Boing Boing

Baycon is a large, regional science fiction convention that's been serving the Bay Area for 38 years; I attended several times when I lived in San Francisco and this year I was tickled to be invited to attend as Author Guest of Honor. The event is May 22-25 (Memorial Day Weekend) at the San Mateo Airport San Francisco Marriott (at Hwy 92 & 101 in San Mateo, CA). The convention is one of the best regional cons I've ever attended, with an outstanding mix of fannish activities (boffer swords! flint-knapping! multiple warring Klingon clades!), literary panels, and panels on tech, politics and other subjects salient to the Bay Area. I'm so pleased to be invited and I'm looking forward to seeing you there! Read the rest

Now in its second year, a UC Berkeley basic life skills class has become so popular that it's had to turn 200 wannabe adults away. The eight-week pass/no pass course teaches young people how to be more responsible and grown-up, ie. how to "adult." They learn how to budget for food, do taxes, manage relationships, and more.KTVU:Other areas include fitness, nutrition and mental health."Self-care, self-love and sleep," [instructor Belle] Lau continued.Many students admit they struggle making the transition to self-reliance in college."It's harder to budget when you're not living at home because you have a lot more expenses," said Lauren Frailey, 19, an economics major."I'm excited to learn how to manage my time better and that will definitely help me manage my stress as well."The class was launched by Lau and a fellow biology major Jenny Zhou.Now juniors, when they arrived at U.C. Berkeley from out-of-state, they felt lost without family nearby to rely on."We can only call them on the phone if we need help, but that only goes so far," said Lau.(Image: Eli Christman , CC-BY, unmodified) Read the rest

I'm a huge fan of the Song Exploder podcast, which brings musicians to talk about the process that went into writing and recording their hit songs. Even if you're not a fan of a particular artist or song, each episode is still a digestible and insightful look into different creative processes (and they're usually less than 30 minutes long, too).One of the more recent episodes features Dan Wilson of the band Semisonic discussing their hit "Closing Time," which helped rocket him to fame as a co-writer for songs by such as artists as Taylor Swift, Adele, John Legend, the Dixie Chicks, and others.But that song holds a special place in his heart for another reason: the birth of his daughter.I had heard part of this story previously on the Art of Process podcast with Aimee Mann and Ted Leo — how the song was not, in fact, about a bar, but was actually about a child being born. But for the Song Exploder segment, Wilson goes even more in-depth into the delightfully literal inspiration for the song; his deliberate attention towards double entendre in lyric-writing to let the listener to draw their own conclusions; and the various ways the song intertwined with the complicated first year of his daughter's life.Maybe the story behind the song just hit me different this time, as I'm both coming out of the recording studio with my own band, and looking ahead to starting to my own family. But it's an inspiring, tear-jerker of an episode. Read the rest

"Overlooked" is a series of belated obituaries in New York Times for people of note who were overlooked at the time of their passing. Their most recent "overlooked no more" subject is Judee Sill.Judee Sill was a 70s singer-songwriter, the first artist signed to David Geffen's Asylum Records. During her short-lived career in the early-to-mid 70s, Sill received little attention or airplay. While other singer-songwriters of the time sang about personal relationships and political protest, Sill's ethereal music explored themes of rapture, redemption, spiritual love, occult themes, and the deeper meanings of it all.Sill's life was as troubled as her work was complex and under the radar. She was a juvenile delinquent, a junkie, and a prostitute for a time. Judee Sill died in 1979 of a drug overdose which was likely a suicide.While she was not widely recognized during her lifetime, her music has had a significant impact on many modern artists and that influence only continues to grow. Liz Phair, Shawn Colvin, Greta Gerwig, XTC's Andy Partridge, and Warren Zevon have all cited her as an inspiration.Read the rest of the obit here.[H/t Jenny Hart]Image: YouTube Read the rest

I loved last year's All Tree from former Black Metalist Kvohst (aka Mat McNerney) and his folkier project, Hexvessel. The band has been described as "dark folk," "psychedelic forest folk," and "occult folk." Think of them as a somewhat more melodic and accessible Current 93.On "Demian," the first single and video from their forthcoming record, Kindred (coming in April), they build the video around clips from Jean Cocteau's groundbreaking 1930 surrealist film, Blood of a Poet.Bonus track: The hauntingly beautiful "Old Tree" from the band's 2019 release, All Tree.Image: YouTube Read the rest

Someone I know buys fake Rolex watches from a maker who shoots detailed videos of the fake watches and emails them to potential customers. The phonies sell for about $450. I'm not a watch expert nor a watch collector, so I can't vouch for the quality of the knock-offs, but the care that goes into the videos is impressive. Anyway, here's a video in which an expert compares a $4,000 Omega Seamaster Diver 300M with an incredibly impressive knock-off costing 1/10th the price. Only when you zoom way in to see the minute details do the differences become apparent.Image: YouTube Read the rest

When it comes to conquering that resolution list and hitting all of your goals in 2020, nothing is more important than getting a great night’s sleep every night so you can wake up feeling refreshed and extra productive.The CarbonIce: 7-in-1 Bacteria Protection & Cooling Pillow will help you do just that, and right now it’s available for over 20% off its usual price.This Kickstarter favorite gives you a supremely comfortable pillow that protects against bacteria while using Active-Air technology in order to keep you cool throughout the night.With an ergonomic design that aligns the spine and relieves pain in your neck and shoulders, this compact pillow is made from a combination of soft memory foam, firm memory foam, CarbonIce and Graphene—which naturally keeps you warm during cold nights and cool during hot nights.You’ll even be able to compress the pillow and cram it in your bag to ensure you get the best sleep possible when you’re away from your bed.Treat yourself to better sleep in 2020 with the best-selling CarbonIce: 7-in-1 Bacteria Protection & Cooling Pillow for just $99.99—over 20% off MSRP. Read the rest

Makeup artist John Chambers' work on Planet of the Apes (1968) is a high point in Hollywood prosthetics. The characters don't look like real apes, but they have an interesting mix of ape and human. Combined with costume designer Morton Haack's outfits, the overall effect is spectacular and unforgettable. I learned that photographer Dennis Stock took a bunch of behind-the-scenes photos during the shooting of the movie, and you can browse them at Magnum Photos.[via Flashbak] Read the rest

Around 70 passengers booked on a China Southern Airlines flight from Nagoya, Japan to Shanghai refused to get on the plane when they found out 16 passengers from Wuhan, China were getting on the same plane. Worried that the Wuhan passengers could be infected with the new coronavirus – which has now killed 106 people and infected more than 4,500 people (but those numbers will will certainly climb within the next 24 hours, as they've been doing since the epidemic started last month) – the fearful passengers became angry and hostile. It took five hours for the airline to convince them to board the plane.According to IBT:Reportedly, 70 passengers who live in Shanghai tried to prevent the 16 passengers from Wuhan to board the flight. After a five hour delay, the airline was able to finally convince the protesting passengers. The travellers from Wuhan were finally able to board the flight and fly to Shanghai.The Chinese government put the city of Wuhan under quarantine before the Chinese New Year. However, many residents of Wuhan remain locked out of the city. The passengers who were being disallowed from boarding the flight were heading to China even though they would not be able to enter Wuhan in the coming days.Since the coronavirus spreads even before an infected patient starts showing symptoms, there is mass panic in the country. The passengers from Wuhan might have left the city before lockdown and they might be infected by the virus. Based on this fear, the Shanghai residents turned on their fellow passengers. Read the rest

Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pens come in a 2-pack for on Amazon. They look like pens, but instead of a nib they have a brush, which allows you to draw lines of varying widths. They’re a lot of fun to use. Read the rest

When Trump FCC Chairman Ajit Pai used fraud and skullduggery to kill net neutrality, he promised that clearing away the allegedly burdensome regulation of delivering the data your customers request would finally spur investment in America's worst-of-bread, ancient network infrastructure.Comcast was one of the great beneficiaries of Pai's regulatory welfare check, and then got billions courtesy of Trump's #TaxScam. Other network operators used the tax money for buybacks while slashing jobs (Verizon killed 10,000 jobs, AT&T cut 23,000 jobs).Comcast, befitting its stature as America's most hated company, thanked Uncle Sugar for the handouts by slashing cable infrastructure investment by 10.5% in 2019, while its revenues rose by 3.7%, to $58.1b. It was the second year in a row for cuts to Comcast's infrastructure investment.But Comcast isn't the only major ISP cutting investment, as AT&T projects that it will reduce capital spending from $23 billion in 2019 to $20 billion in 2020. Charter Communications said in October that its capital expenditures excluding mobile services would total $7 billion in 2019, down from $8.9 billion in 2018. Verizon also reported a capital-expenditure decline in the first nine months of 2019. Comcast slashed capital spending in cable division by 10.5% in 2019 [Jon Brodkin/Ars Technica](Image: Joe Ross, CC BY-SA, modified) Read the rest

United Airlines announced it would be canceling scheduled flights to China beginning in February, citing a "significant decline in demand," reports CNBC.″We will continue to monitor the situation as it develops and will adjust our schedule as needed,” United said in a statement. United operates about 12 flights a day from the U.S. to mainland China and Hong Kong, and the changes will cut that number by three or four per day. The changes reduce flights to Hong Kong from San Francisco and Newark; to Beijing from Washington Dulles, Newark and Chicago; and Shanghai service from San Francisco, Newark and Chicago.Meanwhile 20 US airports will soon start screening for coronavirus symptoms, up from five airports currently checking.Photo by Tim Gouw on Unsplash Read the rest

Human speech averages 150 words/minute, but human thoughts run more like 400 words per minute. Steve Rousseau decided to try "podfasting" (listening to podcasts at faster-than-normal speed) at progressively higher speeds to see whether he could consume more of the internet-mattress-subsidized high-quality audio bubble as he could before that bubble burst.The upshot was 1.25x speed improved the pacing of many podcasts, while 1.5x was "initially jarring" but quickly "felt natural." But 2x was where things started to falter, requiring "an additional level of focus" at the outset of each program to adjust to the accent and cadence of the speakers, and the programs had "less emotional resonance" with Rousseau's thoughts primarily occupied by comprehension, not empathy.At 3x, things just melted down, becoming distracting and difficult to comprehend.Much of the work on high-speed audio has been done by testing visually impaired people and their uses of text-to-speech user-interfaces. I once listened in on a totally blind friend's experience of navigating through a web-page, skipping over UI elements much more quickly than 3x, and it was both daunting and incredible.I confess that I've done a little of this, but primarily with video, because the visual side provides context cues that might get lost in the sped-up audio, and because videos are much more prone to having ponderous, lengthy sequences ("More pauses than a Pinter play!" -MST3K) that are best skipped over (looking at you, Stranger Things Season 3!).Feeling competent in my base-level comprehension at 2x, I crossed the threshold into 3x. Read the rest

Yesterday, in Wilson County, Tennessee, Spencer Alan Boston, 20, was in court on a marijuana possession charge. Facing the judge, Boston made a comment supporting marijuana legalization, pulled a joint from his pocket, lit it, and took a puff. From News Channel 5:“One of the craziest things I’ve seen,” says (Wilson County sheriff Robert) Bryan.The sheriff said Boston was led out of the courtroom through a small cloud of smoke. He was booked on a second charge of simple possession and received ten days for contempt of court. Read the rest

Restaurant chain Chipotle was fined $1.3m by the state of Massachussets for 13,253 child labor law violations at 50 sites. Time reports that minors working past midnight, for more than 48 hours a week, and without work papers were among the problems found by investigators.The settlement total is closer to $2 million, including penalties for earned sick time violations in which managers granted employees paid time off only for certain illnesses. The violations also include failure to keep accurate records and pay timely wages. Lastly, the company was ordered a voluntary $500,000 payout to a state youth worker fund dedicated to education, enforcement and training. Read the rest

With their massive wingspans and high speed, albatrosses fly across the seas in search of food. That's why marine ornithologist Henri Weimerskirch of the French National Center for Scientific Research calls the birds the “sentinels of the sea" and is using them to survey the ocean for illegal fishing boats. Apparently, the operators of these vessels frequently turn off their automatic identification system (AIS) that broadcasts who they are and their location. From Katherine J. Wu's article in Smithsonian:(Weimerskirch) and his colleagues have outfitted nearly 200 albatrosses with tiny GPS trackers that detect radar emissions from suspicious ships, allowing the birds to transmit the locations of fishers in the midst of illicit acts...The range of these signals isn’t big enough to be reliably picked up by stations on shore, keeping the ships’ movements mostly discreet. Radar can be detected within a few miles of the vessel itself, however—as long as something, or someone, can get close enough...Over the course of six months, the team’s army of albatrosses surveyed over 20 million square miles of sea. Whenever the birds came within three or so miles of a boat, their trackers logged its coordinates, then beamed them via satellite to an online database that officials could access and cross-check with AIS data. Of the 353 fishing vessels detected, a whopping 28 percent had their AIS switched off—a finding that caught Weimerskirch totally off guard. "Ocean sentinel albatrosses locate illegal vessels and provide the first estimate of the extent of nondeclared fishing" (PNAS)image: "Wandering Albatross (Diomedea exulans) in flight, East of the Tasman Peninsula, Tasmania, Australia." Read the rest

In 2016 researchers created a variety of "dissuasive cigarettes" to find out which kind was the biggest turn-off. "A 'minutes of life lost' stick was the most aversive of the stimuli tested," reported the researchers.From Weird Universe (which has a photo of the cigarettes described below):One of these cigarettes had a “smoking kills” warning printed directly on it. Two others were unpleasant colors: "slimy green" and "faecal yellow-brown." The fourth was printed with a graphic depicting "15 minutes of life lost."Photo by Mathew MacQuarrie on Unsplash Read the rest

In the Aspen Institute's 1997 report on "Journalism and Society," PBS NewsHour co-founder Jim Lehrer, who died last week at 85-years-old, contributed the following wisdom:I practice journalism in accordance with the following guidelines:Do nothing I cannot defend.Do not distort, lie, slant, or hype.Do not falsify facts or make up quotes.Cover, write, and present every story with the care I would want if the story were about me.Assume there is at least one other side or version to every story.Assume the viewer is as smart and caring and good a person as I am.Assume the same about all people on whom I report.Assume everyone is innocent until proven guilty.Assume personal lives are a private matter until a legitimate turn in the story mandates otherwise.Carefully separate opinion and analysis from straight news stories and clearly label them as such.Do not use anonymous sources or blind quotes except on rare and monumental occasions. No one should ever be allowed to attack another anonymously.Do not broadcast profanity or the end result of violence unless it is an integral and necessary part of the story and/or crucial to understanding the story.Acknowledge that objectivity may be impossible but fairness never is.Journalists who are reckless with facts and reputations should be disciplined by their employers.My viewers have a right to know what principles guide my work and the process I use in their practice.I am not in the entertainment business. Read the rest

A man went on Antique Roadshow with a Rolex watch he'd purchased in the 1970s for $345 and never really wore. His reaction to be told it is worth $700,000 made me smile.Image: YouTube Read the rest

This cover of The Office theme song is played on three kalimbas by JustVaish.And here's his rendition of Interstellar: Read the rest

Last week, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency handed down stiff penalties for John Stumpf (previously) who was CEO of Wells Fargo during its scandal-haunted decade, during which time it stole from rich people, poor people, veterans, active-service military personnel, homeowners, small businesses, etc, as well as 2,000,000 ordinary customers who had fraudulent accounts opened in their names in order to bleed them of transaction fees, sometimes at the expense of their good credit and even their financial solvency. Under the deal, Stumpf will have to pay $17.5m in fines and cannot ever work in finance again (don't worry, he's still a multi-multi-multi millionaire).The OCC didn't just penalize Stumpf: it has pending cases against most of Wells Fargo's C-suite during the relevant years, and it has published a 100-page report on its investigations, including first-person accounts from bank personnel who were pressured to commit fraud on penalty of losing their jobs and having their names fraudulently entered into an industry-wide blacklist of bank employees who had been caught committing illegal acts.The report reveals both the incredible toll this took on those employees ("I was in the 1991 Gulf War. ... I had less stress in the 1991 Gulf War than working for Wells Fargo") and the clanging bells and flashing red lights that Stumpf and Carrie Tolstedt (previously), another disgraced former Wells Fargo exec, roundly ignored.These warning signs were pretty incredible: after one presentation by Tolstedt downplaying the seriousness of the rot in the bank, a board member cursed her out, calling her reassurances "a piece of shit." Read the rest

It’s no secret that business leaders and project managers require a certain set of skills in order to outpace the competition and increase the overall efficiency of their company or team.The Lean Six Sigma Expert Training Bundle will take your managerial skills to the next level through training that will help you earn some of the most valuable certifications in the lucrative field of project management, and it’s available for over 95% off MSRP today.The four courses in this best-selling bundle will help you reduce waste and innovate better products and services in any business environment.You’ll learn how to embrace the Lean management methodology through training that will teach you how to optimize processes and increase the quality of your output, how to ace the exam for the coveted Lean Six Sigma certification through lessons that focus on complex problem solving, and how to become a Six Sigma Black Belt by learning how to foster better team dynamics.There’s also training that walks you through Minitab—one of the most relied-upon statistical tools used by the world’s most successful managers.Take your business to the next level with the Lean Six Sigma Expert Training Bundle for just $49—over 95% off its usual price. Read the rest

Hexagonal-grid notebooks like Hexanote [Amazon] are marketed toward organic chemistry students and pros; the image here is from the thicker, spiral-bound Benznote. But I'm thinking ... maps. Unfortunately, the paper in all the available offerings is lightweight and probably won't hold marker pigment well, let alone paint. (The big-sheeted dry-erase grids intended specifically for games look like a lot of fun, but aren't what I'm looking for) Is there, to the best of your knowledge, a hexagonal notebook with paper that's 100gm or more? Watercolor paper would be ideal, but I'm not fussy.PREVIOUSLY: Create and print custom gridded paper Read the rest

On April 24, the "live documentary experience" Beastie Boys Story will premiere on Apple TV+. Spike Jonze directs the doc which is based on Mike D and Ad Rock's 2019 memoir and eponymous stage production, according to Consequence of Sound. The first trailer was just released.Beastie Boys blog (Jan. 25):“This is the eighth time I’ve rewritten this thing, the filmmakers kept telling me I was doing it wrong but I’m really feeling this one. Here’s what the film is: Mike Diamond and Adam Horovitz of Beastie Boys tell you an intimate, personal story of their band, and their 40 years of friendship together. From the 1980s New York City punk scene, to Fight For Your Right (to Party) and becoming the first hip-hop artists to make a #1 record (Licensed to Ill), through their evolution, which took them to Sabotage, Intergalactic and beyond. Created with their old friend, their former grandfather and collaborator, filmmaker Spike Jonze, the film seamlessly mixes a live stage show and documentary to create a new format, a live documentary. Does that make sense? It’ll make more sense when you see the trailer that the filmmakers haven’t finished editing yet, despite constant badgering. But anyways, I’m not mad. In this film that was shot at Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, Mike D and Adrock discuss their evolution as musicians, artists and people, and a whole bunch of other crazy sh!t. Their co-conspirator, musician, activist, inventor, discredited astrophysics professor and my favorite Beastie Boy, Adam Yauch, couldn’t be there that night because he passed away in 2012. Read the rest

Eight "gaming" hotels featuring the Atari brand are to be constructed in the U.S., reports The Verge's Dami Lee. The hotels will feature "gaming playgrounds" and some will have facilities to host e-sports events.Atari will receive 5 percent of hotel revenue, and it received a $600,000 advance for inking the deal. The hotel will be located close to Steve Wozniak’s Woz U university campus in Arizona, which is also associated with the Phoenix-based GSD Group.Meanwhile, the development of the Atari VCS retro console has been reported to be undergoing significant difficulties, with the console’s lead architect claiming that he hadn’t been paid in over six months. If Atari, a gaming company, is having this much trouble with building a game console, it paints a troubling picture of how the hotels will turn out.The thing is, "Atari" is not really a "gaming company" anymore. It's an intellectual property portfolio -- one that been stripped and sold-off over the last few years. "Atari" is a name, a few French lawyers, and a licensing agreement taped to a photocopier. In that respect, this deal is a spectacular success. Read the rest

Delta Airlines received a $50,000 fine after discriminating against three Muslim passengers who were barred from flying despite being cleared by the airline's own security personnel. From the order issued by the Department of Transport, which describes two similar incidents on separate Delta flights:4. We order Delta AirLines, Inc. to provide civil rights training (including cultural sensitivity training)to all flight and cabin crewmembers and all customer service employees involved in these incidents–to the extent that those individuals are and remain active employees of Delta Air Lines, Inc. That training must make clear that, in the absence of a valid safety or security concern, passenger or crew discomfort is not an acceptable basis to deny transportation. ... 5. We order Delta AirLines, Inc. to revise its security and secondary screening protocols to include clear procedures consistent with Federal law to allow passengers to re-board the aircraft after appropriate security personnel determine that the initial security and safety concerns have been eliminated if the aircraft is still at the gate.The fine is tiny but the publicity will hurt. The New York Times reports that one couple was removed from the flight to placate another passenger who said they were "uncomfortable."“They were just kicked off this flight without any explanation,” Ms. Hassan said in an interview on Monday night, adding, “To be treated in this way and be marginalized in this way simply because of your Muslim appearance was disheartening for them.”She said the couple had first complained to the airline, which she characterized as having been dismissive. Read the rest

I'm not the kind of person who possesses the programming or IT knowledge to run my own servers and host my own email. But I can manipulate some things on the internet or on local networks, like how to access the gateway to your router and make some changes in there, even if I don't fully grasp the differences between the ports. I'm also someone who's hyper-attuned to data privacy issues who still enjoys the conveniences of some smart home technology.And that's why I've really been enjoying my Firewalla, a small piece of hardware that you plug into your router to access an app that gives me clear visual command over my network. It's basically a Firewall, VPN, adblocker, and intrusion detection and prevention system all rolled into one. Here's how the company describes it:Firewalla is a smart firewall device that you simply plug into your router. It monitors network traffic and alerts you via an app if one of your devices starts uploading data including who the data is being shared with and what country. There is an option to stop devices from sending data, which could stop their operations as well, but step one is having transparency and knowledge. Firewalla will also block hackers and cyber thieves from being able to breach smart home devices to steal person information.I've always felt pretty confident that I'd securely setup my home network. But there's still that lingering concern that someone may have found their way in to spy on me somehow. Read the rest

A cat prohibited from entering the Tescos grocery store in Thorpe Marriott, England, has defied the ban, reports the BBC. One shopper photographed Pumpkin, a six year-old ginger tom, relaxing on a checkout scanner. The six-year-old cat had been a regular in the Thorpe Marriott branch for well over a year before the shop took action last November, saying "although we love the little ginger cat who visits... a food store isn't the best place for a cat to be, so our colleagues gently encourage him to go out when he tries to come in". A spokesman said it was not really possible for a store to ban a cat and admitted Pumpkin would probably continue his visits. ... Pumpkin's owner Jo Harding often pops to the shop after work and finds her wayward moggy outside. She tells him to "come home for your tea" and he will trot after her.The photo above was posted to Facebook by one Annabel Fields. Pumpkin Harding now has his own Facebook group, should anyone wish to join the rebellion. Read the rest

Tom the Dancing Bug, IN WHICH the Impeachment Trial's Republican Jury Room explodes with 53 Angry Men

The United States has never had a single "official" language. While English is broadly accepted accepted as the common tongue and typically used in schooling as well as government documents, it doesn't necessarily have to be that way. Spanish is also used frequently across the country — but there are a lot more languages than that at play throughout the States.Andy Kiersz and Ivan De Luce at Business Insider crunched some data based on the individual-level responses from the 2017 American Community Survey assembled and published by the Minnesota Population Center's Integrated Public Use Microdata Series program, to find out what other languages are most commonly used in the United States.America as a multilingual nation: "This map shows the most commonly spoken language in every US state, excluding English and Spanish", by Andy Kiersz and Ivan De Luce, Business Insider (1/18/20): (NOTE: I will refer to languages other than English and… https://t.co/VkvPxbYqiC pic.twitter.com/aHYI6QpfLH— Language Log (@LanguageLog) January 23, 2020There are a lot of thought-provoking takeaways from the data as presented here. Some things may seem obvious — there's a lot of French, of course, particularly in Louisiana and the states that border eastern Canada. While I didn't know that Tagalog was as popular in California and Nevada until now, I can't say I'm surprised. The abundance of Haitian Creole in Florida makes sense, too, but its presence in Delaware is much more interesting. As someone with an interest in indigenous tongues after colonization, it's somewhat comforting to see that Ilocano, Aleut-Eskimo, and Dakota/Lakota/Nakota/Sioux languages are all still hanging on. Read the rest

[My EFF colleague Bill Budington has a fantastic report on all the ways that Ring surveils its own customers. Caveat emptor, indeed. -Cory]Ring isn't just a product that allows users to surveil their neighbors. The company also uses it to surveil its customers.An investigation by EFF of the Ring doorbell app for Android found it to be packed with third-party trackers sending out a plethora of customers’ personally identifiable information (PII). Four main analytics and marketing companies were discovered to be receiving information such as the names, private IP addresses, mobile network carriers, persistent identifiers, and sensor data on the devices of paying customers.The danger in sending even small bits of information is that analytics and tracking companies are able to combine these bits together to form a unique picture of the user’s device. This cohesive whole represents a fingerprint that follows the user as they interact with other apps and use their device, in essence providing trackers the ability to spy on what a user is doing in their digital lives and when they are doing it. All this takes place without meaningful user notification or consent and, in most cases, no way to mitigate the damage done. Even when this information is not misused and employed for precisely its stated purpose (in most cases marketing), this can lead to a whole host of social ills.Ring has exhibited a pattern of behavior that attempts to mitigate exposure to criticism and scrutiny while benefiting from the wide array of customer data available to them. Read the rest

A 15th-century cesspit found under Somerset House in London has been lovingly recreated as a 3D model that you can explore in your web browser. [via Londonist]Archaeologists from MOLA also uncovered a number of interesting objects from the pit:"These include a rare 14th century ‘Penn’ floor tile – a decorating material of choice for palaces and monastic sites – pottery drinking vessels and tableware dating from the 14th and 15th centuries, as well as a range of metalwork artefacts including a finger ring, iron spur, belt buckle, bone-handled fork and pendant."Cess not included. But there's lots of other historical architectural delights on Sketchfab. Read the rest

For my latest podcast, I read my Guardian Cities column, "The case for ... cities that aren't dystopian surveillance states," which was the last piece ever commissioned for the section.The Guardian commissioned the piece after reading my Toronto Life blurb about how a "smart city" could be focused on enabling its residents, rather than tracking and manipulating them.In the article, I revisit my 2015 Locus column on the idea of an Internet of Things that treats people "as sensors, not things to be sensed" -- a world where your devices never share your data with anyone else to get recommendations or advice, but rather, where all the inanimate objects stream data about how busy they are and whether they're in good repair, and your device taps into those streams and makes private recommendations, without relaying anything about you or your choices to anyone else. As I've often written, the most important thing about technology isn't what it does, but who it does it to, and who it does it for. The sizzle-reels for "smart cities" always feature a control room where wise technocrats monitor the city and everyone in it -- all I'm asking is that we all get a seat in that control room. It’s a safe bet that the people who make those videos imagine themselves as one of the controllers watching the monitors – not as one of the plebs whose movements are being fed to the cameras that feed the monitors. It’s a safe bet that most of us would like that kind of god’s-eye view into our cities, and with a little tweaking, we could have it. Read the rest

In the early days of the web, everyone wanted a .com domain for their site. As a result, all the good ones got snapped up. But .com no longer has the cachet it once did. In fact, many new businesses and individuals are opting for other top-level domain extensions. One of the most memorable is the .tech extension. It's short, it's memorable, and most importantly, it resonates very well with the field of technology. For example, a website on .tech clearly calls out that the website is about technology There are tons of great names on .tech available now, and you owe it to your company to at least check for your dream brand. Right now, you can save on your next domain for your next big idea with $7.99 for 1 year (down from $49.99), $24.99 for 3 years (down from $149.97) and $39.99 for 5 years (down from $249.95).Start searching for the perfect domain extension here and get your .tech site online today. Read the rest

“I design Unnecessary Inventions for fun,” says IMGURian @rightcoastguy, who was challenged by fellow users to make this truly silly and wacky invention. “Meet the SockNoMore.”I like it.I would... sheepishly buy it.I design Unnecessary Inventions for fun, and Imgurian challenged me to make this - meet the SockNoMore. Read the rest

Oh, this gets me right in the feels.This video was originally posted by Jossmar Castillo on Facebook.Lost Dog Saved by Two Drivers Read the rest

The game 'Stardew Valley' inspired these cute cupcakes, made with serious cake icing portrait talent.“Started playing the game again and couldnt resist making some of my favorite characters out of buttercream ☺️,” said IMGURian waywardraspberry.Stardew Valley Cupcakes![via imgur.com] Read the rest

Most streaming fanatics have access to perhaps one or two go-to platforms that they use to binge-watch their favorite shows every night. But there’s always that elusive streaming platform that we secretly crave but never sign up for—leading to bitter nights filled with missed content.So why not enter to win not only a 1-year subscription to the streaming service of your choice but also a free streaming device as well?The Pick Your Streaming Service & Device Giveaway allows you to do just that, and it’s completely free to enter.After you sign up, you’ll automatically be in the running to win one best-selling streaming device—ranging from an Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire Stick, Google ChromeCast, and more—along with a 1-year subscription to a popular streaming service of your choice (Hulu, Netflix, Showtime, Disney+, or HBO).There’s no hidden cost to enter the contest, and you’ll be notified directly once a winner has been selected.Sign up here today for absolutely free. Read the rest

IMGURian @Sgraceoh shared these phenomenal images of their “Lord of the Rings themed wedding,” and it looks like a good time was had by all.Truly enchanting, and what dedication to design.Our Lord of the Rings themed wedding! Read the rest

In the first couple of days of this time-lapse video, we see flies laying eggs on a dead fish. On the third day, maggots erupt and begin to eat the fish, paying special attention to the eye socket. At this time-frame, and without being able to smell the fish, it's not as gross as you might think.Image: YouTube[via Digg] Read the rest

Some species of sharks have evolved to literally walk along the ocean floor (no, not on land) using their fins as feet. New research Conservation International’s Mark Erdmann and colleagues determined that walking sharks only evolved their unique capability 9 million years ago, "making them the 'youngest' sharks on our planet." Of course, a distinct species usually forms when some members of a species are physically separated from others. So how did that speciation occur in the case of the walking sharks? From an interview with Erdmann at Conservation International:For most of the walking shark species, our findings support the idea that speciation occurred because the populations slowly expanded their range by walking or swimming, then some individuals eventually became isolated by environmental factors such as sea level rise or the formation of large river systems that broke up their habitats. For the four walking shark species found at the Bird’s Head Seascape, we suspect that they actually hitched a ride — on a drifting island...Q: Is there another mystery about walking sharks you hope to solve?From a scientific perspective, there is still so much to learn from walking sharks. We know that the world’s species that exist today are basically the existing “genetic reservoir” (raw genetic material) we have to adapt to global changes. We also know that walking sharks are very resilient to warm water and that they have a tolerance for oxygen deprivation. Any time you have an animal or plant that can survive in these extreme conditions, there is typically something unique about their genes — a “special sauce”. Read the rest

Etsy seller Prochopshop makes foam zombie heads for archery practice. They are only $20! I think I'll get one for crossbow pistol practice. Read the rest

Vermont State Rep. Rebecca White (D-Windsor) introduced legislation in the Vermont House of Representatives that would enable citizens to pick one of six emoji to include on their vehicle's license plates. (Last year, Queensland, Australia also began offering emoji on plates.) The Vermont bill doesn't specify which emoji will be included as choices. From the short form description of bill H.866:This bill proposes to create a new special registration plate with the choice of one of six emojis in addition to the distinctive number assigned by the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles or the numerals and letters selected by the registered owner of a vehicle as a vanity plate.(Engadget)Modified image based on original by Jaycarlcooper (CC BY-SA 3.0) Read the rest

David's post about the rise in Google searches for "coronavirus beer," "corona virus beer," and "virus corona beer" in the last few days, brings to mind the sad fate of Ayds.Ayds (pronounced aids) was a popular appetite-suppressant candy from the 1930s-1980s. When public awareness about AIDS grew in the mid-80s, sales of Ayds declined. Eventually Ayds went out of business. From Wikipedia:By the mid-1980s, public awareness of the disease AIDS caused problems for the brand due to the phonetic similarity of names and the fact that the disease caused immense weight loss in patients. While initially sales were not affected, by 1988 the chair of Dep Corporation announced that the company was seeking a new name because sales had dropped as much as 50% due to publicity about the disease.[3] While the product's name was changed to Diet Ayds (Aydslim in Britain), it was eventually withdrawn from the market.(Side note: I like the mod music in the commercial that starts at 1:55) Read the rest

This is what would happen if, when trying to unclog a bathroom pipe, you clumsily tripped over a slipper and spilled the drain cleaner (98% sulfuric acid) onto a roll of toilet paper. I recently posted about another fascinating video that shows sulfuric acid being poured over sugar, which also explains the science behind it, but this toilet paper transformation was too awesome to ignore. Read the rest

As seen in the above Google Trends graph the last few days, there has been a spike in people searching Google for the words corona, beer, and virus. Don't worry, drinking Corona beer does not cause 2019-nCoV. Below are the results mapped onto regions of the world. Read the rest

An MSNBC correspondent hurriedly relating some historical context from basketball legend Kobe Bryant's career stumbled over the name of his team, the LA Lakers. Earlier today, while reporting on the tragic news of Kobe Bryant’s passing, I unfortunately stuttered on air, combining the names of the Knicks and the Lakers to say “Nakers.” Please know I did not & would NEVER use a racist term. I apologize for the confusion this caused.— Alison Morris (@AlisonMorrisNOW) January 26, 2020"Earlier today, while reporting on the tragic news of Kobe Bryant’s passing, I unfortunately stuttered on air, combining the names of the Knicks and the Lakers to say “Nakers.”", wrote Alison Morris. "Please know I did not & would NEVER use a racist term. I apologize for the confusion this caused."That explains the hard R, but not the G. Given that Morris obviously didn't intend to say a racist slur, the usual (and I think more plausible) explanation when this sort of thing happens is that it was a brainfart, admitting the utterance while disclaiming intent and highlighting the weird, mangled manouvers our brains sometimes take under pressure. However, that explanation cops to the bad word lurking in one's neurons, and a Rochester, N.Y., weatherman lost his job recently after such an explanation was offered in his case. So "Nakers" it is. Read the rest

In a prank commenting on bad traffic in Cape Coral, Florida, Paxten Sester and his buddies passed time during a long red light by playing Uno in the middle of the road. Dylan Kjos caught the minute-long gag on video for TikTok and its since gone viral."(After a minute,) we rushed back into the truck, thinking that the light was about to change. And we still sat in the truck for about another minute," Kjos said. According to UPI, "Kjos and his friends said they were aiming to poke fun at the local traffic, which they said is particularly slow during the winter. Read the rest

Deutsche Welle's footage of the empty entrance plaza of Shanghai Disneyland as the PA system broadcasts a message that the park is "temporarily closed" for "prevention and control of the disease outbreak" is indeed "straight out of a Hollywood horror movie," as the caption says. This announcement at Shanghai's Disneyland is straight out of a Hollywood horror movie 😱 pic.twitter.com/cblhbVhvyj— DW News (@dwnews) January 27, 2020(Image: Breathe Healthy, modified; Jeremy Thompson, CC BY, modified) Read the rest