https://boingboing.net/2020/06/19/changing-the-direction-of-your.html

Delivery drones could someday hitch rides on public buses to dramatically extend their range in cities. Stanford’s Intelligent Systems Laboratory and Autonomous Systems Lab modeled such a system to see if it even makes sense. According to their research paper, it does. In theory, anyway. Evan Ackerman writes in IEEE Spectrum:

The first thing to understand about this paper is that it’s not trying to solve any of the practical problems surrounding the real-world deployment of a delivery network involving drones and buses, like how you’d get a drone to land on a moving bus, for instance. What the paper is about is how you’d get a potential network of drones and vehicles to operate efficiently, and how big of a difference that might be able to make in a package delivery context.

In a metropolitan area like San Francisco, the idea is that you’d have a bunch of package depots scattered around the city. You’d also have a bunch of drones, and every day, you’d need to figure out how to get all of those packages where they need to go in the minimum amount of time, using the existing bus routes and schedule to boost their range when necessary. And when I say “you,” that’s where this research comes in, because it’s solving a big optimization problem that involves which drones make which deliveries in what order, when they should use buses, and for how long. It gets more complicated too, because there are conflicts that have to be resolved when buses can only carry a few drones at a time and you don’t want the drones occupying the same space on the network at the same time.

https://boingboing.net/2020/06/19/delivery-drones-could-hitch-ri.html

If you’re looking to launch a new career, you’ll often see us present education course packages that will help you become a web developer or a project manager or a graphic designer. While they’re all very respectable career options, those professions don’t present the same hands-on satisfaction or visceral sense of accomplishment that comes from actually repairing a human body.

While doctors often receive a lion’s share of the praise for putting ailing men and women on the mend, there are handfuls of healthcare professionals who play that role as well, including physical therapists, fitness experts, and kinesiologists. 

It all starts with truly understanding the human body and how it works, which is at the heart of training like the Anatomy and Physiology for Beginners Course Bundle.

Whether you want a career in healthcare or just want to know why your body moves, acts and feels the way it does, these seven courses offer a smooth overview of various bodily systems and how they work together to make you, you.

Introduction to the Cardiovascular System goes right to the heart, explaining how that key organ pumps blood throughout your body as you get to know major structures and basic functions of the body’s transportation system. Meanwhile,  Introduction to the Skeletal System provides a complete in-depth study of the skeletal system, the composition of your bones, and how they work with other organ systems.

Not to be outdone, Introduction to the Muscular System covers all 600 individual muscles,  the 3 types of muscles in your body as well as the 5 types of muscle movements; and Introduction to the Respiratory System focuses on your lungs and how they redirect oxygen into your bloodstream. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/06/19/go-back-to-high-school-with-th.html

Here's the listing in Flushing, New York. As the saying goes, bring your contractor!

(Rossmann Repair Group) Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/06/19/this-beautiful-800000-ho.html

RETWEET until this man is identified!

He harassed a group of black teens in a gated community in the affluent Village of Wellington, here in my county.

According to him, "they didn't belong in this development."

According to the teens, he threatened to hit them w/ his car. pic.twitter.com/ALynLUvS9E

 Commissioner Omari Hardy (@OmariJHardy) June 18, 2020

This gentleman, identified as U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services analyst Lee Jeffers, behaved bizarrely toward a group of teenagers who were driving a golf cart in their Florida neighborhood. Jeffers yelled at the teens, spoke in tongues, shared his extensive knowledge of US states where adults can marry teens, threatened to have the kids arrested, and told a 15-year-old black girl, "You do not deserve to be in here.”

From The Palm Beach Post:

The teen’s grandfather, Tony Nelson, spoke with The Post Tuesday about the clash. Breonna and four friends -- two boys and two girls -- were riding in a golf cart and had stopped at the neighborhood’s security gate. Almost immediately, Nelson said, a man the teens didn’t know began following them closely, almost hitting them at one point.

Frightened, the boys left the golf cart and ran, but the three girls continued walking to Breonna’s house, Nelson said.

That led to the confrontation in the Nelson family’s driveway, with the man now identified as Jeffers yelling at the teens, threatening to call the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office to have them removed from the neighborhood and then denying any threat when questioned by Nelson.

https://boingboing.net/2020/06/19/homeland-security-analyst-film.html

Welcome to #Tulsa. People are already in line. Also, re-election songs. #MSNBC pic.twitter.com/P96d1HeMbD

 Cal Perry (@CalNBC) June 18, 2020

The name of this band should be called Down With People. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/06/19/maskless-musical-group-plays-p.html

We've been treated bad, talked about as sure as you're born But just as sure as it take two eyes to make a pair, huh! Brother we can't quit until we get our share Say it loud, I'm black and I'm proud Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/06/19/james-brown-sings-say-it-lou.html

These amazing creations are the work of Mihai Armeanu Rosin, a retired chef turned mad tinkerer in Romania whose nephew posted about them on IMGUR.

You can purchase them!

Hey guys, so my uncle used to be a chef and about 2 years ago decided to follow his true, original passion, art. He builds these by making the parts mechanically fit together, so he doesn't use any glue. Besides building these models, he also paints, draws and is an infinite pool of imagination and creativity. Everything he does is original, born inside his very own mind. But he is too humble for his own good, and feels that promoting his artwork would be bragging of some sort. I disagree, that's why I am showing you guys his latest creation.

You can find more of his artwork on his facebook page.

And on his Instagram.

The photos are not edited, this is exactly how the thing looks.

I want one!

My uncle from Romania just built this out of recycled old parts from everyday objects.

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/06/19/my-uncle-from-romania-just-b.html

He seems eager for violence.

Yes, now Trump is personally threatening protesters with violent harm. It's very presidential.

On Friday morning, before an ill-advised campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which will take place in the middle of an unabated COVID-19 pandemic, the president of the United States threatened Americans who might come to the rally to express their first amendment rights.

Any protesters, anarchists, agitators, looters or lowlifes who are going to Oklahoma please understand, you will not be treated like you have been in New York, Seattle, or Minneapolis. It will be a much different scene!

For context, here is an article from a local newspaper in Tulsa about a curfew in place, and other restrictions related to Trump's dumb rally:

In a Facebook post Thursday evening, Tulsa police announced that an area of downtown will be off limits from 10 p.m. Thursday to 6 a.m. Saturday ahead of the rally. The curfew will again take effect after the rally until 6 a.m. Sunday.

The curfew is the result of an executive order from Mayor G.T. Bynum, which cites both local and nationwide unrest in recent weeks as the rationale for the curfew.

“I have received information from the Tulsa Police Department and other law enforcement agencies that shows that individuals from organized groups who have been involved in destructive or violent behavior in other states are planning to travel to the City of Tulsa for purposes of causing unrest in and around the rally,” the order states.

The curfew affects the area from Archer Street to Sixth Street between Houston Avenue and Boulder Avenue.

https://boingboing.net/2020/06/19/donald-trump-threatens-protest.html

• POTUS says federal government will resubmit papers on DACA

• 'FOX IS TERRIBLE!'

• He's feeling weak and vulnerable, and he's lashing out against Fox News.

In a series of crazy-ass tweets on Friday morning, impeached and obviously unfit U.S. president Donald J. Trump says he will renew his effort to end legal protections for young immigrants, after the Supreme Court blocked his first try just yesterday in an historic ruling.

On Twitter, POTUS said he is preparing to file new, enhanced DACA order and papers “shortly.”

Here are the tweets:

The Supreme Court asked us to resubmit on DACA, nothing was lost or won. They “punted”, much like in a football game (where hopefully they would stand for our great American Flag). We will be submitting enhanced papers shortly in order to properly fulfil the Supreme Court’s.....

...ruling & request of yesterday. I have wanted to take care of DACA recipients better than the Do Nothing Democrats, but for two years they refused to negotiate - They have abandoned DACA. Based on the decision the Dems can’t make DACA citizens. They gained nothing! @DHSgov

.@FoxNews is out with another of their phony polls, done by the same group of haters that got it even more wrong in 2016. Watch what happens in November. Fox is terrible!

Another day in America. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/06/19/trump-tweets-hell-double-dow.html

Peter Thiel's Palantir on Thursday said a Japanese insurance holding company, Sompo Holdings, has committed to invest $500 million in the Silicon Valley data analysis and surveillance technology firm that serves the U.S. government and the Central Intelligence Agency, among other clients worldwide.

Writes Jane Lanhee Lee at Reuters:

The large investment from Sompo comes as Palantir has seen an uptick in demand for its products that help companies and governments manage the COVID-19 pandemic with data. The company declined to talk about Palantir’s latest valuation or its plans to go public.

Reuters reported last week that Palantir is aiming to file confidentially with U.S. regulators for an initial public offering in the coming weeks, citing sources.

Palantir was valued at around $20 billion in its last fundraising round in 2015. In the private market, its shares have been trading in recent weeks at a valuation of between $10 billion and $14 billion, according to market sources.

Late last year, Palantir also launched a 50-50 joint venture with Sompo called Palantir Technologies Japan K.K. to service the Japanese government as well as commercial clients. And earlier this month another Japanese tech company, Fujitsu Limited, invested $50 million into Palantir in the United States. Both Sompo and Fujitsu are also customers of Palantir.

More at Reuters:Japanese insurer Sompo investing $500 million in data analytics firm Palantir Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/06/19/peter-thiels-palantir-gets.html

In this amazing music video, 40 women musical artists from Ireland perform 'Dreams' by The Cranberries to raise funds for SAFE IRELAND, which supports women and children affected by domestic abuse.

[Irish Women In Harmony] has a YouTube channel, also.

This is a beautiful and emotionally overwhelming musical performance.

Watch, and donate to support if you can.

Listen/Add to your collection - https://orcd.co/iwihdreams

All funds raised go to Safe Ireland, you can check out all the great work they do on their website https://www.safeireland.ie/

You can also text SAFE to 50300 to donate €4. Some operators apply VAT which means that a minimum of €3.25 will go to SAFE Ireland. Service Provider: LIKECHARITY. Helpline: 0766805278.

A huge thank you to Kevin Cassidy and his team at Document Films for the beautiful video edit.

Collaborators

AILBHE REDDY AIM'EE 'AINE CAHILL ALLIE SHERLOCK CAROLINE CORR ELAINE MAI EMMA LANGFORD ERICA CODY EVE BELLE FAYE O’ROURKE FIA MOON IMELDA MAY LAOISE LILLA VARGEN LISA HANNIGAN LOAH LYRA MELINA MALONE MOYA BRENNAN NIAMH FARRELL ORLA GARTLAND PILLOW QUEENS ROE R'OIS'IN O RUTHANNE SAINT SISTER SIB'EAL SOUL'E STEPHANIE RAINEY TOLU MAKAY UNA HEALY WYVERN LINGO

Musicians AOIFE DENNEDY LOUIZE CARROLL LUCIA MCPARTLIN MARIA O’CONNOR MARIA RYAN SARAH LYNCH THEODORA BYRNE

[h/t @KevinDTwomey] Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/06/19/watch-40-irish-women-artists.html

The season premiere of the TV show black-ish featured this Schoolhouse Rock!-inspired history lesson about the ending of slavery in America. That alone would be cool but they went the extra mile and created animated versions of The Roots to tell the story. It's really well done and quite poignant.

Sing along... to the tune of "I'm just a bill" (lyrics cribbed from the YouTube comment's section):

I am a slave

Yes, I'm only a slave

They'll place my body in an unmarked grave

In these confederate days

It's kinda hard to lift every voice singing

While worrying about how low the sweet chariots are swinging

I could swing from a tree, but hey

I hope and pray that they don't kill me today

I am still just a slave

I am a slave in the home of the brave

A product of the triangular trade

Please pardon my ways

If I'm nervous or the slightest bit skittish

In the presence of the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, or British

They kept me in colonial chains

Tell me how to persuade them to chill

Or to save me and still I'm a slave

Go ahead, jump into Juneteenth rabbit hole.

(Cool Mom Picks) Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/06/19/the-roots-teach-a-schoolhous.html

When you hear the brand name Marshall, any music fan instantly conjures a single image: a classic Marshall stack. The amp has been synonymous with live performance since the 60s, with music artists of every stripe lining their stage sets with these thunderous cabinets. 

Even when you close your eyes, you can see them. The clean black squares stacked like a wall. Six, eight, 10 across; three, four, even five or more high, each emblazoned with that simple script Marshall logo right in the center.

Marshall amps were created because guitarists wanted more power. And while the need for audio power has never wavered, that power — as well as the Marshall heritage — can be found today in products that can literally fit in your hand like the Marshall Mode EQ Wired Earphones.

Marshall turned all their audio output knowledge inward, creating an in-ear headphone that delivers all the power that personifies the brand, despite their tiny size.

Customized drivers deliver high audio performance with minimal distortion, a well-balanced display boasting clear midrange, extended highs and deep bass when needed. 

Of course, not everyone wants to listen to their music in exactly the same way, which is Mode EQ is true to its name with a pair of different EQ settings, one for warm, bass-heavy listeners, another for brighter, airier fans with an emphasis on the mids and highs.

While music is any headphones’ bread and butter, the Mode EQ doesn’t forget about day-to-day usage either. These buds are outfitted with a built-in mic for receiving phone calls that also includes a remote letting users click once to answer incoming calls or play a song, twice to fast forward,  three times to rewind. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/06/19/the-marshall-mode-eq-earphones.html

Following the discovery and prompting of a security researcher at Awake Security, Google says it has removed 106 malicious Chrome extensions that had 32 million downloads, and which were gathering browsing history and sensitive credentials from users. They don't yet know who was behind the malware effort.

“Awake Security said the developers supplied fake contact information when they submitted the extensions to Google,” Joe Menn at Reuters:

“When we are alerted of extensions in the Web Store that violate our policies, we take action and use those incidents as training material to improve our automated and manual analyses,” Google spokesman Scott Westover told Reuters.

Most of the free extensions purported to warn users about questionable websites or convert files from one format to another. Instead, they siphoned off browsing history and data that provided credentials for access to internal business tools.

Based on the number of downloads, it was the most far-reaching malicious Chrome store campaign to date, according to Awake co-founder and chief scientist Gary Golomb.

Google declined to discuss how the latest spyware compared with prior campaigns, the breadth of the damage, or why it did not detect and remove the bad extensions on its own despite past promises to supervise offerings more closely.

More at Reuters - Exclusive: Massive spying on users of Google's Chrome shows new security weakness

[via techmeme.com] Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/06/19/google-removes-106-malicious-c.html

We’re a latest and greatest kind of culture. We want the newest, shiniest, fastest piece of tech in existence -- and many are willing to pay top dollar for the privilege of saying no one owns one better. 

The reality is that life at the tech pinnacle is incredibly fleeting. Within months, sometimes weeks, even the most hyped new technology is inevitably surpassed. But does that make that computer or device or accessory less valuable than when it was the hottest item on store shelves? No. It just means someone created something a tiny bit faster or more powerful or more versatile.

In many cases, old tech gets cast aside when it’s still got years of valuable service left in its trusty innards. And if you can land fully certified, refurbished equipment guaranteed to run like new like these Dell Optiplex 7010 desktop PCs, you score premium computing at often hugely cut-rate prices.

Each of these desktop units has been checked through a thorough testing and refurbishing process by a Microsoft Authorized Refurbisher to ensure every computer is running as well as the day it rolled off the assembly line.  

Powered by the reliable performance of an Intel Quad-Core i5 processor with 16MB of memory, it’s more than up to the task of handling everything from everyday web surfing and correspondence to hardcore multitasking using multiple apps at once. In fact, those Intel processors are only a tick behind the abilities of Intel chips currently running industry-leading computers topping the 2020 marketplace. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/06/18/get-a-fully-refurbished-and-ce.html

I can’t believe this happened in Bed Stuy wtf pic.twitter.com/H9iGPARd7s

 AIRSTEVEJOBS (@AIRSTEVEJOBS) June 18, 2020

Here's a guy who didn't like seeing a Black Lives Matter sign taped to a coffee shop window, so he refused to wear a face mask or leave the service counter and instead threw a little temper tantrum, shouting "all lives matter!? You can watch the entire 10-minute video here:

Guy loses his shit over BLM sign at a Bed-Stuy coffee shop from r/nyc

A Venn diagram of covidiots and racists makes a perfect circle.

View this post on Instagram

We strongly stand with Black Lives Matter and applaud our staff for standing up to the blinding hate that has appeared at our door. Unfortunately, this was not an isolated incident with this person and our priority continues to be the safety and well-being of our staff. We are overwhelmed by the generous support of our staff via our Venmo Tip Jar. The baristas that experienced this hatred will receive the tips directly. Burly will be making a contribution in support of the community we love and are thankful to be a part of. #supportbedstuy #bedfordstuyvesant #bedstuylocal #baristadaily

A post shared by Burly Coffee (@burlycoffeebrooklyn) on Jun 18, 2020 at 1:41pm PDT

Image: Reddit Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/06/18/man-at-coffee-shop-has-temper.html

Hot the heels of the GWAR statue petition to replace Robert E. Lee in Richmond (now closing in on 55K signatures) comes a petition to replace all of the Confederate statue in West Virginia with statues of Mothman (the humanoid moth creature that's part of modern WV folklore).

starting a petition to replace every confederate statue with mothman pic.twitter.com/jIv7Vt9VO2

 Brenna (@HumanBrennapede) June 8, 2020

Read more about the effort at Mel Magazine.

Image: Twitter screengrab Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/06/18/petition-to-replace-every-conf.html

Adam Schlesinger has long been a songwriting hero of mine, and I was absolutely heartbroken when I learned that he had passed away from COVID-19 complications in early April. He was someone who genuinely elevated the craft of pop songwriting to an artform, without precious or self-important about it.

Now, friends of Schlesinger from across the spectrum of his work — from rock music to Broadway to movies and TV — have come together to put a 31-song tribute album, covering his whole discography:

Adam Schlesinger was a prodigious and prolific songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist. He died on April 1 at the age of 52 as the result of complications from COVID-19. Not only was Schlesinger in multiple beloved bands—including the power-pop-leaning Fountains of Wayne and sophisticated electro-pop act Ivy—but he also collaborated on songs for movie soundtracks and the TV show Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.

A wide array of artists touched by Schlesinger's life pay tribute to the many musical projects of which he was a part via the Bandcamp-exclusive benefit compilation, Saving for a Custom Van. The 31-song collection features collaborators, tourmates, friends, and fans putting their own spin on songs spanning his entire career. Saving for a Custom Van, which takes its title from a lyric in Fountains of Wayne's "Utopia Parkway," is co-curated and co-released by Father/Daughter Records and Wax Nine.

One-hundred percent of Saving for a Custom Van proceeds will be donated to MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fund, which is dedicated to helping music industry and community members affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

https://boingboing.net/2020/06/18/new-adam-schlesinger-tribute-a.html

The potentiometers and switches on my various electric guitars, basses, and amplifiers were making bad, crackly, staticky noises. This aerosol contact cleaner, which comes with a straw, is a cheap and easy way to clean these components, making them work as good as new. People on Amazon say it works well for mouse buttons and scroll wheels, too. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/06/18/contact-cleaner-makes-old-swit.html