Glorious video of wildebeests on their great migration in Tanzania, stomping across a river by the thousands.Storyful: Thousands of Wildebeests Make River Crossing During Great Migration in TanzaniaAnd while we're at it, here's an awesome capture of a baby wildebeest, by someone else.We witnessed the birth of this wildebeest. It had been alive for a total of 5 minutes when this was taken. Within 10 minutes it was up and joined the migration. Read the rest
There's a fun livestream on right now at the Basket Cat Blog.Blog post here, and YouTube livestream is here: 'Chibi and potato digger 200723.' Read the rest
What Are These Creatures In My Yard ?!Mr. Max is a birb. Some wild turkeys showed up one day in the back yard, and Mr. Max's owner caught it on video.At this spot, it's so funny. It goes like this:Max: hey big birb I have giftBANG BANG BNAGGIFT Read the rest
Polls got you down? Send in the gestapo.President Donald Trump announced a plan on Wednesday to send more camouflaged and heavily armed federal agents to more U.S. cities to 'crack down on violent crime' (read: terrorize his way to a second term). “Today I’m announcing a surge of federal law enforcement into American communities plagued by violent crime. We’ll work every single day to restore public safety,” Pres. Trump says at news conference on protests. https://t.co/I6Cmz7Ykp1 pic.twitter.com/vw3rANaaVC— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) July 22, 2020The would-be strongman's "law and order" push going into the Nov. 3 presidential election is intensifying. The horrifying violence by Trump's goons against moms and students in Portland is but a preview.And then there was this.Attorney General William Barr winks at @realDonaldTrump as he finished his remarks about Combatting Violent Crime in American Cities during an event in the East Room of the White House. pic.twitter.com/Tz2nOLGPLM— Doug Mills (@dougmillsnyt) July 22, 2020From Reuters:Trump, joined at a White House event by Attorney General William Barr, unveiled an expansion of the “Operation Legend” program to include cities such as Chicago and Albuquerque, New Mexico, in a further effort by federal officials to tackle violence.“Today I’m announcing a surge of federal law enforcement into American communities plagued by violent crime,” Trump said.Trump said “we have no choice but to get involved” with a rising death toll in some major cities.“This bloodshed must end; this bloodshed will end,” he said. Read the rest
Michael Barnett of the Political Violence at a Glance website asks, "Should the United Nations declare of responsibility to protect Americans from the Trump Administration?"Should the United Nations Security Council consider a resolution calling for a responsibility to protect the people of the United States from the Trump administration’s handling of COVID-19?Responsibility to Protect, otherwise known as R2P, is a 2005 UN resolution that declares that when a state either participates in, permits, or is unable to stop large-scale civilian deaths, it has forfeited its sovereignty and the international community has the responsibility to halt the slaughter. Has the Trump administration failed in its fundamental responsibility to protect its population, and should the international community intervene? Nothing of the kind will happen, of course—but that is because of politics, not because a case cannot be made.[via The Browswer] Read the rest
My new puppy, Electra, loves this Toozey play pool. I love how easy it is to fold up and put away.This play pool will last us a long time. Made of pretty durable feeling waterproof tarp on the bottom and strong walls, the pool requires no inflating. A strong release valve holds water in, and lets it out!At first, Electra was reluctant to play in the water, but now she jumps in and splashes about before heading for the dirt to roll about. The photo up top shows her "adjusting face." My daughter also likes to lounge in the pool. Sometimes our Cavalier joins them, but usually prefers to stay dry.Toozey Foldable Dog Pool, Portable PVC Pet Swimming Pool, Slip-Resistant Material Kiddie Pool, Dog Pet Bath Pool for Small to Large Dogs via Amazon Read the rest
I've been using a Kitchen IQ Edge Grip 2-Stage Knife Sharpener for years and it's my favorite knife sharpener. I like it because of the way you hold it with one hand along the edge of a kitchen counter and with the other hand you draw the knife through the slots. It's a safe way to sharpen a knife and I don't see how someone could make a mistake and hurt themselves. One slot is "coarse" and the other is "fine." I typically use the fine slot every week or so to restore the edge on a knife. I rarely use coarse because it removes quite a bit of steel from a knife, but sometimes that's just what's needed to sharpen a dull knife. Read the rest
My pal Dave has proclaimed that Friday, July 24th will be Dopey Day. I wrote about his popular Dopey Podcast (touted as a "dark comedy of drug addiction") in March 2018. At the time he had a co-host, Chris. Just a few months later, Chris had died of an overdose. Dopey Day is to "commemorate and celebrate" Chris' life, and to honor others who have died from addiction.Dave explains:Chris died on that day in 2018 from a tragic overdose of a deadly mixture of powerful drugs. He died having almost five years clean. He died as a PHD candidate. He died as a loyal boyfriend and as a man who was earning renewed trust from his family and friends. But specific to this story, Chris died as the partner and Co-Host to Dave, who together, founded Dopey - The Podcast about Drugs, Addiction and Dumb Shit.Dopey was created by addicts for addicts, and for those that might be recovery-curious. It was a way to normalize past behavior but more importantly it was a safe place to listen, to identify with and be a part of a group of misfits that can laugh at the craziest stories, fueled by drugs and alcohol that are frankly too debaucherous to make up. This group came to be known as the Dopey Nation, now numbering in the thousands. They are a self monitoring tribe, in and out of recovery that won’t judge or shame people for their past and will offer stories of their journey when asked to provide insight on living a happy and fulfilling life. Read the rest
Make your anti-racist voice heard every time you send a letter. Oakland-based Lea Redmond of Leafcutter Designs makes it easy through her new Postage Stamp Project. She's offering these "tiny protest signs" to "lick-and-stick" onto mail (just don't confuse them for real paid postage). She pulled in Bay Area Artist Oree Originol for the art. His Justice For Our Lives open-source portraits, which feature more than 85 marginalized POC that were killed by law enforcement, was chosen for the first phase of the project. For the next phase, Lea is inviting people to submit their own tiny protest sign designs for "possible inclusion in a future edition of crowd-sourced stamps." All details here.You can get some of these stamps for $1 (suggested donation to cover costs) from Lea by sending her a self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE). The address is:Lea Redmond329 15th StreetOakland, CA 94612Edition: Say Their Names View this post on Instagram After coming across the #justiceforourlives installation on Lakeshore Ave. in Oakland, artist @lea_redmond was inspired to make use of my open source artwork to include in her “Postage Stamp Protest”, a series of “protest signs” to be carried through the mail system. These are lick-and-stick protest signs that you can add to the postage stamp area of your mail (as long as you have real postage!) Stick them on letters to friends as an act of solidarity or to raise consciousness and inspire action. Also stick’em on your electric bills, rent checks, other random outgoing mail, and anywhere else you’re inspired to! Read the rest
Archie Comics doesn't want people to write "Archie is a simp" in the YouTube comments on its channel, promising to ban anyone that does. The angry command is begging to get Streisanded—but perhaps getting Streisanded is the whole point. Cunning work!Please stop writing "Archie is a simp" in the comments of our YouTube videos. You will receive a permanent ban from our channel. Thank you.— Archie Comics (@ArchieComics) July 21, 2020 Read the rest
United Airlines lost $1.6 billion in the second quarter of 2020. This is in sharp contrast to its profit of $1 billion during the second quarter of 2019. According to the New York Times United "lost an average of $40 million a day in April, May, and June." It plans to reduce that to $25 million dollars per day during the third quarter. At that rate Jeff Bezos but be able to keep United running for 20 years.From The New York Times:Air travel reached new lows in the second quarter, with the number of people flying falling as much as 96 percent on some days in April compared to last year. Traffic had started to recover in May and June, but stalled this month as coronavirus infections spread around the country and states imposed new travel restrictions. On Monday, the number of people screened at airport checkpoints was down 74 percent compared to last year.As a result, United and other airlines have had to scale back schedules for August. The airline now expects to fly about 35 percent as many flights next month as it did last August and says the rest of the year will probably be much the same. Read the rest
This brief article is titled "Backing up for Mortals," and it looks like it has good advice. The author recommends 3-2-1 Rule:The rule is simple: you have 3 backup sources: 2 are local, and 1 is remote.2 local sources because if one fails, you can replace it and duplicate the good one over the new one.1 remote source because if both fail, or become destroyed or stolen, your remote source can restore 2 new local sources.The two local drives should be mirrored -- "A mirrored drive is best for backups because if any data becomes corrupt in one, the other can restore it; it's maximum redundancy."The author recommends using Backblaze, which costs $60 a year and offers unlimited storage. I'm using IDrive, which costs $70 a year and it's limited to 5 terabytes of storage, but you can back up an unlimited number of computers, so I have the whole family backing up their computers to it.The author also recommends encrypting backups on a file-by-file basis "(if data becomes corrupted, it's hard to recover anything without a copy"), but that seems like too much trouble for me, so I am just in encrypting everything and crossing my fingers.[via Mike Gunderloy] Read the rest
A man in Maine, feuding with his neighbors, hired a surveyor to mark the lines of his property. When he discovered that the neighbor's garage partly occupied his property, he took a saw and cut the garage in half.From The Bangor Daily News:“There’s been a property-line dispute for a couple of months and obviously that was the result between Mr. Brawn and the owner of the other building,” Dover-Foxcroft police Chief Ryan Reardon said. Read the rest
In his latest musical, troubador Randy Rainbow begs Anthony Fauci to save us from Ivanka, Jared, and the other members of Trump's tribe of sociopathic swamp creatures. Read the rest
The trebuchet was a technology import from Asia that became a siege weapon of choice in 12th-century Europe. Expert Mike Loades and his team make quick work of a palisade made of logs with this German replica.Bonus video: a Korean Hwacha that could fire 100 arrows at once:Image: YouTube / Smithsonian Channel Read the rest
Tom the Dancing Bug, IN WHICH your government gives you a helpful Informational Brochure on being abducted by masked, unidentified federal troopers in an unmarked van
YouTuber and parkour expert AMPISOUND breaks down a viral fake parkour video and its various forms of deception, including green screens, GoPros tossed out windows, and a guy dressed as a cute parkour girl.He says:You wouldn't think that parkour could be faked, but I investigated this video and couldn't believe what I found. This entire commercial of a lady running across the rooftops of Paris is fake! From the POV parkour to the girl in the dress, nothing about this video is real. Leave a comment for the shark fin squad!He adds, "If you want to see some REAL parkour follow these amazing female athletes!"Katie McDonnellPamela ForsterHazal NehirRenae DamblyImage: YouTube / AMPISOUND Read the rest
The National Audubon Society has released all of John James Audubon's magnificent watercolors from his classic work Birds of America (1827-1838) as free, high-resolution downloads for printing. The 435 life-size watercolors in the collection were "all reproduced from hand-engraved plates, and is considered to be the archetype of wildlife illustration." Each image's web page is accompanied by Audubon's wonderful first-person descriptions of the animal. John J. Audubon's "Birds of America" image downloads (Thanks, Bob Pescovitz!) Read the rest
Boing Boing shares these words from our sponsor Real Tested CBD.Biden Sort of Decides On Marijuana Legalization: He Is Sort of Still Against ItRichard Cowan The great thing about voting machines is that you can vote with one hand and hold your nose with the other one. Believe me, I have had a lot of practice with that, and I will do it again this year.After Biden cinched the Democratic nomination, his campaign focused on getting the support for Bernie Sanders young supporters. Biden was greatly relieved that Sanders was willing to help, so they launched what they called a “Unity Task Force, and one of the major topics was Federal marijuana prohibition.Politico reported the result as “The left gets rolled on legalizing pot.”Frankly, I absolutely reject that formulation. Marijuana legalization has been supported by the Libertarian right far longer than by the Left. The late Milton Friedman and William F. Buckley Jr. and many other conservatives have long opposed prohibition. Obama, Holder, Biden, Shalala, Clinton, Feinstein and Schumer all supported arresting millions of Americans. Until they opposed it…However, in a meeting with Biden, Sanders is definitely on the Left. Given Biden’s long support for the Drug War, even coining the term “Drug Czar”, the real world results were not too terrible.The key points: “Democrats will decriminalize marijuana use and reschedule it through executive action on the federal level.” That will automatically clear the way for banks to do business with cannabis companies. Read the rest
Paul Lynde as Uncle Arthur on "Bewitched"It's been announced that Billy on the Street's Billy Eichner will play the late great TV personality Paul Lynde in an upcoming biopic called "Man in the Box."Deadline:After his breakout turn in Bye Bye Birdie, Lynde became a big TV star with his guest turns as Uncle Arthur on Bewitched, and in his role on the long-running game show Hollywood Squares. While Lynde was never publicly “out,” he never lied about his sexuality either, as most famous gay actors of that era did. His unique comic persona often and overtly nodded to his “barely-closeted” lifestyle in a way that still feels groundbreaking for his time. But he was not on the same lists for roles as straight actors. One of the reasons Eichner wants to see the film made is because of the chance to illustrate how little things have changed.DEADLINE: Paul Lynde was a very funny actor, but what about him made this worth movie treatment for you?EICHNER: There’s some overlap, between Paul and I, in that we both had our breakthrough in the industry, as performers, presenting a rather larger-than-life, flamboyant, gay persona on screen. Even though I was always very out, Paul was never technically out. But he was as out as you could be, at that time, in that he was clearly leaning into a flamboyant persona. Unlike Rock Hudson, and Tab Hunter, and Cary Grant, and all these other actors, he wasn’t pretending to be straight. Read the rest
Ghislaine Maxwell was charged with child abuse and trafficking in her alleged role as billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Esptein's procurer. In a press event last night, Donald Trump—often photographed with her at parties and other events—wished her well."I haven't really been following it too much. I just wish her well, frankly," Trump said when asked for his thoughts on whether she could turn on powerful men such as Britain's Prince Andrew, who prosecutors have been seeking to question in connection with her case.Maxwell is currently being held without bail in federal lockup while awaiting trial for allegedly helping transport minors for sexual activity in the 1990s and then lying about it under oath. Prosecutors said she "played a critical role" in helping multimillionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein identify, "befriend and groom minor victims for abuse." She has denied the allegations and pleaded not guilty.Trump, who was photographed with Maxwell and Epstein numerous times before Epstein was first charged in the mid-2000s, said Tuesday "I've met her numerous times over the years, especially since I lived in Palm Beach, and I guess they lived in Palm Beach. But I wish her well, whatever it is." Read the rest
In October 1974, the Rolling Stones recorded "Scarlet" with their friends Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin on guitar and Traffic's Ric Grech playing bass. The band finally gave the track an official release today as a teaser for their forthcoming Goat’s Head Soup box set that contains a slew of bonus material including two other unreleased songs, demos, alternate versions, and a live gig.Of "Scarlet," Keith Richards says, "My recollection is we walked in at the end of a Zeppelin session. They were just leaving, and we were booked in next and I believe that Jimmy decided to stay. We weren’t actually cutting it as a track, it was basically for a demo, a demonstration, you know, just to get the feel of it, but it came out well, with a line up like that, you know, we better use it.‘’And from Rolling Stone: In 1975, Page told Rolling Stone‘s Cameron Crowe that he thought the track was supposed to be a Stones B-side. “It sounded very similar in style and mood to those Blonde on Blonde tracks,” Page said. “It was great; really good. We stayed up all night and went down to Island Studios where Keith put some reggae guitars over one section. I just put some solos on it, but it was eight in the morning of the next day before I did that. He took the tapes to Switzerland and someone found out about them. Keith told people that it was a track from my album.” Read the rest
We will permanently suspend accounts Tweeting about these topics that we know are engaged in violations of our multi-account policy, coordinating abuse around individual victims, or are attempting to evade a previous suspension — something we’ve seen more of in recent weeks.— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) July 22, 2020These actions will be rolled out comprehensively this week. We will continue to review this activity across our service and update our rules and enforcement approach again if necessary.— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) July 22, 2020We’ve been clear that we will take strong enforcement action on behavior that has the potential to lead to offline harm. In line with this approach, this week we are taking further action on so-called ‘QAnon’ activity across the service.We will permanently suspend accounts Tweeting about these topics that we know are engaged in violations of our multi-account policy, coordinating abuse around individual victims, or are attempting to evade a previous suspension — something we’ve seen more of in recent weeks.In addition, we will:No longer serve content and accounts associated with QAnon in Trends and recommendationsWork to ensure we’re not highlighting this activity in search and conversationsBlock URLs associated with QAnon from being shared on TwitterThese actions will be rolled out comprehensively this week. We will continue to review this activity across our service and update our rules and enforcement approach again if necessary.As we work at scale to protect the public conversation in the face of evolving threats, we’ll continue to lead with transparency and offer more context on our efforts. Read the rest
Ask people what they don’t like about camping outdoors and a few answers will absolutely come up. The bugs and creepy crawlies are always a big one, especially the icky feeling that you could wake up to find bugs skittering through your tent or a snake or other reptile snuggled up in your sleeping bag. But probably the biggest gripe comes from being forced to sleep on the hard ground. Even with a sleeping pad, the wild, often uneven ground is pretty unforgiving and can make falling asleep take forever, only to wake to the unpleasantness of a kinked neck, sore hips, or a bad back.Tentsile heard those gripes loud and clear and crafted a functional and well-designed above ground perch instead, combining the security and protection of a tent with the comfort of a hammock to create the Tentsile UNA 1-Person Tree Tent.Perfect for hikers and backpackers, all you need to enjoy the UNA are three trees to use as anchors. Setup only takes about 10 minutes — and unlike ground tents, can be positioned feet over water or steep or rocky terrain for any camper up to 280 lbs.The UNA includes a tensioned base that provides a comfortable floor with minimal sag, as well as an anti-roll system so you don’t automatically roll to the center of the tent in your sleep. Each one also includes a waterproof rainfly in case the skies open up overnight, and an insect mesh to keep all the flying no-see-ums away while you snooze. Read the rest
Eamonn Forde at The Quietus has a great new piece celebrating the 25th anniversary of the MP3, arguing that it was the single most influential music technology revolution in history — even moreso than the phonograph or early vinyl recordings. If you ask me, he makes a pretty convincing argument:In terms of the history of music ownership – something that has really only existed for just over a century – the MP3 was not a full stop but rather an ellipsis.It was the last audio format that people could own but, as it was a digital string of zeros and ones, it was inherently intangible. You cannot look at an MP3 but you can see its impact everywhere.[…]This is important: it was technology first, music second. It was created as part of a strategy of media synergy. It was by the record business, for the record business. Most significantly, it was the last time record labels (or, more precisely, their parent companies) were to be technology powerhouses.The MP3 was created outside of the music industry – developed without its blessing, but mostly without its interest. It was in many ways an opportunity for audio engineers to show other audio engineers their chops. In the mid-1990s, home computers were not that common, the internet was mainly confined to academia (its campus location is critical for Phase Two) and the Discman was the apex of music portability.[…]The record industry lost serious ground here because it was focused on its war against free and crummy audio when the MP3’s headline appeal was about convenience and the fizzing thrill of instant accessibility. Read the rest
From CNN:Cinquefrondi, a community in the southern region of Calabria, calls itself a "Covid-free village" after swerving the ravages of the virus, and hopes its status will sweeten the appeal of homes it's putting on the market for €1, or a little over a dollar.The aim, like other destinations making similar offers, is to reverse a depopulation trend caused by younger folk heading off in search of work. In Cinquefrondi, Mayor Michele Conia considers the task so serious he's given it a code name: "Operation Beauty.""Finding new owners for the many abandoned houses we have is a key part of the Operation Beauty [mission] that I have launched to recover degraded, lost parts of town," Conia tells CNN.Time Out describes the location quite appealingly:Cinquefrondi is a small community in the southern region of Calabria, which is right at the toe of Italy’s ‘boot’. Up in the hills, it's surrounded by the Aspromonte National Park and set between the Ionian and Tyrrhenian coasts. (That’s around a 15 minute drive to dreamy Italian beaches in either direction, fyi.)In case you're concerned about a deal that sounds too good to be true, Cinquefrondi has indeed had zero reported coronavirus cases, and is located in region with one of the lowest overall contagion levels in the country.Otherwise, the only real catch — besides, ya know, having to renovate and safety-proof your adorable 50 square meter Italian mountainside house — is that the local government requests an annual €250 policy insurance fee every year until you've finished the work. Read the rest
Hackers working for China's government targeted firms working on coronavirus vaccines, and stole hundreds of millions of dollars worth of intellectual property and trade secrets, claims the Justice Department in a statement Tuesday announcing criminal charges.From the Associated Press:The indictment does not accuse the two Chinese defendants of actually obtaining the coronavirus research, but it does underscore the extent to which scientific innovation has been a top target for foreign governments and criminal hackers looking to know what American companies are developing during the pandemic. In this case, the hackers researched vulnerabilities in the computer networks of biotech firms and diagnostic companies that were developing vaccines and testing kits and researching antiviral drugs.The charges are the latest in a series of aggressive Trump administration actions targeting China. They come as President Donald Trump, his reelection prospects damaged by the coronavirus outbreak, has blamed China for the pandemic and as administration officials have escalated their denunciations of Beijing, including over alleged efforts to steal intellectual property through hacking.The indictment includes trade secret theft and wire fraud conspiracy charges against the hackers, former classmates at an electrical engineering college who prosecutors say worked together for more than a decade targeting high-tech companies in more than 10 countries. More at the AP:US accuses Chinese hackers in targeting of COVID-19 research Read the rest
More than 12 workers at Whole Foods stores in 4 different U.S. states claim in a class-action lawsuit that the Amazon-owned retailer retaliated against them for wearing apparel associated with the Black Lives Matter movement.In the lawsuit, 14 employees at Whole Foods stores in California, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Washington State claim the company was unjustly enforcing its dress code policy. In a statement, Whole Foods denies any employees were fired for wearing Black Lives Matter face masks or apparel.From the New York Times:The workers were sent home without pay, subjected to “corrective” discipline and threatened with the loss of their jobs for refusing to remove the items, a class-action lawsuit filed on Monday in Federal District Court in Massachusetts said.The company, which is owned by Amazon, did not enforce its dress code policy when employees wore messages on masks and apparel expressing support for other entities and causes, such as sports teams and L.G.B.T.Q. rights, the lawsuit said.One of the workers, Savannah Kinzer, was fired on Saturday from her job in Cambridge, Mass., for wearing a Black Lives Matter mask and for protesting Whole Foods’ “discipline of employees” for doing so, the lawsuit said. She also encouraged co-workers to wear the masks.“Whole Foods employees across the country have been prohibited from wearing Black Lives Matter masks and other related apparel at work,” it said.More at the New York Times:Whole Foods Punished Workers for Black Lives Matter Masks, Suit Says Read the rest
Tuesday’s reported deaths from the coronavirus outbreak have exceeded 1,000 for the first time in two weeks, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. (via CNN).A Reuters tally came up with the same count.After weeks of declining fatalities, there were more than 5,200 U.S. COVID-19 deaths in the week ended July 19, up 5% from the previous seven days, a Reuters analysis found. That was the second successive week of rising deaths.Nearly 142,000 Americans have died from COVID-19, a toll that experts warn will likely surge following recent record spikes in case numbers and an alarming rise in hospitalizations in many states. Read the rest
We all know about the power and abilities of Photoshop. From changing eye color to turning an image into a painting to all the ways Photoshop users can reshape narratives in the White House, the capabilities of a skilled editor to transform reality with the tools in Adobe’s legendary program are jaw-dropping.Yet all those tools under the Photoshop hood can start getting pretty intimidating for many users. Without the right training, the pricey app often gets used for only the most mundane of editing tasks — stuff like cropping, light color adjustments, and sharpening.For an app that costs over $120 a year, its resources regularly go sadly untapped. However, the training in The Beginner’s Guide to Photoshop Bundle can help unlock all of Photoshop’s hidden talents and even make this powerful app feel a lot easier to maneuver.This package brings together three comprehensive courses all dedicated to demystifying Photoshop and walking users through basic and even complicated editing projects.Your education gets underway with The Beginner's Guide to Photoshop, the novice’s introduction to doing all the basics of image editing, from changing and removing backgrounds to color adjustments, creating custom graphics, and more. This training takes a hands-on approach to learning, offering students real-world examples and lessons that can vastly improve all of your photos. Learners are guided in how to fix exposure, remove distracting details, clean up stray elements, and even reshape objects and people to create beautiful images.If you’re like most photographers, most of your images feature people, so the Intro to Portrait Retouching in Photoshop courses is a complete checklist for making all your subjects look their absolute best. Read the rest
No re-election for you pic.twitter.com/cKkevBNYln— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) July 21, 2020The Lincoln Project knows how to get under Trump's monomolecular skin. Its latest video, which uses clips from Trump's dumpster fire Fox interview, was edited into an episode of Trumpfeld, complete with laugh track. Read the rest
I bought this Sun Joe SPX3200 pressure washer in April 2019 and I seem to find a use for it every weekend. This thing is fantastic. It cleans mold from bricks, stains from concrete, and most recently, I used it to clean 10-year-old outdoor furniture made from teak wood: View this post on Instagram my weekends have become “what else can I pressure wash”A post shared by Mark Frauenfelder (@frauenfelder) on Jul 5, 2020 at 6:04pm PDTIt's powered by 120 volts AC, and has a long cord so I usually don't need an extension cord. It also has four different nozzles plus one attachment for soap. It has a soap tank, which I fill with liquid soap. Using the highest pressure nozzle, I have to be careful because it will actually chew a hole in concrete. I use the lowest pressure nozzle to wash windows and the exterior of the house when it gets dirty. It's also a great way to get rid of black widows and spider eggs from lawn furniture. I love this thing. Read the rest
If you enjoy the outdoors, you know that it's not necessarily any scarier at night than it is during the day. But it sure can seem that way when you're using a traditional flashlight that effectively gives you tunnel vision: You see just the spot where you aim and nothing else.That's why the H2 Headlamp should catch on quickly not just with hikers, but anyone who works, plays, or runs in the dark.Its main feature is the flexible LED light that stretches across the front brim of your head. This illuminates a 180-degree wide area around you rather than a narrow focus. It's an impressive 360 lumens on the highest setting, and the difference of being able to use your peripheral vision is quite literally eye-opening.The light and strap are just four ounces, and runners can even wrap it around their waist for maximum visibility on nighttime roads. Spelunking, hiking, wee hours car repair — all of them just got a whole lot easier.The H2 Headlamp has three settings, is fully rechargeable, and even 100% waterproof plus it's on sale for over 25% off when you buy it from the Boing Boing Store. Read the rest
ElderFox Documentaries brought the Red Planet to life by stitching together high-resolution photos of the surface of Mars to create a a quasi-video. From the YouTube description:A question often asked is: ‘Why don’t we actually have live video from Mars?’ Although the cameras are high quality, the rate at which the rovers can send data back to earth is the biggest challenge. Curiosity can only send data directly back to earth at 32 kilo-bits per second. Instead, when the rover can connect to the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, we get more favourable speeds of 2 Megabytes per second. However, this link is only available for about 8 minutes each Sol, or Martian day. As you would expect, sending HD video at these speeds would take a long long time. As nothing really moves on Mars, it makes more sense to take and send back images.[via Kottke] Read the rest
From my favorite subreddit, r/ObscureMedia: "Classical Gas - 3000 Years of Art in 3 Minutes." I think I saw some Lascaux cave paintings in there so it really should be "20,000 Years of Art in 3 Minutes."From Mason Williams YouTube page:During the time that CLASSICAL GAS was a hit I was also the head writer for THE SMOTHERS BROTHERS COMEDY HOUR on CBS. I had seen a film titled "GOD IS DOG SPELLED BACKWARDS” at The Encore, an off beat movie house in L.A. The film was a collection of approximately 2500 classical works of art, mostly paintings, that flashed by in three minutes. Each image lasted only two film frames, or twelve images a second! At the end of the film the viewer was pronounced "cultural" since they had just covered "3000 years of art in 3 minutes!"The film was the work of a UCLA film student named Dan McLaughlin. I contacted Dan and told him that I was interested in the idea of using his film as a visual for CLASSICAL GAS to air on THE SMOTHERS BROTHERS COMEDY HOUR. (His original sound track had been Beethoven's 5th Symphony.) THE COMEDY HOUR offered him the money to finance a new film he wanted to make in exchange for the right to change the original soundtrack from Beethoven's 5th Symphony to CLASSICAL GAS and air it on the show. As a “music video" it was first shown on THE SUMMER BROTHERS SMOTHERS SHOW (Glen Campbell was the host) in the summer of 1968. Read the rest
Need a fancy-lookin' mockup of a book? Sebastien Castiel's 3D Book Image Cover Generator does it using CSS, meaning it can be embedded in all its spinny glory using only raw HTML. Read the rest
This woman recorded her guitar playing once a month for four years. She started recording on her first day of clumsily strumming an electric guitar. By nine months she was sounding good. At the four year mark she was shredding. Read the rest
What is computer hacking? In this Wired video, computer security researcher and hacker Samy Kamkar explains the concept to five people, starting with a bright 9-year-old child, then a 13-year-old, then a computer science college major, then a computer science PhD student, and finally an assistant professor. Read the rest
Talk about a strong cup of Joe! Italian authorities intercepted 130 grams of cocaine smuggled inside hundreds of hollowed-out coffee beans. The beans arrived from Colombia at Malpensa Airport where customs officers recognized the name of the recipient: Santino D'Antonio. That is the name of the mob boss in the movie John Wick: Chapter 2. From CNN:Once they opened the parcel they found more than 500 coffee beans that had been hollowed out, filled with cocaine and resealed using dark brown tape, the statement said.Police tracked the package to Florence, and arrested a 50-year-old Italian man when he came to try and collect it from a tobacconist's shop in the city.The man was registered as living in the Colombian city of Medellin, according to the statement. He was already known to police and had previously been arrested on drugs charges. Read the rest
Darth Vader bought a lottery ticket at the Di Endz Sports Bar in May Pen, Jamaica and won $95 million. Darth showed up to claim his prize in full armor, revealing nothing to the public other than his abbreviated alias, W. Brown. From the Daily Star:[Simone Clarke-Cooper, assistant vice president at Lottery sponsor Supreme Ventures Limited] said, "Unfortunately, Jamaica is not like other markets. In other markets, they don't necessarily do it, but here I think they opt to do it to keep themselves safe. We are not going to tell them not to do that because their safety is of paramount importance to us as well."People have been coming with their own disguises. They usually don't need our help, and they are usually very creative, perhaps beyond anything that we could think of or imagine, and it has been very effective over the years," she added.More on Mr. Brown's big win in the Jamaica Gleaner: "Lotto Winner Claims $95 Million Jackpot" Read the rest
Typefaces of Protest: A Short Survey1/ Paranoid Light pic.twitter.com/MSuBYvDvp1— Tom Sutcliffe (@tds153) July 13, 2020Tom Sutcliffe compiled a helpful survey of "Typefaces of Protest" hand-drawn by covidiots, conspiracists, and other "truth" tellers.6/ Dipshit Condensed pic.twitter.com/7CAsuUi9T8— Tom Sutcliffe (@tds153) July 13, 2020(via Kottke) Read the rest
pic.twitter.com/36NiN1xi88— Shitty Future (@Shitty_Future) July 20, 2020This helpful reminder comes courtesy of @Shitty_Future on Twitter. But it poses a question: whose face?Previously: Have a ⠐⠁⠕⁗⠇⠻◢ ⡟⣔⢠ Read the rest
Ubisoft was already in the middle of scandal about the mistreatment of workers in the game industry, but Jason Schreier's report on the scale of misconduct there reveals it as a black hole of abuse, harassment and corporate ass-covering: "I've talked to more than 40 current and former Ubisoft employees about sexual misconduct and abuse allegations. Their accounts make one thing clear: Ubisoft has known about these problems for years."More than a dozen people made public claims of sexual harassment and abuse against employees of Ubisoft over the past few weeks. The outpouring is part of a broader #MeToo movement taking hold in the game industry, and the Paris-based company has been the most frequent target of allegations. Interviews with more than three dozen current or former Ubisoft employees indicate that these claims, and many others that haven’t previously come to light, had been gathering dust in company logs for years. In some instances, Ubisoft took action, but for the most part, complaints were ignored, mishandled, or undermined, employees say. ...Allegations that Hascoët behaved inappropriately around women extended to the office as well. In a meeting at Ubisoft's headquarters in Paris, one of the top creative leads on a big game was presenting to Hascoet and other decision-makers at the company. When the lead, a woman, left the room to use the bathroom, Hascoët pulled up a YouTube video, according to two people present at the meeting. He played a French song describing sexually explicit acts with a woman who has the same name as the presenter. Read the rest
Trump's re-election campaign and supporting political action committees have already spent $983m to try and secure him a second term, a record for this point in a presidential run, reports The Washington Post. Joe Biden's spending trails so far behind as to be both reassuring (he has a double-digit polling lead anyway) and alarming (quantity has a quality of its own.)Despite the historic spending, Trump has been slipping in national polls and approval ratings amid the spread of the coronavirus and a weakened economy. Biden holds a double-digit lead nationally and Trump faces a narrow path to victory through electoral college majority in battleground states, according to a Washington Post analysis.It's funny how threadbare the results of the spending seem to be--a handful of amateurish campaign ads and sparsely-attended rallies--and tempting to imagine that his campaign is acting as a cash funnel to the proverbial swiss accounts he'll end up exiled to. But the spending has hardly begun, and that prospective Biden win is nowhere near secure. A lot of people will be debagged and defenestrated should Trump be turfed out of office and the incentives to keep him in it are vast Read the rest
The ACLU says it is suing the administration of Donald Trump "for imprisoning Michael Cohen in retaliation for his plans to publish a book" critical of the president.“We're suing the federal government for imprisoning Michael Cohen in retaliation for his plans to publish a book critical of Trump,” @ACLU tweeted late Monday night.“We will defend the First Amendment from government censorship — as we have for a century now.”BREAKING: We're suing the federal government for imprisoning Michael Cohen in retaliation for his plans to publish a book critical of Trump.We will defend the First Amendment from government censorship — as we have for a century now.— ACLU (@ACLU) July 21, 2020Habeus petition filed by @ACLU on behalf of @MichaelCohen212 seeking his immediate release to home confinement. https://t.co/6XvlAOK16k— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) July 21, 2020 Read the rest
Trump outspent Biden in June by $13.4 million dollars. Also, in June Trump also spent about twice what he spent the month prior.Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden's presidential campaign spent $36.9 million in June, ending the month with $108.9 million in cash, according to a disclosure filed on Monday with the Federal Election Commission.Biden's campaign ended the month with $108.9 million in cash, according to a disclosure filed on Monday with the Federal Election Commission. [Read more at Reuters].Impeached U.S. President Donald Trump's re-election campaign increased spending in June, spending more than $50 million - about twice what Trump spent the month before.Trump ended the month with $113 million in cash, according to a disclosure filed on Monday with the Federal Election Commission. Trump’s campaign funneled money into television ads as public opinion polls showed his Democratic opponent Joe Biden increasingly building a significant lead ahead of the Nov. 3 election. [Read more at Reuters] Read the rest
We’re a latest and greatest kind of culture. We want the newest, shiniest, fastest piece of tech in existence -- and many are willing to pay top dollar for the privilege of saying no one owns one better.The reality is that life at the tech pinnacle is incredibly fleeting. Within months, sometimes weeks, even the most hyped new technology is inevitably surpassed. But does that make that computer or device or accessory less valuable than when it was the hottest item on store shelves? No. It just means someone created something a tiny bit faster or more powerful or more versatile.In many cases, old tech gets cast aside when it’s still got years of valuable service left in its trusty innards. And if you can land fully certified, refurbished equipment guaranteed to run like new like these Dell Optiplex 7010 desktop PCs, you score premium computing at often hugely cut-rate prices.Each of these desktop units has been checked through a thorough testing and refurbishing process by a Microsoft Authorized Refurbisher to ensure every computer is running as well as the day it rolled off the assembly line.Powered by the reliable performance of an Intel Quad-Core i5 processor with 16MB of memory, it’s more than up to the task of handling everything from everyday web surfing and correspondence to hardcore multitasking using multiple apps at once. In fact, those Intel processors are only a tick behind the abilities of Intel chips currently running industry-leading computers topping the 2020 marketplace. Read the rest