Doctorow Videos
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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)

Can't see the video? Watch this video now in a browser or download this video now. The San Francisco-based Billboard Liberation Front has been transforming the world of advertising since 1977. When Austrian art-pranksters and regular BBtv guests monochrom recently visited the United States to spread their Sculpture Mob dogma, a historic meeting with the elusive BLF took place. Boing Boing tv's hidden cameras captured everything. And in part two of today's BBtv episode, Xeni travels with the BLF and monochrom to document their first-ever joint exploit to build "The Great Firewall of China" around one of the Google signs on the internet giant's Mountain View campus. Hijinks ensued; dogs, cops, and GOOG security guards pursued; TV news crews newsed. The goal of their "unpaid advertising services"? To draw attention to Google's role in online censorship within China. As it happened, this particular day was the same day of a Google shareholder meeting, during which related proposals came up for vote. Link to Billboard Liberation Front press release, and here's monochrom's side of the story. Here are previous BBtv episodes with monochrom.

Main Fiction Bears Discover Fire by Terry Bisson Winner of: 1991 Hugo Award for Best Short Story 1990 Nebula Award for Best Short Story 1991 Asimov's Reader's Award 1991 The Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award 1991 Locus Award 1991 SF Chronicle Award I was driving with my brother, the preacher, and my nephew, the preacher's son, on I-65 just north of Bowling Green when we got a flat. It was Sunday night and we had been to visit Mother at the Home. We were in my car. The flat caused what you might call knowing groans since, as the old-fashioned one in my family (so they tell me), I fix my own tires, and my brother is always telling me to get radials and quit buying old tires. Article: Steampunk by Amy Sturgis 10:57 Flash Fiction: The Cootie Box by Paul Di Filippo 07:25 Article: DRM Issues by Cory Doctorow 52:00 Fiction: Little Brother by Cory Doctorow (30mins preview) 60:00 Music: Automaton by XJ3 01.12 Promo: Steampod 91:00 Narrators: Paul Gaggegi and Jim Campanella

Can't see the video? Watch this video now in a browser or download this video now. Today on Boing Boing tv, Cory Doctorow invites you to create and share HOWTO videos based on an ongoing series of Instructables posts that draw from his latest book, Little Brother. Here's how Andrew “bunnie” Huang, author of Hacking the Xbox, describes the book: [A] scarily realistic adventure about how homeland security technology could be abused to wrongfully imprison innocent Americans. A teenage hacker-turned-hero pits himself against the government to fight for his basic freedoms. This book is action-packed with tales of courage, technology, and demonstrations of digital disobedience as the technophile’s civil protest. Here's how to submit your Little Brother HOWTO video to Boing Boing tv: (1) Shoot it! (2) Upload it to YouTube or another video hosting site! (3) Tell us where to find it! Submit the url here. (4) Selected videos will be featured on BBtv! Also in today's episode (which, by the way, is Cory's BBtv debut): Legendary dumpster-diver Darren Atkinson was the subject of Cory's first-ever WIRED magazine feature in 1994. Cory returns to the trash-heap for BBtv with the "modern industrialist philosopher of garbage," who also performs in multiple WHO cover bands. In related news, here's a Little Brother library/school donation project update, and if you're in Chicago, come on out to one of the Little Brother events taking place in your area over the next two days!

Can't see the video? Watch this video now in a browser or download this video now. Kevin Kelly is one of the most fascinating people I've ever had the honor of meeting. For today's episode of Boing Boing tv, I visited his Bay Area home to learn more about the stories behind the stunning images that comprise Asia Grace, one of my favorite books by Kelly (there are many others). Before he helped launch Wired 15 years ago, and served as the publication's founding editor, the onetime "nomadic photojournalist" wandered throughout Asia with a backpack crammed full of film -- and little else. The resulting images, most of which were taken in the 1970s, form the body of Asia Grace. We see worlds that no longer exist: Afghanistan and Iran before wars that changed them forever; and traditional lifestyles in Tibet, Nepal, China, and India that fade further into history with each passing year. Here's an Amazon link for the book. In part two of today's episode, Kelly explains his hypothesis of "A thousand true fans," an idea that generated much debate and discussion on Boing Boing recently when we pointed to his blog posts on The Technium (which you should read regularly, if you don't already). His question: in the internet age, can an artist subsist on the micro-patronage of a thousand true fans?

Can't see the video? Watch this video now in a browser or download this video now. Xeni visits the offices of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and speaks with Jake Appelbaum and Bill Paul, two of the authors of a security research paper that shows how your computer's memory can be tricked into revealing data you thought was safely encrypted, and out of the reach of others. One method involves using a can of compressed air to quickly cool the memory chip, but freezing the target isn't the only way to lull it into submission -- Paul shows us how to use an iPod or a USB thumb drive to do the same thing. These methods have been shown to defeat three popular disk encryption products commonly used to protect data on laptops: BitLocker (Windows Vista), FileVault (MacOS X), and dm-crypt (Linux). Here's the entire text of the report draft, released earlier this year: Lest We Remember: Cold Boot Attacks on Encryption Keys . Authors: J. Alex Halderman, Seth D. Schoen, Nadia Heninger, William Clarkson, William Paul, Joseph A. Calandrino, Ariel J. Feldman, Jacob Appelbaum, and Edward W. Felten. The team plan to research additional software tools and a final version of their report at Usenix Security Symposium in July/August. Special thanks to Seth Schoen and Peter Eckersley of the EFF.

Can't see the video? Watch this video now in a browser or download this video now. Today on Boing Boing tv, part two of Xeni's visits with John Gaeta, the Academy Award-winning Visual Effects supervisor of the Matrix trilogy -- his new film, Speed Racer, opens today in theaters around the US. This latest Wachowski brothers project reinterprets the classic 1960s Japanese anime series of the same name. In this second part of BBtv's conversation with Gaeta, he reveals some of the art, anime, and pop culture elements that combine to form Speed Racer's "poptimistic photo-anime" feel. The live action Speed Racer is saturated in a candy-colored palette so rich, audiences may just leave the theater with a contact sugar high. View interactive samples of the digital building blocks behind the movie in a related online feature in VRMAG, "Speed Racer Uncovered." And Gaeta adds a special message for Boing Boing tv viewers, who are already well accustomed to all things digital -- "For optimal viewing experience, see Speed Racer at a digital cinema or IMAX theater." He's not kidding, with a feature like this, analog projection just doesn't do the work justice. (Special thanks: John Gaeta; Andy and Larry Wachowski; and David Pescovitz)

Can't see the video? Watch this video now in a browser or download this video now. Boing Boing tv's embedded robo-combat reporter Xeni Jardin witnesses warfare inside Robogames and Combots at Bay Area Maker Faire 2008, where robots battle until death -- or at least 'til one competitor busts a sprocket. Next, BB-gun wielding battleships go BOOM!, with the Western Warship Combat Club. Participants painstakingly re-create historic battleships on small scale, and outfit each warboat with actual artillery. He who sinks last wins. The cameraman took a pellet or two in the pants, but the goofy safety goggles kept all eyes intact. If you dig the robots, you may enjoy the upcoming Robogames. The world's largest robot show takes place Fri, June 13th through Sun, June 15 in San Francisco. Link to tickets.

Can't see the video? Watch this video now in a browser or download this video now. Make Magazine senior editor Phil Torrone guides us through the wonders of Maker Faire 2008 in San Mateo. First, we learn about "fuzzy logic," soft electronic circuit components, with Star Simpson -- the 20 year old MIT student arrested for a "fake bomb" at Boston's Logan Airport in 2007 when authorities mistook her interactive LED t-shirt for a terrorist device. Her trial is scheduled for May 23, by the way, so she wasn't able to answer our questions about that ordeal just yet. Next up, also from MIT -- Ed Baafi introduces us to the fabulous "fab lab," where complex fabrication technologies are made easy. Then, Phil shows us affordable laser etching to personalize your iPhone or laptop. Inventor and hacker Mitch Altman demonstrates the "brain machine," a device that stimulates your mind's eye. Mitch also invented TV-B-Gone, a sort of secret kill switch for kills television sets ("the only TV remote you need!"). And Lee Zlotoff, the creator of TV's McGyver reveals plans for a McGyver film project.

Can't see the video? Watch this video now in a browser or download this video now. Boing Boing Gadgets editor Joel Johnson recently spent a week in the woods with a backpack full of electronics, to see if he could work on the internet in the wild using only solar power and his bare hands. This video reveals to the world, for the very first time, what happened to all those bears.

Can't see the video? Watch this video now in a browser or download this video now. Today on Boing Boing tv, a classic animated work from Syd Garon: "SNEAK ATTACK" by DJ Q-Bert. Music video by Eric Henry, Syd Garon, and Rodney Ascher. Next, an animation based on work by illustrator Jon Burgerman for his forthcoming book Pens are my Friends, produced by Jason Arber and Wyld Stallyons.

Can't see the video? Watch this video now in a browser or download this video now. In today's episode of Boing Boing tv, Xeni visits with John Gaeta, the Academy Award-winning Visual Effects supervisor of the Matrix trilogy, to learn more about his digital craft in the new film Speed Racer. This latest Wachowski brothers project reinterprets the classic 1960s Japanese anime series of the same name, and opens in theaters nationwide on May 9. Gaeta explains how he used VR "bubbles" and a mysterious team known as the "world unit" to create the film's "poptimistic photo-anime" feel. The live action Speed Racer is saturated in a candy-colored palette so rich, audiences may just leave the theater with a contact sugar high. View interactive samples of the digital building blocks behind the movie in a related online feature in VRMAG, "Speed Racer Uncovered." (Special thanks: John Gaeta; Andy and Larry Wachowski; and David Pescovitz)

Can't see the video? Watch this video now in a browser or download this video now. Today on Boing Boing tv, Xeni visits TechShop, an open-access public workshop that's kind of like a health club with heavy machinery and sparks instead of treadmills. Tinkerers, inventors, and hackers pay a membership fee, and in turn receive access to professionally-maintained gear, workshops, mentors, and a community of like-minded makers. Currently there is only one site in Silicon Valley, and it opened in 2006. But founder Jim Newton (a lifetime maker, veteran BattleBots builder and former MythBuster) plans to open a number of locations around the US -- and eventually, the rest of the world. John Todd, who you'll meet in this episode, wrote this article about the membership-based machine and fabrication shop in a recent edition of Kevin Kelly's Cool Tools zine. Snip: I've been a member since before TechShop really even started, back when it was just some guys passing out flyers trying to gauge interest. For $100 a month, members can use any tool in the shop on which they've received training. MUCH cheaper than buying your own gear. The list of equipment is pretty extensive, too, and new items are arriving frequently (like a new hot-wire foam cutter). John shares an additional note with BBtv about the company's business model: TechShop is unusual in the way it's funded - community members are the financial backers. To date, TechShop has been funded by taking loans from members and repaying them at a nominal rate. Typically backers contribute $25k and up, and are then paid back over several years. There is an "A" round being raised now to fund the nationwide expansion, and the first funding source again is going to be the community instead of focusing on traditional VC sources. It's an unusual way to keep members excited about what they do at TechShop, and to keep them focused on making the whole experience better. Jim Newton (CEO) and Mark Hatch (COO) are looking for additional interested people who want to become members and funders - contact TechShop for details. In part two of today's episode, we take a joyride in a three-wheeled electric car.

Can't see the video? Watch this video now in a browser or download this video now. Today on Boing Boing tv, a sneak peek inside TOKYOLOGY, a new documentary exploring contemporary Japanese pop-culture hosted by Carrie Ann Inaba. Oh, what adventures await: sneak behind the scenes at a Japanese Rock TV show that pretends it's shot in Los Angeles, cruise Harajuku, go clubbing with goth girls in Shinjuku, shop for shoes with Lolitas, experience the madness of the Tokyo Anime Fair, visit a video game company, browse the streets of Akihabara, and meet anime creator Yoshitoshi Abe. DVDs are available in retail stores and online, tokyology.tv has details. (Special thanks to Tokyology co-producers Felix and Julian Mack of Nightjar.)

It's a meeting of the minds when authors John Scalzi and Cory Doctorow sit down to discuss writing, pranks, and more. Their books 'Zoe’s Tale' and 'Little Brother' take center stage.

Can't see the video? Watch this video now in a browser or download this video now. A redemption tale by the prolific religious comic book artist Jack Chick is born again through animation, in a classic short film by Syd Garon and Rodney Ascher. Chick, born in 1924, is the most published comic book author in the world. Over decades, his publishing company has released some 500 million fundamentalist evangelical "Chick tracts" warning of the eternal consequences of a life lived without salvation. One of these cautionary cartoon gospels, "Somebody Goofed," attracted the attention of animator-directors Syd and Rodney a decade ago -- and they transformed it into the mixed media pastiche Boing Boing tv presents to you, dear viewer, today. This 8 minute film debuted at the DFILM Digital Film Festival in San Francisco on November 7, 1997. DFILM founder Bart Cheever tells Boing Boing tv: We showed it all over the world. No other film came close to provoking the kind of intense, gut-level reaction that we saw with Goofed -- people really loved it or really, really hated it. Religious people called it blasphemous and threatened to organize boycotts of our shows. Anti-religious people called it religious propaganda and wrote angry letters to theater owners where we screened the festival. To me, Goofed was the Birth of a Nation of After Effects films, and was really the aesthetic blueprint for much of what you see on TV today. So many people have copied their cool 2D photo-animations, and their style is used so heavily today on VH1, E, MTV, and so on -- it's easy to forget how groundbreaking the film was. No one had ever really done anything like it before. I loved the way Goofed is this rich moving collage of newsprint religious tracts, album covers (can you spot Paul's Boutique?), clips from 70's gangster films, cigarette ads from old magazines etc. To me, Goofed represented a whole new way of collaging various forms of media. Related posts on Boing Boing: Photo Fictions: bizarre narrative photo show in L.A. Rodney Ascher's short film about a freefalling parachutist Syd and Rodney's "Jack Chick's Titanic" video Galactus meets Jack Chick Jack Chick's own Passion Jack Chick profile Parody of Jack Chick tract warns against tiki worship. Hallowe'en, Jack Chick style (Special thanks to Pesco, and to Syd Garon)

Can't see the video? Watch this video now in a browser or download this video now. The gem sweater bedazzlements and lyrical besnazzlements of "internet ceWEBrity" Leslie Hall have graced Boing Boing tv before -- but in today's episode, Ms. Hall submits an exclusive tour diary for BBtv viewers, a veritable world exclusive. "With these shoulderpads I have the strength to destroy, villages, homes, and crops," she warns. Her ladyfire is mighty, as all ye who gaze upon this video shall witness. Ms. Hall was among the internet personalities who participated in the recent ROFLcon gathering in Cambridge, Mass. Her presence there among fellow internet memesters is documented in this Wired gallery, and in a photo set from Scott Beale of Laughing Squid. See also his short video of the Tron Guy talking about geek women. Which brings us back to the 26-year-old Ms. Hall, straight outta Iowa, believed by her many followers to be the fiercest gold-lame-wrapped geek woman on the planet. Related Boing Boing tv items: * Leslie Hall: ceWEBrity, gem sweater diva, jammer of jams. * Leslie Hall iPhone snaps, "Blame the Booty" remix - Boing Boing

Can't see the video? Watch this video now in a browser or download this video now. Today on Boing Boing tv, a look at some of the talented animators from around the world whose work has been featured on our show.

Can't see the video? Watch this video now in a browser or download this video now. Boing Boing tv visits New York Comic Con, the largest comics convention on the Eastern seaboard, and we find games, geeks, and graphic novels galore. Our guide through the event's board game realms is Dr. Gregory Wilson, author and fantasy fiction professor at St. John's University of New York, who teaches us little-known tools for game quality evaluation. "You can tell this one is awesome because of the weight of the box -- it's probably about 15 pounds," he says as we pass one title. "This one takes two hours just to set up! Clear evidence that it, too, is awesome." Part two of today's episode is a little alternate reality game of our own design -- we like to call it "Count the Cosplayer." BONUS AWESOMENESS: In related news, Paddy Johnson of Art Fag City blog says: "I set up a small online quiz asking people to label unidentified visitors as either art fair or comic-con attendees. There are a few surprises in there, which keeps it interesting."

Can't see the video? Watch this video now in a browser or download this video now. Grab your LED throwies and your laser tagging units, comrades, and join the revolution. Today on Boing Boing tv, a sneak peek at a new documentary film on the subversive public art collective known as Graffiti Research Lab, who develop and distribute "open source technologies for urban communication." The voices you'll hear in today's episode -- GRL founders James Powderly and Evan Roth. From their statement, redacted by the "U.S. Dept. of Homeland Graffiti"... From their origins in the trash room of a non-profit in Manhattan to their emergence as the instigators of an international art movement, Graffiti Research Lab: The Complete First Season documents the adventures of an architect and an engineer who quit their day jobs to develop high-tech tools for the art underground. The film follows the GRL and their network of graffiti artist collaborators (and commercial imitators) across four continents as they write on skyscrapers with lasers, mock advertisers with homemade tools, get in trouble with The Department of Homeland Security and make activism fun again. Primarily using video footage from point-and-shoot digital cameras (“The Pocket School”) and found-content on the web, the movie’s visual style draws as much from the art of the power point presentation and viral media as conventional documentary cinema. Narrated by GRL co-founders, Roth and Powderly, The Complete First Season makes a humorous and insightful argument for free speech in public, open source in pop culture, the hacker spirit in graffiti and not asking for permission in general. The film was premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2008. Available 24/7 on The Pirate Bay. Part two of today's episode documents GRL's hijinks at Maker Faire 2007. That event's 2008 edition is coming up next week. GRL was mistakenly credited with the Boston Mooninite LED Terror Freakout; while their work no doubt inspired the street marketing team responsible for the Aqua Teen Hunger Force debacle, Powderly told Boing Boing the day it happened that GRL was not involved. Link to more info about the DVD and where you can download a torrent -- or, see it at the premiere, May 4, at New York's MOMA.

Can't see the video? Watch this video now in a browser or download this video now. At the 2008 Bent Festival for experimental electronic music, Xeni encounters Krach der Roboter ("Noise Robot"), who brings a message of peace, crackers, and chaotic tonal algorithms for all mankind. "Why do humans love robots so much?" Xeni asks. "Actually, people love animals, babies, and robots," Krach replied. "But animals make turds and babies cry, while robots do none of those things." Includes gratuitous references to the spectacularly crappy 1979 movie "Starcrash," starring David Hasselhoff and Christopher Plummer. Special thanks to Make, which sponsored the event, and to Andreas Stoiber and Johannes Grenzfurthner of monochrom. MORE circuit bending video goodness: filmmaker John Fox attended the 2007 Bent Festival in Los Angeles, and shot this fun mini-documentary about the instruments, the technology, and the participants: Video Link.

Can't see the video? Watch this video now in a browser or download this video now. Boing Boing tv presents a new installment of "Spam Theater," in which we bring to dramatic life actual, unadulterated spam emails we've received -- word for word, exactly what plopped in our in-box. Today, a classic Romance Scam enticement from the fictional spamtress "Kseniya," written in mad heroine prose worthy of a Tennessee Williams play. Voiced by Xeni Jardin, who received the message. In part two of today's episode, '80s electrobeats and word salad merge as one. Full text of the email from "Kseniya" after the jump, along with photo and video credits.

Can't see the video? Watch this video now in a browser or download this video now. Today on Boing Boing tv, a pair of classic works from the animation and filmmaking duo Syd unrepentant souls are tortured, sliced, and diced, in an epic headbanger's nightmare.

Can't see the video? Watch this video now in a browser or download this video now. Wrapping up our week-long retrospective of the most crowd-pleezin' episodes in Boing Boing tv's first 6 months of existence, we revisit an episode in which... Vienna-based art-pranksters monochrom teach us how to "hack the urban context" with campfires, sausages, beer, and an elderly Austrian gentleman who speaks LOL. In the second segment of today's episode, someone constructs a campfire, complete with beer bottles and half-cooked links, right in the middle of the Vienna airport. American kids, don't try this at home unless you want a one-way to Camp X-Ray. Schnitzel and subversive smores FTW!

Can't see the video? Watch this video now in a browser or download this video now. On the final day of Boing Boing tv's week-long "best of" retrospective, celebrating our first six months of mutant internetelevision... No one ever envisioned this kind of hands free roaming... Today on BBtv, we explore the age old question of which cell phone brand is the most compatible with your stomach. This phone fricassee takes place at Machine Project, host of the Fry-B-Que social. So, turn your gullet on vibrate, and sharpen your bluetooth. It's time to taste test some telecommunications. See also this related episode: * Meat Cloning at Machine Project.

Can't see the video? Watch this video now in a browser or download this video now. Continuing in Boing Boing tv's week-long "best of" retrospective, a pair of surreal shorts about food and drink, from filmmaker Stefan Nadelman. First, "Food Fight," a stop-animation piece that provides an abridged history of war, told through the foods of the countries in conflict (Ed.: the original work has been edited for time, and captions have been added to assist the history-impaired). Next, "My Dog Impersonating Orson Welles," in which a pooch clutches a bottle of champagne, and attempts to form sentences.

Can't see the video? Watch this video now in a browser or download this video now. Continuing in Boing Boing tv's "best of" our first 6 months, as chosen by you, our viewers, we revisit the dulcet tones of.... Gabe and Max, who have taught so many of us how to achieve the dream lives of our dreams using the internet. Today they answer questions from the Bing Bong audience. Then, aliens discover Mark Frauenfelder's book, "Rule the Web."

Can't see the video? Watch this video now in a browser or download this video now. Continuing in our week-long look back at the first 6 months of Boing Boing tv, we revisit an episode in which... BBtv co-editor David Pescovitz takes a trip into the alternate reality of pop surrealist artist Tim Biskup. And it's definitely a trip. Then, sculptor Chris Yates demonstrates how he makes a Diesel Sweeties wooden Red Robot from start to finish, slightly faster than normal.

I have never had so much fun reading a legal response than I did the note from the head of Blue Jeans Cables to Monster Cable. See the episode for the full story. We also determine that politicians across the world are nuts, and I'm not good math.