Monday, November 29, 2010

TSA harasses mother about breast milk


TSA agents in Phoenix insisted on x-raying a mother's breast milk, causing her to miss her flight.

About 10 minutes into all this, a Phoenix PD comes to calm me down. I explain to him that there is no reason I should be treated this way and I have every right to be upset. He then says "they" (aka TSA) saw me coming, have it out for me (from my complaint against TSA the week before when they didn't know the breast milk rules then either), and I should travel out of a different gate in future weeks. He said TSA wants me to play along with their horse and pony show and if I don't then TSA can have the Phoenix PD arrest me!

...I then begged him to read the TSA rules I had printed out. He read the first form which stated that medical liquids can have alternate screening (no x-ray). He was quick to say "well this isn't a medical liquid!" So I had him read the second form which says breast milk is to be treated like a medical liquid. He then says, "well, not today."

... I also missed my flight playing along with his ridiculous game.

From the TSA's web site:

"Mothers flying with, and now without, their child will be permitted to bring breast milk in quantities greater than three ounces as long as it is declared for inspection at the security checkpoint."

"Breast milk is in the same category as liquid medications."

"We normally X-ray medication and related supplies. However, as a customer service, you may ask that Security Officers visually inspect your medication and associated supplies."

TSA agents afraid mother will commit an act of terrorism with breast milk

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/e2tyyREZULA/tsa-harasses-mother.html


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Congressman wants WikiLeaks listed as terrorist group

Incoming head of House Homeland Security Committee says Wikileaks should be designated "Foreign Terrorist Organization," freezing funds and making support a federal felony.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-20023941-38.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

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Teacher bans pencils

An elementary school in Massachussets prohibited sixth-grade students from carrying "any writing implements" not given to them by teachers. Those who carried their own pencils were assumed to be building "weapons." The ban has since been rescinded. [Telegram]

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/fPiE4tpxbbs/teacher-bans-pencils.html

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Irvin Kershner, director of Empire Strikes Back, dead at 87

Irvin Kershner, director of Empire Strikes Back, dead at 87

Irvin Kershner, the journeyman filmmaker who was hand-picked by George Lucas to direct the first Star Wars sequel, has passed away following a long illness.

http://blastr.com/2010/11/irvin-kershner-director-o.php

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Sunday, November 28, 2010

Willie Nelson Arrested for Marijuana Possession. Should We Be Surprised?!

SIERRA BLANCA, Texas -- A U.S. Border Patrol spokesman says country singer Willie Nelson was charged with marijuana possession after 6 ounces was found aboard his tour bus in Texas.

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Friday, November 26, 2010

Original big-screen Buffy hopes to be part of Whedon-less reboot

Original big-screen Buffy hopes to be part of Whedon-less reboot

Neither Joss Whedon nor Sarah Michelle Gellar will be involved with the upcoming big-screen Buffy reboot, but one alum still hopes to be a part of the project— Kristy Swanson, who was the first to bring Buffy Summers to life way back in the original 1992 film.

http://blastr.com/2010/11/original-big-screen-buffy.php

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Menstruating woman subjected to TSA grope because panty-liner obscured her vulva on pornoscanner

A self-described "rule follower" went through an airport pornoscanner wearing a panty-liner (she was menstruating). Because the hygienic item obscured the screener's view of her vagina vulva, she was made to endure a humiliating fondling, "so invasive that I was left crying and dealing with memories that I thought had been dealt with years ago of prior sexual assaults."
These new scans are so horrible that if you are wearing something unusual (like a piece of cloth on your panties) then you will be subjected to a search where a woman repeatedly has to check your "groin" while another woman watches on (two in my case - they were training in a new girl - awesome). So please, please, tell the ladies not to wear their liners at the airport (I didn't even have an insert in). I'm a strong, confident woman; I'm an Army vet (which is why those camo liners crack me up), I work full-time and go to graduate school full-time, I have a wonderful husband, and I don't take any nonsense from anyone. I don't dramatize, and I don't exaggerate. I'm trying to give you a sense of who I am so you won't think that this is a plea for attention, or a jumping on the bandwagon about the recent TSA proposed boycott. I just don't want another woman to have to go through the "patting down" because she didn't know that her glad-rag would be a matter of national security."
There are plenty of TSA apologists who say that objections to the TSA's invasive "pat-downs" are just whining from people don't want to go through the backscatter radiation machines -- we bring it on ourselves. But as we've seen, anything out of the ordinary -- wearing a fabric pad during menstruation, artificial limbs, medical prostheses, etc -- can send you off for a date with Doctor Jellyfinger, Junior G-Man extraordinaire.

By declaring war on the unexpected, the TSA has set in motion a policy that makes the lives of cancer sufferers, disabled people, people who've had major surgery, and many others who're already having a hard time even harder.

TSA Groin Searches Menstruating Woman (Thanks, Jen!)

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/XLjHhHS4uaQ/menstruating-woman-s.html

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Have you seen him? (Boing Boing Flickr Pool)


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TSA on Twitter. What could go wrong?

Imagine a teenager's text message chats, garnished with Bob Hope-esque jokes about terrorism. Now behold the TSA's freakishly misguided twitterings.

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/ok84GYX8gr0/tsa-on-twitter-what.html

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"TK-421, why aren't you at your post?" TK-421 iPhone case ships

If you are one of the of types that likes your iPhone, but wishes it has a physical keyboard to use ThinkGeek has your fix. ThinkGeek is now shipping the TK-421 that adds a physical keyboard to the iPhone 4 or 3GS.

The Libratone Beat wireless speaker is landing at the Apple store next month. The thing has a 50W speaker and should sound really good with room filling sound from a single source and it includes an iPhone transmitter for playing your favorite tracks.

Moshi has outted its latest Bluetooth device for the iPhone called the MM03i. The thing is an iPhone dock with a Bluetooth handset that lets you pick up for machine and receiving calls like an old-fashioned phone.

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MYiPhone/~3/hduh3cYlxp0/tk-421-iphone-case-ships-beat-wireless-speakers-moshi-mm03i-bluetooth-handset-269433.php

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Sunday, November 21, 2010

How TSA screeners feel about junk-touching

Here's a survey of 17 anonymous TSA Transportation Security Officers, discussing their discomfort with being required to touch strangers' genitals to earn a living:
"It is not comfortable to come to work knowing full well that my hands will be feeling another man's private parts, their butt, their inner thigh. Even worse is having to try and feel inside the flab rolls of obese passengers and we seem to get a lot of obese passengers!"

"Do you think I want to go to work and place my hands between women's legs and touch their breasts for a few hours? For starters, I am attracted to men, not women and if I was attracted to women, it would not be the large number of passengers I handle daily that have a problem understanding what personal hygiene is."

"Yesterday a passenger told me to keep my hands off his penis or he'd scream. Is this how a 40 year old man in business attire acts? He'll scream? My 3 year old can get away with saying he'll scream, but a 40 something business man? I am a professional doing my job, whether I agree with this current policy or not, I am doing my job. I do not want to be here all day touching penises."

TSA Enhanced Pat Downs : The Screeners Point Of View http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/h3UxM2KHWaU/how-tsa-screeners-fe.html

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When did you choose to be straight?

Travis Nuckolls and Chris Baker walk the streets of Colorado Springs asking strangers whether being gay is a choice; to those who say it is a choice, they answer, "When did you choose to be straight?"

When Did You Choose to Be Straight? (Thanks, Fipi Lele!)

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/isqYSAqneGY/when-did-you-choose.html

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Amputee forced to remove prosthesis, expose residual limb, be separated from 4yo son

These stories just keep getting worse and worse. And this incident apparently took place earlier this year, before the "enhanced" procedures went into place:
"I had just been put in the Plexiglas screening booth," said Peggy. "My 4-year-old son was made to sit across from me, crying because they would not let him touch me. Everyone was looking at us. Then the TSA agent asked for my prosthetic leg. I knew they could wand my leg, but he insisted on taking it from me. And if that wasn't humiliating enough, he asked for the liner sock that covers my residual limb, saying I had to give it to him. I felt pressured to give him my liner even though it is critical to keep it sanitary. I was embarrassed to have my residual limb exposed in public."
Amputee Coalition of America Calls for Improved Screening Procedures for TSA

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/II5fuQKKju4/amputee-forced-to-re.html


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TSA roundup: pilots get exception, Obama response, Clinton "wouldn't submit," Al Qaeda moves on

[Video Link: SNL's phone sex TSA ad, while it lasts on YouTube.]

• On Friday, the TSA announced it would exempt airline pilots from the invasive screening procedures everyone's so upset about. The rest of us are still screwed.

• Barack Obama to everyone pissed about the TSA: Suck it up, buttercup. (msnbc.msn.com)

• Meanwhile, Al Qaeda has moved on to target parcels and freight cargo, in low-cost, low-impact attacks. (aljazeera.net)

• Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, asked on CBS' "Face the Nation" if she would submit to a pat-down: "Not if I could avoid it. No. I mean, who would?" (cbsnews.com)

• What happens when an ex-cop asks the TSA screeners, "Do I have a right to refuse this search?" (hlswatch.com)

• Ralph Nader calls it "Naked Insecurity." And I call that the name of my next band. (usatoday.com)

• TSA fails to separate myth from truth. (elliott.org)

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/XXb07BRVCuU/tsa-roundup-pilots-g.html


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Saturday, November 20, 2010

TSA security groping leaves 61-year-old bladder cancer survivor soaked in own urine

61-year-old Thomas Sawyer is a retired special education teacher, and a survivor of bladder cancer. He says he was "absolutely humiliated," broke down in tears and soaked in his own urine, after a degrading and invasive TSA "pat-down" at Detroit Metropolitan Airport on November 7 caused his urostomy bag to rupture. Snip from MSNBC:
101120-sawyer-vsml-2p.grid-3x2.jpg

Due to his medical condition, Sawyer asked to be screened in private. "One officer looked at another, rolled his eyes and said that they really didn't have any place to take me," said Sawyer. "After I said again that I'd like privacy, they took me to an office."

Sawyer wears pants two sizes too large in order to accommodate the medical equipment he wears. He'd taken off his belt to go through the scanner and once in the office with security personnel, his pants fell down around his ankles. "I had to ask twice if it was OK to pull up my shorts," said Sawyer, "And every time I tried to tell them about my medical condition, they said they didn't need to know about that."

Before starting the enhanced pat-down procedure, a security officer did tell him what they were going to do and how they were going to it, but Sawyer said it wasn't until they asked him to remove his sweatshirt and saw his urostomy bag that they asked any questions about his medical condition.

"One agent watched as the other used his flat hand to go slowly down my chest. I tried to warn him that he would hit the bag and break the seal on my bag, but he ignored me. Sure enough, the seal was broken and urine started dribbling down my shirt and my leg and into my pants."

Sawyer was forced to walk through the airport drenched in his own urine, then board his plane and wait until after takeoff before he could clean himself up in the plane's toilet.

TSA pat-down leaves traveler covered in urine (MSNBC, photo courtesy Thomas Sawyer)

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/bQdGGFKMNR0/tsa-security-groping.html


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Vast new nuclear plant in North Korea revealed

VideoDrStrangelove.jpg

Good news, everyone! North Korea has "secretly and rapidly" built a huge new facility to enrich uranium, which means they're either preparing to expand their nuclear arsenal or build a far more powerful type of atomic bomb.

The North Koreans claim there are already 2,000 centrifuges up and running.

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/9ZkP__I-Fkg/vast-new-nuclear-pla.html


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TSA bumper stickers.

I don't know their original source for this, but it's going around in email:



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Friday, November 19, 2010

Why did OMG TSA WTF suddenly go viral?

5188964690_b23f403a5f_b.jpg
(photo contributed to the BB Flickr pool by Sam Ley, view the full "making of" set here.) Snip from an essay by Elusis:

[W]omen have been complaining about being pulled out of line because of their big breasts, having their bodies commented on by TSA officials, and getting inappropriate touching when selected for pat-downs for nearly 10 years now, but just this week it went viral.

It is no accident that CAIR identified Islamic head scarves (hijab) as an automatic trigger for extra screenings in January, but just this week it went viral.

What was different?

Suddenly an able-bodied white man is the one who was complaining.

Mentioned in Bruce Schneier's roundup of OMG TSA WTF week.

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/ftVpgQR95-I/why-did-omg-tsa-wtf.html


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Funny Area 51 "user reviews" on Google Maps

536728722_5b03da1d2f_b.jpg (Photo: "Alien Incubator," a CC-licensed image by Steve Jurvetson)

At the BB Submitterator, ill ich says:

In the tradition of the sarcastic "user reviews" of Gristedes milk on amazon, these user reviews of Area 51 on Google maps are comedic gold.

Example: "Spaceship TOWED Never park your spaceship nearby. I had a permit (and was legally parked), and they still towed!"

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/YGPkKzfknkU/funny-area-51-user-r.html

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Mental, physical, and financial hazards of homework


Over at Credit.com I wrote about the new anti-homework documentary that's being screened around the country, Race to Nowhere.

On Saturday my 13-year-old daughter refused go to her younger sister's music recital. The following day she turned down my offer to go skateboarding. She wasn't being anti-social. She was doing homework. Her school assigns hours of homework every weekend (and every evening, too). My wife and I weren't happy about this, but we accepted it as a matter of course, just as we accepted that she'd eventually take a $990 SAT prep class and spend afternoons with a $60/hour tutor to keep her grades up.  (In America, parents spend $15 billion a year on academic tutoring.)

But after seeing the anti-homework documentary, Race to Nowhere, our attitude has changed from reluctant acceptance to one of alarm.

Read the rest here: Mental, physical, and financial hazards of homework

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/4VdRkDELfjY/mental-physical-and.html

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Another TSA Outrage

UPDATE: I'm getting a lot of emails asking if this is actually true and is this person actually someone I know. (1) Yes it is true — it is too absurd to be made up. (2) Yes, I know the person.

——–

A friend of mine sent me this about his TSA experience. He, unlike most of us, was coming back into the country from Afghanistan on a military charter.

——–

As the Chalk Leader for my flight home from Afghanistan, I witnessed the following:

When we were on our way back from Afghanistan, we flew out of Baghram Air Field. We went through customs at BAF, full body scanners (no groping), had all of our bags searched, the whole nine yards.

Our first stop was Shannon, Ireland to refuel. After that, we had to stop at Indianapolis, Indiana to drop off about 100 folks from the Indiana National Guard. That's where the stupid started.

First, everyone was forced to get off the plane–even though the plane wasn't refueling again. All 330 people got off that plane, rather than let the 100 people from the ING get off. We were filed from the plane to a holding area. No vending machines, no means of escape. Only a male/female latrine.

It's probably important to mention that we were ALL carrying weapons. Everyone was carrying an M4 Carbine (rifle) and some, like me, were also carrying an M9 pistol. Oh, and our gunners had M-240B machine guns. Of course, the weapons weren't loaded. And we had been cleared of all ammo well before we even got to customs at Baghram, then AGAIN at customs.

The TSA personnel at the airport seriously considered making us unload all of the baggage from the SECURE cargo hold to have it reinspected. Keep in mind, this cargo had been unpacked, inspected piece by piece by U.S. Customs officials, resealed and had bomb-sniffing dogs give it a one-hour run through. After two hours of sitting in this holding area, the TSA decided not to reinspect our Cargo–just to inspect us again: Soldiers on the way home from war, who had already been inspected, reinspected and kept in a SECURE holding area for 2 hours. Ok, whatever. So we lined up to go through security AGAIN.

This is probably another good time to remind you all that all of us were carrying actual assault rifles, and some of us were also carrying pistols.

So we're in line, going through one at a time. One of our Soldiers had his Gerber multi-tool. TSA confiscated it. Kind of ridiculous, but it gets better. A few minutes later, a guy empties his pockets and has a pair of nail clippers. Nail clippers. TSA informs the Soldier that they're going to confiscate his nail clippers. The conversation went something like this:

TSA Guy: You can't take those on the plane.

Soldier: What? I've had them since we left country.

TSA Guy: You're not suppose to have them.

Soldier: Why?

TSA Guy: They can be used as a weapon.

Soldier: [touches butt stock of the rifle] But this actually is a weapon. And I'm allowed to take it on.

TSA Guy: Yeah but you can't use it to take over the plane. You don't have bullets.

Soldier: And I can take over the plane with nail clippers?

TSA Guy: [awkward silence]

Me: Dude, just give him your damn nail clippers so we can get the f**k out of here. I'll buy you a new set.

Soldier: [hands nail clippers to TSA guy, makes it through security]

This might be a good time to remind everyone that approximately 233 people re-boarded that plane with assault rifles, pistols, and machine guns–but nothing that could have been used as a weapon.

http://www.redstate.com/erick/2010/11/18/another-tsa-outrage/

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Another TSA Outrage

UPDATE: I'm getting a lot of emails asking if this is actually true and is this person actually someone I know. (1) Yes it is true — it is too absurd to be made up. (2) Yes, I know the person.

——–

A friend of mine sent me this about his TSA experience. He, unlike most of us, was coming back into the country from Afghanistan on a military charter.

——–

As the Chalk Leader for my flight home from Afghanistan, I witnessed the following:

When we were on our way back from Afghanistan, we flew out of Baghram Air Field. We went through customs at BAF, full body scanners (no groping), had all of our bags searched, the whole nine yards.

Our first stop was Shannon, Ireland to refuel. After that, we had to stop at Indianapolis, Indiana to drop off about 100 folks from the Indiana National Guard. That's where the stupid started.

First, everyone was forced to get off the plane–even though the plane wasn't refueling again. All 330 people got off that plane, rather than let the 100 people from the ING get off. We were filed from the plane to a holding area. No vending machines, no means of escape. Only a male/female latrine.

It's probably important to mention that we were ALL carrying weapons. Everyone was carrying an M4 Carbine (rifle) and some, like me, were also carrying an M9 pistol. Oh, and our gunners had M-240B machine guns. Of course, the weapons weren't loaded. And we had been cleared of all ammo well before we even got to customs at Baghram, then AGAIN at customs.

The TSA personnel at the airport seriously considered making us unload all of the baggage from the SECURE cargo hold to have it reinspected. Keep in mind, this cargo had been unpacked, inspected piece by piece by U.S. Customs officials, resealed and had bomb-sniffing dogs give it a one-hour run through. After two hours of sitting in this holding area, the TSA decided not to reinspect our Cargo–just to inspect us again: Soldiers on the way home from war, who had already been inspected, reinspected and kept in a SECURE holding area for 2 hours. Ok, whatever. So we lined up to go through security AGAIN.

This is probably another good time to remind you all that all of us were carrying actual assault rifles, and some of us were also carrying pistols.

So we're in line, going through one at a time. One of our Soldiers had his Gerber multi-tool. TSA confiscated it. Kind of ridiculous, but it gets better. A few minutes later, a guy empties his pockets and has a pair of nail clippers. Nail clippers. TSA informs the Soldier that they're going to confiscate his nail clippers. The conversation went something like this:

TSA Guy: You can't take those on the plane.

Soldier: What? I've had them since we left country.

TSA Guy: You're not suppose to have them.

Soldier: Why?

TSA Guy: They can be used as a weapon.

Soldier: [touches butt stock of the rifle] But this actually is a weapon. And I'm allowed to take it on.

TSA Guy: Yeah but you can't use it to take over the plane. You don't have bullets.

Soldier: And I can take over the plane with nail clippers?

TSA Guy: [awkward silence]

Me: Dude, just give him your damn nail clippers so we can get the f**k out of here. I'll buy you a new set.

Soldier: [hands nail clippers to TSA guy, makes it through security]

This might be a good time to remind everyone that approximately 233 people re-boarded that plane with assault rifles, pistols, and machine guns–but nothing that could have been used as a weapon.

http://www.redstate.com/erick/2010/11/18/another-tsa-outrage/

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TSA confiscates heavily-armed soldiers' nail-clippers

Here's an anonymous account of a US Army soldier returning from Afghanistan who watched as his buddies -- who were all carrying high-powered rifles, pistols, etc -- were forced to surrender their nail-clippers and multi-tools:
So we're in line, going through one at a time. One of our Soldiers had his Gerber multi-tool. TSA confiscated it. Kind of ridiculous, but it gets better. A few minutes later, a guy empties his pockets and has a pair of nail clippers. Nail clippers. TSA informs the Soldier that they're going to confiscate his nail clippers. The conversation went something like this:

TSA Guy: You can't take those on the plane.

Soldier: What? I've had them since we left country.

TSA Guy: You're not suppose to have them.

Soldier: Why?

TSA Guy: They can be used as a weapon.

Soldier: [touches butt stock of the rifle] But this actually is a weapon. And I'm allowed to take it on.

TSA Guy: Yeah but you can't use it to take over the plane. You don't have bullets.

Soldier: And I can take over the plane with nail clippers?

TSA Guy: [awkward silence]

Me: Dude, just give him your damn nail clippers so we can get the f**k out of here. I'll buy you a new set.

Soldier: [hands nail clippers to TSA guy, makes it through security]

This might be a good time to remind everyone that approximately 233 people re-boarded that plane with assault rifles, pistols, and machine guns-but nothing that could have been used as a weapon.

Another TSA Outrage

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/o1GEKAZYlUQ/tsa-confiscates-heav.html

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Corner Office

With more people working remotely, and entrepreneurs needing that extra room that the house just did not come with, the OfficePOD is a great solution. You would have the convenience of being at home while really being in a corner of your own backyard.  Now that is a commute I could live with and gets me out of the house.   Built from recycled, recyclable and sustainable materials have been chosen wherever possible, desk and books shelves are built in.  The power is provided via a discrete and protected connection to the house or garage; IT and phone connectivity is generally wireless but can be similarly cabled.  The POD is provided with a secure locking system of the highest quality.

The hassle free OfficePOD service deals with everything from site survey and installation through to customer services and POD relocation in the case of moving house or employer.   Not unlike those mobile storage pods, that magically arrive and then disappear when you do not need them anymore.
Doesn't everyone want an office with a window? Certainly beats your average cubical in more ways than one.

Have an infinitely modern day!


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44 Ways to say TSA: What do the initials "TSA" really stand for?


Ted Balaker of Reason.tv says, "Yes, this video is immature -- but so is the TSA."

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/lF3U1RpdFbI/44-ways-to-say-tsa-w.html


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TSA forces cancer survivor to remove prosthetic breast


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Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Proof of extra dimensions possible next year: CERN

GENEVA (Reuters) - Scientists at the CERN research center say their "Big Bang" project is going beyond all expectations and the first proof of the existence of dimensions beyond the known four could emerge next year.

http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/topNews/~3/Nr6BHQANh9g/idUSTRE6AE3QU20101115


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Awesome song about the TSA

Jonathan Mann has been writing a song a day for almost 2 years. Today his song is about the TSA. He doesn't like them. Watch the video on YouTube or download the song from his site for a buck. I want to play this on a boombox at the airport. I'm sure I could get away with that, right?

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/F2Gl6c6KfOY/awesome-song-about-t.html


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Man murdered in street shooting

davies.jpgHannah Arendt famously argued for "the banality of evil"; British photographer James Davies makes a powerful case for the banality of violence in this Flickr set documenting the very ordinary places where 12 Londoners were murdered. The images aren't crime-scene photos as we've come to know them. There's no police tape, no chalk outlines of bodies. Davies' shots divorce the places from the crimes, leaving viewers with an unsettling reminder of a fact most of us would like to forget -- that violence (gun violence, in this case) can find you anywhere. (Via Londonist. Image © James Davies.)

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/fpQKM85QtVI/man-murdered-in-stre.html

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Willy Wonka's tunnel to hell


Last night, my 4-year-old son and I watched the original Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory from 1971. I had forgotten that the tunnel scene is so deeply dark and psychedelic. Of course Wonka's poem, below, is amazing, but my favorite line from that part is spoken by Violet Beauregarde: "What is this, a freak out?" Hell yes it is. At one point, I asked my son if he was scared and he calmly responded, "No, because I'm not in that tunnel."

There's no earthly way of knowing
Which direction we are going.
There's no knowing where we're rowing
Or which way the river's flowing.
Is it raining?
Is it snowing?
Is a hurricane a blowing?

Not a speck of light is showing
so the danger must be growing.
Are the fires of hell a glowing?
Is the grisly reaper mowing?
Yes! The danger must be growing
For the rowers keep on rowing. And they're certainly not showing
any signs that they are slowing!

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/YEpXplzibyU/willy-wonkas-tunnel.html


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Seven busted in global human organ trafficking network

At least seven people were today charged with participating in a Kosovo-based global organ-trafficking network. Poor people were lured into selling kidneys and other organs (this is from their living bodies, mind you) with promises of cash up to $20,000 per organ. "Law enforcement officials say many never received a cent."

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/KHXB5vnBawM/seven-busted-in-glob.html

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Safe Drivers Awarded With Lottery Tickets

speed-camera-lottery.jpg

Volkswagen's Fun Theory Awards aim to incentivize socially useful behaviors by making them into games. Previously, their funds have produced a bottle recycling machine played like a video game, a trashcan that behaves like a bottomless pit, and a public staircase turned into a piano keyboard (See links, below).

Their latest award winner, Estadounidense Kevin Richardson, proposed to use a robot speed patrol camera in reverse-reinforcement mode: Record the license plates of those driving within the posted speed limit, and automatically enter them in a lottery, with cash rewards funded by speeding tickets.

More:

http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2010/11/fun_theory_award_winner_rewards_saf.html

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More Stars on Board for Muppets Cameos

The Hollywood Reporter says that Alan Arkin, Jack Black, Billy Crystal, Jean-Claude Van Damme and the previously-announced Zach Galifianakis are looking to take on cameo roles in The Muppets . The James Bobin-directed film stars Jason Segel, Amy Adams, Chris Cooper, Rashida Jones, Zach Galifianakis, Danny Trejo and Donald Glover. Arkin is playing a tour guide while Black will play a kidnap victim. Galifianakis plays a hobo. The Muppets is now filming for a December 25, 2011 release

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=71697

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UK gov't wants to legalize racial profiling

In the UK, the police can stop and search you without cause or a warrant, as part of the special "anti-terrorism" rules. Justice is far from blind (or fair), though: black people in the UK are 26 times more likely to be stopped, frisked, have their bags turned out and be made to explain themselves than white people. This is clearly a violation of the stop-and-search rules, which forbid racial profiling.

So the new UK Tory-LibDem government is going to fix it: they're going to make racial profiling legal.

The Home Office says it intends to press ahead and introduce the guidance allowing race to be taken into account when a police officer stops someone if it is judged to be relevant. It says race cannot be the sole reason for deciding to conduct a search, and the government insists the new measures will "protect civil liberties"...

The issue of the police stop-and-search powers is particularly controversial because officers are more likely to target a minority ethnic person than someone who is white. African-Caribbean people are already at least six times more likely to be stopped than white people under powers where an officer has reasonable suspicion to carry out a search.

The Home Office proposals cover stops where officers do not require reasonable suspicion, a power they have under section 60 of the Public Order Act, meaning police have maximum discretion. For these stops black people are 26 times more likely than white people to be targeted. Critics say this is blatant discrimination.

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/FHd0lEZFltI/uk-govt-wants-to-leg.html

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Police called to suspicious package: it was an Amazon order

A man in Hudson, Ohio called the police to report a suspicious package on his doorstep. When the officer arrived, he noticed the "AMAZON.COM" printing on the box and asked if the man had recently ordered anything from Amazon:
The man reportedly said "Why yes, I did."

The officer told the resident his order had arrived. The resident then said he was comfortable opening the box. The officer then left the scene, according to the report.

Police News: 'Suspicious' box turns out to be Amazon delivery (via Consumerist)

(Image: Amazon Cardboard Boxes, a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from akiraohgaki's photostream)

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/T8EAcqRuiEA/police-called-to-sus.html


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London dine-and-dashers skip out on $919 dinner

A couple booked in for a sumptuous meal at London's L'Autre Pied in Mayfair under the name "Lupin." They rang up a £572.74 tab (including £409 for two bottles of vintage Champagne), then stepped outside for a cigarette before the desert course (plum tart and millefeuille), and kept on going:
What may make the case more intriguing is that the name in which the pair booked the table, Lupin, echoes that of the fictional Arsene Lupin - a stylish Gallic gentleman thief whose adversaries, in a series of novels by Maurice LeBlanc, are invariably portrayed as rather worse villains than him. The Metropolitan police confirmed they were investigating.
Restaurant couple do cigarette break runner leaving £570 bill unpaid

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/CJkymwa95Q8/london-dine-and-dash.html

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Sad bookshelf is sad...

Monday, November 15, 2010

Cronenberg's forthcoming film about Freud and Jung

 Images Still A Dangerous Method01
The inimitable David Cronenberg is directing a new film about Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. Based on Christopher Hampton's stage play "The Talking Cure," the story revolves around a patient named Sabina. Titled "A Dangerous Method," the film, starring Viggo Mortensen as Freud, Michael Fassbender as Jung, and Keira Knightley as Sabine, is due out next year. From AceShowbiz:
Detailing Knightley's character, director David Cronenberg recently said, "Really [Sabina] was a passionate, intelligent, very creative woman who didn't have an outlet for those things so it manifested itself as madness until she met Carl Jung. She was 18, he was about 29. They had an affair, she become his mistress." He concluded, "So it's the story of the three of them particularly and it's a really fascinating story."
"First Official Images From Keira Knightley's 'Dangerous Method'"

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/efFcwU-kjEM/cronenbergs-forthcom.html

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Sunday, November 14, 2010

MAKE: now available as PDFs

 V Vspfiles Assets Images Img 2878-2

This is exciting news: Today, we started offering all issues of MAKE magazine (I'm the editor-in-chief) as downloadable PDF files. The price $9.99 a copy.

If you want to go completely nuts, you can buy the PDF version of all 24 back issues (and our two special issues) for $199.99.

(Naturally, there is no DRM.)

Make: eBook Archive

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/sAjDWY_2mhE/make-now-available-a.html


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The Puzzling 3D Digital Art of Kazuhiko Nakamura

[ By Steph in Architecture & Design, Gadgets & Geek Art, Graffiti & Drawing, Technology & Futurism. ]

Amid the sea of digital art displayed online, many artists get lost, but there's simply no way to overlook the bizarre robotic creatures and complex machinery of Kazuhiko Nakamura. Eschewing the photorealism trend, this Japanese artist draws an incredible cornucopia of futuristic cyberpunk imagery from his mind and puts it together like a puzzle, one piece at a time.

Nakamura says that each work continues to transform and reveal itself to him as he works in an unpredictable metamorphosis that results in "restructured fragmentary images [that] are reborn as the mechanical mirage" in a desert of pixels.

Though what we as viewers see is the final result, the assembled Frankenstein's machine of Nakamura's imagination, some images give us a peek at the many hidden components that make up the whole. In 'Automaton' (top image), Nakamura gives us two views of the same robotic creature, a torture machine disguised as an antique mannequin. The one on the left reveals the frightening drills, saws, bullet teeth and an insect-like brain that lay behind a facade that opens up like a gruesome mechanical flower.

"Now a lot of 3D artists pursue photorealism in 3D modeling," Nakamura told Templates Blog. "Of course this trend is pretty interesting to me too. However, I like that special creativity and subjective expressions that the painter puts into the real object. I put my own vision of the image into the object and I think this is what makes my works so special. I search for my image tenaciously trying to create the best combination of the shapes, textures and lighting."


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[ WebUrbanist - By Steph in Architecture & Design, Gadgets & Geek Art, Graffiti & Drawing, Technology & Futurism. ]


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Demotivational posters, hot Barbarella clones—and more!

Demotivational posters, hot Barbarella clones—and more!

J.R.R. Tolkien. The Beatles. Slave Leia. Barbarella lookalikes. Harry Potter. Lynda Carter. Megan Fox. Star Trek. Fringe. It was a star-studded week, for sure. Come on in, relax, kick off your shoes and enjoy the Hottest Stories and Best Comments. (And, in case of a zombie attack: Use the superbunker.)

http://blastr.com/2010/11/hottestbestand-more-7.php

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Parasitic bike pump steals air from car tires

201011131635

People who enjoy getting mad will enjoy getting mad at Instructables user Aleksi for making this emergency parasitic bike pump that steals air from car tires.

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/dIdyVODTO-o/parasitic-bike-pump.html


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Friday, November 12, 2010

Nintendo Files Trademark For Phrase "It's On Like Donkey Kong"

Donkey Kong

The phrase "It's on like Donkey Kong" has been part of the pop-culture vernacular for decades, but now Nintendo is attempting to claim ownership of the nostalgic idiom by filing a trademark request with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.


It's all part of Nintendo's preparation for the November 21 release of its upcoming Wii title Donkey Kong Country Returns.

I find it strange that Nintendo didn't do this sooner. I mean, the phrase has been around forever, and it's not like Nintendo was ever going to abandon Kong, so the big guy's never really going to be out of the public consciousness anyway. I guess better late than never, right?

Quick Poll: When was the last time you actually used the phrase "It's on like Donkey Kong" in a conversation?

http://feeds.g4tv.com/~r/g4tv/thefeed/~3/JqNHjpod_ic/Nintendo-Files-Trademark-For-Phrase-Its-On-Like-Donkey-Kong.html


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Photographer Sues State Of Texas For Using Image From His Photograph On Auto Inspection Stickers

Jon Snow points us to the story of a photographer who discovered that a photograph he took of a cowboy hoisting a saddle is being used as the background image on approximately 4.5 million inspection stickers:
inspection sticker
According to the report, the state had prison inmates create the stickers, and one simply scanned the image out of a "Texas Parks & Wildlife" magazine and used it as the background image. The photographer tried to get the state to pay up, but it refused, leading to the lawsuit. As Snow notes, this certainly might make you wonder what the statutory damages would be on 4.5 million instances of infringement? Of course, some of this may depend on the terms under which the original photo was licensed for the magazine (and if the magazine is a state run operation). Also, I could see the state claiming "sovereign immunity," which has become popular for state governments when they're accused of patent and copyright infringement claims. You see kids, when governments infringe, it's no big deal. But when regular everyday citizens do so, they should be forced to pay tens of thousands of dollars, apparently. Seems perfectly fair, right?

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101102/10500211691/photographer-sues-state-of-texas-for-using-image-from-his-photograph-on-auto-inspection-stickers.shtml

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