LinkPhoto by Scott Beale
JEFF: Isn't there going to be a big scandal for your franchise when the first person starts broadcasting themselves naked or having sex or something that's considered obscene? How do you regulate that?
RU: I thought that was the idea! (laughter)
JUSTIN: Justin.tv has been R-rated at best, so far.
JEFF: But isn't that going to be a problem? It will probably become some kind of a free speech issue. You'd have to force people through some channel where whatever they're going to be webcasting -- it's okay. Because otherwise, anybody can just load up their browser and watch people having sex!
JUSTIN: Well they can already do that. Just not on justin.tv!
JEFF: You're going to make it a lot easier...
RU: So whatever people are going to do with their Justin franchises is OK to you?
JUSTIN: Well honesty, justin.tv shouldn't be a platform for the (sort of) "bad stuff" out there on the internet. Whether it's hate speech or obscenities of whatever. So we'll almost definitely do some censorship. If someone's using their channel to broadcast themselves committing a crime – well, that's not something we want to promote. You know? We would definitely shut that down.
R.U. Sirius interviews Justin of Justin.TV
10
Zen Monkeys has published a very entertaining interview with
Justin Kan of Justin.TV, transcribed from an episode of The
RU Sirius Show. BB pal Jamais Cascio participated in the
discussion, which covers surveillance implications, pornographic
possibilities, and potential copyright problems as Justin's one-man
show transitions into a network and a franchise.
a Boing Boing reader says: "'Lie' is a group of robotic cow tongues by Doo Sung Yoo. This is another example from his series about the relationships between biological objects and machines." Enjoy the video! Chewable eyeball cameras: sf video podcast
Jim Munroe sez, "Nanotech is going to be able to do all that and more according to the third episode of INFEST WISELY, a lo-fi sci-fi video podcast. 'Early Adopter' follows the story of a voice actress after she ingests a beta version of a new, chewable technology. Is it just the stress of her disintegrating relationship or is the EyeSee application a little... buggy?"
I've been following this "low-fi sci-fi" video podcast for a month now and while the first couple episodes didn't move me much, the last couple have been killer. The production values keep getting better, too. Link (Thanks, Jim!)
UK physics teacher says British physics suck
Wellington Grey -- a British physics teacher whose wonderful comic flowcharts are often featured here on Boing Boing -- is fed up with the quality of physics education in the UK. He's written a scathing open letter to the Board of Education detailing his view of the crisis in British physics.
On topics that are covered by the specification, the exam board has answers that indicate a lack of knowledge on the writer’s part. One questions asks `why would radio stations broadcast digital signals rather than analogue signals?’ An acceptable answer is:Link (Thanks, Wellington!)* Can be processed by computer / ipod [sic]
Aside from the stupidity of the answer, (iPods, at the time of this writing, don’t have radio turners and computers can process analogue signals) writing the mark scheme in this way is thoughtless, as teachers can only give marks that exactly match its language. So does the pupil get the mark if they mention any other mp3 player? Technically, no. Wikipedia currently lists 63 different players. Is it safe to assume that the examiner will be familiar with all of them? Doubtful.
See also:
Science and faith: two flowcharts
Slashdot: the flowchart
W.W.G.W.B.D.? flow chart
Soviet vid "reenacts" Stalin's visit to Berlin
Matt sez, "Here's a surreal clip from an old Soviet propaganda film 'reenacting' Stalin's arrival in Berlin to his loving masses. The whole thing is in Russian, but you don't have to understand the language to know what's going on here. 'LONG LIVE STALIN!!!'" Link (Thanks, Matt!)
Update: ArtilleryMagazine writes, "The ironic thing is, Stalin never visited Berlin. He said upon screening of the film, that it was so beautiful, and he wished he had gone."
Secrets of contrails
Air & Space Magazine tells the story of condensation trails, or contrails, the white streams of ice crystals generated by airplanes flying at high altitudes. From the article:
Previously on BB:
• Airplane exhaust scars Link
UPDATE: Kate Green writes:
LinkThey are created by airplanes flying at high altitudes, where the air is below –38 degrees Fahrenheit. Exhaust from airplane engines contains water vapor as well as other gases and particles of soot and metal. When the exhaust is expelled into and mixes with the cold air, the water vapor condenses into droplets, which instantly freeze into tiny ice crystals...
It’s not only jets that make contrails; piston aircraft do too. So do rockets. So, apparently, do birds. “I have heard of wild geese leaving vapor trails high over the Canadian Rockies,” Guy Murchie wrote in his book Song of the Sky. A goose exhaling warm, moist air into –38-degree air could produce a contrail, Minnis allows, although “it would certainly be a small one..."
There are those who consider contrails to be downright sinister: noxious chemicals sprayed from aircraft to sicken populations and alter weather patterns, according to conspiracy theorists. The claims seem to rest on the notion that thin, short-lived contrails may consist of ice crystals, but the thicker, long-lived ones are not. In reality, the expanded lines are merely contrails that have evolved.
Previously on BB:
• Airplane exhaust scars Link
UPDATE: Kate Green writes:
Turns out that contrails act like artificial cirrus clouds, and their presence actually affects regional temperatures. Like cirrus clouds, they cool the earth during the day by blocking out sunlight and warm the earth at night by trapping heat. A Penn State researcher determined contrails make a difference of about 2 degrees after the attacks on September 11, 2001 when planes were grounded; for the first time he was able to directly compare temperatures logged in the presence of contrails against temperatures collected in contrail-free skies. I wrote an article about it here.
Pamela Low, Cap'n Crunch creator, RIP
Pamela Low, who created the flavored coating of Cap'n Crunch cereal, died on Friday at age 79. After graduating in 1951 from the University of New Hampshire with a microbiology degree, she took a job as a flavorist at Arthur D. Little. The Cap'n Crunch flavor was inspired by a treat made by her grandmother.
UPDATE: BB pal Jim Leftwich provides us with this fascinating selection of informative links:
Link (Thanks, COOP!)"Grandma would make this concoction with rice and the sauce that she had; it was a combination of brown sugar and butter," Ms. Low's brother William of Westerville, Ohio, said with a chuckle. "It tasted good, obviously. They'd put it over the rice and eat it as a kind of a treat on Sundays..."
Taking a job at Arthur D. Little (in the early 1950s), she became a flavorist, a scientific connoisseur of the artificial tastes that tempt consumers to return for more. She tinkered with flavors of products such as Almond Joy and Mounds, but her biggest achievement came when Quaker Oats developed a new cereal.
"I developed the flavoring, the coating," she told UNH Magazine in 2002.
UPDATE: BB pal Jim Leftwich provides us with this fascinating selection of informative links:
Seeing the obituary for the creator of Cap'n Crunch's flavor coating, I couldn't help notice that poor Cap'n Crunch has unfortunately undergone the same downgrade makeover that so many packaging characters have fallen prey to. Mark has pointed this out numerous times before (remember the poor Trix rabbit?).
Or maybe the Cap'n's got himself a meth lab down in the Guppy's hold, because he now appears to be either tweaking or criminally insane. Link, Link, Link, Link
I found one old black and white photo of the original Jay Ward Cap'n, which showed that he originally had sort of cool heavy-lidded Ellen Feiss eyes! Link
Another couple of earlier Cap'ns: Link and Link
Another good archive from tvparty.com: Link
Including some vintage RealPlayer commercials: Link, Link, Link, Link
In searching for some of the old vintage designs, I also came across some great old Ray Patin character studies on Dan Goodsell's Flickr site: Link
Neuroscience of déjà vu
MIT researchers report the identification of a mechanism in the brain that's tied to the experience of déjà vu, French for "seen already." The neuroscientists studied how subregions of the hippocampus--a part of the brain responsible for creating memories--contribute to our ability to differentiate between distinct places that are very similar. To conduct their study, the scientists observed the behavior of genetically-engineered mice in similar chambers, one with a floor that could shock them. (Yeeowch!)
From the MIT News Office:
Previously on BB:
• Chronic Deja Vu Link
• Deja Vu in Scientific American Mind Deja Vu in Scientific American Mind Link
Researchers believe that a set of neurons called place cells fire to provide a sort of blueprint for any new space we encounter. The next time we see the space, those same neurons fire. Thus we know when we've been somewhere before and don't have to relearn our way around familiar turf.Link
But if we enter a space very similar to one we have seen before, a new but overlapping set of neurons creates the blueprint. When there is enough overlap between the two sets, we experience an eerie feeling of déjà vu--a French phrase that literally means, "already seen."
Previously on BB:
• Chronic Deja Vu Link
• Deja Vu in Scientific American Mind Deja Vu in Scientific American Mind Link
Webcomic about Hurricane Katrina
The terrific Smith Magazine just published Chapter 4 of its webcomic about the New Orleans disaster, called A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge. It's a true story about real people who lived in New Orleans and survived the disaster and its aftermath. The website also has podcast interviews with the people portrayed in the comic. It's an excellent way to present the personal stories of people affected by the natural disaster and the monumental government failure that followed. (Here's a YouTube video about the comic, which is drawn by American Splendor artist, Josh Neufeld.)
Reader comment:
Larry Smith: editor and publisher of Smith magazine adds:
This series about Abu Ghraib is one of the most interesting things we've ever done: "Behind the Hood," artist Daniel Heyman's series of Abu Ghraib prisoners' words and images.Heyman was invited to Amman, Jordan where former prisoners were being deposed. He listened to their stories, took notes--and made art. “I began drawing their faces as the interviews got underway, listening to the reporting of biographical information through the translator, the number of children they had, where they lived, but mostly concentrating on getting a good start on the portrait."
Electronic Jewish prayer keychain
The Say-A-Blessing electronic keychain plays ten common Jewish prayers and blessings in Hebrew and English. It also contains a bonus LED flashlight. Unlikely that it would be kosher to use this on the Sabbath. It's $15 from the Jewish Learning Group.Link (Thanks, Jason Tester!)
Fifties housewives' tarot deck (predict casseroles, aprons, A-bombs)
Link to Neatorama post, here's the deck itself (gah, Flash with complicated popup windows, my crappy Guatemalan wifi connection is choking), designed by Headcase. (Thanks, Mike D.)
Skeleton found with ceramic head
Archaeologists in the Nasca region of Peru discovered a headless skeleton with this ceramic "replacement" head beside it. The head "jar" and skeleton were from AD 450 to 550, according to Texas State University researcher Christina Conlee. Evidence suggests that the previous owner of this skeleton, a 20 to 25-year-old male, was killed in a human sacrifice. From National Geographic:
LinkThe archaeologist also noted that the head jar is painted with the reversible image of a human face that can be seen right-side up or upside down, suggesting that the jar might have been meant as a substitute for the victim's missing head.
"The La Tiza head jar was a rather literal replacement and reflects the Nasca belief that a person needed to have a head when he entered the afterlife," Conlee said.
The jar also bears evidence of having been used before the burial. Conlee said that decorations on head jars suggest they were used for both human- and crop-fertility rituals.
DIY gadgets in Africa: homemade welding machine
Over at the excellent Afrigadget blog, a post about a DIY welding machine in Kenya:
I took a walk down Ngong road, an area with a lot of shadetree mechanics, wood carvers and metal fabricators. The first place I stopped at had a home made welding machine. Simon, the shop owner, showed me a couple of the machines and gave a video tour of how it works. He’s a prime example how an entrepreneur in Africa will figure out ingenious solutions to meet local market demands. The welders sell for around 14,000 Kenya Shillings (just over $200), but fabrication costs only a small fraction of that.Link, with videos and more photos.
Smoke Camels, be a better sniper
Back in February, 1938 Camel ran this ad in Popular Science, promising that smoking their cancer-sticks would make you a better sniper -- er, "expert marksman." Link
See also: Allen Ginsberg's "Put Down Your Cigarette Rag"
Update: David uploaded a couple great radio ads for cigs: Camels, Philip Morris. David notes, "I particularly enjoyed the claim that doctors recommend a certain brand of cigarettes for sore throat sufferers."
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