tech@vedella

I know we're all thinking of a different death today, but I'd like to go back for just a moment to Ralph Steinman. Steinman is the man Xeni told you about earlier this week, who won the Nobel Prize in medicine but died (of pancreatic cancer*) before the award could be made public. Only living [...]

Here's a guide to the specialized sign language used by the Maitre D' and staff at NYC's swanky Eleven Madison Park restaurant; there's also a set of traffic rules to keep things moving smoothly (staff walk clockwise and keep right, guests and staff leading guests have right of way, followed by hot food, cold food, [...]

Scott Edelman sez, "It seemed serendipitous that on a day when so many out there are occupying Wall Street I should run across this wonderful 1931 photo of Ralph Walker, the architect who designed One Wall Street, LITERALLY occupying Wall Street at the Society of Beaux-Arts Architects annual ball. With him are Ely Jacques Kahn, [...]

Ot sez, "Dutch digital rights organisation Bits of Freedom is raising money to ensure it can continue defending online freedom in the coming years. Bits of Freedom fights for an open Internet which is accessible to all, where people can share information and where private communication remains private. As a result of Bits of Freedom's [...]

Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple, passed away today after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 56. Here is the statement from Apple's Board of Directors.

[Video Link] Turnstyle News from Oakland, CA interviewed Jelani, a 16-year-old protester who traveled with his grandmother from Pontiac, Michigan to New York City for the Occupy Wall Street protests. "I had never slept on the street before," he says. His mom said it was okay to take time out from school, because he has [...]

Artist Molly Crabapple created this downloadable, printable, stencil-able, remixable poster with an excellent reference to Matt Taibbi's classic characterization of Wall Street fraudsters: a bunch of vampire squids.

Arturas Rosenbacher (@USAanon) shot this photograph of windows in the building where the Chicago Board of Trade is located. The CBOT was established in 1848, and is the world's oldest futures and options exchange. "We are the 1%," the sign reads, an apparent response to the Occupy Chicago (and Occupy Wall Street) protests. "We are [...]

Mother Jones is maintaining an interactive map of "Occupy" protests around the US, and beyond. That little lonely red dot in the Pacific is a demonstration in Hilo, Hawaii! If you know of others, tell them: "Send a link to a news article or blog posts to traja [at] motherjones [dot] com or @tasneemraja." You [...]

[Video Link] This one is inspired. (Via Cynical-C)

Friends in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, and other cities around the U.S. are sharing tweets, photos, and texts with me today about Occupy Wall Street and spinoff demonstrations. I was on IM with Boing Boing pal Joe Sabia in New York City, who co-curates Boing Boing's in-flight video channel on Virgin America airlines, [...]

Thanks to 50 Watts for posting this photo of The Isolator from Hugo Gernsback's Science and Invention in 1925. See the cover I posted yesterday. (Via A Great Disorder)

Copyfighting British nerdcode rapper Dan Bull sez, "I've now made a rap video for #occupywallstreet. The video mixes Radiohead's Street Spirit with dubstep and my own lyrics."  Dan Bull's Stupid Injunction: rap about the UK's sexy, censoring ... Musician's open letter, sung to Peter Mandelson, Britain's Pirate ... Musician's open letter, sung to Lily Allen [...]

Who inspired you? The role that teachers play in influencing the lives of their students is something that's been lost in current debates about education mandates and standardized testing. Teaching isn't just about making sure kids can pass exams. It's also about helping future adults find their gifts, discover their interests, and learn who they [...]

Chris from Telecommunications as Commons Initiative sez, "There's an upcoming referendum in Longmont Colorado on providing municipal Internet service over existing fiber. We know that the incumbents (mostly Comcast) will spend a lot to derail it, so I'm hoping this comic can make the rounds and 'prime' people so the anti-government mailers and robo-calls will [...]

[Video Link] The Professor Funk made a fun video about the placebo effect. Now excuse me while I shoot up my morning dose of saline. Laughing Squid: The Strange Powers of the Placebo Effect

[Video Link] This stick bomb, which winds through a house, is a thing of beauty. I like this YouTube comment: "I just reported this to the Improper Use of Magic Office over at the Ministry of Magic. Have fun going to Azkaban." From Wikipedia: A stick bomb is a mechanical spring-loaded device constructed out of [...]

Over at credit.com I reviewed the book Moneyless Man: A Year of Freeconomics Living, by Mark Boyle [I]n 2008 Mark Boyle decided to try living for a year without money. His self-imposed rules were simple: he would close his bank account and not spend or receive money (including checks and credit cards). He would live [...]

Security researcher Brian Krebs got a look at the auction prices at iProfit.su, a criminal marketplace where you can buy hacked and phished PayPal accounts; he discovered that the going account for 100 zero-balance verified PayPal accounts is a mere $50 -- that's 50 cents per account. Accounts are sold with or without email access [...]