Boing Boing

In a Reddit AMA, activists DeRay McKesson, Johnetta Elzie and ACLU’s Nus Choudhury talked policing and police reform in America, and surveillance of activists. Read the rest

Moran Cerf (previously) writes, "Can someone else know what we want a little before we do? And if so - who is in charge of our decisions?" Read the rest

This tennis ball-size orb knows what you are thinking. Most of the time it will guess what you have in mind after asking you twenty yes/no questions. Read the rest

The Invisible Deck is one of my favorite trick decks because the effect is simple and stunning. It blows people’s minds. Read the rest

Debris having washed ashore on Réunion, tracing the tides—and the genetics of encrusted barnacles living on the flaperon—gives us new clues to the final resting place of the lost jet.

This autonomous charger is much better than the boring old unit that required collaboration with a human to charge the Tesla.[via]

A lively brawl erupted in Times Square between a man dressed as Spider-Man and a man said to have been harassing other street performers who earn their keep posing for photos with tourists.

The Kings of India playing card deck looks fantastic. It has met its funding goal on Kickstarter, but they have not yet met the stretch goal that will enable the creators, Bhavesh and Reena Mistry, to include embossed details on the box. Read the rest

Shot on a $25,000 budget and a 35-page script that called for lots of improvisation, 1999's The Blair Witch Project made an astounding $248 million in theaters. Mental Floss put together a fun list of 17 facts about the horror movie classic. Read the rest

Scientists at the University of Sussex have published a directory of horse facial expressions. The Equine Facial Action Coding System catalogs "17 discrete facial movements in horses that may indicate mood or intention or just bafflement," reports The Guardian.Boing Boing created this chart that shows each facial expression identified by the scientists. We hope you find it helpful.Image: Wikipedia

Even by the standards of 25-year-old security video, it's grainy and indistinct. But if someone can identify the man visiting Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1990, federal investigators could solve a $500m art theft that's kept them in the dark for decades. Read the rest

Ryan Calo writes, "I argue in a new paper that economists and privacy advocates don't need to hate one another... Here's the abstract:" Read the rest

34-year-old Michael Migani was charged with second-degree breach of peace and second-degree reckless endangerment for inserting his saliva-covered finger into the ear of a 4-year-old boy in a Shelton, Connecticut waiting room. When the boy's mother confronted Migani, he left the scene in his car, but police were able to apprehend him before he got too far. He was released on $500 bond.

Board game designer Robin David has made an Alphabear-inspired word game that uses printable playing cards. Read the rest

Cornell Lab of Ornithology may have digitized nearly 150,000 digital audio recordings [via], amounting to 7,513 hours and 10 terabytes of data, but do they have the sound of this mouse that thinks it is a wolf? I think not. (more…)

Random Useful Websites is a useful website that takes you to another useful website, selected at random. It took me to TED. [via]

The baby might not be able to say "mama," but he knows when the family's Australian Shepherd says it.[via]

Amara's Law states, "We tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run and underestimate the effect in the long run" -- Robert Charles Wilson's gripping conspiracy novel The Affinities brings the experience of that process to life. Read the rest

Giant hogweed was introduced to the United States from Asia in 1917 as an ornamental plant. Pretty as it may be, it is more dangerous than poison ivy and can cause blindness if its sap finds its way into your eyes. It has recently been spotted growing along a road in Calhoun County, southwest Michigan. The county health department has warned people to "be cautious." Read the rest

Ted Rall, a journalist and cartoonist often critical of police misconduct, was fired by the LA Times after the LAPD claimed he lied about a 2001 encounter with an officer. But an audio recording of the event appears to back up Rall's version of events, leaving everyone to wonder why the Times was so eager to cut him loose. Read the rest

These guys fucking love milk.

Morten Grønning has been experimenting with gloves fitted with small motorized sanders, and it seems it has some potential for new ways to shape materials as it gets more refined. Read the rest

After Engineer Isis Wenger at OneLogin appeared in a recruiting ad, sexist comments about her appearance (e.g., "you don't look like an engineer") inspired the hashtag #iLookLikeAnEngineer. Read the rest

Henson and Lee battle to a place of grudging respect till spoiler Walt Disney shows up and (literally) owns them both. Read the rest

Rape is the fourth most common crime against women in India. Married women, living alone, face a greater risk of being attacked when they go to collect remittances from their husbands who work abroad. Read the rest

If you have feelings about HitchBOT too, this appropriately-threadbare, bite-sized (13kb) executable "poem about robots" from nickk might be a good way to process and share them. Read the rest

It's a fact that the sky is blue. But is my blue the same as yours? This fantastic app gamifies the quest to find out more about the differences in how humans perceive color, and it's surprisingly challenging and hooky. Read the rest

In the anime and cosplay space, fandom and identity intersect for black fans in interesting ways, and a new interview series spotlights their experiences. Read the rest

Warren Ellis: "We saw the best minds of our generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked, dragging themselves after an Uber that isn’t actually there because Uber fake most of those little cars you see on the Uber app map." Read the rest

Please to enjoy Fecal Matter, featuring an 18-year-old Kurt Cobain, Greg Hokanson, and Dale Crover (later of The Melvins). This demo tape is titled "Illiteracy Will Prevail." Fecal Matter (Wikipedia)

Deter hungry co-workers from swiping your sandwiches with these clever "Fake Mold Imprinted Food Safe Plastic Sandwich Bags." A pack of 20 is $6 from Amazon. (more…)

How would movies like Gone Girl, Back to the Future, Juno, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Forrest Gump, Silence of the Lambs, and Superman have been different if the main characters had been black? Ryan Hunter shows us in a short video he directed for MTV Other.

The epic fist fight between Captain Kirk and a man in a lizard suit was a low water mark for Star Trek. Mario Wienerroither made it even worse (and therefore much better) by removing the music and adding squeaky rubber suit sound effects.(Thanks, Matthew!)Another fine piece of work from Wienerroither:

Artists are taking home pennies for millions of plays and no one -- not the labels, not the distributors, and not the streaming companies -- will disclose the way that streaming music royalties are calculated. Read the rest

An idea that has been bandied about the Bay Area for years, building a wall to keep the homogenized "burners" out post "Bman," has been depicted in kickstarter parody form. Enjoy.Read the rest

Splinter removal, painting, soldering, building models, inspecting your kids' heads for lice, jewelry repair. I've used my LED illuminated headmounted magnifier at least twice a month for several years. It might be the best $8 I've ever spent.

Knuckle Sandwich is an upcoming RPG by Melbourne-based Andrew Brophy, and Tarantula is a sort of mini preview-episode that's full of chart and harm. Um, heart and charm! Read the rest

Wanderment is like every other platform game you've ever played, except that you're a cat, and you're blind, and the world around you is comprised of shimmering fragments of sound. Read the rest

People who use those forums are predictably upset. Read the rest

Remember those militarized cops who raided a California medical marijuana dispensary, harassed a disabled patient in the store, and were recorded on a security camera gobbling what was almost certainly marijuana-infused edibles that they swiped during the raid? Read the rest

The shooter is reported to have died at the scene. America: What the fuck? Read the rest

The Patterson–Gimlin film, shot in the late 1960s, purports to show a female Bigfoot taking a stroll through the woods near Orleans, California. (more…)

I love bubble nails!From Cosmopolitan:The technique, also referred to as "curve nails" or "hump nails," is achieved by building up acrylic in the center of the nail and thinning it out around the edges to create the round shape, as demonstrated in the video below: Read the rest

Reporters and press freedom advocates from around the world have signed on to support Netzpolitik and condemn the German government's outrageous investigation. Read the rest

A Gumby-style bendable cable mated to an iPhone grip, and a clip that can affix nearly anywhere, make this stand super useful!Read the rest

I bought this crossbow pistol because my family’s favorite character on The Walking Dead, Daryl Dixon, uses a crossbow to take out zombies, and we thought it would be fun for target practice. Read the rest