This weekend, MAKE: and the Alameda County Computer Resource Center (ACCRC) in Berkeley, California are holding a 24 hour event for makers to build stuff from the tons of fantastic gear collected by the electronics recycler. BYOT! (Bring your own tools!) Here are the details:

ACCRC in Berkeley, CA and Make have been collecting household electronics--including old projects, failed inventions, half finished prototypes. All of these items will be diverted to ReMake, a 24-hour event beginning at noon on Saturday, April 28.

Come find parts for your new projects and work with others to create something new from salvaged electronics. ACCRC will provide internet, sleeping quarters, food, and plenty of toys to aid makers to encourage us to recycle and ReMake. Bring your tools and anything else needed to create. You can also bring anything you ReMake to the upcoming Maker Faire, May 19-20 at the San Mateo Fairgrounds, where we will showcase how a little innovation can make the old, new again.

Where: Alameda County Computer Resource Center (ACCRC), 1501 East Shore Highway, Berkeley, CA 94710

When: Noon, April 28, 2007 - Noon, April 29, 2007

edu says:

I apologize in advance if this somehow exemplifies my ignorance: Is there a name for the people who sit on the floor of the graphic novels aisle in bookstores (who invariably read manga)? I tried "manga hobos" but it doesn't sit right. I don't mean to criticize: those books can be pricey. But they're always in the way!

If you have a better name for these folks, post a comment in edu's Flickr site: Link

I find something strangely appealing about designer Vlaemsch's "Internal Watch," a timepiece entirely encased in leather so as to render it completely non-functional. It's $275 from Vivre. Link

Dig these 1971 "Politicards," playing cards illustrated with the politicos of the day, up for auction on eBay. From the item description:

These POLITICARDS are dated 1971 and were made during the height of Richard Nixon's presidency. Each of the 54 different playing cards is a different character of the era. There are members of the Kennedy family, Agnew, Jane Fonda - 'political activist', Ralph Nader, Buckley, Goldwater, Ford, Eisenhower, Reagan, Martha Mitchell, Strom Thurmond, McGovern, Proxmire, Tunney, Maddox, Richard Daley, George Wallace and other politicos and fringe celebs of the day. Of course, Nixon is King. Deck is still sealed (using photos of our own personal deck). After you chuckle at the humorously-illustrated cards, you can actually play with them.

Link (Thanks, Michael-Anne Rauback!)

Cartoonist Johnny Ryan made swell use of his college degree in literature in creating this highly offensive, scatological, profanity-infested comic book that lampoons classic novels. It's hilarious.

Klassic Komix Klub #2—the spanking-new sequel to Klassic Komix Klub #1, published in Winter 2006—is a limited edition comic recently self-published by Johnny. KKK #2 collects 24 highly scatological, not-for-the-squeamish classic literature parody strips into one gorgeous package, wrapped up in a display-worthy three-color letterpress printed (on fancy paper with yellow-gold metallic ink) wraparound cover produced by Buenaventura Press. (One sample colorway is represented above, we'll have detailed photos for you soon!) Only 200 copies were produced and we have limited quantities available. Each copy is signed and numbered. Various inks and papers were used, the pic above shows samples of what you might receive. Please note that Johnny's last few parody books sold out extremely fast; also these are not available in stores. Only $10.

Link

Previously on Boing Boing:
• Johnny Ryan in Mad
• "What're You Lookin' At?!" anthology
• Johnny Ryan's Klassic Komix Klub
• Johnny Ryan's Comic Book Holocaust
• Johnny Ryan's Comic Book Holocaust 2

Amid says: "Utah Republican Don Larsen believes that illegal immigration to the US is a Satanic plot and has submitted an anti-Satan resolution to be discussed at this weekend's Utah County Republican Convention."

"In order for Satan to establish his 'New World Order' and destroy the freedom of all people as predicted in the Scriptures, he must first destroy the U.S.," his resolution states. "The mostly quiet and unspectacular invasion of illegal immigrants does not focus the attention of the nations the way open warfare does, but is all the more insidious for its stealth and innocuousness."

...

Satan has popped up in Utah County politics before. Last year, failed congressional candidate John Jacob of Eagle Mountain blamed the devil for his flagging campaign.

Link. Another article here

(Click on thumbnails for enlargement)

AOL's new beta site looks just a teensy bit like Yahoo's home page, wouldn't you say? (Thanks, Patrick!)

Dakota sez, "Built by Thunder Eagle Customs (my Dad), this friggin thing is awesome. He's putting it up for sale on eBay this sunday under the name 'Steampunk Guitar - Villanizer'. I've bugged him to keep it, but I know he'll build me one -- he keeps muttering about bills to pay. Who cares about bills when you got a guitar this wicked?"

After cutting, a spacer was cut and installed to join the two pieces of the body. Knowing damned well that wouldnt be a strong enough of a join for just about any player, the steampunk look hit me, and I went on to installing the copper pipe, and soldering the joints. You just cant have steam power without a gauge, so I cannibalized an old oil gauge and made a custom face in it with my name and a real complex readout.

Gears. Man I hacked more gears together then I knew what to do with, and inlaid them into a cut plexi frame that was then screwed into the body. Under the gears is a carbon fiber layer which really sets them off. By the way, one of the gears in the lower end is a Matrix headplug vast from one of the original plugs used in the film. What the hell, it had the look.

Link (Thanks, Dakota!)

See also:
Spring-loaded steampunk spex
Steampunk magazine
Steampunk Star Wars
Steampunk watch
Beautiful steampunk laptop
HOWTO make a steampunk keyboard
HOWTO make etched brass steampunk journals
HOWTO make a steampunk spinning-wheel
Steampunk walking robot
Steampunk cartoon from SciFi channel: Amazing Screw-On Head
Homebrew mechanical steampunk lion from Belgium
Steampunk robotics
Steampunk weekly serial - handsome editions
Steampunk rayguns
Steampunk Transformer-bots
Ukrainian steampunk plane
Steampunk casemod with a "furnace"
Steampunk submarine free paper toy
Steampunk/dead media photoshopping contest
Brighton's steampunk rolling sea-platform
Steampunk Slashdot
Steampunk mecha-wars
Steampunk car-wars
New York's steampunk pneumatic subway

Len is one of the artists who participated in the 700 Hoboes Project. He's got a website called Monster By Mail. For $20, he'll create a color drawing of any fictional movie monster you make up. For an additional $10, he'll include a time-lapse video of the drawing from start to finish. It's a bargain! Link

Previously on Boing Boing:
• Videos of hoboes being drawn by Ape Lad
• Ape Lad draws Jackhammer Jill as a hobo

In Cary, Illinois, it is apparently a criminal offense for a high school student to write an essay that "alarms and disturbs" the teacher.

Dion says: "A straight A student is arrested and charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct (and removed from the school) for writing an essay that mimics the content of violent video games, in the context of a creative writing class assignment. While some concern about the content is well-understandable, and some investigation appropriate, the reflex to criminalize represents a view that sees adolescents and young adult expression as a dangerous series of risk factors that increasingly require arrest and preventive detention."

"I understand what happened recently at Virginia Tech," said the teen's father, Albert Lee, referring to last week's massacre of 32 students by gunman Seung-Hui Cho. "I understand the situation."

But he added: "I don't see how somebody can get charged by writing in their homework. The teacher asked them to express themselves, and he followed instructions."

Allen Lee, an 18-year-old straight-A student at Cary-Grove High School, was arrested Tuesday near his home and charged with disorderly conduct for an essay police described as violently disturbing but not directed toward any specific person or location.

Link

Update: Here's the essay that got Lee arrested.

Over on Scouta -- a new service that figures out the kind of media you like and serves up more of the same to you -- I wrote about five podcasts I really enjoy.

Example:

PopSci Podcasts

Jonathan Coulton, the wonderfully talented geek guitar troubadour, hosts this weekly podcast from his bunker on the moon, phoning in for interviews with people profiled in Popular Science magazine. He's talked to an electric car manufacturer, visionary roboticists, and a scientist who swaps genes around in fruit flies to make the boy flies fight like girl flies and vice versa.

Link

Previously on Boing Boing:
• Five favorite podcasts
• Subscribe to the Boing Boing Boing podcast
• Subscribe to Boing Boing Boing on iTunes
• Boing Boing Boing archives
• Subscribe to the Get Illuminated podcast
• Subscribe to Get Illuminated on iTunes
• Get Illuminated archives
• Boing Boing's 60 most recent videos
• 9 great old punk videos
• 7 punk and post-punk female singer videos

Here's an illustrated poem about death-hamsters, attributed to an 8-year-old boy in Georgia named Shecky. Link, and don't miss the secret message. (Thanks, LLA)

Evil hamsters are almost as "terrizing" as the LOLGAY gebrils: Link.

Why, oh why, do I love looking at This Old House's " " photo galleries? The answer is simple -- it makes be feel better for doing such a slipshod job of repair and maintenance on my own house.

Nothing feels better than a good shocking shower before going for a swim. A showerhead placed directly over an electrical junction box does the trick.

Link

Previously on Boing Boing:
• Sex-in-Russia article on This Old House site
• Photos of bad and dangerous home improvement hacks

Attaboy, who co-produces the terrific art magazine, Hi-Fructose, has directed his first animated cartoon. It's a delightful five-minute pilot for the Disney Channel called "Too Many Robots!"

Atta sez: "Animated by Ghostbot!, featuring music by the awesome Mike Relm and the lead is voiced by Kelly Stables (the Ring 2+3)." Link

Previously on Boing Boing:
• Attaboy's Fuzzy Axtrx
• Attaboy's new book of postcards
• Preview of new issue of Hi-Fructose
• Hi-Fructose volume 3

As we continue to ramp up for the MAKE: Bay Area Maker Faire at the San Matero Fairgrounds on May 19 and 20, here are this week's previews of people and projects participating in the extravaganza. From the MAKE: Blog (photo by Steve Double):

• The Crucible Link
• The Art of Motion Control Link
• The King of Fling contest Link
• Makers @Maker Faire Link
• X1 electric car does 0-100 mph in 6.8 seconds Link
• Tom Zimmerman and his DIY videoscope for backyard biology Link

Link to purchase advance tickets for the Maker Faire

Previously on BB:
• Maker Faire previews from April 16-20 Link
• Maker Faire previews from April 9-13 Link

What's not to love about a Russian car decorated to pay homage to one of history's bloodiest dictators? Link

Zhanna, a cake-shop in St. Petersburg, Russia, creates incredible sculptural cakes in the form of government documents, newspapers with herring on them, card-tables, casino games, maps, eye charts, skyscrapers, tennis shoes... Link (Thanks, Anonymous person!)

BB pal Vann Hall comments that this photo of astrophysicist Stephen Hawking enjoying a gravity-free moment yesterday is rather Dali-esque. The apple is in honor of Isaac Newton. Click image for the full picture, credited to Steve Baxall.
Link

UPDATE: Vann points out the striking surreal similarities between the Hawking photo and "Dali Atomicus" (1949).
Link

It's hard to imagine a country more traditional, and more religious, than Guatemala. For that reason, news that the country is denying entry to a cult leader who tattooes "666" on his arm, calls himself The Antichrist, and whose (alleged) 2 million followers describe him as a living deity -- it's pretty far out.

Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda (Wikipedia link) is the head of the Florida-based Growing in Grace church. He runs a 24-hour Spanish-language television network, and hosts a radio program broadcast on 287 stations.

Thumbnail at left (Alexandre Meneghini, AP) (link to full-size): A follower of Miranda holds a baby with "SSS" painted on her head. The letters stand for Miranda's motto, "salvo, siempre salvo," or "saved, always saved."

This week, Miranda tried to fly on his private jet to Guatemala, where he apparently has a big following, to celebrate his 61st birthday.

But Guatemalan officials flagged him as a terrorist, and say he's a security risk because he provokes conflict with Roman Catholics and evangelicals.

Snip from an AP story:

He often takes aim at the Catholic Church — the most powerful faith in Latin America — calling all priests child molesters and saying chastity vows go against the Bible's teachings. Members of his church have torn up images of saints and other religious symbols in El Salvador, and marched in Guatemala and Honduras.

He preaches that sin and the devil do not exist. In January, he revealed tattoos of the numbers 666 on his forearms and declared that he and his followers were Antichrists because their beliefs supersede those of Jesus Christ. The Bible describes the Antichrist as someone who will fill the world with wickedness but be conquered by a second coming of Christ.

Despite the Guatemalan government's security block, his supporters say...

"It has been predestined, and angels will make it happen," said Axel Poessy, Miranda's media director. "He is, after all, God himself."

Link to that AP story. Well, that didn't work out. Miranda was indeed denied entry to Guatemala. Miranda spun the story of the nixed visit as his choice:

He had vowed to defy the ban but canceled Saturday and will instead address the gathering in a video teleconference, said the sect's head pastor in Guatemala, Jorge Batres. "We're a church respectful of the law and we will have to wait until the judge gives us an injunction," Batres said.

Batres said De Jesus Miranda's Guatemalan followers will "firmly fight within the law so that he can come and let the world know that Jesus the Man is in Guatemala."

Link.

No surprise here, but the church's website appears to be a very important part of their "Antichrist ministry" outreach program.

The most interesting parts of the site, to me, are these videos of children proclaiming themselves part of a "Super Race" of Miranda followers, and this photo gallery documenting "Day of the Tattoo," where followers of de Miranda all got tattoos of "666" and "SSS" ("salvo, siempre salvo") on their bodies to proclaim their faith.

Previously on BoingBoing:

Xeni's NPR series "Guatemala: Unearthing the Future"

Xeni's notes from the road in Guatemala

Mayan priests to "purge" Iximche after Bush's visit

Guatemala: Photos from indigenous protest of Bush visit

More BB posts about Guatemala

(via Warren Ellis)

Reader comment: attorney Elizabeth Camp from the University of Texas says,

Miranda moved his church and his headquarters to Houston some time ago: Link. Then he announced he is the Antichrist.

In a new interview with the OpenBusiness project, Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth explains the Ubuntu business-model. Shuttleworth is a wealthy entrepreneur who started Ubuntu -- which gives away a free, high-quality version of Linux. He makes money from the "ecosystem" of services surrounding Ubuntu. Link (Thanks, Christian!)

I'm headed to the LA Times Festival of Books this Sunday, April 29 to appear on a science fiction panel with Kage Baker Harry Turtledove and John Scalzi called "Science Fiction: The Road From Here to There." Hope to see you there! Link

Following up on a previous BB post about freshly-killed, still-wriggling octopus tentacles -- a popular dish in South Korea -- many of you wrote in with personal accounts, and video. Here are more.

ray says,

Just read the squirming octopus post on BoingBoing! I was in Korea some 2 years ago and posted a similar breakdown on my own site - it includes videos of flopping fish and waving sea urchins. Live. And of course, we're eating them. Doesn't get any fresher than that! And now I'm getting hungry too... Link.

Brittanie H. says,

I have been living on Geoje Island, Korea, for the past two years. I have never eaten the wiggling octopus tentacles because they gross me out but I have had other undead seafood and I love steamed octopus.

I thought you might like to know the reason why Koreans eat their food this way. Especially in coastal areas, there is an emphasis on the "freshness" of seafood. Seafood lovers in the West know that fish always tastes better if it hasn't been frozen — Koreans take this one step further. They think most seafood is best when it's freshly killed, like, literally seconds before you eat it. Near the coast, almost all seafood restaurants have tanks outside where you pick the fish you want to eat. It is then killed at a bar inside and served up sashimi-style. Markets here serve skinned eel that even after de-gloving continue to wriggle around.

There is a scene in the Korean movie "Seom" (A.K.A. The Isle, a very good movie) in which a fisherman pulls a catch out of the water, cuts a chunk off the flank, eats the meat and then drops the butchered fish back into the water. The camera follows the fish as it swims away, streaming blood. Animal right activists had a heyday with that one, since the scene looks very, very real, but the director swears the fish was a fake. You can see part of the fish in this trailer at about 54 seconds in. Video Link.

Evan Garcia says,

The posts about octopus reminded me of recent Pulitzer-recipient Jonathan Gold's description of eating live prawns in LA's Koreatown: Link.

It's a great piece of writing, like no other food review I've read.

Len Cullum says,

Here is a 2 minute video of a sushi chef who fillets both sides of a fish, then puts it back in the tank where it swims around seemingly unaffected. The video is not graphic or gory unless you consider being able to almost see through the fish as either of those things. Video Link.

Kyungjoon Lee says,

BTW, there's a Wikipedia article about eating live octopus: Link.