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Updated 2025-01-04 09:16
Condo association threatens eviction of tenant with support squirrel
A condo association in Florida doesn't find the connection between Ryan Boylan and his support squirrel Brutis to be an adorable companionship fit for a Pixar film, but rather a concern that goes against management policy.WFLA reports Island Walk Condominiums’ association in Clearwater Beach issued a notice to Boylan last month he would have to get rid of Brutis or face eviction under the condos’ no exotic animal policy.A doctor’s note from July says Boylan has PTSD from a car crash and the squirrel he found last year “helps alleviate [his] challenges.”The matter has turned into a series of legal differences involving time frames based on when Brutis was discovered by the association and when Boylan notified the board of his support animal. If Boylan’s accusation of discrimination doesn’t work out, acceptable places where he could live with his pet squirrel are: a tree; a jar of almonds; college campuses; and of course, those restaurants that contain large barrels of shelled peanuts for customers waiting to be seated.Via WFLA:
Roy Moore's scandal is just the tip of American evangelical Christianity's child bride problem
When Alabama GOP Senate nominee Roy Moore was accused of sexually molesting children as young as 14, his fellow hardcore evangelicals shrugged at the scandal -- it was "common knowledge" that Moore had a fondness for young teens. (more…)
This British gent lives life like it's the 1940s
The "good ol' days" are right now for Ben Sansum, a dapper British man in his late thirties who lives life like it's 1946.The BBC wrote in the description of this 2014 video, "His clothes, his house, the music he listens to - all come from an era before he was even born."His one guilty concession? A small modern fridge.(reddit)
How to boost your vocabulary and triple your reading speed
You can definitely increase the breadth of your vocabulary over time by reading constantly, and you’ll probably even get a bit faster if you do it long enough. But there’s a more streamlined way to become a better reader: Vocab1 and 7 Speed Reading EX. These two apps can vastly improve your abilities without sacrificing comprehension, and are now $29 when you buy them from the Boing Boing Store.Whether you are trying to ace the GRE, SAT, or GMAT, or just become a more erudite individual, Vocab1 will help prime your brain with a database of over 520 million words. With engaging training games, you’ll learn words in context, so you can actually use them correctly in your writing and conversation.With 7 Speed Reading EX, you can drill yourself with any uploaded article or PDF, and get expert guidance through video tutorials. It comes with access to a massive library of free eBooks, so you’ll have a nearly limitless amount of practice material. You can track your progress over time, and avoid bad reading habits with tailored exercises.Order a lifetime subscription to both Vocab1 and 7 Speed Reading EX here for $29.
Equifax's total bill for leaking 145.5 million US records to date: $87.5 million
That's according to this month's shareholder filings; the company estimates the total bill at $166 million more, plus class action damages.
"Common knowledge" that Alabama GOP Sen. candidate Roy Moore dated teens
A former colleague of Roy Moore, the Alabama Senatorial candidate accused of inappropriate sexual behavior with teens, claims this behavior was "common knowledge."Via CBS:
Disneyland: the most infectious place on Earth
Disneyland has shutdown two airconditioning cooling towers due to infecting a number of guests with Legionnaires' disease.Via the LA Times:
Sammy Davis Jr sings 'The Jeffersons' theme
Sammy Davis Jr. sings another classic tv theme: Ja'net Dubois' "Movin' On Up."
Polar bear cub meets snow
Needed some cute this AM.
High-tech on-demand climate-controlled dog houses exist
This is the Dog Parker. It's an on-demand, self-contained, climate-controlled, auto-sanitized urban dog house.Going into the store and they have one of these sitting outside on the sidewalk? Pull out your smartphone, open the shelter with the app, and put your pooch inside while you shop. There's a "Puppy Cam" in it so you can spy on your dog while it's locked inside.Dogs seem to like it (though the door isn't closed in any of the photos):https://www.instagram.com/p/BaugWodlCrS/?taken-by=dogparkerhttps://www.instagram.com/p/Bama7CsFSGZ/?taken-by=dogparkerhttps://www.instagram.com/p/BaPaOShFLL2/?taken-by=dogparkerhttps://www.instagram.com/p/BZmgor2FDbA/?taken-by=dogparkerRight now, you can find these things all over Brooklyn. Because, of course.
Shirley Temple singing a death metal version of 'On The Good Ship Lollipop'
Shirley Temple, the sweeter-than-sweet curly-locked child performer of yore, is back with this death metal version of her signature 1934 song, "On the Good Ship Lollipop."Ok, ok, it's not really her voice (obviously), it's Hungarian vocalist Dori Kreisz with metal accompaniment by YouTuber Andy Rehfeldt.(Dangerous Minds)
Become an Excel scripting wizard with this VBA Bundle
Lurking just beneath Microsoft Excel’s instantly understandable spreadsheet surface is a world of robust automation tools. Visual Basic for Applications allows you to perform complex data processing, and you can harness its power with this Microsoft VBA Bundle, available now in the Boing Boing Store for $29.99.This duo of in-depth courses will teach you how to write VBA code like a pro. Throughout these 9 hours of video content, you’ll study the basics of defining variables, functions, and subroutines, as well as explore the crucial PivotTable object. You’ll learn how to create spreadsheets that communicate with users through inputs and messages, and even programmatically interact with Excel’s context menus and ribbon interface.If you find yourself repeating the same actions often, this collection will help you streamline your workflow considerably. Pick up the Microsoft VBA Bundle here for $29.99.
Paradise Papers reveal cozy relationship between Stubhub and Canadian botmaster/scalper kingpin
The Paradise Papers continue to expose the economically useless activity that late-stage capitalism rewards with titanic sums of money: today, it's the story of Julien Lavallée, a botmaster ticket-scalper who has harvested the lion's share of concert tickets from all over the world, laundering them for millions through a secret "top seller" program that Stubhub offers to anyone who can move more than $50,000 worth of tickets per year. (more…)
Excellent, plain-language explainer on corporate and 1 percenter tax evasion, with a simple solution
The New York Times has collaborated with Berkeley economics prof Gabriel Zucman to produce an interactive explainer that walks through the baroque tax-evasion strategies deployed by multinationals like Google and Apple, as well as the super-rich, using plain language and explanatory graphics to get past the deliberately eye-glazing tedium of these arrangements, a shield of boringness that has allowed the super-rich to hide $8.7 trillion from tax authorities while taking advantage of national courts, education, roads, police, and health care. (more…)
Absolutely wonderful finalists of the 2017 Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards
They appear to be having more fun than most of us. See the rest at the 2017 finalists in the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards. (via NextDraft)There's a new book too: Wild and Crazy: Photos from the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards
Fire-breathing, twisting backflipper sets world record
Australian acrobat Aiden Malacaria set a Guinness World Record yesterday for the most fire-breathing full twist backflips in one minute. He had to hit eight of them but made it to ten. From Guinness World Records:
Baby you can drive Ringo's car: Starr's Mini Cooper up for auction
Bonhams is auctioning off a 1966 Mini Cooper 'S' once owned by Beatles drummer Ringo Starr. It's expected to fetch US$120,000 - 160,000. From Bonhams:
Lovesense sex toys make accidental audio recordings of your sex sessions, which the company describes as a "minor bug"
Lovesense -- the company that made the Bluetooth-enabled vibrating buttplugs that could be detected and hacked remotely and settled a class-lawsuit over collecting vibrator users' personal information for $3.75M -- has told users of its Lovesense Remote vibrator app not to worry about the "minor bug" that causes it to record the audio of their sex sessions. (more…)
Good deal on the Aeropress coffee and espresso maker
I've had an Aeropress coffee and espresso maker for many years, and it works as well now as the day I bought it. It makes delicious coffee and it's a lot of fun to use. Right now Amazon is selling it for $24, the lowest price I've seen.Filmmaker and photographer David Friedman profiled the inventor of the Aeropress, Alan Adler. He is also the inventor of the Aeorobie Flying Ring. Here's a video of Friedman using the Aeropress:https://vimeo.com/137090060
Adorable giant teddy bear turns out to be unsettling dream monster
The Joyfay Giant Teddy ($109, Amazon) is described as "6½feet" and appears in pictures as an adorably chubby furry friend for young and old alike: "offers more huggability than your average bear!" declares the product description.But upon receipt, buyers report, the $110 toy is not quite what they expected. It is, as promised, "6½ feet". As spotted by Twitter user cooltonedcutie, this applies to a single axis, indeed to a single set of limbs."Hideous!" writes Savannah. "The legs are like 4 feet long making the bear look like a creepy gumby thing. I got this for Valentine's Day and would have rather had a cheaper more proportional bear...I mean this isn't even cute.""I was expecting a the bear to be huge because it's 6.5 ft right?" writes "Amazon Customer". "No, all of its height is from its legs and the legs are longer than its upper body."And she says I'm hard to shop for.
Watch 44 seconds of Republican leaders grinning silently in response to questions about Roy Moore's alleged child molestation
Edmund Burke wrote that "the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing," but these are not good men. They're silent because they're too close to the catch.
This bundle will help you start developing for the VR revolution
You don’t necessarily need advanced graphics programming skills to create immersive VR — just an AppGameKit license. To get you started with this beginner-friendly game development environment, we are offering the Complete AppGameKit VR Starter's Kit in the Boing Boing Store for $29.99.AppGameKit makes it easy to build all kinds of games, from retro arcade shooters to virtual reality. Novices will find it easy to model simple interactions with just a few commands, but it’s powerful enough to handle full-fledged game development. You can even deploy your titles to a variety of mobile and desktop platforms, including iOS, Windows, and macOS.This bundle also features AppGameKit’s Official Tutorial Guide, and a complete Virtual Reality Kit that lets you take input from VR controllers and render 3D scenes. Combined with their diverse Sound Library, you’ll be able to craft some truly unique experiences.You can get the Complete AppGameKit VR Starter's Kit here for $29.99.
Games show how the presence of competent women generates hostile behavior in incompetent men
A 2015 study set out to understand the nuts and bolts of sexist hostility using a timely method: how people behaved in online rounds of Halo 3. They found that incompetent men are triggered by competent women. Surprise!
Englishman takes emu for walk
If you're a fan of emus, or a fan of swearing in a northern English accent, this is the video for you.
And it feels so good: Dog reunited with owner after 3 years
All the feels on this one. There's not much info on this video but it seems this dog was separated from its human companion for three long years. Once they were brought together, you'll see that the dog was shy to engage at first but once it got a whiff and a look, it was a joyful reunion!(Digg)
Decoding barcodes
I have long wondered about the secret meaning behind the numbers and lines on barcodes. Now there's this video by YouTuber Half as Interesting that spells it all out, including how barcodes can be read even if they're scanned in upside down.Though the real lesson of this video might be the learning the art of smoothly transitioning into your sponsor's ads.(Holy Kaw!)
Stranger Things' fans crash museum's site trying to get their hands on Dustin's purple hoodie
Stranger Things is a huge pop culture phenomenon, no matter how you look at it. Case in point, Newsweek is reporting that thousands of the show's fans crashed the Science Museum of Minnesota's website on Tuesday morning trying to score a purple Brontosaurus hoodie. The sweatshirt, a replica of a retired one the museum sold in the 1980s, was worn in the first episode of Season 2 by one of the main characters, Dustin Henderson.
Cavalier King Charles Spaniel puppies try the stairs
Sometimes the world just needs puppies.
5 women accuse Louis C.K. of sexually abusive behavior in NYT report
“He proceeded to take all of his clothes off, and get completely naked, and started masturbating,” says one victim. Five women who spoke to the New York Times say comedian and filmmaker Louis CK's behavior with them crossed a line to sexual misconduct.(more…)
Beautiful photo of Earth from 10,000 miles away taken on this day in 1968
From NASA: "On November 9, 1969, the uncrewed Apollo 4 test flight made a great ellipse around Earth as a test of the translunar motors and of the high speed entry required of a crewed flight returning from the Moon. A 70mm camera was programmed to look out a window toward Earth, and take a series of photographs from "high apogee." Coastal Brazil, Atlantic Ocean, West Africa, Antarctica, looking west. This photograph was made as the Apollo 4 spacecraft, still attached to the S-IVB (third) stage, orbited Earth at an altitude of 9,544 miles."Image Credit: NASA
More DIY shoe repair with Freesole urethane glue
Freesole urethane shoe glue saved another pair of shoes.A well-loved pair of Keens that needed the toe caps re-glued. They were coming off and needed to be re-sealed with something that would also be flexible, and relatively watertight if properly applied. My shoe glue of choice is Freesole.I store this adhesive in the freezer. Carefully cleaning the threads and pushing the glue all to the top of the tube before putting away helps ensure it is easy to open, and flows well for future use. Thawing it is easy, I just drop the tube, cap up, in a glass of hot tap water.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYBbrfGZtmYI gave the entire area inside the toe cap on my shoe a good coat of glue and then slowly eased the cap back into place. I used some elastic hair-ties, stolen from my daughter, to hold the cap in place.24 hours later and the shoe is ready to go on a rainy day. Freesole has held on every pair I've used it on, including re-affixing the sole to a neoprene bootie. Good stuff!Gear Aid Freesole urethane formula via Amazon
Roy Moore, GOP Senate nominee in Alabama, accused of sex acts with girls as young as 14
Ultra right-wing Christian GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore is accused of having sexually abused four underage girls, the youngest of whom was 14 at the time..(more…)
TSA remains bafflingly incompetent
The folks who make every visit to the airport intolerable are doing it without providing any results. ABC once again finds that the TSA nearly unable to stop folks from illegally carrying a handgun on to an aeroplane. The TSA does, however, make life miserable for breast-feeding mothers, and diabetics who need to travel with fluids or die, and pretty much everyone else.Via ABC:
Testimony: Bill O’Reilly's contract virtually allowed him to sexually harass women, unless proven in court
Jacques Nasser, a director of 21st Century Fox, testified in a proceeding that Bill O'Reilly's contract had a provision stipulating that “could not be dismissed on the basis of an allegation unless that allegation was proved in court.”From WaPo:
Beware of this fidget spinner at Target -- it has 300 times the allowable amount of lead
A fidget spinner still available on the Target website contains 300 times the allowable level of lead for children's toys. That's OK, says Target, because fidget spinners aren't toys and therefore aren't subject to the restriction.From CBS News:
At anti-monopoly event, Al Franken blasts big tech
Al Franken's speech on big tech and its surveillance, influence, opacity and high-handedness sometimes lacked coherence (you can't call for "Net Neutrality principles" for Amazon, Google, and Facebook and ask them to police bad speech, propaganda, etc), but the important thing is where he gave that speech. (more…)
DreamScreen adds some luminous ambience to your entertainment center
A DreamScreen HDTV Backlighting and Total Surround Kit makes your TV glow with the action, and is now available in the Boing Boing Store starting at $124.99.This backlight setup tracks the colors of your media to make the picture appear to bleed past your TV’s outer bezel at an ultra-smooth 60 frames per second. If you’re using the TV to stream music, it also has a hue-cycling visualizer mode for gorgeous mood lighting.To achieve the atmospheric effect, just affix the included LED strips to the back of your television and plug in the HDMI hub. It accepts up to three different video sources, so you can get the same brilliant results with your HD receiver, game console, or blu-ray player.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blLbNEwXdqQDreamScreen comes in a trio of sizes to match your display. Classic is designed for large (32”+) desktop monitors, making it ideal for immersive PC gaming. There’s Xtreme for extra-large TVs up to 80”, and Mega is for everything else — it looks great with any sets between 45” and 65”. You can get any of these three standard offerings in the Boing Boing Store, as well as upgraded versions that come bundled with two extra sidekick LED panels.Pick up a DreamScreen HDTV Backlighting Kit here starting at $124.99.
Being a fake loved one is big business for this Japanese man
This is like an episode of Black Mirror waiting to happen.You want your lonely child to, say, have a "father." Or maybe you just want to go out on some dates with someone nice, someone safe.In short, you want someone to care, or at least act like they do. You think it would be easier -- cleaner -- to pay someone than to actually find someone in real life.So, you go online and hire someone like Ishii Yuichi, owner of Family Romance in Japan, to play that role. It seems harmless at first, but then you both have to live with that lie.What could possibly go wrong?In an article Tuesday, The Atlantic interviewed Yuichi who shares what it's like to be that for-hire "loved one." Here's what he said it feels like to play "daddy" to an unsuspecting fatherless girl:
William Shatner covers The Cramps' 'Garbageman' for new Dr. Demento punk box set
Oh, William Shatner, you have brought us much joy over the years with all your awkward spoken-word interpretations of popular songs. Now, you're covering The Cramps' "Garbageman" and, well, we're still amused.
This keg is full of ranch dressing
Your sick and twisted dreams of hosting a ranch dressing holiday kegger are about to be realized. Now you can buy five-liter mini-kegs of Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing for 50 bucks each online.They say it's a "year's supply," but c'mon. Five liters is like "Tuesday" for a superfan of Ranch.And while you're at it, Ranch freak, check out all the "festive gifts" for the "ultimate Ranch fan" in the Hidden Valley Holiday Outlet.(Pee-wee Herman, Foodiggity)
The truth about movie theater popcorn butter
My first real job was at a movie theater. On a good day I sold tickets, on other days I worked the concession stand with pals selling candy, drinks, and of course, popcorn. (Incidentally, we called this position the "candy whore.")In my snarky-teen attempt to warn movie-goers that they were not in fact getting real butter on their popcorn, I would ask, "Would you like artificially-flavored buttered topping on that?"Most people ignored me and added the oily substance to their popcorn anyway. Some people laughed... and added the oily substance to their popcorn anyway. In other words, no one wanted to see what was behind that curtain, especially not from a kid.Some thirty years later, enter writer Stacey Ballis of Extra Crispy who shares the truth about movie theater popcorn butter:
Muji is now selling $27,000, 98sqft micro-home "huts"
Muji -- the Japanese minimalist design house that's something of a local equivalent to Ikea, but with clothes, stationery, toiletries and groceries -- has finally shipped its long-awaited Mujirushi micro-home, a ¥3,000,000 (USD27,000) "hut" with a slanting roof that can be ordered for delivery and assembly in many Japanese suburbs. (more…)
Gated community developer blames Rand Paul assault on longstanding fights over lawncare, tree branches
Last week, Senator Rand Paul was severely injured after an alleged assault by his neighbor, anesthesiologist/inventor Rene Boucher, who worked with Paul at a local hospital. (more…)
Carter Page's rambling, incoherent House Intelligence Committee Testimony, condensed
This week's release of 243 pages' worth of Trump advisor Carter Page's testimony to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence may tempt you to devote a couple of hours to reading his lurid, rambling, bizarre and contradictory rambling, but if you'd prefer a summary, the Washington Post's Alexandra Petri's done a very good job of teasing out the substance, such as it is. (more…)
The crooked Secret Service agent who stole Silk Road bitcoins did it again after pleading guilty
Shaun Bridges is the disgraced ex-Secret Service Agent who pleaded guilty to stealing bitcoin from online drug dealers while he was investigating the Silk Road; he's serving a 71-month sentence and has just had two years added to it after he pleaded guilty to stealing more bitcoin after his guilty plea, while he was out on bail (more…)
Dead grasshopper stuck to Van Gogh's "Olive Trees" painting for 128 years unnoticed
So-called “fans” of Van Gogh must not have been too observant of his work, since no one ever seemed to notice that he left a dead grasshopper caked in paint in “Olive Trees.”Pieces of the small insect, including its thorax and and abdomen, were preserved peacefully in the painting for 128 years, according to the Kansas City Star. A conservator stumbled across the infested find under magnification during research on French paintings at the Nelson-Atkins Museum.“Van Gogh worked outside in the elements,” Julián Zugazagoitia, director of the museum said in a statement to the Kansas City Star, “and we know that he ... dealt with wind and dust, grass and trees, and flies and grasshoppers.”Via Kansas City Star:
Joel Osteen impersonator crashes event and tricks crowd into thinking he's Osteen
Comedian Michael Klimkowski looks a lot like shady Megachurch pastor Joel Osteen (you know, the one who shut down his church when Hurricane Harvey survivors needed him most), so Klimkowski's sketch comedy group Dabs Den decided to have some fun.Before an Osteen event started at the huge Forum in Los Angeles, watch how Kimkowski gets through parking security with his Osteen looks and fake charm. "God bless you," he tells many of Osteen's fans, as they ooh and ahh and ask to take pictures with him. He then makes it into the Forum, backstage, and finally in front of the stage, where people are just starting to trickle in. Klimkowski is smoooooth. Finally one of Osteen's henchmen recognizes that this isn't his sleazy boss, and security ushers him out, telling him he's going to jail. We never find out how it ends in this video.But fortunately, AVclub fills us in:
Watch: You'd never believe this amazing blues guitarist is only 12-years-old
It's not often you see a child with this much talent and stage presence – Toby, age 12, is the real deal. It's no wonder Lee was asked to play with Chicago blues guitarist Ronnie Baker Brooks in this performance. Even when he was only 10 he was playing blues guitar like the best of them, and while wearing a tiger costume, mind you, as you can see in the video below. Bravo!https://youtu.be/bDA67dX3vEo
Mikhail Bulgakov's 'The Fatal Eggs'
Master of the absurd, Russian literary great Mikhail Bulgakov's dystopian fiction is steeped in the real thing. The Fatal Eggs is a cautionary tale of science and government gone wrong. (more…)
Corey Haim's rapist named as Charlie Sheen
The National Enquirer, quoting actor Dominick Brascia and other sources, claims Charlie Sheen is the rapist that Corey Haim spoke of but never publicly named. Sheen was 19 at the time, Haim 13.
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