The Register is covering the rather confusing porn guidelines in the UK, which add certain types of porn to the list of what is illegal to possess. Plenty of countries have laws against possession of child porn, but the UK is extending that to cover images that are "pornographic, grossly offensive and portray activity that threatens harm to life or limb, or involves sex with a corpse or animal." Of course, some of that is open to interpretation -- and TheReg points out that plenty of movies that were approved for viewing in the UK contain footage that probably meets those criteria. The question, then, is, if you have an offending still image from a legal UK video, do you run afoul of these guidelines? Also, oddly, the law says that you're okay if you delete an image -- but not okay if you can retrieve it after deleting. While, undoubtedly, this law is well-intended, it seems to be quite vague and it's difficult to see what public benefit it serves. If the concern is about the harm done in the making of such porn, why not go after the pornographers, rather than the possessors?

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mattnyc99 writes "Esquire is running a a jaw-dropping profile of MacArthur genius Marc Roth in their annual Best and Brightest roundup, detailing how this gonzo DNA scientist (who also figured out how to diagnose lupus correctly) went from watching his infant daughter die to literally reincarnating animals. Inspired by NOVA and funded by DARPA, Roth has developed a serum for major biotech startup Ikaria that successfully accomplished "suspended animation" — the closest we've ever come to simulating near-death experiences and then coming back to life. From the article: 'We don't know what life is, anyway. Not really. We just know what life does — it burns oxygen. It's a process of combustion. We're all just slow-burning candles, making our way through our allotment of precious O2 until it becomes our toxin, until we burn out, until we get old and die. But we live on 21 percent oxygen, just as we live at 37 degrees. They're related. Decrease the oxygen to 5 percent, we die. But, look, the concentration of oxygen in the blood that runs through our capillaries is only 2 or 3 percent. We're almost dead already! So what if we turn down the candle's need for oxygen? What if we dim the candle so much that we don't even have the energy to die?'" The writer Tom Junod engages in what Hunter Thompson once called "a failed but essentially noble experiment in pure gonzo journalism." If you can suspend your inner critic for a time, it's a fun ride.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi airport has been closed for the past week by antigovernment protesters (read this related NYT story). Many foreigners remain stranded in Thailand, as a result. Boing Boing reader Sarah Stabile, who works with AirAsia and other airlines, has word for any of our blog's readers who may find themselves or close ones affected:

I have a timely bit of news I thought Boing Boing readers might be interested in... AirAsia is mounting more flights starting Monday until Thursday to ferry its passengers stranded in Bangkok to Chiang Mai, Phuket, Kuala Lumpur (KL), Singapore, Macau, Shenzhen and Hong Kong.

In a statement, Air Asia said today(Dec 2), it would mount two return flights on the Bangkok (U-Tapao)-Hong Kong and Bangkok (U-Tapao)-Singapore routes, and one return flight each on the Bankok (U-Tapao)-Macau, Bangkok (U-Tapao)-Shenzhen, Bangkok (U-Tapao)-Chiang Mai, Bangkok (U-Tapao)-Phuket, Chiang Mai-Singapore; Chiang Mai-KL, Phuket-Singapore and Phuket-KL routes.

On Dec 3, there will be two return flights Bangkok (U-Tapao)-Hong Kong and Bangkok (U-Tapao)-Singapore; and one return flight Bangkok (U-Tapao)-Macau, Bangkok (U-Tapao)-Shenzen, Bangkok (U-Tapao)-Chiang Mai, Bangkok (U-Tapao)-Phuket, Chiang Mai-Singapore; Chiang Mai-KL, Phuket-Singapore and Phuket-KL.

On Dec 4 (all Bangkok flights from U-Tapao naval base), there will be two return flights Bangkok-Macau, Bangkok-Hong Kong and Bangkok-Singapore and one return flight Bangkok-Chiang Mai, Bangkok-Phuket, Chiang Mai-Singapore, Chiang-Mai-KL, Phuket-Singapore and Phuket-KL.

Full details can be obtained at www.airasia.com or by calling AirAsia's dedicated hotlines 662-5159999 in Bangkok or 603-86604554 in Malaysia.

I like this odd print ad from the 1960s for a line of clothing called "living loungerie."

Odd ad for midnight snack outfit

An anonymous reader notes a Reuters report of a study, published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, confirming that Mobile phone calls distract drivers far more than even the chattiest passenger, causing drivers to follow too closely and miss exits. California's ban on using a handheld cell phone while driving, which went into effect last summer, is looking less than fully effective. A handful of other states have instituted similar bans, but none has forbidden driving while talking on a cell phone at all. "Using a hands-free device does not make things better and the researchers believe they know why — passengers act as a second set of eyes, shutting up or sometimes even helping when they see the driver needs to make a maneuver."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

This fellow makes chainsaw bayonet rifles and will make your one for about $300 via BuzzFeed. As seen in Gears of War?

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Last month, Mike wrote about how the English Premier League was making threatening overtones towards Justin.tv, after it discovered some users on the site were streaming broadcasts of its soccer matches. It's the usual stuff from sports leagues, complaining that the sites aren't doing enough to stop piracy, and that their safe harbor shouldn't protect them, and that the DMCA takedown process isn't good enough. Now, a piece in The Guardian wonders if the large-scale piracy, along with a spending slowdown, will hit the value of TV rights deals when they come up for renewal, with broadcasters unable to justify the same level of spending should viewer figures fall.

This scenario isn't hard to imagine, but should it occur, it will be thanks to a lack of business acumen, not piracy. These sites exist, and thrive, because they serve demand untapped by the Premier League and its rightsholders. For instance, the rights situation means that in England -- where the league's based and its games played -- fewer games are broadcast on TV than in many places in the world. Here in the US, nearly every match is broadcast each weekend; just a handful make it onto UK TV screens. British pub owners tried to serve the untapped demand for this by buying satellite systems from foreign countries, but the EPL shut that avenue off in the courts. Likewise, users in the UK and elsewhere turn to sites like Justin.tv because they don't have other options. The match they want to see isn't available on television, or they're not near a TV set when the match is being played. I'd argue this drives use of the services much more than a desire for free content does.

The rights situation domestically in the UK is the way it is because of the long-held view that putting games on TV will hold down attendance; but the small stadium sizes and increasingly geographically distributed fan bases (along with high ticket prices) do this already. And indeed, the experience of other sports leagues around the world would indicate that giving fans the ability to watch their teams' games on television does little, on its own, to hurt attendance. That sort of view seems to color the entire TV rights situation for the Premier League: it tries to manufacture some sort of scarcity in an attempt to increase its revenues. But the popularity of sites that make broadcasts available online makes it clear they'd be better off answering this demand with services of their own.

Here's a novel idea: instead of trying to crack down on the likes of Justin.tv, why not require rightsholders to offer free streams of games as parts of their deals? Then, the Premier League and its broadcast partners get to serve this demand, instead of Justin.tv or Chinese P2P services, and get to capitalize on it through advertising or other means. It might have some effect on pay services by giving fans with the least willingness to pay a free service to use, but again, I'd argue that most people would still prefer to watch their teams' games on a bigger screen and in higher quality enough to pay for it. And the additional fans the services would reach could make new converts to paid services as well. Whatever the EPL decides to do, it's impossible to understand how it thinks it can benefit by alienating fans and making it difficult, if not impossible, for them to follow their teams.

Carlo Longino is an expert at the Insight Community. To get insight and analysis from Carlo Longino and other experts on challenges your company faces, click here.

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TradeMark Gunderson kindly ripped an out-of-print LP from 1973 by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, called Fourth Dimension. It's awesome.

If you know only one thing of their work, it would be the theme to Doctor Who, the venerable BBC sci-fi television series. They also did the sound effects. And incidental music. In fact, they were a BBC department that produced all manners of strange noises and sound effects (and theme songs) for over 200 other BBC shows. In doing so, they paved a superhighway of innovation that led electronic music growth for decades, from studio engineering to electronic composition to sound collage to synthesizer technology.

I came across this album in a dilapidated Leeds (UK) record shop for just a couple euros and have held onto it for dear life — BBC Radiophonic Workshop on vinyl doesn’t sell cheap. The standout track for me is easily Vespucci, a funky saunter with a very sampleable cool synth melody. The abstract cover from this 1973 release looks quite a bit like a CD exploding, perhaps another ahead-of-their-time move from these old-timers.

BBC Radiophonic Workshop - Fourth Dimension

badger.foo writes "We have seen the future of botnets, and it is distributed and low-key. Are sites running free software finally becoming malware targets? It all started with a higher-than-usual number of failed ssh logins at a low-volume site. I think we are seeing the shape of botnets to come, with malware authors doing their early public beta testing during the last few weeks."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

badger.foo writes "We have seen the future of botnets, and it is distributed and low-key. Are sites running free software finally becoming malware targets? It all started with a higher-than-usual number of failed ssh logins at a low-volume site. I think we are seeing the shape of botnets to come, with malware authors doing their early public beta testing during the last few weeks."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

You've probably already heard of Outside.in, the "hyperlocal" news, information, and conferencing service created to serve cities, towns, and neighborhoods throughout the US. John Geraci, one of the co-founders of Outside.in, has launched a new site called DIYcity. The idea here is to use the crowdsourcing power of the interwebs and open source/Web 2.0 software tools to create applications and services that improve the quality of life in our urban environments. The site is a place where people can come to present and discuss problems and then propose and develop solutions. The site will post these problems as weekly challenges to the DIYcity community. Here's their first challenge:

DIYcity Challenge #1: build a Twitter bot that helps users avoid traffic and get where they're going faster.

DIYcity

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Ross writes -

This project is a python script that outputs facebook status updates to an arduino connected serial LCD. It is really just an rss reader, so it could be set up to parse just about any rss feed from weather to stocks to email.

Very cool and useful! Read his detailed how-to to get up and running. - Arduino based rss reader

More:

How To - Use an LCD with Arduino

Bare Bones Arduino Board Kit (Unassembled)

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TradeMark Gunderson of the The Evolution Control Committee made this amazing rear-projected infra-red-activated faux-touchscreen mashup controller... hacked from Wiimotes.

Video Mashup Screen Demo

David Weinberger sez, "Charlie Nesson (of the Berkman Center and Harvard Law) and Joel Tennenbaum discuss (it's a podcast) their countersuit against the RIAA on Constitutional grounds. Charlie argues that the RIAA is a private agency enforcing a criminal statute...using the federal court as a collection agency, as he puts it. Charlie is also quite eloquent about the unfairness of the massive apparatus of state being trained on single, unrepresented individuals."

If this doesn't a) fill you with rage and b) fill you with hope, you are dead inside. What a great piece of audio.

Radio Berkman: The “Pay Us” Hotline - Fines and the RIAA (Thanks, David!)

Over on Boing Boing Gadgets, our John waxes lyrical about this bad-ass zip-up bookcase with a hidden compartment. Drool.

Although I have since fallen into the German bohemian style of book storage which involves rooms lined with teetering piles of cracked, used paperbacks upon which half-empty beer bottles have been haphazardly stacked, I used to have a love affair with book cases, and this break-apart Platzhalter delights me. I believe that secret compartment in back is where I would store the books I don't like guests discovering: my disturbingly water damaged copies of Naked Came The Stranger and My Secret Life always raise more questions than their prominent display is worth.

Platzhalter book shelf splits into "V" and reveals secret compartment, Discuss this on Boing Boing Gadgets

The BBC is following a shipping container around the world, and taking videos in an "experiment to lift the veil on the global economy and tell the stories behind the goods inside, those who make them, and how they travel to consumers."

The Box is due to arrive during the broadcast in LA from Shanghai laden with consumer goods for the American market. Matt Frei will talk to officials at the port about the impact of the global economic downturn on the shipping industry and the export market from China.

The program will also take an in-depth look at the auto-industry when Matt Frei visits the port at Long Beach where imported cars have been piling up due to dwindling demand.

Here are the videos so far:

The Box gets painted

The Box ready to start journey

BBC Box arrives in Shanghai

The Box unloads in Shanghai

BBC box leaves Greenock

Shipping ports face economic storm

New cargo for the Box

And here's a papercraft version of The Box you can make.

A career milestone for Joel Johnson on Boing Boing tv -- his very first shower scene. The naked gadget reviewer explains:

What hath videoblogging wrought? It is my honor and personal shame to present my video review of the Freestyle Audio Soundwave underwater MP3 player. Using the miracle of not showing you my junk, this is my first nude videoblog, but remains safe for work. Except for my dancing, which if everything goes to plan, will induce crippling nausea.

If you'd like a direct download — I'm looking at you, my furry fanbase — then here is a direct MP4 link.

Might I suggest you wander on over to the viewer comment thread on Boing Boing Gadgets blog, where the words "cheapish," "fap," and "natural urge to want to see the entire shot" have recently been typed? And don't worry, I swear the video is totally worksafe. Also, the ending is quite funny, so do stick around for that.

Hundreds of people are furious because the Lapland New Forest, a winter wonderland theme park near Dorset, England , wasn't what they were promised when they bought tickets. According to the BBC, the Lapland New Forest Web site (currently down) advertised the place as a "magical scene" featuring a snowy setting of log cabins, a nativity scene, huskies, and a "bustling" Christmas marketplace. Judging by the photos on the BBC News site, it was actually a dump. From the BBC News:

April Chantler, of Dibden Purlieu, Hampshire, described the park as "hell".

"The huskies were chained up in a pen howling, yapping and generally looking thin and unhappy.

"The two reindeer were obviously not enjoying their surroundings and the 'log cabins' were a few green painted sheds with more or less nothing in them."

Grace Tyrrell, of Fareham, Hampshire, said there were many health and safety issues and that the toilets were "full to the seat" leaving her six-year-old daughter "disgusted".

"The entire day was a joke, and I know everyone else thought so," she said.

"The nativity scene (photo left) was a picture on a painted wall which was viewed from a distance and which had everyone we met laughing."

"Hundreds slam Lapland Park 'scam'" (Thanks, Joel Johnson!)

Swoolley writes "A month back this community discussed the Sprint vs. Cogent depeering. Now a story I wrote for Forbes.com tells the inside story of the fight, based on the lawsuits the two companies filed against each other in Virginia state court. For once, thanks to those suits, the public gets to see the details of a confidential peering agreement between two of the Internet's largest autonomous systems, as well as the circumstances leading up to the depeering. (Which company is in the right? Read the facts and decide for yourself.) While some people have argued that the depeering is reason for more government regulation, the Forbes story makes the case that details of the recent Cogent vs. Sprint fight argue for exactly the opposite: keeping the Internet backbones free of government meddling."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Swoolley writes "A month back this community discussed the Sprint vs. Cogent depeering. Now a story I wrote for Forbes.com tells the inside story of the fight, based on the lawsuits the two companies filed against each other in Virginia state court. For once, thanks to those suits, the public gets to see the details of a confidential peering agreement between two of the Internet's largest autonomous systems, as well as the circumstances leading up to the depeering. (Which company is in the right? Read the facts and decide for yourself.) While some people have argued that the depeering is reason for more government regulation, the Forbes story makes the case that details of the recent Cogent vs. Sprint fight argue for exactly the opposite: keeping the Internet backbones free of government meddling."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Rebecca McKinnon has published an extensive and densely informative blog post in which she shares findings of her ongoing Chinese blog censorship research. She is developing a more in-depth academic paper for release in 2009, and welcomes feedback and reaction to what she's posted now, including the presentation slides which contain more concrete, visual examples of how the censorship works. Snip:

All Chinese blog-hosting companies are required by government regulators to censor their users' content in order to keep their business licenses. But as Liu discovered, they all make different choices not only about how to implement censorship requirements, but also how to treat the users who get censored.

Most Chinese bloggers who want an audience inside mainland China use domestic Chinese blog-hosting services - only a very tiny minority use overseas services like Blogger or Wordpress.com because they tend to be blocked, and even fewer have the tech skills to do their own custom Wordpress installation on their own rented server space. The aim of my research was to look at the Chinese blog-hosting services (which includes foreign brands offering services inside China to the Chinese market) and establish how much variation there is in terms of what gets censored and how it gets censored. Since it's not in the interest of people who work at blog-hosting companies to tell the truth about these things in great detail to a foreign researcher, I decided that the best way to do this would be to post a range of content across a number of blog-hosting services and track who censored what and how. With the help of John Kennedy, Ben Cheng, and some student research assistants, my team posted more than 100 pieces of content - passages from news items, blogs, and chatrooms of varying political sensitivity - consistently across 15 different Chinese blog-hosting platforms. We found that censorship levels and methods vary tremendously from company to company. I have written about some of the interesting findings that came up as we went along here, here, and here.

If I publish a chart naming who censors more than whom, it is likely that those who censor less will get in trouble with the authorities. Therefore in the chart at right I have changed all the company names to letters. Of 108 pieces of content on a variety of public affairs and news-related subjects from a variety of sources (ranging from Xinhua to dissident websites), the most censor-happy company deleted over half, while the most laid-back company censored only one. (Note that I only posted one item about FLG and one about Tiananmen because most bloggers expect those to be censored - it's more interesting to see how censorship works on topics that Chinese bloggers interested in current events might write about.)

Studying Chinese blog censorship (RConversation)

There's been plenty of attention paid to the news that the website for President-Elect Obama's transition team, Change.gov has been placed under a Creative Commons license, allowing others to make use of the content with attribution. However, I'm a bit hard pressed to see how this actually is a big deal. The whole thing is made a bit odd by the fact that federal government content is not covered by copyright, so anything that comes out of the White House is in the public domain. But, apparently since Obama has not yet been inaugurated, the campaign can still claim copyright on the content. But, why would they? Rather than going with a CC license, why not go all the way and put the content in the public domain? After all, in two months, all such content will be in the public domain anyway? It seems a little odd, counterproductive and unnecessary to add more restrictions to the content than there will be once Obama is actually in office. If the Obama team really wanted to do something meaningful concerning the content on the site, they could follow the advice of Tim O'Reilly and go beyond just putting the content in the public domain and also add revision control, thereby committing to alerting people to any changes to the content. Now, that would be an impressive change.

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Recently, I had yet another conversation that included a bit of head scratching as we discussed the idea that kids in middle and high school increasingly have to be told exactly what to do, how to do it and what they should do if they have any problem. Basically, the adults have to figure the whole thing out, and then deliver the instructions in as many forms as possible, verbal, printed step by step, multicolor agenda on a white board and interactive demonstration. After that, kids either figure out how to do it or ask lots of questions.

We hear all the time that "things are different for kids these days" Many of today's adults grew up getting actual dirt on their knees, made physical objects like go carts or clothes, fixed broken things (probably after breaking them) because we would have to do without until it was repaired. However, the today's kids are often overscheduled, and kept from any discomfort.

A site created by Lenore Skenazy has the mission of creating Free Range kids. Helping to make kids more aware of their surroundings and how to do things on their own will bring about different skills and interest in these growing individuals.

We are not daredevils. We believe in life jackets and bike helmets and air bags. But we also believe in independence.

Children, like chickens, deserve a life outside the cage. The overprotected life is stunting and stifling, not to mention boring for all concerned.

The Free Range kids has some other information about helping to encourage parents to give kids the freedom that will help them to become more competent and confident as they grow up. The site has lots of comments on this somehow controversial issue. Their RSS feed for comments is pretty extensive.

Skenazy recently appeared on Dr. Phil's show about Extreme Moms discussing the differences between parenting with freedom and parenting with helicopters.

A middle school in New York City just gave its sixth graders an extra credit "Free Range" project: Do something on your own that, for one reason or another, you never tried. The 11-year-olds jumped into action and did everything from making dinner to baking a cake to walking to school - all the kind of sweet, simple things they would have been doing without a second thought a generation or so earlier.

What was different was their trepidation: "I thought they were going to abduct me," wrote a young man who took the subway solo home from soccer on a Saturday morning. A girl who made herself a sunny side-up egg admitted, "I was scared. I didn't want to burn myself." Another boy walked proudly five blocks to and from the grocery only to find out at the end that his mom had trailed him the whole way, through one of New York's fanciest neighborhoods. She didn't trust him to make his way safely.

Do you think that you were raised in a way that encouraged your curiosity and creativity? What can parents do these days that will help kids to take appropriate chances and learn from mistakes? How can parents helping with projects not take over the project? How can kids make things that will solve the real problems in their communities? If you have experiences that help others see the value of kids with freedom and making the things they need, pass along info through the comments, and add your photos and video to the Make Flickr pool!

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A new update to the DS Music Interface Software project includes support for high-res data messages in the OSC format -

OSC is an emerging standard for exchanging music control signals that is much more flexible and modern than MIDI. For example, OSC can directly communicate via network, so the PC-side DSMI server is not required.

fishuyo also made a nice demo of the new OSC capabilities with a Kaoss pad and sliders. It comes with a pd patch that is a nice little synth. Check out the demo's source code! OSC is really easy to add to your application. And it's the future! So, get libdsmi v3.0 now!

This opens up some interesting possibilities for the DS homebrew scene - DSMI [via Create Digital Music]

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Ed. Note: The following is Boing Boing guestblogger Clay Shirky's first post. Clay's traveling today, so I'm posting this one on his behalf. Image above: "Don't believe the Devil, don't beLIEve his book," a CC-licensed photo by Celeste, a Flickr user in Buenos Aires - Argentina. --XJ

---

Every now and again, there is an essay that is so well written, so cleanly expressed, and so spectacularly wrong that it clarifies something you previously understood only dimly. James Gleick's recent advice to the publishing industry, How to Publish Without Perishing, was that for me.

Gleick's thesis is that publishers are people who sell objects, and he means this not just as a description of their past, but as strategy for their future as well. He makes much of the book as a thing, noting that we talk about "book lovers", but never "CD lovers", he writes of books in terms of possessing them, and his advice to publishers is to cede speed, relevance, and even popularity to digital businesses, and to shift publishing into reverse:

Go back to an old-fashioned idea: that a book, printed in ink on durable paper, acid-free for longevity, is a thing of beauty. Make it as well as you can. People want to cherish it.

This proposed Ye Olde-ing the industry makes the choices faced by publishers suddenly seem more urgent.

There are book lovers, yes, but there are also readers, a much larger group. By Gleick's logic, all of us who are just readers, everyone who buys paperbacks or trades books after we've read them, everyone who prints PDFs or owns a Kindle, falls out of his imagined future market. Publishers should forsake mere readers, and become purveyors of Commemorative Text Objects. It's the Franklin Mint business model, now with 1000% more words!

In the same way the internet has forced newspapers into a 'news vs. paper' moment, the publishing world is in a 'readers vs. book lovers' moment. In this environment, the single most important choice anyone in publishing has to make is this: "How many generations do I want to be in business?" Because hawking Ye Olde Codices to aging connoisseurs is a one-generation business.

Businesses don't survive in the long term because old people persist in old behaviors; they survive because young people renew old behaviors, and all the behaviors young people are renewing cluster around reading, while they are adopting almost none of the behaviors tied to cherishing physical containers, whether for the written word or anything else. Can you imagine a 25-year-old telling a publisher "To get my business, you should stick to a single, analog format? Oh, and could you make it heavy, bulky, and unsearchable? Thanks."

From Aldus Manutius until recently, book lovers have been the most passionate readers. Now they are mostly just the oldest readers. Thanks to digital data, there is a fateful choice to be made between serving lovers of the text and lovers of the page; I think even Manutius would have sided with the readers over the collectors. I hope today's publishers do as well.

---

Previously: Here Comes Clay Shirky (The Changing of the Guestbloggers)

Many thanks to our outgoing guestblogger Dale Dougherty, who contributed a number of superb posts here over the past couple of weeks, and appeared in an episode of Boing Boing tv today. Thank you so much, Dale!

We'd now like to give a big welcome today to our next guestblogger, Clay Shirky. I first met Clay, geez, like 10 years ago? When I was working with Jason Calacanis at Silicon Alley Reporter magazine in New York City. Back then, the internet media business was a dazzling, luminous orb we all stood around and gazed upon, all slack-jawed and doe-eyed and hopeful. Clay was one of the most inspiring and insightful personalities I knew during those years, and more pragmatic and BS-resistant than most. That much has not changed.

Clay is the author of the superb new book Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations. He teaches at the Interactive Telecommunications Program at NYU, where he works on the overlap of social and technological networks.

We're very excited to have him on board for the next couple of weeks. Welcome, Clay!

paradox1x writes "Malcolm Tredinnick shares a terrific rant against the misunderstanding and misuse of the Model-View-Controller design pattern. In particular he takes issue with the notion that Django should be considered an MVC framework. He says that 'It's as valid as saying it's a "circus support mechanism," since the statement is both true, in some contexts, and false in others (you can definitely use Django-based code to help run your circus; stop looking so skeptical).' I'm not sure I agree with the entire piece, but it is a very good read." We recently discussed another look at the bending and stretching of MVC patterns in the world of Web development.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

paradox1x writes "Malcolm Tredinnick shares a terrific rant against the misunderstanding and misuse of the Model-View-Controller design pattern. In particular he takes issue with the notion that Django should be considered an MVC framework. He says that 'It's as valid as saying it's a "circus support mechanism," since the statement is both true, in some contexts, and false in others (you can definitely use Django-based code to help run your circus; stop looking so skeptical).' I'm not sure I agree with the entire piece, but it is a very good read." We recently discussed another look at the bending and stretching of MVC patterns in the world of Web development.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Outa Spaceman of the ReaderSheds site has a gallery showing off his sweet steampunk/apocalyptic shed. I'm generally pretty content with my little flat, but every now and again I wish I had a garden just so I could install a shed like this!

Steampunk Sheddie O.S.M (Thanks, Uncle Wilco!)

I love this retro/deco/steampunk-looking desk fan designer/artist Clive Batkin made from a redundant computer cooling and some copper, brass, and wood. He was inspired by the look of the heat sink fins and the overall design of the original fan. He's got some other really nice pieces on his site, including The Optimus desk lamp this fan was designed to accompany.

Steampunk desk fan - a companion to The Optimus

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Zordak writes "CNN has up a story about several Israeli firms that want to replace metal detectors at airports with biometric readings. For example, with funding from TSA and DHS, 'WeCU ([creepily] pronounced "We See You") Technologies, employs a combination of infra-red technology, remote sensors and imagers, and flashing of subliminal images, such as a photo of Osama bin Laden. Developers say the combination of these technologies can detect a person's reaction to certain stimuli by reading body temperature, heart rate and respiration — signals a terrorist unwittingly emits before he plans to commit an attack.' Sensors may be embedded in the carpet, seats, and check-in screens. The stated goal is to read a passenger's 'intention' in a manner that is 'more fair, more effective and less expensive' than traditional profiling. But not to worry! WeCU's CEO says, 'We don't want you to feel that you are being interrogated.' And you may get through security in 20 to 30 seconds."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Zordak writes "CNN has up a story about several Israeli firms that want to replace metal detectors at airports with biometric readings. For example, with funding from TSA and DHS, 'WeCU ([creepily] pronounced "We See You") Technologies, employs a combination of infra-red technology, remote sensors and imagers, and flashing of subliminal images, such as a photo of Osama bin Laden. Developers say the combination of these technologies can detect a person's reaction to certain stimuli by reading body temperature, heart rate and respiration — signals a terrorist unwittingly emits before he plans to commit an attack.' Sensors may be embedded in the carpet, seats, and check-in screens. The stated goal is to read a passenger's 'intention' in a manner that is 'more fair, more effective and less expensive' than traditional profiling. But not to worry! WeCU's CEO says, 'We don't want you to feel that you are being interrogated.' And you may get through security in 20 to 30 seconds."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Last month, in writing about the financial crisis, I tried walking through the root causes of how the financial crisis happened and how to prevent it from happening again -- and the point I kept coming back to was the lack of transparency. It wasn't (as some people want to claim) "greed" or a "lack of regulation" that caused the problem, but bad information (though, some might blame that on greed and a lack of regulation). Aaron deOliveira points out that some folks are noticing the same thing, suggesting that the real problem these days isn't a lack of liquidity in the markets, but a significant lack in reliable information. People just don't know how much things are worth, and that's a huge problem.

Last week, on the always excellent Planet Money podcast, there was a discussion about what money really is. Many people think that it's a hard representation of value, but it's not. As the podcast noted, money is a relationship. Take a listen to fully understand what this means, but it's exactly right. Money is merely a relationship of trust between certain parties that enables trade. If I trust this piece of paper is worth a certain amount, I can do business with you. If I don't trust that the paper or trinket you hand me is actually worth anything, then I will not do business with you, and your "money" is not money at all.

The problem that we're experiencing today is that, due to a lack of clear and trustworthy information out there, no one is quite sure what anything is worth, and that makes any sort of trade difficult. Money only works when there's a trusting relationship, and you only get that sort of trusting relationship when there is a reasonable flow of information to the parties involved, such that they're confident that what they have (or what they're trading for) has value. The problem over the last few months (or, for some, years) is this realization that the information they had was bad, and they could not trust it, and thus, the "relationship" that made thing valuable disappeared. Without this trust, plenty of things that do have value are being severely undervalued, because there's no (or very little) credible information, and that's leading to panic, because no one is sure what anything might actually be worth.

So, once again, we're back to the situation where we were before: the answer should be more information, more widely distributed in a much more open fashion. We should all be demanding significantly more transparency both from corporations on any sort of investment they put forth as well as from the government who is shoveling dollars -- but not information -- into the market to try to deal with the problem. But, until it gets more information into the market, then the trust will not be regained, and the dollars they throw into the market will merely decrease in value, because there are not enough relationships built on trustworthy information.

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Jeff Jarvis responds to my series of pieces about news after the hypothetical collapse of the news industry. I wrote a comment there, which I'm reproducing here, with some light edits.

Jeff, the stuff you're justifying is the stuff that's going away, that there is no money to support. If we all care about the news, and making sure that it gets from the people who have it to the people who want it, we're going to have to learn how to do it without all the heavy iron. It seems to me the responsible thing for the news industry to do, while it is laying off its reporters and editors and the rest, is to help us come up with a Plan B -- what we will do for news once all that is gone.

An analogy -- imagine a group of doctors knew that the hospitals and pharmacies were about to shut down. What would they do? Might they do something to make sure their client's health needs were at least partially attended to?

The same would presumably apply to many other professions, whose services are in some way necessary for life: police, fire, bus drivers, teachers, garbage collectors.

We're often asked to believe how noble the profession of news is -- now that is about to be tested in a whole new way. Are we just supposed to cry for this industry and throw our hands up and wait for the collapse before starting to put it back together, or would they like to help while they're still here?

Here's a question I ask people privately to help focus their thinking... Suppose there were no NY Times tomorrow, and you heard somewhere, maybe on Politco or Huffpost or Memeorandum that it had gone out of business and was never going to publish again.

1. How would you feel?

2. What would you do?

3. What should the Times have done but didn't do before they shut down?

Food for thought.

It's time to have this conversation Jeff. Imho.

Update: Scott Rosenberg checks in on the thread. "Victimhood is written deeply in the culture of the newsroom."

From the MAKE Flickr photo pool

Micah's Lego Sky project incorporates an Ikea LED light strip and touchpad control -

The Altoids tin has the modified driver circuit: It's the original circuit board with the microcontroller removed, then a homemade Arduino clone to control it. The orange box is an old Cirque PS/2 touchpad, removed from its original case and covered in fabric.

The Arduino sketch (firmware) is a little C++ program that reads the touchpad and uses it to control Hue and Lightness in the HSL color space. The result is a pretty intuitive and unobtrusive control which makes it easy to both pick a color and desaturate it toward white or dim it toward black. You can easily get some really nice sunset and sky colors.

Get more details on his blog - Lego Sky

More:

DIY Screen glow

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ozmanjusri writes "Online market share of the dominant Windows operating system has taken its biggest monthly fall in years to drop below 90%, according to Net Applications Inc. Computerworld reports that Microsoft's flagship product has been steadily losing ground to Mac OS X and Linux, and is at its lowest ebb in the market since 1995. 'Mac OS X... [ended] the month at 8.9%. November was the third month running that Apple's operating system remained above 8%.' The stats show that while some customers are 'upgrading' from XP to Vista, many are jumping ship to Apple, while Linux is also steadily gaining ground. A Net Applications executive suggests the slide may be caused by many of the same factors that caused the fall in Internet Explorer use. 'The more home users who are online, using Macs and Firefox and Safari, the more those shares go up,' he said. November has more weekend days, as well Thanksgiving in the US, a result that emphasizes the importance of corporate sales to Microsoft."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

ozmanjusri writes "Online market share of the dominant Windows operating system has taken its biggest monthly fall in years to drop below 90%, according to Net Applications Inc. Computerworld reports that Microsoft's flagship product has been steadily losing ground to Mac OS X and Linux, and is at its lowest ebb in the market since 1995. 'Mac OS X... [ended] the month at 8.9%. November was the third month running that Apple's operating system remained above 8%.' The stats show that while some customers are 'upgrading' from XP to Vista, many are jumping ship to Apple, while Linux is also steadily gaining ground. A Net Applications executive suggests the slide may be caused by many of the same factors that caused the fall in Internet Explorer use. 'The more home users who are online, using Macs and Firefox and Safari, the more those shares go up,' he said. November has more weekend days, as well Thanksgiving in the US, a result that emphasizes the importance of corporate sales to Microsoft."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

At the most recent Dorkbot DC, we had a wonderful, extremely informative presentation given by Alden Hart. By day, Alden is an electrical engineer and the CTO of a technical consulting firm, by night, he messes around with LEDs and microcontrollers, especially for elaborate holiday light displays he does at his home in Northern Virginia. Alden's talk was entitled "Practical Microcontroller LED Designs - lessons and gotchas from prototype to production." It was a very well-presented survey of software and hardware methods he's explored. Some of the programming was over my head, but he presented everything clearly enough that I was able to follow it conceptually, anyway. I learned a lot, about such things as different schemes for LED dimming, including something called Bit Angle Modulation (BAM), color processing conversions from HSB (Hue,Saturation, Brightness) to RGB, and the use of inductive drives for ballasting LEDs (instead of the more common use of resistors).

There was all sorts of stuff brought up that I wanted to know more about. I'm talking to Alden now about unpacking more of this information for us in some fashion (in MAKE articles, here on the blog, etc.). In the meantime, you can download Alden's PowerPoint presentation of his talk here.

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Tom Farber, a calculus teacher at Rancho Bernardo high school in San Diego, has come up with a unique way of covering district cuts to his supplies budget. He sells ads on his tests. "Tough times call for tough actions," Tom says. The price of an ad on a Mr. Farber Calc test is as follows: $10 for a quiz, $20 for a chapter test, and $30 for a semester final. Most of the ads are messages from parents but about a third of them come from local businesses. Principal Paul Robinson says reaction has been "mixed," but adds, "It's not like, 'This test is brought to you by McDonald's or Nike.'" I see his point. Being a local business whore is much better than being a multinational conglomerate whore.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Tom Farber, a calculus teacher at Rancho Bernardo high school in San Diego, has come up with a unique way of covering district cuts to his supplies budget. He sells ads on his tests. "Tough times call for tough actions," Tom says. The price of an ad on a Mr. Farber Calc test is as follows: $10 for a quiz, $20 for a chapter test, and $30 for a semester final. Most of the ads are messages from parents but about a third of them come from local businesses. Principal Paul Robinson says reaction has been "mixed," but adds, "It's not like, 'This test is brought to you by McDonald's or Nike.'" I see his point. Being a local business whore is much better than being a multinational conglomerate whore.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

KentuckyFC writes "Philosophers have long wondered at the profound link between mathematics and physics, but how deep does this connection go? Pretty deep according to the results of a quantum experiment exploring the nature of mathematical undecidability. Here's how: any logical system must be based on axioms, which are propositions that are defined to be true. A proposition is logically independent from these axioms if it can neither be proved nor disproved from them; mathematicians say it is undecidable. In the experiment, researchers encoded a set of axioms as quantum states. A particular measurement on this system can then be thought of as a proposition which, if undecidable, yields a random result — which is what they found. 'This sheds new light on the (mathematical) origin of quantum randomness in these measurements,' say the researchers (abstract)."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

KentuckyFC writes "Philosophers have long wondered at the profound link between mathematics and physics, but how deep does this connection go? Pretty deep according to the results of a quantum experiment exploring the nature of mathematical undecidability. Here's how: any logical system must be based on axioms, which are propositions that are defined to be true. A proposition is logically independent from these axioms if it can neither be proved nor disproved from them; mathematicians say it is undecidable. In the experiment, researchers encoded a set of axioms as quantum states. A particular measurement on this system can then be thought of as a proposition which, if undecidable, yields a random result — which is what they found. 'This sheds new light on the (mathematical) origin of quantum randomness in these measurements,' say the researchers (abstract)."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Well, here we go again. USA Today has a report on a "review" of "173 of the strongest papers" from the past 28 years, which found that 80% show some sort of link between mass media and something evil happening to kids, whether it involves obesity, smoking, sex, drug and alcohol use, attention problems or poor grades. And, of course, the folks behind the review are claiming this is all very damning and "something must be done" to "protect the children!" Of course, we've seen this all before. In almost every case, when you look at the actual details of the study, the link is never quite as strong as it's made out to be. In many cases, the link may be a correlation, rather than a causal link (i.e., kids who get bad grades may watch more TV, but that doesn't mean that TV necessarily caused them to get bad grades). Other times, the study's findings are greatly extrapolated in the writeup -- such as the studies that showed that kids get "excited" when they play video games, and extrapolated that to claim kids are more violent because they play games. This isn't to say that mass media for kids is healthy, but we've seen so few studies that actually support a causal link, that it's difficult to take this sort of fear mongering seriously.

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DATELINE TOONTOWN. President-elect Bam Bam has announced a slate of Cabinet appointments, declaring that "this new generation of leadership" will mix a few popular characters from the past along with "many less familiar faces who are getting their first opportunity in a leading role." At a press conference, the President-elect explained that the new appointees were put through a rigorous examination of their public and private lives, and that all were found to have "rock-solid reputations." He praised his new team, calling them "a bedrock for change." The most anticipated announcement of the day was the confirmation of Wilma Rockham Flintstone as his selection for the next Secretary of State.

Here's the complete rundown of all the appointments announced over the past week:

Secretary of State - Wilma Rockham Flintstone

This appointment shows how close the ties between family and party are in Toontown. Bam Bam used to party with the Flintstone's daughter, Pebbles, and his father, Barney Rubble, worked with Wilma's husband, Fred, in the excavation business. Most analysts are wondering what the appointment means for Fred Flintstone. Fred, who first uttered the words "hit the ground running", is still very popular around the world; and he likes the attention. But he has a big mouth. Bam Bam said today that "Wilma Flintstone is an American of tremendous stature" and that he has "complete confidence in her character and judgement." He cited her experience in dealing with domestic affairs, which has prepared her for "her new role in protecting the nation's interests abroad."

Treasury Secretary - Richie Rich

Rich, who has fallen on hard times lately, beat out Top Cat for the appointment. Reportedly, President-elect Bam Bam never felt comfortable around such a street-smart character. He thought that Rich's recent misfortunes, which have moved him back to the middle-class, might stir sympathy for the plight of the average American. Also, Rich really does need the job.

Dept of Homeland Security -- Yosemite Sam

With his hot-temper and first-hand knowledge of the southwestern border states, Yosemite Sam promises to bring "straight-talk" to immigration policy in America. He is not expected to duck from any aspect of this tough issue in the media or in Congress. However, many analysts think that because Sam's likely to come out with all his guns a-blazing, he is also a likely candidate for an early exit from the Bam-Bam administration.

Attorney General -- Huckleberry Hound

With considerable experience as a small-town Sheriff, this homely, homespun character with a Southern drawl is expected to restore the department's reputation as an honest defender of justice. President-elect Bam Bam said that he appreciated Huckleberry Hound's true-blue nature but added: "he is as sly as a dog." Supposedly, Ricochet Rabbit was also under consideration.

Secretary of Education -- Mister Peabody

The bespectacled inventor of the Wayback Machine, Peabody originated the phrase "no child left behind" during his time-travelling expeditions with young Sherman. Peabody has agreed to re-invent American education for the 21st Century. Many think he is capable of doing this single-handedly, if he's allowed to do so by teachers, parents and bureaucrats.

Secretary of Defense -- Baba Looey

Longtime deputy secretary to Quick Draw McGraw (aka El Kabong), Looey has been demonstrating his considerable brain-power behind the scenes in Toontown for decades. Now Looey is the first Mexican-born burro to hold a senior-level cabinet post. Unfortunately, the generals are already complaining about having to answer to another person with a funny name.

Secretary of Labor -- Hardy Har Har

Worked for years under Lippy the Lion and LBJ, Har Har is known to be rather down-in-the-mouth and pessimistic. This made him a good choice for a Labor Department, which must figure out how to put Americans back to work -- no laughing matter, indeed.

Secretary of Energy -- vacant.

There has been little speculation on the names under consideration for running the Energy Department, although the Drudge Report is saying that Bart Simpson's name has come up more than once.

Secretary of Commerce -- Magilla Gorilla

Citing years of experience in Mister Peebles' Pet Store, Magilla Gorilla is familiar with the struggles of small-town shopowners, a vanishing breed in an era where people are busily stampeding through Wal-Marts. President-elect Bam Bam is encouraging his new Secretary of Commerce to throw his weight around.

Secretary of Veterans Affairs -- General Flap

One of the pitifully few African-Americans living in Toontown, Lt. Flap distinguished himself in the war working with Beetle Bailey, starting in 1961, and now he finally receives this overdue promotion to a top job. In a town that worries more about equal representation of cats and dogs, this is progress.

Secretary of Transportation -- Motormouse or Penelope Pitstop.

One of the few appointments left undecided, the next Secretary of Transportation will either be the quiet but very quick Motormouse or the wealthy heiress, Ms. Pitstop, who has escaped many a predicament in her melodramatic career. Neither is expected to play a major role in the next administration.

Secretary of Health and Human Services -- Olive Oyl

Known for her good heart but lacking much on-the-job experience, Olive must tackle day-to-day management of a large department that could suffer brutal cutbacks. She is said to be focusing on childhood obesity and she's considering the possibility of banning wimpy burgers. It will also be important that she distance herself from her husband, known for the rap song "I Yam What I Yam" and violent rages induced by his vegetarian diet.

Secretary of the Environment -- Chilly Willy or Wally Gator.

This one is still a toss-up. The choice is between directing attention to the thawing Artic or the storm-tossed Louisiana swamp. Bam Bam is probably leaning towards Chilly Willy because of growing concern over global warming, along with a secret preference for Klondike bars.

Secretary of Agriculture -- Porky Pig

This ageless character comes out of retirement for one last spin on the world's stage. He comes from farm country so it will be interesting to see if he can be strong enough to roll back huge f-f-farm s-s-subs-s-s-idies.

National Security Advisor -- Johnny Quest

After a promising start to his career, Quest has finally achieved the senior-level position that many thought would come much earlier. He not only knows each region's hot spots but he's lived in each of them and found ways to survive on his own. Whether that qualifies him for the politically charged environment of Toontown remains to be seen.

Many believe there is a role in national security for veteran Clutch Cargo but lips are sealed on this one. There is also talk that Yakky Doodle will be the next press secretary. Finally, Uncle Scrooge is said to be close to accepting a role as President-elect Bam-Bam's top economic adviser. The sage skinflint, Scrooge is dusting off his own post-war recovery plan, titled "Voodoo Hoodoo", and he's updating it to cope with today's credit crisis.

Stay tuned for more news as it happens from Toontown. Thanks to Toonopedia.com for providing background information on all these characters.

My 2.5-year-old son, like so many toddlers before him, is enthralled by Sesame Street. In fact, I think he'd prefer we lived there. A few months ago, I received a copy of Putumayo's Sesame Street Playground CD/DVD. It's a fantastic collection of songs and videos from local versions of the show from around the world: South Africa, Indonesia, India, The Netherlands, China, Israel, Tanzania, and other places. Some of the tunes, themes, and muppets are happily familiar, but each country also brings their own characters, cultures, and themes to the shows. (For example, Kami, a muppet on Takalani Sesame in South Africa is HIV positive and helps with AIDS education.) My wife, son, and I listen to the Sesame Street Playground CD every day. (Sometimes several times a day.) It's one of a small number of children's albums that the whole family genuinely digs. Putamayo created a great press Web site that has the liner notes and videos from the DVD. Don't miss the "Gali Gali Sim Sim Theme" (Sesame Street Theme) sung in Hindi. Sesame Street Playground (Amazon) Putamayo Kids presents Sesame Street Playground (Putamayo.com)

(Image via Wikipedia)

They sure don't now. According to Jeff Vail, they just might:

How much of its own food can suburbia produce? In America, the average suburban lot size is approximately 12,000 square feet. That's about a quarter-acre. At an average of 2.56 people per household, and a rough average of 10,000 feet per lot not covered by structures, that's just under 4,000 square feet of yard per person. Of course, this ignores the potential for parks and other open spaces in suburbia to be converted to food-production. It is also an average figure--some neighborhoods will have far less space, others far more. Despite these sources of variability, it is a good jumping-off point. Is 4,000 square feet enough to provide for a person? There are three requirements: calories, nutrition, and the variety and selection necessary to support culture and quality of life. In addition, there are four limiting factors to food production in a given area: sunlight, water, labor, and soil/nutrients. In the interest of space, I'll only address three of these: calories, nutrition, and soil/nutrients--please feel free to discuss the other requirements and constraints in comments.

Can 4,000 square feet produce enough calories to feed one person? At 26 calories per ounce and roughly 8,000 pounds of potatoes harvested from 4,000 square feet (based on intermediate yields from John Jeavons "How to Grow More Vegetables," p. 92), that's 3.3 million calories, or 9,000 calories per day. This is, of course, completely unsustainable, insufficiently nutritious, etc. But it does answer the question--it is possible to grow enough calories on 4,000 square feet per person. The real limiting factors are nutrition and soil, discussed below:

Can 4,000 square feet produce enough nutrients to feed one person while simultaneously sustaining and improving the soil? One issue is that topsoil has been scraped away from more recent suburban developments. How effectively can we re-build soil, and how long does it take? John Jeavons has addressed this question in depth (summarized at p. 28-29 of "Grow More Vegetables"). He concludes that 4,000 square feet is roughly enough to feed one person a complete, nutritious diet, while simultaneously improving soil quality. His method involves 60% (by area) focus on growing soil-improving crops (high carbon content food crops for eventual compost), 30% mixed high-calorie root crops, and 10% mixed vegetables.

Check out Jeff's other suburbia analyses here. If you're ready to jump in and start growing, here are 92 Instructables tagged 'gardening!'

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On Sunday, I wished for a web service that would take an image, a height and a width, and return a thumbnail for the image.

Andrew Burton put up a service, I gave it a try, with no luck. Maybe we can get this working. Ideally, I'd like to run it on the same machine as the application that calls it, since the images can be fairly large.

Here's a text file containing the text, and the picture I used.

Daengbo writes "While I live in S.Korea and have virtually unlimited bandwidth in and out of the country, not all my Asian friends are so lucky. Many of the SE Asian and African countries have small international pipes. Even when a user has a high-speed local connection, downloads from abroad will trickle in. Bittorrent clients apparently don't prioritize other users on the same ISP or at least in the same country. Why is that? Is it difficult to manage? If I were to write a plug-in for, say, Deluge, what hurdles would I be likely to come across? If this functionality is available in other clients or through plug-ins, please chime in."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Daengbo writes "While I live in S.Korea and have virtually unlimited bandwidth in and out of the country, not all my Asian friends are so lucky. Many of the SE Asian and African countries have small international pipes. Even when a user has a high-speed local connection, downloads from abroad will trickle in. Bittorrent clients apparently don't prioritize other users on the same ISP or at least in the same country. Why is that? Is it difficult to manage? If I were to write a plug-in for, say, Deluge, what hurdles would I be likely to come across? If this functionality is available in other clients or through plug-ins, please chime in."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

My friend Barbara Rushkoff writes very witty and moving personal narratives. Her old print 'zine Plotz was a hysterically funny and honest take on Jewish identity. And her book Jewish Holiday Fun For You! is a must-have for irreverent Jews everywhere. Barbara has been away from the keyboard for a while, but she recently wrote a terrific comic strip for Smith magazine's online Webcomix series "Next-Door Neighbor." Titled "Glenna Evans," Barbara's strip is funny, touching, and well-illustrated by Nathan Schreiber. "Glenna Evans" by Barbara Rushkoff & Nathan Schreiber

On Sunday, I let our chickens out of their coop to run around freely for the first time. I was surprised by how quickly they took to it. They started scratching around in the grass and dirt, grazing on different tree and bush leaves, weeds, blossoms, and blades of grass. They stretched out in the sun, and gave themselves dust baths. How amazing that this behavior was encoded in them from the time they were single-celled eggs a couple of months ago. How do they know which things are good to eat? Jane and I set up a couple of chairs on the lawn and watched them for two hours in the afternoon sun. When the sky turned to dusk, the chickens lined up and walked back into the coop and up the inclined ramp into the cozy closed off section. Videos: Chickens experiencing their first taste of life outside the coop | Jane bugging our chickens

I'm quite often confused by those who consider themselves big supporters of pure free market capitalism, but who also are adamant believers in the importance of intellectual property. Perhaps the largest group of such folks are the so-called "Objectivist" followers of Ayn Rand. Capitalist Magazine is running an Objectivist defense of the recent ProIP law that was recently signed into law despite basically being a government handout to the entertainment industry. Stephen Kinsella has responded to many of the points made in the original article, and picks up on a key point that many defenders of intellectual property always pull out in their defense:

The creator of content owns the content because he created it through his own labor, and you should always own the fruits of your own labor.

The problem is this just isn't true and never has been. Simply providing the labor does not equal ownership. As Kinsella notes in his response:

His argument? "If a baker bakes a loaf of bread, he therefore owns it." And likewise, for "music, movies, software." But note the mistake here Johson makes: "If a baker bakes a loaf of bread, he therefore owns it." The "therefore" is the giveaway: he says this because he thinks of the creation of the loaf as the act that gives rise to ownership. Then this leads to the analogy with other created things, like music. But creation of the loaf is not the reason why the baker owns it. He owns the loaf because he owned the dough that he baked. He already owned the dough, before any act of "creation"--before he transformed it with his labor. If he owned the dough, then he owns whatever he transforms his property into; the act of creation is an act of transformation that does not generate any new property rights. So creation is not necessary for him to own the resulting baked bread. Likewise, if he used someone else's dough--say, his employer's--then he does not own the loaf, but the owner of the dough does. So creation is not sufficient for ownership.

Exactly. Creation alone does not grant property rights if none existed prior to that transformation. I would even take the argument a step further. Even if you own something due to the fact that you created it, once you have given away or sold that product, you no longer have ownership of it -- and claiming you do actually removes property rights from the lawful owner.

That is, if I make a loaf of bread, and then sell it to someone, I no longer have control over that loaf of bread. I cannot tell the new owner that he can only make French toast with it and cannot feed the bread to the pigeons. That's for the new owner to determine. I certainly cannot tell him that he cannot take the bread and try to resell it or even give it away to others. That's part of the free market. Yet, intellectual property enthusiasts do want to remove these property rights from the recipients of copies of the original good. Despite their claims of being property rights supporters, they are actually the opposite. They are trying to deny property rights to any recipient.

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Florence Nightingale: The Passionate Statistician... Nightingale created many novel graphics to present statistics that would persuade Queen Victoria of the need to improve sanitary conditions in military hospitals. The area of each region shows the number of soldiers who died of wounds, disease, or other causes, during each month of the Crimean War-

When Florence Nightingale arrived at a British hospital in Turkey during the Crimean War, she found a nightmare of misery and chaos. Men lay crowded next to each other in endless corridors. The air reeked from the cesspool that lay just beneath the hospital floor. There was little food and fewer basic supplies. By the time Nightingale left Turkey after the war ended in July 1856, the hospitals were well-run and efficient, with mortality rates no greater than civilian hospitals in England, and Nightingale had earned a reputation as an icon of Victorian women. Her later and less well-known work, however, saved far more lives. She brought about fundamental change in the British military medical system, preventing any such future calamities. To do it, she pioneered a brand-new method for bringing about social change: applied statistics.

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Smivs points out a blandly-worded story from the BBC with scary implications, excerpting "Remote searches of suspect computers will form part of an EU plan to tackle hi-tech crime. The five-year action plan will take steps to combat the growth in cyber theft and the machines used to spread spam and other malicious programs. It will also encourage better sharing of data among European police forces to track down and prosecute criminals. Europol will co-ordinate the investigative work and also issue alerts about cyber crime sprees."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Smivs points out a blandly-worded story from the BBC with scary implications, excerpting "Remote searches of suspect computers will form part of an EU plan to tackle hi-tech crime. The five-year action plan will take steps to combat the growth in cyber theft and the machines used to spread spam and other malicious programs. It will also encourage better sharing of data among European police forces to track down and prosecute criminals. Europol will co-ordinate the investigative work and also issue alerts about cyber crime sprees."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Our friends at the surrealist clothier Imaginary Foundation have launched a new line of women's dresses and tops. The fabric comes from their men's t-shirts patterned using a dye sublimation process that allows for gorgeous graphics without the thick feeling of most screenprints. The dresses and tops are lined with sustainable cotton. They're $60 each.
Imaginary Foundation dresses and tops

Over at the Make blog, Marc de Vinck has a charming video that shows you how to do a simple Arduino project.

Arduino is a tool for making computers that can sense and control more of the physical world than your desktop computer. It's an open-source physical computing platform based on a simple microcontroller board, and a development environment for writing software for the board. Arduino is open source! In addition to the genuine Arduino, resistors, buttons and other goodies, we've also tossed in our best selling Making Things Talkbook.

Arduino starter project

Over a year ago on Boing Boing, I linked to this video from a guy who made a propeller-powered vehicle that he claimed could travel downwind faster than the wind. Some people think it was a hoax, and some don't.

In Make Vol. 11, Charles Platt made a miniature model of the vehicle and came to the conclusion that there is no such thing as a wind-powered vehicle that can travel faster than the speed of the wind.

Now there's a new video on YouTube (above) that claims it is possible to sail directly downwind faster than the wind (aka DDFTTW). You can read heated discussions about the video and its claims at Makezine, the Mythbusters Fan Club discussion board, and Randi.org. The creator of the video, spork33, hopes that the Mythbusters folks will attempt to replicate the experiment.

I admit that I don't understand the physics involved, so I don't really know whether DDFTTW is possible, but I am siding with Charles on this because I've never known him to be wrong when it comes to math, physics, or electricity.

UPDATE: Charles says: "You might make it clear to readers that the argument is strictly confined to the behavior of vehicles in a direct tail wind. A cross wind can indeed create a force-multiplying effect when it blows against an angled sail."

stinkymountain writes "Writer John Brandon spent two days at Microsoft Research Labs in Redmond and got an inside look at some pretty interesting projects under development, including a robotic receptionist, a new type of touch screen for people with fat fingers, and an electronic table that allows multiple people to collaborate in real time. Brandon also talks about some of these research projects on this NPR podcast."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

stinkymountain writes "Writer John Brandon spent two days at Microsoft Research Labs in Redmond and got an inside look at some pretty interesting projects under development, including a robotic receptionist, a new type of touch screen for people with fat fingers, and an electronic table that allows multiple people to collaborate in real time. Brandon also talks about some of these research projects on this NPR podcast."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

I love this knitted horse head by Becca Compton... goes perfectly with an embroidered The Godfather portrait...

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This week I made a project with parts from the Arduino Starter Kit. I skipped over building the Proto Shield from the kit, since I made a how-to a while back. Otherwise, it's a simple build that doesn't require any soldering.

Arduino is a tool for making computers that can sense and control more of the physical world than your desktop computer. It's an open-source physical computing platform based on a simple microcontroller board, and a development environment for writing software for the board. Arduino is open source! In addition to the genuine Arduino, resistors, buttons and other goodies, we've also tossed in our best selling Making Things Talk book. This starter kit will help get you started quickly without having to source a lot of parts and do a lot of shopping. Check out the "How To" for some helpful links to provide support and contact with the growing Arduino community.

Features

• Now Shipping With the New Arduino Duemilanove
  
• 1x Mini Breadboard
  
• 1x 3 ft. USB Cable
  
• 10x 1K Resistors
  
• 2x 10k Resistors
  
• 3x Red LEDs
  
• 2x Green LEDs
  
• 1X Superbright Blue LED
  
• 1x Momentary Tactile Switch
  
• 2x Interlink Force Sensing Resistors
  
• 1x Protoshield Kit (unassembled)
  
• Making Things Talk by Tom Igoe
  
• 24" each of Red, Blue & Black AWG jumper wire
  
• 9V Battery Case w/DC Plug (some assembly required)
  
• Yes, even a 9V battery
  

Here is the code I used on the Arduino. It's NOT optimized. Why? Well, I thought this was the best way to write it so a beginner could really understand how it works. Think you can optimize it the best? Let's see what you got! Post the smallest, most efficient, version in the comments!

/*
--------------------------------------------

Maker Magazine - Force Sensor Demo

This simple program visually shows the amount of force placed on the sensor
There are much more efficient ways to program, this way was chosen because
it is very easy to understand.

By Marc de Vinck - Licensed under Creative Commons....whatever.

--------------------------------------------
*/

// Here are the constants that we define prior to the program running

int forcePin = 2; // select the input pin for the force sensor
int val = 0; // variable to store the value coming in from the sensor

int led1=9; // defines "led1" as the number 9
int led2=10; // defines "led2" as the number 10
int led3=11; // defines "led3" as the number 11
int led4=12; // defines "led4" as the number 12
int led5=13; // defines "led5" as the number 13

// End of constant definitions

void setup() //run one time when the Arduino first powers up
{
Serial.begin(9600); //starts serial communication, only used for debgugging

pinMode(led1, OUTPUT); // remeber led1 = pin 9, this statement sets pin 9 to output only
pinMode(led2, OUTPUT); // remeber led2 = pin 10, this statement sets pin 10 to output only
pinMode(led3, OUTPUT); // remeber led3 = pin 11, this statement sets pin 11 to output only
pinMode(led4, OUTPUT); // remeber led4 = pin 12, this statement sets pin 12 to output only
pinMode(led5, OUTPUT); // remeber led5 = pin 13, this statement sets pin 13 to output only
}

void loop() //This next bit of code runs continuously
{

val = analogRead(forcePin); // read the value from the sensor

Serial.println(val,DEC); // print the value "val" of the sensor (used for debugging)

if (val>250){ //if the value is maxed out or greater than 250

// aternative code for the following -----for (i=1; i<6; i=i++); digitalwrite(led[i],HIGH)

digitalWrite(led5,HIGH); // turns on all 5 LEDs
digitalWrite(led4,HIGH);
digitalWrite(led3,HIGH);
digitalWrite(led2,HIGH);
digitalWrite(led1,HIGH);
delay(100); //slight delay to minimize flickering
}
else{
digitalWrite(led5,LOW); //turn off all 5 LEDs
digitalWrite(led4,LOW);
digitalWrite(led3,LOW);
digitalWrite(led2,LOW);
digitalWrite(led1,LOW);
}

if (val>=175 && val<=250){ //if value is between 100 and 175
digitalWrite(led4,HIGH); //turns on 4 LEDs
digitalWrite(led3,HIGH);
digitalWrite(led2,HIGH);
digitalWrite(led1,HIGH);
delay(100); //slight delay to minimize flickering
}
else{
digitalWrite(led4,LOW); //turns off 4 LEDs
digitalWrite(led3,LOW);
digitalWrite(led2,LOW);
digitalWrite(led1,LOW);
}

if (val>=100 && val<=175){ //if value is between 100 and 175
digitalWrite(led3,HIGH); //turns on 3 LEDs
digitalWrite(led2,HIGH);
digitalWrite(led1,HIGH);
delay(100); //slight delay to minimize flickering
}
else{
digitalWrite(led3,LOW); // you get the picture....
digitalWrite(led2,LOW);
digitalWrite(led1,LOW);
}

if (val>=25 && val<=100){
digitalWrite(led2,HIGH);
digitalWrite(led1,HIGH);
delay(100); //slight delay to minimize flickering
}
else{
digitalWrite(led2,LOW);
digitalWrite(led1,LOW);
}
if (val>=0 && val<=25){
digitalWrite(led1,HIGH);
delay(100); //slight delay to minimize flickering
}
else{
digitalWrite(led1,LOW);
}
}


var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/educational/How_to_Tuesday_Fun_with_the_Arduino_Starter_Kit';

In the Maker Shed:


Arduino Starter Kit

More:

How-to Make a Proto Shield

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It seems that the Associated Press continues to struggle to figure out how to deal with this whole online thing. It's still trying to revamp its pricing structure after a bunch of newspapers canceled their contracts as they were pretty pissed off that the AP is effectively competing with its own member papers. The AP has also had a bit of a run-in with bloggers over its ridiculous fair use policies. Its latest move seems to, once again, be getting pretty much everything backwards. Famed film critic Roger Ebert is complaining that the AP has sent down word from on-high that all entertainment articles must be 500 words or shorter -- including film reviews, interviews, news stories, trend pieces and (best of all) "think pieces." Apparently, if you need more than 500 words to get people thinking, you're a bit too verbose. On top of that, the AP is asking those same entertainment writers to focus on more salacious, attention grabbing stories in picking what to write.

It's not difficult to see what's going on here. The AP is trying to be more "bloggy." Shorter, more attention grabbing pieces? Apparently, it's decided that people online only want to read the quick hits on salacious stories. Of course, despite what some may think, that's not really true. The AP has an opportunity to be better than all of that. It could draw serious attention by creating real content that people want, rather than running after the latest fad. But, apparently, that's not in the AP's plan. It has the resources to do what various small-time blogs can't do, but apparently, it's going in the other direction. Perhaps it's not too surprising, but it's no less a mistake.

Yes, short, attention grabbing stories get traffic, but that doesn't mean good, thorough journalism would get ignored. The problem the AP is having isn't that its stories are too long, or not attention-grabbing enough. It's that it still views itself as a gatekeeper of information, rather than an enabler of both news gathering and news distribution. Of course, with each misstep by the AP, others are quickly moving in to take its place.

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Congrats qubix you won the CYBER MONDAY "Maker's - Three laws of robotics  contest!! - Please email me and we'll send you out your prize! The Co-Robot kit from Japan!

qubix on December 1, 2008 at 5:15 AM 3 laws of Homemade Robotics

1. A robot will work perfectly until you try and show it to someone.
2. A robot will spin in a circle unless you triple check the motor connections before soldering, except when doing so would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot will interpret its code as it sees fit, the designer must change his goals to reflect this, except when doing so would conflict with the First or Second Law.

Co-Robot kit...
This little robot is tough! Run by a single motor, he walks with a decidedly "angry" pace. If he falls over, he picks himself up again! An awesome design with an amazing gear mechanism, he will not quit! Over 50,000 sold in Japan and a hit at the International Robot Exhibition earlier this year. Instructions are in Japanese but  features highly detailed assembly pictures.

This was a fun contest, thank you to everyone who entered - we will do this again!

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bsk_cw writes "With the exception of Google's Chrome (which got attention because it was, after all, Google), most of the alternative browsers out there tend to get lost in the shuffle. Computerworld asked three of their writers to take some lesser-known browsers out for a spin and see how they do. They looked at six candidates: Camino (for the Mac), Maxthon (for the PC), OmniWeb (for the Mac), Opera (both the Mac and the PC versions) and Shiira (for the Mac)." It would have been more interesting if they included some popular open source, Linux-friendly browsers like Konqueror or Epiphany, as well.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

bsk_cw writes "With the exception of Google's Chrome (which got attention because it was, after all, Google), most of the alternative browsers out there tend to get lost in the shuffle. Computerworld asked three of their writers to take some lesser-known browsers out for a spin and see how they do. They looked at six candidates: Camino (for the Mac), Maxthon (for the PC), OmniWeb (for the Mac), Opera (both the Mac and the PC versions) and Shiira (for the Mac)." It would have been more interesting if they included some popular open source, Linux-friendly browsers like Konqueror or Epiphany, as well.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Brennon Williams sent us a link to his blog, BW Science Labs, where he explores science and technology. I really liked this LED constellation project, but you should check out the rest of his entries - he posts about microcontrollers, basic soldering, robotics, lots of stuff! Really impressive work for a 14-year-old!

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Matthew Baldwin's 2008 Good Gift Game round-up is worth a look - some great games and fun reviews!

"In this game we are all epidemiologists, trying to synthesize vaccines to four deadly diseases that are rapidly spreading across the globe..." My God, can you even imagine a less-enticing introduction to a board game? It sounds so soporific that you'd expect to find pillows and PJs in the box. And yet Pandemic, perhaps the best family game of 2008, has exactly this premise: Travel the world, conduct research, and cure the virulent contagions that threaten mankind. As a cooperative game, Pandemic has the players working as a team, winning or losing as a group. And, like any good medical thriller, the tension in Pandemic builds geometrically: Halfway through you'll be high-fiving each other over your presumed victory; 15 minutes later you'll be sweating bullets as the situation grows increasingly dire. Despite a theme that screams "biochem exam!" Pandemic is the everyone-who-plays-it-loves-it game of the year.

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WatersOfOblivion writes "Twenty years ago today, Edsger Dijkstra, the greatest computer scientist to never own a computer, hand wrote and distributed 'On the Cruelty of Really Teaching Computer Science' (PDF), discussing the then-current state of Computer Science education. Twenty years later, does what he said still hold true? I know it is not the case where I went to school, but have most schools corrected course and are now being necessarily cruel to their Computer Science students?" Bonus: Dijkstra's handwriting.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

WatersOfOblivion writes "Twenty years ago today, Edsger Dijkstra, the greatest computer scientist to never own a computer, hand wrote and distributed 'On the Cruelty of Really Teaching Computer Science,' discussing the then-current state of Computer Science education. Twenty years later, does what he said still hold true? I know it is not the case where I went to school, but have most schools corrected course and are now being necessarily cruel to their Computer Science students?" Bonus: Dijkstra's handwriting.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Larry Lessig and friends have founded Open Government, a movement to pressure the Obama administration to dismantle the barriers to free and open access to government and its data. Boing Boing/Happy Mutants are proud signatories to the petition -- I hope you'll sign up, too.

2. No Technological Barrier to Sharing

A merely legal freedom to share and remix, however, can be thwarted by technological constraints. Content made publicly available should also be freely accessible, not blocked by technological barriers. Citizens should be able to download transition-related content in a way that makes it simple to share, excerpt, remix, or redistribute. This is an essential digital freedom.

For example, while content may be posted on a particular site such as YouTube, because YouTube does not authorize videos on its site to be downloaded, transition-created content should also be made available on a site that does permit downloads. Just as it would be unacceptable for government websites to block the copying-and-pasting of publicly accessible text, making video accessible in a manner that does not allow easy or authorized excerpting and reuse blocks access and engagement.

We would therefore strongly encourage the transition to assure that the material it has licensed freely be practically accessible freely as well. There are a host of services — such as blip.tv — which not only enable users to download freely licensed content, but which also explicitly marks the content with freedom it carries. However else the transition chooses to distribute its content, it should assure that at least one channel maintains this essential digital freedom.

Principles for an Open Transition (Thanks, Larry!)

The battle against spammers rages on, both in the tech and legal worlds, but sadly, with little success. Despite the advances in anti-spam technology and spammers getting sued, shutting down and having their service providers cut off their operations, the torrent of spam hitting email inboxes continues unabated. While there are several anti-spam tools that may be good enough for most users, it's clear that a technological solution alone to stopping spam remains far off. But perhaps the biggest hope is to take aim at spammers' profitability, as their margins look a little vulnerable. A BBC story cites some earlier research that says spammers sending out 350 million messages a month can earn roughly $100 per day, while the entire massive Storm botnet could generate around $2 million per year. Neither is a figure to sniff at, but nor are they really huge sums of money -- suggesting that frustrating spammers by disrupting their services and raising costs, as well as trying to hold down responses even more, could diminish the profitability of spam to the point where it's no longer attractive. Ironically, the rise in spam plays a part, too, since spammers are in essence competing with each other for users' attention and clicks, so the more spam that gets sent, the worse the response rate for the individual message or campaign (for instance, the researchers' response rate was less than 0.00001%). But the underlying issue remains the fact that people click on spam and buy stuff through it. Changing that might be even harder than developing the perfect spam filter.

Carlo Longino is an expert at the Insight Community. To get insight and analysis from Carlo Longino and other experts on challenges your company faces, click here.

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"VideoMan", is a performance / street intervention project by Mexican artist Fernando Llanos where the artist wears a custom built suit comprised of a video camera, projector, large portable battery pack, power inverters, amplifiers, and other noise generators. Walking around city streets, Llanos projects varied imagery of news broadcasts and other themed material. Check out some of the videos of the piece in action at the link below.

Fernando Llanos

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From the MAKE Flickr photo pool

Matt the modulator housed a thingamakit bleep-synth in an the box from a Velleman amplifier kit. Nice use of available resources - and it looks pretty dang cool to boot! - Thingamakit_2 on Flickr

More:

ThingamaKIT build photos

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Barence writes "After years of boasting about the Mac's near invincibility, Apple is now advising its customers to install security software on their computers. Apple — which has continually played on Windows' vulnerability to viruses in its advertising campaigns — issued the advice in a low-key message on its support forums. 'Apple encourages the widespread use of multiple antivirus utilities so that virus programmers have more than one application to circumvent, thus making the whole virus writing process more difficult.' It goes on to recommend a handful of products." Reader wild_berry points out the BBC's story on the unexpected recommendation.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Barence writes "After years of boasting about the Mac's near invincibility, Apple is now advising its customers to install security software on their computers. Apple — which has continually played on Windows' vulnerability to viruses in its advertising campaigns — issued the advice in a low-key message on its support forums. 'Apple encourages the widespread use of multiple antivirus utilities so that virus programmers have more than one application to circumvent, thus making the whole virus writing process more difficult.' It goes on to recommend a handful of products." Reader wild_berry points out the BBC's story on the unexpected recommendation.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

AKMA sez, "Benedict XVI, whom I actually admire a lot as popes go, has lapsed into the tedious reflex of blaming digital technology for the decadence of youth. Vatican Radio reports that Benedict met with professors and students in Parma, and warned them that because of digital technology, 'students' capacity for concentration and mental application on a personal level are reduced; on the other hand there is a danger that the students isolate themselves in an increasingly virtual reality.' I can understand, to some extent, his resistance to the change in mode-of-attention that accompanies online activity, but it's disappointing to see him falling for the bugaboo of replacement panic."

Pope Benedict on the Nature of University Reform (Thanks, AKMA!)

How sez, "California hipster artist Shag has created 13 new art pieces commemorating the 40th Anniversary of Disneyland's Haunted Mansion attraction. I've collected all the details (and art) known to date about the upcoming event in August of 2009 in one post."

What's not to like? Shag's art + the best ride Disney's Imagineers ever built = sheer heaven!

Details are still a little sketchy (pardon the pun) at this time, but it appears that a range of merchandise will be created based on the art: at the very least, Shag will be signing prints on Sunday, August 9th at the park. Buyers, however, will get the first opportunity to buy the prints at a cocktail party the evening of the 8th where Shag will be the guest of honor. Here’s hoping that they hold the event in the Mansion itself — Walt Disney World has done dinners in the stretch rooms in the past — what a blast it would be to party where “candle lights flicker where the air is deathly still.”

Shag Haunted Mansion art event (Thanks, How!)

Apture is a new tool for bloggers and online publishers that can add interactive multimedia links and embeds to their site with a single click. Apture takes the traditional act of linking to a whole new level and provides your site with greater functionality and depth by providing your reader with the opportunity to browse related off-site content without ever having to leave your site. So in essence, Apture can potentially increase your reader engagement. And best of all, it is completely free. Photo credit: Apture edited by Andre Deutmeyer Links are the currency of the web. Any self-respecting blogger... independent publisher... website owner knows this. But when you are trying to maximize your readers engagement with your site, linking (and sending them away) to content elsewhere on the web seems to be a counterproductive process. Wouldn't it be nice if you could link to outside content, but still keep the eyeballs on your site? That is where Apture comes to play. Apture gives independent publishers the power to find and incorporate relevant multimedia items, such as video clips from YouTube, photos from Flickr, Wikipedia articles, music, podcasts, and much more from around the web directly on to your site with a single click of a button. You can also bring new life to old content you created by using Apture to upload that content from your computer and embed or link to it on your pages. Readers can then access these linked items without ever having to leave your site. By doing this, you can increase reader engagement time with your blog or site by providing your readers with a deeper, richer web experience. This in turn can help you monetize your content by keeping your readers on your blog. Still have questions about Apture? Continue reading below for the full review. Here all the details:

Apture Overview

Apture is a free next-generation linking tool that allows you to add a wealth of multimedia links to your site. Once installed on your site, you can create Apture links by simply highlighting the word or phrase that you want linked and then selecting the relevant media. Traditional linking creates a link that opens up in another tab / page, sending visitors away from your content if they want to view that link. But Apture changes the game. Rather than sending visitors away, links built using Apture open up in new interactive windows that can be repositioned anywhere on the page, or enlarged to fullscreen, allowing your visitor easy access to the content behind the link without ever leaving your site. Apture further extends the traditional linking by allowing you to combine multiple sources of multimedia content together in one place. Each Apture link can be associated with content plus related media, enabling you to build a web of off-site information accessible without ever having to leave your site, and help your users learn more about the topic you are writing about. If you have existing links to Wikipedia articles, Flickr photos, YouTube videos, and other common web destinations on your website, Apture can automatically go through your site and create Apture links out of them with Apture Auto Link, saving you time and effort. However, Apture is more than just a linking tool. Apture allows you to quickly and easily embed new media to your post / existing content. Using Apture you can add new videos, pictures, documents into a page without having to log in to your CMS backend. Once embedded, you can resize the content to best match your page layout, and add a caption to introduce it. Installing Apture is as easy as pie. And if you use Blogger or Typepad then it is even easier - one click will set you up with Apture. For other CMS platforms (like WordPress, Drupal, MovableType) installing Apture is a straightforward process if you follow the step by step instructions provided to you by Apture. You only need one line of code to bring the Apture experience to your website. Finally, Apture offers unique advantages for large publishers. For publishers like The Washington Post, Apture can serve as a new opportunity for commerce and advertising because you can display advertising within the Apture window that pops up when a visitor hovers over the link. By virture of the way Apture works, these ads are guaranteed to appear at the center of your visitor's attention - an Apture window only appears when a visitor hovers over the link, indicating interest. Apture splits the revenue from these ads 50/50 with the publisher.

Key Features

Apture key features revolve around their next-generation linking service, providing your site visitors with a wealth of information without ever having to leave your site. Apture succeeds admirably. And the approach Apture takes is so innovative that there really is no direct competition for their service at the moment. Features include:

• Wikipedia Links
• Video Links
• Audio Links
• Image Links
• Document Links
• Easy Media Embeds to published pages
• Related Media option allows you to connect multiple sources of media to a single link
• Auto Link
• Content Monetization (Advertising) for large publishers

Below is a graphical tour of these key features with details about how they work.

Wikipedia Links

Apture allows you to easily link to any Wikipedia article. Link any article that you want by highlighting the word or phrase that you want linked. Apture will then open up a pop-up from which you can choose the Wikipedia article that you want linked to the term. Apture tweaks the display of the Wikipedia article so that it displays beautifully within the pop-up box.

Video Links

YouTube is by far the easiest video sharing site to grab videos from, but as long as you have a web address, you can link to any video that you want and share it through Apture. If the video you want linked is sitting on your local drive, Apture also has an option to upload content and link that instead. In addition to the ease with which you can link video, Apture also provides a nice feature that allows you to select the video playback start time and end time so you can show your visitors only the part you deem the most relevant.

Audio Links

Audio links work similar to video links. As long as you have the web address of the audio file, you can link any bit of audio that you want through Apture. Like video links, you can also choose to upload audio and link that instead. Similarly, with audio links, you can select the start time and end time of the audio track so that the portion of the track that is most relevant to your reader automatically plays.

Image Links

Apture makes linking images simple too. Like video and audio linking, you can link any image to Apture if you have the web address for it. If you don't have a specific image in mind, Apture's built in search of Flickr, Yahoo Images, and Wikipedia Images makes finding and linking images a painless task. Or if you choose to, you can upload content from your local drive and have that display instead.

Document Links

Apture allows you to easily link PDF or other documents using Scribd iPaper technology. This allows your reader to access the article you are linking and read it without ever having to leave your site. The one problem that I noticed with this is that if you set up the Apture link for the document, there is no easy way for the reader to directly download that document anymore if you would like them to be able to do so.

Media Embedding

If you want to quickly embed media (video, audio, images) into your already published article without logging into your CMS backend, you can do so with Apture. Apture allows you to embed new media almost anywhere into your article with a single click of your mouse. You just point to the spot on your page that you want that media embedded, click, choose the media that you want (via search or web address), and presto... you are done. Although the media you embed through Apture will probably not fit your site layout as well as, say, one that you do through your backend, Apture is an excellent solution for embedding media quickly and easily without having to work with HTML.

Related Media

The capability to link multiple resources to one term or phrase is, perhaps, your greatest advantage with Apture. Traditionally, when you link something you can only have that link pointing to one location. But now with Apture, you can provide multiple types of media for you reader to enjoy... all linked to the term or phrase. So if there is a picture, video, and a Wikipedia link that you want pointing at the same term, you can do that with Apture.

Auto Link

Apture Auto Link is exactly what it sounds like. Rather than having to manually go through your old posts and create Apture links for your content, Apture automatically goes through your post and changes popular linking destinations (like Wikipedia, Flickr, YouTube, and more) to Apture links. You can control which types of links that you want Apture to automatically convert through your Apture Dashboard. By default, all the links are selected, so if there are certain types of links that you do not want Apture to convert, then all you need to do is deselect those options.

Content Monetization (Advertising) For Large Publishers

Unfortunately, Apture only offers content monetization options for large publishers like the Washington Post (the above image is from the Washington Post) for now. Larger publishers will be able to serve ads within every Apture pop-up. These ads could potentially have a higher click-through-rate than other display and contextual ads because as Apture argues, these Apture ads are going to be displayed where the reader is focusing his or her attention. The ads are all cost-per-click (cpc) types. And like Google, Apture will take a cut of any ad revenue that the publisher makes from those ads. Hopefully, Apture will soon extend this option to smaller independent publishers as well.

Pros and Cons

Apture Review - In Brief

Editor's Comments

Apture is a very functional solution. Other similar linking solutions like Snap fall short when compared to the functionality that Apture provides. Snap in many ways works like Apture. Snap provides pop up windows that link to videos, Wikipedia content, photos, etc so that visitors can view that content without having to leave your site. But unlike Apture, Snap previews are much more limited. When selecting the content that you want the link to point to, Apture really has few limits. Snap is limited to only those 'Snap Shots' that are presupported. Apture allows you to link almost anything, even content that you have stored on your local drive. Furthermore the Apture 'Related Media' function is great. More than once I have wanted to link multiple pages / media / content to the same term. And Apture is the only platform that allows me to combine multimedia content from around the web, together on one link. Furthermore, I am not aware of another tool that allows you to embed multimedia into your website as easily as Apture does. The ease with which Apture allows you to embed new media into your post is great. The one shortfall of this, however, is that the media you embed may not fit always as cleanly into your page as media you embed through your CMS backend. One of the major complaints that I have seen about Apture is that it adds unnecessary noise to a web page. That complaint is understandable. I myself hate the unwelcome pop-ups that occur when you accidentally scroll over text-link ads. But the difference with Apture is that Apture actually provides relevant, interactive content to the viewer... not irritating irrelevant advertising. So despite the annoyance that the unsolicited Apture pop-ups may generate, the added functionality and information that you provide to your readers are well worth the cost. These factors make Apture a unique product and well worth checking out. Apture is free, so go give it a shot.

Additional Resources

• Sign up for Apture
• Official Product Tour by Apture
• Videos of how to use Apture

Do you see any mistakes? Would you like to share your own experiences with Apture? Please leave a comment below.

Originally written by Andre Deutmeyer for MasterNewMedia and first published on December 2nd 2008 as Add Multimedia Links and Embeds To Your Website With One Click: Apture Reviewed.

The National Bureau of Economic Research said Monday that the US has been in a recession since December 2007. The NBER is a private, nonprofit research organization of academic economists who determine business cycles. The stock market took a dip on the news that exceeded double-digit percentages for some tech stocks.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

The challenge of trying to buy everything that is only made in the USA...

i had been cursing up and down the aisles at the grocery store for half an hour when I finally found a can of black beans claiming to be "100% usa family farm organically grown." I was on a weeklong mission to buy only American-made goods, and my very first shopping trip had turned into a debacle. I'd been forced to put back the bananas, cherries, coconut, and chipotle peppers, and I was about to blow $15 on a tiny bottle of US-made olive oil. I was hoisting the beans triumphantly above my head when my roommate approached. "What about the packaging?" she asked. I scowled at her. More of the world's aluminum comes from China than from anywhere else; the only way to know the origins of this particular can was to call the company--and it was Saturday. "Buying American is such a pain in the a**!" I wailed.

I try my best to get made in USA goods and services, but my friends think it's silly and impossible. Post up your experiences and attempts in the comments...

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Great news! Looks like the pioneering electronic performance arts center is safe for now, due in no small part to all the support sent from around the world -

The Dutch Council for Culture has reversed their initially negative decision. They were without a doubt impressed by the well over 1000 insightful, eloquent, personal letters of support from all over the world, which we received in just under two weeks. This, as well as some other factors, played a large role in opening their perception of STEIM's importance and contribution to our community and field.

We cannot thank you enough. You helped us realize again how extensive and faithful the network around us is. We are excited and thrilled that we can keep working with you and continue to build collaborations, connections and exchanges.

- STEIM.org

More:

STEIM music research center needs your help!

History of The CrackleBox

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"Sticks" by Doug Back consists of a number of geared down stepper motors with fiberglass sticks mounted on shafts. If a stick touches another, it reverses directions as if they are shy to the touch, ultimately resulting in a common pattern that allows them to rotate freely. Pretty cool idea for a simple autonomous interactive bot.

Sticks at Electrohype Festival

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Bre writes -

Zach Smith, fellow NYCResistor and Founder of The RepRap Research Foundation decided that for Lazzzorbattle 2008, he wanted to do something cool. In QCAD, he mocked up a peristaltic pump and after about 5 versions, he had it working and the entire design is cut out of 12? x 12? x 1/4? of acrylic! Peristaltic pumps are used to pump liquids that you don’t want touching any mechanical parts. By squishing a tube, the pump can keep the liquid sterile. These pumps are used in medical situations for pumping blood. You can go check it out the design on Thingiverse and make your own!

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Here are the MAKE elves back from volume 04 by Robert Ullman - I put larger versions up on Flickr if you want to use them in a cool holiday project. If you do use them, put a photo in the MAKE Flickr photo pool - we just might send you something special from the Maker Shed!

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The "ROMP or Remotely Operated Mobile Platform is a remote controlled paintball cannon that allows anyone to control where and when the pellets are spewed forth. Just don't try to drive this through a crowded urban space or the Feds might be on your tail.

via DVICE

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William sent in this page detailing how to replace the bulbs of Christmas light strings with LEDs -

I begin by cutting the light sockets off the string about three inches from the socket and I store them in a box. There is usually a wire that goes from one end of the string to the other (two such wires if you're lucky to have a string that has an electrical socket at the end of the string), which I wind onto a spool. Sometimes you can find wire the right shade of green wire at electronics stores. I find that 22AWG size stranded wire (make sure it is not solid) works the best.

Though LED christmas lights can now be purchased relatively cheaply, this could make for a neat holiday project - LED Christmas lights

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An interesting and important ruling came out of the UK last week, as a journalist had a lawsuit against her thrown out by a judge, because it appears that much of the evidence came from police wiretapping her phone conversations with a source in the police department. The judge ruled that journalists have a right to protect their sources, and the police wiretaps were illegal. I'm not familiar enough with UK wiretapping laws to know if they needed a court's approval for the wiretap in the first place -- but on the whole this seems like a reasonable decision, as the case itself was quite troublesome. Basically, it sounded like the police wanted to plug leaks from within the department, and then bugged the journalist to find out who the leaker was, and with that info charged both the source and the journalist. That certainly seems like an abuse of police power to try to prevent future leaks, so it's good to see the court dismiss the whole thing.

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We have a few cool resources for PC modding in addition to all the posts on MAKE and the articles in MAKE (print & digital edition)... One is a PDF (and book), the other a great book. Check'em out--

Make Projects: Small Form Factor PCs (PDF) - book too...
Make Projects: Small Form Factor PCs is the only book available that shows you how to build small-form-factor PCs -- from kits and from scratch -- that are more interesting and more personalized than what a full-sized PC can give you. Included in the book are projects for building personal video recorders, versatile wireless access points, digital audio jukeboxes, portable firewalls, and much more. This book shows you how to build eight different systems, from the shoebox-sized Shuttle system down to the stick-of-gum-sized gumstix.

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Building The Perfect PC 2nd Edition
Regardless of your technical experience, Building the Perfect PC will guide you through the entire process of building or upgrading your own computer. You'll use the latest top-quality components, including Intel's Core 2 Duo and AMD's Athlon X2 CPUs. And you'll know exactly what's under the hood and how to fix or upgrade your PC, should that become necessary. Not only is the process fun, but the result is often less expensive and always better quality and far more satisfying than anything you could buy off the shelf.

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We have a big contest that will be announced on Friday so stay tuned, if you're a PC modder and/or "data visualizer junkie" -- you'll like it!

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Jens Wunderling created "at second glance" as a guerilla marketing system. It's a POV system that relies on the fact that your eyes are constantly moving. The viewer will notice something unusual about the light strip when it's first observed. Not until the viewer moves their head rapidly will the hidden message be visible.

More about "at second glance" by Jens Wunderling [pixelsumo]

In the Maker Shed:


MiniPOV kit

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Just posted! Our new lens review of the Tamron AF 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC LD Aspherical (IF) MACRO.  It may have a name straight out of the web-pages of Acrophobia, but it also features a mind-blowing 15 times zoom ratio that leaves its competitors trailing in its wake. This is coupled with Tamron's own optical image stabilization system to reduce the effects of camera shake. But is longer necessarily better? Read on to find out.

Raistlin84 writes "I'm a PhD student in theoretical physics who's recently gotten quite interested in AI design. During my high school days I spent most of my spare time coding various stuff, so I have a good working knowledge of some application programming languages (C/C++, Pascal/Delphi, Assembler) and how a computer works internally. Recently I was given the book On Intelligence where Jeff Hawkins describes numerous interesting ideas on how one would actually design a brain. As I have no formal background in computer science, I would like to broaden my knowledge in the direction of neural networks, pattern recognition, etc., but don't really know where to start reading. Due to my background I figure that the 'abstract' theory would be mostly suited for me, so I would like to ask for a few book suggestions or other directions."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

From the Make Flickr Pool:

Erik has created a nice collection of PCBs for Arduino. They are part of a larger project for the Machine Collective.

In spite of all the smart, multifunctional and state-of-the-art controllers that are commercially available today, there is a continuous demand for custom physical interfaces and configurable controllers. When using development platforms such as Arduino a lot of people will end up with great applications and a breadboard full of components and wires.

This so called "physical interface prototype" isn't exactly portable, nor suitable for use during a live performance, in a studio environment or as part of an interactive installation. Some people are great with electronics and software, but when it comes to constructing an enclosure they run into problems. Lack of supplies, suitable tools and DIY-skills are common reasons why many projects just end up in a "temporary" cardboard case or never even get past the breadboarding stage.

Erik writes:

The Pcb's shown are ment to expand the arduino from inputs / outputs, in the form of a shield in a easy without having to breadboard. The ones not mentioned yet are a Arduino Relay Shield with a Arduino Relaycontrol Shield, the 32 digital-in Shield and a 32 digital out Shield.
Nothing especially that I have in mind. Off course I have some ideas what to do with them, which is use the shields in as inputs with the MachineCollective modules.

For a sneak-preview take a look at the physical-computing.nl, here you find still in a big beta-phase the website, where I will hopefully soon can put a some tests and store for these shields.

What projects have you created with Arduino? What is the best way to get started? Do you have ideas on improving physical interface issues with projects that you or the people around you have done? Post your ideas/solutions/frustrations in the comments and upload pictures and video to the Make Flickr pool.

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The University of Vermont has a really interesting project on their Alternative Energy Racing Organization [AERO] page. Be sure to check out the "Green Innovation" page for a lot more information on the build.

Our primary focus is Project GreenSpeed, an effort to build a race car for entry in the annual International Formula-Hybrid competition sponsored by IEEE and SAE. For us, it is an opportunity to demonstrate the efficacy of non-traditional drive-systems for mobility engineering and get to drive fast at the same time.

More about UVM AERO: Green racing

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A guilty verdict in a rape and murder case in the UK is raising some questions about the country's emergency call system and its ability to deal with callers who can't speak. In this case, the 17-year-old victim dialed 999 (the British equivalent of 911) while she was being abducted, but she was obviously unable to speak directly to the operator without alerting her killer. The system followed its usual procedure for silent calls, giving the caller a recorded message to either tap their phone or hit the 5 key twice. That is fine for somebody whose only problem is that they can't speak; but for users who can't listen to the message and don't know to hit keys (which doesn't have to be an extreme case, but could also be the victim of a stroke or other medical emergency), it doesn't offer much help. Authorities are working on a text-based system for people with hearing and speech impediments, as they should, but again, that leaves many incapacitated people out in the cold. There will surely be a search for some technological solution to the problem, but maybe what's needed is some more common sense. For instance, is it very well publicized that people should hit the 5 key if they can't speak? Why not advertise that and make it more well known as a start? Inevitably, this sort of case will attract a lot of attention to the supposed technical shortcomings of the emergency call system, and indeed, it's something that should be a target for constant improvement. But the solutions to consider shouldn't only be technical ones.

Carlo Longino is an expert at the Insight Community. To get insight and analysis from Carlo Longino and other experts on challenges your company faces, click here.

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Apparently these speakers sound "brilliant" according to the maker. I like the look of them, especially the blue foam base that the wooden spheres are resting on.

More about DIY: Salad bowl speakers [IKEA Hacker]

More:
<img src="http://blog.makezine.com/FDSDYEFF0VE1A59.LARGE.jpg" height="480" width="456" border="0" hspace="4" v
HOW TO - Make a Low-cost spherical speaker array (from IKEA salad bowls)

In the Maker Shed:


Loud Objects Noise Toy kit

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Over the past couple of years, the Make: Books team has been coming out with hands-on books covering everything from making wearable electronics to creating your own home chemistry lab. We've got all these books up for sale in Maker Shed, but we've also got a big selection of books from other publishers.

Each year at MAKE, we create some gift guides - this year we're adding a guide to the books we make ourselves as well as some of the others we think are awesome.

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Embedded above, and in glorious technicolor downloadable MP4 here: this week's Boing Boing update on Boing Boing tv.

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♦ We begin with a video chat about O'Reilly Media cofounder DALE DOUGHERTY's guestblog post on why television networks, including CNN, seem to be struggling to cover "The Economic Panic." Why is the current "this great-or-not-so great depression" such a difficult story for TV? Dale believes part of the challenge is that it's big, slow-moving, and abstract. There are no videogenic focal points, no crash scenes or hurricanes for which to don yellow jumpers, no perp mugshots (well, okay, there was this, video here.). We're also in the middle of "a peculiar period inbetween an election and an inauguration," Dale says -- more from him in today's video review, and don't miss the comment thread on the post, either.

♦ Next, we speak with JULIE AMERO, the 41-year old Connecticut schoolteacher accused of showing porn to students on a classroom computer when a computer with malware displayed popup windows with sexual content.

Last week, she accepted a misdemeanor plea deal to avoid felony charges, despite proof she was innocent, and that her case was mishandled. The deal allows her to avoid a previously-imposed jail sentence, but means she has to surrender her teaching credentials. A forensic report showed Amero was not responsible for the infection of porn pop-up windows on the PC in question. There is also ample proof that the school district's IT manager, detectives and prosecutors misled the court.

Here's last week's post by Rob at Boing Boing Gadgets about the plea bargain reached in her case, and here are earlier Boing Boing posts by Mark, starting back in 2007: one, two, three, four, five. I'll be posting the full audio and transcript of our phone interview this week on boingboing.net.

♦ Also in today's BB Update: my co-blogger Cory has been posting some HOLIDAY GIFT ROUNDUPS (so far: DVDs and CDs, kids' stuff, fiction, gadgets, comics and nonfiction.)

♦ And finally in today's episode, eyewitness snapshots from the MUMBAI TERRORIST ATTACKS, shot by 27-year-old amateur photographer Vinu Ranganathan. He lives in the Colaba distict, near the attack sites. WIRED's Threat Level blog has an interview up with him. Snip: "For hours [on the day of the attacks], his graphic photos of the destruction wrought by the terrorists in the Colaba district on the photo-sharing site Flickr seemed to be the only relevant ones available online." Related Boing Boing posts: Mumbai Attacks: Day 1, Mumbai Attacks: Day 2.

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Previous Boing Boing updates on BBtv:

* Boing Boing tv Update: Virgin WiFi, Obfuscated Code, Comment Poetry, Downfall Housing Remix
* Boing Boing tv Update: OFFWORLD, YES MEN, and THIS IS THE FIRST.

An anonymous reader writes "Now that Intel has unleashed its next-generation Core i7 processors, all eyes are turned to AMD and its incoming wave of 45nm CPUs. To get a feel for AMD's future competitiveness, The Tech Report has taken a pair of 2.7GHz 45nm Opterons (with 75W power envelopes) and put them through the paces against Intel Xeons and older, 65nm Opterons in an extensive suite of performance and power efficiency tests — from Cinema 4D and SPECjbb to computational fluid dynamics and a custom XML handling benchmark. The verdict: AMD's new 45nm quad-core design is a notable improvement over the 65nm iteration, and it proves to be a remarkably power-efficient competitor to Intel's Xeons. However, 45nm AMD chips likely don't have what it takes to best Intel's Core i7 and future Nehalem-based Xeons."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Photograph courtesy of Liz Cohen

Five ratchet-wielding years, one East German automobile, and several coats of bikini wax -- for Liz Cohen, it's been a long, sticky trip. The performance and documentary artist has built one of the most improbable custom cars in the country, and has the pictures to prove it.

Most recently on display at Arizona's Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Cohen first threw her Bodywork project into gear by cutting a 1987 Trabant 601 Deluxe in half. Then she ditched its 26-horsepower, 2-stroke motor for a 305 small-block engine nine times more powerful and rebuilt the vehicle from the wheels up.

The result is a former-Communist lawnmower that becomes a 1973 Chevy El Camino muscle car at the flip of a few switches, "just like some kind of incredible Frankenstein," Cohen says.

Thanks to hydraulics, the Trabantamino grows 14 inches in height and 6 feet in length when it goes Camino. Coiled Teflon brake and fuel lines and dovetailing fiberglass side panels extend and contract as it changes shape. The specially built drive shaft telescopes four times, and still runs at full speed without vibrating. "It's this weird thing that doesn't fit in but figures out a way to get accepted," she says.

Which is an apt description of the artist's whole journey. When she began working at Scottsdale's Elwood Body Works, Cohen had little experience with tools and was entering the mostly male world of custom car builders and owners. But rather than try to pass as a dude, she buffed up her own body and became a bikini model.

What does the custom car scene think of Cohen and her wild ride? "Auto shop owners get so excited when I tell them about the project that they give me discounts and things for free," she says. But the real test comes this summer, when she'll pull the Trabantamino into lowrider competitions across the country, jump in front in a skimpy outfit, and see if her monster wins any prizes.

>> Liz Cohen: myspace.com/trabantamino

From the column Made on Earth - MAKE 14, page 21 - Eric Smillie.

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