30-year-old musician, comic book author, and painter Mazen Kerbaj in Beirut has been blogging throughout the recent violence. You can view some of his recent drawings here on his blog.

Listen to a six-minute ambient, improvisational music piece he performed -- accompanied by the sound of falling bombs. "Starry Night" -- Audio link, alternate MP3 link, more links.

Cropped above: "Family Tree," here's the full-size: Link. "This is not a political blog," writes Mazen, and he continues:

for the israeli musicians, painters, writers, thinkers, intellectuals and for all the israeli in israel and around the world who sent us supportive emails and comments,

we know you are here.
we know you are hearing us.
we know you are hearing the bombs getting down on civilians and kids.
kids from lebanon.
kids from israel.
kids from al over the world.

we know that like us, you feel ashamed.

we know you are not a lot.

but we shall meet one day.
when our people will wake up.
in 10.000 years.

Link. (Thanks, Mr Angry)

BoingBoing reader Andy Carvin writes,

Watching all the coverage of the fighting in Lebanon this week, i was curious to know exactly the scale of the distances involved between northern Israel and Beirut. I'd been to the region before but not where the fighting was going on. So I decided to take a screenshot of the war zone from Google Maps and overlay it with a map of part of the northeast US, using the same scale for both images. The result is this short video. Once you've downloaded the video, slide the scrubber back and forth so you can see the two maps overlap each other. For Americans who are used to countries being thousands of miles wide, it's quite astonishing to realize what a compact area of land is affected by the fighting. For example, the distance between Haifa and Beirut isn't much difference than the distance between Providence, Rhode Island and Lowell, Massachusetts.

Link, includes short video.

Reader comment: Edward West says,

I enjoyed Andy Carvin's video of the Middle East being overlayed with the Northeast US, but, being a native Californian, it didn't give me a visceral sense for the scale, not really grokking how far Boston is from Providence. So I overlayed a screenshot of his map on a map of the Bay Area at the same scale. It's a little bit jumbled with the three areas all on top of eachother, but (I think) interesting nonetheless. Link.

Following up on Bush's unsolicited shoulder smoosh of German chancellor Merkel yesterday, Michael Shaughnessy says,

I can only imagine what Chancellor Merkel was thinking and it can't be positive. While 'personal space' is less than what you have in the US, Germans still have social tabus on touching, especially in such a public forum as the G8 summit. Germans may be obsessed with shaking hands, but it is a very brief shake. Even family members will shake hands with each other. Touching of this sort is for -very- close friends in private. At least this produced yet another cool German word: "Blitz-Massage."

Here is an excerpt from an etiquette guide for Germany, interesting and funny stuff: Link.

But Michael was among many BB readers who wrote,

Bush's "Liebes-Attacke" looks more like the Vulcan nerve pinch to me: Link.

Thanks for the image, Michael! Link to full-size, mit super-important analysis.

Previously:
Bush "gropes" Germany's (female) chancellor Merkel

Reader comment: #!chris says,

Hello from old Europe. As a German I must say that Bush meeting Merkel naked in the sauna would be inappropriate because of the lack of seriousness, but _way_ less offensive for her. It's not so much offensive in a sexual way but more in a sexist and arrogant way - at least this is how it is perceived by most (!= all) people I talked to. He decides to cross her physical borders without asking for her consent or without being in a context that implies consent. However, this might be just one of the many cultural misunderstandings you get used to working internationally. Though - I never got a spontaneous massage by any business contact from US yet :-)

Liz says,

With regard to your posting at Boing Boing, isn't the legal term for what Bush did to the German Chancellor "assault & battery"? Although I do understand that those in power are above the law, I think it's always helpful to remember what they might be arrested for in a real democracy, don't you? [smirk]

Adam Garcia says,

I was listening to the excellent podcast of the world by pri (Link) and at ten minutes into the show he went into a story about Angela Merkel doing a weekly podcast to explain her policies to the citizens of Germany. The local bloggers went nuts! According to the show "Germany has practically no tradition of political humor using video images of politicians". Check out this funny video of the blogger remixed version.

Following up on news earlier this week that the government of India blocked access to a wide array of websites (Link to BB post), Mridula says,

Nandan, an Indian blogger filed an application under Right to Information Act 2005 seeking the government to explain:

"My RTI Application was filed to find out why a blanket block has taken place for Blogspot.com, Typepad.com and Geocities.com. You can find a step by step guide to filing an RTI application (specifically for this ban) here."

The irony is the Government takes one month to reply and then can deny an answer quoting 'National Security' as a reason.

Link.

BoingBoing reader Ace Bhattacharjya writes, "I'm a member of the South Asian Journalists' Association. Please see this clarification from A.R. Ghanashyam, Deputy Consul General, New York (many of you met him at this week at the SAJA Convention and know him through his earlier work as the consul in charge of dealing with the press here)."

From: A.R.Ghanashyam [dcg@indiacgny.org]
Subject: Blog Issue in India

July 19, 2006

Dear Sree:

Reference our discussions and correspondence on the issue of blocking of blogs in India, we had taken up the matter with the authorities concerned in the Department of Telecommunications in the Government of India and the facts are as under:

A two-page write up containing extremely derogatory references to Islam and the holy prophet which had the potential to inflame religious sensitivities in India and create serious law and order problems in the country appeared in a blog facilitated by well known search engines. The matter was immediately taken note of by our CERT (Computer Emergency Response Team) and the Department of Telecommunications (DOT) was informed of it. The DOT took up the matter forthwith with the search engines and instructions were also issued to all Internet providers to block the two impertinent pages. Because of a technological error, the Internet providers went beyond what was expected of them which in turn resulted in the unfortunate blocking of all blogs. Department of Telecommunications have now clarified the issue and the error is being rectified and it is expected that normalcy in respect of blogs will soon be restored.

This is for your information.

A.R. Ghanashyam
Deputy Consul General
New York

Link.

Hob Gadling says,

Rediff is reporting that India's blog blockade will end in 48 hours. According to a spokesperson of the Internet Service Providers Association of India, the block happened as some ISPs misunderstood the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) notice and blocked entire blog domains instead of individual blogs. Ironically, the report lists the individual sites blocked thus attracting more attention towards them.

Patrix M. of Desipundit and other blogs says,

Just read your Update post on Blogspot ban in India. This newspaper article examines each of those blogs and exposes the inept and ham-handed way in which the censorship was carried out. Almost all of the blogs or rather the content in those blogs have nothing to do with national security of India. I guess India too has their share of Ted Stevens who have scant knowledge of the Internet and to make it worse, they lack reading skills as well. Dang! I am pissed as hell.

From XKCD ("A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language"), this most excellent, most sarcastic comic about emo kids and computational linguistics. Link (via JWZ)

Boing Boing pal and hero Paul Krassner is interviewed on The RU Sirius Show this week.

RU SIRIUS: You went through the fifties, and you went through the Nixon years, and you’ve been through George W. Which was the worst?

PAUL KRASSNER: These are the worst times I’ve ever lived in. But I’m sure the crusades weren’t that much fun.

Link

You don't need strychnine-laced acid for this gallery of old black light posters to trigger a bad trip. Link Alt link (Thanks, Coop!)

Wildlife in Lubbock Texas are "baffled" by this fish that has teeth resembling those of a human that does not practice good dental hygiene. Link (Thanks, Kim!)

Reader comments:

Mike Bishop says:

The fish with human teeth is most likely a sheepshead. We have these all over the place in West Palm Beach where I live. They'll freak you out the first time you catch one and see those human-looking teeth. Check out this article and photo, taken by someone in Texas interestingly enough.

Brett Burton says:

Contrary to what Mike Bishop said, I don't think the fish is a sheepshead. it looks a lot more like a pacu, which is what the article said. Here's a good image of a pacu.

You'll notice that the pacu's face is wider and only the bottom teeth are visible, just like fish found in Texas.

Cryptozoologist Loren Coleman says:

Yes, this is a pacu (Piaractus brachypomus). As a strange but infrequent member of the exotic pet fish trade, the pacu, like the piranha, are sometimes dumped in ponds and similar locations. Articles about "piranhas" in the neighborhood stream or swimming hole are an annual exercise for those of us that watch such matters closely, to separate the truly unusual (a sighting of a Lake Monster) from the mundane (another pacu or piranha caught).

It is easy to google (pacu teeth) several photos that look like the one posted, and see a comparable pix here

The media is calling them "human teeth" but they only appear that way. They are, however, merely pacu teeth, which have a Homo sapiens molar-like appearance to human reporters.

The selections in the Wellcome Trust's Biomedical Image Awards 2006 are truly incredible. From bugs to brain cells, colon cancers to collagen fibrils, this look at the natural world just boggles my mind. The images were chosen from recent acquisitions of the Welccome Library's Medical Photographic Library, a wonderful online gallery in its own right containing images from 1,000 years of medical history. Seen here is Ludovic Collin's confocal micrograph of nerve cells. From the image description:

A cluster of special nerve cells called cerebellar granule cells, growing in culture. These cells naturally gather together, and when placed in a culture dish covered in a particular protein, they start sending out long projections (yellow/green) as they would in the developing brain.

Link (via easternblot.net)

I find this chart hard to believe: I know a shot of espresso has less caffeine in it than a cup of drip coffee but does a grande Starbucks drip really have 550mg of caffeine while a single shot of espresso has just 35mg? Link (via Paul Boutin)

Reader comments:

Aaron says:

I saw your caffine post and it reminded me that according to the Erowid drug information site, the L.D. 50 for caffeine (the amount that is lethal for 50% of a test population) is between one and four grams. So, according to the link you posted, a single grande coffee at Starbucks is just over half of the bottom of that range. It's also worth noting that they list anything over 400mg as a "heavy" dose.

John says:

Rule of thumb for coffee and caffeine: the darker the roast, hotter the water and faster the water goes through the coffee, the lower the caffeine. Hence, espresso is generally the lowest caffeinated (real, non-decaf) coffee drink you can get.

Also, some recent studies have shown that the caffeine in a cup of coffee can vary wildly from cup to cup, even from the same pot. Well, this last bit of info I learned recently from the interweb, so it may be bogus.

Rigel says:

LD50s are typically computed from animal models, which may or may [not] vary in their extensibility to human data.

Also, not just is that 550mg figure very likely completely wrong, but the variability in caffeine content in a cup of brewed coffee is HUGE, as shown in this paper.

Sean says:

I too question the original site but I also question the Erowid source. Using the rat LD50 data from Erowid I get:

e.g. a 150lb person 150lbs = 68.04kg

68.0388555kg * 192mg/kg of body weight = 13,063.4603mg

or about 13 grams, not 1-4.

I know this is using rats and the method of administration is not mentioned so from wikipedia:

The minimum lethal dose of caffeine ever reported is 3,200 mg, administered intravenously. The LD50 of caffeine is estimated between 13 and 19 grams for oral administration for an average adult.

So a person would have to drink over 100 cups of coffee within a small time span to reach the LD50. That reminds me of the Futurama episode "300 big boys".

Stella Im Hultberg is an incredible painter and illustrator based in New York City. Interestingly, her background is in toy design and industrial design and she only started showing in galleries last year. Her beautiful work makes me think of Egon Schiele and Ralph Steadman meeting in one of Aubrey Beardsley's absinthe dreams. Seen here, "after my dreams are dreamed out," 2006, ink, watercolor, tea on paper, 10" x 8".
Link (via Drawn!)

This is a USB 2.0 hub disguised as a "Self Destruction Button." Pushing the button plays sound files too. Available in Japan or online through GeekStuff4U.com for $61.39.
Link (via Akihabara News)

The Digital Hero is an $80 camera that straps to your wrist and pivots up for shooting. Apparently it's designed for extreme athletes to document their activities like skiing, skateboarding, surfing, and, er, race car driving. The company claims that the Hero is shock-proof and waterproof down to 30 feet. Still, the resolution is just 640 x 480 and the memory is maxed out at 32MB. I kinda dig the bulk of it though.
Link (via Gizmodo)

Guillaume Reymond and his collaborators at NOTsoNOISY created this amazing stop-motion video of space invaders. Sixty-seven people act as the "pixels." The three minute video took 4 hours to film. It was a project for the festival Belluard Bollwerk International earlier this month in Fribourg, Switzerland. Last year, the group produced a similar piece based on Pong.
Link to video on YouTube, Link to project page

Douglas Rushkoff wrote a funny short story about sex in the future, called Inbox. It's about a 70-year-old in the year 2033 who, thanks to life extension and rejuvenation technology, looks 30. The story is presented through the main character's email inbox.

Date: March 3, 2033
From: Tally Stern
To: Mark Johnson
Subject: last try

Okay, so I Googled you last night even though I promised I wouldn't. But you haven't emailed in a week so I figured all bets were off.

Why didn't you just tell me you were 75? I mean, it's not like I'm looking for a serious relationship now, anyway. When you didn't know your way around campus I guessed you were an over-40, anyway. And I'm open-minded. I mean, my parents probably wouldn't want me going out with someone older than them. Or than their parents, probably. But they just don't get it. With nano, it's just a number, right?

I should've figured it out when I saw those White Stripes songs in your playlist. But lots of people my age listen to oldies, too. I mean, people really rocked back then, too. They had war and everything to think about.

Or is it me? Just write back, okay? Don't discriminate because of my age. You wouldn't have wanted me to fake it, would you? Besides, I've got to learn, somehow, don't I?

Link

Scott Rosenberg of Salon has an excellent blog entry explaining why Bush's threat to veto federal funding of stem cell research is shamefully ridiculous.

Here is why Bush's position is a joke: Thousands and thousands of embryos are destroyed every year in fertility clinics. They are created in petri dishes as part of fertility treatments like IVF; then they are discarded. If Bush and his administration truly believe that destroying an embryo is a kind of murder, they shouldn't be wasting their time arguing about research funding: They should immediately shut down every fertility clinic in the country, arrest the doctors and staff who operate them, and charge all the wannabe parents who have been wantonly slaughtering legions of the unborn. But of course they'll never do such a thing. (Nor, to be absolutely clear, do I think they should.) Bush could not care less about this issue except as far as it helps burnish his pro-life credentials among his "base."

Link

In 1992 Czech animator Jan Svankmajer made a surreal movie trilogy called Food. They combined live action with claymation and are exceedingly weird and funny. WFMU's great Beware of the Blog has them available for viewing as QuickTime videos.

Part Two, Lunch: The best of the three parts, in which an inattentive waiter forces two diners to partake in lunch without food. They eat everything on their table - the flowers, the tablecloth, their plates, their clothes, and in a nod to Charlie Chaplin's The Gold Rush, their shoes. But it doesn't stop there.

Link

Chris Meadows says: "On the subject of sailing around the world, here's a plug for The Boy Who Sailed Around the World Alone by Robin Lee Graham. It's an autobiographical tale, illustrated with copious photos, of a teenager who became the youngest person (at least at the time) to sail solo around the world. I read it as a kid, and found it really fascinating. It's out of print now, but you can still find used copies if you look. Link

The amazing Pew Internet Life project has just released a study on blogging in the USA -- it's full of really chunky stats compiled from phone interviews with bloggers: "most bloggers are primarily interested in creative, personal expression -- documenting individual experiences, sharing practical knowledge, or just keeping in touch with friends and family."

* The most distinguishing characteristic of bloggers is their youth. More than half (54%) of bloggers are under the age of 30. Like the internet population in general, however, bloggers are evenly divided between men and women, and more than half live in the suburbs. Another third live in urban areas and a scant 13% live in rural regions.

* Another distinguishing characteristic is that bloggers are less likely to be white than the general internet population. Sixty percent of bloggers are white, 11% are African American, 19% are English-speaking Hispanic and 10% identify as some other race. By contrast, 74% of internet users are white, 9% are African American, 11% are English-speaking Hispanic and 6% identify as some other race...

* 55% of bloggers blog under a pseudonym, and 46% blog under their own name.

* 84% of bloggers describe their blog as either a “hobby” or just “something I do, but not something I spend a lot of time on.”

* 59% of bloggers spend just one or two hours per week tending their blog. One in ten bloggers spend ten or more hours per week on their blog.

Link

Windows XP ships with system sounds that were created with a cracked version of Sony's SoundForge program -- and the sounds contain a thank-you screen acknowledging the warez dood who cracked the Sony program.

At first, that sounds anything but spectacular. It seems as if the Microsoft musician or the freelance musician commissioned by Microsoft used the Sony-made software " Sound Forge " (formerly Sonic) in its 4.5 version. Sound Forge is a tool for professionals and enables users to create WAV, AIFF, MP3 and other music files priced at $400.

On its face, all that's not unusual: Microsoft uses professional software. Who would've thought? But wait a minute, who or what is "DeepzOne"?

Bingo!

DeepzOne is (or at least was) member of the Warez group Radium that had specialized on cracking music software. Along with a person using the alias "Sandor," he was also co-founder of this group, which was established in 1997( see in this interview ). In addition, it was DeepzOne who started circulating the cracked 4.5 version of Sound Forge a few years ago.

Link (Thanks, Raul!)