Boing Boing

Back in the 80s, the inventor Cy Enfield created this fascinating device -- a six-button "Microwriter" where you'd chord combos of buttons to produce the entire alphabet, letting you jot down notes on the go.Microsoft's Bill Buxton calls it "the world’s first portable digital word processor" (the front-page photo for this post is from Buxton's hardware collection) and Open Culture wrote a terrific piece about the Microwriter a few years ago, citing from a 1984 interview Enfield did with NPR, discussing his "aha" moment:“It occurred to me that ... it would be possible to combine a set of signals from separate keys, and therefore you could reduce the total number of keys. But, of course, this involved the learning of chords… difficult to memorize… But how do you make these chords memorable? And, one day, staring at a sheet of paper on which I was drawing a set of five keys in sort of the arch formed by the finger ends, it occurred to me, ah! if I press the thumb key, and the index finger key, anybody can do this just listening now, press your thumb key and your index finger down and you’ll see that a vertical line joins those two finger ends, a short vertical line. There is an equivalence between that short vertical line and one letter of the alphabet. It’s the letter “I.”Buxton's site has some scans of the gorgeous user's manual, including this one:There are chording keyboards these days, most notably the Twiddler, and stenography tech. Read the rest

Fifteen years ago Wendy Auger got a vanity license plate that read, "PB4WEGO" (pee before we go). But the New Hampshire Department of Motor Vehicles suddenly decided the plate was "offensive to good taste" and ordered her to return it. She refused, posted about it on Facebook, and ended up getting the attention of the governor, who was sympathetic to her plight.From Reason:Since going public about her predicament, Auger gained a strong ally: New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu told CNN yesterday that he had spoken to the DMV on her behalf."Upon this being brought to my attention, I reached out to the Division of Motor Vehicles and strongly urged them to allow Wendy to keep the license plate she has had for the last 15 years," he said. "I recently left a message on her phone to share the good news that her plate will not be recalled."Image: Wendy Lee Auger/Facebook Read the rest

Typically, marine photography is done in rich, saturated color -- the better to show off the riot of life beneath the waves. But the photographer Christian Vizl has done it in high-contrast black and white, producing eerily intense ways of re-seeing marine life. You can see the work on his site, and in his new book Silent Kingdom.From his interview with My Modern Met:Any particular favorite images from the book or a story behind a particularly interesting photo you’d like to share?It’s hard for me to choose only one because I have so many memorable encounters with marine life, but one would be two giant mantas touching each other’s tips. I observed this behavior for the first time during the first dive we did in a very remote and special dive area in Mexico called Revillagigedo Islands. The two mantas were swimming directly towards each other when, at the last second before colliding, they would move upwards, positioning themselves slightly to one opposite side so they could touch each other’s tip of their wings. I was so amazed by this behavior that I wanted to capture it. I tried many times and finally the last day of diving in the last minute before having to go for the surface I managed to take this picture in the exact time. I felt so happy!Some of the images are incredibly striking; in black and white, this school of fish looks like the hull of a ship ... Read the rest

The large primate could not resist touching the little primate. The little primate didn't want to be touched by the large primate, and showed its displeasure by scratching the large primate.Let me just touch this monkey to see what happens Read the rest

You can explain it to them. They can sense the damage, and they can perceive that they have made a mistake. They can pretend to be contrite, and maybe for a brief moment they can even understand what it is they have done wrong. But as soon as the voices of complaint fade away and the crisis subsides, they'll go right back to doing it again, because the truth is they don't care and they are completely indifferent to everything about you that they cannot take and sell. Read the rest

ETH Zurich engineers demonstrated a system enabling a robot to control a marionette. Although a robotic puppeteer is pretty damn cool, that's not the point of the research."Our long term goal is to enable robots to manipulate various types of complex physical systems – clothing, soft parcels in warehouses or stores, flexible sheets and cables in hospitals or on construction sites, plush toys or bedding in our homes, etc – as skillfully as humans do," they write in their technical paper. "We believe the technical framework we have set up for robotic puppeteering will also prove useful in beginning to address this very important grand-challenge."(via IEEE Spectrum) Read the rest

The Jag at 1:29 and Volkswagen Bug at 3:26 are my favorites. Read the rest

Eddie Martins and Richard Hall, the two former New York detectives who pleaded guilty to accepting bribes and nine counts of "official misconduct" for having sex with a handcuffed 18-year-old woman in the back of their unmarked van while she was in their custody, will get no prison time, reports CNN.State Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun said the men didn't deserve prison time because the "credibility of the victim, or the complainant, in this case was seriously, seriously questionable, at best.""These defendants engaged in a shocking abuse of power, which they finally acknowledged," [Brooklyn District Attorney Eric] Gonzalez said. "While I would have preferred to see them serve prison time, they are no longer members of our police department and with today's plea are convicted felons."The district attorney said the case resulted in New York passing a law prohibiting police officers from having sex with people in custody, closing a loophole that allowed police to claim the sex was consensual."We could not apply the new law retroactively, and serious credibility issues in this case precluded us from proceeding on additional charges, yet we remained committed to holding these defendants accountable," Gonzalez said.The woman's attorney, Michael N. David, said the sentence was unacceptable and sent a bad message to victims about police violence."We're outraged. It's complete injustice what happened today. You can't consent when you're 5'3, 100 pounds and they're both over 6 feet and very muscular. They had her in handcuffs. These cops got a free pass," he said. Read the rest

These were the same kids that declared break dancing a memory. Read the rest

This is The Mall, first opened in Huntsville, Alabama and demolished in 1998. Collected by Highway Explorer in 1994 as this former retail haven was taking its dying breaths, this footage could do quite well with a dark vaporwave (or mallwave) soundtrack. From Highway Explorer:This footage was shot on a very quiet Saturday night in February 1994 only a few years before its demolition. Books A Million is still there, and Home Depot is there now too. The sculpture used in the fountain sits in the traffic circle between Home Depot and Staples. The site is now called The Fountain. Read the rest

Inside Bill's Brain: Decoding Bill Gates is a new three-part documentary that premieres on November 20. It's directed by Davis Guggenheim who produced An Inconvenient Truth and directed Waiting for Superman. "When I thought about topics to cover, I knew I didn’t want to make a promotional piece about his work," Guggenheim said. "Instead, I opted to focus on the tougher, more complex problems that nobody wants to think about, like sanitation and nuclear energy. Bill chose to take these issues on, even knowing that he might fail, and I had an instinct that seeing him wrestle with these intractable and frustrating problems would reveal something interesting about him as a person.”It'll be interesting to see how warts-and-all the documentary really is (or isn't). Read the rest

In April, my wife and I returned from a few months in Mexico, to Texas. We were planning on hanging around until the end of the month before driving back up to Canada. On a particularly hot day, we thought it'd be nice to take our pooch to the beach so that she could cool off. Landlocked as we were, in Mission, we opted to drive east, to the coast. We considered South Padre Island, but seeing the traffic thicken the closer we got, we opted out at the last minute. Instead, on the advice of a fella we met while pulled over for a few licks of an ice cream, we set our Garmin to direct us to Boca Chica. The beach was beautiful, we were told, and no one cares if your dog plays the goof, provided she doesn't bother anyone else.We were sold.It wasn't a long drive, but it was a damn flat one. When we arrive in south Texas each year, I'm always thrilled to see the scrub brush, flatlands and palm trees. It's a completely alien world compared to what I grew up with in Canada. By the time we're getting ready to head north, I long for mountains. As the miles down the lone road to Boca Chica clicked by, I starting to whine that I knew what would be around the next corner... it would be flat and dry, with just a hint of dust, just as with the last corner we'd whipped around. Read the rest

No animals were harmed in the making of this video."Vink is a 5-month-old kitten who is blind. He was found on the streets of Greece and thanks to 'Athene Stray Kittens, he found his forever home with me. Vink is a very energetic, happy kitten who loves life! He also loves his crazy cat mum. Who, sometimes, makes a bit fun of him, but Vink is okay with that. Vink has no eyes, and wasn't harmed in this video! As you can tell of his body language."(Geekologie) Read the rest

Diamond and Silk are a social media duo famous for supporting Trump and claiming, without evidence, that Facebook "censored" them. Wonkette is a news, politics and culture website. Bianca DeLaRosa writes for it, and recently offered the opinion that Diamond and Silk were notable as "Black White Nationalists" due to their support of Trump's policies and their own ethnicity. Diamond and Silk threatened to sue Wonkette, it claims, over this opinion piece, and the cease-and-decist letter is amazing.The consensus among lawyers on the internet is that the "Diamond and Silk Legal Team" is probably not, technically, a lawyer. I'm having trouble with the idea that the letter's even real. It's so strewn with spelling mistakes and mangled legal terminology that it reads like a joke about a stupid person pretending to be a lawyer—an exemplar of Poe's Law, the maxim that it is impossible to distinguish parody from authenticity on the Internet.Diamond and Silk sent @Wonkette a cease and desist letter and I haven't been this excited to write about something since Bob Murray sued John Oliver for telling him to eat shit. https://t.co/cerFwN3eur— Needlessly Snarky (@jamielynncrofts) August 29, 2019 Read the rest

I'm actually a big fan of Bread Pong. Razmig writes: "When it comes to calories, 1 beer = 2 slices of bread...but you never have your friends over for a loaf? Or do you? It's a bread party! 🍞🍺 🥖🍻" Read the rest

In this video, a paramedic with San Bernadino County Fire Department attempts to reach the site of an accident, but finds his way blocked by motorists who would rather drive in the shoulder than wait to get by. Read the rest

CBS News reports that Hurricane Dorian has become more alarming overnight and may grow to Category 4, making it "very dangerous" to the Miami-area coastline it's headed toward.There's a good chance Dorian will power its way into a Category 4 with potentially catastrophic 140 mph winds before making landfall on the mainland U.S., the center added, according to CBS News weather producer David Parkinson.He said Dorian would probably make landfall early Monday evening at the earliest and Tuesday morning at the latest, probably over the central Florida Atlantic coast though possibly farther south.Florida residents rushed to supermarkets across the state to buy food and supplies.CNN is now predicting a "monster.""If you're anywhere on that east coast of Florida, you want to have food, water, medicine for up to seven days," Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday. Dorian warrants a multibillion dollar price tag, FEMA associate administrator Jeffrey Byard told reporters Thursday."This is going to be a big storm. We're prepared for a big response," he said.Since Dorian had minimal impact on Puerto Rico, the agency is shifting staff from the island to Florida in preparation.Illustration: CNN. Headline: Heather Beschizza Read the rest

The Brady "kids" have been busy all year helping to renovate the Brady Bunch house (well, the Studio City home that served as its exterior shot). You may remember that HGTV bought the house last year and has been updating its interior to look like the Brady home we saw on TV. Well, the show they've been filming, A Very Brady Renovation, has a premiere date: Monday, September 9. The show's host, Jasmine Roth, was interviewed in The Orange County Register about the project:...It was completely surreal to be able to work with the Brady kids, and I didn’t know what to expect at first because I was, “OK, are they going to be into this? Are they going to actually swing a hammer? Are they going to be excited? Are they going to remember things?” Because that was part of it, we don’t know the paint colors, we don’t know what stone was used on the fireplace, but being able to research and go back and watch the show and then to have the memories of the six Brady kids, who aren’t kids anymore, to help us was so cool, and everybody was really into it. So that made it so much more fun. They really wanted to work on it, they were super excited to make everything exactly like it was back when they were on the set as children, and for that I couldn’t be more proud of how it turned out.It’s interesting to see like, the show, it’s been 50 years, to see where everybody’s careers have taken them and all of their various experiences all kind of came back together to work on this project. Read the rest

Just in time for your songs of the summer playlist, we've got a roundup of headphones, speakers, and earbuds. The best part? They're all 15% off the already discounted price. Just use the online code SAVE15SOUND to take the extra savings off the final listed cost.Owlee Scroll Wireless Bluetooth SpeakerNo matter how big the party, this 4.0 Bluetooth-enabled speaker can provide the soundtrack. Connectivity is rock solid as far as 32 feet away, and the 360° Soundstage™ technology ensures a full, rich sound. Right now, you can get the Owlee Scroll Wireless Bluetooth Speaker for $79.99, down 33% from the original cost. Take an extra 15% off with the online code SAVE15SOUND.TREBLAB X5 Wireless EarbudsWith an ergonomic fit, these earbuds are well-equipped for any workout or adventure - or even just a long commute. The built-in microphone is compatible with leading voice assistants for quick calling, and the beryllium drivers deliver sharp, static-free sound when it's time to get in the zone. You can get the TREBLAB X5 Wireless Earbuds for $64.99, a 17% discount off the MSRP. Take an extra 15% off with the online code SAVE15SOUND.Bluetooth 5.0 Sweatproof HD Sport EarphonesAn impressive IPX7 sweatproof rating means these buds won't stop when the burn gets intense. And thanks to RAWtronics' 5.0 Bluetooth connectivity, you won't have to worry about losing your signal halfway through the playlist. Pick up a pair of Bluetooth 5.0 Sweatproof HD Sport Earphones for $25, a full 66% off the original cost. Read the rest

Who let the dogs out... and into the swimming pool? L.A. County does, as part of their third annual "Pooches in the Pool" event.Come Monday, September 2, 2019, doggos will get the opportunity to swim (doggy paddle?) in select Los Angeles-area public pools. Little dogs can swim from 5 to 6 p.m., and big ones from 6 to 7 p.m. at these eight participating locations:City Terrace Park - 1126 N. Hazard Ave., City TerraceDon Knabe Park - 19700 Bloomfield Ave., CerritosEl Cariso Pool - 13100 Hubbard St., SylmarKnollwood County Club - 12040 Balboa Blvd., Granada HillsLane Pool - 5520 W. Ave., L8, Quartz HillLoma Alta Park - 3330 Lincoln Ave., AltadenaMartin Pool - 35548 N. 92nd St. E., LittlerockVictoria Park - 419 E. M.L.K. Jr., CarsonBut wait, you have to fill out a form and there are rules.KTLA5:Before their pooch can jump in, dog owners will have to present current licensing and vaccination documents, and fill out a form.There are a few rules, like there must be one handler for every two dogs and they can only be off-leash on the pool deck. Click here for a full list.This is the final event before the pools are closed and cleaned for the season. What a terrific idea!.@lacountyparks are closing out the summer season with #PoochesInThePool! Bring your dog for a dunk on Labor Day https://t.co/FNpVRFWuOP 🐶💦 pic.twitter.com/B2SiceqoeP— Los Angeles County (@CountyofLA) August 28, 2019image via L.A. Read the rest

Hurricane maps, like the ones created by the National Hurricane Center, tend to show a cone that indicates the predicted path of the hurricane.But it turns out those maps do a terrible job of communicating their intended info, because people -- myself included -- routinely misunderstand them. In this terrific little click-through interactive at the New York Times (if inaccessibly paywalled for you, my apologies), Albert Cairo and Tala Schlossberg break it all down. As they note:Studies show that some people misinterpret the map as indicating the hurricane getting bigger over time. Others think it shows areas under threat. Research by Hurakan, a University of Miami team I’m a part of, suggests 40 percent of people wouldn’t feel threatened if they lived just outside of the cone.People who are inside the cone, but far from the center, tend to prepare less than those closer to the central line. All of these interpretations of the map are incorrect.In reality, the cone is a series of circles that predict where the center of the hurricane might be as it travels; the circles get bigger because uncertainty increases as time goes on.So no, chart doesn't indicate the hurricane is getting bigger. And the cone doesn't even represent the boundaries of where the damage might happen; it only shows where the center of the hurricane might be, so the actual blast radius of water, wind, and hail can wreck cities that lie quite outside the cone.As Cairoa and Schlossberg note, the cruddiness of this dataviz has real-life implications: People just outside the cone tend to downplay their risk and fail to prepare. Read the rest

Adorable and fun!Bring A Trailer:This 1964 Sunbeam Tiger GT reportedly was discovered in a garage in Palo Alto, California in the 1990s by Tiger historian Norman Miller, who verified it as a genuine GT car built by the Rootes Group in August 1964. The car was then purchased by a collector who refurbished it in the early 2000s with a rebuild of the numbers-matching 260ci V8, a bare-metal repaint in black, a new interior, and more as described below. The car spent time with another owner in Hawaii before returning to California in 2015 and being offered on BaT in November 2017. Service by the most recent owner has included the replacement of the clutch, clutch master and slave cylinders, generator, voltage regulator, spark plugs, wiring harness, and brake booster. This Tiger GT is now offered at no reserve by the selling dealer with a Certificate of Disclosure by Norman Miller, owner’s manual, matching hardtop, service records, and a clean California title. Read the rest

An organization that monitors sea turtles in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, reports they've found a two-headed Loggerhead turtle hatchling.Sea Turtle Patrol Hilton Head Island reported that they found the hatchling alive on Tuesday, and released the little turtle baby into the ocean.Marine biologist Amber Kuehn, who is the leader of Sea Turtle Patrol Hilton Head Island, says the second head on the turtle was caused by a genetic mutation. The turtle has been named Squirt and Crush.From the rescue group's Facebook page:We thought we had seen it all during this very busy season on Sea Turtle Patrol! Yesterday on patrol during a nest inventory this bicephalic hatchling was discovered. This mutation is more common in reptiles than in other animals but it is still very rare. As with other live hatchlings found during a nest inventory, this hatchling was released to the ocean. Good luck to Squirt and Crush!Some people are upset that the critter was released, since it probably won't be able to survive given that it cannot swim. What would you have done, and why? [via AP, photo Sea Turtle Patrol Hilton Head Island Facebook page] Read the rest

Perhaps you needed to be reminded that sweet and good things exist in this world.“My Youngest Son Meeting Mickey Mouse” is that video.My Youngest Son Meeting Mickey MouseFrom IMGURian GoodAsDad.[via imgur.com] Read the rest

White nationalist activist Martin Sellner and British YouTuber the Iconoclast are free to rake in those YouTube views—and the money that goes with it.

In Maryland, a 16-year-old girl texted a video of herself engaging in a consensual sex act to her best friends. The highest court in Maryland has decided the girl is a child pornographer. “For the first time, the Maryland Court of Appeals said it had to grapple with applying the state’s child pornography law to minor teens who consensually engage in sexting,” writes Tasneem Nashrulla at BuzzFeed News:In a similar case last year, a 14-year-old girl in Minnesota was charged with a felony distribution of child pornography after she sent an explicit Snapchat selfie of herself to a boy she liked. The boy distributed the selfie to other students without the girl's permission."It is nonsensical to suggest that [Jane Doe] is both a victim and the perpetrator of her own abuse," the ACLU said in a statement in 2018 urging the court to dismiss the charge against the Minnesota teen. "Jane created the sext of her own body. She was not an exploited child victim. She was exhibiting normal adolescent behavior in the digital age," the statement said.A district judge in Minnesota later dismissed the "absurd" and "unjust" charge against the 14-year-old, saying that the state's child pornography law was targeted at adults who abuse children, and not at teens who sext each other.Earlier this year, Maryland’s lawmakers failed to pass a bill that would have determined if sexting violated the state’s child pornography statute.The Maryland Court of Appeals urged lawmakers to consider such legislation again to “address this contemporary issue.”A Teen Is A Child Pornographer For Sexting A Video Of Herself To Her Friends, A Court Ruled [buzzfeednews.com, image: shutterstock] Read the rest

I am hopeful that time will cure the 17 children mistakenly dosed with hair loss treatment.El País:An internal error at the pharmaceutical company Farma-Química Sur is the cause of a hypertrichosis outbreak that has so far affected 17 babies in Spain, sources from the Spanish Agency of Medicines and Medical Devices (AEMPS) has told EL PAÍS. The company accidentally sold a strong vasodilator, which is most commonly used to treat alopecia, or hair loss, as omeprazole, a drug used to treat heartburn and acid reflux.Hypertrichosis is also known as “werewolf syndrome” because it is characterized by an abnormal amount of hair growth over the body. The AEMPS, which works under the Health Ministry, was notified of a new case on Tuesday, which was diagnosed in the province of Granada in the southern Spanish region of Andalusia. In total, 10 babies have been affected in Cantabria, four in Andalusia and three in Valencia. Read the rest

We stopped using disposable plastic bags for packing lunches a couple of years ago, opting instead for these Japanese-style faux bento boxes. They typically come with two stacking containers, and one of the containers is usually divided into two compartments. The Bentgo is just such a lunch box. It comes with an elastic band to keep the containers stacked and it also includes a knife, fork, and spoon. Amazon has it on sale right now for . Read the rest

This Moonman clear demonstrator is my showy fountain pen with a lot of crazy colored ink of choice.A few years back I bought a TWBSI Eco. I enjoyed using it and it became my black/red ink pen of choice. A color I used to use a lot of. I wanted another pen to fill up with some of the neat colors I've acquired over the last few years. The Moonman C1 is a great choice.The tank is huge and it looks really cool when filled with a teal or something crazy like Noodler's Rome Burning. I also enjoy that I can fill the huge tank and write all day without fear of running out.I enjoy living with out wonder as to ink level. My checking my beloved DuoFold involved inky fingertips.The fine nib writes like a fine nib and flows ink pretty well. The Rome Burning is pretty soupy and can gum things up. I ran about 1/3rd a tank of it thru the pen and I didn not have a problem. You can unscrew the nib so I am going to assume there are lots of medium, bent and other nibs available. It looks an awful lot like the nib on my TWBSI, but I do not have the pen handy to check.Moonman C1 Fountain Pen, Transparent Clear Acrylic Demonstrator, Fine Nib Gift Writing Pen Case Set via Amazon Read the rest

YouTuber Madilyn Bailey wrote a very nice song using haters' comments. [via Madilyn Bailey ]Image: Madilyn Bailey/YouTube Read the rest

Guinness World Record holder Michelle "Cardboard Shell" Lesco broke a new record by eating 86.35 oz of mayonnaise in 3 minutes.Image: Facebook/Guinness World Records Read the rest

Camouflage passports let people pretend to be a citizen of a country other than their own. This video explains the weird world of passports for countries that no longer exist, and how they are used.You can buy them online. Here's a place that sells camouflage passports and camouflage driver licenses.Image: YouTube Read the rest

The fifth annual World Robot Conference was open to the public in Beijing last Thursday, August 22, and this bionic flying bird based on a herring gull was one of the more spectacular sights. Other robots on show at the annual event in China included robo-superheroes, and Taiji-playing robots. Rough cut of video from Reuters is here (no reporter narration).[via] Read the rest

The host of 'Jeopardy,' Alex Trebek, says he has completed chemotherapy treatment for cancer, and is 'on the mend' as he films a new season of the long-running and popular TV game show.“Alex Trebek is back at work taping the new season of "Jeopardy!," five months after being diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer,” writes Brian Stelter at CNN:A spokeswoman for the show confirmed that production of season 36 is now underway.The new episodes are slated to begin airing on local TV stations on September 9."Let me tell you, it's going to be a good year," Trebek said in the video.Trebek initially announced his cancer diagnosis in a video message in March."I'm going to fight this," he said at the time. "And I'm going to keep working, and with the love and support of my family and friends, and with the help of your prayers, also, I plan to beat the low survival rate statistics for this disease."He continued to tape episodes for season 35 -- featuring James Holzhauer's remarkable winning streak -- while undergoing treatment in the spring.Alex Trebek is done with chemotherapy and back at work on 'Jeopardy!'[via oliver darcy, image: Shutterstock] Read the rest

Infowars' “War Room” created a brand-new hate channel on YouTube exactly one day after chief executive Susan Wojcicki's letter to content creators about reducing extremist content. YouTube deleted Alex Jones's all-new garbage channel shortly after receiving reports of its relaunch from VICE. Yes, they're nuts. All the Infowars guys. This fluoride thing is *literally* from the “Dr. Strangelove” script, that's how old the right-wing macho conspiracy chestnuts they're pushing are.YouTube has been taking more publicly visible action of late to stamp out hate content that the Google-owned video hosting company recommends via algorithm.Reporting by Matthew Gault at VICE:Infowars returned to YouTube today after YouTube's CEO, Susan Wojcicki, invited "offensive" content back onto the site. On Tuesday, Wojcicki published a letter to YouTube’s creators on the company's official blog. “Without an open system, diverse and authentic voices have trouble breaking through,” she wrote. “I believe preserving an open platform is more important than ever.”The next day, the War Room—Infowars’ program for afternoon commuters—relaunched its YouTube channel. The first video uploaded to the new channel has been up for 17 hours. It shows War Room host Owen Shroyer reading a portion of Wojcicki letters in a video titled “Breaking! YouTube CEO says ‘Alex Jones’ and ‘Infowars Ban Is Over.’” Wojcicki didn't mention Infowars in her letter, but this is how Shroyer apparently interpreted it. Since going live, War Room has uploaded 13 videos covering topics typical to Infowars, like “liberal racism,” the end of “globalism,” and how Lizzo’s performance at the VMAs was “disgusting.” Shortly after VICE published their story, YouTube deleted Infowars' War Room channel. Read the rest

A moment of peace.Photographer and night sky enthusiast Eric Brummel captured this incredible sky-stabilized Milky Way timelapse in August 2016 at Font's Point, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, CA.Watch:[I]t's the Earth that rotates, not the sky. We all *know* that's the case, but we don't really perceive it that way. I was able to use a Vixen Polarie star tracker to stabilize the sky and illustrate the Earth's rotation.You can follow Eric on Instagram. Sky-Stabilized Milky Way Timelapse - Font's Point, CA[via] Read the rest

Pavel Dobryakov's beautiful fluid simulation requires no plug-ins to play with. Read the rest

If you want more than just humming around the skies in luxury, Magnum has you covered.This seems to strike some odd note of familiarity... Read the rest

Years ago, I saw a show about a woman who made her home a sort of shrine to Precious Moments figurines. She had custom cabinets built for them and everything. I remember being horrified that someone would devote such incredible resources to Precious-freaking-Moments. Many years later, enter my hero: Canadian artist Keith Busher aka the Precious Mutator. As his artist name suggests, Keith takes old Precious Moments figurines and morphs them into hideous mutations. Yes!Apartment Therapy:Though he initially shied away from toying with Precious Moments because he didn’t want to upset anyone (and, practically speaking, because people aren’t in the habit of discarding those particular figurines very often), Busher says he hit the jackpot when he found out a local antique shop had an entire box of Precious Moments it was looking to offload. “The Precious Moments pieces tend to get the biggest audiences as they are so recognizable,” he says. “Everyone knows somebody who had this piece or that one.”Busher uses a self-hardening clay and mostly recycled materials to transform each figurine. And he takes his time. “I’ve learned that I can make pieces quickly, but I won’t be happy when it’s done,” he says. “I often add things that don’t get seen, several layers of paint to get that right feeling of depth.” He talks more about his process on his newly created YouTube channel.Want one of his creations? Head on over to his Etsy shop. View this post on Instagram 4 new mutants up on our #etsy page! Read the rest

I'm coming late to this one, because it was posted last year -- but hey, better late than never: Behold this fascinating set of Pricenomics graphics about what types of objects Americans pawn.One thing that jumps out in the data? Apple products dominate the realm of pawning. Here's the chart:Basically, Apple products are amazingly good at holding their value. Electronics are the single biggest category of what Americans pawn overall, but even within that valuable vertical, Steve Jobs has created a storehouse of capital value for everyday Americans: "Apple’s products retain value far longer than its competitors in both personal computing and smartphones. They’re the Honda of electronics– or maybe the Volvo." Jewelry and guns are the only other things in the top 5. "It turns out that weapons serve as a remarkably durable store of value."Speaking of jewelry and guns, they are, perhaps unsurprisingly, super gendered in their empawnment. Fully 76% of guns are pawned by men, and 69% of jewelry is pawned by women.Also interesting is the geographic distribution of pawning, as rendered in the state-by-state dataviz of which items are disproportionately likely to be pawned; that's the chart at the top of this entry. As the Pricenomics folks note ...Perhaps most notable in the above analysis is the category of guns. In American pawn shops, there are “gun states” and “everything” else states. In Southern states and ones with larger rural populations, like the Mountain West, people pawn guns at a much higher rate than the national average. Read the rest

I like Suki, Molly of Denali's pet dog.Molly and her dog Suki, an Alaskan Malamute, live in the fictional town of Qyah, Alaska. Molly of Denali is the first US children's show to feature a Native American lead character, the titular Molly. Every indigenous character is voiced by an indigenous actor. Alaska Native and Canadian First Tribes people also work as writers, producers, and staff on the show.Wisconsin Public Television Blog:“When I was growing up, Indigenous people weren’t reflected in television and film,” said Princess Daazhraii Johnson (Neets’aii Gwich’in), creative producer for Molly of Denali. “When an Indigenous person was portrayed, it was usually a stereotype. What makes the Molly of Denali series so exciting is that Alaska Native voices were incorporated from the start of the show, and WGBH and PBS KIDS continue to incorporate more Alaska Native voices at every level of production. We can’t wait for Native youth to see themselves in Molly and her friends.”Molly of Denali includes Alaska Native voices in all aspects of the production, both on camera and behind the scenes. Every Indigenous character is voiced by an Indigenous actor. Producers developed Molly of Denali with a working group of Alaska Native advisors, and is creating opportunities for developing Alaska Native talent via a scriptwriting fellowship.The show also provides a window into the Alaskan experience through live-action interstitials featuring local children and regions, filmed by Alaskan production teams.My first dog was an Alaskan Malamute, her name was Sabrina. Read the rest

Apparently YouTube has been removing videos of battlebots, after their system flagged the videos for containing "animal suffering".Ars Technica has a good story on several removals that took place last week across several battlebot accounts. They've got a screenshot of a takedown notice sent to a YouTuber who'd posted "Dark Blade vs Gizmo". As the notice explained ...Content that displays the deliberate infliction of animal suffering or the forcing of animals to fight is not allowed on YouTube. Examples include, but are not limited to, dog fighting and cock fighting. We review educational, documentary, artistic, and scientific content on a case-by-case basis. Limited exceptions are made for content with sufficient and appropriate context and where the purpose of posting is clear.After being alerted about the errors, YouTube restored most of the videos -- but as Ars notes, it's still not clear exactly how they got flagged. By bleary-eyed, overworked humans? By visual AI that figured the bots looked like animals?It may not be that surprising that semiautomated review systems occasionally conclude that robots are animals, since we humans have a long track record of treating them as such. This whole episode reminded me of a terrific 2007 story in the Washington Post describing the emotional attachment that soldiers develop for their combat robots. It opens up with a story of a colonel who's observing a multi-legged robot wander around a minefield, blowing up mines by intentionally stepping on them. When the robot's finally reduced to dragging itself around on its last functioning leg, the colonel orders the experiment halted -- claiming that it was "inhumane" to the robot. Read the rest

I am addicted to Shannon Messenger's Keeper of Lost Cities series. Everblaze continues the saga of seriously reluctant hero Sophie Foster.Sophie was abducted from her human family by elves who claim she is one. Unwittingly Sophie has averted genocide, provided a long-awaited hope for the future, and somehow convinced the elves not to ruthlessly murder the people who raised her.Sophie was cruelly rejected by her elven Foster family and has suffered so many other indignities in the first two books it is shocking. In Everblaze, Sophie fucks some shit up.Ignoring the ONE RULE they gave her about being a telepath, Sophie nearly starts an interspecies war by invading the mind of the Ogre King. This comes shortly after Sophie participates in the near destruction of the Elven capital. It looks like she is starting to blossom!These books are fantastic!Everblaze, Book 3 in Shannon Messenger's Keeper of the Lost Cities series via Amazon Read the rest

Good news everybody: Apple's really sorry about recording our conversations with Siri. In a statement issued earlier today, the company's talking heads stated that they realized that the '...haven’t been fully living up to our high ideals'. The letter goes on to say that, to make up for their eavesdropping shenanigans, Apple's going to be making a few changes to how Siri does its thing.From Apple:First, by default, we will no longer retain audio recordings of Siri interactions. We will continue to use computer-generated transcripts to help Siri improve.Second, users will be able to opt in to help Siri improve by learning from the audio samples of their requests. We hope that many people will choose to help Siri get better, knowing that Apple respects their data and has strong privacy controls in place. Those who choose to participate will be able to opt out at any time.Third, when customers opt in, only Apple employees will be allowed to listen to audio samples of the Siri interactions. Our team will work to delete any recording which is determined to be an inadvertent trigger of SiriThis of course, is great news for anyone that uses Apple's Siri voice assistant. Unfortunately, that less people will be needed to snoop on the conversations between the companies customers and their tech likely means that some resources will need to be shifted around in order to accomoda—wait, what?From The Guardian:Hundreds of Apple workers across Europe who were employed to check Siri recordings for errors have lost their jobs after the company announced it was suspending the programme earlier this month. Read the rest

It is all the fake media, she says."No. I don't believe the President has lied."Trump campaign national press secretary Kayleigh McEnany tells @ChrisCuomo President Trump has never lied to the country. pic.twitter.com/oSlLHZ4h0m— Cuomo Prime Time (@CuomoPrimeTime) August 29, 2019 Read the rest

There's an AI algorithmic technique known as "Progressive Face Super-Resolution", which can take low-rez photos of people's faces and enhance them into higher-rez versions.It's actually a rather unsettling development for public privacy, as Futurism points out, because it means it's increasingly possible to take grainy surveillance-cam pictures and produce detailed pictures. (Or even more worryingly, I'd add, it'll produce pictures that have seeming realism but are in fact inaccurate up-rezzings of the low-rez pictures, thus misidentifying innocent people. These days, some AI's biggest dangers come not from its omnipotent successes but from its clown-show failures ... particularly when authorities can't tell the difference, or don't care.)Anyway! Over at I Forced A Bot, Jonathan Fly wondered what would happen if he used Progressive Face Super-Resolution to increase the resolution of emoji.Super freaky results, as it turns out! Fly used it on Twitter emoji, and the result is the picture above. As he writes:Because this model is trained specifically to look for facial landmarks it will take any excuse to draw eyes and nostrils on a pixel. And I’m pretty sure the pepperoni on that pizza is made out of human lips… 😶Here are a few more of Fry's transformed Twitter emoji ...I'm gonna have trouble getting to sleep tonight. Read the rest

DC makes some fabulous animated movies and their television programming has, even where budget has been a concern, been pretty good (I still cry over Constantine and what could have been, however). I've been way less thrilled with the last few DC Universe movies, however. Batman vs. Superman, Justice League and Aquaman weren't to my liking. I've got high hopes for The Batman movie though. Between now and when filming is complete on what will hopefully be a gem of a film featuring the Dark Knight Detective, I've got my hopes fixed on Joker. It looks dark as hell, complex and, with a stellar cast including Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro and Zazie Beetz, could well be worth forking over $40 for a ticket and popcorn to see in the theater.We won't have to wait long to find out if it's as great as it looks. Joker'll be released this October. Read the rest

In an effort to reduce the amount of false and extremist content pushed to viewers, Google's video platform YouTube will adjust its presentation algorithm for UK users. YouTube tried a similar algorithm tweak in the US recently, and recommendations of such ‘borderline’ videos were cut by 50%.After six months of the US trial, YouTube says recommendation-led views to extremist content fell by half. Because the trial was so effective, it will now be extended to the UK, Ireland, South Africa “and other English-language markets”, says Susan Wojicki.According to the video sharing site’s chief executive, Susan Wojcicki, the move is intended to give quality content “more of a chance to shine” and has the effect of reducing views from recommendations by 50%.YouTube has long taken action against content that violates the site’s policies, removing infringing videos and issuing “strikes” against creators that can ultimately result in them being blocked from uploading new videos.But only recently has the company moved against content that, in Wojcicki’s words, “brushes right up against our policy line”. This sort of content is the bedrock of the fear that YouTube is a driver of extremist views worldwide: the combination of borderline content and a recommendation algorithm that rewards the most engaging content can, critics argue, cause audiences to spiral towards more radical viewing.YouTube first took action against borderline content in the US earlier this year, and focused on videos that “could misinform users in harmful ways – such as videos promoting a phoney miracle cure for a serious illness, claiming the earth is flat, or making blatantly false claims about historic events like 9/11”. Read the rest

Exhibit A is this tweet, from the President of the United States of America, angered at the presence of criticism on his favorite channel:Exhibit B is this almost-plaintive response from Fox News anchor Brit Hume, not quite able to plainly say Fox News doesn't work for him, but at least managing to say it isn't supposed to work for him.Exhibit C is all the responses to Brit Hume from angry Fox News viewers, which don't need to be embedded here, or even read, because you already know exactly what they say. Read the rest

Be still my heart. There's a cereal bowl that lets you listen to the snap, crackle, and pop of your Rice Krispies! I'm just hearing about it but apparently the "Snap Crack and Pop Amplifier Cereal Bowl" was designed by Dominic Wilcox back in 2015: Kellogg’s challenged artist and designer Dominic Wilcox to make breakfast more interesting and fun for families and children going back to school in September. Over the course of 10 weeks he designed 7 inventions and prototypes from a robot spoon to a head worn cereal serving device.The sound of Rice Krispies popping is a well known sound for many breakfast eaters, particularly from their childhood. Instead of hearing a quiet snap crackle and pop why not increase the sound? This technological cereal bowl amplifies the sound of Rice Krispies using a microphone and volume control. Simply fill the bowl with Rice Krispies, pour in the milk, with on the bowl and increase the volume of the pops by turning the dial."Well, turn it up, man!"Check out Dominic's other neat-o inventions at his website.(Dude I Want That)Thanks a million, Kent! Read the rest