The Latest from Boing Boing

Get 2600's archives from 1987 Emmanuel Goldstein from 2600 Magazine writes, "Volume 4 of The Hacker Digest has been put into PDF format, comprised of issues of 2600 Magazine from 1987." This was the first year that 2600 adopted the digest format. Read the rest... Thumb extender for big phones Those surprised to find themselves unable to type one-handed on the new, larger iPhone 6 Plus can thank Thanko for the solution: the Yubi Nobiiru thumb extender, available now from the Japanese gadget shop. Read the rest... Kit to study Venus Fly Traps Our friends at Backyard Brains (makers of the Spikerbox and the Remote Control Cockroach kits) have been studying Venus Fly Traps lately. Read the rest... What does minimum wage get you Billy Domineau at Matter: If you have a minimum wage job ($7.25/hour), you need to work 55 hours to buy an iPhone 6 Plus (64 GB), and 149 hours for a year of Verizon service; 74 minutes gets you a Sara Lee Frozen Apple Pie. Read the rest... Studies of bisexuality generally not very good Research into bisexuality is beset by problems: unexamined assumptions, scientific incompetence, the politicization of sexual identity, you name it. Kate Hakala recounts a history of dud studies. Read the rest... Tattooing in close-up, slow motion Smarter Every Day shot close-up, slow motion video of someone being tattooed; inking starts at 3:04. Read the rest... Hand-painted custom Walking Dead shoes Etsy-based shoepainter Beressy Art will make you custom Walking Dead shoes for $126.05, including the shoes -- you get to specify the design and characters (also available: My Little Pony, Nightmare Before Christmas, and more!). (via Geeky Merch) Read the rest... Insecure printer firmware hacked to play Doom Printer security sucks -- but Michael Jordon's work on hacking the firmware of the standalone Canon Pixma printer is a more playful example of that suckitude than ever seen before. Read the rest... Lena Finkle's Magic Barrel: Bad romance, Russia and writer's angst Anya Ulinich's 2008 debut novel Petropolis, marked her out as a master of tragicomic romance; now she's back with a huge, hilarious, bitter graphic novel about sex, immigration, the Russian soul, and heartbreak. Cory Doctorow reviews Lena Finkle's Magic Barrel: A Graphic Novel. Read the rest... Blogging History: Non-gender kids' clothes retail; London cops apologize for geek-mugging; Lucas ships Xbox malware One year Better way to organize kids' clothing departments: Ever since our daughter's birth, my wife Alice and I have found ourselves shopping the "boys" section of the department stores for things like pyjamas and tees and rubber boots, this being the only way to get stuff that isn't pink, covered in glitter, hypersexualized (you should see some of the nighties they make for three year old girls!) and generally lame. Read the rest... Diablo 1 receives HD update The 1996 classic now runs in high resolution on modern computers and includes extra character classes. As someone who put hundreds (thousands?) of hours into the evil thing and its sequels, I'm not going anywhere near this. [via] Read the rest... Dog amuses self in fountain Happy hump day, readers! [link] Read the rest... Twine 2.0 promises to make interactive fiction easier The open-source storytelling tool for creating interactive, nonlinear tales gets a major upgrade, with hassles resolved, better cross-platform compatibility and new features. Read the rest... David Bowie exhibition comes to America Reyan Ali: "David Bowie Is, which opened at Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art yesterday, features more than 300 objects spanning the entirety of the musician's career—from handwritten lyric sheets to set designs, instruments to costumes." Read the rest... How chocolate chip cookies were invented Surprisingly late, as the story has it: not until 1938 did Ruth Wakefield publish an unambiguous recipe for the mighty snack. Read the rest... Interview with Lauren "Broken Monsters" Beukes Rick Kleffel from the Agony Column podcast interviews Lauren Beukes -- author of Broken Monsters (see this week's review) -- in fascinating detail, "Lauren Beukes discusses Broken Monsters, The Shining Girls, the supernatural and the all-too-natural, as well as the Internet and why her latest is not a criticism thereof." I enjoyed the heck out of both her books I've read (and have the other two in queue for a rainy day). Read the rest... Rape joke T-shirt taken off department store shelves A t-shirt with the slogan "It's not rape, it's a snuggle with a struggle" has been removed from sale by SM Department Stores, which operates more than 40 locations across south-east Asia. Read the rest... Arrestee eats through patrol car seat An Idaho resident collared on felony charges managed to chew through the seat of a police car while en route to the county jail. Read the rest... New stadium will look like gigantic toilet We don't often cover sports at Boing Boing, but we do like to keep a lid on scatalogical architecture. Behold the the Golden State Warriors' new 18,000-seater. Read the rest... TOM THE DANCING BUG: Unemployment Isn't a Bug -- It's a Feature Tom the Dancing Bug, IN WHICH lazy, unemployed Lucky Ducky almost destroys the economy by getting a job! Read the rest... Wendy and Richard Pini's Complete Elfquest The Complete Elfquest is a mammoth graphic novel collecting the entire original series, as self-published by Wendy and Richard Pini from 1978-1985. Rob Beschizza sums up what's so great about it. Read the rest... Vader cuff-links These handmade Darth Vader cufflinks, $22.49 from Cuff Relations, are a pretty good power meeting accessory (cue "Don't fail me again, Admiral"). (via Geeky Merch) Read the rest... Bodies are weird A great Reddit thread asks "What's something you're pretty sure only your body does, but have been too embarrassed to ask," and comes up with some genuinely great responses. Read the rest... Seattle prosecutor drops all public marijuana tickets As reported here, almost all of them were issued by a single cop, who hates legal weed and subjected his victims to humiliating rituals like flipping a coin to see which ones would get the ticket and which would walk away free. Read the rest... A Clockwork Orange: beautiful Folio edition The Folio Society has issued a lavish new edition of Anthony Burgess's A Clockwork Orange, illustrated by Ben Jones and with an introduction by Irvine Welsh. Read the rest... Display of choreographed iron filings Iron filings move to the music above an array of computer-controlled magnets in TechnoFrolics' "Choreographed Iron Dust" display shown at last weekend's World Maker Faire in NYC. Read the rest... Soderbergh: study Raiders of the Lost Ark as a silent black & white film Director Steven Soderbergh removed the dialogue and color from Raiders of the Lost Ark to fully showcase Spielberg's mastery of visual staging. Read the rest... Cirque du Soleil's dance of drones Cirque du Soleil, ETH Zurich, and Verity Studios choreographed a dance of drones and people titled Sparked. Below is a behind-the-scenes video. Read the rest... Cops who use Stingray surveillance must sign company nondisclosure first Michael from Muckrock sez, "Advanced cell phone tracking devices known as Stingrays allow police nationwide to home in on suspects and to log individuals present at a given location." But before acquiring a Stingray, state and local police must sign a nondisclosure agreement with the FBI, documents released via a MuckRock FOIA request indicate. Read the rest... Give Me Fiction Podcast #005: "Complications" Give Me Fiction is a prose reading series hosted by Ivan Hernandez. On this episode, writer Casey Childers describes the conflict between student, teacher, and timepiece in "Complications." The first Sunday of every month at Lost Weekend Video, a group of comedians, writers, and artists read pieces based on a theme. Read the rest... Follow us online:   forward to a friend   unsubscribe from this list