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by Rob Beschizza on (#1B2P7)
Everyone sounds drunk or stoned when slowed down 50%, but doing so to Trump reveals that his bizarre, digressive speech patterns are uncannily like a drunk sped up 200%.
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Boing Boing
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| Updated | 2026-06-21 14:03 |
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by Mark Frauenfelder on (#1B2MP)
I've switched over to exclusively using tear-by-hand packing tape ($6 for a 50-foot roll on Amazon). No scissors or skin-abrading dispenser needed - just pull off what you need and tear across the tape. It's more expensive than ordinary packing tape, but I don't mind. A true wonder material of the modern age.
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by Mark Frauenfelder on (#1B2GC)
The Atlantic has a photo gallery of the Great San Francisco Earthquake from 1906:110 years ago next week, on April 18, 1906, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake centered near the city of San Francisco struck at 5:15 AM. The intense shaking toppled hundreds of buildings, but the resulting out-of-control fires were even more destructive. Broken water mains and limited firefighting capabilities allowed city-wide fires to burn for several days. Nearly 500 city blocks were leveled, with more than 25,000 buildings destroyed. At the time, the city was home to more than 400,000 residents—after the disaster, 250,000 were left homeless. The exact death toll is undetermined, but most estimates place the number of deaths caused by the earthquake and fire at more than 3,000.Watch it full screen.[via]
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by Jason Weisberger on (#1B2F5)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICzBGDnA9OAThis is an incredible example of early informational film making, and still super interesting today. I love the meandering start.
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by Jason Weisberger on (#1B2D0)
Comedian John Hodgman, who is incredibly well loved here at Boing Boing, today endorsed Hillary Clinton. (more…)
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by Mark Frauenfelder on (#1B2CC)
https://youtu.be/CWP4n4BfAYoThe Smartress is a mattress with embedded sensors that will send an alert to your phone "whenever someone is using your bed in a questionable way," according the manufacturer, Durmet. (more…)
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by Cory Doctorow on (#1B2B3)
Patrick Kun's Unseen Magic videos compile 5-10 second clips of beautifully executed magic tricks that combine manual dexterity with fabulous showmanship. (more…)
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by Cory Doctorow on (#1B2AN)
Nicholas Shaxon, author of Treasure Islands: Uncovering the Damage of Offshore Banking and Tax Havens (previously) appeared on The Foreign Desk podcast (MP3) this week to discuss the nature of tax havens, how they hollow out both their host countries and the countries whence their hidden riches comes. (more…)
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by Mark Frauenfelder on (#1B29G)
From the YouTube description of this TedEd video:Imagine a police lineup where ten witnesses are asked to identify a bank robber they glimpsed fleeing the scene. If six of them pick the same person, there’s a good chance that’s the culprit. And if all ten do, you might think the case is rock solid. But sometimes, the closer you start to get to total agreement, the less reliable the result becomes. Derek Abbott explains the paradox of unanimity.
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by Cory Doctorow on (#1B291)
The New York State Democratic primary is a "closed primary" that excludes anyone who isn't a registered Democrat from casting a ballot. Many people say they are registered Democrat but have been purged from the list, or had their affiliations changed to Republican or Independent. Some have posted images of what they say are forged signatures on voter registration cards. (more…)
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by David Pescovitz on (#1B26X)
Ariel Waldman, creator of Spacehack, has just published a delightful book titled "What's It Like in Space? Stories from Astronauts Who'Ve Been There?" Illustrated by Brian Standeford, it's a fun collection of astronaut anecdotes on everything from sneezing and farting in zero gravity to weird frights and the necessity of Sriracha in space. Here's an excerpt:The early male astronauts often had leaky space suits. They would frequently complain about their urine leaking into other areas of the suit. For a while, no one could figure out what was wrong with the spacesuits. NASA eventually realized the leaking was due to the oversized condom catheters the astronauts were using. Turns out that when the astronauts were asked by doctors what size they needed, they would often ask for “large.†Buy "What's It Like in Space? Stories from Astronauts Who'Ve Been There?" (Amazon)Excerpted from What's It Like in Space by Ariel Waldman, illustrations by Brian Standeford (Chronicle Books, 2016).
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by David Pescovitz on (#1B271)
"Hee hee hee..."
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by David Pescovitz on (#1B25P)
In China's Hebei Province, bulldozers from competing construction companies battled it reportedly over a business opportunity. According to ABC News, police finally put a stop to the insanity and two drivers were injured. Perhaps the operators have been watching too many Survival Research Labs performance videos.
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by Jason Weisberger on (#1B254)
Samantha Bee hilariously interviewed a panel of folks feeling the Bern.
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by Cory Doctorow on (#1B1X9)
Since the late 1970s, the American conservative movement has been an uneasy -- and unstoppable -- alliance of big-business-friendly finance boosters and poor, evangelical Christians whose major issues were things like gay marriage, abortion, and forcing women into "traditional" gender roles, not taxation and "small government." (more…)
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by Rob Beschizza on (#1B1NW)
Slither.io is the classic game Snake, but massively multiplayer and with the ruthless eat-and-grow mechanic of Osmos. The "eat" mechanism is subverted: hitting other creatures results in death, so you must instead outmanoever them and force them to hit you. On my best run, I got eaten at 7,000. Can you do better? [Thanks, Joel!]
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by David Pescovitz on (#1AYHS)
On the always excellent Expanding Mind podcast, we hear from Jeremy Crawford, one of the designers of the new 5th Edition of Dungeons & Dragons. "We discuss identity, the multicultural multiverse, Eastern Orthodoxy, and the sacred absurdity of terrible dice rolls," says host Erik Davis.Listen here:
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by Mark Frauenfelder on (#1AYGA)
Oscar Lhermitte and Kudu's MOON lunar globe eclipses every other Kickstarter project currently underway.MOON is the most accurate lunar globe, using NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter topographic data combined with electronic and mechanical engineering alongside careful craftsmanship in mold making.MOON is unlike traditional lunar globes that uses 2D photographs or illustrations of the Moon. 1. it is a truly accurate 1/20 million replica of the Moon featuring all the craters, elevation and ridges in accurate 3D.2. it has a ring of LED lights that revolves around the globe, constantly illuminating the correct face of the moon and recreating the lunar phases as seen from Earth.The combination of the 3D terrain with a light source is what makes it unique. By projecting the light onto the Moon, all the craters, ridges and elevations are brought into relief by their shadows. This recreates the lunar features as we see them from Earth.For the first time, MOON allows you to see the side not visible from Earth ("dark side of the Moon" or "far side" to be scientifically correct).[via]
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by Mark Frauenfelder on (#1AYFT)
Rick Lax created the TV show “Wizard Wars†and has written several books on deception. He’s a non-practicing lawyer, a former MENSA member, and now spends his time creating tricks for other magicians and for Penguin Magic, the biggest magic retailer in the world.Subscribe to the Cool Tools Show on iTunes | RSS | Transcript | Download MP3 | See all the Cool Tools Show posts on a single pageShow Notes:Facebook (as a marketing tool)"I became a mayor of Facebook overnight and I’m still trying to process exactly how it happened … I’ve treated Facebook marketing like an experiment … If you google, “How to make a good Facebook video? How to make a viral video?†12 different people are going to tell you 12 different things, so I just put enough videos up where I can experiment and I can see for myself what’s working and what’s not working … What I found out is that is not actually a factor in the video’s success, and I do this because I look at my most popular videos. I see what days are they posted, what time are they posted, and that has not been a factor … All the content creators who are doing so well on YouTube, they say, “Well, why should I go over to Facebook if I’m not going to get paid for it?†That’s really left a window in Facebook for new content creators like me, so I was able to just sneak in there and have a tremendous success as everyone else is boycotting."Webcam"Everyone says everything is fake … It’s frustrating because I’m not actually doing camera tricks. I’m accomplishing this with sleight of hand, but I can’t tell people how I’m doing it, but I want to be like, “No, it’s not fake. I usually put it in this hand,†but you can’t say to them how to do the trick, so I’m just left with telling people, “No.†… It’s true that some people who perform on their webcam cannot perform live. They don’t have good rapport, but that doesn’t mean that this is an invalid medium for sharing the art form. This is an incredible medium … I’ve performed magic for more people than anyone else in the world the past 3 or 4 months because of this. … I get bothered by people who attack “webcam magic†or “webcam magicians.†I think this is a valid, great new form of sharing magic."Deck of Cards"So much of magic is card magic, and what I’ve been doing with my channel and with sharing my magic is figuring out ways to take the principles behind card tricks and apply them to things that aren’t cards. ... I had 1 video a couple weeks ago. Again, it got 10,000,000 views where it was this old card trick from Jim Steinmeyer called “The 9-Card Card Trick.†Other people have tried to do videos with it, which is great, and it’s an interactive trick, which means the person watching it needs to have cards in their hands. What I figured out to do is instead of the cards — everyone else would do videos online, “Go get 9 cards,†and then their videos wouldn’t do well — so I told people, “Go get a piece of paper and a pen. Draw a tic-tac-toe board. Draw a different symbol in each quadrant or in each ninth of the tic-tac-toe board a different symbol. Rip it up.†Now, it’s like everyone had 9 cards in their hand."Performing Under Pressure: The Science of Doing Your Best When It Matters Most"It helped me out. I wrote the authors to thank them. It was a new book. It was just a coincidence thing where it came out as I was like, “Oh, crap. I’m a guy that goes on TV and does this.†I went through it, and I liked the book just because they had a ton of strategies for combating performance anxiety. About 10 of them were good for me, so I would go through them in my head every day, and that, plus a couple shots of alcohol before I went on stage did the trick."
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by Xeni Jardin on (#1AYDY)
There's been an awful lot of talk about “cyber pathogens†and “cyber bombs†lately from the mouths of American officials discussing terrorism, and how we will vanquish it. President Obama mentioned “cyber ops†against Islamic State terrorists in one recent address. Today, we know a little more about what was behind last week's cyber-hawkish hacking headlines. (more…)
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by Cory Doctorow on (#1AYCV)
How do you get millennials to pack the house at your campaign rallies? Easy: all you have to do is win the hearts and minds of the nation's hottest indie rockers and they'll volunteer to be your opening act. (more…)
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by Cory Doctorow on (#1AYAG)
Hugh writes, "In a post-Tay world, where we've proved the Internet can train a bot to be a plausible shitposter, what's the future of politics, hate, and mob rule? (more…)
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by Rob Beschizza on (#1AXY7)
Donald Trump, though leading in delegates and votes in the Republican presidential candidate race, doesn't like the "delegate math" that could let Ted Cruz (or someone else) take the nomination at the party's convention this summer.Trump criticized the delegate selection process as undemocratic and said the RNC will face a “rough July†if he’s denied the nomination.“I hope it doesn’t involve violence. I hope it doesn’t. I’m not suggesting that,†Trump told reporters Sunday in Staten Island. “I hope it doesn’t involve violence, and I don’t think it will. But I will say this, it’s a rigged system, it’s a crooked system. It’s 100 percent corrupt.â€Reince Priebus, the chairman of the National Republican Committee, has told his colleagues not to consider making changes to the rules that govern the convention's nomination process.
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by Cory Doctorow on (#1AXTK)
From The Economist to the White House Council of Economic Advisers to Goldman Sachs itself, the staunchest supporters of capitalism are worried about the consistently high profit margins in key industries, especially finance. (more…)
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by Rob Beschizza on (#1AXN7)
Brutalist websites: "In its ruggedness and lack of concern to look comfortable or easy, Brutalism can be seen as a reaction by a younger generation to the lightness, optimism, and frivolity of todays webdesign."An evocative (if imperfect) word for the combination of considered minimalism and retro-HTML design that's coming into vogue as a reaction to the overtracked bloat of the modern web. I'll take it! But "brutalism" doesn't seem to account for the nostalgic component that suffuses a lot of the entries, even if the materials match. Brutalism didn't look like something from 20 years ago until it was 20 years old.P.S. There are many ways to view Boing Boing, but ASCII is worstbest.
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by Rob Beschizza on (#1AXDX)
Black Americans Are Killed At 12 Times The Rate Of People In Other Developed Countries, writes Nate Silver. And the ratio gets worse when you compare to other western democracies such as the United Kingdom and Germany. America's often tagged with a much higher homicide rate than similar nations; it's a difference that would become modest were the killing of black people to stop. Extending on an analysis by the academic Kieran Healy, I calculated the rate of U.S. homicide deaths by racial group, based on the CDC WONDER data.3 From 2010 through 2012, the annual rate of homicide deaths among non-Hispanic white Americans was 2.5 per 100,000 persons, meaning that about one in every 40,000 white Americans is a homicide victim each year. By comparison, the rate of homicide deaths among non-Hispanic black Americans is 19.4 per 100,000 persons, or about 1 in 5,000 people per year. Black Americans are almost eight times as likely as white ones to be homicide victims, in other words.
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by Cory Doctorow on (#1ATFD)
As recently as a couple years ago, using the word "neoliberalism" here on Boing Boing would inevitably provoke an outraged comment from someone who wanted to know why we were "liberal-bashing." Though the term was a little more widely used in Europe than in the USA, it still pretty obscure there. That obscurity is the ideology's strength. (more…)
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by Boing Boing's Store on (#1ASVE)
Every business wants to harness the power of technology to better predict, direct and streamline the focus of their operations. Amazon Web Services have become a go-to name in cloud-based business and technology solutions - and with this 10-module, 17-hour coursework package (available now for just $39 - 94% off in the Boing Boing Store), you’ll learn how to put the universe of AWS platforms to work to have your business’ IT infrastructure humming.With e-learning materials augmented by practical hands-on exercises, you’ll discover how AWS can improve your operational efficiency, cut costs, properly scale your future IT needs, leverage cloud-based infrastructure solutions as well as manage and support your own cloud-based apps and services.This bundle of coursework will not only help you learn the basics of cloud computing, but truly understand the concepts behind the technology and the potential benefits they could offer to your particular business.With so much commerce moving toward cloud-based services, this learning package is also the perfect training module for an IT professional either looking to advance in their current position or add a highly-marketable new skill-set to their current roster of abilities.This deep-dive into cloud computing regularly costs around $700, so jump in and grab this offer now at 94% off its original price.
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by Jason Weisberger on (#1ARVB)
I've wanted a set of bluetooth headphones for a while. The cord free-ish operation, and no need to actually be tethered to my phone seemed too good to be true. This $25 pair does it all. The earliest generations of bluetooth headphones seemed that this technology would never take to quality listening. It may still not be for the audiophile, but for active folks, who enough spending time moving around a bit more, these AYL QY8 Bluetooth headphones do the trick. The earbuds fit easily into your ear, come complete with several varied size tips for a more custom fit, and have a simple pressure latch that holds them in your ear. Controls, from activation, to volume adjustment, are made via button press on the right side earbud. Pairing was easy, and charging was quick.It is very nice having no extra cord dangling from my head, into my jacket or back pocket, when I'm walking the dogs. I'm frequently working two leashes, and I hate it when the phone gets tangled in the mess. The other place I'd hope to use them is on the motorcycle, but inside a helmet, with no ability to control the unit, its kinda limited to just playing music. Also, when I did manage to get the button jammed up against the foam, it just held it in and powered the unit off.The sound quality on these phones is certainly good enough for an afternoon out walking the dogs. fishing, or paddling. When compared to other $19-50 bluetooth headsets, as well as my in-helmet Sena bluetooth communications system, sound better. They are not tinny, have enough bass for the wide variety of music I like, and present a bit of a sound stage. My prior experience with bluetooth streamed music has been something along the lines of AM radio. These AYL QY8s are the first lower end bluetooth headphone I've found that I was willing to use. For phone calls people said they sounded fine. For $25 this is a fine set of outdoor/active sport headphones where the wires can be tucked up under your hat, and won't yank at your phone. AYL Bluetooth Headphones V4.1 Wireless Sport Stereo In-Ear Noise Cancelling Sweatproof Headset with APT-X/Mic for iPhone 6s Plus Samsung Galaxy S6 S5 and Android Phones via Amazon
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by Jason Weisberger on (#1ARSX)
Seems again we're hearing about cracked and deteriorating anchor rods on the new span of the Oakland Bay Bridge. This time it appears the potential failure calls continued use for daily service into question! The structure's inability to withstand a bay area sized earthquake seems likely.This via SF Gate:Experts say the only way such a high-strength rod could fail after becoming brittle was from exposure to hydrogen in the water.Lisa Fulton, a Berkeley engineer and corrosion expert who has studied the problem on the bridge project, said the discovery “means that there doesn’t have to be a lot of force on those rods for them to break.â€â€œThat could indicate that we don’t need an earthquake for them to snap, that they are unreliable in the service loads that they are under now,†she said. “The micro-cracking is a sure sign of hydrogen attack. It’s a portent of catastrophe.†The span that should be named for Emperor Norton, appears to be just fine.
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by Rob Beschizza on (#1ARJV)
After a lifetime of Walkmans and iPods and computer speakers and all that, I thought: why don't I just get a standalone stereo like a normal person? To sit down and listen to music that isn't stereo-fielded inside my own head or competing with error messages on a screen. But I didn't want to spend any money, and certainly didn't want to obey that familiar, sinister calling to begin researching things. So I got some speakers from the thift store ($5), an old iPhone at the back of a drawer (free), a basic mini-amp I had lying around ($20 for the legendary Lepai will do). Voila! Works fine: the iPhone's in its dock; the headphone-out is connected to RCA stereo inputs on the amp.The original iPhones are slow! They play songs just fine, though, and the decent music apps will still install over wifi. But I'm really posting this because when I took a photo, it struck me that the tableaux – thrifted vintage gear, an original iphone, a cult cheapo amp, on a metal cabinet against a whitewashed brick wall – represents exactly the sort of minimalism that seems to really annoy people on the internet. So I pulled my MacBook (12-inch with Retina Display) out of my 1950s school satchel (inherited from Great Uncle Etsy) and decided to tell y'all about it.P.S. the iPhone is currently loaded exclusively with 1970s childrens' library music, an acid house remix of Philip Glass's score for Koyaanisqatsi that no natural-born American has ever heard, and albums by The Lickets.
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by Cory Doctorow on (#1ARGQ)
Sarah Jeong continues her excellent series of critical perspectives on technology with a piece on the way that technology is being used to let computers control their users, on behalf of the corporations who make and sell these tools. (more…)
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by Boing Boing's Store on (#1AR9V)
If you haven’t experimented with the latest programs for naturally drawing and sketching on a touchscreen, then you may be surprised how far those advancements have come. Replicating the fine detail produced by a skilled human hand is becoming surprisingly possible in the digital environment - with the proper tools at your disposal, of course.The Adonit Adobe Ink & Slide is just the creative tool for translating your artistry digitally -- and now, it’s available for $19.99 - 90% off - in the Boing Boing Store.The Ink & Slide syncs perfectly via Bluetooth with users of Adobe Creative Cloud programs (particularly Illustrator Draw and Photoshop Sketch) and allows your iPad to become a full-service sketch pad or canvas. Use the Ink stylus’ variable tip and pressure sensitivity to draw smooth, seamless lines of varying weights and colors as straight edges, circles, curves or even those pesky French curves. Grab the Slide ruler and you can hone those lines and curves to pinpoint specifications, offering all the precision of the digital realm with all of the creative license a true artist demands.Try the Adonit Adobe Ink & Slide out for yourself and prepare to be impressed...even though the most impressive aspect of this deal may well be the 90% off price tag.And if you can’t get enough computer design in your life, don’t forget to also pick up our other crazy-good deals; the comprehensive, 60-plus course Ultimate Design & Animation Bundle ($29, 98% off its MSRP) and the CrazyTalk Animator 2 Standard & Complete Training Bundle ($39, 51% off), also available now.
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by Cory Doctorow on (#1AQSW)
Economist Tim Harford attacks three of the statistics being widely cited in the campaigns over the upcoming referendum on the UK remaining in the EU, two from the "leave" camp and one from the "stay" camp. (more…)
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by Cory Doctorow on (#1AQSY)
A Southwest Air flight attendant ordered the removal of a woman of Somali descent in a headscarf from a Chicago-Seattle flight after the passenger asked her neighbor if she could switch seats with him. The flight attendant said she "did not feel comfortable" with the passenger onboard. (more…)
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by Cory Doctorow on (#1AQQX)
The way most of the world knows about Niue, a 100 square mile island in the south Pacific with a population of about 1,100, is because of its country-code top-level domain (CCTLD), which is the ubiquitous .nu. (more…)
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by Richard Kaufman on (#1AQQM)
The coolest vending machine I’ve ever seen is not high-tech. It’s not the one in Japan that studies your face and decides which is the best drink for you.It’s not the one from Coca-Cola that allows you to mix any variety of sodas and syrups together (though I have admit to a slight addiction to Raspberry Ginger Ale at my local Five Guys).This one is decidedly retro, so take a look and tell me where you think it’s located.Obviously it’s someplace pretending to exist in the 1920s.Here are some of the items available.Located on Buena Vista Street in Disney California Adventure, this marvelous antique vending machine is something you would normally only see in a museum. It can be found in the store Trolley Treats at the far end of the west side of Buena Vista Street.I have only one wish: that it actually dispensed those licorice candy tombstones, and then my momentary transition to a boy of 5 would be complete. Mmmmmmm.
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by Wink on (#1AN46)
See sample pages from this book at Wink.Secret Hero Society: Study Hall of Justice is Batman for the Diary of a Wimpy Kid crowd. Ostensibly a graphic novel, Study Hall of Justice adds to the format with pages drawn like diary entries, or web chats between the heroes. Some pages are flyers for school events and some are progress reports or official school documents that Bruce annotates. Most of the plot is in traditional comic panels, but the real clues of the central mystery unfold in these unique pages.The story is about a young Bruce Wayne enrolling in a Gotham prep school called Ducard. Immediately he feels something is off about the school, as everyone there seems more interested in misbehaving than studying, and the faculty appears supportive of this misconduct. Sharp readers will notice many Batman villains both as staff and students, and you’ll quickly figure out what is going on behind the scenes. Bruce makes it his mission to get to the bottom of it and expose whoever is at the top running this nefarious school. Helping him are a young Clark Kent and Diana Prince, which sets up a cool origin for the future crime team. Humor in the story comes from Bruce’s repeated attempts to be a good detective, training for his later moniker as “world’s greatest detective.â€While the story is fun and enjoyable and kids should get a lot out of it, my major gripe with the book is that you probably can’t introduce Batman this way because of the ending. This book is definitely meant for someone already familiar with at least the top villains in Batman’s Rogues Gallery. Most of the references won’t interrupt your reading, but the plot hinges on a couple of references that I’m not sure would have the same impact on someone newer to the character. To keep it vague, some character identities are revealed that feel inconsequential in context, but are meaningful if you understand their place in Batman’s larger story.But that’s a small problem overall, and I wouldn’t want to discourage anyone from sharing the book with the young Batman fan in their life. Kids will surely eat this up, and adults could knock it out in an hour or less. There’s a lot to like here, both in terms of story and even the design of it. Pages are in black and white and the art style feels like a sketchbook, with an almost unfinished look that can be somewhat off putting at first, but quickly finds its place. It fits the tone of the world, as if Bruce himself had gotten bored in class and sketched a comic story about his own heroism. Study Hall of Justice is likely the first book in a series, and I for one am interested to see the continuing adventures of a young Bruce Wayne.– Alex Strine
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by Mark Frauenfelder on (#1AN0S)
The talented engineer Star Simpson is designing circuits from in Forrest M. Mims' terrific 1980s electronics books published by Radio Shack. They look great!Each circuit depicts an original, traced and hand-drawn schematic created by Forrest Mims for his iconic books Getting Started in Electronics, and the Engineers’ Notebook series. Every board includes a description of how it works, in Mims’ handwriting, on the reverse side.Alongside the schematic is the circuit itself. Paired with the components you need to build up timeless examples such as the Dual-LED Flasher, the Stepped Tone Generator, and the Bargraph Voltage Indicator, each board is carefully designed for easy assembly recreating the wonder of learning how electronics work— whether it’s your first soldering project or your fifty-thousandth.Here's Star on the O'Reilly Hardware podcast talking about designing beautiful circuit boards:
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by Mark Frauenfelder on (#1AMXF)
This Tumblr gives new software-development titles to old paintings.“Engineering manager returning from a budget meeting†Ilya Repin, Oil paint, 1888“Front end programmerâ€Giovanni Battista Moroni, 1570–1575“Sysadmin grants sudo privileges to developer on production web server†- Andrea del Verrocchio and Leonardo da Vinci, 1425-1475, Oil on wood
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by Mark Frauenfelder on (#1AMVT)
The molten stuff in this 1996 Chernobyl photo was so radioactive that anyone standing three feet away from it would be dead in less than two minutes. According to Atlas Obscura, "the man in this photo, Artur Korneyev, has likely visited this area more than anyone else, and in doing so has been exposed to more radiation than almost anyone in history. Remarkably, he’s probably still alive. The story of how the United States got a hold of this singular photo of a human in the presence of this incredibly toxic material is itself fraught with mystery—almost as much as why someone would take what is essentially a selfie with a hunk of molten radiated lava."
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by Cory Doctorow on (#1AMTE)
Rick Kleffel sends us his latest podcast (MP3), "A conversation with one of the authors of a wonderful and strange book; science-fiction thought experiments ('robot versus baby') informed by social psychology experiments of fascinating design, part ethics, philosophy, neuroscience, the minds of god and the dead and machines... authentically mind-boggling. And Fun!" (more…)
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by Rob Beschizza on (#1AMHM)
A German satirist faces court action after insulting Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan on television.Chancellor Angela Merkel, in granting Turkey's request to allow the prosecution of Jan Boehmermann, cast her decision as adherence to the country's laws against insulting heads of state: “In a state governed by the rule of law, it’s not the domain of the government, but rather the prosecutors and the courts, to weigh individual rights.â€But critics say the law itself is an unacceptable infringement of essential freedoms, and point to another issue weighing heavily on Merkel's mind: the need to keep Turkey sweet so it will accept more refugees. The furor has centered on Boehmermann, a comedian with public broadcaster ZDF who two weeks ago recited a poem about Erdogan that plumbed the depths of bawdiness in an effort to test the boundaries of acceptable satire under a law protecting foreign heads of state from libel. Merkel says her decision wasn’t a prejudgment on the satirist’s culpability.Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said on Monday that the German comedian had committed a “crime against humanity†by insulting the Turkish head of state. “No one has the right to insult†Erdogan, Kurtulmus told reporters. Erdogan himself also filed a complaint with German prosecutors seeking legal action.Boehmermann would receive no more than a small fine if convicted, according to legal experts. The poem was designed to test German limits on free speech, writes the BBC.In true Boehmermann fashion, the poem was more complicated than simply a string of obscenities.It was prefaced with an explanation that the poem was illegal in Germany, in reference to an Erdogan parody on German TV that the Turkish president had taken offence to days before.The joke presumably was that in Germany you could be fined or even jailed for saying something so childish; and it highlighted Germany's own problematic issues with free speech.That is why Boehmermann refuses to back down. "What appears to have been overlooked is that the poem was not broadcast on its own, but rather as part of an overall presentation about what is allowed in Germany and what isn't," as his lawyer explained on Thursday.Merkel says her government will seek to scrap the lèse-majesté law, but the circumstances have already deeply embarrassed Germany's political establishment.Erdogan, notoriously thin-skinned, has cracked down on press freedom in his own country, and built himself a marvelous palace at public expense.
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by Futility Closet on (#1AM3W)
In 1863 the residents of Nova Scotia discovered a legless man on the shore of St. Mary's Bay. He spoke no English and couldn't tell them who he was or where he'd come from. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll tell what we know about the strange man they called Jerome and the guesses that have been made about his story.We'll also learn about explosive rats in World War II and puzzle over a computer that works better when its users sit.Show notesPlease support us on Patreon!
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by Richard Kaufman on (#1AKY2)
I’ve always wanted to go to Australia, an enormous continent with a small population (relative to its size) that’s mostly gathered on the coastlines. The main body of the continent is uninhabitable desert. But it’s a really long trip – at least 24 hours, including layovers and plane changes – so that’s not happening anytime soon. But if the trip wasn’t such a drag, I’d go for Jurassic World: The Exhibition, now open in Melbourne. (more…)
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by Mark Frauenfelder on (#1AGTZ)
I didn't know glam rock icon Marc Bolan hosted a music TV show in the 1970s. It was called simply MARC, and judging from this sixth (and final) episode, it was terrific. There's a very young Billy Idol with Generation X, pub-rockers Eddie and the Hot Rods, David Bowie, and plenty of Marc Bolan with T. Rex. There are also a few odd but interesting numbers, like the Lawrence Welk-y disco performances by the Heart Throb Dance Troupe.From Wikipedia:The last episode featured Bolan duetting with his friend David Bowie. Before the song had reached its end, Bolan tripped over a microphone cable and fell off the stage. Bowie is said to have called out "Could we have a wooden box for Marc [to stand on]?". Following the show Bolan and Bowie co-wrote and recorded a rough outline of a new song, "Madman." The new wave band Cuddly Toys found a bootleg tape and recorded it, which became a UK Indie Chart single and featured on their Guillotine Theatre album.The final show was recorded on 7 September 1977, but not broadcast until after Bolan's funeral on 20 September 1977, which was also attended by David Bowie and Rod Stewart, among others.Here are episodes 1, 3, 4, and 5: https://youtu.be/Q0NEfm_Y-iohttps://youtu.be/kDUTtaPe14Ahttps://youtu.be/DFnanAKtUbshttps://youtu.be/H5yzqG4beZAI couldn't find episode 2, but here is a clip from it, featuring the Heart Throb Dance troupe:https://youtu.be/ZdiTH96vXvc(By the way, Marc Bolan (1947-1977) and cartoonist Vaughn Bode (1941 – 1975) could have been brothers:)
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by Cory Doctorow on (#1AGPD)
Following Tuesday's raid on disgraced offshore incorporation lawfirm Mossack-Fonseca, Panama's public prosecutor has announced that he can't find any evidence of wrongdoing in the firm's files. (more…)
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by Cory Doctorow on (#1AGEN)
Bernie Sanders denounced the CEO of GE for the company's tax-dodging practices and the CEO of Verizon for doing the same and exploiting its workers, 40,000 of whom are out on strike. (more…)
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by Cory Doctorow on (#1AGCG)
Let's Encrypt (previously) a joint EFF-Mozilla-Linux Foundation project that lets anyone easily create an SSL certificate for free in minutes and install and configure it so that visitors to their Websites will be shielded from surveillance, came out of beta this week, and it's already making a huge difference. (more…)
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by Cory Doctorow on (#1AG16)
Dutch designer Manon Kühne won a Crystal Cabin Award for her "Headrest," which was her Delft University of Technology thesis project, created with Zodiac Aerospace’s Human Factors and Ergonomics Lab. (more…)
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