Meet Ryker, Happy Mutants. Ryker, a Belgian Malinois, studied at the Double H Canine Training Academy, and here is footage of his failed test to become a service animal. Ryker was instead adopted by his trainer, Zach James.

More of Ryker's antics follow below.

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https://boingboing.net/2020/02/26/dog-fails-service-animal-test.html

Posted to Reddit, Twitter and Facebook with already-obscure origins -- if you know who deserves credit, do tell -- this photoshopped promo photo of the Star Trek: TNG roster gives every officer the same plunging neckline as Counselor Troi. [via]

Below is the original Season 6 cast photo, for comparison.

Note that Star Trek: TNG did play with gender, sometimes depicting masculine junior officers in the skirted version of the Starfleet uniform.

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/26/if-everyone-on-star-trek-tng.html

Is it just us, or does it feel like winter hasn’t been as horrendous as usual this year? Well, stats show it’s actually been one of the warmer winters on record so far this year for many eastern U.S. cities in January and February. But, almost on cue, weather experts warn signs of a serious cold snap could be on the way as we head into March.

Knowing that this might be a really good time to book a trip to South Palm Beach. Or Las Vegas. Or, heck, anywhere warm. With that in mind, we’ve got a few options.

Dollar Flight Club Premium: 1-Yr Subscription - $9 (Originally $69)

If you want to maximize your travel budget, you can’t do much better than a year of Dollar Flight Club for just $9. With this subscription service, you’ll get email alerts about the cheapest flight deals as soon as they go live...before everybody else moves in and gobbles them all up. Just set up your account, pick your home airports and wait for the deals. In addition to those spot discounts, Dollar Flight Club premium members also enjoy exclusive weekend warrior flight deals, partner perks and booking support, all in an ad-free experience.

Matt's Flights Premium Subscriptions - $25 (Originally $49.99)

Airlines make pricing errors all the time. They also slide super-discounted flights on to the schedule with zero notice. Matt’s Flights keeps a sharp eye on all those carrier moves, then loops you in instantly so you can take advantage. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/25/enter-to-win-a-1000-gift-car.html

In 2007, James Grundy dropped his pants in a pub and exposed his genitals to onlookers. James Grundy is now the Conservative Party member of parliament for Leigh, footage of the incident has been obtained, and it is time to apologize.

"I apologise for my actions and for any offence caused."

Back to basics. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/25/conservative-mp-apologizes-for.html

This dancer makes gliding seem effortless and might have given Michael Jackson a run for his money.

But lest we forget:

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/25/watch-incredible-dancer-glide.html

Photographer Chlo'e Jaf'e worked as a hostess in a Tokyo bar to meet and gain the trust of members of the Japanese mafia. Six years later, she published a photography book called I Give You My Life, which according to BBC, "reveal hidden sides to the wives of men in the Japanese underworld – including the tattoos that cover their bodies."

Image: Vimeo Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/25/french-photographer-explains-h.html

I've been wanting a Teenage Engineering op-1 for years, but I can't justify paying $1300 for something I might not use a lot. But the Behringer TD-3 synthesizer, at about 1/10th of the price, looks like it's as much fun as the op-1.

It's a remake of the Roland TB-303 Bass Line that came out in 1981. According to Wikipedia, the TB-303 "was a commercial failure and was discontinued in 1984. However, cheap second-hand units were adopted by electronic musicians, and its 'squelching' or 'chirping' sound became a foundation of electronic dance music genres such as house and techno [this song being the one that started it all]. It has inspired numerous clones."

  Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/25/review-of-the-low-cost-behring.html

MetalBallStudios made this animated video that helps you envision the size of various named asteroids by placing them in Manhattan.

[via Laughing Squid] Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/25/comparing-the-size-of-known-as.html

If you use Adobe Photoshop, you're likely to know how it differs from Illustrator. But what if you're designing a game – should you use Flash Professional (aka Animate), Flash Builder, or one of their other 50-plus apps? What's the difference between Lightroom and Bridge? What is Scout good for? When YouTuber Humtog last looked, he didn't see a simple explainer guide that answers these types of questions on Adobe's site, so he made this video, which covers 50 apps in 10 minutes. Not a lot of detail, of course, but it can help you sort out which might be best for you and where to take a deeper dive. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/25/all-of-adobes-50-apps-expla.html

Snazz up your older model grocery-getter with these skull headlight covers! I have no idea if they are DOT approved but they're sure to turn some craniums. (See what I did there?) Skullspiration writes that they are designed by Est2rad Custom in Watsonville, CA but the eBay search link in the post show products from the Russian Federation so... your mileage may vary.

(via Weird Universe) Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/25/skull-headlight-covers-for-you.html

The Smithsonian Institution has just released 2.8 million images (2D and 3D) into the public domain via a new Smithsonian Open Access online platform where anyone can browse and download high-res files. And then reuse them! Or remix them! For whatever! For free! From Smithsonian:

Featuring data and material from all 19 Smithsonian museums, nine research centers, libraries, archives and the National Zoo, the new digital depot encourages the public to not just view its contents, but use, reuse and transform them into just about anything they choose—be it a postcard, a beer koozie or a pair of bootie shorts.

And this gargantuan data dump is just the beginning. Throughout the rest of 2020, the Smithsonian will be rolling out another 200,000 or so images, with more to come as the Institution continues to digitize its collection of 155 million items and counting...

Spanning the arts and humanities to science and engineering, the release compiles artifacts, specimens and datasets from an array of fields onto a single online platform. Noteworthy additions include portraits of Pocahontas and Ida B. Wells, images of Muhammad Ali’s boxing headgear and Amelia Earhart’s record-shattering Lockheed Vega 5B, along with thousands of 3-D models that range in size from a petite Eulaema bee just a couple centimeters in length to the Cassiopeia A supernova remnant, estimated at about 29 light-years across.

Smithsonian Open Access Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/25/the-smithsonian-just-released.html

Marijuana legalization sweeps a galaxy far, far away? No! A new series set 200 years before the Jedi let shit fall apart. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/25/star-wars-announces-the-high.html

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government presents this new public service announcement to warn children against cannabis bats, among other things. Rough translation of the video description via Google Translate:

In Tokyo, we created educational videos, posters, and leaflets for the younger generation to raise awareness of the prevention of substance abuse. The contents are easy to understand about the dangers of drug abuse such as cannabis and dangerous drugs, the effects of abuse, and how to decline when invited.

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/25/fun-new-japanese-anti-drug-vid.html

The head of Iran's coronavirus government task force who urged the public not to freak out about the epidemic while coughing and sweating profusely has tested positive for the illness himself, authorities said Tuesday. New cases of COVID-19 originating in Iran are now rapidly popping up across the Middle East.

The coughing and heavily sweating Iraj Harirchi told journalists at a televised news conference in Tehran only one day ago that “the situation is almost stable in the country.”

Coronavirus has infected more than 80,000 people around the world, and has led to an estimated 2,700 deaths, mostly in China.

From the Associated Press:

Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour confirmed Harirchi had the virus. Harirchi himself posted an online video saying he had it and that he had quarantined himself at his home. He promised that authorities would bring the virus under control.

“I wanted to tell you that, rest assured that with efforts of your servants at the Health Ministry ... and backed by you people, the government and all elements of the establishment, we will be victorious in our combat against this virus within the next few weeks,” Harirchi said.

On Monday, however, he had offered a far different assessment while repeatedly wiping his brow while standing beside government spokesman Ali Rabiei.

“Currently the situation is almost stable in the country and we could manage to minimize the problem,” Harirchi said. He also said that “quarantines belong to the Stone Age.”

The World Health Organization named the illness COVID-19, referring to its origin late last year and the coronavirus that causes it. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/25/iran-says-the-official-who-pla.html

In Switzerland today, a 70-year old man tested positive for the coronavirus in the southern canton of Ticino, right next to the border with Italy, say Swiss health authorities. This is the first case of COVID-19 in Switzerland, and authorities say the man was likely exposed in Italy.

“The infected person was in Italy about ten days ago and participated in an event near Milano,” the Swiss health ministry said in a statement.

From Reuters:

Officials told a media conference it was not clear at which event the man had been infected. People the man had been in contact with were currently being identified and put in quarantine for 14 days.

Europe’s biggest outbreak is currently in Italy, with more than 280 infections and seven deaths. It began spreading on Tuesday from its origins in the northern regions of Lombardy and Veneto, to central Tuscany, the coastal region of Liguria and Sicily in the south.

Iran's coronavirus death toll is now at 16, the highest number of deaths from the outbreak outside China.

Dozens of nations, including South Korea and Italy, are stepping up emergency measures to try and slow the global spread of coronavirus.

More:Coronavirus isolates Iran, strains South Korea, Italy Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/25/switzerland-confirms-first-cas.html

Wriggles & Robins's "Max's Journey to the Moon" is a delightful stop motion animation created from 600 pancakes. They released it today in celebration of National Pancake Day, aka Shrove Tuesday. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/25/terrific-stop-motion-animation.html

A woman who was heavily intoxicated was arrested on a Saturday flight from Frankfurt to Washington, D.C., after she tried to smoke a cigarette in the plane bathroom, and blurted out that her whole family was recently killed in a car accident, none of which was true, say federal prosecutors.

Dana Mustafa threatened to “stab everyone on the plane. Then kill myself,” while handcuffed on the flight to from Germany to Dulles International Airport, authorities claim.

“What’s the point of living?” she is recorded as saying.

A half-empty liter bottle of Absolut vodka was found in her purse.

Excerpt:

From the Washington Post:

She made her first appearance in Alexandria federal court Monday afternoon, charged with assaulting an officer. She does not yet have an attorney.

Mustafa first attracted attention on the evening United Airlines flight when she set off the smoke detector in the lavatory, according to court records. Flight attendants told her she could not smoke on the plane and took her back to her seat.

She was crying loudly and smelled of alcohol, according to the criminal complaint, and told the flight staff that she was flying home to see her family but that they had just been killed by a drunk driver. She punched the television monitor in front of her seat and threw a coin at the bulkhead, according to prosecutors.

Read more: Woman drunkenly threatened to ‘stab everyone’ on flight to D.C., falsely claimed family tragedy, prosecutors say [washingtonpost.com]

PHOTO: Dana Mustafa was arrested on a flight to Dulles International Airport from Germany on Saturday night, after authorities say she drunkenly threatened to stab everyone on board. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/25/woman-drunkenly-threatened-to.html

As we enter the teen years it appears I have lost my ability to pick the most awesome presents.

I fail to understand how a Lava Lamp is more exciting than a machete. It is likely more affordable.

Regardless, I am not going to force the kid to play with a machete. Enjoy your lamp!

Schylling 2121-4002 Pink/Purple 14.5" Classic Motion Lava(r) Lamp Silver, 20-Ounce via Amazon Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/25/my-daughter-wants-a-pink-lava.html

Covid-19 is a lab-concocted version of the common cold that's been weaponized to make Trump look bad, says Rush Limbaugh.

From HuffPost:

Right-wing radio host Rush Limbaugh claimed on his show Monday that the potentially lethal coronavirus afflicting several countries is nothing more than a “common cold” blown out of proportion by the media to take down President Donald Trump - even as he also asserted it was a “bioweapon” created by China in a laboratory.

“It looks like the coronavirus is being weaponized as yet another element to bring down Donald Trump,” Limbaugh said at the start of his lengthy, misinformation-filled rant.

“Now, I want to tell you the truth about the coronavirus. ... I’m dead right on this. The coronavirus is the common cold, folks.”

Image: by Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0, modified, Link Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/25/rush-limbaugh-noted-epidemiol.html

In the 1870s, new farmsteads on the American plains were beset by enormous swarms of grasshoppers sweeping eastward from the Rocky Mountains. The insects were a disaster for vulnerable farmers, attacking in enormous numbers and devouring everything before them. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe the grasshopper plagues and the settlers' struggles against them.

We'll also delve into urban legends and puzzle over some vanishing children.

Show notes

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https://boingboing.net/2020/02/25/in-the-1870s-enormous-swarms.html