No iPhones For Movie Villains

"Apple won’t let bad guys use iPhones in movies".

(So if you were watching the murder mystery Knives Out and you saw a character using their iPhone, you could deduce they weren't the killer.)

Black Sign Language

"How America developed two sign languages -- one white, one black"

Small Victory For Privacy

Ars Technica: "Removing a GPS tracking device from your car isn't theft, court rules"

Pandemic Prep Items

Australian virologist Ian Mackay offers recommendations of items to purchase and preparations to make in anticipation of potential Coronavirus pandemic:

The list included extra prescription drugs and over-the-counter fever and pain medicines; feminine hygiene products; toilet paper and tissues; and vitamins "in case food shortages limit the variety in your diet." He also advised buying items including soap, alcohol hand rub and household cleaning products.

In terms of food, he suggested purchasing cereals, grains, beans, lentils and pasta; tinned food such as fish, vegetables and fruit; oil, spices and other flavorings; dried fruit and nuts; powdered milk; items for pets; as well as soft drinks, candy and chocolate for treats.

Mackay also provided a list to be used in the event that a "severe" pandemic cuts access to fresh foods. The products "should be the last things to buy if you have a hint of when supplies might slow or stop for a (hopefully short) time."

Those include bread and wraps, meat for freezing, milk, eggs, yogurt, and fruit and vegetables. Car fuel should also be bought at this time, he said.

"But don't panic buy and don't hoard!" said Mackay.

Original article by Mackay, including some risk analysis: "So you think you’re about to be in a pandemic?"

McD's Candles

"McDonald's to sell 'Quarter Pounder' scented candles"

Smithsonian Images

"Smithsonian Releases 2.8 Million Images Into Public Domain". (Via H.R.)

AI Deception

"AI Deception: When Your Artificial Intelligence Learns to Lie"

Fusion Update

"Radical hydrogen-boron reactor leapfrogs current nuclear fusion tech"

Corporate Buzzwords

"The Most Annoying Corporate Buzzwords"

Signal App And Public Officials

"Mayor de Blasio joins encrypted messaging app Signal, raising legal and ethical questions".

I (and several friends) use Signal, and we like it. However, there's an interesting question of whether public officials should use the secure app for conducting government business in a way that violates Freedom of Information Act.

Related story from Wired: "Signal Is Finally Bringing Its Secure Messaging to the Masses"

More Trek

"Exclusive: Captain Pike And The Enterprise To Be Star Trek's Next Show"

Human Echolocation

"How humans can echolocate like bats"

Wikipedia, Past, Present, And Future

"Wikipedia Is the Last Best Place on the Internet"

Tribble Math

"Physics undergrads crunched numbers for Star Trek's tribble problem". (Via H.R.)

Trek Transporters

"The terrible truth about Star Trek's transporters"

Mysterious Aerodynamic Lift

"No One Can Explain Why Planes Stay in the Air":

[T]here is actually no agreement on what generates the aerodynamic force known as lift. “There is no simple one-liner answer to this,” [aerodynamics expert John D. Anderson] told the Times. People give different answers to the question, some with “religious fervor.” More than 15 years after that pronouncement, there are still different accounts of what generates lift, each with its own substantial rank of zealous defenders. At this point in the history of flight, this situation is slightly puzzling.

Click through to see lots of diagrams and theories!

Tricking A Tesla

"Hackers can trick a Tesla into accelerating by 50 miles per hour"

RIP, Larry Tesler

"The Computer Scientist Responsible for Cut, Copy, and Paste, Has Passed Away"

Amazon And Third Party Sales

"Who's responsible for what you buy on Amazon? A court is about to decide". (Via N.L.)

Fooling Driverless Cars

"Driverless cars can't tell the difference between projections and real objects"

Science Emojis

“Scientists ♥ Their Emojis, But It’s Complicated“

Space Tourism Update

"Ready to buy a trip to orbit from Elon Musk?"

Up to four passengers will be able to hire SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft for a joyride around the Earth, Elon Musk’s company said today.

The experience will be brokered by SpaceAdventures, a US tourism firm that helped eight wealthy enthusiasts visit the International Space Station between 2001 and 2009.

The cost of the experience is not disclosed and likely negotiable.

Olympics Hacking Warning

"Hackers will be the weapon of choice for governments in 2020":

The 2020 summer games will be held in Tokyo, and the Russians have already put a bull’s-eye on the event with several successful hacks on relevant organizations. 

Coronavirus Questions

"These 2 questions will determine if the coronavirus becomes a deadly pandemic"

Bad Price Guessers

"Why are people getting worse at 'The Price Is Right'?"

CS Education

"The Missing Semester of Your CS Education"

UK Airbnb Scam

"I stumbled across a huge Airbnb scam that's taking over London"

Globalization Update

"Doing Western students' homework is big business in Kenya"

Arctic War?

"A New World War Could Break Out in the Arctic"

Fighting Fakes On Amazon

"What to Do If You Think Your Amazon Purchase Is a Fake"

Foldable Phones Pros And Cons

NYT: "Foldable Phones Are Here. Do We Really Want Them?"

Harry Potter In Yiddish

"The inside story of how Harry Potter was translated into Yiddish". (Via H.R.)

Forced Decryption Law Update

"Man who refused to decrypt hard drives is free after four years in jail"

Powerful USB-C Chargers

"The latest USB-C chargers are apparently more powerful than Apollo 11's computer".

More details: "Apollo 11 Guidance Computer (AGC) vs USB-C Chargers"

Pizza Perils

"Pizza-related injuries more than double in two years"

Ignition Interlocks Increasing Risks Of Some Accidents

NYT: "The Unforeseen Dangers of a Device That Curbs Drunken Driving"

Perils Of Fame

Tim Ferriss: "11 Reasons Not to Become Famous (or 'A Few Lessons Learned Since 2007')"

Netflix Autoplay Fix

"Hell freezes over as Netflix finally lets users turn off autoplaying previews"

CIA Crypto Coup

How the CIA surreptitiously sold crypto equipment to other countries, then read their secret communications for decades.

Uber Self-Driving Car Update

"Uber gets DMV permit to test self-driving cars on California roads"

Reheating Pizza

"The best way to reheat pizza"

Coronavirus And The Constitution

"The Coronavirus and the Constitution"

Hungry Fungi

"Hungry fungi chomp on radiation". (Via H.R.)

Deep Space Signals

"Something in Deep Space Is Sending Signals to Earth in Steady 16-Day Cycles"

I think it's aliens saying, "You kids start behaving yourselves! Don't make us come back down there and make you behave!"

Satellites Snooping On Satellites

"A Russian satellite is probably stalking a US spy satellite in orbit":

We don't know exactly what Kosmos 2542 is capable of, but Harrison speculates it could determine the aperture and resolution of the cameras on USA 245. If it has a radio-frequency probe, it could listen for faint signals from USA 245 to deduce what kinds of computer processes are happening onboard, when it’s operating, and when it is taking pictures.

Face Masks Impeding Facial Recognition

"Frustration grows in China as face masks compromise facial recognition"

Blowing Big Bubbles

"Physicists determine the optimal soap recipe for blowing gigantic bubbles". (Via H.R.)

Blaze On Decision Making

Matt Blaze nails it:

Immediately jumping to the conclusion that a tech failure was a deliberate attack against you is not a great attribute for candidates running for an office whose duties involve split second decisions about whether to launch retaliatory strikes with nuclear weapons.

— matt blaze (@mattblaze) February 6, 2020

Upscaled Movie

"Someone Used Neural Networks To Upscale An 1895 Film To 4K 60 FPS, And The Result Is Really Quite Astounding".

Update: Typo in link fixed. Thanks to reader "B" for spotting that!

Good Answer

Violinist Ray Chen vs. Airport Security.

Airport security in Zurich:
“What were you doing in Europe?”
Me: “I performed a concert last night”
Her: “What did you play?”
Me: “Beethoven Violin Concerto”
Her: *casual tone* “Which one?”
Me: ...There’s only one-
Her: “Oh very good sir. You pass.”

— Ray Chen (@raychenviolin) February 3, 2020

Avoiding Aibnb Scams

"These Are the Most Common Airbnb Scams"

Hidden Cameras When Travelling

"Why You Should Start Screening For Hidden Spy Cameras When You Travel"

Fake Traffic Jam

"'Hack' Creates Fake Google Maps Traffic Jams With 99 Cell Phones". (Via H.R.)

Dating Fingerprints

"Fingerprints can now be dated to within a day of when they were made". (Via H.R.)

Little Known But Obvious Fact

"What's a little known but obvious fact that will immediately make us all feel stupid?"

How did I not know this? pic.twitter.com/03GkAzM8Ke

— Tod Sacerdoti (@tod) January 31, 2020

iPhone Measurements

"How to Measure Almost Anything Using Your Phone". (Via H.R.)

Apollo 14 Software

"A deep dive into the Apollo Guidance Computer, and the hack that saved Apollo 14". (Via H.R.)

Unusual Prime

Kelley Myers: "53658987879599884946439828657775969842369677 is a prime number with two 2s, three 3s, four 4s, five 5s, six 6s, seven 7s, eight 8s, and nine 9s."

53658987879599884946439828657775969842369677 is a prime number with two 2s, three 3s, four 4s, five 5s, six 6s, seven 7s, eight 8s, and nine 9s. @evelynjlamb

— Kellen Myers (@kellen_myers) January 29, 2020

Gruber On iPad

Daring Fireball: "The iPad Awkwardly Turns 10"