I get overly frustrated when I'm browsing Netflix and it autoplays previews. Finally, they've enabled a way to turn that off (and also the autoplay of the next episode of a series). You can only flip the switch by logging into your account on a Web browser though. Here's how:To turn autoplay on or off:1. Sign In to Netflix from a web browser.2. Select Manage Profiles from the menu.3. Select the profile you’d like to update.Check or uncheck the option to Autoplay previews while browsing on all devices.(Netflix) Read the rest

Nerdforge is a young Norwegian couple who documents all of their creative projects on YouTube. Martina is a talented crafter who specializes in fantasy dioramas and book binding.In this episode, she binds a leather spell book and embellishes the cover with The Witcher signs (sigils) and the Wolf School medallion with glowing red eyes.Image: YouTube Read the rest

Snek, no! No bite microphone. You giving her a big frighten, fren.An Australian reporter said Thursday she was horrified when a snake draped around her shoulders began repeatedly striking at her microphone.Television news presenter Sarah Cawte had the snake wrapped around her while doing a snake safety report. (Feb. 6, Associated Press) Read the rest

The number of deaths from the Wuhan coronavirus now stands at 630, China state media reports today.China's Hubei province reports 2,447 new cases of the deadly virus, and 69 new deaths as of Thursday.Multiple news agencies are now confirming.#BREAKING China virus death toll rises to at least 630, government says pic.twitter.com/27fW31NC9p— AFP news agency (@AFP) February 6, 2020Novel coronavirus 2019-nCoV continues to spread throughout the world.#Update: #Hubei reported 2,447 new cases of novel #coronavirus on Feb 6, with 69 new deaths; total infection number of the province rose to 22,112, with 618 dead and 817 recovered. https://t.co/SZ98qVlYQd pic.twitter.com/0itVhu6nTA— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) February 6, 2020 Read the rest

“Not only is the terror threat diverse, it’s unrelenting."--FBI director Chris Wray.The FBI has elevated the risk from neo-Nazis in America to the same level with which it regards ISIS.Violent racist extremism is now a “national threat priority,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday. Excerpt from Vice News:[Wray] outlined several concrete steps the agency had taken to combat violent far-right extremists, explaining that the “national threat priority” designation puts those groups or individuals on the same footing as ISIS” in terms of the resources the FBI will devote to it.“We’re particularly focused on domestic terrorism, especially racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists,” said Wray. “Not only is the terror threat diverse, it’s unrelenting.”Wray’s announcement comes just two weeks after FBI agents arrested eight members of the violent neo-Nazi group The Base, three of whom were allegedly discussing firing into the crowd during the large pro-gun rally in Virginia last month. In recent months, the FBI also foiled two synagogue bombings, Wray said. Read more:The FBI Just Put White Nationalists and Neo-Nazis on the Same Threat Level as ISIS, reporting by Tess Owen[via Derek Mead] Read the rest

'I said what in the world': Two bear cubs left on man's doorstep in Camden, NCOn Tuesday night, North Carolina resident Cornelius Williams got home from the grocery store and heard a squeaky sound coming from the direction of a cardboard box someone left in his walkway, reports WTKR-TV.This was weird. It was night. Williams called authorities for help. When a deputy approached the box and looked inside, surprise: two newborn bear cubs were inside the box.You have GOT to hear Cornelius Williams' impersonation of the bear cubs' cries. It's pretty hilarious.The bears were taken to the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro to be examined and cared for, news outlets reported.He peered a bit closer, as it was dark outside.""I see the box sitting right on my walkway - right here close to my car - and I looked inside and thought I saw Tasmanian devils," said Williams. “The noise was the reason I was so concerned - it was like a squeaky noise," Williams described.When the deputy arrived at his home, a quick investigation revealed the animal inside the cardboard box was not one, but two newborn baby bear cubs. "I said, 'What in the world?" No way, no how... if the mama bear would have seen me in the yard, I would have been a Happy Meal," said Williams. An incredibly bizarre find, something the sheriff has never seen."A little strange; we just don't run up on this all the time," said Jones. Read the rest

I'm loving these 'my favorite tools' videos from the all-new ADAM SAVAGE's TESTED.About this new clip says Adam:“In today's episode of favorite tools: the handheld sheet metal brake! It's pretty esoteric, but SUPER useful.”More about the show:Host of Discovery Channel's long-running series MythBusters, Adam Savage has spent his life making things. From a cardboard suit of Excalibur armor when he was 13 to a REAL suit of Excalibur armor (with Terry English) when he was 50, Adam has built just about everything you can think of, including (but not limited to): Star Wars spaceships, Totoro costumes, NERF mods and movie prop replicas. In fact, over his career as an industrial and special effects designer/fabricator, actor, educator and television personality, there isn’t much Adam Savage has not done. Subscribe to Tested to see what Adam and his team will tackle next!Tested is also: Norman Chan, Simone Giertz, Joey Fameli, Gunther Kirsch, Ryan Kiser, Kishore Hari, Sean Charlesworth, Jeremy Williams, Kayte Sabicer, Bill Doran, Arial Waldman, Darrell Maloney and Kristen Lomasney.[PHOTO courtesy Adam Savage] Read the rest

I hate the horse-racing of art. I could never bring myself to declare "THE" ten most groundbreaking of anything. And especially something as subjective as avant garde art and music.I look at this list and immediately think "What, no Glenn Branca? Magma? The Residents? SOFT MACHINE?" I could go on. And I could easily come up with ten more records that I think are as groundbreaking as these. But that said, this is a very good list of very important records. I have most of these in my collection.The 10 most groundbreaking avant-garde albums of all timeI assume Boing Boing readers will have their own candidates and look forward to seeing what your choices might be.Image: Screengrab of Henry Cow album cover. Read the rest

Reggae legend and activist Bob Marley was born on this day in 1945. He would have turned 75 this year. The Jamaican singer was born on February 6. Bob Marley died of cancer in 1981, at age 36.In Los Angeles last Friday, Bob Marley’s children, including Cedella Marley, Julian Marley and Rohan Marley, and several of the late singer's grandchildren, all held a pre-Grammys brunch.The gathering also celebrated Julian Marley, who was nominated for best reggae album at last Sunday’s Grammy Awards.Cedella Marley, a three-time Grammy winner, said her father, who died in 1981, taught his children important lessons about perseverance.“Daddy was a fitness guru ... and there were times when we would do these relay races and a lot of parents just want their children to win, win, win. No, we had to really win,” she said. “If we run, we have to really run. And he was not the one that was just going to let you win just because, and I think that’s an important lesson. Nothing is handed to you, you have to go out there (and work hard).”Bob Marley’s kids passed that message on to their own children, who were in attendance Friday. Skip Marley, Cedella Marley’s son who has collaborated with Katy Perry, H.E.R. and Major Lazer, said he didn’t choose music, but that “music chose me.”“All of us carry it on,” Skip Marley said of the other grandchildren, “Even to some new streets and avenues (while) protecting the message and continuing to carry the light.” Read the rest

Esteemed toy collector Joel Magee of Pawn Stars fame has acquired a prototype of an original Hot Wheels Camaro that was part of the 1968 "Sweet 16" series of the first Hot Wheels cars. Magee says the Camaro is valued at US$100,000 although, in reality, it is only worth whatever someone will pay for it. Apparently the white enamel paint indicates that it was a prototype. From Carscoops:Only a “few” prototypes are known to have been mistakenly sent to retailers and most buyers would have been clueless. That appears to be what happened to the Camaro as it was found among a set of several other Hot Wheels cars. Joel examined the collection and consulted a Hot Wheels expert to determine that the “lone white Camaro was, in fact, the rarest of rare.”Magee says the Camaro is the third rarest Hot Wheels car and the only one of its kind believed to exist. That puts it in rare company as “The Beach Bomb and the Olds 442 are the only other rare Hot Wheels on the level of the white enamel Hong Kong Camaro.” Read the rest

“As they stole stories from real newspapers, these sites baffled scientists, activists, and journalists. Until now.”

I just watched the trailer for The Vast Of Night, an Amazon Prime Video feature movie that's "coming soon to theaters and Prime Video." Looks like creepy fun!In the twilight of the 1950s, on one fateful night in New Mexico, a young, winsome switchboard operator Fay (Sierra McCormick) and charismatic radio DJ Everett (Jake Horowitz) discover a strange audio frequency that could change their small town and the future forever. Dropped phone calls, AM radio signals, secret reels of tape forgotten in a library, switchboards, crossed patchlines and an anonymous phone call lead Fay and Everett on a scavenger hunt toward the unknown.Here's Variety's positive review.Image: Vast of Night publicity still Read the rest

[UPDATE 2/6/20 12:09pm PT: According to the CNN, the doctor is alive but in critical condition. "Hours earlier the same state media organizations reported that he had died.""Wuhan Central Hospital said on its official Weibo account that Li Wenliang, 34, had become seriously ill. 'In the fight against the pneumonia epidemic of the new coronavirus infection, our hospital's ophthalmologist Li Wenliang was unfortunately infected. He is currently in critical condition and we are trying our best to resuscitate him,' the statement read."]A Chinese ophthalmologist in Wuhan who tried to warn his colleagues on December 30 about seven patients who had come down with a SARS-like virus but was censored by the Chinese government – and and then detained two days later for "rumor mongering" – has died from the disease.After being detained for two days, Li Wenliang, age 34, helped patients with the novel coronavirus who streamed into his overrun hospital, until he himself became infected with the coronavirus and was hospitalized.From The Washington Post:The full outlines of his story, which came to light in recent weeks as the Wuhan outbreak exploded into an international emergency, set off a swell of outrage in China, where citizens have long chafed at the government’s penchant for relentlessly snuffing out any speech deemed threatening to social stability.Many, including China’s judicial authorities in a rare rebuke of the police, have wondered whether the epidemic could have unfolded differently had Li not been silenced at a critical juncture ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday in late January... Read the rest

Ten months ago the director of New Jersey's Division on Civil Rights alerted Facebook about a racist and anti-Semitic group page it was hosting, but Facebook took no action, reports Ars Technica. It took a letter from the state's attorney general to convince Facebook to remove the group page.On Wednesday New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal and New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy issued a joint statement, which read:"We just learned that Facebook has decided to take down the public page on the company’s social network called ‘Rise Up Ocean County.’ Facebook’s action comes ten months after the Director of our Division on Civil Rights, Rachel Wainer Apter, first sent a letter to Facebook expressing concerns about racist and anti-Semitic statements on the page. Since then, we’ve consistently and repeatedly made clear our view that the page appeared to violate Facebook’s terms of service, and we appreciate that Facebook has now decided that this kind of hateful rhetoric has no place on its platform.There remains much that should be done to stop the spread of hate on the Internet. The Murphy Administration will continue to call out hate whenever and wherever we see it, we will persist in demanding meaningful reforms to address the proliferation of hate online, and we will continue working to make New Jersey a safe and inclusive place for all of our residents.”From the Ars Technica article:In January the Facebook page went briefly offline, leading state officials to believe Facebook had in fact taken it down, but the group came back several hours later, "gloating" about its perseverance. Read the rest

Lonnie Johnson, age 70, was always a maker. As a child, his experiments with rocket fuel nearly burned down his house. While in high school, Johnson was the only black student to enter the Alabama science fair; his entry, a pneumatic robot named Linex, took first prize. Johnson went on to earn engineering degrees from Tuskegee University, worked on the stealth bomber for the US Air Force, developed nuclear power systems for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and has since founded two tech companies -- one that develops solid state batteries and the other focused on thermo-electrochemical converters with green energy applications. Oh yeah, he also invented the Super Soaker. From William Broad's 2001 New York Times profile of Johnson :On his day job in 1982, Lonnie G. Johnson, a 32-year-old aerospace engineer, was preparing an interplanetary spacecraft for its atomic battery. But he dreamed of inventing something that would change life on earth.He often worked at home as his wife and children slept. One weekend, while tinkering in his bathroom, Mr. Johnson hooked up to the sink a prototype cooling device.Meant to run on water, it bore at one end a length of vinyl tubing and a homemade metal nozzle. The rest, as they say, is history.''I turned and shot into the bathtub,'' he recalled. The blast was so powerful that the whoosh of accompanying air set the bathroom curtains flying. ''I said to myself, 'Jeez, this would make a great water gun.' ''(via The Kid Should See This) Read the rest

Bernie Sanders today declared victory in Iowa's bungled headcount of Democratic voters, with the latest results putting him neck-and-neck with Pete Buttigieg. It was already clear he had the most votes, but Iowa Democrats' abstruse "caucus math" had awarded Buttigieg an advantage in delegates earlier in the count."With 97 percent of precincts now reporting, the results showed South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg with 26.2 percent of state delegate equivalents and Sanders with 26.1 percent," reported The Hill's Kyle Balluck. "Sanders, however, is leading in the final alignment votes tally, though the share of delegates is considered the most important metric of the Iowa results."When asked why he was declaring victory despite the neck-and-neck delegate count, he told reporters "because I got 6,000 more votes."In any case, both candidates did well on the night, with Elizabeth Warren running a close third. But it was a "gut punch" for supposed front-runner Joe Biden, trailing a distant fourth. Read the rest

Global warming is to blame for a "drastic decline" in the bumblebee population in North America and Europe, reports The Guardian, citing a new that "suggests the likelihood of a bumblebee population surviving in any given place has declined by 30% in the course of a single human generation. The researchers [ at the University of Ottawa] say the rates of decline appear to be 'consistent with a mass extinction.'"Photo by Sandy Millar on Unsplash Read the rest

Barnes & Noble thought it would be a good idea to celebrate Black History Month by reissuing classic novels (including Moby Dick, Emma, Frankenstein, The Wizard of Oz, The Secret Garden, Treasure Island, Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, The Count of Monte Cristo, and The Three Musketeers) with new covers depicting the lead characters as black, reports CNN. After many people on social media pointed out the problems with this campaign, the bookseller scrapped it.From CNN:Alexandre Dumas, who wrote "The Count of Monte Cristo" and "The Three Musketeers," is the only black author on the list.The new covers were called "literary blackface" by African American writer Rod Faulkner in an essay on Medium, and others have said the energy spent making the "Diverse Editions" would have been better spent promoting books written by people of color."What?!? No! Is it really this hard? People sat down & had meetings & put a lot of energy & money into creating covers f/black people on books w/ the same old stories INSTEAD of promoting books written by black authors & featuring black characters?WTF?!," author Tracey Livesay tweeted.The Diverse Editions event at our @BNFifthAvenue location originally scheduled for this evening has been cancelled. Please see our statement: pic.twitter.com/jGquff9MyM— Barnes & Noble (@BNBuzz) February 5, 2020Image: TBWA Chiat Day Read the rest

After the CEO of Agroplasma, an Arizona fertilizer company, is told to sit in the back seat by a black driver, the CEO is greatly offended and argues relentlessly. The driver, an Arizona State University student, remains calm and polite and also firm about his no-front-seat-passengers policy. The CEO, Hans Berglund, 72, asks, "Is that because I'm white?" And then, finally calls him the N-- word. (Watch the exchange below.)Agroplasma has suspended Berglund while they investigate what happened, and Uber has banned him from the app.From NBC: “In light of the events of this past Friday, Agroplasma CEO Hans Berglund has been relieved of his duties while the company performs a full internal investigation,” the firm said, adding, "The incident is not at all reflective of Agroplasma’s values and ethics.”Uber told KPNX that it would ban Berglund from using its app, saying, “Discrimination has no place on the Uber app or anywhere.”Berglund in a telephone interview with KPNX said he had been drinking and regrets his comments. “I apologize to the guy. I shouldn’t have said what I said.”The driver has had a strict policy of not allowing anyone to sit in the front seat unless it's a party of 3 or more since someone sexually assaulted him last year.Here's the Uber exchange, starting at (:30): Read the rest

Who needs the darkweb when you can just go on social media, enter your drug of choice in the search bar, and buy whatever turns your crank? In this video, Vice's Tir Dhondy finds out just how easy it is to buy drugs on these platforms. Read the rest

If you go to India, you might encounter a person there who quickly befriends you and tries to build up a relationship of trust over the next few days. It could be that they recognized you as a swell person deserving of their attention, or it could be they are setting you up for a long con involving fake gems, leaving you up to $60k poorer than before you got involved with them. This video has the details about this scam, which is reminiscent of an early Mamet movie. The takeaway: don't do business with people you don't know well.Image: YouTube Read the rest

The broken voting app that failed spectacularly in the Iowa Democratic caucus just hints at the fragility of the voting system in the U.S. This Verge video explores the reasons for and implications of an unreliable and exploitable voting system, as well as ways to mitigate the problems. Read the rest

A common New Year's resolution is to learn a new language, which of course makes foreign travel much more enjoyable and sharpens the mind while reducing the cognitive effects of aging.But far too many people give up on their goals because the leading language-learning platforms are either far too expensive or rely on boring memorization tactics and mind-numbing repetition.MosaLingua Web Language Learning offers a far more enjoyable, affordable, and completely personalized way to learn a variety of new languages at your own pace, and a lifetime subscription is available for just $99.Used by more than 8 million people worldwide, MosaLingua allows you to learn a new language quickly and efficiently, based on both your experience level and the amount of time you have during the day.You’ll have unlimited access to all the languages MosaLingua offers (including English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, Portuguese and Russian), a sea of audio and visual resources that introduce you to real-life sentences and grammar used by locals, and personalized flashcards that include translations, audio samples, and more.Learn a new language the easy way in 2020 with a lifetime subscription to MosaLingua Web Language Learning for just $99—over 80% off MSRP right now. Read the rest

The owner of two dogs installed a camera to keep an eye on their new companions. But it instead solved the mystery of why the Los Alamos-area home ended up on fire: 9-month-old Kahuna knocked over a bunch of clothes that caught fire. The suspicious-looking iron wasn't on, reports the Los Alamos Daily Post. An out-of-view baseboard heater triggered the blaze. two pets had evacuated safely. Cameras are not substitutes for smoke alarms. Read the rest

I'm a big fan of videos of people arrested for pretending to be cops, especially the way real and fake cop-personas differ and interact. This one is a veritable antimatter explosion right from the outset.Real World Police writes:The following narrative was written by Windermere Police Officer Jerrell Ogletree:"On Saturday September 7, 2019 at approximately 1617 hours I, Ofc. J. Ogletree, observed a funeral procession being conducted with a black and gray motorcycle with multiple colored lights, air horn and siren activated while approaching the traffic circle at Maguire Road and Park Avenue. I continued observing when the black and gray motorcycle, traveling west on Park Ave., passed my clearly marked patrol vehicle and proceeded to pass over the double solid yellow center lines with oncoming traffic approaching and traveled within the same lane as a vehicle in the procession. The motorcycle's movement caused the driver to travel outside of their lane of travel. I activated my emergency equipment and conducted a traffic stop at McKinnon Rd. and Lake Butler Blvd.The driver, later identified as Jeremy Charles Dewitte, was advised of the reason for the traffic stop and was told to move his motorcycle to the side of the roadway. While conducting the traffic stop, the motorcycle, bearing FL tag MAMC97, came back as a hit for being stolen. Dewitte was placed in handcuffs and detained while an investigation was conducted. While confirming the hit and conducting a search of Dewitte he became uncooperative and began to move and pull away from me. Read the rest

I was **this** many years old when I learned that Pee-wee Herman isn't the only on-screen character with a breakfast-making contraption. My sweetie Andy just re-watched the 1968 film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and told me it also has a Rube Goldberg machine that makes breakfast! I didn't know about that one, so I looked it up. And there it was. Then I wondered if there were more... and there are! First, let's start with Pee-wee's, which might be the best known one in pop culture (it even gets ripped off in an episode of Family Guy). To get his machine moving, he lights a candle (which in turn burns through a string). Just don't expect him to eat more than two bites of his elaborately made brekkie:Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985)Same year. Doc Brown had a neglected one that burnt toast and served up Einstein's dog food in Back to the Future:Back to the Future (1985)Doc had a much better version for the third Back to the Future:Back to the Future III (1990)Casper the CGI ghost morphs his fist into an egg-scrambler and then a spatula as this film's mini breakfast machine is doing its thing:Casper (1995)Then there's this one. Robin Williams, playing Professor Philip Brainard in the late '90s flick Flubber, kicks his off by slamming a giant button found on his bedside table:Flubber (1997)Ok, now to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Dick Van Dyke plays Caractacus Potts, an inventor, widower, and father of two. Read the rest

Allegheny County Common Pleas judge Mark Tranquilli was reassigned this week after uttering what CBS euphemistically describes as "racially charged remarks": referring to a black juror as "Aunt Jemima" and speculating about her "baby daddy ... slinging heroin". He will not preside over criminal trials until an investigation is complete.Tranquilly made the remarks to a prosecutor, according to a complaint, in private conference after a not-guilty verdict that displeased him: "you weren't out of strikes when you put Aunt Jemima on the jury."The prosecutor's office typed up the remarks and turned him in to his boss, Judge Kim Berkeley Clark, who immediately reassigned him to dealing with traffic appeals and school truants in summary appeals court. Meet Judge Kim: Read the rest

The latest addition to In-N-Out Burger's merch line are "Drink Cup Shoes," slip-on sneakers decorated with their red-and-white beverage cup art. The announcement was made Tuesday by the Southern California-based fast food chain on Instagram: View this post on Instagram Available now at shop.in-n-out.com! #Repost @shopinnout ・・・ They’ll go a lot farther than a box of chocolates. Available in his, hers and youth. #innout #innoutburger #shoesofthedayA post shared by In-N-Out Burger (@innout) on Feb 4, 2020 at 12:00pm PSTIf you were curious, there's no indication that Bible verse John 3:16 has been printed on the shoes, as it is on their soda cups. Get a pair for $64.95 at the In-N-Out Burger Company Store. (Soap Plant WACKO)image via In-N-Out Burger Company Store Read the rest

Detroit's Rob Wolchek (previously at Boing Boing) turns his ire on a local builder who has become notorious for shafting buyers of his superficially handsome disaster boxes. The scam works like this: the happy new home-owner takes out a construction loan but the builder gets the money. The builder never actually pays the suppliers and subcontractors, however, whose only remedy is to stop work when they realize and pursue the homeowner, who ends up with a half-built house and a mountain of liens. Read the rest

No doubt the unofficial "Gay Days" at Disneyland and Walt Disney World inspired the resorts' new retro "Wear it Proud" line of clothing, accessories, and platform Crocs. I spotted the following pieces from the collection in Downtown Disney on my recent trip to Disneyland. As I sat down to write this post, I found Disney's official announcement, which is amusing:Are you a dancing queen or a disco king? This new Disney Parks Wear It Proud Collection will take you right back to the ’70s, whether you were around in that decade or not! The wide assortment of apparel in fun, vibrant colors has something for every hippie at heart!Wait, "hippie at heart.."? None of this looks "hippie" to me. LOL. Whatever. The collection is fun — love the contrasting red/blue colorway in this one shirt:And the striped trim on this tank top (better image here):THIS BAG!!But these platform Crocs though -- wuht.See more of the collection at shopDisney.com. Styles are available in both Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World patterns.photos by Rusty Blazenhoff Read the rest

There's no shortage of CRMs out there for large corporations, e-commerce companies, and booming startups to utilize. Think Salesforce, for example. But if you're running a small business of ten employees max, there's no way it makes sense to invest in an expensive, robust option like that. You're better off using your old system of spreadsheets, emails, and Post-its.Or instead, you can turn to a solution like Daylite. Not only is the pricing structure more small business-friendly, but it's actually designed for small teams, especially those just starting out. Use PCs and Android? It's probably not for you. Daylite is a native solution for Mac and iOS only. It's designed for companies that work with clients, like law firms, consulting firms, financial firms, and real estate brokers, but not for traditional e-commerce companies.At its core, Daylite is a CRM, meaning it organizes all the client details and communications, deals, leads, and information that make your business run. It keeps all of the above organized, and incorporates project management tools to keep you on track. You can set automated reminders, delegate tasks, and link your calendar so that you never let anything fall through the cracks. And most importantly, it can be used by your entire team, so everyone has access to all of the information from anywhere (with permission controls to help you determine who's allowed to have access, of course.)It's worth saying that Daylite is more focused on efficiency and project management than your average CRM. Read the rest

Attention bookworms and rare book nerds. The Booksellers, opening in March, is a documentary celebrating bookstores and the peculiar business of collecting and selling rare books.Literary Hub writes:Have you ever dreamed of becoming an antiquarian bookseller? Or just wanted to get to know one better? Or maybe you just like old books a lot. Either way, this is the documentary for you. Directed by D.W. Young and executive produced by Parker Posey, the film features interviews with rare book dealers of all stripes, as well as collectors, auctioneers, and writers like Fran Lebowitz, Susan Orlean, Kevin Young, and Gay Talese—-true book believers all.Read the rest on Literary Hub. Read the rest

Currently on heavy rotation at Chez Branwyn: Fiona Apple's cover of The Waterboys' brilliant "The Whole of the Moon." She covered the 1985 classic for the season finale of the Showtime series, The Affair.Apple had written the show's theme song five years earlier and came back to close out the series. The trademark "big music" sweep of the track and Apple's intense performance are perfect for a curtain-closing ending.And the lyrics to this song are among my all-time favorites:I pictured a rainbowYou held it in your handsI had flashesBut you saw the planI wandered out in the world for yearsWhile you just stayed in your roomI saw the crescentYou saw the whole of the moonThe whole of the moonHere's The Waterboys doing their original version.Image: YouTube Read the rest

Have you seen Snowpiercer yet? My family watched it a few years ago and loved it. Like Bong Joon-ho's Parasite, it's a genre-defying thriller that explores class roles. If you have a Blu-ray player, Amazon has it on sale right now. Read the rest

The East Coast has Camp John Waters and now, over Easter weekend, folks on the West Coast will get their own John Waters (live! in person!) event. On Saturday, April 11, fans of the filth elder can flock to the Madonna Inn, the famous pink palace in San Luis Obispo with over-the-top themed rooms, for Lethal Amounts' John Waters Easter. Talk about two mints in one!Celebrating the 30th Anniversary screening of the classic film "Cry Baby" with live commentary by John Waters himself. Followed by Q&A with surprise special guests.There will also be the first annual " Edith Massey Memorial Easter Egghunt" in the Madonna Inn enchanted gardens.Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. on February 7 on Dice (an events app) for $96.05 each. Sadly, rooms at the Madonna Inn are already sold out, I checked. But don't let that stop you, there are other hotels in the area that are just a short drive away. Read the rest

politics is a journy pic.twitter.com/Tt6zkfAOvG— L Ron Mexico (@LRonMexico) February 3, 2020I know this is supposed to be a joke, but it accurately captures the political journeys of people I know in real life.Image: University of Illinois Library (CC 2.0) Read the rest

When I was writing my book, Jamming the Media (1997), while working on a chapter about pirate radio, I went deep down the rabbit hole of hunting down pirate stations, shortwave stations, police and military radio, and number stations. The latter are mysterious radio broadcasts of unknown origin where a series of numbers are read over the air. These are widely believed to be coded messages to spies in the field from the world's intelligence agencies.I was surprised to run into this video on Curiosity Droid and to discover that number stations are still a thing. I would have thought that, in the age of encrypted digital communications, number stations would be archaic and unnecessary, but maybe entrenched government infrastructures are hard to dismantle, even when they're obsolete?Image: YouTube Read the rest

The linked article has a fairly long list of places in West Los Angeles that unimmunized area folk might want to review.NBC Los Angeles:Los Angeles County health officials Wednesday confirmed five new cases of measles and warned of possible exposure at a series of locations over the past week.According to the county Department of Public Health, the new patients are four county residents who were "exposed to an unimmunized, international visitor who was infectious with measles while in Los Angeles County." Read the rest

Why is the average human body temperature falling by 0.05°F per decade? The short answer, is no one really knows! But Catherine Ley, a Stanford researcher who led a study to look into the curious phenomenon, has some hunches, which are laid out in this Vox article:Healthier bodies have less inflammation, which can lead to increased body temperatures. Plus, we’ve eliminated some diseases that used to be common in the United States, and sources of fevers. “Getting rid of tuberculosis as a common infection in a population affects the overall population temperature,” Ley offers as an example. (Though the study did not directly compare average temperatures obtained in the US to areas where infections like tuberculosis are still common.)But there could be other reasons for the change. Maybe it has to do with how we heat and cool our indoor spaces. In a well-heated home in the winter, the body may not have to work as hard to maintain a steady temperature, for instance. The proliferation of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (like ibuprofen), which reduce inflammation and can reduce body temperature, could play a role.Photo by Manki Kim on Unsplash Read the rest

It should come as no surprise that more and more IT professionals are scrambling to earn Microsoft Azure certifications. With the average Azure developer earning around $130,000 a year, these in-demand certifications drastically increase your earning potential and career flexibility, open up opportunities for advancement, and provide a greater understanding of some of the world’s most popular and powerful cloud computing infrastructures.And the good news is that you don’t have to dish out an absurd about of money in order to prepare for these valuable certifications since the Complete 2020 Microsoft Azure Certification Prep Bundle will get you to where you need to be for just $43.With eleven courses that are structured to help you ace the exams for the most important Azure certifications, this bundle is your one-stop resource for becoming an in-demand cloud computing pro.You’ll prepare for the Azure Fundamentals, Administrator, Architecture, Developing Solutions, and Architect Design certifications through training that focuses on everything from the basics of cloud computing to the more advanced elements of network implementation, coding, cybersecurity, and more.You’ll also be able to take advantage of a variety of test-prep materials that ensure you’ll be ready for the actual exams.Start earning six-figure salaries as a cloud computing professional with the Complete 2020 Microsoft Azure Certification Prep Bundle for just $43—over 95% off MSRP today. Read the rest

“They identify an issue that they know that the American people feel passionately about on both sides and then they take both sides and spin them up so they pit us against each other. And then they combine that with an effort to weaken our confidence in our elections and our democratic institutions which has been a pernicious and asymmetric way of engaging in affect information warfare.”— FBI Director Chris Wray, Feb. 5, 2020On Wednesday, FBI Director Chris Wray said Russia is targeting Americans with an ongoing “information warfare” campaign that is likely to intensify as the nation heads into the 2020 presidential election. Wray said FBI has not yet spotted election infrastructure attacks by Russia as happened in 2016, but that Russia has greatly intensified its campaign of online disinformation and psychological operations against US voters.Speaking before the House Judiciary Committee, Wray said just like Russia did in 2016, they're again relying on covert social media campaigns that intend to divide American public opinion and sow discord and distrust. Even if Russia does not end up targeting our election systems, Wray said, efforts by Vladimir Putin to interfere in the democratic process through disinformation and “fake news” hasn't slowed down since 2016, but rather increased. Wray said social media injected “steroids” into the ability for Russia to wage information warfare on the U.S.From the Associated Press's coverage of his remarks on Capitol Hill today, by AP reporter Eric Tucker:That effort, which involves fictional personas, bots, social media postings and disinformation, may have an election-year uptick but is also a round-the-clock threat that is in some ways harder to combat than an election system hack, Wray said. Read the rest

Reuters today published a report about an email hacking operation targeting journalists and their connected sources, and the scam appears to be associated with Iran.The scam is this: send cleverly disguised emails that impersonate prominent journalists, in an effort to get the recipient to give up valuable data and access.Here is an example.IMAGE: Screenshot by researchers at the London-based Certfa Lab shows a bogus, Farsi-language interview request that appears to have been sent by journalist Farnaz Fassihi. The message was one of several malicious emails sent in the name of real journalists working for CNN, Deutsche Welle, and others. The reporters had nothing to do with the messages, which Certfa says were sent by Iran-linked hacking group 'Charming Kitten'. [Certfa/Handout via REUTERS]“The incidents come to light at a time when the U.S. government has warned of Iranian cyber threats in the wake of the U.S. air strike that killed Iran’s second most powerful official, Major-General Qassem Soleimani,” report Raphael Satter and Christopher Bing at Reuters:In a report published Wednesday, London-based cybersecurity company Certfa tied the impersonation of Fassihi to a hacking group nicknamed Charming Kitten, which has long been associated with Iran. Israeli firm ClearSky Cyber Security provided Reuters with documentation of similar impersonations of two media figures at CNN and Deutsche Welle, a German public broadcaster. ClearSky also linked the hacking attempts to Charming Kitten, describing the individuals targeted as Israeli academics or researchers who study Iran. ClearSky declined to give the specific number of people targeted or to name them, citing client confidentiality. Read the rest

Shares of Tesla Motors were down 19% on Wednesday after a senior executive with the electric vehicle company warned of delivery delays for Model 3 cars made at its Shanghai plant, because of the ever-worsening coronavirus outbreak in China.Novel coronavirus 2019-nCoV has disrupted life and commerce throughout China. The Chinese government says 65 more people died of the virus as of Tuesday, the highest daily total yet. From Reuters: Tesla Vice President Tao Lin said on the Weibo social media platform that car deliveries from its new Shanghai plant would be temporarily delayed and that the company planned to restart production on Feb 10.The $2 billion factory is a key part of Chief Executive Elon Musk’s plan to make more than half a million automobiles this year.Tesla last week said it expected a delay of up to a week and a half in the ramp-up of Model 3 production at the plant after the government ordered it to shut the factory due to the outbreak.Read More:Tesla tumbles as coronavirus weighs on Shanghai factory[reuters.com, Noel Randewich, February 5, 2020 / 11:27 AM] Read the rest

Zamira Hajiyeva has 28 days to appeal a court order to seize her $20 million London mansion after she was unable reveal the source of her wealth, reports The Telegraph.Hajiyeva's husband was sentenced to 15 years in jail in 2016 after he was found guilty of stealing almost $3 billion from the International Bank of Azerbaijan, where he had served as chairman.From the article:As well as spending more than £16 million in Harrods over a ten-year period, Mrs Hajiyeva also bought the Mill Ride golf and country club in Ascot for £10.5 million. She is also said to have owned a £35 million private jet and had a wine cellar stocked with some of the world’s most expensive vintages.Image: by Diliff - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link Read the rest

More Americans fleeing the coronavirus outbreak are being evacuated from Wuhan, China, to the U.S. On Wednesday, 2 State Department-chartered jetliners carried an estimated 350 U.S. citizens from Wuhan, China, to a U.S. military base in California.All of the recent arrivals will be quarantined for 14 days, said the U.S. Defense Department.First, the two planes landed at Travis Air Force Base, which sits about half way between San Francisco and Sacramento. Then, one of the two planes continued on to Miramar Marine Corps Air Station in San Diego, after refueling.The still-spreading Novel coronavirus 2019-nCoV outbreak has killed 490 people in China, most in and around Wuhan, and has infected more than 23,000. Two deaths outside of mainland China have been reported, and at least 11 confirmed cases have been reported in the US.From Reuters:KGO television in the San Francisco Bay area showed video of people in white coverall suits getting off the plane in the predawn darkness at Travis Air Force Base. San Diego television stations showed video of the second plane landing at Miramar.The evacuees at Travis will be housed in a hotel on the base, the base said in a statement on its Facebook page. As in other places, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will take charge of the care, transportation and security of the evacuees.“A safety cordon will be established, away from residential housing, to ensure the Travis mission can safely continue,” the statement said.The Pentagon said it also preparing Camp Ashland, an Army National Guard base in Nebraska, to receive up to 75 people for quarantine. Read the rest

Remember the 1991 episode of The Simpsons, called "Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington," in which a tearful Lisa tears up an essay she wrote after she witnesses government officials engaged in corrupt behavior? Well, U.S. Secretary of State remembers that episode, too, and he cleverly chose it to show his solidarity with Senator Pelosi for ripping up Trump's State of the Union address. Trump and his delusional followers will think Pompeo is making fun of Pelosi, but everyone else is in on the sly message of support from inside the walls of Trumpistan. Well played, Mike!pic.twitter.com/AaopLt8f9f— Mike Pompeo (@mikepompeo) February 5, 2020 Read the rest

Wow. A single Republican senator has a spine after all.Utah Senator Mitt Romney says he will vote in favor of the article of impeachment on abuse of power against President Donald John Trump.“The president is guilty of a flagrant abuse of public trust,” said Romney just now. “Corrupting an election to keep oneself in office is perhaps the most abusive and destructive violation of one's oath of office that I can imagine.”FULL REMARKS -- @SenatorRomney: "The grave question the Constitution tasks senators to answer is whether the president committed an act so extreme and egregious that it rises to the level of a high crime and misdemeanor. Yes, he did." pic.twitter.com/fbIhPG12IO— CSPAN (@cspan) February 5, 2020Romney: "Were I to ignore the evidence that has been presented & disregard what I believe my oath & the Constitution demands of me for the sake of a partisan end, it would, I fear, expose my character to history’s rebuke & the censure of my own conscience.”"The grave question the Constitution tasks senators to answer is whether the president committed an act so extreme and egregious that it rises to the level of a high crime and misdemeanor. Yes, he did."Heck yeah.FULL SPEECH: Sen. Romney says he will vote in favor of the article of impeachment on abuse of power against President Trump."With my vote, I will tell my children and their children that I did my duty to the best of my ability, believing that my country expected it of me." Read the rest

Astronomers captured this incredible image of a double-star system where a red giant star appears to have "engulfed the other (star) which, in turn, spiraled towards its partner provoking it into shedding its outer layers." The scientists spotted this astounding event using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) radio telescope in the Chilean Andes. From the European Southern Observatory's (ESO) announcement:Thanks to new observations with ALMA, complemented by data from the ESO-operated Atacama Pathfinder EXperiment (APEX), Olofsson and his team now know that what happened in the double-star system HD101584 was akin to a stellar fight. As the main star puffed up into a red giant, it grew large enough to swallow its lower-mass partner. In response, the smaller star spiralled in towards the giant’s core but didn’t collide with it. Rather, this manoeuvre triggered the larger star into an outburst, leaving its gas layers dramatically scattered and its core exposed.The team says the complex structure of the gas in the HD101584 nebula is due to the smaller star’s spiralling towards the red giant, as well as to the jets of gas that formed in this process. As a deadly blow to the already defeated gas layers, these jets blasted through the previously ejected material, forming the rings of gas and the bright bluish and reddish blobs seen in the nebula.A silver lining of a stellar fight is that it helps astronomers to better understand the final evolution of stars like the Sun.Here's the scientific paper: HD 101584: circumstellar characteristics and evolutionary status (Astronomy Astrophysics) Read the rest

Chinese acrobat Li Longlong holds the Guinness World Record for the "most consecutive stairs climbed on the head," a total of 36 steps. Guinness World Records states that "the strict rules for this gruelling challenge insist that the participant must not pause for more than five seconds between steps, and that no part of the body other than the head may touch them."I respect how Li used his unique talent to get ahead in life. Read the rest

Coyotes in my neighborhood usually kill unsupervised smaller animals like cats and dogs (or in my case, chickens), so it's fascinating to see this frisky coyote buddy up with a badger. It looks genuinely excited as it waits for its friend to catch up so that they could trot through a pipe together. Apparently badgers and coyotes have been known to hunt together. From Peninsula Open Space Trust on YouTube:We know from scientific studies and Native American records that coyotes and badgers have been known to hunt together. But this is the first documentation (that we know of) where a coyote and badger use a human-made structure to travel together safely. This video was captured recently as part of our research to better understand how wildlife moves across the southern Santa Cruz Mountains. We have more than 50-remote sensor cameras helping us capture scenes like this which we use to inform our land conservation work. Read the rest