Automate collecting wonderful things Spooky tree sculpture in Bali Your WiFi-enabled camera might be spying on you Guatemala genocide trial: Day 6. "If I die, the story of what I lived will never be forgotten" Cardboard cops to deter traffic violators Police called over man singing "Free Falling" Daft Punk's new album due out May 21 Saving for retirement as an act of wild optimism The Royal Road to Card Magic DVDs & Book Why architects should stop drawing trees on top of skyscrapers Friendly Darkness Stanislaw Burzynski vs. regulations protecting human research subjects, revisited: Orac on Cancer quackery Alaa Wardi, a capella YouTube star from Saudi Arabia: "Risala Ela..." Trajectory Girl's Kickstarter to go to RPG camp brings out the horrible, horrible trolls Brighter Later, "The Woods," music video animated by Polly Dedman Comedy troupe loses YouTube account after viral success of "PS Gay Car," can't get anyone at YT to listen to them Store wants $5 browsing fee to deter "showrooming" by online shoppers Brain Rot: Hip Hop Family Tree, DJ. Junebug, and a Homeless Hip Hopper Tickets from the Studio Ghibli museum are made from snips of film Gigeresque corset: "Spine" Watch the latest video posts in the Boing Boing video archive Trippy mandala optical illusions Video about man who makes ships in bottles Radiohead in the late 1980s 15 Dangerously Mad Projects for the Evil Genius Petition: force Congress to display logos of their corporate backers on their clothes Venn Diagram of Irrational Nonsense: chart of woo Steve Jobs Manga Climate answers sought in supercomputers Automate collecting wonderful things
By Dean Putney on Mar 26, 2013 12:54 pm Sponsored by For information about Rackspace, go to Rackspace.com/open. One unique and special treat in working as Boing Boing's web developer has been to see how truly prolific writers do their work. Not only are they all hugely practiced at writing, but they've each developed a process and a format for creating or curating content ...
Read in browser Spooky tree sculpture in Bali
By David Pescovitz on Mar 26, 2013 12:48 pm BB pal Karen Marcelo photographed this magnificent living tree sculpture in Ubud, Bali. More beautiful photos in Karen's Instagram feed @k0re.
Read in browser Your WiFi-enabled camera might be spying on you
By Cory Doctorow on Mar 26, 2013 12:45 pm Every networked sensor package in your immediate vicinity can be used to spy on you unless it is well-designed and transparent to you and the wide community of security researchers.
Read in browser Guatemala genocide trial: Day 6. "If I die, the story of what I lived will never be forgotten"
By Xeni Jardin on Mar 26, 2013 12:43 pm Photo: NISGUA. A witness testifies in the trial of Rios Montt, with aid of court-appointed Nebaj Ixil interpreter. As Emi McLean writes on the Open Society Justice Initiative's blog about the Rios Montt genocide trial in Guatemala, "Semana Santa (or Holy Week) seemed to slow down Guatemala City everywhere but in Judge Jazmin Barrios's courtroom ...
Read in browser Cardboard cops to deter traffic violators
By David Pescovitz on Mar 26, 2013 12:24 pm I've heard anecdotal evidence that lifesize cardboard cut-outs of police officers in shops can deter shoplifting. Now Bangalore police are using the same method to deter traffic violators. "It is not a gimmick. Wherever we have put up these cut outs, violations have come down," Traffic Commissioner MA Saleem told the BBC.
Read in browser Police called over man singing "Free Falling"
By Jason Weisberger on Mar 26, 2013 12:11 pm From the Seaside, Oregon police log. Wanting to glide down over Mulholland? Not a crime. Thanks Ryan!!
Read in browser Daft Punk's new album due out May 21
By David Pescovitz on Mar 26, 2013 12:06 pm Daft Punk's new album Random Access Memories has an official release date of May 21. Continuing the tease, the band released 15 seconds of music as the above TV spot on Saturday night. This follows the previous TV ad heard on March 2. Chic's Nile Rodgers confirmed to Rolling Stone magazine that it is indeed ...
Read in browser Saving for retirement as an act of wild optimism
By Xeni Jardin on Mar 26, 2013 12:01 pm Photo: Mark Makela for The New York Times. "Virginia C. McGuire, her partner, Matthew, and their son, Leo, 9, play the board game Pandemic in their Philadelphia home." When is setting aside money with which to retire at a happy old age a potentially recklessly optimistic decision? When you have cancer. Librarian, freelance writer, and ...
Read in browser The Royal Road to Card Magic DVDs & Book
By Jason Weisberger on Mar 26, 2013 11:57 am I have struggled and struggled with what I felt were poor illustrations and overly complex descriptions to learn many of the secrets housed in this famous book. No more! I was recently introduced to
a 6 set DVD edition of the book that clearly and easily demonstrates each move!
Read in browser Why architects should stop drawing trees on top of skyscrapers
By Cory Doctorow on Mar 26, 2013 11:30 am Vanessa Quirk argues that the practice of drawing trees on top of skyscrapers in architectural renderings should stop. First, because pretty, high-altitude foliage is the first thing that cost-conscious developers jettison when the actual building is underway; but secondly, because trees can't really survive at that altitude: There are plenty of scientific reasons why skyscrapers ...
Read in browser Friendly Darkness
By Rob Beschizza on Mar 26, 2013 11:12 am In Wendy and Richard Pini's
ElfQuest saga are the echoes of an old thread of utopian fantasy, removed from epic homily to intimate fable.
Read in browser Stanislaw Burzynski vs. regulations protecting human research subjects, revisited: Orac on Cancer quackery
By Xeni Jardin on Mar 26, 2013 11:05 am "The Burzynski Clinic is drawing me back below its event horizon again, like the irresistable black hole made up of supercompressed greed that I see it to be," writes health-skeptic blogger Orac, about the Houston-based clinic that runs roughshod over human subjects protections. Today's post digs into recent FOIA'd FDA documents on the case."How he ...
Read in browser Alaa Wardi, a capella YouTube star from Saudi Arabia: "Risala Ela..."
By Xeni Jardin on Mar 26, 2013 10:42 am Alaa Wardi's a capella harmonies and one-man viral videos have become big hits throughout the mideast. His latest, "Risala Ela...", is out today.
Read in browser Trajectory
By Heather Johanssen on Mar 26, 2013 10:40 am Fables are portals to other worlds, and to new places in this one.
Read in browser Girl's Kickstarter to go to RPG camp brings out the horrible, horrible trolls
By Cory Doctorow on Mar 26, 2013 10:38 am For the past several days, I've been seeing an obviously silly conspiracy theory rocket around the usual online places. It concerns Susan Wilson, whose nine-year-old daughter Mackenzie was challenged by her older brothers when she expressed an aspiration to make games, Mackenzie and her mom posted a Kickstarter to raise $800 for an RPG camp ...
Read in browser Brighter Later, "The Woods," music video animated by Polly Dedman
By Xeni Jardin on Mar 26, 2013 10:06 am A track from Melbourne-based band Brighter Later, in a music video by animator
Polly Dedman. The band's debut LP
The Wolves is out this month.
Read in browser Comedy troupe loses YouTube account after viral success of "PS Gay Car," can't get anyone at YT to listen to them
By Cory Doctorow on Mar 26, 2013 09:39 am Wil Wheaton sez, On November 17th, 2012, New York-based comedy music group Fortress of Attitude uploaded a music video they created for their song "PS Gay Car" (using the exact words of a mean note they found on their car one day) to YouTube. The pro-gay rights video was immensely popular, garnering coverage from, Huffington ...
Read in browser Store wants $5 browsing fee to deter "showrooming" by online shoppers
By Cory Doctorow on Mar 26, 2013 09:23 am A specialty food store in Brisbane, Australia posted this sign, demanding a $5 deposit from people who enter the shop, refundable with your purchase. They are trying to curb "showrooming" -- when customers of online businesses use brick-and-mortar competitors as showrooms to check out goods before they order them. As Consumerist points out, this is ...
Read in browser Brain Rot: Hip Hop Family Tree, DJ. Junebug, and a Homeless Hip Hopper
By Ed Piskor on Mar 26, 2013 08:36 am Read the rest of the Hip Hop Family Tree comics!
Read in browser Tickets from the Studio Ghibli museum are made from snips of film
By Cory Doctorow on Mar 25, 2013 10:40 pm Tickets at the Studio Ghibli museum near Tokyo are made from snips of actual film from Miyazaki movies. This ticket shows Satsuki from the masterpiece My Neighbor Totoro. I went to (Miyazaki) Studio Ghibli Museum near Tokyo, Japan. The tickets are made up of cut up film cells. My ticket is from Princess Mononoke. See ...
Read in browser Gigeresque corset: "Spine"
By Cory Doctorow on Mar 25, 2013 08:33 pm Spine, an amazing, gigeresque corset, is a Shaun Leane design that was displayed at NY MOMA in the 2011 show Alexander McQueen show Savage Beauty. Shaun Leane: He was always fascinated by the spine. So he asked me to create a corset, which was the spine with the rib cage, so that the girl could ...
Read in browser Watch the latest video posts in the Boing Boing video archive
By Xeni Jardin on Mar 25, 2013 05:51 pm We've gathered fresh video for you to surf and enjoy on the Boing Boing video page. The latest finds for your viewing pleasure include: • Video about man who makes ships in bottles. • Watch all six Star Wars movies at once. • Luna Lee performs Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Chile" on a gayageum. • IRS ...
Read in browser Trippy mandala optical illusions
By Cory Doctorow on Mar 25, 2013 05:38 pm Here's a great optical illusion (click above to see the animation) -- when you blink fast, beautiful mandalas emerge. Blink Fast (Thanks, Fipi Lele!)
Read in browser Video about man who makes ships in bottles
By David Pescovitz on Mar 25, 2013 04:29 pm Ray Gascoigne is a former shipwright who now builds ships inside bottles.
Read in browser Radiohead in the late 1980s
By David Pescovitz on Mar 25, 2013 04:22 pm Yep, that's Thom Yorke, Phil Selway, Ed O'Brien, and Colin Greenwood in the late 1980s. Back then Johnny Greenwood wasn't yet in the band who were still called On A Friday. This photo turned up during research for a documentary Anyone Can Play Guitar, about the Oxford, England music scene that also spawned Supergrass, Swervedriver, ...
Read in browser 15 Dangerously Mad Projects for the Evil Genius
By Jason Weisberger on Mar 25, 2013 03:39 pm A few months ago I had a blast playing with Simon Monk's
30 Arduino Projects for the Evil Genius, and noticed that his
15 Dangerously Mad Projects included a coil gun. I've always wanted to make a coil gun!
Read in browser Petition: force Congress to display logos of their corporate backers on their clothes
By Cory Doctorow on Mar 25, 2013 03:21 pm The idea of forcing Congresscritters to wear NASCAR-style coveralls with the logos of their financial backers has been bandied about before, but here it is in official White House petition form. Since most politicians' campaigns are largely funded by wealthy companies and individuals, it would give voters a better sense of who the candidate they ...
Read in browser Venn Diagram of Irrational Nonsense: chart of woo
By Cory Doctorow on Mar 25, 2013 03:14 pm Sometimes, when confronted with woo, it is hard to know exactly what sort of woo you're dealing with. To simplify this challenge while sparing you the agony of enduring any more explanations of ear-candling or aromatherapy than is strictly necessary, Crispian Jago has compiled a handy Venn Diagram of Irrational Nonsense. The curiously revered world ...
Read in browser Steve Jobs Manga
By Rob Beschizza on Mar 25, 2013 03:08 pm Posted online is a preview of the first installment of Manga TaishÅ and Mari Yamazaki's manga bio of Steve Jobs.
Read in browser Climate answers sought in supercomputers
By Rob Beschizza on Mar 25, 2013 02:59 pm Carl Franzen, for The Verge: There's a dark cloud hanging over the science of climate change, quite literally. Scientists today have access to supercomputers capable of running advanced simulations of Earth's climate hundreds of years into the future, accounting for millions of tiny variables. But even with all that equipment and training, they still can't ...
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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