WATCHISMO TIME MACHINES - Timing is everything...
3D printed Möbius strips loaded with ball-bearings Mark Dery's new essay collection: I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts Moon boxes and mystery men Shredding company's awesome logo The child brothels of Bangladesh (and an odd link with cattle and chemotherapy) 64th Annual Conference on World Affairs in Boulder Federal agents raid medical marijuana school on Oakland Complete scans of 70s electronic music magazine Synapse How long does food poisoning last? Large Hadron Collider turned back on Manson at 77 A car that can run on the road or the rails Fighting game community split over porn site sponsor Robot band performs "Come Together" Crowd-funded epic journey across America by train Frustro, the impossible typeface Brian Wood's DMZ, vol 11: a long tale nears its worthy conclusion Linux Tycoon game simulates making your own Linux distro Mark interviews Daniel Clowes at Meltdown in LA, April 4, 2012 Yes Tool: copper demolition axe How food spherification works Richard Clark: the President should create customs inspections for data leaving American cyberspace Consumer Reports: people care about online privacy Google's augmented reality glasses project Canada's warrantless spying bill is coming back, and it's worse than before Register for a chance to watch a SpaceX launch in style Nokia Lumia 900 Diverse nursing uniforms modeled by not-particularly-diverse cast of nurses How to: Survive rabies without really trying Reddit-based PAC takes aim at SOPA-sponsor Lamar Smith 3D printed Möbius strips loaded with ball-bearings
By Cory Doctorow on Apr 05, 2012 12:57 pm I had a bit of a rummage on the Shapeways marketplace today and came up with some 3D printed gubbins that I'm intrigued by. First up is Stop4Stuff's "Twin Rail Mobius," a set of nested Möbius strips that can be loaded with ball-bearings. A half shell and 3 rails form a bearing-like structure to encapsulate ...
Read in browser Mark Dery's new essay collection: I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts
By David Pescovitz on Apr 05, 2012 12:51 pm Boing Boing contributor Mark Dery has just published "I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts: Drive-by Essays on American Dread, American Dreams," a long-awaited compendium of his oft-brutal, usually funny, and always-brilliant writings on the curious, bizarre, and downright dark crevices of our culture. The collection includes such evergreens as Gray Matter: The Obscure Pleasures of ...
Read in browser Moon boxes and mystery men
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Apr 05, 2012 12:38 pm See the box in this photo? It's more interesting than it looks. This is a box that went to the Moon. Astronauts used the boxes to collect and bring back to Earth nearly 50 pounds of moon rocks and soil ... Each of the boxes was machined from a single piece of aluminum, "seamless except ...
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By Cory Doctorow on Apr 05, 2012 12:26 pm Snapped yesterday near my flat in east London, this Irish shredding company's logo on the back of their truck. Talk about "does what it says on the tin!" Awesome logo on hard-drive-shredding service's lorry, Brunswick Place, Hackney, London, UK
Read in browser The child brothels of Bangladesh (and an odd link with cattle and chemotherapy)
By Xeni Jardin on Apr 05, 2012 12:26 pm Hashi, a 17-year-old sex worker, embraces "husband" (known as a "Babu") inside her small room at the Kandapara brothel in Tangail, a northeastern city of Bangladesh. Many young and inexperienced prostitutes have "lovers" or "husbands" who normally live outside the brothel occasionally taking money and sex from them in exchange for security in this male ...
Read in browser 64th Annual Conference on World Affairs in Boulder
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Apr 05, 2012 12:24 pm Next week is one of my favorite times of the year, when I get inundated with smart people and interesting ideas, like some kind of geeky Christmas. For the second time, I'll be a speaker at the University of Colorado-Boulder's Conference on World Affairs (Mark will be there too!). The Conference is unlike anything I've ...
Read in browser Federal agents raid medical marijuana school on Oakland
By Mark Frauenfelder on Apr 05, 2012 12:22 pm [Video Link] Drug Policy Alliance's Ethan Nadelmann talks about the raid at Oaksterdam University in the San Francisco Bay area. He speaks with Trish Regan and Adam Johnson on Bloomberg Television's "Street Smart." Sign the petition to Obama to stop the medical marijuana raids.
Read in browser Complete scans of 70s electronic music magazine Synapse
By Rob Beschizza on Apr 05, 2012 12:21 pm Twelve issues of electronic music magazine Synapse, covering fall 1976 to summer 1979, are scanned and ready for your perusal at Cyndustries. SPECIAL THANKS TO: Doug Lynner, Angela Schill, Seth Nemec, Chris August, Greg Leslie, Scott Stites, Steve Cunningham, Fred Becker, Yves Usson, John Mahoney, Michael Bacich, Mark Glinsky, Peter Forrest, Tim Parkhurst, George Kisslak, ...
Read in browser How long does food poisoning last?
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Apr 05, 2012 12:10 pm I recently had what I am pretty sure was foodborne illness. It arrived in the middle of a friend's birthday party, a sudden onslaught of misery that lasted for the next 8 hours, reminding me, horribly, of a similar scene in The Mask of the Red Death. It was followed by two days of pretty ...
Read in browser Large Hadron Collider turned back on
By Rob Beschizza on Apr 05, 2012 12:04 pm Buttons glow in the control room of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) near Geneva on April 5, 2012. At 0:38 CEST this morning, the LHC shift crew declared "stable beams" as two 4 TeV proton beams were brought into collision at the LHC's four interaction points. The ...
Read in browser Manson at 77
By Rob Beschizza on Apr 05, 2012 11:54 am Charles Manson is up for his 12th parole hearing. In response to a CNN request, the California Department of Corrections has posted a fresh mugshot [Via LA Times]
Read in browser A car that can run on the road or the rails
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Apr 05, 2012 11:44 am This customized 1957 Pontiac was used by the Erie Mining Company to transport supervisors up and down the company's 74-mile-long Mainline railroad, which shipped taconite from mines in northern Minnesota to coastal ports and processing facilities on Lake Superior. Every day, seven 96-car trains full of taconite travel down this rail line. The Pontiac was ...
Read in browser Fighting game community split over porn site sponsor
By Rob Beschizza on Apr 05, 2012 11:40 am The fighting game community has another image problem to deal with: the prospect of sponsorship from porn giant Brazzers. At Ars Technica, Kyle Orland tracks the community's internal debate. Associating with an industry that's seen as degrading to women might be an extra-sensitive topic for professional fighting gamers now, given that accusations of sexual harassment ...
Read in browser Robot band performs "Come Together"
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Apr 05, 2012 11:31 am I'm having flashbacks to childhood visits to Showbiz Pizza, but this robot band, put together by researchers at Drexel University for an Engineering Week exhibition, is a bit more impressive than the animatronic animals that entertained people over plates of bad pizza. For one thing: These musical bots aren't just going through the motions, performing ...
Read in browser Crowd-funded epic journey across America by train
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Apr 05, 2012 11:20 am Last Monday, I spoke to the Boston Skeptics about energy, infrastructure, and my new book, Before the Lights Go Out. After that talk, I met Erik "Skippy" Sund, a guy who is about to embark on an amazing adventure that he's hoping to crowd-source. Erik is planning on traveling across the United States by train. ...
Read in browser Frustro, the impossible typeface
By Rob Beschizza on Apr 05, 2012 10:58 am Inspired by impossible objects a la Reutersvärd, Escher and Penrose, designer Martzi Hegedus created Frustro, a mind-bending typeface. [via Illusion 360]
Read in browser Brian Wood's DMZ, vol 11: a long tale nears its worthy conclusion
By Cory Doctorow on Apr 05, 2012 09:00 am Free States Rising is the 11th (and penultimate) collection of Brian Wood's masterful (anti-)war comic, DMZ. Wood has spent the past half-decade spinning this tightly plotted, gripping, and sardonic adventure story about a second American civil war fought in Manhattan, told from the point-of-view of Matty Roth, a reporter who becomes part of the story. ...
Read in browser Linux Tycoon game simulates making your own Linux distro
By Cory Doctorow on Apr 05, 2012 12:38 am Lunduke has created Linux Tycoon, a $4 sim-game that simulates making your own GNU/Linux distribution. It looks like rather a lot of fun, actually: So what exactly do you do in a Linux Distro Building game? So glad you asked! Here's some examples of the thrilling challenges you'll find in Linux Tycoon: * Analyzing and ...
Read in browser Mark interviews Daniel Clowes at Meltdown in LA, April 4, 2012
By Mark Frauenfelder on Apr 04, 2012 11:11 pm A one night only event honoring the release of the First Monograph of Clowes’s work. Hosted by Blair Butler (of G4’s Fresh Ink), this night will include a discussion with Clowes and Mark Frauenfelder of Boing Boing, and a Q&A with the man of the hour! Also in attendance: Alvin Buenaventura the Chief Cloweseania Chronicler ...
Read in browser Yes Tool: copper demolition axe
By Rob Beschizza on Apr 04, 2012 10:17 pm Homeland Security Equipment is one of those blandly-named and blandly-designed sites that contains unexpected delights, such as the wicked Yes Tool, a demolition axe made entirely of copper. It even has the de riguer bottle opener, so you can drink the flat, sun-skunked beer of the apocalypse. [Thanks, Tim!] Previously: The Annihilator
Read in browser How food spherification works
By Cory Doctorow on Apr 04, 2012 10:03 pm On IO9, Esther Inglis-Arkell does a great job of describing the molecular gastronomy practice of "spherification," whereby food is liquefied and then coaxed into forming gelatinous spheres. It has its origin in a 1950s drug-delivery project from Unilever, but was revived by chef Ferran Adrià around 2003. What spherification does is put back in what ...
Read in browser Richard Clark: the President should create customs inspections for data leaving American cyberspace
By Cory Doctorow on Apr 04, 2012 08:16 pm Zartan sez, "This might be the single stupidest thing I've read all year. Richard Clark advocates that the president take action to 'increase cyber security' in the absence of congressional action, including literally hilarious (if not so scary) ideas like the following: 'If given the proper authorization, the United States government could stop files in ...
Read in browser Consumer Reports: people care about online privacy
By Cory Doctorow on Apr 04, 2012 05:43 pm A piece of research by Consumer Reports finds that Americans care about their online privacy. Many people look at the wholesale privacy disclosures taking place on social networks and conclude that this means that people don't care about privacy. But this ignores the possibility that people find social networking compelling, but can't figure out how ...
Read in browser Google's augmented reality glasses project
By David Pescovitz on Apr 04, 2012 04:18 pm Google just announced their augmented reality project. It's called Project Glass. From the announcement on Google+: We think technology should work for you—to be there when you need it and get out of your way when you don't. A group of us from Google[x] started Project Glass to build this kind of technology, one that ...
Read in browser Canada's warrantless spying bill is coming back, and it's worse than before
By Cory Doctorow on Apr 04, 2012 04:02 pm Michael Geist writes in with news of Canada's bill C-30, the insane, overreaching warrantless spying bill that collapsed earlier this year on a wave of public disapprobation. As you might have suspected, it's back. Michael sez, "The Canadian government has placed Bill C-30, the lawful access/online surveillance bill on hold, but there is no reason ...
Read in browser Register for a chance to watch a SpaceX launch in style
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Apr 04, 2012 02:56 pm Plan on being in Florida on April 29/30? Then you should register to watch the launch of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket as part of a NASA Social. There are only 50 spots available, randomly selected from the pool of registrants. If you get in, you'll get a tour of the launch pad and Kennedy Space ...
Read in browser Nokia Lumia 900
By Rob Beschizza on Apr 04, 2012 02:49 pm Reviews of Nokia's Lumia 900 are in: Ars Technica, The Verge, Gizmodo, Engadget and Wired each have in-depth coverage of the new flagship Windows Phone. The good points include nice hardware, an inexpensive price tag (when under contract, at least) and the attractive design of the handset itself. The cons include a low-res display—it's only ...
Read in browser Diverse nursing uniforms modeled by not-particularly-diverse cast of nurses
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Apr 04, 2012 02:48 pm These nursing uniforms come from the Philippines, Denmark, British Honduras; Hong Kong, Madeira, Kenya; Nepal, Dominican Republic, and Colombia. The nurses, one suspects, do not. The photo, though, is really interesting. I'd love to know more about why nursing uniforms differed so dramatically. Some of it is surely cultural. But then you look at things ...
Read in browser How to: Survive rabies without really trying
By Maggie Koerth-Baker on Apr 04, 2012 02:36 pm This is an awkward sort of "How To" post because nobody really knows the answer. Here's the rather bleak reality: Rabies is not, typically, something you live through. If you think you've been exposed, you can get a life-saving vaccine. But, if you miss that window, and symptoms start to appear, your chances of survival ...
Read in browser Reddit-based PAC takes aim at SOPA-sponsor Lamar Smith
By Cory Doctorow on Apr 04, 2012 02:33 pm Test PAC, the Reddit-based PAC founded to raise money to support opponents of Lamar Smith, the author of SOPA, has placed its first billboard and is set to run its first advertisements. The materials direct people to unseatlamar.com. Ajpos from TestPAC explains: Analytics take a few days to come in, and the billboard has been ...
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