ABC News reports that a man was caught on camera dousing an LGBT youth center in Phoenix. They seem to have a suspect—"Police believe the suspect used to be a client at the youth center, but aged out of eligibility when he turned 25"—but have not named him and want the public's help finding him. Here's the best shot from the security camera:

60 UK tower blocks, including 9 owned by local governments, have failed a new round of more-stringent fire tests conducted in the wake of the Grenfell fire disaster. (more…)

Graham Nash, the singer-songwriter who is known for being a member of the rock group Crosby, Stills, and Nash, is currently auctioning off a variety of original pieces by countercultural cartoonist Robert Crumb on the website Heritage Auctions.Robert Crumb played a key role in the underground comix movement of the 1960s. He founded Zap Comix, which was the first successful underground comix publication. Crumb is known for his provocative content, iconic characters such as Fritz the Cat and Mr. Natural, and crosshatched drawing style. From Goldmine:The top prize among the Nash’s offering of art by master Robert Crumb likely will be a dramatic Robert Crumb Zap Comix #1 Cover Original Art (1967), which carries a pre-auction estimate of $100,000 and up. The image is a perfect example of Crumb’s refusal to hold anything back, with the word “Zap” being written across the top in electrified lettering over the image of a nude man being jolted through a cord attached to an electrical outlet. The image was intended by Robert Crumb to be on the cover of Zap No. 1.You can also find Crumb's original paintings, comic strips, and sketches in the auction lot. I believe that Crumb is one of the best artists of all time, and owning some of his original pieces would be the coolest thing ever. If you can afford it, place a bid while you can!Image: Crumb's original art for Fritz the Cat sold for $717,000 in a Heritage Auction in 2017

I'm making the final(ish*) stop of my Walkaway tour at Defcon this weekend in Las Vegas, giving a speech on Saturday in Track 2 at 10AM called $BIGNUM steps forward, $TRUMPNUM steps back: how can we tell if we're winning?, followed by a book-signing at the No Starch Press table in the exhibitors' hall. (more…)

Guess the Artist (available for pre-order) is an art history quiz game that comes in a sleek, colorful package. Each of the 60 cards gives three clues from which the players must guess an artist (who is named on the back, like a flashcard). The clues/illustrations, which are done by Craig & Karl, range from things the artist might have worn to methods and iconography that they used.Even if you don’t know your Monet from your Manet, the reverse of each card gives the artist’s name and explains each of the clues very clearly. Because of this, Guess the Artist can easily be a learning tool for anyone wanting to brush up on art history. This is a beautiful game that will stand out on any bookshelf or table, and the amount of information packed into this little box makes it something you can return to again and again.

Two days ago the Boy Scouts of America held their national Scout jamboree in West Virginia, and as is tradition, they invited the president of the United States to give a speech. But of course the current president is like no other the country has had to endure, and it's not so surprising that his speech was inappropriate and weird. Inappropriate and weird as in lines like, "The hottest people in New York were at this party. A lot of successful people were there. And I was invited to the party, I was very young...”So today the Boy Scouts Chief Scout Executive, Michael Surbaugh, released a letter of explanation and apology, which in part reads:"I want to extend my sincere apologies to those in our Scouting family who were offended by the political rhetoric that was inserted into the jamboree. That was never our intent. The invitation for the sitting U.S. President to visit the National Jamboree is a long-standing tradition that has been extended to the leader of our nation that has had a Jamboree during his term since 1937. It is in no way an endorsement of any person, party or policies. For years, people have called upon us to take a position on political issues, and we have steadfastly remained non-partisan and refused to comment on political matters. We sincerely regret that politics were inserted into the Scouting program."But honestly, I'm not sure why he's apologizing. Shouldn't that come from Trump himself? Image: Evan Guest

Andi McClure's emu-coop is an emulator hack that brings two-player fun to Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Super Metroid, and Legend of Zelda for the NES. It works by enabling players to share in-game inventory over the Internet. emu-coop (GitHub via Waxy)

The EVO evolution webshop offers this fantastic flipbook of human evolution. It's €7.50.(via /r/educationalgifs)

https://youtu.be/gUPAIPJmOSkThis is like the magic trick where the magician cuts open a lemon and reveals a signed dollar bill inside. I know how that trick is done. But how did the smugglers get the drugs into these onions, which don't look like they were tampered with?

This is the lowest price I've seen for this foldable step stool: $11. It's 11 inches high, supports 300 lbs, and is only 1.5 inches thick when folded up. It has replaced a non-folding plastic step stool that we'd kept in on the floor in the closet.

From The Daily Show: "We made a browser extension that converts Donald Trump's Tweets back to their rightful state: a child's scribble."

Common Remote Access Trojan (RAT) tools -- which allow hackers to remotely control hijacked computers, from the cameras and mics to the hard-drive and keyboard -- are very badly written and it's easy to hijack computers running the "command and control" components that malicious hackers use to control RATted systems. (more…)

Before spotting them on NPR's Tiny Desk concert, I had never heard of Fragile Rock, the 10-member emo puppet band from Austin, Texas. But now, I can be counted as a fan. How the hell did I miss them? Sheer genius!Fragile Rock consists of five puppets, six puppeteers, 3 musicians, two roadies and a band therapist. Fragile Rock is the brainchild of Brently Heilbron and the product of the creative soup that is Austin, TX. Good to see the heart of Texas is still keepin' it weird. Bravo, puppetmasters.P.S. New hashtag alert: #SocksAreMurder (pass it on)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D11K_cvIH_oI first tried Bondic in 2015, when I ordered a tube of the UV-curing plastic and started using it to fix everything -- especially irregularly-fractured items with hard-to-fill gaps. (more…)

Republican Susan Collins [ME] and Democrat Jack Reed [RI] accidentally broadcast themselves saying "I think -- I think he's crazy. I mean, I don't say that lightly and as a kind of a goofy guy" and "I'm worried. Oof, you know, this thing -- if we don't get a budget deal, we're going to be paralyzed." (more…)

Every dog is the best breed if you are the person who loves'em.Perhaps it is their great size, their extremely loud bark, all the fur they shed, or the 2-tons of poop? My best buddy Nemo's breed strangely lands at 67th on the AKCs 2017 list of most popular breeds. Zuul, and her family of Cavalier King Charles, comes in 19th.Wonder what kind of standardized test they give the dogs?The full list is here.

I lived through the eighties and I approve of Trixi Studios’ "Take On Me" iOS (proof-of-concept only) app which turns your surroundings into a pencil-sketched, a-ha-style music video using augmented reality. The Chicago-based team created it with Apple's ARKit, which is a suite of developer tools launched in June that adds AR to apps. Here's a-Ha's original music video, in case you're feeling as nostalgic as I am:https://youtu.be/djV11Xbc914Thanks, Robert Scoble!

The European Court of Justice has ruled that the 2014 EU-Canada passenger name record (PNR) agreement was "incompatible with the fundamental rights recognised by the EU," because the records ("names, travel dates, itineraries, ticket and contact details, travel agents and other information") were used for purposes "beyond what is strictly necessary for the prevention and detection of terrorist offences and serious transnational crime." (more…)

I always hate having to write "Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell," because it's such a wtf mouthful. But they make beautiful animated explainer videos, so I have to write "Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell" a lot. They are always great, but this 6-minute guide to thinking your way out of existential dread might be their best video yet. The graphics are stupendous.

Claude Shannon is one of the great, heroic titans of the computer science revolution, a brilliant scientist and Feynman-grade eccentric whose accomplishments fill several excellent books. (more…)

It's been years since the major pharma companies agreed to participate in the Registry of All Trials, meaning that they'd end the practice of only reporting on trials whose outcomes they were pleased with, leaving about half of all trials unreported-on. (more…)

This credit-card skimmer was removed from a New York gas pump; it uses components scavenged from a cellular phone and a T-Mobile SIM to send the credit card details it harvests to its owners, who can retrieve them from anywhere in the world. (more…)

The Queensland Police have asked the Australian Parliament to give them the right to covertly install malicious software on your home devices in order to conduct mass surveillance during times of "national emergency" (more…)

Between election hacks, ransomware, and Devil's Ivy, the cybersecurity space is booming as malware and hackers become more sophisticated. If you're interested in pursuing a career in ethical hacking, or just want to secure your own devices, The Super-Sized Ethical Hacking Bundle is a great resource.In this bundle, you’ll learn the fundamental skills of ethical hacking, prepare for the CompTIA Security+ certification exam, and perform penetration testing on web applications and network targets. You’ll get familiar with the variety of ways in which attackers gain access by doing it yourself, using tools like Kali Linux, Metasploit, and PowerShell. After you’ve gotten some hands-on hacking experience, you can explore topics like government surveillance and hacking infrastructure, social engineering, encryption, and the dark web.This 9-course, 76-hour instructional bundle is available in the Boing Boing Store for $43.

This week on Maker Update: converting XP to exercise points, losing WD Labs and Arduino 101, printing butterflies, and marking your tools. This week’s Cool Tool is wearable magnifying glasses.

Inside-out grilled cheese sandwich. Yes, please. (more…)

You can’t win with the tabloids. You’re either too fat, too thin, or hiding a deadly secret.This week’s tabloids continue their obsession with the stars’ weight, led by the ‘National Enquirer’ and its team of reporters expertly trained by years working in “Guess Your Weight” booths at county fair midways.Its cover story on Angelina Jolie declares: “78 lb Angie Skin & Bones!” while showing photos of her looking much the same as ever. “She looks like she’s lost more than 10 pounds in just seven days,” says an unidentified “horrified pal."Meanwhile the ‘Enquirer’ claims of diva Mariah Carey: “263 lb Mariah Too Fat To Walk!” Seriously?“Mariah Carey is now so fat her handlers have to wheel her on to the stage on a bed or Jet Ski!” it reports. Does that sound like a medical condition, or could that just be showmanship? If she really couldn’t walk, wouldn’t a wheelchair be easier than pushing her around on a Jet Ski?The Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton only has to have a large lunch for the ‘Enquirer’ to declare “Kate Preggers Again!” after being pictured with the slightest "belly bump.” Elvis Presley’s daughter Lisa Marie’s “bulging belly” also drives the mag to declare her “pregnant and homeless."Singer Katy Perry is apparently neither too fat or too thin, so she’s therefore “sex-starved” and “booze-soaked,” according to the ‘Enquirer,’ which is their interpretation of the fact that she’s not in a relationship and had a glass of wine with lunch.Pamela Anderson “is sporting a new accessory: a bulging belly,” reports the ‘Globe,’ though its crack team of psychic obstetricians don’t appear to think she's pregnant, just fat, like comedy star Will Ferrell whose ‘blobs of glory” are cruelly highlighted by the mag.Wishful thinking abounds in this week’s tabloids.Prince Charles’ wife Camilla “crowns herself” and “uses dead queen’s tiara to claim throne,” reports the ‘Globe.’ Because that’s how one becomes Queen: one pops a diamond tiara on one's head. Everyone knows that.“Hillary Dumps Bill!” screams a ‘Globe’ exclusive, claiming a Clinton marital split that the mag has been promising in vain for decades. If they keep repeating the story, eventually there’s a chance they could be right. But today? Don’t hold your breath.More bizarre is the ‘Globe's’ claim that singer Olivia Newton-John is “Hoping Kittens Can Cure Cancer!” Is she eating the felines, or having them puréed and injected into her buttocks? No such luck. Olivia simply posted a video of kittens rolling around in the grass. The ‘Globe’ naturally decided this was “kitten therapy.” Because she couldn’t just like cats, could she?Soon-to-be-paroled O.J. Simpson is “coming to get Kim” Kardashian, because he has “vowed to get revenge on everyone who labeled him a killer,” reports the ‘Enquirer.’ That’s going to be a list with tens of millions of names on it, so you can expect Simpson to be busy for several years to come. And why does Kim Kardashian top the list, especially since she has never accused Simpson of being a murderer? Tabloid editors can dream, can’t they?‘People’ magazine devotes its cover and ten inside pages to “The Real Diana,” marking the approaching 20th anniversary of the death of their all-time best-selling cover girl, “We didn’t truly know her,” says her friend and charity partner, Vivienne Parry, of the woman whose life was publicly dissected in every minute detail. If you don’t know her by now you never will, and don’t expect to learn anything new from ‘People.’The mag celebrates social media curiosity Morgan Bartley documenting her weight loss regimen on Instagram, and naturally follows the story a few pages later with recipes for silver dollar pancake sandwiches, fried avocado and turkey toast, and blueberry maple hand pies, all of which should send Morgan's weight soaring again.Thankfully we have the crack investigative team at ‘Us’ magazine to tell us that Emily Ratajkowski wore it best, Jennifer Beals had a childhood pet mouse named Samantha, designer Rachel Roy carries cough drops, sunglasses and makeup in her leather-grained tote, and that the stars are just like us: they have car trouble, feed parking meters, and have their hair cut.. Without this informative feature might we really spend our days believing that celebrities never have problems with their vehicles, are allowed to park gratis wherever they wish, and have hair that preternaturally stays immaculately the same length without the attentions of a stylist?Once again it falls to the ‘National Examiner’ to bring us the tabloids' most unlikely yet accurate story: “DNA Search for Jesus’ Relatives Today!” Scientists are indeed examining DNA traces found in ancient relics including the Shroud of Turin, bones believed to be those of Jesus’ cousin John the Baptist, and the James ossuary, which may have held the bones of Jesus’s brother. But reality is rarely as obliging as tabloid headlines. Initial tests of John the Baptist’s bones found DNA matching the scientist who extracted the sample, indicating contamination, while the DNA of multiple persons were found on the Shroud of Turin, which is clearly overdue for a good dry clean. The search for Christ’s descendants may be a real act of faith.As the ‘Examiner’ proclaims in its story about more than seven per cent of Americans convinced that chocolate milk comes from brown cows, “Americans believe some crazy stuff!”Onwards and downwards . . .

The U.S. Senate has voted to reject a proposal to repeal major portions of the Affordable Care Act (aka ACA, aka Obamacare) without providing a replacement. (more…)

The usual gang of idiots at MAD is giving Boing Boing readers this exclusive sneak peek at an interior page from its upcoming #547 issue. "What's on Vladimir Putin's Desk?" displays clutter on the Russian dictator's desk such as a large drum of polonium, a gift from Mike Flynn, a Wikileaks report, and a Pussy Riot CD. It was written by Mike Morse and illustrated by Ward Sutton. The upcoming issue will be available on digital this Friday, 7/28 and on newsstands 8/8.

Joe Menn at Reuters reports that Facebook is pitching in an initial $500,000 in seed funding to launch a nonprofit that will work to protect American political parties, voting systems and information providers from malicious attacks by hackers and foreign nation-states. (more…)

The British Library has digitized 570 loose pages of notes written and drawn by Leonard da Vinci to compile a notebook which is called, The Codex Arundel.You can view the document online for free, although it's written in Italian and uses his "characteristic left-handed mirror-writing (reading from right to left)." The Guardian suggests enjoying the work of the self-taught Renaissance man as it is, without translation:The digitised British Library manuscript is a fascinating artefact in itself, just to browse. You don't need a translation to appreciate the beauty and wonder of Leonardo's mind. This is a great work of art, in a precociously conceptual genre that has been emulated by modern artists such as Joseph Beuys and Cy Twombly.The Codex includes "diagrams, drawings and brief texts" which cover "a broad range of topics in science and art, as well as personal notes." The British Library describes some of Da Vinci's insights:His notebooks combine detailed observation with notes of experiments. Even if he did not actually undertake the experiments, he described what could be tried. Many of his insights foreshadowed scientific research by many centuries. For example:Leonardo repudiated perpetual motion, understood the principle of relative motion, and foreshadowed Newton's Third Law by two centuries: "For every action there is an opposite and equal reaction."He rejected the notion that the Biblical flood was responsible for depositing fossils many miles from their origin and deduced the existence of very long spans of geological time.By dissecting humans and animals, Leonardo made many anatomical and some physiological discoveries.He investigated optics and perception with subtle experiments, explaining why the sky is blue, arguing that light has a finite velocity and travels in straight lines, and deducing the existence of a surface within the eye that receives light from a wide field of view.Leonardo formulated the law of the flow of currents: "All motion of water of uniform breadth and surface is stronger at one place than at another according as the water is shallower there than at the other."(Open Culture)Previously: Students build working version of Leonardo da Vinci's self-supporting bridge

Nope, this circa 1976 VW camper van hasn't just been tipped over. It was built this way.This is the Trippy Tippy Hippy Van and it's the latest crazy race car creation by Maryland police officer and mechanic Jeff Bloch AKA Speedycop. To make it, the van was mounted on top of another vehicle, a 1998 VW Rabbit. He and his team spent over 1000 hours, in just five weeks, to get the sideways van ready for the racetrack. Amazingly, it does zero to 60 in eight seconds! Bloch, known for his unusual vehicle builds, explains how he came up with the idea for the Trippy Tippy Hippy Van:The idea came to me—as so many other bad ideas do — by simply wondering how to make something totally conventional into something far more creative and entertaining to watch. Our previous builds were based on the same premise. What if a plane could be made into a racecar? We built the Spirit of LeMons, a ’56 Cessna 310, into a totally reliable street/track car that handles incredibly well, despite the mundane ’87 Toyota van base. I chose that particular model van because it uses a mid-engine/RWD setup and torsion bars in the front, which made for a low center of gravity, and left no strut towers protruding from the narrow fuselage. What if we did it again, but with a helicopter? Most helicopters have quite rounded bodies and use narrow skids, so even if a fuselage could somehow be sourced cheaply enough, neither would hide the chassis of even a small vehicle inside. The solution was clear to me—use pontoons to hide the vehicle chassis, and add an extra layer of challenge to the build by making it amphibious as well! The Upside-Down Camaro presented fewer serious engineering challenges, but still worked amazingly well as a visual gag. I wanted to recreate the jaw-dropping wow factor of that build, but how? A backwards truck had already been raced. I needed to think more unconventionally.Why not a vehicle on its side?But, how? You can’t see through a roof. You can’t see through an undercarriage. Most vehicle bodies are much wider than they are tall, which means they will be far too narrow once flipped onto their sides. My first thought was that it needed to be both iconic, and a vehicle prone to rollovers for the visual gag to really work. But with such restrictive design parameters, which vehicle? A typical conversion van would have the longer, raised roof required, but offered nothing in the way of real aesthetic appeal, and most are far too heavy. What van has both a smaller body, a raised roof, and a look that is at once both iconic and desirable?The answer finally popped into my head—it had to be a classic Volkswagen Type 2 Westfalia camper van.(HolyKaw)Previously: Just park this VW van fridge right in your kitchen

These four videos were shot --on a giant VHS camcorder, no less-- at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in the summer of 1987 for a cable TV show called Nightlife. They are as marvelously outdated as you'd hope. You'll see just how much technology has changed in 30 years. Personally, I've got my eye on that sweet, sweet Vidphone. I mean, it "actually sends live video through the telephone line." Other things that happened in 1987: Bud Light's party dog Spuds Mackenzie debuted, Dirty Dancing became a hit movie, and Max Headroom got a TV show. (The Awesomer, Sploid)

The Goonies' Chunk, performed by Jeff Cohen, is so wonderful. I can not stop laughing when he spills his guts!My 10-year-old and I enjoyed The Goonies last night, it really holds up. Corey Feldmans' Mouth is also a delight. His Spanish translations are a masterpiece.https://youtu.be/CXzglCYkqVI

I would have thought the guys in the SSSP would want something a little more utilitarian, but this Toyota is for Ultraman.https://youtu.be/UTsJEqUni9U?t=1m5sNot very inspiring, this Toyota looks like a Toyota. They've added some mildly reminiscent of Ultraman touches -- like the name "M78" referring to Ultraman's home planet. Also, watch out! When the big light in the middle of the dashboard stops flashing and sounds a chime the car is about to shut off!The M78x86 is available as either the GT or GT "Limited," in five different color schemes, either automatic or manual transmissions, basic or full kits. Options include rear fender trim and chrome door handles.Ten Toyota dealers across Japan will begin pre-selling the new model today, with the cheapest option being the GT with basic kit at 3,373,800 yen (about $30,366). Cars will be made to order and presumably in limited supply.Via CrunchyRollhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKBwH17FWJQ

Here's something to make you feel better: a supercut of people accidentally losing or destroying property. (more…)

https://youtu.be/pfwdm5W2lWsHiroyuki Arakawa is a scuba diver in Japan. Yoriko is a fish. They have been friends for 30 years, seeing each other almost every day.From Twisted Sifter:One day, Arakawa found her looking exhausted and carrying an injury. So he did what any friend would do: he took care of Yoriko, feeding her crabs and nursing her back to health. Their decades-long friendship is proof there’s no greater bond than the one between man and fish.

Drew Hayes' Fred the Vampire Accountant is one of my favorites in the supernatural-folks-repeatedly-save-the-world genre. He's back in this fourth installment, even more accountant-y than ever.Just because you are a creature of the dark and imbued with amazing skills doesn't mean you'll be interesting as an individual. Fred is an accountant who became a vampire looking for excitement. He found a whole lot of accounting work. The supernatural community doesn't have anyone who can reliably prepare their taxes, and so Fred. This is a wonderfully twisted view of a supernatural world.Working for some of the most highly powered creatures in North America, but being a solo vampire left Fred vulnerable to more senior vampires co-opting and controlling both he and his accountancy. So Fred formed his own clan to maintain his independence and things went exactly as he planned, for about five minutes.While the "I'm a boring vampire" schtick has largely worn out by now, the story and characters are wonderful. I really enjoyed learning more about Arch.The Fangs of Freelance (Fred, the Vampire Accountant Book 4) via AmazonPreviously on Boing Boing:The Utterly Uninteresting and Unadventurous Tales of Fred, The Vampire Accountant

Whether or not the car in the background means this is a United flight, I bet this happens fairly often on many airlines.(via /r/gifs)

Researchers asked 179 Canadian college students to answer the following three math questions:1. A bat and a ball cost $1.10 in total. The bat costs $1.00 more than the ball. How much does the ball cost? ____cents 2. If it takes 5 machines 5 minutes to make 5 widgets, how long would it take 100 machines to make 100 widgets? _____minutes3. In a lake, there is a patch of lily pads. Every day, the patch doubles in size. If it takes 48 days for the patch to cover the entire lake, how long would it take for the patch to cover half of the lake? _____daysFrom Relatively Interesting:After completing the quiz, the students were asked about their innate religiosity, religious beliefs, and beliefs in supernatural entities (like God, angels, and Satan).The results?The more religious the students were, the less likely they were to have demonstrated effective analytical reasoning on the three questions. Conversely, the better the students did on the questions, the less likely they were to have strong beliefs.Religious people tended to give the intuitive answers to the questions, and non-religious people gave the analytic answers.Most of the theists I know would be able to correctly answer these questions. Math puzzle inventor Martin Gardner was a theist and would have been able to answer these questions in an instant.

David Luke, a University of Greenwich psychology lecturer and researcher of high weirdness, has a new book out with the compelling title of Otherworlds: Psychedelics and Exceptional Human Experience. Based on the blurb, it sounds like an absolute trip:A psychonautic scientific trip to the weirdest outposts of the psychedelic terrain, inhaling anything and everything relevant from psychology, psychiatry, parapsychology, anthropology, neuroscience, ethnobotany, ethnopharmacology, biochemistry, religious studies, cultural history, shamanism and the occult along the way.Staring the strange straight in the third eye this eclectic collection of otherworldly entheogenic research delivers a comprehensive and yet ragtaglledy scientific exploration of synaesthesia, extra-dimensional percepts, inter-species communication, eco-consciousness, mediumship, possession, entity encounters, near-death and out-of-body experiences, psi, alien abduction experiences and lycanthropy. Essentially, its everything you ever wanted to know about weird psychedelic experiences, but were too afraid to ask…"Otherworlds: Psychedelics and Exceptional Human Experience" (via Daily Grail)

Crunchy shell tacos are delicious, but also challenging. They have a hair-trigger tendency to blow up when you bite them, causing the filling to spill out. Patrick Allan of Lifehacker has discovered the best way to improve your odds of having a happy taco experience.Take your first bite at the end of the taco. I recommend the classic “taco neck” method. Then follow up with the next two smaller bites labeled above, making your way toward the center. Now, spin it around and repeat the process on the other side. Eventually you’ll be left with two big bites in the center, and the shell should still be intact. Enjoy those last few moments of tasty taco bliss. Alternatively, if you take really big bites, you can replace 2 and 3 with just “2,” replace 4 with “3,” replace 5 and 6 with “4,” and replace 7 and 8 with just “5.”We make tacos about once a week. One of our best purchases was a set of stainless steel taco holders.

I bought this for my daughter for her birthday and we both it. It's a $10 transparent padlock that lets you see the inner workings as you poke them with lockpicking tools. Amazon stopped selling low-priced lock-picks but they are dirt-cheap on eBay. Buy one for yourself, and another for your favorite juvenile hacker.

A gang of robbers with hammers was no match for the polycarbonate-laminated glass at this jewellery store in Malaysia

"Escaping Prison with Dungeons & Dragons" is a moving, 10-minute documentary about prisoners who used tabletop role-playing games to survive their incarceration. (more…)

When Drew Magary was much younger he gave John McCain’s Presidential campaign $5. He regrets it. McCain "has always been a big talker," write Magary in GQ, "but when it comes to the actual meat-and-potatoes voting process, he falls in line."Snip:Everyone should realize that John McCain is the perfect American lie, a man who professes to be noble and fair and just while being none of those things. He served his country honorably in combat, but in no other fashion. And he serves out his time in the Senate, and here on planet Earth, as a pathetic enabler. Never the lion; always the sheep. For seventeen years, gullible people have been waiting for him to make his face turn, to make some grand defiant move for the sake of God and country. But that was always just clever branding on his part, and today should serve as a cold slap in the face to anyone who still thought he might have that kind of political courage left in him. He's a fucking disgrace.Image: Jim Greenhill

This simulation, called The Evolution of Trust starts with a variation of the prisoners' dilemma. You can choose to put a coin into a slot. Another person has the same choice on a different machine. You can't communicate with the other person. The only thing you know is this: if the other person put a coin in their slot, you will receive 3 coins. And if you put a coin in your slot, the other person will get 3 coins. What's the best strategy? Trust is falling. Why? And how can we fix it?My interactive guide to the game theory of trust is now OUT!👉 https://t.co/2x7BfWehpJ 👈 pic.twitter.com/AjDBJ0w6OB— Nicky Case (@ncasenmare) July 25, 2017Case 1: other person inserts coin. If you put a coin in the slot, you will have a net gain of 2 coins. If you don't put a coin in the slot you will gain 3 coins. So the best thing to do is not put a coin in the slot.Case 2: other person doesn't insert coin. If you put a coin in the slot, you will have a net loss of 1 coin. If you don't put a coin in the slot you lose nothing. So the best thing to do is not put a coin in the slot.In either case, it's to your advantage not to put a coin in the slot. But what happens when you play several rounds of the game with the same person? Are there better strategies? Yes, and this excellent interactive simulation by Nicky Case walks you through them in an entertaining way. It's a great introduction to game theory.From the simulation:Game theory has shown us the three things we need for the evolution of trust: 1. REPEAT INTERACTIONS Trust keeps a relationship going, but you need the knowledge of possible future repeat interactions before trust can evolve. 2. POSSIBLE WIN-WINS You must be playing a non-zero-sum game, a game where it's at least possible that both players can be better off -- a win-win. 3. LOW MISCOMMUNICATION The level of miscommunication can't be too high. And when there's a little bit of miscommunication, it pays to be more forgiving.Our problem today isn't just that people are losing trust, it's that our environment acts against the evolution of trust.

Archaeologists excavating a Hittite city on the border of Turkey and Syria found a broken jug that, upon restoration, revealed a smiley face. At 3,700-years-old, it could be the oldest smiley face drawing ever found. From Smithsonian:According to ​Zuhal Uzundere Kocalar​ at Turkey's state-run news service, the Anadolu Agency, the researchers did not notice the smiley face until restorers put the fragments of the round, off-white jug with a small handle and short neck back together.“We have found a variety of cubes and urns. The most interesting of them is a pot dating back to 1700 BC that features an image of a 'smile' on it,” Nicolo Marchetti, an archaeology professor at the University of Bologno in Italy, tells Kocalar. “The pot was used for drinking sherbet [sweet drink]. Most probably, [this depicts] the oldest smile of the world.”

Your Roomba vacuum cleaner collects data about the size and geometry of your home as it cleans and transmits that data back to Irobot, Roomba's parent company -- and now the company says it wants to sell that data to companies like Apple and Google. (more…)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiwYsYNh3aoBruce Sterling: *THEY DON’T LOOK countercultural cliche-dramatic, they don’t have beatnik berets or bongos. You wouldn’t look at them twice in New York City, but there’s still something subtly off about them. I think it’s that plethora of pens in Ginsberg’s untucked shirt." (more…)