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Is there a new Jen Psaki in town? Her substitute perfectly played the part
With Jen Psaki and Karine Jean-Pierre both out with Covid, Pres. Biden's communications director Kate Bedingfield made her debut in the White House press room today. And it might as well have been Psaki in there with the way she skillfully dropped her very own Psaki, er, Bedingfield bomb — not on the reporter, but on Donald Trump. — Read the rest
The Best Area Rugs
Sometimes you need an area rug to cover ugly floors, to keep downstairs neighbors from hearing you walk around, or to make your place feel homey without spending a lot of money.
We spent more than 60 hours researching hundreds of area rugs, interviewing experts, and testing rugs with panelists. Then we put our feet on our favorites at home (and let a cat do his best to destroy them) for many more hours.
Of the 42 rugs we tested, we recommend 14 that come in multiple sizes, colors, and patterns. We have picks for flatwoven, low-pile, and high-pile rugs that will suit a range of rooms and styles.
Counterfeit NFTs indistinguishable from the real thing
A hacker known as Monsieur Personne has created a method, known as "sleepminting," wherein an NFT can be registered that looks completely authentic, unbeknownst to the actual creator.
— Read the restPersonne may have found a way to dynamite this argument for much of the art NFT market.
The Things That Matter From Apple’s Spring 2021 Event
With most of our tech recommendations, the latest and greatest gadget is not the best value for most people. But with Apple products, the latest gadget is likely replacing an older one, often at a similar price. Today, Apple announced a handful of product updates encompassing iPad Pros, iMacs, software, and one all-new product, AirTags. Those announcements have set us to work reviewing our advice in our guides to the best pro tablets, the best all-in-one computer, the best Bluetooth trackers, the best iPad Pro cases, and the best iPad Pro keyboard cases. If you’re considering a purchase in one of those categories, you may want to hold off, or at least read our staff’s initial reactions before deciding to click a buy button. Although there are some enticing new options, our team Slack channel was probably more excited for the trailer to season 2 of Ted Lasso than for most of the updates. Here’s what to know (and what we think).
Smart jock strap: testicle sensor device helps improve sperm count
Fertility doctors often advise men that wearing boxers instead of briefs lowers scrotal temperature and possibly increase sperm count. The CoolMen device takes that idea to the extreme, instrumenting the wearer's testicles with temperature, pulse, and motion sensors while also cupping them in a specific position conducive to coolness. From the Polish start-up CoolTec:
CoolMen (CoolTec)CoolMen is an innovative device that stabilizes the temperature of the testicles in the optimum range. In a short time, CoolMen significantly improves semen parameters, contributing to increased fertility of the pair.
CoolMen can record data about temperature and time of use as well as types of activity (sleep, sitting, physical activity) by wirelessly transferring it to the mobile application on the smartphone. These data can then be analyzed by the andrologist to improve the treatment process...
CoolMen has been designed to be completely invisible under clothing, providing full discretion during use.
Advisor quits Google Toronto's "smart city" project over privacy concerns
Google sister company Sidewalk Labs is building a creepy, heavily surveilled "smart city" in the midst of Toronto.
Critics have pointed out that letting a foreign corporation gather continuous surveillance data on residents of a city as they go about their daily round is a bit, you know, dystopian.
Sidewalk Labs says it's not creepy, and to prove it, they've recruited an independent advisory board to keep them honest.
A key member of that board just resigned: Saadia Muzaffar is an entrepreneur and tech activist. In her scathing resignation letter, she describes an unholy confluence of Sidewalk Labs's greed for data-collection and the City of Toronto's indifference, expressed by the lackadaisical approach taken by Waterfront Toronto.
Advisor to Google's Smart City in Toronto Resigns Over Data Concerns [Jordan Pearson/Motherboard]In her resignation letter, Muzaffar—who founded the nonprofit group TechGirls Canada—also criticized a lack of transparency on Waterfront Toronto’s part in communicating the plan to the public. Even more importantly, she drew attention to the risk of entrenching ill-considered surveillance technology in city infrastructure.
“Broad licensing that does not prioritize digital rights of the public can mean that surveillance infrastructure and valuable public data can lay latent for long periods of time, and avoid scrutiny easily, tucked in a foreign-owned company’s proprietary vault,” she wrote.
This 87-year-old man can deadlift 405 lbs.
Talk about "old man strength"! Here's a video of 87-year-old Joe Stockinger deadlifting FOUR-HUNDRED-AND-FIVE pounds. Truly an amazing feat.
Stockinger is a legendary powerlifter from Canada and has set (and then broken his own) world records in the past, according to this February 2018 article:
“I do hold world records with the deadlift and the squat for my bodyweight and age group,” Stockinger said in a phone interview. In 2015, he set three world records at the 100% Raw Powerlifting Western Canadian Championships, then turned around and broke two of his own records the following year... Although he stopped competing in 2016, Stockinger continues to train three times a week, spending a few hours in the gym each session... Stockinger’s passion for weight training and powerlifting is instantly obvious to anyone who speaks with him, and he likes to share that passion with other people. It was that passion that led him to establish Joe’s Weight Training and Fitness Club in Pincher Creek, Alta. The gym, founded in 1985, started as nothing more than a basement space and a dream.
(Digg)
Tourists at Winter Olympics are enjoying Penis Park in their downtime
If you're at the Winter Olympics in South Korea and want a diversion from winter sports, why not head over to Penis Park, also known as Haesindang Park, which is only a one-hour hop, skip and a hump away. There you can tool around the much-larger-than-life penii, which work as wind-chimes, benches, statues, and even a penis-shaped cannon (but a sign warns that you may not mount this particular penis).
In case you're wondering why South Korea decided to dedicate a park to the male member, Buzzfeed explains:
Located on the beautiful coast of Sinnam, South Korea, the park is dedicated to the memory of a young virgin woman whose fisherman lover left her on rock while he caught fish at sea. Needless to say, a storm came and she died. Because who leaves their virgin girlfriend stranded on a rock?
Legend has it, after her death the villagers could no longer catch fish. So they did the only thing you can do when a virgin dies in a storm, and built giant wooden penises to appease her spirit. Strangely enough, the strategy worked, and the villagers were able to catch fish again. And so they continued to erect more carvings in her honor.
Although it's hard to beat the Olympics, for some a trip to Penis Park could well be the climax of their trip.
https://youtu.be/CdhjA4ivgkYSee 130 years of National Geographic covers in two minutes
For more than a century, National Geographic has continued to "believe in the power of science, exploration and storytelling to change the world." I still want to believe.
கமலாவோடு ‘டூ’!
கோபம் இருக்கும் இடத்தில்தான் குணம் இருக்கும் என்பதற்கு ஒரு உதாரணம் வேண்டுமென்றால், நான் ஊர் மொத்தம் அலையத் தேவையில்ல. கமலா இருக்கக் கவலை எதற்கு?
நேற்று கமலாவிற்குக் கோபம் வந்தது. தும்மல் மாதிரி,
சட்டென்று முன்கோபம வரும். வந்த சுவடே தெரியாமல் போய்விடும். சில சமயம், லேசான சேதாரம் ஏற்படுத்தி விட்டுப் போகும் என்றாலும், சுவடே வெளியே தெரியாது.
நேற்று அவளுக்குக் கோபம் வந்தது. என்ன காரணம் என்று கேட்காதீர்கள்.. அது அவளுக்கே தெரியாது. ”உங்களுடன் இனிமேல் எந்தப் பேச்சையும் வைத்துக் கொள்ளப் போவதில்லை” என்றாள் தீர்மானமாக.
இது முன்கதைச் சுருக்கம். சரி, முதல் அத்தியாயத்திற்குப் போகலாம்.
அத்தியாயம் 1: இன்று
மிகவும் சுவாரசியமாய்ப் பேப்பர் படித்துக் கொண்டிருந்த சமயம், "சட்"டென்று என் மேல் ஒரு கவர் வந்து விழுந்தது. அது அம்பாக இருந்திருந்தால் ராம பாணத்தைப் போல் என்னையே துளைத்துக் கொண்டு போயிருக்கும்! நல்ல காலம் அது என் அருமை மனைவி கமலா எழுதிய கடிதம். கமலா சமையற்கட்டிலிருந்தபடியே ஹாலில் இருந்த என் மேல் அந்தக் கவரை வீசியிருந்தாள். பிரித்துப் படித்தேன்.
நான் சினிமா போய்விட்டு வந்தால் ஏன் இப்படிக் கோபப்படுகிறீர்கள்? இப்படிக் கொடுமைப்படுத்துகிறீர்களே, சரியா?
அதில் எழுதியிருந்தாள் : ""என் பிரிய நேசா, கண்கண்ட தெய்வமே! பி.ஏ.வில் கோட் அடித்த உங்களுக்குக் கையில் சுளையாக மூவாயிரம் ரூபாய் கொடுத்தார் என் அப்பா. என்னைக் கல்யாணம் பண்ணிக் கொண்டதற்கு அனுபவிக்கிறீர்களாமே! சபாஷ்! ஸ்ரீதேவிக்காக பதினாறு வயதினிலே ஏழு தடவை பார்த்தீர்கள். இப்போது அவர் வேண்டாதவர் ஆகிவிட்டாரா? சினிமா சாக்காக வைத்துக் கொண்டு என் மேல் எரிந்து விழுகிறீர்களே. உண்மையில் வேறு ஏதோ காரணம் இருக்கிறது. நான் பிறந்தகம் போகிறேன். என்னை நீங்கள் வந்து பார்க்காவிட்டால் பரவாயில்லை. நான் தினமும் உங்களைப் பார்க்க வருவேன். முதலில் உங்களுக்கு நான் மனைவி. அப்புறம்தான் விரோதி.
"ஏன்னா... பேப்பர், பேனாவுடன் இங்கே வாங்கோ... அடுப்பில் வெங்காய பஜ்ஜி போட்டுக் கொண்டு இருக்கேன்... சீக்கிரம் வாங்கோ!'' என்று (கூக்)குரல் கொடுக்க, நான் போனேன்.
(அவள் மேலே கூறிய வார்த்தைகளை வெளியிடுவது என் கௌரவத்துக்கு உகந்ததல்ல!)
அத்தியாயம் 2:
வெங்காய பஜ்ஜி என்னும் சகல ரோக நிவாரணியால் பூசல் தீர்ந்தது!
Russian Track And Field Athletes Barred From Competing In Rio Olympics
The International Association of Athletics Federations said that despite "good progress," Russia hasn't done enough to address a "deeply rooted culture of tolerance — or worse — for doping."
Graphic novel about the series of events that led to India's communist uprising
See sample pages from this book at Wink.
I began reading Amar Bari, Tomar Bari, Naxalbari whilst waiting for my connecting flight at Bengaluru airport and was inclined to continue reading it as turbulence took over the plane at 27,000 feet an hour later. For that was the power it held over me. Amar Bari, Tomar Bari, Naxalbari reads like a history lesson but with the many facts and stories that our teachers forget to tell us. Written and drawn by Sumit Kumar, the graphic novel is a story of how a series of events led to India’s communist uprising and how the term ‘Naxal’ originated. Having grown up on the evergreen Tinkle magazine and the historic Amar Chitra Katha series, I feel Sumit Kumar’s latest work is worthy of a mighty applaud and will go a long way in bringing back the appeal of comics (mainly satirical comics) to India. – Ushnav Shroff
Amar Bari, Tomar Bari, Naxalbari
by Sumit Kumar
Horizon Books
2015, 160 pages, 6 x 9 x .23 inches (paperback)
Approx $6 Buy a copy on Amazon
“Wire Cutters,” a wonderful short film on the rough lives of off-world robot miners
“A chance encounter proves fateful for 2 robots mining on a desolate planet.”
DIY: 20 easy ways to hack and improve your garden
Use a punctured water bottle to hydrate plants more efficiently. Turn a kids toy truck into a succulent planter. Spray paint chicken wire and then mold it into striking backyard decorations. With summer just weeks away, here are 20 visual ideas that will get you outdoors this weekend while creating a more efficient and beautiful garden.
Fantastically detailed Boeing 777 model made from manila folders
Luca Iaconi-Stewart is building a "1:60 model of an Air India Boeing 777-300ER made entirely from manila file folders," with an unbelievable level of detail (it even has working mechanisms!)
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$50K worth of cocaine baked into delicious cookies seized at US airport
Customs and Border Protection officials at Newark airport confiscated a batch of cocaine cookies with an estimated street value of over $50,000.
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