Wednesday, January 20, 2010

The Latest from Boing Boing

The Latest from Boing Boing

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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:

ORG is organising training days for supporters all over the country. We kick off with a session in Manchester this Saturday, followed by Edinburgh on Sunday. We give supporters pointers how to approach, meet and talk to their MPs and made their voices heard. After a brief introduction supporters will do a dress rehearsal so that they can test what arguments are most convincing. It is important to let Parliament know that we are concerned about the Bill and how bad disconnection is. Talking to MPs is the most effective way of doing that.

Besides learning how to effectively lobby MPs this day is also a good opportunity to meet like-minded people and chat about latest ORG actions.

To book, please use these forms

Manchester Saturday 23 Jan
2pm Madlab, 36-40 Edge St, M4 1HN

Edinburgh Sunday 24 Jan
2pm Arts Complex St Margaret's House 151 London Road, EH7 6AE

Sheffield, Wed 27 Jan
Unconference at 2pm followed by training sessions at 5pm and 7pm (you can attend just the training)

London Saturday 30 Jan
2pm ORG Towers, 7th floor 100 Grays Inn Road, WC1X 8AL

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



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)



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!)



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:

Of the 861 sex offenders currently registered in New Orleans, 483 were convicted of a crime against nature, according to Doug Cain, a spokesperson with the Louisiana State Police. And of those convicted of a crime against nature, 78 percent are Black and almost all are women.

The law impacts sex workers in both small and large ways.

Tabitha has to register an address in the sex offender database, and because she doesn't have a permanent home, she has registered the address of a nonprofit organization that is helping her. She also has to purchase and mail postcards with her picture to everyone in the neighborhood informing them of her conviction. If she needs to evacuate to a shelter during a hurricane, she must evacuate to a special shelter for sex offenders, and this shelter has no separate safe spaces for women. She is even prohibited from very ordinary activities in New Orleans like wearing a costume at Mardi Gras.

Her Crime? Sex Work in New Orleans (via JWZ)

(Image: 42-15538090, a Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike image from MajoraCarterGroup' s photostream)



The Jay Bombs Show

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.

Lite-Brite unicorn art

Posted: 19 Jan 2010 09:44 PM PST

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litebriteunicornth.jpgMy 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!)

Brown wins senate seat

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

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(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)



Seeking elusive champagne room, goat rams his way into strip club

Posted: 19 Jan 2010 09:07 PM PST

goatth.jpg 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

bruleth.jpg 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

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

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• 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


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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!

swvancecolvigbozoknjj.jpgBack 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!")

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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.


swkidshostsnknl.jpg


One day, I was sitting there at the studio and the phone rings. It's Bill Stulla, Engineer Bill. Bill says to me, "Hey Vance. I hear you're doing a show this weekend at the so-and-so supermarket in the valley." "Yes" I says... "I believe I am.". Bill says, "Whatever you do, DON'T DO THAT GIG! Let the guy sue you for breech of contract, but don't go." So I says, "Gee, why not?"

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!."


swvancebozoringkj.bmp


So I thanks Bill and call up the manager of the supermarket who booked me. The guy is all friendly and excited, but I say, "See here. I hear from Bill Stulla that you plan to throw Santa Claus out of a helicopter." The manager sputters for a second, then says, "Yeah... yeah, we do. It'll be great publicity! I got the papers coming by with cameras and everything." So I says, "Well you can do all that without Bozo the Clown, 'cause I ain't coming." The manager gets all hot and starts threatening me. "I'll sue your ass, you son of a bitch! We have a contract!"

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.



Vance Colvig plays "The Sheik of Arabay" wth his head on "I've Got A Secret"



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

Mexican Lobby Card Fiesta!

Posted: 19 Jan 2010 05:21 PM PST


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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.

swmexlobbycardjgfd.jpg


But first, check out these galleries of incredible caricature cards by the legendary Ernesto Garcia Cabral and this gallery of scifi and adventure cards.




Bonus Fun! JoshP and his pal Sekino want us all to watch this great Santo trailer!


Whew! That was thrilling, wasn't it! Back to the lobby cards now... It takes a bit of browsing to find the gems among the dross, but there's more here than I could ever be able to buy, so I am sharing this with you. Shhh! Don't tell anybody!


eBay seller MEXICO_CINEMA

eBay seller CYCL

eBay seller CARLOCAR



Diego-san: a robot designed to mimic a one-year-old human

Posted: 19 Jan 2010 03:19 PM PST

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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.

The baby humanoid also has a rather sizable head, thanks to 20 moving parts that allow it to make facial expressions, along with high-resolution cameras for eyes, an audio speaker in the mouth, and 6-axis accelerometers in the ears that allow it to detect orientation and movement.

Diego-san humanoid robot baby

God hates shrimp

Posted: 19 Jan 2010 03:29 PM PST

How bad is animal fat?

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:

During 5–23 y of follow-up of 347,747 subjects, . . . intake of [more] saturated fat was not associated with an increased risk of CHD [coronary heart disease], stroke, or CVD [cardiovascular disease]. The pooled relative risk estimates that compared extreme quantiles of saturated fat intake were 1.07 (95% CI: 0.96, 1.19; P = 0.22) for CHD, 0.81 (95% CI: 0.62, 1.05; P = 0.11) for stroke, and 1.00 (95% CI: 0.89, 1.11; P = 0.95) for CVD.

Emphasis added. One aspect of the results suggested that studies that found an positive association (more fat, more disease) were more likely to be published than those that didn't find an association or found a negative association. Which means these numbers may underestimate the good effects.

I guess I'll keep frying my eggs in bacon grease!

How bad is animal fat?

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...


Mary Kaye was descended from Queen Lili'uokalani, the last in the long line of Hawaiian royalty. She was a household name in the fifties, with a dozen records to her name.


Mary was playing the Frontier in Las Vegas in the early 50s, and noticed that the gambling floor cleared out after hours even though the casino was open all night. She suggested to the management that they put a stage in the corner of the room and let the trio perform into the wee small hours. Her simple idea turned Las Vegas from a tiny gambling oasis in the middle of the desert to a 24 hour a day party town.


Thanks, Mary!



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

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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.

An 18 month study conducted by researchers at the Bristol Royal Hospital for Children in Britain has indicated that the Mandometer is an effective tool to combat obesity in children and teens. The team tested 106 clinically obese patients ranging in age from nine to 17 years old. Some of the patients had to use the Mandometer while the others received standard anti-obesity treatment. All of them were urged to practice some form of physical exercise for 60 minutes a day and to follow a healthy diet.

The results of the study were published in an article in the British Medical Journal. When participants were assessed a year into the study, the Body Mass Index (BMI) of the group who had used the Mandometer had fallen by an average of 2.1%, which is about three times more than the group who had received the standard treatment. At the end of the study 18 months later, those results still held steady.

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

lenochinath.jpg Video above: The Leno/Conan/NBC cosmic clusterfrak, retold through the magic of animation by NMA News. That's the same Taiwanese Hong Kong-based news organization responsible for the Tiger Woods bad husband sexy mistress car crash masterpiece, and this fine followup. The magic happens around a minute in, when CoCo transforms into the Incredible Hulk, and Leno into Superman. If only this news org would offer an entire 24-hour channel of this stuff! I don't care that I can't understand the dialogue—all I need to know is in that sweet, sweet CGI.

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:

The two allegedly purchased "Aden," cyber money in an online multiplayer role-playing game "Lineage," worth 234 million won ($207,558), which was lower than market price, through game item-trading Web sites.

Then they allegedly resold those purchased items to some 2,000 other players and earned about 20 million won.

Aden is used to buy accessories, cyber weapons and other items that appear in the game so that players' avatars - characters living in the online virtual world - in the game can gain more power.

Supreme Court acquits two in cyber money game case

(Image: Lineage 2) (via /.)



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 composed and sent a tweet.

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