tech@vedella

[Video link, from "Stop the Machine," aka October 2011, the anti-war group that attempted to occupy the National Air and Space Museum today in Washington, DC. Shot by Nathan Schneider.] Update: Sounds like a right-wing agent provocateur was in the mix, and may have been at least partly responsible for escalating the situation. A group [...]

From the New York Times, more on a secret legal memo from 2010 that paved the way for the assassination of Anwar al-Awlaki, an American citizen in Yemen: The secret document provided the justification for acting despite an executive order banning assassinations, a federal law against murder, protections in the Bill of Rights and various [...]

The cover of the October 17, 2011, issue of The New Yorker.

Radley Balko says: "I have a piece up at Huffington Post looking at a new House bill that would make it a federal crime to plan or advise any activity in another country that would violate U.S. drug laws, even the activity is legal in the county where it's planned to happen. The law would [...]

Jon Stewart looks at Sarah Palin's fundraising tour across America through which she solicited donations from people who might support her presidential bid, all the while coyly refusing to say whether she was intending to run. Subsequently, it became clear that Palin continued to solicit money long after she'd decided not to run -- Stewart [...]

Dan Jones (AKA Tinkerbots) was kind enough to add this charming fellow to the Boing Boing Flickr pool. There's plenty more where that came from.

"There has been a lot said about the lack of vision, lack of specific demands, and a disparity of beliefs and goals among the Occupy Wall Street protesters in the media in the past several weeks," writes health care equity research analyst David Maris in a guest post on Forbes.com. Instead of adding to that [...]

From YouTube user havelah's video description: An elderly couple walked into the lobby of the Mayo Clinic for a checkup and spotted a piano. Theyve been married for 62 years and hell be 90 this year. Check out this impromptu performance. We are only as old as we feel, its all attitude. Enjoy! They certainly [...]

Photo by zoestercoaster, taken at an "Occupy Dallas / Occupy Wall Street" demonstration in Dallas, TX, and contributed to the Boing Boing Flickr Pool.

Laika the dog is seriously styling in this AT-AT costume, created by Katie Mello. (via Super Punch)

Last June, the Swiss Press Club held a launch for the Global Innovation Index at which various speakers were invited to talk about innovation. After the head of CERN and the CEO of the Internet Society spoke about how important it was that the Web's underlying technology hadn't been patented, Francis Gurry, the Director General [...]

Reclamations, a journal published by University of California students, has published a special, timely pamphlet called "Generation of Debt," on the trap of student debt in America. Young people in America are bombarded with the message that they won't find meaningful employment without a degree (and sometimes a graduate degree). Meanwhile, universities have increased their [...]

Composer Alex Braidwood whomped up these awesome "Noisolation Headphones," which are designed to "let your ears blink," and are quite eye-catching, in order to "start a conversation." And if you don't like the conversation they start, you can just shut your ears! The Noisolation Headphones attempt to correct an oversight of our body: our ears [...]

[Video Link] BusinessWeek asked me to write my "Story About Steve." I never met Steve, but I had a story to tell. Here it is. In May 2002 I got a call from my friend Alberta who asked if I'd like to be in an Apple TV commercial. Alberta had a friend who was an [...]

Virginia district court Judge John A. Gibney has threatened to sanction D. Wayne O'Bryan, a personal injury lawyer with a sideline in copyright threats on behalf of pornographers. O'Bryan used subpoenas to get the personal information of people who allegedly downloaded pornographic movies over BitTorrent, then called the accused at home and threatened to sue [...]

This print from Andy Warhol's 1985 Ads Portfolio set of 10 screenprints is on eBay for $400,000, more than 10x what you can get it for elsewhere. If you really want it and have that kind of money burning a hole in your wallet, you might wait a few weeks as Sotheby's has listed a [...]

A crafty family decided to do a series of portraits while dressed in improvised body-armor from a notional post-zombpocalyptic world. I love this little girl's zombie-hunting outfit! When your dear significant other asks you for a family portrait that includes Post Apocalypse zombie slaying, well of course you just smile, nod, and say yes! ChainCrafts [...]

Christa Faust has penned numerous crime and horror novels, including the Scribe Award-winning novel version of the cult movie Snakes on a Plane and Edgar Award-Nominated Money Shot. Choke Hold, the standalone follow-up to Money Shot was released on October 4th. When I wrote Money Shot, my hardboiled revenge novel set in the adult film [...]

This Saturday is the Festival of Rock Posters in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. Over at the New York Times, our pal Ben Marks talks about some of the fine artists who will be making the scene. One of the headliners is Emek, whose art you can see here. "Where Hard Rock Meets Pop Art" [...]

As I've noted here before, Venkatesh Rao is a thought-provoking, profound thinker, and I always welcome his long, fascinating blog posts. When he sent me a copy of his slim book, Tempo, I was very excited to see it turn up in my mailbox. Tempo is Rao's attempt to formalize many years of study into [...]