The Latest from Boing Boing

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• Ant anatomy, set to the tune of the Mexican Hat Dance
• Producing a book, the analog way
• Vote in the Bloggies!
• Muammar Gaddafi had a posse
• Unusual crochet necklace
• Glued to events in Libya, Yemen and Bahrain
• Hyperreal photoreal painting
• TSA cheat sheet: know your rights!
• Houston hackspace's open-house month, with BBQ!
• Todd McLellan's disassembled gadgets
• Free Pre-Paid Cremation!
• XKCD's productivity tip: reboot your computer every time you get bored
• Minecraft is pointless
• Unusual painting of teeth

Ant anatomy, set to the tune of the Mexican Hat Dance Posted: 19 Feb 2011 09:32 PM PST This ant anatomy video joins in the proud comedic/mnemonic tradition of imparting knowledge by setting it to the tune of Jarabe Tapatío, AKA The Mexican Hat Dance -- elevating YouTuber AntsCanada and his "Crazy Ant Song/External Ant Anatomy" to the exalted heights attained by Yakko Warner's All the Words in the English Language and The Nations of the World. (Crazy Ant Song - Turn ON Annotations) External Ant Anatomy - AntsCanada Tutorial #24   Excavation of an ant colony - Boing Boing Newly-discovered bizarre ant - Boing Boing Ant swarms acting like fluids - Boing Boing Ant death spiral - Boing Boing Ant Army wall-stickers - Boing Boing

Producing a book, the analog way Posted: 18 Feb 2011 11:31 PM PST Here's a nostalgic look at what a pain in the ass it was to produce a book in the era before digital typesetting, lo those many years ago. Making books is fun! (to watch) (Thanks, Techbuzz, via Submitterator!)   Book made using 4 daisy-chained printers spanning 100 years' worth ...

Vote in the Bloggies! Posted: 19 Feb 2011 02:15 PM PST Reminder: polls close tomorrow in the Bloggie awards, in which Boing Boing is nominated in the Science category--thanks in large part to the excellent work of our new Science Editor, Maggie Koerth-Baker! If you haven't seen it, check out our science archive and then vote for us or one of the other worthy candidates at the official homepage.

Muammar Gaddafi had a posse Posted: 19 Feb 2011 01:41 PM PST A woman with her face painted in the colors of the Libyan flag joins a demonstration against the rule of Libya's leader Muammar Gaddafi, in front of the White House in Washington today. (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)

Unusual crochet necklace Posted: 19 Feb 2011 01:48 PM PST Julianata on Etsy created this unique and feminine freeform crochet bib/necklace. [via]

Glued to events in Libya, Yemen and Bahrain Posted: 19 Feb 2011 11:09 AM PST Events in Libya, Yemen and Bahrain are moving fast, but the Guardian's moment-to-moment coverage has me glued to my screen today: View Mapping Pro-Democracy Protests in Libya in a larger map • Libya: Security forces in Benghazi have shot dead at least one person and injured a dozen after opening fire on mourners at a funeral for protesters killed in earlier demonstrations. Special forces stormed a protest camp in the eastern city at 5am. • Bahrain: Thousands of protesters have retaken Pearl Square in the Bahraini capital after Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa ordered troops off the streets. • Yemen: One protester was killed and seven were hurt in clashes with security forces in the capital, Sana'a. • Algeria: Riot police in Algiers have broken up a planned march by thousands of pro-democracy campaigners. Libya and Bahrain protests - Saturday 19 February YouTube channel -- Libyan protests (Warning: contains graphic violence and death) Mapping Pro-Democracy protests   What does Libyan revolution mean for bit.ly? - Boing Boing Don't forget Yemen - Boing Boing Gentlemen in Yemen at "Day of Rage" protest Bahrain: anti-government protests continue despite brutal ... Bahrain: peaceful protests turn violent as police attack ... Bahrain: in protest crackdown, regime appears to have tightened ...

Hyperreal photoreal painting Posted: 19 Feb 2011 01:40 PM PST On the Saturday arts and crafts market in San Francisco's Justin Herman Plaza, there is an artist who paints and sells his work from inside a small cart. His specialty is making "photorealistic" reproductions of celebrity photos and passers-by. Based on the nude on the left though, it seems that some of his models may live in the Uncanny Valley. I rather like this artwork though and next time may ask if it's for sale. Click the image to see it larger.

TSA cheat sheet: know your rights! Posted: 18 Feb 2011 11:30 PM PST The TSA Rights (PDF) bust-card is a handy single-sheet list of all your rights at a TSA checkpoint; on the reverse is an airport-by-airport list of TSA supervisors and their direct numbers, along with leaked excerpts from the TSA standard operating procedure manual. (Thanks, Sai!)

Houston hackspace's open-house month, with BBQ! Posted: 18 Feb 2011 11:26 PM PST Calling all Houstonites! The Tx/Rx Labs hackspace is hosting a series of BBQ-infused open houses through the month of March: What's a Hack-B-Q? Think free B-B-Q with the added bonus of getting to share knowledge with TXRX Members who have expertise in exciting DIY technology projects. And that's just for starters: There are tons of exciting projects in progress and members with expertise in chemistry, electrical engineering, biology, physics, programming, mechanical engineering, and many others, all of whom are interested in sharing that knowledge for the benefit of the community. Oh yeah, and did we mention FREE TI LaunchPad Dev Kits? (while supplies last) Tx/Rx Labs (Thanks, Rtavk!)

Todd McLellan's disassembled gadgets Posted: 19 Feb 2011 09:13 AM PST Todd McLellan takes photos of disassembled vintage gadgets—some laid out in perfect array, others as if in mid-explosion.

Free Pre-Paid Cremation! Posted: 19 Feb 2011 08:42 AM PST How could anyone pass up such a thoughtful offer from the Neptune Society? [Thanks, Richard]

XKCD's productivity tip: reboot your computer every time you get bored Posted: 18 Feb 2011 11:19 PM PST In the punchline of the most recent XKCD, creator Randall Munroe says that he avoids falling into a procrastinatory clicktrance by setting "simple 30-second delay I had to wait through, in which I couldn't do anything else, before any new page or chat client would load (and only allowed one to run at once). The urge to check all those sites magically vanished--and my 'productive' computer use was unaffected." Now Randall reveals the simple tactic he uses to insert this productivity-saving delay: I made it a rule that as soon as I finished any task, or got bored with it, I had to power off my computer. I could turn it back on right away--this wasn't about trying to use the computer less. The rule was just that the moment I finished (or lost interest in) the thing I was doing, and felt like checking Google News et. al., before I had time to think too much, I'd start the shutdown process. There was no struggle of willpower; I knew that after I hit the button, I could decide to do anything I wanted. But if I decided to look at a website, I'd have to wait through the startup, and once I was done, I'd have to turn it off again before doing anything else. (This works best if your ongoing activities are persistent online--for example, all my IRC chat is through irssi running in screen, so turning off my laptop doesn't make me sign out.) Distraction Affliction Correction Extension   Getting meaningful things done using "fixed-schedule productivity ... IT restrictions hurt productivity Boing Boing Abe Lincoln -- productivity geek - Boing Boing

Minecraft is pointless Posted: 19 Feb 2011 08:32 AM PST Minecraft: indie gaming phenomenon or existential daydream?

Unusual painting of teeth Posted: 19 Feb 2011 08:09 AM PST My new dentist has this on the office wall by the chair, to set patients' minds at ease.

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