At just 10-years old, Nandi Bushell is already somewhat of an internet rock legend, thanks to her infectiously energetic cover song videos; she's even jammed with Lenny Kravitz. In her newest video, Bushell shows off her multi-instrumentalist skills with the help of a BOSS RC-505 loop station, recreating Joy Division's classic "Love Will Tear Us Apart" instrument-by-instrument. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/08/10/10-year-old-girl-performs-ever.html

It’s tempting for many young professionals to assume that because they’ve spent most of their lives posting links to Facebook or pushing selfies to Instagram that they have the skills needed to be a digital marketer.

Creating compelling content is certainly important, but if you’re not up to speed on search engine optimization (SEO), how to understand YouTube metrics, or the importance of on-point tagging, you’re a long way from ready to assemble your own digital plan.

But with the training in The Complete Digital Marketing Growth Hacking Certification Bundle, you’ll get a full overview of what it really takes to succeed across the web from social postings to paid ads to basic sales tactics that can make all the difference in how your product plays online.

The nine-course collection with more than 40 hours of marketing dos and don’ts can start getting you conversant in all the varied platforms available across the web for driving sales, what the impact of each means, and how to determine what’s working and what isn’t in your online efforts.

It all starts with The 2020 Complete Growth Hacking and Conversion Course, a 130-lecture collection that offers the inside tricks of the trade for successfully building your brand. The training includes ways to charge your growth and conversion rates up to 5 times higher, cultivate subscribers, generate solid business leads, and craft winning copy to perfectly execute your product message.

Speaking of your product message, the 30 Actionable Branding Strategies That Will Triple Your Profit are just the well-defined, easy-to-follow steps you can use today to help carve out a smart and successful identity for your brand. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/08/09/develop-in-demand-digital-mark.html

With everybody working from home now, it’s natural to start thinking about careers where not going into the office is more the norm than the exception. Better yet, many are looking to start careers as freelancers, professionals who build their livelihoods around the scope of their talent and not the fortunes of one all-encompassing employer.

Web developers can cultivate that gun for hire mentality, roaming freely from shop to shop as they ply their trade on projects that best fit their skill sets and what they want to accomplish. It’s a level of professional freedom we all envy — and with the average freelance web developer making a comfortable salary these days, it’s a path you can emulate with the help of training like The 2020 Ultimate Web Developer and Design Bootcamp Bundle.

This package includes 11 courses packed with nearly 70 hours of instruction, aimed at bringing first-time coders all the basic training and starter opportunities they need to ultimately hang their own shingle as a freelance development or design pro.

As the cornerstone of all webpage structure and layout on the web, HTML and CSS knowledge is fundamental, which is why nearly half of this training package centers in a solid understanding of these digital building blocks.

Across courses like Modern Web Design Complete HTML & CSS, The Complete 2020 HTML5 CSS3 Course with Flexbox, Grid & SASS, The Ultimate HTML Developer, and Build Responsive Real-World Websites with CSS3 v2.0, you’ll learn how HTML serves as the skeleton of any web experience, while CSS provides the visual flair that elevates top work.  Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/08/09/get-over-60-hours-of-elite-cod.html

“The way to have power is to take it.” -- Boss Tweed.

We think an 18th-century political power broker probably had a different definition of power in mind when he made that statement, yet the sentiment still applies.

We’ve all got devices all but falling out of our pockets and the need for power to keep them all happy is almost insatiable. But with the following list of 40 of the absolute best power banks, changers, and other charging accessories to be found, you can stock up and make sure your needs are covered, no matter where you are.

And at savings of up to more than $100 per item, you can even save a mighty buck or two while you power up. So while you won’t actually be just taking power, it’ll kinda feel that way.

It’s wireless charging the best? Just drop the RAVPower charger on your favorite Qi-enabled iOS or Android device and watch up to 10 watts of power start flowing to your device without a cord in sight.

It’s got a perfectly sized indentation where your Airpods case should sit as it delivers all of its wireless charging power. Of course, it also handles charging for all the rest of your Qi-enabled devices as well.

This power splitter should satisfy those who need to charge two Lightning devices plus an Apple Watch all at once.  Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/08/09/here-are-40-of-the-best-chargi.html

My friend and former colleague James Gaines, who previously explained how capsaicin works while eating a handful of chili peppers, worked on this SciShow video about tear gas. James is a great science writer who knows how to break down complicated science into bite-sized tidbits, and that skill is on display here — even if the subject matter is pretty harrowing. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/08/09/how-does-tear-gas-actually-wor.html

Charles Darwin

Survival of the "friendliest"? Charles Darwin's famous phrase may have been misinterpreted, a new book suggests. Duke University scientists Brian Hare and Vanessa Woods argue in Survival of the Friendliest: Understanding Our Origins and Rediscovering Our Common Humanity that factors like friendliness, partnership and communication are key to evolutionary success, not being big, strong, and/or mean.

Here's an excerpt adapted from the book (via Popular Science):

Arguably, no folk theory of human nature has done more harm—or is more mistaken—than the “survival of the fittest.” The idea that the strong and ruthless will survive while the weak perish became cemented in the collective consciousness around the publication of the fifth edition of Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species in 1869, in which he wrote that, as a proxy for the term natural selection, “Survival of the Fittest is more accurate, and is sometimes equally convenient.”

But somewhere along the way, “fitness” became synonymous with physical fitness. In the wild, the logic goes, the bigger you are, and the more willing you are to fight, the less others will mess with you and the more successful you will become. You can monopolize the best food, find the most attractive mates, and have the most babies.

Over the past century and a half, this mistaken version of “fitness” has been the basis for social movements, corporate restructuring, and extreme views of the free market. It has been used to argue for the abolition of government, to judge groups of people as inferior, and to justify the cruelty that results.

https://boingboing.net/2020/08/09/survival-of-the-fittest-more.html

A Japanese water beetle swallowed by a frog has figured out a great survival trick. It starts walking. In as few as six minutes, 93% of them walk right out the sloppy end of the frog's digestive tract, according to a new paper by ecologist Shinji Sugiurz.

Via Wired, which has video of the behavior:

Writing today in the journal Current Biology, Kobe University ecologist Shinji Sugiura describes how the beetle, locked behind the frog’s jaws, turns around and scrambles through its digestive tract. In carefully designed lab experiments, Sugiura found that 93 percent of the beetles he fed to the frog Pelophylax nigromaculatus escaped the predator’s “vent”—aka anus—within four hours, “frequently entangled in fecal pellets,” he writes. The quickest run from mouth to anus was just six minutes. The beetles then went about their day as if they hadn’t just spelunked through a digestive system, and even swam effectively.

I wonder it the beetle hums this as it's walking:

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/08/09/beetle-species-swallowed-by-fr.html

From CNBC:

Top tech leaders and other billionaires would be forced to hand over billions of dollars in wealth they’ve gained during the coronavirus pandemic under a new bill introduced by Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.

The “Make Billionaires Pay Act” would impose a one-time 60% tax on wealth gains made by billionaires between March 18, 2020, and Jan. 1, 2021. The funds would be used to pay for out-of-pocket health-care expenses for all Americans for a year. As of Aug. 5, the bill would tax $731 billion in wealth accumulated by 467 billionaires since March 18, according to a press release. If passed, the bill would tax billionaires on wealth accumulated through the end of the year, however.

Some people might think this sounds like a good and rational idea for a society where being a billionaire is inherently immoral because it's impossible to achieve without stealing or exploiting labor and goods. Others might argue that it's bad because what if *I* make tens of billions of dollars during a global pandemic with unprecedented unemployment and they tax those specific profits one time to help people and don't touch the rest of my money? And really, who's to say which side is right.

Sen. Sanders proposes one-time tax that would cost Bezos $42.8 billion, Musk $27.5 billion [Lauren Feiner / CNBC]

Image: James Duncan Davidson / Flickr (CC 2.0) Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/08/09/senators-sanders-markey-and.html

If the last 50 years of education have taught us nothing else, it’s that it often requires different tactics to best reach different learners.

To pick up a foreign language, some students take best to the old-school high school language lab method, using heavy repetition, verb conjugation and grammar emphasis to embed a new language.

But for others, a little more context is in order to make the learning stick. And if your mind is already not attuned to memorization and processing lots of information, you might need a different take on learning a new language.

The Complete Conversational Spanish Mastery Bundle approaches language acquisition from a different tact, emphasizing conversational speaking while you basically rewire your learning methods to be a better practitioner of your new tongue.

This collection brings together three courses, surprisingly only including one centered around speaking Spanish. The other two focus on the way a student learns, offering helpful tactics to make the process of jumping into a new language more inviting to produce better results.

The first course is Conversational Spanish Made Easy, including training that hones in teaching useful Spanish phrases that would be top of mind during a trip to a Spanish-speaking country. As students learn different ways of speaking about a room reservation, taking public transportation, or ordering a meal, they’re gaining essential confidence with Spanish phrases and vocabulary without getting bogged down in the daunting task of hyper-specific grammar or verb tenses.

In the Brainspotting course, your training gets deeper into how you learn by trying to boost your language skills through Brainspotting. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/08/08/this-spanish-language-training.html

I never tire of watching these cats in Japan.

From kagonekoshiro.com. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/08/08/japanese-cat-naps-on-a-cool-wa.html

https://boingboing.net/2020/08/08/poland-thousands-march-agains.html

https://boingboing.net/2020/08/08/frank-the-cavoodle-does-excite.html

Five million.

That's how many coronavirus cases the U.S. has reported since the outbreak began this year.

The United States now has the most coronavirus cases of all nations in the world.

Brazil is second. The South American country recently reached the milestone of more than 100,000 deaths.

From the NYT, on America's grim milestone of more than 5 million known coronavirus infections:

No other country has reported as many cases. Brazil ranks second, with about three million, and India is third with two million. (In cases per capita, the United States ranks eighth, between Oman and Peru.)

The data, from a New York Times database, is based on reports of known cases from federal, state and local officials. Public health experts have warned that the actual number of people infected is far greater.

Cases are trending upward in seven states, as well as in Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and decreasing in 17, according to The Times database. In the past week, Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida had the most new cases relative to population.

The United States reported its millionth case on April 28, more than three months after the first reported case. The country passed two million cases on June 10, three million on July 7 and four million on July 23.

The United States now tests roughly 720,000 people a day, according to data from the Covid Tracking Project.

More at the NYT: At 5 million cases, the U.S. has passed another coronavirus milestone. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/08/08/the-u-s-has-the-most-coronavi.html

Twitter and Tiktok had preliminary negotiations about a potential merger/acquisition, reported the Wall Street Journal on Saturday.

It is unclear, the WSJ reports, if Twitter still plans to pursue a deal with the video-sharing app which is now suing the Trump admin over a recent executive order.

TikTok is owned by China-baed Bytedance. Any Twitter deal would involve TikTok's U.S. operations.

Other companies have previously entertained the possibility of buying the popular video app Trump hates so much. Microsoft seems to be one everyone's betting on at this point.

Trump has demanded that his administration get a "cut" of any such deal, but nobody who isn't Donald Trump has any idea what that would really mean or how that would work.

Wall Street Journal: Twitter, TikTok Have Held Preliminary Talks About Possible Combination

‘Untrusted’ Chinese apps like TikTok and WeChat must be banned from U.S. app stores, says Pompeo promoting 'Clean Network'

TikTok to sue Trump admin over executive order banning app, NPR reports

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/08/08/twitter-and-tiktok-talked-of-a.html

TikTok, the social media app from China-based Bytedance, plans to sue the Trump administration in a challenge to the president's executive order that bans the service in the United States.

NPR News reports the lawsuit will be filed as soon as Tuesday, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, where TikTok's U.S. operations are based:

NPR has learned that the lawsuit will argue that President Trump's far-reaching action is unconstitutional because it failed to give the company a chance to respond. It also alleges that the administration's national security justification for the order is baseless, according to the source.

"It's based on pure speculation and conjecture," the source said. "The order has no findings of fact, just reiterates rhetoric about China that has been kicking around."

The White House declined to comment on the expected litigation but defended the president's executive order. "The Administration is committed to protecting the American people from all cyber related threats to critical infrastructure, public health and safety, and our economic and national security," according to White House spokesman Judd Deere.

More at NPR: TikTok To Sue Trump Administration Over Ban, As Soon As Tuesday

‘Untrusted’ Chinese apps like TikTok and WeChat must be banned from U.S. app stores, says Pompeo promoting 'Clean Network'

Trump says he'll ban Tik Tok

Doing business with TikTok's Chinese owner is banned under new Trump order

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/08/08/tiktok-to-sue-trump-administra.html

For those who want a career in video games, there’s no reason to sit around and wait. EA and Rockstar Games probably aren’t going to seek you out and knock on your door with a job opportunity. But if you’re an indie developer with a good idea and some passion, you can create a really cool game that serves as the resume that might just bring the big boys to your doorstep.

You can jumpstart that process now, even if you’ve never designed your own games before, with the training in The Build a Strategy Game Development Bundle.

Across 10 courses, students are introduced to the techniques used by premium game developers as well as the cutting edge tools they use to help each creator fashion a game that is uniquely their own.

Powered by Unity, the world’s most popular game creation engine, this training walks new users through all the basics of assembling your first game, whether it’s turn-based, involves real-time strategy, depends on managing your resources or even centers around creating a multiplayer extravaganza, this core instruction can be invaluable to help you set the framework for your project.

While many course packages lead students through lectures and videos, this package is very hands-on, challenging learners to complete 12 standalone gaming projects, all centered around specific key learning areas. 

After tackling an introduction to Unity and building games, students are quickly pressed to create their first 3D game. With that complete, they must next master the foundations of strategy game development by creating a turn-based, micro-strategy game about building and managing a colony on Mars.   Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/08/08/creating-your-own-video-games.html

Wavy Boats is a Miami-based YouTuber who chronicles the weekenders, vacationers, drunks, and other landlubbers who ply the large local waves in boats they have no business piloting.

"As Miami natives, we get the opportunity to view and experience some gnarly boat action. Join me as I capture boats ripping through sunny Miami beaches and inlets!"

Much of the action happens at Boca Raton's Haulover Inlet, where tide and ocean current can create challenging conditions even on a sunny day.

There hasn't been this much overconfident boating since Al Cervik piloted his yacht right into Judge Smails' christening.

Image: YouTube / Wavy Boats Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/08/08/watch-inept-boaters-catch-air.html

During a Friday evening press conference at his Bedminster golf course, the esteemed President Donald J. Trump finally announced a momentous step in the sweeping healthcare reform plan he's been promising for years:

Over the next two weeks I’ll be pursuing a major executive order requiring health insurance companies to cover all preexisting conditions for all companies. That's a big thing. I've always been very strongly in favor. We have to cover pre-existing conditions so we will be pursuing a major executive order requiring health insurance companies to cover all pre-existing conditions for all of its customers. This has never been done before.

The decade-old Affordable Care Act that already did this was not available for comment.

Trump considering order on pre-existing condition protections, which already exist [Caitlin Owens and Jacob Knutson / Axios]

Trump teases order requiring insurers to cover preexisting conditions [Bret Samuels / The Hill]

Image: Max Goldberg / Flickr (CC 2.0) Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/08/08/trump-announced-a-new-executiv.html

The a-X sereies of portable workstations resemble the earliest laptops, but are fully contemporary beasts fitted with top-of-the-range AMD Threadripper CPUs, up to 256GB of RAM and dual GPUs. And price tags hovering around $8000. PC Gamer:

Picture this: you sit down in a meeting alongside your colleagues. They pull out their Surfaces, iPads, phones, and whatever else. You place a briefcase down on the table with a deafening thud. Everyone turns to look at you.

Read the rest

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https://boingboing.net/2020/08/08/medieval-wine-windows-are.html