Windows XP on Macs: Tested, Benchmarked

Thursday, March 23, 2006
08:36 PM

Windows XP on Macs: Tested, Benchmarked: "The expert analysts at Gearlog have found a way to run Windows XP on not just one or two Intel-based Macs, but three such systems."

(Via eWEEK Macintosh.)

Mother Jones mag - "Intellectual property"'s worst excesses

Thursday, March 23, 2006
08:09 PM

Mother Jones mag - "Intellectual property"'s worst excesses: "Cory Doctorow:
Mother Jones, a left-wing magazine, has published a Harpers-Index-style guide to copyright's worst excesses; it's notable that this week both they and their ideological opponents at the libertarian Cato Institute have both published material supporting the copyfight. It's truly a nonpartisan fight:

A DAY AFTER Senator Orrin Hatch said 'destroying their machines' might be the only way to stop illegal downloaders, unlicensed software was discovered on his website.

BILL GATES had the 11-million-image Bettmann Archive buried 220 feet underground. Archivists can access only the 2% that was first digitized.

AMONG THE 16,000 people thus far sued for sharing music files was a 65-year-old woman who, though she didn't own downloading software, was accused of sharing 2,000 songs, including Trick Daddy's 'I'm a Thug.' She was sued for up to $150,000 per song.

MICROSOFT UK held a contest for the best film on 'intellectual property theft'; finalists had to sign away 'all intellectual property rights' on 'terms acceptable to Microsoft.'

Link

(Thanks, Dave!)

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Giant squid-sicle on display at Melbourne aquarium

Thursday, March 23, 2006
08:06 PM

Giant squid-sicle on display at Melbourne aquarium: "Xeni Jardin:
Make haste! Get thee to the Melbourne aquarium in Australia! Only three more days left to see the world's most ginormous frozen squid!

The 250-kilogram creature, caught by commercial fishermen off New Zealand’s South Island earlier this year, has cost the aquarium more than $100,000, which included purchasing and transporting the squid. The bill also included displaying the squid in a purpose-built 31/2-tonne block of ice.

Link to item on the world's first all-squid, all-the-time SquidBlog! Image: courtesy Melbourne Aquarium. (Thanks, Scott Beale!)

Update: Alex Loke says,

The article mentions that there are only a few days left to see the squid, but the Aquarium website says the exhibit has been extended to September 30. That being, said I've seen it and it's pretty damned amazing.

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

HOWTO become an early riser

Thursday, March 23, 2006
08:05 PM

HOWTO become an early riser: "Cory Doctorow:
This HOWTO explains how to turn yourself into an early riser. I've always been an early riser -- when I was a kid, I used to get up at 4AM; these days, it's more likely to be between 5 and 6 -- and I love it. I get so much done while everyone else is asleep, by the time I get to work, I've already gotten my blogging done, worked on my novel, cleared out my inbox, done some physiotherapy exercises, Tai Chi and yoga, eaten a healthy breakfast and gone for a walk.

Apparently, non-early-risers make a lot of mistakes when they try to switch -- like just going to bed earlier, or going to bed whenever and waking up whenever. This article, written by someone who's tried many approaches, explains one approach that worked for him.

The solution was to go to bed when I’m sleepy (and only when I’m sleepy) and get up with an alarm clock at a fixed time (7 days per week). So I always get up at the same time (in my case 5am), but I go to bed at different times every night.

I go to bed when I’m too sleepy to stay up. My sleepiness test is that if I couldn’t read a book for more than a page or two without drifting off, I’m ready for bed. Most of the time when I go to bed, I’m asleep within three minutes. I lie down, get comfortable, and immediately I’m drifting off. Sometimes I go to bed at 9:30pm; other times I stay up until midnight. Most of the time I go to bed between 10-11pm. If I’m not sleepy, I stay up until I can’t keep my eyes open any longer. Reading is an excellent activity to do during this time, since it becomes obvious when I’m too sleepy to read.

When my alarm goes off every morning, I turn it off, stretch for a couple seconds, and sit up.

Link

(via Evhead)

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Piss-controlled urinal-based video games

Thursday, March 23, 2006
08:04 PM
my kinda game

Piss-controlled urinal-based video games: "Cory Doctorow:


Marcel Neundörfer's On Target urinal has a pressure-sensitive screen recessed into it -- score points by shooting the moving images onscreen. Not only does this add much-needed entertainment to otherwise dreary elimination functions, but it also improves aim -- if you stay on target, you'll avoid splashback and misses.

Link

(Thanks, Vipula!)

Update: Jeff sez, 'This is a pretty flagrant copy of this project for the Media Lab, by Dan Maynes-Aminzade.' (see this BB post from 2003)

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Animated cute zombies getting their asses kicked

Thursday, March 23, 2006
08:04 PM

Animated cute zombies getting their asses kicked: "Cory Doctorow:


Paul Robertson's LiveJournal has tons of delicious looping animated GIFs, apparently from his forthcoming animated short film Pirate Baby's Cabana Street Fight 2006. Most of them show shambling baby zombies that look a little like undead Stortroopers, including a standout one showing the undead getting their asses thoroughly kicked by a kung-fu kid.


Link

(Thanks, Josh!)

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Airport screening doesn't stop knives, bombs, or guns

Thursday, March 23, 2006
08:02 PM

Airport screening doesn't stop knives, bombs, or guns: "Cory Doctorow:
Bruce Schneier has an excellent article on why current invasive screening procedures are ineffective at stopping bombs, guns and knives from getting on planes, and has suggestions for how to introduce effective security.

One thing, though: his article mentions that in Europe, the ineffective and time-consuming process of separately X-raying laptops isn't practiced, but on my last flights out of Heathrow and Amsterdam airports, last week, I had to take my laptop out for a separate screen.

Of course, this isn't just bad because it wastes time -- it's also a problem because it lets the whole world, including laptop thieves, eyeball every laptop entering the airport. Plus every time you have to hold your shoes, coat, belt, ticket, ID, sweater and laptop while shuffling toward the X-ray machine, there's a chance that you're going to drop your computer and smash it to flinders. We have a security procedure designed for people with nine arms.

It seems like every time someone tests airport security, airport security fails. In tests between November 2001 and February 2002, screeners missed 70 percent of knives, 30 percent of guns and 60 percent of (fake) bombs. And recently (see also this), testers were able to smuggle bomb-making parts through airport security in 21 of 21 attempts. It makes you wonder why we're all putting our laptops in a separate bin and taking off our shoes. (Although we should all be glad that Richard Reid wasn't the 'underwear bomber.')

The failure to detect bomb-making parts is easier to understand. Break up something into small enough parts, and it's going to slip past the screeners pretty easily. The explosive material won't show up on the metal detector, and the associated electronics can look benign when disassembled. This isn't even a new problem. It's widely believed that the Chechen women who blew up the two Russian planes in August 2004 probably smuggled their bombs aboard the planes in pieces.

Link

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

You Thought The iPod Was Taking Over The World?

Thursday, March 09, 2006
08:45 PM

You Thought The iPod Was Taking Over The World?: "

If we thought that iPods were taking over the world already, just way til the world sees 'Scary Movie 4'. FreeMacBlog posts a few screenshots at http://www.freemacblog.com/attack-of-the-tripods/.

"

(Via MacMegasite.)

Never exercise without an iPod

Thursday, March 09, 2006
08:40 PM

Never exercise without an iPod: "

Proof that iPods are indispensible safety equipment:

[She] was wearing only jogging clothes and went unidentified in the hospital for hours until investigators checked out the iPod she was carrying. Using the serial number, traced who it was registered to...Detective Tony Depalma, U.S. Park Police: 'First time, I didn't have a lot of knowledge about iPod's but we know more about them now and it was actually very useful.'

Via Digg.

"

(Via MacDevCenter.)

People still think "Macintosh"

Thursday, March 09, 2006
08:37 PM

People still think "Macintosh": "

British geek, broadcaster and Mac user Jonathan Sanderson makes a very good point: why is http://www.apple.com/macintosh a 404?

When Steve Jobs announced the MacBook Pro, he said that Apple was 'done with Power' and wanted its computers to have the word 'Mac' in their name.

Granted, it's been a long time since any of Apple's machines were called 'Macintosh,' and most regular Mac users will know that. But the vast majority of non-users (ie, potential customers) don't. I've been asked many times why I use a 'Macintosh' - the branding from the mid-1980s was so strong that it still has a hold on people's minds today.

All of which makes me think that the very least Apple's webdudes could do is point apple.com/macintosh to, say, apple.com/hardware...

"

(Via MacDevCenter.)

Hall of Mirrors for cats

Thursday, March 09, 2006
08:32 PM

Hall of Mirrors for cats: "David Pescovitz:
Our friends at the Athanasius Kircher Society, who introduced us to the twisted 17th century cat piano, point us to another of Kircher's strange inventions. This time, it's a hall of mirrors that would almost certainly drive our feline friends insane if it was ever to be built. (And as a devoted cat companion, I would never ever encourage such a thing.) From a text by Gaspar Schott:

‘You will exhibit the most delightful trick if you impose one of these appearances on a live cat, as Fr. Kircher has done. While the cat sees himself to be surrounded by an innumerable multitude of catoptric cats, some of them standing close to him and others spread very far away from him, it can hardly be said how many capers will be exhibited in that theatre, while he sometimes tries to follow the other cats, sometimes to entice them with his tail, sometimes attempts a kiss, and indeed tries to break through the obstacles in every way with his claws so that he can be united with the other cats, until finally, with various noises, and miserable whines he declares his various affectations of indignation, rage, jealousy, love and desire. Similar spectacles can be exhibited with other animals.’

Link

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Bizarre looking crustacean discovered

Thursday, March 09, 2006
08:28 PM

Bizarre looking crustacean discovered: "David Pescovitz:

Scientists just announced the discovery of this strange new crustacean 900 miles south of Easter Island. According to a report in the journal of the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, divers first found the creature last year at a depth of 7,540 feet. From the Associated Press:

Scientists said the animal, which they named Kiwa hirsuta, was so distinct from other species that they created a new family and genus for it.
The animal is white and just shy of 6 inches long — about the size of a salad plate.



In what (the French Institute for Sea Exploration's Michel) Segonzac described as a 'surprising characteristic,' the animal's pincers are covered with sinuous, hair-like strands.



It is also blind. The researchers found it had only 'the vestige of a membrane' in place of eyes, Segonzac said.

Link

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Planetarium joy comes home

Monday, March 06, 2006
11:44 PM

Planetarium joy comes home: "

Past burgeoning astronauts spent hours assembling ceiling constellations out of glow stars, but kids today can just plug in Segatoys' HomeStar ($239) projector. With a built-in high-brightness white LED, it turns a bedroom into a planetarium, illuminating starry views on your ceiling. A plate slot lets you pick the sky of choice. The Homestar's available in silver and black.

— Trevor Noren

"

(Via SCI FI Tech Blog.)

MIT origami competition

Monday, March 06, 2006
10:49 PM

MIT origami competition: "David Pescovitz:

The winning entries of MIT's Student Origami Competition are now on display at the school and online. Seen here is freshman Jason Ku's model of a Nazgul from the Lord of the Rings.

Link(via MAKE: Blog)

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

WWJD 3 - Results! - Engadget

Monday, February 27, 2006
08:19 PM

WWJD 3 - Results! - Engadget: ""

(Via .)

RIP, Octavia Butler, "genius" science fiction writer

Sunday, February 26, 2006
09:30 PM
my oldest brother recently died in the same manner

RIP, Octavia Butler, "genius" science fiction writer: "Cory Doctorow:
Octavia Butler, the brilliant science fiction writer, reportedly died on Saturday following a fall that gave her a fatal concussion. Butler was the incredible writer who was the first genre author to win the MacArthur Foundation's 'Genius' grant. She was the first prominent African-American woman in the field, and her novels and short stories were an inspiration to a generation of writers of all backgrounds and both sexes (I was ready to give up writing after a five-year bout of writers' block in my mid-twenties when I read the introduction to her short story collection in which she recounted her own block and decided to keep trying). I recently reviewed her wonderful novel Fledgling here, a vampire book that, like all of Butler's work, was a disturbing, light-touch allegory about race and sex politics skinned with a fast-moving, heart-wrenching storyline.

Butler was only 58 when she died on Saturday. Her oeuvre is too modest, but will never be forgotten. She had many amazing books left in her. I only met her once, very briefly, and I was tongue-tied in her presence, but she was gracious and friendly. The field and the world has lost someone wonderful this weekend.

Several people have confirmed this now, though nothing authoritative has been published. I'll update this post if something firmer emerges.

Link

(Thanks, Bill, Jeff and Steve!)

(Photo from NikolasCo/Flickr)

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Loren Coleman in the Boston Globe

Sunday, February 26, 2006
09:29 PM

Loren Coleman in the Boston Globe: "David Pescovitz:
My cryptozoologist pal Loren Coleman of Cryptomundo is the subject of a long profile in today's Boston Globe. The reporter visited Loren in his wunderkammer home, also known as the International Cryptozoology Museum. From the article:

To believers, doubters, even skeptics, Bigfoot makes a big impression. The replica 8 1/2 - foot hairy hominoid -- crafted from the fur of musk oxen and buffalo, a hulking presence on the porch of a brown-and-yellow home in Portland, Maine -- scares the bejesus out of the UPS man. Still, it's right at home here on the doorstep of a man who has spent a lifetime investigating mysterious animal sightings. 'I don't particularly feel like a strange person,' Loren Coleman says. 'It's the subject I study that's strange.'



He is a leading figure in the world of cryptozoology, a field whose legitimacy is disputed. Coleman has trekked to 49 states, as well as Canada, Mexico, and Scotland, gathering physical evidence and eyewitness accounts of Bigfoot, the Abominable Snowman, the Loch Ness Monster, Mothman, thunderbirds, and other legendary beasts not verified by conventional science but storied enough to make us wonder: What if?



'Eighty percent of all the accounts that come to me are misidentifications, are mundane animals - a few fakes, a few hoaxes,' Coleman acknowledges. 'But it's that 20 percent of the core unknowns that keep me going.'

Link(free reg. required or BugMeNot: me@privacy.net / boston)

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Don Knotts dead at 81

Sunday, February 26, 2006
09:28 PM
man, those lips

Don Knotts dead at 81: "Cory Doctorow:


Don Knotts -- AKA The Incredible Mr Limpet, Deputy Barney Fife, and Ralph Furley -- has died at 81 from pumonary and repsitory complications. Good night, Barn, and sleep well.

Link

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Florida cops threaten people who ask for complaint forms

Sunday, February 26, 2006
09:27 PM
maybe I am on medication

Florida cops threaten people who ask for complaint forms: "Cory Doctorow:
A CBS undercover reporting team went into 38 police stations in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties in Florida, asking for a set of forms they could use to complain about inappropriate police behavior. In all but three of the stations, the police refused to give them forms. Some of the cops threatened them (on hidden camera, no less) -- one of them even touched his gun.

officer: Where do you live? Where do you live? You have to tell me where you live, what your name is, or anything like that.

tester: For a complaint? I mean, like, if I have --

officer: Are you on medications?

tester: Why would you ask me something like that?

officer: Because you're not answering any of my questions.

tester: Am I on medications?

officer: I asked you. It's a free country. I can ask you that.

tester: Okay, you're right.

officer: So you're not going to tell me who you are, you're not going to tell me what the problem is.You're not going to identify yourself.

tester: All I asked you was, like, how do I contact --

officer: You said you have a complaint. You say my officers are acting in an inappropriate manner.

officer: So leave now. Leave now. Leave now.

Link

(via Why, That's Delightful!)

Update: Alex sez, 'The Lauderhill cop who was shown intimidating an individual looking to file a police complaint on hidden camera took the news station to court to stop the story from airing.'

Update 2: Lee sez, 'The Police Complaint Center exists to help citizens file complaints against officers and departments -- an important service, as police officers are supposed to be serving the public.'

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

New filter keeps iPod videos to yourself

Wednesday, February 22, 2006
10:39 PM
1 4 me pleez

New filter keeps iPod videos to yourself: "

You know, I'm getting really tired of all those morning commuters leaning in to check out my video iPod. After all, I was the one who paid $1.99 so I could watch last night's Lost on the D train. I guess I should get me a PodCowBoy, a filter that you stick over an iPod's screen that'll ensure anyone trying to eavesdrop from the side will see nothing but gray — you have to look head on to see anything. Seems kind of backwards to develop something that actually reduces a display's viewing angle, but for anyone who doesn't want to reveal to the world your taste in portable video, the filter should help reclaim a smidge of privacy. Made by Japanese company Digital Cowboy, it also comes with an A/V cable for hooking your iPod up to a TV. — Peter Pachal

iPod Video Privacy Filter, via Gizmodo

"

(Via SCI FI Tech Blog.)