Boing Boing

Photoshop kinda sucked when Adobe introduced it to the iPad last year. Months in, Photoshop for iOS is still such a flummoxing disappointment when I need to tinker with an image on my tablet. I pay for Adobe's Photography Plan (its ability to automatically sync images between devices keeps me sane), but still need to use the currently more capable Affinity Photo for iPad, for some tasks. Happily, Photoshop's development team has been taking baby steps, since its initial release, to provide more of the functionality seen in the app's desktop version. Their latest addition? The ability send images between the iOS iteration of Lightroom to Photoshop.From The Verge:Moving files into and between Adobe’s apps has been one of the small but frustrating challenges of using them on the iPad. It was years before you could import photos directly from an SD card. Moving back and forth between Lightroom and Photoshop is a really common workflow for editors, so this addition should make the process a lot quicker and more convenient. Editors could do it before, but they’d have to manually export and import the updated files every time they wanted to change apps.Now, if they'd just get luminosity range masking up and running in Lightroom for iOS, I'd have one less reason to sit in front of my computer. If you're an iPad user, moving an image over to Photoshop from Lightroom to edit, is a cinch.If you haven't done so already, update Lightroom for iOS up to it's most recent release. Read the rest

There have been a lot of "singing assholes" in music history, but none can hold a candle to David E. Gluck. Using only his talented sphincter muscle, Gluck "lip synched" along to The Trashmen single "Surfing Bird" in one of the most memorable moments in cinema history (but still only runner-up to another notorious scene from the same Waters cult classic).While his parents were still alive and because of his career, Gluck insisted that he stay anonymous and the star behind this tour de force remained a mystery. Once his parents passed away however, he felt free to shed his cloak of anonymity and let the world know his true identity.From The Baltimore Sun:"When we had the 25th anniversary and 'Pink Flamingos' was shown in regular theaters, he'd go to the movies and when his scene came on he'd tap the person on the shoulder in front of him and say, "That's me," Mr. Waters said with a laugh. "I always considered that an act of domestic terrorism."David E. Gluck died of pneumonia on June 2 at the age of 70. His widow, Patricia Greisz-Fultz Gluck, gave her blessing that his previously uncredited role may be shared with the world. Read the rest

Even if you aren’t an Apple fan, there’s a decent bet you’re ok with the Apple AirPods because, frankly, they’re just well-made and do their job with little fuss and a lot of style.Of course, that doesn’t mean the AirPods are perfect. They’re so small that they can easily roll under a couch and be lost forever. Keeping them charged up sometimes can be a hassle. And it’s near impossible for some users to keep those things from falling right out of their ears all the time. If you find the reliability of AirPod’s great sound is constantly detracted by a poor fit, it might be worth giving the Earhoox AirPod Survival Kit a try.Earhoox are like an easy-fix upgrade for your AirPods that can take them from mildly useful to practically indispensable. Just stretch the small or large sized Earhoox on to your regular AirPods and the light, durable and comfortable arm with unique flex holes locks the AirPod securely into place.No matter the activity or weather conditions, Earhoox keeps your earbuds in place so you can move with your music, making them perfect for workouts, running, commuting and the rest of your busy day activities.Since AirPods also have a disturbing habit of getting lost all the time, the Earhoox even come equipped with a small magnetic strap to keep your AirPod pairs together when they aren’t in use.This package also comes with an AirPods case to keep your buds from all the obnoxious bumps, drops, scratches and scrapes that life throws at them. Read the rest

Without any background, the idea of sleeping on bamboo sheets may not seem all that appealing. Sure, bamboo can be made into nice furniture and pandas seem to love chowing down on the stuff, but is it really something you want to be sleeping on?Turns out when it’s woven into a high-quality microfiber fabric like this Bamboo Comfort Luxury Sheet Set, the answer is a resounding yes. What you might not realize unless you’re deep into the bedding game is that bamboo fabric has been building in popularity for the past several years — and for a few good reasons.Of course, the true test of any sheet set is its comfort — and bamboo fabric can compete with the best of them. In fact, bamboo viscose is often hard to distinguish from silk or Egyptian cotton, while costing a whole lot less. Bamboo also has the advantage of insane natural absorbency. Being able to take in up to three times its weight in water, bamboo sheets are 40 percent more absorbent than even the best cotton sheets, pulling away moisture to keep your bed dry and comfortable, even during those hot summer nights.In addition to being amazingly soft and absorbent, bamboo sheets are also hypo-allergenic, warding off any allergic reactions or skin irritations that can come with cotton or other bedding materials. In much the same way bamboo foot mats are used in many countries to combat foot odor, bamboo has natural antimicrobial bio-agents that reduce bacteria and eliminate contaminants that might collect on your clothes or bedding. Read the rest

That good good loving makes a bad bad fighter. Read the rest

Russian President Vladimir Putin is expressing concern about his confidence in arrangements with Donald Trump because of ongoing protests in the United States, Russia's Interfax news agency quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying on Saturday.From Reuters:U.S. and Russian envoys are due to discuss “mutually agreed topics related to the future of arms control” in Austria next week, the U.S. State Department has said. Referring to Trump, Peskov said Putin needs to understand that “agreements with his political counterpart can be trusted”.There is a growing unpredictability in steps by Washington and this is worrying world capitals, Peskov was quoted as saying.“And it is important for President Putin to understand that he has a vis-à-vis (Trump) who can responsibly engage in a dialogue with him on how to amend this situation,” Peskov said. And don't forget what John Bolton said.ABC News host Martha Raddatz:“How would you describe Trump's relationship with Vladimir Putin?”John Bolton:“I think Putin thinks he can play him like a fiddle.”.@MarthaRaddatz: “How would you describe Trump's relationship with Vladimir Putin?”John Bolton: “I think Putin thinks he can play him like a fiddle.”Watch more from the exclusive interview this Sunday at 9|8c on ABC. https://t.co/DNIhfGmMmY pic.twitter.com/mPlORtELPU— ABC News (@ABC) June 20, 2020 Read the rest

The United States Internal Revenue Service says it purchased access to a marketing database that offers location data for millions of US cellphones, so the IRS can identify and track persons suspected of tax-related crimes.The unsuccessful effort illustrates how marketing data, and locatin data, are used by law enforcement to track and I.D. individual people suspected of criminal activity.Reports Byron Tau at the Wall Street Journal:The IRS Criminal Investigation unit, or IRS CI, had a subscription to access the data in 2017 and 2018, and the way it used the data was revealed last week in a briefing by IRS CI officials to Sen. Ron Wyden’s (D., Ore.) office. The briefing was described to The Wall Street Journal by an aide to the senator.IRS CI officials told Mr. Wyden’s office that their lawyers had given verbal approval for the use of the database, which is sold by a Virginia-based government contractor called Venntel Inc. Venntel obtains anonymized location data from the marketing industry and resells it to governments. IRS CI added that it let its Venntel subscription lapse after it failed to locate any targets of interest during the year it paid for the service, according to Mr. Wyden’s aide.Justin Cole, a spokesman for IRS CI, said it entered into a “limited contract with Venntel to test their services against the law enforcement requirements of our agency.” IRS CI pursues the most serious and flagrant violations of tax law, and it said it used the Venntel database in “significant money-laundering, cyber, drug and organized-crime cases.” Read the rest

Apple will temporarily close a number of retail stores again in the U.S., as the coronavirus outbreak re-emerges as a significant threat in new areas of the country, reports Bloomberg News.About a dozen stores across four states will be closed, in areas where new positive case counts have surged higher. “Due to current COVID-19 conditions in some of the communities we serve, we are temporarily closing stores in these areas,” said Apple on Friday in a statement to Bloomberg News. “We take this step with an abundance of caution as we closely monitor the situation and we look forward to having our teams and customers back as soon as possible.” Apple shares dropped Friday on the news reports, Mark Gurman at Bloomberg:Apple had reopened the majority of its U.S. locations, including many stores in major markets like New York City and Los Angeles.The stores being closed are Waterside Shops and Coconut Point in Florida, Southpark and Northlake Mall in North Carolina, Haywood Mall in South Carolina, and Chandler Fashion Center, Scottsdale Fashion Square, Arrowhead, SanTan Village, Scottsdale Quarter and La Encantada in Arizona.Apple said customers will be able to pick up device repairs at the stores over the weekend. Employees of the closed stores will continue be paid, the company said. Apple didn’t provide a timeline for reopening.[via techmeme.com]Let this sink in: Apple is re-closing stores in GOP red states that have failed to tackle #COVID19. Apple cares more about its customers+employees than these states care about their citizens. Read the rest

This week in the wonders of artificial intelligence, researchers at Duke University are using AI to make blurry, unrecognizable images of human faces in photos up to 60 times sharper with some remarkable results. Or did you know the U.S. Army is engineering new AI-enabled Hostile Fire Detection sensors that work like virtual soldiers, alerting flesh and blood troops to enemy fire, positions, and other potential threats? Or that AI may ultimately be what cracks the decades-old problem solving nuclear fusion? And all that was just made public in the space of a few days.Artificial intelligence and machine learning are breaking down walls in virtually every field and industry imaginable — and those with the skills to bring AI into an organization is not only invaluable but paid a fortune. You can join those ranks through the training in courses like The Ultimate Artificial Intelligence Scientist Certification Bundle. With four courses covering nearly 80 hours of material, this training is a top-to-bottom overview of the tools and procedures used to integrate thinking machines into supply chains, service operations, tech advancements, and a whole lot more.These courses from Super Data Science are among the most popular in the field, with nearly 200,000 positive reviews from more than a million students.Since the Python programming language is at the center of AI and machine learning, the Python A-Z course is the perfect entry point to understanding the discipline. With step-by-step tutorials, students learn core principles of Python coding that can immediately be applied to real-life analytical challenges. Read the rest

Following the discovery and prompting of a security researcher at Awake Security, Google says it has removed 106 malicious Chrome extensions that had 32 million downloads, and which were gathering browsing history and sensitive credentials from users.They don't yet know who was behind the malware effort. “Awake Security said the developers supplied fake contact information when they submitted the extensions to Google,” Joe Menn at Reuters:“When we are alerted of extensions in the Web Store that violate our policies, we take action and use those incidents as training material to improve our automated and manual analyses,” Google spokesman Scott Westover told Reuters.Most of the free extensions purported to warn users about questionable websites or convert files from one format to another. Instead, they siphoned off browsing history and data that provided credentials for access to internal business tools.Based on the number of downloads, it was the most far-reaching malicious Chrome store campaign to date, according to Awake co-founder and chief scientist Gary Golomb.Google declined to discuss how the latest spyware compared with prior campaigns, the breadth of the damage, or why it did not detect and remove the bad extensions on its own despite past promises to supervise offerings more closely.More at Reuters -Exclusive: Massive spying on users of Google's Chrome shows new security weakness[via techmeme.com] Read the rest

We’re a latest and greatest kind of culture. We want the newest, shiniest, fastest piece of tech in existence -- and many are willing to pay top dollar for the privilege of saying no one owns one better. The reality is that life at the tech pinnacle is incredibly fleeting. Within months, sometimes weeks, even the most hyped new technology is inevitably surpassed. But does that make that computer or device or accessory less valuable than when it was the hottest item on store shelves? No. It just means someone created something a tiny bit faster or more powerful or more versatile.In many cases, old tech gets cast aside when it’s still got years of valuable service left in its trusty innards. And if you can land fully certified, refurbished equipment guaranteed to run like new like these Dell Optiplex 7010 desktop PCs, you score premium computing at often hugely cut-rate prices.Each of these desktop units has been checked through a thorough testing and refurbishing process by a Microsoft Authorized Refurbisher to ensure every computer is running as well as the day it rolled off the assembly line. Powered by the reliable performance of an Intel Quad-Core i5 processor with 16MB of memory, it’s more than up to the task of handling everything from everyday web surfing and correspondence to hardcore multitasking using multiple apps at once. In fact, those Intel processors are only a tick behind the abilities of Intel chips currently running industry-leading computers topping the 2020 marketplace. Read the rest

Adam Schlesinger has long been a songwriting hero of mine, and I was absolutely heartbroken when I learned that he had passed away from COVID-19 complications in early April. He was someone who genuinely elevated the craft of pop songwriting to an artform, without precious or self-important about it.Now, friends of Schlesinger from across the spectrum of his work — from rock music to Broadway to movies and TV — have come together to put a 31-song tribute album, covering his whole discography:Adam Schlesinger was a prodigious and prolific songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist. He died on April 1 at the age of 52 as the result of complications from COVID-19. Not only was Schlesinger in multiple beloved bands—including the power-pop-leaning Fountains of Wayne and sophisticated electro-pop act Ivy—but he also collaborated on songs for movie soundtracks and the TV show Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.A wide array of artists touched by Schlesinger's life pay tribute to the many musical projects of which he was a part via the Bandcamp-exclusive benefit compilation, Saving for a Custom Van. The 31-song collection features collaborators, tourmates, friends, and fans putting their own spin on songs spanning his entire career. Saving for a Custom Van, which takes its title from a lyric in Fountains of Wayne's "Utopia Parkway," is co-curated and co-released by Father/Daughter Records and Wax Nine.One-hundred percent of Saving for a Custom Van proceeds will be donated to MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fund, which is dedicated to helping music industry and community members affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Read the rest

The potentiometers and switches on my various electric guitars, basses, and amplifiers were making bad, crackly, staticky noises. This aerosol contact cleaner, which comes with a straw, is a cheap and easy way to clean these components, making them work as good as new. People on Amazon say it works well for mouse buttons and scroll wheels, too. Read the rest

A new article from Nature describes the discovery of a 100-million-year-old fossilized reptile egg with a soft, leathery shell that's nearly a foot long. It's the second-largest egg fossil ever discovered (after the egg of the elephant bird, which had a hard shell about five times thicker), and also the first such discovery made on the continent of Antarctica.As National Geographic summarizes:The 68-million-year-old egg, called Antarcticoolithus bradyi, is the first fossil egg ever found in Antarctica, only outsized by the eggs of Madagascar’s extinct elephant bird. Antarcticoolithus is also one of the few fossil eggs ever found in marine sediment. “For the first egg remnant from Antarctica to be a nearly complete egg that has finely preserved microstructure is kind of insane,” says Julia Clarke of UT Austin.[…]Under a microscope, Antarcticoolithus not only lacked the internal structure of hard eggshells, but also the pores of hard-shelled eggs, suggesting the large egg was soft.At the time the egg was laid, large marine reptiles called mosasaurs lived in the Antarctic waters where the fossil egg was entombed. The bones of a mosasaur were found less than 700 feet from the site, suggesting the egg may have belonged to these 20-foot-long swimming reptiles.Here's the real kicker though: the scientists didn't find any bones inside of the egg. And while they think it would have belonged to a mosasaur, or some other 20-plus-foot-long swimming reptiles, that wouldn't gel with their current knowledge of those leviathans. From Nature(emphasis added):The identity of the animal that laid the egg is unknown, but these preserved morphologies are consistent with the skeletal remains of mosasaurs (large marine lepidosaurs) found nearby. Read the rest

This idiot driving on the wrong side of a Connecticut freeway has the same mindset as a person who won't wear a facemask in public during a pandemic: "Screw all of you, I'm doing what I please." Does anyone know the full story? Read the rest

Almost Famous (2000) is one of my favorite rock and roll moves of all time. Director and writer Cameron Crowe did a masterful job with his semi-autobiographical story of a young teen music journalist on his first assignment from Rolling Stone in the 1970s. It's a lovely, funny, and moving film that just feels real. Now, the killer cast, including Kate Hudson, Frances McDormand, Billy Crudup, Zooey Deschanel, Jimmy Fallon, Patrick Fugit, Jason Lee are joining Crowe, Nancy Wilson of Heart (Crowe's wife who wrote music for the film), technical consultant Peter Frampton, and others for a five-part podcast hosted by James Andrew Miller. The podcast series, Origins, is produced by Cadence13 and previous editions have focused on the birth of Curb Your Enthusiasm, Sex and the City, and Saturday Night Live. Here's the trailer for Origins: Almost Famous Turns Twenty, premiering July 8.From Rolling Stone: In addition, casting director Gail Levin, rock photographer Neal Preston and Pennie Trumbull — the real-life inspiration for Penny Lane — will also share their memories.“Between his personable style, and the exhaustive research behind his wonderful questions, Jim Miller managed to summon all the spirit and emotion of Almost Famous with the original cast,” Crowe said in a statement. “It’s a little bit of a magic trick. He put the band back together.” Read the rest

Harkening back to simpler times, when concern over something as silly as a mysterious white balloon grabbed a city's attention, people in an area of northeast Japan were "bewildered" and "excited" yesterday by an unexpected sighting in the sky. Some speculated it could be a UFO, while others wondered if it was spreading Covid-19. Phones started ringing in the Meteorological Agency in Sendai at 7am, asking what the heck the white orb with a strange metal object hanging from it was.According to The Japan Times:The Meteorological Agency’s Sendai office received a number of inquiries Wednesday morning over a white balloon-like object floating in the sky over the city, leaving agency officials bewildered and some Twitter users excited.“It is not something flown by the meteorological agency, and we don’t have a clue what it is,” an agency official said. “We checked with the Sendai Municipal Government and the Self-Defense Forces, but they don’t know either.”...A cross-shaped object is hanging underneath the sphere, and it hardly moves. An agency official said it looks like some kind of an observational instrument.And from Reuters:By afternoon it was the third-most trending topic on Japanese Twitter, with theories including UFOs and North Korean balloons used to drop leaflets. One user said it could be spreading novel coronavirus, adding, “This gives me a very bad feeling, as if Godzilla might suddenly appear.”"As of this writing, the object, which presumably is long gone, has still not been identified," said Digital Trends late last night. Read the rest

While nothing will vindicate Episodes I and II, Star Wars Episode III is now available in a nearly redeeming cut!Ahsoka and Obi-Wan's stories are so much deeper and more engaging than Anakin Skywalker's. Much like the amazing Vader kicking ass scene in Rogue One, this cut of Sith puts some needed perspective on Vader, and makes Order 66 the gut-wrenching event it should have been.Obi-Wan and Satine's story remains a favorite. Ahsoka is the best character in Star Wars.Search for the full cut, it is not hard to find. You can also skip back and forth in Disney+, but the fan cut is really impressive. Read the rest

In 1982 during filming for Star Wars Episode VI - Return of the Jedi, Ewok actor Warwick Davis and first assistant director David Tomblin made this mockumentary, "Return of the Ewok," about how Davis landed the role of Wicket W. Warrick. The film also stars Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, David Prowse, Peter Mayhew, Anthony Daniels, and Frank Oz. "The film is a curiosity, half-documentary about the making of Jedi, half-fairy tale about a little boy who becomes an Ewok," Tomblin said in a 1984 interview in Starlog magazine. "He thinks he's the only Ewok in the world, but eventually finds there are others."Return of the Ewok has never been officially released in its entirety. From Wikipedia:Filming took place during the production of Return of the Jedi, including at lunchtimes and on weekends. "At lunch times, I would rush around and try and shoot pieces for it," Tomblin said. George Lucas financed the film, though costs were limited to expenses such as film stock. "Everyone contributed their time and talent for absolutely nothing," Tomblin said.(Happy birthday, Emmett!) Read the rest

pic.twitter.com/Rloh34F5ID— Steadman™ (@AsteadWesley) June 17, 2020The Hill reports that a pro-Trump activist named Brandon Straka was kicked off an American Airlines plane because he wouldn't wear a mask. A New York Times reporter who was also on the flight took a video that recorded Straka arguing with the flight crew:“Sir, are you wishing not to wear a mask today?” a flight attendant asked Straka“I would prefer not to,” Straka replied before later adding, "You're asking me to do something that's not a law."The flight attendant responded by explaining that the request is part of a "procedure American Airlines follows."There is currently no law that mandates passengers must wear masks while on a flight, but all major U.S. airlines, including American, announced on May 11 new policies that call on all passengers and flight crew members to wear face coverings. Exceptions are provided for children, people with certain medical conditions and while passengers are eating and drinking.Straka told the flight attendant he had a medical condition, but did not specify what the condition was and did not provide any documentation regarding it. He was eventually ejected from the flight after a delay, drawing applause from passengers.Flight Attendant: Excuse me, sir, do you have a condition that prevents you from wearing a mask?Me: Yes. Flight Attendant: May I ask what that is?Me: Sanity.— Brandon Straka (@BrandonStraka) June 17, 2020Straka's attitude could help explain this:I made a chart. On average, blue states have seen steadily declining coronavirus infections since mid-April. Read the rest

Leonard Cohen performs "First We Take Manhattan" on Sweden's Kulturen TV program in June 1988. It's perfectly bizarro 1980s while also being so very Cohen.Below, Cohen's interview on the same program:(via r/ObscureMedia) Read the rest

Donato Sansone "Concatenation 2" film connects a series of acrobatic Olympic athletes' jumps, spins, and dives into "a series of interconnected things or events," which is the definition of "concatenation." This delightfully disorienting video is a sequel to Sansone's original "Concatenation" film here.(via Colossal) Read the rest

This unusual chicken enjoys joining their human for a relaxing bike ride.Turns out that chicken is not the only chicken who enjoys a bit of cycling. Here's one in Denmark. They're a silkie chicken.Look at that cute blue helmet.Chicken on a bicycle! Read the rest

We know Coronavirus is impacting Black, Latinx, and Native Americans at rates far higher than whites. New data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control shows the racial gap is far worse than previously known.[Read the CDC report here.]“Racial disparities in this pandemic are nothing new, but a massive collection of test results is the surest evidence yet of a horrifying trend,” reports Olivia Messer at Daily Beast:In a new, massive federal survey of novel coronavirus cases in the United States, a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers an in-depth breakdown by gender, race, ethnicity, and health factors.Among 1,320,488 laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases considered by the CDC between January 22 and May 30, 2020—of which only 45 percent had race or ethnicity data—33 percent were Hispanic or Latino of any race and 22 percent of infections were among Black Americans, the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report released Monday found. For context, those communities account for about 18 percent and 13 percent of the U.S. population, respectively. The numbers amount to the best evidence yet that the deadly pandemic has had an outsized impact on communities of color.Read more:• Coronavirus Is Hitting Black and Hispanic Americans Harder. CDC Data Shows How Much. [dailybeast]• Coronavirus Disease 2019 Case Surveillance — United States, January 22–May 30, 2020 [cdc.gov] Read the rest

UPDATE, 6:50pm PT: AT&T tells Boing Boing, “We do not have an issue with our network,” and points us to this @ATTNEWS tweet: “Our network is operating normally, but it’s possible some customers are unable to reach people on other carriers’ networks.”Cellular provider T-Mobile has been having a very large service outage today, Monday June 15. The service interruptions were reported by Verizon users starting around 10amPT/1pm ET. It's affecting thousands of customers in several states. T-Mobile said it's working to fix the situation, and blames a widespread "voice and data issue."There is no evidence, and despite rumormongers there are no credible reports, of a DDoS attack or other cyberattack being the cause for the T-Mobile network failure or related impact on users of AT&T and Verizon today. A Verizon company spokesperson told this Boing Boing writer that a routing problem was blamed.T-Mobile's president of technology said later in the day that some users are still having problems with calls and texts, and recommended customers using WhatsApp, iMessage and other communications tools instead.Our engineers are working to resolve a voice and data issue that has been affecting customers around the country. We’re sorry for the inconvenience and hope to have this fixed shortly.— Neville (@NevilleRay) June 15, 2020From TechCrunch:In our own tests in New York and Seattle, we found that making calls from a T-Mobile phone would fail almost immediately after placing the call. We also found that the cell service on our phones was intermittent, with bars occasionally dropping to zero or losing access to high-speed data. Read the rest

• Voice of America's director and assistant director resign• White House April 10 newsletter falsely accused VOA of using taxpayer dollars to "promote foreign propaganda"• Two miserably failed right-wing filmmakers are taking control of VOA, four months before the 2020 election, and they're bringing Sebastian Gorka in. What could possibly go wrong?Two top officials at Voice of America have resigned after Trump's pick for CEO Michael Pack took over the federally funded international news network. Behind the scenes, Steve Bannon is said to be more or less taking charge of VOA now, and just in time for the 2020 U.S. elections, if they even happen. CNN reports that "a well-placed VOA employee said there are internal discussions about a sizable shakeup coming to the agency that may include former White House official and conservative radio host Sebastian Gorka taking on a leadership position."VOA director Amanda Bennett and deputy director Sandy Sugawara, both veteran journalists, bid farewell to the staff on Monday morning.Referencing Pack, they said, "as the Senate-confirmed CEO, he has the right to replace us with his own VOA leadership. We depart with the gratitude and joy that has marked our time together, with a dedication to our mission and admiration for each one of you."Some journalists at VOA fear that Pack — best known for making films with a conservative bent -- will interfere with the organization's independent newsroom and turn it into a pro-Trump messaging machine.Trump has repeatedly railed against VOA and accused it of disseminating Chinese propaganda — charges that Bennett strongly denied. Read the rest

Possibly his dumbest statement about COVID-19 ever

The comedy duo known as The Good Liars has placed these caution signs around Brooklyn to thoughtfully alert residents to the great hazards of slightly slopping (and very slippery and scary) ramps.We put some caution signs up on ramps around Brooklyn on behalf of Donald Trump. pic.twitter.com/ALOpw2F7ev— The Good Liars (@TheGoodLiars) June 14, 2020Bonus track:Their exorcism of Ted Cruz. "He's possessed by a demon. That's why his body is so disgusting to look at!"Anyone wake up today hoping to see someone perform an exorcism on Ted Cruz? Well, here ya go! pic.twitter.com/US0fqN52XK— The Good Liars (@TheGoodLiars) June 15, 2020 Read the rest

Squadron based X-Wing vs TIE Interceptor combat? Count me in. I have pre-ordered via Steam. Read the rest

In this clip from a 1971 episode of The Dick Cavett Show, Sammy Davis Jr. talks about his money troubles and impersonates James Stewart and Laurence Olivier. Read the rest

Spoken Word with Electronics is an audio series delivering to you a two side recording of unusual stories paired with vintage modular electronic soundsHeadline: Space Aliens no longer visit Earth because our technology now drives them crazy. They are allergic to our EMF Radiation.Welcome back to Spoken Word with Electronics. Episode fourteen greets us with some real news. Important stuff. Humans have long benefited from help from alien lifeforms. They taught us how to make fire, possibly introduced the virus that gave us the consciousness, and even invented Febreeze. These are all alien gifts to us.Recently, however, we haven't been seeing much proof of alien life. Our race of humans have insisted on making our own technology. Like any kid in the kitchen, we've made quite a mess, too. Our bodies don't have the development to perceive our mess, but Space Aliens sure sense it. It's EMF Radiation, or Electromagnetic Fields, and our planet is now covered in it. It's gotten so noisy Aliens don't ever visit. They are allergic to our progress.Jump into our spacecraft and spin around the planet for an hour as we discuss this phenomenon, including a basic primer on alien allergies, the flaws of human hubris, and how insects are much more advanced as creatures than any human (or any human technology, for that matter).This episode includes ACTUAL EMF RADIATION, as captured by a Soma Labs Ether. All sounds of static, feedback, glitchy clicking and comfortable washes of noise have been received from the air around us through this wonderful Russian device. Read the rest

British comedy legend John Cleese tweeted a timely message Friday that was recorded some 30 years ago. The footage is from an old Fawlty Towers episode that riffs on extremists, "Extremism makes you feel good, because it provides you with enemies..." Watch:Hard to tell if I recorded this 30 years or 10 minutes ago... pic.twitter.com/GPDURhYIJL— John Cleese (@JohnCleese) June 12, 2020In related news, BBC-owned UKTV pulled a different Fawlty Towers episode out of streaming services for being racially insensitive (N-word usage). Cleese criticized the decision and it was later reinstated with "extra guidance."Speaking to Australian newspaper The Age, Cleese had said: “The Major was an old fossil left over from decades before. We were not supporting his views, we were making fun of them. If they can’t see that, if people are too stupid to see that, what can one say?” Read the rest

Self-proclaimed white nationalist and alleged domestic abuser Richard Spencer has been bogged down in a civil lawsuit for his part in helping to organize the "Unite The Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virgina, which resulted in much calamity, including the tragic death of activist Heather Heyers at the hands of another proud self-proclaimed white nationalist. Spencer is — perhaps, sadly, fittingly — the heir to a cotton farm fortune, and that privilege has helped him to finance his campaign of hate. But increasing legal (and marital) pressures have finally started to milk his racist wallet dry. From Huffington Post:Richard Spencer’s attorney has asked for the court’s permission to withdraw from representing him in the civil case. The lawyer, John DiNucci, said Spencer owes him a significant amount of money in legal fees and hasn’t been cooperating adequately.Spencer told U.S. Magistrate Judge Joel Hoppe that the lawsuit over the “Unite the Right” white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017 has been “extremely expensive” and a “huge burden” for him.“This case has been financially crippling for a long time,” said Spencer, who popularized the term “alt-right” to describe a loosely connected fringe movement of white supremacists, neo-Nazis and other far-right extremists.Huffington Post goes on to note that Spencer has also (allegedly) failed to turn over numerous documents for the trial, including thousands of photos and video files.The trustfund Neo-Nazi baby runs a "nonprofit" called the National Policy Institute, which had previously raised nearly $500,000 in tax-deductible contributions between 2007 and 2012. Read the rest

Mtsyry: Octobriana 1976 is a new book from Jim Rugg featuring Octobriana, the Russian superhero star of cult 70s comics which themselves have a strange and confusing history. Rugg's incarnation will be printed in fluorescent blacklight inks by AdHouse Books, which is apparently the first time this has been done: "It should look incredible and appeal to fans of weird comics, printed matter, unique zines, 70s counter-culture." The kickstarter has 8 days left and has already blasted past its target. Rugg writes:The story is set in the 1970s, the period when blacklight posters were most popular (also the period of Rugg’s graphic novel, Afrodisiac). In 1971, the west learned about Octobriana - the outlaw Russian superhero comic in Petr Sadecky’s expose, Octobriana and the Russian Underground. Octobriana is part Barbarella, part Orson Welles’ War of the Worlds. She’s an unusual cult character with a storied history. David Bowie tried to make a movie about her. Billy Idol has her likeness tattooed on his arm. As a child of the Cold War and fan of underground comix, Rugg identified Octobriana as the perfect character for his psychedelic outlaw comic!The concept of Mtsyry: Octobriana 1976 is that underground American cartoonists made their own Octobriana comic book after reading Sadecky’s book. It was an effort to show solidarity with their Russian cartoonist comrades. Robot Stalin's got a new doomsday bomb! Can the Devil-Woman stop him before he destroys us all? Siberian labor camps, PPP secret orgies, motorcycle gunship train chases - this one has it all! Read the rest

The US government announced funding clinical trials on three COVID-19 vaccine candidates. According to Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, we're still on track for a vaccine at scale by the end of this year or early 2021. From CNN:Phase 3 trials, which typically involve tens of thousands of people and measure whether a vaccine is safe and effective, will begin with one by Moderna in July, then an Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine in August and one by Johnson & Johnson in September...Last week, Fauci said the US should have 100 million doses of one candidate coronavirus vaccine by the beginning of 2021, but many doctors caution that is an ambitious goal. He has also said there will be "more than one winner" in the Covid-19 vaccine field on Tuesday.Who will get first dibs? (And who wants first dibs?) image: "Respiratory droplets produced when a man sneezes, visualised using Tyndall scattering" by James Gathany/CDC (public domain) Read the rest

COPS has glorified police since 1989, riding along as officers chase down, interview and arrest people. It crafted a reality-TV aesthetic of shaky cameras, counterfeit danger and harsh lighting, cruel in its presentation of suspects and fawning in its identification with officers. And now it's been cancelled, a conspicuous casualty of the American revolt against police brutality. Read the rest

Bad boys, bad boys, whatcha gonna do? In 1994, Atari released COPS, a LaserDisc-based videogame based on the now-cancelled "reality" TV series. Above is rare footage of the gameplay. According to the International Arcade Museum description, "You play a cop who must either shoot armed criminals while protecting the innocent or chase after escaping criminals in your patrol car."As usual, it would have been more fun to play the bad guys. Below are shots of a COPS Operator's Manual currently for sale on eBay.More about COPS and other LaserDisc arcade games at the Dragon's Lair Project.(via r/ObscureMedia) Read the rest

Writer Gerry Conway has been vocal for years about the misappropriation of the Punisher, a vigilante murderer superhero he created in 1974 when he wrote Amazing Spider-Man #129:It's disturbing whenever I see authority figures embracing Punisher iconography because the Punisher represents a failure of the Justice system. He's supposed to indict the collapse of social moral authority and the reality some people can't depend on institutions like the police or the military to act in a just and capable way. […] Whether you think the Punisher is justified or not, whether you admire his code of ethics, he is an outlaw. He is a criminal. Police should not be embracing a criminal as their symbol.Unfortunately, Conway's insistence on what's plainly obvious for anyone who's actually familiar with the Punisher has not stopped the character from becoming a symbol of fascism, proudly worn by law enforcement agents who probably shouldn't be boasting about their love of fascism.Here are some photos of Detroit police apparently from today. Can anyone explain the skull? Given the use of the totenkopf by the SS, doesn’t it seem just a little bit inappropriate?? pic.twitter.com/j3KES75kcb— Nick Krieger (@nckrieger) June 3, 2020Now, with protests against police brutality raging across the country, Conway is taking another approach:To be clear, this little project is open to anyone who wants to contribute their time and effort. It's not a paying gig, it's intended to raise funds to support BLM. I hope to use multiple artists with a variety of styles and artistic approaches. Read the rest

Chris Watts killed his pregnant wife and two young children and buried them in a tank. This mini-documentary by Jim Can't Swim (patreon) takes us through the bodycam footage of a cop called to his house after Shannon Watts failed to turn up to a rendezvous with a friend, and subsequent interview with detectives. It's detailed and striking work, pointing out the subtle (and not so subtle) tells in his calm behavior that led the police to suspect he was the culprit. You can tell why no-one knew what he'd done, but can readily see they felt it from the outset. We are rightfully armed by reason against such feelings as they are often wrong. Nonetheless, there's a moment in the bodycam video where Shanann Watts' friend makes a certain facial expression after Chris arrives home but doesn't call for his wife. You can't say it's realization, but she's sinking fast. Read the rest

In March of 2019 — about a year after the Parkland shooting at Marjory Stoneham Douglas High School — the ACLU released a report titled "Cops and No Counselors: How the Lack of School Mental Health Staff Is Harming Students." Based on publicly available federal civil rights data from 2015-2016, this report offered a comprehensive analysis of the school support resources, breaking it down by state and demographic, to get a better look at how we're serving students in America.The results were not good:The ACLU’s report found over 90 percent of students nationwide attend schools that fail to meet the nationally recommended ratios for student-to-counselors, psychologists, nurses, and social workers. Over 14 million of these students were in schools that reported having law enforcement present despite lacking critical mental and physical health personnel. The report cites research indicating that students would benefit more from increased access to mental health professionals than the increased school hardening the commission recommends.[…]The average number of students each school counselor serves is 444 — nearly double the already limited recommended student-counselor ratio of 250:1At least 43 percent of our nation's students attend schools with onsite police, and in some states more than 68 percent of schools have police31 percent of the nation's students attend schools that have school police, but no psychologist, nurse, social worker, and/or counselorBlack girls account for 16 percent of girls enrolled nationwide, but account for 39 percent of the girls arrested in schoolNative American and Pacific Islander students were more than twice as likely to be arrested as white students nationwideBlack and Latino boys with disabilities are 3 percent of students, but were 12 percent of school arrests.What I personally found most staggering was that 94 percent of "serious offenses" by students involved threats or actual physical fights … without a weapon. Read the rest

On April 5, 1968, the day after Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination, Riceville, Iowa schoolteacher Jane Elliott ran an incredible social experiment in her third grade classroom. Her "Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes" exercise identified the kids "as inferior or superior based solely upon the color of their eyes and exposes them to the experience of being a minority." The exercise had a tremendous, and lasting, impact on those children and countless others, and sparked Elliott's lifelong role as a an anti-racism activist and educator.Above is a 1985 episode of Frontline about Elliott. Below is her appearance last week on The Tonight Show: Read the rest

Romanian Cobbler Grigore Lup noticed that people weren't following the rules of social distancing at his local market, so he decided to make long-nosed shoes as a response. His Euro size 75 shoes are specifically designed to keep people apart, "If two people wearing these shoes were facing each other, there would be almost one-and-a-half metres between them." Reuters:Lup, who said he adapted the long footwear from a model he made for actors, said he had so far received five orders for social distancing shoes.It takes him two days to make a pair, which requires almost one square metre of leather. They cost 500 lei ($115) a pair.Now 55, Lup first started making shoes when he was 16, learning from a cobbler who at 93 today still makes traditional ethnic Hungarian footwear. View this post on Instagram #NouaColectie pentru #DistantareSociala. STOC LIMITAT!!!.. ??? #socialdistancing #quarantine #carantina #pielenaturala #mensfashion #menstyle #stilmasculin . Persoana contact: Grigore Lup (intre orele 9 – 17) Telefon: 0740.046.732 #madebyGrigoreLup #SHOEMAKER #produsromanesc #făcutînromânia . #incaltaminte #incaltamintedinpiele #incaltamintelacomanda #incaltamintecustom #pantofi #pantofilacomanda #pantofibarbati #pantofidistantare #leathershoes #genuineleather #lacomanda #madeinromania #facutinromania #cluj #clujnapoca #grigorelup Fotograf:@dan.bodeaA post shared by Incaltaminte din piele Cluj (@incaltaminte.din.piele) on Jun 6, 2020 at 11:55pm PDTimage via Incaltaminte din piele(RED)Thanks, Mark! Read the rest

Sarah Grossman, 22, died after being tear-gassed by police in Columbus, Ohio, reports the Dayton Daily News. Two days passed between her exposure to the gas and pepper spray and her death, but both family and investigators suspect a connection. Local authorities aren't denying it, adds the New York Post.Grossman’s body showed no signs of lethal trauma and the only medical condition mentioned in the preliminary records is an allergy to peanuts, the paper reported.“Police did use gasses to disperse crowds that night. We haven’t received an official complaint, nor have investigators in Montgomery County talked to (Columbus police),” city spokeswoman Robin Davis told the Dayton Daily News.“Again, we encourage anyone who was with her at the protest or on May 29 or 30 before she went to Sycamore to talk to Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office or (Columbus police),” she added. Read the rest

From The Intercept:Documents obtained by The Intercept via the Freedom of Information Act reveal that a Pentagon war game, called the 2018 Joint Land, Air and Sea Strategic Special Program, or JLASS, offered a scenario in which members of Generation Z, driven by malaise and discontent, launch a “Zbellion” in America in the mid-2020s.The Zbellion plot was a small part of JLASS 2018, which also featured scenarios involving Islamist militants in Africa, anti-capitalist extremists, and ISIS successors. The war game was conducted by students and faculty from the U.S. military’s war colleges, the training grounds for prospective generals and admirals. While it is explicitly not a national intelligence estimate, the war game, which covers the future through early 2028, is “intended to reflect a plausible depiction of major trends and influences in the world regions,” according to the more than 200 pages of documents.The imaginary scenario involves a generation that's been psychologically scarred by 9/11, the Great Recessions, college debt, increasing healthcare costs, inequality, and economic frustrations. "Gen Z are often described as seeking independence and opportunity but are also among the least likely to believe there is such a thing as the 'American Dream,' and that the 'system is rigged' against them," the Pentagon writes. If these disillusioned youth were to rebel, they say, it will likely start as a protest movement growing out of major cities, eventually growing into a "Zbellion," a "global cyber campaign to expose injustice and corruption and to support causes it deem[s] beneficial." Read the rest

"Many young Kiwis are using porn to learn about sex."The New Zealand Government released this PSA as part of their "Keep it Real Online" campaign. Read the rest

Yes, it's that time again, the time when we ask: What hot garbage did impeached president Donald Trump spew on Twitter this morning.Well, children, this is what the man said:“For the first time in history, Police Organizations & National Security Organizations were used to SPY on a Campaign, & there was no basis for it. The media largely drove that, & claims were made that could have affected the election of the President.” A.G. Bill Barr @BretBaierThe tweet was almost certainly a direct response by Trump to a “Fox and Friends” segment the President was presumably watching on TV at the time.Here's a screengrab, for context.And here are responses to Trump's tweets this morning, from reporters and political observers.The president has repeatedly talked about “dirty cops” in the investigation into his campaign. Yet in matters not involving him, he largely ignores allegations of impropriety by law enforcement, even some on videotape. https://t.co/MYmXNSTG0D— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) June 10, 2020Actually given the most recent tweet this was actually a response to the initial segment.Left, Fox & Friends, 7:53 a.m.Right, Trump, 8:51 a.m. pic.twitter.com/XyjyYduWF7— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) June 10, 2020And then.Left, Fox & Friends, 8:11 a.m.Right, Trump, 9:32 a.m. pic.twitter.com/yS3UxcfXaV— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) June 10, 2020 Read the rest

View this post on Instagram Our very first koala of the season has popped out of Mums pouch to say hello! ? Keepers have decided to name her Ash! Ash is the first koala born at the park since the tragic Australian bushfires and is a sign of hope for the future of Australia’s native wildlife. . . . . . . . . . . #thisiscentralcoast #australia #sydneyactivities #fun #thingstodoinsydney #sydney #centralcoast #viral #cute #cuteanimals #newsouthwales #selfisolation #stayhome #animalfriends #australiananimal #koala #elsathekoala #cutekoalas #seeaustralia @australia #koala #koalajoeyA post shared by Australian Reptile Park (@australianreptilepark) on May 26, 2020 at 2:00pm PDTKoalas are not functionally extinct, although their population has rapidly declined in recent decades; these numbers have gotten worse as wildfires have ravaged the continent of Australia. The International Fund for Animal Welfare and Biolink research group place the koala casualties around 5,000, or 12 percent of their population, since the wildfires began; less conservative estimates place the casualty rate around 30 percent.But there is a glimmer of hope: for the first time since the wildfires, a baby koala has been seen emerging from a pouch. Baby Ash was born at the Australian Reptile Park, and is believed to be about 5 months old. "Ash represents the start of what we’re hoping to be another successful breeding season," Zookeeper Dan Rumsey told Buzzfeed News. "It was such an incredible moment when we saw Ash poke her head out of her mum’s pouch for the first time!" Read the rest

Starting on Wednesday afternoon, the trending list on the popular Chinese social media app Weibo will be banned for one week, the Cyberspace Administration of Beijing said, for “interfering with online communication orders, disseminating illegal information, and other problems”The Chinese government heavily regulates the internet, and often removes “sensitive” posts about topics like the coronavirus and human rights from social media. From Reuters:Weibo will need to stop updating its lists showing the most popular search terms and topics being discussed on the platform for a week from Wednesday, the CAC said, adding it had asked its Beijing branch to fine Weibo.Weibo did not immediately respond when contacted by Reuters for comment.The CAC said that the violations related to a case involving a person with the surname Jiang, without going into further details.It was not clear whose communications Weibo is being punished for interfering with but it comes after a senior Alibaba Group executive’s relationship with a prominent social media influencer came under scrutiny by Sina Weibo users in April, some of whom complained at the time that their posts were being censored.The executive, Jiang Fan, was later demoted after an internal investigation.Alibaba did not immediately reply when contacted by Reuters for comment.Read more:China punishes microblog platform Weibo for interfering with communication[June 10, 2020 / 4:52 AM]From Wednesday afternoon, the trending list on China's Twitter-like #Weibo will be suspended for a week, the Cyberspace Administration of Beijing said, after the regulator detected the list had "disturbed the order of online communication.” Read the rest

A statue of Christopher Columbus, the slaver, pimp and arriviste who first colonized the Americas, fell and tripped into a Virginia lake last night. Another was beheaded in Boston.A Christopher Columbus statue has been pulled down, set on fire and thrown in a lake by protesters in Virginia on Tuesday. The monument was toppled less than two hours after demonstrators gathered in Richmond's Byrd Park and chanted for the statue to goPhoto:@YourAnonCentral Read the rest

The streaming service HBO Max has removed the Civil War racist fantasy film “Gone with the Wind” from its service.A spokesperson for HBO Max told CNN the film is "a product of its time and depicts some of the ethnic and racial prejudices that have, unfortunately, been commonplace in American society."From CNN:"These racist depictions were wrong then and are wrong today, and we felt that to keep this title up without an explanation and a denouncement of those depictions would be irresponsible," the spokesperson said.The spokesperson added that when the film returns to HBO Max, it "will return with a discussion of its historical context and a denouncement of those very depictions," and will be presented "as it was originally created, because to do otherwise would be the same as claiming these prejudices never existed.""If we are to create a more just, equitable and inclusive future, we must first acknowledge and understand our history," the spokesperson said.Read more:'Gone with the Wind' pulled from HBO Max until it can return with 'historical context'Updated 8:52 AM ET, Wed June 10, 2020 [via Frank Pallotta] Read the rest