Zed Nelson photos of plastic surgery culture Custom Star Wars bacta tank scene Clint Heidorn's "The Oak Tree" exquisitely-packaged cassette Presenting the Iron Man 3 trailer, in which Tony Stark is having a hard time dealing with himself Books made from bricks Ira Glass makes balloon animals All the latest slang that's fit to print, from 1971 MakieLab Hallowe'en costumes and contest DIY Strandbeest kit in a Japanese hobby magazine Brain Rot: Hip Hop Family Tree, Cold Crush Bros. vs. The Fantastic 5 The best cheap, all-purpose juicer: Omega 8003 How my VW won me the college presidency Cory in Seattle today, then Toronto and Boston The sparkling wit of Ann Coulter Pussy Riot activists sent to secret harsh labor camps Voter fraud is a fraud Gweek 072: A History of Halloween Keyboard made from beer-cans Mold growing behind refrigerator looks like Jesus How a Haunted Mansion addict fell in love with the greatest ride on Earth Zuca: rollaboard luggage with drawers doubles as a chair Join MAKE editors for live Google+ hangout, Oct 23 The electric dog delights and astounds Marijuana majority: well-known liberals and conservatives advocating for legalization Goggled coat Whale mimics human speech A Necronomicon, for your very own bookshelf! Fun Fantasy Adventure Young Adult Novel: The Other Normals Greenhouse and safety perimeter Louis C.K. has more sketch comedy experience up his sleeve than you think Zed Nelson photos of plastic surgery culture
By David Pescovitz on Oct 23, 2012 12:44 pm Love Me is Zed Nelson's photographic tour of the culture of plastic surgery across 18 countries. Above: "I've had three toes shortened – a portion of bone removed between the joints and fixed together with metal rods. I like to wear Jimmy Choo's, three-inch heels with a pointy toe." Foot X-ray. Toe reduction surgery. Kristina ...
Read in browser Custom Star Wars bacta tank scene
By David Pescovitz on Oct 23, 2012 12:33 pm Mick Minogue mood this fantastic carved-wood bacta tank scene from The Empire Strikes Back. Una Mullaly commissioned it for her partner, Sarah, who had suffered a running injury. "Sarah loves peanut butter so I made the tank from an old peanut butter jar and the rest from what was at hand In the studio," Minogue ...
Read in browser Clint Heidorn's "The Oak Tree" exquisitely-packaged cassette
By David Pescovitz on Oct 23, 2012 12:18 pm "
+33° 58' 41.85", -117° 49' 13.74" (The Oak Tree) arrived in the form of a hand-stained and screened wooden box with a black and white image of a tree encased in the lid. Inside the box were six photo prints, a small pile of oak leaves, and a canvas bag containing an audio cassette of the music -- Heidorn's hazy, guitar-based ambience (with haunting vocals and some woodwinds?) on side A and, on side B, a field recording taken beside the tree that inspired this project.
Read in browser Presenting the Iron Man 3 trailer, in which Tony Stark is having a hard time dealing with himself
By Jamie Frevele on Oct 23, 2012 12:10 pm With great power comes great responsibility, amirite, Tony Stark?
Read in browser Books made from bricks
By Cory Doctorow on Oct 23, 2012 11:59 am These "brick books" are created by Melbourne's Daryl Fitzgerald who markets them to booksellers and others as "Book ends, display piece, use them however you like!" Brick Books
Read in browser Ira Glass makes balloon animals
By David Pescovitz on Oct 23, 2012 11:43 am As a young'n, This American Life's Ira Glass performed magic and made balloon animals at children's birthday parties. You can watch his mad balloon skills in this Rookie Sunday Video during which he also discusses other more pressing, adult matters. To learn the fine art of balloon animal creation, Ira suggests "Roger's Rubber Ark: One ...
Read in browser All the latest slang that's fit to print, from 1971
By Xeni Jardin on Oct 23, 2012 11:30 am BB reader MewDeep shares this vintage newspaper scan in the BB Flickr Pool: Illustration for New York Times Magazine by National Lampoon art director and freelance illustrator Michael Gross. Foreground figures depict, left to right, secondhand hip slang, outdated hip slang, and bona fide up-to-date hip slang. That's funny, kind of like Wired's old "wired/tired/expired." ...
Read in browser MakieLab Hallowe'en costumes and contest
By Cory Doctorow on Oct 23, 2012 10:43 am Hallowe'en's come to Makie-land: the 3D printed doll and toy company my wife co-founded is running a Hallowe'en contest to design the spookiest Makie possible . Deadline is Oct 30! Create and save a spooky digital Makie at makie.me between now and 30th October, and you'll be automatically entered to win a sack of unspeakable ...
Read in browser DIY Strandbeest kit in a Japanese hobby magazine
By Cory Doctorow on Oct 23, 2012 10:16 am Last saturday Gakken celebrated the 10th anniversary of the series 'Otona no Kagaku': an hybrid of magazine and book with an educational toy attached to each release. Beside showing the complete collection of the cult toys released in a decade, Toshiyuki Nishimura chef editor of the pubblication, presented the Animaris Imperio: a new kit based on Theo Jansen mechanical animals.
Read in browser Brain Rot: Hip Hop Family Tree, Cold Crush Bros. vs. The Fantastic 5
By Ed Piskor on Oct 23, 2012 10:04 am Read the rest of the Hip Hop Family Tree comics!
Read in browser The best cheap, all-purpose juicer: Omega 8003
By Xeni Jardin on Oct 23, 2012 10:01 am During my treatment for breast cancer this year, nutrition was a big challenge. Hell, getting any food down was a challenge during chemo and radiation. That's where my interest in fresh juices began. I hunted around for a single, affordable device that could produce a diverse array of juice, and ended up with the Omega J8003. It rocks.
Read in browser How my VW won me the college presidency
By Advertiser on Oct 23, 2012 10:00 am ADVERTISEMENT Sponsored Post: This post is brought to you by Volkswagen. It's not the miles, it's how you live them. Read our stories or share your own at whyvw.com. Naturally, the thing to do when one drops out of high school at 16 and enrolls in city college is to immediately run for student body ...
Read in browser Cory in Seattle today, then Toronto and Boston
By Cory Doctorow on Oct 23, 2012 08:50 am Hey, Seattle! I'll be in town for one day only today, making a pair of public appearances -- first at the University Bookstore at 1230h, then at Elliot Bay Books at 1900h. Both are free! From Seattle, I go east for the last two cities in my Pirate Cinema tour: first a pair of evening ...
Read in browser The sparkling wit of Ann Coulter
By Rob Beschizza on Oct 23, 2012 01:47 am I highly approve of Romney's decision to be kind and gentle to the retard.— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) October 23, 2012 It's really something, isn't it?
Read in browser Pussy Riot activists sent to secret harsh labor camps
By Cory Doctorow on Oct 23, 2012 12:12 am Pussy Riot members Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova have been sent to regions known for hosting Russia's harshest hard-labor camps, places that once served as Soviet gulags. The 24 and 22 year old mothers -- who performed a song protesting the Russian Orthodox Church's connection to the Putin regime in a cathedral -- have been ...
Read in browser Voter fraud is a fraud
By Cory Doctorow on Oct 22, 2012 10:05 pm The New Yorker's "Voter-Fraud Myth" by Jane Mayer is a good, fair, investigative piece tracking the rise of the Republican orthodoxy that says that voter fraud is rampant, and that it favors Democrats. Mayer makes a reasoned, factual case to show that there is no substantial voter fraud problem (much-vaunted incidents like the scores of ...
Read in browser Gweek 072: A History of Halloween
By Mark Frauenfelder on Oct 22, 2012 09:06 pm An interview with horror author and screenwriter Lisa Morton, author of Trick or Treat: A History of Halloween
Read in browser Keyboard made from beer-cans
By Cory Doctorow on Oct 22, 2012 07:51 pm Here's a cute way to gimmick a keyboard out of a grid of beercans, using Raspberry Pis and Arduinos.
Read in browser Mold growing behind refrigerator looks like Jesus
By Mark Frauenfelder on Oct 22, 2012 07:01 pm "I took a picture on my mobile and then wiped it off -- it might look like Jesus but I've got three kids and can't be doing with mould in my house." -- Kenny Iddenden, atheist. (Via Arbroath)
Read in browser How a Haunted Mansion addict fell in love with the greatest ride on Earth
By Cory Doctorow on Oct 22, 2012 06:46 pm This post is sponsored by Disney's Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two the video game: I fell in love with the Haunted Mansion in 1977. I was six years old, and we'd gone to Fort Lauderdale to visit my grandparents. They lived in a seniors' condo complex called Century Village -- my dad called ...
Read in browser Zuca: rollaboard luggage with drawers doubles as a chair
By Cory Doctorow on Oct 22, 2012 06:44 pm Speaking of bags and luggage, Ben Hammersley swears by the Zuca Pro, an overhead-legal rollaboard bag that you can sit on, and that organizes its contents into drawers. It's been years since I've bothered with rollaboards (I hate gate-checking luggage), but this is pretty danged cool, and Ben is one of the few people I ...
Read in browser Join MAKE editors for live Google+ hangout, Oct 23
By Mark Frauenfelder on Oct 22, 2012 06:37 pm Stett Holbrook says: MAKE magazine’s latest issue goes on sale tomorrow and to mark the event, MAKE editors, designers, and contributing writers will participate in a Google+ hangout on air tomorrow, Oct. 23, at 2pm Pacific Standard Time to give readers a behind-the-scenes look at the magazine and how it came together. Log on to ...
Read in browser The electric dog delights and astounds
By Mark Frauenfelder on Oct 22, 2012 06:19 pm No one will suspect that your well-behaved dog is actually a robot! Full build instructions included. Recapping ‘The Jetsons’: Episode 04 – The Coming of Astro (Via Nerdstink)
Read in browser Marijuana majority: well-known liberals and conservatives advocating for legalization
By Mark Frauenfelder on Oct 22, 2012 06:03 pm Marijuana Majority is a well-designed website that has quotes from hundreds of religious leaders, political figures, law enforcement officials, celebrities, and other notable figures, all advocating for the decriminalization of cannabis. I'm happy to see that Cory and Xeni are on the list! “I think it's about time we legalize marijuana... We either put people ...
Read in browser Goggled coat
By Cory Doctorow on Oct 22, 2012 05:46 pm Luxury retailer Luisa Viaroma at one point sold these $424 Matt Nylon Hooded Down Jackets with integrated, goggled facemasks. In an apparent bid to soften the appearance of alien menace projected by the garment when fully zipped, the vendor added a silly poof-ball at the crown. This latter seems easily removed, and I speculate that ...
Read in browser Whale mimics human speech
By Mark Frauenfelder on Oct 22, 2012 05:44 pm From the NMMFoundation: A new paper published by the National Marine Mammal Foundation in the scientific journal Current Biology sheds light on the ability of marine mammals to spontaneously mimic human speech. The study details the case of a white whale named NOC who began to mimic the human voice, presumably a result of vocal ...
Read in browser A Necronomicon, for your very own bookshelf!
By Jamie Frevele on Oct 22, 2012 05:38 pm The Necronomicon -- it's like the Bible, but not really!
Read in browser Fun Fantasy Adventure Young Adult Novel: The Other Normals
By Mark Frauenfelder on Oct 22, 2012 05:38 pm The unlikely hero in Ned Vizzini's young adult fantasy novel, The Other Normals is Perry Eckert, a 15-year-old boy with divorced parents, an alcoholic older brother, and few friends. He is terrified of girls. While other boys his age are developing into young men with deepening voices and growth spurts, Perry's body stubbornly refuses to ...
Read in browser Greenhouse and safety perimeter
By Cory Doctorow on Oct 22, 2012 05:00 pm The above structure is allegedly a greenhouse surrounded by a safety perimeter to keep the children away from said greenhouse. Redditor Syyraxus's post is called "So my brother in law built this... thing, I had no idea what it was until my sister told the children to keep away from the greenhouse as it wasn't ...
Read in browser Louis C.K. has more sketch comedy experience up his sleeve than you think
By Jamie Frevele on Oct 22, 2012 04:14 pm While an undeniable comedic genius, Louis C.K. is not well-known for his wild, wacky array of characters or impressions, so it was weird (though not unpleasant) to hear that he'd be hosting Saturday Night Live on November 3. But recall that the show thrived on hiring standup comedians in the early 1990s -- and they ...
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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