Boing Boing

So very relatable.Like all of us, redditor Chris Ryan @KLGaviation is going slightly bonkers during the great american coronavirus shutdown.This right here is an excellent pandemic coping strategy.Another productive day working from home[link] Read the rest

I have always wanted to do this.My good friend Dan Olson shares this video he made while building his Warmoth Telecaster. Read the rest

March 19th is the first day of spring. That means it’s time to get off your butt, dig in and start getting serious about cleaning up the house that’s been tumbling into chaos all winter.If you’re like Snow White, you’ve probably already got a passel of forest creatures all lined up to help out, sweeping floors, washing windows and clearing away the debris of winter. But since this isn’t 1937, we’re going to assume you don’t have that woodland workforce. It’s 2020 — and you need robots. Powerful, healthy strapping robots. Robots who aren’t afraid of getting dirty to get your house clean.We’ve collected 20 different home cleaning aids, many from the R2-D2 family, to help. Best of all, if you get one right now, you can take an extra 15 percent off at checkout with the code SPRINGSAVE15. Happy cleaning!MoppersWith a powerful 5,700RPM built-in motor and a unique, rotating dual-spin mop, the Elicto Everybot RS500 Robotic Spin Mop & Polisher ($237.99 after discount; originally $279) goes everywhere with its soft little microfibers, getting into hard-to-reach corners and clearing out dust like a champ.In the event you’re willing to expel a little elbow grease of your own to save some money, you can still get deep effective cleaning with the Elicto ES-500 Electric Corded Spin Mop & Polisher ($101.99 after discount; originally $119). fully adjustable aluminum alloy handle, 180° swivel joint, and 25-foot long cord, you’ll never need to kneel or bend, which is probably just fine by you. Read the rest

Not all VPNs are created equal. This is actually a good thing when you take into account how many services are out there these days, offering you cloaked and protected access to the web.Something has to distinguish all these providers from each other. And in most cases, there is. For all 14 of the services included in this VPN Buyers Guide, each brings something to the consumer table that’s worthy of note. We’d never try to argue that features and capabilities of each VPN are exclusive to only that service, but we think this should help give you an idea about each provider’s priorities so you can see which ones best match up with you for a user-service match made in heaven.And just to sweeten the deal, you can sign up for any of these best VPN services now and get an additional 15 percent off your total price by using the code SPRINGSAVE15 at checkout. Considering most of these deals are lifetime coverage offers, you could stand to pick up a whole lot of protection for a surprisingly small final total.The biggestThere’s something to be said for size. While it isn’t always the ultimate barometer for a VPN’s performance and usefulness, the number of servers and global locations where you can access can be a strong indicator of what you can expect.By that criteria, NordVPN (2-year subscription - $81.59 after discount; originally $286.80) is a clear leader among these contenders. With over 3,500 worldwide server locations in 61 countries, its accessibility and reach is truly massive. Read the rest

Without live sports, what's a rugby commentator supposed to do during this coronavirus situation? If you're the brilliant Nick Heath of London, England, you bring your work skills to your everyday life. Over on Twitter, he's been sharing videos he shot around his neighborhood — made better with his hilarious commentary! (Buy this man a coffee.)Dogging.#LifeCommentary #LiveCommentary pic.twitter.com/BuRkVWAGjX— Nick Heath (@nickheathsport) March 21, 2020The Interminable Wait.#LifeCommentary #LiveCommentary pic.twitter.com/5nSAlnVq2c— Nick Heath (@nickheathsport) March 21, 2020Football. Live. Well, a football.#TootingCommon #LifeCommentary #LiveCommentary pic.twitter.com/Nvs92Etkz0— Nick Heath (@nickheathsport) March 17, 2020International 4x4 Pushchair Formation Final. Live. #LifeCommentary #LiveCommentary pic.twitter.com/BGGh01m1k1— Nick Heath (@nickheathsport) March 17, 2020Find A Bargain Steeplechase. Live.#LifeCommentary #LiveCommentary pic.twitter.com/ny3ru4XN8u— Nick Heath (@nickheathsport) March 18, 2020After the lunch break now...2020 Crossroad Dash. Live.#LifeCommentary #LiveCommentary pic.twitter.com/QFkW0SUqy8— Nick Heath (@nickheathsport) March 17, 2020Mundane Walk. #LifeCommentary #LiveCommentary pic.twitter.com/sDJCI5OVlW— Nick Heath (@nickheathsport) March 18, 2020Middle Class Arena. LIVE.#LifeCommentary #LiveCommentary https://t.co/jokricAmLd pic.twitter.com/KSlEbQezox— Nick Heath (@nickheathsport) March 18, 2020Well, Twitter you’ve only got yourselves to blame. 😋At 17 I wanted to be a broadcaster.At 22 I wanted to be a comedy writer.At 31 I wanted to be a commentator.This is what 29-31 looked like when comedy met sport in my hybrid of all sporting voices, "Nicholas Fumble" .— Nick Heath (@nickheathsport) March 19, 2020Thanks, Veek!(The Poke)image via Rugby Media Read the rest

Maker Camp, Make:’s annual virtual camp for kids has launched for 2020. Make: Community staffer, Keith Hammond writes:Cooped up with the kids like I am? Maker Camp 2020 is now live! Every kid can join because Maker Camp is online, and it’s free. Since 2012 over a million campers have connected through Maker Camp, learned to make stuff, and shared their experiences with other campers. As you build and make, share your pictures on social media with the hashtag #makeathome and they’ll appear on our site!The projects you’ll find at Maker Camp have been researched, tested, built, and thoroughly documented so we’re absolutely sure you can replicate them at home. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year we’ve focused on projects you can do with what you might have on-hand, already in your home. We’re sure there’s something there for you!Find out how to get started on the Maker Camp landing page. Read the rest

In case you thought the world was in the midst of a vast migration to cloud-based computing, we hate to break it to you, but...it’s already happened. Right now, 94 percent of all businesses and organizations use a cloud service. As for the operations of all those groups, 83 percent of their workload will be in the cloud this year.But even with stats like those, you aren’t wrong — the migration is still continuing. By 2023, the public cloud market is expected to be a $623 billion a year industry.If you envision any type of career in IT, a knowledge of how to properly manage, protect and grow a cloud-based system should be foundational to that vision. And that doesn’t just mean knowing industry leader Amazon Web Services (AWS). With instruction like The Complete 2020 Cloud Certification Training Bundle, you’ll go inside AWS as well as Azure and other major cloud players to be a multi-platform performer for your organization, no matter where their operations hang their hat.The bundle includes 12 courses that go deep into the advantages and features of each cloud environment, helping you determine which one will best serve your business’ specific needs.As the undisputed leader in cloud services, a full three-quarter of your coursework here revolves around Amazon’s robust AWS platform. This training will not only help you understand all of AWS’s terminologies, processes, and available options, but it will help you actually get started using Amazon S3 to store data, Route 53 to host your specific domains, and EC2 to find just the right scaling plan for your operation. Read the rest

In this footage, city commissioners in Lake Worth Beach, Florida, bicker over ad-hoc rules and hurdles that, as if by magic, make it virtually impossible to take emergency measures such as closing the beaches during the coronavirus pandemic. This is why the beaches haven't closed in Florida, and why they've had minimal COVID-19 prevention. Absolute dysfunction. pic.twitter.com/8x2tcQeg21— Farbod Esnaashari (@Farbod_E) March 21, 2020Commissioner Omari Hardy appears to be the hero of the piece, complaining about the city continuing to work on shutting off utilities for delinquent bills while doing nothing about coronavirus. But his futile explosion of anger at Mayor Pam Triolo and City Manager Michael Bornstein's procedural games is not a great sign of hope for Florida's containment efforts.City Manager Michael Bornstein said he appreciates Hardy’s “youthful exuberance” but added the 30-year-old commissioner “just needs to calm down.” Read the rest

Maybe they’ll donate to someone who needs it.. from r/PublicFreakoutA couple of people in Florida allegedly cleaned out a dollar store of toilet paper and paper towels. Maybe they have a big family at home. Read the rest

Do you like waffles?I am waiting for the sourdough starter, that I mixed up from flour and water last Monday, to be ready for bread baking. At the same time I am loath to waste ½ a cup or so of perfectly good starter at each feeding. Today I used the discard to make waffles for my parents.My very simple sourdough waffle or pancake batter recipe is as follows:Simple Sourdough Waffle and Pancake BatterIngredients:½ cup unfed starter½ cup flour½ cup milk1 egg¼ cup oil or butter1 ½ tsp baking soda1 Tbs brown sugara splash of Grand MarnierMix the starter, flour, and milk in a large bowl. You can let them sit overnight if you want to be fancy. You may also use the sort of milk known as buttermilk for the milk addition and have buttermilk sourdough waffles.Add the egg, oil, baking soda, and brown sugar. If you like, and I certainly do, I recommend adding a splash of Grand Marnier liquor to the batter.The EtOH cooks out and you get a very nice, sweeter than savory flavor. This is important to note as I do not suggest adding the liquor if you are making the waffles to accompany fried chicken! When made with buttermilk and all the overnight rests these are the most awesome waffles for Fried Chicken and Waffles. Sometimes I top them with eggs benedict, hollandaise and a chili pepper-infused maple syrup. Read the rest

Kenny Rogers is dead at 81. The famed country singer was one of the best-selling music artists of all time, developing his signature song The Gambler into an enduring media franchise and even a restaurant chain.Rogers passed away peacefully at home from natural causes under the care of hospice and surrounded by his family.In a career that spanned more than six decades, Kenny Rogers left an indelible mark on the history of American music. His songs have endeared music lovers and touched the lives of millions around the world. Chart-topping hits like "The Gambler," "Lady," "Islands In The Stream," "Lucille," "She Believes In Me," and "Through the Years" are just a handful of Kenny Rogers' songs that have inspired generations of artists and fans alike. Rogers, with twenty-four number-one hits, was a Country Music Hall of Fame member, six-time CMA Awards winner, three-time GRAMMY® Award winner, recipient of the CMA Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013, CMT Artist of a Lifetime Award honoree in 2015 and has been voted the "Favorite Singer of All Time" in a joint poll by readers of both USA Today and People. The family is planning a small private service at this time out of concern for the national COVID-19 emergency. They look forward to celebrating Kenny’s life publicly with his friends and fans at a later date. Read the rest

According to this NYT interactive map. Judith Basin County, Montana, will be the last unravaged county in the worst-case coronavirus scenario. Zillow shows very few homes on offer, but this 520-acre ranch looks like a great place to take a stand! Anyone who wants to join my postapocalyptic anarchocommunist elf sex death cult get in touch -- I'm putting in an offer -- and we can start planning our raid on The Others in Lemhi County, Idaho. Read the rest

KFC closed its restaurants to all but drive-through customers and deliveries days ago. According to this video, however, the company is quietly ordering managers to keep lobbies open to serve walk-in takeout customers. I've come up with this plan to protect my employees because they're trying to force us to open the lobby again.Looks like we're already at the point where companies are testing the ability of government to enforce crisis measures. Read the rest

• 'Fronton' is the FSB's IoT botnet project

'For the first time in our history, the government is going to step in and help pay people's wages,' Rishi Sunak announcesThe UK government will pay up to 80% of wages for workers who are at risk of being laid off due to the coronavirus pandemic, the chancellor has announced.The United States is not doing anything like this, or discussing anything like this. Why isn't the purportedly richest and most powerful and most awesomest country in the world, ours, doing the same -- or something close -- for the millions of suddenly jobless workers? Oh yeah, a corporate tax cut instead. And a single thousand-dollar check, or something. Thanks, GOP Senate.From the UK Independent: Any employer in the country will be able to apply to HMRC for payments of up to £2,500 per worker per month - just above the median UK income - Rishi Sunak said on Friday. The unprecedented move means the government will guarantee a proportion of the salaries of millions of workers, if employers keep them on their payrolls rather than laying them off.The scheme will be open for three months initially but will be extended if required, the chancellor said, before laying out a raft of additional measures designed to support businesses and jobs. Grants will be available for "as many jobs as necessary" he said before also announcing £1bn of support for renters, tax relief for the self-employed and increases in universal credit payments.It came as pubs, bars, restaurants and leisure centres shut down in the latest intensification of social distancing measures designed to slow the spread of Covid-19. Read the rest

pic.twitter.com/fhA9Ykpqbz— Mike Judge (@MikeJudge) March 20, 2020Mike Judge, creator of the show, posted this reminder of the need for social distancing to limit the speed of the spread of coronavirus. References Read the rest

Britain's ancient, fatberg-infested sewers are already choked to the grates thanks to irresponsible flushings during the coronavirus crisis. People running out of (or hoarding) toilet paper are instead using paper towels, kitchen napkins, wet wipes, newsprint and other materials that won't break down. Northumbrian Water posted this handsome image of the random trash locals are shoving into the system, and told them to cut it out.The company said it understood people were "only improvising" but the consequences could be "devastating" to homes and the environment.Head of wastewater networks Simon Cyhanko said they should use the bin."We understand some people affected by the limited toilet roll availability may have no choice but to use alternative products," he said.The company also posted the following photo, which I presume is of the cleanest toilet in Berwick and the ideal that Northumbrian Water hopes all its customers maintain forthwith. Read the rest

Elon Musk is a huge asshole. COVID-19 has made him more so.

Four senators, including Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, have written a letter to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to ask what measures are being taken to protect warehouse workers from COVID-19. The coronavirus outbreak that causes this deadly disease has now infected more than 20,000 people throughout America.“The senators sent the letter two days after the first US-based Amazon warehouse worker tested positive for COVID-19,” reports Jay Peters at The Verge:The group of senators is led by Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and includes Sanders and Sherrod Brown (D-OH). “Any failure of Amazon to keep its workers safe does not just put their employees at risk, it puts the entire country at risk,” the group said in the letter. The senators are also asking Amazon to provide paid sick leave and time-and-a-half hazard pay, among other financial and health protections. “The virus that causes COVID-19 can live for up to 24 hours on cardboard and up to three days on plastic and stainless steel,” the letter says. “That means that Americans who are taking every precaution, staying home and practicing social distancing, might risk getting infected with COVID-19 because of Amazon’s decision to prioritize efficiency and profits over the safety and well-being of its workforce.”The letter also discussed reports of troubling conditions at Amazon warehouses, such as how Amazon warehouse managers have held regular stand-up meetings with staff, which likely put employees closer than the CDC-recommended six feet of distance away from one another, and a lack of hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes. Read the rest

If you've recently faced a major shift in where you work — as in, from an actual office to your home — you're probably in need of a little assistance to help you navigate that transition more smoothly. Or, maybe you’ve always worked from home, and now the rest of the world is catching up to how you normally live.No matter which camp you’re in, we’re all in this together. You’re home now — so better make the best of it. The business world may have slowed down, but it never stops entirely, which means you’ve got to stay on top of your work obligations.You’re a pro. You’ll get it done. But to help, we pulled together 15 apps and other digital helpers that can keep you focused even when you aren’t in front of your office keyboard. And to further incentivize, you can take an extra 15 percent off your already discounted total by adding SPRINGSAVE15 at checkout. Hunker down and dig in.Computer aidsEverything starts with a clean, tidy desktop, so with WorkspacePro Multiple App Launcher for Mac ($6.79 after discount; originally $9.99), you’ll have every needed app and file just a click away. Workspace Pro lets you regroup app, customize their position, and even launch or close a whole collection of macOS apps all with a single button press for a streamlined, efficient desktop.If your problem is your browser, with bookmarks saved in different places on different devices, a Qlearly Premium lifetime subscription ($16.99 Read the rest

Last week, I reported on Czech 3D printer company, Prusa Research, converting over some of their manufacturing capability to producing hand sanitizer. Now, the company has, within three days of prototyping, created a 3D printable face shield.Josef Prusa writes:We were notified on Facebook that doctors are in great need of face shields and that there is already a great face shield design available online. We took it as a starting point and decided that we would adjust it for easier and faster 3D printing – e.g. there shouldn’t be any supports required and we should fit as many of them onto a single print sheet as possible. So we started working on it immediately. After all, it is very important to keep the guys, who will take care of us in the darkest times, as healthy as possible. These shields will help protect their eyes and face from coughing and sneezing of their patients.In three days, we were able to go through dozens of prototypes, two verifications with the Czech Ministry of Health and we even met our minister of health Adam Vojtech. Today we are excited to share with you that we have started prototype production and the first units just went to the hospital for field testing and verification. I want to thank Martin Havrda from the University Hospital Vinohrady in Prague for taking the time to meet us. And also, when we have this design verified, we will move to design protective goggles. Read the rest

With schools closed during this COVID-19 situation, and with no real end in sight, some high school students are planning to take their prom celebrations online.TIME:And while schools in Los Angeles are only shut down for two weeks so far, students at the Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies (LACES) are looking to technology for social distancing-friendly ways to celebrate the end of the school year with their friends.LACES seniors Zack Monterosso and Colin Wire and junior Wakie Haque tell TIME that they’re currently planning to host a virtual party on the video conferencing service Zoom, dubbed a “Zoom rager,” as a test run for virtual prom......in Struthers, Ohio, Jessica Ludovici, a senior at Struthers High School, tells TIME that she’s planning to host prom in her living room while FaceTiming her friends.“We’re all going to do a huge group FaceTime. I’ll put on music and we’ll go in the expensive dresses and tuxes that we already bought to get ready for prom,” she says. “I tweeted and was just like, ‘This is what’s going to happen. It’s going to be in my living room, you guys can send me a song for the playlist and that will be your ticket. You can invite whoever, I don’t really care because we’re all just going to be on a group FaceTime.'”photo by hundrednorth/Flickr Read the rest

Through the DC arts and music scene, I have had the great pleasure of getting to know Kid Congo Powers, legendary guitarist for The Gun Club, The Cramps, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and his own Pink Monkey Birds. Kid is as kind, generous, and down-to-earth, as he is ridiculously talented.Given his talent and artistic pedigree, it's a shame that he doesn't get the level of respect and exposure that he deserves. So, it's always heartening to see when he does get a little love. Here is a wonderful KC Powers tribute and set from XRAY FM in Portland, OR. The set nicely covers the arc of Kid's career and includes tracks from his various guitar stints and solo work.Kid Congo also stars in I AM RAY, a special episode of the currently-running HORSE HEAD: SEASON ZERO. Horse Head is a unique and strange web-based film project by award-winning DC filmmaker, Rob Parrish. The series mixes science fiction, dreamy, Lynchian high-weirdness, and queer aesthetics.Rob writes:The special film is called “I AM RAY: Fair Warning Motion Picture #1 (A Horse Head Short Film).” In the film, Horse Head (a body/gender-fluid, super-intelligent, extra-dimensional alien-super-being) is captured and imprisoned by Ray, a super-being with personal space issues. Ray puts Horse Head inside of a stuffed Elf as a form of torture. After a decade of torment, Ray gives Horse Head a mental breather by allowing for the creation of a simulation of charismatic rock star Kid Congo Powers. Read the rest

Jim Bakker is now selling "medicinal seed" bundles from which you can grow plants to "make your own medicine." pic.twitter.com/nAWC5rh2Az— Right Wing Watch (@RightWingWatch) March 19, 2020I have very little sympathy for anyone who believes anything convicted fraudster* Jim Bakker says on his infomercials. A couple of weeks ago the New York DA sent Bakker a cease-and-desists to force to him to stop selling colloidal silver as a coronavirus cure. Now Bakker is selling "medicinal seed" bundles to grow plants so you can "make your own medicine." And it cost $99!*From Wikipedia: "Bakker was indicted in 1988 on eight counts of mail fraud, 15 counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy. In 1989, after a five-week trial which began on August 28 in Charlotte, North Carolina, a jury found him guilty on all 24 counts. Judge Robert Daniel Potter sentenced Bakker to 45 years in federal prison and imposed a $500,000 fine." Read the rest

Spoken Word with Electronics is an audio series delivering to you a two side recording of unusual stories paired with vintage modular electronic soundsTHIS WEEK:Welcome, fellow occupant of Quarantonia! A few months back I posted the first installment of Spoken Word with Electronics, an audio history series. The first episode was a tribute to David Berman of the Silver Jews/Purple Mountains. Since then I've been finishing up a lot of the separate selections from interviews and other recorded vocals.Here's Spoken Word with Electronics Issue #2, with a lot more to come.Think of each installment as a two-sided record, a Side A and a Side B.SIDE A: Paul Krassner recalls the day JFK was shot. Audio comes from a comprehensive interview I did with Paul in 2017, mixed in with a lot of electronic accompaniment. The printed piece ended up in The American Bystander, Issue #4. There was a huge amount of information recorded that couldn't fit in the printed piece, though, and these audio pieces will provide a much denser portrait of P.K. - Often going into territory he rarely discussed.Future installments will have five or six other focused memories of Paul's on a variety of wonderful topics. Stay tuned for some fun stuff.SIDE B: Our flip-side track of the album is an apocalyptic carnival ride called "Earth, Take Four" — I'd completed this a few months back but it feels timely. Watch out for the volcanoes!The wind in "Earth, Take Four" is a combination of different colors of noise. Read the rest

From BioSpace via Alberto Gaitán:ROCKVILLE, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- 20/20 BioResponse, a business unit of 20/20 GeneSystems, Inc. announced today that it will begin taking orders for its CoronaCheck COVID-19 Rapid Antibody Test Kit. (The test is intended to identify persons having an immune response against SARS-CoV-2.) The company’s action follows discussions with officials from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) this week after the agency’s March 16 Guidance issued to “expand the number and variety of diagnostic tests” as the “severity and scope of the current COVID-19 situation around the globe necessitates greater testing capacity than is currently available.”Alberto comments:"Low cost" 15-minute COVID-19 antibody test has been cleared for use in the USA by the FDA. "Rapid Antibody Test Generates Results in under 15 minutes from Blood Drop without Laboratory Equipment or Personnel"Standard error is ±10%, which is kinda high (i.e., you're positive but get a negative result and think you're okay so you do stuff you shouldn't, and the opposite case is also problematic).Read the rest on BioSpace.[Thanks, Alberto!]Image: Photo by CDC on Unsplash Read the rest

Metropolis Kid by Model DecoyI've known Doron Monk Flake and Ari Sadowitz since high school, and it's been an honor to watch their musical prowess grow and grow and grow. Their current project, Model Decoy, pumps out Prince-like post-punk jams, full of sick rock riffs and soaring jazzy vocals that bring gravitas to clever lyrics that are mostly about their favorite nerdy comic books and movies.Their newest single, "Metropolis Kid," is a perfect example of this. It makes you want to tap your feet as you croon along with Superboy (being young Kon-El, the misfit clone of Superman and Lex Luthor, not that cranky bastard Superboy-PrimeYou can find the band's back catalog on Spotify, but they just released "Metropolis Kid" and two other new songs exclusively on Bandcamp, which is waiving their fee today (March 20) so that struggling bands can get 100% of the proceeds of their music during this quarantine.(If you're feeling generous, you can buy some tunes from my own band, the Roland High Life, too — we're not as funky as Model Decoy, but we do have some good banger about Spider-Man and, uhh, conspiracy theorists.)Model Decoy on BandcampImage: Pat Loika / Flickr (CC 2.0) Read the rest

The number of coronavirus cases in New York sharply increased to nearly 8,000 cases on Friday, a result of increased testing and the continuing uncontrolled spread of the virus that causes the respiratory illness COVID-19. This is 10 times higher than what was reported earlier in the week.New York now has half of all coronavirus cases in the US. In a startlingly quick ascent, New York was closing in on 8,000 positive tests, about 1/2 the cases in the country. The # was 10x higher than what was reported earlier in the week. The sharp increase is thrusting the medical system toward a crisis point. https://t.co/SPPe5PESWT— Adam Goldman (@adamgoldmanNYT) March 20, 2020“The healthcare system is already getting overrun. Hospitals are running out of ventilators. Doctors are reusing masks,” says the New York Times' Brian Rosenthal.Excerpt:The sharp increase is thrusting the medical system toward a crisis point, officials said.In the Bronx, doctors at Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center say they have only a few remaining ventilators for patients who need them to breathe. In Brooklyn, doctors at Kings County Hospital Center say they are so low on supplies that they are reusing masks for up to a week, slathering them with hand sanitizer between shifts.Some of the jump in New York’s cases can be traced to significantly increased testing, which the state began this week. But the escalation, and the response, could offer other states a glimpse of what might be in store if the virus continues to spread. Read the rest

About a million of the people who are members of the Reddit discussion group r/coronavirus joined in just the past week. The subreddit is getting some recognition now as a pretty reliably good source of community-moderated news and information about the COVID-19 pandemic.Probably helps that the subreddit's team of volunteer content moderators include people like Emerson Boggs, 25, a Ph.D. student and virologist at the University of Pittsburgh.Other members of that volunteer mod group include “researchers of infectious diseases, virologists, computer scientists, doctors and nurses, spending hours policing the more than 50,000 daily comments posted by the community for misinformation, trolls and off-topic political discussions,” report Olivia Solon and April Glaser for NBC News:The coronavirus community is now the third-most active subreddit, according to Redditlist, a website that tracks Reddit, and one of the fastest growing subreddits ever.Every day, Boggs and the other moderators work through a queue of thousands of comments and posts that have been flagged for review. They coordinate via the messaging platform Discord to ensure they aren't duplicating work or to settle any disagreements. Some spend time developing tools to automate or improve their workflow, inviting high-profile scientists and doctors to participate in "Ask Me Anything" Q&A sessions and recruiting more moderators. NBC News' medical correspondent, Dr. John Torres recently participated in one.The moderators play to their strengths. In Boggs' case, that's making sure posts submitted by users are scientifically accurate. This involves checking the sources of information and deleting posts if they rely on flimsy or poorly interpreted evidence and adding labels to posts linking to scientific papers that aren't peer reviewed. Read the rest

As a game design hobbyist, Mark Yohalem has worked both on his own projects and as an offsite senior or lead writer for BioWare, inXile Entertainment, TimeGate Studios, S2 Games, Nikitova Games, and Affinix Software. As co-founder of Wormwood Studios with two friends (artist Victor Pflug and programmer James Spanos) in 2010, he developed Primordia, a classical point-and-click adventure game that has sold about a quarter million copies and was, for years, the highest-rated adventure game on Steam. The same trio is currently working on Strangeland, another adventure game. Mark is also developing Fallen Gods, a role-playing game inspired by the Icelandic sagas and folklore, the board game Barbarian Prince, and game books like Lone Wolf. By profession, Mark is an attorney. In 2018, he was recognized in the Daily Journal as one of the top 40 lawyers under the age of 40 in California.This interview features conversation about the aesthetics of point-and-click adventure games, classic and modern adventure games, game writing and design, and ways in which stories connect with both learning and play.Jeffery Klaehn: [Imagine] you’re addressing an audience comprised primarily of non-gamers, and your talk is entitled, “The aesthetics of classic point-and-click adventure games.” You begin …Mark Yohalem: The wonder of the classics is that they don’t just let us hear the voice of the past, they also allow us to listen with the ears of the past. We commune not only with those who created the art but also those who consumed it -- not just Beethoven but Beethoven’s audience. Read the rest

You won’t find many Python programming fans who aren’t vocal Python programming fans. And after years of steadily rising up the list of the web’s most popular programming disciplines, the user-friendly language notched a major milestone earlier this year, tying with Java as the second-most-used language among coders.So why the steady rise toward the deepest part of programmers’ hearts? It all comes back to the utility of Python and the key role that versatility has played in shaping some of the fastest expanding new fields in IT, particularly machine learning and artificial intelligence.Obviously, rankings like this aren’t etched in stone, but it’s just another indicator that if Python coding isn’t already in your IT skill set, it should be. Right now, you can leap into the Python fray with an intensive crash course into it all with The Absolute Python Programming Certification Bundle.This three-course collection is a sound introduction for anyone who’s never dealt with Python before, explaining all the basics before delving into more advanced areas that flesh out why it’s become such a coding heavyweight.Introduction to Python Training starts by building that familiarity, explaining why the all-purpose language has become such a favorite in web and app development This beginner-centric training outlines how to get started with Python, its most popular uses and some of the language’s most central tools.After understanding some of the math, flow controls, and file processing abilities of Python, the Python Data Analysis with NumPy and Pandas course expands that knowledge to see how significant Python libraries expand Python’s usefulness. Read the rest

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA) Hayabusa2 spacecraft fired a copper cannonball into Ryugu, an 850 meter-wide near-Earth asteroid. The 2 kilogram "Small Carry-on Impactor," a bit larger than a tennis ball, hit the asteroid at approximately 7,200 kilometers/hour and blew out a 14.5 meter wide crater with a depth of .6 meters. After a year of analysis, scientists have reported their analysis of the plume created by the impact and properties of the crater. From Space.com:The number and size of craters that pockmark asteroids such as Ryugu can help scientists estimate the age and properties of asteroid surfaces. These analyses are based on models of how such craters form, and data from artificial impacts like that on Ryugu can help test those models...Features of the artificial crater and the plume suggested that the growth of a crater was limited mostly by the asteroid's gravity and not by the strength of the space rock's surface. This, in turn, suggested that Ryugu has a relatively weak surface, one only about as strong as loose sand, which is consistent with recent findings that Ryugu is made of porous, fragile material.These new findings suggest that Ryugu's surface is about 8.9 million years old, while other models suggested that the asteroid's surface might be up to about 158 million years old. All in all, while Ryugu is made of materials up to 4.6 billion years old, the asteroid might have coalesced from the remains of other broken-apart asteroids only about 10 million years ago, Arakawa said. Read the rest

Tenyo is a Japanese magic trick company that's been around since 1960. They are well known for making clever props. (My friend Richard Kaufman, who often writes for Boing Boing, wrote a 1,400-page two-volume set about the company, called Tenyoism)Here's a Tenyo puzzle trick called The Perpetual Puzzle (It's available on Amazon). You start by showing a rectangle made from 5 pieces. The rectangle fits snugly in a black plastic frame. Next, you show a sixth piece and combine it to the other five to make a larger rectangle. This rectangle also fits perfectly inside the frame. Finally, you show an even larger seventh piece, add it to the other six to form a rectangle. It, too, fits into the frame. How is it done? (If you know, please don't reveal the secret in the comments.) Read the rest

“Wait a minute... Wait a minute... you ain’t heard nothin’ yet.”In 1927, Al Jolson spoke those words in The Jazz Singer, marking the end of the silent film age. (Of course, that film also featured Jolson in blackface which unfortunately was common at the time.) From The Guardian:Just a year before (The Jazz Singer), Warners had made Don Juan, starring Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Astor, which didn’t exactly set the Hudson river on fire, despite sound effects like the clash of swords or chairs being thrown – all to the accompaniment of the New York Philharmonic.The reason Sam Warner, the technical genius of the brothers, thought that adding a human voice would make all the difference was a series of shorts brought in as a late addition to the Don Juan programme. Giovanni Martinelli, principal tenor at the Metropolitan Opera, sang Pagliacci. The leader of the Philharmonic played his violin and Al Jolson sang When the Red, Red Robin (Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin’ Along).They were a secret success. The New York press hardly noticed, but audiences did – and loved them. What would be known as “the talkies” were coming out of the fairground.It was Sam Warner’s idea to team up with the Western Electric company to buy its Vitaphone synchronising system. He had the faith that few others possessed, but sadly died of a mastoid infection of the brain the day before the hugely successful premiere of The Jazz Singer.(via r/TodayILearned) Read the rest

Shimon, the robotic maestro from Georgia Tech’s Center for Music Technology, is releasing an album and going on tour. To write lyrics, the robot employs deep learning combined with semantic knowledge and rhyme and rhythm. Shimon has also had a complete facelift giving it a much more expressive mug for singing. In IEEE Spectrum, Evan Ackerman interviewed Shimon's creators, professor Gil Weinberg and PhD student Richard Savery:IEEE Spectrum: What makes Shimon’s music fundamentally different from music that could have been written by a human? Richard Savery: Shimon’s musical knowledge is drawn from training on huge datasets of lyrics, around 20,000 prog rock songs and another 20,000 jazz songs. With this level of data Shimon is able to draw on far more sources of inspiration than than a human would ever be able to. At a fundamental level Shimon is able to take in huge amounts of new material very rapidly, so within a day it can change from focusing on jazz lyrics, to hip hop to prog rock, or a hybrid combination of them all. How much human adjustment is involved in developing coherent melodies and lyrics with Shimon?Savery: Just like working with a human collaborator, there’s many different ways Shimon can interact. Shimon can perform a range of musical tasks from composing a full song by itself or just playing a part composed by a human. For the new album we focused on human-robot collaboration so every song has some elements that were created by a human and some by Shimon. Read the rest

I bought this used paperback copy of Cowhand: The Story of a Working Cowboy, by Fred Gipson, many years ago at a used bookstore. I finally got around to reading it. Here is my book report.The author was born in 1908 on a farm in Texas. He went to the University of Texas at Austin and became a journalist. Gipson's best known for his novel Ole Yeller (1956) which won a Newbery prize and was adapted to a Disney movie of the same name. A few years before Ole Yeller, he wrote Cowhand - The Story of a Working Cowboy and it focuses on the life of his friend Ed "Fat" Alford, born in 1901 to rent-farming parents in Oklahoma. Here's how Gipson describes his friend Fat:By Hollywood standards, Fat is a far cry from being a typical cowhand. He never shot a man in his life. He never chased a rustler across the Rio Grande. He never rescued a beautiful girl from ruthless bandits and rode off into the sunset with his arm about her waist. He never carved a cattle empire out of a "howling wilderness."The truth is, he doesn't even look like a cowboy. He's too squat and heavy; he's too short-legged and bullnecked. He's so potbellied and yet so hipless that some consider it a minor miracle that his pants aren't forever slipping down to hang around his hocks. It is very doubtful that he could hire on as a Hollywood extra in the quickest of quickie Westerns. Read the rest

Vakis Demetrious posted this clip from Limassol, Cyprus. He writes:5th day quarantine.Stay Home Safe but don't forget your dog happiness..(And yes, I understand that if the dog wanted to run off, it could easily pull the drone right along with it.) Read the rest

Enjoy disco diva Donna Summer's incredible isolated vocal track from "Bad Girls" (1979). Toot toot, beep BEEP. The song is about sex work and the police. From Gavin Edwards' book "Is Tiny Dancer Really Elton’s Little John?":“I was in my office in the old Casablanca [records] building,” Summer told me. “I was the only artist allowed to have an office there -- [Casablanca head] Neil didn’t want me too far away. I sent out my secretary to do something, and the police stopped her on Sunset Boulevard. She was dressed in business attire, but they were trying to pick her up. That ticked me off. All day, I pondered why that would happen to innocent people–and then I developed compassion for the girls working on the street.” And the “toot-toot, beep-beep” that concluded the track? “I figured, what do guys do when they pick up girls? I had to emulate them tooting their horns.” Read the rest

I asked a friend how they were enjoying the Trump Pandemic. Their response?"Hanging tough."If I have this stuck in my head for however many weeks we are self-isolating I may not make it. Read the rest

Sure, he pretended it was all a "Democrat hoax" for the last 2 months; neglected to do anything but downplay the virus for those 2 months; repeatedly used the pandemic as an excuse for anti-Asian racism; and brought his own precious economy to a grinding halt as unemployment reached record highs.But according to a new ABC News / Ipsos poll, 55 percent of Americans think that President Trump is doing a good job with the COVID-19 outbreak.JUST IN: 55% of Americans approve of Pres. Trump's management of the coronavirus crisis, compared to 43% who disapprove, according to new @ABC News/Ipsos poll. https://t.co/oNg6ZipDN2 pic.twitter.com/yVcGO0CpbD— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) March 20, 2020Political Polls / Survey USA presents similar results:Do you approve or disapprove of way President Donald Trump is handling COVID-19, the Coronavirus?Among Republicans:Approve 90%Disapprove 6%Among Independents:Approve 48%Disapprove 38%Among Democrats:Approve 24%Disapprove 68%@surveyusa 3/18-19https://t.co/fmvn6vH2uv https://t.co/v8Z2D0LB9t— Political Polls (@Politics_Polls) March 20, 2020I'd like to see ol' Donny wriggle his way out of this one, nevertheless, etc etc.Coronavirus upends nation, as three in four Americans' lives changed by pandemic: POLL [Kendall Karson / ABC News]Image: Public Domain via US Department of Defense and Gage Skidmore/Flickr via CC 2.0 Read the rest

The Las Vegas Review Journal reports that Little Darlings—the largest 18+ nude club in the US—is offering drive-through strip shows during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Review’s Mick Akers reports:Little Darlings strip club will begin offering drive-through strip shows for those who want to indulge in some adult entertainment, but do not want to enter the building, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending people keep 6 feet in distance between themselves and others.“We’re going to offer drive-up window strip shows,” said Ryan Carlson, director of operations for Little Darlings. “Guests can drive up to the front door and we’re going to have dancers separate by the 6-foot separation rule and they can enjoy a totally nude show right from the seat of their car.” Read the rest

Colin of Why is this interesting? has published a list of some of his favorite radio stations and programs from around the world. He writes:As we are all sitting at our desks at home, the ambiance and textures from far-flung places can usher in a bit of adventure, as well as a bit of relief. I’ve compiled an interesting (and evolving list) of ways you can tap into different sounds and nationalities. If you reply to this email, we can update this post with more of your favorites from around the world.The following, and by no means comprehensive, dig through the internet and terrestrial airwaves is a fun, wide-ranging spectrum of sounds from bleeding-edge East London bass music to very sincere college radio to global pop, autumnal cardigan jazz and beyond. Read the rest

Here's Andy Merrill in character as Brak, the cat-masked intergalactic pirate from Space Ghost, Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and The Brak Show, offering a timely lesson in respecting personal boundaries. Here's my favorite remix: Read the rest

Two of every three users recycle their computer passwords across multiple accounts. More than half -- 59 percent — use the same password everywhere. And 83 percent of Americans use weak passwords like their birthday, a hobby or even their own name.You are not shocked by these numbers. Because, as these statistics show, you’re probably part of these groups.It’s understandable. Between work, home, family and more, you’ve probably got literally dozens of password-protected devices and accounts demanding space in your memory. And unless you’re a super-computer yourself, you’re just not going to remember them all without some help.Instead of using password123 as your password on every account you use, you can let NordPass Password Manager carry the weight instead. Right now, their one-year subscriptions are half off, just $29.99.With NordPass Manager, you’ve got a smart, incredibly simple, ultra-secure means to assure your accounts are always safe. No less than PC Mag and TechRadar are among the outlets who say NordPass Manager absolutely passes their test for quality online protection of your access passwords.NordPass allows you to create a unique and totally secure password for each and every app or website you use. And rather than forcing you to keep all those in your head, NordPass does all your heavy lifting, allowing you to automatically populate your saved password every time, so logins are just one click away at all times.And NordPass doesn’t ever scrimp on security. They’re committed to following the latest security practices and industry protection standards, including XChaCha20, zero-knowledge architecture, two-factor authentication and more. Read the rest

View this post on Instagram Niblo is making sure I stay healthy and demands I entertain him in exchange... cats 🤷🏼‍♂️A post shared by Anthony Hopkins (@anthonyhopkins) on Mar 18, 2020 at 10:20am PDTSir Anthony is in self-isolation, but keeping his (and his cat's) spirits up during the pandemic by hitting the keys. I think that's one of Chopin's Nocturnes but Hopkins is an excellent composer and it might be a pastiche. CNN rounds up some of the better "isolated celebrity" performances:Coldplay's Chris Martin has been singing to an empty room, Justin Bieber has been dancing, David Spade has done a stand-up set in his living room, and Ellen DeGeneres has been watching herself on TV. Read the rest

Shaun of the Dead was and remains the seond-best zombie movie of all time. Here's some relevant advice for a very different scenario. Read the rest

In January, I covered the new season of NASA Explorers. This season (their fourth) focuses on space science and microgravity. In concert with the latest episode (inlined below), the NASA Explorers team posted, exclusively to their Facebook page, a behind-the-scenes interview with astronaut and space scientist, Don Pettit. Standing in a standard Earth gravity mock-up of the Destiny lab aboard the station, Pettit and NASA Explorers' Rachel Barry talk about the explorations of the past, present, and the future. There are some interesting moments here, like how long-term oceanic voyages of the past also taught us about the human body under such stressful conditions and how to better prepare it for future voyages. Understanding the blight of scurvy during such voyages opened up our whole understanding of vitamins and diet.Don also talks about future generations being born and growing up in space, in microgravity, and thus having a completely different perception of spatial relationships and how this might even change the way they think and solve problems. Image: Screengrab Read the rest

If I lived in Japan, I'd totally buy whatever cat food is being shilled in this (surprisingly suspenseful) "Cats and Domino" video. Bravo to the folks behind it!screengrab via Cat Navi Desk/YouTubeThanks, Julie! Read the rest

Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C), reassured the public that America was prepared to fend off coronavirus. But being privy to decidedly non-public briefings, he knew otherwise, and sold off $1.5m in stocks before the markets crashed.Soon after he offered public assurances that the government was ready to battle the coronavirus, the powerful chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Richard Burr, sold off a significant percentage of his stocks, unloading between $628,000 and $1.72 million of his holdings on Feb. 13 in 33 separate transactions.As the head of the intelligence committee, Burr, a North Carolina Republican, has access to the government’s most highly classified information about threats to America’s security. His committee was receiving daily coronavirus briefings around this time, according to a Reuters story.It's remarkable how many pundits and public figures are making plausibly-deniable references to having Burr dealt with. The constitution endures, but civility is toast. Read the rest

photo by Julian MarkRestaurants and boutiques in San Francisco's Mission District -- a vibrant neighborhood at the heart of the City's struggle with gentrification and inequality -- are boarding up their windows apparently in fear of riots or robberies. The businesses are closed until at least April 7 due to the “shelter in place” mandate. From Julian Mark's story in Mission Local:“We actually don’t want to do it,” said Dylan MacNiven, the owner of West of Pecos. “I don’t think it’s good for the public to see this, but now that everyone else has done it, we’re going to be the only one on the street without it.” MacNiven was in the process of placing the final boards on his windows on Thursday afternoon, and he said the bar and restaurant was hesitant — but then a multitude of surrounding businesses had done the same[....]“We’re doing it so we can sleep at night,” said Needles and Pens owner Breezy Culbertson. Culbertson said she will be out $300 to board the windows. Just one of their front windows would cost $2,000 to replace. “It’s a bummer because it feels like it is bad for morale,” said a man named Scott who was helping Culbertson install the boards. "Apocalypse Chic: Valencia Street businesses board up their windows" (Mission Local, thanks Tim Daly!)“We’re doing it so we can sleep at night,” said Needles and Pens owner Breezy Culbertson.https://t.co/4h4XXViseD— Mission Local (@MLNow) March 20, 2020 Read the rest