all Alt eco Regional Tech World

Alt - Boing Boing - 7 hours ago

PC and console prices still going up

The computer component price crisis, driven by AI datacenters snapping it all up for the slop trade, has crushed few so hard as the gamers. The laptop I bought my son for $600 last year is currently $955 at the same shop. Read the rest The post PC and console prices still going up appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 8 hours ago

Charmera too modern for you? Kodak's $35 film camera puts 1990 in your pocket

The renaissance of pocket point-and-shoot cameras proceeds apace with Kodak's EC35, inexpensive at $35 and good enough to take to the party. If the Charmera and its blind-box business model represents a digital extravagance, and the $100 Snapic was simply too cool for school, the EC35 is the real deal shoved back in your pocket. Read the rest The post Charmera too modern for you? Kodak's $35 film camera puts 1990 in your pocket appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 11 hours ago

A printable one-page Guide to Recording Law Enforcement

You may be aware that cops have no reasonable expectation of privacy in public, and that you have a constitutional right to record what they do. Cellphone video proved that police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on George Floyd's neck for nearly 10 minutes, and the right to record it is why the footage helped convict him of his murder. Read the rest The post A printable one-page Guide to Recording Law Enforcement appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 12 hours ago

Gallery of anime user interfaces

Anime User Interfaces collects depictions of computer screens, keyboards, dashboards and other gadgets depicted in Japanese animation (and a few others, such as Wargames' NORAD big boards, as a treat.) Spotted via Hacker News, which links to an interesting article explaining why glowing lights in analog animation and film SFX have such a weird magic. Read the rest The post Gallery of anime user interfaces appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 13 hours ago

A 15th-century Persian book says what a snake sighting means

The Marnameh is a short Persian book, written in the late fifteenth century, that explains the meaning of seeing a snake. It runs through the thirty days of the Zoroastrian calendar, most of them named for a divinity or figure, and gives the omen attached to a snake sighting on each one. Read the rest The post A 15th-century Persian book says what a snake sighting means appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 13 hours ago

Clacton-by-Sea voters get the longest ballot in UK election history

Ballots for a special election in England's Clacton-by-Sea are the longest ever produced in U.K. electoral history despite¹ only one major party contesting the race. The vote, scheduled later this month, was triggered by the showy resignation of Clacton's current member of parliament, Nigel Farage. Read the rest The post Clacton-by-Sea voters get the longest ballot in UK election history appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 15 hours ago

Red Bull paid for the studies saying vodka Red Bulls are fine

Of the studies on mixing alcohol and energy drinks funded by Red Bull or written by researchers with financial ties to it, 95% found no added risk. Roughly 80% of independent studies found the opposite, The Examination reports. At a February 2011 hearing in Suffolk County, New York, Dutch researcher Joris Verster likened blaming energy drinks for alcohol-fueled injuries to blaming shark attacks on ice cream sales. Read the rest The post Red Bull paid for the studies saying vodka Red Bulls are f...

Alt - Boing Boing - 15 hours ago

A chip report out of China erased $1 trillion in market value

A report this week that China has begun mass-producing specialty chips key to the AI boom set off a selloff that erased $1 trillion in market value from other chip manufacturers, according to the Guardian. The same week, the Federal Communications Commission banned humanoid robots from China, alleging they could steal data or surveil US citizens. Read the rest The post A chip report out of China erased $1 trillion in market value appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 15 hours ago

The lightbulb that's burned for 120 years draws four watts

A lightbulb in a Livermore, California fire station has burned for more than 120 years, past a million hours, and it is the stock proof that manufacturers once colluded to make bulbs burn out. It is also barely lit: the nominally 60-watt lamp draws four watts, according to electronics blogger Maurycy's post on tungsten filaments. Read the rest The post The lightbulb that's burned for 120 years draws four watts appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 15 hours ago

Arizona Supreme Court: clergy don't have to report child abuse confessions

U.S. Border Patrol agent Paul Adams sexually abused all six of his children for at least seven years before he was caught. He killed himself after being charged, but not before investigators realized that bishops and other officials at the Church of Latter Day Saints had long been aware of what he was doing to his children. Read the rest The post Arizona Supreme Court: clergy don't have to report child abuse confessions appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 19 hours ago

Little Debbie delivery driver made $17k selling them from his truck at flea markets, say cops

A Little Debbie delivery driver sold more than $17,000 worth of cargo at flea markets and billed grocery stores for deliveries that never happened, say police in Pennsylvania. WTAE reports that James Powell, 39, of Valley Grove, West Virginia, faces forgery, theft and fraud charges. Read the rest The post Little Debbie delivery driver made $17k selling them from his truck at flea markets, say cops appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 1 day ago

New York sues Kalshi as "illegal gambling operation"

One of the oddest things about the Trump era is media blithely accepting the euphemism "prediction markets" to refer to online gambling sites such as Polymarket and Kalshi. We do this because the UI is complex and we're easily bamboozled by the structural distinction between contracts and wagers. Read the rest The post New York sues Kalshi as "illegal gambling operation" appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 1 day ago

Dumber Mini aims to be the perfect candybar dumphone

The Dumber Mini (formerly Dumbdroid) is a candybar dumbphone with a T9 keypad, a small touchscreen and a stripped-down Android fork called DumberOS. It preorders for £149 (about $190) and they plan to ship it for Christmas. It embraces the simple aesthetic of old-fashioned Nokia-style featurephones (compare to the svelte minimalism of Light Flip) but it also lets you install smartphone apps. Read the rest The post Dumber Mini aims to be the perfect candybar dumphone appeared first on Boing Boin...

Alt - Boing Boing - 1 day ago

Get Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and more for life for less than $5 each with this Microsoft Office license

TL;DR: Add fresh tools to an old PC for just $32.97 with this lifetime license to Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for Windows, on sale now through August 9. Sometimes it's best to go back to basics. Whether you're trying to finalize a budget, write a report, or organize your schedule, Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for Windows can help. Read the rest The post Get Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and more for life for less than $5 each with this Microsoft Office license appeared first on Boing Bo...

Alt - Boing Boing - 1 day ago

Why tomato sauce stains plastic, and the 30-second fix

Delish food editor Brooke Caison explains why tomato sauce turns plastic containers orange. Cooked and canned tomatoes are loaded with lycopene, a heavily pigmented antioxidant that repels water. Plastic repels water too, so the pigment bonds to the container. Hot leftovers make it worse. Read the rest The post Why tomato sauce stains plastic, and the 30-second fix appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 1 day ago

The messy-bedroom explanation of entropy is wrong

Physicist Rhett Allain wants to retire the messy-bedroom explanation of entropy. Disorder, he writes in Wired, "doesn't mean messiness or chaos" it counts the ways a system's parts can be rearranged without changing its overall state. He uses dice instead. Read the rest The post The messy-bedroom explanation of entropy is wrong appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 1 day ago

The smallest car ever made had no reverse gear

The smallest production car ever made shipped without a reverse gear. When a Peel P50 driver needed to turn around in a tight spot, they got out, grabbed the handle bolted to the back of the car, and dragged it around by hand. Read the rest The post The smallest car ever made had no reverse gear appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 1 day ago

Astrophography with a Game Boy Camera

Chris Graue used the primitive Game Boy Camera to take striking photos of Jupiter, and has now published a tutorial on how to get results from the 1990s novelty gadget. The essential component is a 3D-printable lens adapter. As with my Super Nintendo Tripod Mount, I teamed up with my friend Drew Van Oort to design this piece. Read the rest The post Astrophography with a Game Boy Camera appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 1 day ago

The Egyptian temple carving that looks like a giant lightbulb

Carved into the Hathor temple at Dendera in Egypt is a relief that looks a great deal like a lightbulb: an oval bubble with a snake curling inside it, held up by a pillar. A fringe theory holds that this is evidence of ancient Egyptian electric lighting, based on the resemblance to incandescent bulbs, cathode-ray tubes, and Crookes tubes. Read the rest The post The Egyptian temple carving that looks like a giant lightbulb appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 1 day ago

Pick up a refurbished 2018 MacBook Air for just $200

TL;DR: This refurbished 13-inch MacBook Air (2018) is now just $199.97 (reg. $1,199). If you're looking for everyday battery life, portability, and the ability to retain your membership in the Apple ecosystem, this refurbished MacBook Air may be just what you're looking for—grab your 128GB one in Gold for just $199.97 (reg. Read the rest The post Pick up a refurbished 2018 MacBook Air for just $200 appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 1 day ago

Two brothers filled a Harlem brownstone with 140 tons of stuff

When police reached the Harlem brownstone at 2078 Fifth Avenue in March 1947, the doors were wired shut and the foyer was packed solid with old newspapers, folding beds, half a sewing machine, boxes, and parts of a wine press. A patrolman finally broke in through a second-story window and dug for five hours before finding Homer Collyer's body. Read the rest The post Two brothers filled a Harlem brownstone with 140 tons of stuff appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 1 day ago

In 1984, an anonymous poster said a Pink Floyd album hid a prize. Nobody ever found it

On June 11, 1994, a user posting anonymously through a remailer to the Pink Floyd newsgroup on Usenet told fans that the band's new album had "a central purpose and a designed solution" buried in it. Study the artwork, the lyrics, and the music, the poster said. Read the rest The post In 1984, an anonymous poster said a Pink Floyd album hid a prize. Nobody ever found it appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 2 days ago

Boy George's Pro-Israel AI Slop Reggae Song was Promotional Stunt for Playing Herod in Jesus Christ Superstar

In 2018, I won the coveted "every word more horrifying than the last" award for the headline "Spiders Blamed After Broken Siren Played Creepy Nursery Rhymes Randomly To British Townsfolk." I expect to win this award a second time, thanks to famed singer Boy George's latest antics turning out to have an amazing contextual backdrop. Read the rest The post Boy George's Pro-Israel AI Slop Reggae Song was Promotional Stunt for Playing Herod in Jesus Christ Superstar appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 2 days ago

Unpublished novel's $2.4m deal pulled over AI concerns

An author's debut novel scored $2.4m in licensing deals after Minotaur/Macmillan acquired it, but they unraveled after "questions were raised" over exactly who, or what, wrote it. Deadline reports "there are apparently fingerprints, or something that raised the flags of AI censors," a description that illustrates how well the entertainment industry understands the technology at hand. Read the rest The post Unpublished novel's $2.4m deal pulled over AI concerns appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 2 days ago

YouTube crackles down on ASMR content

YouTube terminated the channels of several popular ASMR artists this week, telling them their content violated its policies against sexual material. 404 Media's Samantha Cole reports that those banned include ItsBunniiASMR, Slight Sounds, Nananightray, Roseasmr, Simoneasmr and Janina Wilhelmsen. Read the rest The post YouTube crackles down on ASMR content appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 2 days ago

Spacecraft sent on rescue mission now spinning out of control

NASA's mission to rescue a satellite falling out of orbit suffered a setback when the rescue craft experienced multiple failures. NASA launched Katalyst's LINK spacecraft earlier this month on a mission to boost the Swift Observatory into a stable orbit. In a blog post, NASA announced that "Katalyst's LINK servicing spacecraft experienced issues with attitude control, causing the spacecraft to spin and resulting in sporadic communications." Read the rest The post Spacecraft sent on rescue missi...

Alt - Boing Boing - 2 days ago

Fall asleep to monotonous Wikipedia entries with this podcast

The I Can't Sleep podcast is the perfect way to fall asleep. Wikipedia entries are read slowly, in a soft monotone. Recent episodes have included the entries for Middle-earth, French fries, and concrete. The show's about page claims that "Sleep researchers will tell you that monotony, predictable voices, and gentle cognitive engagement (the kind that distracts but doesn't excite) are useful for falling asleep." Read the rest The post Fall asleep to monotonous Wikipedia entries with this podcas...

Alt - Boing Boing - 2 days ago

The avocado's sex life has run on the same schedule for 42 million years

Avocado flowers perform the duty of both female and male flowers. The gene that controls them has been unchanged for 42 million years. Each avocado flower opens twice over two days: first in its female phase, when it can receive pollen, and later in its male phase, when it releases pollen. Read the rest The post The avocado's sex life has run on the same schedule for 42 million years appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 2 days ago

DOJ admits the Reflecting Pool "vandal" was the contractor

The Trump administration arrested a former Olympian, David Hearn, for touching a loose piece of its janky Reflecting Pool liner, indicted him for felony vandalism, and then announced it had "tremendous evidence" of his wrongdoing. The evidence shows something else: the contractor botched the installation, the DOJ lied. Read the rest The post DOJ admits the Reflecting Pool "vandal" was the contractor appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 2 days ago

This gun lesson skipped directly to the consequences

A 21-year-old Nebraska man set out to film an instructional gun video and accidentally produced a much more persuasive one. Police say the newly purchased 9mm discharged as he demonstrated how to rack it, sending a bullet through his leg and severing his femoral artery. Read the rest The post This gun lesson skipped directly to the consequences appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 2 days ago

A $12 Chico's shirt enters the Mitch McConnell proof-of-life mystery

Architect of our demise, Senator Mitch McConnell's office released another photograph to prove that he remains alive and recovering. The doubting public responded by identifying his wife's $12 Chico's shirt and opening a textile-forensics lab. A family friend of billionaire Elaine Chao reportedly considers it implausible that she would willingly wear a $12 Chico's shirt. Read the rest The post A $12 Chico's shirt enters the Mitch McConnell proof-of-life mystery appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 2 days ago

Preacher who loves a "captive audience" meets the person running the flight

Recently, we shared the story of an airplane evangelist who likes to stand up and start bothering people on flights. It appears the airlines are over it. Public exhibitionist Whitney Lynn goes on a weird Jesus rant after being told she can not perform her one-woman act. Read the rest The post Preacher who loves a "captive audience" meets the person running the flight appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 2 days ago

Voibe gives Mac users a much faster way to get words down

TL;DR: Voibe AI Voice Dictation is $79.99 (reg. $199) with offline voice-to-text, app-wide cursor support, Apple Silicon optimization, and ongoing updates. A lot of writing time isn't really writing. In reality, it's waiting for your hands to catch up, deleting the stiff sentence you just typed, and wishing the computer could simply take the thought directly from your brain. Read the rest The post Voibe gives Mac users a much faster way to get words down appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 2 days ago

Patronscan's "ultimate bouncer" never forgets a face in San Francisco's gay bars

Gay bars in San Franscisco are installing ID and facial scanners and requiring patrons to give it up if they want to get in, with Cydney Hayes in The San Francisco Gazetteer likening the gates to the TSA and Jacob Ogles in The Advocate pointing out the loss of anonymity and safety in LGBTQ+ spaces. Read the rest The post Patronscan's "ultimate bouncer" never forgets a face in San Francisco's gay bars appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 2 days ago

If you like indie games, have you tried the Itch desktop app?

If you visit Itch.io to check out indie and casual games, the website's so good you might never even realize that there's a desktop app (with downloads for Windows, macOS and Linux) to manage and run the games, apps and other interesting things hosted there. Read the rest The post If you like indie games, have you tried the Itch desktop app? appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 2 days ago

AI won't take your job, but someone who knows Claude might this course is just $14

TL;DR: Learn how to use Claude AI beyond basic prompts with the Claude AI Professional E-Degree, featuring four courses, 100+ lectures, and real-world projects for $13.99 with code COURSE30 through August 2. AI tools are becoming part of everyday work, but knowing how to ask Claude a quick question and knowing how to actually use it are two very different things. Read the rest The post AI won't take your job, but someone who knows Claude might this course is just $14 appeared first on Boing Boi...

Alt - Boing Boing - 2 days ago

At $4 a gallon again, even Republicans souring on Iran war

Republican support for President Trump's war with Iran remained steady at 71% in June, but has fallen to 61% in July, according to a survey by the Associated Press's NORC Center for Public Affairs. Everyone else overwhelmingly disapproves of the conflict, with support among "independents" falling to 17% and support among Democrats falling from 8% to 4% in the last few weeks. Read the rest The post At $4 a gallon again, even Republicans souring on Iran war appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 2 days ago

Stolen Civil War cannonballs found in luggage

TSA staff found five Civil War-era cannonballs in a passenger's checked suitcase at Gulf Shores International Airport in Alabama. Investigators found that the munitions were missing from nearby Fort Morgan; a child supposedly pilfered them and sneaked them into grandma's luggage. Read the rest The post Stolen Civil War cannonballs found in luggage appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 3 days ago

AI assistant named for long-dead pharmacy founder mutters incomprehensibly and "demands that you talk to him"

A Vermont pharmacy chain's new AI assistant led not to the efficiency improvements promised but to "delays, incorrect information and privacy concerns." The AI, named "Burt" after the chain's long-dead founder, is said to call excessively, get dosages wrong and suggest inappropriate refills, among other alarming problems. Read the rest The post AI assistant named for long-dead pharmacy founder mutters incomprehensibly and "demands that you talk to him" appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 3 days ago

Curiosity rover finds field of honeycomb-textured "polygons"

Picture a vast field of honeycombed polygonal rocks stretching to the horizon in an otherworldly valley. NASA's Curiosity rover did, and the Valle Grande, as NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is calling it, is the latest fascinating spot to be imaged by the rover, now in its 13th year of trundling across the Martian landscape. Read the rest The post Curiosity rover finds field of honeycomb-textured "polygons" appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 3 days ago

Casio's new Ring Watch has a few smart features

Casio's CRW-H001 is a tiny retro-style watch for your ring finger, and the newest model has a few smart features to make it an alternative to models from Oura and Samsung. Added to the tiny gadget is monitoring of the wearer's heart rate, blood oxygen levels and body temperature. Read the rest The post Casio's new Ring Watch has a few smart features appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 3 days ago

U.S. delegation uses AI slop map of Africa at AIDS conference

A U.S. State Department map of Africa mislabeled every country it depicted during a presentation at the AIDS 2026 conference in Rio de Janeiro. The slide was so egregiously wrong that multiple attendees whipped out their phones to get a shot of it; Emily Bass, a writer and AIDS expert, wrote about it at length. Read the rest The post U.S. delegation uses AI slop map of Africa at AIDS conference appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 3 days ago

Lawsuit claims underperforming Comcast workers subjected to abusive ritual

A Comcast manager allegedly abused underperforming workers by smashing pies in their faces, a lawsuit claims, recording the assaults in camera and ordering other employees to participate in the abuse. If it's not quite so unhinged as Ebay sending a pig fetus and sexually explicit materials to critics, it's certainly not normal. Read the rest The post Lawsuit claims underperforming Comcast workers subjected to abusive ritual appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 3 days ago

The cars he hated became the prosecution's photo department

A man accused of spray-painting "Nazi" and "Fascist" on 13 Teslas was apparently undone by the feature he neglected to vandalize: their cameras. The cars became stooges for the cops; his takeout order supplied the mailing address. Irvine police said it had responded to an altercation at the intersection of Michelson Drive and Carlson Avenue, the general area where the 13 Teslas had been vandalized. Read the rest The post The cars he hated became the prosecution's photo department appeared fi...

Alt - Boing Boing - 3 days ago

Trailer for Wicker, starring Olivia Colman, Peter Dinklage and Alexander Skarsgård

Wicker is a movie about a fisherwoman (Olivia Colman) who, tired of her community's disdain, has the basketweaver (Peter Dinklage) craft her a husband (Alexander Skarsgård) out of wicker. Here's the trailer, just out: I'm not sure what I expected from this but it really has everything, including Dinklage exactly replicating the Tyrion accent. Read the rest The post Trailer for Wicker, starring Olivia Colman, Peter Dinklage and Alexander Skarsgård appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 3 days ago

The new Washington bar exam could not demonstrate minimum technical competence

In what seems like a story from the late 1990s, and not 2026, Washington's bar-licensure task force wanted to wait until 2027 to give their new high-tech exam time to "work out any issues with its administration." The state Supreme Court chose 2026. Read the rest The post The new Washington bar exam could not demonstrate minimum technical competence appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 3 days ago

Wisconsin moves to shut down anti-Trump brewery over minor permit violations

Wisconsin alcohol regulators are trying to shut down Minocqua Brewing over permit violations so trivial they read less like public-safety concerns than a scavenger hunt for reasons to punish the state's loudest anti-Trump brewery. Wisconsin's Division of Alcohol Beverages is trying to revoke permits held by Minocqua Brewing Company, an outspoken progressive brewery that recently promised free beer on the day Donald Trump dies. Read the rest The post Wisconsin moves to shut down anti-Trump brewe...

Alt - Boing Boing - 3 days ago

Grandpa Pudding Brains befouls a funeral

A video from Lindsey Graham's funeral appears to capture two nearby mourners reacting as Diaper Don "shifts" in his seat. Perhaps it is fortunate there is no audio. The Orange Menace attended Lindsey Graham's funeral at Washington National Cathedral on Tuesday, where he also delivered a eulogy and rapped on the casket to say hello. Read the rest The post Grandpa Pudding Brains befouls a funeral appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 3 days ago

A pig named Daisy rates foods by how much she licks her lips

I've found a new favorite internet animal: a pig named Daisy, whose neon-pink-painted hooves and viral food reviews have made her an internet sensation. Her review process is simple. She tries the food, pauses to consider it, and if she likes it, she sucks on her lip declaring it "lip-licking good." Read the rest The post A pig named Daisy rates foods by how much she licks her lips appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 3 days ago

Happy Mutants! Please help rescue marine mammals!

The Marine Mammal Care Center (MMCC) needs your help. MMCC is the only year-round hospital in Los Angeles dedicated to rescuing and rehabilitating sick, injured, and orphaned seals and sea lions. Last year, MMCC competed in the Land Rover Defender Service Awards and came so close; they finished in second place. Read the rest The post Happy Mutants! Please help rescue marine mammals! appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 3 days ago

New York high school pauses plan for AI robot teacher that looks suspiciously like a RealDoll

A high school in New York was set on installing an AI-equipped humanoid robot there this fall, but the Salamanca City Central School District has paused the plan after public outrage. Privacy and cost concerns were raised, but it was also suggested that the uncanny "Sally" might be a RealDoll in a cardigan: supplier Realbotix bought the manufacturer of the silicone dolls in 2024. Read the rest The post New York high school pauses plan for AI robot teacher that looks suspiciously like a RealDoll...

Alt - Boing Boing - 3 days ago

In 1992, BBC ran a fake live ghost hunt and freaked out viewers

On Halloween night in 1992, BBC1 broadcast what looked like a live investigation of a haunted house in a London suburb, with Michael Parkinson anchoring from the studio and Sarah Greene reporting from the family's living room. Ghostwatch was scripted drama, recorded weeks earlier, but it used real presenters, actual BBC camera operators, and the network's standard call-in number the one viewers knew from Saturday morning children's shows. Read the rest The post In 1992, BBC ran a fake live ghos...

Alt - Boing Boing - 3 days ago

Skip the resume rewrites with FirstResume for $39.99

TL;DR: FirstResume helps automate the job search by tailoring resumes, writing cover letters, prepping interviews, researching companies, and tracking applications. Get lifetime access for $39.99 (reg. $899). Finding a job can feel like a full-time job in itself, especially when you're rewriting your resume and cover letter for every posting that catches your eye.  Read the rest The post Skip the resume rewrites with FirstResume for $39.99 appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 3 days ago

Marmots now have an OnlyFans account to fund research

I never expected to have an OnlyFans account, but all manner of strange things are possible in 2026, so here we are. Science funding is under attack in the United States, and researchers are exploring alternate funding sources to keep the work going. Read the rest The post Marmots now have an OnlyFans account to fund research appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 3 days ago

The only movie released in Smell-O-Vision piped 30 odors under the seats

The 1960 mystery-comedy Scent of Mystery was the only film ever released in Smell-O-Vision, which delivered 30 odors to vents under the theater seats. Inventor Hans Laube called the mechanism the "smell brain": a belt of perfume containers wound onto a motorized reel, cued by markers on the film print, with needles puncturing a membrane so fans could push the scent down the pipes. Read the rest The post The only movie released in Smell-O-Vision piped 30 odors under the seats appeared first on B...

Alt - Boing Boing - 3 days ago

A town duct-taped garbage bags over its Flock spy cameras

Given recent events, it's safe to say that in many communities, Flock's creepy, all-seeing automated license plate readers (ALPR) have become as unwelcome as a fart in a space suit. The company's 90,000 ALPR devices have become a spiteful thing across America: called upon by law enforcement for things as perverse as tracking the movements of a woman who chose to have an abortion to 'immigration-related searches' by law enforcement officials on behalf of ICE (Flock has adamantly stated that they ...

Alt - Boing Boing - 3 days ago

Physicists were convinced Wolfgang Pauli presence broke lab equipment

Wolfgang Pauli has a real law of physics named after him, the exclusion principle. Colleagues named a second one after him as a joke, "according to which a functioning device and Wolfgang Pauli may not occupy the same room." The Pauli effect was the reputation he built for making laboratory apparatus fail by walking into the room. Read the rest The post Physicists were convinced Wolfgang Pauli presence broke lab equipment appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 3 days ago

FCC bans imported Roombas, robot mowers, and delivery bots

If you've been thinking about snagging a robot to vacuum your house, suck up crap in your swimming pool or cut your grass, you might want to hustle your buns: The FCC is broadening its ban on robotics from overseas being sold in the United States. Read the rest The post FCC bans imported Roombas, robot mowers, and delivery bots appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 3 days ago

Netflix's Unabomber film digs into Kaczynski's Harvard years

Jacob Tremblay is playing a teenage Ted Kaczynski in Netflix's upcoming UNABOMBER, and researching the role took him somewhere he didn't expect: Harvard. "I didn't even know he went to Harvard until I read the script; I think most people don't," Tremblay told Tudum. Read the rest The post Netflix's Unabomber film digs into Kaczynski's Harvard years appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 3 days ago

Diddy tossed in solitary after fight at Fort Dix prison

No matter whether they get locked up in Castle Rock or Bangkok, life is rough for sex offenders. There's a caste system in the clink that places rapists, sex traffickers and pedophiles just below a burning bag of monkey shit in the incarceration food chain. Read the rest The post Diddy tossed in solitary after fight at Fort Dix prison appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 3 days ago

A DEVO founder's new video imagines Trump as a MAGA-zombie dictator

DEVO co-founder Gerald Casale has a new animated music video out, and it does not hold back on Donald Trump. In "Just Do It!," Casale turns Trump into a cartoon dictator marching a MAGA zombie army through the collapse of American democracy, smashing the Liberty Bell with a sledgehammer, watching the Statue of Liberty crumble, and running down protesters in an ambulance marked "Freedom." Read the rest The post A DEVO founder's new video imagines Trump as a MAGA-zombie dictator appeared first on...

Alt - Boing Boing - 3 days ago

Medical records and kids' phone numbers turned up in Google results

Fun fact: over 60% of all workshop injuries are the result of using a table saw without really knowing how to use a table saw. We're talking somewhere between 30,000 and 40,000 cuts, slices and amputations, every year and that's just in North America. Read the rest The post Medical records and kids' phone numbers turned up in Google results appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 3 days ago

AI companies are scanning and destroying old books

AI companies are buying old books, scanning them and destroying the remains, writes Emanuel Maiberg at 404 Media. The program is enabled by ISBNdb, maintainers of a vast book database, which helps them buy vintage physical media in bulk: "The world's best AI training data is sitting on a shelf," its pitch reads. Read the rest The post AI companies are scanning and destroying old books appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 3 days ago

A family filmed with untrained lions and most of the crew got hurt

In 1969, filming in Mozambique, Tippi Hedren watched lions take over a house that people had just abandoned and decided it should be a movie. She and her husband Noel Marshall began taking in rescued big cats and living with them at their California ranch, then cast themselves, her daughter Melanie Griffith and his two sons in Roar, shot with untrained lions, tigers and leopards in nearly every scene. Read the rest The post A family filmed with untrained lions and most of the crew got hurt appe...

Alt - Boing Boing - 4 days ago

Oscar-winning Once singer Glen Hansard dies in a Dublin crash at 56

Glen Hansard was a singer, songwriter and, to many in the Irish music community, a kind friend. At 4:30 this morning, Glen died while riding his motorcycle in the area around Dublin. His management left a brief message on his website, earlier today: With broken hearts we announce the passing of Glen Hansard in the early hours of this morning. Read the rest The post Oscar-winning Once singer Glen Hansard dies in a Dublin crash at 56 appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 4 days ago

Cartoonist sues AI meme generator monetizing his work

Replacing the text in popular comic strips is a common meme format, and few artists are displeased to see their work mutating online. Websites can generate these pics for users lacking image-editing skills. But when sites seek payment, a line is crossed. Read the rest The post Cartoonist sues AI meme generator monetizing his work appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 4 days ago

U.S. Senate unanimously opposes Ghislaine Maxwell pardon

President Trump's friendship with dead billionaire Jeffrey Epstein is still a matter of endless public discussion. And it's rumored he plans to pardon convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell in return for "exonerating" him. Already moved to a cushier prison, Maxwell has reportedly worked on a "commutation application" to this end. Read the rest The post U.S. Senate unanimously opposes Ghislaine Maxwell pardon appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 4 days ago

Peppa Pig prevails over Wolfoo in copyright case

Peppa Pig's proprietors today won a copyright battle in London's High Court against the creators of Wolfoo, a YouTube character long accused of imitating the petulant piglet. It's not the similar style that mattered, at least in this part of the fight, but the direct lifting of audio clips from the British childrens' show. Read the rest The post Peppa Pig prevails over Wolfoo in copyright case appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 4 days ago

Tesla Cybertruck overtakes Ford Edsel as "biggest flop" in U.S. auto history

Tesla sells a few hundred Cybertrucks a month to human beings, maybe. It's the biggest flop in U.S. automotive history, outflopping even the legendary Ford Edsel. Summarizing a paywalled report by Bloomberg News, Yahoo! News reports that the discrepancy between public sales targets and actual sales is what measures the machines' respective failures. Read the rest The post Tesla Cybertruck overtakes Ford Edsel as "biggest flop" in U.S. auto history appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 4 days ago

AcePDF turns document cleanup into one less headache

TL;DR: AcePDF Converter and Editor is $23.97 (reg. $99.99) with tools to convert, create, edit, merge, split, compress, protect, and OCR PDFs. Every PDF eventually reveals itself not to be the finished document you expected, but a locked little puzzle box waiting for someone to ask, "Can you just make one quick change?" Read the rest The post AcePDF turns document cleanup into one less headache appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 4 days ago

Lenovo's all-in-one IdeaCenter desktops to come in colors

Lenovo's putting in extra effort for its latest IdeaCenter all-in-one desktops, which usually come in dark gray and sometimes also in light gray: the new ones will come in muted shades of sage, puce, peach and, of course, midcentury control panel green. Read the rest The post Lenovo's all-in-one IdeaCenter desktops to come in colors appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 4 days ago

The Senate unanimously tells Trump to leave Ghislaine Maxwell in prison

Not one senator objected to a nonbinding resolution declaring that Donald Trump should not pardon or commute Ghislaine Maxwell's sentence. Finally, Senate Republicans have discovered a Trump action they will not defend. No senator objected when Jacky Rosen asked the chamber to pass a resolution declaring that Ghislaine Maxwell should receive no pardon, no commutation, or any other clemency. Read the rest The post The Senate unanimously tells Trump to leave Ghislaine Maxwell in prison appeared f...

Alt - Boing Boing - 4 days ago

This $40,000 robodog breakdances instead of showing off kung fu

Unitree, the Chinese robotics company known for its humanoid robots, has announced a new wheeled quadrupedal robot. The combination of wheels and legs allows its Super Athlete AS2-W robodog to go almost anywhere, as seen in this promotional YouTube video. Read the rest The post This $40,000 robodog breakdances instead of showing off kung fu appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 4 days ago

Tom the Dancing Bug: Even a trillionaire isn't as lucky as Lucky Ducky

Tom the Dancing Bug: Lucky Ducky, in "New Frontier" -> Please join the team that makes it possible for your friendly neighborhood comic strip Tom the Dancing Bug to exist in this hostile Trumpverse! JOIN US IN THE INNER HIVE, and be the first kid on your block to get each week's Tom the Dancing Bug comic – before it's published anywhere, plus lots of other stuff. Read the rest The post Tom the Dancing Bug: Even a trillionaire isn't as lucky as Lucky Ducky appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 4 days ago

Master piano at your own pace with flowkey for $79.99

TL;DR: flowkey helps beginners and experienced players improve with interactive lessons, video tutorials, and over 1,000 songs, now available for $79.99 for five years. The best way to stick with piano is to actually enjoy practicing. flowkey combines step-by-step lessons with songs you already know, listening as you play and offering instant feedback. Read the rest The post Master piano at your own pace with flowkey for $79.99 appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 4 days ago

The SS Richard Montgomery's masts are coming down. The bombs are staying put

After decades, the SS Richard Montgomery's three masts are scheduled to come down in September. Specialist engineers will build a platform beside the wreck and cut the structures below sea level over several weeks. The approximately 1,400 tonnes of wartime explosives in its forward holds will be left exactly where they have been since 1944. Read the rest The post The SS Richard Montgomery's masts are coming down. The bombs are staying put appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 4 days ago

Trump's participation trophy heads to the Big Apple

Trump's giant, 10-foot-tall gold participation trophy honoring his "enthusiastic participation" in the Iran War is moving from Washington, D.C., to New York City! The trophy is believed to be the largest ever awarded to a sitting President, and is an attempt to de-escalate the conflict through positive reinforcement. Read the rest The post Trump's participation trophy heads to the Big Apple appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 4 days ago

English professor, fired for assigning "political" short story, sues South Florida State College

An English professor at South Florida State College was fired for assigning an award-winning short story to her freshman class. Now Vinita Prabhakar is suing her former employer, claiming it breached her First Amendment rights. Prabhakar assigned Ottessa Moshfegh's "Bettering Myself," first published in The Paris Review and winner of the Plimpton Prize, to illustrate unreliable narrators. Read the rest The post English professor, fired for assigning "political" short story, sues South Florida ...

Alt - Boing Boing - 4 days ago

Todd Blanche tells Epstein survivors to "get to the point"

Blanche needed to hold a meeting with a group Epstein survivors to get past the Senate. It sounds less like he met with them, and more like he was a belligerent jerk for 30 minutes. Epstein survivors waited months for a meeting with Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. Read the rest The post Todd Blanche tells Epstein survivors to "get to the point" appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 4 days ago

Jeff Hays will play Princess Donut in the Dungeon Crawler Carl adaptation

"God damnit Donut!" While the Dungeon Crawler Carl books are addictive, the audiobooks are incredible. Producer and voice actor Jeff Hays is the reason. I got sucked into Dungeon Crawler Carl in early June, and rapidly read the first five books in under a week. Read the rest The post Jeff Hays will play Princess Donut in the Dungeon Crawler Carl adaptation appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 4 days ago

Metal fan defecates in moshpit, others vomit

A Devilskin concern in Dunedin, New Zealand, was tarnished Saturday night after a concergoer defecated in the moshpit. Metal fans were left "vomiting and crying" after those dancing there "completely spread" the matter around. "It started with a faint aroma," writes John Lewis of the Otago Daily Times "It's on people's feet. People Read the rest The post Metal fan defecates in moshpit, others vomit appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 4 days ago

Two marketers gave the Chicago Handshake its bitter modern recipe

In the 1990s, I was introduced to the Chicago Handshake as a shot of Jagermeister and a beer. I was lucky; the modern version is far more disgusting. A Chicago Handshake now means a shot of Jeppson's Malört served with an Old Style beer. Read the rest The post Two marketers gave the Chicago Handshake its bitter modern recipe appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 4 days ago

Grandpa Pudding Brains is asked four times where Venezuela's $13 billion went

Dementia Donnie really doesn't want to explain where the money went. A reporter aboard Air Force One asked Trump where an estimated $13 billion in Venezuelan oil revenue was going. He replied that the Venezuela war had "paid for itself." Asked again, he said the money was "running the country." Read the rest The post Grandpa Pudding Brains is asked four times where Venezuela's $13 billion went appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 4 days ago

Jordan Klepper uncovers MAGA's deepest fear

It would appear the antifa thugs no one can find are inside the animal costumes. I am always shocked these people do not understand they are talking to The Daily Show. The two women in the red hats are literally making no sense, and the college dude offers racism. Read the rest The post Jordan Klepper uncovers MAGA's deepest fear appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 4 days ago

The longest-running solo comic by a woman was one epic rant

There are plenty of "unlikable" comic book characters. And then there's Midge McCracken. Roberta Gregory's spectacularly sour, fractally negative, permanently rage-faced antihero is the sort of person who can turn any incident, regardless of how benign, into crippling psychodrama. She's exhausting, frequently offensive, often just plain wrong, and consistently hilarious. Read the rest The post The longest-running solo comic by a woman was one epic rant appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 4 days ago

A king's court meeting dropped 60 nobles into a cesspit in 1184

In July 1184 the 18-year-old German king Henry VI came to Erfurt to settle a land dispute between the Landgrave of Thuringia and the Archbishop of Mainz. Nobles, bishops and leading citizens of the town packed into an upstairs room of a two-story building near the cathedral. Read the rest The post A king's court meeting dropped 60 nobles into a cesspit in 1184 appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 4 days ago

EXPOSED: Your identity sells for less than $1

Boing Boing welcomes our sponsor, Incogni! In the data broker market, personal profiles are cheap. For a few dollars—or sometimes cents—buyers can access detailed records about real people. Addresses. Phone numbers. Relatives. Property history. That information fuels scams, spam, and identity fraud. Read the rest The post EXPOSED: Your identity sells for less than $1 appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 4 days ago

Three lighthouse keepers vanished and left the clock unwound

A passing steamer noted in its log on December 15, 1900, that the light on Eilean Mòr, in the Outer Hebrides, was dark. Storms kept the relief boat away until December 26. Joseph Moore went ashore alone and found the gate and the door shut, the beds unmade, the clock stopped, the lamps cleaned and refilled, and one set of oilskins still hanging inside. Read the rest The post Three lighthouse keepers vanished and left the clock unwound appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 4 days ago

Your PC upgrade checklist starts here: Windows 11 Pro and Office 2021 for one $33 payment

TL;DR: Get lifetime access to Windows 11 Pro and Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for just $32.97 through August 9 (MSRP $418.99). This bundle gives you the tools to upgrade your PC, improve productivity, and skip recurring software payments. A modern PC needs more than just decent hardware it needs the right software behind it. Read the rest The post Your PC upgrade checklist starts here: Windows 11 Pro and Office 2021 for one $33 payment appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 4 days ago

New England needed candles at noon and nobody knew why

On the morning of May 19, 1780, the sky over New England went dark enough that people burned candles from noon on. In Ipswich, Massachusetts, the roosters and the frogs started up at two in the afternoon as though night had arrived. Read the rest The post New England needed candles at noon and nobody knew why appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 4 days ago

Toast really does land butter-side down, and physics explains why

For more than a century, people have grumbled that dropped bread always lands butter-side down and chalked it up to plain pessimism. When the BBC science show Q.E.D. tossed toast into the air in 1991, it landed butter-down only half the time exactly what chance predicts. Read the rest The post Toast really does land butter-side down, and physics explains why appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 4 days ago

Two teams quit competing mid-game, and FIFA rewrote the rules

Algeria pulled off one of the great World Cup upsets in 1982, beating reigning European champions West Germany 2–1 the first African or Arab team ever to beat a European team at the tournament.  Algeria finished its group games a day before West Germany played Austria, so both European teams took the field knowing that a West German win by one or two goals would send both through and eliminate Algeria. Read the rest The post Two teams quit competing mid-game, and FIFA rewrote the rules appeared...

Alt - Boing Boing - 4 days ago

This 355-foot research ship worked by flipping vertical in the ocean

For sixty years, oceanographers had a research vessel that deliberately capsized itself. FLIP, short for Floating Instrument Platform, was a 355-foot ship that would flood its stern and pitch backward 90 degrees until it floated straight up and down. The front 55 feet stayed above water; the other 300 feet were suspended in deep, calm water, which made the platform almost immune to passing waves. Read the rest The post This 355-foot research ship worked by flipping vertical in the ocean appeare...

Alt - Boing Boing - 4 days ago

A London pickle maker was crowned king of a breakaway state in China

Bertram "Bertie" Sheldrake ran his family's pickle factory in southeast London, converted to Islam as a teenager in 1903, and took the name Khalid. He founded mosques in Peckham and Dulwich, edited Muslim journals, and once converted a biscuit heiress to Islam aboard a chartered airliner over the English Channel. Read the rest The post A London pickle maker was crowned king of a breakaway state in China appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 4 days ago

CDC now reports 18,000 cyclosporiasis cases in 45 states

The latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows the cyclosporiasis outbreak now extending to 18,000 cases in 45 states. Since May 1, the CDC says it received 6,707 lab-confirmed domestic cases and more than 11,500 cases yet to be confirmed, many of which are in Michigan and Ohio. Read the rest The post CDC now reports 18,000 cyclosporiasis cases in 45 states appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 4 days ago

In 1895 a train burst through a Paris station and stood on its nose

On October 22, 1895, a steam locomotive smashed through the upper-floor wall of a Paris railway station and came to rest on its nose in the street below. The photograph of the Montparnasse derailment is one of the most famous images in the history of transportation. Read the rest The post In 1895 a train burst through a Paris station and stood on its nose appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 5 days ago

Shopify CEO endorses stripping voting rights from poor and pensioners

Tobi Lütke, CEO of online commerce giant Shopify, endorsed banker Eric Thor's suggestion for a "weighted voting proportional to the amount of income tax you pay." Moreover, he wrote, the poor and pensioners should have their right to vote stripped entirely: "Now you are a dependent and that means no voting, just like dependents under age. Read the rest The post Shopify CEO endorses stripping voting rights from poor and pensioners appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 5 days ago

Ebay and former execs to pay $55.7m after harassment campaign against journalists

If large corporations are supposed to prefer subtle and well-lawyered forms of misconduct, no-one told Ebay, whose global security team ended up facing criminal charges over their unhinged harassment campaign against Ina and David Steiner, two journalists who criticized the company. Read the rest The post Ebay and former execs to pay $55.7m after harassment campaign against journalists appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 5 days ago

Supergiant Betelgeuse's smaller companion star imaged

Having shown the massive star Betelgeuse as an indistinct blob, astronomers at the Very Large Telescope in the Atacama Desert have now imaged its long-suspected companion star, proving that the bloated supergiant is not alone. "This is the conclusion of a century-long quest," wrote Miguel Montargès of the Observatoire de Paris. Read the rest The post Supergiant Betelgeuse's smaller companion star imaged appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alt - Boing Boing - 5 days ago

Your spreadsheet has officially been promoted—Microsoft Project is $44.97 right now

TL;DR: Get a Microsoft Project Professional 2024 Lifetime License for $44.97 through Aug. 2 (MSRP $1,129) and plan projects with Gantt charts, built-in reports, automatic scheduling, timesheets, and a one-time purchase Everyone thinks they're good at project management until Task No. Read the rest The post Your spreadsheet has officially been promoted—Microsoft Project is $44.97 right now appeared first on Boing Boing.