Simpsons Intro Remix

"The Simpsons Intro Recreated Using Stock Footage".

 Actually, quite well done! 

Gaming Pigs

"Pigs can play video games with their snouts, scientists find".

 

Deception Detection

"Humans Are Pretty Lousy Lie Detectors"

3-D Printed Steak

"Israel's Aleph Farms unveils 3D-printed ribeye steak"

Bitcoin Energy Consumption

Just wondering -- did this terrible thing happen in 2020?

Anti-Filming Hack

"Cops playing copyrighted music to stop video of them being posted online":

On several occasions, cops have started playing popular music when they realize they're being filmed. The odd behavior has a point: they hope that copyright-strike algorithms on YouTube, Instagram and other social media sites will prevent the video being posted and shared. The latest example...

Don't Swallow Your Airpods

"Man swallows AirPod while sleeping; X-ray discovers it lodged in his esophagus"

French Government Allows Workers To Eat At Their Desks

COVID must be getting bad in France: "The Labor Ministry says it will allow French employees to eat lunch at their desks in order to contain the spread of the coronavirus, a practice previously forbidden under Article R.4428-19 of the 3,324-page French labor code..."

Three For Mars

"Three countries are due to reach Mars in the next two weeks"

Phone Lens Update

"A new lens technology is primed to jumpstart phone cameras". (Via H.R.)

Princess Bride Home Movie

"Home Movie: The Princess Bride"

In June and July of 2020, Jason Reitman directed an at-home reenactment of the entirety of The Princess Bride featuring too many notable actors to list here. It ran in 10 installments on doomed streaming platform Quibi — which is why you probably haven’t heard of it — but it is fantastic. Mixed media, multiple actors playing all the roles, Fred Savage and Cary Elwes reprising their roles from the original, the star power & talent, the fact that they got permission to do it — it’s just so weird and good. You can watch the whole thing [at this link].

Ok, ok, here’s just a few of the actors who appear: Adam Sandler (as The Grandfather), Jon Hamm (Westley), Zoe Saldana (Buttercup), Penelope Cruz (Prince Humperdinck), Pedro Pascal (Inigo Montoya), Shaquille O’Neal (Fezzik), Charlize Theron (Fezzik), Andy Serkis (Count Rugen). And Carl Reiner as The Grandfather in his final onscreen role — he died just three days after recording his part.

Direct link to YouTube video.

Legos And Coronavirus

Clever use of Legos to illustrate how the coronavirus variants interact with patient immune systems: "What's Going On With All These Coronavirus Variants? An Illustrated Guide"

 

Musk's Satellites

"Elon Musk now controls over a quarter of all active satellites"

Google Alternatives

"The complete list of alternatives to all Google products". (Via J.Z.)

3-D Printed Bones

"Ceramic-based ink enables 3D-printed bone tissue". (Via H.R.)

Singapore Police and COVID Data

"Singapore police can access COVID-19 contact tracing data for criminal investigations".

If US law enforcement agencies are allowed similar access, we'll see much more reluctance by Americans to use COVID tracking apps. 

Amazon Mountain

"First look: Amazon's jaw-dropping new HQ2 looks like a glass mountain".

 (Confession: I personally don't particular find it very appealing.)

 

Don't Reply To Spammers

"Why You Should Never 'Unsubscribe' From Illicit Spam Emails and Texts"

Doritos Ranked

"Every Flavor of Doritos, Ranked"

[Off Topic] Hsieh Forbes Column: Relaxing Regulations During A Pandemic

[Off topic] My latest Forbes piece is now out: "The Case For Relaxing Regulations During A Pandemic".

Reducing regulations can help during a pandemic. And also not during a pandemic.

Equality Failed

"CEO Secrets: 'We tried paying everyone the same salary. It failed'"

Saffron Innovation

"Saffron Tech Challenges Iranian 1,000-Year Monopoly on the Lucrative $1B Saffron Market". (Via H.R.)

Optical Illusions Can Fool Neural Networks

"Neural Networks Tricked by Optical Illusions in the Same Way That Humans Are Deceived"

AI In Health Care

"Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare -- Top Seven Use Cases"

Older Coders

"Why Older People Struggle In Programming Jobs". (Via M.G.)

AI Sounding Like Humans

"Artificial Intelligence Is Now Shockingly Good at Sounding Human"

Signal Struggles

"The battle inside Signal".

The secure-messaging app Signal is struggling with how to allow people to communicate privately for "worthy" causes, without helping people communicate privately for causes they deem "unworthy". 

Cookie!

Geologist finds volcanic agate rock that looks like the Cookie Monster.  (Image via CNET, Mike Bowers/Facebook.)

 

Powerful Laser

"Groundbreaking New Laser System Cuts Through Earth's Atmosphere Like It's Nothing". (Via H.R.)

Good Smell

"Texas teen saved Covid-stricken family members from raging early-morning fire that only she could smell"

Amazon Tolkien Details

"Amazon's Lord of the Rings Show Is About the Return of Sauron"

No Search For AU?

"Google Threatens to Remove Search in Australia as Spat Escalates"

Inside Amazon Security

"Inside the Whale: An Interview with an Anonymous Amazonian"

28-Corner Eraser

"This Eraser is Designed to Always Present a Sharp Corner, Even as It Wears Out"

 

Animals!

"Animals interrupting wildlife photographers". 

 I especially like #6 and #11.

FedEx Art

"FedEx Shipping Damage Creates Fractured Artworks"

Galaxy Quest 2?

"Tim Allen gives a Galaxy Quest 2 update: 'It's a fabulous script'"

Evolution Of Ransomware

"Ransomware Is Headed Down a Dire Path"

The Other Tech Giant

"Wikipedia is 20, and its reputation has never been higher"

NAND Game

"Welcome to The Nand Game! You are going to build a simple computer. You start with a single component, the NAND gate. Using this as the fundamental building block, you will build all other components necessary."

Lottery Ticket Strategies

"Maximizing the Expected Value of a Lottery Ticket: How to Sell and When to Buy"

Package Thief Has Bad Day

Video: "Man attempts to steal a package". Then, a little justice.

Quiz: Quant Fund Or Metal Band?

Quiz: Quant Fund Or Metal Band?

Related classic quiz: Antidepressant drug or Tolkien Character? 

Ice Robots

"Robots Made of Ice Could Build and Repair Themselves on Other Planets"

Lost Bitcoin Passwords

NYT: "Lost Passwords Lock Millionaires Out of Their Bitcoin Fortunes"

UFO Data

"US intelligence agencies have 180 days to share what they know about UFOs, thanks to the Covid-19 relief and spending bill"

Miyazaki Images Released

"To celebrate Miyazaki Hiyao's 80th birthday, Studio Ghibli has released almost 2,000 hi-res images from their films for reasonable use."

Parler Data Breach

Serious data breach at Parler:

Whilst scrambling to keep operational as various server providers pulled Parler from their services the admins left open a security loophole that allowed hackers to create administration accounts. They used this to create MILLIONS of admin accounts and to start downloading all of the data that Parler had stored. Amongst this data, discussions planning to attack the US Capitol from verified users (with pictures of their drivers licences etc. ), GPS data, photos with EXIF data

More details at this Reddit thread. 

[A]ll of this information was thought to be secure and private by individuals who were making the posts. A significant number of those individuals went through the process of being a "Verified Citizen" on Parler. What does that mean?

It means they uploaded a picture of the front and back of their REAL State Driver's License........ Let that sink in for a second.

I am positive the FBI has been actively soaking in this information along with the Internet Warriors, but this is how they are going to officially track down.

And it's how the FBI, DHS, and FAA have been able to immediately and exhaustively create no-fly lists. Every verified attendee of the Capitol riot where they can find a real name has been placed on No-Fly Lists.

It might seem like a small geeky glitch or hack.. but in the age of Information warfare... this is the silver bullet for the people who used Parler as a place to organize their efforts.

Also, a lot of posts were deleted by Parler members after the riots on the 6th. Turned out... Parler didn't actually delete anything.. just set a bit as deleted.

Guess what has access to all "deleted" content?

Administrator accounts."

QM Guide

Ars Technica: "A 'no math' (but seven-part) guide to modern quantum mechanics"

Light Posting

Admin note: Posting may be light for the next several days due to external obligations.

If Then Else Had To Be Invented

If-Then-Else had to be invented.

Sprite Lightning

"Sprite Lightning at 100,000 Frames Per Second". (Via H.R.)

Remote Working Conflicts

"After embracing remote work in 2020, companies face conflicts making it permanent"

Magnetically Cured Glue

"This New Type of Glue Is Activated by Magnetic Fields, And Really Easy to Use". (Via H.R.)

Pen Cap Holes

"The Reason For Holes on The Tops of Pen Caps Is Surprisingly Awesome". (Via H.R.)

 

Xolography

"3D-printing hollow structures with 'xolography'". (Via H.R.)

Ugly Routers

"Why are WiFi Routers So Darned Ugly?"

 

 

Two Spaces, Yes

"The Scientific Case for Two Spaces After a Period"

Alzheimer's And Microbiome

"Link Between Alzheimer's Disease and Gut Microbiota Is Confirmed".

This is just correlation, not causation. But an interesting avenue to pursue. (Via T.K.)

100 Tips For A Better Life

Less Wrong: "100 Tips for a Better Life"

Lots of good stuff in here. I especially like #100:

100. Bad things happen dramatically (a pandemic). Good things happen gradually (malaria deaths dropping annually) and don’t feel like ‘news’. Endeavour to keep track of the good things to avoid an inaccurate and dismal view of the world.  

Tape Innovation

"IBM just shattered previous records for magnetic tape's data storage capabilities, ensuring it meets demand for the next decade". (Via H.R.)

They'll Be Watching You

IEEE Spectrum: "Augmented Reality and the Surveillance Society"

The Great American Rail-Trail

BBC: "A New Way To Travel Across The US"

Merry Christmas!

Geekpress will be taking a short holiday break to celebrate Christmas 2020. 

I hope you all enjoy the holiday weekend! We'll be back on Monday December 28.

 

High-Res Snowflake

"This Is The Highest Resolution Snowflake Photo Ever"

Why would former Microsoft chief technology officer Nathan Myhrvold spend a year and a half building a custom 100-megapixel carbon-fiber super-cooled sapphire-lensed LED-lit super camera to take pictures of snowflakes? 

Click through to see more images like these, as well as explanatory video.

 

Stanford Vaccine Debacle

"3 lessons from Stanford's Covid-19 vaccine algorithm debacle"

Drone Warfare Update

"Azerbaijan's drones owned the battlefield in Nagorno-Karabakh -- and showed future of warfare"

Kindle Convert

"Confessions of a Kindle Convert"

ARM History

"How an obscure British PC maker invented ARM and changed the world". (Via H.R.)

Fake Faces

"Wearing someone else's face: Hyper-realistic masks to go on sale in Japan"

 

Apple Safety Manual

"Apple Shares Manual on How to Lock Down Devices When Personal Safety is at Risk"

Direct link to Apple PDF document: "Device and Data Access when Personal Safety is At Risk"

Nomex

"Why racing drivers trust their lives to a fireproof fabric called Nomex". (Via H.R.)

Pfizer Vaccine!

Thank you, Pfizer and the Medical Center of Aurora! 

I'm grateful to all the hard-working scientists and researchers who developed this innovative product. Your ingenuity and efforts will help millions of people around the world.

Legal Haikus

Eugene Volokh: "Always Risky to Use Haikus as Legal Argument"

Hokusai Found

"A Great Wave of Hokusai Drawings Resurfaced at the British Museum"

Code <> Language

MIT News: "To the brain, reading computer code is not the same as reading language"

Lottery Hacking?

"66 winning lottery tickets. $6.3 million. What's up with Ivy League group's winning streak?"

Don't Let The Surgeon Operate On You On Their Birthday

BMJ: "Patient mortality after surgery on the surgeon's birthday: observational study".  Pretty good study, including good attempt to control for confounding factors.

Bottom line:

Among Medicare beneficiaries who underwent common emergency surgeries, those who received surgery on the surgeon’s birthday experienced higher mortality compared with patients who underwent surgery on other days. These findings suggest that surgeons might be distracted by life events that are not directly related to work.

Stealing Camera Data

"How to steal photos off someone's iPhone from across the street"

Professional Tag

"Inside the World of Professional Tag"

Battery Breakthrough?

"Company claims solid-state lithium-metal battery breakthrough". (Via H.R.)

Stunning Snowflakes

"These stunning images of snowflakes will make you see winter in a whole new light". (Via H.R.)

Daring Fireball On AirPods Max

John Gruber: "Heavy Is the Head That Wears the AirPods Max"

Find The Missing States

xkcd: "The contiguous 41 states". 

Without looking up a map, can you figure out which 7 US states are missing?

 

Alternate History Maps

BBC: "The intriguing maps that reveal alternate histories"

COVID Cruise To Nowhere

COVID-19 disrupts "cruise to nowhere" after passenger tests positive.

COVID And Twins

"Case Study Finds Covid-19 Infection Can Impact Identical Twins Differently"

Daring Fireball On M1 Macs

John Gruber (Daring Fireball) really likes the new M1 Macs.

Cities And Pandemics

"Contrary to popular belief, living in densely populated cities can offer many health benefits -- even during a pandemic." (Via A.A.)

Machiavellian Triumphs

"Stories of Machiavellian triumphs, part 2". (Via G.V.H.)

And Part 1, here.

Ancient Inks

"High-energy X-rays reveal the secrets of ancient Egyptian inks". (Via H.R.)

Hsieh Forbes Column: Why I Wear A Mask

My latest Forbes piece is now out: "Why I Wear A Mask".

This is my response to a question I've frequently received from friends and readers.

 

Arecibo Collapse

"Drone Video Shows Dramatic Moment of Arecibo Observatory Collapse". (Via H.R.)

Unusual Lottery Numbers

"Six in a row: Winning numbers in South African lottery are: 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10".

 Some people are asking if this was due to fraud or just a very unusual coincidence. (Of course, this set of 6 numbers is just as likely as any other set of 6 numbers).

Bayes For Today

"Can an 18th Century Statistician Help Us Think More Clearly?"

Laser Weapon Update

"How The Once Elusive Dream Of Laser Weapons Suddenly Became A Reality". 

Now I just need a "phased plasma rifle in the 40-watt range" and I'm all set!

Mathematical Art

Cool mathematical art. Available for sale. (Via H.R.)

Two Days To Design Vaccine

"Moderna Designed a Covid-19 Vaccine in Just Two Days"

Turkey Feathers

"How many turkey feathers does it take to make an ancient blanket?" (Via H.R.)

Hsieh Forbes Column: When The Doctor Becomes A Patient

My latest Forbes piece is now out: "When The Doctor Becomes A Patient: My Thanks For US Health Care".

I offer some post-Thanksgiving gratitude for the many good things of the US health system that I experienced during my recent bout of septic olecranon bursitis.