Boing Boing

Sealed evidence from the Byron Sonne trial

Cory Doctorow — Wed, 23 May 2012 10:23:43 PDT

Denise Balkisoon, who did a great job covering the Byron Sonne trial writes, "If you're not tired of G20 hacker/accused bomber Byron Sonne yet, the details of his pre-trial are now no longer under publication ban. I'm doing two posts on Open File with details, this is the first. Includes the police statement as to why they lied about his jaywalking to get his ID: 'If he didn't do anything wrong, why wouldn't he give me his name?,' said officer Euane Simon. 'An ordinary person would not be that defensive.'

Sonne, of course, was Toronto's "G20 hacker," a security expert whose life was destroyed by Toronto cops and the Canadian prosecutor when he pointed out the stupidity of the $1.2B G20 security theater.

Witness: Officer Irvin Albrecht, forensic identification officer
Albrecht presented videos and photos from the search of Sonne’s then-home at 58 Elderwood Drive. He noted, among other things, “computer hacker convention passes” on lanyards. He also noted a “suspected homemade detonator,” a device that figured highly in Sonne’s two denials of bail.
“How was that identified as such?” asked Peter Copeland, another of Sonne’s lawyers.
Albrecht said that he identified the “detonator” during his initial walk through the scene with a Sergeant Gibson. He also “came across similar looking items” in his later reading.
Later, Gavin Edison of the Centre for Forensic Sciences identified the “suspected homemade detonator” as a thermocouple, otherwise known as a fancy thermometer.
Witness: Corporal Richard Plume, RCMP
Searched Sonne’s parents cottage in Midland. He turned the compressed air “potato cannons” that earned Sonne a dangerous weapons charge over to the Guns and Gangs task force. Plume and others shot wadded up paper towels out of the cannons in the Guns and Gangs parking lot.

What we couldn't say about the Byron Sonne trial, Part I (Thanks, Denise!)

How to make Vietnamese coffee (video)

Mark Frauenfelder — Wed, 23 May 2012 10:11:01 PDT

[Video Link] My friend Andrea James sent me this video. She said, " I thought it was nicely shot, and I like the music!" I agree. The song is called "Ding Ding Dong," and it is by Waipod Phetsuphan (Thailad). It's on a compilation album called "The Sound of Siam: Leftfield Luk Thung, Jazz & Molam from Thailand 1964 -1975."

Jar of American Gods

Cory Doctorow — Wed, 23 May 2012 10:00:14 PDT

A Redditor posts photos of a jar of American gods, hole-punched out of the US dollar bills that an atheist friend receives as tips in his job as a valet.

My atheist friend has worked as a Valet for over a decade. He uses a hole-punch to take out the "god" on US dollars. Here is a picture of his collected "gods". (imgur.com)

Shadow QR codes that only work in certain sunlight

David Pescovitz — Wed, 23 May 2012 09:10:41 PDT

Generally I think QR codes are a lame stopgap technology. But this application by the Korean retailer Emart is fairly clever. They deployed 3D "Shadow QR codes" that only work during certain sunlight hours, lunchtime specifically. I could imagine this kinda thing being a fun clue in an alternate reality game. "In Seoul, retailer uses 3D QR codes and the sun to deliver discounts only during its quiet times" (Springwise, thanks David Steinberg!)

Privacy is Awesome: the playbook for killing CISPA, America's universal surveillance law

Cory Doctorow — Wed, 23 May 2012 09:07:37 PDT

Tiffiniy from Fight for the Future (standard-bearers in the fight against SOPA) sez,

Congressional hero of the SOPA wars, Senator Wyden, said about cyber security legislation (CISPA and Lieberman-Collins) that is expected to be taken up and passed in early June: "I believe these bills will encourage the development of an industry that profits from fear and whose currency is Americans' private data. These bills create a cyber industrial complex that has an interest in preserving the problem to which it is the solution."
Furthermore, privacy is awesome -- it lets you be yourself without fear of unjust scrutiny. But, these bills would end meaningful privacy and install meaningful surveillance. But, we can change the game: www.privacyisawesome.com.
CISPA passed the house recently. That seems like a blow, but unless a similar bill passes the Senate, that means nothing. We have one week to kill CISPA indefinitely. The playbook for this is rolling out today. If we can get senators to just stop and think for a minute before they vote on the bill, the clock will run out on it. To do that, we need to call Senate offices in the thousands requesting meeting at and information on Memorial Day events and during the Senators' recess, and get meetings in every state.
We're looking for people who can help keep building the movement for internet freedom, and who want to help stop CISPA.

Privacy is Awesome. Kill CISPA. (Thnaks, Tiffiniy)

Ladyada's Workshop in Lego

Mark Frauenfelder — Wed, 23 May 2012 08:54:53 PDT

Artist Bruce Lowell recreated Limor Fried's Adafruit workshop in Lego and submitted it to LEGO CUUSOO. I hope it gets the 10,000 votes needed for Lego to manufacture it as a set!

Ladyada's workshop is a place where you explore all the cool things you build and use when you're an engineer! Computers, pick-and-place machine, laser cutter, soldering station and more! In Ladyada's workshop you can run your own open-source hardware electronics company, complete with Mosfet the cat.

Ladyada's Workshop in Lego

TOM THE DANCING BUG: Super-Fun-Pak, featuring Pato Afortunado mit Heinrich Hund!

Ruben Bolling — Wed, 23 May 2012 08:45:11 PDT

Support Tom the Dancing Bug and receive untold BENEFITS and PRIVILEGES by joining the brand new INNER HIVE right now!

"I signed up the second I read about it. It's a lot of fun. I enjoy hearing Ruben tell the story behind each of his comics. Good luck, Ruben!" -Mark Frauenfelder, INNER HIVE member since three weeks ago

Historical novel tells the story of San Francisco's profit-sharing madam and the cops who betrayed her

Cory Doctorow — Wed, 23 May 2012 08:41:02 PDT

Hank Chapot sez, "You've published two links to my research about the 1937 police corruption scandals in San Francisco, November and February, 'the long lost Atherton Report.' After all the research, I wrote a novel. 'Bordello Politique'. Its an e-book available in most formats on most sites. Dolly Fine was the first profit sharing madam, she enrolled her girls in Social Security. She was wiretapped, raided and dragged before the Atherton grand jury. First woman in California indicted for contributing to the delinquency of (8) minors."

When Dolly’s elegant brothels are raided without warning, she is outraged. Her houses are raided, her girls are jailed, her money is stolen, and she’s dragged before a grand jury to testify against the cops she’s been bribing for years. As if that isn’t bad enough, she loses her immunity when her bail bondsman/crime boss buddy is named the “fountainhead of corruption” in an expensive, incendiary civil investigation called the Atherton Report. The good citizens of San Francisco command the mayor and the police commission to crack down on gambling, good-time girls and crooked cops, and Dolly is left high and dry. She tries to save herself but can’t count on anyone—can the city really come clean? Bordello Politique is a true crime story from a city searching for its center between the Great Depression and the World’s Fair.

Bordello Politique (Thanks, Hank!)

Studio Ghibli posters as old Penguin covers

Cory Doctorow — Wed, 23 May 2012 08:00:27 PDT

Jason K has reimagined a series of Studio Ghibli movie posters as covers of vintage Penguin paperbacks. He sells them as posters, postcards, and assorted other etsybits.

Studio Ghibli 4x6" postcard set of nine (via Wil Wheaton)

Cozy Noodle: Evanston, IL's Happy Mutant haven

Cory Doctorow — Wed, 23 May 2012 07:19:03 PDT

AKMA Adam sez, "After three years of living in Glasgow, we couldn't miss the opportunity to return to Cozy Noodle in Evanston -- our favourite restaurant here, where we used to live. We love the food and service, but the thing that sets Cozy apart is its vertiginously happy-mutant decor. The dining room was busy tonight, but I managed a few photos of the collections of Pez dispensers, Beanie Babies, licesnse plates, joke signs, bobbleheads, old-time radios, robots, lunch boxes, and fruit cans. No trip to Evanston will be complete without checking out Cozy's coections. And ask for the Chicken Rama (they'll substitute tofu for the chicken, if you're a vegetarian as I am. Mmmmmmmm!)"

Cozy Noodle [Flickr] (Thanks, AKMA)

HOWTO make unicorn poop cookies

Cory Doctorow — Wed, 23 May 2012 06:00:09 PDT

In case the Epic Poop post has you reaching for a unicorn chaser, I bring you...unicorn poop. Specifically, DIY unicorn poop from Instructables user kristylynn84. The secret ingredient is love. And poop. And "sugar cookies, rainbow dragees, rainbow star sprinkles, white sparkle gel, and rainbow disco dust."

Unicorn Poop!

USB stapler

Cory Doctorow — Tue, 22 May 2012 22:36:44 PDT

A stapler with a USB hub in it? Why not? USB ALL THE OFFICE SUPPLIES.

Usb hub auto Stapler (Thanks, Fipi Lele!)

Synthetic grass flip flops

David Pescovitz — Tue, 22 May 2012 21:34:51 PDT

Kusa makes flip flops with a footbed of faux grass. They seem like an imaginary product in the background at an invention fair on The Simpsons. KUSA Grass Flip Flops

New features for working 8-bit Minecraft computer

Cory Doctorow — Tue, 22 May 2012 21:03:33 PDT

The RedPower Minecraft project, which has built a programmable 8-bit computer for Minecraft, has done a new release. Engadget's Mat Smith sums up the new features: "The system is made from three separate cubes, representing the CPU, monitor and disk drive, respectively, all connected by ribbon cables. Part of pre-release 5 of the RedPower 2 mod, programmer Eloraam has also thrown in pumps and solar panels to keep crafters busy -- you're no longer limited to light switches. The emulated 8-bit processor can interact with other Minecraft blocks and while the computer can be programmed alone, its creator has been kind enough to include a Forth interpreter alongside the hardware, for those looking to get a little more involved."

RedPower 2 Prerelease 5 (for Minecraft 1.2.5) (via Engadget)

Epic dumps, recalled

Cory Doctorow — Tue, 22 May 2012 19:56:16 PDT

A Reddit thread called "Did you ever think you were going to die from a shit?" sparked a lyrical/scatological series of reminisces of epic dumps, including a two part series by ErikPDX recalling a storied moment of colonic glory following a period of post-surgical bedrest during which he consumed enormous amounts of painkillers and protein shakes without bestirring himself to relieve himself, until such time as his body could stand no more. Mr PDX included a picture of the result. I beg you not to click the link in his post which leads to it.

My entire body tingled. I felt lighter. I was covered in sweat, and breathing heavily. I felt high, delirious, in shock and awe. Great waves of increasing euphoria washed over me. Feelings of amazing pleasure I simply cannot describe. I felt as if I was bathing in a golden light of goodness. This was a transcending event. I felt like I had just touched the universe itself.

Did you ever think you were going to die from a shit? (self.AskReddit)

Actor Michael McKean hit by car

Jason Weisberger — Tue, 22 May 2012 19:43:51 PDT

The NY Daily News reports that Actor Michael McKean, of Spinal Tap fame, has been struck by a car on Manhattan today.

NY Daily News:

McKean, 64, who played Lenny on the hit television show (Laverne and Shirley,) was seen bleeding from the head after a car barreled into him at W. 86th St. and Broadway just before 3 p.m., witnesses and the FDNY said.

Good luck Michael!

Fun gallery of "double take" photos

Mark Frauenfelder — Tue, 22 May 2012 19:38:43 PDT

Bits & Pieces has a fun collection of "double take" photos. Each one caused a fun moment of "huh?" in my mind, until reality snapped into place.

Zimbabwean senator proposes ending AIDS crisis by mutilating women and preventing them from bathing

Cory Doctorow — Tue, 22 May 2012 18:50:42 PDT

A Zimbabwean senator named Morgan Femai from the opposition Movement for Democratic Change has given a bizarre, misogynist speech at an African HIV/AIDS conference in which he proposes that his county's AIDS health emergency can be solved by mandating that women must be ugly and unbathed, and be subject to genital mutilation. He also gave an interview in which he stated that "Women have got more moisture in their organs as compared to men so there is need to research on how to deal with that moisture because it is conducive for bacteria breeding. There should be a way to suck out that moisture."

“What I propose it that the government should come up with a law that compels women to have their heads clean-shaven like what the Apostolic sects do,” said Femai, when speaking to a parliamentary HIV awareness workshop in the central city of Kadoma on Friday, according to Nehanda Radio.
“They should also not bath because that is what has caused all these problems,” said Femai, who added that if women dressed in shabby clothes and were uglier, then men would not drawn to have sex with them.
Femai also proposed that Zimbabwean women should be circumsized.

How to reduce HIV in Zimbabwe? Make women uglier. (via Skepchick)

A child's to-do list

Mark Frauenfelder — Tue, 22 May 2012 18:10:37 PDT

A dad says: "My son has a long to do list today!"

Business cards made from concrete

Cory Doctorow — Tue, 22 May 2012 18:00:32 PDT

A creative agency called Murmure is kitting out its employees with concrete business cards that come with their own miniature shipping palettes. There's a scene in a William Gibson novel (I could swear it was Idoru, but I can't find it) where a Hollywood studio exec passes out business-cards screened on wafer-thin slices of marble, each in its own velveteen slipcase. These (which come with their own little paper boxes) are a nice second, though not nearly so keen as those fictional bad boys.

Concrete Business Cards (via Neatorama)

Weird illusion causes faces to look very distorted

Mark Frauenfelder — Tue, 22 May 2012 17:25:48 PDT

[Video Link] Follow the instructions on this video and prepare to be freaked out.

(Via Doobybrain)

Powerful wind makes for funny faces

Mark Frauenfelder — Tue, 22 May 2012 17:06:38 PDT

Tadao Cern's portrait series is called "Blow Job."

HOWTO make Star Wars vehicles from 3.5" floppies

Cory Doctorow — Tue, 22 May 2012 17:00:15 PDT

Instructables user Jetpack5 created a series of Star Wars space vehicles out of floppy-disk parts and office supplies. There's even a rubber-band-ball Death Star! Also in the set: a Millennium Falcon and a truly spiffy X-Wing fighter. This is a potentially productive way of using up the 5-billion-odd 3.5" floppies kicking around, slowly decaying. Better than my idea of a massive Beowulf cluster of 486s with four floppy drives each, rack-mounted and spanned to create a massively inefficient, room-sized virtual ZIP cartridge, which would be serviced by a dozen rollerbladed teenagers who would whisk around, swapping out corrupt disks.

Millennium Falcon and X-Wing from Floppy Disk (with Special Guest Appearance: Death Star) (via Neatorama)

With SpaceX launch, remains of James Doohan (Star Trek's "Scotty") finally rest in peace, in space

Xeni Jardin — Tue, 22 May 2012 16:44:35 PDT

The late actor James Doohan, best known for his role as "Scotty" on the original Star Trek series, left instructions in his will that he wished to be buried in space. His family worked hard to fulfill that wish, and made arrangements with Celestis, Inc., a subdivision of the Houston-based company Space Services that offers "post-cremation memorial spaceflights."

Those remains became part of the payload for a 2008 SpaceX Falcon 1 launch attempt that didn't reach orbit because of technical problems. Each failed attempt was newly agonizing for family members, prolonging their grief and lack of closure.

But today, seven years after "Scotty's" death, SpaceX successfully launched his ashes into space. From the startrek.com website today:

Doohan’s ashes – which also were launched to space in 2008 as part of an unsuccessful mission -- were part of a secondary payload included on the second stage of the rocket, not on the Dragon itself. That payload separated from the capsule at the 9-minute, 49-second mark and is now orbiting, on its own, above the Earth. It’s expected to stay in orbit for approximately a year before descending back to Earth and disintegrating during re-entry.
Wende Doohan, James Doohan's widow, was on hand for the launch with the couple’s daughter, Sarah, now 12. Doohan posted a photo on Twitter and tweeted the following comment early today. “Sarah and I enjoyed watching a beautiful rocket launch this morning - certainly a first for her.” Also, on May 18, Doohan tweeted the attached photo of Sarah at Cape Canaveral with a caption that read “Following Daddy’s footsteps?”

In 2008, just after that last unsuccessful attempt, we shared on Boing Boing a personal account of what the process felt like for Doohan's family. It was written by Ehrich Blackhound, one of Doohan's seven children. Here it is again, below.

Rest in peace, in space, Mr. Doohan. And on behalf of all of us at Boing Boing, our best to the whole family.

FOR WANT OF A TRANSPORTER

My father loved engineering. Anything he could do to visit NASA, an aircraft carrier, a submarine, he'd do it. There was no end to the enjoyment he received when people would come up to him and say, "I'm an engineer because of you." So when a company in Texas offered to launch his remains into orbit, we could only accept.

It's been just over 3 years since my dad, James Doohan, passed on. In that time, there have been many memorials, the most recent of which to commemorate Linlithgow, Scotland, as the future birthplace of Scotty. But his launch into space was the most publicized, and it was to be the most significant.

There have been many attempts to send my father on his way. On Saturday, the latest launch attempt by SpaceX, with a portion of my father's remains aboard, failed to achieve orbit. While there are many complicated reasons why this is a disappointment, mine is simple: I'd like to finish saying goodbye.

Every launch attempt is like reliving his funeral. There’s a lot of pomp and ceremony, and a retelling of his deeds in life. But at the end of these funerals, something goes awry, the body doesn't get buried, and you know you're going to have to come back to do it over again.

I'm not laying blame on anyone for the delays. It's difficult, living on the cusp of technology. Where most of us lament the premature obsolescence of our cell phones, there are those few of us who've pinned the memories of our family members on a rocket, hoping it will touch the sky.

My dad believed in human ingenuity, and he believed in mankind's destiny beyond the exosphere. That it would take several attempts in these early stages to successfully achieve orbit would not have phased him. I can accept this, because of who he was, and because he knew it was all a part of progress.

For those reasons, I know that his spirit will persevere, and others will keep those launch attempts coming. The act of sending a loved one's remains into space will someday be commonplace, even if we have to book a space flight ourselves to make it happen. That's the kind of progress my father believed in.

But I'm not sure I can hang on until then. Grieving can't wait for the pace of progress, and I have to say goodbye now. So when news of the next launch rolls around, please don't ask me about it; I won't be paying attention.

If my father has anything to do with it, though, I'm sure that ship will get where it's going.

-- Ehrich Blackhound, 2008

Playable Moog Google Doodle

David Pescovitz — Tue, 22 May 2012 16:40:15 PDT

Australia is in the future, where it is already Robert Moog's birthday and you can play this fantastic Moog Google Doodle, complete with four-track recording. Google Australia

Attract potential romantic partners with these animated LED glasses

Mark Frauenfelder — Tue, 22 May 2012 16:21:10 PDT

[Video Link] I saw these glasses in action at the Maker Faire 2012 wrap dinner. The gents from macetech LLC who were wearing them were the life of the party.

We at macetech LLC are proud of our existence as an intra-spacetime provider of technology. Our goal is to insert technological developments into the time periods where they should exist, rather than where they were initially developed. The LED matrix shades project was successfully inserted into 1981 at considerable risk.

Dutch Masters portrait subjects clothed in foam packing sheets

Cory Doctorow — Tue, 22 May 2012 16:19:57 PDT

Netherlands artist Suzanne Jongmans has created a series of portraits in the style of the Dutch Masters, creating the costumes out of soft packing foam sheets. She needs to team up with the artist who creates 15th century Flemish self-portraits using airplane toilet tissue and seat-covers. Together, they will rule the atemporal world.

Referring to both vulnerability and impermanence, I am investigating the texture and feel of both the present and past. Since 2007 I have been working on the series 'foam sculptures': caps and collars, inspired by 16th and 17th century paintings, made from materials currently used for packaging and insulation. This is also an inferior material which is often discarded after use. By using this material I make a reference to consumerism and the rapid circulation of materials. With these foam sculptures, but also an i-pod, a tattoo and a foot in plaster, we end up in the 21st century.
The portraits are a certain reference to Holbein, Clouet, Vermeer and Holland's Golden Age. It is no coincidence. In fact, in the 16th and 17th century, laid the foundations for photography. Call it the prehistory of photography. It appears that the artists have used photographic images, they could not yet capture. In fact, there was the phenomenon of photography so much earlier. This is an atavism of the Golden Age and the early days of the invention of photography.
I use the elements in the present as in the past, the objects in my work are used as symbols of values. I mutate old costumes into new plastics and old masters in new photographic works. By using time foreign materials, plastics and techno's, I am creating a time crux, a tension of time.

Suzanne Jongmans (via Neatorama)

Objectivist C: a selfish programming language

Cory Doctorow — Tue, 22 May 2012 15:08:08 PDT

Objectivist C: a programming language wherein each object "must live for its own sake, neither sacrificing itself to others nor sacrificing others to itself."

@implementation HelloWorld

- (void)printHelloWorld
{
    NSString *hello = @"I am. I think. I will.";
    Printer *printer = [[Printer alloc] init];
    if (printer)
    {
        [printer print:hello inExchangeForUSDollars:2.00];
        [printer release];
    }
    else
    {
        // In Objectivist-C, objects are self-sufficient. 
        // Here, I implement string printing from scratch. 
        [self createTheUniverse];
        [self createStandardOutputDevice];
        [self print:hello];
    }
}
 
// ...

An Introduction to Objectivist-C (via O'Reilly Radar)

Texts with all the paper cut away

Cory Doctorow — Tue, 22 May 2012 15:01:37 PDT

Artist Annie Vought produces remarkable pieces by carefully handwriting texts on huge sheets of paper and then painstakingly carving away all the non-inked parts with a very, very sharp knife.

I work primarily with cut paper and communication through writing. I believe handwritten records are fragments of individual histories– expressions of self that very much bring forth the truth of our inner lives. In the penmanship, word choice, and spelling the author is revealed in spite of him/herself. A letter is physical confirmation of who we were at the moment it was written, or all we have left of a person or a period of time. I also think a lot about the relationship between the public and the private, or more specifically about how the private side of ourselves can be made public. I want to be respectful of people, but I recognize that I’m actively exposing them through their written communications. But in the exposure is a vulnerability we all share. I’m interested in human relationships, overall— the ones we have with ourselves and others.

new cut paper messages by annie vought (Designboom)

Annie Vought (In the Make)

(via Colossal)

Happy (Sad?) World Goth Day

David Pescovitz — Tue, 22 May 2012 14:40:25 PDT

Today is World Goth Day. Celebrate with the Sisters of Mercy.