By Cory Doctorow at 1:00 pm Saturday, Oct 20
• Comments • Share
JM sez, "Death Cab for Cutie Guitarist Chris Walla had a hard drive containing his next album confiscated at the US-Canada border for no apparent reason by the Department of Homeland Security.
Wow, for some reason that doesn't make me feel like my homeland is secure - when art is blindly confiscated by authority figures."
"It's a true story. Barsuk [Records, which is putting out the record] had hired a courier – who does international stuff all the time and who they had used before – to bring [the album] back from Canada, where I was working on it. And he got to the border and he had all his paperwork and it was all cool, only they turned him away, and they confiscated the drive and gave it to the computer-forensics division of our Homeland Security-type people," sighed Walla, who has produced nearly all Death Cab's output, as well as records by the Decemberists, Hot Hot Heat, Nada Surf, Tegan and Sara and others. "And now I couldn't even venture a guess as to where it is, or what it's doing there. I mean, I can't just call their customer-service center and ask about my drive. There's nothing I can do. I don't know if we can hire an attorney ... is there a black-hole attorney? You can't take a black hole to court."
Link
(
Thanks, JM!)
Update: Looks like the DHS has been trying to return the confiscated hard drive but can't reach the courier service.
By Cory Doctorow at 9:52 am Saturday, Oct 20
• Comments • Share
A Japanese designer has proposed that women alone could walk in greater safety (though, in reality, Japanese crime levels are in decline, despite national anxiety to the contrary) by disguising themselves as vending machines:
Deftly, Ms. Tsukioka, a 29-year-old experimental fashion designer, lifted a flap on her skirt to reveal a large sheet of cloth printed in bright red with a soft drink logo partly visible. By holding the sheet open and stepping to the side of the road, she showed how a woman walking alone could elude pursuers – by disguising herself as a vending machine.
The wearer hides behind the sheet, printed with an actual-size photo of a vending machine. Ms. Tsukioka’s clothing is still in development, but she already has several versions, including one that unfolds from a kimono and a deluxe model with four sides for more complete camouflaging.
Link
(
Thanks, MeaningOfLife!)
By Cory Doctorow at 9:14 am Saturday, Oct 20
• Comments • Share
In the wake of
yesterday's revelation that AP had discovered secret, anti-BitTorrent software running on Comcast's network, a followup story explaining the clever detective work the AP did in rooting out this little shenanigan:
An AP reporter attempted to download, using file-sharing program BitTorrent, a copy of the King James Bible from two computers in the Philadelphia and San Francisco areas, both of which were connected to the Internet through Comcast cable modems.
We picked the Bible for the test because it's not protected by copyright and the file is a convenient size.
In two out of three tries, the transfer was blocked. In the third, the transfer started only after a 10-minute delay. When we tried to upload files that were in demand by a wider number of BitTorrent users, those connections were also blocked.
Not all Comcast-connected computers appear to be affected, however. In a test with a third Comcast-connected computer in the Boston area, we were unable to test with the Bible, apparently due to an unrelated error. When we attempted to upload a more widely disseminated file, there was no evidence of blocking.
Link
(
via Isen)
Update: And check out thehilarious stupid lies that Comcast Interactive's president told Information Week!
By David Pescovitz at 9:11 am Saturday, Oct 20
• Comments • Share
In honor of today's 40th anniversary of the famed Patterson-Gimlin Bigfoot footage, here's a sneak peek at more evidence: a t-shirt design from Gama-Go's spring/summer 2008 line. Apparently,
Tim Biskup's Yeti hangs out at Bluff Creek too!
Link to Gama-Go, "Yeti Sighting" shirt not available until next year
(Thanks, Chris Edmundson!)Link to "In Celebration of Bigfoot's Patty" at Cryptomundo
Previously on BB:
• Famous Bigfoot film: 40th anniversary
Link
By Cory Doctorow at 9:10 am Saturday, Oct 20
• Comments • Share
JK Rowling has taken Albus Dumbledore -- the wizard father-figure of her Harry Potter books -- out of the (broom) closet, stating that she always thought of him as gay:
Speaking at Carnegie Hall on Friday night in her first U.S. tour in seven years, Rowling confirmed what some fans had always suspected -- that she "always thought Dumbledore was gay," reported entertainment Web site E! Online.
Rowling said Dumbledore fell in love with the charming wizard Gellert Grindelwald but when Grindelwald turned out to be more interested in the dark arts than good, Dumbledore was "terribly let down" and went on to destroy his rival.
That love, she said, was Dumbledore's "great tragedy."
"Falling in love can blind us to an extent," she said.
The audience reportedly fell silent after the admission -- then erupted into applause.
Link
(
via Making Light)
Update: The LOLcats are all over this one (Thanks, Xeni!)
By Cory Doctorow at 8:58 am Saturday, Oct 20
• Comments • Share
Glyn sez,
Children are being tracked by micro-chips embedded in their uniforms in a trial at a secondary school.
The devices are used to monitor pupils' movements and register their arrival in class on the teacher's computer. Supply teachers can also be alerted if a student is likely to misbehave.
The chip connects with teachers' computers to show a photograph of the pupil, data about academic performance and whether he or she is in the correct classroom.
Link
(
Thanks, Glyn!)
By Cory Doctorow at 8:56 am Saturday, Oct 20
• Comments • Share
With Guy Fawkes day looming, how about a little
V for Vendetta cosplay? Brian Chan folded this origami Guy Fawkes/V for Vendetta mask out of a single, uncut sheet of paper.
Link
(
via Neatorama)
