WATCHISMO TIME MACHINES - Timing is everything...
Buford, Wyoming up for auction DOJ asks Court to keep secret any partnership between Google and NSA, not that one exists, definitely not Seeking Asian Female Austin loses an icon of High Weirdness: Albert Leslie Cochran, homeless, thong-wearing, would-be mayor David Byrne and Caetano Veloso, live at Carnegie Hall DODOcase's new iPad covers: pretty sweet Kevin Smith on going indie, podcasting, and "saving his career" ReThinking a Lot: the weird, massive, hidden-in-plain sight world of parking eBook Review: Downtown Owl Lockdown London: how the Olympics will turn London into (more of) a police state INFOGRAPHICS [INFOGRAPHIC] New Boing Boing T-shirt: Demolish Serious Culture Over-elaborated rubegoldbergian steampunk corkscrew Lawblawg commemorates My Cousin Vinny Topher Grace turns all three Star Wars prequels into one short, punch 85-min hypermovie Perv allegedly converts pub urinal drain into "piss dungeon" US to go after "Border Tunnels" by prosecuting landowners, wiretapping communications Interviews Before Execution: Chinese reality talk show with death row inmates On knitting 50 life-sized bees Canada's ridiculous university copyright deal poised to become law Moebius documentary UN torture investigator: US gov's treatment of accused Wikileaks source Manning "cruel and inhuman" Another Occupy Wall Street activist's Twitter account subpoenaed Edible Alien Autopsy toy Taxonomy and history of rage-faces Five significant, formerly classified documents At SXSW, homeless people become WiFi hotspots Sunglass frames made from whiskey barrels Kony 2012's Visible Funding: Invisible Children's anti-gay, creationist, Christian right donors Dan Fogelman's script for the Gary Coleman-Emmanuel Lewis Project Buford, Wyoming up for auction
By David Pescovitz on Mar 13, 2012 12:37 pm The town of Buford, Wyoming will go up for auction on April 5. Yes, the entire town. Population: one. The starting bid is $100,000 and that includes 10 acres, a house, garage, gas station, cabin, schoolhouse, and convenience store. From Time: Once a semi-bustling town of about 2,000 residents that started in the 1860s, the ...
Read in browser DOJ asks Court to keep secret any partnership between Google and NSA, not that one exists, definitely not
By Xeni Jardin on Mar 13, 2012 12:29 pm Mike Scarcella in The Legal Times writes about The Justice Department defending the government's refusal to discuss, or acknowledge the existence of, "any cooperative research and development agreement between Google and the National Security Agency." The Washington based advocacy group Electronic Privacy Information Center sued in federal district court here to obtain documents about any ...
Read in browser Seeking Asian Female
By Xeni Jardin on Mar 13, 2012 12:17 pm In the WSJ, Jeff Yang reviews "Seeking Asian Female," Debbie Lum's documentary about white guys romantically fixated on Asian women—specifically, one white guy, and his quest to marry the Asian lady of his dreams. The film debuted this week at the annual SXSW festival in Austin, and follows the story of Steven, "a 60-year-old, twice-divorced ...
Read in browser Austin loses an icon of High Weirdness: Albert Leslie Cochran, homeless, thong-wearing, would-be mayor
By Xeni Jardin on Mar 13, 2012 11:31 am Photo: Leslie Cochran at rest at an Austin intersection in 1998 (Vernon Bryant, The Austin American-Statesman via NYT) New York Times reporter and native Texas son John Schwartz writes about the death of Albert Leslie Cochran, 60: "A bearded, cross-dressing, often homeless Austinite who was also an occasional candidate for mayor." Wearing a cheerleader's uniform, ...
Read in browser David Byrne and Caetano Veloso, live at Carnegie Hall
By Cory Doctorow on Mar 13, 2012 10:58 am Ur-happy mutant David Byrne writes, Back in 2004, Caetano Veloso asked me join him for a night during his residency as a Perspectives artist at Carnegie Hall. The concert was very stripped down and acoustic. Jaques Morelenbaum augmented us on cello and Mauro Refosco on percussion. This evening was pretty special for me. I was ...
Read in browser DODOcase's new iPad covers: pretty sweet
By Xeni Jardin on Mar 13, 2012 10:34 am I'm a big fan of DODOcase's handmade-in-SF iPad cases, and the classic, restrained minimalism of their basic black line and "Essentials" collection. They've just announced a Spring/Summer series for the new iPad with vibrant two-tone colors, and the option of adding foil or black personalized lettering. And, if you like, a little hole for the ...
Read in browser Kevin Smith on going indie, podcasting, and "saving his career"
By Cory Doctorow on Mar 13, 2012 10:04 am On CNN, Doug Gross has a good account of Kevin Smith's SXSW presentation on how he became a podcaster and weaned himself off the "heroin" of movie studio money, going direct to his fans instead for advertising, merch sales and sold-out houses when he toured. This being CNN, they've got a lot of [expletive] marks ...
Read in browser ReThinking a Lot: the weird, massive, hidden-in-plain sight world of parking
By Cory Doctorow on Mar 13, 2012 09:18 am A press-release from MIT Press describes ReThinking a Lot, a fascinating-sounding book by MIT landscape architecture and urban design prof Eran Ben-Joseph. Ben-Joseph is obsessed with the odd role that parking and parking lots play in our urban landscapes, and ReThinking a Lot looks at the weird world of American parking, where the available non-residential ...
Read in browser eBook Review: Downtown Owl
By Jason Weisberger on Mar 13, 2012 08:28 am Chuck Klosterman's Downtown Owl is no cheap .99 Kindle Single. It cost $12 but looked so interesting I couldn't pass. Downtown Owl is a story about life in the tiny town of Owl, North Dakota. We watch the several characters' lives unfold -- a high school teacher who has just moved to town, a HS ...
Read in browser Lockdown London: how the Olympics will turn London into (more of) a police state
By Cory Doctorow on Mar 13, 2012 03:47 am In the Guardian, Stephen Graham describes the militarized security that will transform the UK capital into "Lockdown London" for the Olympics. London is set to meet and exceed Beijing for civil liberties violations, violent suppression of dissent, and overwhelming surveillance during the games, from the rule that says you're not allowed to display anti-Olympics posters ...
Read in browser INFOGRAPHICS [INFOGRAPHIC]
By Rob Beschizza on Mar 13, 2012 12:20 am Dan Frommer offers an infographic illustrating how infographics are ruining the World Wide Web. [SplatF via @GlennF] Previously: Computer-generated PR spam for infographic
Read in browser New Boing Boing T-shirt: Demolish Serious Culture
By Mark Frauenfelder on Mar 13, 2012 12:02 am "How can you be serious?" Not by wearing this T-shirt! The classic Mark Pawson T-shirt, updated for 2012. Sold exclusively in the Boing Boing Shop. Demolish Serious Culture T-shirt
Read in browser Over-elaborated rubegoldbergian steampunk corkscrew
By Cory Doctorow on Mar 12, 2012 11:39 pm Gramturismo sez, "A maker in Scotland has created an elaborate, steampunk style hand cranked corkscrew." It's quite an amazing gadget -- talk about thoroughly solving a problem! Rob Higgs (Thanks, gramturismo!)
Read in browser Lawblawg commemorates My Cousin Vinny
By Cory Doctorow on Mar 12, 2012 10:37 pm I'm a great fan of the (now 20 years old!) Joe Pesci/Marissa Tomei/Ralph Macchio movie My Cousin Vinny, and so, apparently, are a lot of lawyers. The Abnormal Use lawblawg has a great collection of articles commemorating the film's 20th anniversary, explaining why it resonates so much with the legal profession. On Friday, they're promising ...
Read in browser Topher Grace turns all three Star Wars prequels into one short, punch 85-min hypermovie
By Cory Doctorow on Mar 12, 2012 09:35 pm Topher Grace, star of "That 70s Show," created "Star Wars: Episode III.5: The Editor Strikes Back" by mixing down all 7+ hours of the three Star Wars prequels into one tight, punchy, 85-minute movie. The video is private on Vimeo, so I haven't seen it, but Peter Sciretta's detailed description on Slashfilm has me drooling ...
Read in browser Perv allegedly converts pub urinal drain into "piss dungeon"
By Cory Doctorow on Mar 12, 2012 08:27 pm I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with reveling in being drenched in a near-continuous stream of fresh, boozy urine, but if that's the way you're kinked, it seems rude to spirit away the yellow stuff without informed consent: "Listen mate, this is gonna sound totally insane, but I've just gone for a piss in ...
Read in browser US to go after "Border Tunnels" by prosecuting landowners, wiretapping communications
By Xeni Jardin on Mar 12, 2012 08:16 pm In the San Diego Reader, more on a bill passed last week by The U.S. House Judiciary Committee to help law enforcement crack down on illicit tunnels along the US-Mexico border: "The bill would allow law enforcement to prosecute landowners, prosecute those that fund the tunnels, and wiretap communications in suspected buildings that house tunnels. ...
Read in browser Interviews Before Execution: Chinese reality talk show with death row inmates
By Xeni Jardin on Mar 12, 2012 07:29 pm The BBC airs an hour-long documentary tonight about "Interviews Before Execution," a hit talk show in China in which host Ding Yu interviews prisoners on death row. Some 40 million viewers in China tune in to the show each week. Days, hours, or minutes before they are killed, the host talks inside prison to those ...
Read in browser On knitting 50 life-sized bees
By Cory Doctorow on Mar 12, 2012 07:28 pm Hannah Haworth found herself in the enviable position of having to knit 50 life-sized bees, which she did, and celebrated their completion with detailed notes and lovely photos. Remember when I mentioned that I had to knit 50 life size bees? Well I finally finished them!! woop woop! I may have gotten a little obsessive ...
Read in browser Canada's ridiculous university copyright deal poised to become law
By Cory Doctorow on Mar 12, 2012 06:22 pm Michael Geist points us to "A critique of how the collecting agency behind the 'bone stupid' copyright deals signed by U of Toronto and Western U is poised to have its wishes ensconced in Canada's soon-expected Copyright Modernization Act, Bill C-11, with provisions that 'override the copyrights of others, monopolize markets and collect a de ...
Read in browser Moebius documentary
By Cory Doctorow on Mar 12, 2012 05:23 pm Here's a one-hour BBC documentary on Moebius, the French comics artist whose passing we lamented this weekend. The doc, "Moebius Redux: A Life in Pictures," includes interviews with Stan Lee and Jodorowsky. Moebius – a life in pictures
Read in browser UN torture investigator: US gov's treatment of accused Wikileaks source Manning "cruel and inhuman"
By Xeni Jardin on Mar 12, 2012 04:19 pm The Guardian reports that Juan Mendez, special rapporteur on torture for the United Nations, has "formally accused the US government of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment towards Bradley Manning, the US soldier who was held in solitary confinement for almost a year on suspicion of being the WikiLeaks source. PDF of the report is here. ...
Read in browser Another Occupy Wall Street activist's Twitter account subpoenaed
By Xeni Jardin on Mar 12, 2012 03:35 pm Just one month ago, the Manhattan District Attorney's office subpoenaed the Twitter account of Occupy Wall Street participant Malcolm Harris, aka @destructuremal. Today, Jeff Rae received word of the same. He has published a copy of a notice he received from Twitter, which was accompanied by a copy of the DA's subpoena. A cover letter ...
Read in browser Edible Alien Autopsy toy
By Mark Frauenfelder on Mar 12, 2012 03:26 pm [Video Link] My friend and MAKE columnist Bob Knetzger is a toy designer and creates the Doctor Dreadful line of food toys. He recently emailed me about the latest creation in his line of Doctor Dreadful toys: the Edible Alien Autopsy The coolest thing arrives in store in the fall--the Doctor Dreadful edible Alien Autopsy. ...
Read in browser Taxonomy and history of rage-faces
By Cory Doctorow on Mar 12, 2012 03:20 pm On Ars Technica, Tom Connor does a great job producing a taxonomy and history of rage-faces, showing how they evolved from a set of proscribed, orthodox uses on 4chan to a wider set of uses and meanings in several online communities. Rage faces slowly migrated from 4chan into other communities. There, they gained popularity and ...
Read in browser Five significant, formerly classified documents
By Cory Doctorow on Mar 12, 2012 03:09 pm To kick off Sunshine Week, Catherine Shreve, the librarian for public policy and political science at Duke University's Perkins Library lists her five favorite declassified documents. 3. Bay of Pigs: Military Evaluation of the Central Intelligence Agency Para-Military Plan, Cuba. This memo from the Joint Chiefs of Staff to Secretary of Defense McNamara in early ...
Read in browser At SXSW, homeless people become WiFi hotspots
By Xeni Jardin on Mar 12, 2012 02:49 pm [Video Link] Over the weekend, I noticed that David Gallagher of The New York Times observed in Austin, "Homeless people have been enlisted to roam the streets wearing T-shirts that say 'I am a 4G hotspot." A number of other folks I follow on Twitter who are attending the annual SXSW event there mentioned it, ...
Read in browser Sunglass frames made from whiskey barrels
By Cory Doctorow on Mar 12, 2012 02:37 pm Portland's Shwood -- a manufacturer of wooden eyewear -- offered a (now sold-out) limited run of wooden sunglass frames made from Bushmills whiskey barrels. I toured the Bushmills distillery in the 1990s (top tip: volunteer to do the whiskey tasting at the end!), and was struck by the fact that these amazing barrels' only afterlife ...
Read in browser Kony 2012's Visible Funding: Invisible Children's anti-gay, creationist, Christian right donors
By Xeni Jardin on Mar 12, 2012 01:55 pm (Photo: The Kony 2012/Invisible Children guys posing with SPLA soldiers on the Sudan-Congo border in April 2008. Photograph by Glenna Gordon.) Over at Alternet, Bruce Wilson digs in to the sources of funding for the group behind "Kony 2012," and discovers 990 IRS tax forms and yearly financial disclosure reports from the nonprofit and its ...
Read in browser Dan Fogelman's script for the Gary Coleman-Emmanuel Lewis Project
By Cory Doctorow on Mar 12, 2012 01:16 pm Zack sez, "Screenwriter Dan Fogelman (CRAZY STUPID LOVE, CARS, many others) wrote a screenplay several years ago called THE GARY COLEMAN-EMMANUEL LEWIS PROJECT, where the two diminutive former child stars save the world. Google searches prove that yes, this is a real script, and apparently Michael Bay was at one point rumored to be producing ...
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