FSM knows this isn't new, but for some who stop by Boing Boing, it may be yet-unseen. Dramatic Lemur [actually Tarsier, but whatever, the Chipmunk upon which it's based was a hamster or something IIRC. ]

Gentleman proves Christianity is the one true religion by electrocuting a pickle. (via Filled with Chocolate Pudding!)

As Filled with Chocolate Pudding! points out, "this is a great day for science."

This weekend, the Attendee Meta-Data (AMD) project at the Last HOPE (Hackers on Planet Earth) in NYC will introduce a new location-aware social networking system to track and bring together hackers based on a huge array of matching interests. Conference goers will be given unprecedented ability to connect with new people, find the talks they're most interested in attending, see what's happening and where in real time, and experience and talk about the way RFID technology is changing the world.

The AMD social networking site lets visitors "tag" themselves based on a diverse set of interests. Old-school hackers, network security experts, cryptographers, political activists, law geeks, lockpickers, reverse engineers, bloggers, privacy advocates, and far more—visitors can label themselves with multiple interests, to become discoverable by fellow visitors from around the world with similar interests, in the same room or across the building. Attendees can then use email or text messages to "ping" the people they discover on the site—new contacts and old friends alike.

The AMD site connects visitors to the many talks and events occurring during the conference, too. The same interests tags are used to highlight events and alert visitors to something they might otherwise miss—a vital feature for such a large conference. Attendees can also use the interactive schedule to select events they want to attend, and receive alerts before those events begin.

The site also provides visualizations of activity on the conference floors. Website users can watch the real time positions and movements of people across the Mezzanine, revealing the group dynamics of a massive number of people and instantly identifying the hotspots. Users can also click on any conference room to see its current event, speakers, and attendees.

Link (Thanks, aestetix!)

Mary sez, "Jim C. Hines, author of Goblin Quest, has just written lyrics to go with the Gilbert and Sullivan perennial 'Modern Major General' AND he's released them under a Creative Commons license. They are ripe with video potential."

I am the Very Model of a Modern SF Novelist

I am the very model of a modern SF novelist,
I've manuscripts space opera, anime, and fantasist,
I know the kings of fandom and the best flamewars historical
From Andrew Burt to LiveJournal, in order categorical;
I'm very well acquainted too, with matters editorial,
I keep my cover letters brief and never too suctorial,
About rejection etiquette I'm teeming with propriety,
With many cheerful facts about your online notoriety,
I'm very good at worldbuilding and proper use of ansibles;
I know the hyphenated names of beings unpronounceable:
In short, in matters space opera, anime, and fantasist,
I am the very model of a modern SF novelist.

Link (Thanks, Mary!)

David Markland, the Captain/Author of LA Metblogs (formerly Metroblogging LA) says:

This dude, Andrew Goldenberg, has a bunch of music videos he's made putting lyrics to every note of some of the best known film themes of our times. Absolutely brilliant. Take note of Batman and Back to the Future especially!

Odd L.A. Spotlight: Andrew Goldenberg [LA Metblogs]

Today on Boing Boing tv, a music video for the Pinker Tones song "S.E.X.Y. R.O.B.O.T." produced by Bill Barminski's "Walter Robot" studio. The whole album ("Wild Animals") is great: Amazon link, iTunes.

Link to Boing Boing tv post with discussion, downloadable video, and instructions on how to subscribe to the BBtv video podcast.

Previous BBtv episodes featuring Walter Robot Studios and Bill Barminski:

Bill Barminski animation: "Drive-In"

Mark makes a mini amp / Funky cowboy (BBtv's 50th!)

Roachbot / Walter Robot

Ethan Persoff says,

A new game of Poodle (about the game) is live on COMICS WITH PROBLEMS, this time using the New Yorker cover as the game ball.

Goal is to see if it's possible, through poodle method, to make a universally offensive cover out of this wishy washy half-satire that no one can seem to agree upon.

POODLE SAMIZDAT: SPECIAL NEW YORKER EDITION [ Comics With Problems ]

Here's a magnificent grid showing how a humble rock would be displayed by an enormous variety of video games' rendering engines, executed with affection and wit (Fipi Lele pointed out that the Zork version would be, "There is a rock here."). The rock is the perfect, Sluggo/Zippy-esque subject for this kind of comparison, absolutely bang-on.

All I know about this image is that Kotaku apparently published it in April, 2006. Oh, and that it rocks. So to speak. Link (Thanks, Fipi Lele!)

I'm not sure what Chinese string this restaurateur fed to the translation software used to to generate the giant sign hanging over the entrance, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't: TRANSLATE SERVER ERROR. Ah, the special problems of translations into other alphabets. Link (Thanks, Mark!)

Update: In the comments, Insect Hooves adds, "OM NOM NOM. I love their Segfault Chicken. And their Short Stack Overflow is to die for. Ooooh, and their 404 Not Pound Cake (foghorn)"

Eric Mueller took this photo of an AT&T store on lower Broadway in downtown Manhattan (near Park Place / City Hall) today. Seems the iPhone is "temporally out stock." Perhaps it'll be available last year.

Huh, looks like Isaac Asimov's 3 laws of robotics have been expanded tenfold by the thoughtful Something Awful guys:

# A robot must tip its hat in the presence of a lady human being, except where such a display would be construed as a come-on by a jealous male human being, who then might pose a difficulty to the Third Law.

# A robot may not act in such a fashion as would make dogs obsolete, because dogs are less expensive than robots, and robots should be reserved for science things.

# A robot, when given contradictory orders by two human beings, and assuming those orders do not violate the First Law, must decide which order to follow based on which human being has a deeper voice.

# A robot, specifically a big, wide robot, may not pretend to be a refrigerator and then make a scary noise when a human being opens it.

Asimov's 30 Laws of Robotics [ somethingawful.com, thanks Coop ]

Who knew?

I was thinking aloud on Twitter earlier today that the world needs -- ok, ok, *I* needed a new and specific thankyou card, not so much to thank someone for doing something nice, but to thank someone for having not done something not nice when being a jerk would have been an easy option. THANK YOU FOR NOT DOUCHING OUT, the card would read, and I imagined it in a maudlin font with a fat-ass flower right in the middle.

JimB. aka Brons on Twitter, heard the call and came to the P-shop rescue. JimB: a non-ironic thank you, sir. BB audience, feel free to use this as appropriate in your own lives.

Dennis sez, "My totally sw33t vegan zombie shirt got accepted to Threadless!" I agree -- super-sweet! But "grains?" Some of us are low-carb vegans, you know! Link

Jeff Simmermon recounts his recent experience with a snobbish barista at Murky Coffee in Arlington, VA.

I just ordered my usual summertime pick-me-up: a triple shot of espresso dumped over ice. And the guy at the counter looked me in the eye with a straight face and said “I’m sorry, we can’t serve iced espresso here. It’s against our policy.”

The whole world turned brown and chunky for a second. Flecks of corn floated past my pupils, and it took me a second to blink it all away.

“Okay,” I said, “I’ll have a triple espresso and a cup of ice, please.” He rolled his eyes and rang it up, took my money, gave me change. I stood there and waited. Then the barista called me over to the bar. I reached for it, and he leaned over and locked his eyes with mine, saying “Hey man. What you’re about to do … that’s really, really Not Okay.”

Murky Coffee, Arlington: Hold That Espresso Between Your Knees (And I Am Not Lying)

UPDATE: Original BB Gadget post about this video here.

An obnoxious TV reporter went to Burbank to ask stupid questions to people waiting in line for the new iPhone. I was delighted to see that my pal Jeff, or his identical twin brother (he really has one) told the reporter he was a jackass. (via Merlin Mann)

This BSD-daemon- taking-Tux-the- Linux-penguin -from-behind lighter was apparently offered for sale in a Barcelona minimart. One wonders if the manufacturer, distributor, or retailer are really that deeply invested in fights over free/open source licensing terms. Link (Thanks, Gerry!)

I just spent ten minutes cracking up in a bookstore over a copy of Goodnight Bush, a satirical remix of the classic Goodnight Moon that wishes the Commander-in-Chief a hearty farewell (and don't let the door of history hit you in the ass on the way out). I couldn't take a copy home because all the store's copies were spoken for -- apparently they can't keep it on the shelf. Link

Casimir sez,

This is a video that illustrates a very simple food hack that anyone can do at McDonalds. Essentially, McDonalds employs the same oppressive menu rules as most fast food establishments and delis. You can't have breakfast food after 11am. And you can't have lunch food before that.

Attempting to undermine their arbitrary temporal laws of eating, we made a short video essay that documents an easy way to combine lunch and breakfast in spectacular futuristic (in the future, you'll be able to have whatever genre of meal at any time) fashion.

Fascinating in concept, but I don't know that I agree with calling any of this stuff "food" or a "meal." Link (Thanks, Casimir!)

Today on the Worth1000 photoshopping contest: remixing every movie as a Christmas flick. Link

Meat Puppet Derrick Bostrom has kindly scanned and uploaded a bunch of odd, funny, and frightening newspaper clippings he's saved since the 1980s. Things I Should Throw Out: Clippings From The Eighties (Bostworld)

kraftwerk2010 says: "Frank Converse (with a little help from ultra cool girl band The Cake) recites 'She's Leaving Home' William-Shatner-style on the 1967 TV program Popendipty." (via A Hole in the Head)

Austrian subversive art collective monochrom present an all-new installment of the philosophical sock puppets Kiki and Bubu on today's episode of Boing Boing tv.

These fuzzy logicians ponder the true nature of individual identity in capitalist societies, and connect the dots between Star Trek fandom, Sesame Street characters, Broadway musicals, and racy jpegs.

Link to Boing Boing tv episode with discussion, downloadable video, and instructions on how to subscribe to the daily BBtv video podcast.

Previously:

* Nazi Petting Zoo
* Fisch Interview
* Orwell's 1984 deconstructed by puppets
* Monochrom's Marxist sock puppets
* Monochrom: MyFaceSpace, the musical
* Monochrom: Campfire at Will
* Monochrom: Falco Stairs
* Monochrom: Bar code artist Scott Blake / Falco stencil memorial
* Human USB Hack / Very Simple Motor
* Mark's Curie Engine / Monochrom's love song for Lessig

Actually, his private elevator is built of PURE WIN.

Hamster with private elevator built of Lego [YouTube, thanks Jolon Bankey]

Over on Boing Boing Gadgets, our John's dug up this magnificent zombie lawn-sculpture by Alan Dickenson, available for a mere $90 -- think of the savings you'll realize by no longer having to pay someone to keep the kids off your lawn! Link, Discuss on Boing Boing Gadgets

Shardcore sez, "I think I've just painted the geekiest picture ever. It's a portrait of my friend Richard, he's a sysadmin. I've painted him in a server room, with Marvin the Paranoid Android. Holding a ZX Spectrum. I think you'll agree it ticks all the boxes of English geeks of a certain age..." Link (Thanks, Shardcore!)

Hugh from the Electronic Frontier Foundation sez, "SF Gate cartoonist Mark Fiore has an awesome new cartoon on the telecom immunity debate. Snuggly, the Security Bear is back, and he has a few words to say about 'compromise.'" Link (Thanks, Hugh!)

A deeper look inside the personal psychodynamics of everyone's favorite giant-ball-of-stuff-roller-upper. "Katamari Damacy Therapy," by Glitch in the System. [Comedy.com, thanks Ben Fritz]