WATCHISMO TIME MACHINES - Timing is everything...
Arizona State U's Emerge: what does it mean to be human? Ten stone baby teased with chocolate Sleep as science fiction Winged, kinetic rings that flap Michael Geist's magisterial ten-minute ACTA takedown Island of Guersney moots becoming a "libel haven" where rich & powerful can sue & silence critics Make: Talk 007 -- Charles Platt, Electronics Fun & Fundamentals Suit made from a drop-cloth Crossing into Syria: a plea from the Free Syrian Army TED2012: Joshuah Foer - Moonwalking with Einstein Cthulhoid jello salad TED2012: Susan Cain: The power of introverts Tornadoes sweep through central South Ornate assemblage clock 4 superstars of American street art in episode 501 of The Simpsons From the department of Horrible Sounding Ideas That May Actually Be Good Ideas The (horribly awesome) things that live on Ball's Pyramid Individual dolphins identify themselves to new dolphins they meet BookBook for the Mac Book Air 11" A fascinating conclusion to an environmental mystery Canada to science: Drop dead Who should know what's happening in your computer? Who should control it? Philip K. Dick: 30 years gone, and a PKD festival! Betty Crockers through the ages Dick Clark's rock house for sale Wool 1-5 Omnibus: gripping Kindle read Alan Bishop (Sun City Girls, Sublime Frequencies) interviewed about outernational music Android lets apps secretly access and transmit your photos Video of lizard leaps Arizona State U's Emerge: what does it mean to be human?
By Cory Doctorow on Mar 03, 2012 12:27 pm Aisling sez, "Emerge is an exciting 3 day event of active workshops, thoughtful conversation and keynotes about what it means to be human, hosted at Arizona State University. Featured speakers and active participants include Bruce Sterling, Neal Stephenson, Bruce Mau, Sherry Turkle and Stewart Brand. Workshop leaders include Julian Bleecker, Stewart Candy, Julie Anand, Gretchen ...
Read in browser Ten stone baby teased with chocolate
By Mark Frauenfelder on Mar 03, 2012 12:14 pm Entertainment in 1935. "The trouble is nowadays he refuses to be weighed at all so we don't really know if he's solid or hollow." [Video Link] Ten Stone Baby, a British Pathe newsreel from 1935. Despite the newsreel's original title "Ten Stone Baby", the boy Leslie Downes is actually 3-years-old. Seen with his parents in ...
Read in browser Sleep as science fiction
By Cory Doctorow on Mar 03, 2012 11:57 am In the current issue of Time Out London, Sue Townsend (one of my favourite authors, creator of the marvelous Adrian Mole books) describes her view of sleep: "I've only just learned to like being in bed. I used to think it was so strange to go to a specified room, lie down and go into ...
Read in browser Winged, kinetic rings that flap
By Cory Doctorow on Mar 03, 2012 11:43 am Jeweler/metalworker Dukno Yoon makes beautiful, animated kinetic winged rings, sculptures and towers that flap when you flex your finger. The contrast between metal structural form and natural feather, together with the repetitive and whimsical movements of fragile wings, provokes the imagination and evolves the intimate relationship between work and viewer/wearer. Although the recent series, segmented ...
Read in browser Michael Geist's magisterial ten-minute ACTA takedown
By Cory Doctorow on Mar 03, 2012 09:38 am Michael Geist sez, "As protests in Europe against ACTA have grown, skeptics have argued that most criticisms are based on misunderstandings or incorrect information about the treaty. This week, the European Parliament held its first public workshop on ACTA. I appeared on the lead panel and received ten minutes to demonstrate why the agreement raises ...
Read in browser Island of Guersney moots becoming a "libel haven" where rich & powerful can sue & silence critics
By Cory Doctorow on Mar 03, 2012 05:10 am Former MI5 agent and Guernsey native Annie Machon sez, "In the teeth of all the anti-SOPA and -ACTA demos, the Channel Island of Guernsey is proposing it become an offshore libel tourism haven for image control. The lawyers see this as a potentially huge revenue stream, much as the tax haven laws have been or ...
Read in browser Make: Talk 007 -- Charles Platt, Electronics Fun & Fundamentals
By Mark Frauenfelder on Mar 02, 2012 08:50 pm Here's the 7th episode of MAKE's podcast, Make: Talk! In each episode, I'll interview one of the makers featured in the magazine. Our maker this week is Charles Platt. He writes the Electronics Fun and Fundamentals column in every issue of MAKE. He's also the author of the book, Make: Electronics which, in my admittedly ...
Read in browser Suit made from a drop-cloth
By Cory Doctorow on Mar 02, 2012 08:48 pm This "drop cloth suit" was made by Sarah Bahr and Hugh O'Rourke by cutting a pattern out of a well-used, well-loved drop cloth and tailoring appropriately. I had the great pleasure of collaborating with fellow artist and friend Hugh O'Rourke on a super fun project. Hugh is a painter and sculptor here in NYC, you ...
Read in browser Crossing into Syria: a plea from the Free Syrian Army
By Rob Beschizza on Mar 02, 2012 08:11 pm Journalist William Gagen, videographer Geoff Shively and fixer Amine Unitor entered Syria to see, first-hand, conditions close to the border with Turkey. Snuck in through the mountains by a Syrian military defector, they stayed for a day and returned with this footage. Across the border, they were intercepted by members of the Free Syria Army, ...
Read in browser TED2012: Joshuah Foer - Moonwalking with Einstein
By Mark Frauenfelder on Mar 02, 2012 07:15 pm [Video Link] At TED2012 I interviewed Joshuah Foer, who gave a presentation about his recent book, Moonwalking With Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything. In his book, Joshua writes about covering the United States Memory Championship for a magazine. Joshua decided to enter the contest himself and learned many ancient as well as ...
Read in browser Cthulhoid jello salad
By Cory Doctorow on Mar 02, 2012 06:45 pm Write-Light dug up this insane, multi-limbed lobster jello salad for the Vintage Ads LJ group. It originally appeared in the Davis Gelatine Recipe Book. The Call of Cthulhull-o
Read in browser TED2012: Susan Cain: The power of introverts
By Mark Frauenfelder on Mar 02, 2012 06:28 pm As someone with a mild introvert tendency, I enjoyed this talk by Susan Cain at TED2012. In a culture where being social and outgoing are prized above all else, it can be difficult, even shameful, to be an introvert. But, as Susan Cain argues in this passionate talk, introverts bring extraordinary talents and abilities to ...
Read in browser Tornadoes sweep through central South
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Mar 02, 2012 05:49 pm Southern Indiana, southern Ohio, most of Kentucky, central Tennessee, northeastern Mississippi and northwestern Alabama are in the middle of a huge storm system. As of an hour ago, there were 22 tornado warnings in this region, affecting 47 counties. Multiple tornadoes have touched down already, though it's not yet clear how many. If you're down ...
Read in browser Ornate assemblage clock
By Cory Doctorow on Mar 02, 2012 05:25 pm The latest from Roger Wood's feverish imagination: a glorious higgeldy-piggeldy of an assemblage clock.
Read in browser 4 superstars of American street art in episode 501 of The Simpsons
By Colin Berry on Mar 02, 2012 05:09 pm This Sunday night, March 4, the 501st episode of The Simpsons will feature four superstars of American street art: Kenny Scharf, Ron English, Shepard Fairey, and Robbie Conal. Kenny Scharf came up in the East Village art scene in the 1980's and covered the walls at last year's amazing "Art in the Streets" show in ...
Read in browser From the department of Horrible Sounding Ideas That May Actually Be Good Ideas
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Mar 02, 2012 05:06 pm An acidic tampon? In my vagina? It's more likely to be a reasonable and healthy idea than you might think. (Also: If you aren't reading the Context and Variation blog, you're missing out on the best in lady parts science, and I pity you.)
Read in browser The (horribly awesome) things that live on Ball's Pyramid
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Mar 02, 2012 04:58 pm Ball's Pyramid looks like a place where nothing could survive. The remnants of a long-dead volcano, it sits alone in the South Pacific ... a narrow, rocky half-moon some 1800 feet high. But Ball's Pyramid isn't devoid of life ... for years this place had a secret. At 225 feet above sea level, hanging on ...
Read in browser Individual dolphins identify themselves to new dolphins they meet
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Mar 02, 2012 04:49 pm Here in the BoingBoing newsroom, we are dedicated to keeping you informed on the latest developments in cetacean friendship. You already know that dolphins and whales hang out and, in fact, play together Now, some more awesome news: Dolphins apparently have a system of identifying themselves to each other similar to the way you and ...
Read in browser BookBook for the Mac Book Air 11"
By Jason Weisberger on Mar 02, 2012 04:43 pm Due to overwhelming positive feedback from Mark, David, Rob and Joel Johnson I decided to buy an 11" Mac Book Air. I love it but it just felt like I was going to destroy it, shoving it into my travel bag without a case -- the Air isn't delicate but I wouldn't call it a ...
Read in browser A fascinating conclusion to an environmental mystery
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Mar 02, 2012 04:27 pm This is the town of Kivalina, Alaska. Last fall, when the ocean water that almost surrounds the town started turning a gooey orange, people (understandably) got a bit freaked out. After ruling out the scarier options—i.e.,chemical pollution and toxic algae—scientists eventually pinned the orange tide on the presence of a plant fungus. And they turned ...
Read in browser Canada to science: Drop dead
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Mar 02, 2012 04:09 pm Not long ago, Cory told you about how the Canadian government has been muzzling scientists—refusing to let them speak freely with the press and, thus, controlling what research the public gets to know about. Not surprisingly, it's research on topics that are politically inconvenient to Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government—climate change, for instance—that end up ...
Read in browser Who should know what's happening in your computer? Who should control it?
By Cory Doctorow on Mar 02, 2012 03:41 pm My latest Locus column is "What's Inside the Box," a discussion of whether owners, users or third parties should be able to know and/or control what their computers are doing: The answer to this that most of the experts I speak to come up with is this: The owner (or user) of a device should ...
Read in browser Philip K. Dick: 30 years gone, and a PKD festival!
By David Pescovitz on Mar 02, 2012 03:35 pm Total Dick-Head's David Gill reminds us that 30 years ago today, science fiction author Philip K. Dick "disconnected." Public Radio International's "To The Best Of Our Knowledge" has posted a great selection of interviews about the man whose entire life and work questioned the nature of reality. Hear from Gill along with Umberto Rossi, Anne ...
Read in browser Betty Crockers through the ages
By Cory Doctorow on Mar 02, 2012 03:22 pm For all of us who swooned with Bloom County's Milo Bloom as he crushed on Betty Crocker, here's a nice retrospective of the Betties of times gone by. Betty Crocker Thru' The Ages, Stories Behind 10 Famous Food Logos
Read in browser Dick Clark's rock house for sale
By David Pescovitz on Mar 02, 2012 02:25 pm Fred Flintstone, er, Dick Clark rather, is selling this Malibu home for $3.5 million. More details at the realtor's page -- top left listing. (via LA Times)
Read in browser Wool 1-5 Omnibus: gripping Kindle read
By Jason Weisberger on Mar 02, 2012 02:00 pm I'm not always the biggest fan of Amazon's recommendations, buying books and toys for my daughter frequently leaves me with a screen of Dora the Explorer and Strawberry Shortcake titles. I was skeptical when I bought Wool by Hugh Howey but figured .99 was a small risk. This story is terrific. I was completely immersed, ...
Read in browser Alan Bishop (Sun City Girls, Sublime Frequencies) interviewed about outernational music
By David Pescovitz on Mar 02, 2012 01:51 pm In 1983, Alan Bishop of avant-garde freak rock band Sun City Girls was traveling through Morocco when he became obsessed with all of the unusual and "exotic" sounds coming from his transistor radio. He recorded hours of broadcasts and later collaged them into "Radio Morocco," a very strange and compelling CD that was the birth ...
Read in browser Android lets apps secretly access and transmit your photos
By Cory Doctorow on Mar 02, 2012 01:19 pm Writing in the NYT's BITS section, Brian X. Chen and Nick Bilton describe a disturbing design-flaw in Android: apps can access and copy your private photos, without you ever having to grant them permission to do so. Google says this is a legacy of the earlier-model phones that used removable SD cards, but it remains ...
Read in browser Video of lizard leaps
By David Pescovitz on Mar 02, 2012 01:09 pm This fantastic video reveals how Agama lizards use their tails to balance as they leap through the air. The footage, combined with analysis of a "robot lizard" made from an R/C car outfitted with a mechanical tail and gyroscope, helped UC Berkeley scientists understand the physics of how the reptile controls its movement mid-jump. Their ...
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