From designer Nate Shirley, a "personal hygiene product intended for cleaning your ears. It uses disposable spiral cleaning heads that spin at a constant speed."

I wish he would Kickstart it!

Image: Nate Shirley Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/05/26/concept-design-for-a-drill-lik.html

A woman who was exercising her God-given right to release a miasma of aerosolized saliva in a confined space during a deadly pandemic was shouted at by other shoppers in a New York supermarket.

Image: YouTube Read the rest

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If you misplace something, say a pair of headphones, think about its surface texture and the way it feels rather than what it looks like. This will help you remember where you last left it, says Jason Fischer, Ph.D., a cognitive neuroscientist at Johns Hopkins University’s Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences.

From Well and Good:

The study reached this conclusion by asking participants to identify items in a sea of clutter. Those who looked for a given object by remembering tactile traits—like hardness or softness—won at the impromptu game of I Spy about 20 percent faster than their counterparts who focused only on visual traits like color and shape. “What makes the finding particularly striking from a vision science standpoint is that simply knowing the latent physical properties of objects is enough to help guide your attention to them,” Dr. Fischer tells Medical Xpress. “It’s surprising because nearly all prior research in this area has focused on a host of visual properties that can facilitate search, but we find that what you know about objects can be as important as what you actually see.”

Image: Jumpstory/CC0 Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/05/26/to-find-something-you-misplace.html

Bill Gates has designed tiny location-tracking microchips that he plans to implant into hundreds of millions of people when they get the COVID-19 vaccine. Only 26% of Republicans surveyed believe the preceding sentence is false.

From Cnet:

A conspiracy theory that Gates is planning to use a future COVID-19 vaccine to implant microchips in billions of people in order to monitor their movements has gained supporters particularly among Fox News viewers and Republicans, the survey found.

The representative survey of 1,640 US adults by YouGov for Yahoo News found that half of respondent Americans who say Fox News is their primary television news source believe the conspiracy theory. It's the largest group responding this way, followed by self-described Republicans and "Voted for Donald Trump in 2016" -- 44% of both those groups said they believed the conspiracy theory was true. Twenty-six percent of respondent Republicans said it was false, and 31% said they weren't sure.

Image: Yahoo/YouGov Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/05/26/over-40-of-republicans-think.html

In Cincinnati, Ohio, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection intercepted more than $250,000 in counterfeit US bills on its way from Shenzhen, China to Guthrie, Oklahoma. From Fox19:

The money, which was not washed or bleached, was printed from a high-end printer on regular paper.

Officers say the currency number was the same for every bill, and on the back of the bill there was foreign writing in the location where one of the security features would exist.

Translated, the "foreign writing" read: Made in China.

Just kidding on that last part. I think.

(Thanks, Charles Pescovitz!) Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/05/26/more-than-250k-in-counterfeit.html

To my disappointment, North Korean state media stated that Kim Jong Un did not use his family's mastery of magic to teleport or time travel out of the public eye.

“In fact, people can’t disappear and reappear by folding space," stated a report in the Rodong Shinmun, the newspaper of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea. From Mysterious Universe:

Chukjibop, literally a “method of shrinking the earth,” is described as the ability to quickly move towards the blind spot of an enemy at a speed so fast that the attacker seems to temporarily disappear. The mythical version of a concept in East Asian martial arts has been attributed to several figures in Chinese and Japanese mythology, and more recently depicted in Japanese animation, or through the use of special effects in Chinese Kung Fu movies.

According to myth, [Kim Jong Un's grandfather] Kim Il Sung was able to use the chukjibop technique to win a battle against imperial Japanese soldiers during the time when Korea was a colony of Japan (1910-1945), when he was purportedly leading Korean guerillas in exile[...]

[Last week's] report marked the first time that state media flatly denied that a Kim family myth was true, South Korea’s Unification Ministry said.

“We need to pay attention to the current leader’s denial of the mythification of his predecessors, including his criticism of them in October, at Mt. Kumgang,” a ministry official told reporters.

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/05/26/north-korea-state-media-offici.html

Dalton and Kanaan Dern turned their Apopka, Florida abode into a skatepark. Watch them shred the house. Don't tell mom.

The brothers won the "Murder Your House" contest sponsored by Liquid Death and The Berrics. The prizes included six months of mortgage payments (up to $10,000) but not the new roof that they'll likely need sooner rather than later. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/05/26/quarantined-skateboarders-turn.html

From the stately and elegant Batmobile Cadillac seen in the 1943 movie serials to the latest militaristic models, this is the on-screen history of Batman's Batmobile. Of course the true high point was the 1955 Lincoln Futura tricked out by George Barris for the 1960s TV series.

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/05/26/watch-a-documentary-about-batm.html

Popping a new battery in a smoke detector or adding salt to your water softener are easy fixes. But if you run into trouble or a necessary repair in a cramped, tight place, sometimes with no obvious fix or easy access, it can be a pretty frustrating exercise.

Since flying blind is the absolute worst, having a solid, dependable borescope camera to see inside hard-to-reach places and spot problems you couldn’t see otherwise can be vitally important. 

Right now, you can add that piece to your toolkit with a versatile inspection camera like the Sinji Flexible Borescope Camera for Android and iOS. 

Whether you want to see under floorboards, assess what’s blocking a drain, or just poke around in the smallest nooks and crannies, this cam with nearly 6.5 feet of reach can do the job.

Once you download the Sinji app to your phone, tablet, or laptop and sync up, you're all ready to go. The 2-meter cable can snake its way into the darkest of places, but equipped with six powerful adjustable LED lights, you’ll get a crystal clear, HD quality view on your device screen of exactly what you’re up against.

With its WiFi compatibility, you can also snap pictures or capture video, then save the footage right to your device. The 8mm camera lens gives you a full look with a 70 degree viewing angle at the end of the MicroUSB to USB cable. And considering many of those pipes and drains are probably pretty nasty, wet places, the Sinji camera is IP67 waterproof certified. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/05/26/this-borescope-camera-snakes-y.html

Snapdragon seed pods have a famously macabre appearance; Karin Jones took a closer look. (CC BY-SA 2.0) Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/05/26/snapdragon-seed-under-electron.html

Sweden didn't lock down much at all, whereas the UK seems consumed with lockdown theater. This chart, from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, paints a bleak picture either way. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/05/26/uk-sweden-top-daily-covid-dea.html

Matt Round created an AI-driven face generator specializing in UK Ministers of Parliament: This MP Does Not Exist. The results have the special look of British portrait photography, political culture and nutritional standards, and (unusually for neural-network driven generators) the small pool of source images only heightens the results' inbred luster.

Using MPs’ official photos, we trained a neural network to generate a whole new UK Parliament

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/05/26/this-politician-does-not-exist.html

All points of the controversy thoroughly and thoughtfully addressed. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/05/26/man-explains-why-no-one-should.html

In the 1930s, Sinto boxer Johann Trollmann was reaching the peak of his career when the Nazis declared his ethnic inferiority. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe Trollmann's stand against an intolerant ideology and the price he paid for his fame.

We'll also consider a British concentration camp and puzzle over some mysterious towers.

Show notes

Please support us on Patreon! Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/05/26/boxer-johann-trollmann-challen.html

https://boingboing.net/2020/05/25/david-wojnarowicz-1954-1992.html

Firing up the engines each morning and attacking the day with gusto and purpose can feel like a mighty tall order sometimes. We’ve all been there. But on those sluggish, why-don’t-I-just-stay-here-in-bed-all-day kinda days, it might just take a rational, calming, reassuring nudge to make it happen. 

No matter what it takes to keep you motivated and on point, Quotely has your back. 

Holder of a solid 4.9 out of 5-star rating in the Apple App Store, Quotely Daily Motivational Quotes is all about cultivating good thoughts and sending them your way to brighten and broaden your universe, one life-affirming quotation at a time.

With a subscription to Quotely, you decide when and how often you’d like to see inspiration reminders delivered as well as the look and feel you like. Assembled from a database of literally thousands of quotes, Quotely then serves up words of comfort, motivation, and self-determination right when you need them the most. 

You can set up Quotely to serve up a pick-me-up each morning as your daily mantra to help sharpen your resolve and focus on what’s ahead. 

When you’re not receiving quote notifications, you can also browse their 10,000-strong library of inspiring sayings from nearly 20 different categories, including everything from life lessons and sayings to depression beating quotes to philosophy from mankind’s greatest minds to stellar film lines.

You can also use Quotely to find motivational books, customize your presentation, share great quotes with others, or to your social media pages and more.

A lifetime subscription to Quotely usually comes with a $280 price tag, but with this offer, you can keep yourself feeling positive, focused, and ready to achieve your dreams each and every day forever for only $29.99 Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/05/25/would-a-little-spiritual-or-li.html

Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit failed on its first rocket launch attempt, which took place out of the Mojave Spaceport in Southern California.

Here's a quick shot from takeoff. pic.twitter.com/7nt1u58ogs

 Virgin Orbit (@Virgin_Orbit) May 25, 2020

The small satellite launcher's first live launch test took place on Monday, May 25, the Memorial Day holiday in the United States.

In a series of tweets, the company stated:

In this first launch demo, we successfully completed all of our pre-launch procedures, captive carry flight out to the drop site, clean telemetry lock from multiple dishes, a smooth pass through the racetrack, terminal count, and a clean release from the aircraft.

LauncherOne maintained stability after release, and we ignited our first stage engine, NewtonThree. An anomaly then occurred early in first stage flight. We'll learn more as our engineers analyze the mountain of data we collected today.

As we said before the flight, our goals today were to work through the process of conducting a launch, learn as much as we could, and achieve ignition. We hoped we could have done more, but we accomplished those key objectives today.

The team's already hard at work digging into the data, and we're eager to hop into our next big test ASAP. Thankfully, instead of waiting until after our 1st flight to tackle our 2nd rocket, we've already completed a ton of work to get us back in the air and keep moving forward.

Here's our next rocket, built and ready for system-level testing in our final integration area as it waits for its turn to fly to space.

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/05/25/virgin-orbit-fails-on-first-ro.html

The cruelty is the point.

Impeached and manifestly unfit president Donald Trump spent Memorial Day 2020 doing what he does every other day. Tweeting disinformation about the coronavirus pandemic that has killed nearly 100,000 Americans and shows no sign of stopping, despite Trump's repeated lies.

“Great reviews on our handling of Covid 19, sometimes referred to as the China Virus,” tweeted Trump on Monday, May 25, 2020.

“Ventilators, Testing, Medical Supply Distribution, we made a lot of Governors look very good - And got no credit for so doing. Most importantly, we helped a lot of great people!”

There is no bottom.

This one from Trump last night sounded better in the original Russian, as noted by the experts:

Schools in our country should be opened ASAP. Much very good information now available. @SteveHiltonx @FoxNews

 Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 25, 2020

America nears the 100,000 deaths mark.

Trump's just getting started.

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/05/25/trump-gives-himself-great-re.html

You may not realize it, but one of the fastest-growing employee benefits over the past several years is one that’s keeping thousands of workers feeling happier and healthier. Back in 2013, only 13 percent of employers were willing to provide or subsidize standing desks for their workers, but by 2019, that number had exploded to 60 percent.

Part of that increase is directly tied to research that’s shown a standing desk that encourages workers to spend less time sitting can help attack a variety of health problems, including back, knee, shoulder and elbow pain, poor circulation, muscle fatigue, headaches, and even sexual performance issues.

With endorsements like those, it may be worth picking up an item like the RiseUp Electrical Height Adjustable Standing Desk. 

This desk from Uncaged Ergonomics is all about finding each user’s sweet spot. From a standard sitting height, three-stage lifting columns can elevate this steel and wood product frame almost 4 feet with the push of a button. With that much range, it only takes a little work to determine exactly what elevation is the proper height for each person to optimize their sitting and standing postures.

Once you’ve found the spot that sings for you, the memory keypad can lock it in, one of four positions the desk can memorize and serve up for immediate adjustment.

The dual powerful motors raise and lower the desk quickly and smoothly, all while holding up to 250 pounds on your desktop, more than enough to hoist a computer monitor, phone, and other assorted desk bric-a-brac with no problem. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/05/25/sitting-all-day-can-be-a-kille.html

White House adviser Kevin Hassett said the quiet part out loud just now: “Our human capital stock is ready to go back to work.”

White House adviser Kevin Hassett: "Our human capital stock is ready to go back to work." #HumanCapitalStock pic.twitter.com/Yl9KwJf6KP

 Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 25, 2020

[Captured by Vox media journalist Aaron Rupar] Read the rest

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