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Recently a team of marine scientists were piloting a submersible when they had a super-rare encounter with a Deepstaria jellyfish. It starts off looking like a ghost and then turns inside out and spreads out into a crazy translucent film.It's gorgeous and eerie to watch, but make sure you turn the sound up -- the real fun is listening to the scientists talk. Half the time they're discussing the biology of the creature, and the other half they're just going whoooooah and oooooooooo and zooooommgg, so the whole event exists in the rapid quantum flipzone between "hardcore science" and "baked dormroom conversation".I would totally watch a 24/7 network that consisted of nothing but marine biologists flipping out while watching crazy undersea footage.From Popular Science:Deepstaria is as mysterious as it is rare, a shapeshifter whose body exists somewhere on a spectrum between enormous trash bag and ghostly lampshade. Last week, these researchers used a remotely operated vehicle to capture a video of the freaky jelly.The jellyfish in the video is roughly the size of a trash can. This deep-sea jelly lacks tentacles, and appears in the shape of a thin, membrane-like bell. Up close, you can see a geometric mesh pattern made up of canals that provide structural support and deliver nutrients to the body. In 2015, Wired referred to it as a “floating blanket.” [snip]The team watches as the animal swoops, undulates and puckers like a possessed plastic bag. But this mesmerizing movement isn’t what makes the video so valuable for scientists. Read the rest

Also applies to everyone else, as it happens. [via] Read the rest

The "Vader Down" crossover event in Marvel's 2015 Star Wars comics featured an absurdly-overpowered Darth Vader contending with seemingly the entire rebel force, as well as a cyborg rival for Palpatine's favor. John Stratman created this two-part 16-bit animated adaptation that does a great job of squeezing in all the highlights and slapstick moments:(Via Kieron Gillen.) Read the rest

From John Wilcock, New York Years, by Ethan Persoff and Scott Marshall.Greetings, Wilcock readers! The series will complete here on Boing Boing, in weekly installments, through the end of the year.(See all Boing Boing installments) Read the rest

After a still-withheld complaint from a whistleblower and mounting pressure from congress to see it, president Donald Trump admitted Sunday that he asked Ukraine's new premier to "look into" Joe Biden, a likely challenger in the 2020 U.S. presidential elections. Trump did not admit to tying the release of aid money to the demand, another component of the reported complaint.His admission about the phone call fuelled calls for Democrats to launch impeachment proceedings in Congress. Adam Schiff, a senior Democrat, said Mr Trump may have "crossed the Rubicon". Mr Schiff, the influential head of the House Intelligence Committee, had previously opposed impeachment. ... It emerged last week that the Trump administration was blocking the whistleblower complaint from being handed over to Congress, despite the intelligence inspector general judging it to be "urgent".Under US law, if a complaint is considered to be of "urgent concern", and if the inspector general considers the complaint to be "credible", then the department head is expected to share the information with Congress within seven days.Much of the media is reporting this as a "doubts raised about Biden" story already, for some reason. The irony is that, however grossly corrupt Trump's misbehavior was or how hard it gets both-sidesed in the press, this is the best thing to happen to Biden's campaign in weeks because it shows who Trump is most afraid of. Read the rest

Daniel Colin James thinks it's time to get rid of the CAPS LOCK key on physical keyboards.Why? Partly because it's a relic of history, created in the 60s by the Bell Labs engineer Doug Kerr, who noticed that people often wanted to type street addresses in all caps -- but there was no key in existence that would capitalize letters but not numbers.Colin James actually called up Kerr, who's still around, to get the story, which is quite interesting. As Colin James writes on Medium ...The QWERTY keyboard debuted in 1873 on a typewriter that could only produce capital letters. A few years later came the Shift key, which toggled the typewriter’s output between lowercase and uppercase letters.The Shift key physically shifted the internals of the typewriter, so it took some effort to press it down. Eventually, a Shift Lock key was created to hold it down. With Shift Lock engaged, letter keys produced their uppercase counterparts, but number keys produced symbols. That was a problem.Doug Kerr was a telephone engineer working at Bell Labs in the 1960s. He watched his boss’s secretary repeatedly get frustrated after accidentally typing things like “$%^&” instead of “4567” in addresses because of Shift Lock.So he did something about it. Doug Kerr invented the “CAP” key. CAP performed the same function as Shift Lock, except it only affected the letter keys.“CAP” became Caps Lock, which made its way onto the computer keyboard, where it has remained part of the standard layout ever since. Read the rest

The Mighty Carver electric knife ($59.95) might be the most badass way to rip into the holiday bird, besides using an actual chainsaw. Here's how it came to be, as told by its creator, Kimberly Burney:At Thanksgiving dinner as far back as I can remember, I would get out the electric carving knife for Grandpa. He would carefully carve the turkey to serve the family. This is a wonderful tradition shared by most Americans. But Grandpa’s been gone for a year now and at the last Thanksgiving dinner I asked, “Hey, who wants to carve the turkey this year?” No one looked up, no one said a word. I thought to myself, come on you guys, you all love power tools, what is the problem? Then it hit me. “If this were a chain saw, you boys would be fighting over who gets to carve the turkey.”It's also good for slicing up bread, fruit, and god-knows-what-else in the most glorious fashion ever!Thanks, Kent!image via The Grommet Read the rest

Eleni Antoniadou's reported accomplishments were so impressive that Mattel designed a Barbie doll based on her as part of its International Women’s Day celebration.But those "accomplishments" might all be nonexistent. Here's a partial list from the BBC as to suspicions raised:Claim: She worked on the world's first artificial trachea that was successfully transplanted to a patient.Counterclaim: She was a postgraduate student at UCL and was remotely involved with the surgery. The transplant ended with one of the biggest scandals in modern medicine, covered here by the BBC. The patient died after his body did not accept the transplant. Long after his death, Ms Antoniadou gave interviews in Greece saying how she had saved the patient's life and how the patient was living a normal life.Claim: She has been working for a number of years as a researcher at Nasa.Counterclaim: She attended a 10-week summer school there and took a lot of pictures around the US space agency's facilities wearing clothes with the Nasa logo. Nasa has denied she works directly for the agency, but has not excluded the possibility that she may be working as a sub-contractor.The Telegraph is also investigating:The NASA-ESA Outstanding Researcher Award does not appear to exist and Ms Antoniadou's name is not included in Nasa's record of its award winners.(Via Ben Collins.) Read the rest

I'm in the midst of couple of weeks' worth of lectures, public events and teaching, and you can catch me in Toronto (for Seeding Utopias and Resisting Dystopias and 6 Degrees); Newry, ME (Maine Library Association) and Portland, ME (in conversation with James Patrick Kelly).Here's the full itinerary:Toronto, September 23, 6PM-8PM: Cory Doctorow in Discussion: Seeding Utopias & Resisting Dystopias , with Jim Munroe, Madeline Ashby and Emily Macrae; Oakwood Village Library & Arts Centre, 341 Oakwood Avenue, Toronto, ON M6E 2W1 Toronto, September 24: 360: How to Make Sense at the 6 Degrees Conference, with Aude Favre, Ryan McMahon and Nanjala Nyabola, Art Gallery of Ontario.Newry, ME, September 30: Keynote for the Maine Library Association Annual Conference, Sunday River Resort, Newry, MEPortland, ME, September 30, 6:30PM-8PM: In Conversation With James Patrick Kelly, Main Library, Rines Auditorium.I hope you can make it! Read the rest

Bernie Sanders has pledged to eliminate the $81b in outstanding US medical debt if he is elected president in 2020.Sanders says that this debt forgiveness will benefit 79 million Americans who are currently laboring under medical debt (this debt being the leading kind of debt reported to credit bureaux) and eliminate the leading cause of bankruptcies in the USA.Sanders' program also puts limits on all forms of debt collection, including a limit on the collection of debts after the statute of limitations has passed on them, and making debt collectors liable for confirming the validity of debts before attempting collection. He will also amend the 2005 Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act, whose provisions disproportionately harm Black families. He will also force Equifax and other credit bureaux to compete with a "public credit registry" operated by the US government.The policy is complementary to both Sanders' Medicare for All promise, which will eliminate the creation of new medical debt, and his student debt forgiveness, which will eliminate outstanding debts that disproportionately burden poor and racialized people, and his free tertiary education promise, which will all but eliminate the issuance of new student debt.I am a donor to both Sanders' and Elizabeth Warrens' campaigns. Our current lending system relies on three major unsecure, for-profit credit registries to determine creditworthiness. In 2017, the credit reporting agency Equifax suffered a breach that exposed the personal information of more than 140 million Americans. Instead of material consequences, Equifax’s CEO retired with a $90 million pay day. Read the rest

The tech ethics movement has progressed to the point where various practitioners are trying to come up with a kind of oath of service, not unlike the fiduciary principle, or possibly the Hippocratic Oath that doctors and other medical professionals take.Scott Aaronson's stab at this, the "nerdocratic oath" is a pretty good first approximation; I like that he hedges his determination to be cognizant of the possible harms of the technology he builds, while still holding out the possibility that "that the good of the tools outweighs the bad" and, nevertheless, being alive to "the possibility of self-serving bias in such reflections."Obviously, this is a neat trick, if you can pull it off! But it's also admirably aware of the limitation of absolute principles, as are all such oaths. Even oaths as simple as Hippocrates's groans under this strain, from the question of whether assisted suicide is a violation of it, to whether participating in secret CIA torture projects can somehow be squared with it.9. To whatever extent I was gifted at birth with a greater-than-average ability to prove theorems or write code or whatever, I’ll treat it as just that—a gift, which I didn’t earn or deserve. It doesn’t make me inherently worthier than anyone else, but it does give me a moral obligation to use the gift for good. And whenever I’m tempted to be jealous of various non-nerds—of their ease in social or romantic situations, wealth, looks, power, athletic ability, or anything else about them—I’ll remember the gift, and that all in all, I made out better than I had a right to expect. Read the rest

Since her stories started appearing in 2013, Sarah Pinsker (previously) has been a writer to watch, winning prestigious awards from the Nebula to the Sturgeon; now, in her debut novel, A Song For a New Day, Pinsker shows that she can write long-form work that's every bit as compelling, wrenching, sweet and angry as the stories that launched her career.Luce Cannon is a rising music star whose unlikely hit single has garnered her a label deal, a touring band, and a succession of better and better gigs as she crisscrosses America in her band's van. It's a long way from busking in New York City, and even longer from orthodox Jewish family she left behind in Brooklyn when she realized, painfully, that neither her queerness nor her affinity for music could ever find a home among the closed-minded religious community she hailed from.But Luce's career -- and the careers of every other live entertainer -- is cut short when a wave of terrorist violence sweeps America, mass shootings and bombings that progress relentlessly from isolated events to threats that shut down whole cities, then whole states. Before America can come to grips with the chaos that has everyone cowering in their homes, the country is swept by a lethal pox pandemic that kills many and scars all.The America that emerges from the chaos is profoundly transformed. Unconstitutional, authoritarian anti-congregation and low-density laws -- passed under color of state of emergency -- are combined with widespread adoption of VR and drone delivery to reverse America's urbanization, turning the country into a nation of isolated shut-ins who live almost entirely virtual lives, from work to education to romance to entertainment. Read the rest

Elizabeth Warren, the United States Senator from Massachusets, is shown as leading the Iowa Democratic primary field in the most recent Des Moines Register/CNN/Mediacom Iowa poll.USA Today:Elizabeth Warren has surged in Iowa, narrowly overtaking Joe Biden and distancing herself from fellow progressive Bernie Sanders, the latest Des Moines Register/CNN/Mediacom Iowa Poll shows.Warren, the U.S. senator from Massachusetts, now holds a 2-percentage-point lead, with 22% of likely Democratic caucusgoers saying she is their first choice for president. It is the first time she has led in the Register’s poll. Former Vice President Biden, who had led each of the Register’s three previous 2020 cycle polls, follows her at 20%. Sanders, the U.S. senator from Vermont, has fallen to third place with 11%. Read the rest

Studies have shown cannabidiol (more popularly known as CBD) to be effective in two main areas: Pain relief and stress relief. Both of those make the non-psychoactive, cannabis-derived compound a natural for topical creams. There's no shortage of CBD products out there, but here's eight of our favorites, all specifically designed for dermatological use - and most on deep discount this week.As with any medicinal product, make sure you ask your doctor before using and check the laws in your state regarding CBD before you buy.Medix 150 Mg CBD Topical Pain Relief CreamGet results right where you need them with this topical cream. Medix's 150 mg of CBD is derived from raw hemp oil and is mixed with a battery of natural ingredients to deliver fast-acting relief. A 1 oz container is now on sale for $24.99, a 58% discount.Curapure 500mg CBD Sports CreamThis cream combines CBD with proven ingredients like menthol and eucalyptus leaf to form a fast-acting balm that's perfect for active lifestyles. No parabens, no mineral oil, just natural care that dispenses easily from an airless pump. Get a 500 mg bottle for $33.95, down 15% from the list price.CBD Moisturizing LotionHere's a great addition to the morning beauty routine. This lotion packs a potent combo of CBD, Schisandra, Goji Berry and other herbs for a moisturizing effect like no other. It's fully vegan, compatible with any skin type, and you can get a 50 ml bottle now for $80. Read the rest

When I was a kid, my whole circle of D&D-playing, science-fiction reading pals was really into Roger Zelazny's ten-volume Chronicles of Amber, but somehow I never read it; for years, I'd intended to correct this oversight, but I never seemed to find the time -- after all, there's more amazing new stuff than I can possibly read, how could I justify looking backwards, especially over the course of ten books? But I do have some time in my day to read older books: I swim every day for my chronic pain, and when I do, I use an underwater MP3 player to listen to audiobooks that I generally get from Libro.fm, Downpour, or Google's DRM-free audiobook store (the market-leading Audible, a division of Amazon, mandatorily wraps audiobooks in its proprietary DRM without allowing publishers to opt out, which has the dual deal-breaking effect of locking me into Amazon's ecosystem and not working on my underwater MP3 player).A couple of months ago, I decided to go looking for DRM-free versions of the Amber books, which is how I found Speaking Volumes' editions of Roger Zelazny's own readings of the books, long believed to have been accidentally erased and lost forever, but which were recovered and remastered in the mid-2000s. Speaking Volumes sells these as MP3 downloads and MP3 CDs, and I bought the complete set of the former and listened to them over a couple of months' worth of laps in the pool.Zelazny's reading is pretty much fantastic. Read the rest

Last week, a drone video showing hundreds of people in China being shackled and blindfolded and made to kneel on a train platform went viral; a piece of amazing digital detective work by Nathan Ruser presents a compelling case that the video is real, and that it was recorded in August 2018 near the city of Korla in Xinjiang province, where the Chinese state has been prosecuting a vicious, genocidal ethnic cleansing campaign against the predominantly Muslim Uyghur people.Not only is this a vital piece of evidence for understanding the scope of crimes against humanity in Xinjiang, but it's also a masterclass in digital image forensics, combining mathematical techniques for reverse-engineering the time of day from the shadows cast by lamp-poles with comparisons of satellite photos and maps. 4 days ago a video showing 3-400 detainees handcuffed & blindfolded at a train station in Xinjiang was uploaded to YouTube (https://t.co/GpEaZ7YkIK)In this thread I'll share how I've verified that this video was filmed at 库尔勒西站 (41.8202, 86.0176) on or around August 18th. pic.twitter.com/hr5xd8nahM— Nathan Ruser (@Nrg8000) September 21, 2019(via Super Punch) Read the rest

In 2017, Banksy painted a giant mural on a wall in Dover, England depicting a worker chiseling a star off the EU flag, by way of a comment on the Brexit vote; now, parties unknown have painted over that mural, whitewashing it. Banksy is philosophical about this development: "Oh. I had planned that on the day of Brexit I was going to change the piece in Dover to this. But seems they've painted over it. Nevermind. I guess a big white flag says it just as well." (via Naked Capitalism) (Image: Dunk, CC BY) Read the rest

On the occasion of the publication of Permanent Record, a memoir of Edward Snowden's journey from gung-ho would-be special forces sergeant to CIA and NSA spy to whistleblower -- a memoir that the US government is suing to repress -- Snowden has given an interview with CBS where he expresses his desire to return to the USA and stand trial for his actions, even if that means going to prison.Snowden's only condition is that this not be a secret military tribunal, and that he be allowed to explain to the jury what motivated him to take the extraordinary step of handing a trove of state secrets to journalists, mounting a "public interest defense" for his actions.I'm three quarters of the way through the Snowden memoir and I'm looking forward to reviewing it this coming week (watch this space). I'm not asking for a parade. I'm not asking for a pardon. I'm not asking for a pass. What I'm asking for is a fair trial. And this is the bottom line that any American should require. We don't want people thrown in prison without the jury being able to decide that what they did was right or wrong. The government wants to have a different kind of trial. They want to use special procedures. They want to be able to close the court room. They want the public not to be able to know what's going on. And essentially, the most important fact to the government, and this is the thing we have a point of contention on, is that they do not want the jury to be able to consider the motivations — why I did what I did. Read the rest

The jellyfish shot combines a sickly sweet collection of liqueurs (blue curacao and sambuca) with vodka and a drop of cream to make a cocktail that is gorgeous to admire, even if you couldn't pay me enough to drink one.Jellyfish shot pic.twitter.com/Ifk4BjyTts— Universal Curiosity (@UniverCurious) September 20, 2019(via Super Punch) Read the rest

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