Kickstarter for a multifunction wrecking bar with crowbar/hammer/angle measuring tool Breathtaking ATM hack nets $45M in hours "I was almost eaten by a hippo" Why are barns red? Sponsor shout-out: Upstream Color now on DVD and Blu-ray Porno copyright troll to Georgia judge: "Ignore California judge! They have gay marriage!" Prevent divorce — with science! Guatemala: Likely sentence today in Ríos Montt genocide trial US State Department orders removal of Defense Distributed's printable gun designs Disney gives Brave princess a body makeover New law will fix the DMCA, make jailbreaking, unlocking and interoperability legal - your help needed! The rogue reptiles of the River Thames Not so great Gatsby Scratch 2.0: programming for kids, now in the browser Do readers judge female characters more harshly? Will Wright criticizes Sim City DRM, feels "bad for the team" Chest-burster pendant Bake a Mean Spirited Censorship Pie with the Electronic Frontier Foundation Comedy boy-band extols virtues of indie games HOWTO fix security after the Boston bombing TSA hearing for "Naked American Hero" John Brennan Baconcoin tees -- limited time only! HOWTO search the Web like the NSA Gweek 095: Ruben Bolling and Nate DiMeo Guatemala: "I am innocent," Ríos Montt tells court in genocide trial, breaking silence Wild west (anti)heroes in a rare (and maybe not real) group photo Could flickering stars be messages from ET? Othermill: kickstarting a desktop 3D computer-controlled mill for circuit-boards, jewelry and more Hyperbole and a Half returns with another episode on depression Selection of Etsy Haunted Mansion tchotchkes Kickstarter for a multifunction wrecking bar with crowbar/hammer/angle measuring tool
By Cory Doctorow on May 10, 2013 01:00 pm The Cole-Bar Hammer is a multifunction wrecking bar on Kickster ($65 gets you an earlybird tool, with shipping). It unfolds and locks into place to serve as a crowbar; it also can be used as a hammer and as an angle-measurement tool, and it has a lovely, brutal elegance: The Cole-Bar Hammer is essentially a ...
Read in browser Breathtaking ATM hack nets $45M in hours
By Cory Doctorow on May 10, 2013 12:00 pm The US District Attorney for the Eastern District of New York has indicted eight residents of Yonkers for allegedly participating in a global ATM heist that involved removing the withdrawal limits on prepaid debit cards, cloning them, and then getting confederates all over the world to hit ATMs at the same time and clean them ...
Read in browser "I was almost eaten by a hippo"
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on May 10, 2013 11:33 am Hippopotamuses — big, lumbery, and related to whales — are described as being "mostly herbivorous". They are also MUCH faster than they look. And they are one of the most aggressive animals you'll ever meet. This combination of traits created an incredibly harrowing experience for river guide Paul Templer.
Read in browser Why are barns red?
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on May 10, 2013 11:26 am If you've ever spent much time in American farm country, then you've probably noticed that there's a strong tradition there of coating barns and outbuildings with red paint. Why? Because nuclear fusion. Okay, the actual answer is simply because red paint has long been a cheap color to buy. But, explains Google engineer Yonatan Zunger, ...
Read in browser Sponsor shout-out: Upstream Color now on DVD and Blu-ray
By Advertiser on May 10, 2013 11:00 am ADVERTISEMENT We'd like to thank and congratulate our sponsor Upstream Color on this week's launch of their DVD and Blu-ray. It's a film written and directed by Shane Carruth, one The Los Angeles Times calls "intense and hypnotically powerful" and The Playlist describes as "a romantic examination of love, who we are as lovers, what ...
Read in browser Porno copyright troll to Georgia judge: "Ignore California judge! They have gay marriage!"
By Cory Doctorow on May 10, 2013 11:00 am When US Federal Judge Otis Wright ruled against Prenda Law (a gang that used sloppy accusations of illegal downloads of pornographic movies to extort millions from people who didn't want the embarrassment of being publicly sued), he ordered Prenda's lawyers to give copies of his ruling to judges in all the other places where they ...
Read in browser Prevent divorce — with science!
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on May 10, 2013 10:50 am Back in 2002, psychologists studying how couples argued found four different behaviors that correlated strongly with future divorce. In fact, in a small sample of 80 couples, the combination of those behaviors could be used to predict who would divorce over the next 14 years with 93% accuracy. The good news: While these behaviors are ...
Read in browser Guatemala: Likely sentence today in Ríos Montt genocide trial
By Xeni Jardin on May 10, 2013 10:13 am Photo: Former de facto head of state Efrain Rios Montt takes the stand, speaking in his defense for the first time since the trial began on March 19, 2013. Photo: James Rodriguez, mimundo.org. Greetings from the court in Guatemala City, where the trial of US-backed military dictator Efrain Rios Montt may today reach its conclusion. ...
Read in browser US State Department orders removal of Defense Distributed's printable gun designs
By Cory Doctorow on May 10, 2013 10:00 am The US State Department has ordered Defense Distributed to take down the designs for a working 3D printed gun, citing export control rules set out in the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. Defense Distributed's Cody Wilson is appealing, and says that ITAR does not apply to "non-profit public domain releases of technical files designed to ...
Read in browser Disney gives Brave princess a body makeover
By Rob Beschizza on May 10, 2013 09:42 am Gone are the wild tight curls, relaxed now into auburn waves. Her waist is cinched, her bust inflated: skinnier and sexier is the new Merida, star of Brave. And gone, in some of the new art, is that troublesome weapon: no fit thing for a Disney princess, after all. Fans and websites lamenting the changes, ...
Read in browser New law will fix the DMCA, make jailbreaking, unlocking and interoperability legal - your help needed!
By Cory Doctorow on May 10, 2013 09:16 am Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO) have introduced a landmark technology bill called The Unlocking Technology Act of 2013 [PDF] that reforms the way our devices our regulated. It fixes a glaring hole in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), changing the rules so that you are allowed ...
Read in browser The rogue reptiles of the River Thames
By Rob Beschizza on May 10, 2013 08:59 am The Fortean Times' Neil Arnold surveys the current monstrous inhabitants of the Thames and its tributaries, and the not-so-cryptozoological creatures that they might turn out to be: "There have even been reports of alligators."
Read in browser Not so great Gatsby
By Rob Beschizza on May 10, 2013 08:44 am Gloomy reviews from critics? It won't matter.
Read in browser Scratch 2.0: programming for kids, now in the browser
By Cory Doctorow on May 10, 2013 08:41 am The MIT Media Lab's Lifelong Kindergarten Group has shipped version 2.0 of Scratch, the justly famed and much-loved programming language for kids. Scratch makes it easy to create powerful simulations and games, even for small kids (basically, if you can read, you're ready for Scratch). The new version of Scratch runs right in a browser ...
Read in browser Do readers judge female characters more harshly?
By Rob Beschizza on May 10, 2013 08:40 am Oh yes, writes Maria Konnikova in The Atlantic: "Work by social psychologists like Susan Fiske and Mina Cikara has repeatedly demonstrated that women are perceived and evaluated on different criteria than men. ... ">Now, even fictional females are feeling the sting."
Read in browser Will Wright criticizes Sim City DRM, feels "bad for the team"
By Rob Beschizza on May 10, 2013 08:39 am Ta-Nahesi Coates on Sim City's DRM fiasco: "Even the game's creator agrees I shouldn't have to play with others in order to play at all." He's riffing on Steve Peterson's interview with the legendary designer , where Wright has few good words for the medium: "No game designer ever went wrong by overestimating the narcissism ...
Read in browser Chest-burster pendant
By Cory Doctorow on May 09, 2013 10:59 pm Etsy maker CthulhuWakeUp made this stonking chestburster necklace pendant, and granted an interview to the Girl Gone Geek blog about his art: Practicing digital sculpture in my own time, I came up with the Cthulhu pendant and I really wanted to do something with it. I put it up in kickstarter and raised money to ...
Read in browser Bake a Mean Spirited Censorship Pie with the Electronic Frontier Foundation
By Cory Doctorow on May 09, 2013 09:35 pm EFF is celebrating the new inductees into its Takedown Hall of Shame with a new cooking show! In this episode, EFF staffer Parker Higgins bakes a "Mean Spirited Censorship Pie" -- which is what all have to call the classic Southern dessert formerly known as "Derby Pie," now that Kern's Kitchen in Louisville is threatening ...
Read in browser Comedy boy-band extols virtues of indie games
By Cory Doctorow on May 09, 2013 08:55 pm James sez, "The boys of Viva La Dirt League (a New Zealand boy-band parody group specialising in songs about Starcraft!) have just released this funny, awesome, video about the pleasures of buying indie games. I think their work deserves your viewing!" I concur. This is what boy bands should all be about: cussing, indie game ...
Read in browser HOWTO fix security after the Boston bombing
By Cory Doctorow on May 09, 2013 08:22 pm As we think about the postmortem on security procedures following from the Boston Marathon attack and plan on new procedures, Bruce Schneier has some crucial security design advice: don't forget transparency and accountability. Without these two crucial elements, security can't work: Long ago, we realized that simply trusting people and government agencies to always do ...
Read in browser TSA hearing for "Naked American Hero" John Brennan
By Mark Frauenfelder on May 09, 2013 07:36 pm Remember our happy mutant comrade John Brennan, who removed his clothes at the Portland Airport during a TSA screening? He was acquitted of a ridiculous indecent exposure charge, and now he is appealing an equally stupid fine from the Transportation Security Administration for “interfering with the screening process.” This might sound silly, but it's serious ...
Read in browser Baconcoin tees -- limited time only!
By Cory Doctorow on May 09, 2013 06:53 pm Bitcoins? Pah. Warren Ellis and Diesel Sweeties have teamed up to offer a limited edition Baconcoin tee -- available until May 14 -- that finally proposes a currency based on fat, nitrites, and salt, as nature intended. Baconcoin Shirt from Warren Ellis
Read in browser HOWTO search the Web like the NSA
By Cory Doctorow on May 09, 2013 05:49 pm Wired's Kim Zetter rounds up some of the highlights from Untangling the Web: A Guide to Internet Research [PDF], an NSA guide to finding unintentionally published confidential material on the Web produced by the NSA and released in response to a Muckrock Freedom of Information Act request. As Zetter notes, the tactics discussed as described ...
Read in browser Gweek 095: Ruben Bolling and Nate DiMeo
By Mark Frauenfelder on May 09, 2013 05:29 pm In this episode of Gweek, I talked to Ruben Bolling and Nate DiMeo. Ruben Bolling is the creator of “Tom the Dancing Bug,” the weekly comic strip that premieres every Wednesday on Boing Boing. “Tom the Dancing Bug” has won many awards and is a multiple Harvey Award nominee for Best Comic Strip. You can ...
Read in browser Guatemala: "I am innocent," Ríos Montt tells court in genocide trial, breaking silence
By Xeni Jardin on May 09, 2013 04:45 pm Photo: A still from iPhone video of Ríos Montt speaking, in his defense, for the first time on Thursday May 9, 2013, in Guatemala City. (Xeni Jardin) As the trial of Guatemala's former military dictator, José Efraín Ríos Montt, and his then head of intelligence, José Mauricio Rodriguez Sanchez, moved toward its conclusion this afternoon ...
Read in browser Wild west (anti)heroes in a rare (and maybe not real) group photo
By Cory Doctorow on May 09, 2013 04:40 pm This may be a photo of Billy the Kid, Doc Holliday, Jesse James, and Charlie Bowdre, taken in Las Vegas (NM) in 1879: "There is that story that these two met in Las Vegas at the Old Adobe Hotel on July 26, 1879, and during a card game Jesse asked Billy to join his gang..........Henry ...
Read in browser Could flickering stars be messages from ET?
By David Pescovitz on May 09, 2013 04:35 pm Could the flickering and winking of some stars be a kind of Morse Code that extraterrestrials are using to communicate across space? Princeton University astrophysicist Lucianne Walkowicz and her colleagues are exploring that very question. Her team is using algorithms to sift data from the space observatory Kepler for flickering patterns that don't appear to ...
Read in browser Othermill: kickstarting a desktop 3D computer-controlled mill for circuit-boards, jewelry and more
By Cory Doctorow on May 09, 2013 04:04 pm McArthur Genius Grant winner and maker hero Saul Griffith and his friends have a fully funded Kickstarter on the go for the "Othermill," a computer-controlled mill for creating your own custom circuit-boards -- and for milling decorative or functional shapes from "metal, wood, wax, and plastic." It's a compact desktop tool designed for home use. ...
Read in browser Hyperbole and a Half returns with another episode on depression
By Cory Doctorow on May 09, 2013 02:22 pm The amazing and wonderful Hyperbole and a Half is back, with the long-overdue continuation of the 2011 post on depression. This isn't an entirely upbeat post (as you might expect), but it is every bit as indispensable and smart and great as the previous entries. And it's an ultimately hopeful one, too. And that's the ...
Read in browser Selection of Etsy Haunted Mansion tchotchkes
By Cory Doctorow on May 09, 2013 01:58 pm I've just had a deep trawl through Etsy's selection of weird, handmade Haunted Mansion (and hauntedmansionesque) gewgaws and gimcracks, and I herewith present my picks of the lot: Master Gracey Haunted Mansion Miniature Halloween Dollhouse Decoration HAUNTED MANSION Full Collection- Cutie Putti Paperie Miniature Haunted Mansion Library Red Velvet Open Coffin 1-inch scale dollhouse miniature ...
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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