Really nice watch, but too much. Maybe worth $8 or $10. Since that white plastic looks like it would discolor pretty quickly. Those straps even on real Casios die quickly. Sell me a pack of replacements in different colors—or maybe just black and white—and I'll buy that.

@#114 POSTED BY TERESA NIELSEN HAYDEN / MODERATOR

Jack @76, firsthand data beats generalizations, even generalizations made by Stephen Ambrose.

True indeed. But in this case there is no "data" but simply "You don't know what you're talking about..." claims made without any facts or data to back it up.

Jack, Buddy66's manners are noticeably better than yours.

So when Buddy66 says:

I asked ARI B. a question. Butt out with ''whining.''

That is not considered trolling?

Teresa, I'm thinking your moderation methods are a tad too overbearing and a tad overly nasty for someone who is a mod. Additionally, there are some people posting in comments here who clearly have a deeper connection to BoingBoing than simply being casual commenters. It's coming down to nepotism and simple favoritism; some are labelled "trolls" and others are simply "outspoken".

Said it before—and I will say it again—what makes this all hard to swallow is this is BoingBoing, a site that criticizes others for lack of transparency and fights openness. But in many ways it's all coming down to self-serving rhetoric.

Can you guys generally ease up a bit and perhaps hold your own friends—who are commenters—too the same standards as us lowly "normals".

@#11 POSTED BY HARRKEV

Sheesh. What is the big deal. So, she decided to keep a couple of books. Simple. The library charges her the "lost book" fee. Library uses the fee to buy two fresh copies. That lady can sleep safe and sound knowing that she actually helped purchase two new copies of the book, generating more profit for the publisher and author (that should get her mad). Case closed -- as long as she pays her fine.

Because it sets a horrific precedent that could lead to other "moral authorities" doing the same thing across the nation which leads to a ridiculous sell/buy cycle that the library should not be involved in. Can you imagine, lunatics across the country organizing fund raising drives to support their "actions" to remove unwanted books from shelves of public libraries?

It's the a can or worms opened by the thin edge of the wedge on a slippery slope.

The fact that she is stating her moral reasons for stealing these books should really get her locked up. It's abuse of a public resource and harassment in the least.

@#35 POSTED BY ILL LICH:

...US TV executives are always trying to steal ideas, whether it's from another culture, or just another network.

Steal? Or do you mean license? Because when a show's rights are optioned for U.S. development, the non-U.S. creator is usually very aware of the sale and involved in the deal.

In fact more things are created outside of the U.S. for U.S. licensing than you would imagine. For example, look at the world of Japanese toys. The majority are created for the local Japanese market, but any company worth anything will gladly license the function/creativity of those toys to the U.S. market.

The first Transformers toys were a mish-mash of toys from different lines that were willfully sold and merged together into the U.S. Transformers marketing plan.

And beyond that, there really aren't too many "new" ideas out there to begin with. It's actually pretty rare nowadays in all fields. Most ideas are just recycled bits of this/that/other and the ones that come off as original are really the ones that do the better job of melding old ideas.

Heck, does anyone know if shows like this existed in Japan before Chuck Barris and The Gong Show existed.

Look it's even simpler: It's all a post-modern Benny Hill take on things.

The rapist? Oh, THERAPIST! That makes sense.

I still say Xylophone Hero will beat them all.

We could injure or kill people; we could burn structures or melt holes in walls; we could destroy targeted areas of spaceships, assuming we could keep a beam on them for long enough.

But we could not find enough humanity to hug a Wookie.

That VR headset is perfect for my friend Lobot and his buddy Lando.

@#83 PSTD BY BDDY66:
Bddy66, ws ctlly wllng t gv yr clms bt knwldg f g n th mltry sm crdnc. Bt jdgng by y sm t b mr f trll thn cntrbtr. Dr sy, ptntl "mll nnj" mtrl.

Thr s n rsn y hd t lsh t t m bt ths, spclly snc 'v bn frly grcs n my rspnss t y. spclly snc —nd thrs—cntr yr clms wth ths dd thng clld "fcts". Y mght wnt t s thm; Stphn mbrs ds.

f y'r whnng bt U.S. aid to Israel, you might as well complain about the nearly equal amount the U.S. has been sending to Egypt since 1975.

I'd rather the U.S. spend billions of dollars each year to support countries that support us. Much better investment than bombing the living hell out of them.

@75 POSTED BY BUDDY66:
Thanks for the thanks, but regarding this:

You're wrong on that one.

Stephen Ambrose would have to disagree with that. In fact, he's been very vocal about the fact that Tom Hanks was too old:

"You gotta get rid of Tom Hanks. He's too old to have been a Ranger captain." Spielberg yelled, "You're funny. Next." Spielberg and Hanks will soon be working on two Iwo Jima films. Did Ambrose have any suggestions for Spielberg? Yes. "Get rid of Hanks. He's too old to be an ensign." Spielberg offered a compromise. He promoted Hanks.

@#10 POSTED BY MGFARRELLY

It's chilling to see young people who would be in college or starting jobs at their age, holding huge rifles.

Patronizing comment at best. This can be said about the military anywhere and anyplace. ALL armies are made up of the young. You know what the biggest inaccuracy of Saving Private Ryan is? Tom Hanks would simply have not been in the military at his age.

And I have no romanticism towards the Israeli Defense Force. I truly admire that they can defend themselves from hostile neighbors, but at the same time I feel that in 2008 Israel can really be looked upon with a critical eye as well. They are not entirely angels. They have acted in questionable ways. And they have done this continually harping on the importance of preventing another massacre of the Jews ala the Holocaust. I have news for you: Living a life in paranoia is not a life. And nothing makes me feel like I'm talking to a bunch of zombies than when I talk to fellow Jews in Israel who just spout catchphrase after catchphrase.

As a direct child of Holocaust survivors, I will tell you enough is enough on all levels. Palestine never existed as a country and was only created as a political tool when Israel came into existence. Israel's claims of claiming land to "protect" themselves are bullshit; it's all been a land-grab and expansion of borders since 1967. Both sides are playing games and it's sick. And honestly the only way I see this ever ending is some massive tragedy happening in the mid-east that would put this mess in perspective. Heck, develop a true oil/gas alternative and suddenly the wealth of most nations there would evaporate overnight.

Also, would anyone be saying "It's chilling to see young people who would be in college or starting jobs at their age, holding huge rifles." if these were pictures of men? Yes, service is mandatory, but it's their choice. Let them do what they want as long as they respect what others want.

And personally, I found college to be a 5 year hole in my life and I cannot relate to people who would love to be in college all the time. They always cite the "education" and "thirst for knowledge", but you know what? You can learn in the real world as well. Especially nowadays where the cost of college is insane and the post-college benefits are a bit questionable.

Nice stuff!

Don't underestimate the danger of real weapons made by overzealous fans.

FWIW, there have been tons of incidents in the U.S. of dorks with samurai swords they bought on QVC attacking other people in, what is often, drunken rages.

Zuzu, well I'm not saying that suddenly mom and pop builders will start opening up right away. But you need to remember this: The original DIY culture of building PCs was based on price-point. They then died when pre-made PC prices went down.

So now you have a market with tons of cheap PCs and horrid customer service. At some point people will realize: "You know, maybe if I pay this guy $100 more I will get the machine I want and get service I like."

Think of it hand-in-hand with the trend towards boutiques and restaurants opening up all over the place. Do people want to pay more for the physical items they get from these places? No. But they will pay more to get the assurance of quality service.

The business model of strictly selling electronics at a low price is going to be irrelevant in a few years. The concept of better customer service will be universal. Heck, look at Apple. People already pay a premium for the assurance their machines work better. And what's marring Apple now? The quality assurance issues that cause that perception of quality to south.

Long story short: Bye, bye Circuit City, Best Buy and other major chains.

Man has Circuit City gone downhill.

You know what this bodes well for? Local system builders. Remember when they were all the rage in the early 1990s and then faded away when machine prices went down? I'd gladly pay a premium to a local seller to get a machine I know works and I can trust than deal with this hidden fee nonsense.

#14 POSTED BY IANM , AUGUST 23, 2008 7:26 AM

Yes, how dare me use my own property to document my own experience.

The problem us your use of your own property will interfere with the enjoyment of others.

I really hate going to concerts nowadays because I'm sick of seeing glowing LCDs all over the place. I go there to see the show.

And a live concert is ultimately an ephemeral experience. Bootlegs have existed for years, but they have mostly been terrible and were sold to fans as a way to milk more money off of a band's popularity.

It's always amazed me the western desire to possess and control things via media. If you like a book, you MUST own it. If you like a movie you MUST buy it. And lord forbid a friend gets you a film you like on DVD and you say "Hey, I like this movie but I don't really need to own it...."

I know this might sound like a generational thing, but what was so magical about seeing movies as a kid was the limited aspect. If I saw The Bad News Bears I saw the movie and the chances of seeing it again were slim. My memories and the occasional souvenir were enough.

For me as well, I work in front of an LCD screen all day. Most people do. I'm not going to unwind on my day off by going to a concert where people are obsessively snapping pictures & video of an event instead of being a part of it.

This is truly the negative side of technology and a massive turn off.

@#129 POSTED BY FUNERALPUDDING , AUGUST 23, 2008 5:28 AM

The law applies to Bush and to families running street businesses the same.

Speechless to a point reading this. Do you realize how wrong that is? Do you think these girls have the ability to force laws to change on a whim to give them more power the way Bush & Co. do?

If laws apply to "Bush and to families running street businesses the same" then in the spirit of these girls being harassed, I'd like George W. Bush to be impeached on war crimes charges ASAP.

This thread is unbelievable because to me it proves that most American's who demand abidance to laws have no clue what those laws are and are simply power hungry and secret fascists.

I'm sorry, but there is no way to say this: As much as I love technology and work in the field, nothing is more irritating and ruins the concert-going experience than folks holding up cell phones and cameras and spending more time worrying about how to document the event rather than enjoying it.

Look street vendors are a great American tradition. So is cut-throat business. And happily this Mr. Show clip has both!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tP4yX2rkpBc

@#92 POSTED BY DAVID GUERRERO:

The main thing that peeked my interest about this story is the emotion so many people have about this.

For someone who is yammering endlessly about the letter of the law, you have no idea what the difference between "peeked" and "piqued" is.

On a side note, there seems to be a belief in the myth that once upon a time American communities were the model of freedom and free markets. They never were.

Yes, that is 100% true if you don't study history. In the case of street vendors, there once was a time when selling stuff on the street truly wasn't a hassle. It's called 30 years ago. Most laws against street vendors were put in placed to protect brick and mortar stores, and they made sense to an extent. Local mom and pop store owners said, "These guys are cutting in on my business!" and they made an issue of it. But the truth is so many communities nowadays (1) are under-served and (2) have little to no small businesses these laws are being used to bully people.

Technically speaking most people break "laws" all the time, but they are so no big deal in the big picture nobody wastes time to enforce it.

For example, it's illegal to park or idle a vehicle in front of a fire house. Yet today I saw a guy do just that. Firemen came out to pull out their rig and did they call the cops? Or write a ticket? No. They simply told him to move the car and he did. That's it. No big production.

If ANYONE actually was "blocked" by this small stand, a reasonable person would just say "Look, you're screwing up traffic..." But nobody did that and traffic was never blocked. Just an anonymous complaint was made with no other backstory. THAT is abuse.

If this was a Mexican guy that didn't speak English on the corner that got shut down it wouldn't even be a news story, and if it were would anyone care?

You are hilariously wrong and patronizing because EXACTLY that issue happened in NYC and people spoke out and it was a major news story. Do a Google search for the food vendors at the Red Hook soccer fields and read up. All people of all races were concerned and it was an issue people cared about. So much so that now they get more business than ever thanks to the publicity.

Ditto with mid-eastern food vendors who were being harassed in midtown Manhattan 10 years or so ago.

The issue is this: If you TRULY have a problem with a neighbor, then you can talk to them. And if they then harass you and act like jerks and dismiss your issue you have a right to complain. But people who simply "Call the cops..." without interaction are just old biddies who hate that other people have fun.

@#83 POSTED BY DAVID GUERRERO:

The local government has an obligation to enforce protections the public has asked for which, in this case, is the assumption of safe food being sold and not having street vendors in the neighborhood.

You obviously didn't read the article at all since that is 100% not the reason it was shut down. It was shut down because they were running a "...commercial enterprise..." in an area not zoned for commercial use and the Mayor "...wonders what Katie and Sabrina might do with that produce stand if the zoning laws weren't enforced..."

Look, if all of the sudden these girls sign a contract with Whole Foods and open a true business, then you have a claim.

As it stands what they are doing is selling personally grown produce on the land outside their own property and in no significant volume to be a threat to anyone but petty control freaks who never got enough attention from their parents as children.

Also, regarding the so-called obligation you are yammering about, these kids are getting a petition signed by members of the community to prove that the "protections the public has asked for" do not apply to them.

Getting two random complaints from unidentified "neighbors" means nothing at all. Technically speaking that insane concept that for every one complaint there are hundreds of others is the same fallacy the FCC uses to fine radio and TV stations millions of dollars. Look at the Janet Jackson bra-malfunction incident. ONE person complained.

Heck, have you ever done tech support for a major business? You know, if I dropped what I did for every single crackpot complaint that came my way I'd go nuts. It's only a real problem when LOTS of people complain.

I'm sure there are better things the folks in Clayton could be doing. Like maybe electing a new mayor.

@#71 POSTED BY DAVID GUERRERO:

We live in a society of laws that exist for a reason.

We also live in a society in America that has become one of the most abusively litigious societies in history. Nobody trusts anybody. And the main reason people need to get insurance is because if something goes wrong, suddenly people don't see an accident as a tragedy but rather a money making scheme.

The end result of that mentality is a population that grows to distrust each other and sees each other as a liability and not a customer.

There is simply no other country in this world where that attitude is so pervasive. Heck, go to Japan. Or better yet, go to Yahoo! Japan auctions and compare them to eBay auctions. What's shocking is how forthright people are about the condition of items on Yahoo! Japan when compared to eBay. And you know what else you notice? eBay auctions are filled with caveats and B.S. to protect the seller but on Yahoo! Japan it's assumed *gasp* people are honest and if any issues arise, adults can behave like adults and work things out.

It really sickens me when people say "laws exist for a reason" without knowing specific laws and the wiggle room that exists. Meaning, there is the letter of the law—which is the most literal reading of a law. And then there is the "spirit of the law". If you go to court you quickly learn that the spirit of the law ALWAYS trumps the letter of the law. A judge will look over the evidence of a case and look at the laws invoked and generate a judgement.

Also, laws change and are amended ALL THE TIME. Society grows and change. And honestly, withe economic climate we're in I wouldn't be surprised if laws regarding personal garden growing are amended to make life easier for average folks who simply have a small amount of land, the desire to grow things, and the desire to share their local good with others.

Ever hear of Victory gardens? They existed in an era when the U.S. government actually was a tad more reasonable towards people.

Kids setting up a card table and selling anything is not an issue. Idiots who decided to sue people left/right instead of behaving like rational adults... Now that is the real problem.

@#55 POSTED BY SALLY599 :

Its unclear why some of you are comparing this to a garage sale. Those are pretty highly regulated. While it varies regionally, in most cases you have to have a permit.

I have never seen ANYONE run a garage, stoop, yard sale required to have a permit in any way. It's accepted in most of the country that when the weather is nice, and when you hit Saturday or Sunday, people will sell their stuff. Nobody cares.

Anyone decrying regulation for stuff like this should realize that tons of major businesses that truly screw people over have slowly been deregulated over the years since Reagan took office.

So now you're telling us major businesses should have it easier but kids selling stuff on a card table in their own yard need legal action?

Get real. Leave the kids alone.

@#35 POSTED BY MELLOWMONK:

The goal of this kind of seemingly meaningless crackdown on innocent behavior is to gradually accustom all Americans to crackdowns in general.

Ha! You really think that? If that were the case, yard, garage, stoop and other sidewalks sales would be cracked down nationwide. But they aren't.

There will always be cranky neighbors complaining about meddling kids. It's a global tradition!

Too bad their mayor sounds like a d-bag of the first degree.

FIrst they came for the eggs and I said nothing.
Then they came for the chicken and I said nothing.
Then they came for me and I said "Soylent Green is me!"

Seriously, until she sells meth from a card table that says "Fresh Home Made Meth" who cares.

As someone who was in NYC on 9/11, I will say this offends me in no way.

You know what is offensive 7 years later? The fact that NYC is in a real estate/building boom and this whole city is being changed as we speak. But for one thing. The WTC site is STILL a huge hole in the ground and tons of "construction" workers on that site are still being paid.

THAT level of corruption and B.S. is offensive and an insult to anyone who lost family or friends on 9/11/2001.

Oh and for real people, this monkey was nowhere near as stressed out as the salary men all chasing after him with their cellphones.

While everyone went bananas over the monkey the monkey made a monkey out of them.

The picture makes the cat look like Hypnotoad.

Okay, so does anyone know about what happened to the local Chinese folks who helped him out? I'm really not too worried about a westerner being punished too harshly, but I can easily see anyone who helped him who were local to China really getting grief beyond grief for this.

You know what would be more adorable and in context? The kid in a few months pushing piles of stuff in his room with that hat on.

#30 POSTED BY EDUARDO PADOAN:

Educate us, then. What else should we be doing to raise public awareness about the crimes commited by the PRC?

The last time I checked, the Chinese are the very last group of people who need to be educated on how their government behaves. I don't think an action like this would have made much of a difference in the big picture. They all know what the deal is but they are all powerless to do anything. A street-art action like this means nothing.

But I think a better tactic might have been to (1) just do it without making a pre-announcement of it. But then again that might have resulted in him being punished even further. But what about (2) doing the same thing, but at PRC buildings outside of China. There's the U.N. and an embassy here in NYC. If the ultimate goal would have been media attention, I think that would be more successful.

Better yet, get someone who is going to win a gold, bronze or silver medal and use their exposure to send the same message.

Remember when Kanye West shouted "George Bush doesn't care about black people..." Now that was heroic and made an impact.

@#26 POSTED BY BLEDSOEFILMS:
There's more than one way to skin a cat.

@#17 POSTED BY MGFARRELLY:

The olympics are an immense piece of political theater, from the selection of the city, to the ceremonies to the way it's all conveyed in the media. Thinking that a hot button issue like Tibet is going to just slide off the stage is just not clear thinking.

The Olympics are what you make of them. I know far more people who watch the games for individual performance devoid of nationalism than otherwise. Of course there's always people who are nationalistic, but I find ignoring them or dismissing them is a lot easier in the case of the Olympics when compared to local sports rivalries.

Also, are there any interesting and *gasp* positive things about the events that BoingBoing could post on? Or should we just expect that any post on the Olmypics on BoingBoing is just going to be negative?

Oh, and also, folks you'd be shocked at how many places still use AVID setups despite Final Cut clearly being the new standard.

We can also discuss PageMaker and QuarkXPress 3.3 still being used to this day in some print publications.

@#1 POSTED BY ZUZU , AUGUST 17, 2008 11:47 AM

How is it 2008 and professional television shows aren't recording everything to a massive RAID array of hard drives? I mean, dubbing to tape, really???

Other people have said it as well, but most media monoliths are incredibly sluggish to adapt to new technology and so invested in the "capital" they pumped into that infrastructure they won't toss it out unless there is a good profit/loss reason.

Also, TV—and especially huge companies like Viacom which owns Comedy Central—have an unlimited pool of interns they can call on to run the "sneaker net". So from a tech perspective it seems odd, but from a bottom line standard the cost of training a few underpaid (if paid at all) interns through the dubbing wringer is a lot less than buying new hardware and incurring a larger cost.

And frown on the process all you want, but The Daily Show is still funny and highly rated. Good tech is what works for you to get your job done; not the most "133t" tech.

@#88 POSTED BY ARKIZZLE

NO. No they are not. They are con artists. They are criminals.

And rape is not sex, but without sex there is no definition of rape.

Sales is not inherently an evil trade, but there are tons of criminals conning people of their life savings in the western world of sales.

A boiler-room salesman pushing stocks on a short-sell or *cough* bogus mortgages *cough* is just as bad as these scammers. Get them all in a room together and I think you'd be shocked at how well they'd get along.

We need to publicize the problem in our own countries, and get our citizens to stop sending them money.

Well, I did say my idea of blocking is extreme, but blockades have worked... The problem is that once set in place, there is the temptation to keep them in place. And that's ridiculous. Communism is dead, but the U.S. still has sanctions on Cuba in 2008? Insane. But in the case of exports from China that were tainted, threats of blocking imports of their items—and the desire of Chinese manufacturers to retain business—forced them into shape.

But "educating" is ridiculous. It will never work. The reason is the entry level of getting online nowadays is painfully old, and most people barely understand the difference between RAM and a hard drive. So you're asking to educate people who have no practical reason to be educated.

For example, for all of the paranoia and fear about identity theft and all of the awareness of cyber crime in the U.S., I've stumbled across more unerased hard drives tossed on the street than otherwise. Seriously. I'm not a dumpster diver, but if come across a trashed machine and I can easily pull the drive out, I do. And I have NEVER come across a drive that has been erased ever. So I laugh when I come to Boing Boing and other blogs and read about people advocating 7 pass erases and such; most people don't even do a basic wipe! So now we're going to take these folks who think the Internet is magic and suddenly make them "aware" of scams? Never will happen.

Look, let me explain as simply as I can why I think scam-baiting is wrong beyond the subtext of unintentional race-baiting I have mentioned:

I know of NO situation in the world where engaging a salesman (and let's face it, that's what these scammers are) discourages them from doing what they do.

The historical best way of eliminating scammers is to always—and I mean always— ignore them.

And since there is corruption in the system that breeds this mess, here is my extreme example of what I think would solve this. Filter ANY and ALL e-mails coming from countries that are known hives of scammers. And only send one response to them via an auto responder. One that basically says, "Look this is nothing personal, but until your country truly does something about the scammers that abuse this system we will not accept any correspondence from your region."

It's extreme, but it puts the weight on the local system to truly purge this trash out of the equation. Soon enough every legit person will be hampered by this and be forced to say "Hey, idiots. Stop it. You're ruining this all for us."

If this could be done on an ISP level or even if Google did this, I think it would make an impact.

Extreme, but I think more effective in the long term than petty scam baiting which wastes not only your time but doesn't address the larger issues.

@#47 POSTED BY TERESA NIELSEN HAYDEN / MODERATOR:

I see you didn't read the links, not even the first and most important one. This scam does not divide up along racial lines. Neither do scambaiters. Go back and try again. Read the piece on the ethics of scambaiting all the way to the last paragraph, where it says "We are genuinely offended by the accusation that we are racist."

Teresa, I really am not going to accept that the scam baiters themselves describe themselves as not being racist. Most racists don't say they are racists. From what I have seen, the majority of the pranks played by scam baiters are non-blacks telling black scammers to do goofy things to distract them. Please provide us with a neutral third part assessment of scam baiting and not claims made by the baiters themselves.

And yes, these people are all individuals. Please reread what I have wrote. I DO NOT think intentional racism exists in scamming and scam baiting, but the unintentional racial divisions do exist. And that can lead to real racism or excuse certain scam baiting tactics that would be considered racist in other contexts.

No, I have not contradicted myself. You can have a real economy and endemic corruption.

But the real economy in a place rife with corruption is often the lowest level of the real economy. So yes, you can exist in a pure economy while others don't. But not for long. And at some point the corrupt economy wins.

Why are you incapable of imagining any motivation for scambaiting beyond playing racist headgames?

Reread what I asked you to reread again. Greed, sloth, lust, envy, gluttony, and a little pride don't add up to this mess. The reality is African countries were screwed the moment colonialism entered the picture and anyone who has studied any African history knows. Yes, people make their own choices, and they are not pure good or pure evil. But the level of colonialism can't be ignored and is ultimately the root of all of this. It's 100% naive to ignore the history of Africa in the modern world and how it has lead to conflicts and scams like this.

@#42 POSTED BY TERESA NIELSEN HAYDEN:

Quick check: how many of you who are wringing your hands over the plight of the poor Nigerians have done anything to help them? I'm talking about real donations to legitimate aid organizations, at minimum.

A canard of a point if there ever was one. It's the equivalent of complaining that someone who has not served in the military should not criticize it's misuse.

How exactly do you suggest anyone contribute any money in any way to poor Nigerians given the level of corruption in the government there? Sure, I can toss $20 to Unicef or Oxfam for example, but what percentage of that money will actually end up in the hands of people who need it? Will $2 get there? And $18 get "lost" in bribes/cuts/skimming/etc?

You know what was amazing here in 2004 when the Tsunami hit near Sri Lanka? How many small local groups were collecting money not to wire or send via proxy to Sri Lanka and Thailand, but how many of them were EXPLICITLY coming out and saying "Look, we're collecting this money and going their ourselves to distribute it because the government there is incompetent and corrupt."

So please, don't chastise people who understand how screwed things up are over there. There's no magic solution, but I can say that until the corruption there can be truly wiped out, there's practically no way average folks can contribute money and assure that money will get in the right hands.

@#42 POSTED BY TERESA NIELSEN HAYDEN:

First you say:

Nigeria has problems, but they also have a real economy. This is not people's only choice.

Then you say:

By the way: one of Nigeria's biggest problems is endemic corruption. Do you think these professional scammers have nothing to do with corrupt officials and bankers?

So basically you've contradicted yourself; on the one hand anyone saying the scammers have "no choice" is being pedantic. But then saying the exist in an environment rife with "endemic corruption".

Look, I am not defending these scammers at all. Never have. Never will. But I do think scam baiting is a bit disturbing and twisted and the divisions can be drawn down race lines. Western denial in this case is just a knee slapper.

Yes, the ultimate goal is to fleece money from whatever shill they can get, but the sheer idea that someone thinks there's a racial equality issue here is hilarious. Heck, are they targeting Chinese and Asians? Nope. They are not.

And frankly, how can one even broach the topic of Western colonialism contributing to the history of strife and corruption in Africa without some "genius" slapping the tag of "white guilt" on a person?

Where do you think that "endemic corruption" and the cynical worldview that fuels this mess comes from? Just simple greed?

Scammers should be stopped, but scam-baiting is not something I think will change this mess.

So being nice, clean, succinct to a customer server rep will get you treated well?

Next you're going to tell me leaving a decent sized tip makes bartenders nicer to you.

Or petting a puppy makes it wag it's tail.

@#34 POSTED BY SANTA'S KNEE

However, you have failed to convince me to retract MY statement.

Okay, on topic: Do you realize that most Nigerian scammers self-describe themselves as consciously going after rich white European/American people?

You see that's the amazing thing is they are very clear on the racism in their own actions. Doesn't make it good, but there's no argument from them. But when it comes to the mostly white American/European folks who are scam-baiting? There's incredible logical leaps to avoid the issue of race entirely. As if that can't be an issue because they don't intend it as an issue.

If intent were the main fuel of racism and hate, then it would all be wiped away by now. But it's these tiny issues of perception added up over the years that add up to the larger mess.

#29 POSTED BY SANTA'S KNEE:

I find you white guilt interesting and wish to subscribe to your newsletter...

White guilt? Hilarious! I'm the first American born child of immigrants who survived the Holocaust and anti-Semitism of post-WW II Poland who came to American with practically nothing and lived in poverty most of my life. Yes, I am "white", but you know what? I personally experienced much more prejudice and hate as a kid than most other "white" people I've known.

And you know what? Racism and hate are indeed colorblind. But they exist. Just look at the whole Russia/Georgia conflict: white against white. But drawn on ethnic lines few outside of the region understand. Look at China/Tibet; Asian against Asian. Ditto on all of that.

In the case of Nigerian scammers, there is a very clear class division that is also disturbingly paralleled by race.

A scam-baiter in the U.S. (who is most likely not black) playing games with scammers in Nigeria who are majority black is a bit disturbing. And even if that is not an intent, the results of the action still need to be felt.

My initial position stands the same: Just ignore the scammers and don't play mindgames with them. At least appeal to that level of intelligence.

@#24 POSTED BY TAKUAN

only a racist thinks of scambaiting as racist.

Only staring at the tree denies you the view of the forest. Why do people resort to scamming to begin with? Because they are poor and resourceful. But they have no economy—and little hope of an economy—that can legitimately use their skills. So this is the way to go for them.

How did this mess start? Just look at African colonialism and the artificial division of regions and the hate/strife it's created.

And now flash forward to now. Internet is setup to help the region grow. Yet there is no clear path. So the only path is the one of scamming.

And we here in the "first world" with better tools skills take to "scam baiting" as a form of entertainment. So you know what? There's no explicit racism happening, but it's still a pretty sick form of entertainment that highlights race/class divisions.

Not acknowledging that reality is dangerous and a bit delusional.

Playing games with con artists might seem cute, but honestly does anyone want a shadow of a trail between you and someone who sees you as an income?

Just trash the e-mails and requests and ignore them.

anyone know WHY crows and starlings love shiny objects?

No idea. Anyone know how to keep the back of my iPod shiny? Must be shiny! Clean!

@#35 POSTED BY TAKUAN:

Jack, you miss the point. I even feel it possible that you are constitutionally incapable of seeing the point.

It's hard to balance your ironic posts from non-ironic posts and to understand what your actually saying of if you're just trying to stir the pot.

The point is simple: If somehow this same panic existed on another blog, others would call it out for what it is. As it stands, "...the mob has spoken."

@#30 POSTED BY TERESA NIELSEN HAYDEN
Teresa, I've never really had major issues with moderation on BoingBoing, but I think the behavior of you and Xeni in this thread highlights the worst aspects of overbearing moderation.

The initial issue is basically, BoingBoing was caught with it's pants down by practically posting verbatim a detailed—but zero depth report—of someone who barely understands the concept of malware when they state:

On my Windows XP workstation, I run Symantec Corporate Anti-virus, Zone Alarm Pro, as well as Spybot manually.

As someone who works on machines daily, I can honestly say this qualification is hilarious. Desktop based scanners are notoriously paranoid and notoriously throw up red flags based on not much. Anyone doing any level of tech work for at least a month knows that the second a red flag is raised isn't the second to claim there's an issue.

I'd like to think the tech-savvy BoingBoing know better than to echo statements based on that, but hey. We're human right?

And as far as admin/mod issues go, this echos a very similar issue many folks had with the high-profile "incident that shall not be named" that happened previously on BoingBoing earlier this summer. An issue in verifiability and honesty comes up, instead of coming clean, admins point fingers while silently "massaging" content and in the end attempt to get away with not simply admitting their errors.

Specific to this post, the comment #17 left by Xeni was edited after the fact at least once. The very last line that begins "A hysterical post..." was not their in the first version I saw of her response. It was edited after the fact. And it's a tad disturbing.

Anyone writing for BoingBoing has the ability to correct/edit their main post. That's cool and acceptable netiquette. I accept the fact I am but a lowly commenter. But when the author of the post then edits their own personal comments connected to the thread... That's taking advantage of abilities regular commenters don't have.

C'mon folks. You are an alpha blog and have great content. Why not just engage in the same kind of transparency that BoingBoing seems to demand of others. It's really disappointing to see folks who are bastions of freeness and openness not act the way they demand of others.

And we can agree to disagree about the Chinese malware issue, but my stance is simple: China is not the only country engaged in this kind of stuff and most people already know about China's questionable tech culture. So in my mind, the issue of Chinese malware is not news unless it can be verified; anyone visiting a Chinese site knows to watch out for falling malware. Why not sit and wait and then post when it can be verified?

HOAX?

I truly am at a loss for words to explain why this one word question is so invalid.

Neat, but this story about the birds stealing change dates back as far as 2002. The birds in question are not Crows, but Starlings.

@#16 POSTED BY TERESA NIELSEN HAYDEN

I don't see any evidence of racism or xenophobia

The xenophobia and possible racism I'm bringing up comes from the inherent fact that if this was not related to China, I do not think you'd be seeing the over-reaction and over-analysis of the supposed incident in question. BoingBoing is a U.S. based blog whose reporters are non-Chinese and mostly caucasian. Perhaps this is being oversensitive, but seriously would this be reported if it was a Flash screen saver for a U.S. baseball team?

Yes, malware is a plague. And malware should be brought to light, but I think it's the job of anyone reporting on this to downplay risk until facts can be confirmed. The headline implying malware from the get-go is the real issue. Perhaps something more along the lines of "What's Up With Beijing 2008 Screen Savers?" would be more appropriate. Pointing to the original blog post that inspired this post as the root of the confusion shuns responsibility. As a aggregator blog that filters through others and rises above the fray, BoingBoing should not fall prey to petty alarmism.

This is not only alarmist, bt bt xnphbc, myb rcst nd dfntly prnd. I'm sure other Flash-based screensavers results in the same Zone Alaram going all Chicken Little on you. But that's not mentioned until the update.

Rlly dsppntng. Let's calm down a bit until this stuff can be proven and not feed the flames of B.S.

I think smoking pot leads to potheads. And they are frightening.

Whoever owns this had better use it for a tryst with their paramour or else, what's the point?

I think Mad Men is fine, but without seeing the full episode, I think most people with half a brain can deduce there are some family/relationship issues Donald Draper is dealing with that echo in the slideshow being presented.

As far as nostalgia goes, I hate to say it but nostalgia, mortality and youth are key tools to a marketers trade. Heck, it all comes down to happiness as well; wasn't there a book about that?

A whole other thread can be spun on the topic, but marketing nowadays is fascinating. And Mad Men is fascinating because it brings many of the basic concepts and *cough* lies *cough* of marketing to the masses. Kudos for that!

JS7A, wow, that's amazing. A web form in 2008 that can't allow submissions? I'd accept it more if it were a PDF, but wow.

Wonder if any coders in the FBI know what a DOM tree is? Hint: It's not terrorism.

Okay, well I'll play then:

Here's a tree with a face on it I found in the neighborhood known Victorian Flatbush in Brooklyn:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jackszwergold/2223714628/

And here's a tree that reclaimed and devoured a "No Parking" sign in Jersey City:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jackszwergold/2234112768/

This is really not up to Boing Boing par. Or should we all get a sack of potatoes and see if one of them looks like a famous person from history.

@#6 (Clay):
Well, appliances are small enough nowadays to be better placed within furniture or fixtures. But sadly few designers do it well. I mean, look at iPod docks. They are all pretty much ugly as sin. Why? I don't know. But there is a whole world of possibility out there of some designer would just use their imagination and make it.

@#30 POSTED BY LYDIA9

To sum up, my issue is not with public vs private space, but with the fact that behavior in public spaces is, well, bad.

And behavior in public spaces can only get worse and worse the more you isolate people from each other based on petty issues.

A first class section of a plane or train is one thing. Complete isolation? Look, if you're going to do that, just drug people to sleep, stick them in a capsule, load them on a plane/train like cargo and then revive them at their destination.

Uggh, brilliant. A "womb" for adults.

I'm really getting sick of the idea of privacy in everything nowadays.

Whether you are aware of it or not, public spaces are getting smaller and smaller. I think in 10-20 years we're going to see more and more studies of the sudden rise in Asperger syndrome across the "civilized" world.

So can one unlock their Kellephogen with a special hex wrench?

Perfect for the man who has everything bt th hg f prnt nd dsprtly nds t fll hl wth xpnsv jnk.

I gotta tell ya, this thing might not be breaking any ground, but it was made to cater to kids of a certain age. Maybe 8-9? And I honestly find this stuff more fun to deal with than—let's say—reading another overwrought Wagnerian comic-book saga. Please, enough already. We know Batman lost his parents and now he's a rich psychopath; why am I watching this again.

Awesome stuff! Anyone know if any similar systems exist around the world, or is the S.F. system unique to S.F.?

@#44 (TAKUAN):
Again, your posts make little sense and ignore what I and others have said:

interesting, virtually everyone I know is mad in some way if you scratch deeply enough. Not one hundred percent, but damned near.

What you're presenting is the moral equivalency shorthand that would make what these sick women are doing "no big deal". Here's the deal. The vast majority of people in this world understand that encouraging the growth of a massive feral rat colony is dangerous to them and dangerous to others.

More susinctly, I know people who have issues. But at no time do their issues affect others in such a negative way. If a neighbor of mine who likes to drink each night, drinks each night I couldn't care less. If that same neighbor drinks all the time and makes life hard for others OR harms other people, I care.

There are tons of cat lady's I've met in the world. And more of them are simply the "I open a can of food and leave for the strays kind..." Those who hoard animals in the home are opening themselves to disease and if I were a property owner and they lived there, they would be doing damage to my property and I would act and have them evicted.

Anyway, a good witch burning brings the community together.

Give me a break. These two old women have put public health and safety in danger and their "way of life" has negative impacted others. This isn't a witch burning. There's far more evidence here of abuse, neglect and malice than any witch hunt I have ever read of. This is a case of two people who have chosen to be sociopaths to a level they danger others being taken to task.

And the true horrors is the small scale complicit nature of EVERYONE in local government and involved in the sale of this house. That is the true evil here. How this mess got to the level it did and to the point where nobody wants to take responsibility because the weight is too much for anyone to dare bear.

@#31 (TAKUAN)
I really don't understand the vast majority of the posts here. One second serious. The next second tongue in cheek. All arbitrary.

My personal theory on what motivates them is not mind reading in the least. This behavior is such an aberration on societal norms and such a negative towards others it's hard not to understand what their deal is.

More simply put: If I have a neighbor who lives in squalor and buys sacks of dog food to feed a colony of rats that is most likely filled with disease, that neighbor is bat-shit (rat-shit) insane and should be judged. In fact, I'm pretty positive that for all of their claims of "harassment" they love the attention.

it demeans yourself and society to presume to read their minds

It demeans society and is physically dangerous to others to make excuses for such clear breaches of sanity.

The reality is if the local bureaucracy worked, none of this would have been an issue. They would have been hospitalized and the property seized based on failure to maintain and their conscious creation of a public nuisance.

@#27 (TAKUAN)

suppose they lived in a remote cottage? And fed feral rats?

I think that it wouldn't be an issue then. But I generally believe in the rule of thumb: If a neighbor does something that doesn't harm others, they should be left alone. We all behave like that. Who knows what anyone's neighbors do? And who cares until it impacts others.

But in this case, I don't think they'd live in a remote cottage. Isolating themselves to that degree would mean they have the clarity of mind to know that what they do is a negative to their neighbors and they would be happier elsewhere.

But at the same time they know what they do is negative to their neighbors and they still do it. So in my mind, this is all one massive passive/aggressive way of getting attention. They probably crave the attention that they have gotten because they are basically sociopaths.

For them to do this without public attention would mean nothing. By living the way they do in the middle of a population that clearly opposes it they clearly are stating: Look at us!

Mixed in with the religious insanity I truly wonder what their childhood was like. That had to play a role in this mess.

Oh also, those claiming age and senility have an issue here, c'mon. Age is not an issue here if they have been hoarding things for decades. They are simply sick people who need help. And at least need to be removed from society for the damage they've done to their little part of it.

This is sick. The thing I need to disagree with is the implication that because these women never married and never had children, they hoarded rats (and other animals in the past) to fill that void. That's just a cloying lie. The reality is some people do have pets to fill voids: ONE pet. But they know their limits and they know how the difference between a human and an animal and act accordingly.

Someone who hoards animals to the point their house is uninhabitable is simply sick. They—in my estimation—have little to no ability to understand how hoarding can hurt the animals they claim to "love" and fail to recognize the dangers of their actions.

What is TRULY sick here is the inability of the Los Angeles local government to do anything. In NYC there are stories every few months of someone hoarding farm animals in a city home, and the police have NO problem getting in and doing the right thing.

It's sick that nobody on any level of that local government could have done anything. And it's sick they realtors did this.

And yes, there is an issue of due diligence on the part of the buyer, but c'mon. Who would expect something as sick as this? It's like asking a neighbor of John Wayne Gacy to "fess up" that they should have checked and made sure that no sociopaths lived next door.

I think all the talk about humanity being primitive and should not explore space until we get our "stuff" together flies in the face of history. When Columbus and others explored the Americas, was Europe stable? When people journeyed out west were the original U.S. colonies stable? Heck, should a teen in a dysfunctional home stay at home until the family becomes stable? Heck no!

I will say that anyone criticizing space exploration should compare it to the military budget. I don't have facts and figures, but I'm quite sure it cost less to explore Mars than it did bombing the hell out of other countries for questionable reasons.

So, here's a question as far as tolerances go. I've never seen this type of helicopter before. Could the same pilot do the same tricks in another helicopter with a different fuselage?

Also, does this pilot play the Cello by the lake while hawks fly by?

So, here's a question someone with a better understanding of geo-science can ascertain: So if there is evidence of water on Mars, which could lead to evidence of life at some point, would there be evidence of Martian oil made by Martian bacteria beneath the ground?

It doesn't seem that far fetched to me, and perhaps it would be a cool science fiction premise to have oil from Mars pulled out and sent to earth... And to be used in cars and vehicles that then do some wacky stuff because it's filled with alien oil?

Think about it.

Is this for Mall Ninjas on bikes? In complete agreement with #7, HARRKEV; a high concept with no practical use.

I'd rather see some new concepts in helmet designs because I'm pretty amazed how many people ride bikes without them nowadays.

I'm no big animal rights person, but can't they take a few good pictures of this sad thing and then give the monkey a proper burial or memorial? This monkey died for a money making scheme and deserves better.

I agree that aesthetics are not like they once were, but this guy basically has a patronizing attitude of "I know what looks best for everyone, I will save them!"

The most obnoxious part of this is the $15,000 price tag for the new sign. That seems too much. Then again, how tall and bright will this sign be? Maybe they want it taller—thus more cost to build the structure—to attract more patrons.

I love sign painting and personalized touches, but I'm not for patronizing other people's tastes. And this guy pushes the point a tad too hard.

So the Nano becomes the Mini?

Please tell me they will still make Shuffles. That's the best one there is.

I think there's a cultural aspect as well. Every Italian neighborhood in every city I have ever been to has always had gardens instead of lawns. In the part of Brooklyn I'm in, the nearby neighborhood of Carroll Gardens has historically been Italian and the majority of the brownstones built there were built specifically with huge front gardens in front of all houses.

Also, in the neighborhood I grew up in—Brighton Beach—there were tons of poor and working class families, but also TONS of gardens. One of my favorite things to do as a kid was wander in and out of the paths that cut neighborhood blocks to explore the neighborhood and see stuff like this.

Nowadays, the amount of paved over lawns/gardens is sickening. I remember the oil crisis of the 1970s and remember the gas lines. And I remember people cutting back. Nowadays? People are STILL driving SUVs and still paving over gardens to park their cars.

If you have the space to grow things, you should. Simple as that. And if parking is so important, well... Move to where you can do both.

Gawker also reports: Montauk "Dead Monster" Maybe Tied To Cartoon Network Show.

Sorry, but bio-degradable/bio-deshmadable. How about making shopping and garbage bags bio-degradable to begin with and avoid the cutesy.

Cute, but everything I have heard says that plastic cutting boards are the absolute worst if you want to avoid contamination. Wooden or bamboo boards are much better because whatever germs and bacteria you're worried about get into the wood and die. With plastic, yes the coating is "anti-bacterial" but it doesn't mean it kills the bacteria. It means it prevents it from getting in the plastic. So the bacteria and junk still lives on the surface ABOVE the anti-bacterial coating. So you MUST wash it. Wooden board? Let it just dry out and clean it and it's fine.

Plastic cutting boards are to cleaning as anti-bacterial soap is to bathing. One claims to do more good, but actually does nothing and might cause more harm.

The best line in the linked article is this:
"So if you are taking pictures at a birthday party of a group of restless children the software can swap their faces with versions of themselves with better or different expressions (smiles, no red eye) until you get a group picture you like (no one blinking)."

What a great way to mask the sadness of your dysfunctional family than to create images that pretend your kids still like you!

Uggh, sorry for the blockquote formatting.

#219 POSTED BY EH:

When balancing offenses and societal good, keep in mind that the cyclist was not wearing a helmet.

The vast majority of cyclists in NYC don't wear helmets. If this cyclist wore a helmet would it actually justify what happened?

In other news, police in Ozark, Mo Tasered a kid 19 times as he lay injured with a broken back and heel:

That's sick, but it's not the same cop and it's a prejudiced parallel.

By that logic you are really treating police with the same level of prejudice that you claim you are fighting.

Can you rest easy knowing this cop lost his badge and gun and has been placed on desk duty as they investigate what happened? Or would it just be better if they shot him dead in the street without an investigation at all?

Justin, Vaseline? On lots or Rubik's Cubes? Really?

Wait, apparently I am old thanks to what I am seeing from the kids on the YouTube.

@ #198 POSTED BY CHRIS TUCKER: Give me a break. People like you who polarize issues like this are no better than conservative loonballs who polarize others.

If the evidence exists to get this cop fired, then let that trail of evidence grow. But c'mon, you want to smear someone with no investigation? That's simply prejudiced.

@ #195 POSTED BY ANTINOUS:

There's video evidence of an assault.

And there's no public details as to what transpired beforehand. Maybe the big problem in this world is not enough people asking for evidence and details and instead impatiently wanting blood.

Isn't that mentality the reason the U.S. is in Iraq?

They still sell this on eBay. Just do a search for Cube-Lube. But it's now $3. What a bargain!

Well, if this means anything according to the Associated Press:
"The NYPD placed the unidentified officer on desk duty pending the outcome of a department investigation."

@ EPHZERO, if that was the case, why was the rider in question charged with assault. If it's an accident, it's an accident but this was just weird.

This is brutal and nasty if what we're seeing is the whole story. But something doesn't add up at all about what happened. This is not just a Critical Mass ride—which is well documented by the riders to avoid these kind of things—but it's in Times Square and with tons of people looking on and filming/photographing.

Either this cop is just a complete idiot, or there's something that was happening when the cyclist approached that's missing.

Could it be that the cyclist did something earlier in the ride, and then someone radioed his description in and this cop spotted him and shoved him to arrest him?

FWIW, I think the NYPD has been a bit harsh on Critical Mass riders, but I'd really like to hear the fully story about this or at list see a front angle of this happening.

This will totally change everything.

And spook neighborhood dogs.

Gateway built reliable machines back in the days when getting a 486 CPU was exciting. And those were nice machines. Except for the boxes. THOSE DAMNED COW BOXES!

I had my first "out of college" job as a PC support guy in a cubicle maze of an office, and coming through with a cart of "cow" boxes meant being bugged by every co-worker out there who thought they needed one sooner than the other guy.

Just brown box any corporate order folks. Believe me, we know what brand in there.

@ SYNCROTIC, you know Kennedy beat Nixon because Nixon looked like a sweaty weasel on TV.

Who knew what would happen when he finally got to office!

CAZSSIEW, nice tips on Paris. The thing to also realize in the U.S. is two things killed small mom & pop toy stores. The big chain stores like Sears and Kmart came in. But more importantly, in the late-1970s there was a craze to "protect the children" from so-called "dangerous" toys. So the end result is getting models, model paints and glue if you were a kid required an adult. And ANY toy that had parts on them that could cause a choking hazard could not be sold to children. So what you have now are tons of "kid safe" toys that just are not as cool. And the idea of "hacking" and playing with toys beyond the specs? Can't happen. Heck, getting small novelty toys at the counter of a store like this used to be a standard thing. Not now... You might choke on it!

I'm happy to have grown up with toy stores that didn't patronize to kids. It's a subtle difference, but to me modern toy stores treat kids like stupid lumps of meat who don't know how to take care of themselves.

CAZSSIEW, Toy Tokyo is okay. And Love Saves the Day is okay... But honestly seem to have the exact same stock they had in 1985.

What I am personally lamenting is the loss of small mom & pop toy stores that used to be everywhere! Not chains or pseudo chains, but basically drug stores and news stands with large toy sections and true businesses devoted to selling toys. And comic/toy stores like Forbidden Planet in NYC don't exactly count.

For example, in NYC there was a small toy chain called The Last Wound Up that strictly sold wind-up toys. The existed for a decent amount of time in the 1980s. And personally for me there used to be Second Childhood on Bleecker Street that sold old, old, old timey toys as well as Japanese toys back in the 1970s/1980s. They closed recently and it's a bit of a mindblower in todays "fun = youth" culture to talk to the owner of the place (who was in his 80s) about vintage Japanese toys. And to hear him talk proudly of all the pre-Transformers Transformer toys he had.

Just imagine going to a neighborhood coffeeshop that you can hang out in. But instead of coffee and muffins and WiFi... It's just devoted to toys and has a staff that knows what they sell.

On that note, here's a commercial for a classic small U.S. toy store selling cool Japanese toys in the 1980s.

Since Neil is off the motorcycle, back in the band, and remarried, I suspect he's dealt with those issues and moved on.

I think the only one who needs to lighten up a bit is you. The death of a child and a spouse in the same year is not something that just leaves you. And it's never something one "gets over"; that's the biggest myth on earth. What most people who suffer tremendous loss learn to do is learn how to move on past the loss... And become aware of how it affects them and you know what... Those people change.

It's like losing an arm; you learn to adapt.

Also, watching Rush play Rock Band really makes it painfully clear how sad playing Rock Band can be.

The only place a shop like this could exist today is Tokyo.

Do you mean because of the specific nature of the stuff being sold? Or the old-timey layout of the store?

To be honest with you, you're right on both counts. There are few—if any—true hobby stores left anymore. And the ones that remain are focused on RC cars, trains and ... ? That's it.

But in all honesty with the rise of small boutiques and urban vinyl toys, there might still be a niche for that.

Maybe they should wear green t-shirts and say they are doing it to save the planet?

Between small bottles of junk being confiscated because of "security" and little green leaf logos being placed on everything to make you feel like you saved the environment, I'm pretty disgusted at the basic intelligence of most folks nowadays.

GRUMP!

I like the way all the cats are very casual about the tortoise approaching. As if "What the heck can shell boy do?"

Kudos upon kudos for this.

Regarding the complaints about Microsoft sponsorship, I'll say the reasons to accept their money and use it for good are valid. But what about BoingBoing setting up a "tip jar" so people who complain can put their money where their trolling mouths are.

That chimp had a monkey on his back!

Those folks must really hate watermelons.

"Son, I just met these two guys: Bill Hanna & Joe Barbera. We're going to be rich!"

comments pointing out how this stuff is old hat are part of a really old tradition of trolls and their wondrous insights. Am I the only one sick of it?

It's not trolling to express respect that the book might be good, but I—and others—have had enough of the junkie memoir.

FWIW, when James Frey's A Million Little Pieces tons of people I respect would not hear one ounce of criticism against it. I thought it was okay, but his stories were too perfect and too neat. And I said as much... And was shot down... And now, we all know the deal with James Frey.

David Carr's story is probably great and heartfelt and 100% true, but as BOOKYLOO (#33) said:
"I hate to say it, but people who get fucked up and do crazy shit will ALWAYS be interesting to read about."

Actually voyeurism always sells. And nowadays the "reality" culture of entertainment we live in places people who splay themselves out on a higher pedestal than others sells even more. That's why stuff like this just doesn't interest me. No matter how good the book is it's a part of a larger cultural frenzy that dictates, "We don't care what you do unless you destroy yourself. Then that's entertainment!" And to me, it's the reason why modern entertainment is so wretched; creativity is actually punished in mass media.

Also, ANTINOUS (#3) I really don't get how quantity of e-mails in a personal mailbox means much. Especially with regards to a piece hyped in the New York Times. Well, it could mean that such books sell. But by the same token, so does porn.

Actually, when I refer to a "magical junkie" story I do so in the same way I refer to the "magical retarded/mentally challenged person" story in films like Forrest Gump, Slingblade & Radio. Even if there is no stated great insight at the end of the book, there is an implied insight of "Wow, this guy/gal was a screw up and now they aren't..."

I'm sure this book is better than most—and is probably quite good—but nowadays the tales of junkies and their woes can almost be a genre in and of itself.

This book sounds more real than others *cough* James Frey *cough*, but am I the only one getting a wee worn out my books about magical junkies and their wondrous insights?

@ #16 RED LEATHERMAN:
Well, at least Seagate erased them in some way. Every drive I every pulled out of the junk heap has been 100% un-erased.

FWIW, and might be a tangent, but is there any sure fire way to erase a cell phones memory before reselling or donating it? I know there are factory reset options, but it seems to me that data would be as vulnerable—if not more—than a hard drive.

Two things here everyone should know about retail:

1) If you don't get what you want or don't like the service of a place, just leave. Yeah, you might suffer the stink-eye (at least) from a server/proprietor, but in 10 minutes it's all over and nobody cares. Especially when it comes to coffee shops. I don't care where in the U.S. you are, there is always choice in coffee shops. So be an active consumer.

2) In the world of retail, if you're under the age of 50 and speak out against a customer, you'll suffer. People don't like young owners sassing back. But post-50? You can be a 100% opinionated jerk and people find it charming! Check out any "famous" old establishment and that's always the case. Here in NYC there are more than a few "wonderful" old timey places with cantankerous coots and people love it! Even if the food/product is mediocre.

Also, while I haven't had coffee in over 8 years, I find iced coffee fiends to be some of the most obnoxious folks around. Somehow the idea that you're having something 1% better than a bottle of cola goes to the heads of iced coffee folks.

Okay, this is all cool and interesting, but does anyone out there ever pull hard drives out of junked PCs like I do? I'm no dumpster diver or hardcore hacker, but if someone tosses a machine on the curb and I can reach in and get the hard drive, I'll snag it.

Now here's the sad reality folks. Most people don't encrypt ANYTHING on their hard drives. And yeah I'm basing this on my personal experience, but before we start worrying about deep hacks like this, perhaps everyday folks should learn how to boot from a CD and then wipe a drive. Most people don't in any way at all.

Ugggh, I am embarrassed by my spelling. No Xylophone Hero.

Someone needs to dig up e-mails on ATI price fixing on Mac versions of video cards when compared to PC versions. Most vividly I remember the ATI Radeon 8500 cards selling for $225+ while PC versions of the exact same cards went for less than $75. The only difference was the boot ROM on the card, and a whole community of ATI flashers popped up to convert PC cards to Mac.

On many Mac boards—most notably XLR8YourMac—ATI reps and techs would make long winded explanations about the who/how/what/when/where/why of cost. But when you came down to it, it was price fixing to rake Mac users over the coals. AKA: The "Mac" tax.

Ditto with Apple themselves charging $200 for a SuperDrive DVD-R when they were as low as $50 a pop direct from any OEM seller selling Pioneer or SONY drives. No special ROM. No nothing. And what was disturbing in that case is initially IIRC Apple got a bulk discount deal on SuperDrives for the G4s at the time so they were cheaper than initial retail. But as the tech became more common, the retail price went down but the Apple OEM price stayed in the stratosphere.

Nowadays if you think you are paying too much, you are. And if you own a Macintosh and think that you need to pay more for some "official" part (RAM, Hard Drive, etc...) you are being ripped off.

No Zylophone Hero or Jew's Harp Hero.

What did that pickle do to deserve that?

Very cool! Can someone bring back LED screens? Seriously. I have an old LED calculator on my desk I use all the time because I also enjoy sunlight and nothing is more eyestraining than to try and read dark gray text on a light gray background.

What amazes me is why even make a clone. Apple does charge a premium, but honestly it's not as high as it once was. RAM, Hard Drives, Optical Drives and even CPUs are generic. Ditto with external drives. It's 2008. There's no benefit in time or energy to do this.

I paid a bit more for my Mac and I'm happy. Same with others. Only hardware geeks who are penny-wise & pound-foolish would even think of using a hacked machine like this.

You know, if you look at the setup, the hamster could have "teh niblet" when it's in it's house and pulls up "teh string".

Gotta agree with Felix (#7), the piece is quite patronizing. Especially this line:

The Indian retail economy is structured around clusters, with the best bargains and widest variety to be found in hubs where everyone is selling the same thing.

Yes, that's only in the "Indian retail economy", right? Not paralleled elsewhere in centralized markets that sell similar things. Like a farmer's market, a garment district or a diamond district.

Also, the vast majority of what the guy in the picture is supposedly "selling" seems like pure junk. The homeless guys on Lower Broadway in Manhattan wouldn't even touch that stuff.

Will it have built in cat/foot/non-grass detection?

@#35 PHIKUS

Shake the Crime Stick!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuPXymJEldE

Folks, any job where you are on your own and deal with large amounts of cash has more people carrying guns than not.

Heck, the owner of the art supply store near my school in Brooklyn had shotgun under the counter back in the late 1980s. Most bar owners have a gun or weapon of some sort as well.

But will say this. The whole video is worthy of parody. If only Mr. Show were still on the air.

@ #4 POSTED BY FUTURATRONICS , JULY 4, 2008 1:46 PM
Yes, the film itself has fallen into the public domain, but the way I understand all other versions restored afterwards are controlled under copyright since those restored versions are controlled under copyright.

So if you find a 16mm film source of Metropolis and digitize it, you are free and clear. But if you take the 1984 "rock" version and dupe it, you are breaking the law.

In the case of this new footage, it depends on who releases it and what they want to do.

But my general feeling with classic films is you truly get what you pay for. So if you simply want to torrent an AVI, go ahead. But if you want an HDTV version you should pay for that kind of transfer and conversion.

I'm now a bit unsettled at how many kitten video views will be connected to me.

Does it speak Bocce?

@ 24 Cory:

Devo doesn't want anyone to think they sold out to a corporation.

We're not talking about a Dischord Records band or a scrappy DIY upstart. Devo signed to Warner Brothers Records—a corporation—in 1976.

Post-Devo, Gerald Casale directs commercials and Mark Mothersbaugh has composed music for commercials.

Devo was NEVER a non-commercial/non-corporate band.

The issue with this lawsuit is simply trademark infringement. If they were asked for permission to use this caricatured version of them as a toy, I don't think they'd say yes... But I'm not sure they'd say no.

Love them, but they are far from indie. They are as commercial as any other act, they just dress it up a bit differently.

You think those are bad, check this out:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jackszwergold/348535496/

I can already see this boxed, and untouched at local Salvation Army/Goodwill/Saint Vincent DePaul stores nationwide.

#12 POSTED BY HALLOWEEN JACK:
And the Swastika was a symbol in Hinduism before that loonball Nazi grabbed it for his own use. And the Confederate flag was a proud symbol of Southern independance... And white supremacy. How do you explain Big Daddy Roth's SS decal?

Regardless I stand by my statement. Big Daddy Roth was basically a very talented artist, and a shameless counter-cultural opportunist. But I'm still a bit disturbed by the tons of Nazi symbolism in the work he sold.

Appreciate the art, but don't delude yourself.

Apropos to NYC street urination, here's the deal in 2008: Homeless folks can get locked up for public urination. Thus, all over the city in the morning you can find plastic bottles filled with urine just rolling in the gutters. That doesn't apply to frat boys who have taken up the public peeing slack by doing it wherever they can.

Looking at this picture all I can think of is that guys grandfather saying the exact same thing thatthe old guy said in 40-Year-Old Virgin after "the virgin" rode off:

"That boy needs to get laid!"

Someone's brown-nosing for a promotion.

#4 POSTED BY UGLY CANUCK:
I agree to a point, but Japanese culture has a unique respect towards objects and the time/effort people place in creating or cultivating those objects. Whereas in America, land used to plant things is looked on as a "place holder" before something else happens.

I'm not a Japanophile, but that apsect of their culture really makes me admire them very much. And respect them even more. More power to people who do this!

Everyone debating the morality of the decals misses the point. Big Daddy Roth was a talented opportunist. He sold decals with the Star of David and then also sold an Iron Cross decal as well. Kind of disturbs me how many German/Nazi and racist stuff outnumbers the other stuff, but I'
m willing to let this slide.

Now, on the topic of Von Ducth...

I'm with CERONOMUS; to me action figures have to have articulation. Otherwise they are just plastic statues.

Zuzu, you have some good points. And I think there is a larger issue of schools world-wide not educating students on the basics of personal economics and finance. I really wish someone would actually push to explain that beyond the simple "start saving early".

Imagine if people actually understood this stuff? The U.S. might not be in the financial mess it's in now.

I'd recommend putting that through a Brita before tasting.

I also would like to see some Martian water speculative fiction.

I'm not too sure where I heard/read it—maybe the This American LIfe on the mortgage crisis?—but the vast majority of these technical schools are tuition loan fraud mills.

The way it works is that ANYONE who signs up gets connected to some student loan company. The "university" collects the loan money and the weight of paying it back is placed on the student. When all is said and done, they do get a worthless degree, but the goal of getting "cleaned" loan money is achieved.

That's also the reason why lots of these places go out of business. The supposed school declares "bankruptcy", disappears with the student loan money and all that's left is a lot of suckers... Um "students" who now have to pay back the loans they've taken out for crappy education.

Get ready for the rapture, folks!

Wait, so the goats are not "happy mutants"?

Oh! Oh! Just don't believe I missed this. Someone please get this doll checked for lead paint!

"So, I see you are Jewish... Please contact manufacturer for an RMA."

Scary, but is it unexpected?

Then again there's no copy protection in the world that's safe from a bunch of teens with free time and caffeinated soda.

In the book "The Tipping Point", the author describe how they started cracking down on turnstile-hoppers in NYC.

Yes and no. Malcolm Gladwell makes a decent argument, but ignores the fact that the subway jumper crackdown was just part of a larger plan started under the Dinkins administration and then followed through during the Giuliani administration of simply cleaning up NYC in general.

so you can't bring a bag on the train; wear a big coat with lots of pockets

Yeah, but guess what? Despite all of these efforts, NYC has MORE people (literally) crapping on NYC subway platforms than I ever remember back-in-the-day, and homeless folks with TONS of bags and junk are still riding the trains without issue.

Oh, and the WTC site is still a big hole in the ground 7 years later despite NYC having a massive real estate/construction boom.

Complete tangents but related. Please Obama, be our president already.

The MTA and NYC police have been doing this in NYC since shortly after 9/11. But here is the irony. They ONLY man stations that have active token booths and multiple turnstiles. If you go to a station that has just an entry turnstile or a station agent, no bag searches. It's ridiculous.

And as far as "big brother" goes, the newer Japanese made train cars in NYC play a pre-recorded message about being aware of your surroundings, being alert and—generally—being paranoid.

We're really this close to a true Blade Runner dystopian environment in NYC.

Surprised nobody mentioned The Sims as a reference point.

Did Roman's have graph paper?