Nat Torkington says, "In Collapse, Jared Diamond wondered what the person who cut down the last tree on Easter Island was thinking as he did so. On the Solomon Islands, he'll soon have the chance to put that question to that person." Link
Prank on Damien Hirst
Last month, artist Damien Hirst unveiled the most expensive contemporary artwork ever made, a skull bedazzled with more than 8,000 fine diamonds. It's expected to sell for as much as $100 million. In response to the skull's exhibition at London's White Cube Gallery in Mason's Yard, an artist named Laura created a replica covered with 6,522 Swarovski crystals and dumped it outside the gallery in the middle of the night on top of a pile of trash.Link (Thanks, Lindsay Tiemeyer!)
Previously on BB:
• Damien Hirst's diamond skull Link
Expensive coffee from crap
Indonesia kopi luwak is a rare kind of coffee that apparently goes for $30/cup in some fancy Hong Kong hotels. The secret to its reportedly fine flavor is that the beans are collected, swallowed, and crapped back out by wild civets, small, arboreal mammals that are currently endangered. Today's Los Angeles Times tells the story of the $600/pound coffee. The article quotes Canadian food scientist Massimo Marcone, author of a new book that sounds fascinating: In Bad Taste?: The Science and Adventures Behind Food Delicacies. From the Los Angeles Times:
UPDATE: Previously on BB:
• Civet cat butt coffee tastes good, say connoisseurs Link
In the animals' stomachs, enzymes in the gastric juices massage the beans, smoothing off the harsh edges that make coffee bitter and produce caffeine jitters. Humans then separate the greenish-brown beans from the rest of the dung, and once a thin outer layer is removed, they are ready for roasting....Link to Los Angeles Times, Link to buy In Bad Taste (Thanks, Bob Pescovitz!)
Days before the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami struck, Marcone was in Indonesia's Sumatran rain forest, where he collected about 10 pounds of civet droppings laced with coffee beans. He now uses it as "the gold standard" to rate other kopi luwaks in his lab at the University of Guelph in Ontario.
Like a forensic scientist reading a bullet's markings, Marcone stares at kopi luwak under an electron microscope, searching for striations that tell him that a civet excreted it. His studies found that kopi luwak drinkers need to be careful to avoid being duped.
"About 42% of all the kopi luwaks that are presently on sale are either adulterated or complete fakes, unfortunately," he said.
Real kopi luwak has a top note of rich, dark chocolate, with secondary notes that are musty and earthy, the scientist said. An Indonesian coffee lover described the scent as the smell of moist earth after a rainfall, with hints of vanilla, that teases the palate for hours after the cup is empty.
UPDATE: Previously on BB:
• Civet cat butt coffee tastes good, say connoisseurs Link
S.A.M, the Sesame Street Robot (video)
One of the earliest and most vivid memories I have from childhood is sitting on a plaid couch (maybe two years old?), staring into a television, screaming in full toddler freakout because a robot on Sesame Street was scaring me.
What's funny about this memory is that even though the robot terrified me, I could not look away from the screen.
I was trying to retell this tale to someone over IM today, then googled and found one clip in which the robot appears -- the very first time, in 1972. Turns out S.A.M. ("Super Automated Machine") also made a cameo appearance in a Spider Man comic book.
Funny how memory imprints work -- the Sesame Street Robot still kind of scares me when I watch the clip, all these years later. I can't quite bring myself to watch the clip all the way through.
Link to video, Link to scans from the comic book.
Reader comment: David Z. says,
Wow. Perhaps what David and I both experienced here was an early voyage into the Uncanny Valley.I had the same experience with this clip from Sesame Street of a stop-motion orange singing "Carmen." As a child, it would send me running from the room when it came on. I finally found it on YouTube and felt the same rush of fear as I did thirty-odd years ago. When the orange hits that high note and her face flies off, I almost had to close the browser.
Link.
Greg Baker says:
Jon Adams says,It was the yip-yip martians that did it for me.
Like david z, I found a clip on YouTube and freaked myself out a little. When the phone rang and their lips flew up above their head, I thought about cowering behind my desk chair for a second.
Thanks for the memory. There's nothing I don't like about Boing Boing. Keep up the good work.
I was terrified by those same freaking aliens, which actually sort of look like the Flying Spaghetti Monster.Peter Pentz says,
James Alberts says,This is still scary. Bert and Ernie sarcophagi, an Egyptian Ernie doppelganger, creepy music... As a kid, I was terrified they would replay it as a re-run.
My mom says I used to shout from the living room, "It's Coming!" Video Link to "Ernie and Bert Explore a Pyramid."
I vividly remember both Burt and Ernie exploring a pyramid and the singing orange, but the Mummenschanz mime troupe on the Muppet Show scarred me forever. Years later, I still can't make it all the way through their act. Thanks for rattling such a bizarre television-memory from my subconscious! Video Link.Pteryxx Hyperion says,
Mine was the rubber bands that counted to ten. The 'eyes' zigzagging back and forth still weird me out... but now I've learned to enjoy it. Video Link.Ari B. says,
An earlier commenter mentioned the “Ernie and Bert explore a pyramid” bit freaking him out. In college, I worked in a residential program for young adolescents, and one kid confessed to me that the sketch was responsible for his first psychotic episode.Paul says,
Xeni, it's no wonder S.A.M. scared you as a kid.Andrew says,SAM is obviously a Dalek disguised by brain washed hippies to infiltrate our culture, and to gain access to our children. If that voice had started saying "Exterminate! Exterminate!" in an English accent I wouldn't have been surprised, especially after all of that "Machines are perfect," stuff.
Is it just me, or does that robot have the EXACT same voice as a Dr. Who Dalek? There is something definitely unsettling about the sounds it's making as it moves around, as i was watching that clip my pet rabbits perked up like there was predator in the room. I'm also starting to think that the tail on it is a trophy from a kill it made.Meredith says,
lets not forget the head-hunter (or whatever theyre called) scene in labyrinth. even though the song is about chilling out it still gives me the heebeejeebees. Video Link.Lindsey B says,
Your Sesame Street post brought back the terrifying memory of watching a skit where a puppet could get nectarines from a tree but couldn't eat them. A quick google search pulled up the clip for "Geefle and Gonk". I am having post traumatic flashbacks just watching it. Video Link.Anthony says,Here is another Sesame Street clip I remember was Ernie getting propositioned by a shady "O" dealer pushing his wares.
On the topic of disturbing muppets this sketch involves a guy pulling a girl's head apart because he loves her. Once her facial features are removed they spontaneously reanimate creating a creepy flesh colored "sheet ghost" like creature. Image Link. I tried to explain the nightmares this gave me (mostly about the sheet ghost creature coming out of the walls and pulling me in) for years but nobody believed me. They said nothing so disturbing would ever get on Sesame Street and that I must have made it up. Link.Shawn says,
The sights and sounds of mr-nobody. Yes, sesame street clips scared kids. This was one of them. I challenge you to watch it until the end. :) Video Link.Mike says,
I used to have a deep fear of the Snuggle brand fabric softener spokes bear when I was a kid. I had a nightmare (that is still vivid to this day) that I was out on the fire escape behind my Chicago highrise, and a snuggle bear popped out of nowhere and chased me for ever.rightmer says,Years later the MTV sketch comedy show The State did a sketch where the Snuggle bear pops up to help a woman with her ironing, causing her to screech and pummel the bear with the iron. I'm SO with that lady.
I read your bit about the characters that were a bit on the scary side, and couldn't help but post the one that scared the crap out of me when I was a kid. I found a clip on youtube, and found that it still bugs me out a bit.Mark Hurst says,I'm not sure which frightened me worse, The music or Duneden. Video Link.
for me it was the Death Probe on the Six Million Dollar Man. Video Link.Jenny Norton says,
I'm too young to have recalled SAM the Robot, but I was also terrified by the orange singing "Carmen" and Bert and Ernie in Egypt. I liked the Yip-Yips, though. The Terrifying Trifecta of "Sesame Street" clips for me was completed by this, which, to my horror, I found on a tape I had from 1988. I posted in on YouTube and found out I wasn't the only one scared by the creepy toys, robots, and satellites: Video Link.Keith Houston says,
Through the magic of the internet, I am one step closer to facing my ultimate nightmare. Not from a kids show, but just a good ole' fashioned childhood destroying 80's sitcom.Chris Layne says,There was a strange TV show in the early 80's called "No Soap, Radio", starring Steve Guttenburg. I vaguely remembered the opening sequence involving footage of a roller coaster. I was very young when it aired. I have done some research, and discovered the show was a series of non-sequitors and weird throw away gags centered loosely around the goings on of some dingy hotel. All done in the name of comedy for sure, but one of their little "gags" has terrified me to this very day, some 20-odd years later. There was a green chair that ate people, Just swallowed them up. They would sit in this chair, try to get comfortable and VOOP, they would disappear into the chair, maybe being sucked into some nightmarish non-space, or possibly Hell. Once, my mother dropped me off at a baby-sitters house, and the sitter had THREE green chairs of the same type as the show, and I cowered in the corner until my mom picked me up later in the day, visibly shaken. I can't find any of the clips on-line, and I actually tremble at the thought of seeing it again. I've been afraid of that damn green chair ever since.
I remember S.A.M. and the two Martian creatures from Sesame Street, but because I was the technician sitting in master control of the PBS affiliate in Richmond, Virginia. I was surprised to hear that these puppets were scary to so many people. It has given me food for thought to replay the clips and try to imagine them through children's eyes.Jesse says,
Here's the Sesame Street clip that gave *me* nightmares: Video Link. Unanswerable question: Was I already scared of clowns when I saw that, or was it that clip that made me scared of clowns?Drew Amato says,
I just wanted to say that, like, presumably, thousands of other BB readers, the comments about scary Sesame Street clips really touched a nerve for me. I remember being scared of the "Carmen" orange, and the 'Bert and Ernie in the pyramid' clip, but the one clip which made me run out of the room until it was over was this one of Bob and Luis creating a picture of a tunnel, which a train eventually comes charging out of: Video Link.Jacob says,BB really amazes me; I never thought I'd ever (a) have reason to find the clip on YouTube, (b) find out other people felt the same about it as I do, and (c) realise that these kind of lightning-rod posts are what make the internet awesome.
Keep up the good work!
I understand if you're sick of this meme by now, but I had to point out another terrifying Sesame Street clip. This is a lesser-known animated clip about a little boy who gets lost in a VERY strange and extremely surreal neighborhood. As a child, I found it horrifying, but had to watch it every time it aired. Video Link.
DEA agents used keyloggers to nab crypto-using MDMA suspect
Over at News.com, Declan McCullagh has been following a recent court case that offers a rare peek into how some fed agents conduct digital investigations when a suspect uses encryption> First, break into the suspect's home or workplace, then implant keystroke-logging software on their computer, then step back and spy. Snip:
An agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration persuaded a federal judge to authorize him to sneak into an Escondido, Calif., office believed to be a front for manufacturing the drug MDMA, or Ecstasy. The DEA received permission to copy the hard drives' contents and inject a keystroke logger into the computers.Link with related DEA PDF documents here and here. Related item on Declan's Politechbot list from 2000: Link. And a related 2001 item in Wired "about how one antivirus company reportedly contacted the FBI and pledged not to detect malicious fedware" -- Link. On Politech, Declan writes:That was necessary, according to DEA Agent Greg Coffey, because the suspects were using PGP and the encrypted Web e-mail service Hushmail.com. Coffey asserted that the DEA needed "real-time and meaningful access" to "monitor the keystrokes" for PGP and Hushmail passphrases.
It seems that spyware and key loggers are far more advanced and commonplace today than they were six years ago, as are anti-spyware tools. I wonder if the FBI could seek a court order requiring an anti-spyware company not to report fedware (as in, fedware would be whitelisted if detected and the customer would not be alerted).Reader comment: G1ZM0 saysAnyone worried about this could always run free software, where the risk to a user would be lower. (Yes, I know, the compiler could be compromised or a clever and subtle backdoor in the source not detected, but it's still less risky if that's the threat model.)
This article about keyloggers has a section about preventing keystroke capture that suggests virtual (on screen) keyboards may be a way to prevent capture.Stephen says,
On-screen keyboards are not safe from keyboard logging either, they just require more specialised loggers: Link.Vik says,
The suggestion that a screen keyboard can be used as a 'safe' method is flawed; banks have been using screen keyboards for a little while, and crackers adapt by capturing the entire screen into a video file. The Cult of the Dead Cow's Backorifice security software suite has had this capability for some years now.orsomething says,Ironically, maybe the only way you'll be able to trust your operating system in the future is through the use of DRM mechanisms like the Trusted Platform Module (TPM)? Or you could just be ever vigilant.
Oakley Networks (Link) recently demo'ed their products for the concern I work for. One of them is like a keylogger on steroids. It captures a movie of the subject's computer screen (and all web sites and data, etc.). The technical rep bragged that their products are used by all of the three letter government organizations. They said that none of the virus scanners found their product, except for Microsoft's. He said they talked to Microsoft and it no longer detects the Oakley networks stuff anymore. P.S. Boing Boing is at the top of my RSS feeds!
Free the iPhone
BB reader Ben Byrne says,
Free Press, the organization behind the pro-Net Neutrality site SavetheInternet.com, has a new project: Free the iPhone.Here's a snip from the website:That's "free" as in speech, not beer. The aim of the campaign, directed at Congress and the FCC, is to make sure that any company looking for a new slice of the public airwaves adheres to "open access," which would put the kibosh on exclusive deals of the Apple-AT&T sort. It may sound petty, but the future of the Internet is in wireless, so allowing such device freedom could become critical.
LinkDear Apple,
for years you have been delighting us with great products, fun to use, tremendous to work with and bringing the joy and beauty back into the Computer world.
Once again you did it with the iPhone.
It is gorgeous, sexy and opens up the mind of millions of consumers... and developers! But... it is enslaved in some awkward cage of technological unfriendliness, begging to be freed.
So please, free the iPhone, open it to the world of opportunities knocking at your door and let the developers unleash its power!
Intel and MIT's $100 laptop initiative kiss and make up
BB reader Andy Carvin says,
The AP is now reporting that Intel and MIT's $100 laptop initiative have ended their feud and will actually partner with each other. The two entities have been bashing each other in the press for some time now, dissing each other's technology like an east coast-west coast rap war. Intel will actually be joining the MIT project's board and contribute funding to their laptop's development.LinkFor several years now, I've been screaming a particular mantra: When it comes to global development, different tools work best in different circumstances. There is no one single magic bullet, technological or otherwise, that will solve the ills of poverty, corruption or educational inequity.
With Intel and MIT coming together and acknowledging that their devices will have pros and cons depending on the circumstance, countries that embrace their technologies will hopefully be able to make smarter, more strategic choices. Less time will be wasted in debating whether a government should by this tool or that one as the sole answer to all of their needs, simply because the person pitching the tool is well-resourced or charismatic.
Southwest and United are eyeballing you at self-checkin kiosks
Anonymous BoingBoing reader and Southwest Airlines frequent flyer says,
I didn't notice until this trip, but the Southwest check-in kiosks at LAS (and the United ones next door) appear to have cameras to record the people using them, for those of you who care about this sort of thing.The shared multi-airline no-carry-on kiosks don't seem to have them at this time.
Crook reprograms ATM in PA to think $20s are $1s
Over at the Wired News Threat Level blog, Kevin Poulsen has an item up about a recent ATM robbery in Pennsylvania in which an unidentified, beflipflopped guy in shorts....
Link...strolled into Mastrorocco's Market and reprogrammed the cash machine to think it was dispensing dollar bills instead of twenties. Along with a female accomplice, the crook netted over $1,540 in two visits on June 19 and 20, according to store owner Vince Mastrorocco. "They came in, they hit me the first day -- a man and a woman -- and they cleaned me out," Mastrorocco told THREAT LEVEL. "Then they came back the next day and cleaned me out again."
A sergeant with the Derry Borough Police Department they're still investigating the crime, and no arrests have been made.
Of course, THREAT LEVEL readers know exactly what happened. The machine was a Triton 9100, and like competitor Tranax, Triton printed its default administrative passcodes in its ATM service manuals, which have been widely available online. We reported on this last September after a Virginia Beach gas station ATM (a Tranax) got hit with the same hack.
Felt Club craft fair in LA on Sunday, July 15
Natalie says:
Felt Club: XL Summer is happening this Sunday, July 15th at the Ukranian Cultural Center (4315 Melrose Ave) in Los Angeles from 11am to 7pm. CRAFT Magazine's own Carla Sinclair and Goli Mohammadi will be there on hand to do gocco demos and you can take home a special Felt Club print. Then shop among over 70 indie artists, crafters, and designers. The first 250 people will get swag bags and there will be lots of door prizes, hands-on DIY classes, yummy food, cool music, and more.Link to Felt Club event | Link to Tinlark eventAlso, CRAFT is coming to the Tinlark Gallery (Crossroads of the World, 6671 Sunset Blvd., No. 1512, Hollywood) for the Modern Day Fables show on Saturday, July 14th from 4pm - 10pm. The event is an opening reception for artists Laura Normandin, Ann Wood, and Maggy Rozycki Hiltner. The opening is family friendly with craft tables for children, performance from Asthmatic Kitty label artist, I Heart Lung, and free giveaways. Carla and Goli will be on hand to show you how to make beads from recycled paper.
Mark at SoCal Fry's this weekend
This Friday and Saturday, I'm going to Fry's electronics stores in Woodland Hills and Anaheim to present some tips and tricks from my book, Rule the Web: How To Do Anything and Everything on the Internet -- Better, Faster, Easier.
Friday, July 13th, 7-8:30pm
Woodland Hills Store
6100 Canoga Ave.
Woodland Hills, CA 91367
(818) 227-1000
Saturday, July 14th, 2-3:30pm
Anaheim Store
3370 E. La Palma Ave.
Anaheim, CA 92806
(714) 688-3000
I hope to see you there!
Download the flyer PDF here.
The book has been getting good reviews. Here are some excerpts:
- "Rule the Web" is a miscellany of mostly free services, tools and tips for managing e-mail and blogs and feeds and photos and music and videos. (Full disclosure: I contributed a paragraph -- uncompensated -- to the book's appendix, which features suggestions from bloggers.) Keeping up with this stuff is part of my work, yet I learned at least a half-dozen useful new tricks. -- Scott Rosenberg, Salon
- Now, I’m a pretty savvy web user (though a luddite when it comes to fancy gadgets) but I’m still pleasantly surprised at the breadth of useful information in the book. The cover of the book promises to tell you "how to do anything and everything on the Internet - better, faster, easier" and it delivers (funny if you think about it: it’s a book about the Web, with actual paper pages!). -- Alex Santosa, Neatorama
- I picked up this book expecting that since I’m already web savvy I’d fine a few things new that would be good, a few items to pass on to family and friends who have lives outside of the net. I was very happily surprised but the quality and quantity of really useful information Mark has compiled. If you’re looking for the native’s guide to living, working, playing and shopping online, this book is for you. -- Bob Walsh, 47 Hats
- I happened across a review of Rule the Web on Friday, and knew I had to get my hands on it – fast. I wasn’t disappointed. In fact, I could hardly put it down. It’s a godsend for answering the kind of questions your average church webmaster (me) gets all the time. And that’s just what it did. The other day one of the staff was telling me how she wished she could reply from her Gmail account and make it look like her church account. Not only does the book tell you how to do this, there’s even a picture (p.294). -- Anna Belle Leiserson, Faith and Web
- If MacGyver had written a guide to the internet, it would be Rule the Web. -- Drew Nellins, Bookslut
SoundExchange won't enforce new royalty rates on Sunday?
Eliot van Buskirk of Wired News files an update on the webcasting royalty rate crisis, and tells BoingBoing:
The basic gist is that web radio is saved. SoundExchange promised in front of Congress Thursday that they will NOT collect the disastrous new royalty rates from webcasters, and the two parties will negotiate new rates going forward, without webcasters being driven offline on Monday, when the royalties were due. Yay!Link
Reader comment: Daniel from Accuradio.com says,
Xeni, Love your show, first time calling in. Just read your link to Eliot's Wired piece. Thanks for the great coverage in BB on the issue.I'm a bit worried about the message "Net radio is saved!" because, technically, this isn't quite true yet. Yes, this is a HUGE development, but the legislation that would set fair and equitable royalty rates for Internet radio AND change the way those rates are determined in the future (which would involve changing the language of the DMCA, a big score indeed), the Internet Radio Equality Act, needs continued support from listeners.
Yesterday's development basically saves us from assured destruction, but a settlement between the two sides doesn't necessarily ensure webcasters an equal, level playing field with other broadcast media w/r/t royalty rates. The Internet Radio Equality Act does.
My bottom line: We need listeners' continued support. While it may not be untrue that we are "saved" to some degree, I'm afraid that the sounding the "all clear" could slow our momentum as it is reaching it's highest pitch.
Iraqi American uses Flickr to find missing family in Baghdad
I don't know much about this, other than what it appears to be: an Iraqi-American family is posting photos and sketches on Flickr in an attempt to locate a missing relative in Baghdad whom they believe may have been kidnapped. I'm not able to separately confirm the stated information at this time, but here's what appears on Flickr:
Link to contact info and more about the case. (thanks, Jacob Appelbaum)My brother, Awj Al-Jaibaji, 58, married, and a father of nine, was hit by a bullet in his abdomen, by the American military in Al-Amiriyah, Baghdad. It happened on July 3, 2007 at 11:00 pm. He was out of his house to turn off his electric power generator. The American military took him away for treatment of his bullet wound, but no one has heard about him since. His family has not been contacted, told of his where about, or of his condition. The family is extremely worried about him.
Reader comment: Alek Traunic says,
This sounds almost too similar to a story from this recently aired documentary. Either this is happening a lot in Iraq, or it is some weird prank.UPDATE 1, 07-13-07: In related news, a much respected Iraqi journalist with the New York Times was killed today. Link. Khalid W. Hassan was only 23 years old.
He had called the bureau earlier and said his normal route to the office had been blocked by a security checkpoint. “I’m trying to find another way,” he told the bureau staff. About a half an hour later he called his mother, with whom he lived, telling her, “I’ve been shot.”UPDATE 2, 07-15-07: An email from someone identifying themselves as this Awj Al-Jaibaji's relative reports that his body has been found, delivered to a morgue in Baghdad. Again, I have no immediate way of verifying details, and have no further information about this man's reported death.
Rose and Isabel: berzerker Valkyries fight the Civil War
Ted Mathot, a storyboard supervisor for Pixar, has created a two-part graphic novel called Rose and Isabel that he's indie-published and sells direct through his site.
I read Rose and Isabel last night and was really impressed. It's a magic-realist story about an American family during the Civil War -- the sons have gone off to fight for the Union, the daughters stay home. Until the sons go missing and Rose and Isabel set off to find them -- and that's when it gets weird. It emerges that the family is descended from a famous Irish warrior queen, and that Rose and Isabel have her warrior spirit, berzerker Valkyries who can best a platoon to Rebs with their longbows.
The story is poignant and often savage, and extremely well-told. The characters are likable and the drama is real. The books are also extremely handsome -- not just the art, but the whole package, a really top notch piece of production work, far better than the norm for indie comics.
Mathot maintains a blog filled with minutae related to the comic -- unfortunately, I couldn't find a simple "landing page" for the books that summarize them, give pricing and ordering info, etc, but you can find ordering buttons in the sidebar of the blog.
Link
Bunnie Huang's blog-series on Chinese manufacturing
Bunnie Huang -- best known for hacking the Xbox -- has been in China lately, sourcing manufacturing suppliers for Chumby, the new soft computer appliance his startup is selling (Chumby is way cool, by the way -- totally open, hackable, and a complete reimagining of how a computer can be used in your home).
I saw Bunnie give a presentation on the conditions and techniques in Chinese factories last month and I was completely blown away. The manufacturing sector in China is so surreal, so huge, so efficient and so weird that it's nearly impossible to get your head around it.
Bunnie has started blogging his China thoughts in detail, with a series of great posts:
Skill: Factory work in China isn't unskilled labor -- anything but. Watching the expert sewing in one of Bunnie's videos is like going to a close-up magic show, an astounding and effortless-seeming exhibition of manual dexterity. Contrast that with the skill of the people -- some children -- making rubberized tags, by hand, their arms branded with character logos burned in by accidental brushes with hot molds. And then there's the guy who can get rid of a $2 component by substituting $0.16 worth of parts and $0.05 worth of labor, paying someone to join together tiny sub-components all day.
Dedication: When it's production crunch time, Chinese factories run to a romantic idealism that's part Bushido, part IBM Song Book. Bunnie describes the final stages of the manufacturing setup for Chumby, and the intense personal dedication the factory workers showed -- and recounts an amazing story of a talented senior engineer who didn't know what Chumby was for because she didn't know what the Internet is.
Feeding the Factory: Like Google and other high-tech employers, Chinese factory-cities attract the best workers by offering food. Factory cafeterias aren't the same as the Googleplex's gourmet chef. Chinese factories run a little like factory farms, isolating new members of the cohort to prevent the spread of disease: guests eat off disposable plates and cutlery to stop them passing germs on to the factory's live-in, eat-in workers, who are subjected to intense medical scrutiny to prevent factory disease outbreaks.
Scale: The size of the factories, iPod City's own factory off-ramp, the enormous cohort of women workers in Shenzen -- China's manufacturing is at a scale that beggars the imagination.
See also:
Xbox hacker's view of manufacturing in China
Audio from Xbox hacker's USC talk last night
Chumby chairman interview: squeezable, open bean-bag computer
Andrew "Bunnie" Huang's tutorial on Hardware Hacking
Remembering Greenham Common, 25 years later
Robert sez, "Greenham Common was the site of one of the longest anti-nuclear, anti-war protests in history, against the siting of US nuclear missiles in the UK. The site commemorates the 25th anniversary of the peace camps. These women really knew how to protest! For example they dressed up as teddy bears and covered themselves in honey so that the soldiers guarding the base didn't know what to do with themselves. The site brings together loads of interviews, archive footage, massive numbers of photos, downloadable songs, even a kids' colouring book."
There's wonderful stuff here -- alas, it's all in a giant Flash blob, so none of it can be bookmarked, referenced or shared. Link (Thanks, Robert!)
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