Allan Sherman's Mad-Man-style comedy song: "When I Was a Lad" PES's title sequence for Dutch TV show Adventure Time illo in new MAD magazine - exclusive excerpt Finnegan's Wake a bestseller in China Why your mixer matters Are you smarter than a particle physicist? Mysterious DVD appears in BB reader's front lawn Human-faced dog up for adoption TOM THE DANCING BUG - Super-Fun-Pak Comix, featuring Phil Collins and MORE! John Carter and the Gods of Hollywood - free Kindle edition Cory in Portland today, San Francisco tomorrow! Avengers/Breakfast Club mashup Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan invests in Internet surveillance company that backstops notorious dictatorships USPS ending saturday letter delivery Come play with us in the Boing Boing Google+ Community Disabled goldfish swims around in cute goldfish sling Games Workshop trademark bullying goes thermonuclear: now they say you can't use "space marine" in science fiction Fall of SOPA explained in 3 minute video Clarion application time is running out Internal website for Federal Reserve hacked Roll your own pulp magazine cover, with the Pulp-o-mizer Cryptofloricon: say (whatever) with flowers! Lavishly illustrated playing cards Mitch O'Connell the World's Best Artist by Mitch O'Connell - exclusive preview of his new art book RemoverInstaller 20th Anniversary Edition Excellent vintage German goods at BerlinerStrasse easy store Watch the latest Boing Boing-curated videos in our video archive Richard III unexpectedly pretty The mindblowing GIFs of Tijuana-based artist Simon Pecco Watch: Commuters, a short film documenting a year on the NYC subway through photographs Allan Sherman's Mad-Man-style comedy song: "When I Was a Lad"
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 06, 2013 12:49 pm This shuffled into my music player this morning, and delighted me as it ever does: Allan Sherman's When I was a Lad, a lovely bit of Mad Man-style period parody from the album My Son, the Celebrity. You probably know Sherman's work from "Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah," but it's well worth exploring his whole catalog ...
Read in browser PES's title sequence for Dutch TV show
By David Pescovitz on Feb 06, 2013 12:42 pm PES's new title sequence for Het Klokhuis (Dutch for "apple core"), a long-running educational TV show in the Netherlands.
Read in browser Adventure Time illo in new MAD magazine - exclusive excerpt
By Rob Beschizza on Feb 06, 2013 12:36 pm I love this druggy Adventure Time illo by Anton Emdin, part of an epic "50 Worse Things About Cartoons" roundup in the forthcoming issue of MAD Magazine. Here's a link to the subscription form.
Read in browser Finnegan's Wake a bestseller in China
By David Pescovitz on Feb 06, 2013 12:36 pm Finnegan's Wake, just published in a new Chinese translation, has become a sleeper hit in China. In just one month, it's sold 8,000 copies and hit number 2 on a Shanghai bestseller list. According to Fudan University professor Dai Congrong, who spent 8 years working on the book, the things lost in translation "are mostly ...
Read in browser Why your mixer matters
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Feb 06, 2013 12:34 pm Getting tipsy is more than just a simple equation of "Insert booze, receive stupid behavior". There's some complicated chemistry at work — especially when you begin to factor in the stuff you mix your alcohol into. For instance, the sugar in soda actually prevents your blood stream from absorbing as much alcohol as it otherwise ...
Read in browser Are you smarter than a particle physicist?
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Feb 06, 2013 12:27 pm arXiv is a website where papers in physics and mathematics are published before they've gone through the formal peer-review process. snarXiv is a parody site where people submit fauxphysics papers full of comical jargon. Now, you can test your physics knowledge in a fun game that combines the two. Can you tell which title belongs ...
Read in browser Mysterious DVD appears in BB reader's front lawn
By Mark Frauenfelder on Feb 06, 2013 12:26 pm Michael Donaldson says: I thought I'd share this evidence of a recent discovery with all of you as I feel it might be of interest. Yesterday this was found laying in the center of my front lawn. The disc was carefully wrapped in multiple layers of Saran Wrap and sealed at the center, supposedly to ...
Read in browser Human-faced dog up for adoption
By David Pescovitz on Feb 06, 2013 12:15 pm Tonik, a canine-human hybrid, is available for adoption in Mishawaka, Indiana. He is a Poodle/Shih Tzu/human mix. (via Nothing To Do With Arbroath)
Read in browser TOM THE DANCING BUG - Super-Fun-Pak Comix, featuring Phil Collins and MORE!
By Ruben Bolling on Feb 06, 2013 11:55 am Tom the Dancing Bug, IN WHICH Godwin's Law is used for the first time, Percival Dunwoody saves the Titanic from sinking, a woodlands murder most foul, and MORE Super-Fun-Pak Comix.
Read in browser John Carter and the Gods of Hollywood - free Kindle edition
By Mark Frauenfelder on Feb 06, 2013 11:54 am For a limited time (until midnight Thursday PST), Michael D. Sellers' book about the making of the giant flop John Carter is free in the Kindle format. I can't wait to read it. I hope it's as fun as Julie Salamon's The Devil's Candy: The Anatomy Of A Hollywood Fiasco, about the disastrous story of ...
Read in browser Cory in Portland today, San Francisco tomorrow!
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 06, 2013 11:32 am Last night, I kicked off the tour for Homeland (the sequel to Little Brother) with an amazing event at the Seattle Public Library, and now I'm hitting the road! I'll be in Portland tonight, at the Powell's in Beaverton at 7PM. Tomorrow I hit San Francisco with a stop at Booksmith on the 7th, then ...
Read in browser Avengers/Breakfast Club mashup
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 06, 2013 11:22 am Dondrapersayswhat's Avengers/Breakfast Club trailer mashup is pretty inspired. Loki
is Judd Nelson.
Read in browser Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan invests in Internet surveillance company that backstops notorious dictatorships
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 06, 2013 10:00 am The Ontario Teachers Pension Plan (OTPP) has joined a private equity consortium that acquired the notorious Internet surveillance company BlueCoat, yoking teachers' retirement security to the fortunes of a company that has systematically assisted some of the world's most brutal dictatorships to censor and surveil their citizenry. Blue Coat has blood on its hands, people ...
Read in browser USPS ending saturday letter delivery
By Rob Beschizza on Feb 06, 2013 09:52 am Ron Nixon: "The Postal Service is expected to announce on Wednesday morning that it will stop delivering letters and other mail on Saturdays, but continue to handle packages, a move the financially struggling agency said would save about $2 billion annually as it looks for ways to cut cost." [NYT]
Read in browser Come play with us in the Boing Boing Google+ Community
By Xeni Jardin on Feb 06, 2013 09:34 am 1300 Happy Mutants so far, goofing off and sharing links. We're having fun.
Read in browser Disabled goldfish swims around in cute goldfish sling
By Xeni Jardin on Feb 06, 2013 09:33 am "My disabled goldfish scooting around in her newly redesigned sling."
Read in browser Games Workshop trademark bullying goes thermonuclear: now they say you can't use "space marine" in science fiction
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 06, 2013 08:46 am For years, there have been stories about Games Workshop being trademark bullies and sending threats to people who use the term "space marine" in connection with games. But now that they've started publishing ebooks, Games Workshop has begun to assert a trademark on the generic, widely used, very old term "space marine" in connection with ...
Read in browser Fall of SOPA explained in 3 minute video
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 06, 2013 02:16 am Simon sez, " This is a short motion graphic video concisely documenting the fall of SOPA with great attention to detail, and recognising future bills that may be a threat to online democracy. It is notable for the way in which it highlights SOPA as a great moment in history; a bill that threatened democracy ...
Read in browser Clarion application time is running out
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 06, 2013 01:13 am I'm teaching the Clarion Science Fiction Writing Workshop this summer at UCSD La Jolla -- it's an amazing writing program (I'm also a graduate), and the early application deadline is coming up: Applications for the 2013 Clarion Workshop are now open and will remain open until March 1, 2013. If you've been thinking about applying, ...
Read in browser Internal website for Federal Reserve hacked
By Xeni Jardin on Feb 06, 2013 12:09 am The Federal Reserve announced Tuesday that one of its internal websites had been briefly breached by hackers, and added that no critical functions of the U.S. central bank were affected by the intrusion. Separately, Anonymous claimed Sunday to have published a data dump containing logins, credentials, IP addresses and contact info for more than 4,000 ...
Read in browser Roll your own pulp magazine cover, with the Pulp-o-mizer
By Xeni Jardin on Feb 06, 2013 12:03 am It's pretty great.
Read in browser Cryptofloricon: say (whatever) with flowers!
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 05, 2013 11:03 pm Ed sez, Inspired by traditional Victorian floriography, writer and artist Ed Saperia developed a series of over 200 "flower codes", allowing you to express anything from a simple romantic gesture ("I adore you") to a loaded question ("Someone else?") or even an insult ("Creep!") using nothing but a few common flowers. "We are a messaging ...
Read in browser Lavishly illustrated playing cards
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 05, 2013 08:56 pm While the name "ULTIMATE DECK" is a little off-putting, I'm rather fond of the illustrations on this deck of cards. At $25 a pack, it's a pricey way to play Go Fish, but if you think of it as a kind of secular tarot -- a deck of lovely, evocative pictures without the pretense of ...
Read in browser Mitch O'Connell the World's Best Artist by Mitch O'Connell - exclusive preview of his new art book
By Mark Frauenfelder on Feb 05, 2013 08:55 pm I've told this story before (on Gweek), and I'm going to tell it here again. I'm a great admirer of artist Mitch O'Connell. I'm envious of his work, which pays homage to exactly the kind of garish mid-century populuxe ephemera that triggers a kind of lowbrow Stendhal syndrome in me. In the early days of ...
Read in browser RemoverInstaller 20th Anniversary Edition
By Mark Frauenfelder on Feb 05, 2013 08:00 pm Our pal Rob Walker says: Once upon a time, designer/artist Shawn Wolfe conjectured an imaginary product, backed by a vigorous ersatz ad campaign: The RemoverInstaller™. More recently, in a special arrangement that (disclosure!) I was involved in, a limited number of RemoverInstaller™s were 3D-printed on a MakerBot Replicator for a show at apexart in New ...
Read in browser Excellent vintage German goods at BerlinerStrasse easy store
By Mark Frauenfelder on Feb 05, 2013 07:49 pm BerlinerStrasse sells fairly pricey but nice vintage home decor products from Berlin. I especially like the selection of classroom wall charts and posters.
Read in browser Watch the latest Boing Boing-curated videos in our video archive
By Xeni Jardin on Feb 05, 2013 07:21 pm We've gathered fresh video for you to surf and enjoy on the Boing Boing video page. The latest finds for viewing pleasure include: • "Commuters," a short film about a year on the NYC subway. • The Source Family, documentary about 1970s LA freak cult/commune. • A "speaking piano" recites text through solenoids hitting keys. ...
Read in browser Richard III unexpectedly pretty
By Rob Beschizza on Feb 05, 2013 07:15 pm ANDREW WINNING / REUTERS "It doesn't look like the face of a tyrant. I'm sorry but it doesn't ... He's very handsome. It's like you could just talk to him, have a conversation with him right now." Based on scans of his recently-unearthed bones, only the coloring was taken from the famous Tudor-era portraits, which ...
Read in browser The mindblowing GIFs of Tijuana-based artist Simon Pecco
By Xeni Jardin on Feb 05, 2013 07:08 pm LAtaco.com has an interview with Simon Pecco, a GIF creator who lives in Tijuana.
Read in browser Watch: Commuters, a short film documenting a year on the NYC subway through photographs
By Xeni Jardin on Feb 05, 2013 06:51 pm "
Commuters," a beautiful short by Rebecca Davis about a year riding on the New York City Subway
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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