The Latest from Boing Boing

NYPD ordered to disclose records of secret X-ray vans After three years' worth of court battles, Propublica has won a court order forcing the NYPD to release details of its X-ray surveillance vans, whose radiation risk has never been independently studied or verified (much like the notorious pornoscanners, which were supposedly harmless, but which turned out to be sources of dangerous radiation). Read the rest... Truck full of fireworks explodes The last time a saw a fireworks display with this tempo, it was courtesy of the Flaming Lotus Girls. [video link] Read the rest... LISTEN: The Mary Celeste: A Great Sea Mystery In 1872 the British merchant ship Mary Celeste was discovered drifting and apparently abandoned 600 miles off the coast of Portugal. Read the rest... Zine and DIY publishing fest at Meltdown in LA, Jan 31 zineMELT is coming to celebrate the world of DIY and independent publishing. On January 31st, 2015 zineMELT will bring together artist, writers, crafters, zinesters from around Los Angeles to gather at Meltdown Comics to display and sell their goods. Please mark your calendars and come out to support your local artist. Read the rest... WATCH: Glassmaster Paul Stankard on glassblowing artistry Paul Stankard's impossibly beautiful handblown glass pieces look impossible to create. In Beauty Beyond Nature, he discusses the craft while working in his studio. Read the rest... If you bake, you need a non-stick silicone baking mat For the last few months, Cory, Jason, and I have been writing about how much we love silicone cookware. I was joking with Jason that we could start a Silicone Enthusiast podcast. Read the rest... WATCH: Parkour might save you in the zombie apocalypse This mashup of parkour POV videos and zombie chase scenes stars Toby Segar as the Hero escaping zombies using his impressive parkour skills. Read the rest... Beta release: Internet Archive library of 1990s MS-DOS games The Internet Archive beta-released a library of MS-DOS games bootable and playable via the EM-DOSBOX in-browser emulator. Games include Oregon Trail, Prince of Persia, Wolfenstein, Sim City... Read the rest... Apple won't let EFF release a DRM-free app EFF has released its mobile app to help people join in important, timely struggles, but you can't get it for your Iphone or Ipad, because Apple insists that EFF use DRM, and this is contrary to everything it stands for. Read the rest... BitchTapes: Enjoy 200+ feminist mixtapes this weekend BitchTapes curates woman-centric mixtapes. The most recent, Female Drummers Who Rock, is a worthy list. Who would you add? Tell us! Read the rest... Leif the Lucky – A gorgeously illustrated bio on Leif Erikson, the first European to set foot in America Leif Erikson, the Viking explorer, is usually just briefly touched on in elementary school classrooms. But his rich story is a captivating one that any child – or adult – would enjoy. Read the rest... There Goes the Galaxy by Jenn Thorson I loved Jenn Thorson's zany, absurdist space adventure There Goes the Galaxy. Join Bertram Ludlow as he negotiates what appears to be complete mental breakdown by saving the Earth. Read the rest... The Mills Brothers: Swing It, Sister (1934) Donald Mills, Harry Mills, Herbert Mills, and John Mills: The Mills Brothers perform "Swing It, Sister" in the 1934 film Strictly Dynamite. Read the rest... Bill Cosby made a joke about his rape accusations during stand-up routine Bill Cosby performed his stand-up routine in Canada last night, and made a joke about his widely-alleged propensity to drug women and rape them while they are unconscious. Read the rest... Foie gras ban in California ruled unconstitutional A federal judge on Wednesday lifted California's ban on the sale of foie gras, a delicacy made from fatty duck or goose liver. Read the rest... Report: al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula claims responsibility for Charlie Hebdo attack Scahill at The Intercept: "A source within al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula" sends "a full statement claiming responsibility." Read the rest... Watch SpaceX attempt new, historic Falcon 9 launch this Saturday, 4:47 a.m. ET NASA says SpaceX will target Saturday for the launch of its next space station resupply mission from Cape Canaveral Air Station in Florida. Read the rest... Report: Charlize Theron negotiated pay equal to male co-star after leaked Sony Hack emails The Sony Pictures emails leaked last month shed light on a time-honored practice in Hollywood: paying women less than men. The tradition applies to "below-the-line" workers who don't appear on camera, but it also applies to stars. Read the rest... After Charlie Hebdo attack, let's not sacrifice more civil liberties "Murder is the ultimate form of censorship," write Sophia Cope and Jillian York of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Read the rest... Could these X-Ray vans give New Yorkers cancer? Judge orders NYPD to release info on secret program. After 3 years, ProPublica succeeds in getting the NYPD to disclose info on the secretive program that uses unmarked vans with X-ray machines designed to detect bombs. Read the rest... Cartoonist Joe Sacco on satire, and Charlie Hebdo Joe Sacco produced one of the most poignant and nuanced takes on the Charlie Hebdo killings, and on satire. Go read the whole thing. [HT @playingwithdust] Read the rest... Man freed from prison after 9 years when FOIA requests reveal FBI hid documents Eric McDavid has been freed after Freedom of Information Act requests revealed documents that suggest the FBI hid evidence from his defense attorneys. Read the rest... Universal wants to take away prisoners' mixtapes They're suing a group that sends care-packages to prisoners that include mixtapes featuring funk, soul and hiphop artists. America incarcerates more people than any nation in the history of the world. Read the rest... Torture of Saudi blogger sentenced to 10 years and 1,000 lashes begins Saudi Arabia sentenced Raif Badawi for creating an online forum for public debate about the dominance of religion over public life in the kingdom. Read the rest... Nigeria: Hundreds, possibly thousands, killed in Boko Haram massacre Some estimates place the number of dead at over 2,000. Most victims are children, women and elderly "who could not run fast enough." Read the rest... Totally fabulous kid raps about transgender acceptance "We all deserve freedom, love, and respect." This is seriously the most adorable thing ever. I hope all the bigots who think, say, and do bad things about transgender people watch this and feel their hearts soften. [video link, via Heather] Read the rest... Support the Bureau of Investigative Journalism's new project investigating the CIA torture report The Bureau, which is partnering with the Rendition Project and long-time torture and secret prisons researchers Crofton Black and Steve Kostas, will be using the Senate’s report as a launching-off point to investigate many of the questions left unanswered due to heavy-handed censorship by the CIA and White House. Read the rest...