Copyfighting law prof Michael Geist and filmmaker Daniel Albahary have put together a great short film called "Putting Canadian 'Piracy' in Perspective." It's a great, systematic debunking of of the claims that Canada is a haven for piracy, demonstrating that these claims are just scare-tactics from American corporate and government interests looking to change Canadian law to favor American firms to the detriment of the Canadian public.
Link
(Thanks, Robbo!)
Debunking Canadian "piracy" claims - video from Michael Geist
Copyfighting law prof Michael Geist and filmmaker Daniel Albahary have put together a great short film called "Putting Canadian 'Piracy' in Perspective." It's a great, systematic debunking of of the claims that Canada is a haven for piracy, demonstrating that these claims are just scare-tactics from American corporate and government interests looking to change Canadian law to favor American firms to the detriment of the Canadian public.
Link
(Thanks, Robbo!)
Mom's head used as model for teen's birthday piñata
Greg of Gama-Go says:
Last Thursday was my girlfriend's (Ericka) daughter's (Noa) 15th birthday. An exciting day filled with challenges. Not the least of which was getting Noa a decent present. I picked up a gift certificate to Aquarius Records, but it seemed like I should get her something else. Something from the heart.Why not tap into her natural teenage angst & go for a piñata effigy of her mom?
I checked with Ericka, she was a good sport and down with the concept of letting her daughter wack the bejezus out of her paper clone.
Next stop -- San Francisco's renown Piñata Art Studio (located at Mission and Silver). I had met Romeo Osorio some years back when I needed a couple piñatas for a company party. Romeo's soft spoken demeanor belies his tremendous talents. He's a veritable maestro of maché.
I brought him a couple of photos & he set to work. A scant two days later I was picking up a gigantic version of my girlfriend's head. Sure, it was a bit of a simplified portrait -- but the resemblance was striking.
The day of the party arrived and soon it was whacking time. We congregated at the appointed piñata hanging tree. The audible buzz of teenage excitement filled the air. We got Noa blindfolded, spun her around, gave her a broom & started taunting her with the ancient, traditional piñata-busting chants. Chants like: "Hit it!" and "It's behind you!"
Somehow Noa zeroed in on the enormous head with the sure guidance of a JDAM bunker-buster & hit it with a sickening smack. Candy spilled everywhere. Noa stayed focused on the task at hand, landing blow after blow. A cry of savage joy escaped her lips as she wound up and delivered the final strike.
It was a smashing good time for us all. Our only remaining challenge is to figure out what to do with the creepy beat-up giant head sitting on our dining room table. Seems a bit disrespectful to toss it in the compost bin.
Homeland Security adopts 'gut feeling' security system
Ryan Singel of the 27-Stroke-B blog sez, "Homeland Security head Michael Chertoff told the Chicago Tribune that his 'gut' was telling him the country might be hit by another big attack this summer.
Now THREAT LEVEL has found the new Homeland Security Advisory System. Heaven help us if the country ever gets to Danger Dog level."
Link
(Thanks, Ryan!)
HOWTO build a secret bookcase door
Instructables has a great HOWTO for building a hidden door/bookcase. I have always wanted one of these -- indeed, I can't conceive of any good reason not to have every door of my house be one of these. Even the kitchen cupboards.
Link
(Thanks, Britt!)
Help EFF figure out what's in the FBI's secret docs
Last week, I blogged about how the Electronic Frontier Foundation had prised 1,000+ pages' worth of FBI docs loose with a Freedom of Information Act request. These docs document the FBI's abuse of power after the PATRIOT Act. Now, 1,000+ pages is a LOT of material, and EFF needs your help.
We've already started scouring newly-released documents relating to the misuse of National Security Letters to collect Americans' private information. But don't let us have all fun — you, too, can dive into the docs and help uncover the truth about the FBI's abuse of power. All 1138 pages are freely downloadable (with searchable text) from EFF’s website, and we'll be posting a new batch every month.LinkWe've had over 8000 downloads so far, and the blogosphere is starting to light up with feedback and analysis of the documents, which were disclosed after EFF sued the government under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) earlier this year. Over at Wired, Threat Level reports that much of the mischief at the FBI seems to be emanating from a mysterious “Room 4944”, and this anonymous blogger is asking questions about who knew what when.
See also: EFF publishes 1,000+ pages of FBI docs on PATRIOT Act abuses
Dogs sniff for grapevine pests
MAKE contributor and pal Colin Berry did a radio piece last week for The California Report about how a school in Santa Rosa, CA is training dogs to identify vineyard insect pests by scenting their sex pheremones.
LinkA very different kind of environmental damage is found each year in California Wine Country. The damage doesn't come from fire, but from bugs. From root lice to sharpshooters, California’s $45 billion wine industry has had its share of insect pests. Recently, the tiny vine mealy bug has taken hold, threatening up to 40,000 acres of grapes. Now researchers have found a new tool in the fight against the mealy bug: a friendly, four-legged ally with a keen sense of smell. The program reports from Sonoma County. (Photo by Dani Vernon)
Jam band fan or Taliban?
Daniel Freed says,
As the recent UK airport shakedown of Metallica's James Hetfield has shown us, it's way too easy to mistake a guy with a beard for a member of a terrorist organization.
One blog has been courageously pointing out this fact since way before authorities in London questioned Hetfield. That blog is mine and it's called Jam Band Fan or Taliban.
If you think airport security officials have an easy job separating terrorists from dudes with beards, you should give it a try.
Reader comment: Justin says,
Just found this great pic of James Hetfield taken at the live earth concert and thought it needed a bit of captioning in light of his recent detainment for the alleged "Taliban-like beard" (looks more Amish to me). He looks angry ... I wouldn't want to detain him. Link.And BB Phil Too was among many to point to reports that the Hetfield thing is bogus:
A quick Google will bring up links to a number of sites reporting that Metallica have stated that the story is not true. James Hetfield: 'Airport Story False'Metallica frontman James Hetfield has laughed off reports he was temporarily detained by security officials at a British airport. It was rumored the rocker was interrogated by officials at Luton airport ahead of Saturday's Live Earth London gig because he had a "Taliban-like beard".
But a spokesman for Hetfield says, "It's false. It's not true."
Kukula and Nicoletta Ceccoli at Roq La Rue Gallery
This Friday, Seattle's Roq La Rue Gallery presents a dual show of artists Nicoletta Ceccoli and Kukula. Ceccoli is best known in her native Italy Republic of San Marino as a children's book illustrator. This is her first major US show. (Seen here at left, Ceccoli's "Tree Girl," acrylic on paper, 11" x 17".) San Francisco artist Kukula's paintings for this show explore the "last hour before death." Most of the pieces are 5" x 7" in size, representing a final "snapshot" of the character. (Seen here at right, Kukula's "One Last Tea Cup," acrylic on birch panel, 5" x 7".) The show runs through August 4. Link to Ceccoli gallery, Link to Kukula gallery
Online community for teens owned by a porn company
Todd says: My friend Brad Stone has a curious piece in today's NYTimes. No one ever claimed Webcam site Stickam was sparklingly clean. At night on the site, things sometimes get bawdy, with the over-14 crowd imploring each other to take off their clothes in group video chats. But as Stone reports today, the LA based Stickam is owned by the same Japanese business tycoon who owns 49 webcam porn sites, and occupies some of the most premium skyscraper real estate in downtown Los Angeles. Stone did a lot of sleuthing, and he does nice job connecting the dots.
Link[Alex Becker, a former vice president at Stickam,] said he first learned of the extent of the pornography business last April, when Mr. Takahashi, who employees refer to as Mr. T, took him to dinner at a downtown sushi restaurant. Through translators he described some of his companies’ assets, which include at least 49 pornography sites, a pornographic film production company, nine restaurants in Japan and private planes, Mr. Becker said.
“I don’t think I discovered everything, but I learned more than enough to be able to say with certainty that they are not leaders in the video-conferencing business,” Mr. Becker said. “They are leaders in pushing porn via a Flash player and streaming porn from the United States to Japan.”
Merriam-Webster new words for 2007
"Ginormous" has been added to the Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. Here are some of the other words added this year: Bollywood, crunk, DVR, flex-cuff, RPG, and sudoku. The funny thing is that when you click on the words listed in the announcement, you get the following message: "The word you've entered isn't in the dictionary." (Fixed now.) Link (Thanks, Jennifer Lum!)
UPDATE: As several readers pointed out, it's odd that the definition of "RPG" does not include "role playing game."
UPDATE: BB reader Ethan Ham emailed Merriam-Webster's customer service to ask why they don't include "role playing game" in the "RPG" definition. The company's response is below. If you have any comments or suggestions related to this topic, please send them to Merriam-Webster and not to me. Thanks! From Merriam-Webster's response:
UPDATE: As several readers pointed out, it's odd that the definition of "RPG" does not include "role playing game."
UPDATE: BB reader Ethan Ham emailed Merriam-Webster's customer service to ask why they don't include "role playing game" in the "RPG" definition. The company's response is below. If you have any comments or suggestions related to this topic, please send them to Merriam-Webster and not to me. Thanks! From Merriam-Webster's response:
Thanks for your e-mail about "RPG." We are aware of the "role playing game" expansion, but do not have enough evidence of it in printed edited prose to yet merit its entry. For a full discussion of how a word (or abbreviation) is entered into our dictionaries, please visit www.Merriam-Webster.com/help/faq/words_in.htm.
Creepy Dennis the Menace panel
Fantagraphics art director Jacob Covey posted this creepy Dennis The Menace panel to the Fantagraphics Flog!. (Click image to see it larger.) It's scary how angry Dennis's dad is at his son!!! Fantagraphics is publishing a beautifully-packaged collection series called Hank Ketcham's Complete Dennis The Menace. I have the first one and it's a real laff-a-minute. Link to panel, Link
to buy The Complete Dennis The Menace
UPDATE: Jacob sent a link to this far weirder Dennis panel that he posted last month. Whoa. Link to post, Link to Comics Journal thread
Maker Saturday videos from the Exploratorium
MAKE:/Craft founder and publisher Dale Dougherty has recently spent his Saturdays at the San Francisco's Exploratoirum museum for a series of six webcasts featuring makers around the Bay Area. The first two of the six Maker Saturday Webcasts are now archived online. The next one, "Making Hyperbolic Crochet with Margaret Wertheim," is July 14 at 1pm. If you're in the area, please stop by! If not, the video will be archived online.
Here are descriptions of the first two:
Here are descriptions of the first two:
Making a Train Car with Paul CesewskiLink
Yearning to ride the rails, but hesitant to hop a freight train? That didn't stop Paul Cesewski, who built his own human- and gas-powered train that he uses to ride the abandoned rails in the North Bay. You can share his back-road adventures as seen through the eye of a Super 8 camera and learn how he makes his own train wheels.
Making BlinkyBugs with Ken Murphy
More ooh than ick, Blinkybugs are small, hand-built, electromechanical bugs built from scavenged materials and powered with a single coin-cell battery. When the Blinkybug's wire antennae detect motion from air currents or vibrations, the bug comes to life, with its LED eyes blinking in rhythmic patterns.
Webcam in house photographs thief
One of the techies at Suicide Girls set up a webcam in his house, hoping to document any return visit of the thief who had stolen his laptop. And it worked. The crook raided the guy's refrigerator, which gave LA's finest ample time to nab the weasely jerk.
Link
Replica edition of Joe Strummer's Telecaster
For $900 you can by a replica of Joe Strummer's beautifully bashed up Telecaster. Shepard Fairy designed the stickers and other ephemera packaged with it.
Elderly Instruments is selling it for $900:
Modeled after 2 of Joe's main Telecasters the Joe Strummer Tele® has the road wear and battle scars to match the revolutionary music of "The Clash". Features an alder body with a black over primer/sunburst roadworn finish, a 21 vintage style fret gloss finished maple "C" shape neck with spaghetti "Fender" headstock logo, a rosewood fingerboard with a 7.25" radius, 2 single coil alnico magnet pickups, distressed vintage style hardware with special "Revolution Rock" enscribed neck plate, 3 saddle bridge, 3-ply mint green pickguard, and a hardshell case.Kinda lame, I think. Link
Reader comment:
Kaden says:
Replica instruments are in fact *entirely* lame. This has not stopped a thriving repro industry from developing, with Fender in the forefront....and no, they're *not* 'better'.
Guitar Hero is one thing. This kinda crap takes the term 'poser' to an entirely different level.
Be sure to check out the Jeff Beck 'Relic' on the Fender site... the degree of detail in the replication is ... impressive, but utterly pointless.
Juror caught listening to MP3 player under her hijab
A UK judge who heard "tinny music" in his courtroom during a murder trial found out that a juror was hiding an MP3 player under her habib hijab. She was arrested and might be imprisoned.
Outside the court Ben Maguire, a barrister representing the prosecution, said that it was a "bad contempt" and prison would be the "likely outcome".“It is unique for all those who are connected with this court to experience a situation where the juror is suspected of listening to a MP3 player under her Islamic headgear," he said.
(Meanwhile, Judge Donald Thompson, who was jailed last year for using a penis pump under his robe while presiding over four trials, has been denied parole for the second time.)
Link (Thanks, Mel!)
Reader comment:
Karen says:
I think you meant to say that the woman was listening to an MP3 player under her hijab. Habib sounds like part of "habibi", "darling" in Arabic, which you may have heard in various Arab pop songs. (Habibi Dah, by Hisham Abbas, is fun.)Using "hijab" for headscarf is common, but it's inaccurate. Hijab means modesty, and there are various ways of being modest -- ranging from a simple headscarf (which goes by various names depending on language and culture -- khimar, dupatta, etc.) to Omani beaked masks, Saudi abaya and niqab, Afghan burkas, Iranian chadors, and on and on and on.
Robotic toilet paper dispenser
Kimberly-Clark Professional is introducing an automated toilet paper dispenser for institutional use. Like electronic paper towel dispensers, you wave your hand in front of a motion sensor and it spits out the toilet paper. Thing is, the system is preset to issue just five sheets at a time. Fortunately, it can be reprogrammed. From the Associated Press:
"Most people will take the amount given," says (Kimberly-Clark's Richard) Thorne. Waxing philosophical, he adds, "People generally in life will take what you give them."Link (Thanks, Charles Pescovitz!)
Kimberly-Clark turned to focus groups and years of internal research to determine just how much is right.
Americans typically use twice as much toilet paper as Europeans -- as much as an arm's length each pull, Thorne says. The company decided the best length is about 20 inches -- or precisely five standard toilet paper squares, though the machine can also be adjusted to churn out 16 inches or 24 inches, depending on the demand.
Joshua Clay art show and site
Joshua Clay has a new show opening at thinkspace gallery in Los Angeles this Friday. The exhibition, titled Shadows, runs until August 3. Clay has been documenting the creation of the paintings on his Web site, Follow The Shadows. It looks like a beautiful, atmospheric, and moody body of work. From Clay's artist statement:
UPDATE: All of the show pieces are now viewable online. Link
Link to Follow The Shadows, Link to thinkspace galleryI've always been fascinated by the things that hide in the shadows. The things that shape the people we are as individuals and as a collective. Shadows walk up walls and under doors, they influence our choices as they hiss in our ears and they cause us to destroy the things we've worked so hard to build. Shadows are the life experiences that follow us from one relationship to another, from one lie to the next and from one generation to another. They are the bad choices we refuse to accept responsibility for and the justification of lust and greed.
UPDATE: All of the show pieces are now viewable online. Link
Man's excuse to avoid jury duty
Daniel Ellis of Cape Cod, Massachusetts wanted so badly to be excused from jury duty that he claimed to be homophobic, racist, and a liar. As a result, Barnstable Superior Court Judge Gary Nickerson wants him prosecuted. Here are excerpts from Nickerson's conversation with Ellis, according to an Associated Press article:
"You say on your form that you're not a fan of homosexuals," Nickerson said.Link
"That I'm a racist," Ellis interrupted.
"I'm frequently found to be a liar, too. I can't really help it," Ellis added.
"I'm sorry?" Nickerson said.
"I said I'm frequently found to be a liar," Ellis replied.
"So, are you lying to me now?" Nickerson asked.
"Well, I don't know. I might be," was the response.
David Byrne's trip report from Berlin's Stasi museum
David Byrne's trip report from Berlin's Stasi museum is really smart and insightful. I love reading Byrne's blog -- the way he skips among subjects and ties it all together in the end. There's no musician whose work I admire more, and it's wonderful to see him producing such good work in other media. This is one of the things I love most about blogs: getting to shoulder-surf thinkers who make me smarter.
LinkThe Stasi Museum is inside one part of a former massive compound that enclosed many city blocks. Parking and entrances were inside the compound, so no one could see who was coming or going. And the whole complex is now for sale! For one Euro! Well, I’m sure there are conditions. I think the city is trying to sell it to the country if they will turn it into a proper museum. As is, it’s rudimentary. One floor of former offices displays clunky spy devices: cameras in logs, behind buttons and in fake rocks. Here’s one in a birdhouse — a little obvious, I think.
Maybe the intent was NOT to hide this surveillance gear too well, the idea possibly being to make people aware they were being looked at and listened to. If you’re not aware you’re being observed then you won't live in fear, so what’s the point? Sometimes buildings here in the U.S. put up fake surveillance cameras in the hopes of discouraging perps. Of course, it wasn’t all just nutty surveillance stuff — people’s lives were ruined, destroyed, their careers came to a dead end at the least suspicion, there were prison terms and torture without stated reason (where have I heard that one before?) and information and culture was heavily censored. And the food wasn’t that great, either.
RIP, Honest Ed Mirvish
Honest Ed Mirvish, the Toronto entrepreneur who founded Honest Ed's, and who bought the Old Vic Theater, has died. He was 92.
Link (Thanks, Dave!)
He opened Honest Ed’s discount emporium in Toronto in 1948 with his wife’s multimillion-dollar insurance policy. Over the last 40 years, the store has grown from 200 square feet to just over 16,000 square feet and has become an iconic architectural fixture of Toronto.Mirvish was known for his self-deprecating humour — both directed at himself and his store — which also played a role in his marketing strategy. On several occasions, he’s declared that the floors of Honest Ed’s were purposely crooked in order to make the store look cheap.
(Image ganked from Supa Pedro's Flickr stream)
Freud pops: suck on Sigmund's head
Archie McPhee's Freud Pops let you put the great psychoanalyst's entire head in your mouth and suck on it, altering your body chemistry with "watermelon flavor" and high-fructose corn syrup.
Link
(via Shiny Shiny)
Report: Apple iPhone nano predictions now deemed dubious
Predictions of a forthcoming "iPhone nano" are steeped in bogosity, writes Philip Elmer-DeWitt at Biz 2.0:
LinkIt started Monday afternoon when Reuters picked up a report from a Taiwan-based analyst for JP Morgan named Kevin Chang. Chang had come across a patent Apple filed last November 1 for a phone with an iPod-like clickwheel, put it together with some information he had gleaned from unnamed sources in Apple's supply channel and issued a report to JP Morgan subscribers dated Sunday, July 8, predicting that Apple would release a low-cost, Nano-sized iPhone before the end of the year and might ultimately sell 30 to 40 million of them.
Several Apple blogs had picked up on the Apple patent when it was first published by the U.S. Patent Office last Thursday, including Gizmodo and the Unofficial Apple Weblog (tuaw.com). "Now this is interesting," wrote tuaw on July 5. "Could it be a low-cost sibling for the iPhone?"
But speculation on an Apple blog is one thing. A report issued by a JP Morgan analyst -- and retailed by Reuters -- is quite another.
Previously: Apple to launch cheaper, "nano-like" iPhone in Q4 07?
HOWTO make an eyeball pincushion
The Eyeball Pincushion is simple to make, creepy to use. Crafter VeryBigJen has a tutorial on Flickr for making one (or several) of your own.
African Cookbook Project launched online (nom nom nom)
Fran Osseo-Asare of betumi.com writes,
At TEDGLOBAL in Arusha, Tanzania in June, 2007, we launched the "Africa Cookbook Project," whose goal is to archive African culinary writing and make it widely available on the continent and beyond. A database is being developed and copies of hundreds of cookbooks are already being catalogued at BETUMI: The African Culinary Network. Google has offered assistance in eventually digitizing some of the information.Link (thanks, Emeka Okafor!)The enthusiasm and tangible support both at and after the conference is wonderful. Issa Diabate has already e-mailed that he's sending an Ivorian book, Dominique Bikaba that he's searching for one from DRC, and Jens Martin Skibsted has scanned the covers of several books in his collection. People have promised to send books from Angola, Mozambique, Zambia, etc. I'm thrilled that others recognize the urgent need to protect these books, whether for their value as a record of popular culture, social history, or, my specialty, culinary creativity.
DIY Drinking Straws -- tinkertoys for drinking
Love this "DIY Drinking Straws" at ThinkGeek ($13/set) -- they're dishwasher safe, and can be used to construct any number of crazy-ass straw-shapes, some of them even useful for drinking with!
Scientists: Nikon wants your tiny photos
Small World, Nikon's annual micro-photography contest, has just opened up again. Nikon asks the world's scientists to affix cameras to their microscopes and shoot the beauty that we're too big to see.
Link (Thanks, Laura!)Small World is regarded as the leading forum for showcasing the beauty and complexity of life as seen through the light microscope. For over 30 years, Nikon has rewarded the world's best photomicrographers who make critically important scientific contributions to life sciences, bio-research and materials science.
Deadline for Entries: April 30, 2008
(Image: Rat retina astrocytes and blood vessels (160x) by Thomas J. Deerinck, 6th place, 2006)
Canadian air security gets some perspective on "bad words"
Canadian Air Transport Security has loosened up the rules for "security" in Canadian airports -- agents are no longer required to sound the alarm and shut down the airport when someone remarks, "Your hockey team is going to bomb tonight."
I cleared security in Toronto last year with a friend who had a bottle of perfume in her suitcase. The X-ray tech spotted it and we got sent to a screening booth so they could get a look at it. The security agent pulled it out, and my friend said, "Oh, it's because it's shaped a little like a grenade," and the man went white and said, "Don't say that!"
It was as if grenades were like Bloody Mary, and mentioning their name could cause them to appear.
The bulletin provides key examples of both types. The false statement "I have a bomb in my bag" will continue to bring the police running. But the comment "Your hockey team is going to get bombed tonight" is merely careless, it advises.Link (Thanks, Greg!)"Inform the person that he or she could commit a serious offence saying such words at an airport," say the new instructions, referring to careless remarks. But officers should then continue the regular screening process without sounding the alarm.
Some other examples from the document, by the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority:
– "I am going to set fire to the airplane with this blowtorch" (false declaration), versus "What do you think I look like, a terrorist?" (careless or inflammatory).
– "He is going to hijack the aircraft" (false declaration) versus "Hi Jack!" (careless or inflammatory).
– "The man in seat 32F has a machine gun" (false declaration), versus "My gun misfired when I was hunting this weekend" (careless or inflammatory).
Hong Kong: the Flickr'd photo that got blogger Oiwan in trouble
Yesterday I blogged about the case of Oiwan Lam, a well-known blogger in Hong Kong (Links: 1, 2, 3, 4) who's facing the possibility of a year in jail or a $HK 400,000 fine for having linked to an image deemed offensive by authorities. That image (a non-pornographic, artistic nude) was shot and published by none other than Jake Appelbaum, whose work has been blogged here on BoingBoing many times. Cropped detail of the offending image shown above, click here for the full photo (hazmat warning: contains breasts).
Oiwan reached out to Jake for help via Flickr mail. She blames the photo-sharing site's recently implemented content rating/blocking system in part for the legal situation she now faces in Hong Kong.
Jake believes the program, as implemented, amounts to censorship, and that it helps governments which are already unfriendly to online free speech limit that speech more efficiently. He writes:
The photo in question is mine. It is this url. This comment was left shortly after the linking. I believe this is the original article in question. Sadly, the key part of that comment is this:Lam said that the photograph was taken from the international photography site 'flickr' (see Nude and Captured") and was an art photograph around which the discussion was totally technical in nature. "It will not arouse immoral, obscene thoughts." Flickr itself has not received any complaints to have the photograph removed. Lam said that she will not remove the photograph, although the InMedia editorial board has not reached a decision yet. She said: "Whether something is a work of art should be determined subjectively instead of just counting how many naughty bits is being exposed."......
Why is this sad? Because recently, I was contacted by Oiwan Lam. I was told that because my account is now rated as 'unsafe' by flickr, this seems to render their previous argument about obscenity inaccurate. It's considered obscene by both the Chinese government censors and the censors at flickr.
Quoting Lam:
however, when flickr introduced its filtering system around mid june, they have flitered away your photos in hk. and the local authority put back the case to the tribunal for classification in june 22. where, they have classified it as indecent.
As I understand that statement, it is because of Flickr censoring my account that the tribunal moved forward with their prosecution. A direct result of censorship on Flickrs part. Flickr doesn't like the word censorship but that's just what they're doing.
Let me be clear: Flickr is instituting a global censorship program that allows for regional censorship of photos. As a Flickr user, I was not informed that I fell into such a program or even in fact that such a program existed.
Continue reading Hong Kong: the Flickr'd photo that got blogger Oiwan in trouble.
Pixel Mario cake made from cupcake squares
Clunkrobot sez, "My friends made me a pixel-esque Mario cake out of little squares of cupcake for my Groom's cake." Link (Thanks, Clunkyrobot!)
Electric hair-growing fez of 1928
The best thing about this miracle hair-growing hat from the June, 1928 edition of Popular Mechanics is its fez-like character. It conveys an attitude of such perfect charlatanry.
LinkThis new invention—the result of an experience gained in treating thousands of cases of baldness—is in the form of a new kind of hat. It is worn on the head just 10 minutes a day. No unnecessary fuss of any kind. Just put the hat on your head. Wear it 10 minutes. And that’s all there is to it.
Sounds impossible, doesn’t it? All right. Then let me emphasize this fact. I don’t care how thin your hair is. I don’t care how many treatments you have taken without results. Unless my discovery actually produces a new growth of hair on your head in 30 days, then all you need do is tell me so. And without asking one question, I will instantly— and gladly—mail you a check refunding you every penny you have paid me.
Google's "Sicko" scandal - what went wrong?
O'Reilly's Nat Torkington has a tremendous editorial up today about what went so wrong when a Google advertising manager offered Google's services to help the health industry undermine Michael Moore's Sicko. The problem wasn't that an employee spoke out of turn, but rather, that she disguised (and later sought to excuse) her shilling for her employer as harmless personal opinion.
The time-honored marketing blog post formula is simple:Link1. Find something topical. In Ms Turner's case, it was the release of Michael Moore's new film.
2. Identify the shiznit you wish to pimp. In Ms Turner's case, it was Google's Health Advertising services.
3. Find a line (however tenuous) between the two and the post just writes itself!
These posts are easy to write, and so everyone does them. Hell, even I've been guilty of it at times. The posts are unsatisfying for the same reason they're easy to write: they have no actual insight or useful information, just the staggeringly unobvious "Michael Moore's new movie is anti-HMO" and "you can advertise on Google."
See also:
Google to HMOs: pay us and we'll defuse "Sicko"
More on Google vs Sicko
Anything goes call for submissions
The whacky Viennese net-artists at Monochrom are planning a giant printed annual and they're looking for your articles to include in it:
A big section of the publication will be dedicated to reviews. And we review everyhing. Want to review a certain medieval war? Or arctic sea protozoans? Laws of nature? Climate zones? Ways to die? Lava streams? Spam headers? Demonstrations? Sumerian gods? Neon feelings? A crisis? The different types of snow in Stephen King novels? Book shelves in porn movies? Kosher hot dogs? Axiology? Sperm? Johann Sebastian Bach? German officers in American movies who shout "Schweinerei"? Russian oil pumps? Calvinistic prayers? Trash cans in Kansas and/or Lithuania? Anal sex? The Northwest as an ontological entity? Perfect! Go on!Link
Inflatable dummy company sues rival for patent violations
A company that patented the idea of using inflatable dummies for crowd-scenes in movies is suing another company that does the same thing. The defendant has a successful business, the plaintiff does not, so he is seeking to drive the successful competitor out of business.
It's such a misery that the US Patent and Trademark office continues to abdicate its responsibility to the American public, granting virtually every many patent applications filed before it. Using dummies for crowd scenes fails the "non-obvious" test that every patent is supposed to be subjected to, in spades.
Every entrepreneur I know is pressured to file "defensive patents" for the most basic, simple things, but no one can tell me how these are supposed to work. If the second guy also had a patent on inflatable dummies, he'd still have to bankrupt himself in court proving his patent was good and the other guy's was bad. The plaintiff doesn't care -- he's going out of business as it is, he can lose it in court or in the market. And once he goes under, his patents will be bought by patent trolls, companies that make nothing but lawsuits, and they will sue any successful inflatable dummy business for everything they have.
The only defense against patent abuse is to reform the patent office. For starters, let's change the way they're funded: right now, they pay their bills with the fees they get from patent applications. That means that the more patents there are, the more money they make. Is it any wonder that they've crapflooded the country with bogus government monopolies over the simplest things in the world?
Now the two startups in the market are squaring off in court. Crowd in a Box (crowdinabox.com), which holds patents issued in 2004 and 2005 for the use of inflatable humanoid figures in background scenes, is suing Inflatable Crowd for patent violation.Link (Thanks, Ross!)Joe Biggins, owner of Inflatable Crowd (inflatablecrowd.com), declines to comment on the suit but says he came up with the dummy idea independently in 2002, while working on the crew of Seabiscuit. Since then Biggins, 35, has become the market leader, placing his inflatables in more than 50 feature films, while Crowd in a Box has five (plus five TV shows and 22 commercials).
"He seems to have better connections in Hollywood than we do," admits Crowd in a Box co-owner Mark Woolpert, 58, who anticipates a court date in November. Top of page
Update: Steve sez, "These Inflatable Crowd Company dummies (the defendant) are the same dummies previously featured on Boing-Boing, in a short film I made at the Rose Bowl, and here on the set of a car commercial."
Socket Pocket: a phone-pocket for your electrical outlet
The Socket Pocket is a replacement covering for your electrical outlet that includes a hinged pocket that sticks out of the side of the receptacle. The idea is to have a little pocket to stick your cellphone or other hand-held device in while it charges, keeping it off the floor. I want one of these with about six pockets.
Link
(via Cribcandy)
Steampunk motorcycles
Nice little gallery of steampunky motorcycles built by artisans around the world.
Link (Thanks, WallyChumblatt!)The single engine cylinder is from a tractor and it displaces 1440cc, think about what that sounds like! Tires and wheels are from a Ford Model A. The wooden fork is made of ash with forged iron strapping plus there’s a shovel for a seat. Practical? Are you kidding? Cool? Of course.
One quintilion steampunk wonders, previously seen in this space
How copyright enforcers talk to fans
The Electronic Frontier Foundation's Fred von Lohmann writes, "I came upon an outrageous example of how Web Sheriff (one of many online copyright enforcers) talks to fans. The more I thought about it, the more furious it made me. So I decided to pen a few words about what's gone wrong with copyright law lately."
That's the problem. No artist would talk to a fan like this (and if they did, they should be ashamed), to the person who just bought their forthcoming album. But the copyright enforcement lawyers are on auto-pilot, without any accountability to the artists or to the fans, threatening people, suing people, and all the while insisting that this is just how copyright law works.Link (Thanks, Fred!)Pardon my French, but that's bull****.
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