Tuesday, March 1, 2011

The Latest from Boing Boing

The Latest from Boing Boing

Link to Boing Boing

iPhone guilt

Posted: 01 Mar 2011 04:42 AM PST

On feeling complicit in the working conditions of Chinese tech workers, which are relatively good but absolutely bad. [Wired]

Felt "binary" necklaces

Posted: 01 Mar 2011 01:51 AM PST

Violent suppression of protest at Toronto's G20 - CBC documentary

Posted: 01 Mar 2011 03:56 AM PST

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's report on the chaos, violence and mass-scale civil rights abuses at the Toronto G20 summit last year paints a damning picture of a police force out of control, using violence and intimidation to shut down peaceful protest.
It's been eight months since the G20 and the iconic images are still with us -- burning police cars, rampaging mobs, the massive security presence that according to the official story is all that stood between Canada's largest city and chaos. But that's not the whole story of Toronto's G20. Astonishing new images caught on camera are now emerging and they expose a troubling new picture of what happened to hundreds of ordinary citizens caught in the huge police dragnet during those three highly-charged days last June.

Gillian Findlay presents a revealing new street-level perspective of what happened when thousands of police were deployed in downtown Toronto and instructed to do what was necessary to ensure the wall around the G20 Conference Centre was never breached. Exclusive eyewitness video obtained by the fifth estate brings to light startling images captured on cellphones and minicams by the innocent bystanders who found themselves on the wrong side of all that G20 "order." In a rare television interview, Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair explains why police took the actions they did.

The whole 45-minute streaming mini-doc is available at the link below. It's strong stuff.

Updated to add: This video makes me ashamed to be a Canadian. Our national identity is so bound up in being "good" -- respecting civil rights, being reasonable. Canada's bad moments are supposed to be isolated incidents or distant history. But this looks like footage from Tunis, not Toronto. The idea that Toronto's police chief doesn't know about this and that he'll somehow now hold the police to account now that someone's told him that it happened is just so ridiculous on its face. If the Chief couldn't even get his officers to wear their badges and nametags as they used extreme force against peaceful protesters, conducted warrantless raids, and made Auschwitz jokes as they jammed more prisoners into their detention cells, how can we expect him to hold them to account now?

You Should Have Stayed at Home (Thanks, Bzilla, via Submitterator!)

(Image: G20 == Tense, a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from salty_soul's photostream)

 


Hipsterscience: Twitter comedy on true indie science

Posted: 28 Feb 2011 11:45 PM PST

The #hipsterscience tag on Twitter has become a comedy goldmine of science larfs and chuckles. The best of them have been collected on Sciencetopia:

noahWG: I discovered the Higgs boson, but fuck if I'm going to ruin it by telling others about it. #hipsterscience

talyarkoni: Hypothesis testing is for people who lack conviction. #hipsterscience

CBC_psi: My data don't need to fit to your "model." #hipsterscience

drugmonkeyblog: The Williamsburg Project was edgier RT @nwerneck @bjkraal: I liked Richard Feynman before he joined the Manhattan Project. #hipsterscience

bjkraal: I liked Richard Feynman before he joined the Manhattan Project. #hipsterscience

Hipster science (Sciencetopia) (via MeFi)
 


UPDATE: Tolkien estate didn't take down badge, claims Zazzle found it "potentially infringing"

Posted: 01 Mar 2011 02:48 AM PST

This morning I heard from Steven Maier, partner at the Oxford law firm of Manches LLP, on behalf of the Tolkien estate. He wrote to say that the estate was not involved in Zazzle's takedown of a badge reading "While you were reading Tolkien, I was watching Evangelion." According to Maier, "Zazzle has confirmed that it took down the link of its own accord, because its content management department came across the product and deemed it to be potentially infringing."

Which is odd, because Adam Rakunas's post on the subject implied that Zazzle had told him they'd written on behalf of Tolkien's heirs. I've written to both Rakunas and Zazzle for an update.

I'm sorry for misidentifying the Tolkien estate as responsible for this inanity. While they have used copyright threats to censor at least three novels tangentially involving Tokien's characters or personage (that I know of), this button wasn't their fault, it was Zazzle's.

Tolkien estate censors badge that contains the word "Tolkien" (Thanks, Steven!)

 


Read dogs: nonjudgmental greyhounds that listen to kids reading

Posted: 01 Mar 2011 02:14 AM PST

Inspired by an American scheme, a primary school in Staffordshire, England is using "read dogs" -- specially trained greyhounds that listen patiently and nonjudgmentally while small children read aloud to them.
Danny received five months of training to become a Read dog. Greyhounds are particularly well-suited because they do not bark and their short coat is less likely to trigger allergies.

Nevett hopes that the scheme, piloted in Kent, will spread. "We've had some success stories, including a girl with Down's Syndrome who really took to the dog and improved her reading," he says. "When Danny goes to sleep I tell the children that he's dreaming about their story."

The dogs who listen to children reading
 


Plastic stacking skull-chair: "Remember that thou shalt die"

Posted: 28 Feb 2011 11:49 PM PST

This uncredited plastic stacking skull-chair was exhibited in the "New Wave, the new French domestic landscape" show in Milan. It's called "Remember that thou shalt die" and makes me wish I had my own extrusion molder.

Nouvelle Vague à Milan (Thanks, Fipi Lele!)

 


Saif Gadaffi promises guns and reinforcements to murderous militias

Posted: 28 Feb 2011 11:53 PM PST

In this video, Saif Gadaffi (the "liberal" Gadaffi scion to whom the London School of Economics awarded a PhD for a plagiarized thesis on soft power and democracy) is seen promising weapons and reinforcements to the militia forces who have been brutally slaughtering peaceful protesters in Libya.

Saif Gaddafi Exposed [ENGLISH SUBTITLES] (via Reddit)

 


Minecraft papercraft

Posted: 27 Feb 2011 10:47 PM PST

Character designer Tubbypaws has fallen down the Minecraft productivity singularity and has emerged bearing a downloadable, printable, buildable Minecraft papercraft design for your delectation.
I would of released this a while ago but i was busy playing the blocky block game and i got lost looking for diamonds then i heard a noise and got scared but it was just a cat outside so it was ok
Minecraft papercraft (via Super Punch)
 


Massey Energy exec charged with lying to FBI in coal mine blast investigation

Posted: 28 Feb 2011 03:15 PM PST

The Washington Post reports that Hughie Elbert Stover, chief of security at the Upper Big Branch mine and at two other Massey Energy subsidiaries, has been charged with lying to the FBI and obstructing justice in the investigation of the West Virginia coal mine explosion that killed 29 miners. These are the first criminal charges in connection with the worst U.S. mining accident in 40 years.

Dr. Oz helps a lady overcome an unusual phobia

Posted: 28 Feb 2011 03:16 PM PST

[Video link] (Boing Boing Video's YouTube) In this morning's episode of Dr. Oz, he and a phobia expert helped a young lady overcome her irrational fear of a very unusual creepy crawly.

Dear Oprah: Some thoughts on your credibility.

Posted: 28 Feb 2011 02:42 PM PST

shutterstock_40765456.jpg (Image: Shutterstock) Now that we're half way through the university semester, I'm finding myself inundated with a lot of marking. Sometimes, I try to tackle this work at home, but being the skilled procrastinator that I am, this will inadvertently lead me into the land of daytime television. It was here the other day that I caught a few minutes of Oprah, and noted that in that short timeframe, I found my reaction changing from a sort of admiration to a feeling best described as a prolonged wince. The reason for this abrupt change of heart was essentially the appearance of Jenny McCarthy in what looked like a correspondence role - she of the celebrity ilk, noteworthy for being a very powerful advocate of some very shaky medical advice. I won't go into too much detail here about her travails, since they've been covered extensively here at Boingboing and elsewhere in the media, but suffice to say, both the medical and scientific communities overwhelmingly take issue with her claims regarding linkage between the MMR vaccine and Autism. Indeed, her opinion has not changed, despite recent studies that showed that much of the data in the Wakefield paper (the scientific article that laid the media groundwork for this linkage) was actually fraudulent in nature.

Anyway, this is interesting to me. Ms. Winfrey by all accounts seems to have her heart in the right place, and as a person of considerable media clout, you would think that she (or at least her team) would have carefully thought through the ramifications of associating with such a notorious individual.

Except that when you look a bit deeper, you find other instances where her brand chooses to ignore a very simple and sensible idea: that "claims," especially claims that operate best under scientific ways of knowing, should only be supported when there is robust evidence to back them up.

An obvious example of this is her recommendation of The Secret. This is a book written by Rhonda Byrnes and which appears to be a very elaborate and (if I can be cynical here) lucrative interpretation of the placebo effect. Specifically, the author claims that an individual can "change their electromagnetic frequency," so as to change outcomes in their life. Such language is striking because if you were to ask an expert who knows a thing or two about electromagnetic radiation - say a physicist - you would learn that this phrase is entirely nonsensical. More importantly, you could even ask physicists of different moral leanings, political sensibilities, and/or cultural backgrounds, and you would still get the same answer - because the evidence that refutes her claims stands on its own objective merits. We could go on with other examples of Ms. Winfrey's fondness of pseudoscientific trends - from the establishment of Dr. Oz, to providing the center stage to individuals like Susanne Sommers and Christiane Northrup - but I think you get the point. Let me also be clear: I do think there is some value to these things if individuals truly feel that they are benefiting from them. However, what's worrying to me is when lines regarding safety are being crossed.

All to say that for me, there's a bit of irony here, because before seeing Ms. McCarthy on her show, one of things I applauded Oprah Winfrey for was her work in South Africa, particularly her involvement on the HIV/AIDS front. As many already know, this is a country that continues to be devastated by the effects of this disease. According to the latest UNAIDS statistics (based on 2009 data), South Africa currently has the highest infection numbers, estimated at 5.6 million of its population. This includes a startling 17.8% prevalence in individuals aged between 15 and 49. It's also no secret that a significant part of this deadly reality is due to poor government policy, whereby from 1999 to 2008, the former President Thabo Mebki and his health minister, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang were willing advocates of a variety of pseudoscientific claims made by AIDS denialists. Many of these deterred the provision of life-saving antiretroviral medicines: most infamously, Manto herself promoted the use of "beetroot and garlic consumption" as an effective treatment regime. This narrative is strikingly similar to those that allude to Ms. McCarthy or The Secret. The difference, of course, is that with HIV/AIDS in South Africa, Ms. Winfrey chose to side with reason, data, and good evidence.

More to the point: having both Ms. McCarthy and the South African HIV/AIDS issue being so prominent under a single brand is an odd dichotomy that begs us to wonder what to make of it. It is, quite simply, a mixed message. At best, it is confusing in a world where the glut of information is already a burden. And more seriously, it is an insult to the good people who have worked so hard on HIV/AIDS education, treatment, and research. But at its worst, it is an affront to all those who have been victims of the propagation of such dangerous claims, whether it is the people of South Africa or the millions of viewers that follow Ms. Winfrey's every suggestion, every recommendation, and every action.

Julian Assange™

Posted: 28 Feb 2011 02:11 PM PST

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, who is currently fighting extradition from the UK to Sweden over allegations of rape and sexual assault, has applied to trademark his name, the Guardian reports:

The 39-year-old computer hacker - who will shortly be extradited to Sweden to contest the charges unless he wins an appeal on Thursday, 3 March - wants to protect his name for use in "public speaking services" and "entertainment services", it has emerged. Assange becomes the latest high-profile figure seeking to trademark his name. Sarah Palin, who famously likened Assange to an al-Qaida operative, has applied for similar protection for both herself and her daughter, Bristol Palin. Assange applied for the trademark on 14 February through his London-based law firm Finers Stephens Innocent. If granted, he will own the trademark to his name for the purposes of "news reporter services", "journalism", "publication of texts other than publicity texts" and "education services".
(via BB Submitterator, thanks Andy Booth)

Photo: Toby Melville / Reuters

Libya: conflict extends to hospitals

Posted: 28 Feb 2011 02:22 PM PST


Image: People burn pictures of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi inside the main prison of Gaddafi's forces in Benghazi February 28, 2011. Foreign powers accelerated efforts to help oust Gaddafi on Monday as rebels fought government forces trying to take back strategic coastal cities on either side of the capital Tripoli. (REUTERS/Suhaib Salem)

Al Jazeera reports that In Tripoli, Pro-Gaddafi militia members are harrassing doctors, removing the bodies of people killed in political violence, and prohibiting doctors from taking photographs of their wounds.

Alia (not her real name), a doctor in the capital, said a patient was brought into her hospital yesterday with a gunshot wound to his chest. He expired after ten minutes, and his body was taken away by armed men wearing the characteristic green armband of pro-Gaddafi supporters.

"When they die, they don't let people come near them, [because] they don't want people taking pictures/videos," Alia said.

In related news, the international humanitarian aid organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) reports that a first team of medical staff was able to cross the Egyptian border into Libya, on the eastern side of the country, and reach the town of Benghazi. Since Friday, the MSF team has been assessing the situation in three area hospitals.

These medical facilities were reported to have received more than 1,800 wounded people between February 17 and February 21. Each facility is well equipped and managed to take care of the wounded and serve their medical needs. However, they are facing shortages in medical materials and drugs.

The MSF team donated medical supplies to these facilities, including consumables, dressing, sutures, anesthesia drugs, and external fixators. The team is also training local medical staff in the management of mass casualties so they are prepared in the event of new clashes.

Eight tons of medical supplies, including surgical materials, have arrived in Benghazi and additional 12 tons of supplies are on their way through Egypt to Libya.

The MSF team in Benghazi is composed of eight staff members, including three medical staff. An orthopedic surgeon, an anesthesiologist, and an operating theater nurse will join them today to assess the surgical needs of wounded patients in Al-Jalaa Hospital. Some patients currently hospitalized in this 400-bed trauma center may require second-line surgery.

To the west, an MSF team has been deployed at the now-closed Tunisia-Libya border, ready to cross over with medical material to assist victims of violence when the opportunity presents itself. Four tons of medical and surgical material arrived in Tunis over the weekend and soon will be sent towards the border.

In recent days, thousands of migrant workers have been fleeing from Libya into Tunisia. The MSF team on the border is assessing the situation in coordination with other actors on the ground, coping with the massive influx of people. The team is ready and equipped to address medical needs of new arrivals, should the need arise, and will be reinforced with additional medical staff in coming days.


Libya: MSF Supporting Health Facilities in Benghazi, Ready to Assist Victims of Violence
(MSF)

Husqvarna Hatchet

Posted: 28 Feb 2011 01:07 PM PST

husqvarna.jpeg I've had this little hatchet for a few weeks now. Seldom have I had a tool give me so much pleasure. I love to look at it as it sits by the fireplace. It makes me happy. And using it is a whole other hatchet experience - it's razor sharp and cuts beautifully. It makes me want to split wood or sharpen stakes. Hey, I think I need to trim the branches on that dead oak I'm about to cut up for firewood. Once in a while, a tool has just got it. It's hand forged of Swedish steel (not made in China, by golly) by Husqvarna, the chain saw guys. This is on the smaller side of a hatchet, but they also make a larger version. The Husqvarna holds its edge well, and I don't think I'll need to sharpen it for awhile. All my hatchets up to now have been clunkers compared to this (other than my shingling hatchet, which is specially designed for shaking and shingling). --Lloyd Kahn Husqvarna Hatchet $40 Don't forget to comment over at Cool Tools. And remember to submit a tool!

Wisconsin Capitol illegally closed to newcomers

Posted: 28 Feb 2011 11:12 AM PST

It's illegal to block public access to the Wisconsin State Capitol Building (See Article I, §4), but it appears that Governor Scott Walker is attempting to do that, anyway. Today, the Capitol has been closed to any protesters who didn't spend last night inside. Authorities say they won't let any new protesters in until everyone left inside leaves. When Rep. Kelda Helen Roys refused to show ID, she wasn't allowed in, either. The Governor is giving a speech tonight on his budget proposals, and I'm certain that has absolutely nothing to do with the timing of this lockdown.

Ebook readers' bill of rights

Posted: 28 Feb 2011 11:02 AM PST

LibraryGoblin sez, "The Librarian in Black, Sarah Houghton-Jan, has posted this call for basic e-book user's rights. She's released it into the public domain and is encouraging people to spread it as far and wide as possible. Enough of anti-user DRM and licensing!"
Every eBook user should have the following rights:

* the right to use eBooks under guidelines that favor access over proprietary limitations
* the right to access eBooks on any technological platform, including the hardware and software the user chooses
* the right to annotate, quote passages, print, and share eBook content within the spirit of fair use and copyright
* the right of the first-sale doctrine extended to digital content, allowing the eBook owner the right to retain, archive, share, and re-sell purchased eBooks

I believe in the free market of information and ideas.

I believe that authors, writers, and publishers can flourish when their works are readily available on the widest range of media. I believe that authors, writers, and publishers can thrive when readers are given the maximum amount of freedom to access, annotate, and share with other readers, helping this content find new audiences and markets. I believe that eBook purchasers should enjoy the rights of the first-sale doctrine because eBooks are part of the greater cultural cornerstone of literacy, education, and information access.

This is great stuff. My only quibble is with "ebook user" rather than "ebook reader" -- a reader is so much more noble a beast than a mere user.

The eBook User's Bill of Rights (Thanks, LibraryGoblin, via Submitterator!)

 


Trailer for upcoming iOS game: Superbrothers' Sword & Sworcery

Posted: 28 Feb 2011 11:07 AM PST

[Video Link]

Superbrothers' Sword & Sworcery looks like a cool game for the iPad. Another video here. (Via baibai_matane)

The fish pedicure: a foot-holder's-eye view

Posted: 28 Feb 2011 10:57 AM PST

Had a long layover in the Singapore airport the other day. What to do? Why, I visited the Fish Spa, of course, where for just S$30 (about US$23) I could let hundreds of hungry doctor fish feast on my dead skin cells while I filmed the results and tried not to freak out.

I've only had one human-hands pedicure for comparison. This was every bit as efficient.  And way, way ookier.

Name this piece of historic lab equipment

Posted: 28 Feb 2011 10:05 AM PST

thingamawatzit.jpg

Do you know what this is?

Science blogger Southern Fried Scientist found it in a cabinet in his laboratory. It's got a motor, which turns some kind of centrifuge, and a set of optical lenses, which appear to be focused on the center of the centrifuge drum. It's made out of Bakelite and steel, and the older scientists in his lab agree that it's probably early 20th century vintage. Whatever it is.

One final clue, two patent numbers that are written on a plaque which also identifies Bausch & Lomb as the makers of the optics—# 1,648,369 and # 1,907,803.

What do you think, Boingers?

Alan Dean Foster: Predators I Have Known - Orinoco crocodile

Posted: 24 Feb 2011 04:03 PM PST

predators-i-have-known.jpg orinoco-crocodile.jpg

Crocodiles. Even when someone tries to make them look funny, as in the Disney version of Peter Pan, they still come off as menacing. Nothing looks more like a carnivorous dinosaur than a crocodile. Then there's their demeanor: they just lie around literally like logs, soaking up the sun, until they're ready to assassinate something. Sharks get all the bad press, but on three continents crocodiles kill people every year: Asia, Africa, and that no-so-safe-as-the-tourism-authority-would-like-you-to-believe land, Australia.

No wonder they live a long a time. Except for eating and reproducing, all they do is eat and swim. Sounds like some ex-neighbors of ours.

The history and inner workings of propaganda

Posted: 28 Feb 2011 09:08 AM PST

Propagandacritic.com is a fascinating site dedicated to explaining what makes propaganda propaganda, and getting people to think critically about the messages they see. It's run by Aaron Delwiche, a professor of communications at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.

The koala says ...

Posted: 28 Feb 2011 09:01 AM PST

Friendly_Male_Koala.jpg

So. That's the sound a koala makes. Huh.

It's not really very cute, is it?

But it does get the job done. Specifically, this is the call of the horny male koala—and this sound is such an effective mating technique that simply hearing it can cause female koalas to go into heat. (Insert your own Koala Justin Bieber joke here.) Scienceline explains the importance of koala "bellowing":

The timbre of a koala's bellow seems to have something to do with its size, age and androgen (a sex hormone) concentration. Older males bellow more, bigger males bellow longer, and those with more androgen have deeper bellows. One study found that when the male koala is 2-4 years older than the female, the mating is more likely to be successful, leading some to suggest that females use male calls to gage their relative sexiness.

Via Bora Zivkovik

Image courtesy Wikipedia user Quartl, via CC

The strange story of a scientist killed by the Plague

Posted: 28 Feb 2011 08:33 AM PST

Doktorschnabel_430px.jpg

On September 13, 2009, Malcolm Casadaban, a University of Chicago professor of genetics and cell biology, was taken by ambulance to a hospital and died just a few hours later. Cause of death: The Plague, with a capital P.

Casadaban had been working with Plague bacteria as part of his research, but, despite that fact, this wasn't an open-and-shut case. Casadaban's bacteria were genetically modified, weakened so they couldn't infect humans. Scientists have been handling this sort of wishy-washy Plague for decades, without much incident. Until Casdaban, no-one had ever been killed by lab-acquired Plague. In fact, 1959 was the last time lab Plague had even made anyone sick.

The Centers for Disease Control wanted to know what made Casadaban different. And this is where the story gets weird. Turns out, Casadaban had his own weakness—a genetic mutation, common in people of European descent. In fact, this particular mutation is common because it protects against naturally acquired strains of the Plague. If your ancestors lived through a Plague outbreak, you're more likely to carry it. But, the same mutation also seems to leave you particularly susceptible to weakened, laboratory Plague bacteria.

An autopsy found the researcher had a medical condition called hemochromatosis, which causes an excessive buildup of iron in the body, according to the CDC report. The disorder affects about 1 in 400 people and goes unnoticed in about half of patients.

Casadaban's illness is important because of the way the plague bacterium had been weakened. Yersinia pestis needs iron to survive. Normally it gets this iron by stealing it from a host's body with proteins that bind to it and help break it down. To make the bacterium harmless, scientists genetically stripped it of the proteins needed to consume iron.

"It's like having a lion, where we took out all its teeth and all its claws," Alexander said. "But in the case of Dr. Casadaban, the lion didn't even need to have teeth. There was so much iron that it was freely available and easy to get."

The hemochromatosis that contributed to Casadaban's fate has been credited with protecting people from strains of plague that circulate in the wild. Sharon Moalem, an evolutionary biologist and author of "Survival of the Sickest," posited that the disorder shifts iron from certain white blood cells, where it is typically sought by the plague bacterium.

Bloomberg: Plague death came within hours, spurred by scientist's medical condition

Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report: Fatal laboratory-acquired infection with an attenuated Yersinia pestis strain—Chicago, Illinois, 2009

Sahrawi Snapshot in the Sahara

Posted: 28 Feb 2011 08:27 AM PST

A Sahrawi woman takes a picture with her mobile phone during the 35th anniversary celebrations of their independence movement for Western Sahara from Morocco, in Tifariti, southwestern Algeria February 27, 2011. (REUTERS/Juan Medina)

North Korea to South: stop with the hate-balloons or we will shoot you

Posted: 28 Feb 2011 08:22 AM PST

"A massive propaganda campaign by the South Korean military drew an ominous warning from North Korea on Sunday, with Pyongyang saying that it would fire across the border at anyone sending helium balloons carrying anti-North Korean messages into the country."

Frank Buckles, last living U.S. World War I vet, dies at 110

Posted: 28 Feb 2011 08:10 AM PST

The last U.S. World War I veteran, Frank Buckles, died this Sunday at age 110. Buckles "died peacefully in his home of natural causes," according to a family statement.

Hollywood: snow and rainbows

Posted: 28 Feb 2011 08:05 AM PST

Photographer Anthony Citrano captured this shot of the Hollywood sign, with bands of snow visible in the sky above, as a rainbow shines in the foreground. Snow and small hail fell in Los Angeles this weekend, with some of the lowest temperatures we've experienced here in recorded history. Oh my god so intense. Follow the photographer on Twitter.

Charlie Sheen rant gets Taiwanese animated TV news treatment

Posted: 28 Feb 2011 08:06 AM PST

Here is the video. But you don't need to watch the video, even, just meditate upon this still.

Coffee Common: roasters roast one other at TED

Posted: 28 Feb 2011 07:56 AM PST

ritro.jpg

Last week I was excited to announce the birth of Coffee Common, a project of coffee enthusiasts (one of them being me) coming together to improve the experience of coffee for both industry and consumers. I mentioned that to kick off the launch, the project organizers and a handful of baristas from around the world will be spending this week in conjunction with the TED conference talking about (and serving) a few noteworthy selections from a select group of roasters.

We narrowed our list to the roasters we know have beautiful coffees with clarity and balance on their offering menus—and, who would be able to produce, roast and ship enough coffee to meet the needs of the thirsty TED attendees, at their own expense.

Normally, these roasters would consider each others competition, but the Coffee Common project is about collaboration. So we had an idea. We could write a short introduction for each included roaster, or we could assign each participating roaster the task of writing the intro for one of the others - knowing very well that one of the others would be writing theirs as well. This sounded much more interesting to us. After all, your fans can gush about you, but what your competition says may be more telling. So with that in mind...

Intelligentsia - introduced by James Hoffman of Square Mile Coffee
Stumptown - Introduced by Benjamin Kaminsky of Ritual Roasters
Has Bean - Introduced by Peter Giuliano of Counter Culture Coffee
Square Mile - Introduced by Trevor Corlett of Madcap Coffee
Ritual Roasters - Intriduced by George Howell of Terroir Coffee
Terroir Coffee - Introduced by Steve Leighton of Has Bean

More introductions will be posted soon. As TED kicks off today and everyone will finally be together in person, we'll be posting interviews, videos and dishing out the info throughout the week on coffeecommon.com and on twitter @coffeecommon.
(photo of Ritual Roasters by Scott Beale / Laughing Squid)
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