The Latest from Boing Boing |  |
- Ferris Club: Fight Club meets Ferris Bueller
- Shocker: 650 items taken from Grim Sleeper's home included creepy stuff
- Brain Slug Cupcakes at Final Futurama Script Reading
- A lust letter to NYC's indie burlesque scene (photos)
- When Memes Collide: Bros Spicing Bros
- Beneath World Trade Center wreckage, a buried ship
- Your Superhuman Brain
- Goodbye Old Spice Guy
- Science for Juggalos: Insane Clown Polytechnic
- Steampowered flying machines of yesteryear
- Swedish Chef sings "Popcorn" (shrimp!)
- Marilyn Monroe's house on sale for $3.6 million
- Contest will pick one to live in Chicago's science museum for a month
- Solar eclipse at Easter Island
- Funny kid's answer to quiz question
- Clock that knits a scarf
- Donor 45: The weird world of AIDS "non-progressors"
- Chances are you write like Dan Brown
- Jim Woodring's giant dip pen project
- Retrying 17th century alchemy
- Stop-motion woodblock print videos by Tromarama
- Clothing as speakers and microphones
- Trailer for The Social Network aka the Facebook movie
- HOWTO Make a lifesize papercraft doppelganger of yourself
- "Floating Point"
- Notes on the upcoming monster-sized authorized Heinlein biography
- Apple press conference announcement leaked! (j/k)
- N.A.S.A. Project: "Strange Enough," ft. Karen O, Fatlip, Ol' Dirty Bastard (music video)
| Ferris Club: Fight Club meets Ferris Bueller Posted: 15 Jul 2010 09:59 PM PDT The Ferris Club trailer shows off genius-grade video editing that surfaces the latent multiple personality disorder narrative lurking in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. You'll never watch Broderick's finest performance the same way again. Ferris Club (via JWZ)   |
| Shocker: 650 items taken from Grim Sleeper's home included creepy stuff Posted: 15 Jul 2010 08:21 PM PDT ID cards, a brown paper bag, an LAPD officer's notepad, a ski mask, mattress covers, a pair of gloves, porno videos, photos of porn actresses, guns and ammunition, handcuffs, car seats stained with bodily fluids: these are a few of the 650 things investigators took from the home of the man believed to be the Grim Sleeper serial killer.   |
| Brain Slug Cupcakes at Final Futurama Script Reading Posted: 15 Jul 2010 08:57 PM PDT  Glenn Fleishman shares a treat with us: I was lucky enough to attend the last scheduled table reading (where a script is read by the voice actors) for Futurama, the animated cartoon show revived twice now after Fox's broadcast network failed to kill the show. Featured at the reading were piles of delicious brain slug cupcakes. I LOVE THE BRAIN SLUG CUPCAKES, TRY ONE.
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| A lust letter to NYC's indie burlesque scene (photos) Posted: 15 Jul 2010 07:54 PM PDT  Jeff Simmermon's homage to the NYC indie burlesque scene, in text and photographs. Here's a large Flickr gallery, and here is a blog post. |
| When Memes Collide: Bros Spicing Bros Posted: 15 Jul 2010 09:08 PM PDT |
| Beneath World Trade Center wreckage, a buried ship Posted: 15 Jul 2010 05:22 PM PDT Workers at the site of the 9/11 attacks in NYC have discovered the buried hull of a 32-foot ship, apparently used back in the 18th century as fill to extend lower Manhattan into the Hudson River. A few yards away, they found a 100-pound anchor, about 4 feet wide. They're not yet sure exactly how old the boat is. Archaeologists are working to date the timber and preserve it as quickly as possible, before exposure to air causes deterioration. 9/11 conspiracy theorists, have at it! (via Mitch Wagner)   |
| Posted: 15 Jul 2010 05:11 PM PDT  Jess Bachman has a cool new infographic out -- it's all about the human brain. Specifically.... It's about super savants, you know, like Rain Man. But they are not always handicapped like that. In fact, the ability might be in all of us. It's also amazing how fundamentally our brains are connected to, and adapted to, music.Superhuman: The Incredible Savant Brain   |
| Posted: 15 Jul 2010 04:05 PM PDT Old Spice Guy retires from the phenomenally successful viral marketing campaign, just as things were at their hottest. Here is his farewell video. I will be sad to see him go, but I'm grateful that he departed so thoughtfully before setting off a global thermonuclear war and bacon shortage. And he leaves us with an SEO memento: "silverfish hand catch" is now indelibly etched into Google. These YouTube commenters said it best:
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| Science for Juggalos: Insane Clown Polytechnic Posted: 15 Jul 2010 07:58 PM PDT  A group of people involved with the Bay Area hacker space Noisebridge organized an impromptu science fair to be held outside an Insane Clown Posse show, when the band and their juggalo fans recently passed through San Francisco. Doctor Popular at Laughing Squid has an extensive blog report up, with videos and links to photo sets. Snip: SFSlim tweeted that the group was physically threatened by ICP’s crew and Violent J, one half of the Insane Clown Posse, even bragged about it on his twitterhole. A clown with no sense of humor… who’d a thunk it?If you don't know what any of this means, start with this Boing Boing post, and then this one. (photos: y3rdua)
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| Steampowered flying machines of yesteryear Posted: 15 Jul 2010 03:31 PM PDT  David ! of the Wondermark webtoon sez, "To make my comics, I collect all sorts of weird old books and mine them for images. I found these photos in a recent acquisition -- an attempt at a steam-powered flying machine from 1893! The entire article is very long, but I think these three photos perfectly tell the whole story." True Stuff: A New Flying Machine (Thanks, David !)   |
| Swedish Chef sings "Popcorn" (shrimp!) Posted: 15 Jul 2010 03:30 PM PDT Some of the best neomuppetry I've seen in recent years: The Swedish Chef performs the pioneering electronica classic "Popcorn."   |
| Marilyn Monroe's house on sale for $3.6 million Posted: 15 Jul 2010 02:43 PM PDT |
| Contest will pick one to live in Chicago's science museum for a month Posted: 15 Jul 2010 02:24 PM PDT The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago is picking one person to spend an entire month living (and sleeping) inside the museum. Perks include "a prize of $10,000, a package of tech gadgets, and new knowledge and experiences that may just transform you."   |
| Solar eclipse at Easter Island Posted: 15 Jul 2010 01:53 PM PDT  There was a total eclipse of the Sun on July 11. Don't feel bad if you missed it. It was really only visible over the southern part of the Pacific Ocean. Easter Island is one of the few spots of dry land that got a peek. This shot was taken by photographer Stephane Guisard and was featured on Astronomy Photo of the Day. (Via Jeffrey Perkel)   |
| Funny kid's answer to quiz question Posted: 15 Jul 2010 02:25 PM PDT |
| Posted: 15 Jul 2010 01:41 PM PDT Poop transplants. It's not "Human Centipede", it's science! Doctors take diluted stool sample from a person with healthy gut bacteria and inject it into the colon of someone whose bacteria are floundering. The healthy microbes move in and spruce up the place, curing some intestinal diseases. (Via Kirsten Sanford)   |
| Posted: 15 Jul 2010 01:42 PM PDT  Industrial designer Siren Elise Wilhelmsen created this knitting clock that cranks out a two-meter scarf every year. It's called "365." From Design Boom: '365' seeks to give a physical manifestation to the change of time. drawing from the change that is witnessed through the growth of human bodies and hair, the same concept is found in '365' which translates time through the growth of knitted material. the clock houses a circular knitting machine with 48 needles, a thread spool, a thread holder and roll of yarn. moving in clockwise direction, one day leads to a complete round...Knitting clock (Thanks, Sally Applin!)   |
| Posted: 15 Jul 2010 01:33 PM PDT BP says that it's stopped the flow of oil into the Gulf, at least temporarily. They're currently pressure-testing a new cap on the Macondo well. The idea is to cut off flow from the well entirely in order to see whether there are leaks below the seafloor. If those leaks exist, pressure won't hold and the oil could start flowing out from other places. There's also a risk that cutting off flow at the cap could actually create those sub-surface leaks by building up pressure too fast. The test will last 48 hours. If everything holds, it could lead to a permanent capping.   |
| Donor 45: The weird world of AIDS "non-progressors" Posted: 15 Jul 2010 01:20 PM PDT  Last week, news broke that antibodies discovered in a man known only as Donor 45 could, potentially, be used to create a vaccine to protect against HIV/AIDS. Who is Donor 45? He's a 65-year-old gay, African-American man who has been living with HIV (but healthy) for 20 years. More importantly, he's part of a small group of people who are infected with HIV, but whose bodies have managed to naturally stave off symptoms of the illness. In some cases, these people, called long-term non-progressors, even end up with virus levels so low as to be nearly undetectable. Fascinatingly, Donor 45 is NOT one of those patients. His viral load is similar to that of people who get sick. That's because his immune system doesn't destroy HIV. Instead, it produces antibodies that prevent HIV from invading his cells. All people infected with HIV produce antibodies in response to the infection. What's different is that Donor 45's antibodies actually work. For reasons that aren't clearly understood, most antibodies against HIV either aren't effective at all, or are only effective against certain strains—not terribly useful with a virus that mutates as frequently as HIV does. Donor 45's are capable of controlling as much as 91% of HIV strains. So he stays healthy, even while the virus continues to live in his body. People like Donor 46 can still infect others, but they, themselves, might live entirely normal lifespans without significant illness. Some good links to read more about non-progressors:
Image courtesy Flickr user TimoStudios via CC   |
| Chances are you write like Dan Brown Posted: 15 Jul 2010 12:52 PM PDT |
| Jim Woodring's giant dip pen project Posted: 15 Jul 2010 11:46 AM PDT  Boing Boing fave cartoonist/fine artist Jim Woodring wants to make a massive giant steel dip pen and penholder. If you're not familiar with Jim's work, I highly recommend The Book of Jim, Seeing Things, and his latest, Weathercraft. I have an original drawing by Jim hanging in my office and just one glance triggers an instantaneous dream state. The idea of him wielding a massive dip pen is delightful and strange, just like his art. Please help Jim raise the funds to make the instrument. From ProjectSite: Jim Woodring's "Giant Steel Dip Pen and Penholder for Demonstration and Display" (Thanks, Bruce Stewart!)   |
| Posted: 15 Jul 2010 12:05 PM PDT   Indiana University science historian William Newman built a 17th century laboratory to recreate the work of alchemists. According to Newman, these early makers had a method to their madness, resulting in a "A solid body of repeated and repeatable observations of laboratory results." Discover sent a photographer to Newman's lab for a feature in the new issue. From a teaser on Discover's blog: Here we have Professor Newman holding a beaker of concentrated nitric acid (aqua fortis) dissolving copper into a green solution. At his left foot is a large glass bottle of nitrogen dioxide in the process of combining with water vapor to form more nitric acid, according to the recipe supplied by Isaac Newton.Newman is the co-author with Lawrence M. Principe of a book titled Alchemy Tried In The Fire: Starkey, Boyle, and the Fate of Helmontian Chymistry. It sounds fascinating, as do Newman's other books on alchemy! From the Alchemy Tried In The Fire book description: Using, as their guide, the previously misunderstood interactions between Robert Boyle, widely known as "the father of chemistry," and George Starkey, an alchemist and the most prominent American scientific writer before Benjamin Franklin as their guide, Newman and Principe reveal the hitherto hidden laboratory operations of a famous alchemist and argue that many of the principles and practices characteristic of modern chemistry derive from alchemy. By analyzing Starkey's extraordinary laboratory notebooks, the authors show how this American "chymist" translated the wildly figurative writings of traditional alchemy into quantitative, carefully reasoned laboratory practice—and then encoded his own work in allegorical, secretive treatises under the name of Eirenaeus Philalethes."Garage Alchemy Is Not for the Weak of Stomach" (Discover) Alchemy Tried In The Fire: Starkey, Boyle, and the Fate of Helmontian Chymistry (Amazon) |
| Stop-motion woodblock print videos by Tromarama Posted: 15 Jul 2010 10:50 AM PDT From July 24th through November 7th, the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo will feature the work of Indonesian art trio Tromarama. Tromarama uses animation, stop-motion, woodblock prints, and other crafty things to create these fun music videos. I highly recommend you check it out if you're passing through Tokyo — the museum also has one of the best views of the city. |
| Clothing as speakers and microphones Posted: 15 Jul 2010 10:44 AM PDT MIT researchers are developing a new textile fiber that can "hear" and produce sound. They've published their latest breakthroughs in the scientific journal Nature Materials. From MIT News: "Fibers that can hear and sing"   |
| Trailer for The Social Network aka the Facebook movie Posted: 15 Jul 2010 02:32 PM PDT In case you haven't seen this already, here's a trailer for The Social Network, a movie about the making of Facebook. David Fincher's the director, Jesse Eisenberg plays Mark Zuckerberg, and the film hits theaters October 1st. Note: I just updated it with the new trailer. |
| HOWTO Make a lifesize papercraft doppelganger of yourself Posted: 15 Jul 2010 09:24 AM PDT  Ever wanted your own 1:1 papercraft doppelganger? Rejoice, for Instructables user ddi7i4d has the technique. It takes a week, and it kicks Flat Stanley's 2D ass from here to every exotic locale on Earth. Project: Paper-Clone (via Craft)   |
| Posted: 15 Jul 2010 09:39 AM PDT "Floating Point" is a lovely time-lapse video by photographer Samuel Cockedey. By now the conventions of this type of video are pretty well established: The high perspective (usually urban), the moody music (usually electronic), the onrushing clouds, the streaming traffic. (Remember "The Sandpit"?) But Cockedey adds an element that a lot of others don't: A prominent credit line overlaying the bottom right corner of the video. It's his absolute right to safeguard his work in any manner he sees fit, of course. But the thing is so distracting that it ends up, for me at least, marring the experience. And it raises a question I can't immediately answer: When there's a clash between making a creative work and protecting its provenance, which one is more important? (Via Laughing Squid.) |
| Notes on the upcoming monster-sized authorized Heinlein biography Posted: 15 Jul 2010 08:55 AM PDT Over on Tor.com, senior editor Patrick Nielsen Hayden has some notes on the upcoming monster authorized Heinlein biography, whose first volume, Robert A. Heinlein: In Dialogue with His Century: Volume 1 (1907-1948): Learning Curve goes on sale on August 17th. I've been ploughing through my advance copy as quickly as I can. It's exhaustive and often exhilarating, and rewards close attention and perseverance, as when twenty pages of close detail on life in the US Navy in the 1920s turns out to be scene-setting for an erotic account of Heinlein's time among the free-love set in Greenwich Village while on shore leave.
The Heinlein Biography Approacheth: An Announcement, some Pointers, and a digressive Disquisition on the Nuanced Differences between two Web Sites sharing in common a certain Widely-Recognized Brand   |
| Apple press conference announcement leaked! (j/k) Posted: 15 Jul 2010 08:49 AM PDT  Apple's holding a press conference tomorrow regarding the iPhone 4. Everyone expects it to be about the antenna flaws recently detailed by Consumer Reports. Though some expect freebie cases or even a recall, Gruber submits that Apple's never held a press conference except to announce new products. This can only mean one thing. Update: Jason Nolasco already cut this slice of fake: He sold a roll on eBay! (via Cult of Mac)   |
| N.A.S.A. Project: "Strange Enough," ft. Karen O, Fatlip, Ol' Dirty Bastard (music video) Posted: 15 Jul 2010 08:50 PM PDT [ Watch Video: YouTube in HD, or download MP4 ] Boing Boing Video presents a new music video from The NASA Project ("North America South America"): "Strange Enough," featuring Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Fatlip of The Pharycyde, and what I am told were the last recorded lyrics by Ol Dirty Bastard of Wu Tang (RIP). The song's infectious, the animation's delicious—with original artwork by Stephan Doitschinoff. Video directed by Lorna T and Studio Giblets, produced by Terence Teh. NASA project co-founder Sam Spiegel tells Boing Boing, "Calma, Terence, and Lorna blew our mind with this new video. It's a Dante's Inferno of Brazilian art which fits the song perfectly." You can buy the N.A.S.A. album here: N.A.S.A. - The Spirit of Apollo (Special thanks to Susan Applegate and Syd Garon)
CREDITS:
SQUEAK E. CLEAN PRODUCTIONS CREATIVE DIRECTOR
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The dip pen is a bit of fetish item for me (as it is for many pen users). The pen is extremely difficult to master but ultimately allows for an extraordinary degree of expression. The well-constructed pen and ink drawing is a monument to perseverance, requiring tremendous patience and control. I am thrilled by the challenge of creating such drawings in public and introducing new audiences to the allure of the medium. The pen (nib) itself will be approximately 16 inches long, made of steel and fully functional. The holder will be six feet long and made of wood with a metal sleeve insert to hold the pen. Nib and holder will resemble as closely as possible the actual implements on which they are based.
Applications could include clothes that are themselves sensitive microphones, for capturing speech or monitoring bodily functions, and tiny filaments that could measure blood flow in capillaries or pressure in the brain...
On August 17, Tor Books will publish the first half of William H. Patterson's much-anticipated two-volume authorized biography of Robert A. Heinlein, Robert A. Heinlein In Dialogue with His Century: Volume I, Learning Curve, 1907-1948. In commemoration of this, Tor editor Stacy Hague-Hill has asked several of the great and the good of modern SF to identify their own favorite Heinlein novel and explain why. I've read all the pieces she got back, and they may intrigue and surprise you. They're going up on the Tor/Forge blog, one a week, beginning with David Brin's. 
. The whole thing's amazing.
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