This is not the first web video of daily highlights from a NASA mission, but it just struck me now, watching today's silent vlog from STS-128, that this video really is amazing. It is amazing because it is equal parts banal and mindblowing.

Just as our grandparents were wowed by silent black and white film, our grandchildren will one day find these little YouTubes from space quaint. May I suggest watching these while listening to Boards of Canada? Good, because I just did.

Below, a still from this video which shows a neat laptop array. What an awesome workstation. I think I'll rearrange my desk like this after Labor Day. OH WAIT. Gravity, right.

The NASA videos are provided in YouTube HD, meaning you'll see a nice, crisp 1280x720 video embed instead of the puny 480x295 embed above if you click through to this link: STS 128 HD Flight Day 7 Highlights (Periods With No Sound) (YouTube/NASA).

A teenaged artist who was forced to stop selling his collages when Damien Hirst sent threats to his gallery (the collages incorporated ironic images of Hirst's diamond-encrusted skull sculpture) is now facing a possible jail sentence because he took a box of pencils from a Hirst installation as a prank and offered to return them only if Hirst would let him go back to displaying and selling his art. Hirst claims the box of pencils -- Faber Castell Mongol 482s from 1990 -- is worth GBP500,000, making this one of the gravest modern art thefts in British history.

Taking revenge, Cartrain took the box of pencils that were part of Hirst's sculpture, Pharmacy, which was being shown as part of its Classified exhibition that closed at the end of last month.

He then created a "wanted"-style poster that read: "For the safe return of Damien Hirst's pencils I would like my artworks back that DACS and Hirst took off me in November. It's not a large demand... Hirst has until the end of this month to resolve this or on 31 July the pencils will be sharpened. He has been warned."

Yesterday, Cartrain told The Independent: "I went to the Tate Britain and by chance had a golden opportunity to borrow a packet of pencils from the Pharmacy exhibit. That same day I made up a fake police appeal poster advertising that the pencils had been removed from the Tate and that if anyone had any information they should contact the police on the phone number advertised.

"A few weeks later I went out and I returned home to find out the art and antiques squad from New Scotland Yard had called round with a warrant for my arrest..."

But that is not the end of it. Police also arrested Cartrain's 49-year-old father, who they suspected of harbouring the pencils. "Initially, we arrested his dad but it soon became clear that it was his son who was responsible," said a police source. "We arranged to arrest him by appointment. The act of theft was clearly a stunt to gain publicity."

Damien Hirst in vicious feud with teenage artist over a box of pencils (via We Make Money Not Art)

Chinese gamers shut down the relaunch of "Hot Blooded Legend," a beloved, classic game, by massing their avatars at city gates and stopping others from entering. They were upset that the relaunch didn't do justice to the original.

Many years ago, the online game Hot-blooded Legend had been the classic game that touched an entire generation of games. As all types of new games rushed onto the market, the Legend players gradually dispersed. Today, these players returned with great hopes for the new game. But when the found out that the new games was over-commercialized and not the "original flavor" as advertised, they felt cheated and used the method of blocking the gates and passages of the various "cities" to protest.

"Chu Yu" is the nickname for a netizen. Eight years ago, this second-year university student registered the user name "Chu Yu" in the Hot-blooded Legend game. For the next three years, he fought on in this virtual world. For his first year, he cut classes for one year as he played a knight, slaughtered monsters, got promoted, attacked cities and traveled around. In April 2003, he won a green necklace. While his fellow students were attending ancient Chinese classics class, he was screaming and yelling in the Internet cafe and almost smashing his keyboard. In September, he met the female Taoist "Xiao Xiao." One late night during the game, they rode horses to the seaside to gaze at the blue water. He told her that they will go to Beijing to watch the Olympics. Then he took her into the city and bought her a purple Taoist robe.

The Legend Returns

Afrigadget has a wonderful post on two ingenious blacksmiths in Lamu, Kenya, whose bellows have been improvised from cement sacks.

Lamu Cement-bag Bellows (AfriGadget) from WhiteAfrican on Vimeo.

Adam and Abdul make all types of items, but they told me that their main products are anchors, which range from small to large (2000-5000/= or $26-65) and, chisels and coconut shellers. They create a lot of the small metal pieces on the local dhows, and also make doors and window frames for the homes in the town. Really, they can make just about anything that you desire, like experienced metal workers anywhere in the world. What's amazing is what they do it with.

Cement-bag Bellows in Lamu

Glyn sez, "The British Government's official figures on the level of illegal file sharing in the UK come from questionable research commissioned by the music industry, the BBC has revealed. The BBC then went on to show how 136 people saying they used file-sharing software was turned into 7 million illegal file sharers - the figure now being used by the government to justify a proposal to disconnect internet users based purely on accusation, no evidence required."

The Advisory Board claimed it commissioned the research from a team of academics at University College London, who it transpires got the 7m figure from a paper published by Forrester Research.

The More or Less team hunted down the relevant Forrester paper, but could find no mention of the 7m figure, so they contacted the report's author Mark Mulligan.

Mulligan claimed the figure actually came from a report he wrote about music industry losses for Forrester subsidiary Jupiter Research. That report was privately commissioned by none other than the music trade body, the BPI...

The 7m figure had actually been rounded up from an actual figure of 6.7m. That 6.7m was gleaned from a 2008 survey of 1,176 net-connected households, 11.6% of which admitted to having used file-sharing software - in other words, only 136 people.

It gets worse. That 11.6% of respondents who admitted to file sharing was adjusted upwards to 16.3% "to reflect the assumption that fewer people admit to file sharing than actually do it." The report's author told the BBC that the adjustment "wasn't just pulled out of thin air" but based on unspecified evidence.

How UK Government spun 136 people into 7m illegal file sharers (Thanks, Glyn!)

Holy awesomesauce, there is some incredibly fantastic stuff in the B3ta steampunk remix challenge. Shown here, "Fornication Sidearms" by The Great Architect) and "Amazon 1821" by Tonsil.

Steampunk Challenge (Thanks, Fipi Lele!)

The winner of this year's "oldskool demo competition" at the Assembly 2009 (a festival of low-level assembly programming) is this sweet animation, "3½ inches is enough" by Unreal Voodoo, which is apparently running on some kind of monochrome 68K classic Macintosh.

3½ inches is enough by Unreal Voodoo (via JWZ)

The Canadian government's copyright consultation has received over 4,000 submissions from Canadians (it's not too late to send yours!). Of these, the overwhelming majority are in favour of more liberal copyright, against extending the term of copyright, against stiffer penalties for infringement (only three submissions advocated this) and against US-DMCA-style rules protecting DRM.

There have been three recent attempts to reform Canadian copyright law without public consultation, and each one provided for stricter copyright enforcement, protection for DRM, stiffer penalties, etc -- in other words, each one tried to implement a law that was the opposite of what the Canadian public asked for, when it was given a chance.

So now what? What kind of copyright law will the Canadian government introduce now that the public has spoken?

Copyright Consultation Submission Summary: Over 4,000 Posted Through August 31st

I got a kick out of the special Google logo I just spotted on their home page. It links to a search for "unexplained phenomenon."

Interactive Flood Maps show us how familiar land contours will change as the oceans rise. (via Tim O'Reilly)

Over at Wired's Danger Room blog, news that an environmental nonprofit has obtained photos of the Department of Energy's "specially designed trucks" used to transport nuclear material around the United States. They pretty much look like any other transport truck, which is a little creepy, considering what they contain while they're rollin' down the highway. Just this week, a similar vehicle carrying missiles overturned -- so, safety concerns are in the air right now. Snip:

"The trucks carrying nuclear weapons and dangerous materials such as plutonium pass through cities and neighborhoods all the time and the public should be aware of what they look like," says Tom Clements of the Friends of the Earth group based in Columbia, South Carolina, which obtained the photos through a Freedom of Information Act request. "Release of these photos will help inform the public about secretive shipments of dangerous nuclear material that are taking place in plain view."

Here's the original news on the Friends of the Earth website.

Joe Sabia says "I drove 10,000 miles from England to Mongolia this summer in a piece of shit Fiat Seicento (.899cc engine). I filmed this in Kazakhstan: "Tupac in Kazakhstan." Dozens of real Kazakhs, pieced together in the most inspirational video ever created."

Pretty neat. Maybe they should rename the place Tupacstan, now.

Today, a federal appeals court ruled that former Attorney General John Ashcroft may be held liable for the wrongful detention of people held as witnesses after the 9/11 attacks. The ACLU filed the lawsuit. Snip from New York Times:

In a harshly worded ruling handed down Friday, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals called the government's use of material witnesses after Sept. 11 ''repugnant to the Constitution and a painful reminder of some of the most ignominious chapters of our national history.''

The court found that a man who was detained as a witness in a federal terrorism case can sue Ashcroft for allegedly violating his constitutional rights. Abdullah Al-Kidd, a U.S. citizen and former University of Idaho student, filed the lawsuit in 2005, claiming his civil rights were violated when he was detained as a material witness for two weeks after 9/11.

Appeals Court Rules Against Ashcroft in 9 / 11 Case (NYT)

The court also ruled that the federal material witness law can't be used to "preventively" detain or investigate suspects. The ACLU represents al-Kidd in the case, al-Kidd v. Ashcroft. Snip from their press release:

Writing for the majority in today's decision, Judge Milan D. Smith, Jr., wrote, "Framers of our Constitution would have disapproved of the arrest, detention, and harsh confinement of a United States citizen as a 'material witness' under the circumstances, and for the immediate purpose alleged, in al-Kidd's complaint. Sadly, however, even now, more than 217 years after the ratification of the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution, some confidently assert that the government has the power to arrest and detain or restrict American citizens for months on end, in sometimes primitive conditions, not because there is evidence that they have committed a crime, but merely because the government wishes to investigate them for possible wrongdoing, or to prevent them from having contact with others in the outside world. We find this to be repugnant to the Constitution, and a painful reminder of some of the most ignominious chapters of our national history."

Ashcroft Can Be Held Accountable For Post-9/11 Wrongful Detention, Court Rules (ACLU)

TED is an annual conference where speakers are given about 15 minutes to present something amazing they've done or know about. I've been to the last few TED conferences and I find them to be both awe-inspiring and humbling. Most of the talks area available for viewing at the TED site.

Here's a spreadsheet someone put together that lists every TED talk available for viewing. It includes a short summary of each talk. While browsing it, I found one talk I missed: Eames Demetrios presenting a history of the work of his grandparents, Charles and Ray Eames.

Spreadsheet of every TED talk as of 9/2/2009 (Via Economists Do It With Models)

San Francisco experimental art space The LAB is hosting a 3 day art/tech festival this weekend. The festival features art exhibits, lectures, DIY workshops, demos, and a variety of performances. The whole program looks terrific! The Lab's Michael Delong pointed me to several interactive videogame sessions that he's especially jazzed about:

-1pm on Saturday Shawn Wallace will demo Fluxly, a game in which participants make their own microcontrollers to compete in wizard duels, while The Lab serves post-brunch mimosas

-5pm on Saturday Retronyms will give a talk and then lead a game of Seek 'n Spell, an iPhone app game that is essentially a giant interactive version of Scrabble, while The Lab will run a 2-for-1 Hangar One Vodka drink special

-4pm on Sunday Nick Lally will invite the audience to use their whole bodies as avatars in an open source game called Silhouettes

The LAB's art.tech festival

The Skeleton Dance is a delightful 1929 cartoon directed by Ub Iwerks for Disney. A close friend/collaborator of Walt Disney for many years, Iwerks is arguably the "true creator" of the Mickey Mouse character. He later took a job at Columbia and reimagined The Skeleton Dance in color as Skeleton Frolic (1937). I much prefer the original. I posted about it a few years ago, but the video I linked to then was yanked. Bastards. (Thanks, Takuan!)

The Brothers Quay are hypertalented stop-motion animators whose incredibly surreal, moody, and macabre work is influenced by Cezch and Polish animators and puppeteers from the early 20th century and writers like Franz Kafka and Belgian playwright Michel de Ghelderode. Parsons the New School for Design in New York City is currently exhibiting set, propos, and characters from the Quays' films. The show, titled "Dormitorium: Film Decors by the Quay Bros.," runs until October 4. Morbid Anatomy's Joanna Ebenstein visited the exhibit last night and took a series of lovely photos that posted on her blog. From her post:

"Dormitorium" is much more than just a collection of props and artifacts; instead, the "décors" you see on view here are something of a revelation, leading one to a greater understanding and appreciation of the Quay Brother's artistry. Having the luxury of time to study these décors in their static state allows the viewer to see things impossible to grasp amidst the thrust and drive of the films; namely, the obsessive and beautiful detail in the source materials. The more one looks, the more one comes to realize that this attention to detail and minutia is what gives the Quay's work so much of its character and mise en scène--at least as much as their lurchy, atmospheric, uncanny stop-motion animation technique. Details such as exquisite and varied typography and calligraphy, a judicious application of dust and grime, the seductively hand-made feel of the materials, and wall hangings, hidden figures, archaic signage and other easy-to-miss details adorning the spaces; of these elements is the Quay's compelling and absorbing universe composed.

"Dormitorium: Film Decors by the Quay Bros. (Morbid Anatomy)

Phantom Museums: The Short Films of the Quay Brothers, a career-spanning retrospective of their films, is available in a two-disk DVD set for $30 from Amazon.

My latest Locus column, "Special Pleading," talks about the damned-if-you-do/ damned-if-you-don't nature of free ebook scepticism. When I started out giving away my print novels as free ebooks, critics charged that it only worked because I was so obscure that I needed the exposure. Now that I've had a book on the NYT bestseller list, a new gang of critics claim my strategy only works so well because I'm established and can afford to lose sales to free ebooks. The arguing tactic is called "special pleading," and it's a dirty rhetorical trick indeed!

The Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom experiment really pissed people off. It was denounced as a breaking of ranks with authors as a class, and as a stunt that I could only afford because I had so little to lose, being such a nobody in the field with my handful of short story sales and my tiny print run -- at least when compared to the big guys. Free samples were good news if no one had heard of you, but for successful writers, free downloads were poison.

To "prove" this, critics often pointed to Stephen King's experiment in online publishing, "The Plant," which King gave up as a bad job after earning a mere hundreds of thousands of dollars in voluntary payments, and which he never returned to. A genuinely successful writer like King had nothing to gain from the publicity value of free downloads, they said (ironically, this appears to be the story that Charles referred to in the July Locus, citing it as proof of the success of free downloads).

Special Pleading

Joshua Bearman of the LA Weekly re-posted a story about his trip to the famous Mt. Wilson Observatory in Los Angles, which came close to being destroyed by the fire. Many thanks to the firefighters who worked so hard and risked their lives to save it!

With the fire threat to Mt. Wilson seemingly abated, I have taken enough of a deep breath to go back and look at one of my favorite early LA Weekly stories, about an awesome trip I took up to the Mt. Wilson observatory and inside the massive, revolving dome of the 100-inch Hooker telescope, the largest in the world for the first half of the twentieth century. (And still a functioning, important facility.) Did you know that the Hooker's 9,000-pound optic was blown at a bottleworks in France, remains the largest such piece of glass, and was carried up the mountain by donkey in 1915? True! And it was there, as you surely know, that Edwin Hubble discovered that the universe is expanding, and by extension, the Big Bang. But did you also know that a few years earlier, it was also Hubble who first discovered that there are galaxies at all? True! Before 1922, it was believed the Milky Way was the whole kit and kaboodle. Hubble sat up there above Altadena night after night and said "Eureka!" Even Einstein had to rethink things and came up for a visit.

Addendum: Here's The LA Times' Tim Rutten on Mt. Wilson Observatory's place in history. (Thanks, Xeni!)

Sophia Dembling of Psychology Today interviewed Dr. Laurie Helgoe, author of a book called Introvert Power. Helgoe says while 57% of Americans identify themselves as introverts, most of them pretend to be extroverts because the culture in the United States frowns on introverts.

SD: What do you think is the most troubling general misconception about introverts?

LH: Wow -- it's hard to choose. I am very troubled by the tendency to define introverts by what they lack. Introversion is a preference, not a fallback plan. Introverts like being introverts. We are drawn to ideas, we are passionate observers, and for us, solitude is rich and generative. Think of all that goes on in the playground of solitude: daydreaming, reading, composing, meditating -- and just being, writing, calculating, fantasizing, thinking, praying, theorizing, imagining, drawing/painting/sculpting, inventing, researching, reflecting. You get the idea.

Interview with author of Introvert Power

New Scientist put together a slideshow of interesting experiments in microgravity, like you would experience on the International Space Station (ISS). (Of course, my favorite microgravity experiment is depicted in the the classic 2003 video where astronaut Don Pettit "eats" High Tea on the ISS with chopsticks.) Here's the description of the images above, from New Scientist:

Microgravity tends to produce rounder, cooler flames, as this comparison of combustion in normal gravity (left) and microgravity (right) illustrates. Unlike on Earth, hot, less-dense air does not rise in microgravity. As a result, other processes, like the diffusion of particles from a high temperature to a low temperature area, dominate.

"Giant crystals and spherical flames: science in microgravity"

I dig these Bones Salt & Pepper Shakers by designer Chris Stiles. They're $30 from Matter.
Bones Salt & Pepper Shakers (Thanks, Michael-Anne Rauback!)

David Markland of Metblogs Los Angeles was driving in the Hollywood Hills when he came across this stretch limo that had gotten stuck, completely blocking traffic. "My usual shortcut around Highland traffic was impeded by this limo," writes David, "whose front fender had gotten stuck on a curb. His attempts to back out of the trap only caused the back tires to spin and burn rubber."

I wonder how they got the limo unstuck?

Limo gets stuck in the Hollywood Hills, blocks traffic

Tennessee teen Calvin Inman has a medical condition that causes him to cry tears of blood. The only context in which I've ever seen or imagined this is vampire novels and TV shows, like the HBO series "True Blood." I had no idea this happened in real life to non-vamps.

[Inman's mother] hoped that once doctors finally witnessed the phenomenon, there would be answers. But that wasn't the case. "The people at the hospital said they had never seen anything like it," Mynatt recalls. She says her son underwent an MRI, a CT scan and an ultrasound, but none of the tests had abnormal results. "'We don't know how to stop it,'" Mynatt remembers being told by doctors. "It just has to run its course."

Dr. Barrett G. Haik, director of the University of Tennessee's Hamilton Eye Institute, says there is an answer, sort of. He says "crying blood," a condition called haemolacria, is common in people who have experienced extreme trauma or who have recently had a serious head injury. But a case such as Inman's is still a medical mystery. "What's really rare is to have a child like this," Haik says. "Only once every several years do you see someone with no obvious cause."

Via CNN, here's the related CNN segment video on YouTube.

Matt sez, "This story has it all: a tiny, flyblown town rising up against their own draconian police force, a gang of cops shooting a fireman in front of a judge, it's utterly unbelievable. I'll never drive through Jericho, Arkansas, that's for sure."

It was just too much, having to return to court twice on the same day to contest yet another traffic ticket, and Fire Chief Don Payne didn't hesitate to tell the judge what he thought of the police and their speed traps.

The response from cops? They shot him. Right there in court...

It was anger over traffic tickets that brought Payne to city hall last week, said his lawyer, Randy Fishman. After Payne failed to get a traffic ticket dismissed on Aug. 27, police gave Payne or his son another ticket that day. Payne, 39, returned to court to vent his anger to Judge Tonya Alexander, Fishman said.

It's unclear exactly what happened next, but Martin said an argument between Payne and the seven police officers who attended the hearing apparently escalated to a scuffle, ending when an officer shot Payne from behind...

Prosecutor Lindsey Fairley said Thursday that he didn't plan to file any felony charges against the officer or Payne. Fairley, reached at his home, said Payne could face a misdemeanor charge stemming from the scuffle, but that would be up to the city's judge. He said he didn't remember the name of the officer who fired the shot.

Fire chief shot by cop in Ark. court over tickets (Thanks, Matt!)

Paul McCartney, Elton John and other prominent British musicians have spoken out against the government's ridiculous proposal to disconnect people who've been accused of infringing on copyright from the Internet, calling it 'expensive, illogical and "extraordinarily negative".' Damned right. Cutting entire families off from access to e-government, health information, work, education, friends, family, and freedom of expression freedom of assembly and freedom of the press because someone accused one member of infringing copyright is terrible.

The UK government's own research shows that households without Internet access operate at a huge disadvantage, paying more for basic necessities than online counterparts -- everything from premiums on their phone- and gas-service because they can't opt for electronic statements to missing out on jobs and other opportunities. To treat the Internet as a luxury item that can be taken away from whole housefulls of people because one member has been accused of a civil infraction flies in the face of justice, proportionality and due process. Civilised countries don't engage in collective punishment.

In a statement seen by the Guardian, a coalition of bodies representing a range of stars including Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Elton John and Damon Albarn attacks the proposals as expensive, illogical and "extraordinarily negative".

The Featured Artists Coalition (FAC), the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (Basca) and the Music Producers Guild (MPG) have joined forces to oppose the proposals to reintroduce the threat of disconnection for persistent file sharers, which was ruled out in the government's Digital Britain report in June.

The plans have already been attacked by privacy campaigners, internet service providers and a range of MPs, some of whom accuse the business secretary of being influenced by secret meetings with senior figures from the music and film industry, a charge he denies.

The coalition accuses the government of being backward looking, saying there is "little support from logic" in proposals to cut off file sharers - a move welcomed by the record companies and UK Music, the umbrella body for the entire industry.

The statement says: "We vehemently oppose the proposals being made and suggest that the stick is now in danger of being way out of proportion to the carrot. The failure of 30,000 US lawsuits against consumers and the cessation of the pursuit of that policy should be demonstration enough that this is not a policy that any future-minded UK government should pursue."

YouTube and PRS make peace as musicians protest about plans to punish file sharers

Nerdcore rapper superstar MC Frontalot sez, "I am playing the mainstage at PAX tonight, and JoCo [ed: Jonathan "Nerd Troubadour Extraordinaire" Coulton] is playing tomorrow, so I woke up early and posted a new single from my CD Final Boss. It is called Diseases Of Yore and it features Mr. Coulton. It is PAX synergy. Synergism?"

Diseases of Yore MP3

Final Boss CD

(Thanks, Frontalot!)

Mark sez, "Growing pears inside a Buddha-shaped plastic form yields much fruit love!"

Como fazer peras em formato de buda! (Thanks, Mark!)

Alice sez, "I've always wondered what Neil Gaiman's library looked like, but it is more extensive and incredible than I ever imagined."

Shelfari adds, "Naturally we'd assumed that someone whose work is filled with references ranging from literary to mythological would have a fairly extensive library but even so, we were a bit unprepared for the scope of what he sent us. In the basement of his house of secrets we find a room that's wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling with books (along with a scattering of awards, gargoyles and felines)."

Neil Gaiman's Bookshelves (Thanks, Alice!)

The recent helicopter-crash death of Yeduguri Sandinti Rajasekhara Reddy (known as YSR), a popular Indian politician who held the office of Chief Minister of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, has sparked a round of suicides and deaths from "shock" from distraught fans. The death toll stands at 60 and is apparently rising.

In the wake of reports that about 60 persons either committed suicide or died of shock after hearing the news of the death of Andhra Pradesh chief minister YSR Reddy, his son Jagan Mohan Reddy on Friday appealed to the people not to resort to such extreme steps.

"Due to such acts (suicides) my father's soul will not rest in peace. He had an ever-smiling face and worked for uplift of the poor. They (people) should not resort to such acts," an emotional Jagan said in a statement.

According to media reports, eight persons suffered cardiac arrest after hearing the news of Reddy's death in a chopper crash.

60 YSR fans die of shock, son appeals for restraint

When Senator Al Franken was confronted by an angry mob of teabagger/anti-healthcare-reform types, he calmly, rationally and intelligently talked them down, setting an example for how to conduct reasoned discourse that relies on facts and rationality rather than jingoism.

Franken talks down angry mob at State Fair

Etsy seller hamsterguppies has a "Kitschy Record of The Month Club" featuring mixed CDs of tracks ripped from vinyl thrifted in Singapore. Given hamsterguppies' awesome collection of thriftjunk for sale, I'm betting these kick ass.

Can't get enough kitsch music in your life? Love receiving mix cds? Sign up to be a member of this elite squad, and you'll receive a CDR of kitschy music (ripped straight from vinyls!) in the mail every month! From girl pop to Bollywood, instrumental to really-bad cover versions, there's no telling what you'll find. Each CDR will consist of songs from a variety of vinyls, so you'll get minimum of 10 songs per CDR. This is a year's subscription, so you'll get 12 kitschy music CDRs in total!

Kitschy Record of The Month Club

Sergey Maximishin's pictures of Russia are incredible, from the kitschy to the haunting to the just plain freaky.

Sergey Maximishin Photography (Thanks, Josh!)

This short video is a "5th-grader-friendly" tour through the history of special effects from 1900 to 2008:

1900 - The Enchanted Drawing
1903 - The Great Train Robbery
1923 - The Ten Commandments (Silent)
1927 - Sunrise
1933 - King Kong
1939 - The Wizard of Oz
1940 - The Thief of Bagdad
1954 - 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
1956 - Forbidden Planet
1963 - Jason and the Argonauts
1964 - Mary Poppins
1977 - Star Wars
1982 - Tron
1985 - Back to the Future
1988 - Who Framed Roger Rabbit
1989 - The Abyss
1991 - Terminator 2: Judgement Day
1992 - The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles
1993 - Jurassic Park
2004 - Spider-Man 2
2005 - King Kong
2006 - Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
2007 - Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
2007 - The Golden Compass
2008 - The Spiderwick Chronicles
2008 - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Visual Effects: 100 Years of Inspiration (via Kottke)

Today on the Worth1000 photoshopping contest: Marvel/Disney Hybrids.

Marvel/Disney Hybrids

Spencer sez, "This guy is a former Penguin Books designer who's posted a couple of collections of images that are downright mouthwatering if, like most designers, you're a fan of Penguin Books' design."

Penguin Books (Thanks, Spencer!)

According to this post on science fiction blog io9, the network I still spell out in my mind as "SciFi" -- recently rebranded as "SyFy" -- may be considering cooking shows for future programming. I don't know why they're bothering -- the fan-created show Klingon Food Kritik, above, pretty much pwned the genre. Anyway, snip from io9 post:

We heard from a source who's had meetings with Syfy execs recently, in which they said they were trying to get away from the "genre stereotype" of science fiction. And rather than being interested in developing new science fiction programs, the execs allegedly said they were looking at developing a cooking show and a talk show for the newly renamed network

TV.com picked up the item, and added even more analysis and snark.

SyFy does have reality shows, which include Ghost Hunters and its kin. But no one would argue that Ghost Hunters still falls under the science-fiction umbrella. And I would rather watch hours of Mansquito and Boa vs. Python than a minute of a show where some goon dresses up as a Vulcan and teaches me how to toss a Romulan Salad (snicker).

What I wanna know is: your thoughts on what shows they should cook up. Please pitch your series ideas in the comments.

I found the Klingon cookin' video in this funny post about science fiction and food at seriouseats.com. (thanks, Todd Lappin)

Boing Boing has made it into the only dictionary that matters. Yes, thanks to Andrea Mangini, the phrase "Boing-Boinged" is in the Urban Dictionary! Here is the entry in full:

Boing-Boinged To have your random cat video, or steampunk mouse armor, or technique for weaponizing bacon posted to BoingBoing.net.. People send all kinds of random and amazing stuff to Boing Boing, and the editors decide which stuff is the best and then post it, along with a trackback to the person who sent the submission. Getting "Boing Boinged" virtually assures you will at least 15 milisceonds of nerdy fame, along with a host of new Twitter followers, new hits on your blog, or whatever.

"OMFG! The video of our wedding party doing the Thriller dance just got Boing-Boinged!"

Urban Dictionary: Boing-Boinged (Thanks, Chris Arkenberg!)

The cover sheet of the daily "Incident Action Plan" for firefighters battling the Station fire still burning in Los Angeles contains an odd warning: "No energy drinks." Officials say the high amounts of caffeine these beverages contain can be particularly dangerous under these working conditions. Snip from LA Times article:

"It's been a concern," said Nathan Judy of the U.S. Forest Service. "When they drink those things, it dehydrates them."

Judy said that during a previous fire some years back, a firefighter consumed four cans of Red Bull in one day and went into diabetic shock. Since then, fire officials have warned crews to re-energize in other ways, he said. "Drink water, drink water, drink water," Judy said. He also said that the meals served to firefighters each day are high in calories because firefighters are "going through calories like crazy on the line."

In related news -- the Station fire has been determined to have been caused by arson. Two firefighters died fighting the Los Anglees blazes, so the arson investigation will also a be homicide investigation.

Here's U900, an amigurumi ukulele duo playing "Walk, Don't Run." (Thanks, Gary!)

Urban Prankster has photos of some funny crosswalk sign hacks.

A man bit off the tip of another guy's finger at a health care reform rally last night in Thousand Oaks, California. From the Washington Post:

Reports differ on whether the supporter went to confront the opponents intentionally or was just walking among them while trying to cross the street to the pro-reform rally. Southern California's KTLA-TV, which first reported on the fracas, wrote, "The 65-year-old was apparently aggressive and hit the other man, who then retaliated by biting off his attacker's pinky."

The AP reported that the injured man "retrieved the finger and went to a hospital." A hospital spokesperson told the news service that the man, who had Medicare, "lost half the finger, but doctors reattached it and he was sent home the same night."

"Man's Fingertip Bitten Off at Health-Care Rally" (Thanks, Bob Pescovitz!)

The wife of Japan's premier-in-waiting, Miyuki Hatoyama, has traveled to Venus. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this may be the first time the wife of a high-ranking politician has visited another planet.

"While my body was asleep, I think my soul rode on a triangular-shaped UFO and went to Venus," said Miyuki Hatoyama.

Some say that the People of Walmart blog makes fun of misfits. And they're right. But if you ignore the unkind captions, the blog is interesting, like a kind of modern Secret Museum of Mankind. I'm marveling at these photos of human beings in all their diverse splendor. Here's a CNN piece about the site.

Here's a ring for tenderizing a tiny steak.

James Orr, 66, was on trial in Cincinnati, Ohio yesterday for robbery and kidnapping when he disrupted the hearing with an extreme act of grossness. Orr reportedly asked his attorney if he had any food. When the attorney told him no, Orr apparently put his colostomy bag on the table, squeezed out the contents, and then either ate, or pretended to eat, his own feces. The Sheriff's deputy cuffed him and removed him from the room which the judge then closed for cleaning. Orr's trial will continue next week. From the Cincinnati Enquirer:

(Hamilton County prosecutor David) Prem admitted he almost vomited up while watching Orr's antics but suspects they were done with a purpose.

"He's a con man. He has over 50 aliases and has convictions in Ohio and New York for thefts and robberies," Prem said.

"He's done just about everything a person can do to avoid justice. He feigned (mental) incompetence" leading up to this trial, Prem said.

Orr was ordered to trial after court mental health workers deemed him mentally sound and a faker.

"I'm completely convinced his whole goal here is to cause as much mayhem as he can," Prem said of Orr.

(Orr's attorney Norm) Aubin will have jail workers again check Orr's mental health before continuing the trial Wednesday.

"Bizarre act halts court hearing" (Thanks, Tara!)

Two Honolulu city council members proposed a bill that would ban certain annoying behavior on buses including bad body odor. If passed, perps could face a $500 fine or six months in jail. From KITV:

"It's horrible -- sometimes you have to get up and open up the vents, and it's just obnoxious," said veteran bus driver Thom Robinson.

Supporters of the bus behavior bill said it also includes and consolidates a lot of other useful prohibitions already on the books such as forbidding spitting on buses, being drunk on a bus or urinating when you are on a bus or at a bus stop.

The city transportation services department supports the bill pending legal review saying much of it is already law.

Council Considers BO Ban (Thanks, Koshi!)

Malcolm Darby, 70, wore eyeglasses since he was a young child to compensate, he says, for being "blind as a bat." Last year, the Leicestershire, UK man suffered a stroke and now has perfect vision. Physicians operated to remove the blood clot apparently blocking 80 percent of his carotid artery. When Darby woke up, he noticed that his eyesight was just fine without his spectacles. From The Telegraph:

When Dr Darby woke from the anaesthetic he said he thought his vision had become even worse.

He said: "I was still a bit fuzzy from the surgery but reached for my glasses and put them on and I couldn't see a thing.

"I thought, 'oh no' I'm going to have to spend more money on new glasses.

"Then when I took them off I noticed a nurse carrying a newspaper upside down and I could read what it said. It didn't register at first and then suddenly I realised I could see.

It is unclear why the stroke or the operation appears to have caused such a dramatic improvement in Mr Darby's sight but doctors believe there may have been pressure on the optic nerve at the back of the eye which was relieved as the clot was cleared.

Dr Martin Fotherby, consultant stroke physician at Leicester Stroke Centre, said: "It's pretty unusual. It's a mystery."

"Stroke gives 'blind as bat' 70-year-old perfect vision"

Quick -- how many games in the industry's long history can you name with a female lead? In her latest One More Go column, Margaret Robertson says the fact that we "run out of entries for the Great Gaming Leading Lady Pantheon before we run out of fingers is just plain odd" and asks, "Are we really saying that we can't find a viable way to make games that turn 51% of the world's population into heroes a goer?"

Elsewhere on Offworld: huge indie news, as Derek Yu's procedurally-generated rogue-like platformer masterpiece Spelunky is announced for Xbox Live Arcade, and LostWinds -- the gorgeously gentle WiiWare debut game from Elite creators Frontier -- prepares for the Winter of the Melodias, its season-shifting sequel.

Two classic Hudson franchises are also due for revivals, with hex-strategy game Military Madness/Nectaris announced for the iPhone and prehistoric underdog mascot Bonk comes to PS3/Xbox 360/Wii, and Gaijin Games announces the latest in its retro-futurist rhythm series with the pixel-collecting nothing-expanding beauty of Bit.Trip: Void (above).

And our 'one shot's of the day: Rolando artist Mikko Walamies teases his intergalactic next, and the new face of Grand Theft Auto creators Rockstar: tigers with lasers, fire-breathing grizzlies, and stunt-jumpin' polars.

Watch these smash-and-grab burglars clean out the Sagemore Apple store in Marlton, New Jersey in 31 seconds (skip to 0:56 to see it). Reminds me of the game-show where contestants had to fill their shopping carts with the most valuable groceries in a big supermarket as quickly as possible.

(via Engadget)