Wednesday, September 22, 2010

The Latest from Boing Boing

Boing Boing

The Latest from Boing Boing

Link to Boing Boing

Inside a stolen credit-card site

Posted: 22 Sep 2010 03:24 AM PDT


Brian Krebs brings us a fascinating look at the inner workings of a site that sells stolen credit card numbers to fraudsters; the site is structured like a bizarro-world PayPal, with soft come-ons, hidden fees, and lots of upsell pressure.
The trouble is, the minute you seek to narrow your search using the built-in tools, the site starts adding all these extra convenience fees (sound familiar?). For example, if I were going to buy a card stolen from anyone around the Washington, D.C. area, it would probably be from a resident of McLean, Va., which is more or less a tony place where plenty of well-to-do folk reside. Anyway, the site found me a card (a MasterCard) belonging to a McLean resident alright, but then the service wanted to tack on an extra $.60 just because I isolated my search by city and state -- raising the cost in my shopping cart to $2.10! No way, Jose. Not this bargain shopper.
I'll Take 2 MasterCards and a Visa, Please



Fred Pohl and Jack Vance on winning the Hugo in their 90s: podcast

Posted: 22 Sep 2010 03:04 AM PDT

Tony Smith from the Starshipsofa podcast sez, "Hugo winners for the umpteenth time Fred Pohl and Jack Vance talk to StarShipSofa, itself a Hugo winner about past conventions and what it feels like to win a Hugo at their age. Fred Pohl at 91 is delighted, Jack Vance at 94 is not so bothered."

NES-head

Posted: 22 Sep 2010 12:02 AM PDT


Mike Mitchell describes this lovely bit of duchampery "a quasi self portrait of my formative years."

1985 (via Super Punch)



Anthropology of Hackers, a syllabus

Posted: 21 Sep 2010 09:30 PM PDT

Writing in the Atlantic, my friend Biella Coleman, an assistant professor at NYU, describes the syllabus for her wonderful Anthropology of Hackers class. I met Biella when she was doing her fieldwork, part of which involved volunteering at and interviewing the staff and supporters of the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
Week Eight: The Aesthetics and Politics of Code
Free and Open Source Software is about software, specifically source code, the underlying directions written by programmers and powering software. But what is code? What are its politics? To acquaint ourselves with the material and aesthetic properties of software, we read a handful of chapters from Software Studies by Mathew Fuller. We then move more squarely to the politics of code with Lawrence Lessig's piece "Open Code and Open Societies" as well "Code is Speech: Legal Tinkering, Expertise, and Protest among Free and Open Source Software Developers" based on my fieldwork with Free Software developers.
The Anthropology of Hackers

(Image: Nested Parens! 25 years of HaCkErS, a Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike (2.0) image from ioerror's photostream)



Noxzema ad as lush pulp cover

Posted: 21 Sep 2010 09:11 PM PDT

The .DOC File of J Alfred Prufrock

Posted: 21 Sep 2010 09:10 PM PDT

Anonymous Lurker Nobody sez, "The interminable Sam Starbuck, who writes incredible fiction of both the fan- & original- variety, has written what is both a beautiful homage and hilarious send up of T.S. Eliot's The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. It includes allusions to LOLcats, yaoi, World of Warcraft, overzealous iPhone autocorrect, and much much more. Just perfect."
Let us go then, you and I,
When the evening is spread out against the sky
Like a laptop, put in sleep mode on a table
Let us go through certain half-deserted streets
The blinking-light retreats
Of restless nights in free-wifi cafes
And public libraries with internet
Streets that follow like messageboard argument
of insidious intent
To lead you to an overwhelming blog post
Oh, do not ask, "What, yaoi?"
Let us go and post an entry.
THE .DOC FILE OF J ALFRED PRUFROCK



MPAA: ACTA's censoring firewalls will help governments avoid Wikileaks embarrassments

Posted: 21 Sep 2010 09:06 PM PDT

The MPAA has updated one of its more ridiculous pro-censorship arguments; five years ago, they were telling lawmakers that blocking P2P would help block child pornography. Now they've presented at an information meeting in Mexico on ACTA, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, a secret, far-reaching copyright treaty that contains provisions for China-style censoring firewalls for every country. The MPAA wants these national firewalls to block sites like The Pirate Bay, but the case they've made to lawmakers for it is: "Bring in a censoring firewall to block piracy and you can use it to shut off sites that embarrass your government, like Wikileaks."

You can almost imagine the MPAA rep dry-washing his hands and licking his lips like a grand vizier manipulating a gullible sultan as he utters these words. During the Bush years, the MPAA recruited a bunch of Republican stalwart, ultra-conservative foot-soldiers (one of them told me that he believed in the Young Earth and Creationism). I can imagine that if you're one of these square-jawed rock-ribbed types, you could believe that the government had the right to cover up murder and torture by blocking Wikileaks.

In an open information meeting at the Ministry of the Economy in Mexico about ACTA last week. There were two oddities that they called attention to. The first is that there was an MPAA representative at the meeting, who apparently asked whether or not ACTA could be used to block access to "damaging" sites like Wikileaks. As the Open Acta Mexico people asked, what does Wikileaks have to do with movies? It seems like an interesting question, though, and I'm assuming that the MPAA is using Wikileaks as an example of a site they deem "dangerous" to get the idea across, so that later when they designate other sites (say... The Pirate Bay....) as dangerous, they can use this to make the case it should be blocked. Nice to see the MPAA is so blatant about using copyright for censorship...
MPAA Wants To Know If ACTA Can Be Used To Block Wikileaks?



How ICP is like XKCD

Posted: 21 Sep 2010 08:32 PM PDT

Like you all, I got a good chuckle out of the Insane Clown Posse's "Do You Believe in Miracles" video. And, like many of you, I interpreted it as fundamentally anti-science. Which, to be fair, wasn't so much interpretation as a literal reading of lines like, "Fucking magnets, how do they work?/ And I don't wanna talk to a scientist/ Y'all motherfuckers lying, and getting me pissed."

But I kind of had to look at the song in a new light after reading the Onion AV Club's interview with Violent J.

... Some of these songs when we're talking to this fan base that we're in love with, that loves us, we're hitting them with the entertainment and the fucking anger and the excitement. But other times we're saying, "Hey man, I know everybody can get caught up in the mundane routine of life, but every once in a while, stop and look around and look at some of these amazing things that we've been given on this earth. Look at the stars at night and look at the mountains, look at the ocean. It's some pretty cool shit here."

And having kids, and seeing through their eyes everything for the first time--even a bug, a fucking ladybug, my kids gather around a ladybug and I realize how much there is in this world that's cool for people. If there is no God and it's all science, we could've been born living inside a rock, or as a worm, and all you do is travel underground. But we weren't, we were given this playground, this awesome planet to explore. If you want to fucking climb a mountain, you can do that. If you want to scuba dive, travel the rainforest, or chop a rainforest down, you can do whatever the fuck you want to do on this earth.

God help me, but I think I identify with that profanity-filled philosophizing.

Now, Violent J is, obviously, coming at this from the perspective of somebody who believes in a deity. But the basic premise works even you do think science is all that there is. To summarize Violent J's position: "Hey, it's just chance. We could have been worms. Instead, we're mutha-f'in primates with awesome brains and a world to explore! Don't forget for a second how goddamn amazing that is! Now let's get up in that shit!"

I might disagree with Violent J about the particulars, but as a person who loves science, I can't really reject the spirit he's channeling.

And there is, of course, another popular way to describe this same, basic, premise ...

Tea Party website 4Channed

Posted: 21 Sep 2010 08:47 PM PDT

The official Tea party website, teaparty.org, has apparently been compromised by los del 4Chan. The "Photos" section of teaparty.org currently links to this url, which (duh, 4chan!) now contains lots of porn and racist/shock visual jokes.

Boy planned to sell toys to pay for deceased dad's headstone: then, internet stepped in.

Posted: 21 Sep 2010 08:03 PM PDT

Boing Boing reader CJC says: "Just when you thought the world was full of selfish bastards... A young boy in Kingston, Ontario wanted to have a headstone on his father's grave, but the family couldn't afford it, so he decided to hold a yard sale to sell his toys. After a news report, Facebook and Twitter started buzzing and now the headstone is taken care of and an education fund set up for the boy. Even singer Tom Cochrane is sending memorabilia for the garage sale. This is a sad story with its own unicorn chaser." (canoe.ca via BB Submitterator)

Clint Eastwood wants Joaquin Phoenix to play J. Edgar Hoover’s lover

Posted: 21 Sep 2010 06:41 PM PDT

Clint Eastwood wants to cast Joaquin Phoenix as J. Edgar Hoover's boyfriend, Clyde Tolson, in the upcoming movie Hoover. I don't really see the resemblance, but I'm sure with a bit of makeup and hairstyling it would work.
201009211657With a script by Milk screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, Hoover explores the two men's complicated relationship; neither man ever admitted to being gay, and Hoover was known for hunting down and intimidating those who dared questioned his sexual preference while he was alive. But Hoover's actions in death seem to suggest they were more than simply pals in life: When Hoover died, Tolson was not only the beneficiary of Hoover's life-insurance policy, he also inherited Hoover's estate and moved into his house. At Hoover's funeral, he accepted the U.S. flag draped over Hoover's coffin, and today, Tolson's grave is a few yards from Hoover's in the Congressional Cemetery.

Clint Eastwood wants Joaquin Phoenix to play J. Edgar Hoover's lover (Via LAObserved)

Quadron: "Slippin," dir. Walter Robot (music video)

Posted: 21 Sep 2010 04:15 PM PDT

I love this music video by Walter Robot for the song "Slippin" by Quadron, a band out of Denmark.

In fact, I love the video so much, we've arranged with the directors to feature it on Boing Boing Video's in-flight channel on Virgin America airlines. It's such a feelgood tune, and a fun contrast with the creepy-weird vibe of the visual treatment by Walter Robot co-directors Christopher Louie and Bill Barminski. Stay with it, there's a fun surprise toward the end of the video.

This track appears on Quadron's self-titled 2010 album. The video's been out for some weeks, and I'm admittedly a little late blogging it. But in hopes that it's new for some of you, I thought I'd go ahead and share today. Enjoy!

(CREDITS: Quadron, "Slipping." Directed by: Walter Robot. Actor: Dennis Louie. DP: Patrick Meade Jones. Producer: Mt. Vernon Entertainment. Label: Plug Research.)

Cop convicted in double fatal crash due to texting-while-driving-125mph wants money for his injuries

Posted: 21 Sep 2010 03:55 PM PDT

A policeman kills two girls in a car crash. He was texting someone while driving 125mph. He gets paid leave. He pleads guilty. He's convicted. He gets probation. Then, he files for workers comp. Yay, America! (via Ryan Singel)

Don't Ask Don't Tell Upheld

Posted: 21 Sep 2010 03:35 PM PDT

With Republicans in the US Senate voting unanimously to block debate, the Senate has voted down a major military bill that included a provision allowing the repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell policy" regarding gay soldiers. "The fight against freedom remains strong in the US," says Boing Boing reader blorgggg.

Folk art erotica in Copenhagen snuff can

Posted: 21 Sep 2010 03:12 PM PDT

Qy6O6H8S Ho Tjknzoygzji Aaaaaaaafbg 4Pa-Mnbyyzc S1600 14549 0016 1 Lg During my lifetime, I've consumed about 500 cans of Copenhagen Snuff. Man, did I ever love the stuff. But I quit many years ago. Even so, I still dream about Copenhagen frequently. This piece of folk art erotica from the 1940s (which sold for $25 at auction) seems like something that would work its way into one of my dreams. The NSFW art hiding under the lid can be viewed after the jump.

201009211508


Folk Erotica Pipe Cleaner Man in Tobacco Tin (Via Little Hokum Rag)

Cargo Cult origin on the Memory Palace Podcast

Posted: 21 Sep 2010 02:52 PM PDT

The latest episode of the Memory Palace Podcast is called "Soldier Frum," and is about the formation of the Vanuatu Cargo Cult religion.

From Wikipedia:

Cargo-Cult-Erg The religion centering around John Frum arose in the late 1930s, when Vanuatu was known as the New Hebrides. The movement was heavily influenced by existing religious practice in the Sulphur Bay area of Tanna, particularly the worship of Keraperamun, a god associated with Mount Tukosmera, Tanna's highest mountain. In some versions of the story, a native named Manehivi, under the alias "John Frum", began appearing among the native people of Tanna while dressed in a Western coat, making promises of houses, clothes, food, and transport. Others contend that John Frum was a kava induced spirit vision. Said to be a manifestation of Keraperamun, John Frum promised the dawn of a new age, in which all white people, including missionaries, would leave the New Hebrides, and that the native Melanesians would gain access to the material wealth that white people enjoyed. For this to happen, however, the people of Tanna had to reject all aspects of European society (money, Western education, Christianity, work on copra plantations) and return to traditional kastom (a word for native Tannese customs).

In 1941, followers of John Frum rid themselves of their money in a frenzy of spending, left the missionary churches, schools, villages and plantations, and moved further inland to participate in traditional feasts, dances and rituals. European colonial authorities sought to suppress the movement, arresting Frum, humiliating him publicly, imprisoning him, and ultimately exiling him, along with other leaders of the cult, to another island in the archipelago

Cargo Cult origin on the Memory Palace Podcast



Swap For Good: clothing swaps for charity

Posted: 21 Sep 2010 02:59 PM PDT

BB pal Orli Cotel, who by day works with Sierra Club on their radio show and other outreach, and Brianna Cayo Cotte launched a new non-profit called Swap For Good! Congrats! She says:
Wp-Content Uploads 2010 03 Freedom-109 Swap for Good is a new non-profit project to encourage people to host clothing swaps as a way to help raise money for domestic violence shelters. People are swapping all kinds of things - clothes, gadgets, tools, books - you name it.

It's a win-win situation - you get rid of your old stuff, get a new wardrobe or new books for free, and chip in some of the money you've saved on shopping to help a local domestic violence shelter. During the recession, funding for shelters has plummeted while requests for help have gone up. The National Network to End Domestic Violence did a study that showed that in just one day, over 9,000 requests for help went unmet, largely due to lack of funds.

October is National Domestic Violence Awareness month, so it's a great time to sign up to host a swap and raise some extra money for this important cause. (sign up here )

Swaps can be small private house-parties with friends in your living room, or a big event in a public venue. For folks who have never hosted a swap before, we've created a handy how-to guide that walks you through all the steps to put together a really successful swap. (how-to-guide is here)

Swap for Good parties are a great way to promote creative re-use, build community, and help a worthy cause. It is an all-volunteer project, with no paid staff, and no office - so there are no overhead costs and all the money raised by hosts goes directly to the cause. Swaps are already signed up for this fall in 13 states - you can check out the map of public events here: http://events.swapforgood.org/ (there are lots of other events that are private and don't show up on the map).

Swap For Good

Horizons psychedelics forum in NYC, Sept. 24-26

Posted: 21 Sep 2010 02:44 PM PDT


If you are in NYC this weekend, you could attend both Maker Fair NY and Horizons psychedelics forum!

201009211437 Horizons is an annual forum about psychedelics held in New York City.  Its goal is to open a fresh dialogue on their role in science, medicine, culture and spirituality.  



In recent years, a small group of dedicated scientists and scholars have orchestrated a renaissance in psychedelic research and thought.  Horizons brings together the brightest minds and the boldest voices of this movement to share their research, insights, and dreams for the future.


This is its fourth year, and the line up includes speakers from NYU Medical, Johns Hopkins, the University of Hannover, Germany, the Drug Policy Alliance and numerous other leaders in psychedelic research, healing and philosophy. 


Horizons is a non-profit endeavor hosted by Judson Memorial Church in the heart of Greenwich Village.  This is probably your only chance to hear about the benefits of psychedelic drugs from the pulpit of a consecrated church.


Horizons psychedelics forum in NYC, Sept. 24-26



Body art around the world

Posted: 21 Sep 2010 02:34 PM PDT

Images Body-Art-Ritual-Facial-Scarring-4
For two decades, Chris Rainier has traveled around the world photographing body art -- from tattoos to piercings to scarification -- in a variety of cultural contexts. He's visited LA gangs, hill tribes in New Guinea, the Mentawa of the Indonesian island of Siberut, and countless other locales to understand how and why they modify their flesh, and document the processes and results. The new film Tattoo Odyssey documents Rainier's visit to Indonesia, and the bulk of his work is included in the 2006 monograph Ancient Marks: The Sacred Origins of Tattoos and Body Marking. Above is a Boni tribesman with ritual scarification, from West Africa's Burkina Faso. Below, a woman in Morocco with Henna-stained hands. Smithsonian profiles the work of Rainier, who it turns out was Ansel Adams's last assistant. He first became interested in body art while photographing disappearing indigenous cultures. From Smithsonian:
Images Body-Art-Womans-Hands-Morocco-Henna-Stain-2 Rainier's images "lifted a veil on something that wasn't accessible to us in Western culture," says Deborah Klochko, director of San Diego's Museum of Photographic Arts, which has displayed Rainier's portraits. His work, much of it presented in the 2006 book Ancient Marks: The Sacred Origins of Tattoos and Body Marking, may be the most comprehensive collection of its kind, Klochko says. Yet, she points out, "he's not an anthropologist. A scientist would take another kind of picture of the same markings. He brings a different sensibility, an emotional connection."...

The modern West's first recorded encounter with the Polynesian practice of tattowing dates from 1769, when Joseph Banks—a naturalist aboard the British ship Endeavour—watched a 12-year-old girl (the "patient," he called her, though modern aficionados might prefer the term "collector") being extensively adorned. Banks' description is brief but harrowing: "It was done with a large instrument about 2 inches long containing about 30 teeth," he wrote in his journal. "Every stroke...drew blood." The girl wailed and writhed but two women held her down, occasionally beating her. The agony lasted more than an hour.

"Looking at the World's Tattoos" (Smithsonian)

Ancient Marks: The Sacred Origins of Tattoos and Body Marking (Amazon)



Moebius comic strip by Jim Woodring

Posted: 21 Sep 2010 02:03 PM PDT

23 great space missions, all on one t-shirt

Posted: 21 Sep 2010 01:57 PM PDT

I really like this tshirt by chopshop: silhouettes of 23 of the world's great space missions. $5 of each $23 t-shirt price is donated to The Planetary Society.

23 historic missions in total (with an additional 6 separations) that are recognized for their notable achievements to various celestial bodies in our solar system with targets including the Sun, planets and their moons, comets and asteroids. Nearly every icon represents a specific robotic explorer (or series) with the exception of the Apollo program which continues to be the single human endeavor to ever go beyond the cradle.

If you buy a copy we will donate $5 of every purchase to The Planetary Society. The world's largest space-interest group dedicated to inspiring the public with the adventure and mystery of space exploration. A non-governmental organization founded in 1980, who among its founders included Carl Sagan, the author of Cosmos.

Link to t-shirt sizing and purchase page.

(via the BB Submitterator)

Science behind the parting of the Red Sea

Posted: 21 Sep 2010 01:42 PM PDT

Multimedia Pub Web 25819 Web
When I was a youngster in parochial school, I loved looking into scientific explanations for the "miracles" of biblical stories. I remember reading about how a Tsunami could have "parted" the Red Sea. Now though, National Center for Atmospheric Research scientists suggest a new theory to explain the episode. They used archaeological records and satellite data as the basis for a computer simulation of a powerful overnight wind at the shallow spot where the crossing may have occurred. From The Telegraph:
En Static Neverbesilent.Org Thumbnails Parting Red Sea 250X211 The scientists found that an east wind of 63 mph blowing for 12 hours would have driven the shallow waters back, both into the lake and the river channel.

For a period of four hours, this would have created a land bridge about two miles long and three miles wide.

The waters really would have been parted, with barriers of water raised on both sides of the newly exposed mud flats.

As soon as the winds dropped, the waters would have rushed back, much like a tidal bore.

"Biblical parting of the Red Sea 'could have happened'" (The Telegraph)

"Parting the waters: Computer modeling applies physics to Red Sea escape route" (NCAR)



Investors love hypomaniacs

Posted: 21 Sep 2010 12:05 PM PDT

"It's about degrees," says John D. Gartner, a psychologist and author of "The Hypomanic Edge." "If you're manic, you think you're Jesus. If you're hypomanic, you think you are God's gift to technology investing." (NYT, thanks Marina Gorbis!)

Beer distributors oppose marijuana legalization bill

Posted: 21 Sep 2010 10:17 AM PDT

Beer distributors in California have united to fight against the Proposition 19, which would legalize pot.
201009211012 "Unless the beer distributors in California have suddenly developed a philosophical opposition to the use of intoxicating substances, the motivation behind this contribution is clear," Steve Fox, director of government relations for the Marijuana Policy Project, said in statement. "Plain and simple, the alcohol industry is trying to kill the competition. Their mission is to drive people to drink."

Interestingly, some beer makers are telling their distributors that they want no part of this nonsense.

California beer sellers oppose marijuana legalization bill

Photo by David Trawin. Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 2.0 Generic license.



Miracle water will make you rich

Posted: 21 Sep 2010 10:00 AM PDT


God bless Rev. Peter Popoff for sharing his miracle water, "Stop settling for less -- reach for God's best! God is a God of more, and now there is more miracle spring water in a new larger packet!"


I thought it was real, until James Randi debunked Rev. Popoff. Shucks!

Miracle Water Cures Poverty



Track civil liberties implications of UK bills with Liberty's Bill Tracker

Posted: 21 Sep 2010 09:57 AM PDT

SarahJ from the UK civil liberties group Liberty sez, "The idea behind the Bill-Tracker on Liberty's new website was to make it easier for visitors follow the progress of any UK bills before parliament that have significant implications for human rights or civil liberties, and put Liberty's briefings in context. The tracker shows which debate stage the Bill is at and how far it has to go, with links at each stage to our relevant policy briefings, press releases and campaign actions."

Canadian/Iranian blogfather Hoder faces death penalty; will Canada intervene?

Posted: 21 Sep 2010 09:56 AM PDT

Jesse Brown writes:
If you haven't been following the case of Hossein Derakhshan, here's all you really need to know: he's a blogger and a Canadian citizen who was arrested in Tehran in 2008 because of things he wrote. He was finally tried, and now he may be executed, and the Canadian government has done nothing to help him.

There are many more details, of course. Details of good things he's done, like when he taught thousands of Iranians how to blog in their own language, and when he traveled to Israel to show his readers that Israelis were not their enemies. And there are details of lousy things he's done, like when he decided to support Ahmadinejadand and his nuclear arms program, and when he turned on peaceful friends and baited the media.

And there are details that muddy his case: he is also an Iranian citizen, and Iran doesn't recognize dual citizenship, and that makes it harder for Canada to do anything, and so they haven't tried.

But these details are irrelevant. "Hoder" is a Canadian citizen with the same rights as any other, and the fact that his country is sitting idle while he faces execution is a shame and an outrage.

If the Canadian Embassy is pressured to do something, they might, and that could well save Hossein's life. The Canadian Embassy in Iran can be contacted at teran@international.gc.ca.

Free Hoder



Four reasons why high-fructose corn syrup is probably not the Devil

Posted: 21 Sep 2010 12:06 PM PDT

church+lady.jpg

I've been curious for a while now about the proven differences—or lack thereof—between current boogeything high-fructose corn syrup and sugars, in general. I haven't had a chance to do any heavy reporting on the subject, but, the more of other people's reporting I read, the less worried I am about the stuff. Here's a few of the key things I'm learning:

1) Diets high in sugars—all and any kinds of sugars—are bad for you. If high-fructose corn syrup is a bigger problem than other sweeteners, it's because the stuff is so cheap that it enabled food companies to add delicious, delicious sweetener to all kinds of things that might not otherwise have contained it. But that's a function of economics, not chemistry. In fact, high-fructose corn syrup isn't the only "added sugar" in use. It makes up about half the added sugars in processed foods. The others—beet sugar, cane sugar, etc.—still rack up calories and are still no good.

2) Sugary beverages are a key factor in rising obesity rates. They happen to be sweetened, usually, with high-fructose corn syrup. But, again, that's because it's the cheapest sweetener. It's probably not the specific sweetener that's the problem here, but the fact that Americans drink a lot of sugary beverages. We'd be seeing a problem from over-consumption even if the sweetener was sugar.

3) The few studies that have turned up evidence for corn-syrup specific weight gain have had inconsistent results. Other studies have demonstrated potential health problems linked to consumption of fructose compared to other forms of sugar—but fructose isn't something that's specific to high-fructose corn syrup. In fact, high-fructose corn syrup has less fructose than a lot of other sweeteners. We only call it "high-fructose" because it's got a higher fructose-to-glucose ratio than straight-up corn syrup.

4) One of the sweeteners that has way more fructose than high-fructose corn syrup: Agave nectar. It's somewhere between 70% and 87% fructose, while most of the high-fructose corn syrup you'll run into is only 55% fructose. Other natural sweeteners, like honey and apple sugar, are also in the range of around 50% fructose. There's no solid evidence that shows this fructose to be any different than the fructose in high-fructose corn syrup. If you're really concerned about fructose (And I'm not sure you should be yet. Most of those studies are dealing with pure fructose in test tube or animal research, not real-life mixtures of sugar in human bodies.) your best bet may be maple syrup, which is only 1% fructose.

My take: Keep an eye out for added sugars—of all kinds—in products. If you're worried about empty calories and weight gain, that's your real concern. But don't stress too much about this. Cutting down on the added sugars in your life is good. But a little added sugar isn't going to kill you. And high-fructose corn syrup isn't more of a worry than any other sweetener.

Where am I getting this from?
Science Based Medicine: Corn Syrup: Tasty Toxin or Slandered Sweetener?

New York Times "Well" Blog: In Worries About Sweeteners, Think of All Sugars

Slate: Dark Sugar

The Journal of Nutrition: The State of Science on Dietary Sweeteners Containing Fructose: Summary and Issues to Be Resolved

American Medical Association: REPORT 3 OF THE COUNCIL ON SCIENCE AND PUBLIC HEALTH—The Health Effects of High Fructose Syrup, Executive Summary (PDF)

Junkfood Science: The Science of Sweets

Raising money for a Jeremy Bastian CURSED PIRATE GIRL collection

Posted: 21 Sep 2010 09:50 AM PDT

Zack sez ,"Jeremy Bastian -- who did that huge Little Nemo piece I sent you a few weeks ago -- is doing a fundraiser through Kickstarter to help put out a collected edition of his comic CURSED PIRATE GIRL using environmentally-conscious materials in the US. Different pledges are good for everything from an exclusive set of CURSED PIRATE GIRL buttons to a full signing event with 100 copies of the book. They have already raised nearly three times the initial amount they were looking for, but still need more to pull this off."

Cursed Pirate Girl: "Our Generation's Alice in Wonderland" Jeremy Bastian comic book (Thanks, Zack!)



Promoting statistical literacy: a modest proposal

Posted: 21 Sep 2010 09:43 AM PDT

My latest Guardian column, "Promoting statistical literacy: a modest proposal" discusses the way that state-sponsored lotteries and sloppy financial regulation promote a dangerous kind of statistical illiteracy; dangerous because it subverts our ability to assess and mitigate risk.
For example, my own bank, the Co-op, recently updated its business banking site (the old one was "best viewed with Windows 2000!"), "modernising" it with a new two-factor authentication scheme in the form of a little numeric keypad gadget you carry around with you. When you want to see your balance, you key a Pin into the gadget, and it returns a 10-digit number, which you then have to key into a browser-field that helpfully masks your keystrokes as you enter this gigantic one-time password.

Don't get me wrong: two-factor authentication makes perfect sense, and there's nothing wrong with using it to keep users' passwords out of the hands of keyloggers and other surveillance creeps. But a system that locks users out after three bad tries does not need to generate a 10-digit one-time password: the likelihood of guessing a modest four- or five-digit password in three tries is small enough that no appreciable benefit comes out of the other digits (but the hassle to the Co-op's many customers of these extra numbers, multiplied by every login attempt for years and years to come, is indeed appreciable).

As if to underscore the Co-op's security illiteracy, we have this business of masking the one-time Pin as you type it. The whole point of a one-time password is that it doesn't matter if it leaks, since it only works once. That's why we call it a "one-time Pin." Asking customers to key in a meaningless 10-digit code perfectly, every time, without visual feedback, isn't security. It's sadism.

Promoting statistical literacy: a modest proposal



Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

CrunchyTech

Blog Archive