IMDB's top 250 movies mashed into a 2.5m clip Merck halts shipments of key cancer drug to Greece NOLA to New York Million Puppet March to support public broadcasting in America Radio Police Automaton Twitter planning to add annoying photo-filters to compete with Instagram's annoying photo-filters Energy emergency: Sandy profiteers sell gas, generators at predatory prices on post-apocalypse Craigslist Report: Black mother who sought help as sons drowned during Sandy was denied Caturday: mushroom edition National Institutes of Health and Cancer.gov sites hacked this week Radio documentary on elections and America's energy future: The Power of One, with Alex Chadwick Play the privacy game Cthulhoid idols for a limited time Stationary bike weight-loss success story Kidnapped radio engineers forced to build comms networks for the Zetas, never seen again Amazing slavery escape of Ellen and William Craft If you vote for Obama you will "put your own soul in jeopardy," says Bishop David Ricken of The Catholic Diocese in Green Bay, WI Peer rewards for good behavior take a bite out of trolling and griefing in MMO Ohio Romney rally - interviews with supporters Sequencing of barley genome could have implications for home brewers In backup generators we trust? Purple and blue natural wigs How Victoria's Secret saved the National Guard from Hurricane Sandy Sandy hits vulnerable populations hard; disabled and elderly at risk, post-storm Friday puzzle: Four Men in Hats Artist Gary Panter interviewed on Too Much Information Beautifully made tiny miniature 18th century toolchest with tiny, working tools Cover for the new issue of TIME shot with an iPhone and Hipstamatic Phish performs all of Talking Heads' Remain in Light Halo 4, November 6th. I'm taking the day off. IMDB's top 250 movies mashed into a 2.5m clip
By Cory Doctorow on Nov 03, 2012 12:02 pm Jonathan Keogh's "IMDB Top 250 in 2 1/2 Minutes" is a masterful mix, and a lovely tribute to popular film.
Read in browser Merck halts shipments of key cancer drug to Greece
By Xeni Jardin on Nov 03, 2012 11:23 am The German pharmaceuticals maker Merck will no longer deliver the cancer drug Erbitux to Greek hospitals, according to a statement from the company today. The drug also known as cetuximab is often used for patients with head and neck cancers. The move to halt distribution is a sign of a worsening economic and budget crisis, ...
Read in browser NOLA to New York
By Xeni Jardin on Nov 03, 2012 11:18 am Katrina survivors talk to New York.
Read in browser Million Puppet March to support public broadcasting in America
By Xeni Jardin on Nov 03, 2012 10:53 am A puppet march to support public broadcasting has its own theme song.
Read in browser Radio Police Automaton
By Cory Doctorow on Nov 03, 2012 09:59 am Here's a miraculous Radio Police Automaton from the May, 1924 issue of Hugo Gernsback's Science and Invention. It will be useful for dispersing mobs, and for war. Note the built-in tear-gas tank. Also the "loud-speaker used to shout orders to the mob." Mr Gernsback notes, "They will be well-nigh irresistible." There's something decidedly pre-Ewok about ...
Read in browser Twitter planning to add annoying photo-filters to compete with Instagram's annoying photo-filters
By Xeni Jardin on Nov 03, 2012 09:44 am Great news, you guys! Soon, you'll be able to tweet iPhone or Android snapshots of your sandwich in sepia, without even having to download Instagram. Nick Bilton at the NYT got the scoop.
Read in browser Energy emergency: Sandy profiteers sell gas, generators at predatory prices on post-apocalypse Craigslist
By Xeni Jardin on Nov 03, 2012 09:33 am Gas supplies remain extremely limited in New York and New Jersey, nearly a week after hurricane Sandy, and the power's still out for many in those states and others, such as nearby Connecticut. New Jersey governor Chris Christie signed an executive order announcing a state of energy emergency and instituting gas rationing for the purchase ...
Read in browser Report: Black mother who sought help as sons drowned during Sandy was denied
By Xeni Jardin on Nov 03, 2012 09:19 am Two brothers, ages 2 and 4, were swept away Monday night when waves of water crashed into an SUV driven by their mom in Staten Island. They were later found dead. A story now emerging: their mother, who is black, went door to door begging for help—and was turned away. (via Steve Silberman)
Read in browser Caturday: mushroom edition
By Xeni Jardin on Nov 03, 2012 09:11 am Four cats, four mushrooms.
Read in browser National Institutes of Health and Cancer.gov sites hacked this week
By Xeni Jardin on Nov 03, 2012 08:58 am Man, come on, who hacks cancer.gov? Well, they did. And then a few days later, the National Institutes of Health Website was compromised. 5,000 user records were leaked. What's next, kittens.org? Cuddlybabies.tumblr.com? (via Chris Wysopal)
Read in browser Radio documentary on elections and America's energy future: The Power of One, with Alex Chadwick
By Xeni Jardin on Nov 03, 2012 08:28 am BURN: An Energy Journal, the radio documentary series hosted by former NPR journalist Alex Chadwick, has a 2-hour election special out. It's the most powerful piece of radio journalism I've listened to since—well, since the last episode they put out. You really must do yourself a favor and set aside some time this weekend to ...
Read in browser Play the privacy game
By Cory Doctorow on Nov 02, 2012 11:53 pm Yishay sez, "A new game which looks at how much personal information people are willing to reveal freely online and its cost to them, has been launched by The Open University Business School. This game enables you to explore issues relating to surveillance encountered in everyday life. The Open University Business School has developed this ...
Read in browser Cthulhoid idols for a limited time
By Cory Doctorow on Nov 02, 2012 10:45 pm Jason sez, "Available for THREE DAYS ONLY, Cryptocurium is proud to offer two hand cast solid resin Lovecraftian relics, 'The Nyarlathotep Artifact' and 'The Dunwich Cthulhu Idol.' 'The Nyarlathotep Artifact' depicts The Crawling Chaos himself in his form as the faceless Black Pharaoah carved from 'Egyptian lapis lazuli' and bearing an inscription in mysterious alien ...
Read in browser Stationary bike weight-loss success story
By Cory Doctorow on Nov 02, 2012 09:43 pm This is the wacky story of how I biked across the country on my exercise bike and lost a lot of extra pounds in the process.
Read in browser Kidnapped radio engineers forced to build comms networks for the Zetas, never seen again
By Cory Doctorow on Nov 02, 2012 08:38 pm Mexican drug cartels, notably the Zetas, kidnap skilled radio engineers and force them to build out elaborate communications networks.
Read in browser Amazing slavery escape of Ellen and William Craft
By Cory Doctorow on Nov 02, 2012 08:31 pm In a 2010 Smithsonian magazine article, Marian Smith Holmes tells the story of Ellen and William Craft, two married enslaved African-Americans who fled Georgia and made their way to Philadelphia in 1848. Ellen disguised herself as a young white man (using bandages and an arm-sling to help cover up her face and limit demands on ...
Read in browser If you vote for Obama you will "put your own soul in jeopardy," says Bishop David Ricken of The Catholic Diocese in Green Bay, WI
By Mark Frauenfelder on Nov 02, 2012 08:10 pm Bishop David Ricken of the Catholic Diocese in Green Bay, WI went for the hard sell in a letter to his Brothers and Sisters in Christ. Here's an excerpt: I would like to review some of the principles to keep in mind as you approach the voting booth to complete your ballot. The first is ...
Read in browser Peer rewards for good behavior take a bite out of trolling and griefing in MMO
By Cory Doctorow on Nov 02, 2012 06:48 pm The Mary Sue's Becky Chambers rounds up the coverage and analysis of an anti-trolling/griefing experiment in League of Legends, a massively multiplayer online RPG battle arena. League's management hired a team of social scientists who designed a system of peer-rewards that allowed users to hand each other publicly visible points for positive, friendly interactions (there ...
Read in browser Ohio Romney rally - interviews with supporters
By Mark Frauenfelder on Nov 02, 2012 06:26 pm These interviews were conducted with Ohio voters at a recent Romney rally in Defiance, OH.
Read in browser Sequencing of barley genome could have implications for home brewers
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Nov 02, 2012 06:23 pm When scientists from the Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research in Germany sequenced the genome of barley, they were thinking primarily about the impact on food. Understanding the genetics behind certain traits could help us breed barley varieties that have built-in resistance against disease, or that contain more fiber. (Contrary to popular ...
Read in browser In backup generators we trust?
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Nov 02, 2012 05:39 pm It's normal for backup generators to fail. If we want a more reliable system, we'll have to change the way the grid works.
Read in browser Purple and blue natural wigs
By Cory Doctorow on Nov 02, 2012 05:38 pm Old wig ads have some inherent comedy, sitting at the intersection of fashion, human tissue trafficking, and so forth. But when you throw in enthusiastic descriptions of the "head turning, naturally beautiful" wigs alongside elaborate purple and blue hairstyles, the internal contradictions really start to throw off sparks. Revenge of the blue (and purple??) hair
Read in browser How Victoria's Secret saved the National Guard from Hurricane Sandy
By Xeni Jardin on Nov 02, 2012 05:10 pm Why do we love Noah Shachtman and Wired's Danger Room blog? Because they break very important stories like this: On Monday night, Hurricane Sandy hit the armory of the New York Army National Guard's 69th Infantry Regiment, leaving the soldiers without power, hot water, or anything but the most rudimentary means of communicating with the ...
Read in browser Sandy hits vulnerable populations hard; disabled and elderly at risk, post-storm
By Xeni Jardin on Nov 02, 2012 05:01 pm On NPR's Talk of the Nation today, a segment about the particularly damaging impact Sandy has had this week on elderly and disabled populations in the storm's path. Many remain isolated "in cold, dark homes without assistance, food and running water." Related: News today that a 93-year-old man whose electricity was knocked out has died ...
Read in browser Friday puzzle: Four Men in Hats
By Mark Frauenfelder on Nov 02, 2012 04:54 pm A fine puzzle from Mycoted. Shown above are four men buried up to their necks in the ground. They cannot move, so they can only look forward. Between A and B is a brick wall which cannot be seen through. They all know that between them they are wearing four hats--two black and two white--but ...
Read in browser Artist Gary Panter interviewed on Too Much Information
By Mark Frauenfelder on Nov 02, 2012 04:44 pm I try not to let myself become overly attached to material things, but this Jimbo book by Gary Panter is something I've treasured for 30 years. I bought it in 1982 from a headshop in Boulder, Colorado, called the Pipefitter. I hadn't heard of Gary Panter before seeing the book. I was attracted to its ...
Read in browser Beautifully made tiny miniature 18th century toolchest with tiny, working tools
By Cory Doctorow on Nov 02, 2012 04:36 pm On The Toolchest Site, an astounding miniature replica of the 18th century Hewitt chest at Colonial Williamsburg, created by miniaturist William Robertson. Robertson's work is mind-boggling in its detail and virtuosity. The article notes that this was a 1,000-hour project. There are also cast brass Rococo drop handles as well as beaded backplates. It should ...
Read in browser Cover for the new issue of TIME shot with an iPhone and Hipstamatic
By Xeni Jardin on Nov 02, 2012 04:30 pm Ben Lowy got the cover of TIME Magazine this week with an iPhone and the photo-filtering app Hipstamatic. Not even for, say, a special tech issue or anything like that! Can't say I'm surprised—I use Hipstamatic with my iPhone5 and love the results. [Edit: wow, I missed the news that Hipstamatic recently laid off most/all ...
Read in browser Phish performs all of Talking Heads' Remain in Light
By Cory Doctorow on Nov 02, 2012 04:27 pm Here's an hour-plus video of jam-band Phish performing a rather good rendition of Talking Heads' 1980 Brian-Eno-produced album
Remain in Light.
Read in browser Halo 4, November 6th. I'm taking the day off.
By Jason Weisberger on Nov 02, 2012 04:12 pm John 117. He's more than a hero, he is the Master Chief.
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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