Boing Boing

My guest on the Cool Tools podcast this week is Thom Dunn, a frequent contributor here at Boing Boing! Read the show notes here.Subscribe to the Cool Tools Show on iTunes | RSS | Transcript | See all the Cool Tools Show posts on a single page Read the rest

Bruce Sterling posted this to his blog, but doesn't say where he came across it. His caption: "All Ages Show – especially you, punk grandpa." Read the rest

As coronavirus cases soar past 4,700 in the Czech Republic, the Eastern European nation’s nude sunbathers are being targeted by authorities for neglecting to cover up their mouths.“Citizens can be without clothes in places designated for this purpose, but they must have their mouths covered and must observe the numbers in which they can go into nature,” said police spokeswoman Markéta Janovská.https://nypost.com/2020/04/07/nudists-warned-by-police-to-cover-up-their-mouths-for-coronavirus/ Read the rest

A fantastic and rare live opportunity to hear the no longer touring Ramsey Lewis.Always in rotation, Lewis is truly one of the greatest.Broadway World:Three time Grammy winner and NEA Jazz Master Ramsey Lewis will be performing a special live stream concert Saturday April 25th @ 1pm CST! Tickets can be purchased by sending $20 to paypal.me/RamseyELewisJr. Just click on the link and type in the amount ($20). Since it's PayPal it's easy and secure. Once we have received your payment we will send you a Zoom link and password to the live stream concert (you will need the Zoom app and a PayPal account).A portion of the proceeds from this event will be donated to MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fund. The Recording Academy and its affiliated charitable foundation MusiCares have established the COVID-19 Relief Fund to help those in the music community affected by the virus pandemic.This will be an extra special event considering that Ramsey is no longer touring. This event will be a look behind the curtain, as it will be live from Ramsey's home, in the room that he practices in and he will be telling the stories behind the hit songs he has made for the past six decades.Sigh, Zoom.Here is a link to a FB video of Ramsey discussing the stream. Read the rest

UK wedding photographer Chris Wallace is on lockdown like so many of us. To keep his creativity alive, he staged and photographed a fantastic LEGO wedding. You can see the photos and Wallace's narration of the nuptials over at Petapixel. It looks more romantic and fun than many real weddings I've attended! Read the rest

A team of anonymous volunteers at MIT are developing a ventilator that can be built for $100, reports SciTech Daily. The MIT Emergency Ventilator (E-Vent) uses a hand-operated plastic resuscitator bag common found in hospitals, and places it in a mechanical system that squeezes the bag automatically.From the E-Vent web site:At the present time, we are producing four sets of material, which we will be releasing and updating on this site in an open-source fashion:Minimum safe ventilator functionality based on clinical guidanceReference hardware design for meeting minimum clinical requirementsReference control strategies and electronics designs and supporting insightsResults from testing in animal modelsWe are releasing this material with the intent to provide those with the ability to make or manufacture ventilators, the tools needed to do so in a manner that seeks to ensure patient safety. Image: MIT Read the rest

9pm PST on the Instagrams! View this post on Instagram Tomorrow Night, April 11th, 9pm. Streaming from here on Instagram Live. Thank You. #almightyOpp #fullkundaliniblowoutA post shared by jeffrey's human persona (@almightyopp) on Apr 10, 2020 at 8:08am PDT Absurdist puppetry and the arcane! Join the almighty Opp for another uplifting Instagram stream.It's OK that it's NOT OK! Read the rest

Right after astronauts Apollo 11 astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin, and Michael Collins splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on July 24, 1969, they were brought aboard the USS Hornet (CVS-12) and immediately entered a Mobile Quarantine Facility (MQF) along with a NASA flight surgeon and recovery engineer. See below for a photo of when President Richard Nixon popped by to say hello. (You can visit the USS Hornet and see a prototype MQF!) A few days later, the group arrived at Houston's Johnson Space Center where they were locked down in the Lunar Receiving Laboratory (LRL) to continue a 21-day quarantine. While inside, the astronauts wrote reports, conducted debriefs, and enjoyed a surprise birthday party for Armstrong who turned 39 in quarantine. According to NASA, "Flight surgeon Dr. William R. Carpentier monitored their health status on a daily basis, and when they showed no signs of any illnesses they were cleared to be released from quarantine."From NASA:On the evening of Aug. 10, MSC Director of Medical Research and Operations Dr. Charles A. Berry opened the door to the LRL’s Crew Reception Area (CRA), and Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins stepped out into the hallway. They were welcomed by MSC Director Robert L. Gilruth, other NASA officials and colleagues, and a swarm of reporters once they stepped outside the building into the hot and muggy Houston night. It was the first time they could freely interact with the outside world since their preflight quarantine began more than a month before. Read the rest

Cory posted about Nitter "an alternative, free/open front-end to Twitter that ad- and tracker-blocks. That's very timely, as Twitter has just unilaterally obliterated all its users' privacy choices, announcing the change with a dialog box whose only button is 'OK.' What if it's not OK?" Here's what Cory's Twitter feed looks like in Nitter. Image: Pluralistic Read the rest

Chamath Palihapitiya, CEO of investment firm Social Capital, doesn't think the US should be propping up billionaires and hedge funds during the coronavirus pandemic, but should instead be focused on helping people on Main Street, who "are getting wiped out." The perplexed reaction from this CNBC anchor is fascinating. Read the rest

New Jersey, Connecticut, and Kansas are among the states whose unempoyment systems are being overwhelmed with new claims, and the systems run on old computer language that stopped being taught before many programmers were born. According to a report on CNN Business, "On top of ventilators, face masks and health care workers, you can now add COBOL programmers to the list of what several states urgently need as they battle the coronavirus pandemic.""Despite a dwindling number of COBOL programmers, a 2017 report by Reuters found that there are still 220 billion lines of COBOL in use today. 43% of banking systems are built on COBOL and 95% percent of ATM swipes rely on COBOL code." Read the rest

Starting at $9k and configurable up to $17k or thereabouts, the Dwellito Mini Office is an 8ft square "quiet place to work" (i.e. a shed) that will be delivered to your door. An extension cord is $31 extra, and they'll even include this Dyson fan [Amazon] for another $600.A Mini-Office,Delivered to Your DoorGive yourself a quiet place to work with a mini office next to your home. In 6 to 8 weeks, you could have a pre-built office delivered to your front door, starting at $9,000.A lot of smart people have no idea how much things cost. For those able to, it's a perfect time to learn how to build a she—sorry, a Mini Office: the big box hardware stores are still open, they all sell framing lumber, OSB and plywood sheets, roofing materials and even those big old ultramodern windows and doors, and they'll even rent you a pickup to take it all home for another $30 plus mileage. Read the rest

Even once stay-at-home orders are lifted, it’s likely many of us will be sticking closer to home, at least for a while. And rather than taking the car out of the garage for a 10-minute-or-less drive to the grocery store or the pharmacy, don’t be shocked if you start seeing a lot more short jaunt scooters and electric bikes start springing up around a community near you.The trend toward ecologically responsible, quick hop transportation has been building well before coronavirus. That move figures only to expand as many city dwellers start looking for an alternative to the cramped quarters of most public transit.The Jetson Bolt Compact Electric Bike ($399.99; originally $499.99) can get you out ahead of the curve now. A compact electric scooter with a powerful 250-watt hub motor and a rechargeable lithium-ion battery, the Bolt can zip you along at about 15 mph for a range of up to 15 miles. If it normally takes about half an hour to walk down to the supermarket, the Bolt can put you at their front door in a breezy 8 minutes or so.The Bolt sports a twist throttle, an LED headlight for evening travel and front and rear disc brakes on the 12-inch tires. In addition to cutting your carbon footprint down to nil, the Bolt also folds conveniently with a collapsible handlebar to move and store easily once you reach your destination. It’s even got a built-in carrying handle to just scoop up your 34-pound baby and tote it into a garage, closet or wherever as you carry out your business. Read the rest

If your sleep has been somewhat troubled recently, you’ve got plenty of company. With so much uncertainty, millions of people everywhere are laying in their beds, wrestling with huge life problems while unsuccessfully trying to also get eight hours of rest...or six...or heck, even 30 minutes.If that hits a little close to home, you may want to look into the app that developers say can actually put people to sleep in only two minutes. That’s a bold claim, but the folks behind the Restly Sleep app have some serious pedigree on their side to back those claims up.In fact, this Product Hunt #1 Product of the Day honoree is scientifically based on secret military tactics endorsed by the U.S. Army and field-tested by American pilots.The app combines male and female voices with different calming sounds that serve as a soothing background soundtrack to help put you to sleep faster. The process is aimed at relaxing both your body and mind and can be customized to help find the relaxation option that works best for you. The sleep timer even dutifully shuts the sounds down when the cycle is finished..of course, it’s well after the two-minute window, so you should be fast asleep by then.Restly also comes with a smart alarm clock feature that calculates when you should go to bed and wake up based on your sleep cycle. By following those guidelines, Restly says you stand the best chance of waking up refreshed and energetic every morning. Read the rest

Aphex Twin will be streaming his 2019 Warehouse Project live show tomorrow (Friday, April 10), complete with interactive visuals and editing from regular collaborator Weirdcore. The set will be broadcast on Warehouse Project’s YouTube page and on Facebook starting at 1 pm (EST) tomorrow (6pm BST).Image: Promo shot Read the rest

My friend Richard Gould introduced me to Bichopalo, a musical instrument sculptor from Valenciana, Spain. One word: Enchanting. Two words: Pico and Verdi, his two pet birds who star in his creations. I needed this today. View this post on Instagram Let me introduce you “THE PLANTYFLUTESIZER”. . . Still in progress, I can’t really tell how many hours, days and months I've spent working on this. The entire structure is a combination of different instruments but the main one is a sort of sequencer with 8 notes limit that can be combinated on different patterns. An electric impulse actives a motor with an arm connected that hits a sensor running a pre-recorded note. There’s a lot to speak about this but on this particular post the real rockstars are my little partners: Pico and Verdi. This two little fellas have been with me from a while, making me laught and giving me incredible presents every single day. It’s incredible how these little creatures can emit such an intense light. If you have pets you know what I mean. They are family, pure unconditional love, no matter what, specially these weird days of quarantine is needed more than ever. . . #synth #synthesizers #modularsynth #eurorack #modular #soundsystem #soundart #soundsculpture #soundscapes #experimental #sound #music #soundsculptures #surrealism #plants #nature #volcakeys #korg #ambientmusic #electronicmusic #electronicmusicproducer #loopmusic #installationart #installationartist #arduino #axolotiA post shared by Bichopalo (@_bichopalo_) on Apr 6, 2020 at 12:33pm PDT View this post on Instagram “Invisible forces” new percussive-aquatic experiment. Check out the full version on my IGTV channel to discover the he rest of the instruments and esoteric tools. Read the rest

All the Disney Parks are closed* but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy two of their most famous flavors: the Dole Whip and churros. Last Sunday, the Disney Parks Blog shared the recipe for Churro Tots, which is based on their in-park, cinnamon-y snack:Crazy fact: Over 5.5 million churros were sold at Disney Parks each year. Not this year but, you know.And, via the Disneyland app, they shared how to make an at-home version of their super-popular tropical treat, the Dole Whip. Full recipe here.*And expect mandatory temperature checks when they re-open.photo via Disney Parks Blog, screengrab via Disneyland app(Deseret News) Read the rest

Two days ago, we lost a musical mastermind whose name few people outside of the music business may know: Hal Willner. Willner was a musical producer on Saturday Night Live in the 1980s and also produced records for Marianne Faithfull, Lou Reed, Bill Frisell, William S. Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Laurie Anderson, and others.I fell in love with the quirky brilliance of Hal Willner in the late 1980s through the Lorne Michaels' program, Night Music (originally called Sunday Night). Hosted by Jools Holland and David Sanborn, this weekly music variety show immediately stole my heart (and that of many other music nerds) with its laid back, Devil may care style, its eccentric and staggeringly broad line-up of performers, and the epic jams that ended the shows. Brooklyn Vegan has put together a round-up of 33 of the most epic Night Music episodes and performances. They write:Having John Zorn, Marianne Faithfull and Aaron Neville in the same hour. Just to have all those emotions make sense together.”John Zorn, Marianne Faithfull and Aaron Neville was an actual episode, by the way. Sonic Youth made their national television debut on Night Music — on an episode that also featured Diamanda Galas, the Indigo Girls, Daniel Lanois and Evan Lurie and Marc Ribot (covering The Stooges) — and so did Pixies who were on a S2 episode that also featured Sun Ra, singer-songwriter Syd Straw and dance music producer Arthur Baker.More: Eric Clapton jammed alongside fellow bluesman Robert Cray and Twin Peaks chanteuse Julee Cruise. Read the rest

A new data project from the Washington Post allows you to see how the availability of intensive care beds and mechanical ventilators at your local hospital compares to that of other regions across the country.Look up your zip code or that of your parents or grandparents: How a surge of coronavirus patients could stretch hospital resources in your area Analyzing the critical care resources in this country is a frustrating exercise, as experts like Jeremy Kahn of the Univ. of Pittsburgh will tell you. The most reliable data is years old, and reporting standards vary from state to state.— Amy Brittain (@AmyJBrittain) April 9, 2020As he told me, FedEx can tell you where any package is in the United States at any given moment. But the nation's leading researchers on critical care resources can only give you reliable numbers on ICU beds *from 2017*— Amy Brittain (@AmyJBrittain) April 9, 2020Other experts- like Retsef Levi's of @MITSloan COVID-19 Policy Alliance, sum it the data limitations with a wartime metaphor: “We need to know where our weapons are. We need to coordinate all of that. This is a war.”— Amy Brittain (@AmyJBrittain) April 9, 2020 Read the rest

Uber today announced that it will provide millions of face masks against coronavirus for people who work as drivers or food delivery workers around the world, and that it has begun providing gloves and face masks for its workers in New York City.Uber earlier this month said it would begin shipping disinfecting car spray at no cost to its drivers in the United States. The virus that causes COVID-19 has infected 1.4 million people and killed 85,000 worldwide, with U.S. deaths at 15,700 on Thursday, according to Reuters:The ride-hailing company’s vice president of safety and insurance, Gus Fuldner, in a company blog post also said Uber plans to ship nearly half a million face masks to U.S. drivers located in the cities hardest hit by the coronavirus outbreak.The initial face mask order will come from a Chinese company that typically manufactures electronics and now produces ear-loop masks. But Uber will be sourcing face masks from all over the world as a long-term commitment, an Uber spokesman said.Uber said it had shipped its first order of masks to drivers in New York City, the U.S. city with the highest number of infections of COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus.“We’ve ordered tens of millions more masks and expect them to arrive in other cities and regions around the world in the coming weeks,” the company’s blog post said, adding that supplies were limited with healthcare needs taking a priority.Read more:Uber to give drivers millions of face masks to battle coronavirus[Tina Bellon, reuters.com] Read the rest

Preliminary data released today on the coronavirus outbreak in New York City shows that black and Latino people in the city are dying at twice the rate of white people who contract the virus.“Officials revealed that disparity on Wednesday as they announced that 779 more people in the state had died of the virus, the second straight day that deaths spiked to new highs.”Read more at the New York Times.The preliminary coronavirus death rate is highest for Hispanic people in New York City: nearly 23 people per 100,000. The rates are adjusted for the size and age of the population. pic.twitter.com/gzuyZom2O3— NYT Graphics (@nytgraphics) April 9, 2020Mayor Bill de Blasio said the disparity in coronavirus death rates in New York City reflected longstanding and persistent economic inequalities and differences in access to health care. pic.twitter.com/hv9GTCoeH1— NYT Graphics (@nytgraphics) April 9, 2020The data also shows that people of color and those in New York City's poorest neighborhoods reside at the core of its outbreak, which is the epicenter of the coronavirus crisis in the U.S. pic.twitter.com/tKOBoTIj7j— NYT Graphics (@nytgraphics) April 9, 2020“We are watching, in real time, racial disparities and the pandemic of poverty,” said Michael Blake, an assemblyman from the Bronx whose district overlaps with one of the poorest congressional districts in the country. https://t.co/fElHJFNlvx— NYT Graphics (@nytgraphics) April 9, 2020more: Virus Is Twice as Deadly for Black and Latino People Than Whites in N.Y.C. Read the rest

CNN reports that Vice President Mike Pence's office says it will ban top health officials from appearing on CNN to discuss the novel coronavirus unless the network carries the White House's 2+ hour daily disinformation briefings in full."When you guys cover the briefings with the health officials then you can expect them back on your air," a Pence spokesperson told CNN.From CNN's Oliver Darcy:Pence's office, which is responsible for booking the officials on networks during the pandemic, said it will only allow experts such as Dr. Deborah Birx or Dr. Anthony Fauci to appear on CNN if the network televises the portion of the White House briefings that includes the vice president and other coronavirus task force members.CNN often only broadcasts President Donald Trump's question and answer session, which sometimes includes the health care officials, live on-air.After Trump leaves the podium, CNN frequently cuts out of the White House briefing to discuss and fact-check what the President had said. A CNN executive said that the network usually returns to such programming because of the extensive length of the full briefing that includes Pence, which can run in excess of two hours.CNN did, however, air the vice president's portion of the briefing Wednesday night. Regardless, Pence's office has declined to make the nation's top health care officials available to CNN for the last seven days.(...) Fauci, Birx, FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn and Surgeon General Jerome Adams have all appeared on NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox during the last week, despite the fact that the broadcast networks have generally not covered the briefings that have included the vice president and health officials. Read the rest

Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer, has been placed in solitary confinement at a federal prison in New York state over what Reuters reports was “a verbal dispute over phone use.”Cohen, who is 53, is U.S. President Donald Trump’s former personal attorney and is serving time for violating campaign finance laws. On Wednesday, Cohen was transferred to a Special Housing Unit (SHU) at Otisville Federal Correctional Institution, an extreme discipline section of the prison, Reuters reports Thursday:Until now, Cohen had been housed in a minimum-security camp at Otisville, which is about 70 miles (110 km) northwest of New York City. One of the sources said Cohen was placed in solitary after another inmate complained about his internet use.“It is my understanding that a verbal dispute over phone use prompted a temporary placement to SHU pending an investigation. I do not however know who prompted the altercation, or if the action taken was factually/ regulatory appropriate,” Cohen’s lawyer, Roger Adler, said in an email to Reuters.A former representative for Cohen, Lanny Davis, declined to comment. The Federal Bureau of Prisons said it could not comment on the circumstances of individual inmates.Cohen, who once said he would “take a bullet” for Trump, was sentenced to three years in prison in 2018 for directing hush payments to pornographic film star Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal, who claimed they had affairs with Trump. Trump has denied having the encounters.Last month, Cohen asked to be released from prison early, citing the coronavirus outbreak and the high risk in prison of contracting COVID-19. Read the rest

I regret to inform you that impeached and clearly nuts U.S. president Donald Trump is at it again. There's a pandemic on, but that won't stop his flamboyant abuse.Here is his latest, from late in the afternoon on Thursday, White House time. The Wall Street Journal always “forgets” to mention that the ratings for the White House Press Briefings are “through the roof” (Monday Night Football, Bachelor Finale, according to @nytimes) & is only way for me to escape the Fake News & get my views across. WSJ is Fake News!What is there to say?God help us. Read the rest

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Boris Johnson is out of intensive care and recovering, reports the BBC, after his close shave with Covid-19. The British Prime Minister made a point of defying medical advice in the early stages of the pandemic, shaking hands and promoting a "carry on" attitude to the deadly virus, and almost paid for it with his life. Yesterday, 881 people died in Britain of the disease, bringing the nation's death toll to nearly 8,000.No 10 said he "has been moved this evening from intensive care back to the ward, where he will receive close monitoring during the early phase of his recovery".A spokesman added: "He is in extremely good spirits."He was taken to hospital on Sunday - 10 days after testing positive - and was moved to intensive care on Monday. Read the rest

The Kinkade Family Foundation turned up this Thomas Kincade unseen masterpiece "Untitled (Toilet Paper)," c. 1978, oil on canvas, 8" x 10, and have issued it as a puzzle and print. The proceeds benefit the New Art Dealers Alliance's (NADA) fund to support galleries impacted by COVID-19. The canvas print is $150.00 unframed and $750 framed. The 100-piece puzzle is $45.00. Read the rest

This is one excited sun conure. Watch as she almost blurs while grooming her beak on this man's "quarantine stubble." Read the rest

This vintage clip of the great Desmond Dekker (1941-2006) performing "Israelites" to a live audience including delightfully dancing mods girls is one minute and 20 seconds of pure infectious joy. Read the rest

Last week David posted about the Aquarium Drunkard music stream and I quickly signed up on Patreon. I also listen to Chilled Cow, a streaming lofi hip hop radio show on YouTube. Those two streams are enough to keep me happy throughout the day, but I just came across another awesome stream: Hollow Earth Radio. Based in Seattle, it's a Low Power FM (LPFM) non-commercial DIY radio station featuring "local music, found sound, paranormal encounters, crank calls, dreams, etc! 24 hours a day!" I need three brains so I can listen to all three at once.Image: Twitter/Hollow Earth Radio Read the rest

With Hollywood shuttered, movie and TV production shut down, red carpet events cancelled and coronavirus keeping celebrities behind closed doors, there’s not a lot of material for the tabloids to be working with this week - but that doesn’t stop them from making it all up.

Introverts were enjoying the lockdown. Suddenly they had no social obligations nor the social anxiety that goes along with declining invitations, canceling them, or attending them. Introverts were reading, gardening, baking, making things, learning languages, sharpening skills, and basking in quietude.The extroverts, however, took note of this new state of affairs and declared it intolerable. Invitations for online gatherings began pouring in and, for introverts, social anxiety is creeping back.From Abby Ohlheiser's article in Technology Review:Calendars that had been cleared by social distancing suddenly refilled as friends, family, and acquaintances made plans to sip “quarantinis” at Zoom happy hours, hold Netflix viewing parties, or just catch up over Google hangouts....Turning down invitations to talk to people during a global pandemic can simultaneously be needed self-care and something that makes you feel like a bad friend. After all, how do you tell your group chat of college friends that you just need a night alone at home when you’re alone at home all the time?“There’s no way you can pass that off as having other plans,” says Jaya Saxena, a staff writer at Eater, who is currently socially distancing with her spouse in her apartment in Queens, New York. “The only excuse is ‘I don’t want to,’ and no one wants to hear that right now.”It was too good to last.Photo by Miguel Teirlinck on Unsplash Read the rest

JB Rhine (1895-1980), the founder of parapsychology, spent the bulk of his career attempting to scientifically investigate ESP, psychokinesis, and clairvoyance at Duke University. While Rhine debunked numerous claims, he also reported on many experiments that he argued were evidence of psi phenomena. In 1952, the US Army consulted with Rhine on their idea to use psychic powers to detect landmines. The psychics weren't people though; they were German Shepherds named Tessie and Binnie. From author Nick Redfern's retelling of the weird tale over at Mysterious Universe:Although Fort Belvoir was the place from where the work was coordinated, the actual tests took place on stretches of quiet California beaches. A contingent of soldiers, Rhine, Binnie and Tessie hit the beach and the work began. The role of the troops was to bury dummy mines (thankfully!) at varying depths in the sand and to see if the dogs could locate them. To begin with, both dogs were kept in the back of a covered, military truck – to ensure that they couldn’t see what was going on at that same stretch of beach. That is, until it was time for the operations to begin.Incredibly, it didn’t take Binnie and Tessie long to find the fake mines. The work progressed and the military was impressed. But, was it all coincidence and random luck? To ensure that wasn’t the case, the Army began to make it more and more difficult for Tessie and Binnie to find the mines. Instead of just burying the bogus mines deep in the sand, they took the devices into the water – to depths of about six or seven feet – and had the pair try and find them. Read the rest

In 2018, Barry Lawrence Ruderman, a rare map dealer from California, bought a folder of documents and blueprints related to the Statue of Liberty. What they didn't realize is that the lot contained almost two dozen original engineering drawings for the Statue produced by Gustav Eiffel's workshop. Ruderman and Alex Clausen, director of Ruderman's gallery, hope to eventually show the drawings at a museum but for now you can inspect scans they posted online. Greg Miller writes in Smithsonian:Berenson thinks the drawings may nail down something that historians have long suspected but not been able to prove: that Bartholdi disregarded Eiffel's engineering plans when it came to the statue's upraised arm, electing to make it thinner and tilted outward for dramatic and aesthetic appeal. Several drawings appear to depict a bulkier shoulder and more vertical arm—a more structurally sound arrangement. But one of these sketches (below) was marked up by an unidentified hand with red ink that tilts the arm outward, as Bartholdi wanted. “This could be evidence for a change in the angle that we ended up with in the real Statue of Liberty,” Berenson says. “It looks like somebody is trying to figure out how to change the angle of the arm without wrecking the support.”The date on that sketch, July 28, 1882, as well as dates on several pages of handwritten calculations and diagrams pertaining to the arm, suggest that this change was made after much of the statue had already been built. “It’s really late in the game,” Berenson says. Read the rest

Have you ever read about an interesting app, only to click the link and find yourself on a GitHub page? If you're a coder, then you will be happy about it, but if you're like me, you will scratch your head for a while, open the readme file, and start copying and pasting linux commands into a terminal window with fingers crossed. Even after watching this video I will keep doing this, but at least I know what GitHub is now. Read the rest

Japan is under a state of emergency. Nippon wandering TV took an hour long bike ride through Tokyo's Akihabara district to reveal the nearly empty streets and sidewalks.Compare to this short video of Akihabara I shot in the the summer of 2018: Read the rest

View this post on Instagram TAG A FRIEND IF U AGREE 😩A post shared by Danny Casale (@coolman_coffeedan) on Apr 7, 2020 at 10:05am PDTDanny Casale, coolman_coffeedan on Instagram, made this perfect animated song to summarize his experience of life under rona lockdown. Read the rest

More often than not, the solutions for slowing the roll of our planet into an untenable ball of environmental disasters is right under our noses—protect green spaces. End the use fossil fuels. Recycle, repair or up-cycle the living shit out of everything we own or consume.Also, be certain to check in piles of dead leaves for scientific breakthroughs.From The Guardian:A mutant bacterial enzyme that breaks down plastic bottles for recycling in hours has been created by scientists.The enzyme, originally discovered in a compost heap of leaves, reduced the bottles to chemical building blocks that were then used to make high-quality new bottles. Existing recycling technologies usually produce plastic only good enough for clothing and carpets.The company behind the breakthrough, Carbios, said it was aiming for industrial-scale recycling within five years. It has partnered with major companies including Pepsi and L’Oréal to accelerate development. Independent experts called the new enzyme a major advance.Considering the fact that we've found plastic waste damn near everywhere we've gone looking for it, Carbios' breakthrough has the potential to become a huge deal in our fight to save our home.While the enzyme only made its debut to the scientific community, this month, as a potential plastic-goggling miracle, it was originally discovered back in 2012. Sometimes, it takes the scientific community a while to get traction. But, once they have their shit together (along with the support of our institutions, applicable laws and the cash they need in order to do their research) what can be achieved is, sometimes, astonishing. Read the rest

This is a wonderful thing. Author and Librarian Joel A. Sutherland posted this video, with the following message, on Twitter:Social Isolation, Day 23Kids: We're booooored! What can we do?Wife *cleaning basement*: What are we ever going to do with these Simpsons Halloween costumes we only wore once?Me:How great is that?!Social Isolation, Day 23Kids: We're booooored! What can we do?Wife *cleaning basement*: What are we ever going to do with these Simpsons Halloween costumes we only wore once?Me: pic.twitter.com/6oLiyvdcWu— Joel A. Sutherland (@joelasutherland) April 8, 2020Thanks, Bub! Read the rest

It's easy to get bored, sheltering in place, or worse, being confined to one room in your home under quarantine. I've played my fair share of video games over the past few days and, I'm sure that many of y'all have been getting down with a bit of pew-pew, too.However, don't already own a gaming console or a computer with a decent video card, you might be shit out of luck: the Nintendo Switch, PS4 and Xbox One are all reportedly becoming harder to find in stores and online. If you're having trouble nailing down a gaming system to blow away the hours with, Google announced today that they have a new offer to see you through the dull times.From The Verge:Google is launching the free version of its Stadia game streaming service today. Anyone with a Gmail address can sign up, and Google is even providing a free two-month trial of Stadia Pro as part of the launch. It comes just two months after Google promised a free tier was imminent, and it will mean anyone can get access to nine titles, including GRID, Destiny 2: The Collection, and Thumper, free of charge.Google is also making some changes to Stadia to accommodate the influx of new users. “To reduce load on the internet further, we’re working toward a temporary feature that changes the default screen resolution from 4k to 1080p,” explains Phil Harrison, Google’s Stadia chief. “The vast majority of people on a desktop or laptop won’t notice a significant drop in gameplay quality, but you can choose your data usage options in the Stadia app.” Read the rest

One of the participants of the hit series Tiger King claims Netflix is about to drop a bonus episode, capitalizing on its runaway success. Moreover, the president is weighing in on the phenomenon, and the documentary-cum-reality show's coronavirus-stricken star might soon be celebrating his freedom.This news is so important that a writer from the New York Post asked a question about it at a White House coronavirus briefing, annoying nearby journalists and the twitterati. Trump promised to "look into" pardoning Joe Exotic, the animal-abusing roadsize zoo proprietor locked up after his endless threats to kill nemesis Carole Baskin began coming with cash handouts to his human menagerie. Exotic was jailed on federal charges, so Trump can uncage him if he pleases.The shoop of Trump's face on Joe Exotic's mugshot (below) is a viral hit, but I submit that the other way round (above) is more exquisitely dystopian.You shouldn’t. pic.twitter.com/69WMDVuO7K— GuillaumeTC (@GuillaumeTC) April 8, 2020 Read the rest

Let's take a moment to reflect upon the fact that, no matter how dire things are and, how more terrible they're expected to become, we're still able to issue some control over our lives. By staying indoors as often as we can, social distancing when we're out and, enacting strict quarantine procedures at the first sign of illness, we all have the ability to flatten the COVID-19 curve.That's one helluva a lot more than you can say about our ability as individuals to steer the course of disasters like a nuclear exchange, monsoon or earthquake. Read the rest

6.6m Americans signed on last week, bringing the unemployed total to 17m. The record week almost matches thew week before, when nearly 7m applied for benefits, and the week before that, when more than 3m lost their jobs. Experts had predicted a 5m jump, and the larger toll signals a worse economic downturn than expected.Economists are expecting job losses will continue, with the unemployment rate peaking in the double digits sometime in the next few months, up from 4.4% in March. Bank of America economists predict employers will cut between 16 million and 20 million jobs, with the unemployment rate peaking at 15.6% between now and June. If that's the case, it could take at least a couple years for unemployment to return to its pre-pandemic levels.The recoveries from both those downturns were painfully slow, dragging on for years. Economists are hoping the recovery from this downturn will be faster, but ultimately, that will depend on when the coronavirus outbreak is contained. Read the rest

Believe it or not, you can still score a new job in the midst of the pandemic. There are a bunch of industries under more demand stress than ever that have an immediate need to grow. Regardless of the specific role needed or company that's hiring, one skill that can only help you score an offer letter is knowing the ins and outs of Google Analytics. But plenty of people can say they know GA, so how do you get an edge? By getting certified.Having a certification in Google Analytics is more valuable than you may realize. It's the sort of thing that, when added to your resume or nonchalantly dropped into a cover letter, lets hiring managers know you're serious, dedicated, and seriously dedicated to data—that thing all businesses need to be their most successful. Employers will know that you're capable of using the web's premier analytics tool to glean actually useful information from every page on their website. We're talking about insights they can leverage to make better decisions about both day-to-day and big-picture operations and strategies. How's that for explaining why you're the best candidate for the role?In just 2 days of studying, this online Google Analytics Certification course will prepare you to ace the free exam. With 20 lectures led by Google Certified Marketer Daragh Walsh, you'll have all the material you need to earn your GA certification. Daragh has worked with over 300,000 students who've left more than 40,000 top-rated reviews, so you know you'll be in good hands. Read the rest

If you’ve ever tried to shoot your own videos, you know the equipment costs to do it right can mount up quickly.Even if you’re fine with capturing video on your trusty smartphone, you still need a mount to keep your phone in place. And you’ll need a mic to augment your smartphone’s not so fantastic audio capturing. And without proper lighting, your subject isn’t going to look great and your video will never stand up to many of the nearly expert-level home video productions now dominating YouTube and social media.To answer the call, the iRig Video Creator Tool Bundle was assembled to tackle all of those problems, a handy three-piece combination that will instantly elevate your phone video.The centerpiece is the iKlip Grip Pro, a multi-function iPhone and camera stand that can tackle virtually any shooting situation. Clamp in your iPhone or Android model phone and you can configure the Grip Pro to fit your needs. From shooting a stable video from a flat surface with the secure tabletop tripod mode, stabilize a handheld shot in the monopod mode, or use the integrated 2-foot telescopic extender pole to serve as a selfie stick, the iKlip has you covered.It also comes with a standard UNC ¼-inch universal mount to lock in small digital cameras and action video cameras like GoPros.Meanwhile, the iRig Mic Lav is an ultra-affordable and compact professional-quality mobile lavalier microphone that plugs right into the phone to record great sounding audio anytime and anywhere. Read the rest

Noah Wall, the artist and musician responsible for the highly-recommended Grotesque Tables II (and who has collaborated with David Byrne, St. Vincent, David Lynch, Maya Lin, and many others) wrote to tell us about his most recent project, an EP entitled Alloys.Like so many, I’ve been inside my apartment for almost a month, handling anything from outside with newfound prudence. But recently I was in the open, manipulating and resonating foreign objects with hands and mallets and microphones. The result is a new project called Alloys.Each of the ten songs is an audio portrait of an everyday public structure in New York. Made entirely of sounds derived from these structures, my subjects include bridges, an outdoor gymnasium, parks, playgrounds, piers, statues, an abandoned fairground, and a library bench.I recorded with high-definition contact microphones that capture sound waves moving through solid material (as opposed to through air which is how most microphones work). In addition to my own interventions, many structures were resonating due to environmental factors like being ridden over, leaned on, rained on, and generally blown about.Edited and arranged into ten compositions, Alloys is a rezoning of sound from public to private structures. All proceeds go to the NYC Low-Income Artist/Freelancer Relief Fund whose mission is to “provide support for low-income, BIPOC, trans/GNC/NB/Queer artists and freelancers whose livelihoods are being affected by this pandemic in NYC.”You can listen to and buy the digital album on Bandcamp.Image: Album cover art Read the rest

Eating Utensils reminds me of a site from the early Web, a minimally-designed collection of fascinating information about something we use every day but mostly ignore. The site has pages about the history of cutlery, chopsticks, skewers, toothpicks, and drinking straws, etiquette, and fun facts and statistics. For example:If we look back in history we can find out that some of the earliest drinking straws were created over 5000 years ago! In the ruins of the Sumerian cities and tombs, archeologist managed to find straws made from gold and the precious stone lapis lazuli. These expensive 3000 BC artifacts can give us the proof that the more simple designs were used far earlier than that, most probably created from carved wood or natural hollow plants. According to scientist, Sumerian used straws to drink their beer which was prepared in very simple fermentation cases that forced the solid byproducts to sink to the bottom, and leave drinkable fluid on top. On the other side of the world, in Argentina, natives used drinking straws for several thousand years. Their simple wooden designs were later on adapted in metallic device called "bombilla" which serves as both straw and sieve for drinking tea.Eating Utensils (via Metafilter)image: Hopefulromntic (CC BY-SA 3.0) Read the rest

Boris Johnson’s condition is improving after two nights on oxygen support in intensive care, and the British Prime Minister can now sit up in bed and talk with hospital staff, said the UK's finance minister Rishi Sunak Wednesday. The 55-year-old British leader has not been put on a mechanical ventilator. From Reuters:“The latest from the hospital is that the prime minister remains in intensive care where his condition is improving,” Sunak said at a daily government coronavirus news conference.“I can also tell you that he has been sitting up in bed and been engaging positively with the clinical team.”Later, Downing Street issued a brief statement, expected to be the last update on Johnson’s condition until Thursday. “The Prime Minister continues to make steady progress. He remains in intensive care,” it said. Read more:UK's Johnson 'improving' as he fights COVID-19 in intensive care Read the rest

An extraordinarily beautiful mask for “Plague Times,” by IMGURian @BelmontLeather1. “A Pandemic doesn't have to be all doom and gloom. If you're stuck in a global crisis, it's important to have fun.”Enjoy this extensive gallery with 'making of' shots aplenty.Plague Times Read the rest

The majestic image below of the Eagle Nebula's "Pillars of Creation," captured by the Hubble Space Telescope in 1995, has become an iconic astronomical photograph. It depicts the visible light, meaning the part of the electromagnetic spectrum that the human eye can see. In this new take above, NASA scientists present the same view of the pillars but in infrared light "which pierces through obscuring dust and gas." From NASA: In this ethereal view the entire frame is peppered with bright stars and baby stars are revealed being formed within the pillars themselves. The ghostly outlines of the pillars seem much more delicate, and are silhouetted against an eerie blue haze.Image credit: NASA, ESA/Hubble and the Hubble Heritage Team Read the rest