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TODAY IS THE DAY TO KILL ACTA Irony Vigilante Bill Keller: NYT copyright infringement was "illustrative uploading" No ARM Mac for you Police raid on Occupy DC brokep on the entertainment industry Super Mario Converse, low-top editions Ralph Waldo Emerson's head made out of electrical outlets and switches Aaron Swartz on the strategy and tactics of fighting SOPA and beyond Japan's high-detail coffee, booze, food, and fashion simulacra LA Zine Fest: Feb 19 Bringing a 50,000-ton forging press back to Life Vast hordes of Canadians speak out on proposed copyright legislation; lend your voice! Push-button vault for Book of Sith Patent troll that claimed ownership over the Web loses its case SF trade publication Locus Magazine goes digital, DRM-free The oldest thing in the world CIA website down Elephant bean-bag chair Darth Mater Design flaw: to check air pistol pressure, point it at your face Alan Parsons on audiophiles The risk of using apps that access your Gmail account John Wayne Gacy had a helper? Extreme DIY car mods: Volvo with a wood-burning stove for heat Killed by something that doesn't exist Happy Metal from Meshuggah guitarist Judge okays exclusion of damaging emails from BP oil spill trial New MC Frontalot video: Stoop Sale What is the deal with this purple squirrel? North Carolina town still protesting CIA rendition program, ten years later TODAY IS THE DAY TO KILL ACTA
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 11, 2012 10:30 am Today is the day of global protest against ACTA, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, a copyright treaty negotiated in secret (even parliaments and other legislatures weren't allowed to see the the working drafts), and which many governments (include the American government) are planning to adopt without legislative approval or debate. ACTA represents a wish-list of legislative ...
Read in browser Irony Vigilante Bill Keller: NYT copyright infringement was "illustrative uploading"
By Rob Beschizza on Feb 11, 2012 07:25 am Bill Keller, former executive editor of The New York Times, rails against those who mock him. The newspaper published someone else's column without permission while he was busy insisting that copyright infringement is theft, and has been subjected to much ridicule as a result. The law should not go after minor transgressions. Moreover, I specifically ...
Read in browser No ARM Mac for you
By Rob Beschizza on Feb 11, 2012 06:12 am John Brownlee on why there'll probably never be an ARM Mac on store shelves, despite Apple's porting of OS X to the platform: "ARM processors are still relatively slow, and unsuitable for the vast array of tasks we take for granted in a desktop or laptop." [Cult of Mac]
Read in browser Police raid on Occupy DC
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 11, 2012 05:29 am Quinn Norton's first-person account of the police raid on Occupy DC for Wired is riveting and scary. The Occupy camp that was demolished was riven by a deep disagreement on tactics and politics, and the police raid was a dramatic change from the good relations the camp had enjoyed with local law enforcement. Screams of ...
Read in browser brokep on the entertainment industry
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 11, 2012 05:26 am Peter Sunde, the notorious and entrepreneurial "brokep" who co-founded the Pirate Bay, writes in Wired about his view on the entertainment industry's corruption and the cluelessness of the lawmakers who side with them: "Evidently, Warner Brothers felt that the investigation was taking too long. The studio contacted the police officer in charge of the investigation ...
Read in browser Super Mario Converse, low-top editions
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 11, 2012 04:21 am Converse will release two different styles of Super Mario low-top in Japan in March 2012 -- I like the overall look, though I think I'd prefer them in canvas over leather. It comes in a black and a white premium leather version, with the Converse star logo being replaced with the star icon from the ...
Read in browser Ralph Waldo Emerson's head made out of electrical outlets and switches
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 11, 2012 02:16 am Noah sez, "I thought you might enjoy this piece I was recently commissioned to create for a play about an electrician who starts channeling the spirit of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Needless to say the people at the local used building material store were quite intrigued to know what I was going to do with the ...
Read in browser Aaron Swartz on the strategy and tactics of fighting SOPA and beyond
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 11, 2012 02:00 am Aaron Swartz, the young activist and entrepreneur who kicked off the fight against SOPA and PIPA, talks strategy and tactics with the MIT Technology Review, and makes a lot of important points about the way that the future's information wars will be fought. Swartz: I first heard of the bill shortly after it was introduced ...
Read in browser Japan's high-detail coffee, booze, food, and fashion simulacra
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 11, 2012 01:45 am Writing in the WSJ, Tom Downey describes what he perceives as a new shift in the way that Japanese food, coffee, cocktails and fashion relates to the outside world; according to Downey, the ideal now combines the much-vaunted Japanese attention to detail and precise copying with a kind of remaking that produces a "replica" Brooklyn ...
Read in browser LA Zine Fest: Feb 19
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 11, 2012 01:00 am Inky-handed, staple-punctured mutants, start your engines! The LA Zine Fest comes to the Spring Arts Tower (453 S. Spring Street) on Feb 19, from 11AM to 5PM. Team False Start is a collective of zine-enthusiasts dedicated to promoting zine culture as a means to connect the pre-exisiting communities in L.A.–artistic or otherwise. We aim to ...
Read in browser Bringing a 50,000-ton forging press back to Life
By Mark Frauenfelder on Feb 11, 2012 12:32 am Alcoa's 50,000-Ton forging press in Cleveland is "one of the great machines of American industry." Built in 1955, the "Fifty" broke down three years ago, and Alcoa considered scrapping it. But it's back in operation. Tim Heffernan has the story in The Atlantic. A forging press is -- begging the forgiveness of the engineering gods ...
Read in browser Vast hordes of Canadians speak out on proposed copyright legislation; lend your voice!
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 10, 2012 10:45 pm Michael Geist sez, As the public outrage SOPA effectively killed SOPA and tens of thousands of Europeans take to the streets to protest ACTA, Canadians need to do their part to counter the inclusion of SOPA-style reforms into their copyright bill and to demand changes to its restrictive digital lock rules. According to documents recently ...
Read in browser Push-button vault for Book of Sith
By Mark Frauenfelder on Feb 10, 2012 10:25 pm [Video Link] Book of Sith, by Daniel Wallace, just came out today. It features a battery-powered electronic case. The black-and-red pyramid-shaped Sith case appears innocuous. But with the touch of a button, the door of the case lifts, accompanied by lights and Star Wars sound effects. The secrets within are revealed— the Book of Sith ...
Read in browser Patent troll that claimed ownership over the Web loses its case
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 10, 2012 09:43 pm Eolas, a notorious patent troll who partnered with the University of California in a shakedown scheme that claimed royalties for all "interactive web sites" that featured rotating images, streaming video, and other practices that had been widely established before their patent was filed, has lost a key lawsuit. A jury in Tyler, Texas (the sleepy ...
Read in browser SF trade publication Locus Magazine goes digital, DRM-free
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 10, 2012 09:00 pm Locus magazine, the venerable science fiction trade publication put out by the nonprofit Locus Science Fiction Foundation has expanded its digital offering, selling DRM-free PDFs, ePubs, and Mobis on a subscription basis or as singles. I'm proud to write a column for Locus, and really treasure each issue when it comes through the door. Locus ...
Read in browser The oldest thing in the world
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Feb 10, 2012 08:33 pm The oldest living thing on Earth is a massive "meadow" of sea grass growing in the Mediterranean between Spain and Cyprus. It's somewhere between 100,000 and 200,000 years old and reproduces by cloning itself. Also, it's being killed by climate change. Via Beth Buczynski
Read in browser CIA website down
By Xeni Jardin on Feb 10, 2012 08:01 pm CIA.gov is down. Any number of entities might like to claim credit, but Anonymous seems to be first (via various accounts on Twitter). No hard reporting available yet, however, and given the target in question, I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for them to confirm.
Read in browser Elephant bean-bag chair
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 10, 2012 08:00 pm Italian Etsy seller ConceptualDevices made this $450 elephant beanbag chair, "a place where to read (and write) fairy tales." Its external lining is made of a soft fabric used for outdoor upholstery produced by Sunbrella which is easily washable, waterproof, oil proof and sunlight resistant. The internal lining is 100% cotton and contains the expanded ...
Read in browser Darth Mater
By Rob Beschizza on Feb 10, 2012 07:43 pm A Sith nun is to be found in this month's edition of Elle. [Thanks, Heather!]
Read in browser Design flaw: to check air pistol pressure, point it at your face
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 10, 2012 07:00 pm Mark W Shead uses the terrifying design of this air pistol (you have to point is straight at your face to check the pressure) as a jumping-off point for a short, to the point essay on "domain knowledge" and software design. Why You Need Domain Knowledge (via Making Light)
Read in browser Alan Parsons on audiophiles
By David Pescovitz on Feb 10, 2012 06:53 pm In an interesting interview at CEPro, Alan Parsons, the man who engineered Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon and yes, had his own Project, says that room acoustics are far more important than audiophile gear. In fact, the interview led one Slashdot commenter to post this fine quip: "Audiophiles don't use their equipment to ...
Read in browser The risk of using apps that access your Gmail account
By Xeni Jardin on Feb 10, 2012 06:34 pm Andy Baio, in an opinion piece for Wired News: "Since Gmail added oAuth support in March 2010, an increasing number of startups are asking for a perpetual, silent window into your inbox. I'm concerned oAuth, while hugely convenient for both developers and users, may be paving the way for an inevitable privacy meltdown."
Read in browser John Wayne Gacy had a helper?
By Xeni Jardin on Feb 10, 2012 06:33 pm "There is significant evidence out there that suggests that not only did John Wayne Gacy not operate alone, he may not have been involved in some of the murders, and the fact that he was largely a copycat killer."
Read in browser Extreme DIY car mods: Volvo with a wood-burning stove for heat
By Xeni Jardin on Feb 10, 2012 06:24 pm Wood burns in a stove as Pascal Prokop drives his totally baller 1990 Volvo 240 station wagon during cold winter weather on a road near the town of Mettmenstetten, some 25 kilometres south of Zurich, on February 9, 2012. Prokob built in the stove by himself and got an operating permit by the Swiss technical ...
Read in browser Killed by something that doesn't exist
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Feb 10, 2012 06:15 pm Placebos have no repeatable physical effect that can be broadly demonstrated to exist. But, if people believe the placebo can help them, it often does—especially for inherently subjective issues like pain relief. Nocebos are what happens when a placebo (again, something that technically has no physical effect on the body) causes a negative side-effect, simply ...
Read in browser Happy Metal from Meshuggah guitarist
By David Pescovitz on Feb 10, 2012 06:14 pm The excellently-named Meshuggah is a "technical death metal" band from Sweden. While I appreciate their musical experimentation, the singer's angry growl is a bit much for me. I was delighted when my pal Patrick Kelly pointed me to this great video of Meshuggah's guitarist Fredrik Thordendal shredding with great joy along with Morgan Ågren, the ...
Read in browser Judge okays exclusion of damaging emails from BP oil spill trial
By Xeni Jardin on Feb 10, 2012 06:03 pm A judge has granted requests from defendants in the BP oil disaster case to exclude various emails from trial. The details of the emails are an interesting read. For instance: At Halliburton's request, the court will not include an email from a BP geologist to a colleague in February 2010 which offered "thanks for the ...
Read in browser New MC Frontalot video: Stoop Sale
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 10, 2012 06:00 pm The incomparable MC Frontalot sez, "The second video extravaganza from my overfunded Kickstarter is Stoop Sale, a chilling tale of indecision and loss presented in cheerful all-puppet format. This is my first song about living in New York, which is something rappers seem to make songs about pretty often, but I've only just gotten around ...
Read in browser What is the deal with this purple squirrel?
By Xeni Jardin on Feb 10, 2012 05:56 pm The hard-hitting investigative journalism team at Accuweather is trying to figure out why this squirrel is purple. Currently, there is "No Explanation for Pennsylvania's Purple Squirrel." What do you think? Suggestions in the comments, please. (via @ProducerMatthew)
Read in browser North Carolina town still protesting CIA rendition program, ten years later
By Xeni Jardin on Feb 10, 2012 05:54 pm Moms, priests, and peace-minded activists in a small North Carolina town haven't forgotten that a local aviation contractor was a key player in the CIA's "torture taxi" business. "I don't want to live in a country that acts this way," said Julia Elsee, 87, protesting at the Johnston County Airport.
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