The Latest from Boing Boing

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• Happy New Decade!
• Fun with fluorescence
• TSA drops subpoenas issued to bloggers who published security directive (UPDATED)
• Did Google get TSA subpoena over the blogged security directive?
• Come Back With a Warrant doormat
• Dr. Sketchy's 24-hour life drawing session in Los Angeles, January 2-3,
• Update on bloggers threatened by TSA over security directive leak
• Federal judge dismisses charges against Blackwater guards blamed in 2007 civilian shooting deaths
• Nightmare Alley, the musical
• Chocolate guns and ammo
• Miles Davis plays Michael Jackson
• Im bou 2 get his sim card
• Island caretaker with dream job bitten by jellyfish
• Jane Austen: Proto-Twitterer
• Periodic Table of Beer
• Body washing with water alone
• Bird furiously pecks at can with photo of bird on it
• What if the Fed and the TSA switched roles?
• Science-fiction science: How long could you survive inside a Tauntaun?

Happy New Decade! Posted: 31 Dec 2009 08:26 PM PST Farewell, aughts! Illustration above by David Silverman (Thanks, David!).

Fun with fluorescence Posted: 31 Dec 2009 05:18 PM PST Above: Fluorescent minerals via Wikimedia Commons If you enjoyed the astonishing fluorescent landscapes in Avatar (or plan to soon), I compiled a few lovely videos of fluorescent phenomena from right here on Earth. V 115 fluorescence of various materials 1 - Fluoreszenz (via Netexperimente) Bill's Fluorescent Rock and Mineral Collection (via Philovideo) - start at 5:30 Fluorescent rock display (cute off-camera kid responses) via mrluckyuncle Filling glass lab flasks with fluorescing compounds (via ChemToddler)

TSA drops subpoenas issued to bloggers who published security directive (UPDATED) Posted: 31 Dec 2009 04:06 PM PST According to Chris Elliot, one of the bloggers involved. Link. No word on whether the TSA has also dropped the subpoena issued to the other blogger, Steven Frischling. Both subpoenas have now been dropped, Frischling's too. Previously: TSA subpoenas, threatens two bloggers who published non-classified ... Do new post-pantsbomber TSA security directives kill inflight WiFi ... Update on bloggers threatened by TSA over security directive leak Did Google get TSA subpoena over the blogged security directive?

Did Google get TSA subpoena over the blogged security directive? Posted: 31 Dec 2009 03:27 PM PST Danny Sullivan, with another update on the two bloggers visited and subpoenaed by armed Transportation Security Administration agents, after publishing a security directive emailed to them from a Gmail account. "So did Google get a subpoena, too? The company says it can't comment either way, sending me this statement..."

Come Back With a Warrant doormat Posted: 31 Dec 2009 03:00 PM PST ...apropos of bloggers being bullied into parting with their hard drives: check out this nifty doormat, available at Target for 18 bucks and some change.

Dr. Sketchy's 24-hour life drawing session in Los Angeles, January 2-3, Posted: 31 Dec 2009 02:56 PM PST Bob Self says: Dr. Sketchy's Los Angeles is alternative figure drawing cabaret for artists who like their naked inspiration to be served up with some theatrical showmanship. To get 2010 off to an epic start, the Los Angeles troupe is producing a Dr. Sketchy's Marathon that will run continuously for 26 hours beginning at 8:00 PM on Saturday, January 2nd and ending at 10:00 PM on Sunday, January 3rd. Over a dozen models will be posing in and out of costume over the course of the event, and a roster of noteworthy contemporary artists will be in attendance (including Michael Hussar, who will be creating an alla prima portrait late Saturday night). As usual for Dr. Sketchy's, there will be prizes and surprises. The event will be hosted at Nucleus in Alhambra. Admission is $26 in advance via Dr Sketchy's LA, or $35 at the door. Attendees will be issued wrist bands that will allow them to come and go as they please. Previously: Dr. Sketchy's Roadshow - Boing Boing Prize winning sketch from Dr. Sketchy's in Los Angeles - Boing Boing Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School - Boing Boing Short video profiles of interesting New Yorkers - Boing Boing

Update on bloggers threatened by TSA over security directive leak Posted: 31 Dec 2009 03:52 PM PST Update, 3:50pm PT: One of the two bloggers reports that the TSA has dropped its subpoena against him. An update on the case of the two travel bloggers who received holiday visits by armed TSA agents (with matching Homeland Security subpoenas!) after publishing a leaked copy of the "Christmas Day incident" security directive. Chris Elliot has an attorney now, and more time to respond to the subpoena. Steven Frischling got his laptop back from the Special Agents who demanded it, then imaged his hard drive, but the laptop no longer works (paranoid commenters suggest one explanation could be the installation of keylogger software, but that's just one of many possibilities.) Annie Jacobsen of TheAviationNation.com has posted an interview with Frischling here. Why, Jacobsen asks in that piece, is Homeland Security going after these guys so hard? [I found] my answer in a pre-recorded message at the FBI's Detroit Metro Bureau to which press are referred. The message there states that anyone seeking information about "the Christmas Day event at Detroit metro airport" should call the Department of Justice in Washington. Wait. A Christmas Day "event"? The FBI makes the attack against Northwest Flight 253 sound more like a shopping sale or a rock concert than the terror strike that it was. Trying to kill 298 airline passengers, destroy an airplane, and crash it into the suburbs of Detroit is now called an "event"? Could the jackbooted TSA visit to blogger Steven Frischling's Connecticut home be just another trickle-down result of DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano's insistence that terrorist attacks be referred to as "man-caused disasters"? You see, in the TSA directive which Frischling's posted online, the TSA was caught calling a spade a spade: "INFORMATION: On December 25, 2009, a terrorist attack was attempted against a flight traveling to the United States." For bloggers reading this story in horror, here's a helpful resource: The EFF's "Surveillance Self-Defense" website. Here's a relevant section: Q: What should you do if a government agent (or anyone else) shows up with a subpoena? A: NOTHING. Update items at NYT, another at Firedoglake which addresses the need for a federal shield law to protect professional bloggers. (Huh? OK, then go read this, too). Snip: As one federal prosecutor told Wired, "it strikes me that they're more aggressive with this reporter than with the guy who got on this flight." Previously: TSA subpoenas, threatens two bloggers who published non-classified airline security directive Related reading: Miles O'Brien: Captain Underpants and the Illusion of Security. (Thanks, Glenn Reynolds / image: Elliot.org)

Federal judge dismisses charges against Blackwater guards blamed in 2007 civilian shooting deaths Posted: 31 Dec 2009 02:09 PM PST A federal judge today dropped all charges against five security guards with Blackwater Worldwide (now "Xe") security guards said to have been responsible for killing unarmed Baghdad civilians in a 2007 shooting incident.

Nightmare Alley, the musical Posted: 31 Dec 2009 01:54 PM PST A musical theater adaptation of one of my favorite fiction books, William Lindsay Gresham's 1946 noir carny novel Nightmare Alley, will premiere in April at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles. As my brother Bob wrote when he emailed me this news, "I can't wait to hear the geek sing."

Chocolate guns and ammo Posted: 31 Dec 2009 01:31 PM PST I learned of Chocolate Ammo today through an ad in a relative's copy of the NRA magazine American Rifleman. Talk about target marketing. (sorry!) From the Chocolate Weapons site: ...Several years ago we started a company called [sic] which manufactured and sold high end chocolate fountains to caterers, hotels, casinos, reception centers and other high end event centers. In addition to selling the chocolate fountains we also sold chocolate...and literally TONS and TONS of it. With our connection in the chocolate industry we had virtually a limitless supply of chocolate, and just as many chocolatiers and chocolate factories who could basically make anything and everything we ever wanted to.   While I was growing up we spent a lot of time in the mountains fishing, camping, and hunting. On a recent getaway vaction/hunting trip, we were all piled in the car..dirty, grimy - hadn't bathed in days - and we were discussing our existing business, and ways we could help it grow. Someone blurted out   'We should make chocolate bullets!' Chocolate Weapons

Miles Davis plays Michael Jackson Posted: 31 Dec 2009 01:20 PM PST Miles Davis covers Michael Jackson's "Human Nature." Yes, really.

Im bou 2 get his sim card Posted: 31 Dec 2009 12:45 PM PST I found this curious note on the sidewalk in my neighborhood. What do you think it means? And why is the phrase written twice? Was the author practicing? Click the image to see it larger.

Island caretaker with dream job bitten by jellyfish Posted: 31 Dec 2009 12:39 PM PST In January, I posted about the "best job in the world," six months working for Tourism Queensland as "caretaker" and resident blogger on an island in Australia's Great Barrier Reef with a $100k+ salary. Ben Southall, who landed the job, was finishing his last week there when he was stung by a potential lethal Irukandji jellyfish. He'll be ok. From the AP: Earlier this week, Southall was getting off a Jet Ski in the ocean when he felt "a small bee-like sting" on his arm. When he later noticed a tingling in his hands and feet, island staff took Southall immediately to the doctor. Progressive symptoms of fever, headache, lower back pain, chest tightness and high blood pressure led the doctor to diagnose that Southall had been stung by an Irukandji jellyfish. He was given pain medication and slept off the venom's effects overnight. "I thought I'd done particularly well at avoiding any contact with any of the dangerous critters that consider this part of the world their home," Southall wrote. "This was not what I'd wanted at all and had caught me little off guard to say the least -- I'm supposed to be relaxing in my last few days on Hamilton Island." "'Best Job' winner stung by dangerous jellyfish" (AP, thanks, Bob Pescovitz!) "Ouch! A little incident on the beach..." (Southall's blog)

Jane Austen: Proto-Twitterer Posted: 22 Dec 2009 08:39 AM PST During the late 1700s and early 1800s, the mail was delivered in and around London up to six times a day. Snail mail was almost Twitteresque, argues O'Reilly Radar's Sarah Milstein. "People today often assume that email, Twitter and other relatively instant communication media have created a slew of brand new communication behaviors. The Jane Austen show at the Morgan suggests just the opposite: our human patterns are surprisingly consistent, and technology evolves to meet us." (Via Tim Maly)

Periodic Table of Beer Posted: 21 Dec 2009 12:41 PM PST This is the sort of thing that makes me wish I knew more about beer. My usual unit of measurement is the purely subjective, but relatively simple, MPS, or Maggie Preference Scale. (IPAs near the bottom, porters near the top, your mileage may vary.) Full Chart via Flickr user John602, don't know if that's the original source though. Previously: The Periodic Table of Awesoments - Boing Boing Periodic Table Table Boing Boing Periodic Table sweater Boing Boing Periodic table of comic book elements - Boing Boing

Body washing with water alone Posted: 31 Dec 2009 09:48 AM PST Richard Nikoley of Free the Animal (a blog about paleolithic diet and exercise) writes that he has been showering without soap or shampoo for the past six months. Here are some of his observations: Took about two weeks to normalize. That is, I felt my hair was greasy and skin oily up to then. My skin & hair have never been softer. Never. If anything, my hair is less "greasy" than ever, yet shampoo hasn't touched it in over six months. Private parts. Have to address this, of course. This is the biggest benefit of all. Surprised? You'll just have to try it, because I'm not going to elaborate. That's why they call them "private parts." OK, a clue: maybe it's the constant cleansing that's the cause of the sweaty-stinky problem in the first place? If for nothing else, I'm soap free for life on this point alone. I feel as though I've been scammed -- and liberated. I can't explain further. You'll just have to try. The commenters on his blog share similar soap-free experiences. Paleo I Don't Care: I Like No Soap; No Shampoo

Bird furiously pecks at can with photo of bird on it Posted: 31 Dec 2009 09:40 AM PST Do you think the bird would peck at the can even if it didn't have a bird on it? (Via I have seen the whole of the Internet)

What if the Fed and the TSA switched roles? Posted: 31 Dec 2009 08:52 AM PST Emanuel Derman speculates what would happen if the Federal Reserve and the TSA switched roles. If a bank failed at 9 a.m. one morning and shut its doors, the TSA would announce that all banks henceforth begin their business day at 10 a.m. And, if a terrorist managed to get on board a plane between Stockholm and Washington, the Fed would increase the number of flights between the cities. (Via Marginal Revolution)

Science-fiction science: How long could you survive inside a Tauntaun? Posted: 19 Dec 2009 01:57 PM PST Applying Earth science to science-fiction scenarios might not be easy (or particularly necessary) but it sure is fun. Here, fans take the cutting-open-a-furry-beast-and-using-its-carcass-as-an-emergency-blanket scene from The Empire Strikes Back and attempt to deduce how long Luke Skywalker could have actually survived on the sweet, sweet warmth provided by Tauntaun entrails. In a normal environment, a carcass gets cold in 8 to 36 hours losing an average rate of 1.6 degrees Fahrenheit per hour. However, the ice world of Hoth is not an average environment. The Star Wars database lists that Hoth reaches nightly temperatures of -60 F. In a frigid, sub-zero environment, body heat can be lost almost 32 times faster. This means a Tauntaun's body heat could drop almost 51.2 F every hour. The initial estimate is probably off, as it looks like the author is using human body temperatures to figure how warm the Tauntaun would be when it died and how fast it would lose heat, but some of those issues get hashed out in the comments. Wolf Gnards blog: How Long Could Luke Survive in a Tauntaun? Previously: Life-sized walking Tauntaun costume - Boing Boing Tauntaun groom's cake - Boing Boing Homemade AT-AT loft bed - Boing Boing

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