The Latest from Boing Boing

The secret life of passwords Few things are as universally despised as passwords. The strains they put on our memory, the endless demand to update them, their sheer number. Read the rest... Bill Cosby speaks to Associated Press on allegations he is a serial rapist “With sexual assault allegations gaining increasing attention, The Associated Press reviewed an on camera interview with Bill Cosby earlier this month and made the decision to publish his full reaction to questions about the claims.” [YouTube] Read the rest... Three cool things from Betabrand [sponsored] Our thanks to our sponsors at Betabrand, who sent us three items to play with. Plaidgisoft Pants Don't let the name put you off: Betabrand's Plaidgisoft Vajamas (above) are are the most relaxing I've ever worn, and look silly in just the right way. Read the rest... Woman impersonates celebrities stuck in traffic She's funny even when she is impersonating celebrities I've never heard of! Read the rest... Something big exploded in Russia And it was probably not a meteor. The videos and photos collected here and here suggest the explosion occurred on the ground. Read the rest... The weird, wild world of Twitter bots The NY Times' Nick Bilton took a deep dive into the world of Twitter bots, and even created his own army of Twitter bots (which the Twitter overlords murdered as soon as th article went live). Read the rest... Hacker, Hoaxer, Whistleblower, Spy: why only an anthropologist can tell the story of Anonymous The Spectator has just run my review of Gabriella Coleman's Hacker, Hoaxer, Whistleblower, Spy: The Many Faces of Anonymous , an anthropological recounting of the glories and disasters of Anonymous. Read the rest... Where the fuck is Princess Leia (in the toy aisle)? Over at TheLi.st, Glynnis MacNicol surveys the "girls toys section" of today's stores and asks: Where the fuck is Princess Leia? Read the rest... A master of otherworldly space art Above, the extrasolar planet 16 Cygni Bb as rendered by artist Ron Miller, illustrator of science, astronomy, and science fiction, and author of "The Art of Space: The History of Space Art, from the Earliest Visions to the Graphics of the Modern Era." Below, Jupiter's moon Europa. See more of Miller's otherworldly artwork at this LIFE gallery: Out of This World: Ron Miller’s Spectacular Space Art Read the rest... Artificial intelligence generates magic tricks Engineers at Queen Mary University London fed data about the structure of certain magic tricks and their efficacy, the "artificial intelligence" generated new variations on a self-working puzzle trick and a smartphone-based mind-reading illusion. Read the rest... The sound of Interstellar Interstellar's supervising sound editor/designer Richard King: "Since we're not hearing any sound in space when they're in these precarious situations, we only hear, one, its effect on the ship and two, whatever sound it might activate in the atmosphere inside the ship." (SoundWorks Collection) Read the rest... Photographs of "hermits" in Eastern Europe Traveling through Russia and Ukraine, Danila Tkachenko photographed "people who have decided to escape from social life and lived all alone in the wild nature, far away from any villages, towns or other people. Read the rest... Remembering Sassy Magazine's life advice for teen girls Theresa DeLucci got a letter published in the only publication for girls that really attempted educational journalism—amid Twin Peaks fashion spreads and celeb interviews with grunge luminaries like Kurt Cobain and Kim Gordon. Read the rest... Trailer homesteading in the Mojave There’s a move to redefine “homesteading” in a way that makes available to anyone who wants to take part. But what does it mean to homestead in the desert? By Reanna Alder Read the rest... How top colleges figured out how to turn away Jews Anti-semitism motivated top colleges to switch from entrance exams to more subjective—and more opaque—admissions criteria. By Dan Lewis Read the rest... Street Fighter ugly Christmas jumper The realisation that knitting (and cross-stitch) is pixel-based has been dawning on the crafty gamer world for more than a decade, and I've enjoyed chronicling the rise of 8-bit nostalgia textiles. Read the rest... Star Trek slippers Something about the round toe and the Starfleet insignia just works: $20 from Thinkgeek comes in Sciences (blue), Command (yellow), and canon fodder (red). Read the rest... Crowdfunding Jolla, a GNU/Linux-powered high-spec tablet It runs an OS called Sailfish that can use Android apps as well its own native apps, and was created by a team with a bunch of senior Nokia refugees on it. Read the rest... Blackpool's Broadway Hotel fines guests £100 for negative review The hotel had no running water, miswired electrical outlets, and a contract with fine-print that said that they'd charge your credit card £100 if you posted a negative review on the Web. Read the rest... Senate to vote on crucial transparency bill Gavin writes, "The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to vote Thursday on an important bill to strengthen the Freedom of Information Act, America's open records law." The bipartisan bill, which is supported by transparency reform groups, would limit the circumstances when federal agencies can withhold information from the public. Read the rest... Secret history of the poop emoji The 2007 project to bring emoji to Android -- and thence to the Web -- involved an epic battle over the inclusion of the much-loved "pile of poop" emoji, whose significance to the Japanese market was poorly understood by various reactionary elements at Google. Read the rest... Free encryption training workshops in NYC Tommy writes, "I'm working with Verso Books (which just published Gabriella Coleman's Hacker, Hoaxer, Whistleblower, Spy: The Many Faces of Anonymous to provide free encryption workshops to groups in NYC." "Journalists, activists, and other surveilled parties should be able to communicate as securely as possible with confidants and sources. Read the rest... Kickstarting a coloring book of bygone Hollywood stars Chloe from Portland's Reading Frenzy bookstore writes, "Portland based, self-taught artist, Alicia Justus, is Kickstarting her first coloring book in collaboration with Show & Tell Press (publisher of Crap Hound)." She's turned her fondness for early Hollywood actors and actresses -- the more torrid and tragic their tales the better -- into a weekly record and coloring event along with her boyfriend who DJs. Read the rest... “Off-World manufacturing is here,” as astronauts install 3D printer on International Space Station Another big milestone for humans in space: astronauts on board the ISS set up a commercial 3D printer, for a tryout in orbit. Read the rest... Space-funk music video: “Gagarin,” Public Service Broadcasting (2014) An ode to the first man in space, and a fun music video that makes great use of archival video.Read the rest... Smart Pipe: a design fiction from the Internet of Things dystopia 11 minutes seems like a long ask for a gag video about an Internet-of-Things toilet-analyzer, but man, is it worth it. Read the rest... Headline of the day HT: Clayton Cubitt Read the rest... Growing movement against Mafia extortion Not long ago, 80 percent of shops in Palermo, Sicily were paying pizzo, or protection money, to the Mafia. But a growing movement is putting a serious dent in the pizzo racket. Read the rest... WATCH: Stunning 1954 contortionist routine Magicpeacelove writes, "This stunning 1954 contortionist act (from an Abbott & Costello TV special!) features the most sensual snake ever. Seriously, if Janik and Arnaut showed up on the scene today they could travel the world with this act." " There seems to be precious little online about the duo. Read the rest... Productive Habits: an interview with Carla Sinclair Terrie Schweitzer interviewed my wife, Boing Boing co-founder and Wink editor Carla Sinclair, about her daily work and fitness routine. Read the rest...