Reality Leigh Winner, 25, has been arrested over charges she leaked top secret National Security Agency documents referenced in this Intercept story about Russia's cyberwar on U.S. voting infrastructure. She is identified as an NSA contractor. (more…)

The Trump Organization is set to launch a budget-minded “three-star hotel chain with a patriotic flair, echoing President Trump’s campaign slogan about putting America first and reflecting the organization’s promise to enter into new deals only in the United States,” the New York Times reports: (more…)

Dad said he'd mow the lawn. A tornado was coming. Nevertheless, he persisted. Thenius Wessels of Three Hills Canada was photographed in this amazing, now-viral shot, mowing the damn lawn in the shadow of a looming tornado. (more…)

An anonymously leaked Top Secret NSA report on Russian state hackers interfering with the US elections has been published by The Intercept, which had the documents independently analyzed by a who's-who of America's leading security experts. (more…)

Please join me, Brewster Kahle and our special guests for a big AccessTo Knowledge event about India on June 14th at the Internet Archive.Here's why you should come if you're in town: (more…)

"Oh Lord yeah."

The U.S. Supreme Court today agreed to hear an important digital privacy rights case that will determine if police have to get a warrant to access your cellphone location data, which is archived by wireless carriers. (more…)

After two years of not tweeting, George Conway – Kellyanne Conway's husband – took to Twitter today to respond to Trump's whiny tweets this morning about his attempted travel ban.Trump's tweets went like this:“People, the lawyers and the courts can call it whatever they want, but I am calling it what we need and what it is, a TRAVEL BAN!” “The Justice Dept. should have stayed with the original Travel Ban, not the watered down, politically correct version they submitted to S.C.”“The Justice Dept. should ask for an expedited hearing of the watered down Travel Ban before the Supreme Court - & seek much tougher version!”George Conway, who was considered for various positions in the Trump administration, according to Politico, and "was a candidate for the solicitor general post and the front-runner to head DOJ’s Civil Division until he withdrew his name from consideration last week," pulled out his rusty Twitter account to mock Trump.“These tweets may make some ppl feel better, but they certainly won't help OSG get 5 votes in SCOTUS, which is what actually matters. Sad,” Conway wrote, referring to the Office of the Solicitor General, which argues before the Supreme Court on behalf of the Trump administration...In subsequent tweets Monday, Conway made clear: “I still VERY, VERY STRONGLY support POTUS, his Admin, policies, the executive order and of course, my wonderful wife.”That’s why, he continued, “I said what I said this morning. Every sensible lawyer in WHCO and every political appointee at DOJ wd agree with me (as some have already told me). The pt cannot be stressed enough that tweets on legal matters seriously undermine Admin agenda and POTUS--and those who support him, as I do, need to reinforce that pt and not be shy about it.”https://youtu.be/8YzEUnzmH6g

Two people were arrested today on charges related to the Ghost Ship fire that killed 36 people inside a live-work artists' warehouse in Oakland last year. One of the people arrested was the promoter of the underground music performance for which those killed were gathered. (more…)

I'm skeptical of the project to keep Trump "not normal" -- not because he's not abnormal, but because the human psyche is a relentless normalizer, able to make everything from extermination camps to death row to slavery "normal" and trying not to adapt to stimulus is a hard target to shoot for. (more…)

Jonathan Odom -- aka Jon-a-Tron -- worked out that the fidget-spinner fad has created a world where we're all holding spinny things all the time, and that means we could all be holding amazing, awesome zoetropes! (more…)

Harvard rescinded admissions offers to at least 10 prospective students in April who were part of a private Facebook messaging group called “Harvard memes for horny bourgeois teens.” The students in the group exchanged obscene images and memes "mocking sexual assault, the Holocaust, and the deaths of children," according to The Harvard Crimson.Some of the messages joked that abusing children was sexually arousing, while others had punchlines directed at specific ethnic or racial groups. One called the hypothetical hanging of a Mexican child “piñata time.”The chat grew out of a roughly 100-member messaging group that members of the Class of 2021 set up in early December to share memes about popular culture. Admitted students found and contacted each other using the official Harvard College Class of 2021 Facebook group...Messages shared in the original group were mostly “lighthearted,” wrote Zhang, who said she did not post in the splitoff meme group and that her admission offer was not rescinded. But some members soon suggested forming “a more R-rated” meme chat, according to Cassandra Luca ’21, who joined the first meme group but not the second, and who also said her offer was not revoked.The official Facebook group for Harvard's class of 2021 says they have the right to revoke a student's acceptance if "an admitted student engages in behavior that brings into question his or her honesty, maturity, or moral character." Only 5.2 percent of applicants were accepted into Harvard this year (2,056 out of 40,000 applicants), and Harvard states that once a person's acceptance is rescinded, it's final.Image: Bostonian13

Palmer Luckey, the guy who founded Oculus, sold it to Facebook, and then used the money to fund racist, far-right meme creation in the 2016 election cycle is now running a Peter-Thiel-backed startup to build surveillance technology that could be part of Donald Trump's border wall. (more…)

Australian regulators are taking legal action against Apple after investigators posing as customers claim that the company wrongly refused to repair devices that had been serviced by third-party providers.Australian authorities lodged a high-profile case against Apple this year, after iPhone and iPad customers experienced a malfunction that rendered phones useless if it detects that a repair has been carried out by a non-Apple technician. The fault occurred between late 2014 until early last year.The case, set to go to trial in mid-December, accuses Apple of wrongly telling customers they were not entitled to free replacements or repair if they had taken their devices to an unauthorised third-party repairer... That advice was allegedly given even where the repair – a screen replacement, for example – was not related to the fault.This is fallout from the legendary Error 53 kiln.

Here's Maple, pup of mesmerizing looping Vines fame, getting treated to more complete renditions of songs by instrumentalist Trench. The YouTube channel also includes the 6-second classics. Maple is uncharacteristically pensive in the attached screenshot because Maple is listening to the Johnny Cash version of Hurt. (more…)

The new Wonder Woman movie is easily the best thing in the DC Extended Universe so far. And it turns out it fits quite nicely with the vibe of the 1970s TV show too.

According to Susan B. Anthony, bicycles did “more to emancipate women than anything else in the world.” In this new video, Vox explains why.

The Shed of the Year contest had a number of worthy entries in 2017, but Paul Foden got my vote just before voting closed. SWNS TV took a tour. (more…)

The average person probably assumes that mathematics is a complete system in which all mathematical statements can be proved or disproved. The fine folks at Numberphile are ready to disabuse folks of this notion with a nice overview of Gödel's Incompleteness Theorem. (more…)

“I hope you trip and fall and break your penis.”

I finally got around to checking out Tiszta Szívvel (Kills on Wheels), the Hungarian film about a paralyzed hit man. The opening titles really set the tone. (more…)

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Few things are as relaxing than an afternoon laying around in the sun. But no matter how careful you are, wet towels always seem to track some sand back home with you. The Quicksand Mat eliminates this beach-going annoyance by letting sand easily pass through.Whether you use it as a blanket or a buffer to protect your towel, any sand kicked your way falls right through this mat’s unique weave pattern. It’s completely waterproof, so you can wash off any lingering particles before stowing it in the trunk.This mesh mat helps to keep sand out of shoes, phones, and anything else you bring along. You can pick up a Quicksand Mat here in our store for 61% off—just $49.99.

Multiple attacks in London tonight are being described as a coordinated 'potential act of terrorism' by British Prime Minister Theresa May. London police confirm that more than one person was killed as a van plowed into a crowd of people at the London Bridge. One man was seen leaving the van, then running toward Borough Market, carrying a large knife. Reports of stabbings followed soon after. (more…)

Drones are the perfect way to cheaply shoot aerial video, but it can be difficult to accurately point its camera when your view is limited to a tiny smartphone screen. This quadcopter offers a first-person view of the action in immersive 3D, so you can frame your shots as if you were flying.The Micro Drone 3.0 can reach speeds of up to 45 mph, letting you capture wide swaths of landscape for up to 8 minutes straight. It captures 720p HD footage, and can be piloted up to 500 feet away with its handheld controller.This drone kit is usually $215.00, but you can pick one up for just $145.

Sculptor Brett Kern makes fabulous ceramic pieces that look like vinyl inflatables. (more…)

Chad Cowan shared this taste of his upcoming long-form timelapse of massive thunderstorms sweeping across the American plains.He gives a little background on how he was inspired by Tom Lowe:This collection of timelapses was gathered over the last six years. The project started out as wanting to be able to see the life-cycles of these storms, just for my own enjoyment and to increase my understanding of them. Over time, it morphed into an obsession with wanting to document as many photogenic supercells as I could, in as high a resolution as possible, as to be able to share with those who couldn't see first hand the majestic beauty that comes alive in the skies above America's Great Plains every Spring. After more than 100,000 miles on the road and tens of thousands of shutter clicks later, this is the result. I hope you enjoy watching it as much as I enjoyed creating it. Keep an eye out for a long form version of my storm timelapses, as these are a small sample of what I've been able to gather. I'm not sure yet how the extended version will be released.• FRACTAL - 4k StormLapse (Vimeo / Chad Cowan)

Maximum points awarded for the best possible use of the vincerò from Turandot's Nessun Dorma.

SciShow digs into this little-researched but utterly adorable phenomenon.

Nina Bo’Nina Brown of RuPaul’s Drag Race walks through the process of creating this gorgeous, innovative pop art-themed black and white look.

Stan Chang just released the second in his Magical Europe series. Warning: you may want to travel Europe after watching. (more…)

Japan's iconic animation Studio Ghibli, co-founded by anime director Hayao Miyazaki, is developing a 'My Neighbor Totoro' theme park. (more…)

Hurricane season officially began yesterday, but let's hope now more than ever that one doesn't hit the US anytime soon. Because guess what? No one is in charge of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the agency that predicts and forecasts hurricanes ahead of a storm. And for an extra thrill, no one is in charge of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) either, the agency that responds to disasters and offers relief. (more…)

In 1949, pioneering rocket scientist (and Nazi) Wernher von Braun penned a science fiction story called "Project Mars: A Technical Tale" about a human migration to Mars in the 1980s. Turns out though that Mars is already populated by an indigenous civilization led by a government official given the title of... Elon. You'll recall that last year Elon Musk, who is leading the commercial space industry with SpaceX, is very focused on Mars habitation, suggesting we need to get one million people there over the next 50 years. I wonder if Elon is there waiting for Elon. From Project Mars (aka The Mars Project):The Martian government was directed by ten men, the leader of whom was elected by universal suffrage for five years and entitled "Elon." Two houses of Parliament enacted the laws to be administered by the Elon and his cabinet.The Upper House was called the Council of the Elders and was limited to a membership of 60 persons, each being appointed for life by the Elon as vacancies occurred by death. In principle, the method was not unlike that by which the College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church is appointed. Usually the Elon chose historians, churchmen, former cabinet members or successful economic leaders who could offer lifetimes of valuable experience."'WTF? This 1949 Science Fiction Novel by a Legendary Rocket Designer Names the Leader of Martian Civilization as 'Elon'" (Daily Grail)

I got this Morakniv hook knife ($25, Amazon) last week so over the weekend I tried it out by making a couple of small spoons. The hook shape makes it easy to whittle out the concave part of the spoon, which is almost impossible to do with a regular knife. Whittling spoons is fun, and they make nice gifts. I give most of mine away and people remark, year later, that they still use and like them. If you are just getting started - I have two book recommendations: Heirloom Wood: A Modern Guide to Carving Spoons, Bowls, Boards, and other Homewares, and The Artful Wooden Spoon: How to Make Exquisite Keepsakes for the Kitchen.

"I Promise" is one of the three previously unreleased tracks from Radiohead's 20th anniversary reissue of OK Computer, titled OK Computer OKNOTOK 1997-2017. Video directed by Michal Marczak.Previously:• Radiohead: lavish 20th anniversary reissue of "OK Computer"

When you encounter new information, here's a list of questions to ask yourself and others. It was produced by the Global Digital Citizen Foundation, "a non-profit organization dedicated to cultivating responsible, ethical, global citizens for a digital world."[via]

Australian martial arts instructor Bob Jones was a security guard for Fleetwood Mac, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Joe Cocker, and others. In 1983 he wrote a book called Hands Off!: A Unique New System of Self Defence Against Assault for the Women of Today. Stevie Nicks happily agreed to be in the photoshoot. Look at that high kick.From Open Culture:Stevie Nicks agreed to take part in a photoshoot where she would help demonstrate the nine mnemonic movements. Jones recalls," This lady was a professional: in two hours I had a hundred of the most magnificent photos ever offered to the martial arts, and just one would make the cover [above].""On this day of the shoot I was standing in my martial arts training uniform, wearing my Black Belt. Then Stevie appeared, her hair done to resemble the mane of a lion. She was psyched up for some serious photographing. Stevie wore her familiar thick-soled, thick-heeled, knee-high brown suede kid leather boots. High roll-over socks appeared over the top of these elegant Swedish boots and hung tentatively around her knees." "In these kicking-style photographs the sun also made her dress partially see-through: just enough to be artistically interesting."This book doesn't mess around:

When we were kids, my sister got a doll's shoe stuck in her nose. My mother took her to the doctor, and he got her to sneeze it out. In this informative Lifehacker article by Beth Skwarecki, you'll learn a technique called “Parent’s Kiss” Step 1: Use your finger to close the nostril that doesn’t have the object stuck in it.Step 2: Press your lips over your child’s mouth.Step 3: Blow a quick blast of air into their mouth (think back to the last time you tried to shoot a spitball through a straw).

Abu Musa in South Boston hates 7-Eleven so much he decided to compete with his own store, and has called it 6-Twelve. But he didn't always hate 7-Eleven – in fact he used to own one.When he first opened his own 7-Eleven in 2005, it was great. But after six years of a thriving business, a new field consultant came into the picture, and everything went downhill from there.According to The Boston Globe:It is a twisted saga that involves personality clashes, corporate oversight, and expensive legal proceedings, and it first got nasty when Musa took a very particular opinion on a 7-Eleven product line.He thinks 7-Eleven’s hot foods are kinda gross.The hot dogs and taquitos were bad enough, he says. “They’d sit there on the rollers, no one would buy them, and every day I would throw out $200 to $300 worth of food that I had to pay for.”Musa tried to discontinue the hot food, but instead, the field consultant "forced him to become the first store in the area to start offering pizza and chicken wings." And he was told he would have to hire an extra employee to handle the hot food.“7-Eleven didn’t treat me as a partner anymore,” Musa says. “They treated me as a slave.”So rather than put up with the miserable 7-Eleven politics, he ditched the chain store and started his own. The inside looks similar to a 7-Eleven, but without, of course, the hot food. And no, the hours are not 7AM to 11PM, but rather, 6AM to 12AM. That's the spirit!https://youtu.be/tkomaacnX5A

Pirates of the Caribbean 5 not to your taste? How about some ice cold Japanese Asahi Super Dry beer? I can’t get enough. Whether Johnny Depp loves the beer (or just the millions of bucks he was paid by Asahi for making this Japanese TV commercial for their beer) we shall never know.Hollywood stars (Paul Newman, Tommy Lee Jones, and many others) have a long history of making commercials in Asia that no one in the west is supposed to see. But these days the internet leaves nothing unseen, and so heeeeeeeerrrre’s Johnny!Via SoraNews 24.

Platinum FMD created this series of spec ads featuring the tagline "some people should never have been born." (more…)

After yesterday's Trumpian vow to burn down the Earth and all who live there, Germany's Greenpeace office responded by projecting the above image onto the US embassy. (more…)

Well, there's a second-decade-of-the-21st-century headline for you! (more…)

Paris-based Yeaaah! Studio released this terrific homage to 80s clip art and comics, stringing together a bunch of animated gifs to tell a story of modern romance. (more…)

I just got to NYC for Bookcon, where I'm appearing tomorrow, at a "guest bookseller" event with John Scalzi at 11 at the Tor Booth (3008) (we'll be talking up books we love!); then a panel with Charlie Jane Anders, Annalee Newitz and John Scalzi at 3PM (room 1E10), and finally a signing with Scalzi at 415PM in the autographing area. (more…)

Haunted Mansion superfan Jeff "Chef Mayhem" Baham sent me a link to the Van Eaton Galleries Disneyland auction, which closes on June 25 -- as with other Van Eaton auctions, this one is a trove of super-rare, drool-inspiring old merch, props and handicrafts. (more…)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdVpUX7NeFIWhat's better than a Useless Machine? One that is built on a clever, threaded "twisty vase" whose lid twirls open and shut! (more…)

The new questionnaire that US visa applicants have to fill in requires them to supply biographical information stretching back 15 years and all their social media handles for the past 5 years. (more…)

The hits keep on coming for Volkswagen, whose crimes have not yet been fully detailed, it seems. The EPA discovered Dieselgate emissions-cheating software in 2015, and then a German team found more in 2016, and now, a year later, the German Transport Ministry is recalling 24,000 Audi A7 and A8s for the same reason. (more…)