Archive for April, 2009
Seth Godin: Why Are So Many Things Broken?
Why are so many things broken? In this entertaining talk, Seth Godin gives a tour of things poorly designed, the reasons why they are that way, and how to fix them:
Swedish Pirate Party Doubles in Size After Pirate Bay Verdict
Kerstin Sjoden, WIRED: Membership in the Swedish Pirate Party has more than doubled in the wake of last Friday’s verdict against The Pirate Bay, dramatically increasing the copyright-reform party’s chances of winning a seat in the European Parliament.
Over 22,000 new party members have joined the Pirate Party since a panel of judges sentenced a financier and three administrators of the torrent-tracking site to a year in prison. Although the verdict is an ideological blow for the party, it’s also without a doubt the best campaign starter imaginable ahead of June’s election.
“It looks promising,” says Pirate Party vice president Christian Engström. “I think the verdict was just the final straw for a lot of people. We saw the same phenomenon after the raid against The Pirate Bay in 2006, when our member count increased from 2,000 to 6,000. And it seems like the people who have become members in the last…
Paging Dr. Frankenstein? The Human-Hybrid Debate
Daily Galaxy: Genetic Engineering Louisiana Senator Danny Martiny is filing senate bill 115 on behalf of the Louisiana Conference of Catholic Bishops — indicating that he’s fuzzier on that silly “separation of church and state” thing than a kitten in a dryer that’s been struck by lightning. The bill would forbid the use of stem cells to create human/animal hybrids, so it’s basically the usual religious “NO!” reaction to stem cells, except applied to something nobody’s even doing. It’s nice to see that they sound just as stupid when they try to think ahead.
This is the first time this issue has come up in the states. A National Conference of State Legislatures spokesperson basically said “They’re doing WHAT? Uh, no, nobody else is even thinking anything like that. Because they have to deal with a real country with genuine problems.” They didn’t add that that’s because no other state has…
U.S. Declares Public Health Emergency Over Swine Flu
NY Times: American health officials on Sunday declared a public health emergency over increasing cases of swine flu, saying that they had confirmed 20 cases of the disease in the United States and expected to see more as investigators fan out to track down the path of the outbreak.
Although officials said most of the cases have been mild and urged Americans not to panic, the emergency declaration frees government resources to be used toward diagnosing or preventing additional cases, and releases money for more antiviral drugs.
“We are seeing more cases of swine flu,” said Richard Besser, acting director of the Centers for Disease Control, in a news conference in Washington. “We expect to see more cases of swine flu. As we continue to look for cases, I expect we’re going to find them.” Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, speaking at the same news conference called the emergency declaration “standard operating…
Wyatt Cenac on the ‘Horrors’ of Socialism in Sweden
Matt Tobey, CC Insider: Last week on The Daily Show, Wyatt Cenac traveled to Sweden for a two-part segment about Socialism, which, according the the conservative pundits, will be arriving on US shores any moment to rape your pets and force you to work in a borscht factory. Considering the racial homogeneity in Sweden though, you have to think it pains the Fox News crowd to hate on them.
Germany, GM Crops, Bovine Growth Hormones, and ‘The World According to Monsanto’
Earlier this month Germany banned the cultivation of Monsanto’s GM corn, “claiming that MON 810 is dangerous for the environment. But that argument might not stand up in court and Berlin could face fines totalling millions of euros if American multinational Monsanto decides to challenge the prohibition on its seed”, which is exactly what they have decided to do.
“Monsanto has filed a lawsuit against the German government after the EU member state banned planting of its genetically modified MON810 maize last week.” A spokesperson for Monsanto has stated that the ban is ‘arbitrary’…
Monsanto has won numerous court cases in the past when local communities, individuals, and countries have tried to ban Monsanto products. One of Monsanto’s most recent victories was in the United States when a federal court in Ohio ruled that “dairies cannot legally label their milk ‘hormone free,’ ‘rBST-free’ or otherwise” — labels which would have clearly informed…
Black on Bill Moyers
The financial industry brought the economy to its knees, but how did they get away with it? With the nation wondering how to hold the bankers accountable, Bill Moyers sits down with William K. Black, the former senior regulator who cracked down on banks during the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s. Black offers his analysis of what went wrong and his critique of the bailout.
American Stonehenge: Monumental Instructions for the Post-Apocalypse
The strangest monument in America looms over a barren knoll in northeastern Georgia. Five massive slabs of polished granite rise out of the earth in a star pattern. The rocks are each 16 feet tall, with four of them weighing more than 20 tons apiece. Together they support a 25,000-pound capstone. Approaching the edifice, it’s hard not to think immediately of England’s Stonehenge or possibly the ominous monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey. Built in 1980, these pale gray rocks are quietly awaiting the end of the world as we know it.
Called the Georgia Guidestones, the monument is a mystery—nobody knows exactly who commissioned it or why. The only clues to its origin are on a nearby plaque on the ground—which gives the dimensions and explains a series of intricate notches and holes that correspond to the movements of the sun and stars—and the “guides” themselves, directives carved into the…
Sticker Nation 2: The Big Book of Subversive Stickers
Srini Kumar, the unstoppable force behind StickerNation.com and Unamerican.com, returns with a second blockbuster collection of over four hundred all-new stickers.
In 1994, while working the swing shift at the Kinko’s in Menlo Park, California, Srini Kumar made a name for himself as one of the most popular sticker artists in the world. People everywhere have cracked up hysterically at the witty wonder of his one-man rebellion.
His first “Big Book of Subversive Stickers” was an immediate hit and has sold out after a third and final printing, making it an in-demand collector’s item. This all-new second volume of stickers once again makes these cult favorite slogans available to the general public in a collectible format.
Giant Space Beam Transmits Solar Power From Outer Space!
A California power company just agreed to buy electricity generated from space-based solar panels orbiting the earth!
Giant mirror arrays will soak up solar energy 24 hours a day, and then continously transmit the power to a collection station in Central California using special radio waves.
CrunchGear Sits Down With Rob Spence a.k.a. Eyeborg At Disinfo HQ
Remember Rob Spence? You know, the Canadian filmmaker dude with a camera prosthetic eye aka Eyeborg? We just sat down with him for a few minutes and he talked to us about his Eyeborg project and what the heck he’s doing south of the border. [Disinfo editor's note: this was shot at the Disinformation offices in New York — check out our banner in the shot!
Eygptian Mythology and ‘Lost’
Hatch 23 takes a look at several Egyptian myths that may be the basis for the hit TV’s shows current plot. Be sure to read the comments on the post for more information.
Abuse As Therapy — The Billion Dollar ‘Troubled Teens’ Industry
From the ashes of the ’60s abuse-cult Synanon, the billion dollar “troubled teen” industry has risen. Charging parents as much as $400 a day, these institutes “therapy” methods include forces rape victims to smear mud on themselves and admit it was their fault they were raped.
Why Do Mummies Scream?
Why are the faces of mummies so often frozen in horrific silent screams, expressions of apparent agony or terror? This Archeaology article goes in depth regarding “mummies with their mouths agape or lips pulled back as if they are screaming or writhing in pain.”
The phenomenon is found with mummies all around the world, not just in Egypt but in Palermo, Sicily, Guanajuato, Mexico, and Peru. There are a few likely common causes: damage caused by grave-robbers, natural decay, and slippage of the the jawbone (which undertakers sew shut on modern corpses). Still, some cases are questionable. The famous Unknown Man E, found in 1881 at Deir el-Bahri in Egypt, may have been assassinated royalty who died a horrific death from poisoning; not only are his face and body contorted in agony, but his stomach and abdomen are extremely contracted. A bit of mystery remains.
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FDA-Rejected Drugs And Medical Devices From The Old Days
The National Library of Medicine (part of the National Institutes of Health) has created a new website called “FDA Notices of Judgment Collection, 1906-1963.” It’s a searchable database with documents from thousands of historical cases of mislabeled, misadvertised, or hazardous products and drugs which the FDA recalled following its creation in 1906. Examples of medical devices which were sold in stores but which the FDA found objectionable include mislabeled methamphetamine tablets, a “radium stone” to be placed in drinking water to “stimulate sex organs,” and bacteria-tainted, questionably-effective abortion pills. It sounds like people had a lot more fun back then.
The Armenian Genocide: Remembering the Victims of the First Genocide of the 20th Century on April 24
“On the night of April 24, 1915, the Turkish government placed under arrest over 200 Armenian community leaders in Constantinople. Hundreds more were apprehended soon after. They were all sent to prison in the interior of Anatolia, where most were summarily executed.”
“Genocide Remembrance Day is a national holiday in Armenia and is observed by Armenians in dispersed communities around the world on April 24. It is held annually to commemorate the victims of the Armenian Genocide during the government of the Young Turks, from 1915 to 1923 in the Ottoman Empire.”
NASA And Google’s Plan To Save The World (Singularity University)
In a spare one-room office at Nasa’s Silicon Valley campus, a small band of futurists is plotting to save the world. The means are not a revolutionary technology or a new world order (though both may be byproducts). Rather, a new, pseudo-academic institution called Singularity University is going to solve our grand challenges: poverty, hunger, energy scarcity and climate change. Among others. Through a combination of techno-optimism, wide-eyed idealism and belief in the perfectibility of human beings, these well-connected geeks are creating an institution meant to legitimise their most extreme thinking.
Forgive them for dreaming big. We’re in, after all, the cradle of the personal computer industry, the neighbourhood that brought forth Hewlett-Packard, Apple and Intel. The Googleplex is just north of SU’s office, Yahoo’s campus just south. Nasa tests the wings of its spacecraft here. Stanford University is up the road. And the Singularity team has landed some of these…
Throbbing Gristle: What A Day. (Boing Boing Video Shoot Notes)
Boing Boing Video and Richard Metzger shot an interview with art-damage/industrial music godfathers Throbbing Gristle in Los Angeles. They’re on a limited tour of the USA, with a show tonight in San Francisco, and dates scheduled in Chicago and Brooklyn (info on dates, venues, and tickets here).
The resulting BB Video is yet to come, but I wanted to share some notes, photos, and ephemera from the experience.
Metzger is a super-mega-otaku fan of TG, and covered their legacy extensively through Disinfo publications and video releases. My knowledge is nowhere near as comprehensive as his (he’s even stumped TG members with knowledge of early songs they’ve forgotten!). But I have been fascinated with them since I was a teenager, when a friend in a punk squat loaned me a beer-stained copy of V. Vale’s 1983 RE/Search book about industrial culture.
Newly Discovered Letters Add To The Legend Of Ben Franklin
Alan Houston, a political science professor at UC San Diego, had come to the end of a trip to London to research a book about Benjamin Franklin.
He thought he might spend the day having fun with friends, but decided to make one more visit to the British Library.
In his last request for documents, he stumbled on something unexpected: a letter written by Franklin and copied by a British literary figure named Thomas Birch.
Houston had never seen it. Not believing his eyes, he looked for more.
In all, Houston found 47 letters Birch had reproduced that were written by Franklin, to him or about him in 1755, when the French and Indian War was starting to bloody the American continent.
“I couldn’t sit still; I couldn’t work,” Houston said Thursday. “On the last day, on the last document, and I had this incredible discovery. I ran out of the library and called my…
