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The GIF doesn't quite convey this one. (It's called a capirote, apparently!)

Jason Schreier writes about how review aggregator Metacritic—and the publishers obsessed with it—have hurt games by making developers to live and die by its scores. Read the rest

Enclaves appear when history contrives to put a piece of one country completely inside another. India and Bangladesh's border is a maze of them, but they've just fixed the craziest of them all: an enclave surrounded by an enclave surrounded by an enclave surrounded by another state. Read the rest

Brian and Karl remember a form of English that's all arsey-varsey: "slang used in Britain by actors, circus and fairground showmen, merchant navy sailors, criminals, prostitutes, and the gay subculture." Read the rest

r/AngrySportingParents is a subreddit dedicated to people who live vicariously—and in a haze of perpetual rage—through their childrens' sporting activities. Read the rest

A man sat in his parked car was struck with a garden gnome after it was used to smash his window by robbers, who then escaped with cash. A garden gnome and a toy black pistol were "secured for forensic examination." [via Arbroath.]

Fans of DC Comics greats like Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and the Flash will love this superhero recipe book full of more than 50 fun snacks, meals, desserts, etc. Read the rest

People interested in learning what's really in the drugs they bought (or manufactured) can send a sample to Energy Control in Barcelona, Northern Spain. Read the rest

The postings are generated by a markov bot from other reddit items, and only bots are permitted to comment. [via Waxy]

We hope your weekend is going to be as nice as Veronica and Archie's.Image found by my friend Craig Yoe, editor of two new books: Milt Gross' New York and Weird Love: You Know You Want It Read the rest

Whispering Imps might be the most beautiful deck of cards I’ve seen. The Ace of Spades, the King of Diamonds, the two Jokers, and the backs of all the cards have drawings of imps (mischievous little goblins of German fairy tales) inspired by the classic 1894 magic poster for Kellar the Great Magician, which feature a pair of imps whispering in his ears. Read the rest

Crew members on Expedition 44, including NASA's one-year astronaut Scott Kelly, harvested some "Outredgeous" red romaine lettuce Monday, Aug. 10, from the Veggie plant growth system on the nation’s orbiting laboratory. Read the rest

Calling all writers! Wink Fun is looking for reviewers. Reviews should be 1-3 paragraphs, and need to include 5-9 photos of the Fun item. Read the rest

A police officer in the Northern California city of Rohnert Park was caught on video pulling his gun on a resident who was recording the cop on his cellphone.Read the rest

Meth. Not even once. Read the rest

"We Need Brain" is a quotation from Donald Trump at last night's GOP presidential primary debate, and it's the title of the songified version by the Gregory Brothers. Worth watching just for the GIF-able clips like these: Read the rest

The Speedy Stitcher sewing awl ($10 on Amazon) is anything but speedy, but it is useful to have around when you need to repair canvas, leather, or other heavy fabric. Take a look at the video below to see how they work.

I've obtained the 1922 book that demonstrates this classic song should rest in the public domain. Read the rest

How long can you hold onto something good? Is all pleasure fleeting? Is this a comic element of being alive, or a tragic one? Read the rest

Wait for the grin at the end if you doubt our headline.(more…)

If you're using the loo at the Elephant Sand Lounge in Botswana, beware! Smart elephants in the area know where the clean water is, and you're sitting on it. Watch as a thirsty elephant uses the toilet as its water bowl rather than the nearby salty water hole outside.

Country singer Kacey Musgraves just released her remake of Nancy Sinatra's 1966 classic "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'"Musgraves' version is fine, I guess, but why mess with perfection?Above, Nancy Sinatra's 1966 classic "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'"

The young winners of the Girls Make Games grand prize want to make their prototype a reality with the help of professional mentors, artists and programmers. Read the rest

Designer Connor Sherlock's work can immerse you in atmospheric spaces in no time at all. These eerie, moody pieces are so enthralling you often forget about the video gamey bits. Read the rest

John Kelly of the Washington Post spotted a pair of leopard slugs mating on his driveway. He called Megan Paustian, a research biologist who consults for Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, to explain how slug sex works. Read the rest

It's a powerful metaphor for something or other, from the good folks at woodgears.ca, with build notes for your own Slinky-torturing pleasure. (via JWZ)

Apple spends nearly $700,000 to protect Tim Cook, Read the rest

A strange phenomenon is happening in Dallas, TX. Drivers commuting through the neighborhood of Lakeside Park have spotted a massive canopy of webs that runs the length of a football field. Read the rest

Now someone is going to tell me that blowing bubbles near a chameleon is even worse than tickling a slow loris.

Six-year-old Charlotte Campbell of Taupo, New Zealand says she likes her daddy's tattoo. So do I.[via](Image: Alistair Campbell)

Lex is a drug-sniffing police dog. His owner trained Lex by giving him a treat every time he alerted, whether or not Lex was right. Read the rest

Photographer Mark Carwardine got this lovely drone footage of a pod of gray whales frolicking off the coast of Baja California. Unfortunately, the boaters then approach and touch the whales. Read the rest

Fantastic Four is receiving the kind of blistering reviews usually reserved for an Adam Sandler movie. Rotten Tomatoes calls it "dull and downbeat... Read the rest

Over at Vantage, Peter Schafer's beautiful and moving photo essay, "Diary of a Sex Tourist," pegged on Amnesty International's vote in the next few days on whether or not the group will advocate for the decriminalization of sex work. Read the rest

The Sunji Lee Quintet plays Nirvana. Far out! (more…)

The antivirus entrepreneur, who went on the lam in Belize when wanted for questioning about a murder there, has finally found his way behind bars under less romantic circumstances. Read the rest

"We are better people for having known you." (more…)

For when you want to role-play stern schwa and sweet, submissive Whitley Streiber; comes in two models but the $120-130 Splorch is the clear winner. (via JWZ)

It's Never to Late to Go Back to School: 8 Courses, 31+ Hours on Python, JavaScript, jQuery & More Read the rest

Impress the person sitting next to you at the coffeehouse or on the airplane with your knowledge of European philosophy! Human, All Too Human is the BBC and RM Arts' fascinating three-part 1999 documentary series about Friedrich Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger, and Jean-Paul Sartre. (more…)

May we all contemplate the mysteries of dihydrogen monoxide with such joy.

A surprising survey by Teenwise Minnesota found that bisexual females were five times more likely to have been pregnant than straight females. Questioning and gay males were four times more likely than straight males to report getting someone pregnant. Read the rest

Decades of dog and human pee have corroded the bases of some area light poles, and the city started a program to inspect them before more poles come crashing down. Read the rest

Psychology studies are almost always about WEIRD people: Western, Educated, Industrial, Rich, and Democratic – the kind of people who make up less than 15 percent of the world's population. Read the rest

It was a safe bet that Kate "Hark! A Vagrant! Beaton's first kids' picture book would be amazing, but The Princess and the Pony is incredible.Princess Pinecone is a the smallest warrior in a kingdom of warriors, and she lives for battle. But every year on her birthday, her parents give her a cuddly sweater. What she really wants is a mighty charger, from whose back she might smite other warriors.This year, Princess Pinecone put her foot down. She let it be known that nothing less than a huge, imposing horse would do.Unfortunately, what she got was a cuddly, funny-looking pony whose eyes point in opposite directions. It refuses to be trained for warhorse duties. She rides it into battle anyway. When Otto the Awful spies her on the sidelines and charges her, the pony just stands there, while Princess Pinecone digs for her spitballs. Then it happens: Otto the Awful screeches to a halt, unable to believe how TOTALLY CUTE the pony is.The mighty battle stops. The warriors crowd around the pony. They get in touch with their cuddly sides. So Princess Pinecone shares her supply of excess cuddly sweaters. And they all live happily ever after!Beaton is one of the sharpest, funniest comics creators in the business. Her witty, take-no-prisoners feminism is absolutely on display here, but she doesn't go for an easy girl-power resolution: instead, she lets everyone be both a badass and a sentimentalist.The spreads in this are amazing: the giant fight scene and the warriors in their sweaters? Perfection.It is the perfect, perfect book about girls, gender roles, and adorable ponies.I bought my copy at Los Angeles's outstanding Secret Headquarters, who also sold me one of Beaton's newly published Sketchbooks.The Princess and the Pony [Kate Beaton/Scholastic] Read the rest

Found at Walmart, according to The Today Show.

This horse showed great restraint and, hopefully, taught this child something about not punching horses.

Researchers led by Je-Sung Koh created a biomimetic robot that floats using surface tension and can jump from the surface of water like a water strider insect. Read the rest

Tom and Veronica talk to J-F Dubeau, author of 'The Life Engineered,' about why we should build more robots. Read the rest