The Latest from Boing Boing

A fake Harvard diploma costs $650 Zack Crockett of Pricenomics looks at the fake diploma business. Just in case any of its customers forgot how upstanding of a company it is, PhonyDiploma stoically defends its ethics: “Phonydiploma.com is a hard working company and we treat our customers very fairly, and honestly...we choose honest over deception.” Then, it continues on, listing a “multitude of reasons” one should purchase a phony diploma and/or transcript: To boost your self-esteem To wow your friends and family To give as a gift to loved ones and friends or colleagues To show off at a reunion (family, school or otherwise) To add to your social media profile Read the rest... Watch a video of people watching a VR porn video Here's a video of people wearing the Oculus Rift VR goggles and watching 3D VR porn. Language is NSFW. Read the rest... X-ray shows SpongeBob SquarePants inside of child A youngster in Saudi Arabi swallowed a SpongeBob SquarePants pendant and was taken to the hospital for treatment. "I thought it was just a pin," said the radiology resident at King Abdulaziz University Hospital. "But when I opened the front view I was shocked to see SpongeBob looking at me with a big smile. Its angle and rotation are just perfect." (Image: radiopaedia.org) Read the rest... Rowlf the Dog covers Biz Markie's "Just a Friend" It's an amazing piece of video editing/lip-syncing, right up there with Sesame Street Sure Shot. Read the rest... Canada's spies surveil the whole world's downloads A newly released Snowden leak jointly published by the CBC and The Intercept documents Canada's Communications Security Establishment's LEVITATION program, which spies on 15 million downloads from P2P, file lockers, and popular file distribution sites. Read the rest... Video of what it was like at a massive underground UK rave in 1994 New Year's Eve 1994, the Strictly Underground Rave, held at London's Wembley Stadium. Some 10,000 people attended. This is said to have at that time been the largest legally-held rave ever. Read the rest... Watch Beachbot make large-scale sand drawings Disney Research teamed with ETH Zürich students to create Beachbot, a robot that creates pre-programmed sand drawing. Beachbot pulls a rake on which each tine can be individually controlled. Read the rest... Flowers in ice Azuma Makoto's "Iced Flowers" is a time-based installation of flowers in frozen blocks that "change themselves over time." Iced Flowers (AMKK) Read the rest... Red pandas get very excited about apples And apples are a perfectly good thing to get excited about. Read the rest... Supermarket spaceships from the 1950s In the 1950s, massive model spaceships sponsored by food brands traveled the highways and byways of America between grocery stores and state fairs to delight a public excited about our spacefaring future. Read the rest... British recipe evokes all the flavor of congealed deer pee Cuisine at its finest. via Read the rest... "When arts die, they turn into hobbies." Author Michael Lind weighs in with this thought-provoking essay about what happens when an art form shrinks to a niche market. Read the rest... Journalists! Activists! Nominate your worst FOIA horror stories Dave Maass at the Electronic Frontier Foundation wants to experience bureaucratic obfuscation and evasion—vicariously, though you. This year, EFF is setting out to recognize the most outrageous responses to Freedom of Information Act and state open records act requests. Read the rest... Temporary tattoos from your Instagram Picatoo is a new service that turns your Instagram images into temporary tattoos. According to the site, they last about seven days. It costs $15 for 12 tattoos. Read the rest... Rancilio Rocky Coffee Grinder, commercial quality grinder that fits on your counter In the eight years I've been grinding my own coffee, I've burned out the motor on three grinders: a cheap blade grinder, then a Cuisinart burr grinder, and finally a Capresso grind 'n brew. Read the rest... If Facebook is down, don't call 911 When Facebook went down on Monday, five people (FIVE!!!) in the Easy Bay Area alone called 911. According to a 911 dispatcher, “One caller even called back to tell me I was being rude because I told her it wasn’t a life threatening emergency.” (CBS San Francisco) Read the rest... Drone captures pod of dolphins surfing in unison “Huge pods of bottlenose dolphins cruise the shoreline and surf the crystal clear turquoise waves.” Some amazing aerial footage shot with a Phantom 2 quadcopter and GoPro near Esperance, on Australia's beautiful southwest coastline. [Jennene & Dave Riggs] Read the rest... Pet lizard greets man happily, like a dog would This video is tripping me out hard. Videos of Dave Durham and his lizard have been around for a few years, but they're making the viral rounds anew this week. Read the rest... United website breach let fliers see each others' private data Alice Taylor could have requested a very expensive upgrade on your behalf. The airline isn't saying why. Read the rest... Sci-Fest LA is back! Sci-Fest LA, an incredible one act science fiction play festival held in Los Angeles, is back for 2015! The team needs help with funding this amazing program. Read the rest... What Should I Read Next? Suggestions based on books you enjoyed What Should I Read Next? suggests books, similar to the algorithm used on sites like Netflix and Amazon based on your use patterns and ratings. Read the rest... This drone's-eye video of Ireland's western coast is lovely. “When land meets sea and nature and beauty collide, the result is a varied and majestic coastline, unique to the West of Ireland.” Sandy beaches, sheer cliffs, ancient forts and rocky outcrops from a bird’s eye view in this video captured by drone videographer Raymond Fogarty for Wild Atlantic Way, an project of Ireland's tourism authority. I'm sold! Read the rest... Watch ibex herds use a near-vertical dam as a salt lick Lake Cingino in the Italian Alps has a near-vertical dam that attracts ibex herds, who climb out on the dam hundred of feet up to lick minerals from the rocks. Read the rest... Deep Breath Hold Tight, emotionally crushing science fiction Greatfall, a take on religion in the world of Hugh Howey's Wool, was my introduction to Jason Gurley's writing, and I was immediately hooked on the fresh take on the Silos inhabited by the specter of an imposing and oppressive cult. Read the rest... Pizza condoms Marina Malygina's mock-ups for a pizza-themed condom in its own little pizza box is intended to help resolve the American love of both food and sex. Read the rest... Stick-on inflatable motors for future robots (and today's origami!) MIT and University of Tokyo researchers devised stick-on "pouch motors," simple inflatable actuators that can be used to move things by pumping air in and out. Read the rest... Fark founder and Boing Boing friend Drew Curtis is running for governor of Kentucky If Drew Curtis of Fark wins the Kentucky governor's race, all of us at Boing Boing have agreed that we will move there. Read the rest... TOM THE DANCING BUG: A Patriotic Debate Tom the Dancing Bug, IN WHICH a Patriotic Debate breaks out. Read the rest... The surprising history of hippy crack People have been having fun with nitrous oxide – even in the name of science – virtually since its discovery more than 240 years ago. Read the rest... Stanley Tripod Flashlight: Portable, hands-free LED lighting I replaced my D battery Mag-Light with this small LED light that only needs AA batteries. I get whiter light, longer life, and more intensity. Read the rest...