When Vice President Mike Pence was speaking in front of military families to celebrate National Military Spouse Appreciation Day, he accidentally "bopped" a boy in the face without realizing it. But the boy wasn't going to let him get away with it without an apology. This little boy is going to go far in life!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnPyq3afvGY&feature=youtu.beA Connecticut man who screamed "You will never ever, ever, stop me, my Christianity", thumped his chest, and menaced an Arab family on a Texas beach, was charged with public intoxication earlier this week, reports Fox News.https://twitter.com/nowthisnews/status/862389285982306304At one point the man can be heard hollering "Donald Trump will stop you. Donald Trump will stop you!" Before storming away, video shows him grabbing his crotch and yelling something obscene at the family, in front of several children.The family posted the video to their YouTube account with a description of what took place:While enjoying our time at the beach during a family reunion, our kids and us had to experience ugliness and aggressiveness in the worse shape and form possible. We were staying at the South Padre Pearl hotel and went to the beach through their private access. My father was approached by two woman who were also enjoying their time. The women asked him to help with talking to a stranger who was harassing them. All my father said to the guy was "please enjoy your time and have fun and let everyone else here enjoy their time." The guy seemed to listen and walked away. He then came back to my father and started throwing racist comments. He was yelling so loud that my uncles and my brother came over from the water to see what was going on. The insane man came close to the kids and that's when my uncle stood up to him.

Thanks to everyone who turned up last night for a stellar event at Austin's Book People! I'm about to head to the airport to fly to Houston, where I'll appearing tonight at 7PM at Brazos Books, before heading to Scottsdale, AZ for appearance at Poisoned Pen (with Brian David Johnson)> (more…)

Felipe Pantone, a graffiti artist based in Valencia, Spain, does these amazing, cyberspace-is-everting murals, skinning buildings and even cars all around the world. (via JWZ) (more…)

The Swiss security research firm Modzero just published a report documenting a grave flaw in HP laptops: an audio-driver made by Conexant that captures every keystroke (to detect volume up/down and mute-button presses) and saves them to an unencrypted file on the local system, which can then be exfiltrated via a debugging API that allows remote parties to see every keystroke in realtime. (more…)

The anonymous individual behind the must-follow Internet of Shit Twitter account now has a column in The Verge, and has devoted 1,500 words to documenting all the ways in which Apple's signature walled-garden approach to technology has created an Apple Home IoT platform that is not only manifestly totally broken, but also can't be fixed until Apple decides to do something about it -- and once you opt for Apple, you can forget about plugging in anything Apple hasn't greenlit, meaning that your choice of smartphone will determine what kind of toaster and lightswitch you're allowed to connect to your smarthome. (more…)

The once-a-decade census is the "largest civic action undertaken by the entire country," providing data that "affects every corner of America, determining where hundreds of billions of federal dollars flow annually, where businesses open new stores and which states gain—or lose—seats in the House of Representatives." (more…)

The European Broadcasters' Union polled 500,000 18-25 year olds on the question, "Would you actively participate in a large scale uprising against the generation in power if it happened in the next days or months?" 53% answered yes. (more…)

These SolarGaps prototypes are interesting ways to harness sunlight as it's being blocked. Note: the video is heavy on the promotion and light on the tech specs, but it's a neat idea. (more…)

Canadian Adrian Fish is one of the few photographers who've been permitted to take and publish photos from the archives of the Stasi, the legendarily invasive secret police of the former East Germany, who employed one snitch for every 60 people at their peak. (more…)

Unnamed "officials briefed on the matter" told Reuters that the Trump administration is planning to ban travelers from bringing their laptops -- and possibly tablets -- in their hand-luggage on flights from Europe, expanding an existing ban that covers 10 middle-eastern airports. (more…)

This cute video is circulating which shows a group of people, led by a young woman, who want to throw a very brief birthday party for a friend on a subway car in New York City. The friend is unknowingly being guided into this situation by an accomplice. Banners and balloons, blow-ticklers, sashes, and whatnot, are all prepared in the space of a few minutes (two subway stops) before the birthday girl enters the car and suddenly it’s all surprises, hugs, kisses, music, dancing, and cupcakes.https://youtu.be/3Fj5LPw37lMIsn’t that heartwarming? Doesn’t it just make you feel great about New York.It’s fake. Notice that none of the birthday partiers are older than, say, 25, and they’re all so incredibly attractive.The so-called “friends” in the subway car are actors and actresses who work for a company called Improv Everywhere.Improv Everywhere is a New York City-based comedy collective that stages unexpected performances in public places. Created in August of 2001 by Charlie Todd, Improv Everywhere aims to surprise and delight random strangers through positive pranks, or “missions.”The director of “theater company,” Charlie Todd, writes on their website:For years the subway has been our favorite performance venue. We’ve had pizza parties, talk shows, wedding proposals, and even time traveling twins. For each of these projects we create a scene that gives random people the option to say yes and be part of something awesome. If you haven’t figured out by now, this was not a real a surprise birthday party. Jenny was an actor along with everyone else in our group. The real intent behind this stunt was to see if we could get an assortment of random commuters to play along. Can strangers in a subway car come together and have a party? The answer, much like it was 15 years ago, is yes!The bewildered looks on the faces of the actual passengers in the subway car as they’re being snookered belie the dual nature of the experience. They're quietly sitting, reading, sleeping, eating. They really only want to get to their destination as soon as possible and get off the train. They’re fooled into believing it’s someone’s birthday, their emotions manipulated, and they join the celebration—and then they’re told, “Hey, we were just having some fun. It’s nobody’s birthday.” They’ve been duped for the purposes of posting the event on social media.Every single legit subway rider in that car had to sign a legal release allowing the video to be posted online. “We’re all going to be in a video!” If you don’t believe me, here’s a screen grab from one of their earlier subway performances, and the guy with a blurred face is someone who wouldn’t sign the release.Legal release? Everything’s cool! Now you know why the old ladies and kids are seen eating the cupcakes. Because what New Yorker would eat food given to them by a stranger? Not one ... unless you sign a legal release and then you're pals.That’s life in the 21st century. Photos by Ari Scott.

1. Chinese man is constipated.2. Chinese man remembers an old folk remedy.3. Remedy involves inserting a live eel up your bum.4. Chinse man goes to hospital.Seems like a foregone conclusion that if you insert a live eel in your rectum, health problems will ensue! The slippery monster ate through part of the guy’s intestines and went for a swim. The man went to the hospital to have it removed.I don’t really have to say anymore because here’s a video from Chinese news with a CGI reenactment of the whole fiasco. From the music, the little green cloud, and the gas mask it appears that Chinese news takes this to be a comedic episode. Just remember this the next time you go out for a nice unagi dinner.https://youtu.be/7k9dPt5_mHwVia SoraNews 24.

A perfect storm of factors led to photographer Jacob Peters shooting the wrong marriage proposal at a remote romantic overlook. (more…)

When President Donald Trump accused outgoing President Barack Obama in March of 'wiretapping' him, James B. Comey, then the FBI director, was “flabbergasted,” reports the New York Times in a breakdown of Comey's thuggish dismissal that includes jawdropping detail. The president, Comey told his FBI associates, was “outside the realm of normal,” even “crazy.”Those are the words he used, reports the Times. (more…)

Fired FBI Director James Comey was concerned by potential evidence of collusion, reports the Wall Street Journal tonight. Comey got daily instead of weekly updates on Russia investigation three weeks ago, and had been providing updates to top members of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Trump didn't like any of this. (more…)

The intensifying attention surrounding an FBI investigation into President Donald Trump's Russia ties, led by then-FBI Director James B. Comey, angered Trump so intensely that he became obsessed with finding a way to fire Comey. Trump did exactly that just yesterday afternoon. Today, according to a deeply-sourced piece in the Washington Post, each time Comey appeared in public, “an ever-watchful President Trump grew increasingly agitated that the topic was the one that he was most desperate to avoid: Russia.” We still don't know why Trump is so increasingly desperate to avoid the topic of his ties to Russia. However, all of this escalating defensiveness and shock points to a coverup of something criminal and grave. The lady doth protest too much.No fewer than 30 credible sources spoke to the Post, and Trump is described as someone who 'fumes' with rage. Believable. (more…)

It's said that when the great jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker died, a huge clap of thunder shook the building where he ended his days. Parker's death, while a tragic loss to music, wouldn't have come as a surprise to anyone who knew him. He reached a mere 34 years old, though the coroner took one look at his ravaged body and concluded he must at least be in his fifties. Parker's long-time heroin addiction was just one element in a life of varied and colossal substance abuse. But in the end it was most likely alcohol that killed him.In this regard he resembled English contralto goddess Amy Winehouse. Her consumption of exotic and illegal drugs, including heroin, might have been on a scale to rival Charlie Parker's, but it was ultimately vodka which proved fatal to the brilliant singer songwriter in her North London flat. Her cause of death was recorded as alcohol poisoning, bingeing after a period of abstinence. In its own way, her loss to the world of music was as profound as Parker's.I became preoccupied with the connection between death and music when I was researching my first Vinyl Detective crime novel Written in Dead Wax. After all, it was a murder mystery, and the McGuffin was a rare jazz record, situating music as the motive for the deaths unleashed. For the second novel in the series, The Run-Out Groove, it's a rare rock recording which sets the story in motion, but naturally violent, unexpected and premature death is still inextricably woven into the narrative...If you were going to analyse the most common causes of untimely demise in jazz musicians you'd find the top contender is drug overdoses, closely followed by automobile accidents -- the immensely talented trumpeter Clifford Brown died on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, the outstanding bass player Scott LaFaro on U.S. Route 20, revered tenor sax man Chu Berry outside Conneaut, Ohio, to name but three. For rock, pop or soul musicians it's again drugs, but the humble car fatality tends to be replaced by plane crashes.Of course, there are some outliers, such as Esbjörn Svensson, the Swedish jazz pianist who drowned while scuba diving, or American trumpeter Lee Morgan who -- like soul legend Sam Cooke -- was shot dead by a woman. And of course there's the even more outré fate of Marvin Gaye, another legendary soul singer, who was shot and killed by his cross-dressing preacher father. (The killing of a child by his parent, filicide, is just about the rarest form of murder.) And of course it a was devoted/demented fan who shot and killed John Lennon.But, by and large it's drugs and travel, which rather than broadening the outlook of musicians puts paid to their eventful lives. Raw and tormented rock singer Janis Joplin died of a heroin overdose, guitar god Jimi Hendrix of barbiturates. Overdoses also claimed Keith Moon of the Who, Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols, Mike Bloomfield of the Electric Flag, Jonathan Melvoin of the Smashing Pumpkins, and Paul Gray of Slipknot.Whereas one small plane simultaneously took the lives of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper when it ploughed into the frozen earth near Clear Lake Iowa, on February 3 1959 ("The day the music died," as immortalised in Don McLean's song "American Pie"). Soul man Otis Redding also flew off into a slate grey sky, never to reappear, leaving behind his posthumous smash hit "Dock of the Bay." Ronnie Van Zant and Steve Gaines of Southern rock giants Lynyrd Skynyrd saw their careers cut savagely short when the light aircraft carrying them ran out of fuel high over Gillsburg, Mississippi. Lynyrd Skynyrd's album, Street Survivors, released three days earlier featured a cover photo depicting the band members in flames. It was hastily pulled from stores and the cover image replaced.Of course, booze is itself very much a drug and it killed everyone from the great horn players Bix Beiderbecke, Bunny Berigan, and Fats Navarro, and the unforgettable singer Billie Holiday, to Jim Morrison of the Doors. Morrison ended his days in Paris, where his grave in Père Lachaisse Cemetery has become a shrine. It was this I had in mind, when I invented a similar site of pilgrimage -- a rock star's grave in Canterbury, which our heroes have to dig up and rob in The Run-Out Groove.Vehicular death isn't limited to denizens of the jazz demi monde, either. The automobile has claimed its share of rockers. Notably Eddie Cochran, while on tour in the UK in 1960, and British guitar star Marc Bolan of glam rock titan T. Rex. The scene of Bolan's crash is the site of another shrine, in South West London, near where my character the Vinyl Detective resides.Drugs continue to dominate, though, and real-life America is currently in the grip of a heart-breaking epidemic of addiction and deaths caused by (entirely legal) prescription meds. The terrible toll includes Prince, who met his lonely end last year in an elevator in Paisley Park.But drugs and the rock life have thrown up the phenomena of a new kind of fatality -- the living death that results when the mind and personality of a musician are destroyed by powerful psychedelic drugs. Syd Barrett, founder member and guiding light of Pink Floyd disappeared down a rabbit hole created by LSD and never emerged again. He was eased out of the band, but they never forgot him. And their song, "Shine on You Crazy Diamond" contains an unforgettable description of his eyes "like black holes in the sky."I used Barrett as the basis for a character in my new novel, The Run-Out Groove, which charts the fallout from the classic era of British psychedelic rock in the shape of the band Valerian and the two sisters who formed its heart -- one of them dead, the other lost in the ravaged landscape of her own mind. Not to mention the further deaths, both physical and psychic, which ensue for the other characters in the story.But as with all the real people mentioned herein, and the Vinyl Detective himself, the most important thing for them is their music.And that lives on.Image: Wikimedia

A woman said she was barred from using the toilet on a United flight because the seat belt light was on mid-flight. She told the attendant that she urgently had to pee and the attendant gave her a couple of plastic cups, which she used. What happened after she used the cups was worse. From SFGate:After she was done — and with the seat belt light now off — she and her filled cup were escorted to the lavatory by attendants, who "treated me like I had committed a crime." According to Harper, they said they would be calling in a hazmat team to clean the entire row (despite the fact that there was no spillage, she says) and that she would have to speak with the pilot.After she was done — and with the seat belt light now off — she and her filled cup were escorted to the lavatory by attendants, who "treated me like I had committed a crime." According to Harper, they said they would be calling in a hazmat team to clean the entire row (despite the fact that there was no spillage, she says) and that she would have to speak with the pilot."I guess they would have preferred me to pee (on) the seat? After all they were the ones that gave me the cups knowing what I was planning to do with it," she wrote.Harper says she has repeatedly tried to reach United to register a complaint over the way she was treated."As an emergency room nurse, I completely understand having a bad day on the job and having to deal with undesirable bodily fluids. What I don't understand is ZERO customer service, if I treated a patient this poorly I would surely have consequences."Image: SFGate video screengrab(Thanks, Matthew!)

Not a good day in the polls for the beleaguered President. Everyone knows he's lying, and when asked, “What is the first word that comes to mind when you think of Donald Trump,” the top answer? “Idiot.”A new Quinnipiac poll shows that American voters, “who gave President Donald Trump a slight approval bump after the missile strike in Syria, today give him a near-record negative 36 - 58 percent job approval rating.” Also in this survey, the widest margin ever measured for this question in a Quinnipiac poll: 54-38% want the Democrats to take control of the House. (more…)

I am going to go out on a ledge and guess there were plenty of actors who could play a physically attractive Pacific Islander. Apparently Hollywood can't find one.Some guy named Zach McGowan has been cast as Hawaiian native Benehakaka “Ben” Kanahele in an upcoming WWII film entitled Ni’ihau. Apparently Ol' Ben Kanahele was not a blue-eyed, white skinned person of non-Hawaiian origin.Via Variety:Actor Zach McGowan has been cast as Hawaiian native Benehakaka “Ben” Kanahele in the upcoming WWII film “Ni’ihau,” reigniting the “whitewashing” controversy in Hollywood where Asian/Pacific Islanders are portrayed by white actors.The film chronicles the true story of the Ni’ihau Incident, in which Kanahele rescued Shigenori Nishikaichi, an Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service pilot who participated in the bombing of Pearl Harbor, after he crashed his plane onto the Hawaii island of Ni’ihau. After Nishikaichi escaped and banded with three local Japanese to terrorize American locals, Kanahele and his wife ultimately killed him. Kanahele, who was shot by Nishikaichi, was later hailed by the U.S. government as a hero for helping prevent a takeover on the island. The incident — as well as systemic racism against Asian Americans at the time — prompted President Franklin D. Roosevelt to issue an executive order placing thousands of Japanese-Americans in internment camps, widely regarded as one of the darkest hours in U.S. history.McGowan, who has appeared in “Shameless” and “Black Sails” as English pirate Charles Vane, is Caucasian with brown hair and blue eyes. Kanahele was a native Hawaiian with brown skin and dark hair. McGowan’s casting is the latest in a series of “whitewashed” roles.

The deal here's pretty straightforward: instead of boiling stuff in a pot, then having to pour hot water into a colander to strain the food, you just boil it in a silicone mesh baggie which can be easily removed and rinsed when ready. The downside is that the capacity isn't great, making it tough to feed more than two or three in a single load. The upside, though, is pretty obvious: convenience, and less fooling around with scalding liquids. (more…)

I ordered 2 of these LED flood lights - one for mood lighting in the living room, and another to light up my workbench in the garage. I happy with how they work for both applications.The unit is small: 4.5 x 2.8 x 3.4 inches. It comes with a bracket that can be screw mounted to a surface. I'm just using a clamp to secure the light for my workbench. And the light in the living room is on the floor, behind a drum. It comes with a remote control that lets you select 16 colors and different brightness levels. I've had the living room floodlight running for a week and it is cool to the touch. It also has special effects: strobe, flash, fade, and smooth.I'm going to buy a few more of these and install them outdoors (they are waterproof).

Dressed for hockey, one of Vladimir Putin's favorite violent sports other than interfering with foreign elections, the Russian President answered an American reporter's questions about the abrupt firing of FBI Director James Comey. (more…)

Two weeks after the 'National Enquirer' promised "World War 3 is coming!" the president's favorite media mouthpiece announces: "Trump's Plan For World Peace!"As plans go, it's a doozy. (more…)

This Saturday night presents a chance to see some of the very best performing artists in the world having a ball. Join Lindsay Benner and her hand picked cast for Women in Vaudeville at the Bob Baker Marionette theater.We've written about Lindsay a number of times over the last few years. She is a hilarious comedian, fantastic actor and can juggle anything you throw at her! In addition to performing, Lindsay has produced shows around the world, helped Boing Boing throw a Weekend of Wonder, and now she's organized an all-women's variety arts show in Los Angeles.https://youtu.be/fURG2XpRm6YYou'll be able to see Marawa the Amazing, and likely dozens if not hundreds of her hula-hoops. Also joining Lindsay is one of my absolute favorite people on the planet, contortionist, actor and comedian Bonnie Morgan. Bonnie is just back from promoting her new movie Rings, where she portrayed Samara in the third installment of the crazy horror series.Lindsay will also be presenting Katrina and puppeteer Pam Severns. There will be a reception before the show, and one after! The post show party will include tours of the historic Bob Baker Marionette theater.Don't miss it!Saturday, May 13th -- Women in VaudevilleThe Bob Baker Marionette Theater8pm -- Reception9pm -- SHOW10pm -- After PartyTickets: $20

Who will Donald Trump appoint to take over the FBI as interim director, after his abrupt firing of James Comey? U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein are reported to be interviewing candidates to take over the FBI. (more…)

SB4 is a recently passed Texas law that will go into effect on September 1, 2017. It gives police the right to investigate the immigration status of anyone they pull over during a routine traffic stop.The alert comes amid the passing of a Texas law known as SB4. The law gives a green light to police officers in the state to investigate a person’s immigration status during a routine traffic stop, leading to widespread racial profiling, baseless scrutiny, and illegal arrests of citizens and non-citizens alike presumed to be “foreign” based on how they look or sound. The travel alert applies to all travelers to Texas, including U.S. travelers from other states and U.S. citizens. In addition, this alert applies to all encounters with federal, state, county law enforcement including local police and sheriffs.Image: Wikimedia/Scapler

Lately I've been staring at an awful lot of line art GIFs. This one via Pinterest.

Here is the full and complete transcript of remarks given to news reporters by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson, just before Lavrov went into a closed-door meeting with President Donald Trump. (more…)

Robert Miles, the Italian DJ behind 1990s EDM breakthrough hit Children, is dead at 47. Born Roberto Concina, he popularized a chilled-out form of trance that came to dominate European airwaves in the 1990s.News of the Swiss-born Italian artist’s death was first reported by DJ Mag Italia, who claim he died of an “unspecified illness” but this has yet to be confirmed. Producer and longtime friend Joe T Vannelli verified the reports to the Press Association, saying: “Yes man, (it) is a tragedy.”He later posted a tribute to the producer on his Facebook: “The tragic news of the death of a very talented artist of our time, makes me incredulous and upset,” Vannelli said. “I will miss the fights, brawls, criticism, judgements but especially your talent in finding sounds and melodies unparalleled.”Children cost $150 to produce and hit Number 1 in twelve countries.

Homebrew has long been a highlight of the game-development scene, but publishing new carts for old consoles is going mainstream. The Verge's Andrew Webster writes that several such titles are soon to be released, mostly for classic Nintendo boxes.For some, it’s a hobby, a fun way to experiment with programming and design techniques. For others, it’s a way to pay homage to game experiences that have long gone out of fashion. Sometimes it’s a little of both. In 2010 Xbox co-founder Ed Fries created a stripped-down version of Halo designed for the Atari 2600, while Paul Koller has made a name porting modern indie games to the Commodore 64. Most of these games are released for free, and playable through an emulator on a PC.For Long, the decision to not only create a retro homebrew game, but release it on a cartridge, was made because he wanted to embrace the limitations of a device like the NES. “The goal was to craft a tightly controlled experience,” he explains. While Star Versus is a decidedly 8-bit game, as a competitive shooter it also pulls from modern game design techniques. Long was also interested in restricting himself to the NES controller, something that wouldn’t be possible if people played the game through a PC emulator. “There were obvious downsides to only being on cartridge, such as limited exposure and difficulty in demoing,” he says. “But I’m happy with the choice I made, at least for this game.”

Two weeks ago, the excellent Crooked Timbre groupblog kicked off a symposium on my novel Walkaway, inviting ten scholars, practitioners, activists and thinkers to weigh in on the novel with thoughtful, sometimes sharply critical essays. (more…)

We had a fantastic event last night at Denver's Tattered Cover -- thanks to everyone, especially the Denhack crew, for making it so great -- and now I'm headed to the airport to fly to Austin for an event tonight at Bookpeople with a special guest appearance from EFF-Austin! (more…)

Thunderbird is one of the last robust email clients, a must-have for people who don't want to use webmail or leave their mail on a server, waiting to be hacked and dumped -- but for years, it has been on deathwatch, as the Mozilla Foundation looked for another organization to take it over. (more…)

The latest Copycamp call for papers is up, inviting presentations for the excellent Warsaw symposium on copyright, innovation and freedom -- now six years old! (more…)

In 1991, George Holliday's video of Rodney King being kicked and nightsticked by LAPD officers shocked the nation and sparked an uprising that galvanized the discussion about police brutality. (more…)

After John Oliver produced another amazing video that called on the internet to tell the FCC not to kill Net Neutrality (and gave them an easy way to penetrate the FCC's thicket of bureaucratic nonsense designed to keep people away), the FCC's website crashed -- a seeming repeat of 2014, when Oliver helped spur a movement that brought the FCC to its knees. (more…)

A classic favorite of Boing Boing editors, the Useless Machine has been implemented as a website for your button-pressing pleasure.

Ben Marks says: "A couple of weeks ago, I was given the opportunity to interview New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast, who was in San Francisco for the opening of her show at the Contemporary Jewish Museum. Naturally, I felt compelled to ask the author of Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant? an unpleasant question: How does she manage to get through the day without drawing a cartoon about Donald Trump?Here's a snip from the conversation that followed:“It’s difficult not to do that every time my pen approaches the paper,” Chast replies, her mouth immediately contorting into one of her character’s trademark scowls. “He’s such an asshole—such an asshole,” she repeats, almost spitting the words, as if to exorcise a demon that’s taken up unwanted residency in her spleen. “The despicableness of that person trumps every feeling I’ve ever had about a politician. His horrible voice, that stupid hair, the way he pushes his mouth out like that.” Chast purses her lips like a deranged baby duck.“The courtesy he shows his wife,” I offer, goading her on.More lightning bolts. “Oh, God, that’s so terrible. That picture of them getting off of the plane—it’s like she’s just a thing to him. I feel terrible for her.” Chast takes a deep breath.I ask Chast if she’s been taking a lot of deep breaths lately.“Yeah,” she says, “because I don’t want to think about him that much.” Chast pauses briefly, shakes her head, and then asks, “Do you know he actually said that he got higher ratings than 9/11?”“Well,” I suggest, choosing the words that follow carefully, “at least he was comparing apples to apples.”And with that, the furrows in Chast’s brow clear, her frown transforms into a mischievous grin, and a conspiratorial chuckle sneaks out of the corner of her mouth. “Yes, that’s true,” she says with a sly smile.I’ve just made Roz Chast laugh, and it feels like I’ve won the Pulitzer Prize, albeit in a new, and very nichey, category—Best Joke Told to a Writer’s Favorite Cartoonist. “But my God,” she adds with a quick grimace, “what an asshole.” And, we’re back.

Trump fired FBI director James Comey today, effective immediately. Comey firing NOT about Hilary and very much about Trump Russia investigation.— Drew Sullivan (@DrewOCCRP) May 9, 2017Pres. Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey is a "grotesque abuse of power," legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin says https://t.co/49ZSr5bsqi pic.twitter.com/PIFInsZ6XI— CNN (@CNN) May 9, 2017From NYT:President Trump has dismissed the director of the F.B.I., James B. Comey, on the recommendation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the White House spokesman, Sean Spicer, said Tuesday.ABC News:President Trump has previously been critical of Comey, suggesting that his actions helped Hillary Clinton during the campaign, while Clinton blamed Comey and his late announcement about the FBI's investigation into her email server contributed to her electoral college loss.Here's Trump letter, firing Comey. Here's Sessions' letter to Trump recommending Comey be fired. pic.twitter.com/GxBy31xSsA— Cyrus Farivar (@cfarivar) May 9, 2017Firing the guy who is investigating you for a crime is always the best way to prove to everyone that you didn't do it. #Comey #TrumpRussia— Kaivan Shroff (@KaivanShroff) May 9, 2017White House statement on the firing of FBI Director James Comey pic.twitter.com/kKez5Kkl7T— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) May 9, 2017Why fire Comey now? Because what's coming down the pike in FBI investigation against Trump/allies is worse than PR hit Trump will take now.— Julián Castro (@JulianCastro) May 9, 2017COMEY FIRED! Dirty, corrupt things afoot. The truth will all come out. The unraveling continues... Hold the election over. Dirty. Corrupt.— Michael Moore (@MMFlint) May 9, 2017Image: Brookings Institution

Popularized by Ayelet Waldman's book A Really Good Day, microdosing LSD (ingesting LSD in such minuscule amounts that its psychedelic effects aren't felt) is said to improve cognitive function and relieve pain and depression. At least that is what microdosers claim. Of course this isn't backed by science, since acid was made illegal in 1968 and researching the controlled substance is almost impossible. But researcher Amanda Fielding, who once drilled a hole in her head in the name of consciousness exploration and who now runs the Beckley Foundation for psychedelic research, is planning a study to see if these microdosing claims are legitimate. According to Motherboard:As the first scientific trial to investigate the effects of microdosing, Fielding's study will consist of 20 participants who will be given low doses—10, 20 and 50 micrograms of LSD—or a placebo on four different occasions. After taking the acid, the brains of these subjects will be imaged using MRI and MEG while they engage in a variety of cognitive tasks, such as the neuropsychology staples the Wisconsin Card Sorting test and the Tower of London test. Importantly, the participants will also be playing Go against an AI, which will assess the players' performance during the match. By imaging the brain while it's under the influence of small amounts of LSD, Fielding hopes to learn how the substance changes connectivity in the brain to enhance creativity and problem solving. If the study goes forward, this will only be the second time that subjects on LSD have had their brain imaged while tripping. (That 2016 study at Imperial College London was also funded by the Beckley Foundation, which found that there was a significant uptick in neural activity in areas of the brain associated with vision during acid trips.)But Fielding faces two hurdles before she can begin the study: 1) funding, and 2) acquiring the LSD.In terms of funding, she says she needs to raise about $350,000. "It's frightening how expensive this kind of research is," Fielding said. "I'm very keen on trying to alter how drug policy categorizes these compounds because the research is much more costly simply because LSD is a controlled substance."To tackle this problem, Fielding has partnered with Rodrigo Niño, a New York entrepreneur who recently launched Fundamental, a platform for donations to support psychedelic research at institutions like the Beckley Foundation, Johns Hopkins University, and New York University.The second obstacle might be trickier to clear. In 2016, she was able to use LSD that had been synthesized for research purposes by a government certified lab, but she suspects that this stash has long since been used up.Fielding says the benefits are too great to be ignored. If anyone is going to make a study like this happen, it will be her.Image: AlmudenaFM

Grab this Elegoo UNO R3 Board while you can for $8.68 on Amazon. If you don't have jumper wires, LEDs, buttons, resistors, etc. you can buy a bunch of goodies for $7.86.

sciencefictioninterfaces.tumblr.com is exactly what its name suggests. I am envious of the people who make computer interfaces for movies. Their designs just have to look pretty.If you like this kind of stuff, I recommend the book, Make It So: Interaction Design Lessons from Science Fiction, by Nathan Shedroff and Christopher Noessel.

On June 9 in Seattle, our pals in Death Cab for Cutie are joining The Decemberists and Sera Cahoone for a benefit concert at the Paramount Theatre with all proceeds going to the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) and Planned Parenthood. Tickets go on sale Friday (5/12) at 10am PT.“We as Death Cab For Cutie are appalled by the divisive, xenophobic and misogynistic agenda the Trump Administration is attempting to implement in our country," says Ben Gibbard. "We are proud to be joining our friends The Decemberists and Sera Cahoone in support of both the ACLU and Planned Parenthood at this pivotal time in our nation's history."Buy tickets.

You know the feeling. The clock strikes 2:30, and all you have to show for your day is a lingering lunch coma, a growing stack of unread emails, and an empty document taunting you with its endlessly blinking cursor. It kind of feels like a panic attack, but it’s way more boring and no one will let you go home. It's okay, Nanodots are here to ease your mind.This bundle of rare-earth magnets can be assembled into an array of geometric shapes and patterns to indulge your inner structuralist. But whatever you do, don’t eat them! This set includes 216 balls that will hold their magnetism for over 20,000 years.You can pick up Nanodots and start getting geometrical in the Boing Boing Store.

Conventional wisdom: If you eat a lot of salt, you will get thirsty to dilute the sodium level in your blood. The excess salt will be excreted in your urine. But a new study of Russian cosmonauts is challenging this long-held belief. When the cosmonauts ate more salt, the became less thirsty. And their appetite increased - they had to eat 25 percent more to maintain their weight.From the New York Times:The crew members were increasing production of glucocorticoid hormones, which influence both metabolism and immune function.To get further insight, [Dr. Jens Titze, now a kidney specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the Interdisciplinary Center for Clinical Research in Erlangen, Germany] began a study of mice in the laboratory. Sure enough, the more salt he added to the animals’ diet, the less water they drank. And he saw why.The animals were getting water — but not by drinking it. The increased levels of glucocorticoid hormones broke down fat and muscle in their own bodies. This freed up water for the body to use.But that process requires energy, Dr. Titze also found, which is why the mice ate 25 percent more food on a high-salt diet. The hormones also may be a cause of the strange long-term fluctuations in urine volume.Scientists knew that a starving body will burn its own fat and muscle for sustenance. But the realization that something similar happens on a salty diet has come as a revelation.https://youtu.be/aJEzl31zL-I

Here's The Cure performing A Forest live on television at Paris's Theatre de l'Empire on December 3, 1979. Robert Smith was 20 years old at the time.

Ted Cruz wanted to grill Former acting attorney general Sally Yates about Trump’s Muslim ban at Monday's Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing about Michael Flynn's tie to Russia. He read a passage from the Immigration and Naturalization Act that gives the president the power to limit US immigration and asked Yates if she would “agree that that is broad statutory authorization.” She answered:“I would. I am familiar with that, and I’m also familiar with an additional provision of the INA that says, ‘No person shall receive preference or be discriminated against in issuance of a visa because of race, nationality, or place of birth. I believe [that passage] was promulgated after the statue you just quoted. My concern here is not an INA concern here, it rather was a constitutional concern.” The best part is hearing Cruz sputter in feeble protest.

If you're one of those people who insists on telling others about your dreams, at least follow this advice offered by cognitive scientist Jim Davies of Scientific American:We tend to think of dreams as being really weird, but in truth about 80 percent of dreams depict ordinary situations.We’re just more likely to remember and talk about the strange ones. Information we don't understand can often rouse our curiosity, particularly in the presence of strong emotion. Just like someone having a psychotic experience, the emotional pull of dreams make even the strangest incongruities seem meaningful, and worthy of discussion and interpretation.These reasons are why most of your dreams are going to seem pretty boring to most people.But if you’re going to talk about some of your dreams, pick the ones in which you deal with a problem in some new way. The negativity bias would make them more interesting than your happy dreams, and if you feel you learned something about how to deal with a threat, maybe your audience will too.