It is the birthday of Sid "Cookie" Monster, who debuted in the premiere episode of Sesame Street on November 10, 1969, having already appeared as The Wheel Stealer in an unaired General Foods advertising spot and in an IBM training film titled "Coffee Break Machine. — Read the rest

The post Happy Birthday, Cookie Monster! appeared first on Boing Boing.

The flood of AI-generated slop games has set the thoroughly-troubled gaming industry reeling, but for indies it's even worse: success can depend on building a social media following by showing off clever and innovative gameplay concepts early in development. And that's just the sort of thing sleazy copycats can use frontier models to slop up and sell. — Read the rest

The post Anthropic clamps down on using Claude to make copycat games—or reverse-engineer code appeared first on Boing Boing.

Intel's stock price fell 9% today after a bad week that saw the company lose more than a third of its value. It's lost more than half of its value since the summer highs, in what Jared Blikre describes as "tech wreckage" and Intel's worst day since 1974. — Read the rest

The post Intel stock "collapses" amid broader tech retreat appeared first on Boing Boing.

My local Chili's burned down three years ago, but the Chili's in Forest City, North Carolina, burned three customers and two staff members with its specialty margaritas Thursday. The drinks were reportedly made using cleaning chemicals that "a worker mistook for sugar," writes Corky Siemaszko for NBC News. — Read the rest

The post Industrial degreaser-rimmed margaritas send five to urgent care appeared first on Boing Boing.

TL;DR: Give your fingers a break with VoiceType AI, a dictation tool that turns speech into polished text at up to 360 words per minute. Get unlimited monthly transcription for $39.97 (reg. $419) through November 8.

Your brain has already written the email, mapped out the project, and composed a devastatingly clever response to that one coworker. — Read the rest

The post Your keyboard can take a hike: VoiceType AI is just $40 appeared first on Boing Boing.

Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed shared a fairly uncomplicated theory about Donald Trump and the people surrounding him: "We are being actively bullied by the dumbest people in the room." Speaking with Hasan Minhaj, El-Sayed called Trump an "idiot," while granting him "one genius": his ability to get attention. — Read the rest

The post Abdul El-Sayed: "We are being actively bullied by the dumbest people in the room" appeared first on Boing Boing.

Stanley Kubrick's personal archives are coming to auction for the first time. The auction will include props, scripts, equipment, and personal possessions from Kubrick's film archives. According to Bonhams, which is holding the auction, highlights from the sale include his director's chair, costumes from The Shining, and the original Star Child prop from 2001. — Read the rest

The post Stanley Kubrick's personal archives are coming to auction for the first time appeared first on Boing Boing.

McDonald's will have to explain the McRib, its occasional mystery meat sandwich, after failing to convince a federal judge to dismiss a class action lawsuit. The lawsuit contends that McDonald's "intentionally shapes" McRib patties, one of the fast-food giant's most expensive products, to lead diners to believe that they are made from actual rib meat. — Read the rest

The post Judge rules McDonald's must face McRib lawsuit appeared first on Boing Boing.

Annie says, "The Polar Bear Cams are live from Churchill, where hundreds of polar bears are gathering on the shore of Hudson Bay, waiting for the ice to freeze. It's like Fat Bear Week, except these bears are still waiting for dinner." — Read the rest

The post Watch hundreds of polar bears wait for Hudson Bay to freeze appeared first on Boing Boing.

Enjoy this scan of a 1975 copy of the Konsument catalog, which advertised the offerings of East Germany's state-run retail cooperative. The catalog shows the fashions, tools, housewares, consumer electronics, and other glorious goods made during the grim, oppressive Russian occupation. — Read the rest

The post Flip through East Germany's 1975 mail-order catalog appeared first on Boing Boing.

What is iron gall ink? Only one of the "most important substances in the history of civilization," says Joel Klein, the curator of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences at the Huntington in San Marino, California. That's because the ink, which is dark blue-gray, sinks into the surface of the paper or parchment and won't fade centuries after it's applied. — Read the rest

The post Iron gall ink lasts for centuries. Here's how to make it appeared first on Boing Boing.

Unknown hackers took over refrigeration controls in supermarkets in seven countries in Europe. This is the second attack. Last month, as many as 700 French supermarkets had to throw out frozen and refrigerated food after a cyberattack caused cooler temperatures to reach 122°F. — Read the rest

The post Hackers cooked supermarket freezers in seven European countries appeared first on Boing Boing.

Yet another word confuses Grandpa Pudding Brains, so he assumes everyone else is even more idiotic.

Explaining his objection to two candidates with nearly the same name appearing on the Alaska ballot, Diaper Don claims "incumbent" is confusing. He shows zero respect for the people who vote for him, but they never seem shake loose from the cult. — Read the rest

The post Trump worries Alaska voters won't understand the word "incumbent" appeared first on Boing Boing.

Investigative vlogger Yoonj Kim first visited downtown Los Angeles' Metropolis towers, where her investigation found hundreds of condos that have been sitting empty for years. Naturally, she asked: why would the developer want to hold on to them?

One answer is the votes. — Read the rest

The post The weirdest thing about LA's ghost condos is that they run the HOA appeared first on Boing Boing.

Historic flooding has struck Sedona, Arizona, for the second time in two weeks. Residents unable to evacuate fast enough spent part of Sunday standing on their roofs waiting for helicopters. Some with their pets.

Oak Creek moved through neighborhoods fast enough to trap residents above the water, and state rescue crews flew them out one rooftop at a time. — Read the rest

The post Sedona residents spent Sunday waiting on their roofs for helicopters appeared first on Boing Boing.

TL;DR: Use AI to easily edit and convert PDFs with a lifetime subscription to PDNob Pro PDF Editor for $44.97, regularly $349.95.

Working with PDFs can be cumbersome — but with the PDNob Pro PDF Editor, AI features make creating, editing, and processing PDFs faster and more efficient. — Read the rest

The post Let AI handle your PDFs with PDNob Pro for $44.97 appeared first on Boing Boing.

Alarming footage shows a New Jersey mayor charging at a local resident during a "heated" council meeting. The chaotic incident was streamed live as council members told Pemberton Township Mayor Matthew Bianchin to stop; Bianchini was ultimately physically removed from the room, yelling threats ("I am getting you – I am fu**ing get you!") — Read the rest

The post Mayor gets upset in council meeting, charges at local resident appeared first on Boing Boing.

2026 ED138 is a large trans-Neptunian object, or as the BBC has it, an "enormous new dwarf" planet lurking in the outer regions of the solar system. Discovered by Matthew Holman, it's the first such body discovered using data captured by the Vera C. — Read the rest

The post Trans-Neptunian planet candidate hailed as "enormous new dwarf" appeared first on Boing Boing.

TL;DR: Try these Night Vision Digital Binoculars to capture 4K video, 36MP photos, and more for just $99.99 (Reg. $169.99).

Want to rediscover your sense of adventure? Adventure calls — and these Night Vision Digital Binoculars are answering the call.

Supplement your sense of adventure

Whether you're an amateur camper or a seasoned adventurer, this nighttime essential captures video, images, and enhances real-time sight with 8x zoom and a 4.5" screen. — Read the rest

The post Capture the sights of the night with this deal on digital binoculars appeared first on Boing Boing.

TL;DR: Add BitLocker, Hyper-V, and Copilot to your PC with a lifetime Windows 11 Pro license for $9.97 (reg. $199).

Windows 11 Home runs most PCs fine, but it leaves out drive encryption, virtual machines, and the other tools Microsoft saves for its higher tier. — Read the rest

The post Your PC could be running Windows 11 Pro for less than $10 appeared first on Boing Boing.

TL;DR: When you buy refurbished, you can get the Apple MacBook Air (2022) 13″ for just $834.99 (Reg. $999) plus a gift with purchase.

Tis the season to refresh all your electronics. Whether you're shopping for work, school, or for a loved one, now is the time to seek deals. — Read the rest

The post This is your chance to get a free gift when you purchase a refurbished Mac appeared first on Boing Boing.

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.