Lou Reed's transgender muse, Rachel Fugitive ex-LAPD cop accused in shootings posts manifesto, attempts to steal boat, flee to Mexico Gimme Some Truth: Watch this short doc on fracking, with Artists Against Fracking and Yoko Ono Cory in San Francisco tonight and tomorrow No one can know about this Freedom of the Press Foundation: an update, from John Cusack Letters to Newtown: digitally archiving sympathy cards sent to town after school shooting massacre Creepy ecological parable Archipelagos remade for mobiles Emphasize *this* Hindi Superman: 1987 AXE COP ACTION FIGURES Randomly generate conspiracy theories with this conspiracy theory generator Komodo dragon attacks 2 park employees in eastern Indonesia Hello Kitty launched into space by 7th grader Two-faced Cthulhu mask Just some baby pygmy goats doing a happy dance Walter Cronkite on the office of 2001, from 1967 ACLU guide to running an online business that respects privacy & free speech A lot of birds Just look at these Filipino marines Skele-Gore, now with fluorescent colors! Things Fitting Perfectly Into Other Things: a celebration of kentucky Monopoly piece contest: kitty in, iron out Pizza Hut China's hot-dog-encrusted shrimp tempura pizza, with mayonnaise Earthquake-causing elevator discovered in Seattle Sheraton Peter Bagge's Reset: funny science fiction graphic novel I will trade you 12 sheep for 1 barrel of non-renewable hydrocarbons TrackR: crowdfunded wafer with low-power Bluetooth helps you find misplaced wallet, etc. Canadian businesses lobby for the right to infect peoples' computers with viruses and rootkits Santa Fe Institute's free online "Intro to Complexity" course Lou Reed's transgender muse, Rachel
By Xeni Jardin on Feb 07, 2013 12:57 pm At Dangerous Minds today, a post about "The source of inspiration for most of the songs on Coney Island Baby, Lou Reed's transvestite lover and muse Rachel," who has has always been "somewhat of a mystery figure."
Read in browser Fugitive ex-LAPD cop accused in shootings posts manifesto, attempts to steal boat, flee to Mexico
By Xeni Jardin on Feb 07, 2013 12:46 pm Ex-LAPD officer and shooting suspect Christopher Jordan Dorner, left, with former LAPD chief Bill Bratton. Christopher Jordan Dorner, 33, a disgruntled former officer with the Los Angeles police department, is suspected of shooting three police officers Thursday morning and murdering a couple in Irvine earlier this week. He also posted a wacky 11,000-word manifesto with ...
Read in browser Gimme Some Truth: Watch this short doc on fracking, with Artists Against Fracking and Yoko Ono
By Xeni Jardin on Feb 07, 2013 12:21 pm A documentary and PSA from Yoko Ono and Artists Against Fracking.
Read in browser Cory in San Francisco tonight and tomorrow
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 07, 2013 11:50 am I'm still revving up my tour for Homeland, the sequel to Little Brother, and tonight I'll be at Booksmith in San Francisco. I'm lucky enough to get two days in SFO and tomorrow I'll be at Borderlands, before I head to Salt Lake City for an appearance at The Leonardo on Saturday. From there, it's ...
Read in browser No one can know about this
By Nicholas Gurewitch on Feb 07, 2013 11:27 am Read in browser Freedom of the Press Foundation: an update, from John Cusack
By Xeni Jardin on Feb 07, 2013 11:23 am The Freedom of the Press Foundation, of which I'm a board member, has reached a fundraising milestone: $200K in 6 weeks to support independent transparency journalism. From my fellow board member John Cusack, via the Huffington Post, re-posted with permission: When we launched Freedom of the Press Foundation -- a new organization dedicated to supporting ...
Read in browser Letters to Newtown: digitally archiving sympathy cards sent to town after school shooting massacre
By Xeni Jardin on Feb 07, 2013 11:01 am Digitally archiving half million cards, letters, and drawings sent to the town of Newtown, CT after the Sandy Hook school shooting.
Read in browser Creepy ecological parable Archipelagos remade for mobiles
By Rob Beschizza on Feb 07, 2013 10:14 am Archipelagos was a 1989 Amiga game set on an expanse of tiny islands. The objective was to purify what remained of the land while being stalked by corrupted trees, which could move only when outside of the player's field of view. Remembered thanks to its tense gameplay and occult atmosphere, it's just been ported to ...
Read in browser Emphasize *this*
By Rob Beschizza on Feb 07, 2013 09:52 am John Gruber on the rise in the use of *asterisks* for emphasis in the plaintext age: "Neither appeared in print until the mid-'60s, when *sigh* began appearing. But *cough* doesn't appear until 1987. Both though, exploded in usage starting in 1997, and have risen steadily ever since. So I think I'm correct that this use ...
Read in browser Hindi Superman: 1987
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 07, 2013 08:43 am YouTube is streaming the full move Superman, a 1987 Hindi remake of the Hollywood movie.
Read in browser AXE COP ACTION FIGURES
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 06, 2013 11:57 pm Time to clear some space on the knick-knack shelf. Mezco has shown a line of AXE COP action figures at the NY Toy Fair: Based on a webcomic that turned into a print comic that turned into a web based animation that turned into an animated tv show soon to be on Fox, Axe cop ...
Read in browser Randomly generate conspiracy theories with this conspiracy theory generator
By Xeni Jardin on Feb 06, 2013 11:51 pm Just keep hitting refresh, for more truth that "they" don't want you to know! verifiedfacts.org.
Read in browser Komodo dragon attacks 2 park employees in eastern Indonesia
By Xeni Jardin on Feb 06, 2013 11:45 pm Two workers at a wildlife park in Indonesia have been hospitalized after being attacked by a 6.5-foot-long Komodo dragon that wandered into their office. Both men were evacuated to a hospital with severe bite wounds. (HT: @aileengraef)
Read in browser Hello Kitty launched into space by 7th grader
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 06, 2013 11:18 pm 12-year-old Lauren Rojas and her dad, Rod, built a balloon-lofted Hello Kitty space-capsule for her science fair project in Antioch, CA, and launched it 17 miles above the Earth's surface, recording its journey with video cameras and various sensors. The video is spectacular, especially the moments right before and right after the balloon burst and ...
Read in browser Two-faced Cthulhu mask
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 06, 2013 10:03 pm The wonderful Ukrainian horror/fetish/steampunk mask maker Bob Basset has produced a two-faced Cthulhu mask; on one side, the betentacled visage; on the other, a lecterine horror. Call of Cthulhu. One mask 2 faces.
Read in browser Just some baby pygmy goats doing a happy dance
By Xeni Jardin on Feb 06, 2013 09:25 pm Newborn pygmy goats doing their "Happy Dance."
Read in browser Walter Cronkite on the office of 2001, from 1967
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 06, 2013 09:09 pm From the March 12, 1967 episode of Walter Cronkite's CBS show "The 21st Century," a short clip illustrating the home office of tomorrow.
Read in browser ACLU guide to running an online business that respects privacy & free speech
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 06, 2013 08:25 pm Danielle from the ACLU sez, "The ACLU has just released a new guide for tech companies on why they should and how they can better protect user privacy and free speech. The guide features dozens of real-life case studies from A(mazon) to Z(ynga) and updated recommendations for policies and practices to take the guesswork out ...
Read in browser A lot of birds
By Jason Weisberger on Feb 06, 2013 08:23 pm I loved watching
this. The shapes they form are just mesmerizing.
Read in browser Just look at these Filipino marines
By Jason Weisberger on Feb 06, 2013 08:12 pm Photo: Romeo Ranoco / Reuters Evidently these are new recruits. I wonder how well the experienced ones can balance a banana.
Read in browser Skele-Gore, now with fluorescent colors!
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 06, 2013 07:54 pm Scarecrowoven has revisited his "Skele Gore" image, and just in time for St Valentine's Day! Of the new version, Mr Scarecrowoven sez, "It's pretty insane. In person, the colors are so bright and fluorescent they actually work under a black light." Skelegore "TRIP AT THE BRAIN EDITION" giclee print
Read in browser Things Fitting Perfectly Into Other Things: a celebration of kentucky
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 06, 2013 07:18 pm The ThingsFittingPerfectlyIntoOtherThings Tumblr is a celebration of the phenomenon of kentucky in all its glory. Things Fitting Perfectly Into Other Things (Thanks, Fipi Lele!)
Read in browser Monopoly piece contest: kitty in, iron out
By Mark Frauenfelder on Feb 06, 2013 07:04 pm Last month we reported that the makers of Monopoly were holding an election to add a new piece to the game, and to get rid of one of the existing pieces. I was sure the robot would win, but the cat lovers stuffed the ballot boxes, likely cheating, to make sure the kitty won. No ...
Read in browser Pizza Hut China's hot-dog-encrusted shrimp tempura pizza, with mayonnaise
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 06, 2013 06:05 pm John Lehmann, a photojournalist with the Globe and Mail is travelling through China and documenting his experiences on Tumblr. An article in the Globe highlights some of the best posts so far, including this: "A hotdog encrusted shrimp tempura pizza with mayonnaise" from a Pizza Hut. (Thanks, Fipi Lele!)
Read in browser Earthquake-causing elevator discovered in Seattle Sheraton
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 06, 2013 05:04 pm The elevators in the Seattle Sheraton are fitted with buttons that allow their riders to rain earthquakes upon the Pacific Northwest. This power is largely used for good, and that is rather affirming -- people really are quite nice. EARTHQUAKE button, Sheraton, Seattle, WA, USA
Read in browser Peter Bagge's Reset: funny science fiction graphic novel
By Mark Frauenfelder on Feb 06, 2013 04:37 pm Peter Bagge is one of my favorite cartoonists. I was introduced to his work when it appeared in Robert Crumb's legendary Weirdo magazine. (Crumb later made Bagge the editor. When I was in my 20s I sent some of my samples to Weirdo. On his hand-written rejection postcard Bagge wrote, "You gotta be your own ...
Read in browser I will trade you 12 sheep for 1 barrel of non-renewable hydrocarbons
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Feb 06, 2013 04:35 pm What would Settlers of Catan be like if you added oil wells to the already potent resource mix of sheep, wood, ore, brick, and grain? The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences finds out when reporter Ann Griswold sits in on a game of Catan: Oil Springs.
Read in browser TrackR: crowdfunded wafer with low-power Bluetooth helps you find misplaced wallet, etc.
By Mark Frauenfelder on Feb 06, 2013 04:07 pm The $19 TrackR is a like a leash between your wallet and your mobile phone. It's a Bluetooth-enabled wafer of plastic that fits in your wallet or pocket. You pair it with your phone, and whenever the TrackR and your phone get separated both your phone and the TrackR start beeping. The app also takes ...
Read in browser Canadian businesses lobby for the right to infect peoples' computers with viruses and rootkits
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 06, 2013 04:01 pm Michael Geist sez, A coalition of Canadian industry groups, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, the Canadian Marketing Association, the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association and the Entertainment Software Association of Canada, are demanding legalized spyware for private enforcement purposes. The demand comes as part of a review of anti-spam and spyware legislation in Canada. The ...
Read in browser Santa Fe Institute's free online "Intro to Complexity" course
By David Pescovitz on Feb 06, 2013 03:48 pm Are you curious about complexity? Do you dig dynamic systems and emergent phenomena? The Santa Fe Institute, one of the birthplaces of chaos theory, is now offering a free "Introduction to Complexity" online course, open to anyone. No science or math background required! The instructor is computer scientist Melanie Mitchell, author of the excellent and ...
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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