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There was an inspiring sight for indigenous and women's rights in the mountains of Chiapas this week, as more than 3,200 women from 49 countries reportedly gathered together for the second annual International Gathering of Women Who Struggle.Words from the #Zapatista Women at the Opening of the Second International Gathering of Women Who Struggle - #ezln #Chiapas #feminism #antireport - Read here: https://t.co/9MYftJy78K pic.twitter.com/6v7YyLUT89— Enough 14 (@enough14) December 31, 2019From the opening statement at the event:As the Zapatistas that we are, we know that they will give us many examples of women who have advanced, triumphed, won prizes and high salaries—who have been successful, as they put it. We respond by talking about the women whom have been raped, disappeared, murdered. We point out that the rights they talk about above are won by a precious few women above. And we respond, we explain, we shout that what is lacking is the most basic and most important of rights for all women: the right to live. We’ve said it many times, compañera and sister, but we’ll repeat it again now:Nobody is going to grant us our right to live and all the other rights we need and deserve. No man—good, bad, normal, or whatever—is going to grant these to us.The capitalist system is not going to give them to us, regardless of the laws it passes and the promises it makes.We will have to win our right to live, as well as all our other rights, always and everywhere. Read the rest

Tom the Dancing Bug, IN WHICH Billy Billings learns that his pal God-Man is a jealous God-Man.

Cartoonist Mimi Pond recently discovered that her local Costco sells Costco-themed pajamas for women! Look closely at the pattern. It depicts, using cute illustrations, their famous sample food carts, and customers hauling oversized products like a pizza slice, bottle of wine, jar of peanut butter pretzels, steak, and more. Plus, tires and big-screen TVs! I don't even have a Costco membership but I want a pair of these. Available online at Costco for $23 (includes matching socks). Read the rest

Tales of piss-headed police officers dominated the news in the week before New Years (at least, in my social circles, if we discount everything related to Star Wars). In West Virginia, the governor has finally recommended the firing of the full Hitler Heil-ing cadet class. In Kansas, another cop was (allegedly) terminated after writing "Fucking Pig" on his own McDonald's coffee cup and trying to blame it on the hard-working, underpaid workers whom he should be theoretically serving and protecting. (Some cops in Alabama also made a mocking "homeless quilt" that the department later apologized for, though the officers weren't actually reprimanded as far as I can tell.)On the surface, this is largely a good thing. Although these are somewhat-minor acts in the grand scheme of police behaviors, the fact that there are actually repercussions for police misconduct already represents a sea change from the way things have been. Police departments across the country have kept secret lists of criminal crops who remain in their employ; typically, when cops are caught lying about things (even as dumb and small as a McDonald's coffee cup), the rest of their testimony is still given weight. Hell, the National Center for Women and Policing found that at least 40% of police officers self-reported domestic violence in the home … and still keep their jobs.But these guys in West Virginia and Kansas? They might actually lose their jobs over a couple of pictures.The public outrage towards unfair and overly aggressive policing has noticeably swelled alongside the raise of the Black Lives Matter movement, and particularly in the aftermath of that obscene military occupation in Ferguson. Read the rest

Details are the bane of any manager. It's tough to innovate when you've got invoices to approve, gripes to address and countless fires to put out on any number of projects.Here is where technology can actually help you, because businesses run better when they integrate all their procedures, inflow and outflow under one system. ProjectDue.co aims to be just that system, and it's got the functionality to do it.This business suite has all the nuts-and-bolts essentials that let you keep track of employees and clients, but it also integrates that info in a way that allows you to work dynamically. You can track progress with any lead on the fly and communicate their needs to the right people on you team.Invoices are approved with the click of a button, inventory gets tracked at a glance, and projects can be managed much more efficiently with all the relevant info at your fingertips.A lifetime subscription to ProjectDue.co is already more than 95% off, but you can take an extra 20% off that final cost with the discount code 20SAVE20. Read the rest

You may have heard of air fryers, but they're a lot more versatile than the name implies. Healthier (and quicker!) french fries are just the tip of the iceberg with these innovative cookers, and here are six of our favorites. As if they needed any additional highlighting, you can save an extra 20% off the final price on any of them by using the coupon code 20SAVE20.GoWISE USA® 12.7QT Electric Air Fryer Toaster OvenThis premiere unit in the GoWISE line lets you take full advantage of the Rapid Air Circulation tech that cooks food fast with minimal amounts of oil. With a 12.7 quart capacity, you can roast and fry everything up to a full chicken while the 15 presets make it easy to make a variety of meals on the fly.MSRP: $159.99Sale Price: $149.99Price after 20SAVE20 coupon: $119.99GoWISE USA® 11-in-1 Programmable 12.7QT Electric Air Fryer Toaster OvenHere's another high-capacity model from GoWISE USA that's designed to save space. There are three removable racks that allow you to make multiple dishes at the same time, and a recipe book that shows you how to refine them.MSRP: $180.00Sale Price: $159.00Price after 20SAVE20 coupon: $127.20GoWISE USA® 8-in-1 Programmable 4.6QT Stainless Electric Air FryerThis smaller air fryer lets you cook a wide array of meals (even desserts) in a PFOA-free stainless steel pan. There's even a crisper tray that allows for more efficient toasting, frying or warming up.MSRP: $149.00Sale Price: $89.99 Read the rest

Wanda Diaz Merced is an astronomer at the International Astronomical Union (IAU) Office for Astronomy Outreach in Mitaka, Japan. Diaz Merced is blind and uses a technique to transform data from astronomical surveys into sounds for analysis. Over at Nature, Elizabeth Gibney interviewed Merced about how "converting astronomical data into sound could bring discoveries that conventional techniques miss." From Nature:How did you begin your work with sonification?Sonification has been around for a long time. In 1933, for example, US physicist Karl Jansky reported detecting the first radio waves from space, as an audible hiss in his antenna. But at some point, visualization came to dominate the way we interpret astrophysical data. When I was an intern at NASA in 2005, my mentor, Robert Candey, wanted me to create a prototype data analysis tool that would familiarize blind people with space-physics data. So we developed software that could map astronomical data into sound — its pitch, rhythm and volume. Then, in my 2013 PhD dissertation at the University of Glasgow, UK, I proved that it is useful....Can you describe a real-world example?There are many. Sonification can help us to study the habitability of an exoplanet, by understanding how much high-energy cosmic and solar rays interact with its magnetic field or atmosphere. Such interactions cause fluctuations of electromagnetic emission from that star system that vary in a way that relates to frequency . BBut because astronomers usually separate out different frequency components into many graphs, this is easy to miss. Read the rest

In 1978, Japanese electronic music maestro Osamu Shoji (1932-2018) released this killer analog synth reimagining of the Star Wars soundtrack. I find Shoji's take on the familiar themes to be far groovier than the disco exploitation of Meco's US chart-topping "Star Wars and Other Galactic Funk" released the previous year. Read the rest

In the 1970s, the Soviets managed to intercept top secret communications in the US embassy in Moscow and nobody could figure out how. While an antenna was eventually found hidden in the embassy's chimney, it took years to determine how what data was being collected for transmission and how. As a last resort, all equipment at the embassy was shipped back to the US for analysis. From IEEE Spectrum:After tens of thousands of fruitless X-rays, a technician noticed a small coil of wire inside the on/off switch of an IBM Selectric typewriter. (NSA engineer Charles) Gandy believed that this coil was acting as a step-down transformer to supply lower-voltage power to something within the typewriter. Eventually he uncovered a series of modifications that had been concealed so expertly that they had previously defied detection.A solid aluminum bar, part of the structural support of the typewriter, had been replaced with one that looked identical but was hollow. Inside the cavity was a circuit board and six magnetometers. The magnetometers sensed movements of tiny magnets that had been embedded in the transposers that moved the typing “golf ball” into position for striking a given letter.Other components of the typewriters, such as springs and screws, had been repurposed to deliver power to the hidden circuits and to act as antennas. Keystroke information was stored and sent in encrypted burst transmissions that hopped across multiple frequencies.For more on this fascinating story, check out former intelligence officer and technologist Eric Haseltine's new book: "The Spy in Moscow Station"image: IBM Selectric by Oliver Kurmis (CC BY 2.5 Read the rest

(SPOILER ALERT)On this episode of the Fatman Beyond podcast, Kevin Smith claims that Todd Phillips' Joker originally had a much darker ending written for it. From Hypebeast:While the final release of the film ended with Arthur Fleck being locked up in a psychiatric hospital with a scene suggesting he killed his new therapist, Smith says around the 16:35 mark in the video above that a source close to the project revealed an alternative ending featuring a flashback at the hospital. The flashback would’ve taken the audience back to Thomas and Martha Wayne’s murder scene in the alley, and reveal that it was actually the Joker who killed them. Even more shocking is the fact that the Joker then also shoots Bruce Wayne, effectively killing Batman in that particular universe.“Originally, the ending in the hospital was different,” Smith said. “He’s in the hospital and he laughs, chuckles, and he says, ‘I was just thinking of something funny.’ What was supposed to happen was you flashed back to the death of Thomas and Martha Wayne and it was him killing Thomas and Martha Wayne and the boy was screaming and crying and he turned to walk away and he turned back, shrugged, and shot the kid. Credits.” Read the rest

Many pizza places offer special "deals" if you order two medium pies. You might think that two mediums deliver more cheesy goodness than one large pie, but usually you'd be mistaken. From Primer, a mathematical comparison of two 12" pizzas and one 18" pizza:Area of two 12” pizzas:12/2 = 6 6×6=36 36xπ = 113.1 in² x 2 = 226.2 in²Area of one 18” pizza:18/2=9 9×9=81 81xπ = 254.5 in²And as we know, more pizza is always better. image: igorovsyannykov (CC0)(via Cliff Pickover) Read the rest

Granted anonymity somewhere along the line from shutter to public exposure, cadets in the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation's basic training program offer the camera a Nazi salute in a photo that emerged earlier this month. Two academy trainers and one cadet have already lost their jobs; the state's governer says he wants the whole class fired. [ht Thom]A third staff member who failed to report the contents of the photograph will also be fired, bringing the total number of staff terminations to three. Additionally, four academy instructors who are known to have seen the picture and failed to report it will also be suspended without pay.In the image, nearly all members of the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation Basic Training Class #18 — 31 cadets — are giving what appears to be a Nazi salute. The others are posing with a clenched fist in the air. I count five closed fists among the Nazi saluters. Read the rest

This poor gal could only afford half a pair. If only there was another way...French design house Maison Margiela has a long history of making dumb stuff in the name of fashion. But now they've really topped themselves. Introducing Tag, a single earring made of a pair of gold (well, brass) hoop earrings on a white lambskin card. The cost? Well, it was $305 but now you can get one for just $92 on sale. It's being called "shoplifter chic":*online shopping* Oo this would be a nice basic set of earrings *swipes through photos* wait what pic.twitter.com/2s34s2QTZC— . (@doragzplora) December 24, 2019And it's not the first time it's been done: View this post on Instagram 🦋🎄Been getting a lot of attention about this recent meme post by @3.1415926535897932384626433832 and calling out that time @maisonmargiela copied a design earlier this year . Thanks for calling it out and supporting small businesses with authentic design ideas 🌹💕 Merry christmas .A post shared by GEORGINA TREVIÑO JEWELRY (@georginatrevino) on Dec 25, 2019 at 11:27am PST View this post on Instagram Amazing photos of my design for Artistar Jewels Book, 📷 by Andrea Salpetre #staceyhuang #jewellery #artistarjewels2018A post shared by Stacey Huang (@stacey_huangg) on Feb 4, 2018 at 5:07am PST(Neatorama)screenshots via Ssense Read the rest

So you've beefed up your media arsenal with mega-screen HDTVs, top-of-the-line laptops and gaming consoles galore. That's great, but don't forget that you need some internet infrastructure to keep it all humming.If a better router is what you need, you could do a lot worse than this NetGear Nighthawk AC1900 - especially a model that's refurbished and available at a fraction of the original cost.The 2-in-1 CableLabs DOCSIS® 3.0 Cable Modem and Wi-Fi Router can provide internet speeds of 1.9 Gbps and downloads at 960 Mbps. That's even while using multiple devices at peak hours, which can be a real help for busy households.The 24x8 channel bonding feature is a particular boon for video, and you'll have less dead spots in any size house thanks to the NETGEAR Beamforming+ capability.The Nighthawk AC1900 is certified to work with most any ISP, and you can even separate secure logins for your kids or guests.This NetGear Nighthawk AC1900 is refurbished with an "A" rating, and is now more than 60% off the original retail price. You can even take an extra 20% off that cost by using the coupon code 20SAVE20. Read the rest

I've always understood Australia to be a nightmare hellscape full of crazy killer creatures. But that's only because I hadn't heard about the quokka. This teddy bear-sized marsupial lives on the islands off the mainland of Australia, and they're just — I mean — look at this thing!Mother Nature made Australia into a horrifying natural death trap just to balance out the adorableness of the quokka pic.twitter.com/CBbHAZW9RX— This Is Not A Thom Dunn T-Shirt (@thomdunn) December 22, 2019It's basically a non-cannibalistic Ewok, and apparently they're known for being friendly as hell (also exceptionally horny), earning them the distinction of the "happiest animal in the world." Though it's illegal to touch one, they're allegedly super-down with selfies, too.I would brave any Australian beast just to be best friends with one of these lil' fellas.Image via Wikimedia Commons Read the rest

Dozens are likely dead in Australia, which is beset by uncontrolled wildfires. Experts believe a third of the koala population on the continent's east coast is already wiped out, and there's no end in sight. Residents are fleeing to the beaches to escape the flames. In the video embedded here from New South Wales Fire + Rescue, a crew sits in their truck, unable to do anything to fight the the blaze as it tears throught the forest toward them, then around them, then away from them. Here's (NSFW) footage from Tyson Whelan, which he says he took at 10:30 a.m. in Mallacoota, Victoria:How bad are the #AustralianFires? Absolutey fucked.video;cubin’ on fb #mallacoota pic.twitter.com/cDKjjK2m7U— rbm (@doc_ryan) December 31, 2019Australia's government appears unmoved. Here's the Prime Minister, talking earlier in wildfire season, about why there would be no change in policy toward carbon emissions: “What we won’t do is engage in reckless and job-destroying and economy-crunching targets which are being sought." Read the rest

An anonymous police officer in Herington, Kansas, claimed he was given a coffee cup with "fucking pigs" written on it by staff at McDonalds. The story went viral, uncritically laundered by local media and spread by outraged conservatives on the internet. But it turned out he was lying. McDonalds had the receipts—video surveillance of the purchase—and forced the Herington P.D. to admit that it didn't happen. The cop "is no longer employed" by Herington Police Department, says Chief Brian Hornaday"In (our) investigation we have found that McDonald's and its employees did not have anything whatsoever to do with this incident, this was completely and solely fabricated by a Herington police officer who is no longer employed with our agency," Herington Police Department Chief Brian Hornaday said in a news conference Monday.The incident, the chief said, has been an "obvious violation of ... public trust.""Our job is solely to do this job with the utmost integrity because if you can't trust the cops, who can you trust," he said.It was Hornaday himself who first posted the photos to social media, which is why we don't know the name of the cop, because he is refusing to tell anyone. "If you can't trust the cops, who can you trust," he adds. Read the rest

Piet is an esoteric programming language where the programs are encoded as images and resemble abstract paintings. Spot-on Mondrians (pictures) are the hook, but a wide range of pixelated styles are possible; the logic of the program can be exposed in the image.Prime Number GeneratorSylvain Tintillier provides a method of generating prime numbers using Piet. Figuring out how it works is easy, he says, "Just look at the bitmap!" Read the rest

Here are six new lateral thinking puzzles to test your wits and stump your friends -- play along with us as we try to untangle some perplexing situations using yes-or-no questions.Show notesPlease support us on Patreon! Read the rest

Jennifer Jenkins from the Duke Center for the Public Domain writes, "January 1, 2020 is Public Domain Day! Works published in 1924 are entering the US public domain. They include George Gershwin’s 'Rhapsody in Blue' and 'Fascinating Rhythm,' silent films by Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd, and Thomas Mann’s 'The Magic Mountain,' E. M. Forster’s 'A Passage to India,' and A. A. Milne’s 'When We Were Very Young.' These works were supposed to go into the public domain in 2000, after being copyrighted for 75 years. But before this could happen, Congress hit a 20-year pause button and extended their copyright term to 95 years. See what will (finally) be open to all!"Works from 1924 are finally entering the public domain, after a 95-year copyright term. However, under the laws that were in effect until 1978, thousands of works from 1963 would be entering the public domain this year. They range from the books The Fire Next Time and Where the Wild Things Are, to the film The Birds and the albums and The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, and much more. Have a look at some of the others. In fact, since copyright used to come in renewable terms of 28 years, and 85% of authors did not renew, 85% of the works from 1991 might be entering the public domain! Imagine what the great libraries of the world—or just internet hobbyists—could do: digitizing those holdings, making them available for education and research, for pleasure and for creative reuse.Public Domain Day 2020 [Center for the Study of the Public Domain/Duke University School of Law](Thanks, Jennifer! Read the rest

So you didn't get all the gifts you wanted this year. Who does? The good news is, there's still time to take advantage of holiday discounts. Here are 10 of our favorite holdovers on holiday deals. Most are already on sale, but you can take an extra 20% off the final price by using the holiday coupon code 20SAVE20.Playseat® Challenge Racing Video Game ChairGet into the driver's seat with the ultimate accessory for racing games. It's compatible with current Xbox and Playstation systems as well as PC or Mac, and it even folds up for storage when not in use.MSRP: $277Sale Price: $249Price after 20SAVE20 coupon code: $199.20EZ-PET Smart Programmable Automatic FeederDoes your pet need some TLC when you're away? This automatic feeder pairs with your smartphone, allowing you to remotely dole out exact portions of food from anywhere. You can even record your voice and have it call your pup or kitty to chow time.MSRP: $99.99Sale Price: $79.99Price after 20SAVE20 coupon code: $63.99EndlessID® Smart Luggage & Backpack TagSay goodbye to lost luggage with this simple tag. It can give you the exact location of your bag through any smartphone or other NFC-enabled devices. You can also make use of it as a secure medical ID tag which will share crucial info with doctors or EMTs.MSRP: $19.99Sale Price: $16.99Price after 20SAVE20 coupon code: $13.59Insulated Touchscreen GlovesIf the weather outside is frightful, you should at the very least have your smartphone to keep you company. Read the rest

Looking for a reason to finally power down that annual orgy of future high-tech landfill poisons? Here ya go.From Variety:It’s official: Ivanka Trump, President Donald Trump’s daughter and adviser, will be on the CES 2020 keynote stage next month in Las Vegas.Ivanka Trump will join a keynote discussion on jobs and the future of work with Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of the Consumer Technology Assn., which produces CES (originally known as the Consumer Electronics Show). The talk is scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 7, at 2 p.m. PT in the Venetian’s Palazzo Ballroom. Trump and Shapiro will discuss “employer-led strategies to reskill workers, create apprenticeships and develop K-12 STEM education programs,” according to the CTA.Read the rest.[Image: Screen capture of Ivanka's address to the RNC, 2016] Read the rest

The futurist and artist Syd Mead died today, according to his partner and business manager Roger Servick. The news was first broken by according to auto industry veteran John McElroy and other associates of his on social media, leading fans and peers to post their favorites from the legendary designer's work on social media."I've called science fiction 'reality ahead of schedule,'" wrote Mead.Mead's work powers the visionary qualities of movies such as Blade Runner, Tron, Star Trek The Motion Picture, Aliens and Elysium, but his work as a designer for automaker Ford and electronics company Philips are just as influential. His is a body of work truly without end.Former Boing Boing editor Joel Johnson interviewed Mead for Boing Boing TV and recalls meeting the master.It is my great honor to say I have a Syd Mead story. pic.twitter.com/XIFTSWFb3g— Joel, ᵃ ᶠʳⁱᵉⁿᵈ (@joeljohnson) December 30, 2019[1, 2,3, 4]This post was updated to reflect ongoing developments. Read the rest

In Misère Tic-tac-toe, getting three-in-a-row means you lose. I can't wait to unleash this game on my kids at our next dinner out.Here is a wonderfully-named app version: Notakto Here is a scientific paper on the mathematics of the game: "The Secrets of Notakto: Winning at X-onlyTic-Tac-Toe" by Thane E. Plambeck, Greg WhiteheadAnd below is part 2 of the Numberphile video. Note from the video description: Correction from Thane: The configuration with two X's, one in a corner and one in the middle, is a "b" and not a "b^2". It's at 5:24 in the video.(via Cliff Pickover) Read the rest

Two big sea lions kicked back aboard a small, empty anchored boat in Eld Inlet at the southern end of Washington's Puget Sound. Josh Phillips of Spawn Fly Fish captured this delightful moment two weeks ago. “It looked a little off and we got closer and closer and realized there were two massive animals on board,” Phillips told The Olympian. Read the rest

Keep fucking that chicken! Read the rest

Finally, researchers are again exploring the therapeutic benefits of psychedelics to treat the likes of depression, addiction, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. To provide pharmaceutical-quality compounds for clinical trials, scientists are developing new ways to produce the psychedelics. Chemical engineers at Miami University in Ohio have now genetically engineered E. coli to crank put psilocybin, the psychoactive ingredient in magic mushrooms. From Scientific American:The modified microbes generated up to 1.16 grams of psilocybin per liter of culture medium—the highest yield to date from any engineered organism and a 10-fold increase over the next best attempt. Scaled up, the new method could produce psilocybin for potential therapeutic use.“The number-one advantage is it's simply cheaper” than—or at least cost-competitive with—other methods, says lead study author Alexandra Adams, an undergraduate student in chemical engineering at Miami University in Ohio...Adams and her colleagues engineered E. coli that incorporated three genes from the Psilocybe cubensis mushroom, enabling the bacteria to synthesize psilocybin from the cheap and easily obtainable precursor molecule 4-hydroxyindole, and then they optimized the process to produce the drug on a larger scale. Read the rest

Vaughan Oliver, the graphic designer whose work defined the 4AD record label, has died. He was 62. His ethereal, surreal, magnificent album art for The Pixies, Cocteau Twins, This Mortal Coil, and Clan of Xymox brought together design and music in a way that forever changed and elevated the design of music packaging. From The Guardian:Oliver, born in 1957, grew up in County Durham and studied graphic design at Newcastle-upon-Tyne Polytechnic. “I was a working class lad from a dull town,” he said in 2014. “There was no real culture, my parents were not really interested in anything unusual – everything I was getting was through record sleeves. It was a democratic way of discovering art.”He moved to London and in 1982 became the first employee for the record label 4AD. As their in-house designer, he created artwork that helped define them as purveyors of dark and complex alt-rock music; with their clashing fonts and boldly allusive but mysterious symbolism, his sleeves became some of the most revered in modern pop. “I like to elevate the banal through surrealism,” he said in 2014. “Mystery and ambiguity are important weapons in a designer’s arsenal.” Read the rest

The X-Men are often cited as a pop culture metaphor for the struggles of persecuted peoples in the face of bigotry. But the allegory is far from perfect. It's barely even present in the foundational DNA of the earliest comics. The idea of "mutants" was initially just an excuse to skip over the origin stories and get straight to the super-powered superhero antics. These days, we commonly hear comparisons between Magneto and Professor X to Malcolm X and MLK. Even though it's, erm, not quite accurate. And even though Magneto started out by literally calling his team "The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants."But Bob Proehl's new novel, The Nobody People, takes the opposite approach. Proehl is a friend of mine — I even wrote a song to help him promote the book, before I actually I read it — and he'll pretty openly admit that he envisioned it as a sort-of love letter to the X-Men. Whereas the X-Men began as pulpy superhero comics that eventually mutated into a political metaphor, The Nobody People starts with the metaphor, and mutates into a powerful personal drama. Here, the super-powered individuals are known as Resonants, and at the start of the novel, their presence is largely hidden from the modern world. The first part of the book mostly follows war correspondent Avi Hirsch, an amputee who learns that his biracial daughter is one of those powered Resonants; once they're outed, the book shifts into a sort of Bildungsroman, with a series of episodes that follow the logical progression of what always happens when a marginalized group tries to claim their own tiny corner in a world full of ignorance of hate. Read the rest

The theme tune to classic 80s' cartoon Inspector Gadget performed by Riccardo Bonci at St Barnabas with Christ's Chapel in Dulwich, England.Here's He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: Read the rest

A woman on a bus in Amherst, Ma., objects to young passengers not speaking English in a private conversation she was not party to. Other riders on the vehicle then object to her making a big racist fuss. The cops arrive and assure her that it is she who is in the wrong. Then she storms off.Is it telling that a cop comes along and asks the victims for their IDs, but not the elderly white man defending them? He had clearly put himself at the center of events, after all. Read the rest

Generated Photos is the latest stupid startup that sounds like a joke from "Silicon Valley" that someone took too far. From their announcement on Medium:Generated Photos is the free resource of 100k faces for you to use however you wish. But these aren’t just common faces. They were produced completely by artificial intelligence — none of these people are real! Generated photos are created from scratch by AI systems.In other words, they're Deepfakes for other peoples' ad campaigns.I've spent enough time around higher ed administration that I've seen firsthand how universities will recruit a perfect United-Colors-Of-Benetton rainbow of students for admissions ads. But this takes that to a whole new level. Why even bother trying to build relationships with non-white-dudes, when you can just generate some friendly colorful faces for promotional use and call it a day?The company's website brags of "democratizing creative photography and video," which is some impressively nauseating PR speak. In their defense, "We aim to make creative works both more accessible and higher quality through generative processes" sounds a lot better than "Auto-diversify the avatars for your army of Twitter sockpuppets!"But my favorite part is how openly they acknowledge the poor quality of their images. "A part of the process is training and refining the generative models," the company explains in a Medium post. "The iterations move fast although not everything is perfect yet. So you will also have some fun with the pack of AI-generated photos. When you see a face that is a bit ‘off’, just give it some slack." Read the rest

Krampus, Oh Krampus is a brand-new accordion-filled sing-along by my friends at Tight Pajamas. It's surprisingly chipper!Susie Davis of the band wrote me:My fascination with Krampus began after joining 'SF Krampus,' a street theater group that once a year dresses up as Krampus and prowls San Francisco’s infamous Union Square in search of naughty children. Krampus has been a part of Central European folklore for centuries. In early December children in the Alpine villages are visited not only by Saint Nicholas, who gives treats to deserving girls and boys, but also by his dreaded partner - Krampus, who comes to punish the naughty children or take them away in the basket on his back to the underworld. Its proven that children from countries who have Christmas demons do better on test scores…so maybe all we need to make the world a better place is just a little more Krampus!The song is also available as an MP3.Thanks, Susie! Read the rest

Totally Accurate Battle Simulator [Landfall Games] plays out skirmishes between bands of fighters with a state-of-the-art physics engine. This engine is the "totally accurate" part, but if you know anything about physics in games, you'll know that its wobbly ragdoll fingers are crossed firmly behind its back. Instead of gravity and momentum being kept under tight slow cheaty control, as in Total War games, here everything flops wildly free: berserkers leap into the fray, trees block whirling broadswords, mammoths crush all underfoot, cannonballs neatly enfilade rows of infantry.The cartoon madness of its physics is embraced in its attitude: bulging ragdoll eyes, lurching Foddyesque advances, and dozens of bizarre units to command and place in whatever anachronistic nightmare matchup pleases you. Battles tend to be over in seconds. Players compete to post the most bizarre set-pieces on YouTube.TABS is still in early-access and has no framing or narrative elements. The campaign is a collection of arbitrary but often cunningly-designed battles; the harder and more specific they get, the more the game feels like a series of puzzles and less like a tactical sim. It is nonetheless hilarious, absorbing and shockingly habit-forming, hours disappearing into the promise of a single coffee-break battle. It's well-worth the $15 price tag, and I've barely scratched the surface of the early-access version--you can make custom maps, units and campaigns, with more features to come. Players interested in customization, in creating ingenious set-pieces and mapping their minds to its demented combat mechanics, are already completely catered for. Read the rest

CBD (or cannabidiol, if you've been living in a cave) has come a long way in a short while. It's gone from being a relatively unknown, non-psychoactive compound in the hemp plant to a highly-touted stress and pain reliever in just the last few years. You can now get CBD in just about every form: smokeables, vape cartridges, pills and tinctures.But we say, if you're going to try it, why not satisfy your sweet tooth while you're at it? Holiday CBD Premium CBD Gummies may be fun to eat, but the CBD they're infused with works just as hard.Each bottle has everything you need and nothing you don't. The ingredients are simple and each one packs 10 mg of CBD harvested from organically-grown Colorado hemp. There's no THC involved, and the product is tested at a third-party lab for an extra dose of security.Do make sure, as with any health product, that you check with state laws and consult with your doctor before ordering.These Holiday CBD Premium CBD Gummies are already 19% off the list price, but you can take an additional 20% off by using the coupon code 20SAVE20. Read the rest

If you're at all serious about your cooking, eventually you're going to need a knife set. And not the one that got handed down to you by your parents, but a real chef's set that will make you notice the difference in every cut.With that in mind, it's worth considering a set that will distinguish themselves before you even use them. And believe us, people who haven't seen Damascus steel before will definitely take notice of this set of 4 Damascus Steak Knives.In a nutshell, Damascus steel was a legendary form of metal and metalworking that produced some of the most feared weapons in the Eastern hemisphere. While the source metal of wootz is lost to the ages, modern blacksmiths have learned how to replicate the process — with time and care.The result is the watery pattern on the blades of these chef knives, a side effect of their hardness and ability to keep a keen edge. Each one is 8 1/2 inches and augmented with pakkawood, rosewood and walnut wood handles.Pick up your set of four Damascus Steak Knives, currently on sale at 44% off retail but available for 20% off that final price by using the discount code 20SAVE20. Read the rest

No matter how much you love your tablet or laptop, some things demand a detour to the old school. When it comes to notes, brainstorming or creative scribbling, there's still no substitute for a good old analog notebook.Or is there? The Rocketbook Wave Executive Smart Notebook aims to find out by offering a solution that allows you to write freehand while still saving paper — and your work.The pages in this innovative book are made of a special material that you can write on with the particular Pilot FriXion pen (included). Once you've completed your notes / masterpiece / whatever, you can simply scan it with your smartphone and send the work to your favorite cloud service. You can even flag it with special "tiles" that route it to easy-to-find folders.Best of all, once you've filled up the pages you can start again with a clean slate. Just pop the entire notebook in the microwave and the print disappears.The Rocketbook Wave Executive Smart Notebook and pen station is already more than 20% off the MSRP, but you can take an extra 20% off that final price by using the coupon code 20SAVE20. Read the rest

The editors of Canada's Globe and Mail asked me to reflect on what science fiction can tell us about the 2020s for their end-of-the-decade package; I wrote about how science fiction can't predict the future, but might inspire it, and how the dystopian malaise of science fiction can be turned into a inspiring tale of "adversity met and overcome – hard work and commitment wrenching a limping victory from the jaws of defeat."I describe a scenario for a "Canadian miracle": "As the vast majority of Canadians come to realize the scale of the crisis, they are finally successful in their demand that their government address it unilaterally, without waiting for other countries to agree."Canada goes on a war footing: Full employment is guaranteed to anyone who will work on the energy transition – building wind, tide and solar facilities; power storage systems; electrified transit systems; high-speed rail; and retrofits to existing housing stock for an order-of-magnitude increase in energy and thermal efficiency. All of these are entirely precedented – retrofitting the housing stock is not so different from the job we undertook to purge our homes of lead paint and asbestos, and the cause every bit as urgent.How will we pay for it? The same way we paid for the Second World War: spending the money into existence (much easier now that we can do so with a keyboard rather than a printing press), then running a massive campaign to sequester all that money in war bonds so it doesn’t cause inflation. Read the rest

None of us signed up for an Internet composed of "a group of five websites, each consisting of screenshots of text from the other four", but here we are, watching as hyper-concentrated industries rack up catastrophic victories against net neutrality, right to repair, security auditing, and a host of other issues.These gains come at the expense of the public interest, and endanger the public interest Internet: the parts of the net that let anyone, anywhere collaborate with anyone, anywhere without permission from someone who has interposed themselves between them. They represent a triumph of lobbying over evidence, and such lobbying is only possible because the industries behind it are so fantastically concentrated that their top executives literally fit around a modest boardroom table.In 2019, EFF became part of a global movement to restore competition to our markets. Our competition work cuts across so many of the issues that we've been committed to for three decades: privacy, the right to tinker, coders' rights, independent security research, the right to repair, and the right of users to technological self-determination.It's a critical juncture: lawmakers are circulating pro-interoperability legislation and holding hearings, even as leaks reveal that the Big Tech companies grew through cheating and the Department of Justice is greenlighting disastrous mergers in the telecom sector.EFF has a unique contribution to make in this new era of trustbusting: it's not enough to restore the historic commitment to antitrust (though that would be a start). Read the rest

Jon Cog writes, "For Christmas, mathematician Donald Knuth shared some great geeky fun. He revealed how for the last 57 years, he's been incorporating the digits of pi into the exercises of his computer programming books -- a whopping 1,700 times. And before long his annual 'Christmas Tree' lecture 'had turned into a kind of intellectual funhouse,' sharing other mind-boggling pi-related miscellanies."For example, one author wrote an entire book where each word has exactly the number of letters as its corresponding digit in pi. (Soon that book devolves into some bizarre poetry, a science-fiction screenplay called the Zompyr Chronicle, and then a crossword puzzle.) Knuth himself also created a Sudoku puzzle in which the filled-in 'clue' numbers are, in order, the first 32 digits of pi. Other mathematicians have worked the digits of pi into even more exotic KenKen, Kakuro, and Hidato puzzles. And pi even managed to work its way into the solution of one puzzle that was entirely visual, involving only lines that connect the dots on a grid.The puzzle-maker had designed the puzzle so that the line connecting all the dots drew a lovely and unmistakable picture -- of the mathematical symbol for pi.And after revealing it to his astonished audience, Knuth shouted out 'Merry Christmas!'Donald Knuth’s 2019 ‘Christmas Tree Lecture’ Explores Pi in ‘The Art of Computer Programming’ [David Cassel/The New Stack](Thanks, Jon Cog!) Read the rest

Paying for things is all too easy online these days, and that's why managing your money has gotten so hard. We've all done it: You sign up for a streaming subscription or gym membership, blow past the free trial date, and it becomes a part of your monthly expenses. Some of us juggle so many accounts, we may not even notice.That's just one example of modern information overload bleeding into actual financial consequences. And as much as money management apps try to help, too often they're just one more account we have to deal with.There are exceptions, however. Truebill is one notable example. It does all the things you come to expect from a money managing app, like tracking your spending, making a budget, and checking multiple bank accounts. Plus, with 256-bit SSL encryption, the security is rock-solid.But, it also takes a more active role in your financial health, not just by showing you the drains on your income but plugging them up. Got a subscription you forgot you were paying for? Truebill will highlight it, and cancel it on your behalf. Got a cell service that's gouging you? Truebill will negotiate a lower rate for you. It really takes the petty stuff off your plate and allows you to focus on hitting those savings goals.All this functionality, and it's free. Check it out now at truebill.com. Read the rest

If you enjoy the outdoors, you know that it's not necessarily any scarier at night than it is during the day. But it sure can seem that way when you're using a traditional flashlight that effectively gives you tunnel vision: You see just the spot where you aim and nothing else.That's why the H2 Headlamp should catch on quickly not just with hikers, but anyone who works, plays or runs in the dark.Its main feature is the flexible LED light that stretches across the front brim of your head. This illuminates a 180-degree wide area around you rather than a narrow focus. It's an impressive 360 lumens on the highest setting, and the difference of being able to use your peripheral vision is quite literally eye-opening.The light and strap are just four ounces, and runners can even wrap it around their waist for maximum visibility on nighttime roads. Spelunking, hiking, wee hours car repair — all of them just got a whole lot easier.The H2 Headlamp has three settings, is fully rechargeable and even 100% waterproof. It's already on sale for more than 25% off the MSRP, but you can take an additional 20% off by using the coupon code 20SAVE20. Read the rest

Golf is a game that fosters an appreciation for nature. But like any sport, it's also about the stats — especially if you're trying to improve your game.There are rangefinders out there, but most of them are either inaccurate or bulky, meaning you won't be able to properly focus on your game, much less nature.Finally, there's a compact piece of tech that's custom-built for the game: The GoGolf GPS Accurate Rangefinder.This tiny device clips right on to your hat or glasses and pairs with your smartphone, letting it do all the heavy lifting on GPS location. It's pre-loaded with info on 30,000 courses, and is incredibly easy to use. A single button click can tell you the distance of your last shot. Tap the tee button on top, and it resets for the next hole.You can also find out the distance to the green on the fly, helping you size up your approach better on every fairway. And it lasts about five full rounds of golf on every charge, so it's always with you whenever you need the info.You can take 20% off the GoGolf GPS now by using the coupon code 20SAVE20. Read the rest

Sooner or later, everybody needs an umbrella. It's kind of the great equalizer that way.That does not, however, mean they all have to look the same. It's pretty rare to find one that matches any outfit without looking bland, much less does its job well, but Certain Standard's line of umbrellas are definitely ones you'll want to keep.Their Gramercy model is named for the effortlessly chic New York City 'hood, and it's easy to see why. The cork handle is as easy to grip as it is elegant, and the classic black hue and white accent let you play it cool in any weather.And we mean that literally: its 41" diameter canopy offers ample protection on stormy days, but it's also treated with 40 UPF UV protection for when there's too much sun around. The fiberglass composite frame is fitted onto an anodized aluminum steel shaft that can stand up to plenty of surprise gusts.The Certain Standard Gramercy Umbrella is now on sale for 10% off the original retail price of $65. Read the rest

[The moral of this story is buy a Roomba, they last longer and have better software.]A man and a woman in Forsyth County, North Carolina, called for help just after midnight when they awoke to loud noises and crashing downstairs, and hid in their closet to dial 911.Deputies searched the home and found... a Eufy robotic vacuum running amok. As robot vacuums sometimes do, it “had somehow turned itself on, got stuck and began banging on a wall.”The couple says they're embarrassed about what happened but also thankful it wasn't a real intruder."It definitely is better safe than sorry because having heard what we did, I still would have called the police and because you just never know," said Thomas Milam, the homeowner.The couple just bought the Eufy robotic vacuum three days ago and even named it Harry.Forsyth County couple mistakes robotic vacuum for home intruder [myfox8.com via AP] Read the rest

Having an IT career means dealing with constant change. There are updates, new security threats and, on occasion, entirely new web platforms to deal with as companies adapt to new demands.That's why the best asset on an IT resume is diversity, and that's why the Complete 2020 IT Certification Exam Prep Mega Bundle covers a wide range of cloud platforms.The bundle combines nine courses on four different systems, all taught by some of the most experienced minds in the field. There's four classes alone on Microsoft Azure, allowing you to set up a cloud storage solution for any company, keep it up to date and deal with any structural changes that need to be made along the way.The courses on Cisco cover everything from simple networking fixes to the protocols you'll need to know for their new CCNA R/S 200-125 exam. A tutorial on CompTIA teaches their security structure back to front. And of course, you'll train in AWS as a Certified Solutions Architect.The entire bundle is now 97% off the cost of the individual courses at $39. Read the rest

Allee Willis with psychedelic FluffernuttersIt's never fun to report that someone in our tribe has passed. That's especially true when that person is also someone you know and love. Allee Willis, Happy Mutant Extraordinaire, died just after 6 p.m. on December 24 of cardiac arrest. She was 72. My friend Heather was in tears when she phoned me to tell me the news. It was 10:15 p.m. on Christmas Eve. She had just read about Allee's sudden and unexpected death in Variety. We were both shocked and deeply saddened. We pondered together on the call, "How is it possible that she's gone?"I first met Allee back in the February of 2011. Friends of mine here in Alameda, Jessica and Mel, introduced me to her. "You HAVE to meet her!" they insisted. At that time, a TV show called Clean House was filming the decluttering and redecorating of their home. Their excess stuff was soon to be sold in a televised public sale. Since they are well known for their massive collection of pop culture kitsch and, being the Queen of Kitsch, Allee was compelled to drive up for the sale. And because their house was out of commission for the show's filming, I offered up mine to host a party in Allee's honor, not entirely sure what I was getting myself into or, honestly, grasping the full understanding of who she was. But I was game. I invited a group of local friends, all self-proclaimed kitsch lovers. Read the rest

Dave Riley, bassist for the influential 1980s Chicago noise-punk band Big Black, has died. He was 59. According to his partner Rachel Brown, he had throat cancer. What a fucking great player, he was. And what a fucking great band. From Rolling Stone:“Dave was a fantastic musician and a critical part of the Chicago music scene,” (Big Black guitarist Steve) Albini tells Rolling Stone. “He bridged the gap between raw enthusiasm and outstanding musicianship better than anybody else in our peer group and I always admired him for it...”“When I think about Dave, I think of him onstage, sweating, rolling on his heels, his bass making a rhythmic shrapnel cloud, the densest object in a very heavy construction," Albini wrote in his statement. “Then I think of him after the show, still sweaty but relaxed, easy with his humor and in possession of an impeccably sharp wit, comfortable with himself, comfortable being the hinge-pin of the evening. I miss playing with Dave, and I miss hanging out with him. He was a handful, but like most people we describe that way, he was worth it. Rest easy.”Below, Big Black (Riley on right): Read the rest

In 1926, Oscar Williams of San Diego, California was granted a patent on a toy turtle operated by houseflies buzzing around inside. From patent number US1591905A, "Artificial Animal":My invention relates to artificial animals with movable limbs and members operated by natural animals or insects and the objects of my invention are: First, to provide an animal of this class which in appearance resembles a natural animal and in which the limbs or members are movable substantially as those of the natural animal; second, to provide an animal of this class in which the limbs and members are pivotally, reliably and reciprocally mounted in the body thereof to obtain a variety of motion of said limbs and members; third, to provide an animal of this class in which the interior of the body portion or the parts containing movable members are made hollow so as to provide ample space for the movement and operation of the natural animals or insects placed within said hollow portion; fourth, to provide an animal of this class in which means are provided to keep the natural animal or insect in the interior thereof in motion and thus provide continuous movement of the said limbs or members; fifth, to provide an animal of this class with a convenient and novel means of entrance and exit of said natural animals or insects; sixth, to provide an animal of this class which is .novelly constructed and seventh, to provide an animal of this class which is very simple and economical of construction, durable, and which will not readily deteriorate or get out of order. Read the rest

Yesterday in New York, police spent hours attempting to remove this Honda from the pedestrian lane of the Pulaski Bridge connecting Brooklyn and Queens. Apparently, it was a stolen car and the driver likely escaped through a window.(ABC7NY) Read the rest