Boing Boing

There are certain languages that don't differentiate between the present and the future. Estonian is the classic example of a "futureless tongue." According to new research by Efrén O. Pérez, co-director of Vanderbilt University's Research on Individuals, Politics & Society Lab and Margit Tavits, professor of political science at Washington University, language has a sizable impact on how we think about future-oriented policies. As William S. Burroughs said, language is a virus. From their scientific paper in the American Journal of Political Science:Can the way we speak affect the way we perceive time and think about politics? Languages vary by how much they require speakers to grammatically encode temporal differences. Futureless tongues (e.g., Estonian) do not oblige speakers to distinguish between the present and future tense, whereas futured tongues do (e.g., Russian). By grammatically conflating “today” and “tomorrow,” we hypothesize that speakers of futureless tongues will view the future as temporally closer to the present, causing them to discount the future less and support future-oriented policies more. Using an original survey experiment that randomly assigned the interview language to Estonian/Russian bilinguals, we find support for this proposition and document the absence of this language effect when a policy has no obvious time referent. We then replicate and extend our principal result through a cross-national analysis of survey data. Our results imply that language may have significant consequences for mass opinion.

Charlie from Open Rights Group writes, "'I have made it clear in my campaign that I would support and endorse the use of enhanced interrogation techniques.' - Donald Trump, 15/2/2016." (more…)

A bill that demotes domestic violence to a civic offense has passed Russia's lower parliamentary chamber, the Duma. (more…)

Lead pipes have a lifespan of about 75 years -- and America's lead pipe are about 75 years old. 3,000 American municipalities have 1.2m miles of lead pipe, and it's all overdue for replacement, but there's no plan in hand to do so, and any workable plan will cost about $1 trillion to execute. (more…)

Comedian and former Daily Show correspondent Jessica Williams took to the stage during the Women's March at Sundance to share a story about her mother and celebrate black womanhood.[via Mic]

Due to infrequent but insistent requests for my unpleasant Photoshops of various politicians, I'm putting as many of them as I can remember here in one place. Sweet dreams! I'd make a calendar but the licensing fees involved would necessitate crowdfunding it, which sounds like hard work.There are a couple of extras here not seen before, such as Donald McNugget; and I likely missed a few too. (more…)

Twitter is a great place for bots. Botherders like Shardcore produce amazing, politics, artistic bots that mine Twitter, inject useful information into Twitter, or just frolic on Twitter, making it a better place. Twitterbots produce entries in imaginary grimoires, conduct sociological research, produce virtual model railroads, alert the public when governments try to make bad news disappear, and much, much more. (more…)

White hat hackers are a critical asset to information security, which is at extremely high risk in this day and age. Remember Target? Remember the DNC email hack? By discovering vulnerabilities in computer systems before nefarious actors can gain access, ethical hackers help protect private data and keep software safe for users. To enter this increasingly essential field, pick up this Pay What You Want White Hat Hacker Bundle.With just these online courses, I was able to get up to speed with the latest security practices. You'll familiarize yourself with network infrastructure to understand how secure systems are built and maintained. Mitigate common web threats by adopting safer coding techniques and get an overview of common attack strategies. Even put yourself in the shoes of attackers by hacking WiFi networks and building an Android Trojan virus.Through this wide overview of security skills, I worked towards becoming a Certified Information Systems Security Professional. The best part is that it's incredibly affordable. I highly suggest you name your price to get a great deal on this White Hat Hacker bundle.Explore other Best-Sellers on our network:CodingLearn to Code 2017 Bundle (Pay What You Want)Project ManagementUltimate PM Certification ($69)Music + EntertainmentBrain.fm: 3-Year Subscription ($29)Cord-CuttingGhost Indoor HDTV Antenna (57% off)

After dismissing civil rights icon John Lewis as "all talk," Donald Trump catapulted Lewis' March trilogy comic on the civil rights movement back to the best-seller charts, where it has stayed all month. This week, it won four American Library Association Awards. (more…)

Who would win in a fight between a turtle-sized turtle and a dozen cow-sized-cows? [via r/funny.]

This video from Verso Books author LA Kauffman breaks down the basics of direct action.

Tooth Magnified to the atomic levelIt's like Powers of Ten for dentistry.

A weatherman flipped the bird without realizing he was on camera. Six years later, people are still sharing the video.[via]

Whether I'm trying to relieve some stress at work or entertain myself on the metro, Space Putty is there. You can bring this magical goo home and try it for yourself for just $9.99Like Silly Putty of yesteryear, this viscoelastic substance can be molded into different shapes and stretched around in your hands. Use it as a malleable stress reliever, or bounce it off the walls for some impromptu office sports. Infused with iron particles, this putty can be manipulated and moved around with magnets or employed as a squishy refrigerator magnet when not in use.This experimental substance provides endless tactile fun with a magnetic twist. For a limited time, get this Scientific Magnetic Space Putty for just $9.99, 60% off the usual price. It may just be the best $10 you've spent in a long time.Explore other Best-Sellers on our network:CodingLearn to Code 2017 Bundle (Pay What You Want)Project ManagementUltimate PM Certification ($69)Music + EntertainmentBrain.fm: 3-Year Subscription ($29)Cord-CuttingGhost Indoor HDTV Antenna (57% off)

Blooms are sculptures that animate when a camera captures them in motion at a certain frame rate—a common accidental example is the illusion of car hubcaps spinning "backwards" on video. John Edmark's designs embody the mesmerizing precision of objects one would assume were computer-generated if we didn't know better: reality itself seeming to simulate our simulation. Unlike a 3D zoetrope, which animates a sequence of small changes to objects, a bloom animates as a single self-contained sculpture. The bloom’s animation effect is achieved by progressive rotations of the golden ratio, phi (ϕ), the same ratio that nature employs to generate the spiral patterns we see in pinecones and sunflowers. The rotational speed and strobe rate of the bloom are synchronized so that one flash occurs every time the bloom turns 137.5º (the angular version of phi).* Each bloom’s particular form and behavior is determined by a unique parametric seed I call a phi-nome (/fī nōm/). -John EdmarkUpdate: Previously!

"Be better and more beautiful than you were before." Adult Swim is with us always, but this time from @Sleevesmith & @JerryPaperREAL.

Trump launched his campaign in front of an "audience" of actors paid $50/each to wear campaign shirts and cheer wildly, and he's brought his paid cheering section with him into the presidency, bringing along staffers to applaud at key moments during his press conferences and other appearances. (more…)

It's a commonplace that in the natural world, males attempt to mate with multiple females, while females attempt to entice males into being monogamous; this is attributed to the high cost of producing an egg and bearing children (or laying eggs) for females, and the low cost of sperm production for males. (more…)

Caroline Slotte is a sculptor in Finland who layers old, decorated china plates atop one another, then carefully removes material from successive layers with precision masking and sandblasting and carving, created 3D scenes with gorgeous depth. (more…)

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Rolls Royce just arranged for a "deferred prosecution" with UK prosecutors over revelations that it had committed jailable offenses by bribing overseas officials in order to secure their business; under this arrangement, prosecutors have allowed Rolls Royce to pay to have the prosecution halted and to have their executives immunized from criminal repercussions for their actions. (more…)

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The criminals of Paris have targeted super-rich visitors in a string of daring robberies -- one gang broke into Kim Kardashian's hotel room, tied her up, and stole millions in jewels; another carjacked a pair of rich Qatari sisters' Bentley and made off with $5.3m in valuables; another one tried to rob Bollywood star Mallika Sherawat after gassing them, but botched the job. (more…)

The press reported cheering at Donald's press conference and at his address at the CIA memorial, and it turned out to be his staffers, an entourage of fawning sycophants paid to clap. It's funny, at first. Then you realize that it's a grotesque headgame that is only going to get worse. (more…)

Update: The library system has recovered access to its computers.The libraries of St Louis, MO have been crippled by a ransomware attack that has shut down the public terminals the library provides to the poor and vulnerable of St Louis, as well as the systems used to process book and material lending (the catalog is on a separate, uninfected system). (more…)

Michael Goodwin and Dan Burr are the author/illustrator team who created Economix, a fantastic comic-book explanation of history of the world economy. (Here's my review of Economix.) Michael and Dan teamed up to create a free online comic about the Republicans’ best plan to replace Obamacare. ("Spoiler: Their best ain’t good.")

I bought this LED headlamp in 2015, and I use it at least twice a week. You can adjust the brightness, and has an option to turn it off and on by swiping it with your hand. It's great for barbecuing at night, repairing stuff, and walking in the dark. If you have never used one, you don't know what you're missing. It includes 3 AAA batteries. $8 is a great deal.

If you were one of the lucky Del Toro fans who got to see the At Home With Monsters show at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art this year I hope you found the photo-mural of his house on the way out and took a selfie there — it looks like YOU are right there inside Bleak House, Del Toro’s home of monsters! (see my pic above). Seeing that show was about as close as any of us will ever be to getting inside to see his collection. If you missed the show, then this book is the next best thing.Any fan of horror, sci-fi, and Del Toro films like Hellboy, will love this handsome book designed to go along with the museum show. The legendary film director’s collection of original art, movie props and extraordinarily realistic life-size figures is truly amazing. His appetite is omnivorous and wide-ranging from low- to high-brow and everything in between: William Blake etchings, pulp novels and comic books, Japanese woodblock prints, Simpsons vinyl collectibles, Phillip Guston paintings to Todd Browning Freaks stills, and much, much, MUCH, more. Also included, are pages directly from Del Toro’s own notebook with sketches and notes for his films, including Pan’s Labyrinth and Blade.See sample pages from this book at Wink.Guillermo del Toro: At Home with Monsters: Inside His Films, Notebooks, and Collections by Guillermo del Toro (Author), Guy Davis (Illustrator), & 3 moreInsight Editions2016, 152 pages, 8.0 x 0.8 x 10.0 inches, Hardcover$20 Buy one on Amazon

Amy Walker is well known for her celebrity impersonation and accent demonstration video. Here, she practices impersonating Trump as an exercise to better understand him. This video fascinated me. I love it when people experiment on their own nervous systems like this.This is not a parody. It's an exercise in #CourageousCompassion. Empathy. To understand President Trump from the inside out, that I may know myself better - especially any part of me that I'd not identified with and projected onto him. To see all as equal. As one.As Meryl Streep said, "We have to remind each other of the privilege and the responsibility of the act of empathy."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=140&v=5M1WJ48_wacMore than 8,000,000 people have watched this video of a flashmob choir performing "I Can't Keep Quiet," a song by LA musician MILCK, who performed it at Saturday's Women's March. (more…)

Image: David Weekly/FlickrWestern Union admitted it behaved criminally through its "willful failure to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program and aiding and abetting wire fraud," reports Forbes. They've agreed to pay a $586 million fine. From the Forbes article:In a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission on Thursday, authorities describe insufficient or poorly enforced policies that resulted in the funneling of hundreds of millions of dollars in proceeds from illegal gambling, fraud and drug and human trafficking....In one case, illegal immigrants from China sent money back to the people who smuggled them across the border. With the help of employees, the payments were structured so that they didn't trigger reporting requirements under the Bank Secrecy Act, say authorities.In another example, Western Union processed hundreds of thousands of transactions for an international scam, wherein fraudsters directed people to send money in order to claim a prize or help a relative. Western Union employees often processed the payments in return for a cut of the proceeds, say authorities.From CFO:Wifredo A. Ferrer, the U.S. Attorney in Miami, said the misconduct reflected “a flawed corporate culture that failed to provide a checks and balances approach to combat criminal practices.”“Western Union’s failure to implement proper controls and discipline agents that violated compliances policies enabled the proliferation of illegal gambling, money laundering and fraud-related schemes,” he added.I'm not a fan of civil asset forfeiture, which is basically a way for law enforcement to steal money and assets from anyone without charging them with a crime. But in this case, it seems appropriate for the government seize the assets of the CEO of Western Union, Hikmet Ersek, until he can prove that his $8.5 million salary didn't depend on Western Union's admitted criminal activities.

A Russian district doctor must deliver the anti-zombie vaccine to a rural town, or it's inhabitants will suffer. A short ride and simple mission become an existential nightmare as The Blizzard blocks his path. (more…)

It all started when baker Duff Goldman of Ace Of Cakes fame tweeted out this photo:https://twitter.com/Duff_Goldman/status/822675780341641216As Goldman points out, Donald Trump's inauguration cake looks suspiciously like the one he made for Barack Obama in 2013. But the story got even better when the bakery that made the cake in question chimed in too:https://www.instagram.com/p/BPiBprwF4JP/The caption reads:Excited to share the cake we got to make for one of last night's inaugural balls. While we most love creating original designs, when we are asked to replicate someone else's work we are thrilled when it is a masterpiece like this one. @duff_goldman originally created this for Obama's inauguration 4 years ago and this years committee commissioned us to re-create it. Best part is all the profits are being donated to @humanrightscampaign, one of our favorite charities who we have loved working with over the years. Because basic human rights are something every man, woman and child~ straight, gay or the rainbow in between~ deserve!So not only did Buttercream Bakeshop happily give Goldman credit while tacitly admitting how strange it was to be asked to replicate someone else’s design, the bakery also proudly noted that all proceeds from the cake would be donated to the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBT civil rights group. But the story has one more twist too: The cake isn't even real. It's a prop made out of Styrofoam except for a three-inch slice for ceremonial cutting, which Trump and Mike Pence did with a sword. So, yes, if you need a metaphor for the incoming administration, Trump blatantly stealing Obama’s cake but making it a fake one works quite nicely.https://twitter.com/Duff_Goldman/status/822858891939590145[via Tumblr]

@Halfanonioninabag has one goal in life: to exceed Trump's follower-count, proving that such numbers are a plebiscite on precisely nothing. (more…)

A group of computer scientists from Tsinghua University, Tencent and Tsinghua National Laboratory for Information Science and Technology have posted a first-of-its-kind paper to Arxiv, analyzing the problems that make connecting to wifi networks so achingly slow. (more…)

Flipboard asserts that after studying 30 professions, they've concluded that the occupations that are most resistant to roboticization are those that are "unpredictable" -- CEOs, school psychologists, economists, allergists, immunologists, and environmental scientists. (more…)

Agent X and Agent Full Stop are a pair of graffiti activists who call themselves Acción Ortográfica Quito: they sneak around the streets of Quito, Ecuador with cans of red spray-paint, correcting the punctuation, grammar and spelling of the city's prolific graffiti writers, bringing legibility to boasts, professions of love, and political messages. (more…)

Section 1201 of the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act makes it both a crime and a civil offense to tamper with software locks that control access to copyrighted works -- more commonly known as "Digital Rights Management" or DRM. As the number of products with software in them has exploded, the manufacturers of these products have figured out that they can force their customers to use their own property in ways that benefit the company's shareholders, not the products' owners -- all they have to do is design those products so that using them in other ways requires breaking some DRM. (more…)

Mathematician Stephen Wolfram and his company do a lot of consulting for Hollywood. But he doesn't often do it on an urgent basis because a movie is about to shoot and they neglected to "tech the tech."When I first started looking at the script for [Arrival], I quickly realized that to make coherent suggestions I really needed to come up with a concrete theory for the science of what might be going on. Unfortunately there wasn’t much time — and in the end I basically had just one evening to invent how interstellar space travel might work. Here’s the beginning of what I wrote for the movie makers about what I came up with that evening (to avoid spoilers I’m not showing more)He builds a convincing technical and scientific backstory for space travel that informs the movie production rather than being dumped on the viewer. But he also offered suggestions on fixing little howlers (“You shouldn’t say the spacecraft came a million light years; that’s outside the galaxy; say a trillion miles instead.") and found that the process of line-editing screenplays reminded him of software design. (“cut out any complexity one can, and make everything as clear and minimal as possible.”)He also created, at short notice, a whiteboard covered in physics jibber-jabber when the filmmakers were doing reshoots. Irony: he's not used one in decades.

If you ever doubted the ability of a simple mousetrap to rid your household of pesky hot dogs...(via Cliff Pickover)

Opening up Instagram to this photo while arriving at the Women’s March on Chicago was easily one of the best parts of my weekend. Melissa Benoist plays Kara Zor-El a.k.a. Supergirl on The CW series, and it’s really cool to see her modeling the show’s female-empowerment message in real life too.https://www.instagram.com/p/BPiCe8UDmg6/?hl=enAs a bonus: Ian McKellen’s sign was also just about perfect:https://twitter.com/shxrlocked/status/822887186345459712?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Running materials through a modified 3D printer to create sealed compartments can yield forms that change shape when inflated. MIT's Tangible Media Group demonstrates. (more…)

This image by photographer Kevin Mazur is one of the most stunning photos to emerge from the Women’s March on Washington. Mark Hamill had this to say about his space sister's image being used at so many marches:https://twitter.com/HamillHimself/status/822938477989769217You can see more of Mazur’s work on his website.[via @shattered_earth on Twitter]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCM5JftERDg&feature=youtu.beJessica Leigh Clark-Bojin (aka @ThePieous) writes, "It is National Pie Day in America tomorrow (not to be confused with "International Pi Day" - the cooler big cousin of pie holidays on March 14th...) In honour of this occasion I've posted a new tutorial video that is very attainable for any novice pie-geeks out there thinking about whipping something up nifty. It features our favourite 8 bit plumber hero, with a special guest appearance at the end."

Donald Trump's press secretary Sean Spicer inaugurated his first day on the job by telling easily falsifiable lies about the relative sizes of the Trump inauguration crowds and those of the Obama administration. (more…)

David J of Bauhaus and Love and Rockets fame and his frequent collaborator/manager Darwin Meiners cover John Lennon's "Gimme Some Truth!"

Fingers of Steel chronicles the hardcore world of finger skateboarding. Warning: some of the tricks are so gnarly you'll wonder how fingerboarder Chris Heck escapes with fingers intact. (more…)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqYspn7PZmQWith Congress set to defund Planned Parenthood and millions of women and allies on the march across America, what better time to reacquaint yourself with this amazing, vital, brave organization that has withstood domestic terror, vile slander, and endless depredations to provide services to women for more than a century. (via Kottke)

In 2013, Lavabit -- famous for being the privacy-oriented email service chosen by Edward Snowden to make contact with journalists while he was contracting for the NSA -- shut down under mysterious, abrupt circumstances, leaving 410,000 users wondering what had just happened to their email addresses. (more…)