Either it's windy in the warehouse today, or there's an extremely muscular poltergeist in occupation.Reagan Steiner: "A table that seems to be controlled by a ghost totally attacks this random guy" Read the rest

The under-construction New Orleans Hard Rock Hotel partially collapsed last week, killing three people and injuring thirty more, and efforts to dislodge cranes attached to the building didn't go entirely to plan on Sunday. CNN reports that the still-stuck second crane is at least now safe to work around, so rescue workers can now explore the debris and recover two bodies known to be within. FOUR ANGLES: Watch the cranes explode in four different angles >> https://t.co/zl2qGVKiLT #HardRockCollapse pic.twitter.com/IaYjNM6cQc— wdsu (@wdsu) October 20, 2019 Read the rest

Nest is a home automation company that Google bought in 2014, turned into an independent unit of Alphabet, then re-merged with Google again in 2018 (demonstrating that the "whole independent companies under Alphabet" thing was just a flag of convenience for tax purposes); the company has always focused on "ease of use" over security and internecine warfare between different dukes and lords of Google meant that it was never properly integrated with Google's security team, which is why, over and over again, people who own Nest cameras discover strangers staring at them from their unblinking camera eyes, sometimes shouting obscenities. One of Nest's most popular uses is as a babycam, and there's something especially terrifying and ugly about discovering a hacker screaming obscenities at your baby in the middle of the night from out of their baby monitors, which is why hackers keep doing it.The latest: the nanny in Jack Newcombe's family was in the nursery when a stranger started threatening her and shouting at her, trying to get a rise out of her, in an orgy of menace that ended with the hacker threatening to come over to Newcombe's house and kidnap their baby.The most significant vulnerabilities in Nest's model are that it doesn't require robust passwords during setup, and it lacks a decent intrusion detection tripwire that would prevent someone from using a credential stuffing attack, wherein an attacker automatically tries millions of login/password combinations harvested from gargantuan breaches. It's quite a combination: weak passwords and weak protection against password guessing, and it means that people who just want to keep an eye on their babies need to have a subtle and sophisticated understanding of security to be safe when they do it. Read the rest

The Economist reports that a tech startup sells a surveillance and control badge for the workforce. The device monitors workers' conversations and tracks their movements. You can even use it to make them sit straight.A technology company has created an electronic badge that can monitor workers' conversations, posture and even time spent in the toilet pic.twitter.com/L55v9PRrzp— The Economist (@TheEconomist) October 21, 2019The company that makes the creepy "sociometric" combadge has a creepy name — Humanyze — and its marketing is a cold wall of data jargon. The CEO and co-founder, Ben Waber, is an MIT Media Lab alumnus who boasts that he "literally wrote the book on People Analytics" and who published research on having workers take coffee breaks together to improve their productivity. If it weren't reality, it would be too crudely dystopian to pass muster as fiction. "I literally wrote the book on People Analytics. You're spending WAY too long on the toilet" Read the rest

The Star Trek Short Takes episode "The Trouble With Edward" focuses on H. Jon Benjamin as the mad scientist who sets Tribbles on the path to becoming an official enemy of the Klingon EmpireHe talked to SyFy about the part:"We didn’t do a ton of backstory before shooting it," Benjamin explains. "But I talked to the writer [Graham Wanger] and there was a conversation about how he got there. Was it like nepotism? Is he like barely a scientist? Or is he just of dubious ethics? Or an outsider and nobody liked him? I think we landed on the latter. Like, I think he might have some basis in real science and maybe some real credentials. But, he’s a bit of a lunatic."In one scene, right before Larkin injects the tribbles with whatever genetic cocktail he's cooked up to modify them, he seems to be briefly sporting an ominous black vest and one of the all-black Starfleet badges usually worn by members of the clandestine organization Section 31. In essence, for one moment, it's like Larkin raided the closet of Captain Leland from Star Trek: Discovery. Later in Trek canon, the tribbles end up being a huge problem for the Klingons. (In DS9, Worf said tribbles were declared an enemy of the Empire at some point.) So, did someone in Section 31 plant Larkin with the hopes that he would act crazy and create new alien pest species?Benjamin isn't ruling it out. If someone were pulling Larkin's strings, it would certainly explain how he got on the ship. Read the rest

So, this is fun: starting in December, Chinese citizens who want to snag a new phone number or sign up for internet service will have no choice but to allow their faces to get scanned. This new bag of Orwellian bullshit was announced at the end of September by the country's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. According to Gizmodo, the MIIT totally swears that the initiative is totally designed to “earnestly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of citizens in the cyberspace”.Uh huh.The Chinese government recently lost their shit over protestors in Hong Kong wearing masks to hide from the facial recognition tech that the police and other government agency use to monitor their citizens. They use surveillance tech to detect and creep on the nation's Uighur Muslims. In the case of the latter, those identified and confirmed as being part of the Uighur minority have ended up in reeducation camps. Given that this is the case, it seems unlikely that the nation's only motive for forcing you some to submit their face to get a phone number is to cut down in fraud.When a nation's citizenry's every move is monitored and cataloged to use against them, the notion of democracy becomes one that is thought upon, but never dares to be heard. Read the rest

There are many articles about nice monospace typefaces, but Programming Fonts lets you see all the good ones live on-screen—and how your work looks in it. I'm a big fan of APL385, with a truly ancient pedigree, whose eccentricities land perfectly at the needs of the moment: high-dpi fixed-width legibility that's fun without drowning in nostalgia for old displays and their stupid pixels. Read the rest

Akiva Leffert has designed an Ikea-themed tarot deck:Ikea is a place of transition, a journey, a source of light and comfort, but also strife. Ikea contains the universe. Harness that power to understand your own life with these cleanly designed Ikea themed tarot cards. They'll go great sitting on your BILLY bookcase or on the table next to your MALM bedframe. The deck contains the four suits of the minor arcana: sofas, lamps, dowels, and allen keys as well as a full set of major arcana.Available at Etsy.(Via Brandon Sheffield.) Read the rest

In an important reminder that Republicans are entirely capable of stopping Trump when they actually disagree with him, next year's G7 summit of world leaders will no longer be held at one of his own hotels.President Trump says the White House has abandoned plans to host next year’s G7 summit at his Doral Miami Resort because of “crazed and irrational hostility” by Democrats and the media. “I thought I was doing something very good for our Country by using Trump National Doral, in Miami, for hosting the G-7 Leaders,” the president tweeted late Saturday. Why? The New York Times puts it succinctly: "He knew Democrats would criticize him. When Republicans started doing so, he changed his mind."The House of Representatives had been expected to vote next week on a resolution condemning the decision. Democrats also planned to require the White House to present information to justify why the administration decided on Doral.Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, was among those who suggested the decision violated the constitution. Last month, the US Air Force (USAF) ordered a review of its accommodation after it emerged some personnel had been staying at one of President Trump's Scottish golf resorts.The Consumer Entertainment Show used to be held alongside the Adult Entertainment Show in Vegas, an amusing juxtaposition of the world's stiffest business nerds and its most relaxed performers. Likewise, having G7 overlap Miss World 2020 or Golf Boobs Florida or whatever else Trump hosts at Doral would have made for great coverage. Read the rest

In recent years, natural language processing technology and language translation technology have advanced greatly. The trouble is, language translation software typically comes in the form of apps. And while your mileage may vary on their usefulness, they share one thing in common: a serious drain on the battery for your smartphone, the very thing you'll be using to get around in unfamiliar towns.The CM Translator is the first great alternative to the clumsy crutch of translation apps. It's a standalone device that works with a single click. Just say whatever you want to be translated and it'll repeat the phrase back in one of many different languages. You can hold the device up to a person who speaks a different language than you do, and it will be translated into your language.Powered by Microsoft and Orion voice recognition, that functionality puts us firmly in "Star Trek" translator territory. Better still, its workhorse battery is capable of up to 24 hours of continuous use, freeing up your cell phone for other things. On standby, that operation time can stretch to 180 days.The CM Translator works in English, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, and a myriad of other languages. You can use your smartphone to toggle between active languages, then let the translator do its thing. At less than 6" long, it's portable enough to take anywhere.Pick up the CM Translator now for 23% off the retail price. Read the rest

Sunday brought us McKay Coppins' detailed interview with Mitt Romney, the last Republican grandee to hold out against Trump's domination of the party. In it, Romney mentioned in passing that uses a secret Twitter account to keep tabs on stuff. Ashley Feinberg tracked it down with ruthless cunning and fast results: This Sure Looks Like Mitt Romney’s Secret Twitter Account (Update: It Is).Meet “Pierre Delecto.”...Pierre has only ever tweeted 10 times total, and all of them have been replies to other tweets—certainly the sort of behavior one might expect to see from a self-described “lurker.” The account’s first tweet, coming a whole four years after its initial registration, was a show of frustration at Fox News for not yet having a New Hampshire presidential poll up. ... More recently, there was a tweet expressing unhappiness at Trump’s decision to withdraw troops from Syria (which Romney has publicly condemned) while also insisting on the Senate’s powerlessness (as Romney a move as there ever was). Remember Little Face Mitt? Get ready for Big Derriere Pierre. Read the rest

German security researchers from Security Research Lab created a suite of apps for Google and Amazon smart speakers that did trivial things for their users, appeared to finish and go dormant, but which actually stayed in listening mode, then phished the user for passwords spoken aloud to exfiltrate to a malicious actor; all their apps were successfully smuggled past the companies app store security checks.The basic workflow is this: the app is invoked by a voice command ("Give me my horoscope"), then appears to terminate, by playing a null character (U+D801), which is played as silence. After a long interval, the speaker then spoke in a voice that terminated the speaker's OS, with a fake error message asking for a password to allow for a security update.The researchers reported their findings to Google and Amazon and withdrew their apps from the manufacturers' app stores, both companies say they are putting new policies in place to prevent similar future attacks.All of the malicious apps used common building blocks to mask their malicious behaviors. The first was exploiting a flaw in both Alexa and Google Home when their text-to-speech engines received instructions to speak the character "�." (U+D801, dot, space). The unpronounceable sequence caused both devices to remain silent even while the apps were still running. The silence gave the impression the apps had terminated, even when they remained running.The apps used other tricks to deceive users. In the parlance of voice apps, "Hey Alexa" and "OK Google" are known as "wake" words that activate the devices; "My Lucky Horoscope" is an "invocation" phrase used to start a particular skill or action; "give me the horoscope" is an "intent" that tells the app which function to call; and "taurus" is a "slot" value that acts like a variable. Read the rest

Trimbandit's Scary Animated Zombie Groundbreaker Instructable uses two pneumatics to make a partially buried zombie jerk and pitch and seem to try to claw its way out of your lawn -- it's an incredibly effective illusion, one that capitalizes on the jerking, sudden motions of the pneumatic to lend a terrifying, otherworldly vigor that makes the mannequin skinned over the pneumatics seem like the living dead.*NOTE* I recommend starting with a low amount of pressure when testing and increasing from there until you are satisfied with the speed. The cylinders are very powerful and you don't want to rip everything apart.You will probably want to either weight or stake down the groundbreaker to keep it from shaking across your lawn. I ran a considerable length of air hose so I could keep the compressor in the back yard, since it is rather noisy. Scary Animated Zombie Groundbreaker [Trimbandit/Instructables](via Hackaday) Read the rest

Treat yourself, internet: We've rounded up some deals from the past week that were too good not to bring back for an encore. Take your pick from home goods, massagers and other tech, all at serious discounts.TREBLAB Z2 Bluetooth 5.0 Noise-Cancelling HeadphonesGet in the groove and stay that way with these headphones and their mammoth 35-hour battery life. The sound is just as impressive, with Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity and T-Quiet™ active noise-cancellation. Get a pair now for more than 10% off the retail price.Zone 47" Wide PC Gamer Computer DeskMinimize your distractions and maximize comfort on that next raid. This wide-surfaced desk boasts a cable organizer, headphone hook and even a cupholder - all the amenities a gamer needs. There's even a charging hub with 3 outlets and 2 charging ports. Pick up yours today for more than 25% off.VOLTA Levitating Light BulbGive your desk or den a jolt of atmosphere with this floating LED bulb. The secret is a pair of magnets that keep the bulb aloft while wireless induction technology keeps it glowing with a warm, soft light. It's now available for a full 40% off the MSRP.TubShroom®, SinkShroom® Strainers & StopShroom® Plug BundleHair happens, but this gadget ensures it doesn't clog up your drains. The TubShroom catches errant hairs and other potential clogs in your drain, while the SinkShroom elevates out from the drain. Pick it up and discard the yuck without ever having to touch it. The pack of three strainers is now 30% off the list price. Read the rest

Researchers at Telecom Paris have developed an artificial skin that responds to stroking, pinching, tapping, and tickling. To demonstrate it, they covered a mobile phone with the skin and showed how it could work as a back-of-the-device interface. The video also shows how the material can be used to give robots a skin that "feels" when it is touched.Image: YouTube Read the rest

Scotland's Shooglenifty was one of the first acts that I had the opportunity to interview for the music magazine I still occasionally write for, over two decades ago. That it was one of my first paying assignments, well before I'd finished J-school, and that I'd been a fan of the band for years has made the experience a fond memory. 10 albums in and the Shoogles are still on regular rotation in my home.Recorded in 2018, Written in Water, was a collaboration between the band and Rajasthani musical geniuses Dhun Dhora. It's in turns a challenging and rewarding collection of tracks to listen to. The more I jog it through my ears, the more I like it. I'd like you to have the same opportunity.This piece of concert was recorded last year off of Bellstone stage at the Shrewsbury Folk Festival. Read the rest

In the wake of Berkeley joining the growing list of cities that ban the use of facial recognition by governments, RIT philosophy prof Evan Selinger and Northeastern law/comp sci prof Woodrow Hartzog make the case in the New York Times for a nationwide ban on facial recognition technology.The authors raise three arguments: first, that "notice and choice" has been a failure ("to opt out simply stay indoors!"); second, that facial recognition fears are technophobic overreactions, and finally, that facial recognition is uniquely powerful and dangerous and needs a regulatory framework separate from other privacy rules ("to opt out, just don't have a face").I like the first and third argument, but I think their second one -- that facial recognition will eventually lead to our innermost thoughts and emotions being revealed to giant, surveillant networks -- is far too charitable to the facial recognition industry. The whole field of sentiment analysis, big-5 personality traits, and other putative algorithmic mind-control and mind-reading is built on an edifice of junk science and marketing hype. When you take away the "research" contributed by companies hoping to sell this crap, you find a very thin scientific basis for thinking it works now -- or that it could ever work.But we believe society can’t wait years for institutions like the Supreme Court to update privacy protections for the digital age. By then, facial recognition infrastructure will be ubiquitous, and exploiting its full potential will seem like a good use of resources. The law singles out specific technologies all the time because they are so exceptional. Read the rest

Since 2010, Nightowl, the "head of the Yahoo Users Crusade," has been leading a preservation effort to scrape and archive the sprawling contents of Yahoo Groups. She writes, "Now we are desperate. We are running out of time to ever save our precious content. Yahoo has never made it easy to rescue it, and has in fact, recently made it increasingly harder and harder. There is no easy way to rescue and save our content."One site, groupsio, who is run by Mark Fletcher, creator of the original Onelist, is able to do it, but it costs users money, and even if he's paid, he'll never have enough time to rescue everyone's content before Dec 14.Now we are at a place where it's now or never. We need someone to help us get our plight out to the public, so Verizon and Yahoo will know we are STILL HERE. Help! They’re about to obliterate us! [Nightowl/Mods and Members Blog] Read the rest

As cool as your smartphone is, it can't do everything. When a job requires a little elbow grease, a multitool is a great thing to have around - and might just save your life in the right situation.Here's a roundup of some of the latest multitool designs, which have come a long way since the old, fingernail-destroying Swiss Army Knife model.Geekey Multi-ToolA lot of multitools fit on your keychain, but this one really blends in. The key-shaped tool incorporates some of the standard tools like a screwdriver and wrenches (standard and metric), but also some unusual ones, like a fully functioning pipe. It's now on sale for a full 58% off the retail price.The Kelvin 007 Pocket Spinning ToolA fix-it tool for fidgety types, the Kelvin 007 is a fully functioning zinc alloy spinner with star points that serve as Phillips, flathead and Torx screwdriver bits. Get a pack of two Kelvins now for a 24% discount.Kelvin.7 Automotive Emergency Multi-ToolThis one is a particular help in any roadside emergency. Any repair job will be easier with its flashlight, hand-crank power generator and magnet array, and the seat belt cutter and window breaker are crucial in case of an accident. The Kelvin 7 is now on sale for 20% off the MSRP.Kelvin 36: The Urban Super-ToolThe sturdy handle provides a firm base for the many tools on the Kelvin 36. There are no less than 26 hardened CR-V bits, and the screwdriver handle is able to lock at straight or right angles. Read the rest

Boo! What a work of art. There are scary jack-o-lanterns and there are HORRIFYINGLY AWFULLY TERRIFYING ONES. This is one of those, from PyroDragon.As the title says, this is a continuation from my original post of this Funkin, since it's now completed.I've decided to call him "SPITHOPS â„¢", which is short for"Spookiest Pumpkin In The History Of Pumpkin Spooks â„¢"This is carved out of one of those newfangled foam pumpkins.It makes it a h*ck of a lot easier and WAY less messy.The animals won't eat it, and you can reuse the same pumpkin design every year!Pencil: For layout of designRazor Knife: For cutting through foam.Special Pumpkin Groove Carving Tool: For grooves that aren't going through the wall entirelyDrill and Bits: For holes in design and in the back for powerGo see the whole making of.Scariest Pumpkin Carving EVER [Part 2] Read the rest

Retired professor James Fetzer co-authored the book "Nobody Died at Sandy Hook." He was found guilty in June of defaming Leonard Pozner. Now, a jury says he must pay nearly half a million dollars in damages.From NBC News:A Wisconsin jury Tuesday ordered a conspiracy theorist who claimed the grieving father of a victim of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre had fabricated his son's death certificate to pay the father $450,000.A judge had ruled in June that James Fetzer, co-author of the book "Nobody Died at Sandy Hook," had defamed Leonard Pozner, father of Noah, 6, the youngest victim of the December 2012 mass shooting, by falsely claiming that Pozner had fabricated copies of his son's death certificate.Sandy Hook father to receive $450,000 from conspiracy theorist, jury says [nbcnews.com] Read the rest

Beware the rogue .wav file.Two reports published in the last few months indicate that authors of malware programs are using an interesting technique in their attacks. Researchers report the bad guys are applying steganography techniques to hide malicious code inside .WAV audio files.“The novelty in the two recently-published reports is the use of WAV audio files, not seen abused in malware operations until this year, Catalin Cimpanu at ZDNet reports:The first of these two new malware campaigns abusing WAV files was reported back in June. Symantec security researchers said they spotted a Russian cyber-espionage group known as Waterbug (or Turla) using WAV files to hide and transfer malicious code from their server to already-infected victims.The second malware campaign was spotted this month by BlackBerry Cylance. In a report published today and shared with ZDNet last week, Cylance said it saw something similar to what Symantec saw a few months before.But while the Symantec report described a nation-state cyber-espionage operation, Cylance said they saw the WAV steganography technique being abused in a run-of-the-mill crypto-mining malware operation.Cylance said this particular threat actor was hiding DLLs inside WAV audio files. Malware already-present on the infected host would download and read the WAV file, extract the DLL bit by bit, and then run it, installing a cryptocurrency miner application named XMRrig.Josh Lemos, VP of Research and Intelligence at BlackBerry Cylance, told ZDNet in an email yesterday that this malware strain using WAV steganography was spotted on both Windows desktop and server instances. Read the rest

The apparent coverup of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi's murder at the direction of Prince Mohammad Bin Salman ("MBS") and the government of Saudi Arabia continues.Donald Trump, who is serving as President of the United States but clearly not acting as one, today tweeted:Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was never given or shown a Transcript or Video of the Saudi Consulate event. FAKE NEWS!Clearly they're not bothering to polish up the original Russian that much anymore.He's a tool.The event = murder of a journalist. https://t.co/oKMQ1sUpsw— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) October 19, 2019[Twitter] Read the rest

Barry's Gold Blend is my favorite everyday black tea.A few weeks ago I was drinking PG Tips 'Extra Strong' as my beloved Barry's is not available at any local markets. Today I was organizing my VW Vanagon's kitchen storage and came across a box of Barry's I had forgotten in July.Halleluyah!It is like how much more black could Barry's Gold Blend be? The answer is none. None more black.Barry's Gold Blend gets better the longer you leave the tea bag in. Eventually, the liquid becomes a sludge-like slurry of existential dread and water. You can drink it, however, it is not pure evil.This tea leaves lines and stains in every mug I drink it from, unless the mug is already black or at the very least a dark blue. You may want to buy some baking soda to scrub your mugs out as well.I was fine drinking the PG Tips, but I am just happy as can be to have Barry's back. I will return to keeping a spare box on hand.Barry's Tea Gold Blend 80 Count 2-Pack via AmazonMore about Barry's Tea on Boing Boing. Read the rest

On Jan 1, 2020, AB1482 comes into effect, capping rents at their rates as of March 15, 2019 plus an above-inflation; in response, the state's greediest landlords are evicting their tenants, either by raising their rents to levels they can't afford to pay between now and Jan 1, forcing them out, or by staging "no cause" evictions in cities that permit them. If those tenants are gone on Jan 1, the landlords can set a new rent floor that ignores the rates as of last March.California's largest landlords are private equity firms that took advantage of the foreclosure epidemic after the 2008 crisis to acquire thousands and thousands of homes, where they have slashed maintenance and jacked up rents, creating a new epidemic of homelessness.The other large cohort of California landlords are Real Estate Investment Trusts that are the primary vehicle for offshore oligarchs who want to launder their money. Burbank -- where I live -- has lax and difficult-to-invoke protections for tenants, permitting landlords to stage "no-cause evictions" for tenants regardless of whether they pay their rent on time and look after their homes. At a City Hall meeting on the issue that I attended last week, I ran into one of my daughter's babysitters and her neighbors: their apartment building had changed hands and the next day, the new landlord -- an anonymous LLC -- had served every single tenant with eviction notices, including families with small children (one mother showed me an envelope addressed to her young son that had personally notified him that he was being evicted). Read the rest

The cause of Catalan independence surged in October 2017, when voters defied Madrid and voted in a banned independence referendum despite indiscriminate violence and rubber-bullet fire from police, who had earlier seized the ballot boxes (the independence movement had wisely procured a backup set of boxes just in case. The referendum led to a declaration of independence, and the central government responded by imposing direct rule and arresting the movement's leaders (the ruling coalition was trounced at the polls a few months later). Now, Catalan independence is surging again, on the news that the movement's leaders are to serve long prison sentences for "sedition": more than 500,000 people marching in Barcelona to inaugurate a general strike that has paralyzed the city. The protests were largely peaceful, though a few protesters were arrested for property damage, and earlier protests were characterized by police as "riots." Speaking in Brussels, acting Spanish Prime Minster Pedro Sánchez warned that those who caused disturbances would face justice."There is no space for impunity in relation to the serious acts of violence we have witnessed over recent days in different cities in Catalonia," he said.Fernando Grande-Marlaska, Spain's acting interior minister, said there had been nearly 130 arrests since trouble broke out across Catalonia five days ago. He warned that rioters faced up to six years in prison.What is the latest?Masked protesters confronted officers near the national police headquarters in Barcelona late on Friday, throwing stones and cans at lines of officers in riot gear. Read the rest

Following on Ilhan Omar's endorsement of Bernie Sanders earlier this week, Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is expected to make her own endorsement for Sanders's candidacy today.Persistent rumors have Tlaib ready to endorse Sanders as well, though she has lately said that she is not ready to make any public endorsements (she and Sanders are due to visit her district in Detroit this month). AOC's endorsement is not surprising, given that she campaigned for Sanders in 2016. The remaining "Squad" member, Ayanna Pressley [D-MA], has not endorsed anyone; her district is in Elizabeth Warren's home state.Writing in Vice, Leila Ettachfini presents the case for feminists supporting Sanders over Warren: "But to act as if Warren is inarguably the evolved form of the Vermont senator is simplistic at best. Sanders’ policy proposals on many issues that affect women could be considered more progressive than Warren’s—specifically when it comes to addressing low-income women of color. While Warren wants to reduce rents for Americans by 10 percent, Sanders supports national rent control. While Warren only recently changed her previously unwaivering pro-Israel views, Sanders has condemned the Israeli occupation of Palestine since the 1980s. And while Warren’s newfound support of Medicare for All has left some questioning her commitment to the issue, Sanders has supported single-payer healthcare for decades."I am a donor to both Sanders' and Warren's campaigns. In anticipation of AOC's endorsement, I have made another donation to the Sanders campaign. I was also a donor to AOC's campaign. It remains unclear whether Sanders’s campaign can fully rebound following the candidate’s heart attack, which required not only a hospital stay but also the insertion of two stents in an artery and drew renewed attention to his age. Read the rest

People tend to keep luggage around for a long time. And why not? New suitcases are pricey, and no matter how banged up or patched up that old bag gets, it still holds your clothes. Right?Maybe not. Here are 15 travel bags and accessories that make a strong case for upgrading your gear. They've got innovations that will let you pack more, improve your organization and be prepared for any emergency.SuitcasesTanka Engine Hard-Side 3-Piece Spinner LuggageMade of scratch-free ABS material and equipped with three dial-side combination locks, this baggage set presents a tough exterior. But when it comes time for packing, the flexible interior expands by up to 2.5", giving you a surprising amount of space. A set of 3 bags is on sale now for 10% off.J World Tanka Zuni 4-Pc Hard-Side Spinner Luggage SetTanka's Zuni line sports the same expandable packing space and adds plenty of organizational perks. There's an X panel for keeping things separate and multiple mesh pockets for smaller gear. The 4-pack set includes a large and mid-size suitcase, carry-on bag and beauty case, all priced at 10% off the MSRP.J World DIA Polycarbonate Luggage SetFeather-light double spinners let these bags travel smoothly and quickly across the terminal, and the polycarbonate shell is durable yet pliable. Corner protection and interior dividers show attention to detail in this well-made set. Pick up the set of three for a 10% discount.Genius Pack 30" Spinner Upright SuitcaseTrue to its name, the Genius Pack is loaded with features. Read the rest

Do you own a Mac? Unless you're using it for a paperweight, you almost can't afford not to get the Magnificent Mac Bundle. It's a roundup of some truly essential security and file management apps, bundled up with great photo and video enhancers.The best part is that all nine apps are potentially available for pennies. There's a "pay what you want deal" for the bundle that allows you to name your price. No matter what that number is, you'll at least get something. But before we get into the deal itself, here's a breakdown of the apps:UltData Mac Data Recovery - A lifesaver for busy workers with wayward files, this one protects your data from accidental deletion, formatting snafus, virus infections or a host of other calamities.MovieSherlock Pro Video Downloader - Get any video from anywhere in its native format. The downloader also converts to MP3 or MP4 and can handle multiple files simultaneously.Dropzone 3 - This drag-and-drop file manager makes everything you do easier, from installing apps to shortening URLs.Wallpaper Wizard 2 - Tired of the same stock photos on your screen? Choose from 25,000 images in 4K HD, customizable for display on multiple devices.AnyTrans for iOS -If you spend time bouncing between devices, AnyTrans makes sure you can access all your files without confusion and manage your data, contacts and media from anywhere.Camera Guard 3 Pro - That webcam of yours can be an open window for hackers or malware. This service locks it (and your microphone) down with state-of-the-art app blockers and access PINs. Read the rest

Corey Helford Gallery in Los Angeles will be showing the work of painter Nicoletta Ceccoli from November 2 to December 7. Here are a few of the paintings in the show: Read the rest

Pittsburgh is now a hotbed of robotics and machine intelligence, and very likely the place the AIs will eventually sigh and commence the annihilation of humankind. 40 years ago it was just getting started. CMU Robotics: "From the Robotics Institute Archives in Honor of our 40th Anniversary, we've uploaded Ivan Sutherland talking about his 6 Legged Walking Machine. A wonderful piece of our early history." Read the rest

Digital thermometers are a great tool when slow cooking meat.It is pretty easy to under or overcook meat on the grill. Monitoring the internal temperature of your food, as you cook it, is a really good way to be sure that food is as done as you want it and no more. This affordable ThermoPen set-up does the trick for me.I like to use one probe at the grate and one inside the item I am cooking. That way I know what is going on!ThermoPro TP-08S Wireless Remote Digital Cooking Meat Thermometer Dual Probe for Grilling Smoker BBQ Food Thermometer - Monitors Food from 300 Feet Away via Amazon Read the rest

This rubber bristled brush does a great job of removing our three cats' fur from carpets, bedspreads, and furniture. We had it for years and it has held up well. It's only on Amazon. Read the rest

The deepfake technology in this video is far from flawless, but Jim Meskimen's voices and mannerisms more than make up for it. Watch him recite a poem of his own composition as John Malkovich, Colin Firth, Robert Deniro, Tommy Lee Jones, Nick Offerman, George Clooney, Christopher Walken, Anthony Hopkins, Dr. Phil, Nicholas Cage, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Morgan Freeman, Bryan Cranston, Christoph Waltz, Joe Pesci, Jack Nicholson, George W. Bush, Ian McKellen, Ron Howard, and Robin Williams.[via Twisted Sifter] Read the rest

According to this short documentary, there are hundreds of miles of service, storm, and sewer tunnels beneath the glitz and neon of Las Vegas, and these tunnels are home to many people. The video has interviews with some of the residents, who say they rely on each other for food, money, and support.Image: YouTube Read the rest

Canadian camouflage developer HyperStealth Biotechnology Corp released a series of videos demonstrating their new "patent-pending" "Quantum Stealth Light Bending Material (Invisibility Cloak)." Here is HyperStealth's technical video about the technology and their press release. Read the rest

A young man was having a fine time making a loud noise with his motorcycle for all the neighbors to enjoy. His fun was cut short when the engine caught on fire. The laugh at the end of the video has potential to become the Wilhelm Scream of laughs.Image: YouTube Read the rest

MacRumors, which is usually correct, reports on China Economic Daily's news of the imminent launch of Apple AirPods Pro with noise-cancelling functionality and a $260 price. The new AirPods Pro won't look anything like the image above, although it'd be cool if they did. From MacRumors: According to China Economic Daily, Apple's third-generation ‌AirPods‌ will adopt a new in-ear design to support the new noise-canceling feature and enhance the listening experience. The paper claims the "Pro" suffix, which Apple recently adopted for its most expensive iPhone 11 models, will help to differentiate the new wireless earbuds from Apple's existing ‌AirPods‌ and underscores the marketing rationale justifying the higher $260 price tag.According to a separate report on Friday from the same Chinese-language financial media outlet, the ‌AirPods‌ Pro will also feature a new metal design that increases heat dissipation. Apple ‌AirPods‌ supplier Inventec is said to be cooperating with Chinese manufacturer Lixun to undertake the new orders...According to industry sources previously cited by DigiTimes, Apple's suppliers are gearing up to assemble the next-generation ‌AirPods‌ as early as October, suggesting an updated version of the earphones could arrive in time for the holiday shopping season. Read the rest

Three Muslim families were unlawfully forbidden to board an NYC ferry, according to a complaint filed by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). The women in the families were wearing traditional Muslim garbs -- "hijabs, religious headcover, and long dresses covering their legs and arms for religious purposes." The families were about to board but were stopped by an NYC Ferry employee who told them they would not be allowed on the ferry do to a security issue. They were escorted to a security officer, who said he didn't know why they had been prevented from boarding the ferry. When they returned to the boarding area, a ferry employee told them they had been denied boarding because their children had been observed standing on seats, a claim that another ferry employee contradicted.From NBC News:NYC Ferry offered to reimburse the families for their fares, calling the incident a "misunderstanding." CAIR said it is seeking payment of compensatory damages for "humiliation, embarrassment, and severe emotional distress" and punitive damages.New York City's Economic Development Corporation, which runs NYC Ferry, told NBC News that it was aware of the complaint and is investigating the incident.Everyone deserves equal and fair service free of discrimination, especially when using public transportation like the NYC Ferry. These families were humiliated and traumatized in public view because they happen to be Muslim.https://t.co/iE2CT0yN3b pic.twitter.com/mp0jg1MizY— CAIR National (@CAIRNational) October 16, 2019Image: Shinya Suzuki/Flickr. Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-ND 2.0) Read the rest

While researchers have demonstrated electronic "tattoos" that can be applied to the skin, Duke University electrical engineers have shown that electronic components can be printed directly onto the body. Typically, printable electronics need post-processing to function but the Duke researchers used an aerosol jet printer to print silver nanowire ink at near room temperature and the circuits worked immediately. On the first try, the traces connected a battery to an LED that glowed. The skin circuits wash right off with soap and water. From IEEE Spectrum:Flexible electronics are having a moment. The sheer range of devices developed recently demonstrates the scope and speed of the field, including patches to communicate with robots, wearables to reverse baldness or detect heartbeats, and solar cells that can be sewn into clothing....In two recent papers, Franklin, Williams and colleagues at Duke demonstrate a low-temperature technique for printing electrical components—including leads and transistors—onto delicate surfaces such as apples, human skin and paper, with no post-processing required.“Ultimately it doesn’t matter if it’s paper or plastic or what-not, you want to be able to put your surface in, add printed, functional electronics to that surface, and away you go,” says (electrical engineer Aaron) Franklin. The new technique enables researchers to print electronic components onto a wide range of materials and reduces overall production complexity and time, he says...“We don’t want to just print conductive traces onto human skin,” says Franklin. “We want to actually show we can do a full printing on any surface with useful, functional biosensing devices.” Read the rest

Comedian/actor Ali Wong has a new book out called Dear Girls: Intimate Tales, Untold Secrets & Advice for Living Your Best Life and it includes her guide for how to tell the difference between good and bad Asian restaurants. Vulture has an excerpt. Here's an excerpt of the excerpt:Image: Netflix Read the rest

Russian artist Roman Booteen modifies coins with incredible engravings and feats of mechanical engineering. This coin features a beating heart. Other exquisite examples of his work are below. He also customizes Zippo lighters.(via Kottke) View this post on Instagram #hobonickel #goldinlay #morgandollar #engraved #engravedcoin #hobonickel #hobonickels A post shared by Roman Booteen (@romanbooteen) on Aug 7, 2017 at 8:02am PDT View this post on Instagram A post shared by Roman Booteen (@romanbooteen) on Nov 17, 2017 at 12:50am PST Read the rest

Climate change is real. The state of Florida is particularly susceptible to its effects, being a largely coastal landmass. Hurricanes and floods strike with increasing frequency, damaging or outright destroying homes, businesses, and public infrastructure. As a result, maintenance and repair costs are rising, too. And that doesn't even touch on the human impact—the elderly residents killed by extreme temperatures, and the food- and mosquito-borne diseases that mutate and spread through the swampy heat. The latest studies predict a two-foot rise in sea level over the next forty years.But you wouldn't know any of that from a visit to the Florida Statehouse at any point during the reign of Republican Governor Rick Scott, however. That's because Scott had implemented an unofficial policy banning the use of "climate change" and "global warming" in all official government communications ("unofficial" only in that Scott was a conniving politician who understood that you can't legally ban words in the United States, but you can use your authority to bully people out of using them anyway). It's the same tactic that the Trump Administration has used to steamroll federal scientists. From the Miami Herald:“We were told not to use the terms ‘climate change,’ ‘global warming’ or ‘sustainability,’” said Christopher Byrd, an attorney with the DEP’s Office of General Counsel in Tallahassee from 2008 to 2013. “That message was communicated to me and my colleagues by our superiors in the Office of General Counsel.”Kristina Trotta, another former DEP employee who worked in Miami, said her supervisor told her not to use the terms “climate change” and “global warming” in a 2014 staff meeting. Read the rest

My nephew will have nothing to do with a cowboy marionette that can not shoot fire out its rear like a Pokemon. Clarabel is literally the stuff nightmares were made of back then!I did not know the first Clarabel was Bob Keeshan. Keeshan gave up the stellar role of Clarabel to become Captain Kangaroo. This show was far more a feel-good acid trip for the children. Tho I doubt The Captain'd be a hit here-and-now either. Read the rest

When I was little, my big brother would take me fossil-hunting on a quest for trilobites, marine arthropods that have been extinct for around 250 million years. Occasionally we'd find lone specimens but never a bunch of them in a conga line as seen above. Paleontologists at France's Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 studied lines of nearly two dozen trilobytes from Moroccan fossil beds to gain insight into the origins of collective social behavior. From the New York Times:These trilobites lived during the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event, a period defined by a dramatic increase in the variety and complexity of marine life. It was the evolutionary sequel to the first major diversification event, the so-called Cambrian explosion, which established most animal groups in the fossil record some 541 million years ago.Before the Cambrian, there is “no evidence for group behavior” in animals, (paleontologist Jean) Vannier said, because Precambrian life-forms lacked sophisticated nervous systems.Ampyx trilobites, in contrast, had an anatomy that could have enabled chemical communication and sensory stimulation. Though they were visually blind, the trilobites had long spikes protruding from their rear ends. These appendages clearly overlap and link individuals in the fossilized chains, and perhaps allowed tactile or pheromone signals to be exchanged. Read the rest

On November 11, the Edgeryders nonprofit assocation is bringing me to Brussels for a day-long event called The Science Fiction Economics Lab, where I'll be jointly keynoting with Edgeryders economist Alberto Cottica, a lifelong science fiction fan, about radical futuristic economic ideas for a more cooperative, sustainable future.It's a stage-setting exercise that then leads into an Extinction Rebellion workshop called "Reclaiming Utopia," and the next day, November 12, will be a full-day workshop designing "fictional economies...t do not exist in fully realized form, but are nevertheless internally coherent and could, in principle, come to pass, and are radically different from the economy we do have." It all wraps with a giant party on Nov 15 ("Because if we can’t dance, we don’t want your alt-economy").The event is running a crowdfunder to help defray costs, with copies of my novel Walkaway and other premiums for backers.The maiden voyage of the Sci-Fi Economics Lab consists of four parts:November 11th: A double keynote lecture by science fiction author Cory Doctorow and economist Alberto Cottica, moderated by Kirsten Dunlop. The lecture focuses on the experience of living in a different economy would be like (Doctorow, drawing on his and others’ work, in particular Walkaway); a professional economist’s point of view on the viability of such a fictional economy (Cottica), and a discussion of the path to get from here to there (all three).On November 11th, Reclaiming Utopia, a workshop where we learn how to mobilize ourselves for the more humane, fairer, greener economy we want. Read the rest

Donotpay started as a project to help people automatically fight parking tickets, before its then-teenaged creator, the UK-born Stanford computer science undergrad Joshua Browder expanded it to help homeless people apply for benefits, then to help you sue Equifax for doxing you, then to apply for rebates if your plane tickets' prices went down after you applied for them, then to easily file small claims suits against companies that ripped you off, then to apply for airline compensation for late flights, lost bags, overbookings and cancellations, then to auto-cancel your "free trial offers" by letting you create burner credit-card numbers that would simply not accept future bills when they arrived.Browder eventually took investor capital and promised to return it by creating premium subscription services that users could pay for in order to get even more automated anti-fuckery services. I was a little skeptical at the time, but now Browder has released a feature that has convinced me to sign up for his $3/month premium plan -- as soon as the Android version launches (it's Ios only).That feature is a hold-queue-beating bot for merchants' customer service numbers. Donotpay has assembled a massive database of the secret, direct, speak-to-an-operator numbers and when you need to get in touch with a company, it will call them for you, wait on hold for you until an operator picks up, then call your phone and connect you, after reading the operator a warning that you're recording the conversation so that you can resolve any future disputes about what you were promised. Read the rest

Police in New York City are hunting a pumpkin smasher who seems bent on ruining halloween for locals.Does anyone recognize this tough guy pumpkin smasher. This happened on 81st Street between 3rd and 4th Avenue #Brooklyn. If so please call 718-439-4220.‬The hat alone calls for a custodial sentence. Read the rest

Only two children showed up to the birthday party of Remi, 5, a young girl with autism. So strangers filled the seats to make it a date to remember."It all looked like it was going to go pear-shaped," said [dad] PJ, 40."When she asked her mum where all her friends were, it was heartbreaking. "Remi's autism means you need to prepare her for things. So when her party didn't match what she had in her mind, she was so forlorn. We were sat there on the verge of tears but we thought, no, this is wrong. So out of desperation we sent out that message."28 kids and parents soon showed up, reports the BBC. The family was contacted by the parents of other children with autism—parents familiar with the challenges of organizing play-dates and group activities.Facebook is good for something, now and again! Read the rest