The Latest from Boing Boing

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• NatGeo's Jane Goodall retrospective
• Drug-search honeypots
• NASA Hasselblad for sale
• Blu-Ray falls: HDCP key crack confirmed
• Republican NY governor candidate sends out garbage-scented fliers
• Dark Patterns: sneaky web tricks of scam artists and dirtbags
• Tachyon Books birthday party, San Francisco, Sunday Sept 19
• Jonteel face cream will not grow hair on the face
• Official BBC DIY Dalek blueprints
• Sad Yoda Cat is Sad
• Wash., DC transit authority uses proprietary RFID system, gets screwed
• Former Ramones drummer Marky coming out with line of pasta sauce
• Steampunk Nature, Photoshopped
• Was Vancouver acid attack victim hoaxing for Christ?
• Self-actualization LARPing in San Jose this weekend
• Christine O'Donnell's supporters and video-taker compared to a rat staring contest
• Dainty, laser-cut glasses-frames
• Vladimir Putin's pop propaganda theme song
• "Dude, You Have No Quran" autotuned
• Old people give most honest advice (also, harshest)
• Man arrested for flying a kite with an LED
• The Fantasy of the Deer Warrior: 1961 movie from Taiwan
• Wire spool organizer how-to on Make: Online
• Rue: a new interior design magazine
• Masked Mexican wrestling in the USA
• South African pop group banned from Zimbabwe for video depicting Mugabe as a chicken
• Tripod clock from Roger Wood/Klockwerks
• Rain level rainboots with depth-gauges
• Erotic Monster Manual entries
• VHS cassette laptop skin

NatGeo's Jane Goodall retrospective Posted: 16 Sep 2010 11:16 PM PDT National Geographic's feature "Being Jane Goodall," includes an unprecedented gallery: every image of Goodall that has ever appeared in NatGeo; 50 years' worth of Goodall portraits. When she started out studying chimpanzees in Tanganyika, Jane Goodall didn't have a graduate degree in animal behavior. She didn't even have an undergraduate degree: she'd just graduated from secretarial school. But in her first few weeks of observing the chimps, she "she made three observations that rattled the comfortable wisdoms of physical anthropology: meat eating by chimps (who had been presumed vegetarian), tool use by chimps (in the form of plant stems probed into termite mounds), and toolmaking (stripping leaves from stems), supposedly a unique trait of human premeditation. Each of those discoveries further narrowed the perceived gap of intelligence and culture between Homo sapiens and Pan troglodytes. Being Jane GoodallBeing Jane Goodall (Thanks, Marilyn!) (Image: Emile Van Zinnicq Bergmann-Riss/Nat Geo) Jane Goodall interview Movie recommendation: People of the Forest: The Chimps of Gombe ...

Drug-search honeypots Posted: 16 Sep 2010 11:11 PM PDT Freeway signs warning of upcoming drug checkpoints are actually a ruse: the local sheriff sets up a checkpoint at the next offramp and searches panicky motorists who pull off to ditch their stashes. An accompanying map on the original post (click through below) gives the locations of similar checkpoints all over the USA, and warns, "if you see one of these signs, don't fucking exit." Narcotics Interdiction Checkpoints (via Schneier) Supreme Court declares strip search of 13-year-old student ... Profile of ex-narc who's declared war on the "War on Drugs ... Police lie about drug dogs to rob drivers' rights Poor insulation led to drugs raid on police officer's home - Boing ... Los Alamos (meth) Labs raid reveals fed PC traded for drugs ... Drug-smuggling sub

NASA Hasselblad for sale Posted: 16 Sep 2010 11:02 PM PDT EBay seller Photo-arsenal-worldwide is flogging this mint-in-package NASA Hasselblad camera; bidding now stands at nearly $34,000. I love how everything in space looks like it was descended from a Tonka truck. Hasselblad MKWE Kit brand new made for NASA (via Dinosaurs and Robots) Speed cameras trap motorists from space Teens send balloon into space, get aerial photos of Earth - Boing ... DIY balloon sent up 30km Deepest deep-space photo ever taken Space Shuttle photos with Nikon D2X

Blu-Ray falls: HDCP key crack confirmed Posted: 16 Sep 2010 10:59 PM PDT Intel has confirmed that the rumored master key crack for HDCP (the high-definition video "copy protection" used in Blu-Ray, high def consoles, and many game consoles) is real. Blu-Ray and other systems that rely on HDCP are now terminally compromised. As a practical matter, the most likely scenario for a hacker would be to create a computer chip with the master key embedded it, that could be used to decode Blu-ray discs. A software decoder is unlikely, "but I'd never say never," Waldrop said. "It's really hard to predict 100 percent, but that seems to be the prime scenario," Waldrop said of the possibility that a chip might be created. HDCP Master Key Confirmed; Blu-Ray Has Been Cracked (via /.) HDCP master-key leaks, possible to make unrestricted Blu-Ray ... HOWTO subject HDCP crippleware for video to attack Apple adds HDCP compliance to its laptop monitor ports - Boing ... Apple to Mac owners: throw away your monitor if Hollywood says so ... Ed Felten to dissect HDCP crippleware for video Selectable Output Control in Make Defective By Design's Xmas DRM boycott -- 35 days and 35 products ...

Republican NY governor candidate sends out garbage-scented fliers Posted: 16 Sep 2010 10:54 PM PDT Carl Paladino, a Republican nominee for the NY governorship, sent voters a garbage-scented flier featuring "photos of seven Democrats, six of whom have been investigated and two who have resigned in scandal in the past four years." Paladino spokesman Michael Caputo told The Associated Press on Thursday that the mailer is scented with a "landfill" odor. He says the smell will get worse the longer it is exposed, just like Albany. NY GOP governor hopeful sends trash-scented flier (via Super Punch) (Image: Garbage 1, a Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike (2.0) image from eschipul's photostream) Spitzer Won't Be Charged In Call Girl Scandal New York's small-town kangaroo courts: hives of abusive unchecked ...

Dark Patterns: sneaky web tricks of scam artists and dirtbags Posted: 16 Sep 2010 10:48 PM PDT Dark Patterns is Harry Brignull's catalog of " user interfaces that have been designed to trick users into doing things they wouldn't otherwise have done." For example, Privacy Zuckering (named for Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg): "The act of creating deliberately confusing jargon and user-interfaces which trick your users into sharing more info about themselves than they really want to." Forewarned is forearmed. Dark Patterns (via Kottke)

Tachyon Books birthday party, San Francisco, Sunday Sept 19 Posted: 16 Sep 2010 11:22 PM PDT San Francisco's Tachyon Books (publisher of my book of essays, Content, and conveners of the excellent SF in SF reading series) is celebrating its 15th birthday this Sunday at Borderlands Books in the Mission, with writer guests including Peter Beagle, Michael Blumlein, James Patrick Kelly, Jim Kessel, and Madeline Robins.

Jonteel face cream will not grow hair on the face Posted: 16 Sep 2010 10:39 PM PDT Here's an extremely modest product claim from the paleolithic era of face-cream ads: Jonteel proudly boasts that its special cosmetic "will not grow hair on the face." Which makes you wonder what the competition's cream contained -- testosterone? I like to think that this was part of a whole series of ads explaining the side-effects they'd licked: "Will not dissolve skin on face!" or "Will not cause total blindness!" "Will Not Grow Hair On The Face"

Official BBC DIY Dalek blueprints Posted: 16 Sep 2010 10:38 PM PDT These ancient, official BBC build-your-own-Dalek blueprints were rescued from the defunct Doctor Who FTP archive. Distributing out of print Dalek blueprints is arguably what the Internet was made for. Dalek Blueprints (via Dvice) Dalek propaganda poster HOWTO Make a Dalek Egg Dalek found in pond Gadgets Snow dalek attacks! Voice-changing Dalek helmet Kids' Dalek video Beslimed ancient Dalek head dredged from English pond Dalek wedding cake

Sad Yoda Cat is Sad Posted: 16 Sep 2010 05:12 PM PDT Behold: The saddest Yoda Cat in the world. Video Link (Thanks, Tara McGinley)

Wash., DC transit authority uses proprietary RFID system, gets screwed Posted: 16 Sep 2010 04:36 PM PDT Via the BB Submitterator, reader Chris Combs tells us: "The Washington, DC transit authority contracted with a proprietary company for their RFID-based fare card system, SmarTrip. Now, just six years after getting the system fully installed, the DC Metro system says that their contractor Cubic will no longer sell them the farecards, and they only have enough stockpile to last until 2012. The best solution they've got is replacing every fare box and farecard... again. Kicker: they're paying more than $3 each for bog-standard 13.56MHz RFIDs, which can be purchased singly by normal folks for $.25."

Former Ramones drummer Marky coming out with line of pasta sauce Posted: 16 Sep 2010 04:29 PM PDT "I've got this pasta sauce coming out called 'Marky Ramone's Brooklyn's Own Pasta Sauce. You see, I made it with my grandpa; he was a chef at 21 Club. I watched him as a little boy, and then when I got older, I lived alone at 18, and so pasta sauce and spaghetti was the cheapest thing around. I got really good at making it, and so I am excited I get to share my recipe with others. And I got to do the artwork on bottle, and it's really cool looking. Soon it will be sold in stores..."—Marky Ramone, legendary punk drummer, formerly of the Ramones. (Submitterated by Jwallace242)

Steampunk Nature, Photoshopped Posted: 16 Sep 2010 04:22 PM PDT "Steampunk: Nature" is the theme of this Worth1000 shoop-off, and boy, every single one of the entries displayed is lovely. But this Cylon Unicorn recharging in a Dalí craquelure landscape stole my heart. (Via BB Submitterator, thanks Thalia!)

Was Vancouver acid attack victim hoaxing for Christ? Posted: 16 Sep 2010 04:08 PM PDT Police in Vancouver, WA have been investigating the widely-reported acid attack on Bethany Storro outside of a Starbucks café. While the injuries were very real, police now believe they were self-inflicted. Ms. Storro initially told reporters "I'm here today because of Jesus Christ," and that she was ready to forgive the black woman who purportedly threw acid on her. A sad story, either way.

Self-actualization LARPing in San Jose this weekend Posted: 16 Sep 2010 03:46 PM PDT Regular Boing Boing readers may know that I am fascinated by self-actualization cults, and phenomena such as EST, Landmark, Scientology, heck, Tarvuism—and the like. BB regulars may also recall a Boing Boing Video episode of an art-LARP performance at Machine Project by Brody Condon, in which people dressed up as medieval knights and died in slow motion. So, interesting news today: "Brody is doing a live action role playing game based on self-actualizing seminars," says Mark Allen of Machine Project. "They just did a round in LA and are going to do another one soon in Santa Jose." The project is called LEVEL FIVE. Video from of the Los Angeles event, which took place at the Hammer Museum, is above. The website has many more videos, and interesting background on the project. Snip: LevelFive is a participatory performance focused on critically exploring self actualization seminars from the 1970′s. The LevelFive performance will loosely follow the structure of early Large Group Awareness Training sessions like Erhard Seminars Training. LevelFive is not a actual self-actualization seminar, nor is it affiliated with any actual Large Group Awareness Training company or group. It is a experimental live role-playing event based on self-actualization seminars which originated in the Bay Area in the early 1970's. The next edition of LevelFive takes place at the San Jose Convention Center on Thursday, Sept 16th from 6-10pm. Admission is $40. If any Boing Boing readers go, I hope you'll tell me about it!

Christine O'Donnell's supporters and video-taker compared to a rat staring contest Posted: 16 Sep 2010 01:37 PM PDT A video of Christine O'Donnell's supporters and a person trying to shoot some video is played side-by-side with a video of rat staring contest. YouTube Doubler video here (Via Dangerous Minds)

Dainty, laser-cut glasses-frames Posted: 16 Sep 2010 12:19 PM PDT Spotted today at my school-visit in Gutersloh, Germany: these swish laser-cut glasses-frames, all lacy and 21st century. As worn by Frau Corsmeyer, proprietor of the remarkable Buch Handlung Markus, a bookstore in a 17th-century, half-timbered building that dates to the 30 Year War. Don't know the manufacturer -- do you? Laser-cut frames Re-lensing glasses by mail Special "no-threat" glasses for looking at gorillas Beer bottles reblown into drinking glasses in the ... Shotgun shell shot glasses Rigged glasses let ALS patients write with their eyes

Vladimir Putin's pop propaganda theme song Posted: 16 Sep 2010 12:00 PM PDT "A Man Like Putin" has become the Russian prime minister's theme song played at his rallies. It is really quite a pop anthem: "I want a man like Putin, who's full of strength. I want a man like Putin, who doesn't drink. I want a man like Putin, who won't make me sad." PBS profiled the artist behind the tune, old-school Soviet rocker Alexander Yelin who initially meant it as a gag. But then Putin got really into it. From Sound Tracks: Music Without Borders: Yelin says he wrote "A Man Like Putin" on a $300 bet to see if he could create a hit. "All I needed was the right message," he says. "What can a girl sing about? She can't sing that Putin is great. That would be stupid and it wouldn't be funny. But she can sing that everything around her sucks, and she needs a man like Putin." "A Man Like Putin" (Thanks, Marina Gorbis!)

"Dude, You Have No Quran" autotuned Posted: 16 Sep 2010 11:54 AM PDT Jacob "Dude, You Have No Quran" Isom was autotuned. Original here. (Via The Daily Wh.at)

Old people give most honest advice (also, harshest) Posted: 16 Sep 2010 11:44 AM PDT Apparently, as your ability to control impulses declines with age, so does your ability to smooth over other people's feelings via white lies and omissions. The upside to this: Advice from old people is more likely to be honest ... if a little on the painful side. Scientific American reports on a recent study that's supposed to show how dwindling executive function can simultaneously impair your social graces and improve your Dear Abby skills. Researchers recruited 19 undergrads and 32 adults in their 60s and 70s. They split the older adults into two groups, based on the adults' abilities to control their behaviors and impulses--called executive function, which naturally declines with age. Then the researchers showed all three groups a photo of a visibly obese teen, along with a list of her complaints, like trouble sleeping and lack of energy--symptoms associated with childhood obesity. What advice could they offer this girl? Well, only half of the higher functioning adults and a third of the college kids brought up the girl's weight as the possible source for her problems. But 80 percent of the adults with cognitive declines mentioned weight. They also gave twice as many helpful tips, like more exercise, a better diet, and delivered them with more empathy. Sadly, I'm not sure we can declare this an unequivocal win for cognitive decline. After all, "honesty" is a relative thing, dependent on your own beliefs. The same process that might prompt your Grandma to offer useful and empathetic weight-loss advice is probably also the driving force behind somebody else's Grandma's tendency to yell racist epithets at the mailman. Both old ladies are telling you what they really think—which seems to be what this study is actually about. But being willing to tell people what you really think doesn't necessarily equal good advice. Image: Some rights reserved by Sukanto Debnath

Man arrested for flying a kite with an LED Posted: 16 Sep 2010 11:56 AM PDT This is an LED kite from Ingenio Electronico. It's not Ernest Sawka Jr's kite. But it sure is cool! Cinemajay says: "Man arrested for 'disorderly conduct' flying a kite rigged with LEDs after St. Paul, MN residents reported a UFO. After repeated flights an officer told Sawka, 'If I catch you doing this again, I'll come and find you and put you in jail.'" Sawka said he'd like to fight the citation. "Hopefully, the judge will say, 'You're here for flying a kite?' and drop the case," he said. Sawka said in August that he'd been sending lighted kites into the sky around St. Paul for about two years. He would put a "kite up a couple hundred feet and then start tying lights to the string," he said. They're "little LED bullet lights," Sawka said. You can buy flashing LED kite lights here! St. Paul / His kite has lights, and he's in trouble again (Submitterated by Cinemajay)

The Fantasy of the Deer Warrior: 1961 movie from Taiwan Posted: 16 Sep 2010 11:28 AM PDT Nice poster for The Fantasy of the Deer Warrior, a 1961 movie from Taiwan. The trailer has some nice singing and costumes, too. Poster tagline: "Natural scenes, Animal (beast) suits, Taiwanese fairy tale movie". The Fantasy of the Deer Warrior: 1961 movie from Taiwan (Submitterated by digdog)

Wire spool organizer how-to on Make: Online Posted: 16 Sep 2010 10:52 AM PDT Collin Cunningham is Make: Online's triple threat. He produces, edits, and scores the terrific how-to videos we run on the site. In this one, he shows how to make a nice wire spool organizer. To make sure you don't miss any of Collin's videos, you can subscribe to the MAKE podcast in iTunes. Collin's Lab: Wire Rack Attack! Collin Cunningham explains Ohm's Law Collin Cunningham of MAKE builds an infrared heart monitor Make's Circuit Skills: Perfboard Prototyping video Make video about LEDs Video explains what a capacitor is and how to make one Make your own custom fit earbuds How to make nice electronic enclosures

Rue: a new interior design magazine Posted: 16 Sep 2010 10:20 AM PDT I've posted previously about The City Sage, an excellent interior design blog by my friend Anne Sage. Earlier this year, Anne and Crystal Gentilello of the Plush Palate blog hunkered down in secret to create a new, full-on interior design magazine, called Rue. The first issue 250+ page issue launched today and it's magnificent. Rue looks and reads like an opulent print magazine, only no trees were harmed in its creation. Congratulations, Anne! Rue Magazine

Masked Mexican wrestling in the USA Posted: 16 Sep 2010 10:10 AM PDT Behind the Mask is a short documentary about "two everyday guys who, on the weekends, turn into masked lucha libre wrestlers. From the sport's roots in Mexico, to the backyards of America, lucha libre wrestling is a Latin American tradition alive and evolving in the United States." It was produced and directed by Tilapia Film, makers of the terrific documentary, Plagues & Pleasures on the Salton Sea. See all of Tilapia Film's work on Vimeo.

South African pop group banned from Zimbabwe for video depicting Mugabe as a chicken Posted: 16 Sep 2010 09:36 AM PDT It's against the law in Zimbabwe to ridicule President Mugabe. The South African band Freshlyground (who wrote the official song and performed at the World Cup) have been banned from Zimbabwe because they made a video that shows Mugabe turning into a chicken. (Did you see the oil can guitar?) Pop Group's Ban After Mugabe Chicken Jibe (Via Arbroath)

Tripod clock from Roger Wood/Klockwerks Posted: 16 Sep 2010 08:59 AM PDT

Rain level rainboots with depth-gauges Posted: 16 Sep 2010 08:58 AM PDT Regina Regis' Rain Level boots let you know just how much of a toad-strangler you're wading through (provided you grok metric). Rain Level (via Core77) Rain boots with pop and tattoo patterns

Erotic Monster Manual entries Posted: 16 Sep 2010 08:55 AM PDT Something Awful's "WTF D&D?!" column held a contest for its readers, asking them to send in entries for an "Erotic Monster Manual." Lots to like here, but the bikini-clad gelatinous cube by Mason takes the cake (or the jelly mould). The Erotic Monster Manual Contest Winners Exclusive Gallery: Dungeons and Dragons 4.0's "D&D Insider ... Flowchart: How D&D is a gateway drug to every flavor of nerdiness ... Ultimate D&D-playing dungeon. And I do mean "ultimate." Original D&D art from 1974: our craptastic nerd origins Writers describe the positive impact of D&D on their lives No D&D for US prison inmate serving life Election 08 as a Dungeons and Dragons campaign

VHS cassette laptop skin Posted: 16 Sep 2010 09:10 AM PDT Indulge your dead media nostalgia with this trompe l'oeil hand-labelled VHS cassette skin for your laptop's lid from Hollis Brown Thornton: I'm more of a ten-million-stickers-in-layers kind of guy, but this is pretty sharp. $20-$30. VHS Heroes (via Geisha Asobi) Laptop skins from eBoy and other artists Shepard Fairey and Paul Frank Industries laptops The heart and soul of laptop art Laptop sleeve made out of recycled wetsuits

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