The 5 Second VW belt change Bookcase/steamer trunk Whaler's Cabin, Pt. Lobos Rotting Soviet-era themepark in the heart of Berlin What did you do last night? Because Anthony Bourdain live-tweeted iCarly. Trailer for Warren Ellis's Gun Machine: narrated by Wil Wheaton and drawn by Ben Templesmith Tom Waits on the Simpsons, January 6th 30 Arduino Projects for the Evil Genius Fred Willard avoids going to trial following his lewdness arrest in July Mutiny on the Skylab A video featuring "Vomiting Larry" "Best of Everything" Breville variable-temperature kettle Indie horror games of the year New look for Chromebox, linux-based mini-desktop Woman whose ex- won't return her suitcase retaliates by auctioning the locations of his secret fishing holes How to escape jail in France: destroy ceiling with table leg Gamestick, an android game console so small it stashes in its own controller. An Unexpected Twist Riker Ipsum generator Making in the classroom: "Decades of research confirm that making and doing things cement knowledge in ways that lectures can't" Anatomy of a patent troll who wants $1000 from every scanner user in America: patents are totally, utterly broken Favorite projects from Make magazine for 2012 Something odd in the reviews for this banana slicer Recreating 19th-century face jugs with 3D scanning and printing technology You need a 1.5 ton gamelan, and I know where you can get it Mastaba Snoopy: Choose-your-own-adventure based on a horrific alien intelligence that loves Peanuts Apps for Kids 35: Chip Chain Meet Vomiting Larry Crime Against Nature: Beautifully illustrated children's book explores what "natural" really means The 5 Second VW belt change
By Jason Weisberger on Jan 03, 2013 12:52 pm What is it about old boxer engines that thrills me so?
Read in browser Bookcase/steamer trunk
By Cory Doctorow on Jan 03, 2013 12:44 pm I generally have little use for couture in all its incarnations, but Vuitton's combination steamer trunk and portable* library skewers me like an arrow. Nice old steamer trunks aren't cheap, but I'm still guessing you could find one, retrofit it and reproduce the effect without the stupid Vuitton wallpaper that covers the exterior and have ...
Read in browser Whaler's Cabin, Pt. Lobos
By Jason Weisberger on Jan 03, 2013 12:41 pm Taken at Whaler's Cove in California's Point Lobos State Natural Reserve. The cabin is next to one of the finest shore entry dive sites in the world. Such an amazing spot. Jason Wehmhoener has been making beautiful, 24x24 prints on Moab Slickrock Metallic!
Read in browser Rotting Soviet-era themepark in the heart of Berlin
By Cory Doctorow on Jan 03, 2013 12:18 pm Dark Roasted Blend has a beautiful gallery of Spreepark PlanterWald (originally called Kulturpark Planterwald) a Soviet-era abandoned themepark in central Berlin, which is gracefully rotting away. This is a Boing Boing/Cory Doctorow trifecta: abandoned themeparks, Soviet kitsch, and urban exploration. Yes, please! When it opened in 1969 as Kulturpark Planterwald, it was the "only constant ...
Read in browser What did you do last night? Because Anthony Bourdain live-tweeted iCarly.
By Jamie Frevele on Jan 03, 2013 12:14 pm Anthony Bourdain has some hard-hitting questions about the characters on Nickelodeon's tween favorite iCarly, and he asked them on Twitter last night. Among his inquiries: "Does Spencer have a job? Besides hanging out with underage girls?" and "[W]hat's Marvin Marvin's story?" Perfectly valid things for a renowned traveler/chef/middle-aged man to wonder in front of an ...
Read in browser Trailer for Warren Ellis's Gun Machine: narrated by Wil Wheaton and drawn by Ben Templesmith
By Cory Doctorow on Jan 03, 2013 12:13 pm Now there's a trailer for Warren Ellis's
Gun Machine, narrated by Wil Wheaton and drawn by the incomparable Ben Templesmith, a real happy mutant trifecta.
Read in browser Tom Waits on the Simpsons, January 6th
By Jason Weisberger on Jan 03, 2013 12:04 pm One of my favorite artists of all time, the incomparable Tom Waits will be appearing on this Sunday, January 6th's, episode of the Simpsons!
Read in browser 30 Arduino Projects for the Evil Genius
By Jason Weisberger on Jan 03, 2013 11:54 am I had a lot of time on my hands this holiday season and decided to get an arduino kit (I have solar panels I want to aim for max efficiency during the day, on a VW van.) A lot of intro titles seemed interesting but Simon Monk's 30 Arduino Projects for the Evil Genius grabbed ...
Read in browser Fred Willard avoids going to trial following his lewdness arrest in July
By Jamie Frevele on Jan 03, 2013 11:24 am After getting caught in the act -- specifically, the act of masturbating at Hollywood's Tiki Theater (for adults) -- Fred Willard has avoided trial after completing a "diversion program for minor sexual offenses" in September. I'm going to pretend that this program was conducted by a Christopher Guest character to make this story extra fun, ...
Read in browser Mutiny on the Skylab
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Jan 03, 2013 11:11 am December 1973: The month that astronauts rebelled against NASA.
Read in browser A video featuring "Vomiting Larry"
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Jan 03, 2013 10:53 am Meet the robot that pukes for science.
Read in browser "Best of Everything"
By Rob Beschizza on Jan 03, 2013 10:07 am Sony knows.
Read in browser Breville variable-temperature kettle
By Cory Doctorow on Jan 03, 2013 09:47 am After I converted my parents from drinking filter coffee to making their morning brew with an Aeropress (something I do with missionary zeal wherever I go), the next step was to replace their antiquated electric kettle with something smarter. Living in the UK has accustomed me to the wonder of electric kettles (240V AC FTW!) ...
Read in browser Indie horror games of the year
By Rob Beschizza on Jan 03, 2013 09:27 am Here's a great list of last year's most interesting horror-themed games from independent developers. [Indiegames.com]
Read in browser New look for Chromebox, linux-based mini-desktop
By Rob Beschizza on Jan 03, 2013 09:20 am The Chromebox, a tiny Chrome OS desktop computer from Samsung, is getting a new look. The new model is white and blobby instead of silver, black and squarey, but otherwise much the same as the current model. [Chrome Story / Ars Technica]
Read in browser Woman whose ex- won't return her suitcase retaliates by auctioning the locations of his secret fishing holes
By Cory Doctorow on Jan 03, 2013 09:13 am Angela Potter, a teacher in Waikato, NZ, has a funny definition of "vindictive": "My ex-boyfriend is an avid and very successful fisherman who asked me to protect his collection of GPS fishing spot co-ordinates [with my life no less]. Not a problem," she wrote on the auction. And sold secrets tend to make for an ...
Read in browser How to escape jail in France: destroy ceiling with table leg
By Rob Beschizza on Jan 03, 2013 09:11 am Prisoners in France used a table leg in part of a not-so-elaborate plan to escape Colmar, a 14th century penitentiary originally used as a convent. [Reuters]
Read in browser Gamestick, an android game console so small it stashes in its own controller.
By Rob Beschizza on Jan 03, 2013 09:05 am Gamestick is "the most portable TV games console ever created" — it's a HDMI dongle, the size of a large thumbdrive, that slots into its own bundled game controller when not in use. At $80, it'll be a must-buy for me; the kickstarter project aims for $100,000 in funding.
Read in browser An Unexpected Twist
By Dean Putney on Jan 03, 2013 08:49 am Andy Borowitz tells the harrowing tale of his near-death experience with severe intestinal trouble. A good poop joke should not go unappreciated, and this is a brilliantly told 18-page poop joke. Give it a read on your lunch break.
Read in browser Riker Ipsum generator
By Mark Frauenfelder on Jan 03, 2013 12:14 am From the Riker Ipsum generator: Well, that's certainly good to know. Fear is the true enemy, the only enemy. Yes, absolutely, I do indeed concur, wholeheartedly! They were just sucked into space. My oath is between Captain Kargan and myself. Your only concern is with how you obey my orders. Or do you prefer the ...
Read in browser Making in the classroom: "Decades of research confirm that making and doing things cement knowledge in ways that lectures can't"
By Mark Frauenfelder on Jan 02, 2013 09:00 pm Joshua Glenn and Elizabeth Foy Larsen, editors of the fantastic kids' activity book Unbored have an article in the Huffington Post about the power of making in the classroom. In fact, the idea of "learning by doing" stretches back to education legends Maria Montessori and John Dewey, both of whom felt teachers should act more ...
Read in browser Anatomy of a patent troll who wants $1000 from every scanner user in America: patents are totally, utterly broken
By Cory Doctorow on Jan 02, 2013 08:40 pm Joe Mullin's Ars Technica piece, "Patent trolls want $1,000—for using scanners," is an excellent, blood-boiling piece detailing the ease with which the US patent system can be used for pure extortion. A company -- its identity is shrouded in mystery and hidden behind several layers of obfuscation -- has a series of junk-patents allegedly covering ...
Read in browser Favorite projects from Make magazine for 2012
By Mark Frauenfelder on Jan 02, 2013 08:06 pm Here's a round up of some of our favorite projects that appeared in the pages of Make magazine last year. Above, the $4 Hot Air Balloon, by Jesse Brumberger. For all you readers who enjoy that special kick that comes from seeing an unusual homemade rig actually work, here’s some fun that can be had ...
Read in browser Something odd in the reviews for this banana slicer
By Jason Weisberger on Jan 02, 2013 07:57 pm This Chef'n Bananza Banana Slicer has some odd reviews on Amazon.
Read in browser Recreating 19th-century face jugs with 3D scanning and printing technology
By Bob Cramblitt on Jan 02, 2013 07:45 pm (MSOE staff member Jordan Weston shows the finished rapid-prototyped piece constructed of sintered nylon.) The face vessels made by African-Americans 150 years ago in Edgefield, South Carolina, might have been small, but they told big stories -- stories of cultural movement, human survival, spiritualism and technological prowess, according to Jon Prown, director for the Chipstone ...
Read in browser You need a 1.5 ton gamelan, and I know where you can get it
By Cory Doctorow on Jan 02, 2013 07:45 pm The wonderful Jon Singer has a weird sort of problem, and you are the sort of people who might help him. He is custodian of a traditional Javanese gamelan (~1.5t worth) and it needs a home. From Patrick Nielsen Hayden: As some of you are aware, the small non-profit research institute that has employed Jon ...
Read in browser Mastaba Snoopy: Choose-your-own-adventure based on a horrific alien intelligence that loves Peanuts
By Cory Doctorow on Jan 02, 2013 07:00 pm Mastaba Snoopy is surreal and wonderful dystopian science fiction choose-your-own adventure whose premise is that an all-powerful alien has mistaken a Peanuts book for a guide to human interaction, and enslaved humanity according to its principles. It's built on Twee and Tiddlywiki: 1. An Unknown Alien Being acquires a child's forgotten book and mistakenly beliefs ...
Read in browser Apps for Kids 35: Chip Chain
By Mark Frauenfelder on Jan 02, 2013 06:46 pm Click here to play episode. Apps for Kids is Boing Boing's podcast about cool smartphone apps for kids and parents. My co-host is my 9-year-old daughter, Jane Frauenfelder. In this episode of Apps for Kids, we talk about Chip Chain, a fun spin on the match-3 genre. We also talk about the Magic Treehouse series ...
Read in browser Meet Vomiting Larry
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Jan 02, 2013 05:45 pm Vomiting Larry is a humanoid robot designed to projectile vomit all over a lab at the Health and Safety Laboratory in Derbyshire, England. He's helping scientists learn about how diseases spread. Warning: If you read this Reuters story by Kate Kelland you will be forced to acknowledge the existence of "aerosolized vomit". (Via Microbe World)
Read in browser Crime Against Nature: Beautifully illustrated children's book explores what "natural" really means
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Jan 02, 2013 05:31 pm This is a book about "doin' what comes naturally". Which is to say, sex. But what kind of sex? With whom? And to what purpose? At what point do things like gender expression, sex, reproduction, and child-rearing stop being "normal and natural" and start being something weird that humans do because we are diverse/perverted/sinful/creative (depending ...
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
No comments:
Post a Comment