Wednesday, October 26, 2005

08:42 PM

hehheh

Entertainment in Your Lap: "Perhaps it sounded good on paper, but Intel's latest ad campaign 'Experience Entertainment in Your Lap' doesn't really go where you want to go today."

(Via Kuro5hin.org.)

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

08:37 PM

Seed Magazine is back!: "Cory Doctorow:

Last year, I blogged Seed Magazine, the best new science magazine I've ever read -- a sharp mix of great writing and great analysis of the policy and social implications for science. Seed wasn't about what science discovered -- it was about what those discoveries meant.

Unfortunately, Seed hit financial problems and stopped publishing for a year. The (very) good news is that the magazine is back and a new ish will be hitting the stands shortly. I'm really looking forward to getting my copy!

Link

(Thanks, Bryan!)

Update: Luke reports finding Seed on stands already!"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

08:34 PM

Dream house photoshopping contest: "Cory Doctorow:

Today on the Worth 1000 photoshopping contest: mash up your dream house.

Link

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Wednesday, October 26, 2005
08:32 PM
idiot!

Napoleon Dynamite soundboard: "Mark Frauenfelder:
A soundboard is a collection of dialog snippets from a movie that you can use to make prank calls. This Napoleon Dynamite soundboard is especially good. Check out the recordings of prank calls made with this sound board and other soundboards. Link(Thanks Robin)

Reader comment:Fred Benenson says: 'Saw the Napolean Dynamite soundboard, and figured I'd post one that I made with Avery Brooks using clips of the David Brent character from the BBC's The Office. His blabbering makes for some very funy conversations. Enjoy!'

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Monday, October 24, 2005
good for church
09:31 PM

iPod Shuffle cross cap: "David Pescovitz:
iBelieve is a replacement cap and lanyard to convert the iPod Shuffle into a cross. Celebrate the cult of Mac for just $12.95. From the iBelieve site:

Inspired by the world's obsession and devotion to the iPod, iBelieve... is a social commentary on the fastest growing religion in the world.


The iBelieve is constructed using the same materials and precision ball bearing snap fit as your existing Shuffle cap so you can relax knowing your precious soundtrack is safe.


Just toss your old cap habit, pop on the divine iBelieve and rejoice!

Amen (via MoCo Loco)"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Monday, October 24, 2005
09:27 PM

Cthulhu DVD said to be totally coolh: "Xeni Jardin:
Regarding an earlier BB post on a silent film about the Elder God who has more noodly appendages than the Flying Spaghetti Monster himself, Boing Boing pal Craig Engler of SciFi network says:

After seeing this on BB I ordered a copy on a lark and my girlfriend and I watched it tonight at midnight with the lights out. This is one of those genius, word-of-mouth, Hollywood-will-never-understand-it kind of films. Made mostly with love and hard work, plus a bit of money. It's both silent and black-and-white, which gives it a great Lovecraftian feel but guarantees it will never go mainstream. And considering they tried to use only materials that would have been available in the 1920s, they did an awesome job of bringing Cthulhu and R'Lyeh and all that other gooey Lovecraft goodness to life. The non-Euclidean geometry is built with cardboard. The ocean is really a sea of waving canvas. And the Elder God himself is a wacky stop-motion/clay-mation deal that still manages to be menacing. Best $20 I ever spent on a DVD.

Link to The HP Lovecraft Historical Society website, where you can purchase the DVD if you are so inclined.

Previously:

Call of Cthulhu silent film nearly done

Creativhe Cohmmons Cthulhu Comhic

Update: For those of you who are in LA, Flash Film Works' Dan Novy (who supervised VFX on the film, appeared in several small roles, and is also the co-organizer of DorkbotSoCal) says the film's LA premiere takes place tonight at 7 at the Silent Movie Theatre on Fairfax. But the bad news: it's a small venue and the event is already booked to capacity.

Reader Comment: 'It's Raining Florence Henderson' says, 'The Seattle Times is reporting that a new indie version is being filmed in Astoria: Link.'"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Monday, October 24, 2005
09:26 PM
and about that flat earth theory

Scary evolution survey: "David Pescovitz:
According to a CBS News public survey, 51 percent of Americans don't accept evolution. Note that the nationwide sample size was just 808 adults and that the error rate could be plus or minus four percentage points. But still... From the CBS News report:

Fifty-one percent of Americans say God created humans in their present form, and another three in 10 say that while humans evolved, God guided the process. Just 15 percent say humans evolved, and that God was not involved.



These views are similar to what they were in November 2004 shortly after the presidential election...



Americans most likely to believe in only evolution are liberals (36 percent), those who rarely or never attend religious services (25 percent), and those with a college degree or higher (24 percent).



White evangelicals (77 percent), weekly churchgoers (74 percent) and conservatives (64 percent), are mostly likely to say God created humans in their present form.

Link (Thanks, Paul Saffo!)"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Monday, October 24, 2005
09:23 PM
Hey I knew avout the Cabala before Madonna

Kabbalah of Nanotechnology: "David Pescovitz:
Last year, Howard Lovy wrote an excellent essay in Salon about how nanotechnology and Kabbalah are both 'testament to the incomprehensible infinite.' (Previous post here.) Now, Philip 'Madge's Rabbi' Berg has published an entire book on the meme, Kabbalistic Nanotechnology. From the book description on Amazon:

Two emerging technologies promise to transform the world in ways that will make the breakthroughs of the 20th century seem pedestrian. One has existed for less than 50 years and is called nanotechnology. The other has existed for 4,000 years and is called Kabbalah. On the surface, they seem to be divergent, even contradictory technologies. But in fact, they are complementary in the most profound ways possible. One promises to deliver a practical technology and a transformed world in the distant future. The other promises practical tools and remarkable changes now. In this book, Kabbalist Rav Berg isolates the common points of science and spirit to reveal the elusive path toward achieving humanity's noblest and most challenging aspiration - the manipulation of the physical world. The potential uses are staggering: pollution reversal, elimination of disease and genetic defects, eradication of poverty, microscopic computers faster than today's best supercomputers, and the indefinite extension of the human lifespan.

Link

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Sunday, October 16, 2005
11:26 PM
yeah baby

Bulgarian Proverb: "'Seize opportunity by the beard, for it is bald behind.'"

(Via Motivational Quotes of the Day.)

Sunday, October 16, 2005
11:24 PM

Toys of Terror: "Playmobil offers an airport security playset, as noted by George Washington University law professor Daniel Solove. 'I was a bit disappointed in the toy's lack of realism.'"

(Via Cruel Site of the Day.)

Sunday, October 16, 2005
11:22 PM

BLADE RUNNER:
BEST SCIFI EVER

I just saw bits and...: "

BLADE RUNNER:
BEST SCIFI EVER





I just saw bits and pieces of this on AMC. No matter how many times I see this movie, I am still stunned by the concepts of PKD**K, direction by Ridley Scott, and screenplay by Hampton Fancer.

"

(Via y r humans.)

Sunday, October 16, 2005
10:24 PM
heh heh

Knit zombies reenact Dawn of the Dead: "Cory Doctorow:


This crafy Flickr user has knitted a series of characters from George Romero's classic Dawn of the Dead, then staged photos of yarn zombies chasing yarn defenders. Brilliant and twisted and BRAINS MORE BRAINS.

Link

(Thanks, Foist!)


"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Sunday, October 16, 2005
10:23 PM
sad to say, I miss data

Robots in classical art photoshopping contest: "Cory Doctorow:


Today on the Worth1000 photoshopping contest: mix robots into classical paintings. Terminator at the Last Supper!

Link


"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Sunday, October 16, 2005
10:11 PM

Disappearing rights mug: "Cory Doctorow:


This mug bears the text of the Bill of Rights. When you fill it with hot liquid, the text slowly vanishes, simulating the effect of the Bush presidency.

Link Cheaper link

(Thanks, Kyle!)

Update: Mike sez, 'I've got one of these mugs and people need to know that they're NOT dishwasher or even hot water safe! Sort of like the parchment of the first ten amendments to our constitution - It garbles up and becomes a worthless jumble of letters when not taken good care of! Cooler heads (and water) are the only way to protect either.'


"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Sunday, October 16, 2005
09:40 PM
ewwwww

Mutant kitty: "David Pescovitz:
This cute kitty in Dobson, North Carolina was born with two tongues and five toes on each paw. The cat's name is Five Toes. From Local6.com:

Owner Bill Whittington told a North Carolina TV station that he noticed the cat's second tongue in December. He said he yelled when he saw the tongues flicker...


Whittington said Ripley's Believe It Or Not will feature Five Toes in its 2006 guide.

Link(Thanks, Michael-Anne Rauback!)

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Wednesday, October 12, 2005
08:30 PM

Majestic boat graveyard off Staten Island: "Cory Doctorow:


This gallery of photos of Staten Island's boat-graveyard is absolutely stunning -- these mouldering old hulks with splintered decks and sinking waterlines are majestic in ruin.

Link

(via We Make Money Not Art)

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Wednesday, October 12, 2005
08:27 PM
i want 1 or 2...

Bed that subsumes an entire bedroom's worth of furniture: "Cory Doctorow:


The Anderson Ultimate Bed has a full chest of drawers built into its underside, a lamp, two adjustable mattresses, a clip on table and a TV stand. It's not pretty, but it sure has a lot of functions.

Link

(via Crib Candy)

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Wednesday, October 12, 2005
08:25 PM

HOWTO make a robot statue from an iPod box: "David Pescovitz:
Over at the MAKE: Blog, PT outlines how to make this cool robot statue out of an empty iPod box. From his post:

There are millions and millions of iPods out there, but what happens to all the empty boxes? The packaging is pretty nice, and at this point - as iconic as the iPod itself. So in Maker spirit, here is a photo diary of HOW TO to turn an empty iPod in to a little robot looking guy. Made with just the packaging materials, hot glue and paint, it could be a fun project for kids. I'm slowly working on a total of 50 (lots of iPod boxes) - the Steve Jobs one is next! And one more thing...broken iPod can/will be used for some internal electronics....

Link"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Wednesday, October 12, 2005
08:24 PM
I don't think we're in Bree anymore

More hobbit skeletons: "David Pescovitz:
A scientific team led by the University of New England in Australia has discovered parts of at least nine Homo Floresiensis skeletons. The meter-tall people lived on the Indonesian island of Flores as recently as 18,000 years ago. Last year, one partial skeleton was found and Homo Floresiensis was quickly determined to be Boing Boing's long-lost mascot. (Previous posts here, here, and here.) From the BBC News:

'The finds further demonstrate that (the first skeleton found) is not just an aberrant or pathological individual but is representative of a long-term population,' they write in Nature.


The team contends that Homo floresiensis, with its 380-cubic-cm-sized brain, is the outcome of a phenomenon known as endemic or island dwarfing.



This sees isolated species, released from the pressures of predation but constrained by limited resources, evolving either smaller or larger forms than would otherwise be the case.

Link"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Monday, October 10, 2005
06:01 PM

Suspicious-looking, but innocent, events led to Amber Alert: "David Pescovitz:
After dropping some mail off at the post office, Cincinnati man Web Wilson opened the trunk of his brand new Honda Accord and was surprised to see his kids had crawled through the trunk's 'pass-through' while it was parked. Webb told them to get back into their seats, slammed the trunk closed, hopped into the car, and accidentally hit the gas too hard as he took off. From the Cincinnati Enquirer:

Those events, witnessed by U.S. Postal Service employees, led them to believe Wilson was abducting the children and trying to leave in a hurry.



They called Cincinnati police, who immediately issued an Amber Alert.



Using a videotape taken inside the post office, police also released a photo of the suspect, which was shown by local television stations.



Local TV stations also broadcast a description of Wilson and his new car, complete with the temporary tags.



Wilson knew nothing of any of this until about 7 a.m. Saturday, when his father-in-law, Jim Farley, called the house...


One laugh Wilson got is the blonde woman witnesses described in the front seat of Wilson's car. 'That blonde woman is Wyatt, my 11-year-old son,' he said.

Link (Thanks, Charles Pescovitz!)"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Ig Nobel winners: "David Pescovitz:
The winners of the Annals of Improbable Research's Ig Nobel Prize were announced last week. The winning scientific studies examined fake dog balls (Medicine), the speed of humans swimming in syrup (Chemistry), the pressure of a penguin crap (Fluid Dynamics), and other groundbreaking topics. The winner in the Literature category?

The Internet entrepreneurs of Nigeria, for creating and then using e-mail to distribute a bold series of short stories, thus introducing millions of readers to a cast of rich characters -- General Sani Abacha, Mrs. Mariam Sanni Abacha, Barrister Jon A Mbeki Esq., and others -- each of whom requires just a small amount of expense money so as to obtain access to the great wealth to which they are entitled and which they would like to share with the kind person who assists them.

Link (Thanks, David Steinberg!)"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Sunday, October 09, 2005
10:00 PM

Which is the Better Classroom?: "Homeschooling came into focus in the late 20th century but is still a relatively seldom used method of educating children. As of 2003, 1.1 million children in the United States are were homeschooled (2.2% of the school age population), up from approximately 850,000 in 1999 (only 1.7% of the school-age population). Those who have been through the homeschooling experience, however, are usually firm defenders of its educational merits and sometimes even have the documentation to back it up. There are those who oppose the homeschool movement, though. Some argue that a responsible citizen should participate in the improvement of the public school system instead of 'taking the easy way out' and abandoning it, while others emphasize the professional qualifications of public school instructors. As both the public/private and homeschool environments implement more of today's technology, which classroom has the upper hand?"

(Via Kuro5hin.org.)

Bookcase with integrated chair/stool: "Cory Doctorow:


This irregularly shaped room-divider/bookcase has a built-in chair and footstool that slides out of it -- and is very very clever and neato.

Link

(via Cribcandy)


"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Sunday, October 09, 2005
09:57 PM

UNICEF bombs the Smurfs: "Cory Doctorow:
UNICEF has produced a short Smurfs movie in which the Smurf village is bombed into rubble, leaving behind dead and dying Smurfs in a scene reminiscent of an Hieronymus Bosch painting. The video is part of a public education campaign on the ravages of war.

The short film pulls no punches. It opens with the Smurfs dancing, hand-in-hand, around a campfire and singing the Smurf song. Bluebirds flutter past and rabbits gambol around their familiar village of mushroom- shaped houses until, without warning, bombs begin to rain from the sky.

Tiny Smurfs scatter and run in vain from the whistling bombs, before being felled by blast waves and fiery explosions. The final scene shows a scorched and tattered Baby Smurf sobbing inconsolably, surrounded by prone Smurfs.

The final frame bears the message: 'Don't let war affect the lives of children...'

'We wanted something that was real war - Smurfs losing arms, or a Smurf losing a head -but they said no.'

Link

(Thanks, Stefan, Bonnie and Jamais!)"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Saturday, October 08, 2005
08:17 PM

Reviews of the Dead: "George A Romero's Dead trilogy - Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead - were low-budget, low-production value gore-fests dismissed by critics but loved by horror fans. Over the years they wormed their way into popular consciousness and have been re-evaluated, elevated from exploitation B-movies to savage satires on modern American society. With the recent release of sequel Land of the Dead, now is a good time to look back at Romero's films and their cultural impact."

(Via Kuro5hin.org.)

Saturday, October 08, 2005
08:16 PM

The Great Thing About Intelligent Design: "The latest foray into the continuing destruction of public education in the United States has taken the form of Intelligent Design, or ID for short. If you are one of the tens of people who genuinely believe in ID, that's fine. If you believe in creationism, good for you. But if you believe that ID is anything other than a stalking horse for christian fanatics to insert their agendas into the public schools, we have a problem. So why is the title of this piece 'The Great Thing About Intelligent Design' you ask? Simple: This is the next step in expanding the power of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America."

(Via Kuro5hin.org.)

Saturday, October 08, 2005
08:10 PM

me too

Serenity: "We saw Serenity last night—and loved it. We’re going to go see it again.



The last time I walked out of a theater saying that I wanted to see the movie again was probably Star Wars."

(Via Inessential.com.)

Saturday, October 08, 2005
08:09 PM

Alex Pang on the iPod: "David Pescovitz:
Alex Pang, my colleague at the Institute For The Future, has written an excellent personal essay for the San Jose Mercury News about the joy of the iPod. From the article:

...Making media experiences private often seems to raise concerns about the consequences of isolation.



Usually the fears seem misplaced in retrospect. In the Middle Ages, reading had been a public, group experience; the rise of literacy rates and diffusion of cheap books sparked worries that people would start reading and thinking for themselves -- and deviate from religious teachings. Society survived, and people have found a way of reconnecting over books: book clubs.



More recently, in the 1950s, people lamented that the transistor radio would spell the end of families gathered around the radio; it did, but it didn't stop families from listening to music and talking together. Parents were no longer able to prevent their children from secretly listening to rock 'n' roll, or doo-wop, or even jazz, but that hasn't pulled families apart, either.



Some technologies even move from one extreme to the other. Parents who used to worry that the personal computer would isolate their kids now fret about them spending too much time instant messaging.

Link (free reg. required but BugMeNot.com's login seems to work: FrodoBaggins@mailinator.com, valinor1)"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Saturday, October 08, 2005
07:53 PM

Kurt Vonnegut in USA Today:...: "

Kurt Vonnegut in USA Today:

'What do you want to talk about? Politics? Our president is a complete twit. I'll talk about the death of the novel. I'll talk about anything you want.'

(Thanks to Donald for the link.)

"

(Via blog.)

Saturday, October 08, 2005
07:52 PM

Jessa had to watch like 374 hours...: "

Jessa had to watch like 374 hours of Pride and Prejudice adaptations for this column. Now she wonders what the fuck people see in Elizabeth Bennett.

"

(Via blog.)