I'm simultaneously disappointed and relieved that her dad cuts her off before the climax of the song. Read the rest

On Monday, Verizon Communications Inc., AT&T Inc., the two largest U.S. wireless carriers, and US cable giant Comcast all said they have agreed that through June 30, they won't cancel service or charge late fees to customers who can't pay their bills because of the coronavirus pandemic. More from Reuters:In March, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said major wireless and internet providers - including Verizon, Comcast, AT&T, T-Mobile US Inc (TMUS.O) and Alphabet’s Google Fiber (GOOGL.O) - had agreed not to terminate service for subscribers for 60 days. In total, more than 700 companies have now agreed to the voluntary measures.In March, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said carriers had also agreed to open Wi-Fi hotspots to anyone who needs them. A group of 24 state attorneys general last week asked carriers to extend the voluntary commitment until Aug. 11.Cox Communications also said on Monday it was extending its commitment not to cancel service or charge late fees through June 30 and to keep open its Cox Wi-Fi hotspots.Comcast said in addition to extending the commitment through June 30 and making its Wi-Fi hotspots available for anyone who needs them, it would extend a pause in its data plans to give all customers unlimited data for no additional charge. Read more:Verizon, AT&T, Comcast won't cancel service through June due to coronavirus[David Shepardson] Read the rest

Gimlet Media's Every Little Thing podcast is based on a pretty simple concept: you call a hotline and leave a message with a question that's been bugging you. If it's intriguing enough, they make a podcast about the answer.When a guy named Kyle left a meandering voicemail about the nature of spacetime as it relates to black holes, the show's hosts couldn't resist. His giggley, midwest-by-way-of-California-surfer-dude tone seemed like the perfect stoned-at-3-am-philosophical-question fit for their episode scheduled for April 20. Host Flora Lichtman came prepared with all the clever stoner puns she could muster in her repertoire as they got down and dirty about getting high in outer space.Except it turns out that Kyle is not a raging weed aficionado, because Kyle is a Pastor who is already delightfully high on Jesus.Kyle actually reminds me of two friends of mine who are also pastors. While the descriptions of and information about black holes are informative and interesting, it's Kyle's earnestness and awkwardness that really carries it through, even as Lichtman bulldozes over him with bong joke after bong joke. Clifford Johnson, professor of physics at the University of Southern California who also advised on some of the Avengers movies, is also a guest on the episode (much to Kyle's excitement).I listened to the 22-minute episode while I made breakfast and honestly, it was a wonderful way to start the day.Black Holes: Free Your Mind [Every Little Thing / Gimlet Media]Image: Assnogholeo / Wikimedia Commons (CC 4.0) Read the rest

Senator Elizabeth Warren said today that her brother, Don Reed, died Tuesday of coronavirus. My oldest brother, Don Reed, died from coronavirus on Tuesday evening. He joined the Air Force at 19 and spent his career in the military, including five and a half years off and on in combat in Vietnam. He was charming and funny, a natural leader. https://t.co/b8m0xKzAmM— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) April 23, 2020"What made him extra special was his smile—quick and crooked," Warren wrote on Twitter. "It always seemed to generate its own light, one that lit up everyone around him."Reed, who joined the US Air Force at 19 and served in Vietnam, is one of about 47,000 Americans reported to have died so far in the Covid-19 pandemic. Warren recently ended her campaign to become the Democratic Party's candidate in this year's presidential election, and remains a potential VP pick going into November's poll.Photo courtesy Sen. Warren. Read the rest

Award-winning comic creators Brian K. Vaughan and Marcos Martin launched Panel Syndicate in 2013 as a digital-only, name-your-price publishing outlet for their near-future Internet noir The Private Eye. They've released several comics through this imprint since then — from themselves, and from other creators — that all fit under the same DRM-free, pay-what-you-want f0rmat, with horizontally-oriented pages specifically designed to be read on a computer screen or tablet.The Panel Syndicate format was always intended to upend comic publishing, in a way. So it wasn't that surprising when they announced a new book in the wake of the temporary coronavirus pause of the entire comic book industry. The new book, Friday, features art by Panel Syndicate founders Martin Martin and Muntsa Vicente, with a story by acclaimed comic crime writer Ed Brubaker, creator of Criminal, The Fade Out, and the Winter Soldier from Marvel Comics. Here's a brief synopsis:Friday Fitzhugh spent her childhood solving crimes and digging up occult secrets with her best friend Lancelot Jones, the smartest boy in the world. But that was the past, now she's in college, starting a new life on her own. Except when Friday comes home for the holidays, she's immediately pulled back into Lance's orbit and finds that something very strange and dangerous is happening in their little New England town...This is literally the Christmas vacation from Hell and neither of them may survive to see the New Year.In interviews and his newsletter, Brubaker has described the story as "post-YA," which isn't really a genre, but makes sense — it's about that first winter home after the first semester of college, except in this case it's riffing on the child detective archetypes of Nancy Drew, Encyclopedia Brown, and the Hardy Boys. Read the rest

Vi Hart helps us understand the 4 phase plan to re-open the United States.Might be good for Orange Julius to watch this a couple times. Read the rest

Nintendo released a video this morning highlighting some of the new content that will be available in a free update being released on April 23. The new content includes a Nature Day, May Day, two new merchants, and a new fine arts wing for the museum.Image: YouTube Read the rest

"Attention please! Clean up needed on aisle 14. And aisle 15. And aisle 16. And aisle 17. And..."This pallet jack driver appears to have dozed off at the wheel. Fortunately, it doesn't seem that anyone was injured. Read the rest

Food production and water processing facilities are warning that they won't be able to meet demand in the coming months. Why not? Because they are not getting sufficient carbon dioxide, which is used in their production processes. Why isn't there enough carbon dioxide? Because carbon dioxide manufacturers rely on ethanol production to collect the gas and ethanol production has decreased. Why has ethanol production decreased? Two reasons. Ethanol production was already ramping down because Russia and Saudi Arabia were flooding the market with a expensive gasoline. And then people stop driving because of the coronavirus pandemic and ethanol production increased even more.This Guardian article reports that CO2 production could decline by as much as 2/3 in the coming months, and food and beverage manufacturers and water processing facilities are concerned:[CEO of the Compressed Gas Association (CGA), Rich] Gottwald, along with a number of associations representing food and beverage industries, which together use 77% of food-grade CO2, issued a joint warning to the federal government about the shortage.In an open letter to the vice-president, Mike Pence, the coalition warns: “Preliminary data show that production of CO2 has decreased by approximately 20%, and experts predict that CO2 production may be reduced by 50% by mid-April.”It continues: “A shortage in CO2 would impact the US availability of fresh food, preserved food and beverages, including beer production.”Photo by Elevate on Unsplash Read the rest

We are in the upside down.A bizarre thing just happened: futures on U.S. crude oil went negative for the first time ever, as billions of people stay at home to slow the spread of coronavirus. The anti-COVID measures have led to a global oil supply glut that in turn has led to storage space filling up. The price of oil is negative. It's like they'd be willing to pay you to take it off their hands. Wild.From Reuters:The May U.S. WTI contract fell $19.06, or 104.3%, to a discount of 79 cents a barrel at 2:09 p.m (1809 GMT) after touching an all-time low of -$1.43 a barrel. Brent was down $1.85, or 6.6%, at $26.23 a barrel.The June WTI contract is trading more actively at a much higher level of $21.6 a barrel. The spread between May and June was more than $23, the widest in history for the two nearest monthly contracts.Investors bailed out of the May contract ahead of expiry later on Monday because of lack of demand for the actual oil. When a futures contract expires, traders must decide whether to take delivery of the oil or roll their positions into another futures contract for a later month. Read the rest here. Read the rest

A white plastic bucket manufactured by Yeti cost $40. If you want a lid you will pay an additional $30. That $70 for a bucket and a lid if my math is correct. On the other hand, you can buy a standard white plastic bucket with lid at a hardware store for a couple of dollars. This video compares the functionality of the two buckets. Which one do you think will turn out to be the better bucket? Read the rest

In times of national crisis, it’s reassuring to know that the tabloids will always give you the facts you need for survival, no matter how unpalatable.

Speaking of one of the Internet's coolest music teachers, Rick Beato... in the most recent episode of his "What Makes This Song Great?," he breaks down Led Zeppelin's rock classic, "Ramble On," from Led Zeppelin II.While Rick's channel is clearly targeted at fellow musicians and students of music, even a failed guitar player and crappy drummer like myself can find real satisfaction in these song deconstructions. If nothing else, it's great to hear the isolated song elements and how they all come together. And years of watching Rick's channel has definitely deepened my understanding of musical composition and studio recording.Like a lot of content creators, Rick's channel has been running afoul of YouTube and record company IP take-down bots. This video got blocked and then it was mysteriously unblocked. This may have been thanks to members of Led Zeppelin themselves, along with others, complaining on Twitter. So, watch it while you can. And if it disappears again, you can catch it on Rick's Instagram feed.Image: YouTube Read the rest

As a long time fan of cartoonist Dave Cooper, I really enjoyed Jim Rugg and Ed Piskor going over Cooper's comic books of the late 1990s and early 2000s. I agree with them that Cooper belongs in the pantheon of Chris Ware, Dan Clowes, Charles Burns, Jim Woodring, and the Hernandez brothers. Read the rest

Idiots outside of cars? Poor guy from r/IdiotsInCarsWith Amazon's near-impossible push for speediness, it's no wonder this driver didn't take the extra second to put on the emergency brake. Still, while horrible for the worker, the end of this Ring video looks like a live-action version of a scene from an old Looney Tunes cartoon. Read the rest

I noticed a coincidence. Sources: The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Katsushika Hokusai. [scan via Wikipedia/Metropolitan Museum of Art] and a graphic from The Financial Times by John Burn-Murdoch Read the rest

In this footage, a man is seen relaxing at home when a nearby battery, apparently charging on the floor, starts spraying sparks. It explodes violently as he approaches to unplug it. The origin of the footage is unclear: the video is being ganked on every video platform and none of them bother to report any information whatsoever. So I don't know if the person is injured or how badly the dwelling was damaged. He is at least able to fetch a fire extinguisher and have at the blaze. Read the rest

In Rob Walker's fantastic newsletter, The Art of Noticing, he recommends an activity called "Narrate A Piece of Quotidian Footage" which is from his book: Basically, find or make a short, random, totally banal video of people or objects moving around; study it closely; and invent a potential voiceover that makes it seem as if you are directing the action. This (weird? but fun!) idea was inspired by a John Smith’s wonderful short art film: The Girl With The Chewing Gum. I’m not going to try to explain it, check it out:Of course, Rob did this in 2012: Read the rest

Oh yes.“I woke up this morning with an inexplicable and powerful need to make a tiny paper bag,” says IMGURian @thejeshire.More:I did not question this Quest From The Beyond, I merely performed the task which I was assigned, with much enthusiasm. Behold: T I N Y B A GI'm pleased as punch y'all appreciate tiny things as much as I doT I N Y B A G Read the rest

Whether you're looking to create perfect portraits or amazing artwork, if your medium is digital, you know you absolutely must have Photoshop to do your best making. So if you've been putting off really mastering the various techniques, tools, and styles it offers for your craft, now is a great time to make it happen. Taking the time to learn these skills will not only help you fill the hours in your stuck-at-home days but also give you something to focus on other than your news feed.Once you've worked through the 218 lessons in this 8-course Adobe Photoshop Retouching Certification online training, you'll be able to create stunning portraits and beauty shots like a pro. The 19 hours of instruction are provided by Marcin Mikus, a professional retoucher specializing in fashion, beauty, and commercial work who's been teaching these techniques for years with a 4.3-star rating from 250K+ students.You'll learn how to retouch quickly, the right way, the first time. Some of the topics covered include retouching skin, lips, makeup, stretch marks, underarms, clothes, and hair; dodge and burn—one of the most common beauty magazine techniques; and high-end beauty retouching using high-quality images from fashion photographer Dominika Jarczyńska.In addition, there are specialized courses that focus on niches like making dramatic, breathtaking black-and-white photos; the highly detailed work of hair retouching; outdoor photography; and professional lifestyle photo retouching for commercial use—a great way to turn your passion into a career or side hustle. There's even an advanced studio portrait course for taking your skills to the next level to make your images stand out from the crowd. Read the rest

Haters gotta hate right?SPLC:Michael Hill has no intention of letting a global pandemic cancel plans for the League of the South’s annual conference.The 68-year-old Hill, president of the League, posted the following to the group’s website March 18.“At present, we are doing more than simply ‘monitoring’ the situation. We are actively making plans and raising funds to help our members who are in financial straits, and we are moving ahead with our plans for upcoming events, including our 2020 national conference in late June.”Hill’s decision goes against the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) recommendations against gatherings of more than 10 people. Older adults in particular are likely at higher risk for the disease, the CDC notes. The average age of the League’s state chairmen and national staff is roughly 57. Read the rest

No, that isn't a deepfake. In 1973, the stock market crashed and an Arab oil embargo resulted in a gas crisis. With that as the context, the (false) rumor of a toilet paper shortage emerged from and spread like wildfire via news outlets and then was fueled by Johnny Carson (who later apologized). It's a fascinating story of shortage psychology and panic buying . From Priceonomics:In November of 1973, several news agencies reported a tissue shortage in Japan. Initially, the release went unnoticed and nobody seemed to put much stock in it -- save for one Harold V. Froelich. Froelich, a 41-year-old Republican congressman, presided over a heavily-forested district in Wisconsin and had recently been receiving complaints from constituents about a reduced stream of pulp paper. On November 16th, he released his own press statement -- “The Government Printing Office is facing a serious shortage of paper” -- to little fanfare. However, a few weeks later, Froelich uncovered a document that indicated the government’s National Buying Center had fallen far short of securing bids to provide toilet paper for its troops and bureaucrats. On December 11, he issued another, more serious press release:“The U.S. may face a serious shortage of toilet paper within a few months...we hope we don’t have to ration toilet tissue...a toilet paper shortage is no laughing matter. It is a problem that will potentially touch every American.”In the climate of shortages, oil scares, and economic duress, Froelich’s claim was absorbed without an iota of doubt, and the media ran wild with it. Read the rest

The correct procedure is to have two of these open and playing simultaneously, offset from one another but equally loud, both completely lost in a vast ocean of tabs, while trying to read an article about the British Prime Minister's top aide cluelessly suggesting that "herd immunity" would save Britain and "if a few pensioners die then so be it." It won't; they will; but the unicorns are still dancing. [via]of course the whole herd immunity bollocks was Dom Cummings. of *course* it was. pic.twitter.com/XuK85UnI6G— tyron, the creator (@TyronWilson) March 22, 2020 Read the rest

Jim Henson's "The Coffee Break Machine" (1967), a skit in an IBM training film, was the first appearance of a proto-Cookie Monster, then green, who evolved from a puppet named the Wheel-Stealer. (A slightly different version of the clip appeared on the Ed Sullivan show that same year.) From the Muppet Wiki:A proto-Cookie Monster wanders upon a talking coffee machine that has been set in "Auto-Descriptive" Mode. As the machine describes its parts, the monster eats them. Once the machine is finished, the voice of the machine from inside the monster tells him that he has activated the anti-vandalism program, which harbors the most powerful explosives known to man. The monster instantly combusts. The version on the Ed Sullivan Show is slightly different; in this version, the machine itself is an explosive device.(r/ObscureMedia) Read the rest

The Winchester Mystery House is a fantastic California landmark, a monument to firearms heiress Sarah Winchester's near-unlimited funds and her manic desire to build a home to confuse the ghosts a haunting her.Take the tour. Read the rest

This is a java sparrow that's learned to ride a tiny skateboard.Image: YouTube Read the rest

My only complaint about Pixar's new film Soul is that is doesn't come out until June 19. Here's the description:Joe Gardner is a middle-school band teacher who gets the chance of a lifetime to play at the best jazz club in town. But one small misstep takes him from the streets of New York City to The Great Before – a fantastical place where new souls get their personalities, quirks and interests before they go to Earth. Determined to return to his life, Joe teams up with a precocious soul, 22, who has never understood the appeal of the human experience. As Joe desperately tries to show 22 what’s great about living, he may just discover the answers to some of life’s most important questions. Featuring the voices of Jamie Foxx, Tina Fey, Phylicia Rashad, Angela Bassett, Ahmir Questlove Thompson, Daveed Diggs, “Soul” is directed by Academy Award winner Pete Docter (“Inside Out,” “Up”), co-directed by Kemp Powers (“One Night in Miami”) and produced by Academy Award nominee Dana Murray (Pixar short “Lou”). Globally renowned musician Jon Batiste will be writing original jazz music for the film, and Oscar-winners Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (“The Social Network”), from Nine Inch Nails, will compose an original score that will drift between the real and soul worlds. Read the rest

Black Mesa is a reimagining of the original Half-Life game, in development for years and published by Valve itself on Steam. For fans of the series, the trailer above offers plenty of chills; it's not simply a remake in Source engine form, but an licensed-but-unofficial reboot with all the best bits and new material besides. Read the rest

Gonna sing this while I wash my hands. Read the rest

ついに立体的に動いて見える錯視が完成しました。キューブが回転して見えますね？止まっています pic.twitter.com/nyyWdr5O1E— じゃがりきん (@jagarikin) February 14, 2020On Twitter, @jagarikin posted this fantastic example of the "reverse phi illusion." Press play above. The boxes aren't actually rotating. I promise. From SoraNews24:In very simplified terms, when our eyes see sudden transitions from either light to dark or dark to light, our brains perceive it as motion happening. Take yet another look at @jagarikin’s GIF, and you’ll notice that the edges of the cubes’ blue frames have a sliver of color to them. Sometimes they’re white, sometimes they’re gray, and sometimes they’re black, and as they’re cycling from one to the next, the video’s background is doing the same thing, and the result is the illusionary “rotation” of the cubes.For more on the reverse phi illusion: "An optical illusion called 'reverse-phi motion' helps explain how we view moving objects, Stanford scientists find" Read the rest

I took these from the incredible footage of Roger Stone struggling to contain his rage at a deposition, as published by Politico. The full context does not make it less bizarre or feral; Stone long ago entered the kingdom of the unwell, but rarely is he so adeptly prodded into revealing himself as he is. Read the rest

I need a theory of semantics that accounts for this pic.twitter.com/PQjKV0bSSO— Joshua Raclaw (@joshraclaw) February 28, 2020Ignore the fact that only 9 percent of the items on the Fish and Chips menu here include both fish and chips, I'm still trying to figure out the costs. Chips seem to add £1.90 to every other Fish & Chip option (regardless of its fishiness), but if you order chips without the chips, then they only cost £1.90 — yet, if you add chips to your chips (which is presumably one whole order of chips, rather than 2), then it only adds £0.50 to the standard cost that you would otherwise pay for the null set of chips.Am I doing this right?Top Image: LearningLark / Flickr (CC 2.0) Read the rest