ooo. i didn't know about baby chimps - now I'm going to have nightmares Takuan.
Foetusnail - you said (a long time ago - sorry) "I believe the links I attempted to provide earlier adequately disprove the man lacking empathy for his fellow human beings. We must understand he does not see these hateful, murderous, misogynists as his fellows." I think that is the BIG problem. That shows me a lack of empathy. It's easy to have empathy for our friends, it's hard to have it for 'bad guys.' but we need it. Especailly when it's so hard to know what's true and who the bad guys really are. - Anyway you seem like a really thoughtful person - so do kow I'm just talking to you. Nothing harsh intended!
I do really respect that Hitchens actually got himself waterboarded and changed his mind publically.

AGF - out. have a good 4th y'all.

Hey Nina - Yes. Beautifully put.

I could never watch the flying monkeys when I was a kid. I'd hide. I think my husband actually made his dad leave the theatre with him for that bit of the movie. Flying monkeys are freakin scary! I want pie and puppies to share it with ;)

sirdook - I see what you mean and why it bothers you. I just think it was said because they didn't want to put it all on Xeni. I don't think it was meant to be misleading. Just gentle. I mean imagine it's your best friend - wouldn't you publically just say we and take the hits? Xeni choose to explain further and that's awsome.
You were just asking why the first post didn't explain and I think that's why. As far as being charitable - you were just asking - so sorry if I sounded grumpy!

Wow. ok. I think this is about it for me - but: The us/we thing. So Xeni unpublished posts a year ago. No one noticed. no issue at the time. Then it all went nuts - so then the Boingers talked, and decided to have TNS put up this post - for them. Hence the we/us on this post. This post is from all of them. Theresa said in the post "We were trying to do the right thing quietly and respectfully, without embarrassing the parties involved." so I would understand that not only means VB. It also means they didn't want to say - "oooo Xeni did it and didn't tell us - it's all her fault." That wouldn't be very nice would it? I figured this out by just reading this post. It's no conspiracy. No one is out to destroy Boing Boing or hurt you or the internets. It's just humans doing what they can to share and live in this world together. It will never be simple or perfect or completely black and white. So please try to be charitable and try to see other people's side. Really. We are all together on this - it's a community right?

@ Archeaopteryx Re: wayback machine - yeah I know. That's why it seems a bit more like publishing a new text book - with some more information and some less. The wayback machine is kind of like going to the library and getting the old version of the text book. It's interesting to see how what people choose to publish changes.
I guess the posts could now say "Boing Boing can no longer host this link. If you would like to see it please visit the Wayback machine at : such and such . com' maybe that would be civil enough and still calm people down. It would also send people to the wayback machine.

Ok only a little bit missing: Re the unpubishing thing - I was just going to say ripping the pages out might be more like taking the posts off the wayback machine. For people who are really upset about it - How do you think they could politely stop supporting VB with no more linking to her and no public accusations?

wow. i accidentally hit something on the left of my keyboard and it hit post about half way through a paragraph. sigh. now you all know how bad my spelling and grammar is before editing. writing in textedit from now on. and expect a amendment!

Hey. So Reading this lately has been making me think about the question of personal vs business. I think that taking your business very personally is actually really important. I think that that is a big theme here at BB. Think about the TSA, or corporations who helped nazis or all the social/environmental issues. The ideas that - "oh your being payed - this is your job - this isn't personal." is very very dangerous. From all I've read (and correct me if I'm wrong!) Xeni thought she couldn't let herself of BB be associated with, or promote VB anymore. Perhaps 'unpublishing' (just live with the word for the moment) was the wrong way to do this. But how do you stop supporting something you think is bad without 'unpublishing'? It's the linking that's the support and gives the page boost. What if they wrote - oh we think VB sucks now on every VB post - that would be really really rude. VB would get her rankings but google would show nasty stuff at the top - right? I get the feeling that some people have that 'unpublishing' feels like ripping pages out of a book. It really scares me too - but here on the internet because the information is a living thing maybe it's like publishing a new addition of a book. I mean look at a biology text book from 1979 and then 2008.
I also really don't think BB 'owes' it to the community to tell us what VB did. You could be my lover and sometimes I just can't or shouldn't tell you what someone else did. I owe you an explanation of MY behavior - like I'm not friends with X because X hurt me - but you don't need all the details. It's not lack of love.

Xeni and David Re people wanting their accounts/comments removed- I'm not sure but I think that annonomizing might work if people are really concerned about their names. That way discussions would still make sence but there would be no google proof. I guess it's also good for all of us to remember what you put out in public - especially on the internets - is there forever. I think I heard Cory compare it to food coloring in a swimming pool.
I'd also like the comments not to renumber when something is unpublished - it makes conversations hard to follow.
thanks!

Wow. I saw 300 comments yesterday and though oh boy and then 1048 and counting now. I wasn't going to say anything but then as I read I realized you guys (boingers/moderators) have been reading all this and I have to say I'm really impressed.
I'm not entirely sure how I feel about taking old posts down - but I can totally imagine circumstances where I would feel it was wrong for me to show support for someone else. Since your website supports people I totally see why you would want to take something down. However, the unpublishing has also give her a tonne of PR - but it's a rock and a hard place.
I also can imagine the need for discretion regarding reasons. I mean really - everyone who's all curious - can't you imagine a situation where it would be way more graceful to keep your mouth shut? I'm sure it would be less exciting if the boingers just said what was up with VB, but sometimes it's just plain mean to tell the whole world what someone did to make you mad. Just let it go. Give the people some privacy. Anyway. That's my two sense. Thankyou for caring so much and reading all this and being really good conscientious people. I appreciate it.

weeeeee. this makes me happy.

Oooooooh! I can only begin to imagine the voice box switching/rerecording possibilities . . . "math is hard" heeheehe!

Our dog would get excited about 10 to 15 min before my dad would get home. SO he would still be at the office - something like 10 kms away and across the river. (not much chance of hearing him there) My dad would not call before coming home. We noticed this because it often happened when my dad was coming home at an unusual time. I have no proof. That's why I'm excited someone's studying it.

I love it! As a kid we would know when dad was coming home because the dog would get all silly and hang out by the door. I'm so happy someone is researching this. My cat occasional tells me when my husband is coming home - but nothing like the dog. Cool.

@ 27. couldn't say it any better myself.

@ 55 Some of my friends in Brasil say of the police - well at least some of the criminals where uniforms. So yeah. The lady was breaking the law, but when a law is unjust and designed to oppress people it should be broken. Laws are just made by people - who are easily wrong.

This image makes me think and feel. I think it is very worthy. I am going to read more details about it now. Art has no point if it doesn't elicit an emotional response. It's just dry and unimportant. You have to get a reaction and then people will care enough to learn. Why would you think about anything if you don't care?

Anyone who is worried about Godwin's law here - check out this article Naomi Wolfe -Fascist America in 10 easy steps: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/apr/24/usa.comment
I think it's about time we wake up and stop saying nothing compares, nothing resembles.
I was just in Brazil, where the gated communities are mad. I had to walk to a hostel on a road where I was surrounded by 10 foot high masonry walls topped with razor wire and electric fence. I felt so unsafe because there was no one around and there was nowhere I could go if I needed help. What if I even broke my ankle?
I live in Canada in a community where the kids play on the street and there are prostitutes and drug dealers and homeless people too. I don't always feel great - but I am not alone. I would be really unhappy if the government put walls up here.

So does anyone know what happens if you are using more than one light source? When you light a stage you use multiple lights to create an even blend across the stage. That means that some people are only lit by one light while others - on the edges of a light beam are lit by two. Could that account for the double specular highlights? Not to say this isn't photoshopped, but if the lighting is artificial it seems to me that there could be variation.

@18 You can get the soil tested if you're really worried and it doesn't matter if you're just planting flower.
Re the marijuana - plant it on city land first and then everywhere Critical mass right? Think dandelions . . .

@ Takuan - I thought it would be funny just planting hemp everywhere - confuse everyone.

We got 'caught' putting in a guerrilla garden on a derelict lot near street car tracks. The transit cops just told us to have fun and not get too close to the lrt tracks.

I think there is a very large difference between being gun shaped and looking like a gun. I can understand not being able to fly with a perfume bottle that looks like a grenade or a toy gun that is the same shape, size and color as a real gun. People might believe they are in danger from the objects and behave in a way that is dangerous.
However - a tiny, very non threatening trinket - does not look like a real gun. At the same time - I put my machine guns print purse in my check baggage when I fly. I just don't want to have the conversation.

I do like beautiful books as beautiful objects. It just seems awful to have a whole fake library. It would be even worse if they were ugly I guess. This is not an attack on pretty books themselves. It's the whole library that's the problem.
But I'm the sort of person who really dislikes fake brick, fake stone, fake plants - all that junk. and yes i work in the theatre . . .

sorry - Authoritarians.

I know there are smart, intelligent christians. This particular article is not about them. It's about people who don't want to think.
It is interesting and important to take a look at these paticular people and think about how they affect our world. There is a good book by Bob Altemeyer on autoritarians: http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~altemey/ (for an explanation and free pdf)

I'm a set designer. I totally see the use of this - though often I'd rather just have the shells of the books filled with foam so they aren't so heavy. Sometimes you just fake the leather thing altogether, but real books are cool if you can afford them!
As for my house I desperately need more space for books - not more books for space!
I have a friend who bought a bunch of old leather bound books at a garage sale for her living room. She then banished all of her husbands reference books to a box so the 'pretty' ones could be on display. sigh.

I know that if someone falls into cold water that is frozen over they can survive for much longer with no brain damage than someone who falls into warm water. The cold basically slows down everything in your body - giving you more time to get help. There have been a few stories of small children wandering outside in the cold (-30 kind of cold) at night and pretty much freezing,then being revived, and only losing a few toes.
But wow - what a lucky lady!

I think if you're used to analogue, it wouldn't be all that hard. It's like having a clock with no numbers. You're looking at time in a more fractional or space oriented sence, as opposed to a number. Like - I have a quarter of an hour before work vs I have 16m and 30s.

In my first year of grad school I went for very long periods with no or very little sleep. I got terrible reviews and that summer, after having slept, I read some studies of sleep debt and realized that was my biggest problem.
Of course because I didn't sleep I can barely remember the year - or figure out how long I went without sleep. I do remember hallucinating and hearing things. The walls would bend and the floor would move. Basically it feels like your mind decides to dream while your still awake. I made bad decisions and didn't make any sence. I also remember that if I hurt myself it would take a very long time to heal. I really hope the stuff about brain damage and personallity change aren't true. I now try to get at least 6 hours a night no matter how much pressure I'm under. I can't imagine how that kid must feel.

Theresa,
I very much appreciate your moderation. I feel like this is a site where I can honestly and safely have a conversation.
Thanks.

Wow! They look like they have genetic diseases or something. Not to be harsh but that's really what I see.
Reminds me of what my dad did when he was a kid. He'd take his sister's stroller, fill it up with blankets and wrap one of those harry coconuts up in it. It would freak out the old ladies when they came to admire his baby sister!

Yey! Congrats to you and your fiance Cory! Thankyou for posting a picture of her!

My husband and I enjoyed listening every week. I'm sad it's over, but thank you very much for reading it Cory!

@63 and everyone else who doesn't see the relevance of this.
Oh, of course - yes. That was all 70 years ago. There aren't any companies profiting at others expense now! The past never has any relevance to the present. I guess we should all drop it.

@ 40 - If I say - "my cat is white" and you say - "What about dogs? My dog is white." I might say, "Yes. Very nice but I'm talking about cats right now." Does that mean you dog isn't white? No!!! It simply means I'm not talking about your dog. We could get into a discussion about all the white animals in the world - but we're not.
re - german grade school - I think it is really interesting what is 'common knowledge' in different countries and what is white washed over. From what I know, Germany is quite good at looking critically and honestly at their past.

One thing speaks for this being a hoax - if you go through the directory if images Tarmle posted in #7, you'll see that the meat on the electric grill looks raw in every shot.

Also in the middle of the images of setting up the ridiculous power bar floaters, there are two shots of a charcoal grill that's just been lit - I'd guess they lit the charcoal grill so they could actually cook the meat they'd bought for their photo stunt...

They put my little birks through the x-ray thing once and let me wear big huge boots another time. It's totally random I'd say!

@ 47 The reason I mentioned the aesthetics of the 10s and 20s was because there seemed to be an androgenous movement. I'm sorry I don't know what to label it. (Kahlo really is a bit later.) I just don't think Punk is the first time girls went there - but it doesn't really matter!
Re identification- Yes, this is an image I can identify with. I often feel that way about comics, especially in comparison to say Cosmo. So as far as depictions of women in pop culture go - I dig this one.
Identity is a really interesting question. Perhaps it's about where we can see common ground. I can certainly think of images where I wouldn't automatically say - oh yes that's me - but I still really like. It's a good question.
I have to say I really enjoy boingboing and all the comments! There is a great deal of intelligent discourse here. You make me think.

I like it. I'd wear it. I prefer seeing girls in comic books as opposed to fashion models. The excessively thin androgenous Calvin Klein-esque thing bores me and is super unhealthy.

Re "You can tell this comes out of a comic book aesthetic, as opposed to the punk aesthetic, which was the first to allow women to be androgenous or asexual." Check out the aesthetic of the 10s and 20s. Ever heard of Marlene Dietrich? or Frida Kahlo? Two beautiful women who played with gender.

that's my two cents.

I am a girl and I love xkcd. I also lived just outside CS. (I was 6 and went to Crockett Rocket Elementary) However, I am now married and live in Canada. But hey - girls who read xkcd exist.