Tear-by-hand packing tape looks like ordinary clear packing tape. I costs a bit more, but it is so worth it. You don't need to put in in a dispenser. Just peel off what you need and tear it off. I've been using it for years, and resent having use the kind that needs to be cut with a dispenser or scissors. Read the rest

A ceiling, no doubt in league with the Devil, tried to steal a cross being borne by a fellow dressed as Jesus as he ascended an escalator. Spoiler alert - goodness prevailed. Read the rest

American businessman Martin Shkreli is locked up with the general population at the Metropolitan Detention Center in New York City. It will be his home for the next four months, until he's sentenced for securities fraud early next year. The 34-year-old pharma executive was out on $5 million bail while awaiting sentencing and was finding comfort in writing Facebook posts, but a judge put him behind bars last week for putting a bounty on a strand of Clinton's hair, including the follicle. He has no access to the Internet.

From The LA Times

Although far less notorious than city-run Rikers Island, the Brooklyn facility has a checkered history. After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, dozens of mostly Arab or Muslim men “of high interest” were detained at MDC. Many said guards there regularly slammed them against walls until officials began videotaping them as a safeguard.

More recently, prosecutors have alleged that MDC was the scene of sexual assaults by guards on female inmates. A federal magistrate last year expressed reluctance to remand a woman there, citing a report saying there was an “absence of fresh, clean air, the complete absence of sunlight, and the absence of ANY outdoor time and activities.”

In a court filing, lawyers for Jacob “Kobi” Alexander, the convicted former chief executive of Converse Technology, complained about a lack of recreation time, saying he “spends large parts of his day walking in circles in his unit when he is permitted to do so.”

After two nights behind bars, his attorney said that Shkreli is “doing reasonably well under very difficult circumstances.” Read the rest

The State of California fined Gatorade for making a video game for kids that says, "keep your performance level high and avoid water." In the game, called Bolt!, players give Gatorade to Olympic runner Usain Bolt to increase his fuel level. If you give Bolt water, the fuel level goes down. Now they have to pay $300,000 as part of a settlement with the state.

From Oregon Live:

"Making misleading statements is a violation of California law. But making misleading statements aimed at our children is beyond unlawful, it's morally wrong and a betrayal of trust," [California Attorney General Xavier Becerra] said in a statement.

Gatorade agreed to the settlement but has not admitted wrongdoing.

"The mobile game, Bolt!, was designed to highlight the unique role and benefits of sports drinks in supporting athletic performance. We recognize the role water plays in overall health and wellness, and offer our consumers great options," spokeswoman Katie Vidaillet said in an email.

In addition to agreeing not to disparage water, Gatorade agreed not to make Bolt! or any other games that give the impression that water will hinder athletic performance or that athletes only consumer Gatorade and do not drink water. Gatorade also agreed to use "reasonable efforts" to abide by parent company PepsiCo's policy on responsible advertising to children and to disclose its contracts with endorsers.

From a 2014 report published by University of California Berkeley's Center for Weight and Health:

The Academy of Pediatrics does not recommend sports drinks as a hydration source for children and adolescents and finds that water is the best source of hydration for ordinary children engaging in routine physical activity (Schneider, 2011).

Don't you feel sorry for these ill-tempered, thin-skinned, diva-esque, impatient, abusive, screaming, swearing, blame-casting, highly-paid professional newsreaders? Read the rest

Cleanup crews are removing what police and Detroit Metro Airport officials are describing as an "unusual substance" discovered in the soap dispensers in the bathrooms. They aren't saying exactly what it is, other than a "bodily fluid" that is "very disgusting." Spoiler alert: they said it isn't saliva. What could it be?

From Click on Detroit:

The unusual substance isn't being tested because sources said it was pretty apparent what the substance was. They said it was likely a bodily fluid, but it hasn't been confirmed because testing hasn't been done. Officials said it's not believed to be spit.

Why would anybody put something in an airport soap dispenser? Investigators said it's nothing sinister, but someone with ongoing access to the restrooms who has a grudge.

My daughter and I have a nice little home makerspace going, but we have been storing all of our components (resistors, capacitors, solder, arduinos, raspberry pis, etc) in plastic boxes stacked into a larger box, which makes it hard to find what we need. It was time to get a cabinet, and this one is perfect, with 44 clear sliding drawers. It's only about 6-inches deep, which is a good thing because it doesn't take up a lot of room on our worktable. I bought it through Amazon's Warehouse for $23. An unopened box version is $28. Read the rest

How did an Orange County preacher's warning that the world is ending tomorrow appear as an emergency broadcast alert on cable TV this week?

The short answer is "Orange County." This chain-store ridden megalopolis is well-known as a California enclave for far-right screwballs, atavistic televangelists, and new age grifters. It's the home of the late Wally George, Russian useful idiot Dana Rohrabacher, and the Trinity Broadcasting Network.

The long answer is not as clear. A media relations rep for Cox Communications offered a vague explanation: "The radio station that sent the alert didn't turn off their programming when the alert ended. For a short time, some heard programming that was on the radio." But that doesn't explain the "EMERGENCY ALERT" banner that accompanied the frantic, grim audio warnings, such as "realize this, that in the last days extremely violent times will come," and "the term means hard. Harsh. Hard to deal with. Vicious. Dangerous. Menacing."

The warning seems to be related to the Planet X, or Niberu, conspiracy, which was started by a woman in Wisconsin named Nancy Lieder.

From The Telegraph:

Ms Lieder claims to be a conduit for aliens from the Zeta Reticuli star system, 39.17 light years from Earth, who have warned her about the Nibiru catastrophe.

The conspiracy theory hasn’t gone away, with so-called Christian numerologist David Meade claiming Planet X is heading in our direction.

Meade believes October could see the start The Rapture and a seven-year tribulation period of widescale natural disasters.

Mr. Meade is a popular figure among evangelical Christians. Read the rest

This cat has trained its human to repeatedly push it across the floor.

HMC, while you curl me again. from holdmycatnip

On the Cool Tools Show podcast, Kevin Kelly and I interviewed my sister, Wendy, about some of her favorite tools.

Our guest this week is Wendy Frauenfelder. Wendy likes to cook, fix things, pretend to be a bartender, and do therapy dog work. She also is fascinated with wild yeast and slow food.

Subscribe to the Cool Tools Show on iTunes | RSS | Transcript | Download MP3 | See all the Cool Tools Show posts on a single page

Show notes:

Stanley 66-358 Stanley Stubby Ratcheting MultiBit Screwdriver ($10) "I always keep a screwdriver in the kitchen, just so that I don't have to go to the garage if I something inside the house that I need to work on. So this is my new screwdriver inside the house, and there's a couple things I like. First, it's small. It's like four-and-a-half inches long, and so it fits in a junk drawer really easily. The second thing I really like about it is it's a ratcheting screwdriver. So, if you're fixing a knob on a cabinet or something you don't have to spin it around in your hand, you can just kind of ratchet it in, which I love. But you can also make it just a steady, regular kind of screwdriver. Then the third thing that I love about it is you unscrew the cap on the top of the screwdriver and inside are five other tips. So you've got three Phillips head and three regular screwdriver tips, and they vary from pretty tiny to large and fat, and they're right there in the cap, so you can grab your screwdriver without knowing what kind of screw you've gotta work on, and you'll have the right tip."

24 oz Mason Drinking Jar & Stainless Steel Straw ($10.50) "It's actually a Ball jar, not a mason jar, and then it's got the regular kind of screw-on lid, but whoever made this took the little flat part of the lid on top and put a rivet in it and made a hole so you can stick a straw in there. Read the rest

Colin Furze’s debut book, This Book Isn't Safe features ten inventions kids can make at home with step by step instructions. Inventions include "Concrete-Crusher Boots," the "Fab Frisbee Flinger," and the "Downhill Racer." Below, Colin's instructions for making the Brilliant Bedroom-Tidy Pulley:

Read the rest

Amazon is running a good deal on theseAC wall outlets with dual USB charging ports. It has 4.8-amp charging across the USB ports, which is plenty to charge most device. The regular price is $23, but you can get it for $17 with the promo code OPZ757GL. You will probably also need a wallplate like this one. Read the rest

South Dakota Rep. Lynne DiSanto, the GOP's majority whip in the state house, is baffled as to why anyone would think her Facebook post of a meme showing a car running over protesters with the banner "All Lives Splatter" meant that she condoned running over protesters. The meme also said "Nobody cares about your protest. Keep your ass out of the road." She commented, "I think this is a movement we can all support. #alllivessplatter."

She is probably just as baffled as to why her ass was fired, too. The Rapid City Journal reports she lost her position at Keller Williams Realty of the Black Hills, and The Argus Leader reports that Working Against Violence, Inc. cancelled DiSanto's speaking gig at an upcoming event.

From Vice:

The meme draws parallels to white supremacist counterprotesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, where 32-year-old Heather Heyer died after a man rammed his car into a crowd of people. In fact, it looks similar to others shared in white supremacist chatrooms before and after the Charlottesville riots.

“I am sorry if people took offense to it and perceived my message in any way insinuating support or condoning people being hit by cars,” DiSanto told the Rapid City Journal. “I perceived it differently. I perceived it as encouraging people to stay out of the street.”

House Majority Leader Lee Qualm, R-Platte. called DiSanto's post an error in judgment, and that she will serve again as majority whip during the 2018 legislative session.

I have a feeling her post will increase her chances of reelection. Read the rest

A judge really threw the book at Los Angeles County probation officer Oscar Calderon Jr. He has to go to jail for a year for sexually assaulting girls in Camp Scudder in Santa Clarita on a regular basis since 2014. The girls told the court that their complaints to other officers about the assaults fell on deaf ears.

From The LA Times:

In a victim impact statement read in court Wednesday, Darling’s client described the year she spent living in fear of Calderon, who she said constantly groped her while threatening to give her poor progress reports and delay her release if she did not comply.

“I spent almost a year in a locked-down facility, with a disgusting, horny, grown man that’s supposedly my probation officer. I’ve never been blackmailed, let alone sexually abused, until I entered that camp,” she said, according to a copy of the impact statement. “It’s been two years, and I still feel it. I feel the depression of the past, and the anxiety of the future. I can still smell his disgusting breath when he kissed me.”

“Mr. Calderon is looking forward to putting this behind him and moving on with his life,” said Officer Calderon’s attorney, Rodrigo Ambrosio.

As part of his plea deal, Officer Calderon will not have to register as a sex offender. Read the rest

Writer Matthew Treadwell recounts the time he and his wife were in rural Japan and missed the last bus to Haneda Airport. They were in danger of missing their plane. They flagged down a taxi but the driver said it was too far. To make matters worse, it started raining. Then a man came along and changed their luck. Read the rest

"Is it possible that we are not real and don't even know it?" That's the question explored in the latest animated explainer video from Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell. It present five untestable assumptions, which if all true, would mean we are living in a simulated universe.

Read the rest

A couple of days ago I mentioned the the MoYu YJ Lingpo 2 x 2 x 2 Speed Cube. I still haven't solved it, but I wanted to make a quick video to show how smooth it is. The little cubes rotate around a plastic sphere, and are connected by springs. It's practically impossible to jam it, unlike every other Rubik's Cube I've used. I thought it would be a snap to solve, having only 8 cubes (compared to the 27 26 cubes of a regular Rubik's cube) but it turns out I'm even dumber than I thought. I'm not giving up! Read the rest