Friends

How to survive a Japanese monster attack

: boingboing_net; May 24th, 19:09

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/Axem00p8ci4/story01.htm

Matt Alt, author of "Yokai Attack," gives a Pecha Kucha talk on how to survive some of the ickiest green monsters in Japanese fairy tales.

And below, Matt writes:

A few months back, I gave a talk about yokai to a group of students visiting Tokyo from the Oslo National Academy of the Arts. There are a lot of Norwegian folktales that resemble those from Japan - trolls and such - so they were a very receptive bunch. A few weeks ago, one of the students, Stian Tranung, mailed me photos of this beautiful yokai stamp set he made by hand after reading Yokai Attack. Very cool and I hope he considers mass producing them!

Saudi student mistakenly suspected after Boston Marathon bombing speaks out

: boingboing_net; May 24th, 17:55

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/6oH3-6nP_3c/story01.htm

http://boingboing.net/?p=232350

Abdulrahman Ali Alharbi, the “easy-going, good humored” Saudi Arabian student who was the target of intense suspicion after the bombings in Boston, spoke out for the first time this week. In an interview with The Islamic Monthly, he says media attention since the attacks “double injured” him. You can hear the interview in full here.

“They were really scared of me. I am injured, I don’t have anything and they asked me “What you have in your hand!” I told them “Nothing, it’s just a napkin!” and I throw it to them and they were like “ahh!” … All the police officers and the FBI … and all the nurses and all the doctors were staring at me … I was looking [at] them like, is it because of the color of my skin or is it because of the name of my country?”

More at the Washington Post.

From Arrested Development to Dr. Who, How Binge Watching Is Changing Our Culture

: wiredtopstories; May 24th, 22:30

http://feeds.wired.com/~r/wired/index/~3/Mk0ZCSKmmIY/

http://www.wired.com/opinion/2013/05/beyond-arrested-development-how-binge-watching-is-changing-our-narrative-culture/

Why do we binge watch? One way to answer this question is to say, well, we binge on TV for the same reason we binge on food. And these psychological factors are no doubt apt. But the anthropological ones are perhaps just as useful and a little less obvious because culture is a thing of surfaces and secrets, and the anthropologist is obliged to record the first and penetrate the second to figure out what?s really going on.

The Xbox One Misses the Perfect Set-Top Box Target

: wiredtopstories; May 24th, 21:55

http://feeds.wired.com/~r/wired/index/~3/QMx1SkdsfG0/

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2013/05/xbox-one-tv/

The Xbox One could have been the true center of your TV universe that let you throw all those other boxes away.

Laptop with thermite self-destruct mechanism

: boingboing_net; May 24th, 15:24

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/ceUKAmgB7aA/story01.htm

http://boingboing.net/?p=232184

Caleb sez, "I wanted to try making something in the style of "Q" from the James Bond movies. My idea was to make an emergency self destruct system for laptops and portable hard drives. It turned out pretty well, it is always fun to watch stuff melt!"

I wanted to implement thermite as a self destruct mechanism inside the device. To do this, I had to come up with a way to ignite the thermite. This stuff is very difficult to light. You have to get it really really hot. The easiest way is to use magnesium, which itself isn’t the easiest thing to light.
What I finally landed on was an ignition system that uses model rocket igniters, gun powder, and magnesium to light the thermite. The model rocket igniter can be set off from the 12v line inside your computer. However, it isn’t hot enough to light magnesium shavings, much less thermite. To get it to work, I needed to add some gunpowder. A small amount of gun powder would get hot enough to light the magnesium shavings, which in turn were hot enough to light the thermite. I had to be careful though, because too much gunpowder would cause a rapid expansion, blowing the thermite everywhere instead of lighting it. You can actually see some red thermite being blown out of the external hard drive and the laptop as the gunpowder ignites.

Laptop vs Thermite: Slow motion destruction (Thanks, Caleb)

Better Place Runs Out of Juice, Reportedly Plans Bankruptcy

: wiredtopstories; May 24th, 21:51

http://feeds.wired.com/~r/wired/index/~3/QBtIYiNwR5I/

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2013/05/better-place-bankruptcy-report/

Better Place's plan to create a world full of electric vehicles that swap their batteries when they run out of juice is reportedly dead.

BMW Fires a Legendary Motorcycle Into the 21st Century

: wiredtopstories; May 24th, 20:44

http://feeds.wired.com/~r/wired/index/~3/cYPq8fAhyB0/

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2013/05/bmw-concept-ninety/

BMW's bikes have always been an amalgamation of form and function, which makes them more purposeful than pretty. The Concept Ninety finally manages to balance the two.

30 Things You Didn't Know About Return of the Jedi

: wiredtopstories; May 24th, 20:30

http://feeds.wired.com/~r/wired/index/~3/ZkNQr8uMGLM/

http://www.wired.com/underwire/2013/05/return-of-the-jedi-anniversary/

Tomorrow sees the 30th anniversary of the release of Return of The Jedi. To celebrate, here are 30 things you might not have known about the movie.

Here Are 4 New Arrested Development Clips to Prepare You for the Weekend

: wiredtopstories; May 24th, 20:22

http://feeds.wired.com/~r/wired/index/~3/RSgrA9j8fL0/

http://www.wired.com/underwire/2013/05/new-arrested-development-clips/

We're only days away from the new Netflix-only season of Arrested Development, but it still can't come soon enough. Here are four clips to hold everyone over until Sunday.

Tech Time Warp of the Week: Apple's (Other) 1984 Advertising Masterpiece

: wiredtopstories; May 24th, 20:03

http://feeds.wired.com/~r/wired/index/~3/mYRJtChg0-g/

http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2013/05/apple-blue-busters-ad/

Everybody remembers Apple's remarkable George Orwell-inspired 1984 Super Bowl ad. It's still talked about as one of the greatest Super Bowl ads of all time. But buried in the company's marketing vault is another landmark video from the same year. It wasn't inspired by Orwell. It was inspired by Dan Aykroyd.

Game|Life Podcast Ponders the Cloud-Based Future of Xbox One

: wiredtopstories; May 24th, 19:49

http://feeds.wired.com/~r/wired/index/~3/Oh2o_ZrgAeA/

http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2013/05/gamelife-podcast-episode-72/

We look at a possible future for Xbox One that's not a box at all.

New Wireless Electronics Could Heal Wounds and Then Dissolve

: wiredtopstories; May 24th, 19:44

http://feeds.wired.com/~r/wired/index/~3/GnZd9NCEm2s/

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/05/remote-controlled-dissolvable-electronics/

Scientists have built a remote-controlled electronic device that is absorbable by the human body.

Holder Signed Off on Warrant Identifying Fox News Reporter as Criminal Conspirator

: wiredtopstories; May 24th, 19:14

http://feeds.wired.com/~r/wired/index/~3/WqOEBDZtfEA/

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/05/holder-signed-off-on-warrant/

Attorney General Eric Holder signed off on the controversial warrant application that the Justice Department used to obtain the personal emails of a Fox News reporter.

Planets Converge to Form Rare Glowing Triangle This Weekend

: wiredtopstories; May 24th, 18:31

http://feeds.wired.com/~r/wired/index/~3/zt2Cu48yei4/

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/05/three-planets-converge-in-twighlight-sky/

This weekend, three planets will nestle together in the western sky at twilight to form a rarely seen glowing triangle. With good timing and a bit of luck you should be able to see it without a telescope.

3D-printable model of the cover of Joy Division's "Unknown Pleasures"

: boingboing_net; May 24th, 12:22

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/C2MuM3u-h-4/story01.htm

http://boingboing.net/?p=232178

Michael Zoellner sez,

After watching Grant Gee's documentary "Joy Division" I wanted to print the iconic cover of their first album "Unknown Pleasures" in 3D. Unfortunately I could not find a single vector graphic or 3D model anywhere. There are articles about the history of the graphics, Peter Saville's artwork and PSR B1919+21. I even tried to visualize PSR B1919+21's waveforms. But in the end I spend an evening tracing the waves by hand.
The resulting SVG file was extruded and rendered in Processing with Richard Marxer's Geomerative and my RExtrudedMesh extension. OBJ export was accomplished with OBJExport. The model was printed on Makerbot Replicator with white PLA filament. The 3D model and the SVG graphic are published under a Creative Commons license.

Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures printed in 3D

America's most religious cities download lots of porn

: boingboing_net; May 24th, 12:07

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/Yc8PG2S6KbA/story01.htm

http://boingboing.net/?p=232347

Pornhub compared Gallup's survey of religiosity to its own records of smut-seekers, and learned that residents of America's most religious cities love themselves some porn. [Pando Daily]

Tim Curry "recovering after major stroke"

: boingboing_net; May 24th, 11:58

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/ei1v46Rin_I/story01.htm

http://boingboing.net/?p=232345

Actor Tim Curry suffered a stroke last night, but the 67-year-old is "doing great" and already recovering at home, according to reports. Get well soon, Tim!

• Rocky Horror Muppet Show
• Rocky Horror costumes
• LOLCats meet Rocky Horror

School safety officer throws student down flight of stairs

: boingboing_net; May 24th, 11:46

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/XYg7K1DtxnY/story01.htm

http://boingboing.net/?p=232341

This Chicago public school security guard was reportedly suspended after pushing a students down a flight of stairs. Damn! [via Sky News]

Five nights of rioting in Sweden

: boingboing_net; May 24th, 11:41

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/U0-_eu07_0s/story01.htm

http://boingboing.net/?p=232339

"The nightly riots began on Sunday in the north-western [Stockholm] suburb of Husby, a deprived, largely immigrant area. It is believed they were sparked by the death of a man nearly a week before, who was shot by police after he allegedly threatened to kill them with a machete." [BBC]

Copyright in space

: boingboing_net; May 24th, 11:39

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/S8-R_v9ztmM/story01.htm

http://boingboing.net/?p=232337

Glenn Fleishman at The Economist:

Chris Hadfield has captured the world's heart, judging by the 14m YouTube views of his free-fall rendition of David Bowie's "Space Oddity", recorded on the International Space Station (ISS). The Canadian astronaut's clear voice and capable guitar-playing were complemented by his facility in moving around in the microgravity of low-earth orbit. But when the man fell to Earth in a neat and safe descent a few days ago, after a five-month stay in orbit, should he have been greeted by copyright police?

New Details on the Unroyal End of Richard III, 'King in the Car Park'

: wiredtopstories; May 24th, 17:55

http://feeds.wired.com/~r/wired/index/~3/vxNQbhsGzcM/

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/05/king-richard-iii-grave/

For two short years he was King of England, one of the most powerful men in the world. Then he was killed, desecrated, and dumped in a hastily dug grave, the location of which would be forgotten and rediscovered, centuries later, under a parking lot. So ends the tale of Richard III, which over the last several months has played out like a Game of Thrones episode combined with CSI and told by archaeologists.

Holder Should Demand Feds Get a Warrant to Read Our E-mail

: wiredtopstories; May 24th, 17:30

http://feeds.wired.com/~r/wired/index/~3/1jrm-psz5b8/

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/05/holder-email/

Attorney General Eric Holder is on record the Department of Justice supports legislation that generally would require the government to get a probable-cause warrant to read your e-mail. That we're having this discussion is because federal law, dating to the President Ronald Reagan administration, allows the cops to access your e-mail without a warrant if it's been stored in the cloud at least six months. For years, Congress has been debating changing the law that we'd expect to be the norm in some third-world, despotic nation. Now its time for the United States, and Holder in particular, to show the world, and the American public, that he means what he says. It's time for the Justice Department to begin honoring the Fourth Amendment and start getting a warrant to access the public's e-mail and other stored content, civil rights groups say.

Obama Just Made Himself a Prisoner of His Own Gitmo Policy

: wiredtopstories; May 24th, 14:43

http://feeds.wired.com/~r/wired/index/~3/rfsnTPZTiiY/

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2013/05/detention-fubar/

Obama wants to close Guantanamo and capture more terrorists than he kills. But unless Obama is about to get way radical, this is kind of an either/or situation.

Germany, Canada and Britain the world's most-loved countries

: boingboing_net; May 24th, 11:05

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/c_q62QUszn0/story01.htm

http://boingboing.net/?p=232330

59% of those polled view Germany positively, with 55% having warm fuzzies when they think of Canada or the UK. Everyone hates Iran, North Korea and Pakistan. The USA sits mid-table, more liked than not. China, India and Japan are the big slumpers, for some reason, compared to previous polls. [BBC]

The Simonsound's music inspired by an imaginary monorail

: boingboing_net; May 24th, 10:42

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/A2xyn2wtpA8/story01.htm

http://boingboing.net/?p=232327

The Simonsound, Simon James's '60s space age-inspired experimental music project, has issued a fantastic "radiophonic ride" aboard an imaginary World's Fair monorail. The two tracks on this Simonsound Tranist Authority release are compelling collages of electronic experimentation and oscillations made from vintage synths, manipulated tape, and acoustic sources. There are multiple versions of the release, including a 10" color vinyl, digital download in numerous formats, and also the limited edition "pilot pack" seen above that is, sadly, sold out. You can listed to the first track, "The Beam," right here.

Like a souvenir record from a mid century World’s Fair, ‘The Beam’ follows in the footsteps of early electronic composers such as Raymond Scott, Tristram Cary and Tom Dissevelt.
The B-side, 'In the Shadow of the Skylon' is an oscillating ode to a long lost London landmark and futuristic structure created for the Festival of Britain in 1951. Hovering over the South Bank like a UFO, the Skylon pointed into space like a sign post for what was to come. Sadly the Skylon never got to see the future it aimed to represent as it was torn down at the end of the Festival by a petty Conservative government. ‘In the Shadow of the Skylon’ celebrates its short optimistic life.

The Simonsound Transit Authority: "The Beam" b/w "In the Shadow of the Skylon"

Incredible pipe cleaner thylacine and other animals

: boingboing_net; May 24th, 10:23

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/qoXIDZRUnHU/story01.htm

http://boingboing.net/?p=232323

Artist Lauren Ryan creates incredible animal sculptures entirely from pipe cleaners. My favorite is her palm-sized thylacine, a Tasmanian "tiger." The last confirmed thylacine died in 1936 but some crytpozoologists think they may not be extinct after all. Lauren Ryan's "Chenille Stems" (via The Anomalist)

Mind-controlled man makes 100+ calls to 911 in a month

: boingboing_net; May 24th, 10:09

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/a8hUjOHIrK8/story01.htm

http://boingboing.net/?p=232318

Jimmy Shao of Sacramento, CA was arrested for calling 911 more than 100 times in one month. Shao says he won't stop until Congress investigates the shadow government who use satellites to control his mind and body.

“My brain, I can feel it starting. I’m blasted by the signals, every couple of minutes,” Shao told CBS Sacramento. “I yell and I scream, ‘Stop it, I don’t need this,’ but they never listen.”

According to the news report, police promise to arrest Shao again if he continues to call 911, and that they "may look for some counseling to get him some help."

Yeah, um, the latter.

IceDice - fun family game with very pointy pyramid-shaped pieces

: boingboing_net; May 24th, 10:07

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/b-2jDbPuF0A/story01.htm

http://boingboing.net/?p=232316

Lately Jane and I have been playing a game called IceDice. It consists of a bunch of plastic pyramids of various sizes, and a pair of dice with special markings, which are stored in a cute pyramid-shaped cloth zipper bag. You can play a lot of different games with the dice and pieces, the object of all them being to collect the right combination of sizes and colors of pyramids.

Our favorite game is Launchpad 23. The object is to assemble a rocket from pieces manufactured by a factory that manufactures random rocket parts.

The pyramids, made of hard plastic, are very pointy. I imagine you could poke one right through your hand if you slapped it hard enough. The danger factor enhances the enjoyment of this versatile game set.

IceDice $14

Carl Zimmer's "The Girl Who Turned To Bone"

: boingboing_net; May 24th, 9:58

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/aOUNl-5SJPk/story01.htm

http://boingboing.net/?p=232308

In The Atlantic, science writer extraordinaire Carl Zimmer wrote a fascinating long article about fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP), a rare medical disorder in which the sufferer grows a second skeleton. (Above, the skeleton of FOP-sufferer Harry Raymond Eastlack, on display at the Mütter Museum.) Beyond a tale of medical curiosity, it's a genetic detective story that says a lot about the study of rare diseases. From The Atlantic:

A rare disease is defined as any condition affecting fewer than 200,000 patients in the United States. More than 7,000 such diseases exist, afflicting a total of 25 million to 30 million Americans.
The symptoms of these diseases may differ, but the people who suffer from them share many experiences. Rare diseases frequently go undiagnosed, or misdiagnosed, for years. Once people do find out that they suffer from a rare disease, many discover that medicine cannot help them. Not only is there no drug to prescribe, but in many cases, scientists have little idea of the underlying cause of the disease. And until recently, people with rare diseases had little reason to hope this would change. The medical-research establishment treated them as a lost cause, funneling resources to more-common ailments like cancer and heart disease.

"The Girl Who Turned to Bone"

Father, white, says he was accused by Walmart security of kidnapping his kids, who are mixed-race

: boingboing_net; May 24th, 9:55

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/KhqGn55yxIk/story01.htm

http://boingboing.net/?p=232302

A man in Virginia says he was accused by security guards at a local Walmart of kidnapping his daughters. The father is white. The mother is black. They have been married for about 10 years and have three daughters: a 4-year-old and 2-year-old twins, all of whom are mixed-race. The incident happened last week on Thursday, May 16, and involved a police officer being sent to their home to question them on whether the children were, in fact, their children. The couple says they will never shop at Walmart again. (image: MyFoxDC)

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cananian

Dr. C. Scott Ananian