For all of us sheltering in place, the claustrophobic cluttered workshop that serves as the sole location in Budfoot -- a film where one eccentric man quickly loses his biscuits -- may feel all-too relatable. Meet Joe Carver, an indie toy designer whose penchant for manufacturing toys using sketchy chemicals unleashes the latest character in the killer doll genre of horror, Budfoot.

A spiritual heir to the cursed figure from Trilogy of Terror, watch as Budfoot transforms from mild-mannered cannabis mascot to Exacto knife-wielding menace who turns on his creator. The psychedelic stop motion is reminiscent of the late, great, Bruce Bickford if Bruce had ever had a budget, that is. The slick production value of the VFX are just as impressive as they are revolting.

Pair Budfoot with Cheech and Chong’s “Next Movie” for a midnight movie experience at home tonight.

Starring Skinner and Henry Zebrowski (Last Podcast on the Left). Directed by Tim Reis and James Sizemore. Special Effects by Shane Morton & VFX by Derek King. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/04/27/budfoot-starring-psychedelic.html

Over the past decade, the number of Americans who work remotely has almost doubled. And even 90 percent of employees say more flexibility in work schedules would increase worker morale. And of course, all those numbers came from the hazy days back before our current home quarantines. Three months ago, the ranks of the homeworker were growing. Now, they include almost everyone.

If working from your house is the new normal, then The 2020 Ultimate Work From Home Starter Kit Bundle can help get you better acclimated.

Whether you’re working to better manage personnel, resources, and projects remotely, spin-off a new business or hang a shingle for yourself as a freelance professional, this collection of 16 courses can help you make the transition.

Leading a team or project with employees in distant locations is a 21st-century challenge, so courses like Leading Effective Meetings, Leading Effective 1-on-1 Meetings: Win Loyalty & Retention, and How to Hire and Manage Virtual Teams offering teachings to get you and your team members on the same page. You’ll not only uncover impactful ways of communicating with a group or one-on-one, but also how to identify and cultivate effective remote workers to get the job done without heavy-handed tactics.

To assure that sales stay on track when in-person meetings can’t happen, the training in The Complete Copywriting Workshop For Increased Online Sales, Small Business Lead Generation and Cold Email: B2B and B2C, and How To Run Google Adwords Facebook Ads and Bing Ads Using PPC lays out proven guidelines for creating marketing materials that work as well as methods for engaging and persuading potential customers online. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/04/27/this-bundle-of-elearning-cours.html

On November 30 1954 in Alabama, a nine pound meteorite broke through the ceiling of Anne Hodges' living room, bounced off her stereo system, and hit her in the side while she was asleep on the sofa. Hodges suffered a bad bruise. The National Museum of Natural History has a piece of the rock in their collection and, as Smithsonian magazine reports, it's long been thought that Hodges is the only individual in recorded history confirmed to have been hit by a meteorite. Now though, researchers at Ege University, Trakya University, and the SETI Institute report that a fellow in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq is actually the first documented case of a meteorite striking a human being. It happened on August 22, 1888 and unfortunately the falling meteorite killed the man and left another paralyzed. From the scientific paper in Meteoritics & Planetary Science:

[The evidence comes from] three manuscripts written in Ottoman Turkish that were extracted from the General Directorate of State Archives of the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey. This event was also reported to Abdul Hamid II (34th sultan of the Ottoman Empire) by the governor of Sulaymaniyah. These findings suggest other historical records may still exist that describe other events that caused death and injuries by meteorites.

image credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/04/27/this-unlucky-fellow-was-the-fi.html

The problem with using my iPhone as a flashlight is that I can't fit it in my mouth when I need both hands free. That's why I keep a few flashlights like this around. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/04/27/bright-mini-flashlight-for-les.html

Jerome Licini is a professor at Lehigh University. He and one of his students developed an apparatus to demonstrate why empty shampoo bottles tip over so easily. The reason: empty bottles have much less mass than full bottles, and their center of gravity is higher so they are basically begging to fall over at the slightest touch. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/04/27/why-is-an-empty-shampoo-bottle.html

In 1995 I wrote an article in Wired about the Museum of Bad Art, which showcased art found in thrift stores. I'm glad to see the tradition of curating thrift store arts and crafts is still going on at MoBA. And here is an unrelated but similar Instagram account with many examples of mindbending works of primitive art. It also includes a lot of creepy products and other ephemera, which adds to the entertainment value. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/04/27/this-instagram-account-feature.html

The Muffaletta, as created and prepared by Central Grocery on Decatur in New Orleans, is my second favorite sandwich on earth. I recently spent a week in New Orleans trying Muffaletta at various locations to see if I might possibly like one better than the OG sandwich sold across from the French Market. I could not.

While the location may be part of the experience, and I certainly do love sitting at a counter in the back of Central Grocery, drinking an Abita Amber and enjoying a Muffaletta with Zapp's Voodoo Heat chips, I figured I could make this sandwich at home.

The ingredients are commonly available. Mostly the sandwich is made of cured meats and cheese, the tricky parts seemed to be the olive tapenade and the bread. Bread? I figured I could handle the bread, and when I saw the olive salad available for sale online...

Sandwich ho!

Boing Boing's Muffaletta

You are going to need about 36 hrs for this one.

Sponge:

1/8 tsp yeast 1 cup warm water 1 cup bread flour

Dough:

3 1/2 cups bread flour 2 Tbs shortening 1 1/2 Tbs salt 1 cup warm water 1/4 tsp yeast

Before you bake:

1 egg 1/2 cup water

About 4oz each of Mortadella, Genoa Salami, Hot Cappicola. Also sliced provolone, and 1 jar of Central Grocery olive tapenade.

Mix all the starter ingredients in a medium-size bowl, cover and set on your counter overnight.

Combine the dough ingredients with your starter in a large-size bowl, or your standing kitchen mixer if you have one.

https://boingboing.net/2020/04/27/baking-thru-the-pandemic-the.html

An organizer of protests against State efforts to minimize the loss of life during the current global pandemic has tested positive for COVID-19.

Said protestor was unsurprisingly unclear about her intentions to follow her state-mandated quarantine for carriers of the virus.

WCNC:

"As an asymptomatic COVID19 positive patient (quarantine ends 4/26) another concern I have is the treatment of COVID patients as it relates to other communicable diseases. I have been forced to quarantine in my home for 2 weeks," she wrote on her social media page.

"I have been told not to participate in public or private accommodations as requested by the government, and therefore denied my 1st amendment right of freedom of religion," she wrote.

"It has been insinuated by others that if I go out, I could be arrested for denying a quarantine order," she wrote.

https://boingboing.net/2020/04/27/leader-of-protests-against-sta.html

I've never heard of the Disney animated feature Fun and Fancy Free. It's from 1947 and stars Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Jiminy Cricket, and Goofy. (It is also the last Disney cartoon in which Walt himself voiced Mickey) Above, as seen in which Mickey Mouse Goofy and Donald duck have barely any food so they must split one slice of bread and one bean among the three of them.

Below, someone re-created the scene in real life:

Mickey mouse and friends, IRL from r/combinedgifs

Image: Reddit Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/04/27/funny-real-life-recreation-of.html

Why do dogs often walk in circles before lying down for bed? Turns out, it's a survival trait inherited from their evolutionary ancestor the wolf. From Southern Living:

“Turning in circles before lying down is an act of self-preservation in that the dog may innately know that he needs to position himself in a certain way to ward off an attack in the wild,” notes [veterinarian and Animal Center co-owner Lynn] Buzhardt. “Turning around 360 degrees also provides an opportunity to take one last look for potential predators before bedtime.” [...]

In addition to self-protection, circling and nesting help dogs in the wild to make their sleeping space more comfortable. Undomesticated dogs don’t know the luxury of fluffy pillow and plush cushions—to make a “bed,” they mat down grass, clear away rocks and branches, and reposition brush. This practice helps dogs uncover any hidden threats like snakes or other critters, and it also allows them create a nice sleeping niche.

https://boingboing.net/2020/04/27/the-evolutionary-reason-why-do.html

Over the weekend Randy Rainbow released another parody song, which hits the nail on the orange head in the most delightful way. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/04/27/randy-rainbow-strikes-again-wi.html

When you were 10 and your mom demanded you finish your vegetables or go to your room, you were mad. Even as kids, we hated it when we were ordered to do something. Car insurance is a federal mandate, yet that’s only one of the reasons why most Americans would rather do just about anything than deal with car insurance.

Over a quarter (28%) of Americans — 28 percent — think they pay too much for car insurance, yet almost 40 percent say they haven’t checked their current rates against competitors in at least three years. 17 percent have never checked at all. Ever.

The Zebra wants to change that car insurance aversion mindset. The nation’s leading car insurance comparison site, they’ve developed a free, safe, simple way to make sure users are getting the absolute best price on car insurance. And if they’re not, The Zebra paves the way for any driver to get the lowest rate available anywhere.

Through The Zebra website, users identify their vehicle make and model as well as where they live. With that handful of data, The Zebra stretches its legs, tapping their relationships with over 200 different national and regional insurance providers to find out which will offer gives that user the best possible coverage plan.

The Zebra checks in with providers like Farmers, Liberty Mutual, Allstate, and GEICO, crunching the numbers and offering all the best coverage offers in a matter of seconds.

For users who find an option they like, The Zebra will facilitate the switch, working with the new provider to hammer out the policy details while all the user has to do is sign on the dotted line to make it official. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/04/26/too-few-are-checking-their-car.html

https://boingboing.net/2020/04/26/a-healthcare-worker-ran-her-ow.html

The mark of true greatness in tech is longevity. Because if you’ve survived more than an 18-month product cycle and endured...well, you’re one of the lucky few. That’s part of why the continuing devotion and market dominance of Microsoft Excel is such a historic story.

Today, 35 years after its introduction, this spreadsheet titan is arguably just as popular and vital to the daily health of American business as it was in the 80s. And considering how many competitors have come and gone in that time, it’s safe to say it’s an app you should know. Because hey, it could well be around for another 35 years.

eLearnExcel has become one of the best-known sources for understanding everything that makes Excel special — and the eLearnExcel: The 2020 Excel Certification School Bundle can help make sure your Excel skills are deep, on point and worthy of a place on your resume.

International Academy of Computer Training has trained over 800,000 users in the fine art of Excel over the past quarter-century. It’s even trusted by Microsoft itself to teach its employees how to manage Excel like a pro, which should be all the confidence in this training that you would need.

The course takes more than 60 hours and is powered by nearly 300 video lessons, highlighting all the basic and advanced operations any Excel guru must understand.

From step-by-step basics to everyday time-saving tips to more expert-level skills like must-know formulas, functions, pivot tables, and scalability, the course comes with a detailed presentation with example projects to help embed your learning. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/04/26/its-never-too-late-to-learn.html

The number one rule for anyone wishing to be in Trump's good graces is to defend every lie and stupid thing he says. Defense tactics include: doubling down on the lie, blaming the fake media for twisting their god emperor's words, or wondering aloud why people can't understand that he was just kidding. In this case, Dr. Deborah Birx, U.S. Special Representative for Global Health Diplomacy, used a combination of the first two tactics to evade the question. She did a pretty good job, meaning it's unlikely that Trump will issue a "Dumb Deborah" tweet in response.

Image: YouTube  Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/04/26/dr-deborah-birx-passes-trump.html

From national and local news anchors to Ellen Degeneres, from Saturday Night Live to the all-star Together At Home concert, we’re learning another new reality of our 2020 entertainment world: everyone has their own home production equipment these days.

Granted, it’s often just an iPhone, a mic and some extra lighting, but the shuttering of Hollywood and most television production has sparked a whole new DIY-driven aesthetic across our screens — and even now, it doesn’t take a lot anymore to make even your own home vlogs look right on par with Jimmy Fallon or Anderson Cooper.

In fact, you can take a big step toward having all the pieces of a brilliant home video hub with the U-STREAM Home Streaming Studio with 10" Ring Light and Tripod package.

It all begins with an adjustable tripod stand grips your phone to capture just the right shooting angle. The stand extends from 18 up to 52 inches, allowing you to maneuver into the position that best fits the physical demands of your environment. The phone holder also features a non-slip rubber grip, so your device stays locked in during streaming.

Of course, no video looks good without the proper lighting, so your phone and stand are also haloed by an all-purpose 10-inch ring light. Equipped with three distinct lighting options — white, warm yellow, and warm white — you can fire up this ring light and get just the right amount of fill, shadow, and ambiance for a perfect shot. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/04/26/this-50-kit-has-everything-yo.html

While all the gloom and doom of our COVID-19 quarantine realities can definitely put a damper on life as we know it, all this time spent at home doesn’t have to go to waste.

As the world tries to slow the spread of the virus, this would also be a good time to slow down a bit yourself and take a little personal stock. Odds are, there’s some area, or possible, multiple areas of your pre-lockdown life that could use addressing — and you’ll find no better roadmap to getting all those deficiencies on track than the training in The Ultimate Life Hacker Master Class Bundle.

This collection features 11 courses featuring 44 hours of instruction all aimed at striking the work-life-productivity-efficiency balance that we all seek.

If your career could use some work, four courses here will help you bolster those professional aspirations.  Create Your Dream Job: Hack the Job Search and Skip the Ladder teaches some of the most powerful, simple techniques used by some of the world’s most successful people, while The Complete Presentation and Public Speaking Course covers how to give great speeches for both business and personal presentations.

Branding You: How to Build Your Multimedia Internet Empire examines the Branding You™ Strategy, a paradigm for creating and managing media that drives traffic; and The Complete Job Interviewing Skills Master Class Course prepares you to walk into the job interview of your dreams and absolutely crush it.

If maybe your productivity and organizational skills need some attention, the Productivity Master Class: How to Powerfully Get Things Done can help you dig in on a 4-step framework for immediately getting more done towards your goals. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/04/25/this-online-training-bundle-co.html

Considering the human race’s utter dependence on coffee, it’s no surprise that more than 40 percent of American homes have a single-cup coffee brewing system. Unfortunately, most of those machines take pods made from various plastic and aluminum materials that aren’t easily recyclable. And while 39,000 of those pods are made every minute worldwide, about 29,000 of those pods will ultimately end up in landfills, where they’ll all sit for up to 500 years.

Those are not numbers that’ll make you feel good about your obsession with the perfect cup of coffee. Thankfully, manufacturers are taking note and we’re beginning to see more and more coffee makers start producing compostable pods to combat the ill effects on our environment.

For example, you can try out a collection of offerings from Australia’s tastiest sustainable and compostable coffee pod maker Pod and Parcel with a 60-pod sample pack.

Pod and Parcel use specialty-grade Arabica beans roasted in the coffee mecca of Melbourne to create six of their most satisfying flavors: Mbeya, Huehuetenango, Bezzera, Florentino, Munro, and Bancroft. Matching blends originating from around the world, each flavor producing intensities from rich and balanced up to bold and assertive.

The collection features 10 pods of each variety, with each ready to brew in its own biodegradable and compostable pod. The pod capsules engineered to work with all original style Nespresso coffee machines are made from plant-based materials that break down in just 90 days, shrinking your carbon footprint and assuring you’re part of the ecological solution, not the problem. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/04/25/save-the-planet-with-a-coffee.html

Gimlet Media's Every Little Thing podcast is based on a pretty simple concept: you call a hotline and leave a message with a question that's been bugging you. If it's intriguing enough, they make a podcast about the answer.

When a guy named Kyle left a meandering voicemail about the nature of spacetime as it relates to black holes, the show's hosts couldn't resist. His giggley, midwest-by-way-of-California-surfer-dude tone seemed like the perfect stoned-at-3-am-philosophical-question fit for their episode scheduled for April 20. Host Flora Lichtman came prepared with all the clever stoner puns she could muster in her repertoire as they got down and dirty about getting high in outer space.

Except it turns out that Kyle is not a raging weed aficionado, because Kyle is a Pastor who is already delightfully high on Jesus.

Kyle actually reminds me of two friends of mine who are also pastors. While the descriptions of and information about black holes are informative and interesting, it's Kyle's earnestness and awkwardness that really carries it through, even as Lichtman bulldozes over him with bong joke after bong joke. Clifford Johnson, professor of physics at the University of Southern California who also advised on some of the Avengers movies, is also a guest on the episode (much to Kyle's excitement).

I listened to the 22-minute episode while I made breakfast and honestly, it was a wonderful way to start the day.

Black Holes: Free Your Mind [Every Little Thing / Gimlet Media]

Image: Assnogholeo / Wikimedia Commons (CC 4.0) Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/04/25/this-420-podcast-about-black-h.html

Reuters reports that China dispatched medical experts to North Korea to "advise on leader Kim Jong-Un", suspected to be very ill after a heart operation.

The trip by the Chinese doctors and officials comes amid conflicting reports about the health of the North Korean leader. Reuters was unable to immediately determine what the trip by the Chinese team signalled in terms of Kim’s health. A delegation led by a senior member of the Chinese Communist Party’s International Liaison Department left Beijing for North Korea on Thursday, two of the people said. The department is the main Chinese body dealing with neighbouring North Korea.

Japanese weekly Shukan Gendai claims Kim is in a "vegetative state" and unlikely to recover.

The Chinese expert told the magazine that Kim clutched his chest and fell to the ground on a visit to the countryside earlier this month. A doctor accompanying Kim performed CPR and took him to a nearby hospital.

Kim, believed to be 36, needed a stent procedure, which calls for placing a tube into a congested blood vessel to allow blood to keep flowing to the heart, according to Shukan Gendai.

https://boingboing.net/2020/04/25/china-sends-doctors-to-north-k.html