"You are not samurai!" yells murder defendant Todd Winkler, jabbing his finger at the judge presiding over his murder trial in Placerville, Calif. Winkler, a former fighter pilot and pharmaceutical executive, was ultimately found guilty of murdering his second wife with a pair of scissors. His conviction brought new attention to the death of his first wife in a 1999 car wreck, but no charges were ever filed. CBS News produced a documentary highlighting his dubious claims to mental illness, The Two Faces of Todd Winkler. The general conclusion from acquaintances and experts seems to be that he's faking it. Read the rest

For those in certain professions like teaching or public safety, employees are almost always required to pass a few benchmark certification courses. However, there are even more job sectors like IT, where premium level, industry-recognized CompTIA certifications are not always a prerequisite for hiring.So, why bother getting certified, right?Hold up there for just a second. Core certifications, such as those earned in training like The Total CompTIA Core Certification Prep Bundle ($39, over 90 percent off) may not be demanded by a top-notch employer, but they go a long way toward rounding out how your new boss sees you.Certifications prove:You’re qualified. Get a CompTIA ITF+ (FC0-U61) certification in basic IT knowledge and skills like software and hardware, networking, security, and mobile devices and it shows you at least understand the core principles of the job.You’re committed. Nobody’s going to just take certification courses like CompTIA A+ Core 1 (220-1001) or CompTIA A+ Core 2 (220-1002), developing expanded skill sets in system configuration, troubleshooting and more unless they plan to make a true career of their abilities.You follow through. It’s one thing to take a CompTIA Network+ N10-007 course, learning about current and upcoming networking technologies. It’s another to pass the exam. That kind of sticktoitiveness is a spotlight on personal character that quality companies recognize.You’re promotable. Earning a CompTIA Security+ SY0-501 certification as a system threats and vulnerabilities specialist says an employee is interested in growing as a professional and ready to take on increased responsibilities.Plus, it never hurts anyone’s self-esteem to know they’ve been certified as an expert by one of the premier IT oversight bodies in the world. Read the rest

This audio recording shows that Democratic presidential hopeful Michael Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City, remained an advocate of racial profiling long after a federal judge ruled that his use of it in office amounted to unconstitutional racial harassment. Bloomberg has attempted to prevent the leak of his 2015 speech at the Aspen Institute, somehow preventing them from releasing official video of him explaining why blacks need to be policed harder than whites. But it turns out at least one audience member had tape rolling.Here's a transcript of Bloomberg's evidence-free rangefinding on black crime, as posted by Daily Kos:95% of your murders -- murderers and murder victims fit one MO. You can just take the description, Xerox it and pass it out to all the cops. They are male. minorities, sixteen to twenty-five. That's true in New York. That's true in virtually every city. And that's where the real crime is.You've got to get the guns out of the hands of the people that are getting killed. You want to spend the money on a lot of cops in the streets. Put those cops where the crime is, which means in minority neighborhoods. So, one of the unintended consequences is people say, "Oh my God, you are arresting kids for marijuana that are all minorities. Yes, that's true. Why? Because we put all the cops in minority neighborhoods. Yes, that's true. Why do we do it? Because that's where all the crime is.And the way you get the guns out of the kid's hands is to throw them up against the walls and frisk them. Read the rest

James Floyd Kelly runs the excellent Tabletop Engineer channel on YouTube and Bexim's Bazaar, a monthly tabletop gaming magazine (to which I often contribute a game-crafting column). Like me, Jim was a lover of 80s roleplaying game fanzines. Unlike me, he's decided to use Kickstarter's Zine Quest 2 campaign as an excuse to try his hand at creating one of these homemade, old school zines. His zine, entitled Tavern Tales #1: Lair of the Battle Mage, will be a 32-page mini-adventure delivered in the format of the classic gaming zine (5.5" x 8" size).To honor the fun and uniqueness and rarity of the handmade, old school fanzines that have survived from the 70s and 80s, no more than 300 physical copies of Tavern Tales #1: Lair of the Battle Mage will be printed and mailed to backers. I'm going old school -- I'll be printing them, folding them, stapling them, and mailing them. I've created the 300 limit because I can only print, assemble and ship so many in the month of October. (Yes, more of Niloshis' tales may make an appearance in future zines, but not this one. Read it, play it, and then tuck it away for someone to discover in a few decades or more.)If you haven't checked out the Zine Quest 2 campaign, do! There is an embarrassment of retro-gaming riches here.Image: Kickstarter Screengrab Read the rest

The Department of Justice gives out grants to groups to help fight human trafficking. That's good!But this year, the DOJ decided to ignore the expected recipients, who both received high marks from grant application reviewers, and gave around $500,000 each to the Lincoln Tubman Foundation, a new organization founded by the daughter of a prominent Trump-supporting South Carolina Republican, and the Nevada-based Hookers for Jesus.Here's what Reuters, who broke the story, had to say about Hookers for Jesus:Hookers for Jesus, which received $530,190 over three years, is run by a born-again Christian trafficking survivor who has lobbied against decriminalizing prostitution, a policy position aligning with many in the Republican Party.Hookers for Jesus operates a safe house for female adult trafficking victims that, in 2010 and in 2018, maintained a policy of requiring guests to participate in religious activities, internal program manuals obtained by Reuters through public records requests show.The safe house’s manuals had rules that included a ban on reading “secular magazines with articles, pictures, etc. that portray worldly views/advice on living, sex, clothing, makeup tips.” Other rules limited everything from who victims could call to banning them from bringing their purses with them on weekly shopping trips. Rule-breakers could be penalized by being assigned chores such as washing windows.There are major issues here. First, that the policies around this particular grant forbid the government from funding any activity that is explicitly religious — that whole separation-of-church-and-state thing. Second, that the organizations that have received the grant in the past, and expected to receive it once again, were both involved in activities that were decidedly opposed to the Trump agenda. Read the rest

The Dancing Baby was an early viral GIF, emerging from a place where new and old media first found a common audience, a place that is now filled with darkness and anxiety but then seemed to promise wonders and new horizons. The dissolving of things was both anticipated and embraced; just not the dissolving of all human bonds before the graceless and impassive crush of technology. Anyway, someone found the original 3D model and uploaded it to the internet! Yay! Dancing Baby 2020.HOW I RE-DISCOVERED THE MODEL FOR 'THE DANCING BABY', RE-RENDERED THE ORIGINAL MEME IN HD, AND PORTED IT TO GMOD: A THREAD (1/11)(Mod: https://t.co/aE6Wse2tWN , YT: https://t.co/6fOjisXXMz) pic.twitter.com/J0ASNxncdB— JArmstrongArt (@JArmstrongArty) February 7, 2020JArmstrongArty [via Metafilter] Read the rest

Governor Thomas Johnson High School in Frederick, Maryland, sported new colors during a recent basketball game: the Nazi Swastika. School officials have apologized for the flag, hung in plain sight in a school window, and promised to find out who put it there.Serenity Bush Moore:Last night at one of the biggest games in FCPS, Thomas Johnson High School had this hateful flag prominently displayed in the window in the front of the school where everyone entered! As a graduate of FCPS, I am so regularly disappointed by their poor decisions. The idea that a school system has made a decision to exist in the destructiveness and incapacity dimensions of the cultural continuum demonstrates a total inability to protect all students. Please miss me with it’s a social studies class. What culturally proficient educator has a “life” size Nazi flag in their tool kit and then has the audacity to hang it OVER THEIR CLASSROOM WINDOW IN THE FRONT OF THE SCHOOL BUILDING BY THE MAIN ENTRANCE. Staff and administrative parking is directly in front of this window, so this was seen by a school leader. Irresponsibility and privilege at its highest levels.You just never know when it's time for a WWII history class in America. Read the rest

Yesterday, Christian Mosco of Volusia County, Florida was sentenced to ten years in prison after impersonating two assistant state prosecutors and attempting to use a fake court document to drop charges against himself. Mosco had previously been busted for extortion. According to the Daytona Beach News-Journal, the new charges include "two counts of falsely impersonating an officer, practicing law without authority, two counts of fraudulent use of personal identification and criminal process under color of law and uttering a forgery." From ClickOrlando:The Volusia County Clerk of Court’s office thought the document seemed suspicious and contacted the state attorney. After an investigation, the two offices determined the document was fraudulent.“The defendant employed threats, scams and theft in an attempt to further his criminal plans," State Attorney R.J. Larizza said in a news release. "Had he used his talents for positive and law-abiding activities, he would not be on his way to the State Prison System.” Read the rest

And you thought that the Reveal fake sunlight-through-trees projector that I posted about last month was spendy at $320! Mitsubishi's new LED faux skylights will sell for $6000-$7000 depending on the model. The LEDs change color to simulate "morning glow and sunset." From Mitsubishi Electric, translated via Chrome:Mitsubishi Electric Corporation uses a unique structure that combines a panel that imitates an open and deep blue sky with a frame that expresses the natural feeling of sunlight, creating a deep blue sky and natural light in indoor spaces...• A panel that mimics the blue sky using a light scatterer that generatesRayleigh scattering*, expressing an open and deep blue sky• Simulates natural sunlight by illuminating the three sides of the frame and making the remaining side look like a shadow• Natural light from the frame ensures the same brightness as general lighting equipment * A phenomenon that occurs when molecules enter the atmosphere when sunlight enters the atmosphere. The daytime sky looks blue because blue light with a short wavelength is more strongly scattered than red light with a long wavelength Read the rest

For 60 years, the itty-bitty town of Dixville Notch, New Hampshire has cast some of the very first ballots of the presidential primary election at The Balsams resort. The town's five registered voters cast their ballots at midnight and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg was the surprise winner with 3 write-in ballots; 2 from Democrats and 1 from a Republican. Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigeig each received 1 vote.Two other teeny towns, Hart's Location and Millsfield, also voted at midnight. In Hart's Location, Sen. Amy Klobuchar came in first with 6 votes, followed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren with 4, Andrew Yang with 3, Sanders with 2, and former VP Joe Biden, Tom Steyer, and Tulsi Gabbard with 1 each. Impeached President Donald Trump received 15 votes on the Republican side, and former MA governor Bill Weld and Concord resident Mary Maxwell each received 1.Klobuchar won again in Millsfield, capturing 2 votes and Buttigieg, Biden, and Sanders each receiving 1 vote. Trump also won Millsfield with 15 votes.That put Amy Klobuchar in first place in New Hampshire, followed by a tie for second place between Warren and Sanders. The rest of the state will vote today and most polls will close at 7:00 PM.If you're looking to kill some time before results start coming in, I highly recommend the podcast "Stranglehold" from New Hampshire Public Radio. It's a deep dive into how New Hampshire became the first state in the nation to vote and if it deserves to keep that distinction. Read the rest

This video contains excellent albeit unspoken advice regarding door chains: Don't use them. Peepholes, people, peepholes. Read the rest

The bummers of adulthood are too many to count, but one of our least favorites is the inability to sit down and enjoy a nice bowl of cereal. When you've got a long commute ahead, let's face it: That extra time it takes to pour the milk and chow down is too precious to spare.That's why we're recommending the CrunchCup™ Portable Cereal Cup to you today.The simple genius behind this thing is pretty impressive. It consists of two cups—one nested inside the other. You pour your milk into the bigger one, then your cereal of choice into the smaller one. Screw on the top, then take it on the road.The cover on the lid gives you enough space for a hearty bite with every sip, and it combines the two on the way to your mouth. It might even be a better solution than the traditional bowl if you're the type of eater who likes to keep their cereal crispy.The CrunchCup™ Portable Cereal Cup is on sale now for 33% off the original price. Read the rest

Imaging walking into the Toby Jug Pub in Tolworth, England on February 10, 1972 expecting to see a folkier, more mellow David Bowie and encountering Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars instead. The world didn't know it yet, but it shifted on its cultural axis that night.This video is from later in the year, stitched together from various bits of footage and synced with the audio from Bowie's Oct 20th Santa Monica show.Image: YouTube Read the rest

Impeached American president Donald John Trump wants a 25% reduction in the military fund designed to deter Russian aggression against the U.S., no reason, why are you asking, no really, why, you seem kind of obsessed.According to Defense Department budget documents unveiled Monday, Trump plans to cut a military fund designed to offset Russian aggression in Eastern Europe by 25%.From U.S. News:Budget proposals for fiscal 2021 released Monday afternoon call for $4.5 billion for the European Deterrence Initiative, a fund started by the Obama administration in the aftermath of Russia's 2014 invasion of parts of eastern Ukraine and annexation of the Crimean Peninsula, which sparked a conflict that continues to inflict casualties on both sides. The latest proposal represents a precipitous drop from the $6 billion enacted for the current fiscal year and $6.5 billion the year before. Congress approved funding in line with administration requests for those years.Trump has repeatedly expressed criticism of U.S. programs like the EDI that provide training, resources and money for foreign governments throughout Europe, calling on other U.S. partners to do more. The president has previously raided this fund as a workaround to pay for a wall along the southern U.S. border after Congress refused to allocate those funds. Defense Secretary Mark Esper is expected to make an announcement later this week on how the military will pay for additional border wall construction, CNN reports, after Defense budget officials on Monday said that decision was not yet final. Read more:Trump Proposes 25 Percent Drop in Fund Designed to Deter Russia[usnews.com, Read the rest

This essay on the Wuhan coronavirus by Xu Zhangrun, translated from the original Chinese and annotated by Geremie R. Barmé on Chinafile.com, is absolutely amazing. I'm grateful it is now available for English-speaking audiences."rage against this injustice; let your lives burn with a flame of decency." Tsinghua professor Xu Zhangrun's passionate essay on the coronavirus epidemic is out in English, translated by Geremie Barmé. https://t.co/CNNyI6BzRr @chinaheritage— Chris Buckley 储百亮 (@ChuBailiang) February 10, 2020Excerpt first from the translator's notes:In July 2018, the Tsinghua University professor Xu Zhangrun published an unsparing critique of the Chinese Communist Party and its Chairman of Everything, Xi Jinping. Xu warned of the dangers of one-man rule, a sycophantic bureaucracy, putting politics ahead of professionalism and the myriad other problems that the system would encounter if it rejected further reforms. That philippic was one of a cycle of works that Xu wrote during a year in which he alerted his readers to pressing issues related to China’s momentous struggle with modernity, the state of the nation under Xi Jinping and the mixed prospects for its future. Those essays will be published in a collection titled Six Chapters from the 2018 Year of the Dog by Hong Kong City University Press in May this year. Although he was demoted by Tsinghua University in March 2019 and banned from teaching, writing and publishing, Xu has remained defiant. His latest polemical work—“When Fury Overcomes Fear”—translated below, appeared online on February 4, 2020 as the coronavirus epidemic swept China and infections overseas sparked concern around the world. Read the rest

The death toll from the Wuhan virus has officially passed 1,000, according to China's health commission.Here is a snapshot on the global reach of Novel coronavirus 2019-nCoV, including today's update from the Chinese government:• 42,729 confirmed cases worldwide• 23,589 suspected cases worldwide• 1,013 people have died• 7,463 are in serious or critical condition• 3,752 people who became sick recovered• Most 2019-nCoV cases are in China• 25 countries have reported casesAn additional 2,097 cases of coronavirus and 103 deaths were reported in central China’s Hubei Province. The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Hubei, where the virus origin city of Wuhan is located, has now reached 31,728.#China health commission announces 103 new recorded #coronavirus deaths on Monday in Hubei province.— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) February 10, 2020China's Hubei province confirmed an additional 2,097 coronavirus cases and 103 deaths on Feb. 10, the health commission said. The current death toll is at least 1,011 pic.twitter.com/wXwcHDN7NV— QuickTake by Bloomberg (@QuickTake) February 10, 2020 Read the rest

“I mean, just see the flash of him rolling over me and in a straight line, and he was gone,” the deer-trampled gentleman told WSOC-TV.‘It was absolutely nuts,’ said Ken Worthy, a retired detective in North Carolina who was randomly plowed over by a startled deer in a McDonald’s parking lot the other day. From WSOCTV.com in North Carolina:“It was just a bit of brown, and then I saw his face, I was down on the ground -- that quick,” he said.Worthy is a retired detective and has seen some things, but the encounter caught him off guard.“I mean, just see the flash of him rolling over me and in a straight line, and he was gone,” Worley said.He was with his wife at McDonald’s for lunch.“We were walking out with our Cokes,” he said.[IMAGES: McDonalds surveillance video screengrabs, courtesy Ken Worthy][via Associated Press] Read the rest

Prosecutors released one of the make-believe athletic resumes that Lori Loughlin, aka Aunt Becky, manufactured to get her daughters into USC. Although neither daughter ever rowed a boat for any team, both pretended to be on crew teams when applying to college. The resume (below) says that one of her daughters (whose name is blacked out) had won many a medals, two gold, dating back to 2014. And her impressive coxswain skill-set includes "awareness, organization, direction, and steering." Check out Loughlin's (and husband Mossimo Giannulli's) handiwork:Source: InsiderTop image: pxhereResume image: District of Massachusetts/DocumentCloud Read the rest

Know Yourself is a set of 60 cards to prompt you to examine your beliefs. Example card: “List five things that are important to you in your life. How much of your time do you give to each of these?” The back of each card offers advice to make sure you answer the questions in a useful way. You can use their cards on your own or with another person you feel close to. Be prepared to surprise yourself. These could be good prompts for people interested in keeping a journal or writing a memoir. Read the rest

We all know sleep is important. But once you dig into the facts, you might be surprised at just how important it is. People who get adequate sleep each night tend to weigh less, exhibit better concentration and productivity, show fewer signs of heart disease and stroke and even suffer fewer mental health issues like depression than those who toss and turn every night.Meanwhile, how well you sleep could link back to one incredibly basic factor: your pillow. In addition to comfort, your pillow is supposed to be offering your neck and upper back support during your sleeping hours. Without the right support, you may be more restless, sleep-deprived and prone to all that ugly stuff above.We can’t have it. So check out these three options for replacing your current pillow with one ready to do the nocturnal work you need.Aloe Ice Pillow Gel - $81.99 (Originally $109)If you ever felt a memory foam pillow left you a little too warm to sleep comfortably, then welcome to gel foam. The Aloe Ice contours to your head and neck like memory foam, but the water expanded gel infused with soothing aloe vera essential oil offers 3,000 times more airflow than other foam pillows. The result of all those breathable and heat-dissipating materials is the coolest, most comfortable night’s sleep imaginable.Refresh Memory Foam Pillow - $73.99 (Originally $99)Adapting to the natural shape of your body, the soft to the touch, pressure relief Refresh pillow is the pillow of choice for stomach and back sleepers as well as those that prefer a lower loft. Read the rest

'Marijuana Moment' publisher Tom Angell tweeted today about the impact of impeached president Donald Trump's new budget on marijuana law in America.Tom points out that the new Trump budget would:• End state medical cannabis protections• Keep blocking DC from legalizing marijuana sales• Gut White House drug czar’s office• Fund FDA “regulation of cannabis and cannabis derivatives”• Support hemp implementation.Here's an excerpt from Kyle Jaeger's analysis for marijuanamoment.net:President Trump proposed ending an existing policy that protects state medical marijuana programs from Justice Department interference as part of his fiscal year 2021 budget plan released on Monday.The rider, which has been renewed in appropriations legislation every year since 2014, stipulates the the Justice Department can’t use its funds to prevent states or territories “from implementing their own laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of medical marijuana.”This isn’t the first time that an administration has requested that the rider be stricken. Trump’s last two budgets omitted the medical cannabis protections language, and President Obama similarly asked for the policy to be removed. In all cases, Congress has ignored those requests and renewed the protections in spending bills.Read more:Trump Budget Proposes Ending State Medical Marijuana Protections And Blocking DC From Legalizing[marijuanamoment.net] Read the rest

Leaked emails reveal that Amazon.com is stockpiling products made in China over fears that coronavirus will harm its supply chain — after the company said the outbreak will cause 'no interruptions' to operations. Business Insider reports that Amazon reached out to a number of suppliers last week to quickly increase its inventory of products made in China.In the email, Amazon said the move is to "prepare for possible supply chain disruptions due to recent global events originating in China,” and told third-party sellers they should be taking "precautions" to protect their seller account performance ratings.Novel coronavirus 2019-nCoV originated in Wuhan, China, and has killed over 900 people and infected more than 40,000 as of today. The outbreak is causing economic shock and closed factories throughout the country.“The move shows the urgency Amazon is working with to prevent any potential supply chain disruptions it could face due to the coronavirus outbreak in China, where the bulk of its products are sourced from,” reports Eugene Kim for Business Insider:"Amazon issued off-cycle orders to you last night in order to prepare for possible supply chain disruptions due to recent global events originating in China," Amazon said in one of the emails viewed by Business Insider.Amazon told these suppliers that the new orders are for products sold in the US but made in China, and that the change is in response to the coronavirus outbreak. In one of the emails viewed by Business Insider, Amazon said it's placing "stock-up purchase orders for several weeks of supply," and that it's giving the suppliers 5 extra days to ship the products to Amazon's warehouse. Read the rest

Biden tackles a ‘mean question’ about electability after Iowa. pic.twitter.com/mhDaSHbXqU— Cleve R. Wootson Jr. (@CleveWootson) February 9, 2020At Biden's campaign event in New Hampshire yesterday, a 21-year-old student asked him: "How do you explain the performance in Iowa, and why should voters believe that you can win the national election?"Joe Biden dealt with the question by calling her a "lying dog-faced pony soldier."Apparently, he thought is was OK to call her that because he thinks a cowboy movie actor said it 67 years ago.Image by Digital Campaign Manager Doug Jones for Senate - Doug Jones for Senate Committee, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link. Modified. Read the rest

After 12 days out of sight while the coronavirus death toll surged, Chinese President Xi Jinping finally made a public appearance on Monday. He wore a face mask and a medical worker took his temperature at a “front-line” coronavirus facility in the Chaoyang district of Beijing.For the last two weeks, Xi has been out of public view. He briefly met with Cambodia’s autocratic leader, Hun Sen, but was otherwise off camera while his country faced a crisis that has now killed more people than the 2002 SARS outbreak.Video: Chinese President Xi Jinping inspected the #novelcoronavirus pneumonia prevention and control work in Beijing on Monday afternoon. Xi visited residents and staff in a community in Chaoyang District to learn about the situation of the frontline work. https://t.co/n2zr4Ckifs pic.twitter.com/fYLk7DqIzs— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) February 10, 2020From the Washington Post:It was unclear whether Xi’s appearance Monday was connected to the proliferation of signs of frustration among some Chinese citizens, but the president’s message was clear: Trust the Communist Party with confronting the outbreak.According to state television, Xi acknowledged that the situation remains serious. But he added that the Chinese leadership would take further measures to contain the spread of the virus and prevent mass layoffs as a result of the economic fallout.China, he said, would prevail over the virus.Mask-clad Xi Jinping emerges from conspicuous absence to visit coronavirus ‘front line’[washingtonpost.com, Rick Noack Feb. 10, 2020] Read the rest

I had family in town and thought we ought to try Los Angeles marijuana-friendly restaurant. A good time was had by all!The OG Cannabis Cafe is LA's new spot where you can eat lunch while smoking out or vaping. When my sister and brother-in-law told me they were coming to town for a visit, I booked a reservation.We took an entertaining ride-share to the restaurant, located on La Brea in West Hollywood. The driver almost missed the place as it resides inside a well-walled garden. We were greeted in the parking lot by two guys who checked ID to confirm we were over the age of 21 and then allowed in. It was a good thing we had reservations as the Saturday afternoon wait for a table without one was over an hour. We were seated almost immediately, however, in their lovely patio. There is also an indoor seating area, but it was a beautiful day and outside seemed much nicer.Every seat was filled and folks were smoking joints or vaping up a storm. We were not, however, overwhelmed by the smell of weed as the patio uses a pretty effective air filtration system -- even outdoors. The tables around the perimeter are covered by fairly cyberpunk looking hoods that do a great job of capturing the secondhand smoke and removing it. We were never bothered.Upon being seated the process for ordering both food and weed was explained. Both are ordered at the table. You pay for marijuana as you go and they will take cash or run your carb before delivering it to the table. Read the rest

Esta es la “obra” por la que en estos momentos el mundo del arte esta de luto pic.twitter.com/4jDyIZnK3E— Pedro Damian (@PedroDamianMA) February 9, 2020Art critic Avelina Lésper wanted to demonstrate her feelings about a work of art by Gabriel Rico on display in Mexico, so she approached it and set a can of soda next to it. Somehow Lésper's action allegedly caused the artwork to shatter, according to The Guardian.“It was like the work heard my comment and felt what I thought of it,” Lésper said in a video statement for Milenio, a Mexican media group that publishes her columns. “The work shattered into pieces and collapsed and fell on the floor.”Lésper said she was then told the piece was valued at $20,000.Accident or not, the gallery displaying the work criticised Lésper’s behaviour as unprofessional.“Lésper coming too close to the work to place a soda can on it and take a picture as criticism without a doubt caused the destruction,” OMR gallery said in a statement on Instagram.Photo of shattered glass by Orane Thomas on Unsplash Read the rest

In new court filings, AWS (Amazon Web Services) claims it wants to depose Donald Trump about his involvement in the JEDI bidding process, and “efforts to harm Amazon or AWS.” The lawsuit filed by Amazon's cloud computing division cites a history of the president's public attacks of Amazon, including allegations he told Mattis to “screw Amazon” out of the deal. As covered here on Boing Boing last November, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos was none too happy about the matter.From CNBC:Amazon is seeking to depose President Donald Trump, Defense Secretary Mark Esper and former Defense Secretary James Mattis over a $10 billion Pentagon cloud contract awarded to Microsoft.In court documents unsealed and filed Monday, Amazon’s cloud computing arm said it’s looking to depose seven “individuals who were instrumental” in the JEDI source selection and “played pivotal roles” in the ultimate awarding of the contract. Aside from Trump, Mattis and Esper, Amazon Web Services is also seeking to depose the Defense Department’s chief information officer, Dana Deasy, and the source selection authority, which awarded the contract to Microsoft, as well as the chairpersons of the SSA, according to the documents.A spokesperson for AWS told CNBC in a statement: “President Trump has repeatedly demonstrated his willingness to use his position as President and Commander in Chief to interfere with government functions – including federal procurements – to advance his personal agenda. The preservation of public confidence in the nation’s procurement process requires discovery and supplementation of the administrative record, particularly in light of President Trump’s order to ‘screw Amazon.’ Read the rest

• The Equifax breach was disclosed in 2017, exposed financial records of 150M Americans • FBI Deputy Director David Bowdich: “This is the largest theft of sensitive PII by state-sponsored hackers ever recorded.”The U.S. Department of Justice today announced charges against four intelligence agents of the Chinese government for the legendary Equifax hack. Disclosed in September 2017, the breach exposed sensitive financial records of nearly 150 million Americans and many other foreigners.Read more about the charges here at justice.gov.More: Politico, The Verge, The New York Times.Twitter reactions below, followed by the full announcement from the Department of Justice.DOJ announcement of Chinese hackers ties together whole series of state-sponsored data thefts: OPM, Marriott, Anthem, and Equifax. Huge pool of data, will take decades to undo damage to US intelligence.— Garrett M. Graff (@vermontgmg) February 10, 2020Equifax statement. (It would've been nice had Equifax at least acknowledged its own massive fuckups that led to the breach in the first place.)A House report in 2018 that the breach was "entirely preventable" had Equifax bothered to patch its systems. https://t.co/8tyVTwaUlY pic.twitter.com/zmFj09lljv— Zack Whittaker (@zackwhittaker) February 10, 2020DOJ Indicts 4 members of PLA for Equifax hack (part of 54th Research Institute).One of the few publicly disclosed cyber actions from PLA since 2016 Cyber Agreement. Most activity in recent years has emanated from MSS and their contractorshttps://t.co/7wjhTidYv6— Dmitri Alperovitch (@DAlperovitch) February 10, 2020I can't believe that Equifax is still in business https://t.co/Q5g8NJaAYQ Read the rest

It appears that a county in Kansas has found a way to make people overburdened by medical debt struggle more.CBS News:That law was put in place at Hassenplug's own recommendation to the local judge. The attorney uses that law by asking the court to direct people with unpaid medical bills to appear in court every three months and state they are too poor to pay in what is called a "debtors exam."If two hearings are missed, the judge issues an arrest warrant for contempt of court. Bail is set at $500.Hassenplug said he gets "paid on what's collected." If the bail money is applied to the judgment, then he gets a portion of that, he said."We're sending them to jail for contempt of court for failure to appear," Hassenplug said.In most courts, bail money is returned when defendants appear in court. But in almost every case in Coffeyville, that money goes to pay attorneys like Hassenplug and the medical debt his clients are owed."This raises serious constitutional concerns," said Nusrat Choudhury, the deputy director of the ACLU. "What's happening here is a jailhouse shake-down for cash that is the criminalization of private debt." Read the rest

A former TSA officer, Johnathon Lomeli (22), has been charged with ordering a woman at LAX to show him her breasts by telling her it was for security reasons, reports the Associated Press. Lomeli is alleged to have asked the woman to pull back the top of her shirt so could he look at her bra, and to pull the waist of her pants from her body. He then allegedly told the woman he had to take her to a private room for additional screening, but when they got into the elevator he told the woman he was going to search her there. The woman said Lomeli told her “to show me your full breasts” and looked down her pants. He then told the woman she had nice breasts and that she was free to go.Image: by U.S. Federal Government - http://www.tsa.gov/index.shtm, Public Domain, Link Read the rest

I like my BMW more than I like most people. This Dowco Guardian motorcycle cover keeps my classic bike looking nearly restored.Loving both the ocean and shiny things can be hard. A lot of work goes into keeping corrosion at bay on my old airhead. Fog and wind bring minute amounts of salt that go after the metal. Harsh temperature changes and direct sun bake the plastic bits. Keeping the bike covered when not in use is the only way to keep it alive.Cheap eBay covers were not doing it for me. I can find a number of $25-45 covers that fit and will last one or maybe two years. The salt and sun also destroy covers. They give at the seams, or holes wear thru around my mirrors. I decided to spend twice as much on a Dowco cover.I got 6 years of service out of the Dowco. It is not dead, but holes have started to appear. I will replace it with the same cover.When I was directly next to the ocean I also used a flip-over cover for a few years. The double layer of insulation helped until high winds would start whipping the shelter about and made me fear for the motorcycle's safety. I may try one again if I can find one small enough to co-exist in a parking space in front of a car.Dowco Guardian 50003-02 WeatherAll Plus Indoor/Outdoor Waterproof Motorcycle Cover via Amazon Read the rest

Ever since reading Gary Fine's Shared Fantasy: Role-Playing Games as Social Worlds, in 1983, I have been keen on the idea of using RPGs as a learning tool, for sandboxing social interactions for the socially challenged, and as a potential therapeutic tool. This idea seems to really be gaining traction during the current D&D/RPG explosion that we are in the midst of.In this article on Kotaku, Cecilia D'Anastasio looks at several therapy groups employing D&D:Adam Davis, co-founder of the Dungeons & Dragons therapy group Wheelhouse Workshop, thinks kids with social issues aren’t being asked the right questions. In a dreary school counselor’s office, it can be hard to engage with “Why aren’t you doing your homework?” and “Have you tried joining clubs?” For Davis, more fruitful lines of inquiry start with “Who has the axe? Is it two-handed? What specialty of wizard to you want to be?”Davis, who runs Wheelhouse Workshop out of an office in a large, brick arts building in Seattle, is used to seeing sides of kids that don’t usually come out in school. He, along with co-founder Adam Johns, designs D&D games that are less like hack-and-slash dungeon-crawls and more like therapy with dragons. In D&D’s Forgotten Realms world, the kids’ psyches run amok.Image Credit: Wizards of the Coast. Read the rest

Actor, comedian, golfer. Bill Murray has style.Bill Murray with the best thing you’ll see today. Just wait for the club flip 😂 pic.twitter.com/eDobeAkyVH— 95.7 The Game (@957thegame) February 9, 2020 Read the rest

Accused professional shoplifter Twanna Trotter, 29, of East St. Louis, Illinois, was allegedly running an online clothing store out of her basement that was stocked with $20,000 in stolen merchandise. On Friday, she was sentenced to four years in the slammer for retail thefts along the Missouri-Illinois border. According to police still investigating the extent of her operation, Trotter used Facebook Live videos to market her hot commodities."I describe it as the QVC of stolen clothes. I mean, she had things set up and things she was planning on selling that day," (said Chesterfield Police Department Sgt. Keith Rider.)From WHNT:Rider said his detectives would actually watch Trotter's Facebook Live sessions to see what she was selling."The products that they observed she was selling we were able to track back to ... retail areas in Chesterfield as well as throughout St. Louis County, and also as far as Osage Beach," he said.Rider said Trotter has a history of arrests in Chesterfield for retail thefts. Rider referred to her as a "professional shoplifter" who treated the crimes as a business.(via FARK)image: @ChesterfieldPD/Twitter Read the rest

The night sky looked like day for a few moments at Colorado's Steamboat Springs Annual Carnival Saturday night with the world's largest firework on record. From The Denver Post:At 7:56 p.m., fireworks expert Tim Borden successfully captured the world record for the largest single firework when the 2,797-pound behemoth illuminated the crowd during the Night Extravaganza at the annual Steamboat Springs Winter Carnival.The 62-inch shell was launched from a 26-foot long mortar from atop Howelsen Hill, reaching nearly a mile in the air when it detonated, putting on quite the show. Read the rest

Flashpoint, by BlueMaxima, is a game launcher that comes with more than 30,000 flash games built-in to a single download. As getting Adobe Flash working moves from "troublesome" to "virtually impossible", it's a timely feat of internet preservation. Internet history is important, and content made on platforms such as Adobe Flash make up a significant portion of that culture doomed to obscurity. This project is dedicated to preserving as many games and animations from these platforms as possible, so that they aren't lost to time. Since early 2018, over a hundred contributors have helped Flashpoint save more than 38,000 games and 2,400 animations running on 13 different platforms."So much culture saved from the jaws of death," writes Bennett Foddy. Read the rest

College students have been majoring in cannabis for decades, but it's finally legit at Colorado State University-Pueblo. On Friday, the Colorado Department of Higher Education approved a new bachelor of science degree program in Cannabis Biology and Chemistry to launch in the fall. From CNN:Graduates could begin careers either in the cannabis and hemp industries or in the government. But they could also be competitive in a "wide variety of businesses outside of the cannabis industry," (the program proposal) said, such as agriculture, food science, biochemistry and environmental sciences."Educating students who are capable of understanding cannabis science is required for the industry in all its aspects to be effective and safe for the consumer," it said...CSU-Pueblo's program will not be the first of its kind. Its proposal cited Northern Michigan University's bachelor program in medicinal plant chemistry that it said was "primarily tailored to those wanting to enter the cannabis field." Read the rest

The new Motorola Razr looks like a perfect wedding of old and new: a cutting-edge (and very expensive) foldable smartphone reviving the sleek flip-phone designs of a more civilized age. The clever hinge even avoids creasing the display, a problem with other first-gen foldables. Alas, it's not very good, reports Joshua Topolsky.The prevailing reason I could see for having a phone that folds in half in this way is that it makes the phone smaller and easier to carry. That's nice, but a somewhat inessential problem for most people. Furthermore, the folding nature of the device and difficulty of opening it quickly and with a single hand made some things I normally do with my phone more difficult. To quickly reply to a message took more time. Glancing at Twitter became a two-handed affair. Taking a picture of something besides my own face couldn't be done single-handedly.CNET's Patrick Holland has concerns.Is the Razr durable? This one's tricky. Motorola released a video on how to care for the Razr that claims the "screen is made to bend; bumps and lumps are normal." I haven't encountered any bumps or lumps on the screen, but bumps and lumps are not normal. If you have a bump or lump on your body you should see a doctor.What could be a better example of show-off feature that will be obsolete if not broken in months than a rumply bumpy foldable phone screen? Read the rest

The incredible museum exhibition David Bowie Is included a list of 100 books that were not necessarily his favorites but rather those that influenced him the most. Author John O'Connell used that list as the basis of his own book, Bowie's Bookshelf: The Hundred Books that Changed David Bowie's Life, containing plot summaries, analysis, and his thoughts on how each text connects to Bowie. From John Quin's review at The Quietus:O’Connell rightly reminds us that Bowie was a Mod and that his literary taste was consistently modernist: Camus, Eliot, Lawrence and Kerouac all feature here amongst others....There are plenty of surprises here such as his love for true crime classics like Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood and travel narratives such as Bruce Chatwin’s The Songlines. We learn more about Bowie’s friendships with writers like Hanif Kureishi and William Boyd. It’s also good to be reminded that Bowie loved a laugh and rated Keith Waterhouse. Humour features strongly with Viz, Private Eye, and Spike Milligan’s Puckoon all making the cut...The singer’s Berlin years, the time of Low and ‘Heroes’, are linked with the inclusion of Berlin, Alexanderplatz by Alfred Döblin with its lowlife nightclubbing. There’s pleasure too in hearing that Bowie liked the revival of forgotten classics such as John Kennedy Toole’s wonderful A Confederacy of Dunces. And Bowie’s interest in modern art is underlined by the inclusion of Richard Cork’s book on David Bomberg and Arthur C. Danto’s thinking on Warhol in Beyond the Brillo box: The Visual Arts in Post-Historical Perspective. Read the rest

New York City is terribly cold in the winter, which doesn't exactly make it great weather for a picnic. But that's not stopping Shadow Traffic, a Brooklyn-based group of amusement makers that's putting on their second Competitive Winter Picnicking event.They write:Get your foodies, your burners, your hippies and ravers, your demonic worshippers, your builders and crafters, your grillers and bakers, your winter mamas and cuddly papas, your comicconners and renfair freaks and Picnic On! This year's picnic starts at noon on March 1 at Brooklyn's Fort Greene Park. RSVP now.Oh yeah, there are prizes to be won, for: Richest Picnic Meal, Tastiest Picnic Drink, Funnest Picnic Game, and/or Tightest Thematic Team ("Judges are bribeable"). photos by Walter Wlodarczyk/Shadow Traffic, used with permission Read the rest

The replacement of Lamp Cat's jaunty YouTube Music Library track with Era Ameno turns a stupid feline warming its head under a lightbulb into the seraphim Baraqiel, its ceaseless gaze bearing the eternal fire of God's light. Read the rest

Facebook is designed to make you anxious, depressed and dissatisfied, three states of mind that make you more vulnerable to advertising and other forms of behavioral manipulation. Small wonder, then, that people who quit using Facebook report higher levels of life satisfaction and lower levels of depression and anxiety [pdf]. Bloomberg's article about the study is a few months old but one that should be revisited regularly between now and November.People who deactivated Facebook as part of the experiment were happier afterward, reporting higher levels of life satisfaction and lower levels of depression and anxiety. The change was modest but significant — equal to about 25 to 40 percent of the beneficial effect typically reported for psychotherapy.Why are people willing to pay so much money for something that reduces their happiness? One possibility is that social media acts like an addictive drug — in fact, the people Allcott et al. paid to deactivate Facebook ended up using it less after the experiment was over. But another possibility is that people use services like Facebook because they’re compelled by motivations other than the pursuit of happiness. Read the rest

Isotope geochemist John Andrew Higgins asks a question, and answers it: "What does a 9 inch ice core sound like when dropped down a 450 foot hole? Like this!"What does a 9 inch ice core sound like when dropped down a 450 foot hole? Like this! Credit to @peter_neff for the idea and @Scripps_Polar, @sciencejenna, @GeosciencesPU, @US_IceDrilling, and @paleosurface for the execution! pic.twitter.com/pW7LxKdbUB— John Andrew Higgins (@blueicehiggins) February 7, 2020It reminded me of the sound of skating on thin ice. Here's another video explaining exactly what you're hearing:Here’s the story on this crazy sound (V1), plus the basic science @blueicehiggins, myself, & others do studying past climate with #Antarctic ice cores. 🇦🇶🧊❄️ pic.twitter.com/QAtjcxXXGh— Peter Neff (@peter_neff) February 8, 2020 Read the rest

The Rock-afire Explosion was a pre-cursor to the Chuck E. Cheese band that was originally created by Aaron Fechter, when the chain was still called ShowBiz Pizza Palace. In 2008, Fechter tried to revive the group as a YouTube cover band of sorts, and the results were…well, as you can see.Image: Ray or Jane Schumin / Wikimedia Commons (CC 3.0) Read the rest

This video depicts a cat comtemplating at considerable length whether to bop a dog on the head. Read the rest

A couple weeks back, I posted about the the Nepal government's new tourism campaign featuring 100 huge yeti statues designed by Ang Tsherin Sherpa to be painted by various artists and placed around Nepal and elsewhere. A delightful idea but as you can see in the video above from January 29, many people were unhappy with how their beloved yeti was depicted. As a result, the government has removed the existing statues and ended the yeti campaign. From Daijiworld:Some people complained that the mascot looked like a Japanese sumo wrestler and others believed that the statues represented Hindu and Buddhist deities.Some people even started praying in front of the statues that had religious pictures or symbols painted onto them. Pictures of women and children worshiping the mascot went viral on social media.The statue placed at the Basantapur Durbar Square had an image of goddess Kumari painted on its forehead and back. The deity is worshiped by Hindus as well as Buddhists."The yeti is a mystical beast (and) this (the statues) has damaged the religious feelings of the people," Ganapati Lal Shrestha, a heritage activist, told Efe news.(image: Visit Nepal 2020 news release) Read the rest

Most Western music is based on a twelve-tone octave with the smallest interval being a half step (or half tone, or "semitone") up or down. Microtonal music contains intervals smaller than a semitone. (Imagine playing notes between the keys on a traditional piano.) You can hear microtonal music compositions in the work of modernist and experimental composers, from Charles Ives and Claude Debussy to Wendy Carlos and Aphex Twin. Tolgahan CoÄŸulu is a Turkish musician known for designing an adjustable microtonal guitar and performing unique arrangements of Anatolian folk music and Ottoman maqam music. Most recently though, he took a cue from his young son and built a fantastic microtonal guitar from LEGO! Read the rest

Only 5 women have ever been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director — and only one of those nominations happened in the past decade.So this year, Natalie Portman decided to make a point. She wore a Dior-designed cape to the award show that was embroidered with the names of the women who were snubbed for Best Director nominations, including Lorene Scafaria (Hustlers); Greta Gerwig (Little Women); Lulu Wang (The Farewell); Melina Matsoukas (Queen & Slim); Alma Har'el (Honey Boy); and Céline Sciamma (Portrait of a Lady on Fire).As Portman explained to the Los Angeles Times, "I wanted to recognize the women who were not recognized for their incredible work this year in my subtle way."Natalie Portman embroidered her Dior cape with all of the female directors who weren't nominated for #Oscars. Check out her explanation here. pic.twitter.com/kyyo2wVMZf— Amy Kaufman (@AmyKinLA) February 10, 2020I don't normally pay much attention to the Oscars, in part because I know that it's always going to be a disappointing Old Boys Club showing of the exact same kinds of movies every time. And, well, that's exactly what Portman's pointing out here. There are plenty of cynical things I could say about celebrity gossip and performative protest and all. But right now, I think it's just important: fuck yeah Natalie. Good on you. Here's hoping that it makes even a little bit of difference.Image: Gage Skidmore (CC 2.0) Read the rest

We’re going to let you in on a little secret: You don’t need to dish out hundreds of dollars on a professional designer or spend an exorbitant amount of time learning the Adobe Suite in order to get pro-level designs for your company or project—regardless of whether you’re trying to build a website or create a viral video for your latest and greatest product.PixTeller PRO makes it easy to create your own engaging images and animated videos without any previous experience in design, and a 3-year subscription is available for over 80% off.This subscription grants you unlimited access to 134,000 templates, 1.5 million photos, and over 100,000 shapes with no red tape or royalty fees to worry about.You’ll be able to create and customize images for use on everything from websites and social media to print and YouTube, and it’s easy to quickly find what you’re looking for thanks to powerful search functions.It’s also easy to quickly customize your images and videos in order to match your brand’s unique style and message.Stop overpaying for professional designers and video producers and sign up for a 3-year subscription with PixTeller PRO for just $49.99. Read the rest

Why DO outhouses classically have crescent moons on their doors or their sides? Is is an ancient hold-over from when boys outhouses had suns on them and girls had moons? Is it a decorative way of bringing in ventilation and light? Is it an allusion to "mooning?" A cut-out to act as a handle for opening the door? Hah. The answer is far less interesting than any of that. But hey, did you hear about the time that a fart ended up getting 10,000 people killed?Image: YouTube Read the rest