tech@vedella

An Austrian student has kicked off a movement that pits EU privacy rules against Facebook's data collection practices. Max Schrems requested a copy of the data Facebook had collected on him (which Facebook is required to provide under EU law) and found himself with more than 1,000 pages of data that demonstrated several clear breaches [...]

[Video Link] This 1968 piece of schlock isn't John Carradine's finest moment, but the trailer is entertaining! "The Astro-Zombies are a strange, weird, unbelievable breed of living dead in human form. Their deranged transplanted brains could only lead them to murder... watch as the Astro-Zombies attack with maniacal fury!" Listen to the Misfits and Joan [...]

After just having read Seth Roberts' blog post about The Willat Effect (the hedonic change caused by side-by-side comparison of similar things), it was interesting to see Xeni's post about the side-by-side comparison of video shot with the iPhone 4S vs the Canon 5d MKII. I discovered the Willat Effect when my friend Carl Willat [...]

Following up on yesterday's BB post: here's a Video Link to a testimony by 22-year-old Evelyn Apoko. A post with more on her story at Media Matters. Here is her statement. From the website for Ms. Apoko's group, which works to help other survivors: When she was just a little girl, Evelyn Apoko was abducted [...]

Photoshopper unknown. Via Brandon Neely.

The Real Role Of Anonymous In Occupy Wall Street: "Anonymous has caught the attention of the media--and even Homeland Security--with its biggest contribution to Occupy Wall Street: hype. But, so far, the amorphous, leaderless hacktivist movement has disappointed anyone expecting full-on revolution from a Guy Fawkes-masked army or a massive cyber attack." (Fast Company)

The state of Victoria, Australia is considering legislation making it an offense to "assault, obstruct, hinder, threaten, abuse, insult or intimidate" the state's Gaming Minister Michael O'Brien or his staff. Laws against insulting government ministers are not customary in liberal democracies, a fact that has not escaped the opposition in Victoria's Parliament: State Labor has [...]

At Wired Threat Level, Kim Zetter parses a recently-leaked DHS memo that effectively brands Anonymous as a domestic terrorist organization.

[Video Link, by Jonathan Mann, via Sean Bonner.]

[Video Link] On Vimeo, Robino Films did this "fair" test between the iPhone 4S and the Canon 5D MK II. I've been shooting video and stills with the iPhone 4S for a couple of days, and I've been pretty blown away by the image quality. Was planning to do a side-by-side analysis like this myself, [...]

"They’ve been anonymously commenting on the web for years, but some of the Internet’s most prolific commenters reveal themselves and share why they do it." (Via Laughing Squid)

Our background art today (visible on large displays) was submitted by Eliot K Daughtry of Killer Banshee Studios. Visit the permalink to see a high-res version suitable for use as desktop wallpaper. Thanks, Eliot!

[Video Link] Man, if there's one thing Richard Branson knows better than anyone, it's how to put on an amazing launch event. Above, video from the Virgin Galactic kickoff for the world's first commercial spaceport, Spaceport America (alternate link), today in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Project Bandaloop did an aerial choreography performance from the side [...]

Gweek is Boing Boing’s podcast about movies, science fiction, games, comics, books, gadgets, and other cool stuff. In episode 21 Rob reports back from ROFLCON and Respect the Internet. Also! • Rob presents the Boing Boing redesign -- fewest complaints yet! • Mark reviews the forthcoming Pogo anthology, and discusses the novelization of The Settlers [...]

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I like these lenses. If I tried to install them in a pattern like the one shown above, the lens holes would be non-collinear and unevenly spaced, and I would have to buy a new door. Craft-Modern introduces the Doorlenz.  Made of anodized aluminum and tinted acrylic, the Doorlenz requires no additional hardware to hold [...]

Michael C. Woodford (shown above), the former CEO of Olympus, says the Japanese technology company is involved in a whole lot of financial hanky-panky. The Olympus board says the 51-year-old British national, the first non-Japanese CEO in the company's history, was a bad manager. But he claims he was forced out when he began asking [...]

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA NOSES, by Simon Fletcher. "GOD IS THE ARTIST. I JUST FIND THE NINJA TURTLE IN HIS WORK." (thanks, Joe Sabia)

Tenzin Wangmo, a 20-year-old nun from Dechen Chokorling Nunnery in Tibet, is the ninth Tibetan to commit self-immolation since March, and the fifth of those to die. They are protesting repression by Chinese security forces. More at Free Tibet.

I'm at the Web 2.0 Summit for the next couple days. You can follow along with me as I tweet my notes and thoughts on the event or watch their live stream. It's already heating up!