Comedian Louis C.K. is helping get some eyes on a 2016 documentary that made a strong impression on him by making it available to download on his website for five dollars. The film is titled Check It and it follows the story of a gang of black gay and transgender youth living on the streets of Washington, D.C. He discovered the feature-length documentary, which was directed by Toby Oppenheimer and Dana Flor, just over a year ago through his friend Steve Buscemi who is the film's executive producer.C.K. writes:

A new film about artist Chris Burden comes out this year, which is the perfect reason to revisit one of his coolest later works: Metropolis II, filmed here by Henry Joost & Ariel Schulman.The sculpture took four years to build. Quoth the filmmakers:

It was a lovely weekend in New Jersey, and governor Chris Christie celebrated it by closing a popular beach, which he then subsequently occupied with his family. Then he lied about it, until drone footage proved it.

As immersive experiences continue to plant themselves firmly into popular culture, Icelandair has announced that it will present its own, titled "Opening Flight," as a way to celebrate its 80th anniversary.The show is being promoted by the airline as the world's first transatlantic immersive theater performance and will be presented in three acts, starting on September 8 from London:

Smoke-filled bubbles fall like fruits from an otherworldly tree in this beautiful installation titled New Spring. (more…)

The Huffington Post’s Black Voices breaks down a disturbing new report from Georgetown Law’s Center on Poverty, which found that adults believe black girls seem older and less innocent than white girls of the same age and that this disparity starts as early as five years old. To conduct the study, researchers surveyed 325 adults from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, many of whom had a high school diploma or higher. As HuffPost explains:

I work at home, alone for the most part, which means I rarely have the opportunity to be involved in a good brainstorming session. That's a shame because I absolutely love the process. One idea leads to another one and suddenly the room is filled with amazing creative energy and things "to do."So, as you can imagine, I thought it was cool to see this list come up in my feed, design firm IDEO's seven "Brainstorming Rules":

The Monster Scouts are a wonderful thing: monster-obsessed makers who have created a collaborative, detailed, LARP-ish world in which monsters are real and an imaginary scouting organization called the Crow Scouts, founded in 1907, has operated for more than a century to help our monster friends. (more…)

If big-game bow hunting sounds a little too intense for your delicate sensibilities, or you want to start building your kids’ archery proficiency early, this Real Action Crossbow Set is a fairly convincing replica of the real thing.The toy bow fires suction-cup tipped bolts up to 20 feet, so you can work on your marksmanship without riddling your living room wall with holes. It features a laser-equipped scope for maximum accuracy, and its camo paint job will ensure that nothing can see you hiding in the bushes. It’s an ideal weapon for taking down imaginary deer, and is the perfect finishing touch for a Rambo-Chewbacca Halloween crossover.Go hunting around the neighborhood with this Real Action Crossbow Set. You can get one here for $27.99.

In 1984, the Stasi -- East Germany's notorious secret police -- searched the flat of an auditor to determine if he'd leaked files that put the country in a bad light to Stern, a West German magazine, published in Hamburg. They recorded the clandestine search for posterity, and used it as the basis for a training video explaining to other secret police operatives how to search a dissident's home without alerting them that they were under suspicion. (via Grugq)

The US Department of Defense's 1033 program sends "surplus" military equipment to US police forces ("surplus" in quotes because military contractors lobby for the US military to buy more weapons than they need in order to feed materiel to the program), which has created a situation in which cops show up in their communities literally clad in the armor of an occupying army. (more…)

The Supreme Court of Canada just handed down a controversial ruling in which it ordered Google to block links to a page that was deemed illegal in Canada for every Google user, everywhere in the world -- asserting that the Supreme Court of Canada's jurisdiction extends to the end of the earth. (more…)

If there’s such a thing as a household name for networked home audio systems, Sonos is definitely at the top of the list. And for good reason—their products provide dead-simple wireless setup, with hi-fi speakers designed for a wide variety of interior spaces. But for anyone who doesn’t care about brand-name prestige, the QFX Elite Series offers a comparable experience for a smaller price. They’re available in the Boing Boing Store, with the entry-level Bach variant going for almost a quarter of the cost of its Sonos counterpart at $59.99.Like the Sonos Play:1, the QFX Bach puts out surprisingly loud, transparent sound via Bluetooth, or over your wireless network. Aside from significantly increasing range, its WiFi capabilities allow it to steal Sonos’ main party trick: the ability to connect multiple units together for synchronized music playback in multiple rooms. Each speaker in your network can be EQ’d separately for DIY surround sound, or work standalone with a physical analog connection for older gear.For a versatile home wireless speaker with nearly unlimited expandability, it’s hard to beat the QFX Elite Series for the price, starting at $59.99.

Youtuber Erica Hoff shares this video of a motorcyclist having a very bad day.

William Gibson's 1984 novel Neuromancer is far from forgotten; the times seem almost uncannily like an interregnum between the world he wrote in and the world he wrote. But the 1988 video game adaptation is another matter. [via]Mark Hill:

Gotta make 25 burgers for a whole bunch of tykes? Increase the speed and control the consistency of your burgers doneness with a grill press!This cast iron beauty will apply heat directly to the top of your burger, speeding its cooking and making it cook more evenly. Simply heat the press up on your grill before you start cooking, and put it on top of the meat, or veg, that you want to see finish up fast.I also use a press for making bacon completely flat, when I go full-on compulsive about my bacon.Update International New 8" Barbecue BBQ Grill Steak Weights via Amazon

In the New York Times, Katie Bienner relates a cultural shift in Silicon Valley: women victims of sexual harassment describing their experiences frankly. In an industry bound by delusions of meritocracy and egality, simply talking about it is radical.

Kevan Davis's Wikitext is an incredibly clever mashup of Wikipedia and Infocom-style text adventure games: starting with a random Wikipedia entry, it gives you the article summary, an 8-bit-ified version of the main photo, and "directions" to the articles referenced by the one you've landed on. (via Waxy)

Yesterday, MSNBC hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough were subject to typical (if unusually gross) insults from the President of the United States, leading to a standard round of milquetoast criticism from his fellow Republicans and futile rage from everyone else. But it's their claim that Trump tried to blackmail them through the threat of negative press coverage that's making news all around the world. Even the BBC has it as its top story.

Amazon has a good deal on these BBQ grilling mats. You just set them on the grill and place whatever it is you want to cook right on them. I like the charcoal flavor of steak and chicken, but it's hard to cook vegetables, because they tend to break and fall between the wires These mats prevent that from happening. A set of four costs $13.

Earlier this week we went to see a Los Angeles screening of Tickling Giants followed by a Q&A with Bassem Youssef, the subject of the film. The evening was presented by Ziya Tong's Black Sheep.Bassem Youssef, often called the “Jon Stewart of Egypt,” was a prominent heart surgeon who became the creator and host of the Egyptian late-night comedy TV show Al-Bernameg (“The Show”), which began as an immensely popular YouTube channel. The live network show revolved around Bassem’s use of satire and sarcastic humor towards the corrupt and oppressive Egyptian government. As the only program on Egyptian television concerned with free speech and the voice of the people, “The Show” quickly rose in popularity and attracted 30 million viewers per show, significantly more than the 2 million who tuned in nightly to The Daily Show. Even though Bassem and the team behind the show were constantly living in fear that their jokes would put them in danger, they bravely continued to produce a show that criticized authority and the country’s politics. The satirical program ran from 2011-2014, until Egypt’s oppressive military regime made it impossible for the show to continue.Tickling Giants is a documentary based on Bassem Youssef, “The Show”, and their role in Egyptian culture. The film provides a detailed view of how Youssef “finds creative, non-violent ways to protect free speech and fight a president who abuses his power.”During the Q&A with Youssef following the documentary, Youssef shared experiences and advice not given in the documentary. When asked how the United States may be able to help Egypt, Youssef spoke about how change is a slow-moving, generational process. Following this answer, one woman asked how the United States can avoid an oppressive government and harmful media. Youssef explained that the U.S. has been practicing democracy for hundreds of years, but Egypt only had a three-year window where free speech and democracy could exist. Given its history, Egypt will likely remain under authoritarian government for the foreseeable future, but “The Show” proved that progress and equality are possible. As Youssef casually joked, “Egypt is North Korea with pyramids.” As for media and freedom in the United States, Youssef suggested not to focus on changing people's deeply rooted ideologies, but to encourage more advocates of equality and free speech to vote.Bassem Youssef now lives in Los Angeles and is unsure of what would happen if he returns to Egypt. He believes that exile is a state of mind and that Los Angeles is his new home, despite having to start his career from scratch.

Actress Patricia Arquette reacted to Trump's childish "bleeding badly from a face-lift" tweet yesterday with a cautionary tweet of her own: "Remove this tweet. There is a lot of gossip about you on the streets that hasn't been in the press-yet."According to The Wrap:

A German start-up has prototyped a bread oven that operated in microgravity that may someday enable astronauts to enjoy fresh-baked goods in space. Currently, astronauts eat tortillas because they aren't crumbly and have a long shelf-life. (See the below photo of a rather unappetizing tortilla cheeseburger on the International Space Station.) From Space.com:

Buzzsumo analyzed 100 million article headlines on Facebook and tracked how well they did in terms of shares.

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Katrina Onstad, author of a new book called The Weekend Effect: The Life-Changing Benefits of Taking Time Off and Challenging the Cult of Overwork says people usually feel better after a weekend of engaging in engaging social activities instead of binge-watching TV, loafing, and drinking. From Quartz:

Molly Sauter (previously) describes in gorgeous, evocative terms how the algorithms in our life try to funnel us into acting the way we always have, or, failing that, like everyone else does. (more…)

Dr. Justin Lehmiller answers the question "Why do men have nipples?" on his Sex & Psychology blog:For the first six weeks that we're in the womb, we exist in a gender neutral state, regardless of the chromosomes we carry. This means that each of us starts with the same set of bodily structures, which have the potential to develop toward either the male or female form depending upon what our genes and hormones direct them to do later on. It is during this neutral stage that the nipples begin to develop, which makes them a permanent structure that everyone is going to have for life, whether they are genetically male or female. The difference, of course, is that if you're a genetic female, you will eventually develop breasts, whereas if you're a genetic male, you won't.

Police in Washington state want to find a driver who shot a man Sunday, apparently under the mistaken belief he was abusing a dog. The victim was in fact dragging a dead raccoon down the highway.He's seen here in a video taken by another motorist who had similar concerns, but the wherewithal to ask questions first.

You'd think Goop, Gwyneth Paltrow's "lifestyle brand" for clean-freak whippies, and Infowars, Alex Jones' conspiracy compendium for seething fascists, wouldn't share much in common. But they both have exactly the same business model: selling wellness to people skeptical and fearful of mainstream medicine and healthcare. Nikhil Sonnad took a look at the ingredients on each site and found that it's all the same stuff.

Johnny FPV is a drone racer on the pro circuit. He took one of his drones out for a sunset spin in a construction site next to his hotel, and it's quite beautiful and thrilling. (more…)

Here's an immersive experience that you can truly, well, get immersed in: JAWS on the water. With dates from now until the end of July, you can watch any one of the Jaws movies while sitting on an inner tube on Lake Travis at Volente Beach Water Park in Leander, Texas.Cue the scary music...Duh nuh...Duh nuh...

In honor of Harry Potter’s 20th anniversary, the gentlemen of SORTEDFood concocted their own Butterbeer recipe, which is both sickly sweet and slightly alcoholic.

From The Dude’s White Russian to James Bond’s shaken martini, Binging with Babish demonstrates how to make six movie-inspired cocktails. He also recreates How I Met Your Mother’s magical hangover cure, which might not be so magical after all.

Faye Halliday recently started making variants of her intricate animal drawings with cut-out sections. She then held them up in beautiful locales to create a delightful effect. (more…)

While the Vienna Chamber Orchestra performed at an outdoor theatre in Çesme, Turkey recently, a stray Labrador wandered onstage and plopped right down. His surprise appearance garnered a bunch of applause and laughter from the audience but the musicians just kept doing their thing. The dog settled in quietly, right up front, as the orchestra started in on "Mendelssohn’s 'Italian' Symphony No.4." It couldn't have been scripted any better.(TO)Previously, on "stray dogs joining things": Stray dog joins Swedish adventure race and Stray dog joins cyclists on 1700km race

Steve Carell and Kristen Wiig are the latest celebrities to tackle the always-entertaining Wired Autocomplete Interview.

Designer nendo created these 50 manga chairs, inspired by animated variations on the theme of a canonical chair form. (more…)

Freeman Design crafted this gorgeous necklace and pendant inspired by the golden snitch, a ball used in quidditch in the Harry Potter books. This video shows that it holds a secret engagement ring. (more…)

The 2016 Hamilton mixtape invited musicians to remix songs from the musical’s cast recording and now one of the tracks has its own music video. “Immigrants (We Get The Job Done)” is performed by K’naan, Residente, Riz MC (a.k.a. Rogue One’s Riz Ahmed), and Snow Tha Product. And the video blends the song’s powerful pro-immigrant message with equally evocative visuals.https://youtu.be/6_35a7sn6dsThe video is part of the #Ham4All challenge, which sprung up around a Prizeo competition Lin-Manuel Miranda is running to raise money for the Immigrants: We Get the Job Done Coalition. For a $10 donation, fans can be entered to win VIP tickets to the opening night of Hamilton in Los Angeles. And Miranda is also encouraging entrants to upload a video of themselves singing a portion of the Hamilton cast recording and then challenge their friends to do the same.https://twitter.com/Lin_Manuel/status/879323738398916608Since then a whole bunch of celebrities have gotten in on the action too. For instance, young Beguiled actors Emma Howard, Oona Laurence, Angourie Rice, and Addison Riecke uploaded an adorable “Schuyler Sisters” music video featuring cameos from Nicole Kidman, Colin Farrell, Kirsten Dunst, and Elle Fanning.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZiK2PNdF9gTo see more videos from celebrities and non-celebrities alike, just search the #Ham4All hashtag on Twitter. You can enter the contest/make a donation via Prizeo.https://twitter.com/Lin_Manuel/status/880171589471543297

To celebrate Canada’s 150th anniversary, music producer Andrew Huang put together a surprisingly catchy track using the sounds of Canada (a.k.a. hockey sticks, maple syrup bottles, and bags of milk).

Heritage Auctions is selling off a super-rare original 1957 prospectus for the Haunted Mansion, prepared by Ken Anderson as a first approximation of what Disneyland's "spook house" might be. (more…)

Type designer Jonathan Hoefler's latest work, Inkwell, is a family of cute, hand-drawn imitations of distinctive type families of past and present. He fears that it will be compared to Comic Sans, popular with the people but reviled by the pros.

Holy smokes! Randee of the Redwoods and Pete and Pete? These are some of my favorite television personalities of all time!The Catskills sure have changed since my dad's day! Meltasia festival makes East Durham, NY the ultimate place to be on Earth this September 8th-10th. My spirit guide, Randee of the Redwoods, will be joined by Pete and Pete, the titular lead characters of of a mid 90s television program apparently targetted at surrealists and absurdists!There will be music as well!Check out Meltasia! Maybe you'll head for the Catskills!

The SCP Foundation features unsettling horror and SF stories, all posed as the technical reports of a secret international consortium whose job is to secure, contain and protect the public from all manner of weird threats, from unnatural beasties to sentient buildings. Written in the dry language of officialdom, they're the perfect short fiction for the internet-era and often extremely clever. I think this one about being trapped in an infinite IKEA, by Mortos, is my favorite yet.

Update: Zillow has dropped all its absurd copyright claims after hearing from EFF and McMansion Hell is coming back!The Electronic Frontier Foundation has published its letter to Zillow, explaining in eye-watering detail how wrong the company was to threaten the McMansion Hell blog over its use of realtors' glam-shots of shitty houses. (more…)

A mile-long island emerged from the sea 100 yards out from Cape Hatteras.

Here's a one-sentence synopsis for this interesting 5-minute cartoon guide to Stoicism: We can't control much of what happens around us or to us, but we can control how we respond and think about it.

Mail Me to the GOP is a new service that will ship your cremains to the GOP lawmaker of your choice after Trumpcare kills you. (more…)

After trying lots of different phone mounts for cars, the type I've settled on attaches to an air vent and has a magnet on it. You have to stick a thin metal plate on the back of your phone, but it's unobtrusive. Your phone won't slide off. This mount is by far the most convenient kind. Amazon has a sale again today on air vent magnetic phone mounts. This 2-pack costs $6.39 with free one-day shipping.