The Latest from Boing Boing

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• Wikileaks: Wired.com responds to questions on the Manning/Lamo chat logs
• Wikileaks has only published 1,942 cables
• Gulliver's Travels reviewed
• Soviet anti-rock and roll propaganda film
• Now roll me to the fjords
• Chupacabra poaching in Kentucky
• GSM eavesdropping demo'd in Berlin
• Top 10 most popular posts for 2010 from Make: Online
• Endless loop of high divers in "Fake it!"
• Live in a fortress
• Life-sized Patrick Swayze wax figure: Dalton from "Road House"
• Freeman Transport Pouch Set: spiffy bags from hand-built bicycle makers
• The view from the end of a broadsword
• People who touch your junk
• The Phantom Menace to enter Criterion Collection?
• Using technology to improve basketball practice
• How to: Name a dinosaur
• The safety of saccharine
• Edible crayons

Wikileaks: Wired.com responds to questions on the Manning/Lamo chat logs Posted: 28 Dec 2010 10:04 PM PST (illustration: Rob Beschizza) Those who've been following the Rashomon-like saga of Wikileaks/Assange/Manning/Lamo as it unfolded over the past year have no doubt read Glenn Greenwald's piece this week calling into question Wired.com's coverage, and specifically the work of Kevin Poulsen. Today, Poulsen and Evan Hansen respond: At stake are the chat logs. We have already published substantial excerpts from the logs, but critics continue to challenge us to reveal all, ostensibly to fact-check some statements that Lamo has made in the press summarizing portions of the logs from memory (his computer hard drive was confiscated, and he no longer has has a copy). Our position has been and remains that the logs include sensitive personal information with no bearing on Wikileaks, and it would serve no purpose to publish them at this time. That doesn't mean we'll never publish them, but before taking an irrevocable action that could harm an individual's privacy, we have to weigh that person's privacy interest against news value and relevance. This is a standard journalistic balancing test -- not one that we invented for Manning. Every experienced reporter of serious purpose recognizes this, and the principal is also embodied in the Society of Professional Journalists' code of ethics. TL:DR version: No, Wired.com hasn't released more of the chat logs. But the rather long piece responds, step by step, to what Poulsen and Hansen claim are inaccuracies in Greenwald's piece. Putting the Record Straight on the Lamo-Manning Chat Logs (Wired News) Related: Lamo is quoted in this New York Times story from a couple of weeks ago on the US building a case against Assange. Was Bradley Manning's crisis also one of personal identity? Wikileaks: a somewhat less redacted version of the Lamo/Manning logs

Wikileaks has only published 1,942 cables Posted: 28 Dec 2010 03:33 PM PST NPR did a good thing today! In recent weeks, NPR hosts, reporters and guests have incorrectly said or implied that WikiLeaks recently has disclosed or released roughly 250,000 U.S. diplomatic cables. Although the website has vowed to publish "251,287 leaked United States embassy cables," as of Dec. 28, 2010, only 1,942 of the cables had been released. Correction [NPR]

Gulliver's Travels reviewed Posted: 28 Dec 2010 02:49 PM PST i09's Cyriaque Lamar on the new Gulliver's Travels movie: "For a film based on an 18th century novel, there's a ton of product placement. Gulliver makes the Lilliputians reenact Guitar Hero, brings Coca-Cola to their land like some globalizing god, and adds a recreation of Time Square filled with billboards of Gulliver reenacting famous Apple ads."

Soviet anti-rock and roll propaganda film Posted: 27 Dec 2010 08:38 AM PST If there was one thing Americans and the Soviets could agree on in the 1950s, it was that rock and roll was totally going to ruin the youth. Of course, there was some disagreement as to how , exactly, that ruination would come about. While American parents fretted about sex, drugs, and inter-racial dating, the Soviet authorities seem to have been largely concerned with rock music making kids lazy and unproductive. The whole point of this video—in which some troubled teens are picked up behind the GUM while dealing bootleg records, and are then given a stern talking-to by authorities and peers—seems to be that indulging in rock music, booze, and black market imports means you won't be working as hard to build the future of the country. You are, in effect, stealing from your comrades and stealing from yourself. You aren't really living. You're just a shadow, ignoring the real wonders of the world, in favor of passing fancy. In the end, the bad seeds are rehabilitated and come together—in true, "Hey everybody, let's put on a show!" style—to make a poster decrying their former decadence. And, of course, the poster is a big hit with all the comrades on the streets of Moscow. Way to go, kids! It all comes across as sort of, hilariously, mellow, compared to the panic you sense in American anti-rock screeds. And yet, I'm sure this film was deadly serious. Bonus: The footage of the bootleg records, themselves, which were apparently "pressed" onto used X-ray plates. For a bunch of lazy ne'er-do-wells, that's some serious ingenuity. Thanks to Yenisei for Submitterating! I think that he or she also did the subtitle translations for this video.

Now roll me to the fjords Posted: 28 Dec 2010 11:44 AM PST This prize-winning entry in a Norwegian design competition proposes an elegant idea for the small town of Åndalsnes, which describes itself as "The Gateway To The Fjords." (Full disclosure: I don't know if Åndalsnes describes itself as "The Gateway To The Fjords," but it should.) The design posits a collection of small, plain housing units that would roll out toward the fjords on existing railroad tracks in viewing seasson, and collect together near the town center in winter, adding valuable housing stock. The firm that came up with the idea, Jagnefält Milton Architecture, also proposes units of varying size and function that could be assembled into a hotel, and others into a public bath and concert hall: The integration of mobile structures - including a rolling hotel, public bath and concert hall - has the potential to transform the city into a dense, integrated and continually changing scenography. The temporary, small-scale structures sets the 'city in motion', providing an important connection between the land and the sea. (Via designboom.)

Chupacabra poaching in Kentucky Posted: 28 Dec 2010 11:24 AM PST Mark Cothren of Nelson County, Kentucky, shot this innocent chupacabra and no-one seems to care. [NBC via Gawker]

GSM eavesdropping demo'd in Berlin Posted: 28 Dec 2010 11:04 AM PST Wired's John Borland writes that researchers demonstrated GSM cellular decryption today at the Chaos Computer Club (CCC) Congress in Berlin: "a start-to-finish means of eavesdropping on encrypted GSM cell phone calls and text messages, using only four sub-$15 telephones as network sniffers, a laptop computer and a variety of open-source software."

Top 10 most popular posts for 2010 from Make: Online Posted: 28 Dec 2010 10:41 AM PST Over at Make: Online, we are running a series of posts called "The Best of Make." Here are the Top 10 Tools, and the Top 10 Blog Posts from 2010. Show here: a steam-powered record player (the 4th most popular post).

Endless loop of high divers in "Fake it!" Posted: 28 Dec 2010 10:42 AM PST Denki Groove's video for its song, "Fake it!," features an endless loop of high divers. AmyGee writes in: "This clip of a loop of people jumping into a pool is mesmerizing. It starts off strong and keeps getting more awesome. At the end of it I felt like I had just watched a beautifully choreographed ballet. ....." Denki Groove via friandises's YouTube via Hiburo via Ze Frank via Laughing Squid via The Submitterator via Amy Gee Tilt-shift music video: "Fire," by Codebreaker Minecraft music video Psychedelic music video for Blockhead

Live in a fortress Posted: 28 Dec 2010 10:23 AM PST Martello towers are small circular fortresses that stud the English coastline. With 4-meter walls, a single tiny point of entry and 15-man garrisons, they never saw action: no-one has successfully mounted an invasion of Britain in centuries. Now in disrepair, their small size and remote seaside locations make them ideal homes for people who want to live in totally awesome fortresses. Here's Jonathan Glancey in The Guardian: Jackson first came across the tower in June 2000, when it was rotting away at the edge of a farm. And so began a 10-year affair with 750,000 Suffolk bricks. "I wasn't wholly naive," says Jackson, whose American wife and young daughter are now settling in. "I spent a year in negotiation with the farmer. He put in mains water and electricity, but I did have to face up to the fact that the tower was a Scheduled Monument, that it was on the Buildings at Risk register, and that it's part of an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty that's also a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Given all this, perhaps I should have cut my losses and walked away." The cost of renovation is steep, but once completed, you can rest easy knowing your home is impervious to Napoleon's cannons. Pro-tip: make friends with the local ruinkeepers before messing with important historical monuments! Napoleon-proof your home: convert a Martello tower [Guardian via Inhabitat]

Life-sized Patrick Swayze wax figure: Dalton from "Road House" Posted: 28 Dec 2010 02:08 PM PST If you've spent the last 20 years wishing every day you had a life sized (6' 2") wax figure of Dalton, Patrick Swayze's dashing character from the 1989 smash hit Road House then you might want to stop reading this and step away from the computer for a while so your whole world doesn't come crashing down because you found out you missed your chance. That is— unless you are the lucky duck who won just such a figure at auction recently. Logan Fleming made it, and according to the listing, this bad boy "sports his famous flowing 1980s hair style, khaki pants, and short sleeve black polo shirt." It's worth noting that shoes were not included, so if you bought this figure, the shoes must be obtained separately—the listing doesn't specify what shoe size the figure requires. No word on the final selling price, either. [Thanks Agent M]

Freeman Transport Pouch Set: spiffy bags from hand-built bicycle makers Posted: 28 Dec 2010 09:28 PM PST Earlier this year I ordered a new bike from Freeman Transport - I really dug their style, and figured the compact-ability would match my travel-dense lifestyle better than a one-piece frame—without having to resort to a folding bike. My frame is still being custom built (I'll write about it here when it's delivered!), but since ordering it, I've been in touch with the guys at Freeman Transport and am increasingly impressed with the classic, understated style in everything they produce. Today I was pleasantly surprised when the mailman delivered a holiday gift from them: their recently back-in-stock pouch set. Now, admittedly, I may be biased because I didn't have to throw down any cash for these. But holy crap they are so much nicer than the photos on their website suggest. And those photos really make them really look nice. The waxed canvas outside and hickory lining makes each bag feel sturdy enough to carry anything you can fit inside. At the same time, they're gentle enough to protect electronics and things you might worry about scratching or getting banged around. The largest size bag is *just* a little too small to fit my 13" MacBook Air (bummer), but would probably be perfect for the 11" model (or one of the older 12" PowerBooks if you happen to still rock one of those) or any number of other smaller notebooks. The smallest size is certainly big enough to hold a small digicam. For an organizational freak like me, these are total crack. They are definitely going into my main travel bag setup right away. And if you see me in person anytime in the next few weeks let me apologize right now for however much of your time I waste talking about how cool these are. More photos follow.

The view from the end of a broadsword Posted: 28 Dec 2010 10:06 AM PST The incredible whirlin', slicin' and dicin' in this video was shot by the forces of Swordfish 2010 with a tiny GoPro Hero camera attached to the end of a broadsword. [ryrlen's YouTube via Gizmodo]

People who touch your junk Posted: 28 Dec 2010 09:47 AM PST This helpful Venn diagram was created by Chartporn. [via Laughing Squid.]

The Phantom Menace to enter Criterion Collection? Posted: 28 Dec 2010 09:43 AM PST Kevin McLeod argues that George Lucas' Star Wars prequels were a landmark moment in cinema: "Not only are these patterns not random, but they also intentionally and artfully tell a story outside (and inside) the surface drama that unfolds among the protagonists. Lucas' visual ingenuity is relentless; he offers us a strikingly revolutionary level of storytelling." [LAT: Hero Complex]

Using technology to improve basketball practice Posted: 27 Dec 2010 09:27 AM PST The ideal arc of a basketball free throw is 45 degrees. (Via Eric Sorensen)

How to: Name a dinosaur Posted: 27 Dec 2010 09:23 AM PST David Orr knows how to come up with a good name, as his blog, Love in the Time of Chasmosaurs, demonstrates. Now, in a guest blog at Scientific American, he turns his attention to the naming of dinosaurs. What inspires all those italicized monikers? How do you properly convert non-Latin words to (at least, vaguely) Latin-ish ones? Orr has the answers. In this excerpt, he talks about the name of a new theropod—a suborder of dinos that includes the T. rex and its bipedal, tiny-armed cousins ... One of the most inspired members of this class of dinosaur names comes from Romania. When I first read about it, it sounded like some beast out of Tolkein's Middle-Earth. But the island-dwelling theropod Balaur bondoc refers to actual mythology with a decidedly local flavor. It's standard for descriptions of dinosaurs to include sections on the etymology of their names, but Balaur's is exceptional, exploring the twisting roots of the word's various meanings that approach the evolutionary tree of life for richness and complexity. Lead author Zoltan Csiki writes that Balaur's name is "motivated both by the classical association between dinosaurs (especially theropods) and dragon-like creatures, as well as by the fact that balaur is a mythological creature with links to both reptiles (snakes) and birds (wings)..." Who knew that reading the description of a dinosaur could also be a lesson in Romanian mythology? Scientific American: How to name a dinosaur Illustration of Balaur bondoc by Emily Willoughby, via CC

The safety of saccharine Posted: 27 Dec 2010 09:01 AM PST In the LA Times, Elena Conis has a really interesting story about food safety and saccharine—the artificial sweetener that's long been suspected of toxicity, despite multiple studies suggesting that it's safe in the low doses humans actually consume. The piece does a really good job of explaining why it's so hard to gauge the long-term health impacts of something like saccharine. If you've ever wondered how people can have wildly different positions on the safety of a given chemical, this will help make sense of the confusion.

Edible crayons Posted: 28 Dec 2010 08:55 AM PST Luxirare made a set of edible crayons, each with a recipe based on the available ingredients' colors. Yum! The purple and blue are least healthy, they have more candy and sugar in them haha. The purple one used freeze dried blueberries (also such a good snack, and good for making jams or blueberry sauces without buying fresh blueberries, these keep for such a long time!) and the blue used dried blueberries (different texture than freeze dried, it has more of a chewy and wet mouthfeel). CRAYON [Luxirare]

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