Monday, February 8, 2010

The Latest from Boing Boing

The Latest from Boing Boing

Link to Boing Boing

Get Excited and Change Things: Letterpress inspirational message

Posted: 08 Feb 2010 03:47 AM PST


(Thanks, John/Reproduced by permission of Flower&Fleurons)

Kim Stanley Robinson: the world is an sf novel we collaborate on

Posted: 08 Feb 2010 02:07 AM PST

I thought you might be interested in this video from a recent Kim Stanley Robinson talk in which he describes life in the present as a science fiction novel we all collaborate on. This is an excerpt from a pair of talks he gave at the Duke in January; the entirety of the other talk is available here. Here's a transcript of the first part of the video:"

KSR: I think it's very true that we are living in a science fiction novel that we all collaborate on, and it's because everything that science fiction was about through its historical named period, the twentieth century, has kind of come true. And also we live in a world that is so intensely structured by science and technology that we can't get out of it. If we were to get out of it would still be a science fiction move, the retreat to the farm. So it's hegemonic, you can't escape it, we're in that world created by science and technology.

And also there's this intense sense of futurity, in that if you opened up your newspaper or laptop tomorrow and it said,"They've cloned six South Koreans successfully and they're all named Kim," you would believe it, there would be no surprise there. Anything could happen. You could say, well, we just got a signal from Alpha Centauri, there are intelligent aliens there, they sent us the code for pi and the Pythagorean theorem. There's no reason to disbelieve that, either. So we live in this world of anticipation of strangeness, of change, rapidly accelerating change.

I came through the Atlanta airport today, and you know those speedwalkers that are underneath the various terminals? When I was young there was this famous bestseller, Future Shock, by Alvin Toffler. Future shock: we don't talk about that anymore because none of you are shocked. And that's because the shock comes at the moment you step on the walkway and you feel the drag between one acceleration and another. At the moment you're being accelerated to a new speed there's a little gravity drag on your body, and that's the moment of "future shock"--1972 or '3--and when you're walking with the walkway that's moving at a different speed there's no shock there. You simply are moving at that speed. So now we're moving a new historical speed that's faster than the historical speed was when I was a kid. That moment was marked by this book Future Shock, and it's an archaic term, obsolete, because there's nothing in our experience now-- I don't think there's anything that could happen that would shock us, because we're moving at such a fast speed now, and because we're conditioned by science fiction.

GC: What about the other end of the runway?

KSR: When you slow down? Well, that's another--you feel that too. This is like when your connection to the Internet goes out for three days, or your phone line, or when your cell phone dies--these moments when you're suddenly not having the sixth sense of the cloud--

Bonus Kim Stanley Robinson Video: 'We Are Living in a Science Fiction Novel That We All Collaborate On' (Thanks, Gerry!)
Previously:


My own private... hydrogen power station?

Posted: 08 Feb 2010 03:05 AM PST

hydrofillpic.jpg

For years, it's been called the fuel of the future. But I wasn't expecting THIS vision just yet.

Hydrogen fuel cell technology was first embraced a few years back by carmakers eager to go green. The big obstacle? Hydrogen at the pump wasn't available, and was expensive to produce.

But one inventor hope to change that.

Hubbing through Hong Kong, Taras Wankewycz showed me a table-top hydrogen power station that can extract hydrogen from water to be used in fuel cells.

The Hydrofill uses electricity from the outlet (as well as solar panels if you're particularly green), and produces hydrogen that can then be stored in refillable cartridges. The system can pump out 2.5 watts of power.

(And brushing Hindenburg nightmares aside, the company insists the technology is safe.)

No word yet on the cost. Online chatter puts it at about $200 for the whole kit, but Taras himself is mum on giving an exact number because he's still in talks with retailers. He expects to have it on shelves at the end of the year.

Taras' company, Singapore-based Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies, is also pushing out a range of products which can use the cartridges to power up smartphones, lights and other devices including a zippy RC hydrogen fuel cell car.

Taras is confident his invention is the very first step to a so-called hydrogen economy where hydrogen displaces oil as our chief source of energy.

One interesting upside -- hydrogen is a compact and relatively light source of power... which is why the US military has been developing hydrogen-powered drones.

Of course, the obvious big upside of hydrogen is that it's clean. Hydrogen fuel cells produce only water vapor as a by-product. But power is still needed to produce the stuff.

My own private... wind turbine? (Hat tip to Constance Cheng, my Eco Solutions producer.)

Every Violent Act in the 2010 Superbowl Ads

Posted: 07 Feb 2010 10:38 PM PST

Copyrighthater says,

cheetoth.jpgHere is a video documenting every violent act in the 2010 superbowl ads. i dunno what's dumber: the marketers for being this pathetic, or the consumers for giving marketers the impression we're this pathetic.
My money's on BOTH.

Kage Baker obit by David Hartwell

Posted: 07 Feb 2010 10:09 PM PST

Science fiction editor David Hartwell has written a sweet and moving obituary for writer Kage Baker, who lost her struggle with cancer on Jan 31.
Two years ago, I had a plan to get together with Kage Baker. After several years of knowing her only through phone calls and the occasional meeting at a conference, I was pleased to have the opportunity to better know this witty and imaginative author. I was in Southern California at the Eaton conference in Riverside, and she and her terrific sister Kathleen were supposed to drive over. But their car broke down and I didn't get the chance to spend time with her that day. We tried again last June, when I was out to Los Angeles for World Horror, but in the end she couldn't make it over (I didn't know she was already ill).

And now it is too late.

On Kage Baker
Previously:


Ship disguised as island

Posted: 07 Feb 2010 10:04 PM PST

This camouflaged Dutch ship successfully disguised itself as a small tropical island and avoided the Japanese Navy after the Battle of the Java Sea.

HNLMS Abraham Crijnssen was stationed in the Dutch East Indies when WW II began. After the destruction of the Allied Fleet by the Japanese during the Battle of the Java Sea in February 1942, Crijnssen's captain was ordered to escape with his ship to Australia. Covered with tree branches, the minesweeper crossed the Japanese naval lines camouflaged as a tropical island.
HNLMS ABRAHAM CRIJNSSEN (A925) (via Make)
Previously:


XKCD's "We Love the Internet" reenacted with Lessig, Gaiman, Nielsen Haydens, Schneier, and many others!

Posted: 07 Feb 2010 10:10 PM PST

The incomparable Olga Nunes has released the latest and greatest iteration of the net's appreciation for Discovery Channel's "Boom-De-Yadda" commercial, reinacting the XKCD version with "Neil Gaiman, Wil Wheaton, Cory Doctorow, Lawrence Lessig, Bruce Schneier, Jason Kottke, Google Zurich, Hank Green, MC Frontalot, Patrick & Teresa Nielsen Hayden, Mr. Toast, Miss Cellania, Team Genius, Phil Plait, Allan Amato, Maddy Gaiman, Charissa Gilreath, Belinda Casas, Chuck Martinez, Jeremy James, Joanna Gaunder, Lee Israel & Octavio Coleman Esq. of The Jejune Institute."

We Love xkcd (via Making Light)

Alcoholics and girls are bad news at discos

Posted: 07 Feb 2010 10:38 PM PST

IMG_1429.JPG

More random wall art from Kathmandu's Patan Hospital: two newspaper clippings circa 2002 and 2003 that remind us that alcoholism is very bad for society. According to these snippets, alcoholism (and in the former case, girls too) cause disco brawls and premature death. I left this bulletin board itching to know what the continuation of the first article was. What is it that boys usually do at Babylon disco?

Palin considering 2012 presidential run

Posted: 07 Feb 2010 07:30 PM PST

What again was it that happens in 2012? [NYT. ]

HOWTO Watch the Daily Show anywhere

Posted: 07 Feb 2010 10:44 AM PST

Hey, lookit this: you can watch the Daily Show from anywhere, defeating geo-restrictions, with a little Firefox tweaking! (Thanks, Malakith!)

Jon Stewart and Bill O'Reilly: the unedited interview

Posted: 07 Feb 2010 09:22 PM PST

Here's the entire video of Jon Stewart's Fox interview with Bill O'Reilly. I know I'm biased, but I think that Stewart comes across as smart, funny and substantive and O'Reilly comes across as a defensive, deluded nut.

Man, it's good to see Jon Stewart again. It's been a year or so since Comedy Central started blocking Daily Show clips from the UK, where I live -- I know I could just use a proxy to get at them, but I'm always racing the clock and there's always something else that I can watch without messing around, and I somehow never get around to it. But I missed Jon.

Entire Jon Stewart Interview (Thanks, Fipi Lele!)

Previously:


Remix culture: not just creativity, also social play

Posted: 07 Feb 2010 09:19 AM PST

Flickr user Normative's 8-minute video on remix culture talks about how this isn't just about sitting around your house remixing, but often turns into a social event among remixers and their friends. It's a very good piece, and resonates with fanfic and other social forms of audience participation -- remixing isn't just about saying something back to a creator, but also about talking with your friends.

The Evolution of Remix Culture (Thanks, Jim!)

Previously:


Singing "My Way" at karaoke bar in Philippines gets you killed?

Posted: 07 Feb 2010 08:52 AM PST

"The odds of getting killed during karaoke may be higher in the Philippines." And more so if you sing a particular song, according to the NYT. (via Julian Dibbell)

Osh Kosh, B'Gosh

Posted: 07 Feb 2010 08:37 AM PST

Berlin art/hackers F.A.T. Lab pwn Google Streetview car

Posted: 07 Feb 2010 08:52 AM PST

The artists/hackers at @fffffat just tweeted, "WE JUST BUGGED A GOOGLE STREETVIEW CAR WITH A GPS TRACKER IN BERLIN." And lo, it appears they sure did. The map is here. (thanks Souris)
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