Recession fears are spreading, along with COVID-19. The coronavirus outbreak and unknowns about preparedness caused massive financial losses this week.

The Dow closed down 350+ points.

The S&P 500 dropped for the seventh day in a row, and posted its biggest drop in a single week since the 2008 financial crisis.

More from Reuters:

The S&P 500 fell for the seventh straight day on Friday and the benchmark index suffered its biggest weekly drop since the 2008 global financial crisis on growing fears the fast-spreading coronavirus could lead to a recession, although stocks cut losses at the end of the day’s session.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 356.88 points, or 1.39%, to 25,409.76, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 24.7 points, or 0.83%, to 2,954.06 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 0.89 points, or 0.01%, to 8,567.37.

Read more:S&P 500 drops for seventh day, posts biggest weekly fall since 2008 crisis Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/28/coronavirus-wall-street-ends.html

“CoronaCoin” exists. Some cryptocurrency developers on 4Chan cooked up a digital coin that allows traders to bet on the global coronavirus outbreak, based on how many people become infected and/or die.

Here's the Reddit post that kicked it off.

"We developed the world's first blockchain that tracks the spread of the virus based on it's [sic] token supply. The token supply started at 7.6 billion and is burned every two days to keep up with official WHO statistics," said Sunny Kemp, an admin for CoronaCoin's Telegram group.

“CoronaCoin” supply diminishes every 2 days based on the rate of new COVID-19 cases, says its website. The price goes higher the more people die, writes Anna Irrera at Reuters:

Total supply for the CoronaCoin is based on the world population, and tokens will be burnt once every 48 hours based on the number of those that have been infected or have died, according to its website.

“Some people speculate a large portion of the supply will be burned due to the spread of the virus, so they invest,” Sunny Kemp, a user who identified himself as one of the developers, said in a chat on messaging app Telegram.

Kemp said the team comprised seven developers with more coming on board. He declined to identify others, but said they were located mostly in Europe.

More at Reuters: CoronaCoin: crypto developers seize on coronavirus for new, morbid token Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/28/coronacoin-a-coronavirus-spec.html

Google employee in Switzerland has confirmed case of coronavirus

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/28/coronavirus-amazon-restricts.html

Bad news: Your brain reaches its peak performance sometime before you turn 26, and it's all downhill from there. Good news: At any age, training with brain exercises has big-time benefits. Better news? The Ultimate Memory Mastery Bundle hooks you up with 20 hours of proven psychology and neuroscience techniques to boost your brain and improve memory.

Not impressed? Know this: Improving your memory can improve multiple aspects of your life, both right now and into your senior years. Having a good memory will help you...

improve focus, decrease laziness, and free up brainpower pass down information that can only be found inside your head maintain or increase creativity boost meaningful learning network like a champ, thanks to all those names and details you recall gain authority on the topics of your choosing lead presentations at work or give a toast at your BFF's wedding change a tire in the middle of a road with no cell service make your brain more quick and agile

With the Ultimate Memory Mastery Bundle, you'll get 7 courses teaching simple yet powerful techniques to strengthen your memory, effortlessly recall information, and reduce the amount of time it takes to memorize something. You'll find actionable, easy-to-apply concepts and activities that can be used immediately—methods that are tested and used by memory experts, including basic mnemonic systems.

Including 7 hours of content from the psychologist who founded the Brain Academy, you'll learn dual brain theory, brain systems and neurochemicals, the psychology of memory, the history of memory training, and the memory formation process. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/28/learn-how-to-improve-your-memo.html

Darwin award starter kit

Why would someone need an extension cord like this?

Image: IMGUR Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/28/stop-asking-about-this-extensi.html

In balmy Calgary, two Weinermobiles are for sale. It's not clear if the $12,000 asking price is for both hot dog shaped cars, or the price per. One things is certain -- THE PEANUT IS NOT FOR SALE ! STOP ASKING.

Image: Kijiji Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/28/stop-asking-about-the-peanut.html

A Google employee who "had been in the Zurich office for a limited time" has been diagnosed with coronavirus.

“We can confirm that one employee from our Zurich office has been diagnosed with the coronavirus. They were in the Zurich office for a limited time, before they had any symptoms. We have taken — and will continue to take — all necessary precautionary measures, following the advice of public health officials, as we prioritize everyone’s health and safety,” a spokesperson for Google told CNBC’s Deirdre Bosa.

According to 9to5Google, Google has already banned employee travel to China, Iran and parts of Italy, and is planning to ban employees from traveling to Japan and South Korea, starting next week. They have also posted signs at their bay area offices "reminding people to wash their hands and cover their mouths."

Google hasn't released the identity of the infected employee.

This was first reported by Business Insider:

A Google employee has tested positive for the coronavirus https://t.co/AEp7Mm484v

 Business Insider (@businessinsider) February 28, 2020

Image: Nicolas Nova / Flickr Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/28/google-employee-diagnosed-with.html

Disney World's Jungle Cruise ride isn't so dull after all. Yesterday, passengers got the ride of a lifetime when their boat began to sink. Some people got soaked up to their waists while staff called the park's Reedy Creek Fire Department. Fortunately the adventurers all made it back onto land as park members helped them climb to safety. They don't call it Adventureland for nothing.

Disney World Jungle Cruise Boat Sinks with Passengers on Board pic.twitter.com/eFMx4KygZW

 D-ROC (@DJDROC) February 28, 2020

Jeez! You’d think they hit an iceberg #JungleCruise #Disney https://t.co/m3PqTlftfp

 Char, The Irish Pirate (@Yo_Ho_Yo_HoLife) February 28, 2020

Via NBC Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/28/jungle-cruise-ride-at-disney-w.html

In this absolutely fascinating segment on a 1970 episode of The Dick Cavett Show, two members of the Women's Liberation Movement, Susan Brownmiller and Sally Kempton, argue with Playboy founder Hugh Hefner about the depiction of women in his magazine. After Brownmiller and Kempton present their argument, Hef says, "I'm more in sympathy then perhaps the girls realize," in one of his many cringeworthy self-owns on the episode.

Image: YouTube Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/28/watch-playboy-founder-hugh-hef.html

According to Wikipedia, the first electrical motor was a homopolar motor. "Its operation was demonstrated by Michael Faraday in 1821 at the Royal Institution in London." I have to admit I'm with Insane Clown Posse on how they work, but you can easily make one at home with a few simple parts, as shown in this video by DaveHax. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/28/how-to-make-homopolar-motor-wi.html

I've been using iTunes Match since the service launched in 2011, and it's been nothing but great until now. At the time, I had a personal laptop and a work computer, along with an iPhone that maybe held 16 gigs. The fact that I could just upload my extensive music library up to Apple's servers and stream or download any of my songs onto any of those devices at any time was a game changer. I'm one of those people who still likes to buy music whenever possible (maybe it's karmic, and I'm hoping someone buys my music some time, too), so I've continued to use the service, downloading my preferred albums at any given to listen to on-the-go instead of dipping into my data plan.

Honestly, the only quirk I discovered with the service was a blessing in disguise. iTunes Match will upload any of your music, but if matches something that already exists in their library, they'll let you download the corresponding high-resolution audio files. I had a lot of shitty CD-rips from high school that were suddenly returned to their high-quality glory, and freed of those obnoxious data squelches on the high end.

That is, until the other day. When I had a hankering to listen to "I Don't Want To Be An Asshole Anymore" by the Menzingers. 'Cause it's great song!

Except it wasn't there. In fact, the entire album was missing from my library. I own the entire Menzingers discography — purchased music! — and Rented World was now completely gone. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/28/apple-deleted-files-that-i-own.html

Throw out some random words and Los Angeles-based Harry Mack will instantly spit them out in an amazing rap that is custom-made for each audience. For someone who can't even remember her name under pressure, this kind of improv is mind-blowing. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/28/watch-freestyle-rapper-turns.html

"Just to be abundantly clear," CNN reassures us, "There is no link between the virus and the beer."

5W Public Relations said that 38% of Americans wouldn't buy Corona "under any circumstances" because of the outbreak, and another 14% said they wouldn't order a Corona in public. The survey encompasses polling from 737 beer drinkers in the United States. In another survey conducted by YouGov, the firm found consumers' intent to purchase Corona fell to its lowest level in two years. The survey also showed that Corona's buzz score, a metric that that measures favorability, has dropped significantly since the beginning of the year.

UPDATE: CNN was bamboozed by a vaguely-worded press release. [h/t Hank Green] The press release was crafted to portray anyone who would never drink Corona as being scared of the virus.

OK, this sounded deeply dubious to me, so I went to the source, which is a PRESS RELEASE that reads like an ad for the PR company: https://t.co/dnkEK1UAd0

The survey says 38% of people wouldn't drink Corona...not that they wouldn't drink Corona "because of the virus." https://t.co/wavLy6ANEC pic.twitter.com/liKkwHAI2N

 Hank Green (Going to Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan!) (@hankgreen) February 28, 2020

As of today, 83,577 people are diagnosed as having it, with nearly 3,000 dead. Coronavirus, that is, not Corona. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/28/38-americans-say-they-wont.html

ICE has done facial recognition searches on millions of photos Maryland drivers without court approval. They appear to be targeting immigrants who sought driver’s licenses after 2013.

The access sought by Maryland state officials “goes far beyond what other states allow and that alarms immigration activists in a state that grants special driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants,” report Drew Harwell and Erin Cox at the Washington Post:

More than 275,000 such licenses have been issued statewide since 2013, when the state became the first on the East Coast to defy federal guidelines and allow undocumented immigrants to obtain a license without having to provide proof of legal status. The technology now under scrutiny could let an ICE official run a photograph of an unknown person through the system and see if any potentially undocumented immigrants are returned as a match.

“It’s a betrayal of immigrants’ trust for the [state] to turn around and let ICE run warrantless searches on their faces,” said Harrison Rudolph, a senior associate at Georgetown University Law School’s Center on Privacy and Technology. “It’s a bait-and-switch. … ICE is using biometric information in the shadows, without government notice or public approval, to hunt down the most vulnerable people.”

Read more: ICE has run facial-recognition searches on millions of Maryland drivers[washington post via techmeme.com] Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/28/ice-ran-facial-recognition-sea.html

Admit it...even having a pocket knife within reach at a moment’s notice makes you feel a little like James Bond, right? Like, if you run up against a locked vault or a sinister superweapon, all you’d need are a couple of hand-held tools to diffuse the whole situation and save the world.

Look, we don’t recommend trying to disable a bomb with any of the 10 cool pocket knives and multi-tool gadgets in this assortment, but they do offer some peace of mind in a jam.

B-2 Dog Tag: Fully Concealed Nano Blade Pocket Knife - $34.99; originally $69

Is there a more badass a feeling than knowing you’ve got a blade hanging around your neck? This Kickstarter-funded survivalist dream is a military-style lightweight dog tag with its own key-sized blade. The 1-inch blade can even be removed and re-inserted to create its own blade and handle set-up for added versatility.

Pocket Samurai Keychain Knife - $17.99; originally $19.99

A pocket knife with a decidedly Japanese feel, the Pocket Samurai folds together the popular higonokami knife style into this portable package. With a razor-sharp tanto style blade, pocket clip and keychain loop, it’s super handy.

TriTac Tactical EDC Penknife - $41.99; originally $69.99

They say the pen is mightier than the sword, but what if you could have both? This stainless steel blade and tungsten carbide window punch can handle all your on-the-spot cutting, all while housed in the body of a pen that can write in any conditions, even on wet paper. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/28/one-of-these-trusty-multi-tool.html

OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD IT'S REALhttps://t.co/MyCPm4AHi1 pic.twitter.com/kZ5t072nX3

 Katie Mummah (@nuclearkatie) February 27, 2020

Nuclear semiotics is the discipline of communicating the nature of radioactive waste to people who don't know what it is. How do we tell our distant descendants -- people 10,000 years from now -- to stay away from it? The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico studies the proposals, which include scary earthworks but also a disarming message (below) originally devised by Sandia Labs. These immortal words have been immanentized by Nuclear engineer and PhD student Katie Mummah as a "Live Laugh Love"-style sign.

This place is a message... and part of a system of messages... pay attention to it!

Sending this message was important to us. We considered ourselves to be a powerful culture.

This place is not a place of honor... no highly esteemed deed is commemorated here... nothing valued is here.

What is here was dangerous and repulsive to us. This message is a warning about danger.

The danger is in a particular location... it increases towards a center... the center of danger is here... of a particular size and shape, and below us.

The danger is still present, in your time, as it was in ours.

The danger is to the body, and it can kill.

The form of the danger is an emanation of energy.

The danger is unleashed only if you substantially disturb this place physically. This place is best shunned and left uninhabited.

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/28/a-live-laugh-love-sign-but.html

Simon Stalenhag's (previously at Boing Boing) unnerving blend of social realism, misty landscapes and alien technology is coming to TV in the form of a series based on Tales from the Loop. [via The Verge] Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/28/loop.html

There's no shortage of CRMs out there for large corporations, e-commerce companies, and booming startups to utilize. Think Salesforce, for example. But if you're running a small business of ten employees max, there's no way it makes sense to invest in an expensive, robust option like that. You're better off using your old system of spreadsheets, emails, and Post-its.

Or instead, you can turn to a solution like Daylite. Not only is the pricing structure more small business-friendly, but it's actually designed for small teams, especially those just starting out. Use PCs and Android? It's probably not for you. Daylite is a native solution for Mac and iOS only. It's designed for companies that work with clients, like law firms, consulting firms, financial firms, and real estate brokers, but not for traditional e-commerce companies.

At its core, Daylite is a CRM, meaning it organizes all the client details and communications, deals, leads, and information that make your business run. It keeps all of the above organized, and incorporates project management tools to keep you on track. You can set automated reminders, delegate tasks, and link your calendar so that you never let anything fall through the cracks. And most importantly, it can be used by your entire team, so everyone has access to all of the information from anywhere (with permission controls to help you determine who's allowed to have access, of course.)

It's worth saying that Daylite is more focused on efficiency and project management than your average CRM. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/27/daylite-is-an-affordable-crm-s-2.html

If you're curious about what rapist Harvey Weinstein did in the days before before being locked up, this segment of Inside Edition has the details. They say he spent time with his two young children and saw a movie. He didn't spend time with his adult children from an earlier marriage. The last time he saw one of his daughters was in 2017 when he went to her house. She ended up calling 911 and told the operator that her father was suicidal.

According to the segment, Weinstein, who was supposed to go to Rikers Island is still at Bellevue Hospital. His publicist (can you believe he still has one?) told Inside Edition that his rapey client is in a "prison cell that's set up like a hospital, and right outside he has guards watching his door, and every place he goes he's on  24-hour watch. In fact everything he does, even the restroom and the walls are all clear plastic or glass so that people can monitor him 24/7." Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/27/what-did-harvey-weinstein-do-o.html

“Complaints of bees flying out of an apartment’s duct work led to a frightening discovery Monday in Virginia: An 8-foot-long hive was in the living room ceiling, including 100 pounds of raw honey.”

A pest control company in Richmond, Virginia claims to haves removed an 8-foot-long beehive from someone’s apartment.

From the AP roundup of local news coverage in Virginia:

Virginia Wildlife Management and Control said in a statement that they removed the hive from the ceiling of a living room in Richmond on Monday. The space was in between tenants at the time.

The company said the hive produced about 80 to 100 pounds of honey, although only about 15 to 20 pounds was able to be salvaged. Rich Perry, owner of the wildlife control company, told The Charlotte Observer that the hive was big enough to support 100,000 to 150,000 bees. But he said it wasn’t fully occupied

Perry said it was extremely unusual to find such a large hive inside a building. He said the hive of Italian bees was likely to be at least 2 years old. He said the bees probably got in through holes in the siding and found a home between rafters and sheet rock.

The company has a no-kill policy on bees, but they weren't able to find the queen, so the hive wasn't saved. Very sad.

Here's the original story in the Charlotte Observer: • ‘Humongous’ bee hive in Virginia home’s living room ceiling held 100 pounds of honey

[PHOTOS courtesy Virginia Wildlife Management and Control]

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/02/27/beehive-8-feet-long-is-remov.html