The Latest from Boing Boing |
- Open Science summit: Berkeley, July 29-31
- Helping Johnny Remember: creepy video remixed from '60s PSAs
- Nigerian politician caught with belly full of cocaine
- No cash for iPads Apple Store policy a bummer for some (UPDATED)
- Spoonflower: online DIY fabric pattern service
- EFF's "Bill of Privacy Rights for Social Network Users"
- Today is National Asian & Pacific Islander HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
- Verizon makes a hole in woman's lawn, fills it with bags of rocks
- Laptop webcam stickers remind you of the snitch inside
- Preview of Zombie Wonderland for iPhone
- Video: Hacking is easy!
- Dude, where's my amuse-bouche? NYT on haute stoner cuisine
- Self-portrait made with cables by Kasey McMahon
- Charm chain doubles as a to-do list
- Wanted: Steampunk Biblical Huts
- Woman fined for picking up the wrong dog's poop
- 1950 Miss US TV beauty contest
- Vintage ads depicting abused and domesticated women
- Giant constructivist iPhone sculpture
- Paramount's Geographic Facsimile Map of 1927
- How to make augmented reality cookies
- 48 Hour Magazine gets cease and desist letter from CBS
- Foucault's Pendulum cable snaps, causing irreparable damage
- Overheard in the Newsroom: Superman and phone booths
- Norman Spinrad needs your good wishes
- Funny plastic bag for loaf of bread
- 1946 comic about a psychopathic man-baby
- Adorable baby sloths in sloth orphanage are adorable
- Biebians = Lesbians who resemble Justin Bieber
- Tom the Dancing Bug: Nate - Oil Spill
Open Science summit: Berkeley, July 29-31 Posted: 19 May 2010 04:17 PM PDT Joseph sez, Sounds great to me! The event runs July 29-31 in Berkeley, CA. Enlightenment 2.0: Unleashing the Open Science Revolution (Thanks, Joseph!) |
Helping Johnny Remember: creepy video remixed from '60s PSAs Posted: 19 May 2010 04:21 PM PDT Ashleigh Nankivell created this fabulously creepy remix short, sliced and diced from an old public domain social guidance PSA and re-animated with AfterEffects. Helping Johny Remember (Vimeo, via Dangerous Minds, thanks Richard Metzger!) |
Nigerian politician caught with belly full of cocaine Posted: 19 May 2010 02:38 PM PDT "Nigeria's drug enforcement agency says it has arrested a politician who allegedly swallowed 2 kg (4.5lbs) of cocaine to fund his election campaign." Agents say they found 100 individually wrapped packets of coke inside his belly. |
No cash for iPads Apple Store policy a bummer for some (UPDATED) Posted: 19 May 2010 07:12 PM PDT // UPDATE: Apple reversed its "no cash for iPads" policy late today, presumably in part to the controversy around this story in the news. A good move. Original blog post follows. // In the news this week, a story about a disabled lady on a fixed income who'd saved up for some time to buy an iPad—and was denied the ability to complete her purchase at an Apple Store, because they don't accept cash for iPads. She didn't have debit or credit cards, just a backpack full of greenbacks. It's not the only such tale I've heard, but this would-be customer certainly inspires empathy. Apple instituted this policy (and others) in an attempt to limit the number of iPads shipped to overseas markets for unauthorized reselling—but as the article points out, there are ways for sneaky grey market profiteers to get around this, and this lady wasn't one of them. I wonder if Apple ended up resolving the issue with her? I'll post an update, if so. Read: Apple won't take iPad buyer's cash. |
Spoonflower: online DIY fabric pattern service Posted: 19 May 2010 02:17 PM PDT I recently wrote wrote about Colourlovers, a site that's revolutionizing the business of hues with inexpensive software and a vibrant community of—well, color lovers. Users can create their own palettes or patterns (like plaid, sunburst, or polka dots), and share them or import them to their Illustrator or other software. If you've created your pattern and want to use it to make something outside of the digital realm, like curtains, clothes, bags, pillows, whatever, go to Spoonflower, upload your pattern, and create your own eco-friendly fabric. All of the fabric is printed in Mebane, North Carolina. From the site:
It was founded in May 2008 by two Internet geeks who had crafty wives but who knew nothing about textiles. The company came about because Stephen's wife, Kim, persuaded him that being able to print her own fabric for curtains was a really cool idea.I love it when chics and geeks put their heads together. Along with the site's 70,000 fabric enthusiasts, you have the option to enter a fabric-designing contest or vote in one. You can also order fabric designed by other users. Check out the "gingham invaders" fabric at the top of this post. The pattern is made of tiny space invaders. |
EFF's "Bill of Privacy Rights for Social Network Users" Posted: 19 May 2010 04:39 PM PDT Here's an op-ed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation's Kurt Opsahl listing what specific rights a responsible social network service should provide to its users: Social network services must ensure that users have ongoing privacy and control over personal information stored with the service. Users are not just a commodity, and their rights must be respected. Innovation in social network services is important, but it must remain consistent with, rather than undermine, user privacy and control. Based on what we see today, therefore, we suggest three basic privacy-protective principles that social network users should demand... |
Today is National Asian & Pacific Islander HIV/AIDS Awareness Day Posted: 18 May 2010 10:25 AM PDT Today is National Asian & Pacific Islander HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, and cities all over the country are having events to raise awareness and funds. One major public health issue among API communities is stigma. It's so taboo to talk about — or even think about — HIV/AIDS that two-thirds of Asians in America have never been tested and one in three HIV-positive Asians and Pacific Islanders don't even know they have it. Asian males were the fastest growing population of people with HIV between 2001-2004. When I first moved to San Francisco, I began volunteering at the API Wellness Center, where Asian men and women talk openly about sex, disease, and sexual orientation. It's also, in my opinion, one of the best places to get tested in San Francisco. I'm going to be at the Bloom fundraiser tonight in San Francisco. Come join us! |
Verizon makes a hole in woman's lawn, fills it with bags of rocks Posted: 19 May 2010 01:08 PM PDT Verizon removed a utility pole from the front lawn of a home in Albany, NY, but the workers filled in the resulting crater by dumping in several sealed bags of rocks and then sprinkling some dirt on top. When the homeowner tried to garden the spot, she discovered the shoddy work: She found there were big gaps between the bags, and dirt already was starting to settle into them and leave a sinking depression in the soil. Also, because the heavy stone-filled bags were so close to the surface, it would be difficult to plant the rose bush she wanted to put there.No stone unturned in the case of buried bags (via Consumerist) (Image: Michael P. Farrell /Times Union)
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Laptop webcam stickers remind you of the snitch inside Posted: 19 May 2010 12:58 PM PDT Ozge sez, "These stickers turn a laptop webcam into a CCTV camera. The idea is to comment on the latest incidents of spying on school children (in Lower Merion and the Bronx), which you have been covering." Alas, they don't appear to be for sale. I'd love to give 'em out on school visits! CCTV Stickers (Thanks, Ozge!)
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Preview of Zombie Wonderland for iPhone Posted: 19 May 2010 12:54 PM PDT One of my favorite iPhone games is Chillingo's Monster Mayhem, so I have high hopes for its upcoming Zombie Wonderland game, which hearkens back to Romero's 1968 Night of the Living Dead. |
Posted: 19 May 2010 12:51 PM PDT "You might as well give me the keys to your front door. I'm going to get into your system." (Thanks, Gabe Adiv!) |
Dude, where's my amuse-bouche? NYT on haute stoner cuisine Posted: 19 May 2010 04:04 PM PDT When I was a pothead in my misspent youth, "stoner cuisine" meant dingdongs and Domino's. In today's New York Times, a THIS IS SRS BIZNESS trend feature on on marijuana as an inspiration for highfalutin' cookin'. Not food that includes pot as an ingredient—weed brownies, or candies made from oil-soluble THC extracts— but instead, food inspired by what one wants when one has the munchies. Sweet, fat, carb-y goodness: the sort of sensual cravings you experience when you are baked. Featured in the NYT piece are such foodies as Anthony Bourdain, the hopheads behind Momofuku in NYC (cereal milk soft-serve icecream, maaaaannnn!) and the Kogi barbecue truck in LA. Update: Noted buzzkiller Jack Shafer thinks the trend is totally bogus. |
Self-portrait made with cables by Kasey McMahon Posted: 19 May 2010 11:59 AM PDT Connected // Global Brain Series // Self Portrait // 2010 Steel, CAT5 and other data cables by Kasey McMahon |
Charm chain doubles as a to-do list Posted: 19 May 2010 12:37 PM PDT Designer Natalie Montgomery proposes this classy alternative to carrying around to-do lists: a charm via Yanko Design |
Wanted: Steampunk Biblical Huts Posted: 19 May 2010 11:29 AM PDT A couple of years ago, I wrote a book about trying to live by all the rules of the Bible - moral, dietary, sartorial. Also architectural. For that last one, I had to build a build a hut and live it in for a week to remember my forefathers' flight through the wilderness (Leviticus 23:42). I couldn't get permission to build my hut on New York's sidewalks, so I ended up building a large rickety wooden structure in my living room. Which caused some consternation from my wife. The commandment is still observed by religious Jews during the festival of Sukkoth in the fall. (My indoor hut wouldn't pass muster with rabbis, who say it's got to be outside). Josh Foer and Roger Bennett -- two friends of mine -- are trying to reimagine this ancient tradition. They're holding an architectural contest in New York's Union Square, judged by heavyweights like Thom Mayne and New Yorker critic Paul Goldberger. So come September, look for Frank Gehry-like sukkahs, sukkahs on boats (which are kosher, I'm told), steampunk sukkahs (they've only had one steampunk entry so far, so they're looking for more). Christians, Muslims, Zoroastrians are invited to enter as well. Photo by RonAlmog / Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License. |
Woman fined for picking up the wrong dog's poop Posted: 19 May 2010 11:14 AM PDT 60-year old Pam Robson was fined 50GBP for picking up the wrong dog poop while walking her dog. "I felt as if my integrity was being questioned," Robson told the BBC. |
1950 Miss US TV beauty contest Posted: 19 May 2010 11:16 AM PDT I like the hairstyles seen in the DuMont Miss Television Network Beauty contest held at the Chicago Fair in 1950. The MC is hilariously smarmy, and Miss New Orleans TV's saucy tap dance routine (about 10 minutes in) was likely to have raised network censors' blood pressure a point or two. Miss Los Angeles's Afro-Cuban dance (about 23 minutes in) is also not to be missed. |
Vintage ads depicting abused and domesticated women Posted: 19 May 2010 11:16 AM PDT WebUrbanist has a collection of vintage ads that remind me how far we women have come since the days when it was apparently okay to liken a woman to a floor mat and stomp on her head. |
Giant constructivist iPhone sculpture Posted: 19 May 2010 11:02 AM PDT Russian art collective and electronics hacker group Electroboutique created this giant iPhone Monument to 3G (image left) inspired by Tatlin's Tower (image right), a Constructivist monument designed in 1920 but sadly never built. From the artist statement: Tatlin's work is considered one of the avant-garde icons, whereas iPhone is a bright techno-consumerist icon of today. Back in the 20's of the last centuries avant-garde artists have invented design as a way to bring art into people's homes. During the 20's century designers were gradually taking artistic ideas and implementing them into product design. Today we see companies claiming their products are art objects themselves; art has to re-define its role in the society again. The Monument to 3G links together the beginning and the current state of nearly a century of art-to-design dialogue and follows the strategy of re-claiming the designers' ideas back into art.Monument to 3G (via Imaginary Foundation) |
Paramount's Geographic Facsimile Map of 1927 Posted: 19 May 2010 10:41 AM PDT 1927 map shows shooting locations in California and Nevada that could serve as "exoctic locales." |
How to make augmented reality cookies Posted: 19 May 2010 10:34 AM PDT |
48 Hour Magazine gets cease and desist letter from CBS Posted: 19 May 2010 10:53 AM PDT 48 Hour Magazine, the project I took part in earlier this month in which a team of Bay Area journalists and designers created a print magazine in two days, received a cease-and-desist letter from CBS, owner of the 48 Hours TV series: On May 11, Lauren Marcello, the assistant general counsel at CBS sent a cease and desist letter, noting that "CBS is the owner of the rights in the award-winning news magazine televison series, '48 Hours,' and its companion series, including '48 Hours Mystery,'" adding later in the letter, "your use is unlawful and constitutes trademark infringement, dilution and unfair competition ..." along with a lot of other complicated, vaguely threatening legalese.The staff of 48 Hour Magazine has hired lawyers and are sorting things out. Update 48 HR magazine experiment big hit, except for that part about the lawyers [NYTimes] |
Foucault's Pendulum cable snaps, causing irreparable damage Posted: 19 May 2010 10:07 AM PDT The original 1851 Foucault's Pendulum at the Paris Technical museum fell from its cable, causing irreparable damage to the 28 kg brass bob. The original pendulum, which was used by French scientist Leon Foucault to demonstrate the rotation of the Earth and which forms an integral part of [Umberto] Eco's novel's labyrinthine plot, has been irreparably damaged in an accident in Paris.Foucault's pendulum is sent crashing to Earth Photo by Kongharald / Creative Commons Share Alike 2.0 Generic License. |
Overheard in the Newsroom: Superman and phone booths Posted: 19 May 2010 11:29 AM PDT From the very funny (and provocative!) blog "Overheard In The Newsroom." (Thanks, Jason Schultz via Jess Hemerly!) |
Norman Spinrad needs your good wishes Posted: 19 May 2010 09:59 AM PDT Dan sez, "My friend/hero Norman Spinrad, one of the great writers of science fiction, is very ill, undergoing treatment for stomach cancer at the Sloan-Kettering Center in New York. He's going into surgery tomorrow (in Norman's own words)and I'm hoping some internet-magic would bring him lots of good energy, appreciations, well-wishes and thanks during this scary time. Norman is a science fiction legend, president of the SFWA in the 80s, author of the original Star Trek episode 'The Doomsday Machine' and has never, ever stopped writing. His most recent novel, He Walked Among Us was published by Tor Books just two months ago." |
Funny plastic bag for loaf of bread Posted: 19 May 2010 09:48 AM PDT (Via the dieline) |
1946 comic about a psychopathic man-baby Posted: 19 May 2010 09:39 AM PDT "Enjoy" this four-page 1946 comic book story about a psychopathic man-baby who spends his day coming up with ways to torture animals and torment his parents. Fun for the whole family! |
Adorable baby sloths in sloth orphanage are adorable Posted: 19 May 2010 11:09 AM PDT "Amphibian Avenger" writes: "I filmed this at the Aviaros del Caribe sloth sanctuary in Costa Rica: the world's only sloth orphanage. Baby two- and three-toed sloths, whose mother's have either been run over or zapped by power lines are brought to the sanctuary and looked after by Judy Arroyo." For more sloth photos and videos, visit her blog, or follow her on twitter. For more on the sanctuary go to slothrescue.org. Video link (via Robin Sloan) |
Biebians = Lesbians who resemble Justin Bieber Posted: 19 May 2010 09:28 AM PDT A new word for you to learn: Biebians = lesbians who resemble Justin Bieber, he of the eternally trending Twitter hashtag. (via Dangerous Minds) |
Tom the Dancing Bug: Nate - Oil Spill Posted: 19 May 2010 09:17 AM PDT Here's this week's strip! You can also buy Thrilling Tom the Dancing Bug Stories, All I Ever Needed to Know I Learned From My Golf-Playing Cats and Tom the Dancing Bug at Amazon. |
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