At least one of the older white men in this photograph has had close repeated exposure to a person with COVID-19.This group of white men of advanced age would appear to be at higher risk of coronavirus. Nevertheless, not one of them is wearing a face mask, and none of them are abiding by social distancing guidelines.What message are they sending?Why?President @realDonaldTrump met with Secretary @EsperDoD, @SecPompeo, senior military leadership, and national security team members in the Cabinet Room today. pic.twitter.com/C4Yr2CMeLR— The White House (@WhiteHouse) May 9, 2020PHOTO: White House Read the rest
The stupid is what hurts the most. The stupid will eventually break me. Must. Not. Break.Yet again, impeached president Donald Trump has tweeted something obviously untrue and unbelievably dumb.78,000 dead Americans is not super great.We are getting great marks for the handling of the CoronaVirus pandemic, especially the very early BAN of people from China, the infectious source, entering the USA. Compare that to the Obama/Sleepy Joe disaster known as H1N1 Swine Flu. Poor marks, bad polls - didn’t have a clue!And previously this Sunday morning, on Mother's Day:When are the Fake Journalists, who received unwarranted Pulitzer Prizes for Russia, Russia, Russia, and the Impeachment Scam, going to turn in their tarnished awards so they can be given to the real journalists who got it right. I’ll give you the names, there are plenty of them!Below, the tweets.We are getting great marks for the handling of the CoronaVirus pandemic, especially the very early BAN of people from China, the infectious source, entering the USA. Compare that to the Obama/Sleepy Joe disaster known as H1N1 Swine Flu. Poor marks, bad polls - didn’t have a clue!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 10, 2020When are the Fake Journalists, who received unwarranted Pulitzer Prizes for Russia, Russia, Russia, and the Impeachment Scam, going to turn in their tarnished awards so they can be given to the real journalists who got it right. I’ll give you the names, there are plenty of them!— Donald J. Read the rest
It seemed like such a great idea at the time. You wanted to put together a video for a loved one, including all their family and friends singing their praises, making their life look as epic as a Hollywood production.Oh, it was a Hollywood production, all right. Contributors showed up late and sent weird file formats, editing took forever, the music wasn’t right...and on it went. Before you know it, a simple tribute video you thought might take an hour or two consumed multiple nights and had you cursing the day you ever thought of the idea.Video montages take work. But by enlisting Tribute to help you assemble your message of love, It’s all a lot more manageable.In fact, the Tribute process is so easy that you probably won’t have to do more than a few minutes of work to produce a high-quality tribute video that brings tears of joy. No, seriously...Tribute swears 80 percent of their videos elicit actual tears of joy. Of course, there’s no way of knowing their metrics for judging the results of their 500,000 Tribute videos so far...but if they’re close, your odds for an emotional testament to your subject are pretty darn high.With Tribute, you just enter the emails for all the people you’d like to contribute to the video. Tribute emails your participants, explains the project, and guides your subjects through how to shoot and submit their segment for the finished video.Once all your videos are in, Tribute will compile all your clips into a touching, polished montage. Read the rest
My friend Steve Davee posted this fun project to Instructables. It's a perfect project for shut-in parents and kids to do together.The main body parts of the bots are keyboard keycaps and Q-tips/cotton swabs. An eccentric weight (pager) motor provides the bouncy movement that makes your vibrobots go.Dip the swabs in watercolor paints, place the little critter on some paper, and watch your little tabletop Jackson Pollockbot go to town.Image: YouTube Read the rest
Fear is ripe soil for the unscrupulous. With so much uncertainty and concern over our health and the broader world economy, cybercriminals have been playing on that fear to steal a few extra dollars out of the most scared and vulnerable. The U.S. Secret Service warned that phishing attacks were up significantly and scams over fake COVID-19 treatments have led to seizures and arrests.From companies and organizations to individuals, it’s never been more important for everyone to have their cybersecurity measures on high alert. And whether you’re looking to protect your own assets or you’ve been tasked with safeguarding a company and all its workers, the vital work of white hat hackers is absolutely essential these days.The training in The Ultimate 2020 White Hat Hacker Certification Bundle can put you in a position to understand all aspects of maintaining cybersecurity for a communication system of virtually any size, a lucrative career that can earn you a six-figure income.The four-part Complete Cyber Security Course (taught by cybersecurity expert and noted consultant Nathan House) is a 360-degree starting point for any cybersecurity career. Starting at the beginning, each part of this multi-pronged introduction will help guide you through vital knowledge, from network hacking techniques and vulnerability scanning to all the defense methods that assure every laptop, desktop, smartphone and tablet in your network remain secure.The hacker training continues with the rest of the courses in the collection, including building security analysis tools using Python and learning how to analyze web app security vulnerabilities and solutions using frameworks like Ruby on Rails and PHP. Read the rest
After six weeks of negotiating, the UN Security Council was close to agreeing on a resolution for a global ceasefire during the Covid-19 pandemic. Seems fair, right? Let's agree to stop killing each other for a while, so we can focus on the virus that's killing us instead?China proposed that the text explicitly mention a commitment by member nations to support the efforts of the World Health Organization — who Donald Trump has blamed (without evidence) for withholding information on the coronavirus outbreak.So the US looked at the resolution and said "LOL no," despite last minute efforts to reach a compromise. As The Guardian reports:On Thursday night, French diplomats thought they had engineered a compromise in which the resolution would mention UN “specialized health agencies” (an indirect, if clear, reference to the WHO).The Russian mission signaled that it wanted a clause calling for the lifting of sanctions that affected the delivery of medical supplies, a reference to US punitive measures imposed on Iran and Venezuela. However, most security council diplomats believed Moscow would withdraw the objection or abstain in a vote rather than risk isolation as the sole veto on the ceasefire resolution.While everyone else seemed game to go along with these compromises, the US insisted it was one big Chinese trick. As one diplomat told CNN: "This discussion has been taken hostage by issues that do not have to do with the real issues at stake. Instead it has been transformed into a fight between the US and China. Read the rest
I have a love/hate relationship with musical reaction videos. There are kids reacting to heavy metal (or The Beatles), vocal teachers and opera singers reacting to rock vocalists, millennials reacting to classic rock, and on and on. Some of these are quite moving, for instance, a 20-something hearing Zep's "Since I've Been Loving You" for the first time or a vocal teacher reacting to a Black Metal vocalist's cookie monster growl.In these two videos, Heline, a classical flutist and music teacher, listens to Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson performing "Bouree" at a 1969 concert and then she listens and reacts to a performance from 1976.I didn't realize that Anderson had only been playing the flute for a year and had no formal training at the time of the 69 video (their first tour). Heline can appreciate his chutzpah in the first performance and the fact that he's only been playing for a year(!), but is perhaps predictably critical of his playing. She is more impressed with what she sees and hears in the 76 performance.Personally, I always thought his playing was inspired and his playing, vocalizing, singing and playing, and his other stage antics (the goofy one-legged stance) were a perfect example of "the street finding its own uses for things," using technology in ways in which it was never intended. As with all things artistic, your mileage may vary.Image: YouTube Read the rest
My pal Jake has been taking regular "cigar walks" (as he calls them) here in our lovely island city of Alameda, California. On those walks, he started spotting some creative flyers...(I saved the best two for last...)photos by Jake Schaffer, used with permissionThanks, Susie! Read the rest
"Little" Richard Penniman, singer of Tutti Frutti and countless other hits, died Saturday morning. He was 87 years old. Rolling Stone reports that he died of cancer.Starting with “Tutti Frutti” in 1956, Little Richard cut a series of unstoppable hits – “Long Tall Sally” and “Rip It Up” that same year, “Lucille” in 1957, and “Good Golly Miss Molly” in 1958 – driven by his simple, pumping piano, gospel-influenced vocal exclamations and sexually charged (often gibberish) lyrics. “I heard Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis, and that was it,” Elton John told Rolling Stone in 1973. “I didn’t ever want to be anything else. I’m more of a Little Richard stylist than a Jerry Lee Lewis, I think. Jerry Lee is a very intricate piano player and very skillful, but Little Richard is more of a pounder.” Photo: Anna Bleker (Public Domain) Read the rest
Game designer and publisher Dave Gilbert founded Wadjet Eye Games in 2006. This interview features conversation about point and click adventure games; digital game development, marketing and publishing; and the relationship between art, passion and real world commerce.Jeffery Klaehn: How did you first become interested in point and click adventure games?Dave Gilbert: I played King’s Quest at a very impressionable age! I typed the word “jump” and I saw Graham actually jump, and I was so blown away that I’ve been playing them ever since.JK: You founded Wadjet Eye Games in 2006 to sell your game, The Shivah, commercially, then moved to pursue game design on a full-time basis and released The Blackwell Legacy, the first in what would become a series of five games. What are your thoughts on these games and on the market then compared to now?Dave Gilbert: I am Blackwell Legacy’s biggest critic. It was the first game I wrote with the intention of selling commercially – The Shivah was originally freeware, so I don’t count it – and it shows every inch of my inexperience. The gameplay is clunky, the story is told in three giant infodumps, and the main characters weren’t very likable. But that said, I know with absolute certainty that it was the very best game I could have made with the experience, resources and time I had available. So I stand by it.As for the market, everything is different. Back in 2006, indie games in general were a very new thing. Read the rest
The "transient bazaar" known as Lost Horizon Night Market is a covert operation. Worlds are imagined and then built inside the blank canvasses of empty box trucks. For the event, all the "proprietors," and their appointed box trucks, convene in an unsanctioned, though discreet, location. This location is disclosed to would-be "shoppers" via text just a few hours before it starts. Word of the market generally spreads rapidly but not publicly, definitely not by social media. If you're lucky enough to hear about it, you should go.So, Happy Mutants, this is your heads up. Lost Horizon Night Market: Quarantine Edition is happening Saturday, May 9, from 6:59p EST until 11:59p EST, "rain or shine." This one is a little different, as the spaces are virtual, not in actual, physical trucks. I got a sneak peek yesterday of what's been created and can't wait to dive in deeper. Admission is free, though tips are appreciated. RSVP here.Previously: Secret box truck 'night market' pops up again in NYC Read the rest
Tear down all the Robert E.T. statues and stop celebrating his invasion tactics.The creator of Full House Without Michelle returns with a documentary on General Robert E.T. [Reid McCarter / AV Club] Read the rest
Drummers hear all the jokes. What do you call a drummer with half a brain? Gifted. How is a drum solo like a sneeze? You know it's coming, but there's nothing you can do about it. What do you call a drummer that breaks up with his girlfriend? Homeless.Drummers hear the jokes — and laugh. Because they know they’re the thumping heartbeat of any band. They’re the ones with loads of equipment. And they’re the ones making all that noise while practicing. Yet try to play almost any song without drums and the lack of propulsion and power is instantly palpable.Drummers are essential. Now, users can join their ranks — and they don’t even need to buy a massive drum kit or rattle their walls to do it. Created by drummers, Senstroke by Redison is the first sensor device that can teach anyone to play the drums and even reproduce the drummer experience, all without any physical drum set.Just attach the patented Senstroke sensors to a pair of drumsticks and your feet, connect via Bluetooth, and instantly you can turn any surface into a virtual drumhead. Using the impact of the drumsticks and your feet positioning, the sensors reproduce the exact sounds your chosen drum element would make through the Senstroke app. Your legs, some cushions, a coffee table, they all become fair game as a drum surface while you refine your skills. And when you attach a pair of headphones, no one else even has to know you’re playing...well, Read the rest
Magician Roy Horn, 75, died Thursday after developing symptoms of Covid-19 several days ago. Horn and partner Siegfried Fischbacher ran the most popular stage show in Vegas throughout the 1990s, featuring hundreds of performers, pyrotechnics and a coterie of white tigers at the Mirage hotel. Horn was forced to retire after suffering a stroke before or as a tiger dragged him from the stage by the neck.TMZ received a statement from Fischbacher:"Today, the world has lost one of the greats of magic, but I have lost my best friend. From the moment we met, I knew Roy and I, together, would change the world. There could be no Siegfried without Roy, and no Roy without Siegfried."Siegfried goes on ... "Roy was a fighter his whole life, including during these final days. I give my heartfelt appreciation to the team of doctors, nurses and staff at Mountain View Hospital who worked heroically against this insidious virus that ultimately took Roy's life."My first visit to the U.S. was a trip to Vegas in 1999. The first thing I remember seeing of America, stepping blearily out of the taxi at the Mirage Hotel after 15 hours in the air, was a colossal fiberglass statue of Siegfried and Roy. God bless America. Read the rest
If you’re an entrepreneur or marketer who hasn’t embraced webinars yet, you probably need to rethink your strategies. Over 60 percent of marketers say they use webinars as a key part of their content marketing strategy — and over 70 percent say it’s the best way to generate high-quality business leads.Thankfully, one of the silver linings to our new quarantine, work from home lifestyles lately is the explosion of conferencing software and Americans’ newfound enthusiasm for video group meetups. Vidthere is one of the services that has considered the needs of large and small groups trying to maintain connections over distance, offering a suite of web-based communication tools that centralizes everything in one easy-to-use place.Vidthere is a live video platform for everyone, featuring loads of internal communications features as well as options to sell and market directly to customers.With webinars emerging as a key means to engage customers and sell products, Vidthere gives you all the tools to do that from any location. Vidthere offers the opportunity to deliver live video webinars that are easy for both presenters and users. Vidthere is entirely web-based, so users never need to download any software to join a Vidthere session. As for sessions, they combine no-lag high-quality performance with the ability to scale to the size of an audience with no video loss. Plus, every Vidthere meeting or webinar has a powerful chat feature so users can engage easily.As for presenters, Vidthere events support up to 30 meeting participants and an unlimited number of webinar viewers, with options to support screen sharing, video in video presentation, and a whiteboard mode, a full basket of tools to help contour any presentation just the way you want it. Read the rest
Here's a fun puzzle with an easy setup that makes for a good stay-at-home time-filler. Like sudoku, see if you can rearrange these cards so that no face or suit repeats itself in any column, row, or diagonal. Watch the video if you need some help. Read the rest
A massive boom heard Wednesday night over Puget Sound on the northwestern coast of Washington was most likely an exploding meteor. Or that's what They want us to believe anyway. The American Meteor Society registered a dozen reports. Video above. Keep your eyes on the upper left of the frame."The more I read the more inclined I am to believe this was a fireball (which is a meteor that is larger and brighter than normal)," the American Meteor Society's Bob Lunsford said. "I'm certain now that this was a meteoric event."From KOMONews:Most meteors' explosions are heard about a minute or two after they explode due to the time it takes the sound to reach the Earth's surface, Lunsford said. Sound travels at 767 mph in standard atmosphere conditions, indicating this fireball exploded some 35 miles away."If this was larger than normal then the sound could have originated from a higher altitude. So a delay of 3 minutes is entirely possible," Lunsford said. "Meteors become visible at a height of around 50 miles so your estimate is well within that range."Lunsford said because there was a boom, it’s very likely there are small, rock-sized pieces of the meteor somewhere on the ground. When a meteor causes a boom, it’s “pretty far down” in the atmosphere. Read the rest
These little silicone rubber bowls come in handy in so many ways.I use them with my digital scale to measure the bulk powder supplements I take. We use them at the dinner table to hold condiments. We use them while preparing meals to hold spices and minced herbs. I keep finding new ways to use them. For instance, when I fry or scramble eggs, I now crack the eggs over one of these bowls so I can pull out shell pieces and woogers (I wish I had a wooger snatcher but the bowl will have to do). Read the rest
The Gothamist is reporting the sad news that Gem Spa, the iconic NY corner store that has been a fixture at St. Marks Place and Second Avenue for around 100 years is being forced to shutter its doors and windows for the last time. The Spa has been struggling to keep up with increasing rent prices and COVID-19 has apparently proven to be the final nail in its coffin."It’s where Robert Mapplethorpe bought Patti Smith an egg cream on the day they met. It’s on the back cover of the New York Dolls’ 1973 debut (and where, according to lore, Johnny Thunders and others went for post-heroin sugar fixes between sets at CBGB). Before that, it was where Abbie Hoffman gathered Yippies to rain money on the New York Stock Exchange. It’s where Allen Ginsberg, Ted Berrigan, and other neighborhood poets went to pick up the Sunday New York Times on Saturday nights (and which was inevitably commemorated in their poems)."Read the rest.Image: Alex Lozupone, CC BY-SA 4.0 Read the rest
"[F]lying during a pandemic turned out to be more stressful—and surreal—than I’d planned for," writes McKay Copkins in The Atlantic. After two months of social distancing Copkins went on a reporting trip that required a plane flight. He was looking forward to the trip, but as soon as he got on the plane he realized that air travel is no fun during a pandemic.I arrived at my assigned row, and found a stocky, gray-haired man in the seat next to mine. When I moved to sit down, he stopped me. “Sit there,” he said gruffly, pointing to the aisle behind us. “Social distance.”Not eager for a confrontation, I decided to comply. Within seconds, though, a flight attendant materialized and ordered me back to my assigned seat. My recalcitrant would-be seatmate, vigorously objecting to this development, responded by blocking my entrance to the row with his leg.Photo by Ethan McArthur on Unsplash Read the rest
An array of scientific evidence suggest that in some cases, the bacteria in your gut–your microbiome–could be tied to neurological and psychological disorders and differences, from anxiety and autism to Parkinson's and schizophrenia. The journal Science published a survey of the field and the Cambridge, Massachusetts start-up Holobiome that hopes to use insight into this "psychobiome" to develop treatments for depression, insomnia, and other conditions with a neurological side to them. From Science: For example, many people with irritable bowel syndrome are also depressed, people on the autism spectrum tend to have digestive problems, and people with Parkinson’s are prone to constipation.Researchers have also noticed an increase in depression in people taking antibiotics—but not antiviral or antifungal medications that leave gut bacteria unharmed. Last year, Jeroen Raes, a microbiologist at the Catholic University of Leuven, and colleagues analyzed the health records of two groups—one Belgian, one Dutch—of more then 1000 people participating in surveys of their types of gut bacteria. People with depression had deficits of the same two bacterial species, the authors reported in April 2019 in Nature Microbiology.Researchers see ways in which gut microbes could influence the brain. Some may secrete messenger molecules that travel though the blood to the brain. Other bacteria may stimulate the vagus nerve, which runs from the base of the brain to the organs in the abdomen. Bacterial molecules might relay signals to the vagus through recently discovered “neuropod” cells that sit in the lining of the gut, sensing its biochemical milieu, including microbial compounds. Read the rest
Who is Patrick Mason? I just ran across a few short horror films he wrote and directed, and they're truly scary. Like edge-of-your-seat gasp-out-loud scary. Not only that, but they're beautifully made with good actors, especially Ayuda (see below). The three videos posted here are the ones I've seen so far, but there are more on his site, which I plan to watch tonight. Can't wait to see where this director takes us next. Read the rest
CNBC reports that an aide to Pence has tested positive for COVID-19. This follows yesterday's report that Trump's personal valet tested positive for the virus.A spokeswoman for Pence did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.Pence was scheduled to travel to Des Moines, Iowa, in the morning, but his departure from Andrews Air Force Base was delayed by nearly an hour as staff dealt with news of the diagnosis. Reporters traveling with Pence said several staffers disembarked from Air Force Two just before takeoff.Photo of Pence: Know Your Meme Read the rest
On his Pluralistic blog, Cory Doctorow writes about a $3 router rebooter. This DIY gadget connects between your home router and its AC outlet. It pings Google periodically and if it doesn't receive a response, it cycles the power on the router to reboot it.From creator Mike Diamond's website What I Made Today:How it worksIn layman's terms, the process is simple. The ESP [ESP8266 01, an Internet of Things WiFi module board] periodically pings Google through the modem. If it gets a reply, it does nothing; the relay stays closed and the modem stays on.If the ESP does not get a reply, it will "understand" that the modem is down. When this happens, it turns off the relay, waits 30 seconds, then turns it back on, thus power-cycling the modem. Read the rest
Jennifer Usellis-Mackay, aka the Klingon Pop Warrior, sings "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" in her native tongue. The performance took place in 2015 at Chicago's iO Theater. From the video description:Opening for Improvised Star Trek, I sang a new (old) song. Got some newly translated words the day of the performance... enjoy this little slice of nerdiness... or don't.Vocals - The Klingon Pop Warrior (Jennifer Usellis-Mackay)Guitar - The Red Shirt (Joe Mizzi)Translation - Admiral qurgh (Christopher Lipscombe)Video - Eric Scull(via r/ObscureMedia) Read the rest
Ironic toxic masculinity is in fashion! The Duke Cannon Naval Supremacy Big Brick of Bar Soap for Men [Amazon] promises that those thusly-soaped will smell of "naval supremacy", "productivity" or other humorously-abstract scents. (More traditionally "manly" odors such as tobacco, leather, burned vegetation, etc. are also available).The veil of humor is threadbare -- "get clean and smell good without using feminine shower gels and accessories" -- but I'll admit that I do bathe in warm turpentine and it really helps.Are you ready for images of the best “soap but for MEN” product you’ve ever seen? pic.twitter.com/kVAWb57UlF— Shayna Moon, Unity Lich (@qorquiq) May 8, 2020UPDATE: Here's a balding treatment called "Lethal Uprising", spotted by Greg Sideyr.I'll see your Naval Supremacy, and raise you pic.twitter.com/UJE9wxeRvp— ?Greg | Applied Eschatology ? (@Greg_Sideyr) May 8, 2020Looking forward to Internecine Violence Toothpaste, Shambolic Venezeulan Coup Ice Cream, and Silently Endure Prison Abuse Hemmorhoid Cream with Aloe Vera. Read the rest
It took hundreds of exposures and a complex method of removing occlusions, but this "lucky" shot is the result: a depiction of the hot regions lurking under Jupiter's uppermost clouds.The picture was captured in infared by the Gemini North Telescope in Hawaii, and is one of the sharpest observations of the planet ever made from the ground. To achieve the resolution, scientists used a technique called "lucky imaging" which scrubs out the blurring effect of looking through Earth's turbulent atmosphere. This method involves acquiring multiple exposures of the target and only keeping those segments of an image where that turbulence is at a minimum. Read the rest
The Leopards Ate My Face subreddit is dedicated to mocking people who thought the Republican party would hurt their enemies only to be surprised to find that it hurts them, too. Inspired by a tweet by Adrian Bott—'I never thought leopards would eat MY face,' sobs woman who voted for the Leopards Eating People's Faces Party—it has now banned posts about people who claimed Covid-19 was bullshit only to die of Covid-19. There are simply too many, and it's getting depressing."We've seen a billion of them in the past two weeks and the vast majority of them don't fit the subreddit," writes moderator u/ROBOT_OF_WORLD. "People dying from their decisions isn't justice, karmic, or funny." Read the rest
A couple of days ago, Thomas Dolby posted this video to Twitter and YouTube of a track called "Corona and the Pirate Twins," a spoof of his 1982 hit, "Europa and the Pirate Twins." The song is credited to Dolby Kids. Thomas included the following note:"This is what my mischievous offspring have been getting up to during the Lockdown."Here is the original video for "Europa..."Bonus track:And here is Thomas Dolby doing a touching home solo version of his achingly beautiful "Screen Kiss" from 1984's Flat Earth. He did it as a tribute to Matthew Seligman, the celebrated bassist who recently died of COVID-19. Seligman played bass on Dolby's recordings, including Flat Earth, and also played for Bowie, Robyn Hitchcock, Peter Murphy, and countless others. He was also a member of the Soft Boys.Image: YouTube Read the rest
Yesterday saw the online premier of a mini-episode of a new animated comic series based on the classic Gilbert Shelton underground comic, the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers. As a hippie wannabe teen in the 70s, this (and Zap! Comics) was everything to me. In 1969, life in San Francisco consists of free love, communal living, and political protest. Freewheelin’ Franklin Freek (Harrelson), Fat Freddy Freekowtski (Goodman), Phineas T. Phreakers (Davidson) and their mischievous, foul-mouthed cat, Kitty (Haddish) spend their days dodging many things —- the draft, the narcs, and steady employment -– all while searching for an altered state of bliss.But after partaking of a genetically-mutated strain of marijuana, the Freaks wake up 50 years later to discover a much different society. Quickly feeling like fish out of water in a high-tech world of fourth-wave feminism, extreme gentrification and intense political correctness, the Freaks learn how to navigate life in 2020 -— where, surprisingly, their precious cannabis is now legal.OK, sounds good. But is it? If the reaction to the first mini-episode is any indication, maybe the Freaks should have remained in their drug-induced coma. As one Facbooker commented: "Get yourself a collected set of the original comic and skip this drivel!" Read the rest
Nicholas Love's Penguin Classics cover generator lets you upload an image and set type in humorous imitation of the label. It can also do the similar but inverted Oxford World Classics look. But sadly not the classic classics look.Many excellent designs in this twitter thread; embedded here is my contribution. Read the rest
We’ve all heard that if you want to help a kid learn a second language, get them started early. Younger minds are genetically built to absorb information almost unconsciously, a process that generally slows down once kids start reaching their teens. So if a 6 or 8 or 10-year-old can find success in learning a language like Spanish or French or German, wouldn’t that same theory work to help a child understand a coding language?The makers of Tangiplay say yes. Created by a trio of coding dads and funded through a $24,000 Kickstarter campaign, Tangiplay is a game directed at kids 4 to 12 years old that opens up their computational and creative thinking pathways as an introduction to coding.In Tangiplay, kids use 12 cute robot toys to interact with Tangiplay’s free iPad app. When they press, slide, or rotate the robot on the game board, the move translates into code that creates a unique response in the game.As kids in this railroad-inspired game start building new railways, overcoming obstacles, and getting passengers to their destination, they aren’t just having fun — they’re also picking up basic coding skills through those repetitions. Each hands-on computer toy performs different functions, plus each comes with replaceable emoji faces so kids can actually create their own stories. In the game world, there are more than 120 different puzzles with different themes and backgrounds to keep the gameplay fresh and the learning going. In fact, children end up having so much fun, they don’t even realize it’s a STEM toy. Read the rest
A San Diego-based Disney fan has made "happy haunts materialize" on his Animal Crossing: New Horizons island. Player Weary Bones (who goes by the Twitter handle @capuchinokappu) has re-created the experience of the Haunted Mansion as his in-game home, and it's nothing short of A-MAZING. It must have taken him weeks to make this. The level to detail is impressive — a real dedication to a worthy concept! Take a look:My HAUNTED MANSION in Animal Crossing New Horizons is finally finished!!! I made this spooky video of it to celebrate, I hope you guys like it :’)#acnh #hauntedmansion ??? pic.twitter.com/hx3qvhPdyv— Weary Bones ??? (@capuchinokappu) May 2, 2020Incredible, right?He has since added the attraction's gate:I would like to inform everyone that after acquiring the ‘Jail Bars’ recipe, the Haunted Mansion now has a very spooky gated entrance pic.twitter.com/4bhUGRH3uy— Weary Bones ??? (@capuchinokappu) May 7, 2020By the way, if you're looking for that wallpaper, it's called "Corridor of Doors" and it's available here. You can follow Weary Bones on Twitch.--A quick note about the game, from my perspective: At the beginning of this shelter in place, my 15-year-old asked for Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and a Switch Lite to play it on. I obliged, not knowing that I would soon be swept up into this great quarantine escape. Before this, it had been about 16 years since I've played a video game regularly (Sims). Now, every time I play, I find something new and joyful. Read the rest
New jobs report from U.S. released on Friday:JOBS LOST IN APRIL: 20.5 million UNEMPLOYMENT RATE: 14.7%This is the worst U.S. jobs report since the World War II era.The U.S. Labor Department delivered a historically bad employment report at 8:30AM on Friday, which shows that 20.5 million people lost their jobs last month as the jobless rate spiked to the highest level in America since the Great Depression.Over 3 million Americans reportedly applied for unemployment last week, indicating an unprecedented wave of job losses.The president was very busy this morning just before the figures were released, but not dealing with unemployment or the coronavirus pandemic that has now killed 70,000 Americans. He was busy nursing his grievances with Fox and Friends.Here's what impeached President Donald Trump was doing minutes before the jobs report was released on Friday Morning.More than ten minutes into President Trump's interview on Fox & Friends and there has not been a single word yet on the still raging coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 70,000 Americans— Jonathan Lemire (@JonLemire) May 8, 2020Wow. Moments before govt releases what is expected to be the worst jobs report in history @realDonaldTrump has called in to @foxandfriends to air grievances about federal investigations into his 2016 campaign. Ten mins in and no mention of #Covid_19 pandemic or unemployment.— Paula Reid (@PaulaReidCBS) May 8, 2020 Read the rest
Citizen DJ is the brainchild of Brian Foo, a 2020 Innovator-in-Residence Program at the U.S. Library of Congress. The goal of the project is simple: to provide free audio and video samples to encourage creativity through remixing. Or, in Foo's words:Cultivate the creation of new and transformative music using free-to-use audio and video materials from the Library.Connect the general public with culturally significant, underutilized, and free-to-use audio and video collections available from the Library.Engage communities, such as secondary school students and amateur musicians, that may have a strong relationship with hip hop music, but little to no existing relationship with the Library or the Library’s materials.Provide the general public (in particular, those with little to no formal research training) with the tools and resources to navigate the United States copyright system in the context of sample-based music creation.Contribute to human-computer interaction research and best practices for search and discovery of large audio and video collections.As for why, specifically, to take a DJ/hip-hop approach to this kind of project?Today, collage-based hip hop as it existed in the golden age is largely a lost (or at best, a prohibitively expensive) artform.I believe if there was a simple way to discover and access free-to-use audio and video material for music making, a new generation of hip hop artists and producers can maximize their creativity, invent new sounds, and connect listeners to materials, cultures, and sonic history that might otherwise be hidden from public ears. Read the rest
Clearview AI is reportedly set to cancel client accounts that are not associated with law enforcement or other government entities, as scrutiny grows over abuses of the facial recognition AI app.The controversial face-tracking technology firm is associated with right-wing extremists and known for scraping more than 3 billion photos from social media sites including Facebook and Twitter.Facing a number of lawsuits, the New York startup said it "is cancelling the accounts of every customer who was not either associated with law enforcement or some other federal, state, or local government department, office, or agency,” report Ryan Mac, Caroline Haskins, and Logan McDonald at Buzzfeed News:Responding to one of those lawsuits, Clearview claimed in legal documents filed in an Illinois federal court on Wednesday that it was taking those voluntary actions and would “avoid transacting with non-governmental customers anywhere.” That specific suit, which argues Clearview violated an Illinois statute regarding the use of biometric data for commercial purposes, is seeking a temporary injunction that would prevent the company from using the information of current and past Illinois residents for its facial recognition software.Clearview’s shift away from private businesses comes after months of mounting legal threats and scrutiny from lawmakers, activist groups, and news organizations. In February, a BuzzFeed News investigation found the company had provided its facial recognition tool to more than 2,200 police departments, government agencies, and companies across 27 countries. Despite public assurances from Clearview CEO Hoan Ton-That that its software was meant for law enforcement, internal documents reviewed by BuzzFeed News showed numerous private companies had used the service including Macy’s, Walmart, Bank of America, and Target. Read the rest
I am obsessed with this new track and cool video from DC's severely underappreciated punky art rock band, Beauty Pill. The song, called "The Damnedest Thing," is from their forthcoming record, Please Advise. As the simple and unique "textfilm" video points out, the track was inspired by a profile of photographer William Eggleston that Pill's Chad Clark read in The New York Times. I can't wait to hear the rest of Please Advise which is out today, May 8th, on Northern Spy Records.Image: Album Cover Read the rest
So real, I can smell it!Ludo is a gigantic beast in the wacky movie 'Labyrinth,' and IMGURian @Twyliteskyz made an extremely cool and fuzzy and adorable replica of Ludo, shared in this photo gallery.From the Muppet fandom wiki, a little more about Ludo:Ludo is a gigantic beast in Labyrinth, whom Sarah found being tortured by goblins. After she rescued him, he became one of her traveling companions.Ludo looks monstrous, but has a gentle and playful nature, and is one of the few residents of the labyrinth who is not under Jareth's control. He speaks rudimentary broken English and refers to himself in the third person.He also has the ability to summon rocks, from small stones to boulders capable of defeating an entire goblin army. This ability proved quite useful several times during the group's journey.His name is likely derived from the board game, as a copy of it is stored on a bookshelf in Sarah's room.Ludo I just finished! Read the rest
Elon Musk's electric car company plans to reopen its one and only factory in the United States as soon as Friday, for 'limited operations,' in a county where coronavirus lockdown is ongoing.Bloomberg reported the news first on Friday, citing an email from the company to its staff. Here is a copy:CEO Musk has been vocal on Twitter and elsewhere about his desire to reopen the Fremont factory, and the rest of the economy, despite the ongoing threat of the coronavirus pandemic.Reuters:The move comes a day after California allowed manufacturers in the state to reopen operations, shut due to coronavirus-led lockdowns, which drew an enthusiastic “Yeah!!” on Twitter from Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk.Musk, who recently became a father, has been criticizing the lockdown and stay-at-home orders calling them a “serious risk” to U.S. business, even tagging them “unconstitutional” and saying they would not hold up before the U.S. Supreme Court if challenged.Musk said Tesla aims to restart its Fremont factory on Friday afternoon, according to the Bloomberg report. (here)Even though the lockdown in Alameda, the county in San Francisco Bay Area where Tesla’s factory is located, is scheduled to last until the end of May. So according to a county order, the Fremont factory is not allowed to operate regularly.California’s order from Thursday does not supersede the county plan, Alameda Sheriff’s Office spokesman Ray Kelly told Reuters on Thursday. REUTERS:Tesla aims to restart Fremont plant as soon as Friday: Bloomberg NewsBLOOMBERG:Tesla Aims to Restart California Plant Despite County OrderPREVIOUSLY:'What the f*ck' — Elon Musk coronavirus meltdown on Tesla earnings call, 'Give people back their god damn freedom'Musk sent this email tonight to Tesla employees saying the Fremont factory will reopen on Friday afternoon. Read the rest
Asked about the Justice Department's intent to drop all criminal charges against impeached President Trump's first national security advisor, Mike Flynn, Trump's Attorney General Bill Barr says nothing matters, and “history is written by the winners.”REPORTER: How will history look back on your decision to drop charges against Flynn?BILL BARR: “Well, history is written by the winners. So it largely depends on who’s writing the history.”REPORTER: How will history look back on your decision to drop charges against Flynn?BILL BARR: “Well, history is written by the winners. So it largely depends on who’s writing the history.” pic.twitter.com/GVr2bIaavc— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 7, 2020 Read the rest
In these days of downsizing and economic uncertainty, it’s not unusual to see companies, particularly small- to medium-sized firms, going without some much-needed support. Sometimes, that means no human resources or no front desk personnel. Other times, that can mean there’s no in-house department servicing a company’s IT needs.It seems crazy, but it’s not unheard of for a company to decide employees will have to brave the tech world on their own. However, Jamf Now helps make sure Apple-based companies can still handle all their business needs and even expand their capabilities, with or without an IT department.Jamf Now is a mobile device management (MDM) solution that allows business owners and managers to simply and easily configure and coordinate all their company’s Apple devices, all from one all-inclusive platform.Whether a company is trying to set up new iPhones, iPads or Macs, do inventory, configure WiFi and email settings or update and protect their devices, Jamf Now's intuitive layout and operations make it easy to make sure every member of the organization has the apps and tools they need.With Jamf Now, you can make all those device decisions yourself, activate them company-wide and make sure updates and changes happen automatically. The Jamf Now dashboard also makes it easy for managers to handle problems like passcode resets, activation lock bypasses, and more.And, you don’t need to be up to date on every security protocol under the sun either. Jamf Now gives you all the tools to keep devices safe, from remotely enforcing passcodes and data encryption to even locking and wiping devices with the touch of a button from anywhere. Read the rest
Gregory and Travis McMichael, videotaped chasing down jogger Ahmaud Arbery and killing him in the street, were today arrested and charged with his murder and with aggravated assault.The killing, of an unarmed black man in broad daylight, occured months ago, but shot into news after the shocking footage was leaked to the media. Evidence of such a blatant public lynching, in the deep south, immediately resulted in a barrage of criticism and condemnation aimed at local authorities' contempt for the victim and favoritism toward his killers. As Thom wrote:The shooters, George and Travis McMichael, had connections with the local police and district attorneys office, and, according to their lawyer, were acting within their rights to carry firearms and perform a citizens' arrest in the state of Georgia, thanks in part to Stand-Your-Ground laws that state, "A private person may arrest an offender if the offense is committed in his presence or within his immediate knowledge." The McMichaels claimed that Arbery attacked them after they chased him with guns, which, technically, made it self-defense; Arbery was not alive to refute this statement.The District Attorney recused himself from the case over personal conflicts of interest with the McMichaels family, but not before publishing a letter that smeared the late Arbery as a violent, mentally ill criminal.The sudden attention from the press and politicians has somehow changed hearts and minds in the state of Georgia.In a press release, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said investigations are "all active and ongoing." Read the rest
Donald Trump's thoroughly corrupt Justice Department today dropped its criminal case against Michael T. Flynn, President Trump’s first national security adviser, who pleaded guilty previously to lying to F.B.I. agents about his conversations with a Russian diplomat.The Justice Department said it had concluded that Flynn’s interview by the FBI was “untethered to, and unjustified by, the FBI’s counterintelligence investigation into Mr. Flynn.” ?? SCOOP --> WASHINGTON (AP) — Justice Department is dropping criminal case against ex-Trump adviser Flynn, according to court filing obtained by AP.— Mike Balsamo (@MikeBalsamo1) May 7, 2020Here was Flynn's reaction, a tweet after a long silence on the case.My grandson Travis...“and JUSTICE for ALL” ⚖️❤️??? pic.twitter.com/IuOGugjOC3— General Flynn (@GenFlynn) May 7, 2020Trump said he was ‘very happy’ after the Justice Department, led by Attorney General and noted scumbag Bill Barr, suddenly announced intent to drop criminal charges against Flynn on Thursday. President Trump said he was ‘very happy’ after the Justice Department abruptly sought to drop criminal charges against his former national security adviser Michael Flynn https://t.co/GbBjrSZiPK pic.twitter.com/m18Me4KqSj— Reuters (@Reuters) May 7, 2020Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) said the move incriminates Bill Barr, “in the worst politicization of the Justice Department in its history.”Flynn pled guilty to lying to the FBI about his illicit Russian contacts.His lies do not now become truths.This dismissal does not exonerate him.But it does incriminate Bill Barr.In the worst politicization of the Justice Department in its history.— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) May 7, 2020And never forget, from 2017:I had to fire General Flynn because he lied to the Vice President and the FBI. Read the rest
View this post on Instagram Follow @witloofcollective "Bubbel blind"/"Bubble blind" Inspired by "Meisje met de parel"/"Girl with a pearl" Johannes Vermeer #johannesvermeer #meisjemetdeparel #gettymuseumchallenge #girlwithapearlearring #classicpainting #painting #gif #giphyartist #jocondedunord #vermeer #animatedpainting #jeunefillealaperle #gifart #pearl #perle #art #mauritshuis #kaatjevandamme #witloofcollectiveA post shared by Witloof Collective (@witloofcollective) on May 1, 2020 at 1:07pm PDTThe Witloofcollective animates classic paintings. [via JWZ, via @doctorow] Read the rest
In the ultra-competitive, ultra-crowded VPN market, it isn’t easy for a new entrant to distinguish itself. In fact, scores of providers come and go, with many never making much of an impact before slipping into obscurity.However, Fastest VPN accomplished the feat, securing rave reviews from outlets like TechRadar, who praised FastestVPN for its “lengthy list of appealing features for one of the lowest prices around,” while TenBestVPNs called them "one of the most promising VPN services in the market."Fastest takes advantage of its server infrastructure, allowing users on its 350 high-speed servers to retain full online protection while facilitating fast connection speeds (hence, the name).Since security is the bellwether of any VPN provider, Fastest users enjoy military-grade 256-Bit AES encryption utilizing multiple protocols such as OpenVPN, IKEv2, IPSec, OpenConnect, L2TP, and more. Those procedures make your activity virtually invisible to monitoring by cybercriminals or any other online black hats. We can’t validate their claims of being the fastest VPN provider on the block, but among their strong selling points are a 99.9 percent uptime rate as well as no speed caps on downloading and uploading files.As for those features, FastestVPN users get Smart Connect, which routes users to the best server instantly; Smart Tunneling, which pushes select traffic through the VPN automatically even when the app isn’t open; and DNS Leak Protection, which keep your IP protects by plugging any attempts to send your web requests beyond FastestVPN coverage.Meanwhile, FastestVPN also gets users around regional geo-blocking restrictions that keep content like country-specific Netflix, Amazon Prime or Disney+ streaming accounts accessible from anywhere in the world, while also protecting your connection with ad blocking and malware detection. Read the rest