Petnet is a $300 internet-of-things pet food bowl. Its network went down and stayed down for a week, leaving some pets to go hungry. The BBC reports that owners are livid and that it's not the first trouble Petnet's had maintaining service.

Petnet has two Twitter accounts. The official one has not tweeted since 30 August 2019 but the support account issued four tweets between 14 and 21 February about the problems experienced. In its first tweet it said a "system outage" was affecting second generation devices and asked customers not to switch off their feeder even if it appeared to be offline. ... On 21 February it said smartfeeders were "returning online" and a "system reset" was in progress.

The Petnet has dismal reviews on Amazon, where the Wopet is the clear favorite: a plain old automatic feeder, no internet required.

PREVIOUSLY: Smart pet food bowl closes when pets overeat. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/27/internet-of-starving-pets-ani.html

Assembling LEGO's official Star Destroyer kit [Amazon] is no mean feat: it has nearly 4,800 pieces and retails for $700. But Matt Benner, aka TheBrickWiz, went 30,000 better, constructing a collossal Star Wars spaceship to put the fear of Vader into any rebel fool enough to fall into its gravity well. He even made the interior  check out the conference room (below)! Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/27/huge-35000-piece-lego-star-de.html

In January of 2018, I was hired by the Civic Ensemble of Ithaca, New York to take part in a fascinating playwriting opportunity. The company had started a ReEntry Theatre program in 2015, teaming with state social services to implement a theatre education curriculum to help people dealing with incarceration and substance abuse rehabilitation to transition back into society. In the past, the program participants had written their own monologues and brief scenes, along with learning some improv exercises. But they brought me in to work with those program participants, and all the raw material they'd produce, and turn that into a full-length play—a singular, cohesive vision that was lightly fictionalized but drawn directly from the participants' real experiences dealing with prison and addiction.

The result, Streets Like This, had its world premiere in May of 2018. But now the company is re-mounting it at the Cherry Artspace (also in Ithaca) from March 12-22, 2020.

Working on this play was a very cool experience. The program participants were all people who had seen a lot of shit, but also had some incredibly deep empathy but for what they and others like them had gone through. Many of them possessed an intuitive understanding of the complex systemic issues that drove them into the desperation — the violence, drugs, sex work, and petty crime — that landed them in prison in the first place. And having been through prison — sometimes more than once — they also had a better understanding of the ways that the system is set up to fail people just like them. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/27/a-new-play-lets-formerly-incar.html

Today on "Every Single Expectation of Gradual Fascist Action Under the Trump Administration Has Continued Coming True:"

The Department of Justice today announced the creation of a section dedicated to investigating and litigating revocation of naturalization.  The Denaturalization Section will join the existing sections within the Civil Division’s Office of Immigration Litigation—the District Court Section and the Appellate Section.  This move underscores the Department’s commitment to bring justice to terrorists, war criminals, sex offenders, and other fraudsters who illegally obtained naturalization.

I generally try to avoid slippery slope arguments as they are a logical fallacy. But this one is particularly concerning. Take it in good faith, and there's still the issue of "de-naturalizing" people from countries like Tibet, or the Kingdom of Fiji, or Czechoslovakia,  or the United Arab Republic, or the Catalan Republic — nation-states that technically no longer exist, but from which naturalized US citizens could have possibly emigrated.

And then there are the worst-case scenarios: who could trust that the government would limit these cases to terrorists and sex offenders, and who gets to define what constitutes terrorism or a sex offense?

This is a dangerous nativist agenda no matter what way you slice it,

The Department of Justice Creates Section Dedicated to Denaturalization Cases [US Department of Justice]

Image: U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Tracy L. DeMarco / Public Domain, depicting a military spouse becoming a military spouse receiving her naturalized US citizenship on foreign soil. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/27/the-us-department-of-justice-h.html

Whether you're managing a political campaign or building a client base, there comes a time when you stop seeing people and start seeing numbers.

This doesn't happen suddenly. You shake hands, make calls, and build relationships. And then those relationships disappear into a database of donors or customers as your organization grows. People get brought in to manage those databases, and those databases fragment off into countless little spreadsheets.

That's how the people that were once your supporters end up with faceless emails, impersonal calls, and tedious forms that ask for information you already have. And that's how they stop becoming your supporters.

That's why services like the one that NationBuilder is providing are more crucial than ever. They allow you to manage your contacts in integrated databases that actually foster communication and allow for on the-fly-customization based on their interests and prior interactions.

In other words, it allows you to treat "your people" like people.

All of this is done on a website that you can build from the ground up in minutes with NationBuilder's ready-made templates. Plus, NationBuilder sets you up with tools to help you inspire, capture, and seamlessly track actions across your page.

NationBuilder also empowers you to maintain real, meaningful connections with your supporters by way of personalized email and text to supporters based on their interests and history with you.

They're currently doing a 14-day free trial of NationBuilder, but Boing Boing readers can get a free month after that trial ends. If you're doing any kind of community engagement, it's definitely worth a look. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/26/building-a-movement-nationbui-2.html

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/26/coronavirus-first-possible-pe.html

A Korean Air flight attendant has tested positive for coronavirus, and they worked on flights between Seoul and Los Angeles, South Korean media outlets reported on Wednesday afternoon U.S. time.

The Korean Air cabin crew member diagnosed with coronavirus today flew home to South Korea from Los Angeles on February 19 https://t.co/ugf1TsmW3s

 Steve Lookner (@lookner) February 25, 2020

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said Wednesday the crew member worked on a Korean Air KE958 flight from Israel to Incheon, February 15-16.

The passengers included a South Korea tour group from which 31 coronavirus cases originated, medical reports say.

Other KA routes and flights the employee with coronavirus may have traveled have not yet been identified.

SEOUL, Feb 27 (Reuters) - A Korean Air flight attendant who has tested positive for coronavirus had worked on flights between Seoul and Los Angeles, local media reported.

 Vincent Lee (@Rover829) February 27, 2020

From Reuters:

Korean Air has referred all inquiries about the employee’s itinerary to KCDC, as the authority in charge, adding “We will continue to work closely with the relevant authorities to ensure the safety of our passengers and employees.”

#BREAKING: A @KoreanAir flight attendant was diagnosed with #coronavirus shortly after working on a flight to Los Angeles, per South Korean media @ABC7 https://t.co/3qmPdcNFuH

 Veronica Miracle (@ABC7Veronica) February 26, 2020

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/26/korean-air-crew-member-who-fle.html

Thank you for reading -- After eight years on Boing Boing, the John Wilcock story will conclude next week! -- From John Wilcock, New York Years, by Ethan Persoff and Scott Marshall -- (See all Boing Boing installments) Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/26/john-wilcock-a-smoke-bomb-at.html

“The risk to the American people remains very low,” Trump said, flanked by VP Pence and US public health officials.

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/26/cdc-coronavirus-is-inevitab.html

On Vsauce2, Kevin Lieber explains the mathematical magic that enables mentalists to confound audiences by correctly guessing the number they've picked. Even though I know how it's done, it still confounds me.

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/26/pick-a-number-and-ill-gues.html

Writer William Mersey was sent to prison for tax fraud, and spent time at New York City's Rikers Island a few months ago. In this Daily Beast article, he describes what life at Rikers will be like for rapist Harvey Weinstein.

I suspect the shock of being found guilty of rape in the third degree and sexual assault in the first degree Monday and immediately cuffed and taken into custody by court officers is what led to the heart palpitations that caused the ambulance transporting him to Rikers to be diverted to the prison ward of Bellevue Hospital. Weinstein, who’d avoided any time behind bars until now, should steel himself; there are more shocks to come once he recovers from his post-conviction fit of the vapors.

When I left the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) for Rikers, I was handcuffed, shackled at the ankles, and placed in a tiny, claustrophobic plastic cubicle in the back of a Ford van to bump and bruise my way to the inmate island. He should hope he’s tied to his seat and not given a rough ride like I was.

Photo of Rikers Island by U.S. Geological Survey, conversion to PNG by uploader (Herr Satz). - The National Map Seamless Server, layer New York City (Mar 2006), latitude 40.79930093 to 40.78455349, longitude -73.89361276 to -73.86990631.Converted from GeoTIFF to PNG using GIMP., Public Domain, Link | Photo of Harvey Weinstein by Georges Biard, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=63418391 Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/26/harvey-weinstein-isnt-going.html

Trump's campaign filed a lawsuit against The New York Times today, claiming unspecified "millions" of dollars in damage for a 2019 op-ed, reports CNBC:

Among other things, the suit alleges that the newspaper “has engaged in a systematic pattern of bias” against Trump’s campaign, which is designed to damage the campaign’s reputation and cause it to fail.

A Times spokesman said, “The Trump Campaign has turned to the courts to try to punish an opinion writer for having an opinion they find unacceptable.”

“Fortunately, the law protects the right of Americans to express their judgments and conclusions, especially about events of public importance. We look forward to vindicating that right in this case,” the spokesman said.

Photo by St'ephan Valentin on Unsplash Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/26/trumps-campaign-is-suing-the.html

Learning to ride a bike is one of those quintessential childhood experiences that's as rewarding as it is scary. Prep your precious babe for success by starting them early with the world's lightest balance bike, the Brilrider FLIGHT.

For the uninitiated, balance bikes are no-pedal bicycles that propel forward by pushing off the ground with the feet, a la the Flintstones. Stopping, too, is accomplished by foot, which kids tend to do naturally anyway. (Hands up if you're stopping like that to this day... *raises hand*)

They're way easier for a toddler to learn than a traditional bike + training wheels setup, thanks to their uncomplicated design that eliminates intimidation while helping little ones gain confidence and independence as they focus on simply balancing. Most babies can balance by the age of 2, so once they get their road-legs they'll be set for a faster transition to a standard bike, no training wheels required.

The incredibly lightweight frame of the Brilrider FLIGHT was designed with children as young as 12 months in mind; made with airplane-grade aluminum, it's tough, durable, and insanely easy to maneuver. That's a bonus for parents, too, since you'll likely be the one hauling it around. Also a bonus? Tool-free assembly and quick-release adjustments of the handlebars and seat.

Speaking of the seat, kids benefit from its 11" starting position. This means not only is the Brilrider sized better for learners—allowing for full control and walking of the bike—but even if they were to fall, there's a much shorter distance to the ground. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/26/get-your-toddler-on-the-road-e.html

From Rob Walker's excellent Art of Noticing newsletter, this recommendation to subscribe to the Instagram feed of a convenience store in New Orleans called Hank's Market:

This NYT writeup on bodegas “going viral on TikTok” reminded me of a current favorite Instagram account. Hank’s is a convenience store on St. Claude, in the Upper Ninth Ward of New Orleans. It’s not the kind of place you would expect to have a social media presence, per se, but it’s got a very fun Instagram account. Especially during Mardi Gras season — which is right now. Enjoy @hanks_supermarket.

Image: Instagram screenshot/hanks_supermarket Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/26/this-new-orleans-convenience-s.html

Spotted at the New York Fair - a new Etch A Sketch, called The Revolution, that lets you draw curves and circles.

From Gizmodo:

The Etch a Sketch Revolution is a tad smaller than your typical Etch a Sketch, but it does feature the two signature knobs at the bottom. The main difference is it features a spinning screen that makes drawing circles magnitudes easier. As in, all you have to do is manipulate the knobs on the spinning rim, and that’s it. It’s simple, but pretty neat when you consider just how torturous trying to draw anything circular, rounded, or curvy on a traditional Etch a Sketch is.

[via Core 77]

(Image: Lizzie Erwood , CC-BY 2.0) Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/26/new-etch-a-sketch-lets-you-dra.html

In the video above, Demi Adejuyigbe, most famous for his fantastic dances to Earth, Wind, & Fire's "September" (example below), reveals the true lyrics of Elton John's Tiny Dancer.

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/26/the-real-lyrics-to-elton-john.html

How do you pronounce GIF? Many people use a hard G because GIF stands for Graphics Interchange Format, but others (myself included) say "jif" because it's more mellifluous. The makers of Jif Peanut Butter have taken a stand by issuing a limited edition run of "Hard g"  Gif peanut butter jars, which will go on sale on March 1.

From CNN:

Jif is partnering with GIPHY, a GIF search engine, to "put a lid on this decade-long debate": Both GIF and the peanut butter are pronounced "Jif."

The limited edition jars are on sale for $10 on Amazon, just in time to celebrate National Peanut Butter Lover's Day on March 1. (The typical price of the same-sized jar for regular peanut butter costs roughly half of that.)

All of this does nothing to explain why Jif was once called Jiffy, before we were sent into this glitchy alternate universe.

Image: JM Smucker Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/26/gif-peanut-butter-available-ma.html

Tesla calls it Autopilot, but it didn't help Walter Huang's Model X avoid the crash that killed him. Huang was playing a video game on his phone, according to a report issued by the National Transportation Safety Board, which is why he didn't notice it speeding up and veering into a concrete barrier. But it also wrote that more crashes are "foreseeable" if Tesla doesn't make changes to its driver-assist technology's design.

While approaching a paved gore area dividing the main travel lanes of US-101 from the SR-85 left-exit ramp, the SUV moved to the left and entered the gore. The vehicle continued traveling through the gore and struck a damaged and nonoperational crash attenuator at a speed of about 71 mph. The crash attenuator was positioned at the end of a concrete median barrier. As a result of the collision, the SUV rotated counterclockwise and the front body structure separated from the rear of the vehicle. The Tesla was involved in subsequent collisions with two other vehicles, a 2010 Mazda 3 and a 2017 Audi A4.

The Tesla’s high-voltage battery was breached in the collision and a postcrash fire ensued. On-scene witnesses found the Tesla driver in his seat with his lap/shoulder belt buckled. They removed him from the vehicle before it was engulfed in flames. The driver was transported to a local hospital, where he died from blunt-force trauma injuries. The driver of the Mazda sustained minor injuries, and the driver of the Audi was uninjured.

System performance data downloaded from the Tesla indicated that the driver was operating the SUV using the Traffic-Aware Cruise Control (an adaptive cruise control system) and Autosteer system (a lane-keeping assist system), which are advanced driver assistance systems in Tesla’s “Autopilot” suite.

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/26/tesla-autopilot-crash-driver-d.html

With so many advancements in modern society, you’d think we’d have moved beyond the butane lighter by now. A pressurized, flammable gas, butane fumes can irritate your eyes and skin, can elevate your heart rate, and even lead to cardiac arrest. And we did mention that whole highly pressurized and flammable part, right?

While certainly potentially problematic, butane lighters themselves aren’t normally a massive danger. But it’s 2020. Humans can do better...which got the folks at SaberLight thinking.

Instead of a butane flame, why couldn’t electricity generate a plasma beam even hotter than fire? You know, kind of like having a Jedi's lightsaber light your Marlboros.

After two years of development, SaberLight got it right, creating small hand-held devices powered by an ultra-powerful lithium-ion cell to generate a superheated plasma wave. On top of sounding cool, SaberLight plasma lighters are windproof, splashproof and since they don’t contain any fuel, and are completely airport-safe as well.

USB rechargeable and built to last a lifetime, six different varieties of the SaberLight plasma lighter are now also on sale for $9.99, 75 percent off the retail price.

Plasma Arc

The Plasma Arc is the model that looks the most like a traditional lighter -- yet with all the cool plasma torch properties you’d expect. It fires up in a heartbeat for use, then just slip it in your pocket for quick and easy transport.

Plasma Lighter

If you’re looking for something a little more sophisticated and elegant, this extended Plasma Lighter might be the one for you. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/26/no-gas-no-liquid-all-heat-t.html

At last night's South Carolina debate of Democratic Party candidates, Mike Bloomberg quickly corrected himself after saying he "bought" recent Dem congresspersons.

"I bought, II got them." Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/26/at-debate-billioniare-bloombe.html