This TIME cover story, the first to feature a transgender person, is a very big deal. Not just for trans folks, but for all of us.

Read the rest

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/-IqDFDZmfVw/transgender-tipping-point-lav.html

Silicon Valley billionaire venture capitalist and Sun Microsystems co-founder Vinod Khosla wants everyone to stay off Martins Beach, a lovely stretch of oceanfront south of Half Moon Bay. To that end, he is invoking The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which ended the Mexican-American War in 1848 and transformed California from being a chunk of Mexico to becoming part of the USA. Okay, Vinod. Whatever.

Read the rest

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/f0LkcckIBLE/tech-vc-vinod-khosla-owns-the.html

David J of Bauhaus and Love and Rockets performs "No New Tale To Tell" at a private house party in Springville, Utah, a Kickstarter reward tied to his new album release. (Thanks, Dave Gill!)

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/PD20sOOHpXc/david-j-bauhaus-love-and-roc.html

[Video Link] This is an old internet gem, but it's still fabulous. More possum care tips: mepearl.com. Below, a delightful classic we've shared before, well worth watching: Possum Eating Strawberries.

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/c1ibSfY_abQ/how-to-massage-and-feed-strawb.html

The Korea Herald reports that a young man of European heritage from Brazil has had plastic surgery so that he might look Korean.

Read the rest

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/b6Go5aA5_hc/white-guy-gets-plastic-surgery.html

Dustin Adamson's wonderful short film of "Octupuses of the Night" with footage he shot in the Philippines (via Laughing Squid).

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/9hgUsKTUI1k/lovely-film-of-frolicking-octo.html

The Telegraph reports that popular Indian guru Shri Ashutosh Maharaj is either dead or, according to his followers, just meditating, very deeply, in a freezer; now, his wife and son want the courts to investigate.

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/QNqhPNOUBhY/guru-meditating-or-dead.html

Mother Jones reporter Nina Liss-Schultz asked Anita Sarkeesian why she thinks she has been targeted by knuckle-dragging assholes on the internet--vicious threats, death, rape, and beatings by haters who happen to be men, and believe that women like Sarkeesian should shut up and stay out of their clubhouse. Read the rest

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/XnuwbYNsOFk/sarkeesian-on-sexism-in-video.html

"An elaborate, three-year cyberespionage campaign against United States military contractors, members of Congress, diplomats, lobbyists and Washington-based journalists has been linked to hackers in Iran." The NYT's Nicole Perlroth has more from a report released this week by the Dallas computer security firm iSight Partners.

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/KuMrADCDnEk/hackers-in-iran-set-up-fake-ne.html

Fifty years ago, ovens came with buttons and dials to control satellites overhead.

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/GMpTItX25x0/control-panels-on-space-age-ov.html

Without Cryptome.org, there would have been no Wikileaks, though the two organizations' history and methods of operation couldn't be more different. I'm pretty sure it's the oldest continuously-running website devoted to the public exposure of secret documents for the public good, and has weathered constant attack and intimidation by entities who would rather that websites like Cryptome not exist.

The website run by John Young and Deborah Natsios has a kickstarter campaign, and it's worth considering kicking in if radical transparency is something you support.

Read the rest

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/qqcy3RnWsIs/crowdfunding-for-cryptome-old.html

Boing Boing's Happy Mutant Mobile delighted onlookers at its unveiling during the recent Maker Faire Bay Area 2014! As we've posted, our sponsors at Ford agreed to support the customization, modification, and transformation of a 2014 Ford Transit Connect Wagon into what we (and you) imagined for a Boing Boing road machine. Read the rest

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/Dlb6IuvE68I/boing-boing-happy-mutant-mobil.html

The snake caterpillar has a snake-like head. Scientists believed it evolved the head as a way to encourage people to share photos of it online. (Photo: Daniel Janzen)

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/7iMHGMPQ8-E/caterpillar-evolves-snake-head.html

"Why is it very few of us know she was a sex worker? We can, once again, boil it down to respectability politics and stigma." Read the rest

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/u2Q_yko3HXw/the-erasing-of-maya-angelous.html

Colin Furze, who made the amazing DIY Wolverine claws, continues his X-Men experimentation with wristworn Pyro flamethrowers; demo above, how-to video below (via Laughing Squid).

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/8XAf3EMLd6I/diy-x-men-pyro-flamethrowers.html

A taste-modifying molecule discovered 50 years ago, Miraculin is found in the berries of Synsepalum dulcificum. Why isn't it used as a sweetener? [The Atlantic]

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/TLCUZvM0sA4/miraculin-is-a-protein-that-ma.html

"Reactions to the proposal have been mixed," writes Matt Stroud.

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/uRDE_o5S2Qk/arizona-plans-to-watch-mexico.html

Just when you think PETA couldn't sink any lower with their outrageous publicity campaigns, they launch, then after protests, re-launch a campaign which basically says that drinking cow milk will give your children autism. Read the rest

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/ObX5gyy7ViE/petas-worst-campaign-ever-sa.html

Erin Biba posts for the last time at Medium, which pays her 2½ cents for each click she gets.

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/RTP9SaoQz-w/journalist-slams-per-click-pay.html

In each episode of Gadgets the editors and friends of Boing Boing recommend technology they love and use. This time Jason and Mark talk about the best chess timer for Scrabble players, a fantastic pizza stone, a compact 3-outlet adapter for hotel use, and a great magic trick for under $5. Plus, a website that converts PDFs to Kindle format. Read the rest

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/yNLH2GsUkiw/pizza-stone-magic-trick-game.html