Make contributor Larry Cotton says: I built this bizarre musical instrument--based loosely on the playing-card-in-the-bicycle-spokes principle--a while back, shot a quick video, then cannibalized it for parts. As you'll see, the bicycle spokes were scaled down to a small white plastic gear. The card remained. I called it a screechophone for reasons which will become obvious as you watch (and listen) to the video. The whole thing was synced to accompanying music from a mini-CD through an ancient Commodore 64 computer, programmed in BASIC. A transparent disc printed only with black arcs spun with the CD and was read by a photocell....

Will McGree got a letter form Virgin Media (his cable provider) and the British Phonographic Institute (the UK version of the RIAA (of which Virgin -- also a record label -- is a member turns out they're not affiliated with the record label any longer) telling him that he could be sued and disconnected from the Internet because someone used his open WiFi to download music. It wasn't Will -- the program used for file-sharing is a Windows app, and he runs Linux. It was one of his neighbours. Virgin and BPI take the position that being a copyright holder means you get to specify the router configuration of every computer connected to the Internet. That just because open WiFi makes it harder for the BPI to hunt downloaders, no one should be allowed to offer it, no matter how convenient useful open WiFi might be. I've run open WiFi networks for close to a decade now -- I rely on open networks when I'm out and about, so it only seems fair to return the favour. Plus, closed WiFi networks are a pain in the ass if you have houseguests, exotic wireless devices, or older consoles and the like that can't handle passwords gracefully. If I play my music with my window open, my neighbour might decide to open his window and listen in, instead of buying his own music. Does that mean that the record industry gets to order me to bolt my window shut? Just one more reason not to pay for Virgin Broadband -- they're just not on their customers' side. Virgin Media are the only ISP sending out BPI notices. They don’t have to - there’s no law or industry regulation that says so. They just leapt into bed with the BPI and the BPI couldn’t be happier that they’ve got someone doing their “policing” for them. In September, we’re building a home server in our flat. It’ll be a Tor node so that finally Virgin Media don’t need to worry themselves with what’s flowing through their routers. It’s just data. Like I paid for. Link (Thanks, Will!) See also: Virgin Media UK working with record industry to spy on and threaten downloaders...

How pissed are Canadians about the new copyright bill, Bill C61, which was introduced without any consultation and which makes it a crime to upload clips to YouTube or use a region-free DVD player? Way pissed. Ten thousand more Canadians signed up for the Fair Copyright for Canada Facebook group in the day following the Bill's introduction, bringing the grand total up to 50,000. Michael Geist has more ways you can show the government what you think of these shenanigans. 1. Write to your MP, the Industry Minister, the Canadian Heritage Minister, and the Prime Minister.  If you send an email, be sure to print it out and drop a copy in the mail (no stamp is needed - c/o House of Commons, Ottawa, ON, K1A0A6).  If you are looking for a sample letter, visit Copyright for Canadians. 2. Take 30 minutes from your summer, to meet directly with your MP.  From late June through much of the summer, your MP will be back in your local community attending local events and making themselves available to meet with constituents.  Give them a call and ask for a meeting.  Every MP in the country should return to Ottawa in the fall having heard from their constituents on this issue. 3. If you are not a member of the Fair Copyright for Canada Facebook group, join.  If you are, consider joining or starting a local chapter and be sure to educate your friends and colleagues about the issue and starting working through the list of 30 things you can do. Link...

From 2005-2006, illustrator Rafa Toro created and blogged a set of 80 notional monster trading cards. These are terrific -- I want them blown up to back-patch sized and safety-pinned to my jean-jacket! Link (via IZ Reloaded)...

Joseph Rykwert is an architectural historian who has spent more than four decades studying how we relate to our cities, and how our cities change our relationships to each other. He's written nearly a dozen books exploring urban life and how cities develop, most recently The Seduction of Place: The History and Future of Cities (2000). CNN just conducted a fascinating interview with Rykwert. From CNN.com: CNN: What is your assessment of the increasing prevalence of barriers and CCTV in public buildings and spaces today? JR: I think it is a tragic development. I think it cuts a swathe out of public space. In a way, I think the American Embassy in London led the way but other institutions have followed. It has blocked off a bit of London. Whether embassies are entitled to do that or not, I don't know. But it certainly presents itself as a fort or a castle. That's the metaphor that occurs to one going past it. In a way, it suggests foreign domination in a way that embassies never did before. There are other embassies on the square and they are very modest by comparison. The growth of security areas is something which is a reflection on our society. We are a frightened lot in a way that the people of the 1920's and 1930's were not. This is not a British phenomenon, it is worldwide. You find gated communities in India and China perhaps even more than you do in England. Partly, of course, it's a feature of the unadvertised growing inequality in our society. But obviously it is a symptom of fear. It's also paralleled by the growth of the great commercial shopping centers which also cut up public space. Behavior has to be conformable, conforming to. Everybody has seen The Truman Papers. (Truman Show? -ed.) I think that kind of conformity is something that is imposed by turning the citizen into a customer. Link to CNN interview, Link to buy The Seduction of Place...

Mother Jones's Michael Mechanic created a chart that associates presidential campaign donations with the donors' stated occupation, from science teacher to professional golfer to baker to candle manufacturer. The data comes from FundRace.org. Link...

These days, lots of pot dealers use pre-printed ziplocs or stamps to "brand" their product. Or so I've noticed in the gutter of my neighborhood park. But that's nothing compared to this awesome header card that COOP just sent me. Kustom kulture pioneer Robt. Williams drew it during his employment at Roth Studios in the 1960s. It's meant to be folded in half and stapled on top of a baggie. I love that it has a punch hole marked for hanging on a standard retail display rack. Link to bigger image (Thanks, COOP!)...

My friend Joe Hutsko contacted me a few weeks back with the intriguing offer to serialize his novel, The Deal, on Boing Boing. I jumped at the chance. I read The Deal when it first came out in 1999 and loved the thrilling story about a Apple-like company's undertaking to create an iPhone-like device. Here's a link to Chapter 2 as a PDF or a text file. (Here's chapter 1 and an introduction to the book.) To buy a paperback copy of the book, visit JOEyGADGET or purchase directly from Amazon....

Brendan I. Koerner, author of "Now the Hell Will Start," will be joining us in the #boingboing IRC channel tomorrow at 11AM Eastern time to discuss his book and the story of Herman Perry. We'll put up a post about an hour before we get cooking tomorrow reminding you of how to access IRC. Here's the details about connecting to the chat. There's a web-based Java client if you don't want to fire up a whole separate IRC client, but you won't be able to private message without registering your nickname on Freenode. Start thinking up those questions and we hope to see you there! Previously • Review: "Now the Hell Will Start" by Brendan I. Koerner...

Alexey Titarenko's "City of Shadows" is a series of haunting, gorgeous long-exposure shots of street-scenes in St Petersburg, Russia. The long exposure-times turn the people in the shots into ghosts and suggestions of motion. Link (Thanks, Marilyn!)...