Remember the creepy Maine Mystery Beast that terrorizes the town of Turner and, in August, was mistaken for a dead dog on the side of the road? (Background here, here, and here.) Well, Bar Harbor sideshow banner artist Paul Szauter painted this magnificent work to honor our dear Mystery Beast during this Sunday's Mount Desert Island Marathon along the Maine coastline. The acrylic-on-cloth work is 52" x 28" in all its glory. Szauter and other area artists created a series of mile marker banners for a silent auction benefiting the Union 98 Artist-in-Residence Fund. 
Aunt Fritzi or Bettie Page? You decide!Link (More Boing Boing coverage here)When Willie Nelson's bus was searched on Monday in Breaux Bridge, LA on Interstate 10, a "routine traffic stop" turned into a drug bust. Louisiana state troopers found more than a pound and a half of marijuana (0.7 kg) and more than three ounces (91 grams) of psilocibin mushrooms.
Vivek says: "It's a 6 minute animated story about a boy and girl who find a creature that turns bugs into jewels, then try to exploit it and wind up dead. The animation is wonderful."
I love this cartoon. It's super-creepy and brilliant. You can read about the creator, Run Wrake at PingMag, and order the handsome DVD box here.Link (Via Metafilter)
LinkWikipod installs a user-selectable portion -- or maybe all -- of Wikipedia into the Notes folder on any recent iPod; it does not require any new software (e.g. ipodlinux) to be installed!
Wikipod will be stunning to the many people who are not keen on messing with their iPod's OS, but who would like to carry a Healthy Portion Of World Knowledge in 1.46 cubic inches. User specifies a size limit, say 10 MB, and a starting word, and Wikipod spiders from there, installing a subset of Wikipedia around your favorite topic. Article hyperlinks work quickly (on my nano, at least), and a moderate-sized topic listing is suprisingly browsable via scrollwheel.(The full text of Wikipedia these days is about 1.1 GB, but not sure yet if Wikipedia connectivity is such that the current script can get the entire thing to an iPod)
Wikipod works on a standard iPod; it does not require ipodlinux to be installed; the related (Encyclopodia, which was reported in Boing Boing back in Feb. 2006, does require ipodlinux to be installed).
A a tiny test, I tried just 10 MB starting from "Essence" -- my nano soon became a teensy creditable guide to Existentialist philosophy and related movements. Darn thing didn't pick up "nominalism"; I'll try for 100 MB of Essence next.
Minor cons: Wikipod doesn't install graphics, makes the occasional mistake with pages (it's new; fixes may come soon). Big pros: overall works shockingly well with the existing Apple Notes hyperlink interface. I wouldn't read too many novels on my nano screen, but a reference like Wikipeda is perfect for it!
The first user of the software may reassign the license to another device one time. If you reassign the license, that other device becomes the "licensed device," reads the license for Windows Vista Home Basic, Home Premium, Ultimate, and Business. In other words, once a retail copy of Vista is installed on a PC, it can be moved to another system only once.Link (via Engadget)
Link (Thanks, Rogier!)Let me emphasize that no one — including adults — should have a blog or personal website.
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The Internet—and more specifically blogs—has enabled everyone to have a voice on any matter. Now everyone’s thoughts are “published” for all to see. Whether or not it is effective, as soon as something is posted the person has a larger voice. It often makes the blogger feel good or makes him feel as if his opinion counts—when it is mostly mindless blather!
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Blogs can be summed up as people talking about almost anything, but really nothing. There is no purpose to much of the contents — no direction. [...] The contents of blogs can often best be described as trash and the expression of shallowness. What is deemed as a higher level of communication is simply a mindless form of entertainment.
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Some questions naturally arise: “Can I have a photo gallery?” For example, maybe you visited an exotic country and want to share your photos with close friends. This can be done, but certain guidelines apply. Of course, there should never be any inappropriate pictures (again, be careful of the appearance of evil); it should be private and password protected, and only shown to family and closest friends.
Reader comment:
Rick says:
Jesus wouldn't blog, but he'd IM. Blogging is bad, but apparently, Jesus is down with IM...though, of course, there are some righteous guidelines to observe:Take extra care if messaging or “chatting” on the Sabbath. It should be done in moderation, as this is a time to draw close to God. Do not drift into worldly topics. Be aware of a conversation’s direction, and steer it back into Sabbath-appropriate subjects if necessary. You could discuss last week’s sermon, upcoming Holy Days, changes in world events, announcements about growth in the Church, etc. Challenge yourself! During the week, be mindful of things you may want to discuss with your friends (online or at services). Then when the Sabbath arrives you will have a long list of items to discuss. A great underlying principle of appropriate IM subjects is this: “Would I feel comfortable discussing this subject with my parents? What about with God?”
Treehugger has a timeline that shows how long it would take for traces of human-made things and systems to vanish if we all suddenly went away. Link (Thanks, Phil!)
Reader comment:
Uriel says:
This article in NewScientist describes in detail what the image you posted is showing.It's a fascinating read, but somewhat dissapointing: It's as if all the things we might want to leave behind will vanish into nature, and all the unitentional and harmful byproducts of our society will remain for ages.
LISA REIN: You donated a track to the Creative Commons -- Relaxation Spa Treatment.LinkDAN: First of all, the Creative Commons thing -- the whole idea was to give music that people could freely use and license. Part of what's going on right now in music, sampling -- taking little bits of songs -- it's become a very expensive endeavor. I don't mind the fact that it's expensive because if you're using someone else's work, you should pay for it. That's my personal opinion. If they don't want you to use it, that's their business. That's okay.
But on the other side, I worked with (DJ) Shadow -- we made really interesting recordings. And it's like Musique Concrete, which you could never do at this juncture in time because it's too expensive. It can't exist. You're losing a form of music. So I felt like I would like to at least contribute to the side of things where -- if people do want to use something, or chop it up, they can do that. The thought that goes into that kind of stuff can bring out new ideas. And that will bring about more different kinds of music. I'd hate to see that whole thing go away.
Scott Matthews says,
Not to be outdone by those two snot-nosed rovers on Mars, the Cassini probe orbiting Saturn sends back this spectacular shot of Saturn and its rings (Color-exaggerated version: Link, Original version: Link), a mosaic composed of 165 images taken from within the darkness of Saturn's shadow.Previously: NASA Mars rover reaches "Victoria Crater"But wait, there's more. Cassini also recently swooped down for a few more snaps of (Saturn moon) Titan's presumed lakes of liquid methane (Link).
Link to full text of article.Last week, Foreign Policy published an interview with Li Wufeng, the director-general of China's State Council Information Office (SCIO), the agency in charge of regulating Internet content inside China.
The Foreign Policy reporter Mike Boyer called Li "China's Top Internet Cop" and then quoted Li as saying "We have neither the technology nor the manpower" to censor or filter the Internet, ...... We have just dozens of people in the Internet affairs bureau. Half of them are here today [in the room] "
In fact, Li is not a "cop," as the Information Office of the State Council is neither a public security nor state security agency. The real Internet cops are elsewhere. For starters, we could search "Internet Police" (网络警察）on Chinese search engine Baidu, and we will get 292,000 results. Page after page are Internet Police websites in different cities and provinces outlining their functions. Read this, this and this.
What about the technology that Li claims he doesn't have? Another search through Chinese blogosphere and BBS will uncover some very useful answers, including to the question, Who is China's top Internet cop?
Link (Thanks, C.B. Shapiro!)SALON: What do you do with consciousness? I mean, do you really think the mind is totally reducible to neural networks and the electro-chemical surges in the brain? Or might there be something else that goes beyond the physical mechanics of the brain?
DAWKINS: Well, once again, let's not use the word "reducible" in a negative way. The sheer number of neurons in the brain, and the complication of the connections between the neurons, is such that one doesn't want to use the word "reducible" in any kind of negative way. Consciousness is the biggest puzzle facing biology, neurobiology, computational studies and evolutionary biology. It is a very, very big problem. I don't know the answer. Nobody knows the answer. I think one day they probably will know the answer. But even if science doesn't know the answer, I return to the question, what on earth makes you think that religion will? Just because science so far has failed to explain something, such as consciousness, to say it follows that the facile, pathetic explanations which religion has produced somehow by default must win the argument is really quite ridiculous. Nobody has an explanation for consciousness. That should be a spur to work harder and try to understand it. Not to give up and just say, "Oh well, it must be a soul." That doesn't mean anything. It doesn't explain anything. You've said absolutely nothing when you've said that.
Update:
Here's a 22 minute TEDTalks video of a Dawkins' presentation, "Queerer Than We Suppose: The strangeness of science." In it "he suggests that the true nature of the universe eludes us, because the human mind evolved to understand the 'middle-sized' world we can observe."
Link (thanks, James Hathaway)When someone picks one up, a message on the other side tells the person doing so that the simple act of picking up what you think is a toy in landmine plagued communities can get you killed... it then encourages people to go to the web site of Clear Path International to help landmine and bomb survivors.
I blogged about the "phone ladies of Bangladesh" in 2003 (link to BB post), and the story of how these women created sustainable cottage industries is fascinating -- but to me, equally fascinating was the odd fate that befell the messageboard we set up for that post (back then, each BoingBoing post had open comments). It began as a perfectly on-topic discussion of the transformative power of microcredit and internet loans, but about 50 posts in, all hell broke loose.
Perhaps because the post title contained the words "ladies," "phone," and "Bangladesh," a lot of horny guys looking to hook up for phone sex with Bangladeshi babes climbed on and never let go. A taste:
* SHAGOR: I will help you to feel a complete women from head to toe. I am looking for girls/women to have free sex from any where any age. Only for babes want to have alternate harmony. First I am not sure if you going to get this mail. I am looking for a person who is understanding and likes to explore the fantasy of life. Have you ever wanted to explore your fantasy? Have you ever thought about having a wild erotic experience of wilderness? This is only for woman seeking erotic experience head to toe and feel the aroma of life. This change is to fulfill your inner desire & feel complete women. Explore the unsaid of life. I will surely come over to your dreamland.Link to QuickTopic forum: "Wireless cottage industries: 'phone ladies' of Bangladesh"* RATUL: I am also available for chatting.....Oh one thing, mind that I am direct, no hunkipunki.
* R: i want sex and willing to do it. it will be safe. no body will know about it. i am very excited and neavous
* RAHMAN: I want to make a top secret physical relation someone who is unhappy like me.
* MONIM: mwah.mwah.mwah.mwah.mwah.mwah.mwah. And lot of kisses for ur hot lips.MWAH
* MITH: I am boy , who want to enjoy sexy girl. I will give 110% sattispection.
You may use the software installed on the licensed device within a virtual (or otherwise emulated) hardware system. If you do so, you may not play or access content or use applications protected by any Microsoft digital, information or enterprise rights management technology or other Microsoft rights management services or use BitLocker. We advise against playing or accessing content or using applications protected by other digital, information or enterprise rights management technology or other rights management services or using full volume disk drive encryption.Link (Thanks, Wes!)
AC/DC - 1) It is said that one of the band member saw it on an appliance and thought it had something to do with power. (It does mean "alternating current / direct current".) The band used it not realizing it was also slang for a bisexual- the band claims NOT to be bisexual. 2) In the vogue of other anti-everything bands it stands for Against Christ/Devil's Children.Link
ALICE IN CHAINS - a funny rumor is that they were named after a lost episode from The Brady Bunch series!...
CHUMBAWAMBA - In a band member's dream, he didn't know which door to use in a public toilet because the signs said "Chumba" and "Wamba" instead of "Men" and "Women"...
JETHRO TULL - popular 70's band that is named after the rather obscure inventor of the farmer's seed drill...
JUDAS PRIEST - originally a mild curse said to avoid saying "Jesus Christ" - also from the Bob Dylan song "The ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest"...
T PAU - after a high priestess from the planet VULCAN in the American TV series STAR TREK...
YO LA TENGO -translates to "I have it" from Spanish - said to be the phrase called out by Hispanic baseball players when fielding a pop fly ball. Singer/guitar player Ira Kaplan got the expression from a book he was reading about baseball called The Five Seasons.
ZZ TOP - taken from the name of a Texas Blues man ZZ Hill. Though a rumor is that they got their name by combining Zig Zag and Top, two well known brands of "cigarette" rolling papers.
Sterling likely won't face charges, Port Huron Police Capt. Don Porrett said, though officials said the remains will be sent to an anthropologist at Michigan State University for further examination...Link
Curiosity did attract at least one bid before the posting was removed.
"There was a bid on it for $500 from `Satan's Child,'" Porrett said.
I'm also thrilled that they're reprinting my story When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth in the program book.Pwned: Hollywood's Secret War on Your NOC
The entertainment industry has tried to ban every new technology from the record player to the VCR, but when it comes to the Internet and the general-purpose PC -- the battleground of the war on copying -- Hollywood has far grimmer plans. Under a variety of legislative, standards, policy and treaty negotiations, the people who brought you Police Academy n-1 are working to prohibit open source, to make open ports a crime, and turn Web 2.0 into AOL 0.9b. You can fight this -- you can put a stake through its heart. If you don't, kiss everything you love about the Internet goodbye.
Fred sez, "Freeculture.org is pleased to announce the contest winners for our Down With DRM video contest. We had a lot of great entries, and want to thank *all* of the participants for their submissions. They’ve all contributed greatly to raising awareness in the fight against DRM. The winners will all receive a Neuros OSD digital video recorder. Thanks again to Neuros for providing our wonderful prize and to Defective By Design for the support!"
Link
(Thanks, Fred!)
Next Tuesday at 7PM, I'm hosting a public talk at USC by Revver co-founder Steven Starr. Revver is a company that helps video creators add commercials to their short films, which creates a situation where the more a video is copied, the better it is for the creator. this is in marked contrast to the Hollysaurs, who are still pursuing improbably businesses that only work if they can make the Internet worse at copying bits.
Steven's talk is part of my ongoing series of talks by copyright scholars, engineers, security experts, policy wonks and other people with interesting things to say about the copyright wars. We podcast every one, and they're attended by a really eclectic mix of artists, hackers, international development types -- even lawyers from major studios.
Steven's talk fits in by talking about new platforms for creativity that embrace the Internet's fundamental nature as a machine for copying bits fast and freely -- business models that don't try to change the world, but rather, capitalize on it.
Where: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, main campus, Annenberg School, Room 207
When: Tuesday, October 17, 2006, 7PM-9PM
Audio from previous talks:
the latest
latest episodes
