Asdfaksdfl-Class Transorbital Skimmer has near miss with primitive Earth vessel TOM THE DANCING BUG: Hollingsworth Hound - "The Sequester and YOU" The techie novels of Nevil Shute Homeless man's A/B test of generosity based on faith "Oxyana," new doc on how Oxycontin addiction is destroying Appalachian communities Design jargon bullshit: a Tumblog of greatness Name-your-price SOPA history You're All Just Jealous of My Jetpack: a collection of Tom Gauld's brilliant cartoons Why do shark embryos eat one another? "Peeping Toms" tumble into ladies' restroom 300 gallons of urine stashed in house Entire fridgeful of drinks destroyed after poison scare Game of Thrones S3E5: Through the fire and the flames Supreme Court says states can limit freedom-of-information requests from out-of-state, Muckrock hacks around it with your help Cell model cake Ace of Base's Ulf Ekberg saw the sign Pirate pancake griddle EFF challenges bogus 3D printing patents How Congress flies Rumored Statue of Liberty face-recognition supplier harasses and threatens journalist Just look at this whirling maglev banana. Winners of The Webby Awards 2013 Video of recursive hand illusions Keith Haring documentary by Maripol SOPA's daddy is now in charge of government science funding, and he hates peer-review Teaching TCP/IP headers with legos Screwdriver car key 1963 photo on the set of The Dick Van Dyke Show James Gurney's "talking portrait" of 17th Street Locos Cute things made from pieces of carpeting Asdfaksdfl-Class Transorbital Skimmer has near miss with primitive Earth vessel
By Rob Beschizza on May 01, 2013 12:35 pm The BBC reports: "The Airbus A320 was making its final approach to Glasgow Airport on 2 December when an object passed about 300ft underneath it. The pilot of the aircraft said the risk of collision with the object, which did not show up on radar, had been "high". A report by the UK Airprox Board ...
Read in browser TOM THE DANCING BUG: Hollingsworth Hound - "The Sequester and YOU"
By Ruben Bolling on May 01, 2013 12:05 pm Tom the Dancing Bug, IN WHICH Hollingsworth Hound explains the Sequester, and YOU!
Read in browser The techie novels of Nevil Shute
By Mark Frauenfelder on May 01, 2013 11:18 am Last month I had a conversation with Dale Grover (co-founder of Maker Works in Ann Arbor, Michigan -- read his profile at Make) about the late author Nevil Shute. Shute is best known for the novel On the Beach (about a dying Earth after a global nuclear war) but we discussed a lesser-known novel of ...
Read in browser Homeless man's A/B test of generosity based on faith
By Cory Doctorow on May 01, 2013 10:58 am Redditor Ventachinkway caught a photo of a homeless man conducting a clever exercise in behavioral economics disguised as an inquiry into the levels of spontaneous generosity as determined by religious creed or lack thereof. When I passed him he proudly announced "The atheists are winning!" (i.imgur.com) (via Glinner)
Read in browser "Oxyana," new doc on how Oxycontin addiction is destroying Appalachian communities
By Xeni Jardin on May 01, 2013 10:21 am "Nothing here but Oxy and coal," says one of the subjects of Sean Dunne's new documentary Oxyana, which just won Special Jury Mention at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival. From Capital New York's review: "The 'here' is Oceana, a once-bustling mining town in West Virginia, now decimated by Oxycontin addiction to the point where the ...
Read in browser Design jargon bullshit: a Tumblog of greatness
By Xeni Jardin on May 01, 2013 10:18 am designjargonbullshit.com: "Driving brand equity throughout the brand portfolio, providing an on-going strategy to support growth objectives." "Our proven methodology includes the identification of what we call the 'nugget of truth' that exists in every brand." "Our digital department eat, sleep & drink digital, then regurgitate it into information." (HT: @notrobwalker)
Read in browser Name-your-price SOPA history
By Cory Doctorow on May 01, 2013 09:40 am Alan sez, "Demand Progress, part of Aaron Swartz's legacy, has been working for a while on a collection of essays and thoughts by people including Aaron, Lawrence Lessig, Techdirt's Mike Masnick, and Kim Dotcom. The collection is now available in ebook and paperback form. You can even pay in bitcoins, if that's how you roll."
Read in browser You're All Just Jealous of My Jetpack: a collection of Tom Gauld's brilliant cartoons
By Mark Frauenfelder on May 01, 2013 09:30 am My glib description of Tom Gauld's cartoons would be "a science fiction Edward Gorey." It's unfair though, because there's is only a superficial stylistic resemblance between the two writer/illustrators. To read a Tom Gauld cartoon or illustrated book (see my reviews of The Gigantic Robot and Goliath) is to be entertained, but also to be ...
Read in browser Why do shark embryos eat one another?
By Rob Beschizza on May 01, 2013 08:59 am Tia Ghose: "[they] cannibalize their littermates in the womb, with the largest embryo eating all but one of its siblings. Now, researchers know why."
Read in browser "Peeping Toms" tumble into ladies' restroom
By Rob Beschizza on May 01, 2013 08:49 am In Atlanta, a pair of Peeping Toms reportedly fell through a bathroom ceiling as they tried to spy on women below. The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that the 26- and 27-year-old men are suspected of climbing up into the men's restroom ceiling area, crawling over the womens' side, then promptly falling into a lavatory stall.
Read in browser 300 gallons of urine stashed in house
By Rob Beschizza on May 01, 2013 08:42 am The police in Newtown, Conn., are mulling whether to file charges against a man who stored "as much as 300 gallons of human urine" in his home. For reference, writes local reporter Libor Jany, the average person produces about six cups a day.
Read in browser Entire fridgeful of drinks destroyed after poison scare
By Rob Beschizza on May 01, 2013 08:38 am A San Jose woman was arrested Monday over allegations that she spiked bottles of Starbucks' orange juice with rubbing alcohol.
Read in browser Game of Thrones S3E5: Through the fire and the flames
By Leigh Alexander on May 01, 2013 03:00 am The latest episode of Game of Thrones was, in my humble opinion, far and away the most exciting one yet. Fire, fire and more fire, fatherhood and impeccable crescendoes. Such payoff for book fans, but what do viewers think? Let's recap and discuss. I can't wait! We begin the episode right where the last one ...
Read in browser Supreme Court says states can limit freedom-of-information requests from out-of-state, Muckrock hacks around it with your help
By Cory Doctorow on May 01, 2013 02:06 am Michael from MuckRock sez, The Supreme Court ruled this morning that states have the right to restrict public records access to locals, meaning one more hurdle to would-be muckrakers everywhere. Even in-state requesters are harmed: It means one more bureaucratic hurdle and another excuse for agencies to respond in paper rather than electronically. MuckRock has ...
Read in browser Cell model cake
By Cory Doctorow on Apr 30, 2013 10:43 pm Canadian artist/photographer NicoleWilliam created this cell model cake for her BIOL330 class in 2010. I hereby grant her a retrospective A+. It even comes apart! Biology Cell Cake (via Geeks Are Sexy)
Read in browser Ace of Base's Ulf Ekberg saw the sign
By Rob Beschizza on Apr 30, 2013 09:56 pm When I was a kid, I was the class clown and a bit of a troll. When Ace of Base's The Sign was a hit, me and my mates made up this story that it was really a coded reference to the Swastika, and why are all of you listening to this shameful Nazi music? ...
Read in browser Pirate pancake griddle
By Mark Frauenfelder on Apr 30, 2013 09:03 pm Joe Sandor is looking for $13k on Kickstarter to fund his Pirate Pancake griddle project. It's a beaut. (I wrote about Joe's successful cast iron crepe pan Kickstarter last year). Pirate Pancake griddle project
Read in browser EFF challenges bogus 3D printing patents
By Cory Doctorow on Apr 30, 2013 08:37 pm Earlier this month, the Electronic Frontier Foundation asked the US Patent and Trademark Office to turn down six broad, bogus patents on 3D printing that could pave the way for even more patent-trolling on the emerging field of 3D printing. They worked with the Cyberlaw Clinic at Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet and Society and ...
Read in browser How Congress flies
By Cory Doctorow on Apr 30, 2013 07:57 pm You know how aviation is a spiralling horror-show of discomfort and bad service? Well, not if you're in Congress: At Washington's Reagan National Airport, they have their own special parking spaces—right up close to the terminal—that they don't even have to pay for. As Bloomberg Television's Hans Nichols reports, this perk costs the Metropolitan Washington ...
Read in browser Rumored Statue of Liberty face-recognition supplier harasses and threatens journalist
By Cory Doctorow on Apr 30, 2013 06:38 pm Slate's Ryan Gallagher caught wind of a new face recognition software being rolled out at the Statue of Liberty. He interviewed a rep from Total Recall, who were reported to be representing Cognitec, the German company whose product, FaceVACS was going in on Liberty Island. Halfway through the interview, Total Recall's director of business development ...
Read in browser Just look at this whirling maglev banana.
By Cory Doctorow on Apr 30, 2013 06:05 pm Just look at it. Mag Lev Banana (Thanks, Philip!)
Read in browser Winners of The Webby Awards 2013
By David Pescovitz on Apr 30, 2013 05:45 pm Our friends at the Webby Awards announced this year's winners and as usual, it's a fantastic mix of familiar sites and also sites I'd never heard of but will now kill my productivity for the week. Here's a taste: Mental Floss won for best cultural blog, NFB took the Net Art prize for "Bear 71," ...
Read in browser Video of recursive hand illusions
By David Pescovitz on Apr 30, 2013 05:24 pm "Screengrab" by Willie Witte. "None of the visuals are computer generated. All the trickery took place literally in front of the camera."
Read in browser Keith Haring documentary by Maripol
By David Pescovitz on Apr 30, 2013 04:33 pm French artist and fashion designer Maripol directed a new Web documentary about her friend Keith Haring. There are currently three Haring exhibitions in Paris right now, taking place at the Museé D'Art Moderne, 104, and Colette.
Read in browser SOPA's daddy is now in charge of government science funding, and he hates peer-review
By Cory Doctorow on Apr 30, 2013 03:36 pm Lamar Smith (R-TX) is the goon who brought SOPA to the nation. Now he's in charge of science funding in the House, and he's got some spectacularly stupid ideas for science as a whole. Stuart sez, "The new chair of the House of Representatives science committee has drafted a bill that, in effect, would replace ...
Read in browser Teaching TCP/IP headers with legos
By Cory Doctorow on Apr 30, 2013 03:16 pm A Hal Pomeranz from 2010 suggests a great way to teach TCP/IP header structure to students: he builds header diagrams out of legos, then mixes them up and has the students reconstruct them. The use of color here really highlights certain portions of the packet header. For example, the source and destination addresses and ports ...
Read in browser Screwdriver car key
By Mark Frauenfelder on Apr 30, 2013 03:13 pm Make a screwdriver car key for that Gone in 60 Seconds feeling.
Read in browser 1963 photo on the set of The Dick Van Dyke Show
By Mark Frauenfelder on Apr 30, 2013 03:07 pm The Dick Van Dyke Show is one of my all time favorites (remember the great Twilight Zone-esque walnut episode?), and this 1963 photo from Look magazine makes me happy. Shorpy has a high-res version.
Read in browser James Gurney's "talking portrait" of 17th Street Locos
By Mark Frauenfelder on Apr 30, 2013 02:58 pm My friend James Gurney is the creator of Dinotopia, and he is a sketching fanatic. When I had lunch with him at Bob's Big Boy in Burbank a couple of years ago, he and his wife (also an artist) stayed at the restaurant after the meal to sketch street scenes. He just posted this excellent ...
Read in browser Cute things made from pieces of carpeting
By Mark Frauenfelder on Apr 30, 2013 02:48 pm What are these? Even after reading the description, I'm not sure. But they are awfully cute. I'm adding these images to my swipe file for times when I need creative inspiration. DIFFA + Interface
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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