The Latest from Boing Boing |  |
- Jeff Bezos & co to build the first Clock of the Long Now
- TSA misses four sharp chef's knives while patting down chef for wallet
- Gweek 007: "We keep all the shiny books"
- Boing Boing Meetup report: Los Angeles
- Interesting theory about JFK assassination
- The next Mars rover
- Inside a clockwork monk
- Woman goes for a walk, finds prehistoric bison
- Hand-fins that give you webbed fingers
- Can we blame scientists when earthquakes catch us off-guard?
- 4 things you didn't know about sunscreen
- Apple patents mobile camera that other people can shut off
- Angelfish can estimate quantity
- It's Fun to Phone: Bell ad from 1958
- 8-bit guerrilla
- Wedding saved by Reddit
- Help wanted: features product manager for Wikipedia
- Urban infiltrators explore a 50-story abandoned tower in Bangkok
| Jeff Bezos & co to build the first Clock of the Long Now Posted: 17 Jun 2011 03:10 AM PDT Jeff Bezos has financed the construction of the first Clock of the Long Now. Created by Danny Hillis for the Long Now Foundation, the Clock is a mechanical timepiece that is intended to run for 10,000 years, and has been designed so that it can be serviced and maintained over that period even if civilization collapses and knowledge of its origin and purpose are lost. The first Clock will be built inside a mountain in west Texas. 10,000 Year Clock (Long Now) The Clock in the Mountain (Kevin Kelly) (Thanks, Kevin!) |
| TSA misses four sharp chef's knives while patting down chef for wallet Posted: 16 Jun 2011 06:03 PM PDT  A celebrity Chicago chef got stopped at O'Hare and patted down by an alert agent who wanted to make sure there was nothing dangerous in his wallet. That agent missed the fact that chef Paul Kahan had forgotten four giant, sharp chef's knives in his bag. On the other hand, I'm pretty sure he did take his shoes off, and terrorists don't ever do that, right? Chicago Chef Paul Kahan Slips Chef Knives Through TSA Security (via Consumerist!) (Image: IMG_8209 2, a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from kaiban's photostream) |
| Gweek 007: "We keep all the shiny books" Posted: 16 Jun 2011 05:33 PM PDT  In this episode of Gweek, Rob and I spoke with Adam Parfrey and Jodi Wille, proprietors of the non-fiction book publishers, Feral House and Process Media. I wrote the folllowing about Adam and Jodi a couple of years ago: Some of the most interesting books in the world are being published by Feral House and Process Books. These independent publishing houses are run by Adam Parfrey and Jodi Wille in Los Angeles, and they have unique knack for discovering previously hidden worlds filled with interesting characters and amazing stories. Jode and Adam are insanely curious about forgotten, covered-up, and whitewashed history, and their books are full of mind blowing surprises. Here are a few other posts about Feral: Stack of intriguing books from Feral House and Process Media | Two new books from Feral House | Feral House and Process books | New book about Funnyman, a Jewish superhero from the Golden Age of Comic Books | The Weird World of Eerie Publications: exclusive image gallery | Hollywood's Hellfire Club event in Los Angeles | Video teaser for new book: The Inside Story of the Process Church | Getting Out: Your Guide to Leaving America | Interesting books in my stack Download Gweek 007 as an MP3 | Subscribe to Gweek via iTunes | Subscribe via RSS | Download single episodes of Gweek as MP3s |
| Boing Boing Meetup report: Los Angeles Posted: 16 Jun 2011 05:36 PM PDT  I've been meaning to report on the Los Angeles Boing Boing Meetup, but weeks and weeks of travel have kept me busy. I'm at the airport now, waiting to catch a plane, so I have a bit of time. About 25 people came to the event, which was held by the kind folks Machine Project in Echo Park (the photo above is of the early birds). The theme of the evening was "Wonderful Things." We sat around two large tables pushed together and took turns showing the objects we brought with us and talking about them.
Luke also demoed his iPad stand made from a piece of L-shaped extruded
Mike Pusateri not only showed off his steampunk light fixture, he gave
Penguinchris showed us a badge that says something about Chernobyl. Is it pre-disaster, or
A mysterious wooden box. What's inside? A casting of this fellow's teeth!
Everyone's favorite "thing" was this Australian bird. It's a "narrow The thing Dimitrios brought is his 3D printed gadget called the iCrap.
I'm sorry I wasn't able to write about every person who came to the meetup. I took lousy notes, and a lot of my photos were blurry. If you were at the meetup and would like to be included, please post a link in the comments! |
| Interesting theory about JFK assassination Posted: 16 Jun 2011 03:17 PM PDT |
| Posted: 16 Jun 2011 05:49 PM PDT  Spirit is dead. Long live Curiosity. If you like this, there's lots more images, taken for BoingBoing by photographer Joseph Linaschke, which Xeni posted in an awesome feature back in April. |
| Posted: 16 Jun 2011 03:41 PM PDT  X-ray showing inside the head of a 16th-century automaton monk, probably built by Juanelo Turriano, mechanician to Emperor Charles V of Spain. On Radiolab and in a long piece written for the Blackbird online journal of literature and the arts, professor Elizabeth King recounts the history of the monk and how it made its way to the Smithsonian Institution. Submitterated by GuyinMilwaukee |
| Woman goes for a walk, finds prehistoric bison Posted: 16 Jun 2011 02:00 PM PDT  Wow! I love this story of how Nature Conservancy program coordinator Lisa Wrinkle stumbled across a fossilized bison while on a hike with her mother and her children. Seriously, this is the sort of thing I dreamed might happen to me when I was 5.
Via Kevin Zelnio |
| Hand-fins that give you webbed fingers Posted: 16 Jun 2011 05:35 AM PDT  These "Darkfin Gloves" are hand-fins for swimming that are made to look like webbed fingers. I have no idea how they compare to traditional hand-fins, but they sure look cool and would make a useful addition to any box of discarded gadgets saved for eventual recycling into Hallowe'en costumes. Darkfin Gloves (via Red Ferret) |
| Can we blame scientists when earthquakes catch us off-guard? Posted: 16 Jun 2011 12:32 PM PDT |
| 4 things you didn't know about sunscreen Posted: 16 Jun 2011 11:04 AM PDT  Starting next year, sunscreen—and the way its marketed—will change. This is good news. The changes correct some rather glaring examples of consumer misinformation. And it's also important news ... at least, from the perspective of this redhead. New Food and Drug Administration regulations mean that, by the summer of 2012, there will be no such thing as "waterproof" sunscreen. That's because, frankly, there already wasn't such a thing. A sunscreen might be more water resistant than a competitor. But you can't assume that one application of the "waterproof" stuff will stay with you through hours of pool time. Next year, sunscreen bottles will be honest about that fact, and they'll tell you how long you can expect water resistance to last. The other big change: What the sunscreen protects you from. Under the new regulations, only broad-spectrum sunscreens—the kind that protect you from both the UVA and UVB wavelengths of solar radiation—with SPF values of 15 and higher, can claim to prevent skin cancer. Anything else must tell you that it's just for preventing sunburn. These changes bring marketing into line with evidence, which always a good thing where public health is concerned. But, to me, they also bring up an important issue that remains unresolved. More and more Americans are using sunscreen. But that's not the same thing as more Americans understanding sunscreen. Information is important, and packaging can only be expected to do so much. With that in mind, I present this short guide to the seldom-discussed details behind an everyday product. 1) There's not absolute proof that sunscreen prevents cancer. You should still use it, anyway. Here's the funny thing about cancer: It doesn't happen instantly. Instead, you get exposed to a carcinogen and, maybe (depending on how much carcinogen you were exposed to, how long you were exposed to it for, and other factors like genetics) you might develop a cancer 30 or 40 years later. By then, it's very difficult to determine cause and effect, both for the carcinogens themselves AND for things that prevent cancers from happening. This is a fact that's easy to forget. But it rears its head every time we try to talk about cancer—whether it's skin cancer caused by the sun, fears about brain cancers caused by cell phones, or the cancers that follow a nuclear power plant meltdown. Here's the funny thing about sunscreen: Americans haven't been using it for very long. "The connection between sun exposure and skin cancer wasn't even talked much about at all just 30 years ago," says Christopher Arpey, M.D., professor of dermatology at the Mayo Clinic. "To say, 'you did this when you were 20 and now here you are 40 years later, and this is why you've got skin cancer or don't have it,' that's hard to do. It takes a really long time to build that evidence." We do know that using sunscreen prevents sunburns and premature aging of the skin, but those are different things from cancer. The risks and the evidence available also depend on the type of cancer. Reynold Tan, Ph.D., is an interdisciplinary scientist with the FDA's Office of Nonprescription Products/Division of Nonprescription Regulation. He says there's stronger evidence supporting sun exposure as a cause of, and sunscreen use as a preventative of squamous cell carcinoma—a specific type of skin cancer that's been strongly linked to repeated, chronic skin damage from solar radiation. On the other hand, you have something like melanoma, which is known to have a strong genetic component, and there the outlook is still a lot more hazy. But, despite the uncertainty here, sunscreen is still important. While we don't have all the evidence yet, the weight of evidence that does exist supports sunscreen use as a way to prevent skin cancer. "We know that regular sunscreen users develop fewer precancers over time," Dr. Arpey says. Even if sun exposure isn't the only cause of skin cancer, there's a good chance that it's an important cause. There's a lot we don't know, but we can still act on the information we do have. 2) SPF isn't a percentage, and it is kind of relative. To understand what Sun Protection Factor really means, you have to know what happens in the studies that determine which sunscreen gets awarded what SPF value. These experiments are done with people, volunteers who have sunscreen applied to some parts of their bodies, but not to others. Then, they're exposed to UV light, and researchers measure how much longer it took the protected parts to burn compared to the unprotected parts. SPF 30 just means that it took a dose of UV 30x larger to induce a sunburn on the protected skin, compared to unprotected. But that's not the same thing as saying that, if you put on some SPF 30, you can stay out in the sun 30x longer. "It's a dose," Tan says. "And dose is intensity and time. So, depending on the intensity of the sun on that particular day, it's not necessarily 30x longer. Also the 30x higher dose is measured in a laboratory. When you're outside, you're sweating and you're rubbing it off on your clothes."
One downside to the new regulations is that they'll make this even more confusing. That's because the experiment I just told you about, and the SPF rating that comes out of it, really only applies to UVB wavelengths—the stuff that's most associated with causing sunburns. It says nothing about protection against UVA, which is most associated with causing cancer. Beginning next year, companies will have a big incentive to get their products certified as "broad spectrum," protective against UVA and UVB. To do that, the FDA runs a different test, putting sunscreen on a slide and examining it with a spectrophotometer. By observing which wavelengths of light get absorbed, and which don't, the researchers can see how well the sunscreen does at protecting a person from UVA. The SPF ratings on "Broad Spectrum" certified sunscreens will take this into account, Tan says. But those ratings will be relative only to other sunscreens. "Broad Spectrum SPF 30, compared to Broad Spectrum SPF 15, provides higher UVA and UVB protection," he says. "But you can't really say it's double the UVA protection. The only way to objectively measure that would be to look at absorption curves themselves and see how well a product works against each individual UVA and UVB wavelengths, but that's not very helpful for consumers." 3) You don't use enough sunscreen At least, not enough to assume that the SPF rating on the bottle applies to you. Remember the experiment that determines a sunscreen's SPF rating? In those studies, sunscreen is slathered on thick—2 milligrams per centimeter squared, according to Reynold Tan. In real life, he says, people use something like 1/2 to 1/4 as much. This isn't necessarily a problem, Dr. Arpey says. He's more worried about compliance—whether people are using sunscreen at all—than whether they're following manufacturer's instructions to the letter. If you're more likely to use sunscreen when you put on less, then put on less. But just remember that, when you do, your sunblock isn't operating at the advertised strength. 4) Sunscreen absorbs solar radiation. Well, anyway, some sunscreens do. There are really two types. You can get sunscreen that works by simply being a physical barrier, reflecting the light away from you. That's how products with zinc oxide or titanium dioxide as the active ingredients work. Everything else involves large molecules that mimic natural melanin by absorbing energy from the light, rather than blocking it. And that brings up another question: What do the molecules of active ingredient in those types of sunblock do with all that energy? The answer involves atoms and electrons. You know that electrons go around the nucleus of an atom. The regions of space those electrons move through are called "orbitals." It's helpful—although not wholly accurate—to imagine them as the Sun, encircled by the orbits of planets. Unlike planets, though, electrons can move from one orbital to another, when they absorb the right amount of energy. Imagine Earth bouncing up suddenly from its orbit to that of Mars. That's essentially what happens with the electrons in the atoms of your sunscreen's active ingredient are hit with solar radiation. "Electrons dispel the energy by moving to a higher orbital," Tan says. "Then they come back to stable lower orbitals." This process happens quickly, he says, over and over and over during the time you're wearing sunscreen. And it gives the radiation energy from the sun something to do besides penetrate your skin. Image: Beer, cigarettes and sun block: Roskilde Festival 2009 essentials., a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from wouterkiel's photostream |
| Apple patents mobile camera that other people can shut off Posted: 16 Jun 2011 05:31 AM PDT  An Apple patent describes a system for allowing venue owners to override compliant cameras. The patent describes using an infrared signal that compliant cameras would detect; in the presence of this signal, the device would not allow its owner to activate its record function. It is intended for use at live events and galleries and museums, and it will be a tremendous boon to policemen who shoot unarmed subway riders, despotic armies putting down revolutions as well as anyone else who is breaking the law or exercising coercive power. This is part of an increasing trend to designing hardware and software that allows remote parties to override the instructions of the owners and users of devices. This trend, coupled with the increasing degree to which devices are privy to our secrets, our sensitive information, and even our biological functions, worries me an awful lot. |
| Angelfish can estimate quantity Posted: 16 Jun 2011 07:47 AM PDT  Angelfish, like those pictured here, can tell the difference between larger and smaller groups of fish. At least, in certain situations.
MSNBC, via A Moment of Science Image: French Angelfish couple, a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from barrypeters's photostream |
| It's Fun to Phone: Bell ad from 1958 Posted: 16 Jun 2011 03:43 AM PDT  Old telcoms ads like this 1958 Bell Telephone masterpiece are a reminder that those over-the-top caricatures of ads in classic MAD Magazines were, in fact, not caricatures at all, but lightly tweaked and largely faithful representation of the aesthetic of the day. |
| Posted: 16 Jun 2011 06:52 AM PDT |
| Posted: 16 Jun 2011 03:41 AM PDT  A redditor found himself in desperate straits when the millionaire whose mansion he'd rented for his wedding cancelled on him with only three weeks' notice. He solicited suggestions from other redditors on what he should do to find a Florida venue on short notice, and ended up hosting a hell of a party in a farmer's field, and came out with enough savings to treat his friends to gallons of free-flowing booze and a pair of bouncy-castles. He's written up the results in a Whos-Down-in-Whoville post that reminds us that weddings are about people celebrating, not venues or formalities. Fucking AWESOME. I can't even say "it went okay" as a joke. It was epic. We took the "have it in a field" idea, and really ran with it. After three solid weeks of work cleaning and prepping, my wife's uncle's farm was ready for action. It is a big property, and he has horses, cows, pigs and goats. We cleared out a cow pasture for parking and set up a tent by the stables. The stables were filled with his best horses (Pasofinos for those who care) and one of the stalls had some week-and-a-half old puppies that were just born. We moved the wedding from 6 to 7, and the weather was perfect. Not a cloud in the sky, and the breeze started up about 30 minutes before the ceremony.Update: I'm the guy whose wedding venue cancelled on him three weeks before the big day. Here's how it went. (self.reddit.com) |
| Help wanted: features product manager for Wikipedia Posted: 16 Jun 2011 05:36 AM PDT Sumana sez, "The Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit that supports Wikipedia, is looking to hire a bunch of people, including Features Product Manager. Basically you'd develop and refine feature ideas for Wikimedia websites, and work with the engineering team to make them happen. Whoever the best candidate is, I bet they're a Boing Boing reader." |
| Urban infiltrators explore a 50-story abandoned tower in Bangkok Posted: 16 Jun 2011 06:05 AM PDT  Urban spelunkers visited Sathorn Unique, a half-built, 50-story skyscraper in the middle of Bangkok, and snapped some dramatic black-and-white photos of the waste and ruin within. Bangkok, Thailand. Just fourteen years ago, the Sathorn Unique skyscraper was being built, destined to become one of the city's fanciest residential addresses. Now, it is an abandoned building. Never completed, it remains as yet another "ghost tower" of Bangkok. A tangle of trees and vines are beginning to take over the lighter parts of this monolith, such as the four story archways and romanesque feature columns. Amazingly, this building is located in the central area of one of the worlds largest cities. These towers were built during the mid nineties, when the Thai economy was booming. In 1997, the Asian Financial Crisis changed all that. Developers stricken with debt were unable to finish many projects. In the case of Sathorn Unique, the main concrete structure made it all the way to the top. The apartment fit-outs had begun in earnest, with wooden floor boards installed and polished. Connected bathtubs, wardrobes, and electrics show just how close this one was to completion. At ground floor, two escalators have been installed, climbing to nowhere in particular, the remnants of protective plastic still clinging onto their stainless steel sides. With an amazing location close to the Chao Praya river that snakes its way through the center of Bangkok, it's easy to see how this abandoned building would have been luxury living at it's finest.Abandoned Skyscraper - Fifty Level Abandoned Building (Thanks, Dr Hank Snaffler!) |
The Clock is being machined and assembled in California and Seattle. Meantime the mountain in Texas is being readied. Why would anyone build a Clock inside a mountain with the hope that it will ring for 10,000 years? Part of the answer: just so people will ask this question, and having asked it, prompt themselves to conjure with notions of generations and millennia. If you have a Clock ticking for 10,000 years what kinds of generational-scale questions and projects will it suggest? If a Clock can keep going for ten millennia, shouldn't we make sure our civilization does as well? If the Clock keeps going after we are personally long dead, why not attempt other projects that require future generations to finish? The larger question is, as virologist Jonas Salk once asked, "Are we being good ancestors?" 
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