Absent-minded. Forgetful. Stupid.Those are just a few of the words that likely ricochet around inside your head after leaving your briefcase in a cab. Or forgetting where you put your keys. Or realizing you don’t have your wallet when it’s time to pay the dinner tab.Hey, don’t beat yourself up. In our hyper-adrenalized world, it’s easy for stuff, even big stuff, to slip our minds from time to time. The trick is knowing you’re susceptible to silly mistakes like that and taking proactive steps to head them off before they make a tangible impact on your life.Mu Tag is your protection from yourself. The world’s smallest loss prevention device, you can slip a Mu Tag on items you absolutely can’t afford to lose or forget — and Mu Tag will have your back.At less than 1.5 inches long, a Mu Tag will clip or adhere to almost any item. Once it’s attached, download the Informu app, add your Mu Tags to your dashboard and you’ll be prepared in the event of an accident.It’s synced via Bluetooth, so if you leave a Mu Tag behind, you’ll get a notification on your phone before it’s too late. If you can’t find a tagged item, the app has a built-in map that will guide you right to it. A Mu Tag only takes 40 minutes to charge up and is good for up to 3 weeks, which should be plenty of time to fix your mistake.Once it knows your routine, you can set Mu Tag with reminders like not to forget your bag before heading out for a flight. Read the rest

Now he says he tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19.

• Sex criminal and former film producer, who is serving 23 years, now isolated from other prisoners and shows no symptoms

Tracking entire populations now with electronic surveillance, facial recognition, and biosecurity sensors to combat the coronavirus pandemic will inevitably mean even more invasive forms of government spying later, privacy advocates warn.From reporting by Natasha Singer and Choe Sang-Hun at the New York Times:“We could so easily end up in a situation where we empower local, state or federal government to take measures in response to this pandemic that fundamentally change the scope of American civil rights,” said Albert Fox Cahn, the executive director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, a nonprofit organization in Manhattan.As an example, he pointed to a law enacted by New York State this month that gives Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo unlimited authority to rule by executive order during state crises like pandemics and hurricanes. The law allows him to issue emergency response directives that could overrule any local regulations.(...)In hundreds of cities in China, the government is requiring citizens to use software on their phones that automatically classifies each person with a color code — red, yellow or green — indicating contagion risk. The software determines which people should be quarantined or permitted to enter public places like subways. But officials have not explained how the system makes such decisions, and citizens have felt powerless to challenge it.In Singapore, the Ministry of Health has posted information online about each coronavirus patient, often in stunning detail, including relationships to other patients. The idea is to warn individuals who may have crossed paths with them, as well as alert the public to potentially infected locations. Read the rest

Hackers tried to break into the World Health Organization earlier in March, as the COVID-19 pandemic spread, Reuters reports. Security experts blame an advanced cyber-espionage hacker group known as DarkHotel. A senior agency official says the WHO has been facing a more than two-fold increase in cyberattacks since the coronavirus pandemic began.From reporting by Raphael Satter, Jack Stubbs, and Christopher Bing at Reuters:WHO Chief Information Security Officer Flavio Aggio said the identity of the hackers was unclear, but the effort was unsuccessful. He warned that hacking attempts against the agency and its partners have soared as they battle to contain the coronavirus, which has killed more than 15,000 worldwide.The attempted break-in at the WHO was first flagged to Reuters by Alexander Urbelis, a cybersecurity expert and attorney with the New York-based Blackstone Law Group, which tracks suspicious internet domain registration activity.Urbelis said he picked up on the activity around March 13, when a group of hackers he’d been following activated a malicious site mimicking the WHO’s internal email system. “I realized quite quickly that this was a live attack on the World Health Organization in the midst of a pandemic,” he said.Urbelis said he didn’t know who was responsible, but two other sources briefed on the matter said they suspected an advanced group of hackers known as DarkHotel, which has been conducting cyber-espionage operations since at least 2007. Read more:Exclusive: Elite hackers target WHO as coronavirus cyberattacks spike Read the rest

Some NHS medical staff in the UK feel like 'cannon fodder' over the lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) against coronavirus, and on Monday the government said the military would help ship millions of items including masks to healthcare workers who have complained of shortages. Frontline staff in UK hospitals treating COVID-19 patients have been begging for masks, gloves, face shields, and hazmat suits. The situation is so desperate that some nurses and doctors were and are reportedly improvising by tying plastic aprons around their heads, and affixing clinical waste bags around their legs. From the Guardian:Responding to staff concerns, Dr Rinesh Parmar, chair of the Doctors’ Association, told BBC1’s The Andrew Marr Show: “We have had doctors tell us they feel like lambs to the slaughter, that they feel like cannon fodder. GPs tell us that they feel absolutely abandoned.“We are all pleading with Boris Johnson that [the government] really look into arranging the vital personal protection equipment that all of us need on the NHS frontline. What our doctors are telling us is that although equipment is arriving, some of it is inadequate, some of it doesn’t meet the World Health Organization guidance. That really doesn’t fill frontline healthcare staff with the confidence that they need.”Nurses in the Royal Free hospital in north London have been affixing clinical waste bags around their legs, the Guardian has been told, while at North Middlesex hospital they have been tying plastic aprons around their heads.One nurse, who did not wish to be named, said: “Widespread nurses are making their own PPE. Read the rest

Click here to see the first post in this series on baking sourdough started from nothing but flour and waterYesterday I fed my sourdough starter a bit later in the morning that I have been with the intent of putting up my first loaf of bread later in the afternoon.The go-to loaf of bread that I like to bake is based very closely on the Breadtopia no-knead sourdough recipe. Yes, they based theirs on the NY Times.When I sensed my starter was at the right stage in the yeast feeding cycle for me to most effectively kick off a loaf of bread, I did.I measured ¼ cup of starter and mixed it into 1 cup of warm water and let it sit.Deep in the back of my mother's refrigerator are 3 bags of whole wheat. About 2lbs of King Arthur that expired in 2017, about 2 lbs of 365 Organic that expired in 2019, and about 4lbs of Gold Medal that I bought last summer and is good for a year or so. I took the 2017 and measured out 2 cups into my favorite big blue bowl.I had a bag of King Arthur Bread Flour at my new home, which is several miles away from my parents' home, where I grew up and am currently staying with them, as they are in their mid-70s. I ventured out to get this bag of flour, as I was freaking out with it less than a 5k road race away for some reason. Read the rest

• Three manufacturing plants of Ipca Laboratories get exemption• Agency had cited ‘systematic data manipulation’ at one plantThis sounds fine, and I'm sure no Americans will be harmed. Everything is going great.At Bloomberg News, an important story today about all the bonkers demand for chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, two unproven drugs for coronavirus and COVID-19 that Donald Trump has decided are the cure, or something. Trump wants large quantities of these drugs in the U.S. right away, even though nobody's sure if they do anything at all to help yet, so the U.S. is now lifting restrictions on a pharmaceutical company in India that has had factories banned from selling to America on quality concerns.Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine were first approved in the U.S. decades ago, and “There is no definitive evidence of their effectiveness against the novel coronavirus that has sickened over 349,000 globally and killed more than 15,000, but after Trump called the drugs a “game changer” and promised to make them more available, demand surged,” report Ari Altstedter and Anna Edney at Bloomberg News:Mumbai-based Ipca Laboratories Ltd. said in a March 21 securities filing that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration “has made exception to the import alert” for three of its facilities, allowing it to supply tablets as well as raw materials for making chloroquine phosphate and hydroxychloroquine sulphate.The U.S. is facing possible shortages of both drugs, which are also widely prescribed to treat rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. Hospitals have been stocking up on the treatments in recent weeks following reports from doctors outside the U.S. Read the rest

Wikileaks said Monday that lawyers representing founder Julian Assange will apply for his release on bail because of the high risk in prison of contracting coronavirus and the deadly disease it causes, COVID-19.More from Reuters:The Wikileaks founder is being held at a prison in London on an extradition warrant for publishing classified information about the Iraq and Afghan wars. “On Wednesday, 25th of March, Julian Assange’s lawyers will make a bail application at Westminster Magistrates Court,” Wikileaks said in a statement. Read the rest

Coronavirus tests are hard to come by, but like all rare things in high demand, rich and famous people are first in line. Actually, there is no line for VIPs - nurses in protective gear come to them to swab their privileged snouts.From Herald-Mail Media:In Beverly Hills, Dr. David Nazarian, a primary care physician, said he’s been receiving an influx of calls since the coronavirus outbreak hit the U.S.But because he has a concierge medical practice — meaning he limits his clientele to “influential people, A-list celebrities, and CEOs” in exchange for more personalized care — he has been granting tests only to his existing clients.Nazarian’s yearly membership fee starts at $5,500 and can go up to $10,000.About a month ago, when COVID-19 cases were still primarily occurring overseas, Nazarian began looking into obtaining extra nasopharyngeal swabs and viral transport mediums — the materials needed to test for the coronavirus. As a result, he had about 50 available for his patients, which were administered during house calls by nurses wearing protective gear.Photo by James Bold on Unsplash Read the rest

I had the privilege of interviewing Buzz Aldrin a few years ago. The second man to step foot on the moon (and first to pee on it) had just released a new book, and won his first ever March Madness bracket, and the first thing he told me over the phone was how he'd spent his 80th birthday scuba diving in the Galapagos with his son, but got in trouble when he broke away from the group and grabbed a whale shark by the dorsal fin just so he could ride it.Buzz Aldrin is a god damn national treasure and a real American badass. (I'd also love to see the look on that scuba instructor's face if/when they realized that the old man they were scolding was in fact Buzz Aldrin.)Now, Aldrin is 90 years old, which puts him at particularly high risk for infection by the novel coronavirus. But this national treasure has a solid plan to stay safe, as detailed to Eric Berger at Ars Technica: "Lying on my ass and locking the door."Aldrin is a survivor — of outer space, of shitty jobs, and of alcoholism and depression — so I tend to trust his advice. But if you're looking for something more substantial, Forbes spoke with several other astronauts about their time in isolation, including NASA’s Human Research Program Director Bill Paloski, Ph.D.; John Grunsfeld PhD, a retired NASA astronaut and Hubble Space Telescope repairman who spent over 59 days in space; and Dr. Read the rest

Astronaut and physician Serena Auñón-Chancellor spent almost 200 days aboard the International Space Station. Here she is in orbit reading the wonderful book Ada Twist Scientist by Andrea Beaty. (Story Time From Space) Read the rest

With more Webcams online than ever before, and the abundance of time stuck inside, you might enjoy conducting your own armchair expeditions in search of Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, UFOs, ghosts, and other strange phenomena. Over at Mysterious Universe, Paul Seaburn put together a list of "webcams with continuous feeds pointed at the sky, the waters, the buildings and the other places where these anomalies may occur." Here are a few:Popocatepetl volcano UFOsMexico’s Popocatepetl volcano is active and well-known for UFO sightings both during and independent of eruptions. The multiple webcams serve a useful purpose of providing officials with advance warnings of eruptions but many UFO hunters watch it religiously. (Watch them here.) In fact, there was UFO activity there just this week. (Video here.) Was it birds, bugs, drones, alien spaceships refueling or ships from the alleged alien base that uses Popocatepetl as a portal?BigfootFor Bigfoot watchers, the U.S. National Parks provide webcams everywhere for capturing glimpses of Sasquatch as well as the many other animals, birds, natural events and lost hikers that inhabit the park. Yellowstone has some, the Old Faithful cam being the most popular, but its greatest service is a list of links to all of the active webcams in other national parks. "Stuck at Home? Use These Webcams to Hunt for UFOs, Bigfoot, Ghosts and Monsters" (Mysterious Universe)Above, "The Surgeon's Photograph" of 1934, known to be a hoax. Read the rest

The guys who crowdfunded a campaign to project the word "Sucks" on the Scientology headquarters building in Los Angeles received a letter from Scientology's legal department accusing them of committing a hate crime. The pranksters deny that it was a hate crime, and show clips of people coming up to them during the stunt asking "is this a hate thing?" to bait them, which the pranksters were careful to deny.The letter also includes accusations of trespassing, battery, illegal recording, harassment, fraud. But the pranksters deny these accusations as well. Read the rest

Erik McClure spotted some 90s-vintage chiptunes swiped in an album being sold in all the usual places. Given new names and false attribution, it's evidently a plagiarized effort to make money from others' works. It's also likely, if not certain, that none of the songs were released to the public domain or under licensing terms that allow such redistribution.The point is that someone has stolen 11 classic demoscene tracker songs and is selling them on every major online music store. The album is called “H4x0r R007z” and it consists entirely of blatantly stolen tracker songs lazily renamed using 1337 text, which usually means finding the original song is pretty easy. Because it was published via DistroKid, you can find it on Spotify, Google Play, iTunes, Amazon, Deezer, iHeartRadio and it's been registered into the automatically populated copyrighted songs databases! That means the artist “H4x0r” could legally issue copyright takedowns for every other legitimate upload of the actual songs, or abuse Google's automatic fingerprinting system to force monetization on all of the videos and take all the income.The peculiarity of chiptunes has made a fool of a number of celebrity musicians and producers who appropriate them without realizing they will get caught — Timbaland perhaps the most notorious among them. But this is happening in the quiet margins, with no-name sellers trying to remain unseen, a game of careful scaling and obscurity. Read the rest

Big Clive ordered a product on eBay called a "ZPE Quantum Value Nano Wand Zero Point Energy Pen PU Pouch 2200+ Healing Power" for $13. What he got was a small metal wand in a fake leather pouch. He tested it with his geiger counter and found it to be "significantly radioactive." He says, "There's a certain irony when something is being sold as a way to protect yourself from harmful mobile phone radiation, when the device itself emits much more harmful radiation." Read the rest

On October 18, 1979, Kenny Rogers, who died on Friday, performed "The Gambler" on The Muppet Show. See the human hands on those muppets? This was one of the rare instances in which "the puppeteer lends his/her body parts," according to the Muppet Wiki. Read the rest

Remember the Senators who cashed out after private briefings held before the market collapse began? Similar games are afoot in conservative media: before Fox News called coronavirus a hoax and a Dem plot to destroy trump, they were disinfecting offices, installing hand sanitizer stations throughout the building, and canceling meetings and sales events. This exercise in contrasts is brought to you by Lachlan Murdoch, the media princeling who runs the place.... as the crisis took hold, there were more than two weeks of statements like Laura Ingraham’s assertion on Feb. 27 that Democratic criticism was “more unsettling” than the virus and Mr. Hannity’s allegation on March 9 that political opponents were trying to “bludgeon Trump with this new hoax.” Finally, after an obscure Fox Business host, Trish Regan, ranted that the coronavirus issue was “another attempt to impeach the president,” the network pivoted.The damage Fox did appears likely to extend beyond the typical media hits and misses. I asked Ashish Jha, the director of the Harvard Global Public Health Institute, who appeared on Fox News recently, whether he believes people will die because of Fox’s coverage.“Yes,” he said. “Some commentators in the right-wing media spread a very specific type of misinformation that I think has been very harmful.” Read the rest

The home office was kind of a joke for most of us. Sure, you called that room with a computer and a desk where you would very occasionally answer a work email or two “the home office.” But it was really just the room where you kept your receipts and saved junk you’d probably never need, only to straighten it up twice a year when your mother-in-law came for a visit.But now, it’s time to get serious. The home office is now really the home office. This could be your true, professional base of operations for the foreseeable future, so you probably better get comfortable and fortified.Right now, we’ve got 30 items that’ll turn your spare room into a true place of business. From furniture to computer accessories to cool blue light shades, you can also get an added 15 percent of each of these deals right now when you enter the codeword SPRINGSAVE15 during checkout.DesksThe desk is the true cornerstone of any office, but you’ll have to decide exactly how much desk is right for you, your work and your available space. This Black Steel Frame Wooden Table Top Desk ($79.04 after discount; originally $114.78) is compact, minimalist furnishing that provides a whole bunch of open work area. You could also try the X-Leg Table Top Writing Desk ($135.99 after discount; originally $209.99), which fits easily into a corner and even includes two shelves just below the desktop for sneaky storage of some literary favorites. Read the rest

Welcome to Okeechobee, Florida. In a meeting of the city fathers and mothers, commissioner Bryant Culpepper suggested you can prevent and cure coronavirus by blasting your sinuses with hot air: "you hold a blow dryer in front of your face, and inhale," he says solemly. Culpepper was soon informed he is mistaken and has apologized. ABC News:During the meeting on Friday, the commissioner said he watched a news show on One America News, which he described as the "new Fox News," where a "certified doctor" was on the show providing suggestions about how to kill the coronavirus. Commissioner Culpepper said the doctor on the show said that to kill the virus, it needs to be exposed to a high concentration of heat, about 163 degrees.43 seconds in, watch the man in the black shirt, center back, do a double facepalm with sinus massage after Culpepper says those wondrous words, "you hold a blow dryer in front of your face, and inhale." He's not following the coronavirus guidelines either. Read the rest

3M has announced that they are now producing 35 million N95 masks per month in the US and have 500,000 masks on the way to the critically impacted cities of New York and Seattle.The term respirator in the press release is throwing some readers on Twitter off, thinking they mean "ventilators." But it's good to know that they are cranking the N95s out and "have accelerated investments to expand our global capacity even more. We anticipate being able to nearly double our capacity again, to almost 2 billion respirators globally, within the next 12 months. We are working with the U.S. and other governments, investigating alternate manufacturing scenarios, and exploring coalitions with other companies to increase capacity further."Read the full PR here. [H/t Alberto Gaitán] Read the rest

Pro tip: You don’t have to be a five-star Michelin chef to impress in the kitchen. In fact, you don’t always have to have any cooking ability at all.If visitors take one look around your kitchen and spot a few upscale kitchen items, or even items that just look upscale, your standing as a person who knows their way around the culinary arts goes up.Forged from Damascus steel, Damascus knives have a unique and striking wavy, patterned design that instantly catches the eye and implies you’re a serious kitchen presence — even if your skills don’t extend beyond microwave popcorn.Whether you just want one as a showpiece or if you’re looking for a full set, you can take an extra 15 percent off the already discounted price by entering the code SPRINGSAVE15 during checkout.Solo knivesThere’s no more important weapon in a chef’s arsenal that a quality chef’s knife — and the Damascus Santoku style chef knife ($38.20 after discount; originally $129) just screams formidable. In addition to the Santoku-style blade capable of handling most kitchen activities, it also comes with a sophisticated leather sheath that makes it an instant attention-getter.Of course, a gorgeous handle can put an already premium Damascus blade over the top. The Damascus chef knife with buffalo horn, brass and rose wood handle ($50.95 after discount; originally $94) not only slices, chops and skins like a pro, but the stunning buffalo horn and rose wood handle looks amazing. As does the pakka and rose wood hilt on this chef knife ($29.70 Read the rest

Rebellion has released the critically- and fan-acclaimed Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files Vol.5 free to download and view on the 2000 AD app.This 400-page collection includes classic Judge Dredd stories such as The Mega-Rackets, Judge Death Lives!, Diary of a Mad Citizen, The Hotdog Run, and the all-time great mega-epic Block Mania and The Apocalypse War!Written by John Wagner (A History of Violence) and Alan Grant (Batman), it features artwork by some of the titans of comics, including Brian Bolland (Batman: The Killing Joke), Carlos Ezquerra (Preacher), Colin Wilson (Blueberry), Ian Gibson (Halo Jones), Mick McMahon (The Last American), Ron Smith (Transformers), and Steve Dillon (Preacher)![H/t Rodney Orpheus] Read the rest

Artist and illustrator, Dan Meth, created this graphic years ago as part of his Pop Culture Charts series. Next stop: Soylent Green!Image: Used with permission Read the rest

The ever-clever and resourceful Danielle Baskin has created a site for the online coordination and distribution of DIY-produced filter masks, face shields and other PPE (personal protective equipment).In times of emergency, the CDC allows production for crisis capacity scenarios. Homemade supplies are an emergency supply for overwhelmed hospitals and we have to prepare right now for it. While factory capacity is limited, we are building a distributed factory of crafters, DIYers, and organizers across the country. Here's what we need to focus on first:Surgical masksGownsFace shieldsNote: Some hospitals will not accept DIY PPE supplies.Join the Mask Force here. Read the rest

After just a week being cooped up in his apartment, YouTube's "Average Pool Player" Rollie Williams has found a way to entertain himself using objects he already had. He jokes, "I converted our dining room table into a pool table and all it cost was my relationship with my roommates."I converted our dining room table into a pool table and all it cost was my relationship with my roommates. pic.twitter.com/vDHoAKOlt8— Rollie Williams (@RollieWilliams) March 21, 2020Want to make your own "quarantine pool table"? His video tutorial will show you how. But, keep in mind, you'll need to already be in possession of billiard balls. As he writes, "What kind of absolute lunatic doesn’t have a full set of billiard balls in their apartment?"In this time of staying at home and not being able to go outside, it's important to make the best of things. When that doesn't work, it's okay to make yourself a pool table. We made a DIY pool table out of a blanket, our kitchen table, some tape, clamps, rope, string, metal rods from a set of shelves I had in my room, and a set of billiard balls my dad gave me for Christmas a few years ago.screengrab via Rollie Williams/YouTube Read the rest

Everywhere you look, anxiety is high. We all know why. And let’s face it, we’ve got plenty of good reasons for all that concern.But we say it’s time to take a stand.There’s only one way to eat an elephant: one bite at a time. In that spirit, make one small move right now toward regaining some control in your world.Take back your bed.Hear us out on this. Rather than letting your bed become somewhere you either convalesce or hideaway in and cocoon from real-world problems, transform your bed into a sanctuary. Make it the place you want to retreat to each night in ultimate comfort.To help make your bed into a true oasis, consider these 30 items that’ll instantly upgrade your sleepy time. And when you enter the code SPRINGSAVE15 at checkout, you’ll get another 15 percent off the already discounted price.We’re on your side. Remake your bed — and change the world.Mattress and mattress accessoriesAny premium bed setup always starts with a brilliant cornerstone: the mattress. You can’t do much better as a foundation than the Yaasa ONE Mattress ($466.65 after discount; originally $899), packed full of cooling infinity foam that delivers contoured support, durability and a cool night’s sleep.Of course, keeping cool may not be on the top of your mind in the winter. So if you’d rather stay warm, the Sable Queen Size Electric Heated Mattress Pad ($50.14 after discount; originally $69.99) has 10 temperatures to choose from, an automatic timer and speedy warm-up times so you won’t have to shiver as you wait for your bed to warm up. Read the rest

Astronaut Scott Kelly, who spent a combined 520 days in space, including nearly a full, continuous year as part of NASA's One-Year Mission to the ISS, knows a thing or two about isolation, quarantine, and keeping sane in small places for extended periods.He has recently published an article on his recommendations for those of us on earth who now find ourselves isolated into our homes or similar small spaces, cut off from many of the comforts and connections that we are used to as a part of everyday life.When you are living and working in the same place for days on end, work can have a way of taking over everything if you let it. Living in space, I deliberately paced myself because I knew I was in it for the long haul — just like we all are today. Take time for fun activities: I met up with crewmates for movie nights, complete with snacks, and binge-watched all of “Game of Thrones” — twice.On what information to trust when experts speak about important things (like the pandemic):I’ve found that most problems aren’t rocket science, but when they are rocket science, you should ask a rocket scientist. Living in space taught me a lot about the importance of trusting the advice of people who knew more than I did about their subjects, whether it was science, engineering, medicine, or the design of the incredibly complex space station that was keeping me alive.Especially in a challenging moment like the one we are living through now, we have to seek out knowledge from those who know the most about it and listen to them. Read the rest

So very relatable.Like all of us, redditor Chris Ryan @KLGaviation is going slightly bonkers during the great american coronavirus shutdown.This right here is an excellent pandemic coping strategy.Another productive day working from home[link] Read the rest

I have always wanted to do this.My good friend Dan Olson shares this video he made while building his Warmoth Telecaster. Read the rest

March 19th is the first day of spring. That means it’s time to get off your butt, dig in and start getting serious about cleaning up the house that’s been tumbling into chaos all winter.If you’re like Snow White, you’ve probably already got a passel of forest creatures all lined up to help out, sweeping floors, washing windows and clearing away the debris of winter. But since this isn’t 1937, we’re going to assume you don’t have that woodland workforce. It’s 2020 — and you need robots. Powerful, healthy strapping robots. Robots who aren’t afraid of getting dirty to get your house clean.We’ve collected 20 different home cleaning aids, many from the R2-D2 family, to help. Best of all, if you get one right now, you can take an extra 15 percent off at checkout with the code SPRINGSAVE15. Happy cleaning!MoppersWith a powerful 5,700RPM built-in motor and a unique, rotating dual-spin mop, the Elicto Everybot RS500 Robotic Spin Mop & Polisher ($237.99 after discount; originally $279) goes everywhere with its soft little microfibers, getting into hard-to-reach corners and clearing out dust like a champ.In the event you’re willing to expel a little elbow grease of your own to save some money, you can still get deep effective cleaning with the Elicto ES-500 Electric Corded Spin Mop & Polisher ($101.99 after discount; originally $119). fully adjustable aluminum alloy handle, 180° swivel joint, and 25-foot long cord, you’ll never need to kneel or bend, which is probably just fine by you. Read the rest

Not all VPNs are created equal. This is actually a good thing when you take into account how many services are out there these days, offering you cloaked and protected access to the web.Something has to distinguish all these providers from each other. And in most cases, there is. For all 14 of the services included in this VPN Buyers Guide, each brings something to the consumer table that’s worthy of note. We’d never try to argue that features and capabilities of each VPN are exclusive to only that service, but we think this should help give you an idea about each provider’s priorities so you can see which ones best match up with you for a user-service match made in heaven.And just to sweeten the deal, you can sign up for any of these best VPN services now and get an additional 15 percent off your total price by using the code SPRINGSAVE15 at checkout. Considering most of these deals are lifetime coverage offers, you could stand to pick up a whole lot of protection for a surprisingly small final total.The biggestThere’s something to be said for size. While it isn’t always the ultimate barometer for a VPN’s performance and usefulness, the number of servers and global locations where you can access can be a strong indicator of what you can expect.By that criteria, NordVPN (2-year subscription - $81.59 after discount; originally $286.80) is a clear leader among these contenders. With over 3,500 worldwide server locations in 61 countries, its accessibility and reach is truly massive. Read the rest

Without live sports, what's a rugby commentator supposed to do during this coronavirus situation? If you're the brilliant Nick Heath of London, England, you bring your work skills to your everyday life. Over on Twitter, he's been sharing videos he shot around his neighborhood — made better with his hilarious commentary! (Buy this man a coffee.)Dogging.#LifeCommentary #LiveCommentary pic.twitter.com/BuRkVWAGjX— Nick Heath (@nickheathsport) March 21, 2020The Interminable Wait.#LifeCommentary #LiveCommentary pic.twitter.com/5nSAlnVq2c— Nick Heath (@nickheathsport) March 21, 2020Football. Live. Well, a football.#TootingCommon #LifeCommentary #LiveCommentary pic.twitter.com/Nvs92Etkz0— Nick Heath (@nickheathsport) March 17, 2020International 4x4 Pushchair Formation Final. Live. #LifeCommentary #LiveCommentary pic.twitter.com/BGGh01m1k1— Nick Heath (@nickheathsport) March 17, 2020Find A Bargain Steeplechase. Live.#LifeCommentary #LiveCommentary pic.twitter.com/ny3ru4XN8u— Nick Heath (@nickheathsport) March 18, 2020After the lunch break now...2020 Crossroad Dash. Live.#LifeCommentary #LiveCommentary pic.twitter.com/QFkW0SUqy8— Nick Heath (@nickheathsport) March 17, 2020Mundane Walk. #LifeCommentary #LiveCommentary pic.twitter.com/sDJCI5OVlW— Nick Heath (@nickheathsport) March 18, 2020Middle Class Arena. LIVE.#LifeCommentary #LiveCommentary https://t.co/jokricAmLd pic.twitter.com/KSlEbQezox— Nick Heath (@nickheathsport) March 18, 2020Well, Twitter you’ve only got yourselves to blame. 😋At 17 I wanted to be a broadcaster.At 22 I wanted to be a comedy writer.At 31 I wanted to be a commentator.This is what 29-31 looked like when comedy met sport in my hybrid of all sporting voices, "Nicholas Fumble" .— Nick Heath (@nickheathsport) March 19, 2020Thanks, Veek!(The Poke)image via Rugby Media Read the rest

Maker Camp, Make:’s annual virtual camp for kids has launched for 2020. Make: Community staffer, Keith Hammond writes:Cooped up with the kids like I am? Maker Camp 2020 is now live! Every kid can join because Maker Camp is online, and it’s free. Since 2012 over a million campers have connected through Maker Camp, learned to make stuff, and shared their experiences with other campers. As you build and make, share your pictures on social media with the hashtag #makeathome and they’ll appear on our site!The projects you’ll find at Maker Camp have been researched, tested, built, and thoroughly documented so we’re absolutely sure you can replicate them at home. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year we’ve focused on projects you can do with what you might have on-hand, already in your home. We’re sure there’s something there for you!Find out how to get started on the Maker Camp landing page. Read the rest

In case you thought the world was in the midst of a vast migration to cloud-based computing, we hate to break it to you, but...it’s already happened. Right now, 94 percent of all businesses and organizations use a cloud service. As for the operations of all those groups, 83 percent of their workload will be in the cloud this year.But even with stats like those, you aren’t wrong — the migration is still continuing. By 2023, the public cloud market is expected to be a $623 billion a year industry.If you envision any type of career in IT, a knowledge of how to properly manage, protect and grow a cloud-based system should be foundational to that vision. And that doesn’t just mean knowing industry leader Amazon Web Services (AWS). With instruction like The Complete 2020 Cloud Certification Training Bundle, you’ll go inside AWS as well as Azure and other major cloud players to be a multi-platform performer for your organization, no matter where their operations hang their hat.The bundle includes 12 courses that go deep into the advantages and features of each cloud environment, helping you determine which one will best serve your business’ specific needs.As the undisputed leader in cloud services, a full three-quarter of your coursework here revolves around Amazon’s robust AWS platform. This training will not only help you understand all of AWS’s terminologies, processes, and available options, but it will help you actually get started using Amazon S3 to store data, Route 53 to host your specific domains, and EC2 to find just the right scaling plan for your operation. Read the rest

In this footage, city commissioners in Lake Worth Beach, Florida, bicker over ad-hoc rules and hurdles that, as if by magic, make it virtually impossible to take emergency measures such as closing the beaches during the coronavirus pandemic. This is why the beaches haven't closed in Florida, and why they've had minimal COVID-19 prevention. Absolute dysfunction. pic.twitter.com/8x2tcQeg21— Farbod Esnaashari (@Farbod_E) March 21, 2020Commissioner Omari Hardy appears to be the hero of the piece, complaining about the city continuing to work on shutting off utilities for delinquent bills while doing nothing about coronavirus. But his futile explosion of anger at Mayor Pam Triolo and City Manager Michael Bornstein's procedural games is not a great sign of hope for Florida's containment efforts.City Manager Michael Bornstein said he appreciates Hardy’s “youthful exuberance” but added the 30-year-old commissioner “just needs to calm down.” Read the rest

Maybe they’ll donate to someone who needs it.. from r/PublicFreakoutA couple of people in Florida allegedly cleaned out a dollar store of toilet paper and paper towels. Maybe they have a big family at home. Read the rest

Do you like waffles?I am waiting for the sourdough starter, that I mixed up from flour and water last Monday, to be ready for bread baking. At the same time I am loath to waste ½ a cup or so of perfectly good starter at each feeding. Today I used the discard to make waffles for my parents.My very simple sourdough waffle or pancake batter recipe is as follows:Simple Sourdough Waffle and Pancake BatterIngredients:½ cup unfed starter½ cup flour½ cup milk1 egg¼ cup oil or butter1 ½ tsp baking soda1 Tbs brown sugara splash of Grand MarnierMix the starter, flour, and milk in a large bowl. You can let them sit overnight if you want to be fancy. You may also use the sort of milk known as buttermilk for the milk addition and have buttermilk sourdough waffles.Add the egg, oil, baking soda, and brown sugar. If you like, and I certainly do, I recommend adding a splash of Grand Marnier liquor to the batter.The EtOH cooks out and you get a very nice, sweeter than savory flavor. This is important to note as I do not suggest adding the liquor if you are making the waffles to accompany fried chicken! When made with buttermilk and all the overnight rests these are the most awesome waffles for Fried Chicken and Waffles. Sometimes I top them with eggs benedict, hollandaise and a chili pepper-infused maple syrup. Read the rest

Kenny Rogers is dead at 81. The famed country singer was one of the best-selling music artists of all time, developing his signature song The Gambler into an enduring media franchise and even a restaurant chain.Rogers passed away peacefully at home from natural causes under the care of hospice and surrounded by his family.In a career that spanned more than six decades, Kenny Rogers left an indelible mark on the history of American music. His songs have endeared music lovers and touched the lives of millions around the world. Chart-topping hits like "The Gambler," "Lady," "Islands In The Stream," "Lucille," "She Believes In Me," and "Through the Years" are just a handful of Kenny Rogers' songs that have inspired generations of artists and fans alike. Rogers, with twenty-four number-one hits, was a Country Music Hall of Fame member, six-time CMA Awards winner, three-time GRAMMY® Award winner, recipient of the CMA Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013, CMT Artist of a Lifetime Award honoree in 2015 and has been voted the "Favorite Singer of All Time" in a joint poll by readers of both USA Today and People. The family is planning a small private service at this time out of concern for the national COVID-19 emergency. They look forward to celebrating Kenny’s life publicly with his friends and fans at a later date. Read the rest

According to this NYT interactive map. Judith Basin County, Montana, will be the last unravaged county in the worst-case coronavirus scenario. Zillow shows very few homes on offer, but this 520-acre ranch looks like a great place to take a stand! Anyone who wants to join my postapocalyptic anarchocommunist elf sex death cult get in touch -- I'm putting in an offer -- and we can start planning our raid on The Others in Lemhi County, Idaho. Read the rest

KFC closed its restaurants to all but drive-through customers and deliveries days ago. According to this video, however, the company is quietly ordering managers to keep lobbies open to serve walk-in takeout customers. I've come up with this plan to protect my employees because they're trying to force us to open the lobby again.Looks like we're already at the point where companies are testing the ability of government to enforce crisis measures. Read the rest

• 'Fronton' is the FSB's IoT botnet project

'For the first time in our history, the government is going to step in and help pay people's wages,' Rishi Sunak announcesThe UK government will pay up to 80% of wages for workers who are at risk of being laid off due to the coronavirus pandemic, the chancellor has announced.The United States is not doing anything like this, or discussing anything like this. Why isn't the purportedly richest and most powerful and most awesomest country in the world, ours, doing the same -- or something close -- for the millions of suddenly jobless workers? Oh yeah, a corporate tax cut instead. And a single thousand-dollar check, or something. Thanks, GOP Senate.From the UK Independent: Any employer in the country will be able to apply to HMRC for payments of up to £2,500 per worker per month - just above the median UK income - Rishi Sunak said on Friday. The unprecedented move means the government will guarantee a proportion of the salaries of millions of workers, if employers keep them on their payrolls rather than laying them off.The scheme will be open for three months initially but will be extended if required, the chancellor said, before laying out a raft of additional measures designed to support businesses and jobs. Grants will be available for "as many jobs as necessary" he said before also announcing £1bn of support for renters, tax relief for the self-employed and increases in universal credit payments.It came as pubs, bars, restaurants and leisure centres shut down in the latest intensification of social distancing measures designed to slow the spread of Covid-19. Read the rest

pic.twitter.com/fhA9Ykpqbz— Mike Judge (@MikeJudge) March 20, 2020Mike Judge, creator of the show, posted this reminder of the need for social distancing to limit the speed of the spread of coronavirus. References Read the rest

Britain's ancient, fatberg-infested sewers are already choked to the grates thanks to irresponsible flushings during the coronavirus crisis. People running out of (or hoarding) toilet paper are instead using paper towels, kitchen napkins, wet wipes, newsprint and other materials that won't break down. Northumbrian Water posted this handsome image of the random trash locals are shoving into the system, and told them to cut it out.The company said it understood people were "only improvising" but the consequences could be "devastating" to homes and the environment.Head of wastewater networks Simon Cyhanko said they should use the bin."We understand some people affected by the limited toilet roll availability may have no choice but to use alternative products," he said.The company also posted the following photo, which I presume is of the cleanest toilet in Berwick and the ideal that Northumbrian Water hopes all its customers maintain forthwith. Read the rest

Elon Musk is a huge asshole. COVID-19 has made him more so.

Four senators, including Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, have written a letter to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to ask what measures are being taken to protect warehouse workers from COVID-19. The coronavirus outbreak that causes this deadly disease has now infected more than 20,000 people throughout America.“The senators sent the letter two days after the first US-based Amazon warehouse worker tested positive for COVID-19,” reports Jay Peters at The Verge:The group of senators is led by Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and includes Sanders and Sherrod Brown (D-OH). “Any failure of Amazon to keep its workers safe does not just put their employees at risk, it puts the entire country at risk,” the group said in the letter. The senators are also asking Amazon to provide paid sick leave and time-and-a-half hazard pay, among other financial and health protections. “The virus that causes COVID-19 can live for up to 24 hours on cardboard and up to three days on plastic and stainless steel,” the letter says. “That means that Americans who are taking every precaution, staying home and practicing social distancing, might risk getting infected with COVID-19 because of Amazon’s decision to prioritize efficiency and profits over the safety and well-being of its workforce.”The letter also discussed reports of troubling conditions at Amazon warehouses, such as how Amazon warehouse managers have held regular stand-up meetings with staff, which likely put employees closer than the CDC-recommended six feet of distance away from one another, and a lack of hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes. Read the rest

If you've recently faced a major shift in where you work — as in, from an actual office to your home — you're probably in need of a little assistance to help you navigate that transition more smoothly. Or, maybe you’ve always worked from home, and now the rest of the world is catching up to how you normally live.No matter which camp you’re in, we’re all in this together. You’re home now — so better make the best of it. The business world may have slowed down, but it never stops entirely, which means you’ve got to stay on top of your work obligations.You’re a pro. You’ll get it done. But to help, we pulled together 15 apps and other digital helpers that can keep you focused even when you aren’t in front of your office keyboard. And to further incentivize, you can take an extra 15 percent off your already discounted total by adding SPRINGSAVE15 at checkout. Hunker down and dig in.Computer aidsEverything starts with a clean, tidy desktop, so with WorkspacePro Multiple App Launcher for Mac ($6.79 after discount; originally $9.99), you’ll have every needed app and file just a click away. Workspace Pro lets you regroup app, customize their position, and even launch or close a whole collection of macOS apps all with a single button press for a streamlined, efficient desktop.If your problem is your browser, with bookmarks saved in different places on different devices, a Qlearly Premium lifetime subscription ($16.99 Read the rest

Last week, I reported on Czech 3D printer company, Prusa Research, converting over some of their manufacturing capability to producing hand sanitizer. Now, the company has, within three days of prototyping, created a 3D printable face shield.Josef Prusa writes:We were notified on Facebook that doctors are in great need of face shields and that there is already a great face shield design available online. We took it as a starting point and decided that we would adjust it for easier and faster 3D printing – e.g. there shouldn’t be any supports required and we should fit as many of them onto a single print sheet as possible. So we started working on it immediately. After all, it is very important to keep the guys, who will take care of us in the darkest times, as healthy as possible. These shields will help protect their eyes and face from coughing and sneezing of their patients.In three days, we were able to go through dozens of prototypes, two verifications with the Czech Ministry of Health and we even met our minister of health Adam Vojtech. Today we are excited to share with you that we have started prototype production and the first units just went to the hospital for field testing and verification. I want to thank Martin Havrda from the University Hospital Vinohrady in Prague for taking the time to meet us. And also, when we have this design verified, we will move to design protective goggles. Read the rest

With schools closed during this COVID-19 situation, and with no real end in sight, some high school students are planning to take their prom celebrations online.TIME:And while schools in Los Angeles are only shut down for two weeks so far, students at the Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies (LACES) are looking to technology for social distancing-friendly ways to celebrate the end of the school year with their friends.LACES seniors Zack Monterosso and Colin Wire and junior Wakie Haque tell TIME that they’re currently planning to host a virtual party on the video conferencing service Zoom, dubbed a “Zoom rager,” as a test run for virtual prom......in Struthers, Ohio, Jessica Ludovici, a senior at Struthers High School, tells TIME that she’s planning to host prom in her living room while FaceTiming her friends.“We’re all going to do a huge group FaceTime. I’ll put on music and we’ll go in the expensive dresses and tuxes that we already bought to get ready for prom,” she says. “I tweeted and was just like, ‘This is what’s going to happen. It’s going to be in my living room, you guys can send me a song for the playlist and that will be your ticket. You can invite whoever, I don’t really care because we’re all just going to be on a group FaceTime.'”photo by hundrednorth/Flickr Read the rest