Boing Boing

William Gibson, a 17-year-old dev from the U.K., created an online generator that produces the NHS's guide to washing your hands properly, but with song lyrics. Some of the more amusing mashups have gone viral on social media: one form of virus helping to fight another.The one above, though, is a hand-made cut from the Reduced Shakespeare Company.Forget singing in Happy Birthday twice: THIS is what you recite to tell you how long to wash your hands. H/t @ninjalampie pic.twitter.com/TjXMZCQbt2— Reduced Shakespeare Company (@reduced) March 3, 2020 Read the rest

Look, I know that it's frigging hard to find hand sanitizer and toilet paper right now, but maybe ease back on the stick before you do anything extreme in the name of avoiding the Coronavirus. It should go without saying that doing a few rails and chugging bleach aren't going to cure much of anything, except, in the right quantities, a severe case of stupid.According to CBS News, claims that garlic, masturbation (I'd be willing to give that one a go), bleach and cocaine have been showing up in bullshit Facebook, Twitter and Instagram posts. It's disinformation that's making a growing international catastrophe that much harder for folks to understand. Worse still, it's in large quantities. Recently, the U.S. State Department discovered that over a three week period, around two million tweets jam-packed full of conspiracy theories and misinformation about the coronavirus were clogging up the internet—that's 7% of all of the content puked out onto the platform during that three week period. Twitter claims they're taking steps to sort out this idiocy, but we all know how effective that is. Facebook and YouTube? Same deal.So yeah, if you're going to listen to anyone on social media blather on about what works and what doesn't when it comes to what'll stem the spread of COVID-19, let it be the World Health Organization's TikTok account.Image via Pixabay Read the rest

Taking care of yourself is certainly trendy, but that doesn't mean everyone is doing it. Or at least, that doesn't mean everyone is doing it in ways that will really, truly care for their mental and physical health. That's where sleep comes in. Quality, quantity, and consistency in your sleep patterns will improve your life in almost every way.Between work, blue light, relationship anxiety, and everyday adulting, our brains are frazzled. Relaxation and restful sleep can be hard to come by, but this feature-packed highly-rated meditation app will help anyone seriously chill out.Relax Melodies is a doctor- and neuropsychologist-recommended sleep and meditation app that combines soothing sounds, bedtime stories, breathing techniques, body-mind exercises, and more to help you overcome insomnia, tinnitus, night-time anxiety, and daily stress. And if you somehow can't find the right audio for your needs, you can create your own, thanks to the very-cool DIY soundscape feature.As recently as 2018 it was the most positively reviewed app in the history of the App Store, currently holding a strong 4.8 stars with over 180k ratings, not to mention the nearly 280k reviews and 4.6 stars in the Google Play store. That's a whole lot of people experiencing the most relaxed nights of their lives.Get half off a lifetime subscription to the beloved Relax Melodies Meditation App for $124.99 and bring some calmness to your day anywhere, anytime from your iOS, watchOS, or Android device. Read the rest

After a severe fever in 1776, Rhode Island farmer's daughter Jemima Wilkinson was reborn as a genderless celestial being who had been sent to warn of the coming Apocalypse. But the general public was too scandalized by the messenger to pay heed to the message. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll tell the story of the Public Universal Friend and the prejudiced reaction of a newly formed nation.We'll also bid on an immortal piano and puzzle over some Icelandic conceptions.Show notesPlease support us on Patreon! Read the rest

I'm considering buying the Oxygen Solis [Amazon], a tactical EDC ceiling fan, and chanced across the YouTube channel Vintage Fans and More looking for opinions. It's a large collection of surprisingly informative reviews of ceiling fans, visits to fan manufacturers and ceiling fan trade shows, etc., and the creator is up-front about his connections to the trade. He even has the perfect hairstyle for illustrating turbulent air vortices.Vintage Fans & More is a unique place where past and present meet, and where the future is awaited with great anticipation. What began on YouTube as a preservation of yesteryear’s electric fans has grown to encompass not only fans from every era, but also other areas of lighting design and home decor. Expect an unexpected variety; this is a new expansion for VF&M in the greater world of design, spanning decades and bringing them together in one place. Read the rest

For its 35th birthday, the quirky cult classic Pee-wee's Big Adventure is traveling the U.S. on a multi-city tour with its creator, Paul Reubens. As I write this, the Pee-wee's Big Adventure 35th Anniversary Tour with Paul Reubens is about halfway through its now (nearly) sold-out tour and, let me tell you, the fans are bringing it. From handmade costumes, signs, and crafts to decking out their dogs (or kids) and decorating their nails, the amount of creativity folks have been bringing has been incredible to see.I saw the show in San Francisco a little over a week ago and it. was. FANTASTIC. I was buzzing for two days afterward. The great:-- Electric vibe. Our phones were locked in a pouch for the event (not a biggie), which made us all really present. You could practically see the crowd's anticipation in the air;-- I won't spoil the surprise but the special pre- and post- movie footage made my eighties-lovin' heart burst with joy;-- The film absolutely stands the test of time — no question. In some ways, it felt like I was seeing it for the first time, spotting things I had never noticed before;-- It was a real happening. Folks were yelling out lines, singing, and hissing (at antagonist Francis Buxton, of course). much like a screening of Rocky Horror;-- Some fans wore costumes inspired by characters in the Pee-wee universe, everything from Big Adventure to the Playhouse (more on that below);-- Fun selection of merch, including some adorable Big Adventure candy hearts;-- and last, but by no means least, the stories Paul told about the making of the film were terrific and inspiring! Read the rest

What with all the turmoil in markets, I thought it would be useful to repost this reassuring message from President George W. Bush, as broadcast early in the 2008 financial crisis. Read the rest

Pi Day is coming up this Saturday. To celebrate, here's a cool little demo of 3.14 using four pizzas and one circumference of crust.With Pi Day just around the corner, let’s remember what Pi is all about.After washing your hands thoroughly, cut the crust off a pizza pie and lay it across four others. You’ll see that the crust spans a little more than 3 pies. That’s Pi ≈ 3.14.But that’s not all! (Cont’d) pic.twitter.com/xTVbObrPzH— Alex Kontorovich (@AlexKontorovich) March 6, 2020Image: Twitter screengrab Read the rest

A female Komodo dragon named Charlie who lives at the Chattanooga Zoo had three hatchlings without ever having mated. Charlie's hatchlings were born last year but the zoo only recently determined via DNA testing that a male named Kadal who shared her habitat wasn't the father. Indeed, there was no father. Komodo dragons are capable of parthenogenesis, asexual reproduction that's very rare in vertebrates. From CNN:Komodo dragons have evolved to reproduce both sexually and parthenogenetically because they mainly live isolated in the wild and become violent when approached, according to the zoo.Parthenogenesis happens when another egg, rather than sperm, fertilizes an egg, according to Scientific American. The biological process of making an egg cell, called oogenesis, typically produces a polar body, which contains a duplicate copy of egg DNA."Normally, this polar body shrivels up and disappears. In the case of the Komodos, though, polar bodies evidently acted as sperm and turned ova into embryos," Scientific American said in 2006 when the first cases of parthenogenesis in Komodo dragons were reported.image: Chattanooga Zoo press release Read the rest

Don't say anything...(r/DeepIntoYouTube, thanks UPSO!) Read the rest

We’re all shooting heaps and heaps of smartphone images and videos. You probably even snapped a picture or captured some footage today. And that media will likely sit there on your phone until you’re startled one day to discover that your storage limit is mere megapixels away.It’s not that backing up your data and clearing space on your device is some hated chore. It’s just a factor that never crosses your mind until you’re reminded.Pred Technologies knows backups aren’t on the top of your to-do list. So they made the TOKK Photo Cube do that thinking for you. The trick here is that the TOKK integrates the backup process with another vital phone responsibility — and this is one you absolutely won’t forget to do: phone charging.The TOKK attaches easily to your phone’s charging cable, so whenever you connect to power up, the backup automatically begins. The Photo Cube copies all your phone data from photos and videos to calendar alerts and contact information. The 64GB memory is spacious enough to soak uploads of new content, then sends you a reminder notification once its microSD memory card is full. After you transfer that data to a more permanent storage option, just pop the TOKK back on and the unit starts backing up again right from where it left off.With TOKK, you’ll not only never be forced into making that rough “Sophie’s Choice” decision about which files to keep and which to delete, but you’ll never accidentally lose something you wanted so desperately wanted to keep ever again. Read the rest

I'd been storing my comics in my parents' attic for the last 40+ years and I just got them all and have been putting them into new plastic bags. I enjoyed Regie Simmons' video on how to bag and board comics, and one thing he recommended was using blue painter's tape instead of scotch tape to seal bags, because it leaves no residue. I ordered some and have been using it to seal the bags. Much better than scotch tape! The scotch tape on my old bags is sticky and gross, and I have to be careful not to get the adhesive on the comics. Amazon has a good price on it right now. Read the rest

That said, the most memorable parts of my 1997 were probably hallucinations.Wikipedia reference for Spice Up Your Life Read the rest

"Reckless Ben" (no relation to Wreckless Eric, as far as I know) and his pal made a 10-part documentary about how they infiltrated the Church of Scientology, started a religion called "Scientology Sucks," and launched a GoFundMe account to project the word "Sucks" on the Scientology building. While they projected the word on the building for a couple of hours on a recent evening, several people who may or may not have been Scientologists approached them on the sidewalk to have discussions with them. The Scientologists tried to block the projector with balloons, and also shine a bright light on the world to wash it out. Then the police came and politely told them they should probably stop, which they eventually did. But then they found out it was legal so they returned and did it again to other Scientology buildings. Read the rest

For professional or personal purposes, your writing should make you look good. Easier said than done for many—yes, even those of us getting paid to write. "Everyone needs an editor," as they say. Why not ensure you always have one, including in your pocket on your smartphone? Nail down your grammar, spelling, style, punctuation, and translation for all your authoring needs with WhiteSmoke's smart web-based writing reviewer.Using Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Statistical Machine Translation (SMT) technologies, WhiteSmoke not only corrects simple errors but also improves your writing style, tone, and clarity. Because it's web-based, the software can check your words for sentence structure, capitalization, and more from almost any device in almost any format.Rely on it at work or at home to prevent typos in things like emails, reports, and applications as well as identify stylistic errors (including monotony and tenses) and suggest ways to correct them, helping you become a better writer over time. It can also find less-obvious or downright confusing punctuation errors, which may assist you in avoiding them in the future. A cool bonus feature is its ability to translate texts, websites, and more in over 50 languages, so whether you're looking to expand your marketing reach or understand a restaurant menu, you're covered.Get a 5-year subscription to the well-rated WhiteSmoke Grammar Checker Web Plan for $39.99, a savings of 93%. Read the rest

In this CNet piece, Gael Fashingbauer Cooper poses the question: should the "Live Long and Prosper" Vulcan greeting replace handshakes in the coronavirus era?Hell, yes! Let's do this thing. I've also seen the suggestion that we do the Hindu "Namaste" greeting. I like the Vulcan salute much better.One of the things you may not know about the Vulcan greeting is that Leonard Nimoy himself came up with it, based on a secret benediction he had witnessed in Temple as a child. He was not supposed to look. He looked and saw the Rabbis giving the congregation this salute. He later found out that it represents the Hebrew letter, Shin, and that it is an invocation of the Shekhinah, the female aspect of God. When it came time on the set of Star Trek to dream up some Vulcan greeting the first time Spock returns to his home planet, this V gesture was the first thing Nimoy thought of. Here he is telling the story of these origins.It is amazing to realize that, all of these decades, we have been invoking the female aspect of God whenever we flash the Vulcan greeting. I don't know about you, but I think we could use more of such blessings right about now.May you wash your hands (20 seconds, people!), not touch your face, and may you Live Long and Prosper.Image: YouTube Read the rest

There is no treatment for the coronavirus, states the World Health Organization. That hasn't stopped televangelist and felon Jim Bakker from selling a purported cure to the pitiful people who watch his infomercials. Now the New York attorney general has warned Bakker than he can't claim that a concoction called Silver Solution he's peddling will cure coronavirus.From ABC News:During a Feb. 12 episode of the “The Jim Bakker Show,” guest Sherrill Sellman claimed that Silver Solution was able to eliminate some strains of the coronavirus.Asked if the Silver Solution would be effective against the COVID-19 coronavirus, Sellman replied, "Let's say it hasn't been tested on this strain of the coronavirus, but it's been tested on other strains of the coronavirus and it has been able to eliminate it within 12 hours."The attorney general sent Bakker a cease-and-desist order that stated:"Your show’s segment may mislead consumers as to the effectiveness of the Silver Solution product in protecting against the current outbreak. Any representation on the Jim Bakker Show that its Silver Solution products are effective at combating and/or treating the 2019 novel coronavirus violates New York law.”In 2017 Bakker warned that anyone who made fun of him will be punished by God, who will tell them "you sat there and you made fun of Jim Bakker all those years. I warned you." Read the rest

If you want to eat at Sichuan Impression, a small chain of restaurants in Los Angeles, don't show up with a fever (and please don't show up anywhere with a fever!). Since mid-January, the restaurant has stopped customers from entering until they have their temperature taken – with an infrared thermometer to avoid body contact.According to the Los Angeles Times:If someone is running a fever or exhibits other abnormal symptoms, employees help them contact medical services.Those who refuse to have their temperature checked are declined service.“We at Sichuan Impression respect and enjoy having our guests who come from all corners of the world,” the restaurant wrote in a Jan. 26 Instagram post. “Offering you a healthy and safe dining environment is also upheld as our top priority.”For those not wanting to take any chances, Sichuan Impression, which is located in West LA, Alhambra, and Tustin, offers to-go food at a discount. Read the rest

I posted about Reuleaux Triangles in 2017, and here's another video about them. Like a circle, a Reuleaux Triangle is a shape with constant width. In other words, you can rotate a reuleaux triangle in a square with all four sides touching. In this video the Action Lab Man demonstrates Reuleaux Triangles and explains why they aren't good as wheels - they don't have a fixed center of rotation like a circle does. Read the rest

Oogpister beetles are able to shoot formic acid into the eyes and mouth of would-be predators. In this BBC video you can see an oogpister teach a mongoose a painful lesson.We also meet a defenseless lizard that has developed the same marking pattern on the oogpister beetle's shell in order to trick predators into thinking that it, too, can shoot acid from its rear end. So fearsome is the oogpister's reputation, that the lizard even imitates the way the oogpister runs.The video also features a stick insect that "fires bitter tasting oils," and ants that "fire the sort of acid that gives nettles their sting."It concludes with the biggest badass chemical weapon bug of them all: the fearsome bombardier beetle. "It can create a chemical reaction within its body so violent that boiling caustic liquid explodes out of its abdomen." It pulses the jet of acid 500 times a second to keep "its rear end just cool enough to prevent it from being cooked." Read the rest

Here's a good video that shows how the increase in the number of Covid-19 follows an exponential growth curve. Each day, says 3Blue1Brown, the number of coronavirus cases is "between 1.15 and 1.25 of the number of cases the previous day."3Blue1Brown writes: "While this video uses COVID-19 (aka the Coronavirus) as a motivating example, the main goal is simply a math lesson on exponentials and logistic curves. If you're looking for a video more focused on COVID-19 itself, I'd recommend taking a look at this one from Osmosis:" Read the rest

Cat videos. They’re almost like a universal language; even people who don't love cats love cat videos. And what better way to overindulge than with CatVideoFest 2020, coming soon to a theater near you. What started as an experiment at a Minneapolis art center eight years ago quickly grew into an international phenomenon, and it's sweeping the country, with a curated compilation of the latest and best cat videos culled from countless submissions including “sourced animations, music videos, and internet powerhouses.” The first festival was held outdoors in the summer of 2012 and drew a crowd of 10,000!Image: Catvideofest.com Read the rest

With the coronavirus pandemic tanking markets and hammering stocks, wise investors should consider putting their remaining funds in this charming unicorn piggy bank [Amazon], equipped with a 1.5 inch coin slot at the top and a firm but easily-removable stopper underneath.Measuring 6.75 x 4 x 3.5 inches, the unicorn can hold about three dollars in pennies and far more in other denominations, allowing thrifty kids to ride out the apocalypse with plenty of cash for candy, comics and .223 Remington/5.56 NATO ammunition.VANVEVE Lovely Unicorn Piggy Bank for Girls [Amazon] Read the rest

Max Von Sydow is dead at 90. The Swedish-born actor appeared in more than 100 films and TV shows, with famed roles playing chess with death in 1957's The Seventh Seal, dressing down demons in 1973's The Exorcist and dressing up as Ming the Merciless in 1980's Flash Gordon.He was often typecast in Hollywood as the sophisticated villain, which the Associated Press said was down to him being "all and lanky, with sullen blue eyes, a narrow face, pale complexion and a deep and accented speaking voice".But, he once said in an interview: "What I as an actor look for is a variety of parts. It is very boring to be stuck in more or less one type of character." Read the rest

Just because you can do a thing, doesn't mean you should. This rule especially holds true where the removal of radiation safeguards are involved. Read the rest

If you have a photo in need of foliage, fire up Photoshop and generate for a 3D rendered Sakura Cherry Blossom, Redwood, Young Maple, Palm, or nearly three dozen other trees. Just go to Filter Render Tree and let your creativity, er, take root. This curious feature even enables you to tweak the leaf sizes, branch height, and other variables. But what's the story behind this curious feature? From Input:The trees, it turns out, came in response to architectural artists who wanted to be able to drop trees into their work but struggled to smoothly integrate them into the image. Before the tree filter was introduced in 2014, designers would have to cut out a preexisting image of a tree taken at the right angle and then paste it in.“We thought it would be convenient if you could generate customizable trees that fit illustrations,” says Daichi Ito, the technical research artist who developed the tree filter for Adobe. “By ‘fit,’ I mean it doesn’t have a strong style; it’s somewhat realistic, but not photorealistic.”Ito created the project as part of the development of an engine, codenamed Deco, that would help Photoshop create generative patterns. “Daichi came to us and said, ‘I can actually write a bunch of interesting scripts that leverage that Deco engine and allow us to generate all kinds of things,’” recalls Stephen Nielson, director of product management for Photoshop at Adobe. Ito spent a month writing the algorithm that created the generative images. “Generating tree data took me some more time,” he adds. Read the rest

Penalties include fines as high as $500,000 as well as jail time of up to a year.

The CDC created a website to make it easy to keep track of the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S., but it hasn't been updated in several days and is stuck at the count from late last week, with 11 deaths and 161 infections. In fact, nearly twice this number are dead with more than 500 testing positive.The government (least of all the Trump administration) isn't taking it seriously, but newsmedia is starting to. CNN:Starting today, you will notice that CNN is using the term pandemic to describe the current coronavirus outbreak. It is not a decision we take lightly. While we know it sounds alarming, it should not cause panic. So why now? The World Health Organization hasn't called the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. Nor has the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.But many epidemiologists and public health experts argue the world is already experiencing a pandemic because of the novel coronavirus. There are now over 100,000 cases and over 3,000 deaths attributed to this new virus. In one day last week, the number of new cases outside of China, where the virus originated, was nearly 9 times higher than the number of new cases in China. This virus has found a foothold on every continent except for Antarctica. In several countries, the number of cases continues to climb. Read the rest

From the Dungeon Masters Guild:Eat the Rich is a collection of explicitly anticapitalist adventures for the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game. Each original adventure dives into classic D&D tropes, and puts a new spin on them. Tackling issues of workers’ rights, health care, the prison industrial complex, the environment, animal rights, agriculture and more, these adventures will make you passionate to join the revolution.Eat the Rich features 17 original adventures for tiers 1-4, in a 213 page colour PDF. Set in the Forgotten Realms, Ravnica, Eberron, or ready to be dropped into your own setting, the anthology features work by a global team of new and established designers and artists.If you want to free the Goblins from the bonds of racial oppression and forge your dwarves together in an iron working union to face down the tyrannical production expectations of the rock giants, now's your chance.Eat the Rich, Volume 1 [Dungeon Masters Guild]Image: Huntleigh / Wikimedia Commons (CC 3.0) Read the rest

Last week, red wine flowed from the household faucets in the northern Italy town of Castelvetro di Modena. A broken valve at a local winery caused 1,000 liters of wine to flow throw the water supply to around 20 homes. Unfortunately the malfunction was resolved in a few hours. From CNN:The incident provided a moment of levity to the town that's in the midst of the coronavirus crisis -- which has hit northern Italy the hardest."At a time where we have very little to smile about, I'm glad we brought some levity to others," (deputy mayor Giorgia) Mezzacqui told CNN. "Hopefully some day they'll remember us and will want to come visit us..."Fabrizio Amorotti, commercial manager at Cantina Settecani, said the malfunction "was appreciated by many. Some clients in the areas called us to warn us about it, and to share they were bottling the wine!" Read the rest

This prototype Sony PlayStation, the result of a failed Sony and Nintendo collaboration in the early 1990s, sold Friday for $360,000 in a live online auction. Background here. While Oculus VR founder Palmer Luckey was thought to have made the winning bid, the winner was actually Greg McLemore who made a fortune in the first dotcom gold rush as founder of Pets.com and Toys.com. McLemore is a an avid videogame collector and historian who runs the virtual International Arcade Museum. From Forbes:According to a profile in Robb Report, money from those early dot-com ventures helped (McLemore) start a 20-year journey collecting video game memorabilia, from strength-testing machines of the 1880s, to prototypes of coin-operated mechanical horse rides in the 1920s, to the first commercially sold arcade game Computer Space from 1971...I'm looking to not have this machine just buried in a closet somewhere," McLemore told Forbes, saying he wants to take his collection—which he estimates includes over 800 coin-operated machines and countless other smaller games, trade magazines and original art—and build out a permanent museum.Working his way toward that prospect, he's beginning to develop exhibitions with outside partners to display the items, including an upcoming run with the University of Southern California Pacific Asia Museum in spring and summer 2021 illustrating Asian influence on the video game industry; the Nintendo PlayStation will be included. Read the rest

Esteemed vernacular photography collector Robert E. Jackson curated a dreamy collection of vintage snapshots of people snoozing. Goodnight. From Flashbak:The intimacy of sleep is a subject mainly found in snapshots as opposed to fine art photography, writes Robert E. Jackson. The reason is that to be a witness to such an action, the person holding the camera generally must have a close association with the person sleeping– such as being a friend, lover, or family member. There is a vulnerability to being caught unawares in the act of sleeping, yet there is also a beauty to which these images attest. While voyeuristic in nature, these photos derive from a sense of play- one of the defining aspects of snapshot photography. Read the rest

First off, we wanted to give you one last reminder that we’re holding on to an iPhone 11, a pair of AirPods and a Belkin wireless charging pad, all with your name on them. They’re free — and they’re just waiting for you to make a move. All you’ve gotta do is enter the iPhone 11 giveaway by filling out the form and getting it back to us by March 9th. Be the randomly-selected winner -- and you’re instantly teched up. And it costs you nothing.Of course, not every offer out there is basically something for nothing. Below are a handful of computer accessories that, while not being free, are all on sale at some pretty hefty discounts.Keyboard and MouseIf you want to upgrade your Mac setup, you can step up to a cool new Apple Magic Keyboard and mouse tandem and save over $50. The Apple Magic Keyboard with Numeric Keypad (Certified Refurbished, $99.99; originally $129.99) is wireless with scissor mechanisms beneath each key for added stabilization. And the Apple Magic Mouse 2 (Certified Refurbished, $54.99; originally $79.99) tracks easier and moves with less resistance for a perfect great combo.ChargersPower on the go is always a huge consideration, and each of these items can help make sure that’s never an issue, no matter where to travel. If you’re short on outlets, the HyperGear 3-in-1 Multi-Charger, Holder and Nightlight ($19.99; originally $29.99) has two grounded outlets and 2 USB ports and it even holds your phone while it charges. Read the rest

After having a computer study the speech patterns of an American President famed for his public speaking one naturally has it recite Palpatine?Alan Watts would be more fun. Read the rest

In an age where blockbuster MMOs and aggressive action-adventure games dominate the landscape, there’s always something to be said for smart, atmospheric, slow-burn gaming that truly forces players to stretch their minds rather than their firepower to notch a victory.That’s why the sci-fi themed, first-person puzzler Lightmatter has already started building a following as one of the most engaging and demanding new games of 2020.A descendant of past puzzle classics like Myst and Portal, Lightmatter finds the player stuck in the halls of the seemingly abandoned Lightmatter Technologies building. The company’s mad scientist of a CEO has unleashed a new power source called Lightmatter. As always, scientific tampering has its downsides — and the unholy side-effect of this experiment are weaponized shadows.Yes, all the shadows in this mostly darkened building can kill you dead. Unfortunately, there’s no simple light switch to be found either. You’re going to have to get creative and be resourceful to maintain constant access to life-sustaining light, solve the widening pool of mysteries found in the building and ultimately stop Lightmatter’s sinister plot before it’s too late.In addition to surviving the trek through seemingly endless tunnels and rooms holding both hidden knowledge and doom, you’ll also be sucked in by the visual creativity of Lightmatter as various light tricks and tactics offer some eye-candy dazzle to this tightly-wound story.Created by Tunnel Vision Games, Lightmatter is already kicking up a lot of attention in gaming circles, generating a host of very positive reviews on game platform Steam. Read the rest

Tech moves so fast that practically the minute you lift the latest, fastest, most tricked-out new laptop on the market off the store shelf, the staff is filling that space with a newer, faster, even more, tricked-out model.That’s just the speed of advancement — and that march is unstoppable. So instead of paying a premium for a laptop that’ll be discounted in a few months, it pays to always consider the factory-certified route. That approach nets you a recent model with comparable features to models still in their boxes, all guaranteed to work like new at a savings of hundreds off their original sticker price.Microsoft is moving some of that open-box stock right now with a sale on factory recertified Surface 2 laptops, now more than half off their original price at just $1,199.99.Sleek and light, with improved speed and performance, the Surface 2 is designed for multitaskers. Powered by a super-fast 8th generation Intel Core i5 processor running at 1.6GHz, this laptop has the juice to juggle multiple active apps all running at once seamlessly. With 8GB of RAM and a spacious 256GB hard drive, this is more than enough machine to handle anything from basic web-surfing and emailing to more labor-intensive app work.Rocking a 13.5-inch PixelSense Display with an interactive touchscreen and razor-sharp resolution, it’s perfectly suited for artists and other visual creators, not to mention anyone who likes to binge a whole show on Netflix in a single sitting. And with battery life approaching 15 hours, you probably won’t even have to plug in to finish the season. Read the rest

Erik Prince is the billionaire mercenary who behind the private military contracting empire of Blackwater and their many war crimes. He's also the brother of US education secretary Betsy Devos (who in turn is married to the guy who pioneered pyramid schemes) and has served as a kind of "shadow advisor" to Trump, including an effort to privatize the entire war in Afghanistan and an alleged secret trip to the Seychelles to negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin.He's basically Destro from GI JOE, but in real life, and somehow more evil (and without the shiny head).The Intercept had previously reported that the Trump Administration had considered using Prince's black-ops services to counter the made-up threat of the "Deep State." Now the New York Times has confirmed that this happened, in a way that's both shadier than I would've expected and somehow still not all that surprising:One of the former spies, an ex-MI6 officer named Richard Seddon, helped run a 2017 operation to copy files and record conversations in a Michigan office of the American Federation of Teachers, one of the largest teachers’ unions in the nation. Mr. Seddon directed an undercover operative to secretly tape the union’s local leaders and try to gather information that could be made public to damage the organization, documents show.Using a different alias the next year, the same undercover operative infiltrated the congressional campaign of Abigail Spanberger, then a former C.I.A. officer who went on to win an important House seat in Virginia as a Democrat. Read the rest

Back in 2007, high schooler Mike Radenbaugh got tired of pumping his old bicycle back and forth to campus every day. Instead, he pulled together some parts, attached an electric motor to his bike — and his first e-bike was born.It wouldn’t be his last. 13 years later, Radenbaugh heads up Seattle-based Rad Power Bikes, the largest and fastest-growing e-bike company in North America.And before you dismiss e-bikes as cute, but inconsequential tech toys, consider this: 28 percent of e-bike buyers told a National Institute for Transportation and Communities survey that they bought their bike specifically to replace driving. And when you know that the average car trip is less than six miles, the prospect of zipping to your destination and back with an electrically-powered pedaling assist starts feeling a lot more realistic.Factor in the dollar savings on gas, the reduced carbon footprint and just the enjoyment of being outside rather than sequestered in your car, and it isn’t hard to see why Rad is seeing their sales figures explode.Of course, it doesn’t hurt to make a great product too. Rad Power Bikes launched with the exotic RadRover electric fat tire bike, a bold step away from traditional, more dainty e-bike models. Since then, Rad bikes are all designed with the same vision, combining function, power, comfort, and utility.In addition to high-quality bikes with features head-and-shoulders above their competitors, each Rad model is also tailored to specific user needs. If you’re a busy parent, the RadWagon can haul kids around. Read the rest

I’ll admit to having been a CBD denier. I dismissed it as a bullshit trend; the second-most overrated after kombucha. The variety of products I’d tried always left me feeling somewhere between slightly nauseous and groggy. And mentally dull. It didn’t seem to matter what form the product took, or which sort of extra bells and whistles had been added to “enhance” the oil.Add to that the dizzying variety of distinctions: hemp extract vs. hemp seed oil, full-spectrum vs. broad-spectrum, oils vs. tinctures, the addition of terpenes, the claims of “sustainably grown,” “lab tested,” and “pure,” and, most maddening, the all-over-the-map price points that make no clear sense. Reading ingredient labels left me further confused, but more determined to sort it all out.I wanted something simple, but my standards were high. A Google search for “organic CBD drops” was a rabbit hole of false leads and dead ends. So I created my own filters, and after researching about a trillion oils, winnowed down the options from there.Filter #1: OrganicIf I opt for organic vegetables, why shouldn’t my CBD oil rise to the same standards? This one simple step eliminated all but a handful of products.Filter #2: PurityI wanted plain CBD oil drops, not a Wiccan brew of essential oils, spices, and exotic immunity boosters preserved in alcohol. Furthermore, I’m a grown-up, I don’t need my CBD oil to taste like a candy cane or an orange popsicle, and I couldn’t find any good reason why it should contain another ingredient besides its carrier oil. Read the rest

Moving forward in any career requires constant learning. The day you’re no longer open to new systems and new methods and new ways of improving how you go about your craft is the day someone else will learn those skills — and make you obsolete.For decades, there’s been no more reliable arbiter of what IT professionals need to know than the non-profit trade association CompTIA. Recognition as a CompTIA-certified pro is among the highest designations a tech expert can achieve.You can get the complete training needed to pass some of the most critical CompTIA certification exams with this Complete CompTIA Certification Training Bundle. Right now, the bundle is over 90 percent off, just $49.99.This collection of 12 courses will take students over 200 hours to complete. But once they’re done, they’ll have all the knowledge needed to pass vital CompTIA testing, like the all-important core CompTIA A+ (220-1001) and (220-1002) courses. Over nearly 30 hours, this training gets into all aspects of IT service, including mobile devices, networking technology, hardware, cloud computing, network troubleshooting, security, operational procedures and more.From there, students can go deep into more focused fields with the background to add extra certifications in more core IT disciplines. Learners can earn CompTIA PenTest+ qualifications with experience in network and system penetration testing; CompTIA Security+ certification with knowledge of different types of threats and attacks, networking technologies and tools, secure design architecture and more; and CompTIA Mobility+, with training in mobile device management, troubleshooting, security, and network infrastructure. Read the rest

Mesmerizingly cool.“Skilled craftsmen and craftswomen demonstrate how one goes about making a world globe starting with a wooden mould and finishing with a healthy coat of varnish.” A British Pathé film from 1955. [source, via] Read the rest

A South Korean street food treat. I could watch this 'making of' video on loop forever.“Tornado Omelette Rice, Magma Omelette Rice - Korean Street Food.” From Yummyboy.[via] Read the rest

New York governor Andrew Cuomo on Saturday declared a state of emergency in over the coronavirus epidemic, and confirms 76 cases of coronavirus in the stateNY Gov. Cuomo on nursing homes amid coronavirus threat: "That's what I'm worried about. That's what keeps me up at night."It is also in nearby Connecticut, with news just breaking today.UPDATE: We have learned of new confirmed cases of #Coronavirus in NYS bringing the total number of cases to 76.- 57 cases in Westchester County- 11 cases in NYC- 4 cases in Nassau County- 2 cases in Rockland County- 2 cases in Saratoga County— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) March 7, 2020Providing the latest information on #Coronavirus. WATCH: https://t.co/X69qRFAjYJ— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) March 7, 2020NEW: Cuomo just declared a state of emergency in NY as the number of coronavirus cases in the state rose to 76.https://t.co/yjDbY66A5Z— Cliff Levy (@cliffordlevy) March 7, 2020Note: in NY, you can report complaints about price gouging here: https://t.co/0iZKoaClNL #coronavirus— Kate Hinds (@katehinds) March 7, 2020Cuomo: "if you get the coronavirus, 80% of the people will walk around the self-resolve; 20% will be hospitalized." Says of the 76 ppl in NY who have COVID-19, 10 people are hospitalized right now.— Kate Hinds (@katehinds) March 7, 2020Cuomo: we are probably spending $30 million per week (on Coronavirus), says federal gov't $35 million "is nowhere near sufficient...NY has been getting the short end of the stick from the federal gov't from day one." Read the rest

...paid for with your tax dollars

'Smallpox comes to Deadwood', a clip from the swearily beloved television series DEADWOOD, via Reddit, as pointed out by Helen Kennedy.An instructive video for our times.[YOUTUBE] Read the rest

Glover, Vermont’s eminently arcane Museum of Everyday Life is seeking submissions from “artists, philosophers, collectors, and ordinary people” for their 2020-2021 exhibition on knots.This is a self-service museum ("turn on the lights when you enter, and don’t forget to turn off the lights when you depart!") housed in a dilapidated barn in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom, 30 miles south of the Candadian border. It's a cabinet of curiosities for the ordinary, with previous exhibitions such as "The Incredible Story of the Safety Pin," "A Celebration of the Match," and “Toothbrush from Twig to Bristle in All its Expedient Beauty.” They've mounted puppet shows, indulge in cantastoria, put on parades, and dabble in toy theater, and they even pushed their own boundaries with their 2015 exhibition, "Dust." Their current exhibition through May, “The Pivot and the Blade” explores scissors. Read the rest

Yes, even air purifiers are smarter than people now. While you thought sucking particulates out of the air and generally scrubbing the breathable space in your home or office was responsibility enough, smart technology has moved into air purification — so now, purifiers can take on tasks they’ve never faced before.The Wynd Essential is part of this opening wave of smart-enabled air purifiers — and it’s easy to see why the size and versatility of this mighty little unit could make it a key item for those concerned about the air they breathe, a group which should include virtually everybody.As a purifier alone, the Wynd Essential has its credentials intact. Initially funded by a Kickstarter campaign, the Wynd Essential sports a medical-grade filter based on materials used in hospitals. With a turbo-charged airflow designed by an MIT-trained rocket scientist, this filter generates over 9 liters of clean air per second and captures 99 percent of air particles over 0.3 microns. That includes everything from pollen and pet dander to bacteria and industrial pollution particulates.The filter is also infused with silver, which kills organic organisms like mold and bacteria on contact.The extreme portability is another of the Wynd Essential’s major calling cards. Weighing less than a pound and no bigger than a water bottle, the whole unit can sit unobtrusively in virtually any environment from a car cup holder to your office to a baby’s room. It also stores easily in a suitcase or travel bag when you’re on the road, so you’re ready to scrub the air whether you’re traveling on a plane or staying in a hotel room. Read the rest

If you weren’t yet panicking about the coronavirus, this week’s tabloids will have you stocking up on Depends adult underwear, toilet tissue and face-masks.

From business to science to sports, data can help answer virtually any unknown question. And if it can’t, it can certainly point you in the right direction. And with every company and organization looking for facts to validate their decisions, the job prospects of a well-qualified data scientist to sort all those numbers out are unequivocally bright.According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the job market is expected to welcome another 364,000 data analyst positions to the workforce this year. With that much opportunity, the prospects of launching an in-demand, well-paying career as a data pro are abundant. The 2020 All-in-One Data Scientist Mega Bundle offers the training to make that career happen.The coursework in this massive 13-course, 140-plus hour training package begins by introducing newbies to the basics of data analytics, including everything from the guidelines for defining a data problem to the tools available for finding a solution.And those tools are plentiful and speak volumes...if you know how to use them, that is. From Hadoop to Apache Spark to MongoDB, students get a complete look at the data organization and app-building tools that are the bread and butter of any data science career. There’s also a deep plunge into data visualization capabilities using the industry’s most popular data mapping tool, Tableau 10.Still, more courses are focused on coding languages that particularly impact data analysis, including training in Python and R programming. If your interests run toward the business aspects of Big Data, the Business Analytics with Excel course shows how that venerable spreadsheet program can play an elemental role. Read the rest

SXSW, Austin's annual festival for music, tech, business, art, and culture was canceled by the mayor because of the spreading coronavirus. By the festival producers' own calculation, SXSW pumped $350 million into Austin it 2018, $356 million in 2019.The Austin American Statesman has more:The cancellation — just seven days before the 2020 festival was scheduled to start next Friday — comes as SXSW organizers faced public pressure to scrap it, as well the prospect of a substantially diminished event anyway because a lengthy list of companies and speakers already dropped out.The cancellation constitutes a financial hit to downtown restaurants, bars, hotels and other businesses, many of which have come to count on free-spending attendees of the sprawling yearly conference.It also could be a big blow for SXSW itself, a private company that has held the event since 1987, depending on its insurance coverage and how it opts to handle possible requests for refunds. Read the rest