The Latest from Boing Boing |  |
- Vintage 1960s British science fiction TV shows that never were
- Makielab hums along nicely
- Charge dropped against woman who taped cops from own yard
- Near-Earth asteroid fails to destroy mankind, obliterate all living things
- "Smurfs" world record attempt in Mexico
- What $41 million buys: Color vs. mlkshk
- Conan O'Brien's video editors like the new Apple Final Cut Pro X
- Hollywoodonomics: how Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix "lost" $167M
- The People v Magic Underwear
- Warrantless GPS spying case to go before Supreme Court
- Fatality! Supreme court performs finishing move on violent game ban
- Paramount sends copyright notice to Shapeways user over 3D printable Super 8 cube
- AdWeek thinks all black guys look the same?
- LulzSec disbands, Anonymous dumps, what's next in #Antisec? Xeni on The Madeleine Brand radio show
- Not all those who wander are lost
- RIP: editor and anthologist Martin Greenberg
- Beer archaeologist
- Elderly woman feeds weed to rabbits
- Lalo Schifrin and the Marquis de Sade
- Reading of Mark Twain's "How I Edited an Agricultural Paper"
- EFF's 21st Century bust-cards
- Disturbing, vulnerable, sculptures from the Singularity
- Video: happy baboushkas singing and drinking
- Subliminal self-help record player
- Yahoo! logo and an early Yippies logo
- Victorian and classical cameos carved out of Oreos
- Advice Goddess: How much longer must we be subjected to invasive TSA patdowns?
- Black student locked to locker, fellow students walk off yelling "Slave for Sale!"
- Apply to live in the Museum of Science and Industry for a month
- Abandoned rocket factory in the Everglades
| Vintage 1960s British science fiction TV shows that never were Posted: 28 Jun 2011 03:27 AM PDT
Zack sez, "If you like 1960s SF TV with lots of exploding models and strange names, there's a pair of unaired British pilots on YouTube well worth checking out. Roberta Leigh, who'd created the popular SF children's series SPACE PATROL, had a couple of shows not picked up in the mid-1960s. The first embed is THE SOLARNAUTS, about the crew on a space station that must battle the evil forces of LOGIK! Then there's PAUL STARR, a puppet show in the tradition of THUNDERBIRDS (and stars the voice of Ed Bishop, who'd later star in Gerry Anderson's UFO). |
| Posted: 28 Jun 2011 12:16 AM PDT My wife's startup, Makielab, is humming along nicely, and filling our house with excitement -- 3D printing meets online worlds for kids = awesomesauce. |
| Charge dropped against woman who taped cops from own yard Posted: 27 Jun 2011 10:06 PM PDT Emily Good, the Rochester woman who was arrested for filming a traffic stop from the vantage point of her own front yard, won't have to go to court. The District Attorney's office said the charge of impeding the officer should be dismissed for lack of evidence. Gary Craig writes: [Assistant DA] Stare noted that, under the law, Good would have needed to use intimidation, force or "interference" to disrupt the police traffic stop. Good was 10 to 15 feet from the police and doing nothing to interfere with them, Stare argued in court papers. ... The dismissal of the criminal charge, however, may not bring an immediate end to the controversy. Police say they have started an internal investigation into whether Good's arrest by Officer Mario Masic was justified.Good is considering a civil lawsuit. Good. Charge against Emily Good in videotaping case dismissed [Democrat and Chronicle via @GlennF and hal14450] Previously: Rochester police use selective enforcement of parking laws to harass attendees at a meeting in support of Emily Good |
| Near-Earth asteroid fails to destroy mankind, obliterate all living things Posted: 27 Jun 2011 06:50 PM PDT |
| "Smurfs" world record attempt in Mexico Posted: 27 Jun 2011 06:41 PM PDT  A little girl dressed as "Smurfette" attends a promotional event in Mexico City June 25, 2011. Promoters for the film "The Smurfs" gathered volunteers dressed as "Smurfs" to take part in a Global Guinness World Record attempt for the most people dressed as "Smurfs" ever. (REUTERS/Carlos Jasso)
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| What $41 million buys: Color vs. mlkshk Posted: 27 Jun 2011 06:08 PM PDT One photo-sharing social media service launched with $41 million in VC funding. A similar startup launched with zero. Compare the two. (via @antderosa) |
| Conan O'Brien's video editors like the new Apple Final Cut Pro X Posted: 27 Jun 2011 06:46 PM PDT Video Link [via The Next Web, thanks Susannah Breslin and Eric Mittleman!] |
| Hollywoodonomics: how Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix "lost" $167M Posted: 26 Jun 2011 10:12 PM PDT  Last summer, Deadline released this balance-sheet ("participation statement") detailing the alleged financial state of the corporate entity struck to run the Warner Bros movie "Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix." The movie, which had grossed nearly $1B at the time, was nevertheless running $167M in the red. The losses are largely attributable to to prints and advertising/marketing -- and, as many commenters on the original post point out, a major recipient of that marketing budget would have been Warner's itself, in the guise of its other media divisions. Another culprit is high interest fees, though the film didn't have outside financing, so Deadline speculates that the loan note was also held by Warner's. The original post holds this out as an example of why only a fool accepts "net-participation" compensation for work associated with a film, but I think this is also a great example of why all financial numbers released by the entertainment industry should be treated as fiction until proven otherwise. Especially piracy "loss" figures, alleged contributions to national GDP, and job creation numbers. As one dealmaker tells me: "If this is the fair definition of net profits, why do we continue to pretend and go through this charade? Judging by this, no movie is ever, ever going to go to pay off on net participants. It's an illusion to make writers, and lower-level actors and filmmakers feel they have a stake in the game."STUDIO SHAME! Even Harry Potter Pic Loses Money Because Of Warner Bros' Phony Baloney Net Profit Accounting (via Reddit) |
| Posted: 27 Jun 2011 09:16 PM PDT Lobatoz v. Dream Products Inc., a California class-action suit, seeks damages against a company that sold magic magnetic underwear. The same firm also sells magic Jesonian Copper Magnetic Therapy bracelets. |
| Warrantless GPS spying case to go before Supreme Court Posted: 27 Jun 2011 12:26 PM PDT Busy day for technology-related cases in the U.S. Supreme Court! The high court agreed today to hear a lawsuit that will determine if police have to get a judge's approval before installing GPS trackers on your car. (CNET) |
| Fatality! Supreme court performs finishing move on violent game ban Posted: 27 Jun 2011 12:37 PM PDT  The United States Supreme Court today struck down a California law that bans sales or rentals of "violent video games" to minors, ruling that the state law is a violation of free-speech rights. This is the high court's first ruling in a case involving video games. Reuters, Wired, CNET, and here's the PDF. 7-2, Thomas and Breyer dissented. Brian Crecente at Kotaku wrote the best analysis we've seen. (illustration and headline: @beschizza!) |
| Paramount sends copyright notice to Shapeways user over 3D printable Super 8 cube Posted: 27 Jun 2011 12:31 AM PDT Tblatt sez, "Paramount Pictures's lawyers send a cease and desist email to a designer for a CAD design listed on Shapeways. It was a box that was a replica of the cube from their movie Super 8. The letter claimed copyright infringement and demanded that the file be taken down from the site. I don't want to fight in court so I've taken down the file from Shapeways to comply with their demands, but it's certainly an interesting topic." Cease and Desist (Thanks, Tblatt!) |
| AdWeek thinks all black guys look the same? Posted: 27 Jun 2011 11:56 AM PDT |
| LulzSec disbands, Anonymous dumps, what's next in #Antisec? Xeni on The Madeleine Brand radio show Posted: 27 Jun 2011 11:52 AM PDT  I joined the Madeleine Brand show this morning for a radio discussion around news that LulzSec has disbanded, and/or re-absorbed by the primordial ooze of Anonymous from whence they came. Listen here. Background in this Boing Boing post from earlier today. |
| Not all those who wander are lost Posted: 27 Jun 2011 11:34 AM PDT  Etsy shop OfTheFountain is currently on vacation, alas. I'm tempted to try my own hand at making one of these. Custom tag (Sold out) [Etsy via the Thinking Tank/This Isn't Happiness] |
| RIP: editor and anthologist Martin Greenberg Posted: 27 Jun 2011 11:18 AM PDT Julia says, "Tor.com reports that Martin Greenberg, well known sci-fi/fantasy writer and editor has passed away." I wrote stories for a number of Greenberg anthologies and found him to epitomize great editorship: easy, reliable communications; prompt payment; reasonable terms. If this sounds banal to you, it's probably because you haven't spent much time working in short fiction, where the order of the day is slow correspondence, insane contracts, and late payments. I didn't know Martin well on a personal level, but as a professional, he was without peer. You always knew when he was on the editorial team for an anthology that it would be a well-run, writer-friendly affair. Greenberg's contributions to the genre publishing did not go unheralded. He received lifetime achievement awards for his work in science fiction (the Milford Award), horror (the Bram Stoker Award), and mystery (the Ellery Queen Award). In 2009 he was honored with one of the first Solstice Awards, given by the Science Fiction Writers of America to individuals who have had a significant impact on the world of science fiction.Editor and Anthologist Martin Harry Greenberg (1941-2011) |
| Posted: 27 Jun 2011 10:55 AM PDT Patrick McGovern, 66, is a beer archeaologist. An adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania, he's considered the world's leading expert on ancient fermented beverages. Smithsonian profiles McGovern, whose work not only gives insight into pre-biblical agriculture, medicine, and economics, but has also led to new brews at his favorite pub. From Smithsonian: "The Beer Archaeologist" |
| Elderly woman feeds weed to rabbits Posted: 27 Jun 2011 10:40 AM PDT A Brandenburg, Germany police officer noticed a plot of pot plants while driving by a house in the village of Golzow. When the cops rang the doorbells, an 84-year-old woman answered. She claimed to give them to her rabbits as food and that the animals like it. I bet they do. From The Local: She told them that she had not grown the plants herself, but that they had simply started growing there, and had proven to be excellent rabbit food. Not only did the rabbits love eating the plants, they grew back very quickly after she cut them down, she told the investigating officers."Drugs plot raid reveals old woman feeding rabbits with cannabis" (via Fortean Times) |
| Lalo Schifrin and the Marquis de Sade Posted: 27 Jun 2011 11:45 AM PDT Lalo Schifrin, the genre-defining composer of such classic film and TV scores as Dirty Harry, Mission Impossible, and Starsky and Hutch, apparently found inspiration in the Marquis de Sade, via Peter Weiss's Brechtian play Marat/Sade. In 1966, Schifrin released an album of swinging, jazzy arrangements of 18th century classical music themes. It was titled "The Dissection and Reconstruction of Music From the Past as Performed By the Inmates of Lalo Schifrin's Demented Ensemble as a Tribute to the Memory of the Marquis De Sade." It was not a big seller. |
| Reading of Mark Twain's "How I Edited an Agricultural Paper" Posted: 27 Jun 2011 10:16 AM PDT  Here's my reading of Mark Twain's classic short story, How I Edited an Agricultural Paper, a seriously funny and trenchant look at both journalism and agriculture. The guano is a fine bird, but great care is necessary in rearing it. It should not be imported earlier than June or later than September. In the winter it should be kept in a warm place, where it can hatch out its young.MP3 Link (Image: Small cotton house surrounded by agricultural fields, a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from kheelcenter's photostream) Update: Sorry, I dropped a line in the original recording; just uploaded a fix |
| Posted: 27 Jun 2011 10:15 AM PDT The Electronic Frontier Foundation's new 'Know Your Digital Rights' guide is a bust-card for the Twenty-First Century, explaining your rights when it comes to searches of your phone, computer, laptop and other devices. EFF Releases 'Know Your Digital Rights' Guide to Your Constitutional Liberties |
| Disturbing, vulnerable, sculptures from the Singularity Posted: 27 Jun 2011 10:34 AM PDT  Michele sez, "The human Singularity as seen by a visual artist Patricia Piccinini, in an exihibition at Istanbul. Piccinini's creatures are moving, vulnerable, disturbingly human." Their size, proportions, highly realistic fleshy finishes evoke a sense that they could have been evolved into a 'normal' human or animal. Still, they seem to be genetically modified, lab-produced mutants, albeit with friendly eyes, cute smiles and adorable poses. The strength of Piccinini's work evokes this tension through direct physical encounters, as she brings the viewer face to face with hideous yet friendly creatures in an act that prompts us to reconsider the accepted binary oppositions of nature vs. culture, beauty vs. ugliness/disgust and necessity vs. luxury.Patricia Piccinini: Hold Me Close to Your Heart (Thanks, Michele!) |
| Video: happy baboushkas singing and drinking Posted: 27 Jun 2011 10:06 AM PDT While searching for this video of the Buranovo Babushkas performing on Eurovision, my pal Marina Gorbis stumbled across this far superior group of babushkas happily singing, swearing, and drinking vodka. |
| Subliminal self-help record player Posted: 27 Jun 2011 10:03 AM PDT    Ben Sweetland was a 1970s icon of self-help and pop psychology perhaps best known for his books I Will, I Can, and Grow Rich While You Sleep. Not only did Sweetland produce self-help records to complement his books (image left), he apparently lent his name to a full-on "subliminal" audio system to play them. (The label reads: Nocturnal Education!) I spotted this Ben Sweetland System on Craigslist. The record player and amp has an integrated clock to play the recordings at just the right time during your sleep cycles. It comes complete with a pillow speaker too. Just $60 although I'm sure it'll be gone in 3... 2.... 1.... "Vintage Tube Turntable first Subliminal with Timer and Sleep Speaker" |
| Yahoo! logo and an early Yippies logo Posted: 27 Jun 2011 10:12 AM PDT  Looking through the huge stack of FOIA-revealed 1960s-vintage FBI documents on the Yippies (The Youth International Party), I spotted this logo used on an early flyer. I wonder if it was an inspiration for Yahoo's logo, created thirty years later? Yahoo's was designed by Organic, Inc. in 1995, and refined a few years later to use the Able typeface (also used in the Harry Potter franchise) Able, from foundry T26. The typeface was designed by Marcus Burlile, who was not born until the 1970s. I've got emails in with Organic and someone I hope is the right Mr. Burlile to ask if they were familiar with the old flyer. I have also asked the remaining Yippies if they used a time machine to appropriate Jerry Yang's design genius. The whole flyer is posted below. Anyone know the score?  |
| Victorian and classical cameos carved out of Oreos Posted: 26 Jun 2011 10:44 PM PDT  XXV sez, "Sculptor Judith Klausner has been carving classically- and Victorian-inspired cameos out of Oreo cookies. Her most recent series -- From Scratch -- explores traditional handicrafts using mass-produced, packaged foods as her medium. In addition to the Oreo cameos, she has embroidered a fried egg onto toast, cross-stitched Chex cereal, and more!" And she made this: a mechanical musical jewelry-box with a (mate-beheading) preying mantis in place of the traditional confectionery ballerina. FWOAR. Home ➺ Work ➺ From Scratch ➺ Oreo Cameo (Thanks, XXV!) |
| Advice Goddess: How much longer must we be subjected to invasive TSA patdowns? Posted: 26 Jun 2011 11:10 PM PDT Marilyn sez, "Syndicated advice columnist Amy Alkon blogged about the TSA patdown she received in March at an airport that involved the officer's hand going into her vagina four times. Recently someone claiming to work for TSA at the same airport left a comment on her blog saying: 'to me your just a typical blogger with.nuthing else to do.'" |
| Black student locked to locker, fellow students walk off yelling "Slave for Sale!" Posted: 27 Jun 2011 08:47 AM PDT A 17-year-old African American student in Santa Monica, California (a beachside LA enclave known mostly for yoga, kombucha, surfers, and actors) was victimized by fellow students on his high school wrestling team. They assembled a mock-lynching scene with a wrestling dummy and a noose, then tackled the child, locked him to a locker, and walked away yelling "slave for sale!" Students took pictures on their cell phones, but "most if not all were deleted at the request of staff, according to multiple sources." Too bad: might have proved helpful in court. Sad understatement of the ages: an email from the school principal described it as "an incident with racial overtones." (via Harry Allen) |
| Apply to live in the Museum of Science and Industry for a month Posted: 27 Jun 2011 08:27 AM PDT What are you doing between October 19 and November 17? If you're lucky, you could spend that month living in Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry. Last year, the Museum hosted a "science roommate" who lived among the exhibits 24-7 and got to do awesome things like spend a night sleeping in the U-Boat. This year, they're going to do it again. Now is the time to apply. (Submitterated by avoision) |
| Abandoned rocket factory in the Everglades Posted: 27 Jun 2011 08:22 AM PDT This short documentary by Coffee and Celluloid Productions tells the fascinating story behind a haunting collection of abandoned buildings in Florida. In 1963, a company called Aerojet built a rocket factory in the Everglades, hoping to win the contract to build the rockets that would send the Apollo missions to the moon. In the process, they built the world's largest solid fuel rocket. When they lost the contract, the site was left to rot. Submitterated by Joey D |
He has identified the world's oldest known barley beer (from Iran's Zagros Mountains, dating to 3400 B.C.), the oldest grape wine (also from the Zagros, circa 5400 B.C.) and the earliest known booze of any kind, a Neolithic grog from China's Yellow River Valley brewed some 9,000 years ago...
"With smart phones, tablet computers, and laptops, we carry around with us an unprecedented amount of sensitive personal information," said EFF Staff Attorney Hanni Fakhoury. "That smart phone in your pocket right now could contain email from your doctor or your kid's teacher, not to mention detailed contact information for all of your friends and family members. Your laptop probably holds even more data -- your Internet browsing history, family photo albums, and maybe even things like an electronic copy of your taxes or your employment agreement. This is sensitive data that's worth protecting from prying eyes." | You are subscribed to email updates from Boing Boing To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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