BB reader and conference co-organizer Amar Ashar writes in to remind us all...
...that the Berkman Center is having its big Internet & Society Conference this Friday, June 1. It only happens every 2 years or so, and we've got a pretty cool line up of participants, including Nicholas Negroponte, Doc Searls, Wendy Seltzer, David Weinberger, Ethan Zuckerman, and plenty more from Facebook, the Center for Social Media, and The Berkman Center.Link.The conference is focused heavily on the future of university, and "What is the role of University in cyberspace?" Should be a good time! I'm sure there will be some blog posts after the conference, but I thought I'd give you all a heads up.
I wanted to see how few parts I could use, from what I had on hand, to build this clicking blinking LED device based on a 555 chip.
Ewa Sowinska, government-appointed children rights watchdog, told a local magazine published on Monday she was concerned the popular BBC children's show promoted homosexuality. She said she would ask psychologists to advise if this was the case.
Mark Beam is making these spine-lamps that resemble the human spinal cord -- apparently these are pure catnip for well-heeled chiropractors.
I enjoy listening to podcasts and audiobooks on my iPod, especially in the car. I typically use an earbud headset, but with only one bud, keeping the other ear free for sounds of traffic.
Might I suggest for you the monster ipod cassette adapter? It never fuzzes, doesn't drain battery, and it attaches to any player with a 3.5mm jack. Also they have 
The best iPod transmitter I've ever seen is 
PayPlay has just launched "the world's largest MP3 download store" -- a store selling more than 1.3 million indie music tracks, with a search engine that allows you to search for your fave artists and get similar indie artists in the catalog. Previous to this PayPlay sold only DRM-crippled WMAs for $0.77, the MP3s sell for $0.88. I guess that we could take that as a tacit admission that DRM makes music worth less, but it does seem a little weird to charge a premium for music that doesn't treat you like a crook. The service says that this reflects the cost of retooling to host MP3s instead of WMAs. Another unfortunate legacy is the service's name, which reflects a time when the business was built on DRM and tried to offer artist the opportunity to get paid for their work. But "PayPlay" doesn't really sell the service to the public, who don't perceive having to pay as a benefit.
A lightning strike in Boulder, Colorado this weekend left a tree without much of its bark. One of my co-workers took these pictures and says the tree is waxy and smooth to the touch.
Candle wax drips on these kid head candle holders, making them look like some kind of Chester Gould villain. 
An icon of 1980s skateboarding, 
Earlier this month, Cory reviewed Alter Ego, a book of gamers and their in-game avatars collected by photographer Robbie Cooper. He created the book after meeting a traveler who communicated with his kids via Everequest. New Scientist created a gallery of some of the book's portraits with Cooper narrating the stories behind the characters, virtual and real. 
UPDATE: Of course, clouds are a rich source of simulacra, but I especially like this Superman insignia posted by BB reader DaveX at his Startling Moniker blog. 
The fact that the SynBio organisms are likely to have simplified Tinkertoy DNA doesn’t necessarily mean they’re going to be faster and better. It’s more likely that they’ll be dumber and less adaptable. I have a mental image of germ-size MIT nerds putting on gangsta clothes and venturing into alleys to try some rough stuff. And then they meet up with the homies who’ve been keeping it real for a billion years or so.
Inside, honey lay sheathed in warm African chocolate. Plunged and captured in amber treasure lay fresh Brazil nuts, almonds, and glazed clusters of snowy coconut. June butter and August wheat were clothed in dark sugars. All were crinkled in folded tinfoil, then wrapped in red and blue papers that told the weight, ingredients and manufacturer. In bright bouquets the candies lay, caramels to glue the teeth, licorice to blacken the heart, chewy wax bottles filled with sickening mint and strawberry sap, Tootsie Rolls to hold like cigars, red-tipped chalk-mint cigarettes for chill mornings when your breath smoked on the air.
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