https://boingboing.net/2020/07/22/ramen-facemask-makes-it-fun-to.html

Recommendations released by the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control include using glory holes to minimize the likelihood of coronavirus transmission, among other sage tips. [via]

" Choose sexual positions that limit face-to-face contact. " Use barriers, like walls (e.g., glory holes), that allow for sexual contact but prevent close face-to-face contact. " Using condoms, lubricant, and dental dams may help to further reduce the risk by minimizing contact with saliva, semen and feces during sex.

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/07/22/british-columbia-recommends-th.html

George Miller is an artist, musician (The Kaisers and The New Piccadillys), and production designer. While on lockdown in Glasgow, Miller created a series of spectacular marionettes of early rock and roll, country, and R&B greats like Johnny Cash, Link Wray, Jerry Lee Lewis, Wanda Jackson, Sister Rosetta, and Bo Diddley. The detail and personality of the marionettes is quite astonishing. Miller loves them too much to sell any. From an interview at Dangerous Minds:

I’d been working on a BBC children’s drama for a few weeks (I’m a freelance Production Designer, gawd help me) and as lockdown was approaching, production stopped so I went from super busy to completely idle pretty much overnight.

I’d made some marionettes for a video a few years earlier and since then had been toying with the idea of making one of Link Wray but never seemed to have the time, so lockdown seemed the ideal opportunity. I liked the notion of spending time making something that had no ultimate purpose other than self amusement and no deadline for completion. With his outfit made by my partner Ursula, Link turned out pretty satisfactorily but after a few days I got the itch again, so I got to work on Bo Diddley, another guitar favorite of mine. Bo gave me a bit of trouble and the first attempt went in the bin. Realizing I’d tried to rush it, I reverted to lockdown pace, which I’ve employed ever since[...]

When the “cast” of puppets grows to 20 or so, I’m planning on making a video showcasing their individual musical styles plus a series of short clips based on the photographs of Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran passing time in the dressing room of the Glasgow Empire theater.

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/07/22/795483.html

The trebuchet was a technology import from Asia that became a siege weapon of choice in 12th-century Europe. Expert Mike Loades and his team make quick work of a palisade made of logs with this German replica.

Bonus video: a Korean Hwacha that could fire 100 arrows at once:

Image: YouTube / Smithsonian Channel Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/07/22/watch-this-replica-medieval-tr.html

Tom the Dancing Bug, IN WHICH your government gives you a helpful Informational Brochure on being abducted by masked, unidentified federal troopers in an unmarked van

https://boingboing.net/2020/07/22/so-youve-been-disappeared.html

YouTuber and parkour expert AMPISOUND breaks down a viral fake parkour video and its various forms of deception, including green screens, GoPros tossed out windows, and a guy dressed as a cute parkour girl.

He says:

You wouldn't think that parkour could be faked, but I investigated this video and couldn't believe what I found. This entire commercial of a lady running across the rooftops of Paris is fake! From the POV parkour to the girl in the dress, nothing about this video is real. Leave a comment for the shark fin squad!

He adds, "If you want to see some REAL parkour follow these amazing female athletes!"

Katie McDonnell Pamela Forster Hazal Nehir Renae Dambly

Image: YouTube / AMPISOUND Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/07/22/how-to-spot-a-fake-parkour-vid.html

The National Audubon Society has released all of John James Audubon's magnificent watercolors from his classic work Birds of America (1827-1838) as free, high-resolution downloads for printing. The 435 life-size watercolors in the collection were "all reproduced from hand-engraved plates, and is considered to be the archetype of wildlife illustration." Each image's web page is accompanied by Audubon's wonderful first-person descriptions of the animal.

John J. Audubon's "Birds of America" image downloads (Thanks, Bob Pescovitz!)

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/07/22/audobons-birds-of-america-ar.html

Boing Boing shares these words from our sponsor Real Tested CBD.

Biden Sort of Decides On Marijuana Legalization: He Is Sort of Still Against It

Richard Cowan 

The great thing about voting machines is that you can vote with one hand and hold your nose with the other one. Believe me, I have had a lot of practice with that, and I will do it again this year.

After Biden cinched the Democratic nomination, his campaign focused on getting the support for Bernie Sanders young supporters. Biden was greatly relieved that Sanders was willing to help, so they launched what they called a “Unity Task Force, and one of the major topics was Federal marijuana prohibition.

Politico reported the result as “The left gets rolled on legalizing pot.”

Frankly, I absolutely reject that formulation. Marijuana legalization has been supported by the Libertarian right far longer than by the Left. The late Milton Friedman and William F. Buckley Jr. and many other conservatives have long opposed prohibition. Obama, Holder, Biden, Shalala, Clinton, Feinstein and Schumer all supported arresting millions of Americans. Until they opposed it… However, in a meeting with Biden, Sanders is definitely on the Left.  Given Biden’s long support for the Drug War, even coining the term “Drug Czar”, the real world results were not too terrible.

The key points: 

“Democrats will decriminalize marijuana use and reschedule it through executive action on the federal level.” That will automatically clear the way for banks to do business with cannabis companies.

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/07/22/as-long-as-we-dont-call-it.html

Paul Lynde as Uncle Arthur on "Bewitched"

It's been announced that Billy on the Street's Billy Eichner will play the late great TV personality Paul Lynde in an upcoming biopic called "Man in the Box."

Deadline:

After his breakout turn in Bye Bye Birdie, Lynde became a big TV star with his guest turns as Uncle Arthur on Bewitched, and in his role on the long-running game show Hollywood Squares. While Lynde was never publicly “out,” he never lied about his sexuality either, as most famous gay actors of that era did. His unique comic persona often and overtly nodded to his “barely-closeted” lifestyle in a way that still feels groundbreaking for his time. But he was not on the same lists for roles as straight actors. One of the reasons Eichner wants to see the film made is because of the chance to illustrate how little things have changed.

DEADLINE: Paul Lynde was a very funny actor, but what about him made this worth movie treatment for you?

EICHNER: There’s some overlap, between Paul and I, in that we both had our breakthrough in the industry, as performers, presenting a rather larger-than-life, flamboyant, gay persona on screen. Even though I was always very out, Paul was never technically out. But he was as out as you could be, at that time, in that he was clearly leaning into a flamboyant persona. Unlike Rock Hudson, and Tab Hunter, and Cary Grant, and all these other actors, he wasn’t pretending to be straight.

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/07/22/billy-eichner-to-play-gay-tv-i.html

Ghislaine Maxwell was charged with child abuse and trafficking in her alleged role as billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Esptein's procurer. In a press event last night, Donald Trumpoften photographed with her at parties and other eventswished her well.

"I haven't really been following it too much. I just wish her well, frankly," Trump said when asked for his thoughts on whether she could turn on powerful men such as Britain's Prince Andrew, who prosecutors have been seeking to question in connection with her case.

Maxwell is currently being held without bail in federal lockup while awaiting trial for allegedly helping transport minors for sexual activity in the 1990s and then lying about it under oath. Prosecutors said she "played a critical role" in helping multimillionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein identify, "befriend and groom minor victims for abuse." She has denied the allegations and pleaded not guilty.

Trump, who was photographed with Maxwell and Epstein numerous times before Epstein was first charged in the mid-2000s, said Tuesday "I've met her numerous times over the years, especially since I lived in Palm Beach, and I guess they lived in Palm Beach. But I wish her well, whatever it is."

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/07/22/trump-offers-well-wishes-to-gh.html

In October 1974, the Rolling Stones recorded "Scarlet" with their friends Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin on guitar and Traffic's Ric Grech playing bass. The band finally gave the track an official release today as a teaser for their forthcoming Goat’s Head Soup box set that contains a slew of bonus material including two other unreleased songs, demos, alternate versions, and a live gig.

Of "Scarlet," Keith Richards says, "My recollection is we walked in at the end of a Zeppelin session. They were just leaving, and we were booked in next and I believe that Jimmy decided to stay. We weren’t actually cutting it as a track, it was basically for a demo, a demonstration, you know, just to get the feel of it, but it came out well, with a line up like that, you know, we better use it.‘’

And from Rolling Stone:

In 1975, Page told Rolling Stone‘s Cameron Crowe that he thought the track was supposed to be a Stones B-side. “It sounded very similar in style and mood to those Blonde on Blonde tracks,” Page said. “It was great; really good. We stayed up all night and went down to Island Studios where Keith put some reggae guitars over one section. I just put some solos on it, but it was eight in the morning of the next day before I did that. He took the tapes to Switzerland and someone found out about them. Keith told people that it was a track from my album.”

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/07/22/rolling-stones-release-lost.html

A white musician in the UK who performs as "DJ Joey Negro" has decided to drop the name, reports the BBC.

In truth I’ve not felt comfortable with the name Joey Negro for a while, especially as I’ve got older. I’ve stopped using it a few times but establishing a new name as an artist isn’t easy and I’ve ended up going back to it. I understand now though that it’s not appropriate for me to carry on using the name. I’ve recently received emails, tweets etc saying that it is unacceptable and people find it out of place in 2020 - and I agree. From now on I’m dropping Joey Negro as a pseudonym, and all those future releases that weren’t already in production will carry the name Dave Lee. I’m sorry to have caused any offence. My whole life has been about music but particularly black music, I love soul, funk, disco, jazz in a way that’s impossible for me to articulate in words and I have tried to champion it with the best intentions. Please be aware the changes are not instant everywhere, Best Dave Lee

Game over for blackface and the like, as put out there by clued-in but boneheaded white entertainers who thought they were being ironic, respectful or clever.

Photo: YouTube Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/07/22/dj-joey-negro-who-is-white-d.html

We will permanently suspend accounts Tweeting about these topics that we know are engaged in violations of our multi-account policy, coordinating abuse around individual victims, or are attempting to evade a previous suspension — something we’ve seen more of in recent weeks.

 Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) July 22, 2020

These actions will be rolled out comprehensively this week. We will continue to review this activity across our service and update our rules and enforcement approach again if necessary.

 Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) July 22, 2020

We’ve been clear that we will take strong enforcement action on behavior that has the potential to lead to offline harm. In line with this approach, this week we are taking further action on so-called ‘QAnon’ activity across the service.

We will permanently suspend accounts Tweeting about these topics that we know are engaged in violations of our multi-account policy, coordinating abuse around individual victims, or are attempting to evade a previous suspension — something we’ve seen more of in recent weeks.

In addition, we will:

No longer serve content and accounts associated with QAnon in Trends and recommendations Work to ensure we’re not highlighting this activity in search and conversations Block URLs associated with QAnon from being shared on Twitter

These actions will be rolled out comprehensively this week. We will continue to review this activity across our service and update our rules and enforcement approach again if necessary.

As we work at scale to protect the public conversation in the face of evolving threats, we’ll continue to lead with transparency and offer more context on our efforts.

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/07/22/twitter-is-officially-banning.html

Ask people what they don’t like about camping outdoors and a few answers will absolutely come up. The bugs and creepy crawlies are always a big one, especially the icky feeling that you could wake up to find bugs skittering through your tent or a snake or other reptile snuggled up in your sleeping bag. 

But probably the biggest gripe comes from being forced to sleep on the hard ground.  Even with a sleeping pad, the wild, often uneven ground is pretty unforgiving and can make falling asleep take forever, only to wake to the unpleasantness of a kinked neck, sore hips, or a bad back.

Tentsile heard those gripes loud and clear and crafted a functional and well-designed above ground perch instead, combining the security and protection of a tent with the comfort of a hammock to create the Tentsile UNA 1-Person Tree Tent.

Perfect for hikers and backpackers, all you need to enjoy the UNA are three trees to use as anchors. Setup only takes about 10 minutes — and unlike ground tents, can be positioned feet over water or steep or rocky terrain for any camper up to 280 lbs.

The UNA includes a tensioned base that provides a comfortable floor with minimal sag, as well as an anti-roll system so you don’t automatically roll to the center of the tent in your sleep. Each one also includes a waterproof rainfly in case the skies open up overnight, and an insect mesh to keep all the flying no-see-ums away while you snooze. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/07/22/if-youre-goin-to-camping-t.html

Eamonn Forde at The Quietus has a great new piece celebrating the 25th anniversary of the MP3, arguing that it was the single most influential music technology revolution in history — even moreso than the phonograph or early vinyl recordings. If you ask me, he makes a pretty convincing argument:

In terms of the history of music ownership – something that has really only existed for just over a century – the MP3 was not a full stop but rather an ellipsis.

It was the last audio format that people could own but, as it was a digital string of zeros and ones, it was inherently intangible. You cannot look at an MP3 but you can see its impact everywhere.

[…]

This is important: it was technology first, music second. It was created as part of a strategy of media synergy. It was by the record business, for the record business. Most significantly, it was the last time record labels (or, more precisely, their parent companies) were to be technology powerhouses.

The MP3 was created outside of the music industry – developed without its blessing, but mostly without its interest. It was in many ways an opportunity for audio engineers to show other audio engineers their chops. In the mid-1990s, home computers were not that common, the internet was mainly confined to academia (its campus location is critical for Phase Two) and the Discman was the apex of music portability.

[…]

The record industry lost serious ground here because it was focused on its war against free and crummy audio when the MP3’s headline appeal was about convenience and the fizzing thrill of instant accessibility.

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/07/22/read-this-a-history-of-the-mp.html

From CNN:

Cinquefrondi, a community in the southern region of Calabria, calls itself a "Covid-free village" after swerving the ravages of the virus, and hopes its status will sweeten the appeal of homes it's putting on the market for €1, or a little over a dollar.

The aim, like other destinations making similar offers, is to reverse a depopulation trend caused by younger folk heading off in search of work. In Cinquefrondi, Mayor Michele Conia considers the task so serious he's given it a code name: "Operation Beauty."

"Finding new owners for the many abandoned houses we have is a key part of the Operation Beauty [mission] that I have launched to recover degraded, lost parts of town," Conia tells CNN.

Time Out describes the location quite appealingly:

Cinquefrondi is a small community in the southern region of Calabria, which is right at the toe of Italy’s ‘boot’. Up in the hills, it's surrounded by the Aspromonte National Park and set between the Ionian and Tyrrhenian coasts. (That’s around a 15 minute drive to dreamy Italian beaches in either direction, fyi.)

In case you're concerned about a deal that sounds too good to be true, Cinquefrondi has indeed had zero reported coronavirus cases, and is located in region with one of the lowest overall contagion levels in the country.

Otherwise, the only real catch — besides, ya know, having to renovate and safety-proof your adorable 50 square meter Italian mountainside house — is that the local government requests an annual €250 policy insurance fee every year until you've finished the work. Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/07/22/small-italian-town-selling-c.html

Hackers working for China's government targeted firms working on coronavirus vaccines, and stole hundreds of millions of dollars worth of intellectual property and trade secrets, claims the Justice Department in a statement Tuesday announcing criminal charges.

From the Associated Press:

The indictment does not accuse the two Chinese defendants of actually obtaining the coronavirus research, but it does underscore the extent to which scientific innovation has been a top target for foreign governments and criminal hackers looking to know what American companies are developing during the pandemic. In this case, the hackers researched vulnerabilities in the computer networks of biotech firms and diagnostic companies that were developing vaccines and testing kits and researching antiviral drugs.

The charges are the latest in a series of aggressive Trump administration actions targeting China. They come as President Donald Trump, his reelection prospects damaged by the coronavirus outbreak, has blamed China for the pandemic and as administration officials have escalated their denunciations of Beijing, including over alleged efforts to steal intellectual property through hacking.

The indictment includes trade secret theft and wire fraud conspiracy charges against the hackers, former classmates at an electrical engineering college who prosecutors say worked together for more than a decade targeting high-tech companies in more than 10 countries.

More at the AP:US accuses Chinese hackers in targeting of COVID-19 research

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/07/21/us-accuses-chinese-hackers-of.html

More than 12 workers at Whole Foods stores in 4 different U.S. states claim in a class-action lawsuit that the Amazon-owned retailer retaliated against them for wearing apparel associated with the Black Lives Matter movement.

In the lawsuit, 14 employees at Whole Foods stores in California, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Washington State claim the company was unjustly enforcing its dress code policy.

In a statement, Whole Foods denies any employees were fired for wearing Black Lives Matter face masks or apparel.

From the New York Times:

The workers were sent home without pay, subjected to “corrective” discipline and threatened with the loss of their jobs for refusing to remove the items, a class-action lawsuit filed on Monday in Federal District Court in Massachusetts said.

The company, which is owned by Amazon, did not enforce its dress code policy when employees wore messages on masks and apparel expressing support for other entities and causes, such as sports teams and L.G.B.T.Q. rights, the lawsuit said.

One of the workers, Savannah Kinzer, was fired on Saturday from her job in Cambridge, Mass., for wearing a Black Lives Matter mask and for protesting Whole Foods’ “discipline of employees” for doing so, the lawsuit said. She also encouraged co-workers to wear the masks.

“Whole Foods employees across the country have been prohibited from wearing Black Lives Matter masks and other related apparel at work,” it said.

More at the New York Times: Whole Foods Punished Workers for Black Lives Matter Masks, Suit Says Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/07/21/amazon-owned-whole-foods-crack.html

You can change the shape of drops and pools of water from rounded to angular by coating the surface where the water collects with a superhydrophobic substance. Check out the cool liquid letters! It would be interesting to use this technique to create a watery animation. (The Action Lab) Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/07/21/how-to-make-square-water.html

Talk about a strong cup of Joe! Italian authorities intercepted 130 grams of cocaine smuggled inside hundreds of hollowed-out coffee beans. The beans arrived from Colombia at Malpensa Airport where customs officers recognized the name of the recipient: Santino D'Antonio. That is the name of the mob boss in the movie John Wick: Chapter 2. From CNN:

Once they opened the parcel they found more than 500 coffee beans that had been hollowed out, filled with cocaine and resealed using dark brown tape, the statement said.

Police tracked the package to Florence, and arrested a 50-year-old Italian man when he came to try and collect it from a tobacconist's shop in the city.

The man was registered as living in the Colombian city of Medellin, according to the statement. He was already known to police and had previously been arrested on drugs charges.

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/07/21/police-intercepted-cocaine-smu.html