Pretty lame. Kinda like the Dr. Who series themselves.

Thanks for posting this boing boing. Now we are gonna see titanium encapsulated rfid chips.

Wow. And Branson calls himself a progressive. If I wanted restricted access I'd buy Compuserve or Prodigy - oh wait - they went out of business, didn't they?

Imagine if they legalized pot, then all conversations could be like that.

I went to the Tiki Room in the seventies and was mesmerized by it. Disneyland was truly a magical experience back then. I went back a couple of years ago, and got the impression that it's nothing more than a dirty theme park. The Tiki Room didn't hold the same magic, perhaps because I have become so technology aware.

Another thing, they need to now intigate a "anti-signoff" message saying "ok, we're gonna put crap on the air for another 10 hours now."

And if you put anything alongside/with Henry Mancini it's gonna be good. I seem to be returning to the music of my farther.

That would not be the oldest sign off. It clearly is beaten by a couple of others. I think the flag with "America the Beautiful" being played in the backgound with (sometimes) a jet fly over would be at least as old. This certainly is one of the nicest. Also, before colorbars, there was the "indian."

Let this decision be a signpost to others who receive cease and desists from corporations trying to silence them.

There is no doubt that it has a skilled craftmanship, but I question somewhat the aesthetics of this piece. I suspect that after seeing so much steampunk on boing boing i have become critical.

Lots of armchair economists posting to this thread. The fact of the matter everything has a relative value. So the dollar tanks and we all start to learn how to barter and only accept gold dust as payment. The fact is, a car will likely always be worth more than a handful of carrots.
That said, I too am disappointed in the state of the economy. And how, amazingly, the democratic candidate that represents business as usual is sucessfully gaining traction with a win at all costs strategy.

First appeared in Star Trek TOS Operation Annihilate;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation:_Annihilate

Or otherwise known as the flying omelletes. Quite scary actually.

wow. And I'm not just talking about the thong.

Franky I'm disapoointed by this and would expect better from an expensive conference like this.
The problem is that terrorists don't really even need to go to all the bother of engineering a nuke. Because what they do is make a bomb like Timothy McVeigh did and put in some junk from an old Xray machine inside the truck, and presto! You have everybody screaming about how they nuked us and then we have Patriot Act Deep Throat edition.

If I wanted to see something like this, I'd find those old "Duck and Cover" commercials floating around on Youtube.

Pics or it didn't happen.

I disagree with Xeni on many things, but at least she has her spending priorities straight. But I can't help but wonder if the tickets included a hot lunch date with Matthew McConaughey (or similar type) if her mind wouldn't change suddenly;
http://www.boingboing.net/2008/01/24/ted-pass-on-ebay.html

^^These photos are from around the net, and the last photo is not in bolivia but of a similar road in China, though it is not as bad (imo) as the Bolivian road. One has to wonder how a government lets a road like the one in Bolivia stay open.

@86 "This is the same shit theists pull with atheists...wah wah wah, you're trying to take our delusions away from us. NO. We just don't happen to believe it and we don't think you should be able to peddle your shit where people DON'T want it"

I have to take issue with this bigoted statement. Your argument was going along so well until your frothy hate torwards theists bubbles forth. No where in the constitution is "freedom to smoke" is written. But freedom of religion, assembly, and speech is. Smokers are wrong purely from an health standpoint, which has been scientifically proven. Everybody peddles "shit" in one form or another, it's just that smoker's crap causes cancer.

@77 "These militant non-smokers are just like the religious right. They don't think you should do something so they're perfectly willing to take away your freedom of choice to do it"

Wow, an earlier comparison by a smoker to the "evil" religious right. Boy they seem to be the dumping ground for all sorts of ills. The problem is with this post is that the "cult of good health" beats out the "cult of I'm gonna smoke where I damn well please" every time. The choice is quite obvious to me.

People's lives are simply better without smoking in public spaces. This really has nothing to do with the freedom to smoke in private even. You don't need to be bigoted torwards the religious to prove your point.

I like the idea of a raffle, that gives some of us economically challenged people a chance.

@1 It's not the hard drive, but the *DRAM* that this hack targets, and there is (at this time) no prevention against it.

I suggest using a motion sensor with squids on the ram. Just my opinion. Another thing - All those Blu-ray discs are now officially hacked, even if they haven't been yet.

You know, there are some ideas better left in the past, and this is one of them.

When they made these headsets, no thought was given to ergonomics whatsoever. So much so, that many of these headsets are like putting your head in a metal vise, they are so uncomfortable and heavy. Using these headsets for any length of time will prove me out.

I like steampunk and all, but you do get to an age where comfort becomes increasingly important. Using these things as headsets would be akin to hitching up the horses and travelling from NY to LA in an covered wagon. Not that it can't be done, but there is a reason why there is cars with heat and ergonomic lightweight headsets with foam earpads.

I forgot to mention that many merchants mail out their glasses to a nameless optical shop anyways, which is what I think happenned to the pair I ordered.

@19 "local merchants exist for a reason, fight Walmart, build community"

I can not believe the pair of glasses I got from a local merchant. The presription was *way* off and the glasses were falling apart. They had the gall to try and get me keep them, until I went to another optician who measured them to show they were noeven *close* to the prescription that *their* optician wrote.

There are half a dozen relensing services on the net. The thing that this article fails to mention is that you need to know the *size* of your glasses that give the most comfortable fit. Many opticians fail to recognize whether your present eyeglasses or the ones you choose may not be the right size for you. This is probably causing needless discomfort for many people.

Once you know the exact proper size (and how it's measured, and which numbers are the most critical) you can then shop for frames on ebay, then have them relensed.

I would avoid 39 Dollar Glasses as their consumer satisfaction is sketchy.

Like we need another flash "standard" that's worse than actual flash. Microsoft, as known by their previous bad actions is a bad company. Epic fail here.

And so much as the headline seems sensationalist to the above poster, it's not. It's one thing to have Vista kiosk crap around, and quite another to force silverlight trash flash on people through a website. I wonder if adobe has any comments on this.

@14 "yeah, I never swallowed the hydrazine story - it's nasty but it ain't plutonium. Who knows?"

You wouldn't normally think of rocket fuel as toxic, but this stuff is. But the main problem is that it's inside a (presumably very strong) tank.

The primary problem is that it's *1,000 pounds" or *half a ton* of fuel. Considering the quantity of this stuff makes it an entirely different ballgame. The reason being that it most likely will not explode, meaning that it will burn (kinda like the Hindenburgh burned and did not really explode). Which means the relatively short reentry time will only be good enough to transform the hydrazine into a flaming blob. So, imagine not the toxic effects of gasoline falling from the sky, but rather the toxic effects of *flaming* gasoline from the sky. Furthermore, hydrazine is *a lot* more toxic than gasoline;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrazine#Safety

So, this napalm-from-space can indeed kill in more ways than one. It also doesn't hurt that most of the classified stuff should be pulverized. So shooting this thing down is a no-brainer.

The reason you may see many RH books at the library is because, as someone noted, they have been donated.
Sciens used to go into bookstores (they may still do) and buy stacks of RH books for the sole purpose of driving them up the bestseller list.
I suspect that after they bought them they either sent them back to the warehouse to reship out, or donate some to libraries. Where again, they probably are checked out by sciens, thus keeping them in circulation. Thus it might be said that sciens were proto-astroturfers before the internet age.
I do find it curious that you find his books practically everywhere. Where other once-popular classics can not be seen. It is part of the lifecycle of most books to go out of print, even if at one time there were popular. I think the disparity in some reviews is also telling;
http://www.amazon.com/Voyage-Vengeance-Mission-Earth-Hubbard/dp/1592121861/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1202898081&sr=1-4

"Are they seen as an evil, yet easy target? I could identify several other, higher priority targets for citizen action than the CoS."

You must be new here (or on the web). There are a couple of longtime very hotbutton issues to netizens, some of which boingboing covers. You seem to have forgotten (or don't know) about Dmitry Sklyarov.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sklyarov

I think this demonstration may have been larger overseas, but by my simple estimations, nearly the same as "Free Dmitry" was in the US.

So while there is a hive mind mentality, it does require a push above critical mass to reach. Also, it could be argued that the notion of censorship is probably one, if not the one most "hotbutton" topic.

This chaser just ain't doing it for me Xeni. That unicorn there is about to zap me with his x-ray eyes. Not only that but it's "half strength" kiddie size. I need a full body unicorn pranicin' in the freakin' green fields with butterflies and sparkly jewels after that "rat king."

Crazy Brits don't know how to spell again. It's "pajamas" not "pyjamas." Furthermore, I would expect a Xeni commentary on this due to it's strangely erotic qualities. Or maybe it's the model? Nah. It's the pajamas.

The thing that gets me is that she really hasn't owned up to the big mistake that the Iraq war is. That and her stance about corporations. Don't get me started.

"These people are actively dangerous. They should not be given air-time under the guise of religious freedom any more than some Taleban lunatic calling for the stoning of women."

Hmmmm. Someone who must not live under the benefit of the US Constitution. Because if they did, they would realize that the degeneration of the freedom of speech leads to all sorts of ills, all of which are far more worse than a fundy's view of dipensalationism.

It is indeed a sad state of affairs when you have so called rational people blinded by so much bigotry that they can not see straight enough to appreciate freedom.

Regardless of how ridiculous the claims of religious people may be on some TV channel (that you may switch off at anytime), it sure beats living in a place like China where none of it is allowed. Even with a crappy administration like what we currently have.

Really, I do not see the rationality of this statement, and I must assume that it's being made by some ego-obsessed 13 year old posting to boing boing.

@POOLORAPOND
hahahahah! I was just thinking of Sean Young as I was scrolling down. The DGA thing was more of a cry for attention than a drunken outburst. She really needs to get her own bug suit like this!

The only question I have is what is the cheapest source for LEDs? There has to be someone that gives a better price than digikey on quantity.

Maybe the blue man group pulled a double fake here?
Nah, - there would have been a gag reflex, you don't lose fillings, and you don't get a bloody nose. This is from someone who has had his esophagus scoped on more than one occasion.

Doesn't ring true to me.

Ahhhh. Now we see the real benefits of NAFTA.

I do not think the government is going to prosecute many of these cases for the simple reason that they want to see money *taken out* of circulation. Where they will prosecute is where there is a crime somehow involved, or where it costs the government money. One example being people melting down coinage for the scrap metal market. But I doubt that the Feds are going to go after people making crafts. Just my personal opinion. I do not represent the Feds.

Also, while the dollar has lost value, and we do have a questionably competent administration in place, one should not forget that we do still have a large economy. So much so, that when the US sneezes, all the other markets seem to catch cold.

That being said, we as americans need to get a handle on many of our fiscal policies, government, corporate, and personal. Again, just another personal opinion.

Ted for the proletariat;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TED_%28conference%29

The thing that is driving up the price on the TED ticket is not the conference yapping about the future tech of tomorrow, but the date with Meg Ryan. Otherwise, it's a $50 ticket.

For $32K (and probably more), I would hope that it is more than Subway sandwiches.

Dang they must be using some of that one-click mojo on those mp3 tracks!

Foraging, hunting, gardening are all time intensive as well as seasonal sensitive activities that does not make it practical for the majority. But maybe the small farm will become a noble occupation again as the corporate ones struggle. Wait, I forget, corporate farms will drive the small ones out of business. Oh well!

I agree with ME1K on this one. It is not necessarily the price of oil that is going to determine food prices, and it will not be cast into a linear relationship. I would submit that it is market forces that determines the cost of food. And when oil gets to be too expensive for everyone, then we will get serious about using natural gas instead. China will have an impact, that can not be forgotten. And it is important to have the quality of food they export to us fall under the same regulations that we use.
The thing that determines where food prices orbit is not oil, but the farm bill, an artificial government subsidy. That's the thing we need to be taking a close look at.

The staple hard drives are gone already. Thanks Boing Boing!

There is a reason why there are building codes. Stairs are very innocent looking, but are actually very dangerous. My mother fell down one in the home and shattered her arem. I have stumbled on many of them myself.
This staircase is very neat, and I think people should be able to build them. But if someone else falls on them, remember there is more than one ambulance chasing attorney around that wants to make trouble for your life.
Not trying to spoil the party, but always remember there are two sides to the equation.

Baby booties on boing boing? hmmmm. Is this a mere coincidence or is there a message here?

I used to be very dismissive of all supplements, until I needed them to make myself better (which they did and continue to do so). Many (if not most if taken wrongly) supplements, such as these, could even be dangerous. But I would not in any circumstances want to see them regulated or people's access to them restricted in any way.

I bet there is case law concerning this already. I think the trademark of a design is possible, but a specific object is not. That is, there is enough variation with the photographs that they differ from the trademarked ones. The problem is that Ford can outspend anyone legally with this, and in the end get their way (no matter where the law stands here). What they should have done is cut a deal with Ford to print a calender.
They also did this with the eiffel tower, copyrighting its lighting scheme at night, so they can shakedown the TV and movie business. But now, whenever it appears in a movie, there is this obvious "sparkly lights" added to it. Copyright law foiled once again! Another thought, they could publish a calender of Ford mustangs that have gone through a crusher!

To understand why this thing will have a difficult time flying, you only need to look at the pentagon and their spending countless millions on VTOL and the results of that. The VTOL aircraft the military have are still fraught with problems, with the exception of the F-35B which is a STVOL.

I think if anyone wants to build a practical VTOL, the F-35B is what you want to get design ideas from, not this craft. The only thing this thing is good for is nolvety, museum purposes.

Your not going to find me trusting my life on a GFI to trip. This really is a stupid thing to do anyway you look at it. For all those that say that it's safe, they seem to forget the numerous possible points of failure to their thinking of why it's safe (it's not anyway).

I consider the Copyright Term Extension act the most vile piece of copyright legislation to date, moreso than the horrible DMCA. I continue to have this fantasy about the next generation of elected officials doing something about it. But then I remember that everyone in DC has been and will be a career politician for the next 30 years. And, unfortunately, most probably true for Mr. Copyright himself Orrin G. Hatch (R). He could even break Stromb Thurmonds record.

The performance of many of these small spy cameras leave much to be desired. There was one that I especially coveted back in the seventies when I was a kid and bought it in this town's then only nolvety shop. I should have seen it for what it was, but hey, I was a kid and didn't know better. I had the occasion to meet some famous people and took their picture. However, the photolab only got a fog on the negatives.
Now, if I would have used a Minox, or even a compact 110 that existed back then, then I would have been much more successful.
I have to chuckle, because the thing that I wanted so very much is unbelievably plentiful now and even digital.
But the fact is, as these things are built, most of them are just not practical to take pictures with.

Where's the freakin' unicorn already. Somebody email Xeni.

I have a couple of problems with this. First, the super-hero rooms are more like closets. Really, if I was a superhero, I'd demand better digs because of all the hard world-saving work that I was doing. Second, I find the ICBM problematic. Pumping toxic exhaust gases in the river just doesn't seem cool. Also, ICBM's tend to be one-off, often inaccurate, and probably very little leg room for a super hero. I think a scramjet would be far more utilitarian and eco friendly. Also, this looks like it requires a large support staff. But I realize that this is sixties era tech, so these things would not have mattered then. But surely there should be a library next to the map room?

It's unfortunate that FSM is such a feeble idol that he can't come up with his own holiday and decorations, instead of having to leech off the primary one. Even the Festivus people have a pole.

I didn't know this guy was Cylon! They can fool anybody! I wonder how many copies there are of him running around. I wish I knew how to contact Galctica about this.

Aaawwww!! Ain't that cute! Too bad most girls aren't into math.
Looking for a girl that is into xkcd is kinda like going to a Star Trek convention looking for a date.

heh. Not just a huge difference, a huge *interference*. Though I believe that early CB'ers were quite different and nice compared to their later compatriots. Also, many a CBer reformed their ways and would became hams. So it's not like everyone was sitting on a huge illegal 11 meter linear waiting to blast anyone out of the city they disagreed with.

I applaud Costco for doing this (and have been aware of it for a couple of years). As someone who has lived through the experience (and heavy expense) of buring someone, the sales pressures put on by funeral homes (and other loved ones wanting to get the best) can be heavy and unfair. Out of all the box stores there are, it's Costco that I respect

Just an FYI, its U238's little brother U235 that you make bombs out of;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranium-235
This can only be useful in breeder reactors if it is highly refined. I doubt if this stuff is even useful as dirty bomb material. For the most part it's innocuous, as long as you don't go eating it.

What I don't get is that while tape might have greater dynamic range, that is almost certainly counteracted by tape hiss. I fail to see how this is addressed here on typical high end 70s tape machines (of which I have). Also, I think that any perceived advantage tape might have is surely overcome with SACD audio.

But it is still kinda cool from a geeky perspective.

Another attack the fundies because they are stupid story from boing boing, only wonderful if you're a bigot. As they say, lies, damned lies, a boing boing story on fundies. Next time, check the numbers. But that would imply real journalism.
Also, I would not call wikipedia any more of a fountain of truth than conservapedia is.

@another aaron

"Sorry, but point at something and saying "I don't like that" or "I think that's stupid" is an essential component of taste and critical thought.

You seem to be reading a different blog than I am. I'm certainly not seeing anything that promotes polite discourse. I'm not opposed to criticism of the creation museum. Just the amoral manner that atheists seem to feel entitled to go about it.

And it also shows boingboing's inherent lameness by supposedly being a 'directory of wonderful things', but yet takes it upon themselves to post this drek as 'wonderful'.

Enough of the 'fundies are stupid as horseshit' stories on boingboing. Everybody knows it already.

I think that Sam was referrring to the derogatory nature of calling something 'horseshit' which tends to be polarizing. Thankfully though, because this is creationism/religion it isn't bigotry. It's unfortunate though that evolution has not allowed the development of more polite discourse in this area yet.

String theory, religion for scientists.

The problem that I have with this premise is that it will always be cheaper to outsource anything you can to a country where the laborers charge $.50 cents a day and rent is $1.00 a month.

Another word for "Turing machine for design" is automation. It has already taken place, and those factories that had it are closed down and moved overseas, by companies that are located in carribean/UK tax havens. Just leaving the CEOs in the US that rake the millions in over the sweat of others. I call it corporate immorality sponsored by corrupt politicians. Therefore a more appropriate word for "Turing machine for design" would be "campaign finance reform."

Don't we know this already? What am I missing here?

Don't forget folks, that if our economy(US) goes down, so does yours. Because we will stop buying all the crap that you make and export to our country. So if you work in a factory that makes a product for export, your job is not safe.

Welcome to globalization.

It's unfortunate that they did not get the negatives. I think the guys that did this have a point. Too bad that they are neo nazis.

While I believe in freedom of expression, I do not think that this was "artwork" that was destroyed, but rather pornography. As such, I consider it no great loss and question if it had any value other than it was created by an (in)famous "artist".

Not saying one group is any better than the other, but I do agree with the sentiment that Hams and CBers are two different groups.

I'm also glad for my CW experience as a ham. While an earlier nocode would have helped some with membership, the thing about ham radio is that it's a "total" experience. It's just not about setting up a station, but learning how to operate that station and improving communication.

Both groups had/have their place. I do think that CB degenerated into something else from what these qsl cards represent, and ham radio got displaced by the internet. But out of the two, ham radio is going to be more endearing as it has more tradition behind it.

I would like to see the league steer it to complement the internet better. I really think it could be done, and ham radio could have another golden age.

Those are not Ham Rasio qsl cards, but CB (Citizen Band) qsl cards, which makes them more interesting imo, as the FCC stopped issuing CB callsigns back in the 80s. Ham Radio cards are far more sophisticated with more technical data on them.

One can only guess what illegal equipment these CBers were using to accomplish these contacts, as citizen band radios are limited by law to 4-5 watts of power which technically would limit the radios to the same town that you are in. While there is ion skip which can greatly increase distances, it just does not happen that often.

But I suppose that if one has an illegal still to make moonshine, it would not be hard for him to have an illegal amp too!