WATCHISMO TIME MACHINES - Timing is everything...
HOWTO ditch GoDaddy Groupon rapped for selling snake oil Newt promises moonbase Techno-mercenaries Stop ACTA: secretive treaty will bring in the worst of SOPA through trade obligations Insane English copyright ruling creates ownership in the idea of a photo's composition 10 digital albums for $15, including Sophie Madeleine Time lapse of LA's Walt Disney Concert Hall getting prepped for "Mahler Project" Disney store offers, then pulls, Mickey t-shirt based on iconic Joy Division album cover Fritz Goro's science photography The adorable snoring dormouse (video) Newt threatens Russia, China with cyberwar Popeye meets Wilco in hand-drawn cartoon music video Julian Assange to host Wikileaks TV show on Kremlin-funded Russian cable network Academic database "imprisons" research The Mind of a Sniper Shrooms may open the doors of perception, seriously Company you've never heard of acquires copy and paste clipboard-molesting jerks to create an even bigger pile of shit Space is awesome: Astronaut Rex Walheim answers more BoingBoing reader questions Space Adventures planning for lunar tourism Wade Davis's new book about Everest Pirate Party book Disney parks fan vidcast: Communicore weekly Canada's new SOPA-style copyright bill could shut down YouTube Star Wars meets Tank Girl Video: Aurora Australis from the Space Station US slumps in press freedom rankings Hellboy camp for teens TOM THE DANCING BUG: "Lucky Ducky," Featuring Hollingsworth Hound, Who Must Decide Where to Send His Money on Vacation DirecTV: click to add channels, call to remove them HOWTO ditch GoDaddy
By Cory Doctorow on Jan 26, 2012 12:47 pm Domain registrar GoDaddy drew a lot of bad publicity for supporting SOPA, resulting in a large loss of business and a reversal on its public position. But wherever GoDaddy stands on SOPA, it remains one of the worst places in the world to host a domain. The company's terrible behavior and rotten customer service, combined ...
Read in browser Groupon rapped for selling snake oil
By Rob Beschizza on Jan 26, 2012 12:03 pm Snake with thought bubble, Shutterstock Britain's Advertising Standards Agency has banned Groupon from marketing snake oil. An internet sales promotion for "Wrinkle Killer Snake Serum" promised to "reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles" and "tackle the signs of ageing." When challenged, Groupon claimed that the claims refer only to the "sensory and/or temporary ...
Read in browser Newt promises moonbase
By Rob Beschizza on Jan 26, 2012 11:38 am "By the end of my second term we will have the first permanent base on the moon." [NPR. Photo: Eric Thayers/Reuters]
Read in browser Techno-mercenaries
By Rob Beschizza on Jan 26, 2012 11:33 am Adrian Chen on the gadget experts who serve rogues: "Martin made them leave their phones in the car for safety. He recalled the phones with disgust. 'They had all smart phones, and I told them: Bad fucking idea. You have to scale down two generations, at least. There's too much information on a smart phone.'"
Read in browser Stop ACTA: secretive treaty will bring in the worst of SOPA through trade obligations
By Cory Doctorow on Jan 26, 2012 07:24 am ACTA, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, is the notorious, unprecedented secret copyright treaty that was negotiated by industry representatives and government trade reps, without any access by elected representatives, independent business, the press, public interest groups, legal scholars, independent economists and so on. Time and again, the world's richest governmental administrations (only rich countries were in ...
Read in browser Insane English copyright ruling creates ownership in the idea of a photo's composition
By Cory Doctorow on Jan 26, 2012 06:42 am In a bizarre ruling, an English court has ruled that in favor of a commercial poster company that argued that a photo that showed a similar (but different) scene taken by a different person in a different place nevertheless infringed the copyright of a poster. What the judge ruled was that photographing a scene that ...
Read in browser 10 digital albums for $15, including Sophie Madeleine
By Mark Frauenfelder on Jan 26, 2012 01:18 am [Video Link] The Sound Supply is selling 10 digital albums for $15, including Sophie Madeleine's The Rhythm You Started. 10 albums for $15 Sophie Madeleine performs "Oil & Gold" on ukulele -- Boing Boing exclusiveSophie Madeleine plays 30 uke songs in 30 daysSophie Madeleine plays "I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm" on ukueleYouTube ...
Read in browser Time lapse of LA's Walt Disney Concert Hall getting prepped for "Mahler Project"
By Mark Frauenfelder on Jan 26, 2012 01:06 am [Video Link] Shayna of LA magazine says: We have this time-lapse video of the Walt Disney Concert Hall being set up for a rehearsal of Mahler's Symphony no. 8, which will be performed by the LA Phil, the Simon Bolivar Orchestra, and 16 choirs at the Shrine next month. It's a mesmerizing video and quite ...
Read in browser Disney store offers, then pulls, Mickey t-shirt based on iconic Joy Division album cover
By Xeni Jardin on Jan 25, 2012 09:25 pm On The Madeleine Brand Show (a radio program on which I'm a regular guest), Luke Burbank points to two strange Disney-related updates: first, Disneyland has finally relaxed their extreme rules banning all facial hair for staff/contractors—employees are now allowed to grow beards. And in even odder news, the Disney Store is now offering was, until ...
Read in browser Fritz Goro's science photography
By David Pescovitz on Jan 25, 2012 09:11 pm Stephen Jay Gould once said that LIFE photographer Fritz Goro, who died in 1986, was "the most influential photographer that science journalism (and science in general) has ever known." LIFE.com has posted a gallery of his truly wonderful photos. Above, Goro's 1962 shot of inventor Allyn Hazard testing his "moon suit mock-up" that contained oxygen ...
Read in browser The adorable snoring dormouse (video)
By Xeni Jardin on Jan 25, 2012 08:48 pm [Video Link] Things I did not know before viewing this adorable video shot by Surrey Wildlife Trust Mammal Project Officer Dave Williams: 1) The dormouse, a little rodent species you'll find in Britain, hibernate in the winter in nests they hide on the ground. 2) The dormouse spends up to one-third of its life in ...
Read in browser Newt threatens Russia, China with cyberwar
By Xeni Jardin on Jan 25, 2012 08:27 pm "I think that we have to treat state-based covert activities as the equivalent of acts of war. And I think that we have to respond to that and create a level of pain which teaches people not to do it." US presidential candidate Newt Gingrich, responding to a question about countries that target U.S. corporate ...
Read in browser Popeye meets Wilco in hand-drawn cartoon music video
By Xeni Jardin on Jan 25, 2012 07:51 pm [Video Link] The Wilco track "Dawned On Me" re-imagined as a classic, early-era Popeye cartoon. The song is from the band's Grammy-nominated 2011 album, "The Whole Love." They're on tour now, and should not be missed, as they are one of the greatest live acts on the planet. The animation is a collaboration with King ...
Read in browser Julian Assange to host Wikileaks TV show on Kremlin-funded Russian cable network
By Xeni Jardin on Jan 25, 2012 07:17 pm Wikileaks announced this week that house-arrested frontman Julian Assange would host a new television interview series with "in-depth conversations with key political players, thinkers and revolutionaries from around the world." The theme, according to the announcement: "the world tomorrow." Today, news that the network involved is none other than RT, the Russian cable television outlet ...
Read in browser Academic database "imprisons" research
By Rob Beschizza on Jan 25, 2012 07:08 pm Laura McKenna excoriates JSTOR, the online database of academic journals that has universities and the public paying thousands of dollars to read their own taxpayer-funded research. [The Atlantic]
Read in browser The Mind of a Sniper
By Rob Beschizza on Jan 25, 2012 06:53 pm Among others, the BBC interviewed two snipers. Both have killed many people, but they are very different men. One affirms the humanity of his targets, and worries at how ideology sends them into battle. One considers them subhuman, and worries about himself. Here's Chris Kyle: "You're running everything through your mind. This is a woman, ...
Read in browser Shrooms may open the doors of perception, seriously
By David Pescovitz on Jan 25, 2012 06:32 pm New research suggests that taking psilocybin, the hallucinogen in magic mushrooms, may actually lead to a decrease in the amount of blood flow in certain parts of your brain. Scientists at Imperial College London injected subjects with psilocybin and scanned their brains. Turns out, they observed a reduction in neuronal activity and blood flow in ...
Read in browser Company you've never heard of acquires copy and paste clipboard-molesting jerks to create an even bigger pile of shit
By Rob Beschizza on Jan 25, 2012 06:31 pm Tynt, the company responsible for inserting adverts when you copy text from websites, was bought by another company that specializes in "graphing" brand loyalty. Just imagine how much fun these guys are to hang out with! [TechCrunch via Daring Fireball]
Read in browser Space is awesome: Astronaut Rex Walheim answers more BoingBoing reader questions
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Jan 25, 2012 06:31 pm A couple weeks ago, I got a chance to interview Rex Walheim—astronaut, test pilot, and all-around swell guy. He answered five questions BoingBoing readers had about what it takes to be chosen for the space program and what the experience of training to be an astronaut is like. Unfortunately, we only had 10 minutes to ...
Read in browser Space Adventures planning for lunar tourism
By David Pescovitz on Jan 25, 2012 05:43 pm Eric Anderson, 37, is the founder of Space Adventures, a company that acts as the middleman for rich people who want to go to space and the Russian space program that sells the seats on the Soyuz rockets. Air & Space Magazine profiles Anderson and tells what it took to launch the space tourism business. ...
Read in browser Wade Davis's new book about Everest
By David Pescovitz on Jan 25, 2012 05:12 pm Anthropologist Wade Davis is one of my heroes. He's an incredibly talented explorer and explainer of the world's cultural diversity, what he calls the ethnosphere. He's most famous for his 1985 book The Serpent and the Rainbow, about Haitian voodoo and zombies. But he's written a slew of books about the dangers faced by disappearing ...
Read in browser Pirate Party book
By Cory Doctorow on Jan 25, 2012 04:55 pm Variable Rush sez, "No Safe Harbor is the first book released by the United States Pirate Party. It was released yesterday and traffic managed to knock it offline. The book is great and features an essay by BB's Cory Doctorow, as well as Lawrence Lessig, danah boyd, Kembrew McLeod, and others."
Read in browser Disney parks fan vidcast: Communicore weekly
By Cory Doctorow on Jan 25, 2012 04:54 pm Jeff sez, "Communicore Weekly is a brand new, online VidCast/Podcast with George Taylor and Jeff Heimbuch, exploring Disney news and obscure history. With segments such as the Bathroom Break & The Five Legged Goat, you'll never look at Disney the same way again. You'll laugh, you'll cry, and you'll have a new favorite online show. ...
Read in browser Canada's new SOPA-style copyright bill could shut down YouTube
By Cory Doctorow on Jan 25, 2012 04:52 pm Michael Geist sez, Recent revelations that the content industries are demanding that Canada implement SOPA-style provisions into its copyright law have raised concerns the law could be used to target legitimate sites. Industry lawyers say there is no reason for worry, yet an analysis of the proposed law set against the claims made by Viacom ...
Read in browser Star Wars meets Tank Girl
By Cory Doctorow on Jan 25, 2012 04:48 pm Mashup master James Hance has crossed Tank Girl with Princess Leia to excellent effect. He's selling prints and tees. Latest Doodle: 'Falcon Girl' (Tank Girl / Star Wars) (via The Mary Sue )
Read in browser Video: Aurora Australis from the Space Station
By David Pescovitz on Jan 25, 2012 04:39 pm This absolutely stunning video was created from a series of still images taken on the International Space Station. From NASA's Gateway To Astronaut Photography of Earth page: The sequence of shots was taken January 3, 2012 from 15:01:30 to 15:08:17 GMT, on a pass from the Indian Ocean, just west of Australia, to south of ...
Read in browser US slumps in press freedom rankings
By Rob Beschizza on Jan 25, 2012 04:11 pm In this year's Reporters Without Borders international press freedom index, the U.S. slumped to 47th place, a fall of 27 places, largely due to arrests of journalists covering protests. The full report is available in PDF format. [RSF]
Read in browser Hellboy camp for teens
By David Pescovitz on Jan 25, 2012 04:03 pm Are you a teenager yearning to join Hellboy in the fight against evil occult, supernatural forces? Now you can, thanks to the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense Training Camp in Portland, Oregon. Operated by Trackers, an outdoor skills training company, BPRD Training Camp (aka Hellboy Camp) actually sounds like a fun way to spend ...
Read in browser TOM THE DANCING BUG: "Lucky Ducky," Featuring Hollingsworth Hound, Who Must Decide Where to Send His Money on Vacation
By Ruben Bolling on Jan 25, 2012 03:50 pm RECOMMEND: Visit the TOM THE DANCING BUG WEBSITE, follow RUBEN BOLLING on TWITTER, and listen to him as he joins other Boing Boingers in select episodes of GWEEK PODCAST.
Read in browser DirecTV: click to add channels, call to remove them
By Rob Beschizza on Jan 25, 2012 03:37 pm JWZ reports some of the sleazy things that DirecTV does to squeeze money out of its customers, of which he is one. In addition to the predictable stuff, like market-obscuring channel bundles and below-the-radar billing extras, there are weird cramming strategies designed to make customer service as inconvenient as possible. I receive 626 channels, and ...
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