The Latest from Boing Boing

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• Spanish anti-piracy execs arrested for ripping off artists
• Augmented-reality mood-detection goggles: "a primer in the law of unintended consequences"
• Vandermeer et al on steampunk
• Introduction to The Practical Pyromaniac, by William Gurstelle
• Modern living, with plywood!
• Launch party for Yuki 7 and the Gadget Girls book: Looks that Kill
• Cy Twombly, artist, dead at age 83
• Tinkatolli: online world that inspires kids to leave the computer and make stuff
• Wikileaks fundraising ad, and Assange taking credit for Egypt revolution, criticized
• Morgan Stanley data breach hits investors
• Unsettling photos of monkeys wearing masks
• Lingerie model finds work despite having an odd elbow
• Arsonists wear unusual mask
• Fireworks safety video/1812 Overture mashup
• Angry people in newspapers
• Ocarina takes the form of 4 different creatures
• The Caretaker's remixed 78s
• Casey Anthony not guilty of killing daughter
• Macaque takes self-portrait
• Wearing a year's worth of makeup at once
• Massive science fiction encyclopedia's third edition will be digital
• Anti-PowerPoint Party
• DSK's accuser sues NY Post over "prostitute" smear
• How the Hippies Saved Physics: new book about weird science history
• Rob Walker on Everyday Carry and The Burning House
• Little Brother stage adaptation in San Francisco, Jan 2012
• Life And Health: textbook illustrations from 1972
• "Transparent Rugs" rug
• Giant schools of swarming squid surround fishing photographer
• America's copyright scholars speak out against PROTECT-IP bill

Spanish anti-piracy execs arrested for ripping off artists Posted: 05 Jul 2011 10:56 PM PDT Executives with Spain's Society of Authors and Publishers (SGAE) -- a Spanish copyright royalty collecting society that lobbies for DRM, censorship, and Internet surveillance -- have been charged with fraudulently siphoning off funds destined for artists. This is what "ripping off artists" looks like, and it's not really similar to children sharing music. According to Spanish newspaper El País, the investigation is focused on José Luis Rodríguez Neri, the head of an SGAE subsidiary called the Digital Society of Spanish Authors (SDAE). Neri faces charges of "fraud, misappropriation of funds and disloyal administration." On Monday, a High Court judge grilled him for more than four hours over the charges. Investigators say Neri made payments for non-existent services to a contractor that then paid kickbacks to Neri and his associates. The contractor's books show that it received 5 million euros from SDAE, but only reported 3.7 million euros of those funds to tax authorities. Although Neri is the focus of the investigation, investigators suspect he did not act alone. A total of nine people associated with SGAE, including its chairman Teddy Bautista, were detained on Friday and Saturday. They were released on Sunday without bail, but their passports have been taken and they are barred from leaving Spain. Police raid Spanish copyright society in embezzlement case

Augmented-reality mood-detection goggles: "a primer in the law of unintended consequences" Posted: 06 Jul 2011 03:36 AM PDT Sally from New Scientist writes, "The first few months after I moved to London from New York were like a Henry James novel of social horrors. Cultural differences that had seemed so subtle from across the Atlantic were staggering up close. I couldn't go five minutes without committing some disastrous social gaffe. Why did my conversations always end in mortified silence? What was I doing wrong? Why wouldn't anyone help me? Naturally, as a tech journalist, I started looking for technologies that would solve my problem. The good news is that these do exist--augmented reality applications are coming that can help you decipher the emotional cues of the people you're talking to. The bad news is that when this stuff gets rolled out in the workplace--which it now is--unintentional oversharing might the problem worse. This technology will be a primer in the law of unintended consequences." When Picard and el Kaliouby were calibrating their prototype, they were surprised to find that the average person only managed to interpret, correctly, 54 per cent of Baron-Cohen's expressions on real, non-acted faces. This suggested to them that most people - not just those with autism - could use some help sensing the mood of people they are talking to. "People are just not that good at it," says Picard. The software, by contrast, correctly identifies 64 per cent of the expressions... Picard says the software amplifies the cues we already volunteer, and does not extract information that a person is unwilling to share. It is certainly not a foolproof lie detector. When I interviewed Picard, I deliberately tried to look confused, and to some extent it worked. Still, it's hard to fool the machine for long. As soon as I became engaged in the conversation, my concentration broke and my true feelings revealed themselves again. Specs that see right through you (Thanks, Sally!) (Image: xray, a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from shockadelic's photostream)

Vandermeer et al on steampunk Posted: 06 Jul 2011 03:23 AM PDT Why has steampunk persisited so long? [SFsignal]

Introduction to The Practical Pyromaniac, by William Gurstelle Posted: 05 Jul 2011 03:41 PM PDT My friend and MAKE contributing editor William Gurstelle has written a new book: The Practical Pyromaniac: Build Fire Tornadoes, One-Candlepower Engines, Great Balls of Fire, and More Incendiary Devices. It has instructions for 16 fiery projects. Bill and his publisher kindly gave us permission to run the introduction to the book here. THE PARADOX OF FIRE Fire is the most important agent of change on earth. It makes our cars and airplanes move, it purifies metals, it cooks our food. It also destroys forests and pollutes the atmosphere. Fire is also one of the most paradoxical forces in nature. Sometimes it's incredibly difficult to light a much-desired campfire and keep it going, while at other times unwanted fires start far too easily. To Greek philosophers of the Classical era, fire was a tangible, material thing. The legends they repeated held that noble Prometheus purloined fire from Mount Olympus and secretly gave it to human beings, much to the chagrin of an angry Zeus. As Greek civilization progressed, legends became insufficient; people sought to understand fire on a more scientific basis. The first major nonmythological theorist was the Greek scholar Empedocles, who devised the earliest well-known explanation of the nature of the world. Everything, he said, was made up of four elements: earth, air, water, and fire. This was called the Four Element hypothesis. Aristotle refined that a bit, and for the next 2,000 years it was accepted with only minor modifications as the cosmological basis for the entire universe. The hypothesis stated that everything in the world is composed of these four elements; the only difference between all the things we see or touch is the relative abundance of the four constituent components. Wood, according to Aristotle, is a composition of earth and fire, as evidenced by the way wood burns. Nonburning rock is mostly earth, with perhaps a bit of water added. In the Middle Ages, this explanation no longer fit the results of many experiments that involved fire. Many alchemists had excellent experimental technique and analyzed a number of chemical processes in their quest to turn base metals into gold. But when fire was involved, their experiments yielded results that didn't jibe with the classical Four Element worldview. The pillars of cosmological doctrine were crumbling away. The alchemists were beginning to suspect that the world was more complex than they had been taught. In the 1700s, a new way of thinking called phlogiston (flo-jis'- ton) theory came into fashion. This theory, which was promoted by many of the leading scholars of the age, held that fire was caused by the liberation of an undetectable chemical substance -- phlogiston -- which was bound up inside all things that could be made to burn. Those items that possessed phlogiston ignited and combusted; those without it did not. Phlogiston theory made sense for a while. But like the Greek notion of matter, phlogiston was merely an expedient, a theory cobbled together to describe the things that even close observations of the world could not otherwise explain. At the end of the 18th century, improvements in experimental technique combined with the astute observations of a new generation of enlightened thinkers led to a much better understanding of the world in general and science in particular. It started with important discoveries by Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, Joseph Priestley, and Henry Cavendish. The work they did laying the foundations of modern chemistry was built upon by others, notably John Dalton and Antoine Lavoisier, until a new and correct interpretation of the phenomenon of fire emerged. At the turn of the 19th century, scientists were finally beginning to truly comprehend fire. At that time there was a lively, collegial, and incredibly productive community of scientists fascinated by fire. During a fairly short window of time, a few years on either side of the year 1800 and centered around the Royal Institution in London, a surprisingly small but interconnected community of scientists solved the mysteries and banished the superstitions surrounding fire, finally allowing scientific understanding to take hold. It was not a direct path. There was plenty of meandering and zigzagging through half-correct theoretical deductions and unexpected laboratory results. But eventually, a body of true and practical knowledge was accumulated. It was these turn-of-the-19th-century "natural philosophers" (the word "scientist" was not coined until the 1830s) who paved the way for modern scientists to understand the true nature of fire. Isaac Watts was one of the key contributors to the advancement of pre-Industrial Revolution science, but he wasn't a scientist. He was a 17th-century English logician and musician, best known as a composer of Christian hymns. (His most famous work is "Joy to the World.") More than that, he was an important theorist on the nature of learning, a father of scientific and logical pedagogy. His influence on the scientists and experimenters who appear in these pages was immense. Watts shared his philosophy on understanding the world in several highly regarded books, his most famous being The Improvement of the Mind. Written in 1815 toward the end of his life, it had tremendous influence on generations of students and teachers. It is still in print and popular even now, 200 years after Watts wrote it. Watts's books were standard issue to generations of Oxford and Cambridge University students. His ideas served as one of the foundations for learning logical thought, shaping European society for more than a hundred years. Many suggestions for bettering oneself flow through the pages of Watts's books. Foremost among them, Watts urged his readers to improve their minds in five different ways, which he called his "five pillars of learning." Through the technique of the five pillars, Watts hoped to improve the lot of the world. There are five eminent means or methods whereby the mind is improved in the knowledge of things, and these are: observation, reading, instruction by lectures, conversation, and meditation. All of these methods, wrote Watts in the pedantic, pointed, yet elucidating style of 18th-century English self-help authors, are important and useful in improving the mind. But of all the methods, judged Watts, observation is the foundation upon which all other learning methods rest. As Watts explains, "We may justly conclude, that he that spends all his time in hearing lectures or pouring upon books without observation . . . will have but a mere historical knowledge of learning, and be able only to tell what others have known or said on the subject." Reading a book like The Practical Pyromaniac is one of the five Wattsian ways in which knowledge can be acquired. What sets this book apart from others, however, is the integration of all of the methods Watts recommends, including lecture and personal observation. Besides providing the stories of great scientists, experimenters, and practical geniuses -- those who played with fire and in so doing came up with new and important ideas and inventions -- The Practical Pyromaniac contains numerous peripatetic projects and experiments. Further, there are video demonstrations on the Internet designed specifically to integrate with the information. While it is not necessary to view the videos, undertake the experiments, or read the other books listed in the bibliography, if you do attempt a few of the projects and view some of the video lectures and demonstrations developed in conjunction with this book, your experience will be enhanced. Copyright 2011 by William Gurstelle. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission of Chicago Review Press. The Practical Pyromaniac: Build Fire Tornadoes, One-Candlepower Engines, Great Balls of Fire, and More Incendiary Devices

Modern living, with plywood! Posted: 05 Jul 2011 02:20 AM PDT In the LJ Vintage Ads group, Write_light has contributed this beautiful plan for a "shorehill" plywood house. It's an excerpt from Second Homes for Leisure Living (1960), a 36-page public domain brochure from the Douglas Fir Plywood Association with plans for 18 complete homes, a rather glorious bit of propaganda for super-modernist plywood living. Second Homes for Leisure Living, Douglas Fir Plywood Association

Launch party for Yuki 7 and the Gadget Girls book: Looks that Kill Posted: 05 Jul 2011 03:06 PM PDT [Video Link] Enjoy this promo video for Kevin Dart and Elizabeth Ito's new book/DVD, Looks that Kill, a lavishly illustrated story about 1960s spy girl Yuki 7, and her secret agent colleagues, the Gadget Girls. If you are in LA on July 16, don't miss the book release and art show, held at Q POP shop in Little Tokyo. Yuki 7 and the Gadget Girls Kevin Dart's Yuki 7 illustration for LA Weekly Time lapse of mural painting for LA store Q Pop Yuki 7 giveaway Book: Kevin Dart’s "Seductive Espionage: The World of Yuki 7"

Cy Twombly, artist, dead at age 83 Posted: 05 Jul 2011 02:57 PM PDT The American artist Cy Twombly has died. Above, an image from his "Ferragosto" series, from 1961. He died in Rome, after a long battle with cancer. News: AP, New York Times, LA Times, WSJ. "A great American painter who deeply loved old Europe has just left us," French Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand said in a statement. "His work was deeply marked by his passion for Greek and Roman antiquity, and its mythology, which for him was a source of bottomless inspiration." Twombly was known for his abstract works combining painting and drawing techniques, repetitive lines and the use of words and graffiti. He is often linked to the legendary American artists Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg. Twombly is represented by the Gagosian Gallery. And this site has many images of his work.

Tinkatolli: online world that inspires kids to leave the computer and make stuff Posted: 05 Jul 2011 02:41 PM PDT I like this idea - an online world that encourages kids to make real things to win achievements. They are seeking funding via Kickstarter. Tinkatolli (Thanks, Dave!)

Wikileaks fundraising ad, and Assange taking credit for Egypt revolution, criticized Posted: 05 Jul 2011 02:39 PM PDT WikiLeaks head Julian Assange seems to be taking credit for "Arab Spring" in a recently released fundraising video. Dan Murphy in the CSM has a critical take: "Hundreds of thousands risking their lives to face down a tyrant? Expensive. Taking credit for it from a London mansion? Cheap."

Morgan Stanley data breach hits investors Posted: 05 Jul 2011 02:29 PM PDT "Personal information belonging to 34,000 investment clients of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney has been lost, and possibly stolen, in a data breach. According to two letters sent to clients, and obtained by Credit.com, the information includes clients' names, addresses, account and tax identification numbers, the income earned on the investments in 2010, and--for some clients--Social Security numbers."

Unsettling photos of monkeys wearing masks Posted: 05 Jul 2011 02:23 PM PDT A photo gallery of monkeys in Indonesia wearing masks made from dolls' heads. UPDATE: Xeni reminded me that she posted a much better gallery of masked monkeys in April.

Lingerie model finds work despite having an odd elbow Posted: 05 Jul 2011 01:23 PM PDT Her unique elbow was photoshopped out in all the other photos in the catalog.

Arsonists wear unusual mask Posted: 05 Jul 2011 01:19 PM PDT Police in Germany are looking for school arsonists who wore this unusual mask while committing their crime.

Fireworks safety video/1812 Overture mashup Posted: 04 Jul 2011 09:59 PM PDT YouTube user Ericbolstridge set the Consumer Product Safety Commission video to a performance of the 1812 Overture, to fabulous effect -- exploding mannikins have never looked so awesome. Fun with the CPSC Fireworks Safety Video (via Making Light)

Angry people in newspapers Posted: 05 Jul 2011 12:43 PM PDT I am a big fan of the universal expression of morose dismay falling somewhat short of actual anger, found in posed photos in 'angry local person is angry' stories, in every newspaper ever. [Angry people in local newspapers via Jim Coudal]

Ocarina takes the form of 4 different creatures Posted: 05 Jul 2011 12:38 PM PDT (Click images to embiggen) I just returned from a family vacation to Costa Rica. In the capital city of San Jose we met this fellow standing outside the national museum. He was selling his beautiful handmade ocarinas. The smaller ones cost three dollars, and the larger ones cost four dollars. My daughter bought a large one. It was shaped like a toucan, but we found out that it also was shaped like three other creatures, depending on which way you looked at it. From the bottom it looked like a demon. From the top it looked like a pig. From the front it looked like a fox (I think). While we were in the museum's courtyard, my daughter figured out how to play the intro to "Smoke on the Water." On our way out, she played it for the ocarina maker. He grabbed one of his ocarinas and played it back! I'm sorry some of the photos are blurry. I would have taken another photo, but TACA Airlines lost our luggage on the way home, and they are not responding to my calls or e-mails about the luggage's whereabouts. Judging from the generally crappy service we received while flying TACA, I doubt we will ever recover the missing suitcase. More images after the jump. Also from my Costa Rica vacation: Coconut face

The Caretaker's remixed 78s Posted: 05 Jul 2011 02:55 PM PDT When I first heard the lovely music James Kirby creates as The Caretaker, it instantly reminded me of The Shining's ballroom ghost scenes. Turns out, that's where Kirby found his original inspiration. His compositions draw from his huge collection of vintage 78s with added static, glitches, loops, and ambience for a deeply ghosty and, well, haunted vibe. The Caretaker's new LP on the History Always Favours The Winners label is titled "An Empty Bliss Beyond This World," and themed around memory. More specifically, lost ones. From Altered Zones: With An Empty Bliss Beyond This World, his second full-length foray as The Caretaker, Kirby tackles amnesia, building on his previous work with the subject in 2005's Theoretically Pure Anterograde Amnesia. This time around, Kirby contemplates the ability of Alzheimer's patients to recollect passages of music from their past and connect them to specific people and places. Sourced from Kirby's massive collection of '78s, the pieces return him to the faded arena of ballroom jazz, which he further corrodes with subtle loops and haunted static. Kirby's chosen subject matter surfaces most explicitly in song titles like "I Feel As If I Might Be Vanishing," "Moments of Sufficient Lucidity," and "Tiny Gradiations Of Loss." A few titles even reoccur in the span of the album, but with the accompanying audio in varying degrees of decay. The Caretaker: An Empty Bliss Beyond This World (Soundcloud) buy The Caretaker: An Empty Bliss Beyond This World (Amazon) buy The Caretaker: Persistent Repetition of Phrases (Amazon)

Casey Anthony not guilty of killing daughter Posted: 05 Jul 2011 11:55 AM PDT A Florida jury found Casey Anthony not guilty of murdering her daughter, 2-year-old Caylee. She was also cleared of manslaughter and aggravated abuse charges, but convicted on counts of providing false information to a law enforcement officer. [CNN]

Macaque takes self-portrait Posted: 05 Jul 2011 11:13 AM PDT This is a self-portrait taken by a crested black macaque who reportedly snatched a wildlife photographer's camera on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. From The Telegraph: David (Slater), 46, said: "One of them must have accidentally knocked the camera and set it off because the sound caused a bit of a frenzy. "At first there was a lot of grimacing with their teeth showing because it was probably the first time they had ever seen a reflection. "They were quite mischievous jumping all over my equipment, and it looked like they were already posing for the camera when one hit the button. "The sound got his attention and he kept pressing it. At first it scared the rest of them away but they soon came back - it was amazing to watch. "He must have taken hundreds of pictures by the time I got my camera back, but not very many were in focus. He obviously hadn't worked that out yet. "Monkey steals camera to snap himself"

Wearing a year's worth of makeup at once Posted: 04 Jul 2011 09:56 PM PDT In this video, 365 layers of foundation, eye-makeup, lipliner, and blush are applied in successive layers to a model's face, until she looks like a drippy, gooey blob. Cheeky directors Lernert & Sander embrace the urge for cosmetic overkill in their surreal short Natural Beauty. Makeup artist Ferry van der Nat and his assistant Vanessa Chan helped to execute the vision, slathering a host of Ellis Faas products on Belgian beauty Hannelore Knuts, who was recently named the new face of Swiss fashion house Akris. Lernert & Sander began collaborating in 2006; since then they've done everything from melt a chocolate bunny with a hairdryer to repurpose household appliances as sex toys in the name of video art. We asked the co-conspirators to break down the shoot in detail. Lernert & Sander: Natural Beauty (via IO9)

Massive science fiction encyclopedia's third edition will be digital Posted: 05 Jul 2011 10:48 AM PDT Graham Sleight writes, "The third edition of the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, the definitive reference work in the field, will be published online beginning later this year. Thanks to support from publishing partner Gollancz, the text will be available free. The Encyclopedia is overseen by editors John Clute and David Langford, with help from Editor Emeritus Peter Nicholls, Managing Editor Graham Sleight and a range of specialist editors from across the field. About 75% of the text will be online by the end of the year, with the rest being added in monthly updates to the end of 2012. Interested users can sign up at the website or follow us on twitter at @SFEncyclopedia." SFE: The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (Thanks, Graham!) (Disclosure: I have done some free consulting for the SFE)

Anti-PowerPoint Party Posted: 05 Jul 2011 10:45 AM PDT The Swiss Anti-PowerPoint Party has been founded to ban the use of PowerPoint: "According to the APPP, the use of presentation software costs the Swiss economy 2.1 billion Swiss francs (US$2.5 billion) annually, while across the whole of Europe, presentation software causes an economic loss of €110 billion (US$160 billion). APPP bases its calculations on unverified assumptions about the number of employees attending presentations each week, and supposes that 85 percent of those employees see no purpose in the presentations." The party's founder has -- not coincidentally -- written a book about PowerPoint's evils (he recommends flip-charts instead). (via /.)

DSK's accuser sues NY Post over "prostitute" smear Posted: 05 Jul 2011 10:08 AM PDT The woman who accused Dominique Strauss-Kahn of attempted rape is suing the New York Post over a thinly-sourced and sensationalist article smearing her as a "hooker." (via Romenesko)

How the Hippies Saved Physics: new book about weird science history Posted: 05 Jul 2011 09:57 AM PDT I just received a copy of MIT professor David Kaiser's new book, "How the Hippies Saved Physics: Science, Counterculture, and the Quantum Revival" and it looks fantastic. No, this isn't the director's notes for 'What the Bleep Do We Know?" but rather a researched history of the intersection between the 1970s psychedelic culture the San Francisco Bay Area and a group of open-minded, brilliant, and broke, scientists studying the "impossible." The group, dubbed the Fundamental Fysiks Group, included folks like Jack Sarfatti, Nick Herbert, Saul-Paul Sirag, and Fred Alan Wolf, seen in the photo above. This "invisible college" looked to quantum theory for clues about human consciousness, pondered the Big Questions about space and time, and even considered possible scientific explanations for reports of high weirdness like ESP. Of course, some of their efforts were later sucked into the New Age and the rest is bleeping history. But according to Kaiser's history, they also made profoundly serious contributions to science. Kaiser, a cosmologist and head of MIT's Program in Science, Technology, And Society, wrote a guest post over at NPR describing his book: Some members of the group sought cash from unlikely sources to pursue their quest, ranging from the Central Intelligence Agency to self-made entrepreneurs in the California "human potential" movement. And they set up shop in that hotbed of New Age enthusiasm, the Esalen Institute in beautiful Big Sur, California. They circulated preprints in an extensive, underground network, and broke into the popular-book market with bestsellers like Capra's Tao of Physics and Gary Zukav's Dancing Wu Li Masters. Along the way, they produced some fascinating work that, stripped of its original packaging, has entered the mainstream today. Some highlights include: — Fundamental Fysiks Group members dominated worldwide publications on Bell's theorem and quantum entanglement, recognizing their groundbreaking importance years before most physicists began to pay attention to the topic. — Every single demonstration that quantum entanglement could be compatible with Einstein's relativity came either directly from members of the Fundamental Fysiks Group or as direct responses to their calculations and thought experiments. — In the process of refuting a particularly clever thought experiment by group member Nick Herbert, three separate groups of physicists — Wojciech Zurek and Bill Wootters; Dennis Dieks; and GianCarlo Ghirardi and Tullio Weber — discovered the "no-cloning theorem," a fundamental feature of quantum theory that no one had ever recognized before. The no-cloning theorem stipulates that it is impossible to make exact copies or clones of an unknown quantum state. In short order, the no-cloning theorem became the linchpin of the first protocol for quantum encryption. "How the Hippies Saved Physics: Science, Counterculture, and the Quantum Revival" by David Kaiser (Amazon) "How the Hippies Saved Physics: Curious Contributions To Quantum Theory" (NPR)

Rob Walker on Everyday Carry and The Burning House Posted: 05 Jul 2011 04:40 PM PDT Design Observer's Rob Walker riffs on what people to be their most important personal "stuff" by looking at the Everyday Carry blog -- which I previously commented is in the same vein as action movie "gear up" scenes -- and The Burning House, a site that asks, "If your house was burning, what would you take with you?" From Design Observer: When push comes to shove (the hurricane on the way; the burning house) nobody stands around considering which of their possessions enjoyed the most robust branding campaign, or won the highest praise from the design press. Or so I've tended to argue. But some of the entries on The Burning House make me wonder. Someone, for instance, includes "Grenson x Albam city brogues (you never know when you'll want to look sharp, house or no house)." Someone else includes a "Polo suede-elbowed shirt." The very first post on the site includes multiple conspicuous brand references: "Ralph Lauren Alligator Belt," "Vintage Woolrich Horse skin hunting gloves," "Rolex Submariner Date with Zulu Ballistic Nylon Band," "Oakley Razor Blades." What the site offers very little of, with its quick-list format, are personal reasons for saving this or that object — stories, in other words. I'm prepared to believe someone finds a suede-elbowed polo personally meaningful, but why? Ultimately a lot of the stuff pictured these little displays is perfectly tasteful, but the result doesn't seem like self-portraits. Instead — and this is true of Everyday Carry, as well — they seem like performances. "The Right Stuff"

Little Brother stage adaptation in San Francisco, Jan 2012 Posted: 04 Jul 2011 03:24 AM PDT Josh Costello has adapted my novel Little Brother for stage in San Francisco (this is new adaptation, unrelated to the production that ran in Chicago a few years back). The show opens in January, 2012, and he's just gone into production; he's keeping running notes of his progress at a blog called LITTLE BROTHER LIVE.

Life And Health: textbook illustrations from 1972 Posted: 05 Jul 2011 09:18 AM PDT Over at 50 Watts, Will Schofield continues his excellent forays into 1970s science and psychology text book artwork. His latest post is a gallery of images from Life And Health, a 1972 book published by Communications Research Machines. Above, Karl Nicholason's illustration for the Systemic Diseases chapter title spread. At left, John Oldenkamp's "Fig 28.12 The elaborate machinery pictured here typifies the facade of technological complexity displayed by quacks to their 'victims.'" "Life and Health"   Phil Kirkland's 1970s science book/mag illustrations - Boing Boing

"Transparent Rugs" rug Posted: 05 Jul 2011 09:16 AM PDT Sonya Winner makes these brightly-colored rugs "after Matisse," which means you have to write in to find out the price. [via Design Milk]

Giant schools of swarming squid surround fishing photographer Posted: 05 Jul 2011 01:30 PM PDT Photographer Jon Schwartz [blog] writes in: "I was kayaking in La Jolla last week and saw a red frothing ball of squid on the surface. I jumped in with my underwater camera and had an incredible, surreal encounter with the huge swarm of squid." Jon shares photographs from that encounter with Boing Boing, below, and he has a blog post with details here.

America's copyright scholars speak out against PROTECT-IP bill Posted: 05 Jul 2011 09:18 PM PDT David Post, David Levine, and Mark Lemley and a group of more than 90 prominent IP law professors have signed a letter objecting to the far-reaching PROTECT-IP bill, introduced by Senators Leahy, Shumer, Grassley, Feinstein, Whitehouse, Graham, Kohl, Coons and Blumenthal. PROTECT-IP is your basic batshit insane Internet law that would establish a Great Firewall of America that entertainment executives could use to censor the American Internet; it would require PayPal and credit card companies to police the copyright practices of their users; and it would mandate more domain seizures on accusation of copyright infringement. The copyright scholars who signed the letter argue that PROTECT-IP is unconstitutional, that it jeapordizes the integrity of the Internet and America's standing as a force for free speech in the world. The Supreme Court has made it abundantly clear that governmental action to suppress speech taken prior to "a prompt final judicial decision . . . in an adversary proceeding" that the speech is unlawful is a presumptively unconstitutional "prior restraint,"1 the "most serious and the least tolerable infringement on First Amendment rights,"2 permissible only in the narrowest range of circumstances. The Constitution "require[s] a court, before material is completely removed from circulation, . . . to make a final determination that material is [unlawful] after an adversary hearing."3 The Act fails this Constitutional test. It authorizes courts to take websites "out of circulation" - to make them unreachable by and invisible to Internet users in the United States and abroad -- immediately upon application by the Attorney General after an ex parte hearing. No provision is made for any review of a judge's ex parte determination, let alone for a "prompt and final judicial determination, after an adversary proceeding," that the website in question contains unlawful material. This falls far short of what the Constitution requires before speech can be eliminated from public circulation.4 And Speaking of the Inalienable Right to the Pursuit of Happiness . . . (via /.)

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