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With Christmas quickly approaching, the imaginary war on everyone’s favorite imaginary holiday always helps me get in the spirit. The latest Christmas offense is from Starbucks’ recent marketing campaign and “suggestive” coffee cup promoting the LGBTQ community. A commercial unveiling the cups briefly shows two women drinking coffee and placing their hands together while across a table in what is an “obvious” attack on our nation’s faltering morals. The mind-numbing outrage is only being furthered since Starbucks decided to place a pair of unknown hands gripped together that many are debating belong to a same-sex couple. This so called “gay agenda” that Starbucks is said to be pouring down our coffee-addicted throats has given rise to another series of boycotts for the coffee giant, according to the New York Daily News. Via the New York Daily News: Starbucks hasn’t resolved the issue of whether the hands are same-sex or not.The theme of the cups is “Give Good.” Customers are invited to color in the drawings of hearts, presents and a Christmas tree — and those hands.“Each year during the holidays we aim to bring our customers an experience that inspires the spirit of the season,” the coffee chain said in a statement. “And we will continue to embrace and welcome customers from all backgrounds and religions in our stores around the world.”

Check out these wonderful commercials for Chambong, the beverage bong.Drinking things, quickly or slowly, requires that you exercise caution and judgment. Rapidly ingesting alcohol can have some unpredictable effects.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEv1DrfntZ4Chambong - Glassware for rapid Champagne consumption via Amazon

The Upguard Cyber Risk Team has found three Department of Defense mass-storage "buckets" on Amazon that are world-viewable, containing 1.8 billion of social media posts that the DoD scraped from social media over 8 years as part of its global surveillance program. (more…)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2hUkDVnXmE&feature=youtu.beOut with the old, in with the old.

I was kerplotzing around the internet today and upon seeing this video had the craziest thought: I’ve been in this place. Now since it involves free diving in the world’s deepest pool, in Italy, there’s no way I’ve even seen the place. Also can’t hold my breath for squat. Tried that recently while watching my friend David Blaine hold his breath for almost 11 minutes in a tank of water. I was really glad that he was in the tank and not me, since I was gasping at the 90 second mark. David Blaine Photographed by Asi WindThinking about the imagery in the video (below), it occurred to me that I was remembering a dream I’ve had many times about swimming underwater in a pool almost identical to this. A creepy feeling. What is it about this pool that seems like a dream … or a nightmare?On a single breath of air, Guillaume Néry explores the deepest pool in the world in Italy: Y40. The action is filmed on breath hold by his wife Julie Gautier.Find all their productions on: www.lesfilmsengloutis.comhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzh0woiH7Jw

Oh, just a baby riding around on a robotic vacuum. Usually it's a cat, but today it's someone's sprog.(Digg)

Brazilian artist Butcher Billy describes himself as a "pop culture butcher obsessively looking for the perfect cut." I think he's found just that with his latest artworks.The nine-piece series imagines each episode of Stranger Things 2, from "MADMAX" to "The Gate," as the cover of an 80s-style paperback book. So cool!Billy's work has been featured several times here on Boing Boing. If his work is your kind of thing, his Instagram is definitely worth following.(Design Taxi)

Press this plush Christmas elf's foot and its tongue starts vibrating, quite suggestively. The Sun reports:The £10 toy has been flying off the shelves at Asda stores across the country with sales reaching a climax even though there is still more than a month to go to the big day.Punters have to press a button in its foot to make its hands move away from its face as it wiggles its tongue at high speed and shouts: "Merry Christmas.""Merry Christmas," indeed.(somenews)

The "replay sessions" captured by surveillance-oriented "analytics" companies like Fullstory allow their customers -- "Walgreens, Zocdoc, Shopify, CareerBuilder, SeatGeek, Wix.com, Digital Ocean, DonorsChoose.org, and more" -- to watch everything you do when you're on their webpages -- every move of the mouse, every keystroke (even keystrokes you delete before submitting), and more, all attached to your real name, stored indefinitely, and shared widely with many, many "partners." (more…)

My grandmother's longtime partner Rusty was a former weightlifter with the sunniest, most reslient disposition of anyone I've known, and the only time I ever saw him reduced to tears was from the pain of a bout of shingles; now a new shingles vaccine called Shingrix has proven almost miraculously effective against the virus (which nearly every person who lives to 80 will suffer from) with a notable lack of downsides. If you're over 50, you should go get it right now. (via Naked Capitalism)

I love bagels. I wanted to learn to make delicious ones at home. I was surprised at how simple it really is. (more…)

Security researchers from Rhino Security Labs have shown that it is trivial to disable the Amazon Cloud Cam that is a crucial component of the Amazon Key product -- a connected home door-lock that allows delivery personnel to open your locked front door and leave your purchases inside -- and have demonstrated attacks that would allow thieves to exploit this weakness to rob your home. (more…)

Renowned for her sparkling wit and deep insight, commentator Tomi Lahren is considered to be the William F. Buckley Jr. of the millennial generation. She also has the ability to laugh at herself, so I'm sure she loves Super Deluxe's new video, which takes snippets of Lahren's bon mots, runs them through Auto-Tune, and edits them into a 1980s pop hit.Here's what @TomiLahren would sound like as an '80s pop hit. pic.twitter.com/esJJydjZME— Super Deluxe (@superdeluxe) November 15, 2017

Many a travel bar has passed through my hands over the years, but none as badass as this one. Tom of Well Done Tips has taken a new 20-liter jerry gas can and turned it into an enviable mini bar that holds four cans, three Old fashioned glasses, and one full-sized bottle of Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey. He's rigged it so all the items are secured and won't fall out when it's opened.Want to make one of your own? The full tutorial is over at Instructables: How to Make a Mini Bar From Jerry Can

This week on Maker Update: A Pi-powered Airplay boombox, the Hackaday Grand Prize winner, pinball with car parts, drying filament, and exploded diagrams. The Cool Tool is a LewanSoul Servo Tester.

Disneyland was definitely the Happiest Place on Earth for Star Wars fans this week when Luke Skywalker, er, Mark Hamill boarded the “Star Tours: The Adventure Continues” ride. Their happy reactions are contagious!

The stars are "just like us," we’re told every week by the delusionists at Us magazine. But this week the National Examiner goes a step further: “Queen Elizabeth: She’s Just Like Us!”QEII is reportedly “addicted to McDonald’s,” loves to gamble, and “clips coupons to save cash.”That’s the level of accuracy we’re seeing in much of this week’s tabloids, offering readers the chance to lose brain weight with a nearly fact-free diet.“Proof!” screams the National Enquirer cover. “J. Edgar Hoover Ordered JFK Murder!” Coming a mere two weeks after the Enquirer claimed that it was the CIA who killed President Kennedy, while sister rag the Globe assured us it was the KGB behind the shooting, the report is based on a “top-secret memo” leaked after 54 years.Only a couple of minor problems with this claim: 1) The Enquirer doesn’t have any memo; it’s supposedly “a copy of the missing telex . . . reproduced from memory” by a former FBI agent. 2) The alleged memo from FBI chief Hoover, sent five days before JFK’s assassination, warns of a “threat to assassinate President Kennedy in Dallas Texas . . . “But that’s not proof of Hoover ordering JFK’s murder – it’s an FBI chief advising field officers of a threat, at a time when the president was repeatedly being threatened. The Enquirer story is all smoke and broken mirrors.Singer Olivia Newton-John’s fiancé Patrick McDermott went missing while on a fishing trip off the California coast in 2005, and the tabloids repeatedly claim to have found him alive, joined this week by the Enquirer, which reports that McDermott is “Back From The Dead!” Their evidence: a photo of a silver-haired shirtless man sitting at a park bench - an image supposedly found “hanging on a notice board at a rundown beach campsite” in Sayulita, Mexico. The photo could be of any middle-aged man, and the Enquirer wasn’t even there to snap the photo. Why would the Enquirer be all the way down in Sayulita looking for photos of missing persons on campsite notice boards? The answer comes in another Enquirer story this week reporting that Prince Harry’s girlfriend Meghan Markle’s father, Thomas, “is hiding out in the remote Mexican Riviera town of Sayulita.” What are the odds? Is Sayulita the favored hide-out of everyone fleeing California? More likely: the Enquirer was in Mexico hunting for Thomas Markle, evidently failed because they have no new photos of him, and then decided to salvage the expense of the trip by uncovering “proof” that McDermott is still alive.The Globe goes full Brothers Grimm with its cover story on “Hollywood’s Hottest Divorces,” which features Julia Roberts, Barbra Streisand and Jennifer Aniston all battling their husbands in a combined $875 million divorce war. Would it be churlish to point out that none of these three women have even left their husbands, let alone filed for divorce, or are battling over their fortunes – which you can be certain are protected under pre-nuptial contracts? It’s just a dystopian tabloid fairytale.The fantasy continues in the Globe exclusive claiming that “crooked Hillary” Clinton has “spilled her guts to G-men” about husband Bill Clinton’s “role in a traitorous payola scam that saw 20 per cent of America’s uranium assets go to Russia.” Even if Hillary has questions to answer about her role in the sale of US uranium resources (approved by eight other regulatory bodies, in addition to her State department) it’s ludicrous to link Bill Clinton to any abuse of powers, because at that time he was a private citizen and held no governmental position. It’s just lazy Hillary-bashing. (Yes, Bill Clinton received a $500,000 speaking fee from Russian investment group Renaissance Capital in 2010, but that has long been public knowledge, and there is no evidence to suggest that Hillary intervened in any way in the uranium sale decision.)Let’s not forget last week’s Globe cover story which claimed it would finally reveal JonBenet Ramsey’s “Real Killer,” only to offer a disappointing rehash of old reports, ending with the tease: “NEXT WEEK: WHAT REALLY HAPPENED!”And here we are: It’s “next week” - so who killed child beauty pageant queen JonBenet? The Globe doesn’t tell us. It doesn’t even give us the faintest hint. But in an “explosive revelation” from “acclaimed private eye Bo Dietl,” the rag reveals: “The parents of six-year-old JonBenet Ramsey DID NOT MURDER the kiddie beauty queen . . . “Say what?! Seriously, that’s their revelation. Globe readers should sue them for false advertising. “Tired of the Lies” could be a reasonable response to this week’s tabloids, but it’s actually Us magazine’s cover headline for its story on actress Leah Remini’s “Battle to Destroy Scientology.” It’s a reasonable cult-bashing piece, but offers no new quotes from Remini, no new information, and looks like a feature they’ve held in a bottom drawer for months and finally pulled out when their planned cover story fell through at the last minute.Still, it’s preferable to People magazine’s cover, declaring country singer and homophobic racist Blake Shelton as this year's “Sexiest Man Alive!” “I’ve been ugly my whole life,” Shelton tells the magazine, which clearly has no qualms about the sexual objectification of men. “I wouldn’t want my dog to have to see me naked. It’s like half-melted vanilla ice cream with little hairs stuck on it. That’s what I look like naked.” What could be sexier than that?Fortunately we have the crack investigative squad at Us magazine to tell us that Katy Perry wore it best, country singer Kelsea Ballerina would “never be caught dead wearing Birkenstocks,” that Entertainment Tonight host Nancy O’Dell carries spare earrings, a first aid kit and chewing gum in her Clare V. bag, and that the stars are just like us: they read books, put gasoline in their cars, and buy doughnuts. Shocking, as ever.But is the Queen really like us, despite her palaces, world class art collection, giant property portfolio, string of racehorses, and entourage of ladies in waiting, equerries, butlers, cooks, servants, grooms and gardeners ad infinitum, her Commonwealth of countries, and perks including global travel, and literally getting the Royal treatment wherever she goes? Of course not. Does the Queen secretly love McDonald’s, as the Examiner claims? Well, she actually owns a McDonald’s – it’s part of the Crown Estates that includes thousands of retail, industrial and agricultural properties, hotels, racecourses, and miles of shoreline. But has she ever eaten at her own McDonald’s? Never.Does the Queen “love to gamble”? As the Examiner reports, HRH has won $8.8 million in prize money from owning winning racehorses – but that’s not quite the same as gambling. And does the Queen “clip coupons” to save money at the supermarket? It’s true that she’s on a budget, and shies away from ostentatious displays of egregious wealth, but you’ll be hard-pressed to find the Queen ever shopping for her own groceries. The closest she’ll get to a supermarket is if she cuts the red ribbon at a supermarket’s grand opening – and that’s a rarity. That report is about as accurate as the Examiner story revealing the “Bible’s Shocking Secret Prophecies Coming True!”Apparently the Bible predicted that Medicare will run out of money; inhaling alcohol-infused vapor will sweep the nation, new brain technology will allow cats and dogs to talk; Bill and Hillary Clinton will flee America to a country without a U.S. extradition treaty; a U.S. nuclear weapon will be stolen, the Mark of the Beast – 666 – will appear on the Washington Monument; and “a member of a successful music group will spontaneously burst into flames on stage.”Clearly, there are chapters of the Bible I’ve been missing.Onwards and downwards . . .

Yesterday the US faced yet another mass shooting when a man with a semi-automatic rifle and two handguns killed four people in various locations and injured more at an elementary school in Rancho Tehama, CA. Last night Trump pretended to be presidential and tweeted: "May God be with the people of Sutherland Springs, Texas. The FBI and Law Enforcement has arrived."Trump must've gotten an old memo, and apprently has a short memory to boot. The people of Sutherland Springs, TX – 26 of them – were massacred by a gunman on November 5, not yesterday. His tweet was corrected by Twitter users, such as this one:The President of the United States is tweeting at midnight about the wrong mass shooting and it's like the 500th most insane Trump story of the week.— Matt McDermott (@mattmfm) November 15, 2017Trump then deleted his tweet. Oops.Via CBS NewsImage: Gage Skidmore

I remember the first time a blind friend let me listen in on her screen-reader's text-to-speech narration, a high-speed chipmunk squeal that she had trained herself to decode; I was hugely impressed. (more…)

Noting that "the web was built specifically to share research papers amongst scientists," Josh Nicholson and Alberto Pepe report on the dismal state of the web for accessing the most-cited scientific papers across the literature -- 65 of the top 100 most-cited papers being behind paywalls. (more…)

Back in July, Senator Mark Warner [D-VA, @MarkWarner, 202-224-2023] introduced S.1642 - The Protecting Consumers' Access to Credit Act of 2017, which bans states from capping the interest rates charged by payday lenders who serve poor and vulnerable people, so long as the payday lenders partner with a national bank. (more…)

Arcade Club, near Manchester in England, is Europe's biggest collection of classic games. Retromash went for a visit.Let’s cut to the chase. This place has over 250 arcade machines. Just take that in for a second. It’s the biggest arcade in Europe. I don’t know even know how many arcades in the UK had that many machines back in the 80s! Funspot and Galloping Ghosts in the US are definitely much bigger but this is still pretty massive for the UK. I obviously won’t list all the machines here but what I will do is list all the ones I can think of off the top of my head without taking a breath…It looks amazing: in addition to the 250 cabinets, there's a newly-opened floor for pinball machines, Japanese-language games that never saw the light of day in the UK, and even a restaurant!See also Retromash's collection of old Argos catalogs.

Pro-Mounts, a photography accessories company in Europe, makes a device called the Pro-lapse.It's a little €35 mount that slowly rotates, allowing the shooter to capture professional-quality time-lapse sequences. Coming with a locking plug, safety mount and antifog inserts, it's not fancy. But nothing I'd be ashamed to see poking out my fanny bag.

The year 2016, and a public vote, brought us Boaty McBoatface, followed by Horsey McHorseface. Then, earlier this year, Trainy McTrainface pulled into the station. Now, there's a Ferry McFerryface. Australia's largest city Sydney asked its citizens to name the new passenger ferry, and six others, in an online public poll. Over 15,000 entries came in. Boaty McBoatface was the number one choice, with Ferry McFerryface coming in second. Since there was already a Boaty, the transit service went with Ferry "for the kids."While it might appeal to children, the union workers, who are slated to work on the amusingly-named boat, are offended:Maritime Union of Australia Sydney branch assistant secretary Paul Garrett said ferry staff would boycott the new vessel, which is due to start service on November 26, saying the name was an “insult” that will last for decades.“Members don’t want to crew the vessel,” he said. “It’s an insult to the integrity and heritage of Sydney Ferries, it undermines the professionalism and pride of the fleet.“This is not a five-minute internet sensation — this name has to be around for 20, 30, 40 years. This vessel will be left alongside the wharf until further notice.”Mr Garrett said maritime staff would only crew the vessel if it was renamed.“Members will leave that vessel alone, we won’t work it,” he said.(Pee-wee Herman)

New York's Citicorp Tower was an architectural sensation when it opened in 1977. But then engineer William LeMessurier realized that its unique design left it dangerously vulnerable to high winds. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe the drama that followed as a small group of decision makers tried to ward off a catastrophe in midtown Manhattan.We'll also cringe at an apartment mixup and puzzle over a tolerant trooper.Show notesPlease support us on Patreon!

Dan of the Slow Mo Guys had never used a katana sword before, but he did a great job using it to slice 10 plastic bottles of water in half. He said it felt like he was slicing butter. (more…)

A new pill that tells your doctor whether you're swallowing it or not has just been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The pill – a new version of Abilify by Otsuka Pharmaceutical – will have a digestible sensor in it that will let a patch worn by the patient know when the pill is going down the hatch. The patch will then relay the message to the patient's mobile app, and, like a game of telephone, the mobile app will send the info over to the doctor. (Of course the mobile app will have already been given permission by the patient to send this personal information to the doctor.)According to Mashable:The FDA’s decision Monday comes a year and a half after the agency rejected the product. At the time, the agency said it needed more information about how the product is used and how human error could create risks. Monday’s hard-won approval could come as a big boost for Otsuka, which had lost market share after Abilify went generic but will now have a way to make the product stand out.No more forgetting to take your pills – or sneaking it under the mattress when no one is looking.Image: Jeshoots.com/Pexels

I've been using Aukey's Flush Fit Dual Port USB adapter since early 2016. Once you push it into the car's "cigarette lighter" hole, it's close to a flush fit. It could be a chore to pull it out, but I've never had a reason to.

Computational neuroscientist Anders Sanberg is a senior research fellow at Oxford’s Future of Humanity Institute where he explores the ethics of future human enhancement through AI, genetic engineering, and brain implants. IEEE Spectrum's Eliza Strickland interviewed Sanberg about the ethics of augmenting your wetware with neurotech:Spectrum: Do you worry that neurotech brain enhancements will only be available to the wealthy, and will increase the disparities between the haves and have-nots?Sandberg: I’m not too worried about it. If the enhancement it is in the form of a device or pill, those things typically come down in price exponentially. We don’t have to worry so much about them being too expensive for the mass market. It’s more of a concern if there is a lot of service required—if you have to go to a special place and get your brain massaged, or you have to take a few weeks off work for training, the prices for those services won’t come down because they’re based on salaries.The real question is, how much benefit do you get from being enhanced? You have to consider positional benefits versus absolute benefits. For example, being tall is positionally good for men, tall men tend to get ahead in work and have better life outcomes. But if everyone becomes taller, no one is taller. You only get the benefit if you’re taller than everyone else. Many people who are against enhancement use this argument: Enhancement leads to this crazy race and we’re all worse off.Spectrum: So even if a cognition-enhancing device became available, you don’t think everyone should get one?Sandberg: Intellectual enhancement would be good for the lower half of the bell curve, for people who are generally hindered by their lack of intelligence, and make stupid mistakes that they make their lives worse.People with good life outcomes tend to be smart but not super geniuses. Giving these people more intelligence might allow them to solve problems that less intelligent people can’t solve, but that might not be an advantage unless you care about solving deep problems.Super geniuses tend to toil away at something very specialized. Everyone benefits from their work, and having more of those people would be a very good thing. Or if we could make them even smarter, they would come up with more interesting solutions to the hard problems facing our society."Q&A: The Ethics of Using Brain Implants to Upgrade Yourself" (IEEE Spectrum)Illustration: Rob Beschizza

Over at The Last Word on Nothing, esteemed science writer Rebecca Boyle wrote a lovely appreciation of trees. "Apart from humans, maybe, trees are the best form of life on this planet," she writes. From Boyle's essay, titled "Make Like A Tree and Get Outta Here": Trees remain in one place, but reach elsewhere always. They stretch down into the ground, and they constantly strain toward the sun. They are the embodiment of our shared presence on a rocky planet that orbits a star. Hedgehogs and helminths may be interesting, but they don’t constantly remind us, simply by existing, that we are in a solar system.Trees are also hosts for every other form of life. Their roots chew up the very crust, a process aided by microbes, and in doing so, trees remake continents. Their bark harbors fungus and lichen. Their branches and leaves shelter and feed insects, birds and mammals. Even now, when humans are capable of building machines that fly to Mars, we still use trees for shelter. We also cut them down and burn them for warmth. Some of us cut them down and bring them inside and festoon them, for a form of psychic warmth that lasts a few weeks and is the only reason I can tolerate December.Trees are strivers. My pin oak is one of the fastest-growing species of hardwood trees, according to the Arbor Day Foundation. It can grow two feet per year. Trees also bide their time. The oldest living thing on Earth is a tree in Arizona, a bristlecone pine that sprouted from a seed a few years before the invention of writing, in 3200 BCE."Make Like A Tree and Get Outta Here" (via Nadia Drake)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxMvzK2OQTwEvery Cards Against Humanity Christmas surprise box has been amazing, and this year, the company promises to do something that will save America and hints that it will annoy Trump voters. I gave 'em $15. (via Waxy)

Helix is a home DNA testing service. From its website: "Explore products powered by your DNA. With Helix, one saliva sample unlocks a lifetime of insights." (more…)

Barbie is going to sport a new fashion accessory in 2018 – the hijab. As part of Mattel's "Shero" line, which includes Barbies inspired by role models such as Olympic gymnast Gabby Douglas and director Ava DuVernay, the hijab will be part of the wardrobe for the Barbie based on Olympic fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad. Muhammed was the first athlete to wear a hijab while competing in the Olympics, and she's proud to have inspired this new addition to the Barbie lineup.Thank you @Mattel for announcing me as the newest member of the @Barbie #Shero family! I’m proud to know that little girls everywhere can now play with a Barbie who chooses to wear hijab! This is a childhood dream come true 😭💘 #shero pic.twitter.com/py7nbtb2KD— Ibtihaj Muhammad (@IbtihajMuhammad) November 13, 2017According to CNN Money:Barbie has been working hard to make its collection of dolls more diverse in an effort to broaden the brand's appeal."Ibtihaj is an inspiration to countless girls who never saw themselves represented, and by honoring her story, we hope this doll reminds them that they can be and do anything," Sejal Shah Miller, Barbie's vice president of global marketing, said in a statement.Barbie's sales have slumped, down 6% in the most recent quarter compared to last year.https://youtu.be/Gp9yLgDVyko

Already facing severe medical and food shortages, Venezuela is out of money and out of credit. The country issued a statement that it was defaulting on its debt, having missed its 30-day grace period on bond payments. This means investors can start seizing Venezuela, including barrels of oil that are being stored out of the country. This will make the already awful conditions there worse.From CNN Money:Venezuela has no other meaningful income other than the oil it sells abroad. The government, meanwhile, has failed for years to ship in enough food and medicine for its citizens. As a result, Venezuelans are waiting hours in line to buy food and dying in hospitals that lack basic resources.If investors seize the country's oil shipments, the food and medical shortages would worsen quickly."Then it's pandemonium," says Fernando Freijedo, an analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit, a research firm. "The humanitarian crisis is already pretty dire ... it boggles the mind what could happen next."It's not immediately clear what steps bondholders will take. Argentina went through a vaguely similar default, and its bondholders battled with the government for about 15 years until settling in 2016. Every case is different, though.By Jamez42 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link

If you're still using Facebook (I don't), your data is being used to profile you in seriously creepy ways; the best thing you can do is delete your Facebook account, but second-best is locking down your account, using the deliberately confusing, overly complexified privacy dashboard. (more…)

In 2012, Courtney Allen was having a difficult time in her marriage and she struck up an online affair with a gamer in her alliance named Todd Zonis; when her husband Steven found out about it and she refused to break it off, he emailed her family, his family, and Zonis's family. (more…)

Believe it or not, the holiday season is just about here, and to help ease your gifting anxiety, we’ve selected some of our favorite tech products from the Boing Boing Store. And to sweeten the deal, you can take an extra 15% off any of these items when you use coupon code GIFTSHOP15 at checkout.Mighty: The First On-The-Go Spotify Music PlayerThis portable music player is like an iPod shuffle for Spotify. You can load it with up to 8GB of songs and playlists wirelessly from any mobile device to enjoy fully offline playback. It’s also water- and drop-resistant, making it perfect for enjoying your favorite tunes off the grid. Get the Mighty On-The-Go Spotify Music Player here for $85.99.VoCore2 Mini Linux Computer + Ultimate DockHardware hackers will love this VoCore2 Mini Computer. It packs a full Linux OS into a package smaller than a coin, and offers both wired and wireless connectivity to work with external cameras and microphones. With the included dock, you can also plug in a microSD card for persistent storage. Use it as a DIY security camera, private cloud, or anything else you can imagine. The VoCore2 Mini Linux Computer + Ultimate Dock usually costs $50, but you can pick one up for $42.99.RevolCam: Multi-Lens Camera for Smartphones Although smartphones have worthy cameras, there are still many of us in need of a handicap when it comes to taking quality photos. Rather than upgrading to the newest phone or dishing out for a DSLR, this small device packs in three lenses, an adjustable brightness LED, and selfie mirror. It's portable and takes great pictures in any condition. It normally costs $59.99, but you can grab it for $34.99. SKEYE Nano 2 FPV DroneIf you’d rather sacrifice quadcopter customizability in exchange for a first-person view, check out the SKEYE Nano 2 FPV Drone instead. It streams real-time camera footage to your iOs or Android phone via WiFi, and has a flight range of up 50 meters. This tiny flyer also fits inside of the bundled controller when not in use. It can be had for $64.SunFounder Raspberry Pi Robot KitsTinkering with a Raspberry Pi is a great way to learn how computers work, but you need a lot of extra supplies to make anything interesting. With a SunFounder Raspberry Pi Robot Kit, you can get introduced to the basics of robotics and the Linux operating system — and have a software-controlled RC car to show for it. It comes bundled with a Pi board and all the necessary parts for just $149.99.FRESHeBUDS Pro Magnetic Bluetooth EarbudsFree your workouts from annoying tangled wires with these FRESHeBUDS Pro Magnetic Bluetooth Earbuds. They resist sweat and water, and feature a novel pairing system: the buds snap together when not in use, and pair with your device automatically when you pull them apart. Usually $120, you can order them from our store for $29.95.Ticwatch 2 Active SmartwatchWearables have made it dead-simple to keep track of fitness and movement goals. But they usually require constant recharging and a companion device at all times to log your data. The Ticwatch 2 is different — it monitors your health stats and location without needing a smartphone, and gets up to 2 days of battery life on a single charge. It’s available in snow and gray for $169.99.Activeon CX 1080p WiFi Action CameraThe Activeon CX offers similar durability and video features as a GoPro without the premium price. This action cam has just two buttons for simplified control, but incorporates plenty of handy features like remote recording via smartphone and wireless video transfer. It can survive nearly 200 feet underwater, and costs $39.99.Universal Waterproof Solar Charger (Yellow)Keep all of your gadgets topped off when you’re far away from your desk with a Universal Waterproof Solar Charger. Built to survive the elements, this battery pack is rugged, waterproof, and able to charge two USB devices at once with its integrated solar panel. You can pick one up here for only $13.99.Treblab RF100 Magnetic HD Noise Cancelling Earphones These Bluetooth earbuds offer crystal-clear audio quality and stylish metal construction that you can take anywhere. They feature removable silicone ear hooks for a secure, comfortable fit during heavy activity, as well as several sizes of silicone and expanding foam earths for passive noise cancellation. To keep your soundtrack playing all day, the Treblab RF100s get up to 9 hours of playback and are available now for $39.99.

Compuserve's sprawling, paleolithic forums were acquired along with Compuserve itself by AOL in 1998, and their fossil remains were augmented, year after year, decade after decade, by die-hard users who continued to participate there. (more…)

Yesterday, The New Yorker reported that conservative Republican Roy Moore was once banned from the mall in his hometown of Gadsden, Alabama, such was his predilection for badgering teens there. But it's local media that has the full story, with named sources, exposing the full extent of Moore's reputation for hitting on little girls.From The Birmingham News:Roy Moore's penchant for flirting with teen girls was "common knowledge" and "not a big secret" around Gadsden, according to some area residents. ..."These stories have been going around this town for 30 years," said Blake Usry, who grew up in the area and lives in Gadsden. "Nobody could believe they hadn't come out yet."Usry, a traveling nurse, said he knew several of the girls that Moore tried to flirt with."It's not a big secret in this town about Roy Moore," he said. "That's why it's sort of frustrating to watch" the public disbelieve the women who have come forward, he said.

A group of NYU and University of Illinois at Chicago computer scientists have presented a paper at the 2017 ACM Internet Measurement Conference in London presenting their findings in a large-scale study of online doxings, with statistics on who gets doxed (the largest cohort being Americann, male, gamers, and in their early 20s), why they get doxed ("revenge" and "justice") and whether software can detect doxing automatically, so that human moderators can take down doxing posts quickly. (more…)

New Maine News [via Cat Valente] is that rare thing online: a local Onion-style satirical news site that is good. It's great! I feel almost like I live there. From the front page alone: • Over 80% of Maine Fathers’ Affection Is Directed at Their Wood Piles• Heroic Man Saved Dying Pit Party by Cranking Some AC/DC• This Innovative Chef Took the Traditional Maine Baked Bean Supper and Made it Cost $85• Expert Panel Concludes Maine Didn’t Used to Be Like This.Augusta — Experts presented their conclusion to a years-long study of how Maine is now, compared to how it once was, and the results are alarming.“Weren’t like this back in the ’70s,” lead researched Brian Richards said in a prepared statement.“Didn’t used to be like this at all. Terrible now. Don’t even hardly recognize it,” Richards said. Richards grew up in Thomaston, but has since moved north.“Time was, if you had a few beers and a cop pulled you over, he’d just follow you to make sure you got home alright,” he said.

This elegant pup from Boston Dynamics triggered in me, for just a moment, the uncanny recognition of computer graphics. But it isn't rendered: it's a real machine, meeting a new threshold of fluid movement that turns my skepticism in on itself. Instead of being almost fooled into thinking something fake is real, I'm almost fooled into thinking something real is fake.

The EarthWindMap not only animates our homeworld's air currents, but you can drag, zoom and warp the view to create unique projections of its surface.

Starting on January 18, Disneyland will be offering a series of after-hours events called Disneyland After Dark.The first one is called "Throwback Nite" and it taps into early Disney nostalgia:Step back in time to the ‘50s and ‘60s for a taste of the classic after-dark experience at Disneyland. Come dressed in your best to enjoy the Happiest Place on Earth under a million twinkling lights, swinging to the tune of the bands and enjoying your favorite rides in the cool moonlight ‘till the clock strikes 1 a.m.!Original attraction posters of Disneyland experiences from yesteryear welcome you as you commemorate the evening with special photo locations... Live music and dancing bring the bygone era to life throughout the park, and the sky lights up with an exclusive showing of “Fantasy in The Sky” fireworks. Guests will receive a commemorative lanyard and a vintage-inspired park map that will highlight the special experiences taking place throughout the evening.It sounds to me like a nighttime, sanctioned version of the popular Dapper Day, ie. it sounds like fun!Tickets go on sale at Disneyland.com to the general public on December 7 and on November 30 for annual passholders of the resort.

Jumping out of a plane from 12,500 feet is exhilarating fun, until that parachute of yours decides to jam. Don't panic, this instructional video will help you get to that book deal. You'll be shaking hands with Al Roker in no time.(TwistedSifter)

After swapping online dating disasters with friends for hours, writer and poet Erin Bealmear decided she didn't want to be the kind of woman who spends all her time "talking about boys." She joked with these friends that she was going to create an OkCupid profile for Emily Dickinson, to see how she'd "fare in the world of online dating." She pondered, “Would a lovelorn poet, obsessed with death and privacy, be able to woo a modern man?”Then Bealmear took it one step further and started humorously answering the dating site's questions, imagining how Dickinson herself would answer them. For an extra layer of authenticity, she included specific details from the 19th-century American poet's life:What I’m doing with my lifeBeing a hermit. Overusing the dash.I’m really good atBreaking rules, specifically capitalization and punctuation.Favorite books, movies, shows, music, and foodMovies: What is a movie?Books: Wordsworth, Browning, Keats, Emerson, Shakespeare (i.e. dead people)Music: Yes, I do enjoy playing the piano on occasion. Thank you for asking.Food: Baked goods, especially my famous gingerbread. I love making it for the neighborhood children, but I can’t leave the house. Instead, I stand at the window and lower it down to them in a basket. It’s so much easier that way.Then, she decided to publish it under the moniker "CertainSlantofLight." a reference to one of Dickinson's poems. Once she did, "Emily's" inbox started filling with messages. Some men were amused, others were not. Many were just confused. Some curious responses came from men that Bealmear calls, "'Hi' guys."Every woman who has participated in online dating knows them. A man sends you an email that reads, “Hi, I’m John” or “Hi, I’d like to get to know you.” The messages aren’t offensive. They’re just boring. A “Hi” message is equivalent to saying, “Hey, I didn’t read your profile and I don’t care about your brain or your personality, but we should go out sometime.”And then she started getting messages from guys who wanted to date her, the unknown puppeteer behind "Emily." That's when she started pondering, "Why was Emily Dickinson succeeding at online dating to a much higher degree than I ever had?"Read the full article on Electric Literature: I Pretended to Be Emily Dickinson on an Online Dating Site

Russian scientists revealed a 20,000 to 50,000-year-old cave lion cub Thursday capable of being cloned and brought back from the depths of extinction. The cave cub was found on the bank of the Tirekhtykh River by a local resident, according to The Siberian Times. Researchers believe the cub died when it was around 2 months old. One of the researchers told the Siberian paper its “perfect” condition makes it a potential candidate for cloning. Video (below) shows researchers taking the stiff furball out of a sinister-looking briefcase and presenting it to the press. There’s something both adorable and macabre when seeing the environmentally preserved cub in a state of eternal slumber. Russia should probably leave this little guy or girl alone and let its subspecies rest. Via The Siberian Times: Expert Dr Albert Protopopov said: 'It is a perfectly preserved lion cub, all the limbs have survived. There are no traces of external injuries on the skin.' The preservation is so good that it raises hopes of cloning the species back to life, he said. The discovery is seen as better preserved than two tiny cave lion cubs found in the same Siberian region in 2015.https://youtu.be/awuv-X9-iw4

Selectrics get all the hype, but I love the typefaces available on Smith-Corona typewriters from the 1960s. From the samples posted by munk, I think my favorites are the futuristic but legible "Classic Elite No. 86" and the handwriting-style Artistic Script (pictured).There are about 20 in the set. The only ones that seem to be available as fonts are Numode No. 61, and this set with Smith-Corona's Prestige, Mini gothic and the script, bu all in very roughly-scanned form.(Via this conversation between @hacklib and Marcin Wichary, who is writing a book about the typewriter and mechanical keyboard community.)

Time for some paid administrative leave and a stern talking to for these LA cops who didn't realize their bodycams were recording them as they appeared to plant cocaine in a suspect's wallet.From CBS2:[Officer Samuel] Lee is seen searching the suspect. He testified in court, as in the police report, that the cocaine was found in Shields' left front pocket. But the videos shows a different story.In video from another angle, LAPD Officer Gaxiola picks up Shields' wallet from the street and shows it to Lee, who points to the suspect as if to say it's his.He then puts it back down, steps to the street, bends over and picks up a small bag with white powder. It eventually tested positive for drugs.Gaxiola goes back onto the sidewalk, picks up the wallet, motions to Lee and appears to put the bag into the wallet.[via DiGG]

Even if you don't use Photoshop, this video is interesting to watch. It shows you how to add text to anything using Photoshop so it looks like the text was actually printed on the item. The trick is using something called a displacement map.