Xeni Jardin:

By popular demand: this post-lobotomy unicorn chaser brought to you by "Tinkler," link.

David Pescovitz: The Neurophilosophy blog has a concise and interesting history of the lobotomy. First performed on people in the 1890s, it involves destroying parts of the brain or, at least, slicing some of the connections in the prefontal cortex. After United States neurologist Walter Freeman imported the technique from Europe and "refined" it with surgeon James Watts, the procedure became frighteningly common. During the middle of last century, there were 40,000 lobotomies performed in the US alone.

From the article:

The Freeman-Watts Standard Procedure was used for the first time in September 1936. Also known as "the precision method", this involved inserting a blunt spatula through holes in both sides of the skull; the instrument was moved up and down to sever the thalamo-cortical fibers. However, Freeman was unhappy with the new procedure. He considered it to be both time-consuming and messy, and so developed a quicker method, the so-called "ice-pick"lobotomy (photo above -ed.), which he performed for the first time on January 17th, 1945.

With the patient rendered unconscious by electroshock, an instrument was inserted above the eyeball through the orbit using a hammer. Once inside the brain, the instrument was moved back and forth; this was then repeated on the other side. (The ice-pick lobotomy, named as such because the instrument used resembled the tool with which ice is broken, is therefore also known as the transorbital lobotomy...)

Freeman's new technique could be performed in about 10 minutes.

Link (via Mind Hacks)

Previously on BB:
• "My Lobotomy" on NPR Link

An anonymous reader writes "A Canadian theater chain has been sued for an abusive search for camcording equipment. A Montreal woman is seeking $60,000 in damages for the search, which comes after the Canadian government caved to US pressure and enacted anti-camcording legislation."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

In recent days, the NBA has been rocked by allegations that one of its referees was gambling on games that he was officiating. The claims have yet to be proven, but the official has already resigned from the league. NBA commissioner David Stern has called this an isolated incident, but at the same time is calling for a greater crackdown on illegal sports betting. The league could employ advanced statistical monitoring techniques to determine whether its referees have suspicious foul-calling patterns, although it would be difficult to prove anything definitive. In a New York Times op-ed, economist Justin Wolfers makes the contrarian argument that the solution is to lift anti-gambling laws that are in place throughout much of the country. Because sports betting is illegal in most areas, the industry is dominated by organized criminals, whose modus operandi is point shaving, the practice of paying players and refs to affect the final score of the game, but not actually the outcome, in order beat the Vegas spread. To those who participate in it, it feels like a harmless crime, since they're not actually throwing the game itself. Legalizing sports betting would help solve this problem as organized crime would have little to gain by operating in this business (customers would just go to legal, safer alternatives). Some entities may still opt to bet on games and then attempt to influence them, but as all betting would go through legitimate enterprises, suspicious activity is much more likely to get reported. Thus, while it sounds nice to "get tough" on gambling, it's the fact that we're already tough on it that's causing the problems.

stm2 writes "Two lawyers have patented generating music from a DNA sequence. According to the patent, it covers 'music generated by decoding and transcribing genetic information within a DNA sequence into a music signal having melody and harmony.' A comment to the blog post mentions DNA-derived music being performed at a conference in 1995."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Cory Doctorow: Whereismyrobot sez, "There is a movement of Chuck E Cheese and Showbiz fans that are buying the old robots and setting them up in their homes or garages. Some program them for good, while the creator of this video obviously programmed these for evil. This is a lot better than indie bands ironically covering rap songs." Link (Thanks, Whereismyrobot!)

Cory Doctorow: EFF's Derek Slater sez, "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested that Congress may take action this week on a bill that could rubberstamp the NSA's spying program. The Bush Administration is trying to sell its latest proposal as a serious compromise, but don't be fooled -- it represents an unprecedented power grab that endangers the checks and balances that define our democracy. Please call your representatives now before it's too late."

Mark Frauenfelder: Nomad4ever has a tutorial on how to avoid paying phony fines to crooked traffic cops in Bali. He lists several things you can do to save yourself from paying a fine that would be better spent on a couple of bottles of cold beer. Rule number one: don't stop for the cop when they try to pull you over. They'll forget about you and find another sucker:

Don’t stop in the first place. Am I kidding you? Not! As the ‘Patroli’ are usually waiting for their prey in not easily visible corners or side pockets of the road; it’s pretty easy to miss them. They don’t use whistles or other signals as well, just a lame hand waive to flag you down. It’s easier when riding a bike - just look in the opposite direction (usually the right side of the road, it also helps if you wear sunglasses). This way you missed them ‘by accident’, don’t worry: they will not follow you - there is much easier prey for them than abandoning their favorite sweet spot to follow one single victim.

Link (Thanks, Chris!)

Xeni Jardin:

Link to Adam Koford's Sunday Strip #1 of the Laugh Out Loud Cats: "How they Met." Above, detail. Poster here, you can has original art here.

Previously on BB:

True historic origins of the Laugh Out Loud cats

Laugh Out Loud Cats: more 1900s comics unearthed

Laugh Out Loud Cats: rediscovered short film

A while back we discussed the corruption investigation aimed at Alaska Sen. Ted "series of tubes" Stevens. A number of readers sent us word that the home of Sen. Stevens was raided earlier today by agents of the FBI and the IRS. The focus of the raid was a remodeling project at Stevens's home and the involvement of VECO, an oil company.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

David Pescovitz: There have been sex worker 'zines in the United States, but Red Light Despatch is a new prostitution monthly published in Mumbai, India. Edited by sex workers, health officials, and two former journalists, the Despatch runs personal stories about life as a prostitute, poetry and essays, reviews, and advocacy articles. The newsroom is inside a brothel. From Reuters:

With a little help from a voluntary group, the magazine prints about 1,000 copies in Hindi and English and is distributed free among prostitutes and residents of red light districts...

"We have little money, but we still pay our writers small amounts so that they realize they can earn a respectable living as well," said editor (Anurag) Chaturvedi.

For its reporters, getting stories from brothels is not a problem because "we are accepted as one of them".

"When we go to people's homes they are comfortable and they talk," said (health volunteer and magazine contributor Anita) Khude. "In the next issue we will write about how a 'normal' man -- a poor roadside snacks seller -- fought prejudices and married a prostitute he fell in love with."

Link

Xeni Jardin: The FCC will set rules governing the auction of $15 billion of public airwaves tomorrow. A decision is due before noon ET. Snip from piece by Kim Hart in the Washington Post today, which explains why the stakes here are high enough that Google and various telecommunications companies have spent millions on lobbying efforts to influence the outcome:

Google, the giant Internet search company, wants to extend its popular tools, which include e-mail and video, to the rapidly expanding mobile phone market. To do so, it may spend billions to build a new, open network it says will loosen the grip telecom operators have over how consumers use their cellphones.

Currently, the major U.S. wireless carriers, including AT&T and Verizon Wireless, largely decide which Web sites, music-download services and search engines their customers can access on their cellphones. This is accomplished by wireless companies determining which cellphones will receive their services: AT&T, for example, is the only carrier available to users of Apple's iPhone.

Google wants to end that restriction and has urged the FCC to require the winner of the auction to build a network that will be open to all cellphones and services, so any consumer can have access to Google's array of offerings.

Link

Wikia, Jimmy Wales' for-profit venture, has been talking for awhile about taking on Google in the search space. The company believes it can do better by augmenting traditional algorithm-based search with wiki-like collaboration and human editors. So far, the company doesn't have anything to show for its efforts, but it recently announced the purchase of the open source web crawler Grub from LookSmart (remember them?). As part of the company's PR efforts, Wales has tried to make the case that existing search tools are "broken" and that another party needs to come along and fix it. This same line, that Google is broken for whatever reasons, gets repeated by every fledgling search startup out there. While Google has its share of problems (spam, etc.), it's unlikely that most users would see things as being so bad. In the end, neither FUD nor buzzwords, like "wiki", "open source" or "semantic web" will be enough to dethrone Google if the underlying product isn't clearly superior.

Xeni Jardin: BoingBoing reader Paul says,

Various news outlets are reporting that FBI and IRS agents are raiding the Girdwood, AK home of Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) this afternoon. Stevens is most known for explaining the "...internet is a Series of Tubes" last year [ed note: and for wanting to switch phones "while i ride my motorcycle"].

"All I can say is that agents from the FBI and IRS are currently conducting a search at that residence," said Dave Heller, the assistant special agent in charge of the FBI's Anchorage office. The search began this afternoon, and is said to be the only such search warrant currently being served. Heller directed other questions to the U.S. Justice Department's Public Integrity Section in Washington, and a spokesman there had no comment.

Link.

Xeni Jardin:

Anonymous reader says,

This is a brochure for an offbeat tourist attraction from the 1940's called "The Midgets Palace". It was owned by the "King and Queen of All Midgets" who had the "only child born to midgets". Incredibly politically incorrect.

Link. By posting this, I do not intend to imply that it is okay to make fun of short-statured people. But it's interesting to look back at what was considered appropriate in years past.

Xeni Jardin:

Business 2.0 has a feature on AdultVest.com, a service that matches investors (with purses of varying depth) and adult entertainment companies (with profit margins of various girth).

Whenever mainstream news reports repeat rosy, seldom-factchecked figures like $12 billion to describe the size of the porn industry, I cringe. Porn =! get rich quick, any more than internet = get rich quick, and there's more to those numbers than typically meets the ink.

Leaving aside what feels like an oversimplified and overeager portrayal of the sector's investment risks (actual f'in quote: "there's silly money to be made here"), it's still an interesting feature. Just read with an extra-healthy helpin' of skepticism.

Snip:

The response has been strong: Koenig says he's signed up well over 1,000 potential investors since January. For now, he's catering to investors with big money, although he says his approach will eventually evolve to serve the investing masses. He's raising money for two funds: a $100 million fund that requires a minimum investment of $1 million, and a $10 million fund with a $100,000 minimum.

Accredited investors can sign up on AdultVest.com to qualify, and Koenig says people are signing up at the rate of 15 per day. Roughly 300 companies - including website-porn subscription businesses, escort services, and strip clubs - have registered. Investors can also use the AdultVest marketplace to hook up directly with companies.

Koenig has a good track record: The New World Partners hedge fund, where he was a managing director, posted double- and triple-digit returns through the late '90s - and he thinks similar returns are possible with porn. His funds are set up like any venture capital fund and will invest in a range of businesses, with a portion of each earmarked for buying and running strip clubs.

Link to story.

Here's the AdultVest website: Link (warning, annoying loud sound, obnoxious Flash, and silly looking porno spokesavatar).

At left here, my favorite part of the AdultVest.com design aesthetic.

It's like -- "Investors, have the first look at all the hot new deals... UP OUR ASS!"

(thanks, Susannah Breslin)

ianare writes "H.R. 3155, the Intellectual Property Enhanced Criminal Enforcement Act of 2007, has been introduced in Congress by Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH). In most cases, the bill appears to simply double existing penalties. One big change however, is that people could now be charged with criminal copyright infringement even if such infringement has not actually taken place. Not surprisingly, the EFF has condemned the legislation."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.