The Latest from Boing Boing

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• Spitalfields Nippers: East London street-urchins of 1912
• Danish police proposal: Ban anonymous Internet use
• First-ever Barbie ad
• 3D zombie fridge magnets
• Skeptical take on Singularity
• Legendary Boston crime boss James J. "Whitey" Bulger arrested in Santa Monica, CA
• Woman who filmed cop from own yard charged with obstructing his administration of government
• Flickr data shows Apple iPhone 4 is most popular camera among its users
• A band in Rajasthan (photo from Boing Boing Flickr pool)
• Bahrain: 8 prominent opposition activists sentenced to life in prison
• Lytro promises focus-free shooting
• Konapun: tiny fake food as an exercise in total futility
• Matt Taibbi on the extra-special kind of crazy that is Michelle Bachman
• Bagelheads: toroidal saline forehead injections
• Bookcase in a stairwell that you access via bosun's chair
• Zero Punctuation on Duke Nukem Forever
• Throbbing Gristle reissues on vinyl
• Where @LulzSec came from, who's running it, and why #antisec is a big deal
• Pulitzer winning illegal immigrant comes clean
• Libya: "The Crime That Dare Not Speak Its Name"
• Mosh pit paintings by Dan Witz
• Afghanistan: "Go Skateboarding Day" in Kabul (photo)
• Versatile "Magic Carpet" is a sleep mat, lounger and cocoon
• Timothy Leary archive purchased by New York Public Library
• 80-year old jazz pianist can't get paid because his name sounds terrorist-y
• Brian Lam leaves Gizmodo
• China: artist, poet, activist Ai Weiwei released on bail
• Visual multiplication is delightful
• Interactive discussion on risk, chance, and the illusion of certainty
• Rave On Buddy Holly: tribute album streaming now

Spitalfields Nippers: East London street-urchins of 1912 Posted: 23 Jun 2011 04:17 AM PDT From Spitalfields Life, a collection of Horace Warner's "Spitalfields Nipper" photos, of the barefoot urchins that haunted the neighbourhood around London's Spitalfields Market in 1912. I'm typing these words within spitting distance (ahem) of Spitalfields, and I'm pretty sure I recognise some of the buildings. The kids' expressions are a mix of plucky cheek, premature cynicism and desperation. Little is known of Horace Warner and nothing is known of his relationship to the nippers. Only thirty of these pictures survive, out of two hundred and forty that he took, tantalising the viewer today as rare visions of the lost tribe of Spitalfields Nippers. They may look like paupers, and the original usage of them to accompany the annual reports of the charitable Bedford Institute, Quaker St, Spitalfields, may have been as illustrations of poverty - but that is not the sum total of these beguiling photographs, because they exist as spirited images of something much more subtle and compelling, the elusive drama of childhood itself. Spitalfields Nippers (via How to Be a Retronaut)

Danish police proposal: Ban anonymous Internet use Posted: 23 Jun 2011 03:09 AM PDT The Danish police had proposed abolishing all anonymous Internet access, under the rubric of fighting terrorism. ISPs and companies would be required to gather strong proof of identity (official ID cards and similar) before connecting users, and would be required to retain records. Thus, a working group at the Ministry of Justice started with a recommendation to parliament that would require all persons on the open Internet connections from such libraries and the café's wireless network, identify with a personal code for being able to get online. The idea is that the police or the police intelligence service, with data from the open network connections will be able to investigate terrorism more effectively when the police can see who is logged on to the open network and not least, what sites network users have visited and whom they interacted with. Suggestion: You can no longer go the web anonymously (Computerworld.dk, via Google Translate) (Thanks, Agger!)

First-ever Barbie ad Posted: 23 Jun 2011 02:03 AM PDT According to the description, this 1959 Barbie commercial was the first-ever advert for the doll; it's got a sweet naivete. Also, Barbie cost a lot when she shipped: $3 in 1959 is $23.30 in 2011 constant dollars -- today, her MSRP is about $10, and you can get discount mint-in-package versions for $6. 1959 First EVER Barbie Commercial High Quaility HQ! (via How to Be a Retronaut)

3D zombie fridge magnets Posted: 22 Jun 2011 11:39 PM PDT Alex from Neatorama sez, "Hi guys! We've just launched our first zombie products: 3D magnetic mix n match zombie and two doorstops shaped like squished zombies. It's made by indie artists who moved next to our warehouse just a few months ago (so, made in USA - yay!) I thought you'd get a kick out of them." The Magnetic Dead - 3D Zombie Magnets (Thanks, Neatorama)

Skeptical take on Singularity Posted: 22 Jun 2011 10:09 PM PDT Charlie Stross, who has written a lot of science fiction about the Singularity (the moment at which the human race has a break with history as a consequence of tying our intelligence and consciousness to machines). Now he's written an essay called "Three arguments against the singularity," in which he discusses his personal beliefs about the likelihood of artificial intelligence, human consciousness uploading, and transcendance: This is my take on the singularity: we're not going to see a hard take-off, or a slow take-off, or any kind of AI-mediated exponential outburst. What we're going to see is increasingly solicitous machines defining our environment -- machines that sense and respond to our needs "intelligently". But it will be the intelligence of the serving hand rather than the commanding brain, and we're only at risk of disaster if we harbour self-destructive impulses. We may eventually see mind uploading, but there'll be a holy war to end holy wars before it becomes widespread: it will literally overturn religions. That would be a singular event, but beyond giving us an opportunity to run Nozick's experience machine thought experiment for real, I'm not sure we'd be able to make effective use of it -- our hard-wired biophilia will keep dragging us back to the real world, or to simulations indistinguishable from it. Finally, the simulation hypothesis builds on this and suggests that if we are already living in a cyberspatial history simulation (and not a philosopher's hedonic thought experiment) we might not be able to apprehend the underlying "true" reality. In fact, the gap between here and there might be non-existent. Either way, we can't actually prove anything about it, unless the designers of the ancestor simulation have been kind enough to gift us with an afterlife as well. Three arguments against the singularity (Image: How to prepare the skull for surgery, brain exposed, c. 16th century, a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from brainblogger's photostream)

Legendary Boston crime boss James J. "Whitey" Bulger arrested in Santa Monica, CA Posted: 22 Jun 2011 10:10 PM PDT The Los Angeles Times reports tonight that famed Boston crime boss James "Whitey" Bulger, an FBI 10 Most Wanted fugitive for more than ten years, was arrested today in Santa Monica, California. From the LAT: Bulger, 81, has been the subject of several books and was the inspiration for "The Departed," a 2006 Martin Scorsese film staring Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon and Jack Nicholson. Bulger fled Boston in late 1994 as federal agents were about to arrest him in connection with 21 killings, racketeering and other crimes that spanned the early 1970s to the mid-1980s. Above, a mugshot from 1953. He served as an FBI informant for a number of years in the 1970s. More here. In 2000, there were reports he had been spotted in Orange County, and in 2005, there was speculation that Bulger was the "Senior Citizen Bandit" who robbed a number of banks in O.C. An FBI alert distributed at the time explained that "Whitey" Bulger, nicknamed for his white hair, was fond of reading books and was "known to frequent libraries and historic sites." His girlfriend, Catherine Grieg was the target of a recently-launched FBI PSA campaign targeting plastic surgery clinics and dentist's offices. You can watch one of the TV ads here. She "had multiple plastic surgeries" before fleeing with Bulger, and was known to be obsessive about oral hygiene. She is now listed as "captured," along with Bulger. According to the FBI profile, they both love "dogs and all kinds of animals." Update, via LA Times: FBI officials in Boston and Los Angeles said late Wednesday that a tip generated by "recent publicity" had led led agents earlier that evening to a residence in Santa Monica where both Greig and Bulger were arrrested.

Woman who filmed cop from own yard charged with obstructing his administration of government Posted: 22 Jun 2011 08:44 PM PDT When police cars, lightbars on, pulled up outside her house in the middle of the night, a Rochester woman began filming the traffic stop from her front yard. She was arrested and taken to jail by a police officer who first said she was "anti-police," then claimed to feel "threatened" by her; and ultimately told her that he didn't have to explain himself at all. Her arrest, which required the officer to enter her property without permission, was on a charge of "obstructing government administration." [Indymedia]

Flickr data shows Apple iPhone 4 is most popular camera among its users Posted: 22 Jun 2011 06:35 PM PDT According to data released today by Flickr, the iPhone 4 is currently the most popular camera for users of the photo-sharing site. The Nikon D90 SLR takes second place, and various Canon devices took third, fourth, and fifth spots. Out of the top five "camera phones" ranked, Apple grabbed four of the top five spots (iPhone 4, 3G, 3GS, and iPod touch), with HTC EVO 4G as the only non-Apple product in that subset.

A band in Rajasthan (photo from Boing Boing Flickr pool) Posted: 22 Jun 2011 06:20 PM PDT A photo shot yesterday by Ashish Gajera in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India, and contributed to the Boing Boing Flickr Pool.

Bahrain: 8 prominent opposition activists sentenced to life in prison Posted: 22 Jun 2011 06:16 PM PDT From Foreign Policy: "A military tribunal in Bahrain has sentenced eight prominent opposition activists to life imprisonment and 13 others to lesser prison sentences, on charges of seeking to topple the monarchy and collaborating with a foreign terrorist group, among a host of other charges." Zainab Al Khawaja (@angryarabiya) is the daughter of one of the activists sentenced today. Her Twitter feed today was filled with a chilling account of the sentencing, and what she went through to witness it. Here is a collection of her tweets today. "I do feel that one reason I wasn't beaten today is Twitter," she wrote. "It makes them feel exposed, they like committing their crimes in the dark."

Lytro promises focus-free shooting Posted: 22 Jun 2011 07:28 PM PDT A new camera sensor design from Lytro captures light in such a way that the focus can be changed in post. Check out the demonstration images at its homepage, and the CEO's dissertation on how it works: My proposed solution to the focus problem exploits the abundance of digital image sensor resolution to sample each individual ray of light that contributes to the final image. ... To record the light field inside the camera, digital light field photography uses a microlens array in front of the photosensor. Each microlens covers a small array of photosensor pixels. The microlens separates the light that strikes it into a tiny image on this array, forming a miniature picture of the incident lighting. This samples the light field inside the camera in a single photographic exposure. ... To process final photographs from the recorded light field, digital light field photography uses ray-tracing techniques. The idea is to imagine a camera conigured as desired, and trace the recorded light rays through its optics to its imaging plane. Summing the light rays in this imaginary image produces the desired photograph. This ray-tracing framework provides a general mechanism for handling the undesired non-convergence of rays that is central to the focus problem. What is required is imagining a camera in which the rays converge as desired in order to drive the final image computation. This sounds like a plenoptic setup, similar to one demoed by Adobe here. [Thanks, Jim!]

Konapun: tiny fake food as an exercise in total futility Posted: 22 Jun 2011 05:46 PM PDT [Video Link] So here I am, watching a file transfer flick through my terminal window when I think maybe I'll check on the comments from my post on tiny plastic food from yesterday. Nestled in the responses, like an Easter egg in the grass, was a suggestion from BB reader scifijazznik to go check out something called "konapun". I saw a YouTube preview of this yesterday, because there are actually more videos done by the same RRcherrypie who posted those Rement videos. At the time I didn't understand what it was. Turns out it is fantastically bizarre. This one video—and there are hundreds on YouTube—raises so many questions. What exactly compels a person to make a tiny fake hamburger? Why put the little plastic trays into a holder if it doesn't actually do anything? Why do I feel a sense of seriousness in all of these videos? What exactly is that powder? And "what is that powder" is one hell of a question. That powder appears repeatedly throughout all the videos, and when mixed with water it apparently can make ANYTHING. Here's the powder forming pseudo-sorbet: [Video Link] Here it is making cookies: [Video Link] It's like some kind of space-age wonder material, except, as the videographer notes in each video, it's not actually edible. The mind boggles. My only solace is to imagine the powder is crushed spirits and concentrated uselessness.

Matt Taibbi on the extra-special kind of crazy that is Michelle Bachman Posted: 22 Jun 2011 05:34 PM PDT Matt Taibbi in Rolling Stone: "She's trying to look like June Cleaver, but she actually looks like the T2 skeleton posing for a passport photo. You will want to laugh, but don't, because the secret of Bachmann's success is that every time you laugh at her, she gets stronger."

Bagelheads: toroidal saline forehead injections Posted: 21 Jun 2011 10:13 PM PDT Ryoichi 'Keroppy' Maeda helps the "freaks for the night" of Tokyo get into character by dripping saline into their foreheads for two hours while they depress the center of the swelling, creating the signature "bagelhead" look: Two hours! Fucking hell. How long does it last? Just one night. The body absorbs it over time so by the next morning it just goes back to normal. We enjoy being freaks for the night, ha ha. Does the skin ever start to sag? No. Everyone I know who has done it, no matter how many times, their skin has gone back to exactly how it was before. Vice Style » News » JAPANESE BAGELHEADS (via Neatorama)

Bookcase in a stairwell that you access via bosun's chair Posted: 21 Jun 2011 10:17 PM PDT Sallie Trout stuck a bookcase into a narrow stairwell, contriving an ingenious access method via a bosun's chair with a chain hoist. Sallie Trout's bosun chair (via CribCandy)

Zero Punctuation on Duke Nukem Forever Posted: 22 Jun 2011 01:11 PM PDT Having reviewed long-awaited disappointment Duke Nukem Forever back in 2009 (two years before it eventually was released), Zero Punctuation visits the actual game, heaping it with bile and vitriol and comedy until it all swirls together in a kind of angry milkshake. This week, Zero Punctuation reviews Duke Nukem Forever... again. (via Reddit)

Throbbing Gristle reissues on vinyl Posted: 22 Jun 2011 01:04 PM PDT Our friends in Throbbing Gristle have announced the re-activation of their pioneering label Industrial Records and the imminent reissue of deluxe vinyl editions of TG's seminal albums. Chris Carter remastered the audio from the original recordings and each album comes with a color booklet with unpublished photos, press reviews of the era, and other visual curiosities. Industrial Records will also be home to the final TG studio album currently in production -- a reimagining of Nico's third solo album from 1970, Desertshore. Now that will be something. Throbbing Gristle (via @chris_carter_)

Where @LulzSec came from, who's running it, and why #antisec is a big deal Posted: 22 Jun 2011 12:56 PM PDT Security reporter Joe Menn has a piece up today at the Financial Times exploring the origins of LulzSec, and who is coordinating operations of the group described as "part-criminal gang and part-performance artists." (site registration required).

Pulitzer winning illegal immigrant comes clean Posted: 22 Jun 2011 12:50 PM PDT Jose Antonio Vargas, a Pulitzer-winning journalist and filmmaker, has admitted that he is an illegal immigrant, smuggled into the USA from the Philippines when he was 12. His story of life as an undocumented alien is harrowing, his decision to come out is brave. (via Kottke)

Libya: "The Crime That Dare Not Speak Its Name" Posted: 22 Jun 2011 12:43 PM PDT From Time Magazine, what female doctors in Libya have witnessed: "Corpses of violated women stripped and strewn on the streets of front-line Ajdabiya; of the women afraid to leave their homes in Brega; of the 13-year-old Misuratah girl gang-raped by soldiers who burst into the family's living room, forcing her father to watch. 'She kept screaming,' one doctor says. 'Just screaming and screaming, 'Daddy, don't look!'"

Mosh pit paintings by Dan Witz Posted: 22 Jun 2011 12:38 PM PDT Brooklyn painter, street artist, and musician Dan Witz has a solo show opening at NYC's Jonathan LeVine Gallery on June 30. The series of large-scale hyper-realistic figurative paintings is titled "Mosh Pits, Human and Otherwise." From the Gallery: Applying old master techniques, (Witz) achieves impressively convincing trompe l'oeil illusions of light, shadow and depth in his finely rendered portraits, landscapes and still lifes. The artist recently added digital media tools to his process (having previously used traditional projection methods). Combining old master techniques and digital technology, he photographs his subjects, composes in photoshop, prints an a-chromatic underpainting on canvas then glazes and scumbles over this foundation using traditional representational painting... In contrast to paintings that portray throngs of punk youth, titled after music venues such as ABC No Rio, Witz expands upon the crowd theme to include a rush-hour herd of suit-wearing businessmen in Grand Central Station in addition to non-human subjects in other works with animals such as a pack of fighting dogs and a writhing mass of rats. "Mosh Pits (Human and Otherwise)" (DanWitz.com) Jonathan LeVine Gallery (Thanks, Maléna Seldin!)

Afghanistan: "Go Skateboarding Day" in Kabul (photo) Posted: 22 Jun 2011 12:27 PM PDT An Afghan girl takes part in a skate boarding competition to mark the third annual Go Skateboarding Day in Kabul, on June 21, 2011. (REUTERS/Mohammad Ismail)   "Skateistan: To Live and Skate Kabul" at Sundance 2011 Skateistan: interview with the director Skateistan.org: A Skateboarding School in Afghanistan

Versatile "Magic Carpet" is a sleep mat, lounger and cocoon Posted: 21 Jun 2011 10:29 PM PDT Alexander Munk's "Magic Carpet" is a clever and versatile piece of furniture that goes from sleepmat to lounger to cocoon with the assistance of straps threaded through the forks running down its edges. It doesn't appear that this is a shipping product, but it's fun to look at. Sasan / Magic Carpet (via CribCandy)

Timothy Leary archive purchased by New York Public Library Posted: 22 Jun 2011 12:23 PM PDT The New York Public Library has purchased some 335 boxes of papers, videotapes, photographs and other items from the estate of Timothy Leary. From the New York Times: The material documents the evolution of the tweedy middle-aged academic into a drug guru, international outlaw, gubernatorial candidate, computer software designer and progenitor of the Me Decade's self-absorbed interest in self-help. The archive will not be available to the public or scholars for 18 to 24 months, as the library organizes the papers. A preview of the collection, however, reveals a rich record not only of Leary's tumultuous life but also of the lives of many significant cultural figures in the '60, '70s and '80s. (thanks, Pesco!)   Timothy Leary videos at Archive.org - Boing Boing Timothy Leary's 1985 software Mind Mirror - Boing Boing Timothy Leary and William Gibson promoting a Neuromancer film ... Timothy Leary's 90th birthday today - Boing Boing Timothy Leary coloring book - Boing Boing Timothy Leary postcard from 1970 - Boing Boing Timothy Leary and Ram Dass in conversation - Boing Boing Video: Timothy Leary at Folsom Prison - Boing Boing White Hand Society: The Psychedelic Partnership of Timothy Leary ... Rare Timothy Leary document on eBay - Boing Boing Donate to the Timothy Leary Digitization Project - Boing Boing Timothy Leary and JD Power & Associates? - Boing Boing Boing Boing: Scan of Timothy Leary's Neurcomics Joi Ito remembers Timothy Leary - Boing Boing VH1 documentary on Timothy Leary Boing Boing RU Sirius teaches Timothy Leary course - Boing Boing Boing Boing: Tim Leary wristwatch Remembering Timothy Leary on his birthday - Boing Boing Boing Boing podcast: interview with Timothy Leary biographer John ... Interview with editor of new Timothy Leary book - Boing Boing Boing Boing: Timothy Leary: ten years gone An article about Cary Grant's fondness of LSD - Boing Boing Leary's 8-circuit brain model -- the musical - Boing Boing

80-year old jazz pianist can't get paid because his name sounds terrorist-y Posted: 22 Jun 2011 12:46 PM PDT The U.S. government is reportedly blocking 80-year-old jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal from receiving payment for a music fest in Switzerland, because his name sounds too Muslim. Other professional musicians with Muslim names have reported similar problems. Jamal is literally a jazz master. This is ridiculous. (via Ned Sublette)

Brian Lam leaves Gizmodo Posted: 22 Jun 2011 11:49 AM PDT Brian Lam has departed Gawker's gadget blog, Gizmodo, where he served as editor. David Carr at the New York Times has this conversation with Lam, and with Gawker's Nick Denton. Here is the farewell post on Gizmodo. Brian Lam loves the ocean.

China: artist, poet, activist Ai Weiwei released on bail Posted: 22 Jun 2011 11:28 AM PDT Dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei speaks to members of the media in the doorway to his studio after being released on bail in Beijing June 23, 2011. Ai, detained since April, was released on bail on Wednesday, state media said, citing Beijing police. The agency, in a late evening announcement, said the artist had been freed "because of his good attitude in confessing his crimes as well as a chronic disease he suffers from". Ai was detained at Beijing airport on April 3, igniting an outcry about China's tightening grip on dissent, which has triggered the detention and arrest of dozens of rights activists and dissidents. [REUTERS/David Gray]. China's news agency reports that the Chinese poet, artist and activist Ai Weiwei has been released on bail. He pled guilty to charges of tax evasion. He is now home. From China Daily: The Beijing police department said Wednesday that Ai Weiwei has been released on bail because of his good attitude in confessing his crimes as well as a chronic disease he suffers from. The decision comes also in consideration of the fact that Ai has repeatedly said he is willing to pay the taxes he evaded, police said. The Beijing Fake Cultural Development Ltd., a company Ai controlled, was found to have evaded a huge amount of taxes and intentionally destroyed accounting documents, police said. More, from US-based news outlets: WP, AJ, NYT NPR. As an aside, and not directly related to the news of his release: in New York City, the Asia Society is planning an exhibit of his work.   China: Renowned poet and artist Ai Weiwei detained China: Lawyer linked to "disappeared" artist Ai Weiwei resurfaces ... China artist Ai Weiwei's Shanghai studio demolished Ai WeiWei and Blackjack

Visual multiplication is delightful Posted: 21 Jun 2011 10:33 PM PDT It's been ages since I last checked in with math-doodling funnylady Vi Hart's YouTube feed -- too long. The latest installment's a great technique for visual multiplication (and binomial expansion!) that I wish I'd known when I was in school, and a little rumination on good sentence structure in mathematics. Re: Visual Multiplication and 48/2(9+3) (via Copyfight)

Interactive discussion on risk, chance, and the illusion of certainty Posted: 22 Jun 2011 10:32 AM PDT A couple of weeks ago, I was supposed to be a live commentator for the World Science Festival panel "The Illusion of Certainty: Risk, Probability, and Chance." Ironically, there were technical issues and the event got rescheduled. Today, we're giving it another go. Starting at 2:00 Eastern today, you can join mathematician Amir Aczel and me in the chat room while we watch the panel (recorded June 2nd) together. We'll add commentary. We'll try to answer your questions. In general, we'll turn a video into a conversation. Hope you can join us! Stuff happens. The weather forecast says it's sunny, but you just got drenched. You got a flu shot--but you're sick in bed with the flu. Your best friend from Boston met your other best friend from San Francisco. Coincidentally. What are the odds? Risk, probability, chance, coincidence--they play a significant role in the way we make decisions about health, education, relationships, and money. But where does this data come from and what does it really mean? How does the brain find patterns and where can these patterns take us? When should we ditch the data and go with our gut? Join us in a captivating discussion that will demystify the chancy side of life.

Rave On Buddy Holly: tribute album streaming now Posted: 21 Jun 2011 10:37 PM PDT Soundcloud has a streaming preview of Rave On Buddy Holly, a forthcoming Buddy Holly tribute album featuring Modest Mouse, the Black Keys, Fiona Apple, Kid Rock, Lou Reed, Paul McCartney and many others. I'm really enjoying this! In his short-lived but extraordinary life, Buddy Holly left behind a body of work so enthralling, his enduring influence is nearly impossible to overstate. The melodic joy and fierce independent streak at the core of his artistry is profoundly felt on Rave On Buddy Holly, a 19-song collection of indelible Holly covers by a rich assemblage of current musical visionaries and creative kindred spirits. Fantasy/Concord will release Rave On Buddy Holly June 28th, 2011. Rave On Buddy Holly (via MeFi)

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