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[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…)

The Justice Department says that security features on a San Bernardino attacker's iPhone were bypassed by an ‘outside party’, making that one important government case against Apple moot. But many other similar cases, including other cases involving Apple, are going forward. The war on your phone's security is just beginning. (more…)

Reporters from Fairfax Media and The Huffington Post obtained a huge trove of email from Unaoil, a business run by a rich Monaco family, that reveal that the family ran a corrupt bribery empire that spanned the world's oil-producing states, and that they world with companies like Rolls-Royce, Halliburton, Leighton Holding, Samsung and Hyundai, to rig contracts through a system of bribes and kickbacks that looted the national treasuries of some of the world's poorest countries. (more…)

Once pro-choice, the leading Republican presidential candidate now thinks that women who terminate pregnancies should be punished. Donald Trump's going to ban it, but is not sure yet just what he's going to have done to women who disobey him. But he's thinking about it.[Chris] Matthews then pressed him for a straight answer on what a ban on abortion would entail.“Well, you go back to a position like they had where they would perhaps go to illegal places but we have to ban it,” Trump answered.The former reality television star later added that “there has to be some form of punishment,” for women who get abortions after a ban is implemented, acknowledging the punishment would “have to be determined.”He's unsure about how racist to be, but in no two minds at all about the women. Expect to hear a lot more sexist nastiness as the campaign goes on. Update: He's changed his mind.https://twitter.com/cam_joseph/status/715282824476041216There's something amazing about how Trump just blurts out the right-wing positions he's discerned without realizing some of that stuff is supposed to stay implicit. He's like an AI chatbot who boils down his audience to its most vulgar principles, leaving that audience half-delighted and half-terrified at how completely exposed they are by his performance.

Unlike the Hollywood hospital shutdown in Feb and the Kentucky shutdown in March which got in by phishing attacks on employees, the two hospitals in Baltimore that were taken offline by ransomware were targeted by server-based attacks that got in through vulnerabilities in public-facing hospital services. (more…)

"Tay," Microsoft's attempt at creating an artificial millennial, returned to twitter. Nothing that chatbot said helped Microsoft's situation, and the world should question if this technology giant is allowed to continue mucking around with artificial life.Via Ars Technica:Microsoft today accidentally re-activated "Tay," its Hitler-loving Twitter chatbot, only to be forced to kill her off for the second time in a week.Tay "went on a spam tirade and then quickly fell silent again," TechCrunch reported this morning. "Most of the new messages from the millennial-mimicking character simply read 'you are too fast, please take a rest,'" according to the The Financial Times. "But other tweets included swear words and apparently apologetic phrases such as 'I blame it on the alcohol.'"The new tirade reportedly began around 3 a.m. ET. Tay's account, with 95,100 tweets and 213,000 followers, is now marked private. "Tay remains offline while we make adjustments," Microsoft told several media outlets today. "As part of testing, she was inadvertently activated on Twitter for a brief period of time."Microsoft has apologized.

"A literal reading of the Bible simply is a mistake; I mean it’s just wrong," Sagan told Studs Terkel in 1985. (Blank on Blank)

Here is a startlingly compelling implementation of the classic Windows Solitaire victory animation: simply click and win! The creator is Richard Cabello, who has perhaps played enough Windows Solitaire for one lifetime.

Artist Matthew Herbert successfully created edible record albums that he laser-etched into a variety of foodstuffs and played/displayed at London's Science Gallery. (more…)

Police violence is America is a statistical black hole, where data collection on shootings and killings are kept in haphazard or nonexistent form across local, state and federal levels, leaving scholars to piece together statistical pictures using techniques developed to reconstruct genocides from survivors' accounts. (more…)

CNBC's Big Crunch blog put up a well-intentioned, but disastrously designed tutorial on secure password creation, which invited users to paste their passwords into a field to have them graded on how difficult it would be to guess them. (more…)

Instagram just increased the time limit on user video uploads to a full minute long. (more…)

Two amateur astronomers in different countries captured space images that astronomers say depicts an amazing cosmic event: something basically crashing into the planet Jupiter. (more…)

I used to think Star Wars was the story of C3P0 and R2D2, but The Force Awakens suggests Anakin's lightsaber may be the talisman that ties the room together. This fantastic video by youtuber Christopher Sherwood shows us that iconic weapon from inspiration up to its place in the current story.Video Link

I love fountain pens, but handing one to a kid seemed like a bad idea. These simple, disposable Pilot Varsity pens are a pleasure.I bought this pack of five Pilot pens to let my kid see what writing with a fountain pen was like. I was surprised with how nice they write, and have ended up carrying them around as a daily use pen I won't mind losing. Losing an expensive fountain pen is a nightmare. The time spent searching in the car, under seats, in my pockets, and backpacks for a missing pen drives me batty. The line is very fine, and there is little to no flex in the nib. The ink flows well, and dries fast. Neither I nor my daughter have ink all over our hands. I still write with pens from my "permanent collection," but these disposables make life a bit easier. Pack of 5 Pilot Varsity Fountain pens via Amazon

Nixon's War on Drugs, Reagan's three strikes rules, and Clinton's "superpredator" crime bill turned America into history's greatest imprisoner, a carceral state where a racially biased justice system was made worse with every passing day, thanks to the campaign contributions and lobbying by the private prison industry, led by Corrections Corporation of America. (more…)

The problem with power strips is that chunky adapters will cover some of the outlets. I keep a Powersquid outlet multiplier under my desk and never have to worry about that problem. It's a 1-to-5 splitter with a built-in 15 AMP circuit breaker. At $13 on Amazon, it's the same price or less than power strips. There's also a $13 miniSquid travel charger with surge protection and 2 USB charging ports, but I haven't tried it.

Sociologists describe the "spiral of silence": people with socially unpopular ideas fear that they're the only ones who think that way, and say nothing, and their silence convinces others that they, too are alone, begetting yet more silence. (more…)

Stephanie Cegielski was in the Trump campaign from the beginning, first serving as communications director of the Make America Great Again Super PAC, then shutting down the PAC "in order to position him as the quintessential non-politician." (more…)

Landsat imagery of the Ucayali river in Peru shows it meandering over a period of several years; an oxbow lake forms, islands grow and fade in the channel, and a smaller river is "eaten" at the top left. [Hindered Settling, via]P.S. Looks like it might be a bad idea to build houses on flood plains.

Married moments earlier in New Zealand, Sarah and Matthew Oke were posing for photos at Lucy's Gully when they ran into the Maori and Polynesian Black Power gang, who were paying their respects to dead members. So they all posed for this shot, which has gone viral.Photographer Rebecca Inns writes: "The rain had just cleared and we were enjoying a lovely sunny wedding shoot. As we headed back, we came across a very full car-park and the guys who were there as part of a hikoi. We asked if it would be okay to include them in a wedding photo and they were really accommodating. This is the result. … "They all offered their congratulations to the couple and were so kind. They also told the bride how beautiful she looked."

A bizarre glitch in Super Mario World, and an incredible amount of patience, and the SNES classic is transformed into Flappy Bird.It's incredible to watch SethBling in action. Once the glitch (triggered by giving Mario too many power-ups) is active, machine code can be arbitrary rewritten in memory by carefully moving Mario around. This code can, ultimately, be executed. The process takes an hour of careful pixel-perfect actions in the game world, which becomes stranger and more nightmarish as Mario's universe-editing rituals proceed.Welcome to the weirdest, most painful, most existentially-nightmarish IDE—and a reminder that our own reality is probably an abandoned simulation waiting for someone to take too many power-ups and turn it all into a sadistic casual game.

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Ancient alchemists referred to H2SO4 as "oil of vitriol."

In a world dominated by Instagram, SnapChat, and Facebook, it’s easy to think that technology comprises only the Internet. But of course, it’s more than that, also encompassing computer hardware we can tinker with using our own hands. The Mini Linux Computer certainly proves the point. This machine is certainly small. But pound for pound, it’s just as powerful and versatile as any computer you’ve seen. You can use it as a standalone device, or integrate it into a larger system as it works on open source hardware. It runs on the OpenWRT Linux platform, connects to peripheral devices in a cinch, and includes its own built-in Wi-Fi adapter. It extends Ethernet and the USB interfaces with the included Dock, and even works as a fully functional 2.4GHz router. All necessary hardware and source code is included, so you have all you need to start your next amazing project. Its small size is a blessing that allows you to easily embed it into any system you want. So, don’t wait another second, and get your own Mini Linux Computer for just $39, before time runs out. Check out the link below for more details. Take 13% Off the VoCore Mini Linux Computer in the Boing Boing Store. Can’t get enough Linux, and want to become a power user? Check out the (aptly named) Linux Power User Bundle , available for just $19. This bundle comprises 5 courses that cover important Linux subjects, ranging from the LAMP Stack to command line essentials. With a retail value of nearly $700, you’ll get a whopping 97% off if you nab this deal, and will find yourself mastering Linux in absolutely no time.

Monosodium Glutamate. I grew up in an era of terrifying tales about how MSG was a horrible scientifically engineered food additive that was killing me. Now I know the truth: this magic sodium salt of glutamic acid simply makes food taste better, and it doesn't hurt me. (more…)

Not to be mistaken for the legitimate American Academy of Pediatrics, which has 60,000 members! (more…)

Bruce Sterling's 2010 short story Black Swan (a cyberpunk story) comes to life in a fine reading by Paul Cram (MP3) on the Starshipsofa podcast. (more…)

In just a few short years, ransomware -- malware that encrypts all the files on the computer and then charges you for a key to restore them -- has gone from a clever literary device for technothrillers to a cottage industry to an epidemic to a public menace. (more…)

See sample pages from this book at Wink.It was right before Christmas and for a present I was desperate for a Magic: The Gathering player. When I asked knowledgable friends if there was such a thing as a Pokédex-style guide to all the MTG cards available, I was directed towards The Art of Magic: The Gathering: Zendikar. This coffee-table book is limited to art from the Zendikar set, the most recent card collection published by Wizards of the Coast. There is no reference book showing all MTG cards from its 20-plus year history, and this book will not scratch that itch; there are too many cards out there, thousands and thousands, for that to be a reasonable project in 2016. But if you’re someone who would like a MTG-dex to exist, then you’re going to want this on your coffee table.The text isn’t an analysis of the artwork, but instead is closer to a nature guide to Zendikar — the plane (or planet) of this set — and a retelling of the plot behind the collection. Parts are amusingly reminiscent of Lonely Planet travel guides: “In one spot on Murasa’s towering cliffs, the Tajuru elves created a passable route over the wall. The route, consisting of steep, winding switchbacks and a few rickety wooden lifts, ins now maintained by humans and guarded by ogres, all in the service of an ogre named Kazuul. Upon reaching the top, travelers must pay tribute to Kazuul, and if the Tyrant of the Cliffs is not satisfied, he hurls them right back down the way they came as punishment for their impudence.”A six-page appendix is the only place where the book breaks character, as Mark Rosewater — the designer of the Zendikar and Battle for Zendikar card sets — describes the years-long process by which the writers, artists, and art directors create a new world.There’s a house style that dominates, and it would be nice if there was more diversity of drawings. The illustrations mostly use dark, muted colors, there are a lot of floating rocks, and it’s all realistic (for certain definitions of “realistic”), although the inside is more colorful than the drab cover would have you think. There’s none of the humor of some early MTG cards (ork picking your nose, I’m thinking of you). But there’s more variety than you might expect — vampires like Drana, who has traumatic memory loss, and Plainswalkers like Chandra Nalaar, who “handles most of her problems by incinerating them.” I found the descriptions of the lands to be the most interesting (and least likely to involve the word “eldritch”).This book is primarily for MTG players. It’s unlikely anyone unfamiliar with Magic will want to sit down and cosy up with a description of how the Jorga elves were slaughtered by the titans at Bala Ged. But Dragon Age players, D&D dungeon masters in search of inspiration, even people who have no interest at all in dragons — anyone who’d like to see how fantasy art has progressed since the days it meant air-brushing a wizard on the side of a 1975 Dodge Tradesman — will enjoy looking through this impressive example of art and worldbuilding.– Sara Lorimer

If you are a seller on Alphabay -- a darkweb site that sells "drugs, stolen data and hacking tools," you'll have to use two-factor authentication (based on PGP/GPG) for all your logins. (more…)

Italian police spokesman Lt. Colonel Domenico Grimaldi says that Bilal Erdoğan was able to jump bail on money laundering charges because the Saudi embassy paid the mafia to help get him clear, assisting them with fraudulent diplomatic papers and a Saudi prince disguise. (more…)

Japan's recently expanded prisons are already at 70% occupancy, an incarceration epidemic blamed on hungry pensioners who account for 35% of the nation's shoplifting, with a high rate of re-offending. (more…)

Jack Hughes created The Color Clock, whose background color is always a hexadecimal RGB representation of the current time. You can download screensaver versions too.

JWZ reminds us that all social media is some variation on the walled garden strategy, designed to lock you in and lock value away from the open, interoperable Web into a silo where it languishes and rots. You know, AOL. (more…)