The Latest from Boing Boing |  |
- This means war: Big Content's war on democracy
- GlobalGiving.org's Mari Kuraishi on personalized philanthropy driven by natural disasters
- Video-game shoppers surrender their immortal souls
- Gail Carriger & Blake Charlton at the SF in SF reading series
- Croatian girl wakes up from coma speaking fluent German
- 20yo woman banned from drinking
- Printing from the iPad
- Peter Gleick on the human right to water (part 1)
- Copying is not theft: now with studio-recorded audio!
- Colossal turing machine made in city-building game
- 99 16-bit problems: Studio Joho animation on the post-princess epilogue
- Jay-Z parody feat. Robert Frost
- Hexane and soyburgers: a retraction
- Apple blocks Pulitzer-winning political cartoonist from iStore for "ridiculing public figures"
- Hexane in history
- Kim Fowley, Runaways manager and rock impresario: the Metzger interview
- Yoko Ono, lover of rare books and antiquarian book fairs
- El Mac + Retna mural, Los Angeles
- Snake used as "weapon"
- Nothing like Godzilla to cheer you up on Tax Day
- Hot pixels: JACKAL's Rise of the Obsidian Interstellar album cover
- Cool underground NYC discovery
- Icelandic volcano no longer slacking off
- JK Rowling on Britain's Conservative "nasty" Party
- Big Content's dystopian wish-list for the US gov't: spyware, censorship, physical searches and SWAT teams
| This means war: Big Content's war on democracy Posted: 16 Apr 2010 05:20 AM PDT My latest Guardian column, "Digital Economy Act: This means war," explains how the latest round of dirty tricks from the entertainment industry -- perverting British law, proposing an American police state, building an oppressive global treaty behind closed doors -- changes the game. We're no longer merely arguing about the future of control over culture: now it's about the fundamentals of a just and free society: . In the US, the MPAA and RIAA (American equivalents of the MPA and the BPI) just submitted comments to the American Intellectual Property Czar, Victoria Espinel, laying out their proposal for IP enforcement. They want us all to install spyware on our computers that deletes material that it identifies as infringing. They want our networks censored by national firewalls (U2's Bono also called for this in a New York Times editorial, averring that if the Chinese could control dissident information with censorware, our own governments could deploy similar technology to keep infringement at bay). They want border-searches of laptops, personal media players and thumb-drives...Digital Economy Act: This means war |
| GlobalGiving.org's Mari Kuraishi on personalized philanthropy driven by natural disasters Posted: 16 Apr 2010 04:38 AM PDT  I just spoke to Mari Kuraishi, founder of GlobalGiving.org, about how the recent surge in natural disasters has affected donor behavior. The vast majority of people are moved to give when there's a disaster going on. As ghoulish as it sounds, disasters mean a lot of people come to Global Giving. Haiti, the Chinese earthquake, the Chilean earthquake... the news really helps make what we do relevant for donors; the angle we add is that you're giving to a specific project undertaken by a specific organization, you'll hear back from them about what they did with your money. With some of the larger organizations, it's not always clear where it's going, what it's doing, or whether the money ended up there at all. I think this helps makes them feel like their $10 actually makes a diference.You can donate to your favorite GlobalGiving project here. |
| Video-game shoppers surrender their immortal souls Posted: 16 Apr 2010 04:25 AM PDT On April Fool's day, the online game store Gamestation.co.uk added language to its clickthrough license that asked customers to surrender their immortal souls, though it offered a checkbox to opt out if you wanted to keep yours. 7,500 customers did not check the box. I'm guessing that a small minority of the customers didn't check the box because they knew it was all a gag, but I believe the majority didn't check it off because they didn't read the agreement. No one reads the agreements. Because they aren't agreements. The legal fiction that you can create agreement merely by throwing tens of thousands of words' worth of arcane legalese at a customer does incredible violence to the noble institution of agreement. It's truly a plague of idiocy. READ CAREFULLY. By reading this blog post, you agree, on behalf of your employer, to release me from all obligations and waivers arising from any and all NON-NEGOTIATED agreements, licenses, terms-of-service, shrinkwrap, clickwrap, browsewrap, confidentiality, non-disclosure, non-compete and acceptable use policies ("BOGUS AGREEMENTS") that I have entered into with your employer, its partners, licensors, agents and assigns, in perpetuity, without prejudice to my ongoing rights and privileges. You further represent that you have the authority to release me from any BOGUS AGREEMENTS on behalf of your employer. 7,500 Online Shoppers Unknowingly Sold Their Souls (Thanks, Hugh!) (Image: File:Faust und Mephisto, Stich von Tony Johannot.jpg, Wikimedia Commons) |
| Gail Carriger & Blake Charlton at the SF in SF reading series Posted: 16 Apr 2010 04:10 AM PDT San Franciscans, rejoice! The SF in SF science fiction reading series continues tomorrow, April 17, with Gail Carriger & Blake Charlton. Festivities begin at 6PM at the The Variety Preview Room, 582 Market St. @ Montgomery. Free! (Thanks, Rina!) |
| Croatian girl wakes up from coma speaking fluent German Posted: 16 Apr 2010 02:17 AM PDT A 13-year old Croatian girl woke up from a coma speaking no Croatian and perfect German. The girl, who had been studying basic German in school, is communicating with her parents via an interpreter. Experts are investigating the cause. |
| 20yo woman banned from drinking Posted: 16 Apr 2010 02:13 AM PDT  20-year old Laura Hall of Bromsgrove, Worcestershire is thought to be the first person to be banned from all pubs, bars, and clubs across England and Wales. She is also not allowed to buy alcohol or drink in public.I wonder what this girl did wrong that makes her so exceptional among other belligerent drunk people, or this is supposed to set an example for other drunken youngsters. Link [via Metro UK] |
| Posted: 15 Apr 2010 10:08 PM PDT |
| Peter Gleick on the human right to water (part 1) Posted: 15 Apr 2010 06:04 PM PDT What if the world runs out of water? In a session titled Water Scarcity and the Human Right to Water at the Skoll World Forum, water experts Peter Gleick, Gary White, and Gidon Bromberg discussed the very real problem of water scarcity in the world. Nearly a billion people in the world don't have access to clean water right now, and some are drinking muddied water from nearby streams because the good kind is either too far, too dangerous to get to, or inaccessible due to the lack of knowledge or wells. Gleick — whom Wired called one of 15 people Obama should listen to, spoke about the need to rethink and reframe the water problem. We have the impression that we'll never run out of water, but that simply isn't true — like oil, water can be over-pumped and its supply can peak, bringing us to a point where the next gallon of water will cause more harm than good. He points out that, in the 20th century, we focused our water efforts on "hard" solutions, technology and infrastructures that could improve water delivery. Now, he says, we have to think of "soft" solutions, economic and social aspects that complement the tech. "The population is growing too rapidly, but we still need to provide people with water and food," he said. "The good news is I think we can do it." I'm talking to Gleick at the Forum tomorrow to find out exactly how. |
| Copying is not theft: now with studio-recorded audio! Posted: 15 Apr 2010 01:46 PM PDT QuestionCopyright.org's most excellent animated video (which explains a common-sense but often-muddied distinction) now has a super soundtrack. Via TechDirt [Thanks, John!] Previously: Copying Isn't Theft video needs YOUR music! and Nina Paley's Copyright Song |
| Colossal turing machine made in city-building game Posted: 15 Apr 2010 12:51 PM PDT  Dwarf Fortress, an intimidating old-school city-building game, is famous for its vast scope and difficulty. Technically a roguelike, it allows players to construct elaborate underground civilizations -- and even the entire world they are set in -- then crushes them with goblin invasions, lava flows and micromanagement. Players often show off their labyrinthine creations using 3D visualization apps, but Jong89's creation is especially worthy of your attention: his dwarf fortress is a vast turing machine. The Dwarven Computer is finally complete! I've tested it and it functions as expected, though its performance is really lousy. ... Yellow gears represent gears that are disengaged by default. Grey gears are not linked to any pressure plates. Blue gears are engages by default. Unfortunately I didn't have enough cobaltite to make all the blue gears on the upper deck so I used orthoclase instead. This monumental build contains 672 pumps, 2000 logs, 8500 mechanisms and thousands of other assort bits and knobs like doors and rock blocks. I believe this is the first programmable digital computer that anyone has built in DF. I believe it is turing complete, for anyone who cares.When examining the map, be sure to note it has multiple levels--and that the computer intersects with an underground river! Razorlength [Dwarf Fortress Map Archive] Thanks, Joel! |
| 99 16-bit problems: Studio Joho animation on the post-princess epilogue Posted: 15 Apr 2010 12:58 PM PDT With tropes as, err.. 'timeless' as the 16-bit games that inspired it, Studio Joho's Dan the Man animation -- its moral seemingly somewhere along the lines of 'don't waste your extra life' -- shows us what fate awaits the hero after the boss has been defeated and the princess is rescued. [via David Surman] |
| Jay-Z parody feat. Robert Frost Posted: 15 Apr 2010 11:42 AM PDT "Granite State of Mind" is a rap about the wonders of New Hampshire. As a lifelong Midwesterner, I think I'm missing a lot of the jokes. What I do get, though—and LOVE—is the sequence that starts around 2:33. (Thanks, Shea Gunther!) Special Granite State of Mind shout-out to Nathan C. and Sarah K.—two awesome people who just moved to New Hampshire—and to Max and Clay W., who've been rocking upper New England for a while now. Miss you all |
| Hexane and soyburgers: a retraction Posted: 15 Apr 2010 11:47 AM PDT The search for truth goes on: yesterday morning, I blogged a study from the Cornucopia Institute on the use of the neurotoxin hexane in production of soyburgers, which sparked a controversy in the comment thread about the science, focusing mostly on the question of whether any of the volatile hexane would still be present after the burgers made it to your shelf. For the record: I'm dubious about this objection, since in the absence of a study to the contrary, I think it makes sense to assume that the substances you put into food during production are still present at consumption. And of course, the release of hexane into the environment as part of the production of these "healthy alternatives" undermines the whole cause of improving health. I posted a followup last night, after Xeni emailed me with a tip that the Cornucopia study had been funded by an agriculture think-tank/lobbying group called the Weston A Price Foundation. Based on that tip, I believed that I'd been had -- just another example of a corporate subsidized "science" that concludes that the company's products are just dandy (or that its competitors' wares are bad for you). But I was wrong. I've just spoken to Kiera Butler from Mother Jones, who has followed up with Cornucopia. Cornucopia promises that the Price Foundation did not fund its research (and further, that none of its research is ever substantially funded by any concern or individual), and the principal researcher repeated her concern that there is no evidence that the hexane boils off before consumption, and that in any event, "health food" companies have no business emitting terrible toxic waste into the atmosphere (here's her update). And I agree. And we were wrong. Xeni and I offer our sincerest apologies to both Cornucopia and the Price Foundation for publishing inaccurate information. |
| Apple blocks Pulitzer-winning political cartoonist from iStore for "ridiculing public figures" Posted: 15 Apr 2010 11:05 AM PDT  Laura sez, "Mark Fiore just won a Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning for his animated works appearing on SFGate.com. I spoke with Fiore about what's next for him, and he said he'd like to take his freelance shop mobile. Only problem: Apple denied his iPhone app because it 'ridicules public figures,' a violation of the iPhone Developer Program License Agreement. If he can get his app past the Apple satire police, he should be good to go." How's that benevolent dictatorship working out for ya? Mark Fiore can win a Pulitzer Prize, but he can't get his iPhone cartoon app past Apple's satire police (Thanks, Laura!) Previously: |
| Posted: 15 Apr 2010 10:49 AM PDT Speaking of using hexane to extract oil from soybeans: Apparently, back in 1981, the Ralston-Purina plant in Louisville, Kentucky, illegally discharged hexane vapors into the city sewer system—leading to a series of explosions that destroyed two miles of sewer line. Luckily, this happened super-early in the morning, meaning lots of people were woken up, but nobody was killed. (Via Dr. Kiki Sanford) |
| Kim Fowley, Runaways manager and rock impresario: the Metzger interview Posted: 15 Apr 2010 10:03 AM PDT Richard Metzger interviews Kim Fowley, "record producer, rock impresario, songwriter and musician. Manager of The Runaways, Animal Man and the original Mayor of the Sunset Strip." The video includes gossipy details about Sly Stone and Doris Day; Sonny and Cher; Cat Stevens, Led Zeppelin, Gene Vincent and more. (Dangerous Minds) |
| Yoko Ono, lover of rare books and antiquarian book fairs Posted: 15 Apr 2010 11:53 AM PDT Yet another reason Yoko Ono is awesome: she loves to collect rare books, and feels that going to antiquarian book fairs can be as thrilling as going to a horror movie (though the experience is of course not one of horror, she says). What got her started on the path of bibliophilia? "My father was my influence. John Lennon was a lover and a collector of old books, as well. He was an avid reader, which is not known so much." (Book Patrol) |
| El Mac + Retna mural, Los Angeles Posted: 15 Apr 2010 09:50 AM PDT  A new mural by Retna and El Mac, photo from Known Gallery, where you can view a larger version. (Via @seanbonner/@Jokerbrand/@knowngallery) |
| Posted: 15 Apr 2010 09:47 AM PDT Troy Smith, of Rock Hill, South Carolina, was charged with assault and battery charges after allegedly using a 4 foot long ball python as a weapon. The victim is Jeff Culp, 47, who was staying in a hotel room near Smith's room. From WSOC (Wikimedia Commons image): "Man Says Snake Used As Weapon In Assault" |
| Nothing like Godzilla to cheer you up on Tax Day Posted: 15 Apr 2010 09:39 AM PDT Classic Gojira clips cut to the Blue Oyster Cult anthem. Hope YouTube doesn't yank it for copyright issues any time soon, because it's making my day. Last night's South Park reminded me (BA-BOO-RAAAAH, BA-BOO-RAAAHH!). |
| Hot pixels: JACKAL's Rise of the Obsidian Interstellar album cover Posted: 12 Apr 2010 07:52 PM PDT  Pixel master JACKAL, who at very least we know is aware of Roger Dean, shows off his album cover for Disasterpeace's still-unreleased chiptune album Rise of the Obsidian Interstellar. |
| Cool underground NYC discovery Posted: 15 Apr 2010 08:26 AM PDT Once upon a time, there were slaughterhouses on the island of Manhattan. But, even in the 1870s it wasn't easy to move a herd of cattle through New York City, so that job was done underground. Now, Gothamist has found evidence that two of the "Cow Tunnels" that took cows from dock to death may still exist below 12th Avenue at West 34th St. and West 38th St. Exploration, ahoy! |
| Icelandic volcano no longer slacking off Posted: 15 Apr 2010 07:56 AM PDT  Remember Eyjafjallajökull? Iceland's "lazy" volcano that was the site of wacky wiener roasts and beautiful photos featuring the Northern Lights? In that last post, reader Nash Rambler predicted that Eyjafjallajökull was simply "unmotivated" and would someday "graduate from college, throw out the bong and Snoop Dogg posters, and wipe out an Italian city". Well, not quite. But it has managed to ground all air traffic in the United Kingdom, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark. Yesterday, Eyjafjallajökull erupted, sending up a huge ash plume that's forced flight cancellations all across northern Europe, for fear that large particles in the plume could clog jet engines. The UK's air traffic control service told the BBC that this is the worst airspace restriction in living memory. The eruption itself apparently melted large chunks of a glacier, forcing 800 Icelanders to flee flooding. So far, it doesn't look like there've been any deaths. Whatever it's up to, Eyjafjallajökull is certainly photogenic. More great pictures on Flickr. Thanks to our own Arkizzle for the tip-off! Image courtesy Flickr user Ulrich Latzenhofer, via CC |
| JK Rowling on Britain's Conservative "nasty" Party Posted: 15 Apr 2010 06:34 AM PDT JK Rowling has written a stirring Times editorial rebutting the UK Conservative party's new kinder, gentler face. The Tories are trying to shake their reputation as the "nasty party," and to downplay their commitment to eroding services and projects that encourage social mobility and a decent standard of life for all people, but Rowling isn't buying it: The single mother's manifesto (via Making Light) (Image: politics, a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from auspices's photostream) Previously:
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| Posted: 15 Apr 2010 06:28 AM PDT The MPAA and RIAA have submitted their master plan for enforcing copyright to the new Office of Intellectual Property Enforcement. As the Electronic Frontier Foundation's Richard Esguerra points out, it's a startlingly distopian work of science fiction. The entertainment industry calls for:
 There are several technologies and methods that can be used by network administrators and providers...these include [consumer] tools for managing copyright infringement from the home (based on tools used to protect consumers from viruses and malware).The Entertainment Industry's Dystopia of the Future (Image: duopia, a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from jonny2love's photostream) Previously:
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I had become a single mother when my first marriage split up in 1993. In one devastating stroke, I became a hate figure to a certain section of the press, and a bogeyman to the Tory Government. Peter Lilley, then Secretary of State at the DSS, had recently entertained the Conservative Party conference with a spoof Gilbert and Sullivan number, in which he decried "young ladies who get pregnant just to jump the housing list". The Secretary of State for Wales, John Redwood, castigated single-parent families from St Mellons, Cardiff, as "one of the biggest social problems of our day". (John Redwood has since divorced the mother of his children.) Women like me (for it is a curious fact that lone male parents are generally portrayed as heroes, whereas women left holding the baby are vilified) were, according to popular myth, a prime cause of social breakdown, and in it for all we could get: free money, state-funded accommodation, an easy life. | You are subscribed to email updates from Boing Boing To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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