First Quest was an all-exclusive campaign for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. Released in 1985, the campaign map and other documentation came packaged as the insert to an epic ambient synth soundtrack meant to score the mission through the hobgoblin kingdom (interspersed with bits of narration, of course).Blogonomicon has more info if you're interested in actually playing along with the campaign. There was apparently a second version on CD that you can find through various sellers on Amazon, too. Read the rest
If you’re a painter, a set of perfectly acceptable acrylic paints might cost you $50 to $100. But if you’re an architect, the supplies you need to fashion your art come at a much, much higher price. Therefore, architects don’t usually get to create until they’ve talked someone else into believing in their vision and, more importantly, signing a check.Usually, the only way to sell someone into believing that vision is by showing them — and for that, an architect, designer, or landscaper needs a dependable visualization tool to bring their concepts to life. For years, Ashampoo’s 3D CAD apps have been one of the digital tools of choice for turning ideas into concrete plans — and their latest version, Ashampoo 3D CAD 7: Architecture Version offers even more options for turning construction and design ideas into a digital finished version before a single shovel is turned or upholstery added. 3D CAD 7 comes with everything needed to draw up detailed floor and construction plans in either traditional 2D or virtual 3D views.With the app’s easy-to-use interface, creators assemble materials and layout their area, then use the SketchUp and Collada features to load in and save thousands of 3D objects instantly, including everything from generic items to brand-specific models. And if it isn’t already part of the object library, you can import new specifications and add them to your builds with ease.Users can apply realistic 3D surfaces to single walls or entire building facades in just a few clicks to see exactly what your project will look like before orders get placed and workers get started. Read the rest
The reason it's hard to open jar lids is that the vacuum seal is pulling the lid tightly against the jar. Once in a while, the vacuum seal is so strong that I can't open it. That's when I grab my Jarkey, a plastic lever that effortlessly breaks the seal, making it easy to open. Read the rest
A lot of people in Wisconsin are very happy that its Supreme Court invalidated the governor's stay at home order. CBS News reports that they flocked to bars and pubs to drink Pabst Blue Ribbon and breathe aerosolized saliva into each others' lungs.The video from Nick's Bar shows patrons packed together, dancing and banging on the bar top. The video received nearly 60,000 views on Twitter before the tweet was deleted. And Nick's is not the only Wisconsin establishment to receive a flood of visitors.CBS Milwaukee affiliate WDJT was at Buzzard's Nest in West Allis, which was filled with people who were eager to get out of the house after more than a month of isolation.One bar-goer, Hayden Krueger, said he feels safe and was happy to get out. "It's been kinda boring sitting in my house, I love my fiancée but there's only so much we can handle from each other without having interaction with other people," Krueger told WDJT.Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we may be on a ventilator.Image: CBS News screengrab Read the rest
In his excellent brief book, On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century, Timothy Snyder writes, "Fascists rejected reason in the name of will, denying objective truth in favor of a glorious myth articulated by leaders who claimed to give voice to the people."This quote came to mind while I read this article in the Atlantic called "The Prophecies of Q," by Adrienne LaFrance. As part of “Shadowland,” -- The Atlantic's series about conspiracy thinking in America -- LaFrance's article explores how QAnon is rapidly becoming a religion that rejects science and reason.The power of the internet was understood early on, but the full nature of that power—its ability to shatter any semblance of shared reality, undermining civil society and democratic governance in the process—was not. The internet also enabled unknown individuals to reach masses of people, at a scale Marshall McLuhan never dreamed of. The warping of shared reality leads a man with an AR-15 rifle to invade a pizza shop. It brings online forums into being where people colorfully imagine the assassination of a former secretary of state. It offers the promise of a Great Awakening, in which the elites will be routed and the truth will be revealed. It causes chat sites to come alive with commentary speculating that the coronavirus pandemic may be the moment QAnon has been waiting for. None of this could have been imagined as recently as the turn of the century.QAnon is emblematic of modern America’s susceptibility to conspiracy theories, and its enthusiasm for them. Read the rest
This is easily done yourself, but it was smart of Coors Light (and their creative agency) to create a one-click "Clone Machine" that captures and loops 30 seconds of video of you smiling and nodding along as if you're paying attention on a Zoom meeting. Then you upload the video as a Zoom background so you can sneak away from a call. Of course, this could result in wonderfully disastrous moments such as the video depicting you laughing just as your coworker shares that his pet hamster has died."A hassle-free interface will allow you to record and save a video of yourself nodding along politely, with the occasional smile, while your boss talks about the latest budget reports or your friend wants to put her new baby on to talk for the millionth time," Coors said in a statement.(UPI) Read the rest
Scientists have published the highest resolution 3D atlas of an average mouse brain. The public resource from the Allen Institute enables researchers to reference a common map for the 100 million cells in the rodent's brain. Mice are the most common animal used in all kinds of biomedical research. An accurate 3D model enables scientists to identify and understand the brain regions and processes that may be involved in any particular neural activity. This new model is an average of brain anatomy data from almost 2,000 mice. From the Allen Institute:Think of [the 3D atlas] as the neuroscience equivalent of your phone’s GPS. Instead of manually searching for your location on a paper map based on what you see around you, the GPS (and the new brain atlas) tells you where you are. With datasets in the thousands or millions of different pieces of information, that common set of coordinates — and pinpointing the corresponding brain landmarks for those coordinates — is crucial.“In the old days, people would define different regions of the brain by eye. As we get more and more data, that manual curation doesn’t scale anymore,” said Lydia Ng, Ph.D., Senior Director of Technology at the Allen Institute for Brain Science, a division of the Allen Institute, and one of the senior authors on the atlas paper along with Julie Harris, Ph.D., Associate Director of Neuroanatomy at the Allen Institute for Brain Science. “Just as we have a reference genome sequence, you need a reference anatomy.” Read the rest
In the 1970s, a youth subculture of anti-establishment motorcycle clubs emerged in Japan called bōsōzoku that's still raging to this day, albeit in smaller numbers. Mitsuo Yanagimachi's short 16mm documentary "God Speed You! Black Emperor" is a fascinating and fun look into this tribe through the story of a member of the Black Emperors club. And yes, the film title was the source of the Canadian experimental rock band's name. (via r/ObscureMedia) Read the rest
According to a 2019 YouGov survey, 45 percent of adult Americans believe in ghosts. What's it like for people who are convinced they are quarantining with a specter? The New York Times' Molly Fitzpatrick interviewed several true believers about their ghostly roommates and puts their experiences in context. From the New York Times: John E.L. Tenney, who describes himself as a paranormal researcher and is a former host of the TV show “Ghost Stalkers,” estimates that he received two to five reports of a haunted house each month in 2019. Lately, it’s been more like five to 10 in a week.[...]Mr. Tenney has no doubt that the vast majority of these cases in his inbox are “completely explainable” in nature. “When the sun comes up and the house starts to warm up, they’re usually at work — they’re not used to hearing the bricks pop and the wood expand,” he said. “It’s not that the house wasn’t making those sounds. They just never had the time to notice it.” [...]Kurt Gray, an associate professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, studies how we perceive and treat the minds of other entities, including animals, machines and the dead. Times of great unease or malaise, when there is an increased drive to find meaning in chaos, can lend themselves to perceived hauntings, he said — not to mention that disease itself shares certain psychological parallels with a “malevolent spirit,” creeping invisibly upon its unsuspecting victims.This phenomenon could also be a side effect of the loneliness of our time. Read the rest
In the 1960s in a small Southern town, high school student Clay Jennings Desmond and his friend were "out frogging at the sandpits" when Clay decided to scare his pal. The Creature from the Sandpits was born, its reputation spread across the land. Sixty years later, the monster still lives in the heart, minds, and nightmares of the locals. From Narratively:As a small group gathered around my car, I said in a loud, quavering voice, “We were out frogging at the sandpits and we kept hearing something stalking us.” The equally soaked Scottie, now quieter and calmer in these safer environs, picked up the story as though we had rehearsed it.Pointing at me, he said: “He heard something big in the bush while we were frog hunting. It sounded really big. I mean, like huge. When he turned his five-cell flashlight on it, oh my God!” He let out a theatrical gasp, his hand going to his throat. Limitations aside, he was a masterful performer with an audience.I picked up the improv tale. “When I heard a stick snap, I knew it had to be something pretty large, real near us. I focused the light in that direction and saw this thing.”“What thing?” asked the chorus of boys and girls outside the car. Our group of rapt listeners was quickly growing.Scottie added inspired embellishments. “It was about seven feet tall,” he said with elaborate hand gestures, “had the face of a man, but covered with fur. Read the rest
Starbucks felt pretty confidant on May 4, when CEO Kevin Johnson posted on its website that Starbucks “will not just survive, but with adaptations and new routines, it will thrive.” But a day later, the company's COO Roz Brewer sent a letter to its landlords that said, “Effective June 1 and for at least a period of 12 consecutive months, Starbucks will require concessions to support modified operations and adjustments to lease terms and base rent structures.” Well, demanding reduced rent for one of the world's largest coffee restaurant chains is one way to thrive.According to The Seattle Times:Starbucks wants landlords to give it a break on rent for at least a year as coronavirus social-distancing measures batter sales at the Seattle-based global coffee chain...Starbucks demanded the rent relief one day after the company announced it would reopen 90% of its 8,900 company-owned U.S. stores by early June. In a May 4 post on Starbucks’ website, President and CEO Kevin Johnson wrote that Starbucks “will not just survive, but with adaptations and new routines, it will thrive.”The letter to landlords struck a more dire tone, asking them to “adapt to new realities” — including an anticipated $225 billion hit to the American restaurant industry over the next three months.The company called the closure of many businesses to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus “a staggering economic crisis,” adding that “the psychological and economic scars will last for months, if not years.”Details about how much of a rent reduction and which specific locations would get the reduction haven't yet been hammered out. Read the rest
My kids and I loved playing Paper Mario on the Wii. Today, Nintendo announced a new Paper Mario title for the Switch, called Paper Mario: The Origami King. Release date is July 17.The kingdom has been ravaged by an origami menace! Join Mario and his new partner, Olivia, as they team up with unlikely allies like Bowser and the Toads to battle evil Folded Soldiers. Try to free Princess Peach’s castle from the clutches of King Olly in this comedy-filled adventure, only on the Nintendo Switch system. Use the 1,000-Fold Arms ability to extend your arms to interact with the environment and solve puzzles. In battle, line up scattered enemies and plan your attack to maximize damage with the new, ring-based battle system that requires both puzzle-solving skills and a quick wit. Read the rest
Thomas Dimson used the GPT-2 language model to make a website that creates a new word every time you refresh the page. Some of them are really good -- I could imagine them entering the lexicon. Read the rest
Weston Kay is a leathercrafter who specializes in footwear teardowns, slicing and dicing shoes and boots to expose how well-made (or not) they are. This video seems a good introduction to his channel, showing up the cheap materials a $425 Common Projects sneaker is made from.Common Projects Achilles Low White Sneaker Review - The Common Projects shoes are allegedly the highest quality sneakers in the world, so I bought a pair to cut in half to review the leather quality, see how it's built, and to see what's inside the Achilles Common Projects.It's not a bad shoe, and there are some clever design features to make it more comfortable. But it's more than five times the price of similar-quality products, and perhaps a good example of value couched in the most superficial elements of branding and design. Read the rest
OMG coyote vs roadrunner is real and it’s happening right now y’all!!! #Tucson pic.twitter.com/a64qEbcCdv— Michael Thomas Bogan (@mtbogan) May 10, 2020“There is literally a coyote chasing a roadrunner. I can’t believe it. That is a straight-up cartoon,” said Michael Thomas Bogan as he shot video of the incident in Arizona. Read the rest
This humorous scene presents a beautiful fractal of American office life. The soup of politeness, defensiveness, misaligned expectations and incentives, barely-suppressed self-loathing and rage, and bullshit? Surely recognizable to anyone who ever sank into the trance of Medium Busy—or the the ludic loop for which it is a euphemism. Read the rest
The BBC reports that conspiracy videos about Covid-19 account for "more than a quarter of the most-watched videos" about the pandemic.The study, published online by BMJ Global Health, looked at the most widely viewed coronavirus-related videos in English, as of 21 March. After excluding duplicate videos, videos longer than an hour and videos that did not include relevant audio or visual material, they were left with 69 to analyse. The videos were scored on whether they presented exclusively factual information about viral spread, coronavirus symptoms, prevention and potential treatments. Videos from government agencies scored significantly better than other sources, but were less widely viewed.Of the 19 videos found to include misinformation:about a third came from entertainment news sourcesnational news outlets accounted for about a quarterinternet news sources also account for about a quarter13% had been uploaded by independent video-makersSocial media companies made a half-hearted show of clamping down on Covid-19 conspiracy material, but Rona nuts are a fully-fledged audience blasting onto the platforms with obsessive, unremitting levels of interest and engagement. YouTube's CEO has boasted about providing a home for far-right material and admitted a "corporate obsession with maximizing usage statistics". What do you think she's gonna do about the most-watched content on YouTube? Read the rest
Watch live, as ousted Trump administration health official Rick Bright testifies on his whistleblower complaint before Congress.Congress is hearing testimony today, Thursday morning, from the former U.S. vaccine director Dr. Rick Bright who says he was fired for opposing the Trump administration's Covid-19 response. The Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health hearing “Protecting Scientific Integrity in the COVID-19 Response” with Dr. Rick Bright, the ousted Director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, is now taking place on Capitol Hill.Bright is expected to warn Congress of 'grave risks' associated with Trump's push to 'reopen the economy,' before it is safe.Bright objected to use of the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine promoted by President Trump. Follow live updates in this blog post. Read the rest
Today, in an exchange with a noted fan on Fox Business, impeached and manifestly unfit President Trump said a bunch of really dumb untrue things on live television that made no sense at all.Join us now @POTUS @realDonaldTrump now. @MorningsMaria @FoxBusiness pic.twitter.com/ejjfL2RQJs— Maria Bartiromo (@MariaBartiromo) May 14, 2020“Look, there's nothing good about what happened with the plague, okay? Especially the death. But the one thing is, it said, ‘Trump was right,’” the president, referring to himself in the third person, told host Maria Bartiromo of Fox Business.“Look, there's nothing good about what happened with the plague, okay? Especially the death. But the one thing is, it said, ‘Trump was right,’” the president, referring to himself in the third person, told host Maria Bartiromo of Fox Business. https://t.co/F1o0vYZsl5— Meridith McGraw (@meridithmcgraw) May 14, 2020'We're gonna lose over 100,000 perhaps,' he said, moving the projected death toll from COVID-19 yet again."We're gonna lose over 100,000 perhaps" -- Trump just moved the goalposts *again* about the projected US coronavirus death toll pic.twitter.com/salNr4Ho1g— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 14, 2020The economy is a mess, and Trump addressed this, too, in a very Trumpy way.Nearly 3 million more Americans filed unemployment claims this week, the Department of Labor announced today, and 8 straight weeks of job losses from the coronavirus crisis now total 36 million. It's a bloodbath out there and many Americans are suffering with unemployment and no job prospects or government subsidies in sight. Read the rest
"It is baffling, to say the least, how Zoom failed to protect Saint Paulus's Bible study class from a 'serial offender' who has been 'reported multiple times to the authorities,'" the church said.
Days after it was reported that James Damore's lawsuit against Google was quietly settled, NBC News reports that Google has ended or sharply curtailed diversity programs to "avoid being perceived as anti-conservative".April Glazer:Internal diversity and inclusion training programs have been scaled back or cut entirely, four Google employees and two people who recently left the company told NBC News in interviews. In addition, they said, the team responsible for those programs has been reduced in size, and positions previously held by full-time employees have been outsourced ... Seven current and former employees from across a range of teams and roles at the company said separately that they all believed the reason behind cutting Sojourn and taking employees off diversity projects to move them elsewhere at Google was to shield the company from backlash from conservatives.I was going to remark that this was a big bet on Trump's reelection from a big holder of proprietary data indicating the preferences and intentions of American voters, but that's not really justified. The servile, supplicative attitude toward conservatives is the default to which American corporations always return. What are they afraid of, all told? What, specifically, is the bad thing that happens to Google as a result of diversity training?1. Compare to how a Hollywood studio will acknowledge a mistake, explain the mistake accurately, promise not to make the mistake again, then cast Tom Cruise as Ghandi, etc., exposing the entire mistake management process as an unusually contemptuous and short-term PR exercise. Read the rest
In a more normal timeline, each one of these wack-ass tweets from impeached president Donald Trump would be their own news cycle. But this is no normal timeline.The president is lying when he says:Good numbers coming out of States that are opening. America is getting its life back! Vaccine work is looking VERY promising, before end of year. Likewise, other solutions!Also on Thursday morning, he keeps trying to make the new 'OBAMAGATE' conspiracy theory happen.OBAMAGATE!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 14, 2020Here are more of his early morning missives from today. Read the rest
Enjoy this blooper reel of some real "oopsy daisies" from early Hollywood productions, I sure did! And, if you liked that, here are a couple more similar compilations:via @hollywoodgoldenage Read the rest
If you’ve ever considered what it would take to build your own video games, you’ve probably heard of AppGameKit. Over the past decade, the UK-based firm has become one of the independent game engines that helped democratize the process of creating apps and mobile gaming for the masses.From games to other mobile apps, AppGameKit has distinguished itself for its ease of use, a platform embraced by hundreds of developers to quickly create games and utility apps that can be coded once, then deployed across all the most popular mobile platforms.Users can now get a feel for exactly why it’s become so popular with The Complete AppGameKit Game Creator Bundle, a training and asset bundle that explores all aspects of creating with AppGameKit and exploring the full range of its abilities.The training begins with AppGameKit: Easy Game Development Platform, an introductory guide into the world of creating in AppGameKit. Even if you’ve never built a game before, that’s ok. It’s all explained in this no-experienced-required environment -- with the platform itself doing a lot of your coding heavy lifting for you. Whether you want to run your games on Android or iOS devices, Windows, Linux, or even the Raspberry Pi, this training can make it happen and show users why AppGameKit is a dream spot for cross-platform development and optimization.Rapidly coding and deploying apps is a start, but to truly make your work stand apart, additional training focuses in on the look and added dimensionality of your games. Read the rest
Today is the birthday of Stevland Hardaway Morris, aka Stevie Wonder (1950). Let's celebrate the musical genius of the man with this jaw-dropping drum solo from early in his career.Bonus track:Image: YouTube Read the rest
I have a new podcast recommendation for all you creative types — one that I think you're really going to dig. All-around great guy Jason Gots' latest listening venture is called Clever Creature and it's a bit different than your average podcast. It's more like a variety show, or maybe a zine for your ears. It's more loosely structured and spontaneous than I'm used to hearing, which gives it a refreshing edge. Each episode is focused on one random word. That word inspires a story, a song, and a conversation, conversations with peeps like David Sedaris, Mary Louise Parker, and even his own 12-year-old son, Emre. At the end of the first episode (and maybe future ones?), there's a seven-minute mediation.His name may be familiar, as he spent the last five years hosting the Big Think podcast, Think Again. At that desk, he interviewed good folks like Neil Gaiman, Roz Chast, Terry Gilliam, Margaret Atwood, and over 200 more.The first episode, "Desert," dropped Tuesday:art by Nathan Gelgud Read the rest
Great news for Las Vegas entertainer Roy Horn, who has made a “miracle recovery" from his "COVID deathbed!” according to this week’s ‘National Enquirer.’
What happens when someone with coronavirus coughs into their hand before eating at a buffet? Interested in seeing how the virus might have spread on cruise ships, NHK, Japan's national broadcasting company, conducted a so-called experiment with 10 volunteers at a buffet. Before anyone went to get their food, a dollop of florescent paint was squirted onto one person's palm. Then everyone served themselves some grub and sat at a couple of tables to eat. Watch how the paint had spread onto everything from serving utensils, napkins, and the tablecloth to people's jackets, hands, even even their faces. NHK conducted an experiment to see how germs spread at a cruise buffet. They applied fluorescent paint to the hands of 1 person and then had a group of 10 people dine.In 30 min the paint had transferred to every individual and was on the faces of 3. pic.twitter.com/1Ieb9ffehp— Spoon & Tamago (@Johnny_suputama) May 8, 2020 Of course this is a sloppy experiment. Most of all because someone's cough wouldn't match the consistency or quantity of paint that was squirted into the volunteer's palm, so who knows how the virus would compare to the paint in spreading. But it's still a fun watch. Read the rest
A couple of days ago, I posted a Covid slogan maker that spat out bizarre warnings in the distinctive hazard-sign style favored by the British government. Now you can write your own text in with a more feature-packed UK Covid Slogan Generator, created by Ron MacDonald.There are also “Boris” and “Conspiracy Nut” modes on it. ... No advertising / rubbish / cookies etc and it’s also on GitHub (https://github.com/caf3b4b3/slogan-generator), pull requests welcome. Read the rest
Resume padding is as American as baseball and hot dogs. In fact, 4 out of 5 job applicants stretch, if not bend, sprain or outright fracture the truth about themselves on their resume. While some resume lies are truly epic, most fall into the little white lie variety, like claiming mastery of software with which you only hold a passing familiarity. This brings us to a majority of business professionals who list a proficiency with Microsoft Excel among their job-worthy talents. Are you truly battle-tested in all the various features of the world’s most popular spreadsheet and data analytics tool, or did you just update some cells on an Excel file once and calling it mastery?Excel’s power and reach is indisputable, so whether you’re adept with its features or lying through your teeth, the training in The Complete 2020 Microsoft Excel Expert Bundle is a legitimate means of making that resume bullet a 100 percent true statement of your knowledge.This package of four courses touting more than 20 hours of instruction isn’t for the first time Excel user, but if you’ve got a few Excel hours under your belt and want to learn the tips and tricks employed by true experts, this collection can get you there.The Microsoft Excel 2019: Advanced course goes deep into advanced charting and graphing, how to create visualizations using sparklines and data bars, formatting tricks as well as the ability to calculate interest or depreciation in a spreadsheet. In Power Pivot, Power Query, and DAX in Excel, users explore some of Excel’s most powerful tools, such as high-level sorting and other organizational tips in Power Query and review capabilities of a PivotTable, all made possible with knowledge of the DAX formula language. Read the rest
Apparently a high percentage of chefs at Chinese restaurants suffer shoulder plane from wok tossing. They must rapidly move the heavy pan to launch the food into the air so it cooks but doesn't burn, even though the temperatures may hit 1200°C. Recently, Georgia Tech mechanical engineers studied the kinematics of Chinese restaurant chefs to understand how they actually move and the "optimal regime for making fried rice." According to their scientific paper, they hope their study can not only lead to better fried rice for all but also "inspire the design of stir-fry robotics and exoskeletons to reduce the rate of muscle strain injury among professional chefs." From their scientific paper:Tossing is a combination of two independent motions, a side to side motion and a see-saw motion, allowing rice grains to slide around the wok as well as to jump off the surface. We identify two critical parameters that chefs can vary: the frequency of tossing and the phase lag between the two motions applied. By filming professional chefs, we found that, at the frequency chosen by chefs, the phase difference performed is optimal for mixing. We suggest that future chefs increase the frequency of motion, which may enable rice to jump further, and promote cooling and mixing."The physics of tossing fried rice" (Journal of the Royal Society Interface via Science News) Read the rest
The Hollywood Hills home that was the TV and real life abode of Ozzie and Harriet Nelson is now on the market for $6.5 million. Airing from 1952-1966, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet featured many exterior shots of the family's actual house. (Recently, it was also used as Ari Gold's residence on Entourage.) The current owner of the 1916 home is Law & Order: SVU star Christopher Meloni who purchased it in 2014. The home features many amenities, including a ghost, likely that of Ozzie Nelson who in 1975 reportedly died in the bedroom. From Architectural Digest:It should be noted that—possibly as a result of Ozzie’s death—numerous previous owners have reportedly complained that the property is haunted. Spooky incidents include Ozzie’s model train, which runs on a track near the ceiling in the pub room, inexplicably running on its own in the middle of the night; and the smell of rose-scented perfume.image: Hilton & Hyland Read the rest
"Revvin' up your engine, listen to her howlin' roar. Metal under tension, beggin' you to touch and go."Next up, a deepfake with Tom Cruise as Luke Skywalker?(Thanks, Emmett K!) Read the rest
In hopes of minimizing the spread of coronavirus in their community, the Cheyenne River Sioux have established a series of checkpoints on state highways that run through tribal reservations in South Dakota. As Truthout explains:Commercial drivers and South Dakota residents are being allowed to travel on tribal lands, but non-state residents are only allowed entry onto the reservations if they can provide proof of tribal membership or proof that they live there. Non-state residents are also being banned from hunting or fishing on tribal lands.These, of course, are far more active measures than anything that South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem has done so far in this pandemic. And this clearly made her upset, or possibly embarrassed, because she wrote a letter to tribal leaders stating:I request the Tribe immediately cease interfering or regulating traffic on U.S. and State Highways and remove all travel checkpoints. If the checkpoints are not removed within the next 48 hours, the State will take necessary legal action.Under normal circumstances, there may be a valid argument about what some would consider the vigilantism on display here. However, when it comes to Native American land rights and legal jurisdictions, things get complicated. But they've been putting up with this shit for a while now, and many of them have a keen understanding of how things with the US government — namely, that it won't do shit to help them, except when it wants something, which usually ends up hurting the members of the tribe. Read the rest
I keep the Kitchen IQ Edge Grip 2-Stage Knife Sharpener next to my knife block and run a knife through the "Fine" slot almost every time I cut something. The ceramic rods are arranged at a pre-set angle, which makes it easy to get a serviceably sharp knife. The bottom of the sharpener has a V-channel so you can set it against the edge of a counter. That way you won't smack your knife against the countertop when it slides out of the sharpening slot.The "Coarse" sharpening slot has carbide blades that will sharpen dull knives in just a few strokes. Just don't use it every time because it eats up your knife blades quickly. Read the rest
Will dogs obey commands from robots? In IEEE Spectrum, Evan Ackerman writes that "Yale University’s Social Robotics Lab led by Brian Scassellati presented a paper taking the first step towards determining whether dogs, which are incredibly good at understanding social behaviors in humans, see human-ish robots as agents—or more specifically, whether dogs see robots more like humans (which they obey), or more like speaker systems (which they don’t)." Spoiler: The dogs do respond to the robot's commands much more frequently than they obey the voice from the speaker system, even if the experiment appeared to baffle the animals.From IEEE Spectrum:We asked [lead researcher Meiyin] Qin whether she thought it would make a difference if the robot was more or less humanoid, how much of a face it had, whether it smelled like anything, and other traits that dogs might associate with human-ness. “Since dogs are very sensitive to human social cues, the robot being a humanoid or not may make a difference,” Qin says. “However, if a non-humanoid robot behaved like an agent (e.g., behaved like a dog, or exhibit any social behaviors), dogs may also respond in a social manner.”She explained that, in terms of whether the robot has eyes or not, or smells like a person, these factors could also impact how dogs respond to the robot. But Qin adds that the researchers need further evidence to give a more affirmative answer. “Whether the robot moves or not could affect the dogs differently,” she says. Read the rest
The Night Watch is a 1642 painting by Rembrandt. It hangs in The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Today, the museum posted the "largest and most detailed ever photograph of The Night Watch on its website, making it possible to zoom in on individual brushstrokes and even particles of pigment in the painting." I've been exploring it and it's incredible!The Rijksmuseum’s imaging team led by datascientist Robert Erdmann made this photograph of The Night Watch from a total of 528 exposures. The 24 rows of 22 pictures were stitched together digitally with the aid of neural networks. The final image is made up of 44.8 gigapixels (44,804,687,500 pixels), and the distance between each pixel is 20 micrometres (0.02 mm). This enables the scientists to study the painting in detail remotely. The image will also be used to accurately track any future aging processes taking place in the painting. Read the rest
The 75-issue Sandman comic book series was of course Neil Gaiman's first big foray into fame. What began as a story in the DC Comics Universe about Morpheus, the Avatar of Dreams, eventually spawned its own separate interconnected comic book universe, as well as DC's adult imprints like Vertigo (RIP). It's a sprawling story about dreams, passion, and stories that's absolutely worth reading (if you somehow haven't already).Audible will be releasing an audio drama adaptation of the first 3 graphic novel collections — Preludes & Nocturnes, The Doll's House, and Dream Country — on July 15. And the casting so far looks pretty phenomenal, including Neil Gaiman himself as the narrator.The US @Audible preorder link is https://t.co/N2k9dhF60gThe UK link ishttps://t.co/478Sfuu1z7And there's James McAvoy, @OfficialKat, @michaelsheen, @BebeNeuwirth, @rizwanahmed, @josielawrence1, @andyserkis and so many more... pic.twitter.com/yyzGhyfvP8— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) May 13, 2020Here's the official synopsis from Amazon:When The Sandman, also known as Lord Morpheus—the immortal king of dreams, stories and the imagination—is pulled from his realm and imprisoned on Earth by a nefarious cult, he languishes for decades before finally escaping. Once free, he must retrieve the three "tools" that will restore his power and help him to rebuild his dominion, which has deteriorated in his absence. As the multi-threaded story unspools, The Sandman descends into Hell to confront Lucifer (Michael Sheen), chases rogue nightmares who have escaped his realm, and crosses paths with an array of characters from DC comic books, ancient myths, and real-world history, including: Inmates of Gotham City's Arkham Asylum, Doctor Destiny, the muse Calliope, the three Fates, William Shakespeare (Arthur Darvill), and many more. Read the rest
"Lumen in the Land of Nanite" is a real-time Unreal Engine 5 demonstration running live on PlayStation. The new UE5 has two technologies: "Nanite virtualized micropolygon geometry, which frees artists to create as much geometric detail as the eye can see, and Lumen, a fully dynamic global illumination solution that immediately reacts to scene and light changes." Read the rest
Tomorrow, Thursday (5/14), I'm honored to be moderating a free online conversation with two brilliant women whose work is a light in the darkness during these uncertain times. My friend Ann Druyan is the executive producer, writer, and director of Cosmos, the iconic TV show she co-created with her late husband and collaborator, astronomer and science communicator Carl Sagan. From her work as creative director of the Voyager Golden Record to her numerous books, most recently Cosmos: Possible Worlds, Ann has spent her life sparking curiosity and wonder about the universe and our place in it. Ann and Carl's daughter, Sasha Sagan, is the author of the new book For Small Creatures Such As We, a lovely, inspiring memoir exploring the intersection of science and spirituality in a secular home. The title is from a quote found in the pages of Contact, a novel written by Ann and Carl: "For small creatures such as we the vastness is bearable only through love." Like her parents, Sasha has the passion, wisdom, and talent to simultaneously instill awe, hope, and skepticism through her creative work.The conversation, hosted by the Jewish arts and culture organization Reboot, takes place at 2pm PT. Pre-register on Zoom and Facebook Live. From the event description:The Interplay of Science and Ritual in a Time of FluxOver the eons, our relationship to science and ritual has been inextricably linked to our understanding of our place in the universe. Join Emmy Award-winning writer, director, producer Ann Druyan and her daughter, author Sasha Sagan, in conversation with Boing Boing co-founder David Pescovitz to talk about emerging philosophies that can provide hope as we struggle to adjust to our new normal on Earth. Read the rest
200 goats escaped from an enclosure in East San Jose and quickly conquered its East Foothills neighborhood Tuesday evening, according to reports from the street. A local resident, Terry Roelands, told reporters that he regularly employs the goats to clear brush behind his house, but this time they broke free and descended upon the city."When I got back from the store all the goats had broken through the fence and were recking havoc on our street," wrote Zach Roelands on Twitter. "This is the craziest thing to happen all quarantine."Tag yourself; I'm the goat grabbing a quick snack 41s in. Read the rest
I despise everything about Las Vegas -- the garish resorts, the horrible city planning that makes it no fun to walk anywhere, the overpriced "fine dining," and the oppressive layer of sterile corporatism that guarantees no surprises or delight. But that's just me, some people love the place. I wonder if Vegas aficionados are going to still love it when they saunter back in the newly reopened casinos and discover that the buffets are gone, 6-foot physical distancing policies are enforced, gambling areas are divided up with plexiglass barriers, and employees are required to wear facemasks and gloves?[via Hollywood Reporter]CoronavirusBy https://www.scientificanimations.com - https://www.scientificanimations.com/wiki-images/, CC BY-SA 4.0, LinkLas Vegas photo by John Such on Unsplash Read the rest
There's a lot of overlap between the friends of mine who are fervent video game enthusiasts, and those who are the most belligerent anarcho-syndicalists / anarcho-communists / other Revolutionary Leftist sects — and they have all been singing the praises of "Tonight We Riot," the video game that even Variety calls, "an unapologetically political, socialist game about worker liberation in the face of overpowering capitalism." The official description reads:A revolutionary crowd-based retro brawlerIn a dystopia where wealthy capitalists control elections, media, and the lives of working people, we’re faced with two choices -- accept it or fight for something better.Tonight We Riot doesn’t have just one hero. Instead, you play as a movement of people whose well-being determines the success of your revolution.Essentially, it's a retro 8-bit throwback to games like "Streets of Rage," he game is the brainchild of Pixel Pushers Union 512, a worker-owned video game cooperative out of Texas. Except instead of controlling one character with a melee weapon and a limited life, you get a chance to control the entire rioting crowd as they work together to lob molotov cocktails at the bootlicking mechs sent by the evil capitalist overlords determined to quash their solidarity.I'm not much of a gamer myself, but I might have some free time on my hands soon with this quarantine, and this looks pretty damn delightful to me. You can check it out on Nintendo eShop, Itch.io, Steam, or Good Old Games. Read the rest
I only stumbled upon this because I got married in Dorset, Vermont, and did a double-take when I saw the headline. Apparently "knob" is a British word for "biscuit" but it's funnier to think about Ye Olde Dorset Dick-eating Contest. As the BBC explains:The biscuits have been made by Moores of Morecombelake for more than 150 yearsOriginally, they were made from leftover bread dough with added butter and sugar, hand-rolled and left to dry in the dying heat of the ovenIt is thought their name comes from the hand-sewn Dorset knob buttons that were also made locallyThey can be eaten with Blue Vinny cheese, dipped in tea or cider, or taken with honey and cream - known locally as thunder and lightningAs far as the exciting events of this riveting contest:But this year 100 competitive eaters live-streamed their attempts to swallow the savoury spheres.Kate Scott, from Shaftesbury, necked eight and a half of the thrice-baked treats to claim the crown.Sure, okay.The knob-eaters raised more than £1,200 for the local Weldmar Hospicecare. Unfortunately, the knob-throwing festival has been postponed until 2021, as it's more difficult to judge online.Coronavirus: Dorset knob-eating contest held online amid lockdown [BBC] Read the rest
Ahmed Arbery, the unarmed black jogger chased down and killed by two white men in Georgia, was recorded checking out a construction site at some point before he was shot dead in the street. After the footage was used to imply Arbery was at fault for his own lynching, the owner of the construction site says Arbery committed no crime and condemned those suggesting otherwise. The owner confirmed nothing was taken from the site.The February 23 footage, captured moments before Arbery's death, appears to show him looking around but never touching anything -- and eventually, walking away."I don't want it to be put out and misused and misinterpreted for people to think that I had accused Mr. Arbery of stealing or robbery, because I never did," Larry English, the homeowner told CNN's Chris Cuomo Tuesday night."By the time Larry saw the video, Mr. Arbery had been killed," English's attorney, Elizabeth Graddy, said.This is an important detail, as one of the killers claimed Arbery resembled a suspect he'd seen on security video at a break-in.Greg McMichael, 64, and his son Travis McMichael, 34, were finally arrested and charged with murder Thursday after footage of the killing itself went viral. A local prosecutor, reportedly a former employer of the elder McMichael, had told police not to arrest them on the scene and declined to press charges. McMichael has extensive connections to local law enforcement. Read the rest
The New York City Department of Transportation reports that it's been 58 days since a pedestrian has been killed in the city, a new record that was made possible because the city is under lockdown.I've been watching this live video camera feed of Times Square for the last week or so and it is remarkable to see how empty it looks. Read the rest
Brilliant.“My Corona project, inspired by a post on here. I also want to give a shout-out to lots of free time and alcohol for playing their part.”IMGURian @SoLong18, we salute you.Watch the full video here.[via IMGUR] Read the rest