My latest LA Times book review is for Naomi Klein's new essay collection, On Fire: The (Burning) Case for a Green New Deal, which traces more than a decade of Klein's outstanding, on-the-ground reports from the pivotal struggle to begin the transformational work needed to save our species and the rest of the Earth's living things from a devastating, eminently foreseeable, and ultimately avoidable climate catastrophe.Klein's essays trace the arc from denialism, through to peak indifference (the moment at which denialism begins to wane of its own accord, thanks to waves of disaster that convince doubters without any intervention by activists), to nihilism ("if there's only one rhino left, we might as well find out what he tastes like"), to hope, in the form of the Green New Deal (a successor to Klein's own Leap Manifesto) and the Extinction Rebellion movement, along with its extraordinary founder, the Swedish teen activist Greta Thunberg.It's strong tonic for a moment in which it's all too easy to despair. Highly recommended.The boldly ecstatic vision of climate justice — a Green New Deal that gives every person meaningful, full employment in solidarity work and mutual aid that saves our planet from our species and saves our species from itself — is a powerful tonic, an antidote to despair.In “On Fire,” Klein shines a spotlight on a world in crisis, illuminating the terrible (the Great Barrier Reef, finally dying after years of inaction, despite urgent warnings); and the inspiring (the people of Puerto Rico soldiering on despite hurricanes, official neglect, structural racism and a state hollowed out by colonialism). Read the rest

In an interview with Bloomberg, Bill Gates dismissed the idea of breakups as a remedy for Big Tech's monopolistic market concentration; Gates said that breaking up an abusive company will just produce more abusive companies. Instead, Gates believes that specific monopolistic activities should be banned.Gates has some company in this position: For example EU competition commission Margrethe Vestager (recently blessed with a surprise reappointment) says that attempts to break up Facebook will turn into protracted litigation boondoggles, and instead, she just wants to go on extracting massive fines from tech companies that misbehave (though these fines are also the subject of high-stake litigation).But it's not just Vestager and Gates: Mark Zuckerberg wants to see regulation for Facebook. He says that clear rules will help him steer his company without daily, ghastly scandals.The problem with this model is that expensive, difficult-to-implement compliance rules are tantamount to permanent licenses to dominate the internet: if you have to be a giant to afford to comply with the law, then we'll only get giants.The other problem is that giants who extract monopoly profits from their suppliers and customers have plenty of money left over to lobby governments to let them get away with progressively worse behavior (which improves their profitability, leaving more money to lobby with, lather, rinse, repeat). This is why the first trustbusters focused on breaking up the giant companies (which were run by executives who were no less wicked than Big Tech's supposedly benevolent dictators): they didn't just want to have fairer, more competitive markets, they wanted to hamstring the industries' ability to corrupt democratic governance. Read the rest

An investigation by Propublica and Bayerischer Rundfunk found 187 servers hosting more than 5,000,000 patients' confidential medical records and scans (including a mix of Social Security numbers, home addresses and phone numbers, scans and images, and medical files) that were accessible by the public, "available to anyone with basic computer expertise."Many of these records were exposed by large commercial technology providers that service doctors' offices and clinics, such as Mobilexusa, while others were operated by individual doctors, some of whom never returned Propublica's calls or took any steps to tighten their security prior to publication of the investigation (Mobilexusa "tightened its security" after being alerted by Propublica).The poor security has multiple causes: insurers write cybersecurity policies without adequate due diligence (in part because the penalties for breaches are generally laughable); medical software companies sell products that assume their customers will provide the security layer, while customers assume that the security comes from those products; the rush to establish electronic health records has yielded up a bonanza of insecure practices that are optimized for improving billings, not health or security; and plain old willful neglect.To all this, I'd add the proliferation of binding arbitration "agreements" that doctors increasingly require patients to sign as a condition of receiving care (I refuse to sign these, which means that I sometimes have to drive to another city to see a specialist; for example, the only pain specialist I could find who did not require this is at USC's pain clinic, an hour's drive from my home). Read the rest

If you're part of the maker community, you know Make:. Though Make: magazine is off the shelves as of this year, the eBooks and resources put out by Maker Media are still a fantastic resource for the new generation of tinkerers, hackers, and robotics geeks.If you're in that tribe, listen up: they've released a bundle of eBooks on open-source electronics, and the entire 15-volume package is on sale on a "pay what you want" basis.There's a wide range of knowledge here, and a lot of covers the possibilities of the Arduino platform. You'll get everything from ground-level Arduino 101 primers to in-depth blueprints for atmospheric monitoring devices. You'll also get books that dive into Arduino-compatible gadgets like Adafruit's Trinket board, while overviews teach you how to tie all this tech together to make your own inroads into robotics, home automation and the Internet of Things.There are 15 books in all with a total value of $277.85, and you can pick them up for potential pennies. Just name your price - any amount will take home something, and you can get the entire package by beating the average price. Read the rest

Trump says it ‘doesn't matter’ if he talked of investigating Biden with Ukraine president (it does)

Updates are expected.

Of course they announced it at the end of the day on Friday, that's what you do with bad news.In a Facebook blog post from Ime Archibong, VP of Product Partnerships, Facebook says it has had suspended “tens of thousands” of apps and 400 developers as part of its internal investigation following the Cambridge Analytica scandal.Clearly, from the numbers today alone, data privacy remains an unresolved problem for Facebook.Facebook says it began investigating apps in March 2018 after it became publicly known that the UK-based dirty data dealers Cambridge Analytica obtained and exploited the personal data of individual Facebook users without their consent.That ongoing review has so far examined millions of apps, Facebook says in the blog post, and the latest round of “tens of thousands” of now-suspended apps are associated with 400 or so different developers.Excerpt from “An Update on Our App Developer Investigation,” Friday, September 20, 2019 from the Facebook Newsroom:It is important to understand that the apps that have been suspended are associated with about 400 developers. This is not necessarily an indication that these apps were posing a threat to people. Many were not live but were still in their testing phase when we suspended them. It is not unusual for developers to have multiple test apps that never get rolled out. And in many cases, the developers did not respond to our request for information so we suspended them, honoring our commitment to take action.In a few cases, we have banned apps completely. Read the rest

A driver plowed through the Sears entrance of the Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, Illinois this afternoon. The driver then continued on through the mall, destroying several kiosks and damaging storefronts before stopping.Police have taken the driver into custody and so far, no injuries have been reported. Twitter user @nipsfalloff posted this video from inside the mall: Stores At Woodfield Mall Placed On Lockdown (CBS2 Chicago) (Photo: Facebook Live screenshot/WGN-TV) Read the rest

No horror film auteur could envision and produce something as creepy as a bunch of turkeys spontaneously circling and marching around a dead cat in the road. turkeys walking in a circle around a dead cat in the middle of the road pic.twitter.com/o2ZqtJuNV4— haunter (@haunterhaha) September 18, 2019 Read the rest

This ingenious device is called the "Make Your Co-Workers Hate You Pen." I would not use it publicly but I would use it. I'd definitely use it. From Perpetual Kid: WARNING: You will lose friends! You may lose your job! HR will start requiring closed toe shoes in the office! Don't even think about doing this in a library!And Amazon has a different version that folds up into a keychain! Read the rest

America's largest retailer will stop selling electronic cigarettes. Walmart announced the news today in response to a growing number of unexplained deaths involving vape devices throughout the US.Juuls and other electronic cigarettes are growing in popularity as a safer alternative to smoking.While it's not clear yet what is causing the vaping-related illnesses and deaths, there is growing speculation that black-market marijuana vaping cartridges are to blame. Not Juul.Walmart's ban on nicotine e-cigs won't change the health risks associated with consuming recycled or illegal weed cartridges, but ending the federal ban on cannabis and making it easier for people to access safe products legally might help.Also -- Walmart will keep selling the old-fashioned burning tobacco cigarettes!That's right!The stuff proven by decades of science to definitely absolutely make you sick and kill you.So, thanks!Thanks, Walmart.Here's the Walmart statement in full:"Given the growing federal, state and local regulatory complexity and uncertainty regarding e-cigarettes, we plan to discontinue the sale of electronic nicotine delivery products at all Walmart and Sam's Club U.S. locations," the company said in a statement. "We will complete our exit after selling through current inventory."[via CNN, images: Shutterstock]Truly insane: Walmart stops selling e-cigs because of a tenuous connection to deaths from illicit THC oil, but Walmart still sells actual cigarettes, you know the things that definitively kill. https://t.co/b6UOR6YH5g— Andrew Kirell (@AndrewKirell) September 20, 2019 Read the rest

Described as a "posh mash-up of uptown and downtown," this Burberry outerwear offering is just downright weird. It combines a classy women's camel hair coat (the "uptown") with a red/taupe puffer vest (the "downtown," which is inexplicably attached upside down with a zipper to the coat). Now, I don't pretend to follow fashion but this seems like a strange thing to do to a perfectly good coat. What makes it even more unusual? Its price. It's available at Nordstrom as the "2-in-1 Camel Hair Coat with Reversible Puffer Vest" for $3,790 and on the Burberry site as the "Camel Hair Tailored Coat with Detachable Gilet" for the same price. One suggested way of wearing itThanks, Andy!images via Nordstrom Read the rest

California and 23 other states are suing to stop the Trump administration's shocking legal reversal of states' authority to set their own rules on climate-warming tailpipe emissions.Proud to be in California today.States joining the California lawsuit include: • Colorado• Illinois• Maryland• Massachusetts• Nevada• North Carolina• New Mexico• New York• Oregon• Washington• Wisconsin• Pennsylvania• MichiganFrom Coral Davenport at the New York Times:The lawsuit represents the starting gun in a sweeping legal battle over states’ rights and climate change that is likely be resolved only once it reaches the Supreme Court. The decision could ultimately have wide-ranging repercussions affecting states’ control over their own environmental laws, the volume of pollution produced by the United States, and the future of the nation’s auto industry.All the state attorneys general signing on to the suit are Democrats, but they represent several states that Mr. Trump won in 2016. States joining the lawsuit include Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, North Carolina, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Washington, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan.“This is the fight of a lifetime for us,” said Mary Nichols, California’s top climate change official. “I believe we will win.”The two top Trump administration officials overseeing the move proudly defended it at a Thursday morning news conference at the Washington headquarters of the Environmental Protection Agency.Read more:California Sues the Trump Administration in Its Escalating War Over Auto Emissions[via @kylegriffin1, image: Shutterstock] Read the rest

I have not bothered with The Magnificent Seven remake. Should I? Read the rest

“Not your average bus conversion.”You can say that again, liveartbus.“Been slowly building my dream for years and it’s finally getting close to being a reality.”This walkthrough video is stupendous. How is it that this bus seems so spacious inside?Not your average bus conversion[via IMGUR] Read the rest

Seriously impressive game-inspired stitching project right here.Says IMGURian ExaltedFemShep:“14" Original Dark Souls Embroidery.” “Took me approximately 60 hours.” “Made it for my husband.”All I can say is I'm amazed that this took only 60 hours!You can follow them on Facebook and Instagram as @thebabytitanembroidery, lots of inspiring and fun work. View this post on Instagram Back to working on this bad boy. Happy with the flames, not so sure what to do with the sword lol. #embroidery #embroideryart #fibreart #fibreartist #stitchart #stitching #needlework #needlepoint #skull #sword #darksouls #darksouls3 #ds3 #nerd #nerdshit #WIP #workinprogress #artA post shared by The Baby Titan Embroidery (@thebabytitanembroidery) on Jan 18, 2019 at 8:16pm PST View this post on Instagram Another progress shot! I don't know when I'll be done but it's definitely taking shape. I have no idea what I'm doing haha! This entire thing is one giant experiment! #embroidery #embroideryart #fibreart #fibreartist #stitchart #stitching #needlework #needlepoint #skull #sword #darksouls #darksouls3 #ds3 #nerd #nerdshit #WIP #workinprogress #artA post shared by The Baby Titan Embroidery (@thebabytitanembroidery) on Jan 26, 2019 at 11:27pm PST View this post on Instagram This took forever! One of the first original designs that I started! The Bonfire from Dark Souls for my handsome husband! This one took a while because it is HUGE (14" hoop I think) and it was entirely experimental and I really had no clue what I was doing! Very pleased though! #embroidery #embroideryart #fibreart #fibreartist #stitchart #stitching #needlework #needlepoint #monogram #monogramembroidery #handmade #handstitched #handstitchedart #gift #darksouls #darksouls3 #ds3 #bonfire #darksouls3bonfire #ds3bonfire #playstation #gamer #dmc #dmcembroideryA post shared by The Baby Titan Embroidery (@thebabytitanembroidery) on Feb 7, 2019 at 12:53pm PST Read the rest

Twitter announced on Friday it has suspended still more nation-state controlled accounts for conducting information operations. The latest batch of banned psyops accounts originated in China, UAE, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Spain, and Ecuador.From the Twitter official blog:Disclosing new data to our archive of information operationsFriday, 20 September 2019In October 2018, we disclosed the first comprehensive archive of state-backed information operations on Twitter. We launched this initiative to empower academic and public understanding of these coordinated campaigns around the world, and to empower independent, third-party scrutiny of these tactics on our platform. As our investigations of platform manipulation around the world have continued, we subsequently added new datasets in January, June and August, while also sharing insights on Twitter’s internal investigative approach and how these complex, sometimes cross-jurisdictional operations are identified. Nearly one year on, the archive is now the largest of its kind in the industry. Thousands of researchers have made use of these datasets that contain millions of individual Tweets and more than one terabyte of media. Using our archive, these researchers have conducted their own investigations and shared their insights and independent analyses with the world. Transparency and openness are deep-seated values at the heart of Twitter which define and guide our methodology around these disclosures. Today, we are disclosing six additional datasets covering five separate jurisdictions. Per our policies on platform manipulation, we have permanently suspended all the below accounts from the service.United Arab Emirates & EgyptWe have removed a network of 273 accounts originating in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Egypt. Read the rest

A woman in Lincoln, Nebraska was burning love letters from her ex when she fell asleep. She was woken by the smoke alarms with her apartment on fire. Insert joke here about hot love affairs, burning passion, etc. From UPI:Police said there were no injuries, but the fire caused about $4,000 worth of damage...The woman was cited for negligent burning, police said. Read the rest

I saw a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand. Read the rest

Armalite created the AR-15, sold the rights to Colt in the fifties, and the design long ago emerged from patent and became widely-copied. The AR-15 itself will no longer be made for consumers by Colt, it says. It says they're just not that popular among consumers and the company needs to focus on institutional sales.The fact of the matter is that over the last few years, the market for modern sporting rifles has experienced significant excess manufacturing capacity. Given this level of manufacturing capacity, we believe there is adequate supply for modern sporting rifles for the foreseeable future. ... At the end of the day, we believe it is good sense to follow consumer demand and to adjust as market dynamics change. Colt has been a stout supporter of the Second Amendment for over 180 years, remains so, and will continue to provide its customers with the finest quality firearms in the world. Missing in a lot of the coverage is the fact lots of companies make AR-15s. Colt not making AR-15s is like Sony not making laptops. Read the rest

John Tefteller is a well-known rare blues record collector. In 2013, Tefteller purchased “Alcohol and Jake Blues” by Tommy Johnson (1930), a very rare blues 78 rpm record, on eBay for $37,100.Tommy Johnson made five records for the Paramount label in 1929 and 1930. Johnson, unrelated to bluesman Robert Johnson, was a little known and very under-appreciated singer/guitar player from Crystal Springs, Mississippi.I love collecting records (mainly 33 rpm). However, being the budget-conscious (i.e. “cheap”) record consumer, I will gripe when paying over $37 for a record at Amoeba Music while John Tefteller paid $37,100 for one.What made this Tommy Johnson blues record so rare? How did Tefteller get into collecting 78 rpm records? What advice does he have for folks wanting to get into collecting 78 rpm records? John Tefteller was kind enough to speak to me and provide insights on the unique world of 78 record collecting.Why is “Alcohol and Jake Blues” by Tommy Johnson the rarest blues record?That’s not the rarest blues record. It’s complicated when you say “rarest.” The way I look at it, “rarest” means that only one copy remains in existence. Then, you can call it the “rarest.”What makes these blues 78s so rare today?In the 1920s and 1930s the companies that produced these records made limited copies of the records for a limited audience. That small audience, through time, either broke, wore the records out or threw them away. The record companies rarely kept any masters and there was no way to trace the purchasing and selling of the music. Read the rest

Adrian Lamo is most famous for turning U.S. Army intelligence analyst and whistleblower Chelsea Manning in to the authorities, but was already well-known among hackers and journalists because of his penetration of The New York Times' source database, subsequent conviction for the hack, and his sparkling personality. He died mysteriously last year in what many assumed was suicide or murder, but NPR's Dina Temple-Raston investigated his last months and found a tragic figure in failing health, evicted by his carers and in chronic pain. He likely died overdosing prescription drugs, kratom and nootropics after suffering a twisted leg.His doctor was in the process of weaning him off some of the medications, including reducing the three different benzodiazepines he was taking. That is of particular interest because about a month before Lamo died, the FDA came out with a medical alert — a warning against mixing benzos with kratom. The combination had been linked to dozens of deaths."A few assessable cases with fatal outcomes raise concern that kratom is being used in combination with other drugs that affect the brain, including ... benzodiazepines," the alert read. Rohrig said Lamo had a handful of what he called designer benzos in his system, some of which weren't available by prescription in the U.S."The most common way of getting these particular ones is basically off the Internet," Rohrig told us. "You can order them and have them shipped to whatever address you want." Debbie Scroggin assumed that lots of the pills and supplements coming into the house were in those packages addressed to Adrian Alfonso. Read the rest

In Untitled Goose Game, you are the goose: an irascible, annoying, hostile bird waddling around the environs of your pond, attacking children and ruining things.It's a lovely morning in the village, and you are a horrible goose.Makes me think of a cross between Katamari Damacy and Postal. It's made by Aussie developer House House -- Jacob Strasser, Nico Disseldorp, Michael McMaster and Stuart Gillespie-Cook--and published by Panic. Read the rest

Trashwear retailer Yandy has released the perfect costume for Halloween 2019: sexy Mr Rogers. (Previously)Won't you be my neighbor? Entice your friends next door with your playful puppets! Suit up with a neck tie, and be the friendliest next door neighbor in town in this exclusive Nicest Neighbor costume featuring a red top with a V-neckline, long fitted sleeves, a white detachable collar with a black neck tie, and matching high waisted gray shorts with belt loops. (Hand puppets, wig, belt and socks not included.)Amazon has plenty of gray wigs in the requisite style, but those hand puppets seem hard to find. Read the rest

While Adam was in DC recently for the Apollo 50th Anniversary celebration (and to do the final assembly on the wonderful Project Egress NASA escape hatch project), he visited the Smithsonian's Office of Exhibits Central (OEC). In a series of videos, he talks to Chris Emo, Head of Production, Carolyn Thome and Chris Hollshwander of the 3D imaging and model-making studio, John Powell, one of their exhibit developers and writers, and he tours their shops. He also talks to OEC's director, Susan Ades, about the challenges she and her team face in doing such far-reaching and complex work for so many different museums with such a diverse number of exhibit needs. Adam is such a smart, passionate, and engaged human intelligence unit. He asks thoughtful questions and he really understands the complexities these artist/engineer/curators are dealing with. He may have gotten more than he bargained for, at the end of his chat with Susan Ades, when he asks about the object that she's handled in her work that moved her the most. Her heartfelt, emotional response really drives home how devoted these people are and how important their work is. No spoilers. You'll have to watch.These interviews sparked some of my own memories because I took the exact same VIP tour four years ago as a Make: editor. I was really inspired by the whole experience and think back on it frequently and fondly. Here is the piece I wrote for Make:.[In the screen cap image above, Carolyn Thome shows Adam a model of a giant squid eyeball.] Read the rest

Life isn't getting any less hectic, and pressure cookers are a quick, healthy solution for a growing number of kitchens. But if you thought your Instant Pot was versatile, there's a major upgrade on the market: The Yedi 9-in-1 Total Package Instant Programmable Pressure Cooker. If you've somehow never used a pressure cooker before, try this thing out. It might just replace the microwave as your go-to meal maker.The Yedi 9-in-1 currently has an average of 4 1/2 stars on Amazon, with well over 1,000 reviews and counting. No wonder: True to its name, it can be used to pressure cook, slow cook, sauté, steam, make cakes, pasteurize, make yogurt, cook rice, make eggs or warm food, all of which you can do with a single touch. In all, there are 15 microprocessor settings to fit most any food you care to put into it. Prepare everything from your favorite chili recipe to a whole frozen chicken, all in half the time.And its versatility isn't just limited to single dishes. Unlike the Instant Pot, you can cook two meals at once by adding the stainless steel steamer basket.Right now, the Yedi 9-in-1 is on sale for 10% off at $89, but you can take a further 15% off by using the online code COOKING15OFF for a total of $75.65. Take your pick between copper, stainless steel, or matte black. Read the rest

How 'high crimes and misdemeanors' can it get?

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's “please don't regulate us too much” charm offensive stopped off in Washington, DC today, where Zuck met with Donald Trump and various members of Congress.The meeting Zuckerberg and Trump had on Thursday at the White House was said to be 'constructive,' at least from Facebook's perspective, whatever that means.From reporters Naomi Nix , Rebecca Kern, and Jennifer Jacobs at Bloomberg:Zuckerberg had a constructive meeting with the president at the White House, according to a Facebook spokesman. Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, attended the meeting, along with Dan Scavino, the president’s social media director, according to a person familiar with the matter.Zuckerberg had a constructive meeting with the president at the White House, according to a Facebook spokesman. Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, attended the meeting, along with Dan Scavino, the president’s social media director, according to a person familiar with the matter.His meetings on Capitol Hill, however, grew testy as he clashed with Republican Senator Josh Hawley over his company’s record on privacy and safeguarding user data.“I said to him, ‘prove that you are serious about data, sell WhatsApp, and sell Instagram.’ That’s what they should do,” Hawley said to reporters after meeting with Zuckerberg in Washington Thursday. “I think it’s safe to say he was not receptive to those suggestions.”And then later, the White House tweeted about the meeting and linked to Facebook in the tweet. What is even happening anymore.Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg meets with lawmakers on Capitol Hill looking to mend the company's reputation as it faces a slew of government investigations https://t.co/aP4y16XdWp via @ReutersTV pic.twitter.com/FaY9FaFgpO— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) September 20, 2019The first glimpse of Zuckerberg meeting with Trump today comes from the WH ⬇️ ..with a link back to Facebook. Read the rest

With skills, patience, and help from his friends, this guy built a yurt (or ger) for himself and his partner about 20 minutes outside of downtown Portland. The finished home looks really cozy and comfortable, and he shares plans so you can build one yourself if you are so inclined.“Our own little oasis about 20 minutes outside of downtown Portland. 30ft in diameter. 730 sq ft w/ an additional 200 sq ft loft.” IMGURian ZachBoth shares photos and videos of his yurt adventure.“Our yurt's distinguishing feature: the bedroom loft surrounded by four dozen house plants.”“The exterior structure is a kit that we built (most yurts in the US are manufactured by about 10 different "yurt companies"). Interior was completely custom.”“If you liked this, I encourage you to check out Do It Yurtself, the website I created to document our build in much more detail including several video episodes you can also find on youtube!”Do It Yurtself Read the rest

Number of days since the Trump administration has done something performatively homophobic or transphobic? Zero.Noted idiot and Trump administration Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson reportedly expressed concern during an internal HUD meeting about “big, hairy men” he believes are trying to infiltrate women's homeless shelters. Three people present who understood this to be an attack on transgender persons later spoke to reporters at the Washington Post.While visiting HUD’s San Francisco office this week, Carson also lamented that society no longer seemed to know the difference between men and women, two of the agency staffers said.Carson’s remarks visibly shocked and upset many of the roughly 50 HUD staffers who attended Tuesday’s meeting, and prompted at least one woman to walk out in protest, the staffers said.What a horrible asshole Ben Carson is. Just like everyone else in this godforsaken 2019 government.HUD Secretary Ben Carson makes dismissive comments about transgender people, angering agency staff [Washington Post, reporting by Tracy Jan and Jeff Stein, photo: SHUTTERSTOCK]... wapo: ben carson referred to "big, hairy men" trying to infiltrate women's shelters, a remark viewed as transphobic by 3 people who heard it.here's the response from hud, & i note the correct terminology is "transgender individuals."https://t.co/H0f1RGFUxP pic.twitter.com/Tu1NfXXNfn— fake nick ramsey (@nick_ramsey) September 19, 2019This is horrible and I would unfortunately be more surprised if it turned out that Ben Carson had said kind, supportive things because he like everyone in Trump's orbit is a soulless monster. Read the rest

This post contains information about suicide. If you need help, it’s OK not to be OK, and to need help. Call 1-800-273-8255.The Menlo Park Police Department said on Thursday it responded to an “apparent suicide” at the headquarters of social media company Facebook. A man who was later confirmed to be an employee of Facebook killed himself by jumping off of the fourth floor of a building at Facebook’s campus. From the official report at the Menlo Park Police website: The San Mateo County Coroner’s Office responded and transported the victim to the San Mateo County Hospital. The identity of the victim is being withheld pending notification of next of kin.From CNBC:“Menlo Park Police Officers and Menlo Park Fire Protection District personnel responded, and when they arrived, found the victim unresponsive,” Menlo Park Police Department said on Thursday. “Firefighters and paramedics administered medical aid but were unable to revive the victim.”A preliminary investigation indicated there was no foul play involved in the apparent suicide, the police said. “We were saddened to learn that one of our employees passed away at our Menlo Park headquarters earlier today,” a Facebook spokeswoman said in a statement. “We’re cooperating with police in their investigation and providing support to employees. While the family is being notified, we have no information to share. We hope to provide an update when we learn additional information from law enforcement.”Facebook employee dead after ‘apparent suicide’ at headquarters [Salvador Rodriguez, CNBC]It’s OK not to be OK. Read the rest

The mortally injured cat was later euthanized.

Geek.com has a nice gallery of Atari 2600 game cartridge boxes and screenshots of what the games actually looked like.Some might say that this practice “misleading”. While I agree that to a modern eye, this art misrepresents what you are going to be playing, but it makes total sense when you look at the art in the context of the time it was released and try to understand how it was useful to gamers during this period.Thanks, Sluggo! Read the rest

Turtle costumes, all the way down.“Finished costume chillin on my sofa,” says IMGURian and amazing costume creator tragopandemonium of the image above. “This guy took me three weeks to build.”And here is the finished piece, worn by the guy on the right.There are turtle costumes, and then there are turtle costumes. This one is amazing for many reasons, but one of them is the ingenuity of material choices here.“I made the shell from shock-absorbing floor mat stuff from Home Depot... the pattern for the curved form seriously threw me for a loop!! D: Ultimately I cut darts in the lines of the actual shell plates - this created the right 3D shape and also hid the seams.”You've gotta check out the whole gallery, for wonderful step by step on how this thing was built. I am so inspired, and so intimidated.My friend needed a Turtle costume for a party, so I made this... Read the rest

The inexpensive Uni Kuru Toga is my favorite mechanical pencil, because it automatically rotates the lead everytime you touch the tip to paper. This keeps the lead nicely rounded. It does this without making the pen feel clicky or clunky, which would render it useless. Instead the mechanical action is so smooth as to be unnoticable. Read the rest

Of all the shitty luck! Burglars stole a working 18-carat gold toilet from Blenheim Palace in Britain. The golden potty was part of an art installation, police said.Blenheim is the birthplace of Winston Churchill, and you can still go see the rest of the exhibition. The historic building was structurally damaged by the theft.“Due to the toilet being plumbed in to the building, this has caused significant damage and flooding,” Detective Inspector Jess Milne said in a public statement.Reuters:The toilet, valued at more than $5 million, was part of an exhibition of work by Italian conceptual artist Maurizio Cattelan which opened two days ago at the stately home 60 miles west of London, a major tourist attraction.The toilet, named “America”, was previously on display in a cubicle at New York’s Guggenheim Museum, where more than 100,000 visitors were able to use it.Thieves with at least two vehicles broke into the palace, the birthplace of World War Two leader Winston Churchill, and removed the toilet some time before 5 a.m. (0400 GMT), Thames Valley Police said.First, a 66-year-old man was arrested in connection with the theft, on the same day as the theft. He was held on suspicion of burglary and released on bail until October.Now, police have arrested a second man, 36 years old “from Cheltenham... on suspicion of conspiracy to burgle.” Suspect number two has been released under investigation.The valuable artwork, however, is still missing.Blenheim Palace says it is saddened by the loss of such a “precious” work of art. Read the rest

The Theremin, an electronic musical instrument that you play by not touching it, celebrates the 100th anniversary of its invention next year. Smithsonian looks at the history of the first successful electronic musical instrument that New York Times critic Harold C. Schonberg described as sounding like "(a) cello lost in a dense fog, crying because it does not know how to get home." From Smithsonian:Theremin was a radio engineer with the Soviet military in 1918 when, while building a powerful transmitter-receiver, he noticed odd feedback sounds coming from it. He said in a 1995 interview, “it turned out that when the capacity changes at a distance of the moving hand, the pitch of the sound also changes.”He had happened on heterodyning, a process that combines two frequencies to shift one frequency range into another, new frequency. It makes for a change in pitch and volume.Other radio engineers in Europe at the close of World War I had noticed the same effect but Theremin was the first to play with that feedback or heterodyning effect in a musical way. The new sound pleased the inventor. Fully committed to Soviet nationalism, (Metropolitan Museum of Art musical instrument curator Jayson) Dobney says, Theremin “tried to find a musical sound that was modern, forward looking.” Read the rest

“The workers had lit a bonfire and were sitting together when a drone targeted them,” says a tribal elder.

Lily’s Garden is a variant of Candy Crush, a brainlessly addictive match-three smartphone game. The thing that makes Lily's Garden different, says Brian Feldman of New York's Intelligencer, is its bizarre ad campaign, which has Lily telling her friend about the penis size of men she knows, and magically erasing her pregnancy by swiping away the "positive" line on a home pregnancy test.#Lilysgarden ad follow-up... pic.twitter.com/lWpYp3KcjC— Irina Razzhivkina (@IraRazz) August 15, 2019From the article:The reality of Lily’s Garden is even more complicated. For one thing, the fake-pregnancy story line is not present in the game itself. According to Stella Sacco, the game’s writer, those ads were created by a separate team. “All of those are all totally fabricated for, I guess, virality,” she said “And to that degree, I would say that it worked.” Lily’s Garden has a similarly intricate story line, but fans hoping for more information about the Lily from the ads might be found wanting.Most mobile games are designed to appeal to every demographic on Earth simultaneously. Consider this: what is the narrative of Candy Crush? Nobody knows, it’s just bright colors and harmless shapes. Plus, most games have their narrative crafted to justify the mechanics of that game. For instance, if a developer makes a game where you can just hop into any car in the virtual world, the player’s character might be designated a car thief in the narrative, as in Grand Theft Auto. But according to Sacco, Lily’s Garden and its narrative structure is very deliberately targeted at what I’ll call (non-pejoratively!) “Facebook Moms,” women over 30 who make up the largest audience for these types of mobile games. Read the rest

In his Ars Technica review of the Nintendo Switch remake of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (available September 20), Sam Machkovech says the terrific music and visual upgrades are not enough to justify paying $60 for a game that "feels like 1993.... When the game isn't offering laughs or smiles via its quests and quirkiness, it's either serving up all-too-familiar challenges or making players fumble blindly in search of a single, buried clue."I'm getting it anyway. Read the rest

Cyril Borovsky purchased a 16-foot wide strip of property in Toronto. Then he built a 3 bedroom, 3 bath, four-story house. Borovsky says his design approach could be used to turn parking spaces into homes. You could also buy Borovsky's house for $3 million. More here: 154 Hamilton StreetAnd other impressively slender Toronto homes: "Three buyers who found narrow plots of prime real estate and made it work" (Toronto Life) Read the rest

Enjoy this 1983 television commercial advertising Centipede for the Atari 5200. The centipedes are comingGet your fingers moving fastThe spider's out to get youDo you think that you can last? Read the rest

Joshua Garnes of Huntington, West Virgina had an ongoing problem with porch pirates swiping boxes outside a house he's renovating. They even stole his "no trespassing" signs. So he rigged up a box with a tripwire that triggers a loud bang when someone grabs the package. Hilarity ensued. More clips below!"There's only so much you can do so why not have a little bit of fun with it," Garnes told ABC6. Read the rest

I haven't watched Saturday Night Live in years, but I might start again just because I like Chloe Fineman's impersonation of Elizabeth Holmes so much. View this post on InstagramA post shared by Chloe Fineman (@chloeiscrazy) on Mar 20, 2019 at 2:35pm PDT And here's Marianne Williamson: View this post on InstagramA post shared by Chloe Fineman (@chloeiscrazy) on Aug 13, 2019 at 6:36pm PDT Masie Williams: View this post on InstagramA post shared by Chloe Fineman (@chloeiscrazy) on May 18, 2019 at 7:06pm PDT [via Quartzy] Read the rest

A day after a photo emerged of Justin Trudeau in brownface, as an Aladdin-esque genie at a 2001 party, the other shoe dropped: video of him fully blacked-up in a minstrel wig. The video dates from the 1990s.CBC News:The video was shot in the early 1990s, however it’s not clear where it takes place.The video, obtained exclusively by Global News, shows Trudeau covered in what appears to be dark makeup and raising his hands in the air while laughing, sticking his tongue out and making faces. He’s wearing a white T-shirt, and his jeans are ripped at the knees. It appears as though his arms and legs are covered in makeup as well.You can't trickle-truth when you don't control the faucet. Read the rest

The world's first vagina museum will open November 16 in London. The Vagina Museum is the world’s first bricks and mortar museum dedicated to vaginas, vulvas and the gynaecological anatomy. The project launched in March 2017 and ran pop ups around the UK. The first premises is opening in Camden Market in 2019 with a view to open a permanent premises in a few years time. ... We have a vision of a world where no one is ashamed of their bodies, everyone has bodily autonomy and all of humanity works together to build a society that is free and equal.It'll be in the Stables Market in Camden. The first exhibit will be "Muff Busters: Vagina Myths and How to Fight Them". Photo courtesy of Vagina Museum. Read the rest

Spread over an area of 40 football fields, New Delhi's garbage mountain towers over nearby buildings. Ghazipur landfill in New Delhi is India's highest rubbish mountain, spreading over an area larger than 40 football pitches. It is predicted to grow taller than the Taj Mahal by 2020. Along with the smell, smoke and pollution from this mountain of trash are said to be the ‘cause of all diseases’ in the surrounding neighbourhoods. Here it is on Google Maps, next to a "dairy farm":It is, unquestionably, killing the locals."It was a flood of trash," says Kumar. "I saw heaps of garbage coming down the hill like a flood and suddenly, we were swept into the canal. For a moment, everything went dark," he told Al Jazeera. Kumar was lucky. A sudden thrust from within the canal pushed him on to the surface and he was rescued by the locals of Mullah Colony, only a few hundred meters away from the infamous landfill site.He searched for his cousin, but there was no trace of her. Read the rest

A man already awaiting trial on charges of auto theft was arrested again, this week. The new charge? Auto theft. The Gallup Independent, via the AP:Justin Villa was arrested Sunday after a witness reported seeing the 37-year-old driving a stolen Chevrolet pickup. According to a criminal complaint, Villa was spotting in the stolen truck around Gallup, New Mexico, before being confronted by a police officer. Court documents show Villa has two stolen vehicle cases pending in McKinley County and one pending in Cibola County. Read the rest

The Palace is displeased. In an interview, former U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron says that he asked the Queen to "raise an eyebrow" in the run-up to the Scottish Independence vote when it looked likely they would leave the union. She did as she was told, and so did they.Just as the first rule of Fight Club is that you do not talk about Fight Club, the first rule of the relationship between the prime minister and the Queen is that you never, ever talk about the relationship between the PM and the Queen.It is difficult to imagine anything other than horror in the Palace at David Cameron's revelations. Not just because he has broken the first rule. But because he has made it painfully clear that in 2014 he used the Queen for his own political purposes. And that she and her advisors thought that was OK.The Queen told Scots to "think carefully about the future" and it was an eyebrow-raiser at the time; the Prime Minister disclosing that he told her to tip the scales deprives her of the phrase's plausible ambiguity. On the Royals Meddling In Politics Threat Level Chart, this is above a Lip Purse but lower than an Audible Exhalation. But on the Politicans Fucking With the Monarchy Chart, it's an Actual Tut. It could not be worse-timed (or better, depending on your perpective) because the U.K. Supreme Court is currently deciding on the legality of current P.M. Boris Johnson shutting down Parliament in the run-up to Brexit. Read the rest

Sandy Hook Promise, an organization dedicated to protecting children from gun violence released a truly chilling Back to School PSA earlier today. Titled "Back to School Essentials," it's a graphic look at the ways children are expected to defend themselves at school because their government refuses to do anything to protect them. WATCH: Latest Sandy Hook Promise PSA gives nightmarish look at school shootings (USA Today) (Photo: YouTube screenshot) Read the rest