Below are 20 journal entries, after skipping by the 260 most recent ones recorded in Boing Boing's LiveJournal:

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Tuesday, March 26th, 2013
6:39 am	Comedy troupe loses YouTube account after viral success of "PS Gay Car," can't get anyone at YT to l http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/PajQyYEHBaE/story01.htm http://boingboing.net/?p=220998 Wil Wheaton sez, On November 17th, 2012, New York-based comedy music group Fortress of Attitude uploaded a music video they created for their song "PS Gay Car" (using the exact words of a mean note they found on their car one day) to YouTube. The pro-gay rights video was immensely popular, garnering coverage from, Huffington Post, Out Magazine, College Humor and Queerty. The video gained 39,800 views in its first month, and then a month later YouTube took down the video, claiming they'd used bots to drive up views. The story that unfolds is Kafkaesque: Fortress of Attitude hires New Media Rights to help them get their video reinstated, and Google/YouTube's response is to send form letters back that just restate the alleged initial TOU violation. Ultimately, Google/YouTube refuses to consider any evidence or explanation from Fortress of Attitude, and deletes the video permanently. Google deletes "PS Gay Car"— We need your help! (Thanks, Wil!)
6:23 am	Store wants $5 browsing fee to deter "showrooming" by online shoppers http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/3qfY09FhXtg/story01.htm http://boingboing.net/?p=220942 A specialty food store in Brisbane, Australia posted this sign, demanding a $5 deposit from people who enter the shop, refundable with your purchase. They are trying to curb "showrooming" -- when customers of online businesses use brick-and-mortar competitors as showrooms to check out goods before they order them. As Consumerist points out, this is likely to be a self-defeating strategy: If customers aren’t buying, the seller needs to figure out why and adapt accordingly. If this store’s prices are truly the best, then maybe it should be offering a price-match guarantee. If it truly offers products that aren’t available elsewhere, then how are these showrooming shoppers buying these items from someone else? Perhaps people are just curious and want to see the prices and have no intention of buying anything anywhere? Think of how many times you’ve looked at Amazon just out of curiosity. Window-shoppers are part of the retail equation; it’s up to the retailer to either ignore them or turn them from looky-loos into bona fide buyers. I'd go further than this. It takes a lot of retail exposure to turn some browsers into buyers -- you might see something in a shop, think about it, and go back. Further, getting people into the shop is a significant expense for most businesses. Once a person is in your business, you have lots of opportunities to try to convert that person into a buyer, in an environment that you control (see NYC Fifth Ave retailers, who run their escalators in an alternate-reverse pattern so you have to wind your way past all the high-impulse goods and displays to get to the top floor; or grocers who put the milk at the back of the shop). Adding literal barriers to entry is utterly self-sabotaging. Finally, the idea of imposing a head-tax on everyone entering the shop is especially misguided. It means that a customer who thinks he can talk his wife/kids (or husband, friends, whatever) into accompanying him into the shop while he grabs something on the way past is doomed to not making a purchase. What's more, the retailer loses the chance to convert some of those tag-alongs into customers. Store Combats Showrooming With $5 ‘Just Looking’ Fee [Consumerist/Chris Morran] (Photo: BarrettFox on Reddit</a>)
5:36 am	Brain Rot: Hip Hop Family Tree, DJ. Junebug, and a Homeless Hip Hopper http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/T3RqBzQUY5w/story01.htm http://boingboing.net/?p=220643 Read the rest of the Hip Hop Family Tree comics!
Monday, March 25th, 2013
7:40 pm	Tickets from the Studio Ghibli museum are made from snips of film http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/x_TrPsycFRU/story01.htm http://boingboing.net/?p=220752 Tickets at the Studio Ghibli museum near Tokyo are made from snips of actual film from Miyazaki movies. This ticket shows Satsuki from the masterpiece My Neighbor Totoro. I went to (Miyazaki) Studio Ghibli Museum near Tokyo, Japan. The tickets are made up of cut up film cells. My ticket is from Princess Mononoke. See also: A visit to Spirited Away creator's museum in Japan
5:33 pm	Gigeresque corset: "Spine" http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/_cohBZLqN5k/story01.htm http://boingboing.net/?p=220729 Spine, an amazing, gigeresque corset, is a Shaun Leane design that was displayed at NY MOMA in the 2011 show Alexander McQueen show Savage Beauty. Shaun Leane: He was always fascinated by the spine. So he asked me to create a corset, which was the spine with the rib cage, so that the girl could actually wear this as a corset on the outside of her body, so we would see the beauty of these bone structures on the outside, attached to the dress. And as we were doing it, Alexander came to me and said, “Will you put a tail on this?” And where he got that idea was out of the film The Omen. When the mother of the omen was discovered—her skeleton—she was half-raven and half-dog, and he was quite inspired by this. Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty | The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (via Kadrey)
2:51 pm	Watch the latest video posts in the Boing Boing video archive http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/lxCo4tLiZXw/story01.htm http://boingboing.net/?p=220925 We've gathered fresh video for you to surf and enjoy on the Boing Boing video page. The latest finds for your viewing pleasure include: • Video about man who makes ships in bottles. • Watch all six Star Wars movies at once. • Luna Lee performs Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Chile" on a gayageum. • IRS apologizes for $60k Star Trek parody. • Eating a wedding cake in reverse. • The art and science of beer: a video feature on the "Pope of Foam." • Human bodies mercilessly jiggled by gravity at 2000fps [NSFW]. Boing Boing: Video!
2:38 pm	Trippy mandala optical illusions http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/dXcWRnjlYQM/story01.htm http://boingboing.net/?p=220723 Here's a great optical illusion (click above to see the animation) -- when you blink fast, beautiful mandalas emerge. Blink Fast (Thanks, Fipi Lele!)
1:22 pm	Radiohead in the late 1980s http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/Zl6ggWqqdEM/story01.htm http://boingboing.net/?p=220914 Yep, that's Thom Yorke, Phil Selway, Ed O'Brien, and Colin Greenwood in the late 1980s. Back then Johnny Greenwood wasn't yet in the band who were still called On A Friday. This photo turned up during research for a documentary Anyone Can Play Guitar, about the Oxford, England music scene that also spawned Supergrass, Swervedriver, Foals, and others.
1:29 pm	Video about man who makes ships in bottles http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/cfrPyPwFjPs/story01.htm http://boingboing.net/?p=220918 Ray Gascoigne is a former shipwright. Well, he's still a shipwright but now the ships he builds fit inside bottles.
11:59 am	Climate answers sought in supercomputers http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/USrf9A2_jmY/story01.htm http://boingboing.net/?p=220891 Carl Franzen, for The Verge: There's a dark cloud hanging over the science of climate change, quite literally. Scientists today have access to supercomputers capable of running advanced simulations of Earth's climate hundreds of years into the future, accounting for millions of tiny variables. But even with all that equipment and training, they still can't quite figure out how clouds work.
12:08 pm	Steve Jobs Manga http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/xcZ-bpF3CC8/story01.htm http://boingboing.net/?p=220893 Posted online is a preview of the first installment of Manga Taishō and Mari Yamazaki's manga bio of Steve Jobs.
12:14 pm	Venn Diagram of Irrational Nonsense: chart of woo http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/zpEPPpNjw9I/story01.htm http://boingboing.net/?p=220710 Sometimes, when confronted with woo, it is hard to know exactly what sort of woo you're dealing with. To simplify this challenge while sparing you the agony of enduring any more explanations of ear-candling or aromatherapy than is strictly necessary, Crispian Jago has compiled a handy Venn Diagram of Irrational Nonsense. The curiously revered world of irrational nonsense has seeped into almost every aspect of modern society and is both complex and multifarious. Therefore rather than attempt a comprehensive taxonomy, I have opted instead for a gross oversimplification and a rather pretty Venn Diagram. In my gross over simplification the vast majority of the multitude of evidenced-free beliefs at large in the world can be crudely classified into four basic sets or bollocks. Namely, Religion, Quackery, Pseudoscience and the Paranormal. However as such nonsensical beliefs continue to evolve they become more and more fanciful and eventually creep across the bollock borders. Although all the items depicted on the diagram are completely bereft of any form of scientific credibility, those that successfully intersect the sets achieve new heights of implausibility and ridiculousness. And there is one belief so completely ludicrous it successfully flirts with all forms of bollocks. Religious Bollocks ∩ Quackery Bollocks ∩ Pseudoscientific Bollocks ∩ Paranormal Bollocks = Scientology The Venn Diagram of Irrational Nonsense (Thanks, Fipi Lele!)
12:21 pm	Petition: force Congress to display logos of their corporate backers on their clothes http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/Y8KnOceZrr0/story01.htm http://boingboing.net/?p=220716 The idea of forcing Congresscritters to wear NASCAR-style coveralls with the logos of their financial backers has been bandied about before, but here it is in official White House petition form. Since most politicians' campaigns are largely funded by wealthy companies and individuals, it would give voters a better sense of who the candidate they are voting for is actually representing if the company's logo, or individual's name, was prominently displayed upon the candidate's clothing at all public appearances and campaign events. Once elected, the candidate would be required to continue to wear those "sponsor's" names during all official duties and visits to constituents. The size of a logo or name would vary with the size of a donation. For example, a $1 million dollar contribution would warrant a patch of about 4" by 8" on the chest, while a free meal from a lobbyist would be represented by a quarter-sized button. Individual donations under $1000 are exempt. As funny as this is, it would be easy-ish to turn this into a browser plugin that looked for politicians' names in the pages you looked at, and automatically surrounded them with a semi-opaque halo of corporate logos that you could click on to see more. Require Congressmen & Senators to wear logos of their financial backers on their clothing, much like NASCAR drivers do. (via Beyond the Beyond) (Image: Bobby Labonte, a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from mulsanne's photostream)
12:39 pm	15 Dangerously Mad Projects for the Evil Genius http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/BbKjMA-x2wM/story01.htm http://boingboing.net/?p=220888 A few months ago I had a blast playing with Simon Monk's 30 Arduino Projects for the Evil Genius, and noticed that his 15 Dangerously Mad Projects included a coil gun. I've always wanted to make a coil gun! Since the coil is wrapped around the tube from a plastic pen, and the iron projectile is inside the tube, it will fly along towards the coil. As all the energy from the capacitors will be spent in a matter of milliseconds, the coil should ideally be turned off by the time the projectile passes its center and exits out the other side of the tube. Simon's plans and walk-through are wonderful. I learned a lot reading the detailed but easy to understand instructions. He also selects parts and components that I am sure I can source locally and I love that he improvised brackets from a plastic drinking bottle. I also learned that I will not be making a coil gun. That curiosity is now satisfied! Simon Monk's 15 Dangerously Mad Projects for the Evil Genius
11:57 am	Space bubble http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/stBZl7rlT3Q/story01.htm http://boingboing.net/?p=220886 Canadian Space Agency astronaut and flight engineer Chris Hadfield watches a water bubble float freely between him and the camera in the Unity node of the International Space Station. Hadfield became the first Canadian commander of the International Space Station on March 13. [NASA]
11:22 am	Frankenbumper http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/hoYaXsOiHM8/story01.htm http://boingboing.net/?p=220837 "Frankenbumper," a photo by Timothy Krause shared in the BB Flickr Pool.
10:31 am	Return to Antikythera http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/LZVVVgtsAhk/story01.htm http://boingboing.net/?p=220848 The Antikythera shipwreck — source of the famous ancient clockwork Antikythera Mechanism — has remained shockingly unexplored in the 100 years or so that we've known about it. In fact, other than a visit by Jacques Cousteau in 1970s, there hadn't been any official, scientific excavations until last year. Turns out, there's a lot of stuff left to find at the site, from a ship's anchor and storage jars to a collection of bronze fragments — which could either turn out to be something mundane, like nails from the boat, or more clues to the Mechanism. According to The Guardian's Jo Marchant, "little bronze fragments" describes what the gears of the Antikythera Mechanism looked like before they were detached from rock and cleaned of rust.
10:30 am	Knife in man's back for 3 years http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/41BiuLPVK38/story01.htm http://boingboing.net/?p=220852 Billy McNeely of Canada's Northwest Territories was scratching his back when he noticed a pointy protrusion. Turned out to be the tip of a 7.5cm knife blade that was stuck in his back. For three years. Back in 2010, McNeely was stabbed in a brawl following an arm wrestling match. Since then, his back set off prison metal detectors and he's had pain, but he claims that physicians told him it was nerve damage caused by the injury. From BBC News: But this week, McNeely, 32, was scratching his back as usual when his fingernail caught on something. His girlfriend took a look. "I told Billy: 'There's a knife sticking out of your back.' I was scared. I was ready to pull it out with tweezers," Stephanie Sayine told CBC News. McNeely is considering whether to file a lawsuit against the local health department. "Knife taken from Billy McNeely's back after three years"
10:30 am	Guatemala: Day 5 of Montt genocide trial; "They viewed us as if we were not people." http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/4kMKyNeI3Fs/story01.htm http://boingboing.net/?p=220844 Photo: From the Facebook page for Pamela Yates' film "Granito," a snapshot of a female Ixil Maya witness giving testimony on the genocide trial's third day. The genocide trial of former Guatemalan dictator Efraín Rios Montt, the Army general who ruled Guatemala from 1982 to 1983, and his chief of military intelligence Jose Mauricio Rodriguez Sanchez, continues for the 5th day today in Guatemala City. Today marks the beginning of the second week of hearings; dozens of Ixil Maya witnesses have provided testimony of the atrocities committed against their families. This week is Semana Santa, or Holy Week, so this week's hearings will be truncated in observance of that holiday (it's kind of a big deal in Guatemala). But the trial continues at high speed: seven people testified today before the court broke for lunch. Watch live video from the courtroom here; listen to audio here. A Twitter list with accounts who are live-tweeting the trial is here. It is difficult to listen, watch, or read the proceedings. As I publish this blog post, Rosa Santiago, the first female witness to testify today, is asked to speak about a massacre that took place on April 3, 1982 in her village of Xel, Chajul, Quiche. "The soldiers forced 96 people into the village church and hacked them to death with machetes; the soldiers later tossed their dismembered body parts under a bridge." Ms. Santiago's father and her twin sisters, who were around 8 years old at the time, were among those killed. "Babies were killed because their mothers were carrying them; all the corpses were tossed into two great holes dug in the ground; bodies piled one on top of the other." Efraín Ríos Montt, during the first week of the 2013 genocide trial. Photo: James Rodriguez. This trial matters to Americans, not just Guatemalans. Montt and his regime were trained and supported by the US during the Reagan administration; our government supplied weapons, helicopters, and personnel that directly enabled these massacres. CIA personnel participated in torture and extrajudicial executions of populations labeled as "subversive." The open nature of this trial, the first in history in which a former head of state has been tried for genocide by a domestic court, stands in stark contrast to another important trial taking place in relative secrecy now in the United States. "There was no genocide here," chant pro-military supporters of Montt outside the courtroom, to the accompaniment of military march music and the Guatemalan national anthem. According to reports, the pro-Montt campaign is organized by some two dozen retired military officers and their families. Guatemala's current president Otto Perez Molina is a military figure who was once closely tied with Montt: he is a former special forces soldier (the notorious Kaibiles), was director of military intelligence during Montt's regime, ex-inspector-general of the army, and was the head of counterinsurgency in the Ixil area in 1982-83. The outcome of this trial could change the course of his presidency. At riosmontt-trial.org, there are excellent daily recaps. From Friday: The court heard 11 witnesses for the prosecution, including 5 women, making 37 witnesses presenting testimony thus far... Many witnesses on Friday were deeply emotionally affected by recounting their stories, with the court stalled on various occasions to give witnesses an opportunity to collect themselves. Nonetheless, the trial continued to advance at breakneck speed. Photo: James Rodriguez of mimundo.org. Cemetery in Nebaj, Quiché, Guatemala; one of the sites of massacres at issue in this trial. NISGUA, the Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala, has also been publishing daily recaps and transcripts of the trial. Here is an excerpt from the testimony on Friday of Ixil victim Juan Raymundo Maton: We had the custom of going on All Saint’s Day to put candles and flowers where our family members are buried. But as I said, we can’t do that because we don’t have a place to do that. Our ancestors have customs. All of this was destroyed when the military initiated their plan of scorched earth, all of it was destroyed. During this policy of scorched earth, they destroyed everything, not just our crops but our culture. People couldn't even speak in their own languages. No one wanted to leave their culture, their customs; it was only because of this situation. It’s hard. I came to give my testimony, they ask who made you testify but I came because of my own pain, my sadness. Maybe I didn't express myself well enough but all the people who came to do this to us, I saw it with my own eyes. Many neighbors were shot to death, I went with them to bury them. Some could only be buried in a hole like animals. At that moment there was only time to open up a hole and bury them. Or sometimes the poor people only had time to throw them in a river. PBS POV continues to offer free online streaming of Pamela Yates' film "Granito: How to Nail a Dictator" (the film's official website is here, Facebook here) and they're also streaming her earlier film "When the Mountains Tremble." They are both important and powerful documentary works. Footage shot by Yates in the 1980s, including interviews with Montt and other Guatemalan Army top brass at the time, has become an important element in the process of seeking justice and reconciliation for Mayan victims. In 2007, I produced a radio documentary series for NPR that included segments about organizations and people whose work is central to this tribunal. Listen: "Group Works to Identify Remains in Guatemala," about the Guatemalan Foundation for Forensic Anthropology (FAFG), and "Guatemalan Archives May Help Locate Missing," about the Guatemalan National Police Historical Archive (AHPN). From my visit to the once-secret Historic Archives of the Guatemala's National Police, in 2007: A document from 1931, the oldest this worker had encountered.   Genocide trial begins in Guatemala, for US-trained former dictator ... Guatemala: Audio and video livestreams of genocide trial for ex ... Guatemala: at long last, ex-dictator Rios Montt in court over possible ... Guatemala genocide trial continues; watch or listen live - Boing Boing Guatemala: In 1982, ex-dictator Rios Montt told this documentary ... NPR Xeni Tech - Guatemala: digital archives may help find ... (BBtv + Witness) A Massacre Remembered in Guatemala. – Boing ... NPR "Xeni Tech" - Guatemala: Unearthing the Future (and new ... NPR Xeni Tech: Storm Victims' Remains Exhumed in Guatemala ...
10:06 am	TEDxWTF http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/yOZAUV9x5N4/story01.htm http://boingboing.net/?p=220846 The Harvard Business Review has an interesting look at what has happened as TED Talks has expanded to ever-wider audiences and (in doing so) has lost control of its own brand. It's also an excellent object lesson in why slapping the TED logo on something doesn't make it true.