Starting in November 2000, a poster using the handle TimeTravel_0 showed up on an internet forum called the Time Travel Institute claiming to be an American soldier from the year 2036. He said he'd been sent back to 1975 to retrieve an IBM 5100 computer, needed in his time to debug legacy code, because his grandfather had helped build the machine. — Read the rest

The post John Titor, the internet's most famous time traveler, vanished in 2001 appeared first on Boing Boing.

Amber George, longtime spokeswoman of a store chain, saw an advertisement featuring her that she did not remember recording. If there was a moment of confusion, it was soon obvious what Fred's Appliance had done: run old ads through AI to generate new ones featuring her. — Read the rest

The post Spokeswoman sues company after it uses AI to make new ads featuring her appeared first on Boing Boing.

TL;DR: Get a lifetime subscription to Microsoft Project Professional 2024 for $48.99 (reg. $1,129.99). 

If you're looking for reliable software that'll take care of all your management needs and requirements, Microsoft Project Professional 2024 is a sure bet. Not only does it come from an extremely reputable company, but this software also helps you plan, execute, and complete projects efficiently, all on one platform. — Read the rest

The post Manage projects like a pro with Microsoft Project 2024 for just $49 appeared first on Boing Boing.

Starlog, the science fiction magazine that ended its 33 year run in 2009, will return this fall with a new print edition, a weekly podcast and a newsletter. And it will be edited by Annalee Newitz!

"Fifty years ago, STARLOG went behind the scenes of alternate worlds for the first time.

— Read the rest

The post Starlog returns in November after 17 years out of print appeared first on Boing Boing.

You've heard of graveyards, where we ceremonially store human remains. But did you know that Ben & Jerry's ice cream company has a Flavor Graveyard for discontinued lines of its popular dairy snacks?

Even the best Ben & Jerry's flavors eventually melt away.

— Read the rest

The post Ben & Jerry's maintains a Flavor Graveyard of discontinued ice cream products appeared first on Boing Boing.

After Apollo 11, Richard Nixon had NASA make 250 commemorative plaques, each holding about four rice-sized specks of moon dust mounted next to a flag that had flown to the moon and back. In 1970, one went to Cyprus, along with all 135 other countries, all 50 US states, and the UN. — Read the rest

The post Nixon gave Cyprus a piece of the moon. Then a coup made it disappear. appeared first on Boing Boing.

TL;DR: Get MS Office Pro Plus 2019 and Windows 11 Pro for just $25.99 (reg. $428).

If your PC is due for a system upgrade, why not also give your software a new look with The All-in-One Microsoft Office Pro 2019 for Windows: Lifetime License + Windows 11 Pro Bundle for just $25.99 (reg. — Read the rest

The post Upgrade your PC with MS Office Pro Plus 2019 and Windows 11 Pro for just $26 appeared first on Boing Boing.

Henrico County, Virginia, has asked its schools and government offices to cut power use as the local grid struggles to meet the power demands of its 37 data centers and considers the impact of 17 more under proposal.

Matthew Gault of 404 Media acquired email sent by County Manager John Vithoulkas to thousands of county employees on June 26, warning that the rate Henrico pays for electricity in all county and school facilities was about to rise by 25%, adding an estimated $5 million to costs in the coming fiscal year. — Read the rest

The post County with 37 data centers tells schools to turn off lights to save electricity appeared first on Boing Boing.

In October 2015, a Swedish tech blogger named Johny Krahbichler opened a package mailed from Warsaw: a DVD with a long alphanumeric code written on it, no return address, no explanation. When he played it, he found a two-minute black-and-white video of a figure in a plague doctor costume, standing in a ruined building, holding up a hand with a blinking light — set to loud, discordant buzzing. — Read the rest

The post A mystery DVD mailed from Poland hid coded threats in a plague doctor video appeared first on Boing Boing.

In 1681, women walking alone through the alleys around London's Fleet Street began getting attacked by a man who moved so fast, and vanished so completely, that people believed he had supernatural powers. He'd grab a woman, bend her over his knee, lift her skirt, and spank her before disappearing. — Read the rest

The post In 1681, a mystery attacker who vanished instantly terrorized London appeared first on Boing Boing.

Before we had HowToBasic, there was Count Etienne Louis Philippe Ścibor-Rylski.

Back in 1930, this tutorial trailblazer created what could very well be the first how-to video in history, asking the viewer one simple question: Would you like to wear a monocle? — Read the rest

The post 1930 film may be the first how-to video in history appeared first on Boing Boing.

The Orange Menace says he "had a conversation with Theodore Roosevelt" about the Panama Canal, which is a neat trick since Roosevelt died in 1919 and Trump was not born until 1946.

So, now we're at the President openly describing recent conversations with a 107-year-dead person yet remaining in command of the world's largest, yet quickly shrinking in effectiveness, military. — Read the rest

The post Grandpa Pudding Brains describes recent chat with President Theodore Roosevelt, who died before he was born appeared first on Boing Boing.

Somatoparaphrenia is a rare delusion in which a person denies that one of their limbs, or an entire side of their body, belongs to them — even when shown direct proof. Patients don't just forget the limb is theirs; they invent an explanation for whose it actually is, sometimes elaborate enough that they'll treat the limb as if it belonged to a separate being. — Read the rest

The post This neurological condition makes people deny their own limbs appeared first on Boing Boing.

Catherine the Great, who modernized Russia during her reign, took about 22 lovers over her lifetime — enough to fuel a legend that outlived her by centuries: that she died attempting intercourse with a horse, crushed when the harness suspending the animal above her snapped. — Read the rest

The post The myth that Catherine the Great died having sex with a horse, debunked appeared first on Boing Boing.

On September 13, 2005, Blizzard added a raid to World of Warcraft with a boss, Hakkar the Soulflayer, who cast a debuff called Corrupted Blood that spread between nearby players. It was only meant to last inside that one dungeon. A programming oversight let it escape into the rest of the game world instead. — Read the rest

The post A World of Warcraft bug accidentally created a virtual pandemic appeared first on Boing Boing.

In 2007, an Australian film collective called Alrugo Entertainment shot a trailer for a movie that didn't exist. Italian Spiderman, a parody of 1960s and '70s Italian action films, was filmed on a single roll of 16mm film in one day. — Read the rest

The post Marvel wouldn't let Italian Spiderman into a real Spider-Man movie appeared first on Boing Boing.

On October 14, 1888, French inventor Louis Le Prince filmed his family walking in circles in a garden in Roundhay, Leeds — and the result, Roundhay Garden Scene, is believed to be the oldest surviving film. It runs about two seconds. — Read the rest

The post The oldest surviving film is two seconds of a family walking in a garden appeared first on Boing Boing.

TL;DR: This bundle includes lifetime licenses for Windows 11 Pro and Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for $39.19 (reg. $418.99) with code JULY30.

A productive Windows computer usually starts with two things: Windows and Office. This bundle includes lifetime licenses for Windows 11 Pro and Microsoft Office Professional 2021, covering the software many people install before doing anything else. — Read the rest

The post This Microsoft bundle gets your PC ready for work for $39 appeared first on Boing Boing.

In 1943, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles had lost so many players to World War II that the NFL forced the two teams to merge into one roster for a single season. Pittsburgh had only six men left under contract; Philadelphia had sixteen. — Read the rest

The post In 1943, the NFL forced the Eagles and Steelers to merge into one team appeared first on Boing Boing.

Grandpa Pudding Brains is back on the "Y.M.C.A." beat, explaining that the Village People classic became a "monster" hit again "30 years after its original launch," which is adorable if you believe 1978 was in the Clinton administration.

"Y.M.C.A." came out in 1978, but Grandpa Pudding Brains says it was 30 years ago, because numbers are just little flags you wave while the band plays you off. — Read the rest

The post The Village People wrote a disco anthem. Grandpa Pudding Brains found a mirror appeared first on Boing Boing.

Flabbergasted that even a majority MAGA Supreme Court can't turn away children born on US soil, America's angriest white supremacist, Stephen Miller, is back on camera explaining that the country must end birthright citizenship for children born to undocumented immigrants because he says so. — Read the rest

The post Trump's immigration ghoul is back to explaining why some babies don't count appeared first on Boing Boing.

Thieves hit a Los Angeles Pokémon shop again, smashing their way in and stealing another pile of valuable cardboard with monsters on it, because capitalism eventually turns childhood into a smash-and-grab category.

The funny-sad thing here is that Pokémon cards have completed the full American lifecycle: children's obsession, collector bubble, investment vehicle, insured retail asset, smash-and-grab loot. — Read the rest

The post Gotta steal 'em all! Thieves rob Pokémon shop again appeared first on Boing Boing.

JD Vance tried to make a Biden joke in front of troops and got the kind of silence usually reserved for a smoke alarm chirping during a funeral.

Remember, Vance proudly tells a story about yelling "shut the hell up" at his child so JD could kiss Trump's ass and get the job. — Read the rest

The post Not a single laugh: JD Vance tells another joke appeared first on Boing Boing.

A Fresno County farmer says a legal dispute over his nectarines left 125,000 pounds of fruit sitting in the orchard, unsellable and waiting to rot. His solution was beautifully simple: if he can't sell them, people can eat them.

The farmer grows the fruit. — Read the rest

The post Farmer gives away 125,000 pounds of nectarines rather than let Big Ag rot them appeared first on Boing Boing.

Whoa! Time travel's just been invented! Quick question, though: are you a plucky teenager being mentored by an eccentric scientist? What about an ancient alien with a cool box? No?

Then sorry, you're going to have to join the rest of the public in queuing for… dramatic sting… the Time Travel Department. — Read the rest

The post The one thing scarier than getting stuck in ancient Mesopotamia appeared first on Boing Boing.

TL;DR: The refurbished Lenovo ThinkPad L15 Gen 3 features a Ryzen 5 Pro processor, 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD, a 15.6-inch touchscreen, and Windows 11 Pro for $439.99 (reg. $799).

It's almost unheard of for business laptops to have a cult following, yet ThinkPads somehow managed it. — Read the rest

The post This refurbished Lenovo ThinkPad is down to $440 appeared first on Boing Boing.

Do you have a petty grievance you'd like to broadcast across the globe? If so, PettyMillion is the website for you. You can type your own petty grievances and send them off for strangers to read here. You can also read other people's entries, and vote/react to them. — Read the rest

The post PettyMillion lets you anonymously share your pettiest complaints appeared first on Boing Boing.

This "poop dog" firework is the only thing I'm interested in purchasing this year for the 4th. It says everything that needs to be said. It's also incredibly entertaining to watch.

Before this version existed, when I was a child, there was the classic black snake firework. — Read the rest

The post This poop dog firework puts a funny twist on the classic black snake appeared first on Boing Boing.

This tortoise has a passion for interior design, and nobody is going to stop her. In this funny video the tortoise begins moving heavy furniture around the house by simply wedging her shell underneath it and walking away. If you stumbled upon this scene in the dark and didn't see the tortoise, it would seem like a poltergeist was taking place, causing the furniture to drift around by itself. — Read the rest

The post Tortoise rearranges furniture like a tiny interior designer appeared first on Boing Boing.

I must genuinely applaud investigative YouTuber Eddy Burback's willingness to get out there and find the hard truths himself, even if the lengths he goes to are at times genuinely concerning. Compared to his last long-form project, though, in which he deliberately gave himself AI psychosis to show how devastating it could be to the average, less-informed person, this one seems a little less dangerous. — Read the rest

The post Turn's out RFK's carnivore diet is unhealthy. Who would have guessed? appeared first on Boing Boing.