Harrison Ford probably isn't above a few million dollars for playing Han Solo again Breast cancer patients: Stanford launches lymphedema registry study Vintage video of Peter Weller on the set of 1987's RoboCop 1960 election day comics The Art of Halo 4: image gallery Authors Marjorie M. Liu and Stephanie Chong interview each other Ad for Canada's CCF party, 1957 Voter suppression: targeting the poor, the old, and students Bad Pharma: account of the bottomless corruption of the pharma industry is a stirring call to arms Brain Rot: Hip Hop Family Tree, Busy Bee vs. Kool Moe Dee pt. 2 William Shatner talks slam poetry app Encounter with a New Mexico "internal border" checkpoint Make: Talk 016 - Joel Murphy, Co-Creator of the Pulse Sensor How I fixed an iPhone with a Q-Tip Death of Film: scenes from Kodak plant demolition Sandy: charging phones with wood stoves A is For: All of Us - Standing Up for Reproductive Rights Warren Ellis on the dismal American election Sneak peek at my Quarterly.co package of Fantastic Plastic gadgets and novelties Good news if you've always wished that The Walking Dead and Robot Chicken would hang out together The other man behind the mouse: Floyd Gottfredson Trailer for Alan Moore's first film: "Jimmy's End" John Cusack is going to play Rush Limbaugh in a biopic -- will it be CGI? Unbored: The Essential Field Guide to Serious Fun -- exclusive excerpt: "Remote-Controlled Water Blaster" All-black sugar skulls of Mario, Alien, LEGO minifig, and other icons Interview with cartoonist Joost Swarte Matmos's Ganzfeld EP: electronica meets ESP This week's The Walking Dead recap reminds us all that this "isn't kid stuff" [SPOILERS] 3D printed vegan Kosher Moebius bacon Harrison Ford probably isn't above a few million dollars for playing Han Solo again
By Jamie Frevele on Nov 06, 2012 12:52 pm Last week's biggest entertainment news, Disney acquiring Lucasfilm for just over four billion dollars, was almost immediately followed by the news that Star Wars: Episode VII might now be in the works. While rumors fly on that, here's another one to add to the mix: possible returning cast members. No, not Hayden Christensen, as excited ...
Read in browser Breast cancer patients: Stanford launches lymphedema registry study
By Xeni Jardin on Nov 06, 2012 12:48 pm Lymphedema occurs in about 7% of breast cancer patients who have undergone sentinel lymph node biopsy (to see if disease has spread to these lymph nodes), and in greater percentage of patients whose nodes end up being removed (because one or more contain cancer) and patients who receive radiation therapy after breast surgery. Lymphedema is ...
Read in browser Vintage video of Peter Weller on the set of 1987's RoboCop
By Jamie Frevele on Nov 06, 2012 11:55 am I'd buy that for a dollar...but you can just watch for free!
Read in browser 1960 election day comics
By Mark Frauenfelder on Nov 06, 2012 11:44 am Ethan Persoff put together a funny/scary set of Election Day Comics from 1960. Make sure the "dumb blonde" in the office doesn't take your vote today!
Read in browser The Art of Halo 4: image gallery
By Mark Frauenfelder on Nov 06, 2012 11:37 am Awakening: The Art of Halo 4 is a new book that features never-before-seen concept art, sketches, and character designs from the upcoming game. Awakening: The Art of Halo 4 is a very special collection of concept art, sketches, and artists’ commentary that highlights the imagination and creative vision of 343 Industries. From the expanses of ...
Read in browser Authors Marjorie M. Liu and Stephanie Chong interview each other
By Mark Frauenfelder on Nov 06, 2012 11:15 am A Boing Boing exclusive: authors Stephanie Chong and Marjorie M. Liu interview each other! Stephanie Chong (left) is author of the paranormal romance series The Company of Angels. Marjorie M. Liu (right) is the New York Times bestselling author of the paranormal romance series Dirk & Steele, urban fantasy series Hunter Kiss, and is the ...
Read in browser Ad for Canada's CCF party, 1957
By Cory Doctorow on Nov 06, 2012 11:09 am Here's a 1957 political ad for Canada's Cooperative Commonwealth Federation, the forerunner to the modern left-leaning New Democratic Party (now the official opposition). The CCF are responsible for Canada's national health care system and many other progressive reforms (all under assault by Harper's government). I like the first point: "Your vote counts just as much ...
Read in browser Voter suppression: targeting the poor, the old, and students
By Cory Doctorow on Nov 06, 2012 10:16 am The Atlantic's Andrew Cohen describes the seven-hour early voter lines at polling stations in Democratic strongholds like Miami, where Republican officials like Governor Rick Scott has reduced the number of early voting days, making it harder than ever for working people with marginal incomes to vote. When the remaining restrictions were challenged in federal court, ...
Read in browser Bad Pharma: account of the bottomless corruption of the pharma industry is a stirring call to arms
By Cory Doctorow on Nov 06, 2012 10:01 am I mentioned in September that Ben "Bad Science" Goldacre had a new book out, Bad Pharma: How drug companies mislead doctors and harm patients. I was sure at the time that this would be the usual excellent Goldacre fare -- lucid, thorough, and important. Now that I'm back from my own book tour, I've had ...
Read in browser Brain Rot: Hip Hop Family Tree, Busy Bee vs. Kool Moe Dee pt. 2
By Ed Piskor on Nov 06, 2012 10:00 am Read the rest of the Hip Hop Family Tree comics!
Read in browser William Shatner talks slam poetry app
By Leigh Alexander on Nov 06, 2012 08:20 am It's almost 10 PM in London and William Shatner is on the phone, sing-speaking the word "algorithm" to me, trying out various cadences. It feels a bit surreal.
Read in browser Encounter with a New Mexico "internal border" checkpoint
By Cory Doctorow on Nov 05, 2012 09:00 pm Man is illegally detained at an internal border patrol checkpoint in New Mexico for nearly a half hour.
Read in browser Make: Talk 016 - Joel Murphy, Co-Creator of the Pulse Sensor
By Mark Frauenfelder on Nov 05, 2012 08:38 pm In this episode of the Make: Talk podcast I interviewed Joel Murphy. He's an artist living in Brooklyn and owns a business designing and fabricating electro-mechanical projects for artists and designers. He teaches Physical Computing at Parsons the New School for Design, and he owns Rachel’s Electronics, an online store for electronics kits and breakout ...
Read in browser How I fixed an iPhone with a Q-Tip
By Mark Frauenfelder on Nov 05, 2012 08:37 pm On Saturday night my 15-year-old daughter texted me that her iPhone was broken. Her friend had spilled salad dressing on it while they were at dinner. The speakers and microphone no longer worked. No phone calls, no music. I thought that the phone would have to be replaced. When I got home I googled iPhone ...
Read in browser Death of Film: scenes from Kodak plant demolition
By Cory Doctorow on Nov 05, 2012 06:49 pm Robert Burley captured the death of analog photography: the demolition of Kodak plants.
Read in browser Sandy: charging phones with wood stoves
By David Pescovitz on Nov 05, 2012 05:37 pm The other day in Brooklyn, BioLite set up a mobile phone charging station using their wood stoves that double as thermoelectric generators. John Del Signore snapped this photo for Gothamist. "Oh, Just Brooklyn Survivalists Charging Cell Phones With Camp Stoves As The National Guard Rolls By" (Thanks, Anthony Townsend!) Camp stove generates electricity to charge ...
Read in browser A is For: All of Us - Standing Up for Reproductive Rights
By Gina Loukareas and Maureen Herman on Nov 05, 2012 04:45 pm People are wearing the scarlet A, standing up for reproductive rights, and telling the world what their A stands for.
Read in browser Warren Ellis on the dismal American election
By Cory Doctorow on Nov 05, 2012 04:00 pm It's been so long since Transmetropolitan ended that I sometimes forget how totally incandescent Warren Ellis is when he's talking politics. His latest Vice column, "My Last Column About the Presidential Election (Really)," was a good reminder. President Obama's fairly grim, toothless, meandering and perfunctory presidency gained excellent contrast from an assemblage of GOP candidates ...
Read in browser Sneak peek at my Quarterly.co package of Fantastic Plastic gadgets and novelties
By Mark Frauenfelder on Nov 05, 2012 03:26 pm Quarterly Co. is a "subscription service for wonderful things." They "send people physical items in the mail from influential contributors of their choice." Quarterly kindly chose me as an "influential contributor." Here's a glimpse at one of the items in my first package of goodies: As an editor of Boing Boing, Mark Frauenfelder turns the ...
Read in browser Good news if you've always wished that The Walking Dead and Robot Chicken would hang out together
By Jamie Frevele on Nov 05, 2012 03:21 pm Maybe you were unhappy about a favorite character's departure from The Walking Dead. Maybe you're annoyed about how much the show differs from the comics. But maybe you'd just like to see some old-school stop-motion animation on the show, like the dancing undead girlfriend in Evil Dead 2. Well, Adult Swim's official source for stop-motion ...
Read in browser The other man behind the mouse: Floyd Gottfredson
By Mark Frauenfelder on Nov 05, 2012 03:08 pm This post is sponsored by Disney's Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two the video game: People who know me know enough to run away when I start stalking about Carl Barks, the late great Disney comic book artist and writer. Barks is in my top-3 list of cartoonists (along with Jack Kirby and Robert ...
Read in browser Trailer for Alan Moore's first film: "Jimmy's End"
By Cory Doctorow on Nov 05, 2012 03:00 pm Jimmy's End is a 30-minute short film by Alan Moore and Mitch Jenkins.
Read in browser John Cusack is going to play Rush Limbaugh in a biopic -- will it be CGI?
By Jamie Frevele on Nov 05, 2012 02:55 pm A new biopic about [insert politically biased job description here] Rush Limbaugh was recently announced, and while the rumored directing choice makes perfect sense -- Betty Thomas, who directed the Howard Stern semi-biopic Private Parts -- the person in talks to play Mr. Limbaugh is the comparatively young and svelt John Cusack, who is also ...
Read in browser Unbored: The Essential Field Guide to Serious Fun -- exclusive excerpt: "Remote-Controlled Water Blaster"
By Mark Frauenfelder on Nov 05, 2012 02:52 pm Illustration by Mister Reusch The following project is excerpted from Unbored: The Essential Field Guide to Serious Fun, by Joshua Glenn and Elizabeth Foy Larsen, designed by Tony Leone, published in October by Bloomsbury. I wrote the introduction to Unbored, and it is probably the best do-it-yourself and activity book for children I've seen. The ...
Read in browser All-black sugar skulls of Mario, Alien, LEGO minifig, and other icons
By David Pescovitz on Nov 05, 2012 02:41 pm Last year, I posted about BB pal Jonathan Koshi's brilliantly-reimagined pop culture calaveras, the decorated skulls associated with the Dia de los Muertos. Now, Koshi has released a new limited print run of his letterpressed skull series featuring Spy vs. Spy, Alien, Mario, and other characters. This special series, titled "Molasses," is black ink letterpressed ...
Read in browser Interview with cartoonist Joost Swarte
By Mark Frauenfelder on Nov 05, 2012 02:13 pm Bob Knetzger alerted me to a Comics Journal interview with Joost Swarte, who I mentioned last week because he has a new book called, Is That All There Is? Bob says: "Very interesting interview with Joost Swarte. Didn't know he studied industrial design and that he does lots more than comics… and that he coined ...
Read in browser Matmos's Ganzfeld EP: electronica meets ESP
By David Pescovitz on Nov 05, 2012 01:52 pm Matmos's experiment with ESP-inspired electronica.
Read in browser This week's The Walking Dead recap reminds us all that this "isn't kid stuff" [SPOILERS]
By Jamie Frevele on Nov 05, 2012 01:24 pm Fair warning, fair readers: There is no way to discuss this episode of The Walking Dead without major spoilers, because this one was probably one of the most emotionally impactful episodes of the season, maybe even the series so far. Serious things happened to major characters; one of them could have been predicted by fans ...
Read in browser 3D printed vegan Kosher Moebius bacon
By Cory Doctorow on Nov 05, 2012 01:11 pm Infinite bacon is now possible direct from Shapeways 3D printers.
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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