Sunday, January 31, 2010

The Latest from Boing Boing

The Latest from Boing Boing

Link to Boing Boing

Macmillan CEO on Amazon deletepocalypse

Posted: 30 Jan 2010 11:20 PM PST

John Sargent, Macmillan USA's CEO, has issued a statement on the Amazon deletion of an appreciable fraction of all of English literature from its store. He confirms that this is a strong-arm tactic in a pricing war. (via Making Light)

"The only perfect reference work" Nelson's Perpetual Loose-Leaf Encyclopaedia

Posted: 30 Jan 2010 07:51 PM PST

From Popular Mechanics from 1910 comes this advertisement for Nelson's Perpetual Loose-Leaf Encyclopaedia.

nelsonlooseleaf-sm.jpg
Reviewed by the New York Times in 1908, the set was supposed to be

"A book that never grows old, that is, never antiquated, that will give answer years after its publication to the most modern of queries -- such a book, one imagines, may be found in the great classic of poetry whose verse, metaphorically speaking, breathes the spirit of perpetual youth." Nelson's claimed it had a permanent editorial staff who were "constantly on watch for all important new facts for the benefit of Nelson's subscribers"
It was advertised heavily in many types of publications (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7). Loose leaf was big business in the early part of the 20th Century. Companies were offering "a loose-leaf system for every purpose." One loose-leaf company began in New York City in 1908 and still makes at-a-glance calendars to this day. Other loose-leaf titles flourished such as Nelson new loose-leaf medicine, Winston's cumulative loose-leaf encyclopedia (read online) and Oxford loose-leaf surgery (read online) Nelson's was still going strong in 1930 where a set cost $99.50 plus $6/year for updates -- buy a set, get a free bookcase -- Nelson's stopped publishing updates sometime in the 1930s. Thomas Nelson & Sons is still around today, the world's largest Christian publisher, but their company history curiously makes no mention of their innovative encyclopaedia. See also: "A Solution to the Problem of Updating Encyclopedias" by Eric M. Hammer and Edward N. Zalta, 1997.

Rip Torn charged with breaking into bank with loaded gun

Posted: 30 Jan 2010 04:26 PM PST

Not a waste of time: Ste Curran's keynote for the 2010 Global Game Jam

Posted: 30 Jan 2010 12:38 PM PST

We're already just past 24 hours into the 2010 Global Game Jam -- a worldwide weekend where students and developers both indie and professional meet for a high intensity and high concept sprint to develop something new in a desperately short amount of time. Following last year's top 7 Tyra-Banks-channeling (?!) tips for the jammers given by World of Goo creator and Experimental Gameplay Project co-founder Kyle Gabler, this year's keynote has just been uploaded for public consumption by former Edge magazine editor-at-large and current Zoë Mode creative director Ste Curran. Curran -- whose debut music-puzzle game Chime is due for release as part of the charity-partnered One Big Game later this week (and more on that then) -- is also co-host of essential games radio show One Life Left, and here takes Jammers on a personal, Vonnegut-referencing journey regarding wastes of time: as in, are games, and how can developers ensure, above all, that they aren't. Once you're finished with (and are properly inspired by) the video, follow the ongoing efforts of all the individual Jams across the world by visiting the Global Game Jam site and clicking on each team's live stream (if you can tear yourself away from the default puppy cam) and project updates. Continued best of luck to all the Jammers this weekend! Global Game Jam 2010, One Life Left

Airplane bird strikes are now public information

Posted: 30 Jan 2010 02:25 PM PST

3288866270_23cb40f37c.jpg The FAA has a lot of public data on air traffic safety if you know where to look for it. Last year, in response to a highly publicized bird strike, the FAA went live with their Wildlife Strike Database. The US Bird Strike Committee has had their presentations published in the science journal Human Wildlife Conflicts. Read about A decade of U.S. Air Force bat strikes, Forensic bird strike ID techniques and Suspending vulture effigies from roosts to reduce bird strikes. Not for the squeamish: the wildlife strike photo gallery.
Releasing the data was an about-face for the FAA, which refused to release the records because it felt doing so would jeopardize safety. If the information were made public, the argument went, it would discourage airlines and airports from reporting bird strikes. The agency changed its position under pressure from Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, who says the move is part of a larger shift toward full disclosure. "The Department of Transportation is, among other things, a safety agency," he wrote on his blog. "Public disclosure is our job. The sea change in government transparency is beginning, and we are happy to be a part of it."
See also: trends in unruly passengers. [Photo from Australian War Memorial]

Slime as Engineer - brainless mold mimics Tokyo subway

Posted: 29 Jan 2010 09:06 AM PST

slimemold.jpg Physarum polycephalum + oat flakes = Tokyo subway map?
Because they couldn't mathematically determine a "perfect" solution, the researchers decided to task the slime mold with a problem human designers had already tackled. They placed oat flakes (a slime mold favorite) on agar plates in a pattern that mimicked the locations of cities around Tokyo and impregnated the plates with P. polycephalum at the point representing Tokyo itself. They then watched the slime mold grow for 26 hours, creating tendrils that interconnected the food supplies. Different plates exhibited a range of solutions, but the visual similarity to the Tokyo rail system was striking in many of them
[via jetlib express, abstract of full article]

Scalzi and MacMillan v. Amazon

Posted: 30 Jan 2010 07:16 AM PST

John Scalzi says smart things about the Macmillan/Amazon spat: "If Amazon is willing to play chicken with my economic well-being -- and the economic well-being of many of my friends -- to lock up its little corner of the ebook field, well, that's its call to make. But, you know what, I remember people who are happy to trample my ass into the dirt as they're rushing to grab at cash."

Saturday Morning Science Experiment: Beating Metal Heart

Posted: 30 Jan 2010 07:11 AM PST

A simple experiment makes a drop of mercury beat like a nervous, little mouse heart.

Thumbnail image courtesy Flickr user SharkeyinColo via CC

Terry Bisson's "Catch 'Em in the Act" -- Vonnegut-esque absurdist sf podcast

Posted: 30 Jan 2010 06:55 AM PST

This week on the excellent Tor.com short fiction podcast: Terry Bisson's absurdist social commentary "Catch 'Em in the Act." This is vintage Bisson, a simple-seeming tale told with the sneaky light touch of Kurt Vonnegut. As a bonus, Terry himself reads for the podcast, which is a goddamned treat, because I could listen to that dry, wry southern lilt all day long.

In "Catch 'Em in the Act," Lou is a loner and a loser who orders a "Crimestoppers" camcorder from eBay, and discovers that whenever he points it at someone, they commit crimes. All Lou wants is to find friendship, and maybe a girlfriend, but getting people to commit crimes is a tricky method for accomplishing this.


Lou was almost thirty. He had a job and an apartment, but he was lonely. He didn't have any friends. He didn't know why; he just didn't.

So he did what everyone who is lonely does: YouTube and eBay. One day it was eBay.

"Say, look at this!" he murmured. Lou often murmured to himself.

CRIMESTOPPERS™ VIDEO CAMERA
Catch 'em in the Act!
BUY IT NOW: $19.95
Brand New in Box.
Batteries Included.
One to a Customer.
Shipping, $4.99

That didn't seem like all that much. The shipping wasn't bad either. That's usually where they get you. So Lou did what every lonely person with PayPal does. He clicked on BUY.

Four days later, it came. It was about the size of a cell phone, with a little viewscreen that folded out to one side.

It only had two buttons: SHOOT and PLAY. Not a lot of features. But the price was right.

Catch 'Em in the Act (audio)

Catch 'Em in the Act (text)

MP3 link

Podcast feed

Previously:


Sailor Twain: beautiful graphic novel being serialized on the web

Posted: 30 Jan 2010 10:09 PM PST


Mark Siegel, the editorial director of the remarkable graphic novel publisher FirstSecond, has begun serializing his comic "Sailor Twain, or the Mermaid in the Hudson" on the web. This is Siegel's labor of love, a wonderful and weird comic that he's been working on for five years now. It's damned exciting to find it online!

Sailor Twain (Thanks, Mark!)

(Disclosure: I am currently in contract negotiations with FirstSecond for a graphic adaptation of one of my stories)

Previously:


Canadian Broadcasting Corporation signs up with weird American copyright bounty-hunters

Posted: 30 Jan 2010 06:35 AM PST

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has signed up with iCopyright, the American copyright bounty hunters used by the Associated Press, to offer ridiculous licenses for the quotation of CBC articles on the web (these are the same jokers who sell you a "license" to quote 5 words from the AP).

iCopyright offers "licenses" to use taxpayer-funded CBC articles on terms that read like a bizarre joke. You have to pay by the month to include the article on your website (apparently no partial quotation is offered, only the whole thing, which makes traditional Internet commentary very difficult!). And you have to agree not to criticize the CBC, the subject of the article, or its author. Thanks for fostering a dialogue, CBC!

The cherry on the cake? iCopyright offers a reward of up to $1,000,000 for snitching on bloggers who don't pay Danegeld to Canada's public broadcaster to quote the works they funded.

CBC's new licencing plan: Pay to Print, Email, and Blog, and outsource enforcement to American Copyright Digital Rights Bounty Hunters (Thanks, Cameron!)

Previously:


Flickr to double its Commons collection

Posted: 30 Jan 2010 06:22 AM PST

Jayel sez, "Flickr staff Cris Stoddard has commented on the Indicommons blog that the Flickr Commons will double the number of participating institutions this year from 31 to 60 GLAMs (art galleries, libraries, archives, and museums) this year alone. I believe that the Commons is Flickr's singularly most important cultural contribution to the world. And it doubling in size means more of the world's photographic heritage and history will be shared with its citizens."

The Commons: Vital, virile, virtual and viral

Previously:


Anti-vaccine TV presenter claims she was offered top govt. health job

Posted: 30 Jan 2010 06:23 AM PST

The British government reportedly offered the job of public health minister to Fiona Phillips, a television presenter and an outspoken defender of anti-vaccine junk science. She claims to have turned the job offer down. [via Ben Goldacre]

Buddy Holly's secretly recorded contract negotiation with Decca

Posted: 30 Jan 2010 06:18 AM PST

Baboomska mcGeesk sez, "In 1956, Buddy Holly traveled to Nashville to record several songs. One of the songs he recorded was "That'll Be The Day", but the producer assigned to his sessions (Owen Bradley) hated rock n' roll, and did a terrible job on the song. After that, Buddy traveled to New Mexico and re-recorded "That'll Be The Day" (the version that became the monster hit) at a different studio with his own (superior) arrangement, but according to his contract with Decca, he couldn't release it, because Decca owned all rights to his music. He decided to call Decca, to try reason with them, and he secretly taped his conversation. They refused to give him the rights to his own song, but he went ahead and violated his contract. Here is the conversation he secretly taped."

Buddy Holly - The Phone Call (Thanks, Baboomska!)

Previously:


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