Disposable cameras have been around for quite some time now. So why not disposable laptops? That's the question designer Je Sung Park is asking with the Recyclable Paper Laptop, which he imagines could be layers of materials and chips that can be easily replaced. It seems like a long shot (or does... More.
Here's a mid-1980s CBC News scare-story about Dungeons and Dragons driving kids to suicide featuring (at 2:49 onwards) me and my classmates (the video is dated 1985, but I'm pretty sure this couldn't have been later than my graduation from Junior High in 1984). Ignoring the crazy-ass fearmongerin... More.
Visualizing empires decline by Pedro M Cruz, who explains: "The data refers to the evolution of the top 4 maritime empires of the XIX and XX centuries by extent. The visual emphasis is on their decline." Here's more on the data and methodology. (via @visualthinkmap)... More.
Lucy Knisley's comic "Downloading Optimism: Pessimism Detected" is a thoughtful response to a panel where great indie comix creators (Linda Barry, Jules Feiffer, Matt Groening, Chris Ware) decried online comics and online reading. Click through for the whole thing.
Downloading Optimism
(Thanks, ... More.
Ah, yes, the old "affectionate kitteh" ruse! Video of cat who really, really wanted to befriend an officer who really, really wanted to finish writing a motorist ticket. (via @bbsuggest, thanks @dsjwhatnot)... More.
John Young says: 
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I would have thought you need to start at the TCP/IP stack and work your way up.e
kind of cool-looking,
but isn't 1.5 inches kind of small?
at least shipping is only a buck
I want a merit badge for being able to survive
the loss of 500 GBs of data recently (dumb Maxtor HD!)
you're starting at sudo? i thought you said full stack! how about folks that aren't scared of xor gates? heck, what about silicon mining?
I think a badge with Dick VanDyke in full-on one-man-band regalia might have been better than the pancakes.
or, to paraphrase the Burgermeister in "Piker's Peak":
"Fur less dan Fifty Sousand Kronkites, I vill build you your OWN SCHMATTERHORN."
Not only does this apply to me but I also love pancakes!
I'd get one but I'm unemployed right now.
@diamondbach TWSS
From wikipedia: "Beginning with Type C, all merit badges have been made with a diameter of 1 1/2" (38 mm)"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_merit_badges_(Boy_Scouts_of_America)
Only geeks would complain about merit badge criteria
Dabdiputs @3, "silicon mining"? For the real full stack, you should start with a universe full of hydrogen and a tunable gravitational constant.
Proud to be one.
Can you get this for just successfully eating pancakes?
"Just like that mythical date in the eighteenth century when there was too much scientific knowledge for one person to learn in a lifetime"
I have often thought about this point, but haven't seen it discussed anywhere. Anyone know where I can find more on this subject, in particular any term that is used for it....
"Just like that mythical date in the eighteenth century when there was too much scientific knowledge for one person to learn in a lifetime"
By the way, this would have been in the 19th century, with the explosion (pardon the phrase) in chemistry. I'd guess b/w 1815 and 1840....
"If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe. - Carl Sagan
@hcovitz
When I was writing that email to Mark to tell him about that our new badge was out, I wanted to Google up that date. Or the scholarly paper that postulated the date. Or...
...well, I wasn't able to find it, and I thought I'd say "eighteenth century" and get corrected to the 19th, rather than say "nineteenth century" and get corrected to the 18th. Seems less embarassing that way.
If I can Google up the actual date, I'll put it here. Last year, I just about pulled my hair out finding that "these darn kids today have no respect" quote from Aristotle, which turned out to be (mostly) spurious:
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=398104