Boing Boing

House Antitrust chairman David Cicilline's interview with The Verge's Nilay Patel reveals the exciting shifts in how Congress thinks about Big Tech's monopolies.Cicilline doesn't think Congress can break up Big Tech, though he moots passing a "Glass-Steagall for tech" that makes tech companies engage in "structural separation" -- for example, platform companies would not be allowed to compete with the companies that use their platforms. And he wants to do a lot more scrutiny of mergers in the future, which is an outstanding idea.I'm worried, though, that if they start blocking future mergers but don't unwind past mergers, they'll just lock in the monopolies of the companies that did their merging in the past -- for example, if future Google competitors can't buy ad-tech companies but Google gets to keep Doubleclick, it basically guarantees Google's eternal dominance. I'm not saying we should allow future search companies to buy ad-tech companies, rather, advocating for breaking Google up on structural lines.Also notably absent from the conversation: breakups of other industries, like ISPs, entertainment conglomerates, banks, etc, etc.But I do think that the other suggestion that Sen. Warren has made is a really interesting one and something I think about a lot: the notion of “You can be either a platform or you can be a manufacturer or a producer of services, but you can’t do both.” Sort of the Glass-Steagall of the internet. It’s kind of an interesting idea because people go to a platform thinking, somehow, when they do a search, there’s some neutral way that evidence is reviewed, and you’re provided with a result from that search. Read the rest

The US health insurance industry resents being on the receiving end of surprise bills and price-gouging, so Blue Cross/Blue Shield are spending $55m to have the nonprofit Civica Rx tool up to make generics of off-patent drugs whose sole manufacturers are shkreliing the prices into the stratosphere.Civica already supplies drugs to 1,200 hospitals.Drugmakers hiked prices 1,000% in massive price-fixing scheme, states allegeIn an interview with The New York Times, Civica board chairman Dan Liljenquist said that the new venture “will not solve all the problems of the world, but we do know that 90 percent of prescriptions are generic, and there are certain parts of the generic markets that are not functioning like competitive markets should. And we intend to compete in those markets.”Sick of Big Pharma’s pricing, health insurers pledge $55M for cheap generics [Beth Mole/Ars Technica] Read the rest

You don’t need to be a professional chef in order to enjoy a great set of knives in your kitchen, yet far too many would-be culinary pros settle for subpar blades that lose their edge after a few months.This Schmidt Brothers® Cutlery Carbon 6 7-Pc Knife Block Set will bring a new level of quality and style to your kitchen, and they’re available for just $181.99.Crafted with the home chef in mind, these knives are made from 100% German stainless steel that offers incredible strength and durability, and you’ll never have to worry about the edges going dull even after repeated uses.They feature an ergonomic Schmidt Brothers Curve for a comfortable grip, and the included magnetic knife block makes it easy to stylishly store the knives when you’re not using them.Embrace your inner chef by ditching the underwhelming knives and landing a Schmidt Brothers® Cutlery Carbon 6 7-Pc Knife Block Set while it’s available for $181.99—30% off its usual price.Prices are subject to change.You can't beat free! Get $70+ worth of premium Mac apps for free today! Read the rest

"I didn't plan to be persecuted simply for joking," he said.

Oh this is gloriously satisfying. IMGURian Phoenix3600 did a step-by-step build gallery of what I am assuming is the very pricey and fancy LEGO Star Wars Ultimate Millennium Falcon 75192 Expert Building Kit. I no longer need to buy it, as I have seen all the assembly photos and foud them to be most pleasing indeed.I built a thing, grown men can still have these right? Read the rest

In Switzerland, the state-owned Swissmint says today that a 2.96-millimeter (0.12-inches) gold coin created with Albert Einstein's face on it is the smallest in the world.The coin, shown above, weighs 0.063 grams (1/500th of an ounce) and has a nominal value of 1/4 Swiss francs ($0.26). From the Associated Press:Swissmint said the coin, of which just 999 have been made, will be sold for 199 francs with a special magnifying glass so owners can see the famous physicist on its face.IMAGE courtesy Swissmint: A gold coin with the face of Albert Einstein on the image side. (Handout Swissmint/Benjamin Zurbriggen) Read the rest

Researchers in Berlin claim to have succeeded in re-creating the sound of the voice of an Egyptian person who died 3,000 years ago, and was entombed as a mummy. The scientists say they managed to mimic the mummy's voice (well, the voice of the living person the mummy used to be) by recreating portions of the vocal tract using medical scanners, 3D printing and an electronic larynx.Excerpt:In a paper published Thursday by the journal Scientific Reports, the authors say the technique allowed them to produce a single sound - somewhere between the vowels in ‘bed’ and ‘bad.’The eerie tone is unlikely to be a precise reflection of the speech of Egyptian priest Nesyamun, whose mummified body the researchers worked with, because the tongue has lost much of its bulk over three millennia.“We have made a faithful sound for his tract in its current position, but we would not expect an exact speech match given his tongue state,” said co-author David M. Howard of London’s Royal Holloway college.READ MORE at the Associated Press:Ancient voice: Scientists recreate sound of Egyptian mummyIMAGE: Crop from the original movie poster for 'The Mummy', 1932 (public domain) Read the rest

Everybody hurts. No crime was solved.In the otherwise normal town of Georgetown, South Carolina, a sheriff’s deputy who was investigating a burglary ended up using a stun gun on his own K9 after the police working dog bit a cow, which then charged at both the property owner and the deputy, reports the sheriff’s office.Still with me?Good.In a statement [Link], Georgetown County sheriff’s deputies say they responded to a burglary call in the Pleasant Hill community Wednesday afternoon, when the K9 brought to the scene became “distracted” and bit a cow that belonged to the owners of the property.The officer responded by stunning the dog to prevent serious injury to the cow, said the statement posted on Facebook.From the Associated Press:The dog was taken back to the cruiser, and none of the people or animals involved appeared to be seriously hurt, The Greenville News reported.At the end of it all — it was determined the original burglary call was unfounded, the statement concluded.More at the USA Today-owned Greenville News:SC deputy tazes his own K-9 after the dog bit a cow on an unfounded burglary call Read the rest

SPOILER: Nobody got baked. Not that kind of space cookies. Sorry.“How do they taste? No one knows.”From the Associated Press:Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano was the master baker in December, radioing down a description as he baked them one by one in the prototype Zero G Oven. The first cookie — in the oven for 25 minutes at 300 degrees Fahrenheit (149 degrees Celsius) — ended up seriously under-baked. He more than doubled the baking time for the next two, and the results were still so-so. The fourth cookie stayed in the oven for two hours, and finally success.“So this time, I do see some browning,” Parmitano radioed. “I can’t tell you whether it’s cooked all the way or not, but it certainly doesn’t look like cookie dough any more.”Parmitano cranked the oven up to its maximum 325 degrees F (163 degrees C) for the fifth cookie and baked it for 130 minutes. He reported more success. Additional testing is required to determine whether the three returned cookies are safe to eat. First space-baked cookies took 2 hours in experimental oven [apnews.com, Thu. Jan. 23, 2020]PHOTO: U.S. astronaut Christina Koch tweeted this image on Dec. 26, 2019. Koch and Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano pose for a photo with a cookie baked on the International Space Station. Today, results are in for the first chocolate chip cookie bake-off in space. The tastiest cookies required two hours of baking time last month on the International Space Station. Read the rest

Here’s a good explainer from Reuters on the airline industry’s response to the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak so far. If the virus spreads becomes a pandemic, this could impact world financial markets as did SARS in 2003.SARS killed about 800 people. Since then, people travel by plane even more, and other things have changed in global travel patterns.“The biggest concern is a sharp drop in travel demand if the virus becomes a pandemic.”Excerpt:Many airlines, including Korean Air Lines, Singapore Airlines’ budget carrier Scoot, Taiwan’s China Airlines Ltd and Japan’s ANA, announced they were cancelling flights in and out of Wuhan after authorities announced a lockdown.South Korean budget carrier T’way Air earlier this week postponed the scheduled launch of a new route to the city.Flight tracking website FlightRadar24 showed that as of 0600 GMT on Thursday, 184 Wuhan flights, or 60% of the departures listed for the day, had been canceled.Wuhan’s Tianhe airport serves around 2% of China’s total air traffic and mainly serves domestic routes. Broker Jefferies estimated 88.8% of overall flights are domestic, with China Southern Airlines Co Ltd holding the largest market share at 30%. Explainer: Global airlines on high alert as virus outbreak spreads [reuters.com] Read the rest

Bait-and-switch headlines dominate this week’s tabloids, with stories failing to live up to their advertised salacious promise.

• Hoan Ton-That, founder of facial recognition tech firm Clearview AI, previously connected to Trump world figures and online hate extremists, reports Buzzfeed News• Chuck Johnson, Mike Cernovich, and Rudy Giuliani are among the linked figures named in Buzzfeed report • NYPD disputes facial recognition firm Clearview AI's claim that it identified a terrorism suspectClearview AI is reported to have built a database of billions of photos that it says can reveal pretty much anyone's identity. Twitter just told them to stop scraping photos, lawmakers are concerned about the implications, and now Buzzfeed News raises troubling questions about the company's past.From the Buzzfeed report by by Ryan Mac, Caroline Haskins, and Logan McDonald:Clearview AI, a facial recognition company that says it’s amassed a database of billions of photos, has a fantastic selling point it offers up to police departments nationwide: It cracked a case of alleged terrorism in a New York City subway station last August in a matter of seconds. “How a Terrorism Suspect Was Instantly Identified With Clearview,” read the subject line of a November email sent to law enforcement agencies across all 50 states through a crime alert service, suggesting its technology was integral to the arrest.It’s a compelling pitch that has helped rocket Clearview to partnerships with police departments across the country. But there’s just one problem: The New York Police Department said that Clearview played no role in the case.That's the first question. The NYPD says they're full of shit. Read the rest

I use this Logitech G502 Hero SE. It is wonderful.I recently switched from controller to Keyboard + Mouse for my video gaming. This mouse is just great.The shape of the mouse and the button placement just feels right in my hand. The adjustable weight system let me fine-tune the devices gravitas as I wing it around, trying to headshot some 13-year-old before they shoot me.While the 'Hero' sensor reads upto 16000 dpi, I usually set it way down to 800 in Fortnite. This lets me turn in a more controlled manner and doesn't have the mouse zipping all over the place.I don't really care much about the ever-changing colors that light the mouse up, but it seems all my PC gaming gear likes to do this rainbow display... and it is kinda pleasing.I have no idea why this SPECIAL EDITION of the mouse is cheaper than the regular one, but it is and I like it!I am gonna admit right now that moving back to KB+M over controller may screw my carpal tunnel right to hell, but I'll be super sensitive to it, and try to stop before I feel any pain. I am already playing less, but enjoying the games I play more. Sacrifices we make, right?Logitech G502 SE Hero High Performance RGB Gaming Mouse with 11 Programmable Buttons via Amazon Read the rest

@ShaneMorris: "My fridge has an RFID chip in the water filter, which means the generic water filter I ordered for $19 doesn't work. My fridge will literally not dispense ice, or water. I have to pay @generalelectric $55 for a water filter from them."Sound familiar?(Image: GE, Cryteria, CC-BY, modified) Read the rest

Jason Klamm from the Comedy on Vinyl podcast (previously) writes, "In late 2018, I uncovered the true identity of comic Dick Davy. Since starting his archive, I've come across some real gems, but in August, one find took the cake. His niece, Sharon, mailed me two records that had been sitting in a box, and it turns out these are unreleased acetates of material no one has heard in almost sixty years. I had Firesign Theatre archivist Taylor Jessen transfer and do a quick clean-up of them. This episode discusses their contents and what their future might be." (MP3) Read the rest

The Los Angeles underground is absolutely one of my favorite places.I can not speak highly enough about The A-Team. I adore the entire cast. Mr. T has been and will remain a personal hero. Read his autobiography and be inspired. While the B.A. in B.A. Barrakus stood for bad attitude it was Captain H.M. "Howling Mad" Murdock that I wanted to play, when my friends and I portrayed the team. Dwight Schultz was a delight and I can not watch him in Star Trek without thinking of his time on the A-Team.Dirk Benedict's 'Starbuck' may have been overshadowed by another, but Templeton 'The Faceman' Peck? Faceman always had the coolest cars, and his backstory was the best on the program.I liked to think that George Peppard's 'John 'Hannibal' Smith' had been so shattered by Holly Golightly's bullshit that he ended up enlisting in Viet Nam. Only by keeping his tight cadre of good-hearted, All-American soldiers alive could he mask the pain.I love it when a plan comes together! Read the rest

I'm re-reading The Emperor of Scent, by Chandler Burr. It's a non-fiction book about a guy named Luca Turin who is obsessed with odors, specifically, perfume fragrances.Turin is a biophysicist who wrote a best-selling book that reviewed hundreds of perfumes, in the same way a wine reviewer would write about wine. He believes that the odor of a substance has to do with the way it vibrates on a molecular level. Our noses, he says, contain the equivalent of a scanning electron microscope. This flies in the face of conventional thought on the subject. The reigning theory is that smell is a function of a molecule’s shape, not the way it vibrates.Burr makes a great case for Turin’s vibration theory, and the story of how nobody in academia will listen to Turin was a real eye opener. The peer review system for scientific journals is revealed to be totally corrupt. Read the rest

Lawmakers in Turkey are hoping to pass a bill that would allow men who have sex with minors to avoid going to prison if they agree to marry their victim, reports The Independent.From the article:United Nations agencies warned the bill would generate a landscape of impunity for child abuse and leave victims vulnerable to experiencing additional mistreatment and distress from their assailants.“Marry-your-rapist” bills have been seen across the world and are pushed in the name of protecting and safeguarding family “honour”.Image by Salih Altuntaş from Pixabay Read the rest

SCUM Manifesto author Valerie Solanas' effort to get her play "Up Your Ass" produced by Andy Warhol leads to deadly confrontations. With cameos from Maurice Girodias, Paul Krassner, and Barney Rosset.From John Wilcock, New York Years, by Ethan Persoff and Scott Marshall.(See all Boing Boing installments) Read the rest

Now that the latest iPhones have embraced the wireless charging revolution, there’s really no excuse for not having a wireless charger of your own. But even the best wireless chargers don’t allow users to use their phones while they’re being powered up.This Suction Powered Wireless Charger breaks that rule by allowing you to comfortably use your phone even while it’s taking a charge, and it’s available for 25% off retail today.Featuring mini suction cups that won’t damage your device, this tiny-yet-mighty wireless charging solution won’t block your hands while it powers up your device—allowing you to use your phone without limitations at all times.Ideal for gamers who can’t afford to let their phone rest for even a minute, this charger is also lightweight enough to toss in your pocket at a moment’s notice.Embrace the wireless charging revolution without having to let your phone sit unused for extended periods of time. Usually priced at $69, this hands-on wireless charging solution is available for 25% off at $51.75.Prices are subject to change.You can't beat free! Get $70+ worth of premium Mac apps for free today! Read the rest

On the highly-recommended Brick Experiment Channel, "BEC" (the unidentified, silent LEGO engineer you never see or hear) tries his hand at building a quad drone using LEGO bricks and other LEGO components. The only non-LEGO parts he uses are the battery, the receiver, the flight controller, and a motor driver circuit.For the flight controller, BEC used the Matek F411-mini. For the motors, he used four LEGO L-motors [88003-1].Besides the cool LEGO drone he ends up with, I love watching his experimentation and iterative process. And like many fellow 'tubers such as Jimmy DiResta and Primitive Technology, the un-narrated video is kind of mesmerizing to watch as you hear only the sounds of making. Read the rest

Teleporter, motion-detection compression algorithm, editing shenanigan? You decide! In this video, posted to gfycat, a man suddenly pops into view from behind the short square sign near the top of the image, just left of the white truck. [via Reddit] Spoiler: cue the video to 9:40, watch the spot on the curb between the manhole cover and the round sign, and you'll see a shadow moving along the curb toward the point where the man is seen moments later. Read the rest

YouTuber and dad Matt MacMillan picked an unusual way to cover AC/DC's "Thunderstruck." He spent a year recording his baby son's cooing, sneezing, and other random noises and pieced it together to make the song. He writes, "It took forever."And when you see HOW he arranged it all, you'll see why it took so long — it's really quite a feat!If you're not familiar with the original song (I wasn't), here it is for comparison:(Geekologie) Read the rest

Royalty Now paints over classical portraits and statues to depict famous leaders as they might appear in the modernized flesh.Above, Julius Caesar. Below, Caligula. Read the rest

Nathan Yau created this fun and fascinating name guessing algorithm. You select "male" or "female," the decade you were born, and then type in the first letter of your name. I tried more than a dozen times for people I know and it nailed it on the first letter about 80% of the time. On those that it screwed up after the first letter, it got it right after I entered a second letter. From the project description:This is based on data from the Social Security Administration, up to 2018. It’s relatively comprehensive, but there are a few limitations. First, it’s data for the United States, so the numbers don’t really apply elsewhere. Second, the SSA doesn’t include names with fewer than five people in a year, so the chart doesn’t cover more unique names. Third, there were no Social Security Numbers before 1935, so the name counts are fuzzier for years before that.But like I said, the data still has a wide range. I aggregated the annual data by decade and calculated percentages by dividing name counts by total number of Social Security Numbers provided.Before you enter anything, the chart shows the most popular names for the given sex and decade. Then as you enter a name, the chart shows conditional probabilities. The more information you give it, the stronger the guess."Guessing Names Based on What They Start With" (FlowingData) Read the rest

Motherboard has obtained and published a copy of the forensics report that suggests that Jeff Bezos's phone was hacked by Prince Mohammad Bin Salman Al Saud, possibly in a scheme to obtain kompromat that could be used as leverage to prevent the Washington Post of reporting on the death of Jamal Khashoggi, who was murdered and mutilated by agents of the prince.The report explains how the attribution was made, and describes the mechanism by which Bezos's phone was likely compromised, and references the NSO Group's notorious Whatsapp malware, which bears similarities to the tool seemingly used to attack Bezos's phone.Motherboard consulted Sarah Edwards from the SANS Institute to assess the forensics work and she was lukewarm, calling the report "significantly incomplete," explaining that because the experts hadn't jailbroken Bezos's phone, they weren't able to access its full filesystem.The forensic investigators encountered at least two obstacles in conducting their exam of Bezos's phone. The first related to the encrypted downloader. Farrante’s team first examined the attachment alone before deciding they needed to do a full forensic imaging and analysis of the phone’s contents and traffic. They used a tool from Cellebrite (Cellebrite UFED 4PC Ultimate and Physical Analyzer) to grab forensic images from the phone and set up a secure makeshift lab to do the forensics over two days.They did not find any malicious code embedded in the video file, but discovered that the video was delivered via an encrypted downloader hosted on WhatsApp’s media server. Read the rest

Petrick Studio's Instagram for Windows 95 imagines a world where nothing has changed, but for one app alone. Click through for the GIFs. Read the rest

In memory of Monty Python co-founder Terry Jones, who died this week, please enjoy "Monty Python and the Holy Grail in LEGO."Created in 2002 by Spite Your Face Productions for the DVD release of "Monty Python and The Holy Grail," Terry Gilliam reportedly described the LEGO short as "definitely the best version of the film."And here's "Camelot (Knights of the Round Table)" from the original film:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9wdYy3tCm4(via r/ObscureMedia) Read the rest

I'm glad he came prepared with a hand towel to ensure a good grip on the railing.I can't help but imagine him in a dance-off with the footloose and fancy-free fellow made famous by this classic clip: View this post on Instagram A post shared by Total Frat Move (@totalfratmove) on Jul 18, 2018 at 2:17pm PDT Read the rest

You no longer need to invest vast quantities of your time and money in order to take advantage of everything that graphic design can do for your brand or business.Design Wizard Pro allows you to quickly create pro-level image designs in minutes, and a lifetime subscription is currently available for over 90% off its usual price.Featuring more than 30,000 professionally-designed templates that span multiple genres and styles, this subscription grants you unlimited access to a massive trove of design elements that can be used for marketing in any environment.You’ll have access to 1.2 million curated individual images, along with 120 free fonts and a wide variety of color palettes—all within a streamlined and intuitive platform that makes it easy to find what you’re looking for.It’s also easy to integrate with third-party platforms like Intercom, HubSpot, and Buffer.Spruce up your marketing campaigns with a lifetime subscription to Design Wizard Pro for just $39.Prices are subject to change.You can't beat free! Get $70+ worth of premium Mac apps for free today! Read the rest

Say goodbye to America's wetlands and streams. Say hello to new rivers of pollution, and parking lots where cattails, frogs, and minnows once were.“The Trump administration on Thursday will finalize a rule to strip away environmental protections for streams, wetlands and other water bodies, handing a victory to farmers, fossil fuel producers and real estate developers who said Obama-era rules had shackled them with onerous and unnecessary burdens,” writes Coral Davenport at the New York Times tonight.From Day 1 of his administration, President Trump vowed to repeal President Barack Obama’s “Waters of the United States” regulation, which had frustrated rural landowners. His new rule, which will be implemented in the coming weeks, is the latest step in the Trump administration’s push to repeal or weaken nearly 100 environmental rules and laws, loosening or eliminating rules on climate change, clean air, chemical pollution, coal mining, oil drilling and endangered species protections.(...)His administration had completed the first step of its demise in September with the rule’s repeal. His replacement on Thursday will complete the process, not only rolling back 2015 rules that guaranteed protections under the 1972 Clean Water Act to certain wetlands and streams that run intermittently or run temporarily underground, but also relieves landowners of the need to seek permits that the Environmental Protection Agency had considered on a case-by-case basis before the Obama rule.It also gives President Trump a major policy achievement to bring to his political base while his impeachment trial continues.RIP streams. https://t.co/H6NvpIxwxH Read the rest

Twitter, where Donald Trump posted 123 bonkers tweets today and Nazis and psyops bots roam free, is rolling out a pop-up feature that lets users add an emoji reaction to a Direct Message, kind of like a similar feature that exists in iOS iMessage. So fancy! Twitter is testing DM Reactions pic.twitter.com/Ihp7hsnaOH— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) October 16, 2019Reports Chance Miller at 9to5Mac:Twitter first started testing this emoji reaction feature last year, but it’s now rolling the capability out to all users on the web, iOS, and Android. This feature allows you to add a reaction to direct messages using your normal selection of emoji.All participants in the direct message thread will receive a notification any time a new reaction is added to a message. Those who don’t have the latest version of the Twitter apps will receive a separate message informing them of the reaction.And here's how you use the new Twitter feature, which unfortunately won't remove the president from office or stop him from using Twitter or ban the Nazis: To add a reaction, hover over the message and click the reaction button (heart and plus icon), or double tap on the message and pick an emoji from the pop-up. You can undo a reaction at any time and it will be removed from the message for all participants. Click or tap on a reaction in a conversation to view who reacted to the message.More:Twitter rolling out iMessage-like reactions feature to direct messages[via techmeme.com Read the rest

Clearview AI app used by 600+ law enforcement agencies, from local police departments to FBI, DHSTwitter told law enforcement app maker Clearview AI that its scraping of Twitter images for facial recognition databases violated Twitter policies.The company behind the app is sort of mysterious, but has in recent months licensed its powerful face-recognition AI to hundreds of law enforcement agencies.Our Cory Doctorow wrote about Clearview AI recently here.In addition to the rebuke by Twitter, U.S. lawmakers are expressing privacy concerns, the New York Times reported Wednesday:Twitter sent a letter this week to the small start-up company, Clearview AI, demanding that it stop taking photos and any other data from the social media website “for any reason” and delete any data that it previously collected, a Twitter spokeswoman said. The cease-and-desist letter, sent on Tuesday, accused Clearview of violating Twitter’s policies.The New York Times reported last week that Clearview had amassed a database of more than three billion photos from social media sites — including Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Venmo — and elsewhere on the internet. The vast database powers an app that can match people to their online photos and link back to the sites the images came from.The app is used by more than 600 law enforcement agencies, ranging from local police departments to the F.B.I. and the Department of Homeland Security. Law enforcement officials told The Times that the app had helped them identify suspects in many criminal cases.Read more:Twitter Tells Facial Recognition Trailblazer to Stop Using Site’s Photos [nytimes.com] Read the rest

Trump seemed awfully uptight today, didn't he. Can it be the impeachment trial?By 4:25 PM today in Washington, DonaldTrump broke his own previous record of 123 tweets in a single day, a milestone he set just over one month ago, according to Factba.se, 'a service that compiles and analyzes data on Trump’s presidency.'Most of the trash he's tweeting and retweeting to his 71 million followers, many of whom are bots, were GOP propaganda content attacking Democrats over Trump's ongoing impeachment trial. From the Associated Press:Trump’s previous record for tweets on a single day during his time in the White House was set on Dec. 12, 2019, the day the House Judiciary Committee opened its marathon session to approve two articles of impeachment against the president.Trump’ set his all-time record for tweets in a day before he became president, with 161 posts in January 2015, according to Factba.se. Most of his tweeting that day was dedicated to plugging his reality television show.Trump, who began his day in Davos, Switzerland, where he was attending the World Economic Forum, started his Wednesday morning by hammering out 41 tweets between 12 a.m. and 1 a.m. ET (6 a.m. to 7 a.m. in Davos).Read More:Trump sets presidential record for most tweets in a day [apnews.com] Read the rest

'Federal disclosures filed late Tuesday reveal Amazon and Facebook each spent roughly $17 million to battle back Washington in 2019'

• Whither the in-flight emotional support miniatures horses? • “Officials highlighted a few areas where they are most eager to get comments, including whether miniatures horses should continue to qualify as service animals”Proposed new FAA rules would mean no more passengers bringing what are identified as emotional-support animals on airplanes, unless the animals are specially trained dogs that meet requirements.On Wednesday, The U.S. Department of Transportation [DOT] proposed that only specially trained dogs qualify as service animals -- which, according to the US Americans With Disabilities ACT, or ADA, have to be allowed by airlines to travel with their human in the cabin at no extra charge. Transportation Department officials told reporters today they proposed the changes to improve in-flight safety, because a lot of passengers are abusing the system. As the number of in-flight 'support animal' attacks show, some jerks really are dragging on board pets with no training. Airlines complain that the pets relieve themselves on planes and in airports, writes David Koenig for AP:The public will have 60 days to comment on the proposed changes. Officials highlighted a few areas where they are most eager to get comments, including whether miniatures horses should continue to qualify as service animals.The Transportation Department proposes a narrow definition in which a service animal could only be a dog that is trained to help a person with a physical or other disability. Passengers with a service dog would have to fill out a federal form on which they swear that the dog is trained to help them. Read the rest

Copyright rules are made with the needs of the entertainment industry in mind, designed to provide the legal framework for creators, investors, distributors, production houses, and other parts of the industry to navigate their disputes and assert their interests.A good copyright policy would be one that encouraged diverse forms of expression from diverse creators who were fairly compensated for their role in a profitable industry. But copyright has signally failed to accomplish this end, largely because of the role it plays in the monopolization of the entertainment industry (and, in the digital era, every industry where copyrighted software plays a role). Copyright's primary approach is to give creators monopolies over their works, in the hopes that they can use these as leverage in overmatched battles with corporate interests. But monopolies have a tendency to accumulate, piling up in the vaults of big companies, who use these government-backed exclusive rights to dominate the industry so that anyone hoping to enter it must first surrender their little monopolies to the hoards of the big gatekeepers.Creators get a raw deal in a concentrated marketplace, selling their work into a buyer's market. Giving them more monopolies – longer copyright terms, copyright over the "feel" of music, copyright over samples – just gives the industry more monopolies to confiscate in one-sided negotiations and add to their arsenals. Expecting more copyright to help artists beat a concentrated industry is like expecting more lunch money to help your kid defeat the bullies who beat him up on the playground every day. Read the rest

In an attempt to curb the spread of the deadly new coronavirus, Wuhan city officials are temporarily shutting down "bus, subway, ferry and long-distance passenger transport," reports NPR.The virus, which has killed 17 people and infected over 500, is thought to have originated in a Wuhan seafood market. According to The Washington Post, the now closed "1,000-stall bazaar sold not only seafood but marmots, spotted deer and venomous snakes, according to state media reports that described the market as 'filthy and messy.'”China Daily tweeted "Public #transportation such as bus, subway, ferry and long-distance bus in Wuhan will be temporarily closed since 10am Thursday. All flights and trains departed from #Wuhan will be temporarily cancelled to reduce risk of spread of the new virus, local govt says. #coronavirus"Public #transportation such as bus, subway, ferry and long-distance bus in Wuhan will be temporarily closed since 10am Thursday. All flights and trains departed from #Wuhan will be temporarily cancelled to reduce risk of spread of the new virus, local govt says. #coronavirus pic.twitter.com/gtzIlFszaf— China Daily (@ChinaDaily) January 22, 2020Wuhan is China's "fifth-largest city, and more than 3,200 square miles in size," reports Business Insider. "By comparison, New York City has 8 million people — nearly 3 million fewer than Wuhan."Two other well-know coronaviruses are MERS and SARS. From the CDC website:Two other human coronaviruses, MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV have been known to frequently cause severe symptoms. MERS symptoms usually include fever, cough, and shortness of breath which often progress to pneumonia. Read the rest

The Nintendo Switch is an undeniably awesome gadget, pairing old-school gaming styles with modern-day graphics and functionality for a new generation of gamers.The only complaint people seem to have is that its controllers are somewhat lacking, which is why more and more Switch-enthusiasts are picking up this Gbros. Wireless Adapter that lets you play with your go-to, original wired controllers instead.Perfectly compatible with controllers for Gamecube, NES, SNES, and SFC, this adapter will bring a new level of familiarity to your games by allowing you to take advantage of your favorite controllers while you play your Switch.Simply connect the adapter via Bluetooth and you’ll be able to play your favorite games at a distance of up to 33 feet.This adapter supports both Switch and X-inputs with Windows, and you’ll be able to press and hold L+R+A+B+START in order to swap your button-mapping options between GameCube and Switch Pro.Start playing Nintendo Switch with your favorite controllers. This Gbros. Wireless Adapter is available for 25% off at just $14.99.Prices are subject to change.You can't beat free! Get $70+ worth of premium Mac apps for free today! Read the rest

Sounds like the clinical trials programs we use to approve drugs may have room to improve.BBC:He had diabetes, and he had signed up for a study to see if taking a “statin” – a kind of cholesterol-lowering drug – might help. So far, so normal.But soon after he began the treatment, his wife began to notice a sinister transformation. A previously reasonable man, he became explosively angry and – out of nowhere – developed a tendency for road rage. During one memorable episode, he warned his family to keep away, lest he put them in hospital.Out of fear of what might happen, Patient Five stopped driving. Even as a passenger, his outbursts often forced his wife to abandon their journeys and turn back. Afterwards, she’d leave him alone to watch TV and calm down. She became increasingly fearful for her own safety.Then one day, Patient Five had an epiphany. “He was like, ‘Wow, it really seems that these problems started when I enrolled in this study’,” says Beatrice Golomb, who leads a research group at the University of California, San Diego. Read the rest

“I think absurd is exactly the right word,” said Saudi Prince Faisal A security forensics team working on the matter of Amazon chief Jeff Bezos's hacked phone and leaked dick pics reports that without a doubt, it all started when Bezos got a video over WhatsApp from Mohammad Bin Salman. The Amazon mogul met Prince Bone Saw, who is widely believed to have ordered the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, at a dinner in 2018. Bezos got a weird message from MBS, who he trusted, and after that video attachment, Bezos's phone started pushing out tons of data.Cory Doctorow blogged his take on the matter here earlier today. So, today, the Saudi foreign minister has of course totally denied everything. Because of course, just like they denied murdering Khashoggi.Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud said on Wednesday that an allegation MBS was involved in the plot to hack the phone of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos was “absurd,” reports Reuters:“I think absurd is exactly the right word,” Prince Faisal told Reuters in an interview at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos. “The idea that the crown prince would hack Jeff Bezos’ phone is absolutely silly.”Two United Nations officials will report on Wednesday that there is enough evidence suggesting that Saudi Arabia had hacked Bezos’ phone and both the kingdom and the United States should investigate, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters earlier on Wednesday. Previously on Boing Boing:Forensics team accuses Prince Bone Saw of hacking Jeff Bezos's phone to obtain kompromat and force Washington Post silence on Khashoggi [Cory Doctorow]Read more at Reuters:Saudi foreign minister calls claim that Crown Prince hacked Bezos phone 'absurd' Read the rest

The first amendment is one thing, but I would not piss off an HOA.A gentleman, who may or may not have a mental illness, posted a number of very offensive signs on his condominium balcony. His HOA asked him to remove said signage and then fined him to no effect. The City of Calabasas apparently got involved, and the hateful symbology has been removed... for now.ABC7:A man who is believed to be the long-time owner of the condo was seen last week yelling and cursing at people from his balcony. No threats were made, according to the sheriff's department, but some neighbors say they feel unsafe and intimidated by the messages."I'm horrified, and I'm sad," resident Sheri Polk said. "Sad that people feel this way about Jews, about African Americans."The city of Calabasas said the material was taken down Friday, the morning after a deadline was issued for the signs' removal. The resident initially refused to remove the posters, according to Calabasas Mayor Alicia Weintraub. Read the rest

Lest you thought the "bulletproof" backpack trend wasn't heinous and exploitative enough, Wonder Hoodie is now selling a "bulletproof" hoodie.I use "scare-quotes" here because, like most "bulletproof" products on the market, this hoodie claims to rate a IIIA on the National Institute of Justice's Body Armor Performance Standards. This means that the padding is "Tested to stop .357 SIG and .44 Magnum ammunition fired from longer barrel handguns. No rifle ammunition protection."So it's not really bulletproof so much as it is bullet resistant for certain handguns. Which ain't gonna help in the occasion someone shows up with an AR-15 or similar semi-automatic rifle. Also, if we're being technical, it hasn't actually been tested and certified by the NIJ, but rather by an independent lab. But I digress.If it does make you feel comfortable about the statistically likelihood situation of a mass shooting, then by all means, spend the $800 for the adult-sized hoodie, even though you're more likely to die in a boating or a spaceship incident. (To be fair, a deliberate assault by a gun is way more likely than either of these events, though still a lower risk than death from cancer, flu, or falling.) And to make it even more worth the exploitative emotional manipulation investment, the company also offers a "Limited Lifetime Warranty." Here's what that entails:If you get shot (God forbid) with our hoodies on, we'll send you a replacement hoodie FREE of charge. Just include the police report or news clip. Read the rest

Wow, really? So soon? Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun told reporters today the company expects to return to producing the 737 MAX months before the previously forecast mid-year return to service. The planemaker said it did not plan to suspend or cut its dividend.It's not clear what if anything will change with the new design.From Reuters:The company announced a production halt in December, when the global grounding of the fast-selling 737 MAX following two deadly crashes in five months looked set to last into mid-2020.Calhoun said the company is not considering scrapping the MAX and expects it will continue to fly for a generation. He also said it will not launch a marketing campaign to get customers to get back on 737 MAX planes. He also disclosed Boeing is starting with a “clean sheet of paper” on a New Midsize Airplane but it is not clear if the company is scrapping the existing design.The company said on Tuesday it now expects regulators to approve the plane’s return to service in the middle of the year. Calhoun said he did not see recent issues raised about wiring or software as “serious problems.” READ MORE:Boeing CEO says he expects to resume 737 MAX production before mid-year [reuters.com] Read the rest

🍕 Yes, that's a 100-meter record-setting Margherita Pizza. A pizza with a purpose. Sir Eats-A-Lot (@issac_eatsalot on Instagram), captured the awesome creation of a one hundred meters long pizza pie created by Pellegrini's Italian Restaurant (@pellegrinisitalian) pizzeria in Australia. The goal of the ginormous pizza: raise money to help New South Wales firefighters who are battling the ongoing wildfire megablazes. View this post on Instagram 🚩🚩 @pellegrinisitalian 🚩🚩 🍕 100m Margherita Pizza Record 🍕 . Welcome to the neighbourhood old Pel - with a 100m continuous pizza party that is 😅 over 400kgs and 4hrs of dough, sweat and cheers went into this masterpiece that's taken weeks of planning and days of practice to achieve. Not only an impressive feat of culinary endurance - but a pizza the pie also went to Rural Fire Services with gold coin donations being accepted for a slice of pizza at the end of the cook. The HUGE team effort it took from everyone - some 5hr efforts some 5minute efforts - to shuffle the cooked dough down the table was mammoth and it couldn't have been achieved without everyone involved along the way. Restaurant opens to the public tomorrow - keen to head back for some of the best pizza and pasta Sydney's south has to offer! . @petragroup_ #pellegrinis #worldrecord #recordbreaking #pizza #continuouspizza #margherita #italian #southvillage #kirrawee #theshire #new #grandopening #charity #bushfireappeal #dough #cheese #sauce #basil #planning #huge #onehundredmetres #sydneyfood #teampixel #chewcrewmedia #pasta #tastemademedoit #foodnetwork @foodbible @foodnetwork @ladbible @complex @thrillist @foodyfetish @pizzaA post shared by Sir Eats-a-lot (@issac_eatsalot) on Jan 19, 2020 at 1:11am PST View this post on Instagram 🌟GIVEAWAY TIME🌟⁠ We are giving away a $200 voucher to spend at Pellegrini's Italian, kirrawee. Read the rest

My daughter and I have a nice little home makerspace going, but we have been storing all of our components (resistors, capacitors, solder, arduinos, raspberry pis, etc) in plastic boxes stacked into a larger box, which makes it hard to find what we need. It was time to get a cabinet, and this one is perfect, with 44 clear sliding drawers. It's only about 6-inches deep, which is a good thing because it doesn't take up a lot of room on our worktable. It's on Amazon. Read the rest

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard is claiming damages of $50 million after Hillary Clinton called her a "Russian asset" in an interview, reports The Guardian.From the filing: “Clinton’s false assertions were made in a deliberate attempt to derail Tulsi’s presidential campaign. The defamatory statements have caused Tulsi to lose potential donors and potential voters who heard the defamatory statements. Tulsi has suffered significant actual damages, personally and professionally, that are estimated to exceed $50m – and continue to this day.”From the article:Gabbard’s allegations stem from an interview Clinton conducted with the Democratic strategist, author and podcaster David Plouffe in October 2019. Discussing the 2020 primary field, Clinton said of one candidate: “She is a favourite of the Russians.“They have a bunch of sites and bots and other ways of supporting her so far. And, that’s assuming Jill Stein [the Green Party nominee for president in 2016, who received favourable coverage from Russian state media] will give it up, which she might not because she’s also a Russian asset. Yeah, she’s a Russian asset.”Image by United States Congress - Office of Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, Public Domain, Link Read the rest

Artist Refik Anadol, who has appeared on Boing Boing before, designs dreamy installations using artificial intelligence. Some of them he calls 'data paintings.' Anadol manipulates large collections of data and develops machine learning algorithms to create these trippy, immersive art installations. They're beautiful.The video above is a new profile of Refik Anadol's work by WIRED. If you haven't yet, go subscribe to Wired on YouTube. Good videos. You can experience Anadol's work live, right now in New York City through February 2, 2020, at Artechouse NYC.Go see Anadol's installations in person, or learn more about them online:• Machine Hallucination at Artechouse NYC (now through February 2020)• WDCH Dreams (Los Angeles, archived, performance took place in 2018)• Winds of Boston (archived)• Melting Memories (archived)PREVIOUSLY ON BOING BOING:Watch Archive Dreaming, a mind-bending immersive dive into data visualization (By Andrea James, 2018)[Thanks, Wonbo!] Read the rest

Nototo is a new note taking app that lets you build an imaginary map and populate it with plants, structures, and notes on any subject. It reminds me of a memory palace - a building full of rooms that exists in your mind into which you can store ideas for easy recall. Read the rest

The latest installment of the always-delightful McMansion Hell (previously) departs from the usual format of mercilessly skewering the tasteless custom homes of the contemporary super-rich and instead delves into their historic precedent, the 1970s-vintage "proto-McMansion," AKA the "Styled Ranch."Posts like this are a peek behind the McMansion Hell curtain, giving us a glimpse into Kate Wagner's outstanding critical eye for architecture, its meanings, and its failings. My grandparents had a not-quite-Styled-Ranch house -- smaller than these, and with better proportions -- but I instantly recognized the type of house on display here.This 5,600 square-foot house features 6 bedrooms and 6 bathrooms and can be all yours for ~$1.8 million USD. You’ll notice a lot of things about this house that are not McMansion-like: its symmetry, its lack of a complex roofline, its unified exterior claddings and window styles. However, this is why the house is interesting - it is not as much a McMansion as it is a proto-McMansion. Many McMansion features are apparent in their nascent form, for example, the competing architectural styles of Tudor (windows) and Neoclassical (portico, front door, quoins), the tacked-on mass containing the three car garage, an ostentatious pediment with elaborate columns, and extruded double bay windows. The McMansion Hell Yearbook: 1970 [Kate Wagner/McMansion Hell] Read the rest