This week, the Communications Workers of America -- one of the largest industrial unions in the country -- launched the Campaign to Organize Digital Employees (CODE), which seeks to unionize people working for game and tech companies.The CWA forged an alliance with the grassroots labor group Game Workers Unite (a similar deal was struck in Toronto between the CWA and the local GWU chapter). Two fulltime CWA staffers are charged with assisting tech and game company union organizers. The CWA staffers will assist shop organizers with legal and institutional advice. In December, CWA filed official charges against Google with the National Labor Relations Board on behalf of five Google workers who were fired in what they say was retaliation for their organizing at the tech giant.The new project charts a path away from organizing video game workers along the Hollywood craft union model. SAG-AFTRA has represented video game voice actors for years, and called a strike in 2017 over pay and royalty structures. But CWA largely follows the industrial union model, which organizes entire companies at once rather than splitting workers who perform different jobs into specialized unions.Smith, for his part, said that CWA could accommodate craft-based organizing if that’s what video game or tech workers want, emphasizing that the workers will ultimately decide how to organize. But Kinema saw the decision to join CWA in starker terms.Major union launches campaign to organize video game and tech workers [Sam Dean/LA Times](via /.) Read the rest

Ring's response to a group of US senators who questioned the company about its privacy practices reveals that the Amazon subsidiary has had to fire multiple employees who were caught spying on customers' surveillance doorbell cameras and other Ring surveillance footage.Recent Ring privacy scandals saw the company forced to admit that it gave Ukrainian subcontractors access to Ring footage; that it had secretly partners with hundreds of US police forces and that it was deceiving its customers and the public about when and whether police could access stored footage from customers' devices; that hackers were exploiting weak security practices to spy on customers and their children and livecast audio of themselves taunting Ring owners through the speakers in their surveillance cameras (Ring blamed its customers for the security breaches).Ring has since promised to massively expand its private surveillance dragnet and partner more aggressively with law-enforcement to give them pervasive access to their customers' security camera footage.The letter to the senators was meant to be confidential, but Motherboard obtained and published it.It admits that in four instances, Ring caught its own employees abusing their access to its customers' in-home cameras. Ring says it fired the employees. The company declined to give any more detail to Motherboard, sending them a statement that read, "We do not comment on personnel matters."Presumably, the company would not be any more forthcoming to the customers' whose cameras were abused by its employees."We are aware of incidents discussed below where employees violated our policies," the letter from Ring, dated January 6, reads. Read the rest

Kathryn Hughes's $19.95 CVS Receipt Scarf sends up the company's infamously absurd receipts -- at 58" long, the handmade/hand-cut scarves are only slightly shorter than the real thing! (via Kottke) Read the rest

In Tampa, Florida, a man pleaded guilty to participating in a scheme to that trafficked live water monitor lizards from the Philippines to the United States. The smugglers stuffed the creatures into socks, which were then stuffed inside electronics to be transported from the Philippines to the United States.Here's more from the Department of Justice announcement:Akram, 44, pleaded guilty in Tampa before U.S. District Judge William F. Jung to one count of wildlife trafficking in violation of the Lacey Act.According to plea documents, Akram admitted to illegally importing more than 20 live water monitor lizards from the Philippines between January and December 2016, in violation of United States law and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) Treaty. To avoid detection by U.S. customs authorities, the lizards were placed in socks, which were sealed closed with tape, and then concealed inside electronic equipment and shipped under a false label. The equipment was then shipped via commercial carriers to Akram’s associate, who resided in Massachusetts.As part of his plea, Akram admitted that he knew the monitor lizards he received had been taken in violation of Philippine law, and that the import violated U.S. law. Akram also admitted that upon receiving the monitor lizards, he sold some of them to customers, including customers in Colorado, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. “Akram violated Philippine law and U.S. law by illegally trafficking live water monitor lizards,” said Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Bossert Clark for the Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. Read the rest

A man in Nevada is accused of running a homemade gas station in a backyard.Las Vegas Fire and Rescue posted images of a very dangerous and completely illegal DIY gas station that firefighters discovered on Tuesday. The photos (reposted here in this blog post) show two yellow tanks in the corner of a walled yard, and a gas pump nozzle on the end of the hose.The hose was long enough to reach from the yard to the street for “possible curbside fill ups,” the Las Vegas Fire and Rescue department posted online.“This is not only illegal in the city, it is a hazard to neighbors (and) first responders who may respond there for an emergency, like a fire,” said the department.Police say that in addition to the fire hazard, it's also probably tied to credit card fraud.IMAGES: LAS VEGAS FIRE AND RESCUE@LasVegasFD @LVMPD & @CityOfLasVegas Code Enforcement responded to a home in the city today with a homemade gas station in the backyard. This is not only illegal in the city, it is a hazard to neighbors & first responders. If you see something like this notify police - Dial 3-1-1 pic.twitter.com/wtZYfnLlKL— Las Vegas FireRescue (@LasVegasFD) January 8, 2020The police said a homemade gas station found last night was part of a bigger trend for credit card fraud. @enzomarinotv explains how. STORY: https://t.co/DenCIlXTNG pic.twitter.com/EaMpM9CHST— FOX5 Las Vegas (@FOX5Vegas) January 9, 2020BACKYARD GAS STATION?!⛽️Firefighters found a gas pump and tanks at a valley home this week. Read the rest

Berkeley economics prof (and former Clinton deputy Treasury secretary) J Bradford DeLong (previously) has written a guide for reading "long, difficult books," in response to Andy Matuschak's "rant" Why Books Don't Work.DeLong specifically presents his advice for students enrolled in his Econ 105 class, "History of Economic Thought: Do we live in a Smithian, Marxian or Keynesian World?" in which students are expected to read Adam Smith’s "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations," Karl Marx’s "Capital," and John Maynard Keynes’s "The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money."DeLong's advice -- ten tips in all -- is all about "knowing what to do with a book that makes an important, an interesting, but also a flawed argument" and calls on the reader to approach it critically, reading it through twice in two different mindsets, first as "the kind of person with whom the arguments would resonate" and then as "a sympathetic but not credulous" reader. 1. Figure out beforehand what the author is trying to accomplish in the book. 2. Orient yourself by becoming the kind of reader the book is directed at—the kind of person with whom the arguments would resonate. 3. Read through the book actively, taking notes. 4. “Steelman” the argument, reworking it so that you find it as convincing and clear as you can possibly make it. 5. Find someone else—usually a roommate—and bore them to death by making them listen to you set out your “steelmanned” version of the argument. Read the rest

In San Diego, California, strip club chain Deja Vu Showgirls distributed 150 tents to homeless people. The tents are emblazoned with the Deja Vu logo, natch. From 10News:A picture of one of the tents was posted onto the “Homeless News San Diego” Facebook page and it received both praise and criticism. Some believed it was a form of shameless advertising. Others applauded the company for stepping up to help. Read the rest

A rocket is reported to have fallen in Iraq's northern Salahuddin province, reports Reuters reports, citing police sources. The strike is close to the Balad air base which houses US troops.Al-Sumariya reports that a rocket landed near al-Balad air base in #Iraq’s Salahadin province.US troops are stationed at the base. pic.twitter.com/6NEFkO7Mjs— Baxtiyar Goran (@BaxtiyarGoran) January 9, 2020The source of the rocket is unknown, the sources said. It caused no casualties. Dujail is 50 km (30 miles) north of Baghdad. Balad base is about 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of Baghdad. https://boingboing.net/2020/01/09/rocket-falls-in-northern-iraq.htmlMore: Rocket explodes near Iraqi base housing US troops [REUTERS, JANUARY 9, 2020 20:47]More from Twitter observers at the time of the event, and from Mideast news sources in the area.مصادر أمنية عراقية: سقوط صاروخ قرب قاعدة بلد العسكرية التي تستضيف قوات أميركية في محافظة صلاح الدين— سكاي نيوز عربية-عاجل (@SkyNewsArabia_B) January 9, 2020A rocket fell near #Balad base that host #US military personnel northern #Baghdad.— Barzan Sadiq (@BarzanSadiq) January 9, 2020#BREAKING: Reports of rockets impacting near Balad Airbase hosting US troops in #Iraq— Anna Ahronheim (@AAhronheim) January 9, 2020#Iraq - A rocket landed near Balad airbase that houses U.S. troops in northern Baghdad: Sumaria— Zaid Sabah (@ZaidSabah) January 9, 2020 Read the rest

Video taken of Jeffrey Epstein's cell on the night of his first suicide attempt was deleted by mistake, according to federal prosecutorsJust keeps getting weirder, doesn't it. Video of the jail cell where pedophile and accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein is reported to have made his first suicide attempt was accidentally destroyed, federal authorities say.New development in the missing (then found) video from MCC during Jeffrey Epstein's suicide attempt.Government now says the video wasn't preserved, after all. Unbelievable. pic.twitter.com/FLcaLcOAfT— Stephen Brown (@PPVSRB) January 9, 2020In a letter Thursday to the judge in Epstein's sex-trafficking case, federal prosecutors said that despite a recent statement that yes, they had the video, somehow the staff at the Metropolitan Correctional Center “inadvertently preserved video from the wrong tier,” and the video from the correct one “no longer exists.”Feds accidentally preserved footage of the wrong cell during Jeffrey Epstein's suicide attempt. A backup system for video footage at MCC also wasn't working, prosecutors say, meaning the surveillance vid is gone. https://t.co/ui7NPGHlGu— Stephen Brown (@PPVSRB) January 9, 2020Alrighty then.From the Daily Beast: The surveillance footage was requested by Epstein’s cellmate, accused killer ex-cop Nicholas Tartaglione, who is hoping it will show he “acted appropriately” and earn him a break at sentencing.Last month, federal prosecutors said the video had been found. But in a letter to the judge on Thursday, they said it turns out that staff at the Metropolitan Correctional Center “inadvertently preserved video from the wrong tier,” and the video from the correct one “no longer exists.” Read the rest

W Aaron Waychoff created these great diecut #DeleteFacebook stickers ($5 for 5); he sells them from his Etsy store where he also offers a bounty of other political stickers, pins and swag.We've featured some of Waychoff's work before: he made "The Falsum" (a free, open brand for the anti-⊥rump Resistance) and a proof-of-concept camera that encrypted its images before storing them.Delete Facebook thumbs-down sticker for phone, laptop, activism [W Aaron Waychoff/Etsy](Thanks, W!) Read the rest

More than 40 years ago, Eric McMillan, a renowned designer of children's play areas, and his team created the ball pit, those troughs of brightly-colored plastic balls that children swim around in. (Ball pits also may be a giant petri dish of pathogens but, hell, the kids love 'em.) Apparently, McMillan--who went on to be known as the "father of soft play" for his numerous playful innovations like the "punch bag forest"--found his inspiration for the ball pit in his kitchen. From the BBC:McMillan and his team came up with the idea for the ball pit in San Diego more than 40 years ago, when inspiration struck after looking at a container of pickled onions in the kitchen. “There was a jar of onions, and we were sort of saying: ‘wow, how about if you could crawl through those? And then – ding – we decided we’d try it,” he says.The first ball pit, filled with 40,000 balls, opened soon after their epiphany. “People just went crazy about it. Thank God for those onions.”More in this BBC podcast: "Pickled onions inspired me to design the ball pit"image: "Children in ball pit in Nachshonit" by יעקב (CC BY-SA 3.0) Read the rest

Mike Resnick, a major figure in science fiction, has died after a brief battle with "a very aggressive form of lymphoma" that was diagnosed in November. He was 77.Resnick had a well-deserved reputation as a mentor and editor, as well as being a prolific writer. As Michael Swanwick notes in his remembrance of Resnick, he was "the man with a thousand little rockets" -- a reference to how he would stud each year's World Science Fiction Convention badge with rows of Hugo Award nominee pins, a tribute to both how much work he produced and how well-received it was by his legion of fans.Resnick launched a Gofundme campaign in November to help pay for his medical expenses. Today, that campaign is being used by his family to defray his medical debt and to help his widow Carol with her ongoing living costs.Resnick's daughter, the writer Laura Resnick, added this in her remembrance of her father: "His connection to his friends, his readers, and his colleagues enriched his life, and he never stopped being delighted to meet people who read his work, who were interested in writing, who loved books and stories, and who shared his sense of wonder. He remained enthusiastic about his craft and devoted to his writing to the end of his life, and was always thrilled to be part of the science fiction community, as both a fan and a pro. He taught me a lot about being a writer and a professional."John Scalzi's obit for Resnick emphasizes Resnick's pay-it-forward attitude: "what I think you will see most in the tributes that will be coming out about in the next few days is the fact he was a teacher and mentor to a great number of writers in the science fiction community, sharing advice about writing and the writing life over decades." Read the rest

Ever since I started using these nylon mesh zipper bags, my travel experience has improved. I have one bag for paper stuff and pens, one for medicine and first aid, one for tools and gear, one for cords and portable power, and one for snacks. When I get home I leave the bags in my suitcase, making packing much easier the next time I take a trip. The bags are see-through and very durable. A pack of 8 sells for on Amazon. Read the rest

According to former Secret Service agent Jonathan Wackrow, the Secret Service started during the US Civil War to deal with the influx of counterfeit US money that the Southern states were printing and using in the Northern states. In this video, Wackrow shows you how to spot modern counterfeit money, which is of such high quality that banks often don't detect them.Image: YouTube Read the rest

Back around 500 BCE or so in what is now York, U.K, a gentleman was decapitated for who-knows-why and his head quickly buried. To the amazement of the archaeologists who dug up the skull in 2008, the cranium still contained a well-preserved brain. According to University of London neurologist Axel Petzold and his colleagues, understanding how the tissue has survived for more than 2,500 years may lead to new methods for extracting valuable information from ancient tissue. From Science:Using several molecular techniques to examine the remaining tissue, the researchers figured out that two structural proteins—which act as the “skeletons” of neurons and astrocytes—were more tightly packed in the ancient brain. In a yearlong experiment, they found that these aggregated proteins were also more stable than those in modern-day brains. In fact, the ancient protein clumps may have helped preserve the structure of the soft tissue for ages..The research also could provide insight into protein-based neurological diseases like Alzheimer's and dementia."Protein aggregate formation permits millennium-old brain preservation" (Journal of the Royal Society Interface) Read the rest

The Dragonfly-like Meganeuropsis was a giant insect that plied the skies from the Late Carboniferous to the Late Permian, some 317 to 247 million years ago. It had a wingspan of some 28" with a body length of around 17."Meganisoptera is an extinct family of insects, all large and predatory and superficially like today’s odonatans, the dragonflies and damselflies. And the very largest of these was Meganeuropsis. It is known from two species, with the type species being the immense M.permiana. Meganeuropsis permiana, as its name suggests is from the Early Permian.Fossils of the insect were first discovered in France in the late 1800s. This fine fellow, from Bolsover in Derbyshire, was unearthed in 1979.Read more on Geology In. Read the rest

Wow, this is terrific. Bravo to Swiss animators/filmmakers Zita Bernet and Rafael Sommerhalder of Crictor for this delightful short film, simply called "Popcorn." (swissmiss) Read the rest

This newsreel from 1973 shows just how freaked out people were by The Exorcist, William Blatty's still-great movie about demonic possession. The original has been rendered mostly harmless -- even cheesy -- by decades of increasingly refined and extreme imitations. And some proportion of the hysteria was surely media and marketing hype all along.But there's a truth revealed here about the opportunity that lies in blasting through society's weakening norms, if you can spot them first.I'd like to see the same newsreel, but this time it's people walking out of John Boorman's Exorcist II: The Heretic. Read the rest

Disney's The Mandalorian is the contemporary Star Wars production people actually like and has already wriggled deep into the folds of pop culture. Much of the meme-orializing centers on "Baby Yoda", of course, but the show pays tribute to westerns in depth and that's what's honored in this handsome edit by Kingkida.Now that the amazing first season of The Mandalorian is complete, I decided to go back and update my Sergio Leone inspired trailer. Thanks for all the feedback on the last one. I incorporated a lot of your suggestions, but I'm sure I butchered more Italian in this pass as well! Read the rest

The mind is a powerful tool — and, like any great tool, it can be easily misused. Mindfulness is a great buzzword to throw around, but how do we actually achieve it? Anyone can find a personal trainer for their body, but it's not like there are brain trainers out there for hire.Or are there? FOCI is a tiny wearable device that aims to do exactly that; train your mind to focus sharper and focus more.The wearable is a thin stainless steel widget the size of a money clip. It clips onto your belt and measures your breathing as you go about your day. It then feeds that information into a paired app on your smartphone, which is where the real work begins.The FOCI app uses Cognitive Biometrics to track your state of mind during different times of the day to tell you exactly when you became stressed, distracted or fatigued. You then get practical coaching from the app that will allow you to control those situations the next day, letting you stay focused through that midday slog or calmer on that important phone call. You'll get gentle reminders about your progress by a slight buzz from the FOCI wearable.The unit is now on the market for more than 40% off the MSRP. Read the rest

Neo-Nazi Media Darling and accused domestic abuser Richard Spencer had a meltdown on Twitter after Iranian authorities launched a missile attack against a US base in Iraq.Siri, show me the definition of "Schadenfreude" pic.twitter.com/B6sTKbeWX4— This Is Not A Thom Dunn T-Shirt (@thomdunn) January 8, 2020Spencer went on to post and retweet some other criticisms of the "American Empire" and pinned a tweet saying, "To the people of Iran, There are millions of Americans who do not want war, who do not hate you, and who respect your nation and its history. After our traitorous elite is brought to justice, we hope to achieve peace, reconciliation, and forgiveness."Spencer also led a protest against airstrikes in Syria in 2017. Granted, his anti-interventionist stance is largely based in anti-immigrant and anti-Semitic beliefs. (See also: Ecofascism.) So this is less of a "My enemy's enemy is my friend," and more of a "My enemy's enemy is still my enemy even though we kind-of agree on a single action despite coming to those views for completely opposing reasons, which is why we are enemies." But still. Broken clocks, et cetera et cetera.Image via Wikimedia Commons Read the rest

Project Farm set out to test major brands of duct tape to see which was the best. He devises three trials, testing the pull strength of the adhesive, how much weight a loop can bear, and the shearing strength of the tape itself. What we saw here were varying degrees of tackiness, elasticity and strength between brandsT-Rex tape devoured the field on the adhesive test, Gorilla barely pipped it for the weight test, and 3M won the shearing test with T-Rex and Gorilla not far behind. Fasten, Scotch and Duck brands trailed the pack in every test. Project Farm didn't make a recommendation, but I think it's obvious T-Rex brand duct tape [Amazon] is best unless you're using the tape to hold things under shear stress. A general principle seems to be that the more menacing the animal brand, the better the tape. Read the rest

This remarkable security video is from inside a box truck traveling at 50MPH. The thieves tailgate it so closely that one of them can stand on the hood, break open the truck doors, climb inside, steal the best stuff in there, then leap back into the pursuing vehicle.From PostNord Sverige, the Swedish state postal service:Theft of goods is a widespread problem in the logistics industry, and thieves are becoming ever more cunning. But as a result of comprehensive and thorough preparatory work and good cooperation with the police, PostNord recently succeeded in catching a gang in western Sweden while they were stealing goods – traveling at 80 kilometers per hour. The evidence can be seen on a surveillance film from one of PostNord’s trucks. Read the rest

[Yesterday, we published my review of Tim Schwartz's new guide for whistleblowers, A Public Service: Whistleblowing, Disclosure and Anonymity; today, I'm delighted to include this generous excerpt from Schwartz's book. Schwartz is an activist whom I've had the pleasure of working with and I'm delighted to help him get this book into the hands of the people who need to read it. -Cory]CollectionAs you collect documents and bring new information to light, be aware that you are in an escalating digital arms race. There will always be new ways that data forensics can identify you, or uncover information based on data that you inadvertently leave in your files, or data that is retained in logs noting who has accessed what files on what network. Recently it was discovered that noise from electrical grids can be used to quite accurately pinpoint when, and potentially where, an audio recording was made. The best way to win this war—or at least to avoid becoming collateral damage—is to work outside the standard methods and find partners who have experience.Of course, the actual collection of documents has changed dramatically over the years. In 1969, Daniel Ellsberg systematically removed documents, including the Pentagon Papers, from the RAND Corporation in his briefcase, taking them to an advertising agency where he (sometimes with the help of his 13-year-old son) photocopied them, one page at a time. Though this took enormous courage and psychological stamina—and in 1969 all that copying was certainly time-consuming and undoubtedly tiresome—it was also technologically straightforward and relatively safe. Read the rest

Everyone knows Facebook is doing the opposite of helping ensure the integrity of the 2020 election, so it makes sense it would pay Teen Vogue to run a fake article titled “How Facebook Is Helping Ensure the Integrity of the 2020 Election.”When the article ran on Wednesday, Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s machiavellian chief operating officer posted on her Facebook page, "Great Teen Vogue piece about five incredible women protecting elections on Facebook. Since 2016, we've worked to stop the spread of misinformation, fight foreign interference and voter suppression, improve transparency, and encourage people to vote." Lol.Shortly after the byline-free "article" ran, a notice appeared at the top, which said, “Editor’s note: This is sponsored editorial content.” A little while later, the piece disappeared entirely.The curious piece, and its sudden disappearance, became a topic of online conversation, prompting Teen Vogue to issue a statement that read, “We made a series of errors labeling this piece, and we apologize for any confusion this may have caused. We don’t take our audience’s trust for granted, and ultimately decided that the piece should be taken down entirely to avoid further confusion."The New York Times looked into it and got the story:Facebook pitched the idea for the article last year, when the social media network and the online magazine were in talks about the Teen Vogue Summit, a three-day event that took place in Los Angeles in November, with speakers including the YouTube star Liza Koshy and the film director Greta Gerwig. Read the rest

Almost 100 people working for CollegeHumor in Los Angeles and New York were let go yesterday, reports Bloomberg. The owner, Barry Diller's IAC, sold the brand to its chief creative officer. Only "five to 10 people" remain employed.CollegeHumor suffered the same fate as Funny or Die, which went through rounds of layoffs in recent years. Why did these media companies, which make good content, fail so spectacularly? Because they trusted Facebook, which wooed them to its platform with grossly exaggerated viewer metrics. CollegeHumor and Funny or Die staffed up to meet the imaginary demand, then Facebook pulled the rug out from under them.Adam Conover, who worked for CollegeHumor, explained the situation in a Twitter thread:My former employer CollegeHumor did this. In order to beat YouTube, Facebook faked incredible viewership numbers, so CH pivoted to FB. So did Funny or Die, many others. The result: A once-thriving online comedy industry was decimated. A $40m fine is laughable; shut Facebook down. https://t.co/iYejU0EGqp— Adam Conover (@adamconover) October 13, 2019Facebook, which was sued by advertisers for cooking its stats, settled out of court for $40 million and steadfastly refuses to admit any wrongdoing. Read the rest

Rogue Print's inaugural tee design for 2020 is a mashup Iain Banks (previously, RIP)/Black Flag tribute available as a baseball tee or a regular one -- both ship with a set of writers as bands stickers.I couldn't stop myself from ordering a Spiderman baseball tee to go with it.(Thanks, Josh!) Read the rest

It's hard to find a web-based profession — or any profession, for that matter — that doesn't require you to deal with PDFs. They're universally recognized, they're used for tons of official documents, and they're stubbornly resistant to editing.That's by design, of course. But technology always finds a workaround. And if you've got a Mac, your best hack, in this case, is PDF Expert.With this award-winning software, PDFs become as malleable as a Word doc. You can easily edit any line of text, insert links or add signatures with a simple click or two. There's no longer the need to print out a file, sign your name, scan it and return it. This makes it invaluable for invoices, taxes and a host of other everyday documents.it can even make longer PDFs infinitely more manageable by merging multiple pages into a single file that you can send across a range of devices. Even if the recipient doesn't own the software, they'll thank you for the time saver.You can pick up a copy of PDF Expert for 62% off the original price today. Read the rest

In New Jersey, a woman who apparently lost her temper over having to wait in a long line at a New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission office snapped into a violent rage, smashing computer equipment, assaulting two staffers, and kicking police officers when they tried to arrest her, authorities say.Not a great idea.After Shawna Joseph, 28, of Jersey City, was told to leave the office in Bayonne around 2 PM Tuesday, authorities say she got upset about how long the line was. She returned to the office two hours later and they say she caused another disturbance that time.AP:When she was confronted during the second visit, Joseph pushed the office manager and began breaking computer equipment, authorities said, eventually causing $23,000 in damage overall.More:Long lines at vehicle office send customer into rage [Associated Press] Read the rest

I just bought a copy of Sid Meier's Civilization VI for Nintendo Switch because it's selling for , which is a lot less than it usually goes for. Read the rest

All 176 people on board died. The Ukrainian airliner that went down just after liftoff in Tehran, killing all 176 people aboard, probably suffered a technical malfunction and was not brought down by a missile -- that's what various Western intelligence sources are now saying.The Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737-800 dropped from about 8,000 feet to earth in a fireball shortly after take-off from Tehran.No investigation has been conducted yet, though -- and Iran will not give the black box of the crashed Ukrainian airliner to planemaker Boeing, the head of Tehran’s civil aviation organization was quoted as saying on Wednesday.Ali Abedzadeh also said it was not clear which country Iran would send the box to so that its data could be analyzed, semi-official Mehr news agency reported.Many questions remain.From Reuters:The Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737-800, en route to Kiev and carrying mostly Iranians and Iranian-Canadians, crashed hours after Iran fired missiles at bases housing U.S. forces in Iraq, leading some to speculate that the plane may have been hit.But five security sources - three Americans, one European and one Canadian - who asked not to be named, told Reuters the initial assessment of Western intelligence agencies was that the plane had suffered a technical malfunction and had not been brought down by a missile. There was evidence one of the jet’s engines had overheated, the Canadian source said. “We are in contact with our airline customers and stand by them in this difficult time. Read the rest

After successful treatment for pancreatic cancer this summer, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg says she’s 'cancer free.'This was her fourth round of the disease, and she told CNN that her doctors say she now has no evidence of disease.From Colby Itkowitz at the Washington Post:The 86-year-old justice, one of the oldest to serve on the Supreme Court, offered the health update to CNN in an interview in her chambers Tuesday evening.“I’m cancer free. That’s good,” Ginsburg said, with CNN reporting that she was “sounding energized and speaking animatedly.”Ginsburg’s intensive radiation treatment for a malignant tumor on her pancreas in August had followed a diagnosis of lung cancer at the end of 2018 that resulted in the removal of part of her left lung and forced her to miss oral arguments for the first time in 25 years on the bench.Ruth Bader Ginsburg declares she’s ‘cancer free’ [washingtonpost.com] Read the rest

What if you took Segway's standard self-balancing technology, but you didn't even have to stand on it?That's basically the promise of the new Segway S-Pod, a "vision for the future of mobility" that the company announced at CES 2020. It was supposedly was inspired by the Gyrosphere from Jurassic World, but let's be real — we just got one step closer to the futuristic lethargy of Wall-E. From the press release:The Segway S-Pod is a first-class smart transporting pod for enclosed campuses such as airports, theme parks and malls. It is a safe, self-balancing vehicle that is operated by an intuitive assistive navigation panel. With an adaptive center-of-gravity automatic control system, passengers can easily adjust the speed — up to 24 mph — by handling the knob to change the center of gravity in the pod. The S-Pod spins and rotates by the center smoothly for directional changes. The rider does not need to physically lean forward and back to accelerate or slow down.I always figured that the Silicon Valley vision of the future would eventually bring us towards personalized robot car pods that are basically just trains with private seating. So at least this is a slight improvement on that?No word on price yet.Image via YouTube Read the rest

By various reports, multiple (two or three) Katyusha rockets hit targets inside Baghdad's Green Zone in the past hour. The rockets landed near the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad's Green Zone. The United States Army and Iraqi police both reported news of the strike late in the day Wednesday, U.S. time, as did reporters and others on Twitter who were nearby. This is a developing story, and will be updated.شاهد.. المنطقة الخضراء وسط #بغداد أثناء إطلاق صافرات الإنذار بعد سقوط صاروخين بمحيط السفارة الأمريكية دون خسائر. #العراق #إيران #المرصد pic.twitter.com/zgkQW0m8uu— صحيفة المرصد (@marsdnews24) January 8, 2020BELOW: From Twitter, selected real-time tweets on the strike, and observations from news organizations and individual freelance journalists who are in Baghdad or in the region.No official word on responsibility for the attack, but various theories.Three Katyusha rockets fall inside Baghdad's Green Zone: police sources https://t.co/LlX3cy7QUI— Matt Brown (@abcmatt) January 8, 2020Katyusha rockets fall near the #US embassy in the Green Zone in central #Baghdad, and the embassy alert is heard.#Iraq, #Iran. pic.twitter.com/xvPDMClVoQ— Ahmad Algohbary (@AhmadAlgohbary) January 8, 2020‌A couple of rockets land inside #Baghdad's Green Zone, close to the #US Embassy. Responsibility not claimed by anyone yet. Most likely Iraqi groups.— Zafar Mehdi (@mehdizafar) January 8, 2020BREAKING: Two rockets land in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, home of the US Embassy in Iraq https://t.co/wbHibjvvOK pic.twitter.com/YsRbt3x6hG— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) January 8, 2020The debris of Katyusha rocket that fell in the vicinity of #US embassy in #Baghdad. Read the rest

Today is David Bowie's birthday (born Jan 8, 1947, died Jan 10, 2016). Here's a great example of our favorite leper messiah's sense of humor as he impersonates a number of fellow singers during the Absolute Beginner's recording sessions in 1985. In the six-minute clip, you hear David doing his best impressions of Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Lou Reed, Anthony Newley, Iggy Pop, and Neil Young. Some of them are quite good, especially Springsteen.And, if you (like me) are going full Bowiemas this week (can I get an alien mullet amen?), check out this 19-hour Bowie playlist on Spotify:Listen to David Bowie from beginning to end in a 19-hour, complete chronological playlist"If you're going to be a fucking rockstar, go be one. People don't want to see the guy next door on stage; they want to see a being from another planet."-Lemmy KilmisterHappy Birthday, David. We miss you! Read the rest

In 2017, three people drilled 26 holes into a UNESCO world heritage protected landmark in China called Python Rock so they could climb the 420-foot natural rock spire and take drone footage. It turned out to be a costly excursion -- on December 30 a court ordered them to pay a $860,000 fine and one of the climbers received a prison sentence.[via Ananova]Image: YouTube/Live Leak Read the rest

A British man was sentenced to indefinite detention, according to the BBC, after having been caught on camera attempting to burn down a synagogue and instead burning down himself. [Via Charles Stross]When police arrested him at his Alexander Terrace home he had burns to his hands, forehead and hair and was carrying two lock knives and two lighters. As he was put in a police van, Morgan said: "Please tell me that synagogue is burning to the ground. If not, it's poor preparation."The court heard the attack on the building coincided with a Jewish feast day commemorating disasters, including the Holocaust. The repairs totalled more than £23,000. Judge Anthony Leonard QC handed Morgan a hospital order without limit of time, saying most people would feel "anger and revulsion" for what he did.President of the synagogue, Mr Richard Halsey, thanked the police for their "brilliant response" and "support".The video is like a Looney Tunes cartoon, a true "Instant Karma" classic. Read the rest

At the turn of the 20th century, a rogue tiger terrorized the villages of Nepal and northern India. By the time British hunter Jim Corbett was called in, it had killed 434 people. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe Corbett's pursuit of the elusive cat, and his enlightened efforts to address the source of the problem.We'll also revisit a Confederate spy and puzzle over a bloody ship.Show notesPlease support us on Patreon! Read the rest

Back in December, ProPublica published a fascinating look into the snake-oil industry around Scientific Content Analysis or SCAN, a so-called "law enforcement tool" that purports to help investigators determine whether their suspects lying. This highly-profitable yet totally-dubious training method works through a rigid grammar analysis that relies entirely on the assumption that human brains only ever work in one completely uniform, logical, rational, conscious, and deliberate manner:With SCAN, Sapir encourages the asking of a simple, open question: What happened? After the person writes a statement, the SCAN investigator looks for signs of deception, analyzing, among other things, pronouns used, changes in vocabulary, what’s left out and how much of a statement is devoted to what happened before, during and after an event. Indications of truthfulness include use of the past tense, first-person singular (“I went to the store”); pronouns, such as “my,” which signal commitment; and direct denials, the best being: “I did not do it.” Signs of deception include lack of memory, spontaneous corrections and swapping one word in for another — for example, writing “kids” in one place and “children” in another.[…] Sapir likens SCAN to Sudoku, only with words, not numbers, sentences, not squares: “Everything must fit — left to right, and top to bottom.”And of course, there's no consideration for the possibility that someone might be, idunno, nervous or anxious or god forbid under-educated and therefore might respond to this "test" in ways that seem arbitrarily "suspicious."Yet there are still tons of cops who swear by it anyway — even though, as ProPublica reveals through a comprehensive analysis of SCAN test results, the system has about a 50 percent likelihood of accurately predicting whether a suspect is lying, which is … no better than a random guess. Read the rest

Mistaking an open fishtank for a bench in a restaurant, a man on a phone takes a seat there to have a conversation. Unfortunately neither the surface tension of the water nor the man's natural buoyancy are sufficient to keep him from plunging in.Image: LiveLeak Read the rest

Apparently there's been a rash of fraudulent text messages informing recipients that they have been drafted in the United States Army and they should call the recruiting office immediately. I'd bet that the phone number is actually an international toll call and most of the fees go to the scammer, like the common "one-ring call" scams. From the US Army Recruiting Command:The decision to enact a draft is not made at or by U.S. Army Recruiting Command. The Selective Service System, a separate agency outside of the Department of Defense, is the organization that manages registration for the Selective Service. "The Selective Service System is conducting business as usual,” according to the Selective Service System’s official Facebook page. “In the event that a national emergency necessitates a draft, Congress and the President would need to pass official legislation to authorize a draft."And of course that's highly unlikely, right? RIGHT?!?image: Maj. Jessica Rovero Read the rest

Jimmy Kimmel started out last night's monologue by complaining how difficult it is to cancel a subscription to an app on the iPhone. He's right. There should be a menu option accessible from every subscription app that lets you cancel on the spot.He moves on to talking about Arizona GOP Rep. Paul Gosar, a singularly unsavory Trump Chump who recently tweeted a realistic photo of Obama and the president of Iran together, even though the two never met. When he got called out for posting the fraudulent photo without disclosing it was fake, he had a peevish hissy fit about his right to artistic expression.Here's Kimmel's take on Gosar (transcript courtesy The Daily Beast): In response to the many reporters and others on Twitter who pointed out the error, Gosar tweeted, “No one said this wasn’t Photoshopped. No one said the president of Iran was dead. No one said Obama met with Rouhani in person.”“Well, OK then!” Kimmel shot back “‘No one said this wasn’t Photoshopped?’ Is that the standard now? You can post whatever you want and leave it to us to figure out if it’s Photoshopped? Because if that’s the case I have a photo of Paul Gosar being spanked by Jared from Subway that I would like a lot of people to see.”Then Kimmel shared another “real photo” of President Donald Trump “happily shaking tiny hands with the guy who ordered the murder of a reporter for the Washington Post.” He helpfully added, “That is not Photoshopped.” Read the rest

Wow, this blew up and imploded and tried to disappear quickly.Not sure what happened, but -- a piece went up first not identified as sponsored editorial content. Then, a label was added. And finally, the piece was taken down altogether.Now, Facebook says it was *not* sponsored editorial content?Here's the story in 3 images.Then, moments later, after being dragged by media-watchers on Twitter...But not for long! Within less than one hour... We hardly knew ye.interesting pivot for Teen Vogue here to… Facebook PR? https://t.co/9piUkJOHYW— Steven Perlberg (@perlberg) January 8, 2020fwiw, FB disputes this. Says it's a "purely editorial" story, not sponcon https://t.co/tLeSZYgAgF— Rob Price (@robaeprice) January 8, 2020Some weird things going on with this Teen Vogue story I’m seeing lots of Facebook employees share today https://t.co/lveRoORpaa— Alex Heath (@alexeheath) January 8, 2020Timeline for the vogue article:Not labeled as spon on publishLabeled as spon by 9:08not labeled as spon at 9:53taken down by 9:57— Matthew Panzarino (@panzer) January 8, 2020Publishing this sort of uncritical corporate propaganda is especially noxious on a website like Teen Vogue.The website's demographic doesn't remember in a world without Facebook. To frame this as a fun guide to election integrity is shameful.https://t.co/fimjbUVDqg pic.twitter.com/kK4HVQSERM— Ryan Broderick (@broderick) January 8, 2020Teen Vogue / Facebook article now appears to have been removed: pic.twitter.com/kY3IFWw8m9— Alexandra S. Levine (@Ali_Lev) January 8, 2020Let's play a fun game of spot the difference between 20 minutes ago and now pic.twitter.com/bfbVTw6peQ Read the rest

The Boeing 737 Next Generation has a gnarly bug: on instrument approach to seven specific runways, the six cockpit display units used to guide the pilots to their landing go suddenly black and they remain black until the pilots choose a different runway to land on.The FAA has ordered Boeing to fix its software. The seven affected runways are: Pine Bluffs, WY; Wayne County, OH; Chippewa County, MI; Cavern City, NM; Barrow, AK; La Mina, La Guajira, Colombia; and Cheddi Jagan, Georgetown, Guyana.Yesterday, a 737-800 crashed on a flight from Iran to Ukraine, killing 167 passengers and nine crew members. Boeing's 737 Max has been plagued by software errors that have led to the aircraft being grounded around the world. A whistleblower claims that the Boeing 787s are also unsafe due to negligence and fraud by the company.The FAA received reports earlier this year of three incidents of display electronic unit (DEU) software errors on Model 737 NG airplanes flying into runway PABR in Barrow, Alaska. All six display units (DUs) blanked with a selected instrument approach to a runway with a 270-degree true heading, and all six DUs stayed blank until a different runway was selected. The Integrated Standby Flight Display (ISFD) and Heads-Up-Display (HUD) remained operational during this failure of the primary flight displays. The investigation has traced the behavior to a combination of common display system (CDS) block point (BP) 15 software in the DEUs and U12 or later software in the flight management computer (FMC). Read the rest

The University of North Florida is the latest customer of the Pizza ATM, an automated vending machine. The machine costs around $60,000. From the Florida Times-Union:Brook Adams, senior executive chef for UNF’s Dining Services, said they make the pizza dough and shred the cheese from scratch daily in the campus kitchen.“It’s all fresh toppings. Everything is absolutely fresh. There is no frozen pizza or anything going into the machine, Adams said.After assembling the uncooked pizzas, they are placed into boxes with a bar code identifying the toppings and loaded into refrigerated storage shelves in the back of the vending machine.Students use a touch-screen to select the pizza they want, pay for it and the machine then grabs the pizza from the refrigerated storage area and puts it into one of the machine’s two infrared ovens, Adams said.“It cooks in about 3 minutes 45 seconds and dispenses it out to the student,” said Adams, noting the pizzas cost about $8.50 to $9 each, depending on the toppings. Read the rest

This is the future, I guess.Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro went on Facebook Wednesday to livestream himself observing U.S. President Donald Trump’s speech on Iran.Oh, the stupidity.From Bloomberg Business:After a few minutes of the video showing Bolsonaro apparently taking notes while watching Trump on TV, the Brazilian President turned to the camera to read sections of the country’s constitution condemning terrorism, and accused his predecessor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of supporting Iran’s plans to enrich uranium.[More at Bloomberg, image above is a screenshot Jair Bolsonaro's official Facebook livestream earlier today.]Acredite se quiser – Bolsonaro fez uma live de Facebook assistindo o pronunciamento de Trump https://t.co/4kb2TO09ui— DCM ONLINE (@DCM_online) January 8, 2020Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro took to Facebook to broadcast himself watching Donald Trump’s speech on Iran, taking the opportunity to stress that he supports peace efforts and rejects terrorism. by @neyhayashi https://t.co/9rVNFdyoFz— Bruce Douglas (@bruceecurb) January 8, 2020Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro filmed himself on Facebook Live while watching Donald Trump’s speech on Iran https://t.co/no7JywF1Pl https://t.co/cSOwe4Z6E0— Luis Velarde (@luivelarde) January 8, 2020 Read the rest

View this post on Instagram My Baby Sonic Cake! 🥰😍 Watch me make it on my YouTube channel . . . #soniccake #babysoniccake #cake #cakedecorating #cakesofinstagram #cakes #sonicthehedgehog #sonic #cakeboss #cakevideo #cakedesigner #sonicmovieA post shared by Sugar High Score (@sugarhighscore) on Jan 6, 2020 at 8:53am PSTSugar High Score makes stunning cakes based around pop culture themes, but it's her Baby Sonic that we're getting a slice of today. Above, the coup de grace; below, the how-to video.In this video, I am going to show you all the steps in creating this adorable Baby Sonic the Hedgehog CAKE from the new Sonic movie 2020. He turned out so cute! Enjoy. :) Read the rest

These are just a small sample of Michael Schlegel's glorious photographs of trees in Fanal, the laurisilva forest of Madeira, Portugal. The otherworldly images reassure me with their quiet calm.(via Kottke) Read the rest

The Canadian Broadcasting Coporation's annual Canada Reads prize is one of Canada's top literary prizes, ranking with the Governor General's prize for prestige and reach; it begins early in January with the announcement of a longlist of 15 recommended books, and then these are whittled down to a shortlist of five books later in the month. Over the months that follow, each of the shortlisted books is championed by a Canadian celebrity in a series of events across the country, with the grand prize winner being announced in late March after a televised debate among the five books' "champions."The CBC has just announced its longlist, and I'm delighted to announce that Radicalized, my 2019 book of four novellas, is among them.The entire list is incredibly impressive -- really humbling company to be in! -- and the five finalists will be announced on Jan 22.I discussed Radicalized on the CBC radio programme Day 6 last year, and the CBC reviewed the book in glowing terms, later naming it one of their summer reads and best books of the year.I'm sincerely honoured to be included.Radicalized is a collection of four novellas that explore the quandaries — social, economic and technological — of contemporary America. Cory Doctorow's characters deal with issues around immigration, corrupt police forces, dark web uprisings and more. Here is the Canada Reads 2020 longlist [CBC Books] Read the rest

That's quite a scene, man. No wonder I'm addicted to the stuff. According to the Sweet Jane blog, a young Bruce Robinson is one of the hep cats. From British Film Institute:Little is known about this kaleidoscopic cinema short advocating the use of coffee as a stimulant, other than that it was produced by advertising agency Battey, Barton, Durstine and Osborne. Intriguingly, it does not promote a specific brand of coffee. Far fucking out. Read the rest