BREAKING: Harvey Weinstein has been charged in Los Angeles with NEW rape and sexual assault charges. Disgraced movie mogul and accused serial sexual abuser Harvey Weinstein is having an extremely bad day.Just hours after his trial for rape kicked off in New York, on the other side of the country LA Country District Attorney Jackie Lacey said Weinstein has been charged in Los Angeles with raping one woman and sexually assaulting another over a two-day period in 2013.He has been charged with one count of forcible rape, forcible oral copulation, sexual penetration by use of force, and sexual battery by restraint. “We believe the evidence will show that the defendant used his power and influence to gain access to his victims and then commit violent crimes against them,” Lacey said. “I want to commend the victims who have come forward and bravely recounted what happened to them. It is my hope that all victims of sexual violence find strength and healing as they move forward.”More from Pilar Melendez at Daily Beast.Harvey Weinstein has been indicted on new sex crime charges in Los Angeles, just as his trial on separate rape and sexual assault charges in New York was poised to get underway, prosecutors announced Monday. https://t.co/i4CvAcMhZF— Nicole Rodriguez (@NicRodriguez) January 6, 2020Harvey Weinstein Hit With Rape & Sexual Battery Charges By L.A. D.A. As NYC Trial Starts https://t.co/A6EzNa5It6 pic.twitter.com/itFXHwxVlk— Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) January 6, 2020#HarveyWeinstein - WATCH LIVE: L.A. prosecutors announce new charges. Read the rest

Robotics is tough business. “If you think 2018 was a tough year for robotics companies, 2019 wasn’t any better,” writes Peter Singer. “And that’s especially true for consumer robotics companies, which have the misfortune of dominating the following list.” Here's his well-researched list of a number of notable robotics companies that bit the metallic dust in 2019, and in one case, one company that may manage to reboot itself in 2020.Go enjoy the full list from The Robot Report, but make sure to pour some top-shelf liquid laundry detergent out for dearly departed Laundroid (2015-2019):Tokyo-based Seven Dreamers filed for bankruptcy in April. It was developing the Laundroid laundry-folding robot, which was a staple for several years at CES. However, its size and cost – estimated at $16,500 – were big barriers to adoption.Chores such as folding laundry were supposed to be targets for automation, but many have proven to be too complex to cheaply solve. Seven Dreamers reportedly raised $89 million and had accumulated $20 Remembering robotics companies we lost in 2019 (The Robot Report)Pour one out for Laundroid, the $16,000 laundry folding robotA list of the robot companies we lost last year, and a illustration of what bodes for much at #CES2020 https://t.co/ChQVxafMtx pic.twitter.com/0aXlOiwMGn— Peter W. Singer (@peterwsinger) January 6, 2020 Read the rest

When I was a juvie nerd, I lived for Estes (and Centuri) model rockets. I slept with my Estes catalog (sometimes literally). I would mow lawns, rake leaves, and save up my allowance to order from the catalog. I would have maybe ten dollars to spend and would agonize over each order, trying to squeeze out as many products as possible from my measly earnings.I would finally place the order and wait with agonized impatience for it to arrive. I would always imagine a sizable box showing up in the mail. Every time, the box was disappointingly tiny. But I built what I received with whatever tools and supplies we had in the house, mainly Elmer's glue, scissors, Scotch tape, and (at least for my first rocket) house paint. I cut the balsa wood fins out with a razor blade. By the time I left my rocketry youth behind, I had built around 18 rockets and was Vice President of the Chester Virginia Rocketry Club (we had three members).Several years ago, I unearthed my first rocket (the house-painted one) from the bowels of my basement. It is the only rocket from my childhood that survives. Here it is, in all of its fragile and funky glory:The first time we launched it -- the launch controller connected to the battery in my dad's El Camino -- I had glued the launch lug (the small paper tube that holds the rocket to the launch rod) on crooked, so much so that the friction would not allow the rocket to freely travel up the rod. Read the rest

Clay Per Day is a Dutch sculptor whose Etsy store features grotesque, "realistic" sculptures that mash up the heads of angry babies with spiders and knurled fingers, about the right size for posing on your desk at work. (via Creepbay) Read the rest

In Richmond Heights, Missouri, a woman says she visited a mattress store to test out the beds, finding one so comfortable that she fell asleep. As she snoozed apparently unnoticed, the employees closed the shop for the night. Police were called in the morning. From the St Louis Post-Dispatch:"That's honestly the best mattress endorsement we've ever heard," the police department posted on social media Friday.The store did not want to press charges for trespassing so officers escorted the well-rested customer out of the business, which police declined to name. image: "Shifman Mattress and Boxspring set" by Yahquinn (CC BY-SA 3.0) Read the rest

On Christmas Eve, Brian Kolb [R-Canandaigua] -- then minority leader in the New York State Assembly -- published an op-ed urging New Yorkers to drive sober during the holidays; on New Year's Eve, Kolb wrecked a state-owned official vehicle and then failed a roadside blood-alcohol test.Drunk driving is a pet issue for Kolb, who tweeted "There is no excuse for driving impaired this holiday season" on Dec 26, having co-sponsored Leandra's Law, which makes it "an automatic felony on the first offense to drive drunk with a person age 15 or younger inside the vehicle."Kolb later published a statement admitting to driving drunk: "Last night, I was charged with driving under the influence near my home. This was a terrible lapse in judgment, one I have urged others not to make, and I take full responsibility for it. I want to offer sincere apologies to my family, friends, colleagues, and the people of the 131st Assembly District. I fully recognize the severity of the situation and I am profoundly sorry. There is no excuse and no justification for what occurred Tuesday evening. I made the wrong decision, and it is one I deeply regret."Kolb has since resigned as minority leader in the assembly.After deputies came to the scene, Kolb failed a field sobriety test and was then taken into custody, Henderson said. While at the Ontario County Jail, Kolb was given a Breathalyzer test, which revealed his blood-alcohol content was over 0.08%, Henderson said. Kolb was taken to the Ontario County Jail to be processed. Read the rest

Design site Core 77 took a look at at video analytics company Briefcam's Rapid Recap system, which "simply condenses all footage of things that moved throughout the day, overlapping a time stamp on everyone from gardeners and delivery people to package thieves.Image: YouTube Read the rest

In 2016 an exciting mission was ended. The Rosetta spacecraft made its final maneuver. A controlled hard-landing on the comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67p). Before that, Rosetta accompanied the comet for more then 2 years. It researched valuable scientific data, brought a lander on to the comets surface, and took a vast number of pictures. In 2017, ESA released over 40,0000 images from Rosetta's comet mission. Based on this material, Motion Designer Christian Stangl and Composer Wolfgang Stangl worked together to create this short film. The sequences are digitally-enhanced real-footage of the probe. Read the rest

A 24-year-old New Jersey woman booked a camel ride in Morocco through TripAdvisor's Viator tour booking site. The camel she ended up riding was pregnant and it threw her off and she broke her arm, reports the Boston Globe. The woman said doctors in Morocco had to perform surgery on her arm to prevent permanent nerve damage. Now she's suing TripAdvisor for negligence and breach of contract.Photo by Andre Iv on Unsplash Read the rest

The best part of this video showing cops tangling with knife-wielding maniacs is it's at least three layers of cultural recapulation deep: the posed 80s-era "original", the implicitly late-20th-century comic milieux implied by its ironic presentation, the 2000s upload, and its recurring virality in 2020.Thanks to Everything is Terrible, of course.Previously: Chinese police explain how to deal with a knife-wielding attacker Read the rest

The LockPickingLawyer bought a SentrySafe at Home Depot and was able to easily and quickly unlock it by sticking a bent coat hanger through an LED hole and pushing down the solenoid. This looks like a terrible safe.Image: YouTube screenshot Read the rest

On Black Magic Craft, Jeremy usually builds scenery for tabletop fantasy and sci-fi gaming. But, inspired by his new 3D resin printer, he decided to create something just for fun. Given the Nerdisphere's current obsession with The Mandalorian, he settled on a Mandalorian and baby Yoda diorama. The results are impressive, one of the coolest things I've ever seen Jeremy build. The video contains lots of great build tips that can be applied to tabletop gaming terrain, dioramas, or any type of hobby modeling. Good stuff. Read the rest

The infamous 11-f00t-8 bridge of Durham, North Carolina has damaged hundreds of trucks that are too tall to pass under it without getting their tops sheared off. Late last year, the city raised the bridge 8 inches over the objections of 11-foot-8 fans who enjoy watching videos of inattentive truck drivers who don't pay heed to the warning signs. It looks like their concerns were unwarranted, however, as the bridge is already claiming new victims. The latest is the driver of a Penske truck that was barely an inch too tall for the bridge.Image: YouTube screenshot Read the rest

Missed that sale in the chaos of the holiday rush? No worries. We've rounded up 10 of the best deals from the past year on tech, household items, audio gear and much more - all still priced way down.LG B8 Series 55" OLED 4K HDR TVConsumer Reports flagged the B8 as one of 2018's best TV's, and it's still impressive. The set comes equipped with Google Assistant and supports Dolby Visionâ„¢, HDR10, and other major HDR formats.MSRP: $2299.99Sale Price: $1199.99 (down from previous sale price of $1553.99)Damasukasu Japanese 3-Piece Master Chef Hanshu Knife SetThe gray and silver shading on these knives is visually stunning, but they're not just made for show. Each blade is stain and rust-resistant with a precise 12-degree cutting edge.MSRP: $299.99Sale Price: $69.99 (down from previous sale price of $199.99)CBD Gummies 500mgNeed a quick bit of relief from pain or stress? Each of these gluten-free THC-free gummies has up to 9.5 mg of CBD. Of course, neither these statements nor this product has been evaluated by the FDA, and they are not intended to diagnose, treat, or cure any disease. Check with your doctor and state laws before ordering.MSRP: $40Sale Price: $29.99ExoGun DreamPro Percussion Massage DeviceSix speeds and a four-hour battery life make the ExoGun a valuable companion at the end of any workout. Change up attachments and target any muscle group for deep relief.MSRP: $599Sale Price: $119.99X3 Hurricane Variable Speed Canless Air DusterKeep your workspace clean with this portable duster that uses a quiet motor capable of blowing ambient air at more than 260 mph. Read the rest

The purpose of automated attendant/interactive voice response phone menu systems is to make you fuck off before you trouble a human being. But such systems have a moral spectrum of their own, in which you cannot be simply dispatched or hung up on. The decision to end the call must be yours. Whoever realized the repellent brutality of Britney Spears' Toxic played over a VoIP compression protocol deserves some kind of reward.Experience it yourself: 858 924 0180Tell me if it works, as I have no inclination to verify the claim myself. Read the rest

This video is apparently from January of 2019, but I saw it on Twitter the other day, accompanying the news about the record-breaking ice melt in Antarctica over the holidays.Did you hear about that? How the ice in Antarctica is melting at alarming rates, because of climate change, which is real? There aren't a lot of humans in Antarctica to witness the gradual encroach of our ecological apocalypse, but it's happening.MAR forced by GFS suggests that the highest melt extent over Antarctica in the modern area (>1979) has been reached on 24-Dec-2019 with ~15%. From Nov 2019 until today, the production of melt water is also a record with 230% higher than average but the melting season is not ended pic.twitter.com/MT0QKCJ47e— Xavier Fettweis (@xavierfettweis) December 27, 2019Anyway, the penguin video. It's a thriller. That chunk of ice cracks off — again, because of rising global temperatures — and poor little penguin dude is stuck there is it floats away, while her other penguin friends are safe on the other side. I don't think I've watched anything this intense since the last time I saw the end of Toy Story 3. I held my breath for damn near a minute, hoping that lil' tuxedo'd waddler would be okay. If we're not gonna freak out about climate change, we should at least be worried about our poor penguin friends!But also, climate change is terrifying, and this penguin is a portent for the future that all of us are headed for. Read the rest

Farouk James isn't the first young man from London to have amazingly good hair, but as you can see, he's clearly in a league of his own. James has a popular instagram; the BBC reports that his mom gets a lot of hate mail from people who are clearly jealous of her son's fabulous mane. But there is a serious angle: despite Britain's generally progressive bent, its creepily precise school uniforms mandate the hair's removal if he is to attend. She's working on getting the sexist policies reformed. Read the rest

James Hatch is a former a Navy SEAL who has dealt with PTSD for nearly half of his 52 years of life. So it was kind of a big deal when he was accepted to Yale University this past fall as a college freshman. While the Fox News crowd may have been eagerly anticipating the meaty clickbait they could mine from the potential cultural clash of this Real American and those whiney radical college protestors, Hatch beat them to the punch by publishing his own reflection on his first semester. Spoiler alert: it's probably one of the most deeply humanistic things I've read in a long time.As the younger students started to express their thoughts, the young woman (truly a unicorn of a human) used the word “safe space” and it hit me forcefully. I come from a place where when I hear that term, I roll my eyes into the back of my vacant skull and laugh from the bottom of my potbelly. This time, I was literally in shock. It hit me that what I thought a “safe space” meant, was not accurate. This young woman, the one who used the phrase, isn’t scared of anything. She is a life-force of goodness and strength. She doesn’t need anyone to provide a comfortable environment for her. What she meant by “safe space” was that she was happy to be in an environment where difficult subjects can be discussed openly, without the risk of disrespect or harsh judgment. This works both ways. Read the rest

Great news for parents sending their kids to American schools: a company called Wonderhoodie sells a bulletproof hoodie for children.Our patented, NIJ-IIIA panels discreetly protects the back and sides of the head. Pull it up when you need it, put it down when you don't3-inches of bulletproof overlap secured by velcro down the middle allows safe zipped or unzipped wear.Full military-style torso protection, no Tetris-panels to 'insert' like low-end competitorsIt's $450 and the logo is optional. Get this: "If you get shot (God forbid) with our hoodies on, we'll send you a replacement hoodie FREE of charge. Just include the police report or news clip"Good to know that if my child gets shot up in school massacre, I can get a replacement hoodie if I send these ghouls the footage. Read the rest

I met Andy Bothwell on Warped Tour in the summer of … 2003, I think? My friends' emo band had somehow secured a spot on the Code Of Tha Cuts Hip-Hop side stage. He jumped on stage to freestyle during a song in his MC alias as Astronautalis, and absolutely blew me away. We did a few shows together over the next couple years, but I've remained a huge fan of his talkin'-blues-indie-rock beats ever since. He's gone on to tour with artists like Tegan & Sara, and recently put out a new collaboration with POS from Doomtree that — coincidentally — includes a song about the late great Joe Strummer.Being that I was a teenager hanging out on Warped Tour, it's perhaps no surprise that I'm a huge of the Clash. But I was surprised to find that this brilliant indie rapper I'd hung out with a few times was hosting Consequence of Sound's new podcast, The Opus, and that the latest season would focus on the only band that matters.Admittedly, I haven't listened to the other seasons of The Opus yet, which focus on albums by Willie Nelson, Ozzy Osbourne, and more. But the three-part series on "London Calling" is absolute essential listening. Bothwell oozes excitement as he talks about the band's magnum opus. He also brings on a diverse range of guests to share their own takes, including Lee "Scratch" Perry, Laura Jane Grace from Against Me!, Donita Sparks, Houston rapper Fat Tony, and more. Read the rest

On Thursday, lucky Walmart shoppers in Edinboro, Pennsylvania were treated to live bedbugs, which were checking out their new home in the men's changing room. Some were roaming around freely while others were living in a pill bottle that someone had placed in a boy's jacket offered by the store.According to CNN:On Friday, health safety company Ecolab confirmed that the insects were bedbugs. An Ecolab employee also reported seeing bedbugs crawling around the men's changing rooms the same day, according to police.A Walmart employee later found a second closed pill bottle containing dead bedbugs in the men's department, police said. "A third-party pest management service has visited the store and we are working with them to assess next steps," the Walmart spokesperson said. "In the meantime, we have blocked off the impacted area.State Police are investigating the matter and looking for the person or people responsible, they said."Bedbugs are tenacious little critters, and don't always clear out after one fumigation (I know this because I had friends who had to move out of their apartment after two failed attempts to get rid of the blood suckers). So it might a while before Walmart sees the last of them.Image: By CDC/ Harvard University, Dr. Gary Alpert; Dr. Harold Harlan; Richard Pollack. Photo Credit: Piotr Naskrecki - http://phil.cdc.gov/phil, Public Domain, Link Read the rest

Whatever your resolution is for the new year, you'll be able to do it better with more sleep. Modern sleep masks are more than just blindfolds. They incorporate 3D contouring, ambient noise blocking and other features designed to help you shut out the world and slow down your busy, conscious mind. Here's 9 of our favorites, most all of which are on sale for 2020.Dreamlight Ease: 100% Light Blocking MaskAt just 2.4 ounces, this mask is perfect for vacations, long plane rides or anywhere you need a little serenity. Its 3D facial mapping technology hugs the contours of any face, leaving the space around the eyes clear - but surrounded in perfect darkness.MSRP: $29Sale Price: $17.99Dreamlight Muse: 100% Light Blocking Cordless Music MaskNeed a soft soundtrack to get to bed? This augmented Dreamlight has the same gentle contouring with a wireless music player embedded around the ears.MSRP: $89Sale Price: $54.99Dreamlight Pro: The World's Smartest Sleep MaskIf you're serious about your sleep, this Pro version of the Dreamlight is a portable lullaby. It comes equipped with sound therapy functionality through the headphones, relaxing, soft lighting on the interior and more, all controllable by a phone app and fully customizable.MSRP: $299Sale Price: $199.99Nodpod® Weighted Sleep MaskThis mask sits securely on any face (in any sleeping position), but that's not all. It uses tiny polyethylene beads to perform the same function as weighted blankets, giving your face gentle pressure to help soothe away anxiety. Read the rest

When most of us think of IT, we picture towering stacks of servers and intense walls of code. And while, yes, servers and code both have their place in any IT pro's day-to-day, they're not nearly as scary as we make them out to be—at least not when you have the right training under your belt. The Complete IT for Beginners Bundle is the perfect introduction for IT newcomers and can make getting your foot in the door much less intimidating.Each course in this 10-course package builds off the one before. You'll get a firm foundation in the basic, language-neutral elements of computer code, then branch out into specific platforms and areas of coding in later lessons.Those lessons include comprehensive training in HTML and Python, both essential languages for any job. There's also a deep dive into the world of cloud computing (and one of its biggest platforms, AWS), web app development and more. By the end, you'll be on your way to earning certifications that will light up any resume and impress IT recruiters.You can get lifetime access to the entire Complete IT for Beginners Bundle for 95% off the retail price.Prices subject to change.You can't beat free! Get $70+ worth of premium Mac apps for free today! Read the rest

Before you type word one on a resume, make sure you've got the basics covered. And, for a myriad of jobs in nearly any field, Microsoft Office skills are absolutely essential.Got the software but don't know where to start? This Ultimate Microsoft Office Certificate Mastery Bundle not only gets you up to speed on some of the most widely-used programs in the Office suite but gives proof that you know how to use them.You'll get step-by-step tutorials on Excel, PowerPoint, Access and (of course) Microsoft Word, starting with the fundamentals and moving on to shortcuts and macros. By the end of it, you'll be able to nail any presentation, lay out complex spreadsheets and even perform data analytics for any company.What makes this Recent Editions bundle particularly comprehensive is the fact that it contains courses on both the 2016 and 2019 versions of the software, so you're prepared to work on more than one generation of software.Right now, the full Ultimate Microsoft Office Certificate Mastery Bundle: Recent Editions is available for 96% off the price of the individual courses.Prices subject to change.You can't beat free! Get $70+ worth of premium Mac apps for free today! Read the rest

The bird seed in our feeder began disappearing overnight, no matter how full it was. I set up an infrared camera to see what was devouring so much seed in such a short amount of time. Here are the culprits! Read the rest

Bare minimum: To make a career as a programmer, you need to know a little about a lot. There are so many languages suited to so many different tasks, it's hard to know where to start.If you're truly just starting, it's hard to find a better curriculum than in the Ultimate Web Coding for Everyone Bundle, a course package that covers just about every major platform on the web from a beginner's perspective.That perspective doesn't mean these classes scratch only the surface. Rather, they're geared to get you versed in the basics quickly and thoroughly so you can get hands-on with more advanced aspects.The eight courses cover workhorse website builders like HTML, JavaScript and Bootstrap 4, back-end support languages like Node.js and MySQL, and versatile tools such as Ruby, PHP, and Python. And how's this for a bonus: The package even comes with a free download of Python 3.Get on track to a full-stack coding career with the Ultimate Web Coding for Everyone Bundle, on sale for 98% off the cost of the individual courses. Read the rest

Bad posture can have a cascading effect on your health. You might not even be aware of your habitual slouch, but it can contribute to backaches, fatigue, joint and ligament degradation and a host of other problems. (Not to mention that you just look better standing up straight.)Like just about anything involving your health, it starts with building better habits. But forget about carrying books on your head: The UPRIGHT GO 2â„¢ is a device specifically designed to correct your stance in weeks.The device itself is tiny enough to fit unobtrusively onto your back where it adheres with hypoallergenic strips. Once you've got it calibrated, it warns you with a gentle buzz whenever you start to slouch.Just that little nudge can help you improve your overall posture, and you can see that progress with an app that tracks the percentage of time you spent with your spine in the correct position, The rechargeable battery can hold power for more than a full day, letting you wear it in any situation.Get the UPRIGHT GO 2â„¢ for 10% off the MSRP today.Prices subject to change.You can't beat free! Get $70+ worth of premium Mac apps for free today! Read the rest

What's the biggest headache about running a business? Ask anyone who's got employees, and the answer will probably be something related to accounting.Managing payroll and accounts is a big responsibility and a monstrous time-sink. That's why many small businesses have an accountant or at least someone who's well versed in QuickBooks. This accounting software has been helping bosses take charge of their books for years now, and you can learn to make the most of it with the 2020 QuickBooks® Pro Mastery Bundle.This comprehensive online course package is designed for users of QuickBooks Pro for desktop and covers all versions released over the past three years. You'll be able to shave hours (if not days) off the time you spend balancing the books, learning functionality that lets you quickly create invoices, submit purchase orders and create automated reminders for payments due. You can even craft compelling reports for end-of-year financial data to impress your shareholders or employees.The entire bundle is now on sale for more than 90% off the MSRP. Read the rest

Vaporgoth composers take note for your next music video: the developers behind Microsoft Excel 95 left a marvelous easter egg hidden in the spreadsheet hell. Welcome to the "Hall of Tortured Souls." More background at the wonderful Easter Egg Archive. Read the rest

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sour Solution (@soursolution) on Feb 17, 2019 at 10:27am PST Simon Isaksson of Sour Solution nails a 360 degree loop-de-loop. It looks effortless now but watch the video below. Read the rest

Palm reader Tracey Milanovich, 37, of Somerset, Massachusetts, was arrested for conning $71,000 out of a client in cash and property. According to police, Milanovich "convinced the victim that her daughter was possessed by a demon, and that cash and household items were needed in order to banish the spirit from her daughter."From CNN:(Milanovich) is charged with six counts of obtaining property over $250 by trick, attempt to commit a crime, criminal harassment, larceny over $1,200 and intimidating a witness, a spokesman for the Fall River District Court in Somerset, Massachusetts, told CNN...Through a business called Tracy's Psychic Palm Reader, police said Milanovich convinced a client that she needed to provide cash and purchase household items, including towels and bedding...image: Google Maps Read the rest

TT2020 is "an advanced, open source, hyperrealistic, multilingual typewriter font for a new decade!" As there already are so many, why another? Creator Fredrick Brennan (previously) points out that most fonts which attempt to create the look of a real analog typewriter lack alternative glyphs and other modern features, displaying tell-tale repetitions of aberrations and flaws. He spotted some recent howlers in expensive Hollywood productions that should know better, such as The Joker. The absurd lack of realism displayed here let me know that I could put this project off no longer. In case you don't see anything wrong ... In the second image, there are three ‹N›’s. Yet, they all look exactly the same. A real typewriter can, quite rarely, have one of its letters damaged, or misaligned, such that that letter regularly makes an inferior strike to all the other letters. However, this degree of regularity is impossible; could Underwood or Remington have acheived it, they would have leapt for joy. It is therefore clearly a digital facsimile and not a real typewritten document. The example he shows from The Irishman is similarly egregious. Doesn't anyone in Hollywood own a real typewriter? TT2020 comes in a variety of weights and styles to emulate specific reproduction environments. It's open-source, too, with technical notes to enjoy. TT2020 [ctrlcctrlv.github.io] Read the rest

In the annals of bad ideas, "stick your foot in lava" is as solid an entry as the medium is not. In this video, a brief tap of a stoutly-booted toe is enough to make me cringe in horror. The video is safe to watch and the kicker appears unharmed; the behavior of the magma is fascinating. Read the rest

Charging your phone shouldn't be complicated. Wireless chargers are a definite improvement over those bulky and fragile cords, but compatibility can be an issue for some models.There are some models out there that make the process hassle-free, though. Take the OMNIA Q2 True Wireless 2+1 Fast Charging Stand, which can not only charge Apple or Android phones equally well, but it can optimize the output to fit the phone as well.True to its name, it can also support two devices at once. You can juice up an Apple Watch and most any compatible smartphone side by side, or even an Apple Watch and an AirPod case.The MFi-certified charger supports 7.5W fast charging for Apple, and the max output is up to 10W. It can tweak that output depending on the phone that gets placed on it thanks to sensors that can also detect (and warn you) if a foreign object is resting on the unit. All devices benefit from overcharging and overheating protection. And at roughly 14 mm thick, you can take it just about anywhere.The OMNIA Q2 is on sale now for a full 15% off the retail price.Prices subject to change.You can't beat free! Get $70+ worth of premium Mac apps for free today! Read the rest

Fans of "popping"-type forums and accounts will doubtless be salivating at the prospect of seeing this 50-year-old Briton's hornlike growth removed from his body: it looks like a chunky column of hardened keratinous pus coiling out of a gigantic cyst. But video of the operation, which took place at Countess of Chester Hospital, was mercifully unreleased. From a paper published in the British Medical Journal:"We report a rare case of an extremely large well-differentiated SCC [Squamous Cell Carcinoma] that was neglected by a patient living in a developed country with access to free healthcare."This highlights that despite current public skin cancer awareness and rigorous healthcare measures, cases like this can still arise and slip through the net Read the rest

Layla Moran (right), a Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament representing Oxford West and Abingdon, came out as pansexual this week. It had been noted that Moran now had a girlfriend (left), having previously had a boyfriend. This solves the mystery!"Pansexuality, to me, means it doesn’t matter about the physical attributions of the person you fall in love with, it’s about the person themselves."She says that she has chosen to speak publicly about her sexuality now because "as an MP I spend a lot of my time defending our community and talking about our community. I want people to know I am part of our community as well."2020 is a new decade and a new path in my journey. Last year I fell in love with a wonderful woman. Something I’d never even considered before. Now I am just happy #Pansexual #OutAndProud pic.twitter.com/jdfz87Hdkx— Layla Moran 🔶 🏳️‍🌈 (@LaylaMoran) January 2, 2020 Read the rest

Dr. Phil (previously) is selling a $5.75 million L.A.-area house apparently occupied by his son. The interior must be seen to be believed; Adam best beautifully described it as an "NRA Cheesecake Factory" and that barely does it justice.I do like the snakes bannister, though. Read the rest

I live in the rural Southwest, and the recent news that trucking company U-Haul has decided to stop hiring people who smoke cigarettes is a big deal around here. People with few financial options tend to be the ones who take jobs as truckers and the like; those tend to be the same populations who smoke.On this first week of the new year, U-Haul announced that it will no longer hire people who smoke or vape nicotine (or use it some other way) in the 21 states where companies are allowed to consider tobacco use when deciding whether or not to hire someone.U-Haul has 30,000 employees in the U.S. and Canada. The new policy does not apply to current employees, and the new rule won't even apply to job applicants in most states. But it's kind of a big deal.In the Atlantic today, Amanda Mull writes about about U-Haul's decision, and how "workplace wellness" programs, in her words, “seek to control the personal lives and choices of all workers, but especially those with few job options and financial resources.“Refusing work to tobacco users is an extreme measure, but it’s not unheard of in the United States,” Mull writes in the Atlantic:The issue with this approach is that it positions personal responsibility as a solution to problems that have little to do with individual choice. Codifying wellbeing into a competition with cash prizes—let alone using “wellness” as a criteria for hiring in the first place—posits that every worker can and should be striving for a particular set of (employer-determined) physical and mental goals that they could all reach if they just tried. Read the rest

You've seen Mike "Beeple" Winkelmann's work before here—Nice animation of Zuckerberg as giant cyborg spider enjoying Facebook's nipple-free techno-utopia—and now Avery White interviewed him for Vox. He "works in a room with side-by-side 65-inch TVs constantly tuned to CNN and Fox News and on computers that are suspended above a bathtub because their 12 combined graphics cards generate too much heat." Read the rest

In remarks to reporters about the U.S.-led assassination of top Iran general Qasem Soleimani, House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff [D-CA] said that the United States must now “expect retaliation” by Iran, which today vowed a “crushing response” against the United States and its allies.Said SCHIFF: “I have yet to be fully satisfied that the administration has a strategy, that this is part of some broader coherent plan. “And this concerns me.“When someone seeks a war, they end up in a war.Right now we need to protect our personnel ... and expect Iranian retaliation.”Just asked Schiff what the "imminent" threat was to the US. "The question is .. why this administration made the decision ... when other administrations in both parties decided that would escalate the risks not reduce them. I have yet to get an adequate answer to that question." pic.twitter.com/SZ5kS7bTXk— Manu Raju (@mkraju) January 3, 2020House Intel Chair @RepAdamSchiff after being briefed on air strike in Iraq says he has “serious concerns about the prospect of a serious escalation of this conflict with Iran”— Alex Moe (@AlexNBCNews) January 3, 2020Schiff, who just got briefed, added: “And to me the greatest deficiency here is the strategic vision or lack of vision by the administration about how any of these actions - how this maximum pressure campaign is supposed to work.”— Manu Raju (@mkraju) January 3, 2020House Intel Chair @RepAdamSchiff says he is concerned about path on with Iran. Asked about the risks here in US says that the paramount risks are elsewhere but there is an increased risk anywhere after air strike pic.twitter.com/fjaNRiKKAH Read the rest

PHOTO - In this 2016 photo released by the office of Iran's supreme leader, Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani, center, attends a meeting with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran. Soleimani was killed yesterday in U.S. airstrike on the Baghdad airport in Iraq.As the U.S. sends some 3,500 additional troops to the mideast, Washington Post reporter Mustafa Salim [@Mustafa_salimb on Twitter] describes the mood in Baghdad as grim.In the Washington Post today, he writes, “Streets were quiet. Many restaurants were deserted. Along checkpoints down the streets, young soldiers and militiamen clutched their weapons tight."A young protester tells him: “World War III is about to happen."Hope that kid in the street is wrong. Iran has vowed to exact “severe revenge” on the United States after air strikes killed Qasem Soleimani.Excerpt:Iraqis know well what it means to be trapped in a bloody shadow war between allies Iran and the United States. Some referenced the feeling of calm before the storm that pervaded the days before the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. “It’s just like 2003, but we have social media this time,” one woman wrote in a post.In Tahrir Square, the epicenter of anti-government protests that have swept the country and decried Iranian influence over Iraq’s politics, early morning celebrations over Soleimani’s death gave way to a darker mood. Many said they feared a violent assault by Iran-backed militias, as they have already witnessed several times in recent months. Unlike previous Fridays among the protesters, there were no chants, activities or free food. Read the rest

“Gas taxes pay for the upkeep of our roads, but electric cars don't use gasoline,” Jonathan Gitlin writes at Ars Technica.In the United States, the upkeep of our public roads has traditionally been paid for by the taxes we pay at the fuel pump on gasoline and diesel fuel. As more Americans buy and drive electric vehicles and hybrids that use less gasoline, gas tax revenue continues to drop in relation to the total number of vehicle miles traveled each year.States like Utah are trying something new: shake down the electric vehicle owners for new money.Here's more from today's Ars Technica piece, which notes that Oregon has been at it for a while with a similar program:As a result, some states are starting to grapple with the problem of how to get drivers to pay for the roads they use in cars that use less or even no gas per mile. At the start of this year, Utah has begun a pilot Road Usage Charge program, coupled to an increase in registration fees for alternative fuel vehicles. Assuming a state gas tax of 30c/gallon and 15,542 miles/year driven, Utah says it collects $777 a year from a 6mpg heavy truck, $311 from a pickup getting 15mpg, $187 from a 25mpg sedan, $93 from a 50mpg hybrid, and nothing from anyone driving a battery EV.So in 2020, Utah is increasing vehicle registration fees. In 2019, registering a BEV in Utah would cost $60; in 2020 that will be $90, increasing to $120 in 2021. Read the rest

Arizona Game and Fish Department killed three mountain lions after at least one of them ate human remains near the Pima Canyon hiking trail near Tucson. The mountain lions did not kill the person and their identity and cause-of-death is still under investigation. Many people were displeased that the mountain lions were killed. From KOLD:...Arizona Game and Fish consulted with national experts on mountain lions before making the final decision.“I can tell you that the lions tore the clothes off the victim,” (Arizona Game and Fish Department spokesman Mark) Hart said. “That is an indication that they had figured out that a human being clothed is food.”Game and fish successfully relocated a mountain lion in 2004 but in this case, the situation was different.The lions had eaten human flesh, which is unusual, so relocating them may not make difference.Lions can easily travel a hundred miles or more.“If we found the best place we could put them, there’s always a risk that type of behavior would remain,” Hart said. And if they wandered back into a community “that would be catastrophic.”image: "North American cougar (Puma concolor couguar) in Glacier National Park in the U.S. state of Montana" by National Park Service (Public Domain) Read the rest

Nick Verzilli is surely furious: he muted the audio on the video he recorded of a USPS driver abusing his 40lb package of fancy computer bits. At this stage of pervasive public and private surveillance, booting a box down the street like this must be either a prank or an attempt to get fired. For the rest, a reminder to load the dolly last.Verzilli took questions on reddit and posted shots of the box as delivered.You're only seeing this most recent instance. I've talked to him before and decided to stay out of his way in the future. He's one of the reasons I got the front porch camera in the first place Read the rest

Not to be confused with that painfully mediocre Dave Eggers novel, Netflix's new reality show The Circle is basically the IRL version that Black Mirror episode where Bryce Dallas Howard obsessively ranks everything on social media to the point of extreme isolation. Except in this reality show, everyone starts off isolated in a (surprisingly nice) apartment, and with their online interactions as their only means of any communication. The players use a social media platform called "The Circle" which basically functions like Alexa's personal Facebook, except that it's very obviously being manipulated in real-time by some human production assistant who can intuitively parse for natural language, 'cause there's no way there's a voice-controlled AI technology advanced enough to respond to everyone's individual linguistic ticks like this.My wife and I watched two episodes last night, and it is the epitome of terrible, trashy reality television. I hate everything about it. But what I hate most of all is that I'm kind of hooked.The best and worst part of the show is that everyone is just … sitting in their rooms, talking to a TV with a voice assistant. They read everything out loud, and recite all their messages out loud, and the whole thing is super awkward. This forces the show to rely heavily on that bullshit melodramatic padded-out editing that reality TV shows are notorious for. Except you're not even getting drawn-out reaction cuts from everyone in the same room together; it's just people, by themselves.But this is also kind of (disgustingly) fascinating. Read the rest

One of the first things marketers learn in today's wired world is that there's no direct path to potential clients. Big companies are learning to laser-target their pitches to customers on the platforms they like best.There's no reason start-ups of any size can't do the same, and the Become a Social Media Manager Certification Bundle gives you the tools to do just that.Each of the courses in this online package is tailored to a different sphere of social media, which (despite the changing landscape) is still a wide-open frontier for marketers.You'll get walkthroughs on how to generate solid leads on LinkedIn, tailor your message to Instagram and Twitter and even grow your brand organically on a blog. Whether you're managing the campaign for a local business or a growing media empire, you'll find an invaluable roadmap here for navigating the world of social media.All 7 courses in the Become a Social Media Manager Certification Bundle are now 97% off the retail price.You can't beat free! Get $70+ worth of premium Mac apps for free today! Read the rest

BREAKING NEWS: There are reports in the Iraqi capital of missiles striking near Baghdad airport, after a series of explosions were heard.Citing Iraqi security forces, Al Jazeera reported that rockets targeted a joint US-Iraqi counterterrorism military site in the area. Multiple news agencies in the region are reporting civilian casualties in the rocket attack.Two SUVs were directly hit in the road leading in-out the civilian Baghdad International Airport , body parts everywhere according to witnesses on the ground pic.twitter.com/cvDyXOpWZY— Steven nabil (@thestevennabil) January 2, 2020Four rockets hit an Iraqi military base near Baghdad airport, Reuters reporting citing the police.— Idrees Ali (@idreesali114) January 2, 2020#Baghdad international airport on fire ! pic.twitter.com/D3d6Eibw7M— Barzan Sadiq (@BarzanSadiq) January 2, 2020WOW, The rockets landed in Baghdad airport actually targeted JOINT AMERICAN - IRAQI counter-terror center, per Al Jazeera citing Iraqi security forces— Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) January 2, 2020BREAKING Baghdad Airport currently closed to traffic but intense military activity after the fall of 4 missiles— AIRLIVE (@airlivenet) January 2, 2020One of the rockets fell inside air cargo zone, #Baghdad airport.— Barzan Sadiq (@BarzanSadiq) January 2, 2020Update: Iraqi sources tell al-Jazrera that 3 missiles hit the vicinity of Baghdad Airport.#Iraq https://t.co/uFEC5sRcOu https://t.co/Ow7Ian7hQL— Baxtiyar Goran (@BaxtiyarGoran) January 2, 2020Incidents near Baghdad International airport reported #breakingnews; At same time @EsperDoD "Iran & its proxy militias: we will not accept continued attacks against our personnel & forces in the region. Attacks against us will be met w/ responses in the time, manner, & place..." Read the rest

Ross LaJeunesse left Google last April after he advocated within the company for years for a human rights program that formalize free speech and privacy principles.New, from me. Based on interviews with @RossforMaine, emails & documents. Execs at Google rarely break ranks but Ross’ experience pushing for real human rights accountability shows how Google can sideline internal critics, even trusted people near the top https://t.co/jtfqoqhL6D— Nitasha Tiku (@nitashatiku) January 2, 2020Ross “began lobbying for it internally in 2017 — around the time when the tech giant was exploring a return to China, in a stark reversal of its 2010 move that made its search engine unavailable there,” reports Nitasha Tiku in the Washington Post:Now, the 50-year-old is alleging that Google pushed him out for it in April.“I didn’t change. Google changed,” LaJeunesse, who was Google’s global head of international relations in Washington, told The Washington Post. “Don’t be evil” used to top the company’s mission statement. “Now when I think about ‘Don’t be evil,’ it’s been relegated to a footnote in the company’s statements.”Within Google, China was seen as a booming market that represented concerns about the ways technology could be used to suppress free expression or enable surveillance. LaJeunesse modeled his human rights program on the way Google approached privacy and security issues, designing the team of employees, in functions such as supply chain, policy, and ethics and compliance, to help Google integrate, coordinate and prioritize human rights risk assessment.A top Google exec pushed the company to commit to human rights. Read the rest

“Among the eight or so examples initially provided to Reddit are a handful of disturbingly clear images showing a sleeping baby, a security camera's view of an enclosed porch, and a man seemingly asleep in a chair.”On Reddit, a Xiaomi Mijia camera owner reported receiving still images from other random peoples' homes when he tried to stream content from his camera to a Google Nest Hub. In response, Google removed Xiaomi's integration with its smart home products such as Google Home and Nest.Android Police broke the story today, and published some photos that are pretty horrifying, privacy-wise, if legit:This issue was first reported by user /r/Dio-V on Reddit and affects his Xiaomi Mijia 1080p Smart IP Security Camera, which can be linked to a Google account for use with Google/Nest devices through Xiaomi's Mi Home app/service. It isn't clear when Dio-V's feed first began showing these still images into random homes or how long the camera was connected to his account before this started happening. He does state that both the Nest Hub and the camera were purchased new. The camera was purchased from AliExpress and noted as running firmware version 3.5.1_00.66.When attempting to access a video feed from his connected camera (as depicted in the video above), instead of the expected local video feed, he's provided a random, occasionally partly corrupted black and white still image from another home. Among the eight or so examples initially provided to Reddit are a handful of disturbingly clear images showing a sleeping baby, a security camera's view of an enclosed porch, and a man seemingly asleep in a chair. Read the rest

A post by the Sand Springs Police Department on Facebook kind of says it all: “OK 2020, it only took you 4.5 hours to get weird. Let’s slow down on the carjacking-goatnapping calls for the remainder of the year.” In Sand Springs, Oklahoma, a man is reported to have stolen a pickup truck in which a passenger and a goat were resting. Police say he drove the truck with the goat and the captive person all the way from Missouri to Oklahoma, doing meth and terrorizing human and animal the whole way, then later eventually letting them go and getting arrested.No, wait.It gets weirder.There's a porno shop involved.From the Associated Press:According to an arrest report, two men in the truck parked outside of an adult video store in Carthage, Missouri, early Wednesday morning. The driver went inside the store and the passenger fell asleep. When the passenger awoke, a masked man was driving the truck and pointing a gun at his head, Tulsa TV station KOTV reported.The carjacking suspect, 40-year-old Brandon Kirby, drove from Missouri through Kansas. During the 130-mile ordeal, Kirby took methamphetamine, pistol-whipped the victim and continually threatened him, according to the arrest report. He was eventually arrested in Sand Springs, Oklahoma, after he let the passenger and the goat out of the truck and the victim called 911, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol said. Mr. Kirby was wanted for a burglary charge, reports NewsOn6.com, a local TV news source:The arrest report said Kirby drove through Kansas, Missouri and then to Oklahoma, holding the victim against his will. Read the rest