[Sponsor] VENTURA SPARC MGS - After years of research and development, the world's first Swiss mechanical automatic digital watch is a reality. Pierre Nobs invented the Ventura Automatic Digital Watch in 2000 - allowing movements of the wrist to activate a rotary mass which relays the momentum to a micro-generator; the electric energy gained in the process continuously feeds an optoelectronic time-module. See all Ventura Watches at Watchismo.
Redditor with an air-travel pass will become an upvoted summer bindlestiff How "jaywalking" was invented Outer Limits trading cards Go Right DIY AT-AT Cable Organizer Shuttle Enterprise arriving at JFK (big photos) Musician Grimes has a new line of rings Pray away the Gaga Babies driving robot wheelchairs (super cute video) After Yelp referral leads to $2K moving company ripoff, thoughts on "genuine reviews" For the billionaire who has everything: a spaceship 92 year old WWII vet is DVD bootlegger who sent 300,000 pirated discs to US troops Buildings made of books SpaceX Falcon 9 engine test will be webcast live (woo, fire! woo, space!) Hoax campus advertisement offers students €100 to pretend to be pro-ACTA demonstrators Portraits of alien abductees Enterprise lands in New York Debt confessions of a former priest How the Rotating Snakes optical illusion works Vatican City ATM displays instructions in Latin DIY: A community of kids who make The discovery of DNA Paintball with human "fox" as target Your land, my land, island Redditor with an air-travel pass will become an upvoted summer bindlestiff
By Cory Doctorow on Apr 28, 2012 10:59 am Generique is a redditor with a BSc in forensic science, no job, and an unlimited US air-travel pass for the summer (he has a family member who works for an airline). He's volunteered to go anywhere and do anything, based on Reddit upvotes, to have an "epic summer adventure." Want me to hand deliver a ...
Read in browser How "jaywalking" was invented
By Cory Doctorow on Apr 28, 2012 08:56 am Sarah Goodyear relates the events that gave rise to the concept of "jaywalking," and describes what American life was like before the assumption that roads were primarily for cars became the norm, and when the streets were "vibrant places with a multitude of users and uses." It wasn't always like this. Browse through New York ...
Read in browser Outer Limits trading cards
By Cory Doctorow on Apr 28, 2012 02:52 am Zak sez, "Here's some artistic renditions of many of the wonderful, creepy and sometimes rubbery creatures of the Outer Limits, along with the cards' backs! The page links to another site about 1950s/60s monster cards (including MARS ATTACKS) in all their deeply unsettling glory." These have been online since 2006. They're stupendous. The Outer Limits!
Read in browser Go Right
By Rob Beschizza on Apr 27, 2012 07:48 pm PlanetInfinitesimal knows the way. The music is Michael Nyman's "A Wild and Distant Shore". [via Waxy] Previously: Game Deaths.
Read in browser DIY AT-AT Cable Organizer
By Jason Weisberger on Apr 27, 2012 06:46 pm This beautiful plywood cable organizer is available at Copious. The DIY AT-AT is constructed in likeness of the Star Wars AT-AT, It's a geeks solution to keeping cables and wires organized at home or in the office. It's made from high grade plywood and it comes flat-packed. Nuts and screws are all included. It can ...
Read in browser Shuttle Enterprise arriving at JFK (big photos)
By Xeni Jardin on Apr 27, 2012 06:10 pm Two gorgeous photographs shot by C.S. Muncy of the retired NASA space shuttle Enterprise landing at New York City's John F. Kennedy airport earlier today. The original test shuttle piggybacked on a Boeing 747 jumbo jet. The duo flew from Dulles International Airport in Washington, DC., and landed at 11:22 AM Eastern after flying over ...
Read in browser Musician Grimes has a new line of rings
By Mark Frauenfelder on Apr 27, 2012 05:54 pm Electropop artist Grimes (aka Claire Boucher) has teamed up with Montreal-based jeweller and sculptor Morgan Black to sell these rings. Clear polymer clay? Maybe!
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By Xeni Jardin on Apr 27, 2012 05:42 pm photo: Reuters/Lee Jae-Won Christians attend a prayer meeting being held as they pray to stop the concert of Lady Gaga, at a church in Seoul April 22, 2012. The Christians blame Lady Gaga for promoting indecency and "homosexual love." Gaga performed live in Seoul today, despite the incantations. Below, her performance during the MTV Video ...
Read in browser Babies driving robot wheelchairs (super cute video)
By Xeni Jardin on Apr 27, 2012 05:22 pm [Video Link] Here's an amazing feel-good video with which to end your week, via the National Science Foundation. The really awesome footage starts around a minute and a half in. "James C. (Cole) Galloway, associate professor of physical therapy, and Sunil Agrawal, professor of mechanical engineering -- have outfitted kid-size robots to provide mobility to ...
Read in browser After Yelp referral leads to $2K moving company ripoff, thoughts on "genuine reviews"
By Xeni Jardin on Apr 27, 2012 05:13 pm Justin Vincent chose a moving company based on positive Yelp reviews. Things did not work out well. "I spent 40 days without any furniture and quite a few of my belongings have been misplaced – forever." Turns out negative reviews were there, but suppressed. Could smarter design have prevented this? (via @blam)
Read in browser For the billionaire who has everything: a spaceship
By Xeni Jardin on Apr 27, 2012 04:53 pm Dylan Tweney has a good read over at VentureBeat on a trend of sorts among the ultra-rich: investing in space exploration startups. "The wonder isn't that billionaires are doing this, the wonder is that it's taken them so long."
Read in browser 92 year old WWII vet is DVD bootlegger who sent 300,000 pirated discs to US troops
By Xeni Jardin on Apr 27, 2012 04:30 pm photo: Todd Heisler/The New York Times The New York Times has a profile of Long Island resident Hyman Strachman, "a 92-year-old, 5-foot-5 World War II veteran trying to stay busy after the death of his wife." He is one of the world's most prolific movie bootleggers, and has shipped hundreds of thousands of discs to ...
Read in browser Buildings made of books
By Xeni Jardin on Apr 27, 2012 03:58 pm Flavorwire has published an image gallery of 10 buildings constructed entirely of books. Above: Home, a self-sustained book igloo designed by Colombian artist Miler Lagos (We've featured this one on Boing Boing before). Dig the rest of Flavorpill's picks here.
Read in browser SpaceX Falcon 9 engine test will be webcast live (woo, fire! woo, space!)
By Xeni Jardin on Apr 27, 2012 03:52 pm If you like space and/or rockets and/or awesome flames, you'll want to tune in to spacex.com on Monday, April 30 to watch "a static fire test of the Falcon 9 rocket's nine powerful Merlin engines in preparation for the company's upcoming launch." The test is scheduled to begin at 2:30 PM ET/ 11:30 AM PT, ...
Read in browser Hoax campus advertisement offers students €100 to pretend to be pro-ACTA demonstrators
By Cory Doctorow on Apr 27, 2012 03:36 pm @jimmy_pirat (a Twitter account with only one post) snapped a blurrycam picture of a campus employment ad that sought students to pretend to be pro-ACTA and hold up photogenic signs, paying €100 for two hours' work. The recruitment agency named in the ad disavows any involvement with it, and has threatened to sue whomever posted ...
Read in browser Portraits of alien abductees
By David Pescovitz on Apr 27, 2012 03:26 pm Photographer Steven Hirsch attended the International UFO Conference to take portraits of abductees. He also transcribed their stories and asked for illustrations of their experiences. Above: left, Cynthia; middle, a "Blue Arcturian" she met; right, Bruce, who was taken to a moon of Saturn. "Little Sticky Legs: Alien Abductee Portraits by Steven Hirsch" "Cat People, ...
Read in browser Enterprise lands in New York
By David Pescovitz on Apr 27, 2012 02:59 pm The Space Shuttle Enterprise has landed in New York and look who was on board! Ok, they weren't. But this magnificent 1976 photo, previously seen on BB, turned up today in a CNN.com article pegged on the Shuttle's journey to its new home at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum. "Shuttle Enterprise has a ...
Read in browser Debt confessions of a former priest
By Mark Frauenfelder on Apr 27, 2012 01:58 pm Phillip Cioppa was a Roman Catholic priest for 18 years. His starting salary was $8,400/year and when he left in 2001 he was earning $18,000 (after taxes, Social Security and Medicare). To make ends meet, he used a credit card, and found himself in deep debt. He shares his story on credit.com: In late 1983, ...
Read in browser How the Rotating Snakes optical illusion works
By David Pescovitz on Apr 27, 2012 01:28 pm In the new Journal of Neuroscience, Barrow Neurological Institute researchers present their study exploring why Akiyoshi Kitaoka's "Rotating Snakes" optical illusion is so effective. In fact, it's the cover story! From Science News: Participants held down a button when the snakes seemed to swirl and lifted the button when the snakes appeared still. Right before ...
Read in browser Vatican City ATM displays instructions in Latin
By Cory Doctorow on Apr 27, 2012 01:28 pm Seth Schoen snapped this Vatican City ATM that displays instructions in Latin. Latin ATM (via Kottke)
Read in browser DIY: A community of kids who make
By Mark Frauenfelder on Apr 27, 2012 01:18 pm My daughter signed up for this new app and website called DIY, which was made for kids to share photos of their projects. The design and interface is beautiful. (Here's her portfolio.) Our ambition is for DIY to be the first app and online community in every kid’s life. It’s what we wish we had ...
Read in browser The discovery of DNA
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Apr 27, 2012 01:09 pm Fifty-nine years ago this week, James Watson and Frances Crick published their first description of the structure of DNA. You can read the full, historic paper online. Note that the "unpublished experimental results and ideas" of Dr. R. E. Franklin get a shout-out at the end. (Via Pourmecoffee)
Read in browser Paintball with human "fox" as target
By David Pescovitz on Apr 27, 2012 01:04 pm In an attempt to satisfy hunters left wanting due to hunting bans in parts of England, UK Paintball is now offering a "fox hunt" where participants target a human dressed in a fox suit. (I just hope this doesn't turn into open season on furries.) Does the idea remind you of Richard Connell's 1924 short ...
Read in browser Your land, my land, island
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Apr 27, 2012 01:02 pm Uninhabited Market Island in the Baltic Sea is home to an international border between Sweden and Finland that is shaped, convolutedly, like the number 2. The New York Times explains the history behind this, one of the strangest borders in the world. (Via Doug Mack)
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