The latest episode of Etsy Howto features Bre Pettis and Julie Schneider of Etsy Labs demonstrating a Gocco, the nifty self-contained compact color printing system.

The Print Gocco kits have been produced by Japan’s Riso Kagaku Corporation since 1977, but as of May 30th they are no longer being manufactured and are hard to find. There is a “Save Gocco” campaign underway to find a new home for Print Gocco.

At our Lucky 13 Party in May Doctor Popular and Mike Hales printed inserts for Doc’s mini-comic using a Print Gocco.

photos by Etsy Labs & Scott Beale

Happy System Administrator Appreciation Day. Take a moment to thank the guys and gals who keep your servers running safe and sound 24/7.

We would like to give a big shout out to Laughing Squid’s sys admin Michael Biven.

Here’s some advice on the proper use of the System Administrator’s valuable time.

photo by Scott Beale

Last Sunday at the 1 Wall / 25 Gears Benefit For Todd Blair, Shannon of the Neverwas Haul crew gave me a demonstration on how they steam cook hot dogs (aka “steam bangers”), a traditional Hibernian steam cuisine, using the Neverwas Runabout.

According to Shannon they are not “Steampunk”, but “Steam Bohemian”.

photo by Scott Beale

The very first Ignite NYC takes place next Tuesday, July 29th at M1-5 in Manhattan.

Ignite is really great series organized by Brady Forrest where speakers give 5 minute talks on a variety of geek-centric topics using 20 auto-advancing slides that are up for only 15 seconds each. See Brady’s post on the O’Reilly Radar blog for more info, including the list of 16 speakers.

As an added bonus that night, Ignite co-founder and Etsy video producer Bre Pettis will be hosting a NYC Soldering Championship.

With solder irons blazing, and the power of molten metal at their finger tips, New York City’s electricity enthusiasts and hardware hackers will connect components to complete circuits for the glory of being the fastest soldering gun in NYC.

On stage and under hot lights, contestants will complete an electronics kit in the shortest time possible while still maintaining the integrity of the circuit. Who will be New York City’s soldering champion? You’ll need to be there to find out!

guest post by Todd Lappin (Telstar Logistics)

If you’ve ever enjoyed even a little bit of Joseph Conrad, Patrick O’Brian, Moby Dick, or Pirates of the Caribbean, you really should get down to Pier 30/32 in San Francisco during the next few days to check out the tall ships that are now tied up there. Or, at the very least, be sure to savor the view of them as you drive across the Bay Bridge.

Yesterday the Coast Guard gave me tour of the USCG Eagle, a steel-hulled, three-mast ship that was originally built by the Nazis in 1936. After World War II, the ship was seized as a war prize by the U.S. military. Once in American hands, it was handed over to the Coast Guard for use as a training vessel, and it’s been in use at the Coast Guard Academy ever since.

I happened to be there a few hours after yesterdays Parade of Sail, just as the cadets were lowering the Eagle’s sails, and it was an acrobatic spectacle. There are no “Retract Sail” buttons to push; instead, dozens of cadets climb 100 feet up the masts to lower the sails by hand. It was nerve-wracking to watch even while we were tied up at Pier 30 on a calm and sunny day in San Francisco, but the thought of trying to do all that on a stormy sea made me shiver me timbers.

Check out the USCG Eagle if you can. (If you can’t, I took a lot of photos.) The Eagle and the HMS Bounty are open for tours at Pier 30/32 on Friday (today), Saturday, and Sunday from 10 am to 6 pm.

Aboard USCG Eagle (Flickr slideshow from Telstar Logistics)

photos by Todd Lappin/Telstar Logistics

guest post by Aaron Muszalski

Noted comic book author (and dispenser of tasty brain custard) Warren Ellis is currently conducting an interesting experiment on his blog, warrenellis.com. Declaring this to be “World Wide Week 2008“, he’s asked his readers to submit self-portraits via email, and has been posting a selection of the submissions for everyone to see.

Warren explained the reasoning behind World Wide Week thus:

Someone asked me yesterday, “why do you do the thing with the self portraits?” And it’s like this: because people forget that there are other people on the other end of the internet. People forget that they’re side by side with other people every time they visit a website, that they’re talking with real people every time they post a comment. It’s too easy for people to let everyone become anonymous on the net. I don’t like that. This whole thing is made out of people. Once a year, I like to remind you.

Brilliant.

image via Warren Ellis

Google has just launched their new author driven web service Knol (which was announced in December), where people can share and collaborate on authoritative articles focusing on their areas of expertise.

The web contains vast amounts of information, but not everything worth knowing is on the web. An enormous amount of information resides in people’s heads: millions of people know useful things and billions more could benefit from that knowledge. Knol will encourage these people to contribute their knowledge online and make it accessible to everyone.

See Previously: Google Announces Knol, An Author Driven Knowledge Project

guest post by Todd Lappin (Telstar Logistics)

Todd Lappin here, blogging in my official day-job capacity as the editor of Everywhere, a user-generated travel magazine based here in the city. I mention this because the next issue of Everywhere will include a feature story about travel to San Francisco, and we’d love to get more article and photo submissions from SF locals.

The basic idea behind Everywhere is pretty simple: Every two months, we create a glossy print magazine from articles and photographs contributed by members of the online community at everywheremag.com. The community votes on their favorite contributions, then we curate the best of the best to produce an inspiring travel magazine that looks fabulous on your coffee table or in your private jet. Published contributors receive $100 and a free one-year subscription.

Our San Francisco package will be a collection of articles, photos, and tips about how to enjoy San Francisco like we do as locals. Think of it this way: When your friends come to town, where do you encourage them to go? What neighborhoods, stores, restaurants, bars, or events do you put on your must-see list? The quirky, the offbeat, and the unexpected are most welcome. SF’s best places to hide on a foggy day? A visitor’s guide to understanding Frank Chu? The battle of the best burritos? The city’s most under-explored neighborhoods? Have fun and surprise us.

Submissions can be as simple as a single photo (with a good caption, please), or you can add a place to our local guide map, or you can get your prose on and write an article. If you’ve ever wanted to get published as a travel writer or photographer, here’s your chance. Just create a free account at everywheremag.com, and contribute away.

The deadline for submissions is August 28, 2008.

Everywheremag.com

photos by Telstar Logistics

guest post by Aaron Muszalski

With the interwebs still abuzz from last week’s debut of Joss Whedon’s independently-produced musical miniseries, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, reports have surfaced of a budding rivalry in the (evidently crowded) world of singing super-geniuses.

Dr. Phineas Waldolf Steel, a musical mad scientist with a secret laboratory in Los Angeles, California, is asserting a prior claim on the title of “future World Emperor.” An artist, philosopher and composer, Dr. Steel has been performing in labcoat and goggles since 1999 as part of his lifelong goal of “manifesting as much creativity in the world [and] utilizing his multi-talented mind to build a Utopian Playland.”

On his fan club site, Toy Soldiers Unite, Dr. Steel has issued a directive to his followers instructing them to post Dr. Steel propaganda - a term he proudly embraces - wherever Dr. Horrible is mentioned, and to point out that their Doctor is the one true original. However, upon closer examination, the two doctors are actually quite distinct from one another, despite their outward similarities.

For example, while both aspire to usher in a New World Order of their own devising, Dr. Horrible seems to have taken a more traditional route to super-villainy, performing a variety of criminal acts in the hopes of securing a place in an elite crime syndicate. (In this case, the Evil League of Evil.) In contrast, Dr. Steel’s goal is the creation of a “Utopian Playland” in which the people of the Earth are required to do nothing but that which makes them happy. To achieve these ends, Dr. Steel uses musical performance, puppets, and a line of modified toys. Whereas, to achieve his ends, Dr. Horrible uses his Wonderflonium-powered Freeze Ray.

Despite his claim that the “status is NOT quo,” Dr. Horrible’s musical tastes are also fairly traditional, featuring songs that would hardly seem out-of-place in any of the currently popular contemporary Broadway musicals. Dr. Steel, on the other hand, has chosen to spread his message via a more dance-oriented style: funky, industrial, and heavily sample-laden. Consequently, Dr. Steel’s music would make a better soundtrack for leading an army of giant robots into battle, while Dr. Horrible’s songs are more instantly memorable, and easier to sing along to.

Dr. Steel is also a supporter of organized labor (Member, Mad Scientists Union Local 42) while Dr. Horrible, insofar as can be determined from his actions thus far, appears to be a Libertarian.

Given these differences, and in the hopes of averting a potentially dangerous feud between these two misunderstood visionaries, Laughing Squid would like to humbly suggest that - at least for the time being - the world is big enough for two spuriously-degreed, mentally-unhinged masters of scientific mayhem.

See Also:

- Doctor Steel interviewed by Fractal Suicide
- Plans for the Toy Soldiers Invasion of ComiCon

via io9

Dr. Steel propaganda images by Dr. Steel

photo by Chad Michael Ward

guest post by Aaron Muszalski

Leatherman, the multi-tool maker beloved by geeks and DIY enthusiasts the world over, has debuted The Argentum Collection, a line of ultra-high-end cognitive-dissonance-inducing “luxury tools”, featuring hand-crafted decoration by acclaimed silversmith Adrian Pallarols. 

Designs include the steampunky ”Charge Acanto” (shown above) which, like every model in the Argentum line, is simply a stock Leatherman tool with ornamental outer scales (coverplates) added on. And just how much will this extra bling set you back? Why, only a mere $12,000. Too pedestrian? Then perhaps you should consider the $40,000 “Charge Dorado” whose scales are fashioned from solid gold.

Meanwhile, I’m going to be gouging out my prefrontal cortex with a rusty fishing knife I bought at Walgreens for $1.99.

images via Leatherman

guest post by Aaron Muszalski

The UK’s Channel 4 recently staged an elaborate behind-the-scenes recreation of Stanley Kubrick’s famous 1980 horror film “The Shining.”

Channel 4 has painstakingly recreated the set of Stanley Kubrick horror film The Shining, complete with look-a-likes of the crew and cast members including Shelley Duvall, for a TV ad to promote a More 4 season of the director’s films. The 65-second promotional spot has been filmed as a one-take tracking shot through the recreation of The Shining set.

In addition to recreating both interior and exterior sets, look-alikes were found for some of the film’s actors, including Shelley Duvall and Danny Lloyd, as well as for many of the members of Kubrick’s crew.

Channel 4 Creative Services, the broadcaster’s in-house creative resource, cast people who resembled Kubrick’s own crew including his script lady, assistant director and director of production, John Alcott, who also worked on films including 2001: A Space Odyssey and A Clockwork Orange with the director.

The music used in the spot is “Natureland” by Amon Tobin, from his 2000 album “Supermodified”.

Guardian article on The Shining recreation for Channel 4 (includes video)

guest post by Aaron Muszalski

British actress and comedian Nina Conti (daughter of actors Tom Conti and Kara Wilson) displays her uniquely deconstructed approach to ventriloquism.

photo by Lewis Houghton

A typeface crisis takes place at the Font Conference by College Humor.

guest post by Todd Lappin (Telstar Logistics)

Avast ye landubbers and shutterbugs!

On Wedensday, July 23 at noon (that’s tomorrow!), a parade of 32 tall ships will pass under the Golden Gate Bridge as part of the San Francisco Festival of Sail, an event produced by the San Francisco Maritime Park Association. Special guest stars will include the USCG Eagle, a spectacular, three-mast Coast Guard training ship, and the HMS Bounty, which was built in 1960 to star in Mutiny on the Bounty, a movie about the famous British crew who overthrew Captain Bligh in order to remain in the Islands of the Pacific. (Arrrrrrrrrrr!) Prime viewing spots will include the span of the Golden Gate Bridge, Crissy Field, Fort Mason, and the Embarcadero, as the ships parade from the GGB all the way to the Bay Bridge. Lots more detail via the link below.

San Francisco Festival of Sail

photo of Russian tall ship Palladia in San Francisco during 2004 by Telstar Logistics

Here are are few photos from Sunday’s 1 Wall / 25 Gears Benefit For Todd Blair which took place at Rhythmix Cultural Works in Alameda. If you couldn’t make the event, but would like to help out Todd and Alex, here’s more info.

I also shot a short video of the Wall of Gears in action.

More Coverage:

- Jon Sarriugarte
- k0re
- Nina Alter

UPDATE: Here’s video of Shannon making Neverwas Steam Cooked Hot Dogs.

photos by Scott Beale

Over the years various computer and electronic detritus has been accumulating at the Laughing Squid headquarters, so it’s time to get rid of bunch of it. I’ll be periodically updating this blog post to list items for sale.

Interested in any of this stuff? Contact us.

Please Note:

All payments are via PayPal.

Shipping is not included and is via FedEx (Ground or Home Delivery) in the US only.

All sales are final. We do not have a return policy.

Here’s the current list as of July 21st, 2008:

Canon EOS 1D Mark III Digital SLR Camera - $3800.00

- full product info
- body only, no lenses included
- included original packaging

Sanyo Xacti HD1000 - $600

- full product info
- includes leather holster
- includes extra battery

WordPress for iPhone App, which works for both .com and .org, is now available for free in the iPhone Apps Store, plus it is being released as an Open Source app.

Introducing the first Open Source app that lets you write posts, upload photos, and edit your WordPress blog directly from your iPhone or iPod Touch. With support for both WordPress.com and self-hosted WordPress (2.5.1 or higher), users of all experience levels can get going in just seconds.

Our friend David Calkins, founder of RoboGames and robotics instructor at SFSU, was the guest on today on Episode #61 Systm, the Revision3 show hosted by Patrick Norton. On the show David shows off the versatile RoboNova Android and talks about how to build and program your own humanoid robot.

via Suicide Bots

guest post by mikl-em

Forget American Idol and Dancing with the Stars, the new contest that matters is between small teams taking on the challenge to write, shoot and produce a short film within a 2-day period in The 48 Hour Film Project 2008. Contests are going on around the country with an eventual world champion to be crowned later this year.

In SF the shooting, acting and editing is all done (this past weekend) and it’s all down to showing the finished products. That happens on 4 nights over the next week at the Roxie Theater on Tuesday-Thursday July 22-24 plus Monday, July 28th.

By the way, on Tuesday night the lineup includes some of the usual suspects from The Dark Room in their own short subject silent film.

See 48-hour film fest films online and get tickets for the SF showings here.

Forget about MMORPGs, our friends at monochrom have have created Massive Multiplayer Thumb-Wrestling. Here are the rules if you want to start your own game.

The principle of thumb-wrestling is simple. Two players take each others right hand and entangle their fingers - except the thumbs - forming a fist. The players then try to catch and freeze the opponent’s thumb.

By forming a star, it is also possible to play the game with three or four participants. The left hands are also free to hook up with even more players. Again a connection with up to 4 players is possible. By Massive Thumb-Wrestling according to the rules described above unlimited amounts of players can connect to join a Multiplayer Thumb-Wrestling Network. As the number of players is unlimited, global thumb-wrestling may emerge through self-sustaining peer-to-peer networks and ad-hoc socializing.

image via monochrom