Public Enemy has released a new track and video, "State of the Union (STFU)." Produced by legendary DJ Premier, the track is described in the press release as “a fiery return to the frontlines as they take on Donald Trump and his fascist regime.”

The press released included the lyric sheet for the track.

Image: YouTube screengrab Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/06/20/public-enemy-releases-new-anti.html

Photoshop kinda sucked when Adobe introduced it to the iPad last year. Months in, Photoshop for iOS is still such a flummoxing disappointment when I need to tinker with an image on my tablet. I pay for Adobe's Photography Plan (its ability to automatically sync images between devices keeps me sane), but still need to use the currently more capable Affinity Photo for iPad, for some tasks. Happily, Photoshop's development team has been taking baby steps, since its initial release, to provide more of the functionality seen in the app's desktop version. Their latest addition? The ability send images between the iOS iteration of Lightroom to Photoshop.

From The Verge:

Moving files into and between Adobe’s apps has been one of the small but frustrating challenges of using them on the iPad. It was years before you could import photos directly from an SD card. Moving back and forth between Lightroom and Photoshop is a really common workflow for editors, so this addition should make the process a lot quicker and more convenient. Editors could do it before, but they’d have to manually export and import the updated files every time they wanted to change apps.

Now, if they'd just get luminosity range masking up and running in Lightroom for iOS, I'd have one less reason to sit in front of my computer. If you're an iPad user, moving an image over to Photoshop from Lightroom to edit, is a cinch.

If you haven't done so already, update Lightroom for iOS up to it's most recent release. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/06/20/adobe-makes-sending-images-lig.html

There have been a lot of "singing assholes" in music history, but none can hold a candle to David E. Gluck. Using only his talented sphincter muscle, Gluck "lip synched" along to The Trashmen single "Surfing Bird" in one of the most memorable moments in cinema history (but still only runner-up to another notorious scene from the same Waters cult classic).

While his parents were still alive and because of his career, Gluck insisted that he stay anonymous and the star behind this tour de force remained a mystery. Once his parents passed away however, he felt free to shed his cloak of anonymity and let the world know his true identity.

From The Baltimore Sun:

"When we had the 25th anniversary and 'Pink Flamingos' was shown in regular theaters, he'd go to the movies and when his scene came on he'd tap the person on the shoulder in front of him and say, "That's me," Mr. Waters said with a laugh. "I always considered that an act of domestic terrorism."

David E. Gluck died of pneumonia on June 2 at the age of 70. His widow, Patricia Greisz-Fultz Gluck, gave her blessing that his previously uncredited role may be shared with the world. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/06/20/the-singing-anus-from-john.html

Even if you aren’t an Apple fan, there’s a decent bet you’re ok with the Apple AirPods because, frankly, they’re just well-made and do their job with little fuss and a lot of style.

Of course, that doesn’t mean the AirPods are perfect. They’re so small that they can easily roll under a couch and be lost forever. Keeping them charged up sometimes can be a hassle. And it’s near impossible for some users to keep those things from falling right out of their ears all the time. 

If you find the reliability of AirPod’s great sound is constantly detracted by a poor fit, it might be worth giving the Earhoox AirPod Survival Kit a try.

Earhoox are like an easy-fix upgrade for your AirPods that can take them from mildly useful to practically indispensable. Just stretch the small or large sized Earhoox on to your regular AirPods and the light, durable and comfortable arm with unique flex holes locks the AirPod securely into place.

No matter the activity or weather conditions, Earhoox keeps your earbuds in place so you can move with your music, making them perfect for workouts, running, commuting and the rest of your busy day activities.

Since AirPods also have a disturbing habit of getting lost all the time, the Earhoox even come equipped with a small magnetic strap to keep your AirPod pairs together when they aren’t in use.

This package also comes with an AirPods case to keep your buds from all the obnoxious bumps, drops, scratches and scrapes that life throws at them. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/06/20/if-your-airpods-keep-falling-o.html

Without any background, the idea of sleeping on bamboo sheets may not seem all that appealing. Sure, bamboo can be made into nice furniture and pandas seem to love chowing down on the stuff, but is it really something you want to be sleeping on?

Turns out when it’s woven into a high-quality microfiber fabric like this Bamboo Comfort Luxury Sheet Set, the answer is a resounding yes. 

What you might not realize unless you’re deep into the bedding game is that bamboo fabric has been building in popularity for the past several years — and for a few good reasons.

Of course, the true test of any sheet set is its comfort — and bamboo fabric can compete with the best of them. In fact, bamboo viscose is often hard to distinguish from silk or Egyptian cotton, while costing a whole lot less. 

Bamboo also has the advantage of insane natural absorbency. Being able to take in up to three times its weight in water, bamboo sheets are 40 percent more absorbent than even the best cotton sheets, pulling away moisture to keep your bed dry and comfortable, even during those hot summer nights.

In addition to being amazingly soft and absorbent, bamboo sheets are also hypo-allergenic, warding off any allergic reactions or skin irritations that can come with cotton or other bedding materials. In much the same way bamboo foot mats are used in many countries to combat foot odor, bamboo has natural antimicrobial bio-agents that reduce bacteria and eliminate contaminants that might collect on your clothes or bedding. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/06/20/bamboo-sheets-are-beating-cott.html

It’s not a good week to be Prince Andrew. (Was it ever?)

Billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged under-age sex ring “madam” has stabbed him in the back, spilling the beans about the Prince's romps with sex slaves.

He’s under guard by his own security team, with orders from the Queen to stop him fleeing the country.

As if that isn't bad enough, he’s being hunted by the assassins who murdered Epstein - and if they can break into a New York jail and kill Epstein behind locked steel doors, you know they’re good.

At least, that’s all according to this week’s highly dubious tabloids, which have clearly concluded that when it comes to royal scandals, Prince Andrew is low-hanging fruit.

For centuries the British Royal Family has indulged in behavior that would have provided ample juicy fodder for today’s scandal-hungry tabloids.

Henry VIII’s predilection for serial marriage and decapitating wives, the murder of the princes in the tower to secure the throne for Richard III, the execution of Charles I, the multiple mistresses of Charles II, and Edward VIII relinquishing the crown for love - all would have grabbed the front page of America’s supermarket tabloids, if only supermarkets (and America) had existed back in the day.

So it’s no surprise that this week’s tawdry tabloids are packed with fresh royal scandal.

“Prince Andrew Hunted By Epstein Killers!” screams the cover of the ‘National Enquirer,’ promising to reveal “What he knows and who wants him dead!”

While Federal prosecutors pursue a reluctant Andrew to submit to questioning, the ‘Enquirer’ reports that the 60-year-old royal has been “marked for death - after declaring he’s willing to give evidence against deceased pedophile Jeffrey Epstein!” Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/06/20/killers-hunt-prince-andrew-br.html

That good good loving makes a bad bad fighter. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/06/20/dean-martin-sings-lay-some-h.html

Russian President Vladimir Putin is expressing concern about his confidence in arrangements with Donald Trump because of ongoing protests in the United States, Russia's Interfax news agency quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying on Saturday.

From Reuters:

U.S. and Russian envoys are due to discuss “mutually agreed topics related to the future of arms control” in Austria next week, the U.S. State Department has said.

Referring to Trump, Peskov said Putin needs to understand that “agreements with his political counterpart can be trusted”.

There is a growing unpredictability in steps by Washington and this is worrying world capitals, Peskov was quoted as saying.

“And it is important for President Putin to understand that he has a vis-`a-vis (Trump) who can responsibly engage in a dialogue with him on how to amend this situation,” Peskov said.

And don't forget what John Bolton said.

ABC News host Martha Raddatz: “How would you describe Trump's relationship with Vladimir Putin?”

John Bolton: “I think Putin thinks he can play him like a fiddle.”

.@MarthaRaddatz: “How would you describe Trump's relationship with Vladimir Putin?”

John Bolton: “I think Putin thinks he can play him like a fiddle.”

Watch more from the exclusive interview this Sunday at 9|8c on ABC. https://t.co/DNIhfGmMmY pic.twitter.com/mPlORtELPU

 ABC News (@ABC) June 20, 2020

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/06/20/putin-expresses-doubt-in-trump.html

The United States Internal Revenue Service says it purchased access to a marketing database that offers location data for millions of US cellphones, so the IRS can identify and track persons suspected of tax-related crimes.

The unsuccessful effort illustrates how marketing data, and locatin data, are used by law enforcement to track and I.D. individual people suspected of criminal activity.

Reports Byron Tau at the Wall Street Journal:

The IRS Criminal Investigation unit, or IRS CI, had a subscription to access the data in 2017 and 2018, and the way it used the data was revealed last week in a briefing by IRS CI officials to Sen. Ron Wyden’s (D., Ore.) office. The briefing was described to The Wall Street Journal by an aide to the senator.

IRS CI officials told Mr. Wyden’s office that their lawyers had given verbal approval for the use of the database, which is sold by a Virginia-based government contractor called Venntel Inc. Venntel obtains anonymized location data from the marketing industry and resells it to governments. IRS CI added that it let its Venntel subscription lapse after it failed to locate any targets of interest during the year it paid for the service, according to Mr. Wyden’s aide.

Justin Cole, a spokesman for IRS CI, said it entered into a “limited contract with Venntel to test their services against the law enforcement requirements of our agency.” IRS CI pursues the most serious and flagrant violations of tax law, and it said it used the Venntel database in “significant money-laundering, cyber, drug and organized-crime cases.”

https://boingboing.net/2020/06/20/irs-says-it-bought-in-to-locat.html

Apple will temporarily close a number of retail stores again in the U.S., as the coronavirus outbreak re-emerges as a significant threat in new areas of the country, reports Bloomberg News.

About a dozen stores across four states will be closed, in areas where new positive case counts have surged higher.

“Due to current COVID-19 conditions in some of the communities we serve, we are temporarily closing stores in these areas,” said Apple on Friday in a statement to Bloomberg News. “We take this step with an abundance of caution as we closely monitor the situation and we look forward to having our teams and customers back as soon as possible.”

Apple shares dropped Friday on the news reports, Mark Gurman at Bloomberg:

Apple had reopened the majority of its U.S. locations, including many stores in major markets like New York City and Los Angeles.

The stores being closed are Waterside Shops and Coconut Point in Florida, Southpark and Northlake Mall in North Carolina, Haywood Mall in South Carolina, and Chandler Fashion Center, Scottsdale Fashion Square, Arrowhead, SanTan Village, Scottsdale Quarter and La Encantada in Arizona.

Apple said customers will be able to pick up device repairs at the stores over the weekend. Employees of the closed stores will continue be paid, the company said. Apple didn’t provide a timeline for reopening.

[via techmeme.com]

Let this sink in: Apple is re-closing stores in GOP red states that have failed to tackle #COVID19. Apple cares more about its customers+employees than these states care about their citizens.

https://boingboing.net/2020/06/20/as-covid-19-surges-apple-re-c.html

This week in the wonders of artificial intelligence, researchers at Duke University are using AI to make blurry, unrecognizable images of human faces in photos up to 60 times sharper with some remarkable results. 

Or did you know the U.S. Army is engineering new AI-enabled Hostile Fire Detection sensors that work like virtual soldiers, alerting flesh and blood troops to enemy fire, positions, and other potential threats? Or that AI may ultimately be what cracks the decades-old problem solving nuclear fusion? And all that was just made public in the space of a few days.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning are breaking down walls in virtually every field and industry imaginable — and those with the skills to bring AI into an organization is not only invaluable but paid a fortune. 

You can join those ranks through the training in courses like The Ultimate Artificial Intelligence Scientist Certification Bundle. 

With four courses covering nearly 80 hours of material, this training is a top-to-bottom overview of the tools and procedures used to integrate thinking machines into supply chains, service operations, tech advancements, and a whole lot more.

These courses from Super Data Science are among the most popular in the field, with nearly 200,000 positive reviews from more than a million students.

Since the Python programming language is at the center of AI and machine learning, the Python A-Z course is the perfect entry point to understanding the discipline. With step-by-step tutorials, students learn core principles of Python coding that can immediately be applied to real-life analytical challenges. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/06/20/nearly-200000-happy-students.html

If you and your business aren’t keeping up with the times, your customers know it. Google found digitally advanced small businesses made twice the revenue per employee as their counterparts and saw four times the revenue growth.

Of course, it’s usually not that most small businesses don’t want to reach out digitally. Most just don’t have the resources, the training or the time to make a full-court digital press while trying to keep their operations going.

However, that’s no excuse for not having a stable web presence. Sourcery helps split the difference, offering you a cool website with innovative features that doesn’t require nearly as much work as even the simple drag-and-drop website builders.

With other builders, you need the skill of a graphic artist to pick and modify your site template, a developer to block out site organization, an SEO guru to find and implement keywords and other optimization strategies; and a writer, photographer and videographer to create content.

And that doesn’t even consider who’s going to be continuing to feed new content to your site.

Sourcery takes all those worries off the table. Once you’ve started your Sourcery account, you put in your company name, answer a few short questions, and link your social media profiles. From there, your role is essentially done.

Within seconds, Sourcery has you set. They devise a modern, dynamic site, with an industry-appropriate look and feel, fully optimized for your audience. Their decade-plus of analyzing user behavior and web analytics give them all the tools to see what a visitor wants from your site, get a better understanding of each customer, then serve them with the content they want on their next visit. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/06/19/save-over-90-on-a-lifetime-su.html

Funk Turkey used lyrics.rip to scrape the Genius database of Nirvana lyrics and then set a Markov chain bot to work generating lyrics to a new "Nirvana" song. Funk Turkey made the music and sang the bot's poetry. Listen to "Smother" and spot the actual Cobain phrases! From the YouTube description:

All music/vocals performed, mixed, and mastered by me, in my kitchen, on a sparkly red cheap Stratocaster, a crappy mic, and an old copy of ProTools. All lyrics provided by Hal 9000 (AKA lyrics.rip). Guitars are the aforementioned Stratocaster bounced hard left and right. Flanged Stratocaster through a Fender twin is dead center in the mix. Bass is a no-name bass run through amp emulation. Percussion is Superior Drummer 2. I know Dave Grohl hates computer drums but it's the best thing I got, soooo.... Sorry Dave. I still love you.

Vocals are doubled, slightly compressed, and run though an emulated reel-to-reel and tube saturation for a bit of extra warmth and grit. Also the first use of my new pop filter that my wife bought me for early father's day. She's the best.

https://boingboing.net/2020/06/19/nirvana-i-this-bot-wrote-a-n.html

These Ray-O-Vac LED penlights have a clip so you can pull them from your pocket and entertain your cats on a moment's notice. It uses one AAA battery, included, and is surprisingly bright given the size. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/06/19/handy-pen-led-flashlght.html

36 years after the release of David Lynch's film adaptation of Dune, that famous flop is still finding new ways to surprise me. Like this Dune Activity Book — not to be confused with the Dune Coloring Book, or the Dune Color and Activity Book, all of which were apparently released in a failed attempt to market the film to kids.

Today, I'm particularly fascinated by this recipe for Dune "No-Bake Spice Cookies."

Anyone feel like making me some #Dune No-Bake Spice Cookies with me over Zoom? pic.twitter.com/NFDv3z4FYv

 Patrick Macias (@Patrick_Macias) June 19, 2020

Was melange supposed to taste like cinnamon and coconut? That doesn't strike me as a very exotic, out-of-this-world spice flavor. Was this supposed to tantalize children like a gateway drug to lead them towards the addictions of hallucinogenic-induced space navigation skills and telepathy? And why should the Kwisatz-Haderach need parental assistance to melt the butter in a saucepan? Children must not fear! Fear is the mindkiller!

Perhaps these cookies are the little death that brings total obliteration. Only one way to find out.

(If you want to get a closer look inside these weird childrens' books, check out this post from Coilhouse)

Image via YouTube Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/06/19/a-childrens-book-recipe-for.html

The summer solstice is important to the Burning Man community, as its when the first Burning Man event happened on San Francisco's Baker some 34 years ago. For this year's anniversary, Larry: the Burning Man Story, a new film about its Stetson-wearing founder Larry Harvey, will premiere through three live online screenings held in three time zones (details below). A live Q&A session will follow each screening. Suggested donation is $10 and all proceeds will support Burning Man Project.

Produced by Profiles in Dust in collaboration with Burning Man Project, the new film Larry: A Burning Man Story chronicles the life and influence of Burning Man’s iconic founder, featuring never-before-seen archival footage and interviews with Larry’s friends, family and colleagues.

Premiere times:

Screening 1: Asia/Pacific Saturday, June 20 at 04:00 GMT (9PM PDT) 12:00 in Beijing (June 21) 13:00 in Tokyo (June 21) 14:00 in Sydney (June 21)

Screening 2: Europe/Mideast/Africa Sunday, June 21 at 16:00 GMT (9AM PDT) 17:00 in London 18:00 in Berlin 19:00 in Tel Aviv

Screening 3: The Americas Sunday, June 21 at 20:00 GMT (1PM PDT) 13:00 in San Francisco 16:00 in New York 17:00 in Rio de Janeiro

https://boingboing.net/2020/06/19/larry-the-burning-man-story.html

Adrian Brandon is a Seattle-raised and Brooklyn-based visual artist, whose "Stolen" collection was originally displayed at his first public solo show in November 2019 at 263 Bowery in New York. It's stunning visual art project both in its concept, and its execution. I'll allow the artist to explain:

This series is dedicated to the many black people that were robbed of their lives at the hands of the police. In addition to using markers and pencil, I use time as a medium to define how long each portrait is colored in. 1 year of life = 1 minute of color. Tamir Rice was 12 when he was murdered, so I colored his portrait for 12 minutes. As a person of color, I know that my future can be stolen from me if I’m driving with a broken taillight, or playing my music too loud, or reaching for my phone at the wrong time. So for each of these portraits I played with the harsh relationship between time and death. I want the viewer to see how much empty space is left in these lives, stories that will never be told, space that can never be filled. This emptiness represents holes in their families and our community, who will be forever stuck with the question, “who were they becoming?” This series touches on grief and the unknown.

Brandon's pen-and-ink work is phenomenal. But when you see how much — or how little — color art is added to the lives of these people of color, it really drives the point home. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/06/19/a-powerful-portrait-series-of.html

My pals Brittany High and Rob Schulte invited me to be a guest on their podcast, The TV Show Show. The premise is simple — scrutinize your way through a classic TV episode. My pick, because the first few seasons were such an influence on me, was the very first episode of MTV's The Real World (1992). Listen to us pick it apart minute by minute. Things start getting real, ahem.

When did you start saying “butt?” The Zine Queen Rusty Blazenhoff of Boing Boing and Rusty’s Electric Dreams joins us to talk about the very first episode of The Real World — and surprisingly things stayed pretty polite! Rusty lets us in on an MTV website secret and we all admire the show's first and possibly only bubble bath confessional.

If you want to watch the episode, head to MTV. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/06/19/podcast-listen-to-me-dissect.html

There's no way to explain this any better the creator, Franzoli Electronics, explains it in the description:

The main loud music really comes from the tesla coil sparks. They are literally playing the music due to the programmed phase, pulse width and firing frequency! So, there are no speakers, no audio / video special effects. It looks even better in person and sounds almost the same, just without the beat / percussion backing track.

https://boingboing.net/2020/06/19/africa-by-toto-performed-e.html

On this Juneteenth, I thought I'd share two things I've just learned:

1. It's not ok to use the word "slave." It's dehumanizing. We should use "enslaved" instead. Watch the video with Ta-Nehisi Coates and Oprah to understand why better.

2. It's time we start using a capital B for Black:

...Temple University journalism professor Lori L. Tharps had this to say: “When speaking of a culture, ethnicity or group of people, the name should be capitalized. Black with a capital B refers to people of the African diaspora. Lowercase black is simply a color.”

Tharps’s argument highlights the fact that Black people have a common cultural identity of history, art, community, and shared experiences. Most Black Americans lack a specific geographic identity, as they are unable to conclusively trace roots back to a specific country of origin due to enslavement. That lack of shared geography is actually part of what binds Black people together. And while “African American” is a fine terminology choice, it is sometimes considered inadequately representative by Black Americans with recent Caribbean or British lineage, for example, or those who have recently emigrated to the United States from Africa.

Thanks, A! Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/06/19/its-not-ok-to-use-the-term.html