The Latest from Boing Boing |  |
- Watching the world from other dimensions
- A not so super Mario cart
- Vintage-style ads for Facebook, Skype and YouTube
- Men sexier in red, say women
- Target donations favored ban on gay marriage
- A public service announcement brought to you by the starship Enterprise
- This week in bad advertising
- HOWTO: glowing balloons that show air quality
- Hippy geodesic dome home at Henry Ford Museum
- Your feedback requested: Conspiracy theories outside the U.S.
- Pentagon orders Wikileaks to delete classified documents
- Henry Rollins's favorite road gadget
- Macro photos of eyes
- The Alderaan Trail
- Animated map of nuclear explosions, 1945-1998
- Glamour a go-go
- Zombie survival scanner - free iPhone app
- Spider eats a lightning bug in a thunderstorm
- Gratuitous Space Battles on Mac, Osmos on iPhone
- Oil company owner's aggressive memos from late 1970s
- Transgender Transmissions Repair?
- Apparatus for Facilitating the Birth of a Child by Centrifugal Force
- A big welcome to science-y guest-blogger Mary Roach
- Stuff: Oliver-Sacks-like account of pathological hoarders
- Read BB submissions on Twitter
- Report: Google and Verizon to strike deal on 'tiered' internet
- Hitchens on Cancer
- Assault victim jailed for reporting it
- A House of Books
| Watching the world from other dimensions Posted: 06 Aug 2010 05:06 AM PDT Waves on the Oregon shoreline writhe unsettlingly in this experimental slit-scan style video by Don Whitaker: "I like to think that this is what you might see if you looked at our world from a spot in the fourth dimension." Starting life as video clips shot on the coast, the footage was run through a script written in the visual programming language Processing, touted as a 'sketchbook for electronic ideas.' "The script works by taking a vertical sliver of pixels from the source video, advancing the video one frame, grabbing another sliver of pixels, and so on through the entire source clip," Whitaker wrote on the video's description. "These slivers are then stacked horizontally to create one frame of the final clip. The animation effect is created by advancing the location of the vertical slice and repeating the stacking process." Whitaker's usual fare avoids hyperdimensionality, but is no less beautiful for it: check out his collection of free HD stock videos of the Northwest. Surfing the 4th Dimension [Vimeo, via Submitterator. Thanks, Kitchendon!]
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| Posted: 06 Aug 2010 04:50 AM PDT |
| Vintage-style ads for Facebook, Skype and YouTube Posted: 06 Aug 2010 04:34 AM PDT  Brazil's Moma ad agency created a set of ads for newfangled tech companies in a mid-century style. [Ads of the World via Gawker]
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| Posted: 06 Aug 2010 04:19 AM PDT Men are more appealing to women when they wear red, according to research published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology. [Reuters] |
| Target donations favored ban on gay marriage Posted: 06 Aug 2010 04:13 AM PDT  Retailer Target caught flak for supporting Minnesota gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer, who has a strong record on antigay activism. Though Target's CEO has apologized, more has now emerged, including donations from colleagues overwhelmingly in support of California's anti-gay-marriage Prop 8. Abe Sauer points out that executives there leave a long and consistent paper trail of donations to right wing candidates: the lesson learned is not that Target has "changed," but that it was ever thus. [Star Tribune, Huffpo & The Awl]
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| A public service announcement brought to you by the starship Enterprise Posted: 05 Aug 2010 07:28 PM PDT  I'm a huge fan of wacky laboratory safety signage. This beauty comes to us from a public restroom in the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, via reader XAdamDX and the Submitterator. Remember kids, don't be a Spock!
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| Posted: 05 Aug 2010 08:42 PM PDT  A few weeks ago I speculated about whether an advertisement for Samsonite luggage was, as the ad-industry blog Copyranter declared it, "the dumbest ad I've ever seen," or whether it was just so incomprehensible as to be silly. My feeling was then, and is now, that the advertising world is such a cornucopia of dumb that you have to be careful declaring one ad the overall dumbest. Besides which, there are all sorts of variants on the bad ad: The grating ad, the humorless ad, and, in this corner, the ad that turns your stomach so efficiently that the product hurries into the background and starts whistling and looking at the sky and trying to get really small and unobtrusive. Don't misunderstand me: I'm no more squeamish about body fluids than the next guy. But if I were an agency I'm just not sure I'd want 'CREATED THE URINE SAMPLE AD" carved on my corporate headstone. The fact that the client is the CLIO Awards, which recognize excellence in advertising, only gives the thing an extra little jolt of irony. It works on so many levels!
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| HOWTO: glowing balloons that show air quality Posted: 05 Aug 2010 03:16 PM PDT  Over at Instructables, BB pal Eric Paulos and his colleagues at Carnegie Mellon University's Living Environments Lab explain how to make illuminated balloons that change color based on the local air quality. Each balloon is outfitted with a tri-color LED, tiny air quality sesnsor, rechargeable battery, and a few other inexpensive components. I'd love to encounter these as I walk through the city at night! Air Quality Balloons
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| Hippy geodesic dome home at Henry Ford Museum Posted: 05 Aug 2010 03:01 PM PDT  I had a chance to go through the amazing Henry Ford Museum during Maker Faire Detroit (which was held in the Museum and in the parking lot there). I was expecting it to be mainly about Henry Ford and Ford cars, but it was so much more than that. It was much bigger than I imagined, and it contained exhibits about cultural and technological developments around the world, from the mid-19th century to the present day. I think it was one of the most interesting museums I've ever visited. I plan to write a few of posts about the museum. Here's my first. I enjoyed this cool exhibit of a geodesic commune home, circa 1973. Bob Dylan music was playing and the bookshelves included High Priest, by Timothy Leary and The Naked Ape, by Desmond Morris. (I wish I could have taken clearer photos of the bookshelves.) The place looked cozy. I was ready to move in. More photos after the jump.
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| Your feedback requested: Conspiracy theories outside the U.S. Posted: 05 Aug 2010 02:00 PM PDT Unreasonable Faith posted a story about a Republican congressman's surreal experience meeting with Tea Party voters and being asked a serious question about the government selling individual Americans to banks via Social Security. (His went with "look confused and nod a lot" for his response, and I can't blame him.) But the blog also asked an interesting question: Are conspiracy theories an American thing? It occurred to me that—both anecdotally and in random Wikipedia reading that I've done—the vast majority of conspiracy theories I've heard about were rather sharply America-centric. Is that just selection bias on my part? Citizens of the world, what wacky plots are out to get you and your countrymen? |
| Pentagon orders Wikileaks to delete classified documents Posted: 05 Aug 2010 02:08 PM PDT  In a briefing at the Defense Department, Pentagon Spokesman Geoff Morrell ordered Wikileaks to remove classified documents and return them to the U.S. government. He also said that Wikileaks' claim that submitting information to it is safe, easy and protected by the law is "materially false and misleading," but did not say what measures it would take to compel Wikileaks: "We'll cross the next bridge when we come to it." DEFENSE DEPARTMENT PRESS BRIEFING [CSPAN] Added Sean Bonner:
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| Henry Rollins's favorite road gadget Posted: 05 Aug 2010 12:34 PM PDT  Over at CNN, punk renaissance man Henry Rollins reviewed his favorite road gadget, Sound Matters' Foxl V2 pocket-size speakers for MP3 players. Henry has very strong opinions about most things, so if he says he digs this thing, he must really dig it. From CNN: "Henry Rollins' favorite on-the-road gadget" (CNN) Soundmatters foxLv2 Pocket-sized Audiophile Loudspeaker System (Amazon)
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| Posted: 05 Aug 2010 12:08 PM PDT  Our boy Dean Putney spotted a series of gorgeous macro photographs of eyes by Suren Manvelyan. "Your beautiful eyes" (Photography Served via Reddit)
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| Posted: 05 Aug 2010 10:31 AM PDT  Matt Marchini's designed the game I always wanted to be playing while I was playing The Oregon Trail. Alas, it's just a concept gallery. [Thanks, Judson!]
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| Animated map of nuclear explosions, 1945-1998 Posted: 05 Aug 2010 10:15 AM PDT This is mesmerizing. Japanese artist Isao Hashimoto's "1945-1998" is an animated map showing the 2,053 nuclear explosions that took place around the world during the 20th century, from the detonations at Alamogordo, Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 to the tests conducted by India and Pakistan in 1998.Pink Tentacle: Animated map of nuclear explosions, 1945-1998
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| Posted: 05 Aug 2010 10:06 AM PDT  Via Dangerous Minds, I stumbled on this terrific blog with scans of vintage magazines and promotional photos depicting campy glamour of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Above, a pulp rag featuring the fabulous Jayne Mansfield.
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| Zombie survival scanner - free iPhone app Posted: 05 Aug 2010 10:03 AM PDT  Fans of Max Brooks' terrific zombie books (including The Zombie Survival Guide, a deadpan, realistic guide to staying alive in a zombie apocalypse, and World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War) will enjoy this free iPhone app produced by Brooks' publisher, Random House. Once installed, you can take photos of people and it zombifies them. I tried it out with a photo of my face, and am pleased with the results. (Probably would have looked better without a shirt).
Zombie Survival Guide Scanner iPhone App
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| Spider eats a lightning bug in a thunderstorm Posted: 05 Aug 2010 09:31 AM PDT waltbosz says: "I shot this video last night after almost walking through the spider's web while taking out the trash. I thought the combination of the giant spider, lightning bug, and thunderstorm are sort of a amazing coincidence." (Submitterated by waltbosz)
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| Gratuitous Space Battles on Mac, Osmos on iPhone Posted: 05 Aug 2010 09:55 AM PDT  The wondefully-named Gratuitous Space Battles, a visceral and compelling PC game wherein ridiculously epic naval engagements are meticulously planned--but not directly controlled--is now available for Mac. I've often thought that it would make an awesome mobile game, but creator Cliff Harris says that fitting it into the iPad's RAM is a challenge for the devs. While they're working on that, check out Osmos, another recent indie hit that that runs on Windows, OSX and Linux, and just made its way into your pocket too. I played through this recently; it's a meditation on life, the ptolemaic model of the universe, and screaming bug-eyed frustration.
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| Oil company owner's aggressive memos from late 1970s Posted: 05 Aug 2010 09:26 AM PDT  Letters of Note presents the Tiger Oil Memos. Thank goodness someone had the foresight to save them. From the offices of the now-defunct but at one time Houston-based Tiger Oil Company come a total of 22 enormously entertaining memos; all sent by, or on behalf of, the firm's incredibly amusing, painfully tactless, and seemingly constantly angry CEO - Edward 'Tiger Mike' Davis - to his staff. Little is known about the man himself (some background can be gleaned here) and in 1980 his company filed for bankruptcy, however some years ago his inter-office communications thankfully appeared online for all to see. Highlights (via): "On days when you have to work, and you think you should be off, you wear slouchy dress attire. That will not occur in the future. You will wear proper dress attire to work always. Also, all employees should have the proper attitude to coincide with proper dress, especially on those days when you're working and think you should be off."Don't we all feel like Tiger Mike from time-to-time? Tiger Oil Memos (Submitterated by deputydog)
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| Transgender Transmissions Repair? Posted: 05 Aug 2010 09:13 AM PDT  Supnah says: "Awesomest sign ever. Saw it on our roadtrip down the Oregon Coast. We passed it, stopped, turned around, stopped, took a picture, and then continued on our southward journey." Tranny Man (Submitterated by Supnah)
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| Apparatus for Facilitating the Birth of a Child by Centrifugal Force Posted: 04 Aug 2010 10:22 PM PDT  A centrifuge creates excess gravitational force (G's) by spinning things, and sometimes people. (It's excess G's that press you into your roller coaster seat on those nauseating loops.) Aerospace medicine types spent lots of time in the 1960s documenting the unpleasant effects of excess G's. If a pilot starts spinning in a high-altitude bailout, for instance, the outward force on his/her head can rupture vessels in the eyes and brain and even, at spins in excess of 175 rpm, spin the brain right off its brainstem. La, la la. Seen here is an unusual example of excess G's being harnessed for the good. The patent holders, George B. and Charlotte Blonsky, contend that the centrifuge could be a boon to "more civilized women," who, they surmise, often lack the muscle strength needed to easily push out a baby. Centrifugal force would act as a sort of invisible midwife, lessening the muscular force required for birthing. Would it work, though? Could one create enough outward force on the baby to make a difference -- without simultaneously making the mother lightheaded? I sent the patent to April Ronca, who used to research the effects of zero G on fetal growth and birth for NASA. "That is an interesting invention," she replied. As with so many U.S. patents -- the "Decorative Penile Wrap" I stumbled onto while researching my previous book leaps to mind -- one longs to know the back story. Did Charlotte undergo a difficult birth? Did the couple actually build and use the thing? Perhaps they'll read this and post a comment. Note the elasticized "pocket-shaped newborn net" - lest the baby shoot out and bump its head with double-G force.
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| A big welcome to science-y guest-blogger Mary Roach Posted: 04 Aug 2010 09:48 PM PDT   I am beyond pleased to welcome science writer Mary Roach to Boing Boing. In 2004, as a recent college graduate, I read her first book, Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, and was utterly inspired. After Stiff, Mary wrote books about life after death, titled Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife, and shagging, titled Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex. I love Mary Roach's ability to dive into the funny side of science and drag up the thought-provoking pearls, and I hope you'll get a kick (and a few new favorite science anecdotes) out of her stint here. Along with a wide range of scientific curiosities, Mary will be blogging about space exploration, a far-out field she studied for her new book, Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void. And, for the record, yes, she is sitting on a space toilet in that photo.
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| Stuff: Oliver-Sacks-like account of pathological hoarders Posted: 04 Aug 2010 09:36 PM PDT  Randy O. Frost and Gail Steketee's Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things is an Oliver Sacks-style series of case-histories of people who suffer from a compulsion that causes them to fill up their living spaces with all manner of junk. The cases are very wide ranging, from people who literally hoard garbage and live in places that are carpeted with vermin and roaches to millionaires who fill a series of posh hotel suites with mountains of fine art and jewels that accumulate layers of dust. All have been Frost and Steketee's patients at their hoarding clinic, where they have pioneered a series of protocols that have had limited success in treating hoarding. They look into Andy Warhol's habit of sweeping the trash off his desk and sealing it a box and sealing it (he called the boxes "time capsules"), into the infamous Collyer brothers (fictionalized in EL Doctorow's depressing novel Homer and Langley), and at a bizarre cat-hoarding cult started by a rogue Manhattan psychotherapist. Peppered through the histories is a compassionate and insightful look at the underlying psychology of hoarding -- fears of waste, a heartfelt need to find ways to re-use damaged goods, and a deep aesthetic appreciation of the beauty of things, as well as an enormous sentimental attachment to objects as totems of moments of pain and joy. Frost and Steketee also discuss the effects of hoarding on families, the history of the treatment of hoarding, and the rarely reported child-hoarders, providing an in-the-round view into the problem that makes this more than just a spectacle of peering into revolting garbage houses. Stuff is well-enough written, though no masterpiece (the authors may work in the mode of Oliver Sacks, but they don't have his gift for language), but it is a timely and illuminating look into a problem that is common, under-reported, devastating, and, in its way, utterly contemporary. For though hoarding may be as old as the human species, the abundance of stuff and the growth of strange appendages such as the self-storage locker industry are twenty-first century in the extreme. Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things
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| Read BB submissions on Twitter Posted: 05 Aug 2010 08:42 AM PDT  The best thing about the Submitterator, it turns out, is getting to read such a fast-paced version of BB before anything even hits the front door. There's been an RSS feed since day one, but now the machine is also on Twitter. Follow @submitterator for an incessant firehose of great places to visit and the occasional rare thrill of foreign-language spam.
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| Report: Google and Verizon to strike deal on 'tiered' internet Posted: 05 Aug 2010 10:01 AM PDT According to the New York Times, Google and Verizon are close to a deal whereby Verizon will prioritize Google's traffic. Consumers could soon see a new, tiered system, which, like cable television, imposes higher costs for premium levels of service. Any agreement between Verizon and Google could also upend the efforts of the Federal Communications Commission to assert its authority over broadband service, which was severely restricted by a federal appeals court decision in April.Adds submitter dw_funk: "Clearly, they waited until Cory Doctorow was on vacation before making this announcement." Say bye bye to net neutrality. [NYT via submitterator] Update: Or not! Yano writes in: "The NYT story is shit. The Google/Verizon agreement basically guarantees net neutrality for broadband and keeps the question of mobile open." [CNET] Update: Xeni pointed me to this Computerworld article, which reports that Google itself now says the NYT is full of it.
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| Posted: 05 Aug 2010 07:49 AM PDT Author and polemicist Christopher Hitchens writes about his cancer: "The chest hair that was once the toast of two continents hasn't yet wilted, but so much of it was shaved off for various hospital incisions that it's a rather patchy affair." [Vanity Fair] |
| Assault victim jailed for reporting it Posted: 05 Aug 2010 07:34 AM PDT Victims of false accusations are now being heard and their accusers punished. But what of those falsely accused of making false accusations? An assault victim here in Pittsburgh was robbed, raped at gunpoint, and then charged with falsely reporting a crime when she reported it. [Pittsburgh Tribune-Review] |
| Posted: 05 Aug 2010 06:35 AM PDT  Matej Kren built a folly, entirely out of books, in the Museum of Modern Art in Bologna. Named "Scanner," the installation is designed to create a destabilizing individual experience. The narrow inside space, multiplied and complicated by mirrors, evoke a sensation of sublime terror, an alteration referring to a puzzling infinity itself created to destabilize conventional spatial habits. Mirrors become an instrument to create illusion and, at the same time, to unmask it. Since the public can easily see themselves reflected in a false infinite - thus discovering the illusion - the problem becomes the latency of perception.It is also like totally awesome. Source [Mambo via Inhabitat]
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"It was reported on Tuesday that Wikileaks had asked the Department of Defense for help reviewing approximately 15,000 classified documents that it obtained in an inappropriate and illegal manner, before Wikileaks releases those documents to the public. Wikileaks has made no such request directly to the Department of Defense. These documents are the property of the U.S. Government and contain classified and sensitive information. The Defense Department demands that Wikileaks return immediately all version of documents obtained ... Wikileaks' public disclosure last week of a large number of our documents has already threatened the safety of our troops, our allies and Afghan citizens... The only acceptable course is for Wikileaks to return all versions of these documents to the U.S. government and permanently delete them from its website, computers and records. 
Packing for efficiency and utility has become an obsession with me. Anything that makes the pack lighter is great. So, when I come across something that saves me space and weight and on that rare occasion, not only meets but exceeds expectation, I cannot keep the good news to myself.
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