Tortured junk-food pushers bare all Interactive explorations of history Ernie Kovacs' favorite party game: "sniffing the contents of small paper bags." You're not a doctor, but you can play one on the iPad Frank Sinatra's "pull my hairpiece" challenge Graphene supercapacitors could make batteries obsolete Kicked off a United flight for taking pictures of the new first class seats Ladies and gentlemen, Donald Trump Floorplan for supposed sex-dungeon in Houston's Hotel ZaZa Shoe shiner donates $200K in tips Penguin stranded 1000 miles from home French lazy, says U.S. CEO Photographer wants "up to $600,000" from Joni Mitchell fan site over 4 user-uploaded photos Music industry hates anti-spam laws Adventure game letters Cory in Houston today! When cultures collide Tattoo of the ARPAnet as it stood in 1971 Stills from old home movies Stag Hunts: fascinating and useful game theory model for collective action problems Android developer fights evil patent troll The golden, explodey menace of hash oil Sony unveils "reinvented" Playstation 4 Indie booksellers sue Amazon and big publishers over DRM (but have no idea what "DRM" and "open source" mean) Track CISPA's every move in Congress with the Sunlight Foundation's Scout alert service Cardboard Iron Man suits The Art of Dead Space: book preview Papal candidates link gays to Catholic child abuse Is the "secret" room at Houston's ZaZa a voyeuristic sex-dungeon for rich weirdos? A friendly reminder: if you like Boing Boing the blog, join us on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+ Tortured junk-food pushers bare all
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 21, 2013 12:51 pm A long, investigative feature on junk food, health and the processed food industry in yesterday's NYT consists primarily of interviews with tortured and semi-tortured junk food scientists and execs who have perfected the art of getting you to eat food that makes you sick. It's quite a read: Eventually, a line of the trays, appropriately ...
Read in browser Interactive explorations of history
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Feb 21, 2013 12:38 pm The University of Oregon's Mapping History site could easily suck up all your productivity for a day or two. Filled with interactive graphs, charts, and timelines, it allows you to explore history in the United States, Europe, Latin America, and Africa. The US section is particularly robust, allowing you to trace everything from the development ...
Read in browser Ernie Kovacs' favorite party game: "sniffing the contents of small paper bags."
By Mark Frauenfelder on Feb 21, 2013 12:20 pm The favorite party game of Ernie Kovacs - Common Scents
Read in browser You're not a doctor, but you can play one on the iPad
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Feb 21, 2013 12:20 pm The Epidemic Intelligence Service is the crack CDC team that investigates new diseases. (If you want to read more about them, I'd recommend checking out Maryn McKenna's Beating Back the Devil.) Now, you can play Epidemic Intelligence operative at home, with the CDC's new iPad app game, Solve the Outbreak. Fulfill all your childhood, Hot ...
Read in browser Frank Sinatra's "pull my hairpiece" challenge
By Mark Frauenfelder on Feb 21, 2013 12:17 pm "I will allow you to pull my 'hairpiece;' if it moves, I will give you another $100,000; if it does not, I punch you in the mouth. How about it?" -- Frank Sinatra Frank Sinatra's "pull my hairpiece" challenge
Read in browser Graphene supercapacitors could make batteries obsolete
By Mark Frauenfelder on Feb 21, 2013 12:00 pm A battery can hold a lot of energy, but it takes a long time to charge it. A capacitor can be charged very quickly, but doesn't hold a comparable amount of energy. A graphene supercharger is the best of both: it takes just seconds to charge, yet stores a lot of energy. Imagine being able ...
Read in browser Kicked off a United flight for taking pictures of the new first class seats
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 21, 2013 12:00 pm Matthew, a young man who blogs about air-travel, was thrown off a United jet after a flight attendant chastised him for taking photos of the new first class seats. She apparently thought he was a terrorist. According to Matthew, she lied (and the captain backed her up) and said that he refused to stop taking ...
Read in browser Ladies and gentlemen, Donald Trump
By Rob Beschizza on Feb 21, 2013 11:55 am Screengrabbed by @Ryden before its inevitable deletion.
Read in browser Floorplan for supposed sex-dungeon in Houston's Hotel ZaZa
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 21, 2013 11:24 am Remember the potential weirdo sex-dungeon in Houston's Hotel ZaZa? A reader with inside knowledge writes, That "two-way mirror" in 322 hangs on the bathroom wet wall for the more spacious suite 321 next door. So in the "secret voyeur room" case, you'd be standing in the bathroom next door and looking through a piping chase ...
Read in browser Shoe shiner donates $200K in tips
By Rob Beschizza on Feb 21, 2013 11:13 am After 32 years shining shoes at Pittsburgh's Children's Hospital, Albert Lexie amassed $200,000 in tips—and paid it right into a fund for sick kids whose families cannot afford medical costs. [WTAE]
Read in browser Penguin stranded 1000 miles from home
By Rob Beschizza on Feb 21, 2013 11:09 am A royal penguin, somewhat worse for the wear, was found stranded on a New Zealand beach after going on a 1000-mile holiday by mistake. [AP]
Read in browser French lazy, says U.S. CEO
By Rob Beschizza on Feb 21, 2013 11:06 am The CEO of U.S. tire company Titan International declined to invest in a French factory, writing that the "so-called workers" only put in three hours of work a day. His letter generated French outrage—and some attention to the fact that Michelin is 35 times as profitable as his company. [Reuters]
Read in browser Photographer wants "up to $600,000" from Joni Mitchell fan site over 4 user-uploaded photos
By Rob Beschizza on Feb 21, 2013 10:52 am Les Irvin, operator of the web's top Joni Mitchell fan site, reports that he's being "sued for up to $600,000" over four photos uploaded by to the site by anonymous commenters. Until now. Charlyn [Zlotnik] has refused to drop the case ... A $25,000-$600,000 payment out of my pocket spells the end of a lot ...
Read in browser Music industry hates anti-spam laws
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 21, 2013 10:21 am Michael Geist sez, The business opposition to Canada's anti-spam and spyware legislation has added an unlikely supporter: the Canadian Recording Industry Association, now known as Music Canada. The organization has launched an advocacy campaign against the law, claiming that it "will particularly hurt indie labels, start-ups, and bands struggling to build a base and a ...
Read in browser Adventure game letters
By Rob Beschizza on Feb 21, 2013 09:49 am Wherein Quintin Smith and Leigh Alexander discuss adventure games, narrative, and the power of nostalgia. [Polygon]
Read in browser Cory in Houston today!
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 21, 2013 08:46 am Hey, Houston! I'll be at Brazos Bookstore tonight at 7PM with my new novel Homeland. Tomorrow, I'll be in Austin at Bookpeople and then a benefit for EFF-Austin, and then I'm heading north to New Hampshire where I'll be at RiverRun Books and the Liberty Forum. And there's still many more cities!
Read in browser When cultures collide
By Jason Weisberger on Feb 21, 2013 12:43 am Two Canadian exchange students in Japan tried a popular local treat: ice cream in a condom. Seems they let the ice cream thaw a bit too much and raucous hilarity ensues.
Read in browser Tattoo of the ARPAnet as it stood in 1971
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 20, 2013 10:49 pm Matt Senate has a tattoo of the ARPAnet as it stood in 1971 -- ARPAnet being the lineal ancestor of the modern Internet. The photo here is from Cyrus Farivar. Here's some relevant Wikipedia verbiage: In March 1970, the ARPANET reached the East Coast of the United States, when an IMP at BBN in Cambridge, ...
Read in browser Stills from old home movies
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 20, 2013 10:17 pm Rick Prelinger sez, Megan and I were very fortunate that Emma Hurst chose to spend her college field work term with Prelinger Library and Archives, helping with Megan's forthcoming book and my forthcoming movie. As she viewed and logged some two hundred hours of home movies, she curated a striking collection of still images that, ...
Read in browser Stag Hunts: fascinating and useful game theory model for collective action problems
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 20, 2013 08:45 pm Yesterday, I wrote about some Johns Hopkins students who overcame a game theory problem and got an A for the whole class. I called it a non-iterated Prisoner's Dilemma, but as Tim Harford points out, it's more of a Stag Hunt, a game theory category that I hadn't been aware of, and which has fascinating ...
Read in browser Android developer fights evil patent troll
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 20, 2013 08:24 pm The video profiles software developer Austin Meyer, who is the target of a patent troll lawsuit.
Read in browser The golden, explodey menace of hash oil
By Xeni Jardin on Feb 20, 2013 06:55 pm Wired News has a feature on butane hash oil, a highly combustible form of marijuana that is increasingly produced inside the US. Just last week, FEMA posted an odd alert in its emergency services bulletin: "Hash Oil Explosions Increasing Across US," along with the "more quotidian warnings of cyber terrorism and industrial vapor clouds." Why: more ...
Read in browser Sony unveils "reinvented" Playstation 4
By Xeni Jardin on Feb 20, 2013 06:39 pm Playstation 4, from Kotaku's liveblog'Tis the season for big news in console gaming: both Microsoft and Sony have been expected to announce new hardware. Sony is first with a new edition of the PlayStation 4. Around the web, live-blog coverage of the invite-only announcement event: Verge, Engadget, Kotaku, Ars, Wired.
Read in browser Indie booksellers sue Amazon and big publishers over DRM (but have no idea what "DRM" and "open source" mean)
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 20, 2013 06:37 pm A group of independent booksellers have filed a suit against Amazon and the major publishers for their use of DRM, which, the booksellers say, freezes them out of the ebook market: Alyson Decker of Blecher & Collins PC, lead counsel acting for the bookstores, described DRM as "a problem that affects many independent bookstores." She ...
Read in browser Track CISPA's every move in Congress with the Sunlight Foundation's Scout alert service
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 20, 2013 05:06 pm Nicko from the Sunlight Foundation sez, "Since the reintroduction of the controversial CISPA bill, I imagine many in the Boing Boing community will be interested to follow the latest developments on the legislation. The Sunlight Foundation's Scout alert service will send anyone an email or text message for any official activity and votes on the ...
Read in browser Cardboard Iron Man suits
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 20, 2013 05:02 pm Redditor royal_dump makes eye-poppingly great Iron Man suits out of cardboard. He also sometimes sells ones he makes from foam. I like to make Iron Man Suits out of cardboard... (imgur.com)
Read in browser The Art of Dead Space: book preview
By Mark Frauenfelder on Feb 20, 2013 04:16 pm Here's a selection of images from the new book, The Art of Dead Space, by Martin Robinson. The Art of Dead Space is the ultimate gallery of the Dead Space universe, with over 300 images including sketches and concept art by acclaimed artists from breathtaking spacescapes to terrifying necromorphs, character designs to creating a religion, ...
Read in browser Papal candidates link gays to Catholic child abuse
By Rob Beschizza on Feb 20, 2013 04:05 pm Taylor Berman at Gawker reports that two of the top candidates to replace retiring Pope Benedict have predictably well-informed opinions about why Catholic priests rape so many children. Firstly, here's Ghanaian Cardinal Peter Turkson, with the suggestion that the Africa did not experience such abuse because its communities do not "countenance" homosexuality: "African traditional systems ...
Read in browser Is the "secret" room at Houston's ZaZa a voyeuristic sex-dungeon for rich weirdos?
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 20, 2013 03:56 pm A redditor called joelikesmusic reported that a friend of his had been checked into a weird, narrow dungeon-like theme room at the Hotel Zaza in Houston (it's got lots of theme suites -- I once stayed in their awesome space-themed one with my family, on the way to my honeymoon). When he complained, the front ...
Read in browser A friendly reminder: if you like Boing Boing the blog, join us on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+
By Xeni Jardin on Feb 20, 2013 03:40 pm Boing Boing is on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus. Join us at the social network of your choice, or heck, all three of 'em.
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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