Feed boing-boing Boing Boing

Boing Boing

Link https://boingboing.net/
Feed http://feeds.boingboing.net/boingboing/iBag
Updated 2026-07-03 09:47
A mystery DVD mailed from Poland hid coded threats in a plague doctor video
In October 2015, a Swedish tech blogger named Johny Krahbichler opened a package mailed from Warsaw: a DVD with a long alphanumeric code written on it, no return address, no explanation. When he played it, he found a two-minute black-and-white video of a figure in a plague doctor costume, standing in a ruined building, holding up a hand with a blinking light - set to loud, discordant buzzing. - Read the rest The post A mystery DVD mailed from Poland hid coded threats in a plague doctor video appeared first on Boing Boing.
1930 film may be the first how-to video in history
Before we had HowToBasic, there was Count Etienne Louis Philippe cibor-Rylski.Back in 1930, this tutorial trailblazer created what could very well be the first how-to video in history, asking the viewer one simple question: Would you like to wear a monocle? - Read the rest The post 1930 film may be the first how-to video in history appeared first on Boing Boing.
Grandpa Pudding Brains describes recent chat with President Theodore Roosevelt, who died before he was born
The Orange Menace says he "had a conversation with Theodore Roosevelt" about the Panama Canal, which is a neat trick since Roosevelt died in 1919 and Trump was not born until 1946.So, now we're at the President openly describing recent conversations with a 107-year-dead person yet remaining in command of the world's largest, yet quickly shrinking in effectiveness, military. - Read the rest The post Grandpa Pudding Brains describes recent chat with President Theodore Roosevelt, who died before he was born appeared first on Boing Boing.
This neurological condition makes people deny their own limbs
Somatoparaphrenia is a rare delusion in which a person denies that one of their limbs, or an entire side of their body, belongs to them - even when shown direct proof. Patients don't just forget the limb is theirs; they invent an explanation for whose it actually is, sometimes elaborate enough that they'll treat the limb as if it belonged to a separate being. - Read the rest The post This neurological condition makes people deny their own limbs appeared first on Boing Boing.
Marvel wouldn't let Italian Spiderman into a real Spider-Man movie
In 2007, an Australian film collective called Alrugo Entertainment shot a trailer for a movie that didn't exist. Italian Spiderman, a parody of 1960s and '70s Italian action films, was filmed on a single roll of 16mm film in one day. - Read the rest The post Marvel wouldn't let Italian Spiderman into a real Spider-Man movie appeared first on Boing Boing.
Aged & Ore's bottle kit packs TSA-compliant cocktails for travel
Even if you fly business class, the mixers available on most flights are understandably limited. Flight attendants don't have the time and sure as hell aren't paid enough to be making Zombies, Old Fashioneds, and Kinky Pinkies at 30,000 feet. By the time everyone's drink orders were filled, it'd be time to land. - Read the rest The post Aged & Ore's bottle kit packs TSA-compliant cocktails for travel appeared first on Boing Boing.
This refurbished Lenovo ThinkPad is down to $440
TL;DR: The refurbishedLenovo ThinkPad L15 Gen 3features a Ryzen 5 Pro processor, 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD, a 15.6-inch touchscreen, and Windows 11 Pro for $439.99 (reg. $799).It's almost unheard of for business laptops to have a cult following, yet ThinkPads somehow managed it. - Read the rest The post This refurbished Lenovo ThinkPad is down to $440 appeared first on Boing Boing.
PettyMillion lets you anonymously share your pettiest complaints
Do you have a petty grievance you'd like to broadcast across the globe? If so, PettyMillion is the website for you. You can type your own petty grievances and send them off for strangers to read here. You can also read other people's entries, and vote/react to them. - Read the rest The post PettyMillion lets you anonymously share your pettiest complaints appeared first on Boing Boing.
"Maybe it will happen today" tee shirts
Jason Kottke designed the perfect tee shirt for an age of monsters: "Maybe it will happen today," tastefully typeset in Free Lunch on various dark shades of cotton in nine sizes.
Americans now lose a quarter of a trillion dollars a year gambling
Americans will lose about $250 billion gambling this year, reports Joey Politano, a number that's up 60% in half a decade. And that doesn't include "prediction markets" and cryptocurrencies, both mostly vehicles for more gambling. Politicians are well-greased by the industry lobbyists, personal debt is soaring out of sight, and there's no immediate prospect of anyone taking control. - Read the rest The post Americans now lose a quarter of a trillion dollars a year gambling appeared first on Boing Boing.
Microsoft says 8GB "great for everyday use" after years insisting on 16GB for Windows 11
For years, Microsoft said you should have 16GB of RAM to run Windows 11. It's good advice, too, as that beached whale of an operating system is its most bloated yet, with default-on cloud syncing, background telemetry, and dozens of preinstalled apps. - Read the rest The post Microsoft says 8GB "great for everyday use" after years insisting on 16GB for Windows 11 appeared first on Boing Boing.
JD Vance discovers the Nicene Creed in a yard sign
JD Vance has apparently reached the part of Catholic conversion where he sees a yard sign and hears the Council of Nicaea screaming."Love is love" is not a theological coup. It is a bumper sticker with aspirations of fellowship. Vance, seeing heresy in it, says less about the sign than about the man wandering through America looking for things to baptize into grievances. - Read the rest The post JD Vance discovers the Nicene Creed in a yard sign appeared first on Boing Boing.
A single drug injection reversed autism-like behavior in mice
In a mouse model of autism, a single injection of a designer drug re-grew a shrunken part of the neuron and, within an hour, the mice went from antisocial and compulsive to behaving like healthy controls. That's the finding of a new study in Cell Death & Disease, written up by Eric W. - Read the rest The post A single drug injection reversed autism-like behavior in mice appeared first on Boing Boing.
Side-by-side: how macOS app icons changed from Tahoe to the next beta
Apple keeps tinkering with the "Liquid Glass" look it introduced in macOS Tahoe, and designer BasicAppleGuy has lined up dozens of system app icons from the latest beta (codenamed Golden Gate) next to their Tahoe versions so you can see the changes. - Read the rest The post Side-by-side: how macOS app icons changed from Tahoe to the next beta appeared first on Boing Boing.
A tick virus that needs only 15 minutes to infect you hit a record 76 US cases
Most people who worry about ticks are thinking about Lyme disease, which generally needs the tick attached for a day or two before it can infect you. Powassan virus - rarer, but far nastier - can do it in about 15 minutes. - Read the rest The post A tick virus that needs only 15 minutes to infect you hit a record 76 US cases appeared first on Boing Boing.
Man accused of stealing Sea Scouts' boat probably doesn't get his old boat back
The man accused of stealing the Sea Scouts' 30-foot sailboat, swapping its registration numbers onto a junker, and leaving the worse boat behind has reportedly been arrested, which means he may not get his old boat back either.This was already a beautiful little harbor-crime story: someone allegedly decided the Sea Scouts had a nicer boat than he did, performed the world's dumbest maritime trade-in, and hoped nobody would notice that the youth sailing program's vessel had been replaced by a floating downgrade in a fake mustache. - Read the rest The post Man accused of stealing Sea Scouts' boat probably doesn't get his old boat back appeared first on Boing Boing.
The only thing hotter than summer? A $15 Sam's Club membership when it's usually $60.
TL;DR:Get a1-year Sam's Club Membership with Auto-Renew for just $15and enjoy member access to summer essentials, exclusive prices, free samples, travel savings, pharmacy perks, tire services, and more.Summer has a funny way of reminding people about all the things they need. - Read the rest The post The only thing hotter than summer? A $15 Sam's Club membership when it's usually $60. appeared first on Boing Boing.
Submarine crews heard a mysterious quacking in Antarctic waters for 50 years before anyone figured out what it was
Since at least 1960, submarine personnel in Antarctic waters had been hearing a mechanical, repetitive quacking - pulses between 60 and 100 Hz arriving every 1.6 to 3.1 seconds. They named it the bio-duck. Acoustic researchers called it "one of the largest still unresolved mysteries of the Southern Ocean." - Read the rest The post Submarine crews heard a mysterious quacking in Antarctic waters for 50 years before anyone figured out what it was appeared first on Boing Boing.
A stunt pilot doing loops around the Soviet propaganda megaplane crashed into it, killing 45
On May 18, 1935, the Maxim Gorky - the largest aircraft in the world, a Soviet eight-engine behemoth with a 63-meter wingspan roughly equal to a modern Boeing 747 - took off over Moscow alongside three smaller aircraft. The smaller planes were there to make the size difference obvious from the ground. - Read the rest The post A stunt pilot doing loops around the Soviet propaganda megaplane crashed into it, killing 45 appeared first on Boing Boing.
Bag labeled "deffntely not a bag full full of drugs" was full of drugs
Two Kentucky residents were arrested last week after a detecive looked in a bag labeled "deffntely not a bag full of drugs" and found it to contain narcotics. In a press release posted to Facebook, Lauren County Sheriff's Office announced that Tricial Croley, 51, and Damon Bennett, 48, both of Williamsburg, Ky., - Read the rest The post Bag labeled "deffntely not a bag full full of drugs" was full of drugs appeared first on Boing Boing.
Firewood chopping simulator
Firewood is a free online log-chopping simulator: rounds of firewood are placed upon an old stump and you must use an axe to chop them into appropriately-sized splits. Rounds come in various sizes and heights. The full-window graphics are surprisingly good and the vibe clusters around "satisfying," "peaceful," and "cosy." - Read the rest The post Firewood chopping simulator appeared first on Boing Boing.
Ford rehires hundreds of "graybeard" engineers after AI shortcomings
Last year, Ford CEO Jim Farley said that AI would eliminate half of white-collar jobs. This year, Ford brought back 350 veteran techs after an AI-powered system failed to deliver the results executives expected. Internally they are called "graybeard" engineers, presumably in honor of the ancient wisdom and grizzled experience that no software can yet replace. - Read the rest The post Ford rehires hundreds of "graybeard" engineers after AI shortcomings appeared first on Boing Boing.
Cat goes full threat-mode over owner's cat-shaped slippers
In this video, a cat makes it clear that there is no way in hell it will share a home with the owner's cat-slippers. The owner walks around the corner and stands in front of their cat, wearing fuzzy slippers that resembled the feline, who immediately doesn't approve. - Read the rest The post Cat goes full threat-mode over owner's cat-shaped slippers appeared first on Boing Boing.
Tame crow hands the brush back and demands more grooming
This video shows a tame crow perched on a person's lap in a workshop, getting its feathers brushed. When the person puts the brush down, the crow calmly demands more by hopping onto the table, taking the small wire brush in its beak, and handing it back to the person. - Read the rest The post Tame crow hands the brush back and demands more grooming appeared first on Boing Boing.
Ancient Loops turns the Playdate's crank into a sound instrument
The Playdate's hand crank was built for games, but it keeps luring developers to go weird. Ancient Loops, a free download from the two-person French team EVB Studio, isn't a game - it has "no levels, no chapters, no fail state, and no unlockable progression." - Read the rest The post Ancient Loops turns the Playdate's crank into a sound instrument appeared first on Boing Boing.
The Criterion Collection's Stanley Kubrick set is coming for your wallet
Stanley Kubrick is one of those directors: One with enough vision to change the course of any film genre he touches but, enough brains to know that art has to be popular-enjoyable to the average movie going schmoe-in order to make bank. - Read the rest The post The Criterion Collection's Stanley Kubrick set is coming for your wallet appeared first on Boing Boing.
A24 Films succumbs to the AI darkside
The campaign against the creative class has rustled up a surprising new foot soldier: A24 Films. It seems that the production house, known for artsy-fartsy (God, how I love them) horror and suspense flicks, has accepted a $75 million dollar investment from Google to partner up on the creation of new film making tools. - Read the rest The post A24 Films succumbs to the AI darkside appeared first on Boing Boing.
Tucker Carlson takes his tanned balls and goes home
Tucker Carlson says he is done supporting the Republican Party, which is awkward because few living Americans have spent more time helping make it what it is.
Is Grandpa Pudding Brains the mystery patient getting the super-Ozempic?
A very connected 79-year-old chonker reportedly got access to Eli Lilly's experimental obesity drug retatrutide, and the White House will not directly say whether that man is McDonald's slurping Grandpa Pudding Brains.Raw Story summarizes STAT's report that Lilly and the FDA allowed one unidentified 79-year-old patient to receive retatrutide through compassionate use, also known as expanded access. - Read the rest The post Is Grandpa Pudding Brains the mystery patient getting the super-Ozempic? appeared first on Boing Boing.
People line up to shop at Arizona's new gas-station cathedral
People waited in line outside Arizona's first Buc-ee's on Sunday, because America has reached the part of the simulation where a truck stop gets a rope line.The new Buc-ee's opened June 22 in Goodyear, just west of Phoenix, and it is not some humble roadside snack closet. - Read the rest The post People line up to shop at Arizona's new gas-station cathedral appeared first on Boing Boing.
There is a real Swiss political party devoted to abolishing PowerPoint
The Anti-PowerPoint Party is a real Swiss political party "dedicated to decreasing professional use of Microsoft PowerPoint and other forms of presentation software." According to Wikipedia, the party claims presentation software "causes national-economic damage amounting to 2.1 billion CHF" a year and lowers the quality of a presentation in "95% of the cases." - Read the rest The post There is a real Swiss political party devoted to abolishing PowerPoint appeared first on Boing Boing.
Send giant files and see who opened them with a lifetime subscription to this $100 tool
TL;DRGrabalifetime subscription to Transfr Pro file transferfor a one-time payment of $99.99 (reg. $499).You know the routine. You're trying to send a 4GB video, a folder of RAW photos, or a Photoshop file that somehow ballooned past 2GB. - Read the rest The post Send giant files and see who opened them with a lifetime subscription to this $100 tool appeared first on Boing Boing.
California's vanished sunflower sea stars are not totally vanished
California's sunflower sea stars were nearly erased by wasting disease and warming water. Recently, scientists found 18 of them off the Sonoma County coast.SFGATE reports that divers near Sea Ranch found the largest known group of wild sunflower sea stars seen in California waters since a mass die-off began in 2013. - Read the rest The post California's vanished sunflower sea stars are not totally vanished appeared first on Boing Boing.
Grandpa Pudding Brains is hunting for vandals in his $14.7 million algae farm
Grandpa Pudding Brains ordered the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool painted "American flag blue," watched it turn fresh engine-coolant green, and is now hunting for vandals in his $14.7 million algae farm.Since the Orange Menace declared the problems at the memorial were due to vandals, and not grift, arrests have been made, and a dead duckling has been found. - Read the rest The post Grandpa Pudding Brains is hunting for vandals in his $14.7 million algae farm appeared first on Boing Boing.
ICE pepper-sprays Father's Day protest after woman is run over
Families came to Delaney Hall on Father's Day asking ICE to free detained dads. Instead, a woman was hit by a car, from behind, while protesting at the Newark detention center entrance. Protesters say ICE agents responded not by assisting the woman, but by deploying pepper spray and mace. - Read the rest The post ICE pepper-sprays Father's Day protest after woman is run over appeared first on Boing Boing.
For 60 years, an 84-year-old has let a deck of cards build his map
Jerry Gretzinger is 84, and for most of the past six decades he has spent nearly every day adding to a single map - now more than 4,000 hand-painted panels of a place that doesn't exist. In a People Make Games documentary, Gretzinger explains that what he draws isn't up to him. - Read the rest The post For 60 years, an 84-year-old has let a deck of cards build his map appeared first on Boing Boing.
A 20-mile maze under Budapest hid a secret WWII aircraft engine plant
The Kbanya cellar system under the 10th district of Budapest is, according to Wikipedia, "the largest cellar complex in the country" - a network of tunnels estimated at 32 to 35 km long beneath 44 to 54 acres. It began in the Middle Ages as an underground limestone quarry that supplied stone for the Hungarian Parliament, the Szechenyi Chain Bridge, and the State Opera House. - Read the rest The post A 20-mile maze under Budapest hid a secret WWII aircraft engine plant appeared first on Boing Boing.
An expedition spent years looking for an Arctic island that didn't exist
In 1913 a party set out to map Crocker Land, "a huge island supposedly sighted by the explorer Robert Peary from the top of Cape Colgate in 1906." Peary had named it after San Francisco banker George Crocker, one of his backers. - Read the rest The post An expedition spent years looking for an Arctic island that didn't exist appeared first on Boing Boing.
Brain scans of authoritarians show reduced grey matter in regions for empathy and social reasoning
A study published in Neuroscience by researchers at Spain's University of Zaragoza scanned the brains of 100 young adults and found structural differences in those who hold authoritarian beliefs - on both the left and the right. Right-wing authoritarians had lower grey matter volume in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, a region involved in understanding other people's thoughts and perspectives. - Read the rest The post Brain scans of authoritarians show reduced grey matter in regions for empathy and social reasoning appeared first on Boing Boing.
Honeybee curls up inside closing flower in timelapse video
This sweet video shows a honeybee curled up inside of a flower bed. The timelapse shows the bee wrapped around the inner part of the flower, as the petals slowly close inward. I can't imagine a more enchanting place to lay down than inside the cozy bed of this orange flower. - Read the rest The post Honeybee curls up inside closing flower in timelapse video appeared first on Boing Boing.
The Good Liars went to Freedom 250 so the rest of us didn't have to
As I've stated, I did not watch Donald Trump's masturbatory UFC Freedom 250 fight. I spent the day kicking my heels and giggling over Bob Odenkirk returning to his most iconic character for his American anniversary celebration instead. If I have to watch a narcissist, I'd like him to at least be a well-written one! - Read the rest The post The Good Liars went to Freedom 250 so the rest of us didn't have to appeared first on Boing Boing.
The 'Phantom of Heilbronn' serial killer turned out to be a cotton swab factory worker
Between 1993 and 2009, investigators across Austria, France, and Germany found DNA from the same unknown woman at 40 crime scenes - murders, burglaries, a police officer shot in Heilbronn. A special task force codenamed Parkplatz worked the case for years; by January 2009, the reward had reached 300,000. - Read the rest The post The 'Phantom of Heilbronn' serial killer turned out to be a cotton swab factory worker appeared first on Boing Boing.
In 1888, a French adventurer convinced Vietnamese tribes to crown him king
In 1888, a French government official named Charles-Marie David de Mayrena was sent into the highlands of what is now Vietnam to negotiate treaties with local tribes. Instead, he convinced the tribes to crown him king. He took the name Marie the First, established a capital at the village of Kon Gung, and declared the Kingdom of Sedang on 3 June 1888. - Read the rest The post In 1888, a French adventurer convinced Vietnamese tribes to crown him king appeared first on Boing Boing.
Grandpa Pudding Brains announces another Treaty of Versailles
"The greatest diplomatic troll of all time"Grandpa Pudding Brains signed a peace deal at Versailles, because apparently nobody in the room had a history teacher, a calendar, or access to the phrase "ominous symbolism."Versailles remains a bold venue for anyone announcing a peace deal with reparations. - Read the rest The post Grandpa Pudding Brains announces another Treaty of Versailles appeared first on Boing Boing.
MAD hits 600 issues; still, thankfully, hilariously juvenile
MAD Magazine published its 600th issue this week, and celebrated with a gorgeous cover (and back cover) by the reigning champ of MAD cartooning, Sergio Aragones. Aragones's first appearance in the magazine was in issue #76, published in 1963.Posted with the permission of DC ComicsIt's quite a milestone for a publication that started in 1952 as a comic book, and as a way for Harvey Kurtzman to write humor for EC Comics, instead of the research-heavy, time-consuming war comics he'd been writing. - Read the rest The post MAD hits 600 issues; still, thankfully, hilariously juvenile appeared first on Boing Boing.
Becoming a British royal with nothing more than confidence and an accent
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Max Fosh is the only YouTube prankster out there worth a damn. He's not obnoxious, he isn't self-centered, and most rare of all, he doesn't hurt anyone. His workflow begins with isolating a ridiculously silly idea, like hiring stuntmen to throw a fight so he can look cool in front of his friends, and doing everything possible to realize it. - Read the rest The post Becoming a British royal with nothing more than confidence and an accent appeared first on Boing Boing.
Spider-Man continues to do the things only a spider can in the new trailer for the latest "Spider-Man" movie
How many times do you think I can get away with saying Spider-Man in this post? You know, for maximum SEO points? Let's give it a shot:The upcoming Avengers: Doomsday is rumored to be a sort of soft reset for the MCU. - Read the rest The post Spider-Man continues to do the things only a spider can in the new trailer for the latest "Spider-Man" movie appeared first on Boing Boing.
Meta lays off thousands, monitors workers, increases the snack budget
Meta laid off thousands of workers, started monitoring employees' computers, assigned people to train the AI that may replace them, and then discovered the real missing ingredient: snacks.Meta CTO Andrew "Boz" Bosworth told employees morale is "probably one of the worst it's ever been" and that the "vibes are off." - Read the rest The post Meta lays off thousands, monitors workers, increases the snack budget appeared first on Boing Boing.
Grandpa Pudding Brains brags about how rigged U.S. elections are
Grandpa Pudding Brains tried to sound tough about America and somehow wandered into saying that strength is based on stolen elections."Nobody plays rougher than the United States," Trump said. "Look, our elections are totally rigged. We have rigged elections." It is the usual election-denial poison, but with an extra little Freudian garnish: he says "we" right after bragging about how rough the United States plays. - Read the rest The post Grandpa Pudding Brains brags about how rigged U.S. elections are appeared first on Boing Boing.
Vienna's graveyards are full of hardcore hamsters
Forget the pet-shop fluffball on a squeaky wheel. Europe's wild hamsters are out in Vienna's graveyards stuffing their faces, throwing hands, and living like tiny cemetery goblins.Not a Biologist shares wildlife filmmaker Yaz Ellis' look at the surprisingly dramatic lives of wild hamsters in Vienna's cemeteries. - Read the rest The post Vienna's graveyards are full of hardcore hamsters appeared first on Boing Boing.
12345678910...