The Latest from Boing Boing |  |
- Why Johnny Can't Program
- Richard Metzger's Dangerous Minds
- Howlingly Cute
- Police training film about concealed weapons: hidden danger everywhere.
- Chapter Titles from my Unicorn Physics Textbook
- Why I Left My Publisher in Order to Publish a Book
- Tomorrow is 24-Hour Comic Day!
- List of resolutions found in bar
- Pennsylvania judge arrested for handing out acorns filled with condoms
- Anti-smoking sign from 1915
- Two-legged pig learns to walk
- Stormtec Stormbags
- Kid demonstrates English language in 24 accents
- Bernard Lietaer's Site Launched
- David Cronenberg's iPhone charger
- Original Dr. Seuss taxidermy on eBay
- Kettlebells
- Frank Oppenheimer facts
- American medical establishment ran Tuskegee experiments in Guatemala, too
- Stuttgart police use overwhelming force against peaceful protestors concerned about new train station
- Ick Street, San Francisco
- Cultural differences throw wrench into classic psychology test
- The 2010 Ig Nobel Award Winners Announced
- 10 Years Ago: The Sea Monkeys and the White Supremacist
- Cory doing live teleseminar today at 1PM Eastern
- Pharmacist-affiliated LegitScript.com going after online pharmacies
- Libre Graphics magazine call for submissions
- Photographer Jason Lee's crazy-cute pics of his daughters
| Posted: 01 Oct 2010 11:42 AM PDT I just published this on Huffington Post. Maybe some policymakers will consider adding programming to the US public school curriculum.... Just last year, while researching a book on America's digital illiteracy, I met with the Air Force General then in charge of America's cybercommand. He said he had plenty of new recruits ready and able to operate drones or other virtual fighting machines - but no one capable of programming them, or even interested in learning how. He wasn't even getting recruits who were ready to begin basic programming classes. Meanwhile, he explained to me, colleges in Russia, China, and even Iran were churning out an order of magnitude more programmers than universities in the US. It is only a matter of time, he said - a generation at most - until our military loses its digital superiority.more...
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| Richard Metzger's Dangerous Minds Posted: 01 Oct 2010 02:30 PM PDT Douglas Rushkoff: Program or Be Programmed from DANGEROUS MINDS on Vimeo. Richard Metzger has always been my favorite net television maker. From his show Infinity Factory on Pseudo Networks to Disinformation on the web, Channel Four, and in real life, Metzger has penetrated the weird, bringing coherence to the esoteric. He is the thinking man's Art Bell, or the sane world's Aleister Crowley. His new web television project, Dangerous Minds, has already featured William Gibson, Mark Frauenfelder, Kim Fowley, and now - Douglas Rushkoff, via skype, trying to talk about my book from my basement office while trying to listen in case my daughter calls me from upstairs. So please don't judge this show by my own appearance.
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| Posted: 01 Oct 2010 11:41 AM PDT  One of my favorite musicians and artists, Archer Prewitt, best known for the comic Sof'Boy and band Sea and Cake has just finished the latest figurine in his series for PressPop, the Allen Ginsberg doll - authorized by Ginsberg Estate. Complete with glasses, book, and beaded necklace, he should make a fine addition to anyone's collection of beat poet dolls. The doll comes with a CD of some of Ginsberg's previously unreleased live poetry readings, including Manhattan Mayday Midnight and On William Burroughs' Work.
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| Police training film about concealed weapons: hidden danger everywhere. Posted: 01 Oct 2010 01:39 PM PDT "There's also hidden danger in this lipstick tube, popular with prostitutes." The narrator's voice takes on a syrupy tone at 1:30 when the camera lingers on a "bearclaw necklace," which was sure to have elicited guffaws around the office. Razorblade baseball caps, Tonto knives and lipstick death devices
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| Chapter Titles from my Unicorn Physics Textbook Posted: 01 Oct 2010 02:27 PM PDT This is a continuation from this post about crowd sourcing humour writing. There were many great suggestions, some of which were almost complete pieces in themselves (especially this one from pencilbox and this one from J.K.). In the end, however, an editorial touch was used to streamline the many great comments into hopefully a pretty funny list. So without further ado, the Boing Boing community presents: "Chapter Titles from my Unicorn Physics Textbook" Newton's Laws Quantum Mechanics Phototonics (a.k.a. Glitter) Horn Topology Force Fields Thermodynamics (except for the 1st Law) Euclidean Vectors Rainbows Total Fucking Awesomeness
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| Why I Left My Publisher in Order to Publish a Book Posted: 01 Oct 2010 11:32 AM PDT I'm publishing a lot of essays this week, but enjoy the conversations here more than out on the regular net. So I'll link to them when I think they're appropriate for the Boing Boing community as well. This one, for Arthurmag, explains why - for my own current book, anyway - independent publishing may be a much better path than going through the traditional corporate route. Unlike Seth Godin, I'm not in a position to say "I've decided not to publish any more books in the traditional way. 12 for 12 and I'm done." There are reasons to go the long route, including getting an advance, getting distribution, and getting the weight of an imprint when soliciting reviews and coverage. But being able to make such definitive statements is part of what makes Seth Godin, Seth Godin. For me, it had a whole lot to do with my impatience waiting for a book to move through the traditional, 1 1/2-year release cycle, as well as wanting to sell a book for less money. It seemed to me that if people are willing to click somewhere other than Amazon or BN for a book, then we'd be able use the web in something much closer to a p2p fashion. There's even some good news in the failure of so much of traditional publishing: the discarded talent is still here to help us write better books, and is developing some new models for getting them out: Meanwhile, the better editors and publicists--the ones who understand their jobs differently than the corporate publishing model now dictates--are the first to be let go when budgets are cut. Working with an author on a book takes valuable time away from the acquisition of more titles. Working a whole afternoon to get a young novelist on NPR for an hour means a lot less to the executives and their balance sheets than getting a defamed movie star two minutes with Katie Couric.
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| Tomorrow is 24-Hour Comic Day! Posted: 01 Oct 2010 11:10 AM PDT Docpop sez, "Saturday October 2nd is the date for this years 24hr Comic Book Day. Cartoonists from all over the world will attempt to create their own 24 page comic entirely in 24 consecutive hours. The challenge is a lot of fun to participate in, but it's also fun to watch. We'll be doing events at 3 different locations with 34 artists in the Bay Area. Stop by Mission Comics (SF), Comic Relief (Berk), or Noisebridge (SF) to watch. More details on my bloghole." |
| List of resolutions found in bar Posted: 01 Oct 2010 11:07 AM PDT  I'm told this list of resolutions was in a purse that was found at a bar. (We redacted the names.) I wonder what Moondoggies is/are. Perhaps another bar? Or a type of cocktail?
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| Pennsylvania judge arrested for handing out acorns filled with condoms Posted: 01 Oct 2010 11:20 AM PDT Pennsylvania district court judge Isaac Stoltzfus, 58 was arrested for disorderly conduct after two women complained that he had handed him acorns that had been stuffed with condoms.
Intercourse judge in nutty condom stunt (Via Arbroath) Photo by Rebecca Wilson. Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
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| Posted: 01 Oct 2010 10:39 AM PDT |
| Posted: 01 Oct 2010 10:34 AM PDT The whole world has fallen in love with Zhu Jianqiang the two-legged walking pig. Two-legged pig learns to walk
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| Posted: 01 Oct 2010 10:55 AM PDT  I found the Stormtec Stormbags at my local hardware store last fall. Basically, they're burlap sacks with water absorbing polymer crystals inside. You soak them in fresh water and the polymer crystals expand to create an alternative to a sandbag. They're lightweight (a pound when dry), easy to transport to the disaster site, and simple to soak and set in place. I've never used them for flood control, but they look like they'd work quite well. When exposed to water they increase 33 pounds in weight in about 5 minutes. I have used them to soak up an intermittent leak in my husband's garage. We laid it down where the puddle usually forms, and it slurped up all the water, keeping it in one place. They will eventually dry out if set aside in a dry, well-ventilated area, so they can be reused. I put ours up on our plant shelf outside, where it got air on all sides. I expect there's a limit to their reuseability; mostly because they'd get really disgusting after a while.
The Stormbags cost $7.00 each at the Stormtec website, or $340 for a box of 50 bags. They also sell door protection kits that will fit various sizes of doors. They're expensive, compared to regular sandbags, until you consider how easy they are to store and transport and their alternative uses. If you have a small leak having a couple of these on hand is a real time and money saver. -- Amy Thomson Stormtec Stormbags - $7 per bag or $340 for 50 - Available from and manufactured by StormTec. Alternatively, they are available in cases of 50 from Costco for $280 with shipping included. Comment on this at Cool Tools, and submit a tool for review.
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| Kid demonstrates English language in 24 accents Posted: 01 Oct 2010 10:25 AM PDT This video is terrific fun, not to mention loaded with cussing. Me attempting to do 24 different accents from my own country and from other countries around the world. Hopefully I got most of them right but I may have made mistakes and I can do some better than others. However, I made this video for my friends because I promised them I would do an accent video. I mean no offence to anyone and please don't be upset if I have not included your specific accent or got it wrong.Truseneye92: The English Language In 24 Accents
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| Bernard Lietaer's Site Launched Posted: 01 Oct 2010 11:43 AM PDT And speaking of alternative currencies, Bernard Lietaer -- the man who introduced a great many of us to the inequities inherent to a monopoly currency system and the great possibilities for complementary alternatives - has finally launched a comprehensive website about his work. Above, the TEDX Berlin talk, currently on his front page. This is a great one-stop shop for a total mind-shift on how money works and how it could.
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| David Cronenberg's iPhone charger Posted: 01 Oct 2010 09:41 AM PDT By Mio I-zawa, via Laughing Squid and Pink Tentacle.
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| Original Dr. Seuss taxidermy on eBay Posted: 01 Oct 2010 09:41 AM PDT   I've posted previously about Dr. Seuss's "School of Unorthodox Taxidermy," a sculpture series that Theodore Seuss Geisel created in the 1930s. Reproductions are available, but an incredibly-rare original set is now on eBay. They are currently on exhibit at the Chateau de Belcastel monument in France, but they can be yours for just $1,000,000. From eBay: "Dr SEUSS Unorthodox Taxidermy, circa 1938" (Thanks, Greg Long!)
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| Posted: 01 Oct 2010 09:43 AM PDT  Kettlebells are used for exercise and training. They look like a cannonball with a handle, come from Russia, and provide a great workout focused on whole-body exercise (rather than muscle isolation), with great benefits for strength, cardio, stamina, and flexibility. Unlike regular weights, the kettlebell's center of mass is extended away from the hand which is optimized for a variety of different movements including swinging. I specifically like exercises that work the entire body. The kettlebell does that and allows a continuous routine of various exercises without having to stop and change equipment. Moreover, you can do quite fine with a single kettlebel. You can start with a 1-pood (16.6 kg, or 35 lb) or lighter kettlebell and for many that will be enough. These weights take up little room, will not break down or wear out, and require no batteries. -- Michael Ham [Note: The founders of Cross Fit have published a useful guide for proper kettlebell swinging form.-- OH] Comment on this at Cool Tools and submit a tool for review.
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| Posted: 01 Oct 2010 09:14 AM PDT  Like Chuck Norris, but better, because they're all true. Alice Bell introduces us to the crazy, amazing world of the little brother of the Father of the Atomic Bomb. FACT As a child, Frank Oppenheimer discovered his own sperm using a microscope. He later called it "most wonderful scientific discovery that I ever made". FACT J. Robert Oppenheimer accused his little brother of being "slow" because it took Frank a bit longer than average to finish up his Ph.D. The real reason for the delay: Frank had joined the Communist Party and was absorbed in Great Depression-era political and social justice work. FACT After getting blackballed out of academia during the Red Scare in the late 1940s, Frank bought a cattle ranch in rural Colorado and became a high school science teacher. There, he taught kids about thermodynamics via trips to the city dump to scavenge machine parts, and augmented a lesson on the biology of the ear by killing and dissecting a kitten. His experiences teaching science to kids later led him to found The Exploratorium. FACT Thanks to The Exploratorium website, I now know that there is a very fine line between making something cuter, and making it hellishly creepy. Thanks, Dr. Oppenheimer! There's more at the Guardian Science Blog: Frank Oppenheimer Image of Frank Oppenheimer courtesy The Exploratorium, used via CC
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| American medical establishment ran Tuskegee experiments in Guatemala, too Posted: 01 Oct 2010 08:01 AM PDT A researcher studying the infamous Tuskegee experiment discovered that American researchers had performed similarly immoral medical studies in Guatemala in the 1940s. In an attempt to figure out whether penicillin could prevent, as well as cure, STDs, researchers affiliated with the U.S. Public Health Service, the National Institutes of Health, the Pan-American Health Sanitary Bureau (now the Pan American Health Organization) and the Guatemalan government exposed almost 700 Guatemalans to syphilis and gonorrhea without their consent—both through direct inoculation and via hiring of infected hookers. It's unclear whether any of the subjects ever received treatment to cure the diseases they were unknowingly given. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius issued apologies for incident today.
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| Posted: 01 Oct 2010 08:00 AM PDT Tante sez, Germany Shocked by 'Disproportionate' Police Action in Stuttgart (Thanks, Tante!) (Image: clipped thumbnail from this Reuters photo)
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| Posted: 01 Oct 2010 08:59 AM PDT  A careless replacement of a paving stone in San Francisco transforms dull workaday Frederick Street into exciting "Ick Street!" Captured by Glenn Caley Bachmann. Ick Street (via JWZ)
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| Cultural differences throw wrench into classic psychology test Posted: 01 Oct 2010 07:46 AM PDT Eeeeenteresting: How children respond to the classic mirror self-recognition test seems to be heavily influenced by culture. The test gauges whether someone can recognize that a mirror reflection is actually themselves. Passing it has long been touted as a signifier of growing mental awareness, possibly related to the development of empathy, with some 70% of kids passing by 24 months of age. But, apparently, those results only hold true in the West. And researchers say the discrepancy isn't a sign of delayed development, but, rather, cultural norms that discourage kids from asking questions and encourage them to wait for direction from an adult. If culture can influence results this much—6-year-olds in Kenya weren't passing—then we have to take another look both at whether this test can really measure anything fundamental about brain development, and whether the animals that didn't pass the test over the years can really be said to not recognize themselves in a mirror. |
| The 2010 Ig Nobel Award Winners Announced Posted: 01 Oct 2010 07:35 AM PDT Huzzah! The Ig Nobel Awards for 2010 have been awarded! I am happy to report that the fruit bat fellatio study took home the prize in Biology this year. Let's give a big round of applause to those hard-working flying mammals. Some of my other favorites from this batch ...
Read the full list of prize winners at the Guardian
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| 10 Years Ago: The Sea Monkeys and the White Supremacist Posted: 15 Sep 2010 09:23 AM PDT  Ten years ago on Boing Boing I linked to the Los Angeles Times Magazine investigation of Sea Monkey inventor Harold von Braunhut's connection to Aryan Nations. The story was written by Tamar Brott. Among von Braunhut's many inventions, which range from bulletproof garb to an insect observation kit, is a pen-sized weapon called the Kiyoga Agent M5, which telescopes into a metal whip at a flick of the wrist. The M5 caused an uproar in 1988 after it was revealed, in a fund-raising letter for the Aryan Nations, that a portion of the sales proceeds was going to Richard Butler, founder and leader of the organization. (This is the same Richard Butler who, along with the Aryan Nations, was recently found negligent and ordered to pay $5.1 million after two security guards assaulted a mother and son outside the Nations compound in Idaho in 1998.) Butler was on trial for sedition and needed help with his legal bills. Shortly after the M5 story broke, the Washington Post ran a lengthy article about Von Braunhut, revealing his involvement with "some of the most extreme racist and anti-Semitic organizations in the country." The article quoted an official with the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith as saying: "He has a reputation of being a generous contributor." Von Braunhut has vehemently denied the accusations in various news reports. Yet in a 1988 interview with the Seattle Times, he referred to the "inscrutable, slanty Korean eyes" of Korean shop owners and was quoted as saying, "You know what side I'm on. I don't make any bones about it."The Sea Monkeys and the White Supremacist
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| Cory doing live teleseminar today at 1PM Eastern Posted: 01 Oct 2010 06:44 AM PDT I'm delivering a brief, open executive education teleseminar for Internet Evolution today at 1PM Eastern/10AM Pac/6PM UK |
| Pharmacist-affiliated LegitScript.com going after online pharmacies Posted: 01 Oct 2010 06:26 AM PDT  [Image: A CC-licensed photo by Steve Snodgrass, via Flickr] If you followed the health care reform debate, you know many Americans pay out of pocket for prescription drugs. Online prescription companies have made it possible for many of us to get drugs we could not otherwise afford from "offshore" sources. Now, one of the most prominent offshore suppliers is telling customers "After recent action taken by LegitScript.com we have had to stop supplying customers within the USA." Alex Blaze at Bilerico reports: LegitScript also wears their partnership with the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, which opposes drug reimportation from Canada, a cheaper alternative to American medications that was discussed during health care reform but was rejected mainly because it would save the average American $800 a year, which would come directly from the pharmaceutical industry (crazily enough, the NABP decries Canadian drugs as "unsafe," even though they help license pharmacies in nine provinces).If this were about protecting people from shady online companies providing unsafe or counterfeit drugs, that would be one thing. But the blocked site, InHousePharmacy.com, has been providing great products and service for years. I know it's widely used by transgender people, who are far more likely to be priced out of insurance and privatized healthcare options. The alternative is dangerous black market hormones that used to be far too prevalent among low-income trans people. LegitScript feels like they're pulling a page from other protectionist trade organizations in the news, in order to maintain revenue streams for deep-pocket industries. Inhousepharmacy.com stops shipping to the US (via Bilerico) Since the LegitScript site is down (!) some extra info on the latest push, which includes action by Google against "rogue pharmacies": (News: Link 1, Link 2, Link 3).
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| Libre Graphics magazine call for submissions Posted: 01 Oct 2010 06:18 AM PDT  Ginger coons sez, "In May, the Libre Graphics movement, (the nebulous community surrounding the great big ecology of Free/Libre Open Source graphics and creativity software) spawned Libre Graphics Magazine #0 born in a three day sprint. Now, we're going whole hog and creating a full size quarterly magazine devoted to Libre Graphics practitioners and professionals. And we want your help! Until October 3, Libre Graphics Magazine is accepting proposals for articles and works, as well as already completed submissions for inclusion in issue 1.1, due out in November. Be part of our last, frantic sprint for content. Submit something!" Libre Graphics Magazine (Thanks, ginger!)
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| Photographer Jason Lee's crazy-cute pics of his daughters Posted: 01 Oct 2010 06:21 AM PDT  Wedding photographer Jason Lee's most delightful work may be when the lens is aimed at his two adorable daughters, Kristin and Kayla. MyModernMet has a selection posted, and you can view more at his Flickr stream. I loved "Facebook," the recursive iPhone shot, and the space portraits too. If you're getting married, here's his contact info. (thanks, Andrea James!)
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He was reportedly handing out hollowed out acorns containing condoms to passers-by outside the state capitol building in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. 
According to its owner, Wang Xihai, it was one of nine piglets born in a litter this January. 
This collection would have been originally purchased in the late 1930's. They were kept in a child's room, and eventually retired to the storage barn next to a chicken coop in upstate New York. The set was acquired for a substantial sum in 2004. Though aged and weathered, restoration was not considered for several reasons. They are perfectly charming, and the need of a face-lift is a matter of opinion, because the personalities remain intact. The aged quality imparts character and denotes the history of these priceless pieces of Americana. These museum pieces were later copied and reproduced as limited edition sculptures by The Chase Group, the licensee of the fine art property originally created by Dr. Seuss. The limited edition Blue-Green Abelard was re-created in a smaller edition size than the other contemporary sculptures; only 375 pieces. The Tufted Gustard was 375 pieces and the Mulberry Street Unicorn was 850 pieces. All of those resin limited editions are going for big bucks, which is a good way to gage the value of the originals! The limited edition of the Blue-Green Abelard currently retails in the range of 25-28k! and The Tufted Gustard for 15k! The entire collection is sensationally popular, because the sculptures are not dead old taxidermy beasts, but Unorthodox Taxidermy, filled with whimsy and life!
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