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Unread items (62)
Wired News: Top Stories
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Meteoroid Predicted to Burn Up in Earth's Atmosphere Tonight
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 3:57pm CDT by Betsy Mason
A small meteoroid is predicted to burn up in Earth's atmosphere over Sudan tonight. This is the first time astronomers have been able to predict when a meteoroid will enter the atmosphere.
Wired.com -
Judge's Secret Decision Blocks Sale of DVD-Copying Software
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 2:42pm CDT by David Kravets
A federal judge seals a decision tentatively blocking RealNetwork's sale of DVD-copying software.
Wired.com -
Goliath Beats Davids for Pentagon Power Prize
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 2:25pm CDT by Noah Shachtman
The Pentagon set up a million-dollar prize to get entrepreneurs and tinkerers to come up with radically new ways to supply power to the all those gadgets a soldier has to lug around. But the winner, the Pentagon declared today, is as traditional as it comes: DuPont, the chemical giant -- and military supplier, since 1802.
Wired.com -
How to Understand the Financial Crisis
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 2:15pm CDT by Scott Loganbill
There's a lot of hype surrounding the financial crisis, but what does it really mean? To get acquainted with the financial crisis and what it means to you and me, we've pinged several sources on the internet for economic explanations even we could understand.
Wired.com -
Is the Cheapest Genome Sequence Ever for Real?
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 12:34pm CDT by Brandon Keim
A biotech company is planning to offer complete personal genome sequences for $5,000, but is it too good to be true?
Wired.com -
Toy Robot Intended to Save Humans From Evil
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 12:05pm CDT by Ryan Singel
Zeno, a toy robot that may be available for around $300 in 2010, is designed to fend off future robots that are psychotic and lack sympathy for humans.
Wired.com -
Who Should Win the Nobel for Physics?
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 9:37am CDT by Brandon Keim
Nobel Prize week kicked off this morning with awards in Medicine given to discoverers of the viruses that cause HIV and cervical cancer. Up next: Physics. And if you'd like to test your significance-assessing chops against those snobs at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, now's your chance.
Wired.com -
Wall Street Tumbles Amid Global Sell-off
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 8:56am CDT by Associated Press
Wall Street tumble, joining a sell-off around the world, as fears grow that the financial crisis will cascade through economies globally despite bailout efforts by the U.S. and other governments. The credit market remained under strain, and investors piled into government bonds. The Dow Jones industrials skidded more than 300 points.
Wired.com -
EBay To Drop 1,000 Employees, Picks Up Two New Businesses
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 8:11am CDT by Chris Snyder
As rumored, EBay is cutting 1,000 employees -- 10% of its workforce. The company also announced the acquisition of an online payments business, Bill Me Later, for $820 million in cash and $125 million in options, and two online classified sites based in Denmark for about $390 million.
Wired.com -
The Clone Wars" TV series: Better Than Expected, Still Not Great
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 7:30am CDT by Matt Blum
I was completely prepared to hate the new "Clone Wars" TV series, but while it's in no danger of making its way onto anyone's list of great sci-fi shows, it's not so bad. Any animated TV series is only as good as its writing, and, if the first two episodes are any indication, the writing for "The Clone Wars" is decent, though unspectacular.
Wired.com -
Wall Street Set to Follow Global Sell-Off
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 6:47am CDT by Associated Press
Global markets sell off after European governments take steps to limit the damage from the growing global financial crisis. U.S. stocks appear headed for a steep drop at the opening, and the credit markets remained under strain.
Wired.com -
3 European Scientists Share Nobel Medicine Prize
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 6:44am CDT by Associated Press
Three European scientists share the 2008 Nobel Prize in medicine for separate discoveries of viruses that cause AIDS and cervical cancer. French researchers Francoise Barre-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier were cited for their discovery of HIV while Germany's Harald zur Hausen was honored for finding human papilloma viruses that cause cervical cancer, the second most common cancer among women.
Wired.com -
Sega Getting Back into the Hardware Game
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 6:29am CDT by Charlie Sorrel
According to the Register, Sega plans to launch a new handheld console next year, and it won't just play games. The new console, called the Vision, will also play music and movies, have a built in camera, TV-Tuner and display e-books. We speculate that the battery pack will come in a separate, suitcase-sized box.
Wired.com -
European, Asian Markets Plunge on Crisis Fear
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 6:02am CDT by Associated Press
Asian and European stock markets plunge as government bank bailouts in the U.S. and Europe failed to alleviate fears that the global financial crisis would depress world economic growth. Britain's benchmark stock index fell 4.42 percent and Germany's DAX index fell 4.22 percent to 5,552.27. Across Asia, all markets were also in the red; Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index fell to its lowest level in 4 1/2 years, sinking 4.25 percent to 10,473.09.
Wired.com -
Fring Turns Your iPhone Into a Free Skype Phone
Posted: October 5th, 2008, 11:00pm CDT by Scott Gilbertson
A new free application lets iPhone users make voice-over-internet protocol (VOIP) telephone calls from their iPhones. The new app, called Fring, works with the popular Skype network, but it doesn't work over AT&T's cellular network — it's wi-fi only.
Wired.com -
Tune-Deaf Scott Brown Opens Pandora's Jukebox
Posted: October 4th, 2008, 11:00pm CDT by Scott Brown
I was 10 when I realized I had lousy taste in music. Billy Joel's "An Innocent Man" was my gateway drug: I listened to it on infinite loop, in perfect contentment, for days. Later, in high school, I began huffing a deadly theater-nerd mix of piano-driven rock balladry, pseudo-political folk-pop, Danny Elfman soundtracks, and Enigma. College, the place where most people atone for the sonic sins of their youth, was a haze of Ben Folds Five and Dave Matthews Band. And things haven't really improved since. Bad taste was less of a problem when our playlists were private affairs. Today, however, our personal soundtracks broadcast who we are, and it's simply not acceptable to swan around with the Indigo Girls' "Galileo," Annie Lennox's "Walking on Broken Glass," or (God help me!) Billy Joel's "Big Man on Mulberry Street" blazing across your iPhone screen. (One is ironic, two is quixotic, but try all three and you can hear the NSA giggling on the other end of the line.) Luckily, there are high tech treatments for bad taste — or so we're told. Pandora, for example, is designed to refine and expand your aural palate by working with your preferences, not against them. No shame and no looking back: Only progress! And now Pandora is on my iPhone: On the go, on the train, in da Sam's Club, I'm always on the road to musical self-improvement — which is the whole idea of portable, personalized, preference-driven software, right? To digitally whittle us closer to Perfection...
Wired.com
Tweakers.net Mixed RSS Feed
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Muzikanten willen controle over copyrights terug van labels
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 2:22pm CDT
Een groot aantal Britse artiesten waaronder Radiohead, Iron Maiden en The Verve hebben zich verenigd in de Featured Artists Coalition om meer rechten te eisen voor bands. Die zouden zelf over copyrights moeten beschikken in plaats van de labels. Volgens de coalitie, die verder onder meer de Kaiser Chiefs, David Gilmour en Robbie Williams tot zijn leden mag rekenen, is het met het huidige digita... -
Googles datacentra goedkoop dankzij groene technologieën
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 1:18pm CDT
Google heeft een nieuwe website gelanceerd waarop het bedrijf de voordelen van zijn groene datacentra aanprijst. Het bedrijf stelt dat zuinig omspringen met energie niet alleen goed voor het milieu is, maar ook financieel aantrekkelijk. Google is traditioneel een gesloten boek is wat betreft hetgeen zich binnen de datacentra van het bedrijf afspeelt. Wel bekend is dat het bedrijf veel energie s... -
Gezichtsscanners op Britse luchthaven vol fouten
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 12:24pm CDT
Het systeem voor automatische passagierscontrole op het vliegveld van Manchester zou euvels vertonen waardoor ongewenste personen Groot-Brittannië binnen kunnen glippen. Dat zet vraagtekens bij het gebruik van biometrie bij grenscontroles. De Britse minister van binnenlandse zaken Jacqui Smith zei enkele weken geleden nog dat volledig automatische gezichtsherkenning een van de speerpunten zou z... -
HP kondigt nieuwe laptops aan
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 11:50am CDT
HP heeft een aantal nieuwe notebooks in zijn Elitebook-lijn uitgebracht. Het bedrijf brengt onder meer een Elitebook van minder dan anderhalve kilo en een tablet op de markt. Met de Elitebook 2530p zet HP een klein en met zijn 1,45 kilo een licht laptopje op de markt. De zeer draagbare laptop beschikt over een beeldscherm met een diagonaal van 12,1 inch dat door led's wordt verlicht. Ook de pro... -
ADV: Gezocht: It-ers voor Altran Masterclass
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 11:50am CDT
Altran is onder andere specialist in Business Proces Management (BPM) en een succesvolle speler in de markt. Vanwege een verwachte sterke groei van het aantal BPM projecten zijn we op zoek naar jonge, enthousiaste mensen, met een frisse kijk op organisaties, die zich willen bekwamen in BPM. Klik hier voor meer info -
Webshop Laptops4u vraagt faillissement aan
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 11:15am CDT
Laptops4u, een webshop voor notebooks, heeft faillissement aangevraagd. De shop was opgezet door oud-medewerkers van De Laptopper, een vergelijkbare webwinkel die drie jaar geleden over de kop ging. Voorafgaand aan het faillissement meldden veel consumenten al dat de shop slecht bereikbaar was, bestellingen moeilijk ongedaan konden worden gemaakt en de beloofde levertijden niet nagekomen werden... -
Overheid hoeft besluiten niet meer op papier te publiceren
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 10:50am CDT
Vanaf volgend jaar hoeven besluiten van de overheid niet meer op papier openbaar te worden gemaakt. Bekendmaking op internet volstaat dan, en dat wordt over een aantal jaar waarschijnlijk verplicht. De ministerraad ging vrijdag akkoord met de Wet Elektronische Bekendmaking, die begin 2009 in werking moet treden. Gemeentes, Gedeputeerde Staten, waterschapsbesturen en publiekrechtelijke organisat... -
Bug in Rock Band 2 helpt carrière om zeep
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 9:41am CDT
Spelers melden een serieuze bug in Rock Band 2 op het forum van het spel. De bug wist de voortgang van een band die in multiplayer samenspeelt als al een flink deel van de carrière is afgelegd. Op het officiële forum van het muziekspel Rock Band 2 klagen spelers over een bug in Rock Band 2. De bug komt voor bij spelers die de versie voor Xbox 360 spelen en een hoofdaccount hebben die Live Enabl... -
Media Player Classic 6.4.9.1 svn 82
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 9:15am CDT
Maandag is met revisienummer 82 een nieuwe developmentbuild van Media Player Classic 6.4.9.1 verschenen. Deze mediaspeler borduurt verder op het uiterlijk en idee van Microsofts Windows Media Player 6.4. Het is een lichte speler zonder opsmuk, maar er zijn veel opties en instellingen voor het afspelen van beeld en geluid. Media Player Classic maakt gebruik van de Directshow-architectuur en vaak i... -
Elpida produceert kleinere 65nm-dramchips
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 9:12am CDT
Geheugenfabrikant Elpida is erin geslaagd zijn dram-chips te verkleinen en volgens een 65nm-procedé te produceren. Het Japanse bedrijf ontwikkelde daartoe zijn eigen, kleine versie van ddr2-geheugen. De Japanse geheugenfabrikant Elpida maakte in de zomer van 2007 al de overstap naar het 65nm-productieprocedé, maar heeft nu ook een nieuw ontwerp voor zijn dram-chips gereed. Door kleinere chips ... -
Wereldrecord 1M-benchmark Superpi in Nederlandse handen
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 8:40am CDT
Het wereldrecord voor het berekenen van het getal pi met één miljoen cijfers achter de komma is in handen gekomen van Tweaker 'Viss', met een tijd van slechts 6,843s. Viss overklokte hiervoor een Core 2 Duo E8600-cpu naar 6626,2MHz. Voor het Superpi-record was vloeibare stikstof nodig om de processor op die snelheid voldoende te kunnen koelen. De fsb bedroeg 662MHz. Opmerkelijk is dat Viss een ... -
ADV: HP lanceert TouchSmart pc in Nederland:
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 8:40am CDT
De HP TouchSmart IQ515 PC is eennieuwe generatie all-in-one PC. De TouchSmartverandert de manier waarop computers worden gebruikt compleet; de HP software op de PC maakt namelijk besturing via een aanraakscherm mogelijk. Je kan zonder gebruik van toetsenbord of muis muziek afspelen of foto's bekijken. -
Opta houdt boete voor verspreiding Dollarrevenue-malware overeind
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 8:23am CDT
Telecomtoezichthouder Opta heeft het bezwaar dat drie Nederlandse bedrijven tegen forse boetes wegens malwareverspreiding hadden ingediend, ongegrond verklaard. Het betrof de eerste boetes voor dit delict in Nederland. De vier prenten van in totaal een miljoen euro werden eind vorig jaar uitgedeeld aan de bedrijven ECS International, Worldtostart en Media Highway International, alsmede aan hun ... -
Privacy-schandaal T-Mobile Duitsland breidt zich uit
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 7:25am CDT
Nadat bekend werd dat er bij T-Mobile Duitsland in 2006 gegevens van 17 miljoen klanten werden ontvreemd, is het bedrijf opnieuw in opspraak gekomen omdat het belgegevens van zijn raad van toezicht jarenlang onbewaakt in ordners bijhield. Dit weekend berichtte Der Spiegel over de diefstal in 2006 van gegevens van 17 miljoen T-Mobile-klanten, waarbij onder meer e-mailadressen, nummers van mobiel...
Boing Boing
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How to find neighbors who think they are registered by probably aren't
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 6:26pm CDT by Mark Frauenfelder
Adam Savage says: "My wife has been working for these folks. I'm passing it on to you in case you're interested. It's sooper inportant. They are non-partisan, btw."Project Vote has now posted online lists of people (with their addresses) who filed registration applications in various counties but who were not put on the voter rolls by election authorities because of alleged or actual deficiencies in their applications.
Project Vote 2008The list is available at www.ProjectVote2008.org.
The lists will be supplemented as we get new ones.
This should be extremely valuable in helping 501c3 groups around the country locate people who think they are properly registered – but aren't – either correct their registrations or file new, correct ones before the deadline so that they can vote November 4th.
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Guestblogger: Richard Metzger
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 6:12pm CDT by Mark Frauenfelder
(Tara McGinley, Richard Metzger September 2008. Photo: Coop)
Meet our next guestblogger, Richard Metzger. Shortly after I met Richard in Los Angeles in the early 1990s, he launched an amazing web directory of unusual information called disinfo.com. He later went on to produce a television show, a conference, and a book and DVD publishing company under the Disinformation brand.
Richard is one of the smartest people I know, and has introduced me to so many obscure but mind-blowing books, movies, and musicians I don't know where to start.
He's also directed videos for different bands, including Ann Magnuson's Bongwater.
We're thrilled to have him guestblogging on Boing Boing for the next two weeks. Please give a warm welcome to Richard!
Greetings Boing Boing readers, it's an honor to be your guest blogger for the next few weeks and it will be fun to share my latest pop culture enthusiasms with everyone!
Since leaving The Disinformation Company Ltd., I moved back to Los Angeles and co-wrote a graphic novel about homicidal mail men. (Stay away from mail men, they are very, very bad people). I am currently working to launch "Dangerous Minds," a new multi-platform talk show. We shot a pilot recently with Jackass ringleader Johnny Knoxville at Coop's studio. I'll have a proper posting about the project here later in the week.
Richard Metzger
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BBtv: Robert Plant and Allison Krauss interview (music)
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 5:14pm CDT by Xeni Jardin
Hey, speaking of bluegrass... when Led Zeppelin founder Robert Plant teamed up with Nashville mama Allison Krauss, critics compared the musical collaboration to a hookup between King Kong and Bambi. But their album "Raising Sand," produced by T-Bone Burnett, earned the odd duo widespread raves. Boing Boing tv's London music correspondent Russell Porter caught up with Plant and Krauss backstage at the Mercury Prize, an annual award for the best album from the UK or Ireland.
Link to Boing Boing tv blog post with downloadable video and daily podcast subscription instructions.
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Photos from the denim distressing factory
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 5:13pm CDT by Cory Doctorow
Photographer David Friedman visited a Kentucky "distressing" factory where skilled laborers expertly age denim for the benefit of high-end designers, and produced a sweet little photos essay of these artisans at work. Photo Essay: The Denim Factory (via Kottke)
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Artificial foreskin lets you keep your sensitivity AND the covenant of Abraham!
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 5:11pm CDT by Cory Doctorow
Circumcised? Need a foreskin? Have no fear, Viafin's synthetic turtleneck's got you covered:
Welcome to Viafin-Atlas (Thanks, Bill!)
Being circumcised affects the natural operation, appearance and sensitivity of the penis. During recent years much medical research has been carried out in several countries into the function and purpose of the foreskin. There is now conclusive medical evidence that a circumcised penis with the glans exposed has less nerve receptors and is less effective than a naturally covered penis.
Over the years the exposed glans becomes less sensitive. There is well-documented evidence which shows that this can, and often does, have a disastrous effect on sexual performance, its consequences, and ultimately, on self esteem.
The SenSlip range of artificial retractable foreskins is available in different sizes, to allow for variation between individuals. With ten sizes we want you to be fitted correctly right from the start. (See fitting chart)
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Wall decals based on Toronto subway stations
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 5:08pm CDT by Cory Doctorow
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Explorer reports on his first two weeks on Tofua Island
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 4:59pm CDT by Mark Frauenfelder
The Private Islands blog has an update on Xavier Rosset's trip to Tofua Island in the Kingdom of Tonga. (See "Adventurer will live 300 days as Robinson Crusoe")
As I reported previously Swiss adventurer, explorer and islomaniac Xavier Rosset has set out on an expedition to spend 300 days living alone on Tofua Island, in the Kingdom of Tonga.
Explorer reports on his first two weeks on Tofua IslandXavier’s arrival on Tofua Island was delayed because of bad weather conditions.
Once Xavier was alone on Tofua, he started to get organized and tried to put together his camp and food. Xavier has to be ready as quickly as possible; the hurricane season is starting in more or less 6 weeks.
The first concern of Xavier was of course to find food. So he went fishing. But despite his best goodwill, he didn’t catch that many fish, only one every second day. On the top of that, the rain didn’t spare him so he couldn’t make a fire and had to eat his fish raw.
These factors affected his nerves by his second week on the island. He was disappointed and wanted to give up, feeling lonely. But Xavier is stronger than that and brought himself together quickly.
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Abbey Ryan's painting-a-day blog
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 4:29pm CDT by Mark Frauenfelder
I'm an admirer of artists who create a painting a day, and then post them to their blog. Abbey Ryan is one such artist.You can bid on Abbey's work on eBay. The painting above, "Fortune Cookie No. 2," (Oil on linen on panel, 5 x 6 in.) has a current high bid of $99. A Painting a Day by Abbey Ryan
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Brown Monday: open thread on today's economic panic.
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 3:04pm CDT by Xeni Jardin
Floyd Norris, liveblogging the panic today at the NYT -- The Great Crash of 2008:
2:45 p.m. ET: If the S.&P. 500 closes where it is now, (1009.07, down 8% for the day) it will have lost more than 13% over the past three sessions. The only other time declines of that magnitude occurred since World War II was in the crash of 1987. Prior to that, the last one was in May 1940, when France fell to Germany.
Discuss, and breathe deeply, folks. We're gonna get through it together. (ht for the hed @Howard Rheingold)Video: "The 1929 Stock Market Crash newsreel."
UPDATE: Our community manager Teresa Nielsen Hayden points to this NYT analysis by Joe Nocera as "the most lucid explanation" for what's going on:
This is what a credit crisis looks like. It’s not like a stock market crisis, where the scary plunge of stocks is obvious to all. The credit crisis has played out in places most people can’t see. It’s banks refusing to lend to other banks — even though that is one of the most essential functions of the banking system. It’s a loss of confidence in seemingly healthy institutions like Morgan Stanley and Goldman — both of which reported profits even as the pressure was mounting. It is panicked hedge funds pulling out cash. It is frightened investors protecting themselves by buying credit-default swaps — a financial insurance policy against potential bankruptcy — at prices 30 times what they normally would pay.
As Credit Crisis Spiraled, Alarm Led to Action (NYT via Balloon Juice.)It was this 36-hour period two weeks ago — from the morning of Wednesday, Sept. 17, to the afternoon of Thursday, Sept. 18 — that spooked policy makers by opening fissures in the worldwide financial system.
Also, everyone reading this blog should stop what they're doing right now and go listen to This American Life's epic episode from Friday: Another Frightening Show About the Economy.
Alex Blumberg and NPR's Adam Davidson—the two guys who reported our Giant Pool of Money episode—are back, in collaboration with the Planet Money podcast. They'll explain what happened this week, including what regulators could've done to prevent this financial crisis from happening in the first place. You can learn more about the daily ins and outs and join the discussion on the Planet Money blog.
Here's the direct MP3 Link.
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eBoy's Blockbob Eater doll
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 2:34pm CDT by Mark Frauenfelder
eBoy, the artist collective that designed Boing Boing's logos, announced the launch of its wooden Blockbob Eater doll today.Made out of Swiss maple wood, 8.5" tall and limited to 70 pieces. Each unit comes numbered and signed.
eBoy's Blockbob Eater doll
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World Made By Hand by James Howard Kunstler
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 2:18pm CDT by Mark Frauenfelder
In the sweet and sad novel, World Made By Hand by James Howard Kunstler, the population of the United States (and most likely, the world) has been decimated by an energy shortage, starvation, plagues, terrorism, and global warming. The story takes place in an unspecified time in the near future (I'm guessing it's around 2025 or so). Kunstler is the author of the non-fiction book The Long Emergency: Surviving the End of Oil, Climate Change, and Other Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-First Century, and World Made by Hand is a fictional account of what life might be like if things go the way he describes them in Long Emergency. (Here's a TED video of Kunstler from 2004. Thanks, Erik!)
The story is told by Robert Earle, who used to be a software executive. Now he's a hand-tool using carpenter living in a town in upstate New York without Internet, TV, or newspapers. The electricity comes on every couple of weeks for a few minutes at a time. When that happens, nothing's on the radio but hysterical religious talk. Rumors of goings-on in the rest of the world are vague.
There's no fuel or rubber tires left for cars, and even if there were, the roads and bridges are shot. Earle can't afford a horse or donkey, so when he needs to buy carpentry supplies, he takes his hand cart to a compound on the outskirts of town called Karptown. It's a trailer park next to the dump that's been taken over by a dangerous gang of former bikers and motorheads who roam the neighborhoods salvaging scrap materials from abandoned houses and buildings.
The town is loosely run by a group of 15 men (no women) who half-heartedly try to maintain law and order, which is hard because no one wants to stand up to troublemakers like the folks at Karptown, who conduct occasional raids on people's homes.
The story kicks off when Earle (who lost his wife and daughter in the plague and hasn't seen his 19-year-old son since the boy took off a couple of years earlier to find out what's happened in the rest of the country) is elected mayor and joins a search party to look for a freight boat and its crew, which disappeared on its way to Albany. Their horse-mounted odyssey takes them on a tour through a post-apocalyptic world of insanity, greed, kindness, corruption, and ingenuity.
While life in Kunstler's world is lawless and harsh and populated with opportunistic characters that make Boss Tweed look like Glinda the Good, it's not without charms. Local communities are active and productive. Neighbors all know each other and look after one another. People grow and trade their own produce and livestock, and meals are tasty -- lots of buttery corn bread, eggs, chicken, vegetables, streaks, fish. They get together and play music a lot, and because people aren't stuck in their living rooms watching TV, they actually attend live performances.
As a budding urban homesteader, I found the way of life in World Made By Hand, fascinating. No one can predict the future, and I doubt our future will be much like the one depicted here, but I think its possible that Kunstler has come closer to showing us what's in store than anyone else. Buy World Made by Hand on Amazon
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The problem with the one-eye veil for women, and a solution
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 12:34pm CDT by Mark Frauenfelder
Saudi cleric Sheikh Muhammad al-Habadan has come up with a solution for troublesome women who wear eye makeup to look seductive as they peer through the slit in the black hoods they wear whenever they step outside. He wants them to wear full veils with a single eyehole.The problem with this idea, of course, is that every time a woman blinks, men will think she is winking at them. Writing to India Uncut, Amit Varma has a neat solution:
I have an alternative solution to your problem. I suggest that you introduce veils for men that cover both their eyes. That way it will make no difference if the women are winking, blinking or, heaven forbid, naked.
Saudi cleric calls for one-eye veil for womanGood idea, no? You’re welcome.
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Sharpest photo of Jupiter from Earth
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 12:22pm CDT by David Pescovitz
This is the sharpest "whole Jupiter" photo ever taken from Earth. It was snapped with a telescope using special adaptive optics to reduce fuzz. From National Geographic:Captured using a new computer-assisted process and a 27-foot (8.2-meter) telescope in Chile, the result is sharp enough to show features as small as 180 miles (300 kilometers) across...
New Jupiter Image: Sharpest View Ever From Earth
Adaptive optics, (UC Berkeley/SETI Institute astronomer Franck) Marchis said, adjusts for distortions caused by the Earth's atmosphere, "providing images as if the telescope was in space."
UPDATE: In the comments, DAEMON kindly posted a link to the full res image!
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2008 Nobel Prize in Medicine
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 12:14pm CDT by David Pescovitz
Three scientists split the 2008 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for their discovery of HIV and HPV. French researchers Luc Montagnier and Françoise Barre-Sinoussi first identified human immunodeficiency virus in 1983 and German scientist Harald zur Hausen discovered the human papilloma virus which leads to cervical cancer. From the New York Times:Of the more than 100 human papilloma viruses now known, about 40 infect the genital tract, and 15 of them put women at high risk for cervical cancer. Papilloma viruses account for more than 5 percent of all cancers worldwide.
Three Europeans Win the 2008 Nobel for Medicine
The Karolinska Institute said that discovery of H.I.V. by the French scientists, Dr. Barre-Sinoussi and Dr. Montagnier, led to blood tests to detect the infection and to anti-retroviral drugs that are effective in prolonging the lives of patients. The tests are now used to screen blood donations, making the blood supply safer for transfusions. The viral discovery has also led to an understanding of the natural history of H.I.V. infection in people, which ultimately leads to AIDS unless treated.
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Wonderful noodle stretching and folding video
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 12:03pm CDT by Mark Frauenfelder
How do you make 4096 noodles in hurry? By stretching and folding the dough 12 times.
A clip from Philip Morrison's 1987 PBS program "The Ring of Truth: Atoms" featuring chef Kin Jing Mark making noodles to demonstrate the principle of halving.
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Who is "essential" during a pandemic?
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 12:02pm CDT by David Pescovitz
The Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics published new research on who should be considered "essential" in the event of a pandemic flu outbreak. Of course, medical workers and firefighters are on the list but so are a surprisingly diverse group of other folks who often go unrecognized in keeping us alive and happy. From a press release:After examining several accepted public health rationing strategies that give priority to all healthcare workers and those most susceptible to illness, the authors propose a new strategy that gives priority to a more diverse group. “Alongside healthcare workers and first responders, priority should be given to the people who provide the public with basic essentials for good health and well-being, ranging from grocery store employees and communications personnel to truck drivers and utility workers,” says (Nancy Kass, Sc.D, Deputy Director of Public Health for the institute.)
Rethinking Who Should Be Considered 'Essential' During a Pandemic Flu Outbreak
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The Maverick Family in Texas Asks: "Who You Callin' a Maverick?"
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 11:55am CDT by Xeni Jardin
NYT writer and Texas son John Schwartz wrote this very funny piece about the family in Texas who bear the name being co-opted by John McCain's presidential campaign.
Who You Callin’ a Maverick? (NYT)
[T]o those who know the history of the word, applying it to Mr. McCain is a bit of a stretch — and to one Texas family in particular it is even a bit offensive.
“I’m just enraged that McCain calls himself a maverick,” said Terrellita Maverick, 82, a San Antonio native who proudly carries the name of a family that has been known for its progressive politics since the 1600s, when an early ancestor in Boston got into trouble with the law over his agitation for the rights of indentured servants.
In the 1800s, Samuel Augustus Maverick went to Texas and became known for not branding his cattle. He was more interested in keeping track of the land he owned than the livestock on it, Ms. Maverick said; unbranded cattle, then, were called “Maverick’s.” The name came to mean anyone who didn’t bear another’s brand.
Image: Mr. Samuel Augustus Maverick, of Texas.
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PingMag interviws Lullatone
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 11:50am CDT by Mark Frauenfelder
PingMag, the Tokyo-based magazine about "Design and Making Things" has an interview with a delightful musical duo, Lullatone.
Lullatone are a musical duo based in Nagoya comprised of the husband and wife team of Shawn James Seymour and Yoshimi Tomida. They make sweet, sleepy, sine-wave-riddled songs with whispered lyrics, poppy melodies, and parse, carefully arranged beats. The Lullas utilise children’s instruments, splashing water, household sounds, and electronic sounds to craft their delightful songs for young and old. From the visual side, they make all of their clips by themselves — a delightful mix of film, stop-motion animation, and video that syncs nicely with their hypnotic, dreamy live shows.
Lullatone: Catch the Bedtime Beat!
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JFK rug
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 11:45am CDT by David Pescovitz
This JFK rug from the 1960s is up for auction on eBay. It's 52cm x 40cm. Starting bid is $2000.
US President Kennedy - Portrait -- Persian Rug (Thanks, Sly Thompson!)
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US Congresspeople Told Martial Law Would Be Imposed if Bailout Bill Didn't Pass
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 11:41am CDT by Xeni Jardin
In this YouTube clip, Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) says some congresspeople were told in private briefings that if they did not pass the bailout bill, circumstances would soon force the federal government to "impose martial law."
(Thanks, Martha Clayton)
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Old timey Halloween photos
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 11:39am CDT by Mark Frauenfelder
Steve Chasman is posting one old timey Halloween photo every day during the month of October. This one is from 1911. Halloween photo from 1911 (via Little Hokum Rag)
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Paper and pencil better for the brain than software?
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 11:38am CDT by David Pescovitz
Dutch psychologist Christof van Nimwegen posits that paper and pens/pencils boost learning and creative problem solving much more than computers do. Van Nimwegen wrote a PhD dissertation, titled "The paradox of the guided user: assistance can be counter-effective", about how software affects brain processes. English professor Michael Leddy summed up the research beautifully in his blog entry about it: "What's crucial of course is not ink or graphite (or paper!) but self-reliance—trusting one's mind rather than the machine." From eNews 2.0:Van Nimwegen says much software turns us into passive beings, subjected to the whims of computers, randomly clicking on icons and menu options. In the long run, this hinders our creativity and memory, he says.
Paper and pencil, not computer, boosts creativity
Van Nimwegen also investigated what happened if, during a task his two groups were working on, their computers suddenly crashed.
"The group that used a computer throughout, felt lost instantly and immediately performed badly when completing the task. The second group, who has used only pen and pencil, simply carried on with its work."
Van Nimwegen says his study demonstrates people may benefit if they continue to study new information by using books and the spoken word.
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Patrick Dougherty's sapling sculptures
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 11:20am CDT by David Pescovitz
Patrick Dougherty is a sculptor who uses tree saplings as his construction material. He began with small pieces on pedestals and his work eventually, er, grew into massive installations that require truckloads of saplings. Patrick Dougherty (Thanks, Michael-Anne Rauback!)
UPDATE: Dougherty was featured in Vol. 8 of CRAFT! "Temple of Twigs"
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Life Incorporated
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 8:16am CDT by rushkoff
My fortnight is over today, so I thought I'd share with you what I'm doing now and next - as well as how to stay in touch if you want to.In June I'll be releasing a new book and short film, Life Incorporated: How we traded meaning for markets, society for self-interest, and citizenship for customer service. They both look at the way human beings and corporations traded places, and how we came to accept corporatism as our dominant value system.
What I conclude is that our society didn't just end up this way. This landscape was cultivated over time. We are living on a playing field sloped towards corporate interests. Every day, we negotiate the slope to the best of our ability. Still, many of us fail to measure up to the people we'd like to be, and succumb to the tilt of the landscape. We buy from Wal-Mart and supermarket instead of the local druggist and farmer who they put out of business. We save to send our kids to private school instead of investing our time to make the public ones better. We spend our money insulating ourselves from the crime in our neighborhoods instead of our energy reducing the poverty and resentment feeding it. When things are tough, it’s every man for himself.
And the more decisions we make in this way, the more we contribute to the very conditions leading to this awfully sloped landscape. All things being equal, we’d rather be doing things differently.
But all things are not equal. Our choices are being made under painstakingly manufactured duress. We think this is just the way things are. But it’s not.
My book chronicles the way we got here, who wanted it this way, and why no one remembers what happened - from the renaissance era of corporate charters, centralized currency, and colonial expansion through industrial age experiments with fascism, right up to the inventions of public relations, self-interest, target marketing, and behavioral finance. Finally, I look at alternatives to corporatism - the kinds of bottom-up, local, and human-scaled efforts at meeting our shared needs that take place beyond the reach of centralized authorities, corporate monopolies, or interest-charging central banks. In many cases, these interactions transcend commerce altogether.
Until the book comes out and hopefully long after, I'm hosting a set of conversations at [corporatized.net] (or just go to rushkoff.com and click on Forums). I'm hoping it can be a place we can both deconstruct corporatized society and share our experiences of alternative strategies. I'll also be teaching a course on corporatism through the MaybeLogicAcademy.
With any luck, I'll be allowed to contribute to (or interfere with) the goings on at BoingBoing again next summer when the book is out and I'm on the road trying to pitch these ideas to the world at large.
In any case, it's been an honor and a pleasure to engage as a writer with BoingBoing - a publication and community I've been reading, admiring, and (to the best of my ability) emulating for over nineteen years. You are the shit.
Douglas Rushkoff was a guest blogger.
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The making of Bob Staake's New Yorker cover
Posted: October 1st, 2008, 12:47pm CDT by Mark Frauenfelder
My friend Bob Staake posted a video that shows how he illustrated the cover of the latest New Yorker. He still uses Photoshop 3.0 and Macintosh OS 7!
The making of Bob Staake's New Yorker cover
I suppose I have a pretty unusual way of working -- at least that's what my illustrator friends are always telling me. I start by creating the most basic shapes and then refine with details as I go. To me the process feels completely normal. I look at that stark white space in front of me and can see the entire fully completed image in my head. Maybe I'm just lucky that way.
Derek sez, "We recently produced a line of vinyl wall decals featuring the vintage 1978 modernist designs of the Toronto Subway system." These colors and lettering are permanently etched into my brain from a thousand million rides.
DJBroadcast news
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news - Eerste editie Disco 3000 met Trus'me
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 10:00am CDT
Disco 3000 is de nieuwste aanwinst in het rijtje van Rush Hour feesten. Aanstaande vrijdag vind je Trus'me, Antal en San Proper in de bovenzaal van Paradiso. -
news - Metro Area mixt nieuwe Fabric
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 9:00am CDT
Na Luciano en Âme is het nu de beurt aan de discoadepten van Metro Area om een aflevering van de succesvolle serie Fabric te mixen.
midibox.org Forum
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Re: Lemme build one too :)
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 7:04pm CDT
Quote from: sineSurfer on Today at 01:08
But I guess if you ask any photo owner about a copyrighted photo, you may be allowed to use it this way without any problem
Christ, thats a lot of messages to se... -
Re: Safe To Test the pic on my core module?
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 6:36pm CDT
Have you tried turning the pot meters for the lcd, cause it is possible text shows up when you turn the 2 pots. -
Help locating proper LCD display
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 6:32pm CDT
I've started getting all the parts I need for the MB-6582 PCB's. I'm having a difficult time finding an LCD that will fit properly with this PCB and PT-10 case. Can someone direct me to a supplier that carries the crystalfontz standard LCD's, or a siz... -
Re: MB-6582 panels...
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 6:31pm CDT
Hey doug, i've updated the wiki, but haven't updated the total cause don't now for sure how to update the total, could you please review my addition to the wiki cause i'm not sure if you understand what i've added. -
Re: Easy External Power Pupply
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 6:23pm CDT
According to this link:
[hardwarebook.info]
There are 4 types for A500/600/1200.
I only mentioned this in case someone has one lying aroun...
Recent items
auVisio HV0102 / PE-3481,3482,3495,3497
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mediabox auvisio HV0192 von 1.26 direkt auf 1.36? geht das
Posted: August 27th, 2008, 4:10pm CDT
hab ne alte box geschenkt bekommen mit der 1.26er firmware drauf kann sie aber nicht direkt auf die 1.36erupdaten...muss ich jetzt die gesamte firmwareliste durchgehen bis zu 1.36er rauf? -
Fernbedienung für den PE-8090
Posted: August 17th, 2008, 4:17am CDT
hallo! meine fernbedienung für diese Media-Box (PE-8090) ist leider kaputt gegangen. Gibt es eine Möglichkeit eine Ersatzfernbedienung zu bekommen? habe bei Pearl schon geguckt, aber leider nix gefunden. Hab auch mal gegoogelt. aber da hab ich auch ...
Wired News: Top Stories
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Wired.com Photo Contest: Motion
Posted: October 5th, 2008, 11:00pm CDT by Wired.com Photo Department
This week's photo contest topic is Motion. We want you to cram as much action as you can into the stillness of a frame Use the Reddit widget below to submit your best Motion photo and vote for your favorite among the other submissions. The 10 highest-ranked photos will appear in a gallery on the Wired.com homepage. Nothing we can say will hold back the deluge of streaky, unintelligible photos, we know, but motion blur is only a small part of capturing the action. Show us bucking bulls at rodeos, sparring swashbucklers and collapsing buildings. We want to see arrows in mid-flight, jumping kangaroos and rockets blasting into the air. Capture the beauty of a single frame of action that the human eye can't catch, and we will be forever grateful. The photo must be your own, and by submitting it you are giving us permission to use it on Wired.com and in Wired magazine. Please submit images that are relatively large, the ideal size being 800 to 1200 pixels or larger on the longest side. Please include a description of your photo, which may include exposure information, equipment used, etc. We don't host the photos, so you'll have to upload it somewhere else and submit a link to it. If you're using Flickr, Picasa or another photo-sharing site to host your image, please provide a link to the image directly and not just to the photo page where it's displayed. Using an online photo service that requires that you login will not work. If your photo doesn't show up, it's because the...
Wired.com -
Top 10 Wired.com Fall Photos, Decided by You
Posted: October 5th, 2008, 11:00pm CDT by Wired.com Photo Department
: Being based in San Francisco has its advantages, but having seasons is not one of them. Our readers were kind enough to share their fantastic fall photos with those of us who are seasonally challenged. These are the top 10 photos, according to your votes. Javier Echaiz takes home the gold with his photo "Gate to the fall" at left. Mr. Echaiz will be receiving a subscription to Wired magazine and a digital picture frame for his desk. Since we had so many great photos that we thought should've received more votes, we've also compiled a Wired.com Editor's Choice Fall Photo Gallery. Our next twice-monthly photo contest theme is motion. We want you to take dynamic movement, and make it still. Check out the contest page for more information. Left: Gate to the fall Submitted by Javier Echaiz Photographer's comment: "This image comes from a rural area somewhere in the south of Argentina.” :