Sponsor shout-out: ShanaLogic and Anatomical Frankenstein limited-edition print Golden Spike Company announces plan for commercial lunar space expeditions Anna and Froga: Wanna Gumball? -- funny kids' picture book Every Audiophile Review Ever Game of Thrones game show in San Francisco tonight! Stickers that give life to inanimate objects Epic Fun Day at the Beach Some Macs to be made in America Star Trek 2 trailer! Walking Dead 17: it's grim Marijuana now legal in Washington Leaked: ITU's secret Internet surveillance standard discussion draft Public interest groups fly to Auckland, NZ to meet with TPP negotiators, are only allowed in the building to give a 15-minute joint presentation UK ISPs will unblock The Promo Bay New Jim Woodring iPhone 5 case from Twig New Boing Boing T-shirt: "Rocket Bike" Roq La Rue Gallery art openings for Femke Hiemstra & Ryan Heshka Americans! Celebrate the Repeal! Printing press made from IKEA drawers Steampunk pipe-lamp with valve-switch Burroughs and Cobain, 1993 Voicemails from hundreds of strangers answering a secret question UPDATE: Tim Heidecker has been fired from Rolling Stone A casting agency for all of your creepy horror child casting needs What's new in Boing Boing's Video archives New Zealand give $120M subsidy to Hollywood for local production of The Hobbit, plus a passel of new anti-union and copyright laws -- and corrupt police raids Does your family rock? Enter this contest! Transform Robot from Japan's Brave Robotics brings "Transformers" to life Kickstarting a movie that realistically portrays hackers Sponsor shout-out: ShanaLogic and
By David Pescovitz on Dec 06, 2012 12:29 pm Thanks to our wonderful sponsor ShanaLogic, sellers of handmade and independently-designed jewelry, apparel, gifts, and other curious creations! This lovely "Less Than Three Heart Ring" is made to order by Metal Smitten. It's sterling silver, unisex, and just $55. Free USA shipping too! ShanaLogic
Read in browser Anatomical Frankenstein limited-edition print
By Cory Doctorow on Dec 06, 2012 12:09 pm Artist Brian Ewing has produced a limited edition colorway print of his anatomical Frankenstein's monster poster. I love this work -- I gave my wife one of his bubblegum colorways of the Bride of Frankenstein for our anniversary, and I've just put the Frankenstein on my Xmas list (don't buy 'em all, OK?). Ewing really ...
Read in browser Golden Spike Company announces plan for commercial lunar space expeditions
By Xeni Jardin on Dec 06, 2012 11:24 am Apollo 17: Last on the Moon. Photo: NASA. An announcement of note this morning about The Golden Spike Company, a new private space travel venture, backed by private investors. Their tag line? "Extend Your Reach." Snip from today's press release: On the eve of the 40th anniversary of the launch of Apollo 17, the last ...
Read in browser Anna and Froga: Wanna Gumball? -- funny kids' picture book
By Mark Frauenfelder on Dec 06, 2012 11:00 am This collection of comicbook-like stories feature Anna and her animal friends on mini-adventures that include duplicitousness, frustration, greed, fool's errands, and trickery.
Read in browser Every Audiophile Review Ever
By Rob Beschizza on Dec 06, 2012 10:49 am We found
the best new listening enhancers since the Mpingo Disk. They're foot-tappingly great!
Read in browser Game of Thrones game show in San Francisco tonight!
By Jason Weisberger on Dec 06, 2012 10:22 am The Boars Gore and Swords podcast is putting on a round of their hilarious gameshow Please Please don't kill me! at Murphy's Pub on Kearny at 8pm tonight! Stand up comics compete to avoid beheading. With a turnip truck full of SF Sketchfest alum and a Comicon hall full of Thrones knowledge, there should be ...
Read in browser Stickers that give life to inanimate objects
By Mark Frauenfelder on Dec 06, 2012 10:01 am InAnimate makes stickers that reveal the personalities of inanimate objects in your house. "There are LOTS of eyes, noses, and mouths in each pack, and yes they’re removable (though we can’t think why you’d remove one)." Inanimate Stickers: $4.95 (Via $5 Finds)
Read in browser Epic Fun Day at the Beach
By Advertiser on Dec 06, 2012 10:00 am ADVERTISEMENT This post is brought to you by The New Santa Fe from Hyundai. Our sponsor Hyundai asked my family and me to take a new 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe on an "Epic Fun Day." What that meant was entirely up to us. The first step was coming up with where we wanted to drive! ...
Read in browser Some Macs to be made in America
By Rob Beschizza on Dec 06, 2012 09:37 am The AP: "Apple CEO Tim Cook says the company will produce one of its existing lines of Mac computers in the United States next year." Good for them! My money is on the Mac Pro, where sticker price doesn't matter to the customers and Apple can preserve its margins.
Read in browser Star Trek 2 trailer!
By Rob Beschizza on Dec 06, 2012 09:28 am Three thoughts: 1. Looks damned good. 2. The trailer makes it look like a straight-up action movie with sci-fi backdrops. 3. Maybe they're so cagey about calling him Khan because it's a British actor in a classic minority role? Speaking of that particular semiotic snarl, did anyone notice the first time around that Vulcans are ...
Read in browser Walking Dead 17: it's grim
By Cory Doctorow on Dec 06, 2012 09:17 am This week saw the publication of the seventeenth Walking Dead collection, Something to Fear. Robert Kirkman really is the absolute master of holding out a tiny, frayed thread of hope and then snatching it away from you. For years I've read these books, watching this vivid, gripping world turn to ruin and cruelty and entropy; ...
Read in browser Marijuana now legal in Washington
By Rob Beschizza on Dec 06, 2012 09:05 am CBS: "An impromptu celebration was held, appropriately enough, at the Space Needle, a Seattle high point. The air was filled with the scent of victory."
Read in browser Leaked: ITU's secret Internet surveillance standard discussion draft
By Cory Doctorow on Dec 06, 2012 02:54 am Yesterday morning, I wrote about the closed-door International Telecommunications Union meeting where they were working on standardizing "deep packet inspection" -- a technology crucial to mass Internet surveillance. Other standards bodies have refused to touch DPI because of the risk to Internet users that arises from making it easier to spy on them. But not ...
Read in browser Public interest groups fly to Auckland, NZ to meet with TPP negotiators, are only allowed in the building to give a 15-minute joint presentation
By Cory Doctorow on Dec 05, 2012 10:55 pm Having been promised a chance to meet with the delegates at the secretive Trans Pacific Partnership treaty meeting in New Zealand, a representatives from nonprofit public interest groups around the world flew to Auckland. Once they arrived, the TPP announced that they would be granted 15 minutes, total, for all of the groups to make ...
Read in browser UK ISPs will unblock The Promo Bay
By Cory Doctorow on Dec 05, 2012 10:16 pm Earlier this week, I wrote about how UK ISPs were blocking The Promo Bay, a site launched by The Pirate Bay to promote independent artists who didn't having their material shared. The ISPs had been ordered by a court to block The Pirate Bay, but seemed to have added The Promo Bay on orders from ...
Read in browser New Jim Woodring iPhone 5 case from Twig
By Mark Frauenfelder on Dec 05, 2012 09:58 pm Twig Case company has a few new Jim Woodring designs for the iPhone 5 (plus the 4/4s). I'm partial to this Pupshaw/Frank/Manhog illo! Check out all the designs (including this one by yours truly) at Twig.
Read in browser New Boing Boing T-shirt: "Rocket Bike"
By Mark Frauenfelder on Dec 05, 2012 09:46 pm Our latest Boing Boing T-shirt was designed by Alex Pearson! It makes a great gift for all your rocket-bike enthusiast friends! Boing Boing Rocket Bike T-shirt See all of our offerings in the Boing Boing Shop.
Read in browser Roq La Rue Gallery art openings for Femke Hiemstra & Ryan Heshka
By Mark Frauenfelder on Dec 05, 2012 09:25 pm Roq La Rue Gallery in Seattle, WA is having two simultaneous solo shows with new paintings by two of my favorites: Femke Hiemstra and Ryan Heshka. It opens Friday December 7th 6-9pm, and both artists will be in attendance. The show runs through January 5th. Roq La Rue is very pleased to present two solo ...
Read in browser Americans! Celebrate the Repeal!
By Jason Weisberger on Dec 05, 2012 08:57 pm Drink of the Week's Rachel shares some thoughts on the 79th anniversary of the 21st amendment to the U.S. Constitution, or as it is also almost never called: Repeal Day! I'm certainly glad that Prohibition, which was kicked off by the 18th amendment, is long past. Rachel steps us through the history of prohibition and ...
Read in browser Printing press made from IKEA drawers
By Cory Doctorow on Dec 05, 2012 08:30 pm Jenny and Charles are making their own wedding program, and to do so, they made their own printing press. From a set of IKEA drawers. Because they are awesome. The printing press is made of an Ikea Kullen chest of drawers, several pieces of wood, and several iron pipes... The cabinet is upside down, but ...
Read in browser Steampunk pipe-lamp with valve-switch
By Cory Doctorow on Dec 05, 2012 08:09 pm PeteJ sends in "a steampunk desk lamp I built, the valve is also the on/off switch." That's a hell of a switch.
Read in browser Burroughs and Cobain, 1993
By David Pescovitz on Dec 05, 2012 06:50 pm William S. Burroughs and Kurt Cobain's "The 'Priest' They Called Him" (1993). After meeting Cobain, Burroughs commented to his assistant: "There's something wrong with that boy; he frowns for no good reason."
Read in browser Voicemails from hundreds of strangers answering a secret question
By Cory Doctorow on Dec 05, 2012 06:43 pm Olga sez, "On Thanksgiving, I got chosen by the Listserve (the email lottery!) to send an email to 21,632 people. I decided to ask them to call a Google Voicemail number, and answer the secret question I left on the answering message. The result is hundreds of strangers leaving me poignant, funny, and often heart-breaking ...
Read in browser UPDATE: Tim Heidecker has been fired from Rolling Stone
By Jamie Frevele on Dec 05, 2012 06:43 pm In an update to our previous post about Tim Heidecker guest-editing/hijacking Rolling Stone (possibly in a fictional sense), Tim Heidecker has been "escorted out of the building after being fired without explanation or reason." He is said to be "very sad" about it, as is the world. (via Tim Heidecker on Twitter)
Read in browser A casting agency for all of your creepy horror child casting needs
By Jamie Frevele on Dec 05, 2012 06:33 pm Your kid should be in (horror) pictures!
Read in browser What's new in Boing Boing's Video archives
By Xeni Jardin on Dec 05, 2012 06:24 pm Some of our loyal readers may not yet be aware that we've launched Boing Boing's all-new Video page, where all of the videos we blog on Boing Boing are viewable in one ginormous grid of genuine genius. Some recent picks: * Chris Lee of Nashville, Tennessee wants to build a full-scale replica of the Millennium ...
Read in browser New Zealand give $120M subsidy to Hollywood for local production of The Hobbit, plus a passel of new anti-union and copyright laws -- and corrupt police raids
By Cory Doctorow on Dec 05, 2012 05:58 pm Writing for Bloomberg, Joe Karaganis describes the incredible subsidies that New Zealand provided to the film production for The Hobbit, and what a brutal screwjob those subsidies represent for Kiwi taxpayers. But now you aren't thinking like a studio. The real question is: How much taxpayer money can Warner Bros. demand from the government of ...
Read in browser Does your family rock? Enter this contest!
By Advertiser on Dec 05, 2012 05:30 pm ADVERTISEMENT This post is brought to you by The New Santa Fe from Hyundai. Think your family rocks? Show us by uploading a photo of your family rocking out. Enter now for a chance to win great prizes. Do your family values include kindness, sharing, and hard work? That's nice, but boring. How about loud ...
Read in browser Transform Robot from Japan's Brave Robotics brings "Transformers" to life
By Xeni Jardin on Dec 05, 2012 05:23 pm The 1/12 scale Transform Robot Version 7.2 from
Brave Robotics of Japan.
Read in browser Kickstarting a movie that realistically portrays hackers
By Cory Doctorow on Dec 05, 2012 05:21 pm David sez, "We all hate seeing the way computers are depicted in TV shows and movies. Magic boxes that can do the impossible and it only gets less realistic when the subject turns to hacking. There is though one upcoming movie that aims to tackle this subject with realism and while telling a damn interesting ...
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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