Boing Boing

Renowned environmentalist and chimpanzee buddy Jane Goodall has her fingers crossed: she’s entered the lottery to win the right to kill a grizzly bear in the area of Yellowstone Park. That Wyoming’s allowing the bears to be hunted is a big deal. There’s been a moratorium on taking down a grizzly bear in Wyoming for the past 44 years. This year, the state is allowing 22 of them to be killed by hunters. But, instead of taking down a furry behemoth so that she might eat its steaming heart to celebrate her kill, Goodall, and a growing number of other people, have a better idea of what to do if they win the right to shoot a grizzly: they’re advocating that folks take that shot with a camera instead of a gun. Shoot ‘em With A Camera is a guerrilla campaign to undermine Wyoming’s bear hunt lottery system. The premise is simple: Apply to the bear hunt lottery for your chance to kill a magnificent creature. Then, should you win, instead of heading to the hills with a rifle, you head out with a camera. It’s a cheeky campaign and according to National Geographic, its gaining momentum, quickly.Not everyone, however is thrilled about it.From National Geographic:

Are you sitting down? After months of anti-government protests, over 300 civilian deaths and, more recently, the rounding up of protesters and intellectuals who were designated as terrorists or linked to risks to Nicaragua’s sovereignty, the country’s president-cum-dictator Daniel Ortega announced today that he refuses to step down from his post. On the bright side, Ortega told Fox News (the preferred network of dictators and kleptocrats, apparently) that he has fabulous news: the violence that's plagued his nation for months is over! Just like that!Except, it isn’t.From CBS News:

Steve Moriarty of MoreGems.com works with designer Christopher Michael to create beautiful faceted gemstones, like this hyalite opal that glows under UV light. (more…)

Oblique Strategies (Over One Hundred Worthwhile Dilemmas), released in 1975 by Brian Eno and the late British multimedia artist Peter Schmidt, is a deck of 100+ cards with evocative statements designed for musicians, artists, and others who find their creative imaginations stuck in a ditch. The minimal, modern black and white cards, housed in an equally stark black box, present strange and evocative statements and directives that the querant agrees to follow and allow to inform the current phase of his or her work. Here, let me draw a couple of cards. I got: "Tidy up," "When is it for?," "Give way to your worst impulse," and "Look at the order in which you do things."If you need any testament to the efficacy of these cards, they were used in the studio to aid in the composition and engineering of tracks on Eno's Another Green World and Before and After Science, Bowie's Berlin-period records (Low, "Heroes," Lodger), and again on Bowie's 1995 record, Outside (among many other records).[caption id="attachment_633253" align="aligncenter" width="1512"] My draw for today, 7/23/18.[/caption]I fell in love with Oblique Strategies when I fell in love with all of the above records that were created with its assistance. Oblique Strategies was one of the first apps I installed on my first iPhone (and have had on every phone since). When I heard, in the early aughts, that the long out-of-print deck was back in print, I jumped at the chance to finally own a physical copy. In my world of hoodoo and woo-woo, oracular cards should be physical. I use my deck quite a bit and love how it fits into my creative process.One of the things that I think makes Oblique Strategies so effective for so many people is how annoying, ponderous, and impenetrable many of the cards are. "Simplify a matter of work," "The inconsistency principle," "Only a part, not the whole." You really have to work to try and reconcile the problem that you're facing with one of these often vexing statements. And that's often where you find your ah-has, in the midst of the mental gymnastics you're doing in trying to match up the drawn card with your "worthwhile dilemma."And that's why I am now so in love with artist and musician, Noah Wall's meta-generative response to Eno and Schmidt's generative art cards. Called Grotesque Tables II, this is a deck of cards comprised of anagrams of Oblique Strategies. The phrases on the cards, as well as the deck’s title, are anagrams of the originals. (There is no Grotesque Tables I: the II is the pair of “i's” from the original title.) So, you get things like: “Be Frictionless Latecomer" out of Oblique Strategies' “Be Less Critical More Often,” "Notice Arc" from "Accretion," and "Elope by mere thread" from "Breath more deeply."I found out about Noah's deck when it was mentioned by Eno himself in a lecture that he was giving at the Edinburgh College of Art. He mentions it at the very end of the lecture (at 01:34:32). About Grotesque Tables II, he says: "The results are completely nutty. They say things like 'Fat hen kick?' They are much more difficult to use, and in fact, much more inspiring in a way than the original cards. [laughs]" He seems to recognize the fact that it is the ponderous nature of Oblique Strategies' statements that make them so effective. I haven't found Grotesque Tables II to be harder to use, they just make a different part of my brain feel funny.On the inspiration for creating the cards, Noah told Electronic Musician: “It came from the idea of taking an iconic piece of generative art and using it to make another, new generative piece,” he explained. “There is an Oblique Strategy that reads ‘Do the words need rearranging?’ I read this as an invitation to transpose the original strategies into new, further obliqued prompts by way of anagrams.Taking the idea even farther down the generative art rabbit hole, Noah has also produced Scores, another pass of the cards through the anagram process, but this time pulling musical notes from the available letters so that each card has a fragment of a score plus an anagram. This is ripe for all sorts of sound and spoken word applications.On Noah's website, he maintains a page called GROSS. Here he collects various art and music projects that were aided by Grotesque Tables II and Scores. You can also purchase copies of the deck directly from Noah on his site.

Open Culture collected videos of the four times Hunter S. Thompson appeared on David Letterman, ranging from 1987 to 1997. I saw Thompson speak at live events a few times during this era, and he was usually mumbling and incoherent. He's much sharper and funnier in the videos.

I've been to Japan seven times, once staying for five months. Most of the facts in the video new to me (free dry ice in supermarkets!) This short video presents 50 interesting facts about modern Japanese society, and many of them are useful for people visiting.

Ivanka Trump is closing her fashion brand. A spokesperson said the decision has nothing to do with sales. Ms. Trump simply wants to avoid a conflict of interest while serving her father in the White House.In unrelated news, Ivanka Trump's products were dropped from Hudson's Bay, the largest department store in Canada. Via BBC:

Josh from Fight for the Future writes, "Big news out of Alaska this morning: Local entrepreneur Jennie Stewart of CustomMousePad.com has gone public with news that Congressman Don Young promised he would sign the Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution discharge petition to help restore net neutrality when the two of them met on Capitol Hill back in June. But now, a month later, he still hasn’t followed through and signed the CRA. His office has gone completely silent, so we need net neutrality supporters to call Rep. Young's DC office (202-225-5765) and ask him to keep his promise by signing the CRA before the August congressional recess."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lV_sWK9_LPEMarc Zicree (writer on Star Trek:TNG, DS9 and more) and friends are kickstarting another volume in their enormously successful fan-funded, "retro and stylish" Space Command science fiction show. (more…)

CCTV footage from China’s Jiamusi City. Fortunately the elderly fellow was reportedly unhurt. According to MSNBC, "the road had not been built well after construction last year and the rain was too much for it to bear."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMqL3iG4UfI&feature=youtu.beIn 2008, a presentation at the RSA conference revealed the existence of "DNS rebinding attacks," that used relatively simple tactics to compromise browsers; a decade later, Berkeley and Princeton researchers announced a paper on DNS rebinding attacks against consumer devices (to be presented at August's ACM SIGCOMM 2018 Workshop on IoT Security and Privacy), while independent researcher Brannon Dorsey published similar work. (more…)

Unsure if you want to plunk down your hard-earned cash to see Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again? Let the Onion's Head Film Critic Peter K. Rosenthal (comedian Ron E. Rains) persuade you, you "miserable killjoy who slogs through life recoiling at anything remotely joyful."Previously: Cher recorded an entire album of ABBA covers(Tastefully Offensive)

Margrethe Vestager (previously), the EU's fire-breathing antitrust regulator, has hit Asus, Denon & Marantz, Philips and Pioneer with $130,000,000 (€111,000,000) in fines for fixing minimum prices at which their goods could be sold online. (more…)

The Royal Museums Greenwich announced the shortlisted images from their Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 and the photos are absolutely breathtaking. They'll announce the winners in October. See more at: Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 shortlist galleryAbove: "RS34358_NGC 6726 and NGC 6727" by Mark Hanson, Warren Keller, Steve Mazlin, Rex Parker, Tommy Tse, David Plesko, Pete Proulx.Below: "Aurorascape" by Mikkel Beiter; "Expedition to Infinity" by Jingpeng Liu

I keep an Opinel No. 8 pocket knife in most of my jackets. This one has been with me for years.I buy Opinel No. 8 pocket knives for a lot of reasons. They are elegant in their simplicity. The carbon steel blade is excellent, stays sharp and develops a lovely patina. The handle is a simple piece of wood that fits well in your hand. The locking neck ring is pretty ingenious, and down right fool-proof if you use it.Best of all, they are cheap and I don't mind losing them when I've forgotten to remove one on its way to the airport. The "No.8" 3.35in blade, perfect for most of my camping needs, is not allowed to board a plane on my person. Frequently, like last weekend, the heroic defenders of democracy that are the TSA just let me pass thru, but on occasion they will confiscate it.I've had this blade since 2012. The patina started out by stabbing a lemon, but over the years has taken on a life of its own. While the ink on the side of the handle has slightly worn off, this knife just keeps getting better.I hope I don't lose this one, it has ranged from Baja to Canada.You can decorate, carve or otherwise modify the handle to your liking.Opinel Carbon Steel Folding Everyday Carry Locking Pocket Knife via Amazon

Postcolonial Enlightenment is an exhibition of churches and movie theatres that were built in the wake of independence in 1947, with a bold new aesthetic in mind. As the curators describe: (more…)

Back in 2015, California enacted legislation requiring cellphone makers to equip their products with over-the-air kill-switches that could be used to brick stolen phones; the idea was to reduce the incentive to steal phones (a crime that often involved a surprising amount of violence) because as soon as the phone was stolen, it would stop working forever. (more…)

Ever wanted to build your own voltage generator for fun and profit? YouTuber ElectroBOOM shows how with stuff that available at better hardware stores. (more…)

New research from legendary usability researchers The Nielsen (previously) Norman (previously) Group finds that voice assistants are basically a hot mess that people only use because they are marginally better than nothing. (more…)

Like most salt flats, Salinas Grande in Argentina has a short but glorious window where the skies open and deluge the desert with a thin layer of water. El Tribuno de Jujuy captured this lovely drone footage of the phenomenon. (more…)

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)

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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.