Month: April 2008

Aliens: Scientists Propose Flashing Mirrors on Moon to Catch ET’s Eye: “Scientists Propose Flashing Mirrors on Moon to Catch ET’s Eye”

Currently playing in iTunes: Mohnomishe 6 by Zoviet France

Ten Foods You’ll Find, Eat, and Regret at the State Fair : DivineCaroline: “Ten Foods You’ll Find, Eat, and Regret at the State Fair”

(Via .)

Currently playing in iTunes: Mohnomishe 5 by Zoviet France

Obituary: Albert Hofmann, LSD inventor – Telegraph

Currently playing in iTunes: Mother Whale Eyeless by Eno

Flickr: mmk_kobayashi’s Photostream: “mmk_kobayashi’s photostream”

(Via .)

Currently playing in iTunes: Beyrouth 66 by Pascal Comelade

Ron English billboard mods in L.A.: “Famed NYC-based prankster/billboard artist Ron English recently took his brilliant brand of witty culture jamming to the Los Angeles area. Our pals at Hi-Fructose have the photographic evidence of the shenanigans. Link
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(Via Boing Boing.)

Currently playing in iTunes: Love Tickles Like Magic by Junior Delgado

‘House of Horror’ children never saw daylight – CNN.com

Currently playing in iTunes: Not Waving by This Heat

Currently playing in iTunes: The Headmaster Ritual by Smiths

The 10th Anniversary Final SubGenius Devival: “The 10th Anniversary Final SubGenius Devival, featuring Dr. Hal Robins, takes place this Saturday, April 19th at in Transcendent Church of Bass in Seattle.

Seattle SubGenius Union of Clenches & Crackpots
In Conjunction With Clench ChickenHed
Presents

The 10th Anniversary Final SubGenius Devival

Featuring
Dr. Hal Robins
Popess Lilith von Fraumench
Assassinated Nensmaster NENSLO, King Of All Anarchists
Priestess Pisces
St. Kali De Rouge
Rev. Andre Brothel
AND MORE

With Musical Guests
Hemorrhoy Rogers and the Ping Pong Ding Dong Gang
And Rev. Scalpod

Live Mixes By DJ Sloth and DJ JessBone

Post-Devival Party Hosted by ChickenHed

Saturday, April 19
Transcendent Church of Bass

Devival Starts At 8 PM – 21 And Over – Bar proceeds benefit SOAP

For more details, please visit http://FinalDevival.com
or call the Final Devival Hotline at (206) 339-7625”

(Via Laughing Squid.)

Currently playing in iTunes: Tell Me When by Human League

The Best Way To Break RFIDs: Smash ‘Em: “Over the next decade, we’re bound to see RFID chips in more and more involuntary applications…which is a scary proposition for a technology that has been successfully read from 69 feet away. But just because, say, your credit card company wants you to use RFID, it doesn’t mean you have to comply. Instructables ran through the best ways to deactivate RFIDs in passports and credit cards without the appearance of tampering. Their verdict? A hammer.

Smashing an RFID chip with a hammer surprisingly hides tampering pretty well when we’re talking about flat applications like paper. While it certainly sounds destructive, on a object that’s already been pummeled to a pulp (literally), a hammer can’t do much damage. Other solutions that work (but aren’t so pretty) include five seconds in the microwave, piercing the chip with a knife or cutting the line to its power supply. Now go hide. Because the boogie man is coming, but this time he wants a new pair of shoes. [instructables via boingboing] [image]

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(Via .)

Currently playing in iTunes: If There’s a Heaven Above by Love and Rockets

The film Yoko Ono doesn’t want you to see: “In a turn of events that is thoroughly timely and incredibly relevant to the struggles of today, Yoko Ono is apparently suing someone for control of documentary footage of John Lennon being, uh, John Lennon:
FOOTAGE of John Lennon smoking marijuana, writing songs and discussing putting the drug LSD in then US president Richard Nixon’s tea is the focus of a court case starting in Boston next week.
The case pits Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono, against Massachusetts-based World Wide Video, which claims ownership of nine hours of raw footage of the former Beatle and Ono, which was filmed just weeks before the band broke up in 1970.

Naturally this footage is going to SHOCK THE ENTIRE WORLD if it gets out, so of course Ono is on a rampage to prevent screening it. After all, no one EVER suspected Lennon of smoking marijuana, for heaven’s sake. And slipping LSD into Nixon’s tea? WHAT WOULD THE CHILDREN THINK? We all know that would be a waste of good LSD, which clearly means Lennon was out of his mind. (He was probably saving the acid to spike McCartney’s tea.)”

(Via DoseNation.)

Currently playing in iTunes: Only Thing That Shines by Shriekback

Video: Japan’s oldest robot reanimated — writes poetry, hits on your girlfriend: “apan’s oldest ‘modern’ robot — the 10-foot, 6-inch GakuTenSoku — has been awakened in Japan. Gone are the inflatable rubber tubes of the original 1928 android build by biologist Makoto Nishimura. The bot now tilts its head, moves his eyes, smiles, and puffs out his cheeks thanks to a $200,000, computer-controlled, pneumatic-servo makeover. While nothing compared to his modern offspring, GakuTenSoku still manages to creep us the hell out. On display at the renovated Osaka Science Museum starting July 18th. Video after the break.”

(Via Engadget.)

Wheels for paralyzed turtle: “Jim Lee is a contributor to MAKE magazine, and is interested in turtles and bamboo. He be a set of wheels for an injured box turtle, shown here.
Little Bit, a young Eastern Box Turtle was hit by a car in September of 2000. Her shell was crushed and she was left partially paralyzed. There was no way she would ever be released to the wild as happens with most successful rehabs. I repaired her shell using velcro strips epoxied to anchor points on her carapace. After some weeks Little Bit seemed to have made a full recovery except for the use of her hind legs. So some wheels seemed to be the way to go. Some lightweight model airplane wheels on a wire frame did the trick. The removable wheels were secured by a velcro strip epoxied to her plastron. The velcro strips on the carapace were removed after four months. She was eating, drinking, and exploring all the rooms of my house. Eventually she was able to move around outside as well. She lived until early in 2002 when she died unexpectedly (and suddenly). After all she had been through I did not have the heart to order any kind of post mortem from the local vet school. I simply said goodbye and thanked her for what she had shared with me and others who met her.”

(Via Boing Boing.)

Currently playing in iTunes: The Wig Screamed Murder by Bob Drake

WWW domain country codes of the world: “Here’s a neat poster to help you visualize all of the top-level domains in the world…

At the end of every URL and email address is a top-level domain (TLD). Although .com is the world’s most popular TLD, it is far from alone. There are more than 260 TLDs in use around the world, most of which are country code top-level domains (ccTLDs).
The Country Codes of the World map includes 245 country codes, which encompasses all United Nations countries as well as numerous islands and territories. Each two-digit code is aligned over the country it represents and is color coded with the legend below for quick and easy reference.”

(Via Boing Boing.)

Currently playing in iTunes: Prayer For Peace by Eight Lamas from Drepung

YouTube – Stanley Kubrick Interview part 1: ““

(Via .)

Currently playing in iTunes: 15-Psychlotron II by Bomis Prendin

Do We Have the ‘Right Stuff’ to Put an Astronaut on Mars? | The Daily Galaxy: News from Planet Earth & Beyond: “Do We Have the ‘Right Stuff’ to Put an Astronaut on Mars?”

(Via .)

Currently playing in iTunes: Me About You by Gandalf

CNN Political Ticker: All politics, all the time – Blogs from CNN.com: “Bush may skip opening ceremonies of Olympics”

Currently playing in iTunes: 2-2 by Supersilent

David Alison’s Blog: Mac: After two months of Mac, here’s why I switched

Currently playing in iTunes: Sivad by Miles Davis

Loading “Tibet protesters scale Golden Gate bridge – CNN.com”

Currently playing in iTunes: 01- ACERO 6 by ADIOSMUNDOCRUEL

Apple says Web designers can post “any font” for use with Safari. | Typophile: “Apple says Web designers can post ‘any font’ for use with Safari.”

(Via .)

Currently playing in iTunes: 04- PLATINO by ADIOSMUNDOCRUEL

Standing alligator walks into the hearts of aquarium visitors – Mainichi Daily News: “Standing alligator walks into the hearts of aquarium visitors”

(Via .)

Currently playing in iTunes: Le temps du passage: Le temps presse by Bernard Parmegiani

Hippie cult extravaganza this week: “Various cult energies are converging this week, mostly in New York City. I’ve flown in from Los Angeles to watch them unfold. Back in the summer, Mark Frauenfelder posted a couple of items about an early 70s spiritual commune, or, ‘polygamist hippie cult’ as they’re often described, The Source Family.
In celebration of their recently published book, The Source: The Untold Story of Father Yod, YaHoWha 13, and The Source Family, the family’s space rock band, YaHoWha 13, came back together to play their first performance in over 30 years in Los Angeles last November. Tomorrow night, Tuesday the 8th, they’ll be reuniting again at New York City’s Knitting Factory.”

(Via Boing Boing.)

Currently playing in iTunes: Uh-Oom by Volcano the Bear

KLAUS DINGER R.I.P. 1946-2008
Klaus Dinger, who played drums for Kraftwerk and went on to co-found Neu!, died March 21, although the news of his death was not made public until this week. A report from Neu! label Grönland cites the cause of death as heart failure. Dinger was 61, and would have turned 62 on March 24.
Dinger trademarked the steady, propulsive drumming style that came to define the motorik sound associated with krautrock. He drummed on Kraftwerk’s 1970 self-titled debut before leaving the band, along with guitarist Michael Rother, to start Neu! Neu! released three seminal albums during the ’70s, and had a noted influence on everyone from David Bowie to Sonic Youth to Stereolab.

Gadgets: Guy Collects 5000 Cellphones, Creates Art Show: “If you’re in Boston and really like looking at cellphones, a guy called Rob Pettit collected 5,000 of them and created an art show. Hit the link to see where and when it is, and be thankful that Rob’s collecting them instead of poisoning little kids. [Rob Pettit]”

(Via .)

Currently playing in iTunes: You And Me Both by arthur russell

Historians See Bush As Worst President Ever – Politics on The Huffington Post: “Historians See Bush As Worst President Ever”

(Via .)

Currently playing in iTunes: You And Me Both by arthur russell

BBC NEWS | UK | England | Tyne | School bans boy, 3, over haircut: “A three-year-old boy has been banned from his Tyneside nursery school class for his trendy ‘tramlines’ haircut.”

(Via .)

Currently playing in iTunes: The Deer In The Forest Part 1 by arthur russell

Bioscleave House aims to maintain equilibrium, requires waiver to enter: “We’ve seen plenty of houses of the future, but none quite like this so-called Bioscleave House by artists Madeline Gins and Arakawa, which promises to force people to ‘use their bodies in unexpected ways to maintain equilibrium.’ Those equilibrium-inducing measures include, as you can see above, a vast undulating floor (somewhat curiously made of concrete), as well as off-kilter power outlets, walls painted in about 40 different colors, and windows of varying heights, all of which is designed to keep occupants and visitors ‘on guard’ at all times. That equilibrium also comes at some risk, however, with visitors required to sign a waiver before they enter (children aren’t allowed in at all). What’s more, while they seem quite pleased with their creation, the artistic duo didn’t build the $2 million dollar house for themselves, and they’re now looking for someone else to call it home.”

(Via Engadget.)

Currently playing in iTunes: Reveille Toi-Svegliati-Get Up! by Visitors

BBC NEWS | Health | Daily caffeine ‘protects brain’: “Coffee may cut the risk of dementia by blocking the damage cholesterol can inflict on the body, research suggests.”

(Via .)

Currently playing in iTunes: Track 01 by Visitors