The Latest from Boing Boing

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• Hitler finds out about Carmageddon
• Bachmann's husband operates a "pray the gay away" psuedo-science clinic
• Models of Worlds of Fun roller coasters, circa 1980
• 360-degree virtual tour of the Space Shuttle Discovery flight deck
• Diana Eng's laser cut t-shirts
• Putin sent by God, says Kremlin chief
• A visit to the World's Tallest Thermometer in Baker, California
• The sounds of tree frogs and howler monkeys in Costa Rica
• Google science fair awards tonight
• Building a robot to play iPhone games for you
• 3D printed hair-clips inspired by Bruce Sterling's "Kiosk"
• Richard Metzger: The Time I Met Dean Martin
• Surreal architectural projection
• Papercraft gadgets
• iRiver Story HD optimized for Google Books
• Chaostle, new fantasy board game
• Crap Hound #8: Superstitions: all-time great found-art zine raising funds for next issue
• Mars500: mock mission to the red planet tests human limits of space travel
• Antibiotic resistant gonorrhea and the future of oral sex
• Montage of ships being launched

Hitler finds out about Carmageddon Posted: 11 Jul 2011 11:00 PM PDT [Video Link] Adolf Hitler learns that the 405 freeway in Los Angeles will be completely closed down for two days this weekend, and he is not happy about it. "Everybody who lives east of Fairfax, leave the room now." (thanks, Cousin Jamie!)

Bachmann's husband operates a "pray the gay away" psuedo-science clinic Posted: 11 Jul 2011 06:34 PM PDT In case you're curious about what happens during pseudo-scientific, inherently bigoted treatments to make gay people be straight, ABC news and Truth Wins Out have been investigating the clinic owned and operated by Michelle Bachmann's husband.

Models of Worlds of Fun roller coasters, circa 1980 Posted: 11 Jul 2011 06:24 PM PDT I'm not really a roller coaster rider. Why? Because of this thing. Or, rather, because of the full-scale real roller coaster this model is based on. Sometime in the mid 1980s, (I'm not exactly sure when, because neither he or I fully remember) I talked my father into taking me on the Screamroller, a corkscrew roller coaster at Worlds of Fun in Kansas City. I do not know how old I was at the time, except, to say, far too young. (This roller coaster was disassembled and replaced with a different ride when I was 7, so I know it was before that.) I don't remember the ride itself—just standing in line being excited beforehand, and crying unconsolably afterwards. But now, thanks to the artistry and skill of the model builder behind ModelCoasters.com, I can relive the experience, in a far less terrifying and far more enjoyably geeky way. I kind of adore model trains, and the model roller coasters built by modelcoasters.com scratch that itch well, using K'nex motors to haul the trains uphill and letting gravity do its job the rest of the way through the ride. This person has a full set of coaster models—called Project 31—showcasing all the roller coasters that were at Worlds of Fun in 1980. It's a nifty project and great work! There's more photos and videos on the Model Coasters website. Below is a photo I took of the Model Coaster's version of the Orient Express (which I always loved to watch, even though I never had an interest in riding it). The entire series is on display in Kansas City's Union Station through August 11. Video Link

360-degree virtual tour of the Space Shuttle Discovery flight deck Posted: 11 Jul 2011 05:50 PM PDT An excellent chance to gawk at history, before they box it up and stick it in a museum. I've chosen to focus in on the controller joystick here, because of a funny experience I had over the 4th of July weekend. While visiting family in Kansas, my husband and I went to Kansas City's Science City museum. Science City has a "Land the Space Shuttle" flight simulator. The joystick control for that doesn't look like the one in the actual space shuttle. Instead, it's clearly repurposed from your average flight simulator video game console. What gave me that impression? Probably the pair of missile launch buttons that graced the center of the joystick. As my husband said, "You don't mess with the space shuttle." Via Doug Kaye

Diana Eng's laser cut t-shirts Posted: 11 Jul 2011 05:43 PM PDT Our friend, fashion designer Diana Eng, has released a line of beautiful "laser distressed t-shirts." She told us, "The laser burns precisely distressed lace patterns to transform a comfy t-shirt into a comfy t-shirt that is stylish enough for the workplace. After extensive wear testing, the designs were engineered to mimic the structures of plant cells to improve structural integrity and maintain the femininity of the designs." View the collection

Putin sent by God, says Kremlin chief Posted: 11 Jul 2011 05:33 PM PDT Photo: REUTERS/Charles Platiau The Kremlin's top political strategist, Vladislav Surkov, told reporters that "Putin is a person who was sent to Russia by fate and by the Lord at a difficult time for Russia ... preordained by fate to preserve our peoples." You just don't get sycophancy of this caliber here.

A visit to the World's Tallest Thermometer in Baker, California Posted: 11 Jul 2011 05:14 PM PDT Baker, California (population 735) is known as the "Gateway to Death Valley." I was there yesterday when the temperature was a balmy 106°F. My family and I were driving back from Las Vegas (where I attended the Trivia Championship of North America -- more about that in another post). I saw a sign on I-15 advertising Baker as the home of the "Worlds Tallest Thermometer" and decided to pull off the highway and take a gander. As it turns out, the 134-foot-tall thermometer has seen better days. The light bulb grid displays weren't telling the temperature. They were showing random numbers and letters. Roadside America has more information about the thermometer, along with a photo of it. Notice that the thermometer in my photo now has BIG BOY painted on it -- an unfortunate addition, if you ask me. (And take a look at the Bob mascot on the roof. It's so off-model it makes me want to cry.) My advice: don't go to Baker to see the world's tallest thermometer. However, if you are in the mood for Greek food, Baker is a great place to go. We ate at the Mad Greek. We had roast chicken, hummus, and decent espresso. (I originally ordered Greek coffee, asking the counter person if it was sweet. She told me it was not sweet but it was strong. I said that was great, but when I tasted it it was very sugary and weak. Fortunately they exchanged it for an espresso.) The Mad Greek's decor is as delightful as food. More photos after the jump. .

The sounds of tree frogs and howler monkeys in Costa Rica Posted: 11 Jul 2011 05:18 PM PDT When I was in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica with my family a couple of weeks ago, I recorded the sounds of the howler monkeys and tree frogs. The howler monkeys sounded different from ones I've heard in the zoo. These monkeys made an eerie roaring sound that gave me chills. And some of the frogs sounded like a human being yelping. I suppose I should tell you more about these tree frogs and howler monkeys, but I would just be cribbing from Wikipedia. I don't know anything about these animals. But I like the way they look, and I love the sounds they make. The next time I go somewhere that has interesting nature sounds, I'm going to go off by myself so that I don't pick up the sound of other people's voices. Listen to the tree frogs. Listen to the howler monkeys. More photos and streaming sound files after the jump. (Some of the frog photos were taken by my father.) Delightful creatures of Costa Rica Coconut face Tree Frogs and Howler Monkey Sounds by Mark Frauenfelder is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

Google science fair awards tonight Posted: 11 Jul 2011 05:35 PM PDT The winner of the Google International Science Fair will be decided tonight. You can tune in, starting around 9:30 Eastern, on the Scientific American website.

Building a robot to play iPhone games for you Posted: 11 Jul 2011 01:41 PM PDT [Video Link] This gentleman built an Arduino-controlled robot to play Coin Dozer in his stead.

3D printed hair-clips inspired by Bruce Sterling's "Kiosk" Posted: 10 Jul 2011 09:30 PM PDT Amanda J sez, "Inspired by Bruce Sterling's novella, Kiosk (which I read based on a Boing Boing link in 2008), I've designed hair clips for printing in 3D. Hoping for some remixes, and some 2d design to go with them!" In 2008 I read a novella by Bruce Sterling called Kiosk. The main character, Borislav, is a humble, limping man from a cold, Eastern European country who owns a street kiosk selling 3d printed tchotchkes. A young girl called Jovanica is a regular customer - returning day after day with her pocket-money to buy 3d printed barrettes, hair clips and scrunchies - she's the trend setter of the area. She picks out the coolest hair toys and leads the next hair toy craze - with Borislav's kiosk being the only supplier. I could never get that story out of my head, and for the last fortnight I've been designing my own 'hair toys' - 3d printed hair clips for modification, alteration, customization and use. Now, 3d printing is easy in stories, but this design took me 16 iterative builds to perfect - it features 3 different plastic springs, a custom snap fastener, and a flexible grip for the hair. I am rather pleased with it - it's utterly reliant on being printed in plastic - it relies on the mechanical properties of the PLA. Jovanica's Hair Toys - 3d Printed Hair Clips (Thanks, Amanda J!)

Richard Metzger: The Time I Met Dean Martin Posted: 11 Jul 2011 11:54 AM PDT My friend Richard Metzger (on the right in the above photo), the founder of the terrific Dangerous Minds website, shares his story about meeting Dean Martin at Hamburger Hamlet in Los Angeles. I remember staring at the gigantic blowup poster of the above photograph that Richard had hanging from the wall of his apartment in Hollywood about 15 years ago. (Here's an article about Richard that I wrote for Wired back in 1997, in which I mention the photograph.) I was absolutely fascinated by Martin, the very definition of the devil-may-care rouéwho truly wasn’t impressed by anything or anyone. Beauty? He had more women than he knew what to do with. Fame? Come on. Money? Please! Dino didn’t care if you were the President of the United States, some hot piece of ass or the head of the Las Vegas Mafia. The man, to paraphrase the Super Furry Animals, simply did not give a fuck. Weltschmerz as an art form! Ennui deluxe! I reckoned Dean Martin must’ve been the coolest man alive. Janet Charlton, the Star magazine gossip columnist, seen frequently on Access Hollywood,  ET and similar shows back then, told me that Dean Martin—who was generally thought to be a complete recluse, sitting home drunk in an armchair watching movie westerns, basically—did in fact dine out nearly every night at the Hamburger Hamlet (an upscale LA burger chain) on Doheny Drive in Beverly Hills. I made a mental note to myself to go there one day. Not more than a few weeks after she told me this, Mike and Roni, two pals of mine from New York, arrived on my doorstep unannounced. They seemed quite amused by my gigantic Dean Martin album cover and when I told them that he was a regular at the Doheny Hamburger Hamlet, we all three enthusiastically agreed that this was where we’d dine that evening. And we brought a camera. Richard Metzger: The Time I Met Dean Martin

Surreal architectural projection Posted: 11 Jul 2011 11:14 AM PDT Mark Dery points us to this mindbendingly amazing video of 1024 Architecture's "interactive architectural mapping" on a former theater in Lyon, France last year. The sounds of the audience controlled the visuals projected onto the building's façade. "Perspective Lyrique" (via Architizer)

Papercraft gadgets Posted: 11 Jul 2011 11:02 AM PDT Design studio Zim and Zou—Lucie Thomas and Thibault Zimmerman—cut and collected a full set of amazing papercraft gadgets. The colors! Back to Basics: Retro Electronics Made of Paper by Zim and Zou [This is Colossal via Laughing Squid]

iRiver Story HD optimized for Google Books Posted: 11 Jul 2011 10:43 AM PDT iRiver's Story HD e-book reader is optimized for Google's eBooks service (with 3m free titles) and will carry the same price tag—$140— as Amazon's Kindle. Casey Johnston writes: Given that Google Books is one of the most widely accessible e-book platforms--computers, Android and iOS devices as well as Nook and Sony readers can all access the e-book content--we expect the hardware and user experience will have to deliver in order for the reader to make an impact on a market where other brands like the Nook and Kindle already have significant momentum.

Chaostle, new fantasy board game Posted: 11 Jul 2011 10:40 AM PDT Chaostle is a new D&D board game, distinct from predecessors in its pace and competitive vibe. [Ars]

Crap Hound #8: Superstitions: all-time great found-art zine raising funds for next issue Posted: 10 Jul 2011 09:28 PM PDT An all-new issue of the astounding found-art/collage zine Crap Hound is in the offing, with a Kickstarter project to raise funds to make it a reality. The theme of this issue is "Superstitions." Crap Hound is one of my favorite zines of all time, and it's so wonderful that it's come back into production. We're ready to take the next issue of Crap Hound to press! This time around we're offering pre-orders on the new issue, as well as a variety of highly covetable rewards! We've offered several combo options, but if you don't see the combination of rewards you would like, simply message us via Kickstarter and we will be happy to put together a special reward package for you. Our goal this time around is $15,000.00, which will cover the cost of printing 5000 copies of the magazine, producing all of the other rewards, shipping and handling, and project fees. Money raised above our goal will simply make it easier and quicker for us to produce these items. Crap Hound No. 8: Superstitions! All New Issue! (Thanks, Chloe!)

Mars500: mock mission to the red planet tests human limits of space travel Posted: 11 Jul 2011 08:48 AM PDT [Video Link] Reporting for PBS NewsHour, my friend Miles O'Brien explores simulated missions to Mars—and in particular, the European Space Agency's Mars500 isolation experiment, in Russia. Five miles from Red Square, they are simulating many of the psychological aspects of a real mission to the red planet. Three Russians, two Europeans and one Chinese, all volunteers, stepped into a windowless, hermetically sealed mock spacecraft at the Institute of Biomedical Problems on June 3 of 2010, hoping not to break the seal for 520 days. That matches the six-month flight to and from Mars, plus a month to explore the surface. To conduct an interview with the faux cosmonauts, Miles had to submit video questions and wait the actual amount of time it would take for real space-travelers to transmit video back, based on the parameters of this sim. The participants take the sim very seriously, and wouldn't break it even to do this rare interview. Others interviewed for the piece include aerospace engineer Robert Zubrin, founder of the Mars Society, an advocacy group that stages mock missions to the red planet on Devon Island in the Canadian Arctic and in the Utah desert. Mock Mission to Mars Tests Psychological Rigors of Long-Distance Space Travel (PBS.org) [Image above, courtesy ESA: sim participants perform an extravehicular maneuver.]

Antibiotic resistant gonorrhea and the future of oral sex Posted: 11 Jul 2011 07:38 AM PDT If you haven't previously used condoms and dental dams for oral sex, it might be time to start seriously thinking about that as a safer sex option. Gonorrhea, like other bacteria, has, over the years, developed resistance to the antibiotics used to treat it. Now, it's looking like the last line of cheap and easy defense is crumbling. In particular, this news could change the outlook for certain oral gonorrhea infections. Brian Alexander at MSNBC offers a particularly clear and cogent explanation of what's changed: For several years, public health officials have been concerned that gonorrhea, one of the most prevalent STDs in the world, might become resistant to the last widely available antibiotics used to treat it, a class of drugs called cephalosporins. Now, it has. The percentage of U.S. gonorrhea cases that are resistant to the two cephalosporins used to treat it, cefixime, taken orally, and ceftriaxone, injected, is on the rise, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's latest Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The Gonococcal Isolate Surveillance Project, a lookout program designed to spot resistance, found that 1.4 percent of patient samples showed growing ability to defeat cefixime in 2010 compared to just .2 percent in 2000. Resistance to ceftiaxone grew from .1 percent to .3 percent during the same period. Then Sunday, a Japanese-European team presenting data at the International Society for Sexually Transmitted Disease Research meeting in Quebec City, Canada, publicly announced the discovery of a new strain of gonorrhea, H041, that displays a strong resistance to ceftriaxone. Oral cases of gonorrhea get special attention because that H041 strain is particularly resistant to ceftriaxone, which, Alexander says, is the only form of cephalosporin used to treat gonorrhea infections of the pharynx. In fact, H041 is 4- to 8-fold more resistant than any previously identified strain. Although this sounds pretty panic-inducing, it shouldn't be, yet. We aren't talking about an incurable strain. Gonorreah is still treatable—this resistance just means it will be harder to treat, more expensive to treat, and is likely to involve more side-effects from higher doses of antibiotics. But it should be concerning, both from a public health perspective and a personal health perspective. If gonorreah is going to be harder to treat in the future—and it looks like it will be—then preventing infection matters more. (Thanks, Antinous!) Image: AIDS awareness - condom use, a Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike (2.0) image from 47108884@N07's photostream

Montage of ships being launched Posted: 11 Jul 2011 06:52 AM PDT If you were never quite sure what happened after the pretty lady broke a bottle of champagne against the hull, you might find this amusing. Apparently, after all the pomp and circumstance, boats are just kind of unceremoniously dropped into the drink. Video Link Via Alan Simon

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