Soviet arcade games: wonderfully horrible
LinkFrom the late '70s to the early '90s, Soviet military factories produced some 70 different video game models. Based largely (and crudely) on early Japanese designs, the games were distributed -- in the words of one military manual -- for the purposes of "entertainment and active leisure, as well as the development of visual-estimation abilities."...
Last month, the four officially opened the Museum of Soviet Arcade Machines in a Stalin-era bomb shelter under a university dormitory. Packed into two rooms are dozens of Soviet-made video game carcasses in various states of repair. Some work perfectly; others last for a few minutes, then fade. One common feature among them all is a lack of a high-score list.
See also: Guess what this photo from Wired News is
Jasmina Tešanović: Mothers of Mass Graves
Text by Jasmina Tešanović
photo by Bruce Sterling ( Nura in Bologna)
The mothers of mass graves
Nura comes from Srebrenica and she goes to places where her voice needs to be heard. For those who don’t know and the many who still refuse to know, Srebrenica was and is the enclave of genocide in Bosnia, committed there in 1995 by General Ratko Mladic and his soldiers.
Mladic is still in hiding from the justice of the international war tribunal in The Hague. The day Nura came to Italy from her hometown, another war criminal, the helper of Mladic, was arrested by police in Bosnia. Nura saw helicopters above her head.
Some claim the arrest was all staged. How could the third most wanted Srbrenica criminal be be arrested within Bosnia? Obviously a conspiracy was hiding him in the center of Belgrade, that capital from where all the evil orders were given by the late Slobodan Milosevic.
Says Nura calmly: that guy is half dead and only a stuntman for the real issue: the issue of hiding Mladic. It is a farce, who do they want to fool? Carla del Ponte arriving in Belgrade to check on the Serbian secret police, always involved in hiding war criminals more than finding them.
While us, the citizens from the enclave, still have to live under the power and law of those who killed our men en masse and raped women who failed to flee. Ten thousand people missing, twenty-five hundred of them found in mass graves.
Laugh Out Loud Cats: more 1900s comics unearthed
Ape Lad has just discovered and published more of his grandfather Aloysius' 1900s-era comic, The Laugh Out Loud Cats.
As we now know, this is the true historic precursor of the contemporary LOLcats meme. First published in 1912, the Laugh Out Loud Cats featured the hijinks of pro-LOL-gonist Meowlin Q. Kitteh ("a sort of cat hobo-raconteur," says Ape Lad) and his diminutive sidekick, Pip.
Explains Ape Lad, "The strip did not last long due to a run-in my great-grandfather had with none other than William Randolph Hearst."
Link to the latest painstakingly restored frames. And to all the killjoys out there who believe the Laugh Out Loud Cats is not real, or some kind of internet juvie joke -- stick the Lascaux cheesburger cave painting in your pipe and smoke it. (See also "long horse.")
BTW, Cthulhu Monkey!
Previously on BoingBoing
(posted from on the road in central america / xeni)
Steampunk monitor
Jake von Slatt, proprietor of the Steampunk Workshop, created this stately and elegant LCD monitor to match his RSS telegraph sounder and neo-antique keyboard. Gareth Brawnyn, who profiled von Slatt in MAKE: Vol. 09, has more info on the steampunk monitor over at Street Tech.Link
Previously on BB:
• HOWTO make a steampunk keyboard Link
• Steampunk Telegraph Sounder for RSS Link
• HOWTO make etched brass steampunk journals Link
Don Mossie, the world's "ugliest" baseball player
Link"Don Mossi was the complete five-tool ugly player. He could run ugly, hit ugly, throw ugly, field ugly and ugly for power. He was ugly to all fields. He could ugly behind the runner as well as anybody, and you talk about pressure ... man, you never saw a player who was uglier in the clutch."
Venus show at Roq La Rue Gallery
Seattle's incredible Roq La Rue Gallery opens its latest group show, Venus, this Friday evening. Featuring a stellar line-up of artists--including Stella Im Hultberg, Audrey Kawasaki, Lori Earley (image right), Isabel Samaras, Marion Peck, Glenn Barr, Amy Crehore, Kukula (image left), and a bunch more--the show is centered "around the concept of the feminine as muse, in whatever form that may take. From gorgeous to ghastly, innocent to vampy. All of the work is viewable online as well. Link
Coyne shreds Brownback's anti-science op-ed
Whether he knows it or not, Brownback's forthright declarations, denying any possibility that empirical matters of fact might differ from those assumed by his creed, amount to nothing less than a rejection of the whole institution of science. Who is "we", and where did "our" conviction and certainty come from? Would Brownback believe these "spiritual truths" if he hadn't been taught them as a child, or brought up in the United States instead of China?Link
According to Brownback, we should reject scientific findings if they conflict with our faith, but accept them if they're compatible. But the scientific evidence says that humans are big-brained, highly conscious apes that began evolving on the African savannah four million years ago. Are we supposed to reject this as "atheistic theology" (an oxymoron if there ever was one)?
Anti-smog jacket and no-cold-or-flu dress
LinkWorking in collaboration with Cornell fiber scientists two of her garments were treated with metallic nanoparticles enabling a dress that prevents colds/flu (plus it doesn't need to be washed), as well as a jacket that destroys noxious gases and protects the person from smog.
Scotty vs Kirk: Engineers need to say no to DRM
I always thought Scotty should have said "no" to the captain more often, especially when Kirk would ask for something completely outrageous that, more often than not, violated the laws of physics. But engineers don't like saying no to management, and poor Scotty would end up having to make the magic happen week after week, until even as a child I began to suspect that his skills had more to do with the scriptwriters than his deep understanding of the laws of the universe. Still, he did end up with a reputation as a miracle worker, which can't be so bad.Link (Thanks to everyone who suggested this!)Trying to make Digital Rights Management (DRM) work in the real world is like asking engineers to do "Star Trek" style magic, rather than real engineering. DRM simply cannot work. For less technical readers who might be wondering what I'm going on about, DRM is the attempt to control copying on a digital file, or sometimes even to add a restriction on how many times such a file can be copied. It's usually applied to online music or movies, but it's never sold to the consumer for what it actually is, an added restriction on what can be done with something they've paid for. DRM is always explained as the "wonderful new technology that will help protect your medical records from thieves." The truth is, it can't even do that.
Giving away the public domain docs the US gov charges money for
public.resource.org has created a mirror of NTIS.Gov's [National Technical Information Services] store that sells public domain materials. Our twist is that instead of sending you the materials, we'll release them back into the public domain for everybody to use. We mashed some of the materials up in a little infomercial here.Link (Thanks, Carl!)
Indonesian dep. tax minister shows flashstick porn to journalists
The Indonesian deputy minister of tax held a presentation in front of the chief editors of main Indonesian newspapers. He inserted a flashdisk into a laptop and intended to open his presentation using Adobe Photoshop Album software. However this software also reveals that all his images collection in the flashdisk beside his presentation, that contains porns.Link to Bahasa Indonesia language articleThe deputy minister said it is an accident, and that he's not deliberately trying to show the porns.
Note: Rani, the woman from Indonesia who sent me this link, has a wonderful blog. Here's an entry she wrote about her efforts to make cheese from her own breast milk.
Kevin Poulsen says: "I'm so excited by this piece we're running tomorrow, that I'm posting this preview pic to give THREAT LEVEL readers an exclusive chance to guess what the subject is. Here's a clue: this will be the best thing that's ever appeared on the internet. Ever." PC pop-up case's defense expert reveals prosecutor's incompetence
Here's the astounding comments about the case from the defense's technical expert:
We asked the prosecution to arrange for the defense to have unfettered access to the internet so that we could reenact the events of October 19, 2004. It was not granted. I went to court with two laptops and a box full of reference material prepared to very clearly illustrate what happened to Julie Amero. But, the prosecution objected because they were not given "full disclosure" of my examination. I was allowed to illustrate two screens, that of the www.hair-styles.org , and www.new-hair-styles.com sites.I agree with the comment posted by a reader of the Norwich Bulletin, who wrote:This was one of the most frustrating experiences of my career, knowing full well that the person is innocent and not being allowed to provide logical proof.
No matter how this turns out, the damage done to Julie Amero's life, reputation, and career can never be fully undone, even if she sues (which she should) and is compensated buckets of money. Kevin Kane, the state's chief attorney, made a huge blunder through sheer incompetence. His incompetence is downright mind boggling. This wasn't an example of a prosecutor acting on the best information he had and convicting someone competently and honestly but merely being wrong. No, this rises to the level of gross negligence and incompetence. He was clearly determined to obtain a conviction, facts be damned.If you want to send email to the prosecutor in the case, Michael L. Regan, the Chief State's Attorneys of Connecticut Kevin T. Kane, and Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell, and urge them to drop the case, here are their email addresses. LinkKevin Kane should submit his resignation. If he fails to do so, it should be demanded by the state. He made it clear in this case that he can't be trusted to handle even simple computer-related crime cases.
Reader comment:
Alan Graham says: But the best is this section (from Courant.com):
Amero's case became a hot issue for bloggers throughout the country, many of whom sharply criticized the guilty verdict. [Superior Court Judge Hillary B.] Strackbein criticized the bloggers today, saying they tried to "improperly influence" the court.
That was the judge that ordered the new trial...I would say that bloggers didn't improperly influence the case, but instead helped fight for justice. Without the attention generated by bloggers, it is likely she would be in prison today.
Realist archive project
The Realist was a satirical newsletter founded by Paul Krassner from in 1958. It mixed true stories with parodies, and sometimes it was hard to tell the difference. It was a freak's version of Mad magazine (and I just discovered on Wikipedia that the first issue was produced in Mad's offices).
When Krassner relaunched The Realist in the 1980s I devoured each issue as it arrived in my mailbox. It was a major inspiration for bOING bOING, the zine. If fact if you look at the subject matter covered in The Realist, you'll see that much of it is remarkably similar to the stuff you'll find on Boing Boing today. For example, the June 1963 issue (shown above) had the following articles: The Arrest of Lenny Bruce, "Negative Thinking" by Robert Anton Wilson, Epizootics by Gershon Legman, the FDA vs Scientology, and weird items clipped from the mainstream press. I can hardly believe this is from a magazine published 44 years ago! Mind blowing.
I have only seen a couple of the early issues of The Realist, so I was elated to learn that outre-culture archivist Ethan Persoff has started on online archive for this eccentric and delightful newsletter.
Announcing The REALIST Archive Project. A complete republishing of all 146 issues of Paul Krassner's classic THE REALIST Magazine. Every page from the Realist that was ever printed will be included within this archive. A wealth of incredible things coming up for you. Posted with permission. Our thanks to Paul Krassner.LinkIssue No. 44 - Lenny Bruce arrested (1963)
Issue No. 66 - An Abortionist for the FBI (1966)
Issue No. 74 - The full Disneyland Memorial Orgy issue (1967)
-and-
Issue No. 81 - The Digger Papers (1968).----------------------------------------------------------
Also: writing from Robert Anton Wilson and from Gershon Legman. Tips on child pornography found in Reader's Digest, and much much more.Four new issues posted every month until the archive is complete.
Wikified reply to Easterbrook re: WIRED commentary on NASA's future
The National Space Society (NSS) has drafted a response to Gregg Easterbrook's critique of NASA in the latest issue of Wired Magazine ("How NASA Screwed Up (And Four Ways to Fix It)").At left, the image that ran with that critique in Wired, to give you an idea of the flavor.
George Whitesides of the NSS tells BoingBoing, "As an experiment, NSS plans to finish this document via this wiki, where NSS members and the space community at large can add and edit in a collaborative process." Well, *that's* an open letter. Link.
Other Side: moving, haunting Vietnam War comic
I found Other Side, Jason Aaron and Cameron Stewart's gripping, savage, thoughtful Vietnam War comic, by going into Secret Headquarters (my favorite comic shop) and asking "What's good?" Dave, the co-owner, said, "I just sent this guy my first-ever fan letter" and passed me a copy.
It was a well-deserved fan-letter. Aaron is the cousin of Gustav Hasford, the Vietnam War correspondent who wrote the book that became "Full Metal Jacket." Through Hasford, Aaron found himself spending a lot of time in the company of other old Vietnam correspondents, hearing their stories. This inspired him to travel to Vietnam and research the experiences of Vietnamese soldiers who fought on the other side.
The result is Other Side, which tells the parallel life stories of an ARVN font color="red">NVA irregular and a US Marine who join up at the same time and visit the seven hells of a pointless war engineered by liars who tempted boys to war with propaganda and scaremongering.
The story follows some of the conventions of a traditional Vietnam story, but quickly veers into new territory as both of them experience numinous hallucinations -- the Marine is haunted by the ghosts of other dead Marines (including a spirit that makes his rifle whisper obscene, suicidal messages out of its barrel) while the ARVN NVA soldier is haunted by Buddhist ghosts brought on by the scorching fever of malaria. These spirit visitations tell another parallel story, about the real reasons each of them is fighting.
The artwork is superb, reminiscent of the most graphic of the EC Comics -- cartoony but not silly, exploiting the wide-open nature of comics graphics to tell a story that couldn't ever be adequately captured in film or in mere words.
This is Jason Aaron's first graphic novel, but I'm sure it won't be his last. I know I'll be actively hunting down the rest of his work as it emerges.
Link
Cory's Internet Filtering editorial for the Guardian
People say bad things online. They write vile lies about blameless worthies. They pen disgusting racist jeremiads, post gut-churning photos of sex acts committed against children, and more sexist and homophobic tripe than you could read - or stomach - in a lifetime. They post fraudulent offers, alarmist conspiracy theories, and dangerous web pages containing malicious, computer-hijacking code.LinkIt's not hard to understand why companies, government, schools and parents would want to filter this kind of thing. Most of us don't want to see this stuff. Most of us don't want our kids to see this stuff - indeed, most of us don't want anyone to see this stuff.
But every filtering enterprise to date is a failure and a disaster, and it's my belief that every filtering effort we will ever field will be no less a failure and a disaster. These systems are failures because they continue to allow the bad stuff through. They're disasters because they block mountains of good stuff. Their proponents acknowledge both these facts, but treat them as secondary to the importance of trying to do something, or being seen to be trying to do something. Secondary to the theatrical and PR value of pretending to be solving the problem.
Open City unconference in Toronto on Jun 23
Dave sez, "Open source. Open space. Open art. Open doors. Open questions. Open City?
Open Cities Toronto 2007 is a weekend-long web of conversation and celebration that asks: how do we collaboratively add more "open" to the urban landscape we share?" The event looks like a lot of fun -- June 23, in downtown Toronto.
Link
(Thanks, Dave!)
National anti-DRM campaign launches in Brazil
Ronaldo sez, "A national Anti-DRM campaign has been launched in Brazil. The title of the campaign is: 'Technological Restrictions: You Pay for it and Get Less.' The campaign was launched in a partnership between the largest consumer group in the country (IDEC - Institute for Consumer Defense), and the A2K project, run by the Center for Technology & Society at FGV law school. The campaign explains all the losses suffered by consumers because of DRM. It also has a link for consumers to tell their stories about DRM and how they have been harassed by these technologies." Link (Thanks, Ronaldo!)
Steampunk Star Trek
Steam Trek is a 1994 Star Trek fan video that recasts the voyages of the Enterprise as a late Victorian silent "moving picture" with great, Voyage to the Moon-style graphics and hilarious slates for dialog.
Link
(Thanks, Danny and everyone else who suggested this story!)
See also:
Steampunk turntable
Steampunk mouse
Steampunk guitar
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
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