The Latest from Boing Boing |  |
- Bank for women: 1911 ad
- Video of 6 main Japanese TV channels, as the quake hits
- Japan asks South Korea for 53 tons of boric acid to aid in nuclear crisis operations
- Japan: 13,400 dead or missing 7,400 buildings and homes destroyed.
- 1960s music videos
- Japan: Gov. officials and TEPCO update on emergency water drop operations at Fukushima
- Japan: Emergency water drop operations begin at Fukushima; new photos show damage at stricken nuclear plant
- Barnaby Ward's Graphic Novel: Sixteen Miles to Merricks
- WTFacebook
- Bag Balm ad, 1943, a jolly moment in agricultural competition
- I turned my 4-year-old daughter into a Dungeons & Dragons geek
- Which nuclear plants in the US are at highest earthquake damage risk?
- Japan: US to deploy radiation monitoring gear in Japan, Hawaii, Pacific territories
- US military's "gratuitously harsh treatment" of Manning condemned by NYT, WaPo, LAT, ACLU
- Pixelhead mask makes you appear pixellated
- Egypt: female protesters tortured, sexually abused, "charged as prostitutes"
- Billykirk Designs bags and belts
- Four New York Times journalists are missing in Libya
- Japan: US nuclear reg chief says radiation levels "extremely high," could hinder corrective measures
- Limor Fried on the cover of Wired
- BoingBoing Live on Japan, radiation, and nuclear crisis—archived video
- Amy Ahlstrom's "Urban Quilts"
- Man sets fire to motel room he shared with the devil
- Artistic gloves for happy mutants from Claire Watson
- Piracy doesn't fund the mob or terrorists
- Laser-cut Tom Waits cameo
- Note to self: Panda earthquake image not a fake, exactly
- Taimane Gardner plays Bach's Toccata on ukulele
- MIT Researcher records 90,000 hours of home video, analyzes the hell out of it
- Tennessee to outlaw collective bargaining for teachers
| Posted: 17 Mar 2011 04:20 AM PDT  This advertisement for a London "bank for women" proudly boasts "the whole of the advantages and facilities offered to the Male Customers...apply equally to Women," in an environment "entirely worked by Women." In addition to the fascinating look at the Edwardian practice of capitalising words seemingly by rolling a D12, it's also a stark reminder of the kind of limits on women's independent financial lives that have long been part of society. |
| Video of 6 main Japanese TV channels, as the quake hits Posted: 16 Mar 2011 09:38 PM PDT [Video Link]. Via Time Out Tokyo, which tweets, "This is why we watch NHK." |
| Japan asks South Korea for 53 tons of boric acid to aid in nuclear crisis operations Posted: 16 Mar 2011 08:40 PM PDT The government of Japan has asked Seoul for 52.6 tons of boric acid to try and keep the damaged reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station cool. Boric acid lowers the temperatures of the reactors by preventing nuclear fission. Korean Minister of Knowledge Economy Choi Joong-kyung said "We'll send it as quickly as possible once we've checked that our stockpile is suitable for the Japanese nuclear plant." (Chosun Ilbo, via @stevesilberman) |
| Japan: 13,400 dead or missing 7,400 buildings and homes destroyed. Posted: 16 Mar 2011 08:36 PM PDT The Japan news network NHK, quoting government figures, just reported that 13,400 people are believed to be dead or missing after the catastrophic quake and tsunami struck one week ago. As of today, 4,377 deaths are confirmed, and 9,083 people are reported to be missing. 7,400 buildings or houses are believed to be completely destroyed. More than 100,000 buildings or homes are believed to have been damaged. |
| Posted: 16 Mar 2011 08:35 PM PDT Spike Priggen of Bedazzled has uploaded a bunch of formerly-rare music videos from the 1960s from French TV, including The Who, Marianne Faithfull, The Bee-Gees (pre-disco), and The Four Tops, The Electric Prunes, Spike says he has many more in the pipeline, including clips of "Nancy Sinatra, Screaming "Lord" Sutch (Live!), The Yardbirds (Live!), The Ikettes (Live!), Paul Jones, Dionne Warwick, and others too numerous to mention." |
| Japan: Gov. officials and TEPCO update on emergency water drop operations at Fukushima Posted: 16 Mar 2011 08:32 PM PDT  (Image, from NHK TV: A Japan Self-Defense Force helicopter collects seawater from Japan's northeast coast, en route to aerial operations over the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant.) About two hours ago, between 9am and 10am local time in Japan, emergency operations to drop water on to the Fukushima nuclear plant began: specifically, the No. 3. and 4 reactor buildings, including the depleted water pool in which spent fuel is stored. Without water, the fear is that this spent fuel would enter a state that would cause a catastrophic, massive release of radioactivity into the atmosphere. Government officials say this pool in reactor No. 4. seems to still contain some water, which is positive news; Water levels in no. 3, however, are very low or may be empty, so right now the focus is on No. 3. Immediately after the first phase of aerial water drop operations concluded, Japan's Defense Minister and government spokesman Yukio Edano gave press conferences, followed by a TEPCO press conference. Notes here are hastily transcribed from live broadcast on Japan's NHK TV.
Japan Defense Minister Minister Toshimi Kitazawa press conference: He confirms that the water drop operations have begun, says the monitoring of results is ongoing. Says previously, they believed that radiation levels were too high for air or ground water drop operations, but decision was made today that attempts could not be delayed any further given the grave nature of the situation. "Based on the report issued by the government task force on the nuclear crisis," the Defense Minister says, "We decided early morning today to execute this plan."
The Tokyo Police force will also conduct ground operations, using water cannons, in afternoon, he says. A total of 11 specially-equipped vehicles will be used to spray water on the crippled reactors at Fukushima-1.
Notes from press conference with Yukio Edano, spokesman for government of Japan: "Prime Minister Kan and US President Barack Obama spoke on the phone today [for some 30 minutes]. "Obama offered support, including support related to the nuclear power plants, and longer term rehabilitation and construction initiatives. Prime Minister Kan expressed his gratitude. " "We have concluded this morning's operations. The self defense forces conducted aerial spraying from the air, and the police will start spraying water from the water cannon trucks. We are trying to combine these approaches to maximize results. We are asking people in the peripheral areas to evacuate, and those within 20-30 km of the plant are asked to stay inside.
Some evacuees may need extra support: people who are ill, pregnant women, they will need extra care. We will do our best to give all-out support to those who are vulnerable. We ask those in the medical and nursing professions to do all they can to help these evacuees." [A question from a reporter: "There has been testimony from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission today that the water in the spent fuel pool has been totally depleted. Where did this statement come from, was it based on information from the government of Japan?"] Edano: "We have provided detailed data to US experts. We are trying to coordinate information on a timely basis so analysis can be conducted based on more accurate information, but there is always a time lag, especially with regard to reactor No. 4, the question of whether the water there has been depleted. There has been a time lag in providing info to the US authorities.
[A question: "The US embassy in Japan has issued an advisory to citizens to evacuate from 80km from the site, which is more than Japan's advisory. Why?"] Edano: "If there are circumstances that require evacuation, not just a nuclear accident, foreign governments should give such advisories to protect their nationals. They are an outside government not in direct control, so it is reasonable that they take a more conservative approach [than we do]. As for the radius in their advisory: we have been monitoring the radioactive levels, and we are gathering data that will later be disclosed by the science and technology agency. We have issued our advisory accordingly." "The allies, in providing these measures, will not fan the anxiety of the residents of the immediate area. Obama has spoken to Prime Minister Kan just today and we will maintain close communication." [A Mainichi reporter asks: DoD says they will not allow military officers to enter within 90km of the Fukushima facility.] Edano: "We are not aware of this."
TEPCO press conference, spokesperson speaking:
Starting at 948am we began the water drop operations. Situation as of 9am at No. 3 reactor, as we have already informed you, if you could look at the brochures we have provided: at 830am on Mar 16 we saw vapor or smoke rising so we moved workers to a safer place and decided to drop water from the air. But the situation was too dangerous so it was suspended. So we began preparing to spray the Reactor No. 3 site from the ground [there is concern that the fuel rods there may be partially exposed].
We have been able to confirm that there is water in the spent nuclear fuel pond, but we don't know how much. We don't know yet if the rods are exposed. This information is as of yesterday, when we conducted the aerial survey.
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| Posted: 16 Mar 2011 09:41 PM PDT  (screengrab of NHK TV coverage of the third helicopter water drop in the current operation, around 10am local time in Japan.) Two helicopters, modified to help protect pilots from radiation, have just begun missions to drop tons of sea water on the quake and tsunami-stricken Fukushima 1 plant in Japan. The live TV coverage of the water drops has been chilling to watch, knowing what is at stake both for the pilots and the population they hope to protect. Separately, according to reports in the US and from news agencies in Japan, the US military will also soon fly unmanned aerial drones over the plant to take photos of the inside of the building that houses the No. 4 reactor. "The water is depleting rapidly at the number 3 and number 4 units, and the government is placing urgent priority on providing water now," says a senior commentator on NHK right now, as I type. An explosion occurred at reactor No. 4 on Tuesday, and was believed to have been a hydrogen explosion. White smoke has been rising from this site on Wednesday, and the spent fuel is believed to be heating up. The status of the spent nuclear fuel there is of greatest concern right now. Currently, Japan ground self-defense force (GDF) helicopters are scooping water from the ocean and dropping it over the reactor, 7.5 tons at a time. The helicopters spraying water onto these reactors are protected by lead mats underneath, and the pilots are wearing protective suits and carrying dosimeters. In a press conference just now, a Japan nuclear safety agency official explained that the flights are limited to a certain minimum altitude, and no more than 40 minutes per helicopter per day, to limit exposure for pilots. The maximum permissible exposure level for Japan's self defense forces is typically 50 millisieverts; during this operation, the level has been raised to 100 millisieverts. When the pilots reach the limit, they have to leave. Normally, they would hover in one spot; given the extremely high risk of radiation exposure, they must move. Given the dimensions of the spent fuel pools, and the fact that that not all the water dropped will actually make it into the pool, they will need to make hundreds of these water drop operations. Tokyo police force water cannon vehicles carrying 4 tons of water at a time have also arrived at the Fukushima No. 1 plant. The water spray they shoot will target the storage pool that holds spent fuel rods; again, this is the focal point of grave concern at this time. If these efforts fail and current conditions within the spent fuel pool continues, officials on NHK are saying the spent fuel rods in the storage pool would likely become more exposed and damaged, and release massive amounts of radiation into the atmosphere. Responders are also urgently trying to restore the power supply, using power lines to run electrical lines to the location, so the plant's cooling system can be operated once again using sea water. It will take time to restore those capabilities, though, because the pumps have been damaged.
A Japan nuclear safety agency official is on NHK saying: "Regarding the No. 5 unit, the pressure is rising, and the water in the unit is decreasing. We have to prevent the same thing [fires/explosions] from happening in reactors No. 5 and 6. We have to secure the healthy conditions of the storage pools for units No. 5 and 6."
[In Fig. 1], damage to the Unit 1 reactor building from a previous explosion can still be seen. Damage to the Unit 3 reactor building from an explosion can be seen as well. Steam can still be seen emitted from the top of the damaged building. The angle of this new image, however, shows what appears to be more extensive damage to the Unit 3 reactor building than can be seen in previous satellite imagery. The image also shows damage to the reactor building for Unit 4 from an explosion. Steam can be seen venting out of a hole in the side of the reactor building for Unit 2. Workers likely removed a panel in the side of the building to vent the steam. Figure 2 shows the reactor buildings for Units 5 and 6. The side and roof of the buildings appear intact and there is no sign of steam venting from the building.
(thanks, @linmu) |
| Barnaby Ward's Graphic Novel: Sixteen Miles to Merricks Posted: 16 Mar 2011 05:51 PM PDT  One of my favorite illustrators, Barnaby Ward, found a cache of 1st edition copies of his dreamlike graphic novel, Sixteen Miles to Merricks, which sold out quickly (Used copies go for $90 and up on Amazon). The story begins when a man comes home and discovers a mysterious woman in the house. She leads him through a series of tunnels under the house and beyond. The 208-page book contains four other excellent surreal short stories, You can read the book online here and order it for $30 at Barnaby's website. |
| Posted: 16 Mar 2011 05:19 PM PDT  Facebook's "verify your login" friend recognition test needs some work. |
| Bag Balm ad, 1943, a jolly moment in agricultural competition Posted: 16 Mar 2011 04:08 AM PDT  This 1943 advertisement for Bag Balm (still sold today as a top product for chapped hands and other parts) captures a moment in the product's history when, it seems, competitors had come into the market with similar-seeming products. The ad walks a fine line between extolling the virtue of its class of products (selling farmers on the idea of using balm at all) and reminding potential customers that, should they decide to use a balm, they should use this one. |
| I turned my 4-year-old daughter into a Dungeons & Dragons geek Posted: 16 Mar 2011 05:03 PM PDT I am a huge geek; my wife, however, is not. She, like Luke, could never be turned, so the responsibility for making sure our two little kids end up liking stuff like Star Wars, Tolkien, Final Fantasy, Doc Brown and, of course, D&D is on me. I still play Dungeons & Dragons with mostly the same group with whom I played with twenty years ago, and game night at my house is as much a social gathering between old friends as it is about killing kobolds and orcs. So naturally, I wanted to hook my kids on D&D as well. They have always been fascinated with what goes on at a D&D game. They love the funny dice, the miniatures, the maps and the stories. I knew that it would only be a matter of time before I was running them through an adventure; I just didn't expect it to happen so soon. By the time my daughter was four, she was ready; she wanted to play. She'd roll dice and tell me that her miniature was attacking another miniature with its sword. She would invent stories about princesses in distress, and evil monsters walking through the woods. Without me doing much, she was already hooked. So I did what any dad would do: I tried playing D&D with her, only to find that no 4-year-old could grasp the complex rules that are part of D&D. While she understood how the game worked as far as telling stories went, the mechanical parts were too complex. So again, I did what any dad would do, I wrote a kids version of D&D for her: rpgKids. rpgKids is a simple little role-playing game played with a 12- sided die and a regular 6-sided die. The rules are really basic; I made it easy for my daughter to grasp quickly, so we could quickly get to the stories we'd tell together. It's rules-light enough for her to grasp, yet still firmly a dice-based RPG, which makes her feel that she's really, really playing D&D with dad. Most importantly, what rpgKids has really done is bring us closer together. Thanks to rpgKids, my daughter prefers to sit with her dad on a Saturday morning, and rather than watch cartoons, she wants to go fight goblins, evil wizards and pirates. Her imagination quickly takes over, and she sometimes dictates where the game is going, serving as both GM and player! But it wasn't just her creativity that blossomed as a result of us enjoying a role playing game together; her math skills shot up thanks to the dice aspect of it, and her attention span grew as well. All in all, I have to say that it's been a tremendously positive experience.
Having been around the D&D blogosphere for a few years, I knew that there was a hunger from gaming parents for a way to play with their children. In response to that, I went ahead and shared my game with readers of my website, NewbieDM.com. The response was fantastic! People were discovering that their kids made great gaming partners, and soon enough I started receiving emails from people thanking me for providing them with a way to share in their hobby with their kids. And what about the game itself? Well, I'm not going to claim that it's a breakthrough in game design, because it isn't. It was made for a four year old after all! But I find that the simplicity of it is what makes it so great for my daughter and I. It's less time going over rules, and more time having fun together. My daughter was the only girl in her pre-school who dressed up as Darth Vader for Halloween, and the only little girl I know who gets excited when opening a box of D&D miniatures. I think I've succeeded. Yeah, she's turned. I did it. And what about my son, you might ask? He's well on his way, but at three he's still a bit too young. But soon, very soon. The 24-page PDF of rpgKids is available at NewbieDM for $2.99. |
| Which nuclear plants in the US are at highest earthquake damage risk? Posted: 16 Mar 2011 03:32 PM PDT  (U.S. Geological Survey map based on 2008 data that shows earthquake damage risk in the United States. The highest risk areas are purple, red and orange.) MSNBC's Bill Dedman publishes a list that shows the "10 nuclear power sites with the highest risk of suffering core damage from an earthquake, showing their NRC risk estimates based on 2008 and 1989 geological data." Sites in NY, MA, TN, PA, CA, VA, SC, and FL are on the top of the list; which goes on to detail estimated risk at the 104 total nuclear power reactors located in the United States. Article includes many links to source data, and the list is available in this Excel spreadsheet. |
| Japan: US to deploy radiation monitoring gear in Japan, Hawaii, Pacific territories Posted: 16 Mar 2011 03:15 PM PDT U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu told Congress on Wednesday that the DoE is attempting to place radiation monitoring equipment in Japan. The detection system is part of the 17,200 pounds (7,800 kg) of equipment and 39 personnel from the Energy Department sent to Japan, Chu said. The department has also provided equipment to monitor airborne radiation, Chu said. And separately, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) posted a brief notice on its website yesterday of plans to "work with its federal partners to deploy additional monitoring capabilities to parts of the western U.S. and U.S. territories." A Democratic Congressional aide on Wednesday told Reuters that additional monitors will be dispatched to the Aleutian Islands, Guam, a U.S. territory, and the state of Hawaii. These monitors will augment the more than 100 monitors already in place in all 50 U.S. states, according to the aide, who asked not to be identified. (Reuters) |
| US military's "gratuitously harsh treatment" of Manning condemned by NYT, WaPo, LAT, ACLU Posted: 16 Mar 2011 02:43 PM PDT  A growing number of news organizations and civil liberties groups are condemning the Department of Defense's "gratuitously harsh treatment" of Bradley Manning, a young Army intelligence specialist charged with downloading thousands of US government documents and passing them on to Wikileaks. For the past nine months, Manning has been imprisoned in a military detention facility at Quantico, Virginia. He has not yet had a trial, or been convicted of any crime. From the New York Times editorial:
Yet the military has been treating him abusively, in a way that conjures creepy memories of how the Bush administration used to treat terror suspects. Inexplicably, it appears to have President Obama's support to do so. His conditions in solitary confinement include being forced to strip naked and appear before military officers, presumably of either gender. Manning's supporters plan a series of demonstrations on March 19 and 20, to protest the government's treatment of the accused whistleblower.
• Los Angeles Times: "Punishing Pfc. Manning" • Washington Post: "Pfc. Bradley Manning doesn't deserve humiliating treatment" • New York Times: "The Abuse of Private Manning"
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| Pixelhead mask makes you appear pixellated Posted: 16 Mar 2011 04:58 AM PDT  Martin Backes's "Pixelhead" is a mask that looks like a pixellated face that's been through the automatic privacy feature in Google Streetview. It's pretty dazzle-paint-y and hard on the eyes. The full face mask Pixelhead acts as media camouflage, completely shielding the head to ensure that your face is not recognizable on photographs taken in public places without securing permission. A simple piece of fabric creates a little piece of anonymity for the Internet age. The material used is stretch satin with a fashionable Pixel-style print of German Secretary of the Interior Thomas de Maizière. The mask has two holes for your eyes, so you can see and breathe comfortably while wearing the mask, secure in the knowledge that your image won't be showing up anywhere you don't want it to.New Artwork: Pixelhead (via IZ Reloaded)
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| Egypt: female protesters tortured, sexually abused, "charged as prostitutes" Posted: 16 Mar 2011 01:43 PM PDT From the testimony of a female 25-year old Tahrir Square demonstrator in Egypt, who spent days in a military prison: "They spit on her. All of her belongings were stolen. She was given kerosene-soaked bread for food. But the most humiliating moment was when they first brought her into the prison. She and 10 other women arrested in the square were stripped and forcibly examined to determine whether they were virgins. She had been told that any woman found not to be a virgin would have prostitution added to her charges." (Washington Post) |
| Billykirk Designs bags and belts Posted: 16 Mar 2011 03:10 PM PDT    For Hanukkah, my wife gave me a Billykirk Designs Large Carryall bag that resembles an old timey doctor's bag with the hinged closure mechanism. Made of durable waxed cotton with leather trim, it's my favorite bag I've ever owned. The hand craftsmanship is impeccable and the design is timeless. The founders studied under a third-generation leather maker in California and eventually purchased some of his century-old machines. Now that I've lost a few waist sizes (thanks, Tim Ferriss/4-Hour Body!), I'm in the market for a new belt. Again, I want something classic and durable because I'm a one-belt guy, and it needs to last for years. And years. I was happy to see that Billykirk makes great-looking belts too. Their Claw Buckle Belt seen here is based on an old rifle sling, but I'm leaning toward the unique Hidden Buckle/Mechanics Belt above. The Billykirk founders' leather teacher used to make the belts for the auto industry in the 1950s. Why? The buckle is covered by the strap so that when the mechanic leans in to work on the engine, the hardware doesn't scratch the auto paint. Apparently, guitarists dig these too because it protects the back of their axes. Billkirk Designs' products aren't cheap -- the bag is $340 and the belts are around $150 -- but I think that's absolutely worth it for the quality and style. These days, Billykirk has outsourced some to Amish leather workers in Pennsylvania!Billykirk Designs |
| Four New York Times journalists are missing in Libya Posted: 16 Mar 2011 01:28 PM PDT The New York Times has just announced that four of its journalists are missing in Libya. Among them: two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Anthony Shadid; Stephen Farrell, a reporter and videographer who was kidnapped by the Taliban in 2009 and rescued by British commandos; and photographers Tyler Hicks and Lynsey Addario. The team was last in contact with NYT editors Tuesday morning, covering the retreat of opposition forces from the town of Ajdabiya. (MSNBC, NYT.) |
| Japan: US nuclear reg chief says radiation levels "extremely high," could hinder corrective measures Posted: 16 Mar 2011 01:36 PM PDT The New York Times reports that the chairman of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) "gave a significantly bleaker appraisal" of the danger posed by Japan's nuclear crisis than previously delivered by either Japan's government or TEPCO, the operator of the damaged nuclear plants. Today, the NRC chairman says the damage at one of the reactors is far more serious than officials in Japan have acknowledged. Based on information from the NRC, the American Embassy has told US citizens who are in Japan to evacuate within 50 miles around the plant, a significantly higher radius than the 12.4 miles advised by the Japanese government. The NRC chief also said he now believes the water in the Fukushima No. 4 spent fuel pool has completely boiled dry, an assertion which Japanese officials deny. Snip:
Gregory Jaczko, the chairman of the commission, said in Congressional testimony that the commission believed that all the water in the spent fuel pool at the No. 4 reactor of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station had boiled dry, leaving fuel rods stored there completely exposed. As a result, he said, "We believe that radiation levels are extremely high, which could possibly impact the ability to take corrective measures." Related: The chief of the U.N. nuclear agency, the IAEA, referred to the situation in Japan today as "very serious." Yukiya Amano said he planned to leave for Tokyo within a day.
Asked if events were out of control, he answered: "It is difficult to say." His announcement in part appeared prompted by growing unease among the agency's 35 board member nations who have complained that information coming from Japan on the rapidly evolving nuclear disaster is too slow and lacking in detail. |
| Limor Fried on the cover of Wired Posted: 16 Mar 2011 04:49 AM PDT  Hoo-ah! Congrats to Limor "Lady Ada" Fried on gracing the cover of the next issue of Wired. A better choice you could not find! |
| BoingBoing Live on Japan, radiation, and nuclear crisis—archived video Posted: 16 Mar 2011 12:05 PM PDT Watch live streaming video from boingboinglive at livestream.com If you missed our BoingBoing Live chat about the Japan nuclear crisis, radiation, and public health, you can now watch the archived video. If you like what you see, I have good news: |
| Posted: 16 Mar 2011 12:01 PM PDT  Amy Ahlstrom creates striking quilts with urban themes, inspired by San Francisco, New York City, Tokyo, Kyoto, and Chicago. She's currently working on pieces informed by trips abroad to London, Paris, and Amsterdam. Seen above: "SFChinatown," (2007) 29.5" x 29.5" Dupioni silk and cotton. From Ahlstrom's artist statement: My quilts are influenced by pop-art painters such as Mark Ryden and artists who have referenced a comic-strip drawing style such as Margaret Killgallen, in that I appreciate bold and graphic takes on images that are inspired by urban life. Though it is textile art rather than drawing or painting, my work is most comparable to that of pop, lowbrow and graffiti artists. My quilts are modern art pieces that happen to be rendered in fabric. I take quilts out of a rural context and bring them into present-day urban environments. My ReMix series of quilts are thematically and visually dense, full of sampled layers of meaning. They reflect the experience of city life, as seen through the graffiti, signs, and buildings present in every city. They serve as an anthropological record of an urban neighborhood, in that the images that I capture are constantly in a state of flux.Amy Ahlstrom: Urban Quilter (Thanks, Sarah Milstein!) |
| Man sets fire to motel room he shared with the devil Posted: 16 Mar 2011 12:06 PM PDT A fellow in Lynnwood, Washington torched his motel room because he was trying to protect "the good people" from Satan who apparently was bunking there too. Call me silly, but it seems to me that setting a fire would just make Satan feel even more at home. From HeraldNet: Hotel officials told police the man had repeatedly called hotel employees the "anti-Christ" and "spawns of Satan.""Man tells police he set fire because of Satan" (via Fortean Times) |
| Artistic gloves for happy mutants from Claire Watson Posted: 16 Mar 2011 04:46 AM PDT  Artist Claire Watson's series of textile sculptures "Kid Gloves" is a delightful series of riffs on handwear. |
| Piracy doesn't fund the mob or terrorists Posted: 16 Mar 2011 11:43 AM PDT A scholarly report funded by the Canadian government and the Ford Foundation investigates the alleged link between copyright infringement and terrorism and finds none. Basically, counterfeiters can't compete with free, and so there's no money in it. A 2009 MPAA-funded Rand Corporation report suggested that selling pirate DVDs was a better deal than trafficking smack. They're wrong. One of its intriguing findings is that even the commercial pirates have it tough these days. Piracy made money back when optical disc stampers were scarce and expensive; it became less lucrative when CD and DVD burners became commodity items. Today, under pressure from P2P distribution, optical disc piracy in wealthy countries is "all but eliminated" and profit margins elsewhere are slim.Major report debunks alleged link between piracy and terrorism |
| Posted: 16 Mar 2011 04:12 AM PDT  Etsy seller FableAndFury (whose work I've featured before) is making lovely laser-cut black stainless steel silhouette cameos of Tom Waits. Tom Waits cameo necklace in black stainless steel - Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2011 (via Craft)
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| Note to self: Panda earthquake image not a fake, exactly Posted: 16 Mar 2011 10:40 AM PDT Dear Bill: You know that picture of the terrified giant panda clinging to a policeman's leg after the Japan earthquake? The one that, in the terrible early hours of this awful disaster, rocketed all over the Internet, landed on your screen and induced all sorts of anthropomorphic empathy on your part? It's not a fake, exactly; the image is real, but it's five years old, and was taken at a panda research center, and not in Japan but in China, and the guy isn't a policeman, he's a keeper, and it was feeding time, and the panda wasn't terrified but hungry. As you're contemplating the still-unfolding disaster, reserve a little brainpower to ponder on who puts this sort of misinformation out there at a time like this, and why. And try not to let it make you feel worse about this moment in history than you already do. |
| Taimane Gardner plays Bach's Toccata on ukulele Posted: 16 Mar 2011 10:35 AM PDT [Video Link] From her Circus Freak show, Taimane Gardner plays Bach's Toccata on ukulele. Previously: Taimane plays Eleanor Rigby on ukulele |
| MIT Researcher records 90,000 hours of home video, analyzes the hell out of it Posted: 16 Mar 2011 10:20 AM PDT [Video Link]MIT researcher Deb Roy's presentation was probably my favorite at TED2011. The highlight of his presentation was when he played an audio file of his son learning how to say "water" over the course of the research project. MIT researcher Deb Roy wanted to understand how his infant son learned language -- so he wired up his house with videocameras to catch every moment (with exceptions) of his son's life, then parsed 90,000 hours of home video to watch "gaaaa" slowly turn into "water." Astonishing, data-rich research with deep implications for how we learn. Deb Roy studies how children learn language, and designs machines that learn to communicate in human-like ways. On sabbatical from MIT Media Lab, he's working with the AI company Bluefin Labs. |
| Tennessee to outlaw collective bargaining for teachers Posted: 16 Mar 2011 10:06 AM PDT On the day that pro-union protestors were arrested and carried out of the capitol building, Tennessee Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey wants the world to know that his state is not Wisconsin. It's true: in Tennessee, they are outlawing collective bargaining for teachers altogether. (via The Awl) |
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