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The Somali sengi, a type of elephant shrew with an elongated nose, had not been observed since the 1960s. It was recently rediscovered by scientists who lured them out from their rocky habitats with peanut butter, oatmeal, and yeast. The Somali cutie was originally rediscovered in neighboring Ethiopia, per Duke University's Steven Heritage: Here we […]

The Waco Tribune reports that a 30-year-old woman was arrested earlier this week for "driving while intoxicated and aggravated assault charges after she chased at least two cars and intentionally crashed into one, later telling police she thought she was chasing a pedophile who had kidnapped a girl." The police reported that, "Ms. Fulbright pursued […]

Earlier this month, Death Valley, California recorded a temperature of 130 degrees. It was the highest temperature recorded on planet Earth anywhere since 1931 and was likely one of the hottest days ever measured. That's not only inhuman, it's also supremely unhealthy. During extreme heat, the air becomes stagnant, locking in pollutants that lead to […]

You can't have a website or app that works great, but looks like it was assembled with construction paper and paste. You also can't have a gorgeous web experience crippled by slow loads, bad links, and wonky navigation. Those are examples of what happens when the worlds of user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) […]

Smart technology isn't always about leashing all of our household devices to our every whim. Sometimes, it's just about protecting us from ourselves. We've all left the house in the heat of summer for an afternoon or even for a weekend getaway, only to return and discover we left the air conditioner on. Not smart. […]

Don't tell your cardiologist, but the first ingredient of the chocolate chunk Monster Cookie recipe created by Tavel Bristol-Joseph (one of Food and Wine Best New Chefs of 2020) is an entire pound of butter. Join the much-lauded Milk Bar chef Christina Tosi (the genius behind Milk Bar's infamous Crack Pie, which was respectfully re-named […]

I had a friend who was so obsessed with Ikea's Swedish meatballs that he bought them frozen, in bulk, from the IKEA Food Market, and kept a bomb shelter ration's worth in his garage freezer. And this was years before anyone heard of Covid-19, or thought to hoard hand sanitizer or toilet paper. My friend […]

And this: today's photo dispatch from a friend-of-a-friend in Phnom Penh. So maybe Covid-19 did not, in fact, originate in a Wuhan wet market as widely reported. Nonetheless, it takes courage to dine at a seafood restaurant with this level of transparency.

Cave City, Kentucky's Wigwam Village Motel #2, a registered National Landmark as well as a culturally-insensitive remnant of roadside kitsch, is currently on the market for $395K. That's 15 conical buildings for the price of one boring rectangular house – quite a deal. Built between the 1930s and 1950s, there was once several of these […]

Rosatom, the Russian state energy company, posted a documentary about the 1961 Tsar Bomba nuclear weapons test, the most powerful on record. The documentary (itself obviously of the era) contains footage that was previously unreleased, according to commentators. The 50-megaton action starts about 22m in. This video purports to be a compilation of the freshly-declassified […]

Years before he played David Brent in The Office, comedian Ricky Gervais sang in a synth-pop group called Seona Dancing. The two-man band, Gervais and his college friend Bill Macrae, was active from 1982 to 1984, splitting up over poor sales. However, one of their songs, "More to Lose," "became an '80s anthem as ubiquitous […]

I've written here before about Irish language and identity stuff, but my friend Darach Ó Séaghdha was kind of enough to have me onto the popular Irish podcast Motherfoclóir to talk at length about diaspora, assimilation, colonialism, and the cultural embarrassment of Plastic Paddies with gross green beer and shitty "St. Patty's Day" parties. And […]

Okay, look…we're gonna let you in on a little secret here. You can't really read someone else's mind. Unless you know something the rest of the human race doesn't, you can't actually go inside someone's head, rummage around in it like the kitchen junk drawer and extract deep, dark secrets. However…"mind-reading" does work. There are […]

Barefoot waterskier Benjamin Thompson writes, "The dolphin start wasn't too great but the Butt Slide more than makes up for it." AGREED! 10/10 (Digg) screengrab via Benjamin Thompson/YouTube

Get ready to sympathy itch. Watch Jack Black go from Grizzly Adams to Mr. Clean in a little over five minutes. Ok, maybe not Mr. Clean but some bald guy. The video ends with a "to be continued" teaser and I'm not sure I want to know what's coming off next… screengrab via JablinksiGames/YouTube Thanks, […]

There aren't many indisputable facts in how to best market a product, but a few facts are overwhelmingly clear. People want pictures. And people demand pictures. A resounding 93 percent of online shoppers say visual content is the key deciding factor is making a purchase. Ninety percent say the quality of those images is the […]

The human being inside the pod in this photo is Alexei Navalny, opposition leader, journalist, and prominent critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The photo was taken by Navalny spokesperson Kira Yarmysh, and is used with her consent. Mr. Navalny is in a coma, and is being loaded on to the plane that will fly […]

The U.S. Postal Service on Friday launched a new website to help Americans vote by mail in the November general election. The USPS announced the creation of usps.com/votinginfo earlier today, saying the website is intended to provide the voting public with reliable and accessible info on how to vote by mail. From the site: The […]

“South Dakotans whose COVID-19 status and other personal information was collected by state agencies may be subject to a data breach that is under federal investigation.”

“Rallies planned on Facebook by QAnon supporters or sympathizers that have brought the conspiracy theory offline and into the town squares of dozens of cities in recent weeks.”

TikTok is expected to launch a legal challenge as early as Monday against impeached U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order that prohibits transactions with the popular short video app and its China-based owner, ByteDance, reports Reuters late on Friday. From Reuters: Trump issued an executive order on Aug. 14 that gave ByteDance 90 days to […]

"A precious giant panda cub has arrived!" Amazing news on this Friday afternoon, from the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington, DC. "We're overjoyed to share that Mei Xiang gave birth at 6:35 p.m. and is caring for her newborn attentively. Positive mothering behaviors include nursing her cub and cuddling it close." There's a live panda […]

After a 3-day delay, doctors in Omsk, Russia have finally cleared opposition leader Alexei Navalny to be airlifted to Germany. The investigative journalist and outspoken critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin has been in a poisoning-induced coma for 36 hours, say his representatives. Navalny's doctors at a state-run in Omsk say he wasn't poisoned, instead […]

One of these days, it might be ok again to have friends over. When that day comes, you'll probably want to let the drinks flow. In that case, it might not be a bad idea to have a few new tricks to liven up your mixology game. You can't just come back from months and […]

"Welcome back, this is Stephen K. Bannon. We're off the coast of St. Tropez in southern France on the Mediterranean, and we're on the million dollar yacht that Brian Kolfage—and Brian Kolfage, he took all that money from Build The Wall. No we're actually in Sunland Park, New Mexico." Previously.

When there isn't a pandemic, Cherie B. Tay works as a Broadway asst/stage manager. Her latest credit is Hadestown which is currently suspended through January 3, 2021. In this forced downtime, she made this recording of herself giving out stage calls for folks who might be missing their work in the theater biz. Thanks, Dave!

On Monday, sneaky thieves robbed the Iga-ryu Ninja Museum in Japan's Mie Prefecture. In just three minutes, the crooks forced open the museum entrance, nabbed a 330 pound safe containing more than a million yen ($9,470), and vanished into the night. I'm not saying it was ninjas who robbed the Ninja Museum but… From CNN: […]

On August 19, 2020, Facebook published, "An Update to How We Address Movements and Organizations Tied to Violence," saying: Today we are taking action against Facebook Pages, Groups and Instagram accounts tied to offline anarchist groups that support violent acts amidst protests, US-based militia organizations and QAnon. We already remove content calling for or advocating […]

Here's big fun for families, protestors, and families who protest! At Instructables, friedpotatoes explains how to make massive sticks of sidewalk chalk with plaster of Paris, tempera paint, and a Pringles can as the mold. From Instructables: We mixed roughly 6 plastic cups of plaster powder with about 4-5 cups of water for a good […]

Forty years ago, architecture student Graham Birchall created an otherworldly "bubble house" design for his senior thesis project. Then Graham did the unthinkable: he built it. Now, the Bubble House in Ipswich, Queensland, Australia is on the market. Here's the listing (no mention of price). From Domain: While unique in shape, the riverfront property has […]

Despite my love of Smash Mouth memes, the band has been on my shitlist since they held a concert during the pandemic. But I'm willing to ignore that just to indulge in this 6-minute "All Star" cover by Boston "bummer pop" band Future Teens. The track is from their upcoming EP, Sensitive Sessions, which has […]

Fisticuffs broke out on an American Airlines jet earlier this week after a passenger refused to wear a face mask and refused to get off the plane. A video clip of the brawl on the Vegas-to-Charlotte flight was posted online by passenger Jack Ross. CNN reports on the aftermath, and interviewed Jack. American Airlines released […]

Event producers are pivoting to make shows/money happen during the pandemic. Case in point, this "Drive-into Experience" event based on Stranger Things. It's like a haunted house but you remain in your vehicle the entire time. io9 explains: Netflix has teamed up with Fever and Secret Cinema to debut a drive-through immersive Stranger Things adventure […]

Slow TV YouTuber CruisingTheCut shared a relaxing cruise through part of the Macclesfield canal, a 26-mile historic waterway in Cheshire. The canal includes locks, historic buildings, and even roving bridges that allowed horses to cross the canal when the tow path changed banks. Some of the roving bridges are built with a 360-degree ramp so […]

In September 1935, Modern Mechanix covered a new "electric glove" invented by Cirilo Diaz of Cuba. According to the report, it's intended for "use by police while handling rough characters or in quelling riots…" Persons contacted by an officer wearing the glove receive a 1,500-volt shock, sufficient to remove all traces of flight." (Archive.org via […]

Break out the Sharpies! Two dangerous weather systems are headed toward the gulf coast, a double-whammy experts fear could stretch emergency resources to the limit during the pandemic. ABC 11 News: If forecasts are correct, we could see something that has never happened before: two hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico at the same time. […]

In 1954, English taxi driver George King received an extraterrestrial message in his mind: "Prepare yourself! You are to become the voice of Interplanetary Parliament." This was the seed of the Aetherius Society, a religious movement based on following guidance from our Cosmic Masters to help save humanity. Today, the Aetherius Society has 35 prayer […]

To pull more customers, street vendors who serve teh tarik have developed difficult maneuvers for mixing and serving their product. It's so popular that there is a teh tarik championship. Behold past winner Syed Khaidir showing why he's one of the very best. Below are some examples of individual and team routines: Here is Syed […]

Steve Bannon might look like a fraudster who got arrested on a boat, but Fox News bloviator Lou Dobbs insists that he is in fact the target of a "Deep State" conspiracy. Addressing the story on his show on Thursday night, Dobbs, one of Donald Trump's favorite Fox hosts, said Bannon "was arrested this morning, […]

We were already moving closer to the day where every man, woman and child would have their own iPad before COVID-19, but now…it's even more vital. With distance learning and other activities, kids need their own working devices to handle schoolwork and beyond. Of course, nobody is looking forward to paying up to $1,149 to […]

Following Trump's posthumous pardon for suffragist Susan B. Anthony, the museum founded in her memory is rejecting the gesture. "Objection! Mr. President, Susan B. Anthony must decline your offer of a pardon," Deborah L. Hughes wrote in a statement. She continued: "Anthony wrote in her diary in 1873 that her trial for voting was 'The […]

Mike Lindell is the CEO of MyPillow. It's a pillow company! So, when he claims that oleandrin is an incredible breakthrough in the fight against COVID-19, you know you can trust him. But hey, if the medical opinion of a pillow company manager isn't enough for you, you can rest assured that supplement has been […]

Action Park was the stuff of legend even before it shut down for its unbelievably dangerous attractions and laissez-faire attitudes about things like regulations, safety protocols, and keeping patrons alive while on premises. Now HBO Max presents Class Action Park, "the first-ever feature-length documentary to explore the legend, legacy, and truth behind a place that […]

One of the most fundamental principles of marketing is to bring your message to the places where your potential customers can be found. And one place people can be found online is YouTube. The video site sees 2 billion global users every month, and those users are highly engaged. And how's this for impact…ads on […]

If you're a music aficionado with an appreciation of the arcane for whom the forgotten tunes of the 1910s and '20s are just as compelling as anything you might stream on Spotify, and you've never heard of Janet Klein: welcome to a wonderful sinkhole of fun, where every day is Throwback Blursday. Klein is a […]

Is blockchain currency too intangible and complicated for you? Does Facebook Pay feel too In-Zuckerberg-We-Trust? Does your couch potato lifestyle prevent you from going on a Sweatcoin shopping spree? Could Goldbacks, the world's first local, spendable, voluntary currency made of physical gold, be the alt-tender answer? The Beehive State is leading the way with the […]

Speak the names of 1970s & early-'80s women rock icons such as Patty Smith, Debbie Harry, or Joan Jett, and you'll undoubtedly receive a nod of recognition. Say Suzi Quatro, and for the few who know the name, most will point to Happy Days, the American Graffiti-inspired hit '70s sit-com that featured Quatro in the […]

In the first issue of The Magnet (my new newsletter), I shared my recipe for very low-carb almond flour bread. It calls for 3 egg whites. When I make this bread, I usually make a double batch, which leaves me with 6 egg yolks. I didn't want to waste them, though, and I knew ice cream often […]

When it started in 1999, San Francisco-based upstart Salesforce wanted to become the primary digital home for companies to track their interactions with clients and work on converting more sales through better communication and smarter analytics. Fast forward 20 years and Salesforce has mostly accomplished that goal. As the world's no. 1 customer relationship management […]

On Sunday, for a Kerwin Frost/YouTube Previously: Bid on real "Pee-wee's Playhouse" history: Penny cartoon figures