The Latest from Boing Boing |  |
- Coming to Toronto tonight!
- Stormtrooper action figure portraits
- Graffiti: "Talk nerdy."
- How do you solve a problem like denialism?
- Watch the tongue at work
- Creative Commons raising $100K granting pool for worthy projects
- Fine art "pie-packed"
- Mad 3D maze-city of Kowloon
- Realms of Fantasy Magazine threatened by lack of subscribers
- "Doping" in Cycling: Now with Motors
- Banksy, Barminski, Brittin, and Warhol (Santa Monica Auction excerpts)
- Think critically when looking at statistics (A valuable lesson, now with porn!)
- Energizer Smart Charger
- Commercially available ATM skimmers
- Boing Boing Bazaar: Keyboard and Ouija board wallets
- Happiness Project interview
- Decoding a fresh crop circle
- Porn Valley "samurai sword" slasher (and web designer) played Obama in adult film
- America's first space walk - 45 years ago today
- Image: indie dev Cactus teases latest game-punk output
- Dude uploads video to YouTube, rips it, uploads again a thousand times
- Saddleback Leather. Nice.
- Marquis de Sade perfume (and Eau de Poe, Serum of Orwell)
- Cigar Box Nation T-shirts
- Fun solar powered pendulum
- Flower grenades for urban garden guerillas
- Video: Molleindustria's Every Day The Same Dream, The Film
- Grossman's subversive fantasy THE MAGICIANS in paperback
- Image: Katamari Nouveau
| Posted: 04 Jun 2010 02:33 AM PDT Hey, Toronto! I'm coming home tonight for the Canadian launch of For the Win! I'll see you at 6:30PM at the Merril Collection on the lower level of the Lillian H. Smith Building, 239 College Street, just east of Spadina.   |
| Stormtrooper action figure portraits Posted: 04 Jun 2010 02:28 AM PDT  Flickr user Stéfan shot 365 near-daily portraits of his Star Wars Stormtrooper dollies undertaking humorous and dramatic tasks, and has put the (really wonderful) results on Flickr. Stormtroopers 365 (Thanks, Ronny!)
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| Posted: 03 Jun 2010 08:33 PM PDT  Another entry in my occasional series of geek graffiti photos, this shot from the Clifton neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio: "Talk nerdy. I like it alot."  |
| How do you solve a problem like denialism? Posted: 03 Jun 2010 08:26 PM PDT From evolution and climate change, to conspiracy theories about swine flu, why denialism happens (even among otherwise intelligent people) and what can be done to counteract it.   |
| Posted: 03 Jun 2010 08:20 PM PDT the diva and the emcee from Krishna Nayak on Vimeo. Researchers got an opera singer and a beatbox emcee to do their thing inside an MRI machine. The results are seriously fascinating to watch. (Via Ferris Jabr)   |
| Creative Commons raising $100K granting pool for worthy projects Posted: 03 Jun 2010 06:24 PM PDT Jane from Creative Commons sez, "We are investing up to $100,000 in people and organizations working to make knowledge easily, freely, and legally available to everyone. Catalyst Grants will empower innovators, educators and researchers around the globe." They're looking for donors to chip in -- once they hit $100K, they'll disburse it in grants for CC-oriented projects. Catalyst Grants will make it possible for individuals and organizations to harness the power of Creative Commons. A grant might enable a group in a developing country to research how Open Educational Resources can positively impact its community. Another could support a study of entrepreneurs using Creative Commons licenses to create a new class of socially responsible businesses.The Catalyst Campaign: Donate Now to Help Fund CC's Catalyst Grants (Thanks, Jane!)   |
| Posted: 03 Jun 2010 06:02 PM PDT  Mike sez, "Mario Klingemann is analyzing colors within famous artwork, and then recreating the artwork with the data from the original image." Shown here, Starry Night.   |
| Posted: 03 Jun 2010 05:59 PM PDT  Salim sez, "Photoblogger Dark Roasted Blend has found some excellent footage (Cantonese with English Subtitles) of the (now bulldozed) 'Walled City of Kowloon'. You might remember, that this was a quirk of history - a small region of land which for political reasons could not be policed by the British when they managed Hong Kong. It proliferated for years without any building regulation or law-enforcement. It became a vast chaotic 3D maze." Battleship Island & Other Ruined Urban High-Density Sites (Thanks, Sal!)   |
| Realms of Fantasy Magazine threatened by lack of subscribers Posted: 03 Jun 2010 05:55 PM PDT Douglas sez, "Realms of Fantasy is a pro magazine that publishes some of the best material out there when it comes to fantasy literature in the shorter form. It is bimonthly with gloss and color illustrations, and it has been an important part of the speculative community for almost sixteen years. Its future is currently threatened by a lack of subscriptions. We're letting the speculative community know about our situation, so that if they'd like to see the magazine stick around, they can choose to do something about it."   |
| "Doping" in Cycling: Now with Motors Posted: 03 Jun 2010 03:23 PM PDT Professional cycling fans are far too accustomed to doping scandals. But while everyone is focused on the Floyd Landis confession, a far more unusual allegation first surfaced at this year's Giro d'Italia, when the media speculated that some riders riders may be practicing "motorized doping" -- or hiding motors on their bikes. Obviously, in bicycle racing, motor equals cheating. But doping? Calling this "motorized doping" is like calling sex "penetrative celibacy." In any case, the UCI (cycling's governing body) has dismissed the accusations, but the newspaper behind the speculation, L'Avvenire, gave one example of a motor the riders could be using. It is a Hungarian product called the "Gruber Assist," and it comes complete with heavily-accented promotional video (above). Not only that, but some now claim that Swiss cyclist Fabian Cancellara (one of the best riders in the world) has also used "motorized doping" this year to win two of the hardest races in pro cycling: the Tour of Flanders and Paris Roubaix. Here's the compelling (and poorly edited) video "evidence." All of this seems unlikely as the "whirring" sound alone would give the cheater away, but nobody likes conspiracy theories like pro cycling fans. Hopefully the riders will not take these accusations lying down. (H-Zontal video via All Hail the Black Market.) |
| Banksy, Barminski, Brittin, and Warhol (Santa Monica Auction excerpts) Posted: 03 Jun 2010 02:36 PM PDT  I just stopped by Santa Monica Auctions and checked out some of the prints that will be auctioned off this Sunday (note: you can bid online). I was surprised by how many BoingBoing-y pieces were in the collection; artists we've blogged about many times. In this post, some of my favorites among works up for bidding. Artists include Banksy, Andy Warhol, Bill Barminski, whose work we've featured on Boing Boing Video; Takashi Murakami, Ed Ruscha, Damien Hirst, and the beat-era photographer Charles Brittin, who worked in Venice, California in the 1950s. Above, Warhol's "Self-Portrait with Mick Jagger's Gun," 1975. More images follow below.
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| Think critically when looking at statistics (A valuable lesson, now with porn!) Posted: 03 Jun 2010 12:59 PM PDT  Today, I finally caught that infographic on Internet porn facts that's been going around like a bad itch in a delicate place. I'm a bit skeptical about how accurate it is—if you scroll to the bottom you will see that the number one source is an article in the Daily Mail. But, it did make me think about how a single soundbite statistic doesn't necessarily tell you everything you need to know to understand the big picture. Case in point, according to said infographic, Utah has the United States' highest online porn subscription rate per thousand home broadband users. My first thought: "Heh, dirty Mormons." But wait! The fact doesn't actually tell us that the good people of Utah consume more porn than, say, Californians. It merely tells us that Utahans are more likely to pay a regular subscription for their porn. Sure, this could be an example of religious hypocrisy caught red-handed. (Ahem.) But, it might also be something far funnier: People who are so clean-cut and law-abiding that they don't even feel comfortable illegally downloading their porn. (Or, it could just be that the citizens of Utah are more likely to not be terribly Internet savvy, in which case, as a public service, I'd like to take a moment inform them all the RedTube exists.) The point: We have a statistic. But we don't have enough information to know what that statistic really means. Image courtesy Flickr user fixe, via CC   |
| Posted: 03 Jun 2010 12:16 PM PDT  Regarding this fancy AA & AAA wall-wart battery charger that Energizer sent in, know ye that it has flashing lights and a 'fuel' monitor so you know how much 'fuel' is in each cell. It charges slow to maximize the number of cycles, and can charge 4 at once, each kind in pairs. Now, about the 'bad battery' detection: it seems rather picky about what it will agree to recharge. Some of my NiMHs are quite new, after all, only a few charging cycles. I don't know! I'm paranoid! It is $20. Product Page [Energizer]  |
| Commercially available ATM skimmers Posted: 03 Jun 2010 11:47 AM PDT Brian Krebs continues his excellent series of posts on ATM skimmers, this time with a report on the state of the art in commercially available artisan-crafted skimmers that can be bought through the criminal underground (accept no imitations!): ATM Skimmers: Separating Cruft from Craft   |
| Boing Boing Bazaar: Keyboard and Ouija board wallets Posted: 03 Jun 2010 07:42 PM PDT    Portland's Mona Kate plays roller derby and makes excellent vegan vinyl wallets that are just $14 in the Boing Boing Bazaar/Makers Market. I'm fond of the bold Keyboard and Ouija designs, but there are more than two dozen other options including robots, kittens, fixie bikes, circuit boards, pin-ups, skull and cross bones, and, of course, several rollerskate graphics. Kitten Camaro wallets   |
| Posted: 03 Jun 2010 11:25 AM PDT Gretchen Rubin, author of the terrific book I reviewed in January, The Happiness Project, interviewed me on her always-interesting Happiness Project blog. Gretchen: What's something you know now about happiness that you didn't know when you were 18 years old? |
| Posted: 03 Jun 2010 11:41 AM PDT  Did the pranksters (or ETs or Gaia or the military, etc.) behind this recent crop circle, known as the Wilton Windmill, encode hidden mathematical messages in the pattern? The Daily Grail's Richard Andrews reveals that the mathematically beautiful Euler's Identity equation is encoded in 8-bit binary within the formation. Not only that, but Andrews posits that a minor error in the encoding could be seen as an (unintentional?) reference to the Planck constant. Of course, that would be very punny as many crop circle artists use a plank to flatten the crops."Planck found in 'Euler's Identity' Crop Circle?!" (snip of image by Steve Alexander)   |
| Porn Valley "samurai sword" slasher (and web designer) played Obama in adult film Posted: 03 Jun 2010 01:56 PM PDT  Following up on yesterday's Boing Boing post about a part-time web designer/part-time adult film actor who—using a prop "samurai sword"—is believed to have stabbed several porn biz co-workers, killing one and causing so much damage to another's hand that it may be amputated.... Susannah Breslin reports: Porn Valley killer played Obama in porn spoof (True/Slant) Related, from LA Times today: The murder victim is identified. His name was Herbert Hin Wong, and he was born in China. There's a manhunt on for the suspect. Inset, above, Hill (credited as Steve Driver) and a co-star Raquel Divine on the cover of the DVD for the adult film in question. A quick Google for "Palin: Erection 2008" yields many NSFW torrents, video clips, and images, but I will not be linking to them.
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| America's first space walk - 45 years ago today Posted: 03 Jun 2010 10:32 AM PDT Ben Cosgrove says: "Forty-five years ago today, Ed White became the first American to "walk" in space, during the Gemini IV mission with crew mate and Command Pilot, James McDivitt. The photos from the walk still astound -- but it's White's utterance during a playful exchange with McDivitt, when he's told he has to return to the spacecraft, that's truly haunting: WHITE [laughing]: I'm not coming in ... This is fun ..."White died a few years later, in the awful Apollo I fire that also killed Gus Grissom and Roger Chaffee. Today's as good a day as any to remember a man who, for a little while, was the most famous -- and the luckiest -- guy in the galaxy." |
| Image: indie dev Cactus teases latest game-punk output Posted: 01 Jun 2010 04:55 PM PDT  We haven't seen or heard much from Sweden's inimitable indie dev Cactus since my last extensive introduction to his Lynchian-disco-punk world. Apart from winning the 2010 IGF 'Nuovo' award for his psychoactive platformer Tuning, his Gamma IV entry (video below the fold) has essentially been his sole major unveiling in quite some time. Just to prove he's still hard at work, though, he's updated with the smattering of concept-proofs above, and they're as strong a showing as ever. My personal favorite: the apparent human-to-car mod preview at top right, which I'm crossing my fingers is merely the select screen leading to the Cronenberg-ian future-human autobahn game I never knew I always wanted. I'm not dead! [CACTUSQUID.com]   |
| Dude uploads video to YouTube, rips it, uploads again a thousand times Posted: 03 Jun 2010 10:18 AM PDT Above: what happens when you upload a video to YouTube, then rip it from YouTube, and repeat that process again, a thousand times. The final digitally-distilled product bears little resemblance to the original, and becomes something of its own. YouTube user "canzona," whose personal website is here, explains: I started this project exactly 1 year ago, almost to the hour. The final version is a lot different than I thought it would be, I was expecting a lot more digital video noise, and a lot less digital audio noise. Let this be a lesson, though, always be careful how you convert your digital media! The title of this YouTube experiment and its structure are a sort of playful riff on Lucier's most famous work, "I am Sitting in a Room." I believe this site offers a downloadable recording of Lucier's original performance of that work. I Am Sitting In A Video Room 1000 (thanks, Mia Quagliarello!) |
| Posted: 03 Jun 2010 11:45 AM PDT  Saddleback Leather's hand-made bags are like the relics you might throw in after looting a tomb: heavy, durable, and attractive in a way not everyone will appreciate. It's not for those among us after sleeve-like innovations cut perfectly for the gear we want to lug. And while certain items in the lineup display an awareness of trends--iPad case!-- the sensibility remains at odds with today's prevalent vibe of lightweight designer gadget cosies. I like it because I dig the Edwardian adventurer look and because I'm tired of rebuying the same stuff over and over again. You know, I haven't ever reviewed a bag. How to cover a bag? I guess you could play it straight and write a formal review, running through volume, durability, type of fastener, etc. But no: you can read all that at their website and watch the crocodile video. But a story about the challenges and triumphs the creators have experienced? Folks already did that, too. So I'll just tell you that I like the bags. Cut from extremely heavy-duty leather, stitched rather than riveted (if you like rivets, check out Palmer and Sons of Vancouver), and they're offered in brown, brown, brown or brown. Saddlebag's items start at wallets and pouches, then increase in size and compexity, through messenger bags and backpacks, until you hit luggage. The pro is also the con. They're built to last and ready for action on whatever jaunts you might plan--but once out of pocketable territory, they're also much heavier than everyday fare. Compare these two bags. On the left is my own everyday messenger manpurse thing, custom-made by an old man in Manhattan. It has a lifetime warranty: anything breaks, I mail it back to his shop and they fix it. On the right is the rough equivalent from Saddleback. Look how thick that hide is. It's overengineered, crafted for a vanishingly small minority of buyers' needs. I like how it's ostentatiously leathery, but simple and straightforward enough to haul TPS reports around with. They're not unreasonably expensive, either, and sometimes surprisingly cheap. For example, the aforementioned iPad pouch was $40 on special ($55 currently), about the same price as the neoprene junk at the Apple store. But whereas those squidgy affairs seem doomed to fall apart, Saddleback's is a single folded sheet of leather. It's one of the few iPad cases that will not only last longer than your iPad, but provide nourishment after the zombie holocaust. I bought a wallet from Saddleback not long ago: tired of my old one being an overflowing, bursting roll of fabric, I decided to switch to a non-folding card holder. The one I got at Target, however, soon unstitched itself: the nature of these things is that they're under more stress than normal wallets, because everything fits in them extremely snugly: even a couple of folded-up bills in the middle makes them bulge. But Saddleback's, though more expensive ($30 instead of $15), turned out to be of radically higher build quality -- as you can tell as soon as you see it. Even the small satchel pictured at the top of this post, however, has its own weight to carry; as gorgeous and nigh-indestructable as it seems, it takes a committment to make it part of your life. So, I repeat, you'd best skip it if you're just looking for something lightweight to carry a netbook and study/work basics around in. But if you have any kind of game plan -- "I need a manbag," declared with the stern, bug-eyed intensity of Oglaf royalty -- it's a very safe bet. Especially considering how the qualities it embodies -- durability, utility, functionality -- are often absent from the superficially similar items you'll find at Amazon or elswhere. Verdict: Splendid adventurer-grade dead cow, but too heavy for the MacBook Air set.   |
| Marquis de Sade perfume (and Eau de Poe, Serum of Orwell) Posted: 03 Jun 2010 09:47 AM PDT  Oh, if only this design concept treatment were real! I'm imagining earthy fragrances, something Tom Ford-y. But maybe they'd just smell like blood, sweat, and writers' angst. The Ah&Oh Studio Portfolio, on Behance Network (via William Gibson) |
| Posted: 03 Jun 2010 09:14 AM PDT  My friends at Cigar Box Nation are selling this beautiful T-shirt, designed by the incredible Christoph Mueller. We hired legendary blues artist, Christoph Mueller to make the coolest cigar box guitar shirt ever designed. This black tee features two cigar box guitars crossed and classic pinstriping.Cigar Box Nation black shirt   |
| Posted: 03 Jun 2010 08:46 AM PDT Mat Mets of Make: Online says: On my recent post about building an electromagnetically assisted pendulum, commenter Accomplished chimed in to share their excellent solar pendulum build. Accomplished used the BEAM Magbot Pendulum circuit from the book Junkbots, Bugbots, and Bots on Wheels. I like the sound it makes as it's starting up. |
| Flower grenades for urban garden guerillas Posted: 03 Jun 2010 08:38 AM PDT |
| Video: Molleindustria's Every Day The Same Dream, The Film Posted: 03 Jun 2010 12:38 PM PDT It might not be the one currently sweeping megaplex theaters, but it's probably the best (and least likely) videogame film adaptation you'll see in a while: Seni Kovski brings Molleindustria's previously highly recommended Every Day The Same Dream beautifully to life, with about 99% of the twists intact (the budget, apparently, wouldn't allow for rental of a cow). You'll probably want to play the game first to appreciate the structure.   |
| Grossman's subversive fantasy THE MAGICIANS in paperback Posted: 03 Jun 2010 05:58 AM PDT Lev Grossman's extraordinary and subversive fantasy novel The Magicians is now out in paperback. Here's some of my review from back in November:
Lev's touring with the book right now. |
| Posted: 03 Jun 2010 12:26 AM PDT  Basically at the exact moment when I thought to myself, "I should maybe hold off on posting any more Katamari things", along comes Kate Elizabeth's stunning art nouveau tribute, and how could I resist. See the original sketch here, and her process animation here. [via Alex Litel]   |
Generally, these custom-made devices are not cheap, and you won't find images of them plastered all over the Web. Take these pictures, for instance, which were obtained directly from an ATM skimmer maker in Russia. This custom-made skimmer kit is designed to fit on an NCR ATM model 5886, and it is sold on a few criminal forums for about 8,000 Euro -- shipping included. It consists of two main parts: The upper portion is a carefully molded device that fits over the card entry slot and is able to read and record the information stored on the card's magnetic stripe (I apologize for the poor quality of the pictures: According to the Exif data included in these images, they were taken earlier this year with a Nokia 3250 phone). 
AdultFYI [NSFW] 
This is a familiar-sounding setup, but Grossman's extremely clever hack on the fantasy novel is in his complete lack of sentimentality about magic. Quentin has lived his whole life waiting to be taken to an imaginary magic kingdom ("Fillory," a thinly veiled version of Narnia) but he quickly discovers that real magic -- like stage magic -- is about an endless grind of numbing practice in the hopes of impressing someone -- anyone. All of Brakebills, from the faculty to the student body, is broken in some important way, and Quentin is no exception. In a place of scintillating minds and bottomless commitment to craft, Quentin's life is not substantially better than it is in Brooklyn. Brakebills isn't Hogwarts (at one point, the narrator notes that magic wands aren't used at Brakebills, being regarded as a kind of embarrassing prosthesis -- like a sex toy for magic). 
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