Etsy seller Prochopshop makes foam zombie heads for archery practice. They are only $20! I think I'll get one for crossbow pistol practice.

 

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Going against conventional wisdom, researchers at the University of Portsmouth in the UK say the way to consistently make better espresso is by using fewer beans and grinding them more coarsely, reports Interesting Engineering:

"When beans were ground finely, the particles were so small that in some regions of the bed they clogged up the space where the water should be flowing," Dr. Foster said in a press release announcing the research. "These clogged sections of the bed are wasted because the water cannot flow through them and access that tasty coffee that you want in your cup. If we grind a bit coarser, we can access the whole bed and have a more efficient extraction. It's also cheaper, because when the grind setting is changed, we can use fewer beans and be kinder to the environment. Once we found a way to make shots efficiently, we realised that as well as making coffee shots that stayed reliably the same, we were using less coffee."

Photo by Kevin Butz on Unsplash Read the rest

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A building decided not to go down without a fight. It's a textbook example of Resistentialism ("seemingly spiteful behavior manifested by inanimate objects".

Image: LiveLeak Read the rest

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Brothers Morgan and Mason McGrew were teenagers when they embarked on an 8-year-quest to remake Toy Story 3. The full length movie is on YouTubeand according to Gizmodo the project has Disney's blessing.

From Gizmodo:

If you’re interested in how the McGrew brothers actually made this fan film happen, you can head over to their Facebook page which features a series of behind the scenes looks at what went into their amateur production which started back in 2011. The British website Joe also published a fascinating interview with the brothers last year after the trailer for their film was released back in June of 2019. Be forewarned, though, it might leave you questioning how you spent your teenage years. The McGrews aren’t going to rake in billions of dollars from their fan film—that would certainly have Disney changing its mind about giving its blessing—but there’s little doubt this pair is going to be embraced by Hollywood, assuming they’re now not sick of filmmaking.

Image: YouTube Read the rest

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Three separate China government agencies on Sunday ordered a temporary ban on the trade in wild animals. China's government is struggling to contain the deadly outbreak of a virus that is presumed to have originated in bats, and spread to humans via a market in Wuhan City, Hubei province, where wild animals have long been sold as food.

For now, selling or transporting or cultivating any animal species defined as wild by the government is forbidden “from the date of the announcement until the national epidemic situation is over,” read a joint mandate from the government entity that oversees food markets, as well as the ministries of agriculture and forestry.

The virus is believed to have infected at least 2000 people in China and killed at least 56 people worldwide.

China has long been criticized for permitting the killing and sale and consumption of wildlife, and exploiting endangered species for traditional medicine -- the pangolin and the tiger are among the species nearly wiped out by the Chinese market's insatiable demand for dead wild things.

From Associated Press:

No wildlife can be transported or sold in any markets or online, according to text of the announcement in state media. Suspected violators will be sent to security services, and their will be properties closed and sealed. Legal breeding centers will be quarantined.

The ban will continue until “the epidemic situation is lifted nationwide” in order to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus and block potential sources of infection and transmission.

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Vermont State Rep. Rebecca White (D-Windsor) introduced legislation in the Vermont House of Representatives that would enable citizens to pick one of six emoji to include on their vehicle's license plates. (Last year, Queensland, Australia also began offering emoji on plates.) The Vermont bill doesn't specify which emoji will be included as choices. From the short form description of bill H.866:

This bill proposes to create a new special registration plate with the choice of one of six emojis in addition to the distinctive number assigned by the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles or the numerals and letters selected by the registered owner of a vehicle as a vanity plate.

(Engadget)

Modified image based on original by Jaycarlcooper (CC BY-SA 3.0) Read the rest

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David's post about the rise in Google searches for "coronavirus beer," "corona virus beer," and "virus corona beer" in the last few days, brings to mind the sad fate of Ayds.

Ayds (pronounced aids) was a popular appetite-suppressant candy from the 1930s-1980s. When public awareness about AIDS grew in the mid-80s, sales of Ayds declined. Eventually Ayds went out of business. From Wikipedia:

By the mid-1980s, public awareness of the disease AIDS caused problems for the brand due to the phonetic similarity of names and the fact that the disease caused immense weight loss in patients. While initially sales were not affected, by 1988 the chair of Dep Corporation announced that the company was seeking a new name because sales had dropped as much as 50% due to publicity about the disease.[3] While the product's name was changed to Diet Ayds (Aydslim in Britain), it was eventually withdrawn from the market.

(Side note: I like the mod music in the commercial that starts at 1:55) Read the rest

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This is what would happen if, when trying to unclog a bathroom pipe, you clumsily tripped over a slipper and spilled the drain cleaner (98% sulfuric acid) onto a roll of toilet paper. I recently posted about another fascinating video that shows sulfuric acid being poured over sugar, which also explains the science behind it, but this toilet paper transformation was too awesome to ignore. Read the rest

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As seen in the above Google Trends graph the last few days, there has been a spike in people searching Google for the words corona, beer, and virus. Don't worry, drinking Corona beer does not cause 2019-nCoV. Below are the results mapped onto regions of the world.

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It’s no secret that when it comes to building your brand online, nothing beats having a powerful and streamlined website. BoxHosting Website Hosting makes it easy to create an extensive online presence with room for 500 domains, 500 10GB email accounts, and unlimited desk space—and you only have to pay $45 for life.

In addition to a lifetime of premium web hosting, BoxHosting Website Hosting also gives you unlimited access to an easy-to-use website builder that can be used to create new sites from scratch, and there are plenty of tools and templates that will help you customize your website in order to match the specific needs of your business.

This lifetime subscription also ensures super-fast upload and download speeds, along with top-level security features and 24/7 manned data centers that are there to help with any problems you may experience along the way.

Treat your business to a lifetime of premium web hosting with a subscription to BoxHosting Website Hosting for just $45—over 90 percent off its usual price.

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You can't beat free! Get $70+ worth of premium Mac apps for free today! Read the rest

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Funko's Baby Yoda looks amazingly cute.

I do not know where I am going to put all these damn things.

Funko Pop! Star Wars: The Mandalorian - The Child via Amazon Read the rest

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There’s never been a better time to work as a web developer—regardless of whether you’re looking to work with a big company or as a solo freelancer. The Essential PHP Coding Bundle will get you up to speed with one of the world’s most popular and powerful web development scripting languages, and it’s currently available for over 90% off its retail price.

Through four courses and over 150 lessons, this bundle will introduce you to both the fundamentals and more advanced elements of PHP—an open-source scripting tool that’s widely used in HTML and a variety of go-to web development platforms.

After an introduction to the basic terminology of the language, you’ll learn how to create dynamic web pages from scratch, find and fix common scripting errors, incorporate third-party platforms into your builds, and more.

There’s also a course that teaches you how to create advanced and easily-maintainable Python applications that can be used on your sites.

Add PHP to your web-building toolkit with the Essential PHP Coding Bundle—available for over 90% off MSRP at just $29.99.

Prices are subject to change.

You can't beat free! Get $70+ worth of premium Mac apps for free today! Read the rest

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Kobe Bryant, 41, has died in a helicopter crash. He was 41-years-old. Eight others, including Bryant's 13-year-old daughter Gianna, were killed in the crash in Calabasas, California. From ESPN:

A 6-foot, 6-inch small forward with the ability to swing up front and play point or shooting guard, Bryant entered the NBA straight out of high school. In 1996, he became the youngest player in NBA history.

He won five NBA titles in his time with the Lakers, as well as two Olympic gold medals playing for the United States. Now fourth on the NBA's all-time scoring list, with 33,643 points, Bryant won two NBA Finals MVP awards and one NBA regular-season MVP nod in 2008.

A native of Philadelphia, Bryant was selected No. 13 overall in 1996 by the Charlotte Hornets before being traded to the Lakers. He wore both No. 8 and 24 with the Lakers, both of which were retired by the franchise.

image credit: Keith Allison (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Deputies on scene with @LACOFD regarding aircraft crash. https://t.co/o2xkFluzQm pic.twitter.com/BPGfKS6nFt

 LASD Lost Hills Stn. (@LHSLASD) January 26, 2020

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My old pal Greg Dulli of The Afghan Whigs will release his first proper solo album, Random Desire, on February 21. Above is "Pantomima," the first single/video for the album, and it's a beaut. Directed by and starring Greg's longtime collaborator Philip Harder, this magnificent short film is a take on the "All That Jazz" tale of choreographer/dancer Bob Fosse.

Greg tours Europe and the US starting in March. Black out the windows, it's party time.

Dulli photo by Maciek Jasik Read the rest

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There's overwhelming support for clean energy, and the planet is giving us more reasons to invest in renewable power sources with every passing year. Even in the most inhospitable areas, wind and solar can provide a good chunk of our power, if not all of it. So why aren't we all taking advantage of it?

As with most things in our society, it takes a good business plan. And Arcadia might just have one.

Simply put, they do the legwork of finding renewable energy sources in your area. They then serve as a middleman between you and your existing power company, negotiating prices based on the sources they find and purchasing energy certificates by proxy.

Not only will this result in a better environment and more peace of mind on your part, but it can also actually save you money. In many cases, that clean power is cheaper, and Arcadia will pass the savings on to you, letting you know how much you've saved each month and how much of your power bill went to green, planet-wise sources.

The more members Arcadia gets, the more collective bargaining power they have. As if you needed a bigger hint, sign up is easy - in a matter of minutes you can have your own account, keep your existing power company and get a $20 Amazon gift card or four standard LED bulbs as a bonus. Read the rest

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Is Penis Man a hero or menace to Arizona? pic.twitter.com/FVjKAwMdww

 Charles Rahrig (@c_rahrig) January 20, 2020

Police have captured the culprit behind the "Penis Man" graffiti tags that, er, popped up in several dozen spots across Tempe and Phoenix, Arizona over the last two months. (News report from December below.) While Penis Man quickly developed a cult following, the cops weren't laughing. On Saturday, Tempe police revealed that they had nabbed Dustin Shomer, "on 16 counts of aggravated criminal damage, 8 counts of criminal damage and one count of criminal trespassing in the first degree." Shomer has since released a statement on the Facebook Unmodded - NEIGHB'rhood Group, as reported in the Phoenix New Times:

"I just spent the last 24 hours in Tempe and Phoenix police custody for spraying 'Penis Man,'" Shomer wrote. "They raided my condo and vehicle and swarmed my entire complex in west Phoenix with 25 heavily armed SWAT officers, and pointed a silenced assault rifle in my face.

"Anyone with any doubt who the bad guys are here ... be certain it is the City of Tempe, City of Phoenix, and police forces valleywide. There is no excuse for pointing an AR-15 in the face of a non-violent offender."

Shomer added in further posts that he spent a night at Maricopa County's Fourth Avenue Jail following more than five hours in Tempe police custody, during which time he was giving "nothing to eat."

He wrote that he was "told I wouldn't receive medical attention after requesting it, even though it was posted on the wall to ask if desired.

Read the rest

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At least it isn't Our Sheriff Lobo. Read the rest

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Over one week, this $500,000, Naples, Florida home belonging to Jeffrey Leibman, 40, was transformed from boring beige to a wild, multicolored dream house. The grounds and trees have also been, er, brightened up. I think it has great curb appeal! From ABC7News (video below):

A Naples homeowners association said it's actually suing the man they believe trashed this house.

Right now, management said Leibman is no longer living in the home, and court records show he's due in court this weekend for drug charges.

(Thanks to our Florida bureau chief, Charles Pescovitz!)

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In Thailand, police auctioned off a Honda CRV that had been seized in a drug bust. The buyer spent 586,00 baht (US$19,000) on the vehicle. Later, a mechanic discovered a secret compartment behind the bumper that contained nearly 100,000 amphetamine pills. From the BBC News:

Officials said they would conduct more thorough searches in future.

"According to protocols, we search every vehicle we have received and this case was no exception. However, we couldn't find anything at the time, perhaps because the pills had been well hidden," said Niyom Termsrisuk, secretary general of the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB), according to the Bangkok Post.

image for illustration only: "Ritalin" by Sponge (CC BY-SA 3.0) Read the rest

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In 2010, the UN adopted a rule regarding incarcerated pregnant women: "instruments of restraint shall never be used … during labour, during birth and immediately after birth." In 2018, the Federal First Step Act banned shackling pregnant women, women giving birth, and women caring for newborns; but the law does not extend to local and state jails, where 85% of the incarcerated women in America are locked up.

As a result, the practice of shackling women before, during and after childbirth is rampant across America, and in the majority (61%) of these circumstances, the women are shackled not because of any specific danger, but because the facility has a policy that insists that they be in chains. The US government does not require state or local lockups to maintain statistics on pregnancy among inmates, and a bill to require this data collection has languished in Congress since September 2018.

Incarcerated women are disproportionately likely to have experienced violent trauma, especially sexual trauma, and the women who have given birth in restraints describe how the experience triggered their post-traumatic stress from these incidents.

Lori Yearwood's Guardian story on the practice is heartbreaking, tracing how the trauma of giving birth in chains can redound for decades after.

Harriette Davis, 64, once an inmate at the California Institute for Women in Corona, is now an anti-shackling advocate and remembers well the trauma of being handcuffed to a hospital bed before giving birth to her daughter 36 years ago. The attending doctor told the guard to remove the shackles, Davis says, so that Davis could move freely, helping her baby travel more easily down the birth canal.

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