"I feel so brain dead I can't even speak." Find out what happens when two editors from Popular Science quit their six-cup-a-day coffee habit for two weeks.From the YouTube description:Caffeine is the most widely used psychoactive drug on the planet. Like all good things in this world, it should be consumed in moderation—but PopSci editors Jess Boddy and Claire Maldarelli were definitely not following that unwritten rule, guzzling between six and ten cups of coffee per day. That put them at risk for disrupted sleep, heart palpitations, unusual nervousness, and more. So they decided to detox. Will their torturous 14-day cut regulate their sleep patterns and teach them to respect caffeine for the powerful drug that it is? Find out on this week's episode of Test Dummy. Read the rest

The person who posted this video to YouTube said, "I was waiting for my suitcase at Lynden Pindling International Airport in the Bahamas when one of the iceboxes opened when falling down with the suitcases. People blocked and caught the crabs."<em>Image: YouTube</em> Read the rest

Every musician has been trying their hand at livestreaming from quarantine. But of all the ones I've watched, none of them have filled me with as much joy as Swedish folk singer/songwriter Kristian Matsson AKA The Tallest Man On Earth celebrating the 10th anniversary of his album, The Wild Hunt.There's so much to love here, from Matsson's confusion about buffering speeds, to his partner's helpful advice about commenters. Then of course there are the songs themselves, delivered with such adorable energy by Matsson. Ellen Johnson of Paste said that, "Matsson makes the acoustic guitar sound like an orchestra," and I think that accurately describes this video, and everything I love about The Wild Hunt as an album. As far as I can tell, Mattson is just performing straight into the camera, with no additional audio setup — yet it sounds exactly as it does on the record. This is impressive, but also impressive to Matsson's brilliant guitar work and charismatic voice. The record is raw, using clever open tunings to fill out the sound, and the same goes for the performance in the video.If you're a fan of folk music and Dylan-esque crooning (but more on key), check it out.The Wild Hunt Turns 10: How The Tallest Man On Earth Changed Indie-Folk For The Better [Ellen Johnson / Paste]Image: Matt Perich / Flickr (CC 2.0) Read the rest

I've been a great admirer of the design work of House Industries since the early 90s. They're famous for their logos and font designs (like the one they did for Jimmy Kimmel's show). I just got my copy of the brand new House Industries Lettering Manual and I'm looking forward to doing the exercises in the book.The book itself is beautifully designed, and makes great use of hand-lettered type as a design element for the book. (I love self referentiality like that.) Read the rest

Richard Kadrey is a novelist and screenwriter living in San Francisco. His books include Sandman Slim, The Everything Box, Butcher Bird, and the forthcoming, Ballistic Kiss. Cool Tools asked him to describe four things he keeps in his bag, which include a Roku streaming TV player, a portable hard drive, Ultimate Ears MEGABOOMs, QuietComfort 35 Bluetooth headphones, and Pocket Travelers notebook. Read about them here, or better yet, sign up for the weekly What's in my bag? newsletter. Read the rest

Reporting TV news from home can make for a much more colorful broadcast. Take this Welsh BBC weather forecaster, Owain Wyn Evans, who ends his segment by giving us an awesome drum performance. His motivation? As he says on YouTube, "When they said try working from home, I didn't realize they'd expect me to do the music too." Read the rest

Someone keeps writing "Steve & Lacy were here" on rocks in Death Valley National Park. Park rangers suspect "Steve" is a gentleman from Grand Forks, British Columbia and that Lacey is his unwitting canine companion.From National Parks Traveler:Graffiti and other forms of damage to parks is illegal. The “Steve & Lacy” graffiti was found on rocks and historic structures in Echo Canyon, Butte Valley, Homestake Dry Camp, and Crankshaft Junction. Defacing any part of the national park degrades the experience of other visitors. Repair of vandalized sites is costly and time consuming, and often cannot restore the site to its former condition in some cases permanently defacing unique historic sites or natural features.“It is heartbreaking to see treasures like Death Valley National Park get damaged by intentional acts such as these,” said Superintendent Mike Reynolds. “We ask park visitors to help us find those who should be held responsible, and thank hard working park rangers for efforts to prevent further damage.”The National Park Service has a tip line: call or text: 888-653-0009; visit www.nps.gov/ISB and click “Submit a Tip,” or email nps_isb@nps.gov.Images: National Park Service Read the rest

The guy who runs the Nippon Wandering TV YouTube channel hopped on his bike and took a video of Tokyo's Shinjuku ward six days after the Japanese government declared a state of emergency. The video was shot at 7:30 at night, which is usually a busy time for this area. Many of the businesses still have bright lights on but the number of pedestrians is much lower than usual.Image: YouTube Read the rest

I still have an iPhone SE, replaced twice in the last four years because I don't fancy any of the gigantic modern models from Apple or leading Android brands. (Anything less is, frankly, impractical.) While the new iPhone SE is superficially a warmed-over iPhone 8, and so still too big, it is at least smaller than other models and comes with the latest CPU and camera. Best of all, it's cheap for what it is, at $300. It'll do. It comes in black, white and red and preorders start Friday.1. The 2G networks used by older dumbphones are being turned off and don't carry modern MMS-format text messages. Recent 4G dumbphones generally have poor compatibility with U.S. LTE bands and come with hinky, bloatware-infested KaiOS installations I don't have time to root and santize. Read the rest

Elizabeth Warren today backed Joe Biden as the Democratic Party's candidate in the 2020 presidential election, capping a three-day endorsement extravaganza featuring former rival Bernie Sanders and president Barack Obama."Empathy matters. And, in this moment of crisis, it's more important than ever that the next president restores Americans' faith in good, effective government," Warren says. "Joe Biden has spent nearly his entire life in public service. He knows that a government run with integrity, competence, and heart will save lives and save livelihoods. And we can't afford to let Donald Trump continue to endanger the lives and livelihoods of every American.""That's why I'm proud to endorse Joe Biden as president of the United States," she added. Read the rest

This delightful cover was released a while ago, but I only just discovered it via Vanyland. The 3-song EP by the B-69s also includes B-52-esque covers of Billie Eilish's "bad guy" and Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road," which are all just as fun. I'm just a big fan of anything "Mr. Brightside."Image: raph_ph / Flickr (CC 2.0) Read the rest

Viral again this week is the casting wishlist for Star Trek: The Next Generation, which reveals that Denise Crosby was originally to be cast as Counselor Troi, not Lt. Tasha Yar, and Predator's Kevin Peter Hall was considered for both Lt. Cmdr. Data and Lt. Geordi LaForge.Best of all, Bond and Alien legend Yaphet Kotto was close to being cast as captain Jean-Luc Picard, a part that ultimately went to Patrick Stewart. I've shooped how the big fella might have looked in the role: take me to that timeline!From an interview:You also turned down the role of Captain Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation?I think I made some wrong decisions in my life, man. I should have done that but I walked away. When you’re making movies, you’d tend to say no to TV. It’s like when you’re in college and someone asks you to the high school dance. You say no. Read the rest

Tom the Dancing Bug, IN WHICH the mischievous imp little Donald is warned of a coming alien virus invasion and leaps into inaction

Already among the richest people in the world, Jeff Bezos and the Walton family are even richer thanks to the lockdown. The BBC reports that Amazon founder Bezos's money mountain surged $24bn to $138bn in the last few weeks. And between them, the Walton family, owners of Wal-Mart, now share a growing $168m fortune. But other billionaires are out of luck, according to Bloomberg, with the pandemic wiping half a trillion dollars of the top 500's collective wealth. With millions now working from home, online meeting site Zoom has seen founder Eric Yuan's fortune more than double to $7.4bn.The Bloomberg Billionaires Index said the world's 500 richest people lost $553bn so far this year.Investors in the global oil and gas industries have seen sharp drops in net worth as crude prices plunged on reduced global demand and a row - now resolved - about oil production between Saudi Arabia and Russia. Read the rest

To the uplifting eternal disco of Miki Matsubara [Amazon], talented drivers drift their boxy early-1990s automobiles around the curves and corners of Japan. Read the rest

Crazed, cooped up children, tightly-wound parents at their wit's end, lighter fluid, baking soda, and burning sugar -- what could go wrong?Image: YouTube Read the rest

In the age of smart homes, everybody wants to own the house that does everything for itself. Unfortunately, the reality is that creating a smart house usually takes a lot of work. And if you’re trying to turn a previously dumb house into a 21st century web-enabled palace of technology? That’s gonna take even more work.Case in point, you usually have to pretty much be a locksmith if you want to put one of those web-connected smart lock systems on your home. In case you don’t have all those tools of the trade, the Gimdow Peel and Stick Smart Lock is geared for those who want the advantages of a smart lock, but don’t want to disassemble their entire front door to do it.The Gimdow adheres like a vise over your existing American or European style door lock with no modifications to your door or the lock required. The adhesive is reusable and setup should take less than 10 minutes. Once it’s firmly in place, the Gimdow then performs all the tasks you’d expect from a grade-A smart lock.You can get in either through using the Gimdow app on your smartphone or by entering the code on the included wireless keypad posted by your door. It all connects via Bluetooth, so there’s no wiring needed ever. You can even protect your code from prying eyes by entering random numbers around your actual code. Gimdow is smart enough to spot your sequence in all the coverage and open sesame. Read the rest

• Trump intent on "reopening" some U.S. states within weeks, ignoring medical experts and the state's rights the GOP is generally so concerned with. The Washington Post reports today on FEMA and CDC draft plan that enables him to do this. Late on Tuesday, right after we learned that Trump is halting WHO funding even as Americans die by the thousands of coronavirus -- the Washington Post is reporting that the CDC and FEMA have created a plan to reopen America. Impeached and manifestly unfit president President Trump wants a final detailed plan on reopening the country right now, so he can order some states to reopen May 1, officials said. Note: He has no such power, though he falsely claimed to have ultimate authority.It guides state and local governments on how they can ease mitigation efforts and move from drastic restrictions like stay-at-home orders in a phased way to support a safe reopening. CDC and FEMA officials have worked on the public health response for at least the past week, and the resulting document by the two agencies has been discussed at the White House including by members of the coronavirus task force, according to two administration officials speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.Other agencies and White House officials have drafted similar planning documents, a White House aide said. The version obtained by The Post appears to be an early draft by FEMA and contains granular instructions for a phased reopening of institutions such as schools, child-care facilities, summer camps, parks, faith-based organizations and restaurants. Read the rest

During a coronavirus task force briefing, America learned today that impeached and manifestly unfit U.S. President Donald Trump has just ordered a halt to funding for the World Health Organization. Donald Trump suspends US funding to World Health Org, says the organisation ‘failed in its basic duty and must be held accountable’ #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/u35cy4I3iy— Samira Sawlani (@samirasawlani) April 14, 2020He made this bizarre decision amid growing criticism of his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, even from members of his own party.As the world is fighting the Coronavirus pandemic, Trump says the admin is halting US funding to WHO pending a review.— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) April 14, 2020This is such a win for China. https://t.co/v21SKAS4gz— Laura Rosenberger (@rosenbergerlm) April 14, 2020BREAKING: Trump tonight said he would halt funding to the World Health Organization while his administration reviews the group’s response to the coronavirus pandemichttps://t.co/s2MNAysJRf— POLITICO (@politico) April 14, 2020I’ve been trying my best to stick to science and not politics but as a public health professional and an American it makes me ill to see @POTUS cutting funding to @WHO at any time but especially in a pandemic— Marc Lipsitch (@mlipsitch) April 14, 2020Meanwhile: pic.twitter.com/t3xtMUhgZj— S.V. Dáte (@svdate) April 14, 2020 Read the rest

David Bowie's Let's Dance was released 37 years ago today. His 15th studio record, Let's Dance would become his most commercially successful album but it was not well-received by critics and hardcore fans at the time and Bowie himself would end up regretting the record and the tours and albums that followed (Tonight, Never Let Me Down), referring to that time as his "Phil Collins period."I've been a big fan of Rick Beato's YouTube channel for years where he deconstructs iconic tracks and attempts to answer the musical question "What Makes This Song Great?" In this episode, he explains what makes "Let's Dance" great. Although I count myself as a hardcore Bowie fanatic, I've always liked the record for what I thought it was: a great pop dance record. But this Beato breakdown shows some of the underlying musical genius behind even one of Bowie's poppiest confections. Read the rest

Oh, yes this is real. Florida has officially declared WWE pro wrestling shows an 'essential business' that must be allowed to continue to operate during the deadly COVID-19 pandemic. “People have been starved for content ... we're watching, like, reruns from the early 2000s,” Florida's Republican and Trump-aligned governor Ron DeSantis said today about his decision to classify live professional wrestling shows as an “essential service” for Floridians during the deadly coronavirus pandemic. Peak Florida Man."People have been starved for content ... we're watching, like, reruns from the early 2000s," Gov. Ron DeSantis says of his bizarre decision to classify live pro wrestling shows as an "essential service" during a deadly pandemic pic.twitter.com/rWeCOJKkh2— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 14, 2020Florida Governor Ron DeSantis deems pro wrestling ‘essential business’ amid statewide stay-at-home orderhttps://t.co/kktQsuGYNW— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) April 14, 2020As most businesses in Florida have been shutdown to help fight the spread of the coronavirus, the state has deemed World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) -- a company with past and present links to Pres.Trump -- "essential." https://t.co/VeaafmWfjg— World News Tonight (@ABCWorldNews) April 14, 2020ROH and MLW say wrestling with a national audience being deemed essential in Florida does not mean they'll now be running shows there. https://t.co/tf4mhYoWH0— Pro Wrestling Sheet (@WrestlingSheet) April 14, 2020 Read the rest

To mark last week's release of the new Trolls World Tour movie, Smithsonian's Michelle Delgado tells the origin story of Troll Dolls, from their birth following World War II their modern day big screen revival. The tale begins in Gjøl, Denmark, home to baker Thomas Dam (1915-1989) who could no longer work when the local flour factory went out of business. From Smithsonian:Dam would sit near the fireplace, carving bits of wood while he thought. He often carved funny creatures to entertain his children, and eventually, his wife persuaded him to try selling the figurines. Dam packed up as many as he could carry and traveled to Aalborg, the nearest city, where he planned to knock on doors. He came home empty-handed, having successfully sold them all.As Dam’s figurines found fans in Aalborg, customers began commissioning bigger projects. Before long, Dam became a working sculptor whose reputation eventually exceeded Denmark’s borders. In 1956, a Swedish department store hired him to create a large sculpture of Santa Claus, kicking off the chain of events that nudged Dam to fully embrace toy making.When he finished installing the Santa Claus sculpture, Dam realized that it wasn’t completely visible from the street. He proposed an accompanying window display with a clever design. First, he sculpted tiny figures of Christmas elves—designed in a similar style to his soon-to-be-famous troll dolls—and dismantled a mattress, hiding a spring in each figurine’s body. Next, Dam built a display with a mechanism that lifted and dropped a long piece of wood. Read the rest

“[U.S.] officials are seriously pursuing the possibility that a natural sample of the virus escaped a laboratory.”The question was dismissed as a conspiracy theory in the early days of the coronavirus outbreak. But now, some intelligence experts admit they are seriously looking into the possibility that the COVID-19 pandemic might have been touched off by an accident at a research facility in China, various news outlets report. “It’s definitely a real possibility being bandied about at the high levels of the administration,” says one of those quoted experts.Business Insider also reports that intelligence services for the British government are reportedly considering the same possibility. Obligatory reminder:Maybe, but maybe not.We just don't know yet.“After extensive research, scientists in the U.S. and elsewhere have determined that the new strain of the coronavirus discovered in China in December is, as Chinese officials have maintained, of natural origin, but they are taking seriously that its route to human infection may have started in a lab in Wuhan,” writes Yahoo News' Jenna McLaughlin: “It’s absolutely being looked at very closely at the highest levels,” said one intelligence source with knowledge of the investigations. One reason for the suspicion is the lack of information coming from China. Beijing’s quick denials of involvement, and the decision to immediately identify the Wuhan Seafood Market as the source, raised eyebrows among some U.S. intelligence officials.“I find it very funny that China very quickly blamed the market,” said one recently retired intelligence official. Read the rest

Wonder how much of the airlines' hides the government gets to own now.Late on Tuesday, reports are circuating that the major U.S. airlines and impeached president Donald Trump's Republican Treasury Department have reached some sort of loose deal on government aid. A formal announcement and details are expected to come later today, report various news outlets.BREAKING: Major U.S. airlines and Treasury Dept. reach deal in principle on government aid; announcement to come later today - sourceshttps://t.co/CxcP6Ql9O5— CNBC Now (@CNBCnow) April 14, 2020 Read the rest

The coronavirus has destroyed America's job market, and there is no immediate relief in sight. This interactive data project from NBC News shows just how devastating the sudden employment losses are, and which US states have been hit the hardest.Excerpt:“I compare it to a natural disaster, a terrorist attack and a financial shock all at once,” said Gregory Daco, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics. “We've never had this in history.” California was the first state to issue a stay-at-home order and has seen the greatest number of job losses. In a state with an estimated labor force of 19.5 million, 2.2 million Californians have filed unemployment applications since March 14. But the torrent of claims is coming from everywhere. Twenty-one states and territories have seen more than one-in-10 eligible workers file for claims in the last month. Hawaii, Michigan, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania have seen the largest percentage of cuts, with 1-in-6 workers in each of those states losing their jobs.Comparing the weekly claims reported by the Department of Labor to the same period a year ago shows that while job losses have hit every state and territory, the damage has been unique to each region.Go play with the interactive chart and bum yourself out EVEN MORE while you look for a new job:The coronavirus has destroyed the job market in every state[NBC News, Nigel Chiwaya and Jiachuan Wu, April 14, 2020]PHOTO: “Bowery men waiting for bread in bread line,” New York City, Bain Collection Public Domain. Read the rest

“FACEBOOK already paid $238,000 in 2018 to resolve a previous dispute over political advertising in Washington state.”

Been noodling around with a podcast idea for...what, years now? Well, it’s time to get serious, people. There is no time like right now to work out all the logistics of turning your marinating idea into an actual real, profitable podcast.And no, that isn’t a mistake. It could actually be a profitable enterprise. According to Bloomberg, several top podcasts make more than $1 million a year. In fact, The Daily, a podcast created by the New York Times, cleared more than $10 million in advertising in 2018.Sure, you won’t be launching with the prestige and power of journalism’s foremost publication behind you, but with the training in The Start-to-Finish Guide to Launching a Successful Podcast Bundle, you’ll know just how to get your podcast idea off the ground and immediately headed toward a sustainable future.With the nine classes and nearly 40 hours of instruction offered here, your vision can start falling into place. Start Your Own Podcast and The Podcast Masterclass start the conversation about where to begin to record, edit, publish, grow, and monetize a podcast. If you’re worried about the technical side, Podcasting in 24 Hours: Setup, Record & Podcast in 1 Day discusses which equipment you’ll need and Music Production in Logic Pro X: Audio Mixing for Podcasts examines the audio mixing and editing that will make your podcast sing.But people aren’t listening for your technical skills. The Complete Presentation and Public Speaking Course will help polish your delivery as a podcast host; Putting Yourself Out There focuses on ways to inject more of yourself and your authenticity into your shows; and Podcasting 101: How to Interview Your Heroes Online has some tried and true tips for how to land some top-level guests for your growing podcast. Read the rest

The plant is “built around efficiency,” keeping workers in close quarters and making it impossible to social distance, Cargill saysSmithfield Foods, Inc. recently closed a major pork processing plant in South Dakota, after workers were sickened with coronavirus in what has since become an outbreak hotspot. Now, U.S.-owned Cargill is cutting production at one of Canada's biggest beef-packing plants, after several dozen Cargill meat processing workers there were confirmed ill with the new coronavirus.The workers' union says the Cargill plant, which produces patties for McDonald’s restaurants, is now slaughtering 1,500 head of cattle per day, down from around 4,500. From Reuters:The Canadian arm of U.S. agribusiness Cargill temporarily idled its second production shift at High River, Alberta, on Monday, spokesman Daniel Sullivan said.It adds to the list of roughly one dozen North American meat plants that have closed temporarily or cut production due to the pandemic.The move came after workers unsuccessfully asked the plant and two other meat-processing companies in Alberta to close for two weeks amid concerns about their safety, said Tom Hesse, president of United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 401. Thirty-eight workers at the Cargill plant have tested positive for coronavirus, he said.The plant is “built around efficiency,” keeping workers in close quarters and making it impossible to safely operate it under current conditions, Hesse said in an interview.Read More:Cargill reduces beef production at Alberta plant as virus spreads[PHOTO SOURCE, by Gajda-13 at da.wikipedia Read the rest

The Trump-aligned GOP governor of South Dakota resisted the urgent appeal by epidemiologists to issue a “stay-at-home” order. Now the state is home to a COVID-19 outbreak. Ignoring science has consequences.“As governors across the country fell into line in recent weeks, South Dakota Gov. Kristi L. Noem stood firm: There would be no statewide order to stay home,” the Washington Post reports today in a review of what went so wrong in the state.Thanks to the governor's stupidity and science denialism, South Dakota is now home to one of the largest single coronavirus clusters anywhere in the United States, with more than 300 workers at a giant Smithfield ­pork-processing plant now confirmed to be sick with the virus."Edicts to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus, Gov. Kristi Noem said, reflected a 'herd mentality.' It was up to individuals — not government — to decide whether 'to exercise their right to work, to worship and to play. Or to even stay at home.'" https://t.co/7iTQo5Uztp— Griff Witte (@griffwitte) April 14, 2020Remember, the *best case* scenario is the drug reduces the symptoms of the disease (and that is far from evident). It does nothing to slow the spread of the virus and can never be a substitute for prevention. https://t.co/JPzUCk3Gga pic.twitter.com/UlcHd57c4T— Amanda Marcotte (@AmandaMarcotte) April 14, 2020https://twitter.com/i/events/1250113407744978945 Read the rest

It is the perfect time to revisit this classic from Jason Headley."If you find your mind wandering to other thoughts, don't let it concern you. Just acknowledge that all that shit is fucking bullshit."(Thanks, Kelly Sparks!) Read the rest

deMilked posted a fine selection of the "50 Weirdest Stock Photos You Won’t Be Able To Unsee." Many more at Bored Panda's archival post "177 Completely WTF Stock Photos You Won’t Be Able To Unsee." And for a constant stream, there's always r/WTFStockPhotos!(via Kottke) Read the rest

The RetroFlag GPi Case, which uses a Raspberry Pi Zero, looks very nice. In this video, MakeUseOf gives it a 9/10 score.If the idea of making retro game players using Raspberry Pis appeals to you, I invite you to check out a book I co-wrote this year, called Raspberry Pi Retro Gaming: Build Consoles and Arcade Cabinets to Play Your Favorite Classic Games. Read the rest

The coronavirus pandemic is being seen as a get-out-of-jail free card for imprisoned creeps. Bill Cosby is trying it. So is Michael Cohen and Lee Baca. If Jeffrey Epstein was still alive you know his swarm of lawyers would be trying to spring him, too.The latest imprisoned creep who thinks he's too special to be locked up is Paul Manafort, who is serving 7½-years for "tax evasion, failing to report foreign bank accounts, witness tampering, and engaging in unregistered lobbying for foreign interests," as reported by Politico.“Mr. Manafort is at a high risk of contracting COVID-19 at FCI Loretto due to his age and pre-existing health conditions, and it is imperative that Mr. Manafort be transferred to home confinement immediately in order to minimize the likelihood of Mr. Manafort contracting or spreading the potentially fatal disease,” [Manafort lawyer Kevin] Downing wrote in a letter obtained by Politico.According to The Washington Post, "Federal prosecutors declined to comment on Manafort’s request."Image: By Alexandria Sheriff’s Office - Alexandria, Virginia Detention Center, Public Domain, Link Read the rest

Last week Disney shared its recipe for Dole Whip and Churro Tots. This week, its sharing the recipe for the grilled three-cheese sandwich from Woody’s Lunch Box at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Florida. View this post on Instagram We’re sharing the recipe for the delicious grilled three-cheese 🧀 sandwich from Woody’s Lunch Box at Disney’s Hollywood Studios! Visit the Disney Parks Blog for the full recipe now! #DisneyMagicMoments✨A post shared by Disney Parks Blog (@disneyparksblog) on Apr 11, 2020 at 2:17pm PDTImage: Disney Read the rest

This isn't the first chronological montage showing Trump's bungled response to the covid-19 pandemic, but it's definitely a good one - worth the watch. Read the rest

Jaz and Garry Mott of Victoria, Australia thought it would be nice to share photos of their 2019 vacation with their Facebook friends. Unfortunately, eagle-eyed police officers spotted the photos and assumed that they'd been taken during mandatory stay-at-home orders. According to The Independent the couple was met at their door by police and "were handed fines of AU$1,652 (£840.70) each for 'failure to comply with a direction given to a person in the exercise of a power under an authorisation given under section 199.'"The Motts had trouble convincing the police that they were in error, which is unusual because police are well-know for quickly admitting errors when presented with the facts. In this case however, the police didn't revoke the fine until the story made the local news, after which they quietly returned the money.Image: Facebook Read the rest

The Tate Modern has installed a massive Andy Warhol retrospective exhibition. Unfortunately nobody is allowed in to see it. In this video, Tate curators Gregor Muir and Fiontán Moran take us through the exhibit and "discuss Warhol through the lens of the immigrant story, his LGBTQI identity and concerns with death and religion." Read the rest

Groovin' out trading music with fellow mutants. Xeni suggests: Laisse tomber les filles Read the rest

Lockdowns have improved air quality in major cities around the world, per nitrogen dioxide measurements mapped here by Steven Bernard. Most cities, anyway.Data source: ESA Sentinel 5Data was processed by Descartes Labs showing average pollution levels from Mar 1 to Apr 5 2020, compared with the same period last year.Data was brought into QGIS and styled and then further design work was done in Adobe IllustratorYou can read the full article hereon how Covid-19 has impacted climate change for good and badI wonder if these maps expose a lack of social distancing, continued work travel, etc., that could be correlated to hidden prevalence of the disease. For example, if little has changed in Teheran's and Moscow's NOâ‚‚ output, is that evidence that there's no lockdown and a lot more people are getting it (and dying of it) than they're admitting?Another unusual pattern that differs from other cities: London, where the country/exurbs are markedly less polluted than usual but a small dense area in the center hasn't changed much at all. I made a crude diffed version (below), showing the change in output for each city. Black means no improvement (bear in mind rural areas with little pollution to begin with), green means a little improvement, red means a lot of improvementP.S. Had no idea what a choked hellhole Milan is. Read the rest

When we finally come out of this terrifying situation that the world has found itself embroiled in, the very best we can hope for is to become a better people than we were before COVID-19 struck, forcing us away from one another.We'll have to work for it, but it's achievable. Read the rest

People in Britain are burning down cellphone masts in a panicky reaction to the Covid-19 pandemic, goaded by online trolls and ignorant TV presenters telling them that radio waves, especially at frequences used by 5G, might carry the virus.As futile as it may be, Science Man Dan explains in a few minutes why 5G cannot carry viruses, and is as demonstrably safe as all other low-frequency radio waves floating about.BONUS: the underlying rage here is at cellphones and social media and news and the scraping hollowness of life mediated by technology. Read the rest

Thanks to the coronavirus, international travel is pretty much out of the question. This, however, doesn't mean that you can't take a taste of a huge number of cultures from around the world, without ever leaving your home.Radio Garden is a web service with a visual interface that allows you to tune into a vast variety of radio stations from around the world: Spin the globe, zoom in on the region you're interested in listening in on and choose a radio station. You're in business. During a recent trip to Morocco, I got into the kingdom's music scene, in a big way. Thanks to Radio Garden, I'm able to tune in and discover new sounds, anytime I please. If you're trapped inside and hungry for something to do, give it a try. It'll kill at least a few hours of your time Read the rest

On Tuesday morning, North Korea launched short-range cruise missiles in the country's fifth weapons test this year. So we got that going for us. Which is nice.The barrage of missiles were fired off the waters of North Korea's eastern coast. South Korea's military says this is a show of force on the eve of an important state anniversary in the North, and parliamentary elections in the South.More at Reuters.South Korea says that North Korea has fired several short-range missiles https://t.co/kwYlRdcfkn— Bloomberg (@business) April 14, 2020NEW: North Korea fires missiles from ground and air, the most high-profile among a series of weapons tests that North Korea has conducted recently amid stalled nuclear talks and concerns over a coronavirus outbreak in the country. https://t.co/QrElKDjGvz— NBC News (@NBCNews) April 14, 2020North Korea fires barrage of missiles on eve of founder Kim il-Sung's birthday, South Korea's elections https://t.co/8l6vUKSki5— Jim Clancy (@ClancyReports) April 14, 2020Kim Jong Un fired multiple missiles today ahead of elections in South Korea, @TheJihyeLee reports. North Korea often times its military provocations to coincide with major political events.https://t.co/Mlm28NRmCo— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) April 14, 2020I should be clear though: nobody really thinks North Korea's missile launch will be a major issue in South Korea's election. It probably won't get very much media attention here.— William Gallo (@GalloVOA) April 14, 2020North Korea Fires Barrage of Missiles From Ground and Air https://t.co/sDkfH3PWZv pic.twitter.com/BPTu3IJfI9— NBC Chicago (@nbcchicago) April 14, 2020 Read the rest

Covid-19 is short for "coronavirus disease 2019" and is caused by a virus named SARS-CoV2, short for "severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2". So we're all set that it's a virus, right? Oh no. British media is proving fertile ground for the idea that Covid-19 is caused or carried by 5G, which is to say, radio waves in the frequency range used by WiFi and cellphones. Here's Eamonn Holmes, a top morning TV presenter, promoting the conspiracy on the show he co-presents. TV presenter Eamonn Holmes is at the centre of a controversy after casting doubt on media outlets that debunk the myth that 5G causes coronavirus."What I don't accept is mainstream media immediately slapping that down as not true when they don't know it's not true," the ITV This Morning host said."It's very easy to say it is not true because it suits the state narrative."... Holmes made the remarks on Monday in a segment with the programme's consumer editor Alice Beer, who said the 5G theory, which has led a number of phone masts to be set alight or vandalised, was "not true and it's incredibly stupid".It's an idea floating somewhere between conspiracy theory, sinophobia (Chinese telecom giant Huawei was recently awarded key 5G infrastructure contracts in the UK) and abject ignorance of everything science has thrown light on in recent centuries concerning illness, electromagnetism and the observable nature of reality.Holmes doesn't believe the conspiracy theories himself, you see -- he's just asking questions, in the form of declarative statements. Read the rest

Despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and subsequent lockdown that's surrounding us and suffocating every moment of our lives, the GOP-controlled court system in the state of Wisconsin refused to postpone that state's primary election, or to even respect the sudden influx in mail-in ballots from people who didn't want to get exposed to a virus simply for exercising their right to vote.It was a blatant act of voter suppression — a favorite move of the GOP — and a frightening portent of the upcoming November election.Fortunately, those brave voters made sure their voices were made heard: preliminary results show that they successfully kicked out the incumbent conservative Justice Daniel Kelly, voting in the progressive candidate Jill Karofsky. From the Milwaukee Journal Online Sentinel:Karofsky’s victory marked the first time in a dozen years that a Supreme Court challenger beat an incumbent — and just the second time in more than half a century. Her win over Justice Daniel Kelly will shift conservative control of the court from 5-2 to 4-3.Thank you to everyone across Wisconsin who made this victory possible! pic.twitter.com/FkbPjnGsCH— Judge Jill Karofsky (@judgekarofsky) April 14, 2020 Good news is good to see.Liberal Jill Karofsky wins Wisconsin Supreme Court election, defeating conservative justice Daniel Kelly [Patrick Marley / Milwaukee Journal Online Sentinel]Progressive Upsets Conservative Judge After Suppressed Vote in Wisconsin [Ed Kilgore / NY Mag]Image: Wikimedia Commons (CC 4.0) Read the rest

Almost all of us enjoy the idea of having some live plants in our homes. Unfortunately, some of us who would like to think we have a green thumb really only have hands of death when it comes to our unsuspecting flora friends.And the number 1 killer of innocent house plants? Overwatering. Oh, and by the way...the number 2 killer? That would be under-watering. Finding just the right watering sweet spot to keep house plants happy and thriving is often as elusive as trying to keep a leash on the Tiger King. It just isn’t going to happen.The water generating planter known as the Dewplanter was created to take that question right off your hands and, hopefully, keep a few more house plants from meeting a grizzly, desiccated end.After you plant your growth in this 6 x 6.5 x 5.5-inch planting area, the Dewplanter will take care of all your watering duties on its own. The Dewplanter actually works to condense moisture right out of the air, creating clean filtered water that’s used to feed the growth of your plant. You can set the unit to run for various lengths of time, all so you can control the exact amount of water needed to make your plant healthy and well-fed.The Dewplanter works with almost any variety of house plant, although it does work best with low maintenance plants like Chinese evergreens, Asparagus ferns, money plants, African violets, rubber plants and more.Not only does it watch over your plants, but just over the course of its duties, the Dewplanter also doubles as a handy humidifier, helping to balance moisture levels in small humid spaces like a bathroom with precision. Read the rest

Imagine trying to explain to your-January-self how different the world would be in a few short months. That's what YouTuber Julie Nolke imagines doing in this cute video. Read the rest

Wendy Liu grew up deeply enmeshed in technology, writing code for free/open source projects and devouring books by tech luminaries extolling the virtues of running tech startups; after turning down a job offer from Google, Liu helped found an ad-tech company and moved from Montreal to New York City to take her startup to an incubator. As she worked herself into exhaustion to build her product, she had a conversion experience, realizing that she was devoting her life to using tech to extract wealth and agency from others, rather than empowering them. This kicked off a journey that Liu documents in her new book, Abolish Silicon Valley: How to Liberate Technology from Capitalism, a memoir manifesto that's not just charming -- it's inspiring.

I know she doesn't specifically say that these are all emails from Brands™ or PR people — but I think we all know the truth. Either way, that's some beautiful god damn poetry.This poem is called “First lines of emails I’ve received while quarantining.” pic.twitter.com/4keCqPaO63— Jessica Salfia (@jessica_salfia) April 11, 2020Image: John Cummings / Wikimedia Commons (CC 4.0) Read the rest