "thus you shall go to the stars". Yet another beautiful work from artist Michæl Paukner. "I used some scans of old astronomy maps from the 17th century," he says. You can buy prints of his work now! I want the Aztec Calendar print so bad. And Luna, too. I want every single one he's selling, but then I'll need to buy some more wall space, too.
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| Hugo Chavez, cannibalism apologist Posted: 21 Nov 2009 12:52 PM PST Is Bruce Vilanch writing for Hugo Chavez now? 'Cause the Venezuelan leader's comedy material is pretty good lately: now he's a cannibalism apologist. In a recent speech, Chavez praised Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe, Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and the late Ugandan dictator Idi "Butcher of Uganda" Amin. Said Chavez: "We thought he was a cannibal... I don't know, maybe he was a great nationalist, a patriot." (thanks Antinous) |
| Witch bottle from the 18th century Posted: 21 Nov 2009 01:11 PM PST  Above is an 18th century "witch bottle," used to fend off evil spirits. Discovered at a construction site in the London borough of Greenwich, this example is particularly rare because it's still corked. Retired chemistry professor Dr. Alan Massey analyzed the bottle and its curious contents. From Fortean Times: (The bottle) contained 12 bent iron nails (one of which pierced a small leather heart), eight brass pins, 10 adult fingernail pairings (sic) (not from a manual worker, but a person "of some social standing"), a quantity of hair and urine with traces of nicotine, indicating it had come from a smoker. There were also traces of sulphur, then known as brimstone, and what is thought to be navel fluff. The brimstone recalled the passage in Revelation where the beast and the false prophet were "cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone"."Discovery of witch bottle used to drive away evil spells"
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| Video: Lady Gaga before she became famous Posted: 21 Nov 2009 01:46 PM PST In this video clip from New York University's annual talent show four years ago, Stefani Germanotta — aka Lady Gaga — performs two songs she wrote herself. She came in third place. At the end of her performance, one of the judges says: "Norah Jones, look out!" Little did she know that Lady Gaga would not be making Norah Jones-ish music at all. After the jump, a music video from her new album, The Fame Monster, which comes out Monday.
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| Heroes and sociopaths: behavioral twins? Posted: 21 Nov 2009 08:41 AM PST Behaviorally speaking, heroes and serial do-gooders have a lot in common with sociopaths, according to this paper on psychology and neuroethics: "their personality traits are very similar, with only a few features to distinguish them." |
| Traffic cameras used to harass and limit movement of peaceful protestors Posted: 21 Nov 2009 05:14 AM PST Britain is full of license-plate cameras, cameras used to send you tickets if you're caught speeding, or driving in the bus-lane, or entering London's "congestion-charge zone" without paying the daily fee for driving in central London. And because of Chekhov's first law of narrative ("a gun on the mantelpiece in act one will go off by act three"), the police have decided to also use these cameras as a surveillance tool, to "catch terrorists" (and other bad guys). So any police officer can add any license number to the database of "people of interest" and every time that license plate passes a camera, the local police force will receive an urgent alert, and can pull over the car, detain the driver, and search the car and its passengers under the Terrorism Act. And, of course, police officers are less than discriminating about who they add to this list. For example, "Catt, 50, and her 84-year-old father, John" were added to the list because a police officer noticed their van at three protest demonstrations. And now Catt and John get pulled over by the police and searched as terrorists. Environmental activists tend to be pretty forgiving of license-plate cameras, because they're a critical piece of congestion-charge systems that charge people money for driving instead of using public transit. This kind of regressive tax (the £10 charge in London is a pittance and no disincentive to the wealthy, and is crippling to the marginal and the poor) is also much beloved by the law-and-economics crowd, who assume that rational consumers will all be equally disincentivized by a little friction in the system. But congestion charges require license plate cameras, and license plate cameras are an enormous piece of artillery to hand to the world's police, who are increasingly pants-wettingly afraid of any sort of public protest -- including environmental protests. I support reducing driving as much as the next green, but environmental change will require lots of protest, and that protest will get exponentially harder with the growth of the traffic cameras that are absolutely integral to congestion charge schemes. Activists repeatedly stopped and searched as police officers 'mark' cars (via Beyond the Beyond) (Image: control, a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike photo from Secret London's photo stream) |
| Saturday Morning Science Experiment: Microwave Lava Posted: 21 Nov 2009 11:41 AM PST Parents, romantic partners and roommates of America: I am not encouraging your child, partner or person you share living space with to do this. At least, not in your good microwave. They should buy their own for this sort of thing. And for the love of Pete, they should wear protective eye covering. I am so very serious about the protective eye coverings. (Thanks, Greg Laden!) |
| Owner of trendy Manhattan restaurant Paradou plumbs new depths of evil bad-bossitude Posted: 21 Nov 2009 06:28 AM PST Vadim Ponorovsky, the owner of the restaurant Paradou in He also threatened to fire his entire staff, saying, "I have absolutely no respect for any of you," and "Go find another place to work." And now, he's sent along a followup to the trade press, saying that this is just the way he talks, that "if you talked to anyone who ever worked for me, I could say without any sense of self-aggrandizement that they'd say I was the best boss they've worked for." In support of this he cites the fact that he's never missed payroll (e.g., he pays his employees the wages they earn), that he lets them work for him again after their vacations, and that they get to eat for free at the restaurant where they work. He also declares himself to be a Reaganite and villifies anyone who disagrees with his treatment of his employees, who can only become wealthy if he gets rich first, through the magic of "trickle-down." Paradou Owner Says Tirade Against Staff Was a Restaurateur's 'Howl' Restaurant Owner's Email to Staff Belongs in Tyrant Hall of Fame (via Making Light) (Image: New York City - Paradou Brunch, a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike image) |
The two anti-war campaigners were not the only law-abiding protesters being monitored on the roads. Officers have been told they can place "markers" against the vehicles of anyone who attends demonstrations using the national ANPR data centre in Hendon, north London, which stores information on car journeys for up to five years. 
"If my staff has the ability for self-reflection and seeing the big picture, they should ask, 'Why would one of us fuck the rest of us so badly by damaging our ability to make money?" Ponorvosky says. "The first casualties of this will be the people who all of these protesters are 'defending.' No thought is given to 'the trickle-down,' to use Ronald Reagan's favorite expression." As for the people who are vowing to shut Paradou down, Ponorvsky says, "These people have no sense of rightness or goodness." | 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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