Two big sea lions kicked back aboard a small, empty anchored boat in Eld Inlet at the southern end of Washington's Puget Sound. Josh Phillips of Spawn Fly Fish captured this delightful moment two weeks ago. “It looked a little off and we got closer and closer and realized there were two massive animals on board,” Phillips told The Olympian. Read the rest

Keep fucking that chicken! Read the rest

Finally, researchers are again exploring the therapeutic benefits of psychedelics to treat the likes of depression, addiction, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. To provide pharmaceutical-quality compounds for clinical trials, scientists are developing new ways to produce the psychedelics. Chemical engineers at Miami University in Ohio have now genetically engineered E. coli to crank put psilocybin, the psychoactive ingredient in magic mushrooms. From Scientific American:The modified microbes generated up to 1.16 grams of psilocybin per liter of culture medium—the highest yield to date from any engineered organism and a 10-fold increase over the next best attempt. Scaled up, the new method could produce psilocybin for potential therapeutic use.“The number-one advantage is it's simply cheaper” than—or at least cost-competitive with—other methods, says lead study author Alexandra Adams, an undergraduate student in chemical engineering at Miami University in Ohio...Adams and her colleagues engineered E. coli that incorporated three genes from the Psilocybe cubensis mushroom, enabling the bacteria to synthesize psilocybin from the cheap and easily obtainable precursor molecule 4-hydroxyindole, and then they optimized the process to produce the drug on a larger scale. Read the rest

Vaughan Oliver, the graphic designer whose work defined the 4AD record label, has died. He was 62. His ethereal, surreal, magnificent album art for The Pixies, Cocteau Twins, This Mortal Coil, and Clan of Xymox brought together design and music in a way that forever changed and elevated the design of music packaging. From The Guardian:Oliver, born in 1957, grew up in County Durham and studied graphic design at Newcastle-upon-Tyne Polytechnic. “I was a working class lad from a dull town,” he said in 2014. “There was no real culture, my parents were not really interested in anything unusual – everything I was getting was through record sleeves. It was a democratic way of discovering art.”He moved to London and in 1982 became the first employee for the record label 4AD. As their in-house designer, he created artwork that helped define them as purveyors of dark and complex alt-rock music; with their clashing fonts and boldly allusive but mysterious symbolism, his sleeves became some of the most revered in modern pop. “I like to elevate the banal through surrealism,” he said in 2014. “Mystery and ambiguity are important weapons in a designer’s arsenal.” Read the rest

The X-Men are often cited as a pop culture metaphor for the struggles of persecuted peoples in the face of bigotry. But the allegory is far from perfect. It's barely even present in the foundational DNA of the earliest comics. The idea of "mutants" was initially just an excuse to skip over the origin stories and get straight to the super-powered superhero antics. These days, we commonly hear comparisons between Magneto and Professor X to Malcolm X and MLK. Even though it's, erm, not quite accurate. And even though Magneto started out by literally calling his team "The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants."But Bob Proehl's new novel, The Nobody People, takes the opposite approach. Proehl is a friend of mine — I even wrote a song to help him promote the book, before I actually I read it — and he'll pretty openly admit that he envisioned it as a sort-of love letter to the X-Men. Whereas the X-Men began as pulpy superhero comics that eventually mutated into a political metaphor, The Nobody People starts with the metaphor, and mutates into a powerful personal drama. Here, the super-powered individuals are known as Resonants, and at the start of the novel, their presence is largely hidden from the modern world. The first part of the book mostly follows war correspondent Avi Hirsch, an amputee who learns that his biracial daughter is one of those powered Resonants; once they're outed, the book shifts into a sort of Bildungsroman, with a series of episodes that follow the logical progression of what always happens when a marginalized group tries to claim their own tiny corner in a world full of ignorance of hate. Read the rest

The theme tune to classic 80s' cartoon Inspector Gadget performed by Riccardo Bonci at St Barnabas with Christ's Chapel in Dulwich, England.Here's He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: Read the rest

A woman on a bus in Amherst, Ma., objects to young passengers not speaking English in a private conversation she was not party to. Other riders on the vehicle then object to her making a big racist fuss. The cops arrive and assure her that it is she who is in the wrong. Then she storms off.Is it telling that a cop comes along and asks the victims for their IDs, but not the elderly white man defending them? He had clearly put himself at the center of events, after all. Read the rest

Generated Photos is the latest stupid startup that sounds like a joke from "Silicon Valley" that someone took too far. From their announcement on Medium:Generated Photos is the free resource of 100k faces for you to use however you wish. But these aren’t just common faces. They were produced completely by artificial intelligence — none of these people are real! Generated photos are created from scratch by AI systems.In other words, they're Deepfakes for other peoples' ad campaigns.I've spent enough time around higher ed administration that I've seen firsthand how universities will recruit a perfect United-Colors-Of-Benetton rainbow of students for admissions ads. But this takes that to a whole new level. Why even bother trying to build relationships with non-white-dudes, when you can just generate some friendly colorful faces for promotional use and call it a day?The company's website brags of "democratizing creative photography and video," which is some impressively nauseating PR speak. In their defense, "We aim to make creative works both more accessible and higher quality through generative processes" sounds a lot better than "Auto-diversify the avatars for your army of Twitter sockpuppets!"But my favorite part is how openly they acknowledge the poor quality of their images. "A part of the process is training and refining the generative models," the company explains in a Medium post. "The iterations move fast although not everything is perfect yet. So you will also have some fun with the pack of AI-generated photos. When you see a face that is a bit ‘off’, just give it some slack." Read the rest

Krampus, Oh Krampus is a brand-new accordion-filled sing-along by my friends at Tight Pajamas. It's surprisingly chipper!Susie Davis of the band wrote me:My fascination with Krampus began after joining 'SF Krampus,' a street theater group that once a year dresses up as Krampus and prowls San Francisco’s infamous Union Square in search of naughty children. Krampus has been a part of Central European folklore for centuries. In early December children in the Alpine villages are visited not only by Saint Nicholas, who gives treats to deserving girls and boys, but also by his dreaded partner - Krampus, who comes to punish the naughty children or take them away in the basket on his back to the underworld. Its proven that children from countries who have Christmas demons do better on test scores…so maybe all we need to make the world a better place is just a little more Krampus!The song is also available as an MP3.Thanks, Susie! Read the rest

Totally Accurate Battle Simulator [Landfall Games] plays out skirmishes between bands of fighters with a state-of-the-art physics engine. This engine is the "totally accurate" part, but if you know anything about physics in games, you'll know that its wobbly ragdoll fingers are crossed firmly behind its back. Instead of gravity and momentum being kept under tight slow cheaty control, as in Total War games, here everything flops wildly free: berserkers leap into the fray, trees block whirling broadswords, mammoths crush all underfoot, cannonballs neatly enfilade rows of infantry.The cartoon madness of its physics is embraced in its attitude: bulging ragdoll eyes, lurching Foddyesque advances, and dozens of bizarre units to command and place in whatever anachronistic nightmare matchup pleases you. Battles tend to be over in seconds. Players compete to post the most bizarre set-pieces on YouTube.TABS is still in early-access and has no framing or narrative elements. The campaign is a collection of arbitrary but often cunningly-designed battles; the harder and more specific they get, the more the game feels like a series of puzzles and less like a tactical sim. It is nonetheless hilarious, absorbing and shockingly habit-forming, hours disappearing into the promise of a single coffee-break battle. It's well-worth the $15 price tag, and I've barely scratched the surface of the early-access version--you can make custom maps, units and campaigns, with more features to come. Players interested in customization, in creating ingenious set-pieces and mapping their minds to its demented combat mechanics, are already completely catered for. Read the rest

CBD (or cannabidiol, if you've been living in a cave) has come a long way in a short while. It's gone from being a relatively unknown, non-psychoactive compound in the hemp plant to a highly-touted stress and pain reliever in just the last few years. You can now get CBD in just about every form: smokeables, vape cartridges, pills and tinctures.But we say, if you're going to try it, why not satisfy your sweet tooth while you're at it? Holiday CBD Premium CBD Gummies may be fun to eat, but the CBD they're infused with works just as hard.Each bottle has everything you need and nothing you don't. The ingredients are simple and each one packs 10 mg of CBD harvested from organically-grown Colorado hemp. There's no THC involved, and the product is tested at a third-party lab for an extra dose of security.Do make sure, as with any health product, that you check with state laws and consult with your doctor before ordering.These Holiday CBD Premium CBD Gummies are already 19% off the list price, but you can take an additional 20% off by using the coupon code 20SAVE20. Read the rest

If you're at all serious about your cooking, eventually you're going to need a knife set. And not the one that got handed down to you by your parents, but a real chef's set that will make you notice the difference in every cut.With that in mind, it's worth considering a set that will distinguish themselves before you even use them. And believe us, people who haven't seen Damascus steel before will definitely take notice of this set of 4 Damascus Steak Knives.In a nutshell, Damascus steel was a legendary form of metal and metalworking that produced some of the most feared weapons in the Eastern hemisphere. While the source metal of wootz is lost to the ages, modern blacksmiths have learned how to replicate the process — with time and care.The result is the watery pattern on the blades of these chef knives, a side effect of their hardness and ability to keep a keen edge. Each one is 8 1/2 inches and augmented with pakkawood, rosewood and walnut wood handles.Pick up your set of four Damascus Steak Knives, currently on sale at 44% off retail but available for 20% off that final price by using the discount code 20SAVE20. Read the rest

No matter how much you love your tablet or laptop, some things demand a detour to the old school. When it comes to notes, brainstorming or creative scribbling, there's still no substitute for a good old analog notebook.Or is there? The Rocketbook Wave Executive Smart Notebook aims to find out by offering a solution that allows you to write freehand while still saving paper — and your work.The pages in this innovative book are made of a special material that you can write on with the particular Pilot FriXion pen (included). Once you've completed your notes / masterpiece / whatever, you can simply scan it with your smartphone and send the work to your favorite cloud service. You can even flag it with special "tiles" that route it to easy-to-find folders.Best of all, once you've filled up the pages you can start again with a clean slate. Just pop the entire notebook in the microwave and the print disappears.The Rocketbook Wave Executive Smart Notebook and pen station is already more than 20% off the MSRP, but you can take an extra 20% off that final price by using the coupon code 20SAVE20. Read the rest

The editors of Canada's Globe and Mail asked me to reflect on what science fiction can tell us about the 2020s for their end-of-the-decade package; I wrote about how science fiction can't predict the future, but might inspire it, and how the dystopian malaise of science fiction can be turned into a inspiring tale of "adversity met and overcome – hard work and commitment wrenching a limping victory from the jaws of defeat."I describe a scenario for a "Canadian miracle": "As the vast majority of Canadians come to realize the scale of the crisis, they are finally successful in their demand that their government address it unilaterally, without waiting for other countries to agree."Canada goes on a war footing: Full employment is guaranteed to anyone who will work on the energy transition – building wind, tide and solar facilities; power storage systems; electrified transit systems; high-speed rail; and retrofits to existing housing stock for an order-of-magnitude increase in energy and thermal efficiency. All of these are entirely precedented – retrofitting the housing stock is not so different from the job we undertook to purge our homes of lead paint and asbestos, and the cause every bit as urgent.How will we pay for it? The same way we paid for the Second World War: spending the money into existence (much easier now that we can do so with a keyboard rather than a printing press), then running a massive campaign to sequester all that money in war bonds so it doesn’t cause inflation. Read the rest

None of us signed up for an Internet composed of "a group of five websites, each consisting of screenshots of text from the other four", but here we are, watching as hyper-concentrated industries rack up catastrophic victories against net neutrality, right to repair, security auditing, and a host of other issues.These gains come at the expense of the public interest, and endanger the public interest Internet: the parts of the net that let anyone, anywhere collaborate with anyone, anywhere without permission from someone who has interposed themselves between them. They represent a triumph of lobbying over evidence, and such lobbying is only possible because the industries behind it are so fantastically concentrated that their top executives literally fit around a modest boardroom table.In 2019, EFF became part of a global movement to restore competition to our markets. Our competition work cuts across so many of the issues that we've been committed to for three decades: privacy, the right to tinker, coders' rights, independent security research, the right to repair, and the right of users to technological self-determination.It's a critical juncture: lawmakers are circulating pro-interoperability legislation and holding hearings, even as leaks reveal that the Big Tech companies grew through cheating and the Department of Justice is greenlighting disastrous mergers in the telecom sector.EFF has a unique contribution to make in this new era of trustbusting: it's not enough to restore the historic commitment to antitrust (though that would be a start). Read the rest

Jon Cog writes, "For Christmas, mathematician Donald Knuth shared some great geeky fun. He revealed how for the last 57 years, he's been incorporating the digits of pi into the exercises of his computer programming books -- a whopping 1,700 times. And before long his annual 'Christmas Tree' lecture 'had turned into a kind of intellectual funhouse,' sharing other mind-boggling pi-related miscellanies."For example, one author wrote an entire book where each word has exactly the number of letters as its corresponding digit in pi. (Soon that book devolves into some bizarre poetry, a science-fiction screenplay called the Zompyr Chronicle, and then a crossword puzzle.) Knuth himself also created a Sudoku puzzle in which the filled-in 'clue' numbers are, in order, the first 32 digits of pi. Other mathematicians have worked the digits of pi into even more exotic KenKen, Kakuro, and Hidato puzzles. And pi even managed to work its way into the solution of one puzzle that was entirely visual, involving only lines that connect the dots on a grid.The puzzle-maker had designed the puzzle so that the line connecting all the dots drew a lovely and unmistakable picture -- of the mathematical symbol for pi.And after revealing it to his astonished audience, Knuth shouted out 'Merry Christmas!'Donald Knuth’s 2019 ‘Christmas Tree Lecture’ Explores Pi in ‘The Art of Computer Programming’ [David Cassel/The New Stack](Thanks, Jon Cog!) Read the rest

Paying for things is all too easy online these days, and that's why managing your money has gotten so hard. We've all done it: You sign up for a streaming subscription or gym membership, blow past the free trial date, and it becomes a part of your monthly expenses. Some of us juggle so many accounts, we may not even notice.That's just one example of modern information overload bleeding into actual financial consequences. And as much as money management apps try to help, too often they're just one more account we have to deal with.There are exceptions, however. Truebill is one notable example. It does all the things you come to expect from a money managing app, like tracking your spending, making a budget, and checking multiple bank accounts. Plus, with 256-bit SSL encryption, the security is rock-solid.But, it also takes a more active role in your financial health, not just by showing you the drains on your income but plugging them up. Got a subscription you forgot you were paying for? Truebill will highlight it, and cancel it on your behalf. Got a cell service that's gouging you? Truebill will negotiate a lower rate for you. It really takes the petty stuff off your plate and allows you to focus on hitting those savings goals.All this functionality, and it's free. Check it out now at truebill.com. Read the rest

If you enjoy the outdoors, you know that it's not necessarily any scarier at night than it is during the day. But it sure can seem that way when you're using a traditional flashlight that effectively gives you tunnel vision: You see just the spot where you aim and nothing else.That's why the H2 Headlamp should catch on quickly not just with hikers, but anyone who works, plays or runs in the dark.Its main feature is the flexible LED light that stretches across the front brim of your head. This illuminates a 180-degree wide area around you rather than a narrow focus. It's an impressive 360 lumens on the highest setting, and the difference of being able to use your peripheral vision is quite literally eye-opening.The light and strap are just four ounces, and runners can even wrap it around their waist for maximum visibility on nighttime roads. Spelunking, hiking, wee hours car repair — all of them just got a whole lot easier.The H2 Headlamp has three settings, is fully rechargeable and even 100% waterproof. It's already on sale for more than 25% off the MSRP, but you can take an additional 20% off by using the coupon code 20SAVE20. Read the rest

Golf is a game that fosters an appreciation for nature. But like any sport, it's also about the stats — especially if you're trying to improve your game.There are rangefinders out there, but most of them are either inaccurate or bulky, meaning you won't be able to properly focus on your game, much less nature.Finally, there's a compact piece of tech that's custom-built for the game: The GoGolf GPS Accurate Rangefinder.This tiny device clips right on to your hat or glasses and pairs with your smartphone, letting it do all the heavy lifting on GPS location. It's pre-loaded with info on 30,000 courses, and is incredibly easy to use. A single button click can tell you the distance of your last shot. Tap the tee button on top, and it resets for the next hole.You can also find out the distance to the green on the fly, helping you size up your approach better on every fairway. And it lasts about five full rounds of golf on every charge, so it's always with you whenever you need the info.You can take 20% off the GoGolf GPS now by using the coupon code 20SAVE20. Read the rest

Sooner or later, everybody needs an umbrella. It's kind of the great equalizer that way.That does not, however, mean they all have to look the same. It's pretty rare to find one that matches any outfit without looking bland, much less does its job well, but Certain Standard's line of umbrellas are definitely ones you'll want to keep.Their Gramercy model is named for the effortlessly chic New York City 'hood, and it's easy to see why. The cork handle is as easy to grip as it is elegant, and the classic black hue and white accent let you play it cool in any weather.And we mean that literally: its 41" diameter canopy offers ample protection on stormy days, but it's also treated with 40 UPF UV protection for when there's too much sun around. The fiberglass composite frame is fitted onto an anodized aluminum steel shaft that can stand up to plenty of surprise gusts.The Certain Standard Gramercy Umbrella is now on sale for 10% off the original retail price of $65. Read the rest

[The moral of this story is buy a Roomba, they last longer and have better software.]A man and a woman in Forsyth County, North Carolina, called for help just after midnight when they awoke to loud noises and crashing downstairs, and hid in their closet to dial 911.Deputies searched the home and found... a Eufy robotic vacuum running amok. As robot vacuums sometimes do, it “had somehow turned itself on, got stuck and began banging on a wall.”The couple says they're embarrassed about what happened but also thankful it wasn't a real intruder."It definitely is better safe than sorry because having heard what we did, I still would have called the police and because you just never know," said Thomas Milam, the homeowner.The couple just bought the Eufy robotic vacuum three days ago and even named it Harry.Forsyth County couple mistakes robotic vacuum for home intruder [myfox8.com via AP] Read the rest

Having an IT career means dealing with constant change. There are updates, new security threats and, on occasion, entirely new web platforms to deal with as companies adapt to new demands.That's why the best asset on an IT resume is diversity, and that's why the Complete 2020 IT Certification Exam Prep Mega Bundle covers a wide range of cloud platforms.The bundle combines nine courses on four different systems, all taught by some of the most experienced minds in the field. There's four classes alone on Microsoft Azure, allowing you to set up a cloud storage solution for any company, keep it up to date and deal with any structural changes that need to be made along the way.The courses on Cisco cover everything from simple networking fixes to the protocols you'll need to know for their new CCNA R/S 200-125 exam. A tutorial on CompTIA teaches their security structure back to front. And of course, you'll train in AWS as a Certified Solutions Architect.The entire bundle is now 97% off the cost of the individual courses at $39. Read the rest

Allee Willis with psychedelic FluffernuttersIt's never fun to report that someone in our tribe has passed. That's especially true when that person is also someone you know and love. Allee Willis, Happy Mutant Extraordinaire, died just after 6 p.m. on December 24 of cardiac arrest. She was 72. My friend Heather was in tears when she phoned me to tell me the news. It was 10:15 p.m. on Christmas Eve. She had just read about Allee's sudden and unexpected death in Variety. We were both shocked and deeply saddened. We pondered together on the call, "How is it possible that she's gone?"I first met Allee back in the February of 2011. Friends of mine here in Alameda, Jessica and Mel, introduced me to her. "You HAVE to meet her!" they insisted. At that time, a TV show called Clean House was filming the decluttering and redecorating of their home. Their excess stuff was soon to be sold in a televised public sale. Since they are well known for their massive collection of pop culture kitsch and, being the Queen of Kitsch, Allee was compelled to drive up for the sale. And because their house was out of commission for the show's filming, I offered up mine to host a party in Allee's honor, not entirely sure what I was getting myself into or, honestly, grasping the full understanding of who she was. But I was game. I invited a group of local friends, all self-proclaimed kitsch lovers. Read the rest

Dave Riley, bassist for the influential 1980s Chicago noise-punk band Big Black, has died. He was 59. According to his partner Rachel Brown, he had throat cancer. What a fucking great player, he was. And what a fucking great band. From Rolling Stone:“Dave was a fantastic musician and a critical part of the Chicago music scene,” (Big Black guitarist Steve) Albini tells Rolling Stone. “He bridged the gap between raw enthusiasm and outstanding musicianship better than anybody else in our peer group and I always admired him for it...”“When I think about Dave, I think of him onstage, sweating, rolling on his heels, his bass making a rhythmic shrapnel cloud, the densest object in a very heavy construction," Albini wrote in his statement. “Then I think of him after the show, still sweaty but relaxed, easy with his humor and in possession of an impeccably sharp wit, comfortable with himself, comfortable being the hinge-pin of the evening. I miss playing with Dave, and I miss hanging out with him. He was a handful, but like most people we describe that way, he was worth it. Rest easy.”Below, Big Black (Riley on right): Read the rest

In 1926, Oscar Williams of San Diego, California was granted a patent on a toy turtle operated by houseflies buzzing around inside. From patent number US1591905A, "Artificial Animal":My invention relates to artificial animals with movable limbs and members operated by natural animals or insects and the objects of my invention are: First, to provide an animal of this class which in appearance resembles a natural animal and in which the limbs or members are movable substantially as those of the natural animal; second, to provide an animal of this class in which the limbs and members are pivotally, reliably and reciprocally mounted in the body thereof to obtain a variety of motion of said limbs and members; third, to provide an animal of this class in which the interior of the body portion or the parts containing movable members are made hollow so as to provide ample space for the movement and operation of the natural animals or insects placed within said hollow portion; fourth, to provide an animal of this class in which means are provided to keep the natural animal or insect in the interior thereof in motion and thus provide continuous movement of the said limbs or members; fifth, to provide an animal of this class with a convenient and novel means of entrance and exit of said natural animals or insects; sixth, to provide an animal of this class which is .novelly constructed and seventh, to provide an animal of this class which is very simple and economical of construction, durable, and which will not readily deteriorate or get out of order. Read the rest

Yesterday in New York, police spent hours attempting to remove this Honda from the pedestrian lane of the Pulaski Bridge connecting Brooklyn and Queens. Apparently, it was a stolen car and the driver likely escaped through a window.(ABC7NY) Read the rest

I can only imagine what the hospice nurse must have been thinking.

It was an early October evening in 2017, and I was camped in the gigantic, overstuffed leather recliner that I had delivered the previous week. One of the problems with buying furniture online is you don't truly get a sense of the dimensions in relation to your space. I don't know what made me think ordering a piece of furniture this way was a good idea.
So there I was, in the gigantic chair that had only fit in the room because we had replaced my mother's king-size bed with a hospital bed that weekend. I had my laptop and iPad balanced precariously on my lap and frantically refreshed both, waiting for Lot Number 1004 at the Profiles in History auction in Carlsbad, California, to open for bidding. The item I was targeting was described as follows: 1004. Fruit basket lamp. Vintage table lamp consisting of metal basket with tinted glass plums and grape bunches. Measures 11 x 15 x 10 in. Internal lighting element tested and working. In vintage very good condition. $100 - $200

My mother watched me as the nurse worked to change her clothes and get her into a nightgown. In 2013, my mother had been diagnosed with Glioblastoma Multiforme – the deadliest form of brain cancer. At the time of her diagnosis, she had been given 14 months to live. Linda, however, had other plans. Thanks to a genetic marker in her tumor that responded well to chemotherapy, along with sheer stubbornness, she turned that 14 months into almost 48. Read the rest

Embroidery master Rayna created this exquisite hand embroidery of Homer Simpson disappearing into the bushes. This follows on her Lisa Simpson "true crime" embroidery and other fine Simpsons stitchery available at her Etsy shop HermitGirlCreations.(via Kottke) Read the rest

Jason Satterlund directed this short film, "Kenobi." Not canon. Read the rest

KKR is one of the largest private equity funds in the world. Overdrive is one of the largest e-lending suppliers to the world's libraries, supplying 43,000 libraries in 75 countries. Now, KKR owns Overdrive, having purchased it for an undisclosed sum. Private equity firms' business model is to buy profitable, productive companies, load them up with debt (paying themselves out of the money that was borrowed), cut costs by slashing wages and degrading the quality of their products and services, then allowing the company to go bust, stiffing the creditors, workers, and suppliers (that is, libraries, publishers and writers).Gary Price notes, "Worth noting. In 2018, KKR acquired RBMedia/RBDigital and Audiobooks.com providers of audiobooks and other materials to libraries and consumers."Report: Global Investment Firm KKR to Acquire Overdrive For an Undisclosed Amount [Gary Price/Infodocket] Read the rest

"Fairytale of New York" is, unequivocally, the best Christmas song. Because it's actually a bleak story about the false veneer of holiday spirit as a metaphor for the soul-crushing deceptions of the so-called "American Dream" that leads people to hatred, drug abuse, and worse … and still returns for one more rousing chorus.In short, it's perfect. So perfect that you may just want to listen to it over and over and over again. Which is why I put together this Spotify playlist consisting of 99 covers of the song, plus the original version by the Pogues with Kirsty MacColl.And then — just because 100 wasn't round enough for me — I recorded this quick cover of the song myself, using an Irish Gaelic translation by Fred McCluskey and Ger Maher (which cleverly skirts around that bit of ugly language in the third verse, which makes sense in the context of the fictional story but absolutely shatters any Christmas delusions).Just, um, don't bother looking up Shane MacGowan's recent birthday performance of the song from the Late Late Show, 'cause it's pretty painful to watch, and not just because of him. Oof.Image by peelandstick/Flickr Read the rest

Robbo sez, "As is my wont, I post on social media at this time of year John Lennon & Yoko Ono's Happy Xmas (War Is Over) official YouTube video. It is an anthem for peace and the end of war. This year it has been labelled as "inappropriate content" and requires viewers to sign in to confirm they are 18 years or older. Yes, there are images of war and suffering within the video - but for cryin' out fuckin' loud, YouTube, it's something that deserves and should be seen and heard by everyone, all the damned time - such dumb ass fuckery is going to be the end of our so-called civilization." Read the rest

T’is the season when the tabloids look into the future to forecast what lies ahead for a scandal-filled 2020 - and when are they ever wrong?

Whether you're managing a political campaign or building a client base, there comes a time when you stop seeing people and start seeing numbers.This doesn't happen suddenly. You shake hands, make calls, and build relationships. And then those relationships disappear into a database of donors or customers as your organization grows. People get brought in to manage those databases, and those databases fragment off into countless little spreadsheets.That's how the people that were once your supporters end up with faceless emails, impersonal calls, and tedious forms that ask for information you already have. And that's how they stop becoming your supporters.That's why services like the one that NationBuilder is providing are more crucial than ever. They allow you to manage your contacts in integrated databases that actually foster communication and allow for on the-fly-customization based on their interests and prior interactions.In other words, it allows you to treat "your people" like people.All of this is done on a website that you can build from the ground up in minutes with NationBuilder's ready-made templates. Plus, NationBuilder sets you up with tools to help you inspire, capture, and seamlessly track actions across your page.NationBuilder also empowers you to maintain real, meaningful connections with your supporters by way of personalized email and text to supporters based on their interests and history with you.They're currently doing a 14-day free trial of NationBuilder, but Boing Boing readers can get a free month after that trial ends. If you're doing any kind of community engagement, it's definitely worth a look. Read the rest

On Tuesday, Colorado Springs police arrested David Wayne Oliver, 65, at a Starbucks for allegedly robbing a nearby bank. After departing the bank with the loot, Oliver apparently started tossing the cash into the air while yelling "Merry Christmas." From Reuters:(Witness Dion) Pascale said bystanders retrieved some of the money and returned it to the bank as Oliver walked to the Starbucks, sat down and appeared to be waiting for police to arrest him, KKTV reported.The Denver Post quoted police as saying “thousands of dollars” remained unaccounted for, adding there was no indication Oliver used a weapon in the heist. Read the rest

In 1994, Cynsa, a member of the pioneering online community The WELL, thrilled us with her Rectal Foreign Bodies page all about the weird things people have put in their butts as reported by medical professionals tasked with removing the items. Barry Petchesky has continued this important online endeavor with his series of posts "chronicling our country's cavity misadventures." He posted his latest list, drawing from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s database of emergency room visits, over at VICE in a delightful article titled "What Did We Get Stuck in Our Rectums Last Year?." Here is a sample:• “PATIENT STATES HE STATES SLIPPED IN THE SHOWER AND LANDED ON A METAL AIR FRESHENER CAN AND IT WENT INTO RECTUM”• FOLDING KNIFE• PLASTIC TOY, “ABOUT 6 INCHES LONG”• TOOTHPICK• MATTRESS FOAM• TWO RAZOR BLADES• COAT HANGER, “PATIENT UNSURE HOW IT GOT THERE”• COINS• LIGHT BULBAPPLE SAUCE CAN• “ACCIDENTALLY GOT A DILDO LODGED IN RECTUM & CUT THE END OF THE DILDO OFF”• CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTStill curious? Try this book by three medical doctors: "Stuck Up!: 100 Objects Inserted and Ingested in Places They Shouldn’t Be" Read the rest

Cities have done a lot to eliminate straws and other forms of plastic waste in recent years. Now isn't it time we start talking about all those pens and pencils we throw away?Actually, it looks like private enterprise might solve the problem for us if the Omega AXL Inkless Pen catches on.As the name indicates, the pen is actually inkless. In fact, there's no reservoir for a writing liquid of any kind. The entire business end of the Omega AXL is made from a special metal alloy. As you drag the pen across paper, it leaves trace amounts of the metal behind, leaving a distinct grey line.The amount of metal is so small, the manufacturers tout that the pen will effectively never need to be replaced. That's obviously good news for the environment moving forward.As a bonus, the whole thing is sheathed in an anodized aluminum casing, making it physically cool as well as aesthetically.Right now, the Omega AXL Inkless Pen is a full 25% off the retail price. Read the rest

MARTY is the name of this 1981 DeLorean that researchers from Stanford’s Dynamic Design Lab customized into a self-driving electric car. Now, Jon Goh and Tushar Goel have augmented MARTY so it's capable of drifting through a complicated driving course with incredible precision. From Stanford:Conducting research in high-speed, complicated driving conditions like this is a bread-and-butter approach of the Dynamic Design Lab, where mechanical engineer Chris Gerdes and his students steer autonomous cars into challenging driving situations that only the top human drivers can reliably handle. On-board computers measure the car’s response over dozens of runs, and the engineers translate those vehicle dynamics into software that could one day help your car quickly dodge a pedestrian that darts into the road.Most automated vehicles on the road have been designed to handle simpler cases of driving, such as staying in a lane or maintaining the right distance from other cars.“We’re trying to develop automated vehicles that can handle emergency maneuvers or slippery surfaces like ice or snow,” Gerdes said. “We’d like to develop automated vehicles that can use all of the friction between the tire and the road to get the car out of harm’s way. We want the car to be able to avoid any accident that’s avoidable within the laws of physics.” Read the rest

In the Galapagos Islands, a shoreside crane toppled over while loading a shipping container onto a barge, capsizing the boat and causing a terrible oil spill of hundreds of gallons of diesel fuel. It was Charles Darwin's 1835 studies of the Galapagos Islands's biodiversity that sparked his theory of evolution by natural selection. From ABC News:(The site of the spill,) San Cristobal Island is one of more than a dozen in the Galapagos, which is home to rare wildlife species and one of the world's most protected natural destinations. The remote islands are roughly 600 miles away from Ecuador, the country that owns them.Ecuadorean President Lenín Moreno said he declared the state of emergency when the collision first occurred but said the situation was under control as of early Monday."Thanks to the timely intervention of several institutions, we have it under control. I am in permanent contact with @normanwray and the COE is activated to watch over the galapagueños," Moreno said in a tweet translated from Spanish. The COE is Ecuador's Emergency Operations Committee . Read the rest

You know those cooking shows where you see chefs furiously stirring their broth or risotto? That's the only time stirring has ever looked cool.For the rest of us, it's an unbearable time-sink and a quick way to get sore arms - especially if you're preparing thick foods like mashed potatoes. For that reason, we heartily recommend you let technology take over in the form of the StirMATE® Smart Pot Stirrer.This device is far more than just a spoon attached to a rotor. There are actually two paddles attached to a high-torque rotator that clamps onto the side of the pot. The upper paddle does the heavy work of actually mixing up your food in the middle layers while the lower paddle rests at the bottom, gently wiping the pot surface clean and making sure there's no nasty caked-on residue to deal with.It's adjustable to pots and pans of various diameters, up to 9 inches deep. The StirMATE is now on sale for 16% off retail, and you can take an additional 15% off that final price by entering the coupon code HAPPYHOLIDAYS. Read the rest

Friends of mine in Palm Springs are up to some real Hanukkah hijinx. Kudos to Mel, Jessica, and Sasha (the tall one in yellow) for making the world's first crazy sky dancer menorah. Happy Hanukkah to all who celebrate! Read the rest

Writing for the Washington Post, Gene Park argues that Star Wars has been at its best in recent years the closer the product has been to a video game. He praises the narrative in the game Fallen Order, and the game-like structure in the show The Mandalorian. Rise of Skywalker fails, he says, partly because it mostly takes the bad aspects of video games:The Macguffin chasing/fetch quests aren’t the only problem associated with bad gaming practices. There are also the “microtransactions” and DLC-like elements required to fully appreciate the main property. The modern day Star Wars moviegoer is now required to read the comic books and watch the old “Clone Wars” cartoon (now available on Disney+!) to fully appreciate the import of items and characters making sudden appearances in this universe....Sure, the experience of investing this much time and money can be satisfying and sometimes pays off. But it isn’t enough to have seen all eight movies before seeing this one. “The Rise of Skywalker” is overstuffed with references to the past, and also to future potential franchises and brand opportunities. It’s glaringly more obvious that these new films are not meant to be definitive, tell-all works, but rather a jumping-off point for other properties.You can read his entire review here.On the same topic, the opening crawl itself refers to something that happened in last weekend's Fortnite/Star Wars tie-in:Disney is an investor in Epic Games. Read the rest

I'd call this madness if it weren't for the fact that the event was used to raise awareness about world hunger. Read the rest

Wine is great, but wine poured with an aerator is even better.It's true that a jolt of oxygen does wonders for the flavor of a wine just before it's poured. This Electric Wine Aerator & Dispenser makes sure that every pour gets its fair share of air, delivering oxygen over a wide surface area. Not only that, but the design makes sure every glass is free from sediment, which stays in the dispenser.When you're not pouring, it stays airtight, which is crucial for maintaining the integrity of the taste. Push a button and it cleans easily, flushing itself out after each bottle.The aerator comes with a travel bag, and they're both already 25% off the retail price. You can take an additional 15% off that by using the holiday discount code HAPPYHOLIDAYS. Read the rest

How many times a day do you wipe your glasses clean? If you actually care about your specs, you're using a microfiber cloth and not your shirt. In which case, good for you. But even so, you're just removing the surface dust on those lenses - not the grime and oil that accumulates on a daily basis, which in turn attracts more dust.There's a better way, and not only does it not involve any additional elbow grease, but it can also save you some time: The Smartclean Vision.7.Not only does this innovative cleaning casework wonders on your glasses, but it can also be used on most small jewelry items. It works by way of tiny ultrasonic waves. Simply fill it up with water, immerse your glasses, and the ultrasonics turn the bubbles into tiny shockwaves. They won't scratch your lenses in any way, but they will do a deep clean on your glasses by removing built-up oil and stubborn stains - all without you lifting a finger.The Smartclean Vision.7 is already 20% off retail, but you can take an additional 15% off by using the holiday coupon code HAPPYHOLIDAYS. Read the rest

I just discovered Pavel Chilin's YouTube channel. There's only five videos there so far but, my friends, they are glorious.As near as I can tell, Pavel's love of trains has translated into his building a rat-rod-as-all-get-out steam engine just big enough to conduct himself and a pal around a good length of track, which again, I'm guessing that he built himself (but please correct me if I'm wrong.) I'd love to see how much work it took to put all of this together if, for nothing else, it might lead to other folks to do it as well. Read the rest

When you're doing long-term workouts, you know the recovery can be just as important as the exercise itself. And when the intensity gets to a certain level, a simple stretch won't cut it.From there, you've got two options. Either head to the spa for a professional massage, or take matters into your own hands with the Evertoneâ„¢ Prosage Deep Tissue Massager.Prop tip: One of those options is a lot less expensive and more personalized to boot.The Evertone Prosage comes with three interchangeable massage heads, allowing you to target specific muscle groups with the exact amount of intensity you need. Choose from three modes on the massager, and, after as little as 30 seconds, you'll be able to see and feel results on those trouble spots that hold onto pain after every session.The battery lasts up to two hours on a charge; more than enough for multiple workouts. Whether it's joint or muscle fatigue, you know your body best. This system allows you to target the areas that need relief the most.The Evertoneâ„¢ Prosage Deep Tissue Massager is already 29% off the MSRP, but you can take an extra 15% off the final price by using the discount code HAPPYHOLIDAYS. Read the rest

Tom the Dancing Bug, IN WHICH Bob figures out how to escape from terrorists

"What's even the point of having an Internet if I can't buy a replica kid's plastic Santa Claus mask from 'It's a Wonderful Life'?" That's the question my friend Evan Prodromou recently posed on Facebook. He then tagged me in the comments, "I'm pretty sure Rusty Blazenhoff could find these if I asked her."Well, I don't anything about them or where to find them but I'm always up for a challenge. So, I went to my expert-in-all-things-novelty friend David Wahl, the Director of Awesome for Archie McPhee, and asked if he knew anything about the masks. I figured if anyone would know, it would be him. His response made me chuckle. He told me it's something he and Shana Iverson, the company's High Priestess of Rubber Chickens have already discussed. Because, of course they have!This is what he knows:"It’s papier mâché, so it probably wouldn’t have survived unless someone took special care of it. We haven’t seen them anywhere in any catalog or weird show. I think it was made just for the movie. It also could just be a local item to LA during Christmas that year. There were tons of small companies doing stuff like that."Sounds right. Just to see, I searched on the internet for any mention of the masks.In a Movieweb interview from 2006, Jimmy Hawkins, the child actor who played Tommy Bailey in the 1946 film, recalls the masks being uncomfortable:"...I also remember sitting on Jimmy Stewart's lap. Read the rest

Jack Russell Hurdle Racing is a lightning fast race where the dogs leap over three obstacles while chasing lure, and then cram through the narrow finish arch. The television broadcast that was on over the weekend was as well-produced as a premier NFL game:Here's an older video featuring almost twelve minutes of Jack Russell Hurdle Racing:It's just one of several events at the Incredible Dog Challenge, including agility, diving, and fetch, Read the rest