The Latest from Boing Boing

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• Circuit-board shoes
• "Oriental Yeti" captured
• Alternate cover for Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom
• Mickey Mouse's first speaking role
• Wikileaks: More background material on Iraq massacre leak
• It's urban vegetable foraging season!
• "Free" credit report site disclosures now mandatory
• World's biggest scrap-metal sculpture is a steampunk wonderland
• US military admits role in killing of Afghan women
• Tiger Woods returns to golf
• MAKE Vol 22: remote control everything
• Iraq: Wikileaks video of US military killing journalists
• Digg CEO Adelson out, Kevin Rose steps up
• 200 Examples of anti-Obama merchandise during health care debate, 2008-2010
• Looking at photos of sick people boosts your immune system
• More of Pete Emslie's doodles on newspapers
• The iPad: Jailbroken, and Will it Blend?
• Live-streaming a 7.2 earthquake: Xeni on This Week in Tech
• Bruce Sterling's State-of-the-Spime address
• Insanely elaborate and wonderful custom maps
• KFC's Double Down: bacon and cheese sandwiched between two pieces of fried chicken
• Jam session with improvised instruments
• History of Penguin paperbacks

Circuit-board shoes Posted: 06 Apr 2010 04:48 AM PDT Artist Steven Rodrig makes beautiful sculpture from printed circuit boards, including these smart little shoes. PCB Creations (Thanks, Marilyn!) Previously: Homemade circuit-board straight-razor Circuit boards recycled as notebook covers Gadgets

"Oriental Yeti" captured Posted: 05 Apr 2010 09:50 PM PDT According to The Times, this unusual animal was captured in the Sichuan province in remote central China. Nicknamed "the oriental yeti," the unidentified animal is on its way to Beijing for DNA tests. "There are local legends of a bear that used to be a man and some people think that's what we caught," one of the hunters said. I dunno... Looks to me like a hairless bear. Besides, everyone knows that real Yetis look like this. "'Oriental yeti' that looks like a bear without fur shipped for tests" (Thanks, Xeni!)

Alternate cover for Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom Posted: 05 Apr 2010 09:24 PM PDT Danielle Mathieux, an MFA student, produced an alternate cover for my novel Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom as part of her degree. She's released it under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. I think it's just swell!

Mickey Mouse's first speaking role Posted: 05 Apr 2010 10:02 PM PDT While watching vintage Mickey Mouse cartoons on YouTube, my son and I happened upon this 1929 delight. The Karnival Kid is Mickey's first ever speaking role, finding his voice with the powerful words "Hot dogs!" Of course, "Hot dog!" would go on to become one of Mickey's trademark catchphrases. The Karnival Kid also stars the lovely and talented Minnie Mouse, as the Shimmy Dancer.

Wikileaks: More background material on Iraq massacre leak Posted: 05 Apr 2010 09:06 PM PDT Update, 9pm PT: The US military has issued a statement on the massacre investigation (6.52MB PDF). An update on that video released earlier today by Wikileaks, which shows US occupying forces shooting and killing civilians—including two Reuters journalists—in Baghdad. Wikileaks has released additional photographs and video that provide more background. These include interviews with survivors of the attack: a widow and her two children (left). And, above, one of the last two photos taken by war photographer Namir Noor-Eldeen before he was shot by American airmen during the 2007 incident. NYT item here. "Lots of people are avoiding talking about the murderous attack on the van and the wounded; and strawmanning camera/RPG confusion as the issue," Wikileaks tweets. The materials released just now address this issue. Video after the jump. Video: New background material from Iraq (YouTube / Sunshine Press) Previously: Iraq: Wikileaks video of US military killing journalists

It's urban vegetable foraging season! Posted: 05 Apr 2010 04:50 PM PDT Foraging season is on! In Northern California, Miner's lettuce (left) and fennel (right) are perfect for the picking; as the snow thaws on the eastern seaboard and Appalachia, locals are on the lookout for signs of ramps, and Midwesterners are gearing up for morel mushroom festivals. Forest dwellers know there is only a limited window for harvesting fiddlehead ferns and it is near; New Yorkers can sign up for foraging tours in Central and Prospect Park and learn how to make "Five Borough Salad", and Los Angelenos are mapping the city streets for public domain fruit trees. Miner's Lettuce Miner's Lettuce (above, left) is a beautiful gem of a wild green. It's round, deep green and has a tiny white bloom in its center. It grows after rainy season in big bunches, so it's easy to harvest and it self sows, so you don't have to be too worried about over-picking. Dandelion Greens You should have no problem finding and identifying these, and people will gladly let you harvest them from your yard. While the entire plant -- flower, root and leaf is edible, this time of year, focus on the leaf. Harvest it before the flower comes so it's small and not too bitter. It has a bitter flavor and this can be balanced by cooking it with bacon or in a cream based soup, but that sort of negates some of the health benefits. If it tastes bitter to you, stir-fry it with sweeter vegetables or grate raw beets onto salads to sweeten them up. NYC Foraging Tours: "Wild Man" Steve Brill Fiddlehead Ferns Ferns are usually shade-loving plants, so they are often found in forests. In early spring, they start to rise from the ground, in small, tightly curled formations that resemble the shape of a snail shell -- or as it's name fiddlehead suggests, the spiral end of a fiddle. The early blooms of ostrich or lady ferns are edible and should be harvested when 1.5 to 2 inches big and bright green in color. Only take a few from each fern, as the fronds will not be able to come back if you take every fiddlehead and the fern will perish. Use them right away--wash, trim the stems and cut off any brown scales and then sauté or steam them. (Don't eat them raw). They are also delicious preserved in vinegar brine. Wild Food Adventures. Fennel Since fennel (above, right) is often an invasive weed, don't mind helping yourself. In the spring, get the base or bulb of the fennel when it's young. These have a mild licorice taste and are great grilled. (The stalks can be very fibrous and bland if they are older). Young stalks are good diced into salads or sautéed for stuffing. Once the feathery tops of the plant starts to flower, use these golden blossoms for their slight anise flavor and beauty--in a white wine sauce for clams. Northern California: Learn foraging and cooking with wild foods at Relish Culinary. Ramps: Wild Leeks Ramps are a symbol of springtime, particularly in the southeast and ramp festivals abound in North Carolina, West Virginia, and Virginia. But as spring progresses, they also are found in New England and the Great Lakes area. Ramps favor the shade of forests, and are found along streams. The overall plant is the size of a scallion, but the leaves differ as they are flat and broad and the bright green is tinted with maroon. Crush a stem in your hand --- it should smell like onions; if it does not, don't eat it. Treat the leaves like spring onions--though some people get creative and make ramp kimchee, the wise cook them with bacon for breakfast biscuits. The bulbs are often treated like garlic cloves and used to flavor sauces. Tip: When collecting ramps or other plants with bulbs, always replant the "baby" bulbs that cling to the main root. The Native Americans practiced wild managing in this way, and vastly increased yields of wild edibles over time. Ramps and Wild Leeks. Morels Do not start out mushroom foraging by yourself unless you have a generous kidney donor handy. Find experts or attend festivals and tours to learn about finding the popular fungi, morels. Morels are a springtime mushroom, often following the rains. These are often pinched and twist out of the ground and wipe off any excess dirt off with a small brush. Use them within a week. A popular way of preparing them is to dip them in flour and then fry them in butter. You can also grill morels, and eat them alongside a grilled steak or sauté them with spring asparagus in olive oil with a little garlic. Save them for the dry season by making Morel Duxelles. National Morel Mushroom Festival. Visit City Dirt for a recipe for Morel Duxelles) Fruit Tree Neighborhood Mapping Projects The three artists who make up the collective called Fallen Fruit -- Matias Viegener, David Burns, and Austin Young -- started by mapping fruit trees in their neighborhood of Silver Lake, Los Angeles for a project for the Journal of Aesthetic protest. They did some research and learned that it's not illegal to take fruit in public areas, and trees that overhang public property. They moved from mapping to fruit foraging parties that brought together about 40-90 strangers from all different ages. These outings were followed by jam making parties that all the foragers participated in. Fallen Fruit, Street Mapping Los Angeles.

"Free" credit report site disclosures now mandatory Posted: 05 Apr 2010 04:29 PM PDT It pleases me to learn that a new Federal Trade Commission regulation went into effect requiring those sleazy sites like Freecreditreport.com to display this disclosure: THIS NOTICE IS REQUIRED BY LAW. Read more at FTC.GOV. You have the right to a free credit report from AnnualCreditReport.com or 877-322-8228, the ONLY authorized source under federal law. The regulation went into effect on April 2, but Freecreditreport.com doesn't have the disclosure on its home page. It does have a curious notice in the form of a gif (no text), though: So, for starters, Freecreditreport.com isn't even free anymore. But, more than that, this notice doesn't make a lot of sense. The company says it can no longer provide a "free" credit report (thanks to the mean ol' gubmint) and must now charge a dollar. But then it says it will give the dollar to charity. Huh? I have a feeling something else is going on here. I'm only guessing, but I suspect the real reason they charge a dollar is to make sure the credit card number it asks for (before giving you your report) is valid. (Freecreditreport.com uses the card number to charge you $14.95 a month for its lame "Triple Advantage" program). It could be that some people had been signing up using phony credit card numbers that they generated from a site like this. These numbers will pass a local pre-validation check, but will fail when a merchant actually tries to process a charge against the card number. So now the company is charging a dollar to make sure the card is valid. Do you have a better theory? I'm all ears. UPDATE: In the comments, Thalia makes the point that by charging $1, Freecreditreport.com can avoid FTC's new disclosure regulation for "free" credit reports. This is a much better theory than mine. Note: I post stories about money for credit.com, which offers something called CreditReportCard that actually is free. I wrote about Credit Report Card here. "Free" Credit Report Site Disclosures Now Mandatory Previously: When is a free credit report not a free credit report? When it's ... Funny spoof song about freecreditreport.com

World's biggest scrap-metal sculpture is a steampunk wonderland Posted: 05 Apr 2010 02:57 PM PDT Alex sez, "OMFSM this is made of awesome: Jer Faludi's pictures of a little-known Steampuck/Recycloart masterpiece, the Forevertron." Dr. Evermor's Forevertron: best steampunk sculpture EVER. Yes, ever. Including all the great stuff at Burning Man. This guy wins. You've just never seen it, because it's in semi-rural Wisconsin (here). It's also the biggest scrap-metal sculpture in the world, so he wins the stuff-recycled-into-art prize, too. Reimagining Scrap Metal: Dr. Evermor's Forevertron (Thanks, Alex!) Previously: Scrap metal skeleton sculpture Bioshock Big Daddy scrap metal sculpture Gadgets Damn, these are cool junk-metal sculptures Alien sculpture Nemo Gould's "Little Big Man" Robot Sculpture Gadgets Rusty animal sculptures Steampunk stormtroopers and Alien spotted in Dubai

US military admits role in killing of Afghan women Posted: 05 Apr 2010 02:35 PM PDT The US-led military command in Kabul admitted, after an earlier denial, that American forces killed three Afghan female civilians in February, and tried to cover up their deaths. There are reports that "Special Operations forces dug bullets out of the bodies of the women to hide the true nature of their deaths," and "that an Afghan-led team of investigators had found signs of evidence tampering at the scene, including the removal of bullets from walls near where the women were killed." One was a pregnant mother of 10 and another was a pregnant mother of six. (thanks, Antinous)

Tiger Woods returns to golf Posted: 05 Apr 2010 03:03 PM PDT On the day that an American consulate in Pakistan is attacked and that Wikileaks posted video of soldiers laughing while they kill civilians in Iraq, the major U.S. news networks have more important things to cover. Tiger Woods has returned to golf. Update: Fox is first among the major networks to lead with the story. MSNBC also has a front-door item on the Iraq killings--and CBS on Pakistan -- but neither have dislodged Tiger. Curiously, the search term 'wikileaks' doesn't work at MSNBC's search[reddit], even though other similar terms work fine and there should be many results from MSNBC's frequent coverage of the whistle-blowing site. In fact, a quick check suggests that Bing isn't indexing 'wikileaks' at MSNBC's site at all, but is doing so for other news providers. Bing itself lets you do that search just fine, so long as you don't restrict it to site:msnbc.com. Compare to the same query at Bing restricted to Fox. The kicker: if you misspell wikileaks in MSNBC's search box, it returns error-corrected results. Surely it can't be censorshop, given that MSNBC's own Rachel Maddow posted the video on her official blog earlier today and is following the story closely!

MAKE Vol 22: remote control everything Posted: 05 Apr 2010 02:25 PM PDT What's the same size as the iPad, but even more wonderful? Why, the newest issue of MAKE, of course! The latest issue of MAKE, Volume 22, is already wending its way across the planet and into the calloused hands of anxious makers. It will be available on newsstands on April 10th. We know we say this every time, but we think this one is a particularly awesome issue. The theme is "Remote Control Everything," and we cast a wide net in exploring everything from state-of-the-art radio-control (R/C) technology to controlling gadgets remotely over the internet. Projects in the issue include building an R/C-controlled lawn mower, a cat toy that tweets when your kitty is playing with it, and a toy car you can control with your mind! (Okay, that last one involves a trick, but it's still cool.) You'll also learn about foamies, Frankensteining, and aqua modeling. What on earth are we talking about? You'll just have to get the issue to find out! A four-issue subscription is just $24.95, or about 1/20th the cost of the cheapest iPad! (Thanks for noticing the similar form-factors, Donald!)

Iraq: Wikileaks video of US military killing journalists Posted: 05 Apr 2010 08:48 PM PDT Update: A senior U.S. official is confirming authenticity of this video. See this subsequent Boing Boing post for additional background materials related to the attack. Wikileaks claims to have obtained and decrypted video that shows US occupying forces in an Apache helicopter intentionally firing on a dozen civilians in Baghdad, including journalists working for the Reuters news organization: 22-year-old Reuters photographer, Namir Noor-Eldeen, and his driver, Saeed Chmagh, 40. The video is accompanied by audio of the pilots' radio dialogue. No Pentagon response yet. Reuters has been attempting to obtain the video under Freedom of Information Act requests since the incident occurred in July, 2007, but the Pentagon blocked all requests. Reuters news editor-in-chief David Schlesinger says the video is "graphic evidence of the dangers involved in war journalism and the tragedies that can result". Wikileaks director Julian Assange said Wikileaks had to break military encryption on the file to view it, and will not reveal how or from whom the file was obtained. The transcript (and audio) seem to show the air crew lying about encountering a firefight. When they finish shooting, they laugh at the dead. Transcript, and related information at Wikileaks site Collateralmurder.com. Video, and an interview with Wikileaks director Julien Assange, embedded after the jump. A footnote: CNN's homepage right now, vs. Al Jazeera's. Related coverage: Al Jazeera, BBC. UK Guardian, New York Times. No single piece of video has made me more ashamed to be supporting this stupid, morally bankrupt, endless war with my tax dollars. No wonder my government (and others) wants Wikileaks shut down. Video: Collateral Murder (YouTube/sunshinepress). Also available as a torrent: (short) (full) Al-Jazeera interview with Wikileaks director Julien Assange, below. Previously: The US government's war on Wikileaks US spooks plotted to destroy Wikileaks Wikileaks reveals secret blacklist behind proposed Great Firewall ... California judge shuts down wikileaks Wikileaks publishes massive archive of private 9/11 pager messages ... Wikileaks needs your help ACLU and EFF intervene in the Wikileaks lawsuit

Digg CEO Adelson out, Kevin Rose steps up Posted: 05 Apr 2010 11:48 AM PDT Jay Adelson is stepping down as the CEO of Digg. Kevin Rose steps up.

200 Examples of anti-Obama merchandise during health care debate, 2008-2010 Posted: 05 Apr 2010 11:43 AM PDT This is just a snippet of a very long image containing 200 examples of ant-Obama merchandise for sale, including shirts, buttons, and stickers.

Looking at photos of sick people boosts your immune system Posted: 05 Apr 2010 11:35 AM PDT I harbor the superstitious belief that I will catch a cold from watching TV shows depicting people who are sick. I usually stop watching any program that has someone sniffing and sneezing. But it turns out that looking at images of sick people actually boosts your immune system, according to researchers at the University of British Columbia. The researchers asked young adults to watch a 10-minute slide show containing a series of unpleasant photographs. Some of these participants looked at pictures of people who looked obviously sick in some way (people with pox and rashes, people coughing and sneezing and blowing mucus out of their noses). The participants gave blood samples both before and after each slideshow. Next the researchers exposed these blood samples to a bacterial infection, and measured the extent to which white blood cells produced interleukin-6 (IL-6). IL-6 is a proinflammatory cytokine that white blood cells make when they detect microbial intruders. More IL-6 indicates a more aggressive immune response to infection. So, by measuring IL-6 before and after the slide show, the researchers were able to determine whether seeing pictures of disease-y people actually stimulated the immune system to fight infection more aggressively. And it did. Douglas Kenrick of Psychology Today interviewed one of the researchers in the study, social psychologist Mark Schaller. The psychological immune system

More of Pete Emslie's doodles on newspapers Posted: 05 Apr 2010 11:24 AM PDT Pete Emslie, a gifted cartoonist, enjoys doodling on newspapers. The advertisements in the paper present interesting challenges and boundaries for him to work with. Here's a sample from his most recent post. Pete Emslie's Cartoon Cave: More Doodles! Previously: Thoughts on doodling

The iPad: Jailbroken, and Will it Blend? Posted: 05 Apr 2010 11:23 AM PDT Will the iPad be jailbroken? Already was, over the weekend by "MuscleNerd." Will the iPad Blend? Watch and see. Related: iPad outsells iPhone in day-one sales.

Live-streaming a 7.2 earthquake: Xeni on This Week in Tech Posted: 05 Apr 2010 11:37 AM PDT Leo Laporte invited me to join him, Jason Calacanis, and Robert Scoble and his son Patrick for This Week in Tech yesterday, for a jovial and meandering discussion of news stories including the launch of a new Apple product that rhymes with EYE-SHMAD. While we were rolling, the Los Angeles studio I was in literally started rolling. Earthquake. Hanging plants swayed violently, the walls wobbled like human flesh, and the "Love Waves" lasted a LONNNG time, rendering everyone in my building seasick and scared. No harm done, but it was intense, one of the longest shakers I can recall. Leo, Scoble, and Jason didn't believe me at first, and went to Twitter to seek the truth! Was indeed a whopping 7.2, centered a couple hundred miles southeast in Mexico. It is entirely possible that this moment inspired today's XKCD comic. An interesting note about the type of seismic waves at work in the quake, from Wikipedia: Love waves take a long time to dissipate due to the huge amount of energy that they contain. For this reason, they are most destructive within the immediate area of the focus or epicentre of an earthquake. They are what most people feel directly during an earthquake. In the past, it was often thought that animals like cats and dogs could predict an earthquake before it happened. However, they are simply more sensitive to ground vibrations than humans and able to detect the subtler waves that precede Love waves, like the P-waves and the S-waves. That might explain why animals in the room where I was were acting really squirrely right before the quake! I thought they were just annoyed by my Skype feedback. TWIT #242 (select video or audio, as you prefer). (Listen closely: right before the quake hits me, you can hear Leo whisper under his breath, "RELEASE THE KRAKENNNNNNN.")

Bruce Sterling's State-of-the-Spime address Posted: 05 Apr 2010 10:54 AM PDT Bruce Sterling "Shaping Things" (Lift09 France EN) from Lift Conference on Vimeo. Mike sez, "In this video from the LIFT 09 conference, Bruce Sterling looks back at what he wrote in the great book 'Shaping Things' about spimes, RFID, and the 'Internet of Things,' and sees how his theorizing has held up." Very few books have influenced me as much as Shaping Things did (here's my review). The video is a don't-miss/must-see. Bruce Sterling "Shaping Things" (Lift09 France EN) (Thanks, Mike!) Previously: BoingBoing: Bruce Sterling SIGGRAPH 2004 speech "When Blobjects ... Bruce Sterling's design future manifesto: viva spime! FedEx's cellular sensor-package for your important shipments ...

Insanely elaborate and wonderful custom maps Posted: 05 Apr 2010 11:16 AM PDT Marilyn sez, "Connie Brown's custom-drawn maps start at $10,000 for a standard 3' by 4' size. Here's why:" Once Brown has the map planned out, which, she adds, is the truly time-consuming portion of the job, it takes another 140 hours (or so) to complete the piece. After getting an enlargement made by an architectural printer, Brown traces the map she developed onto the canvas. It's all freehand from there, lettering included. To add color, she prefers a "finicky" technique of brushing on and rubbing off acrylic paints. Brown loves the look of the transparent wash and "it's a good background for place names." For water, she goes all Seurat on the maps. "I paint a gazillion little dots, inspired by the stippled maps of the 16th and 17th centuries," says Brown. "I love the color part, and I get a little too excited when I stumble on a new shade." Brown will be giving a talk on the creative uses of maps on April 10 at the New York Public Library. (Click through below for more maps!) Mapmaker, Mapmaker, Draw Me My Life (Thanks, Marilyn!) Previously: Transit Maps of the World book -- sheer subway-porn Victorian "poverty maps" of London Miss South Carolina says we need more maps (video) TED: augmented-reality maps Satirical WWI maps

KFC's Double Down: bacon and cheese sandwiched between two pieces of fried chicken Posted: 05 Apr 2010 11:26 AM PDT From the Consumerist: "The Original Recipe [Double Down] sandwich will set you back about 540 calories, 32g of fat and 1380mg of sodium. The not-as-bad-for-you Grilled Double Down totals 460 calories, 23g of fat and 1430mg of sodium." KFC's Double Down

Jam session with improvised instruments Posted: 05 Apr 2010 09:37 AM PDT The drum is a box. The bass is made of two balloons. The results are delightful. (Thanks, Marti Siebert!) Previously: BB Video: Micachu and "maker" music, the Russell Porter interview ... MGMT tune played by iPhone orchestra

History of Penguin paperbacks Posted: 05 Apr 2010 09:45 PM PDT The possibly apocryphal story of the birth of Penguin paperback books begins in 1935 in a train station where the publishing house's founder, Allen Lane, couldn't find anything good to read in the shops. Supposedly, he flashed on the idea of making quality novels readily available for the same price of a pack of smokes. Smithsonian has a short history of "How the Paperback Novel Changed Popular Literature": The first ten Penguin titles, including The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie, A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway and The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy Sayers, were wildly successful, and after just one year in existence, Penguin had sold over three million copies. Penguin's graphic design played a large part in the company's success. Unlike other publishers, whose covers emphasized the title and author of the book, Penguin emphasized the brand. The covers contained simple, clean fonts, color-coding (orange for fiction, dark blue for biography) and that cute, recognizable bird. The look helped gain headlines. The Sunday Referee declared "the production is magnificent" and novelist J. B. Priestley raved about the "perfect marvels of beauty and cheapness." Other publishing houses followed Penguin's lead; one, Hutchinson, launched a line called Toucan Books. With its quality fare and fine design, Penguin revolutionized paperback publishing, but these were not the first soft-cover books. The Venetian printer and publisher Aldus Manutius had tried unsuccessfully to publish some in the 16th century, and dime novels, or "penny dreadfuls" -lurid romances published in double columns and considered trashy by the respectable houses, were sold in Britain before the Penguins. Until Penguin, quality books, and books whose ink did not stain one's hands, were available only in hardcover. "How the Paperback Novel Changed Popular Literature" Previously: Classic Penguin books designs Penguin books is releasing 200 Penguin Great Ideas -- gorgeous editions of classic philosophy ... Classic Penguin covers gallery

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