Dillon Marsh (previously) documents interesting types of utility poles around the world, including ones colonized by birds in the Kalahari desert: (more…)

At some Chinese universities, students have a fitness requirement, so that means fitness tracker cheating has become a lucrative business for a few enterprising entrepreneurs. (more…)

Jesse Watson captured this perfectly-timed footage of a massive dust cloud roiling across the Arizona desert at sunset. (more…)

Montreal-based CandyLabs is back after far too long with a lovely demonstration of how they make hard candy that looks like a sushi roll. (more…)

Here are six new lateral thinking puzzles to test your wits and stump your friends -- play along with us as we try to untangle some perplexing situations using yes-or-no questions.Show notesPlease support us on Patreon!

The bottom is falling out on the right, which is to say that there is no bottom there. The weapon—unsubstantiated accusations of pedophilia and fig-leaved fantasies of violence—is crude. But it works for their audience, and justifies whatever happens next.

Normally, economic expansion is driven by more spending by the wealthy, and you'd think that 2018 America, where the wealthy are wealthier than they've ever been, would be dependent on the few people with ready cash as engines of economic growth. (more…)

If you were to make a list of today's most profitable skills, tech-centered disciplines like coding, data science, and IT would probably rank toward the top. However, your list would be sorely lacking if project management wasn't up there as well. As companies look for more ways to cut costs and boost efficiency within their operations, demand—and compensation—is high for project managers; and getting started is easier than you think. The Complete Learn To Scrum Bundle can get you up to speed with one of project management's premier methodologies, and it's on sale for $39.Across 5 comprehensive courses, this collection walks you through the concepts and tools Scrum-savvy project managers use to streamline initiatives and ensure they arrive on budget and on time. From team members to project owners and managers, this training dives into applying the Scrum methodology at multiple levels to keep projects moving forward. Plus, you'll even earn a number of contact hours that you can apply when you sit for the PMI certification exam.The Complete Learn To Scrum Bundle is on sale for $39, but you can take an extra 50% off when you plug in the 50% off DIGITALWEEK50 coupon at checkout this week.

This isn't taken by a far-flung probe on its way to Alpha Centauri, but from the ground on planet Earth. The European Space Agency: A "new technique called laser tomography [captures] images from the ground at visible wavelengths that are sharper than those from #Hubble."

Apple's new i9-equipped MacBook Pro reportedly has trouble dissipating heat from the powerful new Intel chip, slowing it down and erasing its advantage over lower-end models under sustained load. The fetish for thin and light laptops has screwed us, writes Owen Williams, and it's not just Macs.

Wondering why the Milwaukee county sheriff with one hat and countless badges vanished from electoral politics? Wonder no more. Fox News:

Watch freerunner Jiemba Sands of Tasmania get over a short chainlink fence in a variety of different ways like it's no big deal.Now watch his blooper reel:https://youtu.be/A8803lruFVc(Bored Panda)

David Aguilar Amphoux (aka Hand Solo) just built an upgrade to his original LEGO prosthetic arm. Very ingenious! (more…)

Grant Thompson of YouTube channel “The King of Random” has devised a way to clean up a pile of LEGO bricks quickly using a special vacuum attachment, and he shows you how you can build one for yourself.(The Awesomer)

(more…)

I couldn't resist buying this Gerber keychain multitool for $5, as an Amazon Prime Add-On item. The folding tools (knife, medium flat head driver, small flat head driver, phillips head driver, file) lock into place. It also comes with a bottle opener and carabiner.

"Invasive species are an endless resource for food," says chef Bun Lai of Miya's Sushi in New Haven. Connecticut. Lai forages for invasive species every day and uses what he finds to make tasty meals for his patrons.

These folks have figured out how to make burnable fuel from junk mail. You toss all your junk mail, newspaper, cardboard boxes, and the like ("anything that isn't shiny") into a five gallon bucket of water and let it soak for a good long time. Then you use a cuttting tool attached to a power drill to turn the water and paper into pulp. Then squeeze the water out and let the bricks dry for two weeks or longer. Free firewood![via Root Simple]

MIT nanotechnologists fabricated microscopic chemical sensors that can be sprayed as an aerosol to monitor pollution, detect chemical leaks, or even ingested as a medical nasal spray. Each sensor chip is 110 micrometers across, about the width of a single human hair, just 1 micrometer thick, and powered by ambient light. From Science News:

Uber passengers say they are being charged $100 or more for cleaning up vomit from inside of cars even though they didn't vomit during the ride. When they complain, Uber favors the drivers.From The Miami Herald:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkKPZNE2JS4Burbank's Magnolia Park district was a big reason my family and I moved to town three years ago: a walkable, shady, tree-lined street whose merchants are a quirky (and legendary) mix of indie bookstores, prop outlets, vintage clothing stores, collectibles stores, year-round Halloween stores, hobby shops, quirky indie designers, gaming stores, wine bars, community credit unions -- like a goth/alternative Main Street, USA. (more…)

Ref Rodriguez ran a big-money campaign to be the first representative of a charter school to be elected to LA's public school board; the money came from the deep-pocketed investors in charter schools, and was criminally laundered with Rodriguez's help and led to him being made president of LA's board of ed. (more…)

The White House is making it clear to intelligence officials from current and former presidential administrations: criticize Donald Trump and you'll lose your security clearance.(more…)

When you've got a 77-year-old hunk of intellectual property that can breathe underwater and talk to fish, it's not a bad idea to update it so that it's relatable for a modern audience. In the case of what I'm seeing in this first trailer for the Aquaman movie, I feel like DC may have missed the mark by about 20 years. It is so grim-dark and EXTREME that you'd swear that 1990s Todd McFarlane was called in as a consultant. I love DC comics. I grew up with them. I really want their movies to do well. But I'm not sure that this is the right way to go.

Stefan Jones writes, "While Dungeons & Dragons (1973) had its roots in miniatures wargaming, it really didn't coherently integrate boardgame-style maneuvers into its combat system. Steve Jackson changed that a few years later with Melee, the first segment in what would be a full-fledged fantasy role playing game system, The Fantasy Trip. It was a lot better developed than D&D, and was supported by GMd adventures and solotaire adventures." (more…)

The Chronicle of Higher Education profiles LiAnna Davis, Wikipedia Education's director, who forges alliance with colleges and their faculty. (more…)

My bud Money Mark joined tennis champion Roger Federer in the Mojave Desert to record this fantastic commercial for a new Wilson racket. It's titled "Play Your Heart Out." Below, Mark explains the method behind the mad beats. The extended mix is available as a 7" vinyl record as part of a limited edition box set that includes the racket, photo book, and other accoutrements.

A set of 11 videos describing repair procedures, tools and reference material for iPhones, apparently produced by Apple for internal use, are in the wild. Motherboard:

China has (had) the world's biggest peer-to-peer lending industry, with $190B lent by 4.1m "investors" to 4.3m borrowers across 1,836 services. (more…)

This super-lightweight backpack came in very handy during my 5-week working holiday in Japan. It has two pockets for water bottles, which was useful because temperatures approached 100 degrees almost every day. There are two other front pockets for battery packs, pocket wifi, sunscreen, sunglasses, notepad, and other small items. The main storage area is for hats, more water, laptop, guidebooks, and items bought while shopping. It folds up to a tiny size. I'm really happy with it. It's $21 on Amazon.

In 1963, David Bowie (then David Jones), age 16, recorded a demo song “I Never Dreamed” with his band The Konrads. Long thought lost, Konrads drummer David Hadfield found it in the 1990s in an old breadbox. Until now he's kept quiet about the find but has decided to auction it off. It's expected to sell for £10,000. Above is a short clip of the tune. From Omega Auctions:

In 1982, Bruce Springsteen recorded this raw, dark demo of "Born in the USA" during the sessions that would spawn his Nebraska album, my favorite of all his releases. "Born in the USA" is about the impact of the Vietnam War on America and the country's mistreatment of veterans upon their return. Of course the familiar version of the song ultimately released in 1984 has been reinterpreted by many as a patriotic anthem because, y'know, who pays attention to lyrics.(via r/ObscureMedia)

A few days ago, we celebrated the 49th anniversary of the first Moon landing. But while the United States may have been the first to take that giant leap onto the surface and plant a flag, that doesn't mean the moon is a US colony. But the 1967 Outer Space Treaty that prevented a "land grab" on the Moon apparently doesn't address the exploitation of the Moon's resources. Space law professor Frans von der Dunk of the University of Nebraska explains over at Scientific American:

Buying a casket from a funeral home can be damn expensive. The average one costs a little over $2000. And while selling your soul to get one cheaper from Walmart may be tempting, it's not as inexpensive (or as awesome) as making one from a kit sold from Northwoods Casket Company in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. For $599 and some manual labor, you can make their simple pine box model with your own hands.

When I'm flying somewhere for work, I'm often willing to pay for an upgrade to business-class. It's not that I'm am opulent fop who deserves the best--I mean, I live in a motorhome--it's that I can't afford to lose two days of work while I'm on assignment. There;s just not enough space, with the width of my shoulders and my need to work on a laptop, to be productive when I'm seated in coach. If someone puts down their tray table? Game over: I'm stuck listening to music and fretting over the work I should be doing for the duration of my flight. Admittedly, on international flights, having the lay-flat bed that comes with a business class ticket is amazing. Arriving well rested and ready to rock is the best. But I don't think I can get behind all the fancy that comes with a business class seat on Qatar Airways. I'd just be too frigging comfy to be productive: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=56&v=eHk12oJGCtkThat you can turn two of these business class suites together to make a double bed or combine four into a meeting room is absolutely insane. Honestly, I can't think of any business, with the exception of giving people the business, where I could afford or justify this level of luxury.

For years, rogue archivist Carl Malamud (previously) has battled for the right to publish the law online in freely readable and shareable formats, through his activist group Public Resource. (more…)

As skate culture has become woven into the fabric of society, exhibitions like Against the Grain: Skate Culture and the Camera (coming to America next year) strive to contextualize its impact on aesthetics. (more…)

Matt Berry, of Darkspace and IT Crowd fame, has produced a covers album of 70s- and 80s-era British TV themes. His rendition of "Are You Being Served?" signals delights to come on October 5.https://soundcloud.com/acidjazzrecs/matt-berry-are-you-being-served-1/s-d82UB"Self-consciously naff, but this actually results in it being kind of cool", says Robin Murray from Clash Magazine. Ffff! Here's nothing naff about it!https://twitter.com/DrMatthewSweet/status/1021393159560089601

https://youtu.be/4k4pMTsa1Kw?t=195Just when the pundits were insisting Sacha Baron Cohen was already outstaying his welcome. From The Palm Beach Post...

Air travel sucks. It’s always cramped. One person, per plane, is paid to bring a tuna and onion sandwich on board so that its odor can be pushed through the air re-circulation system (FAA Regulations, yo), and there’s never enough booze in those wee bottles to make a proper drink from. But hey, at least you don’t have to worry about bed bugs!Oh.From Fox 5 NY:

Booze, the final frontier. This is the marketing death of a childhood memory you prize.Yeah, there's Star Trek-themed vodka to be had. According to io9, CBS and the Silver Screen Bottling Company, have plopped out a Star Trek: The Next Generation-themed line of hooch to help you drink away the fact that the future, despite what Star Trek might have had to say about it, is twelve kinds of terrible. From io9:

Within the space of a week, two women were impaled by giant umbrellas while enjoying a trip to the beach. Both will make full recoveries. British tourist Margaret Reynolds, 67, was hospitalized after an umbrella "went entirely through her ankle" on a New Jersey beach.Here's eyewitness insert4coins, who posted the chilling photo of the scene above:"Bruuuuh holy shit! This lady had an umbrella go through her leg 5 feet away from me! There was a strong gust of wind, there were a couple umbrellas flying. One of the corners of a random one went THROUGH HER FUCKING LEG! That could have been me!"Then, on Sunday, a woman in Maryland's Ocean City was speared through the chest.

Using old toothbrushes, nutrition facts, electronics, vintage beer pull tabs, light bulbs and other junk, pop artist Jason Mecier has created a portrait of Pee-wee Herman. According to Pee-wee himself, some of the materials Mecier used were inspired by the pop culture icon's first film, Pee-wee's Big Adventure. The toothbrushes? Those were prompted by the "mad dog" scene at the beginning of the movie. Remember when Pee-wee poured the Mr. T cereal? That's where the nutrition facts come into play in this piece. He then used the electronics and light bulbs to match the grey in Pee-wee's a-little-too-small suit and to make that bowtie pop, he added red glitter.This is a brand new piece by Mecier. He created it to include in his new book Pop Trash. It will be shown for the first time at La Luz de Jesus Gallery, beginning at the book's launch party on August 3.(Pee-wee Herman)

Mercy For Animals is a group that advocates a plant-based diet, and they have put together a comparison of resources needed to support a plant-based diet vs. an omnivore diet. (more…)

A few years ago, I photoshopped Best Buy, as the last-man-standing on the brick and mortar battlefront of consumer electronics, as "Amazon Showroom." But of late I find myself walking out with the thing I was looking at, having found it meeting my needs and competitively priced. It turns out the company is thriving, writes Bloomberg's Susan Berfield and Matthew Boyle, despite everyone predicting its death.

Some things in life are obvious. The Pope's catholic, the sky's is blue, cryptocurrencies hawked by celebrities were bad investments, if not outright swizzes.

This behind-the-scenes Australian news documentary looks at how those 12 boys and their soccer coach were rescued by divers from that remote cave in Thailand earlier this month. What's interesting is the story is told by the divers who were there.(reddit)

The news cycle isn’t kind to stories that take a long time to be told. Sure, no one ever stops talking about Trump and his uncle Vlad, but despite it all being a part of one two-year long shit show, there’s always something new and horrific to draw the eye. Not so with stories like the ones that are still playing on on the United States’ southern border, daily. Families are still being kept apart, kids barely able to talk are being asked to defend themselves in court, and individuals seeking asylum from the dangers of their homes are being turned away by customs agents or railroaded into custody with less than legal practices.While much of the media has turned its focus to alleged Russian spies sleeping their way into influential positions, The Texas Tribune just keeps on keeping on: their reportage on the tragedies being played out on the U.S./Mexican border is has been absolutely outstanding. But, they’re a non-profit. In order to continue to do the sort of quality journalism that they’ve been churning out of late, they could use a hand.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7k_H1KfEMyoRight now, the Texas Tribune is raising funds to open a newsroom in the Rio Grande Valley: an area of the state that, as it’s name suggests, lays along the Mexican border by the Rio Grande River. It’s where you’ll find McAllen and Brownesville – two of the cities where DHS has been splitting up families and stashing kids away in privately operated prisons. It’s ground zero for the Trump administration’s bigoted bullshit.The Tribune accepts one-time donations, monthly installments or a chunk of change given on an annual basis. If you care about what’s being done to reunite families separated at the border and want to ensure that their stories are told, truthfully and in their entirety, you’ll want to follow this link and pony up whatever dough you can afford to part with.Image via Flickr, courtesy of U.S. Customs and Border Protection

"There are a trillion species on this planet. Only nine are used for all sports." Clean comedy and crowd work are both deceptively difficult, but Kellen Erskine manages both in this amusing bit about high school animal mascots. (more…)

Since 2013, the Syria Civil Defense, better known to the world as the White Helmets, have been putting themselves at risk in one of the most dangerous regions in the world. During the Syrian Civil War and throughout the campaign against ISIL in the war-torn country, the White Helmets could always be found working to save whoever they could in the wake of aerial bombardments, artillery barrages and secondary explosions. Their rescues, often made during pitched battles, were completed under great personal risk.Of late, however, the White Helmets have been facing a new threat: The Syrian government. The Syrian government has taken back control of the majority of the areas that the White Helmets operated in – areas once held by anti-government factions. While the White Helmets recused anyone who needed their help, the government sees them as being associated with the rebels. That’s bad news for for the volunteers – bad enough that the United Nations and a number of member states worked together to get them and their families the hell out of the country.From The BBC: