Torrentfreak reports that "23 year old Grant Stanley has been sentenced to five months in prison, followed by five months of home detention, and a $3000 fine for the work he put in the private BitTorrent tracker Elitetorrents." Link (Thanks, Tony)

Chennai-based tech journalist Scott Carney has a piece in Wired Magazine this month about an Indian space program satellite launch last July. The rocket launch vehicle exploded a couple seconds after it left the pad. Whups.

Denied access to the inner sanctum, I take an 8-mile detour to the nearest village, Ataganathippa, and claim a spot along the road with a clear view of the launchpad, amid an audience of ordinary people – farmers, fishermen, day laborers, and my rocket-engineer acquaintance, who has brought along his family. Jeans-clad engineering students from the local community college chat excitedly about how the new satellite could reduce the price of cable television. Suddenly a bright flash erupts in the distance. Huge plumes of smoke boil up from the ground, and a loud rumble rolls across the water. In a matter of seconds the rocket rises above the horizon and a group of young boys shouts, "Jai Hind! Jai Hind!" (Victory to India!) Climbing steadily, the rocket disappears behind a bank of clouds. The crowd is motionless, anticipating the engine's fading rumble.

But it doesn't fade. There's a thunderlike crack. Then chunks of flaming debris begin a slow, tumbling descent, tracing red trails back to Earth.

"That's not supposed to happen," says the engineer, his voice tense with disbelief.

Link. Previous BoingBoing posts about Scott's work: Link.

It's like an Ansari X Prize for developing democracies, sort of. Boingboing reader Pienso explains:

Dr. Mo Ibrahim, the African billionaire who founded Celtel -- the cellular company that has connected the continent -- has launched a 5 million dollar prize to be given to the most-effective African head of state. The hope is that cash incentives for good governance might serve as a counter-balance and change the ways of those presidents that are instead ilegally making millions from oil, diamonds, illegal contracts and corruption. This approach got us private space travel, so here is to hoping.

Link

Immortalized in luminous squash: Alan Turing, one of our most esteemed nerd ancestors (and, incidentally, a gay man who lived in a time even more hostile to that identity than now). He died after biting into a poison apple; the chunks taken out of this pumpkin form his likeness, in light. Link. (Thanks, PC)

Reader comment: Alberto Gaitan says,

In Janna Levin's (fiction) book, "A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines," (Link) about Kurt Gödel and Alan Turing, I learned that both those big domes had an obsession with Snow White which provided for what Levin has called "bleakly complimentary" suicides. Gödel died of starvation because he thought his food was poisoned.

Ted Kinsman says,

this site has a few years worth of pumpkins carved by physics students - from Newton to Einstein with a few Star trek ones for good measure.

Travel tips for happy-fun Sudan! The government has banned all "journalistic functions" not managed by state officials within its borders, and the penalty for disobeying can be death. Snip from the US State Department's travel advisory website:

The Sudanese Government requires that anyone seeking to enter the Darfur area, or to take photographs or perform other journalistic functions anywhere in Sudan, must obtain a special permit. This includes journalists, photographers, and other press/media employees (...)

Failure to possess the appropriate travel documents and permits can result in the traveler’s arrest and detention for multiple crimes, including illegal entry, publication of false information, and espionage. If convicted, sentences range from deportation to life in prison or the death penalty.

Link, and more background here. (Thanks, Rob Williams)

Gregory sez, "An anti-DRM activist group has initiated an effort to tag products on Amazon.com as DefectiveByDesign to warn Amazon's shoppers of the dangers of DRM. So far a few dozen Amazon users have tagged over 150 products containing DRM (Blu-ray, HD DVD, FairPlay, and more) as DefectiveByDesign using the e-retailer's own 'tagging' system." Link (Thanks, Gregory!)

Tesco has been forced to remove a pole-dancing kit from the toys and games section of its website after it was accused of "destroying children's innocence". Be sure to catch the photo of the shell-shocked family who happened on the kit.

Dr Adrian Rogers, of family campaigning group Family Focus said yesterday that the kit would "destroy children's lives".

He said: "Tesco is Britain's number one chain, this is extremely dangerous. It is an open invitation to turn the youngest children on to sexual behaviour.

"This will be sold to four, five and six-year olds. This is a most dangerous toy that will contribute towards destroying children's innocence."

He added: "Children are being encouraged to dance round a pole which is interpreted in the adult world as a phallic symbol.

"It ought to be stopped, it really requires the intervention of members of Parliament. This should only be available to the most depraved people who want to corrupt their children."

Link

Reader comments:

Adam says:

I particularly liked the comment from "Family Focus" spokesman Adrian Rogers about "Children are being encouraged to dance round a pole which is interpreted in the adult world as a phallic symbol. It ought to be stopped". I wonder if he is so adamant about insisting that Children shouldn't be allowed to dance around the equally phallic Maypole?

Alazka says:

Being an elementary teacher, I was pretty prepared to get uppity about the poledancing kit y'all just boinged...but on a deeper reading I found that, in the "panic the populace first, ask questions later" style typical of Brit journalism, the article completely overlooked the fact that the kit was in no way marketed toward children. The other allegations they make (like the push-up bra for nine year-old girls) are creepy (and unsubstantiated; there may well be very petite women out there with every right and reason to buy a push-up bra), but Walmart's been selling faux-whore couture for very young girls for years (while removing products like the girl's t-shirt saying "someday I'll be president" as "not family-friendly") and somehow America's evangelical overlords seem to think it's cute.

The essential problem seems to be a category error...the outraged parents automatically categorize all toys & games as "for children," and so assumed a clearly adult toy was "going to be sold to four, five and six year-olds." And who, one might ask, is going to buy it for them? Is someone giving a toddler a credit card and teaching her to shop online?

For the retailer's part, obviously they need an "adult toys and games" category. But mainly I think it's the "journalists" who need to grow up.

Alexander says:

A couple things come to mind. The first is that 4, 5, and 6-year-olds don't buy things. They have things bought for them by older people who can make informed choices about the appropriateness of products.

The second is that (as far as my understanding goes) strippers' poles were invented for the pragmatic purpose of giving the dancers something to hold on to to precent them from bein pulled off the stage by over-eager customers. Phallic associations are a secondary artifact.

Andrew says:

A quick Google search for “peekaboo pole” led me to their official website.

I thought someone ought to clarify that this product is NOT aimed for children. Rather, their products seem to be aimed at adults; "With your own dance pole the possibilities are endless!! You can boogie on down in the living room, spice things up in the bedroom or even liven up a friend's party!!" A customer's comment reads, “The most fun I have ever had at a Bachelorette Party, thanks to the Peekaboo Pole!”

I think this was merely a case of an extreme mistake in stocking, which the press turned into a sensationalized "Society is sexualizing our youngsters!" story. Of course the kit would be harmful for children, but that’s not who the product is intended for.

"This will be sold to four, five and six-year olds. This is a most dangerous toy that will contribute towards destroying children's innocence."

I think this is a terrible overreaction on the doctor's part. If a book on drinking games was accidentally shelved in the children's section of a bookstore, would this doctor say the same thing? That this "children's book"--although it is NOT a book for children, merely a book placed among children's books--will be sold to "four, five, and six-year olds" and "destroy children's lives?" No. It was an error. The Peekaboo Pole is not a “toy”. It was placed among toys. It was created with the idea in mind that it would be used by children. Sensationalizing at its best.

Craft Vol. 1, the new magazine launched by O'Reilly Media, is on the stands and we are throwing a launch party for it at Machine Project in Los Angeles this Saturday. My wife, Carla Sinclair, is the editor-in-chief, and she and I will be there to celebrate. I hope you can join us!

Join us as we celebrate the release of CRAFT magazine, the first project-based magazine dedicated to the renaissance happening within the world of crafts. We’ll be offering magazine giveaways along with D.I.Y. demonstrations, door prizes from Felt Club and Chronicle Books, plus snacks and drinks.

FREE.

CRAFT Launch Party
11am - 3pm
Machine Project
1200 D North Alvarado Street, Los Angeles, CA 90026
213 483 8761

Link

Phil says:

Here's a special edition of the "Maker File" - Colin Berry reads Spinout, the story he wrote for Make Volume 07 about his brother's efforts to build and race a car in the soap box derby in Longmont, Colorado. Unfortunately, he was up against more than just his own bad luck. Introduction by MAKE & CRAFT publisher, Dale Dougherty.
Colin is an old friend of mine, and I was really excited that he wrote this piece for Make. Here's a sample of the text version:

All his life, my brother, Kevin, was plagued with terrible luck. It began when he was a teenager, in the early 70s, in Longmont, Colorado -- our hometown -- and soon became something of a family legend. IThis was in the early 1970’s, in Longmont, Colorado our hometown and if the Trojan theater was giving away free tickets to Planet of the Apes tickets, the kid in front of Kevinhim in line would geot the last one. If Kevin sold enough newspaper subscriptions to win a clock radio, it was broken when he opened the box. If one of hisa friends shoplifted a pack of Odd Rods bubblegum cards on the way home from school, Kevin got collared for it. It was a pattern. He weathered it well, half-joking about his luck with his shy, gap-toothed grin, but over time it took a terrible toll.

In shop class, however, Kevin seemed to step out from its shadow. He was adept with tools and proved himself a skilled carpenter at an early age. I was seven years younger, and remember marveling at the first projects he brought home from junior high school: a varnished gun rack; a Newton’s Cradle, with its five suspended steel balls; a sturdy set of bedroom shelves for his Revell models. Looking back, it follows that the noisy, meditative setting of the woodshop would appealed to Kevin. It was, a place where no one was shouteding at him, and where no electronic parts could mysteriously fail.

Link

Marcelo Calbucci is working on a geo-database project and came across a weird line of text in a database. He hopes a reader can solve the mystery:

I found a bizarre data on an official USGS database. It points to a place on Minnesota and the text says:

'Tell Him I Blame Him for the Children We Have Lost...' Aish-Ke-Vo-Go-Zhe

It would be interesting to figure out this puzzle.

Link

Reader comments:

Jay has solved the mystery. The coordinates indicate where Aish-Ke-Vo-Go-Zhe (AKA, Aysh-ke-bah-ke-ko-zhay or "Flat Mouth" ca.1774–ca.1860) perished.

A powerful Ojibwa, or Chippewa, chief in the Leech Lake area of present-day Minnesota, Aysh-ke-bah-ke-ko-zhay, or Flat Mouth, visited the nation's capital in 1855 as a member of the Indian delegation from the Midwest. The tribal leaders were brought to Washington to negotiate land treaties. Aysh-ke-bah-ke-ko-zhay spoke on behalf of his people in negotiating the cession of more than ten million acres in north-central Minnesota—a land package that included the headwaters of the Mississippi River. The Native Americans received more than one million dollars in funds and services, but aspects of this cession and others in the region continued to figure in government discussions with Native Americans for the next hundred years.

Aysh-ke-bah-ke-ko-zhay (other English spellings are also known) means "bird with the green bill" in the Ojibwa language. "Flat Mouth" did not derive from this native name but was instead an English translation of the nickname "Gueule Platte," applied by early French traders. In 1911 Smithsonian Institution ethnologist James Moody characterized the great leader as "probably the most prominent Ojibwa chief of the upper Mississippi region from at least 1806, when he held council with Lieutenant [Zebulon] Pike...probably to his death, which seems to have occurred about 1860."

Link

Jane McG says: "This mystery was just solved in the comments of the original blog post- woo hoo! The strange database entry apparently refers to an annual commemorative event remembering a tragic native american relocation effort.

Here is the full text found on the Web"

Mikwendaagoziwag— They are remembered
Sandy Lake ceremonies set for July 28

To remember those who perished at Sandy Lake during a failed attempt to remove Ojibwe bands from Wisconsin and Michigan in 1850, GLIFWC sponsors annual ceremonies at the Sandy Lake site near McGregor, Minnesota.

Ceremonies are slated for noon at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) site on Sandy Lake. Ceremonies will be preceded by a paddle across Sandy Lake to the ACOE site. The paddle will begin at 9:00 a.m. Following the noon ceremonies, all will join in a feast.

Everyone is welcome to attend and to participate in the paddle across the lake. For more information, please contact GLIFWC at (715) 682-6619 or GLIFWC’s website at www.glifwc.org.

“Tell him I blame him for the children we have lost, for the sickness we have suffered, and for the hunger we have endured. The fault rests on his shoulders.” —Flat Mouth, Leech Lake Ojibwe speaking of Territorial Governor Alexander Ramsey

Fancy a long stay in one of Bush's secret prisons? Easy -- just use this site to generate a fake Northwest Airlines boarding pass and try using it to get past security. Link (Via 27B Stroke 6)

This photo of a handicapped fellow in a cart grabbing a ride on the streets of a city in Pakistan reminds me of skateboarder Y.T. in Snow Crash. Link

Jason says:

In Bude (Cornwall, England) today there was the sound of a huge explosion that caused huge cracks in at least one person's house. The thing is no one knows what caused it -- there is no obvious explosion site, and the MOD and RAF deny any supersonic planes were flying over that area. Although the Ministry of Defence have been known to lie sometimes, surely a sonic boom that could crack houses would have smashed everyone's windows too. It's a fascinating mystery.

Link

Reader comments:

Brad says:

This has happened in the US as well. In April, I experienced it in San Diego and it was reported in the newspaper. Every agency or entity that could conceivably be responsible says it had nothing to do with it and though it shook my four story office building, there is still no explanation for it.

Link

Leah says:

Writing in from Toronto to say that the same phenomena was reported to have happened here about a week ago, some time around 4am. I didn't personally hear it, but woke to the radio personality I listen to discussing it with his co-host. It was described as sounding like a sonic boom, and none of the city's emergency personnel could provide any information as to what caused the sound. Later reports during the day claim that people as far as Mississauga heard the same noise.

manuel says:

the exact same weird thing happend 2 years ago on the island of sylt, where i live, as well (july or august). i was sitting at the beach, where i work, in my hut and waited for customers/tourists.

suddenly the whole hut was shaking like crazy. coffeepots and mugs were falling down and all that stuff you see on the telly when there is an earthquake. it lasted 3 to 5 seconds. tourists.

i immediatly thought there is some freak/buddy below my hut (it sits on poles because of hightide) who is doing some hoax fun crap with the poles to wake me up or scare me, but there was noone. but a lot of people who looked very distrurbed. tourists.

everybody on the island felt this "earthquake" that day. but there was no officially recorded seismic activity, no highspeed mach planes faster than sound, no military testing or whatsoever. there was no mini-tsunami kinda wave as well from a possible sea-quake either. i grew up on the beach (33 now), i know how that looks. tourists.

everybody on the island of sylt who i know remembers that earthquake, but noone knows what it was.

Rob says:

regarding your post about the mysterious booms that have been happening around the world.

my mother used to tell a story of when she was a teenager -it must have been the early 70's- growing up on Bell Island, off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. she was down in her parents creepy cellar getting something, when she heard and felt what she told us sounded like a sonic boom, followed by someone dropping a bag of marbles on the floor above.

thinking it a joke, she angrily ran back upstairs only to find everyone freaking out about themselves.

Apparently a lot of chickens just keeled over that day, as well as all the the glass covers on the electricity meters on the sides of houses were smashed.

Popular Science magazine investigates the physics of pole-dancing:

Consider the body of the body in question. After a quick shake of the head right and left, she leans backward to begin her rotation around the pole. Her pivot points include her right hand, held fast to the pole, and her left foot (disastrously clad, we will soon learn, in three-inch heels). She now has a sizeable amount of angular momentum moving counterclockwise around the pole, and this can be halted only by an external force.

Unfortunately for our young dancer, the outcropping of wall her rear end soon encounters does not provide that force. Instead it simply serves as a new fulcrum, shifting the center of rotation from her hand to her hip. This does two things: Like a figure skater pulling her arms in, shifting the center of rotation closer to her center of mass acts to speed the rotation up. More important, it also means that her right hand must begin to rotate around the wall as well.

Link

Check out this wild-ass pumpkin-mod -- a "Big Mac" pumpkin. Link (via Make)

A global shortage of backup generators is causing massive delays in the construction of new data-centers:

"Generator lead time for a nice 2 megawatt diesel engine is now up to a year for one generator," Josh Snowhorn of Terremark said in a panel at the NANOG conference earlier this year. "So we can build all the raised floor we want, and then sit around and wait six months for a generator."

Link (via Hack the Planet)

I've just finished Kathe Koja's moving new young adult novel Going Under, and I continue to be deeply moved by Koja's work.

Going Under is the story of a bright, home-schooled brother-sister pair who struggle with their love and resentment for one another, under the hapless gaze of their clueless parents. Hilly, the sister, got involved in the local high-school's paper and made her first outside-world friends, one of whom has recently committed suicide, shattering Hilly's life. Now her family struggles to bring her back from the dark pit she's fallen into.

I first started reading Koja with her ground-breaking, lush and literary horror novels like The Cipher. These baroque, grisly novels shocked and engrossed me, impressing me with their verbal pyrotechnics. I thought of Koja as a prose stylist first and foremost.

Then Koja started to publish slim, moving young adult novels, books that were written in a simple, bare-bones style that was more Hemingway than Marquez. It was then that I realized that beneath the prose-tricks, Koja wrote amazing characters, badly flawed people whom you loved and hated, who destroyed each other with their best intentions.

Going Under has that in spades. In spare brushstrokes, Koja sketches out several people, monsters, angels, devils and bystanders, each of them climbing out of the pages and telling you their stories. After a scant 120 pages (read all in one gulp of an afternoon), I felt like I'd spent a month living with her people, getting to know and love (or hate) them.

If you are or you know a smart young reader who's ready for something different, Koja's YA books like Going Under are like nothing you've ever read before. And if you're an adult, Koja's YA novels are a visit to the horrors and wonders of adolescence, a ticket to a world where young people aren't mere literary devices, but their own species, separate and whole; vulnerable and strong. Link

Penguin Books has launched an in-game publishing venture in the online world Second Life, leading with Neal Stephenson's seminal Snow Crash -- naturally, since Snow Crash's Metaverse inspired Second Life!

"It was the obvious entry point," says Penguin's Ettinghausen (avatar name Jeremy Neumann) as he shows me around the virtual sampler of Snow Crash. "We are always looking for new ways to connect with online communities and Second Life is undergoing a huge amount of growth. However, it is still a small community when compared with MySpace or iTunes and we wouldn't want to bring authors in who didn't have a connection with that world yet."

Penguin worked with the London-based virtual world design agency Rivers Run Red to create an in-world version of the book - this offers readers excerpts of the text, an audio clip and a link which clicks through to a dedicated Second Life page on the Penguin website, complete with the opportunity to buy the book at a discount. They are now developing a virtual bookshelf of other Penguin titles for the Second Life resident.

Link (via Futurismic)

Update: Wagner James Au sez, "I wrote about that *Snowcrash* excerpt a couple months ago, with a pic of it in action. Also includes a recollection by a former Linden Lab staffer who met Stephenson, and told him about Second Life as his metaverse made manifest-- but got a rather bland response."