vintage technology
car record player
carnival prizes
monster models
odd rods
muffler men
plan 59
world of kane
retro planet

Archive link for this week's edition. Web Zen is produced weekly by Frank Davis, and republished here on Boing Boing with kind permission. Web Zen Home and Archives, Store (Thanks Frank!).

Last week, San Francisco lost one of the underground art scene's most dedicated supporters. Most recently, Jack Davis was the director of the SomArts Cultural Center, ran the stage production for the San Francisco Blues Festival, and served on the mayor's Arts Task Force. But for decades, Jack has been an icon of the of Bay Area avant-garde culture. He was one of those people who just made things happen. Last year, my friend John Law, himself a legend in SF's underground scene, wrote a tribute to Jack after he suffered a heart attack. With the news of Jack's passing, Scott Beale of Laughing Squid reposted John's tribute. Here's what John wrote:

In any town, any scene, any time, you can count on the fingers of one hand the largely unheralded folks that facilitate almost everything thing of note that happens. They are there early on, giving quiet, confident encouragement – and, as importantly for starving artists, the occasional big break in event cost or maybe various services provided but somehow unbilled. These two or three princes never expect anything in return other than to watch the blossoming and growth of what they consider to be (and usually are) the most worthy enterprises. Other’s who “make things happen” the individuals, deserving or not who do get the lion’s share of the credit – you know who they are – they’re in the papers, on the radio, these folks know who those two or three are and always owe them a debt.

Jack Davis is one of those princes. At crucial points in the life of almost any significant Frisco art endeavor/scene/ organization (underground or established,) Jack has, in some capacity, small or gigantic, been pivotal in its life and growth. As Director of SomArts Gallery in SOMA for the last twenty years, one of the largest, best and most easily accessible art/event/party places in the City, Jack and his wonderful staff have given untold thousands of nascent artists, community groups and provocateurs their first big or pivotal show and a grand forum for promulgating their ideas and spirit in the local scene. Many of these individuals and organizations have moved on to national prominence. Following is a very small sampling of groups that benefited from Jacks involvement and/or support: The Neighborhood Arts Program (one of the founders) this group kicked off most of local Cultural Centers, Intersection for the Arts (past Director,) S.F. Mime Troupe (Board Member,) Burning Man (first big in-town events in the early 90’s were at SOMARTs for extremely low cost,) Day of the Dead, The Farm, Pickle Family Circus, Make a Circus, Dance Mission, Cellspace, S.F. Pride, Survival Research Labs (Jack held the cops off while Mark and crew got away!) The list goes on & on.

Link

Here's a snip from an essay at videoblogging.info:

Lumiere video arises from the tradition of the French Lumiere brothers. Credited with some of the first footage captured, in 1895, the Lumieres are also recognized for holding the first public film screening, showing ten shorts that lasted only twenty minutes total. At the time, Louis Lumiere stated, “The cinema is an invention without a future,” believing that everyday photography and video was ultimately nonsensical. Yet, we stand firm that Lumiere principles are essential to our existence as artists, media producers, visual creatures, and world citizens.

From a documentary perspective, and because Auguste and Louis Lumiere are thought to have produced the rudimentary firsts in this now well-known genre, founders of the field are essential to how we view our work today on a continuum. Lumieres emerge from the belief in filmmakers' distinct points of view; appropriately, lumiere literally means “light” in English. Online video has now for years allowed the advancement of personal narratives and showcased the world through the eyes of other video producers. At best, we display an edited view of our worlds. At worst, we destroy important viewpoints through unnecessary editing.

Link (Link and hed snagged from Warren Ellis)

UPDATE: oooh, there's a competing videoblogging manifesto from snottydouche.info:

The Luxidogmeimerde Manifesto

(For fuller context, you should read the wussified Lumiere Manifesto first. But then come back and read this one, because seriously our manifesto is way way better.) (...)

We followed the Dogme95 conventions until we realized that Dogme film #188 was Big Booty Hoes, which kind of fucked up that for us. We have attempted to find videos usingthe Lumiere Manifesto, which at first thought was good but now we hate. We looked for films that were longer than 60 seconds, no camera movement, no audio, and no editing. Sadly, most of the videos we found that matched those criteria were dudes beating off. After watching several hundred of those videos, we decided that we needed to draft our own set of rules.

* No script or scenes or actors or dialog or locations
* No artifical lights or real lights or black lights
* To maintain a total sense of reality, NO credits are allowed either before or after the film.
* Or during the film, either. * In order to maintain the artistic integrity in shots involving visual effects for explosions, if you use an Explosion element, it must be ONLY from the ArtBeats Reel Explosions Volume One library in the Zero-G folder and can only be composited into the scene using either Shake or Fusion (NOT After Effects) and you may only use Add or Screen modes and more no than three rotoscoped mattes, including the scene's general garbage matte, per shot. Also, no more than seven (7) nodes per shot, including the background plate AND any color correction, either done pre-comp or post.
* No costumes
* No soundtrack, audio, music, sound effects except for a high pitched whine
* Trailer may not use Don Lafontaine for voiceover
* Camera may not be put on a tripod or other artifical camera putting on thing.
* Lens Cap On
* No Battery Or Other Power To Camera
* Camera In Bag
* First Camera Bag Put In Another Bag Made Of Dark Heavy Canvas
* Doubled Bagged Non Powered Camera Buried At Depth Of Six Feet
* No fatties

The following are not rules for filmmaking or film makers but represent a complete philosophy of life.

Only films that follow all of these rules will get props from us on MySpace.

Linkidogmeimerde (actually written by Lee Stranahan)

Design Observer has a slideshow of images of Burma in 1989 by William Drenttel. Snip from intro:

According to Wikipedia: 8888 Uprising was a national peaceful revolution demanding democracy that started on August 8, 1988, in Burma (now Myanmar), when university students started the initial demonstrations in Rangoon. The Uprising ended on September 18, 1988, after a bloody military coup by the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). Thousands, mostly monks and civilians (primarily students) were killed by the Tatmadaw (Burmese armed forces).

I spent a month in Asia in early 1989, and was fortunate enough to purchase an entry visa into Burma from Thailand. On February 24, 1989, my passport was stamped number 263, meaning the Burmese government admitted less than 300 tourists that month. Only four months earlier, the military regime had killed an estimated 3,000 civilians during the 8888 Uprising.

This slideshow of photographs from 1989 is dedicated to the people of Burma — as they again confront one of the most brutal regimes in the world.

Link.

Previously on Boing Boing:

Burma: 'net cut as brutal crackdown worsens

ABC reporter files from inside Burma via cellphone

Burma: internally displaced demonstrate in rural areas

Burma regime cracks down on protesting monks

First tourist snapshots from Myanmar (Burma)'s new capital

Elephant landmine survivors on the Thai-Burma border

Mediabistro snip:

When ABC's senior foreign correspondent Jim Sciutto crossed into Myanmar today from neighboring Thailand the authorities took away his camera. So he filed his report for World News and the webcast, with the next best thing, his cell phone.

Link

AT&T has brought down new Terms of Service for its network customers. From now on, AT&T can terminate your connection for conduct that "tends to damage the name or reputation of AT&T, or its parents, affiliates and subsidiaries." So AT&T customers aren't allowed to write/podcast/vlog critical things about AT&T, its billing-practices, or its cooperation with illegal NSA wiretapping, on pain of having their connections disconnected. Link (via /.)

I just had the immense pleasure of reading the latest Terry Pratchett Discworld novel, Making Money, the sequel to one of my favorite books in the series, Going Postal.

Making Money is the continued adventures of Moist von Lipwig, the con-artist who was bullied into going straight and re-establishing the Ankh-Morpork post office in Going Postal. The post office is now running like clockwork, and Moist is growing bored, doing stupid, dangerous things with lockpicks and climbing-gear just to convince himself that he's still bent.

But all that changes when he is put in charge of Ankh-Morpork's major bank, in charge of the city's thoroughly disordered monetary supply. Like The Truth, which recapitulates much of the true history of the early days of newspaper publishing as a comic fantasy novel, Making Money tells the tale of the difficult transition from the gold standard to an economy based on fiat currency. And, like The Truth, Making Money manages to extract an enormous amount of humor, pathos, and keen insight from the subject, especially through its use of well-drawn and well-realized characters (the secret to good comedy).

There are 33 Discworld novels out there, and I imagine that being confronted with that many books would be a little daunting (on the other hand, Vernor Vinge told me that when he finally started reading Pratchett, a couple summers back, it was like being 10 and discovering a writer like Baum or Howard with a huge corpus of works, something that hadn't happened since he'd caught up with all those writers, decades before). Luckily, the books largely stand alone. You can probably enjoy Making Money without reading any other Discworld novel, and you can definitely enjoy Making Money if you read Going Postal first.

Moist von Lipwig is fast becoming my favorite Discworld character, a flawed, likable, canny comic hero who manages to surprise and delight with each volume. And Pratchett remains one of my favorite writers in the world, a man who is clearly having so much fun, he must be breaking some law, somewhere. Link to US edition, Link to UK edition, Link to UK audiobook

O'Reilly is throwing their second annual conference on the future of publishing, called "Tools of Change," next February in New York, and they're looking for talk proposals:

Some of the topics we plan to include in the 2008 conference program are:

* New business models for publishers and other players in the publishing value chain
* Case studies of successful (or unsuccessful!) new publishing initiatives
* Case studies from implementing lessons learned at TOC 2007
* Why and how to digitize your content/backlist, and what to do with it once you've got it (or permitted someone else to keep it for you)
* Strategies and tactics for incorporating Print-on-Demand into a supply chain
* Tools and challenges for an efficient all-digital workflow
* Best practices for working with Amazon, Google, Ingram and other big players
* Creative web-based marketing strategies, including SEO (search-engine optimization, a.k.a., "turning up at the top of a Google results page") for publishers
* Best new practices and tools for working with and supporting authors during editorial, production and/or marketing phases

Link (Thanks, Andrew!)

Here is an all-too-short clip of the Velvet Underground playing "Venus in Furs" at Andy Warhol's Silver Factory. Also making the scene are Edie Sedgwick and "whip dancer" Gerard Malanga.
Link

Previously on BB:
• Video: Lou Reed and John Cale do Heroin Link

Ren and Stimpy creator John Kricfalusi has uploaded another episode of his terrific cartoon, Mighty Mouse. He says, "This week's Mighty Mouse Cartoon is loaded with all my obsessions." Link

Our buddy Diana Eng wrote an article for CRAFT Vol 3 (Disclosure: my wife, Carla is editor-in-chief) on making this cute Harajuku style T-shirt. The entire how-to is now available online at HP's Wetpaint Wiki. Link

Glyph Jockey made a high-res scan of an old, low-res record club ad. The effect is pleasing. Link

Despite its mellifluous moniker, Naegleria fowleri (nuh-GLEER-ee-uh FOWL'-erh-eye) is an unfriendly microscopic critter. It eats human brains. From APL

It sounds like science fiction but it's true: A killer amoeba living in lakes enters the body through the nose and attacks the brain where it feeds until you die.

Even though encounters with the microscopic bug are extraordinarily rare, it's killed six boys and young men this year. The spike in cases has health officials concerned, and they are predicting more cases in the future.

Link

The Micropolitan Museum is an incredible collection of images depicting nature's microscopic beauty. Wim van Egmond is the proprietor of this virtual wunderkammer. Seen here, from left to right, Ceriodaphnia reticulata and a section of a pine needle. From van Egmond's page:

In this type of work there is no need to deform reality to create abstract images. The credits go to the wonderful life forms that inhabit this Museum of Invisible Life. The photographer is now just a curator. He scoops up the artworks with a pipette, presses a button or two and patiently fills the museum. A collection that could easily fit on one fingernail.

Link (Thanks, Vann Hall!)

It always brings me pleasure to watch a practiced expert ply their trade or craft. This young man's ability to shake dice around in a cup and stack them on a cup borders on the unbelievable. I've never even heard of dice stacking until I saw this video. Link (Via haha.nu)

The Free Burma Rangers describe themselves as "a multi-ethnic humanitarian service movement" providing aid to people in the war zones of Burma (Myanmar). Here's a snip from an blog post they just published:

On September 27, 2007 hundreds of Shan, Pa'O, Palaung, and Lahu villagers gathered in a internally displaced persons site in Shan State, Eastern Burma as an act of solidarity with those demonstrating in the larger cities of Burma.

Villagers expressed their common desire for the restoration of a free and democratic Burma, in which people of every ethnicity are guaranteed fundamental rights. Much of Shan State continues to be a warzone, where the Burma Army regularly commits atrocities against the civilian population, and any act of overt civil disobediance would most like result in a swift and brutal punishment. The villagers who gathered today announced their unity of heart and purpose with those demonstrating in the larger cities against this oppression.

Ethnic peoples of Burma have been under direct attack by the dictators for years. They hope that the demonstrations in the cities of Burma will draw international attention and help for those under attack. They also hope that all the oppressed people of Burma will soon be free.

Link to photos and text. Total non sequitur: I love the li'l brother in the front, chewing on a stick (?) -- look at him sporting that tiny mohawk. (Thanks, James Hathaway)

"Again With the Comics" has an article about a hobo superhero named "The Vagabond," who debuted in U.S.A. Comics #1 in 1941.

Like many handsome millionaire playboys/crusading district attorneys/ frustrated beat cops of comics’ Golden Age, Murphy decided to fight crime anonymously by taking on the dramatic secret life of a costumed crime fighter. Unlike those others, a mere domino mask and opera cape would not be sufficient. Apparently, to fight crime in Middleton, one must become more retarded than crime.

“I need a disguise that will strike terror into criminal hearts! I shall become a creature of the night! I shall become...a comical, roly-poly cartoon hobo!!”

Thus was born the Vagabond, a.k.a. Chauncey Throttlebottom III, the first bumfighter. With a fake gut, rosy-red nose and clown lips, smoking a cigar, this utter fucking lunatic took on the city’s crime wave.

Marvel has an anthology of U.S.A Comics, which includes the Vagabond, along with other Golden Age characters including The Defender, Major Liberty, Rockman, Rusty, the Young Avenger, the Whizzer, and Jack Frost. Link

This fellow appears to be smoking, er, tobacco from a Nintendo 64 controller converted into a pipe.
Link

Previously on BB and BB Gadgets:
• Crown7 Nicotine Delivery Systems Link
• Retro bong designed and built in 11 minutes Link

My friend Sean Ness noticed Karl Marx peering up from his soup spoon.
Link

Previously on BB:
• Face in the clouds Link
• Tree with face Link
• Daikon "foot" Link

Texas State Representative Debbie Riddle (R) says she is concerned about the same person voting twice at the polls, so she is trying to pass a law requiring that anyone who wants to vote must have a photo ID. Another Texas lawmaker has introduced a bill that would "criminalize anyone who delivers a ballot for someone unable to drive to the polls."

Here's a video showing Rep. Riddle and many of her fellow representatives voting twice on the same issue in the legislature.

Later in the video, Riddle explains why its OK for her to cast ballots in other people's names: "We have a lot of votes. We have a lot of amendments. And there's times where we don't break for lunch, and we don't break for dinner, we don't have bathroom breaks." Link

Over at the Wired Danger Room blog, Noah Shachtman writes:

The MySpace generation is a "somewhat alien life force," a Navy recruiting presentation contends -- with a language and lifestyle that's almost unrecognizable to adults.

And because the kids are such "coddled," "narcissistic praise junkies," they'll be beyond tough to bring into the military. Propensity to join the armed forces among these so-called "millennials" has dropped to as little as 3%; that's down from 26% in 2001.

Entropic Memes uncovered the bleak, often unintentionally hilarious report from the Annual Navy Workforce Research and Analysis Conference, which also glumly notes that the Iraq war has brutalized recruiting efforts.

Up to two-thirds of millennials are "less likely to join the military" because of the war, according to the presentation.

Link

Science News has an article about a "cure all" Siberian herb called Rhodiola rosea, that has long been used by Soviets, and is currently being looked at by US university medical researchers.

Zakir Ramazanov first encountered Rhodiola rosea in 1979 as a Soviet soldier in Afghanistan. A comrade often received boxes full of the yellow-flowered mountain herb from his home in Siberia and would prepare and share a sweet-smelling tea from the root. Ramazanov found that the drink seemed to quicken his hiking and speed his recovery after a taxing mission.

...

Much of the old Soviet research on the herb remains locked away in Russian language journals. But over the past decade a growing body of new research published in English tentatively supports the results of early Soviet research. Laboratory and animal studies show that the herb may inhibit cancer cells, protect healthy cells from toxins, and correct enzyme imbalances associated with diabetes. In addition, four trials with human volunteers show that rhodiola extracts can boost mental performance, reduce fatigue, and ease depression.

Link

This two-headed red slider turtle, now living at Big Al's Aquarium Supercenter in Pennsylvania, is particularly rare because the heads are on opposite sides of the shell. From The Metro:

Jay Jacobi, the shop's exotic reptile manager, said: "The two heads seem to have their own thoughts, operating independently.

"But sometimes they seem to put their two heads together and move in the same direction, feed together, walk together."

Link (via Fortean Times)

Supporters of Star Simpson -- the 19-year-old MIT student who inadvertently caused a total freaking flipout at Boston's Logan International Airport last week for wearing a sweatshirt with an attached homemade light-up device -- are selling these t-shirts to help cover her legal fees.

Link, at Instructables.

Authorities in Massachussetts are throwing the "infernal machine" book at her, claiming the shirt was a "hoax device" intended to look like a fake bomb. Simpson denies this charge.

FWIW, I can't fault airport security personnel who spot an unfamiliar electronic device, worry that it might be dangerous, and question accordingly. That's what they're there for. But why do prosecutors still insist on carrying these charges against Simpson, despite clear and abundant evidence she meant no harm?

Over at Politech, Declan McCullagh has a great post up about previous cases of *actual* hoax devices.

There's a big difference in intent with this case, no matter how ill-advised the young Ms. Simpson's fashion choices may have been last Friday morning.

On CNET, Chris Soghoian has a blog post about "TSA's misguided war against 'make'ers, and tinkerers and other electronics geeks," also worth a read.

Soghoian lists some past examples of devices used to blow up planes. At left, the World War II German Exploding Chocolate Bar (image courtesy "M15 History For Schools").

More than 60 years and we've learned nothing? Why are chocolate bars still being sold in airport snack shops around America with such careless disregard? This is an outrage.

Previously on Boing Boing:

MIT student arrested for entering Boston airport with "fake bomb"

National Geographic has a preview of the best science images from 2007.

Snip: "The awards are given out each year by the National Science Foundation and the journal Science for the imagery that best conveys complex scientific information and concepts. This year the winners are announced in the September 28 issue of Science."

My favorite is this still from a 3D animation that illustrates how nicotine stimulates nerve impulses to the pleasure center of the brain. Link. (thanks, Wellington Grey)

Kathryn Cramer says,

CNN is reporting that Myanmar has cut Internet access and also reports "Unconfirmed reports of bodies in the streets, protesters shot." and "New video appears to show point blank shooting of protester in Yangon."

As a clarification, and no surprise here: officials in the military regime controlling Burma (Myanmar) still have internet access, regular folks do not.

BB reader Dave Hecht adds

The NYT's Lede blog has pretty extensive coverage of Burmese military junta's shutdown of public internet and other communications channels. We must be living in the future if to stop a revolution, the government needs to shutdown the Internet. The Times page has links to blogs, some of which are still up, some which are ominously blacked out. Link.

Image above from the photostream of Jim Rees, who explains:

With Burma in the news lately I thought I'd post this photo of this sign that greeted me when I visited in 1989, a year after the coup that brought the current military leadership to power. This is on the Thai side of the border just outside Mae Sai.

At that time the new Burmese government, short of cash and not wanting anyone to observe conditions inside the country, was asking over $500 just to get in. This part of northern Burma was not really under government control, it was a stronghold for the KNU. You could sneak over the border from Thailand and get a brief look at the other side, but this was officially discouraged and there were stories of people being kidnapped or thrown in jail. I didn't go very far.

Here's a recent BBC report about Burmese bloggers, and press freedom inside Burma (hint -- there isn't any): Link.

That story points to London-based blogger Ko Htike, who has been posting reports on behalf of people inside Burma. Htike's blog is mostly in Burmese, but with some English and lots of pictures, including the image re-posted here, below.

Update: BB reader John Gale points out that this appears to be Japanese reporter Kenji Nagai. "The report over on BBC suggests that he was targeted and possibly shot at point blank range because he was holding a camera."

Here, on Htike's blog, photographs and first-person testimony from a man who identifies himself as a Singaporean working in Burma. The post includes graphic images of injuries he says he received at the hands of soldiers who were attacking protesters. Snip:

My wife found the "40mm riot control munnition" empty cartridge that the soldiers shoot at me. I would like the embassy and media to know the actions of this army. We are just ordinary citizen going to work and they just shot at us for no reason. Imagine what they would do to the protesters!

Marilyn Terrell says,

Ethical Traveler is offering people a place to post their messages and photos of support for the monks in Burma: Link.

Below, an image from ethicaltraveler.org of a solidarity gathering earlier today in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

David Weinberger -- author of Everything is Miscellaneous -- is in London's Heathrow airport today, and he's discovered that British Airways' internet terminals block Boing Boing:

Internet Access to this site has been BLOCKED

British Airways Plc prohibited website information page.

British Airways has blocked access to certain Internet sites which may be considered to be illegal or offensive. This site is currently on the barred list.We understand that the Internet changes constantly and that the decision in respect of this particular site may no longer be appropriate. If you would like us to review the decision to bar access to this site, please give the website URL and a contact e-mail address to a member of staff at the Lounge Reception. The response will be written confirmation that either the ban on this site has been lifted, or that the site continues to contain material that is inappropriate and, therefore, the bar on access will continue.

Thank you for your co-operation.

Date/Time: 2007-09-28 - 07:29:54
Website: http://boingboing.net/
Category: "Nudity;Personal Pages"

BA is probably using one of the censorware companies like SmartFilter, who also supply the censorship technology to governments in countries like Syria and the United Arab Emirates. SmartFilter's business model is to fill sleazy boiler-rooms with prudish unemployable drones who spend all day clicking on web-pages and classifying them based on whether they'll offend the delicate sensibilities of the world's tyrants.

BA contracts with these scam-artists to control which information the adults who fly on its planes can use -- because you lack the capability to choose which web-pages you want to look at, and need an airline to choose the pages for you. We've been vocal critics of these companies, and so they all block us, using rubrics like "nudity" or "circumvention" -- because if you have one nude thumbnail or one page about circumvention, then all the tens of thousands of pages on your site will be blocked. What a "non-nudity" site is, then, is a site in which no nudity has ever appeared and no nudity ever will appear (SmartFilter says that a web-page with a picture of Michaelangelo's David counts as a "nudity site").

I'm a BA platinum flier, logging hundreds of thousands of miles per year on the oneworld network. I guess it's time to try Virgin instead. Link, Link to Boing Boing's "Defeat Censorware" page

When I moved to LA in summer 2006, I discovered that my neighborhood sported the best comics store I'd ever shopped: Secret Headquarters, a small, neat, welcoming boutique that focuses more on art and comics than vinyl toys. The staff picks were always perfect for me -- every time I walked in that place, I left with three or four graphic novels that knocked my socks off.

Now, Caroline sez, "Secret Headquarters is my favorite comic book store too! They've been nominated on MyFox Los Angeles' 2007 hot list--let's give them our support!" Link

Tornado Potatoes -- new street-food from South Korea. It's a spiral-cut potato, deep fried and dusted with tangy cheezy powder. Yes, it's unhealthy, but the Koreans have a long way to go if they're going to bridge the US-Korean junk-food gap -- hello, deep-fried Coca-Cola! Get that potato some whipped mayo and maybe some rat-poison (or plutonium) and we'll be in business. Link (via Neatorama)

Zend PHP Con is coming to San Francisco Oct 8-11, a kind of gathering of the tribes for PHP hackers from all over the world. I'm giving one of the keynotes, along with Joel "on Software" Spolsky. Hope to see you there! Link

A group of Star Wars trufans in New York meets regularly at a dance-studio to practice their lightsaber "fighting" -- doing yoga, meditation and then lightsaber choreography.

"The thing is, when you hold a lightsaber, you want to use it!" says General Sun as he flips the switch on his lightsaber. It powers up with the signature hum of voltage, like an electric razor on mescaline, and the tube radiates solid white. "So the new ones have the noise chip, and they're thicker," he says. "They're made for dueling." Behind him, the other customers glance nervously at the growing circle of swordsmen and their blades.

"The nerd element of being a Jedi is pretty obvious," Cyran Oghma says. "We're all huge nerds. But it's more than that, more than Star Wars. If you base yourself on a character who has high personal ethics and a high level of skill and confidence, there is no way that's not going to influence who you really are."

Link (Thanks, Bonnie!)

Today on the brilliant nerdy webcomic xkcd: a trenchant and very funny commentary on online sexism, especially as practiced in the techier corners of the net. Link

See also:
Cory Doctorow cosplayers at the XKCD picnic
Geeky comic strip uses Cory as the punchline
Geeky comic about chess and roller-coasters
Xkcd fans bring chess-sets on roller-coasters
Nerd humor about Katamari Damacy
Bloggin' 'bout my generation
Pi joke
Funny map of online communities in the style of a D&D map
Sarcastic comic about computational linguistics (and emo kids)
Where LOLCats come from
Ironic Internet malapropism grid

This artwork by infamous Beat author, artist, and firearm enthusiast William S. Burroughs is currently listed for a live auction on eBay. Titled "Eight Bullets," the piece consists of, er, eight bullets. The spent bullets don't appear to be mounted and the work doesn't seem to be signed. It's part of a large Phillips de Pury & Company auction in New York City of items from avant-garde theater director Robert Wilson's loft. Absentee bidding on these bullets starts at $200 and the estimated selling price is $300 to $500. Link to eBay auction, Link to Phillips de Pury lot page

Klassic Komix Klub Vol 3 -- Johnny Ryan's hideous, sickening, revolting, vile, lewd, obscene, nauseating, puerile, infantile, distasteful, foul, nasty, vomitous, loathsome, offensive, appalling, outrageous, objectionable, shocking, horrifying, scandalous, monstrous, unspeakable, shameful, vile, odious, obnoxious, detestable, hateful, contemptible, despicable, deplorable, and abominable comic book -- is now available!

Klassic Komix Klub #3 —- the spanking-new sequel to Klassic Komix Klub #2, published in Spring 2007 —- is a limited edition comic recently self-published by Johnny. KKK #3 collects 24 highly scatological, not-for-the-squeamish classic literature parody strips into one gorgeous package, wrapped up in a display-worthy three-color letterpress printed (on fancy paper with bright inks) wraparound cover produced by Buenaventura Press. Only 200 copies were produced and we have limited quantities available. Each copy is signed and numbered. Various inks and papers were used, the pic above shows samples of what you might receive. Please note that Johnny's last few parody books sold out extremely fast; also these are not available in stores. Only $10.

Link

Pie & Hammer has a scan of an entrance exam for MIT. Link (Thanks, Lily!)

An Austrian provincial judge refused today to declare that Matthew Hiast Pan, a 26-year-old chimpanzee, is a person. Now, animal rights activists intend to take the case to the country's Supreme Court. According to the Association Against Animal Factories, "personhood" is the only way to make sure that Pan, who previously lived in a now-bankrupt shelter, doesn't end up under nasty ownership outside of Austria. From the Associated Press:

The Association Against Animal Factories says it's not trying to get Pan declared a human, but rather a person, which would give some legal status. Otherwise, he is legally a thing.

"The question is: Are chimps things without interests, or persons with interests?" Balluch said.

"A large section of the public does see chimps as beings with interests," he said. "We are looking forward to hear what the high court has to say on this fundamental question."

Link (Thanks, Xeni!)

Seen here is a Google Earth image of US Navy barracks in Coronado, California. The US Navy has now budgeted $600,000 to cover up the swastika shape through the installation of solar panels and various landscape modifications. They were encouraged to do the modifications by several parties, including US Rep Susan Davis, Anti-Defamation League regional director Morris Casuto, and radio talk show host Dave vonKleist.

Navy officials say the shape of the buildings, designed by local architect John Mock, was not noted until after the groundbreaking in 1967 -- and since it was not visible from the ground, a decision was made not to make any changes...

"I don't ascribe any intentionally evil motives to this," Casuto said, referring to the design. "It just happened. The Navy has been very good about recognizing the problem. The issue is over."

Link (Thanks, Paul Saffo!)

The kids in my daughter's preschool were asked to describe their current feelings and why they felt that way. I enjoyed their answers, so I took photos and uploaded them to Flickr. Link

Previously on Boing Boing:
• "What happens to people when they get old?"
• Tio Nacho soap
• The Farm

A new scientific study on rats suggests that low to moderate drinking of alcohol may actually improve memory. The researchers at the University of Auckland and Ohio State University studied how giving alcohol to genetically-engineered rats affected a particular neuronal receptor that's essential to memory. From Scientific American:

According to (University of Auckland researcher Maggie) Kalev, it is hard to relate the alcohol the rats consumed to human quantities, but "based on their blood alcohol levels, the 2.5 percent ethanol diet was equivalent to a level of consumption that does not exceed [the] legal driving limit. This may be approximately one to two drinks per day for some people or two to three for others, depending upon their size, metabolism or genetic background..."

Among the normal rats, the animals that consumed moderate amounts of alcohol fared better on both tests compared with the teetotalers. Rats on a heavy alcohol diet did not do well on object recognition (and, in fact, showed signs of neurotoxicity), but they performed better than their normal brethren on the emotional memory task.

"People often drink to 'drown sorrows,'" Kalev says. "Our results suggest that this could actually paradoxically promote traumatic memories and lead to further drinking, contributing to the development of alcoholism."

Link

"What do an executed prisoner from Texas, a former UN official and an eccentric Cornish aristocrat have in common? They've all had their death masks made by sculptor and Alabama 3 member Nick Reynolds." Link. (image above: Linda Nylind/Guardian UK)

Smoking weed during a brain scan is harder than it sounds: Link (Wired Science).

A roundup of corporate workplace surveillance techniques. Yes, your boss is spying on you. Link (Popular Mechanics)

Here are some surprisingly lifelike rat and fish shoes: Link. Here is a discussion of trippy-ass shoes with backward heels: Link. (manolo the shoeblogger)

What better new weapon to fight AIDS/HIV in Ethiopia than coffee-flavored condoms: Link, here's the organization that produces them: Link (EthioBlog).

About.com sexuality guide Cory Silverberg says, "Last year I read on BoingBoing about comedian Cathy Carlson who was denied a trademark for her "You Cum Like A Girl" t-shirts: Link. I've blogged about the sad ending to this tale here (she appealed and lost). Link."

REDRUM cupcakes made in honor of Stephen King's 60th birthday. Link.

I was listening to old Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan records the other night while working (sort of) on my laptop, and idly searched for "qawalli" on Flickr in a moment of procrastination. Flickr led me to these lovely photos taken by Akshay Mahajan of qawalli musicians at a mosque in his hometown of Mumbai, India. I especially love this shot of the Sufi singer's personal effects, and the black and white shot below. Akshay has a post about the scene he shot, here: Link. More about the music here.

(Thanks, Siege, sabrina, Emeka Okafor, Manolo, Instapundit)!

A salt lick looks beautiful after cows lick it many times. Here's a link to an art show auction of salt licks, with cash prizes for the best salt licks. All proceeds will go to the Parkinson Center of Oregon at OSHU. Link (Thanks, Garth!)

Wagner James Au has a writeup and pictures from a recent "in-world" labor protest that took place in Second Life. The company in question: IBM. The aggrieved: 1850 avatars, including some bananas and triangles. Link.

Previously:

Strikers picket IBM in Second Life

BB reader Brian Corcoran says,

VBS.TV recently did a story on Scopolamine, a substance commonly referred to as "Devils Breath" in Colombia, where it is a common street drug.

This stuff is as close to pure evil as it gets, a tiny amount of the powder administered to the victim causes one of two effects, a) death, or b) complete loss of free will. Criminals are usually hoping for the latter, as it enables them to tell victims to empty their bank accounts, give away their car, perform sex acts, basically whatever the criminal dictates.

This is where Scopolamine has got its reputation as the "zombie drug", victims appear completely sober and rational, but they're really just automatons.

Video Link to VBS.tv story, which documents contributor Ryan Duffy's scopolamine investigation in 9 parts (Flash 9 required). Here's a CNN followup piece.

I'm more familiar with the non-street variety of scopolamine used in much smaller doses as a anti-motion sickness remedy, by prescription in the USA. It's half of a legal drug cocktail known as "ScopeDex" (Scopolamine + Dexedrine), sometimes taken by astronauts and those in training to prevent nausea and vomiting in altered gravity environments (for instance, on "vomit comet" flights). When I flew on an inaugural Zero-G flight for press and celebs a few years ago, ScopeDex was recommended as one way to avoid puking during the flight. I didn't take it, because anything that comes from jimson weed (and other datura relatives) has gotta be evil in my book. But others who've done zero gravity flights (with NASA and otherwise) teased me for passing it up, and joked that scopedex was like a "legal speedball," not to be missed.

Scopolamine recently popped up in the news as a treatment for bipolar disorder and depression: Link. The drug also has history as a sort of truth serum administered in interrogation environments -- it was used by the CIA in the 1960s, during the MKULTRA program. Woohoo, good times!

Harry shot a short video of a wooden plank attached to a very high cliff on the windy top of Huashan mountain in China. Link

I very much like these cakes of soap in the shape of immature humans' hands. A bag of them will set you back $20.

Creep everyone out in your guest bathroom. Each soap is shaped like a little hand! The soaps range from 1/2” to 2”.

You will get at least 10 hands (at least/about 100 grams of soap). This soap is made from goat’s milk and vegetable glycerin with a light scent. Your hands come packaged in a pretty bag…all ready for gifting to a friend with dirty paws!

Link

If there were ever a perfect example of why America needs wireless network neutrality, this is it. And FWIW, I'd feel the same way if the messages in question were anti-abortion.

Verizon Wireless last week rejected a request last week from the abortion rights group NARAL (National Abortion Rights Action League) to send txts over the Verizon network to subscribers who chose to receive them.

SMS "call to action" messages are a common tactic in the US and elsewhere for political and social advocacy groups, and Verizon's network is often used in this manner, as are all the other major US carriers. Txting isn't just for pro-choicers or lefties, either: conservative groups and the Republican National Committee do this too.

Anyway -- Verizon denied NARAL's request, saying it had the right to block “controversial or unsavory” text-messages. After much outcry over the last couple of days, Verizon has now reversed its decision. Snip from NYT story by Adam Liptak:

“The decision to not allow text messaging on an important, though sensitive, public policy issue was incorrect, and we have fixed the process that led to this isolated incident,” Jeffrey Nelson, a company spokesman, said in a statement.

“It was an incorrect interpretation of a dusty internal policy,” Mr. Nelson said. “That policy, developed before text messaging protections such as spam filters adequately protected customers from unwanted messages, was designed to ward against communications such as anonymous hate messaging and adult materials sent to children.”

Verizon's Nelson goes on to say that the company is "neutral" on the issue of abortion, and it was the topic of abortion in general that raised the red flag.

Whatever. Verizon's decision, whether the result of an isolated goof or not, should be a cause for concern for anyone who values free speech -- online and otherwise.

More from the NYT piece:

“Even as dramatic as the adoption of text messaging for political communication has been in the United States, we’ve been quite slow compared to the rest of the world,” said James E. Katz, the director of the Center for Mobile Communication Studies at Rutgers University. “It’s important in political campaigns and political protests, and it has affected the outcomes of elections.”

Timothy Wu, a law professor at Columbia, said it was possible to find analogies to Verizon’s decision abroad. “Another entity that controls mass text messages is the Chinese government,” Professor Wu said.

Read the whole article, there's some fascinating history in here about Western Union blocking "unsavory" messages back in the telegraph days.

Link. Here's an AP account: Link.

Endpapers are the inside covers and facing pages of books. Today, endpapers are almost always blank. But our more sophisticated forebears made good use of endpapers by adding thematic illustrations to them. Amy Crehore alerted me to this nice gallery of endpapers. (Shown here: The Junior Instructor, Book 1 reprinted in 1962 but originally from 1923.) Link

This 1951 photograph of a purported Yeti footprint was auctioned off at Christie's London for £3,500. Eric Earle Shipton took the photograph in the Himalayas. From the lot description:

'In 1951 Sen Tensing, Shipton, and I descended from the Menlung La ... at about 16,000-17,000 feet we came across a whole series of footprints in the snow, on the lower part of the glacier. There seemed to be two groups, one rather indistinct in outline leading on to the surrounding snowfields. The others were much more distinct with, in places, a markedly individual imprint etched in the 2- to 4-inch covering of snow. We had no means of measuring so after examining them Shipton took four photographs: two of the indistinct prints with myself, my footprints, and rucsac beside them for comparison; the other two photographs were of one of the most detailed and distinct group of prints, with my ice axe for scale, and a second one with my booted foot. The footprint was about the same length as my boot, and I take a size 42 continental, or 8½ British, which is about 12 to 13 inches long. The print was nearly twice as broad as my boot (3 to 4 inches) and had clear-cut edges in the crystalline snow on a base of firm snow ice. There was the definite imprint of a big toe that was broader and shorter than the other rather indistinct toes, of which there seemed to be four or five. We followed these tracks for some way down the easy glacier and noticed that whenever a narrow 6-inch-wide crevasse was crossed there seemed to be claw marks in the snow at the end of the toe imprints. ... Two days later we were joined by Murray and Bourdillon, who, after visiting the Nangpa La ... had followed our route into the Menlung Basin. All tracks had been deformed by the sun and wind.' (Michael Ward, 'Everest 1951: the footprints attributed to the Yeti -- myth and reality', Wilderness and Environmental Medicine, 8, 29-32 (1997)).

Link to Christie's lot, Link to Metro article Link

UPDATE: Over at Cryptomundo, Loren Coleman has more on this story both before and after the auction.

Nate sez, "I've been a fan of eMusic's DRM-free tunes for some time, but I'm really impressed with their launch of a new download manager called 'eMusic Remote' for their store. It's all open-source, built on a core of Firefox to integrate the eMusic web store. Not only is it open-source, but it's been released for been launched for Linux, Windows and OSX all at the same time. It works as a standalone and it also integrates with iTunes, which solves the problem of having to maintain a separate library for your new downloads. Incidentally, the lead coder on the project was a guy by the name of Mel Reyes who wrote a book called 'Hacking Firefox: More than 150 Hacks & Mods' and a author of about a dozen add-ons for Firefox." Link (Thanks, Nate!)

If that Furries vs. Klingons bowling tournament ever happens, this might come in handy for the after-party! Not new, but full of instructional goodness. Snip:

A Klingon woman expects to be wooed with poetry, but the male should be prepared to duck. She will roar and fling heavy objects. Once the male has made some progress, she will claw at him. When she is prepared to mate, she will bite him on the face.

(...)Lesson Three: yIn DayajmeH 'oy' yISIQ To understand life, endure pain. For Klingons, pain is a spiritual test, and it can also be a celebration of life. Biting is an important part of Klingon mating, and a broken clavicle on the wedding night is considered a blessing upon the marriage.

Link, written by Spiletta 42. Sorta NSFW but mostly because you will be laughing too hard to be productive for the rest of the day.

Oh, and rrrrowr, the hottie in that photo can bite my face ANY TIME. (Thanks, Clayton Cubitt!)