Last year, a Fiat 500 driver deliberately plowed into Michael van Erp, sending his electric bike scattering across the road. What did he do for the rest of the day? "Went out and Gandalf'd a load more people."
Erp — known to London's motorists as Cycling Mikey — has reported over 2,400 drivers to the Metropolitan Police since 2019 for using their phones at the wheel. — Read the rest
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About 8,000 years ago, Mount Mazama dramatically erupted and collapsed, creating Oregon's beautiful Crater Lake. Currently, an axial volcano about 400 miles off the Oregon Coast and due east of Mazama is getting ready to blow.
While not as globally disruptive as an eruption like Yellowstone, Mount Mazama was a doozy. — Read the rest
The post Crater Lake only looks serene because it's had 7,700 years to calm down appeared first on Boing Boing.
The day after the SEC accused him of running a Ponzi scheme, Tai Lopez posted on X: "Never doom. No matter how horrible the situation, don't ever think you're doomed. Unless you are dead, all defeat is psychological."
Lopez — the social media guru famous for his 2015 "Here in My Garage" Lamborghini video — co-founded Retail Ecommerce Ventures in 2019 to acquire bankrupt brands like RadioShack, Pier 1, Dressbarn, and Modell's. — Read the rest
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"Your littlest girl was a little naughty." "Can we talk about treasure hunt for girls on the island." "I found at least 3 very good young poor."
These are emails to and from Jeffrey Epstein, released by the DOJ under the Epstein Files Transparency Act. — Read the rest
The post Bondi and Patel hide senders of Epstein's most disturbing emails appeared first on Boing Boing.
After reviewing unredacted Epstein files, Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) clearly and plainly gave the kind of assessment that makes official silence feel intentional. "There are clearly co-conspirators in here," he said.
Representatives Massie and Khanna explained that the files they've seen are not fully unredacted, and they have opened more questions than given answers. — Read the rest
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We recently reported about Immigration and Customs Enforcement spending $70 million to buy a warehouse in Surprise, Arizona, that they plan to turn into a "detention center." Following this and other warehouse purchases across the country, and subsequent community backlash, Courier Newsroom created a Google Map of all facilities ICE is seeking to purchase nationwide. — Read the rest
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If there's one thing a narcissist hates more than being ignored, it's being made fun of.
Since the First Lady's fluffy documentary flick, Melania, was released, both she and the movie have received a lot of attention from the mainstream media, theatergoers, and social media. — Read the rest
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Trump's Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick appears to think he's clearing something up. Instead, he's doing the opposite.
This is an oddly specific non-defense. — Read the rest
The post Lutnick notes he left Epstein Island with the same number of children he arrived with appeared first on Boing Boing.
Independent journalist and dashing leading man, Ken Klippenstein, recently spilled the beans on something many of us assumed had been going on for a long time: the Department of Homeland Security has been spying on social media users. With a warrant! — Read the rest
The post DHS is stalking Reddit users online appeared first on Boing Boing.
Won't someone police the messaging apps?! Think of the children!
Look: I like Discord a lot. It's probably my second most-used app after my web browser. It's an intuitive, easy-to-use messaging app for both direct and group messaging that started as a humble "by gamers, for gamers" project but has since eclipsed every competitor — save, perhaps, for Slack, the LinkedIn professional's choice. — Read the rest
The post Discord will require photo IDs globally starting next month appeared first on Boing Boing.
A wise man by the name Hugh Anthony Cregg III once wrote, If money is the root of all evil, I'd like to be a bad, bad man. It's a mission statement that Palantir CEO Alex Karp and the company's shareholders apparently believe in. — Read the rest
The post Palantir made $1.8 billion in 2025 by helping ICE deport people appeared first on Boing Boing.
Like many Italian cocktails, the Bombardino begins with a simple story that's been repeated often enough to have become legend.
Some of the details are murky, but almost everyone agrees that the drink was invented in the 1970s in Livigno, a ski town bordering Switzerland, by a lift manager and lodge owner named Aldo Del Bò. One day, the story goes, a group of skiers staggered into his rifugio (mountain lodge) and asked for something to warm them up. Del Bò had been experimenting with a new concoction in his spare time, and so his manager, Erich Ciapponi, went behind the bar and made it for them.
Ciapponi heated up some Vov—an Italian egg-yolk liqueur akin to zabaglione, already popular among the ski crowd in the area—spiked it with Scotch, and then topped the mixture with cold whipped cream. One of the first to taste the new house drink reportedly exclaimed, "È una bomba!" ("It's a bomb!"), because of its explosive strength.
The name stuck. And thus, the Bombardino—Italy's ski-season staple—was born.
When the snow starts to stick each year, Italians make for the mountains. As they trade the damp winter gloom of cities like Milan and Turin for long days on the slopes, aperitivo becomes après-ski. The drinks, for the most part, are the same as in the cities—beer, wine and spritzes—except for this one winter-only outlier.
The first time I tried a Bombardino was at Rifugio Palù in the Valtellina region. Getting there required a two-mile uphill hike through snow. I was cold and exhausted and the lodge was in full après mode by the time I arrived. Skiers, snowboarders and hikers had stripped off top layers and packed the terrace to sip the drink from paper cups, so I opted for the same. The Bombardino was a quick hit of boozy, high-calorie energy.
One of Norfolk's last remaining traditional gentlemen's clubs has agreed to allow women to join, saying the change will help it reflect the "modern landscape".
The Strangers Club, in Norwich, approved the new policy following a vote among its 170 members. While 82% supported the change, almost a fifth voted against it. The Elm Hill establishment has already admitted its first female member in its 99-year history: Collette Thomson, a surgeon whose father, Stephen, is the club's current president and oversaw the policy change.
The decision means only one Norfolk private members' club now remains men-only: the City Club, also in Norwich. The county's other club of this type, the Norfolk Club in Upper King Street, has accepted women members since the 1990s.
The move follows recent legal challenges to gentlemen's clubs in London, where critics have argued that excluding women breaches equality laws.
'This could be the death of the club'Despite the clear majority in favour, some members remain opposed. One member, who asked not to be named, said they saw no reason to change the club's rules, stressing that the institution was "steeped in tradition" and that many members were uncomfortable with change.
They said some had already begun attending less frequently and warned that the decision could ultimately harm the club's future. "Frankly - and I hope I am wrong - this could be the death of the club," the member said.
Dinner at the Strangers' Club | BBQ at the Strangers' Club | Image by Strangers' Club. Used with permission
'We had to open membership to women'
The Strangers Club was established in 1927 as a meeting place for leading figures in the city's business and professional community, including lawyers, doctors and entrepreneurs. Stephen Thomson, the club's president, said the change reflected both social reality and the club's founding purpose. "If the club had been founded today, then given the number of women business leaders, membership would have been open to women," he said.
He said the club still aspired to be the premier gathering place for Norwich's professional and business community, adding that although women had long been welcomed at social events, it had become clear that full membership should be opened. While acknowledging that some members found the change difficult, Mr Thomson said the vast majority supported it and confirmed that no one had resigned as a result. He added that the club had always been welcoming to members' families and regularly hosted inclusive events.
'An antidote to the digital world'Collette Thomson, the club's first female member, is a consultant plastic surgeon at the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital. She had been a teenager when her father first joined. She had been struck at the time by the club's exclusionary rules, which she described as outdated.
Ms Thomson said her decision to join was driven less by tradition than by a desire for connection. She described the club as offering something increasingly rare in a digital world dominated by emails and messaging. "This club is an antidote to that," she said, "offering a space where you can meet people face to face and have conversations over a meal."
So far, the club has received five applications from women, three of whom are daughters of existing members.
Pressure on remaining men-only clubThe policy change may increase pressure on the City Club, in nearby Colegate, to also accept women members. Gurpreet Padda, Labour cabinet member for equalities and social justice at Norwich City Council, said she saw no justification for men-only private members' clubs in 2026. She said such spaces hinder equality and described them as a backward step, arguing that they prevent women from progressing.
Legal challenges put gentlemen's clubs under scrutinyMen-only clubs in London have faced growing pressure in recent years, with some women challenging membership rules through the courts. The Garrick Club, in London's West End, became the focus of a legal dispute after businesswoman Emily Bendell argued that its men-only membership breached equality legislation.
Under the Equality Act 2010, single-sex organisations such as choirs or sports clubs are permitted. However, the law restricts discrimination by businesses providing services. Ms Bendell and her lawyers argued that because the Garrick operated a restaurant and guest rooms, women were being denied access to services on the same terms as men. Following the challenge, members voted to allow women to join.
So are there still private members' clubs for men only?The Strangers Club is the youngest of Norfolk's remaining traditional clubs. It was founded in 1927 by six "local gentlemen" seeking to build a community of business leaders and professionals. Its name references Flemish and Dutch Protestant "strangers" who fled religious persecution and settled in Norwich in the 16th century. Membership costs around £600, and the club enforces a dress code that excludes jeans and trainers, favouring collared shirts, jackets and trousers.
The county's oldest private members' club, the Norfolk Club, dates back to 1770 and is thought to have around 400 members. Its membership was traditionally drawn from the county's landowning and farming communities.
The City Club, founded in 1897 and historically frequented by former police officers, now has around 90 members. It is currently the only private members' club in Norwich that remains men-only.
Meanwhile, in London, a number of clubs such as the Turf Club, White's, Brooks's, the Savage Club, the Portland Club and the Savile Club are still excluding women members. How long will they be able to withstand the winds of change?
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Xikipedia reimagines Wikipedia as a doomscrollable social media feed—without the social media downsides. The site links to actual Wikipedia articles but displays them as short descriptions you can browse endlessly. Unlike social media scrolling, this feels healthy.
"Doomscroll" usually sounds negative, but it feels fully positive here. — Read the rest
The post Xikipedia reimagines wikipedia as a social media feed without the social media appeared first on Boing Boing.
Hold on to your hats! A conservative religious school in a state with below-average vaccination rates, and a Surgeon General who is an anti-vaxxer, is seeing a huge outbreak of the measles. Measles is wildly contagious and deadly.
Per their Friday, February 6, 3 p.m.
The post Measles outbreak tears through a Florida university appeared first on Boing Boing.
The Asus Zenbook Duo is obviously ridiculous, but Engadget's Sam Rutherford found it to his liking: "It takes time for novel designs to catch on."
The company has addressed barriers to entry from the first attempt, such as short battery life and excessive thickness, and it's now just more display space—something most of us can benefit from. — Read the rest
The post Second-gen Zenbook Duo much-improved, say critics appeared first on Boing Boing.
One of the strangest burial stories is that of Fredric J. Baur, the food scientist who invented the Pringles can and contributed to the stacked-chip concept. When Baur died in 2008, part of him was buried in a Pringles can. He repeatedly told his family he wanted his ashes buried in a Pringles can, and they honored his request. — Read the rest
The post Pringles inventor was buried in a Pringles can appeared first on Boing Boing.
I came across a fun website called screen toys today. Screen Toys was created by Gavin Shapiro. It does exactly what it sounds like: turns your screen into interactive toys.
The "toys" on the screen aren't exactly games, because you don't win or lose. — Read the rest
The post This website transforms your screen into digital toys appeared first on Boing Boing.
California Attorney General Robert Bonta joins the long list of folks investigating why xAI's self-proclaimed Nazi chatbot keeps generating non-consensual explicit images. Meanwhile, Elon blames the users.
California is the latest large government to wonder why xAI can't stop Grok from breaking the law. — Read the rest
The post California investigates Grok, Musk continues not noticing appeared first on Boing Boing.
They won't be available until October, but Seiko's Sega-themed wristwatch celebrates the game company's 65th anniversary and they're happy to take your 71,500円 (~$460) already. It's coming in white (above) and black (below), with the Sega logo at the 3 o'clock position. — Read the rest
The post Watch Seiko and Sega team up for a time appeared first on Boing Boing.
TL;DR: A $25 Sam's Club membership (MSRP $50) helps families save on groceries, household essentials, and everyday life — without overthinking it.
There's a moment every household hits where buying four rolls of paper towels at a time just feels inefficient. — Read the rest
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Robert Anton Wilson Fans Germania is an excellent website of RAW material maintained by Martin Wagner. The main website is currently down because of technical difficulties. Martin is addressing this, but in the interim, please use the site archive.
Things Organized Neatly: The Art of Arranging the Everyday
by Austin Radcliffe
Universe
2016, 104 pages, 7.8 x 10 x 0.8 inches
Simply as advertised. Rows and rows of diverse things neatly organized. This process is often called knolling. The applied organizing logic varies: it can be by size, by color, by age; in rows, in grids, in fitted mosaics. The effect is always hypnotic. Seemingly meaningless collections gain intelligence and order which focuses attention on the parts. The book ranges wide and far in the type of things that are inspected. You will soon knoll your own. - Kevin Kelly
SHARKS - TASCHEN'S HUGE, STUNNING NEW BOOK ABOUT OUR OCEAN'S MAJESTIC, ENDANGERED PREDATORS
Sharks. Face-to-Face With the Ocean's Endangered Predator
by Michael Muller
Taschen
2016, 334 pages, 11.5 x 15 x 1.5 inches
Sharks. The word alone conjures images of grey and white shadows, dorsal fins slicing through the water, row after row of fierce, terrifying, teeth. And we love them for it. Since Jaws first made us all afraid to go into the water, sharks have become our favorite bad guys. We paint them as the apex predators, devouring everything that dares enter their territory, including we frail, defenseless humans. And then we anthropomorphize them into relentless, driven killers, intent on feasting upon every last one of us. While this characterization makes for great entertainment, it has also lead to the idea that shark attacks are the result of killing machines stalking easy prey instead of the mistaken identity accidents that they are. This, combined with a pronounced market for shark fins, liver, and other body parts has lead to a severe decline in several shark species across the globe.
Sharks are magnificent animals. They are the undisputed kings of the sea, at home and graceful in the ocean, beautiful and awe inspiring to watch. This beautiful animal, while dangerous, is something to be respected rather than feared; they are animals that offer far more in their exotic beauty than ever they could cut up in rare dishes and cuisine. Which is exactly what underwater photographer Michael Muller shows us in Sharks. Face-to-Face with the Ocean's Endangered Predator.
This book, Muller's first, presents the culmination of over a decade's worth of close encounters with sharks both small and gargantuan, both fierce and gentle, both rare and common. The photographs show incredible beauty at close range and in their natural habitats, all the better to help us overcome our fears, the better to see sharks for the graceful animals they are.
Presented by Taschen, this book is huge, beautiful, and comprehensive. Arranged geographically, the photos are printed on heavy, matte paper that allows a full range of colors and tones. The photos are also presented without context. Rather each photo is given its own page or two (or three or four in the gatefolds) and explanations and details are saved for the picture index in the final pages. Additional indices include essays by Philippe Cousteau, Jr. and Dr. Alison Kock detailing the need for conservation efforts as well as an overview of Muller's work and technique by Arty Nelson. Perhaps the most important, or maybe just most interesting index is the Species Notes, written by Dr. Kock, which includes each species place on the Red List of Threatened Species.
This is an amazing, hefty (seriously, you're gonna need a bigger boat, er, shelf) tome full of stunning photos of wildlife at its most majestic. Pick up a copy for the photographer and wildlife lover in your life and, next time you see a shark on the big screen in the role of bad guy, maybe try to see things from its point of view? - Joel Neff
Books That Belong On Paper first appeared on the web as Wink Books and was edited by Carla Sinclair. Sign up here to get the issues a week early in your inbox.
The kids are bringing back archaisms: old-timey language that's been out of use for decades, if not a century or more. Lummox, hoodwink, skedaddle, whence and hence… "Older slang is basically an earworm," an expert told the New York Times. — Read the rest
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