Cass Sunstein reviews The Hidden Wealth of Nations, a new book by UC Berkeley's Gabriel Zucman; and a new documentary, The Price We Pay, both of which map out the scale of international tax-havens, which are used by criminals and corrupt one percenters to hide money from their governments; and by corrupt governments to hide money from their citizens -- the havens are a critical part of the secret, parallel US tax system that lets the rich pay less of their income in tax than the poor. (more…)

If you want to learn to create your own games, there's no place like Unity 5. This bundle will not only teach you to create a game, but make you an expert on the matter. Start turning your passion into profit, and learn this lucrative trade today.Dive headfirst into 5 courses on this powerful game engine with 31+ hours of premium content for only $49.Here's a breakdown of what's included in the bundle:1Game Development with Unity 5$199 Value2What's New In Unity 5$29 Value3The Complete Unity 5 Intro - Learn to Build and Design Games$49 Value4Publish the Captain Rocket iPhone Game in Under 2-Hours with Unity 5$99 Value5Unity 5 Professional Guide - Mastering C# Programming$79 Value

Don’t choose between a slim phone and a big battery case, opt for the best of both worlds. With the ThinCharge Case, you won’t have to fumble for your charging cable—simply hit one button to charge up on-the-go. It’s even the same size as a normal phone case, so you can slip it into your pocket or bag without the extra weight of a traditional battery case weighing you down.

After NH state rep Amanda Bouldin objected to HB 1525-FN, a bill banning public displays of women's nipples introduced by four alleged "small government" men from the GOP side of the house, two GOP members took to social media to bombard her with harassing, sexist harangues. (more…)

When Congress amended US copyright law in 1976, they extended the copyrights on works whose creators had produced them with the promise of not more than 56 years. Since then, almost nothing has entered the US public domain. (more…)

Guesstimate is a new free/open source project from Ozzie Gooen: unlike normal spreadsheets, its cells accept confidence intervals, and it outputs models based on 5,000 Monte Carlo simulations. (more…)

Butler News in Pennsylvania identified this man as John Pisone, seen here harassing a group of anti-fracking protestors and making incredibly racist remarks and monkey noises to the black cameraman. In the video, the man repeatedly boasts that he works for a living and accuses the others of being lazy parasites.From Raw Story:

https://youtu.be/ermNqkUUiJwAfter watching this video, you'll probably want to play this.

https://youtu.be/Gv1gfpIj7K4“Unlike a traditional Trompe-L’oeil painting which tricks the eye into thinking a 2D canvas might be a real 3D space,” says Los Angeles artist Alexa Meade “I do the opposite: I take the 3D world and create the illusion that it is a 2D painting.”[via]

It doesn't have thumbs, and it's better at the game than I am.

"The normalization of deviance" is a sociological term describing how groups of people become accustomed to ignoring safety rules and best practices, becoming plagued with (sometimes fatal) problems that no one can seem to fix. (more…)

D. Allan Drummond, assistant professor of biochemistry, molecular biology and human genetics from the University of Chicago's The Drummond Lab 3D printed this model of a yeast cell dividing in solid bronze: "Late-anaphase budding yeast, mother & daughter." (more…)

In an interview with the WSJ's CIO blog, Lawrence Lessig proposes that the existence of cryptographic tools that allow for "zero-knowledge" data-querying, combined with the potential liability from leaks, will drive companies to retain less data on their customers. (more…)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgmiBjJFOSAZach Smothers hand-colored all 1,300 frames from the opening credit roll of The Munsters, doing a beautiful job that balances the palette of the later color episodes and the classic EC/Haunted Mansion horror-colors. (more…)

Daniel Lange and Felix "tmbinc" Domke bought some of Volkswagen's cheating Engine Control Units on Ebay and extracted and decompiled the software in them to learn exactly how the cheating took place. (more…)

Companies are constantly looking for rockstar project managers to help keep their goals afloat--and they pay big for it too. Find your way to a new career or high-paying job by getting the certification to prove your project management skills!Increase your employability and boost your salary with 5 Courses (120+ Hours) of premium instruction with the Premier Project Management bundle.Here's a breakdown of everything included in the bundle:1Project Management Professional: 35 Contact Hours$299 Value2Project Management Professional: Prep for PMP$189 Value3PMP® EXAM COMPLETE Training-35 Hours ULTIMATE PMP® Course$299 Value4Project Management Professional: How to Become a Project Manager$197 Value5Agile Scrum Training + Scrum Certification Prep. Training$199 Value

https://youtu.be/_aFo_BV-UzINerdwriter broke down the words Donald Trump uses when he answers questions. Trump's answers consist mainly of one-syllable words, and are at a fourth grade reading level. He structures his sentences with a powerfully rhythmic cadence, and ends them on a strong word.

Rep Pete Hoekstra [R-MI] calls spying "a matter of fact," he attacked a bill that would impose oversight on the NSA, and he "laughs at foreign governments who are shocked they’ve been spied on because they, too, gather information" -- except when the targets of the NSA's surveillance are Congress and Israel's leaders. (more…)

https://youtu.be/1RDGsX5nBmYI don't know if things have changed much in 20 years, but this behind-the-scenes glimpse of the guy in charge of live editing the Oscars in 1996 is fascinating. I'd rather watch him than the stars.

Stephen Roseman posted this photo of his dog with a slice of ham on its face to Facebook on December 23, with the comment:

See sample pages from this book at Wink.Before reading this massive comic book biography about Pablo Picasso (1881–1973), I knew almost nothing about him. I thought he’d spent most of his life in Spain, so I was surprised to learn that he began his career in Montmartre, the Bohemian district of Paris in the early 1900s. The story is mainly told through the recollections of Fernande Olivier, who was Picasso’s lover before Picasso became famous and who modeled for over 60 of his paintings. In addition to chronicling Picasso’s early years, Pablo is like a short course in the art scene of Paris at time. It never feels like a textbook, though, thanks to Julie Birmant’s fine storytelling.Each panel, rendered by Clement Oubrerie, is a lush watercolor painting. I had to slow down while reading it to appreciate the detail.Pablo: Art Masters Series

Despite being in Mexico on expired tourist visas, fugitives Ethan Couch and his mother have been granted a delay against deportation from Mexico. Both are wanted in the US on a number of charges.From Star-Telegram:

One out of seven men will get prostate cancer. Unfortunately, most of the risk factors have to do with age, race, and family history, so they are not modifiable. But new research suggests that daily orgasms will reduce the risk of prostate cancer by over 20 percent. From The Telegraph:

A couple of weeks ago my teenage daughter took my beloved Grain bluetooth speaker into her room and I haven't seen it since. I bought the AmazonBasics Ultra-Portable Micro Bluetooth Speaker ($20) as a low-cost replacement. I've been using it in the kitchen, mainly to listen to podcasts and am very happy with it. The sound is deeper and louder than my phone's speaker, though not nearly as good as the Grain ($250). It's about the size of a hockey puck, and plays 10 hours on a charge (a micro USB cable is supplied). It also comes with a soft pouch, which I promptly lost.

My friend Josh Glenn compiles terrific lists of genre novels from the mid-20th century. His latest is a list of the ten best adventure novels of 1966. Josh also includes the cover art of early editions of the books, which are always much better than the art on newer editions. I want to read every book in this list!

[My friend Peter Sheridan is a Los Angeles-based correspondent for British national newspapers. He has covered revolutions, civil wars, riots, wildfires, and Hollywood celebrity misdeeds for longer than he cares to remember. As part of his job, he must read all the weekly tabloids. For the past couple of years, he's been posting terrific weekly tabloid recaps on Facebook and has graciously given us permission to run them on Boing Boing. Enjoy! - Mark]Vladimir Putin is a vampire, Elvis Presley’s “seven secret love children” have been found, Angelina Jolie is suffering a “new cancer horror," and flamboyant "fitness guru" Richard Simmons is suffering a “mental breakdown,” according to this week’s fact-challenged Globe tabloid.Accuracy, balance and logic evidently weren’t among the gifts left by Santa in the Globe's Christmas stocking this year.Photographs of Putin look-alikes from 1920 and 1941 provoke the Globe to report that “investigators suggest he’s a vampire who has walked the Earth for a century or more!”Barely more plausible are Elvis’s seven love children, exposed “following an exhaustive, two-year, world-wide investigation.” Or they could just have read back issues of the tabloids, where most of these claimants have previously told their stories, dating back to 1991. They range in plausibility from the offspring of women who claimed to have had one-night stands with the King, to Lisa Johansen who insists she was Presley’s daughter living with Elvis at Graceland until his 1977 death, when she was whisked to Sweden for her own safety and replaced by imposter Lisa Marie.Angelina’s cancer horror, of course, hasn’t happened to her at all, but has “claimed the life of her stepdad.” Except that the late John Trudell was never Jolie’s step-father, and the Globe ultimately admits that he simply “dated Angelina’s late mother.” The Globe's deception is understandable. After all, who would read a story headlined “Angelina’s late mother’s ex-boyfriend dies of cancer”?Setting aside for one moment the question of why anyone would be interested in “fitness guru” Richard Simmons, the Globe shows the indisputable value of psychic medical diagnosis by reporting that he is “suffering a severe mental breakdown,” because he "hasn’t been seen in public since Jan. 11, 2014.”Let’s get this straight: a man who “hasn’t been seen in public” for almost two years is having his unseen behavior analyzed and his sanity judged by the Globe, and on the basis of this mountain of evidence it concludes that he has suffered a breakdown. “That’s the analysis of a top medical expert who reviewed the bizarre antics of the once flamboyant fitness guru,” it reports.Simmons’ representative allegedly told the Globe that he is “living life outside the public eye.”Well, that certainly counts as insanity in this shamelessly media-obsessed self-promoting era. I could really use a psychic doctor to offer a diagnosis whenever I feel ill, to save me a trip to the doctor’s office. I see a lucrative future in this for the medical profession.In a week of year-end round-ups, this week's tabloids and celebrity magazines continue their unhealthy obsession with weight.The National Enquirer features its “20 best and worst beach bodies,” taking cruel delight in Uma Thurman’s “flabby gut” and Janice Dickerson’s skin looking “like expired supermarket chicken.”With New Year resolutions looming, People and Us magazines both devote their covers to diet tips and tricks from celebrities and “real people” (because celebrities aren’t real people but merely media constructs, as People magazine knows in the darkest depths of its heart.)Us mag offers 18 pages, and People a staggering 27 pages of dieters, diets and even two pages of pets that have slimmed down to “half their size.”Of course, we still have this week’s real news: Jamie King wore it best (though $2,800 for a sequined Dior turtleneck seems excessive), Debra Messing carries four pairs of reading glasses, allergy pills and lipstick in her purse, and the stars are just like us: they carry packages, wear helmets, check their watches and run errands.Cher is still “dying” according to the Enquirer, which one day in the next 40 years will crow that it was right all along, Camilla is still demanding a divorce from “lover” Prince Charles claims the Globe, and World War III is coming according to a “Bulgarian Nostradamus,” reports the Examiner.Maybe that will give the tabloids something worth writing about.Onwards and downwards . . .

Follow @RubenBolling on Twitter and Facebook.Please join Tom the Dancing Bug's subscription club, the INNER HIVE, for early access to comics, and more.And/or buy Ruben Bolling’s new book series for kids, The EMU Club Adventures. Book One here. Book Two here.More Tom the Dancing Bug comics on Boing Boing! (more…)

Break out the puddin' pops, he's going to jail.Famed comedian Bill Cosby was charged with alleged aggravated indecent assault today, authorities said. The Montgomery County District Attorney's Office announced its decision this morning in Norristown, Pennsylvania.Here's video of the press conference:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLGiUlDOTxkThe charges regard the 2004 Andrea Constand case, soon to hit the statute of limitations. Cosby has admitted drugging other women with Quaaludes but otherwise protests his innocence. Dozens of women have accused Cosby of sexual assault; he's sued several claiming defamation.

The Caruso Gramophone is possibly the most precious piece of audio equipment one could spend $3000 on: a 21st-century wireless speaker with a 19th century gramophone horn, designed to resemble 1950s furniture. [via Uncrate.]

Jamal is serving a life-sentence for a widely deplored conviction for killing a police officer. Prison Radio recorded this insightful interview with him about the role that Star Wars and Star Trek both played in the American consciousness. (via Kersplebedeb)

The richest people in America funnel billions into the creation and maintenance of a secret and shadowy tax-system that uses a combination of lobbying by front groups, high-priced tax lawyers, and offshore money laundries to reduce the rate at which they're taxed, often below the rates imposed on middle-income earners. (more…)

MVP -- Patrick Miller's "game dev short story" -- is a cleverly told piece of science fiction about a game dev team that hits on a weirdly compelling, unlikely and eerily plausible commercial strategy: optimizing their game for gold-farmers' bots. (more…)

EFF has awarded its coveted Stupid Patent of the Month prize to Microsoft for D554,140, a design patent on a slider widget for a UI. (more…)

When India's independent telcoms regulator opened up a consultation on whether to allow Facebook to continue bribing some ISPs to charge extra for access to URLs that Facebook hadn't approved, they were flooded with 5.5 million confused comments in support of the $300 billion US company. (more…)

This week, media outlets around the world have been trumpeting the French government's decision to make the records of the Vichy regime "open access" and available to researchers. (more…)

Your messages don’t stop when it snows. That’s why you need these texting gloves to stay warm while you stay in touch. They’re comfortable and cozy and one size fits every hand. They’ll work with every kind of smartphone and tablet so you can use your devices on-the-go even when the weather gets chilly.

With this essential IT bundle, you’ll work towards earning your Cisco network engineering, CCNPtroubleshooting, CompTIA Network+, and Red Hat credentials. These stamps of approval will help qualify you for entry-level IT jobs, or even climb a rung or two higher on the career ladder. Since you can take the courses at your pace (all accessible online 24/7), you can make exam prep work with your busy schedule, too.

Frogdesign presents 15 tech trends that have the potential to "radically transform businesses in 2016." This year, the trends identified by the design firm include the blockchain, data driven design, the human microbiome, artificial intelligence in financial services, the role of virtual reality in medical therapies, FDA-approved video games, and more.Readers are invited to vote on whether a trend is "likely" or a "longshot."

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See sample pages from this book at Wink.If Walt Disney gave us the definitive picture of German fairy tales such as Cinderella and Snow White, first published in 1812 by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Kay Nielsen helped the world imagine the settings and characters found in the stories of Norwegian folklorists Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe. The lifelong friends were inspired by the Grimms, and like the brothers, the look of the stories they had collected came to life many years after they were published in 1841. In the case of Asbjørnsen and Moe, the catalyst was a London publisher named Hodder & Stoughton, which hired Danish artist Nielsen, in 1914, to illustrate a collection of the friends’ Norwegian stories called East of the Sun and West of the Moon.That volume is reproduced in its entirety, with a gorgeous new layout by Andy Disl, in a new slipcovered book from Taschen. Like the Hodder & Stoughton version, Nielsen’s illustrations are the book’s stars. Unlike it, the Taschen package also includes illustrated essays about Asbjørnsen and Moe’s contribution to the 19th-century’s preoccupation with “indigenous literature,” as well as an overview of Nielsen’s career, which included a stop at Walt Disney’s studio to create the artwork for the “Night on Bald Mountain” sequence in the 1941 animated masterpiece, Fantasia.Nielsen’s influences ranged from the Art Nouveau fantasies of Aubrey Beardsley, which can be seen in his earliest work, to Japanese woodcuts and the Ballet Russes, which dominate East of the Sun and West of the Moon. More important than Nielsen’s influences, though, is the way he defined Nordic cool, both in terms of temperature and sensibility. In Nielsen’s world, verticality rules – it is a place filled with uniformly tall and slender people striding serenely or doing battle beneath limitless skies. Diving into the details of Nielsen’s intricate illustrations, one can almost feel the bite of the frigid air they breathe or the sting of the blades, spears, and arrows they wield. This angularity and precision are perfect foils for his thick, slow trolls, with their wide feet and fat phallic noses, giving them a look that in 1914 must have appeared truly monstrous to young and old readers alike.East of the Sun and West of the Moon

This is James Smart's breathtaking photo of an anti-cyclonic tornado touching down near Simla, Colorado. The image is the grand prize winner of the 2015 National Geographic Photo Contest. Below, two of the other incredible honorees: Tugo Cheng's photo of the Tian Shan mountain ranges in Central Asia; Andrew Suryono portrait of an orangutan in the rain in Bali, Indonesia.

Disney Research Zurich and ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) developed VertiGo, a mobile robot that can roll up walls. It uses two tiltable propellers that keep it rolling and also provide the thrust that keeps it against the wall when moving vertically.“About why Disney is interested in this area, I am not able to say specifics as you can understand," Disney Research scientist Paul Beardsley told IEEE Spectrum. "But just speaking in general, one can imagine that robots with lighting effects could be useful for entertainment effects or for wall games. This also relates to the question of why the ground-wall transition is useful. If you have to manually place a robot on a wall at the start of a deployment, and manually remove it at the end, then that's taking manpower and it's not flexible. If the robot can make those transitions automatically, then you are a step in the direction of autonomous deployment, and that makes the technology more powerful. We are motivated by making a practical device, so it is real-world feedback and challenges that drive our work.”

In 2013, 16-year-old Ethan Couch was found guilty of drunkenly plowing into a group of people helping a stranded motorist, killing four of them and maiming two others. A psychologist hired by Couch's defense lawyers said the teen's extravagantly wealthy lifestyle prevented him from knowing right from wrong. Texas State District Judge Jean Boyd agreed. Instead of sending Couch to prison, she gave him 10 years probation and a stint at a luxury rehab center in Newport Beach, California, which offers cooking classes, yoga, and "equine-assisted psychotherapy."The horse-enhanced rehab apparently didn't work, because a video recently surfaced that shows Couch, now 18, playing beer pong at a party. The conditions of Couch's probation forbid him from drinking alcohol. Shortly after that, Couch failed to show up for a scheduled meeting with his parole officer. When authorities investigated, they discovered Couch and his mother Tonya (48) were missing, along with their passports. After a brief manhunt, Couch and his mother were captured in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Couch has dyed his hair black.The Daily Beast has more about Couch's parents, who seem like real pieces of work:

How do you hope it ends? Be honest...

Chris from the National Coalition Against Censorship writes, "Free speech zones. Facebook's nudity nonsense. Panic over 'Islamic indoctrination.' Threatening to sue a school for reading an LGBT book. Those are a few of the 15 Threats to Free Speech in 2015.

When Congress passed the 2005 Real ID act -- mandating easy sharing (and intrinsic insecurity) -- of driver's license data, they insisted compliance by states with the rules would be voluntary. (more…)

More overtly political than security events like Vegas's Defcon, more regular than New York's HOPE, CCC events in Hamburg are an annual gathering of the hacktivist tribes. (more…)