Redditor AbeFroman21 posted that he and his family are without power or internet due to Hurricane Florence, and that Verizon has throttled their internet access to an unusable trickle, offering to unblock them if they pay for a higher tier of service. (more…)

A guy named "Aaron" has been pitching Reddit moderators and other influential Redditors on their participation in a lucrative scam to inflate the popularity of posts about different cryptocurrencies, using massive farms of bots that post and upvote through a network of proxies that make them seem like they're distributed all over the world. (more…)

With nativism and xenophobia on the rise, Americans are increasingly required to "prove" that they are actually Americans: whether it's at a border checkpoint (far from any border), or in a government office. (more…)

Canada has legalized pot for recreational use. But the United States still considers it a deadly drug, on par with heroin. If a Canadian pot smoker entering the US through Washington state (where pot is legal under state laws) tells a US Border agent that they have smoked pot even once in their life, they will be turned away. If they lie and the agent finds evidence on social media that they are fibbing, they will be barred from entering the US for life.From Splinter News:

Robert Falck from Vancouver built a 1989 Cadillac Brougham limousine onto a Bombardier Skidozer snowcat. You can own this fine vehicle for $6,000. According to the Craigslist ad, it was "last used 2 years ago." From Jalopnik:

Honestly, I forgot that Arby's was still around, but apparently they are, and they've got a Sandwiches for Life PR stunt that might make permanent banner ads out of some folks.If you're really, really into Arby's sandwiches, or you just want a tattoo – no matter what it is – for free, now's you're chance to get inked at Arby's expense. This Saturday, Arby's is giving away free tats at Port City Tattoos in Long Beach, California. The only glitch is that you have to choose one out of the tattoos shown in the box above.You can get the details at the Arby's site.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=82&v=TcJZx6dMR1UOakland, like San Francisco, has an out-of-control homeless crisis fueled by out-of-control housing prices; like San Francisco (where aid for homelessness can include tents to make outdoor sleeping more comfortable and safe), Oakland is supplying "temporary housing" for homeless people that institutionalizes a kind of living that has heretofore been viewed as a problem in and of itself. (more…)

In the early 1960s, pedal steel guitar virtuoso Pete Drake (1932-1988) played his instrument through a talk box to record a fresh cover of the song "Forever." A talk box essentially routes an amplified instrument's sound from a small speaker into the musician's mouth via a rubber tube so they can shape the tone as if they're speaking. (Of course in the rock arena, Peter Frampton made the talk box famous a decade later on tracks like "Do You Feel Like We Do.")Interestingly, the talk box concept dates at least as far back as 1944 when Alvino Rey used a microphone on his throat to modulate the sound from his electric guitar. Rey called his approach the "singing guitar" and almost certainly inspired Drake's "talking steel guitar."

https://youtu.be/EPZWGRcoleM"I never considered that the wild turkey was a playful bird, but in fact they are playful," says Joe Hutto, who raised 16 wild turkeys from egghood to adulthood. In this video from BBC Earth we see Hutto's turkeys playing with a young deer.Image: BBC Earth video screengrab

I remember 1985's Return to Oz as pretty creepy, having re-watched it I love the Wheelers.I was looking for puppet-y movies of my youth, from before the time of massive CGI. Return to Oz fits the bill!Tik Tok the robot is pretty wonderful. The Wheelers are terribly cool, and Jack Pumpkinhead is certainly worth getting reacquainted with.

If you're into non-sequiturs, existential angst or having a creeping hand of dread gently caress you in all your secret places, you'll adore David Lynch's Rabbits. Filmed in 2002, Rabbits is a brooding work of art that only Lynch could call a sitcom with a straight face. Over the course of 45 minutes, Lynch, through the use of disjointed dialogue presented by three humanoid rabbits, oppressive lighting, a laugh track, demonic visitations and a haunting musical score by Angelo Badalamenti, manages to outdo all of the nightmares that I've ever been a part of... with the possible exception of those three days I spent in Burgos hopped up on painkillers, orange Fanta and gin.I don't think I'm quite ready to talk about that one, yet.

Design studio Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell animated how it may be possible to build a lunar base with today's technology. They based the video on articles in New Space: The Journal of Space Entrepreneurship and Innovation. See you on the dark side?

Between 1947 and 1954, avant-garde dancer and experimental filmmaker Maya Deren visited Haiti and immersed herself in vodou. Supported with a Guggenheim Fellowship grant, Deren intended to study and film the trance dancing of vodou ceremony. Ultimately, Deren became an active participant in the rituals. She documented her experiences in the 1953 book Divine Horsemen: The Voodoo (Living) Gods of Haiti and the footage that resulted in the entrancing 1981 film above, completed two decades after Deren's death by her third husband and his wife. Now, the Psychic Sounds Research & Recordings label has remastered and reissued Deren's audio recordings from Haiti on vinyl. Audio sampler below. From the label:

I own a propane torch, so I know one when I see one. The Boring Company's Not a Flamethrower? It's definitely a propane torch... which, I suppose, means that Musk's marketing department is pretty much on the mark.To drive the point of the Not a Flamethrower's not being a flamethrower home, the folks at DriveTanks.com subjected the Not a Flamethrower to the Pepsi challenge against a Vietnam-era M9 flamethrower and a XM34. Seeing how much more destructive these two weapons are compared to Musk's torch makes me glad that it's definitely not a flamethrower that the Boring Company was selling.

I can not express the joy that a Trapper Keeper for tablets brings me. (more…)

A redacted version was "read" to CNN, it reports. Brett Kavanaugh, who has signalled willingness to both overturn Roe v. Wade and to immunize the presidency from indictment or prosecution, is Trump's pick for the vacant Supreme Court seat. Christine Blasey Ford is the California professor who claims he tried to rape her when she was 15 and he 17. An excerpt:

Because of its ubiquity, the landscape is littered with proposed etymologies of the term "OK." This nice explainer clarifies the murky origins of one of the most widely spoken words in the world. (more…)

Floating in on the wind, yet again, the sound of It's Raining, It's Pouring being sung by a child on the creepiest siren in Britain. The Ipswich Star reports on what one local described as "something from a horror movie." I've embedded a recording made by one alarmed local at the top of this post so you know what they were hearing.

Casper Beyer's How to Design for the Modern Web is grimly amusing.

"Moist" is assuredly the worst word in the English language, a conclusion backed by science. And now you can have it inscribed in delightful mock gold on this handsome 16-oz unisex mug from Amazon."I absolutely love this mug, the flowers and gold leafed 'Moist" are kind of amazing, if not really weird and slightly creepy," wrotes verified Amazon customer Eric Byers, "but that's kind of the point."

The spooked camel was brought under control in seconds, report witnesses at a Pittsburgh Shriner Circus, but sent six children and one adult to hospital Sunday afternoon. The worst injury was a broken arm.

I woke up this morning to the sad news that maker-pal and pioneering hobby roboticist, Gordon McComb, had passed away. I wrote a brief eulogy on Make:

We have our first glimpse of Joaquin Phoenix as The Joker in Warner Bros. upcoming Joker origin story. And we also have The Joker's first name. From director Todd Phillips' Instagram: No Country for Old Jokers?The Daily Mail also published some not-so-official footage from the set, captured last week by paparazzi. The yet-untitled Joker film is scheduled to open on October 4th, 2019.Joaquin Phoenix spotted in character as The Joker for the first time as filming starts on the origins story [Daily Mail][PHOTO: PXHere]

Christine Blasey Ford is a 51-year-old research psychologist in northern California: “I thought he might inadvertently kill me. He was trying to attack me and remove my clothing.” When the first murmurs of this sounded last week, conservatives had a 65-signature letter of support from women classmates ready to roll. They knew it was coming, and many of them are now talking like they knew it was true:Photo: Jim Bourg/Reuters

This was not a good week. I visited Montreal as it was kissed by the ass end of a major Atlantic storm system and attended my first industry-related function where, because of my diet, I was unable to drink. Upon returning home, I went under the knife for a vasectomy – I've been icing my bits for days. Fortunately, I don't have to go far for ice: the area of Alberta that we're currently living in has been experiencing freakishly cold weather for the past few days. It's not even fall yet and there's snow falling outside my window. The ONLY thing that I took delight in was catching Lady Rouge live while I was in Quebec. While they typically play weddings, corporate events and the like, their sound and the friendly energy they project while they're on stage would be well suited to a venue of any size. Taking in their set made what was otherwise an absolute shit week feel like it was almost salvageable.

Jarts are not a thing of the past, but fun may be. (more…)

Having been married, and having played Fortnite, Fortnite has an awful lot going for it.Via QZ:

A decade ago, Steve Jobs admitted in an interview that Apple had the means to remotely kill core functionalities and apps on iOS devices. Apple purportedly made this possible to ensure that their hardware could not be taken over with malicious apps. I remember being very not OK with this, at the time. But over the years, I completely forgot about it. Until this week.From The Verge:

September 15th marks Battle of Britain Day.On September 15th, 1940, after six weeks of constant aerial battling over the United Kingdom, the Battle of Britain came to a head. The Hitler's luftwaffe launched an all out bombing raid against London. Vastly outnumbered the remaining Hurricanes and Spitfires of the RAF, with their allies from Poland, New Zealand, Canada, Czechoslovakia, and many other countries, held off the attacking Germans.Disappointed in the results of his grand attack, Hitler held off on his invasion of Britain.Clip from Battle of Britain (1969)

One of the biggest problems surrounding my use of expensive electronics is that my lifestyle isn't kind to fragile things. While we're in transit between campsites, our RV rocks, bumps and heaves. Sometimes, no matter how securely I've stowed my gear, shit happens. Shit happening cost me $600 for a new MacBook display last summer. When I'm not in the RV, the gear I use for work gets chucked in a backpack. One of my laptops was destroyed falling off the back of a motorcycle. Another got fried in Costa Rica by the heat. These experiences have driven me to become a little bit more paranoid about protecting my gear over the years. Sometimes, protecting my kit means making compromises. Slapping on a $70 UAG Metropolis case for the Microsoft Surface Go feels like one of those.Don't get me wrong, there's absolutely nothing wrong with the Metropolis. UAG makes rock solid cases and their beefy-looking design aesthetic agrees with my sense of style. The case, available in three different colors, is primarily made from rubberized plastic. Without the Surface Go in it, the case is semi-rigid, which makes it easy to slip on to the tablet. Once it's sheathing your Surface, however, the Metropolis is pretty difficult to remove. That's gotta be worth some bonus points: I've used cases, in the past that came off all too easily when the object they were meant to be protecting got dropped. The corners of the case boast extra padding that'll hopefully help to protect against a cracked display if I ever suffer a case of the butterfingers. With the Metropolis's textured back plate, that's not likely to happen: it provides lots of options for a set of fingers looking to get a grip. There's a place to store a Surface Pen baked into the top edge of the case and a wee elastic stay to keep the Surface's keyboard cover in place when it's closed. If you prefer to roll without a keyboard, the Metropolis also comes with an insert that can be used to protect the bottom of the tablet where the keyboard connects to. Now here come the compromises.First, at 10.2 ounces, this is a frigging heavy case. Given that the Surface Go itself weighs 18.4 ounces, I had to really search my soul for the answer of whether or not I want to use the Metropolis at all. I decided that when I'm at home or headed to a coffee shop, I'd leave the case in a drawer. The risk of damaging my tablet versus the substantial weight that it adds doesn't feel worthwhile. That said, when I'm traveling to ill-advised locals or using my Surface to record data while I'm doing a hardware roundup and in other scenarios where it's likely to get bounced around, the case is an absolute must.I'm also not thrilled by the fact that in using this case, you lose the ability to use the Surface Go's built-in stand and its amazing hinge. If you haven't used a late model Surface, the hinge for its built-in stand is amazing. It'll hold the tablet firmly in place so that it can be viewed at almost any angle. The Metropolis case covers the Surface Go's built-in kickstand and forces users to use a stand built into the backside of the case. The stand offers a number of viewing angles, but it's nowhere near as functional as the Surface Go's kickstand. I'm using the case to type this review right now. The viewing angle it provides is fine. But I don't like the idea that the case I'm using keeps me from getting the most out of my expensive wee tablet computer. Still, a loss of viewing angles and a bit of weight is a small price to pay for protecting my considerable hardware investment. Image via UAG

The record on "active shooter" fatalities is fragmented; as a result, the AMA researchers who published Lethality of Civilian Active Shooter Incidents With and Without Semiautomatic Rifles in the United States in JAMA (Sci-Hub Mirror) had to piece together their own data from disparate sources. (more…)

The revelation that Google had been secretly creating a censored, surveilling search product (codenamed Project Dragonfly) in order to re-enter the Chinese market prompted more than 1,000 googlers to sign a letter of protest and a high-ranking resignation from the one of company's top scientists. (more…)

Even before the election of Donald Trump, America's pearl-clutching class has been invoking James Madison and his fear of "impetuous majorities" and his desire for "majority rule based on reason rather than passion," worried that the "adults" in the political halls were losing their grip and being forced into "extremism" by mob rule. (more…)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Emn-UF4ArWkDaniel writes, "An obsessive programmer, frustrated with not only the inefficiencies of mainstream OSes like Windows, but what he sees as their 'imperialistic oppression,' built an entire operating system using a subleq architecture. Subleq is a OISC, a language with only a single command. It lacks the most basic features of programming languages, and yet is Turing Complete. (more…)

There's no shortage of apps available for your Mac, and, while it's great to have options, this overabundance makes it difficult to find the apps worth installing on your computer. Thankfully, there's the Pay What You Want: The Ultimate Mac Bundle ft. 2Do to simplify the process, which boasts 10 of the best Mac apps out there for a price you get to choose.Here's how the deal works: Simply pay what you want, and you'll instantly get one of the collection's 10 apps. Beat the average price paid, and you'll take the entire collection home for no extra charge.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9wpm_GZKM8This collection comes loaded with tools to help you get the most out of your Mac. Featured in the bundle is 2Do, a highly-rated task manager that helps you streamline your to-dos and get things done with color-coded lists, quick entries, and even location-based reminders. Inside the bundle, you'll also find Airy Youtube Downloader, RoboForm password manager, and much more.Simply choose your price, and you can upgrade your Mac's potential with 10 top-tier apps from the Pay What You Want: The Ultimate Mac Bundle ft. 2Do.

Chris Hampshire of Georgetown, TX was driving through Cedar Breaks Park near Lake Georgetown when he took a wrong turn. He backed up and turned towards the exit when a park attendant stopped him. And that's when all hell broke loose. Hampshire describes what happened:

WTF is wrong with this idiot?

Not only did Barry rule my parents radio/tape deck on long road trips, back in the 80s, but Mr. Manilow is also a master of writing commercial jingles.

OFFF Milan is known for putting together great promotional work for their annual digital design event, and this year's trailer sets a remarkable tone. (more…)

This is my 58mm espresso tamper of choice! (more…)

Internal emails show that the Berkeley, California Police Department (BPD) talked of building a “counter-narrative” on social media against anti-fascist protesters as BPD tweeted out their names and mugshots, then boasted of retweets and “engagement” metrics when mugshots went viral. This amounts to cops doxxing protesters and high-fiving each other over it. That's creepy, and seems like an obvious abuse of power, if not also an abuse of the law. (more…)

In the 1950s, Soviet zoologist Dmitry Belyayev began selectively breeding wild foxes based on how friendly they were. The result is a semi-domesticated red fox, five of which now live in California. (more…)

Hungarian pianist Peter Bence covers popular songs by performers like Sia, Queen (check out his "Don't Stop Me Now"), and The Beatles. His latest cover is "Beat It" by Michael Jackson and it might well be the most chipper version of it I've ever heard. Absolutely delightful!(The Awesomer)

Discovering how Salty Road makes their freaking delicious taffy has weakened my resolve to stick to my diet. The only thing saving me is that I'm currently in Canada, putting the company's confections well out of reach.

White Supremacist grifter Steve Bannon, formerly of Donald Trump's Presidential administration, has made quite the new career for himself as a lucrative speaker on the journalism and big thinker circuit. (more…)

If you've ever tried to buy online eyeglasses, you'll understand why this $1.99 ruler from Eyeque is a godsend. They also sell a $29.99 kit to check your vision using your smartphone.

The State Board of Education in Texas has proposed some rather interesting cuts to the their social studies curriculum. (more…)

For 500,000 KRW (443 USD), an Uncle Service will send a rough-looking, hulking man to your bullied kid's school to warn the bullies to stop picking on them -- or else. This is called the "Uncle Package." (more…)

After the fall of the Soviet Union, the political opposition who showed up in Russia's streets was old and grey: people who had lived through the Soviet era and then watched as their state industries and national wealth were looted by oligarchs, and who wanted an equitable system with broadly shared prosperity. (more…)

Sleek, minimalist, and convenient, Apple's AirPods are a popular pick for those looking to upgrade to Bluetooth audio, but not everyone can afford the hefty $160 price tag. Whether you're on a budget or just want something a little different, we've rounded up four pieces of audio gear that make for convenient Bluetooth listening, and they're all on sale today. Read on for details:1. Cresuer Touchwave True Wireless Bluetooth EarbudsSome of us just want a pair of earbuds that won't dislodge from our ears when we're out and about. Ditching unnecessary buttons and bulk, the Touchwave earbuds are lightweight, comfortable, and even come with three different silicone ear tips to give you the perfect fit. What's more, the Touchwaves leverage CVC Noise Cancellation technology and total noise isolation from silicone ear tips to help you get the most from your music.Buy now: $44.99 (55% off)2. FRESHeBUDS Pro Magnetic Bluetooth EarbudsWith a six-hour battery life and water-resistant design, FRESHeBUDS are the perfect pick for those who want Bluetooth gear they can count on. In addition to their durable design, these earbuds are also magnetic, automatically pairing when you pull them apart and shutting off when you stick them back together.Buy now: $29.95 (75% off)3. 1Voice Bluetooth 100% Wirefree EarbudsCombining cutting-edge Bluetooth 4.2 tech with a completely wireless design, these earbuds deliver top-notch audio quality while eliminating the hassle of dealing with wires. They're ergonomically designed to sit comfortably in your ears, and each earbud contains a speaker, Bluetooth chip, battery, and mic, so they can work independently or paired.Buy now: $32 (73% off)4. TREBLAB Z2 Wireless Noise-Cancelling HeadphonesThe TREBLAB Z2s are best for those looking to enjoy their playlists free from outside distractions. They come engineered with Sound2.0â„¢ technology with aptX and active noise-cancellation, allowing them to filter exterior noise while delivering crisp Bluetooth audio from their neodymium-backed 40mm speakers. Plus, these headphones are rated to last up to 35 hours, making them a great travel companion.Buy now: $78.99 (69% off)