Boing Boing

CBS All Access has announced that they are making the entire first season of Picard free to non-subscribers of the streaming service. You get it for free if you register and use the coupon code: GIFT.There are nine episodes in the season so far and the season finale will air this Thursday.ENGAGE!Update: The coupon code unlocks all of CBS All Access, free for a month.Image: YouTube Read the rest

An unidentified priest in Italy didn't let the coronavirus situation stop him from doing mass. He simply live-streamed the service instead. Amusingly though, he left on his camera's filters which overlayed a space helmet, some glitter, dumbbells (?), and a Walter White hat and sunglasses get-up onto his otherwise serious broadcast. Twitter user Gavin Shoebridge shared the footage:In Italy today, a priest decided to live-stream a mass due to COVID-19. Unfortunately he activated the video filters by mistake. pic.twitter.com/zu2qwAlCyT— Gavin Shoebridge (@KiwiEV) March 24, 2020screengrab via Gavin Shoebridge/Twitter Read the rest

During today's complete shitshow of a White House coronavirus task force briefing, impeached and obviously bonkers president Donald John Trump said the U.S. is “near the end of our historic battle” with COVID-19 and has begun to see "the light at the end of the tunnel.”That's wrong.That light is an oncoming train.The death toll continues to rise.Today was the deadliest day of the outbreak yet in America.Pres Trump just said: "As we near the end of our historic battle" with the coronavirus and that there is now "light at the end of the tunnel." FACT CHECK: Government's own plan warned pandemic "will last 18 months or longer." Trump himself said this could last until August.— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) March 24, 2020also, "the light at the end of the tunnel"https://t.co/5iDlvuanK4— Tom McCarthy (@TeeMcSee) March 24, 2020Today is already the US' deadliest day yet in the coronavirus crisis, surpassing yesterday.The President just said we are starting to "see the light at the end of the tunnel" as we "near the end of our historic battle with the invisible enemy."— Kyle "Please Mute Your Line" Feldscher (@Kyle_Feldscher) March 24, 2020"I can tell you that there's tremendous hope as we look forward and we begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel," Trump says, even though the U.S. death toll is continuing to rise.— Felicia Sonmez (@feliciasonmez) March 24, 2020"We can begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel," says @POTUS. Read the rest

NASA's STEREO (Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory) research platform consists of two orbiting spacecraft that collect stereoscopic data about the sun and the eruptions of magnetized plasma during coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Last month, UFO buffs spotted a strange object in data acquired by STEREO, specifically what appears to be a wheel-shaped UFO. The footage made the rounds online (example above) spurring NASA to explain the anomaly. Turns out, it's... Venus. Bummer. From NASA:Some people have noticed an odd shape, sort of a cross inside a circle, entering the field-of-view of the HI2 telescope on STEREO Ahead around February 20,2020. Eventually there is a cone shape that appears next to it. You can see the feature in question in this movie moving from right-to-left, just below the trapezoidal occulter on the right side of the image.The answer lies on the exact opposite side of the image. At the same time as this strange-looking feature starts being visible, the very bright planet Venus enters the HI2-A field-of-view from the left. Notice that Venus and the feature stay in step almost exactly opposite each other across the middle of the detector. This is not a coincidence. The strange looking geometrical "object" is actually an internal reflection of the planet Venus within the telescope optics. This effect has been seen many times before. Here's a particularly striking example of internal reflections caused by the planet Earth as seen early in the STEREO mission, taken from our image artifacts pages. Read the rest

Four-time Tony Award-winning playwright Terrence McNally, who was known for plays including "Ragtime" and "Kiss of the Spider Woman," has died due to complications from coronavirus, his publicist said Tuesday. He was 81, and a lung cancer survivor who had chronic COPD. "A lot of people stop learning in life and that's their tragedy."- Terrence McNally, one of the most brilliant and prolific playwrights... EVER. #RIP https://t.co/1u5tMMWk9c— Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) March 24, 2020BREAKING: Terrence McNally, one of America’s great playwrights, who won Tony Awards for "Love! Valour! Compassion!" and "Master Class" has died of complications from coronavirus at age 81, his representative says. https://t.co/IzcLKxUjqc— The Associated Press (@AP) March 24, 2020Terrence McNally, one of America's great playwrights, has died at 81 of complications from coronavirus https://t.co/9nq9MjaKrU pic.twitter.com/90v3zioH8E— CBS Sunday Morning 🌞 (@CBSSunday) March 24, 2020Terrence McNally, the Tony-Winning playwright whose credits include "Ragtime," "Master Class," "Kiss of the Spider Woman" and "Love! Valour! Compassion!", died today at 81 of coronavirus complications. He was a lung cancer survivor with chronic COPD. https://t.co/xItii4MhcG— Michael Paulson (@MichaelPaulson) March 24, 2020 Read the rest

Reality, people.Kentucky governor Andy Beshear says the state now has 163 confirmed coronavirus cases, including one person who attended a “coronavirus party.” That individual may well have infected many others before later testing positive for the virus that causes COVID-19. And now we know that “coronavirus party” is a thing some people are doing.Beshear says there is a positive from someone who attended a "coronavirus party."— Kevin Wheatley (@KevinWheatleyKY) March 24, 2020Andy Beshear just announced a new Coronavirus case in Kentucky is someone who went to a "Coronavirus Party." He looked like he wanted to punch his podium as he said it.— Cole Claybourn (@ColeClaybourn) March 24, 2020.@GovAndyBeshear says that one person in Kentucky has tested positive after attending a coronavirus party— Ben Tobin (@TobinBen) March 24, 2020Beshear said there is a positive case today "from someone who attended a coronavirus party." He's a little fired up: "Anyone who goes to something like this may think they're indestructible..." but it's someone else's loved one who's life might be at stake.— Daniel Desrochers (@drdesrochers) March 24, 2020"This is one that makes me mad. And it should make you mad." Said we should forgive the person, but these things shouldn't happen.— Daniel Desrochers (@drdesrochers) March 24, 2020 Read the rest

• Trump demands economy reopen by Easter amid pandemic• Medical experts & disaster movies tell us this would be bad“I would love to have the country opened up and just raring to go by Easter," is a thing that Donald Trump just said during a Fox News virtual town hall. This is contrary to what officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization, as well as economists, have advised. "Easter is a very special day for me ... Easter Sunday, and you'll have packed churches all over our country." A “very special day for me”?Packing them into churches?The man is nuts and he could get a lot of people killed.Trump on why he picked Easter as the day he wants to end strict social distancing and reopen American businesses: "Easter is a very special day for me ... Easter Sunday, and you'll have packed churches all over our country." pic.twitter.com/6cXEtW8LmR— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 24, 2020Trump explains why Easter Sunday is a "beautiful time" for Americans to be working again pic.twitter.com/lwg5cayiKB— Talking Points Memo (@TPM) March 24, 2020Trump, asked why he chose Easter as the date to end the shutdown, says it's because it'd be beautiful to have packed churches all around the nation.— Susan Simpson (@TheViewFromLL2) March 24, 2020Trump: "And I say, wouldn't it be great to have all of the churches full? You know the churches aren't allowed essentially to have much of a congregation now... Read the rest

Today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average experienced its largest gain in a single day since 1933.From the Wall Street Journal:U.S. stocks rallied sharply Tuesday, with the Dow surging to its biggest one-day gain in more than 85 years on signs that lawmakers and the Trump administration were nearing a deal on a giant stimulus package aimed at limiting the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 2,113 points, or 11.4%, as of 4 p.m. Eastern time. That represented its largest gain in a single day since 1933.More: Dow Soars More Than 11% In Biggest One-Day Jump Since 1933 [WSJ, Alexander Osipovich, Caitlin Ostroff, and Joanne Chiu]US stocks ended in the green on Tuesday, recouping all of Monday’s losses as investors grew optimistic about the government’s response to the coronavirus crisis.The Dow closed up 11.4%. The S&P 500 finished up 9.4%. The Nasdaq Composite rose 8.1%. https://t.co/f8KFYyk5AL— CNN Business (@CNNBusiness) March 24, 2020BREAKING: This morning, Pres. Trump and VP Pence held an investor call with Wall Street heavyweights to discuss the markets, the Federal Reserve, and economic reopening.— Kayla Tausche (@kaylatausche) March 24, 2020“Dow surges 2,100 points as Congress nears deal on virus aid” https://t.co/hSmZd6Rt7k— Matt Lee (@APDiploWriter) March 24, 2020 Read the rest

Youâve seen whatâs happening at your neighborhood Costco or Target. Itâs not exactly armageddon-level rioting and lawlessness...but it ainât exactly fun out there right now either. Just trying to stock up on all the meal staples youâre looking for is taking a little more hustle, ingenuity, and good old dumb luck than it used to.Under the circumstances, it may be wise to start considering alternatives thatâll keep your necessary foods fresher longer. Did you know a piece of meat that could survive six months in the freezer will actually last up to 3 years if it's vacuum sealed? Cheeses that might normally last a week or two in a regular refrigerator will make it as long as eight months in vacuum-sealed packaging.Getting your own vacuum sealer is definitely a smart option -- and they arenât all that expensive. Check out these four vacuum sealers you can pick up right now, all available with an extra 15 percent off if you enter the code SPRINGSAVE15 during checkout.'Seal The Deal' Bag Sealer - $15.29 after discount; originally $49.99As an introduction to the bagging arts, this sealer is a great way to get started. While itâs extremely portable, the included suction cups and wall mount also make it convenient to put just about anywhere you need to fashion airtight sealed bags in seconds. Your food gets an extra lease on life, all with no leakage or spilling. With a fresh set of batteries, you can seal an average of 300 bags, more than enough to stockpile loads of essentials for the long haul. Read the rest

This is the creation of avant-garde fashion designer Arnold Putra, claimed to be made with an ethically-sourced human child spine and alligator tongue leather. Unfortunately, it's been memory holed since Twitter found it. Fortunately, the memory holers always forget about the Bing Cache.The ARNOLD PUTRA alligator tongue and human spine bag has been ethically sourced and crafted in a multiple panel construction. With an emphasis on protruding scar stitching lacing the outer construction of the bag, each wearer is encouraged to sculpt a form of his/her own sentiment. The unique silhouette is complimented by the human spine handle and raw edge finishes. Technical in design and construction, this one off bag is an ideal statement piece.Each piece of Arnold Putra is meticulously hand crafted in their atelier upon order, limited in availability and may take up to 14 days to arrive during busy periods.FEATURES:- Limited to 1/1- Alligator tongue and human spine bag with a unique pattern construction- Natural finish- Protruding scar stitching finishes- Large main compartment- Raw edge finishes- Limited in availabilityCOMPOSITION:- Shell: 100% Alligator tongue- Shell: 100% Human spine handleIf you're thinking of DIYing it, it turns out that ethically-sourced human child spines are not on Amazon, sadly, so you might have to wait three or more days to get the materials together.(throws horror writing career out of window)I got nothing on this reality. https://t.co/7IE25yx0GR— Cassandra Khaw (@casskhaw) March 24, 2020I messaged them on WhatsApp... Read the rest

View this post on Instagram You don’t wanna miss *tomorrow’s post* it’ll be good. But for now this experimental piece inspired by John Cage. Been washing my hands so much in the basin—made me think of Water Music. My classic CR-78 and metal meets water. Our world, our habitat is a giant experiment! In geological time—-we’ve been here for the tiniest fraction. C’mon, let’s make it good. Everybody In. March 17,2020 #isolationjams A post shared by Money Mark (@moneymarkofficial) on Mar 17, 2020 at 3:45pm PDT My pal Money Mark, longtime key(board) collaborator with the Beastie Boys, is one of the most creative and inspiring music makers I've ever met. Since California's shelter-in-place order began, he's been sharing daily "Isolation Jams" on Instagram! The truly "experimental" music brings me great joy. See more below and @MoneyMarkOfficial. Here's what Mark told me:Making Isolation jams is a daily meditation. I call them 'Song Poems’ or ‘Sound Poems,' an exercise I’ve kept for years. Only now, I realize, documenting them and posting the audio/video is helping others. Routine is power like the sun rising and setting. View this post on Instagram Isolation jams number 9. Feedback studies I did in the 90’s spawned over a dozen pieces inspired by #johncage ...@realkidkoala Kid Koala and I toured the world together and I would open the show by walking thru the crowd with a boom box and microphone; taped on the back, a small drum machine and an echo pedal. Jimi Hendrix made it popular and I thought I’d take it to the next level. Read the rest

CNN spoke to psychologists to find out why some people refuse to practice physical distancing during an epidemic. They give 6 reasons:They think they are invulnerable. "They aren't following social distancing because they believe they won't get sick, even though it could prevent more vulnerable people from becoming infected."They won't let a virus boss them around. "Exercising their defiance makes the virus seem smaller."They think it's not their problem. "People who live in communities where infection isn't widespread or officials haven't imposed lockdowns may be less willing to distance themselves from others."They're numbed by info overload. "When people's media diets, social media feeds and conversations with loved ones consist of nothing but Covid-19, they may become desensitized to its severity."They favor individual freedom over the good of society. " The Western world, and the US in particular, has long prized individual freedoms -- sometimes even over community benefit."They're lonely. "Human beings crave connection, and being denied social interaction for extended periods can sting."Image: Twitter/@realkatiewilliams Read the rest

Reverend William is looking for love.I have no idea what he's a Reverend of, or if he's even ordained at all. In fact, as you progress through his "Republican Goddess" quiz, he doesn't seem to be a Christian of any kind, but more of a New Age Spiritualist Right Wing Conspiracy Theorist. I'm not sure what that ordination ceremony entails (but then, I am ordained in the Church of Latter-Day Dudes).But either way: "Reverend William" has grown tired of those lonely LA nights, and has set up a website to help him find true happiness.I'm a healthy 68. I'm looking for a woman born in any year from 1950–1995, who takes excellent care of herself.I am a natural-born U.S. citizen residing in Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. I will consider relocating within the United States but am unwilling to move to another country. If the woman I'm looking for lives outside the United States, she must be willing and legally able to move to the United States to marry me and to live with me here.As you read through this website, you will notice that I'm an intense, complex man who thinks waaay "outside the box." If my intensity/complexity is too much for you, or if I think too far "outside the box" for you, well then, we are not a match. I seek a woman who is likewise intense and complex (not a mild or simple woman; nor a woman who thinks I wrote way too much here). Read the rest

Yale psychology professor Laurie Santos's course “Psychology and the Good Life" is the most popular class in the history of the university. Now it's available for anyone to take for free remotely through Coursera. The public online version of the class is called the "Science of Well-Being." From the description:In this course you will engage in a series of challenges designed to increase your own happiness and build more productive habits. As preparation for these tasks, Professor Laurie Santos reveals misconceptions about happiness, annoying features of the mind that lead us to think the way we do, and the research that can help us change. You will ultimately be prepared to successfully incorporate a specific wellness activity into your life.More about the course: "‘The Science of Well Being’: Yale’s most popular class ever available via Coursera" (Yale) Read the rest

Sunbathers at Galheta Beach in Brazil were treated to sandstorm created by helicopter police tasked with enforcing public distancing rules.Image: YouTube Read the rest

Sure, the 41-minute virtual tour of the Winchester Mystery House is cool and all, but if you want to really go for spooky, turn off the lights and start exploring the underground ossuaries below Paris. While physically closed to the public during this time of coronavirus, the virtual visit to the Catacombs of Paris is still open. The history of the Paris Catacombs starts in the late eighteenth century, when major public health problems tied to the city’s cemeteries led to a decision to transfer their contents to an underground site. Paris authorities chose an easily accessible site that was, at the time, located outside the capital: the former Tombe-Issoire quarries under the plain of Montrouge. In operation since at least the fifteenth century and then abandoned, these quarries were a small part of the labyrinth that extended under the city over approximately 800 hectares. Preparation of the site and the organization of bone transfers were entrusted to Charles Axel Guillaumot, an inspector at the Department of General Quarry Inspection. The mission of this department, which had been founded on April 4, 1777, by Louis XVI, was to consolidate the abandoned quarries following major collapses of the ground under Paris in the mid-eighteenth century. The first evacuations were made from 1785 to 1787 and concerned the largest cemetery in Paris, the Saints-Innocents cemetery, which had been closed in 1780 after consecutive use for nearly ten centuries. The tombs, common graves and charnel house were emptied of their bones, which were transported at night to avoid hostile reactions from the Parisian population and the Church. Read the rest

This is Tim. He's the head of security at the National Cowboy Museum in Oklahoma City. While everyone else is social distancing, Tim stands vigilant, protecting things like John Wayne's boots. So as long as he was there, the museum's social media team asked him to tweet for them.Thanks, Tim.Hello, my name is Tim and I am the head of security for The Cowboy. I have been asked to take on the additional duty of social media management while the museum is closed. I’m new to this but excited. My team will also continue to protect and monitor the museum. Thanks, Tim Send pic.twitter.com/bPiXD9DoAd— Nat'l Cowboy Museum (@ncwhm) March 17, 2020Tim does not understand how hashtags work. But gosh darnnit, he tried it.This is the hat and eyepatch the Duke wore in the movie True Grit. They are part of our Exhibition about the 2 True Grit. Lots of interesting props and clothes. I’m told I can’t try it on. Hashtag John Wayne. Lucas, my grandson, told me to use hashtags. Thanks, Tim pic.twitter.com/yNO3RP4uA4— Nat'l Cowboy Museum (@ncwhm) March 17, 2020Or really how the Internet works.Twitter tips, please— Nat'l Cowboy Museum (@ncwhm) March 18, 2020Sorry, thought I was Googling that. Thanks, Tim— Nat'l Cowboy Museum (@ncwhm) March 18, 2020Oh cool there are John Wayne's boots! Thanks, Tim.And these are his boots. Hashtag John Wayne. Thanks, Tim pic.twitter.com/4hVPPT8QX9— Nat'l Cowboy Museum (@ncwhm) March 18, 2020I hope he's done his grandson proud. Read the rest

It's already been reported that Trump is getting antsy about all the social-distancing quarantines intended to flatten the curve of coronavirus deaths, and that he's eager to return things to business-as-normal. Who cares about a million deaths as long as the economy is moving, amirite?I'm sure his decision has nothing to do with the fact that his own hotels are hurting from the shutdown. Again, what's a few million lives compared to the President's personal profits?Unfortunately, Trump is not alone in his mass-murdering sentiment. Republicans have been parroting a new refrain this week, that, "The cure cannot be worse than the disease." But this implies that a few billionaires losing some money is objectively worse than a million dead. And that's just absurd.Jonathan Ashbach took to The Federalist to complain about the ways that coronavirus impedes on that uniquely American value of "freedom."It seems harsh to ask whether the nation might be better off letting a few hundred thousand people die. Probably for that reason, few have been willing to do so publicly thus far. Yet honestly facing reality is not callous, and refusing even to consider whether the present response constitutes an even greater evil than the one it intends to mitigate would be cowardly.First, consider the massive sacrifice of life Americans are making in their social distancing campaign. True, nearly all are not literally dying, but they are giving up a good deal of what makes life worth living — work, classes, travel, hugs, time with friends, conferences, quiet nights out, and so forth. Read the rest

The Action Lab Man made a table supported by thread. You can see other examples of "floating compression" in this Wikipedia article about tensegrity. Read the rest

Dr. Adrian Smith of the Ant Lab YouTube channel recently found some little bugs on the lid of his trash can. They are called globular springtails, and as their name suggests, they use a spring-loaded tail to jump away from danger. Dr. Smith took some of the mysterious creatures into his lab to film their jumps in slow motion.Image: YouTube Read the rest

Andy Greene literally wrote the book on The Office. His book The Office: The Untold Story of the Greatest Sitcom of the 2000s: An Oral History is released today! Vulture has an excerpt from the book telling the behind-the-scenes story of "Stress Relief," the two-part "fire drill" episode. Here's a snip:Ben Silverman [producer]: The fire drill was insanity. Greg and I talked about it and were like, “Okay, let’s make this one hundred percent like a movie, like a stunt. When it happens, how do people not change the channel?”Kate Flannery, actor: That scene was a big deal. It was so fun, but I also knew that it was expensive, so it’s like, “Don’t fuck this up.” It was definitely like a little nerve-wracking because you just didn’t want to be the one that messed it up for everybody else.Anthony Farrell, writer: Greg was like, “It’s the Super Bowl episode. We need it to be big and crazy and wild and this is the first thing they’re gonna see, so we want people to stick around.” He said to me and [fellow writer] Ryan Koh and some of the writers’ assistants, “You guys work on this cold open.” We knew it would start with Dwight setting off the fire alarm and Greg was in a place where he was like, “We need it to be bigger and crazier.” So we just started adding all sorts of crazy shit happening with the mayhem and the melee, like them using the photocopier as a battering ram and cats falling out of the ceiling. Read the rest

VIDEO: Inmates hop fence, escape from Yakima County jailDETAILS: https://t.co/TnZRCPifEd📹Briseida & Alex Gonzalez pic.twitter.com/d52QVyQLUh— KAPP-KVEW (@KAPPKVEW) March 24, 2020Yesterday evening in Yakima, Washington, Briseida and Alex Gonzalez recorded this clip of a dozen inmates hopping the fence of the Yakima County Jail. The music playing on the Gonzalezes' car radio is a perfect soundtrack. Apparently, the inmates broke open a fire door and made a run for it. Six have been caught so far.According to YakTriNews, Found inmates reportedly told officials 'they were upset after the Governor’s press conference regarding the statewide order to shelter in place and the virus outbreak has them all scared.'” Read the rest

You have a week before the first season of Julia Child's fantastic cooking show is no longer available with Amazon Prime.The French Chef with Julia Child -- Season One via Amazon Prime Read the rest

We're sheltering in place with my sister-in-law's family while COVID-19 continues to rip humanity a new asshole. I love my family, but my nine year old nephew, who's been home from school for two weeks, is driving me insane. He's watched every episode of Captain Underpants at least twenty times. I've given up on wondering why anyone's cool with nearly naked middle-aged man hanging out with a couple of kids and have started reciting lines from the show.I've been desperate for something, anything to fill the air while my noise-cancelling headphones recharge. Happily, Jeff Bezos has answered my prayers.From TechCrunch:Amazon is making a selection of family-friendly and programming for kids available for free streaming on Prime Video as a result of the COVID-19 health crisis, which has people trapped at home. The content is available to all Amazon customers, and includes a mix of Amazon Original kid and family shows as well as select third-party family movies and TV series licensed from studio partners.Amazon says it’s continuing to work with content partners to widen the selection over time.While we apparently can't expect the world's wealthiest man to pay his front line employees a decent wage (although Amazon will soon pay a premium for its employees to continue to risk their ass) or guarantee their income if they get sick serving the rest of us, but hey: free cartoons.Image via Wikipedia Read the rest

French artist Albert Uderzo, co-creator of legendary comic book characters Asterix and Obelix with writer René Goscinny, died at home ‘from a heart attack unrelated to the coronavirus.’ He was 92 years old.One of the best-loved characters in French popular culture, with more than 370m albums sold worldwide, 11 films and an Asterix theme park, the small-statured Asterix is a warrior from Roman-occupied ancient Gaul, who together with his best friend Obelix and dog Dogmatix – Idéfix in the French original – takes pleasure in outwitting Roman legionnaires. Fortunately for Asterix, Obelix fell into a cauldron of magic potion as a child, making him invincibly strong.Photo: Christian Koehn (CC BY 2.5) Read the rest

John J. King is a playwright and all-around awesome and clever dude; we were playwriting fellows together at the Huntington Theatre Company in Boston, and I also contributed some music to his Hamlet/James Bond mashup From Denmark With Love.Now John has decided to share his work-from-home tips, in the form of a fun, dance-y music video (clothing optional). Enjoy! Read the rest

On their website, the Arizona medical group, Banner Health, is reporting that a man has died in their care after self-medicating against COVID-19 using an anti-malaria drug that Dear Leader had mentioned during one of his campaign rallies briefings in recent days.A man has died and his wife is under critical care after the couple, both in their 60s, ingested chloroquine phosphate, an additive commonly used at aquariums to clean fish tanks. Within thirty minutes of ingestion, the couple experienced immediate effects requiring admittance to a nearby Banner Health hospital. Read the rest of the brief announcement here.NBC News correspondent Vaughn Hillyard spoke to the wife by phone from her hospital bed. She had this to say:we saw Trump on TV--every channel--and all his buddies--saying that this was safe. Trump kept saying it was pretty much a cure."[...]Don't believe anything the President says and his people because they don't know what they're talking about. And don't take anything -- be so careful and call your doctor. This is a heart ache I'll never get over.Yet another reason why these "briefings" should not be televised live, but should only be summarized by responsible adults.Photo by camilo jimenez on Unsplash Read the rest

Even if you’ve never been germaphobic, events in recent weeks have probably made you a lot more conscious of bacteria, airborne viruses, and contaminants of every size, shape, and variety. From countertops to sofas, beds to carpets, even those beloved stuffed animals, they’re all likely chock full of more microscopic creepy crawlies and pathogens than we ever realize.Before you start panicking that everything is contagious or dangerous to the health of your household, there are steps you can take to calm the fears. One valid approach would be to confront the germs head-on — and the Rockubot Sterilizing Robot can be one heck of a soldier in your war against the unclean.The Rockubot is equipped with ultraviolet (UV-C) lights that kill 99.9 percent of all bacteria and germs as well as ultrasonic wave emitters that dust mites hiding deep in materials at a microscopic level. Just set the Rockubot down on your bed, furniture or chosen surface and it gets to work, using its 24 sensors to smart-map the area and avoid obstacles and cliffs while methodically eliminating all allergens and irritants in its path as it disinfects and sterilizes.The unit also has a manual mode to allow for handheld cleaning of virtually any item. It’s perfect for any mom or dad who wants to make sure all their kids' pillows, blankets, clothes, toys and more are safe and cootie-free.The compact Rockubot weighs in at just about a pound, so it slides easily into a suitcase or travel bag for any road trips. Read the rest

With the spooky times that we're living in, chances are pretty good that you're staying at home as often as your responsibilities and level of health allow.14 days ago, I had to head into the hospital: blood was coming outta places where blood's supposed to stay put. The only thing that's kept me from going insane wondering whether or not I may have been infected with COVID-19 while my bits were being inspected, has been good music. One of the new-to-me-acts I stumbled upon while I was losing sleep over the past two weeks is Ryan McNally. Raised in rural Quebec and, from what I gather, now based out of northwestern Canada, McNally's sound is a delightful mishmash of influences that I could listen to for hours at a time.If you dig what you hear, you can show McNally some love by plunking down a few bucks for one of his two albums, over at Bandcamp. Read the rest

Today, there’s no shortage of ways for consumers to live a socially conscious lifestyle. They now have access to vehicles with improved fuel economy, a wide selection of organic groceries and manufacturers are increasing the amount of recycled materials they use in their products.Despite these widespread shifts, the financial services sector hasn’t kept pace. Consider this. In 2018, the world’s largest banks lent approximately $654 billion to finance businesses in the fossil fuel industry. Much of those funds were backed by consumer funds, without their consent.Aspiration is a financial institution that is built from the ground up on a socially conscious business model. They guarantee that 100% of customer deposits will not be used to fund harmful industries such as: fossil fuels, private prisons, firearm manufacturers, and political entities/campaigns.Their business model also is built on fairness. Rather than nickel and diming their users, Aspiration follows a “pay what you think is fair model.” Users choose their monthly account fees, even if it is zero. Aspiration accounts also have zero required fees. Overdrafts, check deposits, and inactive accounts, all fall under that umbrella.If you’re ready to pay it forward, learn more about Aspiration, here. Read the rest

Adult Swim has released all episodes of their crazed, headbanger animated comedy, Metalocalypse, for free during the coronavirus pandemic.Adult Swim has made all four seasons and the Klok Opera movie available for free streaming on their website and app.You can watch all the episodes of Metalocalypse here.Non-US fans of the dumb and the restless are reporting that they can't view the streams. But hey, that's what VPNs are for.Image: Screengrab Read the rest

In this cute Physics Girl video, Diane shows you 20 simple, fun, and educational kitchen experiments you can do with your kids.To make the video more exciting, Diane turns her demo into a race against the clock, trying to conduct all of the experiments within five minutes. You and your kids can take your time.Image: YouTube***BTW: Did you now that our very own Mark Fraunfelder wrote and illustrated a book of these sorts of kitchen counter science experiments, called Mad Professor? You might want that right about now. Read the rest

Washington Post captured the empty streets of Los Angeles by drone.As one commenter puts it, "On the bright side, we have lots of new B-roll footage for future apocalypse movies."screengrab via Washington Post/YouTube Read the rest

All together now: 🎵 Hands, washing hands! 🎵 Reaching out 🎵 Don't touch me 🎵 I won't touch you! 🎵 screengrab via Neil Diamond/YouTube Read the rest

Only 8 million people need to die to ensure that decabillionares don't become mere billionaires.One death is a tragedy; a million deaths is an economic policy.https://t.co/QuP4iNSEbD— TrillionDollarCoinHat (@Popehat) March 23, 2020 Read the rest

Portland, Oregon, home of a fantastic bookstore and some awesome people.The Oregonian:The home delivery service, in which a pair of scantily clad strippers will deliver hot food to your door, started as a joke Boulden posted on social media. When people began seriously inquiring about orders, Boulden saw potential.So, while the rest of Portland was hoarding toilet paper and pasta, he bought out one local store’s stock of pasties.From 7 p.m. to 1 a.m., Boober Eats is offering the full menu from the Lucky Devil Lounge at the same prices. Delivery rates are generally $30, but vary depending on distance from the lounge....Popular orders include chicken fingers, steak bites and mini corndogs. Read the rest

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