A is for Aquaman: underwear pervert alphabet

By Xeni Jardin at 11:04 pm Wednesday, Aug 23 • Comments • Share

Ape Lad says,

Here's another one hour alphabet, this time with a theme. I listed all the characters before I started the hour though and it is pretty heavy on the Jack Kirby creations. Not that that's a bad thing.

Link to this one-hour-alphabet, and here's a previous one of those, and a monster alphabet.

Evolution of speech balloons

By David Pescovitz at 10:54 pm Wednesday, Aug 23 • Comments • Share

This fascinating "History of Picture Stories" has a page showing the evolution of speech balloons, the ubiquitous graphic convention used to convey that comic characters are saying something. The image seen here is detail of Bernhard Strigel's "Saint Anne and Angel" (1506/1607). From the Evolution of Speechballoons page:

During the 18th century, British caricaturists changed the shape of speechballoons from gothic speech-bands or flags into fluffy balloons, our modern speechballoons.

I'm using the word speechballoon as the general, inclusive term. (The gothic form of speechballoons are speechbands, flags, scrolls or sheets of paper, the modern form of speechballoons are balloons, but also little rectangles, often rounded at the edges, or simply little blocks of text above the heads of the speaker etc, etc).

The 18th century term for speechballoons was 'labels'.

Link (via Drawn!)

And there's more on the subject in the brand new issue of the always-magnificent Comic Art magazine, now in book format. I can't wait to get my copy! Link

The Osama bin Laden I Screwed

By Xeni Jardin at 10:45 pm Wednesday, Aug 23 • Comments • Share

Excerpt from a Harpers excerpt of the previously-BoingBoinged tell-all by Kola Boof, who claims to have once been the lover of Osama bin Laden:

He would humiliate me by making me dance naked. It was such a strange thing, because for the most part he believed music was evil. If a guest at the estate played music, he would cover his ears until the “poison” was silenced. But other times he would become this devout party boy who wanted to hear Van Halen or some B-52's. To this day I hear the song “Rock Lobster” in my sleep. I would be jerking around like a white girl–“Dance like a Caucasoid girl!” he would say–and his eyes would track me from one side of the terrace to the other. “Your ass is too big, show me the front,” he said. Osama, you understand, did not know the difference between being vicious and being tender. (...)

“Why do you wear your hair braided?” he asked.

“Because my braids are beautiful,” I replied.

Osama said only monkeys braid their hair. He told me that the singer Whitney Houston was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen and that she never wore her hair braided. “I want you to fix your hair like hers from now on,” he said. “I can't put my fingers through it when it's braided.”

Link to "His Prerogative." (Thanks, W. Vann Hall)

From the 2002 BB vaults:
Kola Boof: 'Net persona, writer, Bin Laden's ex-girlfriend--or hoax?

Censorware follies #umptybillion: at NASA, Wikipedia = porn

By Xeni Jardin at 6:12 pm Wednesday, Aug 23 • Comments • Share

Here's a screengrab of NASA's in-house censorware blocking Wikipedia as a pornography site. Link (Thanks, Jennifer)

Update: jwf says,

NASA's censorware was blocking wikipedia.com, not wikipedia.org. The .com site is indeed pornographic.

Fan photos of celebrities

By Mark Frauenfelder at 3:41 pm Wednesday, Aug 23 • Comments • Share

Here's a large gallery of celebrity photos taken by fans. This one is my favorite:

Our house was selected as one of the locations for the Steve Martin/Laura Dern/Helena Bonham Carter bomb, Novocaine. Because it was a low-budget film, we were allowed to stay downstairs while the filming went on upstairs (note all of our bedroom furniture piled up in the background). My husband knew that Steve Martin had a banjo just like one of his so he left it at the bottom of the stairs as bait. Sure enough, Martin saw it, asked who played, and then the two of them played at every filming break for the rest of the day. I handed my camera to the still photographer, who shot this photo.

Link

Forbes kills sexistardian "Don't Marry Career Women" article?

By Xeni Jardin at 3:23 pm Wednesday, Aug 23 • Comments • Share

Do these fumes of Ajax and smoke from yonder burnt banana muffins deceive mah eyes? Or has the already-parodied article which cautions menfolk against matrimonializin' with cash-earnin', brain-cell-totin', emasculatin' harpies been rah-moved? Link to screengrab, here was the original url. (thanks, Ariel)

Update: It's true. A moment of internet silence please, while we all shed a single, collective, airbrushed tear like the miserable wage whore in the stock photo that once accompanied the article in question. Jess Hemerly says,

They pulled the article down from Forbes.com about an hour ago, but thanks to readers in the forums I got the text. Unfortunately, I don't have the "In Pictures" part with 9 reasons not to marry a career woman. If you're interested, I posted it here. You also might want to check out [the article's author] Michael Noer's recently updated Wikipedia entry.

Update: Here are screenshots of the original article: one, two (Thanks, PJ). Here's the slideshow text, annotated by a LiveJournaler named Sara.

BoingBoing reader Tim Altom wrote:

I am an avid reader of BoingBoing posts, a supporter of ‘net freedom, a user of open source software, someone who does the family laundry and scrubs the toilet, and a proud husband of a late-life college student, yet it causes me some pain to read your gleeful post on Forbes’ removal of its “don’t marry a career woman” article. Am I the only person who notices the irony of such gloating on the same page with a prominent link saying “defeat censorware”?

I never suggested that Forbes should remove the article. On the contrary: its removal from Forbes.com is worthy of ridicule (hence, all the pointers in this BoingBoing post to cached copies of the article's full, original text). Why can't the publication stand behind the work of one of their own? Did Forbes editors not read the item prior to publication? If so, shame on them for poor quality control. But if they just can't take the heat, shame on them for pulling the article as if to pretend it never happened -- regardless of the article's merits or shortcomings. Poor Michael Noer needs a blog!

Update 2, at 630PM PT: Jess Hemerly says,

Yet another development. The article is back up, but next to a counterpoint article. Interesting attempt at redemption, eh?

Link to Forbes' too-lame-too-late attempt at redemption from blog-flogging.

BB reader L. Perg says,

Forbes has also taken down the Michael Noel article, "The Economics of Prostitution." It is still available for the moment via Google cache. Comparing the Google cache vs. the current version of the special report shows that the article was deliberately removed, and is not part of the "site redesign." (Searching the Forbes site for the article also brings no joy.)

Cray computer for sale in San Francisco

By David Pescovitz at 2:56 pm Wednesday, Aug 23 • Comments • Share

My pal and former BB guestblogger Steve Steinberg (AKA Legion of Doomer "Frank Drake") is selling a magnificent Cray Y-MP EL98 shell with some of the internal components. He'll take the best offer over $400 from someone who has the wherewithal to pick this monstrous beast up on Friday. Email your bid here. From Steve's Craigslist ad:

This is your chance to own a (very heavy) piece of supercomputing history. The EL98 was Cray's "low-cost" -- mid six figures -- line extension to the very successful Y-MP. The exact provence of this unit is unknown. (I purchased it four years ago from an Arizona warehouse; the manager of which *thought* that the Cray came from Lawrence Livermore. But given the repeated memory lapses he suffered from in casual conversation, I don't put a lot of stock in this recollection.)

This supercomputer does not currently work. While it has plenty of internal wiring, power supplies, interconnects, and the like, it is missing some key subsystems. However, the exterior is in good shape, with the great big red power-on button on top, finger flip switches for the different "capacitor banks", and just some fairly minor cosmetic blemishes. Included with the Cray is a new, custom, museum-quality display stand...

Link

FLURB: Rudy Rucker's new literary zine

By Mark Frauenfelder at 2:40 pm Wednesday, Aug 23 • Comments • Share

Great news! One of my all time favorite writers, Rudy Rucker, has launched a new web zine, called FLURB.

My present strategy is simply to post a few stories by myself and my friends. I have some good stories for Issue #1, with possibly a few more coming in. You might think of this as the Cyberpunk issue.

We'll see where it leads. I still have a backlog of writer friends to hit on, so, at least for now, rather than sending me stories that you'd like me to post for you --- do it yourself!

The line up for the first issue looks wonderful:

Rudy Rucker and Paul Di Filippo,
“Elves of the Subdimensions”

Richard Kadrey,
“Liner Notes for Luchenko's Third Symphony (The Arcades of Allah)”

Marc Laidlaw,
“Evaluation of the Hannemouth Bequest (A.k.a. Hannemouth Self-Configurable Combinatorial Array)”

John Shirley,
“Provocatourist”

Terry Bisson,
“Billy and the Circus Girl ”

Link

RU Sirius interview's Paul Boutin

By Mark Frauenfelder at 2:19 pm Wednesday, Aug 23 • Comments • Share

RU Sirius has a juicy and often hilarious chat with tech journalist Paul Boutin about the seven types of AOL searchers, and tech culture at large, in the latest NeoFiles.

Also, The RU Sirius Show serves up part two of the GettingIt.com reunion, featuring funny stuff about dot com junkies, speed seducers, San Francisco politics, and insane editorial meetings. Link

Vintage Mechanix Illustrated: "Could You Be a Hero?"

By Xeni Jardin at 1:52 pm Wednesday, Aug 23 • Comments • Share

BoingBoing reader Charlie says,

Very odd article from a 1957 Mechanix Illustrated which tackles the big question of "What makes a man a hero?".

The best part is that there is a test you can take to judge your "Courage Quotient" which is full of some truly absurd questions.

A few statements from the quiz that a man with courage would agree with:

* Desk work is more for a woman than a man
* Any man should love camping and hunting
* I’d rather read a detective story than a humorous story

Here are few statements that reflect poorly on your courageousness:

* A totalitarian system of government is more efficient
* After most wars, the U.S. came out the loser in the peace treaties
* A cowboy movie is more interesting than a good love story

Link.

Victorian house on wheels fundraiser tonight in Berkeley

By Mark Frauenfelder at 1:43 pm Wednesday, Aug 23 • Comments • Share

Meredith says: I'm working on the Neverwas project that you just posted, and I wanted to let you know that this Wednesday is our fundraiser/send off party. It will be christened by the illustrious Dr. Hal, and we all will be in our finest Victorian party frocks.

The Imperial Hibernian Ministry of Insanity wishes to invite you to the dedication by the Hibernian Ambassador, his Honorable Dr. Hal, of Neverwas Haul, that is about to disbark on its exploratory adventure of the Black Rock Rendezvous. Festivities will begin at 7:30pm on Wednesday, August 23rd at the Shipyard (1010 Murray St, Berkeley; near San Pablo and Ashby). H'ors doevres and libations will be served to all who come. This is technically a fund-raiser, so bring wealthy friends and checkbooks. This is a Jules Verne inspired event - please dress accordingly! T-shirts will be available for purchase at this event.

Link

Video montage: Mink Stole, kitsch cinema goddess

By Xeni Jardin at 1:39 pm Wednesday, Aug 23 • Comments • Share

At left, actress Mink Stole as Connie Marble in John Waters' PINK FLAMINGOS (1972):

"I guess there's just two kinds of people, Miss Sandstone - MY kind of people, and ASSHOLES. It's rather obvious which category you fit into. Have a nice day."

Link to video montage of her work -- here's her website, and good heavens, she's on Myspace. (Thanks, Coop)

Reader comment: Bonnie Burton says,

I figured since you gave Mink Stole some props, you'd like to know about my fan site for her co-star in all the Waters films -- Mary Vivian Pearce: Link. Here's a YouTube clip of her in action in "Mondo Trasho" (she's the bombshell): Link.

ISS astronaut snaps photo of volcano erupting on Earth

By Xeni Jardin at 1:30 pm Wednesday, Aug 23 • Comments • Share

"This oblique image (looking at an angle) from the International Space Station (ISS) captures an ash cloud first observed on satellite imagery at 11:00 GMT on August 14, 2006. An ISS astronaut took this picture one hour and 45 minutes later. The ash cloud caused the Buenos Aires Volcanic Ash Advisory Center to issue an aviation hazard warning." Link. (Thanks, Spluch)

Reader comment: Evan Thoms of the U.S. Geological Survey, PNW mapping project says,

Earlier this summer my wife, Michelle Coombs, was acting as Duty Scientist at the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) when she got a phone call from the ISS to report an eruption in the Aleutian Islands. She spoke with astronaut Jeff Williams for a few minutes while she and and others at AVO determined it was a volcano called Mt. Cleveland. Jeff later sent them this picture. This and many other amazing photos of Alaskan volcanoes are available from the excellent AVO website.

That icy cold water they swim in has nothing to do with it

By Xeni Jardin at 1:26 pm Wednesday, Aug 23 • Comments • Share

MSNBC reports "Polar bear genitals shrinking due to pollution." Snip:

The icecap may not be the only thing shrinking in the Arctic. The genitals of polar bears in east Greenland are apparently dwindling in size due to industrial pollutants. Scientists report this shrinkage could, in the worst case scenario, endanger polar bears there and elsewhere by spoiling their love lives and causing their numbers to diminish.

In fact, all marine mammals could get affected by these pollutants, "especially the Arctic fox, killer whale and pilot whales," wildlife veterinarian and toxicologist Christian Sonne at the National Environmental Research Institute of Denmark in Roskilde told LiveScience. These animals bodies also carry extremely high levels of these contaminants.

Link (thanks, Stefan Jones)

Zen Sluggo tattoo

By Mark Frauenfelder at 1:06 pm Wednesday, Aug 23 • Comments • Share

(Click on thumbnail for enlargement)

William Dennes says: "I saw a posting on your site several weeks ago to a sublime, one-panel comic of Sluggo from Nancy floating along saying only 'NO' to the world. I fell in love with it instantly and got a tattoo of it on my arm. I wanted to send it to you guys to let you know how deeply happy this makes me and I’d never ever ever had seen it had it not been posted on your site."

Used FAQs blog of random questions/answers

By David Pescovitz at 12:22 pm Wednesday, Aug 23 • Comments • Share

From the UsedWigs folks, the new Used FAQs blog collects eclectic FAQS snipped word for word from all kinds of Web sites. Out of context, many of the questions and answers are delightfully strange and funny. Here are two posted this week:

Can I bring my favorite sword or knife?

Every convention is different when it comes to a weapons policy - some allow them when worn as part of a costume (though they usually have to be “peace bonded” meaning they are secured to the scabbord and cannot be quickly drawn or dropped in accident. Some conventions have a strict weapons policy - check with the convention staff or web site before taking it with you.

Source: www.scificonventions.com

How can I use a Barney Fife Impersonator at my next event?

The Deputy can operate in many ways. From a quick surprise “Hit and Run” appearance - to a wandering act all day at a fair or festival. At a company party, for example, Barney may show up during dinner and “arrest” a few retirees. Or he may interrupt the Big Cheese as he addresses the employees. He may help hand out name tags, awards or check ID’s at the door. He’s interrupted bands that were playing “cheesy music” and even improvised a song about the group while the band played back-up! At a fair or festival Fife can emcee the main stage, welcome guests at the gate, remind them to travel safely as they exit, or follow folks around and pose for photos.

Source: http://www.fifeismylife.com/

Link (via MetaFilter)

World will end on 9 September 2006

By Mark Frauenfelder at 11:25 am Wednesday, Aug 23 • Comments • Share

No, this isn't the new host of Rocketboom, even though the set looks similar. This is Overseer Yisrayl Hawkins coming to you from the house of Yaweh in Abilene, Texas. According to Mr. Hawkins and his interpretation of Biblical prophesy, nuclear war will erupt on September 12, 2006, and one third of the humans on the planet will perish.

What do you think Mr. Hawkin's excuse will be in the event that nuclear war does not break out on September 12? Please email your suggestions and I will post the best ones here on Boing Boing. Link

A list of excuses Mr. Hawkins can use when the world doesn't end on 9/12/06:

• "Did I Say 9-12-2006? I meant to say 9-12-2007." (Dave Kriesel)
• "The war has broken out as I predicted and it's only a matter of time before the missiles will launch. Some day. Soon." (James King)
• “I write dates in the European fashion, so the date of the end of the world is actually December 9, 2006.” (Brother Mike Bube)
• "Satan himself intervened and saved the world in a diabolical plot to discredit me." (Dave Gottlieb)
• "The Lord listened to our prayers and saved us from doom." (David Pescovitz)
• “The world did end, but God recreated it, so as to give people another chance. Like in Groundhog Day.” (David Bedno)
• "Thankfully for all you sinners I appealed to God directly via prayer, he heard my plea and has spared you non believers from certain damnation." (Steve)
• "I said nuculer war, and whether that's happened or not already is none of your business, thank you." (Ben Smart)
• "There was some shmutz on my Bible. Turns out it really prophecies a breakout of tubular Wii which one third of all humans will cherish." (Dorian Baldwin)
• “God works in mysterious ways. Still.” (Craig Howard)
• "It's the terrorists' fault." (Adam Morgan)
• "President Bush saved the world from terrorism by increasing troop strength in Iraq." (Scott)
• "I was under a hypnotic spell of that white buffalo on the shelf behind me!" (Harold Hays)
• "Mr. Hawkins is not available for comment at this time." (Chris Null)
• "What was I thinking? I forgot the verse that says: 'Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh' (Mat 25:13)" (Christopher M Palmer)
• “Damn you Pat Robertson!” (Tim Slipp)
• "The missiles did launch on the day in question, but they'll remain in the atmosphere, invisible, just as the second kingdom of Jesus Christ did back when the Jehovah's Witnesses's original prediction didn't pan out." (Wyrd)
• He's going to follow the same sequence as previous kooks: First, he will wait until September 12 has fully expired around the world--maybe up to 48 hours just to make sure. Then, he will say that his efforts to publicize the date resulted in increased prayers--and the increased prayers will have averted the disaster. He will consider his prediction a success. I'm looking forward to this farce being played out once more. (Frank Williams)
• "It's a miracle! Disaster has been averted through my direct communication with the Lord! However, I fear that disaster will strike soon (perhaps tomorrow!) without your financial support for my work. Send in your faith pledge today!" P.S. - Leon Festinger (one of the giants of social psychology) did some interesting work on a doomsday cult in the 50's in which he infiltrated the cult and investigated what happened when the doomsday prophecy failed. Of course, the failure of the prophecy only further convinced most believers in the vailidity of the prophets (who fed the followers some line about a miracle). It turns out that it takes about three failures before most people abandon the group/prophet. The work is summarized in the book When Prophecy Fails. (Fred)
• "If it wasn't for all those peace loving liberals getting in the way the world would have ended as we want it too....I mean as it is prophesied to end." (Andersson)
• "God won't end the world until He finds out who Flava Flav picks to be his honey on The Flava of Love 2." (CG Browning)
• "I did not say, and no one in my administration has ever said, that the world was going to end" (Robert Spina)
• "There is an ongoing investigation into why the world did not end on September 12. And I have a policy that I do not comment on an ongoing investigation." (Robert Spina)
• "There is no consensus in the scientific community that the world has not ended. The jury is still out on that one." (Robert Spina)
• "All this talk about the world not ending is just more liberal, pre-9/12 thinking." (Robert Spina)
• "Last night God and I had a powwow. I rescheduled with God because I read this:

  "Deuteronomy 23:1 He that is wounded in the stones, or hath his privy member cut off, shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD"
  

  "My urologist wasn't going to be able to check that my stones weren't wounded until the 15th. Thanks be to Satan's HMO's, seeing a specialist can take forever." (Meadowlark Bradsher)
• "Now that we've averted yet another terrorist plot, we need you to give up even more of your rapidly dwindling freedoms so this can never happen again." (Courtney Silverthorn)

Tortoise hassock

By David Pescovitz at 11:08 am Wednesday, Aug 23 • Comments • Share

This tortoise foot stool that Horchow is selling for $729 would fit wonderfully in my library with the rolling ladder, oak-paneled walls, and overstuffed chairs. If only I had such a room in my home.
Link to Horchow catalog, Link to crappier-looking $299 turtle ottoman from Rooms To Go (via Neatorama)

Why do horse-fat fries taste so good?

By Cory Doctorow at 10:48 am Wednesday, Aug 23 • Comments • Share

A foodie made some frites using horse-fat she bought from a horse-butcher in Nice, France and discovered that they were plum delish, so she's asked her readers for their speculation about why horse-fat makes the perfect fry:

Horse fat is unusual among quadruped fats in having a lot of highly unsaturated fatty acids, which are reactive and finicky and readily go rancid, but on the way there can give an aromatic complexity to whatever is cooked in it. The general flavor of horse may also be different enough from beef and pork to add something unusual and enriching to the fried flavor. As for the texture of the fries: horse fat isn't so different from other animal fats as to do something different to the structure of the fried potato, either crust or interior. So I think horse-fat fries come out well because the people doing the cooking in horse fat are clearly obsessives and making sure they do the best they can with this rare ingredient!

I don't have any squeam about eating horse, but man, the carbs in the potatoes scare the hell out of me. Link (via Link)

Gallery of typos

By Cory Doctorow at 10:46 am Wednesday, Aug 23 • Comments • Share

Monochrom has published a gallery of beautiful typos, and they're looking for your typos:

beauftiful // lamin at gmx.at
gril // jg at monochrom.at
psychiartist // jg at monochrom.at
New Zork // Aileen Derieg (a.derieg at eliot.at)
frenburay // dorkbotsthlm at dorkbot.org
melnoma // francesca.birks at gmail.com
huse // francesca.birks at gmail.com

Link

Happy birthday to oldest man in the world

By David Pescovitz at 10:43 am Wednesday, Aug 23 • Comments • Share

Emillano Mercado Del Toro celebrated his 115th birthday this week in Puerto Rico. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, he's the oldest man in the world. From the Associated Press:

Emiliano Mercado del Toro, who was a boy when the United States seized Puerto Rico from Spain in 1898, attributed his long life to a healthy diet and avoiding alcohol.

"I never damaged my body with liquor," said Mercado, who quit a 76-year smoking habit when he was 90.

Link (Thanks indirectly, Jason Tester!)

Hackable Juice Box Media Players for $4

By David Pescovitz at 10:27 am Wednesday, Aug 23 • Comments • Share

Mattell's wonderfully hackable Juice Box Personal Media Player can now be had for less than $4 each! Originally selling for $70 or so, the device can be booted to run Linux and has other maker friendly features that enable it to be transformed into useful devices like an LCD digital picture frame, seen here on the MAKE: Flickr pool. BB brother Gareth Brawyn has more details and pointers to hacking info over at Street Tech.
Link

Penis pump mistaken for bomb at TSA airport screening

By Xeni Jardin at 10:23 am Wednesday, Aug 23 • Comments • Share

I warned you people. But you just won't listen.

Mardin Azad Amin found himself in a tight squeeze last week when security at O'Hare Airport discovered a suspicious-looking object in his luggage. So Amin, 29, handled the delicate situation this way: He told security the object was a bomb, Cook County prosecutors said. The security guard then asked Amin to repeat what he'd said to a supervisor. This time, Amin was chuckling as he spoke, prosecutors said. In fact, Amin was trying to disguise the fact that the black object -- resembling a grenade -- was a component for a penis pump. ...

Link to story. (Thanks, Baptiste)

Reader comment: Pedro Pinheiro (Peter Pinetree) in Portugal says,

I don't know the origin of the gentleman in question, but in some languages (such as in Portuguese, my first language), the word for "bomb" and "pump" is the same, thus perhaps the reason for the story.

Your brain on rock

By David Pescovitz at 9:42 am Wednesday, Aug 23 • Comments • Share

Rock producer-turned-psychology professor Daniel Levitin researches how the human brain responds to music. At McGill University in Canada, he runs the Laboratory for Music Perception, Cognition, and Expertise. Levitin's new book, This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession, sounds fascinating. From an interview in Wired News:

Wired News: Are there any myths about music that neuroscientists have exposed?

Daniel Levitin: I think we've debunked the myth of talent. It doesn't appear that there's anything like a music gene or center in the brain that Stevie Wonder has that nobody else has.

There's no evidence that (talented people) have a different brain structure or different wiring than the rest of us initially, although we do know that becoming an expert in anything -- like chess or race-car driving or journalism -- does change the brain and creates circuitry that's more efficient at doing what you're an expert at.

What there might be is a genetic or neural predisposition toward things like patience and eye-hand coordination. (On the other hand), you can be born with a physiology that gives you a pleasant-sounding voice, but that doesn't guarantee you'll have a career as a singer.

Link (via Mind Hacks)

Cory's USC talk next Wednesday

By Cory Doctorow at 9:22 am Wednesday, Aug 23 • Comments • Share

I'll be giving a free public talk to kick off my Fulbright Chair at the University of Southern California's Annenberg Center on Public Diplomacy -- hope you can make it!

When: Wednesday, August 30, 2006, 12:00 PM

Where: University of Southern California, Annenberg Center, Room 207, 3502 Watt Way, LA CA

Link

Steal This Movie: documentary on Swedish piracy movement

By Cory Doctorow at 9:13 am Wednesday, Aug 23 • Comments • Share

Steal This Film is a spectacular documentary on Sweden's piracy movement -- The Pirate Bay BitTorrent site, The Pirate Bureau think-tank and The Pirate Party, a political party. Steal This Film ingeniously combines Hollywood footage, scare-interviews with Hollywood execs, Hollywood anti-piracy PSAs and footage of interviews with Swedish pirates, politicians and people on the street.

I was really interested to hear how deep a chord the MPAA-ordered police raid on The Pirate Bay's Swedish servers struck in the heart of Swedes, who quite rightly view threats of trade sanctions and US corporate intervention in their national laws as a serious incursion on their national self-determination.

It's a kind of macrocosm for the way that industry customers feel when they find themselves frustrated by DRM: I bought this DVD, I own it, I want to use it in my house in the way that I want. Who is Hollywood to take away my autonomy and impose their policies on me from a distance? Link (Thanks, Jamie!)

Cory's After the Siege in Russian, CC licensed

By Cory Doctorow at 8:53 am Wednesday, Aug 23 • Comments • Share

My story After the Siege was first published as a podcast in my feed. It was a science fictional retelling of the stories my grandmother told me about being a little girl during the Siege of Leningrad, stories she related on a family trip to St Petersburg in summer 2005.

I gave the first publication rights to the story to Esli, a Russian science fiction magazine, and they've given me the Russian translation to release under a Creative Commons license online (the English version will follow later this year, in The Infinite Matrix). Link

Victory in War on Moisture: Gel-bras once again safe!

By Cory Doctorow at 7:07 am Wednesday, Aug 23 • Comments • Share

The TSA is winning the War on Moisture! As of today, the laws of physics have been changed, rendering the following items non-explosive:

* Small amounts of Baby formula and breast milk if a baby or small child is traveling
* Liquid prescription medicine with a name that matches the passenger’s ticket
* Up to 5 oz. (148ml) of liquid or gel low blood sugar treatment
* Up to 4 oz. of essential non-prescription liquid medications including saline solution, eye care products and KY jelly
* Gel-filled bras and similar prostethics
* Gel-filled wheelchair cushions
* Life support and life sustaining liquids such as bone marrow, blood products, and transplant organs carried for medical reasons

Note to Al Qaeda: start recruiting diabetic/wheelchair-using bombers now, just in case you can change physics back without the TSA noticing.

Let's hope that the non-bomber diabetics don't need six ounces of sugar-water in-flight, though.

Link (via Consumerist)

HOWTO convert six USB cards to an electric barbeque

By Cory Doctorow at 7:00 am Wednesday, Aug 23 • Comments • Share

This Japanese HOWTO documents the conversion of the electrical output of six five-port USB cards into a meat-grilling indoor barbeque. Translated Link (via Make Blog)

Costco's pirate treehouse

By Cory Doctorow at 6:58 am Wednesday, Aug 23 • Comments • Share

These 20' tall pirate treehouses from Costco run $18,500 and require a forklift for assembly, but your children will love you forever and not put you in a crooked home when you can't take care of yourself any longer if you buy them one of these. Link (via Neatorama)

Papercraft pistols

By Cory Doctorow at 6:55 am Wednesday, Aug 23 • Comments • Share

This gallery of Japanese papercraft pistols is a tribute to the model-maker's obsessive precision in reproducing lethal weapons in folded paper. Link (via Neatorama)

Croatian government goes open source

By Cory Doctorow at 6:52 am Wednesday, Aug 23 • Comments • Share

Jason sez, "Last month the Croatian government adopted an open source software policy and issued guidelines for developing and using open source software in the government institutions. The Croatian government is concerned that proprietary software leads to too much dependence on the software suppliers. Open source software will make the government's work more transparent, according to the government's document, entitled 'Open Source Software Policy.'" Link (Thanks, Jason!)