WATCHISMO TIME MACHINES - Timing is everything...
UPDATED: Danish human rights activist arrested in Bahrain, faces torture: will Danish foreign minister intervene? Cool Tools in the Kitchen Newt Gingrich bad lip reading HiddenRadio and Bluetooth Speaker on Kickstarter An easier-to-build solar cell Interview with artist Drew Friedman about his Old Jewish Comedian books Crowdsourced anti-SOPA rap MPAA says SOPA-style censorship works in Yemen and Syria Deep-sea "batteries" could power sensors North Korean party rock anthem SOPA dead until 2012 for real this time? Anti-SOPA plugins render censorship law pointless AND stupid James Patrick Kelly's free Xmas edition of Strangeways Wanted: "Roboticist Apprentice Extraordinaire" Field Test: behind-the-scenes look at the making of a NatGeo article Hanukkah Mix and Tikva Records events Bill Barminski's cardboard skateboards Free cigar box guitar Christmas album DoS for phones: "busy signal service" clobbers the phone-lines of companies while their servers are being plundered Brain Rot: Similarities Between Hip Hop and Comic Books Boing Boing Charitable Giving Guide, 2011 edition Homemade anti-SOPA PSAs Give your ma a Zippo, it's classy! DJ Kim Jong-Il Photos of disappointing items from old comic book ads Václav Havel dies HOWTO make a 3D printed, Jingle-Bells-singing, robotic T.Rex skull Sucker kids into taking their medicine by freezing it into medicinecicles UPDATED: Danish human rights activist arrested in Bahrain, faces torture: will Danish foreign minister intervene?
By Cory Doctorow on Dec 21, 2011 05:16 am Update: Zainab is back home! Carstenagger sez, "The blogger and human rights activist Zainab Alkhawaja has been detained since Thursday, December 15th, where she was detained after being teargassed while participating in a peaceful demonstration. Her husband and her father are imprisoned, her father sentenced to life in prison and allegedly hideously tortured. Zainab is ...
Read in browser Cool Tools in the Kitchen
By Cool Tools on Dec 20, 2011 11:47 pm There are now over 3,000 reviews of great stuff on Cool Tools. In an effort to make that abundance more useful we've selected the best recommendations in a narrow field, updated the info, and formatted the reviews into a handy ebook. We are releasing the first of those ebooks today, as Cool Tools in the ...
Read in browser Newt Gingrich bad lip reading
By Mark Frauenfelder on Dec 20, 2011 11:07 pm This really is the best one yet. Also, I wonder if the source video had as much uncannyvalleyesque retouching of Gingrich's face?
Read in browser HiddenRadio and Bluetooth Speaker on Kickstarter
By Mark Frauenfelder on Dec 20, 2011 10:59 pm The attractive HiddenRadio & Bluetooth Speaker is on Kickstarter. Kick in $119 or more and you'll get one when they are ready. When asleep it hides all its functions, being silent and unanimated. To turn it on you simply twist and lift the cap; the further you lift the cap the more internal volume is ...
Read in browser An easier-to-build solar cell
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Dec 20, 2011 09:55 pm Solar cells are not easy to build, but a new technology from Notre Dame could, someday, change that. It involves a nanoparticle paste made from t-butanol, water, cadmium sulfide and titanium dioxide. Here, you watch the process of constructing a solar cell this way and see why it could be easier and cheaper than current ...
Read in browser Interview with artist Drew Friedman about his Old Jewish Comedian books
By Mark Frauenfelder on Dec 20, 2011 08:44 pm Heeb magazine interviewed our pal, Drew Freidman, about his line of astounding Old Jewish Comedians books. Despite the love, though, you can feel the comedians' passion, even anger. You once said "I love the angry comedians. These guys that are supposed to make you laugh, but they're always angry." What is it about that anger? ...
Read in browser Crowdsourced anti-SOPA rap
By Cory Doctorow on Dec 20, 2011 08:12 pm Copyfighting nerd rapper Dan Bull made an anti-SOPA video. He says: Regarding the video: I first suggested the idea of collaborating on a SOPA track on Twitter a couple of days ago, asking for help with themes and lyrics. After I finished writing the song, I put a post on my Facebook wall asking people ...
Read in browser MPAA says SOPA-style censorship works in Yemen and Syria
By Cory Doctorow on Dec 20, 2011 08:06 pm The MPAA believes SOPA's censorship mandate will solve its problems, and it has presented research to Congress to support this position. As evidence, it cites the efficacy of similar censorship mandates in China, Iran, the UAE, Armenia, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Bahrain, Burma, Syria, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.
Read in browser Deep-sea "batteries" could power sensors
By David Pescovitz on Dec 20, 2011 08:05 pm Researchers are hoping that "biological batteries" at the bottom of the oceans could power sensors to help scientists study the deepest blue. Microbes living in chimneys atop hydrothermal vents digest chemicals like hydrogen sulfide bubbling up from below the ocean floor. In the process, the microbes generate electrical current that runs through the chimneys. Recently, ...
Read in browser North Korean party rock anthem
By Dean Putney on Dec 20, 2011 08:02 pm Ain't no party like a Pyongyang party, 'cause a Pyongyang party is ABSOLUTELY MANDATORY. Perhaps all those synchronized marching demonstrations for Kim Jong-Il were because he just wanted to get down. [Video Link] via Submitterator. Thanks letterj and Dannel!
Read in browser SOPA dead until 2012 for real this time?
By Cory Doctorow on Dec 20, 2011 07:58 pm Tomorrow's special session of the House Judiciary Committee to finish markup on the Stop Online Piracy act have been summarily cancelled. Either they saw the mounting opposition and freaked out and decided to negotiate; or they saw the opposition and figured that they could wait it out; or something else altogether. (Thanks, Adam!)
Read in browser Anti-SOPA plugins render censorship law pointless AND stupid
By Cory Doctorow on Dec 20, 2011 06:53 pm Alan sez, "Torrentfreak reports on not one but two anti-SOPA plug-ins for Firefox that will let you resolve a blocked domain name to an IP aiddress via non-US DNS servers"
Read in browser James Patrick Kelly's free Xmas edition of Strangeways
By Cory Doctorow on Dec 20, 2011 06:33 pm Hugo, Locus, and Nebula award winning science fiction author James Patrick Kelly is giving away the Xmas edition of his excellent ezine Strangeways. I have been enjoying his stories of time travel, space exploration, and more every month, and I thought I would share. Will Christmas survive the apocalypse? If you were uploaded into a ...
Read in browser Wanted: "Roboticist Apprentice Extraordinaire"
By Mark Frauenfelder on Dec 20, 2011 06:32 pm "Trossen Robotics is looking to add another member to the team. The optimal applicant will be able to handle very very long hours, extremely sarcastic work environments, have a diverse skill set (IE: customer service skills are as good as engineering skills), readily tackle challenging projects, and be able to hold their own in Halo ...
Read in browser Field Test: behind-the-scenes look at the making of a NatGeo article
By Mark Frauenfelder on Dec 20, 2011 06:27 pm Michael Nichols is working with a micro-copter, an adapted toy helicopter, to photograph lions in the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. Anna Kukelhaus Dynan says: Field Test, a newly launched National Geographic feature, offers a behind-the-scenes look at the making of a magazine article, including the latest technologies used in the field by photographers- camera ...
Read in browser Hanukkah Mix and Tikva Records events
By David Pescovitz on Dec 20, 2011 06:09 pm Tonight is the first night of Hanukkah! For some terrific celebratory music, I suggest the Idelsohn Society's Hanukkah Mix, featuring the likes of Gershon Kingsley, Milton Berle, Johnny Mathis, Neil Diamond, Woody Guthrie, and a dozen more greats. Idelsohn Society is a non-profit dedicated to the musicology of great old Jewish music. This month, they've ...
Read in browser Bill Barminski's cardboard skateboards
By Mark Frauenfelder on Dec 20, 2011 06:00 pm Artist Bill Barminski has been building cardboard skateboards, cardboard guns, and cardboard cans of spraypaint lately. His latest is a replica of the Kmart skate board he got when he was 13.
Read in browser Free cigar box guitar Christmas album
By Mark Frauenfelder on Dec 20, 2011 05:41 pm Dan Sleep of Cigar Box Nation (a website for cigar box guitar makers) says: "The 2011 Christmas album is ready for download. We hope you will enjoy the free holiday music our members have created for your enjoyment. Some are traditional songs, and some are original tunes written by the artists. All are played/performed on ...
Read in browser DoS for phones: "busy signal service" clobbers the phone-lines of companies while their servers are being plundered
By Cory Doctorow on Dec 20, 2011 05:14 pm Brian Krebs reports on a new cybercrime service that will max-out a company's switchboard with fake phone calls as a diversionary tactic while their servers are being plundered: For just $5 an hour, or $40 per day, you can keep anyone's phone so tied up with incoming junk calls that the number is unable to ...
Read in browser Brain Rot: Similarities Between Hip Hop and Comic Books
By Ed Piskor on Dec 20, 2011 05:00 pm 
Read in browser Boing Boing Charitable Giving Guide, 2011 edition
By Cory Doctorow on Dec 20, 2011 04:40 pm It's time again for Boing Boing's guide the charities we support in our annual giving. As always, please add the causes and charities you give to in the comments below! Electronic Frontier Foundation The EFF's mission has never been more important: as laws like SOPA are rammed through Congress, as bloggers around the world are ...
Read in browser Homemade anti-SOPA PSAs
By Cory Doctorow on Dec 20, 2011 04:35 pm We Forgot Our Name! is so worried about the Stop Online Piracy Act that he's created four short PSAs to help explain what's wrong with the idea to your friends and family: "The Stop Online Piracy Act will be going back to the House for a vote this WEDNESDAY December 21st. The House tried to ...
Read in browser Give your ma a Zippo, it's classy!
By Cory Doctorow on Dec 20, 2011 04:30 pm Gosh, gift-giving used to be so easy: all you needed to do was get your ma one of these swellegant skinny Zippos. And between death-sticks, she could practice doing Zippo tricks, like opening the Zippo by snapping her fingers or smoothly flipping the lid back and striking the flint in one of those one-two motions ...
Read in browser DJ Kim Jong-Il
By Rob Beschizza on Dec 20, 2011 04:12 pm Here he is with Daft Punk! More at kim jong-il dropping the bass [Thanks, John!]
Read in browser Photos of disappointing items from old comic book ads
By Mark Frauenfelder on Dec 20, 2011 04:05 pm Kirk Demarais is the author of the delightful-yet-innocence-crushing book, Mail Order Mysteries. I interviewed him about the book, which reveals the disappointing truth behind fantastic-sounding products such as X-Ray glasses, voice throwers, 7-foot remote control monsters, and secret spy scopes, on our Gweek podcast, episode 19. On his Secret Fun Blog, Kirk has posted a ...
Read in browser Václav Havel dies
By Rob Beschizza on Dec 20, 2011 02:10 pm Czech dissident, playwright and president Václav Havel is dead at 75. [BBC]
Read in browser HOWTO make a 3D printed, Jingle-Bells-singing, robotic T.Rex skull
By Cory Doctorow on Dec 20, 2011 01:55 pm Inspired by his 4-year-old son, Rweaving 3D printed a T.Rex skull and taught it to roar out Jingle Bells. Now that's seasonal fun! It was my son's idea to create a dinosaur skull that would sing jingle bells. This is the result of that project. The skull is controlled via servo motor triggered by the ...
Read in browser Sucker kids into taking their medicine by freezing it into medicinecicles
By Cory Doctorow on Dec 20, 2011 01:28 pm Here's a pretty good idea for getting young kids to take their medicine: freeze it into little popsicles (I'm guessing this works even better when there's a sore throat involved). The method illustrated here just uses disposable paper medicine cups and paper sticks, but you can get fancy with lollipop moulds, too. Several commenters have ...
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