heh heh

Graffiti: It's a Fun Crime: "Mark Frauenfelder:

Link

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

anudder day in CA Traffique

Silicon Valley traffic report: gorilla suited guy on freeway: "Xeni Jardin:
An unusual thing happened in the center median of 280 northbound at 92 about 45 minutes ago: dude in gorilla suit waves at motorists, causing traffic slowdown. Here's the California Highway Safety Patrol coded alert thread:

Incident: 1286 Type: Location: info as of: 2/27/2007 4:54:41 PM

ADDITIONAL DETAILS

4:52PM MAN IN GORILLA SUIT STILL 1097

4:52PM SO ADV 2 VEHS LEFT THE AREA

4:47PM PER ANOTHER ABOUT 1 MILE JNO 92 / 2 PEOPLE IN CD

4:45PM THIS IS A REAL PERSON IN A GORILLA AND 2 OTHER PEOPLE ON RHS

4:39PM IN CD/MALE LSW GORILLA SUIT

RESPONDING OFFICERS STATUS

4:45PM CHP Unit Assigned

4:50PM CHP Unit Enroute

Link (via Wayne Correia's list)

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

fooled ja

Prankster tricks Swiss newspaper into running fake Gucci ad: "Mark Frauenfelder:

This guy created a fake ad for Gucci using a photo of himself, and asked the Swiss weekly SonntagsZeitung to run it, which it did. He also told the paper to send the $50,000 bill to Gucci, which it did. Now the paper is trying to find the guy, which it can't. Link

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

so there

MEP who wrote copyright proposal is an infringer: "Cory Doctorow:


EFF's Danny O'Brien sez, 'Klaus-Heiner Lehne, the Euro MP proposing that Europe turn *all* infringement (including copyright, patent and trademarks) into criminal offenses - investigated by national police forces, and punishable with long prison sentences - turns out to have used copyrighted Apple graphics on his own ego site. If his amendment to IPRED2 had passed, would he turn himself in, or merely rat on his webmaster?'

Link

(Thanks, Danny!)

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

so gotta watch this

Paquin Bites Into True Blood: "
Oscar winner Anna Paquin is making her first foray into series television as the lead in the vampire drama pilot True Blood, from Six Feet Under creator Alan Ball for HBO, according to The Hollywood Reporter."

(Via SCI FI Wire.)

read in 28 minutes...

Graphic Novel Picks Up 28 Days: "
28 Days Later: The Aftermath is a graphic novel that bridges the zombie movie 28 Days Later and its upcoming sequel, 28 Weeks Later. 'There's a lot of fun things that aren't covered in the movie, and the graphic novel takes the mythology of the film to flesh out some elements of it and expand it further into the realm of 28 Weeks Later,' said R. Eric Lieb, editor-in-chief of Fox Atomic Comics."

(Via SCI FI Wire.)

Robot flapper pinup: photo art of Jeffrey Scott, "1019": "Xeni Jardin:

Link to the artist's website, here's a direct link to the larger jpeg. You can buy a print of this and many other lovely images (like this one, wow) right here. (Thanks, Jason Schultz)

Reader comment: Allygal says,

Hi, I love your blog, and am a very long time reader! I just wanted to comment and suggest an artist, related to your post about the artist Jeffery Scott. There is an amazing artist who I believe to be one of the innovators to this type of digital photography. His name is Symon Chow: Link. And has been doing this form of work for many years. He seems to be quite reclusive and modest. And deserves way more attension that he has gotten. You can see his work with the link provided and a lot of reviews (from other bloggers) of his work can be found by googling his name. Thanks again for wasting all my time at the office ;)

Wow, beautiful stuff (some of it NSFW). Here's one of Symon Chow's images below.

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

must look at this

First sci fi film retracked online: Voyage dans la lune, 1902: "Xeni Jardin:

My God, I love the internet.

Threetails says,

This represents several months of work. I have taken Georges Méliès' 1902 classic film 'A Trip to the Moon' (Une Voyage dans la Lune), the first science fiction film ever produced, and dubbed on an original soundtrack! If I get a good enough reception I might make tracks from this piece available... Sorry I couldn't make the audio quality a little better for YouTube.

The music is inspired by a number of artists from the early days of electronica, including Kraftwerk, Vangelis, and even Rick Wakeman. So yeah... I took a 104 year old film and made it into a music video for my own experiments in electronic music.

Video Link part 1, Video Link part 2 via Bruce Sterling's blog.

There's also a copy of the original film at archive.org with a more conventional soundtrack. The filmmaker's family resigned copyright in 1961.

Here's the Wikipedia entry on George Méliès, here's the entry on 'Trip to the Moon.'

Reader comment: Joe Francis says,

The Visual effects society has adapted that great Melies image of the rocket in the moon's eye for their awards trophy: Link. I think it's really clever - and not just because I'm a member.

Dan Novy, Technical Supervisor at Flash Film Works, says:

And here's what a 'Vessie' looks like in the wild. :-)

ekrem serdar says,

Even though the Melies film is wonderful, the 'first' sci-fi film was made by the Lumiere brothers themselves. Named Charcuterie Mecanique, it's a 50 second short about a machine: you put the pig in one side, and the sausage, ham, etc. comes out the other! As such a machine still doesn't exist, it could righteously qualify as the first sci-fi film. :) I posted the google video on my blog a few weeks back: Link. Cheers! (source: Baydur, Memet. Cinema Writings. Iletisim Yayinlari, Istanbul, 2004.)

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

oh my gawd - conservopedia

Conservapedia's entry on the cactus: "Mark Frauenfelder:
Conservapedia, a wiki encyclopedia that aims to eliminate the left-wing bias in Wikipedia, is a gold-mine of unintentional hilarity. The entry on the cactus is especially rib-ticking.

The secularist view of the Cactaceae is that they are roughly two million years old, and that they have evolved exclusively in the new world. This view fails to explain, however, how it is that the Opuntia genus is native to the island of Opus, near Greece. Cacti are known for their high content of alkaloids, and have often been used in the sacramental rights of the Native Americans. Because of this, the early Catholic missionaries in the west thought the plants to be the work of Satan, and this is perhaps a preferable view to that of materialistic evolution since it is difficult to imagine how something like mescaline could have evolved by natural selection. Besides that, the psychoactive content of many cacti have inspired the writings of such ungodly men as Aldous Huxley and Albert Hoffman.

Several species of cactus are now endangered in the west due to 'poaching' by collectors and invasive species. But, since Genesis suggests that man has been given dominion over all of the earth, the environmentalist concerns on this note are entirely inappropriate. It may also be that environmentalists, in addition to flauting the Word of God, are merely concerned about the effects that declining cactus populations will have on their supply of mescaline.

You can't make this stuff up, folks. You have to let other's do it for you.

Link

(Thanks, Kevin!)

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

excellent batman

Batman Year 100: Batman versus the DHS: "Cory Doctorow:


This weekend, I read Paul Pope and Jose Villarubia's astounding 'Batman Year 100' collection
(another great find from the recommended table at LA's Secret Headquarters comic shop).

Batman Year 100 is set in 2039, 100 years after the 1939 debut of The Bat-Man. America has become a Soviet-like military society, where corrupt Department of Homeland Security officials reign supreme in a land of suspended habeas corpus and universal surveillance.

Batman is now a mere urban legend in Gotham City, but he is still alive and well, living in the cracks of totalitarian America. When he witnesses a Fed shock-trooper's murder, he becomes the target of a violent, determined investigation from the DHS brass, who are determined to destroy 'the last mask' and perfect their vision of an America where they are the only authority.

Batman Year 100 is the most exciting and fresh re-imagining of the Batman stories since the original Frank Miller Dark Knight comics. The artwork is broody, abstract, haunting; the writing screams along at 100 mph. This Batman is the most complex, conflicted, and darkest Batman yet.

As a bonus, there's a great short alternate-universe Batman story stuck at the end, where Batman is imagined as the alter-ego of a Nazi-fighting Jew in 1939 Germany.

Link

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

hee yah

Trey Parker and Matt Stone: "'You know, I think that if parents would spend less time worrying about what their kids watch on TV and more time worrying about what's going on in their kids' lives, this world would be a much better place.'

"

(Via Motivational Quotes of the Day.)

in honor of the rain and the allday star wars on HBO zone

Light-saber umbrella: "Cory Doctorow:


The Lightsaber Umbrella has an illuminated stalk running up the middle, so that you glow like an eerie mugger-beacon as you stalk the wet streets of town, blinded by the night-vision- destroying light-source inches from your face.

Link

(via Shiny Shiny)

Update: Thanks to everyone who pointed out that these are reminiscent of the Blade Runner brollies.

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

gotta get me some

Make your own "Dharma Initiative" snacks: "Mark Frauenfelder:


The kind folks at Insanely Great Tees have PDFS that you can download to make your own Dharma Initiative food labels (from the TV show Lost) Link (Via Neatorama)

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

os x mmmmmmmmmmm

75% Of Vista Reviews Mention Mac OS X: "Infinite Loop did a survey of Vista reviews and found that 6 of 8 mention Mac OS X in some way. In most cases, the windows reviewers have a clear case of Mac envy. My favorite review of the bunch comes from the Register, who can hardly be called Apple fans:

So, there's our first look at Vista. It does benefit from a lot of good ideas, many of them Apple's, of course, but good nevertheless. It simply doesn't work very well, unfortunately. There are serious problems with execution; it's not polished; it's not ready. It should not be on the market, and certainly not for the outrageous prices being charged.

"

(Via MacSlash.)

The Miracles of iPod Product Placement: "

So last night on ‘Heroes’, a blue iPod nano was featured prominently as part of the ongoing story. Take it as a given that much of Heroes requires a suspension of disbelief: people flying, villains eating brains to acquire superpowers[1], etc. Last night, though, stretched the credulity of some viewers to the limit.

Upon returning to the scene of a crime that had taken place the previous evening, an iPod nano was still blasting away its music the next morning. Either the reality of Heroes must operate in an alternate universe from the one we live in or that nano must have genetically-altered super batteries. You tell me. Was that nano ‘on the list’?

[1] Magically delicious!

"

(Via MacDevCenter.)

there's a great comick, comrade

Christian sex cults weren't the only group...: "

Christian sex cults weren't the only group to put out strange comic books: J. Edgar Hoover got involved as well. (In comics, not the sex cult. As far as I know.) He writes the introduction to Treasure Chest's 'This Godless Communism,' produced by the Catholic Guild. The Authentic History Center has scanned the comic and put it online. Learn about communism to fight against communism. (Thanks to Jim for the link.)

"

(Via blog.)

kewl - robopts

Web Zen: Robot zen: "Xeni Jardin:

robot island


invasion of the tinmen


birth of a robot painting


robot wrestling


giant robot costume


caveman robot


survival research labs


thundercleese

IMAGE: Cellphone snapshot; still-life inside the San Francisco workshop of Survival Research Laboratories, the world's most feared producers of artisanal robotic lethality. 2006, Xeni Jardin, under this CC license. More cell snaps from that visit here.

Web Zen Home, Store (Thanks Frank!).

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

mmmmm mouse liver

Croatian Mickey Mouse liver-paste: "Cory Doctorow:




Bruce Sterling snapped this excellent shot of the world's best licensed Disney product (better, even, than the licensed Japanese Mickey Mouse vibrators) -- Croatian Mickey Mouse Liver Paste!

Link

(via Beyond the Beyond)

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

sounds like a pink floyd song- can't have your pudding til you strertch your meat

WWII booklet: Stretch Your Meat with Cream of Wheat: "Mark Frauenfelder:

During World War II, meat was rationed. This booklet, 'Stretch Your Meat with Cream of Wheat,' showed homemakers how to make tasty dishes by mixing meat with rice wheat cereal. Link

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

wasn't this a horror movie by g romero

Monkey feeds self with brain-controlled robot arm - video: "Mark Frauenfelder:
Here's a video of a monkey controlling a robotic arm with its brain. It uses the arm to feed itself. The idea is cool and has a lot of potential for disable people but the video is disturbing, because the monkey is locked in a plastic box. Link

Previously on Boing Boing:

• Monkeys treat robot arm as bonus appendage

• Monkey controls robot arm through neural interface

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

hohoho

List of bald-headed babes who are not named "Britney Spears": "Xeni Jardin:
Apparently, some chick drove to Tarzana and shaved her head this weekend. In doing so, she joins an exclusive circle of chrome-domed beauties: Link. Think of them as the intellectual and hairdo opposite of the Luxuriant Flowing Hair Club for Scientists. Oh, here are more bald babes: Link (thanks, Rob).

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

kewl links if you missed them

BoingBoing week in review: Feb 12-19, 2007: "Xeni Jardin:

Above: movie poster for the mid-'60s bedroom farce 'Boeing Boeing,' starring Tony Curtis and Jerry Lewis (Thanks, Andrew Tonkin).

Here are a bunch of recent Boeing Boeing posts we think are worth a second peep, in case you missed 'em.

Schneier on Vista (in)security (Cory)

China: new censorship protests against Google and Sina.com (Xeni)

Osama Team Hunger Force: ATHF terror freakout parody video (Xeni)

American Dime Museum closes, auctions oddities (Pesco)

Maltese Falcon swiped (Pesco)

Blu-Ray AND HD-DVD broken - processing keys extracted (Cory)

Songs of the Pogo (Cory)

Prosthetic mask makers of World War I (Pesco)

Parrot uses 950 words to converse with people (Mark)

Vintage tech devices that never existed (Mark)

Dating advice for men explained in electrical diagrams (Xeni)

Supremely excellent cat-playing-piano video (Xeni)

Gizmodo emeritus rips all gadget-sites a new one (Cory)

Mexican drug cartels taunt each other with YouTube videos (Xeni)

Anti-evolution, anti-semitic memo under legislator's name (Pesco)

Virtual drug gets you and your Second Life avatar high (Cory)

Maker Faire 'auditions' in the SF Bay Area Saturday Feb 24 (Mark)

Reader comment: Brendan says,

Following today's link to the movie poster of the old 60s film version of 'Boeing Boeing', a stage revival of the original play has recently started in London. I'm quite sure it's a wonderful thing. Link

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

T-shirts for everyone

Atomic energy agency releases new warning symbol: "Mark Frauenfelder:


The International Atomic Energy Agency released a new warning symbol to supplement the elegant and traditional but meaningless trefoil radiation warning symbol. Link (Thanks, Phil!)

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

YouTube - Windows Vista demo goes awry: "

Analyst Gartenberg joining
Analyst Gartenberg joining Microsoft
February 15, 2007 2:47 PM PST
del.icio.us Digg this
Longtime technology analyst Michael Gartenberg is leaving his post at JupiterResearch and joining Microsoft.

Gartenberg said on his blog Thursday that he will be an 'enthusiast evangelist.'

Understanding that some might not understand the term, he explained: 'Our job is to find, engage and work with enthusiasts and other influencers and show them all the cool stuff that Microsoft is doing.'

He compared his new role as that of a parent, while his old role was more like a babysitter. 'They both take care of children,' Gartenberg said. 'The difference is the sitter plays with the child, gets pai"

(Via .)

maybe a mummy marathon captivated him

Another mummy found watching TV: "David Pescovitz:
Vincenzo Ricardo, 70, of Long Island, was found dead and 'mummified' in front of his TV. Apparently he had passed away more than a year ago. Ricardo should not be confused with Johannas Pope who was discovered in a similar situation almost a year ago exactly. From the Associated Press:

'You could see his face. He still had hair on his head,' Newsday quoted morgue assistant Jeff Bacchus as saying. The home's low humidity had preserved the body.



Officials could not explain why the electricity had not been turned off, considering Ricardo had not been heard from since December 2005.

Link (Thanks, Mark Pescovitz!)


Previously on BB:

• TV-watching 'mummy' died naturally Link

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

have a heart - oh why don't you have a heart

Anatomically correct gummy heart: "Cory Doctorow:


The Gummy Heart Candy is a gelatinous, quivering, strawberry-flavored anatomically correct heart -- just the thing to give to someone you forgot to remember on Valentine's day.

Link

(via Geisha Asobi)

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

read this blog carefully

Satirical science textbook stickers: "Cory Doctorow:
Here's a series of stickers based on an anti-evolution textbook sticker from Georgia -- they get progressively more satirical, surfacing the anti-science, pro-superstition agenda behind 'Intelligent Design.'

Wording for the first disclaimer (top left) is taken verbatim from the sticker designed by the Cobb County School District ('A community with a passion for learning') in Georgia, which actually plagiarized Alabama's evolution disclaimer (view). Really, I'm not making any of this up. The other 14 are mildly educational variants that demonstrate the real meaning of a scientific 'theory' as well as the true motivations of the School Board members and their creationist supporters. Ideally, the above stickers will deter other districts from using textbook disclaimers as a way to undermine the teaching of evolution.

Link

(via Digg)

"

(Via Boing Boing.)