Mark Frauenfelder Videos
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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 this week's "Best of BBtv" retrospective, after a whopping 6 months of existence, we revisit a popular episode in which... Mark checks out a 15-times-larger-than-life Atari joystick replica by Jason Torchinsky, on display at Felt Club XL. Then, 8-bit help for those suffering from projectile dysfunction disorder. If you're in LA this Thursday, Machine Project is hosting an event where you can check out this cool creation for yourself!

Can't see the video? Watch this video now in a browser or download this video now. Today on Boing Boing tv, a vlog from Mark about Socialbomb, a real-world tech game that explores social circles and ways to measure interpersonal reputation. The current version is designed to accommodate 30 players. Each player is awarded points for being near players with higher reputations, and penalized for being near players with lower reputations. Bonuses and penalties are applied according to overall social promiscuity and status. The player with the worst reputation score is the 'Socialbomb.' Their score will have the most negative impact on a social circle. Shot on location at the O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference.

Can't see the video? Watch this video now in a browser or download this video now. Mark visits student inventors in Illinois, and learns about electronic firefly jars, recycled cassette tape holders, and a solar powered lamp for the developing world.

Can't see the video? Watch this video now in a browser or download this video now. Today on Boing Boing tv: a vlog from Mark about "Peggy," a fun little light emitting pegboard kit. Mark says: Remember those LED signs from the great Boston Mooninite debacle of 2007, in which a street promo campaign for a television show turned into a big security scare? They are in fact fun to make, and not at all deadly -- I spoke with Windell from Evil Mad Science, which sells kits so you can make pegboard signs at home. Here's a related post by Phil Torrone on the MAKE blog.

Can't see the video? Watch this video now in a browser or download this video now. The ghost of Judy Garland visited the recent Maker Faire tryouts in Los Angeles. Fun with old phones and newer MP3 players: "Judy Phone" by Greg MacLaurin. Special thanks to Machine Project for hosting the tryouts.

Can't see the video? Watch this video now in a browser or download this video now. Today on Boing Boing tv, a vlog from Mark Frauenfelder: I saw you at the Skirball Center over the weekend. Well, not you exactly. I saw a single grain of rice that represented you. In fact, there was one grain of rice for every person in the Americas there, arranged in categorized piles: the number of people who eat at McDonalds every day; the number of millionaires in the United States; the number of Billionaires; the number of people in South America who live on less than $2 a day, etc.. It was an exhibit by the London-based theatre company Stan's Cafe, called "Of All the People In The World: The Americas." They created it to help people understand hard-to-visualize statistics, such as the number of people who live in gated communities in the United States, the number of people who have been killed by tasers, and the number of people with AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. I took some photos of the exhibit and interviewed one of the members of Stan's Cafe, who talked about ""Of All the People In The World," and why they created it.

Can't see the video? Watch this video now in a browser or download this video now. W00t, here's the 50th episode of Boing Boing tv! Mark makes a tiny amplifier for an electric guitar, then proceeds to shred. Next, a short film by Walter Robot (Bill Barminski and Christopher Louie) in which an urban cowboy funks out.

Can't see the video? Watch this video now in a browser or download this video now. Mark's exploration of Mister Jalopy's drive-in movie theater on a bicycle starts out normal enough, but gets pretty trippy when Jalopy opens the lid. Care Bears, orangutans, and Mister Rogers all make cameo appearances. All of this magic took place at a "mini Maker Faire" during Felt Club 2007, an annual exposition of cool crap made by interesting people. When the buzz wears off, we step into the Beijing Accelerator. Rotterdam-based artist Marnix de Nijs created this immersive virtual reality experience in which a seated user rotates at the same speed as the landscape they're viewing. This, too, is trippy. Coop suggests that it be known as "Barf Barf Revolution."

Can't see the video? Watch this video now in a browser or download this video now. Mark shows us how to make an explosive miniature cannon out of some Binaca and an empty film canister (don't try this at an airport, folks). Then, good foods gone bad -- an excerpt from "Snack Mansion," a claymation film by Lauren Adolfsen. When the pizza makes out with the cookie, and the banana barfs, you know it's a party.

Can't see the video? Watch this video now in a browser or download this video now. Mad professor Mark Frauenfelder shows us how to make a Curie Effect Magnetic Heat Engine from common household items. Then, Austrian art-pranksters Monochrom sing a song of love for Stanford law prof and famed copyright reform advocate Lawrence Lessig.

Can't see the video? Watch this video now in a browser or download this video now. Filmmaker G.J. Echternkamp and his parents make pastrami sandwiches in Xeni's kitchen, and talk with Mark about the new feature film FRANK AND CINDY, which documents their lives. Snip from the film description: When Cindy married a rock star, Frank, in 1983 she imagined a life of glamour and GRAMMYS. But the song that propelled Frank to fame, Whirly Girl, would be the only chart-topper from his short-lived group, OXO. Years later, out of shape and nearly bankrupt after spending his money on "gas, food, dry cleaning and drugs." Frank is not the vision Cindy married. Desperate to resuscitate her dream, Cindy furnishes a new studio for Frank in hopes he'll record another hit. Instead, he'd rather drink. Upset by his lack of ambition, Cindy berates him incessantly ("I hate every fat bone in your body!"). And now, twenty-three years after appearing on American Bandstand, Frank lives sequestered to the basement where he uses coffee cans as his improvised bathroom. Both appalled and amused by his parents' behavior, Cindy's filmmaker son, G.J., picks up his video camera and aims it at them. After a year of filming, what began as an attempt to mock his one-hit-wonder step-father, instead becomes a candid portrait of the pursuit of happiness.

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