Thursday, October 14, 2010

The Latest from Boing Boing

The Latest from Boing Boing

Link to Boing Boing

Rucker and Sterling's new story: "Goodnight Moon" on Tor.com

Posted: 13 Oct 2010 11:17 PM PDT

Rudy Rucker and Bruce Sterling's latest fiction collaboration, "Goodnight Moon," is up on Tor.com. It's got all the hallmarks of a great collaboration: while it's a little incoherent in spots, you can really tell that the authors were engaged in a competition to see who could outweird the other. The result is a madcap, hilarious, crazy-pants story about two Hollywood dream sculptors coming to grips with the advent of nanogoo that can make dreams into reality:
Schwarz's Deli had fed generations of Hollywood creative talent. The gold-framed celebrity photos on the walls were clustered thick as goldfish scales. The joint's historic clientele included vaudeville hams, silent film divas, radio crooners, movie studio titans, TV soap stars, computer game moguls, and social networkers. The augmented-reality mavens were memorialized by holographic busts on the ceiling. Business was in the air, but it was bypassing Morse and Ganzer. Especially Ganzer.

"We've got our own problems," admitted Morse.

With a practiced gesture, Ganzer formed a vortex in the deli's all-pervasive bosonic fluxon entertainment field. Then he plucked a lint-covered fabule from the pocket of his baggy sports pants. "Check out my brand-new giant paramecium here."

Ganzer's creation oozed from the everting seahorse-valleys that gnarled the fabule's surface.

Morse rotated the floating dream with his manicured fingertips, admiring it. "I can see every wiggly cilia! This dream is, like, realer than you, man."

Good Night, Moon (via Beyond the Beyond)



Genes are left-wing

Posted: 13 Oct 2010 10:29 PM PDT

Writing in the Guardian, clinical psychologist Oliver James claims that genetics has turned into a "left wing" science, because it has failed to identify any innate, genetic reasons why some people are winners and others are losers -- suggesting that, instead, it's society's fault that some people end up on top and others end up on the bottom.
In developed nations, women and those on a low income are twice as likely to be depressed as men and the wealthy. When DNA is tested in large samples, neither women nor the poor are more likely to have the variant. Worldwide, depression is least common in south-east Asia. Yet a study of 29 nations found the variant to be commonest there - the degree to which a society is collectivist rather than individualistic partly explains depression rates, not genes.

Politics may be the reason why the media has so far failed to report the small role of genes. The political right believes that genes largely explain why the poor are poor, as well as twice as likely as the rich to be mentally ill. To them, the poor are genetic mud, sinking to the bottom of the genetic pool.

Writing in 2000, the political scientist Charles Murray made a rash prediction he may now regret. "The story of human nature, as revealed by genetics and neuroscience, will be conservative in its political [shape]." The American poor would turn out to have significantly different genes to the affluent: "This is not unimaginable. It is almost certainly true." Almost certainly false, more like.

Why genes are leftwing (via Futurismic)

(Image: look downstairs into stairwell whirl, a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from hinkelstone's photostream)



Wonderful Japanese pudding ad

Posted: 13 Oct 2010 10:19 PM PDT

Here's an hypnotic Japanese ad for "Giga Pudding" -- traditional pudding, but made in a bucket. My two year old practically crawled through the computer when I put this on, and demanded to watch it five times in a row.

Giga Pudding (Thanks, Schadenfraulein!)



Anatomical illustrations from Japan's Edo period

Posted: 13 Oct 2010 10:16 PM PDT

Travel author sues DHS to make it obey the law with its vast traveller databases

Posted: 13 Oct 2010 10:12 PM PDT

In a post from last August, author Edward Hasbrouck explains why he and the ACLU are suing the US Department of Homeland Security to force them to disclose traveller records in response to Freedom of Information Act requests:
I'm suing the government because of the significance of commercial airline reservations and the DHS "Automated Targeting System" as one of the largest post-9/11 U.S. government surveillance programs, and one of the largest collections of Federal government dossiers about the lives of innocent civilians after the IRS (tax) and Social Security (retirement) databases.

I'm suing the government because of the intimate personal details and the sensitivity of the information contained in airline reservations and the government's records, which I'm familiar with from 15 years of travel industry experience with airline reservations and from the censored excerpts from its travel dossiers that the DHS has released to some other people who've brought them to me for help in understanding their coding and significance: not just credit card numbers and IP addresses but also friends' telephone numbers, whether two people asked for one bed or two in their hotel room, and what book someone was carrying when they entered the country.

I'm suing the government now, while I still can, because they have already tried to change the rules to exempt much of the information in PNR's from disclosure, and to exempt themselves from any obligation to provide an accounting of what other government agencies, foreign governments, commercial entities, or other third parties they have "shared" this data with. (My requests were all made before these changes to the DHS Privacy Act regulations, so I'm entitled to this information regardless of whether the new rules are upheld.)

Why I'm suing the Department of Homeland Security (Thanks, atdt1991, via Submitterator!)



HOWTO Make jello blood-worms

Posted: 13 Oct 2010 10:04 PM PDT

These ultra-squicky jello blood-worms are made by immersing a bundle of drinking straws in a jello/whipping cream mixture while it's setting up. Once the jello's solidified, you squeeze the "worms" out of the straws. Voila, instant ewww!

The Idea Room: Jell-O "Blood" Worms (Thanks, Tichrimo, via Submitterator)



F-15 sees London, France while breaking sound barrier

Posted: 13 Oct 2010 08:35 PM PDT

cloudbra.jpg

Loving this photo of a vapor cone enveloping an F-15 Eagle, to the point that the jet looks like it's on fire.

Or, possibly, wearing a giant cloud bra.

Air Show Buzz: The Beauty of Vapor Cones

Submitterated by ghaitched

What would happen if you stuck your hand into the Large Hadron Collider?

Posted: 13 Oct 2010 08:50 PM PDT

Best answer: "I don't know. Probably very bad for you. And they'd be very cross with you."

If the fear of disgruntled CERN researchers (what's the Greek "-phobia" word for that, I wonder) isn't enough to make you keep your hands to yourself, rest assured, nobody thinks such an adventure would work out for you, health-wise.

One of the scientists interviewed here mentions that particles traveling close to the speed of light start emitting synchrotron radiation, something he calls "very nasty". (Note the fun look of terror in his eyes that goes along with this pronouncement.)

And with good reason. Consider Anatoli Petrovich Bugorski, a Russian researcher who accidentally stuck his head into the proton bean of a synchrotron in 1978. The good news: He survived. The bad news: The left side of his face swelled up and peeled off. In the long term, Bugorski has had to deal with hearing loss, fatigue, facial paralysis and seizures.

Conclusion (at least, until somebody tries it on Mythbusters): Sticking any part of your body into the LHC is probably a bad idea.

Thanks to EricHarley for Submitterating!

P.S.: Only the first five minutes or so of this video are dedicated to the LHC question. After that, scientists answer questions about the multi-verse and the threat posed to us by nearby stars going supernova. Enjoy!



All sauropods, all the time

Posted: 13 Oct 2010 07:19 PM PDT

How-To: Make cheap castable silicone from caulk

Posted: 13 Oct 2010 06:01 PM PDT

201010131759

Sean Michael Ragan of Make: Online says:

Simple, elegant garage casting hack here from Instructables user mikey77, who calls the stuff "Oogoo," which is, I think, a portmanteau of "Oobleck" and "Sugru."

If you've ever bought casting silicone, you know it can be pretty expensive. If, seeking a cost-saving alternative, you've ever experimented with making castings using the dirt-cheap silicone caulk they sell at the hardware store, you know that it doesn't work very well. Large volumes set up very slowly, if at all.

Turns out, though, that mixing in some cornstarch accelerates the drying process; just how much depends on how much starch you add. The author recommends starting with a 1:1 mix. I'm not sure about his explanation that the process works because the hygroscopic starch carries moisture into the internal volume of the silicone, but in any case there are probably other additives that will accelerate the process as well as or better than cornstarch. You might even find one that's not opaque and allows for translucent castings.

How-To: Make cheap castable silicone from caulk



Superman II without the "amnesia kiss"

Posted: 13 Oct 2010 03:53 PM PDT


Remember at the end of Superman II when Clark Kent plants a cheesy magical amnesia kiss on Lois Lane to make her forget that he's really Superman? Here's another possible way to have resolved that problem.

Beautiful video-mapping show projected on Prague's 600-year-old medieval Astronomical Clock (Updated)

Posted: 13 Oct 2010 03:15 PM PDT

[Post updated with official video, thanks misterhonk].

From Prague, a video-mapping show projected on the medieval Astronomical Clock in the city's Old Town Square. Part of a celebration for the 600th anniversary of the clock's construction.

Via the BB Submitterator, Boing Boing reader Treyka sends us the link and says, "I had no idea this was even possible with projector technology!"


Me neither! The dazzling visual show goes on for a full ten minutes.

BB reader Kerray says, "The people who worked on it are themacula.com, duber.cz and michalkotek.com, and the projection itself was done by avmedia.cz. Four months of work, 5000x1200 resolution, 2x Christie 18K HD projectors."


.


From Wikipedia, this schematic explaining what the various interlocking dials on the Prague Orloj represent.

Beware the "friending" feds: is the US gov snooping on your Facebook profile?

Posted: 13 Oct 2010 02:44 PM PDT

Need a new reason to be creeped out by Facebook? Big news this week from The Electronic Frontier Foundation: the digital rights group FOIA'd some disturbing documents for its lawsuit on the US goverment's surveillance of social networks which show that feds sometimes attempt to "friend" people applying for citizenship, or people that fit certain demographics, ostensibly to sniff out terrorist threats. Related MSNBC item here.

Awesome archive of art from Sony PlayStation ads

Posted: 13 Oct 2010 03:12 PM PDT

Dozens of great ads for the Sony PlayStation, apparently from 2007-2010. Flickr Gallery here. Boing!

(Submitterator, thanks anleichter)

Pro-mining propaganda comic from mid-1960s

Posted: 13 Oct 2010 01:41 PM PDT

As the Chilean Miner telenovela continues today, with mining company execs and politicians now transforming a barely-averted catastrophe into a publicity stunt: here's timely look back at some mid-century American mining industry propaganda in the form of a weird comic book unearthed by Ethan Persoff.

"With an environmental message!," says Ethan— "Specifically how strip mines are good for clearing landscape of pesky earth to make way for park benches and manufactured fishing (check out the very funny Sportsman's paradise joke on page 11).

Comics with Problems #41: "New Uses for Good Earth" (or, Ethan's title, "Gee Dad, can they flatten our mountaintop, TOO?")



Matthew Barney's "Cremaster Cycle" inspires Playstation game

Posted: 13 Oct 2010 12:58 PM PDT

Lego Letterpress

Posted: 13 Oct 2010 12:46 PM PDT

My heart be still. Lego Letterpress by Justin LaRosa and Samuel Cox, via Craftzine. They're selling prints, and at reasonable prices.

(via BB Submitterator, thanks Rachel Hobson)

The True Size of Africa

Posted: 13 Oct 2010 01:45 PM PDT

I'm no cartographer, so I can't comment on its accuracy—but this alternative visualization of the size of the African continent compared to various world nations is thought-provoking. No, Africa's not a country, but it's interesting to compare the land mass to countries perceived as more powerful.

As BB commenter jetfx notes, "A pity the creator of this image doesn't list what projection he used, because without knowing that, we don't know what hidden distortions are in his map."

Greg Osuri, via Treehugger. You can download a hi-rez version here.

(thanks Chris Tackett, via BB Submitterator)

Update: Looks like Osuri spent some time carefully calculating total land mass, so the image here seems visually representative. Some thoughtful Boing Boing comments below.

Exquisite bug sculptures

Posted: 13 Oct 2010 12:04 PM PDT

Bugmakerrrrr
Andrew Scott is a musician and sound designer in Vancouver who also makes incredible bug sculptures. A real insect enthusiast, Scott gives regular presentation about arthropods, evolution, and ecology at the Lost Lagoon Nature House in the city's Stanley Park. Above, "Stag beetle gets more paint," from his "Bugmaker" Flickr stream. I was delighted to see that Mr. Scott is also a commenter on Boing Boing!

Bugmaker's photostream (Thanks, Stacey Ransom!)

Bug Factory

Are "enhanced" TSA patdowns in store for US travelers after Oct. 31?

Posted: 13 Oct 2010 11:50 AM PDT

Trick or treat this ain't. Travel blogger Christopher Elliott points to rumblings that the TSA may begin more invasive—oh, sorry, enhanced security patdowns on or after October 31.

Saul Griffith and Jonathan Bachrach's algorithmically-designed "DARPA Hoodie"

Posted: 13 Oct 2010 11:42 AM PDT

Fetch-Story Wp-Content Uploads 2010 10 Darpahoodie1
Several years ago, Otherlab's Jonathan Bachrach and Saul Griffith, former BB guestblogger and MacArthur "Genius" received a DARPA grant to develop algorithms that convert 3D objects into 2D pattern pieces. Those pieces can then be fabricated out of myriad materials and fastened together to make the 3D object. While DARPA is a defense department outfit, Saul and Jonathan were encouraged to find other non-defense uses for their futuristic design/manufacturing tech. Of course, they had lots of fun doing just that. Last year, Saul showed me some ingenious snap-together kids toys they had prototyped. And now, they've teamed up with Betabrand to apply their algorithm to clothing, such as this new "DARPA Hoodie." From an interview with Bachrach:
Darpahoodi My end-to-end software tool chain takes 3D surface files and produces 2D vector files with nested flat parts with all the necessary part numbers, bend lines, angles and joinery ready to cut and easy to assemble. The bend and joinery mechanisms are completely customizable for the particular material type and desired look such as pop rivets, welded seams, and press fit.

The tool creates the opportunity for greatly lowering the time of manufacturing and for creating a unique algorithmic design quality.

The 2D panels are created based on a customizable goodness measure that first ensures that panels are flattenable with low distortion and from there guides the formation of panels towards a user's desired shape, for example, equal sized, fewest number, etc.

We have previously applied this algorithm towards making a better t-shirt and more recently have been working with Betabrand on making a hoodie.

For clothing, the automatic panelizer opens up the possibility for custom clothing and better fits for stiffer materials.

The hoody was created algorithmically from a 3D triangular mesh for an average six foot male, downsampled to 100 triangles, deconstructed into 12 panels of high grade nylon, and finally sewn together with externally visible red thread.

DARPA Hoodie



Douchiest rock band ever blocks LA freeway in publicity stunt

Posted: 13 Oct 2010 04:42 PM PDT

This photo by Irfan Khan for the Los Angeles Times documents an incident that took place in Los Angeles yesterday: A band called The Imperial Stars, who describe themselves as a "hard core hip hop band from Orange County," stopped a truck in the middle of the 101 freeway, jumped out, plugged in their instruments, and performed their latest single, "Traffic Jam 101." I'll withhold opinion on their music, but being stuck in traffic behind some publicity-hungry band from OC sure sucks. I hope LAPD makes them perform some really humiliating form of community service, like shining Ernest Borgnine's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame while whistling Justin Bieber songs.

LA Times item here, and longer piece from last night here.

How do you think they should be punished? Your recommendations welcome in the comments. (Update: Ah, the LA Weekly has already collected some doozies.)

Update: The band members have been charged with misdemeanor conspiracy.

Nine ways to identify clutter, by Gretchen Rubin

Posted: 13 Oct 2010 11:21 AM PDT

Gretchen Rubin of the Happiness Project (see my review of her excellent book of the same name) wrote a useful piece for Zen Habits called "Nine Quick Tips to Identify Clutter."
As I sifted through our possessions, I identified nine questions to ask myself when I was confronted with a questionable object. This list helped me decide what to keep and what to toss, recycle, or give away.

1. Does this thing work? I was surprised by how hard it was to admit that something was broken and couldn't be fixed—say, our dud toaster or my daughter's frog clock. Why was I hanging on to these things?

2. Would I replace it if it were broken or lost? If not, I must not really need it.

3. Does it seem potentially useful—but never actually gets used? Something like an oversized water-bottle, a corkscrew with an exotic mechanism, or a tiny vase. Or duplicates. How many spare glass jars did I need to keep on hand?

Nine Quick Tips to Identify Clutter



Hipster Cat comments on the fate of the Chilean miners

Posted: 13 Oct 2010 01:40 PM PDT

"Oh to be trapped in a mine for 69 days only to be released to find that there's STILL no white iPhone 4...."

(image: Reddit via Dangerous Minds; tasteless tweet by Steve Isaacs via SeanBonner)

Corporate takeover of organic egg market

Posted: 13 Oct 2010 10:50 AM PDT


Video about how corporate agribusiness egg producers use sneaky tricks to barely pass as "organic."

Scrambled Eggs

Art foundation has a pot farm to fund art projects

Posted: 13 Oct 2010 10:34 AM PDT

A northern California art foundation called Life is Art funds projects from the proceeds of its marijuana farm. From the New York Times:
Pot-Farm-Art At a going wholesale rate of $200 or more an ounce in the Bay Area for high-quality medical marijuana, it's a lot simpler than raising money the traditional way, the project's organizers point out. And — except for the nagging fact that selling marijuana remains a crime under federal law — it even feels more honest to the people behind Life Is Art. They see it as a way of supporting the cause with physical labor and the fruits of the land instead of the wheedling of donors, an especially appealing prospect in an economy where raising money has become more difficult than ever.

Photo slide show by Jim Wilson

In California, Pot Is Now an Art Patron

What do 100 million hand painted fake sunflower seeds look like?

Posted: 13 Oct 2010 11:03 AM PDT

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The Unilever Series: Ai Weiwei, Sunflower Seeds 2010.Photocredit: Tate Photography © Ai Weiwei

The sunflower seeds in the photo above are made of porcelain. Each of them was sculpted by hand and painted by craftspeople in a Chinese city.

Ai Weiwei, one of China's leading Conceptual artists and an outspoken cultural and social commentator, has undertaken the eleventh commission in The Unilever Series.

Sunflower Seeds is made up of millions of small works, each apparently identical, but actually unique. However realistic they may seem, these life-sized sunflower seed husks are in fact intricately hand-crafted in porcelain. Each seed has been individually sculpted and painted by specialists working in small-scale workshops in the Chinese city of Jingdezhen. Far from being industrially produced, they are the effort of hundreds of skilled hands.

Poured into the interior of the Turbine Hall's vast industrial space, the 100 million seeds form a seemingly infinite landscape. Sunflower Seeds is a sensory and immersive installation, which we can touch, walk on and listen to as the seeds shift under our feet. The casual act of walking on the work's surface contrasts with the immense effort of production and the precious nature of the material. Porcelain is almost synonymous with China and, to make this work, Ai Weiwei has manipulated traditional methods of crafting what has historically been one of China's most prized exports. Sunflower Seeds invites us to look more closely at the 'Made in China' phenomenon and the geo-politics of cultural and economic exchange today.

What do 100 million hand painted fake sunflower seeds look like? (Via Steve Silberman)

Timelapse movie of San Francisco Muni rail replacement

Posted: 13 Oct 2010 10:17 AM PDT


Ken "Blinkybugs" Murphy shot this cool timelapse video of workers in San Francisco replacing Muni rails. "It's a strange insect-like dance, condensing nearly three days into 13 minutes."

Or, how to spend $3 million in just over 12 minutes (actually, about 3 1/2 days).

This is a time-lapse video showing the replacement of the MUNI tracks in front of my house. Demolition began on the evening of Friday, October 8, and work continued around the clock until early in the morning of Tuesday, October 12. The MUNI folks were nice enough to distribute earplugs to those of us in the immediate vicinity.

This was shot using a Canon A590, with CHDK installed (a firmware replacement for Canon cameras that enables all sorts of additional features). An image was captured approximately every 15 seconds.

Church and 30th St. San Francisco MUNI Construction (Via Todd Lappin)

Timothy Leary and JD Power & Associates?

Posted: 13 Oct 2010 01:13 PM PDT

Assets Images 4 2010 10 Jdpowerbq
UPDATE: Don't miss the email response from the PR firm's president!

J.D. Power & Associates and uSamp.com quoted Timothy Leary in a "pitch letter" preceding a press release. I don't even really understand their use of Tim's famous quip in this context. Are they implying he was prescient but also totally wrong? Or...? Fortunately, they didn't include that classic photo above in the press release. Over at Gizmodo, Joel mocked that up to illustrate his blog post about it. And no, this is not the same thing as Tim voluntarily doing a Gap ad when he was still alive. "No, J.D. Power & Associates, Timothy Leary Wasn't Talking About Social Media"

UPDATE: I just received the following email:

David,

Greetings. I'm writing in response to today's post, which concerns our client, uSamp (http://www.boingboing.net/2010/10/13/timothy-lear-and-jd.html). Several points require clarification:

• The document referenced by Gizmodo was a pitch letter, not a news release. As you're probably well aware, pitch letters are typically sent as background for journalists and aren't intended for publication. In this instance, the pitch letter prefaced a news release from J.D. Power and Associates; the release detailed a collaboration between J.D. Power and Associates and uSamp. For clarity, the email included a line just above it (in blue) that read: "Note: Please see press release pasted below note..."

•The Gizmodo quote incorrectly attributed the pitch letter's inclusion of Timothy Leary to J.D. Power and Associates. The pitch letter was in fact from my agency, Edge Communications, Inc., on behalf of our client, uSamp.

• The citation of the popular Leary quote was verbal device, a metaphor – nothing more, nothing less. Since the '60s, the Leary quote has been used on thousands of occasions in reference to all manner of activity and behavior – and in this case, to show evolutionary change over time.

Given that the pitch letter was aimed at providing background on our client uSamp to an audience who may be unfamiliar with the company's recent success – and was not intended for publication per recognized journalistic procedures – my hope is that you'll consider modifying or withdrawing the post. At minimum, we respectfully request that you remove the erroneous attribution to J.D. Power and Associates.

Thanks so much for your consideration.

Ken Greenberg President, Edge Communications, Inc.

Tom the Dancing Bug: Tea Party taken over by the Tea Party

Posted: 13 Oct 2010 05:58 AM PDT
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