Krampus: The Devil of Christmas greeting cards Great opening sequence: the Prisoner "Cult" sunglasses great for leaders of new religions Patent on creating a unicorn, and an ancient unicorn lair Why (some) manufacturing is returning to the USA Map of the Dead, survive the zombie apocalypse Be careful out there, bedbug warriors Molecules with silly names Chicken hotdogs and garters for boys who want to be manly The future of fuel has gone to sh*%. How Neil deGrasse Tyson helped Superman Elfquest: this ancient vessel's shape Creepers gotta creep — for science The natural history of the European werewolf The Arduino: a $25 gadget that will teach you and your kids a lot about programming and electronics The best smartphones of 2012 Deer join horse race, announcer plays along Star Wars Roguelike Get married at Denny's How Samsung broke from the pack Posters "designed" by playing pinball Symbolia: new tablet zine for comics journalism KQED reports on own entry to venture capital space Alpha Colony misses $50k Kickstarter goal by $28, does not fund X-Wing fighter made from beer-cans Boba Fett skirt Overblocking of The Pirate Bay in the UK blocks perfectly legal, indie artist promotion site Illinois state AG investigates alleged breast cancer charity scam "Boobies Rock" Dog dressed as two dogs holding a present "Nature is a bitch who likes to make life hard for scientists" (and lazy bloggers) Krampus: The Devil of Christmas greeting cards
By Mark Frauenfelder on Dec 03, 2012 12:48 pm Meet Krampus, Santa Claus' devilish pal named who takes care of kids on the naughty list.
Read in browser Great opening sequence: the Prisoner
By Jason Weisberger on Dec 03, 2012 12:41 pm Oh, just one of the best shows EVER.
Read in browser "Cult" sunglasses great for leaders of new religions
By Rob Beschizza on Dec 03, 2012 12:30 pm No prospective cult leader wants to be seen dead without an appropriate pair of 1970s-esque gradient shades, and Iris Optical's "Cult" sunglasses just happen to nail that exclusive and challenging David Koresh look. At $300 or so, indulgence always comes at a high price.
Read in browser Patent on creating a unicorn, and an ancient unicorn lair
By David Pescovitz on Dec 03, 2012 12:28 pm The Korean Central News Agency reports that scientists have "recently reconfirmed" a unicorn's layer in Pyongyang. Not surprisingly, the magical animal itself was nowhere to be found as this is the home of a unicorn said to have been ridden by King Tongmyong, founder of the Koguryo Kingdom (B.C. 277-A.D. 668). How did the scientists ...
Read in browser Why (some) manufacturing is returning to the USA
By Cory Doctorow on Dec 03, 2012 12:00 pm General Electric has moved some of its key appliance-manufacturing work back to the USA, re-opening "Appliance Park," a megafactory in Louisville, KY. The company is finding it cheaper to do some manufacturing in the US relative to China, thanks to spiking oil costs, plummeting natural gas prices in the US, rising Chinese wages, falling US ...
Read in browser Map of the Dead, survive the zombie apocalypse
By Jason Weisberger on Dec 03, 2012 11:58 am Spend hours planning what to do when everything goes to hell-on-earth? I know I do. This map just made things a lot easier (planning anyways, I'm not counting on a lot of connectivity post event!) I have not tried the associated game, yet. The map is far too engrossing!
Read in browser Be careful out there, bedbug warriors
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Dec 03, 2012 11:47 am Yes, bedbugs are gross. But before you go all Conan on any creepy creatures living in your mattress, please be aware that pesticides are both helpful and potentially dangerous. With bedbug infestations on the rise in many American cities, the Centers for Disease Control is trying to make people aware of the dangers of using ...
Read in browser Molecules with silly names
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Dec 03, 2012 11:39 am Meet moronic acid. It's special. Seriously. Found in mistletoe and the Chinese sumac, this chemical could be one of the reasons those plants have long been associated with herbal medicine. Scientists studying the anti-viral properties of moronic acid have found it to be effective against HIV and herpes. The HIV work is particularly important, because ...
Read in browser Chicken hotdogs and garters for boys who want to be manly
By Mark Frauenfelder on Dec 03, 2012 11:20 am Two fine pieces of vintage ephemera from Mostly Forbidden Zone: A hotdog with the head of a chicken, and one heck of a manly garter for boys.
Read in browser The future of fuel has gone to sh*%.
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Dec 03, 2012 11:08 am Scientists are studying panda poop to learn how to make better biofuels.
Read in browser How Neil deGrasse Tyson helped Superman
By Jason Weisberger on Dec 03, 2012 11:08 am NPR has a great story about Neil deGrasse Tyson and the Hayden Planetarium pitching in when given a chance to help out the Man of Steel. DC Comics, Tyson explains, approached him for permission to use the Planetarium — as well as his likeness — in a story where Superman witnesses the destruction of Krypton, ...
Read in browser Elfquest: this ancient vessel's shape
By Wendy and Richard Pini on Dec 03, 2012 11:00 am Page 13 of The Final Quest: Prologue is published online-first for the first time here at Boing Boing. First time reader? You're a few issues behind.
Read in browser Creepers gotta creep — for science
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Dec 03, 2012 10:35 am In 1938, researchers at Bryn Mawr College published a paper on Egocentricity in Adult Conversations. In order to accurately record the pattern and content of conversations as they happened in real life, the researchers used several methods that would be considered ... sketchy ... today. Among them: Hiding underneath female college students' dorm beds.
Read in browser The natural history of the European werewolf
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Dec 03, 2012 10:29 am A tour of werewolves in European history — the mad, the bad, and the heretics.
Read in browser The Arduino: a $25 gadget that will teach you and your kids a lot about programming and electronics
By Mark Frauenfelder on Dec 03, 2012 10:00 am Arduino is a small circuit board that costs about $20 - $30 and can be used to add interactivity to projects.
Read in browser The best smartphones of 2012
By Rob Beschizza on Dec 03, 2012 09:43 am At Ars Technica, Andrew Cunningham offers an epic, 5-page guide to the best smartphones of 2012. Our Gift Guide recommendations are more succinct: get the iPhone 5, Nexus 4 or Nokia 920.
Read in browser Deer join horse race, announcer plays along
By Rob Beschizza on Dec 03, 2012 09:36 am "As they race down the track, Bambi has the lead. Here comes Rudolph from the outside." [CBS Pittsburgh]
Read in browser Star Wars Roguelike
By Rob Beschizza on Dec 03, 2012 09:33 am Ondřej Žára's Star Wars Roguelike is approachable and fun! It's based upon toolkits he created for making old-school ASCII adventures easier to put together in javascipt. [ondras.github via Indiegames]
Read in browser Get married at Denny's
By Rob Beschizza on Dec 03, 2012 09:27 am Timothy Pratt: "Denny's, the 24-hour American diner, opened a restaurant on Thursday in Las Vegas with a wedding chapel where couples can tie the knot."
Read in browser How Samsung broke from the pack
By Rob Beschizza on Dec 03, 2012 09:26 am Samsung's proven that Android smartphones and tablets can go toe-to-toe with iOS, transforming mobile into its own largest growth business. It took more than $11bn in marketing expenses to get there. [Asymco]
Read in browser Posters "designed" by playing pinball
By Cory Doctorow on Dec 03, 2012 09:15 am STYN is Sam van Doorn's design grad project. It uses a pinball machine as a semi-random plotter, which produces "posters" based on the rise and fall of the ball: A poster is placed on top of the machine, which has a grid printed on it. Based on this grid you can structure your playing field ...
Read in browser Symbolia: new tablet zine for comics journalism
By Xeni Jardin on Dec 03, 2012 02:59 am Illustrator-journalist Susie Cagle shares news about a new tablet magazine of comics journalism, Symbolia, that launches Monday, Dec. 3, and includes some of Cagle's own excellent work. Symbolia editor Erin Polgreen explains, Graphic novel-style investigative journalism now has a home and its name is Symbolia. This Mon. 12/3, the premier, double-length edition of Symbolia will ...
Read in browser KQED reports on own entry to venture capital space
By Jason Weisberger on Dec 03, 2012 12:01 am Apparently Public Media is starting an incubator."KQED's Joshua Johnson recently interviewed Corey Ford, because he's the Matter CEO, and KQED President and CEO John Boland, because Joshua knew where to find him on the third floor. And because he wanted to ask him, you know, what's a nice org like you doing in a space ...
Read in browser Alpha Colony misses $50k Kickstarter goal by $28, does not fund
By Jason Weisberger on Dec 02, 2012 11:41 pm DreamQuest games Kickstarter project fell $28 short and rules are rules. I wish I'd known of it, M.U.L.E. was a favorite. "Alpha Colony's Kickstarter campaign had raised $49,972 from 542 backers. The game was meant to be a mobile and PC spiritual sequel to M.U.L.E." (Polygon)
Read in browser X-Wing fighter made from beer-cans
By Cory Doctorow on Dec 02, 2012 07:19 pm Tamás Kánya's "X-Wing Beer Can," lovingly documented on Flickr, is a boozy tribute to interstellar combat. star wars x wing beer can (via Neatorama)
Read in browser Boba Fett skirt
By Cory Doctorow on Dec 02, 2012 07:07 pm Etsy seller GoFollowRabbits produces "Geek Chic Fashion," including this marvy Boba Fett skirt. Printed Bounty Hunter Inspired Skirt (via The Mary Sue)
Read in browser Overblocking of The Pirate Bay in the UK blocks perfectly legal, indie artist promotion site
By Cory Doctorow on Dec 02, 2012 07:04 pm TorrentFreak reports that UK ISPs aren't just blocking The Pirate Bay, as a court order requires of them -- they're also blocking The Promo Bay, a website set up by the Pirate Bay to promote legal, independent media. It turns out that the Promo Bay website is being blocked be several Internet providers, showing a ...
Read in browser Illinois state AG investigates alleged breast cancer charity scam "Boobies Rock"
By Xeni Jardin on Dec 02, 2012 01:34 pm With a name like "Boobies Rock!" you know it's a totally legit breast cancer fundraiser. Last week, the Chicago Sun-Times first exposed allegations that "Boobies Rock!," a for-profit business that purports to fund-raise for "breast-cancer awareness" in Chicago and around the US, wasn't actually funneling funds to charities it claimed to benefit. Now, the paper ...
Read in browser Dog dressed as two dogs holding a present
By Dean Putney on Dec 02, 2012 01:18 pm Dan Wrexham throws down the gauntlet: "If you've seen a better picture than this picture of a dog dressed as two dogs carrying a present, I don't believe you." I can't think of anything better. UPDATE: François Arias let us know in the comments that he took this photo! He even sent in a better ...
Read in browser "Nature is a bitch who likes to make life hard for scientists" (and lazy bloggers)
By Xeni Jardin on Dec 02, 2012 01:11 pm In the Guardian, Stephen Curry writes about how a new analysis of the structure of DNA using electron microscopy was mis-reported and distorted by various online publications. (HT: @nostrich)
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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