Wednesday, February 07, 2007
08:01 PM

Vista reviewed by The Onion.: ""

(Via The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs.)

Wednesday, February 07, 2007
07:19 PM
what an honor

Stephen Colbert's Americone Dream from Ben and Jerry's: "Cory Doctorow:


Ben and Jerry's appear to be planning a new, Stephen Colbert-inspired ice-cream flavor: 'Stephen Colbert's Americone Dream.'

Link

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Wednesday, February 07, 2007
07:15 PM
pity - I wqs makin cookies

Easy Bake Oven recall: "Mark Frauenfelder:







Hasbro is recalling nearly one million Easy Bake Ovens because children are getting their hands caught in the narrow opening and burning their fingers. I thought this was a good opportunity to point out how ugly the over has become over the years, too. It's aesthetic devolution is as pitiful as the Ford Thunderbird's, from 1955 to 1978.

Link (Thanks, Bob!)

Reader comment:

Craig says:

We purchased one of these ovens for my 5 year old daughter for Christmas this year. During unpacking and assembly it took my other, 2 year old, daughter all of 45 seconds to get her hand stuck in the door. Thank god it wasn't on and/or hot, she only lost a little skin from her knuckles.

The opening to the oven is about an inch and a half high with a flap-type door that only opens inward so the harder you pull the tighter it gets. Brilliant design... if you're building a hand catcher.

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Wednesday, February 07, 2007
07:13 PM

Dessert/animal mashup photoshopping contest: "Cory Doctorow:


Today on the Worth1000 photoshopping contest: desserts mashed up with critters. It's disturbing how delicious the Spider-Chip Cookie (shown here) looks, and for stomach-churning dissonance, check out the Octopus Cone -- who knew that something that rubbery could look that sweet?

Link

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Monday, February 05, 2007
08:04 PM

Editors' Notes: Bill Gates loses his grip on reality: "Bill Gates says security experts find holes in Mac OS X every single day. Peter Cohen says huh?

"

(Via MacCentral.)

Monday, February 05, 2007
07:45 PM
oh you betcha

Profane bad-ass science fiction tee: "Cory Doctorow:


These SCIENCE FUCKING FICTION tees are about as bad-ass as you can get in skiffy-land!

Link

(via Warren Ellis)

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Monday, February 05, 2007
07:43 PM
now come on!

Lactation activist beats Pork Board in trademark kerfuffle: "Cory Doctorow:

Corynne sez, 'The National Pork Board sent a C&D to Lactivist, a pro-breastfeeding blogger, based on her use (on a t-shirt) of the phrase 'the other white milk.' Instead of being intimidated, the blogger asked her readers to get on the Pork Board' case. They must have done a great job, because within a couple of days the Pork Board actually apologized. Strike one for free speech and the bloggers!'

Link

(Thanks, Corynne!)

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Monday, February 05, 2007
07:42 PM
hmmm

Dorkbake competition wrap-up: "Mark Frauenfelder:



Last Saturday night, Carla (my wife and editor-in-chief of CRAFT magazine) and I were judges in the first Dorkbake challenge, held at Machine Project in Echo Park, Los Angeles. A few weeks earlier, entrants who paid the $13.37 (heh heh) entry fee were issued a 100-Watt light bulb to use as the heating element for a home made oven.

The other two judges were Tom Jennings (an old friend and geek / artist / trailblazer extraordinaire), and Jonathan Gold, who writes the world's greatest restaurant column, Counter Culture, for The LA Weekly.

It wasn't easy choosing the best oven out of the eight that made it to the finals. Each oven was unique: a cardboard box with foam insulation, a disk drive enclosure, a Mac Classic, a terra cotta pot, an insulated bag dressed like a Viking opera singer, a cooler with a vacuum pump, a silver case, and a flying saucer. I sampled food cooked in each oven -- everything, from chicken with cheese and tomato sauce, to chocolate mint star cake with a cream filling, was delicious.

In the end, we chose Eric and Jodi Kurland's (AKA 'Team Rosswell') elegant and playful flying saucer oven, which had a ring of blinking LEDs and a retrofuturistic tripod. Eric wore a gorilla suit and a home-made spaceman helmet with a robot voice changer, and his deadpan description of the oven was the highlight of the evening. Here's a video of Eric describing his and Jodi's oven.

My Flickr set of Dorkbake photos

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Monday, February 05, 2007
07:39 PM
ohh yeah

Luxury crapper contest: "David Pescovitz:

Drain cleaning company Roto-Rooter is giving away this ridiculous 'pimped-out' toilet as part of a promotional sweepstakes. The winner will be announced on April 25, National Plumber's Day. The irony is that the toilet itself seems pretty standard. They should have gone for one of those self-cleaning Japanese models with the bidet and sound effects generator. From the 'Pimped Out John' sweepstakes site, here's the list of 'luxury enhancements:'

• Philips 20-inch LCD TV and Star Wars DVD


• Xbox 360 gaming system


• Philips DVD player


• Gateway EMachine laptop computer with fully articulated 'robot' arm (quotes mine -ed.)


• iPod with stereo docking station equipped with toilet paper dispenser


• Roto-Rooter 'emergency' button


• Tivo recorder


• Avanti refrigerator with beer tap, stocked with drinks and snacks


• Magazine rack and subscriptions to Sports Illustrated, ESPN and GQ


• Bike pedal exerciser


• Cup warmer / cooler

Link (Thanks, Charles Pescovitz!)


Previously on BB:

• Toilet night-light motion-sensor glows red if the seat is up Link

• Print-to-toilet-roll Link

• Toilet tank sinks Link

• High-tech toilet with remote control Link

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Sunday, February 04, 2007
03:38 PM

sunday nibbles: "

* My two favorite new blogs this week: hoaxdevices.com and xenuday.com.

* Blogfriend Vince at the Liberty Guys emails me this morning to say, 'As I suspected - Republican Texas governor Rick Perry's motives for mandating HPV vaccination aren't exactly pure.' Vince and I have been having some interesting back and forth emails about the HPV vaccine.

* In the sunday NYT, don't miss A Woman of Many Parts, Some Exposed, a nice article about burlesque dancer and contortionist/performance artist Julie Atlas Muz. She is hotness! Above image via Julie Atlas Muz -- and hey girl, if your own hometown paper will do a story on you but won't link to you in all your fierceness, shame on them. Hmmm, that sounds so familiar... (thanks Adrian!)

* Sweet reader Dave sends me this fascinating post on the Science Blog about a study of behavior in 'adult bookstores' and the study's perceptions on the effects of sexual stereotypes on customers. I'd love to see this type of study done on a wider level to include shops like Babeland where the stock is respectful about all types of sexual expression and it's a normalized atmosphere. Here's a snip:

'She found two kinds of men who shopped alone: One group entered the store only to purchase or rent pornographic videos, while the other would discreetly browse through the entire store for a prolonged time before making a purchase -- if they made one at all.

'Interestingly, of all the men I observed purchasing or renting videos, not a single one appeared to be uncomfortable or anxious in this setting,' she said. 'It was like they were walking into a pharmacy, picking up their medication and walking out.'

(...) Unlike these men, women who shopped alone were not shy, Berkowitz said.

'There was one older woman with gray shoulder-length hair wearing Birkenstocks who felt so comfortable with her sexuality that she waltzed straight into the shop and announced in a voice loud enough for the whole store to hear that her vibrator had broken in use,' she said.

In groups, women displayed such stereotypical feminine practices as giggling and blushing, while some resorted to badmouthing and condemning other women, Berkowitz said. Women are not socially conditioned to flaunt their sexuality, and under the gaze of other females, many felt pressure to distance themselves from certain images and items, she said.'

* Chronicle columnist pal Mark Morford sent me this awesome article from last month's Atlantic Online -- it's not new, and there's some pretty obvious stuff in it, but if you're interested in following (and like me, developing) the conversation about the future of MSM and electronic media, definitely set aside some time for Michael Hirschorn's Get Me Rewrite.

"

(Via violet blue.)

Sunday, February 04, 2007
03:32 PM

Material Tougher Than Diamond Developed: "sporkme has handed us a link to a New Scientist article. The piece outlines the development of a new substance reported to be stiffer than diamond. A team of scientists from Washington, Wisconsin, and Germany combined the ceramic barium titanate and white-hot molten tin with an ultrasonic probe. The new material was, in some tests, almost 10x more resistant to bending than diamond. Composite materials researcher Mark Spearing of Southampton University comments on the result: 'The material's stiffness results from the properties of the barium titanate pieces, Spearing says. As the material cools, its crystal structure changes, causing its volume to expand. 'Because they are held inside the tin matrix, strain builds up inside the barium titanate,' Spearing explains, 'at a particular temperature that energy is released to oppose a bending force.''

"

(Via Slashdot.)

Sunday, February 04, 2007
03:30 PM
i do want one for neighborhood defense

Chaos robot is ready to tangle: "

The era of Blade Runner and I, Robot seems to draw ever closer to reality with new robots like Chaos. This guy, though small, looks mean enough to make me run in the other direction crying like a little girl. But maybe that's just me being afraid of that whole nanotechnology thing, though.

Chaos — a project of Autonomous Solutions — is a mobile robot designed to do 'dull, dirty, or dangerous tasks' such as explosive ordnance disposal, surveillance, reconnaissance, and search and rescue. It has four independent tracks that can move it over most surfaces like a champ. This is definitely a cool robot, which may someday have a following like another well-known chrome dome. — Nino Marchetti

Autonomous Solutions, via Crave

"

(Via SCI FI Tech Blog.)

Saturday, February 03, 2007
05:53 PM
maybe they were of the dark side?

Unruly Chewbacca impersonator head-butts tour guide: "Mark Frauenfelder:
In front of the famous Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Blvd, dozens of people make a living by dressing up in costumes and asking tourists for money to have their photo taken with them. You'll find Elmos, Supermans, Jack Sparrows, Darth Vaders, and Chewbaccas sidling up to tourists from all over the world and then demanding money when a photo is taken.

On Friday, a 6-foot-5 man in a Chewbacca costume allegedly head-butted a tour guide after the guide chastised him for being mean to two female Japanese tourists. He was arrested.

(photo from Jimmy Kimmel Live)Tourists have complained that some costumed characters turn abusive when they refuse to pay them to pose for pictures. Two years ago, actors dressed as superhero Mr. Incredible, Elmo the Muppet and the dark-hooded character from the movie 'Scream' were arrested for aggressive begging. More recently, an actor portraying slasher movie favorite Freddie Krueger was taken into custody for allegedly stabbing another man, although no charges were filed.

'The city will do something eventually. Yesterday's incident probably shortened that time span,' said Thomas Fox, wearing a pirate's suit reminiscent of Capt. Jack Sparrow in 'Pirates of the Caribbean.'

'Things like this happen around Chewbacca all the time. I saw him in a fight with a music vendor. They knocked over a baby stroller,' Fox said.

Link

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Friday, February 02, 2007
08:29 PM

Lies, Damned Lies, and Bill Gates: "

Bill Gates to Newsweek: ‘Nowadays, security guys break the Mac every single day. Every single day, they come out with a total exploit, your machine can be taken over totally.’

Oh, really?

"

(Via Daring Fireball.)

Friday, February 02, 2007
08:27 PM
top o my list of unneeded stuf

Glam up the laundry room with gilded washing machine: "

Check out this washing machine — do Koreans love their spin cycles or what? Though you need to speak (or read) Korean to understand the in-depth specs of this baby (also known by Samsung/Hauzen as the SEW-HKR149ATA) we can tell you a little bit. It looks to have been designed by Andre Kim, who apparently once turned down a request from Michael Jackson to be his designer. Kim's touch makes for one amazing-looking washing machine, decked out, as Popgadget describes, in 'a gilded finish, a bright-red paint job, and to top it all, a royal emblem on the glass.'

No word on pricing or if this king of all washing machines will hit the States, but when and if it does, please remember: it can't make sausages. — Nino Marchetti

Hauzen, via Popgadget and Savvy Chick

"

(Via SCI FI Tech Blog.)

Friday, February 02, 2007
08:20 PM

Emergency Web Zen: ceci n'est pas un bombe zen: "Xeni Jardin:


t-shirt


night writer


throwies


usb christmas tree


clock


kevin mccormick


instructables


lite brite

Link

Web Zen Home, Store (Thanks Frank!).

Image: Aqua Teen Bomber Force t-shirt: Link.

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Friday, February 02, 2007
08:17 PM
hard to get AppleCare for a Sony

Sony's extended warranty is a rip-off: "Cory Doctorow:
Alice from the Wonderland Blog bought a Sony laptop last year and sprang for an extra $300 worth of 'home service' warranty. The first time it broke down (faulty hard-drive, plus Sony 'forgot' to install the Bluetooth module) the service tech put it back together wrong and now it doesn't work. Sony says she's had her quota of service calls, so she's out of luck. The moral: don't buy Sony, and don't trust their warranties.

Long story short: Sony sent out an engineer who replaced the parts, but didn't put my machine back together properly, and now won't send out someone again because I've had my quota of home visits. Yep, even though their work was shoddy, and even though I paid an extra 300 bucks for an extended policy. I also had to bribe the engineer to let me keep my dead HD, because otherwise Sony's policy is to keep it (and all the data!) - because a customer shouldn't get a replacement drive for free

Link

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Thursday, February 01, 2007
07:24 PM
truer words...

Joseph Heller: "'Live forever or die in the attempt.'

"

(Via Motivational Quotes of the Day.)

Thursday, February 01, 2007
07:08 PM
ooops

My Windows Vista Mess: "Bill Nienaber writes

I'm a very proud Mac user that occasionally needs to use Windows via Boot Camp and/or Parallels. I've never been kind towards Microsoft, but decided against my better judgement to actually purchase my own copy of Windows Vista for my iMac at home so that I can work from home when needed. This is the story of how what little faith I had in Microsoft was ruined - by Microsoft.

As you're reading this sordid little tale of Windows insanity, please note the actual Windows topic icon will be up and loading soon. The planets are just a stand-in for now.

"

(Via MacSlash.)

Thursday, February 01, 2007
06:37 PM
good to know

Running Visio in Parallels Desktop for Mac: "

Reader J.H. asks: When you use Visio on the Parallels Desktop, is operation of Visio as good, smooth and fast as using it on Windows XP? I tried Visio once on Virtual PC and found it unsatisfactory. Visio is the main reason my office

is not a Mac office.

J.H., out of courtesy, asked for a simple yes/no answer. Unforunately, I wanted to provide a bit more detail :-).

Virtual PC for the Mac was slow for a couple of reasons. First, it is an emulation solution. It actually had to emulate an Intel CPU to run the Windows code and application code installed on top of it. Second, it is pretty clear that the PowerPC G4/G5 processors were definitely slower than the Core Duo and Core 2 Duo commonly found in most Intel Macs out in the wild today.

Parallels has the advantage of being a true virtualization option that works directly on an x86 architecture. Moreover, the Core Duo and Core 2 Duo (and Xeon Woodcrest) have the Intel-VT virtualziation assistance built into the hardware. Basically, virtualized OSes including Windows XP and Linux fly on it an Intel Mac running Parallels Desktop for Mac.

The, BUT…, comes into play if you bought an Intel Mac early in the release cycle and didn’t bump RAM up to 1GB or more. I would hesitate to run Windows as a Guest OS on a 512MB MacBook, for example. However, if you have 1GB or more of RAM, set Windows XP SP2 with at least 512MB RAM for its virtual machine and Visio and other apps seem to run pretty fast to me. Combine that with Parallels Coherence mode that lets you run Windows applications in what looks like its own window under Mac OS X, and the experience feels nearly seamless (Windows apps menus always are Windows-like vs. Mac-like, of course).

So, if you have at least 1GB RAM on a Core Duo or Core 2 Duo (not so sure about a Core Solo in the original low-end Intel Mac mini), you should be able to run Visio and other Windows applications comfortably using Parallels Desktop for Mac.

"

(Via MacDevCenter.)

Thursday, February 01, 2007
06:33 PM
biggest thing since sliced milk

News: Zune executive leaves Microsoft: "Bryan Lee, the Microsoft executive who helped bring the Zune MP3 player to market, is leaving the company.

"

(Via MacCentral.)

Thursday, February 01, 2007
05:41 PM
I want several million

Scientists build nanomachine that could make our world even crazier than ever: "

Tiny particles are making big news today at the University of Edinburgh, where scientists have created a motor mechanism for a nanomachine. Last year researchers at the University of Georgia developed minuscule nanogenerators to power the nano world, but this latest unimaginably small machine — about 80,000 times thinner than the thickness of a human hair — runs on its own power.

David Leigh, a professor of chemistry at the university, sees the machine and its descendants driving a whole new era in technological progress. 'It is a machine mechanism that is going to take molecular machines a step forward to the realization of the future world of nanotechnology. Things that seem like a Harry Potter film now are going to be a reality.'

The submicroscopic device is able to trap molecule sized particles as they move, a first step toward a full fledged nanoengine. Leigh says this is the first time anything like his device has been developed. Now if the researchers can just keep the little buggers from runaway reproduction, congealing together into a huge mass of gray goo and taking over the world, this nanotech might spark a series of scientific and engineering breakthroughs that could dwarf the harnessing of electricity, the steam engine, and the Internet. — Charlie White

Reuters, via Engadget

"

(Via SCI FI Tech Blog.)

Thursday, February 01, 2007
05:36 PM
lol

Light up bras: "Mark Frauenfelder:


Wearing these bras in Boston could get you arrested. Link (Thanks, D Ruuska!)

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Thursday, February 01, 2007
05:35 PM
strange days indeed

Video of Mooninite menaces: "Mark Frauenfelder:
Video of a Yippie-esque press conference with Sean Stevens, left, and Peter Berdovsky, the two guys arrested in Boston for threatening the public with unauthorized Lite Brites. (Stevens looks a lot like a young Steve Jobs!)

In the clip above, the two gentlemen responsible for the placement of the lightboxes have some fun with the media frenzy, discussing various hairstyles of the 60s and 70s. The press accuses of them of not taking it seriously but, in a sense, they're taking it just as seriously as they ought to.

Link

Reader comment:

Dion says:

The link goes to the relevant statute that defines the crime that Stevens and Berdovsky have been charged with (other than 'disorderly conduct.') [MGL Chapter 266, Section 102: Stevens and Berdovsky Charged with Intent to Represent an 'Infernal Machine']

Most interesting is that the statute defines the crime in terms of a specific intent: 'the intent to cause anxiety, unrest, fear or personal discomfort to any person or group of persons.'

This specific intent will be hard to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, in my opinion.

Most interesting is subsection d: 'The court shall, after a conviction, conduct a hearing to ascertain the extent of costs incurred, damages and financial loss suffered by local, county or state public safety agencies and the amount of property damage caused as a result of the violation of this section.'

No doubt, for our local securocrats, the monetary issue, along with some face saving, has become the nut of the issue.

For the rest of us, the event is clearly about how far we've gone down the path, as Brian Massumi put it, of becoming 'an everyday society of fear.'

Ross E. Lockhart says:

Feeling inspired by current events, I posted a René Magritte/Mooninite/Lite Bright Mashup in my blog this morning. I thought you folks might enjoy it. Link

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Thursday, February 01, 2007
05:34 PM
tres kewl

BEASTS! a comix bestiary of cryptids: "David Pescovitz:








Fantagraphics Books has just published BEASTS!, a magnificent bestiary of mythological and cryptozoological critters depicted by more than one hundred edgy artists, cartoonists, and illustrators including BB faves Tim Biskup, Attaboy, Johnny Ryan, Seonna Hong, Gilbert Hernandez, and Eric Reynolds. The BEASTS! menagerie includes the usual suspects like Bigfoot and Nessie, proto-cryptids like the Gorgon and Golem, and also dozens of monsters you've probably never met before like the Japanese Gaki, French Melusine, and the human-eating Odontotyrannus of the Ganges River. (Above, Vampire by Sam Weber.) The 200-page hardcover volume was created and curated by Fantagraphics' talented art director Jacob Covey and beautifully produced in full color on gold-edged paper. Absolutely magnificent.












From the description of the Amermait (above), illustrated by Tim Biskup:

The voracious Amermait of Egypt sits beneath the scales of justice in the underworld. Comprising aspects of three deadly beasts--the jaws of a crocodile, the head of a lion, and the body of a hippopotamus--the Amermait, or Ammut, devours the souls of the unworthy with expert ferocity. When a soul arrives for judgment, its heart is weighed upon the scales against a feather that represents the truth. The heart must weigh the same as the feather--neither more nor less--for a soul to escape the appetites of the Amermait.

BEASTS! book release parties and artist signings are taking place at the following locations:

* Grass Hut Gallery, Portland, February 2, 6pm

* Giant Robot NY, New York City, February 24, 7pm

* Quimby's Bookstore, Chicago, March 9, 7pm

Link to buy BEASTS!

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Thursday, February 01, 2007
05:33 PM
that's just wrong

Hello Kitty tarot: "David Pescovitz:


Arist Joe Rosales created an occulty-cute Hello Kitty tarot deck titled 'Hello, Tarot.' Seems that they're out of print but you might be lucky enough to find a set somewhere online if, er, it's in the cards.
Link (via Neatorama)


Previously on BB:

• Modern traffic sign Tarot deck Link

• Playmobil Tarot! Link

• Peanuts Tarot Deck Link

• Hello Kitty airplane Link

• Hello Kitty-themed belt-sander Link

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Thursday, February 01, 2007
05:32 PM
might get this for one of my brothers

History of slide-rule wristwatches: "Cory Doctorow:


Watchismo has a great pictorial round-up of the history of slide-rule and protractor wrist-watches. Man, these things are bad-ass.

Link

See also:

Early days of plastic watches
Mechanical 'LED watch' from 1970

History of calculator watches

Steampunk watch

Belt-drive watch

Watch guts of great beauty

All-plastic watch movement from the 70s

Awesome, impractical, expensive watch

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Wednesday, January 31, 2007
07:51 PM
and I feel safer

Boston Channel photoshops Mooninite LED signs: "Mark Frauenfelder:



WCVB-TV in Boston has photoshopped the extended finger from the Mooninite LEDs. Compare the before-and-after photos of the uniformed and helmeted LED disposal expert as he carefully removes the deadly object. Link

(Thanks, Todd!)

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Wednesday, January 31, 2007
07:49 PM
could it have been ufos?

Massive telecom satellite blows up on launch: "Mark Frauenfelder:
Mike Jensen says: 'A commercial Sea Launch Zenit 3SL rocket disintegrated in a fiery catastrophe aboard its oceangoing platform Tuesday, destroying a sophisticated telecommunications satellite payload in a dramatic launch pad explosion reminiscent of the space program's early days.'

Link | YouTube clip (Best part: the logo appears at the end of the video, as if the people behind this are very proud of the mishap)

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Wednesday, January 31, 2007
07:39 PM
damn I forgot again

National Gorilla Suit Day: "Cory Doctorow:


Today is National Gorilla Suit Day, inaugurated by Mad Magazine's Don Martin. 'Every National Gorilla Suit Day, people of all shapes and colors around the world get their gorilla suits out of the closet, put them on and go door-to-door.'

Link

(Thanks, David)

"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Wednesday, January 31, 2007
07:38 PM

Snakes eat poisonous toads and collect their poison: "David Pescovitz:

The Rhabdophis tigrinus snakes that reside on the island of Ishima, Japan, eat poisonous toads and store the toxic venom in glands for its own defense. While the monarch butterfly also collects defensive poison from plants and frogs sometimes beef up their defenses with bug toxins, herpetologist Deborah Hutchinson of Old Dominion University says it's very rare for a vertebrate to do so. From Scientific American:

Some R. tigrinus snakes carry toxins called bufadienolides in their nuchal glands, sacks located under a ridge of skin along their upper necks. When threatened, they arch their necks, exposing the poisonous ridge to an antagonist. The clawing and biting of hawks and other predators most likely rips the skin and lets the poison ooze out, potentially blinding the snake's attackers, says herpetologist Deborah Hutchinson of Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va. 'It might not kill the predator but it would be noxious enough to deter predation,' she says.

Link

"

(Via Boing Boing.)