TL;DR: Get a High-Definition Monocular Telescope with 50×60 magnification, a phone clip, and a tripod — on sale for $39.99 (reg. $54.99).

Cheap concert tickets usually come with a view of the performer about the size of a grain of rice. — Read the rest

The post Upgrade your nosebleed seats with a $39.99 high-def monocular appeared first on Boing Boing.

If you live in West Virginia, you're lucky enough to get a cryptid-themed license plate. West Virginia is the only state that offers a cryptid-themed plate, including multiple beloved monsters from popular urban legends. All of the creatures are from urban legends that are specific to West Virginia lore. — Read the rest

The post West Virginia now has a license plate full of cryptids, including Mothman appeared first on Boing Boing.

If you are a cow living in the Swiss Alps, you may find yourself in a sticky situation. If you stray too far into the summer pastures, it may be difficult to find your way back home. Luckily, there are some kind protocols put in place to help you in this situation. — Read the rest

The post Swiss cows that wander too far get a helicopter ride home appeared first on Boing Boing.

The Match Archive is my new favorite place to "joy scroll" on Instagram. This page showcases all sorts of gorgeous antique matchboxes. Gone are the days when match companies put creativity and art into each little box of matches, but wonderful pages like this let you experience the joy of decorative matchboxes. — Read the rest

The post The Match Archive on Instagram saves gorgeous antique matchboxes from the trash appeared first on Boing Boing.

The Bottle Imps is the newest story by Rudy Rucker and Bruce Sterling. Read all eleven of their tales in the 2nd edition of their anthology, Transreal Cyberpunk.

• Amazon page for e-book and paperback.

— Read the rest

The post "The Bottle Imps" — new short fiction by Rudy Rucker and Bruce Sterling appeared first on Boing Boing.

Davey Barker's TitleArt recreates the classic style and feature-set of WordArt ("Make text like it's 1997"), the surprisingly fun and unusually well-crafted type design tools built-in to Microsoft Word and PowerPoint back in the day.

I wanted to make a faithful recreation of the original WordArt so I went through the various screenshots I could find and tweaked the built-in styles by eye.

— Read the rest

The post Remember WordArt? This website brings it back appeared first on Boing Boing.

The police chief of Westborough, Massachussets, is on administrative leave after he was reportedly found asleep in a police SUV outside a liquor store. His colleagues were summoned "around noon" Friday by a caller at Star Liquors on Route 9 in Shrewsbury, and one of the responsing officers told a lieutenant that "it's the Chief of Police for Westborough and he's hammered drunk. — Read the rest

The post "Hammered drunk" police chief slept outside liquor store appeared first on Boing Boing.

The Dune: Part 3 popcorn bucket sports a 2-sandworm design to "make it easier to share," reports Variety. No less suggestive than the the Dune: Part Two container, the double Shai-Hulud promises an eternity of snacks, which you'll certainly want for the sequel's extended running time. — Read the rest

The post 2 sandworms, 1 bucket, Dune 3 appeared first on Boing Boing.

Police are using AI to generate reports on "suspicious" driving patterns, using data from license-plate cameras, then pulling over motorists based on that pretext.

The ACLU's Jay Stanley reports the example of Grace Knowles, a woman in her 20s, whose September 2005 road trip to Florida was deemed suspicious by the Flock-based system. — Read the rest

The post Cops using AI to justify stops for "suspicious driving patterns" appeared first on Boing Boing.

In May, when federal Judge April Perry uncovered apparent grand jury misconduct, the underlying Broadview Six prosecution collapsed. Perry began examining whether federal prosecutors were candid with her about what happened and whether officials outside the Chicago U.S. attorney's office were involved. — Read the rest

The post DOJ tells judge probing prosecutor misconduct that Trump can make it go away appeared first on Boing Boing.

I only bought four pens when I was in Japan earlier this month. And I wish I'd bought more. As usual. But I like all four of them.

I picked them up at a fantastic department store called Hands, formerly Tokyu Hands, but it changed its name a couple of years ago. — Read the rest

The post Four cool pens I bought in Japan appeared first on Boing Boing.

TL;DR: Compare answers from Claude, Gemini, ChatGPT, and more in one search with a lifetime subscription to Clearafi's Tier 1 Plan for $49.99 (reg. $299).

Getting a second opinion on an AI answer usually means pasting the same question into another chatbot and comparing the replies yourself. — Read the rest

The post This AI tool asks multiple chatbots your question and shows where they agree, and a lifetime subscription is only $50 appeared first on Boing Boing.

Say what you will about gaming auteur and Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima, but the man clearly has a talent for the pitch. On its surface, post-apocalyptic mailman simulator Death Stranding doesn't lend itself well to a cinematic universe, given its slow, action-averse gameplay. — Read the rest

The post Death Stranding gets a second animation before the first is out appeared first on Boing Boing.

Personal computers have become unaffordable for many as datacenter construction gobbles up all the components. If the joke was that the AI guys don't want you to have your own machine, it turns out not to be a joke at all! — Read the rest

The post Keeping RAM in personal computers "quite terrible," says OpenAI's Sam Altman appeared first on Boing Boing.

David S. Pumpkins returned to SNL in 2022 and, importantly, had not changed.

Still dancing, still confounding horror-seekers, David S. Pumpkins came back, ostensibly from Ibiza.

These skits almost justify SNL's continued existence.

Previously:
• David S. Pumpkins week begins now. — Read the rest

The post We learn that David S. Pumpkins is from Ibiza appeared first on Boing Boing.

TL;DR: Get a lifetime license to Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for Windows for $27.97 through November 1, with no recurring subscription fees.

Microsoft 365 Personal costs $99.99 per year, even if you only use Word or Excel occasionally. Microsoft Office Professional 2021 gives you another option: pay once and keep the productivity software without annual renewals. — Read the rest

The post For only $28, get Word, Excel, Outlook, Access, and more without recurring subscription fees appeared first on Boing Boing.

Kevin Bates, creator of the credit card-sized Arduboy game system, now sells a $149 digital candle that uses a small neural network ("8-dimensional latent, convolutional decoder, 3,545 parameters, 30 fps") to generate a realistic flame simulation on its low-resolution display. — Read the rest

The post Arduboy Digital Candle has AI-simulated flame appeared first on Boing Boing.

Whenever I need a good laugh, I look at an Instagram account called Good Advice for Shitty People. This satirical account is like an advice column for the worst people ever, determined to stay that way. Every time I start reading through it, I can't stop because it's so ridiculous and funny. — Read the rest

The post Good Advice for Shitty People is an advice column for the worst people ever appeared first on Boing Boing.

Did you miss out on National Pumpkin Day? If so, this video has you covered. Watch three cute and ferocious little hippos enjoy their pumpkins at the Cincinnati Zoo.

Eating a handful of pumpkin seeds takes me at least a few minutes. — Read the rest

The post Watch the Cincinnati Zoo's hippos eat whole pumpkins like potato chips appeared first on Boing Boing.

These stone face artworks by Chen and Kai make me so happy to look at. These decorative works can be placed on your bookshelf, coffee table, or wherever else you choose. Each one features a spooky and simple face carved from a slab of stone. — Read the rest

The post These spooky stone faces look like little spirits emerging from the rock appeared first on Boing Boing.

This video shows what happens when you allow a puppy to watch a large steak cooking on TV. The confused dog thinks it's real. Despite the screen having no flavor, the puppy is determined to lick through the screen and get to the steak. — Read the rest

The post Puppy tries to lick a steak off the TV screen appeared first on Boing Boing.

This photograph shows Tim Burton as a kid wearing his Halloween costume in 1967. If you've seen The Nightmare Before Christmas, you'll immediately recognize the similarity between this costume and Jack Skellington. I have a feeling that this creation made by Tim Burton's mom (at least subconsciously) influenced the design of Jack Skellington. — Read the rest

The post Tim Burton's 1967 skeleton costume looks a lot like Jack Skellington appeared first on Boing Boing.

This video shows a gigantic water spout seen on the Kama River in the Perm region of Russia. The water spout against the sunlight looks like a portal leading up into the sky. It's fascinating that something real can look so supernatural. — Read the rest

The post A giant waterspout on a Russian river looks like a portal to the sky appeared first on Boing Boing.

Knightmare, the classic virtual reality TV show that sent a blindfolded adventurer into a green-screen CG dungeon, is coming back as a point-and-click adventure game in 2027. It'll be a free download and star most of the show's original cast, including Hugo Myatt as dungeon master Treguard, and has a lovely hand-drawn cartoon style. — Read the rest

The post Classic UK dungeon crawl show Knightmare to return as adventure game appeared first on Boing Boing.

TL;DR: Catch threats before they can strike with this GhostShield AI-Powered VPN Premium Plan lifetime subscription, on sale now for just $49.99 (MSRP $399).

A VPN is the most basic way to protect your online privacy, but sometimes you need a little more. — Read the rest

The post One $50 payment gets you lifetime VPN protection on 10 devices appeared first on Boing Boing.

Patrick Stewart, the Olivier award-winning Shakespearean actor who achieved international stardom as Star Trek's Jean-Luc Picard and The X-Men's Professor X, is dead at 86.

Already a distinguished stage and screen presence when he took the role of the Enterprise's new captain, Stewart went on to star as Picard in seven seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation, three of Picard, four motion pictures, and at least 10 video games. — Read the rest

The post Patrick Stewart dead at 86 appeared first on Boing Boing.

Last month I went to Japan with my family. It was my 10th time in Japan. But until this visit, I had never gone to any island other than Honshu, the one that has Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka. This time we went to Kyushu, which is south of Honshu. — Read the rest

The post Why a Fukuoka subway sign calls your backpack a "rucksack" appeared first on Boing Boing.

A few years ago, I was on a plane with my Kindle Paperwhite in my lap, and when I grabbed the seatbelt to strap in, the buckle hit the screen and cracked it. It was still usable, but the bright spot was distracting. — Read the rest

The post My Kindle cracked again, so I switched to a tiny Xteink e-reader appeared first on Boing Boing.

Tom the Dancing Bug, IN WHICH Elon Musk and His Doge Pals must finad and defeat the biggest threat to Western Civilization!

-> "Back in 2012 Bolling — noting that the comic was more widely read than ever yet generating less money than ever — started a subscription membership called The Inner Hive. — Read the rest

The post Tom the Dancing Bug: Elon Musk and His Doge Pals hunt down the threat to Western Civilization appeared first on Boing Boing.

It feels like AI is coming for everybody's jobs, but especially for phone scammers. Thanks to the availability of consumer AI, anyone in any call center anywhere can throw up a decently convincing-sounding AI agent to fleece people out of their money with no effort required. — Read the rest

The post Bankrupting scammers is surprisingly easy appeared first on Boing Boing.