Twitter last night hid one of President Trump's tweet behind a warning, saying that it broke the company's policy against glorifying violence. In the tweet, Trump branded protestors in Minneapolis 'THUGS' and suggested they should be shot.....These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen. Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!Floyd was an unarmed black man killed by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. Minneapolis has seen two nights of unrest as local authorities refuse to release unredacted footage of the incident or to charge Chauvin with a crime. "Thug" is a storied euphemism for black people.The warning notice comes three days after Twitter placed a fact-check warning on another of Trump's tweets and a day after Trump signed an executive order denouncing the company.'A riot is the language of the unheard.' —Rev. Dr. Martin Luther KingUPDATE: Trump posted it again, from the official White House account, and Twitter has applied the same warning to it. Read the rest

There's still magic in the world, as evidenced by this fairy's-eye view of Children's Fairyland, that charming 70-year-old storybook theme park in Oakland, California.You might remember that when I'm not blogging, I work with Fairyland. WELL... months before we were mandated to shelter in place, a local photographer, Stephen Loewinsohn, contacted our team at Fairyland. He wanted to know if he could come in and capture the park by drone. He showed us some of his work samples (um, wow) and told us he was a lifelong fan of the park. He also told us the finished product would be a gift to us, no strings attached. OF COURSE we said yes! Naturally, none of us realized at the time that it would be the first comprehensive look our community would get from inside the park for months. But that's part of what makes it extra special. We premiered the video on Thursday evening, with great success, as the "cherry on top" to our reopening fundraising announcement.At my request, Stephen shared his inspiration and thoughts on creating this video:I grew up in Oakland and went to Fairyland as a kid. Now I have two young kids of my own, so Fairyland is a really special place for me and my family. I've been working as a professional photographer and filmmaker in the Bay Area for many years, and lately I've been experimenting with building and flying custom camera drones with amazing acrobatic capabilities for specialized filming applications. Read the rest

John Waters was slated to give the New York's School of Visual Arts' commencement speech at Radio City Music Hall. Instead, he gave a different version of that keynote in front of a green screen, quarantined in his Baltimore home. Of course, it was still hilarious ("Tiger King" porno knockoff, anyone?) and still full of hard-earned wisdom. "Artists are magicians: you can see what others can not, have a secret language, the power to make others follow... and you can change history with one ludicrous idea. While you’re still young, maybe it’s time to become a virus yourself—a good kind of virus, one fueled by the years of hard work you put in at the incubator known as the School of Visual Arts. Artists, you are the cure, too. The only people that can inspire the world to notice and then alter its destructive behavior.”Congrats, "coronavirus class of 2020," all of you, everywhere!screengrab via SVA/YouTube Read the rest

Fires rage in Minneapolis after the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, by local cop Derek Chauvin.Though four officers were immediately fired, local prosecutor Mike Freeman said that there is 'other evidence that does not support a criminal charge' even as police refused to release unredacted footage of the incident. Video of Chauvin kneeling on Floyd's neck as he gasped for breath was taken by a bystander; Chauvin's long history of violent conduct soon surfaced.Minnesota's Attorney General said he nonetheless "anticipated" charges against the officers who killed Floyd. Another potential avenue for justice: the FBI is investigating whether Floyd's rights were violated, though its request for "more video" was excoriated by commentator Don Lemon.Police abandoned a precinct during clashes Thursday night, and it became the first to be destroyed during unrest in modern U.S. history. Among those detained was a black CNN reporter and his crew, live on air.On social media, President Trump branded those protesting "THUGS" and suggested they should be shot; Twitter hid his tweet per its policy against glorifying violence, another first.Photo: Hungryogrephotos (Public Domain)CORRECTION: CNN's reporter was detained Friday morning, not Thursday night. Read the rest

A 46-year old black man named George Floyd was killed by police in Minneapolis on Monday, May 25, 2020. A police officer named Derek Chauvin kneeled on Floyd's neck, after vaguely accusing him of forgery and/or public intoxication. He pressed his knee down so hard — and kept it there — that it cut off the air to Floyd's lungs, suffocating him. Three police officers stood around and watched as Floyd used his last breaths to cry for help; several bystanders filmed the scene, and tried to get the cops to stop, but to no avail.Those 4 police officers were fired shortly after the video was released (by their official account, Floyd had been "resisting arrest," something which is a physically impossible to do while also dying under restraint). That sounds like good news on the surface — but thanks to Police Union rules, bad cops who get fired for misconduct usually just get re-hired in a nearby precinct. Their past behavior — even repeated, established patterns of violent misconduct — are left off their permanent record, or otherwise ignored.And that's exactly how the police officer who killed George Floyd was in the position to do so in the first place. As Insider reports, Derek Chauvin had a long and ugly history of police brutality, long before he killed George Floyd:[Chauvin] was involved in violent incidents before, including three police shootings. And he has been the subject of 10 complaints filed to the city's Civilian Review Authority and the Office of Police Conduct. Read the rest

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever” – Mahatma GandhiOf all the skills you feel like you should probably know, yet likely don’t, coding might be one of the most intimidating. From the varied programming languages to the range of platforms to the sheer discomfort of trying to decipher all that seemingly incomprehensible text, doing your own coding can feel like a learning curve that goes straight up.But like anything else, how you learn a skill can make all the difference in the world. Learnable is an e-learning platform that strives to help students retain the most information possible in the shortest possible time. With its highly curated curriculum, Learnable offers courses in all of the most important programming languages and functions, depending on your learning goals. From core disciplines like Java, PHP, and SQL to more specialized training in C#, C++, Python, Swift, and more, you’ll always find a carefully designed program ready to build your knowledge.Whether you want to dig in from your desktop browser or via iOS or Android, you’ll find interactive lessons aimed at demystifying programming and pointing the way toward coding mastery.As you work your way through each skill, you’ll earn progress points, level up, and earn badges as you go. In fact, learning to build apps, websites and other important projects with Learnable doesn’t feel like learning as much as it often feels like playing a game. But rather than beating a friend or notching a high score, a win here means a bankable skill recognized worldwide as a vital 21st-century talent. Read the rest

Two men hired to break into their client's house, menace him with machetes, tie him up, then tickle him with a broom, have been acquitted of armed break-in after hitting the wrong address. The unsuspecting victim awoke to find the men looming over his bed armed with the knives.The role play was arranged over Facebook by a man near Griffith, New South Wales, who provided his address to the hired pair."He was willing to pay A$5,000 if it was 'really good'," the judge said. However, the client moved to another address 50km (30 miles) away without updating the two men. They then entered a home on the street of the original address. ... When they realised their error, one of the pair said "Sorry, mate" and shook the resident's hand, according to local reports. Could happen to anyone. Read the rest

Even though it feels like Amazon is a singular retail juggernaut crushing everybody else, you might be surprised to learn that half of Amazon’s $280 billion in revenue last year came from third-party sellers.According to numbers compiled by JungleScout, 86 percent of Amazon’s Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA) sellers were profitable last year, more than doubling the profitability rate for all small businesses in general in 2019. On top of that, two-thirds of FBA sellers said they were profitable in their first year.And that was before our new pandemic-tinged economy shifted even more toward online retail outlets. If you want to start a business and make sure you’re among those happy etailers, then training like that found in The Complete 2020 Fulfillment By Amazon Mastery Bundle can help make sure you end up in that profit-rich group.The bundle includes four courses, all dedicated to helping you get a thriving, revenue-generating business off the ground utilizing all the resources of Amazon’s FBA program.It all starts with The Complete Amazon FBA Masterclass, a practical training session that promises to help you get your own FBA business up and running in a matter of hours. The beginner-friendly training covers all the basics for working in the FBA system, from choosing the right products to setting up your supply chain to branding and marketing. You’ll also get access to all the secret hacks FBA vets use to drive traffic to your storefront and goose sales.In case settling on the product you want to sell is a problem, the Amazon FBA and eBay: 33 Hot Product Sourcing Strategies course can help. Read the rest

Paper Mate introduced the Flair felt tip pen in the 1960s. I liked them when I was a kid because the lines were so clean and you could vary the line width. I kind of forgot about them until I was at Maker Faire and my toy inventor friend, Bob Knetzger, said he uses them to produce his wonderful sketches. They are also cheap! You can buy a dozen black Flair pens or a set of 12 colored ones. Read the rest

Thought you were smarter than a queue? Enjoy the shame!The video does not show the circumstances that led up to this situation, in which a driver is backing up from oncoming traffic on a narrow mountain road. In any case, she does not seem to be pleased about it.Image: Imgur Read the rest

Wow. This is a thing of great beauty. A giant 3D topographic wood map of Westeros, the world of Game of Thrones, by IMGURian @ARUNK55. It's 60"x35".The maker, @ArunK55, explains:I am a maker/engineer/cartographer with a passion for maps and woodworking. With my laser cutter in my garage, I have been making wood maps over the last year. Each map is custom made and tells a story. Here i am going though my process of making these maps. These maps are made from three layers of Birch Wood with a layer of Maple as Backing. They are wood burnt with a LASER and hand assembled.If you want something unique on your wall, that tells a story, or just reminds you of some place then please check out my Kickstarter, and help bring these maps to life. Read the rest

Amidst all the deadly serious concern and fallout from our global battle against COVID-19, you’ve likely been forced to confront more than a few moments that you never expected to face.And you likely never felt sillier during this scary time than when you were racing all over town hoping desperately that some store had finally received a toilet paper shipment. Hoarders cleared off store shelves in early March, leaving 70 percent of stores without stock and causing a shortage that still isn’t completely under control.Americans use 3 million tons of TP every year. And between the supply issue and the startling fact that we require 54 million trees to fall to feed our bathroom need...well, it’s no surprise the bidet option has seen renewed popularity the past several weeks.Of course, replacing your entire bathroom throne is no small — or inexpensive — task. However, the Aim to Wash bidet attachment is a perfect middle-ground for those tired of TP hunts and looking for a better way.The Aim to Wash easily attaches to your existing toilet set in about 10 minutes and doesn’t require any power to operate. Once you’re connected, the unit sports an adjustable nozzle head that angles into a position to apply a cleansing wash that puts “the wipe” to shame.The attachment has easy to use dial knobs to adjust your cleaning to just the right level — and the nozzle even has its own self-cleaning regimen to keep the whole thing sterling clean before and after each use. Read the rest

A postcard mailer that went out all American homes to highlight President Donald Trump’s role in the stimulus check program cost the government $28 million. Which means it cost us $28 million.The taxpayers.Trump's coronavirus postcard was mailed to every single American home, and prominently featured his name in an election year.We paid for a campaign ad.Nothing matters.Read more at USA Today:Coronavirus post card that featured Trump's name cost struggling Postal Service $28 millionNeither the White House nor the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention immediately responded to a request for comment. The post card, which was dated March 16, carried logos of both the CDC and the White House.— USA TODAY Politics (@usatodayDC) May 28, 2020Remember that coronavirus post card the government sent to every American household back in March that prominently featured Trump's name? It cost $28 million. https://t.co/2GAPSo1y01— John Fritze (@jfritze) May 28, 2020 Read the rest

Teen Vogue posted a useful guide for what to do and what not to do when videotaping police.5. Try to provide evidence that your footage is realIn an era of fake news and rampant misinformation online, you want to make sure that your footage is as verifiable as possible. To do this:Film street signs, landmarks, or exteriors of buildings to help determine the location.Film a clock, phone home screen, newspaper, or something that helps verify the time and date.It could be helpful to also state the time, date, and location out loud on camera, or write it down on a piece of paper and hold it up to the screen.You can turn on GPS location services to help verify your location.Film continuously instead of stopping and starting your camera; this will help fight against claims that footage was edited or manipulated.Image: Jumpstory / CC0 Read the rest

Three years after "I Have a Dream" and the March on Washington, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King spoke with Mike Wallace of CBS News about change within the Civil Rights movement.Excerpt: I contend that the cry of "black power" is, at bottom, a reaction to the reluctance of white power to make the kind of changes necessary to make justice a reality for the Negro. I think that we've got to see that a riot is the language of the unheard.FULL VIDEO at CBS News:September 27, 1966: MLK—A riot is the language of the unheard[more here]“In the final analysis, a riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it that America has failed to hear?” pic.twitter.com/Als3jhxaGH— The King Center (@TheKingCenter) May 28, 2020IMAGE, top: via Flickr, courtesy @rumorweaver, Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0) Read the rest

I felt sorry for this fellow, whose minor forklift mishap creates a domino effect that sends everything sprawling to the floor. But the perfect cartoon-farmer hat-stomping reaction deserves full marks for form and execution. Read the rest

It's been four years since Cory posted a supercut of video game bathrooms, but the industry hasn't been slacking since. Curious Reviewers posted a series collecting the typically revolting, sometimes deluxe, always weirdly spacious virtual pissoirs of videogaming.Here are the three episodes, in reverse chronological order. Note that many of the clips show nudity, violence, grossness and other things you might expect to find going on in ludological lavatories. Read the rest

Donald Trump is threatening a Twitter employee, on Twitter, just after Jack Dorsey tweeted to leave his employees out of this. The drama continues. Here's the tweet.Quite a twofer. Disinformation about a civic event, voting, and also using the power of the presidency to harness mob wrath against a single employee of a platform that had the audacity to point out that a lie about "voter fraud" is a lie.This tweet by part-time Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey last night wasn't very effective against a professional troll.Fact check: there is someone ultimately accountable for our actions as a company, and that’s me. Please leave our employees out of this. We’ll continue to point out incorrect or disputed information about elections globally. And we will admit to and own any mistakes we make.— jack (@jack) May 28, 2020PREVIOUSLY on Boing Boing:• Twitter fact-checks Trump tweet for first time• Trump flips out on Twitter, right after Twitter fact-checked him for the first time• Trump to sign social media executive order, after lashing out at Twitter• Here's what's in Trump's executive order against social media companies • Read the text of Trump's draft Executive Order about Social MediaJust a reminder that Twitter didn’t censor or limit Trump’s tweet. They just added a little note saying “here’s some more information.”The nuclear response from WH should tell you something about Trump’s campaign strategy.— Nick Confessore (@nickconfessore) May 28, 2020Wow. Trump is now calling out the same Twitter employee that Kellyanne Conway called out yesterday. Read the rest

“You don’t want to wear a mask fine, but you don’t have a right to go into that store if that store owner doesn’t want you to.” — NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo

In this Cool Tools video, Sean Michael Ragan reviews a wall-mounted thread-checker - a handy thread verifier for nuts and bolts.It measures 3" wide by 39" tall, and, like the original version, features both male and female reference threads in a range of standard SAE and metric sizes. It's mounted on a half-inch thick plastic composite board, and the printing is both grease- and waterproof. It has three 5/16” diameter mounting holes for attaching it to the wall, and it is made in the USA, by the same folks who make the original thread checker: S&W Manufacturing of Chicago.Unlike the original, the wall-mounted version can be used one-handed, which lets you quickly find a particular size in a bin of unsorted fasteners, or identify an unknown thread with one hand while you hold an assembly in the other. Read the rest

The Action Lab Man introduces binary arithmetic when demonstrating the cool Turning Tumble marble-powered computer. Read the rest

Stop-and-go waves of dense freeway traffic can flow backward for miles. This TED-Ed video explains the phenomenon of "phantom traffic jams" and shows how self-driving cars that are aware of the traffic conditions ahead can adjust their behavior to prevent phantom traffic jams. Interestingly, models have shown had just one self-driving vehicle for every 20 human-driven vehicles can dampen a stop-and-go phantom traffic jam wave.Image: YouTube Read the rest

After Trump threw a tantrum over Twitter doing the bare-minimum to fact-check his deliberately misleading tweets, Trump announced plans to sign an Executive Order that forces social media to "protect" "free speech." Because government-approved top-down authoritarian control of private companies is apparently now a central tenet of the Republican Party.Content Moderation expert Kate Klonick shared a draft of the order.Section 230 doesn't protect editorial conductTwitters labels on tweets regarding falsity = editorial conductTherefore, this EO places such platforms outside scope of Sec. 230 protection2/— Kate Klonick (@Klonick) May 28, 2020This is all in the name of the commitment and concern for free and diverse speech online. "So say we all."(that last bit was me)4/4— Kate Klonick (@Klonick) May 28, 2020You can read the full document here, which hinges on Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (as well as the continued wolf-crying fantasy of "conservative censorship"). If you want the sparknotes, Vice has a pretty comprehensive breakdown:As far as legislation goes, the first subsection of 230 is concise and powerful: "No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider."In the order, Trump also makes the argument that social media companies' actions should not "infringe on protected speech," which would be a massive change from Section 230 as it's currently worded, which makes an explicit carve-out for restricting protected speech. This will, unequivocally, change the internet as a whole and make it worse. Read the rest

The Lincoln Project has dedicated a video to Kentucky's US Senator Mitch McConnell. They highlight his history of self-enrichment and failure to help Kentucky out much. Read the rest

Tony Hawk first learned to ride a skateboard in 1979 when he was 11 years old. The board was the 1975 Bahne pictured above. Now, that board is in the collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. (Below, video of Hawk's last ride on the Bahne.) From Cole Louison's new interview with Hawk in Smithsonian magazine:The first wave of skateboarding—when decks were wood, wheels were steel and “sidewalk surfing” was banned in 20 U.S. cities by August 1965—had ended by the time Hawk stepped on the board. Yet the sport enjoyed a major resurgence in the 1970s, thanks in part to new technology. The blue Bahne evokes an era when public outcry had driven skaters off sidewalks and into the first skateparks, where they rode plastic boards with polyurethane wheels higher and higher up the walls of in-ground pools that were capped at the top or extended with plywood[...]“In its early days, skateboarding was considered a sport for misfits and outsiders,” Hawk tells me. “We didn’t mind the label, since we weren’t trying to fit in with mainstream culture anyway.” And even as mainstream culture prepares to embrace skateboarding more enthusiastically than ever before, Hawk says, “I believe our sense of counterculture and individualism will shine through.”image: RIDE Channel/YouTube Read the rest

Ford is testing new software for its Police Interceptor Utility Vehicles that heats the vehicle's interior to 133 degrees for 15 minutes to kill COVID-19. Ideally, this happens when nobody is inside the car. The new disinfecting technique–not unlike a kitchen oven's "self cleaning" feature–is based on research conducted with the Ohio State University Department of Microbiology. From a Ford statement:Once activated, the vehicle’s powertrain and climate control systems work together automatically to elevate passenger compartment temperatures. The software warms up the engine to an elevated level, and both heat and fan settings operate on high. The software automatically monitors interior temperatures until the entire passenger compartment hits the optimal level, then that temperature is maintained for 15 minutes[...]“Our studies with Ford Motor Company indicate that exposing coronaviruses to temperatures of 56 degrees Celsius, or 132.8 degrees Fahrenheit, for 15 minutes reduces the viral concentration by greater than 99 percent on interior surfaces and materials used inside Police Interceptor Utility vehicles,” said Jeff Jahnes and Jesse Kwiek, laboratory supervisors at The Ohio State University department of microbiology.Law enforcement will have multiple ways to monitor progress. Hazard lights and taillights will flash in a pre-set pattern to notify when the process has begun, then will change at the end to signal completion. The vehicle’s instrument cluster will also indicate progress. A cool-down process brings the temperature down from its highest points. Read the rest

Today, Trump will announce his executive order against social media companies, the day after Twitter added a fact-checking note to two of Trump's misleading tweets. Surprising nobody, Trump's draft order goes after Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 that is an essential protection for free speech on the Internet. (Here's the EFF's explanation of Section 230.) From CNN:"In a country that has long cherished the freedom of expression, we cannot allow a limited number of online platforms to hand-pick the speech that Americans may access and convey online," the draft order says. "This practice is fundamentally un-American and anti-democratic. When large, powerful social media companies censor opinions with which they disagree, they exercise a dangerous power."[...]Under the order, the Commerce Department would ask the Federal Communications Commission for new regulations clarifying when a company's conduct might violate the good faith provisions of Section 230 -- potentially making it easier for tech companies to be sued.That is consistent with a draft order whose text CNN first reported last summer -- and which prompted FCC officials to push back on the plan privately.The draft order instructs the Justice Department to consult with state attorneys general on allegations of anti-conservative bias. It bans federal agencies from advertising on platforms that have allegedly violated Section 230's good-faith principles.Finally, the draft order would direct the Federal Trade Commission to report on complaints about political bias collected by the White House and to consider bringing lawsuits against companies accused of violating the administration's interpretation of Section 230. Read the rest

On Tuesday evening, the night before NASA astronaut Bob Behnken was set to launch into orbit about a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon capsule, he launched his own rocket from Florida's Atlantic Coast. I've personally launched this same rocket design, an Estes E2X Amazon, many times and can vouch for its fine engineering and reliability. While yesterday's historic launch—the first from US soil since 2011 with astronauts onboard and the first time a private company will take people offworld—was scrubbed due to weather, Behnken and Doug Hurley will be back in the capsule to try again on Saturday. I hope Behnken has a few more C engines for Friday night. From Space.com:According to Estes, the Amazon model rocket stands about 30 inches (76 centimeters) tall and can reach heights of up to 650 feet (200 meters). For comparison, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket booster stands 229.6 feet (70 m) tall and can soar more than 150 miles (240 kilometers) above the Earth — more than 1,000 times higher than Behnken's toy rocket. But Behnken didn't spend all of his last day on Earth playing in the sand. "The day before our launch on the @NASA/@SpaceX Demo Mission 2, I took the time to review pre-launch activities, hone my launch operation technique, practice one more docking with @Space_Station https://iss-sim.spacex.com, and review the path home," The day before our launch on the @NASA/@SpaceX Demo Mission 2, I took the time to review pre-launch activities, hone my launch operation technique, practice one more docking with @Space_Station https://t.co/1RBMI0g1Gp Read the rest

If you're looking for more quarantine activities — for yourself, or your kids, or something to do together! — the British rock magazine Kerrang! is now offering coloring book variants of some of their covers, featuring famous rock bands:We have turned seven Kerrang! magazine covers (plus a bonus My Chemical Romance photo) into elaborate colouring-in pages for you to turn into Technicolor masterpieces. We’ve got Slipknot, Lemmy, BABYMETAL and Ozzy Osbourne [and more] to choose from.Not only will it give you (or your young ones) a chance to practice your artistic skills, colouring-in is ideal for relieving stress and improving mental health. You can download all available Kerrang! coloring book pages here. And if you email your best designs to the magazine, you could get featured in an upcoming issue!Design your own Kerrang! Magazine Cover Read the rest

In my 90s childhood Star Wars obsession, I remember hearing a lot about the fabled NPR radio drama adaptations (read: "podcast") of the original trilogy. They were supposed to be canonical, in-as-much as they were Lucas-approved stories that expanded on the familiar ones we already knew.Now, someone has finally compiled them all on YouTube (although apparently you can find the MP3s on Archive.org as well). And wow, they are expanded — the A New Hope radio drama is 13 hours long!It's quite a stark departure from the movies I'm used to. The first chapter focuses exclusively on Luke, and highlights his relationships with his friends at Tosche Station — Cammie, Fixer, Deke, and the OG prodigal son, Biggs Darklighter (there's a version of some of this material floating as a deleted scene, but it's not nearly as expansive as this). Chapter Two turns more attention to Leia and her relationship with her father, as well as the information that lead them to the Death Star plans in the first place. It's not even until the third chapter that we get to the opening scene of the movie (that's as far as I've listened yet). It definitely conflicts with the newly established canon, especially Rogue One, but I'm enjoying the experience of re-discovering this world in a different format, with different and exciting details filling out the edges. I'm eager to find out what other ancillary characters might get more of a spotlight treatment here.From the editor who posted these compilations on YouTube:I have combined all episodes of the original radio drama using excerpts from John Williams' original soundtrack and Ben Burt's sound effects for a more seamless blending from one episode to the next. Read the rest

Nate Powell is the writer and artist behind About Face, a brilliant webcomic about America's obsession with fascist fashion. His latest comic, Hide Out, is less of a macro-scale political analysis, and more of a quiet, reflective, internal piece about life in apocalyptic scenarios — but it's just as powerful, and just as much worth reading.icymi, my new comic “Hide Out” is up at The Nib— old, romantic visions of The End shattered by the disorienting quiet of mass deaths in our slow motion catastrophe. https://t.co/GnMbczHjFU— Nate Powell (@Nate_Powell_Art) May 21, 2020 This Isn’t My Fantasy Apocalypse [Nate Powell / The Nib] Read the rest

IMGURian @KRANKARTA6 did an awesome topography visualization project in the "Ridgeline Style" that reminds us of the album cover for Joy Division's classic LP 'Unknown Pleasures.'USA states' topography in ridgeline / stack plot / joy plot style.These map artworks are created from SRTM elevation data and processed in QGIS and python. All images have the same elevation scale.See all of the work here at IMGUR:USA States Topography in Ridgeline Style - equal scaleUSA States Topography in Ridgeline Style - equal scale Read the rest

I don't know who made this, but it's pretty great.[via IMGUR] Read the rest

• Mark Brnovich (R) sued Google on Wednesday, alleging violation of user privacy.Arizona's state Attorney General is suing Google over claims the company collected Android users' location data even when users turned digital tracking off.Reporting by Tony Romm at the Washington Post:The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages in arguing that Google, the maker of the Android smartphone operating system, set up its mobile software in a way that enriched its advertising empire and deceived device owners about the protections actually afforded to their personal data, running afoul of Arizona consumer-protection laws that prohibit companies from misrepresenting their business practices.“When consumers try to opt out of Google’s collection of location data, the company is continuing to find misleading ways to obtain information and use it for profit,” Brnovich (R) said in an interview.Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Read the rest:Arizona sues Google over allegations it illegally tracked Android smartphone users’ locations Read the rest

During Passover last month, I posted about The Ten Commandments, Cecil B. DeMille's 1923 epic silent film version of the biblical Exodus story (plus a related modern story that I never bothered to watch.) As part of tomorrow night's DAWN online celebration of the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, Steven Drozd of the Flaming Lips, Steve Berlin of Los Lobos, and drummer Scott Amendola are premiering a far out new score for the film! Watch the excerpt above. Organized by the Jewish arts and culture organization Reboot, DAWN is sure to be a wild program of music, conversations, comedy, and performances. My pal and Boing Boing contributor David Katznelson, the head of Reboot, orchestrated the new Ten Commandments musical collaboration. From Rolling Stone:Reboot CEO David Katznelson — who signed the Flaming Lips to Warner Bros. years ago — said of the project: “Watching this film score come together, with three amazing artists forced to work remotely and yet completely in flow with each other as they composed such an incredible piece of music was inspirational. Using the greatest artists of the day to bring something like The Ten Commandments to life for new generations to connect with… that is exactly what Reboot was created to do.”Along with Drozd, Berlin and Amendola, the DAWN lineup will feature appearances from Carl Reiner, Norman Lear, Michaela Watkins, Gaby Moskowitz, Tiffany Shlain and Kasher vs. Kasher, a new podcast from comedian Moshe Kasher and his brother Rabbi David Kasher. The event kicks off May 28th at 10 p.m. Read the rest

The U.S. death toll of those killed by Covid19 passed 100,000 today, according to The New York Times. Johns Hopkins' tracker, which does not include U.S. deaths aboard cruise ships, placed the death toll at 99,783 on Wednesday. The toll is short of the true total, say experts, but the milestone, arbitrary as it is, is a reminder of the severity and persistence of the coronavirus pandemic even as lockdowns are lifted.The toll exceeds the number of U.S. military combat fatalities in every conflict since the Korean War. It matches the toll in the United States of the 1968 flu pandemic, and it is approaching the 116,000 killed in another flu outbreak a decade before that. The pandemic is on track to be the country’s deadliest public health disaster since the 1918 flu pandemic, in which about 675,000 Americans died. Though the numbers of new cases and deaths have begun trending downward, health experts warn of a possible resurgence as lockdowns are lifted. Read the rest

Charles Platt's growing series of electronics books are the best I've come across. He explains concepts very clearly, and his illustrations are excellent. His latest book in the series is called Easy Electronics. It covers voltage, resistance, capacitors, transistors, integrated circuits, and more. No tools are needed to complete the projects in this book. Read the rest

a group of young black entrepreneurs have owned a office building in uptown minneapolis for over a year& got racially profiled at the private gym today??‍♀️smh pic.twitter.com/iKmAuW5Tli— nisa (@anisalrh) May 27, 2020 View this post on Instagram Normally we don’t speak out about encounters of racial profiling and age discrimination that we face day to day in our lives as young black entrepreneurs. Although today May 26th 2020 7:51pm we encountered a situation where a man entered the facility, a shared private gym that we utilize in our @wework @mozaic_east office located in uptown Minnesota. Granted we’ve been in this office space and have rented and grown our business for the past 1 year and half here. As we were working out this man approached and immediately asked us who we were and if “WE BELONG” in this building. Granted in order to enter the building you NEED a key card to enter EVERY part of the building which EACH of our team members individually have. We all pay rent here and this man demanded that we show him our key cards or he will call the cops on us. We are sick and tired of tolerating this type of behavior on a day to day basis and we feel that we had to bring light onto this situation.A post shared by Top Figure ? (@teamtopfigure) on May 26, 2020 at 8:33pm PDTIn this Instagram video, we see a white man (who looks like the adult son of John Lydon and Martin Short if they were to have a child) in an office building gym taking photos of black men and calling the police because he doesn't think they "belong" there. Read the rest

In Chayanta, Bolivia, three brothers, ages 12, 10 and 8, came upon a black widow spider while herding goats. They poked at the spider until it bit each of them. Why? They hoped to become Spider-Man. According to a report in Telemundo, their mom found them very upset and took them to a health center that moved them to a hospital. From the New York Post:The would-be Peter Parkers were transferred a third time, taken to the Children’s Hospital in La Paz the next day with fevers, tremors and muscle pains, according to the report.There, they were treated and discharged last Wednesday, almost a week after they were bitten, the report says.No word on whether they can now sling webs.(Thanks, Rick Pescovitz!)image: Chepyle (CC BY-SA 3.0) Read the rest

For insightful geopolitical analysis of international affairs, where else would you turn but the ‘National Enquirer’?

KontrolFreek's CleanFreek foaming cleaner keeps my monitor, controller and iPhone sparkling.CleanFreek's foam leaves no residue or streaking on my cherished 1440p monitor. The grubby kid hand-stains left on my Xbox and Switch controllers easily wipe away. The layer of oil that constantly lives on my iPhone screen is gone.I also use CleanFreek on my glasses and this very laptop. I hate it when my gear gets blech!KontrolFreek CleanFreek Anti-bacterial Cleaner for Gaming Gear (2.7 fl oz) | Cleaner for Controllers, Mice, Smartphones, Tablets, Monitors and Glasses via Amazon Read the rest

The Lego masters at The Brick Wall built this fantastic contraption to crank out tapas. Technical details:19 Lego PF motors5 BuWizz Bricks4 weeks of hard work Read the rest

Phone company LG Poland apologized for its TikTok video ad depicting a man taking photos of a woman in a skirt as she ascends a staircase.From Android Authority:LG Poland recently posted a video on TikTok, showing an elderly man apparently taking upskirt photos of a woman walking up stairs. The woman then turns around and grabs the LG V60 being used by the man, scrolling through the gallery app on the second screen. However, the woman only finds selfies of the man in question.The woman then returns the LG V60 to the elderly man, who promptly scrolls in the opposite direction and reveals that, yes, he has indeed taken pseudo-upskirt shots.After people complained about the video, LG Poland took it down and issued the following statement:“A recent video posted by LG Poland failed to follow the proper approval process for social media content. It did not live up to the standards and policy of LG Electronics and was immediately removed. We apologize for any offense this ill-conceived video may have caused. We will strive to prevent such an occurrence from happening again in the future.”Image: @lgpolska Read the rest

Boing Boing welcomes Real Tested CBD as a sponsor!Real Tested CBD is known for efforts in bringing information about the CBD products for not only established brands, but the budding brands in the niche. We fuel our passion through the zest of our clients, asking us for updates on what is happening in the CBD universe. Thanks to the laws in the US that allow legal production of CBD products for health and research, there are some premier products on the market, but it's important to know what you are shopping for to ensure the best purchase.We at Real Tested CBD run all the products through lab tests and present everything in black and white for our readers. This way, our consumers get to find out what product they are getting and if it is worth getting at all. Today, we review Charlotte’s Web and its CBD products that include balms, creams, tincture, edibles, and capsules.Here is a review of all the nine products of Charlotte’s Web that we tested.This hemp-infused balm by Charlotte’s web comes with 150 mg of botanical blend hemp extract. It has a soothing scent, and we found no traces of pesticides and solvents in the mix. Moreover, it contains all the goodness of CBD at 107.2 mg per pack. It also contains THC at 4.69 mg and CBC at 4.48 mg per package. However, our test results indicate that the total CBD levels were lower than those claimed on the label.This Canine hemp-infused balm is for adult dogs with 450 mg of hemp extract. Read the rest

Today, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon capsule is scheduled to shuttle two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station. This will be the first time humans will launch to space from the United States since 2011 and the first time a private company will take humans offworld. Intrepid science journalist Nadia Drake is at the launchpad reporting on the mission for National Geographic and ABC News. Tune in above for Nadia's live reporting. Liftoff is set for 4:33pm ET, weather and technology permitting. From Nadia's coverage at National Geographic:The Demo-2 mission is slated to lift off from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A—the same pad in Florida that hosted Apollo 11 and STS-135, the last flight of a space shuttle. However, next week's mission represents a new way of getting humans to orbit, in which agencies including NASA purchase rides to space from private companies.For astronauts [Doug] Hurley, 53, and [Bob] Behnken, 49, the Demo-2 flight also presents a rare opportunity: to be the first people to fly in a new type of spacecraft. Behnken and Hurley were specially selected for NASA’s commercial crew program back in 2015. Both men are former military test pilots—Hurley in the Marines and Behnken in the Air Force. Both are married to fellow astronauts, and the two have been colleagues since joining NASA in 2000 as part of Astronaut Group 18.“It’s probably a dream of every test pilot school student to have the opportunity to fly on a brand-new spaceship, and I’m lucky enough to get that opportunity with my good friend here,” Behnken said recently at a press conference with Hurley. Read the rest

Researchers hypothesize that the asteroid that gave the world over to mammals and birds hit Earth at a 60 degree angle, kicking up far more atmospheric dirt than a direct hit. The resulting climate change would be deadly for massive fauna and the ecosystems that depended on them—as the fossil record shows.Analysing the structure of the 200-kilometre-wide (125 mile) crater in southern Mexico where the asteroid hit, scientists ran a series of simulations. Lead author Gareth Collins of Imperial College London and colleagues at the University of Freiburg and the University of Texas at Austin looked at four possible impact angles - 90, 60, 45 and 30 degrees - and two impact speeds, 12 and 20 kilometres per second (7.5 and 12.4 miles per second). The best fit with the data from the crater was a 60 degree strike."Sixty degrees is a more lethal impact angle because it ejects a larger amount of material fast enough to engulf the planet," Collins told AFP.Adds Collins: "a very bad day for the dinosaurs". Read the rest

Scroll through the carousel below, or check out Not Art on Instagram for more Sexy Facemask Photoshopping (if that's what you want to do). View this post on Instagram In better news it turns out that #SportsIllustrated was able to put out their swimsuit calendar on time for the #GlobalPandemic. The models were not at risk because the camera man was always at least 6 feet away and it was all shot on a Beach no one has heard of in #Madagascar So no one else was around. #SportsIllusratedA post shared by NOTART (@notart) on Apr 26, 2020 at 10:49pm PDT Read the rest

Just Sketch Me is a character-posing tool on the web: an artist's manikin, essentially, with a few useful features and no extraneous ones. There are options for different proportions and animals, a library of preset poses, and you can even save your work as a 3D model. Read the rest

At least 10 local TV stations ran a "news" report written and produced by Amazon, reports The Courier-News. The video was provided by Amazon, and only one station disclosed that the "reporter" was an Amazon spokesman. The report, as you have perhaps guessed, praises Amazon effusively.While most TV news professionals have scoffed at the idea of running Amazon-provided content as news, at least 10 stations across the country ran some form of the package on their news broadcasts. The package—you can view the script Amazon provided to news stations here—was produced by Amazon spokesperson Todd Walker. Only one station, Toledo ABC affiliate WTVG, acknowledged that Walker was an Amazon employee, not a news reporter.Bad as it is, TV (and especially radio) news has always been like this. They're studios, not newsrooms. They get content from newswires, parent companies, any old source that has it nicely packaged. When I was a smalltown reporter, you'd hear the newspaper rustling as they read it on air.It's true that it's getting worse, perhaps because of consolidation: Watch countless American news anchors mindlessly intone the same propaganda script Read the rest

“Republicans feel that Social Media Platforms totally silence conservatives voices. We will strongly regulate, or close them down, before we can ever allow this to happen.”