Adult tube site xHamster released its first comprehensive survey of porn viewership in 2016. According to them the most visited category moved from MILFs to Matures (women in their 40s and 50s). They also found that searches for "Melania" beat out "Donald Trump" and "Hillary Clinton" combined. (more…)

Despite what you might have read in this alarming story in the Washington Post, Russia did not hack Vermont's power authority. (more…)

In The Competition Initiative and Hidden Fees, the White House's National Economic Council documents the widespread use of deceptive "service charges" that businesses levy, allowing them to advertise prices that are wildly divergent from what you'll actually pay -- think of the $30, unavoidable "resort fees" added to a hotel bill; the $25 "processing fees" added to concert tickets, the random fees added to telecom bills, etc, all adding up to billions transferred away from American shoppers to big business. (more…)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRB781duYTEIn On Smart Cities, Smart Energy, And Dumb Security -- Netanel Rubin's talk at this year's Chaos Communications Congress -- Rubin presents his findings on the failings in the security of commonly deployed smart meters. (more…)

Biomimicry in robotics has led to robots that can climb, fly, and swim better. Now researchers have developed hair-like filaments for robots that allow them to have more fine-grained senses of touch, sensing even forces as delicate as coming in contact with a piece of tissue. (more…)

André Roubo's series on carpentry called L'Art du Menuisier mentions a polissior, a small device made of broom straw for polishing wood. In the two centuries since Roubo's book, the device had faded from memory until a couple of years ago, when Don Williams recreated one from an illustration in Roubo's book. It turned out to work amazingly well. (more…)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBWddXUCBsYDuge Beipanjiang Bridge crosses a gorge 565 meters above China's Nizhu River. That's a bigger height than One World Trade Center, and beats the previous record-holder by about 70 meters. (more…)

Tens of thousands of fish, starfish, scallops, crabs, lobsters, and other ocean life washed up dead this week at Savory Park on the western coast of Nova Scotia. The cause of the massive fish death is not yet known. From CNN:Environmental officials are testing the water for pesticides and oxygen levels for possible clues...While toxic chemical exposure can be one cause, most fish kills are attributed to low concentrations of dissolved oxygen in the water, according to the USGS.Just this year, mass fish deaths were reported in Florida's Indian River Lagoon and Hongcheng Lake in Haikou,China.

Cardistry wizard Zach Mueller works his magic on the Santa Monica Pier. Special guest appearance by cardist CJ Ocampo.

In May 1984, George Michael and Morrissey, promoting respectively “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" and The Smiths' "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now," appeared on the BBC program Eight Days A Week. They discuss such urgent matters as the film Breakin' (released as Breakdance outside the US) and Mark Johnson's book An Ideal for Living: A History of Joy Division.(via Dangerous Minds)

Eric Schlosser's book and film Command and Control look at the terrifying prospects of nuclear friendly fire, where one of America's nukes detonates on US soil. It also looks at what might happen if a false alarm gets relayed to a trigger-happy general or President. He starts this New Yorker piece with a terrifying story from June 3, 1980:President Jimmy Carter’s national-security adviser, Zbigniew Brzezinski, was asleep in Washington, D.C., when the phone rang. His military aide, General William Odom, was calling to inform him that two hundred and twenty missiles launched from Soviet submarines were heading toward the United States. Brzezinski told Odom to get confirmation of the attack. A retaliatory strike would have to be ordered quickly; Washington might be destroyed within minutes. Odom called back and offered a correction: twenty-two hundred Soviet missiles had been launched.Brzezinski decided not to wake up his wife, preferring that she die in her sleep. As he prepared to call Carter and recommend an American counterattack, the phone rang for a third time. Odom apologized—it was a false alarm. An investigation later found that a defective computer chip in a communications device at norad headquarters had generated the erroneous warning. The chip cost forty-six cents.Lots more scary info at the Command and Control film website.• World War Three, by mistake (New Yorker)Image: Maxwell Hamilton

SabbaticalHomes.com is like Airbnb for academics looking to rent their homes during sabbaticals. Sounds genteel, but many states allow long-term guests to establish tenancy, often after 30 days. Mother Jones has an infuriating and cautionary tale about the homestay marketplace: the sharing economy can intersect with tenant rights, and the people who know how to work that system might decide not to pay rent or leave until evicted. (more…)

Hot water on a ring of Skittles! (via The Kid Should See This)

Robert Hulseman, creator of the iconic Red Solo Cup seen at frat parties, sizzurp celebrations, and Midwestern family reunions everywhere, has died at age 84. Hulseman, with friend Jack Clements, followed up that iconic container design with another: the Solo traveler coffee cup lid, such a classic design that one of them is now in the New York Museum of Modern Art. From NPR:Solo was one of the first companies to market small paper cone cups that were common to see alongside water coolers in the 1940s.The company went on to develop the wax-lined cups used by drive-in movie theaters and fast-food restaurants.In the 1970's, Hulseman invented the Red Solo Cup for families to use at picnics but use of the ubiquitous cup took off and it was embraced by all beverage drinkers.Paul Hulseman, Robert's son, told The Associated Press that "his father never fully understood how massively popular the large red plastic cup became in pop culture."

Pete Warden reports in from the ARM Research Summit, where James Myers presented on "energy harvesting" by microscopic computers -- that is, using glints of sunlight and the jostling of motion from bumping into things or riding on our bodies to provide power for computation. (more…)

This extremely informative video describes in detail how scientists discovered a huge gravity anomaly under the Antarctic ice. Even better, they slowly draw viewers in to their theory that the likely impact basin is part of a larger UFO conspiracy. (more…)

Touted as Earth's "first mobile kiss messenger," Kissenger is a rubbery-looking dock that humans put their phones in. It has a tactile surface they depress with their meat. The movements are then transmitted in realtime over the internet, so that a replica of them may be experienced by another human.Plug in to your phone and give your loved ones a kiss over the Internet. Kissenger can sense your kiss and transmit realistic kissing sensations to your partner in real time. You can also feel the force on your lips when your partner kisses you back. Share an intimate moment with your friends and families while chatting with them on your phone.The device comprises six sensors, corresponding actuators, and a meat-colored silicone sheath. There's an app that goes with it so the humans can interact on a audiovisual-discursive level at the same time. It's at the prototype stage with nothing to buy, yet, but obviously we should keep an eye on this. It should suffice to say that our previous recommendations with respect to establishing contact with this species have not changed. High precision force sensors are embedded under the silicon lip to measure the dynamic forces at different parts of your lips during a kiss. The device sends this data to your phone, which transmits it to your partner over the Internet in real time. Miniature linear actuators are used to reproduce these forces on your partner's lips, creating a realistic kissing sensation. Kissenger provides a two-way interaction just like in a real kiss. You can also feel your partner's kiss on your lips when they kiss you back.[via The Verge]

Here's an inexpensive little project that's pretty easy and looks cool: LED-filled glass lights with concrete bases. Glen at DIY Creators takes you through the process. (more…)

Here's a fun and easy decoration for your new year's or award show viewing parties, or a craft to do with kids: make some 3D kirigami stars with just some paper and a pair of scissors. (more…)

Thanks to an online platform overhauled and reopened last month, visitors can now view hundreds of thousands of images in the George Eastman Museum collection. Works include vintage materials like Eadweard J. Muybridge's famous photographic studies of animal movement and 450 works by Andy Warhol, including this self-portrait. (more…)

The Fun is strong with these two.

Leia Organa's commitment to the cause placed her at the heart of the Rebellion, the Republic and the Resistance. Her uncanny ability to predict the actions of enemies and allies alike made her essential, but the Alliance treated her warily, concerned she might manipulate its forces for her own ends. ... Operation Rogue One remains controversial; critics note that Organa sacrificed the entire volunteer cadre, hundreds of troops and much of the Alliance fleet to acquire Designation Stardust intelligence, and that its ultimate success owed itself to her activation of a Jedi asset, Obi-Wan Kenobi, as she was captured by Imperial forces. Indeed, the coincidences behind her subsequent escape and organization of the defense of Yavin IV have been ascribed to the Force, singular tactical genius or pure luck – all ideologically fraught options.

Sebastian Wac designed and made this fantastic 3D-printed "Nuke Lamp." He posted the parts and plans for free at MyMiniFactory, or you can purchase one pre-made directly from him. (via @pickover)

The Legend of Zelda turned 30 this year and in celebration, Nintendo posted development artwork from the game hand-drawn by legendary designers Takashi Tezuka and Shigeru Miyamoto! More at Nintendo.co.uk.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFtcwL3P1N0

This is Wham's "Carless Whisper" (1984) before George Michael took matters into his own hands. (The visuals are from the music video we know and love.) From Wikipedia:The song went through at least two rounds of production. The first was during a trip Michael made to Muscle Shoals, Alabama, where he went to work with producer Jerry Wexler at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio. Michael was unhappy with the version that was originally produced and decided to re-record and produce the song himself, this time coming up with the version that was finally released. The version Wexler produced did, was released later in the year, as a (4:41) B-side "Special Version" on 12" in the UK and Japan.

Yes, it's one of those videos where pro models cycle through a sequence of casual yet comically robotic poses as a camera clicks speedily away. But this one is better than the others.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5bMD3_JlFYEver try to move a sofa down a hallway that has a corner? The underlying math behind it inspired a math problem that's been a puzzler since 1966. Gerver's Sofa above shows the parameters: a U-shaped sofa moving around a 90-degree corner in an even-width hallway. Gerver's got the record so far, and it is likely the optimal sofa. (more…)

San Antonio, Texas has what is probably the world's largest collection of toilet seat art under one roof: Barney Smith’s Toilet Seat Art Museum. Take a couple of minutes to enjoy Wes Plate's profile of a charming old guy's lifelong hobby. (more…)

This behind-the-scenes look at architect Jean Nouvel's creative process and his philosophy behind some of his most iconic buildings is worth watching even if you're not an architecture buff. (more…)

Last month, more than 200 red-winged blackbirds dropped from the sky above Cumberland County in New Jersey. It's the second time in less than a month, and the third this year. From Philly.com:"They just fell from the sky," said Larry Hajna, a spokesman for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection...After county agricultural agents had been notified by homeowners, the DEP's Division of Fish and Wildlife arrived in Stow Creek and removed the birds, collecting some of them to be sent to a state lab for necropsy, toxicology, and histopathology tests.But the results of all the tests were inconclusive, Hajna said last week."We did ascertain that the birds suffered trauma and internal bleeding from hitting the ground," Hajna said. "But what made them fall from the sky in the first place . . . we can't say for certain."Even wheat seed from a nearby farmer's field was collected and tested for chemical compounds by the University of Pennsylvania... None of those compounds (found) is considered harmful to birds and none of the chemicals was found to be among those that are sometimes used by farmers to control "nuisance" species like blackbirds, Hajna said."Why are these birds falling from the sky in South Jersey?" (Philly.com)

Yesterday, Donald Trump claimed to have gotten Sprint to bring 5,000 jobs back to America. This claim is false; the jobs have been coming for months. But a lot of media instantly published Trump's claim, many with Trump as the sole source and no reporting or fact-checking whatosever. Trump and Sprint simply put out PR and everyone rewrote it. Sprint ignored inquiries from reporters who figured it out, only admitting that the jobs were "previously announced" after the company became the story and things started getting hot.When I reached out to a Sprint spokeswoman asking if the announcement was a direct result of working with Trump or part of a pre-existing deal, she copy and pasted the press release I'd sent along with my first email. I responded saying I already had the press release and asked again if this was a direct result of working with Trump or part of a pre-existing deal in place. I tagged Sprint in a tweet about the situation, and it wasn't until after that started getting retweeted that the spokesperson responded."This is part of the 50,000 jobs that Masa previously announced," she said. "This total will be a combination of newly created jobs and bringing some existing jobs back to the U.S."This is how it's going to be: he lies, and reporters instantly launder the statement into impartial-sounding headlines in the rush to be first. The excuse will be that stenography is journalism.Get used to this sort of thing:The New York Times:Trump Takes Credit for Sprint Plan to Add 5,000 Jobs in U.S.USA Today:Trump: Sprint moving 5,000 jobs back to USCNN:Trump Declares Victory: Sprint will create 5,000 U.S. jobsThe New York Times is the only one with a fig-leaf ("takes credit") whose wording winks at the fact that it's hogwash. Some, such as CNN and WaPo, use language that implicitly validate Trump's claim.Fox News and the Daily Mail do their thing:Trump announces 8,000 more jobs for American workersTrump announces 8,000 new jobs for Americans

Trump promised not to take away peoples' health care, but of course he's going to do that: Bernie Sanders has joined with the Democratic Party leadership to send a letter to the Democratic caucus in Congress asking them to join him in leading rallies across America on Jan 15, under the banner "Our First Stand: Save Healthcare!" (more…)

Harold von Braunhut (1926-2003) was the inventor/marketer behind X-Ray Specs and Amazing Sea-Monkeys. (Apparently von Braunhut was also a nasty racist who, even though he was Jewish, supported the KKK and other white supremacist groups.) Above is the story of von Braunhut's magical brine shrimp that sold themselves through illustrator Joe Orlando's wonderful comic book illustrations of unreal humanoid sea creatures living the life of Riley.

Above, “My wife made me a bidenbro desk calendar for Christmas,” says IMGURian Brookoll. (more…)

Vesna Vulović was a JAT Yugoslav Airlines flight attendant when her plane exploded mid-air in 1972, sending her hurtling toward earth in the tail of the aircraft. Her miraculous survival remains the record height for surviving a freefall without a parachute. (more…)

Tree wells are a natural phenomenon in deep mountain snow. Evergreens basically act as flour sifters, causing snow around the trees to have less density than surrounding snowpack. Backcountry snowsport enthusiasts on ungroomed courses who get too close to these trees drop in (usually head-first) and can't extricate themselves. (more…)

There's no question of ISIS batallion leader Abu Taha's guilt. But Taha's is a nom de guerre, so when Taha is executed for killing dozens of Iraqis, Malik Khamis Habib dies with him. Rotting in a jail cell, what is he thinking? Kim Dozier, returning to the middle east after being critically wounded there, interviews someone few would sympathize with but everyone can now understand.Why did you join ISIS? I asked.“Someone from my neighborhood came to me. He explained we must make a change, that Shias were hurting Sunnis.”Did you ever know a Sunni personally who was hurt by a Shia Muslim, I asked?“No. Just rumors,” he admitted. ...My translator pushed him to explain his role in dispatching car bombs. He later told me this brought back some bad memories for him, too. Sporting a 101st Airborne sweatshirt and reciting proudly the designation of the 3rd Infantry Division unit he’d also served, he explained he’d lost five U.S. battle buddies in a car bomb that hit his team years earlier. He’d been thrown 50 feet, escaping with a concussion, broken bones, and the sadness of a survivor. He knew this prisoner had dispatched such car bombs against Iraqis, and he too wanted to know why.“What do you want me to say,” the prisoner asked. “I destroyed myself. I destroyed my family.”He has a message for Americans, too.

Flower-bombing is the new yarn-bombing if Geoffroy Mottart has his way. He creates flower crowns and beards for statues around Brussels, then posts his handiwork online. (more…)

This strange object fell from the sky over Milwaukee, Wisconsin last week and smashed the roof of a van. (Image below). According to the van's owner, Michael Robinson, the large, heavy object "looked like a barbecue grill in the snow" but smelled of diesel. Police hauled the thing away and the FAA didn't respond to inquiries from a local TV station. From Mysterious Universe:Fortunately, there are sites that track the re-entry paths of old satellites, rocket parts and space debris and it looks like Robinson’s space barbecue may have been a part from a Russian military “communications” satellite that was predicted to re-enter the atmosphere on December 19th on a path that would take it directly over – you guessed it – Mike Robinson’s van. “What is that?!” Unidentified, unexplained large object damages man’s van on Milwaukee’s north side (Fox6Now)

PES's classic stop-motion animation The Fireplace, newly remastered in 4k.

Pleated Jeans's Jeff Wysaski selected the best dog tweets.Also: 21 Photos That Get Funnier the Longer You Stare at Them, some of which are quite amusing. [via MeFi]

In this footage from Europe, the autopilot on a Tesla warns driver Frank van Hoesel of an accident about to happen. He doesn't even realize why his car is braking suddenly until he sees the crash occur—forty yards away. (more…)

Some cute competition below, but Wendy Robbins gets my vote. (more…)

Seattle-based artist Brittany Cox creates "dreamboxes," gorgeous hand-cut layers of paper framed and backlit. Most have fantasy or literary themes. (more…)

The end-of-year episode of Jesse Thorn's Bullseye podcast (MP3) highlights the funniest bits from 2016's best standup comedy albums, an hour and a half of seriously funny stuff that I've enjoyed more than any other podcast I've listened to this week. It's been a bleak 2016, and this is a tonic.

Malcolm Gladwell has an article in this month's New Yorker that dismisses Edward Snowden's claims to legitimacy and legal protection, while elevating Daniel Ellsberg's Pentagon Papers breach to an act of heroism; Gladwell sets out criteria for legitimate whistleblowing that treats Snowden as a "radicalized hacker" and Ellsberg as a "good leaker," and says that Snowden should have gone through official channels, rather than disclosing to journalists. (more…)

Denimu (aka Ian Berry) is a collage artist whose medium is discarded denim clothing. This portrait of Debbie Harry shows the painterly feel of the strips of cloth. (more…)

With over a 100 million videos uploaded daily, YouTube has an endless stream of content. But consuming even the tiniest fraction of this content heap is impossible without steady internet access. With this Youtube Converter you can download and keep your favorite videos, regardless of your network connection.Aside from YouTube’s massive library, this app downloads from other video sources including Facebook, Vimeo, and Instagram. It only requires a pasted URL to grab the highest-quality available video, up to 4K. And If you absolutely hate watching pre-roll ads, offline playback skips them completely.Compatible with Mac OSX 10.9 and later, this Youtube Converter is a painless way to quickly grow your media library and keep it forever. For a limited time, the Softorino YouTube Converter is on sale for $9.99, 50% off its normal price.

Drone Sweaters: knitted or crocheted woolen garments to keep your aerial drones snug and warm in flight.While this may at first appear to be a light concern to those who would scoff at the idea of dressing a drone, there are still many drone owners who have seen their drones shiver violently after exposure to winter temperatures but hesitate to put clothing on their drones for fear of appearing odd. Well, have no fear. If you are concerned about your drone being cold, there is certainly no harm in putting clothing on them.Just $189 each!

Here's a free 853-page Kindle edition of Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian Stories. I got it and the formatting looks good, which is not often the case for free/supercheap ebooks. I read the reviews and people complained about missing chapters, but it looks like the publisher made corrections.