According to the latest figures from NBC News, Wyoming is the only U.S. state or territory not to have marked a single death from Covid-19.

... the White House’s best-picture scenario of 100,000 to 240,000 deaths ... predicts the U.S. will hit a peak death rate of more than 2,000 deaths per day in mid-April. President Donald Trump warned that this week in particular would be the "toughest."

Finland has a number of deaths, but had an even better day than Wyoming yesterday, tallying "-1" deaths. "Es beginnt", writes Marina Weisband

Es beginnt. pic.twitter.com/JTtfcsgon7

 Marina Weisband (@Afelia) April 6, 2020

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/04/07/wyoming-the-last-u-s-state-wi.html

Have you ever had more time to hone in on fine details than right now? Sure, at first glance, this might not seem like the time to get tripped up on the nitty-gritty of minutia. But how often are you ever going to have this much time to really stop and think about hows and whys and make a truly informed, truly considered decision about anything?

Like which Adobe photo editing app do you need, Photoshop or Lightroom?

The debate has raged for years — but since they’re both hugely popular with their own idiosyncratic skill sets, now’s the time to be a real imaging expert in both with the training in The Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop for Beginner Designers Bundle.

The collection spans nine courses over 27 hours of instruction, all coming from one trusted authority you can count on to explain these elite apps. In fact, Marcin Mikus has legions of former students endorsing his curriculum, notching a 4.3-out-of-5 star rating for over 250,000 reviewers.

While both Adobe programs get plenty of attention here, the lion’s share of your training will naturally fall on learning Photoshop, the undisputed king of image editing software. Mikus’ beginner-friendly coursework will get you familiar with all the app’s basic controls, then get you started working on a batch of projects to hone your skills, including retouching landscapes and adjusting portraits.

Once you’re up and running with Photoshop, various courses focus in on more specific, yet highly useful training practice, helping students work with layers, curves and masks as well as LUT color fixes. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/04/07/get-all-the-photoshop-and-ligh.html

https://boingboing.net/2020/04/07/hear-e-e-cummings-read-anyo.html

I came across Astonish Yourself: 101 Experiments in the Philosophy of Everyday Life when I took my kids to the California Science Center in Los Angeles in 2009 and found it in the gift store. It was written by philosopher Roger-Pol Droit, a researcher at the Centre de Recherche Scientifique and, as the title indicates, contains 101 mental and perceptual exercises you can perform on yourself.

In his introduction, Droit says the purpose of the experiments is to "provoke tiny moments of awareness," and to "shake a certainty we had taken for granted: our own identity, say, or the stability of the outside world, or even the meanings of words." Most of the experiments require about 20 minutes or less to complete, and often involve nothing more than merely thinking about something.

Some of the experiments you'll probably want to try when you are alone at home (like calling your name repeatedly for 20 minutes, or repeating some other word to drain it of its meaning), but others can be performed anywhere (like imagining that the world was "created from nothing, just an instant ago" and will vanish "like a light going out" in 20 minutes).

Some of the experiments you can't really plan in advance; they'll happen by accident, like when you wake up without knowing where you are -- a magical experience I love having, but Droit explains how to make the best use of this five-second-long "delicious lightness of a mystery without menace" the next time it happens: "What you do not know, for a tiny interval of time, is what the place is called, where it is, and you you are doing there. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/04/07/astonish-yourself-10.html

Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly submitted his resignation late Tuesday, after calling the ousted commander of the USS Theodore Roosevelt "stupid" in an address to the ship's coronavirus-stricken crew.

(At the time of this blog post, is not yet clear whether his resignation has been accepted.)

This news comes hours after Modly finally apologized for ridiculing USS Theodore Roosevelt captain Brett Crozier, whose crew considered him a hero.

Speaking to those men, some of whom have since become sickened with coronavirus and COVID-19, Modly mocked their fired commander as "stupid or naive."

Modly submitted his letter of resignation late Tuesday to Defense Secretary Mark Esper, and told staff he was quitting.

James McPherson, acting undersecretary of the U.S. Army, will reportedly take his place——again, 'acting,' at Trump's behest.

Meanwhile, congress calls for investigations, and we today learned the Trump administration just fired an experienced inspector general at the Defense Department who would be precisely the official tasked with conducting such an investigation.

Nothing matters.

Sources: CNN, AP.

Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly has resigned, one day after flying to Guam and criticizing a fired aircraft carrier skipper to his former crew, CNN reports: https://t.co/cjCkKy3jjG

How we got here: a Roosevelt timeline: https://t.co/jVl0MNgvpP

 Bradley Peniston (@navybook) April 7, 2020

Scoop: Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly has submitted his resignation a day after a leaked audio showed him calling ousted commander of USS Theodore Roosevelt "stupid" in address to ship's crew, a US official and a former senior military official tell me.

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/04/07/acting-navy-sec-thomas-mod.html

The domain Corp.com is similar to an internal address used by Windows servers, and as a result whoever controls it gains access to a stream of private and proprietary data constantly fired at it by mistake. Its longtime owner decided to sell the domain, raising fears that nefarious agents might buy it and cause trouble. Microsoft stepped in and paid $1.7m for it.

O’Connor told me he was selling the domain after doing basically nothing with it for 26 years because he was getting on in years and didn’t want his kids to inherit this mess. When he put the domain up for sale, I asked if he’d agree to let me know if and when he sold it.

On Monday evening, he wrote to say that Microsoft had agreed to purchase it. O’Connor said he could not discuss the terms of the deal, nor could he offer further comment beyond acknowledging the sale of corp.com to Microsoft.

In a written statement, Microsoft said it acquired the domain to protect its customers.

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/04/07/microsoft-buys-corp-com-domai.html

Henry Rollins, the hardest working punk in show business, has launched a new long-form streaming radio show via KCRW in Los Angeles! The four-hour first episode of The Cool Quarantine features tunes from Rollins's massive vinyl and cassette collection punctuated with personal stories about the artists. And as we all know, Rollins really knows how to spin a yarn. From Rolling Stone:

The debut episode, which runs four hours, features a story about Rollins and his pal, Minor Threat and Fugazi frontman Ian MacKaye, seeing Led Zeppelin in 1977 — along with bootleg audio from the concert and a bootleg MacKaye made of the Cramps. Rollins also shares stories about the early days of MacKaye’s Dischord Records — which put out Rollins’ first seven-inch with S.O.A. — and his time in Black Flag.

“For many years, I’ve had this idea for a long-form show,” Rollins said in a statement. “I mean really long-form. Like hours. To do it terrestrially would be difficult because I would be crowding other shows out. But if it was online, hey. It’s as many songs as I want, language issues are not a factor, and if anyone gets bored, they can just turn it off or mark the time they checked out and resume later.”

“The idea is that you’re in your room and Engineer X and I come over with a bunch of records,” he continued. “We play you songs, I tell you stories and we do time together. Now that many of us are under some kind of confinement, we might as well get some good listening happening.

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/04/07/punk-legend-henry-rollins-has.html

Yoga studios are closed nationwide. The irony is that between the anxieties of the outside world and those popping up inside your very own home with everyone trapped indoors, there’s probably never been a time where yoga’s calming zen was more vital and needed.

Rather than just throwing in the yoga mat and subjecting family members to very un-zen-like displays, a one-year subscription to YogaDownload can help restore the relaxed, centered you that you need to be to survive all this.

Offering up everything from increased muscle strength and athleticism and improved energy and vitality to a more balanced metabolism and a more ordered, peaceful mind, the healthy benefits of yoga were established literally centuries ago.

With Yogadownload, you can achieve all those benefits right from home with access to over 1,5000 top-rated online yoga and fitness classes to help tone up your body and tune up your mind whenever you need the attention.

Whether you’re a beginner or already an experienced practitioner, you’ll find a course that syncs with your skill level anytime you could use a session. And the sessions really do run the gamut, including courses in nearly 20 different disciplines.

You can choose from the synchronizing breathing and physical demands of Anusara yoga to the strength training of power yoga to the calm of restorative yoga to more specialized training like prenatal or beginner’s yoga. Heck, there’s even kids yoga to help those tiny terrors burn off some of that excess energy with a hearty, kid-centric routine. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/04/06/yogadownload-brings-your-yoga.html

Coronavirus outbreak fears are not sufficient reason for the governor of Wisconsin to postpone the state's Tuesday primary election, a state supreme court ruled late Monday. Gov. Tony Evers said the risk to the health and lives of Wisconsinites was too great, and this is why he wanted to postpone the election.

The GOP-led state court denied his authority, public health concerns be damned.

Further court challenges are likely.

Good luck and stay safe, Wisconsin voters.

JUST IN: Wisconsin's presidential primary election will proceed Tuesday under an order from the state Supreme Court that came just hours after Gov. Tony Evers tried to postpone voting as part of a last-ditch effort amid growing fears over the coronavirus. https://t.co/i1BExKBRjA

 Star Tribune (@StarTribune) April 6, 2020

BREAKING: Wisconsin Supreme Court blocks Gov. Evers’ executive order suspending all in-person voting for Tuesday's primary. pic.twitter.com/50L3E1vdcU

 MSNBC (@MSNBC) April 6, 2020

NEW: Wisconsin's Supreme Court has ordered the state's primary on Tuesday to proceed, overruling the governor's order to postpone the election. Further court challenges are likely.https://t.co/crUL2sa1pl

 NPR (@NPR) April 6, 2020

As the @POTUS boasts of the value of mitigation, the Rs in Wisconsin, supported by the @GOP-dominated supporter state Supreme Court, are pressing ahead with Tuesday’s primary, overruling the governor’s emergency public health order.

 David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) April 6, 2020

BREAKING: Wisconsin Supreme Court blocks Gov. Evers’ executive order suspending all in-person voting for Tuesday's primary. pic.twitter.com/ZVsPe2tqLu

 NBC Politics (@NBCPolitics) April 6, 2020

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers signs an executive order suspending in-person voting for tomorrow’s primary election: “...

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/04/06/wisconsin-supreme-court-rules.html

President Trump says that there is "light at the end of the tunnel" in the coronavirus pandemic.

Optimism from Dr Birx and Mr Trump contrasted with other leading US experts, including top advisor Dr Anthony Fauci, who earlier said the short-term outlook was "really bad". The US surgeon general, meanwhile, warned that this will be "the hardest and the saddest week of most Americans' lives".

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/04/06/light-at-the-end-of-the-tunn.html

"Over a period of time we will get a good vaccine," says Dr. Anthony Fauci

https://boingboing.net/2020/04/06/return-to-pre-coronavirus.html

The world is full of sad, maddening horseshit, right now. So, it's important that we latch on to any rays of light that can be found.

In Calgary, Canada, firefighters are doing what they can to ensure that kids and elderly folks who are forced to celebrate their birthdays in a time of turmoil, have something to brighten what would otherwise be a shelter at home, friends-at-a-distance affair.

From The CBC:

Fire Chief Steve Dongworth says firefighters have already been delivering some birthday greetings outside homes with sirens and lights blaring.

But he says the fire department has now formalized the practice through a new program called Drive-By Birthdays.

The program is open to children between the ages of four and 12 or anyone 75 and older who has a birthday... Drive-By Birthdays can be booked online until the end of May.

Of course, if an emergency call is received while the firefighters are serenading you outside of your home, you shouldn't be surprised to see them take off faster than shit through a goose. Officials speaking on behalf of the Calgary Fire Department mentioned that if social distancing measures were still in effect beyond the end of May, they'd be cool with extending the program.

It's a small gesture, but times being what they are, small gestures are really all that most of us have to offer.

Image via Wikipedia Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/04/06/canadian-firefighters-offering.html

If you needed another reason to be scared straight into practicing impeccable sterile technique in an effort to reduce your risk of COVID-19, read on. For those of us who are immunocompromised (raises hand) or over sixty (reluctantly raises hand again) this is sobering stuff. I think I'll go wash my hands again.

Of all the possible compounding effects of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, the cytokine storm is one of the most feared. An immune system overreaction in which the body is flooded with the eponymous signaling molecules, those who suffer a cytokine storm are at risk of dying at the hand of their own immune system, as an indirect effect of the virus they are fighting.

My lab work was stunningly bad. A normal white count might be between 4.5 and 10. My white cell count was at 2,000. My lymphocytes — which are the cells that fight in a virus, normally fall somewhere between 1000 and 1,500 — they were under 200. I don't know if you know the term but the early cells that fight infection are called "bands," and you don't have [them] normally — I had 20% bands. My platelet count was around 100,000, which is low, and I knew I was in trouble.

In the current context, we believe we have a biomarker of this condition, a serum level of a non-specific but is an acute phase reactant called serum ferritin. It looks like it may be to be one of the more reliable biomarkers of cytokine dysregulation.

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/04/06/what-its-like-to-experience.html

The workers aren’t inside their physical business space anymore. So why should business technology still be under that roof either?

In fact, more and more businesses have been making this migration for a while now, moving all their digital infrastructure to the world’s two largest cloud services platforms, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft’s Azure.

In addition to the convenience of moving all that hardware off-site, an overwhelming 87 of companies have seen a major side benefit, reporting their businesses have accelerated after adapting to the cloud services model.

Being the person who knows exactly how a company, its staff, and their entire communication and service infrastructure can work in the cloud is a valuable talent right now -- and with The Beginner Cloud Architect Professional Training Bundle ft. Azure and AWS training, you can be well on your way to being one of those valued IT pros.

Across seven courses with more than 30 hours of in-depth instruction, you’ll get a full introduction to how AWS and Azure work and what it takes to migrate, manage, secure and grow a company’s entire digital system in those cloud-based environments.

After getting a feel for the basics with the Getting Started with Cloud Computing course, the remaining six courses focus on the two rival platforms.

With AWS Cloud Essentials, you get the Amazon-approved best practices for using and understanding everything, from AWS terminology and concepts, tips for navigating the AWS Management Console, key security measures, and how to use all of AWS’ primary foundational, database and management services. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/04/06/amazon-web-services-and-azure.html

https://boingboing.net/2020/04/06/uk-prime-minister-boris-johnso.html

As usual, TikTok is a bit ahead of the curve. I.e., this is how the younger people in your house are likely self-educating right now. (This vid is 14hrs old, w/6.7M views and 740K likes.) pic.twitter.com/J09RIgJyCR

 David Hobby (@strobist) April 3, 2020

While I have nothing against the classic cowboy robber bandana mask, this technique, while it does require two hair rubber bands, is genius.

"How to Fold a No-Sew Bandana Face Mask" (Make:) Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/04/06/excellent-way-to-make-a-simple.html

Michael Gruber's The Forgery of Venus combines art history, criminal mischief, and the sleaziness of the contemporary art gallery business to deliver a terrifically fun thriller-esque novel.

The main character, Chaz Wilmot, is an extremely talented but frustrated and depressed magazine illustrator. For no special reason, he volunteers as a human guinea pig in a medical research study to test the effects of Salvia divinorum, a powerful, short-duration psychedelic drug that causes him to imagine he's living the life of Vel'asquez, the famous 17th century Spanish painter. These episodes cause all sorts of problems in his real life, and when he wakes up one morning in a strange apartment and discovers that he is actually a successful gallery artist, he flips out and lands in a mental ward.

When he's released (and learns that he's back to being the hack illustrator he started out as) Wilmot is eager to clear his head by taking on a lucrative commission to restore the fresco on the ceiling of an Italian mobster's palazzo. Here, he meets a sleazy German art dealer who specializes in paintings plundered by the Nazis in World War II. The dealer gives him an offer he can't refuse: to forge an "undiscovered" Vel'asquez painting. When he accepts, the strange events that have been happening to him intensify, and he finds himself wonder whether he's completely crazy or if powerful characters behind the curtain are pulling strings.

This is the kind of book that could easily become ludicrous and boring if it had been written by an author less talented than Gruber. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/04/06/the-forgery-of-venus.html

This footage was captured from a demo tape used by home entertainment dealers showing off the high quality of the new D-Theater (D-VHS) digital video recording. Enabling the recording and display of HD content, D-Theater/D-VHS was the VHS videocassette format's last gasp. From Youtube Pedant:

In 2002 D-Theater launched in the US - the dealers needed a demo tape of HD footage. JVC reused some HD video that had been shot as a demo for the Japanese HD market back in 1993. This footage would have most likely been originally used for a HiVision MUSE demo (an HD Broadcast, Tape & Laserdisc format).

You can determine that the year is 1993 by the adverts in Times Square - The Radio 501 CD that's advertised on a billboard came out in 1993 and Paper Moon is playing at the Marquis Theater.

(Thanks, UPSO!) Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/04/06/this-is-new-york-city-in-1993.html

In the early 2010s, I wrote a play called True Believers that was kind of a send-up and a love letter to comic-con culture. The play had a full production in Boston in 2012 (closing on the weekend of San Diego Comic-Con, when they first announced the Guardians of the Galaxy, which totally ruined the meta-level "I Am Groot" gag in the script), as well as staged readings at fringe festivals across the country, from New York to Chicago to Valdez, Alaska.

I later tried to turn that script into a novel. It was an interesting writing experience — trying to adapt your own work across mediums, from one that's explicitly external to one that's largely internal is a weird challenge, to say the least — and ultimately, nothing really came of the manuscript.

But now that we're all quarantine, and now that comic books themselves have also been quarantined for the foreseeable future, I've decided to serialize it on Medium, broken down into digestible chunks. The first 10 chapters are out now, and they each take (by Medium's calculations) about 4-9 minutes to read. I'll be adding new chapters every day through the end of the month. If you're looking for some nerdy laughs and nostalgia, it could be a delightful way to pass the time right now.

Here's a fuller synopsis of the story, in case you're not convinced:

It's the weekend of the big annual comic book convention, and Chad Mailer is a young professional comic book writer who hit his career peak five years ago with a series that he never actually finished, and he now wishes to re-ignite his career.

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/04/06/read-the-first-10-chapters-of.html

A friend just asked for help with sourdough pizza crust. Here are a few prior posts on sourdough pizza:

Sourdough pizza crust doesn't take much work

This post is a super simple thin crust pizza.

Honey whole wheat sourdough pizza dough

This one makes a deep dish whole wheat. I would now add a bit more honey than the post recommends.

My old Lodge chicken roasting pan bakes sourdough loaves, pizza and fries chicken

Cast iron and pizza. If you don't have a pizza oven or a stone, this is THE WAY. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/04/06/sourdough-pizza-recipes-and-te.html