Monday, November 29, 2010

The Latest from Boing Boing

The Latest from Boing Boing

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Too Far Gone: new Walking Dead collection asks whether survivors can ever be "normal" again

Posted: 29 Nov 2010 05:06 AM PST

Too Far Gone is Robert Kirkman and company's thirteenth collection of Walking Dead comics, and the long-running zombie/horror/adventure comic continues to fascinate, engross and scare me.

Once again, our plucky survivors have found an oasis in the killing fields of America where biters threaten all that live. But this time, it's not a fortress to hide themselves in, nor a post-apocalyptic tyranny run by heavily armed, sadistic megalomaniacs. Rather, they find themselves in what seems to be version 2.0 of the nice, gate-guarded suburb, a fenced-in, solar-powered town that is trying for a new normal amid the carnage.

This gives the creators a whole new set of tools for smashing apart their poor, maltreated characters: can they ever face civilization again after all the killing, betrayals, and hard choices they had to make on the road? Can they trust the good will of the residents of this sleepy hamlet? And, most importantly, when things go wrong, do you become a marauder, or do you help your neighbors?

The dramatic answers to questions like these are the lifeblood of apocalyptic fiction, and how you answer them says a lot about your theories of human nature (we are beasts, reined in by civilization; we are fundamentally good; we can trust our friends; we can't trust anyone) and Kirkman doesn't have any easy answers. Which is why Walking Dead remains my favorite zombie story of all time, and why I'm looking forward to the fourteenth collection.

The Walking Dead: Too Far Gone

 


Learning math by ignoring your teacher and doodling

Posted: 29 Nov 2010 02:29 AM PST

Vi Hart's "Mathematical Doodling" is a series of hilarious and informative narrated videos explaining doodle-games that you can play to explain mathematical concepts in a way that's much more intuitive than the traditional math-class methodologies. Above is binary trees, but be sure and click through to "Snakes + Graphs" -- a wonderful, captivating potted graph theory explanation.

Mathematical Doodling (Thanks, PeaceLove!)

 


Boba Font: bounty hunter made from type

Posted: 29 Nov 2010 12:36 AM PST

Where's Molly: heartbreaking reunion with developmentally disabled sister institutionalized 47 years ago

Posted: 29 Nov 2010 12:34 AM PST

Jeff Daly's sister Molly was sent away when he was six and she was three; all though his childhood, Jeff pestered his parents with the question, "Where's Molly?" He only got non-answers like "She's not here anymore" in response. 47 years later, after his parents' death, he tracked down Molly -- who was developmentally disabled and institutionalized in accordance with the common medical advice of the day -- and discovered his parents' secret heartbreak.
And at first, Molly's father visited often, until Fairview's staff advised him to stop, because Molly would become inconsolable after he left.

But Jack Daly found an ingenious way to continue seeing his daughter . . .

"He did go back," said Jeff. "It was only a way that I suppose my dad could have figured out. He went back as a clown."

Jeff's father - an executive at the Bumblbee Seafood Company - founded a troupe called the Astoria Clowns in 1957, the very year Molly was sent away. The troupe traveled around Oregon, marching in parades and entertaining children wherever they went.

And they visited Fairview.

"He was able to have this relationship with Molly in disguise: Painted face, an orange wig, wearing the clown outfit," said Jeff. "But he was able to still get back there and see his daughter."

By profession, Jeff was a freelance cameraman who sometimes worked for CBS News. Now, he's made a film called "Where's Molly" about the search for his sister. He hopes his story encourages others to reunite with siblings lost because of the wisdom of earlier times.

Where's Molly? (Thanks, Steve, via Submitterator!)
 


"Death-row inmate" seeks last meal advice on Amazon message-board

Posted: 29 Nov 2010 12:27 AM PST

Someone claiming to be a death-row inmate posted a message to Amazon's Health Community message board asking for help in choosing a last meal. I'm skeptical that death-row inmates get to use Internet-connected computers, and there's some skeptical debate among the several hundred messages that follow on from original question, along with many menu suggestions and several exhortations to turn to Jesus.
renfield says:
I'm on death row in prison, and am allowed one last meal of my choosing to be cooked at local restaurants and delivered to my cell. Right now I'm considering; a full rack of bbq spare rips, mac and cheese, baked beans, coleslaw, twice baked potato and a dinner role with blueberry pie for desert and ice tea for a beverage. I'm not sure if this is what I want for sure and am in need of other people's suggestions, what they would choose as their final meal. Any new ideas would be appreciated.
Need help choosing last meal. (Thanks, Reauxbot, via Submitterator)
 


HOWTO put a laptop in rope-bondage for a bag-less messenger bag

Posted: 29 Nov 2010 12:21 AM PST

Here's a quick video showing how to tie up your laptop (or other boxlike object) such that you can wear it like a messenger bag; it'd be cool to be the guy at the meeting who shows up at a meeting with a coil of rope around his shoulder so that you can go hands-free when it's over.

How to Make a Wearable Harness for a Box-like Object out of Rope (Thanks, SumitSumit, via Submitterator)

 


Wikileaks' ISP nuclear bunker cave

Posted: 29 Nov 2010 02:06 AM PST

Leslie Nielsen, RIP

Posted: 28 Nov 2010 11:56 PM PST

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Canadian-born comedy actor Leslie Nielsen died today of complications from pneumonia, at age 84. Many Boing Boing readers will know him best as the star of eighties schlock-LOL films such as Airplane and The Naked Gun, but man, he was so great in the (very brief) 1982 TV series Police Squad, on which Naked Gun was based. And the awesome 1956 science fiction film Forbidden Planet. Many embeds follow.

Goodbye, Mr. Nielsen. You were one of the greats.

forbidden_planet_poster_03.jpg






US foreign policy gets enhanced patdown: oddities from the leaks

Posted: 28 Nov 2010 11:23 PM PST

tsa-gloves1.jpg • An elderly American, Hossein Ghanbarzadeh Vahedi, rode a horse over a mountain range to escape Iran after officials confiscated his passport. • The King of Saudi Arabia advised Obama to "implant computer chips in Guantanamo" detainees, "like horses." Did you know that Stefano DiMera was king of Saudi Arabia? • The EU plotted to boycott Ahmadinejad at his own presidential inauguration. Iranian agents entered warzones via the Red Crecsent. The medical organization denies it. • Reuters sums up early reactions from pundits. Most agree that the leaks are unprecedented and will frustrate diplomatic links with certain countries and people. A British think tankee believes that nothing seismic will happen to Earthly geopolitcs because the really secret stuff hasn't and probably won't get leaked. Millions of people already had access to these cables. • Editorials from newspapers about their 'decision' to publish the leaks have begun appearing! Here's Le Monde's. Of the outlets involved, the New York Times again seems quite resentful at being unable to ignore the scoops Wikileaks feeds it. Compare to The Guardian's exultations. • This is actually "a moment of American strength" in the making. Take it away, Bill Kristol.


Wikileaks secret US Embassy cable site live

Posted: 28 Nov 2010 02:57 PM PST

Wikileaks has begun publishing the leaked "embassy cables" at its website, with a handy 'explorer' at cablegate.wikileaks.org. In total, the cache includes 15,652 secret documents, 101,748 confidential ones, and 133,887 that are unclassified. Iraq is the 'most discussed' country, while Ankara, Turkey, produced the most cables. External political relations and internal government affairs account for most of the cache, but more than 100,000 items concern human rights and economic conditions. 28,801 concern terrorism.

Complaining about information overload in the time of Ecclesiastes

Posted: 28 Nov 2010 01:38 PM PST

We've been talking about information overload for a long time -- the Gutenberg era was characterized by a panic over all the damned books all over the place, but even Ecclesiastes is worried about infoglut:
Complaints about information overload, usually couched in terms of the overabundance of books, have a long history -- reaching back to Ecclesiastes 12:12 ("of making books there is no end," probably from the 4th or 3d century BC). The ancient moralist Seneca complained that "the abundance of books is distraction" in the 1st century AD, and there have been other info-booms from time to time -- the building of the Library of Alexandria in the 3d century BC, or the development of newspapers starting in the 18th century.

But what happened in the Renaissance was, like digital technology in our own time, transformative. It took overload to an entirely new order of magnitude. Up to this point, every existing book had been copied by hand -- a task that could easily take one copyist a year or more. Books were expensive commodities, most often produced on commission and paid for in advance. The great medieval libraries accumulated manuscripts by the hundreds, but few people ever had access to that many books.

The printing press changed that. First developed around 1453, the new technology invented by Gutenberg had moved beyond the experimental phase by 1480 and spread to some two dozen major urban centers, with many other short-lived presses in operation. Contemporaries at first raved about the great speed with which books could be printed, and also about the drop in price -- by 80 percent on one contemporary's estimate in 1468.

Information overload, the early years (via Making Light)

(Image: Engraving of printer using the early Gutenberg letter press during the 15th century, Wikimedia Commons)

 


More from the cables: "9/11 of diplomacy" identifies Putin as Batman and Medvedev as Robin

Posted: 28 Nov 2010 12:36 PM PST

batmanandrobinandsylvio.jpg • The U.S. embassy in Moscow explained the arrangements in Russia like so: Vladimir Putin is Batman and Dmitry Medvedev is Robin. • Italian foreign minister Franco Frattini described the leaks as "the September 11th of world diplomacy." • The Daily Mail says that the leaks include an 'unflattering assessment' of the governing coalition in the U.K. The U.S. administration holds it in low regard, says the BBC. • The BBC also reports that Wikileaks remains down due to an ongoing denial of service attack. • The White House has fresh condemnation of the disclosures. • El Pais writes that the U.S. is keeping a close eye on Turkey's 'Islamist' leader Erdogan and believes he has a hidden agenda. • Der Spiegel reports that the U.S. has an extensive network of spies in the German government that kept it up to speed on Angela Merkel's coalition negotiations. It sees an emergent worldview in the cables. • More from El Pais: Berlusconi has wild parties, Chavez is isolated, and Gadaffi is worried about fine lines and wrinkles.

Colonel Gaddafi uses Botox to maintain own youth, beauty

Posted: 29 Nov 2010 02:10 AM PST

gadaffi.jpg
Photo: Asmaa Waguih / Reuters
From El Pais:
The U.S. ambassador to Tripoli reports that Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi uses botox and that he is a hypochondriac who films all medical examinations for later analysis with doctors.
The soundtrack to this blog post is performed by Mark Dennison of Grenoside, Sheffield, U.K: Source [El Pais]

"Global diplomatic crisis" sparked by cables: U.N. spied on; Saudis want US to attack Iran; British royalty misbehaves; military incompetence

Posted: 28 Nov 2010 12:38 PM PST

The Guardian's coverage of the embassy cables is up: it reports that they've already sparked a global diplomatic crisis. Some more juicy revelations: • The U.S. spies on the United Nations, monitoring its telecommunications and IT systems. • Saudi Arabia is lobbying us to attack Iran. Israel is ready to go it alone in such an attack, too, presumably with tacit support from at some Arab states. • There is 'devastating criticism' of the British military's operations in Afghanistan, but Britain is helping keep Iran policy sane. • A British royal did something 'inappropriate.' • The U.S. government has 'serious political criticisms of' British Prime minister David Cameron, but the two governments are 'particularly intimate' in their dealings. • Hamed Karzai is motivated by paranoia, and by payment in cash. • Russia's government is somewhat in bed with organized crime. • ANC flunkies kept Nelson Mandela on a tight leash after his release. The Guardian also has the data for download so you may explore it yourselves. US embassy cables leak sparks global diplomacy crisis [Graun]

Cables out: Korea unification plan; Illicit Pakistan nukes; U.S. threatened Germany over CIA kidnapping

Posted: 28 Nov 2010 12:40 PM PST

After Spiegel published details of the Wikileaks' diplomatic cable cache early, the New York Times has also gone live with some coverage. It reports that the documents amount to a 'huge sampling' of daily traffic between the U.S. State Department and embassies abroad. Among the revelations: • There is a secret standoff with Pakistan over highly enriched uranium, which the U.S. fears could be 'diverted' to build 'illicit' nuclear weapons. • There's a plan for unifying Korea after the North collapses, and China's in on it. • Guantanamo Bay's closure is mired in shifty cash deals with foreign governments to take prisoners. Also, the Afghan government is corrupt, plus ca change. • Hacking! The Chinese government has owned Google, the Dalai Lama, "American businesses," and more! • Saudi Arabia pays for the terrorism and Qatar sucks at counterterrorism. • Our spies have learned that Vladimir Putin and Silvio Berlusconi have some kind of weird bromance going on involving 'lavish gifts' and 'lucrative energy contracts.' Silvio is essentially acting as Putin's man in the EU. • His power in Russia is absolute, but the bureaucracy there is so epic it allows Putin to be 'ignored.' • The U.S.is failing to prevent Syria arming Hezbollah. • The U.S. 'warned' Germany not to arrest CIA agents who bungled a rendition and kidnapped an innocent German citizen. Cables@the NYT

Wikileaks under legal assault

Posted: 28 Nov 2010 12:40 PM PST

wikileaks-molest-26.gif

Wikileaks may be under denial-of-service attack this morning, in advance of the whopper diplomatic cables release—but according to this legal complaint filed by a gentleman in Kentucky who used his "credit card to pay for Dick Cheney's heart surgery" and "had a sexual affair with Barack Obama," they now have far greater problems. As you can see from the legal complaint, he's not messing around: he "taught Assange how to hack," and previously sued Hurricane Ike. The plaintiff is currently incarcerated in a federal prison that houses mentally ill inmates.

Wikileaks Molestation [cryptome.org]

Alternate link to scan, in case the CIA takes the other down.

Wikileaks' massive cable leak expected today: Wikileaks.org "under attack," Der Spiegel out early

Posted: 28 Nov 2010 12:41 PM PST

wkspiegel.jpg

By various reports, today at 430pm ET is the expected go-live point for Wikileaks' latest coordinated "radical transparency" dump: some 250,000 US State Department diplomatic cables, with partnered coverage expected again, as with prior releases, in Der Spiegel, The New York Times, and the Guardian. This time, El Pais and Le Monde are part of the early access club, according to a Wikileaks tweet.

But a flurry of updates from Twitter users in Germany in recent hours (Symor Jenkins, sa7yr) point to scans of an embargoed copy of Der Spiegel's print coverage, placed on newsstands ahead of the deadline agreed upon by the news agencies and Wikileaks.

wl1.jpgwl2.jpg

An earlier web update (later taken down) from Der Spiegel stated that the leaked material included

* 251,287 cables and 8,000 diplomatic directives
* Except one cable from 1966, most are newer than 2004
* 9,005 documents are from the first two months of 2010

With "just over half of the cables are not subject to classification, 40.5 percent classified as "confidential" and only 6 percent or 15,652 dispatches as 'secret." The release purportedly contains 4,330 messages "which are not meant for foreigners."

It said the documents contained assessments of the political situation in the country, meeting protocols, background information about personal decisions and events - or personality profiles of individual politicians in host countries. Many assessments were written by diplomats in the hope that they do not get published in next 25 years, says Spiegel's posting adding the fact most of them were gossip and hearsay reports to the headquarters without much depth in their veracity.


[Scans: Link one, Link two.]



Gawker's on the story early today, following the German tweets about the early-bird print leak:

At least from the German point of view there are no earth-shattering revelations, just a lot of candid talk about German leaders. Angela Merkel is praised as "teflon," while German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle is repeatedly bashed. There is talk of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's "wild parties," (duh) and Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is likened to Hitler. The cables also show Obama has "no emotional relationship with Europe," focusing instead on Asian countries, according to Der Spiegel.


The State Department has been hard at work attempting to convince Julian Assange (who for all practical purposes *is* Wikileaks, at least for now) to refrain from publishing the documents—even up to a last-ditch personal plea, released by the agency today.


In recent weeks, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and staff have briefed foreign governments on the anticipated contents and impact of the leaks—Russia, Iraq, Turkey, Canada, Australia, and many others.


Meanwhile, Wikileaks (again, presumably Assange) now tweets "We are currently under a mass distributed denial of service attack," adding that "El Pais, Le Monde, Speigel, Guardian & NYT will publish many US embassy cables tonight, even if WikiLeaks goes down."

Interestingly, the same thing happened a month ago.

There is widespread speculation that the documents to be released in this batch are sourced from US Army private Bradley Manning, the intelligence analyst who was arrested in Iraq in June and charged with leaking classified US documents to Wikileaks. Manning has been held in a military detention facility in Quantico, Virginia for more than 160 days.





UPDATE: Cables are out. Here's links to our coverage:
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