You've probably not heard of Frank Scurlock, bounce house magnate and onetime mayoral candidate in New Orleans. Even an amazing news story about him, published two years ago, did not quite attain the heights of virality. By suing the newspaper and reporter who published and wrote it, however, Scurlock has ensured that a vastly greater number of people will find out that he ...... had pleaded no contest to a charge of “lewd and dissolute conduct” – a charge that was based on an Uber driver’s complaint that Scurlock had masturbated in the backseat of her car.Scurlock's lawsuit, filed against The Times-Picayune and a reporter who then worked there, claimes it falsely reported that he was arrested. Scurlock is representing himself, according to NOLA.com.(I hasten to add that the mugshot of Scurlock here is from a different run-in with the law) Read the rest
If you want an easy, on-the-go listening option, you can always just make the simplest move, join the herd and pick up the latest AirPods Pro. It’s only $250, right? While AirPods are great, they aren’t perfect. Once you shop around a bit, you’ll find there are loads of quality earbuds out there that are just as versatile and just as great for less. A whole lot less, in fact.Case in point — the Skullcandy Jib Wireless Earbuds. They’re ridiculously simple. They deliver some surprising sound. And as PCMag puts it, “Bluetooth earphones don't get much more affordable.” They also named these earbuds a PCMag Editors’ Choice, which says a lot for a pair of headphones priced under $15.That’s really the whole point of Jib Wireless, offering a hearty audio experience with almost nothing in the way of extra features and unneeded additions to get in the way of quality sound and a rock-bottom price.Strictly on performance, you’ll likely find it hard to believe these are low-cost earbuds. With a powerful bass that doesn’t get distorted like other comparable headphones, the Jib Wireless brings strong, focused audio that at home delivering your favorite music, listening to a movie or television show or just fielding phone calls on your phone.Speaking of your phone, the Jib Wireless also includes an in-line microphone so you can make and answer phone calls with ease as well as track and volume controls to keep a close hold over everything you hear. Read the rest
Built in 1978, this 2,316 square foot home in Las Vegas was built underground with an artificial outdoors to make it feel like you are living above ground. From above it appears to be an empty lot. It is extremely claustrophobic, and reminds me of the movie adaptation of Harlan Ellison's "A Boy and His Dog." Read the rest
If you've wondered what it must be like for employees working in stores and having to deal with mask-deniers while trying to enforce social distancing and mask-wearing, wonder no more.This guy from Provo, UT has a Twitter thread of what his life has been like trying to implement a new mandatory mask-wearing policy in the grocery store he works in.As my friend John Bergin commented: "This entire thread reads like a Thomas M. Disch novel with a dash of Kafka. Not even exaggerating."This is a thread of fun times I had while enforcing the new company policy of required masks at the grocery store I work at— the unbreakable thomas richins (@RichinsThomas) July 12, 2020One woman came in with her husband, neither had masks. I offered them free masks. She turned around and waited outside in 101 degree heat (Fahrenheit) instead of just putting on a mask. She stood, arms folded, next to her idling motorcycle until her hubby was done shopping.— the unbreakable thomas richins (@RichinsThomas) July 12, 2020One man looked at the “masks required” sign and power-walked in. We asked him to wear a sign. His face flushed with anger, and he took the mask (which we handed him inside a paper bag) and held the paper bag over his face and continued into the store.— the unbreakable thomas richins (@RichinsThomas) July 12, 2020Image: Mika Baumeister on Unsplash Read the rest
Swiss student Johan Link created an instructable for making a Ball Balancing PID System, and he posted a very nice video demonstration.Via his instructable:This system holds a ball in balance on a plate. A webcam films the system and a python program analyzes the images to find the position of the ball. The python program calculates the tilting of the tray to prevent the ball from falling.A proportional-integral-derivative (PID) regulator is used to compensate the movements of the ball. The position and speed of the ball are measured by the camera and these measurements are used by the PID regulator in the python program.Image: YouTube / Johan Link Read the rest
Perfect for weddings, Valentine's Day, anniversaries, bridal showers, funerals, etc., these "personalized cum and vag rags" arrive as a handsome set of two. Nonheteronormative couples will be delighted to know that both towels can be cum or vag or indeed anything they please, so long as it is a glib yet outré reference to wiping up genitourinary discharges. [h/t kthor] Read the rest
@parlor_sweets is a delectable Instagram account that curates pre-packaged desserts from konbini, or convenience stores, across Japan. American 7-Elevens aren’t known for their assortment of sweet treats, save for a Slurpee on a hot summer day, which is why this enticing convenience store content lured us in. A gooey soufflé pancake melts onto crumbs waiting to collect the overflow. View this post on InstagramA post shared by BAKE (@parlor_sweets) on Jul 14, 2020 at 3:24am PDT A cartoon cow rests on the froth of a creamy milk pudding that bounces as it’s scooped. View this post on InstagramA post shared by BAKE (@parlor_sweets) on Jul 10, 2020 at 4:08am PDT The thick middle of a glazed cookie cream puff feels glutinous to watch as it oozes from the rupture. View this post on InstagramA post shared by BAKE (@parlor_sweets) on Jun 30, 2020 at 2:06am PDT The members of @parlor_sweets’s curators -- who call their group BAKE -- are just as delightful as the desserts they share. Intrigued by the dizzying varieties of delectable treats, they document them through photos and videos on their Instagram account. We asked them to tell us more about their group, why they came together, and how their account “introduces the beauty of Japan overseas.”Why convenience store desserts? In konbini, there are wide varieties of desserts at decent prices. Among other things, these desserts catch the most attention from foreign travelers. The packaging is well-designed to appeal to customers and some are co-directed by famous patissiers or brands. Read the rest
"COVID-19 has created a perfect storm for conspiracy theorists," said Joseph E. Uscinski and Adam M. Enders in an article for The Atlantic titled "The Coronavirus Conspiracy Boom." In the most recent episode of Last Week Tonight, John Oliver takes a look at some of these theories, the belief in which, is literally causing people to die. Right-wing media personalities like Rush Limbaugh say that COVID-19 is "just the common cold" while other conspiracy theorists say COVID-19 is a complete fabrication concocted by the Deep State to brainwash people into becoming docile sheep. Another camp agrees with epidemiologists that the virus poses a grave danger to human health, but insists it is a bioweapon created by a shadowy network of secret government agencies, Deep State operatives, Bill Gates, George Soros, avaricious pharmaceutical companies, and Chinese financiers. And then there are the folks who think 5G cell phone towers actually transmit the virus. These conspiracy theories would be funny if they didn't result in people dying. Unfortunately millions of people trained by Fox news and sham documentaries like Plandemic (with 8 million views so far, and which Oliver neatly debunks in this episode) to reject anything scientists say believe in this dangerous disinformation and happily spread it to the fellow ignoramuses on Facebook. Read the rest
Keanu Reeves co-wrote a new comic book series called BRZRKR with co-writer Matt Kindt (Folklords, Bang!) and artist Alessandro Vitti (Marvel’s Secret Warriors). It's apparently "for mature readers" because, y'know, it's "brutally violent," according to the Boom! Studios announcement: The man known only as Berzerker is half-mortal and half-God, cursed and compelled to violence…even at the sacrifice of his sanity. But after wandering the world for centuries, Berzerker may have finally found a refuge – working for the U.S. government to fight the battles too violent and too dangerous for anyone else. In exchange, Berzerker will be granted the one thing he desires – the truth about his endless blood-soaked existence…and how to end it.Unsurprisingly, Netflix has a first-look deal to develop a TV show based on the comic. Also unsurprisingly, Berzerker looks a lot like Keanu. “I’d love to play Berzerker!” Reeves told USA Today. “It's a really fun story so if it's not me, hopefully someone can play it.”Image top, detail of main cover art by Rafael Grampá. Image below, interior art by Alessandro Vitti and variant cover art by Mark Brooks. Read the rest
This weekend, CNN ran footage of mystery federal agents in desert camo bundling protestors into rental vans in Portland, Oregon. It went the extra step of providing futher anonymity to Trump's unbadged, unnamed goons, blurring their faces (while leaving those of the detained protestors clear). The outrage was instant and overwhelming and CNN apologized, with anchor Jake Tapper insisting it was a mistake: they had intended to blur our the protestors, not the police, but someone screwed up.Matt Novak:“thanks for bringing this to our attention; I didn’t see it when it happened,” Tapper tweeted on Sunday after Gizmodo asked him what was going on with the blurred video. “I looked into it and someone misunderstood an instruction to blur the *protester’s* face,” Tapper continued. “Thanks again for letting us know so we could fix it, which we’ve done.”The “someone” who “misunderstood” what they should be blurring was presumably a video editor, but Tapper didn’t elaborate. Nor did he address the fact that this isn’t the first time his show has blurred the faces of shadowy government officers on U.S. streets who won’t identify the federal agency they may be working for. ...It’s not clear what Tapper means when he says that they’ve fixed it, and it’s even less clear why he’d thank anyone for letting him know what’s happening on his own show. The fact that CNN also miscredited the video to a U.S. Senator evokes the old saw about not mistaking incompetence for malice. But even that speaks to the reluctance of media to cover what is happening: the ad-hoc formation of highly-politicized immigration and border services into a general-purpose paramilitary police force. Read the rest
NOWNESS created eight episodes that beautifully showcase some remarkable gardens from around the world, like the Sunnylands desert garden in California:The gardens featured in the full-length episodes are:Jardin en CévennesFord RanchSunnylandsGlin CastleVilla Silvio PellicoChatsworth HouseGresgarth HallLas PozasEach one has a voiceover by the garden's primary caretaker, and the caretakers' philosophies on gardens and aesthetics are all surprisingly diverse.Image: YouTube / NOWNESS Read the rest
The Bloomberg CityLab reports:Barcelona is deploying a new weapon in its quest to increase the city’s available rental housing: the power to force the sale of empty properties.This week, the city’s housing department wrote to 14 companies that collectively own 194 empty apartments, warning that if they haven’t found a tenant within the next month, the city could take possession of these properties, with compensation at half their market value. These units would then be rented out by the city as public housing to lower-income tenants, while the companies in question could also face possible fines of between €90,000 and €900,000 ($103,000 and $1,003,000), according to Spanish news outlets.It's actually been legal since 2016 for municipalities in Catalonia to take over properties that have been vacant more than two years. There is obviously an eminent domain argument to be had here; but there's also the argument about greedy landlords hoarding property and artificially inflating property values for everyone even as they write off their vacant units as business losses, thus leading to even more profits in the long run. (I don't know enough about Spanish or Catalonian tax structures, but it can work that way in the United States.)Barcelona’s Latest Affordable Housing Tool: Seize Empty Apartments [Feargus O'Sullivan / Bloomberg City Lab]Image: Todd Dominey / Wikimedia Commons (CC 3.0) Read the rest
Some pieces of tech aren’t really expected to have personality. They were created for function, compact black squares that do their duty, do it well, and do it in relative obscurity.Then there are creations like the Tivoo-Max Smart Alarm Clock and Speaker. It’s the equivalent of the theater kid in high school — loud, dramatic, and constantly bouncing around in front of your face like Tigger on a caffeine high.Of course, it doesn’t hurt that for all its brashness and playful energy, the Tivoo-Max is also a formidable addition to anyone’s tech array, ready to blast out a song, wake you up or dazzle you visually with equal enthusiasm.While Tivoo-Max is more than capable on the audio side, its standout feature is its 46 square inch LED screen, which serves as a constantly evolving canvass to display your pixel artwork or downloadable graphics, icons, animations and more that reflect your personality.Armed with 256 programmable squares and a palette of up to 16 million colors, you can either create your own cool pixel drawings or go to the accompanying Divoom Smart app and download the creations of others. With your favorite music as a backdrop, the Tivoo-Max then goes into sparkle mode, cascading your images across the LED screen as the tunes roll on.While the pixel explosion is the Tivoo-Max’s most overt feature, it’s still a powerful Bluetooth speaker with loads of functionality. Backed by 2.1 stereo drivers and an active subwoofer for thumping bass, this speaker’s output is formidable. Read the rest
Spend a relaxing 20 minutes touring Toronto's zoo by car in a new vehicle-friendly route inspired by the pandemic. It's one of many zoos trying out drive-thru tours to allow for visitors while reducing health risks.Via SOCA HUB:NEW Zoo Safari - Toronto Zoo Scenic Safari Drive Through - Driving Tour of Toronto Zoo 4K video. Tour the Toronto Zoo drive thru from your Car. 2020 Toronto Zoo Scenic Safari Drive-Thru Things to do with your children during the pandemic lock down. Looking to get out of the house for a safe adventure? Now you can with our NEW Toronto Zoo Scenic Safari. Take a tour around the Zoo from the comfort of your own car with your very own Zoo Keeper commentary to learn about animals as you pass through the variety of Zoogeographic areas! Car Ride around the Zoo, Get your Toronto Zoo Safari Tickets Online. You’ll see the Zoo from a whole new perspective as you drive on staff-only roads, through the Zoo site, and even through the lion cave! Keep your eyes peeled at every turn, like you are on a real-life African safari – only this time, it’s with a variety of animals from around the world!Image: YouTube / SOCA HUB Read the rest
Due to the ongoing pandemic, many jurisdictions—except those plunging ahead with superspreader events—are opting to hold a remote bar examination. Passing the bar exam is currently required for a law school graduate to practice law in most cases. But it is extremely unlikely that jurisdictions have the ability to build out the infrastructure to securely administer a remote bar exam, especially on only a few months’ notice.Just last week, the American Board of Surgery had to cancel the remote administration of a qualifying exam part of the way through after issues in presenting the questions. There have since been so many reports that examinees' credit card information and personal data were compromised during the exam that the ABS is launching an investigation into the breach. Because it is standard for remote proctoring software to require a high level of access to the examinee’s computer, potential lawyers will be forced to make themselves and their data extremely vulnerable in order to take the exam.Beyond just the possibility of hacking, some remote exams are proctored using facial recognition software, raising serious concerns about the privacy of examinees biometric information, algorithmic bias, and misidentification. And when human proctors have been used, there have been isolated reports of stalking and harassment of examinees. For a huge cohort of would-be attorneys, including the entire class of 2020, exposure to these dangers is not optional if they wish to practice law.Remotely proctored bar exams are not the solution to the current crisis. Read the rest
Adult Swim is Cartoon Network's late-night counterpart, showing adult-oriented shows, animations, art and so forth. It's been doing so since 2001, with Cowboy Bebop, Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Rick and Morty among the popular faves. Last night, however, an angry lady found out about it and all hell broke loose on Twitter.Celebs waded in. Internet "Free Thinker" Robbie Starbuck has reached the limit of his free-speech principles: "What redeeming value or non-evil value does this bring to adults? This is a celebration of death, evil, rot & darkness."The video that they're freaking out about is PreBirth by Mike Diva, embedded at the top of this post. It features pyramid-headed figures drumming with baby dolls, which giggle along no matter how extreme the treatment. To anyone with a passing familiarity with pop culture, Satanic Panic and the edgy surrealism of music videos, it's a darkly-humorous joke about how consumerism breaks, molds and manipulates us into becoming the gleeful demonic spawn of capital—or something like that, anyway. Adult Swim is now trending cos the Qanon Karens are losing it over a vid I made about pyramid bois playing drums with shitty CGI babies.While getting accused of being an Illuminati pedovore daily has been fun, let it be known that I do NOT condone any form of CGI baby drumming. https://t.co/Cunk4jG11K— ◢ M i k e D i v a ◣ (@mikediva) July 19, 2020It's presented in the most comically offensive way possible using the capirote symbology of Christian cultism and the retro occultism of The Omen, Rosemary's Baby and all that followed. Read the rest
The street art collective VoteBitch (the political arm of ArtBitch) is back. You might remember the pro-voting signs they droplifted in 2018. This time they've covered up crosswalk buttons with these clever anti-Trump/pro-voting messages: View this post on Instagram IN CASE OF MALFUNCTION …USE BALLOT. Yet more urban beautification via slap tag. . . . . #vote #itactuallymatters #votebitch #election2020 #blacklivesmatter #policebrutality #democrats #greenparty #votegreen #wewish #streetart #slaptag #adbusters #urbanstreetart #graphicdesign #agitprop #adbusters #voteblue #votebluenomatterwho #bluewave #Bluewave2020 #votebluenomatterwho #dnc #swingleft #civicengagement #localelections #letsdothis #fucktrump #fucktrumpandfuckyouforvotingforhimA post shared by VoteBitch (@votebitch2020) on Jun 27, 2020 at 12:58pm PDT View this post on Instagram IN CASE OF MALFUNCTION …USE BALLOT. More urban beautification via slap tag. . . . . #vote #itactuallymatters #votebitch #election2020 #blacklivesmatter #policebrutality #democrats #greenparty #wewish #streetart #slaptag #adbusters #urbanstreetart #graphicdesign #agitprop #voteblue #votebluenomatterwho #bluewave #dnc #swingleft #civicengagement #localelections #silenceisviolence #rockthevote #letsdothis #fucktrump #fucktrumpandfuckyouforvotingforhimA post shared by VoteBitch (@votebitch2020) on Jun 17, 2020 at 11:17am PDT View this post on Instagram IN CASE OF MALFUNCTION, USE BALLOT. Urban beautification via slap tag. . . . . #vote #itactuallymatters #votebitch #voteblue #votebluenomatterwho #election2020 #blacklivesmatter #policebrutality #democrats #greenparty #wewish #streetart #slaptag #adbusters #urbanstreetart #graphicdesign #agitprop #fucktrump #fucktrumpandfuckyouforvotingforhimA post shared by VoteBitch (@votebitch2020) on Jun 5, 2020 at 12:49pm PDT View this post on Instagram IN CASE OF MALFUNCTION, USE BALLOT. Urban beautification via slap tag. . . . . #vote #itactuallymatters #votebitch #voteblue #votebluenomatterwho #election2020 #pandemic #covid_19 #democrats #wewish #streetart #slaptag #adbusters #urbanstreetart #graphicdesign #agitpropA post shared by VoteBitch (@votebitch2020) on May 27, 2020 at 12:20pm PDTimage via VoteBitch/Instagram Read the rest
On July 7, 2020, a group of 150 elite writers and academics, ranging from David Brooks to J.K. Rowling, signed their names to a letter in Harper's Magazine crying the alleged censorship of so-called "cancel culture" — which is to say, angry voices on the Internet who disagree so vehemently with views they consider abhorrent that they use their right to free expression to boycott those views. "The Letter," as it's come to be known, was spearheaded by Thomas Chatterton Williams, and gestures broadly towards a few high-profile instances of "cancelling" without actually committing to any details or specific arguments beyond vague platitudes about "free speech"; supposedly, most of the signatories did not even read the final content of the actual letter before agreeing to add their name in support of these generic notions.About a week later, even more writers and media professionals — most of whom were far less renowned than Chomsky or Brooks or Rowling, including myself — presented "A More Specific Letter on Justice and Open Debate," that addressed the specific instances alluded to in the original The Letter, while also pointing out the plainly transparent irony that, if you're a marquee name publishing a letter about a censorship in Harper's fucking Magazine, you are, by definition, not actually being censored or cancelled. If you're a famous intellectual or writer, and people get pissed at you for, say, repeatedly spewing transphobic bullshit, and they stop buying your books because we live in a capitalist society and they do not want to financially support rhetoric that they consider to be hateful or harmful, then that's not censorship. Read the rest
If you can say anything for the current state of our world, it certainly isn’t boring. However, the constant churn of high-stakes activity happening around us every day is enough to make even a Buddhist monk feel a twinge of anxiety now and again.We all need a way to release those tensions, depressurize from the mad, mad world, and sink into something relaxing and soothing. For many, that’s a hobby like painting — and for those who have always wanted the opportunity to engage their artistic side with a brush and canvass, The Ultimate Creative Arts Bundle: Learn to Paint and Draw collection can help make that happen.This package includes six courses packed with basics, techniques, and more to hone your artistic skills, create portraits and spend 18 hours really delving into how to draw and paint like a true creator.Since it’s always been to start at the beginning, the dual courses How to Paint from Beginner to Master and How to Draw from Beginner to Master get right down to the fundamentals of both disciplines. In Draw, students who can’t even draw a stick figure will learn some time-honored drawing tactics turning the process into a step-by-step approach. By the time they’re finished, learners have a system for drawing difficult things like hands, eyes or portraits, how to apply shading, when to use various pencil lead weights and more. Meanwhile in Paint, lessons outline a similar step by step method for learning the fine art of oil painting. Read the rest
Asked by black radio host Mo'Kelly why Trump commuted his sentence, Roger Stone muttered "I can't beleive I'm arguing with this negro."NBC News:"There are thousands of people treated unfairly daily," O'Kelly said. "Hell, your number just happened to come up in the lottery. I'm guessing it was more than just luck, Roger, right?"Stone was silent, then it sounded like he was either away from the phone or covering it up when he said, "I don't really feel like arguing with this negro.""I'm sorry, what was that?" O'Kelly responded. "Roger? I'm sorry, what did you say?"Stone denied calling him that, saying on air, "I did not. You're out of your mind. You're out of your mind."The statement is at about 12m 30s in on the tape. It's very quiet on a low-quality audio stream and Stone's trying to claim he said something else, so here's the remark with the volume increased (ie. normalized to -0.1db in Adobe Audition): An emerging excusensus on the right seems to be that calling a black man "this negro" in 2020 isn't racist because that's what they wanted to be called during the Hoover administration. Read the rest
The FCC voted on Thursday to make 988 a suicide hotline number in 2022. Critics pointed out that the ruling did not address texting, which is the preferred mode of communication for many populations with high suicide rates. FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel stated:I wholeheartedly approve this effort. But in light of the skyrocketing rates of suicide among our nation’s young people, I think this agency should have been more ambitious. Right now, the FCC lacks a plan to incorporate the ability to text into the number we establish today. But as we confront the rise in suicide by teenagers across the country, we should acknowledge that texting is their primary form of communication. Voice service has its benefits, but it is not native for most young people. So I regret today’s decision is anchored in older technologies and takes a pass on developing texting capabilities with this three-digit hotline. We should have done so here. I sincerely hope we can do so in the future.In the meantime, if you are in crisis, call 800-273-8255 or visit suicidepreventionlifeline.org. You can also text via crisistextline.org or by texting START to 741741 from anywhere in the United States.Image: Negative Space via Pexels, via The Hill Read the rest
CircleToonsHD hits the nail on the head with their depiction of when you use Twitter in 2020. This depiction has been pretty accurate since the start of the Trump Administration, as the platform currently only rewards sociopaths, journalists, and especially sociopath journalists.There's also this instant classic on the gamification of boring jobs:Image: CircleToonsHD Read the rest
Blue from Overly Sarcastic Productions dives into how the Black Death spread from the Mongol Empire throughout Europe, giving us newly relevant terms like "quarantine" and "yeet." OK, maybe not the latter, but its use in this video to describe pestilence-filled corpses catapulted into Caffa is in fact, perfect.Via Blue:Escape the worries of our modern world by visiting the high middle ages and learning about something esoteric and irrelevant: Plague! In this video, I attempt to actually teach you something about how the medieval world worked and how it responded to this existential threat, rather than dredging up 3rd grade plague facts for easy views. Oops, did I say that out loud?Image: YouTube / Overly Sarcastic Productions Read the rest
Home-delivered fresh meal prep kits have been crazy successful the past few years, a surge kicked into overdrive by our recent stay-at-home habits. While services that conveniently hand you everything you need to make a delicious dish are handier than ever, it’s no surprise some more niche-focused offshoots have also sprung up to keep your porch covered in tasty treats.The cutely-named Whisk Takers is one such new player in this field, serving up a subscription-based menu of sweet baking projects that can turn you or anyone else in your household into a dessert chef with ease.You already know the process. Just sign up and very soon, a tidy package arrives at your door, filled with pre-measured ingredients and a step-by-step recipe card to craft your perfect baking masterpieces.Their simple, no-fuss methods can have anyone baking from scratch with ease. And no one ever has to run to the store for something they forgot, make a mess measuring, or sort through tiny leftover bags of ingredients that sit in the pantry for months afterward.With the 2-box kit ($48, 22 percent off), bakers of any ability level can put together two of Whisk Takers’ most popular creations. If you’re in the mood for cake, the Chocolate Hazelnut Cupcakes might feed that desire. These cupcakes are not only bursting with deep chocolate and addictive hazelnuts, but they also unleash that incredible smell of fresh-baked treats throughout your home...which is almost reason enough to dive in.Or if you enjoy gooey sweet treats, you can also wipe up a batch of S'mores Brownies, a mind-melting marshmallow-y masterstroke teaming up a fudge brownie base with a marshmallow topping and a sprinkling of cute Teddy Grahams to complete the vision. Read the rest
Look, this isn’t a pleasant topic...but let’s talk about sitting on the porcelain throne for just a moment, shall we?For some people, that time perched on the toilet can be an oasis in the busiest of days. For others, it’s an easy way to go run and hide. Whether at work or at home, it’s not unheard of for someone to post up in a stall and stay there for 15, 20, even 30 minutes or more. Not much actual bathroom business is usually getting done there, but others — from family members to bosses to others who need the facilities — probably wish those folks would hurry the hell up.The Toilet Timer is a fun way to remind everyone that time waits for none of us, even when we’re on the pot.The Toilet Timer is a unique sand timer that runs for five minutes. When all the sand has run through the digestive tract of the poised man sitting on the timer’s face, that’s your signal that your time indisposed needs to end.And in case you think this is just a heartless engineering project created by antsy bosses, impatient spouses, or unsympathetic kids, there’s actually some gastroenterological science to back up this five-minute rule as well. In fact, doctors will tell patients they shouldn’t be spending more than five minutes in the bathroom to avoid fissures and hemorrhoidal bleeding.That’s a horrifying thought, so instead, stay focused on the benefits of the Toilet Timer. Putting this Kickstarter-funded device in your bathroom is an oh-so-subtle reminder to that long pooper in your family that you’re on to their trick. Read the rest
The DEVO Energy Dome PPE Kit (Personal Protection Equipment) is now available for pre-order! The face masks look cool, too:With COVID-19 stalking us its easy to forget that this is 2020 and the 40th anniversary of Devo’s Freedom of Choice. What more cogent way to use that freedom of choice than to choose which of these two classic Devo graphics you want printed on your 3-ply, cotton, washable Devo Coronavirus mask? Wait! Unlike most choices we are given you can choose to have both mask designs! You win either way as we try to stay safe and avoid mean COVID-19’s invisible spray! Read the rest
Is the iPhone 12 coming? Yes. When? That’s still up for debate.We’re all in a state of flux these days, including the world’s most iconoclastic tech company. But even though Apple’s latest and greatest phone may or may not drop this fall, one thing is certain — a sale on Apple tech and accessories is always noteworthy.Right now, check out this collection of 24 great deals on Apple iPads, iMacs, Airpods, Apple Watches, and more, all with savings of up to $1,000. iPadsWith four(!) different versions of Apple’s iconic tablet floating around, it can be hard to know exactly what you’re getting...beyond the sleek design, intuitive layout, and notoriously buttoned-up environment Apple is known for, that is.But with Apple’s flagship iPad model, you get the baseline device that launched the line and still, 10 years later, is a rock-solid buy, especially at its entry-level price. Apple iPad 4 9.7" 16GB (Refurbished) Bundle - $134.99; originally $199Apple iPad 4 9.7" 32GB (Refurbished) Bundle - $219.99; originally $499With a nearly 10-inch Retina display, Wi-Fi connectivity, and a dual-core processor, these iPads might have a few miles on the odometer, but they’ve still got plenty of life left. Certified Refurbished by Apple to look and work as good as new, all three models are great for browsing and streaming, communicating with friends, and even doing most work tasks with ease. With built-in speakers, front and rear cameras, you get the quality tablet features you expect for only a fraction of what you'd if you bought a brand new iPad. Read the rest
Last week, top Twitter accounts blurted out bitcoin scams, hauling in more than $120k for whoever compromised the bluechecks before the company could shut down the caper. How did they get access to the well locked-down accounts of Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Joe Biden, Elon Musk and many more? According to The New York Times, someone left administrative logins pinned up in Twitter's slack channel.Mr. O'Connor said other hackers had informed him that Kirk got access to the Twitter credentials when he found a way into Twitter's internal Slack messaging channel and saw them posted there, along with a service that gave him access to the company's servers. People investigating the case said that was consistent with what they had learned so far. A Twitter spokesman declined to comment, citing the active investigation. Read the rest
Minecraft is premiering a new series called How We Make Minecraft this month. It promises to give fans details about how programmers make decisions about characters and gameplay, all presented in an irreverent and fun style.Via their channel:From the creators of ‘Ten Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Minecraft’ and ‘Other Far Less Successful Projects We’d Rather Not Talk About Here’ comes a new series that’s borderline educational! Subscribe to our YouTube channel to never miss an episode! The series will premiere right here on July 31st. (Shameless cross-promotion: while you're waiting, you can always re-watch ‘Ten Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Minecraft’ hereHere's an embed as well:Image: YouTube / Minecraft Read the rest
If you were sentient in 1980, this summary of that watershed year will bring back a flood of memories. If you weren't, behold the weird world of 40 years ago.While the aesthetic is dead on, it's not so much weird history as it is regular history, which happens to be weird. Via Weird History:1980. The start of the decade. It was a totally rad decade that was filled with many changes to our culture. From the rise of Ronald Reagan to the tragic ending of John Lennon, the year 1980 would see many new, cool, and totally weird changes. Weird History is taking a look back at the year 1980. Part 1 of 10 of the 1980s Timeline.Image: YouTube / Weird History Read the rest
Civil rights hero and Democratic Party representative John Lewis is dead at 80. Lewis was a key organiser of the 1963 March on Washington, badly beaten by Alabama State Troopers during a 1965 protest march. He represented his Atlanta district in the House of Representatives since 1987.Arrested, jailed and beaten for challenging Jim Crow laws, Lewis would become a national figure by his early 20s. He later became the youngest of the Big Six civil rights leaders and, at 23, helped organize the March on Washington. There, he provided a keynote speech at the landmark event for civil rights."As it stands now, the voting section of this bill will not help the thousands of black people who want to vote," Lewis said. "It will not help the citizens of Mississippi, of Alabama and Georgia who are qualified to vote but lack a sixth-grade education. One man, one vote is the African cry. It is ours, too. It must be ours."Here is president Barack Obama on his hero: "I told him that all those young people — of every race, from every background and gender and sexual orientation — they were his children," Obama said. "They had learned from his example, even if they didn’t know it. They had understood through him what American citizenship requires, even if they had heard of his courage only through history books." Read the rest
Grad student Andrew Yockey of the University of Cincinnati found that LSD use is way up in the US since Trump got elected. He adds, “Now that COVID’s hit, I’d guess that use has probably tripled.” Via Scientific American:To arrive at their findings, Yockey and his colleagues turned to data collected from more than 168,000 American adults by the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, an annual, nationally representative questionnaire. They analyzed trends since 2015, partly because of the timing of the 2016 presidential election.The researchers found that past-year LSD use increased by 56 percent over three years. The rise was especially pronounced in certain user groups, including people with college degrees (who saw a 70 percent increase) and people aged 26 to 34 (59 percent), 35 to 49 (223 percent) and 50 or older (45 percent). Younger people aged 18 to 25, on the other hand, decreased their use by 24 percent.Photo by Sharon McCutcheon from Pexels Read the rest
Every once in awhile, we see a new product come along that’s so versatile and elegantly simple that it’s strange no one’s ever gone there before.Portable lights themselves aren’t new, but there’s something about the MOGICS Coconut Light that’s so seamlessly well-designed and adaptable that it feels startlingly original.The Coconut is basically just an orb of light. Yet the more than $105,000 this portable, foldable light source generated during its enthusiastic run on Kickstarter proves that its appeal goes far beyond its humble origins.Made from durable, non-toxic, kid-safe silicon material, the Coconut Light is a minimalist perfect sphere of light that can adapt to almost any situation. The Coconut self-inflates and sports four different lighting modes, so whether it’s serving as a desk light, a table centerpiece, a camping accessory, or poolside ambiance, it effortlessly conforms to your environment.The silicon sturdiness and clever engineering mean you don’t have to handle the Coconut Light with kid gloves. In fact, with its inflatable, balanced, durable construction, it’s practically like having a glowing rubber ball shining in the darkness.The three-point design subtly creates a balance, so if the Coconut Light is set on a table, it doesn’t roll away. At the base, the invisible switch can toggle through normal, flash, breathing, and warning light modes.In case you’re skeptical about carrying a rubber ball around with you, don’t worry -- the Coconut Light folds down to about a sixth of its original size. Then once you pop it out of its carrying case, the Coconut’s unique valve design expands it to its regular dimensions. Read the rest
Starting in 1970, Soviet scientists began drilling into the Earth as far as they could possibly go. The project ended in 1992 at 12,262 meters due to temperatures of 356 °F that far down into the Earth's crust. The Kola Superdeep Borehole remains the deepest artificial hole on Earth. Read the rest
While closed due to the pandemic, the owners of J&M Jewelers in Macomb County, Michigan came up with a new way to make money. They buried $1 million in jewelry, coins, antiques, and gold and silver bars across the state and anyone can pay to sign up for their monthly "Treasure Quests." The first few quests are sold out but there is one in September with open spots. For $59, you'll get clues that could lead you to $7,000 in booty. From Johnny's Treasure Quest:At first I was going stir crazy being at home with nothing but time on my hands and literally pacing back and forth anxiously wanting to do something but with nothing to do. One day I got up and came across a news article while sipping coffee and scrolling the news on my phone. The article was about an anonymous person claiming to have finally deciphered the infamous riddle and discovered the Forrest Fenn treasure.Wow! how cool is that I thought. I’ve always dreamed of searching for that myself but never had the time. What Mr. Forrest Fenn really wanted is what I found to be most unmistakably true. It was getting off the couch and out of the house and adventuring outdoors. So that is exactly what we did. I began traveling up and down pure Michigan with my fiancé. We went through woods, rivers, streams, mountains and waterfalls. We even got married!I have buried not only my entire jewelry store but thousands upon thousands of dollars of gold, silver, diamonds & antiques in various locations in Michigan from the bottom to the upper peninsula. Read the rest
A new online art project launched today and I've had a lot of fun browsing around the online video exhibition. It's called Decameron Row and when you go to the site you'll see eight multi-story buildings, each with a bunch of windows in them. When you click on a window, it starts a 1 or 2-minute video from one of 100 artists in the series.I was kindly invited to participate, and next week my video will be available.For now, check out the first 27 videos.The launch features contributions in music by the short form masters Ok Go; Chilean bard Nano Stern; songwriter David Poe; violinist Sumire Hirotsuru in Japan; the writer of the title song to the movie Harriet, Joshua Brian Campbell; and Nortec Collective in Tijuana, Mexico. Dance is represented by the inventive Pilobolus, Big Dance Theater, Ohad Naharin, and Mike Tyus. Theater and TV performers include Aasif Mandvi, Natalie Palamides, Geoff Sobelle, Sophie Bortolussi, and the inimitable Christeene. The site features writers from numerous genres including novelists Nicole Krauss, Claire Messud, Nell Freudenberger, Ben Schott, Etgar Keret, and PEN Open Book Award winner Nafissa Thompson-Spires; and poet Douglas Kearney. Visual artists include Boris Torres, Som Sutthirat Supaparinya, and Elinor Carrucci; filmmakers include Ira Sachs, Gabriela Amaral Almeida in Brazil, and Palme d’Or winning Apichatpong Weerasethakul in Thailand.New videos will continue to launch one building each week throughout the summer until all 100 windows on Decameron Row are illuminated as a testament to this year. Come back each week to discover more surprises from artists in Africa, Asia, North and South America, Europe, and the MIddle EastDecameron Row is inspired by Boccaccio’s Decameron, where a group of friends in 14th century Italy avert the loneliness of a 10-day quarantine from the Black Death by squatting in an abandoned villa outside of Florence and telling each other stories — 10 people, 10 days, 100 tales. Read the rest
He's awesome.@Natedawg the real og is on TikTok. In addition to being a total ninja martial arts nunchuk master, Natedawg also has Down's Syndrome (also known as Down Syndrome).Being different doesn't mean you can't do wonderful things and be an awesome human living their best life.So it is with Natedawg the real og.Here's the video. @natedawgfirstog ##fyp ##hero@sweet._.n_sour We’re back ♬ Holding out for a Hero - from "Footloose" - Bonnie Tyler Read the rest
If you routinely lament the loss of truly educational television...well, join the club. There are only so many hours of Real Housewives and Forensic Files you can watch before your brain turns to mush and you’re convinced the final days of mankind must be counting down.Don’t lose faith just yet, however. There are actually some interesting and enlightening viewing options out there more invested in expanding your mind than watching it disintegrate at the Jersey Shore.History Hit TV is a standalone streaming video service housing hundreds of history documentaries, interviews and short films, all dedicated to bringing viewers the most extraordinary, dramatic, tragic, and fascinating stories of our planet’s shared past. Since no one wants to read anymore, History Hit TV is reinventing how history is told for the digital viewer, through video, podcasts and more.If you’re interested in the Ancient and Classical World, you can dive into shows and discussions about the history of the world’s oceans, the Roman empire, the ancient Greeks, Arthurian legend, and more. If your tastes veer more contemporary, you can get up-to-the-minute offerings about the coronavirus pandemic, current elections or even something as fun as the complete history of video games.And of course, there are also centuries worth of compelling content in-between. In addition to documentaries and shows, there’s also a huge library of podcasts you can devour anytime, anywhere. In fact, it’s the home to hundreds of episodes of the no. 1 most listened to history podcast on iTunes, the popular Dan Snow’s History Hit. Read the rest
When it comes to packing kids into underfunded classrooms with at-risk teachers White House spokesfraud Kayleigh McEnany says: "The science should not stand in the way of this."Kayleigh McEnany: Pres. Trump wants schools to open, "and when he says open, he means open and full, kids being able to attend each and every day at their school. The science should not stand in the way of this." https://t.co/USdmss0Ygu pic.twitter.com/XTowM3TKIx— Evan McMurry (@evanmcmurry) July 16, 2020 Perhaps they see children as a good way to get the disease to their grandparents? Read the rest
I am pre-ordering Star Wars The Clone Wars: Stories of Light and Dark because Cad Bane.Cad Bane was my favorite of the very many excellent characters to come out of Star Wars Clone Wars. His brief near-cameo in Star Wars Rebels delighted me. I had hoped he'd be a character used like Hondo Ohnaka or that we'd see him in The Mandolorian.Polygon has an excerpt of the Cad Bane story included in this new Star Wars book. It tells a fantastic Clone Wars arc from Bane's POV instead of the Obi-Wan centric one we got in the cartoons. Not only are the non-Jedi characters fascinating in this arc, but it is one wherein Anakin learns the Jedi Order will lie and cause him great emotional pain to reach their ends, and that Obi-Wan is more than complicit.Star Wars The Clone Wars: Stories of Light and Dark via Amazon Read the rest
I know Sarah Cooper from her hilarious lip-syncs of Trump's incoherent babbling. I did not know that she was also the author of the hilarious 2016 book 100 Tricks to Appear Smart in Meetings. Cooper announced that she has a new calendar based on the book. Here are some sample pages: Read the rest
Last week, street artist Banksy, disguised as a London Underground cleaner, painted an excellent artwork inside a train car urging people to wear face coverings due to COVID-19. Video below. Turns out though, an actual cleaning crew wiped away the work shortly after it was created. From CNN:The work was removed "some days ago" because it was in violation of [Transport for London]'s "strict anti-graffiti policy," a spokesperson for the transportation agency said in a statement.Even though it was erased, the spokesperson said that TfL appreciated "the sentiment of encouraging people to wear face coverings" and that it would like to "offer Banksy the chance to do a new version of his message for our customers in a suitable location." Read the rest
Brian Kemp, the governor of Georgia, has voided local government rules mandating that people wear face masks in public to prevent the spread of covid. Today I issued Executive Order 07.15.20.01, which extends the gatherings ban of more than 50 people, renews business restrictions, protects the medically fragile, and strongly encourages Georgians to wear masks in public.https://t.co/CKFdrW4C3M— Governor Brian P. Kemp (@GovKemp) July 16, 2020As summarized by Twitter:Local governments in the state will not be able to order people to wear masks in public places, according to a new executive order issued by Kemp on Wednesday, which also extended many COVID-19 provisions. The Republican governor's previous COVID-19 orders have for months banned cities and counties from taking more restrictive steps than the state but the new rules explicitly specify for the first time that the state's local governments can’t enforce mask mandates.He's willing to risk the lives of everyone in Georgia to show fealty to Trump. It's a death cult.Kemp kissed Trump's bloated flesh and let it slip away, running his fingers through his master's hair one last time. He looked up at the gathered crowd and tears welled in his bloodshot eyes."Die with us" he croaked, his lips parting in a wan smile. pic.twitter.com/8XcNy4YtEc— Rob Beschizza (@Beschizza) July 16, 2020 Read the rest
Around 2007, a child made a simple terrarium inside a glass bottle. Today, the bottle, unopened for more than a decade, is teeming with a lush ecosystem of algae, moss, fungi, and isopods. From Jartopia:I found this terrarium very fascinating as it's almost as if there are two separate worlds within the same glass demijohn. The algae underground creates a unique habitat, which couldn't possibly exist in nature due to the fact the glass ensured that light could reach the soil underground. This allowed algaes, moss and fungi to flourish, alongside any of the smaller invertebrates that lived among them.Adult isopods seem to inhabit the surface and rarely venture below ground. I believe this is due to the hardness of the clay and rock substrate. The babies do seem to venture underground though, likely using tunnels left behind by earthworms many years ago. Read the rest
While every incident that causes damage to an airplane is different, especially ones where passengers, crew, or third parties are injured or killed, airlines have a general set of protocols. As Wendover Productions explains, one of the big early decisions is whether to accept or deflect blame.One interesting aspect he mentions is how "newsy" the crash footage is, by which he means how visually interesting is the crash. A fiery crash gets way more media coverage, and that can affect how the airline responds. And commercial airline incidents almost always get more coverage because of how many people are fascinated/terrified by air travel.Airlines' Protocol for After a Plane Crash (Wendover Productions)Image: YouTube / Wendover Productions Read the rest
Maybe after four months, you’re finally getting tired of staring at that less-than-brilliant home computer monitor. Or maybe you really need to create your own dual-monitor configuration in your home office like the one back on your desk at work. Or maybe that 15-inch screen just isn’t doing it for you anymore and you need to step up.Right now, five of the biggest names in computer monitors are offering up deals on 10 of their top models, each at savings of up to nearly $700. Hopefully, that’s enough incentive to finally pull the trigger on a brilliant new display. Trust us, your eyes will thank you.AOCYou’ve really got to search to find a quality monitor for under $100, so AOC is dropping the price on their AOC 19.5" Monitor (Certified Refurbished; $79.99; originally $98) to under $80 just to get your attention. Of course, the crisp detailed images and bright vivid colors in HD 1600x900 resolution don’t hurt either. Plus, the screen offers both VGA and HDMI connections so you can watch HD video from virtually any device you own.For more majestic viewing, the AOC 27" Monitor (Certified Refurbished; $134.99; originally $169) has virtually no outer edge for a more expanded screen view that displays even bigger than it appears. With 16.7 million colors to present brighter brights and deeper blacks, this monitor also features a built-in IPS (in-plane switching) panel that boosts your image and even increases the available viewing angles for any user.While the edgeless display is great, you might also want to consider a curved screen experience, one that actually angles light to your eye differently while your eye moves less, which almost feels like surround viewing. Read the rest
Unlike the unquestioned effectiveness of a solid strip of duct tape, you never quite know what you’re going to get when you try to repair something with glue, do you? Whether it's the material itself that you’re gluing or how much glue you apply or how long you let it sit before testing, there’s always a reasonable chance that your fix-it just...well, isn’t going to work out.Then once you factor in splintering, missing pieces, or just uneven points to rejoin two pieces, it turns the entire gluing process into a real crapshoot.The world has been screaming for a 21st-century evolution of glue for years. Now, it’s finally arrived in the form of Bondic, a truly groundbreaking new method for replacing glue with actual liquid plastic.In fact, Bondic might actually have more in common with welding than it does with gluing. In its initial almost honey-like solvent free non-toxic formula form, Bondic is extremely pliable, allowing you to use it to either bind two pieces together or even to virtually resculpt a broken or missing piece. Whether your pieces are plastic, wood, metal, PVC, steel, rubber, wiring, ceramic, vinyl, Kevlar, polypropylene, leather, or another substance, Bondic can fix what normally might have to be thrown away.Once you’ve got your pieces together, then the true magic of Bondic is on full display. With a blast from the incorporated LED UV light, the once liquidy Bondic instantly hardens, creating a permanent bond that locks your pieces in place forever. Read the rest