Exciting news from Heritage Auctions: it's selling the largest number of hobo nickels ever offered in one lot.A lot of 23 Buffalo Nickels from assorted years – the largest such lot ever offered in Heritage Auctions’ history – is featured in the firm’s Jan. 4-9 FUN U.S. Coins Auction in Fort Lauderdale.The coins, known as “hobo nickels,” are modified coinage – commonly nickels – as the Native American chief on the obverse is transformed into tramps, a variety of tribal figures and a myriad of other designs. These carvings often resulted in bas reliefs in the coin, although the contours of the coin still can be felt.Some buffalo nickel carvers developed a following. The entire collection of 23 coins being offered by Heritage Auctions is attributed to artist John Dorusa, who was a Pennsylvania coal miner.Dorusa garnered fame for his mimicry of classical hobo nickels created well before he picked up a file for the first time. Dorusa claimed he was trained by Bert Wiegand and George Washington “Bo” Hughes, who are widely considered the forefathers of hobo nickel carving.Dorusa produced hobo nickels from the 1980s until his death in 1994 and is considered an early modern hobo nickel artist.For great examples of contemporary hobo nickels, visit the Hobo Nickel Society's Twitter account.

One of my most useful tools is invisible, infinitely recyclable, and free — well, in a sense. It’s AIR. You do need another substantial tool (compressor) to use it; but then endlessly refilling your tank only costs the electricity or other fuel to run it. A compressor has so many uses for any serious “maker” that any list is bound to be wildly incomplete. I got my first (largish) machine decades ago to blow water out of copper plumbing pipes that needed soldering.You only need a hose and cheap end fittings for simple tasks like pressurizing tires and balls, blowing dust out of computer/electronic innards, wood/metal chips out of deeply drilled holes, debris from vehicle vents, clogged vacuum cleaner filters, etc. etc. I’ve also found multiple uses for spray paint gun, abrasive cutoff tool (for metal), air hammer, ratcheting wrench, impact driver (nearly essential if you do any vehicle tire work). My air powered stapler, finish nailer and framing nailer have seen much use in carpentry and fence construction over the years; many other specialized air powered tools exist. When I no longer needed the large compressor, I replaced it with a more compact, less capacious unit that’s incapable of large flow tasks like spraying paint, but still incredibly valuable for almost everything else. Compressors (electric or gas powered) are widely available new and used, from under $100 to well over $1000 — pick a size and quality proportional to the sustained air flow (CFM) you need and how heavily it will be used. -- Alex M6 gal. 1.5 HP 150 PSI Professional Air Compressor from TNM by Central Pneumatic ($160)

My friend and frequent Gweek podcast guest Josh Glenn put together a terrific list of Golden Age science fiction novels (which he classifies as 1934–1963). It includes YA sci-fi, comic books, science fantasy, Beckett, Borges, Vian, Pynchon, and "other science fiction-adjacent writing that typically doesn’t get included on such lists." Josh told me, "I had fun re-reading, or in some cases reading for the first time, a lot of terrific sci-fi yarns. I hope others enjoy it, too."This is one heck of a great reading list, and Josh's commentary is great. I also like it that Josh hunted down the early cover art for each book, because it is so much better than the garbage cover art on recent editions.Bookmark this page for a lifetime of reading.50. Philip K. Dick’s The Cosmic Puppets (1956–1957). On a visit, with his wife, to his hometown — sleepy, isolated Millgate, Virginia — Ted Barton discovers that you can’t go home again. (Because your hometown is different in important particulars than you remember — shops, parks, even people no longer exist — and apparently, it always already was different. Also, a child with your name died in that town, years ago.) What’s going on? Has the town been caught up in an illusion — or are Ted’s memories false ones? Why does the town drunk remember the town the way Ted does? Who are the incorporeal Wanderers haunting the town? And why can’t Ted escape from Millgate? Although he struggles to make sense of these eerie incongruities, before long Ted finds himself in the midst of a cosmic struggle stretching far beyond Virginia or even Earth. SPOILER: The Zoroastrian demigods Ohrmuzd and Ahriman might have something to do with all this. Is Ted… a messiah figure? Stranger things, indeed. Fun fact: The novel is a revision of Dick’s 1956 story “A Glass of Darkness,” which appeared in Satellite Science Fiction. The title refers to a Bible passage (First Corinthians 13:12) which the author would deploy again, for perhaps his best novel: A Scanner Darkly.60. Walter M. Miller’s A Canticle for Leibowitz (1960). In the novel’s first section, set in the 26th century, the monks of a Catholic monastery founded in the name of Leibowitz — a Jewish-born engineer and booklegger who’d attempted to preserve humankind’s scientific and technical knowledge during a violent backlash against modern civilization — faithfully, lovingly copy and illuminate documents they cannot understand. The head of the monastery, located somewhere in the post-apocalyptic desert of Arizona, is so consumed with Leibowitz’s canonization that he’s dismayed when Brother Francis, a simple-minded monk, finds a trove of Leibowitz’s lost documents. In the second section, set in 3174, a new Renaissance is beginning: the abbey has developed a treadmill-powered electrical generator, a secular scholar affords the reader insight into what a treasure trove of documents the Order has preserved; and local tribes battle. In the final section, set in 3781, the Leibowitzan Order’s mission has expanded to the preservation of all knowledge — and not a moment too soon, because nuclear apocalypse once again threatens life on Earth. Fun fact: A Canticle for Leibowitz, Miller’s only novel, won the 1961 Hugo Award. The novel’s three sections (“Fiat Homo”, “Fiat Lux”, “Fiat Voluntas Tua”) were first published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. One of my favorite science fiction novels of all time.

Comic book historian Craig Yoe has a new book out called Super Weird Heroes, a 320-page compendium of Golden Age comic book stories featuring some of the strangest superheroes ever concocted. Nature Boy, Rainbow Boy, Cat-Man and The Kitten, Hydroman, Spider Widow, and 60 other mind-bending crimefighters are included. (more…)

Arnold Spielberg (Steven’s father) developed the computer that first ran the BASIC programming language on May 1, 1964. Here's an interview with 99-year-old Arnold on the exciting early days of computers.Long before GE started connecting machines to the Industrial Internet, one Arnold Spielberg helped revolutionize computing when he designed the GE-225 mainframe computer in the late 1950s. The machine allowed a team of Dartmouth University students and researchers to develop the BASIC programming language, an easy-to-use coding tool that quickly spread and ushered in the era of personal computers. Bill Gates, Paul Allen, Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs all used the language when they started building their digital empires. Arnold Spielberg will be 100 years old in February 2017.

Videographer Ron Risman, who we've featured on Boing Boing many times, specializes in nature and night sky time lapse video (and also conducts workshops). This time, Ron made a gorgeous video of the Southwestern US.As I nod off at my desk I begin to day dream about the breathtaking beauty of the American Southwest. Suddenly I am whisked away to this enchanting land of red rock hoodoos and truly grand canyons as far as the eye can see. Much of this magnificent area has an elevation of 8000-10,000 ft above sea level and with no city in sight for hours - the skies are so dark that viewing our galaxy is as easy as opening our eyes and looking up.This film was captured while in Southern Utah and Northern Arizona this past September and early October. I was leading two advanced timelapse workshops (TimelapseWorkshops.com), and spent another few days ahead of time scouting locations with my guest instructor, Sean Parker.In total we drove over 30 hours to get to all of these locations - yet each minute was filled with anticipation of what mother nature would bring.Anyone who has met me knows my love for the southwest. I have been photographing this area for the past 20 years and since launching my timelapse workshops in 2013 I continue to attract amateur and professional photographers from all over the world (including Brazil, Turkey, China, Denmark, Scotland, and the United States) who fly in to learn how to capture and create breathtaking time lapses using their DSLR's. These workshops are an adventure in learning, an escape from the daily grind of life, and a way to rejuvenate and find your creative voice.Take a look at our upcoming workshops. If you would like to join other photographers on a multi-day adventure while learning to produce stunning time lapse photography - register for one of our workshops.

Griffin McElroy presents his favorite games of 2016. His first choice is a farming RPG called Stardew Valley, which looks like fun, in an Animal Crossing kind of way.

Last weekend, actor Carrie Fisher had a heart attack while flying to Los Angeles. She was rushed to UCLA Medical Center as soon as her flight landed, and was under medical care since. Earlier today, Tuesday, December 27, 2016, Carrie Fisher died at the age of 60. (more…)

Darren Cauthon, annoyed at LG's refusal to fix a family member's broken TV, went public with the problem. (more…)

Those "flushable" baby wipes marketed to adults are causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damages to North American sewers and water treatment plants. Halifax Water put together a helpful and entertaining PSA on why the things are a bane to civil engineers across the continent. (more…)

Ukranian artist Yuliya Kosata makes felt dwellings for cats that look like something out of Dr. Seuss. (more…)

This modular piece of art would be cool with the intricate woodcarving alone, but the meticulously placed beads in the style of indigenous Camentsá artists from Colombia take it to the next level. (more…)

At first glance you're probably wondering: what is this, a drone made for ants? In fact, this tiny drone operates just like a full-size drone, but with the benefit of being extremely nimble. The quick-moving quadcopter is the smallest drone I've seen that also carry its own camera—capturing crystal clear video and photography from the sky. It comes with a 2GB Micro SD card, so I always have plenty of space to record flights.It handles smoothly even for beginner pilots like myself, with four blades that make it omni-directional (it flies up, down, left, or right) and 3 speed flight modes for a truly personalized aviation experience. There’s even LED lights for night flying, and the whole thing charges up in less than 30 minutes.The World’s Smallest Camera Drone + 2GB Micro SD Card is currently in the Boing Boing Store for $26.99 (46% off retail).

Karsten Nohl and Nemanja Nikodijevic's Chaos Communications Congress presentation details their research into becoming a "Secret travel agent": they figured out how to force the various portals to the Global Distribution System to let them know if they've guessed someone's reservation locator code, which they can use to arbitrarily alter your flight plans, sending you to different cities, reseating you, or cancelling your flight. (more…)

I'm often asked why I like living in Los Angeles. I tell them it's because LA has a never-ending supply of hidden pockets of wonder. On Saturday I accidentally discovered a wonder-pocket in Reseda, a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. It's called California Nursery Specialties. It's 1.5 acres of greenhouses filled with 100,000 cacti and other succulent plants. Ranging in size from the tip of my pinky to over 20 feet, the bizarrely shaped and colored plants look like they came from another planet.The owner, David Bernstein, told me that he started his business forty years ago doing a high school project on desert plants. He sells his plants to other nurseries but opens his doors to the public on weekends. As I spent an hour walking from greenhouse to greenhouse, marveling at the diversity of plants, I experienced a growing sense of awe and joy for life. This is a special place. I didn't get to see everything (I was picking up an order of 30 Christmas tamales from a woman who sells them out of her house a mile away) but I plan to go back with Carla and my daughters. (It is very easy to get poked by cacti, so I don't recommend bringing toddlers or dogs.) I bought a few tiny cacti and I'm going to 3D print some containers for them."This is one of the last vestiges of the San Fernando Valley's agricultural roots," Dave said as I snapped his photo. California Nursery SpecialtiesOpen Saturdays & Sundays11am - 6pm (winter 11am - 5pm)Location and DirectionsThe Reseda facility is located at 19420 Saticoy, Reseda, CA 91335, 2 ½ miles north of Hwy 101. Exit Tampa, north to Saticoy, west on Saticoy 1 ¼ blocks. Street parking is available along the front of the gardens. (more…)

Video of the aftermath of a boulder slide on January 21st 2014 in Termeno, Italy. After plowing through a farmhouse (the family living inside was unharmed) the boulder came to rest near another giant rock that rolled down the mountain years ago.

China is on a massive bitcoin buying spree, with the US and Brazil coming in a distant second and third. Fiatleak has a live map. Bitcoin is currently trading at $902. Last year at this time it was trading at $424.From BBC:Experts said the rise in value was linked to the long-term depreciation of the Chinese Yuan.The Chinese currency has dropped about 7% in value during 2016, said Reuters. The majority of Bitcoin currency trading takes place in China as it allows people to skirt restrictive local laws that limit how much money Chinese people can swap.

Blameitonjorge presents nine Pixar/Disney ripoffs, including Kiara the Brave, A Car's Life, Raratoing, and Toys Story.

Ironically named Whitefish, Montana seems to be a hotbed of American anti-Semitism. Blessed with a number of Jewish residents, as well as the mother of Richard Spencer, leader of the white supremacist National Policy Institute, this small town is suffering from Trumpism's open season on non-whites.In response to an email from a local realtor, who happens to be jewish, asking Spencer's mother if she'd like to sell, bigots will march in Whitefish showing off their guns. The ADL has this to say:Andrew Anglin, the neo-Nazi who runs The Daily Stormer, a blatantly racist and anti-Semitic website, has ratcheted up his campaign of harassment against the Jewish community in and around Whitefish, Montana, including announcing an armed march in the town by white supremacists that he has scheduled for January.Whitefish is the part-time home of Richard Spencer, a prominent spokesperson within the white supremacist alt right, and his parents. Spencer’s mother claimed in a recent article that she was being harassed to sell her property in the town because of her son’s views. As evidence, she made public emails between herself and a realtor, who happens to be Jewish, though Spencer’s mother did not point this out.On December 16, Anglin reacted to the article by encouraging his “troll army” of neo-Nazis and other white supremacists to contact Jews in the small town and oppose their “Jew agenda.” Moreover, Anglin posted photos to his website of a number of Jewish residents of Whitefish, including a child, and superimposed a yellow Jewish star with the word “Jude” on the pictures.Since the release of the emails, the realtor and her family have reportedly received numerous threats, as have other Jews in the town.Though the reaction to Anglin’s tactics has been overwhelmingly negative, the white supremacist has recently doubled down on his efforts to target them. On December 21, Anglin wrote an article for his site in which he threatened to post a list of business associates for the realtor and her family, as well as others associated with an anti-hate group in town. He encouraged his followers to demand that these associates cut their business ties with the realtor and those associated with the anti-hate group.Anglin also encouraged his supporters to troll a Jewish journalist who wrote an article about the situation and a Jewish rabbi who encouraged people to send notes of sympathy to the harassment victims in Whitefish. The rabbi asked people to put a menorah in their window to show solidarity with the Jews of Whitefish.In response, Anglin told his followers to put Nazi flags in their windows and to put the Nazi swastika on their cars, homes and businesses, though he has no real base of support in Whitefish. He also encouraged followers everywhere to send hateful messages to two anti-hate organizations targeted by Anglin’s campaign.On December 23, Anglin made good on his threat from two days earlier, posting names and contact information for a number of different businesses and organizations, labeling them “terror groups” and “terror-supporting businesses.” Describing his harassment campaign as a “revolution,” Anglin wrote that “when we win this, every single one of these Jews will think twice before coming after us and our families.”In this posting, he also declared that he was planning an “armed protest” in Whitefish in January, claiming that he would personally lead such a protest and would even be “busing in skinheads from the Bay Area.” Anglin wrote that “my lawyer is telling me we can easily march through…town carrying high-powered automatic rifles.” Possession of automatic weapons is illegal under most circumstances, so he may have been referring to assault-style weapons.Not only is Anglin harassing the Jewish community of Whitefish, he is at the same time exploiting the situation there to promote anti-Semitic conspiracy theories about Jewish power and control. He alleges that Jews have targeted white supremacists and anti-Semites but now he is somehow turning the tables on them.Anglin has carried out anti-Semitic harassment campaigns before. In the spring of 2016, he encouraged people to troll Jewish journalists who were critical of Donald Trump during the Republican primary campaign. He also launched a harassment campaign in October 2014 against Jewish politician Luciana Berger, a British MP, after a white supremacist was arrested for harassing her.Since Anglin launched his harassment campaign, ADL has been in regular contact with the victim families, as well as relevant law enforcement authorities and other public officials. We are helping community members in their efforts to have offensive photos removed and following up with our own law enforcement contacts at the FBI and the Department of Justice. We have also offered to provide guidance on online security. Our consistent message has been that the community’s security is paramount, but it is also vitally important to fight back against the hate.The pretense of "Alt-Right" is pretty damn thin when you are calling on supporters to fly the swastika.

I wanted to be able to control a light above our bed without having to get out of bed. The Philips Hue Wirealess Dimming Kit ($32 on Amazon) was an easy way to do it. The kit comes with an LED bulb that connects wirelessly to the dimmer. The dimmer is mounted to the wall, but you can remove it from its magnetic housing if you want to control your light from another part of the room. The remote is much easier to use than a smartphone app (and more secure, too, I imagine). I've learned that the remote can be used to control up to 10 light bulbs.

Nigel Sylvester is back with the third in his crazy GO! video series, this time heading to Tokyo for a dizzying array of match-cut adventures on a simple red bike. (more…)

Wes Anderson is raffling a chance to make dog sounds for his upcoming film Isle of Dogs, among other cool prizes. Proceeds benefit the non-profit Film Foundation, which has restored nearly 700 films. (more…)

Bo-taoshi (pole toppling) is a contact sport in which two teams each try to keep a large pole upright. Half of each team is on defense, and the other half plays offense. There's a player who stands on the top of the pole and kicks everyone in the face till they yank that player off the top. (more…)

Fake plastic rice—totally convincing by sight, but potentially lethal to eat—has gone from urban legend to horrifying controversy in Nigeria, where a shipment of the stuff was intercepted and is undergoing tests. Is it plastic, or just really weird rice? Somehow everything's gotten murky and confusing.Nigeria's food safety agency has denied claims by the health minister that it has cleared the reported "plastic" rice.A senior official at the National Agency For Food and Drugs (Nafdac) said the minister's Twitter statement "is not their position".Health Minister Isaac Adewole had tweeted that tests by the agency found "no evidence" of plastic material ... [but Latgos Customs Chief] Mr Mamudu had said the rice was very sticky after it was boiled and "only God knows what would have happened" if people ate it.The BBC's Martin Patience in Lagos, who felt the rice, said it looked real but had a faint chemical odour.Two and a half tons of "Best Tomato Rice" were seized and it's not clear if any has reached markets and stores. Tests should be complete in a few days."Whoever made it did a remarkable job," says the BBC's Martin Patience. "It feels like rice, the texture is amazing, but when you smell it, there's something not quite right."I wonder if this is a symptom of the way commodities trading works. No-one doing the buying and selling ever gets near the goods, making the supply chain vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attackers adjacent to the source.Commodities, Tealeaf!

After he became a global phenomenon, George Michael considered retirement to get away from the demands of fame, telling the L.A. Times' Calendar magazine that he planned to reduce the strain of his celebrity status. One Frank Sinatra wrote in, exhorting him to continue cultivating his talent... (more…)

Roz Kaveney, Laurie Penny, John Scalzi, and Jo Walton: "Democracy was dead to begin with.There was no doubt whatsoever about that. The election proclaimed it and the electoral college confirmed it and Trump himself signed off on the note, vaguely annoyed that Clinton had somehow still gotten 2.9 million votes more than he had. Well, they were from California. Everyone knew California didn’t count." (more…)

I sprang to the bridge to see what was the matter (via Atomic Chronoscaph)

In the age of fast fashion, it's too slow and expensive to pay humans to hand-distress denim for impatient shoppers. Golden Laser makes machines that laser print fades onto jeans—as in literally burn off the dye with a goddamn laser—while playing epic orchestral music.

While generally good for maintaining household cleanliness, banishing my pets from my furniture isn't realistic. With hopes of keeping my couch free from dirty paws, hair, and slobber, I picked up one of these Reversible Pet Furniture Protectors.This 21” x 34” water- and soil-resistant pad protects your upholstery while giving your pet a comfortable place to relax. The reversible black and silver lining provides a choice of color to cover vulnerable fabric without clashing with your decor.Easily cleanable in the washing machine, this furniture protector has been a necessary addition to my pet-friendly home. I highly suggest you get onboard and snag one for just $25.99, 81% off retail.

Randy sez, "Maccabees and Menorahs is a one page RPG played with a dreidel and gelt. Designed to run over 8 short sessions, one for each night of Hanukkah." (more…)

Everybody knows that North Korea is a failed state basket-case full of starving people and multigenerational concentration camps, but South Korea is hardly the model of good governance: from the long-serving leader who stole $200M and gave it to his kids (who now live happily in America off his nest-egg) to those long-ago days of 1988 when the government kidnapped homeless people and developmentally delayed people and put them into forced labor camps -- some of which still operate today. (more…)

Will Geary created this colorful and soothing data visualization of a day's worth of subway routes around the Big Apple. (more…)

Although typically pricey ($229), Rosetta Stone is clearly the gold standard for learning a language outside of full immersion. I took advantage of the 38% off discount and found it well worth the cost.Rosetta Stone starts with simple lessons that organically grow your vocabulary using images and prepare you for more complex interactive lessons. Along the way, your writing and speech are analyzed and you get constructive criticism instantly.Beyond lessons, Rosetta Stone facilitates live interactions over the internet with native speakers, which is incredibly helpful for getting the accent right. Compatible with almost any Mac or Windows PC, Rosetta Stone offers a comprehensive way to learn to read, write, and speak a new language with up to 5 family members. For a limited time, it is just $139.99, 38% off retail value.

Star Wars star Carrie Fisher suffered a "massive heart attack" Friday while traveling from London to LAX as part of a book tour, reports TMZ. There's no news yet of her condition. Fisher lately reprised her most famous role, Princess Leia Organa, in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and in a striking cameo in Star Wars: Rogue One; her new book is The Princess Diarist. (Photo: Reuters)Update: The L.A. Times reports that Fisher is in critical condition at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles.Just prior to arrival, a pilot told the control tower that passengers who were nurses were attending to another “unresponsive” passenger.”“So they’re working on her right now,” the pilot said in a public recording of the conversation on liveatc.net.According to the LAX Police Department, officers responded to Terminal 7 around 12:15 p.m., for a call of a female passenger in cardiac arrest. On arrival, they found paramedics performing CPR on the victim, according to Officer Alicia Hernandez.Update 2: Fisher's brother tells the AP she in stable condition.Todd Fisher, told The Associated Press that she was "out of emergency" and stabilized at a Los Angeles hospital Friday afternoon. He said he could not discuss any other details about what happened.https://twitter.com/HamillHimself/status/812427952235286528https://twitter.com/TheWookieeRoars/status/812414500431347713

On Dec 21, Jacqueline Craig called the Fort Worth, TX police to report that her neighbor had choked her 7-year-old son; the cop who arrived was belligerent and dismissive, blamed her son for littering and her for not parenting him adequately, and then, when she became upset at his refusal to take her report, he violently wrestled her and her teen daughter to the ground, cuffed them and arrested them. (more…)

Plagued by bad battery life, that is inconsistent from machine to machine in testing, Consumer Reports can not recommend people purchase Apple's newest Mac Book Pro.Apple launched a new series of MacBook Pro laptops this fall, and Consumer Reports’ labs have just finished evaluating them. The laptops did very well in measures of display quality and performance, but in terms of battery life, we found that the models varied dramatically from one trial to another.As a result, these laptops are the first MacBooks not to receive recommended ratings from Consumer Reports.Complaints about MacBook Pro batteries have been popping up online since the laptops first went on sale in November. Apple says that these computers should operate for up to 10 hours between charges, but some consumers in Apple’s support forums reported that they were only able to use their laptops for three to four hours before the battery ran down.Apple declined to comment on our test results until they better understand the issue, but emailed this statement: “Any customer who has a question about their Mac or its operation should contact AppleCare.”

https://youtu.be/JOEui5FBtzAWashtenaw County Sheriff Lt. Brian Filipiak does his best to talk his way out of a drunk driving arrest, but the arresting officer has to threaten him with a taser to get him to comply. Imagine what would have happened if Filipiak wasn't a sheriff lieutenant.From MLive:Filipiak, 47, registered a blood-alcohol level of 0.28 and 0.27 percent on breath tests after being arrested on Nov. 13 in Rust Township in northern Michigan, according to a Montmorency County Sheriff's Department report written by his arresting officer, Deputy Zachery Morrison.Now, Filipiak is on unpaid administrative leave pending internal investigation by his department. He also faces a charge of misdemeanor operating while intoxicated with a blood-alcohol level of 0.17 or more.Why wasn't Filipiak fired in 2013?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kErHiET5YPwMaciej Cegłowski (previously) gave this talk, "Superintelligence: The Idea That Eats Smart People," at Web Camp Zagreb last October, spending 45 minutes delving into the origin of the idea that computers are going to become apocalyptic, self-programming, superintelligent basilisks that end all live on Earth (and variations on this theme) and then explaining why this fundamentally evidence-free, fuzzy idea has colonized so many otherwise brilliant people -- including people like Stephen Hawking -- and why it's an irrational and potentially harmful belief system. (more…)

This viral tweet from Byron C. Clark is more relevant now than ever: https://twitter.com/byroncclark/status/628702214391902208

Spike Jones was one of those rare talents who stayed playful with his art. He recorded a ton of holiday music, sadly crowded out these days by insipid and derivative renditions that feel more like money grabs than celebrations. Case in point: his spirited rendition of Jingle Bells.Spike inspired many great covers in his style, like this version by the Pittsburgh Symphony Brass:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73YEKRogcp4Here's a lot more Spike if that tickled your fancy, ranging from serious to silly. Man, Spike and his musicians and singers were the tops in any style.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rA50pUHbFbMhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Skxs6xKjCOISpike Jones - Jingle Bells (YouTube / Jazz & Blues Experience)

If you end up at some fancy event this month where gold leaf decorates the food, that gold leaf will be far thicker than traditional Japanese hand-pounded gold leaf, which can be as thin as 0.0001 millimeters. See how it's made in the fascinating video. (more…)

Spring. Summer. Fall. Winter. Boring. Ancient Japan had 72 microseasons each lasting about five days. They each have wonderfully evocative names like "Spring Winds Thaw the Ice" and "The Maple and Ivy Turn Yellow." We just finished “The Bear Retreats to its Den,” and this microseason 64, falling immediately after the solstice, is called "The Common Heal-All Sprouts. (more…)

Vashi Nedomansky cut together 46 shots that were seen in the various trailers for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story but didn't make the final film.

It’s always fun to read about a rascally creature who does terrible things. In Dragon Was Terrible, Kelly DiPucchio’s frank, conversational telling and Greg Pizzoli’s bright, clear illustrations create an instantly accessible world. The reader is immediately drawn in, commiserating with the narrator and the frustrated villagers and freely judging that terrible Dragon, making it a really fun read aloud.Dragon really does behave badly. He picks on creatures smaller than himself, he ruins nice things. From throwing sand to tagging the castle wall, he tends to be stereotypical in his terror. Every kid who reads this book will have experienced the act or aftermath (and, at some point or another, will have been at least an occasional perpetrator of) Dragon’s misdeeds. The strongest and loudest and maddest knights and villagers are no match for this jerk, but a clever boy tames the beast without a single blow. Of course, kids love a young hero, but for grown-ups, there is real satisfaction in seeing this battle of wits in which the hero’s weapons are words (he wins by writing a book!) and insight (a book that appeals to Dragon’s powerful self-image).Sometimes, the only way to change a big orange beast is to trick him. Though I don’t really believe that all similarly hued and equally terrible creatures (I’m talking about the biggest, orange bully-elect of them all, here) could be so easily lured with good books and friendship, it’s nice, at least, to have a happy ending to read to my kid.Dragon Was Terrible by Kelly DiPucchioFarrar, Straus and Giroux2016, 40 pages, 8.1 x 10.2 inches, Hardcover$11 Buy one on AmazonSee sample pages from this book at Wink.

At r/mildlyinteresting, people are suggesting that's either Chewbacca in the background of this photo posted by Redactor lolarsystem, or the back of a hirsute woman's head. Both are incorrect. It's quite clearly a Bigfoot.

Megan McArdle's annual kitchen gift guide hipped me to these POURfect Mixing Bowls ($45/6 bowls), which have spill-guards and spouts, and of which McArdle writes, "after you’ve sifted your dry ingredients, you can pour them straight into the mixer bowl without getting a cloud of flour everywhere. Or strain your fry oil into one, then easily pour it into a container for either storage and reuse, or disposal -- I don’t even know where my funnels are, because I haven’t used one in years."

Ryan McGeehan, who specializes in helping companies recover from data-breaches, reflects on the worst year of data breaches (so far) and has some sound practical advice on how to reduce your risk and mitigate your losses: some easy wins are to get your staff to use password managers and two-factor authentication for their home computers (since everyone is expected to work in their off-hours, most home computers are an easy way to get into otherwise well-defended networks); and stress-test your network for breach recovery. (more…)

Canadian "kinder, gentler" Prime Minister Justin Trudeau loves the oil industry, just like his mean old predecessor, the petro-Tory Stephen Harper: not only has he approved two new pipelines for Canada's worst-in-class tar sands oil, he's also expressed his eagerness to work with Donald Trump to reinstate plans for the Keystone XL pipeline, which will bring Canada's planet-busting tar sands oil to US ports for processing and export. (more…)

Beauty of Science decided to dissolve M&Ms in water, and the result is surprisingly spectacular. It's like watching solar flares or the birth of a nebula. Be sure to watch in 4K! (more…)