Tag yourself, I'm the "undesirable current on a grounding connector."Structure Tech Home Inspections:These are not from the same house. Read the rest

Tesla worker: 'We’re extremely frustrated, angry, scared, that Elon is putting his cars before his workers.' Tesla's chief executive said he reopened production at the company’s Fremont, California factory Monday, which Musk said he knew was a violation of public health orders.“Tesla is restarting production today against Alameda County rules,” Musk tweeted yesterday. “I will be on the line with everyone else. If anyone is arrested, I ask that it only be me.”But what about the workers?One person who works at Tesla's Fremont plant told a Washington Post reporter: “We’re extremely frustrated, angry, scared, that Elon is putting his cars before his workers." Excerpt:Currently, conditions have affected morale at the plant, the employee who works there said.“We’re extremely frustrated, angry, scared, that Elon is putting his cars before his workers,” the worker said. “He’s putting those cars before his employees and their well-being.”Read the whole story at the Washington Post:Tesla’s Elon Musk reopens factory, defying county orders and daring officials to arrest himWorker at Tesla's Fremont plant told me: “We’re extremely frustrated, angry, scared, that Elon is putting his cars before his workers." https://t.co/vcWf68sOmv— Faiz Siddiqui (@faizsays) May 12, 2020Happening right now-hundreds of @Tesla employees coming to or leaving Fremont, CA facility after @elonmusk admitted that he is defying shelter in place orders by Alameda county. @kron4news @AaronPeroTV pic.twitter.com/p8HYiIhay6— Will Tran (@KRON4WTran) May 12, 2020It's possible to restart shop floors like Tesla and protect employees with vigilant hygiene, protective gear, procedures etc. Read the rest

You may not realize it, but even before COVID-19, America had a toilet paper problem. The problem was that people really didn’t like it all that much. It’s often course, it chafes, and rather than deal with that unpleasantness, many shoppers just shifted to flushable wet wipes instead. Which, unfortunately, created another problem — because it seems those flushable wipes aren’t always quite as flushable as advertised. And if your flushable wipes don’t break up in your pipes the way you’d hoped, you could be looking at a blockage that’ll cost you up to $3,000 or more to fix.So with all that in mind, you might want to consider a compromise like the Fohm Toilet Paper Foam and Dispenser Set. This inventive system effectively turns ordinary toilet paper into a wet wipe. A blast from the hands-free dispenser issues a cleansing fluid that is made from the same components that wet wipes use, a pH balanced, paraben, alcohol and fragrance-free solution that’s gentle for even the most sensitive skin.The foam isn’t messy, and one set provides three months' worth of solution. Rather than dealing with the less reliable wet wipes, you can get the same refreshed cleansing with the Fohm alternative in a much more eco-friendly and even cost-effective way.The dispenser and solution are already a hit, prominently included in features in publications like Family Circle, Bloomberg, BuzzFeed, New York Magazine, and more. And with cleanliness from the bathroom and beyond a top-of-mind consideration these days, the function and comfort of a Fohm-based experience shouldn’t be overlooked. Read the rest

• Dr. Anthony Fauci is expected to warn states Tuesday in Senate testimony prematurely reopening economies will cause “needless suffering and death.”Donald Trump is having a very anxious day.Today is the day the nation's top health authorities are to testify before a Senate committee that is tasked with plans to reopening businesses, schools and the rest of the economy closed because of the novel coronavirus pandemic.National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci warned that officials should adhere to federal guidelines for a phased reopening. They did not. Fauci is among the officials who have been invited to testify before the Senate on Tuesday.Fauci is expected to warn of ‘suffering and death’ in his Senate testimony if the Trump administration and followers continue to push for “reopening” too soon.“If we skip over the checkpoints in the guidelines to: ‘Open America Again,’ then we risk the danger of multiple outbreaks throughout the country," explained Fauci on what he plans to tell the U.S. Senate. The Senate hearing will feature three federal officials:• Anthony Fauci• Robert Redfield (head of the CDC)• Stephen Hahn (head of the FDA)Dr. Anthony Fauci, @CDCDirector Dr. Robert Redfield, Dr. Stephen Hahn (@SteveFDA) and Assistant Secretary of Public Health ADM Brett Giroir (@hhsgov) testify before Senate @GOPHELP @HELPCmteDems - LIVE at 10am ET on C-SPAN3, @cspanradio & online here: https://t.co/Tg9oc5y3GE pic.twitter.com/Z1O7QifvQC— CSPAN (@cspan) May 12, 2020Full Fauci email message to me: pic.twitter.com/yq8IAa9f8g Read the rest

• Facebook is one of the big-tech entities behind American Edge, a new lobbying group in DC to fight antitrust regulators and push back against lawmakers trying to rein in Big Tech.“Facebook is working behind the scenes to help launch a new political advocacy group that would combat U.S. lawmakers and regulators trying to rein in the tech industry, escalating Silicon Valley’s war with Washington at a moment when government officials are threatening to break up large companies,” reports Tony Romm at the Washington Post:The organization is called American Edge, and it aims through a barrage of advertising and other political spending to convince policymakers that Silicon Valley is essential to the U.S. economy and the future of free speech, according to three people familiar with the matter as well as documents reviewed by The Washington Post. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the group because it hasn’t officially been announced.In December, American Edge formed as a nonprofit organization, and last month, it registered an accompanying foundation, according to incorporation documents filed in Virginia. The setup essentially allows it to navigate a thicket of tax laws in such a way that it can raise money, and blitz the airwaves with ads, without the obligation of disclosing all of its donors. Many powerful political actors — including the National Rifle Association — similarly operate with the aid of “social welfare” groups.Facebook is viewed as a critical, primary driver in helping to launch American Edge, the sources said, though some cautioned it is not the only one. Read the rest

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments as to why President Donald Trump should be allowed to prevent Democratic-led congressional committees and a New York City prosecutor from getting his financial records.Trump, unlike all modern presidents before him, has refused to release his tax returns and other financial records. “Rulings are likely within weeks,” reports Reuters, “ The cases will be heard in two separate arguments by teleconference, a format adopted during the pandemic.” Three months after Trump avoided removal from office in a Senate impeachment trial, Trump’s lawyers want the Supreme Court to endorse their expansive view of presidential powers that would severely limit the ability of Congress to conduct oversight of presidents and of prosecutors to investigate them.The Supreme Court has a 5-4 majority including two justices appointed by Trump. He has won key victories at the high court including over his hardline immigration policies but lost a big case a year ago regarding the U.S. census when conservative Chief Justice John Roberts joined the court’s four liberals.In the three cases being argued on Tuesday, Trump has sought to prevent enforcement of subpoenas issued to his long-time accounting firm Mazars LLP and two banks, Deutsche Bank(DBKGn.DE) and Capital One(COF.N), for financial records including tax returns. Lower courts in Washington and New York ruled against Trump in all three cases.U.S. Supreme Court to hear Trump bid to keep his finances secret Read the rest

Jordan Kita, an officer with the New Hanover Sheriff’s Office, put on his uniform and joined armed vigilantes to confront a teenager at his home. Everyone in the group, reportedly searching for a missing teenage girl, was white. Their target, Dameon Shepard, is black. A neighbor called 911 and he was not harmed before other officers arrived.Kita was fired and charged with breaking or entering, forcible trespassing and willful failure to discharge duties, District Attorney Ben David said during a press conference. Another man, Austin Wood, was charged with a terror offense. The family, represented by James W. Lea, plans to sue.Kita and two other individuals were armed with an assault weapon and shotgun when they arrived at Shepard’s house, [Lea's] letter states. The group was reportedly looking for Lekayda Kempisty, a 15-year-old girl who was reported missing earlier that day, WECT reported. She was later found safe. ... Kita put his foot in the door to stop Shepard from closing it and demanded he be let in.“Dameon became very frightened and hysterical, and kept repeating that his name was Dameon and that he attended Laney High School,” the letter published by Port City Daily states. “Out in front of the yard was a sign congratulating him on his graduation from Laney High School with his name on the sign.”The new pattern, same as the old one: armed white men with police connections setting out to lynch black people, with no arrests made until a fuss ensues. Read the rest

Conan tells it better. But, in short: A tee-shirt company in Boston sent Conan a local tee that didn't resonate with his experience of growing up in the Massachusetts capital. So, he complains about it and asks for a more "realistic" one, an outrageous depiction of his actual childhood. Well, the tee-shirt company delivered. They sent him a new tee, effectively knocking it out of, well, Fenway Park! Get yours here. Read the rest

Firestorm Bookstore Co-op is a collectively-owned radical bookstore and community event space in Asheville, North Carolina that describes itself as an essentially anti-capitalist business, in as much as they can be.And on May 7, someone smashed their through their window and robbed the cash register. (They also behind a live bird, although it's possible the bird also entered later.) View this post on Instagram Well, someone did a crime. ? This morning our co-operative was robbed. Someone smashed in the front door, emptied the register, and left behind a live bird (also totally possible that the bird came in separately). Hopefully they also took a good book, because they definitely didn't leave with a lot of money. Y'all, the anarchist bookstore is not sitting on piles of cash. ? Crime elsewhere! . This is not a great time to take a financial hit, but we're OK. We got a lot of text messages from folks who saw the mess and were concerned <3. If anyone wants to help us cover the losses (looks like about $150 in cash plus $450 in physical damage) now would be a cool time to buy a book or five. . Also, no, we didn't call the police. There really isn't anything that law enforcement could do for us that we can't do for ourselves and if someone is desperate enough to risk their freedom for $150, maybe we've all failed them. It's tough feeling vulnerable, and seeing our storefront broken open brought up a lot of emotions, including anger—but incarceration isn't justice and punishment can only multiply harm. Read the rest

The Boston-based metalcore band Ice Nine Kills has always had a penchant for horror-themed songwriting, including a recent single about It. But their latest recording takes a power-pop approach to the topic of bloody murder, somewhat-honoring the late Adam Schlesinger with "Jason's Mom" — all recorded remotely in quarantine, of course, which perhaps an implied redundancy at this point.(Hat-tip to Kerrang!) Read the rest

Even if you aren’t among the millions of Americans directly impacted in the wallet by the fallout from the coronavirus, you’re probably still keeping a very close eye on your expenses amid all this financial instability.Each of those monthly expenses has to face even tighter scrutiny than ever before — and if you’re still a cable subscriber who’s undoubtedly considered cord-cutting already, that monthly fee has to look more and more like a prime place to save some cash.Do it. Cut that cord. And if you’re concerned about where you’ll get your local TV, favorite cable outlets, and virtually any streaming content you could ever want, then a service like SelectTV is definitely worthy of a close look.SelectTV has one of the streaming world’s largest libraries of available content, a virtual stockpile of enough TV, movies, music, and games to keep any household busy...well, forever.Your subscription grants access to more than 700,000 TV episodes, 100,000 movies, 50,000 radio stations, and over 1,500 curated channels with the latest episodes from all the prime networks, as well as a massive archive of classic TV, all available for viewing on any and all of your preferred devices.One of SelectTV’s handiest features is its Pay-Per-View Deal Finder, which not only gives you access to all the hottest available pay-per-view movies, sports, concerts, and other key live events but even does a price comparison, checking against all sources to find the one with the cheapest price to rent or own your title for the lowest cost out there. Read the rest

Trump has snit, verbally abuses 2 female reporters, ends press conference abruptly

Elon Musk just said he was planning to break the law. Musk just tweeted that he and Tesla intend to disobey public health orders and restart work at the electric car company's Fremont, California factory today. Earlier today, California governor Gavin Newsom said it was too soon and that Tesla would likely be given the go-ahead sometime next week.Tesla is restarting production today against Alameda County rules. I will be on the line with everyone else. If anyone is arrested, I ask that it only be me.— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 11, 2020Musk:Tesla is restarting production today against Alameda County rules. I will be on the line with everyone else. If anyone is arrested, I ask that it only be me.Previously at Boing Boing:• Elon Musk to CA factory employees: Back to work. Gov. Newsom: This may violate public health order• Tesla sues California over coronavirus factory closure• Tesla to reopen Fremont factory Friday, despite ongoing coronavirus lockdownElon Musk has learned that public freakouts are more profitable to his brand than good faith behaviorshttps://t.co/ReEwcFGCgr— tc (@chillmage) May 11, 2020Elon Musk says Tesla is resuming production of cars at its factory outside San Francisco in defiance of local orders that the plant remain shut down https://t.co/NWaXImcNkx— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) May 11, 2020JUST IN: Elon Musk says Tesla has restarted production at one of its Calif. factories "against Alameda County rules" https://t.co/zmtMZCCe1e— CNBC Now (@CNBCnow) May 11, 2020Rosa Parks, but with a Tesla, everybody! Read the rest

Donald Trump, on the day the U.S. death toll from COVID-19 passed 80,000, declared success in the war on coronavirus: “We have met the moment and we have prevailed.”One week ago today, the impeached and manifestly unfit president of the U.S. said it was too soon to declare “mission accomplished.”But today, victory has been declared, even as the bodies pile up, with no plan for the pandemic and no end to the pandemic in sight.“We will transition into greatness -- that's a phrase you're going to hear a lot," Trump said today in the White House Rose Garden.“The greatness is going to be in the fourth quarter, but it's really going to be next year.”Trump: And next year we’re going to have one of the best years we’ve ever had because there’s a tremendous pent up demand. It’s a demand and I’m feeling it. I’ve felt things a lot over my life and I’ve made a lot of good calls pic.twitter.com/h5wR3VTTR0— Acyn Torabi (@Acyn) May 11, 2020It appears that @POTUS, among all present in the Rose Garden (@WhiteHouse staffers, officials and media) the only person not wearing a mask.— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) May 11, 2020“Last week we did over 1.9 million tests,” according to @HHS_ASH. “Our percent positives are going down.” pic.twitter.com/r2sglpjFBn— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) May 11, 2020Among those in Rose Garden with Trump for these remarks on coronavirus testing are Jared Kushner, Adam Boehler and Brad Smith who worked with a team of a couple dozen volunteers from private sector on virus equipment supply. Read the rest

Yet another medical study says hydroxychloroquine, the drug much hyped by Donald Trump, is not effective against COVID-19 and could also cause deadly heart problems. The study was the largest of its kind, and was published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association.From CNN's Elizabeth Cohen: It follows a study published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine that also showed the drug doesn't fight the virus.Even before these reports were published, the US Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health issued warnings about using the drugs for coronavirus patients. In the most recent study, researchers at the University at Albany looked at 1,438 patients with coronavirus who were admitted to 25 New York City area hospitals.After statistical adjustments, the death rate for patients taking hydroxychloroquine was similar to those who did not take the drug. The death rate for those taking hydroxychloroquine plus the antibiotic azithromycin, was also similar.The patients who took the drug combination were more than twice as likely to suffer cardiac arrest during the course of the study. Heart issues are a known side effect of hydroxychloroquine.Read more:Hydroxychloroquine could cause heart problems, new study shows[www.cnn.com, 5-11-2020, h/t Ram Ramgopal @RamCNN] Read the rest

Elon Musk told employees at Tesla's California factory that they are back to normal in a company email. Governor Gavin Newsom says he's looking into the electric car company's reopening as a potential violation of a public health order.Tesla on Monday told employees at its one and only U.S.-based factory to return to work just a few days after local officials said the plant must remain closed as lockdown measures remain in effect to curb the spread of COVID-19.“We’re happy to get back to work and have implemented very detailed plans to help you keep safe as you return,” the email from Tesla to Fremont factory workers said. The governor said it’s ultimately up to the Alameda County Health Department to assess or execute any enforcement actions at Tesla, if people are working there before officials have given Elon Musk's company approval to reopen.He says possibly as early as next week, Tesla would be permitted to resume work.Newsom said he's known Musk for "many, many years" and respects the company. He heaped praise on Musk and Tesla during the Monday afternoon press conference.Background:Musk said on Twitter recently he plans to move Tesla out of California and into Nevada and/or Texas, because Newsom wasn't loosening coronavirus restrictions quickly enough for Musk's liking.Tesla tells its California factory employees that they are back to normal in a company email. Governor Newsom says he will look into the current reopening as a potential violation of public health order https://t.co/xv802EAHyL Read the rest

In the mid-nineties it was easy to get an acquaintance with Little Richard. All you had to do was haunt the bar at the Hyatt Hotel on Sunset where he lived and at one time or another you would find yourself talking to him over a drink…talking about how he discovered rock and roll or a new project…listening and watching a legend perform in front of you, as if you were at Carnegie Hall.I didn’t go to the Hyatt to search him out. I would go for a pre-concert drink before venturing across the street to the House of Blues. When I first saw him holding court there, my jaw dropped. There he was…all made up with his legendary pomp and flashy clothes, as if he had just come back from killing it at American Bandstand. Flamboyantly throwing his hands around with every sentence he preached, Little Richard was everything you hoped he would be. And he even remembered you after a first meeting.When Shane MacGowan and the Popes were playing The House Of Blues, I took Shane down to the bar…to see if Little Richard was there. And when we walked in and heard his Wop-bop-a-loo-bop voice above the crowd, we went right over to where that sound was coming from, and I got to introduce the Irish songwriting legend to the inventor of rock n roll. Shane professed just how much Richard’s music and flair influenced him from the beginning of his artistic journey. How he had never heard or seen anything like Richard before. Read the rest

We all know the importance of multitasking. If we weren’t doing at least two things at once, if not more, how would we ever finish everything we each have to accomplish in a given day?It’s no different with tech now. Your devices can’t only serve one purpose. With bulging purses, backpacks and travel bags, our devices have to be versatile enough to handle a few important functions or we couldn’t justify carrying them around with us all day.And that rule extends to our support equipment as well...like our power cables. It’s bad enough regular Lightning cables only work with Apple devices, but if you need to juice up your iPhone and an Apple Watch at the same time, you’d usually be out of luck.However, this 2-in-1 Lightning Cable with a wireless watch pad is all about the multitasking, providing enough power to get two devices back to full strength in the time it would usually take to charge just one.Just like a regular Lightning cable, this five-foot connector connects right to your iPhone, iPad or other iOS device and delivers a charge from its USB-powered source directly to your device at the top safe speed.But unlike a regular Lightning cable, this cord also includes a charging pad magnetic module to also provide a wireless boost for your Apple Watch at the same time.In under two hours, you’ll have a fully-powered iPhone or iPad as well as a fully-powered Apple Watch, all with the help of just one cable. Read the rest

Do you believe in ghosts? I don't. But I do believe in the active powers of the human imagination, especially in an old, cold building filled with the world's "acquired" ancient treasures and mummified humans.In this fascinating read in 1843 Magazine, Killian Fox chronicles the strange after-hours goings on in the halls of the British Museum.Sometimes it’s the doors. To complete a full circuit of the museum more than 3,000 doors need to be opened and closed. Some of these, particularly ones that seal off the major galleries, are cumbersome to shut. But when bolted, they won’t open again without a tussle. Except when they do. Take the Sutton Hoo gallery, which houses treasures from an Anglo-Saxon ship, among them a ferocious-looking helmet believed to have been worn by Raedwald, king of the East Angles, in the seventh century. On one occasion a guard bolted the double doors and moved on to the next room, only to be informed by a CCTV operator that the doors stood wide open again. Video footage of the gallery showed them moving spontaneously.Sometimes it’s a sudden drop in temperature, like the unnerving patches of cold air that linger next to the winged, human-headed bull of Nimrud at the entrance to the Assyrian galleries. Sometimes it’s the sound of footsteps, or music, or crying, where no obvious source can be found.Despite all this, I witnessed no supernatural activity myself. The skeptical part of me, which I hoped would be cracked open by some paranormal epiphany, remained stubbornly intact. Read the rest

This stud finder is finding studs in my walls.I have reached the 'hanging artwork' phase of moving into my new home. My old stud finder disappeared in the move, this new one is simple to use and works great.Tavol sounds like a Vulcan who would beat Spock down during pon farr.Stud Finder Sensor Wall Scanner - 4 in 1 Electronic Stud Sensor Beam Finders Wall Detector Center Finding with LCD Display for Wood AC Wire Metal Studs Joist Detection via Amazon Read the rest

Paul L. Vasquez, whose awestruck reaction at a rare double rainbow made him an internet sensation in 2010, died Saturday at 57.In the 3-minute, 29-second video, Mr. Vasquez cries out things like, “It’s a double rainbow all the way across the sky!” And, “It’s so bright!” And, “What does it all mean?” There are lots of whoas, and whoos and oh-my-Gods. He laughs during it. He sobs.The exposure catapulted the apparently laid-back, good-natured guy, called “Bear” by friends, to far more than 15 minutes of fame. For instance, he and a famous “Friend,” Jennifer Aniston, did a Smartwater commercial together. He also did ads for Microsoft and Delta Air Lines. Read the rest

Flash Gordon is alive.One of the greatest movies of all time.Vultan is my favorite. Read the rest

People in China can't wait to enter the Magic Kingdom now that coronavirus deaths in that country have declined. CNBC reports that Shanghai Disney will be the first major theme park to re-open since the shutdown began.Usually, that park sees around 80,000 visitors per day, but the government has mandated Disney operate at 30% capacity, or about 24,000 visitors.CEO Bob Chapek said during an earnings call Tuesday that the park would initially operate well below that capacity and then ramp up to reach that 30% cap over the course of several weeks.Photo by Lars Zhang on Unsplash Read the rest

In the early 1980s, Ministry's Al Jourgensen made ends meet by recording advertising jingles. Above is a TV commercial he soundtracked for Shasta soda that aired in 1983, the same year Ministry released their debut album "With Sympathy" (featuring Jourgensen's faux English accent). From his autobiography Ministry: The Lost Gospels According to Al Jourgensen:“Before Sire picked up Ministry I was writing TV and radio jingles to help support our drug habits, pay the rent, and feed the baby. I did a commercial for Shasta and some stuff for Huffy, and every time I left the studio I wanted to kill myself. It really put into perspective what my dad had to go through, cutting off his lifelong dream to support a family. That’s what I was doing, and it was horrific, but it toughened me up. If you cut me up right now and put me on a plate, I’d be some tough meat. You couldn’t eat it; it would be toxic, tough, and chewy. No, there’s no cannibalism with me. The deal with Huffy came to an end when I gave them this song for a bike called the Panther, and at the end of this cheesy tune they wanted me to purr loudly into the mike. I said, “Fuck you. Get someone else to purr. I quit.”(via r/ObscureMedia) Read the rest

The Moscow Times reports that at least 376 Russian cadets have been infected with COVID-19. They were practicing for a parade to be held in Moscow's Red Square.The last rehearsal for the parade took place on April 16, the day when Putin postponed the event and vowed to hold it later in 2020, an unnamed participant told Proekt.The virus broke out among officers and cadets in at least five elite Russian military academies and one regiment — out of the more than 40 involved — following the parade rehearsals, Proekt cited participants and their relatives as saying.Photo by Anastasiya Romanova on Unsplash Read the rest

The great Jerry Stiller died today at the age of 92. Enjoy this blooper reel of Stiller making his Seinfeld co-stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Jason Alexander laugh so hard that they can't stay in character.[via Digg]Image: YouTube Read the rest

Negativland recently released video for "This is Not Normal" is giving me some serious Koyanisqaatsi vibes.From the album 'True False' on Seeland Records, released on 25 October 2019Negativland previously on BB (since 2001!)(Nag on the Lake) Read the rest

Marcel Salathé (epidemiologist) and Nicky Case (art/code) created this fun(?) way to visualize the spread of COVID-19 through a series of increasingly sophisticated playable simulations. The takeaway: "A lockdown isn't a cure, it's just a restart." Read the rest

Olaf Falafel made a Covid-19 slogan generator in the distinctive hazard-sign style used by the British Government. It's embedded in the tweet as a clever video, just click to start and stop.I made you a Government COVID Slogan generator pic.twitter.com/qfCDRrLfzu— Olaf Falafel (@OFalafel) May 10, 2020via brahaminda Read the rest

I'm honored that in the latest issue of The Burning Shore, Erik Davis, scholar of West Coast counterculture, reviewed The Family Acid: California, Roger Steffens's far-out photo album I published with my Ozma Records partner Tim Daly! Erik's excellent essay is a double review, also focusing on the Anthology Editions reprint of Dennis Stock's striking California Trip book from 1968. From Erik Davis's The Burning Shore:Steffens’s use of multiple exposures is perhaps the key gesture here. The decision to re-expose film is a dice throw, an act of faith in the playfulness of multiple perspectives and the value of subjecting an already captured image to the serendipity of leaps through time. Such images are also, of course, hallucinatory, and some of Steffens’ are trippy as shit. They not only recall the formal and symbolic palimpsests of psychedelic vision, but loop the question of the photographic object back into the eye of the beholder: seeing these impossible scenes, we glimpse our own seeing, our own congealing of reality from the virtual.Other Family Acid images feature artifacts like diffraction spikes, iridescent orbs, and weird lensing effects. (Check out the cover shot up top, which juxtaposes the classic clerestory light of redwood groves with a mandalic UFO flare.) These are special effects, my friends, evidence of that hippie will to hack media tech in the quest for unusual experiences. They also recall the more sacred lights you can only chance upon, in the strangest of places if you look at em right, those wink-wink psychedelic glimmers that occasionally illuminate parking lots, or crumpled beer cans, or goofball commercial signage—Phil Dick’s “trash stratum,” temporarily kindled into something high and holy and wholly profane.[...] Read the rest

Astrophysicist-slash-astrophysical-guitar-god Brian May posted this alarming photo on his Instagram last week: View this post on Instagram Reality check ! For me. No - the Virus didn’t get me yet - thank God. Hope you’re all keeping extra-safe out there. A decision to relax controls doesn’t suddenly make the danger go away. But me ?? Yes, I’ve been quiet. Reason ? As well as getting over-stretched and harassed by too many demands ... I managed to rip my Gluteus Maximus to shreds in a moment of over-enthusiastic gardening. So suddenly I find myself in a hospital getting scanned to find out exactly how much I’ve actually damaged myself. Turns out I did a thorough job - this is a couple of days ago - and I won’t be able to walk for a while ... or sleep, without a lot of assistance, because the pain is relentless. So, folks ... I need to go dark for a while, getting some complete rest, at home. Please, please don’t send me sympathy - I just need some healing silence for a while. I’ll be back - but I need the complete break. OK ? Thanks. Take care out there. BriA post shared by Brian Harold May (@brianmayforreal) on May 6, 2020 at 6:44pm PDTThe Virus didn’t get me yet - thank God […] I managed to rip my Gluteus Maximus to shreds in a moment of over-enthusiastic gardening. So suddenly I find myself in a hospital getting scanned to find out exactly how much I’ve actually damaged myself. Read the rest

In 2010 Paul L Vasquez posted a video about a double rainbow he spotted. His emotionally charged commentary briefly launched him into viral YouTube stardom and the video got 47 million views. Vasquez died on Saturday of an illness. From the article in The Modesto Bee, it sounds like he may have had been infected with COVID-19.In the 3-minute, 29-second video, Mr. Vasquez cries out things like, “It’s a double rainbow all the way across the sky!” And, “It’s so bright!” And, “What does it all mean?” There are lots of whoas, and whoos and oh-my-Gods. He laughs during it. He sobs.In 2012, Vasquez explained why he reacted so strongly to the rainbow, and how it is a mirror into the soul of others who watch it:"A double rainbow is a mirror of itself. And so, my video is a mirror for the people watching it. It's a mirror into your soul. So what you see in my video, that's in you. Because different people see different things, and it's the same video. So, when you're commenting, whatever you say in the comments, that's you."Image: YouTube Read the rest

The happy mutants at MSCHF are recreating every episode of The Office in Slack. They are doing it live, weekdays from 9-5. Read the rest

An original 1985 pair of Air Jordan 1s, custom made for Michael Jordan, worn in a game, and signed, are now up for auction at Christie's. The sneakers were estimated to sell for $100,000-$150,000 but the current bid is already $160,000 and there are six days left in the auction. From Reuters:Like most of Jordan’s basketball shoes, they are a mismatched pair in a size 13 (left) and size 13.5 (right), Sotheby’s said.The shoes are being sold by collector Jordan Geller, founder of the sneaker museum Shoezeum, where they were previously on display in Las Vegas. They were the “crown jewel” of the museum, drawing fans and collectors from all over the world, according to Geller. Read the rest

Twenty years after Tony Hawk set a skateboarding world record by landing a 900 degree aerial spin on a vertical ramp, the record has been broken. Over the weekend, Gui Khury, age 11, landed a 1080 using only a vert ramp. So fucking rad. From The Guardian:“The isolation for the coronavirus helped because he had a life that was about school and he didn’t have a lot of time to train, when he got home from school he was tired,” the skater’s father Ricardo Khury Filho told Reuters.“So now he is at home more, he eats better and he has more time to train and can focus more on the training so that has helped. He has an opportunity to train here, if he didn’t have [the skate facilities] ... he would be stuck at home like everyone else and unable to do sport. So the isolation helped him focus.“During lockdown, Khury’s family make the 20-minute journey to his grandmother’s house on most days to deliver food and drop him off so that he can train on the vertical ramp, bowl and street course they had built in her back garden. It was on that ramp that he completed the historic feat. Read the rest

After a cease-and-desist shut down their attempts at a Boober Eats food delivery service, Portland strip club Lucky Devil Lounge has found another new way to keep the lights in this pandemic. "You pull in and you get one or two songs with the gogos, then we bring your food out to you and then you go on your way," explains owner Shon Boulden in the video above.According to Oregon Live, the service costs $30 per car, plus $10 for each additional occupant, plus a mandatory food purchase. You can still get Boober Eats, too, only now it's served under a different name.But honestly it just looks like something out of Blade Runner or Neuromancer. I'm just glad the dancers are given some kind of PPE.These Reuters photos of a strip club in Oregon operating as a drive through takeaway service confirm that we have reached the neon anime sci fi part of our future dystopia. pic.twitter.com/kRKOVz5CWE— Sean Craig (@sdbcraig) April 30, 2020A drive-thru strip club, movie popcorn to go: Oregon businesses get creative during coronavirus [Samantha Swindler / Oregon Live]Strip Clubs Are Offering “Drive-Thru” Experiences During Pandemic [Victor Tangermann / Futurism]Image: YouTube/Oregonian Read the rest

A decade ago, I became ordained in the Church of Latter-Day Dudes so I could officiate a wedding in Texas; it is, apparently, legal for the Dude to abide over the institution of marriage in that state.But that was a different time, before an apathetic cosmic horror who craves nothing but worshipful death from his followers became an appealing alternative to the current leadership of several powerful nations. Which is why I've renounced by Dudeist vows, and am now ordained in the First United Church of Cthulhu.In order to perform weddings, some states do require a letter of good standing from the local governing authority of your church; I learned this the hard way when I officiated a wedding in Massachusetts, and the governing authority for the Church of Latter-Day Dudes was characteristically lazy and unresponsive. Luckily, the website for the First United Church of Cthulhu offers clear instructions for this:You are the gibbering voice, the insanity-inducing dreaming mind blast, the writhing real world living tentacle of Cthulhu! As the head priest and exalted avatar of Cthulhu I ordain thee as a priest of Cthulhu. As such, you are granted by the power of Cthulhu to physically sign your own Letter of Good Standing. Or ordain a friend and have them sign it.If you really need my signature as the Head Priest it's gonna run you $20. But that includes shipping and the cost of having it notarized. And I'm sorry your state sucks. You should really summon a few star-spawn and take care of that problem. Read the rest

Jerry Stiller, who most famously played Frank Costanza on Seinfeld, has died. He was 92. Along with his role as George Costanza's dad, he also appeared on screen in Zoolander, both Hairspray films, and The King of Queens. From Variety:Though known as a comedian, Stiller was also a serious dramatic actor with a long history on Broadway.Long before Stiller became known for his appearances on “Seinfeld” and “The King of Queens,” Stiller and Meara, were a top comedy act in the 1960s, appearing on “The Ed Sullivan Show” some 36 times. The pair were also members of the improv group the Compass Players, which later became Second City....Stiller was born on June 8, 1927 in New York City. He graduated from Syracuse University with a B.S. in speech and drama, and he also studied drama at HB Studio in Greenwich Village.I’m sad to say that my father, Jerry Stiller, passed away from natural causes. He was a great dad and grandfather, and the most dedicated husband to Anne for about 62 years. He will be greatly missed. Love you Dad. pic.twitter.com/KyoNsJIBz5— Ben Stiller (@RedHourBen) May 11, 2020 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 soundsGreetings, all — I hope you're doing well. This week, the episode discusses smut and theft, as perceived by my own mind at age five and six. Enjoy a time warp back in the late 1970s as you find a Belle Barth album, are given a tour of Aurora, Colorado, and break into a friend's house to get that Gargamel toy.RIP Jerry Stiller. A great comedian. He played the Borscht Belt in many of the same clubs as Belle Barth, incidentally. Here's this week's show:SPOKEN WORD WITH ELECTRONICS #9: Belle Barth's Dirty Jewish Jokes and THE 1980 SMURF HEISTYou can now follow Spoken Word with Electronics on Apple Podcasts.Talk with you next week. Keep your Belle Barth albums close, and your Gargamels closer! — Ethan Read the rest

Scunthorpe Sans is a font based on Aileron that adds auto-censoring ligatures for a selection naughty words. It’s able to detect the words f***, s***, p***, t***, w***, c*** and dozens more, but with a special exemption for “Scunthorpe”; that town has suffered enough. It's available as a free download (Aileron is CC0 1.0/No Right Reserved). Read the rest

With unemployment as high as 20 percent in the U.S., millions of men and women are out of work and rethinking the next step in their lives.In an emergency, all options should be on the table. That means considering other careers — and in that case, it could also mean it’s time to shore up some fundamentals. For those looking to segue into industries like engineering or computer science or data analysis, it starts with that class you probably hated most in high school: math.But hey, if you didn’t hate math, then the training in The Mathematics for Engineers Prep Bundle might just be the access point you need to unlock a whole new lucrative career.This package includes nine courses with more than 60 hours of instruction getting any student up to speed on the bedrock numbers at the heart of any future in engineering.The cornerstone of the training is the four-part Intuition Matters! Applied Calculus for Engineers training from aerospace and robotics engineer Mark Misin. Rather than drill students on memorization and repetition, Misin offers an understanding of calculus so vectors, linearization, wave representation, and other concepts don’t seem quite so alien.Of course, the foundations of newer, more modern calculus are laid in the older, numbers-based training of algebra, so Algebra 2: The Complete Course gets into that, covering geometry, inequalities, functions, graphs and more. Meanwhile, Matrices: Learn the Foundations for Linear Algebra and Complete Linear Algebra for Data Science and Machine Learning broaden your scope and show how these skills apply in some of today’s most in-demand job sectors. Read the rest

Two White House staffers are reportedly infected with coronavirus and three members of the Coronavirus Task Force restricting social contact with others after coming into contact with infected individuals.Pence press secretary Katie Miller, the wife of Trump aide Stephen Miller, tested positive for the virus last week, as did a personal valet to Trump whose name has not been confirmed. Dr. Anthony Fauci is entering what the White House calls "modified quarantine" for two weeks. And the BBC reports that Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director Dr Robert Redfield and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner Stephen Hahn are "self-isolating" after contact with people known to be infected.In a statement, the CDC said Dr Redfield, 68, had no symptoms and was not feeling unwell, but would also be teleworking for two weeks after "low risk exposure" to someone at the White House. It is unclear who this person is. And an FDA spokesman told Reuters news agency on Friday that 60-year-old Stephen Hahn was also self-isolating. He has also tested negative, the spokesman said.The three men were due to address a Senate committee on Tuesday. Before the news about Dr Fauci became public, committee chairman Senator Lamar Alexander said Dr Redfield and Dr Hahn would be allowed to testify by videolink.Bloomberg reported that Pence would be self-isolating too, but he has denied it and reportedly told those attending a roundtable with him to remove their masks for the event. Read the rest

After a week of hysteria and memes, it's good to read some actual facts about Murder Hor—sorry, Asian Giant Hornets. An important one would seem to be that they've never been spotted outside of Washington state and haven't been reported in 2020 at all. Whatever you're freaking out about in your back yard, it's probably not a Mur—an Asian Giant Hornet.According to entomologists involved, however, there have been no verified reports of the species in 2020 and although monitoring efforts continue, there currently is no cause to believe that any of these hornets are still present in Canada or the U.S.No verified sightings have been recorded of the species in the U.S. outside of Washington state. If you are in that region and think you have seen an Asian giant hornet, report it to the Washington State of Department of Agriculture here. If you are not in that region and think you’ve seen one, it is most likely a different species.Photo: LiCheng Shi (CC BT 2.0) Read the rest

We used to joke about Boston Dynamics' robot dogs being used to control humans, and now they are: Singapore has deployed one to Bishan-Ang Moh Kio Park to monitor social distancing and blare warnings during the coronavirus pandemic. South China Morning Post:"Singapore has unveiled a four-legged robot programmed to keep park visitors tuned in to rules about safe social-distancing during the Covid-19 pandemic. Developed by Boston Dynamics, the robot has been busy during a two-week test run during off peak hours at the Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park."The robot dog is aware that it cannot contract biological viruses. The robot dog is aware of the inherent mutability of animalian life. The robot dog is eager to please. PREVIOUSLY: Already regretting assigning Cormac McCarthy to report on the video of an entire pack of Boston Dynamics robot dogs Read the rest

You’ve wanted one since you were 7. No, not one of those cheap plastic ones, like the one your mom got you at Target before you cracked it over your pal Scott’s head three hours later. We’re talking about an honest-to-goodness, metal replica lightsaber that looks just like the real thing.Now is the time to pull the trigger on a true artifact of your childhood and bring home a CyberSaber Laser Sword with built-in sound.And when it’s sitting in your hand, you’d be hard-pressed to know if it’s the real thing or not. Crafted from aerospace-grade aluminum, this hilt is precision milled using a CNC machine to create an ergonomic grip that slides into your hand like an elegant weapon for a more civilized age.The hilt projects 11 different light colors with a button press, so whether you’re a fan of shining, heroic blue, evil, sinister red, or seriously badass purple, you can fire it up and swing away.And since a sword isn’t really a sword without a blade, this also comes with a detachable, ultra-durable battle-ready blade. Of course, this blade won’t slice through metal like butter, but it is strong enough to survive choreographed combat with your fellow laser swording buddies if that’s your thing. Or just put the whole thing in your home trophy case and marvel at its gloriousness regularly.The whole thing runs off a rechargeable lithium-ion battery and can be powered up with a plugin to a simple micro USB cable. Read the rest

From serving as a home entertainment hub to being a valuable business tool, portable pocket-sized projectors have really come into their own the last few years. But while manufacturers have packed more power and more capability into these mini marvels, they’re still usually too delicate or too dangerous for a child to use safely.The Cinemood 360 is not only the first portable projector that supports playing 360-degree videos, but it also distinguishes itself for its kid-friendly engineering, created for kids as young as 2 or 3 to use and enjoy safely.For the adults, the unit is light, portable, and durable, sporting up to 5 hours of rechargeable battery life, built-in speakers, wireless cooling, and 32GB of memory to help project video on to a flat surface up to 12 feet wide. In addition to the generous storage, the Cinemood 360 connects via WiFi or Bluetooth to stream virtually anything with no cords, cables or plugs needed.And while this projector is more than capable of satisfying adults, its true moment to shine comes when it’s in the hands of a child. Designed with a low lumen count for a child’s safety, the Cinemood 360 is a parental game-changer, offering easy use as well as a wide stretch of kid-friendly content features to keep a child engaged for hours.The unit comes preloaded with 360-degree educational videos, motion games, and built-in access to Netflix, Prime Video, YouTube, YouTube 360, and more. Meanwhile, a digital library also offers 40 Disney ebooks and 25 short safety videos and cartoons for kids to enjoy. Read the rest

Leaving the house for the first time in weeks to brave the coronavirus-infested wilds of western Pennsylvania, I ducked into the ruins of an Ace Hardware. I knew I was in danger because I could hear the rasping, plaintive moaning of the dead from deep within. Something about the voice drew me up short, and my hand relaxed around the handle of my pick. "Oh my God," my voice was barely a whisper. "Is that you, SCO Group?"Super Unix EXTREME adhesive [Amazon] Read the rest

Visionary comic book creator Tom Scioli discusses his new work, Jack Kirby: The Epic Life of the King of Comics, set to be released July 14, 2020 from Ten Speed Press.Tom Scioli won a Xeric Grant in 1999 for his creator-owned comic book series, The Myth of 8-Opus, and gained further prominence as co-creator (with Joe Casey) of the Eisner-award nominated comic book series Gødland (2005-2012) published by Image Comics. More recently, Scioli wrote and drew a five issue Go-Bots mini-series (2018) published by IDW Comics, as well as his (very awesome) “Super Powers” (2017) back-up feature for DC Comics' Young Animal imprint. Scioli also drew and co-scripted (with IDW editor-in-chief John Barber) the critically acclaimed Transformers vs. G.I. JOE maxi-series (2014-2016) published by IDW. In 2020 he wrote and drew Fantastic Four: Grand Design, published by Marvel Comics.Jeffery Klaehn: How might you elevator pitch Jack Kirby: The Epic Life of the King of Comics to audiences, especially new readers who may not yet be familiar with Jack Kirby or your own comics work?Tom Scioli: Everybody’s knows Marvel, everybody knows Stan Lee, but there’s another guy who is at least as important in the creation of the Marvel Universe. Jack Kirby has been a big part of comics history from the very beginning and is a real life hero in his own right. If you’ve never heard of Jack Kirby, or just know the name and not much more, prepare to get your mind blown. Read the rest

An ingenious and practical invention shared by IMGURian @GuzziGuy.The post became so popular, that the maker has decided to offer them for order from Etsy. “I realise the price is a bit high, but there's a lot of work and materials in it, it's as sensible as I can make it!”About the making of:This is a project that goes back a while. About 9 years ago, I got interested in nixie tubes and built a few clocks from kits; during which I learned of the FLW - Four Letter Word, a toy created in the 70s using huge B7971 nixie-type tubes. The original creator had made a new, updated kit - which I ordered (and obtained the tubes elsewhere), but he went AWOL (causing some drama in the community) and it never arrived.So worked on my own version with an Arduino - and got it running, but ideally I wanted to make some more for friends etc but a) my electronic skills were not up to converting my breadboard into a PCB; and b) the tubes were expensive even then and not practical to obtain. Not to mention that by then, other folks had made this better than I could. Project shelved, indefinitely.Cut to late 2019, when I discovered Scott Bezek's split flap project. A lightbulb moment - a splitflap display is arguably the only thing cooler than giant nixie tubes; I'd always wanted to make something with one, but new or old ones are difficult and/or expensive to acquire. Read the rest