Watchismo Vintage & Modern Horology - Our watches will improve your self esteem by 7% Egypt: Tarek Shalaby on "Free Alaa. Again." Extraordinary Catalog of Peculiar Inventions: awesomely dangerous pranks from the age of fraternal lodges Explosive pumpkin carving in science class Bishop of London to St Paul's: distance yourself Adorable Minecraft creeper and candy Third Person Effect: an excerpt from You Are Not So Smart Spa offers massage, facials, shamanic journey Recreating reality in Lego Fire at LA's famous Magic Castle Air Space - a trip through an airport detention center Gweek podcast episode 024: John Hodgman Faster-than-light neutrino update: What's going on behind the scenes? Vintage Hallowe'en postcards The problems with the Gates Foundation malaria vaccine How yogurt can alter gene expression Oakland PD told a judge it wouldn't use projectile weapons any more The 2011 DIY Halloween costume open thread Circusleaks: documents show cruelty to elephants at Ringling Bros. Hollywood production in Chinese city of Linyi attended by human rights abuses Inn at the Crossroads: A "Game of Thrones" cooking blog Spooky nebula Free Alaa. Again. Occupy Oakland: photos before and after violent police raid (Every Day Is) Halloween Cain Train, Baby: another Tim Heidecker mock campaign jingle featuring Rich Little (audio) White House required by law to oppose marijuana legalization Hasan Elahi: "Giving the F.B.I. What It Wants" Happy Halloween Occupy Oakland protesters claim presence of police infiltrators and provocateurs Occupy the Nor-easter: NYC OWS protesters braved a snowstorm this weekend Egypt: Tarek Shalaby on "Free Alaa. Again."
By Xeni Jardin on Nov 01, 2011 01:08 pm "Alaa's detainment proved to be a lot tougher than I had initially hoped for. It's a wake up call for the expensive price of freedom, and it makes one value the struggle on the one hand, but curse the incomprehensible cost on the other. I just didn't think that the news of Alaa in military ...
Read in browser Extraordinary Catalog of Peculiar Inventions: awesomely dangerous pranks from the age of fraternal lodges
By Cory Doctorow on Nov 01, 2011 12:07 pm Julia Suits's The Extraordinary Catalog of Peculiar Inventions: The Curious World of the Demoulin Brothers and Their Fraternal Lodge Prank Machines - from Human Centipedes and Revolving Goats to Electric Carpets and Smoking Camels is a history of those long-gone, much lamented days when Americans joined fraternal lodges in great numbers, and when those lodges ...
Read in browser Explosive pumpkin carving in science class
By Cory Doctorow on Nov 01, 2011 11:56 am This science teacher illustrated gas-expansion for his students by trapping a flammable gas inside a pumpkin whose Jack O'Lantern face had been cut and not removed, then waited for the pressure to build up until the face exploded out of the pumpkin. Exploding Pumpkin- Halloween Science Chemistry Demos! (via Neatorama)
Read in browser Bishop of London to St Paul's: distance yourself
By Cory Doctorow on Nov 01, 2011 09:10 am Richard Chartres, the bishop of London, "is expected to urge the chapter of St Paul's... to dissociate itself from the legal action [brought by the City of London] to expel the [Occupy London] protesters." Three senior clerics have resigned their postings at St Paul's in protest over the planned use of force to compel protesters ...
Read in browser Adorable Minecraft creeper and candy
By Cory Doctorow on Nov 01, 2011 04:53 am Brand sez, "My little girl (age 8) put together her costume this year based on her favorite video game creature: the Minecraft Creeper. I've seen a few creepers this year, but none as good as hers." Sad Creeper has a candies (Thanks, Brand!)
Read in browser Third Person Effect: an excerpt from You Are Not So Smart
By David McRaney on Oct 31, 2011 09:20 pm The Third Person Effect, an excerpt from the new book You Are Not So Smart: Why You Have Too Many Friends on Facebook, Why Your Memory Is Mostly Fiction, and 46 Other Ways You're Deluding Yourself, by David McRaney The Misconception: You believe your opinions and decisions are based on experience and facts, while those ...
Read in browser Spa offers massage, facials, shamanic journey
By David Pescovitz on Oct 31, 2011 08:47 pm I recently attended a conference at a luxury hotel in Marina, California where the spa brochure lists services like massage, facials, and, er, shamanic journeys. Ostensibly, the shaman is a white dude in southwestern resort ware who will place shells on your body and wave a feather over you as he "engages the forces of ...
Read in browser Recreating reality in Lego
By John Baichtal on Oct 31, 2011 08:13 pm In 2006, Vice President Dick Cheney pumped birdshot into a friend's face, simultaneously upping his thug cred while inspiring Lego fan Thom Beckett to depict the scene in plastic bricks. Next, consider the work of professional Lego builder Carl "the Lego Guy" Merriam, who built this model of a drill press for a Christmas display ...
Read in browser Fire at LA's famous Magic Castle
By Mark Frauenfelder on Oct 31, 2011 07:49 pm Hollywood's legendary Magic Castle, where Boing Boing has held yearly partner dinners, is on fire. Reports say the kitchen and dining room were extensively damaged, and that the other floors are also damaged. This is sad news as the Magic Castle is a beautiful and historic building. UPDATE: Magician Lary Crews tweeted details: "120 firefighters ...
Read in browser Air Space - a trip through an airport detention center
By Jacob Appelbaum on Oct 31, 2011 07:25 pm The Iceland Air lounge has helpful staff—the welcome desk offers helpful tips on avoiding airport hassles and even provides free internet access. They'll help you read your boarding pass and even answer questions about all its confusing symbols. Should one ever be in the unfortunate position of having the dreaded '
SSSS' marked upon it, the help desk will suggest you wait until the exact boarding time before even approaching customs. They'll even apologize, as if they had any hand in the process. And that was their recommendation to me, when I had it clearly printed on mine. It was not my lucky day.
Read in browser Gweek podcast episode 024: John Hodgman
By Mark Frauenfelder on Oct 31, 2011 06:28 pm Our guest co-host is John Hodgman, actor, "resident expert" on The Daily Show, celebrity judge, and book author. The third and final installment in his trilogy of Complete World Knowledge -- That Is All -- comes out on November 1. John spoke with Rob Beschizza, Ruben Bolling, and me about his book and many other ...
Read in browser Faster-than-light neutrino update: What's going on behind the scenes?
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Oct 31, 2011 06:02 pm The publication process for a research paper about physics works a little differently than other subjects. That's because of arXiv. Funded by Cornell University, this site posts research papers, before they're formally published in a scientific journal. Unlike most scientific journals, which charge big fees for subscriptions or even to view a single paper, arXiv ...
Read in browser Vintage Hallowe'en postcards
By Cory Doctorow on Oct 31, 2011 05:38 pm Here's a beautiful gallery of vintage Hallowe'en postcards from the New York Public Library Picture Collection on Flickr. Haunted Postcards (via How to Be a Retronaut)
Read in browser The problems with the Gates Foundation malaria vaccine
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Oct 31, 2011 05:01 pm Don't get too excited about the RTS,S malaria vaccine, the development of which is being funded by the Gates Foundation. At present, the vaccine doesn't seem to work well enough to make a difference and nobody knows what it's going to cost (a big deal when you're talking about a disease like malaria, which goes ...
Read in browser How yogurt can alter gene expression
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Oct 31, 2011 04:49 pm Scientists don't actually know how the bacteria in yogurt and other fermented foods help humans digest food easier. But a recent study hit on a possible explanation. Turns out, some probiotics seem to be capable of altering gene expression in our native gut flora. Jeffrey Gordon, a microbiologist at Washington University in St. Louis, and ...
Read in browser Oakland PD told a judge it wouldn't use projectile weapons any more
By Cory Doctorow on Oct 31, 2011 04:07 pm The Oakland PD's use of projectile weapons such as flashbang grenades used in the assault (possibly by non-OPD officers) on the Occupy Oakland camp seems to violate the 2004 court settlement it agreed to in a class-action settlement with Iraq war demonstrators who were assaulted by police: "You would think that after signing an agreement ...
Read in browser The 2011 DIY Halloween costume open thread
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Oct 31, 2011 04:05 pm One artfully torn dress from Goodwill, white face paint, and some of that hairspray-style hair dye to color my hands and feet = A weekend of explaining what a "wight" is to people who have never read Game of Thrones. (Sadly, the cheap blue contact lenses I picked up at a gas station wouldn't go ...
Read in browser Circusleaks: documents show cruelty to elephants at Ringling Bros.
By Xeni Jardin on Oct 31, 2011 03:58 pm Mother Jones has published the results of its yearlong investigation that rips the big top off how Ringling Bros. circus treats its elephants. "The Cruelest Show on Earth."
Read in browser Hollywood production in Chinese city of Linyi attended by human rights abuses
By Cory Doctorow on Oct 31, 2011 03:43 pm According to Chinese activists, the production of a Hollywood movie called "21 and Over" from Relativity Media in the Chinese city of Linyi has led to human rights abuses. Local activists accuse the government of Linyi of horrific corruption and violence, and the arrival of the production crew has been attended by gangs of unidentified ...
Read in browser Inn at the Crossroads: A "Game of Thrones" cooking blog
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Oct 31, 2011 03:42 pm I've long been a big fan of modern attempts to cook medieval cuisine (see: Medievalcookery.com, University of Chicago Press' The Medieval Kitchen, and all the various scanned, historic cookbooks available through Wikipedia). There's something about the cultural anthropology of food that just really appeals to me. Plus, I love the way historic cookbooks assume you ...
Read in browser Spooky nebula
By David Pescovitz on Oct 31, 2011 03:15 pm Space ghosts dance amongst the interstellar clouds of creation. "SH2 136: A Spooky Nebula" (NASA)
Read in browser Free Alaa. Again.
By Xeni Jardin on Oct 31, 2011 03:08 pm This weekend, Egyptian blogger, Twitter activist, and human rights advocate Alaa Abd El Fattah (@alaa), who is something of a legend, went in to a military court in Egypt for interrogation. "He refused to answer the military's questions, refused to grant them legitimacy, and was thus detained for 15 days," Jillian York writes in this ...
Read in browser Occupy Oakland: photos before and after violent police raid
By Xeni Jardin on Oct 31, 2011 03:01 pm About the photos above and below, Mike Godwin says, The "Before" photo, with Occupy Oakland tents in place, was taken October 21. Photographer Donna Enright, an Oakland resident, says she took the photo because she heard from her employer that Occupy Oakland had been served with a notice that the demonstrators were to be evicted. ...
Read in browser (Every Day Is) Halloween
By David Pescovitz on Oct 31, 2011 03:00 pm Well I live with snakes and lizards and other things that go bump in the night 'Cuz to me everyday is Halloween I have given up hiding and started to fight Ministry's "(Every Day Is) Halloween," 1985
Read in browser Cain Train, Baby: another Tim Heidecker mock campaign jingle featuring Rich Little (audio)
By Xeni Jardin on Oct 31, 2011 02:47 pm I don't know how Tim Heidecker's gonna top this latest song: "CAIN TRAIN, BABY." Audio's here. Featuring famed voice actor Rich Little. Heidecker, in case you don't know, is half of "Tim and Eric," and has been cranking out these weird surrealist Herman Cain anti-jingles for a couple weeks now. Anyway, that's Heidecker, in the ...
Read in browser White House required by law to oppose marijuana legalization
By Cory Doctorow on Oct 31, 2011 02:38 pm The White House recently responded to a petition on marijuana legalization with a statement that amounted to "go away and don't bother us, pot will turn you into a depraved junkie." Turns out that the legislation that established America's drug czar requires the office-holder to oppose all drug legalization efforts.
Read in browser Hasan Elahi: "Giving the F.B.I. What It Wants"
By Xeni Jardin on Oct 31, 2011 02:31 pm We've blogged before about artist Hasan Elahi, who learned in 2008 that he was being tracked as a terror suspect by the U.S. for undisclosed reasons. He has never been charged with a crime, but that's hardly needed these days, thanks to the Patriot Act (which recently turned 10). The New York Times this weekend ...
Read in browser Happy Halloween
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Oct 31, 2011 02:26 pm Via Incidental Comics Thanks to Kristina Killgrove for the link.
Read in browser Occupy Oakland protesters claim presence of police infiltrators and provocateurs
By Xeni Jardin on Oct 31, 2011 02:22 pm Video Link: "Copwatch@Occupy Oakland: Beware of Police Infiltrators and Provocateurs."
Read in browser Occupy the Nor-easter: NYC OWS protesters braved a snowstorm this weekend
By Xeni Jardin on Oct 31, 2011 02:16 pm Boing Boing reader Peter Brauer says, I went down to OWS to see how folks were fairing during the nor-easter. The weather was bleak, but spirits were high. I don't think these folks are going any where any time soon. Support your local #occupation this winter. via Video Link: YouTube.
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