The original is a screengrab of a fairly low-quality video feed; I opened it in a proprietary "Blow Up" app, added some grain to conceal compression artifacts, and interpolated it to 2048 pixels wide to get a better look at what president-elect Donald Trump was angry about. He looks quite charming, if you ask me! Now, promise not to use this image anywhere else, as it would be unseemly and unmannerly.https://twitter.com/lanceburson/status/801769452811460609

Starlings in flight are always beautiful, but what's most remarkable about The Art of Flying, a film by Jan van IJken about a massive flock of starlings, is the sound. (more…)

Thirty years after William S. Burroughs wrote his "Thanksgiving Prayer" and sadly it's never been more relevant.

Richard Ankrom's "Figurines" series mix "found ceramic objects, synthetic rubber, zipper (studs, buckles, etc.)" (via JWZ) (more…)

We offer an oasis of serenity for you. Feel free to bookmark this page whenever anxiety surges, or the human race makes you despair.(more…)

"If you don't have a palm tree nearby, try using long strips of paper instead," writes Grant Thompson, aka The King of Random.

Stone Story is an RPG coming soon to Steam. From the developer:

The Snoopers Charter, an extreme surveillance bill that passed last week, and it's the most extensive domestic spying regime that any "democratic" country has passed, and is a potential blueprint for Orwellian surveillance elsewhere in the years to come. (more…)

University of Michigan prof J Alex Halderman (previously) is one of America's top experts on voting machine security (see this, for example), and he's issued a joint statement with voting-rights attorney John Bonifaz to the Clinton campaign, advising them to ask for a recount of the Wisconsin votes. (more…)

The New York Times reports that Facebook is completing work on censorship software to accommodate demands made by the Chinese government.

California's perma-drought has led to the death of more that 102 million trees in the last six years.From SF Gate:

Encyclopedia Britannica made this 10 minute video about how a country slides into despotism.

In the 1970s I was a member of the Science Fiction Book Club. Whoever the art director was at the time, they were producing some excellent covers. I still have the Edgar Rice Burroughs Barsoom novels with Frank Frazetta covers and illustrations, but I somehow lost The Best of Fredric Brown (1976) with this Richard Corben illustration of a Yeti embracing an explorer. I probably let a friend borrow it, and it never made its way back to me. I could buy a used copy on Amazon for a few bucks, but I already have Kindles of his short stories.One of my favorite Brown stories didn't appear in this anthology. It's called "The House." It's just 3 page long. Here's a PDF scan from the August 1960 issue of Fantastic Science Fiction Stories. It reminds me of descriptions in an Infocom text adventure. Here's an essay about the story.[via]Previously:Great 1950s horror sci-fi novel, The Mind Thing, now on Kindle>Fredric Brown's "The Fabulous Clipjoint" is an e-bookI was pleased to find

Any fan of Love and Rockets creator Gilbert Hernandez and of Batman, Catwoman, and New Frontier writer and artist Darwyn Cooke will be excited to read The Twilight Children, a four-issue series by Vertigo collected in this soft cover book.The Twilight Children is set in a seaside town and the cast of characters includes his familiar mix of spunky kids and “complicated” adults. There are also government goons, a metaphysical siren, and mysterious, powerful orbs. People disappear, children are blinded (yet see again), and what is the deal with the glowing balls?!?It’s great to see the wonderful art of Darwyn Cooke again, but sadly he died suddenly at age 53 in May, 2016 and this may be one of his last books (reason enough to get the book). Cooke’s commercial art style with lively character design and simple, bold brushwork gives a more “slick” look than what you'd usually expect from a Gilbert Hernandez book. Dave Stewart (my favorite colorist and the best part of many Dark Horse comics!) does a spectacular job. His painterly, subtle palette and restrained use of color hold line art fits Cooke’s drawing perfectly. No gradient mesh or lens flare effects, just solid sponge- and dry-brush painting. The bright and colorful seaside setting is a good contrast to the darker story elements. Also included in this compilation are some nice extras, like full-page paintings between chapters and a sketchbook of characters with storyboards by Hernandez.Warning: Some readers may feel unsatisfied with the ending. Much is left unexplained and mysteries persist. If shows like Twin Peaks piqued you, you might feel the same about this book. And, although the book looks like a colorful, mainstream comic, it is a Gilbert Hernandez story and is marked “SUGGESTED FOR MATURE READERS.”The Twilight Children mixes spunky kids, complicated adults, and government goons with magical realismThe Twilight Children

One of the most fun and lucrative careers out there is game creation, but it's constantly evolving. This 2017 Master Game Development Bundle was created to teach all of the most relevant skills. Its purpose is to fully prepare students to score game development jobs in today's world.This bundle includes over 77 hours of content specifically designed to introduce you to the world of game development, from beginning to end. Courses include:Learn 3D Game Development & Programming with Unity - Unity 3D is the gaming industry’s standard game engine, and with this course, you’ll learn how to build your own game worlds within it.Unity Android Game Development - Master the popular Unity engine, and build games specifically for the Android mobile platform.The Complete Real-Time Web & Game Development Course - Learn how to create impressive web apps with real-time capabilities that make them more interactive and immersive for users.With these and seven other courses, the 2017 Master Game Development Bundle will have you well on your way to an exciting career in game development. And the best part?All you have to do to get your hands on all ten courses is beat the average price of about $13. Just don’t wait too long, because this deal is sure to be popular.Also explore other Best-Sellers on our network right now:

https://youtu.be/FawCUKvTQdAThe Perpetual Puzzle is Tenyo's version of the "infinite chocolate bar trick." Five pieces form a rectangle that barely fits into a frame. Buy you can add two more pieces to form a larger rectangle that still fits in the frame.

The street finds its own uses, etc. This one's the work of Adam Bell.https://twitter.com/b3ll/status/800472338496036864

https://youtu.be/H0x9Xj4kjCEThese hobo knives have always bugged me, because how are you supposed to cut a hobo steak with one when the knife and fork are attached? Well, the W.R. Case & Sons’ Amber Bone “Hobo Knife” ($85) handle splits apart into a separate knife, fork, and spoon. Amazing! The video shows how it works.

Not sure I'd trust this in the Himalayas, or even the Pennines... but it's absolutely adorable!

A commercial airline is no Tardis ("bigger on the inside") but designers and engineers do use several techniques to reduce your claustrophobia in the sky.

Realtek's audio chips -- found in Macs and many PCs -- can repurpose your laptop's headphone jack to serve as a mic jack, and capture audio through your headphones. (more…)

In under an hour, glass artist James Mongrain transforms blobs of molten glass into a stunning green dragon. The choreographed teamwork, the variety of tools, and the interesting narration make this a real treat. (more…)

For reasons unknown, up to half of of people who freeze to death are found partially or completely naked. DNews looks into the phenomenon of paradoxical undressing. (more…)

This remarkable demonstration of a pigeon, a falcon, and an owl flying past six extremely sensitive high-end microphones shows just how quiet owls are when they fly. (more…)

Kansas Secretary of State and noted xenophobe Kris Kobach, who is in line to run Trump's DHS, was photographed by the AP yesterday at the Trump National Golf Club Bedminster clubhouse holding the secret 100-day plan for the Trump DHS. By blowing the photo up, we're able to learn an awful lot about what's in the cards. (more…)

With 100 frames of incongruously playful observation connected only by authorship, wit, and uncanny brilliance, The Portable February is a Cliff’s Notes thesis on existence, told in line drawings and one-liners by author, poet, and musician David Berman. Randomly exposing the vaudevillian arc of history, Berman extracts the extraordinary from the ordinary. He brings a furied ennui to every moment, grabbing the reader like an LSD-dosed and recently-ousted college professor who hijacked a tourist bus, calmly calling out the sights and overlooked absurdities of American life armed with a keen wit, a soft spot for pop culture, and the occasional ax to grind.Just flipping through this book, one might say, “This guy can’t even fucking draw,” but the crudeness of his visual accompaniment is intentional.In this visual follow-up to his critically-acclaimed book of poetry, Actual Air, David Berman tasks himself with contemplating the missing socks in the laundry load of life. Able to portray human futility in one frame, as in “The Soul and its Shtick,” the book’s visual simplicity belies the complexity of thought, as in “Humbled by the Void,” while a casual humor defines another, like “Daytime Television.” In frames like “Irrational 15th Century Battle Scenes,” and “'We' stands for 'warn everybody,'” his playful love for humanity emerges, and in the sweet “All culture strives, folks,” you can take his beneficent observations to heart.Berman’s inner and outer battles seep into the pages and the juxtaposition of impossibly insightful and wicked smart ideas hung on spare, but potent, frames is pure Berman. Whether intentional or not, the book’s seemingly simple title, The Portable February, reflects the author’s dual perspectives, as February is a seemingly benign but scathing month. With the ebullience of the holidays deflating like a wheezing balloon into the bleakness of the purgatory of winter, the mercifully short month brings a pointless patina to each of its 28 days. Valentine’s Day, February’s lone holiday, provides a pink and red glimmer of hope and distraction, yet it’s a day often spent alone, sad, disappointed, possibly suicidal, or, if coupled, hated by everyone else. It’s no coincidence it’s also when the highest rate of suicide occurs in the U.S. What February lacks in joy, it at least mercifully makes up for in brevity. Fittingly, The Portable February gives us a playful guide to the futility of existence in a format you can carry.The author has spoken publicly about his own near-miss with suicide and the turnaround that came as a result, and his work has always defied categorization, rarely adhering to a recognizable niche in any medium. Though critically acclaimed in every field he endeavors, his output has been sparse since 2009, when he dissolved his band, The Silver Jews, to focus on opposing his Washington lobbyist father, Rick Berman, who 60 Minutes dubbed, “Dr. Evil.” In his announcement, Berman described his father as a "despicable man...a sort of human molester. An exploiter. A scoundrel. A world historic motherfucking son of a bitch,” and vowed, “In a way I am the son of a demon come to make good the damage. Previously I thought, through songs and poems and drawings I could find and build a refuge away from his world. But there is the matter of Justice. And I’ll tell you it’s not just a metaphor. The desire for it actually burns. It hurts. There needs to be something more. I’ll see what that might be.”In the meantime, The Portable February is the doodle version of his band’s songs – seemingly familiar and benign structures contrasted with unusual and complex themes, working themselves out with all the intensity and unpredictability of a kite tangled in tree branches on a blustery day. Let’s hope there’s more from the gifted mind of this extraordinary writer, but we’ve always got this one to go.The Portable February

Metafilter's Cortex wrote and recorded "Everything Is Fucked (Keep On Going)" (MP3) as "a little pep talk, for myself and for anyone else who needs one, as we wade through the fuckedness of all this. Catchy and short and angry and upbeat and exactly a minute long." (more…)

I may not be able to fix a broken watch, but I do not blame this set of tools.I have a dead self-winding Bulova I wanted to see if I could puzzle out, and fix on my own. That did not work out, but these tools are wonderful to have around. I can open cases of watches I previously had to take in for battery replacement, and changing, or resizing bands got a lot easier.I find I use this set for a lot more than trying to fix a watch, too. Eye glasses repair and just about anything that needs tiny screwdrivers and picks will benefit from keeping this toolkit handy.At least my Timex Mickey is running again.Readaeer® Portable Watchmaker Watch Repair Tools Kit Set Back Case Opener Adjuster Remover via Amazon

Gayageum virtuoso Luna Lee's intense cover of "Pink Floyd's Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)."

Laurin Döpfner sanded a walnut, layer by layer, and combined the photos into an animated video. Here's his set-up.

https://vimeo.com/191998961Buck, the director of this animated video, says, "David Blaine approached us to make an animated intro for his latest magic special, a palette cleanser to get people excited for a bumpy night ahead. Inspired by David’s mind-bending magic and the Paul Auster penned script which was voiced by Christopher Walken in the style of a side-show barker, we crafted a hero’s journey of sorts, a psychedelic trip into the spectacle of the real."

Foxxfur, proprietress of the outstanding Passport to Dreams Old and New Disney themepark design critique blog (previously) has opened a t-shirt store featuring designs celebrating the lost, lamented design-flourishes that lurked in the corners of early Walt Disney World: the crowning glory of the store is this Bring Back Weird Epcot tee that really tells it like it is.

If the rush of masculine energy conferred by wearing 3D eagle underwear has faded, you can renew it with the full-print wolf bodysuit that accentuates and subtly emphasizes the snoutal region. (via Crazy Abalone)

"Hopefully plugging something into a GFCI outlet will save me if something goes wrong."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=THOIp4yXZkcSculptor-machinist Chris Bathgate has improved on his Slider "worry-stone" gadget for occupying your nervous hands, using techniques he learned through his collaboration with spinning top-maker Richard Stadler. (more…)

Redditor ibru stabilized this adorable clip of a cow rolling a hay bale down a hill: "I know it wasn't really needing to be stabilized a lot but I thought it'd make a good pano-ground gif." (more…)

Propaganda, psychological warfare, and real-time surveillance were all on the agenda at the Sixth Annual Conference on Social Media Within the Defence and Military Sector. (more…)

Michael Barbaro proposes that you sit down over a meal with a loved one who voted in a way you find incomprehensible and indefensible and have each of you discuss 19 questions, while not letting "imperfect word choices tank the conversation," forgetting "the policy debate for now," and assuming "the other person has generally good intentions." (more…)

If you're heading into the Council of Elrond disguised as an elf, but you're reliant on a kind of Elvish Cyrano to whisper advice in your (lily-white) ear so you don't blow your cover, look no further than the Twisted Melon Spirit E666 Elvish Ear earbuds, which cost about $10. Now I know what to get the Beschizzas for Xmas! (via Red Ferret) (more…)

Paul Horner says he made more than $10,000 month writing fake news on Facebook that was widely shared by Trump supporters and picked up by the real press -- for example, hoax stories about protesters being paid to turn out against Trump -- and that he targeted Trump supporters as an act of "satire" to show that they would credulously share anything, providing that it confirmed their conspiracy theories about the left and the Democratic party. (more…)

https://youtu.be/4RWcWSN4HhIBack when people had jobs, they did things like make globes of the world.

Surviga seems to like the world inside a HTC's Vive virtual reality headset.

Clickclickclick.click has one trick, and it's great: it just sits there narrating what you're doing on the page, from hovering over clickable areas to moving the pointer the way a machine would. It can tell when you're lurking in whitespace to avoid interaction triggers! It's a wonderfully creepy evocation of what ad tech knows (often-inaccurate browser environment information) and the assumptions about you it then makes and sells to agencies."Looking at the timezone there, he's at work!"

https://vimeo.com/189887394North Koreans have a fondness for lenticular postcards and stereoscopic keepsakes, and they granted Slovenian photographer Matjaž Tančič rare access to create a series of 3D photographs of North Korean daily life. (more…)

"Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few are dirt." John Muir's words and wisdom permeate Studiocanoe's lovely footage of the Scottish Highlands. (more…)

When Adrien Mauduit moved to Denmark, locals said it was rare to see the Northern Lights. This gorgeous 4K timelapse proves them wrong in spectacular fashion. (more…)

The company that invented the Swagway hover-board came out with an electric scooter called The Swagger and I love it. This zippy, carbon fiber toy weighs only 15 lbs, is easily carried and has a small form factor when collapsed.I work in a large, carpeted office and we use the Swagger to blow off steam after long meetings. I've been riding around on it for a few weeks now and there is so much cool about this thing.THE PROS

FamilyBreakFinder created this map, featuring the slogans of every country's official tourism board. The key division, I think, is between ones that could apply to any country and ones that identify something specific to the country. [h/t Leigh]Generic:

In this episode of the YANSS Podcast, we sit down with legendary science historian James Burke, who returns to the show to explain his newest project, a Connections app that will allow anyone to search and think “connectively” when exploring Wikipedia.He launched the Kickstarter for the app this month. This is a link to learn more.