Rob Beschizza

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• Commented on Music video is an electronic erotic rendition of a Japanese folk song
  Love it. Saint Etienne did something similar for English and American folk songs in the 1990s....
• Posted Shackleton's Antarctic whisky found to Boing Boing
  Photo: PDVos In 1909, British explorer Ernest Shackleton aborted an attempt to reach the south pole. He abandoned two cases of scotch at base camp. A century on, we've found it. Whyte & Mackay, the drinks group that now owns McKinlay and Co., has asked for a sample of the 100-year-old scotch for a series of tests that could decide whether to relaunch the now-defunct Scotch. Workers from New Zealand's Antarctic Heritage Trust will use special drills to reach the crates, frozen in Antarctic ice under the Nimrod Expedition hut near Cape Royds. Thought discovered in 2006, conservation guidelines impose strict rules on how the ice-embedded bottles may be recovered. Whyte & Mackay's master blender says it will taste extactly as it did 100 years ago. Company Wants To Drill For Whiskey Lost In Antarctic [CBS]...
• Posted Murdoch-Microsoft deal in the works to Boing Boing
  Microsoft is ready to pay Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. to remove its news content from Google, according to the Financial Times. Microsoft has also approached other "big online publishers" with similar deals....
• Commented on Redhead 12-year-old assaulted over Facebook message citing South Park episode?
  In Britain, I got teased often for this. It seems to be the national substitute for the *isms that are no longer allowed. In the U.S., quite the opposite, people think it's cool....
• Posted Let's blow up the moon to Boing Boing
  Behold! The Rings of the Earth....
• Commented on 100-word fiction competition — win an HP MediaSmart EX495
  Thank you all for your entries. Holy crap. Winner to be announced ... soon?...
• Commented on Unicornfish chaser
  Updated with the Vimeo embed....
• Posted Meow Mix to Boing Boing
  No non-Euclidean kittens are harmed in this video. Just your sanity. [Cyriak's YouTube Channel]...
• Commented on Plaices of Death
  "You left the readers to do all the heavy lifting. It's lazy blogging and your carelessness is drawing you some ire. Deal with the criticism and do better next time. That's all I'm asking." Most who have contributed to this...
• Posted Unicornfish chaser to Boing Boing
  If only incidentally; up close, they are truly amazing. [Video: Jon Rawlinson - Music: Barcelona]...
• Commented on Plaices of Death
  That is almost pythonian. I can just imagine John Cleese doing that....
• Commented on Plaices of Death
  Haineaux, you couldn't be more wrong about my motives. Bye!...
• Commented on Plaices of Death
  It's an unpleasant but fascinating video. I recently started eating seafood, despite not liking the taste, on the grounds that it's more humane and healthy. But this reminds me that the suffering of the animal, and eating animals, aren't quite...
• Posted Plaices of Death to Boing Boing
  (Warning: fish is not dead)...
• Posted "Don't Poke Scalia" to Boing Boing
  Justice Scalia says stupid things during oral arguments at the Supreme Court. Lawyers cannot help but poke fun. The result: an angry, red-faced Scalia, "reducing the time in which advocates might address more open or sympathetic justices."...
• Posted Apple Tablet delayed, analysts cast haruspex over chinese shipping manifests to Boing Boing
  That Apple's tablet shall eventually come is all but certain. But now that uncertainty over the release date has emerged, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster hedges that it's irrelevant. That said, Munster seems to be the master of inaccurately predicting the imminent release of the Apple Tablet--perhaps this is a sign that it actually came out yesterday and we all missed it....
• Commented on BREAKING: Leaked UK government plan to create "Pirate Finder General" with power to appoint militias, create laws
  I believe the official title is Filesmeller....
• Posted Unintentional Humor of the Day to Boing Boing
  IE9 Standards and Interoperability [MSDN via Daring Fireball]...
• Commented on $50k novel advance == "almost qualify for foodstamps"
  The part that really stood out for me was not doing any promotion, or even nagging the publisher with questions about marketing and stuff. Getting a bestseller without so much as a signing at the local B&N! I didn't get...
• Posted $50k novel advance == "almost qualify for foodstamps" to Boing Boing
  "If I published only one book a year, and it did as well as this one, my net would be only around $2500.00 over the income level considered to be the US poverty threshhold," writes a bestselling author. The math: $50k advance, half of it lost to agent and other costs, and even bestseller royalties don't immediately cover the advance to create a return. But ... what if one wrote two books in a year?...
• Commented on Replacing a switch on an electric shaver
  I tried to do with with a camcorder, the Kodak Zi8, but the on-off switch was so elaborate and delicate that once broken, it was impossible to replace or rig....
• Posted Pre-orders open on Daily Edition reader to Boing Boing
  Sony's begun taking pre-orders for its new flagship "Daily Edition" reader (Think Kindle DX with less bitter DRM magic beans) for delivery next month. B&N Nook pre-orders are live, too....
• Commented on Viacom's top lawyer thinks lawsuits were "terrorism" - but he's learned nothing from the experience
  It's amazing indeed that they just can't see the headlines that will punch them in the balls. "Single mother banned from internet for ex-husband's song downloads," etc....
• Posted Age of sharper swords dawns, according to shieldmakers' report to Boing Boing
  An "Age of cyber warfare is dawning," according to a report. But a report by whom? A company selling computer security software, of course!...
• Commented on Under the spreading cellphone tower, I bought you and you sold me
  Yup, I do think it through. And then post reductive, sensationalist remarks instead. Cheers....
• Commented on Under the spreading cellphone tower, I bought you and you sold me
  But Tag, that's the entire point! It appears they withheld T-Mobile's name to avoid prejudicing proceedings against individual employees who still remain unnamed. But this doesn't make any sense. If T-Mobile's own interests aren't at stake, it had no need...
• Commented on Under the spreading cellphone tower, I bought you and you sold me
  Do be sure to inform T-Mobile that its disclosure will prejudice a trial against it....
• Commented on Under the spreading cellphone tower, I bought you and you sold me
  They 'fessed up because the press hounded them and because they were the only carrier who hadn't denied it. Working to prevent the media reporting details of crimes is bad, however easy to circumvent such measures may be in specific...
• Commented on Under the spreading cellphone tower, I bought you and you sold me
  The specific detail that the carrier's anonymity is to avoid "prejudicing" a trial is even worse than whatever might be assumed from describing this as a "right" for the sake of brevity. It means that the public and the press...
• Posted Under the spreading cellphone tower, I bought you and you sold me to Boing Boing
  Staff at a "major" cellular carrier in the U.K. sold millions of customer records to other companies, according to the BBC. Unfortunately, the British regulators are protecting the carrier's right to anonymity, so we don't know which one it is. Any guesses? Update: T-Mobile 'fessed....