The Washington State Department of Transportation tweeted a photo of Bigfoot caught on a webcam overlooking the mountainous Sherman Pass that crosses the Colville National Forest. People with overactive imaginations argue that what we're seeing is actually a shadow or even a human. Of course it's much more likely that this is a rare photo of the undiscovered large primate species residing in the Pacific Northwest.Watch the webcam yourself here.(CNN)Sasquatch spotted!!! I'm not superstitious... just a little stitious. Have you noticed something strange on our Sherman Pass/SR 20 webcam before? If you look closely by the tree on the left there looks to be something... might be Sasquatch... We will leave that up to you! pic.twitter.com/RaDGqQdEUF— WSDOT East (@WSDOT_East) January 22, 2020(Thanks, Bob Pescovitz!) Read the rest

When John Stumpf (previously) was CEO of Wells Fargo, he oversaw a string of scandals including literally millions of acts of bank fraud, and still managed to walk out of the business with millions in bonuses and no criminal prosecutions.He remains a multi-multi-multi-millionaire, but will have to surrender $17.5m in fines for his role in the scandals and is barred for life from working in banking. Many of his accomplices from Wells Fargo's C-suite are facing their own fines and restrictions on future involvement in the industry.Much of the activity occurred because employees faced "unreasonable pressure" to achieve sales goals, leading to widespread instances of unethical and illegal behavior, the OCC alleged Thursday in legal documents.Stumpf, the agency said, "was frequently informed by leaders" of the company's Community Bank division of the behavior but was told it was isolated and not systemic. He notably did not hold the head of the Community Bank division, Carrie Tolstedt, accountable and failed to take other actions "to prevent the Bank from recklessly engaging in unsafe or unsound practices," the OCC alleged.Stumpf earlier already agreed to relinquish about $70 million in compensation, including stock awards, because of the scandal.Ex-Wells Fargo CEO banned from banking, must pay $17.5M fine for role in fake-accounts scandal [Nathan Bomey/USA Today] Read the rest

Last year's EU Copyright Directive will require online services to install upload filters similar to Youtube's Content ID system, a $100m, voluntary tool that allows rightsholders to claim video and audio and either censor or earn money from any user videos that matches their claims.At the time, opponents of this "filternet" proposal pointed out that Youtube's Content ID had some glaring issues that made it unsuitable as a model for expansion into all services and all types of media (written words, code, images, videos, sound). First among these was that the system has virtually no protections against "copyfraud," in which people claim the rights to others' creations, either through carelessness, or because by so doing, they can misappropriate others' income, censor their critics, or blackmail them by threatening to "copystrike" their work (if a Youtuber receives three copyright complaints, they can lose their channels and all their videos, forever, with no appeal).In the months since the Directive passed in the EU (it squeaked through by a mere five votes, and then, immediately after, ten MEPs said they'd gotten confused and pushed the wrong button), Content ID has become even more toxic and hospitable to copyfraudsters.For example, a company called Studio 71 has bulk-submitted claims to Content ID that allowed it steal the revenues from whole genres of Youtubers, and has thus far paid no penalty.As bad as the situation is with Youtube and Content ID, it will be far, far worse under the Copyright Directive. Read the rest

The Base is a white nationalist terror group that made the news when three of its members were arrested and accused of planning to start a civil war at this week's gun rally in Virginia by murdering cops and opening fire on the pro-gun protesters.The group has a "culture of secrecy" and its members know its founder by aliases like "Norman Spear" and "Roman Wolf." But The Guardian has uncovered his true identity, using a combination of insider leaks and public records requests. According to the newspaper, "Norman Spear" is Rinaldo Nazzaro, a 46-year-old American from New Jersey whose personal history includes many extravagant claims of providing intelligence and security contracting to governments.Apart from this, Nazzaro has very little social media presence, but his biographic details and images of him line up with what is know of "Spear."It's not clear where Nazzaro lives; his wife is Russian and his image appears in advertisements for English language tutoring services in St Petersburg. He also owns an apartment in New Jersey.Nazzaro owns a consulting company called "OSI LLC" whose offices -- on Fifth Ave in NYC, K-Street in DC, etc -- are all virtual offices, private mailbox services that offer phone reception and mail forwarding. Nazzaro's proclaimed background in counterintelligence and government services, combined with any visible past history in white nationalist causes, has caused some white nationalists to accuse him of being a government operative running a honeypot to identify and neutralize Nazis (this is a common accusation and longrunning fear within the far-right).According to an internally placed source, the only people within the movement who vouched for “Spear” were connected to the Northwest Front (NWF). Read the rest

One of the best work trips I ever took was the overnight train from London King's Cross to Edinburgh: I had a comfortable berth, went from city centre to city centre, arrived rested and refreshed, and did not have to endure the indignities and discomforts of air travel.University of Westminster Senior Lecturer in Transport Planning Enrica Papa's editorial on the glories and possibilities of overnight rail as an alternative for many air journeys describes how the phenomenon of flygskam (Swedish: "flight shame") is giving rise to an overnight rail renaissance, with many European rail services reinstating and improving their overnight rail service -- for example, in 2022 you'll be able to take a sleeper car from Malmo to London, departing after dinner and arriving before lunch.A recent study from the Netherlands found that passengers who travel for leisure purposes seem to be most attracted to the option of night trains. It’s possible that night train services could simply generate new demand from these customers instead of substituting existing airline passengers. The researchers found that 40% of business travellers still opted to fly the day before and stay in a hotel instead, though many thought the relative comfort of sleeper trains was appealing. Could sleeper trains replace international air travel? [Enrica Papa/The Conversation](via Naked Capitalism) Read the rest

Terminal Phase is a side-scrolling shoot-em-up in the Gradius and R-Type tradition, but in text mode. In the terminal! It's free software created by Christopher Lemmer Webber [Patreon].The game is completely playable and is a fun game (well, at least a number of playtesters told me they thought it was fun). It includes two levels (one of which is more balanced than the other), and more content is on its way (1.0 isn't the end!). You can see it being played above in cool-retro-term but it works in all sorts of terminals, including gnome-terminal and etc.I also released a video recently (archive.org mirror) of me doing a live playtest of the game and also showing off how to make new levels and program new enemies (which serves as kind of an introduction, but probably not the best one, to Spritely Goblins).One of the first games I had as a youngster was Harrier Attack, which was essentially the same idea of a textmode side-scrolling shooter, albeit with redefined characters to try and get it looking "better". It was not great. Read the rest

Air Force veteran Sauntore Thomas was "humiliated" when a teller at TCF Bank in Livonia, Michigan decided, without any rational cause, that three large checks Thomas brought for deposit were fraudulent. Rather than easily confirm the checks, the teller called the cops!Thomas is now suing TCF Bank. I hope he receives some new large checks to deposit his new bank.ABC:Thomas' attorney, Deborah Gordon, said he was able to deposit the checks at another bank without a problem and they cleared less than 24 hours later. She said bank employees could have easily verified the check before calling law enforcement."My client had very legitimate checks and he had a bank account at this bank," Gordon told ABC News Thursday. "Right away they told him there was an issue with verifying the checks, which makes zero sense because these checks were from a large corporate entity.""They kept telling him there was an issue of fraud and that's what caused them to call the police. So then I have to ask, 'What is the reason you think there's fraud?'" she added.Gordon said her client called her as he was being interrogated by two police officers, while others stood guard outside of the bank. She said she called the bank, but the employees were extremely dismissive and denied her request to speak with a manager."There's no explanation for that other than the fact that my client is African American and that is my firm belief. They never offered an explanation as to why the police were called and they never offered an explanation that made any sense as to why they thought the checks were fraudulent," Gordon said. Read the rest

As soon as I saw it in my alert feed for weird and/or unpleasant unicorn-themed merchandise, I knew I have to have this very weird and/or unpleasant shirt from Amazon.armholes allow for freedom of movementUnicorn Skull Rainbow Tee [Amazon] Read the rest

Today, the Planters' Peanut brand announced the "death" of Mr. Peanut, the jingoistic mascot-in-a-monocle who sold his own people down the gullets of Americans for more than a century.It is with heavy hearts that we confirm that Mr. Peanut has died at 104. In the ultimate selfless act, he sacrificed himself to save his friends when they needed him most. Please pay your respects with #RIPeanut pic.twitter.com/VFnEFod4Zp— The Estate of Mr. Peanut (@MrPeanut) January 22, 2020Lest you thought this was supposed to be an indictment of cannibalistic capitalism, it's actually just a PR scheme to tie in with a Super Bowl commercial. Like a true race traitor, the anthropomorphic man died while saving the life of his human friends, Wesley Snipes and Matt Walsh (the actor, not the idiot blogger).His peanut friends, meanwhile, continue to die en masse to satisfy our (read: my) taste buds.There will surely be another Mr. Peanut announced in the coming days to shamble forth like the zombie of corporate exploitation. In the meantime, at least we have this little gem from the delightfully under-rated Clone High USA, which I spend way too much time thinking about on a daily basis.Planters really has killed off Mr. Peanut, with a funeral planned for the Super Bowl. [Jessica Wohl / Ad Age]Image via InOttawa/Flickr Read the rest

When it comes to top-quality kitchen gadgets that won’t break the bank, nothing beats Gourmia. These eight best-selling Gourmia tools will help you take your culinary prowesses to the next level, and each one is available for an additional 15% off when you enter the coupon code COOKSAVE15 at checkout.1. Gourmia GTF7350 6-in-1 Multi-Function Stainless Steel Air Fryer OvenMSRP: $95 | Sale Price: $90 | Price w/ code COOKSAVE15: $77This multi-function air fryer makes cooking fast, healthy, and easy—thanks to patented 360-degree cooking technology that ensures your food cooks evenly every time.2. Gourmia GPC965 6-Qt Pressure Cooker with Auto ReleaseMSRP: $200 | Sale Price: $100 | Price w/ code COOKSAVE15: $85This simple appliance makes cooking 70% faster while maintaining maximum flavor, and you’ll be able to create up to 13 presets for your go-to meals.3. Gourmia GAF575 5-Qt Digital Air FryerMSRP: $100 | Sale Price: $80 | Price w/ code COOKSAVE15: $68Enjoy all of your favorite savory food without the unwanted calories with this digital air fryer, which eliminates most of the needless fatty oils and grease from your favorite fried foods.4. Gourmia GAF688 11 Qt Digital Air Fryer Oven, Rotisserie & DehydratorMSRP: $190 | Sale Price: $150 | Price w/ code COOKSAVE15: $128Prepare healthy, delicious meals for the entire family with this 360-degree multi-function cooker that also acts as a rotisserie and dehydrator.5. Gourmia GCG205 14-Oz Automatic 4-Mode Digital Conical Burr GrinderMSRP: $100 | Sale Price: $100 | Price w/ code COOKSAVE15: $85This digital grinder makes it easy to enjoy the perfect cup of coffee every morning, by allowing you to fine-tune your grind with 39 different grind sizes from extremely coarse to extra-fine. Read the rest

Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic isn't just the best Star Wars game of all time, it is one of the best video games of all time! I still play it today and I would play the hell out of a remake.The recent Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order is the first game to come close to this wonderful playstyle and storytelling. They could almost port the story into this the Fallen Order platform. Fallen Order is well worth playing and is just beautiful. This is in stark contrast to every other recent videogame in the Star Wars universe except maybe Beat Saber.Comicbook.comAccording to a new report, Electronic Arts is planning on bringing back a classic Star Wars game in the remake form. More specifically, a remake of BioWare's Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is currently and allegedly in development. The report comes way of Cinelinx, which claims that it as been told by two independent sources -- one of which has been reliable in the past -- that EA is currently working on reviving the classic game. Now, one source claims it's a straight up a remake, while the other says it's more of a sequel that would take elements from the game and its follow-up and combine then into one single game. Meanwhile, it would also make the game canon. In other words, it would be more of a reboot or reimagining than a straight remake.I am ready to pre-order! Read the rest

US Representative for California's 28th district Adam Schiff gave one of the most impressive speeches I have heard. Read the rest

English actor Laurence Fox told an interviewer that it was "oddness" to see a Sikh soldier in World War I epic 1917, agreeing that shoehorning people of different ethnicities into dramas "is kind of racist - if you talk about institutional racism, which is what everyone loves to go on about, which I'm not a believer in, there is something institutionally racist about forcing diversity on people in that way." The problem for Fox, of course, is that Sikhs fought in World War I, for the British, in the trenches where 1917 was set. He soon "apologized", but only for being "clumsy."Fellow humans who are #SikhsI am as moved by the sacrifices your relatives made as I am by the loss of all those who die in war, whatever creed or colour.Please accept my apology for being clumsy in the way I have expressed myself over this matter in recent days.L— LAURENCE FOX (@LozzaFox) January 23, 2020Here's what you should understand about this apology: he still thinks that he's right. Just because it's true Sikhs fought for Britain in World War I, it still "feels incongruous", as he put it in another interview. Crow all you like about the forced half-apologies, but the only thing that's moved for this guy is the goalposts. Read the rest

The Homeowners' Association in Val Vista Lakes -- a private community in Gilbert, Arizona -- has threatened at least 11 residents with fines of $250 each if they do not delete Facebook posts that are critical of the HOA and its board, thereby demonstrating the case for criticizing the HOA and its board.The controversial posts relate to a recent, contentious board election, and involve candidates for board seats.“Compared to what you see on the national level, it was pretty moderate,” said Keith Faber, a former board member who participated in some of the discussion.He was among residents to receive a letter from the HOA attorney. “The comments you have posted specifically defame and negatively impact others in the community,” the letter to Faber reads. “The Association demands that you cease posting any disparaging, speculative, or defaming comments that negatively impact specific individuals in the Association or on the Board.”Gilbert HOA board may fine Val Vista Lakes residents $250 per day over critical social media posts [Alison Steinbach/Arizona Central](Thanks, Rick!)(Image: Val Vista Lakes) Read the rest

Traditional headphones are overrated, especially now that this HumBird Bone-Conducting Speaker allows you to enjoy a rich and completely unique listening experience depending on where you place it.A must-have item for true audiophiles looking to switch up their usual listening routine, this compact speaker uses cutting-edge bone conduction technology in order to deliver a high-volume sound that’s completely customizable based on your individual preferences.It delivers your favorite tunes by turning them into mechanic vibrations of different frequencies—leveraging the effects of the different materials you place it near.You’ll be able to listen to music for up to three hours on a single charge, and it’s easy to take this tiny-yet-mighty speaker with you on the go thanks to its small size and lightweight design.Ditch the boring speakers and transform your listening experience with a HumBird Bone-Conducting Speaker, currently available for over 35% off at $26.99.Prices are subject to change.You can't beat free! Get $70+ worth of premium Mac apps for free today! Read the rest

House Antitrust chairman David Cicilline's interview with The Verge's Nilay Patel reveals the exciting shifts in how Congress thinks about Big Tech's monopolies.Cicilline doesn't think Congress can break up Big Tech, though he moots passing a "Glass-Steagall for tech" that makes tech companies engage in "structural separation" -- for example, platform companies would not be allowed to compete with the companies that use their platforms. And he wants to do a lot more scrutiny of mergers in the future, which is an outstanding idea.I'm worried, though, that if they start blocking future mergers but don't unwind past mergers, they'll just lock in the monopolies of the companies that did their merging in the past -- for example, if future Google competitors can't buy ad-tech companies but Google gets to keep Doubleclick, it basically guarantees Google's eternal dominance. I'm not saying we should allow future search companies to buy ad-tech companies, rather, advocating for breaking Google up on structural lines.Also notably absent from the conversation: breakups of other industries, like ISPs, entertainment conglomerates, banks, etc, etc.But I do think that the other suggestion that Sen. Warren has made is a really interesting one and something I think about a lot: the notion of “You can be either a platform or you can be a manufacturer or a producer of services, but you can’t do both.” Sort of the Glass-Steagall of the internet. It’s kind of an interesting idea because people go to a platform thinking, somehow, when they do a search, there’s some neutral way that evidence is reviewed, and you’re provided with a result from that search. Read the rest

The US health insurance industry resents being on the receiving end of surprise bills and price-gouging, so Blue Cross/Blue Shield are spending $55m to have the nonprofit Civica Rx tool up to make generics of off-patent drugs whose sole manufacturers are shkreliing the prices into the stratosphere.Civica already supplies drugs to 1,200 hospitals.Drugmakers hiked prices 1,000% in massive price-fixing scheme, states allegeIn an interview with The New York Times, Civica board chairman Dan Liljenquist said that the new venture “will not solve all the problems of the world, but we do know that 90 percent of prescriptions are generic, and there are certain parts of the generic markets that are not functioning like competitive markets should. And we intend to compete in those markets.”Sick of Big Pharma’s pricing, health insurers pledge $55M for cheap generics [Beth Mole/Ars Technica] Read the rest

You don’t need to be a professional chef in order to enjoy a great set of knives in your kitchen, yet far too many would-be culinary pros settle for subpar blades that lose their edge after a few months.This Schmidt Brothers® Cutlery Carbon 6 7-Pc Knife Block Set will bring a new level of quality and style to your kitchen, and they’re available for just $181.99.Crafted with the home chef in mind, these knives are made from 100% German stainless steel that offers incredible strength and durability, and you’ll never have to worry about the edges going dull even after repeated uses.They feature an ergonomic Schmidt Brothers Curve for a comfortable grip, and the included magnetic knife block makes it easy to stylishly store the knives when you’re not using them.Embrace your inner chef by ditching the underwhelming knives and landing a Schmidt Brothers® Cutlery Carbon 6 7-Pc Knife Block Set while it’s available for $181.99—30% off its usual price.Prices are subject to change.You can't beat free! Get $70+ worth of premium Mac apps for free today! Read the rest

"I didn't plan to be persecuted simply for joking," he said.

Oh this is gloriously satisfying. IMGURian Phoenix3600 did a step-by-step build gallery of what I am assuming is the very pricey and fancy LEGO Star Wars Ultimate Millennium Falcon 75192 Expert Building Kit. I no longer need to buy it, as I have seen all the assembly photos and foud them to be most pleasing indeed.I built a thing, grown men can still have these right? Read the rest

In Switzerland, the state-owned Swissmint says today that a 2.96-millimeter (0.12-inches) gold coin created with Albert Einstein's face on it is the smallest in the world.The coin, shown above, weighs 0.063 grams (1/500th of an ounce) and has a nominal value of 1/4 Swiss francs ($0.26). From the Associated Press:Swissmint said the coin, of which just 999 have been made, will be sold for 199 francs with a special magnifying glass so owners can see the famous physicist on its face.IMAGE courtesy Swissmint: A gold coin with the face of Albert Einstein on the image side. (Handout Swissmint/Benjamin Zurbriggen) Read the rest

Researchers in Berlin claim to have succeeded in re-creating the sound of the voice of an Egyptian person who died 3,000 years ago, and was entombed as a mummy. The scientists say they managed to mimic the mummy's voice (well, the voice of the living person the mummy used to be) by recreating portions of the vocal tract using medical scanners, 3D printing and an electronic larynx.Excerpt:In a paper published Thursday by the journal Scientific Reports, the authors say the technique allowed them to produce a single sound - somewhere between the vowels in ‘bed’ and ‘bad.’The eerie tone is unlikely to be a precise reflection of the speech of Egyptian priest Nesyamun, whose mummified body the researchers worked with, because the tongue has lost much of its bulk over three millennia.“We have made a faithful sound for his tract in its current position, but we would not expect an exact speech match given his tongue state,” said co-author David M. Howard of London’s Royal Holloway college.READ MORE at the Associated Press:Ancient voice: Scientists recreate sound of Egyptian mummyIMAGE: Crop from the original movie poster for 'The Mummy', 1932 (public domain) Read the rest

Everybody hurts. No crime was solved.In the otherwise normal town of Georgetown, South Carolina, a sheriff’s deputy who was investigating a burglary ended up using a stun gun on his own K9 after the police working dog bit a cow, which then charged at both the property owner and the deputy, reports the sheriff’s office.Still with me?Good.In a statement [Link], Georgetown County sheriff’s deputies say they responded to a burglary call in the Pleasant Hill community Wednesday afternoon, when the K9 brought to the scene became “distracted” and bit a cow that belonged to the owners of the property.The officer responded by stunning the dog to prevent serious injury to the cow, said the statement posted on Facebook.From the Associated Press:The dog was taken back to the cruiser, and none of the people or animals involved appeared to be seriously hurt, The Greenville News reported.At the end of it all — it was determined the original burglary call was unfounded, the statement concluded.More at the USA Today-owned Greenville News:SC deputy tazes his own K-9 after the dog bit a cow on an unfounded burglary call Read the rest

SPOILER: Nobody got baked. Not that kind of space cookies. Sorry.“How do they taste? No one knows.”From the Associated Press:Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano was the master baker in December, radioing down a description as he baked them one by one in the prototype Zero G Oven. The first cookie — in the oven for 25 minutes at 300 degrees Fahrenheit (149 degrees Celsius) — ended up seriously under-baked. He more than doubled the baking time for the next two, and the results were still so-so. The fourth cookie stayed in the oven for two hours, and finally success.“So this time, I do see some browning,” Parmitano radioed. “I can’t tell you whether it’s cooked all the way or not, but it certainly doesn’t look like cookie dough any more.”Parmitano cranked the oven up to its maximum 325 degrees F (163 degrees C) for the fifth cookie and baked it for 130 minutes. He reported more success. Additional testing is required to determine whether the three returned cookies are safe to eat. First space-baked cookies took 2 hours in experimental oven [apnews.com, Thu. Jan. 23, 2020]PHOTO: U.S. astronaut Christina Koch tweeted this image on Dec. 26, 2019. Koch and Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano pose for a photo with a cookie baked on the International Space Station. Today, results are in for the first chocolate chip cookie bake-off in space. The tastiest cookies required two hours of baking time last month on the International Space Station. Read the rest

Here’s a good explainer from Reuters on the airline industry’s response to the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak so far. If the virus spreads becomes a pandemic, this could impact world financial markets as did SARS in 2003.SARS killed about 800 people. Since then, people travel by plane even more, and other things have changed in global travel patterns.“The biggest concern is a sharp drop in travel demand if the virus becomes a pandemic.”Excerpt:Many airlines, including Korean Air Lines, Singapore Airlines’ budget carrier Scoot, Taiwan’s China Airlines Ltd and Japan’s ANA, announced they were cancelling flights in and out of Wuhan after authorities announced a lockdown.South Korean budget carrier T’way Air earlier this week postponed the scheduled launch of a new route to the city.Flight tracking website FlightRadar24 showed that as of 0600 GMT on Thursday, 184 Wuhan flights, or 60% of the departures listed for the day, had been canceled.Wuhan’s Tianhe airport serves around 2% of China’s total air traffic and mainly serves domestic routes. Broker Jefferies estimated 88.8% of overall flights are domestic, with China Southern Airlines Co Ltd holding the largest market share at 30%. Explainer: Global airlines on high alert as virus outbreak spreads [reuters.com] Read the rest

Bait-and-switch headlines dominate this week’s tabloids, with stories failing to live up to their advertised salacious promise.

• Hoan Ton-That, founder of facial recognition tech firm Clearview AI, previously connected to Trump world figures and online hate extremists, reports Buzzfeed News• Chuck Johnson, Mike Cernovich, and Rudy Giuliani are among the linked figures named in Buzzfeed report • NYPD disputes facial recognition firm Clearview AI's claim that it identified a terrorism suspectClearview AI is reported to have built a database of billions of photos that it says can reveal pretty much anyone's identity. Twitter just told them to stop scraping photos, lawmakers are concerned about the implications, and now Buzzfeed News raises troubling questions about the company's past.From the Buzzfeed report by by Ryan Mac, Caroline Haskins, and Logan McDonald:Clearview AI, a facial recognition company that says it’s amassed a database of billions of photos, has a fantastic selling point it offers up to police departments nationwide: It cracked a case of alleged terrorism in a New York City subway station last August in a matter of seconds. “How a Terrorism Suspect Was Instantly Identified With Clearview,” read the subject line of a November email sent to law enforcement agencies across all 50 states through a crime alert service, suggesting its technology was integral to the arrest.It’s a compelling pitch that has helped rocket Clearview to partnerships with police departments across the country. But there’s just one problem: The New York Police Department said that Clearview played no role in the case.That's the first question. The NYPD says they're full of shit. Read the rest

I use this Logitech G502 Hero SE. It is wonderful.I recently switched from controller to Keyboard + Mouse for my video gaming. This mouse is just great.The shape of the mouse and the button placement just feels right in my hand. The adjustable weight system let me fine-tune the devices gravitas as I wing it around, trying to headshot some 13-year-old before they shoot me.While the 'Hero' sensor reads upto 16000 dpi, I usually set it way down to 800 in Fortnite. This lets me turn in a more controlled manner and doesn't have the mouse zipping all over the place.I don't really care much about the ever-changing colors that light the mouse up, but it seems all my PC gaming gear likes to do this rainbow display... and it is kinda pleasing.I have no idea why this SPECIAL EDITION of the mouse is cheaper than the regular one, but it is and I like it!I am gonna admit right now that moving back to KB+M over controller may screw my carpal tunnel right to hell, but I'll be super sensitive to it, and try to stop before I feel any pain. I am already playing less, but enjoying the games I play more. Sacrifices we make, right?Logitech G502 SE Hero High Performance RGB Gaming Mouse with 11 Programmable Buttons via Amazon Read the rest

@ShaneMorris: "My fridge has an RFID chip in the water filter, which means the generic water filter I ordered for $19 doesn't work. My fridge will literally not dispense ice, or water. I have to pay @generalelectric $55 for a water filter from them."Sound familiar?(Image: GE, Cryteria, CC-BY, modified) Read the rest

Jason Klamm from the Comedy on Vinyl podcast (previously) writes, "In late 2018, I uncovered the true identity of comic Dick Davy. Since starting his archive, I've come across some real gems, but in August, one find took the cake. His niece, Sharon, mailed me two records that had been sitting in a box, and it turns out these are unreleased acetates of material no one has heard in almost sixty years. I had Firesign Theatre archivist Taylor Jessen transfer and do a quick clean-up of them. This episode discusses their contents and what their future might be." (MP3) Read the rest

The Los Angeles underground is absolutely one of my favorite places.I can not speak highly enough about The A-Team. I adore the entire cast. Mr. T has been and will remain a personal hero. Read his autobiography and be inspired. While the B.A. in B.A. Barrakus stood for bad attitude it was Captain H.M. "Howling Mad" Murdock that I wanted to play, when my friends and I portrayed the team. Dwight Schultz was a delight and I can not watch him in Star Trek without thinking of his time on the A-Team.Dirk Benedict's 'Starbuck' may have been overshadowed by another, but Templeton 'The Faceman' Peck? Faceman always had the coolest cars, and his backstory was the best on the program.I liked to think that George Peppard's 'John 'Hannibal' Smith' had been so shattered by Holly Golightly's bullshit that he ended up enlisting in Viet Nam. Only by keeping his tight cadre of good-hearted, All-American soldiers alive could he mask the pain.I love it when a plan comes together! Read the rest

I'm re-reading The Emperor of Scent, by Chandler Burr. It's a non-fiction book about a guy named Luca Turin who is obsessed with odors, specifically, perfume fragrances.Turin is a biophysicist who wrote a best-selling book that reviewed hundreds of perfumes, in the same way a wine reviewer would write about wine. He believes that the odor of a substance has to do with the way it vibrates on a molecular level. Our noses, he says, contain the equivalent of a scanning electron microscope. This flies in the face of conventional thought on the subject. The reigning theory is that smell is a function of a molecule’s shape, not the way it vibrates.Burr makes a great case for Turin’s vibration theory, and the story of how nobody in academia will listen to Turin was a real eye opener. The peer review system for scientific journals is revealed to be totally corrupt. Read the rest

Lawmakers in Turkey are hoping to pass a bill that would allow men who have sex with minors to avoid going to prison if they agree to marry their victim, reports The Independent.From the article:United Nations agencies warned the bill would generate a landscape of impunity for child abuse and leave victims vulnerable to experiencing additional mistreatment and distress from their assailants.“Marry-your-rapist” bills have been seen across the world and are pushed in the name of protecting and safeguarding family “honour”.Image by Salih Altuntaş from Pixabay Read the rest

SCUM Manifesto author Valerie Solanas' effort to get her play "Up Your Ass" produced by Andy Warhol leads to deadly confrontations. With cameos from Maurice Girodias, Paul Krassner, and Barney Rosset.From John Wilcock, New York Years, by Ethan Persoff and Scott Marshall.(See all Boing Boing installments) Read the rest

Now that the latest iPhones have embraced the wireless charging revolution, there’s really no excuse for not having a wireless charger of your own. But even the best wireless chargers don’t allow users to use their phones while they’re being powered up.This Suction Powered Wireless Charger breaks that rule by allowing you to comfortably use your phone even while it’s taking a charge, and it’s available for 25% off retail today.Featuring mini suction cups that won’t damage your device, this tiny-yet-mighty wireless charging solution won’t block your hands while it powers up your device—allowing you to use your phone without limitations at all times.Ideal for gamers who can’t afford to let their phone rest for even a minute, this charger is also lightweight enough to toss in your pocket at a moment’s notice.Embrace the wireless charging revolution without having to let your phone sit unused for extended periods of time. Usually priced at $69, this hands-on wireless charging solution is available for 25% off at $51.75.Prices are subject to change.You can't beat free! Get $70+ worth of premium Mac apps for free today! Read the rest

On the highly-recommended Brick Experiment Channel, "BEC" (the unidentified, silent LEGO engineer you never see or hear) tries his hand at building a quad drone using LEGO bricks and other LEGO components. The only non-LEGO parts he uses are the battery, the receiver, the flight controller, and a motor driver circuit.For the flight controller, BEC used the Matek F411-mini. For the motors, he used four LEGO L-motors [88003-1].Besides the cool LEGO drone he ends up with, I love watching his experimentation and iterative process. And like many fellow 'tubers such as Jimmy DiResta and Primitive Technology, the un-narrated video is kind of mesmerizing to watch as you hear only the sounds of making. Read the rest

Teleporter, motion-detection compression algorithm, editing shenanigan? You decide! In this video, posted to gfycat, a man suddenly pops into view from behind the short square sign near the top of the image, just left of the white truck. [via Reddit] Spoiler: cue the video to 9:40, watch the spot on the curb between the manhole cover and the round sign, and you'll see a shadow moving along the curb toward the point where the man is seen moments later. Read the rest

YouTuber and dad Matt MacMillan picked an unusual way to cover AC/DC's "Thunderstruck." He spent a year recording his baby son's cooing, sneezing, and other random noises and pieced it together to make the song. He writes, "It took forever."And when you see HOW he arranged it all, you'll see why it took so long — it's really quite a feat!If you're not familiar with the original song (I wasn't), here it is for comparison:(Geekologie) Read the rest

Royalty Now paints over classical portraits and statues to depict famous leaders as they might appear in the modernized flesh.Above, Julius Caesar. Below, Caligula. Read the rest

Nathan Yau created this fun and fascinating name guessing algorithm. You select "male" or "female," the decade you were born, and then type in the first letter of your name. I tried more than a dozen times for people I know and it nailed it on the first letter about 80% of the time. On those that it screwed up after the first letter, it got it right after I entered a second letter. From the project description:This is based on data from the Social Security Administration, up to 2018. It’s relatively comprehensive, but there are a few limitations. First, it’s data for the United States, so the numbers don’t really apply elsewhere. Second, the SSA doesn’t include names with fewer than five people in a year, so the chart doesn’t cover more unique names. Third, there were no Social Security Numbers before 1935, so the name counts are fuzzier for years before that.But like I said, the data still has a wide range. I aggregated the annual data by decade and calculated percentages by dividing name counts by total number of Social Security Numbers provided.Before you enter anything, the chart shows the most popular names for the given sex and decade. Then as you enter a name, the chart shows conditional probabilities. The more information you give it, the stronger the guess."Guessing Names Based on What They Start With" (FlowingData) Read the rest

Motherboard has obtained and published a copy of the forensics report that suggests that Jeff Bezos's phone was hacked by Prince Mohammad Bin Salman Al Saud, possibly in a scheme to obtain kompromat that could be used as leverage to prevent the Washington Post of reporting on the death of Jamal Khashoggi, who was murdered and mutilated by agents of the prince.The report explains how the attribution was made, and describes the mechanism by which Bezos's phone was likely compromised, and references the NSO Group's notorious Whatsapp malware, which bears similarities to the tool seemingly used to attack Bezos's phone.Motherboard consulted Sarah Edwards from the SANS Institute to assess the forensics work and she was lukewarm, calling the report "significantly incomplete," explaining that because the experts hadn't jailbroken Bezos's phone, they weren't able to access its full filesystem.The forensic investigators encountered at least two obstacles in conducting their exam of Bezos's phone. The first related to the encrypted downloader. Farrante’s team first examined the attachment alone before deciding they needed to do a full forensic imaging and analysis of the phone’s contents and traffic. They used a tool from Cellebrite (Cellebrite UFED 4PC Ultimate and Physical Analyzer) to grab forensic images from the phone and set up a secure makeshift lab to do the forensics over two days.They did not find any malicious code embedded in the video file, but discovered that the video was delivered via an encrypted downloader hosted on WhatsApp’s media server. Read the rest

Petrick Studio's Instagram for Windows 95 imagines a world where nothing has changed, but for one app alone. Click through for the GIFs. Read the rest

In memory of Monty Python co-founder Terry Jones, who died this week, please enjoy "Monty Python and the Holy Grail in LEGO."Created in 2002 by Spite Your Face Productions for the DVD release of "Monty Python and The Holy Grail," Terry Gilliam reportedly described the LEGO short as "definitely the best version of the film."And here's "Camelot (Knights of the Round Table)" from the original film:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9wdYy3tCm4(via r/ObscureMedia) Read the rest

I'm glad he came prepared with a hand towel to ensure a good grip on the railing.I can't help but imagine him in a dance-off with the footloose and fancy-free fellow made famous by this classic clip: View this post on Instagram A post shared by Total Frat Move (@totalfratmove) on Jul 18, 2018 at 2:17pm PDT Read the rest

You no longer need to invest vast quantities of your time and money in order to take advantage of everything that graphic design can do for your brand or business.Design Wizard Pro allows you to quickly create pro-level image designs in minutes, and a lifetime subscription is currently available for over 90% off its usual price.Featuring more than 30,000 professionally-designed templates that span multiple genres and styles, this subscription grants you unlimited access to a massive trove of design elements that can be used for marketing in any environment.You’ll have access to 1.2 million curated individual images, along with 120 free fonts and a wide variety of color palettes—all within a streamlined and intuitive platform that makes it easy to find what you’re looking for.It’s also easy to integrate with third-party platforms like Intercom, HubSpot, and Buffer.Spruce up your marketing campaigns with a lifetime subscription to Design Wizard Pro for just $39.Prices are subject to change.You can't beat free! Get $70+ worth of premium Mac apps for free today! Read the rest

Say goodbye to America's wetlands and streams. Say hello to new rivers of pollution, and parking lots where cattails, frogs, and minnows once were.“The Trump administration on Thursday will finalize a rule to strip away environmental protections for streams, wetlands and other water bodies, handing a victory to farmers, fossil fuel producers and real estate developers who said Obama-era rules had shackled them with onerous and unnecessary burdens,” writes Coral Davenport at the New York Times tonight.From Day 1 of his administration, President Trump vowed to repeal President Barack Obama’s “Waters of the United States” regulation, which had frustrated rural landowners. His new rule, which will be implemented in the coming weeks, is the latest step in the Trump administration’s push to repeal or weaken nearly 100 environmental rules and laws, loosening or eliminating rules on climate change, clean air, chemical pollution, coal mining, oil drilling and endangered species protections.(...)His administration had completed the first step of its demise in September with the rule’s repeal. His replacement on Thursday will complete the process, not only rolling back 2015 rules that guaranteed protections under the 1972 Clean Water Act to certain wetlands and streams that run intermittently or run temporarily underground, but also relieves landowners of the need to seek permits that the Environmental Protection Agency had considered on a case-by-case basis before the Obama rule.It also gives President Trump a major policy achievement to bring to his political base while his impeachment trial continues.RIP streams. https://t.co/H6NvpIxwxH Read the rest

Twitter, where Donald Trump posted 123 bonkers tweets today and Nazis and psyops bots roam free, is rolling out a pop-up feature that lets users add an emoji reaction to a Direct Message, kind of like a similar feature that exists in iOS iMessage. So fancy! Twitter is testing DM Reactions pic.twitter.com/Ihp7hsnaOH— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) October 16, 2019Reports Chance Miller at 9to5Mac:Twitter first started testing this emoji reaction feature last year, but it’s now rolling the capability out to all users on the web, iOS, and Android. This feature allows you to add a reaction to direct messages using your normal selection of emoji.All participants in the direct message thread will receive a notification any time a new reaction is added to a message. Those who don’t have the latest version of the Twitter apps will receive a separate message informing them of the reaction.And here's how you use the new Twitter feature, which unfortunately won't remove the president from office or stop him from using Twitter or ban the Nazis: To add a reaction, hover over the message and click the reaction button (heart and plus icon), or double tap on the message and pick an emoji from the pop-up. You can undo a reaction at any time and it will be removed from the message for all participants. Click or tap on a reaction in a conversation to view who reacted to the message.More:Twitter rolling out iMessage-like reactions feature to direct messages[via techmeme.com Read the rest

Clearview AI app used by 600+ law enforcement agencies, from local police departments to FBI, DHSTwitter told law enforcement app maker Clearview AI that its scraping of Twitter images for facial recognition databases violated Twitter policies.The company behind the app is sort of mysterious, but has in recent months licensed its powerful face-recognition AI to hundreds of law enforcement agencies.Our Cory Doctorow wrote about Clearview AI recently here.In addition to the rebuke by Twitter, U.S. lawmakers are expressing privacy concerns, the New York Times reported Wednesday:Twitter sent a letter this week to the small start-up company, Clearview AI, demanding that it stop taking photos and any other data from the social media website “for any reason” and delete any data that it previously collected, a Twitter spokeswoman said. The cease-and-desist letter, sent on Tuesday, accused Clearview of violating Twitter’s policies.The New York Times reported last week that Clearview had amassed a database of more than three billion photos from social media sites — including Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Venmo — and elsewhere on the internet. The vast database powers an app that can match people to their online photos and link back to the sites the images came from.The app is used by more than 600 law enforcement agencies, ranging from local police departments to the F.B.I. and the Department of Homeland Security. Law enforcement officials told The Times that the app had helped them identify suspects in many criminal cases.Read more:Twitter Tells Facial Recognition Trailblazer to Stop Using Site’s Photos [nytimes.com] Read the rest

Trump seemed awfully uptight today, didn't he. Can it be the impeachment trial?By 4:25 PM today in Washington, DonaldTrump broke his own previous record of 123 tweets in a single day, a milestone he set just over one month ago, according to Factba.se, 'a service that compiles and analyzes data on Trump’s presidency.'Most of the trash he's tweeting and retweeting to his 71 million followers, many of whom are bots, were GOP propaganda content attacking Democrats over Trump's ongoing impeachment trial. From the Associated Press:Trump’s previous record for tweets on a single day during his time in the White House was set on Dec. 12, 2019, the day the House Judiciary Committee opened its marathon session to approve two articles of impeachment against the president.Trump’ set his all-time record for tweets in a day before he became president, with 161 posts in January 2015, according to Factba.se. Most of his tweeting that day was dedicated to plugging his reality television show.Trump, who began his day in Davos, Switzerland, where he was attending the World Economic Forum, started his Wednesday morning by hammering out 41 tweets between 12 a.m. and 1 a.m. ET (6 a.m. to 7 a.m. in Davos).Read More:Trump sets presidential record for most tweets in a day [apnews.com] Read the rest