I'm not sure this is CGI (if by GCI you mean a 3-D wire frame model). Looks more like photographs of this woman with different expressions, then blended together with PS and Flash.

And #21 is right about the eyes. They should cross just a little when they are looking down, etc. If they had worked on the eyes a little more I think it would have reduced the creepy factor. But I don't really find her that creepy, especially when compared to the uncanny work in Beowulf or or that Tom Hanks Christmas Train wreck who's name escapes me.

#358 in reply to #270 said: "Is this the best you can do? These are junior high school tactics, and you're just wasting my time."

Is that now one of the rules? That we don't waste your precious time? Technogirl had some valid points and kept it civil. You're not moderating, you're trying to pick fights with people. Try to stay on topic or respond to something someone said without resorting to "junior high school tactics" yourself.

#263 said "it only works provided that the moderator isn't making snide and unhelpful comments herself."

This is the heart of my problem with Teresa's moderation style. It isn't really moderation any more when you're getting into petty fights with people, calling them out for their spelling mistakes or picking their comments apart point by point.

@ #216 You’ve had run-ins with me? And you’ll name more names later? What is that exactly? That’s neither on topic or a response to something I said. That’s just taking a jab at someone. You say you want intelligent conversation but how quickly you’ll roll around in the mud with the rest of us.

Me, #28 Sparkzilla, I've been disheartened and I agree with your comment completely.

Longest post ever! Teresa Nielsen Hayden, is this really necessary? On the better message boards I frequent, the moderator is seldom heard from. When there is a problem, they post a quick two-sentence explanation and disaapear for another month or so. Your moderation style is a bit too vocal and I really don't like your style. You try to be a group leader rather than a moderator. You participate when you should moderate. And you were at the center of the Hampster/Windows Mobile debacle which was handled about as horribly as anything I've seen on any message board evah.

Now your commentary is spilling over to the front page where it is hard to ignore. Never in the history of all the Internets have I ever seen anyone take front page space to post a massive moderation policy. Me thinks you should just get your own website.

I'm glad I read Mr. MacNeil's article. As a 3D artist, I'll be boycotting Turbo Squid from now on. They are seriously misinformed and it makes me wonder what other areas for their business this stupidity cares over to. Are they this stupid with my credit card numbers or personal information?

As for Lockeed Martin and Ford, are these the actions of the company or just their over-zealous legal team trying to create billable hours?

Hamster's Lunch rears it's ugly head again. (This comment was posted with Microsoft Windows Mobile™)

Exactly Twoshort, if this was attached to my fork and disc rotor, three hex bolts are all that's keeping someone from walking away with most of my bike. I just don't see how this lock would be a good idea. You need something that will go through both wheels and your frame. for those serious about bike security, use a U-lock (not one that can be hacked with a plastic pen!) AND a cable lock. Even then crafty thieves can still take your handle bars and your seat. The best security is not to let your bike out of our dight for long, or ride a cheap POS when your bike will be locked up all day.

I wonder how much Microsoft paid boingboing to sponsor the new Windows Mobile blogging "feature"?

I'm with you Panda. The MS ads are icky. I never thought I'd see ads masquerading as stories on boingboing. My visits have dropped off over the last few days. Now I'm just visiting to see what people are saying about the bb/MS marriage. Looks like they are having a fabulous honeymoon in L.A.

I'm not saying I won't be back, but I'll never feel the same way about this blog, especially after the way this was handled.

I really like you Mark but your response was a little condescending.

- Boing Boing's been running ads for years...
I know BoingBoing has been running ads for years, no need to talk down to us. Up until now though you've never embedded a MS logo in a story. I notice it has now been removed. Nice job. But none the less, while it was there I had a huge problem mixing advertising with content. and I'm still a little wary of the whole Widows Mobile sponsored blogging thing.

- This kind of sponsorship ...
I guess you could say that but I don't exactly remember you taking your other advertisers to task for their draconian practices. Can't you see that when Cory stands up against MS's DRM and then you run an ad by them embedded in a story it seems like a conflict of interest. Just sayin'... Do a search for Microsoft on BB and there is page after page of stories critical of them.

- In fact, Hewlett-Packard sponsored...
Don't know how I missed that but somehow I doubt there was an HP logo where the content should be. I'll building a time machine right now so I can go back and complain. Happy?

-- In further fact, this kind of advertising...
We freaking realized it already! But BoingBoing to me just isn't just "another major weblog." You guys are heros to me. You do great work and some of us out here really look up to you. Whether you realize it or not, your blog has taken a stance on things. Does open source ring a bell? A tad bit anti-DRM are we? I'd like to see you choose responsible advertising partners that share the same ideals, not just the one's who sling around the most money.

-- The presence of major advertisers and...
But that still doesn't mean you can't pick and choose responsible advertising partners. And you cite old media as an example, but I've cancelled my Wired subscription because it has become one big ad with a few stories in the back. Don't you get it? People just don't like to be advertised to. A mobile post sponsored by MS says to me, "Oooo look what you can do with Widows Mobile!" and detracts from the story you're trying to tell, even if it is just a super-cute hamster snack toy.

-- Finally, and most importantly...
Glad to hear it. But what will happens if you run an article critical of one of your major advertisers? Won't the fact that you're getting paid by them at least cross your mind?

Questions answered Mark, but it is a little surprising you didn't stop and think of the effect a MS logo embedded in an MS sponsored Widows Mobile story would have on your loyal reader base.

I am posting this in protest over boingboing's decision to censor the negative comments about the new Microsoft Windows Mobile sponsorship. Really low class bb. The editors deleted the entire comments section of the first Windows Mobile post a few stories down. I thought you bb might try to explain themselves rather than delete the negative criticism. If you want your loyal readers to keep coming back and trusting what you write you owe us an explanation. You must know that with the kind of ideals this blog aspires to, you just can't throw up a Microsoft logo and a MS sponsored post without telling us what the hell you're thinking. What's going on at bb? Was there a Coup d'état while Cory is on Paternity leave?

@#18

Looks like someone watched Man On Fire on too many times. It was fiction by the way, not a documentary. I'd love to see the statistics on how often someone's kid gets kidnapped, a finger mailed to them and the cops catch someone who knows where the child may be. You're living in your own sick little dream world. Why don't you just torture yourself if you like it so much.

Like I've said before in this forum, they torture not to get information, but to get them to sign confessions that justify the war on terror. Example: They accuse you of being a member of Al Queda. You of course are not a member of the mostly fictional terror organization. Then they torture you for days on end. They ask again, "Are you a member of Al Queda?" "Will you stop torturing me if I say yes? Because I'll do anything if you'll stop waterboarding me." Sure they say, we'll stop, just sign this confession. Now they run to the higher-ups waving the confession as proof that the W.O.T. is working. This is the new America.

U.S. civilians killed by terrorism, foreign and domestic from 1980-2007: under 6,000. (this includes 9-11, Oaklhoma, Lockerby, etc...)
Soure: U.S. State department Website.

U.S. citizens murdered in U.S. by other Americans in 2006: 17,034
Source: FBI Website

So in 20 years less than 6,000 U.S. civilians are killed by terrorism. In ONE year, Americans murdered 17,034 of their own countrymen. And I'm suppose to be scared of who?

The war on terror is a joke. It is nothing more than a plot by the Bush Administration and all their rich defense contractor friends to bleed America dry, and it is working. 20 Billion dollars alone went to "Unidentified Foreign entities" for "miscellaneous items". How many more billions went to protect us from something that is less likely to happen than getting struck by lighting?

BoingBoing 0wnz0red by H0nda, 0H N0ES! This clearly marks the beginning of end times! Blackwater called, they want piece of yr action too! To tag posts that fit the categories of "security," "freedom," and "profiteering."

Peally? Pow! Pery Pool.

I had no idea Paul was dead. I'm sitting here utterly shocked.

Now the claim is "dozens" of your so-called "hicks" saw this thing. "It was very intense bright lights ... and they spanned a wide area," said one woman. That sounds like a pretty honest observation. So rather than just make fun of these people, what do you think they saw? Is there something the military isn't telling us? If it was just a practice run, flying in formation, why not just say so? Or was it a large transport craft flown at night to avoid detection?
There have been too many of these sightings over the years to dismiss as a bunch of stupid "hicks" mistaking an airplane for a giant craft. Also there are plenty of documents uncovered through FOIA requests that show the military has encountered some pretty weird stuff over the years. I like how the article says the Air Force doesn't investigate UFO sightings any more. Probably because they know what they are.

@ moderator: What you you mean "show up on satellite"? Do you mean satellite weather photos? Spy satellite? Or actually on a satellite, hanging there yelling "wooohoo!" as his buddy takes a shot of him goofing off for the folks back home. :)

What can I say, I was hungry...

Cartoon characters! Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

Can we get a unicorn chaser with those toenails please?

I bet I know what Xeni wants for Christmas! I can see little Goatse-themed gifts under a wreath which has red ribbons pulling outward.

Nope, now she just jackhammers so fast you can't see it without the use of special cameras.

Don't hate me for saying this, but considering how incredible most of eBoy's art is, this wrapping paper is kinda lame. Again, sorry eBoy! Maybe I'll just buy one of their posters to wrap my gifts in.

Last week, within 48 hours of each other, two people in my hometown of Jacksonville, FL died after being tased. Both men were unarmed. One ran from police, not sure about the other.

This is video illustrates perfectly how out of control the use of tasers has become. The office could have written "Refused to sign ticket". Instead the officer thought the offense was so great the man's life needed to be placed at risk. (falling on his head, falling near the white line on the side of the road.) If the officer didn't have a taser, what was he going to do? Shoot the guy? How about talking to him. Novel idea, huh?

Let's not forget, this is the same tower featured in Neal Stephenson's System of the World that Jack ziplined down.

REALCATHOLICMEN,

Osi was advocating slaughtering most Muslims, blood running in the streets, etc... Shame his posts were deleted. He was nuttier than your average troll.

Advice for OsiNoche: Before you go on your genocidal, rivers of blood thing, run this by your parents, doctor and neighborhood police officer. They can help in ways you may not have thought about yet. Don't forget to tell them the part about the slaughtering, it'll go over huge, I promise.

Question for everyone else: Is this kid just talking big or does he pose a real threat to his community? It is pretty reckless to go on a public forum and openly say you want murder people. He's paranoid, delusional and wants to commit acts of violence. He sounds like another national tragedy waiting to happen.

Osinoche, the same Osinoche who posts on Occultforums and RPGNet? The 23 year-old restaurant manager from Birmingham Alabama? Stop fronting like you're some tough guy. It is clear you're only a kid who is struggling with his identity and occasionally has trouble with his D-Link router. Go start a racist fifty-year war somewhere else please.

Of course torture doesn't work as an intelligence-gathering device. They use it for more ominous reasons. After reading much about Canadian Rendition Victim Maher Arar it became apparent to me why they torture people. They use torture to extract false confessions and then use these confessions as justification for the War on Terror. Rendition victims are forced to sign statements saying they are members of the mostly fictional world-wide terror network Al-Qaeda, or they are forced to implicate others as members of said Terror Network. For example, Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi's false confession, saying Iraq had WMDs and links with Al-Qaeda, were used as justification for the war in Iraq.
Another reason they torture is that they get off on it. It makes them feel strong to cause suffering. It makes them feel like they are getting revenge on the "evil-doers."

For those on this forum who seem to think torturing people is somehow justifiable I say to you, seek a mental health provider. You've got serious issues to deal with. You don't understand the difference between right and wrong which is a major cornerstone of sanity. When your ideals are in line with some of the most horrid regimes in history, you might want to take a look inside yourself and figure out where it all went wrong.

I believe the original made a brief appearance during Princess Caroline's birthday party in Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle Volume 2: The Confusion.

Does this REALLY include THE PILOT? The one where Bob is stabbing Laura Palmer in the boxcar and the camera slowly backs away? One of the creepiest moments in TV history. If so, I'm glad I've waited until now.

"goldanged"? For those who don't speak Maude Flanders, translation: holy fucking shit!

T #33 "Ths s mrc nd vlnc s nt n ccptbl rspns t dffrncs f pnn r glb cmmnts."

h, w pcfl mrcns! W'd nvr hrt fly! Y mght wnt t gt dwn ff tht hgh hrs brthr. t my nt b ccptbl ndr th rck whr y lv, bt t sms lk mst mrcns lv thr vlnc. Try pssbly trnng n th TV r rdng nwsppr. W lv n cntry tht glrfs vlnc. S pls, ngh f "Ths s mrc..." 'm nt sr tht frylnd y spk f vr xstd.

When did they drop the "Al" from their name? Now they're just Qeada? (Base in english) These guys can't even get their branding right and I'm suppose to be afraid of them?

I bought one of these and I'm sorry to say it was a waste of money. The parts didn't fit together well and it ate a 9volt battery in a day. Utterly useless.

So brilliant someone already thought of this. They used to sell something similar at Garrett Wade, but without the plasticy parts. Honestly though, hammering a nail is such a basic skill, if you need this then you should probably just use a screw.

Geez, what's up with the spoiler intro? A rube goldberg machine should explain itself by the very act of operating.

And a Star Wars rube goldberg machine should have more Star Wars. Poor Boba Fett, so alone on his zip line, er... jetpack.

Exactly, how could anyone equate the Bush administration with fascism? Someone please taze this trader, lock her up and throw away the key!

Thanks Snappergrass for #139. Boo indeed.

From the first paragraph of the AP story...

"BOSTON - An MIT student wearing what turned out to be a fake bomb was arrested at gunpoint Friday at Logan International Airport and later claimed it was artwork, officials said."

What turned out to be a "fake bomb"? They call this reporting? Shouldn't it read "what turned out to be wearable homemade electronics".

A fake bomb would be what they found in the hospital during the Mooninite scare, which wasn't related to the Mooninite ad campaign. I don't have a link but maybe someone remembers this.

Oh here, from Wikipedia...

"According to Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis, phony pipe bombs were also discovered that day, one inside Tufts-New England Medical Center."

Hopefully Congress will act quickly and pass an amendment condemning her actions.

Oh, so you're the Gadgets guy. I'm really loving this new addition to BoingBoing. Keep up the good work new guy, err.. Joel.

Who is Joel Johnson? Are you new here? If not, sorry I've never noticed you. If so, welcome aboard. Now stop acting guilty by saying you have nothing to hide. EVERYONE has something to hide.

Frak indeed. What a strange way to run a business.