Children who end up caught in Chicago's policing and justice system are being outfitted with ReliAlert XC3 GPS ankle-cuffs supplied by the Track Group, who use them to log children's movements and to bark orders at them, as well as listening in on them. The children have to wear them 24/7 while on bail awaiting trial.The company claims that the recording function in the tracking anklets generates a notification every time it is used, but its own technicians have testified under oath that the listening function can be covertly activated. Track Group stores all recordings of its interactions with children indefinitely.The system illustrates the shitty technology adoption curve neatly: when we have a terrible idea for technology, we first inflict it on people who don't get to complain, until the edges have been sanded down enough to roll it out for everyone else. Kids are often shitty technology beta-testers, as are prisoners: kid prisoners are a match made in hell when it comes to shitty technology rollouts.The argument for ankle-cuffs (spy-mic'ed or not) is that it increases bail compliance, but there is no evidence to support that argument. 90% of people on bail return to court on the strength of a simple telephone reminder. Track Group is paid $3.68/day per child that they monitor. The company says that "out of an abundance of caution" they are disabling the recording feature pending a review.Chicago's policing and justice system are among the most corrupt in America. Violent, corrupt, racist cops act with impunity, their crimes covered up at the highest levels, and in the very rare circumstances that they are penalized for misdeeds, those penalties are usually secretly waived. Read the rest

One day, my children, all this will be yours.From The National Science Foundation: So how were scientists able to “see” the supermassive black hole at the center of the M87 galaxy 53 million light years away? ...It is still impossible to image the actual black hole (again, that intense gravity let’s nothing escape) so the data being collected is light from the material around the event horizon of the object — the “point of no return” of a black hole. What we are seeing is truly the silhouette of a black hole.This is what it is like to stare directly into the void. Read the rest

Jails around the country are replacing in-person visits with "video visitations," which means kids, parents, and spouses of inmates won't be able to see each other in real life, only through a small video monitor. This depressing photo is from GTL, who provides video-visitation services to prisons.It's not surprising to learn that families will have to pay a lot of money to use this degrading technology: "Video calls cost 40¢ per minute in Newton County, 50¢ per minute in Lowndes County, and $10 per call in Allen County," says Ars Technica. More from the article:So why are so many jails adopting them? A big motivator is money. In-person visits are labor intensive. Prison guards need to escort inmates to and from visitation rooms, supervise the visits, and in some cases pat down visitors for contraband. In contrast, video terminals can be installed inside each cell block, minimizing the need to move inmates around the jail.Video-visitation systems also directly generate revenue for jails. The companies behind the video calling products typically install equipment inside jails at no cost to taxpayers, charge high fees to family members, and then pay a large share of those fees back to the jail. Read the rest

Kirstjen Nielsen was Trump's DHS Secretary, where she oversaw the performatively cruel practice of separating thousands of children from their parents, in a calculatedly shambolic and chaotic way, ensuring that many of them will never be reunited with their families.Nielsen covered up this practice by repeatedly lying about it, delaying public action.Now, Nielsen has resigned her position, and it's likely that she will be recruited to a think tank, university center, or similar institution. These seem to have a bottomless appetite for welcoming in war criminals and liars who serve under Trump: remember when pathological liar and buffoon Sean Spicer was given a prestigious appointment at Harvard and then deferred to when he insisted that Chelsea Manning's similar appointment be revoked?Henry Farrell (previously) has created a public pledge: "If Kirstjen Nielsen gets a position at a think-tank, university center or similar, I will not participate on any panel that involves anyone from that think-tank, center or other institution. I will not participate in any event where the institution plays an organizing role, nor will I associate myself in any way that might reasonably be seen as providing active support for that institution."I've signed it.Actions have consequences. People who commit crimes against humanity should be shunned and excluded from polite society. Read the rest

This "Love dogs" artwork is available on tees and mugs. Graphic design is clearly somebody's passion! [Thanks, Heather!] Read the rest

Sarah Silverman is pretty much perfect. Read the rest

In this video, titled "Removing MARK ZUCKERBERG'S Plastic Surgery" in ironic reference to a genre of mean-spirited celebrity photoshopping, the Facebook founder's true face is finally revealed by PhotoshopSurgeon on YouTube. Read the rest

Python has quickly become the go-to programming language for coders working on big projects, and for good reason. It excels in automation, making any task easier and helping companies realize high-level concepts like AI. People who can wrangle Python into those areas are in high demand, and the easiest way to learn the upper echelons of Python's potential is the Python Master Class Bundle.Overall, this 10-course online package contains 58 hours of lectures and lessons. And while it starts at a beginner's walk-through, there are plenty of deep dives into Python's sexier applications. You'll learn how to use it in tandem with Flask for web development, and build your own games with the PyGame module. There are sections on graphing and data analysis, web programming, data mining - even an exhaustive course on machine learning.Separately, these courses add up to $1066, but there's a special Pay What You Want deal for the Python Master Class Bundle - just bid and beat the average price to take home all 10 courses, but all bids come away with something. Read the rest

Before Andy Kaufman played Latka Gravis on Taxi, he appeared in character on The Dating Game. Do you think he won the date?Via r/ObscureMedia Read the rest

Andreas Gal, former chief technical officer of Mozilla, filed a civil rights complaint against US Customs and Border Protection after he was detained in late 2018 for several hours at the San Francisco International Airport, interrogated, asked to unlock his devices, threatened with false criminal charges, and told he couldn't have a lawyer. He is a US citizen.From ZDNet:For the subsequent hours, three armed agents wearing bulletproof vests questioned the former Mozilla CTO about his trip, his current Apple employment, his past work at Mozilla, and his work as a privacy advocate.The interrogation and search took place just a week after Apple publicly confirmed plans to buy Silk Labs, the AI-focused startup that Gal started after he left Mozilla in 2015. But in an interview with ZDNet today, Gal said that agents focused their interrogation on other topics."I was asked at length about my work for Mozilla," Gal said. "Until this incident, I have never been questioned like this by the CBP in my life.""The only thing that changed recently is that I have spoken out against Trump administration policies, including immigration policies and CBP," Gal added. "I can't be sure which of these (or other) signals triggered the search, but it definitely has a chilling effect on free speech."The agents asked Gal to unlock his smartphone and laptop. He refused. From the ACLU website:After Dr. Gal made clear that he would not unlock his devices without first consulting with his employer and an attorney, a CBP officer stated that Dr. Read the rest

Here's an interview – or maybe a screen test, as it says on YouTube – of Bruce Lee from 1965. He was 24 at the time, with intelligence, high charisma and a sense of humor as he talks about majoring in philosophy, having a baby (Brandon), his time spent in Hong Kong, and, of course, his thoughts on martial arts. And then he demonstrates some Kung Fu moves, which, even while wearing a suit in a formal setting, is so fast he become a blur. No wonder he became the international star that he was.Via Reddit Read the rest

Airport and airplane food is usually bad, especially if you are on a low-carb diet. A lot of times I just won't eat anything at all from the time I arrive at the airport until I arrive at my destination hotel or Airbnb. But I also keep a few of these grass-fed beef bars from Mission Meats with me, which, unlike beef jerky, have no sugar. They taste good and one bar curbs my hunger for a long time. Read the rest

Jason got had by an April Fools joke, which is too bad cause this would have been good writing on the series.I have to admit I only watched the first season of Fuller House, but Bob Saget has always been a favorite of mine.ScreenRant:Following Lori Loughlin's arrest in Operation Varsity Blues, the actress was fired from Fuller House, leaving the fate of Aunt Becky up in the air. Now, Fuller House showrunner Steve Baldikoski has confirmed how writers plan to cut Aunt Becky and ensure executive producer John Stamos can still appear. After 28 years of marriage, Uncle Jesse and Aunt Becky will get divorced. Read the rest

I can't wait to make something out of wood using Matthias Wandel's ingenious solution to the greatest division in human society: the Metric and Imperial Unified Ruler.Metric people like nice convenient units, decimal, and being able to make easy calculations. Inches people like complicated fractional units. So I have come up with a new ruler to unite the two. It has nice millimeter and centimeter sized increments, but uses inches as the scale. I present to you, my new universal fractional ruler! The centimeter and millimeter sized divisions are labeled with fractional inch units. Not to be confused with fractional rulers [Amazon]; this is much more useish! Read the rest

Tourists in Iceland were frolicking near a lagoon that is accessible only with a guide, when part of a glacier broke off, causing them to make a run for it. According to YouTube, the person filming said, "This area is only accessible with mountain guides and everybody shown in the video had been previously instructed to immediately leave the beach if a calving occurs...Due to the sheer size and proximity it was a bit of a close call but everybody was safe and stayed dry.” It doesn't look like a "close call" when watching it on video, but the rolling waves it caused are amazing. Read the rest

The googler uprising continues: after forcing the company to kill its plans to launch a censored Chinese search-engine and its plan to sell AI technology to US drone systems, and forcing out execs who led these projects, and getting the right to sue the company over sexual harassment, more than 170 googlers have signed an open letter demanding that the company reverse its decision to add Heritage Foundation president Kay Coles James to its Advanced Technology External Advisory Council (ATEAC), an advisory body that provides moral guidance on AI and other technologies.The open letter cites the Heritage Foundation and James's personal advocacy for transphobic, racist, and anti-immigrant policies, noting that these views "directly contravene Google’s stated values" and should have no place on an external ethics advisory body, and that other members of the Council have quit in protest.Google has called James's appointment part of a commitment to "diversity of thought."I have signed the letter and so can you.In selecting James, Google is making clear that its version of “ethics” values proximity to power over the wellbeing of trans people, other LGBTQ people, and immigrants. Such a position directly contravenes Google’s stated values. Many have emphasized this publicly, and a professor appointed to ATEAC has already resigned in the wake of the controversy.Following the announcement, the person who took credit for appointing James stood by the decision, saying that James was on the council to ensure “diversity of thought.” This is a weaponization of the language of diversity. Read the rest

As I've mentioned every Read the rest

U.S. Department Of Energy Secretary Rick Perry gave “six secret authorizations by companies to sell nuclear power technology and assistance to Saudi Arabia,” Reuters reports, based on a copy of a document seen by reporters on Wednesday.“Many U.S. lawmakers are concerned that sharing nuclear technology with Saudi Arabia could eventually lead to a nuclear arms race in the Middle East,” Reuters reports:The Trump administration has quietly pursued a wider deal on sharing U.S. nuclear power technology with Saudi Arabia, which aims to build at least two nuclear power plants. Several countries including the United States, South Korea and Russia are in competition for that deal, and the winners are expected to be announced later this year by Saudi Arabia.Perry’s approvals, known as Part 810 authorizations, allow companies to do preliminary work on nuclear power ahead of any deal but not ship equipment that would go into a plant, a source with knowledge of the agreements said on condition of anonymity. The approvals were first reported by the Daily Beast.The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said in the document that the companies had requested that the Trump administration keep the approvals secret.“In this case, each of the companies which received a specific authorization for (Saudi Arabia) have provided us written request that their authorization be withheld from public release,” the NNSA said in the document. In the past, the Energy Department made previous Part 810 authorizations available for the public to read at its headquarters. Read the rest

Let's talk about the French Laundry's bong course. https://t.co/cSdEvoydR0 pic.twitter.com/G80R4u06Wm— Paolo Lucchesi (@lucchesi) March 26, 2019In a New York Times review of celebrity chef Thomas Keller's Manhattan eatery Per Se, critic Pete Wells described the mushroom soup "as murky and appealing as bong water." So now for special guests, Keller's legendary French Laundry restaurant in the Napa Valley serves their porcini mushroom broth out of a blue and green swirl glass bong. From a column by San Francisco Chronicle food critic Soleil Ho:After dinner, I emailed the French Laundry’s public relations people about the bong. In an email, they responded that it’s something Thomas Keller pulls out for restaurant industry folks because he knows we’d get a kick out of it. (This is true. And Keller knows me from a previous encounter during my past life as a New Orleanian line cook.)“It is clearly a tongue-in-cheek reference to past writing and is not on the menu,” they wrote, “but regularly prepared for guests as a fun item.” When I pressed them on where the bong was actually from — obviously not Riedel or Zalto — all they would say was that it was “hand blown by an artisan.” "The French Laundry’s bong course is a brilliant act of artistry" (SF Chronicle) Read the rest

In a statement announcing the official ban, Facebook says the ideologies are "inherently hateful."

AOC's two minute speech in response to Rep Sean Duffy's [R-WI] characterization of environmental concerns as a matter for coastal elites is inspired and heartfelt, and entirely on point: the people at greatest risk from environmental degradation are the poorest and most vulnerable in society, and moreover Duffy -- a wealthy lawyer and TV commentator -- has no business lecturing AOC (a working class New Yorker who was working in a taco joint a year ago and got her first-ever health insurance plan when she was elected to Congress) on what is and isn't of concern to working people. Duffy had said, "The Green New Deal is one that if you are a rich liberal from maybe New York or California it sounds great because you can afford to retrofit your home or build a new home that has a zero emissions, that is energy efficient, affordable and safe."To which AOC replied, "When we talk about the concern for the environment as an elitist concern, one year ago I was waitressing in a taco shop in downtown Manhattan. I just got health insurance for the first time a month ago. This is not an elitist issue. This is a quality of life issue. You want to tell people that their concern and their desire for clean air and clean water is elitist? Tell that to the kids in the South Bronx which are suffering from the highest rates of childhood asthma in the country. Tell that to the families in Flint whose kids, their blood is ascending in lead levels, their brains are damaged for the rest of their lives. Read the rest

It's always sort of baffling when security breaches reveal that a company has stored millions of users' passwords in unencrypted form, or put their data on an insecure cloud drive, or transmitted it between the users' devices and the company's servers without encryption, or left an API wide open, or some other elementary error: how does anyone in this day and age deploy something so insecure?A new study conducted by University of Bonn researchers gives an inkling: front-line developers working as freelancers default to incredibly insecure practices unless their clients know enough to demand better ones.The researchers hired 43 freelance Java programmers through Freelancer.com and asked them to develop a registration system for an imaginary social network the researchers claimed to be starting. Half the devs were paid €100 and half were paid €200 for the job; half of each of the two pay-groups were given explicit instructions to use secure password storage and half were left to their own devices.Though this yielded small sample sizes, the effect was large enough to bear deeper scrutiny: 15 of the 18 who were not given password security instructions stored passwords in plaintext; 3 of the group who were instructed to store passwords securely also stored passwords in plaintext. Moreover, even the programmers who encrypted the passwords used insecure methods to do so: 31 of the programmers used insecure methods like Base64 encoding (!), MD5, SHA-1, etc -- while only 12 used secure methods like bcrypt and PBKDF2.The programmers also overwhelmingly failed to implement basic security practices like salting their hashes. Read the rest

How did humans' "oldest rivals," the grey wolves (canis lupus), become our slobbering, shoe-chewing, bone-fetching, protective best friends? TED-Ed brings us this brief history that shows how wolves evolved into French Bulldogs, German Shepherds, Shiba Inus, Toy Poodles, and the rest of the canine lot. Read the rest

Prosecutors today dropped all charges against actor Jussie Smollett, who was accused of orchestrating an attack on himself and falsely reporting it to the police. Smollett, 36, was seen arriving at a Chicago courtroom around 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday for an emergency hearing. Following his court appearance, his attorneys released a statement saying that the actor's "record has been wiped clean of the filing of this tragic complaint against him.""Jussie was attacked by two people he was unable to identify on January 29th. He was a victim who was vilified and made to appear as a perpetrator as a result of false and inappropriate remarks made to the public causing an inappropriate rush to judgement," the statement read.Probably a deferred or non-prosecution agreement, perhaps some police incompetence or misconduct. It'll really annoy the right people, anyway. Read the rest

Ray Metcalfe ("two term Alaska state legislator, Alaska’s 2016 Democratic Party Nominee for U.S. Senate, and whistle-blower whose actions resulted in the indictment of U.S. Senator Ted Stevens") has published model legislation that builds on the 9-0 Supreme Court decision in the corruption case of Virginia Governor McDonnell, a precedent Metcalfe interprets to mean that "While Citizens United guaranteed corporations the right to exercise political speech through political spending, Citizens United did not guarantee corporations the right to receive political favors in return.."Metcalfe's model legislation makes it a Class C felony for "for public officials to legislate or engage in the formal exercise of governmental power to regulate or otherwise create competitive advantages for, or direct appropriations to themselves, their business partners, their clients, their immediate family, persons who have given them gifts, their past, present, or sought-after employers, or their contributors, including contributors to independent expenditure campaigns intended to increase the probability of their election," rising to a Class A felony if the Trial Court also finds that a public official who has violated (a) of this section, also engaged in an 'official act,' resulting in, or attempting to result in, a quid pro quo intended to convey something of monetary value, for something of monetary value in return. In return includes past or future campaign contributions."After his work getting Ted Stevens indicted, Metcalfe worked with the FBI for two years on a string of corruption charges against Alaska state legislators that resulted in bribery convictions for four lawmakers and six lobbyists, so he's not playing around here. Read the rest

Julio writes, "Sons of the Singularity is a small RPG publisher. Last year, they kickstarted The Sassoon Files, a sourcebook for the popular Call of Cthulhu RPG and Trail of Cthulhu RPG. As a lot of publishers, theydid the printing in China. The same day that the print was finished, a Chinese Government decided that it was "problematic", so they burned the entire print run.Targeting foreign publications is a first, specially when it seems there wasn't anything problematic (the supplement was based on Shanghai but was respetful and documented carefully).Will this be a new sign of Beijing tightening its iron grip or just a show of bravado with a small publisher used as an example?"Don't want to seem alarmist here, but perhaps giving a veto over the vast majority of the world's manufacturing, media reproduction, printing, etc to the Chinese state might just turn out to be problematic in terms of free expression. Read the rest

Reuters reports that all lights were out across many regions of Venezuela including much of the capital city of Caracas on Monday. This blackout follows a previous and prolonged blackout, for which electricity had just been restored only two weeks ago.Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro blamed that earlier blackout on internet-based “sabotage” by U.S. president Donald Trump. Former officials with Venezuela's state-owned power company and local engineers told Reuters this earlier blackout was probably caused by a technical problem with transmission lines that connect the Guri hydroelectric plant to the nationwide power grid.Reuters:Power was out in much of eastern Caracas as well as downtown, where the Miraflores presidential palace and most government ministries are located. Authorities said the Caracas subway was shutting down due to the lack of power.Several western states had no power, according to Reuters witnesses, though it remained on in the southern city of Puerto Ordaz and in parts of Valencia, the country’s third-largest city. Shops across the country closed early to protect against possible looting.Neither state electricity company Corpoelec nor the Venezuelan information ministry responded to requests for comment.The blackout comes after electricity went out in much of the OPEC nation on March 7, with reliable service restored only four to six days later in most major cities. That blackout led to widespread looting in parts of the country and briefly paralyzed oil exports.Neither state-owned oil company PDVSA nor Venezuela’s oil ministry immediately responded to requests for comment about the status of the country’s oil infrastructure, including the main crude export terminal Jose. Read the rest

Although the private message app Telegram already had an "unsend" feature, you were only able to delete messages that you had sent, and only up to 48 hours after you had sent it. But yesterday they announced an expansion of this feature that allows you to unsend messages that stem from either you or the person who sent you the message, and there is no time limit. And there's more.According to Telegram's blog:You can also delete any private chat entirely from both your and the other person's device with just two taps.To make your privacy complete, we’ve also introduced a way to restrict who can forward your messages. When this setting is enabled, your forwarded messages will no longer lead back to your account — they'll just display an unclickable name in the “from” field. This way people you chat with will have no verifiable proof you ever sent them anything.Look for “Forwarded messages” in Privacy and Security settings. By the way, you can now also restrict who can view your profile photos.A company that cares about your privacy is almost unheard of nowadays, so it's really refreshing when Telegram says, "We never use your data to target ads. We never disclose your data to third parties. We store only what is absolutely necessary for Telegram to work." Image: By Telegram Messenger LLP - Javitomad, Public Domain, Link Read the rest

Chamber's second novel, A Closed and Common Orbit, in her Wayfarer series is so wonderful I cried several times.A Closed and Common Orbit picks up immediately after Chambers' first story, Long Way to a Small and Angry Planet concludes but is barely an extension of that tale, beyond further expanding on Chambers' wonderful universe. This novel follows a newly created, but ultimately undesired, shipboard AI that is forced to leave its vessel and take up a fugitive residence in a human appearing shell.Assisted by Pepper, a human who was genetically engineered as a slave, the AI has to find everything from a name to determining a purpose for itself. Completely out of the element for which it was designed, the AI struggles with friendships and body integrity disorder.I cried several times.The story alternates between that of the AI and Pepper, her human guardian. Briefly introduced as a very interesting Maz Kanata type in the first book, I wanted to learn more about Pepper. I was not disappointed, as her backstory is equally touching and tear-inducing. Genetically engineered to help sort and recycle junk, Pepper unwittingly escapes her keepers and spends years in a city-sized junkyard restoring a small spaceship.This wonderful search for meaning and identity in a harsh, harsh world is a must-read.A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers via AmazonPreviously on Boing Boing:I absolutely loved Becky Chambers' 'The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet' Read the rest

Censorship before or censorship after? The EU Copyright Directive rekindles the oldest fight in the history of free speech debates, first waged by John Milton in 1644. Then, like now, policy-makers were considering a radical change in censorship law, a switch from censoring material after it was published to requiring a censor's permission to publish in the first place.Fundamentally, policing of speech can happen at one of two points: before content disseminates, or after. Policing content after it disseminates involves human agents seeing and reporting content and taking action or requesting action. This can happen on a huge scale or a tiny one: Facebook’s content flagging system, obscenity law in much of the EU and USA, parents who object to books assigned in schools, and China’s 50 Cent Army of two million internet censors, all these act to silence content after it disseminates.Policing content before it disseminates involves sending it through a screening process before it is allowed to reach readers. Screening can be electronic, like the filters Article 13 would require, or like Tumblr’s infamously dysfunctional adult content filters, or like the automated components of the Great Firewall of China, or it can be done by humans. Human screening is how the Inquisition functioned during the print revolution: all books began effectively pre-banned, and you had to take a book to an official censor for review and approval. Only after making requested changes and securing approval could the book reach its audience—anything without a censor’s note of permission on the title page was preemptively illegal, and author, printer, bookseller, and reader were subject to prosecution. Read the rest

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has a long history of being reactionary assholes who support the worst kind of corporate Democrats while libelling progressives and selling out to America's greediest and most rapacious corporate lobbies, so the latest move isn't much of a surprise, but it's still pretty fucking terrible.The DCCC has announced that any vendor or consultant who works with a candidate mounting a primary challenge to an incumbent Democrat will be cut off from doing any business with the Democratic Party in 2020.As Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has pointed out, this is a policy aimed at neutralizing candidates like her, who challenge long-term incumbent Dems in safe seats who run as Democrats, but govern like Republicans -- see also, say, Dan Lipinski, who literally inherited his seat from his father and is anti-gun-control, anti-abortion-rights, pro-deregulation of dangerous industries, awash in corporate money, but still (technically) a "Democrat."I donated to Bernie Sanders' campaign in 2016 and his current campaign (I'm also an Elizabeth Warren donor; I also donated to Hillary after she won the 2016 primary) and some friends of mine have asked me why Sanders doesn't just join the Democratic party? To me, stuff like this makes staying out of the party itself a no-brainer. As I tell party fundraisers when they call me, I won't give a dime to the Democratic party for so long as they're doing shit like this -- instead, I'll support Brand New Congress and Our Revolution and individual, progressive Democratic candidates. Read the rest

“The general public itself has little or no interest in this Document that could warrant exposing Facebook to the risks that would inevitably accompany disclosure.” — Facebook

For more than two decades, researchers have explored using DNA as a chemical computer. Until now though, DNA computers have only been capable of solving whatever mathematical problem they were built to tackle. Now though, researchers have demonstrated a more general-purpose DNA computer that can run a variety of chemical "programs." From Caltech:"Think of them as nano apps," says Damien Woods, professor of computer science at Maynooth University near Dublin, Ireland, and one of two lead authors of the study. "The ability to run any type of software program without having to change the hardware is what allowed computers to become so useful. We are implementing that idea in molecules, essentially embedding an algorithm within chemistry to control chemical processes."The system works by self-assembly: small, specially designed DNA strands stick together to build a logic circuit while simultaneously executing the circuit algorithm. Starting with the original six bits that represent the input, the system adds row after row of molecules—progressively running the algorithm. Modern digital electronic computers use electricity flowing through circuits to manipulate information; here, the rows of DNA strands sticking together perform the computation. The end result is a test tube filled with billions of completed algorithms, each one resembling a knitted scarf of DNA, representing a readout of the computation. The pattern on each "scarf" gives you the solution to the algorithm that you were running. The system can be reprogrammed to run a different algorithm by simply selecting a different subset of strands from the roughly 700 that constitute the system. Read the rest “Breakthrough programmable computer made from DNA running chemical software”

A cheerleader in Pennsylvania has won a free-speech case against her school, which tried to punish her for insulting it on social media.The case involves a First Amendment challenge to the Mahanoy Area High School’s “Cheerleading Rules,” which prohibit cheerleaders from posting any “negative information” about cheerleading online. B.L. was kicked off the junior varsity cheerleading squad for posting a Snap to Snapchat on the weekend that school officials believed was “negative,” “disrespectful,” and “demeaning.” ... On March 21, 2019, the court granted the plaintiff's motion for summary judgment, finding that the school did not have the authority to discipline her for her off-campus speech and that the school was in violation of the First Amendment.."fuck school fuck softball fuck cheer fuck everything," to quote the magnificent B.L., but most of all fuck the Mahanoy Area High School for trying to silence its students off-campus.Photo: Brook Robinson / Shutterstock Read the rest “Court sides with cheerleader punished for writing "fuck cheer"”

Keith Axline at The Tools We Need, writes that if you haven't already, switch to Firefox and install Privacy Badger, HTTPS Everywhere, uBlock Origin, Decentraleyes, CanvasBlocker and Smart Referrer. Use 1.1.1.1 as your DNS and change your default search engine. He explains why: A Few Simple Steps to Vastly Increase Your Privacy Online. Read the rest “Online privacy tips for 2019”

Medtronic is the most notorious maker of insecure medical implants in America, with a long history of inserting computers into people's bodies with insecure wireless interfaces, toolchains and update paths, and nothing has changed.In a new CERT advisory -- scoring 9.3/10 for severity! -- we learn that remote attackers can hijack a Medtronic implanted defibrillator and administer potentially lethal shocks, shut down lifesaving features, and put the device into a high power-consumption mode that drains the battery. A separate attack allows attackers to steal sensitive patient data from the device.Medtronic (predictably) downplayed the severity of the vulnerability and advised patients to do take no meaningful preventative measures to avoid these attacks, confining its advice to using "only bedside monitors obtained from a doctor or from Medtronic directly, to keep them plugged in so they can receive software updates" and to "maintain good physical control over the monitor." Medtronic insists that patients should not switch off the wireless feature in their implants.But Ransford did say it was surprising that issues like the ones in Thursday’s advisory continue to crop up in Medtronic defibrillators, since this variety of vulnerability has been known since 2008.A decade ago Ransford was part of a team of researchers that tested a bacon-wrapped Medtronic Maximo defibrillator and came to the surprising conclusion that it could be hacked.In the groundbreaking paper, the researchers reported that they could cause their compromised device to issue shocks on command, shut down its lifesaving features and change functionality so the battery would wear out. Read the rest “Wireless vulns in Medtronic's implanted defibrillators allow remote shocks, shutdown, denial-of-service battery attacks and data theft”

Aww, so soothing to watch this sweet Samoyed get loving pats on his fuzzy floofy head, from his human. This dog's name is Teddy, and you can find him on Instagram at @samoyedteddybear. He and his human are based in Michigan, where I imagine a Samoyed fits right in with all the ice and snow and cold. What wonderful dogs.Don't stop the pets![Instagram video link] View this post on Instagram My hearts exploding ❤️❤️ #wheredidyourearsgo #slowblink #dogsofinstagram #samoyedA post shared by TEDDY🐻🐾 (@samoyedteddybear) on Nov 8, 2018 at 2:57pm PST View this post on Instagram Don’t stop the pets 🤤 . . . . . . . . #furbaby #puppydogface #instapet #lovepuppy #goodtimes #adorablepets #shiba #siberian #petsdaily #9gagcute #whitefluff #ellenratemydog #teddybear #dogsofinstaworld #reddit #doggydog #dogvideo #insta_pups #puppystagrams #dog_lover #puppiesmakemehappyA post shared by TEDDY🐻🐾 (@samoyedteddybear) on Jan 12, 2019 at 12:53pm PST Just a little something to soothe your soul. View this post on Instagram “Mum it’s too early lets go back to bed” • • #dogsofinstaworld #goofball #samoyeddogs #dailydog #sleepingbeauty #funnydogs #mydogisweird #ellenratemydog #goodestboy #mysunshine #samoyedsquad #samoyedvideo #samoyedmix #goodmorningamerica #dogmumA post shared by TEDDY🐻🐾 (@samoyedteddybear) on Feb 20, 2019 at 2:45pm PST View this post on Instagram I do it for da boopz 👆 . . (haha look at my teef!) . . . . . . #goodboi #boopmynose👆 #puppynose #cutenose #cutesnoot #whiskers #whiskerwednesday #whitedogsofinstagram #babyanimals #meltsmyheart #whatacutie #cuteasabutton #hesthebest #hesthecutest #cutiepatootie #toocuteforwords #floofer #puppyfriends #derp #derpface #thanksgiving #teef #babyteeth #closeupA post shared by TEDDY🐻🐾 (@samoyedteddybear) on Nov 21, 2018 at 4:18pm PST Read the rest “Sweet Samoyed dog loves gentle strokes on his floofy head”

Some falsely believe chickenpox is a harmless disease, but it can lead to death in children and adults who suffer complications.

Tom the Dancing Bug, IN WHICH News of the Times reports on Hollingsworth Hound's illegal bribe to get his son into an elite university

Devin Nunes (previously) is a Trump-loyalist whose scandals have ranged from secretly moving his family farm to make it easier to hire undocumented workers to a bizarre obsession with the Steele Dossier; and like a lot of far-right types, he's big on "preventing frivolous lawsuits" (which is to say, he wants to make it harder for the public to sue companies that harm them, which is why he cosponsored last year's Discouraging Frivolous Lawsuits Act.Another trait Nunes shares with a lot of far-right creeps is that he can dish it out, but he can't take it. Just as Trump is (not so) secretly doing all the things he accuses his opponents of doing, anyone who talks about "SJW snowflakes" is almost certainly a thin-skinned, insecure thumbsucker who can't bear to be mocked.That is how Nunes came to file a $250,000,000 lawsuit against Twitter and two parody accounts on the service, @DevinNunesMom and @DevinCow (AKA Devin Nunes's Cow) for hurting his feelings on the internet.Nunes is upset that he was called a "herp-face," and is really upset about a human centipede meme that depicted Nunes, Trump and Putin as generic, labeled stick-figures with their mouths grafted onto one-another's anuses. This tweet may just be the greatest exhibit ever filed in a lawsuit. Devin Nunes’ Mom stated that Nunes had turned out worse than Jacob Wohl; falsely accused Nunes of being a racist, having “white supremist friends” and distributing “disturbing inflammatory racial propaganda”; falsely accused Nunes of putting up a “Fake News MAGA” sign outside a Texas Holocaust museum; falsely stated that Nunes would probably join the “Proud Boys”, “if it weren’t for that unfortunate ‘no masturbating’ rule”; disparagingly called him a “presidential fluffer and swamp rat”; falsely stated that Nunes had brought “shame” to his family; repeatedly accused Nunes of the crime of treason, compared him to Benedict Arnold, and called him a “traitor”, “treasonous shitbag”, a “treasonous Putin shill”, working for the “Kremlin”; falsely stated that Nunes was “100% bought and sold. Read the rest “Sponsor of the "Discouraging Frivolous Lawsuits Act" sues Twitter cow-account for $250 million”

The parking spot has "NO PARKING" and tow-warning signs, and is so notorious for enforcement that legitmate customers tell anyone parking their car there what is going to happen. This is all being filmed, from 60 angles, by people who have seen it happen many times before. Because they are the people who make it happen. Then it happens.This time around the drivers get warned IN PERSON. Does it work? Nope. But there's so much more going on here. Watch on! ...Q: You suck. A: That's not a question, but I get the point. And I've heard it all before. I understand you think you've got a witty, original insult for me. You probably don't. Save yourself the humiliation.The sleazy music, pop-up commentary and just-right production values really make it. Read the rest “Business systematically videos people getting towed from its parking lot”

Angélique Kidjo is a three-time Grammy-winning musician and activist from Benin; for more than a week, all I have listened to is her tribute to Talking Heads' 1980 album "Remain in Light," an album so great I bought tickets to see Kidjo perform it live about ten seconds after hearing it.Kidjo is moving from strength to strength, with a forthcoming Afrobeat album called "Celia," which pays tribute to Cuban diva Celia Cruz, the "Queen of Salsa." It comes out on April 19, and judging from Quimbara, the preview track, it's going to be astounding (Rolling Stone: "The track boasts all-star backing courtesy of legendary Afrobeat drummer Tony Allen, bassist Meshell Ndegeocello and Benin, Africa’s Ganbge Brass Band. On the Celia rendition, Kidjo infuses the sound of West Africa into the song popularized by the Cuban-born Cruz.").I also somehow missed the fact that Kidjo recorded an album in tribute to Nina Simone in 2009: "Sing the Truth."“‘Quimbara’ is the first song of Celia Cruz that I ever learned in Benin, West Africa where I grew up,” Kidjo said in a statement.“The vocals were so acrobatic and it was a beautiful challenge for me. Many years later when I met Celia backstage in Paris before one of her concerts, I started to sing it and she said: ‘please, come join me on stage for Quimbara, we’ll sing it together.’ That was one of the highlights of my musical life in Paris!” Hear Angelique Kidjo Pay Tribute to Celia Cruz With ‘Quimbara’ Cover [Daniel Kreps/Rolling Stone] Read the rest “First, Angélique Kidjo paid tribute to Talking Heads; now she's honoring Celia Cruz, the Queen of Salsa”

A train station in Japan is apparently unique, in that it has no exit or entrance other than the platform. Get off the train, check out the beautiful scenery, and get right back on again.https://twitter.com/Gota_Kaze_SH11/status/1105006279313973248/Called Seiryu Miharashi Eki, which translates to “Clear Stream Viewing Platform Station“, this station has been built so that passengers can stop off and admire the surrounding scenery.山口の岩徳線にとんでもねぇ駅が出来上がってるし……改札無し、出入り口無し、トイレ無し……イベント列車しか止まらない「清流みはらし駅」気になるな pic.twitter.com/bgkvwZIX0w— hikaru_wpf (@hikaru_wpf) March 17, 2019 Read the rest “Sightseeing train station has no exit or entrance”

“Tell tha chef it's excellent.”Definitely thought this was just a looped clip, but hold on. Nope.This slow eating sloth is very serious about eating slowly.Tell tha chef it's excellent[via] Read the rest “Sloth very clear on importance of chewing food slowly”

Bernie Sanders cut his head on the edge of a shower door, received 7 stitches at the hospital, and will pursue his schedule as planned in South Carolina and Nevada, says to his campaign. Bernie Sanders cut his head on the edge of a shower door, received seven stitches, will continue with his schedule in South Carolina and Nevada, according to his campaign. Statement from an aide below: pic.twitter.com/uzuWl2jKDq— Ruby Cramer (@rubycramer) March 15, 2019In the photo here from CNN's Noah Gray, “Bernie Sanders shows up to healthcare town hall in SC just hours after he cut his head & went to walk in clinic to get stitches.”The dude is unstoppable. More from the South Carolina event, and related observations, below.Glass shower door: 1Bernie Sanders: 0https://t.co/sSCEjch1P8 pic.twitter.com/EcadqunHgG— Yahoo News (@YahooNews) March 15, 2019Bernie Sanders’s crowd in North Charleston. pic.twitter.com/OfMQDS7MPk— Cleve R. Wootson Jr. (@CleveWootson) March 14, 2019as a clumsy jew who also received stitches from hitting my head in the shower, i identify strongly with bernie sanders— noah kulwin (@nkulw) March 15, 2019Sen. Bernie Sanders expected to continue on the campaign trail after shower door injury Read the rest

What's the hottest teen chat app right now? Not Snapchat. Not Tiktok. And not Facebook Messenger (like, eww).Nope. It's none of those. what the media thinks teens like: sextingwhat teens actually like: google docs— dylan (@dylwack) March 18, 2018It's Google Docs.Great piece in The Atlantic by Taylor Lorenz today on how Google Docs became the go-to place for minors to talk about whatever they want to talk about, which includes illicit activities including drug use, and yes, sex.if that’s ur man why is he in my google docs chat bar 😴😳🤧😈— ab (@aturch21) January 3, 2019A group of teens I do not know have accidentally invited me to their google doc, where they are ranking their best friends. pic.twitter.com/Gt6LKAmBPq— Kate Millard Evarts (@kate_evarts) February 22, 2017Flirting on google doc chat >>>>>>— Neta Guey 🤟🏽 (@Crispy_Cruzito) March 1, 2019Excerpt:As more and more laptops find their way into middle and high schools, educators are using Google Docs to do collaborative exercises and help students follow along with the lesson plan. The students, however, are using it to organize running conversations behind teachers’ backs.Teens told me they use Google Docs to chat just about any time they need to put their phone away but know their friends will be on computers. Sometimes they’ll use the service’s live-chat function, which doesn’t open by default, and which many teachers don’t even know exists. Or they’ll take advantage of the fact that Google allows users to highlight certain phrases or words, then comment on them via a pop-up box on the right side: They’ll clone a teacher’s shared Google document, then chat in the comments, so it appears to the casual viewer that they’re just making notes on the lesson plan. Read the rest

Facebook executive shakeup comes one week after company announced "privacy-focused" brand makeover.

Celebrities Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman were among those arrested this week in an unfolding scandal wherein rich people bribed officials at elite colleges, through an intermediary, to accept their unqualified children. The Department of Justice, however, says it won't be releasing their booking photos.The DOJ and U.S. Marshals Services say their policies prohibit releasing the photos because doing so doesn't serve the agencies' needs if the person in question has already been apprehended. In other words, putting them out post-arrest only serves the public's fascination. ...So what about a Freedom of Information request?The government no longer grants routine access to federal mug shots through FOIA, a decision which was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2016. Now anyone requesting a mug shot through FOIA must provide legal justification for its release that outweighs the defendant's right to privacy.Has the DOJ ever released a post-arrest photograph? Read the rest

Honduran white bats in their tent made out of leaves.Photographed by globetrotting rainforest photographer Supreet Sahoo, whose Instagram is amazing. Honduran white bats in their tent made out of leaves. IG: supreet_sahooA few more selections of his work, below. View this post on Instagram Resplendent Quetzal @tropicalphototours www.supreetsahoo.com #earthcapture ##your_best_birds #nuts_about_birds #planetbirds #birds_adored #nature_worldwide_birds @tropicalphototours #birdfreaks #wildlifeplanet #best_birds_of_world #birdsonearth #birdphotography #birdsofinstagram #birdsprivateA post shared by Supreet Sahoo (@supreet_sahoo) on Jan 27, 2019 at 6:32am PST View this post on Instagram A pair of brown hooded parrots hanging out in the humid tropical lowland costa of Costa Rica. While they are commonly found birds in the tropics they make for great subjects for photographers and bird watchers alike. #bestbirdsofinstagram #best_birds_of_world #wildlifeplanet #birdsonearth #macroturkey #birdphotography @tropicalphototours #earthcapture #natgeo #your_best_birds #nuts_about_birds #planetbirds #birds_adored #bestbirdshots #pocket_birdsA post shared by Supreet Sahoo (@supreet_sahoo) on Jan 26, 2019 at 3:22pm PST View this post on Instagram A strong Billed woodcreeper batters the life out of a rhinoceros beetle before flying away with its prized catch in the highland cloud forests of Ecuador. These smart birds have learnt to pick easy meals from places where these bugs get attracted to light and just stay there to become food for these hungry birds the next morning. #earthcapture #natgeo #bbcearth #your_best_birds #nuts_about_birds #planetbirds #birds_adored #bestbirdshots #birdfreaks #wildlifeplanet #best_birds_of_world #birdsonearth #birdphotography #birdsofinstagram #birdsprivateA post shared by Supreet Sahoo (@supreet_sahoo) on Feb 17, 2019 at 11:23am PST View this post on Instagram Scarlet macaws in Ecuador's yasuni national park. Read the rest