by Mark Frauenfelder on (#22KFC)
Amazon has a good deal on the iClever BoostStrip Surge Protector With 4 USB Ports. It's $12 with code SURGEPOW. I just bought one for the kitchen, which is where family and visitors seem to want to charge their phones.
|
Link | http://feeds.boingboing.net/ |
Feed | http://feeds.boingboing.net/boingboing/iBag |
Updated | 2024-11-25 13:02 |
by Mark Frauenfelder on (#22KFE)
American Indian artist Peggy Fontenot is in the Patawomeck tribe, which is recognized by the state of Virginia, but not by the federal government. As a result, an Oklahoma state law forbids her from telling the truth about her heritage.From Reason:A state law, passed earlier this year, forbids artists from marketing their products in Oklahoma as being "American Indian-made" unless the artist is a member of a tribe recognized by the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs.The Patawomeck tribe is recognized by the state of Virginia, but not by the federal government. Fontenot says she can trace her Native American heritage back to the 16th Century, when the tribe was one of the first to welcome settlers from Europe who landed on the east coast of Virginia. She's been working as an artist since 1983, doing photography, beading, and making jewelry."I was born an American Indian. I've always been an American Indian," says Fontenot.A lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Oklahoma City argues that Oklahoma's law violates the First Amendment by restricting the speech of artists like Fontenot.
|
by Cory Doctorow on (#22KBZ)
Hugh sends us this "nice anti-Nazi poster from designer Arin Fishkin building on an illustration by Paul Sizer."
|
by Cory Doctorow on (#22K4H)
Evan from Fight For the Future sez, "This is one of those bad ideas we just have to stop before it has time to spread. A GOP State Senator in Washington has proposed a law that would allow authorities to charge people and groups who engage in "disruptive" protests with "economic terrorism." It wouldn't just apply to vandalism or rioting. Broadly interpreted, this proposal could be used to slap felony terrorism charges and jail time on activists who engage in time honored free speech traditions like boycotts, picket lines, and civil disobedience. Right now, this is just a bad idea. Let's keep it that way before it becomes a bad law. Sign and share the petition here.
|
by David Pescovitz on (#22JKA)
In 1954, a London taxi driver named George King received an extraterrestrial mental telegram informing him that he's been deemed the voice of the Interplanetary Parliament. Motivated by his new cosmic position, he launched the Aetherius Society to spread the spiritual teachings of extraterrestrial gurus like Buddha, Sri Krishna, Confucius, and Jesus. Sure, why not. King died in 1997 but the Aetherius Society lives on. MEL Magazine's Jonathan Parks-Ramage paid them a visit:“The biggest reason why the Aetherius Society is here, why the Cosmic Masters came to earth, is because the Mother Earth has to change,†Keneipp says. “She’d held herself back for hundreds of thousands of years because she’s providing mankind a home to evolve. She’s been told by the karmic lords that she can no longer hold herself back. And so the big push by the Cosmic Masters is to raise as many people up so that they will be able to get to a point where they will enter a new age here on earth.â€Essentially, the Society’s goal is to lift Mother Earth’s burden with love and prayer, a task helped by descended Cosmic Masters like Jesus and Buddha.Inspired by his new religion, Keneipp soon abandoned the pre-med program at SIU, deciding instead to moved to Los Angeles in 1978. Keneipp devoted his life to the church, working directly with George King as he expanded his religion. I ask Keneipp what it was like to work for King during those formative years.His response surprises me. “[King] could be very hard, as you would hear other masters of yoga would be in India. They weren’t politically correct and gooey and friendly. They could be extremely harsh and hard and pull you up. [King] expected you to give the best all the time.â€"Jesus was an alien" (MEL Magazine)
|
by Rob Beschizza on (#22JFN)
Annoyed by reviews of keyboards that describe mechanical switches the way men in bow ties describe wine, HaaTa spent fabulous amounts of money constructing a custom gauge that generates meticulously accurate graphs of the pressure profile of keypresses.I take keyboards way too seriously. However, unlike most of you, I’m an engineer. This means I need facts, data, and real evidence before I can form an opinion. And this lack of actual information has always bothered me when it comes to how the keyboard community at large tends to review switches.Similar in function to charts of speakers' frequency response, the gauge anchors subjective experience in empirical data that can be verified independently of manufacturers' claims. There are good and bad sides to this sort of thing. On one hand, it burns off technophile mysticism and helps prevents it from being sold on to low-information consumers. On the other hand, the desire to free phenomena from human experience is futile.
|
by Rob Beschizza on (#22JD3)
Andrew Hussie's Homestuck was a vast, sprawling, impenetrable, hostile webcomic, and it only become harder to define as its popularity grew and its volume stretched toward a million words...If you ask a fan, you get a flood of enthusiastic nonsense: It’s… well, it’s a webcomic, but sometimes it’s more like an old-school text-based roleplaying game. It’s about a group of kids who are playing that game, and also cause the end of the world…. It’s about growing up, but there’s also time travel, and of course we can’t forget about the alien trolls! and there’s like, complex four-dimensional romance! and really touching moments, and surreal humor, and so many callbacks, self-references, and running jokes I don’t know what it’s even about except for itself, I mean, the author appears as a character, and then gets killed, and the fourth wall isn’t just broken: fourth walls are a tool used by the characters to travel from the… well, see there are lots of universes, and dream universes-What it was, writes Ben Tolkin, was the first true work of internet art. Participation in the vast, sprawling, impenetrable, hostile subculture around it was an integral part of the storytelling experience. Homestuck is the first media directed at people for whom the Internet is a way of life, the constantly connected, information-rich community, rather than the individual viewer. Homestuck may not have been written by all of us, but it was written for all of us; since its beginnings as a forum game, Hussie’s writing can only be read by a team constantly supplying each other with knowledge.That last line is key: people younger than 35 or so grew up drowning in decontextualized knowledge, an experience fundamentally alien to people who became sentient before the age of Google. When Hussie took a yearlong break to plan the ending, Homestuck's "moment" passed and didn't flash back upon his return.And now that it's over, you can never experience Homestuck. Do I recommend Homestuck? Should you drop everything and start reading it?You can’t. Homestuck is over, and I mean over, not just that it isn’t updating. “Homestuck,†the masterpiece, was the event, the community, the shifting pace of updates, the constant chatter between fandom and author. Homestuck is done. If you missed it, you missed it. It may still be worth reading the comic, but it won’t be Homestuck. Despite the Internet’s ability to catalog forever all pre-existing forms of art, all audio and video and text, humans have a knack for making art out of whatever can’t be preserved. Hussie was a sculptor of communities, and this community has dissipated.Plowing through the comic itself or buying the print editions is like buying a DVD of Woodstock. It doesn't matter how well they played or how pretty they were; what mattered was being there.If you still love the internet, you owe it to yourself to read Tolkin's review of Homestuck in full. It's long... but it's not 800,000 words long.Illustration: Valerei
|
by Cory Doctorow on (#22JD5)
Trump campaigned on "draining the swamp" of the industry insiders who enjoy a revolving door relationship with the regulatory branch, moving from industry to government and back again. But his actions speak louder than his words. (more…)
|
Apple's ebook store bans books that use Apple trademarks in unapproved (but legal and accurate) ways
by Cory Doctorow on (#22JB1)
Aaron Perzanowski and Jason Schultz's must-read new book The End of Ownership: Personal Property in the Digital Economy (read an excerpt) is not for sale in the Apple ebook store, and won't be until they agree to change their text to refer to Apple's ebooks as "iBooks" rather than "iBook." (more…)
|
by Cory Doctorow on (#22J88)
On Naked Capitalism, Gaius Publius parses through Donald Trump's "100-day action plan" (just the public parts, not the parts leaked by the bumbler Trump wants to put in charge of the DHS), and calls out the few bright spots (killing TPP, improving NAFTA) and the terrifying remainder (accelerating climate change, deploying a national campaign of stop-and-frisk, all but destroying public education). (more…)
|
by Cory Doctorow on (#22J8A)
Since last spring, the "Professor Watchlist" has allowed right-wing students at American universities to anonymously blacklist the professors "who discriminate against conservative students, promote anti-American values, and advance leftist propaganda in the classroom." (more…)
|
by Cory Doctorow on (#22J3D)
A fraudster's term of art, "whaling" refers to phishing attempts targeted at "C-level corporate executives, politicians and celebrities" -- it's a play on "phishing" (attacks that trick users into downloading dangerous files or visiting attack sites by impersonating known sources) and "whales" (a term of art from casinos, referring to high-stakes gamblers). (more…)
|
by Andrea James on (#22J0Y)
YouTuber Murmiland, aka Ortwin Grüttner, created this one-of-a-kind rafting-themed marble run that takes nearly 3 minutes from start to finish. Follow one yellow marble in a sea of green glass marbles as they cascade down the carved wooden path. Lots of nifty little features. (more…)
|
by Andrea James on (#22J16)
Maybe next presidential election, it would behoove pollsters to check in with flagmakers of Yiwu, China's main manufacturing center for flags exported to America. One manufacturer told a Chinese video site he knew Trump would win because they were exporting so many more Trump flags. (more…)
|
by Rob Beschizza on (#22G3P)
How fast things move! Here's us, suggesting that media people stop using the cutesy term "alt right" to describe Sieg Heiling white supremacists. But they're already moving onto panel discussions on whether Jews are people. (more…)
|
by Mark Frauenfelder on (#22G04)
We got the Ohuhu 48-color colored pencil set ($15 on Amazon) so we could review the coloring books Carla gets for Wink. They are a lot better than I expected, especially for the price. The pigments are rich, and shading and blending effects are easy to achieve. They don't look waxy on paper, like cheaper pencils. As for a sharpener, nothing beats the classic Brass Bullet.
|
by Rob Beschizza on (#22EGN)
British regulators determined that a joke about Queen Elizabeth II having sex "breached" broadcasting rules.The edition of the show, which aired in April this year, featured a panel of comedians who are given a subject which they have to prove is not funny. If the audience does laugh, the subject passes to the next contestant.Panellist Russell Kane was asked to explain why there was nothing funny about why the Queen, who has four children, must have had sex at least four times in her life.“Four times we have to think of republicanism as we imagine four children emerging from Her Majesty’s vulva,†said Kane to audience laughter.Ofcom ruled that the quips, uttered on BBC Radio 4, were "not justified". Moreover, "the potential for offence was increased by the fact that these remarks were broadcast on the Queen's 90th birthday".The show, Don't Make Me Laugh, was cancelled in the wake of the controversy, which led to a staggering 12 people writing in to complain.I can't immediately find a clip of the segment in question, so you'll instead have to make do with some amusing media navelgazing over a previous instance of British lese majeste, wherein the line "I'm so old my pussy is haunted" was repeated in Streisand-esque fashion in a watchdog show.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBWfCV4PjyUNo sanctions were reported other than Ofcom's stern telling-off. But whatever you do, don't talk about Queen Liz getting into bed with Donald Trump.UPDATE: I believe this is the episode in question, but haven't got a timestamp for you yet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsvzQYPv0nY
|
by Cory Doctorow on (#22EGQ)
(more…)
|
by Cory Doctorow on (#22E5X)
Victims of the Trump University con were roped in by an initial free class endorsed by "the most celebrated entrepreneur on earth" that would, in Trump's words, "turn anyone into a successful real estate investor, including you." (more…)
|
by Futility Closet on (#22E3Q)
In 1912, bookseller Wilfrid Voynich discovered an illustrated manuscript that was written in a mysterious alphabet that had never been seen before. The text bears the hallmarks of natural language, but no one has ever been able to determine its meaning. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll learn about the Voynich manuscript, which has been bewildering scholars for more than a century.We'll also ponder some parliamentary hostages and puzzle over a tormenting acquisition.Show notesPlease support us on Patreon!
|
by Andrea James on (#22E3S)
Gary Gulman does a meandering six-minute set on how the post office came up with the two-letter abbreviations for each state. The trivia and asides get increasingly absurd as the bit continues. (more…)
|
by Andrea James on (#22E3V)
Jimmy DiResta kept passing by a 1911 Chandler & Price letterpress sitting out in the rain. After buying it from the neglectful owner, he spent several years lovingly restoring it, eventually learning how to print with it. (more…)
|
by Cory Doctorow on (#22E3Z)
Drivers in London have to pay a daily "congestion charge" intended to encourage the use of public transit and bicycles, but low-emission vehicles are exempt, and so for years, drivers of VW diesels got free rides thanks to the company's fraudulent claims about their cars' pollution. (more…)
|
by Andrea James on (#22E43)
Ever wonder what an embryonic bat's skeleton would look like if the cartilage were dyed with alcian blue stain? Wonder no more. (more…)
|
by Boing Boing's Store on (#22DVE)
If you’re looking for the perfect Christmas stocking stuffer, look no further than Scientific Magnetic Space Putty. I have to admit I've always loved silly putty, and this version just took an old favorite to new levels.This viscoelastic putty doesn’t just stretch and smoosh—it also has magnetic properties. I stick it to my walls to use magnets anywhere I want to hang something. But when I'm not using it for that purpose, I'm getting hours of entertainment.It’s perfect for stress relief, and since it’s easy to tear apart and even bounces, it really never gets old. For a limited time, the Scientific Magnetic Space Putty is on sale for $9.99. Or grab a two-pack for just $14.99.Also explore other Best-Sellers on our network right now:CodingLearn to Code 2016 Bundle (Pay What You Want)SmartwatchMartian Notifier Watch (76% off)Music + EntertainmentBrain.fm: 3-Year Subscription ($29)Cord-CuttingGhost Indoor HDTV Antenna (57% off)
|
by Cory Doctorow on (#22BZG)
Remember the GW Bush years, when Americans abroad sported this tee: ""I'm sorry my president is an idiot. I didn't vote for him" (with the message in five languages)? (more…)
|
by Rob Beschizza on (#22B1Y)
Looking into my options for a compact, inexpensive home server, I chanced across PC Magazine's May 2016 review of the Dell Optiplex 3040. In the middle of it, reviewer and PC Magazine Lead Analyst Joel Santo Domingo is seen very briefly to caress the Dell. Pack it in, gadget reviewers: the best 2 seconds in the history of reviewing servers is over. I added the music.Here's the full review:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XX2Y3Tv1onw
|
by Cory Doctorow on (#22ANS)
Yesterday, Donald Trump's news cycle was dominated by two stories: first, that the president-elect of the United States of America had a well-developed sense of the sanctity of the theatre, such that any on-stage politicking shocked his conscience to the core; second, that he had settled a lawsuit over Trump University, handing $25,000,000 to people whom he had defrauded. (more…)
|
by Boing Boing's Store on (#22AFH)
Most holiday gift guides show you the same old boring products. Here are 3 gift ideas that are totally unique and even useful. Plus, they all feature one-day price drops today only.#1 Blue Apron: 3 Delivered Meals for 2 PeopleBlue Apron is a great holiday gift option for someone across the country, or even just someone that's impossible to buy for. This subscription service delivers recipes for gourmet meals and a box of fresh ingredients straight to the front door. This deal is usually $59.94 and is discounted to $27 in the Boing Boing Store. With this one-day deal, you’ll get pre-portioned ingredients for 3 recipes to be eaten by 2 people for just $25.#2 Nifty MiniDrive MicroSD Card Adapter for 13" Macbook AirThe Nifty MiniDrive MicroSD Card Adapter is the perfect gift for family members still carrying around clunky USB drives. This adapter plugs directly into MacBooks and integrates with Time Machine to add up to 200 GB of extra space. This deal retails at $39.99 and is discounted to $36.99 in the Boing Boing Store. Just for today, you snag one for just $32.99.#3 The Complete Machine Learning BundleThe Complete Machine Learning Bundle is a package of 10 courses on everything from the basics to practical applications of machine learning. Courses on this growing technology (think self-driving cars) is an amazing gift for your favorite overachieving techie. Valued at $780, this bundle normally sells for $39 in the Boing Boing Store. Today only, you can buy this bundle for just $29.
|
by Cory Doctorow on (#22AFK)
Kakistocracy n. (kak·is·toc·ra·cy / kækɪsˈtɑkɹəsi) Government by the worst persons; a form of government in which the worst persons are in power. (more…)
|
by Cory Doctorow on (#227P3)
Laghcat's $24 knitted mermaid tail blankets come in kids' (56"x28") and adults' (71"x35.5") sizes and 40 color schemes/styles; the thousands of positive reviews praise the construction as being robust and durable (and feature photos of "mermaids" lounging cozily around their homes in their tail-blankets), and the blankets can be machine washed and tumble-dried. (via Incredible Things)
|
by Cory Doctorow on (#227P5)
Vice President-elect Mike Pence went to see Hamilton last night; he was booed on the way to his seat, but afterward, the cast acknowledged him with a brief set of remarks written by the show's creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda: "We, sir — we — are the diverse America who are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us, our planet, our children, our parents, or defend us and uphold our inalienable rights. We truly hope that this show has inspired you to uphold our American values and to work on behalf all of us." (more…)
|
by Cory Doctorow on (#227MT)
Britain's love-affair with mass surveillance began under the Labour government, but it was two successive Conservative governments (one in coalition with the Liberal Democrats, who are nominally pro-civil liberties) who took Tony Blair's mass surveillance system and turned it into a vicious, all-powerful weapon. Now, their work is done. (more…)
|
by Boing Boing's Store on (#227KE)
I've definitely needed a new set of sheets for a while, and this deal seemed like the perfect excuse to do it. These brushed sheets are made with a combination of bamboo yarns and strong microfiber, and I've found them to be both durable and comfortable. The best part is that the Bamboo Fiber Double Brushed Sheets are on sale today only at their lowest price - just $39.99. They come mercerized and preshrunk for longevity and shape retention, so you can be sure you won't have to replace them for years. For the price, you get one flat sheet, one fitted sheet, and four pillow cases to give your bedroom a full refresh. The Bamboo Fiber Double Brushed Sheets fit all types of mattresses, even extra thick, thanks to their all-around elastic and deep pockets.So if you’re ready to improve your sleeping experience, these sheets are the best deal you'll find. They retail for $249.99 and are usually on sale for $59.99 in the Boing Boing Store. But for one day only, pay just $39.99 in for Full, Queen, and King sizes.Also explore Boing Boing's other 24-hour sales during Deals Week:The Big Data Bundle ($45 lowered to $33)
|
by Jason Weisberger on (#2267W)
The incredibly well loved, respected and admired Adam Yauch was a buddhist.Cops are here and investigating. Park will be closed until it is removed, I'm told. Peace to #Shadrach #Meshach #Abednego pic.twitter.com/tHjirVaAkX— Jeremy D. Larson (@jeremydlarson) November 19, 2016
|
by Mark Frauenfelder on (#225XS)
Our pals at Two-Bit circus have designed this paper craft robotic owl, to give kids a "taste of basic mechanical principles, electronics and programming." It looks really cool.Build the mechanics, electronics and paper shell for your Oomiyu owl. Oomiyu was designed to show you how all the different systems come together to create an awesome robotic creature.Customize your Oomiyu owl by decorating its paper shell. We’ve included a set of accessories to get you started in bringing out your Oomiyu’s personality. And this is just the beginning. Show us what you got and make Oomiyu your own!Play with your Oomiyu owl! Oomiyu comes with pre-programmed behaviors and games: ask it yes-or-no questions, pet it until it goes to sleep, or set it up as your alarm clock. In addition, you can control, add, or change any of those behaviors with the companion app for even more fun.Hack it. We have built Oomiyu on top of the Arduino 101, which is powered by the Intel Curie module, to create a flexible technology platform that can be customized with other off the shelf components and sample code. Because the Arduino 101 is part of a lively open-source community, there are many resources available to help expand what Oomiyu can do.
|
by Peter Sheridan on (#225XV)
What are we coming to when the ‘National Enquirer’ accurately reports Donald Trump’s speech promising reforms in his “first 100 days†in office? They even add, in giant print on the front page, "in his own words†- because they know how rare it is for anyone quoted in the ‘Enquirer’ to actually be quoted correctly.Of course, the Trump-supporting rag can’t resist gloating, putting it all beneath the cover headline: “We Told You So!â€How long can it be before the New York Times is reporting on Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie’s divorce, or Prince Harry’s latest girlfriend? Oh wait -- they’ve already done that.But the ‘Enquirer’ can’t maintain its facade of accuracy for long, plunging headlong into a series of highly dubious fact-free zones. Princes Harry’s girlfriend, American actress Meghan Markle, is reportedly enduing a “Nude Photo Horror!†But it’s typical ‘Enquirer’ wishful thinking. Markle evidently told a humorous anecdote about skinny-dipping in a New Zealand lake one day in 2012, only to find that pranksters had stolen her clothes. “She’s panicked that the photos will be published,†raves the mag. Except there are no photos. Never were. There’s no suggestion that a single photo was snapped. No nude photo horror. No panic.Actress Jennifer Garner is saving her troubled marriage to Ben Affleck by having a baby, reports the ‘Enquirer,’ for at least the second time this year. This is based on a photo that shows Garner is a loose-fitting shirt. Just like the photos of her six months ago in a loose sweater, when they also swore she was pregnant. This is one of those games where they will keep reporting she’s pregnant until one day she actually will be, and the ‘Enquirer’ will congratulate itself for always being right. “We were right Again, Again and Again!†the ‘Enquirer’ proclaims in this week’s issue, ignoring the times it was wrong about Ted Cruz’s father being involved in the assassination of John F Kennedy, or the Queen’s abdication, or actor Nick Nolte’s death -- the ‘Enquirer’ gave him “four weeks to live†many months ago and -- many, many other fantastical tales.In a “custody bombshell,†the ‘Enquirer’ cover claims that “Brad’s secret tapes destroy crazy Angie!†The mag reports that Brad Pitt “has damaging tapes exposing her insane rages -- and sick sexual kinks.†But these aren’t tapes of Angelina Jolie behaving badly. The tapes -- if they even exist -- are allegedly recordings of Pitt complaining, made by Pitt’s “lifelong confidante, celebrity psychic Ron Bard.†Even if Bard decided to breach the confidentiality agreement he undoubtedly signed, such tapes would prove nothing more than Brad making unsubstantiated allegations about Angie. It’s proof of nothing, and would have no effect on their custody battle.Best of all is the "Enquirer World Exclusive†offering a “jailhouse confession†by prison inmate Gary Olivia, who was reportedly “once a key suspect†in the murder of infant pageant queen JonBenet Ramsey, But despite the headline’s suggestion, he’s not confessing to killing the six-year-old. He simply “confesses†to having “partied†with her ghost, building a shrine to JonBenet in his cell, and allegedly admits that he is a “deranged pervert obsessed with the death of a small child.†Why would the ‘Enquirer’ publish the ramblings of a self-confessed deranged pervert in the first place? Because they can.‘The Globe’ claims that TV’s ‘Crocodile Hunter’ Steve Irwin “committed suicide,†according to a "chilling new autopsy report.†But the ‘Globe’ story goes on to admit that there is no new autopsy, only the original one performed a decade ago. And claims that he was suicidal because of neck pain are not made in the coroner’s report, but dubiously come from an unnamed “insider.†Presumably Irwin was killed by a stingray that had been paid large sums of squid to hurl its barb into Irwin’s chest, because stingrays are the hitmen of the ocean. Right.“Skinny Angelina†has been warned: “Eat Now or Die!†according to the ‘Globe,’ which claims the actress has dropped to 76 pounds, while in the same issue reporting that Pitt’s first wife Jennifer Aniston “gains 50 lbs!†If Pitt’s estranged wife would only eat all his ex-wife’s meals, perhaps they could both be fit and happy. Mel Gibson also “packs on 50 lbs†and “goes from hunk to chunk†says the ‘Globe,’ whose reporters are routinely recruited from State Fairs, where they work in 'Guess Your Weight’ booths.“Oswald didn’t kill JFK!†screams the cover of the ‘National Examiner’ -- which would put Ted Cruz’s father in the clear -- claiming that it was a Castro hitman who killed the president. Presumably because Castro couldn’t pay a stingray enough to do the deed, due to the famous Cuban squid shortage of 1963.Fortunately we have ‘Us’ magazine’s crack investigative team to tell us that Olivia Culpo wore it best, Christian Serratos carries a copy of ‘Fifty Shades of Grey,’ lip balm and post-defecation fragrance “Poo-Pourri†in her Stella McCartney tote, and that the stars are just like us: they swim, they stretch before exercise, and “they hold onto their bags.†Yep, that’s the best caption they could come up with for a photo of Liev Schreiber "(wearing a Tiffany CT60 watch) headed to work in NYC Oct. 31.†Presumably because they rejected the caption: “The stars are just like us: They hate being photographed by strangers.â€Onwards and downwards . . .
by Rob Beschizza on (#225B6)
I added a line of dialog to Star Trek: First Contact.PREVIOUSLY: Yeah, Obi-Wan Remembers the Truth Alright
|
by Cory Doctorow on (#2253H)
Michael from Sparrows Lockpicks (previously) writes, "I am releasing the Gridlock today, a automotive lock teaching tool." (more…)
|
by Jason Weisberger on (#2253K)
ChefSteps Joule sous vide eliminates all the niggling inconveniences of other models and turns sous vide into a really useful, everyday technique. I've been cooking with it for months now, and I'm in love.Sous vide cooking is a method of bringing the foodstuffs you want to eat up to their cooked temperature in a gentle bath of heated water. The protein changes are more predictable, flavors far bolder and less cooked out, textures not destroyed by high heat. I love the results sous vide produces but even the best of last years circulators kept it as an every-so-often technique.The containers I found I had to use to match up with the depth, clips and mounting hardware of most units was a total pain in the butt. Over time I settled on using an igloo cooler with the then favorite circulator. It was larger than I wanted to keep in my kitchen, and needed more water than a California felt great about for making a few steaks. Sure, I could recycle the water but it just never felt like something I could do every day. Here is what is so great about Joule: it has a magnet in its bottom instead of using a mounting clip. Even the best mounting hardware doesn't compare to this. If you have any pots that a magnet will stick to, you can sous vide in them. The Joule also runs with much less water than other units I've tried. You do not have to fill the pot up to where the exhaust hole in the unit is. The pump will bring water up. It is really great.Joule's software is simple to use. The iPhone app I tried was a beta version, and everything was already working perfectly. Simple to access via wireless, incredibly intuitive controls. All any of these devices do is to set a temperature and a timer. The app has recipe suggestions and the like, but I doubt anyone really wants that. Another refreshing feature is that the the Joule is small enough that it'll fit in any drawer or cupboard in my kitchen. Because it has no readout or on the unit controls beyond on and off, it is really slender. Thanks to the folks at ChefSteps for making something that really works for small kitchens.ChefSteps CS10001 Joule Sous Vide, White/Stainless via Amazon
|
by Mark Frauenfelder on (#224YT)
Dawoochen makes a line of flatware, called Head Up, for people who don't want the business end of their forks, knives, and spoons from touching the microbes teeming on the dinner table.The Dawoochen Head up flat ware set is an innovative and hygienic product designed to keep the part that goes into your mouth free from touching the surface and this can perfectly prevent various bacteria and dust on the dining tablet from getting into the mouth through table ware.
|
by David Pescovitz on (#224WP)
Peterborough, England photographer Chris Porsz's Reunions photo series and book presents his remarkable street snapshots of myriad characters taken in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s juxtapozed with those same individuals at the location of the original photographs. See more: Reunions
|
by David Pescovitz on (#224QW)
Enjoy the delightful music video for the Was (Not Was) song "Hello Dad, I'm in Jail" (1987), directed by Christoph Simon. This clip was a favorite of many viewers of Liquid Television, MTV's fantastic animation showcase produced in the early 1990s by Boing Boing's pals at Colossal Pictures. (Thanks, UPSO!)
|
by Cory Doctorow on (#224N2)
When the next president takes office, he brings with him an anti-encryption, anti-free-press, Islamophobic, racist, anti-transparency agenda that will depend on the tech sector's massive databases of identifiable information and their sophisticated collection capabilities to bring his agenda to fruition. (more…)
|
by Gareth Branwyn on (#224N4)
One of the things I’ve always enjoyed about Charles Platt’s Make: Electronics series (which I instigated as an editor at Make: Books) is his “Learning by Discovery†approach. You learn about electronics by doing the electronics and then learning about the science and engineering behind what you just did. So I was thrilled to see that in Platt’s latest book, Make: Tools, he uses the same project-based learning approach. Here, you do various, mainly wood-based, projects and learn about the tools as they are needed. For instance, in the first project, which is a wooden puzzle, saws are discussed as one is called for, then mitre boxes, clamps, rulers and squares, sanding and finishing tools. In the end, you’ve been introduced to each of the the tools in action and you have a fun puzzle to show for your efforts.Charles always picks clever projects and Make: Tools is no exception. Projects here include a set of jumbo wooden dice, a pantograph, a Swanee whistle, parquetry, some wooden and plastic boxes, basic bookshelves, and even a few useful shop jigs. Through the course of each chapter, the project reveals the tools needed and explains how they’re used, their features and variations, and any safety precautions. Each chapter is also followed by a fact sheet that delves more deeply into a featured tool or material introduced in the chapter. Charles is known for his intense attention to detail and there’s plenty of evidence of that here. Each of the handsomely-designed pages (photographed and illustrated by Charles and designed by his wife, Erico Platt) has a lot going on and close examination pays off. It’s a fun book just to browse through. And, even if you don’t build anything from Make: Tools, the steps in the projects act as a narrative through which you can better understand how these tools are used in a variety of building situations. By the end, you’ll have been introduced to dozens of tools, materials, and techniques and have gained a solid grounding in how to use them in the real world.Make: Tools: How They Work and How to Use Them by Charles PlattMaker Media2016, 260 pages, 8.0 x 0.4 x 9.6 inches, Hardcover$18 Buy one on Amazon
|
by David Pescovitz on (#224HP)
Carryl Baldwin, a professor of cognition and applied auditory research, designs and tests sounds for "use as alarms in household, aviation, medical, and automotive settings." Atlas Obscura explores the art and science of making sounds that convey a spectrum of urgency:One of the main considerations is the annoyance factor. To test for annoyance in the lab, says Baldwin, “we’ll construct sounds and we’ll look at all of the different acoustic parameters, so we might vary, for instance, intensity, frequency, the number of harmonics, how fast it ramps up and down, the temporal characteristics—like whether it’s going d-d-d-d-d-duh rapidly or duhhhh-duhhhhh-duhhhh.â€The faster an alarm goes, the more urgent it tends to sound. And in terms of pitch, alarms start high. Most adults can hear sounds between 20 Hz and 20,000 Hz—Baldwin uses 1,000 Hz as a base frequency, which is at the bottom of the range of human speech. Above 20,000 Hz, she says, an alarm â€starts sounding not really urgent, but like a squeak.†Harmonics are also important. To be perceived as urgent, an alarm needs to have two or more notes rather than being a pure tone, “otherwise it can sound almost angelic and soothing,†says Baldwin. “It needs to be more complex and kind of harsh.†An example of this harshness is the alarm sound that plays on TVs across the U.S. as part of the Emergency Alert System. The discordant noise is synonymous with impending doom."An Alarm Designer on How to Annoy People in the Most Effective Ways" (Atlas Obscura)
|
by Cory Doctorow on (#224HR)
Thinkgeek's new Her Universe Star Trek collection includes a couple of standout pieces: first, the Wesley Crusher bomber with embroidered "Crusher" over the breast and the three-stripe sleeve piping; second, the Patches Paige bomber with Trekkie embroidery and a selection of Starfleet Academy patches. (more…)
|
by Mark Frauenfelder on (#224HT)
Paul Myers of Opulence Mechanics designed and 3D printed this door lock. You can open the door only if you have a marble. I guess a gumball would would, too.
|
by Cory Doctorow on (#224FM)
Trump is a climate denier and he's packing his administration with climate deniers; as Peter Watts pointed out, Trump "seems to think that the laws of politics and of physics somehow carry equal weight, that he can negotiate with the heat capacity of the world’s oceans ('Okay, we’ll cut our bitumen production by 15%, but then you have to increase your joules/kelvin by at least 5…')." (more…)
|