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Italy suffered its worst day of the coronavirus outbreak Tuesday, recording 475 deaths. The epicenter of the pandemic in Europe, Italy is further along an infection curve other countries in the west appear to be following, and its healthcare system has buckled under the weight of 35,000 cases.Italy has been on lockdown for almost two weeks as authorities try to halt the progress of the virus.People have been asked to stay indoors - but the number of deaths has continued to spiral.The WHO's emergencies director, Mike Ryan, said this was probably due to the "astonishing" number of cases within the health systems, as well as the high number of elderly people in the population at large."The first vaccine trial has begun, just 60 days after the genetic sequence of the #coronavirus was shared. This is an incredible achievement.We commend the researchers around the world who have come together to systemically evaluate experimental therapeutics"-@DrTedros #COVID19— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) March 18, 2020 Read the rest

Suburban Chicago restaurant The Beacon Tap is offering a free roll of toilet paper with each carryout or delivery order. Normally, restaurant providing toilet paper with their food would be an ominous promotion but in these times, it's boosted business! From NBC Chicago:"[We were] trying to figure out ideas, and one of our other general managers over at Cafe Touché said 'Hey what about this?'" (General Manager Tommy) Riemer said. "I immediately made a phone call to Trimark (which supplies toilet paper to the Beacon Tap) ... and ordered as much as I could so we could offer it to customers as a little comic relief."Riemer ordered 300 rolls. He said the response from customers has been "amazing" and he has already given out 80 rolls. image: GorillaSushi (CC BY-SA 2.0) Read the rest

Police in Murcia, Spain caught a Tyrannosaurus rex violating a coronavirus lockdown. The cops were kind enough to let the dinosaur off with a warning. From CBR:On the first released video, filmed by a neighbor, the T-Rex wannabe is clearly taking out the garbage. In the second video, however, it seems as if the T-Rex was making a break for a nearby park. The video was accompanied by John Williams' Jurassic Park theme. pic.twitter.com/Mvjovkzvw3— E. R.R.E. (@Elire72) March 16, 2020 Read the rest

Karl Rock, a YouTuber who posts tourist tips for travelers to India, uses a hidden camera to film people running recreational drug operations in their restaurants. Rock says:For some reason, drug dealers think I look like a drug user, so I often get approached in India and asked if I want to buy drugs. Mumbai and Goa are real hotbeds for drug selling to foreign tourists. It's not as common in Delhi, where I live.I don't do drugs, and this video is a warning not to go with these dealers and buy their product. It's no doubt fake product and you're putting yourself in a dangerous situation if you go down some dark alleyway with them. Not to mention you have no idea what these guys are selling you! Buying drugs in India is incredibly dangerous.One dealer says to him, "Weed and heroin. You like ketamine? You guys like LSD?" He reminds me of Easy Andy from Taxi Driver: Read the rest

That Japanese Man Yuta went on the streets of Japan to ask people if they thought the Olympics should be canceled, or at least postponed. Most people interviewed said it should be postponed until an effective vaccine is available. Second most common opinion is to wait and see what plays out. Read the rest

Here's a humorous PSA (or Public Information Film, as it was made in the UK) from 1946 that teaches us the proper way to sneeze. The actor and director, Richard Massingham, was known for his roles as a bumbler in PSAs during the 1940s and '50s. Posted on YouTube by UK's National Health Service, they have a disclaimer: "This is a historical video. This video is not subject to any ongoing clinical review, and information in it may not be clinically accurate. This video does not constitute current medical advice." Still, a hankie is better than a hand. Read the rest

Baby Yoda. Read the rest

Day 2 and my starter is looking really good!After 24 hrs of sitting the ½ cup of water and ½ cup of Signature Select pre-sifted All-Purpose enriched and bleached flour looked like a blob of wet flour. I added another ½ cup of each, mixed it up and set it back on the counter.24 hours later the blob had fluffed up quite a bit and doubled in size. I had not expected to see this much activity fast -- but I have baked a lot in this kitchen over the last 6 or 7 months or maybe the air here is packed with good yeasts.I added another ½ cup of warm water and a ½ cup of flour. Tomorrow I will probably use 1 cup of the starter for something non-risky like pretzels and continue to feed the mother.UPDATE:About 2.5 hrs after I fed the starter it looks pretty great. I will make pretzels later:Previously:Day One Sourdough Starter Read the rest

Tax-dodging rock star Bono wrote a new ballad about the novel coronavirus. View this post on Instagram for ANYONE who this St. Patrick’s day is in a tight spot and still singing. For the doctors, nurses, carers on the front line, it's you we’re singing to. BonoA post shared by U2 Official (@u2) on Mar 17, 2020 at 2:28pm PDTThe lyrics to the song, in part:Yes, I don’t know you, no, I didn’t think I didn’t care/You live so very far away, just across the square/You can’t touch, but you can sing across rooftops/Sing on the phone, sing and promise me you won’t stop/Sing your love be known.P.S.: Read the rest

Astrobrights sells 89gm tactical paper by the ream [Amazon] for those of us with a pressing need for large amounts of stealthy milspec cellulose-lignin sheeting in standard workplace dimensions. P.S. The Uniball Signo Broad is the best white pen.MORE: Actually tactical paper. Read the rest

What a damning indictment of Fox News from the Post video team here. pic.twitter.com/r8Fz8vo5KV— andrew kaczynski🤔 (@KFILE) March 18, 2020In this video, assembled by the Washington Post's media team, Fox News hosts and their rhetoric is contrasted just a few days apart. Then, they were claiming coronavirus was either nothing to worry about or an outright hoax; now they are solemnly telling people to look out for themselves as the virus rages.How Fox News has shifted its coronavirus rhetoricOver the past month, many Fox News anchors and personalities have gone from doubting the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic to calling it a public health crisis.One of the funny things about the Nuremberg Trials is that, for all their flaws, they replaced grimmer plans. The British wanted to summarily execute high-ranking Nazis after the war; perhaps thousands of people.“The guilt of such individuals is so black that they fall outside … any judicial process,” said Anthony Eden, reflecting Winston Churchill's intent to mass-murder even the talkers and bullshitters of the German right.The Soviets talked us out of it. Julius Streicher got his trial. Read the rest

Qanon grifters see a new opportunity in the coronavirus scare: anyone self-isolating or quarantined can be described as under "house arrest" for all the usual Qanon fantasy crimes. Oprah Winfrey, among the many thusly targeted, blasted the conspiracy theories with oxygen by publicly denying them on Twitter.Oprah Winfrey has been forced to deny rumours that she has been arrested for sex trafficking after fake news reports emerged online.The presenter’s name has been trending on Twitter since the seemingly baseless rumours began, and now Winfrey has reassured fans she is just “sanitising and self distancing with the rest of the world” amid the coronavirus pandemic.She wrote on Twitter: “Just got a phone call that my name is trending. And being trolled for some awful FAKE thing. It’s NOT TRUE. “Haven’t been raided, or arrested. Just sanitising and self distancing with the rest of the world. Stay safe everybody.”Accordingly, the imaginary sex crimes of Oprah Winfrey rise high among the trending topics this morning.Tracked down the source of the Oprah sex trafficking arrest hoax, and it's just this weirdo talking in a parking lot for ten minutes. Now it's the top trending topic. pic.twitter.com/TMW4pXcgxq— Respectable Lawyer (@RespectableLaw) March 18, 2020 Read the rest

It only took 10 years, but with the long-awaited adoption of Qi charging standards by Apple back in 2017 for the iPhone X, the era of wireless charging has now truly taken over. With wireless charging options available in everything from smartphones and smartwatches to tablets and earbuds, we’re now seeing charging pads showing up everywhere.Apple even promised its own wireless charging pad dubbed the AirPower before quietly killing the project last year when it “could not achieve [their] high standards.” But that doesn’t mean other companies weren’t already rushing to satisfy that power demand with their own versions of a killer charging pad.Now that you’ve probably already built up a small treasure trove of Qi-enabled tech, the AirZeus 3-in-1 Fast Wireless Charging Pad stands as an heir apparent to the AirPower legacy and should probably get your attention.Just like its Greek god of thunder namesake, the AirZeus hurls power like lightning, simultaneously charging a Qi-compatible phone, smartwatch, and earbuds at blistering speeds.Simply place your Qi-enabled devices on the AirZeus and let the power flow. The unit is tailored to deliver up to 7.5 watts of power to your iPhone, the maximum safe charging rate for the device. Under those conditions, you can fully charge your completed dead phone in under two hours.The AirZeus is even powerful enough to deliver a charge through phone and watch cases made from materials like leather or glass. In fact, if your case is less than 2 millimeters thick, you’ll have no problem getting uninterrupted power to your device. Read the rest

TechDirt has shared this heartwarming little tale in the face of a global pandemic. A hospital in Bescia needed a special valve for a ventilator which costs US$1,000. Even at that jaw-dropping price, the manufacturer was still unable to supply the critical part (due to global demand). So, the hospital tracked down someone with 3D printing experience and asked him to try and 3D print the part. Then things got shitty....the original manufacturer ... refused to share the relevant 3D file with Fracassi to help him print the valve. It even went so far as to threaten him for patent infringement if he tried to do so on his own. Since lives were at stake, he went ahead anyway, creating the 3D file from scratch. According to the Metro article, he produced an initial batch of ten, and then 100 more, all for free. Fracassi admits that his 3D-printed versions might not be very durable or re-usable. But when it's possible to make replacements so cheaply -- each 3D-printed part costs just one euro, or roughly a dollar -- that isn't a problem. At least it wouldn't be, except for that threat of legal action, which is also why Fracassi doesn't dare share his 3D file with other hospitals, despite their desperate need for these valves. As one commenter points out, there may be legit reasons why 3D printing a part may not be safe, not tested, and there may be a reason why the part was so expensive to begin with. Read the rest

Sláinte! I took this EarthCam screengrab of Irish pubs in Dublin just before 11 p.m. on St. Patrick's Day! What's wrong with this picture?See more empty streets from around the world over at Reddit. Read the rest

Tom the Dancing Bug, IN WHICH various animal-themed Super-Fun-Pak Comix are offered for your enjoyment

Governor urges state residents to “Stay home for Nevada”

The Florida, Illinois, and Arizona Democratic primaries were held Tuesday, and Joe Biden swept to victory in all three. The Democratic presidential primary has been thrown into a surreal new world hit by the coronavirus pandemic. At the time of this blog post on Tuesday night, Biden is projected to have won Arizona, the last of the three states to report in. And with that 3-way win, there is building pressure on Bernie Sanders to abandon his campaign.From AP:Using a livestream to address supporters from his home state of Delaware, Biden seemed ready to move past the primary. He paid tribute to the Vermont senator for advancing key issues like affordable health care and combating climate change.“Sen. Sanders and his supporters have brought a remarkable passion and tenacity to all of these issues. Together they have shifted the fundamental conversation in this country,” Biden said. “So let me say, especially to the young voters who have been inspired by Sen. Sanders, I hear you. I know what’s at stake. I know what we have to do.”With the exception of North Dakota and the Northern Mariana Islands, Sanders hasn’t scored a victory since Super Tuesday on March 3. He made no immediate move on Tuesday to contact Biden, according to people familiar with the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak for the candidates. During remarks early in the night, Sanders said little about the future of the race and instead focused on the coronavirus outbreak. Read the rest

Right now, 27 percent of Americans would need to beg, borrow or steal if they were faced with an unexpected debt over $400. That’s a frightening number — and even more frightening still if you’re among that 27 percent.With so many facing such precarious financial times, it’s never been more important to have a complete understanding of your money. And we don’t just mean knowing what’s in your wallet right now. You need to have complete command over your cashflow, knowing exactly what is coming into your accounts, what’s going out, and, more importantly, why it’s going out.Wallet is a personal budgeting app that can crystalize your view of your money, helping you bring all of your transactions into one place so you can create a financial plan that actually works for your life.With Wallet, users take a birds-eye view of their account picture. Once synced, all your bank account information and other financial statements feed directly into Wallet and automatically update in the app in real-time. Wallet can help you set up a budget taking all of your monthly expenses into account, so you’ll always know what you have and what you don’t.But Wallet isn’t just an expense tracker. Wallet actually helps you spot trends in your spending so you can identify necessary purchases as well as those that probably shouldn’t continue. Shopping lists focus your money on needed expenditures like food, transportation or regular bills while helping you cut out impulse buying that detracts from your long term goals. Read the rest

Donald Trump has won the Republican presidential primary in Illinois, and in so doing, secured exactly enough delegates to win the GOP nomination for 2020.AP was first to report the news on Tuesday night, around 8:30pm Eastern time.BREAKING: With his projected win in Illinois, President Trump will reach the delegate threshold and is now the presumptive Republican nominee, ABC News projects. https://t.co/gLsMga9Z8Z pic.twitter.com/og3eUhN0Ap— ABC News (@ABC) March 18, 2020WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump wins Republican presidential primary in Illinois, securing enough delegates to win GOP nomination.— Jill Colvin (@colvinj) March 18, 2020President Trump has clinched the Republican nomination.https://t.co/E3KhCZjESV pic.twitter.com/YNT7WliBd0— CBS News (@CBSNews) March 18, 2020BREAKING: Donald Trump has now earned enough delegates to secure the 2020 Republican presidential nomination. https://t.co/05vDysPcTC— NPR (@NPR) March 18, 2020President Trump has crossed the delegate threshold Tuesday night to be the Republican Party's presumptive presidential nominee in 2020, @NBCNews projects. https://t.co/1jmecoUdJv— MSNBC (@MSNBC) March 18, 2020 Read the rest

Kitchen appliances wear out. When they do, it usually means it's time to toss it and buy a new one. But in recent years, it's become easier to buy replacement parts, thanks to eBay and Amazon. This trend has kept my Bialetti Moka Express stovetop coffee maker alive and well.My Moka is one of my favorite possessions. I use it a couple of times a day. I have the 6-cup Moka, which I bought in December 2014. (I use it to make one-regular sized cup of coffee, not six espresso sized cups.) I've made over 2,000 cups of coffee with it. I get excited every time I use it.The handle melted off a few years ago when my daughter left the burner on. A replacement handle kit is available, but I opted to make one from a bamboo cutting board. You can buy 3 replacement rubber seals and an aluminum filter.It's harder to find a replacement safety valve. I have one, scavenged from another Moka, if I need it. But they rarely wear out. When I find it acting up, it's because it's dirty and needs cleaning. Here's a good troubleshooting guide.If you want a coffee maker that outlives you, it's hard to beat this one. Read the rest

BREAKING: AP calls Illinois for Joe Biden, his second win this evening in the 2020 Illinois Democratic primary.Biden had 65% of the vote in Illinois tonight when The Associated Press called the state’s Democratic presidential primary with a small percentage of precincts reporting.Bernie Sanders had 27% support. The state of Illinois has 155 pledged delegates at stake. It is the sixth-biggest prize in the Democratic nomination contest.Earlier tonight, Biden won Florida.More at AP.Joe Biden has won the Illinois primary, stretching his delegate advantage in the 2020 race.More live results https://t.co/rY9D4wOVi2 pic.twitter.com/LrRfCpnqCm— POLITICO (@politico) March 18, 2020BREAKING: Joe Biden is projected to win the Illinois primary, according to the AP. https://t.co/Hb9z7AU9BG pic.twitter.com/R3xQ4bxkCA— NPR (@NPR) March 18, 2020Breaking News: Joe Biden won Illinois, building up his delegate lead over Bernie Sanders with his 2nd victory tonight. Follow more live results and analysis. https://t.co/p6CP0AanxQ— The New York Times (@nytimes) March 18, 2020BREAKING: Joe Biden has won the Illinois primary, according to a projection from the AP. #IllinoisPrimary https://t.co/4gEcqwWLAn pic.twitter.com/snXuOSfbnF— HuffPost Politics (@HuffPostPol) March 18, 2020 Read the rest

Breaking News: Democratic presidential candidate and former US Vice President Joe Biden is projected to have won Florida, one of 3 states holding presidential primaries today.It's a Biden blowout, too.At this time, Biden is projected to win big in Florida against his Democratic opponent, Vermont senator Bernie Sanders -- 61 percent to 23 percent, with 3/4 of precincts reporting at the time of this blog post.Observations from political reporters and others, as the news broke around 8pm Eastern on Tuesday night.BIDEN BLOWOUT: @JoeBiden is the winner of the Florida primary, the CNN Decision Desk projects, pummeling @BernieSanders in a state with 219 delegates on the line.— Jeff Zeleny (@jeffzeleny) March 18, 2020Joe Biden wins Florida, @NBCNews projects.— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) March 18, 2020BREAKING: Joe Biden has won Florida, and decisively, as he continues to grow a delegate lead that gets him closer to winning the Democratic presidential nomination.— Matt Viser (@mviser) March 18, 2020BREAKING: Joe Biden is projected to win the Florida primary, according to the AP. https://t.co/TfB1Q5NwOZ pic.twitter.com/DkKIxSdktC— NPR (@NPR) March 18, 2020FL Dem primary phone pollWhiteBiden 66%Sanders 23%BlackBiden 75%Sanders 18%In the '16 FL Dem exit poll (different from tonight's poll, but just for reference), Sanders lost black voters 81-18% and whites 53-43%.— Steve Kornacki (@SteveKornacki) March 18, 2020Biden wins Florida, @AP projects: https://t.co/IvcVsnM5uV— Ken Thomas (@KThomasDC) March 18, 2020.@JoeBiden projected to win big in FLORIDA 61 percent to 23 percent with 3/4 of precincts reporting. Read the rest

• Taoiseach addresses Ireland on St Patrick's Day to warn of coming hardship• Today: 354 cases confirmed in Ireland• Predicted: 15,000 Covid-19 cases in Ireland within 2 weeksOn what he called “A St. Patrick’s Day like no other,” Ireland's Taoiseach Leo Varadkar warned the nation that the expanding “crisis will last months and cause enormous economic damage.” From Ireland's RTÉ News:Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said the coronavirus emergency is likely to go on well beyond 29 March and could go on for months into the summer. In a special Ministerial Briefing broadcast, he said that "this is the calm before the storm and the surge will come".His address comes after 69 new cases were confirmed in the Republic, bringing the overall number to 292.A further ten cases have been confirmed in Northern Ireland, bringing the total there to 62. Overall there are 354 cases on the island of Ireland.Mr Varadkar said it is believed that there could be 15,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in this country by the end of the month.Here are the Irish leader's remarks in full, and video.Lá Fhéile Pádraig shona daoibh!This is a Saint Patrick’s Day like no other.A day that none of us will ever forget.Today’s children will tell their own children and grandchildren about the national holiday in 2020 that had no parades or parties, but instead saw everyone staying at home to protect each other.In years to come, let them say of us, when things were at their worst, we were at our best. Read the rest

Animorphs was a YA sci-fi series that took the mid-90s Scholastic book fair circuit by storm. Written by K.A. Applegate, the books focus on a group of kids who gain the ability to transform into any animal they touch — but only for two hours, or else they're stuck that way. Naturally, they meet and befriend an alien named Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill (or "Ax" for short) who also has this same ability, and recruits them to join his guerilla resistance efforts to stop an invasion by a race of slug-like alien parasites who can crawl into peoples' ears and take over their brains.Wikipedia informs me that there were 54 books in total in this series, although the latter half was ghostwritten, as tends to happen with these sorts of things. They all sported the same uncanny-valley-bad-90s-CGI-cover art of someone morphing into an animal. I remember being pretty obsessed with the series as a kid, and their quarterly-or-so release schedule was a great way to satisfy my voracity for reading. I don't know how well they actually hold up, but even The Paris Review recently sang their nostalgic praises. And, well, kids fighting against an evil fascist empire that's essentially invisible other than the fact that it hijacks the brains of parents and authority figures is, erm, still a pretty relevant concept. I also hear they dealt pretty well with trauma and complicated moral questions, which I vaguely recall as well. I definitely remember the body horror and food horror and surprising amount of death and violence for a kids' book. Read the rest

Instead of watching your stocks go up and down right now like a terrifying roller coaster, let's see what some Certified Financial Planners have to say about investment planning for a plumber-turned-jumping-pan-dimensional-warrior.Public Domain Image via Pexels Read the rest

That nasty price-gouging dude who hoarded over 17K bottles of hand sanitizer (to jack up the price and sell them on Amazon), a) has donated all of it to charity, and b) has had a song written about him. It's called "Family Businessman" and it's by Tennessee duo Good Cop/Rad Cop — enjoy!screengrab via YouTube(Reddit) Read the rest

Fearful that I may run out of chocolate during the shelter-in-place mandate, I revisited this Mariano Tomatis's demonstration of how to magically create chocolate out of nothing.Here is his explanation of this wonderful phenomenon, known as a missing square or vanishing area puzzle. (Thanks, Ferdinando Buscema!) Read the rest

Productivity isn’t just about working smarter or faster. It’s actually about making you a happier person. Ninety-two percent of employees said that having the right technology to help do their job with greater efficiency actually made them happier in their work. And the real question here is — what’s up with those other 8 percent?Of course, the right tools make your life a better place. So when you’ve got a chance to secure a whole cache of new apps to have your Mac performing at the top of its game, you should jump at the chance.You get nine-count ‘em — nine of those much-needed life hacks in The 2020 Mac Productivity Essentials Bundle, now over 90 percent off their regular prices at only $29.99 for the whole collection.A full third of this bundle includes bedrock apps that any user has to own to create digital content in 2020. PDF is the most universally recognized e-document format in the world, so having a full-service editor like PDF Reader Pro for editing any text, images, style or more in a PDF is vitally important.Meanwhile, the one-two combo of image editor Movavi Photo Editor and vector graphics creator Amadine: The Ultimate Vector Graphics Software for Mac can handle all the work you’d usually need Photoshop, Illustrator or both to accomplish — and without that sky-high monthly subscription fee.As for your desktop operations, another tandem pair — MultiDock App Organizer and WindowSwitcher -- can streamline how you access all your files. Read the rest

I never really thought about what goes into running a curse removal scam.Westside Today:According to the LAPD, Lee operated a psychic reading business in Culver City and met the victim, a Hollywood resident, several years ago. The LAPD says that during an eight-year period, Lee gained the victim’s trust and claimed the victim was afflicted with negative energy that was adversely impacting her life.“Lee ‘verified’ the extent of the curse through a ritual involving eggs, and then required large sums of money to be given to her to further the ‘curse removal work.’ Lee told the victim the money would ultimately be returned to her, but this never occurred,” the LAPD said.Detectives have spoken to two other victims with similar accounts and believe more may exist, according to the department.“These types of scams are more common than one may think and target emotionally, physically and spiritually vulnerable victims. The scams often involve eggs and/or bananas to determine the extent of a curse, and a promise to return any money or valuables the victim may provide the suspect. Victims are often reluctant to report these incidents out of embarrassment and fear of being ostracized and scorned by their friends and family,” the LAPD said Read the rest

The Democratic National Committee has warned state parties that if they delay primary elections after June 9, they'll have their delegates cut. A new memo from the Democratic National Committee panel that handles delegate selection for the presidential nomination warns that states that hastily change the “first determining step” of their own process could be subject to penalties – including a 50% reduction in delegates – if they hold primaries after a June cut-off date. ... The new DNC memo, obtained by the Guardian, was sent to members of the rules and bylaws committee on Wednesday night.“We are working with state parties that need to make adjustments as needed to their delegate selection processes so they can continue without major interruptions,” wrote James Roosevelt and Lorraine Miller, the co-chairs of the rules and bylaws committee, in the memo.The warning, as many have pointed out, favors candidates whose supporters are more likely to ignore warnings to stay home during the coronavirus pandemic. Read the rest

In 1966, the University of Illinois, Motion Picture Service interviewed campus janitors about their work. "To do a really top notch piece of work, you've gotta do more than just dust and sweep -- you've gotta really color it clean." From the description at Archive.org:Shows the detailed steps necessary to achieve a high standard of cleanliness in a public restroom and presents the opinions, attitudes and personal feelings of the men who do the job, giving voice in particular to a janitor in a university building. Director: James W. Hall. Janitor: Hance Nelson.(via r/ObscureMedia) Read the rest

The world drastically changed in just the last month and a half over COVID-19. But while restaurants have shuttered, schools have closed, toilet paper has become a priceless commodity, and the stock market plummeted at a pace never seen before, none of this fazed the contestants on television's "reality" show Big Brother -- because until just a day or two ago, reality hadn't reached their carefully monitored sets. Here they are on March 14, on Canada's Big Brother, wondering why there wasn't a live audience during their eviction episode:this bit of canadian Big Brother where housemates have no idea why there wasn't a live audience crowd at evictions. this is what has finally tipped me over the edge pic.twitter.com/jqneBgp206— Amitai (@taitoush) March 14, 2020 Apparently, after this clip was shared on Twitter, Big Brother had a change of heart. According to Mashable:On Monday, a couple of days after a clip of Big Brother Canada housemates discussing the lack of a live audience was shared on Twitter, the show released a statement to clarify that contestants have now been "provided a thorough update on the domestic and international status of COVID-19.""In addition to having been in isolation for more than three weeks, the production has a resident doctor who has assessed and determined that no houseguests have exhibited any signs or symptoms related to COVID-19," reads the statement. "In light of the extremely unique situation regarding COVID-19, the houseguests were each provided a letter from home and remain in the Big Brother house at their own will." Read the rest

Here's Last Week Tonight's second episode about the coronavirus. Oliver delivered his talk in a white walled room, with no audience (and no laughter).Image: YouTube Read the rest

South of Moscow, archaeologists have uncovered a giant ring constructed 25,000 years ago from the bones of more than 60 mammoths. According to University of Exeter researcher Alexander Pryor and colleagues, the 12.5 meter ring isn't the remnants of a shelter as it was probably too large to put a roof on at the time. From Science:Although it’s not clear why nomadic hunter-gatherers would have built such a permanent, labor-intensive structure, most scientists assumed they assembled it from mammoth bones because the region had precious few trees during the ice age. So it came as a bit of a surprise when workers at the site sifted out hundreds of bits of (charred pine, evidence that there were trees in the area)...More research, the authors note, is needed to determine whether it served a ritualistic purpose, a practical purpose such as food storage, or both.More: "Mysterious bone circles made from the remains of mammoths reveal clues about Ice Age" (University of Exeter)image: Alex Pryor/University of Exeter News Release Read the rest

High school science teacher Bruce Yeany posits that wiping your hands with a wet soapy washcloth that's been stored in a plastic bag and drying them with a paper towel is an effective way to rid your hands of coronaviruses when ordinary soap-and-water washing in a sink isn't possible. It makes sense to me, but I wouldn't recommend using this method until a virologist or epidemiologist says it works.From the YouTube description:Better than Purell. The reason soap is so effective against viruses is that it tears them apart. Coronavirus, like many other viruses, is held together by a fatty shell, a lipid membrane. Soap, by its molecular nature, strips that protective fat layer away from the virus,Read more here.Alcohol based hand sanitizers are only partially effective, less effective than soap due to;1. the small amounts that are used,2. Alcohol evaporates so quickly that once the liquid is exposed to air, the amount of alcohol is reduced to levels that are not effectiveThis suggestion is not the most convenient, but I've talked and heard from more than one expert that informed me these would will help and may be more effective than the sanitizers or the wipes.These are not meant to be made and stored over long terms. Best suggestion is to refresh or remake them when you get to a chance to wash your hands properly at a sink with running water and soap.Dish soap may also be used.Image: YouTube Read the rest

Butterscotch is a world beatbox champion. Should this video inspire you to give beatboxing a try, consider that now is perhaps not a time to practice a salivary activity like beatboxing, unless you are sure your aerosolized droplets will not come into contact with anyone else. It's better to simply sit back and enjoy a champion show her stuff.Image: YouTube Read the rest

Quotes from Trump about disbanding the US pandemic response team in 2018:2018: “...some of the people we’ve cut they haven’t been used for many, many years and if we ever need them we can get them very quickly and rather then spending the money. I’m a business person, I don’t like having thousands of people around when you don’t need them,” he added.2020: “Well, I just think it’s a nasty question ...You say we did that, I don’t know anything about it.”WATCH: @Yamiche asked the president about a reorganization of the National Security Council that dismantled a key pandemics team in 2018.President Trump: "I just think it's a nasty question... You say we did that, I don't know anything about it." pic.twitter.com/lWo0YKS1rl— PBS NewsHour (@NewsHour) March 13, 2020Image: Twitter Read the rest

Due to the pandemic bread was in short supply at my local market. I bought a bag of flour. Rather than using active yeast, however, I am starting a new sourdough starter. It is quite easy and takes some time, which I certainly have.Starter Day 1: I put ¾ cup of bleached white AP flour and ½ cup of water in a glass jar. I mixed it up really good and covered with saran wrap.From this day forward I will be adding ½ cup of flour and ½ cup of water each day. I will start discarding around 1 cup of starter, or using it, after the 4th or 5th day.I will update daily with new photos until people are tired of photos of bread. Read the rest

My friend Ben Gibbard from Death Cab for Cutie plans to perform daily in his home studio and stream it live on YouTube/Facebook at 4pm PST. And he's taking requests. Thanks Ben! From his announcement:I know you are all freaked out right now. I am, too. And while I’m proud that we’re all doing the necessary things at the moment to help flatten the curve, I know it has left us incredibly isolated...Be it with DCFC, Postal Service, or solo I have always been grateful for the honor you have bestowed upon us by choosing to congregate en masse around our music. Some of you have traveled great distances and/or shelled out large sums of money to see us play and that has never been lost on me. So in this crazy unprecedented time, I’d like to return my favor by coming to you.Tune into https://t.co/mGtxzmvl3A to see Ben livestream for the next few weeks at 4pm PST daily. pic.twitter.com/Llt2syGHvT— Death Cab for Cutie (@dcfc) March 17, 2020 Read the rest

On New Year's Day 1963, two bodies were discovered on an Australian riverbank. Though their identities were quickly determined, weeks of intensive investigation failed to uncover a cause or motive for their deaths. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll tell the story of the Bogle-Chandler case, which riveted Australia for years.We'll also revisit the Rosenhan study and puzzle over a revealing lighthouse.Show notesPlease support us on Patreon! Read the rest

Behold Stella, exemplifying the canine propensity to barrel headlong into piles of leaves. I’ll just leaf this right here... Stella’s BEST LEAF JUMPS OF ALL TIME! Read the rest

An old Mitchell and Webb skit, contra Voltaire; if you know them, you already know which one it is: "I'm not saying do it. I'm just saying to run it through the computer to see if it would work." Read the rest

With no visitors coming into Chicago's Shedd Aquarium, some of the rockhopper penguins have been given free reign to roam and explore. While Wellington seems really into the Amazon fish tank, Edward and Annie have been using the opportunity to bond together more in anticipation of mating season, according to the Shedd's Facebook page.Whatever they choose to do with their time, I say: fly free, my tuxedo'd comrades.Penguins openly explore Chicago aquarium closed due to Covid-19 [The Guardian] Read the rest

Clearwater beach was packed to the waterline Tuesday, crowded by visitors hoping to make the most of the coronavirus pandemic by contracting it and spreading it to as many other people as possible.Despite pleas from health and government officials asking people to practice social distancing in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, many are ignoring those requests.On Monday, the beaches were still packed in Clearwater, Florida, with spring breakers electing to ignore the public health crisis. Spotlighted in pictures that have quickly gone viral, hundreds of people can be seen partying on the beach like it’s just another day. According to Tampa’s WFTS, Clearwater officials may not vote on whether to close down beaches until Thursday.After all these years, Project Normandy finally has a beach head.BUSY BEACH! This is what @MyClearwater Beach looks like right now as spring break crowds flock to the sand. #Clearwater leaders haven’t decided if they should add a curfew or close beaches but they may vote on measures related to the #coronavirus this Thursday. @abcactionnews pic.twitter.com/jGoxQdYJg5— Sarah J. Hollenbeck (@SarahHollenbeck) March 16, 2020 Read the rest

Warning folks in the past about how spooky (and deadly) COVID-19 is making life for people all around the world would be the best use of a time machine right now if, you know, we actually had one. This video of Italians talking to the person they were, ten days ago, is likely the next best thing.North America is juuuuuuuuust a little ways behind the level of COVID-19 clusterfuck that Italy is currently experiencing. It could get just as bad here as it is there. Wash your hands, constantly. Stay at home. Look after one another. It's going to be a long year.Or two. Read the rest

Matt Ruff is one of science fiction and fantasy's most consistently brilliant and innovative authors, whose recent work includes The Mirage (an incredible alternate history in which the Global War on Terror is kicked off when Christian crusaders from the blighted, tribal USA fly a plane into the United States of Arabia's Twin Towers in Dubai, giving the hawkish CIA chief Osama bin Laden the chance to launch the all-out war he's been champing for), and Lovecraft Country (an anti-racist reimagining of Cthulhu set in Jim Crow America where the real horror is white supremacy -- now being adapted for TV by Jordan Peele). In his new novel, 88 Names, Ruff adds to the canon of MMORPG heist novels (Charlie Stross's Rule 34, Neal Stephenson's Reamde, and my For the Win, to name three) with a unique take that he dubbed "Snow Crash meets The King and I."

There are few experiences that match the sheer raw power of being front and center for a huge rock concert. It can be exhilarating. But without sounding too much like your mom, it can also be far more dangerous than you realize.Hearing damage often happens from exposure to prolonged loud noises over 85 decibels (dB). Rock concerts can hit 115 dB, depending on where you’re standing. And if you’ve ever come away from a show with that muffled ringing sound in your ears for a few hours or maybe even a few days after, that’s tinnitus. While it’s often temporary, it’s also auditory Russian roulette — because the effect can become permanent. And while we’re on the subject, exactly how high do you crank the music on those earbuds?The World Health Organization estimates 1.1 billion 12 to 35-year-olds face irreversible hearing loss as a result of exposure to loud noise. You can avoid becoming a statistic with some foresight and protection like the Eartune Live U Universal Ear Plugs.Eartunes are engineered to retain all the clarity of your music, just at levels about 20 decibels lower than the unfiltered sound. Their proprietary acoustic filters reduce the volume of the world around you, yet modulate the sound waves, maintaining the sound in the medium frequency spectrum while expertly filtering out high and low range noise and distortion that can damage the fine hairs of the ear.In the event that fashion moves you more than preventing hearing loss, the Eartunes are actually so small and unobtrusive that others can hardly tell you’re wearing them. Read the rest

In an effort to stave off boredom during the great quarantine of 2020, our pals over at Chaosium have made their award-winning Call of Cthulhu The Coloring Book available as a free download.They've also announced a Call of Cthulhu The Coloring Book coloring competition. Share your colored handiwork on social media with the hashtag #homewithchaosium and they'll reshare and will be giving away prizes to their favorite entries.Images: Chaosium, Inc. Read the rest

Lithub has a wonderful piece on the classic Jimmy Webb composition, "Wichita Lineman," one of the most enduring pop songs ever written. Made famous by the late Glen Campbell, the author of piece describes the song as one that "defies the injustice of repetition."And then, there's that amazing "I need you more than want you" couplet.There is little ambiguity about the greatest couplet ever written. The punchline—the sucker punch—of “Wichita Lineman,” the line in the song that resonates so much, the line that contains one of the most exquisite romantic couplets in the history of song—“And I need you more than want you / and I want you for all time”—could be many people’s perfect summation of love, although some, including writer Michael Hann, think it’s something sadder and perhaps more profound. “It is need, more than want, that defines the narrator’s relationship; if they need their lover more than wanting them, then naturally they will want them for all time. The couplet encompasses the fear that those who have been in relationships do sometimes struggle with: good God, what happens to me if I am left alone?” Hann is certainly right when he says that it’s a heart-stopping line, and no matter how many hundreds of times you hear it, no matter what it means to you, it never loses its ability to shock and confound.Read the rest here.Here is Glen Campbell singing the track on The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour in the late 60s. Read the rest