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Great Graphic Novels: The Collected Sam and Max: Surfin' the Highway, by Steve Purcell Overweight elephants in India go on a diet Meet some of the curious characters linked to "Innocence of Muslims" film Caturday: Here is a purring cat with daisies on its head (video) White House asks YouTube to "review" that anti-Muslim video blamed for global freakouts Cthulhu lemon! Fantagraphics to publish Ed Piskor's Hip Hop Family Tree as a book Malaysia offers "spot the gay kid" seminars for teachers and parents Victorian and Edwardian proto-science-fiction Bomb threats linked to "Innocence of Muslims" lead to evacuations at 3 US college campuses iPhone "oil paintings," animated GIFs of artful screen smudges Japanese man attacked with hot noodles over Sino-Japan geopolitics Manipulated Outrage and Misplaced Fury: Husain Haqqani on the YouTube outrage The great Yoga Pants Legal War of 2012 California crystal meth busts indicate Mexican drug gangs' expansion Middle East mobs freaking the hell out over YouTube video Gawker outs director of "Innocence of Muslims" as softcore porn director More signs point to "Media for Christ" firm behind "Innocence of Muslims" GoPro camera captures free-fall from 12.5K feet when skydiver drops it (video, not safe for epileptics) Fan art and copyright presentation from ComicCon We mere non-Marvel executive mortals might get to see Edgar Wright's Ant-Man sizzle reel There were even more insane, demented monsters that we didn't see in Cabin in the Woods (but they'll be on the DVD) Brief confusion-fixer: Paul W.S. Anderson and Paul Thomas Anderson Pennsylvania man, imprisoned since the age of 18, faces execution for murder of older men who repeatedly raped him World's tallest mohawk Major Lazer's "Get Free" (featuring Amber Coffman) Man believed to be "Innocence of Muslims" filmmaker once arrested for making PCP Glitch, the whimsical game, reboots Magnificent Zelda Fitzgerald cake Acid Test diploma up for auction Great Graphic Novels: The Collected Sam and Max: Surfin' the Highway, by Steve Purcell
By Kirk Demarais on Sep 15, 2012 12:30 pm Last month I asked my friends to write about books they loved (you can read all the essays here). This month, I invited them to write about their favorite graphic novels, and they selected some excellent titles. I hope you enjoy them! (Read all the Great Graphic Novel essays here.) -- Mark The Collected Sam ...
Read in browser Overweight elephants in India go on a diet
By Xeni Jardin on Sep 15, 2012 12:07 pm BBC News reports on the elephant obesity crisis in India. All that vajiggle-jaggle is not beautimous.
Read in browser Meet some of the curious characters linked to "Innocence of Muslims" film
By Xeni Jardin on Sep 15, 2012 11:52 am At the ADL blog, a rundown of Anti-Muslim Christian Activists linked to the "Innocence of Muslims" film. One of them, anti-Muslim activist Pamela Geller associate Joseph Nasralla, stars in the YouTube video above. It's all too murky for me, still, to accept the story at face value. Laura Rozen has been a good source of ...
Read in browser Caturday: Here is a purring cat with daisies on its head (video)
By Xeni Jardin on Sep 15, 2012 11:49 am [Video Link, via shironekoshiro].
Read in browser White House asks YouTube to "review" that anti-Muslim video blamed for global freakouts
By Xeni Jardin on Sep 15, 2012 11:46 am "There's no indication that the government is questioning the right of these idiots to make that repellent film. On the other hand, it does make us nervous when the government throws its weight behind any requests for censorship," the American Civil Liberties Union's Ben Wizner said in an interview Friday.
Read in browser Cthulhu lemon!
By Cory Doctorow on Sep 15, 2012 08:48 am Sean from Melbourne sez, "This, believe it or not, is a citrus fruit that I have dubbed Cthulhu lemon. Ok, we did the eyes. But the tentacles at the bottom are natural." Cthulhu lemon
Read in browser Fantagraphics to publish Ed Piskor's Hip Hop Family Tree as a book
By Mark Frauenfelder on Sep 14, 2012 11:10 pm This is great news: Fantagraphics announced it will be publishing the anthology edition of Ed Piskor's Hip Hop Family Tree, which appears weekly on Boing Boing. Congrats, Ed! What started out as a web comic Ed Piskor's Hip Hop Family Tree traces the foundation of hip hop from its Bronx origins with DJ Kool Herc ...
Read in browser Malaysia offers "spot the gay kid" seminars for teachers and parents
By Cory Doctorow on Sep 14, 2012 10:42 pm In Malaysia, being gay can get you a caning and 20 years in prison. Now the Malaysian government is holding seminars to help teachers and parents figure out which kids are gay (boys with "tight, light-coloured clothes and large handbags" are under suspicion; girls who "have no affection for men and like to hang out ...
Read in browser Victorian and Edwardian proto-science-fiction
By Cory Doctorow on Sep 14, 2012 09:06 pm David Malki sez, "I moderated a panel at Worldcon the other week on Victorian & Edwardian (proto-)science fiction, and my co-panelist Matt Bennardo kept notes on everything both the panelists and the audience brought up. A lot of great work was mentioned, including tons of titles I'd never heard before. Now Matt's compiled this list ...
Read in browser Bomb threats linked to "Innocence of Muslims" lead to evacuations at 3 US college campuses
By Xeni Jardin on Sep 14, 2012 08:51 pm Three schools in Texas, North Dakota and Ohio were evacuated today after bomb threats apparently linked to the "Innocence of Muslims" YouTube video freakout prompted officials to issue evacuation orders. More at Associated Press. And here are our archives.
Read in browser iPhone "oil paintings," animated GIFs of artful screen smudges
By Xeni Jardin on Sep 14, 2012 08:48 pm A little gross, a little genius. iPhone Oil Paintings (by JK Keller via Gautam Ramdurai).
Read in browser Japanese man attacked with hot noodles over Sino-Japan geopolitics
By Xeni Jardin on Sep 14, 2012 08:43 pm Shanghaiist reports that "A Japanese man had hot noodles thrown on his face while another had his eyeglasses snatched on a street in Shanghai as anti-Japanese sentiment surged in China over a territorial dispute in the East China Sea."
Read in browser Manipulated Outrage and Misplaced Fury: Husain Haqqani on the YouTube outrage
By Xeni Jardin on Sep 14, 2012 08:40 pm Husain Haqqani, professor of international relations at Boston University and Pakistan's former ambassador to the U.S., writes in a WSJ op-ed that the "YouTube riots" spreading around the world aren't really about that weird video. "Protests orchestrated on the pretext of slights and offenses against Islam have been part of Islamist strategy for decades." Update: ...
Read in browser The great Yoga Pants Legal War of 2012
By Xeni Jardin on Sep 14, 2012 08:14 pm Popular yoga garb maker Lululemon (which is linked to the Landmark Education Forum) is suing Calvin Klein over a design for yoga pants.
Read in browser California crystal meth busts indicate Mexican drug gangs' expansion
By Xeni Jardin on Sep 14, 2012 08:08 pm Recent DEA busts of methamphetamine "conversion labs" in California indicate that drug gangs based in Mexico are exploring new business models that mimic "legal industries that have found that, rather than importing finished products, it is more efficient to do final processing close to their customers. 'Anything that any good businessman does, these guys will ...
Read in browser Middle East mobs freaking the hell out over YouTube video
By Xeni Jardin on Sep 14, 2012 07:59 pm This story is so weird. And with every advancement this week, it just gets weirder. "Fury about a film that insults the Prophet Mohammad tore across the Middle East after weekly prayers on Friday with protesters attacking U.S. embassies and burning American flags as the Pentagon rushed to bolster security at its missions," reports Reuters. ...
Read in browser Gawker outs director of "Innocence of Muslims" as softcore porn director
By Xeni Jardin on Sep 14, 2012 07:54 pm A reasonably big scoop from Adrian Chen at Gawker: "The anti-Islam film that's set off a firestorm in the Middle East was directed by a 65-year-old schlock director named Alan Roberts, we've confirmed. He's the creative vision behind softcore porn classics like The Happy Hooker Goes Hollywood" And related, more of the actors in this ...
Read in browser More signs point to "Media for Christ" firm behind "Innocence of Muslims"
By Xeni Jardin on Sep 14, 2012 07:50 pm Marlow Stern at The Daily Beast reports on more evidence that right-wing-wacko Pam Geller associate Joseph Nasrallah ("Media For Christ") may be the producer of the "Sam Bacile" hate video, "Innocence of Muslims." More: Boing Boing news archive for "Innocence of Muslims." (via Max Blumenthal)
Read in browser GoPro camera captures free-fall from 12.5K feet when skydiver drops it (video, not safe for epileptics)
By Xeni Jardin on Sep 14, 2012 07:46 pm [Video Link] Warning: do not watch if you're epileptic. "MartialArt23," the YouTube user who shot and uploaded this video, explains: [I] bumped my head on the door frame on exit unclasping the latch on the box. The camera popped out on exit at 12.500 and fell straight down onto the landing area at the DZ ...
Read in browser Fan art and copyright presentation from ComicCon
By Cory Doctorow on Sep 14, 2012 06:00 pm Here's an hour-long presentation on copyright law and fan art from San Diego ComicCon 2012, presented by a lawyer from DeviantArt who once worked as a copyright enforcer for Paramount. It's a pretty good overview, though -- predictably enough -- the presenter waits until quite late to talk about fair use and other public rights ...
Read in browser We mere non-Marvel executive mortals might get to see Edgar Wright's Ant-Man sizzle reel
By Jamie Frevele on Sep 14, 2012 05:33 pm Now that New York Comic Con is approaching, let's talk about San Diego Comic Con! Remember when Edgar Wright showed attendees some test footage for the Ant-Man movie he's officially making for Marvel Studios? We might just get to see it, too! In fact, we might even get to see something even better, since that ...
Read in browser There were even more insane, demented monsters that we didn't see in Cabin in the Woods (but they'll be on the DVD)
By Jamie Frevele on Sep 14, 2012 04:35 pm The best horror movie of the year, Cabin in the Woods, featured a wall of tons of freaky beasties in one of its most memorable scenes. But as unsettling and scary as that was to think about, there were actually even more monsters that didn't make the final cut of the film. io9 has a ...
Read in browser Brief confusion-fixer: Paul W.S. Anderson and Paul Thomas Anderson
By Jamie Frevele on Sep 14, 2012 04:15 pm Two starkly different movies hit theaters today -- Resident Evil: Retribution, which is an action movie based on a video game starring Milla Jovovich, and The Master, a movie that is totally not about Scientology starring Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix. However, the directors of both films have the same first and last names, ...
Read in browser Pennsylvania man, imprisoned since the age of 18, faces execution for murder of older men who repeatedly raped him
By Cory Doctorow on Sep 14, 2012 03:53 pm Terry Williams is on death row in Pennsylvania for murdering two older men who raped him and physically abused him, something he had endured from a succession of predators from the age of six until he killed two of them them around the time of his 18th birthday. The jury didn't get to hear about ...
Read in browser World's tallest mohawk
By Cory Doctorow on Sep 14, 2012 03:21 pm A Tokyo fashion designer did a public appearance in New York's Washington Square Park in order to show off his 3' 8.6" mohawk, which has held the Guinness World Record for world's tallest mohawk since 2011. More from the Houston Chronicle Forty-year-old Kazuhiro Watanabe (kah-zoo-HEE'-roh wah-tah-NAH'-bee) says he's been growing the hair for 15 years. ...
Read in browser Major Lazer's "Get Free" (featuring Amber Coffman)
By David Pescovitz on Sep 14, 2012 03:12 pm I encourage you to shake your rump to "Get Free" by Major Lazer (aka Diplo) featuring Amber Coffman (Dirty Projectors.) The song is included on Major Lazer's forthcoming album "Free the Universe" with a newly-delayed release date of February 19, 2013. (Thanks, Sarah Ruxin!)
Read in browser Man believed to be "Innocence of Muslims" filmmaker once arrested for making PCP
By Xeni Jardin on Sep 14, 2012 02:22 pm Yesterday, I posted an update on the stranger-by-the-day story of "Innocence of Muslims"—the craptacular film trailer (the actual feature may or may not even exist) is blamed for a string of violent attacks by ultra-conservative Muslims, including one in Libya that led to the death of a US ambassador and other US agents at an ...
Read in browser Glitch, the whimsical game, reboots
By Cory Doctorow on Sep 14, 2012 01:52 pm Last November, I blogged the open beta of Glitch, a whimsical, beautiful, dreamlike browser-based game from Flickr co-founder Stewart Butterfield, with help from Katamari Damacy creator Keita Takehashi. Stewart and co took Glitch down after its initial test and did a substantial revision to it, which is now live. I've been playing the Glitch reboot ...
Read in browser Magnificent Zelda Fitzgerald cake
By David Pescovitz on Sep 14, 2012 01:26 pm "Zelda is half Peach Cake soaked in bourbon, the other half is vanilla cake with a salted caramel buttercream." Yes, cake. More magnificent cakes at Karen Portalo's cake gallery and Flickr stream.
Read in browser Acid Test diploma up for auction
By David Pescovitz on Sep 14, 2012 01:12 pm The above 1966 Acid Test Diploma of Merry Prankster and Jerry Garcia's former wife Carolyn "Mountain Girl" Garcia is up for auction as part of The HeART of Rock and Roll Poster Auction. Current bid is $5,775. Over at Collectors Weekly, our pal Ben Marks puts this tattered piece of paper in context as a ...
Read in browser Meet SparkTruck, an “educational build-mobile” for the twenty-first century.
Dreamed up by a group of Stanford d.school students and funded through Kickstarter, SparkTruck is a mobile maker space currently traveling across the United States. At schools and summer camps and libraries around the country, the SparkTruck team offers workshops to help kids “find their inner maker” as they design and build projects like stamps, stop-motion animation clips, and “vibrobots.”
[video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmRKXqDwieY&feature=plcp]
This might seem all shiny and new. And it is—but only in part. What’s so striking (and exciting) about SparkTruck is the way it combines old and new. It does so in the tools it gets kids using, which range from pipe cleaners to laser cutters. It does so in its educational approach, which combines cutting-edge (get it?) STEM and design pedagogy with the fundamentals of an old-school shop class. And it does so in its method, which combines the iconic, century-old technology of the bookmobile with the hot new form of the maker space.
In doing so, SparkTruck joins a growing number of libraries which are combining time-tested principles (like equal access to information) with new technologies (like 3-D printers), putting in maker spaces and media production labs alongside bookshelves and meeting rooms. As I’ve argued over on bookmobility.org, these combinations make sense because reading and making actually have a lot in common. They’re both creative processes that take existing materials and combine them in new ways. Getting people engaged in those kinds of processes—through imaginative thinking, contemplation, hands-on problem-solving, and collaborative learning—is what both maker spaces and libraries are all about.
Taking that commitment on the road with scissors and hammers and 3-D printers and a great big bookmobile-like truck, SparkTruck serves as a laboratory for new approaches, as well as a reminder that trying new things doesn’t have to (and probably shouldn’t!) necessarily mean tossing old ones out.
After all, what would those vibrobots be without classically crafty pipe cleaners and tongue depressors? And what would a library be without the creative, participatory, straight-up awesome experience of reading?
SparkTruck schedule [sparktruck.org]
How to arrange a visit from SparkTruck [sparktruck.org]
SparkTruck YouTube channel [youtube.com]
Signature: --Derek Attig, bookmobility.org
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