Edible Fletcher Hanks comics Bitcoin casinos report large profits Heart performs "Stairway To Heaven" Play a forecasting game about the future of civic engagement TOM THE DANCING BUG: Louis's New Girlfriend! Helen MacInnes' classic 1941 thriller, Above Suspicion, reissued (excerpt) Sponsor shout-out: ShanaLogic and Bigfoot t-shirt! Gygax Magazine: Dragon reborn Nuclear power plant produced snow in Pennsylvania How to tell if a "shark in flooded city streets after a storm" photo is a fake in 5 easy steps" Memorex, a 50-minute odyssey through the VHS generation Classic Penguin paperback covers of the 1970s, by David Pelham The more-certain future of Aquarius, the last undersea science lab Objectify a Male Tech Writer Day Portal Turrets' serenade Pirate sheet-set Just look at this sniper eating a banana on a rooftop during the inauguration. How the NY Daily News covered Stonewall The hobbit reimagined as a Golden Book Inventor claims legitimate use for his license plate flipper Little Lamp: an Internet-of-Things light that tells you about your friends' beddie-byes How Doctors Die Zero to Maker: A Re-Skilling Guide for New Makers Choire Sicha on "The New Way We Make Web Headlines Now" What it's like to have a grand mal seizure Asteroid mining to commence in 2015 Ordering pizza with a computer, 1974 Gemma, a 1" diameter Arduino-compatible board for wearable electronics Avoiding 'cop talk' for journalists Jonty Hurwitz's sculptures reveal themselves in a cylindrical mirror Edible Fletcher Hanks comics
By Cory Doctorow on Jan 23, 2013 12:49 pm Zack sez, "Just did an interview with Sylvia Toth, who uses public-domain images in a unique way -- she creates sugar cookies with images from 1940s comics printed onto icing sheets with food coloring. Her best-sellers are a line of cookies featuring images from Fletcher Hanks' Stardust the Super-Wizard, and they've earned a thumbs-up from ...
Read in browser Bitcoin casinos report large profits
By Cory Doctorow on Jan 23, 2013 12:42 pm Bitcoin-based casinos are reporting pretty serious, six-figure profits on a series of games wherein players' apopheniac tendencies cause them to hallucinate non-randomness in the performance of a pseudorandom-number generator. The casinos claim that their financial numbers can be trusted because of BitCoin's shared logfile, which can be parsed to show their earnings. SatoshiDice, which has ...
Read in browser Heart performs "Stairway To Heaven"
By David Pescovitz on Jan 23, 2013 12:25 pm At the recent Kennedy Center Honors event that celebrated Led Zeppelin among other artists, Heart (with Jason Bonham on drums) performed a magnificent cover of "Stairway to Heaven."
Read in browser Play a forecasting game about the future of civic engagement
By David Pescovitz on Jan 23, 2013 12:13 pm My Institute for the Future colleague Jake Dunagan is hosting a 24-hour online forecasting game to imagine the future of government services and civic engagement. It's called Connected Citizens and there are still a few hours left to play! The near future holds epic opportunities for rapid innovation in government services. New civic technologies will ...
Read in browser TOM THE DANCING BUG: Louis's New Girlfriend!
By Ruben Bolling on Jan 23, 2013 12:05 pm Tom the Dancing Bug, IN WHICH Louis discovers that he's not the only one who knows how to create a fictional text conversation.
Read in browser Helen MacInnes' classic 1941 thriller, Above Suspicion, reissued (excerpt)
By Mark Frauenfelder on Jan 23, 2013 11:58 am Titan Books is reissuing the thrillers of spy novelist Helen MacInnes, starting with Pray for a Brave Heart and Above Suspicion. Below, an excerpt from Above Suspicion, her first novel, which was published in 1941. Richard and Frances Myles are preparing for their annual European summer vacation in 1939 when they are visited at their ...
Read in browser Sponsor shout-out: ShanaLogic and Bigfoot t-shirt!
By David Pescovitz on Jan 23, 2013 11:58 am Thanks to our delightful sponsor ShanaLogic, sellers of handmade and independently-designed jewelry, apparel, gifts, and other curious creations. Naturally, I'm digging this Cryptozoology Glow-in-the-Dark Tee by Maiden Voyage. Not only does it put Bigfoot front-and-center, there are also references in the design to Mothman, Nessie, and other cryptids. It's available in black and brown. Shana ...
Read in browser Gygax Magazine: Dragon reborn
By Cory Doctorow on Jan 23, 2013 11:45 am Jayson sez, "Gygax magazine is a quarterly adventure-gaming magazine, created in the spirit of such iconic '80s journals as Dragon, White Dwarf, Adventure Gaming, and Pegasus. At the helm are Gary Gygax's two eldest sons, Luke & Ernest Gary Gygax Jr., along with Jayson Elliot, and Dragon magazine founder Tim Kask. The first issue includes ...
Read in browser Nuclear power plant produced snow in Pennsylvania
By Xeni Jardin on Jan 23, 2013 11:41 am How exactly did a nuclear power plant generate snowfall in southwest Pennsylvania? Science. "The ultra cold air streaming in from the northwest interacted with the hot steam emitted from the plant resulting in condensation, cloud formation and precipitation." (WaPo Capital Weather Gang)
Read in browser How to tell if a "shark in flooded city streets after a storm" photo is a fake in 5 easy steps"
By Xeni Jardin on Jan 23, 2013 11:40 am David Shiffman of Southern Fried Science can tell if that "shark in flooded city streets after a storm" photo is a fake, by the pixels.
Read in browser Memorex, a 50-minute odyssey through the VHS generation
By Rob Beschizza on Jan 23, 2013 10:55 am Distilled from forty hours of 80s commercials, pulled from VHS tapes,
Memorex is the sequel to Smash TV's
Skinemax.
Read in browser Classic Penguin paperback covers of the 1970s, by David Pelham
By Cory Doctorow on Jan 23, 2013 10:38 am Illustrator David Pelham produced some of Penguin UK's most iconic 1970s book-covers. Kadrey's got a small gallery of the best of 'em, works of art every one. Some of David Pelham's brilliant 70s SF covers for Penguin Books.
Read in browser The more-certain future of Aquarius, the last undersea science lab
By Brian Lam on Jan 23, 2013 10:33 am A recent grant is enough to keep Aquarius, the world's only remaining underwater research habitat, actively maintained by its salty crew. But it won't cover scientific mission funding. Aquarius lives, but it's also like it's taking a long nap.
Read in browser Objectify a Male Tech Writer Day
By Rob Beschizza on Jan 23, 2013 09:59 am The first annual Objectify a Male Tech Writer Day brings attention to the ways, subtle and otherwise, in which female journalists are objectified and trivialized. Here's organizer (and BB contributor) Leigh Alexander, writing in The New Statesman: The purpose of the exercise isn't to "get revenge" or to make anyone uncomfortable: simply to help highlight ...
Read in browser Portal Turrets' serenade
By Cory Doctorow on Jan 23, 2013 09:41 am Zachariah Scott created this wonderful machinima video, "The Turret Anthem," capturing a marvellous musical performance by the Portal Turrets in Glados's chamber:
Read in browser Pirate sheet-set
By Cory Doctorow on Jan 23, 2013 09:00 am $110 gets you a set of Beyond Bedding's Treasure Cove Pirate bedding -- comforter, shams, and a collection of appliques. It's markketed as "Children's Bedding," but a) it comes in queen size, and b) grownups make better pirates than kids do. As IO9's Annalee Newitz says, "Basically you can turn every object in your immediate ...
Read in browser Just look at this sniper eating a banana on a rooftop during the inauguration.
By Cory Doctorow on Jan 22, 2013 10:44 pm Just look at him. Noticed some snipers hanging out on the roof during the inaugural parade. Zoomed in to find him enjoying a banana. (Thanks, Richard!)
Read in browser How the NY Daily News covered Stonewall
By Cory Doctorow on Jan 22, 2013 08:36 pm The Stonewall Riots kicked off on June 28, 1969, and marked a turning-point in the gay rights movement. Today, they're remembered as a kind of shot heard round the world, but at the time, the coverage was a lot less sympathetic. Here's a mirror of "Homo Nest Raided, Queen Bees Are Stinging Mad," a story ...
Read in browser The hobbit reimagined as a Golden Book
By Mark Frauenfelder on Jan 22, 2013 08:26 pm Rosemary says: "At school we are all busy putting together our portfolios to apply for co op placements this summer and one of my teachers keeps talking about ‘making art you want to get hired to do’. Well I would love to be hired to illustrate a kids book one day and man would I ...
Read in browser Inventor claims legitimate use for his license plate flipper
By Mark Frauenfelder on Jan 22, 2013 08:07 pm Matt Richardson says: "I've never seen a license plate flipper before, have you? From the video's description: 'This is meant to be used off road or show room for show cars and not meant for use to avoid red light camera or avoid toll camera.'" (Via Boing Boing G+ community)
Read in browser Little Lamp: an Internet-of-Things light that tells you about your friends' beddie-byes
By Cory Doctorow on Jan 22, 2013 05:48 pm Alexandra sez, "The Good Night Lamp lets you stay in touch with your loved ones by turning on a Big Lamp that remotely turns on a network of Little Lamps around the world. Wifi-enabled, collecting the Little Lamps of loved ones across the world means you get to know if they're around for a chat, ...
Read in browser How Doctors Die
By Xeni Jardin on Jan 22, 2013 05:48 pm Photo: patrick.ward04. Ken Murray, Clinical Assistant Professor of Family Medicine at USC, writes about his experience of how his peers in medicine tend to handle end-of-life issues. It's not a frequent topic of discussion, but doctors die, too. And they don't die like the rest of us. What's unusual about them is not how much ...
Read in browser Zero to Maker: A Re-Skilling Guide for New Makers
By Mark Frauenfelder on Jan 22, 2013 05:47 pm My friend, David Lang, co-creator of the OpenROV remote control underwater robot, is working on a new book about makers and making, and he has launched a kickstarted to fund it. In a span of several months I flipped the switch from being an interested onlooker to an active participant. In less than a year, ...
Read in browser Choire Sicha on "The New Way We Make Web Headlines Now"
By Xeni Jardin on Jan 22, 2013 05:47 pm At The Awl, veteran headline-writer Choire Sicha deconstructs how headline-writing has been transformed by the search for SEO-optimized traffic boostfulness.
Read in browser What it's like to have a grand mal seizure
By Xeni Jardin on Jan 22, 2013 05:35 pm Radio producer Jess Hill, who has been working in the Middle East, wrote an account of what the experience of having a grand mal seizure was like. She wrote the post a week after the episode, and two weeks before having brain surgery to remove the tumor that caused it. "At the time I was ...
Read in browser Asteroid mining to commence in 2015
By Rob Beschizza on Jan 22, 2013 05:19 pm It is definitely now the future. A new venture is joining the effort to extract mineral resources on asteroids. The announcement of plans by Deep Space Industries to exploit the rare metals present in the space rocks turns asteroid mining into a two-horse race. The other venture, Planetary Resources, went public with its proposals last ...
Read in browser Ordering pizza with a computer, 1974
By David Pescovitz on Jan 22, 2013 04:59 pm December 4, 1974: Donald Sherman who lives with Moebius Syndrome, a neurological disorder resulting in impaired speech among other challenges, uses a computer to order a pizza over the telephone.
Read in browser Gemma, a 1" diameter Arduino-compatible board for wearable electronics
By Cory Doctorow on Jan 22, 2013 03:19 pm Adafruit has announced "Gemma," a bite-sized, Arduino compatible board intended for use in wearable electronics projects. It measures 1" in diameter, and while it's not shipping yet, they're taking names for people who want to get 'em when they ship: * Powered by the ATtiny85 with 3 available I/O pins, one of which is also ...
Read in browser Avoiding 'cop talk' for journalists
By David Pescovitz on Jan 22, 2013 02:35 pm Do you speak cop talk? It's that exaggeratedly wordy, frequently passive voice, descriptive-but-vague language that police officers sometimes use when describing a... situation. You can learn more about it here. Once you are aware of cop talk, it sounds fairly ridiculous, especially coming from someone who isn't a police officer. (In fact, I once knew ...
Read in browser Jonty Hurwitz's sculptures reveal themselves in a cylindrical mirror
By Mark Frauenfelder on Jan 22, 2013 02:24 pm I have seen artists draw pictures that become unskewed in a mirrored cylinder, but this is the first time I've seen a sculptor use this technique. Beautiful. The Skewed, Anamorphic Sculptures and Engineered Illusions of Jonty Hurwitz (Via Matt Richardson in Boing Boing G+ community)
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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