The Dad, How Do I? YouTube channel is filled with practical "dadvice" tutorials, everything from how to shave to how to change a tire to how to love yourself.Inspired by growing up without a father himself, the YouTuber created the channel in hopes that children without dads could find it and use it as a resource. There’s even a bungled dad joke or two thrown in for good measure.Breathe in this wholesome content and find your faith in humanity restored, at least for an hour or two. Read the rest
Well now, president brain worms is really having quite a morning of it!First, Trump woke up and charged up the Twitter machine, and threatened the entire state of Michigan with the completely not okay punishment of cutting off all federal funds if the state offers voting by mail in the November 2020 elections which will determine whether Trump goes to prison or on to a second term in the White House.Cool and normal.Then, moments later, on Twitter, Trump issued the same threat to the entire state of Nevada.Very cool and normal!Here is impeached president Donald Trump's second tweet of the day about killing mail-in ballots, this time directed at Nevada:State of Nevada “thinks” that they can send out illegal vote by mail ballots, creating a great Voter Fraud scenario for the State and the U.S. They can’t! If they do, “I think” I can hold up funds to the State. Sorry, but you must not cheat in elections. @RussVought45PREVIOUSLY this morning:Trump threatens to cut Michigan from federal money over mail-in voting, as 10,000 in state flee breaking dams Source: Twitter. Read the rest
They’re models...yet, they move. They’re machines...yet, they’re made of wood. They’re assembled...yet, no glue is required. They may be a hodge-podge of contradictions, but UGEARS wooden mechanical model kits are without question absolutely gorgeous. Launched in Ukraine in 2014, UGEARS have created truly remarkable works of art, sustainably sourced, laser-cut plywood pieces fashioned with a patented joint design for assembly that fits each model together like a glove. Of course, it takes a little time and patience to put some of these ultra-cool 3D brain puzzles together, but then again, that’s part of the fun.If you’re looking for something to truly engage your kids’ minds that doesn’t involve a videogame or YouTube, these STEM-based kits stretch those engineering muscles. Of course, it’s pretty great for inquisitive adults all well, creating a final model that both moves and marvels at the same time. We’ve assembled six models that are each available now, all for 10 percent off.The Butterfly - 161 pieces; est. assembly time: 2 hours; $35.90, originally $39.90Equipped with a rubber-band motor, this project comes together to form a mechanical insect with movements that imitate the flutter of a butterfly’s wings, all with no external power source or batteries.The Monowheel - 300 pieces; est. assembly time: 3 hours; $35.90, originally $39.90It’s a steampunk-inspired wheel that actually rolls as you watch all the intricate gears move it along. Despite its airy delicate appearance, this model is pretty sturdy, so you can take it outside and give it a good roll around on the pavement and other hard and semi-hard surfaces. Read the rest
Our pal Richard Kadrey has been posting a series of Passive-Aggressive Oblique Strategies, a spoof on Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt's Oblique Strategies deck.Richard's cards even caught the attention of Eno himself on Twitter (OK, maybe Eno's "people," but still...). I just want to know when I can get a deck. I'd like them the same exact size and design as my Eno/Schmidt deck so that I can shuffle these in.Images: Screengrabs Read the rest
Shakespeare's Globe — a reconstruction of the original Globe Theatre opened by William Shakespeare and the Lord Chamberlain's Men in 1599 — has issued a plea for donations in the face of its pending insolvency and closure.We hope to open the doors to our wooden O as soon as possible but in this unprecedented time for theatre, and as a charity that receives no annual government subsidy, we are in desperate need of donations to help us to continue to strive in the future.[…]We remain one of the most affordable and accessible theatres in the UK, despite many pressures, managing to retain our £5 Groundling ticket and over 50% of tickets in the Globe Theatre at £25 or less. Without your support, we will be unable to continue this work.The BBC expanded on this, with some more quotes from a representative of the theatre:In evidence to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee, the theatre said: "Without emergency funding and the continuation of the coronavirus job retention scheme, we will spend down our reserves and become insolvent."This has been financially devastating and could even be terminal."The original Globe Theatre also endured a plague, as well as some fires, and financial collapse. But letting such an historical monument — the place where the modern English language was essentially revolutionized — fall apart once again is a depressing indictment on our societal priorities.Shakespeare's Globe theatre calls for urgent funds to avoid insolvency [BBC]Image: Yair Haklai / Wikimedia Commons (CC 3.0) Read the rest
The New Yorker has a great new profile on singer-songwriter / human treasure Phoebe Bridgers, whose new album, Punisher, will be released on June 19. Any interview with Bridgers is a delight, even if you're not a fan of her work. But what really makes this article stick out is its relationship to coronavirus quarantine.Author Amanda Petrusich initially follows the standard form for one of these type of marquee-musician magazine profiles — embedding herself in the subject's life over the course of a few months, getting them to open up about personal stuff as the journalist explores their home and discusses the creative process, et cetera. I don't mean that to sound flippant; Petrusich is an absolute master of that form. Except the form itself is threatened when Petrusich and Bridgers both end up quarantined (separately) shorter after the initial embedding begins. But Petrusich endures, and finds a way to make it work, using FaceTime to tour through Bridgers' life in Los Angeles and even speak with the singer's mother in her childhood bedroom. This is almost certainly made easier by the fact that Bridgers is already a candid and confessional artist, but it still makes for a very unique profile that illuminates both the artist at the center of it, and the unprecedented time at which the journalism was happening.It's also available to listen to on Audm.Phoebe Bridgers’s Frank, Anxious Music [Amanda Petrusich / The New Yorker] Read the rest
While the past two months and the upheavals of our new work from home routines have put many business projects on hold, you might be surprised to learn the changes driven by the pandemic are actually fueling more companies to adopt proven project management tools.With workers handling remaining projects remotely and less direct oversight, more companies are enacting digital workflows and popular project management methodologies to make sure initiatives are staying on track.Whether you’re running a company that needs more structure around its key projects or an employee who wants to shepherd those major plans, the training in The Accredited Agile Project Management Bundle by SPOCE can help put those efforts on course.Featuring three courses packed with 360 lectures and more than 100 hours of instruction, this collection of accredited training lays the groundwork so you or your company can use some of the most popular and battle-tested project management frameworks to successfully guide a project through all the stages of its lifecycle.After a decade of teaching and certifying project managers, SPOCE has formulated this training to focus on Agile and PRINCE2, a pair of PM tools that fit well together to reach project success.In the AgilePM Project Management Foundation and Practitioner Course, students are introduced to the Agile way of thinking, a highly collaborative series of short, goal-oriented sprints that keep a project’s goals under constant observation with regular analysis and evaluation.But if Agile is the high-concept idea about how a project should work, PRINCE2 is the roadmap. Read the rest
A 17-year-old boy who killed a woman at an "erotic" spa in Toronto was motivated by "incel ideology", say police. Charges against the teen, anonymous due to his age, were upgraded to terroristic murder as a result. He was already facing first-degree and attempted murder charges, but the development means police believe the incident was terrorism-related. In a joint statement, the RCMP and Toronto Police Service said their investigation had determined the attack “was inspired by the Ideologically Motivated Violent Extremist (IMVE) movement commonly known as INCEL.”“As a result, federal and provincial Attorney Generals have consented to commence terrorism proceedings, alleging that the murder was terrorist activity … and the attempted murder was terrorist activity.”Often lost in discussion of incels is the fact that the "involuntary" part is rarely truthful. Incels have idealized expectations of dating and sexual partners rooted in their catastrophically bizarre ideology, and their raging narcissistic egos cannot accept anything less. Sex, to them, is exclusively a measurement of the self. Read the rest
Look, we get it. Animal Crossing is about as destressifying as any game could possibly be these days. But, c’mon… There are only so many bugs you can put in a museum and so many seashells you can sell while still maintaining any level of gaming edge.If you’ve already played through everything else in your house and you’ve maxed out on frolicking with anthropomorphic animals, we’ve got a handful of top-shelf games available on Steam at some big discounts to help keep you busy.The Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic Bundle - $4.99; originally $19.98In addition to being part of the fabled Star Wars franchise, Knights of the Old Republic and its sequel also stand as two of the most revered, critically-acclaimed games of the past 20 years.Set 4,000 years before the events of the films, you play the galaxy’s lone surviving Jedi, leading a ragtag band of freedom fighters as the Galactic Republic’s last hope to stop rampaging Sith Lords...but can you hold out from succumbing to the Dark Side? In this collection, you get both blockbuster games, Knights of the Old Republic and Knights of the Old Republic II, for under $5.Borderlands: The Handsome Collection - $9.99; originally $59.99Another one of gaming’s biggest hits, Borderlands is all about treasure hunting, lunacy and guns, guns, guns! In this award-winning collection, players shoot and loot as they explore the mayhem-filled world of Pandora in Borderlands 2, then go back and explore how Pandora and main villain Handsome Jack got that way in Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel. Read the rest
NASA is looking to pay US citizens to spend eight months in social isolation inside a Russian laboratory. The goal is to simulate the longterm social distancing that astronauts will endure on future missions to Mars. The location is "a unique multi-compartment facility used as an analog for isolation, confinement, and remote conditions" located in the Russian Academy of Science's Institute of Biomedical Problems in Moscow. From NASA's announcement of the opportunity:NASA is looking for highly motivated U.S. citizens who are 30-55 years old and are proficient in both Russian and English languages. Requirements are: M.S., PhD., M.D. or completion of military officer training. Participants with a Bachelor’s degree and other certain qualifications (e.g., relevant additional education, military, or professional experience) may be acceptable candidates as well.Participants will experience environmental aspects similar to those astronauts are expected to experience on future missions to Mars. A small international crew will live together in isolation for eight months conducting scientific research, using virtual reality and performing robotic operations among a number of other tasks during the lunar mission. The research will be conducted to study the effects of isolation and confinement as participants work to successfully complete their simulated space mission. Results from ground-based missions like this help NASA prepare for the real-life challenges of space exploration and provide important scientific data to solve some of these problems and to develop countermeasures.Compensation is available for participating in the mission. There are different levels of compensation depending upon whether or not you are associated with NASA or if you are a NASA employee or contractor. Read the rest
Norma McCorvey was famous as the plaintiff in Roe v. Wade, the case that led the Supreme Court of the United States of America to rule abortion a constitutional right. In later life, McCorvey became an anti-abortion campaigner. Shortly before her death, she admitted it was a paid performance: “It was all an act. I did it well too. I am a good actress.”When Norma McCorvey, the anonymous plaintiff in the landmark Roe vs. Wade case, came out against abortion in 1995, it stunned the world and represented a huge symbolic victory for abortion opponents: “Jane Roe” had gone to the other side. For the remainder of her life, McCorvey worked to overturn the law that bore her name.But it was all a lie, McCorvey says in a documentary filmed in the months before her death in 2017, claiming she only did it because she was paid by antiabortion groups including Operation Rescue."Pro-life" was never an honest political stance, but the coronavirus pandemic has blasted away whatever remains of it as a position or ethic. This doesn't mean the anti-abortion movement will wither, or that the right to an abortion will prevail. On the contrary, it just means that the rhetoric will blister and peel to reveal raw misogyny, bigotry and religious fundamentalism. The best you'll get from them is a more honest picture of how precarious your life is in their world.The woman behind ‘Roe vs. Wade’ didn’t change her mind on abortion. She was paid [L.A. Read the rest
The great Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto—whose work has spanned the electronic pop of Yellow Magic Orchestra and numerous film scores to experimental ambient and contemporary classical—has released this magnificent live performance: "Playing the Piano for the Isolated." His special guest is Shamisen master Hidejiro Honjoh.“Music, work, and life all have a beginning and an ending,” Sakamoto has said. “What I want to make now is music freed from the constraints of time.” Read the rest
Every year around June 21, masses of people gather at Stonehenge to bask in the beautiful summer solstice sunrise above the iconic stones and hang with hundreds of modern day druids and pagans making the scene. However, due to the COVID-19 mandates prohibiting mass gatherings, Stonehenge will be "closed for a while," according to the charity English Heritage that manages the site. Instead, they'll stream the solstice live from the prehistoric monument. (Above is a recording of last year's solstice.)"We hope that our live stream offers an alternative opportunity for people near and far to connect with this spiritual place at such a special time of year and we look forward to welcoming everyone back next year," said Stonehenge director Nichola Tasker."We know how strong the draw to come is for some people, but I would take this opportunity to say please do not travel to Stonehenge this summer solstice, but watch it online instead.”(Salisbury Journal)For everyone's safety and wellbeing, we've had to cancel this year's summer solstice celebrations at Stonehenge.We know how special this occasion is to so many of you, and we'll be live streaming it for free online. pic.twitter.com/zMi0NzCmbO— English Heritage (@EnglishHeritage) May 12, 2020 Read the rest
Here's a puzzle from Martin Gardner's Mathematical Games column, which ran for many years in Scientific American. I found it in his low-priced Dover edition anthology, My Best Mathematical and Logic Puzzles.Imagine that you have three boxes, one containing two black marbles, one containing two white marbles, and the third, one black marble and one white marble. The boxes were labeled for their contents – BB, BW, WW – but someone switched the labels so that every box is now incorrectly labeled. You are allowed to take one marble at a time out of any box, without looking inside, and by this process of sampling you are to determine the contents of all three boxes. What is the smallest number of drawings needed to do this? Read the rest
*UPDATED* Earth to the Moon, then Mars, at the speed of light (equidistant pulses version) [OC] from r/dataisbeautifulFrom the Data is Beautiful subreddit, a visualization of how long it takes for light to travel from Earth to the Moon, and then from Earth to Mars. Read the rest
Listed at $159,900 this 1,075 square-foot home in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is bland on the outside but features rooms with outer space, submarine, tropical island, and moonbase motifs. The owners put a lot of work into it! Read the rest
Wow, this cop is unhinged. He pulls a guy over for flipping him off and gets more and more incensed as he handcuffs the guy, kicks at the ground, searches his car, and screams about how he hates his job. Yet another reminder of how scary cops like this are running loose in America. Read the rest
You've probably seen a biosphere ecosystem before. It's a glass orb filled with water, some aquatic plants, and some small animals like freshwater shrimp. The only input to the otherwise closed system is sunlight, and the goal is to keep the lifeforms inside the glass sphere going as long as possible. When I was at Make magazine we made a biosphere and it remained healthy for over five years. Orb Farm is a web-based biosphere simulator. You are given an empty glass sphere, and you can fill it with glass, sand, stone, wood, water, algae, Daphnia, grass, bacteria, fish, goldfish, and, er, donuts. The game was created by Max Bittker. Read the rest
ETA Prime reviewed a Raspberry Pi retro gaming kit that contains a Raspberry Pi 3B+, a case for the Pi, USB gamepad, power supply, 32GB Micro SD with 100+ licensed Atari Games, and an HDMI cable to connect to your television set or computer display. Read the rest
Graham Dunning replaced all of the Half-Life in-game sounds with clips of 90s EDM tracks and rave music sample CDs. He basically turned the entire game into a Launchpad so he can play Half-Life like it's a techno orchestra.(via Waxy) Read the rest
What do we have here? Why, it's the 73rd Communique of the CPSUZOeD (May 2020), a rare video release from Soviet Unterzoegersdorf, with an important message about the coronavirus pandemic.Sent to Boing Boing by way of art-prankster Johannes Grenzfurthner, who informs us that the video was originally recorded for "Der Standard Corona-Stage."If you don't know about Soviet Unterzoegersdorf, there's a Wikipedia page about them here.[WATCH: DailyMotion, Vimeo] Read the rest
Annie Glenn, the wife of the late astronaut and U.S. Sen. John Glenn and a communication disorders advocate, is reported to have died at age 100. The cause of death was COVID-19 complications.The Glenns were married for 73 years when John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth, died in 2016 at age 95. Annie Glenn died early Tuesday morning at a nursing home near family in St. Paul, Minnesota. She was 100.“She lived her entire life with a man who became universally revered, but to millions across the globe, Annie Glenn was her own kind of hero,” begins the Cincinnati Enquirer obituary for Annie Glenn:Annie, as everyone knew her, lived in the shadow of fame, but emerged in mid-life to become an inspiration for people with disabilities around the world by overcoming the chronic stuttering that afflicted and limited her during the years her husband was becoming a household name.She was born Anna Margaret Castor in Columbus on Feb. 17, 1920, and her father, a dentist, moved the family to New Concord, Ohio, when she was 3. Her parents joined a monthly card club called “Twice 5 Club,” which included John Glenn’s parents. She and John, who was 17 months younger, shared a playpen from whence a quintessential love story would take root.Despite her speech impediment – she stuttered 85% of the time – Annie was a top student and readily was accepted in the close-knit college town 70 miles east of Columbus in rural Muskingum County. Read the rest
People who came to Frankline Ndifor's church in hopes that he would make them immune to Covid-19 by the touch of his hands should be worried. The popular pastor died this week of the disease and likely spread the virus to those who sought his miracle blessing. Instead of taking action to prevent the spread of the disease, however, hundreds of his followers gathered around the house containing his corpse, awaiting his resurrection. Police used tear gas to encourage them to leave. Image: YouTube Read the rest
I enjoy the fun science stunts on ScienceBob's YouTube Channel.ScienceBob was on the late-night U.S. TV show Jimmy Kimmel Live recently, and performed a fun stunt with two custom cannons blasting off 31 cans of Silly String, all at the same time. Here's the 'making of' video for that appearance, above.The show guest that night was actor Harrison Ford. Here's a Behind-The-Scenes look as myself and the incredible Jimmy Kimmel Live prop team prototyped, fabricated, and tested two custom cannons capable of firing off 31 cans of Silly String simultaneously. A lot of science and engineering went on behind the scenes to pull this off. We ultimately went through more than 200 cans of silly string, and 4 design concepts over 4 days before landing on the final design. Harrison ford was the other guest on the show that night and when we showed him the cannon, a big smile came on his face and he really wanted to fire it. Building something used by Indiana Jones is a pretty awesome feeling.Video:Making a 31 Can Silly String Cannon (For Harrison Ford!) Read the rest
According to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Trump isn't just overweight or obese –– he's morbidly obese. Here she is with Anderson Cooper yesterday expressing "concern" for our dear president.“I would rather he not be taking something that has not been approved by the scientists, especially in his age group, and in his, shall we say, weight group: ‘Morbidly obese,’ they say,” says House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Pres. Trump’s revelation he is taking hydroxychloroquine. pic.twitter.com/0ImjpEjg9q— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) May 19, 2020 From HuffPost:Pelosi’s concern is grounded in the president’s medical records. During his checkup last year, Trump measured 6 feet, 3 inches and weighed 243 pounds, which would qualify him as obese, according to the National Institutes of Health.The NIH’s body mass index measures above-normal weight in the overweight and obese categories. Trump’s reported measurements would give him a BMI of 30.4, and the NIH considers anything above 30 as obese, but its index does not list a separate range for morbid obesity.The president is also 73 and in an age bracket that puts him at greater risk. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have warned older adults to take increased precautions as cases of the coronavirus spread around the nation, and preliminary studies released last month found obesity may be a predictor of severe coronavirus illnesses. Trump continued to claim on Monday that hydroxychloroquine would be a boon for Americans, telling reporters they would be “surprised at how many people are taking it.” Read the rest
• Super Cyclone Amphan became the strongest storm ever recorded in the Bay of Bengal on Monday night• #Amphan is expected to make landfall on Tuesday, May 20• Storm surge of up to 15 feet on anticipated landfall in West Bengal forecast Wednesday In India and Bangladesh, millions of people are trapped in the path of an oncoming super cyclone that is expected to make landfall in under 36 hours.Weather watchers say Super Cyclone Amphan will bring damaging winds and intense rainfall to a densely populated region badly hit by the coronavirus pandemic.FOR UPDATED AMPHAN DATA:India Meteorological Department, Ministry of Earth Sciences Government of India1330 UTC Himawari-8 enhanced infrared satellite view of powerful #TropicalCycloneAmphan (#01B) near #India, over the Bay of Bengal.For the latest info on #TropicalCyclone #Amphan please visit JTWC's website at, https://t.co/77AznHtvWC pic.twitter.com/YUtNaYZ41j— NWS OPC (@NWSOPC) May 19, 2020#CycloneAmphanUpdate The Super Cyclonic Storm #Amphan over West-central #BayofBengal moved nearly northwards with a speed of 18 kmph during the past 6 hours & lay centered at 1430 hrs IST today as an Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm at latitude 17.0°N & longitude 86.9°E. pic.twitter.com/T32gGpTaOF— MoES GoI (@moesgoi) May 19, 2020Super Cyclone AMPHAN to cross West Bengal – Bangladesh coasts between Digha (West Bengal) and Hatiya Islands (Bangladesh) close to Sundarbans during afternoon to evening of 20th May 2020 with wind speed of 155-165 kmph gusting to 185 kmph. pic.twitter.com/OYRb2BYr8A— India Met. Dept. (@Indiametdept) May 19, 2020From CNN:Super Cyclone Amphan became the strongest storm ever recorded in the Bay of Bengal on Monday night, after intensifying with sustained wind speeds of up to 270 kilometers per hour (165 miles per hours), according to data from the US Joint Typhoon Warning Center. Read the rest
Welcome to the dystopian future of yesteryear's futurist cyberpunk novels.In this video, Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić holds an authoritarian rally for himself, with his political supporters clapping for him in a gigantic clusterfuck of a videoconference display. Wow that's weird.loodilo, next level pic.twitter.com/85i7wE3XdP— Laki Kesh Topalovic (@TopalovicLaki) May 16, 2020“The President of Serbia just held a virtual rally with his supporters clapping via video stream,” tweets Sergej Dojcinovic. “Looks very dystopian and creepy.” The President of Serbia just held a virtual rally with his supporters clapping via video stream. Looks very dystopian and creepy. pic.twitter.com/3O7yuvm9r2— Sergej Dojcinovic (@Serdjosega) May 16, 2020pic.twitter.com/Dg2w9KQAs4— Laki Kesh Topalovic (@TopalovicLaki) May 17, 2020 Read the rest
PUDDLES !!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/TXjpJGW0Jl— ??????? ? ????????? (@ScotsmanGrumpy) May 17, 2020I can assure you without any equivocation or qualification that this dog is not a duck. It was posted to Twitter by Grumpy Scotsman: "Not gonna lie, I spent 10 minutes trying to think of a good relatable sentence to go with it, and decided it wasn’t needed." Read the rest
No malarkey.Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden refers to impeached President Donald Trump as President Tweety in a video message.“Trump is out there tweeting again this morning, I call him President Tweety: 'Reopen the country.' How are we supposed to do that if you're sitting on the money small businesses need in order to stay alive?”Biden made the comments in a video for the Asian American and Pacific Islander Victory Fund..@JoeBiden addressing @AAPIVictoryFund eventOn Trump's call to restart the economy: "Stop tweeting about it! Get the money out to main street now." pic.twitter.com/8bkTCwY1DT— Johnny Verhovek (@JTHVerhovek) May 18, 2020Read more: Joe Biden finally makes up nickname for Trump: ‘President Tweety’ Read the rest
Embedded above is a news segment from 12 News Now in Beaumont, Texas; Jordan James reports from the beach. Parody is dead and death itself.I guess you can say I had an interesting time at the beach ? https://t.co/3LrnoBxyef— Jordan James (@JordanJamesTV) May 19, 2020 Read the rest
Unless you have an RV, spending time in the great outdoors probably means hiking into the wilderness with loads of equipment, setting up a tent, and living off the land. Of course, it’s easier said than done — and seldom as romantic as it seems.Tents are usually only meant for sleeping, and even then, they aren’t always all that comfortable. But if you’d like to create your own portable living space anywhere you roam with most of the comforts of home, then the Carsule Pop-Up Cabin for your car might be just what you’re looking for.At less than 3 feet across when packed, the Carsule pops right out of your trunk and attaches directly to vehicles with a swing-up rear tailgate. Popped fully open and with a couple of key aluminum support rods inserted, the Carsule is like adding a 6 square foot rear room to the back of your hatchback, minivan, MPV, SUV, or station wagon. In fact, one person can get the whole structure in place in about 3 to 5 minutes.The raised door is a key structural support for the Carsule and with ceiling tension lines in place, you won’t get a sagging roof or other structural problems getting in the way of your enjoyment. In addition to 6.5 feet of headroom, the Carsule is waterproof, UV resistant, and with its thick felt carpeting, sturdy enough to withstand the average wear and tear of use.And unlike a confining tent, the Carsule is sided in mesh, providing panoramic views of your surroundings while also promoting air circulation, but keeping out any creepy crawlies. Read the rest
• The Lancet says Trump's letter contains 'factually incorrect' details.Medical journal The Lancet has issued this rapid response to comments made by impeached President Donald Trump in his letter to World Health Organization General Director Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, to correct false statements about The Lancet by Trump.In this letter, The Lancet notes that they did not, as Trump falsely said, comment on the coronavirus crisis in late December 2019. Their first reports on the novel coronavirus were in mid-January.Chinese experts took part in its first two reports on COVID-19, the journal says, and Trump is “damaging... efforts to strengthen international cooperation to control this pandemic.”And from Richard Horton, below, the Editor-in-Chief of The Lancet:Dear President Trump - You cite The Lancet in your attack on WHO. Please let me correct the record. The Lancet did not publish any report in early December, 2019, about a virus spreading in Wuhan. The first reports we published were from Chinese scientists on Jan 24, 2020.Dear President Trump - You cite The Lancet in your attack on WHO. Please let me correct the record. The Lancet did not publish any report in early December, 2019, about a virus spreading in Wuhan. The first reports we published were from Chinese scientists on Jan 24, 2020. pic.twitter.com/Vx6mDpZJHx— richard horton (@richardhorton1) May 19, 2020Statement from The Lancet in response to President Donald Trump’s May 18 letter to Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization pic.twitter.com/JX8orfpMPB— The Lancet (@TheLancet) May 19, 2020Source: Statement from The Lancet in response to President Donald Trump’s May 18 letter to Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization Read the rest
“An Associated Press review of those states found that at least 10 states also share the names of everyone who tests positive.” A review by the Associated Press found that public health officials “in at least two-thirds of U.S. states” are sharing the addresses of people who confirmed to have the coronavirus with first responders. Widespread disclosure of who has tested positive is said to be intended to protect medical workers and first responders from exposure, but the practice sparks concerns involving racial profiling, privacy, and security.At least 10 states share the names of everyone who tests positive, reports the AP:Sharing the information does not violate medical privacy laws, under guidance issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Law enforcement officials say the information helps them take extra precautions to avoid contracting and spreading the coronavirus.But civil liberty and community activists have expressed concerns of potential profiling in African-American and Hispanic communities that already have an uneasy relationship with law enforcement. Some envision the data being forwarded to immigration officials.In Tennessee, the issue has sparked criticism from both Republican and Democratic lawmakers who only became aware of the data sharing earlier this month.“The information could actually have a ‘chilling effect’ that keeps those already distrustful of the government from taking the COVID-19 test and possibly accelerate the spread of the disease,” the Tennessee Black Caucus said in a statement earlier this month.Many members of minority communities are employed in industries that require them to show up to work every day, making them more susceptible to the virus — and most in need of the test. Read the rest
LOL, nothing matters.Florida Sen. Marco Rubio has been promoted to a new position is temporarily going to become chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Republican leaders announced on Tuesday.Rubio is to replace North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr, who last week agreed to step aside when federal agents examining sketchy recent stock sales by the senator paid a visit to his home with a warrant to search his cellphone. Friday was Burr’s last day leading the Senate Intelligence Committee, and boy, did the GOP dig deep for his replacement.From the AP:Along with House and Senate leaders and the top Democrat and Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, Rubio will now have access to some of the highest-level secrets in Congress as part of a small “Gang of Eight” that receives the most sensitive information. A former Republican presidential candidate who eventually endorsed Donald Trump in 2016, he has also worked with Democrats on the panel on its investigation into Russian election interference and other matters.Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the panel, said in a statement Monday that Rubio “has been a great partner on intelligence and national security issues” and he looks forward to working with him. Read more at AP:Rubio steps in to lead Senate Intelligence Committee Read the rest
Somehow, not a surprise. The Florida official who managed the state's public “dashboard” of daily information on COVID-19 infection and deaths says she was removed from her position because she was ordered to censor some of the numbers, and she refused to "manually change data to drum up support for the plan to reopen.”Rebekah Jones says she questions the Department of Health’s commitment to “accessibility and transparency.”The Read the rest
Hirviöt ("monster"), was a 2012 public service announcement from Finland in which the adults have been day drinking. It asks: how different are you drunk? The ad was quite effective, as you can see; there's an article about it at CBS News.A 2009 study found alcohol to be the number one killer of Finnish adults, responsible for 17 percent of all deaths among 15- to 64-year-old men - surpassing heart disease for the first time - and causing more than 10.5 percent of all deaths in adult women, similar to breast cancer rates. Read the rest
In 1957, 14 boys from Monterrey, Mexico, walked into Texas to take part in a game of Little League baseball. What followed surprised and inspired two nations. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll tell the story of the Monterrey Industrials and their unlikely path into baseball history.We'll also have dinner for one in Germany and puzzle over a deadly stick.Show notesPlease support us on Patreon! Read the rest
How many of your passwords contain something personal about you? From an important date to a hobby to some memory from your past, those keywords, phrases or moments are indelibly imprinted inside us and instantly come to mind, which is why we invariably use them as part of a password.Even though a security professional would tell you that’s a bad idea, we do it because passwords are intensely personal. That’s why most password management systems are built around securing passwords for just one person: you. But if you need to manage a secure password for business, providing access to sensitive information to multiple employees, yet trying to maintain the tightest possible security, you’ll find many password managers aren’t entirely up to the task. But unlike many of those services, PassCamp Password Manager was built with a focus on team functionality, not individual users.Using that framework, PassCamp spent three years doing extensive user research and reworking interface architecture to create a password system that put security first with a laser focus of efficiency and ease of use for everyone on a given team.With PassCamp, managers can create strong new passwords, then store them in one highly-protected and hacker-proof location. Passwords are zero-knowledge proof, feature end-to-end encryption, and can be shared with customized permissions that can easily add new team members, manage their access, and reset passwords, all with just a few clicks.PassCamp keeps updates from the passwords you’ve shared with others, including edits, shares, and dates of modification, as well as all versions of passwords. Read the rest
I like cooking and have always made most of the family's meals from scratch. Now I'm making even more meals from scratch and recipes sometimes call for ingredients by weight. The absence of protruding buttons on the surface of this digital kitchen scale makes it easy to wipe down. The graduation is 0.1oz/1g, and can weigh things up to 13 lbs. Read the rest
If you've ever wondered when you can call yourself an expert, this is the TEDx Talk for you. Business Growth Strategist, Speaker, and Stand Up Comic David Mitroff shares his story and talks about how, if you're doing the work, you can just start calling yourself an expert. (RED) Read the rest
Mimi and Brownie became close in 1942 while serving as World War II Army nurses. For 74 years, they remained best friends and talked on the phone every single day. Veena Rao of Pop-Up Magazine shares their incredible, and oh-so-sweet, story (get out the tissues).(RED)Becky and Susan, this one's for you!screengrab via Read the rest
Spike Lee's new film Da 5 Bloods tells the story of African-American vets of the Vietnam war who return to the country in the present day to find the remains of their squad leader and seek out a gold treasure they buried in the jungle. The movie—starring Delroy Lindo, Clarke Peters, Norm Lewis, and Isiah Whitlock, Jr., and Jonathan Majors—premieres on Netflix on June 12. “The United States Armed Forces came close to being torn apart when black soldiers heard that Dr. King was assassinated,” Lee told Vanity Fair in a recent interview. “They also heard that their brothers and sisters were tearing shit up in over 100 cities across America. The tipping point came very close; the black soldiers were getting ready to set it off in Vietnam—and not against the Vietcong either.” Read the rest
Inspired by a tweet from March 2018, Jesús Roldán put together this Antidepressants or Tolkien Character? quiz, and god damn, it's a lot harder than I anticipated. The Council of Elronon was much displeased with my knowledge. Praise be to Narmacil.Cory reported on a similar test a few years back, but Roldán's version features a much more Middle Earthian UI, and boasts a more challenging list of off-brand medications (and their chemical makeups!) and obscure characters glimpsed briefly in The Silmarillion. Despite my poor scoring, I still learned a lot about pharmaceuticals and the glory of Gondor.Antidepressants or Tolkien Character?Image: Public Domain via PxHere Read the rest
If you're in the market for book recommendations to fill up your stay-at-home hours, here's a short list of favorites from Bill Gates. Check out his longer list on his blog, GatesNotes blog. Read the rest
Digital media studio d'strict created "WAVE," a magnificent video art work for the humongous LED screen wrapped around the SM Town building the COEX (Convention & Exhibition Center) in Seoul, Korea. The display is 80.1 meters (263 feet) wide by 20.1 meters (66 feet) high. Below is Samsung's video about the Smart LED screen, installed in 2018: Read the rest
Der (Schw)Einsatz war kein Zufall: Wie dieses Observationsvideo zeigt, waren die borstigen Vierbeiner schon vorher ins Visier unserer Fahnder und Fahnderinnen geraten. pic.twitter.com/nS0jv3HhII— Polizei Berlin (@polizeiberlin) May 17, 2020Yesterday in Berlin police blocked a road in the Zehlendorf district for nearly two dozen wild boar to pass. "Sometimes the wilderness is right on our doorstep," police stated.Especially now.(UPI) Read the rest
From the Nelson-Atkins Art Museum on Facebook:Quarantine has caused everyone to go a little stir-crazy, even the residents of the Kansas City Zoo. So several of the penguins decided to go on a field trip to the Nelson-Atkins, which is still closed, to get a little culture.This isn't the only group of zoo penguins to enjoy an extra-special social excursion while the rest of us are quarantined. But they're certainly the first penguins to prefer the work of Caravaggio to Monet.The Kansas City Zoo also has a penguin cam so you can keep on eye on your favorite tuxedo'd friend when they're not enjoying an afternoon of high culture. Read the rest