Saturday, December 25, 2004
11:03 PM

Jonathan Swift: "'A wise man should have money in his head, but not in his heart.'"

(Via Motivational Quotes of the Day.)

Saturday, December 25, 2004
10:56 PM

Folk Etymology: "Lazing your way to a bigger vocabulary"

(Via Interesting Thing of the Day.)

Saturday, December 25, 2004
08:54 PM

Government idiocy an international problem: "In a time when the President of the United States can't pronounce the word nuclear, when our public schools do one incredibly stupid thing after another, and our appointed officials can't seem to stay out of hot water for saying something dumb, it's nice to know we in the USA don't have the market on stupidity cornered."

(Via Kuro5hin.org.)

Friday, December 24, 2004
08:32 PM

The 8 bits of Christmas: "Xeni Jardin:




Holiday-themed chiptunes from 8bitpeoples: 8 classic carols performed on 8 different videogame consoles and home computers. Link (Thanks, Marc)"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Friday, December 24, 2004
08:29 PM
a meat must

Meat-scented air fresheners for your car: "Xeni Jardin:
Link (Thanks, Jonno)"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Friday, December 24, 2004
08:27 PM

Chewie the Rookie Wookie: "Xeni Jardin:

BB reader Isaac says,

'Remember the days before George Lucas so tightly controlled the Star Wars franchise? The days when there could be a Star Wars Christmas Special on TV? Cleaning out my garage, I found an old 45 RPM record from 1977: The Rebel Force Band, performing 'Chewie the Rookie Wookie' (sort of Motown) and 'May the Force Be With You' (imagine a lounge singer doing a version of 'Sunrise, Sunset' - that's what it sounds like). Of course, nowadays something like this would never get off the ground; it's just not as sophisticated as Ewoks, Jar Jar Binks, or that Jake kid.'
Link"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Friday, December 24, 2004
11:40 AM

Call of Cthulhu silent film nearly done: "Xeni Jardin:
BoingBoing reader Malcolm says,

The H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society have nearly finished making a 1920s/30s style black and white silent film of 'The Call of Cthulhu', and they've put a quicktime trailer on their site.

It looks really bizarre: they seem to have done quite a good job of mimicking the visual style of films of the period, particularly the horrifying rituals of the cultists.

Link"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Friday, December 24, 2004
11:39 AM

Babes in space: "Mark Frauenfelder:
Fun gallery of old science fiction pulp covers featuring babes organized by category: Babes with Blasters, Babes in Bondage, Babes of Myth, Alien Babes, Babes with a Grip, Robobabes, Babes in Charge, Experimental Babes, Babes under Glass. Link (Thanks, Avi!)"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Friday, December 24, 2004
11:38 AM

1965 Ski Mask HOWTO: "Xeni Jardin:


If your grannie knits you one of these, run like hell, then call the cops. Excerpts from a 'roll your own ski mask' article from a mid-'60s issue of McCall's Magazine. You know, they have fetish websites for this sort of thing nowadays. Link. The horror. The HORROR. (thanks, Cameron)"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Tuesday, December 21, 2004
11:01 PM
none finer fer diagrams

OmniGraffle 3.2b1 - Create diagrams, flow charts,...: "OmniGraffle 3.2b1 - Create diagrams, flow charts, and more."

(Via MacUpdate - Mac OS X.)

Tuesday, December 21, 2004
10:27 PM

2004 Asshole of the Year Awards.: "As 2004 comes to a close, it's time to consider the year's most vile, dimwitted, and disgusting personalities. The nominees are..."

(Via Kuro5hin.org.)

today's zen criticism

Tom Wolfe's critics have been licking their...: "

Tom Wolfe's critics have been licking their chops even before I Am Charlotte Simmons was released, and the fact that he was given the Bad Sex award by a group of British literary critics undoubtedly filled them with much glee. Jessa pointed out last week that the sex scenes were intentionally bad, and wondered why the judges, who should know better, didn't get that. Tom Wolfe wonders the same thing.

It has often been said that Americans have no sense of irony. Now the American author Tom Wolfe has turned the tables, saying that the British literary judges who awarded him a prize for the year's worst sex in fiction simply did not understand that his description of a first encounter was meant to be ironic.

'There's an old saying - 'You can lead a whore to culture but you can't make her sing',' he told Reuters. 'In this case, you can lead an English literary wannabe to irony but you can't make him get it.'

I'm a Wolfe partisan, so feel free to bust out the grains of salt, but I love his response here. And who the hell says that Americans have no sense of irony? Unless that statement was meant to be ironic. Or maybe the judges really are aware that the sex scenes were intentionally bad, so they ironically awarded the Bad Sex award to Wolfe, who failed to pick up on the irony. Or maybe Wolfe did pick up on the irony, and his annoyance is meant to be ironic.

My head hurts.

"

(Via blog.)

Tuesday, December 21, 2004
10:22 PM
oh my

Introducing the sarcasm point. Oh...: "

Introducing the sarcasm point. Oh yeah — I like this idea¡

"

(Via blog.)

Monday, December 20, 2004
08:18 PM

Bespoke M&Ms: "Xeni Jardin:




The M&Ms website includes an online service for ordering your very own personalised M&Ms. The printing dos and don'ts are a fun read, though -- don't even think about mentioning landmarks. Dirty words are prohibited, so are terms that might raise copyright issues for the candy maker. I tried BUTT SEX IS AWESOME in 'classic wedding pastels', but to no avail. Damn you, chocolate censors! High carb free speech must prevail! Link (Alex)"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Saturday, December 18, 2004
10:32 PM

Memetics: "The science of idea propagation"

(Via Interesting Thing of the Day.)

Saturday, December 18, 2004
10:05 PM

Playlist debut issue available as free PDF download: "Playlist magazine has made its debut issue available as a free PDF download from its Web site. Playlist looks at digital music, the technology and musicians featuring industry news, future trends, in-depth features and interviews with music artists. The magazine's Web site also publishes in-depth features online like its recent comparison of all of the music services available today, as well as daily news relating to the digital music industry."

(Via MacCentral.)

Saturday, December 18, 2004
09:28 PM

The AARP says, toke up!: "AARP poll finds older Americans favor medical marijuana. With a medical marijuana case in front of the Supremes, and with a dozen states now with medical marijuana laws on the books, AARP decided to take a poll. Here's what they found:
'Nearly three-fourths of older Americans support legalizing marijuana for medical use.'
My father (a senior citizen) takes prescribed Marinol (synthetic THC) as an appetite stimulant; my wife, a cancer survivor, got through chemotherapy largely on the strength of the weed I was able to buy on the street in New York. [MI]"

(Via metafilter.com.)

Saturday, December 18, 2004
09:16 PM

Web Zen: Holiday Zen: "Xeni Jardin:


a wonderful life in 30 seconds |

xmas weebl |

xmas beatles |

holiday saw music |
santa mosh |

hooray for santy claus |

christmas remixed |

holiday 2004 sampler |

beckham nativity |

smores nativity |

advert calendar |

10 least successful holiday specials |

holiplay |

polar rescue |

snowball fight nyc |

unsilent night |

alek's christmas lights |

harbin snow and ice festival |
12 leaves of festivus |

how to dispel the myths of hanukkah | and from the archives:
holiday zen 2003 |

holiday leftover zen 2003 |

winter zen 2002










Image: still from 'It's a Wonderful Life in 30 Seconds re-enacted by bunnies.' web zen home, web zen store, (Thanks, Frank)."

(Via Boing Boing.)

Saturday, December 18, 2004
09:16 PM
oh yeah

Saving the World with Hostess Twinkies: "Xeni Jardin:


BoingBoing reader Isaac says,

'I was going through some old comics from the 1970s, and I stumbled upon a series of ads that I had forgotten about - Marvel and DC both had full-page ads in which their superheroes shilled for Hostess Fruit Pies, Twinkies and more! (Holy Flaky Filling, Batman!) There are links to ten different ads I've scanned and posted.'

Link. See also the extensive Seanbaby archive of kitschy Hostess goodness: Link (thanks, Chris and tgr!)"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Saturday, December 18, 2004
09:14 PM
ho

Nerdy-craftsy Xmas projects: "Cory Doctorow:


This blog-post rounds up some amazing, craftsy-nerdy Xmas decor and sweet novelties, like this gingerbread motherboard.




Also on offer, this gingerbread laptop,




and this
tree decorated with motherboards.

Link

(via Engadget)

Update: Juan sez, 'The PCBs depicted are NOT motherboards as cory states, but are in fact memory modules, and a CPU as star.'"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Saturday, December 18, 2004
09:12 PM
for you disneyphiles
you know who you are
Journey Thru Innerspace CGI recreation DVD: "Cory Doctorow:


Ernie Miller sez, 'As mentioned a year ago (Recreating Gone Disney, the Atom Mobiles fan site has been recreating a 3D version of the famous 'Adventures Through Inner Space' ride that used to grace Tomorrowland. Well, they've finished it and it is now available for purchase on DVD (though they can't guarantee Christmas shipping). Kevin Yee of Miceage says, ' words are too cold to fully capture the magic on this DVD. The ride-through was a transcendent experience for me. I found myself exclaiming 'Ohmygosh! I forgot all about that!' constantly while watching the video. I cannot possibly imagine a single theme park collectible, video, or book ever encapsulating the Disneyland experience as much as this one DVD.' If anyone wants to send me one as a belated Christmas present ...'

Link


"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Saturday, December 18, 2004
09:11 PM

Jack Chick creationist comic "Big Daddy": "Xeni Jardin:
BoingBoing reader Tommy York says,

Recently, at a school rally of mine here in San Francisco, I came across the booth of the Christian club at school, AGAPE. I decided to pick up a few little comics of theirs, and I came across this one - one the denounces evolution, procedes to denounce the whole theory of the 'atom' too, and by disproving evolution, of course, shows that the only logical alternative is that Jesus is the creator. Propaganda like this in public schools seems a bit off to me.

Link to page-by-page photos of 'Big Daddy' creationist comic book. I can't help but wonder what the whole thing would sound like read in the voice of Mr. Slave from South Park. I mean, 'Big Daddy'? The unshaven monkey with the banana on the cover looks vaguely Tom of Finland. Oh jesusth christth, Jack Chick!

Update: Reader Lance Simmons says, 'There's a much better copy of Big Daddy at the publisher's site.' Link. See also these previous BoingBoing posts on Jack Chick's Christian comix: Link, and Link 2."

(Via Boing Boing.)

Saturday, December 18, 2004
09:07 PM

kewl photos

Fortean photography: "David Pescovitz:
I love Fortean Times's online gallery of strange photos and illustrations. Along with antique spirit snapshots, stigmata statues, Bigfoot, and dervishes, they have a nice selection of 'simulacra photos.' In Fortean terms, simulacra photos depict 'spontaneous or natural figures or images. These can occur in nature as well as in the chance conjunction of artefacts.' For example, the seed capsules of snapdragons in this photo. Readers are invited to send in their own shots to the print magazine's Simulacra Corner. Link
"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Wednesday, December 15, 2004
10:30 PM

Jane Austen: "'We have all a better guide in ourselves, if we would attend to it, than any other person can be.'"

(Via Motivational Quotes of the Day.)

Mahatma Gandhi: "'Victory attained by violence is tantamount to a defeat, for it is momentary.'"

(Via Motivational Quotes of the Day.)

Sunday, December 12, 2004
10:23 PM

A modern myth of creation: "The History of the Universe."

(Via metafilter.com.)

Sunday, December 12, 2004
10:19 PM
such wit

Novelty tongues for dogs: "Cory Doctorow:


The Humunga Tongue is a doggy fetch-ball with an enormous, hilarious rubber tongue attached to it, so that while your hairy pal is masticating it, it looks like he's got a huge, Gene Simmons-esque tongue. High-larious!

Link


"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Sunday, December 12, 2004
10:18 PM
ewww

Kids' forensic facial reconstruction kit: "Cory Doctorow:


The Discovery Channel has released a CSI-branded 'facial reconstruction kit' toy so that kids can play forensic scientist, reconstructing notional corpse faces. Man, I wish I'd had one of these as a kid.

Link

(via Wired Magazine)


"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Sunday, December 12, 2004
10:15 PM

Bodies proportional to motor and sensory brain regions: "Cory Doctorow:


Two images of notional 'homunculi' -- the first, a Sensory Homunculus, shows 'what a man's body would look like if each part grew in proportion to the area of the cortex of the brain concerned with its sensory perception' (on the left). The other, the Motor Homunculus, 'shows what a man's body would look like if each part grew in proportion to the area of the cortex of the brain concerned with its movement.'

Link

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Saturday, December 11, 2004
08:39 PM

The Most Hated Advertising Techniques: "If you are getting ready to do any sort of advertising on your Website, you might want to familiarize yourself with the contents of this page before getting started. A few minutes spent here could save you a bundle in the long run with avoiding lost revenue. The page is a descriptive of the most hated advertising techniques. While you may not even agree with all of what they are saying here, there are some…

Direct and Related Links for 'The Most Hated Advertising Techniques'

"

(Via Lockergnome Web Developer.)

Saturday, December 11, 2004
08:35 PM
I like lost

'Lost' in the Black Lodge: "How's Hurley? How's Hurley? How's Hurley? How's Hurley? Written by Jason Snell."

(Via TeeVee.)

Saturday, December 11, 2004
08:33 PM
now that we're past the millennium

Station Break: "Lost" Star to Head Homeland Security Department: "WASHINGTON (AP) -- Shocking government observers, President Bush today named actor Terry O’Quinn to replace Tom Ridge as secretary..."

(Via TeeVee.)

Saturday, December 11, 2004
08:28 PM
oh my

Are All of Santa's Reindeer Girls?: "Apparently, reindeer experts are saying that while both male and female reindeer grow antlers every summer, the males drop theirs by early December -- which means, given that the reindeer pulling Santa's sleigh on Christmas Eve are always depicted in full regalia, that every one of them, even Rudolph, must be a girl. Can this possibly be true?"

(Via Urban Legends and Folklore.)

Saturday, December 11, 2004
08:01 PM
another absolute necessity

Snowman 0.1 - Snowman for your desktop.: ""

(Via MacUpdate - Mac OS X.)

Friday, December 10, 2004
08:26 PM

Burton "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" trailer online: "Xeni Jardin:

Oh my, this does looks promising. Link to trailer, and link to movie website. (Thanks, Tony)"

(Via Boing Boing.)

kewl blox

Great inexpensive kids' toys from Whimsyload: "Mark Frauenfelder:
My friend Scott recommended Whimsyload.com as a place to buy toys for my 1.5-year-old. He recommended three items:

Wooden Man, Crazy Box (shown here), Bird Clock."

(Via Boing Boing.)

Friday, December 10, 2004
08:18 PM

Salad bar hacking: "Mark Frauenfelder:
This is the best thing I've seen in a long while. Robyn Miller sez: 'This is a photo from a Chinese PDF manual. The manual explains, via text and a lot of fun photos, how to cram as much food as possible on one of those tiny Pizza Hut bowls at the salad bar. They're only allowed one trip. My cousin lives in Beijing. When he goes to Pizza Hut, he says this is what most people are busy building.' (Click image for enlargement)"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Sunday, December 05, 2004
11:07 PM
far too much info about Layla yet I read it

In Defense of Clapton's Layla: "Recently, GuitarWorld magazine published a list of top 100 of the worst guitar solos, riffs and licks of all time. I am a big sucker for this sort of thing, so I swallowed the $7.95 price to purchase it, with a good expectation of what would be included. Just as literary scholars have a canon of great literature, the guitarist community has a canon of really awful guitar solos - including, for instance, Neil Young's infamous one-note Cinnamon Girl solo, anything by Van Halen, and anything played by Kurt Cobain. When I turned to the list, I suffered a cruel, horrible shock."

(Via Kuro5hin.org.)

Sunday, December 05, 2004
11:00 PM
mmm robots

Robot-ized amplifier and speakers: "Mark Frauenfelder:
This robot stereo and loudspeaker system is beautiful. Link"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Sunday, December 05, 2004
10:43 PM
bummer

New Blade Runner DVD blocked by... Univision?: "Xeni Jardin:
BoingBoing reader Mike Harris says,

Jerry Perenchio, now-CEO of Univision, was one of two bond-completion guarantors for the film when it was first shot. Because it went over budget when first filmed in 1982, the guarantors assumed ownership of the film by contract, and Perenchio refuses to authorize Warner Brothers to release what they and Ridley Scott want to release: a three-disc box set with 'a new and polished director's cut with previously unseen footage and scads of bonus features.'

Link"

(Via Boing Boing.)

I want to believe...

Jesus long in the tooth: "David Pescovitz:

Jesus was spotted inside the mouth of a devout Christian in Phoenix, Arizona. Magically, Jesus's presence was only revealed by a dental x-ray. Perhaps the man has been eating too many grilled cheese sandwiches.
Link
"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Sunday, December 05, 2004
10:34 PM
truth is stranger...

Giant pouched rats sniff out landmines: "Mark Frauenfelder:

Tom sez: 'Who needs an electronic nose to sniff out buried landmines? The Belgians prefer African giant pouched rats. And no, the rats do not get blown to bits.'

The idea of using rats for the detection of landmines came up through a search for a cheap and efficient mine detector tool, which would be able to detect both metal and plastic landmines.

'Added bonus: the rats can detect tuberculosis from sputum samples!!' Link

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Sunday, December 05, 2004
10:32 PM
sigh

Cost of war in Iraq JavaScript counter: "Mark Frauenfelder:
Here's a neat little JavaScript counter:

Cost of the War in Iraq

(JavaScript Error)

Link

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Friday, December 03, 2004
01:06 AM
well its nice but...

Not a pisser: "David Pescovitz:
Marcel Duchamp's Fountain (1917) was voted the most influential artwork of the 20th century by 500 artworld big shots in Great Britain.
Link
"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Friday, December 03, 2004
01:03 AM
the evil empire

MSN Spaces = soylent green: "Xeni Jardin:
Updated. Today, Microsoft launches their free hosted blogging platform, spaces.msn.com. What effect the service will have on Blogger, TypePad, Userland, and the like is, predictably, a subject of great debate. The service is free, and seems aimed squarely at home users. BoingBoing reader alfie checks the W3 validator site and says, 'MSN Spaces seems to be completely ignoring markup standards. Well done chaps.' Link. Reader Christopher Carfi hosts a discussion about the launch on his blog, here.

Reader Paul Pellerito says,



'MSN Spaces User asciident notes that at the bottom of every MSN Space is (c)2004 Microsoft Corporation. And according to their terms of use:

For materials you post or otherwise provide to Microsoft related to the MSN Web Sites (a 'Submission'), you grant Microsoft permission to (1) use, copy, distribute, transmit, publicly display, publicly perform, reproduce, edit, modify, translate and reformat your Submission, each in connection with the MSN Web Sites, and (2) sublicense these rights, to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law. Microsoft will not pay you for your Submission.'

'Makes me wanna yell STOP! Soylent green is people!'

Wired News story, Forbes coverage, and here is the Microsoft press release.

Peter Orosz says:

MSN Spaces, Microsoft's new blogging service, censors stuff! We're all gonna die! This is a screencap taken by a friend of mine who apparently tried to register at MSN Spaces. His blog's description reads 'A Corporate Whore', which the service promptly bounced. Yikes!

Link"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Wednesday, December 01, 2004
09:44 PM

Corgi Toys art gallery: "Mark Frauenfelder:
Nifty Corgi Toys art gallery. Link (Thanks, Todd!!"

(Via Boing Boing.)