The Latest from Boing Boing

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• Russian criminal tattoos as fashion designs
• LA Police Department's stolen art database
• Judge John Hodgman: the podcast
• Princess Pangolin's debut album is awesome
• Mental, physical, and financial hazards of homework
• Photo of a butterfly egg
• Pomegranate Seeds (Boing Boing Flickr Pool)
• Funny Area 51 "user reviews" on Google Maps
• Why did OMG TSA WTF suddenly go viral?
• The world's tallest man is bored
• Tim Berners-Lee: Web's Not Dead
• Conan stalker homes in on shiny new redhead
• Hourglass traffic light design
• TSA forces cancer survivor to remove prosthetic breast
• Amazing street freestyle bicycling
• How the Victorians wiped their bums
• Odds of cancer from TSA scanners about the same as terrorist blowing up your plane
• Comply With Me, the Video
• 44 Ways to say TSA: What do the initials "TSA" really stand for?
• Precision Signal Generator Series E-200-C (Boing Boing Flickr Pool)
• "If you touch my junk" TSA-themed cross-stitch by Steotch.com
• Ghost story puppet show benefits kids' charity

Russian criminal tattoos as fashion designs Posted: 19 Nov 2010 05:10 PM PST Russia is a country where every third man has either done time or been through the camps during the Soviet era. The "Bosses" and "God-Fathers" in the Kremlin knew the value of free labor. So it's not surprising that some of my own family had been through the Soviet prison system. Its also not surprising that when we went to the beach in Russia, prison tattoos were abundant. I remember looking at the tattoos as a young child, images of religious icons, cathedrals, devils, cats, etc. I was fascinated, I must been like 7 or 8. I didn't even know they were called criminal tattoos. That name didn't come to mind until the Russian Criminal Tattoo Encyclopaedia came out. In Russian they were called simply, nakolki, a slang word for tattoos. There was a time not too long ago when the images on these shirts stood for anti-authority, pride, honor and freedom. Freedom in a country where being a sheep was expected from all citizens. In a country where people were told how to live, what to say and what to think. The bodies that bore these images belonged to men and women who wouldn't bow down to the communist machine and decided to live life by their own laws. Be it good or bad, it was a choice they made and most stuck to it for their whole lives. They became wolves instead of sheep and recognized only the law of man (human law). They had their own code and their own courts. The images in our designs are inspired by old Russian criminal tattoos that were about standing up to the powers that be and baring your teeth, about not selling your soul to the government. These tattoos were also a very diverse system of codes and information that can be read and deciphered by others in the know. With the MIR line, we try to give you a small glimpse into this old Russian sub-culture and understand its meanings and symbolism with the descriptions of each tattoo design. The stigma of these tattoos has faded over the last 2 decades and this art and its images are slowly disappearing. MIR aims to keep the "Anti" alive for just a bit longer. That brings me to how MIR came about. After I first saw the books, I knew that T-shirts and apparel with the tattoos is not too far away. The images are just too powerful and rebellious. A few years passed and I was working in a tattoo shop and started noticing more and more people were coming in with the Encyclopaedia and asking to get an image from the books. We turned them away mostly, because the shop was owned by Russians and we didn't think it was a good idea to tattoo most of the stuff from the books on someone that knows close to nothing about that world and sub-culture. At that time I thought it would be cool if I could offer those people a T-shirt with the image as a sort of "consolation prize." Plus a part of me also wanted to spread this fascinating Russian underground art to more people. A way for people to share their appreciation for this art with others. So I grabbed my friend Val who had a t-shirt line at the time and knew the ins and outs, and we started MIR with 10 designs and under 100 t-shirts. We have grown over the past few years but have a lot more in store. DISCLAIMER: ALL THE TATTOOS THAT ARE USED ON THE SHIRTS ARE FROM 50'S AND 60'S AND DO NOT PROCLAIM U TO HAVE ANY ASSOCIATION WITH, RANK, OR STATUS IN ANY CRIMINAL ORGANIZATION OR CODE. SOME OF THE SHIRTS ARE HUMOROUS AND SOME ARE COMMEMORATIONS OF AN ERA THAT HAS GONE BY, BUT IS NOT FORGOTTEN. SO DON'T WORRY, YOU'LL BE SAFE =). Full of Love. The eyes tattoo has various meanings. It can mean that the wearer has an extra pair of eyes watching out. It can also mean that he/she has eyes ON her all the time, like in a prison for instance. The words under the eyes translate to "Full of Love". German eagle MIR logo. The German eagle has been around for centuries. The eagle is one of my favorite symbols and it stands for strength, power and anti-establishment. In Russian prison subculture, German symbolism was usually meant to show disdain for the system and the government and I believe that in some societies it is still valid today. The eagle conveys the message "Strike first, Don't wait for them to hit you!" MIR is a Russian word for "world". But its an acronym for "Menya Ispravit Rastrel" meaning "Execution will Reform Me". Safe Cracker Owl. The Owl design was first tattooed around the early 40's and usually meant that u were a burglar or a safe-cracker (hence the owl sitting on a crowbar). Kat. is an abbreviation of the Russian word "Katorzhnik" which means "sentenced to hard-labor", though "hard" was probably a soft word for it. If you made it through one of those camps and lived then you were one tough, resilient s.o.b. It was first applied back in the Tzarist Camps (1800-1917). The combination of the two may have been tattooed in memory of those who died in those camps or simply just to scare others. Cat. The cat has been a symbol in Russian criminal tattoo culture since the beginning, partly because the cat abides by it's own rules. There are many variations of the cat tattoo. The cat symbolizes a thief that is good at what he does. This tattoo can show a man's or woman's connection with the criminal world. The word CAT or "KOT" (in Russian)is an acronym as are many other normal words that are tattooed. KOT stands for "Korenoi Obitatel' Tyurmi" or "Native occupant of Jail" as in Jail is my second home. This particular cat tattoo was also an anti-Soviet symbol and meant that the wearer disliked the current administration and the Soviet authorities as a whole. Mainly it was to show that the wearer, much like this cat, was a baaaad mother....shut your mouth=))) Pussy Lock. The Pussy Lock is a woman's tattoo that was usually worn below the belly button and is self-explanatory. Hooligan. This was a tattoo of a man who was convicted twice in the 1930's of penal code 74, which is disorderly conduct/public intoxication or as they say in Russian, hooliganism. Lenin BOP tattoo. A popular anti-authority tattoo but it has double meaning as do many other tattoos from that era. The letters underneath Lenin spell VOR, the Russian word for thief (which Lenin definitely was). But the letters are also an acronym that stand for Leader of October Revolution. So if an inmate was hassled by administration, he could always state that he was just really patriotic. The Antisocial Network. This is a tattoo worn by prisoners from the "antisocial" group, indicating absolute indifference to everything that is happening. The text is an iconic saying in Russian slang that translates roughly to "I couldn't give a damn". The light bulb makes up the last word. This expression was in use by criminals as well as regular Soviet population. Basically it can be for "anti-anything and everything". See more designs at MIR.

LA Police Department's stolen art database Posted: 19 Nov 2010 04:36 PM PST Laura Cochrane says: "The LAPD keeps a database of artwork that has been stolen. It's interesting, because I think these are mostly pieces are from people's private collections, and the only reason the internet masses are now able to see them is because they have been stolen, so they get added to this database. There's quite a range of stuff -- Picasso artwork, a Nazi armband, a couple blank Oscars, an alligator skull, various movie props..."

Judge John Hodgman: the podcast Posted: 19 Nov 2010 04:18 PM PST Only three episodes of the Judge John Hodgman podcast have been produced, but I know that it's going to be one of my favorites (along with the New Yorker Fiction podcast and The Sound of Young America show). The format is your basic "judge" show: two people have a beef of some kind to settle, and it is up to Judge Hodgman to decide who is right and who is wrong. Jesse Thorn, the host of The Sound of Young America, not only produces this podcast, he also serves as Judge Hodgman's petty, irresponsible, and questionably sober bailiff. Judge Hodgman is blisteringly funny, but doesn't shirk from his responsibilities. He really does ask pertinent questions, and takes the job seriously. So far I have agreed with every one of his decisions. The three cases so far: Two friends dispute whether machine guns are robots. Judge Hodgman decides whether chili is a soup or a stew. Judge Hodgman settles a marital dispute: should the kitchen sink dispense dish soap or hand soap? Find out more about this fantastic podcast.

Princess Pangolin's debut album is awesome Posted: 19 Nov 2010 03:52 PM PST My wife's fiddle teacher, Julie Carpenter, released a downloadable album on Bandcamp called Princess Pangolin. I've been playing it for a couple of weeks and loving it more with each listen. The tags she uses to describe the music are accurate: "acoustic experimental female vocalist folk noir indie dark desert dreamy female vocal folk indie orchestral quirky strings violin Los Angeles." The entire 9-track album is only $3! Princess Pangolin

Mental, physical, and financial hazards of homework Posted: 19 Nov 2010 03:29 PM PST Over at Credit.com I wrote about the new anti-homework documentary that's being screened around the country, Race to Nowhere. On Saturday my 13-year-old daughter refused go to her younger sister's music recital. The following day she turned down my offer to go skateboarding. She wasn't being anti-social. She was doing homework. Her school assigns hours of homework every weekend (and every evening, too). My wife and I weren't happy about this, but we accepted it as a matter of course, just as we accepted that she'd eventually take a $990 SAT prep class and spend afternoons with a $60/hour tutor to keep her grades up.  (In America, parents spend $15 billion a year on academic tutoring.) But after seeing the anti-homework documentary, Race to Nowhere, our attitude has changed from reluctant acceptance to one of alarm. Read the rest here: Mental, physical, and financial hazards of homework

Photo of a butterfly egg Posted: 19 Nov 2010 02:51 PM PST Taken by David Millard of Austin, Texas, this photo of a butterfly egg nestled on a flower bud earned an Image of Distinction award in this year's Nikon Small World Photography Competition. [Submitterated by tcd004. Many thanks!]

Pomegranate Seeds (Boing Boing Flickr Pool) Posted: 19 Nov 2010 12:15 PM PST "Pomegranate Seeds," a photograph contributed to the Boing Boing Flickr Pool by BB reader Astin of Toronto, Canada.

Funny Area 51 "user reviews" on Google Maps Posted: 19 Nov 2010 12:13 PM PST (Photo: "Alien Incubator," a CC-licensed image by Steve Jurvetson) At the BB Submitterator, ill ich says: In the tradition of the sarcastic "user reviews" of Gristedes milk on amazon, these user reviews of Area 51 on Google maps are comedic gold. Example: "Spaceship TOWED Never park your spaceship nearby. I had a permit (and was legally parked), and they still towed!"

Why did OMG TSA WTF suddenly go viral? Posted: 19 Nov 2010 12:05 PM PST (photo contributed to the BB Flickr pool by Sam Ley, view the full "making of" set here.) Snip from an essay by Elusis: [W]omen have been complaining about being pulled out of line because of their big breasts, having their bodies commented on by TSA officials, and getting inappropriate touching when selected for pat-downs for nearly 10 years now, but just this week it went viral. It is no accident that CAIR identified Islamic head scarves (hijab) as an automatic trigger for extra screenings in January, but just this week it went viral. What was different? Suddenly an able-bodied white man is the one who was complaining. Mentioned in Bruce Schneier's roundup of OMG TSA WTF week.

The world's tallest man is bored Posted: 19 Nov 2010 12:23 PM PST Sultan Kösen of Turkey, the tallest man in the world, listens to a reporter's question while a photographer takes his picture during a news conference in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday. He is 8 feet 1 inches tall, and also claims the record for the largest hands and largest feet. Here are some earlier photos of Mr. Kosen with the world's shortest adult person who is able to walk, 21-year-old He Pingping of Mongolia/China (RIP). (REUTERS/Sergio Moraes)

Tim Berners-Lee: Web's Not Dead Posted: 19 Nov 2010 11:19 AM PST LONG LIVE THE WEB: Tim Berners-Lee's inspiring, call-to-arms essay on why the web matters now more than ever, and what we must do to defend the principles of openness and interoperability at its heart.

Conan stalker homes in on shiny new redhead Posted: 19 Nov 2010 11:15 AM PST The priest who once stalked television's Conan O'Brien is now accused of harassing Boston anchorman Anthony Everett. Both of the alleged victims are ginger.

Hourglass traffic light design Posted: 19 Nov 2010 10:21 AM PST I like Thanva Tivawong's design for improved traffic lights.

TSA forces cancer survivor to remove prosthetic breast Posted: 19 Nov 2010 10:13 AM PST To those who say the terrorists have won: have you considered that perhaps forcing cancer survivors to endure the humiliating removal of their prosthetic breasts is merely the price of freedom? (Thanks, AnthonyI)

Amazing street freestyle bicycling Posted: 19 Nov 2010 10:07 AM PST Bike trials is a form of mountain biking where the rider attempts to go over an intense obstacle course without putting her feet on the ground. Scottish cyclist Danny MacAskill is a master at street trials. In this demo video, he rides around Scotland's Edinburgh Castle, bunkers on the island of Inchgarvie, and a power station in the Scottish Highlands. (Thanks, Sean Ness!)

How the Victorians wiped their bums Posted: 19 Nov 2010 09:55 AM PST The Wellcome Library's collection includes a small but piquant selection of Victorian bumwad; it's horrifically fascinating stuff: Our main example comes from the 1870s, when one popular product was the Diamond Mills Paper Company's 'Bromo Paper' which came in packs of about 500 individual sheets inside a solid card box (21 x 15 x 3 cm.), open at the top so that single sheets could be pulled out as required. Every sheet had a distinguishing watermark of 'Bromo' so that counterfeit versions could be easily spotted (the packaging states this was a problem in India). This toilet tissue had been awarded the highest prize at the Paris Exposition in 1878 and every pack proudly bore reproductions of both sides of the medal to prove it. The Wellcome Library holds one such pack, now catalogued as EPH471A. The paper contained the "disinfectants and curatives" Bromo chloralum and carbolic acid, which the manufacturers' claimed would "...render its use not only a positive preventive of that most distressing and almost universal complaint, the Piles, but also a thorough deodorizer and disinfectant of the water closet". However common haemorrhoids were at the time, the flush toilet was certainly not standard in 1878 and the smells that would have developed in the non-flush version, particularly over a hot summer, would have needed all the help with deodorization that could be given. 19th Century Toilet Paper (Thanks, RMacF, via Submitterator)

Odds of cancer from TSA scanners about the same as terrorist blowing up your plane Posted: 19 Nov 2010 10:02 AM PST Arizona State University physics professor Peter Rez calculated the amount of radiation exposure a human is likely to receive in one of those newfangled Rapiscan porno-scanners the TSA is so fond of, and determined that exposure to be roughly one-fiftieth to one-hundredth the amount of a standard chest X-ray. From an MSNBC report: He calculated the risk of getting cancer from a single scan at about 1 in 30 million, "which puts it somewhat less than being killed by being struck by lightning in any one year," he told me. While the risk of getting a fatal cancer from the screening is minuscule, it's about equal to the probability that an airplane will get blown up by a terrorist, he added. "So my view is there is not a case to be made for deploying them to prevent such a low probability event." And in that same MSNBC item, A group of scientists at the University of California at San Francisco laid out their concerns in a letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, highlighting in particular the potential for the X-ray dose concentrated on the skin to pose a health concern for children and other vulnerable populations, such as people with HIV. "We are unanimous in believing that the potential health consequences need to be rigorously studied before these scanners are adopted. Modifications that reduce radiation exposure need to be explored as soon as possible," the letter said. Among the signers were David Agard, John Sedat (a professor emeritus) and Robert Stroud, all professors of biochemistry and biophysics; and Marc Shuman, professor of medicine. A copy of that letter follows, below. And the FDA's response is here. Are airport X-ray scanners harmful? [MSNBC Cosmic Log, via BB Submitterator, thanks Shane]

Comply With Me, the Video Posted: 19 Nov 2010 09:41 AM PST Earlier this week my pal Iowahawk wrote hilarious TSA parody lyrics for the Rat Pack standard, "Come Fly With Me," called "Comply With Me." Today, the very talented Scott Hill of Temecula CA performed Iowahawk's version of the song for a video. It's swingin', man.

44 Ways to say TSA: What do the initials "TSA" really stand for? Posted: 19 Nov 2010 09:17 AM PST Ted Balaker of Reason.tv says, "Yes, this video is immature -- but so is the TSA."

Precision Signal Generator Series E-200-C (Boing Boing Flickr Pool) Posted: 19 Nov 2010 08:43 AM PST "Technological Dial-O-Meter Time Machine," a photo taken of a device at the Indiana Army Ammunition Plant and contributed to the Boing Boing Flickr Pool by BB reader EvenShift///3.

"If you touch my junk" TSA-themed cross-stitch by Steotch.com Posted: 19 Nov 2010 03:54 PM PST From the witty craftsters at STEOTCH.

Ghost story puppet show benefits kids' charity Posted: 19 Nov 2010 06:41 AM PST The team of hollywood SFX modeller Kevin McTurk is currently working on the next X-Men film. On the side, however, they do amazingly realistic puppetry. Embedded above is a promo for The Narrative of Victor Karloch, a non-profit traveling stage show benefiting childrens' charity The Art of Elysium. [Submitterated by Jennifer]

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