Boing Boing: June 27, 2007 Archives

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June 27, 2007

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Tokyo's tiny perfect burger-cookies

Posted by Cory Doctorow, June 27, 2007 10:49 PM | permalink

Jon sez, "I came back from lunch to find this little box on my desk. My boss had left it there and thought it looked interesting. I work in Tokyo and there are lots of neat snacks here. You mentioned some malformed icecreams and snacks before so I thought you would be interested in these odd little burger things from Japan. Some of them even had 'cheese' running down the side of the burger, very accurate in shape!" Link (Thanks, Jon!)

Update: Wagner James Au sez, "San Franciscans can get those at a new Mission restaurant called Spork (yes, really), they're served as free after-dinner treats. And yep, you actually eat with sporks-- they're beautiful chrome versions that the owner (he told us after an insanely good dinner) found in an Asian grocery store."

Update 2: Chris sez, "My brother got these chocolate mushrooms from a friend the other day. (I swear he's just holding onto them.) They came from an Asian market in the Atlanta area. There're three pictures of them in my photostream. One features the packaging. The inner bag looks like a seventies version of Super Mario Bros. Super awesome!"

Update 3: Richard sez, "Thought I'd chime in over the tiny candy burgers with a photo of a chocolate turd: 'Chamalyn, a San Francisco Japanese candy/bubble tea store, sells these candy turds. Basically tastes like Cocoa Puffs with an extremely light milk chocolate coating. Thankfully, it doesn't taste like a turd.'"

Update 4: Eric sez, "justJENN has had a recipe for mini-burger cookies on her design/craft website for several months now. My wife recently brought home some of these cookies, made by justJENN herself, and I must say - they are quite delicious!"

One day left to fight the US national ID card - ACT NOW!

Posted by Cory Doctorow, June 27, 2007 10:47 PM | permalink

Tomorrow, the Senate votes on creating a national ID card, an internal passport that we will have to use to identify ourselves to the government at all times. Two amendments to the REAL ID bill will defuse it, but you have to contact your senator now to make them happen:

The US Senate is trying to force states to adopt a National ID card: it's time to stop them. As part the debate on immigration legislation, the states will be forced to become REAL ID compliant.
States have strongly resisted this unfunded federal mandate – one that the Department of Homeland Security expects to cost more that $23 billion or almost $100 per license holder. Seventeen states have said 'no' to REAL ID – labeling it invasive, un-American, costly and an invitation to identity theft. They know it will force citizens to stand in long lines for licenses and endure numerous hassles looking for documents like birth certificates.
Now instead of listening to the states, the US Senate is trying to force them to comply through the back door. As part of immigration legislation being considered next week in the Senate, an employment verification system will be created that requires everyone to have a REAL ID in order to get a job.

The link below has information on contacting your senator and what to say. Link

Update: John Gilmore sez, "Sweet -- check the faxes that people are sending about Real ID. Thousands and thousands of 'em -- all individually written..."

EFF designer has an art show

Posted by Cory Doctorow, June 27, 2007 5:23 PM | permalink

Hugh D'Andrade is the new graphic designer for the Electronic Frontier Foundation -- and the reason that EFF is kicking out such stylish schwag these days (like this tee and these stickers).

Now Hugh and his friend Mati McDonough are throwing their first gallery show at a.Muse Gallery, 614 Alabama Street, San Francisco. The previews on the website are awesome -- I wish I could be there.

"Where We Overlap" new work by Hugh D'Andrade & Mati McDonough
a.Muse Gallery, 614 Alabama Street, San Francisco
Opening Reception Friday, June 29, 2007 -- 6pm till late Show runs through July 21, by appointment only
Live Music by Pale Hoarse

Link (Thanks, Hugh!)

Thoof: social bookmarking meets wiki-style editing

Posted by Cory Doctorow, June 27, 2007 5:17 PM | permalink

Thoof, a new social bookmarking tool, just launched. Like Digg and Reddit, Thoof aggregates user-submitted links and ranks them by popularity, but it includes the Wikipedia-like ability for any user to change and improve any post on the board, making it cleaner and more legible.

Thoof is the latest project from Freenet creator Ian Clarke, a wildly creative geek who's always up to something cool. I was honored to be asked to join the Thoof advisory board, and I'm looking forward to seeing what the service does. Link (Thanks, Ian!

HOWTO solve mazes with the magic wand tool

Posted by Cory Doctorow, June 27, 2007 5:14 PM | permalink

You can use the "magic wand" tool in the GIMP or Photoshop to solve complex mazes:

1. Increase contrast.
2. Select the right wall of the maze using the magic wand.
3. Select > Modify > Expand 4 pixels
4. Create new layer.
5. Fill with Red.
6. Select > Modify > Contract 2 pixels.
7. Delete. Now you’ve got a line tracing the solution.
8. Manually clean up the outer edge, and connect the dots.
9. Cake!

Link (via Digg)

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Two weeks in an underwater cabin

Posted by Mark Frauenfelder, June 27, 2007 3:49 PM | permalink

200706271547

As the winner of a £20,000 "Live Your Dream" contest sponsored by the magazine Australian Geographic, 29-year-old Lloyd Godson lived in a 10-foot-long box at the bottom of a lake for 12 days. It doesn't look like the cabin had windows.

The marine biologist used a system of onshore solar panels and a pedal-powered generator to create electricity and recharge his water-proof laptop computer.
He kept an algae garden to absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen for breathing.
A team of divers delivered food and drinking water to the sub through a manhole, including a homemade lasagna and freshly barbecued salmon.
For entertainment, Godson watched videos on his laptop and used a wireless Internet connection to communicate with schoolchildren around the world.

Link (Via Neatorama)

"Booze and pills 4 Jesus" banner

Posted by Mark Frauenfelder, June 27, 2007 1:47 PM | permalink

Greg has created a banner for high school kids to use who don't want to get kicked out of school for unpopular use of the 1st Amendment.
200706271343-1

200706271343-1

According to the wikipedia pages describing the Supreme Courts Ruling a student can't contradict the Schools mission against illegal drug use. Link

Previously on Boing Boing:
• Bong Hits 4 Jesus

Senate Committee subpoenas White House over wiretap docs

Posted by Xeni Jardin, June 27, 2007 1:39 PM | permalink

Snip from NYT item by James Risen:

The Senate Judiciary Committee issued a series of subpoenas to the White House, Vice President Cheney’s office, and the Justice Department today related to the National Security Agency’s warrantless wiretapping program, setting the stage for a major legal showdown between Congress and the Bush Administration.
Senator Patrick Leahy, the Vermont Democrat who is chairman of the committee, said the subpoenas seek documents that could shed light on the legal basis used by the administration to justify the wiretapping program. In addition, the panel is seeking materials on the way the program operated, including the relationship between the agency and several unidentified telecommunications companies that aided the eavesdropping program

Update: A wise information rights lawyer who is well-known but prefers to remain anonymous here says,

There are 4 subpoenas, all linked to the bottom of this page.
Interesting stuff being asked for, including:
D. All documents from September 11, 2001 to the present that reflect, discuss, or describe agreements or understandings between the White House, the Department of Justice, the National Security Agency, or any other entity of the Executive Branch and telecommunications companies, internet service providers, equipment manufacturers, or data processors regarding criminal or civil liability for assisting with or participating in the warrantless electronic surveillance program;

Reviews of Rule the Web

Posted by Mark Frauenfelder, June 27, 2007 12:53 PM | permalink

The reviews for my book, Rule the Web, are coming in, and I'm really happy that they've been so positive. Josh Glenn who writes the Brainiac Blog for the Boston Globe, ran a review today called Web 2.0 Visionaries vs. the Handyman. (I'm the handyman):

Frauenfelder's "Rule the Web" includes tips on: starting a blog, getting word-of-mouth publicity for it, and following other blogs with an RSS reader; setting up a private wiki, joining an online social network that's right for you, and sharing digital photos; browsing the Web free from viruses, ads, and spyware; shopping and selling online; downloading music and videos; using the Internet to become more productive at work and at play; protecting and tuning up your computer and software; and much more.
The book was published earlier this month, and instead of browsing through it, I've been carefully reading it from the first page forward. Thanks to Frauenfelder, I've finally figured out how to add a message board to any website (via QuickTopic), find photos online that I can use for free (via Open Photo, Flickr, and Creative Commons), edit and retouch photos online (via Snipshot), find unlisted phone numbers (via Zabasearch), and more -- and that was just the first two chapters. Phew!
So will "Rule the Web" help empower the individual, restore community, overcome prejudice, revitalize democracy, and make us smarter and richer? Let's put it this way: It's much more likely that these things will happen if everybody reads Frauenfelder's book than if they don't.

And Douglas Rushkoff gave the book a nice plug on his blog:

Rule the Web is a surprisingly useful set of web tips, even for an old web fogey like me. I learned a dozen things I didn't know in the first six pages, and am already making use of them.

And here's a woman who was inspired to start a blog after getting a copy of my book.

In addition, Daniel Holloway of Metro New York interviewed me about Boing Boing and Rule The Web.

It's very gratifying to know that two people that I respect so much like the book! Link

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Google enters Kenya, hires first sub-Saharan African exec

Posted by Xeni Jardin, June 27, 2007 12:17 PM | permalink

South Africa is a more common first destination for international tech companies looking to establish a presence in Africa -- so why is Google opening its first major operation on the continent in Kenya?

Some of the answers are in this interview with Joseph Mucheru, former CEO of Kenyan ISP Wananchi, who will head up the new outpost. Asked what Google will do here, Mr. Mucheru explains:

Initially there will be three big things. Firstly, we want to optimise the use of Google applications in the region. We already have a lot of customers in the region but further development of the market is hindered by the absence of an international cable offering cheap bandwidth. Google understands that this is an impediment and is willing to go to the extent of buying international bandwidth that locals don't have to pay the current considerable premium they are.
The second thing they want to develop is their Maps product to make sure it has local information that is searchable and useful.
The third thing is using Google advertising in ways that can help monetize local content. Lots of people have done local content but most times it's flopped. We hope to show that there's a way of doing advertising that can support content. If we can do this, it will generate jobs and work.

Link to post on Russell Southwood's Africa-centric "Balancing Act" blog, via allafrica.com.

Here is a related post on the news from Global Voices: Link. Photo from White African, who blogged about it here. Related post on WebProNews,

Canadian disco nerd family's 1980 cover of Star Wars theme

Posted by Mark Frauenfelder, June 27, 2007 12:13 PM | permalink

Coop says: "Exotic Canadian Nerdfunk cover version of the theme to Star Wars. Those shirt collars are certainly from a long time ago in a galaxy far away..."

You haven't truly heard the theme from Star Wars until you've heard it performed by Dryden, Ontario's The Bordens, with father George Borden (accordion), mom Jeanette (Electrovox organ), sons Roger (saxophone and guitar) and Gary (drums), and nephew Bill Dombradi (guitar). According to the liner notes, The Bordens played in "various parts of the country", including Thunder Bay and Edmonton, and recorded this album at Century 21 in Winnipeg. The snippets of other songs they throw into the mix, including the "snake charmer song", are just gravy. Good Times, indeed.

Link

Andreas Bechtolsheim's new supercomputer

Posted by Xeni Jardin, June 27, 2007 11:57 AM | permalink

In the NYT, John Markoff profiles Sun co-founder and early Google investor Andreas Bechtolsheim, who this week unveiled his newest machine: the Sun Constellation System, which may be the world’s fastest when installation is complete in the coming months. Snip:

(...)Mr. Bechtolsheim, who is 51 years old, has designed a parade of computers that have continued to squeeze the most processing power or storage capacity into the smallest possible space. And, despite becoming one of the richest people in the world, he remains obsessed with designing ever more powerful computers. His new machine, which is currently being installed at the Texas Advanced Computing Center in Austin, is the latest example of his trademark elegant and simple engineering. It is set apart from other supercomputers made from tens of thousands of networked microprocessor chips by Mr. Bechtolsheim’s ability to orchestrate the range of computing disciplines that are needed to create the fastest computers.
As such, he is the leading candidate to inherit the mantle of Seymour Cray, a famous computer designer who consistently designed the world’s fastest computers from the 1960s until his death in a car accident in 1996. “He is this amazing blend of artist and engineer and that reminds me of Seymour,” said Larry Smarr, an astrophysicist and supercomputer user, who was an early customer of Sun Microsystems’ computers as director of the National Center for Supercomputing Applications during the 1980s.

Link, here is a Wikipedia entry. Image ganked from the Times, shot by Thor Swift.

Boarding pass hacker finds privacy flaws in Facebook - UPDATED

Posted by Xeni Jardin, June 27, 2007 11:06 AM | permalink

Christopher Soghoian, whose name you may remember from that huge boarding pass terror freakout last year, has discovered that Facebook's advanced search features can provide you with access to users' names, pictures, religion, or sexual orientation, even if you don't have permission to view their profile.

Ryan Singel at Wired News' "Threat Level" blog explains what Soghoian found, and how:

Like many social networks, Facebook allows its users to mark their profile page as private, semi-private or very open However, even if you mark your profile to only be visible by friends, that doesn't change how you turn up in Facebook searches or whether your profile is open to indexing by search engines.

So for instance, if you are a Facebook member of your college or local area, you could run a search to see all the people who are Christian women who are lesbians, all the women interested in women or all the Muslim men into other men. Your search results will likely include people who thought they marked their information as private, but didn't also change their search settings.

It's not as if Facebook doesn't give you the right to limit who can see your page, but common sense dictates that the vast majority of people who mark their pages as private don't want their information showing up in a public search. Some might, but here Facebook could automatically remove "friends-only" users from search results, and let those who don't mind be found via searches yet want a private profile choose that option.

Link, and here's the story on Soghoian's own blog: Link.

Update: Facebook spokesperson Matt Hicks tells BoingBoing the issue was promptly resolved:

Facebook offers sophisticated search and privacy controls and is constantly making improvements based on feedback from our users. We have since updated the advanced search function so that profile information that has been made private by a user, such as gender, religion, and sexual orientation, will not return a result.

Chris Soghoian responds,

Within a few hours of your post appearing on Boing Boing, Facebook's engineers had rushed out a fix to the problem. One of Facebook's PR people left a comment on my blog to let me know.
This is a big win for privacy, and it's great to see that Facebook continues to take user privacy seriously.
Unfortunately, they don't seem to be too concerned about the security of their users home computers - as a fairly serious software vulnerability I reported to them over 2 months ago remains unfixed - the same issue that Google and Yahoo fixed within days. Link.

Nintendo Sixty Fouuuuuur versus iPhooooone (video)

Posted by Xeni Jardin, June 27, 2007 10:38 AM | permalink

Much-circulated internet chestnut video of screeching, ecstatic child opening Nintendo 64 for Xmas is redone, this time with full-grown adults freaking out over just-unwrapped iPhone. OHHHHH MYYYYY GOOODDDDDDDD! OHHHHH MYYYYY GOOODDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!!!! Link to the new riff, here's the original.

posted in:

Digging deeper into CIA "family jewels" docs

Posted by Xeni Jardin, June 27, 2007 10:33 AM | permalink

Over at Wired's "Danger Room," Noah Shachtman has been digging deeper into the ultraweird '70s CIA docket known as the "Family Jewels," released online earlier this week.

Snip from his latest post:

During the 1960s and 1970s, CIA documents reveal, the Agency mingled with mafiosi to off Fidel Castro, routinely spied on reporters, and detained a Soviet agent for more than five years. But even at the heights of all that questionable and illegal activity, the CIA's "family jewels" documents show, there was one operation that made Agency officials particularly uncomfortable: widespread electronic surveillance of American citizens -- the kind of activities that federal agencies have routinely been engaged in since September 11.

More from Noah: CIA Spooked by Domestic Surveillance (Updated Again). In another post, Spooks' "Behavorial Drug" Experiments Exposed (Updated), he highlights this gem:

Another document, dated May 8, 1973, mentions the existence of a 1963 account of agency scientists administering mind- or personality-altering drugs on "unwitting subjects" -- that is, testing hallucinogens such as LSD on people without their knowledge. The document doesn't provide details.
One of the most notorious such cases involved Frank R. Olson, a CIA germ-warfare expert who died in a fall from a hotel window in 1953, nine days after a CIA doctor spiked Olson's after-dinner drink with LSD. In 1975, President Gerald R. Ford invited Olson's family to the White House to apologize; the government also paid the family $750,000.

Previously on BoingBoing:

CIA "family jewels" - docs on wiretapped journos, dissidents - now online

CIA secret documents just declassified

Reader comment: Scott Calonico says,

Our short film "LSD A Go Go" went into the details of the Olson case. You guys were kind enough to link to us a while back before we had the video up. The whole short film is online now: Link. Also here's the youtube link.

Southampton pub declares itself an embassy to skirt smoking ban

Posted by Mark Frauenfelder, June 27, 2007 10:31 AM | permalink

The Wellington Arms pub in Southampton is fighting back against a smoking ban in England by becoming the official embassy for the Caribbean island of Redonda. If the loophole works, then the pub will be considered "foreign soil" and the ban can't be enforced.

Redonda is a "one mile square remnant of the cone of an extinct volcano." According to Wikipedia, "The current title of 'king' of Redonda is disputed by at least nine people." Here's "king" Leo's site.

Yesterday a spokesman from the Department of Health confirmed that if the pub was granted embassy status then it would be exempt from next month's national smoking ban.
She said: "The new smoke free law will not be enforceable against premises with diplomatic status - as recognised by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
"For the health of staff and visitors to overseas embassies and consulates, the Department of Health would encourage these premises to follow the principles of the new smoke-free law by eliminating second-hand smoke from their enclosed workplaces and public places."

Link (Via Nothing to do with Arbroath)

YouTube wins Cicarelli (Brazilian model beach sex video) case

Posted by Xeni Jardin, June 27, 2007 10:21 AM | permalink

BB reader Bruno Maestrini in Brazil says,

Last year YouTube was banned in Brazil because of a video where Daniella Cicarelli, a famous brazilian model, was shown having sex on a beach in Spain.
Two days ago, the court ruling came out: YouTube won and Cicarelli will have to pay R$ 10,000 (aproximately US $5,000) to YouTube, iG and Globo, the three companies she was suing for monetary compensation.

Here's an earlier BB post about the case, and another, and here's the recent ruling (Word .doc format): Link.

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IBM's Blue Gene: thousand trillion mathematical ops per second

Posted by Xeni Jardin, June 27, 2007 10:14 AM | permalink

Snip from New Scientist:

The first supercomputer capable of crunching through a thousand trillion mathematical operations every second has been announced by IBM.
This is roughly equivalent to the combined processing power of a 2.4-kilometre-high pile of laptop computers.
Blue Gene/P will be capable of a peak performance of 3000 trillion calculations, or floating point operations, per second (3 petaflops). But its sustained performance is expected to level out at around 1 petaflop.

Link to article, and this Wikipedia entry includes a good link roundup for more info from IBM sites.(Via Warren Ellis)

Reader comment: Erc says,

a thousand trillion -- You know, some people call that a "quadrillion." If I've told you once, I've told you ten hundred times...

Man spends 18 years making miniature garden castle

Posted by Mark Frauenfelder, June 27, 2007 9:57 AM | permalink

A 69-year-old retired insurance examiner created this miniature replica of Himeji Castle in his garden.

His wife, Ikuko, 66, gave him a book containing photographs of the castle on his 47th birthday. He saw a drawing of the castle in the book and made up his mind to build a replica.
Imura bought a plot of land in the town of Enza in Ise, which has a beautiful view of mountains unhindered by the sight of power lines — a setting he thought would be perfect for the replica.
He moved to the town and began building the model in 1989, using experience he gained as a joiner during his youth.
After retiring at age 60, Imura devoted his life to building the replica.

Link

MPAA sues "guerilla video" nets, aka "indexing websites"

Posted by Xeni Jardin, June 27, 2007 9:52 AM | permalink

The Motion Picture Association of America filed lawsuits in LA federal court Tuesday against "guerilla video" indexer sites YouTVpc.com and Peekvid.com.

Both "internet video on demand" sites are advertising and/or PayPal supported, and consist of links to video streams, files, and torrents.

The MPAA press release reads, in part:

YouTVpc and Peekvid rely on advertisers to maintain their illegal websites and they profit handsomely from a seemingly endless stream of third-party advertising pitches. Peekvid - whose servers are located in San Antonio, Texas - averages over 53,000 unique users per day who view over 184,000 pages of content. YouTVpc – whose servers are located in Scottsdale, Arizona - averages more than 6,000 unique daily visitors who view over 21,000 pages of content per day.
In addition to advertising revenues, operators of YouTVpc solicit monetary donations through a “Donations” tab on the website that allows users to make financial contributions through PayPal.com.
Civil lawsuits were filed against YouTVpc and Peekvid in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles for damages and injunctive relief for violations under the United States Copyright Act of 1976.

For their part, a statement on Peekvid reads:

Peekvid does not contain any content on its site, but is merely an index of available links on the Internet. Peekvid is committed to an industry solution that will provide a mechanism to compensate artists that create the work you enjoy watching. Peekvid would like to be part of the long term solution.

For more on "indexing websites," many of which link to videos on DailyMotion, sites out of China, or other rogue sources, check out this roundup: Link.

A few months ago over at the Wall Street Journal, Kevin Delaney did an extensive piece about these sites: Link, but the stupid WSJ paywall won't let you read it unless you're a subscriber. Here's a snip, after the jump...

Continue reading MPAA sues "guerilla video" nets, aka "indexing websites".

Lethal Nuclear Mutant Unicorn Chaser

Posted by Xeni Jardin, June 27, 2007 9:31 AM | permalink

Mighty Samson #29, September 1975. Link, and Link. (thanks, Mark Frauenfelder!)

Pile High Club: passengers on "poop plane" are pretty pissed

Posted by Xeni Jardin, June 27, 2007 9:14 AM | permalink

Earlier this month, 168 people boarded Continental flight 71 from Amsterdam to Newark. An 8-hour flight, usually. But this time, the passengers arrived 32 hours later, after horrific toilet malfunctions on the flight led to "poop running down the aisles," according to witnesses.

I mentioned the incident in a short link roundup yesterday, and a number of BoingBoing readers wrote in with more.

Eyewitness and blogger Dana Bushman says,

I had the good fortune to be a passenger on the dreaded “Poop Flight” that you wrote about today.
I posted the entire ordeal (and I do mean entire, it’s a 5 page diatribe) about what happened on Metblogs NYC: Link.
I’ve also started this gem of a site as a centralized place for information about the Poop Flight and its passengers: Link.
We are trying to organize a multi-plaintiff suit against Continental for the way we were treated. We are working on engaging the services of Weitz & Luxenberg, P.C. (the firm handling the Valentine’s Day JetBlue debacle) but we need to get the word out to everyone on the plane to keep the lawyers interested. Currently we have 25 people on board, but we need as close to the full 168 passengers on board to make this fly (pun completely and totally intended).

(thanks, Dave Praeger)

Reader comment: Jason says,

My friend Brandon and I threw this together (JPEG Link) after seeing the "Poop Plane" post (and based on this earlier pic).

And BB reader Bill reminds us that this isn't the first time we've heard of (in)Continental Airlines in this context:

As you may recall, you posted about a previous (possibly fake?) issue that Continental Airlines had before with their in-flight bathrooms: Continental customer's letter lamenting Toilet Class seating.

Dinner with Joss Whedon fundraiser

Posted by Cory Doctorow, June 27, 2007 8:57 AM | permalink

Joe sez, "Comic Book Resources has a chat with the mighty Joss Whedon today about his upcoming charity auction on Ebay - Joss is giving five fans the chance to bid on having a private meal and chat with him during the San Diego Comic Con, a dream come true for many a fan I would think. Monies raised will got to one of his favourite charities, Equality Now, which fights for women's rights around the world (he tells a scary tale of the charity just managing to save some women from being stoned to death). Some the the Browncoats (Firefly fans) have already raised quite a bit of money for the charity. Joss promises no drive-thru meals but can't guarantee all his dinner table anecdotes will be amusing (I'd take the risk myself)."

I'm gonna be a guest at Comic Con too this year, my first time there -- looking forward to meeting some of you in person! Link (Thanks, Joe!)

Creepy, interesting, and real -- a short link roundup.

Posted by Xeni Jardin, June 27, 2007 8:26 AM | permalink

Michael David Murphy, photographer and writer, is in Louisiana covering the trial of 6 black youths charged with attempted murder after a fight broke out over whether or not the black students had the right to sit under a "whites-only" tree. All members of the jury are white. Link (photo shown here: a tree near the one in question, shot by Murphy).

NYC chef sues rival seafood restaurant, claiming intellectual property theft: They be stealin' my bukkit (of New England oysters)! Link.

Dramatic Cow: The video.

Who says newspapers are obsolete? Here's HOWTO modify an old newspaper box to deliver headlines digitally each morning, no quarters required: Link 1, Link 2.

72-year-old former Marine and competition fighter beats living fsck out of pickpocketing fool at gas station: Link.

Mayor and DA of Pittsburgh want to daisychain spy cameras into a Londonesque surveillance network, complete with license-plate-recognition systems and cameras mounted on the city's many bridges. Link

A reasonably cute "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" t-shirt. Link, larger-sized image here.

Nietzsche-quoting judge in California rules that a $140,000 promise penned in blood by a businessman is not an enforceable contract. Link

Neil Cavuto at Fox News is trying to find people who do not like the iPhone. Dude, give it up. About as easy as finding WMDs in Saddam's Iraq. Link.

Congressman introduces bill that could inspire proliferation of hundreds of new low-power FM radio stations around the USA. Link. Mike Doyle is the same lawmaker mentioned in this previous BB post.

(Thanks, Jason, Scott, Joe, Shawn, Ashley, hoboagogo, Bonnie, Alex)

Reader comment: Justin says,

Regarding Michael David Murphy covering the "Jena Six." My good friend's sister, Abbey Brown, is a reporter in Alexandria, Louisiana and has been covering the "Jena Six" arrests and trial since it started. Check out www.thetowntalk.com and search for "Jena Six" to read coverage of this story from someone local.
I travel near that area for work sometimes, and some of the locals think this trial is a powderkeg in the making. To me, from the outside, it looks like the situation has been bungled from the start and the racial tensions are going to burst sometime soon.

Obit: Roy Torcaso, 96, SCOTUS Freedom of Belief Fighter

Posted by Xeni Jardin, June 27, 2007 7:35 AM | permalink

Snip from Washington Post obituary:

Roy R. Torcaso, 96, whose application to be a Maryland notary public led to a U.S. Supreme Court case that affirmed his refusal to take a state oath requiring him to declare a belief in God, died June 9 at the Himalayan Elderly Care assisted living home in Silver Spring. He had complications of prostate cancer.
Mr. Torcaso, who said he was an atheist, was a bookkeeper by profession. He worked for a Bethesda construction company when his legal challenge started in 1959. He had been urged by his boss to become a notary public.
At the Montgomery County Circuit Court, he refused to swear to a state oath given to notaries public that made them profess the existence of God.
"The point at issue," he said at the time, "is not whether I believe in a Supreme Being, but whether the state has a right to inquire into my beliefs."

Link (thanks, John Parres!)

ISP nukes all hosted audio and video files every night

Posted by Cory Doctorow, June 27, 2007 5:34 AM | permalink

Exetel, an Australian ISP, silently deletes all the MP3s (and mpg, mpeg, avi, wma, and any other unspecified file types they deem to be "multimedia") from its users' Web-site every right. The nominal purpose is to "stop piracy," so they nuke videos of your kids' first steps, audio of your local politician breaking her promises, and you reading your own stories. Link (Thanks, Preposition Joe!)

German government paying to add to German Wikipedia

Posted by Cory Doctorow, June 27, 2007 5:30 AM | permalink

The German government is paying experts to expand German Wikipedia entries on renewable resources and nutrition, agriculture and consumer protection. They're looking to hire existing Wikipedians who are familiar with Wikipedia culture:

"A number of key words already have excellent entries in the German Wikipedia" within the field of renewable resources, explains Andreas Schütte. Schütte is the executive director of the Renewable Resources Agency (FNR), which receives funding from the German Ministry of Nutrition, Agriculture, and Consumer Protection to conduct research on renewable resources with an eye to launching products on the market. At the same time, Schütte says that a number of key words in the German Wikipedia have very short descriptions, are not up to date, or are missing entirely.
Entries on this topic are to be improved under the direction of the private-sector Nova Institute. The Institute plans to get external experts to write entries on renewable resources for Wikipedia. These experts will first receive training for Wikipedia because collaboration in the community project has its pitfalls. The Institute is therefore looking for someone well versed in Wikipedia to handle project coordination. The project partners have issued a call for tenders for that position. Wikipedia experts can send in their applications immediately.

Link

Legal guide for Canadian podcasters

Posted by Cory Doctorow, June 27, 2007 5:27 AM | permalink

Creative Commons Canada has produced a legal guide for Canadian podcasters -- here's how Canadian podcasters can navigate the legal minefields of copyright, libel and so on. Link, Link to HTML version

See also:
Legal guide for podcasters
EFF legal guide for bloggers
EFF Blogger Legal Guide in your trousers
Legal guide for bloggers covering US Election Day

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June 27, 2007

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