Boing Boing

YouTube personality TheiBookGuy produced an easy-to-watch, easy-to-understand explainer piece on how computer graphics worked in the 1980s.In part one of a multi-part video series, he digs into the limitations of color on eighties-era computers and early game consoles like the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and the Commodore 64.

It's not making software that can solve our problems: it's figuring out how to pose those problems so that the software doesn't bite us in the ass. Read the rest

Nathaniel Buck Harrison of Oracle, Arizona sought vengeance against a foe by hitting him on the head with a board and then attempting to sic a rattlesnake on him. Apparently, the snake declined to participate. Read the rest

We say yes to this. We would ride it all the way to Valhalla. (more…)

The Environmental Protection Agency was investigating an old mine near Silverton, Colo., earlier this month, when it accidentally released 3 million gallons of toxic waste water into the Animas River. Read the rest

Atlas the robot recently walked in the woods for the first time. From the looks of that bot-wobble, it looks like he packed his forest flask. Read the rest

The eagle-eyed aviation security humans at Dublin Airport prevented a desperate toddler from boarding a flight while in possession of a Despicable Me Fart Blaster: "We don’t make the rules but we apply the rules consistently." (via Lowering the Bar)

The legendary Love and Rockets cartoonist turns his gaze to Riverdale. Read the rest

Corie writes, "We have a project Happy Mutants may be interested in -- an anthology of science fiction stories for middle grade readers, with a focus on diversity and representation. We have 22 great stories from a wide range of authors, from Hugo and Nebula winner Nancy Kress, to relative newcomers in the field." Read the rest

Like most people, I enjoy using emoji. But until today, I could not actually be emoji. All that has changed. Read the rest

Leonard Robinson, a Maryland man known for paying visits to hospitalized kids while dressed as the iconic superhero Batman, was killed last Sunday night in a traffic accident. Read the rest

August 25th, on the roof of Chicago's Hotel Lincoln, we'll be presenting the next in our summer Good Measure Tour with Noise Pop and Joie de Vivre Hotels!Widowspeak, a Chicago-based indie rock duo, will be playing tracks off their soon to be released album "All Yours" coming on September 3rd, via Captured tracks!Get tickets here!

The editors of Boing Boing have always wanted to create an event where people can enjoy a weekend of wonderful, magical, mindblowing, inspiring experiences. Guess what? We're doing it, and you're invited. Read the rest

Stanford scientists made mice walk in circles via remote control of a wireless LED implanted in the rodents' brains. Switching the LED on and off controls neurons that have been previously genetically engineered to be light-sensitive. Read the rest

The Light My Fire spork isn't technically a spork, but rather a handle with a fork on one end and a spoon on the other. It's regularly priced at $15, but Amazon is selling it for $6.33 + $0.99 shipping.

David Dilcher of Indiana University writes that this 130 million year-old fossil may represent the first life on earth to flower and pollinate underwater. Read the rest

Home Depot stores located in the area of Reno, Carson City, and Nevada's Black Rock Desert--where Burning Man takes place--create special Burning Man sections that cater to people who are headed to the annual festival. These stores report huge sales spikes for certain items. Read the rest

Having confirmed their own plans to publish an updated version of classic survival horror game Resident Evil 2, Capcom's asked a fan-led effort (nicely) to put theirs to bed. Read the rest

Retractions of dodgy or poorly-designed studies have increased tenfold in the last few years. But "sham studies are rare," reports Katie Palmer, and "some recalls result from honest errors or irreproducible results."

Hollywood's geriatric action stars: a positive change in a culture obsessed with youth, or risk-averse creative decrepitude? Read the rest

A pedestrian in an animal costume holds an umbrella while walking in a snowstorm in New York back on March 5, 2015. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

At least twenty people are dead following an explosion in Bangkok, "reports the BBC—but footage from the scene already offers a suspect.Videos taken by nearby CCTV and tourists show how the blast hit a crowded shrine in Thailand's largest city. Read the rest

Method of Action's game, Color, tests your ability to nail hue, saturation, complementaries, and so forth. Unlike similar online exams, it's well-designed and fun! [via Flowing Data]

Inventions are exciting, but the best ones are art. Read the rest

I never get tired of watching this brilliant 1990s take on the Wild Wild West, starring the always fantastic Bruce Campbell.Read the rest

Stand Firm Designs' website was taken down for unknown reasons (archive.org snapshot), but when the website was operational you would have learned that the self-described “Christian Construction Business” employed “retired contractors” to make its bean bag “cornhole” boards. Read the rest

“Certainly there is no hunting like the hunting of man…” wrote Hemingway. It is precisely this Holmes-versus-Moriarty style rivalry that makes Scotland Yard worth an hour or more of your time. Read the rest

Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara star in Carol, a new movie based on Patricia Highsmith's novel, The Price of Salt. Read the rest

The new generation of millimeter-wave body scanners from the convicted war-criminals at L-3 were supposed to replace the useless, expensive backscatter radiation machines from Rapiscan with a more robust, less privacy invasive alternative. Read the rest

This year's San Diego Comic-Con masquerade featured a cosplayer team dressed as the "women of the Haunted Mansion" -- from a maid to a stretching portrait to a changing portrait to ballroom and graveyard ghosts, all doing a delightful dance routine. Read the rest

From the BBC's excellent "Addicted to Pleasure" documentary series, learn about how some of us became sugar freaks and opium fiends. (more…)

"When would-be robbers armed with a sword storm a Pittsburgh convenience store, the cashier pulls a bigger sword of his own."[via]

China's exuberant, weird, terrible and brilliant amusement parks sprang up like mushrooms after the Deng reforms, and now many of them have fallen on hard times -- even as Disney makes ready to open Disneyland Shanghai. Read the rest

Perhaps I'm feeling soft today, but I felt sentimental and melancholic speaking to the fortune teller who said my life might have been different if I'd only met that neighbor who loves apricot jam. Read the rest

This fantastic performance from Boing Boing BBSer milliefink!(more…)

Locust Moon Press's Little Nemo: Dream Another Dream is a kickstarted tribute to Winsor McKay's seminal Jazz Age comic strip, with contributions from Peter Bagge, Paul Pope, Charles Vess, Carla Speed McNeil, Bill Sienkiewicz and many others. Read the rest

Cooties are real. Apparently, "cootie" comes from the Malay word "kutu," meaning "dog tick." Fortunately, you can easily make a cootie catcher wit the added benefit that the device doubles as a fortune teller, chatterbox, whirlybird, salt cellar, etc. Read the rest

Intel has released ACAT (assistive context-aware toolkit) under an Apache license in the hopes that people will improve it -- it only runs on Windows XP or better at the moment, and has a limited range of input-sensors. Read the rest

The movie studios continue to demand Lord High Internet Executioner status because "piracy is destroying the film industry," even as box office records are smashed anew: Straight Outta Compton put its studio over the $2B mark in record time.

Chuck Wendig's new technothriller Zeroes is a hacker misfit tale in the lineage of War Games and Sneakers, true to the spirit (and often, the minutae) of security work, and exciting as hell to boot. Read the rest

A little bit of information about one of the most recognizably sampled records in the history of rap music in this week's Hip Hop Family Tree strip. Read the rest

Alas, cops don't escort you to the hospital at 100MPH: "The couple's baby was determined to beat medics to the scene," police said, adding that the officers witnessed the 'miracle of childbirth.'"

Chartreuse is such a popular color in startup furnishing iconography that it may be described as "the color of disruption." But it has a distinguished history… Read the rest

Play yourself out, Keyboard Cat. Theremin Cat is on the scene, showing effortless natural theremin skills on the solo from the Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations." Read the rest