This is an x-ray of a newly discovered species of stingray, native to the Amazon. You can't tell from this shot of its innards, but the Heliotrygon gomesi actually resembles a "pancake with a nose"—big, round, flat, and beige. Read more about this creature at Our Amazing Planet.
Image: Ken Jones
Submitterated by Ajourneyroundmyskull
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THE MANIFESTO MANIFESTO
(via Futurismic)
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This prototype clock, designed by James Auger and Jimmy Loizeau, is powered by dead flies. A conveyor of fly paper catches the insects and then drops them into a microbial fuel cell where they become feedstock for bacteria to consume. As the bacteria munch on the dead flies (or most any organic matter), the chemical energy is converted to electrical energy. The same technology powers the sewage-eating robot I posted about last year and also appears in the video above. (via Daily Grail)
This site allows you to track price history and has price drop and price watch alerts. Ever since I discovered it a few weeks ago, I've looked at it before I bought anything on Amazon just to make sure I was at or near a historical low. The price charts are intuitive, and allow you to see highs and lows for the past year, 6 months, 3 months, 1 month. You can set your tracker to include just Amazon.com, 3rd party sellers, or Used. The best part? It's absolutely free.While I've found some bugs, such as hours-behind updating, and while I wish it incorporated shipping costs, it's still allowed me to save cash. More than that, I learned a long time ago I get a great deal of satisfaction from knowing I got a great deal.
CamelCamelCamel give me the data I need. If used car salesmen could hand you data-rich, neutral third-party charts like this every time they told you you were getting a steal, it'd go a long way to negating that sleazy image.
Alas, we can only dream, as it only covers Amazon.com and Newegg, BestBuy, BackCountry and Zzounds.com through sister-sites.
-- Doug Wong
CamelCamelCamel
http://camelcamelcamel.com/
Don't forget to comment over at Cool Tools. And remember to submit a tool!
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Microsoft debuted the always-use-HTTPS feature for Hotmail in December of 2010, in order to give users the option of always encrypting their webmail traffic and protecting their sensitive communications from malicious hackers using tools such as Firesheep, and hostile governments eavesdropping on journalists and activists. For Microsoft to take such an enormous step backwards-- undermining the security of Hotmail users in countries where freedom of expression is under attack and secure communication is especially important--is deeply disturbing. We hope that this counterproductive and potentially dangerous move is merely an error that Microsoft will swiftly correct.
The good news is that the fix is very easy. Hotmail users in the affected countries can turn the always-use-HTTPS feature back on by changing the country in their profile to any of the countries in which this feature has not been disabled, such as the United States, Germany, France, Israel, or Turkey. Hotmail users who browse the web with Firefox may force the use of HTTPS by default--while using any Hotmail location setting--by installing the HTTPS Everywhere Firefox plug-in.
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Boing Boing reader Ayahiko, who is a member of a visual design team in Japan called rakudasan, writes in with word of this cool music video they created for a band called Gaka:
Gaka is a unique 16-piece band working in Japan and growing more and more popular. Now, as you know, we are in a critical situation here in Japan after the earthquake.But we think that one thing we can do now is to get more positive attention for Japan and Japanese creativity. We need positive news to get energetic power, because we are showered with negative news.
This music video is called pantomime music video created with a help of
performer called maimuima. Theme of this song is man powered techno music, so we decided to use pantomime to make fun of man-powered expression.
We shot with a fixed camera and angle. Performer themselves' movement change angles, speed and distance. Without using wire and CG, we succeeded shooting action scenes.
Rakudasan does VJ in an unique style called Surrealistic Synchronization. It is the style that we select unrelated movie with music, but this makes unique and unusual togetherness and atmosphere in clubs. Gaka's jam music and pantomime are not related, but we combined them to create this music video. This is our style.
Credits:
Gaka (家) Official Website
Performer： maimuima
Director： rakuda-san (らくださん)
Photographer： Atsuhiro Shirahata
Special thanks to Yusuke Nomiyama
Editor's note: As an aside, note that the video was created and published on March 3. The theme of running/escape evidenced in the first portion of the video was not a reaction to the March 11 disaster, though it does sort of strike a resonant chord now, in hindsight.
I really enjoyed the rhythmic weirdness of David Ellis's 'True Value (Paint Fukette),' recently installed at Joshua Liner Gallery. Roberto Carlos Lange composed the percussive 'score.' David Ellis: PULSE (Thanks, Greg Long!)
[Video Link] From her Circus Freak show, Taimane Gardner plays Bach's Toccata on ukulele.
Previously: Taimane plays Eleanor Rigby on ukulele
Marburger: How about this: Have you ever heard the term 'photocopier' or 'photocopy' used in the Recorder's office by anybody?
Patterson: Photocopy? I'm sure in the time I've been there someone has used the term.
Marburger: And have you ever heard them use it in referencing a particular device or machine within the Recorder's office? By way of example, 'can you photocopy that for me?' That's an example of office parlance.
Patterson: That particular terminology I've not witnessed.
Marburger: What was the context that you've heard the term 'photocopy' used in the Recorder's office?
Patterson: I'm sure it's been used. I didn't say I remembered a specific instance.
Marburger: All right. But you have a general understanding that people have used the term 'photocopy' within the Recorder's office in terms of something that could be done there; is that true?
Patterson: I'm sure it's been used. I don't remember a specific instance or how it was used. I'm sure it's been used.
Marburger: And is it fair to say that it's been used in terms of being able to copy one piece of paper onto another piece of paper using a machine? No? Not sure of that?
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The Centcom contract stipulates that each fake online persona must have a convincing background, history and supporting details, and that up to 50 US-based controllers should be able to operate false identities from their workstations 'without fear of being discovered by sophisticated adversaries'.
Centcom spokesman Commander Bill Speaks said: 'The technology supports classified blogging activities on foreign-language websites to enable Centcom to counter violent extremist and enemy propaganda outside the US.'
He said none of the interventions would be in English, as it would be unlawful to 'address US audiences' with such technology, and any English-language use of social media by Centcom was always clearly attributed. The languages in which the interventions are conducted include Arabic, Farsi, Urdu and Pashto.
Once developed, the software could allow US service personnel, working around the clock in one location, to respond to emerging online conversations with any number of co-ordinated Facebook messages, blogposts, tweets, retweets, chatroom posts and other interventions. Details of the contract suggest this location would be MacDill air force base near Tampa, Florida, home of US Special Operations Command.
Centcom's contract requires for each controller the provision of one 'virtual private server' located in the United States and others appearing to be outside the US to give the impression the fake personas are real people located in different parts of the world.
It also calls for 'traffic mixing', blending the persona controllers' internet usage with the usage of people outside Centcom in a manner that must offer 'excellent cover and powerful deniability'.
The multiple persona contract is thought to have been awarded as part of a programme called Operation Earnest Voice (OEV), which was first developed in Iraq as a psychological warfare weapon against the online presence of al-Qaida supporters and others ranged against coalition forces. Since then, OEV is reported to have expanded into a $200m programme and is thought to have been used against jihadists across Pakistan, Afghanistan and the Middle East.
Read the whole article in the Guardian: 'Revealed: US spy operation that manipulates social media'
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