The Latest from Boing Boing

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• Name a new math theorem after yourself or a loved one
• Retro electric roadster
• New Zealand leak: US-style copyright rules are a bad deal
• Kit-built robotic xylophone
• Irate Cash4Gold letter to a lewd prankster
• Chrismakah
• Video Of Black Friday shoppers trampled At Target store
• How Crayola crayons are made
• Aladdin Sane/Harry Potter t-shirt
• Twisty cabinet

Name a new math theorem after yourself or a loved one Posted: 05 Dec 2010 10:17 PM PST TheoryMine runs a computerized mathematical theorem prover that turns out new mathematical theories all day long. For a mere $15, they'll name the theorem after you or someone you love: "Theorems are discovered by our robot mathematicians, we make every effort to ensure that the discovered theorems have never been published before, and we guarantee that every theorem we discover has not been previously recorded in our database of theorems. In the unlikely event that that there is a mathematics article publishing the theorem prior to our discovery, then we will give two additional new theorems to the owner of the old theorem." (via MeFi)

Retro electric roadster Posted: 05 Dec 2010 10:13 PM PST The Miluira Retro is a splendid-looking one-person electric vehicle, due to ship around March 2011. It will only go 35km on a charge at a top speed of 60km/h, and I'm sure it'll cost the world, but you'll be the sharpest looking spendthrift on the road. miluira(ミルイラ)：主要諸元 Takayanagi is now accepting orders for its Miluira Retro EV Car in Japan (Akihabara News)   Wooden car with split modern/vintage personality - Boing Boing Watch the London to Brighton vintage car rally - Boing Boing Vintage Rootes automotive ads in Russian and English - Boing Boing Hot rod pedal car - Boing Boing

New Zealand leak: US-style copyright rules are a bad deal Posted: 05 Dec 2010 10:08 PM PST Michael Geist writes in with new leaks relating to the New Zealand government's deep skepticism about US pressure to change its copyright law. The US wants New Zealand to add protection for "technical protection measures" (also called TPMs, DRM, or digital locks). This would follow the US law that makes it illegal to jailbreak an iPad, rip a DVD, or move your Kindle or Sony ebooks to competing devices (interestingly, the US copyright office just suspended the restriction on jailbreaking iPhones for three years, having concluded that the US law that's being pushed in NZ does more harm than good). New Zealand is one of several countries currently negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, a regional trade deal that the U.S. would like to see include a major chapter on intellectual property. A new leak of the New Zealand government's position on the IP chapter is revealing on several levels, most notably for its criticism of the WIPO Internet treaties and the attempts to limit existing flexibilities on digital locks. There are several points worth emphasizing. First, NZ is clearly opposed to attempts to establish international norms on digital locks (ie. anti-circumvention legislation), arguing that countries should retain existing flexibilities on TPMs. Second, the NZ government recognizes the shortcomings of relying on digital lock rules, suggesting that the WIPO approach may actually undermine new business models. Third, it expresses doubt about the ability for digital lock rules to promote innovation. These are all positions that have been raised repeatedly within the Canadian context and serve to provide further evidence that support for the treaties is not nearly as widespread as its supporters claim. NZ Govt Copyright Leak: Doubts Value of WIPO Internet Treaties, Supports Flexible Digital Lock Rules (Thanks, Michael!)   New Zealand proposes "guilty until proven innocent" copyright law ... New Zealand's copyright minister starts screaming when asked ... New Zealand's stupid copyright law dies - Boing Boing New Zealand's terrible copyright law suspended, may be dead ... Secret copyright treaty meeting coming to New Zealand; activists ... New Zealand ready to reintroduce "three strikes" copyright rule ... New Zealand netizens go black in protest of new "no-proof ... Geeks go to New Zealand Parliament to protest new copyright law ...

Kit-built robotic xylophone Posted: 05 Dec 2010 10:05 PM PST Nerdkits sells wicked-nerdy gift kits built around a little microcontroller; to demonstrate the awesome power thereof, they've built this self-playing robotic xylophone from scratch, solenoid, aluminum bars and all. Robotic Xylophone (Thanks, Alan!)   3D Stereo Vision Robot Kit - Boing Boing 400 year old tea-serving robot kit - Boing Boing Stitched-together DIY retro robot kit - Boing Boing Robot model kit: Chubu 01 - Boing Boing Simple biped robot kit - Boing Boing Digital Open Winner: teen creates a robot shop - Boing Boing Remote control Gigantor kit costs $3000 - Boing Boing Palm Pilot Robot Kit. Looks - Boing Boing

Irate Cash4Gold letter to a lewd prankster Posted: 05 Dec 2010 09:54 PM PST This Internet finding is an irate letter from the thin-skinned litigation enthusiasts at Cash4Gold to a "Mr Haberny" who apparently made a habit of sending gold-painted rocks to the firm, along with colorful missives describing the circumstances through which he came to posses them, which included a Tibetan pilgrimage with a legless hooker from Singapore. Mr Haberny sought many interesting forms of compensation for his "gold," including a birthday party at McDonald's, and an unspecified activity in the company of Ed McMahon. (via JWZ)   Rob Cockerham writes article critical of Cash4Gold, gets offered ... Rob Cockerham hacks the "Gold Kit" - Boing Boing Consumerist sued by Cash4Gold after critical blog posts - Boing Boing Update: Cash4Gold drops Consumerist from lawsuit - Boing Boing

Chrismakah Posted: 05 Dec 2010 08:17 PM PST I suspect this photo will not appear odd to any of us celebrating mixed families, traditions, religions, cults, vanilla extracts, syncretic faiths, unionism, or pure unadultered atheism with presents this year. My wife erected the Christmas tree last night with my full approval (I'm recovering from hernia surgery, and thus was unavailable to help, ahem ahem), and I lit the Hanukah candles this evening. A happy juxtaposition in our home. A friend in college, on discovering I was Jewish, asked, "So you don't celebrate Christmas?" No, I said. "Not even commercially?" Photo by yours truly.

Video Of Black Friday shoppers trampled At Target store Posted: 05 Dec 2010 01:32 PM PST From Sociological Images: "In this video we see people trampled at a 4am opening of a North Buffalo Target on the Friday after Thanksgiving."

How Crayola crayons are made Posted: 05 Dec 2010 01:19 PM PST Jim Gurney says: "Who knew that the making of colored crayons could be so beautiful?" What is the secret powder? How it's made - Color Crayons

Aladdin Sane/Harry Potter t-shirt Posted: 05 Dec 2010 01:13 PM PST The kid was just crass... "Harry Stardust," a t-shirt from Made With Awesome. (via Bust)

Twisty cabinet Posted: 05 Dec 2010 09:46 AM PST Michele De Lucchi's 8'9" Estense cabinet is a classic piece of gnarly decor; one of the six made is for sale for a mere $62K: " De Lucchi was the Director of Design for Olivetti from 1992 to 2002, and he has developed many experimental projects for Compaq Computers, Philips, Siemens and Vitra. Architectural commissions for important corporate clients have been executed by De Lucchi throughout Europe and Asia: in Japan for NTT, in Germany for Deutsche Bank, in Switzerland for Novartis, and in Italy for Enel, Olivetti, Piaggio, Poste Italiane, ENEL's, and Telecom Italia. Within all of these working environments, De Lucchi introduced technical and aesthetic innovations and made significant contributions to the overall evolution of the workplace." Estense cabinet (via Super Punch)

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