The Latest from Boing Boing

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• Bruce Sterling interviewed by Shapeways
• South African budget airline's fantastic self-explanatory livery
• Lawrence Lessig calls for a Constitutional amendment on campaign financing
• Mystery Internet photo, please explain, I have no idea
• Silent Vaudeville videos from the Library of Congress
• Going off the record was off the record
• SF Cops bust party, arrest 11
• Law firm demands retailer destroy all copies of Olivia Munn comic, retailer refuses
• Are there too many photographers in Haiti?
• Selleck Waterfall Sandwich
• 'Don't Be Evil,' Meet 'Spy on Everyone': How the NSA Deal Could Kill Google
• Microsoft exec "sabotaged" Tablet PC software development
• Fiorina's latest political video featuring furries!
• Cycling jerseys with great art
• Book review: The Art of Ditko
• Dog shoots man
• Humanoid robot from GM and NASA
• Peter Serafinowicz: Boing Boing Video interview
• What it's like to live under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"
• Campaign to "Save Dave," the poor banker caught looking at girlie pics on TV
• Quote of the day, from Jean Paul Gaultier
• Washington Post's graphs of federal budget deficit
• Fun with punctuation
• Is adoption really saving Haitian children?
• Nekosaur crystal robot toy with mecha-guts
• When is a "cyber attack" an act of war?
• Venezuela: Chavez equates Twitter with terrorism
• Phishing scheme goes after carbon credits
• Greenwald on claimed "war exception" to the Constitution
• Underpants are the least of our worries: terrorism movie plots

Bruce Sterling interviewed by Shapeways Posted: 05 Feb 2010 02:21 AM PST Don't miss Bruce Sterling in full-on grumpy zen master mode, busting out futuristic koans in this interview with Shapeways, the 3D printing people: Joris Peels: If everyone had replicators would people that were able to speak quicker be happier than those that spoke slower? Bruce Sterling: Look, "everyone" is never going to have anything. The human race includes infants, the senile, the mentally retarded, the disabled, people in clinics and prisons, the illiterate, the totally broke, dropouts of all descriptions, refuseniks... This is like asking what happens when "everybody has a car." Everybody's not gonna have a car, even in an imaginary world where cars cost less than nothing. If replicators were as cheap as cellphones we wouldn't be any "happier." Are guys who yak really fast on cellphones any happier than the rest of us? Hardly. Joris Peels: How long will it take for someone to develop the first prank disease? Bruce Sterling: You mean besides "smallpox blankets?" Maybe massive lethality on entire populations doesn't count as "pranks." Shapeways interviews Bruce Sterling Previously: Shapeways interviews Makerbot: 3D printing ahoy! Boing Boing Successful marriage proposal via 3D-printed ring - Boing Boing Bruce Sterling on life in the ISS Boing Boing Bruce Sterling taking over Cool Tools - Boing Boing Bruce Sterling on "generative art" Boing Boing Bruce Sterling's visionary novel Distraction: still brilliant a ... Bruce Sterling's story on the merger of blogging and scientific ... Bruce Sterling - Boing Boing Bruce Sterling and "Tech Nouveau" design examples - Boing Boing Bruce Sterling ruminates on Pokemon - Boing Boing

South African budget airline's fantastic self-explanatory livery Posted: 05 Feb 2010 01:30 AM PST Stef sez, "Kulula (South Africa's low fare airline), have recently released this fantastic new aircraft livery entitled 'Flying 101'. Each part of the aircraft is labelled with humorous captions such as 'Loo (or mile-high initiation chamber)' and 'Landing gear (comes standard with super-fly mags)'." Kulula Airlines: Flying 101 livery (Thanks, Stef!)

Lawrence Lessig calls for a Constitutional amendment on campaign financing Posted: 04 Feb 2010 10:09 PM PST Eric sez, "Today, Larry Lessig announced his call for a constitutional convention to fundamentally address the problem of money in politics by passing a Constitutional amendment. he posted today." The procedural point is more fundamental, and comes in two parts: First, no one should distract Congress from the one good thing it could do right now -- pass the Fair Elections Now Act. That would be a huge victory; it is a possible victory; and we are defeating the cause of reform if we do anything that jeopardizes that possible win. And second, we all need to recognize that America is uncertain about how best to fix our government right now. From the Tea Party Right to the Progressive Left, there is agreement that something fundamental has gone wrong. But I believe that our frustrations share a common source -- an exasperation with the broken state of our political system -- even as we disagree passionately on what to do about it. The solution to that disagreement is democracy. We should begin the long discussion about how best to reform our democracy, to restore its commitment to liberty and a Republic, by beginning a process to amend the Constitution through the one path the Framers gave us that has not yet been taken -- a Convention. Call a Convention (Thanks, Eric!) Previously: Lessig video on ending corruption - Boing Boing Draft Larry Lessig for Congress! - Boing Boing Lessig's last Free Culture talk, Stanford, Jan 31 - Boing Boing Lessig on giving corporations unlimited right to bribe politicians ...

Mystery Internet photo, please explain, I have no idea Posted: 04 Feb 2010 09:15 PM PST (via JWZ)

Silent Vaudeville videos from the Library of Congress Posted: 04 Feb 2010 09:11 PM PST JM sez, "The Library of Congress has posted a bunch of early silent films of Vaudeville acts with people and animals. It's all without sound, rendering it exceptionally haunting." Animal Act with Baboon, Dog, and Monkey from Spanuth's Original Vod-A-Vil Movies (Thanks, JM!) Previously: Copyright hysteria from Vaudeville era - Boing Boing A Vaudeville circuit for zines - Boing Boing Punk Vaudeville show goes back on the road - Boing Boing Bettie Page Art Show in LA, curated by Lenora Claire - Boing Boing Re-creation of "Who's On Firs t routine" - Boing Boing

Going off the record was off the record Posted: 04 Feb 2010 05:23 PM PST At the Nashua Telegraph, someone seems so eager to please that they'll agree to be retroactively told something was off the record. That person, however, is evidently not the person handling corrections. "A story on Page 1 of Tuesday's Telegraph quoted a White House official explaining that a Q-and-A session with dozens of teenagers in Nashua High School North on Monday was "off the record." However, the explanation about the talk being "off the record" was, it turns out, also "off the record" and should not have been quoted." 254 iterations to go until it throws an infinite recursion error. Correction [Nashua Telegraph]

SF Cops bust party, arrest 11 Posted: 04 Feb 2010 05:36 PM PST A party in San Francisco, thrown to raise money for the legal defense of student protestors, turned violent Sunday morning after police arrived. The police, who arrested 11, claim the party was too loud. The partygoers, however, claim that the police started the violence, roughing up people who took photographs of them. First-hand reports.

Law firm demands retailer destroy all copies of Olivia Munn comic, retailer refuses Posted: 04 Feb 2010 09:39 PM PST Travis of Heavy Ink says: "Thought you might be interested to hear that lawyers are threatening HeavyInk to remove a parody comic about Olivia Munn. We're fighting back." Click the image on the right to see the law firm's letter. Legal challenge to HeavyInk: "destroy all copies of Celebrity Showdown Olivia Munn" UPDATE: Geoff Gerber, an IP lawyer has an interesting blog post about this. He writes, "There is no absolute defense to a right of publicity claim based upon parody," and "It should also be noted that it is not clear that Celebrity Showdown would be considered a parody." This is getting interesting. I've reached out to Antartic Comics, the artist Brian Denham, and Olivia Munn for comments about this story, but have so far not gotten a reply from any of them.

Are there too many photographers in Haiti? Posted: 04 Feb 2010 01:33 PM PST "It feels awkward when you get to a scene of violence, tragedy, or chaos, et cetera, and there are more photographers around a subject than there are even people at the scene." Are there too many photographers in Haiti? (via Susannah Breslin)

Selleck Waterfall Sandwich Posted: 04 Feb 2010 03:01 PM PST selleckwaterfallsandwich.tumblr.com. There's theme music, too. (via Matt Forsythe)

'Don't Be Evil,' Meet 'Spy on Everyone': How the NSA Deal Could Kill Google Posted: 04 Feb 2010 01:15 PM PST Noah Shachtman at Wired "Danger Room" writes: "The company once known for its 'don't be evil' motto is now in bed with the spy agency known for the mass surveillance of American citizens." More on why NSA is a particularly untrustworthy partner for Google: 'Don't Be Evil,' Meet 'Spy on Everyone': How the NSA Deal Could Kill Google

Microsoft exec "sabotaged" Tablet PC software development Posted: 04 Feb 2010 01:31 PM PST Microsoft is often unfairly criticized, says former vice president Dick Brass, but has a real problem creating new things that people care about. Despite having one of the best corporate labs in the world, internal factions thwart one anothers' attempts to develop new technologies, wrecking the company's ability to turn innovations into products. This is what happened when ClearType font anti-aliasing was developed: Engineers in the Windows group falsely claimed it made the display go haywire when certain colors were used. The head of Office products said it was fuzzy and gave him headaches. The vice president for pocket devices was blunter: he'd support ClearType and use it, but only if I transferred the program and the programmers to his control. I wonder who at Microsoft made sure Surface never got out the gates? Brass writes that the vice president in charge of Microsoft Office sabotaged the company's attempts to develop decent Tablet PCs, by refusing to develop versions of Office that could work properly on them: "To this day, you can't use Office directly on a Tablet PC." Imagine what would happen at Apple if whoever was in charge of iWork set out to suppress development of an iPad version because he didn't believe it was real computer. Microsoft's Creative Destruction [NYT]

Fiorina's latest political video featuring furries! Posted: 04 Feb 2010 09:56 PM PST Former HP big chief Carly Fiorina is running for the US Senate. The latest video released by Carly for California is really something. The insanity really gets rolling at 2:27. As my pal Sean Ness says, "I love seeing furries in ads!" (Thanks, Chris Arkenberg!)

Cycling jerseys with great art Posted: 04 Feb 2010 12:59 PM PST I'm not a bike rider, but I think Retro's line of cycling jerseys are sharper than any others I've seen whizzing past my lazy ass. Their New Yorker jerseys are a brand new line. Retro Cycling Jerseys

Book review: The Art of Ditko Posted: 04 Feb 2010 01:14 PM PST I was never much of a fan of Steve Ditko, the cartoonist who created Spider Man and Dr. Strange. Not because I had a special dislike for those two characters, but because I was and still am lukewarm on superheroes. (I'd rather read Little Lulu or Uncle Scrooge than a superhero comic book.) The only creation of Ditko's that I was passingly familiar with was his 1960s Ayn Randian hero, Mr. A, which I came across in a Fantagraphics anthology that I'd spent a few hours with one day in the 1980s. I can say two good things about Mr. A: one, the design and art is really cool and weird, and two, Mr. A's mechanical affect and self-righteous logorrhea succeeded in snuffing out any ember of objectivism still smoldering from my college days' reading of The Fountainhead. When Craig Yoe told me last year that he was publishing an anthology of Steve Ditko, I thought, if anyone could make an interesting book about Ditko, it's Craig. For years, Craig was the creative director of The Muppets, working closely with Jim Henson. He was also the senior designer at Marvin Glass, the crazy toy and game company responsible for many of my childhood treasures: Ants in the Pants, Dynamite Shack, Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots, Gnip Gnop, Hands Down, Haunted House, Lite Brite, Odd Ogg, Operation, Mouse Trap, Time Bomb, Tip-It, and Toss Across. Craig is also a fine cartoonist and comic book historian of the first water. Last year he wrote a remarkable book about the sad fate of Superman co-creator Joe Shuster, who ended up becoming an illustrator for seedy fetish pamphlets. So I received The Art of Ditko with an open mind, which was promptly blown even wider by the stunning presentation, the selection of 30 full-color stories from the '50s to the '70s, and the essays written by comic industry folks who worked with Ditko (who lives a Salinger/Pynchon-esque life of reclusivity these days). The Art of Ditko hasn't changed my opinion of Ditko's political philosophy, but I now understand why many comic art aficionados consider him a master of comic book art and panel design. Craig's book revealed to me a genius I had ignored my entire life. The Art of Ditko

Dog shoots man Posted: 04 Feb 2010 12:16 PM PST Last weekend, a hunter in Los Banos, California was shot by his dog. He is recovering from the gunshot wound. I like to think the canine was attempting to avenge the death of innocent ducks. Apparently, the hunter set down his shotgun with the safety on and walked away to gather his gear. From CBS: The victim was about 15 yards away, retrieving his decoys, when his female black Labrador retriever stepped on the gun. Authorities said the dog disengaged the safety and hit the trigger at the same time, firing a shell with #2 shot. The man was struck in on the left side of his upper back. "Dog Shoots Hunter"

Humanoid robot from GM and NASA Posted: 04 Feb 2010 01:15 PM PST This morning, NASA and General Motors unveiled Robonaut 2, aka R2, which is a weird name considering it looks nothing like the real R2. Robonaut 2 was designed to assist both astronauts and auto workers. It has no legs. More details and video after the jump. From Popular Mechanics: "We had a common agenda with NASA," says Allen Taub, vice president of global research and development at GM. "They wanted to make a robot that could work next to an astronaut," he says. "The question we wanted to answer was, 'How do I make a robot so it can work with operators, without all of the safety precautions and cages?'" As they go through their automated routines, industrial assembly bots are inherently dangerous to be around. And according to Taub, installing cages and other safety measures often costs more than the robot itself. "This robot can be going through its paces, and if you just hold your hand up, it hits your hand and stops," he says... GM's goal in co-developing R2 is to eventually install similar systems in its plants, performing the kind of repetitive, ergonomically difficult jobs that might injure a human operator. Vision sensors in the robot's head, as well as pressure sensors in its fingers, allow it to manipulate parts with near-human precision. The biggest upgrades from the original Robonaut are R2's thumb, which now have four degrees of freedom (as opposed to three), and its overall speed, which have improved by a factor of four. One result of all of this engineering is the kind of breakthrough only a roboticist would swoon over: R2 can use both hands to work with a piece of flexible material. If that sounds simple, consider the amount of sensory data, cognitive processing and physical dexterity needed to manipulate something that flows and bends in your fingers. "NASA and GM Create Cutting Edge Robotic Technology" (PopSci) "NASA and GM Create Cutting Edge Robotic Technology" (GM) Previously: NASA/DARPA "Robonaut" and Boba Fett -- separated at birth? - Boing ... Humans inside the spacecraft or on the ground tele-operating ...

Peter Serafinowicz: Boing Boing Video interview Posted: 04 Feb 2010 11:06 AM PST VIDEO: YouTube, or download MP4. Today on Boing Boing Video, part one of my interview with actor and comedian Peter Serafinowicz, whose "Peter Serafinowicz Show" DVD just came out this week. He's starring as Paul McCartney in the Robert Zemeckis remake of the Beatles' Yellow Submarine, his Apple parody ads are the stuff of viral legend, his #PSQA tweets delight mutants throughout the globe, and fans of his BBC show find much to LOL in the likes of Brian Butterfield and the robot talk show host Michael-6. Or perhaps you remember him in Shaun of the Dead, or from Tarvu, or Look Around You? No matter. If you're not familiar with any of this, just watch our interview, and you will be. Previously: Peter Serafinowicz on the new Apple iPad Paul McCartney (oh alright, Peter Serafinowicz): "Head Lice" Peter Serafinowicz is Paul McCartney in Zemeckis' "Yellow ... "Look Around You" comes to US cable this week Rare alternative version of Beatles track from White Album discovered

What it's like to live under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Posted: 04 Feb 2010 09:59 AM PST Retired Navy Capt. Joan E. Darrah recounts her life inside the military's legally-enforced closet. "Whenever the admiral would call me to his office, 99.9 percent of me was certain that it was to discuss an operational issue. But there was always that fear in the back of my mind that somehow I had been "outed," and he was calling me to his office to tell me that I was fired." (via Steve Silberman)

Campaign to "Save Dave," the poor banker caught looking at girlie pics on TV Posted: 04 Feb 2010 09:39 AM PST Our guest blogger Kristie Lu Stout told me that a "Save Dave campaign has been set up in London for the hapless banker caught on TV looking at pics of Miranda Kerr."   The online campaign. The story from the Melbourne Age. "Apparently, the dude is on leave this week," says Kristie.

Quote of the day, from Jean Paul Gaultier Posted: 04 Feb 2010 09:28 AM PST "Do you know that cats can't wear corsets? They can't stand! Not at all! They just fall over. I know because I tried!"—Words of wisdom from famed fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier. (via Mister Jalopy)

Washington Post's graphs of federal budget deficit Posted: 04 Feb 2010 09:22 AM PST The Washington Post has several interesting graphs about federal spending. Since 1930, the federal government has run deficits in all but eight years. As a percent of the overall economy, the annual gap between spending and revenue is at its highest since WWII. Explore the various facets of the government's budget and see how revenues and spending have changed over time. Explore the various facets of the government's budget and see how revenues and spending have changed over time

Fun with punctuation Posted: 04 Feb 2010 09:22 AM PST From Dweebist. (Thanks, Christina!)

Is adoption really saving Haitian children? Posted: 04 Feb 2010 09:32 AM PST The Racialicious blog has been posting some interesting and thought-provoking articles on the instinct to "save" Haitian children through adoption to the United States, and why we need to re-think our motives and examine the ethical realities involved in international adoptions in general—and particularly when the children come from a country in the midst of a crisis. One of the biggest concerns: Whether children labeled "orphan" really are, and whether their parents have approved an adoption. Is immediately placing kids with new families in America really a greater good than getting them short-term care in Haiti, and trying to reunite them with their families? Those posts are a perfect lead-in to news reports about a Baptist missionary group from Idaho who were caught trying to bring 33 Haitian "orphans" across the border into the Dominican Republic without proper paperwork or permissions. Many of the kids still have parents, who were apparently told that their children were simply being taken to a safe, clean school and would be able to visit their parents any time they wished. That's also the story the missionaries are telling authorities. However, the Web site for New Life Children's Refuge makes it clear that the place was intended to connect American families with children they could adopt. The New York Times reports: In addition to providing a swimming pool, soccer field and access to the beach for the children, the group, known as the New Life Children's Refuge, said it also planned to "provide opportunities for adoption," and "seaside villas for adopting parents to stay while fulfilling the requirement for 60-90 day visit." Image of a Haitian boy (not one involved in the missionary case) courtesy Flickr user Photo Denbow, via CC Previously: Wade Davis on voodoo, the Haiti quake, and Pat Robertson Boing Boing Haiti: HOWTO set up a plug-and-play hospital - Doctors Without ... Visual representation of global aid to Haiti Boing Boing Haiti: Update from Doctors Without Borders team in Port-au-Prince ... Haiti: Photos from the ground, by AIDG's Catherine Lainé Boing Boing Haiti's real deal with the devil Boing Boing

Nekosaur crystal robot toy with mecha-guts Posted: 04 Feb 2010 10:10 AM PST "Crystal Nekosaur is 6 inches tall, and comes with a totally insane paper insert." You can buy him here for $79 (while the small run lasts), designed by Alen Yen. More pics here. (Thanks, Sean Bonner).

When is a "cyber attack" an act of war? Posted: 04 Feb 2010 08:50 AM PST Dennis Blair, the US Director of National Intelligence, addressed a Senate Select Committee on Intelligence this week about the state of the internet as it relates to national security. "In so many words, Blair's testimony highlighted a question the intelligence community, the Defense Department, the White House and Congress have to answer: When is a cyber attack an act of war?" (via Oxblood)

Venezuela: Chavez equates Twitter with terrorism Posted: 04 Feb 2010 09:02 AM PST After finding himself on the receiving end of widespread criticism and unfriendly hashtags on Twitter, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez has announced that he now considers Twitter messages and social networking as terrorist threats. He is quoted in this Spanish-language news report as calling for more state control over the internet. The Great Firewall of... Venezuela? (thanks, Guido Núñez-Mujica)

Phishing scheme goes after carbon credits Posted: 04 Feb 2010 08:45 AM PST Using a pretty basic "You need to re-register your account" email, a group of phishers managed to swipe carbon credit permits—basically, entitlements to produce greenhouse gas emissions above the cut-off level stipulated by cap-and-trade laws—from six companies. Wired reports the permits were worth more than $4 million. But what do you do with pilfered carbon credits? These thieves re-sold 'em, to buyers who apparently thought they were purchasing legit credits in a standard trade—companies that produce less than their allotted share of greenhouse gases can sell the excess allowance to others.

Greenwald on claimed "war exception" to the Constitution Posted: 04 Feb 2010 08:47 AM PST Glenn Greenwald in Salon has an update on news that "the Obama administration has adopted the Bush policy of targeting selected American citizens for assassination if they are deemed (by the Executive Branch) to be Terrorists." Greenwald argues this policy "basically gives the President the power to impose death sentences on his own citizens without any charges or trial."

Underpants are the least of our worries: terrorism movie plots Posted: 04 Feb 2010 08:44 AM PST Paragliders! Insect Swarms! Man-eating Botox of Doom! Foreign Policy piece fleshes out ridiculous terrorism movie plots. Spotted on Schneier, who hosted a terror plot contest of his own with even more outlandish results.

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