'...and the horns kicked in..." Read the rest

I found this puzzle in a book I've had since I was a kid:Simply put, your task is to draw the figure at the right without crossing a line, without taking your pencil from the paper and without retracing a line.The book is called Merlin's Puzzler. It's out of print, but used copies are pretty cheap. Read the rest

These toys and games can keep the kids busy while you’re all trapped inside.As rough as all this time cooped up inside the house is on us adults, it’s even worse for kids. All that borderline maniacal energy along with an unquenchable thirst for stimulation and attention make home sequestration like a life sentence for them. Unfortunately, they have no problem taking out all that pent-up disappointment and boredom on you, the unwitting adult who must take the rap for a worldwide pandemic.These are difficult times and we all have to do what we must to survive. We wouldn’t normally endorse this, but under our current conditions...bribe them. Tell the kids that if they can be good for a day, or just through your workday or heck, even for a few hours, you’ll get ‘em one of the cool toys and games we’ve assembled here.Everything here is on sale. They won’t care. You will. And peace will still reign in your household. For now. But for today, it’s all we’ve got…Video gamesEvery kid loves video games -- and this is a good time to plant some of the old-school retro gaming love you had when you were a kid.From the folks at 8BitDo, both the Gbros. Wireless Adapter for Nintendo Switch ($14.95; originally $19.99) and the SN30 Bluetooth Gamepad ($23.95; originally $29.99) gives you the retro-style gaming controller that’s compatible with all the latest gaming systems. Whether your kids have a Switch or play games on Windows, Android, macOS or Steam-based platforms, these Bluetooth-connected devices will take you all right back to the 90s and 2000s...even Read the rest

Aquarium Drunkard is an incredible audio hub of reviews, podcasts, features, interviews, and sessions sure to please all crate diggers, outré musicologists, fringe culture fanatics, and deep music geeks. Their genre-bending curation spans jazz, folk, garage, psych, experimental, and every other niche of music to present oft-unheard gems from across time. As the creators say, Aquarium Drunkard is "for heads, by heads." In author Erik Davis's own excellent newsletter, he shares word that Aquarium Drunkard has now launched a free online radio stream, Radio Free Aquarium Drunkard. Tune in and turn on. Erik writes:I have been in love with Aquarium Drunkard’s mailing list, streams, and musical curation chops since I stumbled across a three-part collection of rare 70s Jesus Freak music they posted years ago. Given that millions of us are now stuck at home, addictively trawling newsfeeds while trying to stay sane, the AQ kids just launched Radio Free Aquarium Drunkard, a wonderful 24/7 radio stream of joy, verve, and reflection. Admittedly, I find my own sensibility uncannily mirrored in RFAQ’s mix of scruffy indy, ladyfolk, 90s basement tapes, spiritual jazz, weird country, and deep deep 70s. But I am particularly enjoying the intimacy, wit, and kindness of the selections, segues, and overall vibe. These days we should all be paying close attention to the collective process of meaning-making. This means ignoring the algos and opening up to playlists, personal recommendations, and DJs. Tune in! Read the rest

I greatly enjoyed Max Barry's 2013 novel Lexicon (Cory loved it, too -- here's his review). Barry has a new novel that came out today from Putnam, called Providence, which I started reading. It's a space thriller about a four person crew on an AI controlled spaceship programmed to seek and destroy "salamanders" - creatures that kill by spitting mini-black holes. It's terrific so far (I'm 70% finished).I'm happy that Max wrote this op-ed for Boing Boing, titled "How Science Fiction Prepares Us For the Apocalypse." -- MarkMy favorite theory on why we dream is that we’re practicing for emergencies. Asleep, unguarded, our minds conjure threats and dilemmas so that once we wake, we’ve learned something. Maybe not very much—maybe only what not to do, because it rarely goes well. But we learn more from our failures than our successes, and this is what our minds serve up, night after night: hypothetical dangers and defeats. Whether we’re fleeing a tiger or struggling to persuade a partner who won’t listen, we fail, but we also practice.I suspect that’s also why we read fiction. We don’t seek escapism—or, at least, not only that. We read to inform our own future behavior. No matter how fanciful the novel, in the back of our minds, something very practical is taking notes.Popular fiction regularly mirrors the times in which it’s published. Two hundred years ago, society readers were thrilled by dangerous flirtations in Jane Austen novels; a century ago, people living in newly urbanized cities devoured mysteries and detective stories; and the 1930s gave rise to the Golden Age of science fiction, with stories that asked where technology might take us. Read the rest

MedFetUK, a UK fetish company that deals in medical supplies and equipment for sex play has donated its supply of scrubs to a National Health Service hospital. “It was just a few sets, because we don’t carry large stocks, but they were desperate, so we sent them free of charge...” MedFetUK tweeted."When we, a tiny company set up to serve a small section of the kink community, find ourselves being sought out as a last-resort supplier to our National Health Service in a time of crisis, something is seriously wrong. In fact, it's scandalous."When you see someone from the government saying the NHS is getting what it needs, that is a LIE.We have been contacted this week by representatives of NHS procurement all over the country, trying to source basic protective equipment and clothing. [2/5]— MedFetUK (@MedFet_UK) March 27, 2020 Read the rest

Directed by Canadian-American filmmaker Ted Eshbaugh, this "Wizard of Oz" cartoon from 1933 predated the classic Hollywood movie by six years. From Wikipedia:The story is credited to "Col. Frank Baum." Frank Joslyn Baum, a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army and eldest son of writer L. Frank Baum, was involved in the film's production, and may have had an involvement in the film's script, which is loosely inspired by the elder Baum's 1900 novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. It runs approximately eight and a half minutes and is nearly wordless, working mainly with arrangements of classical music created by Carl W. Stalling.[3]The film was originally made in Technicolor, but because it was made without proper licensing from the Technicolor Corporation (which limited use of its 3-strip process to Disney), it never received a theatrical release.(via r/ObscureMedia) Read the rest

In 1889, a dam failed in southwestern Pennsylvania, sending 20 million tons of water down an industrialized valley toward the unsuspecting city of Johnstown. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe some of the dramatic and harrowing personal stories that unfolded on that historic day.We'll also celebrate Christmas with Snoopy and puzzle over a deadly traffic light.Show notesPlease support us on Patreon! Read the rest

It's been an anthem for cheeky introverts and hermits, for years. Now, it belongs to us all. Read the rest

Python is everywhere. Just look under the hood of virtually every major tech player of the 21st century and you’re likely to find a whole lot of Python-based coding language staring back at you. Case in point: Netflix. You may not know it, but from its security protocols to its much-hyped recommendations, it turns out that Python code is baked into virtually every movie, TV show or another piece of content you watch on the platform.That’s just one example of the pervasiveness of this versatile, powerful, user-friendly language. Right now, you can both learn Python AND create some cool projects and games with the training in the Python 3 Complete Bootcamp Master Course ($10.99, over 90 percent off).With access to over 370 lectures and more than 30 hours of content, this course demystifies Python at its most practical level by helping you build 15 different projects and games while you learn.The course teaches basic Python operations through the creation of some simple games, like a dice roll simulator, a hangman game or simple tic-tac-toe. But as students start working through more advanced Python concepts like machine learning and data analysis, the project ratchets up as well.Before long, you’re building a matchmaker app, a Tamagotchi-style screen pet and even exploring methods for starting your own databases.By the time you’re creating your own big data analysis project using more than 60 million data points, you’ll have internalized enough Python knowledge to use Python like a pro or even get hired as a Python expert. Read the rest

Read the first post in our series on making your own sourdough starter and bread. The third loaf of bread with my new-to-the-pandemic sourdough starter was a pleasure to bake.Putting this loaf of bread together for its bulk rise was done in a pleasant couple minutes pause while preparing dinner for my parents. I have been pretty aggressively on my One Meal A Day diet and enjoying 20-24 hour fasts during the pandemic and thus tend to prepare dinner for the family most nights.I decided to bake an all King Arthur bread flour loaf of bread this time, but I continued to go with 2 cup sized loaves instead of 4. The starter is behaving like it is on something like a 4-6 hour cycle, so I fed it around 1:30 pm and mixed up the dough around 6:30 pm.I time it like this so that a) the yeast should be in a place where there are many fresh, new and hungry cells banging about the starter and b) the 12-ish hour bulk rise I give my bread will not need me to wake up earlier than usual. If the dough looks like it needs more time, I give it more time. 18+ hours were not unusual in my old home. I would forget to change the thermostat and at night my kitchen would get too cold. Here I put the rising dough on the closed lid of an indoor bbq, with a potholder as insulation.The dough was sticky and needed a bit of flour to let me work it. Read the rest

AI artist Mario Klingemann used Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), one of the primary techniques to create deepfake videos, to make this incredible, unsettling, and wonderful video that facial expressions to music. (Song: "Triggernometry" by Kraftamt, 2014). Check out another deepweirdfake from this series below.One more of those. This one needs a bit of patience. And to be unmuted.Song: "Dropping out of Lightspeed" by Kraftamt, 2013 #StyleGAN2 #realtime #aiart pic.twitter.com/wMRJdbbbez— Mario Klingemann (@quasimondo) March 31, 2020(Thanks, Jeff Cross!) Read the rest

Jack Black's energetic performance put a smile on my face. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jack Black (@jackblack) on Mar 29, 2020 at 5:31pm PDT Read the rest

Well, it's Infrastructure Week again, America. He's clearly losing it.Impeached president Donald John Trump, on the day of the highest coronavirus death toll yet in America, is tweeting his degenerating brains out.With interest rates for the United States being at ZERO, this is the time to do our decades long awaited Infrastructure Bill. It should be VERY BIG & BOLD, Two Trillion Dollars, and be focused solely on jobs and rebuilding the once great infrastructure of our Country! Phase 4Your interpretations in the comments. Read the rest

Full Tac and Lil' Mariko's Where's My Juul is a funny song and video from the before time, going viral again due to its thematic relevance to people slowly going bonkers at home. The tiktok lipsync below by Maile Hammahz is fab; probably best not to watch late at night. @themailehammahz Watch till the end 😳 this took 6 hours ⚠️FLASHING LIGHTS + FAKE BLOOD⚠️ ##hawaii ##foryou ##fyp ##sfx ♬ Where's My Juul?? - Full Tac (feat. Lil Mariko) Read the rest

Alex Becker (juniperiz on TikTok) performs a classic movie moment with his spatula while cooking dinner. Perfectly executed. @juniperiz ##foryou ##foryoupage ##fyp ##soundon ##tofu ♬ Tofu intro - alexbecker68 Read the rest

Pressure for lockdown in Japan is building, as Tokyo recorded the most coronavirus cases in a single day.Japan’s capital recorded more than 70 new coronavirus infections on Tuesday, its highest total in a single day yet. Japan's prime minister is under increasing pressure to order a lockdown. NEW: Pressure builds for a Tokyo lockdown. The governor of Japan’s capital Yuriko Koike has urged PM Shinzo Abe to decide on an emergency #coronavirus declaration, reports @NHKWORLD_News. She says Tokyo is on the brink. @CBSNews is here. 🇯🇵 #COVID19 https://t.co/bZvJsK3yPp— Ramy Inocencio 英若明 (@RamyInocencio) March 31, 2020From Reuters:Domestic cases topped 2,000, and public broadcaster NHK said 78 cases in Tokyo took its tally of infections past 500.“This is the greatest increase up to now and is certainly of high concern, and I’m worried about what tomorrow’s figures might show,” said Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike.A government spokesman said Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told cabinet members he and his second-in-command, Taro Aso, would no longer attend the same meetings to protect the leadership from infection. But the two were later shown at the same gathering - although wearing masks and sitting apart. More at Reuters.Latest from Japan and beyond on the #coronavirus outbreak* Tokyo reports a record daily increase of 78 new infections* Japan advises against travel to some 50 nations including U.S., China↓For more #CoronavirusUpdates↓https://t.co/trk88RcbvN pic.twitter.com/1MkT51eGS8— Kyodo News | Japan (@kyodo_english) March 31, 2020The death of iconic comedian #ShimuraKen has led to messages of grief and an increased sense of urgency surrounding the #coronavirus. Read the rest

More wonderful art creation in the face of the fear and fuckery of COVID-19. View this post on Instagram March 30 / @louiegilotA post shared by The Quaranzine (@the_quaranzine) on Mar 30, 2020 at 4:00pm PDT View this post on Instagram March 29 / @sarahmirkA post shared by The Quaranzine (@the_quaranzine) on Mar 29, 2020 at 6:25pm PDT View this post on Instagram March 27 / @kirkreedstromA post shared by The Quaranzine (@the_quaranzine) on Mar 27, 2020 at 9:57am PDT View this post on Instagram March 19 / @srothmulletA post shared by The Quaranzine (@the_quaranzine) on Mar 19, 2020 at 3:34pm PDT View this post on Instagram March 18 / @og.thanksA post shared by The Quaranzine (@the_quaranzine) on Mar 18, 2020 at 12:42pm PDTSubscribe to the feed here.[H/t Rudy Rucker]Image: Art by @kirkreedstrom, Instagram screengrab Read the rest

Pangalactic goddess of love, mercy, and big hair, Dolly Parton, is going to start reading us all bedtime stories, beginning on April 2nd (7pm EDT). Weekly, Dolly will be reading selections from her Imagination Library, the collection of kids books that she gives away free to children every month, to the tune of 134 million books to date. Her first reading will be The Little Engine That Could. Dolly plans to do the readings for ten weeks and sees the effort as a way of offering kids (and all who want to listen) “a welcomed distraction during a time of unrest.” Dolly will be doing the readings every week from her YouTube page.Image: YouTube Read the rest

An relaxing compendium of macro photos of everday objects such as eggs, leaves and donuts, except for the loud reality-TV "zooming in" sound effect that makes you think Gordon is about to start shrieking at them.Note the unnerving macro-scale resemblance of instant coffee to chicken nuggets. Read the rest

“Everything is okay,” the RIA news agency reports. Seems legit.The doctor who hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin's tour of the main coronavirus hospital in Moscow last week has himself been diagnosed with the virus, the Rossiya 24 state TV channel reported on Tuesday. Putin was wearing quite the PPE outfit when he toured the facility. No word on his viral status.From Reuters:Putin visited the Kommunarka hospital last Tuesday where he chatted to the doctor, Denis Protsenko. Neither of them were wearing protective equipment during their conversation, TV footage from the visit showed.The Kremlin said on Tuesday that Putin was being regularly tested for coronavirus and that “everything is okay,” the RIA news agency reported. IMAGE: Russian president Vladimir Putin wearing protective gear visits a hospital where patients infected with the Covid-19 novel coronavirus are being treated in the settlement of Kommunarka in Moscow. Photograph: Alexey Druzhinin/Sputnik Read the rest

From WBUR:The federal Bureau of Indian Affairs told the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe on Friday that the tribe's reservation will be "disestablished" and its land taken out of trust, per an order from Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt, tribe Chairman Cedric Cromwell announced in a post on the tribe's website.The Mashpee Wampanoag and their ancestors have lived on and around Cape Cod for thousands of years. They are one of two federally recognized tribes of Wampanoag people in Massachusetts. But their status was not formally recognized by the US government until 2007. As Boston.com explains:The federal government hasn’t removed a tribe’s land trust status against its will since the mid-20th century’s so-called Termination Era.The move Friday came after a federal appeals court ruled against the tribe last month, upholding a lower court’s ruling that the Mashpee Wampanoag didn’t qualify to have their land taken into trust because the tribe wasn’t federally recognized in 1934, when the Indian Reorganization Act was passed, creating a process to restore sovereign land rights.The "legal" argument here is largely based on the (injust) ability for the descendents of colonial settlers to decide who does or does not qualify as Native American based on their genetic makeup and/or appearance, rather than cultural connection or involvement. Essentially, the claim is that, since this tribe was not recognized (because of assumptions of default whiteness) at the time when all of the other Native American landtrusts were established under US law, it is illegitimate. Read the rest

Harbor.im is a California "retreat" for rich people to escape the coronavirus pandemic. Ride out the crisis while enjoying daily yoga and breathwork, pool parties and COVID-19 testing "when available" in a beautiful west-coast locale! Get "the most fulfilling experience" of the pandemic without getting closer than 6ft to another human being! Shared rooms start at $3000 per month!The image is from this $895-a-night AirBNB listing, so hopefully this is a dark Poe-esque joke.What?Harbor is a luxury 2-month retreat in California, focused on weathering the storm during the global COVID-19 pandemic.Why?Social distancing is great for flattening the curve, but is not the only option to stay safe (and keep others safe) during the time of crisis. Harbor is a community of makers, thinkers, and doers that can become your sanctuary. Harbor will give you an opportunity to meet, mingle, and collaborate with some of the brightest, forward-thinking individuals - no facemask required.Where?The villa is located in Southern California, and the exact location will be provided to the program participants once they are accepted. Read the rest

Professor Katharine Hayhoe is one of the leading voices on climate action in North America. In the most recent episode of her Global Weirding webseries — the second in a two-part series — she discusses the impact on and relationship between global warming and human action in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. While she's undoubtedly an advocate for climate action, Hayhoe's great appeal lies in her ability to discuss such issues with nuance, looking at both the ways that the changing climate can affect viruses, and the grand scheme macro-view of how a short-term reduction in factory production does and does not affect the trajectory of our climate.Here's part one, if you're interested:Was coronavirus caused by climate change? No!So does that mean climate change has nothing to do with the spread of viruses + diseases? No!Global Weirding is back with two brand-new episodes that unpack climate change + the pandemic. Watch #1 here: https://t.co/7TkozfTm3u— Prof. Katharine Hayhoe (@KHayhoe) March 26, 2020 Read the rest

Peter Stults is a New York-based graphic designer and illustrator who has used his quarantine productively: by designing movie posters for an imagined Lando Calrissian spin-off trilogy.During quarantine I imagined we lived in a world where we had a Lando Calrissian spin-off series pic.twitter.com/6MDe7hrXYX— Peter Stults (@Stultsified) March 29, 2020These are beautiful and delightful retro-chic. But my favorite detail is on the third poster, where Jean-Claude Van Damme gets special billing for his role as Darth Maul.A better world is possible, folks. Check out Stults' Twitter feed for a bunch of other awesome throwback movie poster re-designs.Peter Stults via Twitter Read the rest

Dave Maharidge is a journalist and J-school professor who is dear old friends with the muckracking, outstanding political documentarian Laura Poitras. Jessica Bruder (previously) is a a writer and J-school prof who's best friends with Maharidge. When Laura Poitras was contacted by an NSA whistleblower who wanted to send her the leak of the century, she asked Maharidge for help finding a safe address for a postal delivery, and Maharidge gave her Bruder's Brooklyn apartment address. A few weeks later, Bruder came home from a work-trip to discover a box on her doormat with the return address of "B. Manning, 94-1054 Eleu St, Waipau, HI 96797." In it was a thumb-drive. The story of what happened next is documented in a beautifully written, gripping new book: Snowden's Box: Trust in the Age of Surveillance.

Tom the Dancing Bug, IN WHICH is presented The New New Yorker

If you’re routinely prone to being stressed out, hurried or generally made out-of-sorts by the hectic pace of the world and life changes, then...yikes. We don’t envy what you must be going through these days.Right about now, even the most zen and centered among us are bound to be feeling some level of anxiety and uncertainty. In these ultra trying times of social distancing, working from home and herculean routine change, we could all use a little extra help keeping our heads on straight, our minds clear and our fears in check.To help calm those jangled nerves, we pulled together three mediation and relaxation apps that might just do the trick chilling you out. It also doesn’t hurt that they’re all between 50 and 90 percent off right now. Namaste.Relax Melodies Meditation App: Lifetime Subscription - $124.99; originally $250If you’re looking for endorsements, it doesn’t get much better than “the most positively reviewed app in the history of the Apple App Store.” That’s Relax Melodies, an app focused on regulating your sleep. It combines soothing sounds, bedtime stories, breathing techniques, body-mind exercises and more to create your own perfect sleep ambiance to get you the 7 or 8 hours of restful sleep a night you need. From overcoming insomnia or tinnitus to night-time anxiety to lowering everyday stress, these sleep expert-approved techniques could be just what you need to face tomorrow the right way.Welzen Meditation App: Lifetime Subscription - $29.99; originally $149.99Welzen is all about dropping just the right pearl of zen at just the right moment. Read the rest

The nearly US$10 billion James Webb Space Telescope is set to take off aboard an Ariane 5 rocket one year from today.Scientists and space enthusiasts of all stripes are excited about what this successor to the Hubble Telescope will further our understanding of the cosmos. Forbes science writer Jamie Carter:“Webb” will study the solar system, directly image exoplanets, photograph the first galaxies, and explore the mysteries of the origins of the Universe. By detecting infrared light, Webb will be able to look further back in time than any other telescope thus far.Webb is the most ambitious and complex space science telescope ever constructed, and tantalizingly soon it will be the plaything of scientists ... or, at least, that’s the plan. Then the sad reality of how our world and the timelines for everything might be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.Originally conceived in the 1990s and at first expected to launch in 2007, Webb has been beset by delays—the latest being COVID-19—but at the time of writing the massive telescope was safely in its cleanroom at Northrop Grumman in Redondo Beach, California, and March 30, 2021, was still the target date for Webb’s launch. However, there could be an announcement on April 15, 2020 about a new schedule. #NASAWebb is now a fully assembled observatory, and has accomplished multiple large deployments and movements that it will perform in space. This new time-lapse video highlights these recent critical milestones. #JWST #timelapse pic.twitter.com/N027BGFjuv— NASA Webb Telescope (@NASAWebb) February 26, 2020Read the rest of the Forbes piece. Read the rest

Let's just get down to it: the Detroit Auto Show (AKA the North American International Auto Show) has been cancelled. Not becasue of concerns around social distancing or community spread, which, let's face it, most of us are down with right now. No, their reason for nixing Detroit's annual orgy of new cars, concept vehicles and exhausted automotive journalists is due to the fact that the TCF Center, they venue they normally get it on at is currently being used as a massive field hospital for individuals afflicted with COVID-19.From The Verge:“Although we are disappointed, there is nothing more important to us than the health, safety and well-being of the citizens of Detroit and Michigan, and we will do what we can to support our community’s fight against the coronavirus outbreak,” Rod Alberts, executive director of the show, said in a statement announcing the decision.This past weekend, The Detroit Free Press reported that Detroit was dealing with 4,650 confirmed cases of COVID-19. Of those, 11 individuals have died, due to complications from the virus.Detroit's not the only city that's had to postpone or cancel their auto show due to the current pandemic. According to The Verge, similar motor vehicle soirees in Beijing, New York and Geneva had to change their plans as the toll of COVID-19 continues to mount.Image via Wikipedia Commons Read the rest

NightHawkinLight shows how he made a carbon filament light bulb. He starts by showing how an electric arc light works (invented in 1802 by noted nitrous oxide aficionado Sir Humphrey Davy), then moves to incandescent lighting. He ends up making a working incandescent light bulb. Read the rest

Last night some asshole smashed a glass door at the Singer Laren museum near Amsterdam and stole Vincent van Gogh's oil painting “The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring 1884." The museum has been closed due to COVID-19. From the Associated Press:The value of the (10" x 22") work, which was on loan from the Groninger Museum in the northern Dutch city of Groningen, was not immediately known. Van Gogh’s paintings, when they rarely come up for sale, fetch millions at auction...A team including forensics and art theft experts was studying video footage and questioning neighbors. [Museum General Director Evert] Van Os said the museum’s security worked “according to protocol,” but he added: “Obviously we can learn from this.” Read the rest

I've seen reports that Little Free Libraries are being turned into free food pantries to help folks in this time of coronavirus. Now, hilariously, there's one in Seattle that's been converted into a "Peep Show," complete with a hot pink neon sign, and a rooftop one that reads "Chicks! Chicks! Chicks!" But you won't find anything lewd inside. Instead, you'll find a fun diorama of marshmallow Peeps.On Nextdoor, the Peep Show's creator, Cristie Kearny of Seattle's Crown Hill neighborhood, explains:I've removed books from my Little Free Library to help slow the spread of COVID-19! I've converted it to a Peep Show, featuring Mary Peepins! Come by and take a peek! Social distancing approved! Hands free viewing or use provided sanitizing wipes for light switch.She plans on changing her Peeps-filled diorama out every week. If you're in the area, you can go check it out at 9709 14th Avenue NW. She tells Boing Boing that she's already working on the next one: "Peeper Pan."Thanks, Marcia!photos by Cristie Kearny Read the rest

Spoken Word with Electronics is an audio series delivering to you a two side recording of unusual stories paired with vintage modular electronic soundsTHIS WEEK:Side A: "Paul Krassner's 1959 Underground News Report on the Birth Control Pill"Greetings, all! This week continues my discussion with Paul Krassner, from an interview conducted in 2017. Paul is recognized as an early second-wave feminist, and one of the coolest things he did, in my opinion, was use his reach as a publisher to advocate for reproductive freedoms - including contraception.In 1959, he began to change The Realist from a satirical paper into one blended with some sharp politics. Subsequently, he published one of the earliest news stories on Enovid, or the Birth Control Pill. At the time, it was sensationally referred to in America as the 1955 Puerto Rican Birth Control Experiments.Hear Paul's recollection of this significant act of publishing:Side B: "Henry Miller reads from "The Colossus of Maroussi" with a 1973 Buchla Music Easel, Linn Drum, and a Roland Jupiter-8A fun side B, this is a reworking of Henry Miller's self-recorded vocal of "The Colossus of Maroussi". The vocal comes from a very rare LP, which is on colored red disc! - I visited a friend who has collected Henry Miller work for decades, who has a copy. Here's a look at one of the rarest literary records ever made, published in very small edition in 1949:"Written in Greece and New York, 1940. Read the rest

So...exactly how many times a day are you singing Happy Birthday to your sink? Unless you’re among the most germaphobic among us, it’s unlikely you ever thought the simple act of handwashing would start to take on such a central role in our daily lives.Of course, with all the touching and such, bar soap isn’t really the best idea these days, so it might be a good time to fully step up to a sanitation process worthy of our chaotic times. And that process means -- don’t touch anything.This hands-free foaming soap dispenser not only serves up a handful of soapy goodness when you need it, it does so with a simple swipe over an infrared sensor. There’s no need to ever push a button or force down a pump. Just like all those fancy bathrooms in expensive hotels and restaurants, a single sweep of your hand gets the job done, so nobody’s grungy fingers get all over anything.The unit’s motor churns out disinfecting foam in a quarter of a second to prevent any bacterial transmission -- and that cool little sensor works like catnip to a kid, while also not-so-subtly reinforcing the whole handwashing habit. If you’ve got a youngster who seems to constantly “forget” to wash up after a stint in the throne room, this might just be the attention-grabbing reminder they need.Unlike other models, this dispenser also comes with a clear plastic soap reservoir, so you can always tell exactly how much soap is left before you’re going to need to pick up some more...if Read the rest

Excellent editing chops by Austin-based video post-production house Cut to Black. Read the rest

I bought this extension cord reel with 4 outlets last November, and it has come in handy many times since then. It has a 25-foot power cord which rolls neatly onto a spool. Amazon has it on sale today at a good discount. Read the rest

A key challenge in building colonies on the moon is that it's incredibly expensive to transport construction materials to space from Earth. That's why researchers are exploring how moon bases could be mostly constructed from raw materials already there. A team of scientists working with the European Space Agency (ESA) are exploring how urine could be a key ingredient in lunar concrete. A 3D printer could then form the "mud" into structural components. From FEYCT - Spanish Foundation For Science And Technology: Scientists from Norway, Spain, the Netherlands and Italy, in cooperation with ESA, have conducted several experiments to verify the potential of urine urea as a plasticizer, an additive that can be incorporated into concrete to soften the initial mixture and make it more pliable before it hardens. Details are published in the Journal of Cleaner Production."To make the geopolymer concrete that will be used on the moon, the idea is to use what is there: regolith (loose material from the moon's surface) and the water from the ice present in some areas," explains one of the authors, Ramón Pamies, a professor at the Polytechnic University of Cartagena (Murcia), where various analyses of the samples have been carried out using X-ray diffraction."But moreover," he adds, "with this study we have seen that a waste product, such as the urine of the personnel who occupy the moon bases, could also be used. The two main components of this body fluid are water and urea, a molecule that allows the hydrogen bonds to be broken and, therefore, reduces the viscosities of many aqueous mixtures." Read the rest

Well, they're performing at the Capitol Theater in Passaic, New Jersey in 1980, but I'm watching it in my living room right now. This killer lineup includes the great avant-garde axman Adrien Belew of King Crimson and The Bears and the late Parliament-Funkadelic legend Bernie Worrell on keyboards! Read the rest

Artist Audrey Kawasaki made this cute coloring page that you can print out and color. View this post on Instagram For all the kids (and adults) staying safe at home, I made a coloring page for you! . You can save/download a hi-res from audreykawasaki.blogspot.com Link is in my bio. . If you would like me to see your coloring, you can hashtag #audkawacolor and tag me @audkawa . Hope everyone is staying safe, strong, and healthy. 💛 . #audkawacolor #coloringpage #coloring #audreykawasaki #audkawaA post shared by 🌸 Audrey Kawasaki 🌸 (@audkawa) on Mar 30, 2020 at 8:58am PDTImage: Instagram/Audrey Kawasaki Read the rest

I have been enjoying Killer Queen Black.I started playing KQB in beta, on the recommendation of some friends who played the arcade version regularly in a bar. This game is a hoot!In addition to a 'Military' win where you beat up the other team with flying creatures that operate a heck of a lot like the awesome ostrich riders in Joust, you can also win by collecting berries ("Economic") or racing a snail across a finish line ("Badass".)Three-player teams take on three-player teams, or you can just play vs the AI.Available for Xbox One, Switch and PC via Steam. Read the rest

As always, John Oliver remains one of the best sources of information about the coronavirus epidemic. Read the rest

YouTuber Reckless Ben says "the goal of this [8-part] series is to create one of the ugliest paintings we could think of and try to sell the painting for a large sum of money." The first episode alone has so many twists and turns that I can't be bothered to give a recap. I recommend that you just watch it.Part 2:Image: YouTube Read the rest

FEMA is sending refrigerator trucks to New York, where the mobile containers will serve as temporary mortuaries for deceased coronavirus patients. Mayor Bill De Blasio says the city is preparing for a “horrible increase in the number of deaths.” FEMA’s regional chief was asked whether Madison Square Garden would be converted into a temporary mortuary, and said no.“To date, I still fear the worse is not going to be April but actually the beginning of May,” de Blasio said. As of Sunday night, March 29, 2020, there were more than 33,400 confirmed COVID-19 cases in New York City alone, which represents nearly 25% of all cases in the U.S.From CNBC:The Federal Emergency Management Agency said Monday it is sending refrigerator trucks to New York City to serve as temporary mortuaries for deceased coronavirus patients.Thomas Von Essen, the agency’s regional administrator, said the military has provided 42 people to the Manhattan Medical Examiner’s Office where there is a “desperate need” for help in the Queens borough. When asked whether Madison Square Garden would be converted into a temporary mortuary, Van Essen ruled out that idea. “We are sending refrigeration trucks to New York to help with some of the problem on a temporary basis,” he said at a press conference with Mayor Bill de Blasio as local officials welcomed the Naval medical ship the USNS Comfort to New York City. More:FEMA sends refrigerator trucks to NYC to serve as temporary mortuaries for coronavirus victims Read the rest

A bored astrophysicist trying to keep busy throughout these days of social distancing thought he had a great idea. Dr. Daniel Reardon thought he might invent a necklace that would set off an alarm whenever someone touched their face. Instead, he was hospitalized for getting four magnets stuck in his nostrils. According to The Guardian:The 27 year-old astrophysicist, who studies pulsars and gravitational waves, said he was trying to liven up the boredom of self-isolation with the four powerful neodymium magnets.“I had a part that detects magnetic fields. I thought that if I built a circuit that could detect the magnetic field, and we wore magnets on our wrists, then it could set off an alarm if you brought it too close to your face. A bit of boredom in isolation made me think of that.”However, the academic realised the electronic part he had did the opposite – and would only complete a circuit when there was no magnetic field present.“I accidentally invented a necklace that buzzes continuously unless you move your hand close to your face,” he said.Reardon realized his idea wasn't going to work, but, still bored, continued to play around with the magnets. First he attached them to both sides of his ears, as many of us have done, and then to the inside and outside of his nostrils. It was funny, until he realized he couldn't pry them out, not even with a pair of pliers. “At this point, my partner who works at a hospital was laughing at me,” he told The Guardian. Read the rest

The new Mars rover Perseverance, set to launch in July for a February 2021 landing, will be outfitted with its own small helicopter. NASA engineers at Kennedy Space Station recently put the chopper through its paces, marking the last time they'll spin it up before landing on the red planet. From Kennedy Space Center:The functional test (50 RPM spin) was executed on the stand in the airlock. This marked the last time the rotor blades will be operated until the rover reaches the Martian surface.The NASA Mars Helicopter will be the first aircraft to fly on another planet. The twin-rotor, solar-powered helicopter will remain encapsulated after landing, deploying once mission managers determine an acceptable area to conduct test flights.And from NASA:The Mars Helicopter is considered a high-risk, high-reward technology demonstration. If the small craft encounters difficulties, the science-gathering of the Mars 2020 mission won't be impacted. If the helicopter does take flight as designed, future Mars missions could enlist second-generation helicopters to add an aerial dimension to their explorations."Our job is to prove that autonomous, controlled flight can be executed in the extremely thin Martian atmosphere," said JPL's MiMi Aung, the Mars Helicopter project manager. "Since our helicopter is designed as a flight test of experimental technology, it carries no science instruments. But if we prove powered flight on Mars can work, we look forward to the day when Mars helicopters can play an important role in future explorations of the Red Planet."Along with investigating difficult-to-reach destinations such as cliffs, caves and deep craters, they could carry small science instruments or act as scouts for human and robotic explorers. Read the rest

If you have Netflix and you haven't seen Tiger King, you're missing a real treat. It covers a few years of the life of Joe Exotic, a narcissistic roadside zoo proprietor with one weird trick for attracting husbands, and his nemesis, Carol Baskin, an animal rights activist with one weird trick for losing them. This is what television was made for! Read the rest

If evidence were ever needed that the tabloids are making it up as they go along, this week’s coverage of Prince Harry and wife Meghan serves the purpose.

As the death toll mounts...After being asked a very important question about how his wild misstatements might impact his policy judgment, President Orange Julius ranted and raved. Read the rest

During a call-in to 'Fox & Friends' that lasted an hour, Trump says next call is with Putin.