Boston Channel photoshops Mooninite LED signs: "Mark Frauenfelder:
WCVB-TV in Boston has photoshopped the extended finger from the Mooninite LEDs. Compare the before-and-after photos of the uniformed and helmeted LED disposal expert as he carefully removes the deadly object. Link
(Thanks, Todd!)
(Via Boing Boing.)
Massive telecom satellite blows up on launch: "Mark Frauenfelder:
Mike Jensen says: 'A commercial Sea Launch Zenit 3SL rocket disintegrated in a fiery catastrophe aboard its oceangoing platform Tuesday, destroying a sophisticated telecommunications satellite payload in a dramatic launch pad explosion reminiscent of the space program's early days.'
Link | YouTube clip (Best part: the logo appears at the end of the video, as if the people behind this are very proud of the mishap)
(Via Boing Boing.)
National Gorilla Suit Day: "Cory Doctorow:
Today is National Gorilla Suit Day, inaugurated by Mad Magazine's Don Martin. 'Every National Gorilla Suit Day, people of all shapes and colors around the world get their gorilla suits out of the closet, put them on and go door-to-door.'
Link
(Thanks, David)
(Via Boing Boing.)
Snakes eat poisonous toads and collect their poison: "David Pescovitz:
The Rhabdophis tigrinus snakes that reside on the island of Ishima, Japan, eat poisonous toads and store the toxic venom in glands for its own defense. While the monarch butterfly also collects defensive poison from plants and frogs sometimes beef up their defenses with bug toxins, herpetologist Deborah Hutchinson of Old Dominion University says it's very rare for a vertebrate to do so. From Scientific American:
Some R. tigrinus snakes carry toxins called bufadienolides in their nuchal glands, sacks located under a ridge of skin along their upper necks. When threatened, they arch their necks, exposing the poisonous ridge to an antagonist. The clawing and biting of hawks and other predators most likely rips the skin and lets the poison ooze out, potentially blinding the snake's attackers, says herpetologist Deborah Hutchinson of Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va. 'It might not kill the predator but it would be noxious enough to deter predation,' she says.
(Via Boing Boing.)
OS Comparisons From the BBC: "igb writes 'As part of their coverage of the launch of Vista, the BBC last week asked people to submit descriptions of the benefits and drawbacks of their chosen system, and today they've posted responses from two Vista users, a Linux user, and an OS X user. There's nothing earth-shattering here, but it's interesting to see the operating systems compared on a level playing field, and good that the BBC has given equal time to the major alternatives.'
(Via Slashdot.)
Bedbug "plague" continues to grow: "Mark Frauenfelder:
After almost nearly being eradicated in the 1950s, bloodsucking bedbugs are on the rise.
New York City apartment dwellers lodged 4,638 bedbug complaints in fiscal 2006, up from none three years earlier. Complaints ballooned 67% in the first half of this year from their pace a year earlier.'There's a new plague,' said Dini Miller, an entomologist at Virginia Tech University.
Bedbugs were virtually eradicated from the U.S. in the 1940s and 1950s, Miller said. The cause of their resurgence is not officially known, though theories include increased international travel in which the bugs hitch a ride on clothing or in luggage and decreased use of pesticides such as DDT.
Bedbugs are reddish-brown blood-sucking insects about a quarter of an inch long with a flat, oval shape. Drawn by body heat, they attack at night and inject an anesthetic that makes them virtually undetectable during their mealtime.
Update:
Utah Rescuers Plaugued by Bedbugs, a National Problem (Thanks, Dustin!)
Previously on Boing Boing:
• Bedbugs on the rise
(Via Boing Boing.)
Paintings inspired by Kaiju (scary Japanese monsters): "Xeni Jardin:
BoingBoing reader munkao says,
Hi Boing Boing. I love you. My name is munkao, and I am an artist from Malaysia. I recently did a series of Kaiju-inspired paintings for a two-man show at Giant Robot San Francisco: Link. Robert Bellm is the other artist and his fantastic art can be found on that website, too. Thanks Boing Boing! you have kept me company for many years!
(Via Boing Boing.)
No Matter How Small: Revisiting Seuss's 5000 Fingers of Dr. T: "
Every January, for the past fifteen years, I have conducted a salute to the great children's book author, Doctor Seuss. It started the year that Doctor Seuss passed away. I was struck by how central this author had been to American culture from the late 1930s until near the end of the 20th century. His children's books are all classics but they get read outside of any historical context and few people have connected them to the much broader range of work that he did -- as a humorist for adult publications such as Judge and Life, as an important copywriter in advertising, as an editorial cartoonist for the progressive PM in the years leading up to America's entry into the war, as the animator for the Private Snafu training films and script writer for Frank Capra's Why We Fight films during World War II, as script writer and designer for 5000 Fingers of Dr. T, as the author of the radio script which led to the classic animated short, Gerald McBoing Boing, as a promoter of modern art through a series of educational specials for American television, and so forth. The Seuss story spans across media and bridges high and low culture in fascinating ways.
Every January, I share his story with students, faculty, and staff at MIT, reading from his works, and sharing some historical perspectives. This year, I am going to be joined by Nancy Newman, who traches music history at SUNY-Albany and who has written a fascinating essay on the score for the Seuss-inspired feature film, The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T. The highlight of the event every year is the screening of this rarely shown film from the 1950s which features Hans Conreid as a demonic (but campy) piano teacher bent on global domination. We will be concluding the evening with a screening of this rarely shown classic from the 1950s, which is one of my all time personal favorite movies.
You may not know that there's a real cult that has grown up around 5000 Fingers, including this excellent website, which is full of details about its production and includes audio files of a number of songs recorded for but cut from the film.
I wrote about 5000 Fingers in an essay I published about Seuss's relationship to the Popular Front and permissive childrearing in my anthology, Hop on Pop: The Politics and Pleasures of Popular Culture. I am hoping the following excerpt may intrigue you into either coming to our event (if you are in and around Boston) or renting the film.
The event will be held next Monday, January 29, 7-10 PM, in room 4-237 at MIT.
Here's some more information about Nancy Newman's talk:
'We'll Make a Paderewski of You Yet!:
Acoustic Reflections in The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T.'
Abstract:
One of the striking aspects of The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T (1953) is its staging of a young boy's search for musical identity as an Oedipal drama. The story pits two men as competitors for the boy's widowed mother. One potential father represents the tradition of classical piano, the other, American popular song. This paper shows how the film's musical numbers resolve this crisis of identity and affection. Frederick Hollander's memorable tunes and innovative score affirm the individual's capacity to develop a distinctive 'voice,' a message with political overtones at the time of the film's release.
Biography:
Nancy Newman is an assistant professor at the University at Albany-SUNY, where she teaches courses on music history, both ancient and modern. Her article, 'Acoustic Reflections in The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T' is forthcoming in Lowering the Boom: New Essays on the History, Theory and Practice of Film Sound (University of Illinois Press). She is currently writing on Björk's role as composer and performer in the film musical, Dancer in the Dark. Dr. Newman is also working on a book about the Germania Musical Society, Good Music for a Free People. An article on this 19th-century orchestra appeared in the Yearbook of German-American Studies (1999). Her years as a piano teacher will be put to use in SUNY-Albany's Extensible Toy Piano Festival this spring.
(Via Confessions of an Aca/Fan: The Official Weblog of Henry Jenkins.)
Halliwell's four-star movies: "Mark Frauenfelder:
Pancho says:
Here's a link to an online list of all the top scoring films from the notoriously stringent Halliwell's film guide.LinkSingle-handedly authored by Leslie Halliwell (until his death in 1989) his yearly updated eponymous guide is considered to be one of the most authoritative, balanced and (crucially) comprehensive critical lists of the movie canon.
It pioneered the four-star rating system whereby films only receive one (or more) stars if they are remarkable, interesting, challenging or brilliant. Most films in the guide receive no stars with only a handful (well, 251) receiving a four-star rating. this top grade has long been considered one of the highest accolades for the discerning film director. The Halliwell's Four Star list has been accused of favouring Black and White films from the '30s and '40s but, needless to say, that is some of its charm
(Via Boing Boing.)
Ray Harryhausen tribute site with lots of good clips: "Mark Frauenfelder:
Ray Harryhausen is a stop-motion-animation wizard who is widely regarded as the master of old-school special effects. Harryhausen called his method of animating small models of monsters and superimposing them into live action scenes ‘Dynamation,’ and it was used to great effect in such movies as The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad (1958) and Jason and the Argonauts (1963).
I'll never forget the first time I saw the rousing and meticulously choreographed skeleton fight in Jason, in which a team of seven undead creatures spawned from a hydra’s teeth are acrobatically knocked, flipped, and stabbed out of commission by Jason and his cohorts, or the gray-skinned, 20-foot-tall Cyclops who gets seriously pissed off when Sinbad and his crew impale him with spears.
This website has short clips of the monsters from most of Harryhausen's movies.
Link (Thanks, Joe Alterio!)
(Via Boing Boing.)
R. Crumb's Bigfoot covers for Fate: "Mark Frauenfelder:
Cryptomundo has some scans of the Fate covers illustrated by Robert Crumb.
Link
Previously on Boing Boing:
• Old copies of Fate magazine
• R. Crumb and Aline Crumb in the New York Times
(Via Boing Boing.)
Vegas cops launch "Sin City" recruitment campaign: "Cory Doctorow:
The Las Vegas police have redesigned their recruiting ads so that they look like a scene from Frank Miller's Sin City.
Link
(via Warren Ellis)
(Via Boing Boing.)
Tag Cloud for 2007 State of the Union Address: "Xeni Jardin:
Here's a tag cloud for President Bush's State of the Union address last night. The size of words indicate how frequently they were used in the speech. Example: 'security,' 'terrorists' and 'america' are bigger than most, because the President said them more often. Link
(Via Boing Boing.)
Neocon buzzword bingo: "Mark Frauenfelder:
Rich Kulawiec says: 'Just in time for tonight's State of the Union address, a variation of bingo played via often-used words and phrases.'
How to play:
* 1. Tune into CSPAN, PBS, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, the Fascist News Netw...errr, FOX, or even one of the traditional three networks.
* 2. Wait for a NeoCon or proxy to appear at a speaking engagement, press conference, interview, or talking head confrontation.
* 3. Mark off squares as buzzwords are used.
* 4. Celebrate any 5 in a row by shouting 'I am not a terrorist' loudly enough that the perfectly legal wiretaps can pick it up.
(Via Boing Boing.)
High school librarian: why books are a hard sell: "David Pescovitz:
In Sunday's Washington Post, high school librarian Thomas Washington opined about 'marketing' library books to increasingly disinterested students. From the essay:
Typically, many people in my line of work no longer have the title of librarian. They are called media and information specialists, or sometimes librarian technologists. The buzzword in the trade is 'information literacy,' a misnomer, because what it is really about is mastering computer skills, not promoting a love of reading and books. These days, librarians measure the quality of returns in data-mining stints. We teach students how to maximize a database search, about successful retrieval rates. What usually gets lost in the scramble is a careful reading of the material.
Students are still checking out the standard research fare -- the Thomas Jefferson biography, the volume of literary criticism on Jane Austen -- but few read it. The library checks the books back in a day later, after the students have extracted the information vitals -- usually an excerpt or two to satisfy the requirement that a certain number of works be cited in their papers...
I recently spoke with a junior who was stressed about her decreasing ability to focus on anything for longer than two minutes or so. I tried to inspire her by talking about the importance of reading as a way to train the brain. I told her that a good reader develops the same powers of concentration that an athlete or a Buddhist would employ in sport or meditation. 'A lot out there is conspiring to distract you,' I said.
She rolled her eyes. 'That's your opinion about books. It doesn't make it true.'
(Via Boing Boing.)
R2D2: Secret leader of the rebellion: "Cory Doctorow:
Keith Martin's 'A New Sith, or Revenge of the Hope: Reconsidering Star Wars IV in the light of I-III' is an essay that convincingly argues that R2D2 is actually the secret leader of the Rebellion:
For the next 20 years, as far as 3PO knows, he is the property of Captain Antilles, doing protocol duties on a diplomatic transport. He is vaguely aware of the existence of the princess but doesn't know much about her. Wherever 3PO goes, being as loud and obvious as he always is, his unobtrusive little counterpart goes with him. 3PO is R2's front man. Wherever they land, R2 is passing messages between rebel sympathisers and sizing up governments as potential rebel recruits - both by personal contact and by hacking into their networks. He passes his recommendations on to Organa.
Yoda is out of the picture by this stage, using the Force-infused swamps of Dagobah to hide himself from Vader and the Emperor. Or something. He is meditating on the future and keeping in touch with Obi-Wan via the ghost of Qui-Gon Jin, which as comm systems go has the virtue of being untappable. Obi-Wan, on Tattoine, keeps in touch with Bail Organa and the other Rebel leaders by courier, of which more later.
As Star Wars opens, R2 is rushing the Death Star plans to the Rebellion. R2, not Leia. The plans are always in R2. What Leia puts into him in the early scene is only her own holographic message to Kenobi. Leia's own mission, as she says in the holographic message, is to pick up Obi-Wan and take him to Alderaan - or so she thinks. Actually, her father just wants her to meet Kenobi, which up to this point she never has. There's a reason for that.
(Via Boing Boing.)
Work from bed with the Ergopod: "Cory Doctorow:
The Ergopod 500 is a clever system for supporting a PC, mouse, keyboard and work-areas, intended for use by heavy computer users, particularly those with special physical needs. One of its many adjustable modes is a 'work supine' and 'work in bed' version that gives you everything you need in easy reach from the comfort of your own bed. I'm able-bodied, but holy moly, this is the lazy Sunday computing solution I've always dreamt of! Add a bar-fridge and you'd have a perfect morning.
Link
(via Neatorama)
"
(Via Boing Boing.)
The Invisible Enemy in Iraq: drug-resistant supergerm: "Xeni Jardin:
In this month's issue of Wired, an article by Steve Silberman about Acinetobacter baumannii, a drug-resistant supergerm infecting the US military's evacuation chain:
Since Operation Iraqi Freedom began in 2003, more than 700 US soldiers have been infected or colonized with Acinetobacter baumannii. A significant number of additional cases have been found in the Canadian and British armed forces, and among wounded Iraqi civilians. The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology has recorded seven deaths caused by the bacteria in US hospitals along the evacuation chain. Four were unlucky civilians who picked up the bug at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC, while undergoing treatment for other life-threatening conditions. Another was a 63-year-old woman, also chronically ill, who shared a ward at Landstuhl with infected coalition troops.
Behind the scenes, the spread of a pathogen that targets wounded GIs has triggered broad reforms in both combat medical care and the Pentagon's networks for tracking bacterial threats within the ranks. Interviews with current and former military physicians, recent articles in medical journals, and internal reports reveal that the Department of Defense has been waging a secret war within the larger mission in Iraq and Afghanistan - a war against antibiotic-resistant pathogens.
(Via Boing Boing.)
The iPod as Barbie: "Macworld 2007 was busier than I've seen in years, but it didn't feel like a computer show. Indeed, as I squeezed past everything from iPod toilet-paper holders to all manner of cases, bags, and enveloping speakers, I was struck by..."
(Via O'Reilly Digital Media Blog.)
Why I'm thrilled about AppleTV: "
Wow. All the negativity. Even our own Jochen isn’t impressed. Me? I can’t wait for AppleTV. The way I see it, AppleTV is a boatload of hackable fun just waiting to be played with. Think of it as a $299 Mac Mini with a smaller form factor and no power brick. Yeah, it has just a 40GB disk and an underpowered processor but do you think that those limitations are going to stick around for more than a few minutes after we geeks get our hands on it? How much do you want to bet that it’s running some familiar code on that underclocked Intel chip? How long until we can upgrade to a bigger disk? How much do you want to bet that we can get that ‘diagnostics only’ USB port working? Yes, I am excited about AppleTV and can’t wait to start playing with my Lil’ Bastard Consumer Electronics Dissection and Torture Kit.
"(Via MacDevCenter.)
New Archie Graphic Novel Explores Rich Inner...: "
New Archie Graphic Novel Explores Rich Inner Life Of Jughead
"(Via blog.)
Lucky duck survives gunshot and 2 days inside fridge: "Xeni Jardin:
Snip: 'A hunter shot the duck, wounding it in the wing and leg. Believing the bird was dead, he left it in his fridge at his home in Tallahassee. The hunter's wife got a fright when she opened the fridge and the duck lifted its head, a local veterinarian said.' Link to BBC News item (Thanks, Violet!)
(Via Boing Boing.)
The Generic Casserole Recipe || kuro5hin.org: "
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The Generic Casserole Recipe
By mimizukujin in Culture
Sun Jan 21, 2007 at 02:48:26 AM EST
Tags: food (all tags)
I like to cook.
Sometimes, though, I just don't feel up to making my usual killer stir-fry or made-from-scratch Southwestern Burrito. When I'm too lazy or disinterested in making a masterpiece, I make a casserole.
So, what exactly is a casserole? I tend to call anything that is layered and put into the oven to bake a casserole. For a more precise definition, why not ask Wikipedia?
Since I'm assuming that you don't want to cook any more than I do when I make one, I'll break it down into easy to follow steps.
Choose a meat.
This could be any kind of meat, really. Favorites are chicken or ground beef, but you"
The Blasphemy Challenge: "More news from evangelical atheism: Filmmaker Brian Flemming and the Rational Response Squad are challenging YouTubers to upload videos of themselves, blaspheming the Holy Spirit. Whoever does so and follows the instructions will receive a free DVD of Flemming's film, The God Who Wasn't There, a documentary which puts forward the hypothesis that Jesus never existed. The catch: according to the Bible, blaspheming the Holy Spirit is an eternal, unforgivable sin. Whoops. So far over 350 people have been willing to exchange their soul for a free DVD. Some of these videos are quite clever, though most simply contain the plain catchphrase, 'I deny the holy spirit.'"
(Via Kuro5hin.org.)
Children of Men uses CC sample: "Cory Doctorow:
Fred sez, 'Here's a screen shot of the credits from Children Of Men that gives attribution to Free Sound Project sample. The sample, 'male loud scream' is licensed under licensed under a Creative Commons Sampling Plus 1.0 License. Is this the first example of a major motion picture using Creative Commons licensed content?'
Link
(Thanks, Fred!)
"
(Via Boing Boing.)
Eboy's Tower of Incompatibabel: "Cory Doctorow:
Eboy has posted a new graphic entitled 'Tower of Incompatibabel' that very neatly makes the connection between DRM and proprietary formats and the dystopia that followed the fall of the Tower of Babel.
Link
(via Architectures of Control in Design)
"
(Via Boing Boing.)
Grand Canyon employees not "silenced" as PEER claimed: "David Pescovitz:
Last month, I posted about how the Grand Canyon National Park bookstore is still selling a Creationist book claiming that the canyon was formed by Noah's Flood. On December 28, 2006, the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) issued a press release complaining about this matter and claiming that a promised National Park Service policy review had never been conducted. It's true that the book is still being sold in the bookstore. However, the PEER press release starts off by stating that the 'Grand Canyon National Park is not permitted to give an official estimate of the geologic age of its principal feature, due to pressure from Bush administration appointees.' I didn't post that part of the PEER release and, in fact, a BB reader quickly pointed out that the National Park Service FAQ on the Grand Canyon states very clearly that the canyon is five or six million years old.
Well guess what. It seems that PEER's shocking opening statement that park employees are being silenced to serve some big shots' religious agenda is, well, dubious to say the least. Skeptic magazine publisher Michael Shermer investigated after readers suggested that eSkeptic, which posted highlights from the PEER release, might not have been skeptical enough. From Shermer's column:
Link to eSkeptic, Link to PEER's 'amdended' press release, Link to an archive of the original PEER press release (Thanks, Randee!)
The referencing of sources who wish to remain anonymous (like those who PEER executive director Jeff Ruch claimed gave him the information about the silenced park employees) is quite common in journalism and, in fact, there are laws protecting whistleblowers . The fact that no such reference was made until I pointedly accused Ruch of flatout lying makes me, well, skeptical of this explanation. His final statement to me doesn’t make me any less skeptical:
We are issuing an amended release today that
1. deletes reference to what interpretive staff can and cannot say and
2. features the NPS official statement that they provide geological information to the public.
(Via Boing Boing.)
BoingBoing week in review: Jan 15-20, 2007: "Xeni Jardin:
Above: 'Pac Man's secret,' by Ape Lad.
Here are a bunch of BoingBoing posts from the past week that (a) people talked about or linked to a lot (b) we were particularly obsessed with.
(Via Boing Boing.)
Apple's next product photoshopping contest: "Cory Doctorow:
Today on the Worth1000 photoshoppng contest: Apple's next 'i' product. Pictured here: the iKill pistol (only compatible with iBullets).
Link"
(Via Boing Boing.)
Top 100 Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered animals: "David Pescovitz:
The Zoological Society of London has presented a list of the world's top 100 'most bizarre and unusual animals' whose existence is threatened. They call the critters on their list EDGE animals, standing for 'Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered.' Over at Cryptomundo, Loren Coleman draws the link between the amazing animals on this list and cryptozoology, the study of 'hidden' animals. (Seen here is the Slender loris, #22 on the list, whose tears are ingredients in some traditional medicines.) From the EDGE Top 100:
1. Yangtze River dolphin or baiji (Lipotes vexillifer)
Long considered the world’s rarest and most threatened cetacean, this species may already be extinct.
2. Long-beaked echidna (Zaglossus bruijni)
One of the most primitive mammals on the planet, this species lays eggs like a reptile.
3. Riverine rabbit (Bunolagus monticularis)
This ancient rabbit is one of South Africa’s rarest and most endangered mammal species.
4. Cuban solenodon (Solenodon cubanus)
This primitive insectivore was believed to be extinct until its rediscovery in 2003.
5. Hispaniolan solenodon (Solenodon paradoxus)
This ancient insectivore has modified incisors which enable it to inject venom into its prey like a snake.
(Via Boing Boing.)
SubGenius child custody setback: "Mark Frauenfelder:
Modemac says:
Rachel Bevilacqua posted her message to the newsgroup alt.slack that the custody case had been won on Saturday, January 6th. Boing Boing picked up the story and published it on Thursday, January 11th. So the word was spreading like wildfire (as stories published in Boing Boing often are) on Friday, January 12th -- at the exact time the case took a sudden, unexpected turn.Link"Even as Magdalen was receiving congratulations from the blogosphere, the opposition's lawyer filed an emergency last-minute appeal, and her son's father took further custody of her son against her wishes. The end result was that a 'stay order' was issued that effectly overruled the decision of Judge Adams, requiring yet another round in court. Magdalen was not reunited with her son, and the child is still in his father's custody until May 2007.
My apologies to Boing Boing's readers for the confusion; I hope this clears things up. As always, updates to this story can be found on my Web site.
(Via Boing Boing.)
A List Apart: Articles: How to Grok Web Standards: "Articles
Topics
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No. 230
January 09, 2007
How to Grok Web Standards
by Craig Cook
Published in: CSS, HTML and XHTML |
Discuss this article »
Many web designers, myself included, come to the web with a background in the graphic arts. We think in pictures, not in code. When we first begin designing for the web, we’ll use HTML and CSS crudely, as a means to an end—a method of arranging pretty boxes in space—without grasping the true nature of the box itself or what it contains. Altering that strictly visual mentality is the highest hurdle to overcome when a graphic designer first dives into semantics and web standards. For the visual designer, really understanding web standards means you’ll have to change the way you think about design.
The word ‘grok’ comes from Robert A. Heinlein’s Zen-hippie science fiction opus Stranger in a Strange Land. It’s a verb from the Martian language that means something along the lines of ‘to understand completely.’ To grok "
Battle of Helm's Deep made of candy: "Cory Doctorow:
Raincoaster sez, 'This blogger made a scale model of the Battle of Helm's Deep (from The Two Towers of the Lord of the Rings trilogy) in candy! The site has an awesome collection of photos and brief, but hilarious commentary.'
Alas! The evil host is through the walls! And up the carefully crafted stairs of Starbust candies. Is there no end to their cruelty? The answer is most definitely NO, as you can see from the piles of dead men and elves. They are covered in the sweetest candy blood we could find (red Nerds and more licorice rope).
(Via Boing Boing.)
Giant rabbits to solve hunger in North Korea: "Mark Frauenfelder:
Ita says 'Karl Szmolinsky, a 67 year old, East German pensioner that have breds rabbits the size of dogs for 47 years was asked by North Korea's ambassador whether he might be willing to sell some rabbits to set up a breeding farm in North Korea. Each of his German Grey Rabbits can feed 8 people and will possible reduce if not stop solve the food shortage crisis in North Korea.' Link
(Via Boing Boing.)
FedEx: Homeland Security won't let us ship "Certainty" in empty boxes: "Cory Doctorow:
Paul sez, 'Homeland Security has gotten to FedEx. I tried to ship some make-believe products from Greenwood Space Travel Supply (the 'front' for Seattle's branch of 826 Valencia), including 'Rocket Fuel' and 'Certainty.' FedEx, however, wouldn't let me, saying that they were 'too suspicious' and looked like 'bomb-making materials.' Despite the fact that they were mostly just empty containers with funny words on them. Hilarious, but sad.'
Me [going into post-9/11, TSA-style super-dumbfounded mode]: So what you're saying is you can't ship any sort of containers, even if they're empty? You know that we originally ordered these empty cans and jars from a company, and *they* shipped them to *us*.
FedEx guy: They must have used a different vendor ['vendor'? I can't remember, some word like that, like a 'service'].
Which I imagine he said because he couldn't bring himself to say, 'It's the *words* that are *on* the containers that are dangerous'—even after I had opened them all and demonstrated the utter harmlessness/emptiness of the containers themselves.
(Via Boing Boing.)
Apple phone: no need to wait for June on this one.: "Xeni Jardin:
Michael Calanan says, 'Call me a luddite but I much prefer this vintage landline version of an, ahem, 'Apple' phone.' Link, and here's what it looks like with the top half closed: Link.
See also this story by John Markoff in today's NYT: 'Steve Jobs Walks the Tightrope Again.' reg-free Link. Snip:
The leading handset makers — Microsoft, Motorola, Nokia, Palm, Research in Motion, Samsung and Sony Ericsson — are all pushing in the direction of making their devices increasingly look like PCs you can put in your pocket.
Mr. Jobs is moving in that direction, too, but it appears that he wants to control his device much more closely than his competitors do.
‘We define everything that is on the phone,’ he said. ‘You don’t want your phone to be like a PC. The last thing you want is to have loaded three apps on your phone and then you go to make a call and it doesn’t work anymore. These are more like iPods than they are like computers.’
The iPhone model, he insisted, would not look like the rest of the wireless industry.
‘These are devices that need to work, and you can’t do that if you load any software on them,’ he said. ‘That doesn’t mean there’s not going to be software to buy that you can load on them coming from us. It doesn’t mean we have to write it all, but it means it has to be more of a controlled environment.’
(Via Boing Boing.)
Immolate Me Elmo: "Cory Doctorow:
This video of a live Tickle Me Elmo doll going up in flames is easily the most disturbing thing I've seen all month -- it writhes and thrashes and laughes with mad glee, begging you to 'stop it' while its charred body dances with red flame. This is some deeply twisted stuff.
Link
(Thanks, Fipi Lele!)
(Via Boing Boing.)
R2D2-shaped LCD projector with built-in DVD player: "Cory Doctorow:
Nikko has announced an R2D2-shaped one-third-scale LCD projector that includes a DVD player, firmware that supports MP3s and JPEGs, USB input, an iPod dock, wireless FM audio, and a Millennium Falcon remote-control. The head spins around, too. They also have an R2D2 base-station for a light-saber-shaped Skype phone.
The site's a little whacky -- it's just scans of brochures, with no image gallery, and a nonfunctional 'order' form that asks for your gender (!?).
Link
(via Gizmodo)"
(Via Boing Boing.)
