The Null Device
2004/2/20
Airport arrival display malfunctions, displaying HTML source. It looks like those things run on an embedded UNIX system of some sort, with a HTML-based rendering engine (though presumably not a web browser in kiosk mode). Curious... (via 1.0)
(Malfunctioning information displays can be interesting, because the nature of the malfunction often reveals something about how the system works. Witness things like news/advertising billboards displaying Windows error dialogs, or in-flight entertainment consoles showing Linux kernel messages as they reboot or whatever.)
You may have heard of criminals attaching devices to ATMs to steal card numbers and PINs; well here are photographs of the devices used; note the card skimmer attachment moulded out of regulation data-processing-beige plastic and the PIN-recording camera mounted in the innocuous-looking leaflet holder. (via jwz)
How to make a trucker cap out of garbage, or, more precisely, paper plates and beer can rings. I fully expect home-made trucker caps (though possibly pastel-coloured ones with glitter and googly eyes) to start appearing at Architecture in Helsinki gigs, if not at the actual merch stall.
Also on the same site: how to make pruno; or, more precisely, how to turn perfectly good fresh fruit into foul, toxic rocket fuel, prison-style. (via jwz)
Some photos from the US Microcar and Minicar Club's 2003 meet, showing a large number of very tiny cars, mostly from the 1950s and 1960s, when, for some reason, tiny cars were in vogue. There are Messerschmitts like the one in Terry Gilliam's Brazil, a Fiat 500 (as immortalised in the Lush song), the Vespa scooter company's foray into cars, a Chinese dumptruck that looks like a motorscooter, some BMW Isettas (which are rather ickle and funny-looking) and even a Goggomobil (which, until now, I thought was something made up for those Yellow Pages ads). (via bOING bOING)
In 1996, a number of Australian indie bands recorded covers of TV show themes for a tribute compilation named Box; this was released on cassette; I recall seeing a copy in PolyEster records back when Paul Elliott ran it. Now, it's available in MP3 form. Hear Wank Engine's cover of the Mr. Squiggle theme, Ninetynine's version of Blake's Seven, New Waver's characteristically Darwinian take on the Four Corners theme and some outfit named Pigshit doing the Degrassi Junior High theme, among others. (Thanks to Greg Wadley for the heads-up.)
Morse Code (remember that?) is moving into the 21st century; the International Telecommunications Union has approved the addition of a code for the @ sign, allowing those still using Morse to spell out their email addresses. The code is dot-dash-dash-dot-dash-dot. This is the first change to Morse Code since before World War 2.