The Latest from Boing Boing |
- HOWTO talk to your MP about the UK Digital Economy Bill - workshops this Saturday
- 3D-printed version of the cover illo from Makers
- Steampunk "Raptor Pilot" mask #4
- Home-made Madame Leota crystal ball head
- They Might be Giants talk about "Here Comes Science"
- New Orleans cops use ancient "unnatural copulation" law to turn prostitutes into sex-offenders
- The Jay Bombs Show
- Lite-Brite unicorn art
- Brown wins senate seat
- Haiti: News roundup, one week after earthquake
- Seeking elusive champagne room, goat rams his way into strip club
- Dr. Steve Brule: "For Your Haiti"
- Clay Shirky's advice for women: go ahead, be an asshole!
- Search for the ultimate espresso: a video with Kyle of Intelligentsia Coffee
- Worldwide Day of Prayer to Heal Trig Palin: pray4trig.com
- Google vs. China vs. Google: update roundup
- Story Time: Bozo and the Santa Claus Horror Show
- Report: FBI abused authority to obtain US phone call records
- Nails look like they were cut with pinking shears
- Mexican Lobby Card Fiesta!
- Diego-san: a robot designed to mimic a one-year-old human
- God hates shrimp
- How bad is animal fat?
- Mary Kaye Trio: The Birth of the Las Vegas Lounge Scene
- Jack Shafer: Why the goddamn hell is Barack Obama writing the cover story for next week's Newsweek?
- Dinner plate complains when you eat too fast
- Conan/Leno/NBC debacle animated by same Hong Kong news org that tackled Tiger Woods
- ApertureExpert.com: ebooks and advice for users of Apple's pro photo management app
- Korean court legalizes some game-item sales
- Photographic evidence of President Obama's first "sent" tweet
HOWTO talk to your MP about the UK Digital Economy Bill - workshops this Saturday Posted: 20 Jan 2010 04:59 AM PST Florian from the UK Open Rights Group writes in with news of an upcoming set of workshops to help people who care about civil liberties and the open and free Internet talk to their Members of Parliament about the terrible Digital Economy Bill: How to talk to your MP and change the Digital Economy Bill: training days (Thanks, Florian!) (Disclosure: I co-founded the Open Rights Group and am privileged to volunteer on its Advisory Board) |
3D-printed version of the cover illo from Makers Posted: 20 Jan 2010 03:40 AM PST Joris Peels from Shapeways liked the cover on the HarperCollins UK edition of my novel Makers, which features a variety of objects depicted in the novel as plastic model-parts attached to a sprue. Shapeways being a custom 3D printing shop, Joris whipped up an incredibly detailed 3D version of the cover illustration, which arrived in today's post. Color me grateful, delighted and gobsmacked. Thanks, Joris! Shapeways 3D printed version of the UK Makers cover Previously: |
Steampunk "Raptor Pilot" mask #4 Posted: 19 Jan 2010 10:38 PM PST |
Home-made Madame Leota crystal ball head Posted: 19 Jan 2010 11:58 PM PST Etsy seller WormwoodHollow (AKA William Bezak, Disneyland legacy and eclectic haunter) has created two miniature replicas of the Madame Leota head-in-a-crystal-ball from the Haunted Mansion. Alas, he doesn't ship to the UK, and there ends my beautiful, short-lived dream of owning one of these. This is one of my favorite theme-park effects; I actually own some of the original, horizontally sprocketed film-strips that used to project the face on the head before it went digital. The latest rendition, with the crystal ball floating in three axes in midair, is nothing short of genius (as is the entire rehab on the Haunted Mansion at Walt Disney World). Madame Leota in her crystal ball (large size) (via The Disney Blog) Previously:
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They Might be Giants talk about "Here Comes Science" Posted: 19 Jan 2010 10:42 PM PST Jeremy sez, "Time Magazine interviewed They Might Be Giants about their new science album for kids, Here Comes Science. The interview includes some interesting tidbits-- I had no idea that TMBG was responsible for the theme on The Daily Show!" Here Comes Science was one of my favorite releases of 2009, great to get some back-story. They Might Be Giants of Science (Thanks, Jeremy!) Previously:
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New Orleans cops use ancient "unnatural copulation" law to turn prostitutes into sex-offenders Posted: 19 Jan 2010 10:19 PM PST New Orleans cops are busting hookers under a nineteenth century felony law against "unnatural copulation" (NOLA PD says that oral or anal sex count), which means that they have to register as sex offenders. And life as a sex offender is terrible: Her Crime? Sex Work in New Orleans (via JWZ) (Image: 42-15538090, a Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike image from MajoraCarterGroup' s photostream) Previously:
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Posted: 19 Jan 2010 09:53 PM PST Bashing Jay Leno and NBC is a popular sport these days, and most voraciously among Conan O'Brien fans. Behold, one of the more brilliant/creepy/funny expressions of that impulse: The Jay Bombs Show, by Joe Sabia. |
Posted: 19 Jan 2010 09:44 PM PST My Only Desire: "A one third scale sculpture adaptation of a 15th century tapestry from The Lady and the Unicorn series made completely from Lite-Brite pegs, pegboards, and glue." From artist Joey Syta. (thanks, Tara McGinley!) |
Posted: 19 Jan 2010 09:12 PM PST Even with the loss of Edward Kennedy's senate seat in Massachusetts--and with it the Democrats' vaunted 60-seat majority--nothing now stands between the passage of healthcare reform but the Democrats themselves. In lieu of spine, does the party at least have a whip? |
Haiti: News roundup, one week after earthquake Posted: 19 Jan 2010 09:18 PM PST (Photo: Two Haitian earthquake survivors at a hospital overseen by MINUSTAH, the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti. Photographed by Catherine Lainé of AIDG, who was interviewed in this previous Boing Boing video episode.) • Solar-powered "Proclaimers" (audio Bibles) sent to Haiti. They broadcast the holy scriptures in Creole. Maybe the folks there could use food more than bibles right now? • But wait, there's more! "People of Haiti, your ordeal is at an end. John Travolta is bringing the healing power of Scientology." • @baratunde posts an interesting series of text messages from Anil Menon, a doctor currently in Haiti who is a clinical instructor at Stanford School of Medicine (his focus is surgery and emergency medicine). Read: Update from Haiti: "Today was more hopeful." • Wired Danger Room reports that aa controversial CIA contractor has found new work in Haiti, flying drones over the quake-devastated nation. • Peter Haas, founder of AIDG.org, writes about the broader crises in Haiti: "After 9/11, how much did you have in your pocket? Could you live off of that for a week? What if you lived around LA and it got nuked? The port gone, no airport, no electricity, no cellphones, no atms, no gas, banks closed, dozens of people you know are dead, over a million people making their way into the streets of your home town bit by bit. How would you be feeling? How long till you got desperate? This is the current life in the rest of Haiti, in the big cities and the small towns, unaffected by the earth quake structurally but destroyed, spiritually and bit by bit unraveling at a staggering rate." • "Haiti.com crowdsources the task of connecting real-time information from Haiti into a graphical information system that first responders use to find and respond to needs on the ground."
• AIDG is also mentioned in this NYT item about smaller, indie nonprofits that take new approaches to rebuilding after disasters like the one that just hit Haiti.
• How NASA satellite images help relief agencies locate landslide risks. • Leave it to Loren Coleman to find a (sincere) cryptozoology angle in every possible news story (Sasquatch bless him). Behold, the cryptids of Haiti. •Why are the images coming out of Haiti so graphic, as compared to what we see in news from Iraq or Afghanistan?
• "A Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) cargo plane carrying 12 tons of medical equipment, including drugs, surgical supplies and two dialysis machines, was turned away three times from Port-au-Prince airport since Sunday night despite repeated assurances of its ability to land there." And, guess what: apparently, the mighty Twitter played a role in helping the plane land. A related post on the NYT Lede blog, which has been an excellent source of news and updates on this story.
• Jeffrey Sachs, in the Washington Post: "To prevent a deepening spiral of death, the United States will have to do things differently than in the past. American relief and development institutions do not function properly, and to believe otherwise would be to condemn Haiti's poor and dying to our own mythology." • An ABC News story on the evacuation to the US of a Haitian man who works with child slaves. He himself was a survivor of enslavement. (some links via Ehrich Blackhound, Catherine Lainé, Instapundit, William Gibson, Gawker)
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Seeking elusive champagne room, goat rams his way into strip club Posted: 19 Jan 2010 09:07 PM PST It's as if the local reporters in Palm Springs had been waiting their entire lives to type the words "horny goat" in a legitimate news story. Video shows goat smashing through doors of gentlemen's club (The Desert Sun) |
Dr. Steve Brule: "For Your Haiti" Posted: 19 Jan 2010 07:44 PM PST In Los Angeles next Tuesday, Jan. 26, Dr. Steve Brule and friends are putting together a benefit show for the (totally righteous) Haiti medical aid group Partners in Health, featuring full episodes of the (totally righteous) new Adult Swim series "Check it Out with Dr. Steve Brule" and the (totally righteous) new season of "Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job." Totally righteous. Tickets are $20, and it's at the Silent Movie Theater. Here's more info on the event with Cinefamily, tickets are here, and this added treat: "Afterwards stick around for Q & A with Tim, Eric and John C. Reilly moderated by Richard Dunn!" (via Tim Heidecker) |
Clay Shirky's advice for women: go ahead, be an asshole! Posted: 19 Jan 2010 07:07 PM PST Deep Thinker Clay Shirky has posted "A Rant About Women," which explores the notion that men tend to be more comfortable with assertive, self-promotey behavior than their female peers. Shirky thoughtfully argues that this is a big factor conspiring against the professional success of women, as is the negative response women often get when they model this behavior. The comments (many by women) are also interesting. |
Search for the ultimate espresso: a video with Kyle of Intelligentsia Coffee Posted: 19 Jan 2010 07:12 PM PST In the video above, Kyle Glanville of Intelligentsia Coffee and Tea shows you how to make a really great cup of espresso (more here).
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Worldwide Day of Prayer to Heal Trig Palin: pray4trig.com Posted: 19 Jan 2010 06:01 PM PST "Science has no way to undo this condition, which is the result of an extra chromosome; but God can. When Trig Palin is found to be miraculously healed, everyone but the most hardened atheist will have to acknowledge God's Majesty!" Pray 4 Trig, the "Worldwide Day of Prayer to Heal Trig Palin." (via Steven Leckart) |
Google vs. China vs. Google: update roundup Posted: 19 Jan 2010 06:48 PM PST • Must-read commentary by Open Society fellow Rebecca MacKinnon: "Are China's demands for Internet 'self-discipline' spreading to the West?" and a related post, "Google, China, and the future of freedom on the global Internet." And today, a related piece from MacKinnon, which includes the memorable line, "Never fear, netizens of internet-censoring nations, America is here to save you, galloping in on our trusty steed Google, brandishing our mighty weapon, Twitter!!" • "I almost got weepy when I read the news about Google, then I put down my crack pipe." The real reason Google wants out of China? It's not human rights, says Oxblood Ruffin. • Joe Stewart of Atlanta-based computer security research firm SecureWorks has identified what he believes is clear evidence of "the digital fingerprints of Chinese authors" in malware used to attack Google in China. Related: Markoff's articles on the possibility that hackers left backdoors. (NYT) • Photograph: Flowers at the Google headquarters office in China (China Digital Times). • Ten websites that will help you understand the Chinese Internet. "All of them survived China's censorship, and are developing rapidly," says the post's author, "Donnie" Hao. "Compare[d] to the websites that has been blocked, they are the real mainstream for the over 400 million Chinese netizens." (via Ethan Zuckerman)
• Doc Searls: "Encirclement is more than censorship. It's a war strategy, and China has been at war with the Internet from the start." (image: "Spy vs. Spy," a fan-riff on the famous Mad Magazine comic, by deviantart user Zarious) |
Story Time: Bozo and the Santa Claus Horror Show Posted: 19 Jan 2010 07:41 PM PST One of my favorite pastimes is storytelling. I don't have a lot of stories, but the ones I tell are really good, and my delivery has been honed and perfected over multitudinous retellings. I'm not sure that a blog is the best format for storytelling, but I'm going to give it a go. Let me know what you think in the comments. After the jump, I will tell you the amazing TRUE story of Bozo and the Santa Claus Horror Show! Back in the early 80s, I attended a symposium on the history of children's television at the Doheny Mansion in Hollywood. Jay North, who played Dennis the Menace on TV was speaking, and I had no interest in him, so I went out into the garden to get some fresh air. An old guy was out there all by himself leaning against the wall, so I went up and said hello and introduced myself. He introduced himself as Vance Colvig. Although I'd never met him, I knew exactly who he was. Vance was the son of Pinto Colvig, the original Bozo the Clown and the voice of Goofy in the Disney cartoons. Vance had a similar career as Bozo the Clown on KTLA in Los Angeles and the voice of Chopper in the Yakky Doodle cartoons ("Awwwww gee, Yakky. You shouldn't-a oughta done that!") I have always loved clowns, and here was my chance to find out the truth behind the greasepaint! So I asked Vance the obvious question... Is the "Bozo No-No" story true? Vance replied that he heard that question all the time, but he didn't know whether it was true or not. It never happened while he was Bozo in any case. Then he dropped the greatest lead in line of all time... "Of course things like that did happen... There was one thing that happened to me that was MUCH worse than that." I wasn't going to let that go by, so I got Vance to tell me the story. Here is what he said... Back in the day, we didn't get paid a whole heck of a lot for doing our kid's shows. So to make ends meet, we would do personal appearances on the weekends- school carnivals, supermarket openings, toy stores- anywhere that would pay us in cash. There were so many shows on the air that on Saturdays, the freeways were thick with kid's show hosts. I'd be driving East to do a show as Bozo and I'd wave out the window at Jimmy Weldon going West to do a Webster Webfoot appearance. Tom Hatten, Sheriff John Rovick, Chucko the Clown, Skipper Frank, Walker Edmiston and his puppets- There were dozens of us all scrambling for gigs on the weekends.
Bill says... "I played that supermarket last weekend. Let me tell you what happened... I get there and the place is wallpapered with signs saying that Engineer Bill will be there doing his magic show at noon, and at 1pm, Santa Claus will be arriving in a helicopter. So it's 12:45 and I finish up my act and go to sit down in a chair and wait for Santa to arrive. Sure enough, at 1 sharp, there's a helicopter hovering over the parking lot. I look up and there in the open door of the chopper is Santa Claus and a couple of guys dressed as elves. All of a sudden, the elves grab Santa and throw him out the door! Santa falls about 50 feet and hits, SPLAT on the asphalt- it was a dummy Santa. Two more elves run out of the market with a stretcher, throw the dummy on it and run away. The kids are all crying and wailiing- a real mess. Well, I picked up the paper this morning and I read an ad that says that Bozo is going to be at the same market this weekend and Santa is going to arrive in a helicopter. Vance, whatever you do DON'T DO THAT SHOW!."
I just sit and listen to this guy holler for a minute then I say, "Hey, lissen here. I'm NOT doing your show and you can go ahead and sue me if you want. You try to find one court in this land that will find judgement against Bozo the Clown in favor of a creep that chucks Santa Claus out of a helicopter!" I hung up the phone and never heard from that guy again.
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Report: FBI abused authority to obtain US phone call records Posted: 19 Jan 2010 03:53 PM PST From a commentary by the EFF's Kurt Opsahl: "The Washington Post reported today that the 'FBI illegally collected more than 2,000 U.S. telephone call records,' using methods that FBI general counsel Valerie Caproni admitted 'technically violated the Electronic Communications Privacy Act when agents invoked nonexistent emergencies to collect records." |
Nails look like they were cut with pinking shears Posted: 19 Jan 2010 03:25 PM PST |
Posted: 19 Jan 2010 05:21 PM PST I am going to reveal to you my biggest internet secret at the bottom of this post! The place where you can get incredible vintage Mexican lobby cards like this for as little as $5 apiece.
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Diego-san: a robot designed to mimic a one-year-old human Posted: 19 Jan 2010 03:19 PM PST Are they intentionally aiming for the nadir of the Uncanny Valley with this robot? Diego-san's body has over 60 moving parts, making it Kokoro's most sophisticated robot to date. The robot weighs 30 kilograms (66 lbs) and is 1.3 meters (4 ft 3 in) tall, which is quite a bit larger than the average 1-year-old.Diego-san humanoid robot baby |
Posted: 19 Jan 2010 03:29 PM PST Shrimp, crab, lobster, clams, mussels, all these are an abomination before the Lord, just as gays are an abomination. (via Pesce) |
Posted: 19 Jan 2010 03:15 PM PST From Seth Roberts blog: A to-be-published meta-analysis in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition supports my view that animal fat is nowhere as bad as we've been told a thousand times. It says:I guess I'll keep frying my eggs in bacon grease! |
Mary Kaye Trio: The Birth of the Las Vegas Lounge Scene Posted: 19 Jan 2010 02:24 PM PST Here is one of the greatest untold stories from the golden age of the Las Vegas lounge scene! Most people with an interest in this era of entertainment know all about Louis Prima and Keeley Smith. But the first group to play all night casino lounges was the Mary Kaye Trio. This clip is doubly historic, because the guitar Mary Kaye is playing here is the very first Fender Stratocaster, made in the Fender Custom Shop in 1954. More about Mary Kaye and another rare video clip after the jump...
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Jack Shafer: Why the goddamn hell is Barack Obama writing the cover story for next week's Newsweek? Posted: 19 Jan 2010 01:56 PM PST Jack Shafer of Slate asks a good question: "Why the goddamn hell is Barack Obama writing the cover story for next week's Newsweek? He doesn't know anything about Haiti outside of what his aides may have told him. He won't even write it! If the piece is worth publishing, Newsweek should give the byline to its true author." (Via The Agitator) |
Dinner plate complains when you eat too fast Posted: 19 Jan 2010 01:46 PM PST Here's a plate that chides you when you eat too fast. The idea behind the Mandometer is to train overweight people to eat more slowly so that they will feel satiated sooner and eat less, thereby losing weight.Talking plate scale urges diners to slow down (Via Nudge) |
Conan/Leno/NBC debacle animated by same Hong Kong news org that tackled Tiger Woods Posted: 19 Jan 2010 02:50 PM PST Video above: The Leno/Conan/NBC cosmic clusterfrak, retold through the magic of animation by NMA News. That's the same YouTube video link: NMA 2010.01.19 Showdown at NBC 動新聞 美國深夜脫口秀大風吹. There's an English-language version, too, but somehow it's not nearly as funny as the Mandarin VO. (via David OReilly) |
ApertureExpert.com: ebooks and advice for users of Apple's pro photo management app Posted: 19 Jan 2010 02:12 PM PST Pro photog Joseph Linaschke, whom I first met back when he was part of the official Aperture team, has launched a new site for users of the popular Apple photo management app (it's what I use to manage my photos). ApertureExpert.com offers free "tips and tricks," and he's selling instructional e-books. BoingBoing readers get a 25% discount on those for a limited time. Use code "BB25" on checkout. |
Korean court legalizes some game-item sales Posted: 19 Jan 2010 12:41 PM PST It's hard to parse out the nuances in this news-story, but it appears that a high Korean court has taken steps to legalize the practice of selling virtual goods from video-games for real cash, provided that the virtual goods are acquired through work and skill, not luck or chance. The implication appears to be that game-companies can essentially mint money: Supreme Court acquits two in cyber money game case Previously:
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Photographic evidence of President Obama's first "sent" tweet Posted: 19 Jan 2010 02:49 PM PST This photo is said to document the moment when, for the first time, US President Barack Obama personally |
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