The Latest from Boing Boing |  |
- That's a lot of guns -- Boing Boing Flickr pool
- Canada in Y2K: the Montreal Gazette predicts in 1969
- 3D print-shop receives an order for an ATM skimmer
- Hex values for Crayola colors
- Picocon: London's lovely little sf convention
- Machine Project video
- Round-the-world with no bags for 90 days for charity
- The Amish raw milk black market
- Also, you're gonna love this buttercream scaloppini
- The skin gun
- Safety last!
- New comic book: Ziggy Marley's Marijuanaman
- Tonight in LA: e-Textiles at CRASHspace
- Michael Lewis explains the Irish econopocalypse
- Wonderful trailers for B-movies that never existed
- 2 year old girl loves the periodic table of elements
- Pittsburgh web drama launches
- Growing list of journalists detained, threatened, or attacked in Egypt
- Egypt: Gangs hunting down journalists, human rights workers
- The wit and wisdom of Kenneth Cole
- Cracking the Scratch Lottery Code: a good Wired article
- Glenn Beck gold company on how to profit from Egypt unrest
- Official Kansas state smackdown: Pteranodon vs. Xiphactius audax
- Instant karma for failed head-kicker
- Lego mystery box
- Stuck In Motion: a cool video technique
- Egypt: journalists targeted at Hilton hotel in Cairo
- Adult stem cell research hits a snag
- Make a birthday present for Al Jaffee!
- Infringing anime downloads increase DVD sales
| That's a lot of guns -- Boing Boing Flickr pool Posted: 03 Feb 2011 11:13 PM PST  From the Boing Boing Flickr pool, Pye42's picture of one of the numerous gun aisles at Long Mountain Outfitters, near Las Vegas, NV. It's pretty wachowski. I once stayed in a hotel in Nashville that had a huge sporting goods shop in the lobby with a fairly impressive (to my naive Canadian eyes) gun-rack, but as gunnesque as that experience was, it's not a patch on this extravaganza of lethality.
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| Canada in Y2K: the Montreal Gazette predicts in 1969 Posted: 03 Feb 2011 11:27 PM PST  Paleofuture has located this genius cartoon from a 1969 edition of the Montreal Gazette full of predictions for the year 2000, when all of urban Ontario has amalgamated into one big city (dwarfed, of course, by the enormous booming Ville Trudeau). Yes, in Y2K, it's all compulsory learning, soy steaks, and work-from-home travel agents who worry that the computers are taking over! Canada's Drugged Up Dystopia (1969)   |
| 3D print-shop receives an order for an ATM skimmer Posted: 04 Feb 2011 04:04 AM PST  Last June, Belgian 3D printing shop i.materialise received (and declined) its first order for a custom, 3D-printed ATM skimmer faceplate. Good on the i.materialisers, but get set for a lot more of this sort of thing, as more of us end up with our own 3D printers that produce parts on demand, without any nose service bureau to tell us that committing bank fraud is an inappropriate technological choice. The 3D model of the device was very well designed, and we would like to urge everyone to be aware and take extreme caution when dealing with ATM machines. Should your credit/debit card be compromised, immediately contact the authorities as well as your local bank.ATTENTION: ATM skimming device (Thanks, Alice!)
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| Posted: 04 Feb 2011 12:00 AM PST  The Wikipedia entry on Crayola colors includes a marvellous reference: the hexadecimal equivalents for all your favorite crayons! List of Crayola crayon colors (via Kottke)   |
| Picocon: London's lovely little sf convention Posted: 03 Feb 2011 10:53 AM PST David sez, Picocon 28 will be held on Saturday 19th February 2011, in Imperial College Union.   |
| Posted: 03 Feb 2011 05:23 PM PST Hot on the heels of my post about Machine Project's "Basic Electronics for Artists" workshop, here's a nice documentary about Machine Project, which screened at MOCA (in Los Angeles) on January 31. It's about all the things that took place at Machine Project on January 8, 2011. Machine Project, January 8, 2011 |
| Round-the-world with no bags for 90 days for charity Posted: 03 Feb 2011 05:18 PM PST  ScotteVest, tech- and travel-friendly clothing makers mentioned here periodically since 2001 ("nerdwear of the first water" it was called then), started something called the "No Baggage Challenge" last year. Travel writer Rolf Potts went around the world in six weeks with no luggage whatsoever -- just the items he could slip into the mazillion pockets of his SeV jacket and clothing.Yes, it's a publicity stunt, but if you share the daydream of running off to see the world on a whim with only the clothes on your back, it's a darn appealing one. The NoBCs are continuing this year to raise funds for various charities. The guys at Gear Diary did one for Haiti, Matt Browner-Hamlin did an abbreviated 10-day trip to Japan to benefit schools in Tibet, and now a sweet young couple named Jen and Marcus are going round-the-world for 90 days to benefit the microlending platform (and my favorite charity) Kiva. The kids are in Buenos Aires now, about to head for Iguazu Falls. Traveling light, happy together, seeing the world. Let the flooding with envy (and support for their lending team) begin. Previously: Neo-minimalism and the rise of the technomads |
| The Amish raw milk black market Posted: 03 Feb 2011 04:56 PM PST  Two people have died in the last 10 years from drinking unpasteurized milk. Twelve states have banned it. (By comparison, between two and twelve children die every year playing high school football. When will high school football be banned?) In today's edition of The Daily, Jordan Heller writes about the Amish and Mennonite dairy farmers who smuggle unpasteurized milk into New York to serve a market of raw milk devotees. Isaac has yet to be raided by the authorities, but Mark Nolt, a Mennonite dairy farmer from Cumberland County, is all too familiar with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture's enforcement of the law.The Amish raw milk black market Previoulsy: Farm family put under surveillance for selling raw milk Raw food raids are on the rise U.S. government simultaneously pushing and warning against increased cheese consumption |
| Also, you're gonna love this buttercream scaloppini Posted: 03 Feb 2011 04:14 PM PST I want to be snippy about this Wall Street Journal trend story. I really do. It encapsulates everything I hate about trend stories: The totally fake, self-justifying notion that Suddenly everybody is {insert trend here}!!!, the lazy reliance on a few East-Side-of-LA hipsters to underpin the thing, the utterly un-self-aware trashing of whatever previous trend the publication has just pivoted away from. I mean, it's all here. It's a Perfect Storm of Trend Story Clichés. (Please note: The use of the phrase "Perfect storm" is itself a big whopping trend story cliché.) But the thing is, and I'm not proud of this, lasagna cupcakes sound totally delicious. Listen to the way a TV writer (well, of course she is) describes the savory snacks: They're "all corners, they're a wall of crust." Have they got you yet? Are you getting hungry yet? No? Then take a look at the semi-pornographic photos of lasagna cupcakes in various stages of preparation. It's like being beaten over the head with cheesy deliciousness. You win, Wall Street Journal Trend Guy. But then I guess we both knew you would.   |
| Posted: 03 Feb 2011 05:04 PM PST When someone survives being severely burnt, only to die from their injuries later, it's not usually the burn, itself, that kills them. Instead, it's the infections that set into unprotected flesh before the skin has a chance to heal. This National Geographic video clip is about a new way of treating burn victims—closing open wounds faster by spraying them with a protective coating of skin cells grown from the patient's own. Quick note: The skin gun uses adult stem cells, but it's not likely to be affected by the problems with adult stem cells that I told you about earlier today. That's because this technique doesn't rely on forcing a specialized cell to become un-specialized. All adults have stem cells in their bodies, it's just that these stem cells can only become one, specific type of cell. Skin stem cells naturally grow into new skin cells. All you have to do, in this case, is grow a lot of them in a short amount of time. That's easier than trying to make a skin stem cell become a bone cell, or a neuron. Thanks to Dean-o!   |
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| New comic book: Ziggy Marley's Marijuanaman Posted: 03 Feb 2011 03:13 PM PST  In stores on April 20: Ziggy Marley's Marijuanaman. Based on a character conceived of by Ziggy Marley, written by Man of Action Studios and illustrated by Jim Mahfood, Marijuanaman promises to shatter all expectations -- this is not the comic you think it is! The oversized deluxe hardcover graphic novel tells the tale of a noble extraterrestrial champion, who has arrived on Earth to deliver an important message and at the same time save his own planet.Ziggy Marley's Marijuanaman   |
| Tonight in LA: e-Textiles at CRASHspace Posted: 03 Feb 2011 03:42 PM PST  West Coast take note! Tonight CRASHspace will be hosting an e-textiles show and tell. What's an "e-textiles show and tell"? No one knows for sure, but it will be awesome that's a fact. There are some fancy guests/speakers/presenters lined up, including Lynne Bruning (Denver), Anouk Wipprecht (Netherlands), Syuzi Pakhchyan (Los Angeles) and Matt Pinner (Los Angeles). Stuff will be shown off. Questions will be answered. Fun will be had. Video will be live streamed. CRASHspace is located at 10526 Venice Blvd, Culver City CA 90232 - Admission is free but as the space is 100% member and donation funded, a $5 donation is strongly encouraged and heartily welcome.  |
| Michael Lewis explains the Irish econopocalypse Posted: 03 Feb 2011 01:12 PM PST  Michael "Liar's Poker" Lewis has a fantastic, captivating piece on the Irish econopocalypse in the new Vanity Fair. Lewis ranges freely from slice-of-life observations about Dublin as a city occupied by foreign management consultants trying to figure out what to do with the disastrous worst-of-the-worst banks, to the history of the Celtic Tiger economy, to the ebb and tide of Polish workers in Ireland as an economic indicator, to the incredible and bizarre housing boom that, inevitably, turned into a world-class bust. It's vintage Lewis, gripping, savage, illuminating: Even in an era when capitalists went out of their way to destroy capitalism, the Irish bankers set some kind of record for destruction. Theo Phanos, a London hedge-fund manager with interests in Ireland, says that "Anglo Irish was probably the world's worst bank. Even worse than the Icelandic banks."When Irish Eyes Are Crying (Thanks, Fipi Lele!) (Image: Budget Day In Dublin - Useless Gobshites, a Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike (2.0) image from infomatique's photostream)   |
| Wonderful trailers for B-movies that never existed Posted: 02 Feb 2011 10:47 PM PST Jason sends us, "my former supervisor and friend Michael S. Deak's series of faux 50's and 60's trailers. He has worked in Special Makeup Effects for 30+ years and has appeared in many cheesy 80's horror classics as monsters/creatures. These trailers are his pet projects that he conceived and made on his own. They feature friends and colleagues, are made with lots of love and reflect his unique view of the entertainment industry and film appreciation." Michael S Deak's YouTube channel (Thanks, Jason!)
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| 2 year old girl loves the periodic table of elements Posted: 03 Feb 2011 12:39 PM PST 26 month-old Rose of Seattle, Washington plays a game with those lovely Periodic Table of Elements cards previously featured on Boing Boing. What a smart and adorable kid! And what great parents she has. Video Link, found via Chris Hardwick's blog. |
| Posted: 03 Feb 2011 12:47 PM PST The Baristas, a spinoff of long-running Pittsburgh websoap Something To Be Desired (and in which the lovely Heather has a small role) has its first episode up!   |
| Growing list of journalists detained, threatened, or attacked in Egypt Posted: 03 Feb 2011 12:28 PM PST ABC News: "We've compiled a list of all the journalist who have been in some way threatened, attacked or detained while reporting in Egypt. When you put it all into one list, it is a rather large number in such a short period of time." (Ed. note: Since they've last updated the list, I've seen word of a dozen new cases pop up on Twitter. This really is unprecedented.—XJ)   |
| Egypt: Gangs hunting down journalists, human rights workers Posted: 03 Feb 2011 12:25 PM PST NYT: "Security forces and gangs chanting in favor of the Egyptian government hunted down journalists at their offices and in the hotels where many had taken refuge on Thursday in a widespread and overt campaign of intimidation aimed at suppressing reports from the capital. By evening, it appeared that none of the major broadcasters were able to provide live footage of Tahrir Square, the epicenter of antigovernment protests."   |
| The wit and wisdom of Kenneth Cole Posted: 03 Feb 2011 12:22 PM PST |
| Cracking the Scratch Lottery Code: a good Wired article Posted: 03 Feb 2011 12:09 PM PST Jonah Lehrer wrote an article for the February 2011 edition of Wired called "Cracking the Scratch Lottery Code." It's about Mohan Srivastava, a statistician with degrees from MIT and Stanford who has been looking into ways to beat the scratch ticket lottery system, a $70 billion a year business in North America. Srivastava examined some tic-tac-toe lottery tickets published by the Ontario Lottery and found a defect. The visible numbers on the tickets could be used to figure out information about the numbers hidden under the scratch off material. Cracking the Scratch Lottery Code Photo by Moacir P. de Sá Pereira. Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. |
| Glenn Beck gold company on how to profit from Egypt unrest Posted: 03 Feb 2011 01:12 PM PST  Goldline International, the gold company promoted by Glenn Beck on his show--and which is under investigation by a U.S. congressional committee--would like you to know that death and destruction in Egypt makes their product more valuable. From my inbox: Gold prices were up over $18 as of 9:33 Pacific Time today on the New York Spot Market as increasingly violent protests in Egypt continue to spook markets globally. Gold is regarded by many analysts as a "safe haven" asset during uncertain economic and geopolitical times. "There are latent geopolitical worries stemming from Egypt and the Middle East in general," said Jim Steel, senior vice president and metals analyst with HSBC in New York. Egypt has been in turmoil in the last week as Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's administration has come under fire, and worries have surfaced about the unrest spreading to other Middle Eastern nations. Standard & Poor's Corp., Fitch Ratings, and Moody's Investors Service downgraded Egypt's ratings this week. "We think that the price of gold could resume its climb due to reduced risk appetite as the global recovery falters and new shocks hit the financial system," Capital Economics said in a report. Gold was also bolstered by comments about rising euro-zone inflation from European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet, who said officials are monitoring rising price pressures. ** Have questions about acquiring gold and silver today? Call a Goldline Account Executive...Those familiar with the Glenn Beckalypse where only gold will save us, etc., will hardly be surprised. UPDATE: Kenneth Cole got himself some of that unrestvertising action!   |
| Official Kansas state smackdown: Pteranodon vs. Xiphactius audax Posted: 03 Feb 2011 11:43 AM PST  Finally, a science debate in the Kansas state legislature that doesn't make me want to beat my head against a desk. So, Kansas is apparently in the process of picking a state fossil. The original candidate, named in the House bill introduced on the 24th of January, was Xiphactius audax—best known for being the big fish of the famous little-fish-inside-a-big-fish fossil that resides at the Sternberg Museum of Natural History in Hays. Since the bill was introduced, however, there have been rumblings favoring a completely different fossil, the flying reptile Pteranodon. Two fossils enter the statehouse. One leaves. But it's not entirely clear yet which will be the victor. Pteranodon has a much bigger public profile—it was in Jurassic Park, after all, and has featured prominently in many children's books about dinosaurs. Plus, according to the adjunct curator of paleontology at the Sternberg Museum, high-quality pteranodon fossils are almost exclusive to Kansas. But, speaking as a former fossil-obsessed Kansan child, Pteranodon wasn't there to comfort me when I realized my state had been underwater for much of its deep pre-history and, thus, that I was unlikely to find a T. rex in my backyard. No. It was Xiphactius audax that dried my tears and made me hopeful again. Xiphactius audax that got me over my first bout with Midwestern inferiority complex. And it was Xiphactius audax—or, at least, its huge, pointy teeth—that gave me a wonderful, terrified thrill every time I went into the basement of KU's Dyche Museum. Besides, as you can clearly see from the artistic rendering above, Xiphactius audax would totally kick Pteranodon's ass. Detail of a painting of Xiphactius audax by D.W. Miller.   |
| Instant karma for failed head-kicker Posted: 03 Feb 2011 01:08 PM PST  This fellow tried to do something naughty and hurt his knee. Click to watch the clip. (Thanks, Felipe Li!)
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| Posted: 03 Feb 2011 11:31 AM PST  John Baichtal of Make says, "Todd Wilder's mystery box has eight hidden compartments, which must be opened in a specific order." |
| Stuck In Motion: a cool video technique Posted: 03 Feb 2011 12:27 PM PST Trey Ratcliff generously describes the technique he uses to create this cool video effect, in which people appear to be moving very slowly in time while the rest of the world passes by at normal speed. He calls in "stuck in motion," and is forthright about making it clear that this is not a new technique, but rather, his way of doing it. He has other videos that make more use of the effect on his site. 1) MOVE THE CAMERA 10X AS FAST AS YOU THINK YOU NEED TO This is a counter-intuitive technique. You'll stop doubting when you see your results. Now, you are going to look like a damned fool doing this, so get ready! When you are shooting, you need to move the camera 10x faster than you think you need to! We are all used to seeing video cameras making nice, smooth pans. Forget that! Keep it non-shaky, but move it 10x as fast as you think!Trey also has an HDR tutorial |
| Egypt: journalists targeted at Hilton hotel in Cairo Posted: 03 Feb 2011 12:15 PM PST
After reporters claimed a Hilton property in Cairo was cooperating with Egyptian security forces to harass and detain journalists, the hotel chain today confirmed in a statement that it has asked correspondents to stop filming there. A number of western news staff have based their operations at the Ramses Hilton in Cairo, and according to reports circulating today, it was from this property that equipment belonging to BBC News reporters was seized. Over the past 24 hours, security conditions for journalists in Egypt reporting on the popular uprising have deteriorated rapidly: a number of reporters have been beaten, arrested, detained, even threatened with beheading. In many cases, equipment has been confiscated. The incidents are believed to be part of a systematic campaign to block non-state media from covering what is becoming an increasingly bloody response to peaceful demonstrations calling for an end to Mubarak's 30-year authoritarian rule. Rumors are circulating among reporters in the region that hotels will be raided tonight by state security forces seeking to round up foreign news organizations. I contacted the corporate communications office for Hilton Hotels worldwide, and a spokesperson shared the following prepared statement: Due to the gravity, immediacy and dynamic nature of the situation in Cairo, our hotel is implementing additional measures to ensure the ongoing safety and security of our guests and employees, as this remains our highest priority. These measures include a request not to film from the property due to the threat this poses to the reporters themselves as well as others on property. We appreciate your understanding and support during these challenging circumstances. But a source close to the story tells Boing Boing that the situation at the Cairo property is more complicated than the statement details. The Hilton Ramses is situated in an area just blocks from the center of the protests, and in an area effectively controlled by pro-Mubarak forces. Some thousand pro-Mubarak demonstrators were outside the hotel, threatening to throw rocks in the windows. They'd identified the property as home base for foreign news crews through the shots they broadcast. With a state of general chaos and instability throughout the city, intense hostility toward foreign news organizations, and no recourse to increase security at the location for staff and guests, the Hilton management made an "unprecedented" decision to insist that news crews staying at the location not broadcast from the hotel—during this period, reporters are apparently now being asked asked to check in their broadcast gear on arrival, and retrieve it when they step out of the property. Hilton isn't the first western-owned business to receive criticism over perceptions of cooperating with authorities in Egypt during the unrest. Vodafone, the British-based cellphone network, reportedly sent pro-Mubarak text messages at the government's behest, while shutting down data and communications services for end-users. Previously: CNN's Anderson Cooper beat up by pro-Mubarak thugs |
| Adult stem cell research hits a snag Posted: 03 Feb 2011 10:58 AM PST Babies can be anything when they grow up, but it's a lot harder for a 45-year-old accountant to start a new life as a firefighter. Likewise, embryonic stem cells can become any kind of cell in the human body, but it's another thing entirely to force a specialized adult cell out of its comfort zone. For instance, scientists can strip an adult blood cell of its programming, and make it act like a stem cell again. But the results aren't perfect. And, now, it looks like these "induced pluripotent stem cells" (or iPSCs) are even more flawed than researchers previously realized. Science blogger extraordinaire Ed Yong explains:
That's a problem. There might be ways around it, Ed says. And there are other ways to turn adult cells into stem cells. Trouble is, none of those technologies are as well-developed, and they're more likely to spark ethical debates. If we're going to be able to use stem cells in a really productive, wide-spread way, this is a big hurdle that will have to be cleared. Why didn't we know this earlier? Because the path of research is long, winding, and bumpy. To get an idea of what it took to get to this point, check out the awesome interactive timeline Ed made to accompany this story. Not Exactly Rocket Science: Reprogrammed stem cells are loaded with errors   |
| Make a birthday present for Al Jaffee! Posted: 03 Feb 2011 10:55 AM PST  David from MAD Magazine sez, "AL JAFFEE IS TURNING 90! On March 13, long-time MAD writer/artist, creator of the Fold-In and Snappy Answers, and accused (but never convicted!) shoplifter Al Jaffee is going to be 90 freakin' years old! To celebrate, we're asking all fans (and enemies) to send in letters, cards, poems, drawings, paintings, sculptures, operettas, WHATEVER -- so we can pass the love straight to Al! The sky's the limit! You can send your birthday wishes to: The Big Jaffee c/o MAD Magazine 1700 Broadway NY , NY 10019. The deadline is March 1st -- so get crackin'!"
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| Infringing anime downloads increase DVD sales Posted: 03 Feb 2011 10:49 AM PST  A thoroughgoing report from the Japanese Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry on the effect of piracy on anime DVD sales concludes that while some channels (rentals) are harmed by infringing downloads, others (sales) are helped. Which is to say: copyright infringement doesn't mean your business is doomed, it just means a small shift in emphasis and strategy: "Estimated equations of 105 anime episodes show that (1) YouTube viewing does not negatively affect DVD rentals, and it appears to help raise DVD sales; and (2) although Winny file sharing negatively affects DVD rentals, it does not affect DVD sales," the researchers conclude.Internet Piracy Boosts Anime Sales, Study Concludes (Image: DVD collection, a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from fabokun's photostream)
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Picocon is the yearly one-day convention run by Imperial College's Science Fiction and Fantasy society. This year it's running a little earlier than in past years, on Saturday 19th February (the weekend after Valentine's day!) at Imperial's campus in South Kensington, London. 
For those of us who can't stand Kenneth Cole ads, this isn't too surprising. (Via 
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