https://boingboing.net/2020/03/23/neil-diamond-sings-special-cor.html

Only 8 million people need to die to ensure that decabillionares don't become mere billionaires.

One death is a tragedy; a million deaths is an economic policy.https://t.co/QuP4iNSEbD

 TrillionDollarCoinHat (@Popehat) March 23, 2020

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/03/23/winner-of-the-creepiest-covid.html

Portland, Oregon, home of a fantastic bookstore and some awesome people.

The Oregonian:

The home delivery service, in which a pair of scantily clad strippers will deliver hot food to your door, started as a joke Boulden posted on social media. When people began seriously inquiring about orders, Boulden saw potential.

So, while the rest of Portland was hoarding toilet paper and pasta, he bought out one local store’s stock of pasties.

From 7 p.m. to 1 a.m., Boober Eats is offering the full menu from the Lucky Devil Lounge at the same prices. Delivery rates are generally $30, but vary depending on distance from the lounge.

...

Popular orders include chicken fingers, steak bites and mini corndogs.

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/03/23/with-boober-eats-portland.html

(I originally reviewed this in 2008, but thought it was worth reposting, for obvious reasons. -- MF) In World Made By Hand (2008) by James Howard Kunstler, the population of the United States (and most likely, the world) has been decimated by an energy shortage, starvation, plagues, terrorism, and global warming. The story takes place in an unspecified time in the near future (I'm guessing it's around 2025 or so). Kunstler is the author of the non-fiction book The Long Emergency: Surviving the End of Oil, Climate Change, and Other Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-First Century, and World Made by Hand is a fictional account of what life might be like if things go the way he describes them in Long Emergency. (Here's a TED video of Kunstler from 2004. Thanks, Erik!)

The story is told by Robert Earle, who used to be a software executive. Now he's a hand-tool using carpenter living in a town in upstate New York without Internet, TV, or newspapers. The electricity comes on every couple of weeks for a few minutes at a time. When that happens, nothing's on the radio but hysterical religious talk. Rumors of goings-on in the rest of the world are vague.

There's no fuel or rubber tires left for cars, and even if there were, the roads and bridges are shot. Earle can't afford a horse or donkey, so when he needs to buy carpentry supplies, he takes his hand cart to a compound on the outskirts of town called Karptown. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/03/23/world-made-by-hand-b.html

Absent-minded. Forgetful. Stupid.

Those are just a few of the words that likely ricochet around inside your head after leaving your briefcase in a cab. Or forgetting where you put your keys. Or realizing you don’t have your wallet when it’s time to pay the dinner tab.

Hey, don’t beat yourself up. In our hyper-adrenalized world, it’s easy for stuff, even big stuff, to slip our minds from time to time. The trick is knowing you’re susceptible to silly mistakes like that and taking proactive steps to head them off before they make a tangible impact on your life.

Mu Tag is your protection from yourself. The world’s smallest loss prevention device, you can slip a Mu Tag on items you absolutely can’t afford to lose or forget — and Mu Tag will have your back.

At less than 1.5 inches long, a Mu Tag will clip or adhere to almost any item. Once it’s attached, download the Informu app, add your Mu Tags to your dashboard and you’ll be prepared in the event of an accident.

It’s synced via Bluetooth, so if you leave a Mu Tag behind, you’ll get a notification on your phone before it’s too late. If you can’t find a tagged item, the app has a built-in map that will guide you right to it. A Mu Tag only takes 40 minutes to charge up and is good for up to 3 weeks, which should be plenty of time to fix your mistake.

Once it knows your routine, you can set Mu Tag with reminders like not to forget your bag before heading out for a flight. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/03/23/mu-tag-pays-attention-to-your.html

Now he says he tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19.

https://boingboing.net/2020/03/23/after-his-coronavirus-test-ra.html

• Sex criminal and former film producer, who is serving 23 years, now isolated from other prisoners and shows no symptoms

https://boingboing.net/2020/03/23/jailed-harvey-weinstein-has-co.html

Tracking entire populations now with electronic surveillance, facial recognition, and biosecurity sensors to combat the coronavirus pandemic will inevitably mean even more invasive forms of government spying later, privacy advocates warn.

From reporting by Natasha Singer and Choe Sang-Hun at the New York Times:

“We could so easily end up in a situation where we empower local, state or federal government to take measures in response to this pandemic that fundamentally change the scope of American civil rights,” said Albert Fox Cahn, the executive director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, a nonprofit organization in Manhattan.

As an example, he pointed to a law enacted by New York State this month that gives Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo unlimited authority to rule by executive order during state crises like pandemics and hurricanes. The law allows him to issue emergency response directives that could overrule any local regulations.

(...)In hundreds of cities in China, the government is requiring citizens to use software on their phones that automatically classifies each person with a color code — red, yellow or green — indicating contagion risk. The software determines which people should be quarantined or permitted to enter public places like subways. But officials have not explained how the system makes such decisions, and citizens have felt powerless to challenge it.

In Singapore, the Ministry of Health has posted information online about each coronavirus patient, often in stunning detail, including relationships to other patients. The idea is to warn individuals who may have crossed paths with them, as well as alert the public to potentially infected locations.

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/03/23/spying-on-everyone-to-combat-c.html

In an interview with Science Magazine, Dr. Anthony Fauci explains how he is trying to get the Trump Administration to actually work against the progress of this COVID19.

Dr. Fauci will not be calling COVID19 the 'Chinese Flu.'

Science Magazine:

Q: What about the travel restrictions? President Trump keeps saying that the travel ban for China, which began 2 February, had a big impact [on slowing the spread of the virus to the United States] and that he wishes China would have told us three to four months earlier and that they were “very secretive.” [China did not immediately reveal the discovery of a new coronavirus in late December, but by 10 January, Chinese researchers made the sequence of the virus public.] It just doesn't comport with facts.

A: I know, but what do you want me to do? I mean, seriously Jon, let’s get real, what do you want me to do?

Q: Most everyone thinks that you’re doing a remarkable job, but you're standing there as the representative of truth and facts but things are being said that aren't true and aren't factual.

A: The way it happened is that after he made that statement [suggesting China could have revealed the discovery of a new coronavirus three to four months earlier], I told the appropriate people, it doesn't comport, because two or three months earlier would have been September. The next time they sit down with him and talk about what he’s going to say, they will say, by the way, Mr.

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https://boingboing.net/2020/03/23/after-the-facepalm-dr-fauci.html

Remember the Senators who cashed out after private briefings held before the market collapse began? Similar games are afoot in conservative media: before Fox News called coronavirus a hoax and a Dem plot to destroy trump, they were disinfecting offices, installing hand sanitizer stations throughout the building, and canceling meetings and sales events.

This exercise in contrasts is brought to you by Lachlan Murdoch, the media princeling who runs the place.

... as the crisis took hold, there were more than two weeks of statements like Laura Ingraham’s assertion on Feb. 27 that Democratic criticism was “more unsettling” than the virus and Mr. Hannity’s allegation on March 9 that political opponents were trying to “bludgeon Trump with this new hoax.” Finally, after an obscure Fox Business host, Trish Regan, ranted that the coronavirus issue was “another attempt to impeach the president,” the network pivoted.

The damage Fox did appears likely to extend beyond the typical media hits and misses. I asked Ashish Jha, the director of the Harvard Global Public Health Institute, who appeared on Fox News recently, whether he believes people will die because of Fox’s coverage.

“Yes,” he said. “Some commentators in the right-wing media spread a very specific type of misinformation that I think has been very harmful.”

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/03/23/fox-news-scrambled-to-contain.html

The home office was kind of a joke for most of us. Sure, you called that room with a computer and a desk where you would very occasionally answer a work email or two “the home office.” But it was really just the room where you kept your receipts and saved junk you’d probably never need, only to straighten it up twice a year when your mother-in-law came for a visit.

But now, it’s time to get serious. The home office is now really the home office. This could be your true, professional base of operations for the foreseeable future, so you probably better get comfortable and fortified.

Right now, we’ve got 30 items that’ll turn your spare room into a true place of business. From furniture to computer accessories to cool blue light shades, you can also get an added 15 percent of each of these deals right now when you enter the codeword SPRINGSAVE15 during checkout.

Desks

The desk is the true cornerstone of any office, but you’ll have to decide exactly how much desk is right for you, your work and your available space. This Black Steel Frame Wooden Table Top Desk ($79.04 after discount; originally $114.78) is compact, minimalist furnishing that provides a whole bunch of open work area. You could also try the X-Leg Table Top Writing Desk ($135.99 after discount; originally $209.99), which fits easily into a corner and even includes two shelves just below the desktop for sneaky storage of some literary favorites. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/03/23/these-home-office-essentials-w.html

Welcome to Okeechobee, Florida. In a meeting of the city fathers and mothers, commissioner Bryant Culpepper suggested you can prevent and cure coronavirus by blasting your sinuses with hot air: "you hold a blow dryer in front of your face, and inhale," he says solemly. Culpepper was soon informed he is mistaken and has apologized. ABC News:

During the meeting on Friday, the commissioner said he watched a news show on One America News, which he described as the "new Fox News," where a "certified doctor" was on the show providing suggestions about how to kill the coronavirus. Commissioner Culpepper said the doctor on the show said that to kill the virus, it needs to be exposed to a high concentration of heat, about 163 degrees.

43 seconds in, watch the man in the black shirt, center back, do a double facepalm with sinus massage after Culpepper says those wondrous words, "you hold a blow dryer in front of your face, and inhale." He's not following the coronavirus guidelines either.

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/03/23/florida-city-commissioner-prop.html

3M has announced that they are now producing 35 million N95 masks per month in the US and have 500,000 masks on the way to the critically impacted cities of New York and Seattle.

The term respirator in the press release is throwing some readers on Twitter off, thinking they mean "ventilators." But it's good to know that they are cranking the N95s out and "have accelerated investments to expand our global capacity even more. We anticipate being able to nearly double our capacity again, to almost 2 billion respirators globally, within the next 12 months. We are working with the U.S. and other governments, investigating alternate manufacturing scenarios, and exploring coalitions with other companies to increase capacity further."

Read the full PR here.

[H/t Alberto Gait'an] Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/03/23/good-news-everyone-3m-is-cra.html

Pro tip: You don’t have to be a five-star Michelin chef to impress in the kitchen. In fact, you don’t always have to have any cooking ability at all.

If visitors take one look around your kitchen and spot a few upscale kitchen items, or even items that just look upscale, your standing as a person who knows their way around the culinary arts goes up.

Forged from Damascus steel, Damascus knives have a unique and striking wavy, patterned design that instantly catches the eye and implies you’re a serious kitchen presence — even if your skills don’t extend beyond microwave popcorn.

Whether you just want one as a showpiece or if you’re looking for a full set, you can take an extra 15 percent off the already discounted price by entering the code SPRINGSAVE15 during checkout.

Solo knives

There’s no more important weapon in a chef’s arsenal that a quality chef’s knife — and the Damascus Santoku style chef knife ($38.20 after discount; originally $129) just screams formidable. In addition to the Santoku-style blade capable of handling most kitchen activities, it also comes with a sophisticated leather sheath that makes it an instant attention-getter.

Of course, a gorgeous handle can put an already premium Damascus blade over the top. The Damascus chef knife with buffalo horn, brass and rose wood handle ($50.95 after discount; originally $94) not only slices, chops and skins like a pro, but the stunning buffalo horn and rose wood handle looks amazing. As does the pakka and rose wood hilt on this chef knife ($29.70 Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/03/22/fill-up-your-kitchen-with-dama.html

Rebellion has released the critically- and fan-acclaimed Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files Vol.5 free to download and view on the 2000 AD app.

This 400-page collection includes classic Judge Dredd stories such as The Mega-Rackets, Judge Death Lives!, Diary of a Mad Citizen, The Hotdog Run, and the all-time great mega-epic Block Mania and The Apocalypse War!

Written by John Wagner (A History of Violence) and Alan Grant (Batman), it features artwork by some of the titans of comics, including Brian Bolland (Batman: The Killing Joke), Carlos Ezquerra (Preacher), Colin Wilson (Blueberry), Ian Gibson (Halo Jones), Mick McMahon (The Last American), Ron Smith (Transformers), and Steve Dillon (Preacher)!

[H/t Rodney Orpheus] Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/03/22/400-pages-of-judge-dredd-avail.html

Artist and illustrator, Dan Meth, created this graphic years ago as part of his Pop Culture Charts series. Next stop: Soylent Green!

Image: Used with permission Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/03/22/sci-fi-film-timeline-next-sto.html

The ever-clever and resourceful Danielle Baskin has created a site for the online coordination and distribution of DIY-produced filter masks, face shields and other PPE (personal protective equipment).

In times of emergency, the CDC allows production for crisis capacity scenarios. Homemade supplies are an emergency supply for overwhelmed hospitals and we have to prepare right now for it. While factory capacity is limited, we are building a distributed factory of crafters, DIYers, and organizers across the country. Here's what we need to focus on first: Surgical masks Gowns Face shields

Note: Some hospitals will not accept DIY PPE supplies.

Join the Mask Force here. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/03/22/join-the-mask-force-help-manu.html

After just a week being cooped up in his apartment, YouTube's "Average Pool Player" Rollie Williams has found a way to entertain himself using objects he already had. He jokes, "I converted our dining room table into a pool table and all it cost was my relationship with my roommates."

I converted our dining room table into a pool table and all it cost was my relationship with my roommates. pic.twitter.com/vDHoAKOlt8

 Rollie Williams (@RollieWilliams) March 21, 2020

Want to make your own "quarantine pool table"? His video tutorial will show you how. But, keep in mind, you'll need to already be in possession of billiard balls. As he writes, "What kind of absolute lunatic doesn’t have a full set of billiard balls in their apartment?"

In this time of staying at home and not being able to go outside, it's important to make the best of things. When that doesn't work, it's okay to make yourself a pool table. We made a DIY pool table out of a blanket, our kitchen table, some tape, clamps, rope, string, metal rods from a set of shelves I had in my room, and a set of billiard balls my dad gave me for Christmas a few years ago.

screengrab via Rollie Williams/YouTube Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/03/22/build-your-own-makeshift-qua.html

Everywhere you look, anxiety is high. We all know why. And let’s face it, we’ve got plenty of good reasons for all that concern.

But we say it’s time to take a stand.

There’s only one way to eat an elephant: one bite at a time. In that spirit, make one small move right now toward regaining some control in your world.

Take back your bed.

Hear us out on this. Rather than letting your bed become somewhere you either convalesce or hideaway in and cocoon from real-world problems, transform your bed into a sanctuary. Make it the place you want to retreat to each night in ultimate comfort.

To help make your bed into a true oasis, consider these 30 items that’ll instantly upgrade your sleepy time. And when you enter the code SPRINGSAVE15 at checkout, you’ll get another 15 percent off the already discounted price.

We’re on your side. Remake your bed — and change the world.

Mattress and mattress accessories

Any premium bed setup always starts with a brilliant cornerstone: the mattress. You can’t do much better as a foundation than the Yaasa ONE Mattress ($466.65 after discount; originally $899), packed full of cooling infinity foam that delivers contoured support, durability and a cool night’s sleep.

Of course, keeping cool may not be on the top of your mind in the winter. So if you’d rather stay warm, the Sable Queen Size Electric Heated Mattress Pad ($50.14 after discount; originally $69.99) has 10 temperatures to choose from, an automatic timer and speedy warm-up times so you won’t have to shiver as you wait for your bed to warm up. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/03/22/take-back-your-bed-weve-go.html

Astronaut Scott Kelly, who spent a combined 520 days in space, including nearly a full, continuous year as part of NASA's One-Year Mission to the ISS, knows a thing or two about isolation, quarantine, and keeping sane in small places for extended periods.

He has recently published an article on his recommendations for those of us on earth who now find ourselves isolated into our homes or similar small spaces, cut off from many of the comforts and connections that we are used to as a part of everyday life.

When you are living and working in the same place for days on end, work can have a way of taking over everything if you let it. Living in space, I deliberately paced myself because I knew I was in it for the long haul — just like we all are today. Take time for fun activities: I met up with crewmates for movie nights, complete with snacks, and binge-watched all of “Game of Thrones” — twice.

On what information to trust when experts speak about important things (like the pandemic):

I’ve found that most problems aren’t rocket science, but when they are rocket science, you should ask a rocket scientist. Living in space taught me a lot about the importance of trusting the advice of people who knew more than I did about their subjects, whether it was science, engineering, medicine, or the design of the incredibly complex space station that was keeping me alive. Especially in a challenging moment like the one we are living through now, we have to seek out knowledge from those who know the most about it and listen to them.

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/03/22/after-a-year-in-space-astrona.html