BBC Two has a new series called "Tribes, Predators and Me."It's described as follows:

London's Nova Victoria development includes two office buildings that just won the non-coveted Carbuncle Cup for the UK's ugliest building. Via BD magazine: (more…)

It happens all the time in movies, and it often looks easy. Modern homesteader Wranglerstar decided to try to cut a chain with an axe for himself. (more…)

The story goes that David Bowie wrote "Heroes," with Brian Eno, after spotting a couple kissing at the Berlin Wall. The couple was Bowie's producer and engineer Tony Visconti and his girlfriend Antonia Maass:

Paul McNeil just published his comprehensive typographical overview, The Visual History of Type. To celebrate, he also published a list of his six favorite faces for It's Nice That, starting with the first compact italic:

That revamped IT film is bringing clowns, downright terrifying ones, right back into the pop culture spotlight. One donut shop in Texas is leveraging the trend by offering a scary clown delivery service. On Monday and Tuesday, September 25 and 26, you can have Hurts Donut (great name!) in the Dallas suburb of Frisco do the dirty deed for you. And by "dirty deed," I mean "have an evil clown deliver your friends donuts."In an interview with Dallas area site GuideLive, Hurts Donut co-owner Kas Clegg denies the service was directly inspired by IT clown Pennywise, "We always try to keep up with the trends, and clowns are trending right now... We just love scary clowns."Have future enemies in the Frisco area? Call 469-214-8001 to schedule delivery. The clown delivery fee is $5 in addition to the regular delivery fee of $5. So, $10 plus whatever the donuts cost.The donut shop notes on Facebook, "If we have enough interest in surrounding communities, let us know in the comments below, we may pick a day for out of town clown deliveries as well!"Thanks, Chris!Previously: Steven King's "It" hurting the clown business

In an attempt to help Florida victims of Hurricane Irma fix damaged roofs, FEMA tweeted a sex hotline number that was only a couple of digits off from the roofing program’s actual phone number. The consumer affairs website, Consumerist, screen-grabbed the now-deleted tweet from the FEMA account. The agency tweeted the sex line’s 1-800-ROOF-BLU number instead of 1-888-ROOF-BLU for Operation Blue Roof in what could have only led to a series of unusual yet stimulating phone calls.FEMA’s Region 4 account has since added a new tweet with the correct number.Image: pxhere

This is an absolutely touching song. Randy Newman continues to wow.

Leland Melvin is the astronaut in that fabulous NASA photo with his two dogs. He is an engineer and former NASA education leader, and the author of 'Chasing Space: An Astronaut's Story of Grit, Grace, and Second Chances.' He shared this essay with friends today, and I thought you'd like to read it, too.—XJ(more…)

Farah Mendlesohn is one of science fiction's best-respected editors and critics, author of the indispensable Intergalactic Playground. (more…)

UK public broadcaster Channel 4 sparked a presswide panic with a story: "Potentially deadly bomb ingredients are ‘frequently bought together’ on Amazon." (more…)

He makes the scene when things look mean.

Who's paying for the attorneys representing President Donald Trump in the federal probe of Russian election interference? His legal defense is in part funded through a Republican Party account with a number of rich donors. Among them are a “billionaire investor, a property developer seeking U.S. government visas and a Ukrainian-born American who has made billions of dollars doing business with Russian oligarchs,” reports the WSJ.Oh, and there's a Rosneft connection, you Putin conspiracy hounds.(more…)

Don't you feel sorry for these ill-tempered, thin-skinned, diva-esque, impatient, abusive, screaming, swearing, blame-casting, highly-paid professional newsreaders?

Feels good, man.(more…)

Awooooooo!(more…)

My dog Zuul's hair is an impossible mess. Isle of Dogs spray on, leave in conditioner helps some.I've been trying all sorts of things to help keep my darling baby Zuul mat and tangle free. Her hair grows like raw cotton and requires more effort than a Great Pyrenees.Isle of Dogs sprays on, smells good and doesn't leave a greasy sheen. Her coat is not perfect, but she sure smells nice!I assume this is unrelated to Wes Anderson's Isle of Dogs.Everyday Isle of Dogs Silky Coating Dog Brush Spray, Jasmine Vanilla for Yorkies, Poodles and Tangle-Prone Hair, 8.4oz via Amazon

How did an Orange County preacher's warning that the world is ending tomorrow appear as an emergency broadcast alert on cable TV this week?The short answer is "Orange County." This chain-store ridden megalopolis is well-known as a California enclave for far-right screwballs, atavistic televangelists, and new age grifters. It's the home of the late Wally George, Russian useful idiot Dana Rohrabacher, and the Trinity Broadcasting Network.The long answer is not as clear. A media relations rep for Cox Communications offered a vague explanation: "The radio station that sent the alert didn't turn off their programming when the alert ended. For a short time, some heard programming that was on the radio." But that doesn't explain the "EMERGENCY ALERT" banner that accompanied the frantic, grim audio warnings, such as "realize this, that in the last days extremely violent times will come," and "the term means hard. Harsh. Hard to deal with. Vicious. Dangerous. Menacing."The warning seems to be related to the Planet X, or Niberu, conspiracy, which was started by a woman in Wisconsin named Nancy Lieder.From The Telegraph:

Housing costs Americans more than at any time in history, and it's only getting worse as foreclosures open the door to market-cornering by inconceivably vast hedge funds who buy all those "distressed properties" and turn then into bond-coupon factories where the rent ratchets higher and higher, well ahead of inflation, wages, or affordability. (more…)

This cat has trained its human to repeatedly push it across the floor.

Nuclear War Survival Skills is a guide to getting through the inevitable forthcoming nuclear devastation of America and the radioactive immolation of the last and greatest of human dreams. Written in 1986 by Cresson Kearny, it'll take you through everything from gathering food to the proper ventilation of backyard bunkers.

Lorraine Boissoneault (citing Anne Goldgar) writes that Tulip mania — the wild trade in Dutch tulips that ended with tulips worth more than mansions and a market meltdown illustrative of capitalism's flaws ‐ is mostly fable. Rather than a classic speculator-driven bubble that affected all levels of society, it was a fad among the rich of little economic consequence.

The most perfect lie in publishing, "This Page Intentionally Left Blank", is commonly to be found in books, manuals and tests. But also journals, curiously enough, a fact that is the subject of a paper published at Academia Obscura.

Citing its failure to disclose serious crimes and the use of "Grayball" software to evade regulatory oversight, London banned Uber today.https://twitter.com/TfL/status/911168235189489669The company has 21 days to appeal the loss of its license to operate cabs, during with Uber is permitted to continue doing business.

Estimating displacement ratesof copyrighted content in the EU is a 360,000€ study commissioned by the European Commission from the Dutch consulting firm Ecorys, whose mandate was to "research the effect piracy had on sales of copyrighted content" -- the report was completed in 2015, but never made public. (more…)

This is cool. "Boil the Frog" is a 2012 web app by Paul Lamere that creates a "seamless playlist between any two artists."

I don't go gaga over Star Wars merch like some folks do, but I can't help but appreciate this Chewbacca beanbag from PBTeen. It's pretty great, though for $279 it should probably include some eyes and a roar function.

Sit down, get comfortable -- yes, right there -- and enjoy "My Girl's Pussy."Hey now, get your mind out of the gutter. "My Girl's Pussy" is a song recorded in 1931 by bandleader Harry Roy and his orchestra, the Bat Club Boys.Ok, put your mind back in the gutter because this obviously isn't about cats. It's a dirty little ditty packed with double entendres.Here's a look at the suggestive lyrics:

In 2002, early bloggers started hunting for googlewhacks: "a pair of common words, like 'schadenfreude carburetor' that appear together on only one page in Google's index." (more…)

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That science-fiction extravaganza Dune allegorizes contemporary themes of imperialism, economic addiction to oil, and religious war is obvious. But it turns out that Frank Herbert's masterpiece owes much to one book in particular: Lesley Blanch's brilliant, half-forgotten Sabres of Paradise, about the warlords of the Caucasus, where Europe and Asia meet.

When I was a kid growing up back East, my parents would bring me to a place called Edaville Railroad. It's a theme park now but, back then, the main attraction was a train that went through a track in cranberry bogs. During the holidays, they turned those bogs into a sort of winter wonderland with bright lights and festive sculptures. Passengers were the audience, and the decorated bogs became a kind of "stage."I remember it being a lot of fun.Well, for three days in late August, a group of artists in Germany took this idea to a whole new and incredibly impressive level. I love this so much!Over 500 volunteers and residents in the "Bewegtes Land" art project entertained passengers with a super fun and quirky art performance, all happening along the train's nearly 19-mile route.Watch the video to see how they surprised their moving audience along the way.The route went from Jena to Naumburg, a quiet area in the Saale valley's countryside not known for tourists.All I have to say is that someone really needs to do a U.S. version of this. Pretty please.(TwistedSifter)

Australian-born artist Flynn Talbot is currently exhibiting Reflection Room, a large installation with cool and warm lights meant to evoke the sun setting on the ocean in his hometown of Perth. (more…)

Amazon is running a good deal on theseAC wall outlets with dual USB charging ports. It has 4.8-amp charging across the USB ports, which is plenty to charge most device. The regular price is $23, but you can get it for $17 with the promo code OPZ757GL. You will probably also need a wallplate like this one.

Lego's new Star Wars Millennium Falcon set is the largest model kit the company has ever sold. It contains 7,500 pieces and retails from Lego.com for $800. It's sold out for now though, but you can get one from a scalper on Amazon for $1,800. Or you can watch Benjamin Große's video above of him building the kit, 20 hours compressed to less than two minutes.

On Monday, the World Wide Web Consortium published EME, a standard for locking up video on the web with DRM, allowing large corporate members to proceed without taking any steps to protect accessibility work, security research, archiving or innovation. (more…)

This morning, Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker and Random Penguin announced that he's editing a series of anthologies of Black Mirror novellas; I'm writing one of the three stories for the first volume, along with Claire North, and Sylvain Neuvel. I'm pretty goddamned thrilled about this. (more…)

South Dakota Rep. Lynne DiSanto, the GOP's majority whip in the state house, is baffled as to why anyone would think her Facebook post of a meme showing a car running over protesters with the banner "All Lives Splatter" meant that she condoned running over protesters. The meme also said "Nobody cares about your protest. Keep your ass out of the road." She commented, "I think this is a movement we can all support. #alllivessplatter."She is probably just as baffled as to why her ass was fired, too. The Rapid City Journal reports she lost her position at Keller Williams Realty of the Black Hills, and The Argus Leader reports that Working Against Violence, Inc. cancelled DiSanto's speaking gig at an upcoming event.From Vice:

Pro skateboarders Amelia Brodka and Alec Beck first met at the Vans Combi Bowl skatepark in Orange, California. Beck's recent marriage proposal to Brodka at that same skatepark is absolutely wonderful. Their joy is infectious. (via r/MadeMeSmile)

Say you're worried that Equifax has just destroyed your life with its callous disregard for the dossier it compiled on you and your finance; maybe you'll contact an Equifax competitor like Experian and ask them to "freeze" your credit so no one can use that data to open a new account in your name. (more…)

A Morning Consult poll found that 47% of Republicans support making public four-year colleges and universities tuition free, a proposal made by Bernie Sanders during his 2016 campaign for the Democratic party nomination (45% of Republicans oppose the idea). (more…)

In 1978, Random House recalled the Woman's Day Crockery Cuisine cookbook because one of the recipes could apparently "cause a serious explosion." According to a statement from Random House, "If the recipe (for Silky Caramel Slices) is followed, the condensed milk can could explode and shatter the lid and liner of the crockery cooker." (Please, no Boston Marathon bomb jokes.) From a May 1978 article in the Chicago Tribune:

The King of Calypso and civil rights champion Harry Belafonte sings "Hine Ma Tov."Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZ-6kOxHklk&feature=youtu.bePie-hacking baker Jessica Leigh Clark-Bojin (AKA @thePieous) (previously), author of Pies Are Awesome Vol 1 "Pie-Modding": How to Epic-Up Store Bought Pies and Be the Hero of the Party, has been dabbling with "Piescrapers", "pie that are built 'up' using a series of engineering and baking tricks to enhance structural integrity and make tall pies stable, and delicious!" (more…)

A judge really threw the book at Los Angeles County probation officer Oscar Calderon Jr. He has to go to jail for a year for sexually assaulting girls in Camp Scudder in Santa Clarita on a regular basis since 2014. The girls told the court that their complaints to other officers about the assaults fell on deaf ears.From The LA Times:

(Gabriel Magallon via Laughing Squid)

Three former employees of advertising giant, and free maps, enterprise Google have filed suit against the giant for gender inequality and discrimination.Via itpro.co.uk:

The ZapCane comes complete with a flashlight, and a 1MM volt stun gun. It also supports you, as you walk.I was looking at canes, like you do when you have a bad back, and thinking "Maybe it is finally time for a sword cane?" or something along those lines. Then I saw the ZapCane.Complete with a handy flashlight in a fairly useless location to help you with the walking. The true charm of the ZapCane is its 1MM volt stun gun. The entire bottom extension of the cane becomes a highly unpleasant electrified surface.Why would someone need a ZapCane? In some really rough urban spots, people with impaired mobility may find it necessary to fend off attackers! Maybe you could use the ZapCane as a silly way to try and fend off a bear, before the bear eats your fucking face off.I am a huge fan of the fritz handle. It is the most comfortable for actually walking. Also notable, this cane is size adjustable without cutting.ZAP ZAPCANE Cane - 1 Millionv Stun Gun Walking Cane with Flashlight & Carrying Case via Amazon

Safari has blocked third-party cookies (used to track your behavior across multiple websites) since 2010, but the ad-tech industry has fired back with a bunch of covert tracking tools that watch you even if you've adopted privacy countermeasures; the latest version of Safari goes one better, deploying machine-learning to selectively block even more tracking technologies, while still preserving useful third-party cookies that help you stay logged in and do useful work across different sites. (more…)

Writer Matthew Treadwell recounts the time he and his wife were in rural Japan and missed the last bus to Haneda Airport. They were in danger of missing their plane. They flagged down a taxi but the driver said it was too far. To make matters worse, it started raining. Then a man came along and changed their luck.