Blog full of fantastic (and often NSFW) medieval illustrations Which makes more money: mining Bitcoins or writing about mining Bitcoins? A resurgence in LSD research One photographer's obsession with a collapsing grain silo Austerity economics only works if you make an Excel formula error Tidbits for hypochondriacs What happens when you wring out a washcloth in space? Scientists sequence the coelacanth genome Internet penetration is never correlated with increasing power to dictators, and is often correlated with increased freedom Elvis impersonator arrested in Obama ricin letter case Guatemala—Rios Montt genocide trial, Day 20. Will case be thrown out by Constitutional Court? Wolf Motorcycle Helmet Siri, keeper of secrets Dog camera harness How to relax a bull for semen extraction Google prohibits resale, lending or sharing of Google Glass on pain of remote deactivation Little-known dinosaurs that should make an appearance in Jurassic Park 4 Book multi-city itineraries as one-ways and save Exclusive excerpt from Gilbert Hernandez' masterpiece: Marble Season Massive fertilizer plant explosion in West, TX TODOCAT: a cat-meme-based to-do-list manager The secrets of bomb forensics Rep Steve Israel trying to score points with 3D printed gun hysteria Comic book keyboard At least 34 people have died in earthquakes in Iran Wired Magazine's 1992 media kit HOWTO make Wonder Woman bracelets out of toilet paper rolls Goodnight Moon as a horror movie OMNI Magazine collection on the Internet Archive Gweek 089: Marina Gorbis, executive director of Institute for the Future Blog full of fantastic (and often NSFW) medieval illustrations
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Apr 18, 2013 12:34 pm Here's a 15th century illustration of an English surgical procedure. Fun! See the full blog — Discarded Image | Discarding Images.
Read in browser Which makes more money: mining Bitcoins or writing about mining Bitcoins?
By Mark Frauenfelder on Apr 18, 2013 12:34 pm Joey deVilla joined a Bitcoin mining pool (where people collectively contribute their spare computer CPUs and share the Bitcoins they mine). Since Saturday he's made about 4 cents mining Bitcoins and about $40 dollars from ads running on his article about mining Bitcoins. "To summarize: I made 1000 times more money by writing about mining ...
Read in browser A resurgence in LSD research
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Apr 18, 2013 12:28 pm It's drug week at Popular Science and Shaunacy Ferro would like you to know why doctors can't give you LSD — and why they maybe ought to be.
Read in browser One photographer's obsession with a collapsing grain silo
By Mark Frauenfelder on Apr 18, 2013 12:24 pm The Fox is Black: "In a video from the Oxford American, [photographer Timothy Hursley] describes how his fascination with the silo began. He compares the form of he silo to the work of Frank Gehry, and even explains how he eventually purchased the silo for himself. If you live in a rural area, it may ...
Read in browser Austerity economics only works if you make an Excel formula error
By Cory Doctorow on Apr 18, 2013 12:22 pm A new paper called Does High Public Debt Consistently Stifle Economic Growth? A Critique of Reinhart and Rogoff by Thomas Herndon, Michael Ash, and Robert Pollin from UMass Amherst tries and fails to replicate the classic work on austerity, Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff's 2010 Growth in a Time of Debt. Reinhart-Rogoff is the main ...
Read in browser Tidbits for hypochondriacs
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Apr 18, 2013 12:20 pm If you would like to avoid catching somebody's cold, you should attempt to remain at least six feet away from them. That is the distance respiratory droplets can travel through air.
Read in browser What happens when you wring out a washcloth in space?
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Apr 18, 2013 12:01 pm For hand towels, astronauts get those little vacuum-packed pucks that you kind of have to unravel into a towel. But what happens when you actually put the towels to use? Two Nova Scotia high school students, Kendra Lemke and Meredith Faulkner, submitted this experiment to Canadian Space Agency and got to see astronaut Chris Hadfield ...
Read in browser Scientists sequence the coelacanth genome
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Apr 18, 2013 11:49 am The coelacanth is one of a small handful of living fishes that are probably closely related much more ancient, extinct creatures — including, the first fish to haul itself up onto land. Now scientists have sequenced its genes and are digging through the data in search of genetic clues to how fish and land-dwelling animals ...
Read in browser Internet penetration is never correlated with increasing power to dictators, and is often correlated with increased freedom
By Cory Doctorow on Apr 18, 2013 11:15 am Philip N Howard wonders if there are any countries that have, on balanced, suffered as a result of the coming of the Internet -- say, because improved networks created so many opportunities for dictators to spy on dissidents that it swamped any free speech/free association benefits that the Internet delivered. So he scatter-plotted PolityIV's democratization ...
Read in browser Elvis impersonator arrested in Obama ricin letter case
By Rob Beschizza on Apr 18, 2013 10:46 am Paul Kevin Curtis, 45, an Elvis impersonator, was arrested wednesday and charged with mailing ricin-tainted letters to President Barack Obama and other politicians.
Read in browser Guatemala—Rios Montt genocide trial, Day 20. Will case be thrown out by Constitutional Court?
By Xeni Jardin on Apr 18, 2013 10:43 am Rios Montt, moments after his attorneys walked out in protest today, seated alone w/co-defendant Sanchez. Photo: @xeni. I am blogging from inside the Guatemalan Supreme Court in Guatemala City this morning, on day 20 of the trial of former Guatemalan General and genocide and de factor dictator Rios Montt, and his then-head of intelligence Jose ...
Read in browser Wolf Motorcycle Helmet
By Rob Beschizza on Apr 18, 2013 10:37 am This DOT-certified bucket is marketed as the "Wolf Helmet", but I think it looks like an angry womble. [via Uncrate]
Read in browser Siri, keeper of secrets
By Rob Beschizza on Apr 18, 2013 10:09 am Robert McMillan writes: "Not everyone realizes this, but whenever you use Siri, Apple's voice-controlled digital assistant, she remembers what you tell her. How long does she remember? Apple isn't saying. And the American Civil Liberties Union is concerned." [Wired]
Read in browser Dog camera harness
By Rob Beschizza on Apr 18, 2013 10:07 am Sony announced a camera harness for dogs. Alas, it's only available at their Japanese store for now. [New Launches] Previously: Pets Eye View Camera; Pictures taken by Malcolm and Ruby using the Pets Eye View camera
Read in browser How to relax a bull for semen extraction
By Rob Beschizza on Apr 18, 2013 09:50 am A breeding bull stands under infrared lights, used to relax his muscles, at an artificial insemination centre in the village of Hohenzell, Upper Austria April 9, 2013. The centre exports cattle semen to more than 52 countries worldwide. Photo: Leonhard Foeger / Reuters
Read in browser Google prohibits resale, lending or sharing of Google Glass on pain of remote deactivation
By Rob Beschizza on Apr 18, 2013 09:20 am Wired: Google is barring anyone deemed worthy of a pair of its $1,500 Google Glass computer eyewear from selling or even loaning out the highly coveted gadget. The company's terms of service on the limited-edition wearable computer specifically states, "you may not resell, loan, transfer, or give your device to any other person. If you ...
Read in browser Little-known dinosaurs that should make an appearance in Jurassic Park 4
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Apr 18, 2013 09:09 am Brian Switek does fantastic work writing about dinosaurs. I haven't finished his new book, My Beloved Brontosaurus , just yet, but it's shaping up to be fantastic — all about the slow, lumbering dinosaurs of our childhoods and how our conception of them morphed into something totally different. He's going to be on Science Friday ...
Read in browser Book multi-city itineraries as one-ways and save
By Cory Doctorow on Apr 18, 2013 09:06 am If you're booking a multi-city trip by air, you should really price it out as a series of one-way flights, rather than as a single ticket. As Mike Masnick discovered, the arcane airline ticketing rules require ticketing agencies to stick random, high-priced business-class tickets into multi-hop itineraries, which can double the cost of your trip. ...
Read in browser Exclusive excerpt from Gilbert Hernandez' masterpiece: Marble Season
By Mark Frauenfelder on Apr 18, 2013 08:30 am Gilbert Hernandez is the co-creator of, Love & Rockets, one of the best comic book series of all time. His newest work is Marble Season, a beautifully-told semiautobiography of a boy growing up. Read the 8-page excerpt below. Marble Season is the semiautobiographical novel by the acclaimed cartoonist Gilbert Hernandez, author of the epic masterpiece ...
Read in browser Massive fertilizer plant explosion in West, TX
By Cory Doctorow on Apr 18, 2013 12:56 am A fertilizer plant in West, Texas caught fire and exploded last night. According to one eyewitness, "Every house within about four blocks is blown apart." The small town is north of Waco, and the early details are horrifying, including the collapse of a crowded nursing home. People reported hearing the explosion 45 miles away. The ...
Read in browser TODOCAT: a cat-meme-based to-do-list manager
By Cory Doctorow on Apr 17, 2013 10:43 pm Soma of the Brooklyn Brainery created TODOCAT, a to-do list manager based on the elegant cat meme. I fucking hate cat memes, but I love to-do lists. I love this cat meme to-do list manager. TODOCAT (via Waxy)
Read in browser The secrets of bomb forensics
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Apr 17, 2013 09:08 pm At the New Yorker, Paige Williams visits forensic chemist Adam B. Hall to talk about the surprising things you can learn about bombs and their makers by looking at the effects they produce — from the type and color of the smoke, to the smell that lingers in the air, to what the "boom" sounds ...
Read in browser Rep Steve Israel trying to score points with 3D printed gun hysteria
By Cory Doctorow on Apr 17, 2013 08:52 pm Michael Weinberg from Public Knowledge sez "Last week, Rep. Steve Israel introduced a bill designed to regulate firearms that cannot be found by metal detectors. The bill makes a passing reference the 3D printing, which is fine. But the rhetoric that Rep. Israel is using to promote the bill is both muddled and overblown, and ...
Read in browser Comic book keyboard
By Mark Frauenfelder on Apr 17, 2013 08:50 pm A nice find from our G+ BB Community member D.S. Deboer.
Read in browser At least 34 people have died in earthquakes in Iran
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Apr 17, 2013 08:45 pm A 6.3 earthquake and one with a magnitude of 7.8 hit Western Iran in the course of just a week. These are largely rural areas, with a lot of mud brick buildings that tend to collapse when the earth shakes. It's hard to say how many casualties there are, in total. Scientifically speaking, the earthquakes ...
Read in browser Wired Magazine's 1992 media kit
By Cory Doctorow on Apr 17, 2013 05:39 pm Brian sez, "Fasten your seatbelts for a trip back in time, to 1992, when a tiny little startup called Coconut heard, in August 1992, that a new magazine was brewing, something called WIRED. We contacted them, they sent us a media kit. I kept it. Enjoy." You have to remember that the World Wide Web ...
Read in browser HOWTO make Wonder Woman bracelets out of toilet paper rolls
By Cory Doctorow on Apr 17, 2013 05:19 pm Here's a great tutorial for making your own glittery superhero paper bracelets out of toilet-paper rolls. The trick is to use blue painter's tape backing to keep the cardboard intact while it's all gluey. This may seem like a strange way of doing things - to cut and then stick back together etc - but ...
Read in browser Goodnight Moon as a horror movie
By Cory Doctorow on Apr 17, 2013 04:47 pm Did the children's book "Goodnight Moon" help put you to sleep as a little kid? Not anymore.
Read in browser OMNI Magazine collection on the Internet Archive
By David Pescovitz on Apr 17, 2013 04:29 pm The complete run of Omni, one of my all-time favorite magazines, is now available for free on the Internet Archive! In its late-1970s and 1980s heyday, Omni was a wonderful blend of technology, science, art, fiction, futurism, and high weirdness. It really inspired my own writing and interests. OMNI Magazine Collection (via Warren Ellis) In ...
Read in browser Gweek 089: Marina Gorbis, executive director of Institute for the Future
By Mark Frauenfelder on Apr 17, 2013 03:20 pm Earlier this month, Boing Boing posted an excerpt from Marina Gorbis's fascinating new book, The Nature of the Future: Dispatches from the Socialstructed World. As David wrote, the book is "a compelling, provocative, and grounded book about how technology is enabling individuals to connect with one another to follow their passions and get stuff done, ...
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
No comments:
Post a Comment