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Great Graphic Novels: Zap Comix #2 Ye Smokiana: 1890 study of smoking Tear-off cardboard USB flash-drives The Dog Stars: terrific book about life after 99.9% of humans are wiped out Curiosity adds to evidence that water once flowed on Mars F.T.C. plans new privacy protection regulation, "for the children" Mystery around anti-muslim filmmaker and fraudster deepens as yet another alias is revealed Yarn bomb transit protest in Edinburgh UK banks use robo-callers to make fraud-check calls, conditioning customers to hand out personal information to anonymous machines that phone them up out of the blue Man behind "Innocence of Muslims" video ordered jailed for violating fraud probation by using computers Herbert Lom, who played stressed-out boss of Inspector Clouseau in "Pink Panther" films, has died Helmetcam video of US soldier under fire in Afghanistan Worst fight scene ever? More like BEST fight scene ever. (video) Panama's new copyright law is the worst in the history of the universe Former top US copyright bureaucrat thinks all communications/entertainment technology should be illegal until Congress approves it The Wrylon Robotical Illustrated Catalog of Botanical 'Bots Disgraced New Yorker journo speaks to LA Magazine Blood Brother trailer Steampunk Nintendo casemod Worst movie death scene ever? More like BEST movie death scene ever. (video) Drilling for Hoffa Why don't giraffes have necks as long as a brachiosaurus? Human flesh pop-up butcher shop in Smithfield to promote new Resident Evil installment Commodity market prediction takes the Internet by storm The champagne of national unity "Images" from the edge of a black hole RiffTrax takes on The Hunger Games, in blatant defiance of President Snow Clay Shirky at TED: "How the Internet will (one day) transform government" How records are made Incredible 360° interactive panorama of Great Pyramids Great Graphic Novels: Zap Comix #2
By Adam Parfrey on Sep 28, 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 Zap Comix #2 ...
Read in browser Ye Smokiana: 1890 study of smoking
By David Pescovitz on Sep 28, 2012 12:22 pm RT Pritchett's Ye Smokiana, from 1890, appears to a very informative "historical" and "ethnographical" study of smoking. It's illustrated with beautiful color drawings smoking implements from around the world, more specifically "pipes of all nations." Ye Smokiana is now on the auction block at eBay. Ye Smokiana (Thanks, Randall de Rijk!)
Read in browser Tear-off cardboard USB flash-drives
By Cory Doctorow on Sep 28, 2012 12:07 pm Here's a cute concept-design for tear-off, disposable flash-drives from Art Lebedev, who predicts, "Stick will become even simpler vehicle than once floppy" (mangled Russian-English interpretation courtesy of Google Translate). I wonder if NFC/ultra-wideband wireless transfer will make low-capacity flash drives obsolete before they get cheap enough to make into cardboard disposables, though. Концепт флеш-накопителя «Флешкус» ...
Read in browser The Dog Stars: terrific book about life after 99.9% of humans are wiped out
By Mark Frauenfelder on Sep 28, 2012 12:00 pm I never get tired of reading novels about life on Earth following a disaster that wipes out 99.9% of the human population. Earth Abides and I am Legend are two of my favorites in this sub-genre. I like these stories fro several reasons: I'm fascinated in seeing how people figure out how to survive after ...
Read in browser Curiosity adds to evidence that water once flowed on Mars
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Sep 28, 2012 11:45 am When a narrow stream, flowing downhill, meets a wide, significantly-flatter valley, you get an alluvial fan — a place where the flow of water spreads out, slows down, and leaves behind all the rocks and sediment it's no longer moving fast enough to carry. At least, that's how it works on Earth. Once upon a ...
Read in browser F.T.C. plans new privacy protection regulation, "for the children"
By Xeni Jardin on Sep 28, 2012 11:32 am COPA, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998, requires web sites for kids to obtain parental consent before collecting personal data, but much has changed online since 1998. The NYT reports that Federal regulators "are about to take the biggest steps in more than a decade to protect children online," by restricting the ability ...
Read in browser Mystery around anti-muslim filmmaker and fraudster deepens as yet another alias is revealed
By Xeni Jardin on Sep 28, 2012 10:16 am As if "Sam Bacile," "PJ Tobacco," and dozens more colorful fake names weren't enough, the "Innocence of Muslims" guy apparently had yet another alias. A California judge has detained him for violating the terms of his probation by using a computer to make and upload the crappy and controversial film to YouTube.
Read in browser Yarn bomb transit protest in Edinburgh
By Cory Doctorow on Sep 28, 2012 09:01 am An unknown yarn-bomber has taken to the streets of Edinburgh with a political message, opposing the tramway expansion underway there. Yarnivore Rose says, "Actual political speech in yarnbomb form, rather than 'mere' decoration! BRING IT!" More from The Scotsman: Grant McKeenan, who owns the Copymade Shop on West Maitland Street and who has started his ...
Read in browser UK banks use robo-callers to make fraud-check calls, conditioning customers to hand out personal information to anonymous machines that phone them up out of the blue
By Cory Doctorow on Sep 28, 2012 12:00 am My latest Guardian column, "Automated calls, fraud and the banks: a mismatch made in hell," reacts to the news that UK banks are using robo-call machines to check in with customers on possibly fraudulent transactions, and going about it in the worst way possible: The banks, bless them, are only trying to prevent fraud, but ...
Read in browser Man behind "Innocence of Muslims" video ordered jailed for violating fraud probation by using computers
By Xeni Jardin on Sep 27, 2012 10:27 pm Nakoula Basseley Nakoula escorted by LA County Sherriff's deputies from his home in Cerritos, CA. Photo: AP/CBS2-KCAL9, LA. A federal judge today determined that California resident Nakoula Basseley Nakoula (aka Sam Bacile), one of the men behind a crappy, anti-Islamic YouTube video linked to violent protests in the Middle East and the death of a ...
Read in browser Herbert Lom, who played stressed-out boss of Inspector Clouseau in "Pink Panther" films, has died
By Xeni Jardin on Sep 27, 2012 10:16 pm Czech-born actor Herbert Lom, best known as the weary boss of Inspector Clouseau in the Peter Sellers Pink Panther movies, died today at 95 years of age. His son Alec Lom told the Associated Press that his dad "died peacefully in his sleep at home in London." A two-part series of clips on YouTube: Part ...
Read in browser Helmetcam video of US soldier under fire in Afghanistan
By Xeni Jardin on Sep 27, 2012 10:09 pm From the YouTube description of this purported "helmetcam" video from a soldier in Kunar Province, Afghanistan: no shots penetrated his body armor, and he made it home with no permanent injuries. I got a hit a total of 4 times. My helmet cam died and i made it down the mountain on my own. I ...
Read in browser Worst fight scene ever? More like BEST fight scene ever. (video)
By Xeni Jardin on Sep 27, 2012 09:34 pm [Video Link] Continuing in our Turksploitation theme, a spectacularly awful fight scene from the Turkish film "Death Warrior." Previously: worst death scene ever. (thanks, Michelle Strait, via internalbleeding)
Read in browser Panama's new copyright law is the worst in the history of the universe
By Cory Doctorow on Sep 27, 2012 09:22 pm We've seen some stupid copyright laws in the past fifteen years, but Panama's new law -- which has passed the legislature and merely awaits executive approval. Under Bill 510, the Panamanian copyright office has the power to pursue file-sharers directly, fining each one $100,000 ($200,000 on second offense) and keeping the money for itself, paying ...
Read in browser Former top US copyright bureaucrat thinks all communications/entertainment technology should be illegal until Congress approves it
By Cory Doctorow on Sep 27, 2012 07:26 pm Ralph Oman, the former bureaucrat who served as Register of Copyrights to the US Copyright Office, has filed an amicus brief in the lawsuit against Aereo, a company that makes server racks with thousands of tiny aerials that are used to capture over-the-air broadcast TV and transmit it to viewers using the Internet, with each ...
Read in browser The Wrylon Robotical Illustrated Catalog of Botanical 'Bots
By Mark Frauenfelder on Sep 27, 2012 07:03 pm My buddy Barry McWilliams has a kickstarter up for a fun book he wrote and illustrated called The Wrylon Robotical Illustrated Catalog of Botanical 'Bots. He gave me a sneak peek of the book and it's wonderful. He's close to being fully funded after just a few days. Go Barry! The idea of a fleet ...
Read in browser Disgraced New Yorker journo speaks to LA Magazine
By Mark Frauenfelder on Sep 27, 2012 06:51 pm Kari Mozena of Los Angeles magazine says: This month, Los Angeles magazine tackles the imbroglio surrounding the once-heralded (and now discredited) genius in our backyard: Jonah Lehrer. In the piece, Lehrer speaks (via email) for the first time since issuing a statement about resigning from The New Yorker in July. Lehrer tells editor-at-large Amy Wallace ...
Read in browser Blood Brother trailer
By Mark Frauenfelder on Sep 27, 2012 06:34 pm Blood Brother Trailer from Blood Brother on Vimeo. Danny Yourd, producer of Blood Brother says: Blood Brother is the story of a group of children infected with HIV and Rocky Braat, a disenchanted young American that met them while drifting through India. He wanted to save them all, but in reality he couldn’t cure even ...
Read in browser Steampunk Nintendo casemod
By Cory Doctorow on Sep 27, 2012 06:06 pm Redditor Andrew5785 refurbed an elderly Nintendo system for a covetous steampunk nephew, turning it into a sweet little contrafactual brass retrofuture contraption. Steam-Punk Nintendo: Built this for my nephew that likes steam-punk and wanted my old Nintendo. (imgur.com)
Read in browser Worst movie death scene ever? More like BEST movie death scene ever. (video)
By Xeni Jardin on Sep 27, 2012 05:41 pm [Video Link] Apparently, a clip from the Turkish movie "Kareteci Kız 1973." HT: Joe Sabia.
Read in browser Drilling for Hoffa
By David Pescovitz on Sep 27, 2012 04:57 pm Tomorrow, police will drill through a concrete slab at a Detroit home where Jimmy Hoffa may be buried. They are responding to what they say is a "credible" tip from a man who claims he saw a burial take place at the home in 1975 around when Hoffa vanished. "We don't believe it's Jimmy Hoffa," ...
Read in browser Why don't giraffes have necks as long as a brachiosaurus?
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Sep 27, 2012 04:49 pm We think of giraffes as long-necked creatures, but compared to ancient sauropod dinosaurs (a family that includes the brachiosaurus and apatosaurus) even the longest-necked giraffe may as well be nicknamed "Stumpy". In a paper published online at arXiv site, two paleontologists analyzed the biology of sauropods in an attempt to figure out which features allowed ...
Read in browser Human flesh pop-up butcher shop in Smithfield to promote new Resident Evil installment
By Cory Doctorow on Sep 27, 2012 04:19 pm Capcom is running a "pop up human butchery and morgue" at Smithfields meat market in London to promote the new Resident Evil installment. It'll be open for two days: Sept 28 and 29. WARNING: Gross imagery within. Click through at your peril. Once open, Resident Evil fans and unsuspecting members of the public will be ...
Read in browser Commodity market prediction takes the Internet by storm
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Sep 27, 2012 03:59 pm Good news! There is not an unavoidable bacon shortage looming in our future. Bad news! What was actually being predicted was really an increase in meat prices across the board. Droughts have completely decimated this year's corn crop, and as corn is the stuff we usually feed our meat, it's going to cost more to ...
Read in browser The champagne of national unity
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Sep 27, 2012 03:47 pm According to a survey of 200,000 Americans, Miller High Life is the most bi-partisan of beers. Republicans favor Samuel Adams and, apparently, there are a lot of Democrats drinking Heineken. (Although one might argue that these results are heavily skewed, as the survey did not include either microbrews or microparties. God only knows what the ...
Read in browser "Images" from the edge of a black hole
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Sep 27, 2012 03:16 pm EDIT: This post originally went up with the wrong images. Sorry about that. This is not a photograph. But it's still amazing. An important thing to remember about science is that some of the stuff we talk about in the general public as "fact" — like, say, black holes — haven't actually been seen by ...
Read in browser RiffTrax takes on The Hunger Games, in blatant defiance of President Snow
By Jamie Frevele on Sep 27, 2012 03:10 pm Good news for everyone who loves watching hit movies get mercilessly mocked! The RiffTrax crew -- Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy, and Bill Corbett -- have emerged from their secret bunker in Panem's Capitol to proudly present their commentary for the teenager-murdering blockbuster The Hunger Games! The MP3 track just became available today and is ...
Read in browser Clay Shirky at TED: "How the Internet will (one day) transform government"
By Cory Doctorow on Sep 27, 2012 03:09 pm Clay Shirky's TED talk, "How the Internet will (one day) transform government," is a smart, fast, funny look at how the Internet lowers the cost of doing things together. Given that the core task of government and industry is the coordination of collective effort, this lowering cost means big changes. The open-source world has learned ...
Read in browser How records are made
By David Pescovitz on Sep 27, 2012 03:02 pm Gorgeous black and white photos from 1954 and 1962 of vinyl records being made, including scans of an album jacket with a description of the process. "How records are made" (Voices of East Anglia, via @chris_carter_)
Read in browser Incredible 360° interactive panorama of Great Pyramids
By David Pescovitz on Sep 27, 2012 02:25 pm AirPano created a breathtaking 360° interactive panorama of Egypt's Great Pyramids of Giza. The video above shows how AirPano collected the images that went into the panorama. How did they do it? As Greg from Daily Grail explains, "Just like the aliens that built the Giza pyramids, they used UFOs (or possibly remote-controlled drone-copters) to ...
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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