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Where airplanes go to die Roger Ebert's memoir is going to become a movie that might be awkward for him to review Kickstarting a hackerspace in Iraq Let's help a new roller derby documentary about lesbian, bisexual, and transgender skaters body slam its goal! Los Angeles treat: Tchaikovsky Spectacular with Fireworks at the Hollywood Bowl The closest we will ever come to Morgan Freeman narrating a Fifty Shades of Grey novel The chemical playwright Why technology might not make children stupid, after all Charlie Stross and Cory in Brookline, MA tonight Copyfraud: making the case for actual copyright enforcement Kickstarting a literary studio for serialized fiction Wikipedia will encrypt to fight UK spying Street Shofar featuring IKAR's Sexy Shofar Man UK transport secretary broke a cyclist's neck through careless driving Mitt Romney: I believe in basic science, and by "basic science" I mean "cold fusion" 3D printed guitar How to turn your car's ashtray into a smartphone dock Cheetah cub and puppy are BFFs! Astronauts fix the Space Station with a toothbrush Why Barack Obama lost Science Debate 2012 Can't Kate McKinnon just be the one and only Kate McKinnon? Adobe releases its first free/open type family Berners-Lee says no off switch for Internet, photo proves he's wrong Sponsor Shout-Out: Watchismo Shepard Fairey x Neil Young 'Americana' Box Set "I Fucking Love Science" and "Lost Wormhole" t-shirts Travesty of the Day: The straight-to-DVD sequel to A Christmas Story New record for quantum teleportation Man's Search For Happiness Water bear hunter (video) Where airplanes go to die
By Mark Pilkington on Sep 07, 2012 12:54 pm Unknown Fields (UF) is a design studio, originating in London's Architectural Association, that "ventures out on annual expeditions to the ends of the earth exploring unreal and forgotten landscapes, alien terrains and obsolete ecologies." Mark Pilkington, author of Mirage Men and publisher of Strange Attractor, has just led this busload of architects, writers, filmmakers and ...
Read in browser Roger Ebert's memoir is going to become a movie that might be awkward for him to review
By Jamie Frevele on Sep 07, 2012 12:49 pm Legendary movie critic Roger Ebert just spilled the Twitter beans that his 2011 memoir, Life Itself, was just optioned to be turned into a documentary by Hoop Dreams director Steve James and Oscar-winning screenwriter Steven Zaillian (Moneyball, Gangs of New York, Schindler's List). Martin Scorcese will serve as executive producer. No word yet on whether ...
Read in browser Kickstarting a hackerspace in Iraq
By Cory Doctorow on Sep 07, 2012 11:47 am Quinn Norton sez, "The Global Entrepreneurship and Maker Space Initiative runs around the Middle East creating hackerspaces and fostering maker communities in places like Cairo and Beirut -- but its hyperactive lead instigator Bilal Ghalib is taking on his biggest challenge in his native Iraq. They're currently raising money to have a two day hackerspace, ...
Read in browser Let's help a new roller derby documentary about lesbian, bisexual, and transgender skaters body slam its goal!
By Jamie Frevele on Sep 07, 2012 11:33 am In a related followup to my interview with the filmmakers of the men's roller derby documentary, This Is How I Roll, another derby film is currently trying to raise money for production costs. The Vagine Regime: A Documentary Where Vaginas Collide puts the focus on lesbian, bisexual, and transgender skaters (a subject Kat Vecchio touched ...
Read in browser Los Angeles treat: Tchaikovsky Spectacular with Fireworks at the Hollywood Bowl
By Mark Frauenfelder on Sep 07, 2012 11:23 am Los Angeles friends: if you haven't been to the annual Tchaikovsky Spectacular with Fireworks at the Hollywood Bowl, you're missing one of LA's greatest treats. Tickets are still available for tonight and tomorrow night's show. We are going Saturday. I'll wear a Boing Boing T-shirt -- if you see me, say hi! Tchaikovsky and fireworks ...
Read in browser The closest we will ever come to Morgan Freeman narrating a Fifty Shades of Grey novel
By Jamie Frevele on Sep 07, 2012 10:56 am As majestic and worldly as it might be, Morgan Freeman is never going to recite the text of E.L. James' fanfic-turned-housewife titillator Fifty Shades of Grey in front of people. However, some people can pretend to be Morgan Freeman to show us just how dramatically spanktastic this might be. Actor, comedian, and voice artist Josh ...
Read in browser The chemical playwright
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Sep 07, 2012 10:56 am Carl Djerassi, the chemist who first synthesized an effective oral contraceptive, is now an author and playwright. Wired has a really interesting interview with him about his writing work, his scientific legacy, and why he doesn't like to be called The Father of the Pill.
Read in browser Why technology might not make children stupid, after all
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Sep 07, 2012 10:18 am All this newfangled technology is going to make young people stupid. This is a very old argument, dating back (at least) to 370-ish BC, when Plato wrote the The Phaedrus. Like the better-known Republic, Phaedrus is written as a conversation between the character of Socrates and other people. At one point, Socrates tells a legend ...
Read in browser Charlie Stross and Cory in Brookline, MA tonight
By Cory Doctorow on Sep 07, 2012 09:51 am Charlie Stross and I will be at the Brookline Booksmith tonight at 7PM! It's the second-to-last stop on our quick tour for Rapture of the Nerds -- the last stop is this weekend in Rochester, NY. Be there or be pre-posthuman!
Read in browser Copyfraud: making the case for actual copyright enforcement
By Cory Doctorow on Sep 07, 2012 08:49 am Jason Mazzone's Copyfraud and Other Abuses of Intellectual Property Law isn't just another book about how the expansion of copyright and trademark law has harmed innovation, free speech and creativity. Instead, Mazzone -- the youngest faculty member in Brooklyn law school's history to hold an endowed chair -- argues that the real problem is that ...
Read in browser Kickstarting a literary studio for serialized fiction
By Cory Doctorow on Sep 06, 2012 10:18 pm Jennifer 8 Lee sez, Plympton is a new literary studio dedicated to producing serialized fiction for the digital age. They've just launched with their first three titles through the newly created Kindle Serials program, and have several more titles in the works. Plympton has one aim: to bring back the incredibly fun tradition of the ...
Read in browser Wikipedia will encrypt to fight UK spying
By Cory Doctorow on Sep 06, 2012 09:21 pm Jimmy Wales says that he'll configure Wikipedia to encrypt all user traffic to undermine the UK government's "Snooper's Charter," which will institute bulk, warrantless Internet spying on the whole nation. (via /.)
Read in browser Street Shofar featuring IKAR's Sexy Shofar Man
By Mark Frauenfelder on Sep 06, 2012 08:13 pm [Video Link] My old Wired pal Jonathan Golub and his friends at IKAR made this hilarious "shofar-bombing" video for Rosh Hashanah. It was directed by Isaac Feder and features Michael Brous as Sexy Shofar Man (AKA Rabbi Sharon Brous’s brother). IKAR is a progressive, egalitarian Jewish community, driven by a passionate belief in the relevance ...
Read in browser UK transport secretary broke a cyclist's neck through careless driving
By Cory Doctorow on Sep 06, 2012 07:17 pm What's worse than a new UK health secretary who believes in homeopathy? How about a new transport secretary who broke a cyclist's neck while recklessly driving a 4x4 through the streets of London? (via @bengoldacre)
Read in browser Mitt Romney: I believe in basic science, and by "basic science" I mean "cold fusion"
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Sep 06, 2012 06:08 pm I'm not entirely sure what to say about this excerpt from a Washington Examiner interview other than, "*headdesk*". Mitt Romney: I do believe in basic science. I believe in participating in space. I believe in analysis of new sources of energy. I believe in laboratories, looking at ways to conduct electricity with -- with cold ...
Read in browser 3D printed guitar
By Cory Doctorow on Sep 06, 2012 05:02 pm Rachel sez, Olaf Diegel, professor of mechatronics at Massey University in Auckland, New Zealand has been leading the charge in a new way of creating instruments: 3D Printing. Although there are plenty of pictures of his incredible ODD instruments online, it's a little harder to find them played in well-recorded audio or video. Until now. ...
Read in browser How to turn your car's ashtray into a smartphone dock
By Mark Frauenfelder on Sep 06, 2012 05:01 pm Jason Torchinsky of Jalopnik shows how to turn your car’s ashtray into a smartphone dock I hardly know anyone who still smokes and pretty much everyone I know has a little computer in the form of an iPhone or Android phone that's always with them. That means I should really think about some of the ...
Read in browser Cheetah cub and puppy are BFFs!
By David Pescovitz on Sep 06, 2012 04:45 pm My friend Michelle Curley runs online media for the Cincinnati Zoo. This is what she saw when she arrived at work today. "Best morning of my Zoo career!" she said. Photo from Michelle's @CincinnatiZoo Twitter feed. More photos at her Google+ page!
Read in browser Astronauts fix the Space Station with a toothbrush
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Sep 06, 2012 04:28 pm When NASA's Sunita Williams and Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide couldn't seem to get a bolt attached to the outside of the space station, ground crews came up with a clever solution: Fix the problem with a toothbrush. At Space.com, Denise Chow explains the details: On Aug. 30, Williams and Hoshide completed a marathon spacewalk that ...
Read in browser Why Barack Obama lost Science Debate 2012
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Sep 06, 2012 03:56 pm On Tuesday, I linked to the results of the 2012 Science Debate between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. I chose to focus in on one of Romney's answers, where he acknowledges that climate change is real, but tries to excuse himself from doing anything about it. At Slate, Laura Helmuth takes a different tack—and one ...
Read in browser Can't Kate McKinnon just be the one and only Kate McKinnon?
By Jamie Frevele on Sep 06, 2012 03:12 pm I love covering awesome comedians. I happen to have a soft spot for the lady ones since I have attempted to be a lady comedian myself. But you know what really gets my knickers in a twist? (And it's certainly not reserved for just women.) Calling someone the next "someone else." Today, the NY Post ...
Read in browser Adobe releases its first free/open type family
By Cory Doctorow on Sep 06, 2012 03:11 pm Adobe has released a free/open typeface called Source Sans Pro. It's licensed under the SIL Open Font License, which is considered a free license by the Free Software Foundation. The font itself is beautiful, and comes with a set of supporting files that show how the font was developed and are intended to serve as ...
Read in browser Berners-Lee says no off switch for Internet, photo proves he's wrong
By David Pescovitz on Sep 06, 2012 03:09 pm World Wide Web inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee says there's no off switch for the Internet, but he's wrong. I found it and here's photographic proof. Anyway, I still like what he said at yesterday's World Wide Web Foundation Web Index event: The way the internet is designed is very much as a decentralized system. At ...
Read in browser Sponsor Shout-Out: Watchismo
By Rob Beschizza on Sep 06, 2012 02:34 pm Many thanks to Watchismo for sponsoring Boing Boing Blast, our once-daily delivery of headlines by email. Retrogadget watch pioneer Click Watches and Watchismo are proud to introduce the extremely limited edition Click Watches SAFE Watch collection, now in all stainless steel casing and leather straps. Each watch has the individual edition number engraved on the ...
Read in browser Shepard Fairey x Neil Young 'Americana' Box Set
By David Pescovitz on Sep 06, 2012 02:24 pm Released today is the Shepard Faire/Neil Young sumptuous "Americana" box set. An edition of 200, it includes 12 signed and numbered prints, song lyric sheet, and a CD of the new Neil Young and Crazy Horse album. (Seems like vinyl would have been an appropriate choice here, but alas.) The box is $850 from Obey ...
Read in browser "I Fucking Love Science" and "Lost Wormhole" t-shirts
By David Pescovitz on Sep 06, 2012 02:05 pm …and I fucking love these new t-shirts from our friends at the Imaginary Foundation. Also available in this "Bonkers Collection" is a Charles Darwin "Chuck D: Natural Selecta" design. IF has kindly offered Boing Boing readers 20% off any of those three shirts in the Bonkers Collection until midnight PT tomorrow. (Discount code: BOING20) Imaginary ...
Read in browser Travesty of the Day: The straight-to-DVD sequel to A Christmas Story
By Jamie Frevele on Sep 06, 2012 02:02 pm So, I don't like to make a career out of snarking on things. I prefer to focus on things that don't make me want to break an expensive piece of technology or kill the entire internet with fire. And it's not even the internet's fault, this thing I'm about to show you. It is a ...
Read in browser New record for quantum teleportation
By Mark Frauenfelder on Sep 06, 2012 01:50 pm "Physicists at the University of Vienna and the Austrian Academy of Sciences have achieved quantum teleportation over a record distance of 143 km. The experiment is a major step towards satellite-based quantum communication."
Read in browser Man's Search For Happiness
By Mark Frauenfelder on Sep 06, 2012 01:47 pm [Video Link] Philosophy departments around the world are throwing their ontology books away, replacing them with this video, which answers all questions about existence and the meaning of life. (Via CN)
Read in browser Water bear hunter (video)
By Mark Frauenfelder on Sep 06, 2012 01:20 pm [Video Link] If Boing Boing had a mascot animal, it would probably be the tardigrade. As you aware, tardigrades (the scientific name is water bear) came to Earth from outer space. Spaced Out is Vice's show about space on Earth. In the new episode, Motherboard travels to the Virginia wilderness to visit self proclaimed naturalist ...
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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