Great book covers TED's new mobile app offers subtitles Weather Channel naming winter storms Freaky face on the International Space Station Beige politics: unbeatable bland politicos advocating "beige policies that nobody wants" Cory's last night in San Francisco tonight! Ed Piskor awarded graphic novelist residency Hydrophobic, dirt-shedding spray is indistinguishable from magic Raccoons occupy crane Huge collection of fantastic nature gifs The history (and future) of psychedelic science Pianist Richard Clayderman fails to sexually arouse tortoises What we can learn about volcanic eruptions from the vehicles trapped in their path Mistrial declared after glass eye pops out in court It's not a horror movie; it's physics Delacroix painting defaced with Truther slogan Build your own quantum entanglement experiment at home Publisher launches $3,000,000 suit against academic librarian who criticized its books A reasonable and fair breakdown of the facts on GM food Hobbit producers to New Zealand: if you tell people how we got our sweet tax/labor deal, no one will want to make movies in your country Friendly, trusting Japanese system for lining up for sports tickets Safeway's frozen shepherd's pie looks like poop. The acting criticism of Christopher Dorner Apollo Robbins, pickpocket -- mindbending live performance Fundraising online to help a rape victim in New Orleans U.K. "beef lasagne" made entirely of horse meat Sign now, get the US Attorney who hounded Aaron Swartz fired Awesome Chinese inventions for the long New Year's train ride home Nuclear Sub, yours for $6.98 Mob burns sorcerer to death Great book covers
By Rob Beschizza on Feb 08, 2013 12:49 pm Lousy Book Covers and Caustic Cover Critic are blogs which collect, as you may already have deduced, really badly-designed book covers. CCC generally takes aim at bad pro work, whereas LBC nails hapless vanity press/POD fare. Previously: A gallery of dull, curious or odd book covers.
Read in browser TED's new mobile app offers subtitles
By Mark Frauenfelder on Feb 08, 2013 12:49 pm TED announced version 2.0 of its TED Talk player app. "Subtitles are now available in 90 languages, directly in the video player. And, should you want to watch via Apple TV, when you scoot over to AirPlay, the subtitles will travel with you. Each language also now has its own catalog of available talks."
Read in browser Weather Channel naming winter storms
By David Pescovitz on Feb 08, 2013 12:46 pm The Weather Channel posted an internal marketing pitch, I mean feature article, about why they've deemed themselves the official naming entity for big winter storms. From the article: During the upcoming 2012-13 winter season The Weather Channel will name noteworthy winter storms. Our goal is to better communicate the threat and the timing of the ...
Read in browser Freaky face on the International Space Station
By David Pescovitz on Feb 08, 2013 12:31 pm In space, no one can hear the pareidolia scream.
Read in browser Beige politics: unbeatable bland politicos advocating "beige policies that nobody wants"
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 08, 2013 12:09 pm Charlie Stross has a fascinating and insightful post about the growth of the political class and the "beige revolution" that has caused all parties to converge on a status-quo-preserving non-platform: So the future isn't a boot stamping on a human face, forever. It's a person in a beige business outfit advocating beige policies that nobody ...
Read in browser Cory's last night in San Francisco tonight!
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 08, 2013 12:02 pm Tonight's my last night in San Francisco on my Homeland tour. I'll be at Borderlands books at 7PM. Tomorrow I'll be at the Leonardo in Salt Lake City; and on Sunday I'll be at Changing Hands in Tempe, AZ. Come on down (and thanks to everyone who came by the Booksmith last night!).
Read in browser Ed Piskor awarded graphic novelist residency
By Rob Beschizza on Feb 08, 2013 11:27 am Ed Piskor, creator of the Brain Rot/The Hip Hop Family Tree comics here at BB, has won the Columbus Museum of Art and Thurber House's graphic novelist residency. The three-week residency is designed to provide a graphic artist/writer with an opportunity to develop a work-in-progress. The recipient will receive a stipend and housing in the ...
Read in browser Hydrophobic, dirt-shedding spray is indistinguishable from magic
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 08, 2013 11:22 am "Ultra Ever Dry" is a nanomaterial spray-coating that is (apparently) insanely hydrophobic, shedding dirt, water and oil. The jaw-dropping product video suggests many possibilities, from extreme hydroplaning sports to odd molecular gastronomy possibilities (though it's not rated food-safe, so caveat sprayer). If you're impatient, just zip the video to 2:00 or so and marvel. What ...
Read in browser Raccoons occupy crane
By Rob Beschizza on Feb 08, 2013 10:29 am KING-TV reports that raccoons have established their home in the cab of a huge tower crane, bringing its construction project to a halt. The raccoons are big ones, locals allege: "The thing was like a dog," said Lumber worker Trent Kristjanson.
Read in browser Huge collection of fantastic nature gifs
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Feb 08, 2013 10:28 am Head Like an Orange has gif after gif of nature in all its glory. Special focus on adorable baby sea turtles.
Read in browser The history (and future) of psychedelic science
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Feb 08, 2013 10:25 am Back in 2010, the journal Nature Reviews Neuroscience published an article looking at the neurobiology of psychedelic drugs and why researchers were returning to this field after 40 years of stagnation. As part of that, they commissioned four of the best neuroscience bloggers on the Internet to write posts about the history of psychedelic psychiatry ...
Read in browser Pianist Richard Clayderman fails to sexually arouse tortoises
By Rob Beschizza on Feb 08, 2013 10:21 am An attempt to mate Galapagos Tortoises in the presence of Richard Clayderman ended in failure Thursday, even after the reptiles were granted a virtuoso performance of Chariots of Fire by the French pianist. Clayderman was unable to get the wrinkled beasts turned on even after renditions of his sensual classic, Ballade pour Adeline, and a ...
Read in browser What we can learn about volcanic eruptions from the vehicles trapped in their path
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Feb 08, 2013 10:19 am The car in this photo was 13 kilometers northeast of Mount St. Helens when that volcano erupted on May 18, 1980. This photo was taken about a month later by researchers from the United States Geological Survey. At the Rosetta Stones blog, Dana Hunter has a really fascinating story — with more eerie photos — ...
Read in browser Mistrial declared after glass eye pops out in court
By Rob Beschizza on Feb 08, 2013 10:09 am John Huttick lost his eye after being punched outside a Philadelphia tavern. On the witness stand at his attacker's trial, he lost the replacement—albeit temporarily. The defense requested, and received, a mistrial. [Philly.com]
Read in browser It's not a horror movie; it's physics
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Feb 08, 2013 10:05 am This creepy-looking image of U.S. swimmer Tyler Clary has its origin in the movement of water molecules. The Fuck Yeah Fluid Dynamics tumblr explains what's going on — and how physics can make a swimmer look like a shiny, face-melted ghoul.
Read in browser Delacroix painting defaced with Truther slogan
By Rob Beschizza on Feb 08, 2013 10:02 am Police questioned a 28-year-old woman who allegedly scribbled "AE911" with a sharpie on Eugene Delacroix's Liberty. [Reuters]
Read in browser Build your own quantum entanglement experiment at home
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Feb 08, 2013 10:00 am It may be a little late for folks on the East Coast to round up the necessary parts before the blizzard really hits, but this would be a fun trapped-in-the-house project. It's not cheap, but it does give you the opportunity to see how subatomic particles interact with one another in the privacy of your ...
Read in browser Publisher launches $3,000,000 suit against academic librarian who criticized its books
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 08, 2013 09:59 am An academic librarian at McMaster University wrote that "The Edwin Mellen Press was a poor publisher with a weak list of low-quality books, scarcely edited, cheaply produced, but at exorbitant prices," a point of view supported by survey data. The Edwin Mellen Press responded with a libel suit, naming both McMaster and the librarian, and ...
Read in browser A reasonable and fair breakdown of the facts on GM food
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Feb 08, 2013 09:52 am There's no reliable evidence that GM crops are dangerous to eat. On the other hand, they aren't the best way to reduce world hunger, and you can basically roll your eyes at anybody claiming GM crops are environmentally sustainable. Greg Jaffe cuts through the myths of GM food at The Atlantic.
Read in browser Hobbit producers to New Zealand: if you tell people how we got our sweet tax/labor deal, no one will want to make movies in your country
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 07, 2013 11:30 pm The production company that made the Hobbit convinced the government of New Zealand to suspend its labor laws and tax laws. Now the NZ Labour Party is asking for the details of the deal that the company struck with the government to be disclosed, and the production company is fighting it, saying that if the ...
Read in browser Friendly, trusting Japanese system for lining up for sports tickets
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 07, 2013 09:05 pm Englishman in Japan showing how the Japanese queue for local football games.
Read in browser Safeway's frozen shepherd's pie looks like poop.
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 07, 2013 08:58 pm Or possibly vomit. "We cooked it exactly like it said on the box," writes PR. But sometimes the ugliest of foods can still be tasty. Apparently not so much in this case. "The yellow part tasted a bit like frothy styrofoam and the meat part wasn't that bad," he explains. This Safeway Select Shepherd's Pie ...
Read in browser The acting criticism of Christopher Dorner
By Rob Beschizza on Feb 07, 2013 08:41 pm Here's a surreal aside from the "manifesto" of alleged spree-killer and former LAPD man Christopher Dorner. Dorner is currently the subject of a manhunt launched by his former colleagues, already remarkable for its own disregard for bystanders' lives. Christopher Walz, you impressed me in Inglorious Basterds. After viewing Django Unchained, I was sold. I have ...
Read in browser Apollo Robbins, pickpocket -- mindbending live performance
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 07, 2013 06:03 pm Last month, I linked to
a great Atlantic profile of Apollo Robbins, a stage pickpocket who pulls off the most audacious fingersmithing you've ever see.
Read in browser Fundraising online to help a rape victim in New Orleans
By Xeni Jardin on Feb 07, 2013 05:41 pm this brave new orleans comrade/librarian was just kidnapped & raped in new orleans. she's an AFP fan. please read &... nola.com/crime/index.ss…— Amanda Palmer (@amandapalmer) February 7, 2013 Friends of a 30-year-old woman in New Orleans who was abducted, attacked, and raped at gunpoint by three young men, have put together an online fundraiser for her ...
Read in browser U.K. "beef lasagne" made entirely of horse meat
By Rob Beschizza on Feb 07, 2013 05:28 pm What happens when you wed French suppliers and British standards? "The meat content of some beef lasagne products recalled by Findus was up to 100% horsemeat, the Food Standards Agency has said." [BBC]
Read in browser Sign now, get the US Attorney who hounded Aaron Swartz fired
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 07, 2013 03:13 pm Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Heymann is the boss of Carmen Ortiz, and the man primarily responsible for the over-the-top, vindictive prosecution of Aaron Swartz. A WhiteHouse.gov petition to get him fired has until Monday to collect 25,000 signatures. Here's some notes from Taren, Aaron's partner: Heymann saw Aaron as a scalp he could take. He ...
Read in browser Awesome Chinese inventions for the long New Year's train ride home
By Cory Doctorow on Feb 07, 2013 02:58 pm Meg from Reuters Asia sez, "This is our latest video about some crazy gadgets that Chinese travelers are talking about and using for their long journeys during Chinese New Year. Our reporter (bravely) got on a train and tried some of them out and even spoke with one of the inventors. Most Boing Boing readers ...
Read in browser Nuclear Sub, yours for $6.98
By Xeni Jardin on Feb 07, 2013 02:45 pm "Polaris Nuclear Sub," offered in the Spiderman Comics March 1967 Issue. As shared on Flickr by SenseiAlan. I love those old Honor House ads.
Read in browser Mob burns sorcerer to death
By Rob Beschizza on Feb 07, 2013 01:56 pm Ramcy Wama with the Post-Courier: A TRAGIC and brutal sorcery-related murder took place in full view of hundreds of onlookers in a Mount Hagen City suburb in Western Highlands Province yesterday morning. The relatives of a six-year-old boy doused petrol on a woman whom they had suspected of killing the boy with sorcery and burnt ...
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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