Neal Stephenson talks REAMDE with lawyers, security experts

Cory Doctorow at 8:12 am • 4 •

Here's a video from a recent U Washington Law School panel discussion with Neal Stephenson regarding his video-game crime-thriller REAMDE. The law school assembled cyber lawyers, security experts from the computer science department, and Stephenson himself, and discussed the real-world implications for the sorts of business, technology, security and crime described in the (excellent) book. This video would probably work better as an MP3 -- there's not much in the video track beyond a nearly static image of the panel -- but the actual content is fascinating.

A possible medical diagnosis of zombies, just in case they end up being real

Jamie Frevele at 8:43 am • 6 •

(Video link) If you're a logical, overthinking zombie fan, then this is the TED-Ed video for you! Tim Verstynen and Bradley Voytek of the Zombie Research Society have narrated a short, animated video outlining possible medical explanations for why zombies are zombies. You might think this is silly, because zombies are fictional... until you see some wobbly humanoid lurking in your backyard, eating a squirrel. I just want you to have the information you might desperately need.

Galaxy of Gore: 10 Must-See Horror Flicks Set in Space

• By Angela WatercutterEmail Author
• 10.24.12
• 6:30 AM
• Edit

<< Previous | Next >>

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

When you think about it, deep space – with its vast expanse of nothingness – actually might be scarier than any psychopathic killer in the woods or blood-drinking demon. Yet the farthest reaches of the cosmos don't

balloon animal video tutorial

 

For Rookie, Ira Glass of This American Life gives a detailed and entertaining balloon animal video tutorial to teenage girls. After the tutorial, he answers teen’s personal questions for Rookie’s Ask a Grown Man series. We have previously posted about the Ask a Grown Man series on Laughing Squid

Mini Bipedal Robot Walking on a Tightrope

Japanese robot enthusiast Dr. Guero has adapted a miniature Kondo KHR-3HV bipedal robot to walk on a tightrope. Dr. Guero customized the arms to aid in balancing and added grooves to the feet to help the robot slide across the rope. We previously wrote about Dr. Geuro’s bicycle riding robot.

via Hack A Day & The Awesomer

video

Original contract for Moby-Dick

Lowering the Bar has a copy of Herman Meville's publishing contract for Moby-Dick, made 161 years ago between Harper and Brothers of the city of New York, Publishers and Melville. Melville got 50% of the profits (which seems fishy to me, given that the publisher has near-total leeway in accounting for its expenses-before-profit on the book), which apparently amounted to $556.37

ComBots Cup VII, A Heavyweight Fighting Robot Championship

ComBots Cup VII Combot Robot Championship, the annual world fighting championship for robots, takes place October 20 & 21, 2012 from 2 PM to 7 PM at the San Mateo Fairgrounds in San Mateo, California. The event features the “best 220-pound robots from around the world for dominance, cash, and the glory that is the ComBots Cup…” There is more information about this event at the ComBots Facebook page and at their website. Advance tickets are now available.

Hominid, X-Ray Style Animation of Creepy Animal/Human Hybrids

Humanoid creatures hunt one another in “Hominid,” a creepy computer animation presented in X-ray vision. The animation was written and directed by artist Brian Andrews and is based on his “Hominid” photo composite series (photos below). The animation was created at San Francisco Bay Area-based Ex’pression College for Digital Arts.

via

Researcher claims feasibility of writing lethal wireless pacemaker viruses

hope you'll make it -- tell your friends! — Cory

In a presentation at the BreakPoint security conference in Melbourne, IOActive researcher Barnaby Jack described an attack on pacemakers that could, he says, deliver lethal shocks to their owners. Jack claims that an unspecified pacemaker vendor's devices have a secret wireless back-door that can be activated by knowledgeable attackers from up to 30 feet away, and that this facility can be used to kill the victim right away, or to reprogram pacemakers to broadcast malicious firmware updates as their owners move around, which cause them to also spread the firmware, until they fail at a later time. Darren Pauli from Secure Business Intelligence quotes Jack as saying,

“The worst case scenario that I can think of, which is 100 percent possible with these devices, would be to load a compromised firmware update onto a programmer and … the compromised programmer would then infect the next pacemaker or ICD and then each would subsequently infect all others in range,” Jack said. He was developing a graphical adminstration platform dubbed “Electric Feel” which could scan for medical devices in range and with no more than a right-click, could enable shocking of the device, and reading and writing firmware and patient data. “With a max voltage of 830 volts, it's not hard to see why this is a fairly deadly feature. Not only could you induce cardiac arrest, but you could continually recharge the device and deliver shocks on loop," he said.

Manufacturers of implanted devices have been resistant to calls to publish their sourcecode and to allow device owners to inspect and modify that code, citing security concerns should latent vulnerabilities be exposed, and put implantees at risk. But as Jack's presentation demonstrates, vulnerabilities can be discovered without publication -- and if they are discovered and not disclosed, they may never be patched (or may not be patched until coming to light in some kind of horrific attack). In other words, secrecy helps bad guys, but keeps good guys and innocent bystanders in the dark

that time of year....

Universal Monsters, A Group Art Show Inspired by Classic Film Monsters

By Justin Page on October 17, 2012

Bride of Frankenstein by Jason Edminston

Mondo Gallery will be featuring original works and limited edition screen prints from a large collection of amazing artists for their upcoming Universal Monsters group art show. The Universal Monsters art show will run from Friday, October 19, 2012 through Saturday, November 10, 2012 at Mondo Gallery in Austin, Texas.

Creature from the Black Lagoon and Count Dracula by Mike Mitchell

Frankenstein and Wolfman by Drew Struzan

Creature from the Black Lagoon by Laurent Durieux

The Invisible Man by Francesco Francavilla

Creature From The Black Lagoon by Ken Taylor

images

a thing of beauty

Cocky German Guy Tries to Cannonball into Icy Water

In this video from Germany, watch as this gentleman attempts to cannonball into a pool of icy water. They are laughing but that has got to hurt!

Blondie's Debbie Harry explains how to Pogo

Debbie Harry explains how to Pogo in a 1978 episode of Glenn O’Brien’s cable access show TV Party

yikes

Cory Doctorow at 3:50 pm • 17 Comments • Share

Redditor Specialxk's zombie walk face-and-throat trompe l'oeil makeup job is awesomely horrifying, and it's a nice extension of the sort of work we've featured before with the Venom makeup from Captainsarasparrow

Fire Whip Cracking to Black Sabbath's "Paranoid"

Xeni Jardin at 10:22 am • 6 Comments • Share

Video Link. Why the internet, and specifically YouTube, was invented. A guy doing fire stunts to "Paranoid."

ahhhh.the good old days.......

Cute placemats

True Skin Sci-Fi Short Nails That Blade Runner Vibe

• By Hugh HartEmail Author
• 10.16.12
• 6:30 AM
• Edit

 

Sexbots, a deadpan antihero, a creepy futuristic black market for implants and a psycho-cyborg cliffhanger all get crammed into True Skin,

True Skin Sci-Fi Short Nails That Blade Runner Vibe

• By Hugh HartEmail Author
• 10.16.12
• 6:30 AM
• Edit

 

Sexbots, a deadpan antihero, a creepy futuristic black market for implants and a psycho-cyborg cliffhanger all get crammed into True Skin, a dazzling sci-fi short that reportedly has Hollywood going nuts.

Zak Loves Mandy

Photo: Kimberly Kane for VICE.

Photographer and porn performer Kimberly Kane interviews friends and fellow adult film travelers Zak Sabbath and Mandy Morbid in Vice. "Last year, Mandy was diagnosed with Ehlers–Danlos syndrome, a genetic disorder that causes loose joints, damage to blood vessels, and skin that stretches and bruises easily. Her diagnosis was a relief in some ways. For years, doctors had no idea what was causing her debilitating pain, and her health deteriorated until she was often unable to get out of bed, let alone work. Some days are better than others, but if Mandy leaves the house she must do so in a wheelchair or with a cane

Why do some people say the Earth isn't getting hotter?

If you haven't seen the Skeptical Science website yet, you're missing out.
Via

Star Wars as Medieval Manuscript Illustrations

By EDW Lynch on October 16, 2012

Thai artist Chawakarn Khongprasert created these fantastic illustrations of notable Star Wars moments, in the style of medieval illuminated manuscripts & paintings.

via

Tardigrades, Plucky Microorganisms That Can Survive in Space

Tardigrades, Plucky Microorganisms That Can Survive in Space

Back in September, Motherboard posted this fascinating video on Mike Shaw, a self-described naturalist who studies tardigrades, hardy microorganisms that can survive extreme conditions including the vacuum of space. Tardigrades (aka Water Bears or Moss Piglets) can enter a state of suspended animation—cryptobiosis—which allows them to survive temperature and pressure extremes, radiation, and other lethal conditions.

Expired Jug of McDonald’s McJordan BBQ Sauce From 1992

By Rusty Blazenhoff on October 16, 2012

Recently on eBay, there was an unopened, expired jug of McDonald’s McJordan BBQ Sauce from 1992 up for auction. It was the sauce used on the McJordan Burger, a promotional burger named after pro basketball player Michael Jordan (in some markets, it was called the “Big 33″ after Larry Bird). If you were hoping to bid on this gallon of nostalgic goodness, sorry, it sold on Monday October 15 to an anonymous Chicago buyer. The asking price: $9,995.00 (though, shipping was free).

it has never happened ...until

Electoral Precedent on

shelia got her fur in a bunch...........

Useless Machines in a political struggle

[Video Link] I feel cheated because this Useless Machine video runs out after only 11 minutes and five seconds.