Whether you’re dedicated to practicing with an instrument or just want to learn to play for the first time, diving into music can be daunting. One of the steepest learning curves for budding musicians is reading and understanding sheet music, the backbone of virtually any musical performance.But, thanks to modern technology that learning curve might not be so steep for long. While it’s still seldom a simple process, aids like Tomplay Interactive Sheet Music can not only speed up a student’s learning but also offer some great accompaniment to already accomplished musicians always looking to sharpen their skills.Tomplay works with almost two dozen different instruments, including everything from the biggies like the piano, violin, or guitar all the way to less prominent instruments like the oboe, harp or tuba.Fire it up, select from the extensive archive of more than 18,000 titles covering pop, jazz, classical and more, then let Tomplay scroll the sheet music automatically on your screen, all displayed in time with the music itself.Tomplay scores are designed to be appropriate to the skill of each musician from beginner to expert, allowing users to just follow the cursor and focus on the score, while working on their listening skills.And the accompaniment isn’t one of those mid-80s keyboard MIDI arrangements either. Each high-quality audio track was recorded by professional musicians or licensed from the original recordings, so you can hear how your playing sounds with true experts.Students can slow down or speed up the pace as the learning advances and even record themselves so they can listen back to their playing and troubleshoot areas to work on. Read the rest

The president is nuts.

• “New transit alerts show you when your trip is likely to be affected by COVID-19 restrictions”• “Safely avoid crowds on public transit” “In our latest release of Google Maps on Android and iOS, we’re introducing features to help you easily find important information if you need to venture out, whether it’s by car or public transportation,” says Google Maps Product Management Director Ramesh Nagarajan in a blog post announcing some new COVID-19 features for the navigation app.Excerpt:When you look up public transit directions for a trip that is likely to be affected by COVID-19 restrictions, we’ll show relevant alerts from local transit agencies. These alerts can help you prepare accordingly if government mandates impact transit services or require you to wear a mask on public transportation. Transit alerts are rolling out in Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Colombia, France, India, Mexico, Netherlands, Spain, Thailand, United Kingdom and the U.S. where we have information from local transit agencies, with more coming soon. We’re also introducing driving alerts to notify you about COVID-19 checkpoints and restrictions along your route, like when crossing national borders (starting first in Canada, Mexico and the U.S.). You’ll see an alert on the directions screen and after starting navigation if your route is impacted by these restrictions. (...)To ensure proper social distancing, commuters are paying attention to how crowded or comfortable their ride and transit station will be. Starting today, you can easily see the times when a transit station is historically more or less busy to plan your trip accordingly or you can look at live data showing how busy it is right now compared to its usual level of activity. Read the rest

Game engines aren’t just the lifeblood of the video game industry. They may soon be the lifeblood of Hollywood.Since emerging in the late ’90s, the Unreal game engine has quickly become one of the world’s foremost tools for game creators. Now, Disney’s hit Star Wars spinoff series The Mandalorian is using Unreal as well.Artists are generating digitally-created settings and worlds in real-time via Unreal, then projecting those images on giant LED screens in the background of live-action scenes. Saving production crews time, money, and resources, it’s a revolutionary advancement that could soon change the way big-budget film and TV shows are made -- all because of a game engine. You can find out why everyone is using Unreal right now with the training found in The Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Learning Unreal Engine for Game Design and Animation.In this package, users get eight courses exploring every facet of creating with Unreal, from character design and game mechanics to generating a 3D world that can be just as compelling as the game action itself.First-timers can get up to speed with The Absolute Beginner's Guide to Learning Unreal Engine 4, a comprehensive look at Unreal’s tools, commands, and capabilities. After understanding scene setup, importing assets, rendering and more, each additional course delves into more specialized areas offering different accent points to make your game world feel real.Four of these courses focus in on your game characters, including in-depth explorations of how each of your characters live in a 3D world. Read the rest

A decade ago, Santa Fe author and antiques dealer Forrest Fenn, 89, hid a treasure chest containing $1 million in gold, diamonds, rubies, and emeralds somewhere in the Rocky Mountains. A poem in Fenn's memoir, titled "The Thrill of the Chase," contained clues to the treasure's location and he hoped hunting for it would inspire families to enjoy nature and the adventure. (For more, watch the 2016 video above.) Now, Fenn reports that someone from "back East" found the treasure but does not want to be named. It's a wonderful tale except for the deaths, lawsuits, and arrests. From the Santa Fe New Mexican:An estimated 350,000 people have hunted for Fenn’s treasure. Some quit their jobs to do so. But it’s had deadly consequences. At least five people have died while searching for the chest.Barbara Andersen, a Chicago real estate attorney, said she is filing an injunction in federal District Court alleging she solved the puzzle but was hacked by someone she doesn’t know.“He stole my solve,” she said in an interview. “He followed and cheated me to get the chest."[...]And still others believe the treasure never existed — or had already been given away.“I think his announcement is at least a few years, and a few lives, too late. But he has to live with that. I believe this was over much earlier than today,” said treasure hunter Seth Wallack."Forrest Fenn confirms his treasure has been found" (Santa Fe New Mexican) Read the rest

In 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote his iconic "Letter from the Birmingham Jail," a profoundly important message that King's adviser and friend Dr. Clarence B. Jones called a "symphony of social justice." In 2018, Oakland composer Zachary Watkins (Black Spirituals) wrote Peace Be Till for the contemporary classical group Kronos Quartet, in honor of Dr. King's activism. The staggering excerpt above features Dr. Jones, currently director of the University of San Francisco Institute for Nonviolence and Social Justice, reads from the "Letter from the Birmingham Jail."Film edited by Evan Neff. Peace Be Till premiered on January 19, 2018, at New York City's Carnegie Hall during "The ’60s: The Years that Changed America" festival. Read the rest

I've said it before and I'll say it again -- restoration videos are a balm these days -- at least for me (and I assume other weirdos like me). There is something particularly wholesome and hopeful about taking something exhausted and broken and giving it new life again.And one of the best in the business is Eric of Hand Tool Rescue. I could watch these videos for hours.In this episode, he restores an especially cool old machine, a 1965 "Flymo" hovering lawn mower. I want one of these bad, now. Read the rest

Alissa Skelton reports in the Omaha World Herald that a Nebraska woman, Sylvia Driskell, 66, who claims to be “an ambassador for God and his son, Jesus Christ,” has filed a lawsuit against “all homosexuals.” She is representing herself in the case.“Citing Bible verses, Driskell contends ‘that homosexuality is a sin and that they the homosexuals know it is a sin to live a life of homosexuality. Why else would they have been hiding in the closet(?)’”"Driskell wrote in a seven-page petition to the court that God has said homosexuality is an abomination. She challenged the court to not call God a liar," Skelton's story says. Read the rest

Prosecutors in the U.S. have demanded an interview with Prince Andrew, pal of dead billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Andrew, himself accused of raping one of the then-girls Epstein trafficked, has no plans to subject himself to further scrutiny.The request, made under a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, or MLAT, is similar to a subpoena in this case for Prince Andrew's testimony. It's a rare move to seek an interview like this through MLAT, officials say, and it's focused on making sure the investigation is as thorough as possible. U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman foreshadowed the move in March when he said he would consider legal action after Prince Andrew's representatives had closed the door to an interview. "Contrary to Prince Andrew's very public offer to cooperate with our investigation into Epstein's co-conspirators, an offer that was conveyed via press release, Prince Andrew has now completely shut the door on voluntary cooperation," Berman said, adding that his office is "considering its options." Read the rest

Randy Rainbow is burning Don down in "The Bunker Boy," his latest song parody!YT Commenter:Trump: holds up a bible in front of protestorsRandy: He acts like he knows how to read.GO RAINBOW!!!screengrab via Randy Rainbow/YouTube Read the rest

Apple AirPods have become the default earbuds beloved by millions. Unfortunately, they also cost $159, so it’s no surprise that since they were first introduced in 2016, companies have battled to produce comparable headphones at a lower price.The UK-designed and engineered Veho STIX true wireless earphones may have cracked that particular problem, striking a formidable balance between stellar sound quality and affordability that should make AirPod buyers reconsider. In a head-to-head competition with all the top flight earbuds on the market, the Veho STIX certainly hold their own, powered by premium audio drivers to deliver a high-end balanced sound. Easy connectable via Bluetooth 5.0, these earphones let you play music from your device at a range of up to 33 feet.With a water-resistant body that makes the STIX ideal for sports or braving the great outdoors, these headphones also feature built-in smart touch technology, allowing you to easily control your music or hands-free calls.Meanwhile, the Veho STIX also come with their own rechargeable docking case, offering on-the-go charging that can extend your battery life up to 2 hours before the case needs to be plugged in and recharged itself.The ergonomically engineered earbuds fit comfortably in the ears, making them perfect gym companions while powering through sweaty, gritty workouts or rugged enough to serve on extended missions outside, even if there’s some weather in the forecast.Even stacked against their premium audio quality and overall toughness, the strongest endorsement of the Veho STIX might just be their price, which on sale is a far cry from the list price of their Apple competitors. Read the rest

Best known for his "Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions" and the ever-ubiquitous MAD Fold-In, cartoonist Al Jaffee has retired today at the age of 99, making him the longest working cartoonist in history.Jaffee began his career working for Marvel pre-cursors Timely and Atlas Comics in the early 1940s but settled into his lifelong position with the usual gang of idiots at Mad Magazine beginning in 1955. It 1964, he cultivated one of mankind's all-time greatest inventions: the fold-in. It was always a dilemma - how to fold it just enough to see the hidden image without ruining the entire back cover?Jaffee talks about the origin of his other most enduring gag series, Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions, in this video from Heeb Magazine founder Jeff Newelt .Let's honor his life's achievements by making our own Fold-In and Snappy Answer tributes today.Q: Why did Al Jaffee retire?A: He decided to pursue his actual lifelong dream and become a stuntman.A: MAD Magazine reneged on his contract by neglecting to pick all of the green M&M's out of his backstage catering tray.A: He felt like waiting until 100 was just showing off.From The Washington Post:Jaffee said in a 2016 Baltimore Comic-Con session that hardship sharpened his humor. He was born in Savannah, Ga., but life grew rough during the six years of childhood he spent on a shtetl in his mother’s Zarasai — what he called “the Siberia of Lithuania” — with food in short supply and no running waters or toys. Read the rest

A half-hour special episode on how police in America respond to protests against police brutality: with greater brutality, armed for war.As nationwide protests over the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor are met with police brutality, John Oliver discusses how the histories of policing and white supremacy are intertwined, the roadblocks to fixing things, and some potential paths forward. Read the rest

Instagram isn’t just for tweens and foodies. In fact, the image-heavy platform not only wants to mint new Instagram influencers — it also wants to make them rich. In the last few weeks, the company announced ad revenue sharing on IGTV videos, special badges you can buy from your favorite accounts through Instagram Live, merchandise sales via Instagram Shopping, and more access to its new sponsorship program Brand Collabs Manager feature.With IG usership still on the rise, marketers are increasingly taking notice of the financial gains to be had from a strong presence on the platform. Now, you can leverage the power of Instagram for your own merchandising or promotional campaigns with the training in The 2020 Ultimate Instagram Influencer and Marketing Bundle.Over six courses, this training uses already proven tactics to help turn even IG agnostics into believers capable of harnessing Instagram’s increasing reach to cultivate followers, engage, build brand loyalty and create a culture of awareness around a product or business.Training begins with the basics, including how you actually get started drawing attention. From creating fun content and finding potential fans, the Instagram Marketing 2020: Step-by-Step to 10,000+ Followers course is an easy-to-understand game plan for bringing over 10,000 Instagramers to your account in just a few days.While Instagram Marketing For Newbies and Small Business tackles ways to help small business owners avoid common IG problems, 10 Instagram Growth Secrets From Celebrities and Influencers turns the attention to some of the public faces who have most benefited from an Instagram presence. Read the rest

There’s a case to be made that animation might be the most labor-intensive storytelling method out there. For every second of finished film, animators have to create 12 different moving character images, each minutely adjusted to give the illusion of fluid motion. And that’s in addition to the background drawings and any other elements needed to bring a scene to life.For most of us, our hands would be cramping before we’d finished a half-second of usable footage. But thanks to tech advantages, we’ve got some much more time-efficient means for rendering animation, including some that don’t really require you to be an animator or even much of an artist to produce some fantastic work. You can get a grasp on how to create cool animation for presentations, social media, or just an old-fashioned film with The Complete Cartoon Animator 4 Pro Bundle. With CCA4, you can add anything from basic motion all the way to highly intricate movements to almost any 2D image. With their motion capture innovations, you have the ability to turn basically any drawing, character, or creature into a live digital puppet with real-time animated movement. CCA4 even allows you to basically “play” your animated character yourself, shooting yourself on a smartphone, then integrating your movements directly into the physicality of your cartoon alter-ego. Using character templates and extensive motion libraries, you can make a cat talk with mouth movements that perfectly mimic human speech, help your company’s logo jump off the page and dance, or give a classic artwork a voice and personality all its own. Read the rest

Look, with everything going on right now, there's a good chance you might have missed some of the cool products offered up over the past few days, all at healthy savings off their original price.We’d feel like we were doing you a disservice if we didn’t give you one last shot at ‘em. To help us all sleep at night, they’re all assembled below. Jump in...the water’s fine!Home ImprovementCheck Clipboard - $20.99; originally $24Sure, it looks like an average clipboard...and yeah, it’s a clipboard. However, it does have a tight clip for holding thick stacks of paper, even up to beefy memo pads. And hey...whose desk or workspace doesn’t look for efficient and organized with a clipboard on it?TP-Link Kasa Smart Home WiFi Plug (2-Pack) - $48.95; originally $68.53This smart power plug lets you control electrical devices anywhere, all with the power of your smartphone. Plug it in and light up your house even when there’s nobody home — or fire up the space heater before you get back to make the house nice and toasty warm when you get there.The possibilities are endless.JASHEN V16 Cordless Vacuum Cleaner - $164.99; originally $299.99Powered by a 350-watt digital brushless motor and sporting a built-in filter sensor, the V16 provides strong suction to lift embedded dirt and stain with ease and zero noise. With the dust brush, you can modify to clean hard floors too. And it’s all powered by a rechargeable 2,500mAh battery that delivers up to 40 minutes of runtime on a single charge. Read the rest

When you think of the single program that seems to absolutely epitomize business in all its forms, you probably think of Microsoft Excel. It’s been around for three decades, it’s the cornerstone of the ubiquitous Microsoft Office suite and that neat, ordered grid of a spreadsheet is synonymous with 21st-century commerce.While many have Excel on their resumes, far fewer actually know how to use this valuable business tool to the full extent of its power. Now, users can get the in-depth user knowledge to take your spreadsheet projects to their heights with the training in The 2020 Master Microsoft Excel and Power BI Certification Bundle.This collection brings together eight courses aimed at demystifying this venerable app, laying out the full scope of Excel’s spreadsheet-loving, data-manipulating power.Everything kicks off with Microsoft Excel - Excel with Excel Pivot Tables Bootcamp, the most comprehensive Excel Pivot Table online course ever created, packed with over 200 short targeted tutorials. Whether you’re a first-timer or an experienced user, this course will offer the guidelines for analyzing data, formulating conclusions, and presenting findings in insightful, interactive ways. In fact, this course promises to turn users into advanced Excel experts within a week.With the Bootcamp setting your baseline knowledge, the other seven courses cover major Excel topics, all in timeframes of two hours or less. Want to know how to use Power Query to bring data sets together for analysis? In 120 minutes, you will. How about integrating SQL Database Queries with your Excel sheets? Read the rest

You’d think the biggest complaint that can be leveled about a pair of earbuds is that they just don’t sound all that great. Granted, there are plenty of cut-rate headphones that fall under that category, but we’d wager the pet peeve that makes most users throw away earbuds in frustration is when they just don’t fit in your ears comfortably.Sometimes, they’re too small. Other times, they’re too large. They’re either too loose, too plastic-y or just feel like you’re wearing weights in your ears. Even with many earbuds coming with extra sets of randomly sized ear tips to supposedly fit any ear, there are lots of instances where that just doesn’t happen. That won’t be a problem with the Decibullz wireless earphones, the first DIY custom-molded headphones that will actually stay in your ears no matter what.They were designed by former gymnastics coach Kyle Kirkpatrick, who got tired of dealing with headphones that constantly fell out, sounded awful or hurt his ears. After consulting with audio engineers, material specialists and high-level athletes, he came up with the Decibullz system that contours earbuds to the unique shape of each person’s ears.All you have to do is heat the Decibullz thermoplastic molds in boiling water, then let them cool for a minute before shaping them to your ears. That’s it. Once they’ve settled, you’ve got earbuds that won’t be a constant struggle. And if you somehow botch the process, it’s no problem. Decibullz custom earbuds are completely re-moldable, so you can go through the process again -- and get it right this time. Read the rest

Cole Carini, a 23-year-old Virginia man who turned up at hospital missing his hands and peppered with shrapnel, claims he was hurt in a lawnmower accident. the FBI, however, says he's a misogynist who fantasized about blowing up hot cheerleaders and was trying to assemble a bomb.On June 2, Cole Carini of Richlands, Virginia, showed up at the Clinch Valley Medical Center with a missing hand. Several fingers on Carini’s other hand were also gone, and he had shrapnel wounds to the neck and throat. ... When investigators got to the residence, they found a trail of blood leading from a red minivan parked in the driveway to the front door of the house, and up the stairs to a second-floor bedroom, according to the affidavit. After stepping over a “flesh colored substance that...looked like a piece of human skin,” cops found a plastic bottle filled with triacetone triperoxide, or TATP, a “substance used in the creation of improvised explosive devices,” inside a footlocker. Beside the footlocker was a box filled with rusty nails, and a plastic container, the top of which had been “peeled back in a manner consistent with an explosion,” the affidavit says. The blinds in the room were damaged, and a chunk of flesh was stuck to the ceiling. And here's the penned fantasy they claim is relevant:“He casually walked through the shopping mall, his jacket concealed deadly objects,” the letter read, parts of which were illegible. “He was doing it and was assured it must be done. Read the rest

After work on the Golden Gate Bridge's sidewalks to bolster their wind resistance, nearby residents of San Francisco are complaining that the 1.7 mile-long structure makes a creepy droning noise when it's windy. The mysterious and unsettling tone is heard in videos posted by Alberto Martinez, Mark Krueger and @reedm. It's a spectacular example of engineering neglect.Anthony J.:“Engineers designed new sides for the sidewalk to help with wind resistance but didn’t take into account the EXTREME sound it creates when wind passes through it. The bridge sings crazy songs now it’s so trippy. It hurts the ears and unbearable it’s that loud.”Anthony J.:“Engineers designed new sides for the sidewalk to help with wind resistance but didn’t take into account the EXTREME sound it creates when wind passes through it. The bridge sings crazy songs now it’s so trippy. It hurts the ears and unbearable it’s that loud.” pic.twitter.com/GWdVia1GNS— Mark Krueger (@markkrueg) June 6, 2020Can someone explain me why is this eerie sound has been going on for an hour in #SanFrancisco #presidio #sound #eerie #whatisthis #2020SoFar #2020BingoCard pic.twitter.com/gS4ui2WSxh— Alberto Martinez A (@betogilardino) June 5, 2020TIL: The Golden Gate Bridge has just become the world’s largest wind instrument.No, but seriously:There is now a permanent creepy 3-tone dissonant soundtrack flooding San Francisco thanks to some recently completed bridge construction. pic.twitter.com/05ImVT7Im7— ʀeeᴅ (@reedm) June 6, 2020Photo: Ed Dunens (CC BY 2.0) Read the rest

Itch.io today announced the Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality, a collection of 744 games worth $3,400. You can download and experience the lot for a minimum donation of $5.We live in a time of racial injustice, inequality, and police brutality against black people. We hope that everyone takes a stand in any way that they can. We’ve partnered with creators from all across our platform to support organizations that are working directly with those affected.We reached out to our community and an unprecedented number of creators donated over 740 projects to be part of what we believe is the largest bundle ever. Over $3,400 of paid works are available Pay-what-you-want with a minimum donation amount of $5. All proceeds will donated to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and Community Bail Fund split 50/50. Please note: No Steam (or other external keys) will be given for bundle purchases. Only direct downloads will be available on the itch.io page.If you’re looking for more ways to help try here: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/$234,000 raised in about 6 hours! ? I've bumped the goal to $500k. Thank you so much to those who bought the bundle and the those who donated their projects.BTW, 185 new projects have already been submitted and will be added tomorrow!https://t.co/31vXCJjkk1— leaf @ itch.io ? (@moonscript) June 6, 2020The servers seem to be having some trouble: if it doesn't come up for you, drag this URL to your bookmarks and try it again later: https://itch.io/b/520/bundle-for-racial-justice-and-equality Read the rest

This was on Fox News, as reported by a number of reporters and viewers: a chart showing upticks in the S&P 500 stock index after killings of black people and the acquittal of the police offers filmed beating Rodney King. The defense is that it's a fact. Facts can't be racist, can they? There's no element of choice in how facts are identified, put in context and presented, is there? Maybe Fox News is actually critiquing capitalism!I have revised the old joke from The Simpsons to bring it up to date. ↓2. Here’s the video of the graphic as it aired on Fox News this evening. pic.twitter.com/Iww2DnzkkI— Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) June 5, 2020Someone pitched this. Someone dug up these data. Someone made this graphic. Someone approved this. @SusanLiTV fronted it. pic.twitter.com/ltmbEMPDf5— David Gura (@davidgura) June 6, 2020 Read the rest

Father’s Day is June 21st, otherwise known as the roughest shopping day of the year. Don’t get us wrong, Dad deserves an awesome gift for all the great things he gave you. But let’s be honest — buying for your father is often a chore. Your gift has to take into account what he already has, what he wants, what he’ll use, and what will actually elicit a smile. And if it also sends the message that he was a pretty great Dad and you feel lucky to have him...well, that’s bonus points.To help streamline the process, we’ve assembled 40 cool Father’s Day ideas into this handy gift guide. And on top of that, you can also get an additional 15 percent off when you use the code GIFTFORDAD15 during checkout. On top of the fun gift, he’ll also give you props for being smart.And a hint to all you dads out there — send this link to your kids with a couple of helpful suggestions. They’ll appreciate your usual well-reasoned guidance. As always.For the well-groomed DadPopeye Shaving Gift Set - $42.49 after discount; originally $61.99 It’s a collection worthy of The Sailor Man himself, a three-step shave regimen of pre-shave oil, shave cream, and a post-shave lotion that’ll clean up the scruffiest of sea dogs. Well, blow me down!Brutus Beard Company 3-Piece Gift Set - $33.99 after discount; originally $50.99The beard deserves all the treatment Dad gives the hair on his head, so this all-natural, chemical-free assortment featuring a 3-in-1 beard wash cleaner, a beard balm conditioner and some beard oil to maintain a manly mane that holds, feels soft and looks well-groomed. Read the rest

Even in horrible economic times, a few simple rules hold unshakably true. And one of those rules is that if you possess an in-demand skill, you’ll always find work — and often, at a top market salary, to boot.If you understand Big Data and how to find order from the chaos of massive stockpiles of raw information, you can land a six-figure salary. Even now. And if you know how to program machines to think and respond for themselves, you’re in an even better position to make a very comfortable living.If you’re unsure about your career future or just want to change your tax bracket, the training in The Complete 2020 Big Data and Machine Learning Bundle can hand you everything you need to start down the path toward life as a Big Data analyst or machine learning engineer.Across 10 courses hosting almost 70 hours of content, this instruction explains the ins and outs of these exploding job fields, even for those who have no experience with statistics or advanced technology.Half of the courses here look deeply into the process of using big data, the vast amounts of structured and unstructured information that most businesses collect on a daily basis. Of course, you’ll never get on top of that tidal wave with your eyes and a ream of spreadsheets, so these courses examine the key analytical tools and language data experts use to organize findings and extract mining for all that unprocessed data. The training covers industry-leading processes and software like Scala, Hadoop, Elasticsearch, MapReduce and Apache Spark, all valuable means to unlock the secrets hidden inside that mountain of numbers. Read the rest

“We, the National Football League, believe Black Lives Matter.”

This is sure an interesting Friday, with Reddit and Facebook and now Amazon CEOs and founders speaking about Black Lives Matter and the protests surrounding the police killing of George Floyd.“I got this email from a customer and wanted to share my response,” writes Bezos on Instagram.He's responding to an Amazon customer who is upset the company is selling “Black Lives Matter” themed items.“I have to disagree with you. 'Black Lives Matter' doesn't mean that other lives don't matter. Black Lives Matter speaks to racism and the disproportionate risk that Black people face in our law enforcement and justice system,” writes Jeff Bezos in the post. View this post on Instagram I got this email from a customer and wanted to share my response.A post shared by Jeff Bezos (@jeffbezos) on Jun 5, 2020 at 3:05pm PDT Reddit to honor Ohanian's request to appoint Black director, and address anti-Black hate'Black lives matter' —Mark Zuckerberg, who says Facebook may change policy on state violence, voter suppression Read the rest

Roger Stone was convicted of witness intimidation and lying to Congress.

Yes, we regret to inform you that Large Adult President Donald Trump said something stupid again on the Twitters.Tweeted the impeached Donald:...We should be standing up straight and tall, ideally with a salute, or a hand on heart. There are other things you can protest, but not our Great American Flag - NO KNEELING!NO KNEELING. Read the rest

"Black lives matter," said Mark Zuckerberg today."We're building a voter hub to double down on our previous get-out-the-vote efforts,” wrote the Facebook founder and CEO in a lengthy blog post on Friday after a week of protests throughout the U.S.“In 2016, we ran one of the largest get out the vote efforts in history. I expect us to do even better in 2020." Huge if true. Skeptical, based on all we know.From the Facebook blog post:Mark ZuckerbergI just shared the following note with our employees, and I want to share it with all of you as well.---As we continue to process this difficult moment, I want to acknowledge the real pain expressed by members of our community. I also want to acknowledge that the decision I made last week has left many of you angry, disappointed and hurt. So I am especially grateful that, despite your heartfelt disagreement, you remain focused on taking positive steps to move forward. That can't be easy, so I just want to say I hear you and I'm grateful.I believe our platforms can play a positive role in helping to heal the divisions in our society, and I'm committed to making sure our work pulls in this direction. To all of you who have already worked tirelessly on ideas to improve, I thank you. You're making a difference, and together we'll make a difference. And while we will continue to stand for giving everyone a voice and erring on the side of free expression in these difficult decisions -- even when it's speech we strongly and viscerally disagree with -- I'm committed to making sure we also fight for voter engagement and racial justice too. Read the rest

• Founder to leave Reddit, saying resignation can be ‘act of leadership’• Reddit promises to update content moderation policies to “explicitly address hate” within weeksEarlier today, we told you that Reddit's Alexis Ohanian was resigning from the Reddit board, asked the company to fill his seat with a Black candidate, and said he'd donate further proceeds from Reddit to anti-racism causes beginning with a $1M pledge to Colin Kaepernick's “Know Your Rights Camp.” Now, Reddit has responded.Reddit community demanding change in hate speech policy. Exciting times.https://t.co/2dt5JB4avE— Alexis Ohanian Sr. ? (@alexisohanian) June 5, 2020Reports Hannah Murphy at the Financial Times:In a lengthy statement later on Friday, Steve Huffman, Reddit’s chief executive, said that the company would “honour” the request by Mr Ohanian that his successor be a black candidate.He added the company would update its content moderation policies to “explicitly address hate”, adding that the timeline would be “weeks, not months” if moderators of individual forums engage in the process.“[Our] current policy lists only what you cannot do, articulates none of the values behind the rules, and does not explicitly take a stance on hate or racism,” he said. “We will update our content policy to include a vision for Reddit and its communities to aspire to, a statement on hate, the context for the rules, and a principle that Reddit isn’t to be used as a weapon.”Read more: Reddit pledges to appoint black director after Ohanian quits[ft.com] Read the rest

This interview presents a conversation with Xeric Award-winning Canadian cartoonist Kevin Mutch about The Rough Pearl (Fantagraphics, 2020), his new graphic novel which addresses issues surrounding the intersection of class and race privilege in the “precariat” creative communities in and around New York City.Jeffery Klaehn: Thanks for the interview, Kevin!! Please tell me about The Rough Pearl.Kevin Mutch: The Rough Pearl is an autobiographical fantasy — a mixture of truth and fiction in roughly equal parts — about a would-be artist named Adam in New York City in the 1990s. He has a crappy adjunct teaching job, a wife who makes a lot more money than him, and an ill-advised crush on a student. And he seems to be losing his mind — he keeps seeing zombies and aliens and ghosts!Adam is someone who grew up being told that the world was full of possibilities, but he’s come to see that it isn’t that way anymore (if it ever was). He had all these romantic ideas about being an artist, living in New York, being with beautiful women, and now he realizes all of those dreams have become impossible — until suddenly they all become possible again, all at once.Unfortunately, he’s been having a harder and harder time determining what’s “real” and what isn’t — either he’s going crazy or he’s bleeding into parallel universes, the book is sort of ambiguous about that, heh — so he has a very difficult time navigating all of this. Read the rest

We live in a disposable era. If you can’t fix a broken item with a wrap of duct tape, there’s a very strong likelihood that its next destination is the trashcan. However, that probably leads to a trigger-finger death sentence for many household items that could be saved with just a bit more ingenuity. Before you toss broken sunglasses, ceramics, splintered wood, or anything that’s taken some minor damage, the sneaky resourceful Sugru Moldable Glue might just be able to bring it back from the dead.Sugru comes out of the package soft and malleable like Play-Doh, but after a little molding, it can be shaped to stick permanently to all kinds of materials, including ceramics, glass, metal, wood, rubber, and most plastics and fabrics. With its versatility, Sugru can be pressed into service to fix all kinds of broken, torn, or frayed items or used in a host of creative DIY projects. Sugru is freezer-proof, heatproof, dishwasher-proof, weatherproof, waterproof, UV-resistant, and electrically insulating, so its applications are as vast as your imagination.Once you expose it to air, you’ve got 30 minutes to mold the Sugru into its desired shape. Just wrap it or contour it the way you want, let it set for 24 hours, then it’s ready to go. Sugru doesn’t dry like a rock, retaining some flexibility while preserving the bond to the item, so it won’t crack or get brittle.You can use this high-tech putty to fix a refrigerator shelf, earbuds, leaky hoses, or even torn shoes or clothing. Read the rest

I live in a house with three other people, who have long hair. A lot of it ends up going down the bathroom sink and clogging the drain.I used to use Zip-It drain cleaners, but I recently tried a Drain Weasel and found it to be much better at getting all the gunky hair out of the pipe.The business end of the Drain Weasel has a tip of velcro-like fabric. You stick it down the drain and then turn the crank. It will grab all the hair.The drain cleaning wands are meant to be replaced after each use but the Drain Weasel people said you can clean off the tip, if you dare, and re-use it. As a cheapskate, I cleaned off the tip and it looks good as new, ready for the next clogged sink. Read the rest

A psychedelic pharmaceutical company is asking the FDA to allow it to run a commercial LSD trial to treat people with anxiety, reports Vice. MindMed's CEO is hopeful that his company will get permission to run the trial (dubbed "Project Lucy"), since the FDA has already approved trials with psilocybin and MDMA.From Vice:MindMed is proposing a high-dose LSD treatment (200mcg or about two tabs) for people with anxiety. Currently that can’t happen anywhere in the world due to LSD’s Schedule I status, except for Switzerland, where Dr. Peter Gasser has been doing this research for over 10 years.LSD is still a banned Schedule I substance in Switzerland, but in part because of its unique history as the birthplace of LSD, the ministry of health granted Gasser special permission to use it in his research. In 2007, he began the first controlled trial of LSD.“When the patient takes the substance, he or she is supervised by a therapist the entire time. They come to the office at 8:30 a.m., they get the drug, and then they stay until 8:30 p.m. That’s 12 hours in our facility in which they are supervised. We watch them, and we guide them through the experience,” Gasser told VICE News.Image: Jumpstory / CC0 Read the rest

Brandon E. McCormick says he brought a hunting bow and a large knife to a Salt Lake City protest because he wanted to protect the police. Instead of protecting cops, he was beaten by protestors when he drew his weapon on them and has been charged with three felonies. If he gets convicted and sent to prison, he won't have to acclimate to life as an inmate. From The Salt Lake Tribune:Now the 57-year-old Taylorsville man, who has spent nearly two decades of his life behind bars in California and once was convicted of battery against a public safety officer, faces three felony counts for, widely shared video has shown, aiming his weapon at protesters....McCormick, whose Facebook page says he is originally from Barstow, Calif., has shared his views before on the social media website, posting racist memes and talking about wanting to go back in time to “take out” former President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton when they were “in the crib.”In a May 21 post, McCormick shared with his followers that "if you didn’t grow up during the cold war and or you and or your anaesters [ancestors] are here ileagely [illegally]. You shouldn’t be alloud [allowed] to vote!!!!” (Bracketed spellings have been corrected.)Image: YouTube Read the rest

This video for Elvis Costello's new song, No Flag, is like a blast from the 1980s, and yet it's also tailor made for 2020.From Rolling Stone:Although he recorded the track in February, according to a statement, the song is fitting for the current frustrations plaguing the world. “No time for this kind of love/No flag waving high above,” Costello sings. “No sign for the dark place that I live/No God for the damn that I don’t give.”He recorded the track in three days in Helsinki, Finland at Suomenlinnan Studio, which is about a 20-minute ferry ride away from downtown. “I wanted to go somewhere nobody knew me,” Costello said in a statement. “So, this is ‘The Helsinki Sound.'” Read the rest

Why is it that, according to WHO, 80% of the population have mild or no symptoms from Covid-19, while another 15% are so severe they need oxygen, and the last 5% require ventilators? Scientists think it might have to do with genetics, including your blood type. According to a new study published in medRxiv, people with Type A blood who have Covid-19 are linked with having a 50% higher chance of ending up on oxygen or a ventilator.From The New York Times:Variations at two spots in the human genome are associated with an increased risk of respiratory failure in patients with Covid-19, the researchers found. One of these spots includes the gene that determines blood types.Having Type A blood was linked to a 50 percent increase in the likelihood that a patient would need to get oxygen or to go on a ventilator, according to the new study.The findings suggest that relatively unexplored factors may be playing a large role in who develops life-threatening Covid-19. The new study is currently going through peer review.Image: By Zappy's Technology Solutions / Flickr Read the rest

From Hamilton, Ontario, it's The Vaudevillian, an old-timey ragtimey troupe! Below, a clip from last week with the band now as a duo. They say that "as well as performing at festivals and theaters around Canada, they host interactive Washboard Workshops and interactive Musical Spoon Workshops all across the country and to date have taught over 1400+ participants in this past year alone."(Thanks, Bob Pescovitz!) Read the rest

“I will use future gains on my Reddit stock to serve the black community, chiefly to curb racial hate”

“Hopefully George is looking down right now and saying this is a great thing that’s happening for our country.”

At least two of the three men charged this week with plotting violence at a Las Vegas anti-racism protest participated in “Boogaloo” groups on Facebook, an FBI criminal complaint says. In response, Facebook is making it harder to find user groups associated with the term “Boogaloo,” the company said on Friday. The term has been appropriated by white supremacist accelerationists who want to stoke a “race war” or the collapse of society and government, or some combination of both.Facebook will no longer recommend such groups to members of similar associations, a spokeswoman for the world’s largest social media network said told Joseph Menn at Reuters: Facebook appeared to have been an important factor for organization. According to the federal complaint, all three indicted men were part of a Nevada Boogaloo Facebook group and met at ReOpen rallies, which were organized on Facebook— Jay Hart (@JayHart909) June 4, 2020A series of reports this year by researchers and media have drawn attention to the loose movement and its propagation on social media. In April, an advocacy group called the Tech Transparency Project warned that Boogaloo followers were discussing taking up arms while promoting protests to “liberate” states from coronavirus restrictions.On May 1, Facebook banned the use of Boogaloo and related terms when they accompany pictures of weapons and calls to action, such as preparing for conflict.The specific terms Facebook is was acting against are evolving, it said on Thursday. To evade the scrutiny, many have switched to terms such as “Big Igloo” or “Big Luau” while maintaining the same discussions about weaponry, future wars and conspiracy theories. Read the rest

A man on a bike accosts a group of activists who are putting up flyers asking for justice for George Floyd. He grabs a young girl's arm and takes something out of her hand. “She has nothing, do not touch her, sir!” a woman shouts. He then rams his bike into the person shooting the video. Police are supposedly searching for him. Read more details at The Baltimore Sun. Read the rest

In mid-March, 33-year-old Daniel Thorson checked himself into a silent Buddhist meditation retreat in a remote part of Vermont. On May 23, two-and-a-half months later, he left the retreat and tweeted, "Did I miss anything?"After leaving the retreat, he stopped at a market, and that's when he realized things were amiss. “I would turn a corner in the grocery store, and someone would be there, and they would recoil,” he said. “...At first, I was, like, ‘Whoa, what did I do?’”From The New York Times:It stunned him to discover that the many and various topics that interested him — global warming, electoral politics, the health care system — had been subsumed by a single topic of conversation, the coronavirus. That feeling of confusion deepened when, during his first week back, American cities erupted in protests over the death of George Floyd.“While I was on retreat, there was a collective traumatic emotional experience that I was not a part of,” he said, on the second day. “To what degree do I have to piece it back together?”...He had looked forward to plunging back into his online world, a setting he had always found “nourishing.”But when he reviewed two and a half months of posts from people he admires, he found, to his shock, that they were only talking about one thing. “Everything else is gone,” he said. “There’s nothing about the election! It’s amazing! The Australian wildfires, what happened there? Didn’t Brexit happen?”His story is like the real-life version of Julie Nolke's Explaining the Pandemic to My Past Self videos. Read the rest

Schadenfreude fuels the tabloids.

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Walmart is removing guns from shop floors, according to Fox News and CNN. The move was prompted by nationwide protests over the killing of an unarmed black man, George Floyd, by cops in Minneapolis.The company has faced criticism over its decision to continue selling guns after 22 people were killed in a mass shooting at Texas Walmart and two store managers were fatally shot at a Mississippi Walmart in August.The retailer amended its policy in September, asking customers to not openly carry firearms in its stores. It stopped selling assault-style rifles in 2015 and in 2018 stopped selling firearms to anyone younger than 21.If you've been wondering all these years what it would take for big box stores to stop selling guns, the answer is "lots of black people suddenly interested in guns." Read the rest

Experimental fashion designer Anouk Wipprecht—most famous for her Robotic Spider Dress from a few years ago—has now created the Proximity Dress to help with physical distancing during the pandemic. The 3D-printed electromechanical dress poofs out when triggered by proximity and thermal sensors detecting someone getting too close to the wearer. From 3D Printing Media Network:Each dress extends itself using a robotic 3D printed hip mechanism, built into the dress, and a resin 3D printed transparent collar with integrated sensors. The dress also works as a perfect application case study for 3D printing. The hip mechanisms that are holding the servos to the mechanic hip parts are 3D printed using SLS (Selective Laser Sintering) nylon PA-11 to endure more stresses. The 3D printed transparent collar, which has a more aesthetic use, is 3D printed using an Objet Connex 500 multimaterial polyjet 3D printer and the VeroClear material from Stratasys.“I haven’t made dresses for myself in a long time,” Anouk posted, “and I got a bit fed up with people in public not considering the current distancing suggestions, so this one I’m keeping…” Read the rest

T.C. Sottek writes that this week's protests, marked by soaring levels of police violence against demonstrators, show that we have a responsibility to record them when we can. Last night's horrific attack on an unarmed, elderly man by Buffalo police is only the latest and sharpest example of a lie—the officers claimed he tripped—exposed by video.You have a right to record the policeEveryone in the United States — citizen or resident — has a constitutional right to record police who are performing their public duties. The police don’t have the right to stop you as long as you’re not disrupting their business, and they aren’t allowed to confiscate your phone or camera just because you were recording them. This is the consistent opinion of federal courts and the Supreme Court, which affirmed in 2014 (in a 9-0 decision) that cops need a warrant if they want to seize and search your cellphone.Many excellent tips. Extra batteries! Read the rest

The Huffington Post reports that law enforcement has siezed hundreds of coronavirus masks to prevent protestors from wearing them in public.The U.S. Postal Service tracking numbers for the packages indicate they were “Seized by Law Enforcement” and urge the mailer to “contact the U.S. Postal Inspection Service for further information.”The U.S. Postal Inspection Service did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.It’s not entirely clear what law enforcement entity seized the masks or why.Without masks, protestors have less protection against coronavirus (and may even be breaking the law). They are therefore less likely to protest and more likely to fall ill if they do. View this post on Instagram Update! Law enforcement has seized these masks and are not stating why! When your called to support you step up or step back. Sending energy and prayers to those on the front lines! Right on community appreciation to all of you interested in supporting please hit up @thepalmtreepapi if your interested in supporting! @mvmnt4blklivesA post shared by Movement-Ink (@themovementink) on Jun 3, 2020 at 4:44pm PDT Read the rest

Two officers from Buffalo police department were suspended late Thursday after footage of them shoving an elderly man spread on social media. The man, who was unarmed and clearly unthreatening to the officers, was seriously injured and taken to hospital. Buffalo police claimed he tripped and fell. Only the footage, which shows the man unconscious and bleeding from a head injury and one ear, forced the truth from them.BREAKING: Buffalo’s police commissioner orders immediate Internal Affairs investigation into this incident: 2 officers shoving an elderly man, who walked up to them, to the ground. @news4buffalo reports the man suffered a laceration & possible concussion pic.twitter.com/qbTvXAAPLH— David Begnaud (@DavidBegnaud) June 5, 2020Buffalo Police Department Captain Jeff Rinaldo told CBS News later Thursday night that "the Police Commissioner has immediately suspended two officers without pay in connection with the incident observed in the video." Rinaldo said the department has launched an internal affairs investigation. Buffalo Police originally told reporters in a summary of the protest that "one person was injured when he tripped and fell."This is what they do when they know the cameras are rolling. Think what they do when they know they aren't. Read the rest