[Sponsor] The Alessi Grow Watch is a cool new timepiece designed by Andrea Morgante of Shiro Studio and now available at Watchismo! The watch concept is derived from the 'act of growing' which often results in forms and patterns which we can all instinctively relate to. The surface of the design features a rippled texture, much like the muscle fibers which lay below our skin. Perceived as a single entity rather than an assembly of multiple mechanical parts, 'grow' is an external manifestation of our bodies' qualities.
Burger King breaches McDonald's Great Graphic Novels: Alan's War: The Memories of G.I. Alan Cope Of GM corn and rat tumors: Why peer reviewed doesn't mean "accurate" Imagineers visit with Maker Camp Sponsor Shout-Out MD Anderson launches $3 billion "Cancer Moon Shot" program on anniversary of JFK "moon shot" speech The Science and tragedy of "Bath Salts" Shuttle Endeavour flies over California today, en route to LA retirement Breaking Bad IRL: chemistry teacher busted for cooking meth, selling at school where he teaches Advisory: iOS6 maps on the tube Origami hats for world leaders, folded from the currency of their respective nations The WELL is bought by its users Lunatic SUV driver harassing cyclists Leader of Amish sect convicted of hate crimes in bizarre beard- and hair-cutting assaults 150 years of photos of American lesbians The Art of Web Design (Video) Dinosaur Art: The World's Greatest Paleoart -- exclusive excerpt The dumb "No on 37" campaign to defeat labels on genetically engineered food Knott's Berry theme park ride strands riders 300 feet in the air for hours Dried riverbed reveals stolen architecture, unexploded artillery shells Flash Gordon's football fight (1980) Android on eBay What does the $1000 genome really mean for you? Munson typewriter, a beauty from 1890 Outstanding accounts Amanda Palmer will pay volunteer musicians who play her gigs A Medieval Bestiary: When a book breaks your heart Every NFL quarterback as a Muppet Jenny Slate is writing an adorably wacky Looney Tunes movie for us "39 Lashes" from Jesus Christ Superstar (1973) Burger King breaches McDonald's
By David Pescovitz on Sep 21, 2012 12:31 pm On Monday, the Burger King burst into a McDonald's restaurant in Rome, Georgia, handed out free hamburgers to customers, danced, and posted for photos with children. Managers called the police, but the Burger King escaped in a white Acura before the fuzz arrived. "Man dressed as Burger King visits West Rome McDonald's"
Read in browser Great Graphic Novels: Alan's War: The Memories of G.I. Alan Cope
By Mark Frauenfelder on Sep 21, 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 Alan's War: The ...
Read in browser Of GM corn and rat tumors: Why peer reviewed doesn't mean "accurate"
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Sep 21, 2012 12:12 pm Yesterday, in an aside to a post criticizing an astroturf political campaign in California, Mark mentioned a new study that supposedly found GM corn causes tumors in rats. As Mark said in an update to that post, this study is severely flawed, but I wanted to follow-up on that with some discussion about why it's ...
Read in browser Imagineers visit with Maker Camp
By Cory Doctorow on Sep 21, 2012 11:57 am Maker Camp teens got a kick-ass treat: a one-hour Google+ hangout with Disney Imagineering, which has been released to YouTube. Here's The Disney Blog's John Frost: Maker Camp is a month-long virtual DIY camp put on by Maker Faire. Hundreds of teens participate and learn about science, technology, engineering, and math and how to put ...
Read in browser Sponsor Shout-Out
By Rob Beschizza on Sep 21, 2012 10:52 am Our thanks to Watchismo, sponsors of our daily email update. The Alessi Grow Watch is a cool new timepiece designed by Andrea Morgante of Shiro Studio and now available at Watchismo! The watch concept is derived from the 'act of growing', which often results in natural forms and patterns we instinctively relate to. The surface ...
Read in browser MD Anderson launches $3 billion "Cancer Moon Shot" program on anniversary of JFK "moon shot" speech
By Xeni Jardin on Sep 21, 2012 10:34 am MD Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas is today launching the Moon Shots Program, "an unprecedented effort to dramatically accelerate the pace of converting scientific discoveries into clinical advances that reduce cancer deaths." The program is backed by billions of dollars in funding, and there is some controversy around the money and the ...
Read in browser The Science and tragedy of "Bath Salts"
By Xeni Jardin on Sep 21, 2012 10:14 am At PBS NewsHour, Jenny Marder has a truly epic report on so-called "bath salts," a term commonly used to refer to a variable cocktail of drugs linked to a number of violent episodes throughout the US. Her investigative feauture is the most extensive and authoritative I've seen on the topic, a long read full of ...
Read in browser Shuttle Endeavour flies over California today, en route to LA retirement
By Xeni Jardin on Sep 21, 2012 09:50 am Photo: Shuttle Endeavour's final landing at Edwards AFB. September 20, 2012. By Todd Lappin If you're in California today, Friday, Sept. 21, you may have a chance to see space shuttle Endeavour's historic flyover of the state as it heads for the California Science Center in Los Angeles for retirement. Here are more details from ...
Read in browser Breaking Bad IRL: chemistry teacher busted for cooking meth, selling at school where he teaches
By Xeni Jardin on Sep 21, 2012 09:13 am East Texas chemistry teacher William Duncan, like Breaking Bad protagonist Walter White, applied his love of chemistry to a promising side job as a methamphetamine cook. He was busted for selling home-brewed crystal in the parking lot of the same junior high school where he taught science. He has not been fired. The school has ...
Read in browser Advisory: iOS6 maps on the tube
By Cory Doctorow on Sep 21, 2012 08:54 am The London Underground workers made a funny. (Thanks, Fipi Lele!) (Image: source unknown -- if you know it, please leave details in the comments)
Read in browser Origami hats for world leaders, folded from the currency of their respective nations
By Xeni Jardin on Sep 21, 2012 08:43 am Hasegawa Yosuke creates origami hats for presidents, dictators, and monarchs from the currency of the nations they led. via MyModernMet.
Read in browser The WELL is bought by its users
By Cory Doctorow on Sep 21, 2012 12:16 am The WELL, the online community which started out life more than 20 years ago as the Whole Earth Lectronic Link, has been sold to a company founded by some of its long-time users. It has had many owners in its storied history, but its most recent owner, Salon, is the first public company to own ...
Read in browser Lunatic SUV driver harassing cyclists
By Cory Doctorow on Sep 20, 2012 10:46 pm YouTube user Dfriel1 and a pal went out for a Sunday bike ride on a road east of Longmont, CO, when a driver in a Ford Explorer (license plate Colorado 893 EKG) pulled up behind them and rode their tails for five minutes*, blaring his horn and holding up the traffic behind them. Despite their ...
Read in browser Leader of Amish sect convicted of hate crimes in bizarre beard- and hair-cutting assaults
By Xeni Jardin on Sep 20, 2012 09:29 pm And his name is "Mullet." (NYT)
Read in browser 150 years of photos of American lesbians
By Cory Doctorow on Sep 20, 2012 08:41 pm Autostraddle's Riese has collected an astounding gallery of photos of American lesbians, spanning 150 years, from 1850 to 2000. I really threw myself into Herstory Month, in June, eating every accessible herstory archive on the internet and spending hours in the library, accumulating massive stacks of borrowed books which I stored at the foot of ...
Read in browser The Art of Web Design (Video)
By Mark Frauenfelder on Sep 20, 2012 08:01 pm [Video Link] I enjoyed this video created by PBS's Off Book, called The Art of Web Design. The "8-bit style" soundtrack is a treat, too. The explosion of the internet over the past 20 years has led to the development of one of the newest creative mediums: the website. Web designers have adapted through the ...
Read in browser Dinosaur Art: The World's Greatest Paleoart -- exclusive excerpt
By Steve White on Sep 20, 2012 07:06 pm There are many forms of art –- still life, abstract, landscape, digital, cubism, marine, aviation, splatter, modern, photography etc but chances are, few people know what "paleoart" is. Well, simply put, it is the illustration of prehistoric life. Its practitioners combine an understanding of such broad disciplines as anatomy, geology and botany to open windows ...
Read in browser The dumb "No on 37" campaign to defeat labels on genetically engineered food
By Mark Frauenfelder on Sep 20, 2012 06:43 pm "No on 37" is a campaign to defeat "California Proposition 37, Mandatory Labeling of Genetically Engineered Food," which is up for a vote in the November election. I ran across the ad shown here on the LA Times' website and didn't find it particularly persuasive. When I visited the site I was impressed by processed ...
Read in browser Knott's Berry theme park ride strands riders 300 feet in the air for hours
By Mark Frauenfelder on Sep 20, 2012 06:19 pm A husband who wanted to "train" his wife to lose her fear of heights got his wish granted when a Knott's Berry Farm ride stranded riders for the second time this month. "The first half an hour was pretty rough on me. I have a fear of heights,” rider Donna Garrison told KABC-TV. “I was ...
Read in browser Dried riverbed reveals stolen architecture, unexploded artillery shells
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Sep 20, 2012 06:17 pm When Sweden invaded Poland in the 17th century, the Swedes made off with pieces of marble lintels, columns, and other architectural details from the Polish royal palace. Hundreds of years later, Nazis invaded Poland, carrying with them deadly, modern weaponry and a system of violent repression aimed at the country's Jewish population. Now, thanks to ...
Read in browser Flash Gordon's football fight (1980)
By David Pescovitz on Sep 20, 2012 06:15 pm Discussion with Mrs. Beschizza about Ted conjured up fond memories of Sam J. Jones's post-10 epic role as Flash Gordon in the 1980 British-American film adaptation of the classic comic strip. Yes, the one with the brilliantly bombastic Queen soundtrack. Adds Mr. Beschizza, "Flash Gordon is why America should get to make a Doctor Who ...
Read in browser Android on eBay
By Advertiser on Sep 20, 2012 06:12 pm ADVERTISEMENT This post is sponsored by eBay. From the new to the hard to find, when it's on your mind, it's on eBay. There are those who are dedicated to the fruits of Cupertino and those who, well, aren't. As we saw previously, there are plenty of Apple deals to be had at eBay. Three ...
Read in browser What does the $1000 genome really mean for you?
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Sep 20, 2012 06:00 pm The cost of genome sequencing is starting to sink into the affordable range. (In comparison to its previous cost. We're talking "within reach" the same way Design Within Reach uses the phrase.) Companies are starting to claim that a $1000 personal genome sequence is on the horizon. But what does that mean for you? Should ...
Read in browser Munson typewriter, a beauty from 1890
By Cory Doctorow on Sep 20, 2012 05:56 pm The Martin Howard Typewriter Collection has a new treasure to show off: a Munson typewriter, with horizontal rods that control a hammer that strikes the page from behind: The Munson typewriter is a remarkable piece of engineering, with a complex and original mechanical design packed into a small frame. Its inner workings are largely exposed, ...
Read in browser Outstanding accounts
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Sep 20, 2012 05:29 pm Phil Plait — who writes the Bad Astronomy blog — still has not been paid for his contributions to the Great Global Warming Conspiracy. For such an organized cabal, you think they would have a better accounting department.
Read in browser Amanda Palmer will pay volunteer musicians who play her gigs
By Cory Doctorow on Sep 20, 2012 05:29 pm In an update to Xeni's post yesterday about Amanda Fucking Palmer asking her musician-fans to play on stage during her tour. Palmer has written a long, thoughtful note about the non-monetary ways in which musicians compensate one another, replied to critics, reshuffled her project budget and freed money to pay the musicians who came out ...
Read in browser A Medieval Bestiary: When a book breaks your heart
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Sep 20, 2012 05:05 pm This review is cross-posted on DownloadTheUniverse, a group blog that reviews science-related ebooks and discusses the future of the written word. An illustration from the The Royal Bestiary, depicting a unicorn laying its head on the lap of a lady. Presumably, the illustrator had never seen a unicorn, nor (one suspects) a lady. A Medeival ...
Read in browser Every NFL quarterback as a Muppet
By Jamie Frevele on Sep 20, 2012 04:53 pm I want to applaud the efforts of BuzzFeed's Ben Rosen for taking the time and doing the research for this very special and important thing: all 32 quarterbacks in the National Football League if they were Muppets. This is brilliant, and you have to look at it. That's right, Tom "Pepe the Prawn" Brady, you ...
Read in browser Jenny Slate is writing an adorably wacky Looney Tunes movie for us
By Jamie Frevele on Sep 20, 2012 04:30 pm Looney Tunes is slowly making a comeback, having debuted their reboot on Cartoon Network last year and earned themselves an Emmy nomination this year, and now, Warner Bros. is going to have another go at the big screen. But it's the writer they put in charge of the screenplay that has me pretty giddy. Jenny ...
Read in browser "39 Lashes" from Jesus Christ Superstar (1973)
By David Pescovitz on Sep 20, 2012 03:56 pm "39 Lashes" from Andrew Lloyd Weber's Jesus Christ Superstar (1973). Those visuals! That groove! On Halloween 1992, I saw the Afghan Whigs open with this song and it was sublime. Speaking of the recently-reunited Afghan Whigs, they rocked it on Jimmy Kimmel Live last night.
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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