The Kodak Charmera (previously at Boing Boing) is a 30-gram keychain digicam built around a 1/4-inch 1.6MP CMOS sensor and a fixed 35mm-equivalent f/2.4 plastic lens. It shoots 1440 × 1080 stills and 30fps AVI video to microSD, runs on a 200mAh USB-C battery, and adds a viewfinder for retro appeal. — Read the rest

The post Design awards charmed by Kodak's $35 Charmera appeared first on Boing Boing.

TL;DR: Get Microsoft Visual Studio Professional 2026 for $34.97 (MSRP $499.99) through May 17 and upgrade your coding workflow with a professional-grade IDE built for debugging, testing, and managing complex projects.

Coding has a way of spiraling fast. One second everything compiles perfectly, and the next you're staring at an error that somehow broke five unrelated things at once. — Read the rest

The post Massive codebase? Dwindling patience? This $35 Visual Studio deal was made for you appeared first on Boing Boing.

A video from the Spring 2026 Commencement ceremony at the University of Central Florida's Nicholson School of Communication and Media perfectly encapsulates the information divides around AI. Speaker Gloria Caulfield, vice president of strategic alliances at a Bahamas-based private equity fund, blithely hypes AI only to find, to her astonishment, that new media grads do not agree. — Read the rest

The post Clueless graduation speaker astonished to find that media students hate AI appeared first on Boing Boing.

TL;DR: Upgrade to Microsoft Windows 11 Pro for just $9.97 through May 18 and get a faster, smarter, more secure PC experience with built-in AI tools and productivity upgrades.

There comes a point in every PC's life where opening a browser tab feels like asking it to run a marathon in jeans. — Read the rest

The post Your PC can be saved—Windows 11 Pro is just $9.97 through May 18 appeared first on Boing Boing.

TL;DR: Stop paying monthly for Microsoft apps you use every day. Get a one-time purchase of Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for Windows for $29.97 (reg. $219.99) through May 18.

Microsoft 365 now costs $99.99 a year, which means you're essentially renting Word, Excel, and PowerPoint indefinitely. — Read the rest

The post Why pay for Microsoft 365 every month when you can pay $30 once and get Microsoft Office forever? appeared first on Boing Boing.

Star Wars, as George Lucas is quick to point out is, you know, for kids. But kids grow up. What seemed cool when you were 12 and Empire Strikes Back popped feels more like Elan Sleazebaggano by the time you hit 40. — Read the rest

The post This fan edit corrects the continuty problems of a Star Wars favorite appeared first on Boing Boing.

I'm genuinely amazed that the fake ICE tipline set up by comedian Ben Palmer — who specializes in pretending to be what he's not — is still operational. Of course, that fact is a pretty damning indictment of this country. Comedic value aside, it's extremely interesting to get a firsthand view into the mindset of people who hear their neighbors speak Spanish and immediately try to get them deported. — Read the rest

The post Ben Palmer's fake ICE hotline is still getting hits appeared first on Boing Boing.

I've been glued to the news about the Andes virus outbreak aboard the MV Hondius. If somehow you've not yet heard of Andes virus, it's the only type of hantavirus that has been shown to spread from human to human, while most other hantaviruses spread only from direct contact with rodent droppings. — Read the rest

The post Here are some terrific resources tracking the "Andes" hantavirus outbreak appeared first on Boing Boing.

Hey, do you remember when the Switch 2 first launched and all anyone could talk about was how expensive it was? Don't worry, because Nintendo heard you loud and clear: the price of their hardware is going up once again. — Read the rest

The post Another day, another gaming price hike appeared first on Boing Boing.

TL;DR: This refurbished 2019 Gen 2 Chromebook is the perfect midyear gift for students and professionals looking for a hassle-free laptop. Grab one now at 70% off.

Investing in an expensive, premium-grade laptop doesn't make sense if you're buying for young school-aged children. — Read the rest

The post This 2019 Chromebook is a schoolwork machine—get it now for just $60 appeared first on Boing Boing.

TL;DR: With the Dr. Buho Mac Utility Lifetime License, you'll be able to remove leftover application files, duplicate files, large files, and cache junk with ease. Get coverage for up to 3 devices for just $29.99 (reg. $241.96).

When it comes to longevity, you'll struggle to find a better laptop than a MacBook. — Read the rest

The post Clear out storage for up to 3 Macs with BuhoCleaner for just $30 appeared first on Boing Boing.

For roughly two decades, a battered 1970s Coca-Cola machine sat on the sidewalk outside Broadway Locksmith on East John Street in Seattle's Capitol Hill, and nobody seemed to own it. Drinks cost 55 cents back in 2002, climbed to 75 cents by 2014, and reached a buck right when Seattle rolled out its sweetened-beverage tax in early 2018. — Read the rest

The post Seattle's mystery soda machine vanished in 2018 with a goodbye note appeared first on Boing Boing.

On January 9, 1643, the Italian astronomer Giovanni Battista Riccioli pointed his telescope at Venus and noticed a faint glow on the planet's unlit side. Riccioli figured it was an artifact of his glass — the same trick that makes a prism throw rainbows. — Read the rest

The post No one knows why dark side of Venus has a faint glow appeared first on Boing Boing.

TL;DR: Save on upgrading your laptop with this deal on an Apple MacBook Pro (2020) 13″. Get this sleek and speedy device for just $399.99 (Reg. $1,580) when you buy refurbished.

Time to upgrade your laptop? Don't waste your time wincing at the price on Apple's website. — Read the rest

The post 75% off a MacBook Pro? Upgrade your laptop for just $400 appeared first on Boing Boing.

Karen Aitchison, a senior who has shopped the Diamond Heights Boulevard Safeway for 30 years, lives three flights up. When her grocery store stopped stocking paper bags with handles last month, she did what any sensible person would do — she hoarded the old ones and started reinforcing them with strapping tape. — Read the rest

The post Safeway blames a "wood pulp shortage" for its handleless paper bags appeared first on Boing Boing.

When Carlo Rovelli's bicycle chain comes off, he calls a bike-shop mechanic, never a particle physicist — even though particle physics technically governs every bolt on the thing. The Italian quantum-gravity theorist uses that fact to swat away one of the loudest arguments in philosophy of mind, in a long essay for Noema titled "There Is No 'Hard Problem Of Consciousness.'" — Read the rest

The post Physicist says the 'hard problem of consciousness' isn't real appeared first on Boing Boing.

Daily active users across Meta's properties slipped from 3.58 billion to 3.56 billion last quarter, the first decline the company has ever reported. Julia Angwin, writing in a New York Times opinion piece, says Meta has caught the same stink that AOL did in 2003 and that Yahoo did in 2015. — Read the rest

The post Meta's daily user count just dropped for the first time ever appeared first on Boing Boing.

The Data Drop releases one interactive visual essay every week, and the latest is a collection of startup sounds from 1977 to the present, covering everything from the Apple II to the Vision Pro. Along with the actual startup sound, or lack thereof, in the case of early tech like the 2600, the drop includes the story behind the sound. — Read the rest

The post Listen to almost 50 years of startup sounds appeared first on Boing Boing.

Diplomacy in 2026 increasingly resembles two raccoons fighting inside a dumpster while insisting they are "de-escalating," and the latest US-Iran ceasefire appears to follow Israel's favorite template: keep firing, but call it a "ceasefire."

A U.S. official confirmed the attack, saying the U.S.

— Read the rest

The post US and Iran practicing an "Israeli ceasefire," by shooting at one another appeared first on Boing Boing.

Yellowstone's wildlife brochure probably mentions the geysers first, but this week a mother grizzly reminded two hikers that the park's unofficial mascot still has claws, teeth, and very strong opinions about strangers approaching her cubs.

The incident occurred on the Mystic Falls Trail, where officials believe a female grizzly with two or three cubs-of-the-year was involved in the attack.

— Read the rest

The post Yellowstone grizzly introduces two hikers to the "find out" phase of wildlife tourism appeared first on Boing Boing.

According to new reporting from Carol Leonnig and Ken Dilanian, already paranoid-looking FBI Director Kash Patel has reportedly ordered polygraph tests for more than two dozen current and former staffers as leak paranoia and internal panic spread through his office.

MS NOW is reporting that "FBI director Kash Patel has ordered the polygraphing of more than two dozen former and current members of his security detail and other staff and has been described as in panic mode to save his job and find leakers among his team, according to two people briefed on the development."

— Read the rest

The post Report says Kash Patel is spiraling over leaks and grilling staff with lie detectors appeared first on Boing Boing.

This animation by Philippa Rice uses an innovative technique I haven't seen before: paper cutouts. The video shows the technique used in different ways, and it's fun to see the possibilities that come from simply cutting paper and animating it. — Read the rest

The post This animator is doing wild things with construction paper appeared first on Boing Boing.

Budderscopes is the creative world of artist Kaleb Weber, who makes handmade kaleidoscopes built from glass, mirrors, and found materials. Look through one, and color and shape break apart into endlessly changing patterns — each scope a different mini-universe.

The handmade quality makes them addictive to peer into, because no two views are alike. — Read the rest

The post Handmade kaleidoscopes that open tiny portals into dreamlike mini universes appeared first on Boing Boing.

Tesla's latest Cybertruck recall comes with an awkward side effect: it appears to confirm that the company sold only 173 examples of its supposedly more affordable rear-wheel-drive-only model before quietly discontinuing it.

The recall affects all 173 of the $70,000 Cybertrucks sold by Tesla, which come with 18-inch steel wheels.

— Read the rest

The post Cybertruck recall reveals embarrassingly low sales numbers appeared first on Boing Boing.

Twenty years after accidentally being interviewed live on the BBC instead of the tech expert producers intended to book, Guy Goma is still remembered less as the victim of a TV blunder and more as the patron saint of pretending you know what's going on at work. — Read the rest

The post Man accidentally interviewed live on BBC instead of tech expert became an internet legend appeared first on Boing Boing.

This animation by Faraz is part of a series in which the artist creates on-the-go claymations. We get to see a little ball of clay transform into various shapes as the artist rides the subway and walks around the city. It looks like a magic trick, but behind the art is a massive amount of time, talent, and creativity. — Read the rest

The post Artist makes claymation while riding the subway appeared first on Boing Boing.

These snapshots of dinosaur roadside attractions across America make me want to hop in my car and hit the road. A lot of these places weren't built as art pieces, but as advertising or local landmarks that just stuck around long after their original purpose faded. — Read the rest

The post The giant dinosaurs still standing by America's roads appeared first on Boing Boing.

A former State Department official says the Trump White House was apparently caught off guard by a CIA assessment concluding that Iran can absorb far more military and economic punishment than administration officials expected, and can still stand up to US aggression. — Read the rest

The post CIA reportedly delivers unwelcome reminder that Iran is tougher than Truth Social thinks appeared first on Boing Boing.

Long Lost Personal is an archive devoted to preserving vintage personal ads from decades past. Curated from old newspapers and alternative weeklies, the project collects tiny fragments of human longing, awkwardness, humor, and hope. Take a stroll into the past, where everything was typed out by people searching for connection long before dating apps existed. — Read the rest

The post This archive of old personal ads is strangely moving appeared first on Boing Boing.

If you ever get stuck on top of a roller coaster, cross your fingers it's not the Superman ride at Six Flags Magic Mountain. That's exactly what happened when the coaster stalled at the top — and instead of the usual screaming descent, adrenaline rush, and mild questioning of mortality, riders got a very different kind of ride update. — Read the rest

The post Superman coaster stalls at Six Flags, riders forced to walk down emergency stairs appeared first on Boing Boing.