Things one finds randomly on E-Bay. It's 1934 -- The (First) Depression Era -- the focus is on practicality, keeping fed and restimulating the economy. At least one printer was doing their share, producing this lovely, really, really attractive, Practical Guide to Sex Rituals in Black Magic. Heavily illustrated, of course, it contains such intriguing chapter headings as: "The Black Mass and it''s Orgies", "Werewolves and Vampires", "Christianity and Sexual Magic", "Incubii and Sucubii" and about a dozen others. All this in purple print and with a gold-stamped purple cover. Yum, sayeth the bibliophile!

Reader comment: JJ Merelo says,

Some of the pictures in that book seemed familiar to me, at least the ones featured in the last 3 snapshots. And yes, they are part of the "Caprichos" series of engravings by Goya. Check out this one, for instance. I think most of them can be seen in the Prado museum, but I'm not sure.

Abebooks has copies starting at $20.00 if you are not seeking a rare copy.

There are over 200 projects proposed for the Anti-DRM Day, from Free DRM-Free movie downloads to encouraging French citizens to continue turning themselves into the police for violating France's barbaric new DRM law.

I got all fired up after reading an article about ZUNE and talking to one of my cohorts about it. What do you think of these? I took my favorite iteration of an imprisoned DefectiveByDesign stick figure you use and applied it to a few different layouts - Amy

Zune, I understand, is pronounced F*** when written in Hebrew. It seems that when you transfer a music file from one Zune to another, that file will get deleted after 3 days/plays - even if what you transfer is licensed under creative commons...

That seems pretty f***** to me.

The Expedition 13 crew have returned from the International Space Station to Earth -- specifically, the dry steppes of Kazakhstan, where they landed Thursday night local time in a Soyuz TMA 8 spacecraft. No word on whether Borat was around to welcome them home.

In the NASA image above, from left: Anousheh Ansari, the first female space tourist, who accompanied Expedition 13 crew members Commander Pavel Vinogradov and Flight Engineer Jeff Williams.

Just a few minutes before this photo was taken, they were extracted from their Soyuz capsule after landing on the home planet.

Expedition 13 was up there for six months, and a NASA report says their tasks included ..."the arrival of two space shuttle missions, resumption of construction of the orbiting laboratory and the restoration of a three-member crew."

They'll now spend a few weeks in Star City, near Moscow, for debriefing and medical exams.

Ansari ascended to the ISS with the crew of Expedition 14, and spent eight days there. Her trip was arranged through the Russian Federal Space Agency.

BoingBoing reader John Parres recaps Ansari's Awesome Adventure:

On September 18, Russians launched a Soyuz supply ship carrying a replacement ISS crew and the first female private space explorer, Iranian-American telecommunications entrepreneur Anousheh Ansari, from the very same pad used 45 years ago to launch the first man into space - Yuri Gagarin on April 12, 1961.

Ms. Ansari is the first female Muslim to view the Earth from weightlessness. (Prince Sultan ibn Salman ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz Al Sa'ud of Saudi Arabia was the first Arab, the first Muslim and the first member of royalty in space on Discovery in 1986 1985).

In 2004 Ms. Ansari and another relative put up the title sponsorship of the $10 million reward for the winner of the Ansari X Prize aimed at encouraging the development of a privately built, reusable spaceship which which SpaceShipOne achieved in October 2004.

Anousheh Ansari maintained a space blog during her trip.

Below, a close-up of Ansari just after landing in Kazakhstan, and a snip from one of her blog entries:

The time went by really slowly, but finally the moment arrived and they were ready to open the hatch. Mike and Misha called me closer and told me to take a good whiff because this would be the first time I would smell “SPACE.”

They said it is a very unique smell. As they pulled the hatch open on the Soyuz side, I smelled “SPACE.” It was strange… kind of like burned almond cookie. I said to them, “It smells like cooking” and they both looked at me like I was crazy and exclaimed:”Cooking!”

I said, “Yes… sort of like something is burning… I don’t know it is hard to explain…”

Update: BoingBoing reader Ivan Reyes says, "Borat was actually on the flight. See photo below."

Click for full image.

Reader comment: Jennifer Saylor says,

Anousheh Ansari isn't the first to describe outer space as smelling like something burnt. In a 2001 "Fresh Air" interview, NASA astronaut Capt. Jerry Linenger describes the smell of space this way:

Flying into MIR, it smells sort of like dirty sweat socks in a guys’ locker room. Actual smell of space, though, that’s a very interesting question. When we would open a hatch, for example, that was exposed to the vacuum of space, uh, there’s always a double hatch, and so you open the one hatch, you now have the pure smell of space. And it’s a uh, tough — you know, any aroma is tough to describe, but it has a distinct smell, and it’s sort of a burned-out, uh, after-the-fire, the next-morning-in-your-fireplace sort of smell. And that’s the real smell of the vacuum of space.

The interview: Link.

Couldn't help but point out that NASA published a short article speculating on why moondust smells the way it does... Kinda related to the 'smell of space' mentioned in today's article. Link.

Update: This just in -- a snapshot from on board the ISS. Why did Ansari say space smells like burnt almond cookies? Clearly, they were cruising the Cookie Monster Nebula.

1. collecting the elephant dung
2. wash dung and boil for 5 hours
3. to bleach
4. spin dung to cut fibres for up to 3 hours and add colour
5. weigh out into equal weight balls
6. sift evenly into frames
7. dry in the sun
8. sanding to a smooth surface
9. assembly of products

Alex Hunter,
Surveyor

"The ban was a necessary precaution. We have to be willing to make these kinds of sacrifices if we're going to prevent scientifically impossible terrorist attacks."

The kiosks can let donors identify their gift as a regular tithe or offering, or direct it to building or missionary funds. The machines send information about the donation to a central church computer system, which shoots the donors an e-mail confirmation.

The Bakers charge between $2,000 and $5,000 for the kiosks, which come in a variety of configurations. They also collect a monthly subscription fee of up to $49.95 for licensing and support. And a card-processing company gets 1.9% of each transaction; a small cut of that fee goes to SecureGive.

So far, seven other congregations have installed or ordered the machines. All of them are Protestant, and most are in the South. If the idea takes off and makes the Bakers rich, Patty says they will thank the Lord — and give a significant sum to their church...

At Stevens Creek, volunteers such as Jeff Asselin still pass around the wooden-handled collection bag. But Asselin said it is considerably lighter these days — although some people who donate at the kiosk drop their receipts in the bag as a vestige of the old ways.

"The Bible talks about bringing your offerings to the church, and they like the feeling of dropping their offering in the plate," Patty Baker said. "And we also believe that your offering is part of worship, so that's how they participate."

I think there's still time to sign up for two one-day workshops being offered.

This weekend (Saturday September 30th) Machine Director Mark Allen will be teaching a one day workshop entitled "A build your own noise thing workshop spectacular". This be focused on using 555 timers to make square wave oscillators. We’ve done this one before and it’s a good time. $65. More information and registration here.

Then, starting next weekend (oct 7th), we have a four week class called "Spooky Projects - Introduction to Microcontrollers with Aurdino" taught by the illustrious Tod E Kurt. If we had known that Tod engineered the hardware and software for robotic camera systems that went to Mars (as well as possessing degrees in physics and electrical engineering from Occidental and Caltech) we would have been too shy to ask him to teach this class. But we didn’t know. $285 (materials included). More information and registration here.

Registration is now open and as usual we expect these classes will fill quickly. We hope that you can join us for one or both of these nerdfests.

At a time when the public was entranced by the bizarre plants unearthed by explorers and by the splendidly surreal creatures discovered beneath the sea (since the invention of the submarine and deep sea diving kit in the mid-1800s) the Blaschkas offered a glimpse into those exotic worlds...

Leopold and Rudolf began the process of creating their replicas by making highly detailed drawings: many of which are now archived in the Rakow Library at the Corning Museum of Glass in the US. Their techniques and equipment were fairly basic. Each exquisitely intricate model was made by fusing or gluing clear and coloured pieces of glass using a combination of glass blowing and lamp working. Tentacles and gills were attatched on fine copper wires and, where necessary, paper and wax were used too.

The Blaschkas were equally meticulous in the way their approach to decoration. The translucence of jellyfish was replicated by using finely speckled layers of pigment usually on the underside of the glass. Thicker coats of paint, sometimes mixed with powdered glass, were used to depict thicker skin or textured surfaces. Although they both worked on every apsect of their replicas, Leopold tended to prefer working with the larger pieces of glass and to concentrate on assemby; while Rudolf enjoyed the fine details of intricate work and did more of the painting and decoration...

Even in their own era, Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka resisted conventional definitions and described themselves as “natural history artisans”. As for their work, it was hailed at the time as: “an artistic marvel in the field of science and a scientific marvel in the field of art.”

The Constitution
Was cast aside by Congress.
Hideous corpus!

We've got 24 hours to stop the NSA wiretapping bills in the Senate and let cases like EFF's lawsuit against AT&T proceed in the traditional court system. Worse still, now some of your Congressional representatives are trying to sneak a dangerous surveillance proposal into the Port Security Bill. If your representative is on the list in this post, call them IMMEDIATELY to oppose the NSA spying program.

The amendment is so bad, I'll let it speak for itself: "no action, claim, or proceeding shall lie or be maintained in any court ... against any person for an activity arising from or relating to the provision to an element of the intelligence community of any information ... in connection with any alleged communications intelligence program that the Attorney General or a designee of the Attorney General certifies, in a manner consistent with the protection of State secrets, is, was, or would be intended to protect the United States from a terrorist attack. This section shall apply to all actions, claims, or proceedings pending on or after the effective date of this Act."

(Click on thumbnail for enlargement)

Here's some graffiti from the alley-side wall of a church in Dubrovnik.

In Latin, it reads: Pax Vobis Memento Mori Qui Ludentis Pilla. (1597) (My photo cuts off "mori".)

Translated it means: Peace be with you. Remember that you will die, you who play here.

Presumably it's a warning to those who play in the alley, perhaps from someone at the church.

The Helzer Brothers’ activities were a tawdry and pallid expression of Manson family values. After being excommunicated from the Mormon Church for taking drugs, Glenn Helzer, from Contra Costa County (a San Francisco suburb) decided to form a self-awareness group to stop Satan and hasten the return of Jesus. He got himself two members, his own brother Justin and a young woman named Dawn Goldman. According to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle, Glenn Helzer’s plans “included a bizarre plot to train Brazilian orphans to slaughter the leaders of the Mormon Church so he could become its prophet; and ‘Transform America,’ a self-help group to foster ‘a state of peace and joy.’”

In order to raise money, the Helzer’s sold ecstasy and Glenn got his onetime girlfriend, Keri Mendoza, to pose for Playboy. (She appeared as Kerissa Fare, Miss September 2000). But when drugs and sex didn’t produce enough money fast enough, Helzer’s mind turned towards robbery and murder. The group extorted $100,000 from an elderly couple, Ivan and Annette Stineman, and then killed them, returning the next day to dismember them. (Peace and joy can be such hard work!)

Helzer next planned to incorporate his friend, Selina Bishop (daughter of blues guitarist Elvin Bishop) into his plot by getting her to cash the check. But he decided that she knew too much, so he and his brother bludgeoned her to death and then eviscerated her body. Fearing that Bishop’s stepfather and mother would finger him as a suspect in the murder of their daughter, Helzer dispatched them the following day. On August 7, 2000 the three conspirators were arrested. Glenn Helzer received five death sentences. Brother Justin got only one and Dawn Godman was sentenced to 38 years-to-life.

Many links follow, but this first one is all you need. Trust me. GS says,

Like any good BoingBoinger, I snatched the WMVs early yesterday before UofF took them down so I could put together a little highlight reel: Link.

Here is a torrent of the baked professor video.

I saw your call for mirrors so here's what I could do for the effort. I don't have tons of bandwidth but hopefully some others can grab them and mirror from this link. These are the original WMV files in all their 640 x 320 x Baked glory. Your readers will want to do a "Save As" rather than stream them (probably). Enjoy!

The video appears to be available at google video: Link.

I was checking the videos from the week before the famed lecture and, in one he's talking about how he would be screwed if the university decided to lay him off. Around 23:44 in the video. Kinda ironic.

Radar has a fascinating interview with him.

The primary rule is I have to drink at least one four-ounce sample of caffeinated coffee from each store. The store has to have actually opened for business; I can't get there the day before, when they have friends-and-family day and they're giving drinks away—in many ways that's kind of arbitrary. It has to be a company-owned store, not a licensed store. I have to drink the coffee, but there is no time limit on when I have to drink the coffee. But the longer I go without drinking it, the greater the risk that I might lose it. There are two stores I need to go back to in Washington State because I didn't finish the coffee—I lost it. I took it out of the store, I had it in a cup, and in the middle of the night I forgot I hadn't drank it all and I used the cup to relieve myself.

The day you hit 29 stores, what were the side effects?
Well, pretty early on I started developing a headache, I started feeling jittery. Later, because of all the liquid I drank, I started feeling bloated. Just looking at the little cup of coffee made me nauseated.

How many total ounces did you drink that day?
One hundred and four ounces and three shots of espresso. It hurt. And I lost an hour when my jeans ripped in the crotch while I was leaping up to a stone ledge to take a photo—so I had to stop at a mall to buy a pair of jeans. Toward the end of the day there were times when I felt like I was going to hurl, and I really didn't want to because I don't have a rule in place for what happens if I vomit. Would I have to go back to the store and drink the coffee? I probably would. So I definitely wanted to avoid vomiting.

Reminds me of these wooden mobile-phone bottle-openers I spotted in a market in Helsinki.

Link (Thanks, Peter!)

Two unidentified men drove up in a dark-colored Porsche at about 3:50 p.m. Tuesday. One man got out of the car, walked up to the toll booth and demanded all the money in the cash box. A weapon was seen by the attendant but never pointed. The man was given the money, returned to the vehicle and drove off very quickly, said Anaheim police Sgt. Rick Martinez.

On Sept. 19, a man in a light-colored vehicle, possibly a Toyota Camry, drove up to a different toll booth at about 2:30 p.m. The man got out of the car, asked for the money, flashed a gun, received the money and drove off, Martinez said.

Sample lyrics:

"Oh Stick magnetic ribbons on your SUV, keep your apathy and get off scot free. If I don't see a ribbon on that SUV, I'll call you a red, wish you were dead, and put the blame on weed, if I don't see a ribbon on that SUV. Please don't send me to Iran and I sure don't wanna see Afghanistan. Any day now I could be another grunt sporting a stump, so buy another ribbon while you're paying at the pump." Link

Reader comment:

Wendy says:

I'm a Belgian, I live in Brussels, and I am a huge fan of this building (we were able to do one of the last parties in the then not yet renovated top ball :-).

Just passing by it once a week makes me smile again and again :-)

If you're ever in Brussels, go visit it...

It's only of of the balls which has the kids hotel - this is what the atomium site has to say about it: -- An area specifically for children and school groups.

This area will occupy a whole sphere and will be used for lessons in urban life. The idea, an original concept from the Spanish artist Alicia Framis, that they should be able to sleepover has also been incorporated as part of an educational trip.

General site. For the rest all the balls have different functions and there is a restaurant in the top ball.

Shortly after takeoff, Varnier nodded off, leaning his head on Tsikhiseli. A stewardess came over to their row. "The purser wants you to stop that," she said.

"I opened my eyes and was, like, 'Stop what?' " Varnier recalled the other day.

"The touching and the kissing," the stewardess said, before walking away.

Tsikhiseli and Varnier were taken aback. "He would rest his head on my shoulder or the other way around. We'd kiss--not kiss kiss, just mwah," Tsikhiseli recalled, making a smacking sound.

The next step was to mount the claws to a ball-bearing track that could be hooked to the back of Nate's forearm. The track was created from a sliding keyboard tray. The slider on the track was modified to be much shorter, and use only 8 ball bearings. Bolts were put through the slider on the track and then some galvanized metal was bent and hack-sawed to make the right shape for attaching the first claw. This required drilling holes through each galvanized metal pience and matching holes in the first claw. Once the first claw was fitted to the track, 2 other claws were then drilled to match the first, and 3" and 3.5" bolts were used with nuts, split washers, washers, and locking nuts to to space the claws apart and keep them tightly affixed to each other and subsequently to the track. Once this was complete, screws were added through the bottom of the track so that the slider could not slide out of the track (to avoid killing innocent bystanders). Pictured above the the fully extended claws on the track.

As necessity is the mother of all invention, you can only imagine how many model T's and A's smashed into each other due to the lack of information form one driver to another as to which direction you were about to suddenly go. Of course everyone could use hand signals, but you can imagine how many people actually did, I mean,... what if it's raining ?.. are you gonna roll down your window and stick your arm out of the car every time you want to turn? Probably not.

This week, a traveller in Milwaukee was detained and then booked as a threat to the nation for writing [TSA director] Kip Hawley is an idiot on the "liquids" baggie at the airport.

KipHawleyIsAnIdiot.com gives you instructions for making your own "freedom baggie" with your opinion of the TSA chief.

I flew from SFO to LAX yesterday morning, and was robbed at gunpoint by a TSA agent, who stole my cologne, face-wash, and moisturizer. She said that my moisture baggie could only contain vessels of 3 oz or less' worth of moisture. I pointed out that all these vessels did have less than 3 oz' worth of moist substances in them, as they were all half-empty, and she said yes, but the vessels were capable of holding more than 3 oz. Apparently, the risk is that a hair-gel bomber will take to the skies, and use a syringe to refill the tube of face-scrub through its tiny little aperture, somehow mixing some kind of moisture-bomb in the plastic tube without melting it. Apparently, liquids acquire magical explosive properties when they are in quantities of more than 3 oz.

A TSA supervisor took me aside and asked me why I was so upset. I said that my family left the Soviet Union to escape arbitrary authority, and the seizure of property by the state. She suggested that I send in a report to the TSA complaining, and I laughed and asked her how many of those people get added to the No-Fly List.

Of course, this is all a hollow joke. The risk of someone mixing a binary hair-gel explosive has been dismissed by chemists as a near-zero. Meanwhile, as KipHawleyIsAnIdiot.com points out, "air cargo is not screened and there is still no point-to-point baggage matching." Link (Thanks, Bill!)
…

The first generation of Creative Commons is not the Utopian world of Romantic authentic exchange that Carlyle thought money had destroyed. But it draws on the same insight. It turns out that what makes for success is not whether money is exchanged or whether laws are challenged. What makes cultural commons thinking the basis of a gathering social movement worldwide, is the perception that it is the mutually enabling relationship that matters most. These licences make it easier to share. Those whose innovating energy have begun to transform the centre from the edge – who we might think of as the new authors – are people who have understood this. And they are also its beneficiaries.

Whether you look at a mature movement such as the open source software movement, or emergent groups, such as the free culture movement or the scientists’ movement for open publication, these people are intent on creating a domain of open cultural sharing, somewhere where all can be creative together. An Open Business40 project, too, has a quality that is hard to pin down, from the perspective either of law or of economics. It recognises that the same transaction could at one and the same time be a commodity, a gift and a public service – as long as the common culture, the enabling relationship, is intact.

I like this one quite a lot, but am skeptical of the clause on Digital Rights Management, which says that DRM should be allowed, provided that it doesn't undermine "fair dealing" (the UK equivalent of fair use). The problem is that DRM inevitably undermines fair dealing, since fair dealing includes exemptions for scholarship, criticism, parody, etc. There's no DRM software invented yet that can tell the difference between a pirate and a parodist -- indeed, sometimes it takes the Supreme Court or the Law Lords to state defintiively whether a work is a parody or just a ripoff. Can a DRM simulate the Supreme Court and figure out, a priori, whether they'd rule that this use was fair?

Libraries should be allowed to make copies of sound and film recordings to ensure they can be preserved for posterity in the future.

Currently the law does not permit copying of sound and film items for preservation. Without the right to make copies, the UK is losing a large part of its recorded culture.

■ The British Library Sound Archive is one of the largest archives of music in the world with over a million discs, 185,000 tapes and holdings of every other medium upon which sound can be recorded. ■ As the Library is not able to make copies of items, many original audio and film formats we hold are becoming increasingly more fragile and require the urgent creation of a preservation surrogates or face irretrievable decay.

We recommend that copying for preservation purposes is extended to all copyrightable works as is the case in many other countries.

(Thanks, Adam and others!)

I give you, miniature fast-food... Our burger was a little over one inch tall and about an inch wide. After we took all the pictures we cut the tiny burger in half and each ate half. It tasted awesome... Everything was handmade, including the tiny buns.

"Otaku are weak and they've got money, so we went after them," one of the arrested youths told the police.

Police said one of the cases involved three boys waylaying a 14-year-old boy who was headed to Akihabara to buy an anime doll and demanding he pay them money or he would be bashed. The boy handed over 3,000 yen (US$25.47), the police said.

Check out the table of contents here.

Craft is the first project-based magazine dedicated to the renaissance that is occurring within the world of crafts. Celebrating the DIY spirit, Craft's goal is to unite, inspire, inform and entertain a growing community of highly imaginative people who are transforming traditional art and crafts with unconventional, unexpected and even renegade techniques, materials and tools; resourceful spirits who undertake amazing crafting projects in their homes and communities.

Volume 01 features 23 projects with a twist, including sewing a light-up tank top, turning old shoes into great new knitted boots, felting an iPod cozy, embroidering your skateboard, making a jet-age garden, and more.

However there is a problem - the Guidelines book we should be getting is version 3.0, but the book we are actually getting is version 2.2. The reason for this? Copyright. It seems that the London Ambulance Service wants to change a few bits to make it more relevant to London. But because the organization that wrote it maintains the copyright - it can't be changed for us.

Link. Shot by Jeremy K. in Taiwan, who rescued this kitten from the street, where government animal control patrols would have apparently offed it (Taiwan is an island, after all, and there's a feral cat problem). Here are more photos. He explains:

I'm jeremy.

My life is surrounded by cats. Up to now, I keep 14 cats with me, But I'm NOT proud of it.

I'd rather prefer each cat has it's own family, so there're gonna be 14 families become cats lovers.

Why am I doing this ? Becouse there're too many cats in the street, and NO ONE gives a sh*t about them.

Taiwan government's policy of homeless dogs and stray cats is "KILL THEM ALL". I can't change that, BUT.... At least, something we can do. and it's up to you.

~"Take them home."

BoingBoing reader Kyle says, "I was inspired by your stoned professor story. So I made this little ditty." Link to QuickTime short.

Update: University of Florida has taken original videos offline. Many BoingBoing readers yearning for a hit of the Baked Biz Professor have written in requesting mirror site urls. We'll post them if you'd like to point us to them.

From Defensetech:

These are tough times for the Central Intelligence Agency. It's not just the blown calls on Iraq. Or the bruising turf battles with the White House. There's the series of internal purges. And, of course, the constant threat of another terrorist attack. No wonder the Agency is having trouble hiring good people.

But still, can things have grown so dire at Langley that the CIA has to resort to gimmicks like this wink-wink-trying-to-be-ironic-and-cool-but-instead-looking-even-more-dorky recruiting website.

The "CIA personality quiz" is supposed to show how the Agency needs all types to function. So the exam offers up a series of questions, about your favorite leisure activities, the "kind of transportation you prefer," and what super power you'd like to have. And then the site tells you what kind of valuable asset to the CIA you'd be.

Reader comment: Frank F says,

They're also running commericials in the same style as the art displayed in the screenshot you posted: Link. Saw that one run a few days ago in the East Bay on a Comcast cable channel. Kinda stands out, what with the CIA not usually running commercials and all.

The Southern California Wireless Users Group (SOCALWUG) meets every month here in Los Angeles, and I'll be joining them this evening to share video, photos, and audio from a recent trip to Northern India and Tibet -- where I learned about some amazing guerilla wireless projects. We're also going to try to do a live Skype call with Yahel Ben-David, founder of the Tibetan Technology Center in Dharamshala, India. They're hosting a big community wireless summit there in October. Tonight's nerd hang should be fun, please come join us if you're in town. Link to details.

WHEN: 7:00pm to 9:00pm (Pacific), Thursday 09/28/06

WHERE: Auditorium at VAN NUYS / SHERMAN OAKS SENIOR CITIZEN CENTER (A.K.A. BERNARDI CENTER), on 5040 Van Nuys Boulevard, Sherman Oaks, CA 91423.

Image: (Xeni Jardin, 2006) -- antenna for the Dharamshala mesh network on top of a Hindu temple overlooking the Kangra valley.

* Hundreds of photos of deli meats: Link (thanks, Scott).

* Beginning October 6, the Lucky JuJu Pinball Museum in Alameda, California will host "X-Ray Photography of Toys and Other Interesting Things," an exhibit of work by by NY-based science photographer Ted Kinsman. Link.

* Index of every US president who's ever appeared on the animated TV series The Simpsons: Link (Thanks, Emily Gordon).

* Photos from the Rocketbelt Convention at Niagara Falls: Bill "Beam Jockey" Higgins says, "I attended the Rocketbelt Convention in Niagara Falls, New York, home of Bell Aerospace where the Rocket Belt was invented. Retired RB pilots and engineers were mingling with people building the new generation of belts and other personal rocket devices. There was a demo flight on the street outside the Niagara Aerospace Museum." Link.

* Hand-stitched "Just Married" iPod cases: Link (thanks, Emily Sessions).

* Cute, colorful, crocheted bombs with burning fuse, crafted by a girl in Berlin: Link (thanks, Noortje).

* Gruesome landmine awareness campaign on ketchup packets in New Zealand: Link (thanks, FoodMonkeyMike).

* Art teacher loses job after fifth-grade students see nude sculpture during field trip to Texas museum: Link (thanks, Sagebrush Gardener).

* Haircuts by children: Link (thanks, Cory Silverberg).

* What do Jabba the Hutt and John the Baptist have in common? "Star Wars Shortened." Link to video. (Thanks, Jason Wishnow).

Previous installments of BoingBoing Omakase Links:
- Arabic smokes, Norway bimbo, Danish BB ringtone
- Post-holiday bluesnixer roundup

Reader comment: regarding the art teacher who was fired for exposing 5th grade students to nude sculpture at a Texas art museum, BB reader Gregory Fischer says,

thanks for the post. I followed the links to the Frisco, Texas independent school district website. if anyone cares to comment directly to the board, here is the contact info for the director of communications:

Shana McKay-Wortham
FISD Director of Communications
Email: mckays@friscoisd.org
Phone: (469) 633-6060
Fax: (469) 633-6050

also note that the school motto is "Never be anything less than everything you can be.” glad to see irony is alive and well.

I saw your post on BoingBoing regarding Sydney McGee, who was fired for taking her students to the Dallas Museum of Art. I've written this letter to the principal (and the FISD) and am sending it to all the major publications in the Dallas area as well. I grew up in Plano, next door to Frisco, and this story really upsets me.

The Mars rover named Opportunity reached a long-anticipated destination today: the rim of "Victoria Crater," on the Meridiani Planum region of the red planet, on the rover's 951st Martian day, or sol (Sept. 26, 2006).

After the drive, the rover's navigation camera took the three exposures combined into this view of the crater's interior. This crater has been the mission's long-term destination for the past 21 Earth months.

Previously: Mars Opportunity rover closing in on 'Victoria Crater'

Reader comment: Erica Petroff says,

On September 10th, as the Opportunity rover closed in on Victoria Crater, it was posted that the Victoria Crater was about six times bigger than the Endurance Crater, but the link you had to the NASA website (Link) said that the Victoria Crater was six times wider than the Endurace Crater, making it much much more than six times larger. That really only makes this extra exciting, but I thought you guys might want to know? Anyhow, thanks for keeping me updated and everything!

Wired Magazine's NextFest is taking place in NYC this week, and I could kick myself for not being there. If you're there, digging it in person as I type this from behind my lonely little MacBook, I hate you.

Among the many amazing things at NextFest today: Sir Richard Branson unveiled the concept interior for SpaceShipTwo, the Virgin Galactic spaceliners on which passengers will soon be able to space-vacay with cushy intergalactic recliner seats and lots of big windows looking out on the great beyond.

“It won’t be much different than this,” Branson told reporters here at Wired Magazine’s NextFest forum. “It’s strange to think that in 12 months we’ll be unveiling the actual plane, and then test flights will commence right after that.”

Virgin Galactic’s spaceliners will be specially-outfitted SpaceShipTwo vehicles built by Mojave, California-based Scaled Composites and veteran aerospace designer Burt Rutan. The new spacecraft, designed specifically for space tourism, will be three times the size of Rutan’s SpaceShipOne, which won the $10 million Ansari X Prize for privately-developed piloted spacecraft capable of reaching suborbital space twice in two weeks.

All this activity finally brings down the hammer of the border patrol, and a jeep shows up to separate us. The officer is friendly but firm. He’s just come on shift and has no idea we’ve been playing volleyball over the fence for the past hour.

“Really?”

He tells us that a daredevil launched himself across the border in a cannon a while back, but that ours was, in fact, the first-ever game of international border volleyball.

“And it worked over that tall fence?”

“Yup,” we say. “We’re up for one more round if you want to play.”

“No, man,” the officer says. “I’m on duty.”

Citing as influences the '80s New York/London punk and new wave scenes, as well as the power pop of Cheap Trick and Big Star, Spike (Michael) Priggen makes a wide variety of pop music, which ranges from subtle chamber pop to loud, bombastic garage rock to forays into psychedelia. There's No Sound In Flutes! is his 3rd solo LP.

From the jangly romanticism of "I Know Everything," to the scathing wit of "Everyone Loves Me But You," (30-second MP3 sample) to the heart-on-sleeve sentiment of "Little Star," (30-second MP3 sample) to the elegant, evocative twang of "The Only Girl (in the World)," the self-penned, self-produced There's No Sound In Flutes (on the artist's own Volare Label) maintains the same bountiful levels of craft, energy and heart that distinguished Priggen's prior solo releases, the all-original The Very Thing That You Treasure and the quirky covers collection Stars After Stars After Stars.

30-second samples: Everyone Loves Me But You, Little Star, Till It All Falls Apart

Buy Everyone Loves Me But You ($1), Buy Little Star ($1), Buy Till It All Falls Apart ($1)

A high-frequency sonic alarm created to stop troublesome teens from loitering in retail areas has been repurposed as a dance track and a mobile phone ringtone:

Merthyr Tydfil-based Compound Security released the "Mosquito" ringtone as a way of letting teenagers hear their phones ringing without adults knowing. It was developed because adults lose the ability to hear high-pitched sound.

But now the sound is being used in a dance track, Buzzin', with secret melodies only young ears can hear. The tune was developed after the success of the company's ringtone which was released in June. (...)

A condition called presbycusis, or ageing ear, means that by the time most people reach the age of 25, they cannot hear much above a frequency of 13 or 14 kilohertz.

Link (thanks, Nick)

Some things never grow old. Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man, first drawn more than 500 years ago, is still teaching people about the intricacies of the human body. Biology teacher Caryn Babaian of Bucks County Community College in Newtown, Pennsylvania, uses the iconic sketch as a "multi-conceptual image" in her introductory anatomy class to illustrate three crucial anatomical concepts: rotation, transparency, and transverse section. Babaian requires her students to draw the image in their notebooks as they watch it take shape on the blackboard. Panel of judges member Thomas Lucas says even though the use of the image "gave inspiration to a few people, the effect on them might have been more powerful than something that went over the mass media."

"There are no taboos in the field of research, but to do this directly in the course of teaching is obviously not appropriate," the paper quoted Tian Junting, a culture ministry official, as saying...

The naked lecture made many of the 30 or so students feel "uneasy," the paper said. "Some kept their eyes trained on the ceiling, some awkwardly bowed their heads and stared at the ground".

Tian, the culture ministry official, said the course was still in a "research phase" and it wasn't yet known whether it had produced "positive or negative effects."

The finding adds to evidence that the ratio between the two fingers - not the length itself but their length relative to each other - is associated with a number of different personality traits, which include sexuality, fertility, intelligence, aggressiveness and musical ability. The difference is believed to be linked to the level of the male hormone testosterone, to which the foetus is exposed in the womb. Scientists have suggested that the higher the level of testosterone, the more masculine the resulting foetus is likely to be, with its associated traits of strength, fertility and mathematical ability.

The Flexi-Light can be used as a task light, table-top lantern, tent chandelier or flashlight. It gives users total control of how and where they use light in the field. Scroll through five lighting modes with a simple turn of the switch: focused white flashlight, diffuse white area light, night vision red area light, focused night vision red and flashing red emergency beacon.

Reader comment:

Stephen says: "That's a thrips devouring Germany, not an earwig. Thrips = Thysanoptera, most adults around 1 or 2 mm. (singular form ends in s) Earwigs = Dermaptera, most adults around 1 or 2 cm."

Wendy's coming to my USC speaker-series on Oct 3, the International Day Against DRM to tell us about the ways that copyright law have become a tool for censorship, perverting the original intention of copyright, to enable creativity. If you're looking to understand how free speech become suppressed speech, you need to come to this talk.

Wendy presently teaches at Brooklyn Law, and is one of a small but growing number of lawyers who can write code as well as hacking law. She is a Harvard Berkman Fellow, and a smart lawyer, a fine writer, and a great speaker.

As you've heard from the previous speaker podcasts (Jason Schultz, EFF, Michael Ayers, Toshiba, Bruce Sterling, Bruce Schneier) these are great, interdisciplinary talks, attracting engineers, lawyers, film studies people, hackers, artists and musicians, people in industry, students, and hobbyists. I hope you'll make it next Tuesday!

Where: University of Southern California, Annenberg School, Room 240, Los Angeles

When: Tuesday, October 3, 7PM - the International Day Against DRM

Link

Link to Clitoraid, which rhymes with Clonaid and Stemaid, any of which would probably pair nicely with Gatorade when you've just stepped onto a hot planet like the one pictured at left. (thanks, numlok)

Reader comment: Daniel V. Klein says,

I sent a pointer to the site cited in this post to my Mother, and she said:

"Hard to tell. The background info is pretty accurate, but restoring the clitoral nerve is nonsense. I assume it's a money making scheme. Sleazy way to make a buck."

You might say "ordinarily, I love reader comments", but my Mom is one of the preeminent researchers and writers on FGM. You can check her credentials here.

Update: University of Florida has taken the original videos offline. Many BoingBoing readers yearning for a hit of the Baked Biz Professor have written in requesting mirror site urls. We'll post them if you'd like to point us to them.

Now this is what I call higher education. BoingBoing reader Shawn says,

It appears from the content of this video that this University of Florida professor -- whom everyone has to take in the business school -- got REALLY REALLY REALLY HIGH before one of his classes.

As I am told, he was fired the next day. Minute 28 is hilarious.

I'm including links to the windows video files hosted at UF in the hopes someone remixes this.

And as hilarious as the notion of a professor doing bong hits, then delivering a business school lecture may be, we don't know the truth here. Was he sick, and on medication? Maybe he's using medical marijuana to treat a serious condition? Perhaps there's a not-funny story behind the videos.

Reader comments: Henry Stokes says,

In the first video, the apparently-baked prof lectures/rambles about the origin of the middle finger about 15 minutes in. Well, according to Snopes, the origin he presents is in fact an urban legend: Link.

I did a little more research and found the video for the week after (luckily UF uses a good file naming structure) and found that a new professor takes over the next week. She doesn't elaborate on the issue but just assures the class everything is going to be ok. I also looked at the video for the week *before* and while he is a little goofy as profs go, he is much more coherent and to the point. Unfortunately I can't find *any* news story related to this (looked in the Gainesville Sun and Google News). Maybe your readers can find some hard facts?

I had another baked professor for first-year philosophy: Link. From the Toronto Star's article, I now understand why he was so hard to follow in lectures; he smokes pot with a medical clearance from the government. I'm not sure how it can be that he's just allowed to lecture whilst high. One of the questions on our term test involved correlating Plato with an excerpt of lyrics from one of the prof's favourite reggae songs.

don't forget boston university mythology professor carl ruck, who freely admits to using psychodelic mushrooms on regular basis as part of his research, and as wikipedia says, "he currently teaches a mythology class [...] that presents this theory in depth."

The Turbo Sonic store in Tokyo offers a wide selection of beautiful old ghetto blasters and boomboxen from the '70s and '80s. They also offer some nifty t-shirts and what looks like a boom box belt buckle, though I can't quite tell. Link (mostly Japanese site) (via xlr8r).

Reader comment: Tom Whitwell, Communities Editor at the Times Online (UK) says,

You might also enjoy this range of vintage synth/sampler etc belt buckles: Link. Lots of links to similar in the comments.

Seven prisoners died when 3,000 police and soldiers firing automatic weapons stormed the Pavon prison just after dawn on Monday. Corrupt guards would only patrol the prison's perimeter and run the administration section while an "order committee" of hardened inmates controlled the rest. They smuggled in food, drink and luxury goods. (...)

Pet dogs, including a whining puppy, roamed the deserted prison grounds after the raid. One inmate kept a spider monkey captive, national prison officials said. (...) Police seized hundreds of phones and large quantities of the chemical acetone, used in the production of cocaine.

A lot of people have noticed that every time Photoshop launches, they can't stop staring at one name on the Splash Screen: Seetharaman Narayanan. His unusual name has inspired quite a following on the internet. Now you can learn a little more about the man behind the name.

Everyone knows about your interesting name. What’s one interesting thing about you that people don’t know?

I bike to work every day, rain or shine. My bike route is 20 miles round-trip and I have been riding to work for the past 10 years. I even influenced my mentor Peter Merrill into biking to work. Since Peter is a maniac, he is now doing double-centuries on weekends.

Shannou says,

Here's a flickr set of pictures documenting the zombie rights march to Austin's City Hall last Friday. The zombies' signs in the march included badly spelled slogans such as "Mairage = 1 Zombie + 1 Zombie", "More Binifits for Zombie Vets in Our Necronomoconomy", "Brains...The Other White Meat", "We're here, we're dead, get used to it!" and "Zombies Was People Too." The zombies, shouting "What do we want? Brains! When do we want them? Brains!" was unhindered by a group of pirates protesting the undead's demands for their rights.

There's no better speaker on social networks than danah boyd -- prepare to have your mind blown. Link (Thanks, Ken!)

[A] daily guide to the events of the day and notable stories on the network and the Web; uses news judgment and a lively prose style to present a singular perspective, writing and reporting original items and drawing other NPR reporter/correspondents and listeners into analysis and discussion; may also host a podcast of the day's top on-air stories; and may serve as a public representative of National Public Radio, Inc.

Other qualifications not mentioned are a strong liver and deep fondness for insult-flinging world leaders. Willingness to drunk-dial foreign bureaus on deadline also a plus. Unfortunately, pajamas aren't encouraged, although I can count the times I've seen our new CEO Ken Stern wearing a tie on the fingers of one hand.

* “Brad Miller even spent your tax dollars to pay teenage girls to watch pornographic movies with probes connected to their genitalia.”
* “Brad Miller spent your money to study the masturbation habits of old men.”

Link (thanks, David Cassel)

Reader comment: Dave Bullock says,

The page you linked to for wacktastic Vernon Robinson radio ads only had the banjo version linked, but thanks to google's site: function I found the Mariachi ad. Link to "One big fiesta for aliens and homosexuals."

Adding to his hypocrisy, this guy blatantly stole an old photo-montage of mine (from back in the 8-bit days) which he uses in his TV ad. Original: Link. His Ad (see 00:37): Link.

Bruce's message wasn't a happy one, but it was inspiring, alarming and informative. You can download the audio or subscribe to the speaker series podcast feed.

Download audio, iTunes podcast link, Podcast feed

Using photoshop, I began to tear apart the sketch, changing things until I was happy with the positioning of the limbs and the details of the face. I don't remember everything I did, but i'm pretty sure I resized the hand and face, and repostioned the legs, arm and head, as well as re-drawing the silhouette of the hair. Most of the changes are minimal, but they do add up to a very different image.

3. "Rats, Lice and History" by Hans Zinnser (Little, Brown, 1935).

A "biography" of the virus behind typhoid fever, "Rats, Lice, and History" was an unlikely best seller when it was published in 1935, given that it reads like a cross between a biology textbook and "Tristram Shandy." Written by Harvard bacteriologist Hans Zinnser, the book makes the first systematic case for the crucial role of microbes in world history, documenting how disease helped topple the Roman Empire and derail Napoleon's march on Moscow. The chapters on the louse and the rat remain classics of popular science writing, explaining how those troublesome critters shaped European society from the Middle Ages on. The most memorable image: the vermin crawling out--"like water in a simmering cauldron"--from the woolen garments covering the body of Thomas à Beckett, as he lies in state in Canterbury Cathedral.

Have you seen a video clip or short film that you think is Web 2.0 worthy? We're looking for fun and telling viral videos (less than 3 minutes in length) to feature at the conference in November. Submit your nominations below. Submitters of the chosen shorts will be thanked from stage.

In the indoor tests, up to five radio-controlled helicopters are being used to collaboratively track small ground vehicles and land on the back of small moving platforms.

A video shows one of the vehicles landing on a moving truck, while using a camera to lock onto the target and landing pad.

In another experiment, each UAV was programmed to automatically land on a stationary recharging station when running low on battery power. Another video shows two aircraft working together to track a moving ground vehicle. The UAVs automatically take turns tracking the target at low altitude.

I stuck my thrift store Bauer Super 8 camera out the sunroof of a VW Bug and squeezed the plunger of the shutter release cable, taking single frames all the way from Olympia to Seattle.

Only 25 of these mugs will be available, at $60 each. There will be a strict one-per-person limit, and the sales will be in-person only, on a first-come, first-served basis.

Here's this issue's challenge. If you come up with a solution, Send a detailed description of your MakeShift solution with sketches and/or photos to makeshift@makezine.com by October 27, 2006.

The Scenario: You set off on a solo backpacking jaunt one blissfully free weekend, in search of a legendary mountain hot spring that has remained pristine thanks to the 12-plus-hour climb it takes to reach it. A well-earned sweat topped off with nothing but silence, solitude, and hot water - what's not to like?

Just as your topo map indicates that you're within minutes of the spring, you hear an agonized shouting from somewhere off the rocky trail. You quickly discover a large, cylindrical fissure in the ground, about 15 feet in diameter and about 20 feet deep, at the bottom of which lies a rather large example of humanity, with his leg bent at such an unnatural angle that there's no doubt it's badly broken. You yell down to the man - who is easily twice your weight - to say help has arrived. He acknowledges you with a wave, but he seems to be fading fast from shock, pain, or whatever. the walls of thet fissure are nearly vertical and full of jagged rocks, but your experience tells you they're scalable. Still, there's no way you'll be able to climb those rocks with this guy on your back. You'll have to come up with another way to get him out of this whole.

And then it hits you:
A noxious, sulfuric smell that says that this fissure is a vent for the same gases that make the hot springs so warm and bubbly. If you don't quickly find a way to get fresh air to this guy, he's not going to survive long enough for you to rescue him.

The Challenge:
Devise a way to keep this guy breathing while you come up with and execute a plan to safely extract him from the fissure. Then get him stabilized long enough that you can either get him off the mountain yourself, or hike back out to summon more help.

Here's what you've got:
A top-of-the-line backpack with a nested, detachable water container, a sleeping bag, inflatable air mattress, two-man backpacking tent, a large towel, cook set, butane stove, camping food, and a basic first aid kit. You also have 40 feet of nylon rope, an elaborate Swiss Army knife (or Leatherman tool), a 25-foot roll of duct tape, a small Maglite-type flashlight, your trusty, 6-foot bamboo walking stick, and the bandanna around your neck. Any questions? Good, 'cause humanity awaits.

Send a detailed description of your MakeShift solution with sketches and/or photos to makeshift@makezine.com by October 27, 2006. If duplicate designs are submitted, the winner will be determined by the quality of the explanation and presentation. The most plausible and creative solutions will each win MAKE sweatshirt. Think positive and include your shirt size and contact information with your description. For rules and solutions to previous MakeShift challenges, visit makezine.com/makeshift.

Recess is about childhood and ghosts. It is a series of pictures depicting the suburban milieu.

He's got a great blog, too. Link (Via RaShOmoN)

Toguri became adept at sabotaging her own broadcasts. Though employed to broadcast pro-Japanese propaganda, Toguri's outspoken support of the Allies off-mic (while cleverly concealing it within her message and delivery on-air) resulted in numerous arguments, fisticuffs, and sometimes daily 3 am harassments thanks to the Kempeitai Thought Police. She helped keep American soldiers alive (at mortal personal risk) with food, medicine, clothing, and hope during her almost daily visits to their cells.

As an American unwilling to denounce her citizenship, Toguri was not to be trusted by the Japanese, and as an American woman of Japanese extraction broadcasting for the Japanese, she was considered a traitor in her own country.

Reader comment:

Kinnell says:

Not to be argumentative in any way but in response to your posting about Iva Ikuko Toguri but she is not Tokyo Rose.

Some of the people that were witnesses against her in her case where she was charged with treason later came out to say that they were pushed by the State Department to provide false statements. In other words she was not Tokyo Rose, which was later proven in part by the actions of Ron Yates of the Chicago Tribune. They had an interview with Yates on Wednesday's All Things Considered.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iva_Ikuko_Toguri - in the first lines of her wikipedia article it states that she was exonerated of those charges.

So again, not being argumentative, but I just want the truth to be out there about someone rather than furthering the stamp that was put on her life and was never able to be rid of.

And as all of you know, Disney's artists works do not pale in front of those of those masters. In fact the association is mind-boggling: if you are a layman, the quality of the concept artists' works become even more obvious and you start understanding that Walt had some really outstanding individuals working for him, that he was not the only one who drew everything and that the Studio was far from being a factory. If you are a Disney enthusiast you are bound to be stunned by connections with famous or less famous works of art from the past that you were not aware of.

Only a small portion of the cavern has been explored so far. But researchers say they have already found several large chambers with a variety of formations, including thin curtains of minerals several feet tall, slender "soda straws" up to six feet (two meters) long, and sheets of glimmering crystals on the cave's floors and walls...

"There are things in the cave that could really open windows into our knowledge of geologic history and the formation of caves throughout the West," park cave manager Joel Despain told the Associated Press.

Serious cavers do NOT refer to themselves as "spelunkers" (at least, not in the United States). Among serious cavers, "spelunker" has come to mean "person who goes underground without the proper equipment or training". At caving conventions you'll see bumper stickers that read "Cavers Rescue Spelunkers." Link

The TSA then confiscated the baggie and the traveller's liquids, took his picture, and "filed a report" on him.

He grabbed the baggie as it came out of the X-ray and asked if it was mine. After responding yes, he pointed at my comment and demanded to know "What is this supposed to mean?" "It could me a lot of things, it happens to be an opinion on mine." "You can't write things like this" he said, "You mean my First Amendment right to freedom of speech doesn't apply here?" "Out there (pointing pass the id checkers) not while in here (pointing down) was his response."

At this point I chuckled, just looking at him wondering if he just realized how foolish that comment was, but I think my laugh pushed him over the edge as he got really angry at this point. A Milwaukee County Sheriffs deputy was summoned - I would have left at this point, but he had my quart bag with my toothpaste and hair gel.

When the deputy got over the TSA supervisor showed him the bag and told him what had happened to that point. After he had finished I started to remind him he had left out his statement that my First Amendment rights didn't apply "here" but was cut off by the deputy who demanding my ID. I asked if I was under arrest, and his response was "Right now you are not under arrest, you are being detained." I produced my passport and he walked off with it and called in my name to see if I had any outstanding warrants, etc. The TSA supervisor picked up the phone about 20 feet away and called someone? At this point two more officers were near by and I struck up a conversation with the female officer who was making sure I kept put. I explained to her who Kip Hawley was, why I though he was an idiot, and my surprise that the TSA Supervisor felt my First Amendment rights didn't' apply at the TSA checkpoint. She didn't say much.

The statement in this post title is not a value judgement on the President's character, but a description of sex toy you can buy online if you're so inclined: Link (thanks, Jonno!)

I have recently been involved with the creation of a new political group designed to allow scientists and concerned citizens to fight back against the ideologically driven health and science policies of the Bush Administration and their cronies in Congress. Today we launched Scientists and Engineers for America.

Concerned about the ideological and partisan manipulation of science, compromising of scientific integrity and harassment of scientists by the Bush Administration and Congress, leaders in the scientific and engineering communities announced the launch of a new organization on Wednesday, September 27th. The group, called Scientists and Engineers for America, is a 527 political organization that will focus on the need to address the current state of science policy by electing new political leadership...

Competent government depends on getting best science and technology advice. Scientists and Engineers for America will use web-based tools (www.sefora.org) and lectures around the country to explain why independent scientific advice is essential for national security, energy, the environment, health care, education, and America’s competitiveness. The group proposes a basic Bill of Rights to prevent the politicization of science.

The group will discuss the impact the Bush Administration’s science and technology policies have had in their fields and the need for voters to consider the science and technology policies by candidates in this year’s mid-term elections. The group will also provide details of their activities including launching a speaking tour focusing on a number of this fall’s highly contested campaigns in key states.

Acton's matchstick version of Hogwarts has been sold to an attraction in Spain called "The HOUSE OF KATMANDU", but will continue to be exhibited in Gladbrook while the finishing touches are completed. By the time the final building (the Clock Tower buidling) is finished at the end of the year it will have taken Acton nearly three years to build. Hogwarts is Acton's largest matchstick model to date. The model will be shipped to Spain before 12/31/06, so make plans to visit Matchstick Marvels before it leaves the States.

Wikipedia article about the books:

Homer Price is the title character of a pair of children's books written by Robert McCloskey in the early 1940s. Homer lives in Centerburg, a fictitious small town in the American Midwest. He is a mild-mannered boy who enjoys working on radios, and somehow gets involved in a series of outrageous incidents, such as building an unstoppable donut-making machine or caring for ragweed taller than barn silos.

I read the books (each book has seven or eight stories about the boy) when I was about 10 and all I can remember are bits from two stories -- one where he found a mouse that could sing (which later lost the ability to sing) and another where he accidentally colored his skin with some kind of spray gun hooked up to a garden hose. Link to book on Amazon

Get Illuminated's patron saints, icons, and talismen include Robert Anton Wilson, Tim Leary, Stanislav Szukalski, Jack Kirby, Harvey Kurtzman, Maria Sabina, the Church of the SubGenius, Discordianism, MAD Magazine, underground comics, '70s punk, pranksters, and mad scientists.

In Episode 1, we interviewed cultural critic and author Doug Rushkoff. He talked about the renewed interest in Timothy Leary and Aleister Crowley, let us in on the plot of the new comic he's writing for Vertigo comics, and talked about the book he's been waiting all his life to write. Get Illuminated podcast feed | Subscribe via iTunes | MP3 Link (64K) | Internet archive page

I visited the Institute last week, spoke to founder Paul Allen about the project, and filed reports for NPR "Day to Day" and Wired News.

Mice brains and human brains have significant differences, but are similar enough that a complete "atlas" of the mouse brain is seen by many scientists to be as important a milestone as the Human Genome Project, which mapped the DNA sequence.

Paul Allen, who co-founded Microsoft 30 years ago with Bill Gates and is one of the world's richest men, donated $100 million to create a searchable 3-D digital map called the Allen Brain Atlas. The map is the inaugural project of the Allen Institute for Brain Science.

Allen's funding helped to assemble a dream team of scientists, who methodically scanned ultra-thin slices of mouse brain with the aid of robot helpers. Those scans help to identify how individual genes are "turned on" in different areas of the brain.

Link to archived audio report for the NPR News program "Day to Day," including an interview with Mr. Allen.

Link to related text and images at Wired News.

Image: Top, a cutaway view from the Allen Brain Explorer shows a 3-D rendering of mouse-brain anatomy, with reference planes mirroring a coordinate system used to "map" the brain. Below, Researchers at the Allen Institute for Brain Science sort slides holding ultra-thin slices of mouse brains, which are scanned by a computer to track how more than 20,000 genes express themselves at the cellular level. Allen Institute for Brain Science © 2006.

You are looking at a movie prop original. The FemBot of Jessica [It's actually Vanessa, not Jessica, as Boing Boing reader Eli points out -- Mark] Kensington from the motion picture, Austin Powers 2, "The Spy Who Shagged Me". This silicon puppet weighs approximately 30lbs and is the original that was used in the movie. All silicon skin with a fiberglass plastic shell interior for the face. Face is wired with lights inside the eyes and mouth area. Works with a 9 volt battery. Punched hair.

Comes with: Original dress used in the movie. Pull off silicon mask. Black round wooden base with speedrail stand.

The new HD technologies include anti-user nasties like "renewability" -- the ability to remotely disable some or all of the device's features without your permission. If someone, somewhere, figures out how to use your DVD burner to make copies of Hollywood movies, they can switch off *everyone's* burner, punishing a limitless number of innocents to get at a few guilty parties.

The HD DRM systems also include gems like "selectable output control" -- wherein? some programs will refuse to be played on some devices. As you flip up and down the dial, parts of your home theater will go dark. Creepier still is "authorized domain" -- the ability to flag content so that it can only be played within a "household," where the studios get to define what is and isn't a valid living arrangement.

On top of these restrictions are the punishing "robustness" regimes that come with HD DRM systems. These are the rules manufacturers have to follow to ensure that the anti-user stuff in their devices isn't compromised. It's a requirement to add expensive armor to products that stop a device's owner from opening up her device to see what's inside, and make changes. That's bad news for open source, of course, since open source is all about being able to look at, modify and republish the code that runs a device.

On Wednesday, September 6, 2006, a TEDDY BEAR released by person or persons unknown stopped the flow of water to a circular pool at Milford Hatchery, killing 2,500 rainbow trout. WATER FLOW in hatcheries IS LIFE SUPPORT TO THE FISH! Stop that flow, which delivers the dissolved oxygen required for fish respiration, and the fish suffocate and die. RELEASE OF ANY TEDDY BEARS into fish hatchery water IS NOT PERMITTED. Please think before you act. If a teddy bear is dropped accidentally, find a fish culturist and tell them quickly, so they might save your teddy bear, and keep it from becoming a killer. Thank you.

In the early '80s, when I was a member of the L5 Socieity and went to all the conferences of the time on commercial space dev, everybody talked about mass drivers, the electromagnetic catapaults that could be used to hurl moon material into space to be processed for colony building. This desktop induction launcher works on the same principle. When you watch the videos of the launch, you'll get an idea for just how powerful one of these coils can be.

While no samples of living skyfish are in captivity, nor have any samples been found for that matter, the sexagenarian farmer has no doubts that they exist.

"When I was a little kid, I used to catch them all the time," he tells Cyzo. "Now, though, the environment's gone bad and you've got to go deeper and deeper into the mountains to see them anywhere...."

Considering Japanese eat more fish than any other people on the planet, how would the skyfish go down at the local sushi bar? Not well at all, according to Ichikawa, who says skyfish aren't for consumption.

"You don't eat skyfish," he says. "You just catch them and then release them again. That's all. Mind you, if you did eat them, I guess they'd probably taste a bit like nata de coco (a healthy, jelly-like Filipino food produced from coconut milk)."

A local bedbug expert is Brian Cabrera, assistant professor of entomology at the University of Florida's Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center. "They are definitely back," he says.

"Whereas before, pest control companies would see two cases in a year, they're now seeing 20, 50, 75 cases a year. Definitely an increase, but it won't constitute an epidemic."

Cindy Mannes, vice president for public affairs with the National Pest Management Association, says between 2000 and 2006, pest control companies have seen a 71 percent increase in the number of calls about bedbugs, some receiving as many as 30 or 40 a week. And some companies, she says, are setting up bedbug divisions.

Dispatches from Blogistan works hard to include the bigger context of blogging, with fascinating and fast histories of publishing, free expression, and the media that preceded blogging. Framed thus, the interviews that Suzanne conducts with many great bloggers (including Farai Chideya, Bruce Sterling, Craig Newmark, Jamais Cascio and, ahem, yours truly) really come to life, showing how blogging is part of a long and honorable tradition. Blogging recapitulates many of the media and the media-fights that preceded it.

This is a fast book and a smart one, and a great introduction to the subject for people who just don't get it, but want to. Link

Preheat a giant turtle shell over a fumarole. A big giant turtle. Put some oil in there. Make sure no other giant turtles are around to see you do this.

On a flat rock, stirring with your Stick of the Dining God, dry cook the sesame seeds over medium heat until they are brown and smell good. Remove from the heat. Add the noodles to the turtle shell and fry fast until puffy and the color of sunrise. Remove from the oil and drain on non-itchy leaves. Throw salt. Set aside.

Sear the mammoth meat on the flat rock. Salt but don’t overdo it, you remember what happened to the Chest-Clutching Tribe of the Plains. Drain.

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO COOK A WHOLE FISH!

1 Place fish packets on the top rack.

2 Add dirty dishes and lemon-scented soap. This optional step is not recommended for novices. However, as long as the salmon's tightly sealed in its aluminum foil packet, it won't absorb any soapy taste or smell.

3 Set dishwasher to the "normal" cycle. Modern dishwashers have "economy" and "cool dry" settings, which are undesirable since they conserve heat. However, on the other end of the spectrum, the "pots and pans" setting tends to overcook the fish.

4 Run salmon through the entire wash-and-dry cycle -- approximately 50 minutes for most models.

5 When cycle's complete, take salmon out, discard foil, place one fillet on each plate and spoon a generous serving of dill sauce on top.

Marmaduke spots a smaller dog being toted around the block while on his afternoon walk, envies its portability and general lifestyle, decides he is sick of walking, and demands that Owner-Lady suck it up and carry him. Owner-Lady balks.
Marmaduke ordered a pizza from 2 Ur Door Pizza! and tipped one of the delivery persons (2 Ur Door Pizza pizzas take two people to deliver them) a bone. As Marmaduke is a dog, and dogs consider bones to be very important and valuable, he no doubt was being earnest and generous in his offer, but the delivery boy has not encountered such before.

(A lesser strip would have pointed out the absurdity in a dog ordering pizza ("how can such a thing be?!?"), but the humor in Marmaduke is much more subtle and layered to settle for such an obvious chuckle. In the Marmadukiverse (c), this sort of shit happens all the time.)

Today the Mego Museum is featuring a great article on John and Linda McNett, a couple who met while working as toy designers at Mego Corp in the mid 1970's. In addition to working on many great Mego products such as 2XL -- One of the first interactive electronic toys, the Micronauts, and World's Greatest Super Heroes, John worked on Etch-a-Sketch, Magna Doodle, and designed the look of the Colecovision system and Coleco's minitabletop arcade games like Pac Man and Frogger. It's a cool insight into the orgins of our favorite toys written by Ben Holcomb, author of the forthcoming book World's Greatest Toys.

Radar: And then there's The Daily Show. Talk about a sweet gig.
JH: It is so incredibly unexpected and providential as to be frightening to even discuss with you now.

Radar: Is Jon Stewart as Waspy in person as he appears on television?
JH: I'm not going to get into ethnic phrenology with you. He's a very handsome man who is of average height.

Radar: With all of this appearing in front of the camera, one could conclude you harbor a desire to act. Do you?
JH: I am not an actor, but I am not averse to the idea of being a personality. For me the best example is George Plimpton, who chased after every adventure with very little prejudice, always with an open mind and often with a funny accent. I am on top of a roller coaster that I never expected to be on. I don't know what's going to happen when the roller coaster goes down. My guess is I will fly out and I will hit a pole.

Phillipa Garner is a self-described "gender-hacker."

In 1993 at the age of 51, she underwent sex reassignment surgery. That was just the beginning of her quest for self-improvement. She followed the sex change with more modification: vaginoplasty, brow reduction, cheek implants, breast implants, lip augmentation and a face-lift. And she'd happily sign up for more, she says.

"I would be inclined to go through with some pretty radical conceptual self-improvement procedures," Garner said. "I think of cosmetic surgery as collaborative art.... And when I next have disposable income, I'll be back in the O.R..."

To Garner, surgical enhancements fall right in line with her vocation. A freelance illustrator whose work includes monthly satire in Car & Driver magazine based on cheekily modified car concepts, she has also produced a stream of personal vehicle designs for more efficient transport of the human body.

Whether she's modifiying vehicles or her own body, it's all part of the same quest for improvement.

"I felt that my situation in general was screaming out for a monkey wrench in the works," she said.

Reader comment:

Devin says:

Those little walking things are kinesins - they are used for transporting vesicles of goodies up and down axons. You can see a more chemical-y video here and there's apparently a whole homepage for kinesins here.

Eva says:

The "little walker thing" in the cell animation video you linked is a molecule called kinesin. It drags vesicles ("rubber bag") along microtubuli to direct the cargo in the vesicles to a particular region of the cell. I explain it here, with relevant wikipedia links.

The department also announced that the chocolate ration has been increased to 20 grams a week. Link

"Traditionally, time devoted to daytime napping has been considered counterproductive," the researchers say. It now seems sleep is "an important mechanism for memory formation".

"The burglars were looking for loot when they discovered the heads," said a spokeswoman for Austrian police. "From what it looks like, they just left them lying and bolted away."

Austrian authorities said they were investigating whether there had been a breach of the regulations for storing research materials.

So Many Splendid Sundays collects 110 of the full-page Sunday color newspaper strips from Winsor McKay's Little Nemo in Slumberland, published at their original full size -- 16 inches by 22 inches (this is more than a coffee-table book, in other words: add four legs and it could be a coffee-table).

It's the first time I've ever seen Little Nemo pages at the size they were published, back at the turn of the 20th century, and it's also the first time I've ever really gotten Little Nemo.

These strips, orginally published in breakfast-table-hogging broadsheets, were watercolor masterpieces, huge paintings that depicted the weekly dreamland adventures of Little Nemo, tripping through fantastic, surreal worlds that McKay brought vividly to life. Each page ends with a charming corner panel in which Nemo's mother wakes him for school, making Slumberland vanish.

I've seen them reproduced at generous (but smaller) sizes, and they always seemed a little goofy and uninteresting. I just couldn't figure out what all the fuss was about. But when I opened a copy of the mammoth Splendid Sundays collection, the appeal of Little Nemo hit me like a shovel upside the head. Once you've seen Little Nemo at full size, you'll get it too: as generous, gentle, beautiful and wildly imaginative paintings.

These 110 strips were chosen by Nemo collector Peter Maresca, who scanned and digitally restored them, a true labor of love. He left the backgrounds of each page slightly grey, lifting out the yellowing of age, but restoring that muted tone of fresh newsprint. That single detail makes a tremendous difference, especially when combined with the generous page-sizes: you can't help but feel transported a century back in time when you see this.

At $120, this might be the kind of book you'd only think of getting as a gift for a friend, and never treating yourself to, but you'd be cheating yourself. This is one $120 book that's worthy buying for your own enjoyment (though I can't imagine a better gift!). Link

See also: Expirable copyright makes giant-sized Little Nemo possible

Don't forget: Legendary security expert Bruce Schneier is speaking tomorrow night, Tuesday September 26, at 7PM at the Annenberg School in room 207.

This is a bag I made from floppy disks. I found scads of floppy disks in a dumpster and wanted to make plate mail armor out of it (that is my next floppy project) I found out that a bag would be a great proof of concept project. Here goes...

Bob Howard—a T-shirt–wearing computer geek and field agent for the super-secret British government agency The Laundry—must save the world from eldritch horrors, codenamed Jennifer Morgue, in this fast-paced spy thriller. Bob's current mission is to stop the evil Ellis Billington from achieving world domination, but he must overcome obstacles including the Gravedust device, which permits communication with the dead; destiny-entanglement protocol; banishment weapons; and Ramona Random, a lethal but beautiful agent for the U.S. counterpart to The Laundry. Billington plans to raise the eldritch horror Jennifer Morgue from the vasty deeps, and communicate with a dead warrior for the purpose of ruling the world. Blending physics and applied mathematics with the practice of summoning and demonology, this spy-meets-horror novel will keep sci-fi fans on the edge of their seats. This volume also includes a bonus story, "Pimpf," featuring agent Bob Howard in the world of virtual gaming, as well as an afterword entitled "The Golden Age of Spying."

Many airports won't let you effectively lock your suitcases when you fly, and the new limits on carry-on luggage thanks to moisture-terror-hysteria mean it's open season for unscrupulous TSA employees and baggage handlers who want to help themselves to expensive cameras and other valuable in checked bags.

But once you add a gun -- even a starter pistol -- to your luggage, it gets extra-locked, gains new tracking privileges, and is subject to heightened scrutiny all the way to your destination.

A "weapons" is defined as a rifle, shotgun, pistol, airgun, and STARTER PISTOL. Yes, starter pistols - those little guns that fire blanks at track and swim meets - are considered weapons...and do NOT have to be registered in any state in the United States.

I have a starter pistol for all my cases. All I have to do upon check-in is tell the airline ticket agent that I have a weapon to declare...I'm given a little card to sign, the card is put in the case, the case is given to a TSA official who takes my key and locks the case, and gives my key back to me.

That's the procedure. The case is extra-tracked...TSA does not want to lose a weapons case. This reduces the chance of the case being lost to virtually zero.

It's a great way to travel with camera gear...I've been doing this since Dec 2001 and have had no problems whatsoever.

Greenwald's film talks with military personnel, past employees of military contractors, and the families of contractors who were killed in Iraq. He builds a compelling, damning case that the use of these contractors is putting American soldiers in harm's way, hurting US military effectiveness in Iraq, bilking the US taxpayer out of billions, and endangering the lives of the ex-military personnel who sign on with contractors on the promise of higher wages than those paid by the US military.

From charging the US military $100 to ineptly wash a bag of laundry (and getting officers to reprimand soldiers who do their own laundry in the sink) to overseeing interrogation at Abu Ghraib, these military contractors are wasteful, undertrained, and grotesquely expensive. Greenwald's film features footage of bonfires built to destroy improperly ordered vehicles, computers and other equipment that the contractors purchased at taxpayer expense -- since these contractors are compensated on a "cost-plus" basis, they get paid more for wasting money than saving it.

Another are where they scrimp is on the safety and training of their own personnel. They hire inept translators who give bad intelligence to the military. They send their front-line workers -- such as truckers recruited from the US -- into battle-zones without military escorts or armor. Meanwhile, the "savings" realized by putting untrained people in charge of interrogation at Abu Ghraib (Greenwald shows a single-page "interrogation manual" that consists of little cartoons with a short sentence under each) are not used to provide better equipment for US soldiers -- they sleep in infectious tents, drink untreated toxic water, and eat improperly prepared food, thanks to the likes of Halliburton, whose stock doubles and redoubles every year the Iraq war goes on.

The frustration of the soldiers is palpable and heartbreaking. From those who bemoan that their comrades get sucked into working for the profiteers by the high salaries, only to be killed in action to the soldiers who are required to train contractors to do their jobs, then are relegated to scut-work while all the skilled labor is taken over by the contractors they trained.

Greenwald is encouraging people to host screenings of Iraq For Sale in their homes, inviting over friends and neighbors to see the movie and discuss the film's content. The site has a list of upcoming screenings around the world, hosted by people, clubs, companies and schools.

"Will things go wrong? Sure they willl, it's a war zone. But when they do, we'll fix it, we always have -- for 60 years, for both political parties."

- David J. Lesar, CEO, Halliburton