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Jimmy Fallon does a great impression of Bruce Springsteen singing his parody song "Robert Mueller's Comin' to Town."

Barrow, Alaska (pop. 4,335) sits on the northernmost tip of the state. Because of its remote location, groceries are expensive -- really expensive. This friendly couple takes us on a tour of the local supermarket, which also sells hand made dresses and all terrain vehicles. A bag of Tostitos tortilla chips here are "on sale" for $10.74. A single roll of toilet paper is $2.60. A box of Froot Loops is $9.73. A gallon of milk is $10. A gallon of water is $9.59. A tomato is $4. And one half of a watermelon is $37. I'm going to watch this video again before going to Whole Foods.

Puzzle designer Fleb shows how to solve a "cave puzzle," which is a logic puzzle that reminds me a bit of sudoku. It looks fun!

Earlier this year Columbus Ohio police officer Randall Mayhew, a 17-year veteran, was charged with three counts of prostitution, three counts of soliciting, and one count of dereliction of duty. At least one of the woman he was accused of having sex with while in uniform said she was afraid Officer Mayhew would take her to jail. This week, according to the Columbus Dispatch, "Franklin County Municipal Court Judge Cynthia Ebner sentenced Mayhew to two years’ probation, 30 hours of community service and fined him $150 in addition to court costs. She also sentenced him to 90 days in jail, which she immediately suspended." He will keep his job. The paper also reports that Mayhew was "one of three officers who faced similar accusations in 2015."

Behold the magic of compaction dynamics. Scientists from Mexico and Spain dumped 25,000 tiny dice (0.2 inches) into a large clear plastic cylinder and rotated the cylinder back and forth once a second. The dice arranged themselves into rows of concentric circles. See the paper and the videos here.Image: Asencio et al., Phys Rev Lett 2017

Bravo, sir.(via DIGG)

Though already released from the very light sentence imposed on him by a sympathetic judge, Stanford rapist Brock Turner wants to have his verdict overturned all the same. Turner's lawyers argued in their appeal filed Friday that the initial trial was "a detailed and lengthy set of lies."They are also hoping to overturn the lifetime requirement that Turner register as a sex offender.Turner's case became a flashpoint in the debate on campus sexual assault after an impassioned victim impact statement from the accuser went viral.He served only three months of his six-month sentence. One of the high notes in the appeal is its objection to his being described in court as assaulting his victim behind a "trash bin," when it was in fact a "garbage receptacle." In either case, Turner was gotten off his victim by passers-by who then chased him down.Just before 1 a.m. on Jan. 18, 2015, Jonsson and Arndt were riding their bikes along a path near the Kappa Alpha fraternity. Jonsson told the cops that movement by a dumpster caught his eye, and he saw a guy on top of a female who was lying on her back, according to a police report.At first, Jonsson and Arndt assumed the interaction was consensual. But Jonsson said he noticed that the female wasn’t moving as he peddled by. “Something seemed weird,” he told police, because the woman appeared to be unconscious.Jonsson and Arndt approached the dumpster and yelled “Hey” to the guy who was later revealed to be Turner. He took off running, according to the police report. Jonsson realized the woman was passed out and chased after Turner, eventually catching and tripping him, the police report said.

In the age of omnipresent keyboards and computers and the internet lurking behind all of them, the idea of a handwritten journal might seem quaint or pointless. But there are good reasons to keep one, writes Alan Henry.Writing can do wonders for your health. Beyond keeping your creative juices flowing—a separate topic we'll get to shortly—regular writing can give you a safe, cathartic release valve for the stresses of your daily life. We've discussed some of those mental and emotional benefits of writing before, from the angle of creative writing—but you don't have to write fiction to get them. For example, we've mentioned that keeping an awesomeness journal can do wonders for your self-esteem. Not only does regular writing make you feel good, it helps you re-live the events you experienced in a safe environment where you can process them without fear or stress.Using a brightly-lit, internetworked, general-purpose consumer computer for everything puts everything you do just a single decision away from being in the same place as everything else.So I strongly recommend a paper journal over an app, at least for those looking at journaling as a way to shake free of the spell of life spent constantly reading and writing online. Skip Moleskines, at least the expensive ones, if you're just starting out. Cheap is the freedom to experiment. You can buy a box of 25 notebooks for about $30 shipped at Amazon.com, and they're just fine. Heres a box of ruled ones. Upgrade to a nice hardbound A4 journal as a reward for getting through the first set!

Remember that "shame" video of the kid getting a Nintendo as a gift in 1988? Well, my former child actor friend Jared Hirsch saw it too and shared his own "shame" video from 1998 with me. His nearly two-hour long submission captures the splendor, joy, and robot sunglasses of his Bar Mitzvah reception on Staten Island. I asked Jared if he had anything he'd like to say about the video. This is what he wrote back:In 1988, I was a 13 year old growing up in Staten Island, the curious fifth borough in New York City. As all good young Jewish kids my age, my devoted parents threw me a classic 80s Bar Mitzvah. It was like a wedding, but for horny pre- and just-turned teens. Rented hall, live band, videographer, catered dinner, dancing, games, and all the attention I craved. I remember later that night sitting on their bed, counting all of the savings bonds I was gifted for becoming a man and feeling like a thousandaire. In 10 years, I cashed them and paid for a whole month of college. Behold in all it's transferred from VHS glory, my Bar Mitzvah party. Don't miss the Bar Mitzvah rap at 1hr10min, or my relatives not understanding how a video camera works. Delight in the snazzy renditions of your favorite 70s and 80 party songs. Cringe at the hair. Laugh at me for my overinflated ego, but don't forget that you too were 13 once.

The Belfer Center at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government has published a nonpartisan Cybersecurity Campaign Playbook, as part of its Defending Digital Democracy project (previously, "designed to give you simple, actionable information that will make your campaign’s information more secure from adversaries trying to attack your organization—and our democracy." (more…)

A Florida ICU staff faced a difficult ethical dilemma concerning a 70-year-old patient and a tattoo on his chest — ultimately reaching a decision that still doesn’t set a precedent for similar situations. The patient was brought by paramedics to the hospital unconscious with a high blood alcohol level, along with a history of medical issues, according to a newly published article in The New England Journal of Medicine. When the patient's health began to further decline, the staff was forced to consider the man’s “Do Not Resuscitate” tattoo along with what was believed to be a tattoo of his signature underneath. The staff originally decided against following the tattoo's orders saying it was an “irreversible” decision that shouldn’t be left to potential body art or a drunken mistake. Due to his inability to verbally communicate his wishes, the staff called for an ethics consultation, and in the end they decided to follow the tattooed request. After the order was given, the hospital was able to locate the man’s out-of-hospital Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) order from the Florida Department of Health, which matched his tattoo. The patient later died without undergoing CPR or anymore life-saving efforts. The doctors considered it a “relief” to find the written DNR order. Via New England Journal of Medicine. Despite the well-known difficulties that patients have in making their end-of-life wishes known, this case report neither supports nor opposes the use of tattoos to express end-of-life wishes when the person is incapacitated.

Donald Trump deliberately hides the sex scandals and indiscretions of Washington, D.C. lawmakers, keeping the shameful information as potential blackmail material, reveals the National Enquirer this week.The president has amassed Nixon-style “dirt files containing damaging information on roguish elected officials, top military officials, top military officers and high-level bureaucrats,” claims the report.Trump’s “little black book” is “filled with the dirty sex secrets of top politicos – and he’s not afraid to use it.”It’s an extraordinarily damning report from the Enquirer, which has been one of Trump’s staunchest supporters, fed inside information from the White House, and whose reporting has been lavishly praised by Trump.Of course, they don’t openly call him a “blackmailer” who is immorally keeping sex scandals secret to manipulate powerful lawmakers, though that’s clearly what the story suggests. Rather, the Enquirer seems to be praising Trump for having power over sleazy politicians. Sure sounds like he’s protecting scumbags with a view to blackmail, however.Pregnant Princess Kate “takes off her ring in war with William,” reports the Globe, claiming that the British royal is battling her husband over potential kidnap threats to their children. Why else would a pregnant woman take off her engagement ring? With all the rent-a-quote doctors, psychologists, private eyes and voice-stress analysts at their disposal, could the Globe not find a physician to explain that a pregnant woman’s hands can swell and she may need to remove rings when they feel too tight? No such problems for this week’s thin brigade, those unfortunates targeted by the Enquirer Guess Your Weight team who this week attack 93 lb “skeletal” Sharknado star Tara Reid, allegedly so thin she is "facing jaws of death" (Sharknado! Jaws! Geddit?!) and “walking skeleton” singer Faith Hill “at a shocking 99 lbs.” These women are almost as thin as the reporting on these stories.Hillary Clinton “demands $350 million divorce” as “new sex assault scandal rocks Bill,” reports the Globe. What? One more sex harassment accuser is going to push Hillary over the edge, after Monicagate, impeachment, and a string of sex assault and harassment allegations against her husband? Wishful thinking.Us magazine devotes its cover to Anna Nicole Smith’s 11-year-old daughter opening up about “My Life Without Mommy,” which seems unnecessarily intrusive, mawkish and unedifying. Dannielynn was five months old when her mother died of a drug overdose, so it’s not as if she has much in the way of memories of Anna Nicole. Dannielynn may be a child model and tabloid darling, but the fact that she struggles to wake up in the mornings, wants to become a dolphin trainer (because who doesn’t love a wild animal trapped in a tiny aquarium?) and has puppies named Chewie and Pop Tart, hardly seems revelatory.Us gives four pages to the impending Royal Wedding of Prince Harry and American actress Meghan Markle, predicting that the Queen will want the nuptials at Westminster Abbey (they’ll be at Windsor Castle). People magazine gives its cover and six pages inside to “Harry’s American Princess,” rehashing old stories as if they’re new again.At least it’s better than the National Examiner, whose cover declares: “Queen Forbids Harry’s Wedding!” Oh the joys of early deadlines overtaken by reality.Fortunately we have the crack investigative team at Us mag to tell us that Angelina Jolie wore it best, Mandy Moore is “a fan of sour candy,” that Ashley Johnson fills her Patagonia backpack with a Nintendo Switch, retro headphones and pumpkin-shaped Reese’s Peanut Butter cups, and that the stars are just like us: they eat pizza, snap photos, and sit on Santa’s lap. Hang on a second . . . why is Derek Hough sitting on the knee of a fat bearded guy in a red velvet suit? Definitely not just like us.The Examiner reports that “levitation is real,” citing scientists studying the phenomenon of “sleep floating,” in which people wake from dreams to find themselves in mid-air above their beds. Should we be concerned that there is no discernible trace of the “top neurologist” claimed to be investigating these incidents in his British laboratory, nor any obvious trace of levitators they name in Georgia and New Jersey? It’s probably all part of a massive government cover-up that’s all noted in Donald Trump’s little black book. Of course not. You can bet that the president is levitating near the ceiling of the Lincoln bedroom at this very moment.Onwards and downwards . . .

My guest on the Cool Tools Show podcast this week is Jennifer Pahlka. Jennifer is the Founder of Code for America, a nonprofit dedicated to proving that government can work for all people in the digital age. She served as the U.S. Deputy Chief Technology Officer under President Obama, and founded the United States Digital Service dedicated to the same idea.Subscribe to the Cool Tools Show on iTunes | RSS | Transcript | Download MP3 | See all the Cool Tools Show posts on a single pageShow notes:Phaxio, a modern fax platform“I will have to admit upfront, I'm not actually a coder, but I do work with our coding teams here at Code for America, and what I like about Phaxio is that it's sort of a hack, not just on sort of services, but on government. What we do here is we try to make services that work much better than the government services as it's offered. For instance, if you want to apply for food stamps in California and you want to do it online, you’ll go through an application form that’s over 50 screens long. … One of the things we started doing was just making a better online form and then having that form create a fax and then faxing it into the office. It turns out the place where faxes are still really, really useful is in government services, in government offices. I never would’ve said, 10 years ago, that fax was key, but it really is for the work that we do and it really helps us hack bureaucracies."Selenium WebDriver“I’d say [this is] like the next steps in making services that can sit on top of government services a lot easier to use. … Now, instead of creating a fax that goes to the office, we just drive that data using Selenium right into the system of record. … It doesn’t entirely close the loop because at the end of the day, what you want to do is actually redo those systems of record to be much simpler and have clearer, easier front ends and ask fewer questions and have fewer data problems. For now, that is a very effective way that you can hack online applications to government services and really anybody can do this. … The way I describe it to folks who aren’t developers and I know you’re both more technical than I am but it's like you take little robots take the data that we collected from the people and then put them in the online form that actually exists."Lyft hack“I’m a big fan of Lyft and one day I realized that when my daughter was calling from her school … it was raining and she wanted me to come get her and I said, "Well, I'm not going to come get you, but I'm going to send you a Lyft." I just used my finger to move the map to where her school was, dropped the pin there and called the car. Then I could just ... for a minute I thought, "Oh my gosh, is this dangerous?" But I realized I could actually watch the car arrive and pick her up, watch the driver drive her here and knew exactly when she would arrive. … The great thing is I can also do that when I’m in New York and my kid is stranded and needs to go home and when I’m in another country, I can get her a car whenever she needs one."Japanese Copper Tamagoyaki Pan ($30)"This is just my favorite thing in my kitchen just because it's kind of unique. Tamago is what you get at a sushi restaurant that's basically egg. It comes sort of nigiri style, there's like a little slice of scrambled egg, essentially, but it's done in a very Japanese way. To make Tamago, you have to have a small rectangular pan. This one happens to be copper. It just looks beautiful, it has a wooden handle and then this beautiful copper body. Basically what you do is you make this mixture of egg and dashi and a little salt and a little sugar, and then you have to sort of pour it in bit by bit and then roll it up, sort of sticking it at the end. What it makes is this very rectangular piece of egg that you can then slice and it looks very pretty when you lay it on the rice.”

Munktiki's $20 Octopus mug comes in red or purple, and nicely complements their Bell-Buoy mug (sold out, but we can hope for a resupply!). (via Super Punch)

Not all holiday gifts have to be game consoles, premium smartphones, or professional camera equipment. To help you find a great stocking stuffer (a gift apéritif, if you will) for under $25, we’re discounting some of our favorite items from the Boing Boing Store by 15% with coupon code GIFTSHOP15:IllumiBowl 2.0All joking aside, this motion-activated toilet nightlight is the perfect gift for anyone who likes to drink a big glass of water before bed. Installation is easy — just clip it to the side of your bowl, and choose between one of nine luminous colors, or set it to cycle through all of them. We usually have the IllimuBowl 2.0 for $12.99, but you can save an extra 15% off with code GIFTSHOP15.XXL Shower Speaker (Green)The XXL Shower Speaker is the best way to give your morning routine a backing track without subjecting your phone to irreparable water damage. It sticks to any smooth surface, and gets up to a month of battery life on a single charge. Get it for 15% off the normal $20 price when you use GIFTSHOP15 at checkout.Loot Crate Mystery Bundle: 5-6 ItemsLoot Crate’s subscription boxes come filled to the brim with geeky artifacts every month, and you can do a trial run with a single mystery box. They usually feature 5-6 items including t-shirts, books, and figures, but you won’t know for sure until it comes! Use code GIFTSHOP15 to take 15% off this $17 bundle.FRESHeBUDS Pro Magnetic Bluetooth EarbudsYou can finally retire your sweat-encrusted workout headphones with these FRESHeBUDS Bluetooth earbuds. They turn themselves off when their magnets snap together, and pair automatically with your device when you pull them apart. Normally $24, save an additional 15% when you enter coupon code GIFTSHOP15.UltraBright 500-Lumen Tactical Military Flashlight: 2-PackIt’s always a good idea to have an emergency flashlight around the house, and these Tactical Military Flashlights are more than capable. Rated at 500 lumens, they let you see up to a mile ahead when focused, or light up your immediate surroundings. Two of these durable aluminum torches typically cost $12.99 in our store, but code GIFTSHOP15 will save you an extra 15%.Scientific Magnetic Space PuttyThis Silly Putty successor is filled with iron shavings, so it reacts to any strong nearby magnetic force. Watch it devour small magnets, stick to the fridge, and bounce off the walls whenever you need a break. Grab a tin of Scientific Magnetic Space Putty for 15% off it’s $9.99 price with code GIFTSHOP15.Universal 3-in-1 Lens Kit for Smartphones & TabletsGet creative with your smartphone’s photos with a Universal 3-in-1 Lens Kit. It clips on to any mobile device to provide a sturdy mounting point for the included fisheye, wide angle, and macro lenses. Save a few dollars off our standard $11.99 price when you enter code GIFTSHOP15 at checkout.Endoscopic Android CameraIt’s easy to get a view inside tight spaces with this Endoscopic Android Camera. It’s got a flexible, waterproof 1 meter cable length, and it works with any desktop computer over USB just as well as your Android device. Normally $18.99, you can get 15% off with code GIFTSHOP15.8x Dual Focus Monocular LensSpy on your neighbors, go birdwatching, or get a better view from the nosebleeds with this 8x Dual Focus Monocular Lens. It fits easily in your pocket, and the eyepiece is rubberized, so you can use it with your glasses. Save 15% on this $8 Monocular when you enter GiFTSHOP15.Universal Waterproof Solar ChargerA portable battery pack is a must-have when you’re far away from any source of alternating current, and this Universal Charger is waterproof, shock-proof, and rechargeable from the sun’s rays. It’s compatible with almost any USB-powered device, and can charge 2 of them at once. It usually costs $13.99, but it can be yours for 15% less with code GIFTSHOP15.

Game designer Chad Walker is crowdfunding his latest game: SIGMATA: This Signal Kills Fascists, shooting for USD10,000 in pre-orders to produce "a cyberpunk tabletop role-playing game about ethical insurgency against a fascist regime, taking place in a dystopian vision of 1980's America." (more…)

Want to climb a tree with ease? Put on these "Ninja Hand Claws" (shuko) and "Ninja Foot Spikes" and go to town (see video). Of course, you first need to be in shape. Also, f*ck that tree. (reddit)

The Data Security and Breach Notification Act (S2179) was introduced by three Senate Commerce Committee Democrats, Bill Nelson [D-FL], Richard Blumenthal [D-CT] and Tammy Baldwin [D-WI] in the wake of the revelation that Uber hid a breach involving 50,000,000 riders and 7,000,000 drivers for over a year after paying hush-money to the criminals who stole the data. (more…)

You may have heard that Mount Agung, an active volcano in the Indonesian island of Bali, started erupting Saturday. It just so happens that my friend Kyle Kesterson is currently traveling there. He's staying in Ubud, about two hours away from the volcano.On Wednesday, he shared his experience of getting to and witnessing the eruption, alongside some really stunning photos:While I appreciate the concern for my safety as messages have been pouring in about Mt Agung’s current eruptions the last few days, FEAR is the common underlying theme.Those who know me, know that even the slightest whiff of fear must be faced head on and transformed into excitement. So at 2am, my fearless friend Valeria and I found a bold and curious taxi driver to drive us 2.5hrs in the direction of Mt. Agun, cameras in hand. As we pulled up around 4:30am, we saw the glow from the magma lighting up the slow billowing ash entering the atmosphere. Underneath it, our entire horizon was made up of the ghostly shape of this restless, commanding, all powerful giant. We sat, stunned in the deepest sense of awe, underneath the clearest Milky Way and longest shooting stars I’ve ever witnessed.Instantly, I was small. Weak. Absolutely nothing against the formidable nature of nature. Nothing, but a spectator and participant in this collision of living energy.Fear would have kept me tucked warmly in my sheets with the illusion that I was safe to begin with. But stepping through it, with complete reverence and heightened to the situation and ready to act, I am forever changed and more alive.Later, he wrote,Up until now, the news has been overly sensationalized with how they are reporting on Mt Agung’s activity. Life right at the base of the volcano was calm, people carrying on with their daily duties. No panic. No hysteria. It was surprisingly calm. However as of yesterday, rocks and debris have started to fall from the sky in the surrounding villages, starting to make the threat very real. Now people are starting to truly be displaced. There are a couple effective organizations helping with this process. Please join me in sharing a few dollars to help these people.photos by Kyle Kesterson, used with permissionPreviously: Artist Kyle Kesterson draws the faces he sees in things

After dodging security, photographer Nina Richard quietly hung Lorde's well-reviewed, sophomore album Melodrama onto the walls of Le Musée du Louvre in Paris, France. Presenting her photographic evidence, she tweeted: https://twitter.com/NinaRichard_/status/934885527630868481Why the Louvre?According to Slate, the act of displaying the album in the museum is a way of bringing the lyrics of its fourth track, "The Louvre," to life:But we're the greatest, they'll hang us in the LouvreDown the back, but who cares, still the LouvreMelodrama was recently nominated for a 2018 Grammy Award. (Slate)

Everett Ruess and Barbara Newhall Follett were born in March 1914 at opposite ends of the U.S. Both followed distinctly unusual lives as they pursued a love of writing. And both disappeared in their 20s, leaving no trace of their whereabouts. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe the brief lives of two promising young authors and the mystery that lingers behind them.We'll also patrol 10 Downing Street and puzzle over when a pigeon isn't a pigeon.Show notesPlease support us on Patreon!

In most examples of sci-fi horror, a desperate human protagonist must evade, hunt and vanquish the unspeakable alien creature. But what if you were a horrific amorphous nightmare blob, crawling around the red-cast darkness of a failing space colony in search of prey to devour?This is the premise of Sebastian Krośkiewicz's "Carrion", and it looks amazing. Part John Carpenter's Katamari Damacy, part Shoggoth simulator, all gore, the prototype animations depict a claustrophobic industrial scenario with our hero sliming and slorping around its terrified human victims.https://twitter.com/gynecomaster/status/936431441545777152https://twitter.com/gynecomaster/status/936431441545777152https://twitter.com/gynecomaster/status/934220512536023041https://twitter.com/gynecomaster/status/931748776699625472It's early days, by the looks of it; Krośkiewicz's BUTCHER, a more traditional bug hunt, is already on offer for $10.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXntoTverSg&feature=youtu.beYouTube stars Alissa Violet and Ricky “FaZe” Banks were ejected Saturday night from a Cleveland pub. FaZe ranted on his stream. Violet, selfying her way to hospital, sported a fat lip. The couple immediately went on an online offensive, identifying the Barley House and claiming to have been innocent victims of its bouncers. What happened next is all too predictable: their army of millions of social media fans formed an "unrelenting internet harassment campaign," issuing insults, death threats, some even driving hours to intimidate staff in person.Violet’s fans view her not as just a celebrity but one of their closest friends. She posts daily videos about her life in Los Angeles, photos of recent modeling shoots, jokes, and personal stories on Twitter and Snapchat. She tends to her legion by faving tweets, shouting out fans, and making her followers feel like they’re intimately involved in every detail of her life.Her online army dedicates an enormous amount of time to watching her videos, commenting on her posts, and setting up stan accounts in her likeness. When they saw someone had hurt her on Saturday night, that fanbase didn’t ask questions.But the Barley House has the receipts, and, it turns out, the gumption to post them in public: security footage recorded that night that shows the pair instigated all the trouble, were ejected without harm, then got into a fight outside with other patrons. Banks even appears to throw a glass into the crowd.After a crazy few days of cyber bullying including death threats to our employees, our website being hacked, our social media channels forced to be privatized, and false online review efforts to punish our reputation, we finally get the opportunity to put the facts together of what really happened and clear our name of Ricky Banks' and Alissa Violet's accusations towards Barley House.It seems almost a caricature of the narcissistic, talentless YouTube star — the sort of inexplicable fame that turns everyone over the age of 18 into an out-of-touch curmudgeon.But what's interesting is that hardly anyone over the age of 18 even knows about these people. Neither the media nor mainstream America is watching the massive, invisible personality cults of YouTube form. It's inconceivable to us that children (let alone ourselves) would watch losers like Violet and Banks jabber on, every available hour they have.The rambling vanity of YouTube's angry alt-right nerds gives us a mistaken impression of the medium's power, especially given the obvious danger of their IRL brethren on the far right. But if this is what a pair of bullshitting numpties like Banks and Violet can summon, imagine what a person with genuine charisma and drive could do. Soon, a YouTuber is going to take an audience of millions places.

A man in China was fined $125 after painting his own road signs to expedite his daily commute.The Modern Express reports that a 28-year-old man surnamed Cai, was fined 1,000 yuan (£112; $151) in the eastern city of Lianyungang, Jiangsu province. He was captured on camera on 27 September with a can of white paint painting new arrows onto the road to redirect traffic, and told police it was the result of frustrations over the long delays on his daily bus journey to work."I saw that the straight lane was always packed with cars, while the lane that turns left has a lot of space," he told the police."I thought changing the signs would make my commute smoother."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rH0hHZA0U5cWorking from a traditional score by Ron Grainer, Delia Derbyshire created one of television and electronica's most distinctive works of music: the theme tune to Doctor Who. For her pioneering work with synthesizers, often in crudely sexist and exclusionary workspaces, she is being posthumously awarded a degree by Coventry University.Due to BBC policies at the time, Grainer – unwillingly – is still officially credited as the sole writer.Derbyshire stayed at the workshop for 10 years, recording sound for Inventions for Radio and Cyprian Queen – all in the days before modern synthesisers and machines. She was later approached by Paul McCartney to work on a backing track for the Beatles hit Yesterday.But despite her talent and credit from her peers, Delia failed to gain widespread recognition during her lifetime, eventually becoming disillusioned with the industry and finding work as a radio operator in Cumbria.Photo: BBC

Even when your audience is small enough to fit inside a conference room, presentations can be absolutely nerve-wracking. If you get physically nauseous at the sight of a podium, check out this public speaking course in the Boing Boing Store.With this 16-hour workshop, you’ll discover a wealth of strategies to build engaging speeches and exude confidence. Aside from refining your body language and delivery, you’ll learn how to appropriately tailor your talks and identify with everyone who’s watching. It includes several exercises that you can practice ahead of time to focus your brain, as well as some handy PowerPoint slide templates.https://www.youtube.com/embed/jgUYx3drA64Whether you’re a nervous lecturer, or just have a job that involves frequent client pitch meetings, the Complete Presentation and Public Speaking Course will help you feel more comfortable. You can get lifetime access to this professional training for $15 from the Boing Boing Store.

We've done our share of tiny-face politicians, so why not tiny-face kittehs? (more…)

Martin Molin traveled to Speelklok Museum in Utrecht for a demonstration of the Gavioli Dance Organ, part of his wonderful series on old-timey mechanical instruments. (more…)

Pan Pan is a panda who was rescued from starvation in the wild when he was a cub, in 1986. Since then, he has gone on to father 120 of the 520 pandas alive in captivity. (more…)

The first time I interacted with the US medical system was when I was a student at Michigan State University with a comprehensive travel insurance package my bank sold me before I left Canada: the cafeteria food gave me my first case of acid reflux and after it had persisted for several days, I went to the walk-in clinic on campus. (more…)

Chris Vickery from Upguard found an Army Amazon Web Services instance with no password or encryption, containing 100GB of data on a defunct NSA program called Red Disk. (more…)

News came out this morning that NBC has fired Matt Lauer over "inappropriate sexual behavior." NBC News chairman Andrew Lack says, "While it is the first complaint about his behavior in the over twenty years he’s been at NBC News, we were also presented with reason to believe this may not have been an isolated incident.”You can bet it's not an isolated event. Here is a video from 2012 that shows Katie Couric telling Andy Cohen that Lauer's most annoying habit is that he "pinches me on the ass a lot." Image: Joella Marano

"Light Up Someone's Holiday" is Improv Everywhere's latest mission and it's a heartwarming one. ...We created a custom-built set that allowed random New Yorkers to instantly deliver a card and light up someone’s holiday. Participants were surprised as Christmas lights lit up the plaza and their message was displayed on a 30-foot wide screen above.This project is a collaboration with Hallmark, who provided us with an assortment of Hallmark Signature Cards for the project.See how they pulled off this stunt on their blog.

British Prime Minister Theresa May condemned President Trump Wednesday over his sharing of Islamophobic videos posted by a UK fascist group's deputy leader.“It is wrong for the president to have done this,” the spokesman for British Prime Minister Theresa May said.“Britain First seeks to divide communities through their use of hateful narratives which peddle lies and stoke tensions. They cause anxiety to law-abiding people.”Reuters was unable to immediately verify the videos and Fransen herself said they had come from various online sources which had been posted on her social media pages.But May did not rescind her invitation of a state visit, despite demands to do so from MPs angry at Trump's publicizing of the Britain First group and his erratic behavior.Britain, facing a £50bn "Brexit bill", is reportedly desperate to secure a new U.S. trade agreement with Trump to help make up for the impending loss of access to European markets.Photo: Reuters.

NBC fired Matt Lauer after learning Monday of The Today Show presenter's "inappropriate sexual behavior".Co-host Savannah Guthrie announced the firing on-air, flanked by Hoda Kotb. A statement, attributed to NBC News chairman Andrew Lack, described a "a detailed complaint" that "represented, after serious review, a clear violation of our company’s standards. As a result, we’ve decided to terminate his employment.""While it is the first complaint about his behavior in the over twenty years he’s been at NBC News," Lack continued, "we were also presented with reason to believe this may not have been an isolated incident.”A New York Times exposé of The Today Show presenter is also expected imminently; questions related to it may have informed the decision to fire Lauer without delay. "We just learned this moment ago, this morning," said Guthrie. "As I'm sure you can imagine, we are devastated. ... We do not know more than what we shared with you. ... I'm heartbroken for Matt. He is my dear, dear friend and my partner and he is loved by many people here. And I'm heartbroken for my brave colleague who came forward to tell her story."Photo: David Shankbone

Facebook is planning to request a "clear photo of your face" on pain of lockout, reports Wired's Nitasha Tiku. It wants you to prove you are a real engagement node, not a bot.In a statement to WIRED, a Facebook spokesperson said the photo test is intended to “help us catch suspicious activity at various points of interaction on the site, including creating an account, sending Friend requests, setting up ads payments, and creating or editing ads.”The process is automated, including identifying suspicious activity and checking the photo. To determine if the account is authentic, Facebook looks at whether the photo is unique. The Facebook spokesperson said the photo test is one of several methods, both automated and manual, used to detect suspicious activity.Soon, Windows 95 Tips will be reality:

Dan from the Journal of Ride Theory sez, "This is great. Conducting an interview while this cartoonishly expressive, hyperrealistic Lincoln silently pulls cray-cray Jim Carrey faces is simultaneously one of the coolest, unintentionally funniest and creepiest things ever. Also, all his movements have that weird swoop-to-new-pose weirdness of bad CGI. Swoop-hold, swoop-hold, swoop-hold."

A group of investors led by Softbank have put in a bid to buy $6B worth of Uber stock -- at a valuation of $48B, 30% lower than the company's valuation at its last finance round, which was followed by string of ghastly scandals including the removal of its founder, Travis Kalanick, from the CEO's office. The company has 20 days to respond.

Remember that guy with the Jerry Orbach tribute car? Well, this is his 2017 holiday card design. For the past few years, artist Brandon Bird has put sets of "T-mas" cards for sale in his online store. All the cards feature eighties icon Mr. T in a variety of holiday scenes. This year's card is called Precious Snowflake, as it imagines the gold-chained, mohawked A-Team star's as a paper snowflake design.Bird shares the "T-mas" origin story:The T-mas card tradition began with "Peace" in 2006 and "Believe" in 2008, and since 2011 I've tasked myself with creating a new design every year... But the tradition of T-mas itself goes back further, to my sister, who decided we needed a holiday to celebrate America's only true folk hero. T-mas activities include the writing of Pity Lists, the construction of wooden "fools" from sticks which are tossed onto an open fire, and of course a hearty meal including lots of nutritious vegetables and milk. Though usually held in winter, T-mas can be celebrated any day. But remember, if you disrespect anyone's mother, T-mas is cancelled and you have to wait another year!(I pity the fool who disrespects anyone's mother.)Here's a look at some of his past year's T-mas card designs (most are still available for purchase):Ginger T, art by Dyna MoeWinter Wonderland, a collaboration with Erin PearcePeace on Earth (the original T-mas card)A Hero Rides ForthSee the rest at Bird's online shop.Merry T-mas, y'all!

Expandable NecklaceDirector David Lynch is an avid meditator. His twice daily Transcendental Meditation (TM) practice spans over 40 years. In fact, he's such a fan of TM that he started a foundation in 2005 to "ensure that every child anywhere in the world who wanted to learn to meditate could do so."He writes: It has given me effortless access to unlimited reserves of energy, creativity and happiness deep within. This level of life is sometimes called “pure consciousness”—it is a treasury. And this level of life is deep within us all.But I had no idea how powerful and profound this technique could be until I saw firsthand how it was being practiced by young children in inner-city schools, veterans who suffer the living hell of post-traumatic stress disorder and women and girls who are victims of terrible violence.The David Lynch Foundation now serves both children and adults around the world, teaching them the healing power of meditation. Through the end of the year, 20% of the proceeds from his line of "Meditating Eye" jewelry goes to the foundation to help them with their mission. The entire gold and silver tone collection is available at online retailer ALEX AND ANI.Charm bangleMen's cuff

Cody from Cody's Lab had 640 pounds of liquid mercury lying around, so he devised an experiment to see if he could stand on it. (more…)

The best way to learn anything is by imitating the masters, and the same goes for game development. To help you dive into Unity 3D and get your hands dirty right away, we’re offering the Unity A to Z Game Development Bundle in the Boing Boing Store.This collection features 7 complete courses, each one with a different self-contained game project. With over 80 hours of content, you’ll be more than ready to start creating your masterpiece after you finish these in-depth studies. Here’s what you’ll cover:Build and Model a Super Mario Run Clone in Unity3DMake a 2D Endless Flyer Game in Unity: Code in C# & Make ArtMake an Angry Birds Clone in Unity: Complete 2D Puzzle GameLearn to Code by Making an Air Hockey Game in UnityMake a Portals Clone in Unity 3D and Blender From ScratchBuild The Legend of Zelda Clone in Unity3D and BlenderMake a Ninja Survival Game for Mobile in Unity and BlenderWhen you order from the Boing Boing Store, you can get all these courses for $49. Plus, you can save an additional 70% when you use the coupon code, CYBER70, at checkout.

I was honoured to be invited to address the University of Waterloo on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Cheriton School of Computer Science; my father is a proud Waterloo grad (and I'm a proud Waterloo dropout!), and so this is indeed a very special opportunity for me. (more…)

EFF's long, hard-fought campaign at the World Wide Web Consortium over its plan to standardize a universal DRM for the web was always a longshot, but we got farther than anyone dared hope before we lost the web to corporate interests and cynical indifference in September. (more…)

Australia is one of the world leaders in internet adoption and usage, and it's also been one of the worst offenders in bad internet policy, with a track record to rival even America's reckless indifference to the internet's overall importance. (more…)

Remember the story about the two NYPD narcotics detectives -- Eddie Martins and Richard Hall -- who said a teen girl they handcuffed and put into an unmarked van "consented" to have sex with them? Her lawyer said that when she went to the hospital, nine NYPD officers went into her room and tried to intimidate her into not pressing rape charges against the officers.From Huffington Post:“Nine cops came initially from the 60th Precinct and then another four or five from another precinct,” [lawyer Micheal] David said. “They were basically trying to intimidate [victim Anna Chambers (a pseudonym)] and her mother ... to get them to say it wasn’t cops.”David said he only learned of the alleged intimidation attempt earlier this month during a meeting with Chambers’ mother. She mentioned that cops had “bullied” them at the hospital on the night of the assault, he said.According to David, the group of officers interrogated Chambers and her mother after the hospital had filed a report about the rape allegation with the police. One cop spoke to Chambers’ mother in Russian, her native language, and allegedly told her that Chambers often filed complaints against police. But David said his client had “never” filed a complaint ― until that day.When the victim and her mother refused to back down, Detective Martins and Detective Hall decided to slut shame and victim blame the girl. From the Kansas City Star:Martins and Hall allegedly tried to attack the woman’s credibility by pointing out her raunchy social media posts and a $50 million claim against the city. The letter, obtained by The NY Post, also mentioned that the accuser had “rebranded herself as a wannabe rapper named ‘Fi5ty Milli,’ an obvious reference to her lawsuit.”Martins and Hall have pleaded not guilty of rape. It's not illegal for NYPD police officers to have sex with people in their custody.

In 1973, the US government helped the brutal dictator Augusto Pinochet overthrow Salvador Allende, Chile's democratically elected socialist president, and then leading libertarians like Milton Friedman and Friedrich Hayek flew to Santiago where they helped Pinochet with his program of mass extermination, torture and terror, including 2,279 known executions, 27,255 verified torture victims, and 200,000 known exiles, with countless more uncounted and uncountable. (more…)

An investigation by the (generally terrible) Daily Mail claims that the Russell Group, which includes top UK universities like Oxford, Cambridge, UCL, the LSE, and 20 other universities, hired "wealth screening firms" that illegally spied on students, grads and their families and friends to determine who to ask for money, and how much to ask for. (more…)

Evolution missed its chance Saturday at ridding the round planet of a “self-taught” rocket scientist bent on proving the earth is flat by launching off in his homemade rocket. “Mad” Mike Hughes claims the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) told him he wouldn’t be able to conduct his launch at his preferred location in Amboy, Calif. There also was of course some technical difficulties with his motorhome rocket launcher. The 61 year old plans on continuing his launch sometime next week. It’s incredibly stupid if Hughes' plans to go through with his mission and this isn’t just a minor publicity stunt being picked up by major news outlets, but still, I commend you “Mad” Mike Hughes for being so blinded by your ignorance that you're willing to risk your life (and possibly others) to set the heavily proven scientific record straight. The BLM should step out of Hughes’ way and let this odd maniac prove once and for all if the earth really is round, spherical, flat or just a pyramid functioning as a grain silo. Either way Hughes' expedition will guide us toward the truth or at the very least prevent the gene pool from becoming further contaminated should there be more mechanical issues mid flight. Via the Desert Sun: Not having the required federal permits plus mechanical problems with his "motorhome/rocket launcher" have forced self-taught rocket scientist "Mad" Mike Hughes to put his experiment on hold.The United States Bureau of Land Management "told me they would not allow me to do the event ... at least not at that location," Hughes said in a YouTube announcement, amid international attention over his plans to launch into the 'atmosflat.' "It's been very disappointing," he said.https://youtu.be/IWapLcMh6kwImage: Blanko

GIFT GUIDE 2017Here's this year's complete Boing Boing Gift Guide: dozens of great ideas for stocking stuffers, brain-hammers, mind-expanders, terrible toys, badass books and more. Where available, we use Amazon Affiliate links to help keep the world's greatest neurozine online.Gadgets + Gear | Books + Music | Home + Kitchen | Toys + Games | Naughty + Nice GadgetsCoryEdu-Toys Night 'n Day Mechanical GlobeElenco's Night 'n Day Mechanical Globe uses a system of translucent, exposed gears to rotate an internally illuminated globe that displays the seasonally adjusted, real-time night/day terminator as it spins. [Read More]BUYXeniiPhone 8 PlusNow on its eighth numbered generation, the iPhone remains my entire creative studio and almost everything I need to do my work: it replaces my fancy camera, my audio gear and everything else I had to lug around. This thing really is everything. I go big on screen size and storage capacity, with that in mind: the Plus, and 128 GB. BUYDavidAudio Technica AT-LP60Forget those vinyl-destroying, vintage-inspired all-in-one units. They're all crap. The Audio Technica AT-LP60 is a fantastic beginner (or revivalist) turntable for the price. Its built-in pre-amp means all you need to do is plug it any powered speakers with an audio input.You won't find a better turntable than this for under $100 unless you hit the second-hand market.BUYMarkFlitt Flying Pocket Selfie Camera Drone ($100)I honestly didn't expect that this tiny fold-up drone would perform as well as it does. It does a great job of hovering in place, and is easy to control with a smart phone. It's the first drone I can fly without crashing it into a wall or getting it stuck in a tree.BUYRobKano Computer KitBuild your own computer and learn to code art, music, apps, games and more with the Kano Computer Kit, an introduction to the bare metal you just won't get with crap-laden commercial machines. Hundreds of schools use them, and Includes everything you need, including the Pi that acts as its brain, case, speaker, wireless keyboard, RAM, and cables. And unlike most edumuacational computer gear, it looks absolutely cool as heck.BUYJasonAn airbag for your motorcyclistDo you love your motorcyclist? This simple, tether activated airbag inflates less than .10 of a second after a rider becomes separated from their bike. Helping to secure the neck, and protect the torso and internal organs, the Helite Turtle, is a top choice for next-generation motorcycle safety. BUYDavidKindle E-reader loaded with free classicsFor $50, the entry-level Kindle E-reader is priced right, and comes in black or white! This model has a 6” display and the battery lasts for ages between charges. (If you want to get fancy, go for the Kindle Paperwhite with a built-in reading light so you don't bug bedmates.) Load it with free classic books from Project Gutenberg before gifting!BUYMarkIgloohome Deadbolt2 ($238)The Igloohome Deadbolt2 has a programmable keypad instead of a keyhole. It took me about 20 minutes to install on my door. You can send your friends or other people single-use PINs. The smartphone app can also be set so the door unlocks when you touch the keypad - no PIN needed.BUYMarkMixcder Wireless & Wired Over Ear Headphones ($80)I bought these relatively inexpensive headphones for my daughter, who wanted wireless headphones for when she paints and sculpts. These are comfortable, have good sound quality, and pair easily with an iPhone.BUYMarkPacSafe Transit Travel Hoodie ($130)The thing I like about this pocket-covered hoodie is that the interior pockets have little line drawings indicating what you should put in them - pen, eyeglasses, tablet computer, phone, passport, earbuds, wallet, etc. I like having a garment that tells me what to do, it keeps life simple while traveling.BUYRobElf ear earbudsOnce hard to find, these low-end but unique earbuds are now at Amazon. For elves who can't quit their record collection even for a moment, they're still, sadly, only available in lily white. But cheap, at just $13.BUYRobRaspberry Pi 3 Model BThe best $35 you can spend on a wee yet straightforward and accessible barebones computer, Raspberry's Pi is now in its third generation and lives atop a vast and growing ecosystem of accessories, cases and general craziness to have fun with. The latest flagchip model has a 1.2GHz 64-bit quad-core CPU with twice the Pi 2's performance, integrated WiFi and Bluetooth, and backward compatibility with earlier models.BUYXeniBlack & Decker CHV1410L 16-volt Lithium Cordless Dust Buster Hand VacStill the best selling hand vac for keeping your office, home, workshop or hackerspace tidy. CHV1410L has strong suction, and a bagless dirt bowl that's easy to see and empty. Holds a charge for up to 18 months when it's off the charger. High efficiency Lithium ion chargers protect it by automatically shutting off when the battery is charged, so you can store it on the charger.BUYRobArduboyBeautiful 1-bit graphics in your wallet! Arduboy is an open-source platform to create and share games and the hardware is made to the dimensions of a business card. Best of all, this tiny toy is only $50. Want more? The PocketChip, at $70, plays Pico-8 games with a dazzling 16 colors; the dev community is more mature and there are countless games already.BUYRobSecond-gen Apple iPad Pro 12.9-inch With the lastest 12.9" model I've changed my mind about Apple's biggest iPad. Its unmatched pencil latency and powerful processor leave Microsoft (and even Wacom) trailing, while markedly improved third-party applications make Photoshop less critical, at least for me. Finally.BUYBooks and MediaMarkThe EC Artists Library Slipcase (Vol 3 $54)This high quality box set of four hardbound books has 904 pages of the very best comics of the 1950s. Volume one of this series is out of print and sells for over $250. Volume three is just $54. With art by greats like Wally Wood, Joe Orlando, John Severin, and George Evans, this set is a must-have for comic book aficionados.BUYCoryCanadaland Guide to Canada (Published in America), by Jesse Brown and friendsBrown finds plenty of hilarious awfulness in Canada's past and present, especially in the way that Canadians talk about themselves when they expect Americans might be listening to them. From Justin Trudeau (who talks about refugees abandoned by Trump but takes no action to improve their lot, because he's too busy taking away the citizenship rights of naturalised Canadians with objectionable politics, greenlighting climate-destroying pipelines for the Tar Sands, and making the most of the sweeping surveillance powers he promised he'd abolish after taking office) to Rob Ford to Quebec separatism and the long, deplorable traditions of drunken, racist Canadian leaders who are remembered as wise, even-handed leaders, Brown punctures ever bubble that Canadians have ever blown over the border toward our American cousins. [Read more]BUYCoryBriggs Land Volume 1: State of Grace, by Brian WoodStories matter: the recurring narrative of radical Islamic terror in America (a statistical outlier) makes it nearly impossible to avoid equating "terrorist" with "jihadi suicide bomber" -- but the real domestic terror threat is white people, the Dominionists, ethno-nationalists, white separatists, white supremacists and sovereign citizens who target (or infiltrate) cops and blow up buildings. That's what makes Brian Wood's first Briggs Land collection so timely: a gripping story of far-right terror that is empathic but never sympathetic. [Read More]BUYCoryKindred (Graphic Novel), adapted from the novel by Octavia ButlerKindred is the story of Dana, an African-American writer married to a white man in 1976, who finds herself being violently yanked through time and space to the side of her distant ancestor, Rufus, the son of an enslaver who lives on a plantation in antebellum Delaware. Rufus -- a self-destructive, traumatized and spoiled child -- periodically puts himself in mortal danger, and when he does, Dana is torn from 1976 to save him, and is stranded in the violent, totalitarian south until she experiences mortal terror, whereupon she returns to her present, only moments after she left. Luckily for Dana, mortal terror is a commonplace occurance for black people in Delaware in the 19th century. [Read More]BUYMarkThe Magic Machine: A Handbook of Computer Sorcery ($4)This 1990 BASIC programming book is long out-of-print, but is still valid and a great way to explore fractals and artificial life. I loved this book when it came out and just bought a replacement for my lost copy. Use copies are cheap on Amazon. Get it for a smart kid in your life.BUYDavidVoyager Golden Record In 1977, NASA launched two spacecraft, Voyager 1 and 2, on a grand tour of the solar system and into the mysteries of interstellar space. Attached to each ofthese probes is a beautiful golden phonograph record containing the story of our planet expressed in music, sounds, images, and science. It’s a message for any extraterrestrial intelligence that might encounter it. And now you can experience on Earth as a lavish 3xLP Box Set or 2xCD-Book edition.BUYDavidThe Photographs Of Charles Duvelle - Disques OCORA And Collection PROPHETDecades before the term "world music" became common parlance, Charles Duvelle was traveling the globe recording the sounds and sights of indigenous people around the world. To enable us see the world through Duvelle's eyes, Sublime Frequencies' Hisham Mayet in collaboration with Duvelle released this magnificent tome contains field photographs from 1959-1978, a deep interview, a report he prepared for Unesco in 1978, and two CDs of music that will move you. BUYDavidArt Sex Music by Cosey Fanni TuttiThe stunning memoir of musician, artist, and cultural provocateur Cosey Fanni Tutti is a must-read for anyone interested in the history of avant-garde music, performance art, underground culture, radical living, and female empowerment. Best known as co-founder of pioneering industrial groups Coum Transmissions and Throbbing Gristle (famously called “wreckers of civilisation” by a British MP), Cosey has also explored the fringes of sex, music, and creativity as a pornographic model, video artist, electronic composer, and, yes, writer. This is her story so far and it’s a doozy.BUYDavidLittle Book of Wonders: Celebrating the Gifts of the Natural World by Nadia DrakeNational Geographic contributor Nadia Drake’s science writing sings with knowledge, rigor, and her own infectious curiosity. This slim and delightful book is no exception. A lovely miniature wunderkammer of Earth’s magical places, startling phenomena, and amazing wildlife, it pairs beautiful photos with Nadia’s poetic and informative captions that spark the imagination and instill a sense of wonder about our world. BUYDavidDalí: The Wines of GalaFirst published in 1978, Salvador Dalí’s The Wines of Gala is a stunning and strange guide that groups wines “according to the sensations they create in our very depths” such as “Wines of Frivolity,” “Wines of the Impossible,” and “Wines of Light.” Featuring more than 140 of Dalí’s surrealist illustrations, this is the most bizarre, sensual, and sensational book about viticulture and libations that you’ll ever experience.BUYCoryTHEFT: A History of Music, by James Boyle and Jennifer JenkinsTheft traces millennia of musical history, from Plato's injunction against mixing musical styles to the outrage provoked by the troubadours who appropriated sacred music and turned it into bawdy songs about wanting to have sex with hot teenagers (a trick Ray Charles repeated hundreds of years later!); from the racist outrage over rock and roll's challenge to white supremacy to the fights over sampling and the exploitation of African-American musicians who were ripped off 40 years ago versus the interests of their musical progeny whose sample-based music has been distorted and even outlawed by the same musical corporations that screwed the R&B artists, in the name of defending those artists (!). [Read More]BUYCoryThe Free, by Lauren McLaughlinIsaac West is a mixed-race kid who never knew his dad; he and his sister have raised their alcoholic, abusive mother as much as she's raised them. But Isaac has a plan: his little sister Janelle is smart, better than he'll ever be, and he's going to get her out of their mutual hellhole and into a private school -- and to make that happen, he's graduated from petty theft into grand theft auto, under the supervision of his high-school auto-shop teacher, a cut-rate Fagin who trains and oversees a gang of junior car thieves. [Read More]BUYRobThe Complete Elfquest Vol. 4Fresh out in November, this volume contains some of the most exquisite and touching episodes of Wendy and Richard Pini's Elfquest saga, a great alternative to genre fantasy and its grim 'n' gritty modern counterparts. One of America's best indie comics, it's illustrated by Wendy's wonderful artwork – even at its most lighthearted, unanswerable questions of identity, family and freedom lurk between the lines. (Newcomers should not feel they have to start at the beginning, but it sure helps. And you don't have to be a fan to appreciate Line of Beauty, a deep-dive biography of Wendy penned by Richard himself)BUYCoryThe Hardware Hacker: Adventures in Making and Breaking Hardware, by Andrew "bunnie" HuangThe book draws heavily on Huang's own hardware projects, which have included substantial manufacturing in south China, with many hard-won lessons about how things can go wrong and how to make them go right. This is more than a checklist or memoir: it's nothing less than a masterclass in modern manufacturing, and even if you never plan on manufacturing anything, reading these chapters will explain the material world around you like few other texts. [Read More]BUYCoryNew York 2140, by Kim Stanley RobinsonIt's 2140 and trillions of dollars' worth of the world's most valuable real estate is now submerged under fifty feet of water, resulting from two great "surges" where runaway polar melting created sudden, punctuated disasters that displaced billions of people, wiped trillions off the world's balance sheets, and turned the great cities of the world into drowned squatter camps. [Read More]BUYCoryWAKE UP!, by Rick Lieder and Helen FrostLife is a continuing cycle of newness, then growth, and then gone: then birth and growth again. Photographer Rick Lieder started thinking about that theme of new life and new beginnings several years ago, and WAKE UP!, published by Candlewick Press, is the result. Working with his collaborator, poet Helen Frost, our book is about opening eyes—our own, first—and pointing to the world that’s right here, containing us all. Helen and rick are both based in the US Midwest, so we started there, with a world that we didn’t need to travel far to explore, only wake up enough to actually see. [Read More]BUYCoryPenguin Galaxy Boxed Set, introduced by Neil GaimanLast October, Penguin released its Galaxy boxed set, a $133 set of six hardcover reprints of some of science fiction's most canonical titles: The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K LeGuin; Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A Heinlein; 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C Clarke; Dune by Frank Herbert; The Once and Future King by TH White; and Neuromancer, by William Gibson. [Read More]BUYCoryBrutal London: Construct Your Own Concrete CapitalBrutal London: Construct Your Own Concrete Capital tells the stories of nine of London's greatest brutalist structures (with an intro by Norman Foster!), including the Barbican Estate, Robin Hood Gardens, Balfron Tower and the National Theatre -- and includes pull-out papercraft models of these buildings for you to assemble and display. [Read More]BUYCorySHADE THE CHANGING GIRL v.1: Earth Girl Made Easy, by Cecil CastellucciLoma Shade, as her own unique character, was a way of being steeped in the world of Shade the Changing Man, while being its own thing. Some people say that Shade the Changing Girl seems to be a direct sequel of the Milligan run. I say not so. I’ve always approached it as a kind of side-quel. Creator Cecil Castellucci wanted to take care to have nods and echoes to them both, but to be able to stand narratively on its own. It was a way of striking out in a new direction while plucking elements from the Ditko original and the Milligan run. [Read More]BUYCoryPaper Girls 1, 2 and 3, by Brian K Vaughanhttps://boingboing.net/2016/12/14/brian-k-vaughan-and-cliff-chan.html https://Paper Girls stars an all-girl cast of newspaper delivery kids for a fictional Cleveland newspaper, circa 1988 -- they are instantly and wholeheartedly likable, like the Goonies or the cast of Stranger Things. They convene on November 1, when the mean teenagers of Cleveland are still out an about and making mischief, picking on the likes of them, and they band together in mutual self-defense. (Don't forget books Two and Three) [Read More]BUYCoryBitch Doctrine: Essays for Dissenting Adults, by Laurie PennyIf you've followed Penny's work, you'll know that the thing that sets her apart from other enraged columnists is her empathy: her ability to understand the self-serving rationalizations, radioactive bullshit, and emotional damage that drives men to threaten her with rape and murder for pointing out that things aren't exactly fair. [Read More]BUYCoryLizard Music, by Daniel PinkwaterLizard Music is a novel about Victor, a kid who falls asleep while doing a model airplane and wakes up when the local TV station is going off the air, who discovers that the true late-night programming comes from humanoid lizards who live in a secret nearby volcano and worship Walter Cronkite. [Read More]BUYCoryLandscape With Invisible Hand, by MT AndersonIn 2002, MT Anderson blew up the YA dystopia world with Feed, his zeitgeisty, prescient novel about "identity crises, consumerism, and star-crossed teenage love in a futuristic society where people connect to the Internet via feeds implanted in their brains" -- in his latest, Landscape with Invisible Hand, Anderson takes us to a world where neoliberal aliens have sold Earth's plutocrats the technologies to make work obsolete and with it, nearly human being on earth. [Read More]BUYRobStories of Your Life and OthersTed Chiang's writing is rare and precise, weaving threads of science fiction into something so haunting and humane I've woken up dreaming about it more than once. Here you can read most of his published work, including the novella that was recently filmed as Arrival and is currently in U.S. theaters. But my favorites are the Borgesian "Tower of Babel," about an engineer breaking through the vault of heaven, and "Division by Zero."BUYCoryThe Power, by Naomi AldermanIn The Power, a day dawns, not so long from now, in which every 15-year-old girl finds herself with the power to deal out electric shocks, emanating from an unsuspected organ called "the skein," which rests along the collarbone. What's more, any woman can do the trick, once a 15 year old shows them how. Chaos. Glorious chaos. [Read More]BUYCoryArchangel, by William GibsonFrom the start of its run in 2016, Archangel went from strength to strength, packing in so many goddamned O.G. cyberpunk eyeball kicks per page that it felt like some kind of cask-strength distillation of all the visual and action elements that gave the original mirrorshades stuff its dark glitter. [Read More]BUYCoryVacationland: True Stories from Painful Beaches, by John HodgmanMy first impression of Vacationland was that I'd found a modern version of Steve Martin's classic Cruel Shoes. Hodgman is so very witty, and as he sets up his memoir -- the story of how he was a weird kid raised by loving but largely unconcerned parents -- he has so many tinder-dry asides and beautifully turned sentences and jokes with long fuses that unexpectedly detonate paragraphs later that I was really getting ready to relive my own childhood. [Read More]BUYHomeDavidUnder The Weather SportsPodAs seen on Shark Tank, the Under The Weather SportsPod is a single-person pop-up shelter to sit inside that my big brother Rick came up with a while back. (He was sick of getting soaked at his kids' soccer games and was inspired by a portable toilet he saw by the field.) Under The Weather is designed for spectator sports, fishing, and other outdoor events where it's raining, windy, or cold, but you are either obligated to watch or having so much fun you don't want to leave. BUYXeniSport-Brella XLPortable wind, sun, and rain shelter that's easy to set up. Can you open an umbrella? Can you drive a couple stakes into the ground? You got this, then. Haul it to the beach, outdoor gatherings or events, camping, sports, and you feel like you have a little private room outdoors. Comes in 6 different colors. Provides UPF 50+ shade. Opens to 9 feet wide, has a metallic undercoating for additional sun protection, internal pockets for stakes, valuables, and gear, plus top wind vents and side zippered windows for efficient airflow. Water resistant, weighs only 11.5 pounds. I first saw someone else on our local beach use it, and asked them where they bought it. Amazonned one for myself. Now I use it nearly every weekend, and love it.BUYRob3" Glass PyramidMade of "optically clear crystal" and three inches tall, Amlong's Crystal Pyramid is the best Crystal Pyramid. My bacon is fresh, my airspace dangerous, and my undertakings favored.BUYMarkOXO Good Grips Solid Stainless Steel Ice Cream Scoop ($15)The old ice cream scoop we had wasn't really an ice cream scoop. It was a disher, and was more suited for scooping mashed potatoes than ice cream. When the trigger mechanism on it finally broke, I happily got rid of it and replaced it with the OXO Good Grips Solid Stainless Steel Ice Cream Scoop($15). This surprisingly heavy scoop is made from a solid chunk of stainless steel with a comfortable rubber grip, and comes with a pointed end that digs right into hard ice cream, especially if you run hot water over it. It's supposedly dishwasher safe but why put it in the dishwasher? Just rinse it and dry it with a towel.BUYXeniBrondell SourceI bought the Brondell Source in 2015 and it alleviated allergy symptoms; here's the latest model, adding a touchscreen, remote control and an adjustable air quality sensor. Rids the air of dust and dander and tiny particles you don’t need to be breathing—but also filters volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Three-stage advanced purifier system includes certified True HEPA and Granulated Carbon technology. Glowing light indicator tells you when it’s working. One time my dog farted a particularly noxious plume and this thing kicked into high gear with an emergency red glow. That’s when I knew I’d be giving it a five star recommendation.BUYMarkLynx Sonoma Stainless Steel Countertop Natural Gas Smoker ($2500)This capacious, ultra high-end smoker has a digital control panel, smoker chip box, an instant-reading meat probe. It's got built-in Wi-Fi, of course, so you can monitor the process wherever you are.BUYJasonWise Owl Camping HammockThe comfort to weight ratio of a good camping hammock is off the charts. Durable and easy to set up, you'll be happy anyplace you can find two appropriately spaced trees. BUYXeniCuisinart 14-Cup Food ProcessorThe latest model of the best food processor for people who are serious about broadening their happy foodie horizons. Shove entire fruits and veggies into the giant feed tube. Listen to the 720-watt motor fill a 14-cup work bowl with steel slicing and shredding discs. It still comes with a free recipe book.BUYToys and GamesRobRainbow SlimeA glittery additive mixed with kid-safe Elmer's glue, Rainbow Slime is what you make of it. Fun when forming and flexible when dry, the results are beautiful, weird and extremely cheap at $6 or so. BUYJasonThe Intellivision Flashback ConsoleRemember the unlucky kid with the parents who got them an "Intellivision" instead of an Atari? Make someone that miserable again! With games no one can remember except maybe that OK one with a snake that couldn't touch its tail but isn't SNAFU, the Intellivision really sucked. BUYDavidEjector Seat Button For Your CarA perfect stocking stuffer, this very clever eject button fits into most automobile cigarette lighter sockets. Unfortunately, the product listing clearly states that it's "designed for show only." It is a functional cigarette lighter though so I guess they mean it won't actually trigger your ejector seat. BUYDavidSwish card gameA beautiful and deeply compelling card game, Swish is challenges your spatial perception to find matches of balls and hoops on transparent cards. It’s a wordless game of pattern recognition that has entranced my entire family including our youngest child, age 8.BUYRobBulk Generic LegoYou can get 1000 random pieces of off-brand building bricks for less than $30, guaranteed to "fit tight" and come with "less filler" than the even-cheaper bulk buys.BUYMarkPalomino Blackwing 602 Pencils ($23/doz.)This is a faithful reproduction of the Eberhard Faber original, which is no longer being made. Blackwing 602 have dark, soft lead (the motto printed on the pencil reads"Half the pressure, twice the speed") and features a unique eraser holder. I've been using them for years.BUYJasonMake your own Crazy Aaron's Thinking PuttyThe one thing my 10-year-old enjoys more than making her own floam or slime is playing with Thinking Putty. Textured quite like the legendary Silly Putty of yore, Crazy Aaron's putties come in a rainbow of colors and styles. This set lets you design your own! I am pretty sure Mark could be easily distracted by a can of magnetic Thinking Putty. BUYRobCopic Ciao Marker SetAt about $200, a full set of 72 Copic markers is a pricey proposition. But that's because they're the absolute best, with perfect colors, easy blending, and a big brush tip good for detail and wash alike. Dip an elbow in the water with a relatively inexpensive 12-marker set; great deals on partially-used sets can also be found haunting eBay. BUYJasonBecause cats are totally down with the Dark SideYoda and Chewie as mice for your cat to attack, because all cats align with the Dark Side. Except for Loth-Cats for some reason, but I wouldn't exactly trust them either. BUYJasonStar Wars Viewmaster gift setI am not sure how the whole putting gifts in a sock thing works, but this Darth Vader themed Viewmaster Viewer looks like it'd fit in a traditional Christ inspired gifting sock. Star Wars Viewmaster reels are always pretty sweet. This also makes a good Hanukkah day 4-7 gift for kids who can pull off the entire 8-day challenge. My kid starts getting a hug after day 3.BUYJasonYou sank my holiday experience!While it doesn't look much like the genre-defining 'This game isn't as much fun as a commercial made it look' toy of our youth, Electronic Battleship is now more exciting looking while boastin' the same old lows in game-play disappointment! Eeeeelectronic Battleship is no more fun than regular old Battleship, which is also a pretty god damn boring game. This is an excellent gift for someone you do not like, but want to appear you gave a cool gift at opening time. BUYJasonPrison Life RobloxKnow a kid that just can't behave? Maybe a co-worker? Make sure they understand a life of crime will come to no good. BUYRobMysterious and Indistinct ShirtFabulous yet classy, the Mysterious and Indistinct Shirt is a premium youth tee and "wears rough and tough for kids who play the same way." BUYDavidMastermindInvented in 1970 by an Israeli telecom expert, Mastermind is still the terrific game of strategy, logic, and deduction that you might remember from childhood. True, the packaging lacks the Bond-inspired photo of the dignified man and woman that appeared on the original box, but the game is just as elegant and addictive.BUYCoryLargemouth bass sandalsYou will look amazing in sandals that look like gasping largemouth bass, seriously (max size is a Men's 10, so only the dainty of feed need apply, e.g., not me). [Read More]BUYRobBlank Playing CardsMake your own games! Or just stare at them. Whatever.BUYNaughty + NiceMarkWink Plus ($79)In William Burroughs' novel Naked Lunch, Steely Dan III from Yokohama was the name of a stainless steel sex toy. The USB-chargeable Wink Plus vibrator from Crave is probably not what Old Bill Lee had in mind, because it is quite small, but it is made from stainless steel, and packs quite a vibrational wallop, with five intensity levels and two patterns.BUYRobWolf Crotch UnderwearWith a "convex design, large space and breathable," the 3D Wolf Head Crotch Underwear "make man looks sexy and wild" and can be yours for as little as five American dollars.BUYJasonSpend your holiday season TwistedThe Twisty Glass Blunt is a brain-hammer. Fill the glass chamber with your favorite herb, screw in the brass mouthpiece, and you are prepared to smoke a lot of weed. Perfect for a day at the beach, or an outdoor music festival, the Twisty Glass Blunt is an absolute favorite. I've got the mini as well. BUYJasonPoop emoji Santa HatWar on Christmas? Christmas seems to be integrating into todays meme-filled emoticon world. Now your Santa can proudly display his favorite emoji, or perhaps this is mean to signify something else. BUYREAD THE COMMENTS