Boing Boing presents these words from our sponsor, Real Tested CBD!

Given there is a global pandemic, ways to boost the immune system are even more sought after than usual. Having a strong immune system is the base for staying healthy, and though there are a lot of products people use to aid in immune wellness, CBD is on the rise as a top choice in boosting immune health. So how can this ever-growing in popularity compound help you with health and wellness, specifically boosting your immune system? Here is a breakdown of what you need to know.

What Is The Immune System?

Our bodies have a built-in system that keeps invaders at bay. On a daily basis we are exposed to streams of diseases, infections, viruses and bacteria. Our immune systems, a network of cells, organs and tissues that work together to destroy these foreign cells or particles, keeping us healthy and alive. The heroes of our immune system are the white blood cells, which fall into two categories. There are the lymphocytes and phagocytes. Lymphocytes are also known as B or T-cells, and are responsible for destroying toxins and identifying foreign substances within the body. Phagocytes help to absorb these invaders, neutralizing and preventing further spread of toxins. Out immune system also works to eliminate dead or non-functioning cells, preventing multiplication and tumor growth.

What Is CBD?

CBD is a non-psychoactive compound derived from cannabis or hemp plants. CBD, also known as cannabidiol, is the cousin to its well-known intoxicating counterpart, THC. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/07/15/cbd-for-immune-support-protec.html

Kanye West announced that he was running for president, but it quickly transpired that he had not filed any paperwork. So he paid some people to figure out how to get him on the ballot. Then he gave up.

It may not happen this year, but certainly West could run for president in the future. Donald Trump flirted multiple times with a presidential bid before his now infamous descent down the golden escalator in 2015. West’s ambitions to be a presidential candidate should probably be taken more seriously than his ambitions to be Willy Wonka.

Ballot shmallot. Time for Kanye to lead a military coup!

That said, it is interesting how expensive and complicated it is to run for President. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/07/15/kanye-west-ends-campaign-t.html

Exploding Head Syndrome (EHS) is an actual medical condition in which an individual sometimes experiences an explosive sound inside their head when drifting off to sleep or just waking up. The big boom may also be accompanied by a flash of light. Also called "episodic cranial sensory shock," cases have been reported in the medical literature since the 19th century although the phenomenon is not well studied. In 2017, the BBC's Science Focus magazine and academic collaborators launched a survey about EHS and the results have just been published in the scientific journal Sleep Medicine:

Those with EHS had shorter sleep durations, longer sleep onset latencies, poorer sleep quality, and less sleep efficiency, but effect sizes for these differences were small. Females were slightly more likely than males to endorse EHS. 44.4% of individuals with EHS experienced significant fear during episodes, but fewer reported clinically significant distress (25.0%) or interference (10.1%) as a result of EHS. Most sufferers believed it to be a brain-based phenomenon, but a small minority endorsed anomalous causes. Five prevention strategies with 50% reported effectiveness were identified.

From Science Focus:

“Exploding Head Syndrome (EHS) is not discussed very much in the media or elsewhere. Consequently, people having this experience may have very little information about what is going on,” said [Goldsmiths psychology professor Alice] Gregory.

“In our study, we found that those who had experienced EHS reported poorer sleep quality and less sleep than others. In future, we would like to understand more about these associations.

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/07/15/do-you-suffer-from-exploding-h.html

There is less water on planet Earth than on Pluto, as revealed in this graphic by NASA's Steve Vance (bio). Moreover, five moons orbiting other worlds in our solar systemEuropa, Triton, Callisto, Titan and Ganymedehave more. Ganymede has nearly 40 times as much water as planet Earth! Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/07/15/pluto-and-five-moons-in-our-so.html

This bit of grainy film footage with bad audio wouldn't be notable except that it depicts Easy Cure playing a 1977 show in Crawley, UK. The following year, Easy Cure dropped "Easy" from their name, recorded the demos below, signed to Polydor Records' Fiction label, and released their first single, "Killing An Arab." The rest is post-punk, proto-goth history.

(via r/ObscureMedia) Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/07/15/footage-of-the-cure-when-they.html

Viral footage shows a McDonald's clerk being attacked and beaten by a customer in a Hong Kong suburb. According to reports, the man was refused service unless he put on a mask.

Video of the assault was uploaded to Facebook and shows a man who entered a McDonald’s in Tuen Mun without wearing a mask, according to the English-language news outlet Coconuts Hong Kong. The man gets into a verbal altercation with one of the McDonald’s workers before he steps behind the cashier’s area and begins punching the worker repeatedly. The worker falls to the ground and the assailant then starts kicking him.

More details from Apple Daily, via Coconuts:

According to Apple Daily, neither the man nor the woman he was with were wearing masks as they walked into the restaurant. The McDonald’s worker asked them to put one on and when they ignored him, refused to take their order. It was at this moment that the man got physical.

In a video filmed after the incident, another restaurant worker is seen standing between the man and the employee who was attacked. As he tries to mediate the situation, the man continues trying to punch the employee.

Apple Daily reported that the man then fled in a truck. The employee was taken to Tuen Mun Hospital to be treated for his injuries.

Police arrested a 27-year-old man with the last name Cheung on Tuesday night in connection with the attack.

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/07/15/unmasked-customer-beats-up-mcd.html

For five years, Boing Boing contributor Ariel Waldman, an artist-turned-science hacker developed the skills necessary to become a "wildlife filmmaker at the microbial scale." Finally, she spent more than a month in Antarctica documenting the strange, beautiful, and "invisible" creatures that live there. Her project, "Life Under Ice," was meant to be the subject of her TED2020 talk in Vancouver in April. Of course, TED2020 was changed to an entirely online event. Above is Ariel's wonderful talk about the incredibly curious and beautiful lifeforms she encountered in Antarctica. From TED:

In this tour of the microscopic world, explorer and artist Ariel Waldman introduces the charismatic creatures lurking beneath Antarctica's massive ice sheet, the largest on earth. From "cuddly" water bears to geometric algae made of glass, Waldman shows how this seemingly barren landmass is actually a polar oasis of life -- if we just know where to look.

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/07/15/glass-algae-and-other-oddities.html

Last week, someone set Walt Disney World's reopening video to the gloomy title music from The Shining. This week, YouTuber Sycorax Rock has set the same video (with some 'bonus footage') to Blue Oyster Cult's "Don't Fear the Reaper." As one commenter quips, "Be Our Guest! Be Our Guest! Put Your Mortality to The Test!"

The internet is also busy re-envisioning another Disney video. This official "Welcome Home" video was posted on the @DisneyParksJobs Instagram feed. YouTuber Tony Goldmark wasted no time fixing it to be a "Stay at Home" video instead:

In related news, Hong Kong Disneyland has closed again:

The resort, which reopened on June 18, is shutting down after Hong Kong tightened its social-distancing measures following a rise of 52 new coronavirus cases in the city. "As required by the government and health authorities in line with prevention efforts taking place across Hong Kong, Hong Kong Disneyland park will temporarily close from July 15," a Disney (DIS) spokesperson said.

screengrab via Tony Goldmark/YouTube Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/07/15/disneys-reopening-video-but.html

Jeff Sessions is finished. The GOP stalwart, one of Donald Trump's earliest supporters and his first Attorney General while in office, was defeated yesterday in the Republican primary runoff in Alabama by Tommy Tuberville. Tuberville was Trump's pick; the president turned on and ultimately rid himself of Sessions after he failed various loyalty tests in office, not least refusing to put an early end to the Mueller investigation

Tuberville, a party cutout who kept a low profile during the campaign, now faces Democrat Doug Jones in November. Alabama is the Dems' most vulnerable Senate seat and was only won thanks to the GOP's then-candidate, Roy Moore, being an alleged sexual harasser of young girls. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/07/15/trump-pick-defeats-jeff-sessio.html

With all the website builders on the market, it can feel overwhelming to choose the best one for your needs. The most important things to look for are usability, flexibility and a professional look and feel. That’s why over 180 million people use Wix to create the website of their dreams.

Here are the top 3 reasons to build your website with Wix.

Wix caters to everyone, from beginners to professionals

Whether you’re creating your very first or your 100th website, Wix has a solution for you. If you’re a beginner, one option is to let Wix do the work for you with its advanced design intelligence (ADI) tool. Simply answer a few questions about the type of website you want to create and ADI will create it for you. The other option is to use Wix’s editor that lets you choose from hundreds of templates that you can customize yourself. If you have lots of experience creating websites, Corvid by Wix gives you the freedom to code and build your own advanced web applications.

Wix offers professional features for any kind of website

Wix has over 500 templates for a wide range of industries including eCommerce, health, beauty, fitness, hospitality, food, design, creative arts, and more. You can customize any template to fit the look and feel of your brand. In addition, Wix has an App Market with hundreds of Wix and third-party apps to meet your needs and enhance your business.

Wix helps you get site traffic

Building your website is only part of the process. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/07/15/top-3-reasons-to-build-a-websi.html

The writer in me always loved to play Apples to Apples when I was younger — it was finally a game that would reward my clever wordplay and sense of humor (or at least, sometimes, depending on who I was playing with). But as the ribald alternative Cards Against Humanity began to catch on, I typically found myself filled with disappointment.

After the laughter resided, anyway. I definitely laughed. But they were cheap, empty laughs. Of course you laugh. The game is built on provoking cheap uncomfortable laughs. And frankly, it does that quite well! That's all it really does though — all it's ever done. It gives you permission to say vulgar things and laugh at them, which could be entertaining for a while. But there's nothing unique about the experience, just like there's no strategy involved in shocking people with Hitler's Cum on Barbara Streisand's 9/11 Applesauce, or whatever random combination of cards you get.

(It did also require me to explain fleshlights to my parents and in-laws, which was, erm, less than ideal.)

I've felt this for a while (before the fleshlight incident), and as such, was not surprised but disappointed to learn that the company behind Cards Against Humanity has let a toxic culture fester all this time. It turns out all those racist and sexist cards maybe weren't meant to be ironic after all, but actually reflective of the company's gross working atmosphere. (Those who remain in that cesspool are trying to unionize, which I support, though I'm hesitant about how much good it will do in the end.) Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/07/15/stop-playing-cards-against-hum.html

I've long been a fan of Warren Ellis's writing in comics, prose, essays, and on the internet in general; in particular, his work has taught me a lot about the values and strengths of subcultures, and the ugly behaviors of powerful men. Unfortunately, as we learned earlier this week, it turned out that Ellis was more familiar with those behaviors than he let on.

“Based on the account of these women, it appears [Ellis] was maintaining at least 19 relationships simultaneously at one point in 2009.”

I learned a lot about abuse of power through the work of Warren Ellis. I'm disappointed to finally understand why.https://t.co/MaLhnC0Av0

 Cancel Couture (@thomdunn) July 13, 2020

A group of over sixty women and non-binary individuals came together to share his stories of the coercive and manipulative behaviors. And the work they have done here — not just the emotional labor, but that, too — makes them so much of a god damn superhero team. To be clear, none of them have accused of rape, or sexual assault, or anything illegal; but they all had similar experiences of sexual relationships built on power imbalances, of Ellis using his influence to charm them and boost their careers in exchange for sexual favors, before ultimately gaslighting them. For many of them, he was a tremendous aid in their professional careers before he hurt them — although the fact that he was boosting the careers of these women and artists was certainly not bad for his career, either. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/07/15/more-than-60-people-shared-the.html

Conservative magazine The National Interest recently published an article celebrating the technological innovations of the Civil War. While I, for one, am not so keen on this narrative framing…

If there is anything that drives innovation in science and technology, it’s a good old-fashioned war. When you need to kill your enemies faster and deader than they kill you, governments are willing to try nearly anything, no matter how insane it sounds.

That isn’t to say we haven’t gotten amazing technology from war. Rockets, microwaves and radar were all game-changing innovations during battle, but also have turned into essential pieces of our everyday lives, helping humanity even when we aren’t smashing and destroying someone else for looking at us funny.

…I cannot deny that there is something interesting about remembering just what kinds of what weapons we forged to fuck ourselves over, including gatling guns, coal torpedoes, shotgun pistol revolvers, and reconnaissance balloons. Sure, half a million American died over a glorified temper tantrum about whether or not Black people deserve to be treated with the most basic human indignity, rather than as pieces of property — but dammit, the CSS Hunley was the first submarine to successfully sink a boat, and that's an important hallmark of American innovation!

Anyway I clicked on this link by accident but it's weirdly kind of fascinating to realize just how many horrible things we created — things which continue to benefit the mission of American Imperialism — just so that we could further dehumanize Black people. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/07/15/gatling-guns-balloon-corps-a.html

Tom the Dancing Bug, IN WHICH the "Law & Order: Trump Unit" gang must investigate two cases: a BLM protester, and a traitorous villain who conspired with a foreign adversary to undermine our Democracy

https://boingboing.net/2020/07/15/law-order-trump-unit.html

https://boingboing.net/2020/07/15/cornish-pub-installs-an-electr.html

Matt Jordan takes viewers through the complex process of making a wood coffee mug on a lathe.

He says:

This has to be my most requested project both on and off YT, so here it is...a coffee mug, with a handle. The mug is made from a small apple log with plenty of burl, the handle is also made from burl but with a Pewter centre piece. The mug is finished with Pure Tung oil, this oil is food safe and provides a very good water proof coating, the only downside is the time taken to apply in at least 5 coats and then around 4 weeks to fully cure, however once done it provides a very durable water proof coating that can sustain hot drinks etc and hand washing.

Bonus video: this cool speaker he just made:

His Instagram has lots of neat photos and videos of his gear:

View this post on Instagram

Part of a new speaker system coming soon to YouTube! #woodturning #epoxyresin #speakersystem

A post shared by Matt Jordan (@mj_woodturning) on Jul 5, 2020 at 3:28am PDT

Check out his website for bespoke handcrafted items.

Image: YouTube / Matt Jordan Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/07/15/watch-this-expert-woodturner-m.html

While mosquitoes have certainly earned their title as the deadliest animal on earth, their impact on most of our lives is usually a lot less consequential.

But even though they might not transmit a disease to you or seriously affect your life, being a blood donor for one of those insects is certainly an annoyance. In fact, pest control giant Terminix found that mosquito bites are a bigger nuisance to more people than backseat drivers, alarm clocks, people who interrupt, and even those who call you to respond to a text message.

Of course, after a bite is inflicted, the damage is done, right? Thankfully, the Bite Helper Itch Neutralizer is a new creation that just might have something to say about the lasting annoyance of a mosquito bite.

A CES Innovation Award winner, the Bite Helper actually gets under your skin to attack the itch, irritation and overall discomfort that comes from the mosquito’s bite. 

Bite Helper is about the size of a TV remote control, but packed inside are thermo-pulse emitters, capable of getting right to the heart of the bite. In just about 30 seconds, those thermo-pulses pound the affected area with heat and vibration, increasing the circulation and stimulating blood flow. That actually works to neutralize and soothe the itch in literally seconds.

The Bite Helper is completely drug and chemical-free, so it’s 100 percent safe.

While mosquitoes are the most likely offenders, Bite Helper is actually designed to combat the itch and irritation caused by all kinds of insect stings and bites, including fleas, wasps, bees, and ants. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/07/14/the-bite-helper-removes-the-it.html

Over on Cool Tools, Xander Rose recommends a $10 skin stapler for people who don't have great suturing skills. " It forms the staple as it pushes it into your skin in a pattern that doesn't rip your skin," he says. "You start at one end of the wound and close it up slowly." A downside of stapling wounds together rather than suturing them is that staples leave bigger scars. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/07/14/diy-wound-closing-with-this-1.html

My MacBook Pro has 4 USB-C ports, only 2 of my peripherals use USB-C. This hub to the rescue.

Three standard USB ports and one USB-C power delivery port pretty much covers me. The HDMI port and card readers may come in useful later.

I can't remember the last time I took a CF card out of a digital camera. They seem to be put one in and leave it.

Thanks to this hub my mic and all my iPhone and Apple Watch charging crap can now be connected to my laptop again.

USB C Hub Multiport Adapter - 7 in 1 Portable Space Aluminum Dongle with 4K HDMI Output, 3 USB 3.0 Ports, SD/Micro SD Card Reader Compatible for MacBook Pro, XPS More Type C Devices via Amazon Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/07/14/cheap-usb-c-hub-lets-me-use-my.html

In a deep, gentle voice this scolding video for covidiots starts with: "Hello. You should be wearing a fucking mask. Why aren't you wearing a mask? Are you being a snowflake, complaining about your rights? Are you telling people you can't breathe? Good luck breathing with the coronavirus."

And it goes on from there, with phrases like, "This isn't about you, you piece of shit," and "This is about the people you love, and people who love you, which is unlikely that there are any..." After asking viewers to put on their mask, the voice kindly acknowledges the good deed with, "See, that wasn't very hard, was it you dumb fuck?" This Covid "PSA" for non-mask wearers is the most delightfully passive-aggressive I've seen. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/07/14/this-psa-tells-covidiot-snowfl.html