Feeling threatened at the Cannabis Cup? Unsheathe this half-inch blade, secreted in a marijuana leaf pendant!I'm surprised by the number of marijuana themed knives available. Perhaps I should not be, it can be tough staying mellow.Evidently the pendant knife is quite dull, perhaps armed marijuana enthusiasts open a lot of envelopes!Fantasy Master FM-642 Hidden Neck Knife with Marijuana Zinc Alloy Emblem Handle via Amazon

Tristan Miller and Dave Morice created a website that produces highly-authentic Shakespearean sonnets. The trick: rather than randomly-generated Markov gobbledygook that evokes the flavor while crudely hitting the meter, each generated sonnet reuses whole lines from the body of Shakespeare's poetic work. The results are more convincing, at the cost of more commonplace repetition. Writes Miller: "unlike some other poetry generators, this one ensures that the poems have the correct rhythm, rhyme scheme, and grammar. Dave first published the method for generating the poems back in 1991, but this is the first time it's been implemented on the Web."

Vat19 has to be my favorite online toy company of all time. They carry some of the wackiest items I’ve ever seen and the truth is – I want them all.This week, I’ve been playing around with a few of their new items and I wanted to share.Firstly, check out Crazy Aaron’s UV-Reactive Thinking Putty.This is a moldable putty that takes the shape of whatever container it sits in and changes color when exposed to ultraviolet light. When unexposed, the coloring effect fades away allowing you to write and draw on it over and over again. It really is one of the most magical things I’ve messed with in a long, long time.Like most putty, you can shape it, rip it and bounce it – but unlike any other putty, this one comes with a UV keychain (battery included).And then there’s Crazy Aaron’s Liquid Glass Thinking Putty.When you first open the canister you’ll think it’s empty – but it’s not! It's a tricky putty because because not only does it take the shape of whatever is holding it - it's transparent to boot.When you pry it out, you’ll find it has the consistency of kneeded gum.When you wad it up, it becomes foggy and you’ll think that you’ve broken the putty – even though that doesn’t even make sense!If you let it sit for an hour or two, it’ll flatten out and become transparent again.Now I’m not sure what creative project I’m going to apply this to yet - but here’s a video of a guy who submerged himself in a tub of 500 lbs. of the stuff:[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_KAUcRBlWs[/embed]If that doesn’t make you want to get some for yourself, I don’t know what will.

GCHQ, the UK's spy agency, designed a security protocol for voice-calling called MIKEY-SAKKE and announced that they'll only certify VoIP systems as secure if they use MIKEY-SAKKE, and it's being marketed as "government-grade security." (more…)

Zach Muller, a card mechanic (previously, previously) got a commercial gig for JAL that has him wandering the streets of Tokyo, dazzling people with amazing credit-card tricks. (Thanks, Magicpeacelove!)

The World Wide Web Consortium spent more than 20 years making standards that remove barriers to developers who want to make Web technology; now, for the first time, they're creating a standard that makes it a crime to make Web technology without permission from the entertainment industry. (more…)

With a couple of days left, Feminist Frequency is about to hit their funding goal for Ordinary Women, a lavishly animated series about women who dared defy their times--and who history hasn't given their dues. Below is the complete set of preview videos for Ida Wells, Ching Shih, Emma Goldman, Murasaki Shikibu and Ada Lovelace; go help push them over the line at Seed & Spark.Ida B. Wells (by Sammus)https://youtu.be/ELiocXj2TmIAda Lovelace (by Teddy Dief)https://youtu.be/IWPOSnJ4VzMChing Shih (by Jonathan Mann)https://youtu.be/umE3GPfOWKgEmma Goldman (by The Doubleclicks)https://youtu.be/evGm4lns6tcMurasaki Shikibu (by Clara Bizne$$)https://youtu.be/5B53L_6_J74The creators of the series are Anita Sarkeesian (of Tropes vs. Women in Video Games fame), Laura Hudson (recently of Boing Boing and Offworld) and Elizabeth Aultman (producer of Yosemite)

I bought a Thermo-Spot fry pan last year and it has held up really well. The non-stick coating doesn't contain PFOA, either. Right now Amazon is selling a set of two (8-inch and 10.25-inch) for $19.

Two gentlemen sneaked into the backroom of the Monarch bar in San Francisco, CA and helped themselves to a bartender's wallet containing $500 and a bottle of liquor. A security camera captured the action.This occurred Sunday night April 4th at WERD/Sunset After-Party. Somehow these guys gained entry into our employee area. You can watch them steal a wallet from a bag, which belonged to one of our bartender's and contained $500 cash (all her tip money from the week) + a bottle of liquor. These guys are truly disgusting and we're looking for any information to identify them. Please post and share. Thank you for your help!THIEVES CAUGHT ON FILM AT MONARCH! This occurred Sunday night April 4th at WERD/Sunset After-Party. Somehow these guys...Posted by Monarch on Monday, April 4, 2016

https://youtu.be/_nfWzzHInq8Ricky Ma of Hong Kong built a robot inspired by actor Scarlett Johansson. It cost him $50,000. He hopes to sell it and use the proceeds to build a more sophisticated version.

See sample pages from this book at Wink.Are you done with adult coloring books but not yet ready for adult fingerpainting? Have you considered... an adult stickerbook? I don’t understand how Paint by Sticker got made — it’s such an odd idea — but it turns out that it’s unexpectedly diverting to put these pictures together. The book has 12 unpainted “paintings” on thick perforated paper, each with two dedicated sheets of stickers. The paintings are outlines of some standard subjects: a fruit bowl still-life, a cottage in the woods. Through some creative talent I can’t wrap my head around, the images have been broken down into outlined facets by color, each numbered and waiting for you to apply the corresponding sticker. I tried Paint by Sticker out on a few guinea pigs. Test subject #1 is a nine-year-old visual artist, and she wandered away before doing very much of her project. Test subject #2 is an adult, enjoys crafts but is not particularly artistic, and got super-duper into this with a glass of wine, a pocket knife for the stickers that wouldn’t come loose, and tweezers for precise placement. The subject had a meditative blissful time putting the stickers on the water towers and matching up the shapes with the numbers, and ooooh it was so satisfying, maybe not as an expression of emotion, but as a soothing and enjoyable treasure hunt with a weird and cool final project. Test subject #3 is a teenager, was also absorbed by the task, and assembled the fox while eating dinner. Test subjects #2 and #3 have decided to save the rest of the book for an airplane flight they have coming up. – Sara Lorimer

Follow the exposure of his interest in an offshore business – and several days of insisting that he would not resign – the prime minister of Iceland has resigned. Icelandic Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson has resigned, the deputy chair of Iceland's Progressive Party said Tuesday.Gunnlaugsson had been under intense pressure to step down since leaked documents hacked from a Panamanian law firm revealed his links to an offshore company, triggering mass protests in the capital.Previously.

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HP's Spectre is thinner than all the others, and the company says that it is "more artisan than manufactured" in a promo video that touts its slim, jewelry-like design. The $1,170 laptop has an Intel Core i7 processor, 8 GB of memory and a 13" display. It's 2.5 pounds: heavier than the 12" MacBook and Lenovo Yoga, but lighter than pretty much anything else and much more powerful than those machines. (more…)

Depending on whose estimate you believe, as much as 10% of the population of Iceland demonstrated outside Parliament yesterday, and everyone agrees that they were the largest demonstrations in Icelandic history (and possibly the largest demonstrations, proportionally of any country in history). (more…)

Revolv is a home automation hub that Google acquired 17 months ago; yesterday, Google announced that as of May 15, it will killswitch all the Revolvs in the field and render them inert. Section 1201 of the DMCA -- the law that prohibits breaking DRM -- means that anyone who tries to make a third-party OS for Revolv faces felony charges and up to 5 years in prison. (more…)

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The latest XKCD is Garden, a webtoy that invites you to position lamps, adjust their spectrum and focus, and wait while your garden grows. (more…)

I've had my top-of-the-line Amazon e-reader for around a year and a half. I love it, and am not sure how I'd get by without my Kindle Voyage. (more…)

Slate's history of the gay subtext between Batman and Robin collects the best panels and earliest insinuations from critics and commentators. It also looks at how the goofy 1960s TV show made Batman camp yet sexless, leading to D.C. comics nervously heteronormalizing the characters, which only solidified their earlier gayness in the public imagination.What's interesting about it from a queer subtext standpoint is that the people involved in creating the art and stories universally insist that there was never any nudge-nudge-wink-winkery going on in their work. Batman and Robin are not lovers; the relationship is traditionally paternal. In other words, the queer subtext is either unintentional or imposed by the audience. Is this really subtext, then? Or is it just derpy inadvertent homoeroticism? Weldon's argument:Intention doesn’t matter when it comes to gay subtext. Imagery does. Remember: Queer readers didn’t see any vestige of themselves represented in the mass media of this era, let alone its comic books. And when queer audiences don’t see ourselves in a given work, we look deeper, parsing every exchange for the faintest hint of something we recognize. This is why, as a visual medium filled with silent cues like body language and background detail, superhero comics have proven a particularly fertile vector for gay readings over the years. Images can assert layers of unspoken meanings that mere words can never conjure. That panel of a be-toweled Bruce and Dick lounging together in their solarium, for example, would not carry the potent homoerotic charge it does, were the same scene simply described in boring ol’ prose. This seems contrived to let us keep pretending Batman and Robin are undeniably queer irrespective of the creators' intent. But I quite like Weldon's suggestion, because it explains why trying to turn the Batman/Robin "subtext" into text always fails creatively. Whereas plain old narrative subtext can be exposed as text without changing its implied meaning, these subtextual images can't. As soon as you identify them as such, they become mere innuendo: an insincere and superficial negotiation with censorship.

In 1959, physicians at New York's Maimonides Hospital implanted this dog with a radio receiver in its chest, part of an "auxiliary heart" system that would support a failing ticker. From the March 9, 1959 issue of LIFE: The booster heart, developed by Drs. Adrian Kantrowitz and William McKinnon (of New York's Maimonides Hospital) is made by lifting up half of the diaphragm muscle and wrap it around the aorta, the body's main artery. Inside the chest a small radio receiver, part of an electronic system that detects and transmits the actual heart's beat, picks up the heart's rhythm and sends it by electric signals down a nerve to the diaphragm flap, making it squeeze the aorta rhythmically. This action, like a heartbeat, pumps the blood.Kantrowitz, a pioneer in heart transplants, died in 2008.(via Weird Universe)

"It had a slightly antiseptic burn as if you spritzed the burger with some sort of acid spray," says Dustin "UPSO" Hostetler.

Those are some stunning acrobatics from an African Caracal. (BBC's "Life in the Air")

See sample pages from this book at Wink.Beyond graffiti. The artists featured in Street Craft apply non-paint to the urban landscape. Instead of spray cans they use yarn, cloth, plastic, plants, and sculpture. This “street crafting” is full of surprises in ways that are original and brilliant, witty and profound. The craftsmanship is excellent. The concepts can be subversive, or uplifting. Think of it as public art without permission. The book is a glorious catalog of some of the best pieces which have appeared on streets of the world. No matter what you create, they’ll be some great ideas here.art

Here are five new lateral thinking puzzles to test your wits and stump your friends -- play along with us as we try to untangle some perplexing situations using yes-or-no questions.Show notesPlease support us on Patreon!

[While I'm away for a week, I'm posting classic Boing Boing entries from the archives. Here's a gem from 2006.]I'm reading a terrific book by William Poundstone called Fortune's Formula: The Untold Story of the Scientific Betting System that Beat the Casinos and Wall Street. On page 153 Poundstone writes about a 1968 dinner meeting between mathematician Edward Thorp and fund manager Warren Buffett. Poundstone mentions in passing that Buffett and Thorpe discussed their shared interest in nontransitive dice. "These are a mathematical curiosity, a type of 'trick' dice that confound most people's ideas about probability," writes Poundstone.Curious, I googled "nontransitive dice" and found a nice description of them by Ivars Peterson at the Mathematical Association of America's website.Peterson introduces the subject with this intriguing paragraph:The game involves four specially numbered dice. You let your opponent pick any one of the four dice. You choose one of the remaining three dice. Each player tosses his or her die, and the higher number wins the throw. Amazingly, in a game involving 10 or more throws, you will nearly always have more wins.The trick is to always let your opponent pick first, and then you pick the die to the left of his selection (if he picks the die with the four 4s, then circle round to the die with the three ones). It's just like playing Rock, Paper, Scissors -- only you get to see what the other guy picks in advance.With these dice, you always have a 2/3 probability of winning -- what a great sucker's bet!Link

After storming out of an interview where he was questioned about his ownership of an offshore company implicated in the Icelandic banking scandal, Iceland's Prime Minister, Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, has said he will not resign (he did apologize for doing a bad job on the interview). (more…)

In this Critical Distance digest, I'm bringing you three little collections of pieces published in the past week about some of the latest hit indie games. We'll be exploring action movie pacing, the awkwardness of interactivity, and how to make the familiar feel terrifying. (more…)

Today we travel to a fully digital world, a world where paper is a thing of the past. Flash Forward: RSS | iTunes | Twitter | Facebook | Web | PatreonIn this episode we talk about how likely it is that we might get rid of paper (not very) and what might happen to our reading habits, memories, and environment if we do.▹▹ Full show notes

Eaman-Amy Saad Shebley, her husband, and their three small children were removed from a United Airlines flight prior to takeoff from Chicago's O'Hare airport, after the pilot said they posed a threat to the plane's safety. (more…)

LambdaConf is a conference for people who are into functional programming. If you don't know what that means, it suffices to say that these are stout, yeomanly Hobbits of computer science. What's news is that they invited Mencius Moldbug to speak at it. Moldbug (real name Curtis Yarvin) is a Hollywood archetype of coders: the programming whiz who has strange and comically retrograde opinions of minorities, slavery, ladies, etc. So. Should he be invited to speak?LambdaConf founder and chief organizer John A. De Goes wrote in a blog post that the conference decided to keep Yarvin as a speaker in order not to set a precedent of discriminating against attendees because of their beliefs. "LambdaConf does not and cannot endorse any of the wildly different, diametrically opposed, and controversial opinions held by speakers, attendees, volunteers, and vendors," he wrote. …Jon Sterling, organizer of LambdaConf workshop PrlConf, decided to cancel the workshop, writing in an open letter: "We cannot possibly organize a workshop under the umbrella of a conference that values the free expression of racist and fascist views over the physical and emotional safety of its attendees and speakers."Not all who oppose Yarvin's views say they will boycott the conference. The writers of a forthcoming book on the programming language Haskell say they are coming to support other speakers and attendees.There's a passage in one of the Hannibal Lecter novels, probably Silence of the Lambs, where it's made clear that the good doctor, though incarcerated as a serial killer, is still engaged as a professional in his field of study. He writes in respected journals, and for the sake of the advancement of their field, his colleagues affect a level of professional respect for his work that may seem, to a layperson, suspiciously titillated. Nevertheless, he is reviewed by his peers. He is published.Now, I'm not in a position to peer-review the turd. My code is obviously 100-IQ garbage. But I wrote a functioning, functional CMS once! So I feel vaguely qualified to make sweeping judgments on how things Get Done in the organizational context. And my judgment on the turd is the same as Dr. Lecter's judgment of himself: a civilized society would kill Yarvin or give him his say.

Disney today released two new clips and a new little featurette from the studio's upcoming live action film “The Jungle Book.” I'm also loving the stunning poster art for the new film by Vincent Aseo, shown above in detail and below in full. (more…)

Obama is touting his record on reducing nuclear arms, but he's been a dismal failure at reducing the US's stockpile, writes Freedom of the Press Foundation's Trevor Timm at the Guardian today. (more…)

Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz says the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, could be the worst trade agreement ever negotiated in history. In an interview with CBC News, he recommended that the government of Canada insist on reworking it. (more…)

[My friend Peter Sheridan is a Los Angeles-based correspondent for British national newspapers. He has covered revolutions, civil wars, riots, wildfires, and Hollywood celebrity misdeeds for longer than he cares to remember. As part of his job, he must read all the weekly tabloids. For the past couple of years, he's been posting terrific weekly tabloid recaps on Facebook and has graciously given us permission to run them on Boing Boing. Enjoy! - Mark]"Princess Grace was murdered!” says the National Examiner, explaining that an Italian mob-connected syndicate tampered with her car's brakes, and then “injected air into her veins, causing a stroke” as she lay in hospital. Presumably because they knew the crash wouldn’t kill her, and had a hit-man disguised as an orderly stationed at the hospital with syringe at the ready. Sounds likely to me.Australian government official Simon Dorante-Day claims he is heir to the British throne, the victim of a conspiracy by the Royal Family and his parents - Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles - who cruelly gave him up for adoption 50 years ago, according to the Globe. Which would also boost his nine children ahead of Prince William in the line of succession for the crown. Sounds like a reality TV show waiting to happen.“Bloodthirsty terrorists hiding in secret cells in North America are plotting to unleash a horrific attack on soft targets in the U.S.,” explains the Globe, which provides a helpful list in case ISIS needs some guidance finding places to strike: Disney World, the Mall of America, Washington D.C., Hollywood Boulevard, Beverly Hills, Las Vegas and New Orleans. It’s only surprising that they didn't print Ted Cruz’s home address and add that to the list.Frank Sinatra Jr was “murdered by the mob,” says the Examiner - because a 72-year-old dying of a heart attack is innately suspicious in the world of the tabloids. Junior may have “inherited” his father’s “mobster pals,” who could have “jeopardized his life if he didn’t do their bidding,” explains Hollywood private investigator Paul Huebl, using an investigative technique known in the argot of the spycraft trade as ‘pure speculation.’ "Sean ‘Diddy' Combs masterminded the cold-blooded slaying of his recording rival Tupac Shakur,” claims the Globe, according to a former Los Angeles police officer. Because an LA cop would know what happened during a Las Vegas drive-by shooting.It’s intriguing to see how the National Enquirer is soft-pedaling on its report last week about Ted Cruz and his alleged "five secret mistresses.” This week the Enquirer says that it was simply reporting “rumors” that claimed Cruz “may have” had five affairs. Wavering in their certainty? Or is the Trump-loving mag actually trying to show some journalistic restraint? Nah.Angelina Jolie’s continued weight loss has become the Enquirer’s favorite sport - a death watch! - as she allegedly “shrinks to a shocking 79 lbs.” Husband Brad Pitt is “in despair,” and “friends fear she’s losing a brave battle and is in danger of suffering severe organ failure and possibly death!” The “Enquirer Secret Medical File” claims “cancer [is] eating her alive” as she suffers “anorexia & paranoia.” Then again, if the Enquirer was scrutinizing every iota of my life, I’d lose my appetite and feel that strangers were scrutinizing me. “Dying Angie” just can’t win.Most redundant tabloid headline: “No Jail Can Hold ‘Prison Houdini,’” claims the Examiner, in a story about Mark DeFriest, who is being held . . . in prison. Where he has been for 36 years. Behind bars.This week's best feature to cut out and pin to your refrigerator door: the Examiner’s two-page spread devoted to “America’s Sexiest Military Men” - a collage of photos of medal-bedecked generals and admirals in uniform, looking square-jawed and giving thousand-yard steely-eyed stares. “The stars on these heroes’ shoulders denote their rank . . . and hotness!” the story adds. Which finally explains the previously secret process the Pentagon employs to promote its five star generals: judging how they look in a Speedo.In real news, Us magazine tells us that Kristin Cavallari wore it best, actor Eugene Levy claims to have a pet scorpion named Stingy, actress Wendie Malick carries eyeliner, almonds and an American Express card in her washable neon orange tote bag, and the stars are just like us: they hug their kids, sit on park benches, shop at farmers’ markets, play soccer and surf the waves.'Dancing With The Stars’ contestant Jodie Sweetin “is five years sober, engaged and on fire!” says Us mag, which devotes its cover and six pages to her life lesson: “Never give up.” Great advice, Jodie. I checked all the photos, and couldn’t see any evidence of her being on fire, however. Perhaps they put her out before the photo shoot?The Republican presidential front-runner is given the People magazine cover, in a special report asking: “Who Is The Real Donald Trump?” Well . . . who is he? Despite eight pages of coverage, People mag admits that it has no idea. “Who can know the real Trump when he deflects serious questions with non sequiturs?” confesses the report. As Trump explains: “You don’t want people to know you that well.” An unnamed source tells the mag: ”He’s a genius at telling people what they want to hear.” We just have to trust him, says Trump: “I know what I’m doing. I’m a smart person. The highest level of smart.”And he’d know, wouldn’t he, because no-one gets smarter than the highest level of smart.Onwards and downwards . . .

If you didn’t go to college for your technology training, there’s a good chance that you probably wish that you had. But today, so much quality IT training happens off tradition collegiate campuses that it’s just about finding the RIGHT package of learning that’ll set you up for the career you want.And if you can get a new professional direction for only $39 in the Boing Boing Store...well, then it’s probably money well spent. The Complete Computer Science Bundle features eight comprehensive courses that’ll offer you the well-rounded technology training that industries need and hiring managers are looking for.In this package, you’ll receive:Byte Size Chunks: Java Object-Oriented Programming & Design: Grasp object-oriented programming, mastering classes, objects, and more as your assimilate all things Java.From 0 to 1: Data structures & Algorithms in Java: The structure of your programming may not be sexy, but it's vital... so learn how to build the right way with Java.Create, Customize & Retrieve Data From Database Management Systems Such as MySQL: Master SQL, the language that makes large datasets manageable.From 0 to 1: Learn Python Programming - Easy as Pie: Python’s synonymous with simple yet powerful...understand the advantages of coding with Python.Learn By Example: C++ Programming - 75 Solved Problems: Get practical training as you handle 75 real-world - and real confusing - programming problems.From 0 to 1: Raspberry Pi and the Internet of Things: Learn the hidden uses of Raspberry Pi, one of the world’s smallest - and most versatile - microcomputers.Case Studies: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Apple: Didja ever wonder why Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Apple are so successful? Delve into the secrets that made each of these companies a tech titan.Usually, this type of wide-ranging in-depth coursework would run over $360, but right now, Boing Boing Store shoppers can get this diverse training package for 89% off.

Kevin writes, "Peyton Andry is a Cincinnati boy who was born with symbrachydactyly, a condition that caused the fingers of his right hand to be shorter or missing entirely." (more…)

See sample pages from this book at Wink.It's only right that Stan Lee's memoirs arrive in comic book form. The 93-year-old ambassador/mascot of Marvel Comics has been in the funnybook business since 1939 - back when they still were called funnybooks. Back then, the medium was seen as silly at best, vile at worst. But today, comics, or graphic novels as some highfalutin folks call them, have attained a status of near respectability. People of all ages read and love them, and their characters generate billions of dollars via their appearances on TV and in films. Lee, along with other key figures, has been at the forefront of this evolution. And though he's interviewed almost daily, it's interesting to hear what he has to say about his career and all the changes he's seen.Amazing, Fantastic, Incredible: A Marvelous Memoir by Stan Lee, penned with the help of veteran comics writer Peter David and zippily illustrated by Colleen Doran, does a fine job of charting Lee's trajectory to the top of his field. We see how the stories of Edgar Rice Burroughs and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle seized Lee's early imagination, making him want to become a writer. And we observe him in his early years at Atlas Comics, the company that became Marvel, and how he, in collaboration with artists such as Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, helped create the Marvel Universe.Lee is often criticized for stealing the spotlight and not giving due credit to Kirby, who co-created the Fantastic Four, Avengers, X-Men, Thor, Captain America and many others, and Steve Ditko, who co-created Spider-Man, Doctor Strange and more. Lee doesn't get into the nitty gritty here about who deserves credit for what. However, he does acknowledge Kirby and Ditko's crucial contributions via full-page, dynamic tributes, drawn by Doran to highlight the stylistic hallmarks of each of these artists. While more insight into the creative process behind the comics would've been nice, at least these vital collaborators get a good mention.Lee, David and Doran make excellent use of graphic storytelling to move the story along. The book is framed as a speech Lee is giving at a comics convention and the visuals transport us through different phases of his career, from the early days of creating a new type of superhero – one with human flaws despite great powers – through his promotion to Marvel publisher and his move to Hollywood. The scene in which Lee first meets his wife, Joan, is imaginatively staged, paying visual tribute to the panel in the Spider-Man comics where Peter Parker first lays eyes on Mary Jane Watson. And a sequence that tells how Lee and his wife lost an infant daughter is told with great sensitivity and emotion – as dark shadows surround Stan as he shares the story.Much as he does in his real-life appearances and interviews, Lee quickly brushes aside other tough topics, such as the financial and legal tribulations faced by Marvel and his own Stan Lee Media company in the 1990s. The panels devoted to those topics say, in essence, "the less said, the better." The tone of the book is mostly bright and optimistic. Lee celebrates his joy in being able to do what he loves, knowing that others love it, too. Anyone expecting something deeper from Lee, particularly in his own book, isn't being realistic. So, while it's not the most detailed or definitive look at Lee, it's his own version, told in the medium he helped transform.– John Firehammer

Rep. Tracy McCreery [D] had served in the Missouri house of reps for nearly a whole quarter before she introduced H.R. 1220, which urges her fellow lawmakers to stop pronouncing "fiscal," as "physical." (more…)

Charles from the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund sez, "CBLDF is kickstarting She Changed Comics, a history of how women changed free expression in comics!" (more…)

I was excited to read this article about Jacob Collins, an artist working in the style of the old masters--so many oil glazes!--as it's the effect I often aim for (albeit with ersatz digital shenanigans, though I did receive formal training back in the day). But, at least in James Panero's telling, he seems really humorless and severe about the whole thing. (more…)

CIA personnel left “explosive training material” under the hood of a Loudoun County, Virginia school bus after performing training exercises using the school bus last week. That very same bus was then used to shuttle elementary and high school students to and from school on the following Monday and Tuesday with that explosive material still inside the engine compartment. (more…)

Bootcamps are all the rage these days and if you’re going to drill obsessively deep into any core programming discipline, you probably won’t find a more deserving recipient of that super-intensive study time than Java. Java’s simple, adaptable and - probably not coincidentally - one of the most widely-used programming languages and platforms across the mighty interwebs.If you’re going to study, then don’t waste your time and do it right. Grab this comprehensive Complete Java Programming Bootcamp bundle of courses, now just $69 - 90% off - in the Boing Boing Store.In this all-inclusive package, you’ll get access to 10 courses, including:From 0 to 1: Data Structures and Algorithms in Java: Break down the fundamentals of data manipulation.Byte Size Chunks: Java Model-View-Controller (MVC): Understand the MVC paradigm as you learn patterns at the heart of UI programming.Byte Size Chunks: Java Reflections, Annotations & Lambdas: Master these three powerful Java features to make you a more efficient and effective programmer.Byte Size Chunks: Java Object-Oriented Programming & Design: Learn how access modifiers, dynamic dispatch, encapsulation, abstraction & polymorphism can restructure how you understand Java.Byte Size Chunks: Java Multithreading: Execute multiple tasks simultaneously for better, faster-running sites and apps.From 0 to 1: Design Patterns - 24 That Matter - in Java: Grasp the 24 design patterns that’ll help you unlock Java’s full potential.From 0 to 1: JavaFX & Swing for Awesome Java UIs: Create graphical user interface libraries that’ll not only make your build look better, but run better as well.Java Programming - The Master Course: Your step-by-step guide to unlocking all of Java’s fundamental practices.Java Programming from Zero to Hero: Java Completed: Master Java syntax, then apply it to advanced Java executions, like data structures, collections and more.The Ultimate Java 8 Tutorial - From Beginner to Professional: Close out your Java learning with complete coverage of Java 8.Once you’re through, you’ll have the know-how to handle nearly any programming task - and the marketable skills to get to the top of any IT resume stack. For a course bundle that would usually cost almost $750, don’t miss out on this 90% off deal that’ll take your programming skills - and possibly, your career - to the next level.

Slovakian artist Terézia Krnáčová produced a series of toast slices called "Everyday Bread," in which each slice is embroidered in a different pattern. (more…)

Qatar, one of the worst places in the world to be a worker (even the flight attendants experience human rights abuses), was picked to host the 2022 football world cup by the famously corrupt FIFA organization, despite the physical danger to spectators (and athletes!) from the incredible temperatures. (more…)

The Tale of Tomorrow: Utopian Architecture in the Modernist Realm collects photos and commentary about the mid-century heyday of utopian architecture, from Paolo Soleri's Arcosanti to Bangladesh's National Assembly Building. (more…)

A gentleman in Laholm, Sweden allegedly delivered a "revenge fart" in a woman's flat after she refused to have sex with him. So she called police who were obligated to investigate for any criminal activity. Apparently though, revenge farting is not a crime. From 60ABC:The man and the woman, whose names were not released to the public, had talked of having sex in a different occasion, but they are not in a relationship. According to the woman, the man visited her in her house with the desire to have sex with her. When she refused to indulge him, he simply farted and left.“It smelled very bad in my flat,” the woman said in her police report."Man reported to police for ‘revenge fart’ after woman refused to have sex"

Nate Silver, America's rockstar statistician, has run the numbers and doesn't see how Sanders gets to a win. Silver developed a model he calls the "path-of-least-implausibility" and shares why the math just isn't there for this inspiring candidate. Via FiveThirtyEight:To reach a pledged delegate majority, Sanders will have to win most of the delegates from those big states. A major loss in any of them could be fatal to his chances. He could afford to lose one or two of them narrowly, but then he’d need to make up ground elsewhere — he’d probably have to win California by double digits, for example.Sanders will also need to gain ground on Clinton in a series of medium-sized states such as Wisconsin, Indiana, Kentucky and New Mexico. Demographics suggest that these states could be close, but close won’t be enough for Sanders. He’ll need to win several of them easily.None of this is all that likely. Frankly, none of it is at all likely. If the remaining states vote based on the same demographic patterns established by the previous ones, Clinton will probably gain further ground on Sanders. If they vote as state-by-state polling suggests they will, Clinton could roughly double her current advantage over Sanders and wind up winning the nomination by 400 to 500 pledged delegates.But things can change, and polls can be wrong — and so it’s worth doing the math to see what winning 988 more delegates would look like for Sanders. Call it a path-of-least-implausibility.

Meet Saqib, a Microsoft dev in London who lost the use of his eyes at age 7. Here's a neat little profile of his artificial intelligence development work from Microsoft Cognitive Services: (more…)

Today, President Obama met with Americans who have received commutations on prison sentences during his presidency, and under previous administrations. Today, Obama commuted the sentences of 61 more people who were convicted of federal drug and firearm crimes. More than than a third of them were serving life in prison. (more…)