If you're curious about what rapist Harvey Weinstein did in the days before before being locked up, this segment of Inside Edition has the details. They say he spent time with his two young children and saw a movie. He didn't spend time with his adult children from an earlier marriage. The last time he saw one of his daughters was in 2017 when he went to her house. She ended up calling 911 and told the operator that her father was suicidal.According to the segment, Weinstein, who was supposed to go to Rikers Island is still at Bellevue Hospital. His publicist (can you believe he still has one?) told Inside Edition that his rapey client is in a "prison cell that's set up like a hospital, and right outside he has guards watching his door, and every place he goes he's on 24-hour watch. In fact everything he does, even the restroom and the walls are all clear plastic or glass so that people can monitor him 24/7." Read the rest

“Complaints of bees flying out of an apartment’s duct work led to a frightening discovery Monday in Virginia: An 8-foot-long hive was in the living room ceiling, including 100 pounds of raw honey.” A pest control company in Richmond, Virginia claims to haves removed an 8-foot-long beehive from someone’s apartment.From the AP roundup of local news coverage in Virginia:Virginia Wildlife Management and Control said in a statement that they removed the hive from the ceiling of a living room in Richmond on Monday. The space was in between tenants at the time.The company said the hive produced about 80 to 100 pounds of honey, although only about 15 to 20 pounds was able to be salvaged. Rich Perry, owner of the wildlife control company, told The Charlotte Observer that the hive was big enough to support 100,000 to 150,000 bees. But he said it wasn’t fully occupiedPerry said it was extremely unusual to find such a large hive inside a building. He said the hive of Italian bees was likely to be at least 2 years old. He said the bees probably got in through holes in the siding and found a home between rafters and sheet rock. The company has a no-kill policy on bees, but they weren't able to find the queen, so the hive wasn't saved. Very sad.Here's the original story in the Charlotte Observer:• ‘Humongous’ bee hive in Virginia home’s living room ceiling held 100 pounds of honey[PHOTOS courtesy Virginia Wildlife Management and Control] Read the rest

Amazon.com has banned the sale of over a million products in the last few weeks for inaccurate coronavirus health claims, the company told Reuters on Thursday.The struggle is real. If you search for "Purell" or "N95 mask" on Amazon in the USA today, the supplies are gone, or the offers are ridiculously higher than normal.Excerpt:Amazon also removed tens of thousands of deals from merchants that it said attempted to price-gouge customers. The world’s largest online retailer has faced scrutiny over the health-related offers on its platform, and earlier this week Italy launched a probe into surging prices around the internet for sanitizing gels and hygiene masks while it battled the biggest outbreak in Europe. (...) One offer comparison site showed recent examples of higher-than-usual prices for masks on Amazon made by U.S. industrial conglomerate 3M Co.A merchant Thursday offered a 10-pack of N95 masks for $128, a Reuters reporter saw when clicking through the buying options on Amazon. That was up from a recent seller average price of $41.24, according to the tracking website camelcamelcamel.com. The item was no longer available in a check later in the day.A two-pack respirator was offered new at $24.99 earlier this week by a third-party seller, up from a recent average of $6.65 when sold by Amazon, the price-following site showed.“There is no place for price gouging on Amazon,” a spokeswoman said in a statement, citing the company’s policy that product information must be accurate and that Amazon can take down offers that hurt customer trust, including when pricing “is significantly higher than recent prices offered on or off Amazon.” Read the rest

AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, and Verizon are among the telecommunications carriers facing hundreds of millions of dollars in fines from the Federal Communications Commission after a federal investigation found the companies didn't do enough to protect the location data of users. The telecoms are expected to fight the FCC's decision.From reporting by Drew FitzGerald and Sarah Krouse at the Wall Street Journal:The Federal Communications Commission is seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in fines from the country’s top cellphone carriers after officials found the companies failed to safeguard information about customers’ real-time locations, according to people familiar with the matter.The telecom regulator in recent weeks informed AT&T Inc., Sprint Corp., T-Mobile US Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. of pending notices of apparent liability, the people said. Read more at the WSJ: FCC Probe Finds Mobile Carriers Didn’t Safeguard Customer Location Data [via techmeme]Drip, drip, drip...In January the carriers were found to be illegally disclosing customers' location data to 3rd party. Now, they weren't safeguarding the location data to begin with. Oops, it's only the real time location of millions of subscribers. https://t.co/TCnYomb06D— Ramsey McGrory (@RamseyMcGrory) February 27, 2020WSJ: FCC Probe Finds Mobile Carriers Didn’t Safeguard Customer Location Data"the companies can still argue they aren’t liable or should pay less. It would ultimately fall on the U.S. Justice Department to collect any penalties."https://t.co/ZLkcZB2Ixm— Hamza Shaban (@hshaban) February 27, 2020AT&T and T-Mobile are among the companies facing hundreds of millions of dollars in fines after FCC probe finds that carriers didn’t do enough to protect location data, though the carriers will likely fight decision https://t.co/mNQL4Rutsk Read the rest

BuzzFeed News reporters have seen leaked Clearview AI documents that show the company is “working with more than 2,200 law enforcement agencies, companies, and individuals around the world,” including Best Buy, Walmart, Macy's, ICE, DOJ, and the FBI, plus “a sovereign wealth fund in the United Arab Emirates.”Wow.Clearview AI is the facial recognition startup run by a right-wing internet personality that is reported to have a database of billions of photos scraped from social media and the internet.Just a few hours ago, Clearview reported that its entire client list has been stolen.From reporting by Ryan Mac, Caroline Haskins, and Logan McDonald at Buzzfeed News:The startup, Clearview AI, is facing legal threats from Facebook, Google, and Twitter, as well as calls for regulation and scrutiny in the US. But new documents reviewed by BuzzFeed News reveal that it has already shared or sold its technology to thousands of organizations around the world.In its quest to create a global biometric identification system to span both public and private sectors, Clearview has signed paid contracts with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, and Macy’s, according to the document obtained by BuzzFeed News. The company has credentialed users at the FBI, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Interpol, and hundreds of local police departments. In doing so, Clearview has taken a flood-the-zone approach to seeking out new clients, providing access not just to organizations, but to individuals within those organizations — sometimes with little or no oversight or awareness from their own management. Read the rest

Website building apps are all about one thing — helping you craft a great-looking, fast-running website without having to mess with all that back-end code. However, nobody wants their site to look just like a template, so customization is all but a must. So how easy is it to make those changes and still not get sucked into the programming code weeds?A lot simpler than you might think with the aid of services like Weblium Website Builder. A previous holder of a #2 Product of the Week ranking on Product Hunt with over 200,000 users around the globe, Weblium has carved out a place as a website builder that makes executing your specific vision of your website in detail with remarkable ease.Getting started with Weblium begins with choosing from the more than 180 available site templates. There are 20 different site categories to sample, so you’ll pretty much always find a tone or style that matches the vibe you seek for your new site.This is the stage where the nitty-gritty truly kicks in, and with Weblium’s block design aesthetic, it’s hyper-intuitive to just pick and choose from over 200 different drag-and-drop content blocks to position on your pages any way you like. The Weblium AI Design Supervisor offers dynamic edit capabilities, so you’ll always be able to see the exact changes you’re making to a block show up immediately in your build with no guesswork later.Just add an FAQ section in one corner of your page, comments in another and maybe a social media feed along the right side — each move is as simple as point and click. Read the rest

Created by Promobot, a startup in Russia, this electronic Arnie isn't going to be murdering its way through all the Sarah Connors in the L.A. phonebook. It might find its way into a few nightmares, though.Below, the same Arnie headbot on the CES 2020 show floor. Read the rest

It's seems likely that Covid-19 will be a pandemic, maybe on the order of the 1918 Spanish Flu (listen to this podcast episode of The New York Times' The Daily for a persuasive argument as to why). It might be a good time to prepare your home for an outbreak. This NPR article, "A Guide: How To Prepare Your Home For Coronavirus," has good advice.Here's a summary:Make sure you have a supply of daily prescription medication on hand, as well as over-the-counter fever reducers.Have sufficient nonperishable foods to last your family for two weeks.Have soup, crackers, and Gatorade or Pedialyte on hand should anyone in the house get sick.Clean surfaces frequently with soap and water.Wear a mask if you get sick.Telecommute instead of going to an office, if possible.Have a plan in place for kids and older family members.Wash hands as soon as you enter your home.Cough into your elbow.Image by tatianawillmann from Pixabay Read the rest

In the 1920s, Frederick Banting, one of the scientists who co-discovered insulin (and won a Nobel Prize for it) said, “Insulin does not belong to me, it belongs to the world.” He and the other scientists sold the patent for making insulin to the University of Toronto for $3.And yet today, this drug, which is needed to keep millions of people with diabetes alive, costs 700% more than it did two decades ago and many people can no longer afford it. What happened? It comes down to two reasons: a "lack of pricing regulations and lack of competition," says James Dinneen in his article, "There’s No Excuse for the Insulin Crisis."There's no law stopping the three major insulin manufacturers (Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, and Sanofi) from charging whatever they want for the drugs they make. And since diabetics will die without it, insulin makers gouge them for all their worth. So why isn't there a low-cost generic version? The manufacturers came up with a clever way to stop that from happening.From the article:That lack of competition isn’t an accident. Though the original patents for most of the insulin formulations on the market expired years ago, the big three insulin manufacturers have extended their monopolies by patenting incremental changes to their products and manufacturing processes. Those patents can then be used to tie-up potential generic competitors in long, costly legal battles. In addition, they have been shielded from competition from generics by stringent federal regulations around “biologics” like insulin, which is a complex molecule produced by living cells. Read the rest

Watch this coach's incredible reflexes as a young gymmast misses her landing during a recent competition in Nashville, Tennessee. ViralHog quoted the girl's parent:"This was my daughter's first run on vault and when jumping back on her back handspring she went sideways and could've badly hurt herself but her coach saw that she wasn't aligned and ran in to catch her before she hit the ground." Read the rest

If Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan really want to attain the financial independence they desire, they could do worse than launching a weekly Royal Scandal magazine.

Last night, someone stole a Lincoln Navigator hearse with a body inside. The police search just ended this morning with a high-speed pursuit on the 110 freeway that ended in the Lincoln Navigator crashing. They apprehended the suspect and the body was still inside the vehicle. According to CBS Local, the SUV "was stolen from out in front of St. Anthony’s Greek Orthodox Church in unincorporated Pasadena. A casket holding a woman’s body was inside the vehicle at the time of the theft."News video below.To the suspect(s) driving around in a Black Lincoln Navigator stolen from the 700 blk of Rosemead Bl just after 8PM today in uninc #Pasadena:Out of all the bad decisions you have made, at least make one good one & bring back the deceased person & casket inside the Navigator. pic.twitter.com/Dvo7u94zL1— LA County Sheriffs (@LASDHQ) February 27, 2020UPDATEThis is what we can confirm. -The Black Navigator is the stolen vehicle involved in the grand theft auto from last night.-There is one suspect in custody-One casket with one deceased has been located inside the vehicle pic.twitter.com/JRrKRqYnyv— LA County Sheriffs (@LASDHQ) February 27, 2020 Read the rest

I consider myself to be a skilled parallel parker, mostly because I spent my younger years driving my mom's 1975 Oldsmobile Delta 88 land yacht. I'm not sure if I follow the steps laid out in this video by Jalopnik's Andrew Collins but his does seem like a methodologically sound approach that's infinitely better than the dreaded "park by touch" technique. Read the rest

In 1983, Cyndi Lauper transformed Robert Hazard's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" into a new wave pop anthem that Gillian G. Gaar described as a "strong feminist statement", an "anthem of female solidarity," and a "playful romp celebrating female camaraderie" in her book She's a Rebel: The History of Women in Rock & Roll (2002). Above, listen to Lauper belt it out in the isolated vocal track from the recording session.Also worth a listen, the original "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" as sung Hazard.(via /r/ObscureMedia) Read the rest

I count myself as one of the superfans of horror auteur Jordan Peele, so I'm superexcited to see his remake of Candyman, a 1992 cult-favorite about an urban legend that turns out not to be a legend. Peele produced and co-wrote the screenplay, and it comes out June 12, 2020.From the synopsis:For as long as residents can remember, the housing projects of Chicago’s Cabrini Green neighborhood were terrorized by a word-of-mouth ghost story about a supernatural killer with a hook for a hand, easily summoned by those daring to repeat his name five times into a mirror. In present day, a decade after the last of the Cabrini towers were torn down, visual artist Anthony McCoy (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II; HBO’s Watchmen, Us) and his girlfriend, gallery director Brianna Cartwright (Teyonah Parris; If Beale Street Could Talk, The Photograph), move into a luxury loft condo in Cabrini, now gentrified beyond recognition and inhabited by upwardly mobile millennials.With Anthony’s painting career on the brink of stalling, a chance encounter with a Cabrini Green old-timer (Colman Domingo; HBO’s Euphoria, Assassination Nation) exposes Anthony to the tragically horrific nature of the true story behind Candyman. Anxious to maintain his status in the Chicago art world, Anthony begins to explore these macabre details in his studio as fresh grist for paintings, unknowingly opening a door to a complex past that unravels his own sanity and unleashes a terrifyingly viral wave of violence that puts him on a collision course with destiny. Read the rest

Disney is seeking an Admiral for their Galactic Starcruiser, Halcyon. That means there's an open position for general manager of the Star Wars theme hotel at Walt Disney World, Florida. From the Job Summary:Are you ready to command a Galactic Starcruiser, the Halcyon, where you will take passengers on an adventure to a galaxy far, far, away? Be the first Admiral (GM) to manage this fully immersive, luxury resort, where guests and crew are part of a Star Wars story, including encounters between Resistance forces and the First Order.We are seeking a seasoned hotelier with extensive senior leadership hospitality experience on land or at sea to serve as Resort Manager / Hotel Director. He/she will drive and execute a unique immersive “cruise-like experience” aligned with our Star Wars franchise. This experience will operate as a two-night journey and be the world’s first multi-day immersive adventure. The ideal candidate will have a passion for bringing ideas to life, creativity, value a non-traditional work environment, and balance a traditional hotel experience with immersive entertainment. Read the rest

"To the suspect(s) driving around in a Black Lincoln Navigator stolen from the 700 blk of Rosemead Bl just after 8PM today in uninc #Pasadena: Out of all the bad decisions you have made, at least make one good one & bring back the deceased person & casket inside the Navigator," tweeted the LA County Sheriff's department last night.The suspects have not been identified and are still at large.To the suspect(s) driving around in a Black Lincoln Navigator stolen from the 700 blk of Rosemead Bl just after 8PM today in uninc #Pasadena:Out of all the bad decisions you have made, at least make one good one & bring back the deceased person & casket inside the Navigator. pic.twitter.com/Dvo7u94zL1— LA County Sheriffs (@LASDHQ) February 27, 2020Image by Michael Kauer from Pixabay Read the rest

People are tossing old mattresses faster than ever before, thanks to online mattress peddlers who offer easy returns and 100-day guarantees. (It's not surprising -- the last time I visited a brick-and-mortar mattress store it had the same vibe as a sleazy used car joint.) The upshot -- tons of tossed out mattresses clogging landfills and the rise of scammy recyclers who collect filthy, vermin-infested mattresses, give them new covers and resell them as new.The Guardian reports:One scam involves fraudsters posing as reputable mattress recyclers. They set up an official-looking website and start offering their services to residents and businesses. When people bite, the fraudsters collect the mattresses, pick the ones in good condition, replace the outer casing, and then wrap in new covers that often have the logo of a reputable manufacturer on it. These secondhand mattresses are then sold as new. “Some of the mattresses you get from the general public are disgusting,” warns Allsopp. “If you strip the outer polycotton layer off a mattress, underneath it’s just a horror,” Scollick agrees. “That, unsanitised, is going into supposedly brand-new mattresses.”It is easy to fall victim to mattress scammers: a member of Fitzsimons’ own family was duped. “I was agog!” he says. “In spite of all my stories over the dinner table!” A common scam involves a man with a van – often with the name of a reputable firm on the side – who goes door-to-door in residential neighbourhoods. He was meant to be delivering mattresses to a hotel, he’ll say, but there was a problem with the order, and they have surplus, high-quality mattresses. Read the rest

Sure, Jan.

A woman dressed as Cookie Monster was arrested this week after being found overdosed in a car after dropping her daughter off at another person's house.Police found [Monster] wearing the Sesame Street costume slumped over in her idling car behind the home where she had just dropped off her daughter. Narcan was used to revive [Monster]. She was taken to the hospital where she was treated for an apparent heroin overdose. Her friend who alerted police talked with Channel 11 about the scary situation. Read the rest

In our modern world, our usual first approach to combating an oncoming cold is to medicate it into oblivion. Sometimes, that carpet bombing pharmaceutical attack plan can knock out the congestion and discomfort of an illness before it settles in. But there’s always something to be said for trying to put down the effects of a cold or allergy irritation with a more natural, holistic method.As opposed to drug remedies, steam inhalers go at sinus issues with good old fashioned water vapor. You can enjoy the benefits of this time-tested technique with the AVYA Portable Steam Inhaler, which is now over 30 percent off its regular price at just $129.99.Boiled water or saline solution produces a heated steam aerosol that travels deep into the nasal passages, thanks to Avya’s patented technology. The vapors break up congestion, clear sinuses and relieve irritation or inflammation while draining mucus caused by colds, allergies, sinusitis or even the flu.Even if you’re just suffering from nasal or throat discomfort due to cold weather conditions, the AVYA inhaler can help hydrate and moisturize those airways and soothe those sensitive areas with an ancient and safe remedy.Battery-operated and weighing less than 8 ounces, you can use the AVYA anywhere to get breathing relief instantly. The AVYA was backed by a Kickstarter campaign that raised over $344,000 and with a 4.2 out of 5 star Amazon rating, the unit is definitely winning over converts with its simple approach to nasal relief.Of course, the right saline solution can help make a real difference in achieving that relief, so you can also choose from standard AVYA Nasal Saline Solution ($8.99, Read the rest

Chris Pattle's The Simpsons in CSS is exactly as promised: thirteen of the show's characters rendered and animated using style sheets: no javascript or image files to be found. (In Firefox on Windows, you can see some artifacts that hint at how the characters are built from geometric shapes.) Read the rest

Petnet is a $300 internet-of-things pet food bowl. Its network went down and stayed down for a week, leaving some pets to go hungry. The BBC reports that owners are livid and that it's not the first trouble Petnet's had maintaining service.Petnet has two Twitter accounts. The official one has not tweeted since 30 August 2019 but the support account issued four tweets between 14 and 21 February about the problems experienced. In its first tweet it said a "system outage" was affecting second generation devices and asked customers not to switch off their feeder even if it appeared to be offline. ... On 21 February it said smartfeeders were "returning online" and a "system reset" was in progress.The Petnet has dismal reviews on Amazon, where the Wopet is the clear favorite: a plain old automatic feeder, no internet required. PREVIOUSLY: Smart pet food bowl closes when pets overeat. Read the rest

Assembling LEGO's official Star Destroyer kit [Amazon] is no mean feat: it has nearly 4,800 pieces and retails for $700. But Matt Benner, aka TheBrickWiz, went 30,000 better, constructing a collossal Star Wars spaceship to put the fear of Vader into any rebel fool enough to fall into its gravity well. He even made the interior – check out the conference room (below)! Read the rest

In January of 2018, I was hired by the Civic Ensemble of Ithaca, New York to take part in a fascinating playwriting opportunity. The company had started a ReEntry Theatre program in 2015, teaming with state social services to implement a theatre education curriculum to help people dealing with incarceration and substance abuse rehabilitation to transition back into society. In the past, the program participants had written their own monologues and brief scenes, along with learning some improv exercises. But they brought me in to work with those program participants, and all the raw material they'd produce, and turn that into a full-length play—a singular, cohesive vision that was lightly fictionalized but drawn directly from the participants' real experiences dealing with prison and addiction.The result, Streets Like This, had its world premiere in May of 2018. But now the company is re-mounting it at the Cherry Artspace (also in Ithaca) from March 12-22, 2020.Working on this play was a very cool experience. The program participants were all people who had seen a lot of shit, but also had some incredibly deep empathy but for what they and others like them had gone through. Many of them possessed an intuitive understanding of the complex systemic issues that drove them into the desperation — the violence, drugs, sex work, and petty crime — that landed them in prison in the first place. And having been through prison — sometimes more than once — they also had a better understanding of the ways that the system is set up to fail people just like them. Read the rest

Today on "Every Single Expectation of Gradual Fascist Action Under the Trump Administration Has Continued Coming True:"The Department of Justice today announced the creation of a section dedicated to investigating and litigating revocation of naturalization. The Denaturalization Section will join the existing sections within the Civil Division’s Office of Immigration Litigation—the District Court Section and the Appellate Section. This move underscores the Department’s commitment to bring justice to terrorists, war criminals, sex offenders, and other fraudsters who illegally obtained naturalization.I generally try to avoid slippery slope arguments as they are a logical fallacy. But this one is particularly concerning. Take it in good faith, and there's still the issue of "de-naturalizing" people from countries like Tibet, or the Kingdom of Fiji, or Czechoslovakia, or the United Arab Republic, or the Catalan Republic — nation-states that technically no longer exist, but from which naturalized US citizens could have possibly emigrated.And then there are the worst-case scenarios: who could trust that the government would limit these cases to terrorists and sex offenders, and who gets to define what constitutes terrorism or a sex offense?This is a dangerous nativist agenda no matter what way you slice it,The Department of Justice Creates Section Dedicated to Denaturalization Cases [US Department of Justice]Image: U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Tracy L. DeMarco / Public Domain, depicting a military spouse becoming a military spouse receiving her naturalized US citizenship on foreign soil. Read the rest

Whether you're managing a political campaign or building a client base, there comes a time when you stop seeing people and start seeing numbers.This doesn't happen suddenly. You shake hands, make calls, and build relationships. And then those relationships disappear into a database of donors or customers as your organization grows. People get brought in to manage those databases, and those databases fragment off into countless little spreadsheets.That's how the people that were once your supporters end up with faceless emails, impersonal calls, and tedious forms that ask for information you already have. And that's how they stop becoming your supporters.That's why services like the one that NationBuilder is providing are more crucial than ever. They allow you to manage your contacts in integrated databases that actually foster communication and allow for on the-fly-customization based on their interests and prior interactions.In other words, it allows you to treat "your people" like people.All of this is done on a website that you can build from the ground up in minutes with NationBuilder's ready-made templates. Plus, NationBuilder sets you up with tools to help you inspire, capture, and seamlessly track actions across your page.NationBuilder also empowers you to maintain real, meaningful connections with your supporters by way of personalized email and text to supporters based on their interests and history with you.They're currently doing a 14-day free trial of NationBuilder, but Boing Boing readers can get a free month after that trial ends. If you're doing any kind of community engagement, it's definitely worth a look. Read the rest

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Wednesday confirmed a possible first person-to-person transmission of COVID-19 in California in a patient who is identified as a member of the general public. The individual is a resident of Solano County, CA. They are receiving medical care in Sacramento County, say state officials.The individual suspected of being the first person to-person coronavirus transmission had no known exposure to the virus through travel or close contact with a known infected individual, according to the California Department Of Public Health.NEW: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed a possible first case of person-to-person transmission of COVID-19 in California in general public. The individual is a resident of Solano County and is receiving medical care in Sacramento Co. per State Officials— Andrew Blankstein (@anblanx) February 27, 2020The individual suspected of first possible person to-person Coronavirus transmission had no known exposure to the virus through travel or close contact with a known infected individual per California Dept. Of Public Health— Andrew Blankstein (@anblanx) February 27, 2020Per Governor @GavinNewsom's office: The individual infected with Coronavirus is a resident of Solano County and is receiving medical care in Sacramento County. The individual had no known exposure to the virus through travel or close contact with a known infected individual.— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) February 27, 2020.@CAPublicHealth says the first possible community transmission of coronavirus in California involved an individual who lives in Solano County in the Bay Area. Read the rest

A Korean Air flight attendant has tested positive for coronavirus, and they worked on flights between Seoul and Los Angeles, South Korean media outlets reported on Wednesday afternoon U.S. time.The Korean Air cabin crew member diagnosed with coronavirus today flew home to South Korea from Los Angeles on February 19 https://t.co/ugf1TsmW3s— Steve Lookner (@lookner) February 25, 2020The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said Wednesday the crew member worked on a Korean Air KE958 flight from Israel to Incheon, February 15-16. The passengers included a South Korea tour group from which 31 coronavirus cases originated, medical reports say.Other KA routes and flights the employee with coronavirus may have traveled have not yet been identified.SEOUL, Feb 27 (Reuters) - A Korean Air flight attendant who has tested positive for coronavirus had worked on flights between Seoul and Los Angeles, local media reported.— Vincent Lee (@Rover829) February 27, 2020From Reuters:Korean Air has referred all inquiries about the employee’s itinerary to KCDC, as the authority in charge, adding “We will continue to work closely with the relevant authorities to ensure the safety of our passengers and employees.” #BREAKING: A @KoreanAir flight attendant was diagnosed with #coronavirus shortly after working on a flight to Los Angeles, per South Korean media @ABC7 https://t.co/3qmPdcNFuH— Veronica Miracle (@ABC7Veronica) February 26, 2020 Read the rest

Thank you for reading -- After eight years on Boing Boing, the John Wilcock story will conclude next week! -- From John Wilcock, New York Years, by Ethan Persoff and Scott Marshall -- (See all Boing Boing installments) Read the rest

“The risk to the American people remains very low,” Trump said, flanked by VP Pence and US public health officials.

On Vsauce2, Kevin Lieber explains the mathematical magic that enables mentalists to confound audiences by correctly guessing the number they've picked. Even though I know how it's done, it still confounds me. Read the rest

Writer William Mersey was sent to prison for tax fraud, and spent time at New York City's Rikers Island a few months ago. In this Daily Beast article, he describes what life at Rikers will be like for rapist Harvey Weinstein.I suspect the shock of being found guilty of rape in the third degree and sexual assault in the first degree Monday and immediately cuffed and taken into custody by court officers is what led to the heart palpitations that caused the ambulance transporting him to Rikers to be diverted to the prison ward of Bellevue Hospital. Weinstein, who’d avoided any time behind bars until now, should steel himself; there are more shocks to come once he recovers from his post-conviction fit of the vapors.When I left the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) for Rikers, I was handcuffed, shackled at the ankles, and placed in a tiny, claustrophobic plastic cubicle in the back of a Ford van to bump and bruise my way to the inmate island. He should hope he’s tied to his seat and not given a rough ride like I was.Photo of Rikers Island by U.S. Geological Survey, conversion to PNG by uploader (Herr Satz). - The National Map Seamless Server, layer New York City (Mar 2006), latitude 40.79930093 to 40.78455349, longitude -73.89361276 to -73.86990631.Converted from GeoTIFF to PNG using GIMP., Public Domain, Link | Photo of Harvey Weinstein by Georges Biard, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=63418391 Read the rest

Trump's campaign filed a lawsuit against The New York Times today, claiming unspecified "millions" of dollars in damage for a 2019 op-ed, reports CNBC:Among other things, the suit alleges that the newspaper “has engaged in a systematic pattern of bias” against Trump’s campaign, which is designed to damage the campaign’s reputation and cause it to fail.A Times spokesman said, “The Trump Campaign has turned to the courts to try to punish an opinion writer for having an opinion they find unacceptable.”“Fortunately, the law protects the right of Americans to express their judgments and conclusions, especially about events of public importance. We look forward to vindicating that right in this case,” the spokesman said.Photo by Stéphan Valentin on Unsplash Read the rest

Learning to ride a bike is one of those quintessential childhood experiences that's as rewarding as it is scary. Prep your precious babe for success by starting them early with the world's lightest balance bike, the Brilrider FLIGHT.For the uninitiated, balance bikes are no-pedal bicycles that propel forward by pushing off the ground with the feet, a la the Flintstones. Stopping, too, is accomplished by foot, which kids tend to do naturally anyway. (Hands up if you're stopping like that to this day... *raises hand*)They're way easier for a toddler to learn than a traditional bike + training wheels setup, thanks to their uncomplicated design that eliminates intimidation while helping little ones gain confidence and independence as they focus on simply balancing. Most babies can balance by the age of 2, so once they get their road-legs they'll be set for a faster transition to a standard bike, no training wheels required.The incredibly lightweight frame of the Brilrider FLIGHT was designed with children as young as 12 months in mind; made with airplane-grade aluminum, it's tough, durable, and insanely easy to maneuver. That's a bonus for parents, too, since you'll likely be the one hauling it around. Also a bonus? Tool-free assembly and quick-release adjustments of the handlebars and seat.Speaking of the seat, kids benefit from its 11" starting position. This means not only is the Brilrider sized better for learners—allowing for full control and walking of the bike—but even if they were to fall, there's a much shorter distance to the ground. Read the rest

The U.S. military announced late Tuesday that a U.S.-ROK Armed Forces in Korea soldier stationed at Camp Carroll in South Korea has tested positive for coronavirus. A USFK soldier stationed at Camp Carroll tested positive for COVID-19, marking the first time a U.S. service member has tested positive for the virus. We’re implementing all appropriate control measures to protect the force. https://t.co/kkfEIuW7Jb— U.S. Forces Korea (@USForcesKorea) February 26, 2020This is the first time the DoD has confirmed a U.S. service member has tested positive for the virus.From Reuters tonight:South Korea reported 169 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, including a U.S. soldier, as health authorities readied an ambitious plan to test more than 200,000 members of a church hit hardest by the country’s outbreak. The new cases pushed the total tally to 1,146, with the numbers expected to rise as the government widens its testing.Of the new cases, 134 were from Daegu city, where a branch of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, which has been linked to outbreaks, is located, the Korea Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (KCDC) said.The U.S. military reported its first case of the coronavirus on Wednesday, in a 23-year-old soldier based in Camp Carroll, about 20 km (12.4 miles) from Daegu. The camp is also near a disability centre that has had its own outbreak of the virus. More from Twitter tonight as news breaks.Reuters: U.S. SOLDIER STATIONED IN SOUTH KOREA TESTS POSITIVE FOR CORONAVIRUS - U.S. FORCES IN KOREA— Vincent Lee (@Rover829) February 26, 2020BREAKING: US service member tests positive for coronavirus in South Korea https://t.co/RxedAB8khh Read the rest

It's downright majestic is what it is.Listen to this cockatiel sing the legend of zelda ocarina of time lost woods song, with a bok choy leaf on his birb head. View this post on Instagram Majestic . #cockatiel #cockatiellove #cockatielsofig #cockatielsofinstagram #petsagram #オカメインコ #앵무새 #calopsita #featheredfriends #majestic #trendsetter #leafyboy #bokchoyhat #birb #birbmemes #birdsofinstagramA post shared by Crumpet and Dumpling 🐦 (@crumpetdumpling) on Feb 23, 2020 at 8:23am PST Here's what the original sounded like, in case you don't know.The birb is something else. His name is crumpetdumpling and he has a little Instagram. Read the rest

Designer Harikrishnan's inflatable latex trousers suggest "anatomically impossible" proportions. They're so weird, silly, and so delightful.Follow Harikrishnan on Instagram. View this post on Instagram Let’s put him in a Vase. @joshuajsmall in red and ivory inflatable trousers. 📷 @rayxchung . Special thanks to @supatex for their amazing range of latex. . . . . . . #fashionshow #fashionpost #fashionstyle #fashionstylist #runwayfashion #faahiondaily #fashionweek #outfitinspiration #emergingartist #ootd #faahionforward #mensfashion #mensfashionpost #britishfashioncouncil #igfashion #fashionstatement #fashionstudent #emergingartist #emergingdesigner #styleformen #pfw #londonfashionweek #A post shared by Hari (@harri_ks) on Feb 4, 2020 at 10:00am PST View this post on Instagram Editorial for @pictonmag shot by @yanghanphoto styled by @zzzy.leee makeup @margherita.lascala.makeup hair @kikuchikanae Assistant Lucretia yang Model Isabel @prm_agency . . . . . . . . . . . #editorial #editorialphotography #ootd #ootdfashion #ootdfash #elegant #fashionable #stylish #outfitpost #stylist #fashionblog #dazedfashion #dezeen #dustmagazine #sickymagazine #fashionphotographychannel #vogue #voguemagazine #vogueindia #idmagazine #vmagazine #editorialstyling #jeanpaulgoude #faahionart #toxickidstudio #photozine #formmagazineA post shared by Hari (@harri_ks) on Feb 20, 2020 at 3:02am PST Here's a profile of their work on Dezeen.Excerpt:"I got the idea when I was playing with my dog and I started thinking about how exaggerated objects must look from such a low angle," explained the designer, who goes by the single name Harikrishnan."The thought of him seeing me as a giant figure or not seeing my head at all was intriguing, so I decided to reimagine the people around me through the game of distortion – detached from the stereotypical, pre-determined notions of the human perspective." Read the rest

“Rioters roamed the streets with iron rods and wooden sticks, demanding to know whether people were Hindus or Muslims. Mosques were damaged and shops were set ablaze”

Players of tabletop car combat games like Gaslands, Car Wars, and AutoKill will likely rejoice at the news that Jon Favreau and Seth Green have just signed a deal with Quibi to create Micro Mayhem, a series of stop-motion car combat shorts using die-cast toy cars as the stars.Green is obviously no stranger to the world of stop-motion, having been one of the primary creative voices behind the long-running Cartoon Network series Robot Chicken. He’s also produced stop-motion shows like SuperMansion, Buddy Thunderstruck, and Titan Maximum, and as you can see from the end-credits tags on the videos above, he and his Stoopid Buddy Studios have been hooked up with these guys for years already. While Favreau has typically worked in live-action, he also has some experience with stop-motion, having used it in his 2003 film Elf to recreate the look of Rankin/Bass Christmas classics like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.Several years ago, this video was posted to YouTube. It was likely a floater to prove the concept and to gauge audience reaction.Quibi, which launches on April 6, 2020, is a new mobile-only platform promising daily content at 10 minutes or less.More info on Slashfilm and Deadline.Image: YouTube Read the rest

Happy birthday to the late George Harrison, born Feb 25, 1943. Okay, as he revealed toward the end of his life, he was actually born at 11:50pm on Feb 24, but close enough.Enjoy this video from the Concert for Bangladesh at Madison Square Garden, 1971. It's his duet with Leon Russell, performing "Beware of Darkness" from Harrison's 1970 record, All Things Must Pass. Words to live by.[H/t Jayme McLellan]Image: YouTube Read the rest

Is it just us, or does it feel like winter hasn’t been as horrendous as usual this year? Well, stats show it’s actually been one of the warmer winters on record so far this year for many eastern U.S. cities in January and February. But, almost on cue, weather experts warn signs of a serious cold snap could be on the way as we head into March.Knowing that this might be a really good time to book a trip to South Palm Beach. Or Las Vegas. Or, heck, anywhere warm. With that in mind, we’ve got a few options.Dollar Flight Club Premium: 1-Yr Subscription - $9 (Originally $69)If you want to maximize your travel budget, you can’t do much better than a year of Dollar Flight Club for just $9. With this subscription service, you’ll get email alerts about the cheapest flight deals as soon as they go live...before everybody else moves in and gobbles them all up. Just set up your account, pick your home airports and wait for the deals. In addition to those spot discounts, Dollar Flight Club premium members also enjoy exclusive weekend warrior flight deals, partner perks and booking support, all in an ad-free experience.Matt's Flights Premium Subscriptions - $25 (Originally $49.99) Airlines make pricing errors all the time. They also slide super-discounted flights on to the schedule with zero notice. Matt’s Flights keeps a sharp eye on all those carrier moves, then loops you in instantly so you can take advantage. Read the rest

In 2007, James Grundy dropped his pants in a pub and exposed his genitals to onlookers. James Grundy is now the Conservative Party member of parliament for Leigh, footage of the incident has been obtained, and it is time to apologize."I apologise for my actions and for any offence caused."Back to basics. Read the rest

This dancer makes gliding seem effortless and might have given Michael Jackson a run for his money.But lest we forget: Read the rest

I've been wanting a Teenage Engineering op-1 for years, but I can't justify paying $1300 for something I might not use a lot. But the Behringer TD-3 synthesizer, at about 1/10th of the price, looks like it's as much fun as the op-1.It's a remake of the Roland TB-303 Bass Line that came out in 1981. According to Wikipedia, the TB-303 "was a commercial failure and was discontinued in 1984. However, cheap second-hand units were adopted by electronic musicians, and its 'squelching' or 'chirping' sound became a foundation of electronic dance music genres such as house and techno [this song being the one that started it all]. It has inspired numerous clones." Read the rest

MetalBallStudios made this animated video that helps you envision the size of various named asteroids by placing them in Manhattan.[via Laughing Squid] Read the rest

If you use Adobe Photoshop, you're likely to know how it differs from Illustrator. But what if you're designing a game – should you use Flash Professional (aka Animate), Flash Builder, or one of their other 50-plus apps? What's the difference between Lightroom and Bridge? What is Scout good for? When YouTuber Humtog last looked, he didn't see a simple explainer guide that answers these types of questions on Adobe's site, so he made this video, which covers 50 apps in 10 minutes. Not a lot of detail, of course, but it can help you sort out which might be best for you and where to take a deeper dive. Read the rest

Snazz up your older model grocery-getter with these skull headlight covers! I have no idea if they are DOT approved but they're sure to turn some craniums. (See what I did there?) Skullspiration writes that they are designed by Est2rad Custom in Watsonville, CA but the eBay search link in the post show products from the Russian Federation so... your mileage may vary.(via Weird Universe) Read the rest

The Smithsonian Institution has just released 2.8 million images (2D and 3D) into the public domain via a new Smithsonian Open Access online platform where anyone can browse and download high-res files. And then reuse them! Or remix them! For whatever! For free! From Smithsonian:Featuring data and material from all 19 Smithsonian museums, nine research centers, libraries, archives and the National Zoo, the new digital depot encourages the public to not just view its contents, but use, reuse and transform them into just about anything they choose—be it a postcard, a beer koozie or a pair of bootie shorts.And this gargantuan data dump is just the beginning. Throughout the rest of 2020, the Smithsonian will be rolling out another 200,000 or so images, with more to come as the Institution continues to digitize its collection of 155 million items and counting...Spanning the arts and humanities to science and engineering, the release compiles artifacts, specimens and datasets from an array of fields onto a single online platform. Noteworthy additions include portraits of Pocahontas and Ida B. Wells, images of Muhammad Ali’s boxing headgear and Amelia Earhart’s record-shattering Lockheed Vega 5B, along with thousands of 3-D models that range in size from a petite Eulaema bee just a couple centimeters in length to the Cassiopeia A supernova remnant, estimated at about 29 light-years across.Smithsonian Open Access Read the rest