Apparently enough people weren't smart enough to appreciate a $1000 wireless teapot that only accept proprietary tea bags. After blowing through $12 million (in a Series A round led by Translink Capital) and spending three years trying to persuade tea drinkers to ditch their dumb teapots for one that uses an algorithm that "masterfully accelerates and extracts desired sets of flavor compounds while suppressing the extraction of undesired compounds," Teforia (pronounced tay-foria) is calling it quits.In letter similar to the one sent by Juicero's CEO to drinkers of overpriced juice, Teforia CEO expressed disappointment that people just didn't get it:

This red-and-white designer casket spotted by several people in New York City is real, but is it authentic? There is a Louis Vuitton X Supreme line after all.https://twitter.com/donetodeath/status/923681880607780865That hearse and casket should be driven right into this totally legit carport.Thanks, Greg!(The loop)

The Degenderettes, who describe themselves as a "friendly international feminist & genderqueer agitprop club," have created a badass line of patches and merit badges that leave the guesswork out of pronoun identification. However you may identify, they probably have a patch for you.In order to procure one of these badges -- which are crudely embroidered on "dumpstered" fabric -- you first must make a selection on their "Income-Category-Adaptive Pricing Schedule," as follows:Yup, people who don't identify as men are charged less. That means if a patch is $5, women are only charged $3.95. That's 79 cents to the dollar, ie. the current wage gap that exists between men and women in the United States. Folks who identify as Non-Binary Gender pay $3.50 for that same patch, and People of Color pay $4.50. As you can see from the pricing schedule, there is a way to earn patches. Their Facebook page shares that those "who stand up to the Gender Police" can win them.This Mask Magazine interview with Scout, one of the group's founding members of the San Francisco chapter, sheds some light on this process:

Newer browsers notify users when a login form will be sent over an insecure connection. But some websites are replacing password boxes with plain text inputs to avoid triggering the warning – and using a special font, where all the characters are circles, to fool their users.Troy Hunt makes an example of ShopCambridge.ca:https://twitter.com/troyhunt/status/925462678516019200?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.troyhunt.com%2Fbypassing-browser-security-warnings-with-pseudo-password-fields%2F

On their last day at Twitter, an outgoing employee shut down Donald Trump's account. It was dead for a few minutes, the internet exploding in shock and vain hope. Then someone restored it.https://twitter.com/TwitterGov/status/926267806261407744?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.com%2Fnews%2Fworld-us-canada-41854482The few, whose understanding of free speech is limited to a formless, angry entitlement to the accounts they are given on privately-owned media company websites, think Trump was censored.The many know a hero when they see one.

Former Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Donna Brazile has published an excerpt from her forthcoming book, confessing that the scandal-haunted, disgraced former DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz "let Clinton's headquarters in Brooklyn [manage the Democratic Party] it desired so she didn't have to inform the party officers how bad the situation was." (more…)

Joe Ricketts, Trumpist founder of TD Ameritrade and owner of DNAinfo (which acquired Gothamist and the other -ist) sites, has shut down all Gothamist and related properties following a unionization vote by his employees. (more…)

Longtime Boing Boing friend Adam Savage is best known as the guy behind tested.com and the co-star of TV's beloved 'Mythbusters.' He's also a Boing Boing TV guest and fellow nerd traveler we've admired since our 'zine days.Adam is teaming up with YouTube star Michael Stevens (Vsauce) for 'Brain Candy,' a live touring explodey sciencey show that promises “crazy toys, incredible tools and mind-blowing demonstrations for a celebration of curiosity that’s an interactive, hands-on, minds-on theatrical experience like no other.”(more…)

Eight current or former "House of Cards" employees claim they were sexually harassed and/or physically sexually assaulted by Kevin Spacey.(more…)

A gentleman from Hawaii sent his ex-girlfriend 144 nasty texts and phone messages within 1 1/2 hours, violating a court order from last February that blocked him from having contact with her. As part of his punishment, he now must send her 144 compliments, and none of them can be the same. “No repeating words,” the judge said.Daren Young, 30, also spent 157 days in jail, was fined $2,400, and ordered to serve 200 hours of community service.According to Mashable:

After hunting for two years, collector Austin McConnell found a 1940s Monopoly set that gives us a hint of what wartime was really like.Manufacturing Monopoly during WWII wasn't easy, as materials were scarce and the cost to produce such a game was extremely high. In fact, the supply scarcity was the catalyst to John Waddington Ltd's Monopoly War Time edition. Take a look at the quality of the game in this video – the game pieces (the hat, car, horse, etc) were cheap cardboard cutouts mounted on small crude wooden blocks, the dice were replaced with a cardboard spinner, and the real estate cards and money were printed on really cheap stock. The set came with an apology note for the game's poor quality. I wouldn't have thought a video about Monopoly could be that interesting, but McConnell's presentation is fascinating.

The release of 2,800 previously classified documents on the killing of president John F. Kennedy has prompted this week’s tabloids to fresh heights of fantasy.JFK assassin Lee Harvey Oswald “worked for CIA!” screams this week's National Enquirer cover, claiming a “world exclusive” revealing details of a shocking memo. There’s only one small problem: this document, purportedly from CIA director John McCone to Secret Service chief James Rowley, has been circulating since the 1990s has been long discredited as a forgery, and is scorned even by most conspiracy theorists. It’s a “world exclusive” nobody else would touch.Sister magazine the Globe also ignores the newly-released documents, instead claiming that “Secret KGB Files Reveal Russian Spy Killed JFK!” Kennedy was reportedly assassinated “by a Soviet spy surgically enhanced to be a dead ringer for Lee Harvey Oswald.” Setting aside the question as to why the Kremlin wouldn’t surgically alter an agent to look like someone who actually had access to the president, the Globe story admits to highly dubious sourcing: the information purportedly comes from secret Russian files seen by an unnamed KGB agent in the 1980s or 1990s, who relayed this information to unnamed sources, who eventually told the Globe. What more proof could you ask for?“The real Oswald was in Russia when Kennedy was killed in Dallas in 1963,” claims the mag. “He was murdered soon afterward.” Well, that explains everything.The Globe is hardly on firmer ground with its exclusive exposing “Kim Jong-Un’s Plot to Snatch Jennifer Aniston.” Evidently the North Korean leader plotted to kidnap the Friends star during her visit to Paris, “and keep her as his Hollywood bride,” according to an unnamed source. Kim reportedly “farmed out the kidnapping job to a group of ex-KGB operatives” but they found Aniston’s “security was tight,” “and her husband was almost constantly at her side.” Sounds to me like the ex-KGB agents weren’t really trying very hard.The tabloids are more at home reporting on the weight battles of the stars: as ever, Hollywood celebrities are either too fat or too thin. Singer Rhianna’s weight is “exploding” and she “has to expand closets to fit plus-size duds” claims the Enquirer.Meanwhile, Jack Nicholson has had “secret stomach surgery” according to the Enquirer, because a recent photo of the “360-lb legend” exposed a view of his belly with a barely visible faded mark above his navel, which is all the proof the mag needs to declare that he “has undergone hush-hush gastric bypass surgery.” Hush-hush? Since when does anyone ever gleefully publicize that they’re having gastric bypass surgery? It’s not even clear that the feint mark on his abdomen is the result of surgery, and not just a fading scratch from his pet cat, or a lipstick stain.You just can’t win with the tabloid weight police, who make clear that losing weight can be bad too. Actress Gabourey Sidibe has lost 100 pounds, according to the Enquirer, but it “may be too late!” Too late for what? “She’s still a ticking time bomb,” the rag says, finding a tame doctor to opine: “Her obesity put her at risk of at least 65 different illnesses.” Only 65?Comedy star “Chevy Chase Is Wasting Away!” having "dropped an unhealthy 50 pounds in just a few months,” claims the Globe. Who needs a medical diagnosis when Chase has “friends” who are “worried sick that his health has deteriorated to the point where me may need a liver transplant.” Because unnamed friends are always best qualified to diagnose liver problems.The Globe cover story is inexplicably “Dying Camilla Plans Own Funeral!” which is hard to comprehend on so many levels. Do Camilla’s funeral plans really trump the Globe claim that the KGB killed JFK? If she is dying (a highly dubious proposition, though bound to be correct eventually) is it shocking that she would plan her funeral? Supposedly Camilla wants a “funeral fit for a queen,” and has left details of Royal “scandals and secrets” with lawyers, to be exposed if her funeral is down-sized. Right. Attorneys are joined in blackmailing the Royal Family. Makes perfect sense.Us magazine takes us inside Sandra Bullock’s “private world,” which amounts to an unnamed source – almost certainly another parent at her children’s school – revealing that Bullock and her boyfriend take turns dropping her kids off at school, and co-hosted a theme party for other parents. The list of restaurants where they’ve dined could have come from any paparazzi. Otherwise, Bullock’s "private world" stays private.People magazine devotes its cover to the year-old story of California mother Sherri Papini’s 22-day disappearance and troubling explanation of her alleged kidnapping. “Authorities admit they have little new to go on,” reports the mag, which nevertheless gives up five pages to this “abduction mystery.” No doubt the fact that she’s a pretty white blonde had nothing to do with this editorial decision.Fortunately we have the crack investigative team at Us magazine to tell us that Marion Cotillard wore it best – though after spending $5,055 on a Halpern sequined top and trousers, how happy can she have been to see Katy Perry, Rita Ora and Cardi B all wearing the identical ensemble? The Us sleuths also inform us that singer Jessie James Decker has a “major alligator and crocodile phobia,” that actress Sarah Wayne Callies keeps designer sunglasses, a cashmere scarf and a 20-year-old Nalgene bottle in her Dr Martin tote, and that the stars are just like us: they eat at work, redecorate their homes, and go through airport security. Startling, as ever.For the week’s really big news we have to turn to the National Examiner, which reports that the hotel where The Shining was filmed “really is haunted,” and produces a photograph to prove it: a murkily dark image of a room with two indistinct blurry light spots that could be anything from dirt on the lens to light refraction. Or, as the Examiner concludes: “Eerie tourist photo captures two ghostly girls!” It’s great that we have the journalistic expertise of the Examiner to determine the gender of these smudges on the image.The Examiner also reveals that a “Handful of Bigfoots” are “running wild” in California. Evidently “five of the creatures” have been spotted by “a farmer identified only as Keith.” The Examiner includes a photo of Keith, but somehow can’t discover his last name? Keith evidently told his story to “paranormal investigator” Jeffrey Gonzalez, even providing photographic evidence – a blurry image of a distant tall figure that can generously be described as inconclusive. Gonzalez told Keith’s story to a local Fox news station, lending it the imprimatur of accuracy and reliability for which Fox is famed. So it must be true.Onwards and downwards . . .

Registered child sex offenders in the US are about to have their passports revoked. Their new passports will require a “unique identifier" printed on the inside of the back cover that reads, “The bearer was convicted of a sex offense against a minor, and is a covered sex offender pursuant to (U.S. law).”The passport requirement is part of the "International Megan's Law," which passed last year.According to AP, this new law "aims to curb child exploitation and child sex tourism."Registered child sex offenders will still be able to travel out of the US, but may not be accepted into the country they are traveling to.

After a 21-year-old Pakistani woman was forced by her family to marry a relative, she and her boyfriend plotted to poison her new husband with a tainted glass of milk. But the plan backfired, and she accidentally killed 17 relatives instead.Before her arranged marriage in September, she had begged her parents to cancel the wedding, and said she'd do anything to get out of it. Unfortunately, and unbeknownst to her parents, that included murder.According to The Washington Post:

A new scanning technique has revealed what scientists believe is an empty space within the Great Pyramid at Gizeh. While it might be an architectural feature intended to limit the load upon the hallway beneath it, it could be a huge room. They also detected a smaller void at a different spot in the pyramid.

New to the Boing Boing Store, the Reactive JavaScript Course & eBook Bundle will teach you how to build web apps using one of the most important programming languages on Earth.This collection of videos and reading material will help you write JavaScript the right way. With online courses devoted to the Angular 2 framework, and eBooks for React and NodeJS, you’ll learn a host of relevant software development techniques.Here’s what’s included:Mastering JavaScript: A 4-hour foundation in Javascript and object-oriented programming.JavaScript Design Patterns: Discover tried-and-true structures for building apps.Reactive JavaScript Programming: Study reactive programming for smooth, dynamic UIs.Mastering MEAN Web Development: Dive into MongoDB, Express, AngularJS, and Node.js with this introduction to the MEAN stack.Angular 2 Deep Dive: Develop some more advanced framework knowledge in 3 hours.React and React Native eBook: Explore Facebook’s React library and use it to make mobile apps.Angular 2 Cookbook eBook: Supplement your video courses with Angular reference materials.Node Cookbook eBook: Get familiar with server-side Javascript.You can get the Reactive JavaScript Course & eBook Bundle for $29 today.

As Volkswagen's murderous Dieselgate scandal has unfolded, the company has steadfastly maintained that even if it did kill thousands of people with its toxic cars, at least it pays its taxes. (more…)

West coast ice creamery Salt & Straw isn't encouraging anyone to give up their Thanksgiving day meal, but they are making a version that is cold and creamy to ingest.For the month of November, you can order their five-pint "Thanksgiving Dinner of Ice Cream Series," as follows (descriptions via Los Angeles Magazine):

A Dutch filmmaker made a touching time-lapse video that journeys through his daughter Lotte's entire childhood, from birth to age 18.Frans Hofmeester shared his "Portrait of Lotte, 0 to 18 years" on YouTube Friday in celebration of her birthday. The video's description reads:

Pawel Zadrożniak's Floppotron is back. This time his "computer hardware orchestra" is tackling the Ghostbusters' theme song. I think even Ray Parker Jr. would approve.(Sploid)Previously: The Floppotron: reclaimed computer hardware as a musical instrument

In 1987, a company called Forethought, founded by two ex-Apple marketing managers, rolled out PowerPoint and business meetings have never been the same since. Over at IEEE Spectrum, David C. Brock tells the story:

This little Anker USB hub is great for travel. It turns one USB port into four, so you can connect phones, memory sticks, microphones, and USB headsets into it. (It's not externally powered, so you can't run disk drives from it.) At $10 on Amazon, it's a good deal for people who travel with a lot of gadgets (like me).

CNN and various UK media are reporting that a black taxi cab mounted the pavement in London, injuring multiple people. Police are on site, and roads are blocked to traffic and pedestrians.(more…)

The good-natured prankster group Improv Everywhere had some fun a few Sundays ago when they converted Manhattan's 6-train glass elevator at 23rd street into a fake Apple store. They told people it was a pop up to replace the iconic glass Apple store which is closed for renovations until early 2018.From YouTube:

In the vacuum of space, there's no way for sound to travel. But that doesn't mean space is silent. Spacecraft capture radio emissions that can be converted into sound we can hear. Indeed, NASA recently posted a fantastic collection of space audio on Soundcloud and it's wonderfully haunting:Here are descriptions of some of the recordings:

Keith Wilder, singer for 70s funk powerhouse Heatwave, died on Sunday at age 65."From Heatwave is your heart," Wilder once said. "If your music is where your heart is, and you put your whole heart into, it will come out the way your heart is as a person and a human being... We kept our music in a vein that also was a pure, clear picture and representation of what we were like, and what we were about. And we kept our music that way... We just kept it real and kept it pure."(Rolling Stone)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bN1ipXcJG6Qhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAClAa1MaqM

As part of Daren Young's sentencing for violating his ex-girlfriend's protection order, Wailuku, Hawaii, judge Rhonda Loo ordered the man to to write down 144 "nice things" about her to match the 144 "nasty" texts he had sent her previously. From Hawaii News Now:

Huckabee-Sanders smirks and walks off after being repeatedly asked if "this administration thinks slavery is wrong?" by journalist April Ryan.In support of White House Chief of Staff Kelly's repetition of erroneous racist talking points about the American Civil War, the White House has said it is "disgraceful" to question Kelly's comments.I hope April Ryan, and every other journalist not sent to that room by Rupert Murdoch, keeps asking.

A year ago, the AI Now Institute released its inaugural report on the near-future social and economic consequences of AI, drawing on input from a diverse expert panel representing a spectrum of disciplines; now they've released a followup, with ten clear recommendations for AI implementations in the public and private sector. (more…)

Bonhams is auctioning off one of the lightsaber props used in Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983). This is one of three lightsabers used in my favorite scene from the film, when R2D2 launches it into the air for Luke to catch as he flips into the air above the Sarlacc's pit (watch below). The lightsaber goes on the auction block November 21 and is expected to fetch as much as $250,000. From Bonhams:

At attorney general appointee Jeff Sessions January confirmation hearing, Senator Al Franken asked him, “If there is any evidence that anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign communicated with the Russian government in the course of this campaign, what will you do?”Sessions, who was sworn in, said, “Senator Franken, I’m not aware of any of those activities. I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I didn’t have -- did not have communications with the Russians, and I’m unable to comment on it.”It appears the Sessions committed perjury. From New Republic:

Get insured, folks: just because the Trump administration is doing everything it can to take away healthcare from millions of Americans (including refusing to tell anyone that enrollment is open!), doesn't mean you have to go along with it. Pass it on!

London galleries -- and some US dealers -- have been hit by a rash of electronic thefts by crooks who take over the gallery's email accounts and interrupt the transmission of invoices at the close of high-ticket sales, substituting fake invoices with throwaway bank accounts that close up and disappear after the money lands -- then the crooks stay in the email, interrupting "where's my money" emails and sending back fake replies assuring the galleries that the "buyer" is doing all they can to locate the rogue payment. (more…)

It's been 15 years since Sony used the DMCA to shut down the community that had sprung up to extend the functionality of its Aibo robot dogs, threatening people with lawsuits and jailtime for modifying their dogs' operating systems. (more…)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upsq8rmM5ZkJust look at it.(Thanks, Mom!)

Two brothers want to settle a disagreement by hitting one another, but their peace-loving dog spoils it.

https://youtu.be/zQfUUTyyTdgSalvinia is a hard-to-get-rid weed from Brazil that's been called a "lake killer" in Texas, where it was introduced in 1998. It literally chokes lakes by covering their surface. Volunteers are now breeding a "large army" of Salvinia-loving weevils to combat the problem.

Another day, another Hollywood "missing stair" exposed: this time Brett Ratner, in the LA Times.

(more…)

I just came across the Münkstein collection of modern-day beer mugs and steins. I was particularly taken by their Lucha Libre stein. Why? Because its art pops when you view it with ordinary red-and-cyan 3D glasses (which are included in the sale price of $56).It's designed by Dr. Alderete (whose art you should definitely check out):

In 1835, a Native American woman was somehow left behind when her dwindling island tribe was transferred to the California mainland. She would spend the next 18 years living alone in a world of 22 square miles. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll tell the poignant story of the lone woman of San Nicolas Island.We'll also learn about an inebriated elephant and puzzle over an unattainable test score.Show notesPlease support us on Patreon!

Remember when MTV was quirky and cool?Well, it was. In fact, in 1984, MTV asked Elvira, the legendary Mistress of the Dark, to host a six-hour special on Halloween night.** That special was titled, "Elvira's MTV Halloween Party" and looking at it now, it seems so experimental, like the theater kids were let loose in a TV studio, and I mean that as a good thing.Forces of Geeks writes:

The driver of a Home Depot truck who plowed into people in a Lower Manhattan bike lane today is said to have shouted 'Allahu Akbar' while he killed them.(more…)

https://youtu.be/8HUVuycpaiYReuleaux Triangle Intermittent Pins Mechanismhttps://youtu.be/Le-PVXUCl0MGeneva Mechanismhttps://youtu.be/QxmV71ykN6EReuleaux triangle intermittent mechanismhttps://youtu.be/VbSL5W8Ua6MWalking Robot Mechanismhttps://youtu.be/jsxroTt9IhY[Fake] Perpetual Motion Mechanisms

"The Best Gravediggers in the World" is a short documentary about competitive gravedigging:

The Wine Of Sacred Purity Unicorn Wine Holder ($19.95, Amazon) holds only one bottle of wine, but it holds it very well."Add some falir [sic] to your kitchen by displaying your wine bottles in this holder," the marketing copy suggests. "Beware of knockoff imitation pieces sold by unlicensed sellers.""It's not all joy and rainbows," warns verified purchaser Jon Hanson. "I bought this unicorn thinking it would bring luck, joy and rainbows into my home. Instead he just sits there, staring through my soul with his cold black eyes, just daring me to steal his bottle.""Everything you could ever ask for in a creepy unicorn," counters My Name Here, a sentiment that Mir agrees with: "Such A Majestic Housewarming Gift."

Al Jourgensen may prefer to forget that he once cultivated an English accent and created this underground club hit, but on this day, we happily remember Ministry's "(Everyday Is) Halloween" from 1984. Above, a fan video cut up from horror films.

Directed by Noah Harris and animated by Nicos Livesey from character designes by McKay Felt and Rufus Dayglo, this meta-bit pixel masterpiece accompanies the latest single from Gorillaz.

What do computer programmers not want to code in?(more…)

Wim Kruiswijk of the Netherlands has been finding messages in bottles that have washed ashore at the Zandvoort coast since 1983. He now has 1200 of them in his collection, which is roughly 35 bottles a year! While this short documentary doesn't go into it, it seems that the coast of Zandvoort is known for its beach-combing discoveries. In fact, the local museum has a display of washed-up finds, including some message in bottles.