PHOTO: Eacles Imperialis, a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share-Alike (2.0) image from Boing Boing reader camerajohn's photostream, shared in the Boing Boing Flickr Pool. This otherworldly little critter will become an Imperial Moth.
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I recently noticed that Jarritos became a sponsor on Boing Boing (you may well be seeing their ads here as you read this post). This is awesome! And tonight, I spotted this New York Times feature about how the 61-year-old Mexican soda pop company is going through a sort of marketing makeover, which I suppose advertising on Boing Boing is part of. In addition to ads on sites like ours, they're also doing branded street art (see the photo below for one mural in Los Angeles).
I think it's cool that this archetypal "ethnic" brand from Mexico is making new inroads here in the US. As with so-called "Mexican Coke"*, Jarritos is made with granulated natural sugar. All the big soda brands in the US are high-fructose corn syrup instead. There's some debate over the health differences between sugar and HFCS, but soda aficionados argue there's a big flavor difference. I agree.
Jarritos makes a cola flavor, too. My two favorite flavors in their line: hibiscus and guava. Also tamarindo! Almost forgot the tangy tamarindo.
Disclosure: nobody asked me to do this post, I just think the story, and the product, are neat.
* Not the kind the narcos sell, kids!
(Image: Piña Refresco, a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No-Derivative-Works (2.0) image from brianauer's photostream)
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A couple of days ago, Pesco blogged the news that Obama's jobs plan includes the idea of legalizing crowdfunded securities. I think this is terrific news, and I am proud that I had the opportunity to do a bit of volunteer work for the White House on this issue earlier this summer -- and it all started (and has continued) thanks to BoingBoing!In late 2009 I learned from Boing Boing counsel Rob Rader that there was no de minimis dollar cutoff below which securities are not regulated. As a Boing Boing guestblogger soon afterward, I pitched the idea of crowdfunding a campaign to make low-value crowdfunded securities legal. Several BoingBoing readers were interested, which was encouraging, so I collaborated with Jenny Kassan of the Sustainable Economies Law Center (SELC) and Danae Ringelmann of IndieGoGo to crowdfund the legal work (by SELC interns Aroma Sharma and Kathleen Kenney) behind a petition that the SEC posted as File No. 4-605 (PDF) on July 1 last year. After I blogged the finished petition on Boing Boing, it began gathering support on the SEC's website. Meanwhile, I also started a Change Crowdfunding Law blog, to chronicle the campaign. I learned later that entrepreneur Sherwood "Woodie" Neiss had been running a campaign called Startup Exemption promoting the same kind of proposal, so I emailed him to make the connection and offer my support. Then, a few months ago, Woodie and I were contacted by White House Office of Science and Technology (OSTP, the office that announced the crowdfunding exemption possibility). They had been following our efforts, and wondered if Woodie and I could write a 2-page brief on current crowdfunding exemption proposals. Woodie and I bounced revisions back and forth via Google Docs while I was on vacation, and he sent it to OSTP. Soon afterwards they told us that the brief was very helpful -- so I was hoping during the run-up to Obama's jobs speech, which promised bipartisan new ideas, that a crowdfunding exemption would be part of the plan. Elsewhere in Washington, Woodie has been meeting with Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and his staff. Issa chairs the House Committee on Oversight and Government reform, and he has been interested in crowdfunding's economic potential for a while -- in a letter to SEC Chair Mary Schapiro from February, he asked about new capital formation strategies such as crowdfunding, and in her response letter, Schapiro said that the SEC was looking into it (citing the SELC petition). Last May, Woodie was set to testify in front of Oversight in favor of a crowdfunding exemption, but was bumped from the microphone last-minute. Tomorrow morning, however, Woodie is testifying for sure at a hearing entitled 'Crowdfunding: Connecting Investors And Job Creators.' I'm pleased but not surprised that the idea of a crowdfunding exemption is appealing to both Democratic and Republican elected officials in Washington.
I hope C-SPAN decides to cover this hearing, which I believe is real history in the making. I've learned that the C-SPAN editors only decide the night before what hearings they will cover the following day, so if you want to help, please call C-SPAN's main number (202-737-3220) this afternoon and suggest that they cover Oversight's Crowdfunding hearing, which runs from 9:30am to 11:30am in Room 2154 of the Rayburn House Office Building.
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Virgin America, the airline that offers Boing Boing Video as an in-flight TV channel, is today announcing a re-vamp of its in-flight entertainment system scheduled to go live in late 2012. This makes the airline the first US partner for a new Lufthansa Systems technology, to be presented on a new platform (and their current in-flight entertainment system is already, in my opinion, the coolest of any US airline).
Abby Lunardini of Virgin America tells me, "The most distinguishing feature will be that it will allow guests to both access entertainment via the seatback and plug in via their own personal electronics to the system (and they can even download content pre-flight, in-flight and post-flight)."
A personal disclosure: I previewed some of this with Virgin America execs some months ago, while decisions were still being made and technology options still being evaluated. They're doing back-end testing now on the #nerdbird aircraft, pictured above. Looks promising, and I'm proud that Boing Boing Video will remain part of the mix (on channel 10! Watch us next time you fly!).
Official announcement pasted below.
VIRGIN AMERICA AND LUFTHANSA SYSTEMS TAKE IN-FLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT TO NEW HEIGHTS: AIRLINE TO LAUNCH NEXT GENERATION RED™ IN-FLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT PLATFORM IN 2012 Plans Unveiled for New Hybrid Technology Platform, Offering Both Seatback Content and Connectivity via Personal Electronic Devices
Carrier to Upgrade Award-Winning Red Platform, Testing Now Underway on First Aircraft – an Airbus A320 Named #nerdbird
San Francisco – September 13, 2011 – Virgin America today announces the selection of Lufthansa Systems’ BoardConnect platform, as the technology partner for the hotly anticipated next iteration of the airline’s Red™ in-flight entertainment system. At the 2011 Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX) Expo in Seattle today, Virgin America and Lufthansa Systems unveil their cooperation to develop the new platform – which will be the first of its kind in the domestic skies. Slated for launch in late 2012 and now under development, the new Red platform will offer an entirely new approach to in-flight entertainment, with hybrid technology that will give travelers a variety of ways to play, interact, connect and be entertained at 35,000 feet – similar to the multi-faceted consumer technologies they have access to in their lives on the ground. Virgin America is the first U.S. carrier to use the innovative technology foundation developed by airline IT specialist Lufthansa Systems.
BoardConnect is a cost-efficient, easy-to-install system which replaces complex legacy in-flight entertainment solutions via an onboard WiFi network. It will allow Virgin America to build a next iteration of Red that offers the best of both worlds: a larger, high-definition touch-screen seatback monitor with full WiFi connectivity and a breadth of curated content unrivalled in the skies, along with the ability for flyers to use their own personal electronic devices to connect to the system pre-flight, in-flight and post-flight. This month, Virgin America launches back-end testing of the new platform on its first aircraft, a new Airbus A320 aptly named: #nerdbird.
“The idea behind Red has always been to reinvent the flight experience, by offering travelers more options, more control, more content and more interactivity. Even though we believe that Red has raised the bar and is still head and shoulders above anything else in the U.S. skies, we’re not the kind of Company that rests on our laurels,” said David Cush, President and CEO of Virgin America. “Our focus on innovation is a core part of our business model and guest offering, and BoardConnect will allow us to not only leap even further ahead of the airline pack, but also pace the larger consumer trends in mobile technology. We now have the architecture we need to design a dynamic entertainment experience that is the next logical iteration of Red.”
Although back-end testing of the new system by the technical experts at Virgin America and Lufthansa Systems is already underway on one aircraft (N841VA – #nerdbird), the airline plans to roll out the new Red platform for guests starting in late 2012. Virgin America remains one of the fastest growing U.S. airlines, with its current 40 aircraft A320 Family fleet projected to grow to 57 aircraft by mid-2013. Although further design details and functionality for the new system are still under development, the new Red platform will be entirely interactive, connective and entertaining – with content and services offered both via the seatback system and guests’ personal electronic devices. The new Red platform will offer travelers an unmatched range of media and connectivity choices via the seatback, as well as the option to connect their personal electronic devices to the system. The system will reflect Virgin America’s focus on innovation and the brand’s entertainment roots, with an unrivalled selection of dynamic media and a fully connected and social experience.
“We’re pleased to announce that an airline known for its unique design, inventiveness and the quality of its entertainment experience will be the launch partner for BoardConnect. BoardConnect opens a new world of opportunities for airlines and their passengers. It is a perfect example for how Lufthansa Systems as a technology leader in airline IT provides innovative solutions which help their customers in many ways to set new standards in passenger service, lower their cost and stay ahead of their competition,” said Stefan Hansen, CEO and Chairman of the Executive Board of Lufthansa Systems. “BoardConnect gives airlines an unprecedented degree of flexibility to develop new entertainment applications as well as to create new sources of ancillary revenue.”
Most current IFE solutions are complex and hard-wired, making them expensive to purchase and install, difficult to maintain and often inflexible in use. Instead of connecting every single seat to the content server through several miles of cables, BoardConnect requires just a few access points. The move by some domestic U.S. carriers to eschew any seatback entertainment at all and explore wireless options tied only to personal electronic devices is inherently limiting. BoardConnect will bridge that gap and will offer travelers and airlines multiple hybrid options – with more scalable bandwidth. Virgin America was the first carrier to offer fleetwide WiFi as of May 2009. The airline plans to continue this service and regularly sees up to one-third of guests on flights logged on.
“Just offering a larger WiFi pipe with no seatback entertainment, as some of our competitors are doing, is limiting and the opposite of what Virgin America guests actually want. Our travelers want connectivity yes, but they also want access to more media content and services that will improve their trip. We were the first airline to offer WiFi fleetwide as of May 2009, yet we’ve seen use of Red only grow since then. We want to give our travelers more options instead of fewer, including the ability to multi-task across platforms – just as they do in their lives on the ground. Offering both connectivity to personal devices and accessible dynamic content will allow us to deliver the best of both worlds,” added Cush.
From even before its 2007 launch, Virgin America has harnessed innovation from its headquarters in Silicon Valley to create a new standard of service. The airline is known for tech-forward and design-driven features like touch-screen personal seatback entertainment, power outlets at every seat, new aircraft with mood-lit cabins and fleetwide WiFi. The airline regularly surveys its guests on its next amenities and has worked with Silicon Valley business leaders and consumer tech experts (who also happen to be frequent flyers) on the design of the next iteration of Red.
In the 2010 APEX awards, the airline’s current Red entertainment platform took top honors for “Best Overall Passenger Experience,” “Best In-Flight Entertainment in the Americas” and “Best In-Flight Connectivity and Communications.” The system also was named the “Best Single Achievement in In-Flight Entertainment” in 2009. Virgin America currently offers guests their own touch-screen seatback monitor that is 25 percent larger than the average domestic coach in-flight entertainment screen. The current Red platform offers touch-screen and remote control interactivity and a wealth of interactive content and options, including;
“Watch”: Live satellite TV, cached specialty channels, 35+ on-demand films and premium TV like HBO;
“Kid’s Play”: With content, games and even parental control settings;
“Play”: Multiple videogames navigated by a Qwerty keyboard handset;
“Talk”: A seat-to-seat chat feature inside the aircraft, so guests can chat with someone in a nearby seat; “Journey”: Interactive Google Maps that zoom at eight levels and track the aircraft in-flight;
“Eat”: A first-of-its-kind on-demand menu that allows guests to order what they want, when they want it during a flight;
“Shop”: An on-demand shopping and a Make a Difference section;
“Listen”: A 3,000 MP3 library and platform to create playlists in-flight and an on-demand music video library. The carrier continues to invest in the current Red system, most recently debuting features such as an “open tab,” enhanced terrain view Google Maps and a digital Shop platform in July 2010.
With topnotch service, beautiful design and a host of high-tech amenities, Virgin America has swept the travel industry best-in-class awards for the quality of its service since its 2007 launch, including “Best Domestic Airline” in Travel + Leisure’s World’s Best Awards in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 and “Best Domestic Airline” in Condé Nast Traveler’s 2008, 2009 and 2010 Readers’ Choice Awards.
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Photo: Definitely not a Prius. From a lovely photo set contributed to the Boing Boing Flickr pool by reader Greg Lynch, who explains:
Jalopy Fest is a Traditional Hot Rod and Custom Car Show held at Grundy County Speedway in Morris, Il. For 2011 it was September 10th & 11th! 72 & older Customs and 64 & older Hotrods.
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In the Boing Boing Flickr Pool, reader Chris Arnade shared another great photo of a kitten in Bushwick, Brooklyn, just in time for CAT-THURS-DAY.
In the same grimy stairwell as this guy, Bushwick Kitten, was this little tortoiseshell-tabby playing on a radiator pipe. The two kittens where named and claimed by children in the building. I am not so heartless as to post wee stray kitten pictures. I risk becoming the guy who posts insufferably cute Hallmark car kitten pictures, but its a risk I will take.
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Bill D. of the "Riding With Robots" blog shares this image with the Boing Boing Flickr Pool and says,
Flame shooting hundreds of feet from NASA's new five-segment solid rocket motor during a ground test, Sept. 8, 2011 at ATK's facility in Promontory, Utah. The ground shook. The air shook. It was so bright you couldn't look at it directly.Bill has more photos of this test from various vantage points in his photostream, along with some iPhone video.The test motor was 154 ft long, generated 3.6 million pounds of thrust, 22 million horsepower, and was anchored on a concrete block that goes 40 feet deep. The segment casings on this test motor flew on several shuttle missions as part of the solid rocket boosters, which were manufactured at this same site.
I was lucky enough to take part in a tweetup about the test, in order to share the day's events with followers of Riding with Robots on the High Frontier.
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Flipboard is currently spotlighting Boing Boing in its "Cool Curators" category, along with a number of other sites we dig that look really nice on the popular iPad app.
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Boing Boing reader Porter Yates shares this photo, titled "The Earth is Flat," with the Boing Boing Flickr Pool—and explains:
Looking onto Andean fields near Simiatug, Ecuador. My vantage point was from ~ 13,000 ft. The clouds filled the valley below as the sun began to set. I had never seen a sky quite like this.
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William Gibson's most recent novel, Zero History, was recently published (Cory called it an "exciting adventure that wakes you to the present-day’s futurism"). I asked William a few questions by email. Here are his answers:
The paperback edition of your newest novel, Zero History, is out. Now that Kindle sales top both hardbound and paperback book sales on Amazon, it doesn't seem as important to have a paperback release. Or does it?
I think I bought a total of maybe four new hardcover novels, as an undergraduate, so I still think of the hardcover as a sort of word-of-mouth trailer for the mass market paperback. And I still see people expressing impatience, on Twitter, that a given title isn't out in paperback. Maybe Kindle et al aren't quite that evenly distributed yet.
What things are keeping your interest lately?
The sheer surreality of the Republican presidential primary, Libya, Iain Sinclair's monolithic ongoing anti-Olympics project (Hackney, That Rose Red Empire and now Ghost Milk), the "gray man" concept in personal security, the culture of personal aerial drones, parts of the United States as newly undeveloped sub-nations and the foreign outsourcing thereof...?
How have your interests changed? By that, I mean, what used to interest you but now doesn't? And vice versa?
I don't really lose interest in things I've been very interested in, but there's limited room on the working face. ?
Do you have a "daily carry?" If so, what are the things in it?
A very thin, almost weightless wallet, made of a material called Kuben (which is sort of like Dyneema but less fancy-looking) deployed in front pocket. (I had a walletectomy for a back issue; back-pocket carry is murder on the back, plus much less secure.) A steel-cable Muji keyring with keys and a SwissTech Utili-Key 6-in-1 tool (which looks like a key). A Montblanc roller-pen from before they become a luxury brand (I found one on eBay after reading Hiroshi Fujiwara's fascinating book Personal Effects).?
What do you think of the DIY/Maker movement, with individuals now about to make 3D printed objects at home, and sharing 3D models for all sorts of things online?
My grandfather owned a small-town lumberyard, and old-fashioned hardware stores have always been among my very favorite retail environments. I grew up with the idea that most of the environment we actually inhabit is the result of human labor. Anyone who can make something really well, more or less from scratch, has my respect. So I see DIY/Maker activity as extremely healthy. I'm not sure that owning a machine that can make something more or less from scratch impresses me quite as much, but I have no personal experience of that yet.?
What do you think of the way industrial design is going -- for cars, electronics, medical devices, etc.
Generally, I like the way those things are looking, but it's a rare day I see anything new that I *really* like. I saw a photograph of Dieter Rams' basement workshop recently. Man alive. Would I have liked to be a fly on the wall in there.?
I'm not going to ask you about any specific movie development projects you have cooking, but I have general question -- Almost every fiction writer I know who has worked with the Hollywood movie industry has told me they hated the experience and hated the results. Has you experience been better?
Liking the Hollywood movie industry is like liking war. Some people do like war, though, and I've sometimes enjoyed my own experience of the Hollywood movie industry. People who haven't actually been there, been fully in it, with some paid role on which something actually depends, really have very little idea. One of the more oddly hellish things about it is that so many of its civilian consumers assume that they understand exactly how it all works. There's a huge subsidiary industry filmgoers pay to keep them convinced that they have insider knowledge, actual experience of the beast itself. They don't.
You don't really get it until you're in a situation in which some entity has invested sixty or seventy million dollars in something and seems to be in the process of deciding that your creative input may be endangering that investment. It's an experience that will definitely get your fullest attention.?
I enjoyed your recent essay in Scientific American titled, "Life in the Meta-City." Can you talk about why you wrote this?
Thanks. They asked me. And I suppose writing for Scientific American was a sort of bucket list item! Plus I have always been interested in cities.?
You have a great Twitter feed. What are your feelings about reading and participating in social media?
Glad you enjoy it. I find it completely ludic, pure play.
Twitter is really my only experience of social media, so far. I sometimes wonder what my life would have been like if I'd had access to some sort of agreeable social media in my early teens. I think I would really have liked it, so then I feel a little sorry for my younger self. Then I remember that all of that stuff might still be around, and I feel a huge relief that it isn't.?
What do you worry about? I'm talking about loose nukes, global warming, economic meltdown, creeping fascism.
All of the above, and anything else in that general ballpark. As one does. Sometimes I remember that I evidently assumed that Ronald Reagan was probably about as weird as it was going to get; that that all seemed a bit over the top, a grave if semi-comic but blessedly temporary anomaly. That's scary.
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