We've been noting with some surprise today the stories that seem to be popping up all over the place saying that Michael Moore's latest movie has made its way onto P2P networks. It's hard to see how this really constitutes news anymore, though perhaps we're wrong in assuming that pretty much any movie is available online these days. In any case, a story in Advertising Age seems to be where it all started, and it's notable -- if for no other reason than the ridiculous hyperbole contained within. The author seems genuinely surprised that he could find and download the movie easily, but the fun really starts when he says Moore and his distributor "have a [sic] every film maker's worst marketing nightmare on their hands -- how to persuade people to go to the theater to see a show that's available free on the Internet." Wow! Why would anybody go to the movies since it could be downloaded? It's not as if being available online and widely downloaded has kept other films from hitting the top of the box office, and obviously nobody went to see the latest Star Wars movie after it was leaked online -- it just managed to rake in $850 million by magic. It's probably also worth pointing out to the Ad Age reporter that Moore himself doesn't have a problem with people sharing his movies, since as far as he's concerned, "the more people who get to see them, the better."

i_like_spam writes "Computer keyboards are a breeding ground for bacteria. Studies have shown that keyboards often contain more bacteria than toilet seats. Common cleaning methods, such as pressurized-air canisters and damp rags, help remove some of the dirt, but they also leave behind plenty of grime. National Public Radio describes a recent experiment by a reporter who used a dishwasher to clean her keyboard. Following the advice on Plastic Bugs, she placed her keyboard in the top rack, didn't use the heated dry cycle, and air dried the keyboard for a week afterwards. Her keyboard is now squeaky clean and functions perfectly. Has anyone else tried this or any other alternate keyboards cleaning methods? For those not willing to air dry for a week, dishwasher-safe keyboards are now available. Would you ever do this to your peripheral? "

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Apparently, there's an effort under way to get the American Medical Association to classify video game addiction as an official disorder. Of course, almost all of the claims concerning video game addiction have been from psychologists trying to drum up extra business -- while research has said that video games are no more "addictive" than school or work. Others have pointed out that there's no real evidence that there's any real addiction in video games, and often it appears that so-called "video game addiction" is simply a symptom of some other problem which goes untreated if all the focus is on the so-called addiction to video games. There's nothing wrong with noting that excessive video gaming is a problem, but in defining it as an addiction in its own right, it seems that it will take away from understanding the root causes of the problem and focus on just treating symptoms.

It's becoming less unusual for devices like laptops, and even mobile phones, to feature fingerprint scanners for secure access. The idea is that only the owner's fingerprint can unlock the device, so if it's stolen, it will be useless to a thief. This tends to help with most of your garden-variety theft, but as anybody who's watched a few action movies knows, fingerprint-based systems don't pose a problem for the really motivated thief, who can simply cut off their victim's finger and use it to access the device or secret lair or whatever. Cue some researchers from Sony, who will have screenwriters scrambling for a rewrite: they've come up with a system doesn't use fingerprints, but rather an image of the capillaries (via Network Computing) beneath the skin of a person's finger. The pattern in the image can only be captured when blood is pumping through the finger in question, so severing it from the rest of the victim would render it useless. Of course, this does little to stop thieves from beating their victims senseless, or otherwise "motivating" them to unlock the system with their finger, but hey, at least they get to keep their digits.

Cyclist110 writes "The BBC has the story of the discovery, in Inner Mongolia, of a Dinosaur bird twice the size of a man and weighing in at over 3000 lbs. From the article: 'Chinese researchers uncovered the fossilised remains of the flightless giant in the Erlian basin in Inner Mongolia. The researchers had originally thought they had found the bones of a tyrannosaur — the group of dinosaurs to which T. rex belongs — due to their large size.'"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

There's no doubt that Jingle has done quite well with their idea of putting ads into a directory service offering to make 411 calls free (though, I still wonder if this is the type of service that dies out as younger people wonder who would ever call 411 for info when they can just look it up online). However, to suggest that the idea is patentable (via Techmeme) seems pretty ridiculous. "Ad-supported" is not something new that should be patentable. Targeting ads isn't something new that should be patentable. Directory assistance isn't something that's new that should be patentable. Yet put them all together, and, bam, the USPTO awards the patent. The Teleflex ruling was meant to remind the Patent Office and the courts that simply combining obvious ideas doesn't deserve patent protection, but it appears the Patent Office hasn't received the message yet. In the meantime, what's wrong with allowing actual competition in this space? Others certainly have come along and copied Jingle's idea, but Jingle has remained in the lead through better marketing. That's how competition is supposed to work. Why kill off the competition for no societal benefit?

Mark Frauenfelder: Yesterday I posted an entry about a mom who was detained for trying to sneak a sippy cup past the TSA at Reagan Airport.

Steven say: "TSA is denying the entire event."

The TSA has a "MythBusters" page showing videos of the Sippy Cup Terrorist incident. The videos have no sound. The first video shows a woman pushing a stroller while a uniformed person walks beside her.

The second video shows the mom (a Secret Service agent) with the stroller, arguing with a couple of people in uniform. She fumbles with her backpack for a bit, then attempts to walk away. A woman in uniform grabs her arm and stops her. Mom takes her kid out of the stroller and continues to talk/argue with the uniformed officer. It's hard to tell what's going on because they have moved so far down the hall. Clearly, though, mom isn't too happy. She's got a kid, a backpack and a stroller, and she now has to deal with this officer. The little kid wanders off and the mom has to chase her. The officer woman picks up her microphone and speaks into it. Mom comes back with her kid under her arm and continues to rummage through her stuff.

A man wearing a tie comes over. He must know the woman because he picks up the kid. A cop on a bike doesn't want to miss out on the action, so he pedals over, gets off the bike and takes off his helmet. Mom is on her knees, rummaging around. What is she doing? Now she stands up, looking upset. She walks up the corridor and starts wiping the floor. Is this where she spilled the water? I didn't catch that part. A third security guard supervises her as she wipes the floor. I don't blame the guards for being interested. Dealing with 100 false alarms a day would desensitize anyone, but watching a woman get upset about a sippy cup perks them right up and gives them something to focus on.

Mom does a good job of wiping. Guard #3 speaks into his microphone -- possibly reporting to the head of TSA that mom is good at cleaning up, which means she is probably trying to hide something.

Now mom is back at her stroller, talking to #1 and #2. Guard #3 has never been happier. He slides a sign on a pole in front of woman and begins manhandling other passengers, redirecting the flow of traffic around the woman. This is an important day for him. He nudges the sign an inch and rotates it a couple of degrees, checking his work.

A forth official comes over and hands #3 a piece of paper. It's a memo from Cheney, congratulating #3 on his fast-thinking. #3 scratches his nose and looks down, trying to hide his pleasure.

Oh wait -- it's not a commendation from the vice president. It's a roll of paper towels. Apparently mom didn't do a good enough job of cleaning the floor. It's still wet!

Now I'm beginning to get the picture. Mom is a slip-and-fall terrorist. If she hadn't been stopped, who knows how many tailbones might have been broken that day!

The bicyclist guard has joined #3 to monitor mom's floor-wiping technique. She's got a roll of paper towels in one hand, and she rolls several sheets at a time into the other. This must be the way they deal with tough spills at Secret Service headquarters.

#3 is getting fancy with his arm movements as he directs people around the potentially disastrous spill. He's going to be telling the story of how he thwarted the Sippy Cup Terrorist to his grandchildren.

Mom thinks she's finished wiping up and hands #3 the used paper towels, but #3 isn't letting her off that easy. He crouches down, cleverly using the overhead lighting to catch telltale reflections of missed water spots, pointing them out to mom. #3 uses the sign's pole as an aid to swivel around quickly, catching more and more missed water. He's damn good.

Finally, he lets her go, taking the paper towel roll and sticking it in a cubby in his desk. When will he get to use it again? he wonders. He is jolted out of his daydream by the realization that he has not moved the sign! Quietly admonishing himself, he runs over quickly to retrieve the sign and put it in its rightful place.

Mom is back to rummaging though her stuff with #1 and #2 watching carefully. #3 makes some final adjustments to his trusty sign, then stands next to it and gazes longingly at the other two officials, who are still dealing with the sippy cup terrorist.

The video suddenly ends here. Link (Thanks, Steven!)

An anonymous reader writes "A bill introduced this week would force cable operators to offer à la carte cable and so-called family-tiers of service. Those opting for à la carte programming would get refunds on their cable bill, but the legislation would also extend broadcast indecency standards to cable and satellite TV for the first time: 'In accordance with the indecency and profanity policies and standards applied by the [FCC] to broadcasters, as such policies and standards are modified from time to time, not transmit any material that is indecent or profane on any channel in the expanded basic tier of such distributor except between 10pm and 6am.' As Ars points out, 'With the parental controls built into every television set, set-top box, and DVR being sold these days, the need for such legislation seems questionable at best. Unlike broadcast television, which is available to anyone with a TV and an antenna, people subscribe to and pay for cable/satellite.'"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

David Pescovitz: Rest your weary head on this comforting gun pillow made by the good people at Gama-Go. It's 100% cotton, 16" x 12" x 4", and sells for $24.95.
Link
Previously on BB:
• Gama-Go book contest winners! Link
• Gama-Go iPod case Link
• GAMMA-GO baby quilt with Tim Biskup artwork Link

Mark Frauenfelder: The fantabulous Jamie Hewlett, who drew Tank Girl, has designed the packaging for some cool looking vibrators. (Hey Alabamans -- I know the law forbids vibrators for sale in your great state, but maybe you can ask him to design some pistols for you!) Link

Previously on Boing Boing:
• Sex toys still banned in Alabama, guns okay

If you want to see just how confused recording industry execs are these days, go read this exchange between Andrew Dubber and Paul Birch (via Boing Boing). Dubber is a lecturer at the University of Central England who writes a great blog about the music industry focused on new strategies for the industry. Birch is the head of Revolver Records. The email conversation goes back and forth as Birch insists that Dubber's link to a Download Squad post was somehow inappropriate. The link is about someone fighting back against yet another bad lawsuit by the RIAA. Why is it inappropriate? That's hard to parse from Birch's rambling emails, but it appears to have something to do with giving support to people who hate the RIAA. In the end, after Dubber explains that criticism of actual events seems valid, and Birch responds that if Dubber doesn't take down his post, he's going to report Dubber to his university. Reading through the exchange, you begin to realize why the recording industry is in so much trouble. They really believe that anyone criticizing them must be some crazy punk kid trying to steal from them -- and can't believe that anyone who actually knows what they're talking about could criticize their policies, even as the situation gets worse and worse. And, if an expert actually does criticize their policies, it means they're supporting piracy and putting RIAA execs at risk -- and that can't be allowed.

macduffman writes "Congress and the Department of Homeland Security are considering several new visa restrictions, including forcing some foreign travelers to register their travel plans online 48 hours in advance. Business advocacy groups are worried about both foreign relations and the economic impact of such legislation, while privacy concerns see this as another possible 'in' for identity thieves. From the article: 'Along with online registration, the updated program would require new and existing member countries to improve data-sharing; more rigorously report lost and stolen passports (not just blank passports); and guarantee they will repatriate nationals if those people are ordered out of the United States. "It's really a 21st-century model," said James Carafano, a Heritage Foundation analyst who specializes in homeland security. "It'll all be done electronically and biometrically. And it really doesn't compromise your privacy."'"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

chance_encounter writes "President of the Czech Republic Vaclav Klaus has published an article in the Financial Times in which he seems to equate the current global warming debate with totalitarian thought control: 'The dictates of political correctness are strict and only one permitted truth, not for the first time in human history, is imposed on us. Everything else is denounced ... The scientists should help us and take into consideration the political effects of their scientific opinions. They have an obligation to declare their political and value assumptions and how much they have affected their selection and interpretation of scientific evidence.' At the end of the article he proposes several suggestions to improve the global climate debate, including this point: 'Let us resist the politicization of science and oppose the term "scientific consensus," which is always achieved only by a loud minority, never by a silent majority.'"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

While companies might be leading the biggest-single-data-leak stakes, various governmental bodies are trying to make up for it in volume. On the federal level, the Veterans Administration has been leading the way, with the TSA right behind, while plenty of state governments and their contractors are getting in on the act, too. Now, in Ohio, the governor has announced that the names and Social Security numbers of 64,000 state employees are out in the wild -- after a storage device containing them was stolen from an intern's car. Yes, you read that correctly. We've wondered in the past just why people are carrying around so much personal information, but the governor claims that it was part of a "protocol intended to keep backup copies of data in case it was lost on state computer systems." Yes, apparently this protocol says that important information should be backed up on storage devices, then given to interns so they can store them in their cars for safekeeping. If you've ever given any personal information to the Ohio government, you might want to start keeping an eye on your credit report, since this is apparently its idea of security.

Mark Frauenfelder: Here's the sixth installment of the funny "Home Inspection Nightmares" gallery from This Old House. I especially like this retrofitted balcony staircase placed in front of a door.

They should compile these into a book. I'd buy it. Link

Previously on Boing Boing:
• Photos of bad and dangerous home improvement hacks
• Home Inspection Nightmares photo gallery, Vol. 5

Mark Frauenfelder:
Dave says:

These are scans from a favorite childhood book (c. 1958) full of projects to build. It may be worth noting that I never actually built any of them, but I spent many happy hours pondering the implications.

So far I've only scanned the cover and my 2 favorite projects, but it's enough to give you the flavor of the book. Note the lovely ink-wash renderings, and the excellent "Boy's Life" language: "swell!", "fellas", etc.

Used copies of Backyard Things That Are Fun to Build are going on Amazon for $3.50. Link