The Latest from Boing Boing

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• Speaking at Nettlefold Hall, London, May 8
• 3D printing with ice
• Vintage PCs on the set of The IT Crowd, season 4
• Designer of NYC "Greek coffee cup" has died
• Bieb Flag: t-shirt
• Locus Magazine editors serialize forthcoming novels online
• HOWTO make Spam Musubi
• Illustrated Guide to Home Chemistry book on sale today!
• Man snacks on light bulbs
• AT&T asks government to create national censorwall and system for disconnecting accused infringers
• Ronald Reagan's occult interests
• Asimov's opens to electronic submission
• "Freshly Ground Black People" error boosts book sales
• Big Knob controller in Boing Boing Bazaar
• Contesting Childhood: On child art competitions
• Video: Exploding cupcakes!
• Tattoos by food lovers
• 82-year-old man claims he's not had any food or water for 70 years
• Video: Salami-sorting robot
• Online sex-education game from City Health Office in London, Ontario
• Koko the intersex horse
• The USB hub designed to make you think of Jesus
• How the Muslim Association of Malawi feels about a possible polygamy ban
• A penis-shortening device
• A robot that balances on a ball
• ilomilo: Southend's gorgeous storybook platformer for Xbox Live
• How to make a miniature blacksmithing forge
• Stross on personal computing in 2015
• Air Force "Cyberwarrior Badge" design sucks
• To do in LA: Rich Fulcher (Mighty Boosh, "Tiny Acts of Rebellion") charity auction for Gulf relief

Speaking at Nettlefold Hall, London, May 8 Posted: 20 Apr 2010 10:10 AM PDT Hey, Londoners! I'm giving a talk on May 8 at 7PM at the Nettlefold Hall in West Norwood (SE27). The library there has asked me to come in and talk about how I use technology to write and publish my work. It's free, but seats are limited, so they're asking you to RSVP. Hope to see you there!

3D printing with ice Posted: 01 May 2010 03:01 AM PDT 3D printer-hackers at McGill University in Montreal have modded their 3D rig to print solids made from ice. Scaled up, they believe they'll be able to create large-scale ice buildings, but for now, they're using it for very temporary, very cold, very intricate rapid prototyping: Currently, the practical applications of this project include commercial and industrial part modeling, and construction for the ice-tourism industry. For instance, small-scale ice models represent economical alternatives to intricate 3D models of architectural objects, be they scale models of buildings, site models, or building details. Presently, casting techniques are being investigated in order to produce high-quality metal copies from ice originals. In the long term, inhabitable, environmentally-friendly structures will be built at the architectural scale using computer-assisted techniques, thus increasing the level of automation in an industry that is currently very labour intensive. Computer-Assisted Ice Construction (via Beyond the Beyond) Previously: Beautiful ice-sphere machine Saturday Morning Science Experiment: Ice cold outside, "hot ice ... Cracking ice-sheets sound like Star Wars blasters Supersonic rocket + ice crystals = science beauty Diamond-shaped ice-mold

Vintage PCs on the set of The IT Crowd, season 4 Posted: 01 May 2010 02:57 AM PDT The curators of England's Centre for Computing History have been asked to supply a glorious array of vintage warhorses for the set of season four of The IT Crowd, Graham Linehan's kick-ass nerd sitcom for Channel 4. They've enumerate the lovingly selected items we can look forward to seeing this season (I can't wait!). Look out for 'webby' our little black and white beanie mascot that was behind Moss in the third series. He's there again in the next series! Other computers on the set include a CGL Sord M5, Oric Atmos, Amstrad CPC 464, Commodore 64, a homebrew Sinclair ZX81 (on top of the Altair 8800), Atari 2600 games console, Commodore PET, Apple Mac Plus, ZX Spectrum +2, the main PCB of an Acorn Atom and a ZX Spectrum Plus in its original box and various others around the set ... Vintage Computing Items for the IT Crowd (via /.) Previously: IT Crowd comes back for a fourth season! IT Crowd third season DVD up for pre-order IT Crowd Season 2 DVD for sale in the US HOWTO Make The Internet (as depicted in The IT Crowd)

Designer of NYC "Greek coffee cup" has died Posted: 30 Apr 2010 07:19 PM PDT The man who designed the Anthora "WE ARE HAPPY / TO SERVE YOU" blue and white paper coffee cup, an iconic element of everyday NYC life, has died. His name was Leslie Buck, and he was a WWII refugee from Eastern Europe. NYT obit here. (image: Dan Bluestein / Wikimedia - via Instapundit)

Bieb Flag: t-shirt Posted: 30 Apr 2010 06:59 PM PDT "Home screened Justin Bieber / Black Flag logo. Available on small, medium or large Hanes t-shirts. Both groups have caused riots, both embrace DIY." By Josiah Hughes, offered on Etsy. (found as Eric Steuer's new Twitter icon)

Locus Magazine editors serialize forthcoming novels online Posted: 30 Apr 2010 06:53 PM PDT Locus Magazine's Amelia Beamer sez, I'm serializing my first novel, THE LOVING DEAD (with zombies and a Zeppelin, out from Night Shade in July), online for free starting today, Monday March 8th. My friend and Locus coworker Tim Pratt is also serializing a new Marla Mason novel, BROKEN MIRRORS, starting Monday March 8th. Locus editors do it for free! What people are saying about THE LOVING DEAD: "Zombies are all over the place right now, but trust me, you've NEVER read a zombie novel like this! Amelia Beamer's THE LOVING DEAD is about zombies, all right, but it's zombies with Xanax, zeppelins, Trader Joe's, iPhone apps, sex, humor, adventure, NPR, IKEA, and Indiana Jones! It's a rollercoaster ride of a read and a true original!" -- Connie Willis, New York Times Bestselling author of BLACKOUT. "THE LOVING DEAD is really kind of hot, in a very creepy way. Read it. You know you'd love you some sweet zombie sumpin' sumpin'. Buy it, bitches! Ride this zombie zeppelin of love like there's no tomorrow." -- Christopher Moore, New York Times Bestselling author of LAMB and A DIRTY JOB Loving Dead serial Broken Mirrors serial (Thanks, Amelia!) Previously: SF in SF reading series: Tim Pratt and Jeffrey Ford Larry Niven, Tim Pratt and others at FICTION SCIENCE ... The Exquisite Corpuscle -- a game of telephone played by 22 sf ... Hugo nominees announced

HOWTO make Spam Musubi Posted: 30 Apr 2010 02:53 PM PDT My friend Jonathan Koshi, who is Hawaiian, posted his recipe for Spam Musubi. Koshi says, "Over the last 30 years the Spam Musubi has indelibly stamped itself on the local Hawaii menu. They are great snacks, highly mobile, and filling." Here are the ingredients and equipment list, from Notes From The Zeitgeist: Spam Musubi Fo' Real 1 Can of Spam. Has to be the real thing. No substitutes. 1 Pkg. Roasted Nori Sheets (any kine brand is okay) 3 cups white short grain rice (any kine brand is okay) Shoyu Sugar Salt Equipment: Musubi Mold Rice Paddle Knife Cup of water (not for drinking) Beer (for drinking) Recipe Time! Spam Musubi

Illustrated Guide to Home Chemistry book on sale today! Posted: 30 Apr 2010 02:51 PM PDT The e-book version of O'Reilly/MAKE's excellent "The Illustrated Guide to Home Chemistry: All Lab, No Lecture," which Mark posted about back in 2008, is on special today for just $10. Use the coupon code DDGHM. Just don't blow up your kitchen. Or at least make sure you're not inside if you do. "Illustrated Guide to Home Chemistry Experiments"

Man snacks on light bulbs Posted: 30 Apr 2010 02:11 PM PDT Wang Xianjun of theLinshui County, Sichuan province, China, allegedly snacks on light bulbs. According to the People Daily, the 54-year-old has eaten approximately 1,500 bulbs since he had his first taste at age 12. This reminds me of an old Guinness Book of World Records I had as a kid that listed a man who ate an entire bicycle. And, of course, Pica syndrome sufferers who eat non-foods. Of course, that's a very real psychological disorder and Wang Xianjun's story may be, er, a slight exaggeration. From the People Daily: When he was 12 years old, he accidentally swallowed a fish bone, and his parents became very worried. To their surprise, Wang did not feel uncomfortable at all. Then out of curiosity, he boldly picked up a piece of broken glass, and felt no adverse effects after eating it... However, he does not eat bulbs every day. He sometimes only eats bulb splinters at breakfast, and at most, one bulb each time. "Chinese man eats 1,500 light bulbs over 42 years"

AT&T asks government to create national censorwall and system for disconnecting accused infringers Posted: 30 Apr 2010 01:30 PM PDT In its comments to Victoria Espinel, the American IP enforcement czar, AT&T calls on the government to hold tribunal in which accused infringers will lose their internet access. It doesn't want a full court to evaluate claims of infrigment, just a high-speed, traffic-court-style process by which entire families will lose their lifelines to the electronic society. AT&T also wants the government to establish a list of banned websites that all ISPs are ordered to block. But that doesn't mean AT&T is opposed to various forms of "three strikes" or "graduated response" programs meant to deter online copyright infringement; it just wants someone else to implement them. If the government wants to get into the enforcement business, AT&T would be fine with that. Actually, the company would be more than fine with the proposal--it suggests that the government get into the business of adjudicating such cases and dishing out penalties. This might sound like a role for the courts, but AT&T and rightsholders argue that the current legal process is simply too slow and too expensive to deal wisely with online copyright infringement. Instead, AT&T proposes a "streamlined and reasonable adjudication system for rights holders to resolve civil infringement claims against end users." Call it "court lite..." Also, AT&T thinks that getting the US government into website blocking would be a pretty terrific idea. AT&T suggests that the Department of Justice "create and maintain a list of international websites known to host and traffic in infringed copyrighted works." AT&T wants 3 strikes tribunal, government website blacklist Previously: New AT&T terms of service: We'll cut off your Internet connection ... Talking About AT&T's Internet Filtering on AT&T's The Hugh ... Billboard Liberation Front vs. ATT + NSA AT&T wiretapping: Your two-minute guide BBtv vlog (Xeni): ATT-NSA whistleblower Mark Klein, EFF legal ... EFF, AT&T and Google all on the same side of this privacy fight ... AT&T billing site makes jokes about company's participation in ... Wired Reread: AT&T's "strap-on telephone"

Ronald Reagan's occult interests Posted: 30 Apr 2010 02:15 PM PDT We all know that Ronald and Nancy Reagan consulted astrologers, but apparently the 40th president was also well-versed in the writings of occult scholar Manly P. Hall, most famous for his 1928 tome The Secret Teachings of All Ages. Over at the Washington Post, former BB guestblogger Mitch Horowitz, author of the excellent "Occult America: The Secret History of How Mysticism Shaped Our Nation," explores the Reagan-Hall connection. From the Washington Post: Hall's concise volume ("The Secret Destiny of America") described how America was the product of a "Great Plan" for religious liberty and self-governance, launched by a hidden order of ancient philosophers and secret societies. In one chapter, Hall described a rousing speech delivered by a mysterious "unknown speaker" before the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The "strange man," wrote Hall, invisibly entered and exited the locked doors of the Philadelphia statehouse on July 4th, 1776, delivering an oration that bolstered the wavering spirits of the delegates. "God has given America to be free!" commanded the mysterious speaker, urging the men to overcome their fears of the noose, axe, or gibbet, and to seal destiny by signing the great document. Newly emboldened, the delegates rushed forward to add their names. They looked to thank the stranger only to discover that he had vanished from the locked room. Was this, Hall wondered, "one of the agents of the secret Order, guarding and directing the destiny of America?" At a 1957 commencement address at his alma mater Eureka College, Reagan, then a corporate spokesman for GE, sought to inspire students with this leaf from occult history. "This is a land of destiny," Reagan said, "and our forefathers found their way here by some Divine system of selective service gathered here to fulfill a mission to advance man a further step in his climb from the swamps." Reagan then retold (without naming a source) the tale of Hall's unknown speaker. "When they turned to thank the speaker for his timely words," Reagan concluded, "he couldn't be found and to this day no one knows who he was or how he entered or left the guarded room." Reagan revived the story in 1981, when Parade magazine asked the president for a personal essay on what July 4th meant to him. Presidential aide Michael Deaver delivered the piece with a note saying, "This Fourth of July message is the president's own words and written initially in the president's hand," on a yellow pad at Camp David. Reagan retold the legend of the unknown speaker - this time using language very close to Hall's own: "When they turned to thank him for his timely oratory, he was not to be found, nor could any be found who knew who he was or how had come in or gone out through the locked and guarded doors." "Reagan and the occult" (Washington Post) Occult America: The Secret History of How Mysticism Shaped Our Nation (Amazon) The Secret Destiny of America (Amazon)

Asimov's opens to electronic submission Posted: 30 Apr 2010 01:22 PM PDT At long last, Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine is open to electronic submissions, as opposed to managing the mountains of paper that come into its NYC office every month. Asimov's gets vastly more submissions than it could ever publish, but the willingness to put a paper manuscript in the postal mail is not a good proxy for the ability to write a great story. Asimov's is the first of the big three (Asimov's, Analog and F&SF to open to electronic subs. (via Scalzi)

"Freshly Ground Black People" error boosts book sales Posted: 30 Apr 2010 01:05 PM PDT I recently posted about Penguin Group Australia accidentally publishing the Pasta Bible with a typo in a recipe where "salt and freshly ground black pepper" actually read "salt and freshly ground black people." Since news of the misprint broke, sales have increased nearly four-fold, according to TheBookseller.com. The sales numbers are still tiny but, "according to Nielsen BookScan data, sales over the two weeks to 24th April were up 275% on the previous fortnight, from just 48 copies sold to 180." (Thanks, Arkizzle!)

Big Knob controller in Boing Boing Bazaar Posted: 30 Apr 2010 12:52 PM PDT Tristan Shone's "Big Knob" is exactly that: a giant knob for use as a controller in live music performance with a removable detent so it can "click" or turn smoothly. You can buy one in the Makers Market / Boing Boing Bazaar for $225. This simple device is a heavy-duty CNC machined black anodized knob for use with your expression port on any midi/usb keyboard controller. Simply plug into your expression port and immediately have a 0-128 mappable control knob for use with Ableton Live, Reason, etc. Currently there are 10 spring loaded detente positions and a hard stop for quantized physical snapping, however by removing the 1-inch chromed steel ball bearing and spring, you can create a smooth position knob controller. The detente disc is made from self-lubricating Delrin which both supports the potentiometer and creates a smooth snap in with the chrome spring loaded ball bearing. The stainless steel frame is adjustable and clamps onto either your keyboard or table. Big Knob: $225

Contesting Childhood: On child art competitions Posted: 30 Apr 2010 02:25 PM PDT You might expect this drawing to win a children's art contest. It's lovely, technically sophisticated, and positive. So it's no surprise Mirna's picture won first place, elementary school category, in a contest sponsored by a state museum in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, not long after the country's authoritarian regime was overthrown by a student-led movement. But what about this drawing? It's cruder, and your eye doesn't quite know where to go, but in some ways, it's more interesting. That's an observation CUNY anthropologist Karen Strassler makes in her article about the children's art contest, Reformsi di Mata Kami (Reformation in our Eyes), which she came across while researching her new book, Refracted Visions (here's a collection of child art from the contest and a summary of her argument). In the second image, the bucolic background--an iconic double-mountain scene all Indonesian children learn to draw--is fenced off from violence: demonstrating students dominated in scale by houses, trees, and vehicles lit up in flames. This kind of dissonance is not the kind of thing that wins a prize. And that's because Strassler says what the contest judges were really looking for when they evaluated these drawings was redemption. The "child as witness"--innocent and pure, a symbol of the future--transforms violence into a narrative of healing, progress, and pride at a time of intense uncertainty. And in case these events seem far away... While I was composing this very post, I got a tweet about a public media-sponsored teen video contest, the youth organization I work for awaited news about a foundation-backed competition we'd entered, and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan had just announced the winners of Obama's "Race to the Top" school reform competition. Obviously, American non-profits and government agencies love contests for kids. And within our own period of intense economic and political uncertainty, the winning and losing entries tell us a lot about ourselves--what we find healing, what makes us proud, and just what we want from our young.

Video: Exploding cupcakes! Posted: 30 Apr 2010 10:55 AM PDT Here's a wonderful slow motion video of cupcakes flying out of a 120psi cupcake cannon and into people's faces. via Gizmodo

Tattoos by food lovers Posted: 30 Apr 2010 11:10 AM PDT The OC Weekly has photos of a dozen individuals who love a certain type of food so much that they got tattoos of it. Here, a man whose head is covered with eggs, bacon, and hash browns. One dozen unique food tattoos [via NotCot]

82-year-old man claims he's not had any food or water for 70 years Posted: 30 Apr 2010 10:35 AM PDT Prahlad Janim, who claims not to have had food or drink for the last 70 years, is under observation by India's defense research organization in a hospital in India. He has now spent six days without food or water under strict observation and doctors say his body has not yet shown any adverse effects from hunger or dehydration.   Mr Jani, who claims to have left home aged seven and lived as a wandering sadhu or holy man in Rajasthan, is regarded as a 'breatharian' who can live on a 'spiritual life-force' alone. He believes he is sustained by a goddess who pours an 'elixir' through a hole in his palate. His claims have been supported by an Indian doctor who specializes in studies of people who claim supernatural abilities, but he has also been dismissed by others as a "village fraud." This article ran on April 28. I wonder how much longer it will be before the research organization is forced to abandon this foolish experiment. Man claims to have had no food or drink for 70 years (Thanks, John!)

Video: Salami-sorting robot Posted: 30 Apr 2010 10:35 AM PDT Kottke points us to this fun video of a giant machine that sorts salami. Something about the way the salami wiggles on the conveyer belt and the way the robot arms dance as they pick the salami sticks up is really mesmerizing.

Online sex-education game from City Health Office in London, Ontario Posted: 30 Apr 2010 10:24 AM PDT Dan says: The city health office in London, Ontario, created an online sex-education game that officials hope will appeal to teenagers in that its messages are delivered by a cast of iconic superheroes. According to a February report by Canwest News Service, the players are Captain Condom (who wears a "cap"), Wonder Vag (a virgin girl), Power Pap ("sexually active") and Willy the Kid, with each fighting the villain Sperminator, who wears a red wrestling mask and has phalluses for arms. The characters answer sex knowledge questions and, with correct answers, obtain "protection," but a wrong one gets the player squirted with sperm. Sex Squad Game (NSFW)

Koko the intersex horse Posted: 30 Apr 2010 10:19 AM PDT The story of Koko, the intersex horse. (Thanks, Cheryl Q!)

The USB hub designed to make you think of Jesus Posted: 30 Apr 2010 10:14 AM PDT Designer Wu Jiang's design for a USB hub is, indeed, another happy experience. [Yanko]

How the Muslim Association of Malawi feels about a possible polygamy ban Posted: 30 Apr 2010 10:16 AM PDT The gender minister of Malawi is trying to pass a polygamy ban, and it's making the Muslim Association of Malawi a bit nervous. From the BBC: A spokesman for the Muslim Association of Malawi told the BBC the proposed law would discriminate against the country's Muslim minority. He said with about 6% more women than men in Malawi, if polygamy were banned, many women would be left without a husband and become prostitutes. The secretary general of the association expressed similar sentiments, saying the following: We are totally rejecting it. There are also other ethnic groups [who practise polygamy] and they also totally reject this... If these people go ahead banning polygamous marriages it means many women will go into prostitution... Every woman has the right to be under the shelter of a man Oh, and here's the kicker: I have only one wife, my dear wife... but the moment they proceed with this, I will take a second wife. Malawi move to ban polygamy angers Muslims

A penis-shortening device Posted: 30 Apr 2010 10:09 AM PDT It's like spam opposite day! This is a replica of an actual 15th-century invention, created to do exactly what it sounds like. It's from the personal collection of Erwin Kompanje, a medical ethicist fascinated by forgotten medical discoveries. Of course, while it flies in the face of everything you've learned via Maxim and unsolicited emails, there's a very good reason for the penis-shortener to exist. Frankly, sometimes over-endowment can be a hindrance. A painful hindrance. Kompanje first wrote about this in a research paper published in 2006 in the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior. If you understand Dutch, you can read more about the penis-shortener—and other forgotten medical advancements—in Kompanje's new book, titled, De Penisverkorter.

A robot that balances on a ball Posted: 30 Apr 2010 09:58 AM PDT Erico Guizzo says: "Japanese roboticist Masaaki Kumagai has built wheeled robots, crawling robots, and legged robots. Now he's built a robot that balances and rides on a bowling ball. You say why? Kumagai says why not?" A Robot That Balances on a Ball

ilomilo: Southend's gorgeous storybook platformer for Xbox Live Posted: 30 Apr 2010 09:57 AM PDT Sometimes all you need is 74 seconds to convince the world that they'll want your game, as Sweden's Southend have just proved with their debut trailer for upcoming Xbox Live Arcade title ilomilo. Tick the checkboxes: tiny, innocent fantasy world, puzzling gameplay on the order of underappreciated original PlayStation game Kula World/Roll Away, and I'm pretty sure I already want a toy of that floppy-eared flying dog.

How to make a miniature blacksmithing forge Posted: 30 Apr 2010 09:55 AM PDT In Make Vol. 18 Len Cullum wrote an article about how to make a tiny blacksmithing forge. Len builds traditional Japanese style furniture, and uses his forge to make nails and other little iron parts. In KipKay's latest Make: Online Weekend Project video, he shows you how he made the forge. Weekend Project: $30 Micro Forge

Stross on personal computing in 2015 Posted: 30 Apr 2010 09:55 AM PDT Charles Stross on why Steve Jobs really hates Flash and what it all means for computer users in general: "The PC revolution is almost coming to an end."

Air Force "Cyberwarrior Badge" design sucks Posted: 30 Apr 2010 09:00 AM PDT Can you design a better one, Noah Shachtman at Wired's Danger Room asks? Whatever you come up with, I'm thinking: dunk it in drone-kill blood at the end, to really finish it off. (hi-res version here.)

To do in LA: Rich Fulcher (Mighty Boosh, "Tiny Acts of Rebellion") charity auction for Gulf relief Posted: 30 Apr 2010 08:55 AM PDT LA folks: Rich Fulcher, whom you may know best from "The Mighty Boosh," or his new book "Tiny Acts of Rebellion," will be hosting a charity auction at Amoeba Music in Hollywood on Saturday May 1, to benefit Gulf relief environmental charities. He'll be signing copies of the (hilarious) new book there too. Should be a fun event.

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