Boing Boing

So much fluff! Cloud floof puppies.From @siamthailanddog on Instagram. View this post on InstagramA post shared by บ้านหมายักษ์ เชียงใหม่ (@siamthailanddog) on Oct 29, 2018 at 8:06am PDT NOTE: Apparently this video of an incredibly adorable malamute pupper is from a dog breeder in Thailand who exports to Asia. I am posting this with the hope they are professional, compassionate, and the dogs are treated well. I support adopting rescue pets, and encourage anyone moved by this video to consider adopting a dog in need, rather than buying a living creature. View this post on InstagramA post shared by บ้านหมายักษ์ เชียงใหม่ (@siamthailanddog) on Oct 29, 2018 at 1:46am PDT View this post on Instagram 📣 #เปิดให้จองเด็กๆไจแอนท์ชุดใหม่แล้วจ้า‼️‼️ For sale / สำหรับขาย ***************************************** Giant Alaskan malamute puppy Good quality,big sizes structure,healthy and furry hair have the FCI. ลูกสุนัข ไจแอนท์ อลาสกัน มาลามิว สายพันธุ์แท้ คุณภาพดี โครงสร้างขนาดใหญ่ สุขภาพดี ขนแน่นๆฟูๆ ✅สามารถรับสุนัขหลังอายุ 2 เดือนขึ้นไป หรือหลังตรวจสุขภาพและลงวัคซีนครบเท่านั้น (มีสมุดวัคซีน) ✅มีใบเพตดีกรีรับรองสายพันธุ์ จากสมาคมพัฒนาสุนัข (ประเทศไทย ) FCI -💠 ยินดีรับบัตรเครดิต ทุกธนาคาร 💠 💠ทั้งในและนอกสถานที่ทั้วประเทศ 💠 ✈️สามารถจัดส่งได้ทั้งในประเทศและส่งออกต่างประเทศ✈️ For more information / สอบถามข้อมูลเพิ่มเติม Pls contact / ติดต่อ “บ้านหมายักษ์ เชียงใหม่” By Siam Thailand Dog Chiang mai 💢พูดคุยกับเรา💢 ... (กดตามลิ้งค์) ... http://m.me/SiamthailanddogChiangmaihttp://m.me/SiamthailanddogChiangmai Tel / โทร : (+66)929900090 LINE : [ กดเพิ่มเพื่อน ] https://line.me/R/ti/p/%40siamthailanddog หรือค้นหา ID LINE: @add6220k WhatsApp: 0929900090 Viber : 0929900090 Instagram : siamthailanddog #ยินดีรับบัตรเครดิตทุกธนาคาร #ทั้งในและนอกสถานที่ทั้วประเทศ ********************************* เราเลี้ยงด้วยอาหารเกรดพรีเมียม เสริมเนื้อนมไข่และวิตามิน สุนัขจึงมีสุขภาพที่ดี เรากล้ารับประกัน สุนัขตรงตามสายพันธุ์ทุกตัว ขอบคุณคะ / ครับ 🌀 #siamthailanddog #giant #Alaskan #malamute #Dog #ไจแอนท์ #อลาสกัน #มาลามิว #สุนัข #บ้านหมายักษ์เชียงใหม่ 🔅🔆🔅🔆🔅🔆🔅🔆🔅🔆🔅🔆🔅🔆🔅🔆🔅A post shared by บ้านหมายักษ์ เชียงใหม่ (@siamthailanddog) on Oct 29, 2018 at 7:42am PDT [via] Read the rest

Remember Darkmatter, the UAE-based cybermercenaries who worked with the beltway bandit firm Cyberpoint to recruit ex-NSA spies to infiltrate and expose dissidents, journalists, even children who opposed the despotic regime in the Emirates? (Darkmatter is also one of the least-discriminating cybermercenary bands in the world, available to help torturers, murderers and thugs hang onto power by attacking opposition movements and letting the secret police know who to arrest, torture and kill).Now Darkmatter has applied to Mozilla to become a "Certificate Authority," which means they'd get the ability to produce cryptographically signed certificates that were trusted by default by Firefox and its derivatives, giving them the power to produce cyberweapons that could break virtually any encrypted web session (though Certificate Transparency might expose them if they're careless about it).And since Moz's root of trust is used to secure Linux updates, this could affect literally billions of operating systems. Without being too hyperbolic about this: HOLY FUCKING SHIT IS THIS A BAD IDEA.Actually, it's bad already: Digicert division Quovadis has already issued an "intermediate" certificate to Darkmatter, which could allow the company to undertake all kinds of genuinely horrible shenanigans with your web-session. Yes, you.As Cooper Quintin writes on EFF Deeplinks, this is a terrible idea and Mozilla should tell them to go pound sand. Moreover, Moz should revoke Darkmatter's intermediate cert. The root of trust is for entities committed to helping improve encryption and privacy: Darkmatter's mission is to subvert encryption and destroy its targets' privacy.Update: Moz is on it! Read the rest

Special counsel Robert Mueller's report on Trump will not be delivered next week as CNN and other news organizations previously reported, said a senior Justice Department official on Friday. “Reports that the Attorney General will receive the report from the Special Counsel by the end of next week are incorrect. They will not receive the report by the end of next week,” a senior Justice Department official tells @JuliaEAinsley— Geoff Bennett (@GeoffRBennett) February 22, 2019.@realDonaldTrump says he has not spoken to Attorney General William Barr about releasing the #MuellerProbe report— Jeff Mason (@jeffmason1) February 22, 2019Breaking now on @MSNBC: The Justice Department will not receive the Mueller report next week, a senior Justice Department official tells NBC’s Julia Ainsley.— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) February 22, 2019From @juliaEAnsley Reports that the Attorney General will receive the report from the Special Counsel by the end of next week are incorrect. They will not receive the report by the end of next week.— Tony Capra (@tcapra) February 22, 2019Hearing from sources that the Mueller probe will end at some point.— Philip Bump (@pbump) February 22, 2019NEW: In the Oval, when asked about Mueller's report President Trump says "the nice part" is there was no collusion, and if it's an "honest" report it will say that. If it's not an honest report it won't.— Alexandra Limon (@AlexLimonNews) February 22, 2019When will Mueller issue his report?— Rick Hasen (@rickhasen) February 22, 2019Guess he needs a lil more time to mueller it over— Xeni Jardin (@xeni) February 22, 2019 Read the rest

Governor Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) on Friday ordered two New York state agencies to investigate reports that Facebook could have access to a lot more of your personal data, if you're a smartphone user, than anyone realized before.That data includes information about health and other sensitive stuff, and it's not just New York users who are affected. Perhaps we'll see similar cases in other states.Reuters:The directive to New York’s Department of State and Department of Financial Services came after The Wall Street Journal said testing showed that Facebook collected personal information from many smartphone apps within seconds of users entering it, even if the users had no connection to the social media company. Read the rest

What's worse than the salad and the comb thing? Klobuchar’s office reportedly required staff to stay on after taking family leave for a newborn.

In an epic blog post, writer and law expert @emptywheel (Marcy Wheeler) dissects Thursday's hearing in court for Trump ratfucker and reckless Instagrammer Roger Stone. Judge Amy Berman Jackson called Stone and his lawyers to her court and demanded that they explain why Stone shouldn't be gagged or jailed on the spot. Roger Stone ended up testifying, and it was a moment for the ages.Judge Jackson ("ABJ" as she's now nicknamed online) imposed a gag on Stone at the end of Thursday's hearing, in response to his Instagram post of an image of her with crosshairs above her head.In her post, Marcy breaks down the genius behind each step ABJ took to slice and dice Roger Stone's lies, and reveal his schtick for what it is: toxic speech that has real-world consequences for other human beings. This @emptywheel on Roger Stone in ABJ’s legal crosshairs is PURE GOLD. Don’t @ me go READ IT. https://t.co/H9eAOTvv67 pic.twitter.com/85VUeHYIIH— Xeni Jardin (@xeni) February 22, 2019Here's a snip from the post:Here’s why, I think, this was allowed to happen. For Stone’s entire life, the press has coddled Stone, treating him as a nifty character whose toxic speech doesn’t damage society. ABJ was having none of that, and used both Rogow’s position as an officer of the court and Stone’s insane willingness to take the stand to get them to acknowledge that his speech is toxic, that it does pose a threat to society. Stone presumably wasn’t prepared for that because no one has called him on his toxic speech before. Read the rest

Here are some recent game releases of note and some of what I've been up to in hobby gaming over the past month or so.Android: Shadow of the BeanstalkFantasy Flight Games, $60, Players, Ages: 12+I have been looking forward to this book ever since it was announced by FFG following their retirement of the Netrunner card game, also set in the Android universe. Shadow of the Beanstalk is a 256-page sourcebook for use with the Genesys Roleplaying System. Two years ago, I got to talk to the creators of Genesys at NovaCon before they got scooped up by FFG. Genesys is a GURPS-like universal RPG system that allows you to roleplay any time period, setting, theme. Also like GURPS, it is designed to greatly encourage narrative play and DIY themes and settings. Shadow of the Beanstalk is a campaign setting for the Android universe centered on New Angeles, the city that is home to the beanstalk, the space elevator that has afforded humanity cheap and easy access to space (and has subsequently attracted every megacorp, criminal enterprise, and hacker/"runner" faction). When The Worlds of Android background book came out, many said it was so close to an RPG setting, they ached for the game mechanics to actually play it. These mechanics have arrived with Genesys and Shadow of the Beanstalk.Cosmic EncounterFantasy Flight Games, $60, 3-5 Players, Ages: 14+The classic alien negotiation and conquest game, which many consider one of the greatest board games ever made, is back with a slightly tweaked "42nd anniversary" edition. Read the rest

A reporter for Pennsylvania's Orange Street News rode her bike near the Arizona-Mexico border on an assignment when a marshal in the town of Patagonia threatened to arrest her. He wanted her to stop what she was doing. The reporter, Hilde Lysiak, is only 12 years old. According to her story in the Orange Street News, when she gave him her name and phone number and told him she was working for a news organization, he said, “I don’t want to hear about any of that freedom of the press stuff. I’m going to have you arrested and thrown in juvey."A bit later, she approached him to ask what he meant about sending her to juvey. "What exactly am I doing that's illegal?"He tells her if she puts his face on the Internet it's against the law in Arizona. He then talks in circles, not ever giving a valid reason of how she was breaking the law.Via USA Today:He went on to tell her that he was worried about her safety and had told her not to follow the marshals because they were going into an area where people have seen mountain lions. From Patterson's perspective, Hilde had ignored a lawful order, the video shows.Hilde wasn't satisfied."Yeah, how is that illegal?" Hilde asked. "I understand that you're concerned about the safety, but what exactly am I doing?"Patterson insisted she disobeyed and also lied about where she was going. He told her she originally said she was going to her friend's house when he first stopped her, and instead she followed him, the video shows. Read the rest

This amusement never ends. Read the rest

Elizabeth Holmes, the "millennial Madoff" who built a $9 startup on a non-existent technology, gets her vanities tossed into a bonfire by Vanity Fair's Nick Bilton:Holmes had always enjoyed a certain lifestyle. From the early days of the company, she had insisted on flying in a private jet. As the company’s legal problems mounted, its costs skyrocketed, but Holmes had a hard time weaning herself off certain luxuries. She still had her own personal security detail, drivers, personal assistants, and a personal publicist who was on retainer for $25,000 a month, according to one of the former executives. Theranos had an indemnity agreement with Holmes and Sunny Balwani, the company’s C.O.O., with whom she had been romantically involved. (They are no longer dating.) Theranos paid all their legal bills, which totaled millions of dollars a month, according to both executives.By late 2017, however, Holmes had begun to slightly rein in the spending. She agreed to give up her private-jet travel (not a good look) and instead downgraded to first class on commercial airlines. But given that she was flying all over the world trying to obtain more funding for Theranos, she was spending tens of thousands of dollars a month on travel. Theranos was also still paying for her mansion in Los Altos, and her team of personal assistants and drivers, who would become regular dog walkers for Balto.But there were few places she had wasted so much money as the design and monthly cost of the company’s main headquarters, which employees simply referred to as “1701,” for its street address along Page Mill Road in Palo Alto. Read the rest

The Velogemel is a wooden bike that was invented in Grindelwald, Switzerland in 1911. It looks like a lot of fun to ride on down a snowy mountain at a speed of 25 mph. No brakes, though. You have to use your feet to slow down.Image: YouTube/Great Big Story Read the rest

On Tuesday morning, an Australian pilot took some artistic liberties with his flight path. ABC News:The Diamond Star plane, operated by Flight Training Adelaide, spent a little over three hours in the air on Tuesday to draw the letters over South Australia.The message was not seen by people on the ground, but was visible to aviation followers watching live flight tracking programs and websites.It is believed the pilot, who was working out of Parafield Airport, north of Adelaide, was "running in" a new engine.The FlightAware website captured the pilot's work between 8:53am to 11:57am.The pilot flew several loops, creating some somewhat explicit graffiti along the coast, before tracing "I'm bored" over the Princes Highway.Retired Qantas A380 pilot Chris Wilson said he thought the message was "harmless".screenshot by Flightaware via ABC News(Gizmodo) Read the rest

The BBC, citing Estonia's Postimees, reports that workers there "bundled a wild wolf into their car" thinking that it was a dog. In any case, the big fella was in big trouble out in the ice.Speaking to the Estonian newspaper Postimees, one of the men, Rando Kartsepp, said: "We had to carry him over the slope. He weighed a fair bit. ... He was calm, slept on my legs. When I wanted to stretch them, he raised his head for a moment," he added. ... The wolf recovered from its brush with death within the day and, after being fitted with a GPS collar by researchers from the national environmental agency, was released back into the wild."We are so happy for the outcome of the story, and wish to thank all the participants – especially these men who rescued the wolf and the doctors of the clinic who were not afraid to treat and nurture the wild animal," EUPA said. Read the rest

Zombie deer disease is a clicktastic term for chronic wasting disease, a spongiform ecephalopathy suffered by ungulates. Much like Mad Cow Disease, Scrapie in sheep, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob's disease in humans, misfolded proteins slowly destroy the brain, causing listlessness, discoordination, dementia and finally death. Now, what if you were to eat Zombie Deer?On March 13, 2005, a fire company in Oneida County, New York, fed the meat of a deer that tested positive for chronic wasting disease to 200 to 250 people. The company didn't know the meat was from a diseased deer. Laboratory tests for one of the deer served came back positive for CWD later. ... in a study published in the peer-reviewed medical journal Public Health, researchers found the group had "no significant changes in health conditions."The only significant outcome of eating Zombie Deer is subsequently "eating less venison." Read the rest

Oh no, here's something we definitely didn't ask for: sweet-and-savory meat-flavored cereals. On March 7 (to sync with National Cereal Day), Post is releasing two new limited-edition Honey Brunches of Oats flavors, Chicken & Waffles and Maple Bacon Donut. Both will be available at Walmart stores for a limited time.Popsugar:...the Chicken and Waffles cereal will feature mini chicken drumsticks and tiny waffle shapes, while the Maple Bacon Donuts flavor will feature doughnut-shaped cereal sprinkled with individual "bacon" bits. Boxes will sell for $2.98 each, and once they're gone, they're gone for good.(Geekologie) Read the rest

The waves of protests and walkouts that swept Google last year had many grievances and concerns, from the company's Pentagon contract to supply AI for drones to the secret creation of a censored search tool for the Chinese market, but one central flashpoint was the revelation that the company had paid Android exec $90 million to quietly leave the company after a string of disturbing sexual harassment and abuse incidents came to light.The Rubin incident was compounded by the company's practice of forcing its employees to accept binding arbitration contracts as a condition of employment (binding arbitration clauses mean that you surrender your right to seek justice in court, including as part of a class-action suit, and instead agree to have your disagreements heard by a corporate "aribitrator" paid for by the company you're upset with, who generally -- unsurprisingly -- sides with that company). The binding arbitration contracts meant that women who had suffered systematic discrimination and abuse at Google could not sue the company, especially not collectively through class action suits, which are often the only economically feasible way for groups of people to get redress from giant, powerful corporations -- under binding arbitration, women who'd been abused at Google couldn't even sue to be released from their confidentiality clauses so that they could publicly discuss their experiences.Last month, a group of activist googlers launched the #endforcedarbitration campaign, which actively made the connection between #metoo and forced arbitration. Though the activists' long-term goal was the elimination of forced arbitration clauses in all employment contracts, their first target was Google's employment contracts, and they scored a hit on that first attempt: Google has retroactively waived all existing binding arbitration clauses in employee contracts, expanding on the company's November 2018 decision to remove arbitration from new hires' contracts. Read the rest

Pro Idee's £369 Paper Bed is made of folds of rigid paper that collapse to a narrow sliver and then expand to 200cm length when needed; the materials are lightweight (total weight, 14.5k) and it can support up to 300kg, and the manufacturer claims it's comfortable, albeit with the addition of a foam pad. (via Yanko Design) Read the rest

I am hoping this is medical and not government surveillance.NBC:The World Health Organization says that an epidemic of measles in Madagascar has caused more than 900 deaths.According to WHO figures, there have been more than 68,000 cases of the disease, in which 553 deaths were confirmed and 373 suspected from measles since the outbreak began in September.Madagascar has launched a nationwide campaign to try to bring the outbreak under control, through mass vaccination campaigns and surveillance. Read the rest

“No, Mr. Stone, I’m not giving you another chance,” Judge Amy Berman Jackson said. "I have serious doubt whether you learned any lesson at all."

"Until Google can protect our brand from offensive content of any kind, we are removing all advertising from YouTube," an AT&T spokesperson told CNBC.

Monkees star Peter Tork, who played bass and keyboard on hits like "Daydream Believer" and co-starred in the band's popular 1960s comedy TV show, has died at 77. The bassist and singer played with The Monkees from their earliest days as a made-for-TV sixties pop band, through their recent reunion performances. Tork died Thursday of causes that have not been publicly detailed. He was 77. Tork’s sister, Anne Thorkelson confirmed his death to The Washington Post.“I am told he slipped away peacefully,” his Monkees bandmate Michael Nesmith said in a statement. “Yet, as I write this my tears are awash, and my heart is broken. Even though I am clinging to the idea that we all continue, the pain that attends these passings has no cure.” Read the rest

“The Chinese authorities turned to a Massachusetts company and a prominent Yale researcher as they built an enormous system of surveillance and control.”This is a heck of a story about how genetic surveillance, powered by American know-how, is being used to oppress the Muslim minority Uighur population and others in China, from the New York Times.The Uighur people of China are mostly Muslim, and China does awful things to make them comply with state rule. More than a million people, many Uighur, have been detained in what Xi Jinping's administration calls “re-education” camps. Now, DNA technology has become a useful weapon.China used Thermo Fisher’s equipment to map the genes of its people, according to five Ministry of Public Security patent filings. Authorities in Xinjiang said that Thermo Fisher's machines are important for DNA inspections in criminal cases and have “no substitutes in China.”— Sui-Lee Wee 黄瑞黎 (@suilee) February 21, 2019Thermo Fisher is the Massachussetts-based firm highlighted in this report. They're on Twitter. And Yale geneticist Kenneth Kidd is the American whose expertise was so central to the plan. Excerpt from Sui-Lee Wee's NYT report:Collecting genetic material is a key part of China’s campaign, according to human rights groups and Uighur activists. They say a comprehensive DNA database could be used to chase down any Uighurs who resist conforming to the campaign.Police forces in the United States and elsewhere use genetic material from family members to find suspects and solve crimes. Chinese officials, who are building a broad nationwide database of DNA samples, have cited the crime-fighting benefits of China’s own genetic studies. Read the rest

Evan from Fight for the Future writes, "It seems like every day we learn more about the creepy things big tech companies are doing with our personal data. But so much is still shrouded in secrecy. That's why we're launching a new campaign calling on employees of Silicon Valley companies to blow the whistle on unethical uses of technology. And poetically, we're crowdfunding and using Facebook's own microtargeting system to target video ads directly at employees of the biggest tech companies. We need to show people who work in tech that we'll have their back if they stand up for what's right. Check out the video and please share! Read the rest

During a recent power outage, deprived of espresso, I was lucky to have a Stanley French Press on hand.When the power went out at 3am and the various squeal of whatever the hell devices squeal when electricity disappears (smoke detectors?) woke the dogs, my night's sleep was shot. The road was flooded, power was out, and my espresso machine a useless block of stainless steel. Tea was not going to provide the miracle I needed.I still did not wish I had an Aeropress. They are just fine, but not what I choose.In my camping gear, I keep a hand grinder and a Stanley French Press. I braved the rain and fetched it from my VW camper.The super sturdy thermos-type shell of the Stanley keeps coffee drinkable for 2-3 hours. Long ago I tired of breaking glass French Press carafes. Slightly smaller than a full 12-cup pot of coffee, one of these is pretty much my morning as a solo adult camper with the kid in tow. At home, with two bored dogs and a cat that wished the dogs were not bored, I went through quite a few pots waiting on PGE.Stanley Classic Vacuum French Press, 48 oz, Hammertone Green via Amazon Read the rest

A 46-year-old woman died after eating at a Michelin star restaurant, and 28 others became sick with food poisoning. Morel mushrooms might be the culprit.The diners had all eaten at RiFF, in Valencia Spain, which "conjures up innovative cuisine," according to Michelin.According to the BBC, the woman who died had eaten at the restaurant with her husband and 12-year-old son, "both of whom also had diarrhoea and vomiting." Officials tracked down 75 people who ate at the restaurant between 13 and 16 February, and learned that a total of 29 had suffered food poisoning, including three families.This included a 46-year-old woman who ate out with her family on Saturday night and died at home in the early hours of Sunday morning...Some reports have suggested that morel mushrooms may have been to blame, but officials told local media they were waiting for the test results to come back before singling out any particular ingredient. "Regardless of the reason that may have caused this situation, I want to convey my deep regret for what happened, hoping that soon all these facts can be clarified," Bernd Knöller, RiFF's owner and head chef, said in a statement. The restaurant is closed "until the causes of what happened are established."Image: by https://www.flickr.com/photos/berndhknoeller/ - https://www.flickr.com/photos/berndhknoeller/4014385532/, CC BY-SA 2.0, Link Read the rest

He's the guy with the half-nude woman in this photo.

As soon as you sign up for free Ganbreeder account you can start creating algorithmic monstrosities simply by clicking "Make Children." I feel just like Billy Mumy in the Twilight Zone episode, "It's a Good Life." Read the rest

Scientists believe that the "CRISPR twins," who had their genes edited last year before birth, will now have an easier time learning and memorizing. Apparently, the gene alteration, which was meant to make the girls immune to HIV, also altered their brains.According to Technology Review:Now, new research shows that the same alteration introduced into the girls’ DNA, to a gene called CCR5, not only makes mice smarter but also improves human brain recovery after stroke, and could be linked to greater success in school.“The answer is likely yes, it did affect their brains,” says Alcino J. Silva, a neurobiologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, whose lab has been uncovering a major new role for the CCR5 gene in memory and the brain’s ability to form new connections. “The simplest interpretation is that those mutations will probably have an impact on cognitive function in the twins,” says Silva. He says the exact effect on the girls’ cognition is impossible to predict, and “that is why it should not be done.” There is no evidence that He Jiankui, the lead scientist from the Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, China, set out to alter their intelligence. He is now under investigation for the controversial experiment that "has been widely condemned as irresponsible."Image: by Max Pixel/CC0 Public Domain Read the rest

Actor Jussie Smollett claimed to be the victim of an attack by white men who poured chemicals on him and uttered racial and homophobic slurs. After weeks of rumors and leaks from the investigation—and the arrests of two men who didn't fit the description— Smollett himself is now being charged with filing a false police report: sources reportedly say he paid the men. With a check.Jussie Smollett was taken into police custody hours after he was charged with disorderly conduct after allegedly filing a false police report about an assault on him last month in Chicago, authorities announced early Thursday morning.“Jussie Smollet is under arrest and in custody of detectives,” Chicago Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi tweeted.The authorities did not provide any additional details about Smollett’s arrest, but Gugliemi had said Wednesday, after Smollett was charged by the Cook County state’s attorney’s office, that police would “make contact with his legal team to negotiate a reasonable surrender for his arrest.” Read the rest

Posted on YouTube without description, via Reddit, where commenter VikingMart identifies the location as Anegada in the British Virgin Islands.The local fishermen that dive conch throw away their shells here most of the time. With the amounts that they dive and have dived up, its probably a good idea since having a bunch of conch shells scattered around everywhere could be an eyesore.These shells aren't as pretty as you probably think they are. Most of of them are defaced. This is because in order to get the conch meat out, fishermen usually make a hole by the "nose" of the shell. This is to reach and loosen the snail muscle (with a screwdriver or knife), and then pull it out. This leaves these conch shells defaced and one would probably have a hard time selling them.Based on VikingMart's description, I think I found it on Google Maps: Read the rest

I shalln't call it instant justice but it does serve to remind us that criminality is best performed calmly, like you're supposed to be there, the way the rich do it. Justice was served the proper way: 58 days in jail.Alicia Treat had pleaded guilty to the thefts in January with alleged accomplice Brian Devere. The maximum prison sentence was 60 days. ... Treat, 37, is homeless, on disability, and has three kids. Devere, 39, has a lengthy criminal history that includes convictions for identity theft, burglary, and auto theft. Read the rest

While vacationing in Kauai, my pal Otto von Stroheim spotted this informative primer on local Hawaiian culture, right on the side of a reusable Foodland supermarket bag.I dug around Ebay and discovered it's part of a series called "You Know You Local."Here's the holiday edition:lead image via Otto, 2 + 3 image via ebay, 4 +5 image via ebay Read the rest

Presidents' Day was Monday and what better time for an 8-foot-tall statue of a shirtless Abraham Lincoln to be making the rounds. On Twitter, @MuseZack rediscovered this gem of a sculpture.Reminder that the Los Angeles federal courthouse has a statue of Abraham Lincoln where he's a shirtless young stud suggestively tugging at his waistband like a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model: pic.twitter.com/32bjqEERYi— Zack Stentz (@MuseZack) February 20, 2019Witty names like "Honest Abs" and "The Gettsyburg Undress" are being used to describe it. And @PKtje has dug up "shirtless Lincoln" fanfic.And, yes, it's real. "Young Lincoln" was sculpted in the late thirties by James Lee Hansen (who may or may not be this James Lee Hansen). A year out of art school and frustrated by his lack of success in the real world, a friend prompted him to enter a sculpture competition at the Federal Building. From a Los Angeles Times article dated March 13, 1941: “I don’t know,” Hansen replied, “I’ve only done one piece of sculpture in my life.”He was interested, however, and checked up—only to find that the contest, under way for several months, closed for the model entries in a week. Hansen got a supply of plaster and made a small figure of Lincoln. Like the other contestants, he submitted it anonymously to the Fine Arts Section of the Federal Works Agency.No one was more surprised than Hansen when he was notified his entry has won $7,200 and a commission to do the Lincoln statue. Read the rest

Last year while I was on tour in Australia with my novel Walkaway, I sat down for an interview with legal scholar Rebecca Giblin (previously), whose Authors' Interest project studies how we would craft copyright (and other policies) if we wanted to benefit creators, rather than enriching corporations; we talked about the power and limits of copyright to benefit authors, and how other policies, like antitrust, are crucial to getting authors their fair share. Read the rest

Iowa State Representative Gary Carlson [R-91/gary.carlson@legis.iowa.gov] introduced House Study Bill 185, co-drafted by lobbyists for Midamerican Energy, one of Iowa's regional energy monopolists, with a long history of trying to subvert the "net metering" rules that allow Iowans to put solar panels on their roofs and sell power back into the grid when they are generating more than they are using.The Midamerican/Carlson bill guts net metering, which will add about $300/year to the power bills of households that install solar panels, using a common anti-solar argument that falsely claims that solar users are more expensive for utilities to service and thus receive a subsidy from households that do not have solar (in reality, part of the installation cost of solar paid by homeowners includes the infrastructure costs to connect to the grid).Kerri Johannsen from the Iowa Environmental Council called this "a clear attempt to monopolize the sun in Iowa."800 Iowans earn good, middle-class livings as solar installers.MidAmerican’s characterization of the costs of solar to the grid and, in particular, the idea that solar customers are “super-users” is alarming and seems to rely on average Iowans not understanding how the grid works. In fact, the poles and wires that deliver power to our homes are the same ones that deliver power to the grid. Solar customers are not given special or different wires and using the grid in both directions does not put added stress on that equipment. That’s just not how it works. Solar customers also pay for interconnection costs, including any necessary upgrades to the system, up front. Read the rest

After tax, you're clear of two grand. Behold the Galaxy Fold:Samsung is using a new 7.3-inch Infinity Flex Display that allows the phone itself to have a tablet-sized screen that can be folded to fit into a pocket. The main display is QXGA+ resolution (4.2:3), and when it’s folded, a smaller 4.6-inch HD+ (12:9) display is used for the phone mode. Samsung is using 512GB of Universal Flash Storage 3.0 (eUFS) for fast speeds, alongside a Qualcomm 7nm octa-core processor and 12GB of RAM. Samsung has even built two batteries for its Galaxy Fold, that are separated by the fold but combined in the Android operating system to represent a total of 4,380 mAh.I suspect the charm will wear off quickly and leave us with a middle-of-the road phone that turns into a middle-of-the-road tablet, but I'm delighted Samsung is making something completely, unambiguously new. Sony used to do this sort of thing, then abandon it; maybe things will be different now. Read the rest

Sesame Street is turning 50 years in November. As part of the yearlong celebration, they've posted this fun compilation of well-known musicians parodying their own songs over the years. (I'm actually ok with not being able toget REM's "Happy Furry Monsters" out of my head because it's adorable.)A YouTube commenter listed all the musical artists with their Sesame Street-ed song:* 1973 - Stevie Wonder | Superstition (0:00)* 1978 - Paul Simon | Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard (5:09)* 1979 - Ray Charles | I Got a Song (1:40)* 1984 - James Taylor | That Grouchy Face (3:41)* 1988 - Smokey Robinson | U Really Got a Hold on Me (4:02)* 1988 - Billy Joel | Just the Way You Are (0:38)* 1988 - Marlee Matlin | Just the Way You Are (0:38)* 1996 - Melissa Etheridge | Like the Way U Does (4:15)* 1996 - Spin Doctors | Two Princes (1:15)* 1998 - Tony Bennett | Slimey to the Moon (2:48)* 1999 - REM | Furry Happy Monsters (1:24)* 2000 - Hootie & the Blowfish | Hold My Hand (2:01)* 2000 - The Goo Goo Dolls | Pride (1:05)* 2002 - Dixie Chicks - No Letter Better Than B (2:20)* 2003 - Sheryl Crow | I Soaks Up the Sun (1:48)* 2004 - Norah Jones | Don't Know Y (0:18)* 2005 - Andrea Bocelli | Time to Say Goodnight (2:27)* 2007 - James Blunt | My Triangle (5:00)* 2008 - Feist | 1234 (3:00)* 2009 - Jason Mraz | Outdoors (4:47)* 2011 - Elvis Costello | (A Monster Went and) Ate My Red Two (3:27)* 2012 - Train | Five By (3:11)* 2015 - One Direction | What Makes "U" Useful (4:31)* 2015 - Macklemore | Grouch Thrift Shop (3:53)Just try and tell me that didn't make you smile, even a little. Read the rest

Use a single password for every website, and you're compromising your security. Use a different one each time, and you're bound to lose track of them. The solution? RoboForm Everywhere, a catch-all tool that will not only manage the passwords on every site you visit but generate better ones.As a simple password database, it's comprehensive enough for even the most forgetful online citizen. It saves and protects log-in data from any site with AES 256-bit encryption, and can even encrypt text notes for offline or WiFi passwords, all searchable and easily organized. You can import from all major password managers or a basic CSV, and choose a trusted friend to share your info with in case of emergency. But RoboForm will also generate random passwords and audit them for safety, making sure you've got the most airtight log-ins on every site - all of which can be set to auto-fill with a click.Right now, a 5-year individual subscription to Roboform Everywhere is 33% off the list price at $29.99. Read the rest

There are old-school DJs and then there's DJ Amelia Foxtrot of Austin Phonograph Co. in Texas. Her turntables are antique hand-cranked phonographs and her records are scratchy-sounding 78s. Of course, I was immediately charmed all of this. I reached out to her and she shared: I've been doing phonograph DJ work for 7 years. I started in 2012 because I wanted to buy a phonograph. Being an entrepreneur at heart, I thought if I created a business DJing with it, my hobby would fund itself. And I got to buy two!She mostly plays private events like seances (!), weddings, and fancy birthday parties. Though, on March 24, you can catch her at the Jazz Age Sunday Social in Dallas. Amelia also co-owns and runs Sweet Ritual, a popular dairy-free ice cream shop in Austin. Additionally, she teaches Cool School for budding vegan ice cream parlor owners.photo by Sam OrtegaThanks, Maggie! Read the rest

Moe Berg earned his reputation as the brainiest man in baseball -- he had two Ivy League degrees and studied at the Sorbonne. But when World War II broke out he found an unlikely second career, as a spy trying to prevent the Nazis from getting an atomic bomb. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll follow Berg's enigmatic life and its strange conclusion.We'll also consider the value of stripes and puzzle over a fateful accident.Show notesPlease support us on Patreon! Read the rest

Wilson X was the sports manufacturer's entry into the market for smart basketballs, but maintaining the app that made sense of the telemetry from your sensor-equipped roundball was expensive and stupid and so the Wilson X app is no more, and the "B" in "B-ball" stands for "bricked." But wait, there's more! If you shelled out $350 for Nike's self-tying shoes, you got burned this week when Nike updated its shoe-tying app leaving it unable to pair with the shoes' "advanced power-lacing system" and thus the shoes no longer lace themselves and dynamically adjust their tensioning in response to your movement.The shoes? Also bricks.The ball still bounces, and you can still tie your own shoes, of course, but the sensor packages and their accompanying control infrastructure are gone."app wont pair with left shoe," reads one such review from Feb. 17. "paired with sneakers right after unboxing then completely crashed after last update."Others encountered a similar problem."the app has less functionality than the iOS app, and the first software update for the shoe threw an error while updating, bricking the right shoe," reads another. "needs serious work." Nike just bricked its self-lacing shoes by accident [Jack Morse/Mashable](via Four Short Links) Read the rest

The Truth-In-Billing, Remedies, and User Empowerment over Fees Act [TRUE Fees] has been introduced by Rep Anna Eshoo [D-CA] and Sen Ed Markey [D-MA]; if passed, it will force ISPs and cable operators to advertise the true costs of their packages, including all surcharges.As Karl Bode writes on Motherboard, the bill seeks to remedy an epidemic of the kind of false advertising that is banned in Europe, but which American firms regard as "the height of capitalistic creativity," from hotels who use hidden "resort fees" to jack up prices over advertised rates to the misleading "regulatory recovery" fees on phone or utility bills that falsely suggest that they are the result of some statute, not the company's greed.And of course, no one practices this deceptive art with the virtuosity of the cable/ISP industry, whose monopolism, contempt for customers, and price gouging are legendary. “This legislation is simple, straightforward, and effective,” Consumer Reports said of this latest legislative effort. “The TRUE Fees Act would address the out-of-control fee problem in the telecommunications marketplace and deliver much-needed transparency for cable and internet providers’ unnecessarily-complicated billing practices.”The government’s apathy has come with a steep price for cable and broadband customer wallets. Many of these fees have been jacked upwards of 241% in just the last few years, leaving American consumers paying even higher rates for what’s already some of the most expensive cable TV and broadband prices in the developed world.New Bill Would Stop Internet Service Providers From Screwing You With Hidden Fees [Karl Bode/Motherboard] Read the rest

The twitter account @TheScaryNature posted this image with the caption "these two Bull Moose died in battle and became frozen in ice", and the only thing I can think of is "Toxic mooseculinity."The photographer, as revealed by Google's reverse image search feature, is Brad Webster:Webster says there are several theories on what happened to the moose, but the most likely scenario to play out is that the two moose were fighting over a female when one was knocked unconscious or suffered a broken neck, taking the other one down with it."There was a fight and one of them won, and they both lost," Webster said. "Once it's knocked out or once it's dead, you've got a live moose that won the fight, but the other moose is dragging you down into the water."I've already made a joke of it, but there's a weird power to Webster's photo and I can't stop thinking about it.UPDATE: Found Brad's website.Another word that I would [use to describe Alaska], [and] would take probably more explanation would just be: culture. … The culture of the village; the culture of the people; the beauty of the language and the beauty of the traditions and the heritage and the knowledge that’s been passed down. And wanting to learn from it and respect it, but still in a way that respects the people to continue to be who they are. Some kind of a weird balance, of an outsider coming in and wanting to see and experience those things, without imposing or changing the experience for them. Read the rest

Is the National Enquirer running scared? There’s not a mention of either Amazon chief Jeff Bezos or president Donald Trump in this week’s edition. Could it be that the threat of investigation and possible prison time for hacks accused of extortion and blackmail against Bezos and burying sex scandals about Trump have finally silenced the nattering nabobs of negativism? Bezos and The Donald escape lightly this week, but others aren’t so lucky.Prince Charles “Disowns Harry!” proclaims the Globe cover. Prince Harry reportedly refused Charles’ demand that he divorce wife Meghan, and in the ensuing row Charles raged that DNA tests have proven he’s not Harry’s father. Which would explain why Charles allegedly said: “You’re a common-born bastard.” Aren’t we all? The odds that this conversation actually happened? Infinitesimally small. The odds that the Globe has a source inside Kensington Palace revealing this private conversation? Even smaller.The Globe claims that serial killer Ted Bundy’s daughter has been "found hiding in Britain" under an assumed name. No, it’s not “Meghan Markle.” And the woman their reporter approached said: “I’m sorry, I’m not the person you’re looking for.” Sounds like an admission of guilt if there ever was one.“Scientology Leader’s Missing Wife Found After 13 Years!” declares the Enquirer cover, though the headline above the inside spread is far less confident, asking: “Is This Shelly Miscavige?” It’s definitely a photograph of a dark-haired woman, reportedly seen disembarking a Scientology cruise ship and heading to Florida, which as we all know is a state where Scientologists have been known to live. Read the rest

Six months ago I could not do a single chin-up. I got this chin-up bar and went to work. Perseverance developed body strength, and my vanity has pumped up a notch!I read something that said an average guy in my weight range should be able to do 10-12 chin-ups. There is a chin-up bar at a park I walk my dogs past, and I found I could not even manage one. I was doing 30+ push-ups and set after set of core abdominal exercises on the floor, but chin-ups were out of my range.I also learned that my 'frozen' right shoulder hurt so badly I couldn't maintain more than 1-2 seconds hanging on the bar with my hands facing out, as for pull-ups. Just trying a pull-up may be laughable for others, I was wincing with pain.I got a chin-up bar and installed it in the doorway of my home office. I can not walk in or out of my workspace without seeing the bar. This encourages me to use it.About a week of hanging on the bar and trying to get that first chin-up paid off. A pull-up seemed impossible. I watched some Youtube videos for technique. Strength was my problem, screw form.Another week went by and I was able to do 3 chin-ups and maybe kind pulled off a second set of two. My daughter, a USA Gymnastics Level-4 competitor started using chin-up competitions with me to get out of chores.A month into this project I was able to do 2 sets of 10 chin-ups but still could not pull off a single pull-up. Read the rest

Doesn't take a lot for me to imagine that creepy dancing Fleegle killing folks.Bloody Disgusting:In a bizarre move that was surely inspired by the success of Five Nights at Freddy’s, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment and Syfy are bringing back the characters from Hanna-Barbera’s variety program “The Banana Splits Adventure Hour” for… a horror movie?!As reported by Deadline, kid-friendly (originally, at least) animal characters Bingo, Fleegle, Drooper and Snorky will return in an original movie that’s set to “premiere this year from Blue Ribbon Content, Warner Bros Television Group’s digital studio, via a Warner Bros. Home Entertainment release that will be followed by the television debut on Syfy.”In the upcoming horror thriller, “A boy named Harley and his family (brother Austin, mother Beth, and father Mitch) attend a taping of The Banana Splits TV show, which is supposed to be a fun-filled birthday for young Harley and business as usual for Rebecca, the producer of the series. But things take an unexpected turn — and the body count quickly rises. Can Harley, his mom and their new pals safely escape?” Read the rest

After Twitter user @gabbytropea is accidentally locked out of her house, her cat gets to work by removing a sliding door stick so that she can open the door. Yay for smart cats. My sister accidentally locked me out of the house so I went to check if the back door was unlocked and this happened pic.twitter.com/2zkjeyFJk5— Gabby Tropea (@gabbytropea) February 18, 2019 Read the rest

I don't suppose you've seen those two boiled eggs I left sitting on the kitchen sideboard by any chance? pic.twitter.com/dV2YSbZL6R— Stevie K (@1StevieKilner) February 17, 2019I love the look on that puppy face. Read the rest

Philly.com: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote the court's opinion in favor of Tyson Timbs, of Marion, Indiana. Police seized Timbs' $40,000 Land Rover when they arrested him for selling about $400 worth of heroin.Reading a summary of her opinion in the courtroom, Ginsburg noted that governments employ fines "out of accord with the penal goals of retribution and deterrence" because fines are a source of revenue. The 85-year-old justice missed arguments last month following lung cancer surgery, but returned to the bench on Tuesday.The Times:Civil forfeiture is a popular way to raise revenue, and its use has been the subject of widespread criticism across the political spectrum.The Supreme Court has ruled that the Eighth Amendment, which bars “excessive fines,” limits the ability of the federal government to seize property. On Wednesday, the court ruled that the clause also applies to the states.There's an element of insanity to it all: it's so difficult to believe that police are allowed to seize and sell people's property that it was correspondingly difficult to get people to accept that it is a widespread practice, rather than some kind of swivel-eyed libertarian conspiracy theory. Virtually every faction in American politics was firmly against it: the left, liberals, libertarians, movement conservatives, even Trumpkins. In fact, the only person I ever met who sincerely defended civil forfeiture was a self-described "moderate", a centrist. Read the rest

Over 100,000 marine animals die every year after getting trapped in plastic, but this little fish got lucky. A diver in Phuket, Thailand found the creature trapped in a plastic bag and, after a bit of gentle shaking and maneuvering, was able to free set it free. It might just be a tiny fish, but I was sitting on the edge of my seat watching this video. Read the rest