Monday, March 22, 2010

The Latest from Boing Boing

The Latest from Boing Boing

Link to Boing Boing

Vermont cop tases and tases a mentally ill homeless 59 year old woman

Posted: 22 Mar 2010 12:52 AM PDT

A cop in Barre, Vermont repeatedly tased Ann Osborn, a 59-year-old mentally ill homeless woman who was standing in a parking lot with her arms folded. "I could see that this was not getting any results so I pulled out the cartridge and went for a drive stun to Osborn's left thigh. This did have some affect and she screamed a little bit and went down on her buttocks, in the shrub area, next to the store at which time the Taser slipped off her thigh... Before Osborn could get up I was able to apply a second drive stun to her right thigh. This again kept her down and she began to scream. I advised her to roll over and place her hands behind her back, which she did and the Taser came off her leg losing contact again. Now Osborn was still screaming without the Taser being on her, and would still not put her hands behind her back. I again applied the drive stun to the back of her left thigh. Osborn finally complied, put her hands behind her back at which time I was able to get the handcuffs on her and take her into custody." (Thanks, Keyan!)

James Randi is gay

Posted: 21 Mar 2010 11:26 PM PDT

Inspired by the movie Milk, 81-year-old skeptic and nerd hero James Randi has come out, with a heartfelt and moving article on spending 70+ years keeping his sexuality a secret.
From some seventy years of personal experience, I can tell you that there's not much "gay" about being homosexual. For the first twenty years of my life, I had to live in the shadows, in a culture that was -- at least outwardly -- totally hostile to any hint of that variation of life-style. At no time did I choose to adopt any protective coloration, though; my cultivation of an abundant beard was not at all a deception, but part of my costume as a conjuror.

Gradually, the general attitude that I'd perceived around me began to change, and presently I find that there has emerged a distinctly healthy acceptance of different social styles of living -- except, of course, in cultures that live in constant and abject fear of divine retribution for infractions found in the various Holy Books... In another two decades, I'm confident that young people will find themselves in a vastly improved atmosphere of acceptance.

How To Say It? (via Wil Wheaton)

(Image: RANDI.jpg, Wikimedia Commons)

Previously:


Beautiful old typewriters in photos

Posted: 21 Mar 2010 11:06 PM PDT


The Martin Howard collection of antique typewriters is stupendous -- beautiful machines, wonderfully photographed. Prints for sale at reasonable prices.
Comprised of typewriters from the very beginning of the typewriter industry (1880s & 1890s), it is the largest of its kind in Canada. The collection contains many rare and historically important typewriters, showing the remarkable diversity and beauty of the world's first typing machines.
Antique Typewriters - The Martin Howard Collection
Previously:


Nottingham cops declare war on kids

Posted: 22 Mar 2010 12:45 AM PDT

Police in Nottingham, England declared war on youth on Saturday night: anyone between 13-24 getting off a bus into town was sent through a metal-detector, and the streets were swarmed with drug-dogs that were set on young people.

Something like 90% of urban England Over 1,000 English cities and towns have a curfew for young people, giving police (and fake "citizen cops") the power to send kids home after dark for any reason, if, in their judgement, the kids are apt to be disturbing "real" people. Many stores and restaurants have signs on the door that say "no more than two kids at one time" (imagine if it said "No more than two Jews" or "No more than two blacks"). And there's a kind of para-law called the Anti-Social Behaviour Order that gives courts the power to invent laws for people (mostly kids) who face complaints about their behaviour (the accused aren't allowed to rebut the evidence against them).

You have to wonder what kind of values about citizenship, fairness, privacy, and the social contract are being imparted to young people by these measures.

The major operation involved 200 officers as part of a Home Office project targeting 13 to 24-year-olds.

Officers and a specially-trained dog met young people coming off a number of bus routes.

Metal detectors were used in an effort to find concealed weapons while drug testing was also carried out.

A search centre was set up where a full body scanner checked suspects.

Police in Nottingham city centre knife purge (Thanks, Dougall!)
Previously:


Science fiction in cake form

Posted: 22 Mar 2010 04:01 AM PDT

Cakewrecks ("When professional cakes go horribly, hilariously wrong") did a weekend special on science fiction cakes. I don't think these qualify as cakes gone wrong. These are what a cake should be!

Update: Thanks to the alert commenters below for in-cluing me to the fact that Cakewrecks weekend features are devoted to awesome, rather than awful, cakes

Sunday Sweets: 2010 Cake Odyssey (Thanks, Steven!)

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Business-card is a transistor amp

Posted: 21 Mar 2010 10:36 PM PDT

Eric sez, "Aaron Alai designed this kicking electronic business card, which demonstrates how transistor amplifiers work. When you touch two electrodes on it, a small amount of current is conducted through your body, which is then amplified by a transistor to light an LED. I like the clean design, which is both functional and descriptive of how it works."

Aaron calls it a "small interactive exhibit" in business-card form. I've always had a passion for great cards -- this one is a cake-taker. I stand in awe.

Business Card / Transistor Amplification (Thanks, Eric!)

Previously:


Health care reform passes House with 219 votes

Posted: 21 Mar 2010 08:38 PM PDT

billpasses.jpg To chants of "one more vote!" as the count hit 215, the U.S. House of Representatives voted in favor of the healthcare reform bill passed by the Senate in december. The final tally, 219 to 212, saw 34 democrats vote against the bill and unanimous republican opposition. Shortly thereafter, the house also approved, by 220-211, a bill to reconcile its own version with the Senate's.

Ben Folds + Chatroulette = homage to Merton

Posted: 21 Mar 2010 06:43 PM PDT

"Ben Folds has connected, feel free to talk now." The alt.pop piano composer pays homage to internet improv artist Merton, in this hilarious video taped at a live show. He's even wearing Merton's slouchy hoodie! Video contains cussin', but thankfully all the anony-wieners have been edited out.

Chatroulette Piano Ode to Merton.m4v (YouTube, thanks to the many, many readers who suggested this)

Previously:


Peter Watts wasn't convicted of assault

Posted: 21 Mar 2010 02:04 PM PDT

Canadian author Peter Watts was convicted of disobeying a border guard, but the Port Huron Times-Herald also claims he was convicted of assault. The story--already much-cited on the internet--is wrong on that point and some others. But the web self-corrects at light speed: one of the jurors who convicted him is apparently in the comment thread at the misleading story, debunking it.

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