Seafoam green has always been one of my favorite colors. One of the reasons is that it has a mid-20th-century feel to it (at least for me), an era I associate with good industrial design.

Recently, designer Beth Mathews visited the Manhattan Project site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. — Read the rest

The post Why seafoam green was used in control rooms appeared first on Boing Boing.

A scramble is a type of corner pedestrian crossing where vehicles from all directions stop while pedestrians cross freely from one street to the other, often crossing diagonally. The most famous one is the Shibuya Scramble in Tokyo. Up to 3,000 people walk across it when traffic stops every two minutes. — Read the rest

The post This Tokyo intersection lets up to 3,000 pedestrians cross at once, and you can watch it live on YouTube appeared first on Boing Boing.

I'm fascinated by the range of human reactions to the increasing use of AI, especially when it comes to writing. A lot of people have made up their minds about it: It's garbage. It's evil. It's evil garbage. It's going to usher in a post-scarcity world and eliminate poverty. — Read the rest

The post Does AI-assisted writing count as cheating? This essay says the question is backward appeared first on Boing Boing.

A video game developer, System 3 Software, is under fire from fans for using AI in its upcoming title, The James Pond Legacy. Typical comments include "AI singing, AI characters," and another that says, "Bro, this looks like a shitpost. — Read the rest

The post Fans smelled AI in James Pond Legacy's trailer. The studio says they're wrong. appeared first on Boing Boing.

The IKEA Complexity Index ranks IKEA's product line by the number of steps required to assemble them.

At the top of the list is the PAX Corner wardrobe ($1,755), which requires 236 steps to build, contains 743 parts, and comes with a 248-page user manual spread across 16 PDFs. — Read the rest

The post Someone ranked every Ikea product by assembly complexity appeared first on Boing Boing.

There's a replica of Disney World's Magic Kingdom in a basement in O'Fallon, Illinois. But unless you are a Minifig, you can only view it from above.

Doug Schieppe started building it from Lego bricks six years ago during COVID, after his family trip to the full-size park had to be postponed. — Read the rest

The post An Illinois man built all six Magic Kingdom lands out of Lego in his basement appeared first on Boing Boing.

Klasse Wrecks is a record label and publishing company based in London and Hong Kong. I haven't listened to their records or cassettes yet, but I've been tempted to buy some of their 22 KFAX zines. 

Each is about 100 pages long and consists of black-and-white reproductions of logos. — Read the rest

The post Logos of the early UFOlogy scene and Japanesel love hotels appeared first on Boing Boing.

I took a home blood test today, and it included a reusable heat pack. These things have been around since the 1970s, but this was the first time I've used one. It's a plastic pouch with liquid inside and a small metal disc stamped with many dents. — Read the rest

The post How reusable heat packs work appeared first on Boing Boing.

My incurable optimist friend, Kevin Kelly, co-founder of Wired and my partner at Cool Tools and the Recomendo newsletter, has been posting essays on Substack mainly about the future, artificial intelligence, and what it means for humanity. I am loving these essays. — Read the rest

The post Kevin Kelly: AI will be a microscope we point at our own minds appeared first on Boing Boing.

A fountain pen or gel pen is a superior way to write, says science fiction writer Neal Stephenson. He says handwriting is good for your brain. Fountain and gel pens are better than pencils or ballpoint pens because there is less friction when you write, so your hand doesn't get tired. — Read the rest

The post The Pilot Kakuno Fountain costs under $20 and writes beautifully appeared first on Boing Boing.

The Digi-Comp I was a plastic and rubber band toy that sold for $5 in 1963. According to Chris Staecker, a Fairfield University math professor who posted a video about its operation, "This was the first digital computer."

It didn't use electricity; instead, it required the user to push and pull a "clock" lever. — Read the rest

The post The Digi-Comp I was a $5 plastic computer powered by rubber bands appeared first on Boing Boing.

I'm headed back to Japan soon. This will be my 10th visit there. I've been going to Japan since 1986. It's changed in a lot of ways. Most noticeably, it is less expensive than it was in 1986, and there are far more foreigners in Tokyo now. — Read the rest

The post A little plastic holder for the yen coins in my pocket appeared first on Boing Boing.