Thin Lizzy vs. The Pixies

By David Pescovitz at 7:37 pm Wednesday, Jan 11

Thin Lizzy vs The Pixies, "The Boys Are Back In Heaven," courtesy Phil Retro Spector. (via Greg Dulli)

Powell's 2 store in Portland: Maker heaven

By Mark Frauenfelder at 4:30 pm Wednesday, Jan 11

Bob Knetzger, who writes the Toy Inventor's Notebook column for MAKE says:

In Portland yesterday I wandered in to Powell's Books. No, not the big, main Powell's Books, but the small satellite Powell's 2 store across the street. Ever been? It's just the technical book selection and, boy, is it Maker heaven in there!

Computer and electronic books, sure, but a fantastic offering of new and used books and technical manuals hard to find elsewhere: vacuum tube amp design schematics, pyrotechnic journals, every Chilton's ever, machinist's handbooks, scientific theory, statistics, explosives, evolution, kinematics, manufacturing, prototyping, aircraft design, plastics and material science..it goes on and on. Where else can you peruse books like "Anvils in America," " "Moving Heavy Things" or "Keep Your Lathe in Trim?" It passes the acid test by having a vintage copy of my favorite, Ingenious Mechanisms for Designers and Inventors. Oh, yeah, and a nice offering of individual back issues of MAKE!

Skip the crowds in the main store and instead go to Powell's Books 2, pull up a Eames chair and geek out in the lounge with your fave tech books!

Read the rest

Soapy: an even better anti-SOPA browser plugin

By Cory Doctorow at 4:13 pm Wednesday, Jan 11

Kate sez, "Soapy is a new web browser plug-in that allows users to visit websites blocked by SOPA by automatically redirecting them to the site's IP address. The Firefox version of the plugin is downloadable now; the Google Chrome version will be finished shortly. This free software makes the practical implementation of SOPA impossible, since anyone can download the plug-in and circumvent SOPA. So--if anybody can unblock SOPA, what is the point of SOPA?"

Soapy is written in JavaScript and XML. It automatically redirects the user to the site's IP address or an alternate site where the content is mirrored. These sites include everything from Wikileaks (frequently blocked at the DNS level) to the Computer Science Department at UC Davis (which discusses circumvention). And because only blocked sites or sites at risk are included, normal browsing isn't affected by the plugin. It is resilient because it cannot be blocked. Technically, all of the rules are contained within. It doesn't use an outside site or list or list of blocked websites, which makes it difficult or impossible to block.

The code is available on GitHub for programmers, activists, and informed consumers. Every site that Soapy unblocks has a set of XML rules that are tailored to the quirks of that specific site. Much of the code has been borrowed from HTTPS-Everywhere and NoScript. Templates are available so that unblocking future sites can be crowdsourced by hacktivists inside or outside the United States (Soapy's developer is a member of this community) as quickly as they are identified.

Soapy (Thanks, Kate!)

Open Source PID Controller

By Mark Frauenfelder at 4:13 pm Wednesday, Jan 11

I used a PID (proportional–integral–derivative) controller to regulate the temperature of my espresso maker. I wrote about it in my book, Made by Hand: My Adventures in the World of Do-It-Yourself. (You can read an except from the chapter on Gizmodo.)

PIDs are often used in Sous Vide cookers, too. (Here's how to make one). If you are looking for a reasonably priced PID controller, here's a new source: Brett Beauregard's open source PID controller, for $85.

Brett's pal, 3ric Johanson (author of Beam Weapon for Bad Bugs in Make Vol 23), says:

My friend Brett Beauregard has been working on this sweet open source PID controller.. and he’s finally published information online about it here.

A PID (proportional–integral–derivative) controller is a device which use hardware feedback with an algorithm; this allows the operator to maintain a target value (temp). Cruise control in car is the classic example: Set it at 60mph, and it will increase the accelerator until you hit 60. There are all sorts of things which can go wrong with closed-loop control systems – - overshoot, ringing, bias, etc. As this device is all open source, as it will make debugging these devices much easier.

It’s currently on “presale” for $85. I think this is a sweet deal. If you want to make your own Sous-vide cooker, this is the ticket. Go buy one, as I want to make sure this type of hardware is available to the masses. I’m excited to get mine.

Leaked DHS internet watchlist "mistakes" msthirteen.com, skeevy German site about 13yo girls for MS-13 gang news

By Xeni Jardin at 3:29 pm Wednesday, Jan 11

Um. Yeah. So I'm going to be charitable here and presume that whoever compiled that internet monitoring watchlist at the Department of Homeland Security thought that "Miss Thirteen," at www.msthirteen.com, was a site about the ultraviolent Mara Salvatrucha or MS-13 gang, which originated in El Salvador and now operates in a number of US cities.

It's not.

Quote, mangle-translated from the original German by Google: "Change in our lives, accompanying us from our childhood into adult life. The hormones go crazy and actually everything is always much too confusing."

Perhaps this was the source for the bad link. And perhaps the fact that this site was included in the watchlist tells us something about how the watchlist was compiled, or how reliable its contents are as a disclosure of what the agency's monitoring.

(thanks, Elizabeth Gettelman!)

Previously: Homeland Security Internet Watch List leaked; Boing Boing sadly omitted from list of must-read sites for domestic spying

RAW Week: a letter from Robert Anton Wilson (1991)

By Mark Frauenfelder at 3:23 pm Wednesday, Jan 11

I always liked getting letters from Robert Anton Wilson. He enjoyed playing with the fonts on his Mac. In this letter, he thanked me for sending him a copy of my self-published comic book, Toilet Devil (which was the name that Koko the Talking Ape called people she was upset with).

Fnord

Crocheted cyclops

By Cory Doctorow at 3:01 pm Wednesday, Jan 11

Crochet costumer Veronica Knight has topped herself with this crocheted cyclops outfit. This puts the Z in ZOMG.

Crocheted Cyclops Costume

Homeland Security Internet Watch List leaked; Boing Boing sadly omitted from list of must-read sites for domestic spying

By Xeni Jardin at 2:48 pm Wednesday, Jan 11

I am outraged that our blog didn't make it on to the list of websites the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's command center routinely monitors. The grandfather of all rogue leak sites, Cryptome, has published a copy of the government document (PDF link to document copy).

There's a Reuters article summarizing its significance here:

A "privacy compliance review" issued by DHS last November says that since at least June 2010, its national operations center has been operating a "Social Networking/Media Capability" which involves regular monitoring of "publicly available online forums, blogs, public websites and message boards." The purpose of the monitoring, says the government document, is to "collect information used in providing situational awareness and establishing a common operating picture."

The document adds, using more plain language, that such monitoring is designed to help DHS and its numerous agencies, which include the U.S. Secret Service and Federal Emergency Management Agency, to manage government responses to such events as the 2010 earthquake and aftermath in Haiti and security and border control related to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia.

"This is a representative list of sites that the NOC will start to monitor in order to provide situational awareness and establish a common operating picture under this Initiative," the document reads.

Oh fine, so, the imminent Yeti invasion isn't something that needs to be monitored? The anal probe menace posed by illegal Martian invaders? No concerns about the toxicity of homemade sauerkraut as a biological weapon?

I mean, fucking MySpace and Hulu are on the list! Really? I'm surprised Friendster was omitted. And they're watching Flickr and YouTube and Huffpo! But our hard-hitting coverage of steampunk watches and DIY spaceships doesn't merit a click? Whatever, DHS. We don't want those ill-gotten clicks.

But there's still hope. "Initial sites listed may link to other sites not listed. The NOC may also monitor those sites if they are within the scope of this Initiative."

UPDATE: Leaked DHS internet watchlist "mistakes" msthirteen.com, skeevy German site about 13yo girls for MS-13 gang news.

Iraqi restaurant window smashed. Veterans hold "eat-in" to show support for Iraqi refugees.

By Xeni Jardin at 2:31 pm Wednesday, Jan 11

[video link] Faith in humanity status: restored. They're from Veterans for Peace. There's an article about the incident in the local paper, here.

Babylon Restaurant, the business targeted in the possible hate crime, was featured in this Boston Globe article just one month ago. If you're in Massachusetts, maybe go have a meal there sometime soon and tell them Boing Boing sent you. Some good Yelp reviews on their falafel and grape leaves! (via @adlangx)

RAW Week: Mindfucking Since 1976, by Gareth Branwyn

By Gareth Branwyn at 1:23 pm Wednesday, Jan 11

Above: Gareth's original copies of The Illuminatus Trilogy.

“It's not true unless it makes you laugh, but you don't understand it until it makes you weep.” -- Illuminatus!

I first discovered Robert Anton Wilson when I was 18 years old. I'd just moved to a commune in the tobacco fields of central Virginia and was working for the magazine that the community published. Wilson and Bob Shea's Illuminatus! trilogy had just been published and I sent off for a review copy on the magazine's letterhead. I was shocked when Dell actually sent me the books. I had no idea what Illuminatus! was; I thought I was getting some free trash sci-fi to kill time down on the farm.

The first few chapters in and I knew I wasn't reading sci-fi, not any kind I recognized, anyway. Reading the first book, The Eye in the Pyramid, then the second, The Golden Apple, and then the third, Leviathan, was like going on an extended acid trip, complete with that phasing delirium of humor and the absurd, flashes of diamond clarity and numerous a-ha moments, awkward sexual arousal, plenty of cartoonery, fear, paranoia, and maybe a little out-and-out terror. (It's no coincidence these books are divided up into ten “Trips.”) There is so much to Illuminatus!, an almost fractal density, that you have to unhinge your mind (like a serpent would its jaw) to fit it all in. I read the trilogy, and then read it again. (When my late-wife and I hooked up, we read them out loud to each other, and after Bob died, I read them for a fourth time.)

There are few works of art or pieces of media that have altered my nervous system to the extent that Illuminatus! has. In 1976, I was this awkward, alienated Wiccan teen, a restless seeker. But I was also a science and space nerd. I could never reconcile these two and constantly switched between them, rejecting one for the other, at least for a time. But here was a world where these points of view were not mutually exclusive, a playfully plastic world where open curiosity, creativity, absurdity, and skepticism leavened all explorations, whether religious/mystical/artistic or scientific. It was Robert Anton Wilson who turned me onto the concept of “hilaritas” (what he described as being “profoundly good natured”). These books (and all of RAW's oeuvre) are steeped in that spirit.

Illuminatus!, and all of the Robert Anton Wilson books that I read after that (which is all of them), have formed an amazingly steady through-line in my life. I've gone through many intense changes since that 18 year old kid scammed free reading material, and my belief systems (or “BS” as RAW called them) have oscillated wildly, but most of my takeaways from Wilson have remained. His basic approach of being “open to anything, skeptical of everything” is how I've tried to live my life. This allowed me to finally embrace both parts of myself, the part that wanted to be open to magick and spirit and the part of me that needs extraordinary evidence for extraordinary claims.

In recent past, I'd somewhat fallen out of touch with RAW's unique brand of “guerrilla ontology” until a few years before he died. Some friends were on their honeymoon, traveling through the deserts of Utah. They found the 5-volume set of audio interviews that Bob had done called Robert Anton Wilson Explains Everything: Or Old Bob Exposes His Ignorance, in the bargain bin of a truck stop. They aren't particularly into this sort of thing, but more based on my interest, they bought the set. They listened to it on their honeymoon and enjoyed it so much, they bought me a copy. I now listen to it regularly and can't recommend it highly enough.

Read the rest

Muslim student claims sexual harrassment, school ignores, she's falsely reported as a terrorist, FBI shows up at her door

By Xeni Jardin at 1:19 pm Wednesday, Jan 11

Balayla Ahmad, an observant African-American Muslim student at the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut, has filed a federal lawsuit claiming she was sexually harassed by a male student in 2009 for months on end, but that university officials showed "deliberate indifference" to her repeated complaints—and that she was then reported to the FBI in revenge for having complained. From the Associated Press:

When she complained to a teacher, she was told that the university generally doesn't get rid of students right away over such incidents, the lawsuit said. Another teacher asked her if she were married and asked her not to report it to the dean because he would speak with the harasser, the suit said.

Ahmad then reported the harassment and fears for her safety to the university's president and dean, who promised to meet with her. But she said when she met with the dean, he said, "My hands are tied. What do you suggest I do?"

After reporting the sexual harassment in April 2009, Ahmad said she was approached by two university security directors who told her someone had made allegations against her and they threatened to call the FBI and have her arrested.

Later, two FBI agents knocked on Ahmad's apartment door, questioned her and left a business card, according to the lawsuit. She said she learned that her harasser or his associates had fabricated a story falsely accusing her of being a terrorist in apparent retaliation for having made a sexual harassment complaint against him.

Muslim who claims harassment sues Conn. university (AP)

Update: A Boing Boing reader who once attended and lived near the University of Bridgeport points out that the school went bankrupt some decades ago, and was effectively bought out by an affiliate arm of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church. The history's a little complicated; here's what looks to be a reasonably neutral Wikipedia article about that.

Study raises new concerns about safety of genetically modified food

By Xeni Jardin at 12:56 pm Wednesday, Jan 11

A study at Nanjing University in China found that ingested "microRNA" (very small pieces of ribonucleic acid, or RNA) from plants were able to survive digestion and influence the function of human cells.

Food columnist Ari Levaux has a piece digging into the implications, in The Atlantic. The basic idea: if this research stands up to the rigors of scientific scrutiny, it could prove that when we eat food, we consume not just fuel and nutrients, but information that changes us on a cellular level, and influences health.

Snip:

Monsanto's website states, "There is no need for, or value in testing the safety of GM foods in humans." This viewpoint, while good for business, is built on an understanding of genetics circa 1950. It follows what's called the "Central Dogma" (PDF) of genetics, which postulates a one-way chain of command between DNA and the cells DNA governs.

The Central Dogma resembles the process of ordering a pizza. The DNA knows what kind of pizza it wants, and orders it. The RNA is the order slip, which communicates the specifics of the pizza to the cook. The finished and delivered pizza is analogous to the protein that DNA codes for.

We've known for years that the Central Dogma, though basically correct, is overly simplistic. For example: Pieces of microRNA that don't code for anything, pizza or otherwise, can travel among cells and influence their activities in many other ways. So while the DNA is ordering pizza, it's also bombarding the pizzeria with unrelated RNA messages that can cancel a cheese delivery, pay the dishwasher nine million dollars, or email the secret sauce recipe to WikiLeaks.

Monsanto's claim that human toxicology tests are unwarranted is based on the doctrine of "substantial equivalence." This term is used around the world as the basis of regulations designed to facilitate the rapid commercialization of genetically engineered foods, by sparing them from extensive safety testing.

via The Very Real Danger of Genetically Modified Foods - The Atlantic. You'll also want to read the actual study, and make up your own mind.

Update: Here's a critical take on the linked-to Atlantic piece. Ari responds here.

(via @coopportunity)

Utah AG publishes pro-SOPA op-ed with uncited quotations from MPAA promotional materials

By Cory Doctorow at 12:00 pm Wednesday, Jan 11

Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff's recent op-ed in the Salt Lake City Tribune is full of quotes and paraphrases from promotional materials produced by the MPAA and execs from its member-companies in support of SOPA. This uncited quotation is the kind of thing that academics call cheating, and that the MPAA (incorrectly) calls "copyright theft."

“Congress can make a significant contribution to that effort with legislation to strengthen law enforcement tools. In the interests of American citizens and businesses, it is time for Congress to enact rogue sites legislation.”

The sentence above is copied from a pro-COICA column (bottom paragraph) written by Mike McCurry, co-chairman of the pro-copyright outfit Arts+Labs. At the time, McCurry’s piece was praised by pro-copyright lobby groups and in his writing McCurry also uses the previously mentioned sentence from the MPAA’s former president.

But there’s more. The column from McCurry, which is often quoted by the MPAA and affiliated groups such as FightOnlineTheft, displays more similarities with the article published by Attorney General Mark Shurtleff.

Perhaps he's just experiencing the ecstasy of influence.

‘Rogue’ Attorney General Spreads MPAA-Fed SOPA Propaganda

Videogame for pigs and people

By David Pescovitz at 11:58 am Wednesday, Jan 11

This is Pig Chase, a concept for an interspecies video game for pigs to play with humans. Researchers at Wageningen University and the Utrecht School of the Arts designed the game to make farm life more stimulating for swine. "Playing With Pigs project page"

"Pigs Playing Video Games = Ethical Farming?" (Mother Jones)

Last year's list of evil clowns

By David Pescovitz at 11:48 am Wednesday, Jan 11

Over at Copycat Effect, Loren Coleman shares his list of "Top Ten Evil Clowns of 2011." Seen here is Andrew Joseph Davis, 20, who was arrested in May for running down a person with his car.

Police were called after eyewitnesses saw a driver wearing the distinctive face paint swerve across the road near Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and hit a pedestrian before accelerating. Nearby residents reported that the two men in the black-colored sedan shouted "Woop! Woop!" as they zoomed away from the scene.

"Top Ten Evil Clowns of 2011"

Liquid-piston-driven concept watch

By Cory Doctorow at 11:24 am Wednesday, Jan 11

Watchismo gives us an early look at Vincent Perriard & Co's HYT H1, a concept watch starting at $45,000 that will debut at the Baselworld 2012 show. It uses liquid-driven pistons as well as gears to tell the time. I am agog.

Pistons in the movement move the bellows. As one expands the other one compresses which moves the green Fluorescein liquid. Fluorescein even has applications in forensics to detect latent blood stains but this is likely a first and only use in horology!

Sneak Peek to Baselworld 2012 - HYT H1 - the first timepiece ever to combine mechanical and liquid engineering.

Handmade TARDIS purse

By Cory Doctorow at 10:18 am Wednesday, Jan 11

Etsy seller LIMOchi makes these killer "poly leather" TARDIS purses to order for all your time-travelling bits and bobs. The seller claims that they are, indeed, bigger on the inside than they are on the outside.

( Not an official Doctor Who product , made by fan, to fan )... Measures: 28 x 16 x16 cm In blue poly leather and rigid cardboard. Also some details can be custom made. Sent in a beautiful box DW themed.

TARDIS purse in poly leather (via Neatorama)

Vintage aluminum label-embosser kicks your labelwriter's ass

By Cory Doctorow at 9:14 am Wednesday, Jan 11

Make's Sean Michael Ragan reviews an old-school Dymo Metal Embossing Tapewriter he found cheap on eBay and finds it to be an eminently satisfying piece of kit. There are modern versions but they'll cost you lots more, and this thing is pretty much indestructible so there's no reason not to buy a cheapo one on eBay.

But in terms of construction quality and durability, the Tapewriter is as far removed from those cheap plastic embossers as a Mercedes is from a Kia. It’s 10″ long, weighs almost two pounds, and is made almost entirely from cast aluminum, with steel fittings here and there, and all held together with machine screws. The only polymer in the thing, as far as I can tell, is a rubber friction coating on the internal tape drive wheels...

Embossed aluminum is pretty much the ultimate labeling material. Without wanting to be morbid, there is a reason why military services around the world choose it for personnel identification tags. Secured with mechanical fasteners, instead of adhesives, an embossed aluminum label will stand up for years against water, extremes of heat and cold, prolonged direct sunlight, and any organic solvent you care to throw at it. This is a true “industrial-grade” labeling tool, and if you can snag a used one for a reasonable price, you can expect a lifetime of use from it.

Tool Review: Dymo Metal Embossing Tapewriter

The Midnight Archive: Occult NYC, part 2

By David Pescovitz at 9:12 am Wednesday, Jan 11

Part two of the mini-documentary on the historical occult underbelly of NYC is now online at The Midnight Archive. In this episode, former BB guestblogger Mitch Horowitz, author of the terrific Occult America: The Secret History of How Mysticism Shaped Our Nation, hips us to Theosophical Society founder Madame Blavatsky's midtown Salon and the mystic side of Gran Central Station.

TOM THE DANCING BUG: Use Your Republican Decoder Badge To Find Out Their SECRET MESSAGES!

By Ruben Bolling at 8:50 am Wednesday, Jan 11

View the comic

HOWTO move a makerspace

By Cory Doctorow at 8:04 am Wednesday, Jan 11

Makerspaces are pretty gnarly, filled with unwieldy equipment, fragile projects-in-progress, glorious fire hazards, and delicate instruments. Moving a makerspace sounds like a nightmare. MAKE's guide to moving a makerspace, penned by the Jigsaw Renaissance members after their last move, is a great place to start when your hackspace loses its lease or outgrows its boundaries.

Purge. No really. This is the best time to throw everything out. Yes, we know it might be useful at some point. Some tips: if it’s not slated for a specific project, toss it. Is the object of high value? Calculate your cost/sqft of space, including utilities. Is it worth the space it takes up?

Layout. Have an idea of where things go – this will help you with your purging process.

Insurance. Just like your landlord, find an insurance agent who “gets it” or at least gives you a confused smile. Talk to them about why you do what you do. Use terms like “community workshop” and “clubhouse for geeks.” Words like “hacker,” “fire,” “high voltage” might set them running. And yes, you do need insurance.

Moving Your Makerspace

RAW Week: Keep the Lasagna Flying, by Paul Krassner

By Paul Krassner at 7:23 am Wednesday, Jan 11

Wilson and Krassner Display Maturity . . . Maybe

Most likely your daily newspaper didn't acknowledge the death of Robert Anton Wilson on January 11, 2007. He was 74. The prolific author and countercultural icon had been suffering from post-polio syndrome. Caregivers read all of his late wife Arlen's poetry to him at his bedside and e-mailed me that "He was quite cheered up by the time we left. He definitely needed to die. His body was turning on him in ways that would not allow him to rest."

In his final blog entry on January 6, Wilson wrote: "I don't see how to take death seriously. I look forward without dogmatic optimism, but without dread. I love you all and I deeply implore you to keep the lasagna flying." Actually, it was expected that he would die seven months earlier. On June 19, 2006, he sent this haiku (with one syllable missing) to his electronic cabal:

Well what do you know?
Another day has passed
and I'm still not not.

We originally became friends in 1959, when his first published article graced the cover of The Realist. It was titled "The Semantics of God," and he suggested that "The Believer had better face himself and ask squarely: Do I literally believe that 'God' has a penis? If the answer is no, then it seems only logical to drop the ridiculous practice of referring to 'God' as 'he.'" Wilson then began writing a regular column, "Negative Thinking."

In 1964, I ran another front-cover story by him, "Timothy Leary and His Psychological H-Bomb," which began: "The future may decide that the two greatest thinkers of the 20th Century were Albert Einstein, who showed how to create atomic fission in the physical world, and Timothy Leary, who showed how to create atomic fission in the psychological world. The latter discovery may be more important than the former; there are some reasons for thinking that it was made necessary by the former. Leary may have shown how our habits of thought can be changed."

Read the rest of "Keep the Lasagna Flying"

MPAA lobby group plagiarizes anti-PIPA group's email

By Cory Doctorow at 6:56 am Wednesday, Jan 11

Public Knowledge, a public interest group fighting SOPA and PIPA, believes that its email to supporters has been plagiarized by its rivals, Creative America, an MPAA-funded astroturf group that lobbies in favor of PIPA. The copyright lobby sent a note to supporters that had a number of similarities (including word-for-word lifts) to a Public Knowledge email sent four days earlier. It's all fair use, of course, but then again, the MPAA claims that fair use isn't a right, and that no one should rely on it, and that anyone who wants to quote someone else should always get permission.

Android dock charges, plays music, controls all music apps for many phones and connectors, without an app

By Cory Doctorow at 5:50 am Wednesday, Jan 11  

This "first ever" Android speaker dock does some pretty clever mojo to get compatibility with a wide variety of Android shapes, connectors, and OSes without sacrificing useful functions.

JoeBorn from Neuros sez, "The dock charges via USB and gets sound from the headphone jack. Licensing beta technology from Sonr it also uses the headphone jack for data, allowing the remote control (and dock buttons) to control all your music apps (Pandora, Google Music, Amazon Cloud, etc). No app necessary if you’re content charging and controlling the device from the touch screen. Compatible with virtually all recent Android phones, the dock is shipping on Thursday the 12th. Thinkgeek is accepting pre-orders on a first-come, first-served basis until then."

This is pretty much my bedside holy grail. I'm going to try to get hold of one and review it.

Android Speaker Dock with Remote

Dragon made from disposable dollar-store cutlery

By Cory Doctorow at 1:59 am Wednesday, Jan 11

DeviantArt's ~toge-NYC hot-glued this awesome dragon out of plastic disposable cutlery and cups, slaving over it for 80 hours, "completely freestyle - no plans/blueprints/drafts."

Plasticdragon (via Craft)

Robert Anton Wilson Week on Boing Boing

By Mark Frauenfelder at 11:23 pm Tuesday, Jan 10

“I regard belief as a form of brain damage.”
― Robert Anton Wilson

Tomorrow marks the fifth anniversary of Robert Anton Wilson's death. Bob was a writer of fiction and non-fiction, most notably the Illuminatus! trilogy (co-written with Robert Shea) and the non-fiction memoir Cosmic Trigger: The Final Secret of the Illuminati. In all, he wrote 35 books, countless articles and essays, and a couple of plays and screenplays.

Bob was an intensely curious, intellectually playful, and profoundly insightful person and his writing and talks influenced my world view more than any other writer. He wrote about conspiracy theories, government nuttiness, the future, Freemasonry, quantum physics, magick, occult and paranormal phenomena, human behavior, mental models, psychedelic drugs, cult psychology, and the nature of reality. He had a knack for giving straightforward explanations of hard-to-grok concepts without stripping them of their power or complexity. Before I read RAW's books, the world was confusing and mysterious. After I read his books, the world became much more confusing and mysterious -- but in a good way! Bob converted me from atheism to agnosticism (which, in his words, means "never regarding any model or map of the universe with total 100% belief or total 100% denial").

One of my favorite things about Wilson was his skepticism towards skeptics. From Wikipedia:

Wilson also criticized scientific types with overly rigid belief systems, equating them with religious fundamentalists in their fanaticism. In a 1988 interview, when asked about his newly-published book The New Inquisition: Irrational Rationalism and the Citadel of Science, Wilson commented: "I coined the term irrational rationalism because those people claim to be rationalists, but they're governed by such a heavy body of taboos. They're so fearful, and so hostile, and so narrow, and frightened, and uptight and dogmatic... I wrote this book because I got tired satirizing fundamentalist Christianity... I decided to satirize fundamentalist materialism for a change, because the two are equally comical... The materialist fundamentalists are funnier than the Christian fundamentalists, because they think they're rational! ...They're never skeptical about anything except the things they have a prejudice against. None of them ever says anything skeptical about the AMA, or about anything in establishment science or any entrenched dogma. They're only skeptical about new ideas that frighten them. They're actually dogmatically committed to what they were taught when they were in college..."

Philip K. Dick spoke for many RAW readers when he said, "Wilson managed to reverse every mental polarity in me, as if I had been pulled through infinity. I was astonished and delighted." Over the next week, Boing Boing will be posting a series of remembrances, interviews, videos, and other material about Robert Anton Wilson that we hope will astonish and delight you, too.

Here's the link to the page that will have all of our RAW Week posts.

Ron Paul Newsletters, 140 characters at a time

By Xeni Jardin at 6:55 pm Tuesday, Jan 10

Following the RP_Newsletter account is great, because 140 characters of the Ron Paul Newsletters is about as much as I can stand in one gulp. The Twitter account publishes actual quotes from the presidential candidate's publications.

Here's one: "I've urged everyone in my family to know how to use a gun in self defense. For the animals are coming." And another: "If you have ever been robbed by a black teenaged male, you know how unbelievably fleet of foot they can be." Wait, one more: "The criminals who terrorize our cities -in riots & on every non-riot day- are not exclusively young black males, but they largely are." Okay okay wait, just one more! "At least 39 white women have been stuck with used hypodermic needles -perhaps infected with AIDS- by gangs of black girls."

There's a blog with scans, if you can handle it. He finished second in the New Hampshire primary tonight.

(via @lizardoid)

Crocheted Vulcan ears

By Cory Doctorow at 6:48 pm Tuesday, Jan 10

Croshame's just posted a pattern for making your own crocheted Spock ears, which are both logical and very toasty-warm.

Well, Christmas has come and gone and you’ve already gotten all the fancy stun guns and tricorders and communicators your heart could desire, so why not try out some of that fabulous Star Trek fashion sense with my pattern for crocheted Spock Ears?

Wishing you a Very Logical New Year (via Craft)

TSA's brags about not catching any terrorists, proves its own irrelevance

By Cory Doctorow at 6:07 pm Tuesday, Jan 10

Bruce Schneier looks at the TSA's brag sheet, documenting the "Top 10 Good Catches of 2011" and finds "mostly forgetful, and entirely innocent, people. Note that they fail to point out that the firearms and knives would have been just as easily caught by pre-9/11 screening procedures."

That's right; not a single terrorist on the list. Mostly forgetful, and entirely innocent, people. Note that they fail to point out that the firearms and knives would have been just as easily caught by pre-9/11 screening procedures. And that the C4 -- their #1 "good catch" -- was on the return flight; they missed it the first time. So only 1 for 2 on that one.

And the TSA decided not to mention its stupidest confiscations:

TSA confiscates a butter knife from an airline pilot. TSA confiscates a teenage girl's purse with an embroidered handgun design. TSA confiscates a 4-inch plastic rifle from a GI Joe action doll on the grounds that it’s a "replica weapon." TSA confiscates a liquid-filled baby rattle from airline pilot’s infant daughter. TSA confiscates a plastic "Star Wars" lightsaber from a toddler.

Meanwhile, the TSA literally cites preventing snakes on a plane is one of its top-ten catches.

The TSA Proves its Own Irrelevance (via Beth Pratt)

(Image: Knilly and his Snakes on a Plane T-Shirt - Good Friday - The Angel on St. Giles High Street, a Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike (2.0) image from charliebrewer's photostream)

Why the raw cannabis juicing trend may not be all it's juiced up to be

By Xeni Jardin at 6:03 pm Tuesday, Jan 10

Earlier today, I posted a quick link to an LA Weekly item about a new round of media attention devoted to Dr. William Courtney, and his research on juicing cannabis for health benefits.

The tl;dr of his idea: with raw cannabis juice, you don't get high, but you do get various health benefits.

Hmmm. I was curious about the largely uncritical internet coverage I was seeing, and wondered about the science—so I asked Michael Backes and Amy Robertson of Abatin Wellness Center of Sacramento what they thought. Abatin is a medical marijuana collective you may have heard of because of its link to MS sufferer and med-can advocate Montel Williams; they're also very legit and science-oriented, and Backes has a long history in technology and the sciences. The tl;dr of their response is: it's not quite that simple, and cannabis juicing could even pose some risks for certain patients. "The raw plants have substances to discourage critters from eating them that can cause allergic reactions in some," explains Robertson, "And can you imagine how unpleasant this would taste?"

"The throat irritation is based on the fact that the stems of cannabis have sharp little hairs," explains Backes. "Typically, this wouldn't be a problem for those juicing the plant, but make chewing on a cannabis stems a no-no."

More below.

And, a disclosure: the topic is of personal interest to me because I was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and I'm undergoing chemotherapy. Chemo sucks, and I have learned that medical cannabis is a very effective aid for related side effects—but not all delivery methods are equally helpful.

Read the rest

Lego Heroica: fun adventure gaming for kids

By Mark Frauenfelder at 5:13 pm Tuesday, Jan 10

In episode 34 of the Gweek podcast, I mentioned Lego Heroica and how much my 8-year-old daughter enjoys it. It's a simple-rule-set role playing game that uses Lego pieces for the characters, board, and even the six-sided die. We have the 101-piece Draida Bay ($14.99 on Amazon).

It took Jane about 15 minutes to put the board together and we were off and running. Jane played the barbarian (special skill: kill all adjacent monsters) and I played the wizard (can kill a monster up to four squares away, including around corners). Our quest was to defeat the Goblin General and make off with his beloved Golden Crystal of Reflection. Game play was about 10 minutes.

The Heroica line consists of four different games, which connect together to form a super Heroica game. Draida Bay is the smallest of the four games. There's also Waldurk Forest, Caverns of Nathuz, and Castle Fortaan. The complete series connected together looks like a lot of fun. I know what I'm getting Jane for her birthday in a few months!

Monster-movie drive-in poster

By Cory Doctorow at 4:58 pm Tuesday, Jan 10

A near-perfect example of the monster-movie drive-in poster-maker's art.

"The Biggest THING in Town!"

Run your business like a crime-boss

By Cory Doctorow at 3:55 pm Tuesday, Jan 10

Donald DeSantis explains how an unnamed "crime boss" mentored him through his first high-tech startup. The piece is a little oblique, thanks to a lack of specifics ("The other business was transactional and lacked any customer loyalty or love." -- OK, what was it?), but it's still an entertaining read:

Cut out the middleman
As Kobayashi’s businesses grew, he was in a position to start bypassing middlemen. Instead of dealing with distributors, he went straight to producers. Instead of hiring contractors, he purchased required equipment and moved people onto payroll. Everywhere he saw a third party making money, he figured out a way to replace that person or bring them in-house. He reduced costs at every step. He constantly encouraged me to do the same.

Interesting things happen when we cut out the middleman. In addition to reducing cost, we often end up creating an internal byproduct that can be productized and sold to a completely new customer. (Amazon Web Services is an example of this.) Sometimes the middleman’s market is so huge, that a freaking enormous business can be built simply by providing their customers a lower cost and more efficient option. Two-sided marketplace businesses are a textbook example of this type of disruption.

Everything I need to know about startups, I learned from a crime boss (via Kottke)

(Image: Chopping off my little finger, a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from nihonbunka's photostream)

Testament of humanitarian aid worker who spent seven years being held and tortured in Gitmo

By Cory Doctorow at 2:00 pm Tuesday, Jan 10

The NYT gives space to Lakhdar Boumediene, a humanitarian aid worker who was arrested on secret evidence that he was planning to blow up the US embassy in Sarajevo. Despite the fact that the case was found without merit by Bosnia's highest court, he was kidnapped to Guantanamo Bay by US forces and held for seven years, subjected to torture and isolation from his family. A US court finally freed him. You remember when they started releasing Gitmo prisoners and there was all that hand-wringing on how these dangerous,dangerous people couldn't possibly be released because they were all jihadis? Yeah, that.

I left Algeria in 1990 to work abroad. In 1997 my family and I moved to Bosnia and Herzegovina at the request of my employer, the Red Crescent Society of the United Arab Emirates. I served in the Sarajevo office as director of humanitarian aid for children who had lost relatives to violence during the Balkan conflicts. In 1998, I became a Bosnian citizen. We had a good life, but all of that changed after 9/11.

When I arrived at work on the morning of Oct. 19, 2001, an intelligence officer was waiting for me. He asked me to accompany him to answer questions. I did so, voluntarily — but afterward I was told that I could not go home. The United States had demanded that local authorities arrest me and five other men. News reports at the time said the United States believed that I was plotting to blow up its embassy in Sarajevo. I had never — for a second — considered this.

My Guantánamo Nightmare (via Beth Pratt)

(Image: Capitol Rotunda & Statue Of Freedom, Orange Jumpsuit & Black Hood (Washington, DC), a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from takomabibelot's photostream)

Inside NASA's Venus machine

By Maggie Koerth-Baker at 1:38 pm Tuesday, Jan 10

This chamber, currently under construction at NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, will be able to reproduce the temperature, pressure, and chemical conditions on the surface of Venus. Scientists will use it to find materials and lander designs that can withstand the 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit temperatures on that planet.

In a story on the chamber for WIRED, Dave Mosher points out that a similar chamber already exists. The trouble is, it's too small to fit a life-size model of a Venusian lander. The new chamber will be big enough to test out equipment at the size it will be used. Better yet, the new chamber could also be used to replicate conditions on other moons and planets, as well.

Thanks to its thick walls, it can simulate all conditions experienced during a trip to Venus: launch, the cold vacuum of space and even atmospheric entry.

In the future, operators could simulate conditions found in Jupiter’s outer atmosphere, the Martian equator and even vents near volcanoes on Jupiter’s moon Io. Seven- and 10-foot-wide additions to the first chamber (below) could also make room for prototypes designed for ultra-cold conditions on the moons Europa, Ganymede and Titan.