If you’ve even pondered the concept of front-end development as a future career, drop everything and learn JavaScript. This dynamic programming language is not only the engine behind all modern browsers from Firefox to Chrome, but is widely used to build front-end development frameworks and libraries. This training starts from the basics of using JavaScript to build applications with popular frameworks, explores key modern tools in the JavaScript ecosystem, before introducing more advanced topics such as functional programming, data visualization, and mobile application development.

https://vimeo.com/143234795While this video has less cute cats than the last one we shared, it does a great job of showing why folks are getting so excited about Arpeggio, a new portable sequencer! They've also added a stretch goal of colors, because who doesn't like a nice shade of Bubblegum?An earlier post on Arpeggio started one of the musicians who created the instrument, Charlie, and I chatting. Turns out he was the bassist in an L.A. area band I've been wanting to share on Boing Boing, but could not find any of their tracks! Check out Other People! Here is a link to a fan made video for one of their tracks, Ellie.

Having raised $1.7M from an auction of Disneyland memorabilia and rarities earlier this year, Van Eaton Galleries are holding a second auction of cast-offs from the Disney themeparks. (more…)

Claire sends us the video for "YACHT's 'I Thought the Future Would Be Cooler', possibly the first pop music video to include Soylent, self-balancing scooters, humans being walked on leashes by drones, fake Tinder, a 'Wheely Boy' telepresence performance, and...Bohemian Rhapsody with vape pens."

A group at Saudi Arabia's King Abdulla University of Science and Technology have developed a new carbon-nanotube-based material that absorbs 98 to 99 percent of light between 400 and 1,400nm, from all angles, making even blacker than Rice University's 2008 none-more-black, Boston and Duke's 2008 none-more-black and Leiden University's 2009 none-more-black. That's pretty fucking black. (more…)

Wikimedia -- Wikipedia's parent org -- has had its case against the NSA dismissed by a Federal judge who said that the mere fact that the site is one of the most popular destinations on the net was not a basis for assuming that the NSA had intercepted data between Wikipedia and its users. (more…)

SMFX is adjusted straight from your iOS or Android device so you can dim, brighten, change the color, or turn on/off your light without lifting more than a finger. SMFX will instantly transform the ambiance of your room, and knock some $$ off your energy bill in the process.

Tiffiny from Fight for the Future writes, "New information has surfaced about Facebook's position on S. 754, the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA). Sources on the Hill tell us that Facebook lobbyists are welcoming CISA behind closed doors, even though Facebook has been lauded as opposing the bill after CCIA, an industry association they are a member of, came out against it.. CISA would give companies like Facebook legal immunity for violating privacy laws as long as they share information with the government. It's supposed to be for cybersecurity, but in reality companies would be encouraged to share information beyond cyber threat data and the information could be used for prosecuting all kinds of activities." (more…)

Jason writes, "An indie film company here in Denver called Mythos is crowdfunding an adaptation of China Mieville's short story 'Familiar' with full cooperation from Mieville himself (he's even contributing to some of the rewards). The Kickstarter campaign ends on November 15." (more…)

Canada's rock-ribbed bastion of pro-trade, pro-Tory ideology has come out against the Trans Pacific Partnership's Intellectual Property chapter in a leading editorial signed by the paper's editorial board. (more…)

Just say no to cheap, non-MFi Lightning cables, and yes to supercharging your Apple devices with this premium braided cable. Covered in durable, nylon braiding, this cable is tangle-free, contains high-quality copper wiring, and is conveniently extra long to support charging and syncing as you go about your business.

Confidential research files on human rights abuses in El Salvador were stolen from a human rights organization in Washington state, just weeks after that same organization sued the CIA for refusing to release documents related to those very same abuses.(more…)

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In a way, you can simply will yourself into a new physical form – that is if you use your will to routinely move heavy things, run around, or eat fewer tacos.Just as you can change your body at the atomic level by lifting weights, exercising, or eating differently, you can willfully alter your brain by performing another physical act: thinking in a certain way. (more…)

I like it when Jason comes to LA and takes me to the Magic Castle for dinner. I don't enjoy putting on my old suit and digging around for my necktie to comply with the Magic Castle's strict dress code. But I wear the suit because it's worth watching the magicians in the Close Up Room do card tricks.The next time Jason invites me to the Castle, I am tempted to wear this $8.88 Slenderman costume (maybe without the mask) and see if they will let me through the door.

Tomorrow (Saturday 10/24), Providence, Rhode Island's experimental art space AS220 celebrates its 30th anniversary with a cabaret gala starring the Pope of Trash himself, filmmaker and author John Waters! The evening event starting at 6pm at Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel features musicians, comics, performance artists, food, drink, and all kinds of hijinks. Get there early as my dear old friend and inspiration Gloria Gardenburger (aka Michael Dates) is hosting the red carpet!AS220 30th Anniversary CabaretBelow, the trailer for John Waters' "This Filthy World":https://youtu.be/sZ_Kq6mgZr8

The Atlantic: "Many on the right grudgingly say the former secretary of state avoided missteps and bested her interrogators in Thursday’s House committee marathon."Gawker: "Why Angry Old Men Calling a Meeting to Yell at a Woman Is Always a Spectacular Failure."Photo: Reuters. Illo: Rob Beschizza. Thank you, you're welcome.

A 14-year-old girl who chucked a 1.75" baby carrot at a teacher has been suspended from school and told that she faces charges of battery, according to reports from Henrico County, Va.Local newsman Jon Burkett writes that Aliya Kay says she meant it as a joke and didn't expect it to actually make contact."I don't even know how to combat the stupidity," her mother, Karrie May, told Burkett. "I can see a couple of days in school detention or even a couple days out-of-school suspension. But this goes way beyond that. We have to go to court, and her charges aren't small: assault and battery with a weapon."Here's a CBS legal expert on critical issues such as the softness of baby carrots.

Mimic implements a sick, sick idea floated on Twitter by Peter Ritchie: "Replace a semicolon (;) with a greek question mark (;) in your friend's C# code and watch them pull their hair out over the syntax error."

A map of Middle-Earth annoted by Tolkien himself has been found tucked in an old copy of Lord of the Rings—and it reveals that Hobbiton is on the same Latitude as the professor's beloved Oxford, England. (more…)

The most recent Gallup polls shows that 58% of the U.S. population favors legalizing cannabis (and that number will grow as the current generation of senior citizens dies off), but most of the presidential candidates have said they do not want to end cannabis prohibition. Meanwhile, the United States' neighbors to the north and south are serious about ending the costly and dangerous war on weed. (more…)

The private phone companies that charge prisoners' families up to up to $12.95 for 15 minutes' conversation are not the worst prison profiteers, but they're pretty high up in the rogues' gallery of greedy, immoral predators who view the poorest and most vulnerable Americans as penned-up wallets. (more…)

Look who is up for a promotion: Rear Adm. Brian Losey. He's the gentleman who went on an illegal witch hunt to find the whistleblower who anonymously reported Losey for a minor travel-policy infraction. The Washington Post reports that Losey "wrongly fired, demoted or punished" his subordinates "during a fruitless hunt." (more…)

The $150 Smarter Ikettle lets you start your water boiling from anywhere in the world over the Internet -- and it also contains long-term serious security vulnerabilities that allow attackers to extract your wifi passwords from it. (more…)

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An Omaha, Nebraska policewoman substituted her ignorance of the law with an authoritarian compulsion to shame a mother who was feeding her infant the way mammals have done so for 65 million years. Rosalyn Mizzell, the mother who was breast feeding her child at a school forum meeting, said the officer told her, "Don't do that in front of me. Have more respect for yourself and everybody else here." The officer threatened to cite Mizzell for indecent exposure.When Mizzell complained, she said the officer's apology "went along the lines of, 'I was offended, other people were offended, if you wanted to breastfeed you could have done it in the bathroom or stayed home.'"The Omaha Police Department issued a statement that read: "Officers responded to a complaint from a citizen who thought the breast feeding was inappropriate. Officers followed up and did not cite the woman for any offense."According to Nebraska state law, it is legal for mothers to breastfeed their children in "any public or private location where the mother is otherwise authorized to be."

Bernie Sanders hit the skins for a perfect rendition of Ben Harper's "Burn one Down." The other candidates approve and the audience goes wild.

Custom furniture maker Craig Thibodeau created this showpiece "Automaton Table" to illustrate all the different ways that he can hide secret compartments in the pieces he builds. (more…)

The dream of desktop manufacturing is now a reality. Take a look at the incredible variety of things you can make with a Glowforge laser cutter, from wallets to leather sandals, lamps to dollhouses, jewelry to phone cases. In this video Glowforge CEO Dan Shapiro shows how easy it is to make a laser cut item simply by drawing your design on a piece of material. Visit glowforge.com/boingboing to get 50% and $100 off a Glowforge today. Offer ends October 23, 2015 at 6pm PT! [Sponsored Post]

In 1935, Clifford Clinton opened his Clifton's Brookdale Cafeteria location in downtown Los Angeles. With its neon sign declaring “Pay what you wish”, Clifton's was dubbed the Cafeteria of the Golden Rule by its patrons, many of whom had been made jobless by the great depression. (more…)

The largely unregulated supplement industry sells a variety of weird and sometimes dangerous stuff that it wink-nudge promises will cure what ails you, but even the most accurately labeled, evidence-based supplements can make sick people much, much sicker. (more…)

Learn to program from scratch in just 6 weeks. This Complete Learn to Code Bundle of 8 courses includes over 74 hours of training for $59, including web development, Python, Ruby on Rails, PHP, and more. The web development course has an average rating of 4.8 stars (out of 5) with 7,684 ratings.Here is a breakdown of everything included in the bundle:1The Complete Web Developer Course - Build 14 Websites$199 Value2'Python Training: From Scratch to Penetration Tester' Course$199 Value3'Node Program: From 0 to Hero with Node.js, MongoDB & Express' Course$197 Value4'Build a Website from Scratch with HTML & CSS' Course$149 Value5'Ruby on Rails: Training & Skills to Build Web Applications' Course$99 Value6PHP 'Punch in the Face' Course$79 Value7'Become a Heroku Rails Ninja' Course$75 Value8'Mobile & Web Rapid Prototyping - Interaction & Animation' Course$39 ValueGet the complete 2015 learn to code bundle for only $59 in the Boing Boing store today.

During his visit to Washington last month, China's President Xi Jinping vowed to stop the commercial trade in ivory in his nation, but didn't say much about when or how.(more…)

Arizona tried to illegally import a lethal injection drug that is banned in the U.S., but the state never got the drug after federal agents halted the shipment at Phoenix airport. The Associated Press has the documents, and the resulting scoop.

Ever wonder how “Birdman” director Alejandro González Iñárritu and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki got that one incredibly long continuous shot? Well, technically, they didn't.(more…)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOB-tNcw02s

If you're looking to replace your chipped, mismatched drinking glasses with a new set, look no further than the classic Bormioli Rocco bar glasses. A set of six 16-ounce glasses will set you back just $20 on Amazon. They stack well, and are extremely rugged. Bormioli Rocco makes these bar glasses in a range of sizes, from 2.5 ounces on up.

In 1915, Swedish glass blower Alexander Samuelson designed the iconic Coca-Cola bottle. The form was inspired by the cocoa bean, while integrating the grooves in the glass apparently made it possible to patent the bottle design. Back then, it was referred to as the “hobbleskirt” bottle due to its similarity to a style of skirt worn at the time. Then in the 1920s, a magazine referred to it as the "Mae West" after the actress's figure."The Coca-Cola Bottle: Lasting Design" (Juxtapoz)"The Story of the Coca-Cola Bottle" (Coca-Cola)

The US military's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is funding a new project to develop musical robots that can improvise a solo when playing with human jazz musicians. A collaboration between new media researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and musicians at the University of Arizona, the goal of the MUSICA (Musical Improvising Collaborative Agent) project is to explore non-traditional "languages" for people and computers to interact. From Scientific American:

Meg Neal's guide to synthesizers gets right to the nitty gritty: how do they do that wonderful thing they do, which is make noise? It's a history lesson with benefits. (more…)

In the annals of inappropriate communications, anonymously sending threats to one's neighbors ranks highly. But few have ever ranked so highly as Carrie Pernula, who wrote "The children look delicious. May I have a taste?" in a letter mailed to hers.The two yummy youngsters in question, according to CBS Minnesota, were elementary school-age children who had been noisy and left stuff in her yard.Police say that Pernula, 38, admitted sending the note after the parents posted it to their hood's Facebook group and police asked.

It's not in English, but you won't miss it in this amusing collection of pranks played on bike thieves. My favorite part is the ceremonial chasing of the confused thief after his downfall. [via]

What if the Axis won World War II? An America occupied by Germany and Japan is the premise of Philip K Dick's novel, The Man in the High Castle, and it's been filmed by Amazon Studios as an exclusive drama for Prime subscribers.The new trailer is striking: the script seems restrained and measured, almost like an old BBC spy drama, but with the handsome looks that big budgets bring. I even thought for a moment that I saw Colin Firth in there, but it turned out to be Rupert Evans looking particularly determined in the shadows. It all gets unlocked Nov. 20.Previously: Amazon's The Man in the High Castle

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See sample pages from this book at Wink.The story of Harry Potter is so well known that I won’t focus on that here. Instead, I’m going to talk about what makes this new edition so spectacular, and why it’s a must have for your bookshelf. You may have read Harry Potter before, but you’ve never read it like this. Almost every page features some kind of full-color illustration by artist Jim Kay. Illustrations come in a wide variety of forms, ranging from small page ornamentations to whole page spreads.The full-page illustrations have a ton of detail and color and will likely make you stop mid-page to appreciate them. Each normal page features two columns of text, and some of the most interesting pages integrate illustrations into the text. Check out one of the example pictures up top, of an early scene in the book when Harry releases a snake from the zoo, and we get an illustration of the snake invading the text. Another great example (also from the zoo) is Dudley on the right-hand page gawking at a gorilla on the opposite page.These are just some of the early examples of what Kay does, and the illustrations only get more and more engrossing throughout the book. Kay masterfully adds to the story in the same way that the illustrations in a children’s picture book add to the story. It never occurred to me that Harry Potter required illustrations, but after reading this it’s clear why someone thought they would make for a good experience. The only downside to the book is that it’s huge, so it probably isn’t something you’ll carry with you. On the other hand, if you’re reading this book it probably isn’t your first time (or even second or third time) reading Harry Potter, so that’s likely not an issue.– Alex StrineHarry Potter's new illustrated edition is spectacularHarry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: The Illustrated Edition

In its luminous, rainbow-hued absurdity, the Nox is so delightful that it seems like a dog toy, perhaps, or a wedge of playdoh colors that one's child has only just rolled together.But it is, in fact, an enormous silicone dragon penis! (more…)

This teacher thinks his/her correct solutions are better than his/her student's equally correct solutions.