It's hard to believe some of the shocking responses some people are having to the coronavirus pandemic.

I mean, wow.

Some young people who are still partying on spring break in Miami, despite public health warnings to basically stay at home and physically distance from one another, were interviewed by CBS News.

I repeat:

Wow.

“If I get corona, I get corona. At the end of the day, I'm not gonna let it stop me from partying”: Spring breakers are still flocking to Miami, despite coronavirus warnings. https://t.co/KoYKI8zNDH pic.twitter.com/rfPfea1LrC

 CBS News (@CBSNews) March 18, 2020

I can't even.

Says Aaron Rupar of Vox, “CBS’s interviews with spring breakers in Miami who refuse to stop partying despite a pandemic are like deleted scenes from Idiocracy.”

CBS’s interviews with spring breakers in Miami who refuse to stop partying despite a pandemic are like deleted scenes from Idiocracy pic.twitter.com/mnNOJ5MkZ4

 Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 18, 2020

[via @GreatDismal] Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/03/18/what-me-coronavirus-worry-me.html

Oh no, not this crap again

https://boingboing.net/2020/03/18/trump-to-visit-fema-do-corona.html

Twenty-four human beings have traveled from Earth to the moon. Fewer than half of them remain.

Astronaut Al Worden, who flew to the moon in 1971 as a member of the Apollo 15 crew, has died. The retired astronaut was 88.

Worden circled the moon alone on that mission, while his two crewmates test-drove the first lunar rover.

From NASA:

Worden served as command module pilot for Apollo 15 with Dave Scott and Jim Irwin. During the mission Worden became the first human to carry out a deep space walk. He logged 38 minutes in extravehicular activity outside the command module, "Endeavour."

During 1972-1973, Worden was Senior Aerospace Scientist at the NASA Ames Research Center, and from 1973 to 1975, he was chief of the Systems Study Division at Ames.

BELOW, "Cycle," a poem by Al Worden:

Umbilicals Breaking free Being born Eternity.

Growing Up Getting wise Being worldly No surprise.

Learn to fly Getting wings Rise above Those earthly things."

Reactions to and official announcements of his death, below.

Houston, Texas March 18, 2020 – It is with great sadness that the family of Colonel Al Worden, (USAF Ret.) CMP Apollo 15 share the news that “Al” died in his sleep last night. The family thank you all for your kindness, thoughts, and prayers. pic.twitter.com/K82iUyVbjm

 Alfred M Worden (@WordenAlfred) March 18, 2020

"Only 24 humans have left Earth orbit and journeyed to the moon. I'm one of the them. It's an exclusive club so small that I am still surprised they let me in."

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/03/18/apollo-15-astronaut-al-worden.html

Ben McAdams of Utah is the second member of Congress to officially test positive for the new coronavirus

https://boingboing.net/2020/03/18/now-there-are-2-coronavirus-ca.html

In case you needed any more proof that America desperately needs more cybersecurity specialists, look no further than the U.S. Congress. Just this week, the release of a year-long congressional study of America’s cyber defense capabilities showed the nation was still “ill prepared” to fend off cyberattacks and requires a full overhaul of its entire cyberoperations strategy.

Whether you’re the U.S. military, an American company or just an organization that doesn’t want to fall prey to hackers and other cyber-criminals, you’re undoubtedly looking for trained and qualified professionals up to the task of keeping your digital systems safe. The training in The A-to-Z Cybersecurity Developer Bundle offers hours of introductory and advanced instruction in the areas where security specialists need it the most.

This 10-course, 170-hour massive collection is as comprehensive as security training comes, packed with basic training as well as in-depth advanced tactics for handling most of the challenges an IT security expert faces on the job.

A pair of courses spend almost 60 hours on ethical hacking and penetration testing, ensuring students have the most up-to-date training available in identifying system vulnerabilities and how to exploit those flaws to ultimately make any system as impervious as possible to attack.

Three of these courses are directly designed to help new students pass three critical CompTIA security exams — CompTIA PenTest+ (PT0-001), CompTIA Security+ (SY0-501), and CompTIA Cybersecurity Analyst (CySA+) — each an elite certification for any aspiring IT pro.

Meanwhile, another 46 hours of coursework will lead students toward accreditation in three more important cybersecurity roles as a Certified Information Security Manager (CISM), Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), or Certified Information Systems Security Pro (CISSP). Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/03/18/this-massive-cybersecurity-tra.html

Don't be like Wez. Know your poop-roll prognosis for the coming coronapocalypse. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/03/18/max-size-toilet-rolls-spotted.html

Immigration and Customs Enforcement to halt most arrests until after coronavirus crisis

https://boingboing.net/2020/03/18/coronavirus-ice-to-stop-arres.html

Tesla has agreed to cut down on the number of active workers inside Elon Musk's electric vehicle factory in Fremont, CA, but authorities say they have yet to comply with other coronavirus lockdown measures, like not making more cars right now.

“Tesla needs to comply with the health order,” said a county spokesman Wednesday.

The factory in Fremont is the only Tesla auto factory in the United States, and more than 10,000 people work there.

From Reuters:

“They told us they had gone from about 10,000 individual employees to about 2,500,” he said. “It sounds to me like they very well could still be making cars. We are continuing to stress to them that they must move to minimum basic operations, if they are still making cars.”

Basic operations include maintaining the value of inventory, ensuring security and processing payroll and employee benefits.

Alameda County, where the factory is based, is one of six covered by an order from regional officials to “shelter in place,” which limits activity, travel and business functions to only the most essential, and advises people to stay home except for the most crucial reasons. The county sheriff’s office said on Tuesday afternoon Tesla was not considered an essential business under that order and cannot continue to operate its factory normally.

Reuters witnesses on Wednesday morning saw thousands of cars in the factory’s employee parking lot in Fremont, California, and employees were going to work as several 18-wheeler container trucks were seen pulling into the factory grounds.

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/03/18/elon-musks-tesla-to-limit-wo.html

Republican Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida today became the first member of Congress to test positive for coronavirus.

“I'm feeling much better,” said Diaz-Balart in a social media update on Wednesday. “However, it's important that everyone take this seriously and follow CDC guidelines in order to avoid getting sick & mitigate the spread of this virus.

“We must continue to work together to emerge stronger as a country during these trying times.”

More on the congressman's website.

I'm feeling much better. However, it's important that everyone take this seriously and follow @CDCgov guidelines in order to avoid getting sick & mitigate the spread of this virus. We must continue to work together to emerge stronger as a country during these trying times. pic.twitter.com/g5W5vSQIyH

 Mario Diaz-Balart (@MarioDB) March 18, 2020

Me siento mucho mejor. Sin embargo, es importante que todos tomemos esto en serio y que todos sigamos las instrucciones del CDC para evitar lo m'as posible esta enfermedad y su propagaci'on. Sigamos trabajando juntos para emerger m'as fuerte como naci'on de estos tiempos dif'iciles. pic.twitter.com/9X8AXROoGR

 Mario Diaz-Balart (@MarioDB) March 18, 2020

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/03/18/coronavirus-is-now-in-congress.html

$21 billion is a lot of money—the kind most of us can't even fathom. That absurd amount is the estimate of how much Americans are overpaying for car insurance every year according to the Zebra, a trusted, independent source for industry research. Chances are, you're one of those Americans, which isn't great news. But here's the silver lining: you can absolutely do something about it. A recent survey by the Zebra revealed that drivers who know more about insurance tend to pay less.

So even if you don't have a big event on the horizon  —moving, getting married, changing jobs, having kids, or, ya know, buying a vehicle — motivating you to look into your car insurance, it would be a great investment of your time to educate yourself a bit about how it all works and how you can get some desirable rate quotes, easily and safely.

For example, though you may know that your deductible is the max amount you pay out of pocket for repairs before your insurance company pays anything, you may not know what or who exactly covers damage in an accident with an insured motorist vs an uninsured motorist. Hint: Insured = their liability coverage; uninsured = your uninsured motorist coverage (which is optional in some states). And not understanding how coverage works can lead you to pay for things you don't need or skipping things that would save you money in the long run.

If you're intrigued by the possibility of lowering your car insurance rates but bummed you'll have to wait for your policy term to end, you'll be pumped about this: You can switch car insurance providers at any time. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/03/18/youre-probably-paying-too-mu.html

My friend Dean Putney sent me a link to this new video series called "Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems" and I like the videos so much that I asked Dean to write a bit on how it signifies what is going on right now. Here's what he said:

It feels like I haven’t met someone new on the Internet in a while. The start of this video series my mom posted on Facebook introduced me to children’s book author and illustrator Mo Willems in a wonderful way –-- drawing calmly in his home studio while we all observe social distancing. He talks to the camera, playfully gives you time to find your craft materials, and shows you some of his treasured original drawings from an early book in the brightly colored drawers behind him.

People everywhere are reaching out increasingly over the Internet to provide this kind of calm and support as we all deal with something new and unexpected. This was the stuff that made being online so exciting when it still felt good to log in.

But presumably these people existed before now. And the tools they’re using to make such important messages were there too -- they’ve gotten so good that you can whip up a video or a chat room pretty quickly. This raised a lot of questions for me: Is it just that people needed time and space for new projects? Have these sources of joy retreated from view as the open online became more hostile?

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/03/18/lets-sketch-together-online.html

US Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt has made entrance to all National Parks free for now. (Of course, some parks and facilities are closed so check before going.)

"This small step makes it a little easier for the American public to enjoy the outdoors in our incredible National Parks," Bernhardt said. "Our vast public lands that are overseen by the Department offer special outdoor experiences to recreate, embrace nature and implement some social distancing."

However, an organization of retirees from the National Park Service disagree. From CNN:

Chair Phil Francis of The Coalition to Protect America's Parks argues that "to suggest to the public that gathering at national park sites is acceptable ... is irresponsible to the visiting public and employees."

"National parks welcome visitors from around the world," Francis writes. "Many National Park Service employees interact with members of the public daily."

image: Chinle Formation, Arizona by Doug Dolde (public domain) Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/03/18/united-states-national-parks-a.html

It’s impossible to overstate the impact of pod brewing on the coffee-crazy consumer market. Over the past decade, the single-cup quick-and-easy pod brewing systems have taken over every kitchen and workplace breakroom on the planet. Keurig sold over 10 billion of its single-serving K-Cups in 2018 alone.

Unfortunately, there’s a problem with all those pods. Despite being made of recyclable plastic, they’re too small to be picked out by sorters in most recycling plants, meaning many of those pods just end up in world landfills. There’s even an estimate that there were enough coffee pods in landfills to circle the world about 12 times. And those numbers were calculated back in 2014.

If you’re hopelessly addicted to your pod brewer, but cringe at the thought of further befouling our already beleaguered planet, Woken is there for you. Their 60-pack of espresso pods not only come in three popular flavors, but they’re each housed in their own 100 percent compostable and fully biodegradable pod.

Made from Terrablend biocapsules, Woken pods can be used in Nespresso Original Line and a host of other compatible brewing machines then composted responsibly. Each pod will break down naturally in about 90 days and return to our eco-system.

And while the thought of ending your contribution to the world’s plastic problem is a happy one, the taste is the primary reason you buy — and this collection gives you a sampling of robust flavors to enjoy.

The assortment varies in flavor intensity with notes of chocolate, nuts, and fruit. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/03/18/plastic-coffee-pods-are-hell-o.html

Have you stockpiled enough toilet paper to last you through a lock-down? This calculator will help you determine that. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/03/18/do-you-have-enough-toilet-pape.html

Above, watch the first episode of Cats, biologist, naturalist and TV presenter Roger Tabor's wonderful BBC documentary series from 1991 that explores the history of the house cat around the world.

And a bonus below, Tabor's 2011 short "The Secret Life of Cats: Report and Documentary":

(via r/ObscureMedia) Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/03/18/watch-this-fascinating-bbc-doc.html

Teenage Engineering, maker of the very cool OP-1 keyboard synthesizer, has neat pocket synthesizers which are perfect to play with as you take breaks throughout the day.

With PO-33, sample any sound source using line in or the built in microphone. Melodic mode lets you play chromatic melodies and drum mode lets you play drums, sequence it all and add effects on top.

Unique to PO-32 Tonic [drum synthesizer and sequencer] is its wide range of sonic capabilities. Users can even use the standard desktop version of sonic charge microtonic to shape sounds, generate patches and pattern data, and have that transferred wirelessly back to the PO-32 tonic.

The PO-35 offers 8 voice characters: Neutral, Autotune, Retro, Noise, Robot, Fifth, Vocoder, and Synth.

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/03/18/teenage-engineering-introduces.html

Italy suffered its worst day of the coronavirus outbreak Tuesday, recording 475 deaths. The epicenter of the pandemic in Europe, Italy is further along an infection curve other countries in the west appear to be following, and its healthcare system has buckled under the weight of 35,000 cases.

Italy has been on lockdown for almost two weeks as authorities try to halt the progress of the virus.

People have been asked to stay indoors - but the number of deaths has continued to spiral.

The WHO's emergencies director, Mike Ryan, said this was probably due to the "astonishing" number of cases within the health systems, as well as the high number of elderly people in the population at large.

"The first vaccine trial has begun, just 60 days after the genetic sequence of the #coronavirus was shared. This is an incredible achievement.We commend the researchers around the world who have come together to systemically evaluate experimental therapeutics"-@DrTedros #COVID19

 World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) March 18, 2020

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/03/18/475-die-of-coronavirus-in-one.html

Suburban Chicago restaurant The Beacon Tap is offering a free roll of toilet paper with each carryout or delivery order. Normally, restaurant providing toilet paper with their food would be an ominous promotion but in these times, it's boosted business! From NBC Chicago:

"[We were] trying to figure out ideas, and one of our other general managers over at Cafe Touch'e said 'Hey what about this?'" (General Manager Tommy) Riemer said. "I immediately made a phone call to Trimark (which supplies toilet paper to the Beacon Tap) ... and ordered as much as I could so we could offer it to customers as a little comic relief."

Riemer ordered 300 rolls. He said the response from customers has been "amazing" and he has already given out 80 rolls.

image: GorillaSushi (CC BY-SA 2.0) Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/03/18/restaurant-gives-a-free-roll-o.html

Police in Murcia, Spain caught a Tyrannosaurus rex violating a coronavirus lockdown. The cops were kind enough to let the dinosaur off with a warning. From CBR:

On the first released video, filmed by a neighbor, the T-Rex wannabe is clearly taking out the garbage. In the second video, however, it seems as if the T-Rex was making a break for a nearby park. The video was accompanied by John Williams' Jurassic Park theme.

pic.twitter.com/Mvjovkzvw3

 E. R.R.E. (@Elire72) March 16, 2020

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/03/18/police-stop-tyrannosaurus-rex.html

Today apple announced a new MacBook Air (faster, cheaper) and an upgraded iPad Pro with LiDAR, "studio-quality" microphones and the full array of ultrawide and telephoto lenses as sported on recent top-of-the-line iPhones. But the thing that sells it to me is the new keyboard, which includes a trackpad (at last!) and fancy hinge that will hold the device above the keys rather than on them like a tiny bad laptop.

*homer drooling noise* V

*homer screaming noise* V

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/03/18/everythings-going-to-be-fine.html