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Can't see the video? Watch this video now in a browser or download this video now. Today on Boing Boing tv, Xeni and Pesco dive deeper into the magical chocolate factory founded by a NASA software developer. In this installment of BBtv's 3-part series on TCHO Chocolate, we learn more about the hacked-together, home-tinkered machines and high-tech wizardry that keep the factory running. The philosophy is "scrappy, not crappy," as founder Timothy Childs explains. TCHO's R&D lab contains such diverse components as Space Shuttle tape, a modded RONCO turkey oven, stone grinders used in Indian restaurants, and deconstructed space heater parts from the local hardware store. Next, we zoom in to the molecular-level science behind this most delicious confection. Science buffs, rejoice! This episode is as fun for your eyes and brain as the "obsessively good" chocolate is for your mouth -- Polymorph fun for the whole family. Warning: this episode is NSFC (not safe for chocoholics). Previously on Boing Boing tv:* TCHO, part 1: chocolate origins. Related: read a feature about TCHO by David Pescovitz in the current issue of MAKE Magazine, Timothy and the Chocolate Factory. Here are some iPhone snapshots from Xeni on Flickr: TCHO, Boing Boing tv. (Special thanks to Amy Critchett, and Wayne & Breanna)

Can't see the video? Watch this video now in a browser or download this video now. Xeni and Pesco visit TCHO, a homebrew chocolate technology startup hacked together by a space shuttle technologist, Timothy Childs, and the founder of Wired, Louis Rosetto. In part one of BBtv's multi-part exploration of Tcho, we begin in the lab, and learn about the origins of chocolate: it's a weird looking fruit with biological roots in faraway tropical lands. How this fruit is picked, dried, and cured determines the flavor of the final product, and we learn about the hedonics -- the sensual nuances -- of this exotic and temperamental element. Related: read a feature about TCHO by David Pescovitz in the current issue of MAKE Magazine, Timothy and the Chocolate Factory. (Special thanks to Amy Critchett and Wayne de Geere)

Can't see the video? Watch this video now in a browser or download this video now. More gems from Bay Area Maker Faire 2008: Boing Boing co-editor David Pescovitz speaks with Kaden Harris, author of Eccentric Cubicle, and the brains behind Eccentricgenius.ca -- eccentric antiques from a parallel universe. He shows us his Silicon Projectile Centrifuge (a lovely lethal weapon that shoots marbles at high velocity), a combination lamp/bong, and other exotica from the halls of beautiful Eccentric Manors. Then, Xeni is zapped by Jack Sparx, who uses his body as an electrical transformer, zapping all who come near with low-level shocks in the name of science. As Xeni demonstrates, the jolts from his mini-Tesla Coils are not *that* low-level, either. Bonus: ironic t-shirt catwalk; Xeni and the BBtv crew stopped Maker Faire attendees in their tracks, and asked them to explain their hipster t-shirts. Previous Boing Boing tv episodes from Maker Faire: Star Simpson's fuzzy logic, MacGyver, MIT lasers, and trippy glasses: Maker Faire with Phil Torrone Combat robots, warring battleships: Xeni at Maker Faire (special thanks to Scott Beale, Eddie Codel, and Waneco Leisure Industries)

An interview with humorist and journalist John Hodgman, a frequent contributor to The Daily Show, author of Areas of My Expertise, and Apple TV commercial star.

Author Steven Johnson talks about his new book “The Ghost Map” with BoingBoing editors Cory Doctorow, Xeni Jardin, and David Pescovitz. Other topics: Boy Scout MPAA badges, Borat buzz, Paul Allen’s Brain Atlas, and Kevin Poulsen’s MySpace hack.

Cory Doctorow: Paul writes in to tell us about Bride of Monster Mashup, a Hallowe'en-themed mashup album -- he sez, " It's excellent -- it features DJ BC, Solcofn (from DC101), Cheekyboy (from DMC), pilchard and load more big mashers. There are also podcasts and videos for some of the tracks." DJ NoNo's County Sound is a hoot. Link (Thanks, Paul!)

David Pescovitz: On this week's edition of Get Illuminated! we chatted with Loren Coleman. As BB readers know, Loren is the world's leading cryptozoologist who has spent the last four decades studying "hidden animals," from Bigfoot and Yeti to Nessie and Chupacabras, and the culture surrounding them. He blogs about his curious findings at Cryptomundo and is the author of seventeen books, including my favorites Bigfoot: The True Story of Apes in America, Mysterious America, and Tom Slick: True Life Encounters in Cryptozoology. We spoke with Loren about how he became a cryptozoologist, what it means to be a Fortean, recent tales of Sasquatch, the case of the Dover Demon, and why the world is getting weirder. MP3 link | Podcast feed | Subscribe via iTunes

Xeni Jardin: Longtime Sigur Rós collaborator and fellow Icelandic native Jóhann Jóhannsson has a new album out this month, starring the venerable IBM 1401 computer of yore. Jóhannsson's also been doing live performances of "IBM 1401, a User's Manual," as shown above. Adam Farrell from music label 4AD tells BoingBoing: The story goes that Johannsson's dad was the technician on Iceland's first 1401. Johann found the machine in his dad's house, and sampled it for this album -- which is more of a classical / electronic album. He's experimented like this before -- he used ham radios and morse code transceivers on his Kitchen Motors CD. He figured sampling the world's first small business computer was the next step. Back in 1960, these devices weren't cheap: $2,500 a month to lease one. Image at left: Photo of Basic IBM 1401 system from BRL 1961, courtesy of Wikipedia. The artist explains how the project came together in his own words here. Link to project site, here's a video clip of the modern dance piece he scored for IBM 1401 (with someone narrating from the manual). Here are the machines you'll hear, and an audio file is here: MP3 Link.

Xeni Jardin: BoingBoing reader Kyle says, "I was inspired by your stoned professor story. So I made this little ditty." Link to QuickTime short.

Mark Frauenfelder: We're happy to present Boing Boing Digital Emporium's first batch of DRM-free music. Spike Priggen is offering three songs from his latest album, There's No Sound In Flutes! (with album art by Peter Bagge). Citing as influences the '80s New York/London punk and new wave scenes, as well as the power pop of Cheap Trick and Big Star, Spike (Michael) Priggen makes a wide variety of pop music, which ranges from subtle chamber pop to loud, bombastic garage rock to forays into psychedelia. There's No Sound In Flutes! is his 3rd solo LP. From the jangly romanticism of "I Know Everything," to the scathing wit of "Everyone Loves Me But You," (30-second MP3 sample) to the heart-on-sleeve sentiment of "Little Star," (30-second MP3 sample) to the elegant, evocative twang of "The Only Girl (in the World)," the self-penned, self-produced There's No Sound In Flutes (on the artist's own Volare Label) maintains the same bountiful levels of craft, energy and heart that distinguished Priggen's prior solo releases, the all-original The Very Thing That You Treasure and the quirky covers collection Stars After Stars After Stars. 30-second samples: Everyone Loves Me But You, Little Star, Till It All Falls Apart Buy Everyone Loves Me But You ($1), Buy Little Star ($1), Buy Till It All Falls Apart ($1)

Xeni Jardin: BoingBoing reader Shawn says, It appears from the content of this video that this University of Florida professor -- whom everyone has to take in the business school -- got REALLY REALLY REALLY HIGH before one of his classes. As I am told, he was fired the next day. Minute 28 is hilarious. I'm including links to the windows video files hosted at UF in the hopes someone remixes this. Looks like the lecturer's name is Howard J. (John) Hall, and he remains listed on the faculty of the University of Florida, Warrington College of Business. Link 1, and Link 2. He does ramble, but he's far more entertaining than any of the business school professors I ever sat through.

Xeni Jardin: Here's a sample of memorable attack-ad copy used by North Carolina Republican Vernon Robinson in an attempt to unseat Democrat Brad Miller from the U.S. House of Representatives: * “Brad Miller even spent your tax dollars to pay teenage girls to watch pornographic movies with probes connected to their genitalia.” * “Brad Miller spent your money to study the masturbation habits of old men.” Link (thanks, David Cassel) Reader comment: Dave Bullock says, The page you linked to for wacktastic Vernon Robinson radio ads only had the banjo version linked, but thanks to google's site: function I found the Mariachi ad. Link to "One big fiesta for aliens and homosexuals." Samuel says, Adding to his hypocrisy, this guy blatantly stole an old photo-montage of mine (from back in the 8-bit days) which he uses in his TV ad. Original: Link. His Ad (see 00:37): Link.

Mark Frauenfelder: In addition to our weekly "Boing Boing Boing" podcast, we've got another podcast, called "Get Illuminated." Each week, we'll interview creative people in fringe culture. Get Illuminated's patron saints, icons, and talismen include Robert Anton Wilson, Tim Leary, Stanislav Szukalski, Jack Kirby, Harvey Kurtzman, Maria Sabina, the Church of the SubGenius, Discordianism, MAD Magazine, underground comics, '70s punk, pranksters, and mad scientists. In Episode 1, we interviewed cultural critic and author Doug Rushkoff. He talked about the renewed interest in Timothy Leary and Aleister Crowley, let us in on the plot of the new comic he's writing for Vertigo comics, and talked about the book he's been waiting all his life to write. Get Illuminated podcast feed | Subscribe via iTunes | MP3 Link (64K) | Internet archive page

Xeni Jardin: Over the weekend, we recorded the second installment of our new weekly Boing Boing podcast, "Boing Boing Boing." Each week, the Boingers and a guest talk about the week's Boing Boing stories and new projects coming up -- a kind of Best of Boing Boing, in audio form. In this edition, we're joined by author, blogger, lethal-robot-handler, and sex educator Violet Blue. She recently became the San Francisco Chronicle's first sex columnist, and we asked her about that column -- "Open Source Sex" -- and an unauthorized but hilarious guerilla promo campaign announcing the launch (the Billboard Liberation Front stuck giant sexy photos of her on bus stops and buses throughout San Francisco). Podcast, Podcast Feed, Subscribe via iTunes, MP3 Link (64K) Previously: Introducing Boing Boing Boing: the Boing Boing podcast!

Cory Doctorow: Last Sunday, we recorded the first installment of the new Boing Boing podcast, Boing Boing Boing. This is a weekly podcast in which the Boingers and a guest talk about the week's Boing Boing stories and new projects coming up -- a kind of Best of Boing Boing, in audio form. This week's guest was the incomparable Mr Jalopy of the Hoopty Rides blog. Mr Jalopy is an incredible craphound and gearhead, a talented yard-saler, maker, and hot-rodder. In this 'cast, Mr Jalopy discusses his new book, his philosophy of yard sales, and the relative value of Yu-Gi-Oh cards versus Hot Cheetos. Podcast, Podcast Feed, Subscribe via iTunes, MP3 Link Update: Andrew sez, "Your Hot Cheetos story w/ Mr. Jalopy reminded me of a story from a year or two ago. A friend of mine was on a bus in Chicago, and witnessed a high school-aged girl perform a rather involved ceremony with a bag of Hot Cheetos and a vacuum sealed pickle. Before opening the Cheetos, she mashed them into tiny crumbs. She opened the cheetos and the pickle, setting the pickle to the side, and pouring the juice from the pickle packaging into the Cheetos bag. She then mashed this into a type of Cheetos/pickle juice slurry, and proceeded to squeeze the concoction into her mouth by turning the Cheetos bag into a sort of junk food pastry bag." Squick, squick, squick.

Xeni Jardin: A roundup of fun little stuff at the end of a long work week: # Discuss your smoking habits in Arabic: Link (Thanks, Hugo). # Are you ready to have my thang in your mouth? Link to a short video clip from Dateline NBC. (via Defamer) # Hot new flooring trend in Canada? Dead women at the bottom of a staircase, courtesy of the Red Cross Link (thanks, Seth). # How They Found Pussy (totally work-safe): Link. # Prosthetic fuzzy-mommy-hands for prematurely born babies, with the scent of a parent: Link. # 1975 Star Trek promotional flyer from Toys R Us: Link (thanks Scott). # Papercraft Polaroid camera: Link. # Happy 10th birthday, Disinfo.com! (Thanks, Denis) # Vintage tobacco ads: Link (thanks, IZ Reloaded). # WTC in mid-'70s cigarette ad from Playboy Magazine: Link (Thanks, Dan) # Baby's first Modernist Alphabet Flashcards: Link # The Princess and the Processor: Norwegian reality show setup involving smart computer and dumb blonde. "I can't understand the computer language they are talking." Link (Thanks, Andrew) # Guerilla wedding at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC: Link (thanks HeyTomK) # And BoingBoing reader HornCologne says, "Following the long and successful career of the Kraftwerk remix as the ring-tone on my cell, I present you ... Boing Boing Woop, remixed from that Danish rap song you posted yesterday. BTW, I love the part in the song where the guy sings blah-blah-blah-dont-understand-anything-in-Danish SEXY ASS blahblah.' It totally reminds me of Channel 9 from the BBC's Fast Show." Link to the BoingBoing Danish rap ringtone. Previous installments of BoingBoing Omakase Links: Post-holiday bluesnixer roundup

Cory Doctorow: I've just posted part one of my new podcast, for my story 0wnz0red, a story about trusted computing, geek culture, and getting root on your body. It was originally published on Salon, a reprinted in my short story collection A Place So Foreign and Eight More. 0wnz0red was a runner up for the Nebula Award in 2003, and has been widely reprinted. Ten years in the Valley, and all Murray Swain had to show for it was a spare tire, a bald patch, and a life that was friendless and empty and maggoty-rotten. His only ever California friend, Liam, had dwindled from a tubbaguts programmer-shaped potato to a living skeleton on his death-bed the year before, herpes blooms run riot over his skin and bones in the absence of any immunoresponse. The memorial service featured a framed photo of Liam at his graduation, his body was donated for medical science. Liam's death really screwed things up for Murray. He'd gone into one of those clinical depression spirals that eventually afflicted all the aging bright young coders he'd known during his life in tech. He'd get misty in the morning over his second cup of coffee and by the midafternoon blood-sugar crash, he'd be weeping silently in his cubicle, clattering nonsensically at the keys to disguise the disgusting snuffling noises he made. His wastebasket overflowed with spent tissues and a rumor circulated among the evening cleaning-staff that he was a compulsive masturbator. The impossibility of the rumor was immediately apparent to all the other coders on his floor who, pr0n-hounds that they were, had explored the limits and extent of the censoring proxy that sat at the headwaters of the office network. Nevertheless, it was gleefully repeated in the collegial fratmosphere of his workplace and wags kept dumping their collections of conference-snarfed hotel-sized bottles of hand-lotion on his desk. The number of bugs per line in Murray's code was 500 percent that of the overall company average. The QA people sometimes just sent his code back to him (From: qamanager@globalsemi.com To: mswain@globalsemi.com Subject: Your code... Body: ...sucks) rather than trying to get it to build and run. Three weeks after Liam died, Murray's team leader pulled his commit privileges on the CVS repository, which meant that he had to grovel with one of the other coders when he wanted to add his work to the project. MP3 Link, Podcast link, Podcast feed

Mark Frauenfelder: Diane says: "Caught your hawkmoth posting the other week. Want to see some video of one in action? We have these guys in our garden every summer -- Peter recently caught a bit of digital footage of one of them tanking up." Link | Link to Diane's blog post.

Mark Frauenfelder: Today, I interviewed John Higgs, author of the biography, I Have America Surrounded: The Life of Timothy Leary. I read Leary's autobiography,Flashbacks, in the early 80s and enjoyed it, but learned it was full of what Leary called "Irish facts," which are like real facts, only better. Higgs' book appears to be much more accurate, delivering a warts-and-all-story about an infinitely fascinating and inspiring human being. Higgs decided to write the book after he stumbled across a lost archive of Leary's papers, diaries, and letters that a friend had accumulated but never read. Note: I Have America Surrounded includes a few photos of the principle characters in Leary's life, but if you want more, check out the Russian Leary site, leary.ru, as well as this image gallery, both of which have hundreds of pictures. Link to MP3 File | Link to Archive.org page

Xeni Jardin: * WEAR: hardware, horsie, farm, jungle, and dinosaur jewelry by Nicola Vruwink of Los Angeles. (thanks Luke Burbank) * EAT/SLEEP: "Bib sheets" you sleep in. When you wake up, tie them around your neck for in-bed noshing. (via) * LISTEN: Balkan Beatbox, from Brooklyn. Eastern European + dub + breakbeats + Mediterranean party vibe. * READ: DieselSweeties in the dead-tree papers. Creator R. Stevens just inked a deal with funnies syndicator United Features Syndicate. (thanks hutch) * LISTEN: The new Nokia 8800 Sirocco futurephone comes pre-programmed with sounds by Brian Eno. (via pho list) * READ: New textfiles book from Cult of the Dead Cow: The Book of Cao. Like this. Buy here. * EAT: Vosges ice cream, ships overnight anywhere in the US via FedEx in a box of dry ice. Sampled it and loved it. Extreme lush flavor combos. Chipotle/Cinnamon/Chocolate; Curry/Coconut; Pandan leaf (Nilla wafers meets pine nut), Australian Wattleseed (sort of hazelnutty). Sounds scary, tastes yummy and approachable enough that my 87-year-old Italian foodie neighbor said "s'aright. i like. is good." Goes great with her pistachio cake, which, alas, is not available online. (thanks Ruth) * EXPLODE: New "carbonated" and "energy" candies by Jones Soda. If mentos + coke = rapid carbonic geyser, what do all three Jones products together produce? Worth a try. (thanks Luke) * WATCH: World 3D Film Expo at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood, September 8-13. Guaranteed to be free from anaglyph (red-blue). * LISTEN: New funktronica tracks by Q-Burns Abstract Message. Among them: "Alexander East - Breathe Again (Q-Burns Abstract Message Remix)." The selekta explains, "A remix I've recently finished... contains an appearance by New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin on vocals." MP3 Link to this track; more free beats by Q-Burns here.

Mark Frauenfelder: Yesterday I posted some photos of an old carnival game that belongs to a woman named Marsee who works at O'Reilly. She inherited it from her grandfather, who was a carny and owned the recieved the game as a gift, but never used it. (He was an honest carny, like most are.) About 200 people emailed me with their ideas on how this game was rigged. Today, one of Make's interns, Ty Nowotny, took the game apart and revealed its secret: a cylinder with damping material. (Click on thumbnail for enlargement) When the carny wants to demonstrate how easy it is to throw a ball into the basket and have it drop through the hole, he reaches into the catching apron and pushes the green fabric tacked to the backboard, which makes the cylinder flush against the backboard. Then he tosses the ball into the basket. The cylinder absorbs the ball's energy, so the ball does not bounce out of the basket, but instead drops through the hole. (Click on thumbnail for enlargement) The very act of throwing the ball against the backboard causes the damping cylinder drop away. Now, when it's the rube's turn, the ball bounces right out of the basket. Here's a photo of the game (the real name is a "Scissors Box") with the back panel removed, revealing the mechanism. Here are two videos of the thing in action. The first one shows balls bouncing out of it like crazy; the second one shows how the mechanism operates. Video 1 | Video 2

Xeni Jardin: BB reader Greg says, Another mash-up album from djbc (who produced the excellent Philip Glass/Hip-Hop "Glassbreaks" album), this time featuring vocals from the Wu-Tang Clan over dixieland jazz tunes. It's a thing to hear. Online for free, and probably only until the cease-and-desist letter comes. Link, and a torrent for the file can be found here as well. OMG the whole thing is amazing. I believe my favorite so far is "When The Meth Comes Marching In," with the unlikely pairing of Louis Armstrong and Method Man.

Cory Doctorow: Weird Al Yankovic has produced an anthem for the download generation: Don't Download This Song: You don't want to mess with the RI-double-A They'll sue you if you burn that CDR It doesn't matter if you're a grandma Or a seven year old girl They'll treat you like the evil hard-bitten criminal you are... Link, MP3 Link (Thanks to everyone who suggested this!)

Cory Doctorow: Gnarls Barkley, Rolling Stone Magazine's "Least likely summer success story," debuted recently with its first CD, St. Elsewhere. One of GB"s frontmen is DJ Danger Mouse, famous for his Grey Album, wherein he mashed up the Beatles' White Album with Jay-Z's Black Album. Now the mashup artists at Sound Advice have mashed up St Elsewhere with Notorious BIG tracks, producing an album called "Gnarls Biggie." The MP3 mixes here are inspired, particularly the recut of the Violent Femmes "Gone Daddy Gone" cover, Gone Biggie Gone. Link (via Kottke)

Mark Frauenfelder: I forgot all about this funny, profanity-infested voice mail that a gentleman left for me a few months back. He was upset that I linked to a how-to piece written by Deke McClelland about scanning currency in Photoshop, which has certain features that prevent you from scanning and printing US currency. I recently completed an illustration for MAKE Vol 7 that required an image of a dollar bill (shown here; click here for enlargement). Ironically, the purpose of the illustration was to show people how to detect counterfeit money, not how to make counterfeit money. I wonder if this will assuage the concerns expressed by the caller? I had no problem using Photoshop to scan the dollar bill and paste it into Adobe Illustrator, but I'm glad Deke figured out a workaround to help other illustrators who use currency in their art and photography. Here, for your enjoyment, is the voice mail. The gentleman's language is colorful, so be careful listening to it at work. Link

Cory Doctorow: Ricky Lee and The Squirrel Nut Zippers, a great big-band revival act, have recorded a jumpin' number about rejecting surveillance and voting for a government that won't spy on us and take away our freedom. This is handily the catchiest political song I've ever heard, and certainly the most danceable. MP3 Link, Link (Thanks, Cindy!)

Mark Frauenfelder: Greg Wallace says: "You may remember the last Bravia Ad, the one with the colored balls falling down the street, this time Sony attacked an old multi story flat scheduled for demolition, with amazing effect!" Link

Mark Frauenfelder: Thingamagoop is $100 synthesizer that looks like a little robot with a lightstalk growing out of its noggin. Plug it into an amp, twirl the knobs, flip the switches, and move the light around to create lots of frenetic whoops and beeps. Link | Link to movie (via Ektopia)