Marcel Salathé (epidemiologist) and Nicky Case (art/code) created this fun(?) way to visualize the spread of COVID-19 through a series of increasingly sophisticated playable simulations. The takeaway: "A lockdown isn't a cure, it's just a restart." Read the rest
Olaf Falafel made a Covid-19 slogan generator in the distinctive hazard-sign style used by the British Government. It's embedded in the tweet as a clever video, just click to start and stop.I made you a Government COVID Slogan generator pic.twitter.com/qfCDRrLfzu— Olaf Falafel (@OFalafel) May 10, 2020via brahaminda Read the rest
I'm honored that in the latest issue of The Burning Shore, Erik Davis, scholar of West Coast counterculture, reviewed The Family Acid: California, Roger Steffens's far-out photo album I published with my Ozma Records partner Tim Daly! Erik's excellent essay is a double review, also focusing on the Anthology Editions reprint of Dennis Stock's striking California Trip book from 1968. From Erik Davis's The Burning Shore:Steffens’s use of multiple exposures is perhaps the key gesture here. The decision to re-expose film is a dice throw, an act of faith in the playfulness of multiple perspectives and the value of subjecting an already captured image to the serendipity of leaps through time. Such images are also, of course, hallucinatory, and some of Steffens’ are trippy as shit. They not only recall the formal and symbolic palimpsests of psychedelic vision, but loop the question of the photographic object back into the eye of the beholder: seeing these impossible scenes, we glimpse our own seeing, our own congealing of reality from the virtual.Other Family Acid images feature artifacts like diffraction spikes, iridescent orbs, and weird lensing effects. (Check out the cover shot up top, which juxtaposes the classic clerestory light of redwood groves with a mandalic UFO flare.) These are special effects, my friends, evidence of that hippie will to hack media tech in the quest for unusual experiences. They also recall the more sacred lights you can only chance upon, in the strangest of places if you look at em right, those wink-wink psychedelic glimmers that occasionally illuminate parking lots, or crumpled beer cans, or goofball commercial signage—Phil Dick’s “trash stratum,” temporarily kindled into something high and holy and wholly profane.[...] Read the rest
Astrophysicist-slash-astrophysical-guitar-god Brian May posted this alarming photo on his Instagram last week: View this post on Instagram Reality check ! For me. No - the Virus didn’t get me yet - thank God. Hope you’re all keeping extra-safe out there. A decision to relax controls doesn’t suddenly make the danger go away. But me ?? Yes, I’ve been quiet. Reason ? As well as getting over-stretched and harassed by too many demands ... I managed to rip my Gluteus Maximus to shreds in a moment of over-enthusiastic gardening. So suddenly I find myself in a hospital getting scanned to find out exactly how much I’ve actually damaged myself. Turns out I did a thorough job - this is a couple of days ago - and I won’t be able to walk for a while ... or sleep, without a lot of assistance, because the pain is relentless. So, folks ... I need to go dark for a while, getting some complete rest, at home. Please, please don’t send me sympathy - I just need some healing silence for a while. I’ll be back - but I need the complete break. OK ? Thanks. Take care out there. BriA post shared by Brian Harold May (@brianmayforreal) on May 6, 2020 at 6:44pm PDTThe Virus didn’t get me yet - thank God […] I managed to rip my Gluteus Maximus to shreds in a moment of over-enthusiastic gardening. So suddenly I find myself in a hospital getting scanned to find out exactly how much I’ve actually damaged myself. Read the rest
In 2010 Paul L Vasquez posted a video about a double rainbow he spotted. His emotionally charged commentary briefly launched him into viral YouTube stardom and the video got 47 million views. Vasquez died on Saturday of an illness. From the article in The Modesto Bee, it sounds like he may have had been infected with COVID-19.In the 3-minute, 29-second video, Mr. Vasquez cries out things like, “It’s a double rainbow all the way across the sky!” And, “It’s so bright!” And, “What does it all mean?” There are lots of whoas, and whoos and oh-my-Gods. He laughs during it. He sobs.In 2012, Vasquez explained why he reacted so strongly to the rainbow, and how it is a mirror into the soul of others who watch it:"A double rainbow is a mirror of itself. And so, my video is a mirror for the people watching it. It's a mirror into your soul. So what you see in my video, that's in you. Because different people see different things, and it's the same video. So, when you're commenting, whatever you say in the comments, that's you."Image: YouTube Read the rest
An original 1985 pair of Air Jordan 1s, custom made for Michael Jordan, worn in a game, and signed, are now up for auction at Christie's. The sneakers were estimated to sell for $100,000-$150,000 but the current bid is already $160,000 and there are six days left in the auction. From Reuters:Like most of Jordan’s basketball shoes, they are a mismatched pair in a size 13 (left) and size 13.5 (right), Sotheby’s said.The shoes are being sold by collector Jordan Geller, founder of the sneaker museum Shoezeum, where they were previously on display in Las Vegas. They were the “crown jewel” of the museum, drawing fans and collectors from all over the world, according to Geller. Read the rest
Twenty years after Tony Hawk set a skateboarding world record by landing a 900 degree aerial spin on a vertical ramp, the record has been broken. Over the weekend, Gui Khury, age 11, landed a 1080 using only a vert ramp. So fucking rad. From The Guardian:“The isolation for the coronavirus helped because he had a life that was about school and he didn’t have a lot of time to train, when he got home from school he was tired,” the skater’s father Ricardo Khury Filho told Reuters.“So now he is at home more, he eats better and he has more time to train and can focus more on the training so that has helped. He has an opportunity to train here, if he didn’t have [the skate facilities] ... he would be stuck at home like everyone else and unable to do sport. So the isolation helped him focus.“During lockdown, Khury’s family make the 20-minute journey to his grandmother’s house on most days to deliver food and drop him off so that he can train on the vertical ramp, bowl and street course they had built in her back garden. It was on that ramp that he completed the historic feat. Read the rest
After a cease-and-desist shut down their attempts at a Boober Eats food delivery service, Portland strip club Lucky Devil Lounge has found another new way to keep the lights in this pandemic. "You pull in and you get one or two songs with the gogos, then we bring your food out to you and then you go on your way," explains owner Shon Boulden in the video above.According to Oregon Live, the service costs $30 per car, plus $10 for each additional occupant, plus a mandatory food purchase. You can still get Boober Eats, too, only now it's served under a different name.But honestly it just looks like something out of Blade Runner or Neuromancer. I'm just glad the dancers are given some kind of PPE.These Reuters photos of a strip club in Oregon operating as a drive through takeaway service confirm that we have reached the neon anime sci fi part of our future dystopia. pic.twitter.com/kRKOVz5CWE— Sean Craig (@sdbcraig) April 30, 2020A drive-thru strip club, movie popcorn to go: Oregon businesses get creative during coronavirus [Samantha Swindler / Oregon Live]Strip Clubs Are Offering “Drive-Thru” Experiences During Pandemic [Victor Tangermann / Futurism]Image: YouTube/Oregonian Read the rest
A decade ago, I became ordained in the Church of Latter-Day Dudes so I could officiate a wedding in Texas; it is, apparently, legal for the Dude to abide over the institution of marriage in that state.But that was a different time, before an apathetic cosmic horror who craves nothing but worshipful death from his followers became an appealing alternative to the current leadership of several powerful nations. Which is why I've renounced by Dudeist vows, and am now ordained in the First United Church of Cthulhu.In order to perform weddings, some states do require a letter of good standing from the local governing authority of your church; I learned this the hard way when I officiated a wedding in Massachusetts, and the governing authority for the Church of Latter-Day Dudes was characteristically lazy and unresponsive. Luckily, the website for the First United Church of Cthulhu offers clear instructions for this:You are the gibbering voice, the insanity-inducing dreaming mind blast, the writhing real world living tentacle of Cthulhu! As the head priest and exalted avatar of Cthulhu I ordain thee as a priest of Cthulhu. As such, you are granted by the power of Cthulhu to physically sign your own Letter of Good Standing. Or ordain a friend and have them sign it.If you really need my signature as the Head Priest it's gonna run you $20. But that includes shipping and the cost of having it notarized. And I'm sorry your state sucks. You should really summon a few star-spawn and take care of that problem. Read the rest
Jerry Stiller, who most famously played Frank Costanza on Seinfeld, has died. He was 92. Along with his role as George Costanza's dad, he also appeared on screen in Zoolander, both Hairspray films, and The King of Queens. From Variety:Though known as a comedian, Stiller was also a serious dramatic actor with a long history on Broadway.Long before Stiller became known for his appearances on “Seinfeld” and “The King of Queens,” Stiller and Meara, were a top comedy act in the 1960s, appearing on “The Ed Sullivan Show” some 36 times. The pair were also members of the improv group the Compass Players, which later became Second City....Stiller was born on June 8, 1927 in New York City. He graduated from Syracuse University with a B.S. in speech and drama, and he also studied drama at HB Studio in Greenwich Village.I’m sad to say that my father, Jerry Stiller, passed away from natural causes. He was a great dad and grandfather, and the most dedicated husband to Anne for about 62 years. He will be greatly missed. Love you Dad. pic.twitter.com/KyoNsJIBz5— Ben Stiller (@RedHourBen) May 11, 2020 Read the rest
Spoken Word with Electronics is an audio series delivering to you a two side recording of unusual stories paired with vintage modular electronic soundsGreetings, all — I hope you're doing well. This week, the episode discusses smut and theft, as perceived by my own mind at age five and six. Enjoy a time warp back in the late 1970s as you find a Belle Barth album, are given a tour of Aurora, Colorado, and break into a friend's house to get that Gargamel toy.RIP Jerry Stiller. A great comedian. He played the Borscht Belt in many of the same clubs as Belle Barth, incidentally. Here's this week's show:SPOKEN WORD WITH ELECTRONICS #9: Belle Barth's Dirty Jewish Jokes and THE 1980 SMURF HEISTYou can now follow Spoken Word with Electronics on Apple Podcasts.Talk with you next week. Keep your Belle Barth albums close, and your Gargamels closer! — Ethan Read the rest
Scunthorpe Sans is a font based on Aileron that adds auto-censoring ligatures for a selection naughty words. It’s able to detect the words f***, s***, p***, t***, w***, c*** and dozens more, but with a special exemption for “Scunthorpe”; that town has suffered enough. It's available as a free download (Aileron is CC0 1.0/No Right Reserved). Read the rest
With unemployment as high as 20 percent in the U.S., millions of men and women are out of work and rethinking the next step in their lives.In an emergency, all options should be on the table. That means considering other careers — and in that case, it could also mean it’s time to shore up some fundamentals. For those looking to segue into industries like engineering or computer science or data analysis, it starts with that class you probably hated most in high school: math.But hey, if you didn’t hate math, then the training in The Mathematics for Engineers Prep Bundle might just be the access point you need to unlock a whole new lucrative career.This package includes nine courses with more than 60 hours of instruction getting any student up to speed on the bedrock numbers at the heart of any future in engineering.The cornerstone of the training is the four-part Intuition Matters! Applied Calculus for Engineers training from aerospace and robotics engineer Mark Misin. Rather than drill students on memorization and repetition, Misin offers an understanding of calculus so vectors, linearization, wave representation, and other concepts don’t seem quite so alien.Of course, the foundations of newer, more modern calculus are laid in the older, numbers-based training of algebra, so Algebra 2: The Complete Course gets into that, covering geometry, inequalities, functions, graphs and more. Meanwhile, Matrices: Learn the Foundations for Linear Algebra and Complete Linear Algebra for Data Science and Machine Learning broaden your scope and show how these skills apply in some of today’s most in-demand job sectors. Read the rest
Two White House staffers are reportedly infected with coronavirus and three members of the Coronavirus Task Force restricting social contact with others after coming into contact with infected individuals.Pence press secretary Katie Miller, the wife of Trump aide Stephen Miller, tested positive for the virus last week, as did a personal valet to Trump whose name has not been confirmed. Dr. Anthony Fauci is entering what the White House calls "modified quarantine" for two weeks. And the BBC reports that Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director Dr Robert Redfield and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner Stephen Hahn are "self-isolating" after contact with people known to be infected.In a statement, the CDC said Dr Redfield, 68, had no symptoms and was not feeling unwell, but would also be teleworking for two weeks after "low risk exposure" to someone at the White House. It is unclear who this person is. And an FDA spokesman told Reuters news agency on Friday that 60-year-old Stephen Hahn was also self-isolating. He has also tested negative, the spokesman said.The three men were due to address a Senate committee on Tuesday. Before the news about Dr Fauci became public, committee chairman Senator Lamar Alexander said Dr Redfield and Dr Hahn would be allowed to testify by videolink.Bloomberg reported that Pence would be self-isolating too, but he has denied it and reportedly told those attending a roundtable with him to remove their masks for the event. Read the rest
After a week of hysteria and memes, it's good to read some actual facts about Murder Hor—sorry, Asian Giant Hornets. An important one would seem to be that they've never been spotted outside of Washington state and haven't been reported in 2020 at all. Whatever you're freaking out about in your back yard, it's probably not a Mur—an Asian Giant Hornet.According to entomologists involved, however, there have been no verified reports of the species in 2020 and although monitoring efforts continue, there currently is no cause to believe that any of these hornets are still present in Canada or the U.S.No verified sightings have been recorded of the species in the U.S. outside of Washington state. If you are in that region and think you have seen an Asian giant hornet, report it to the Washington State of Department of Agriculture here. If you are not in that region and think you’ve seen one, it is most likely a different species.Photo: LiCheng Shi (CC BT 2.0) Read the rest
We used to joke about Boston Dynamics' robot dogs being used to control humans, and now they are: Singapore has deployed one to Bishan-Ang Moh Kio Park to monitor social distancing and blare warnings during the coronavirus pandemic. South China Morning Post:"Singapore has unveiled a four-legged robot programmed to keep park visitors tuned in to rules about safe social-distancing during the Covid-19 pandemic. Developed by Boston Dynamics, the robot has been busy during a two-week test run during off peak hours at the Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park."The robot dog is aware that it cannot contract biological viruses. The robot dog is aware of the inherent mutability of animalian life. The robot dog is eager to please. PREVIOUSLY: Already regretting assigning Cormac McCarthy to report on the video of an entire pack of Boston Dynamics robot dogs Read the rest
You’ve wanted one since you were 7. No, not one of those cheap plastic ones, like the one your mom got you at Target before you cracked it over your pal Scott’s head three hours later. We’re talking about an honest-to-goodness, metal replica lightsaber that looks just like the real thing.Now is the time to pull the trigger on a true artifact of your childhood and bring home a CyberSaber Laser Sword with built-in sound.And when it’s sitting in your hand, you’d be hard-pressed to know if it’s the real thing or not. Crafted from aerospace-grade aluminum, this hilt is precision milled using a CNC machine to create an ergonomic grip that slides into your hand like an elegant weapon for a more civilized age.The hilt projects 11 different light colors with a button press, so whether you’re a fan of shining, heroic blue, evil, sinister red, or seriously badass purple, you can fire it up and swing away.And since a sword isn’t really a sword without a blade, this also comes with a detachable, ultra-durable battle-ready blade. Of course, this blade won’t slice through metal like butter, but it is strong enough to survive choreographed combat with your fellow laser swording buddies if that’s your thing. Or just put the whole thing in your home trophy case and marvel at its gloriousness regularly.The whole thing runs off a rechargeable lithium-ion battery and can be powered up with a plugin to a simple micro USB cable. Read the rest
From serving as a home entertainment hub to being a valuable business tool, portable pocket-sized projectors have really come into their own the last few years. But while manufacturers have packed more power and more capability into these mini marvels, they’re still usually too delicate or too dangerous for a child to use safely.The Cinemood 360 is not only the first portable projector that supports playing 360-degree videos, but it also distinguishes itself for its kid-friendly engineering, created for kids as young as 2 or 3 to use and enjoy safely.For the adults, the unit is light, portable, and durable, sporting up to 5 hours of rechargeable battery life, built-in speakers, wireless cooling, and 32GB of memory to help project video on to a flat surface up to 12 feet wide. In addition to the generous storage, the Cinemood 360 connects via WiFi or Bluetooth to stream virtually anything with no cords, cables or plugs needed.And while this projector is more than capable of satisfying adults, its true moment to shine comes when it’s in the hands of a child. Designed with a low lumen count for a child’s safety, the Cinemood 360 is a parental game-changer, offering easy use as well as a wide stretch of kid-friendly content features to keep a child engaged for hours.The unit comes preloaded with 360-degree educational videos, motion games, and built-in access to Netflix, Prime Video, YouTube, YouTube 360, and more. Meanwhile, a digital library also offers 40 Disney ebooks and 25 short safety videos and cartoons for kids to enjoy. Read the rest
Leaving the house for the first time in weeks to brave the coronavirus-infested wilds of western Pennsylvania, I ducked into the ruins of an Ace Hardware. I knew I was in danger because I could hear the rasping, plaintive moaning of the dead from deep within. Something about the voice drew me up short, and my hand relaxed around the handle of my pick. "Oh my God," my voice was barely a whisper. "Is that you, SCO Group?"Super Unix EXTREME adhesive [Amazon] Read the rest
Visionary comic book creator Tom Scioli discusses his new work, Jack Kirby: The Epic Life of the King of Comics, set to be released July 14, 2020 from Ten Speed Press.Tom Scioli won a Xeric Grant in 1999 for his creator-owned comic book series, The Myth of 8-Opus, and gained further prominence as co-creator (with Joe Casey) of the Eisner-award nominated comic book series Gødland (2005-2012) published by Image Comics. More recently, Scioli wrote and drew a five issue Go-Bots mini-series (2018) published by IDW Comics, as well as his (very awesome) “Super Powers” (2017) back-up feature for DC Comics' Young Animal imprint. Scioli also drew and co-scripted (with IDW editor-in-chief John Barber) the critically acclaimed Transformers vs. G.I. JOE maxi-series (2014-2016) published by IDW. In 2020 he wrote and drew Fantastic Four: Grand Design, published by Marvel Comics.Jeffery Klaehn: How might you elevator pitch Jack Kirby: The Epic Life of the King of Comics to audiences, especially new readers who may not yet be familiar with Jack Kirby or your own comics work?Tom Scioli: Everybody’s knows Marvel, everybody knows Stan Lee, but there’s another guy who is at least as important in the creation of the Marvel Universe. Jack Kirby has been a big part of comics history from the very beginning and is a real life hero in his own right. If you’ve never heard of Jack Kirby, or just know the name and not much more, prepare to get your mind blown. Read the rest
An ingenious and practical invention shared by IMGURian @GuzziGuy.The post became so popular, that the maker has decided to offer them for order from Etsy. “I realise the price is a bit high, but there's a lot of work and materials in it, it's as sensible as I can make it!”About the making of:This is a project that goes back a while. About 9 years ago, I got interested in nixie tubes and built a few clocks from kits; during which I learned of the FLW - Four Letter Word, a toy created in the 70s using huge B7971 nixie-type tubes. The original creator had made a new, updated kit - which I ordered (and obtained the tubes elsewhere), but he went AWOL (causing some drama in the community) and it never arrived.So worked on my own version with an Arduino - and got it running, but ideally I wanted to make some more for friends etc but a) my electronic skills were not up to converting my breadboard into a PCB; and b) the tubes were expensive even then and not practical to obtain. Not to mention that by then, other folks had made this better than I could. Project shelved, indefinitely.Cut to late 2019, when I discovered Scott Bezek's split flap project. A lightbulb moment - a splitflap display is arguably the only thing cooler than giant nixie tubes; I'd always wanted to make something with one, but new or old ones are difficult and/or expensive to acquire. Read the rest
At least one of the older white men in this photograph has had close repeated exposure to a person with COVID-19.This group of white men of advanced age would appear to be at higher risk of coronavirus. Nevertheless, not one of them is wearing a face mask, and none of them are abiding by social distancing guidelines.What message are they sending?Why?President @realDonaldTrump met with Secretary @EsperDoD, @SecPompeo, senior military leadership, and national security team members in the Cabinet Room today. pic.twitter.com/C4Yr2CMeLR— The White House (@WhiteHouse) May 9, 2020PHOTO: White House Read the rest
The stupid is what hurts the most. The stupid will eventually break me. Must. Not. Break.Yet again, impeached president Donald Trump has tweeted something obviously untrue and unbelievably dumb.78,000 dead Americans is not super great.We are getting great marks for the handling of the CoronaVirus pandemic, especially the very early BAN of people from China, the infectious source, entering the USA. Compare that to the Obama/Sleepy Joe disaster known as H1N1 Swine Flu. Poor marks, bad polls - didn’t have a clue!And previously this Sunday morning, on Mother's Day:When are the Fake Journalists, who received unwarranted Pulitzer Prizes for Russia, Russia, Russia, and the Impeachment Scam, going to turn in their tarnished awards so they can be given to the real journalists who got it right. I’ll give you the names, there are plenty of them!Below, the tweets.We are getting great marks for the handling of the CoronaVirus pandemic, especially the very early BAN of people from China, the infectious source, entering the USA. Compare that to the Obama/Sleepy Joe disaster known as H1N1 Swine Flu. Poor marks, bad polls - didn’t have a clue!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 10, 2020When are the Fake Journalists, who received unwarranted Pulitzer Prizes for Russia, Russia, Russia, and the Impeachment Scam, going to turn in their tarnished awards so they can be given to the real journalists who got it right. I’ll give you the names, there are plenty of them!— Donald J. Read the rest
It seemed like such a great idea at the time. You wanted to put together a video for a loved one, including all their family and friends singing their praises, making their life look as epic as a Hollywood production.Oh, it was a Hollywood production, all right. Contributors showed up late and sent weird file formats, editing took forever, the music wasn’t right...and on it went. Before you know it, a simple tribute video you thought might take an hour or two consumed multiple nights and had you cursing the day you ever thought of the idea.Video montages take work. But by enlisting Tribute to help you assemble your message of love, It’s all a lot more manageable.In fact, the Tribute process is so easy that you probably won’t have to do more than a few minutes of work to produce a high-quality tribute video that brings tears of joy. No, seriously...Tribute swears 80 percent of their videos elicit actual tears of joy. Of course, there’s no way of knowing their metrics for judging the results of their 500,000 Tribute videos so far...but if they’re close, your odds for an emotional testament to your subject are pretty darn high.With Tribute, you just enter the emails for all the people you’d like to contribute to the video. Tribute emails your participants, explains the project, and guides your subjects through how to shoot and submit their segment for the finished video.Once all your videos are in, Tribute will compile all your clips into a touching, polished montage. Read the rest
My friend Steve Davee posted this fun project to Instructables. It's a perfect project for shut-in parents and kids to do together.The main body parts of the bots are keyboard keycaps and Q-tips/cotton swabs. An eccentric weight (pager) motor provides the bouncy movement that makes your vibrobots go.Dip the swabs in watercolor paints, place the little critter on some paper, and watch your little tabletop Jackson Pollockbot go to town.Image: YouTube Read the rest
Fear is ripe soil for the unscrupulous. With so much uncertainty and concern over our health and the broader world economy, cybercriminals have been playing on that fear to steal a few extra dollars out of the most scared and vulnerable. The U.S. Secret Service warned that phishing attacks were up significantly and scams over fake COVID-19 treatments have led to seizures and arrests.From companies and organizations to individuals, it’s never been more important for everyone to have their cybersecurity measures on high alert. And whether you’re looking to protect your own assets or you’ve been tasked with safeguarding a company and all its workers, the vital work of white hat hackers is absolutely essential these days.The training in The Ultimate 2020 White Hat Hacker Certification Bundle can put you in a position to understand all aspects of maintaining cybersecurity for a communication system of virtually any size, a lucrative career that can earn you a six-figure income.The four-part Complete Cyber Security Course (taught by cybersecurity expert and noted consultant Nathan House) is a 360-degree starting point for any cybersecurity career. Starting at the beginning, each part of this multi-pronged introduction will help guide you through vital knowledge, from network hacking techniques and vulnerability scanning to all the defense methods that assure every laptop, desktop, smartphone and tablet in your network remain secure.The hacker training continues with the rest of the courses in the collection, including building security analysis tools using Python and learning how to analyze web app security vulnerabilities and solutions using frameworks like Ruby on Rails and PHP. Read the rest
After six weeks of negotiating, the UN Security Council was close to agreeing on a resolution for a global ceasefire during the Covid-19 pandemic. Seems fair, right? Let's agree to stop killing each other for a while, so we can focus on the virus that's killing us instead?China proposed that the text explicitly mention a commitment by member nations to support the efforts of the World Health Organization — who Donald Trump has blamed (without evidence) for withholding information on the coronavirus outbreak.So the US looked at the resolution and said "LOL no," despite last minute efforts to reach a compromise. As The Guardian reports:On Thursday night, French diplomats thought they had engineered a compromise in which the resolution would mention UN “specialized health agencies” (an indirect, if clear, reference to the WHO).The Russian mission signaled that it wanted a clause calling for the lifting of sanctions that affected the delivery of medical supplies, a reference to US punitive measures imposed on Iran and Venezuela. However, most security council diplomats believed Moscow would withdraw the objection or abstain in a vote rather than risk isolation as the sole veto on the ceasefire resolution.While everyone else seemed game to go along with these compromises, the US insisted it was one big Chinese trick. As one diplomat told CNN: "This discussion has been taken hostage by issues that do not have to do with the real issues at stake. Instead it has been transformed into a fight between the US and China. Read the rest
I have a love/hate relationship with musical reaction videos. There are kids reacting to heavy metal (or The Beatles), vocal teachers and opera singers reacting to rock vocalists, millennials reacting to classic rock, and on and on. Some of these are quite moving, for instance, a 20-something hearing Zep's "Since I've Been Loving You" for the first time or a vocal teacher reacting to a Black Metal vocalist's cookie monster growl.In these two videos, Heline, a classical flutist and music teacher, listens to Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson performing "Bouree" at a 1969 concert and then she listens and reacts to a performance from 1976.I didn't realize that Anderson had only been playing the flute for a year and had no formal training at the time of the 69 video (their first tour). Heline can appreciate his chutzpah in the first performance and the fact that he's only been playing for a year(!), but is perhaps predictably critical of his playing. She is more impressed with what she sees and hears in the 76 performance.Personally, I always thought his playing was inspired and his playing, vocalizing, singing and playing, and his other stage antics (the goofy one-legged stance) were a perfect example of "the street finding its own uses for things," using technology in ways in which it was never intended. As with all things artistic, your mileage may vary.Image: YouTube Read the rest
My pal Jake has been taking regular "cigar walks" (as he calls them) here in our lovely island city of Alameda, California. On those walks, he started spotting some creative flyers...(I saved the best two for last...)photos by Jake Schaffer, used with permissionThanks, Susie! Read the rest
"Little" Richard Penniman, singer of Tutti Frutti and countless other hits, died Saturday morning. He was 87 years old. Rolling Stone reports that he died of cancer.Starting with “Tutti Frutti” in 1956, Little Richard cut a series of unstoppable hits – “Long Tall Sally” and “Rip It Up” that same year, “Lucille” in 1957, and “Good Golly Miss Molly” in 1958 – driven by his simple, pumping piano, gospel-influenced vocal exclamations and sexually charged (often gibberish) lyrics. “I heard Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis, and that was it,” Elton John told Rolling Stone in 1973. “I didn’t ever want to be anything else. I’m more of a Little Richard stylist than a Jerry Lee Lewis, I think. Jerry Lee is a very intricate piano player and very skillful, but Little Richard is more of a pounder.” Photo: Anna Bleker (Public Domain) Read the rest
Game designer and publisher Dave Gilbert founded Wadjet Eye Games in 2006. This interview features conversation about point and click adventure games; digital game development, marketing and publishing; and the relationship between art, passion and real world commerce.Jeffery Klaehn: How did you first become interested in point and click adventure games?Dave Gilbert: I played King’s Quest at a very impressionable age! I typed the word “jump” and I saw Graham actually jump, and I was so blown away that I’ve been playing them ever since.JK: You founded Wadjet Eye Games in 2006 to sell your game, The Shivah, commercially, then moved to pursue game design on a full-time basis and released The Blackwell Legacy, the first in what would become a series of five games. What are your thoughts on these games and on the market then compared to now?Dave Gilbert: I am Blackwell Legacy’s biggest critic. It was the first game I wrote with the intention of selling commercially – The Shivah was originally freeware, so I don’t count it – and it shows every inch of my inexperience. The gameplay is clunky, the story is told in three giant infodumps, and the main characters weren’t very likable. But that said, I know with absolute certainty that it was the very best game I could have made with the experience, resources and time I had available. So I stand by it.As for the market, everything is different. Back in 2006, indie games in general were a very new thing. Read the rest
The "transient bazaar" known as Lost Horizon Night Market is a covert operation. Worlds are imagined and then built inside the blank canvasses of empty box trucks. For the event, all the "proprietors," and their appointed box trucks, convene in an unsanctioned, though discreet, location. This location is disclosed to would-be "shoppers" via text just a few hours before it starts. Word of the market generally spreads rapidly but not publicly, definitely not by social media. If you're lucky enough to hear about it, you should go.So, Happy Mutants, this is your heads up. Lost Horizon Night Market: Quarantine Edition is happening Saturday, May 9, from 6:59p EST until 11:59p EST, "rain or shine." This one is a little different, as the spaces are virtual, not in actual, physical trucks. I got a sneak peek yesterday of what's been created and can't wait to dive in deeper. Admission is free, though tips are appreciated. RSVP here.Previously: Secret box truck 'night market' pops up again in NYC Read the rest
Tear down all the Robert E.T. statues and stop celebrating his invasion tactics.The creator of Full House Without Michelle returns with a documentary on General Robert E.T. [Reid McCarter / AV Club] Read the rest
Drummers hear all the jokes. What do you call a drummer with half a brain? Gifted. How is a drum solo like a sneeze? You know it's coming, but there's nothing you can do about it. What do you call a drummer that breaks up with his girlfriend? Homeless.Drummers hear the jokes — and laugh. Because they know they’re the thumping heartbeat of any band. They’re the ones with loads of equipment. And they’re the ones making all that noise while practicing. Yet try to play almost any song without drums and the lack of propulsion and power is instantly palpable.Drummers are essential. Now, users can join their ranks — and they don’t even need to buy a massive drum kit or rattle their walls to do it. Created by drummers, Senstroke by Redison is the first sensor device that can teach anyone to play the drums and even reproduce the drummer experience, all without any physical drum set.Just attach the patented Senstroke sensors to a pair of drumsticks and your feet, connect via Bluetooth, and instantly you can turn any surface into a virtual drumhead. Using the impact of the drumsticks and your feet positioning, the sensors reproduce the exact sounds your chosen drum element would make through the Senstroke app. Your legs, some cushions, a coffee table, they all become fair game as a drum surface while you refine your skills. And when you attach a pair of headphones, no one else even has to know you’re playing...well, Read the rest
Magician Roy Horn, 75, died Thursday after developing symptoms of Covid-19 several days ago. Horn and partner Siegfried Fischbacher ran the most popular stage show in Vegas throughout the 1990s, featuring hundreds of performers, pyrotechnics and a coterie of white tigers at the Mirage hotel. Horn was forced to retire after suffering a stroke before or as a tiger dragged him from the stage by the neck.TMZ received a statement from Fischbacher:"Today, the world has lost one of the greats of magic, but I have lost my best friend. From the moment we met, I knew Roy and I, together, would change the world. There could be no Siegfried without Roy, and no Roy without Siegfried."Siegfried goes on ... "Roy was a fighter his whole life, including during these final days. I give my heartfelt appreciation to the team of doctors, nurses and staff at Mountain View Hospital who worked heroically against this insidious virus that ultimately took Roy's life."My first visit to the U.S. was a trip to Vegas in 1999. The first thing I remember seeing of America, stepping blearily out of the taxi at the Mirage Hotel after 15 hours in the air, was a colossal fiberglass statue of Siegfried and Roy. God bless America. Read the rest
If you’re an entrepreneur or marketer who hasn’t embraced webinars yet, you probably need to rethink your strategies. Over 60 percent of marketers say they use webinars as a key part of their content marketing strategy — and over 70 percent say it’s the best way to generate high-quality business leads.Thankfully, one of the silver linings to our new quarantine, work from home lifestyles lately is the explosion of conferencing software and Americans’ newfound enthusiasm for video group meetups. Vidthere is one of the services that has considered the needs of large and small groups trying to maintain connections over distance, offering a suite of web-based communication tools that centralizes everything in one easy-to-use place.Vidthere is a live video platform for everyone, featuring loads of internal communications features as well as options to sell and market directly to customers.With webinars emerging as a key means to engage customers and sell products, Vidthere gives you all the tools to do that from any location. Vidthere offers the opportunity to deliver live video webinars that are easy for both presenters and users. Vidthere is entirely web-based, so users never need to download any software to join a Vidthere session. As for sessions, they combine no-lag high-quality performance with the ability to scale to the size of an audience with no video loss. Plus, every Vidthere meeting or webinar has a powerful chat feature so users can engage easily.As for presenters, Vidthere events support up to 30 meeting participants and an unlimited number of webinar viewers, with options to support screen sharing, video in video presentation, and a whiteboard mode, a full basket of tools to help contour any presentation just the way you want it. Read the rest
Here's a fun puzzle with an easy setup that makes for a good stay-at-home time-filler. Like sudoku, see if you can rearrange these cards so that no face or suit repeats itself in any column, row, or diagonal. Watch the video if you need some help. Read the rest
A massive boom heard Wednesday night over Puget Sound on the northwestern coast of Washington was most likely an exploding meteor. Or that's what They want us to believe anyway. The American Meteor Society registered a dozen reports. Video above. Keep your eyes on the upper left of the frame."The more I read the more inclined I am to believe this was a fireball (which is a meteor that is larger and brighter than normal)," the American Meteor Society's Bob Lunsford said. "I'm certain now that this was a meteoric event."From KOMONews:Most meteors' explosions are heard about a minute or two after they explode due to the time it takes the sound to reach the Earth's surface, Lunsford said. Sound travels at 767 mph in standard atmosphere conditions, indicating this fireball exploded some 35 miles away."If this was larger than normal then the sound could have originated from a higher altitude. So a delay of 3 minutes is entirely possible," Lunsford said. "Meteors become visible at a height of around 50 miles so your estimate is well within that range."Lunsford said because there was a boom, it’s very likely there are small, rock-sized pieces of the meteor somewhere on the ground. When a meteor causes a boom, it’s “pretty far down” in the atmosphere. Read the rest
These little silicone rubber bowls come in handy in so many ways.I use them with my digital scale to measure the bulk powder supplements I take. We use them at the dinner table to hold condiments. We use them while preparing meals to hold spices and minced herbs. I keep finding new ways to use them. For instance, when I fry or scramble eggs, I now crack the eggs over one of these bowls so I can pull out shell pieces and woogers (I wish I had a wooger snatcher but the bowl will have to do). Read the rest
The Gothamist is reporting the sad news that Gem Spa, the iconic NY corner store that has been a fixture at St. Marks Place and Second Avenue for around 100 years is being forced to shutter its doors and windows for the last time. The Spa has been struggling to keep up with increasing rent prices and COVID-19 has apparently proven to be the final nail in its coffin."It’s where Robert Mapplethorpe bought Patti Smith an egg cream on the day they met. It’s on the back cover of the New York Dolls’ 1973 debut (and where, according to lore, Johnny Thunders and others went for post-heroin sugar fixes between sets at CBGB). Before that, it was where Abbie Hoffman gathered Yippies to rain money on the New York Stock Exchange. It’s where Allen Ginsberg, Ted Berrigan, and other neighborhood poets went to pick up the Sunday New York Times on Saturday nights (and which was inevitably commemorated in their poems)."Read the rest.Image: Alex Lozupone, CC BY-SA 4.0 Read the rest
"[F]lying during a pandemic turned out to be more stressful—and surreal—than I’d planned for," writes McKay Copkins in The Atlantic. After two months of social distancing Copkins went on a reporting trip that required a plane flight. He was looking forward to the trip, but as soon as he got on the plane he realized that air travel is no fun during a pandemic.I arrived at my assigned row, and found a stocky, gray-haired man in the seat next to mine. When I moved to sit down, he stopped me. “Sit there,” he said gruffly, pointing to the aisle behind us. “Social distance.”Not eager for a confrontation, I decided to comply. Within seconds, though, a flight attendant materialized and ordered me back to my assigned seat. My recalcitrant would-be seatmate, vigorously objecting to this development, responded by blocking my entrance to the row with his leg.Photo by Ethan McArthur on Unsplash Read the rest
An array of scientific evidence suggest that in some cases, the bacteria in your gut–your microbiome–could be tied to neurological and psychological disorders and differences, from anxiety and autism to Parkinson's and schizophrenia. The journal Science published a survey of the field and the Cambridge, Massachusetts start-up Holobiome that hopes to use insight into this "psychobiome" to develop treatments for depression, insomnia, and other conditions with a neurological side to them. From Science: For example, many people with irritable bowel syndrome are also depressed, people on the autism spectrum tend to have digestive problems, and people with Parkinson’s are prone to constipation.Researchers have also noticed an increase in depression in people taking antibiotics—but not antiviral or antifungal medications that leave gut bacteria unharmed. Last year, Jeroen Raes, a microbiologist at the Catholic University of Leuven, and colleagues analyzed the health records of two groups—one Belgian, one Dutch—of more then 1000 people participating in surveys of their types of gut bacteria. People with depression had deficits of the same two bacterial species, the authors reported in April 2019 in Nature Microbiology.Researchers see ways in which gut microbes could influence the brain. Some may secrete messenger molecules that travel though the blood to the brain. Other bacteria may stimulate the vagus nerve, which runs from the base of the brain to the organs in the abdomen. Bacterial molecules might relay signals to the vagus through recently discovered “neuropod” cells that sit in the lining of the gut, sensing its biochemical milieu, including microbial compounds. Read the rest
Who is Patrick Mason? I just ran across a few short horror films he wrote and directed, and they're truly scary. Like edge-of-your-seat gasp-out-loud scary. Not only that, but they're beautifully made with good actors, especially Ayuda (see below). The three videos posted here are the ones I've seen so far, but there are more on his site, which I plan to watch tonight. Can't wait to see where this director takes us next. Read the rest
CNBC reports that an aide to Pence has tested positive for COVID-19. This follows yesterday's report that Trump's personal valet tested positive for the virus.A spokeswoman for Pence did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.Pence was scheduled to travel to Des Moines, Iowa, in the morning, but his departure from Andrews Air Force Base was delayed by nearly an hour as staff dealt with news of the diagnosis. Reporters traveling with Pence said several staffers disembarked from Air Force Two just before takeoff.Photo of Pence: Know Your Meme Read the rest
On his Pluralistic blog, Cory Doctorow writes about a $3 router rebooter. This DIY gadget connects between your home router and its AC outlet. It pings Google periodically and if it doesn't receive a response, it cycles the power on the router to reboot it.From creator Mike Diamond's website What I Made Today:How it worksIn layman's terms, the process is simple. The ESP [ESP8266 01, an Internet of Things WiFi module board] periodically pings Google through the modem. If it gets a reply, it does nothing; the relay stays closed and the modem stays on.If the ESP does not get a reply, it will "understand" that the modem is down. When this happens, it turns off the relay, waits 30 seconds, then turns it back on, thus power-cycling the modem. Read the rest
Jennifer Usellis-Mackay, aka the Klingon Pop Warrior, sings "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" in her native tongue. The performance took place in 2015 at Chicago's iO Theater. From the video description:Opening for Improvised Star Trek, I sang a new (old) song. Got some newly translated words the day of the performance... enjoy this little slice of nerdiness... or don't.Vocals - The Klingon Pop Warrior (Jennifer Usellis-Mackay)Guitar - The Red Shirt (Joe Mizzi)Translation - Admiral qurgh (Christopher Lipscombe)Video - Eric Scull(via r/ObscureMedia) Read the rest