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Was DB Cooper a French Canadian who got the idea from Belgian comics? Wal-Mart Black Friday shopper pepper-sprays rivals Synesthesia and evolution Sponsor Shout-Out A flight on a B-17 Vintage chairs reupholstered with coffee sacks WKRP's Turkey Drop, short attention span theater edition Gloriously impractical, beautifully handmade luggage Canadian indigenous band declares state of emergency due to horrific conditions, government takes no notice Fictional disease Russian social media erupts as Putin apparat tries to suppress video of booing crowd I am thankful for Minneapolis Why you shouldn't parse HTML with regexp Surfaces - a short story for a thesis on border security Turkey-shaped Jell-O® Mold: 2011 Competition FBI nabs suspects in Amish Beard Attacks. One of them is named "Mullet." Dieter Rams electronics store Science tricks to impress/distract your family Egypt police detain, beat, sexually assault US-based journalist Mona Eltahawy; other journalists also targeted A very Twinkie Thanksgiving Two turkey-related videos A Thanksgiving Prayer by William S. Burroughs White Friday Governor, school district offended by 18-year-old's cranky tweet Frank cookery advice for turkey roasters European Court of Justice: spying with national copyright censorwalls is illegal Filmmaking in Bollywood's Shadow: An Interview with Jaideep Varma Pizza is a Vegetable, a jaunty ditty about Congressional scientific illiteracy Was DB Cooper a French Canadian who got the idea from Belgian comics?
By Cory Doctorow on Nov 25, 2011 12:43 pm The FBI thinks that DB Cooper, the infamous parachuting plane hijacker, was a French Canadian who got the idea from a Belgian comic book: On the cover of one issue of the Belgium-produced comic — sold in Europe and French Canada shortly before Cooper's hijacking of a Portland-to-Seattle flight — the Canadian superhero is shown ...
Read in browser Wal-Mart Black Friday shopper pepper-sprays rivals
By Rob Beschizza on Nov 25, 2011 12:20 pm At an LA-area Wal-Mart today, one shopper pepper sprayed rival bargain hunters, and the horde tore down the video game stands. #Occupy Aisle 13! But Wal-Mart's reckless encouragement of Black Friday stampedes—it sounds whistles in stores to kick them off—isn't always a joke. [LA Times]
Read in browser Synesthesia and evolution
By David Pescovitz on Nov 25, 2011 10:02 am We've posted many times about synesthsia, a fascinating and bizarre neurological condition in which two ore more senses are linked so that someone, for example, might "taste" sounds or "hear" colors. New research is exploring whether synesthesia, which appears to be a heritable physical condition, has survived evolutionarily because it's beneficial. According to the UC ...
Read in browser Sponsor Shout-Out
By Rob Beschizza on Nov 25, 2011 10:00 am Our thanks to Watchismo for sponsoring Boing Boing Blast, our once-daily delivery of headlines by email. Watchismo is offering progressive savings for its BLACK FRIDAY TIME MACHINE SALE. Save up to 20 percent off all watch purchases at the store, but don't waste a minute, as the deal ends soon. Use the code BLACK10 for ...
Read in browser A flight on a B-17
By Rachel Hobson on Nov 25, 2011 08:59 am Photos by Carl Carruthers, Jr. When the B-17 Aluminum Overcast appeared on the horizon above a Houston suburb sky last week, her shape was immediately recognizable. She was curvy, substantial and down right gorgeous. At almost 70 years old, she was also a little creaky and sputtered and smoked a bit as she pulled in ...
Read in browser Vintage chairs reupholstered with coffee sacks
By Cory Doctorow on Nov 25, 2011 01:53 am Etsy seller blanaid upholsters overstuffed chairs with coffee sacks, for a great, rough look. These reclaimed vintage armchairs which I covered in worn vintage coffee bean bags. The chairs are 'sold as seen' - I love them dearly and hate to part with them! We made them to suit our studio, but have been inundated ...
Read in browser WKRP's Turkey Drop, short attention span theater edition
By Cory Doctorow on Nov 24, 2011 09:50 pm Condensed for your abbreviated pleasure, WKRP in Cincinnati's classic turkey drop episode, shrunk down to a brisk 30 seconds. AS GOD IS MY WITNESS I SWEAR I THOUGHT TURKEYS COULD FLY. WKRP Turkey Drop in 30 Seconds (Thanks, Fipi Lele!)
Read in browser Gloriously impractical, beautifully handmade luggage
By Cory Doctorow on Nov 24, 2011 08:00 pm UK designer Sarah Jane Williams sells beautiful, finely constructed handmade luggage that is deliberately impractical: suitcases with right-angle bends, U-shaped suitcases, suitcases that curve in a series of waves. They're way spiffy, and rather glorious in their whimsical two-fingers-up to practical considerations. Williams British Handmade | Collections (via Core 77)
Read in browser Canadian indigenous band declares state of emergency due to horrific conditions, government takes no notice
By Cory Doctorow on Nov 24, 2011 06:55 pm Three weeks ago, Canada's Attawapiskat First Nation -- an indigenous community living on a treaty reservation -- took the unprecedented step of declaring a state of emergency. The community's housing is in such disarray that families are living in shanties and tents, and the temperatures are plunging well below freezing. However, not one federal or ...
Read in browser Fictional disease
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Nov 24, 2011 06:07 pm Wikipedia helpfully catalogs the major fictional diseases. (via Maria Popova)
Read in browser Russian social media erupts as Putin apparat tries to suppress video of booing crowd
By Cory Doctorow on Nov 24, 2011 05:47 pm A hairline crack has appeared in the authoritarian facade of Vladimir Putin's Russia. The would-be-dictator-for-life -- he recently commanded his sockpuppet, Dmitry Medvedev, to stand down from the next election so that he could run unopposed for another term as president -- was booed while attending an important political function: a mixed martial arts match ...
Read in browser I am thankful for Minneapolis
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Nov 24, 2011 05:35 pm There's a great write-up on Good about my city and my mayor, R.T. Rybak. Minneapolis isn't a perfect city, by any means. But it remains the best place I have ever had the privilege of living. And I think a huge part of that is the unofficial city motto that Good highlights here: "Minneapolis: We ...
Read in browser Why you shouldn't parse HTML with regexp
By Cory Doctorow on Nov 24, 2011 05:06 pm On StackOverflow, Robert Harvey -- apparently a man who's been around the block a few times -- has some impassioned advice for naive developers who are contemplating parsing HTML using regular expressions: HTML is a language of sufficient complexity that it cannot be parsed by regular expressions. Even Jon Skeet cannot parse HTML using regular ...
Read in browser Surfaces - a short story for a thesis on border security
By Madeline Ashby on Nov 24, 2011 05:05 pm The dilemma of how to reconcile the needs of security with the desire for humanity is the defining question of the twenty-first century. This sentence opens my thesis, "Loss Prevention: Customer Service as Border Security," written for the strategic foresight and innovation program that I just graduated. I decided to write about the future of ...
Read in browser Turkey-shaped Jell-O® Mold: 2011 Competition
By Xeni Jardin on Nov 24, 2011 04:48 pm As she does every year, Danielle Spencer hosted a "Turkey-shaped Jell-O® mold competition" in New York City a few days ago. And as it happens every year, the entries are awesome. Above, Cassandra C. Jones' "Homemade Hostess Holiday," First Place Grand Prize Trophy Winner [by popular election] for "Best Overall Turkey." Wow, it's Cassandra's second ...
Read in browser FBI nabs suspects in Amish Beard Attacks. One of them is named "Mullet."
By Xeni Jardin on Nov 24, 2011 04:35 pm FBI agents arrested seven Ohio Amish men yesterday in Pennsylvania. They are accused of participating in a series of "beard-cutting attacks." Samuel Mullet, the leader of an offshoot group who reportedly ordered the bizarre attacks on other Amish men, was taken into custody along with his sons Johnny Mullet, Lester Mullet, and Daniel Mullet. Also ...
Read in browser Dieter Rams electronics store
By Cory Doctorow on Nov 24, 2011 04:00 pm Das Programm is an online store featuring the iconic electronic designs of Dieter Rams. As incorrigible Dieter Rams collectors we are all too aware of the gap between the desirability and availability of his work. Das Programm was conceived to correct this. We only sell Dieter Rams designs and Braun products issued between 1955 and ...
Read in browser Science tricks to impress/distract your family
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Nov 24, 2011 03:44 pm This morning, NPR brought on Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito, of the depressingly small House Civility Caucus, to offer advice on how to defuse the now-traditional Thanksgiving political spat. As you might suspect, given the Civility Caucus' record of success, this was not the world's most helpful interview. Probably the best bit of advice Congresswoman Capito ...
Read in browser Egypt police detain, beat, sexually assault US-based journalist Mona Eltahawy; other journalists also targeted
By Xeni Jardin on Nov 24, 2011 03:30 pm [video link] US-based Egyptian blogger, speaker, and journalist Mona Eltahawy was released today after spending 12 hours detained by Egyptian security forces in Cairo. According to her tweets, she was arrested by riot police while observing the ongoing protests in Tahrir Square, where thousands of Egyptian citizens are calling for the military junta SCAF to ...
Read in browser A very Twinkie Thanksgiving
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Nov 24, 2011 03:04 pm This is what a turkey looks like after it has been stuffed with cubed, toasted Twinkie cake and glazed with a mixture of Twinkie filling and honey. Chow's Joyce Slayton did this, following a recipe in a 2006 Twinkie cookbook. She describes the smell as "like a turkey being roasted in a cupcake-scented Yankee Candle." ...
Read in browser Two turkey-related videos
By Xeni Jardin on Nov 24, 2011 03:04 pm Watch My Life as a Turkey on PBS. See more from NATURE. Video Link 2. (thanks, Andrea James!)
Read in browser A Thanksgiving Prayer by William S. Burroughs
By David Pescovitz on Nov 24, 2011 03:00 pm And as we do every year, let us bow our heads as Uncle Bill recites A Thanksgiving Prayer.
Read in browser White Friday
By Xeni Jardin on Nov 24, 2011 03:00 pm "Americans are expected to fork over some $45 billion to retailers this holiday season. But what if instead of hitting the stores this Black Friday, we put our money to a different use? One that is more in the spirit of Thanksgiving. What if we gave back instead?" Here's an infographic that shows what's possible, ...
Read in browser Governor, school district offended by 18-year-old's cranky tweet
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Nov 24, 2011 02:55 pm Kansas high school student Emma Sullivan took a field trip to see Governor Sam Brownback speak. She didn't like what he had to say, and tweeted about what she wished she could do: "just made mean comments at gov brownback and told him he sucked, in person #heblowsalot." Clearly, this kind of insubordination could not ...
Read in browser Frank cookery advice for turkey roasters
By Cory Doctorow on Nov 24, 2011 02:53 pm Before you put your bird in the oven, spare a moment for Tante Mary's "Just Put the Fucking Turkey in the Oven," a frank, 8-minute discussion of turkey, which includes the fact that making turkey taste good is less related to the bird, and more to the gravy, cranberries, and the all-important wine. "It's just ...
Read in browser European Court of Justice: spying with national copyright censorwalls is illegal
By Cory Doctorow on Nov 24, 2011 02:26 pm The European Court of Justice has issued a ruling that it is illegal for EU nations to spy on users with national censorship firewalls used to block entire websites accused of violating copyright. The Court held that blocking whole sites invades user privacy and restricts access to legitimate content and is an undue burden on ...
Read in browser Filmmaking in Bollywood's Shadow: An Interview with Jaideep Varma
By Avi Solomon on Nov 24, 2011 02:00 pm .thingy {background-color:#222;padding:3px;color:#eee;text-align:right;font-size:12px;} Jaideep Varma is an author, filmmaker and cricket fanatic working in India. Avi Solomon Tell us a bit about yourself. Jaideep Varma I was in advertising for 12 years as a copywriter, then gave it up in 2000 to be a full-time writer. I published a novel, Local, in 2005. I directed a ...
Read in browser Pizza is a Vegetable, a jaunty ditty about Congressional scientific illiteracy
By Cory Doctorow on Nov 24, 2011 01:49 pm Attentive readers will recall Congress's reclassification of pizza as a vegetable for the purpose of mandated healthy school lunches. Jonathan Mann's composed a jaunty ditty to correct the record. Pizza Is A Vegetable (1056) (Thanks, Jonathan!)
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