The Latest from Boing Boing

Bilious Alka-Seltzer shill, 1942 Hard to imagine a contemporary ad headed with a picture showing a man who's just vomited into his mouth. Read the rest... Nature makes all its papers free to view The premiere science publisher will make shareable "read-only" links to its all papers stretching back to 1869, using technology from a startup that its parent company, Macmillan, has invested in. Read the rest... Disagreeable animatronic santa objects to having his beard pulled The "vocals" were undoubtedly edited in. Read the rest... The odd history of the first erotic computer game Laine Nooney of The Atlantic writes about Softporn, a 1981 text adventure. Upon booting the floppy disk, the player was given control of a “puppet,” a human male through which the player executes textual commands. PLAY SLOTS. BUY WHISKEY. WEAR CONDOM. SCREW HOOKER. Softporn is set in a vague, 70s-infused urban dystopia entirely comprised of a bar, a casino, and a disco. Read the rest... Prevent car windows from steaming up with cat litter and a sock This fellow says a sock filled with silica crystal cat litter will absorb moisture inside a car and keep the windows from steaming up. Read the rest... Pastafarian Asia Carrera wears colander hat for driver license photo Jessica Steinhauser (aka adult film star Asia Carrera) is only the latest of a dozen or so Pastafarians in Utah to be photographed for their Driver Licenses wearing a colander as a hat in religious devotion to the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Read the rest... Bean-to-cup coffee with the push of a button Let me start by saying I like coffee; strong, black coffee. Some years ago I treated myself to a proper home espresso machine. Read the rest... In Chicago, it's impossible to get dirty cops investigated Matthew Clark and Gregory Malandrucco were out for tacos at an all-night place when they gave offense to two Chicago off-duty cops who followed them into the parking lot and beat them so badly that they were hospitalized -- the uniformed officers who attended let their colleagues simply walk away. Read the rest... The secret sidekicks of history When we talk about George Washington, how many of us think about his dentist, John Greenwood, who crafted four sets of dentures during the first U.S. Read the rest... My favorite multi-tool: the Leatherman Wave After it saved my bacon once again yesterday, I thought I should acknowledge my Leatherman Wave as a favorite tool. It has helped me make quite a few roadside repairs, and saved a few camping trips from disaster. Read the rest... FBI investigating Denver cops who erased citizen video of beatdown Denver police were videoed savagely beating David Flores and his pregnant girlfriend by Levi Frasier, who had his tablet confiscated and the video deleted after one of the cops shouted "camera" -- but the video had already backed up to the cloud. Read the rest... Conjoined whale calves wash ashore This video shows conjoined Pacific gray whale calves that washed ashore in Mexico. Female gray whales give birth each winter in the warm waters off Mexico where they are safe from their primary predators, killer whales. Read the rest... This is what cows look like when you blow dry them These girls got their hair did. Read the rest... African wild dog puppies raised by golden retriever Painted dogs, also known as African wild dogs, are some of the most successful large predators. They are more effective than the other large, African carnivores—lions, leopards, cheetahs and hyenas—when it comes to hunting. Read the rest... Video: "World's Simplest Electric Train" A simple and fun "electric train" made from magnets, a battery, and copper wire. Read the rest... Music: "White Lines," Melle Mel (1983) Spike Lee's video for White Lines. Read the rest... The hidden history of gay country music Pop-country stars Ty Herndon and Billy Gilman recently came out of the closet. To celebrate, Jesse Walker has written a short history of gay country music. Read the rest... Cthul-Aid chucks Beastpop's classic Cthulhu/Kool-Aid Guy mashup now graces a limited run of high-top converse-oid sneakers, for sale at Shoefury. Read the rest... Kitten shaped marshmallows Only on sale in Japan, Swimmingly has the story. Read the rest... Double the fun: the husband-wife team who made everyone want to chew gum Ben Marks of Collectors Weekly says: Dorothy and Otis Shepard created some of the most recognizable examples of advertising art of the mid-20th century, including wrappers and billboards for Wrigley's Spearmint, Doublemint, and Juicy Fruit gum. Read the rest... I Need A Beat by LL Cool J The recording debut of young LL Cool J starts off the infamous Def Jam label. A new Hip Hop Family Tree strip by Ed Piskor. Read the rest... A gallery of impossible board games Joe Kowalski says: Last month I was asked to participate in an art show. I was told was that I’d be receiving some objects, and I was to craft a response to them using whatever medium I wanted. Read the rest... Madonna and David Blaine The magician interviews Madge over at Interview: BLAINE: ...So I stayed in a box for 44 days in complete isolation. It was a self-imposed solitary confinement. Read the rest... Spiderman, aka Aaron Joseph Purmort, RIP Aaron Joseph Purmort, 35, "died peacefully at home on November 25 after complications from a radioactive spider bite that led to years of crime-fighting and a years long battle with a nefarious criminal named Cancer, who has plagued our society for far too long." (Star Tribune) Read the rest... Sweden awards Snowden the "Right Livelihood" award The parliament gave him several standing ovations as he accepted by video-link from Moscow. Parliamentarians from "almost all" of the parties attended the ceremony, along with Snowden's father, who travelled from the USA for the event. Read the rest... Typography of Alien At the fascinating "Typeset In The Future" blog, Dave Addey examines the fontography of Ridley Scott's Alien (1979). Typeset In The Future: The Alien Edition Read the rest... Mark Frauenfelder interviews Ed Piskor at Meltdown Comics I had a great time interviewing cartoonist Ed Piskor, creator of Hip Hop Family Tree, about his influences and interests. Read the rest... Proposal for a column of non-reclining airplane seats I don't mind if the person sitting in front of me on a plane leans their seat back. But some people don't like it. Read the rest... When Ed Snowden met Marcus Yallow Here's a scene from Citizenfour, Laura Poitras's acclaimed documentary on Edward Snowden, showing Snowden packing his bags to leave Hong Kong, showing the book on his nightstand: my novel Homeland.I literally could not be more proud than I am right now. Thanks to Poitras and her helper, Maria, for this clip. Read the rest... Searching for Krampus AL Cacophony reports on the christmas devils' growing popularity in America, and the old-worlders drafted in to help keep it real. Read the rest...