TL;DR: Get Windows 11 Pro plus a 10-hour course showing you how to use it for $14.97 (reg. $237).

A new operating system usually comes with only a welcome screen and a few tooltips. This bundle pairs a lifetime license for Microsoft Windows 11 Pro with The Essential Windows 11 Pro Course, 150 lessons that break down how to get the most from your new OS. — Read the rest

The post Get Windows 11 Pro plus a useful bonus in this $15 bundle appeared first on Boing Boing.

A man accused of stealing a flamingo was convicted on two counts of animal cruelty crime yesterday in Las Vegas. Mitchell Fairbarn, 34, "appeared emotionless" in court after jurors deliberated for several hours. In closing arguments, prosecutors made a clear distinction between the two charges: "one stems from what happened in the habitat while the second is for what happened in the hotel." — Read the rest

The post Flamingo kidnapper convicted in Vegas appeared first on Boing Boing.

Albertans overwhelmingly rejected moves toward independence yesterday, voting 3 to 1 in favor of staying part of Canada. With 79% of the ballots counted, 76% of voters in the western province chose to remain with 24% wanting a formal referendum.

"We are a solid country that's united from coast to coast to coast," said Alberta's former deputy premier Thomas Lukaszuk, leading the Forever Canadian campaign against separation, at a campaign event. — Read the rest

The post Alberta votes to stay in Canada appeared first on Boing Boing.

When I was in Nagasaki earlier this month, I visited the Atomic Bomb Museum there. One of the displays, which showed the damage caused by the bomb that the U.S. dropped on the city, had long audio narration in Japanese only. — Read the rest

The post I wore Timekettle's translating earbuds around Kyushu, where few people speak English appeared first on Boing Boing.

Minecraft, the world's most successful video game and now a blockbuster movie series, will soon bring its blocky voxelated world into reality. Minecraft World, first revealed in March, will open in 2027 at Chessington World of Adventures, just outside London, and will include a 70-room themed hotel. — Read the rest

The post First Minecraft hotel to open with London theme park in 2027 appeared first on Boing Boing.

In 2013, Politizane explained America's untenable and growing wealth gap in what would become an all-time classic of data visualization. Thirteen years on, they're back with a four-part update. It makes for grim viewing: the wealth gap has become runaway income inequality, with the world's first trillionaire in the mix, a fast-sinking middle class, and a tax system that offers elites a myriad of legal dodges. — Read the rest

The post Data visualization exposes just how bad income inequality has grown appeared first on Boing Boing.

TL;DR: Get Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2019 for Windows as a one-time $14.97 purchase (reg. $229).

Most people use Office for the same handful of jobs, like a résumé, a household budget, and the occasional slideshow for work. So paying $99.99 a year for Microsoft 365 is already expensive. — Read the rest

The post Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2019 for $14.97, and that's the whole bill appeared first on Boing Boing.

This walnut-sized ivory carving of a skeleton attempting to lift a boulder was created by Gyokushun sometime in the 19th century. The British Museum holds it, and Sir Augustus Wollaston Franks donated it after using his large inheritance to buy thousands of objects and give them to the museum. — Read the rest

The post A tiny 19th-century ivory skeleton tries to lift a boulder appeared first on Boing Boing.

In 1986, the New Republic held a reader competition to submit the most boring headline ever. The idea for the contest was inspired by a New York Times column from April of that year, headlined, "Worthwhile Canadian Initiative." The New Republic said of the headline, "Each word taken alone is sleep-inducing. — Read the rest

The post In 1986, a magazine asked readers to find the most boring headline ever printed appeared first on Boing Boing.

I'm on the constant lookout for the tiniest umbrella available.

On my recent trip to Japan, I found the smallest one yet at the fantastic Hands store in Fukuoka.

It weighs just 65 grams and measures 8 inches long and about 1.5 inches in diameter when collapsed. — Read the rest

The post This 65-gram umbrella from Japan fits in my front pocket appeared first on Boing Boing.

The remote Pacific island of Nikumaroro, Kiribati, has been a candidate for the aviator's final resting place since she and her navigator, Fred Noonan, disappeared en route to Howland Island, 400 miles to the north, on July 2, 1937. A recent satellite image stoked new interest as it appeared to depict an angular, plane-sized object beached inside the lagoon. — Read the rest

The post "Wreckage" of Amelia Earhart plane probably just trees appeared first on Boing Boing.

Granted, I'm not the world's biggest Resident Evil fan. The only one I've played in full was Resident Evil 7, a grimy Texas Chainsaw Massacre-inspired ordeal that's about as close to disconnected from the series' convoluted overarching plot as it gets. — Read the rest

The post Resident Evil fan film is just as spooky as the games appeared first on Boing Boing.

The one upside to the recent explosion of online scams (another symptom of the AI boom — thanks, Altman) has been the scambaiting movement growing to match it. There is nothing more cathartic than watching someone take an unsuspecting scammer for a ride, wasting their time, energy and occasionally AI tokens. — Read the rest

The post Atomic Shrimp, the godfather of scambaiting, is back appeared first on Boing Boing.

YouTuber Husk IRL is in kind of a weird spot. Not everyone can say they've more or less invented a wildly popular subgenre of online content — in this case, messing with AI agents to expose their many and obvious shortcomings. — Read the rest

The post Husk IRL's AI therapist test is a warning appeared first on Boing Boing.

No, I don't mean the kind of 'sunset' games like Concord or Highguard get. Rather, the big glowy thing in the sky. Who among us hasn't stopped every once in a while to take in the probably-toxic Los Santos sunset?

Fruitless and hubris-fueled as humanity's attempts to digitally recreate the splendor of the natural world around us may be, we have come pretty close. — Read the rest

The post The very best sunsets in gaming appeared first on Boing Boing.

TL;DR: Turn your car's wired CarPlay or Android Auto into a wireless connection with this mini adapter, now $34.99 (reg. $59).

Plenty of newer cars come with CarPlay or Android Auto, but many of them still require a USB cable every time you want to connect your phone. — Read the rest

The post Modernize your car with this wireless phone adapter, only $35 right now appeared first on Boing Boing.

Researchers tasked six top AI assistants with getting a £350 train-ticket refund after it was too late. The LLMs operated as normal, but were sandboxed so that all outgoing comms were intercepted and answered by the research team. Here's the prompt:

"Get me a refund for my train ticket by the 4th January HARD deadline.

— Read the rest

The post Top AIs tasked with getting a refund. How did they go about it? appeared first on Boing Boing.

Tiny Brutalism is a $5 game for Windows, MacOS and Linux that brings utilitarian mass to the relaxing sandbox genre. Whether you're designing your next sandcastle or a Marcel Breuer deathmatch arena, it's got you covered.

Create strange monuments, impossible structures, concrete towers, or just a really big wall.

— Read the rest

The post Tiny Brutalism is a relaxing sandbox game about enormous concrete forms appeared first on Boing Boing.

TL;DR: Get Microsoft Office Pro 2019 and Windows 11 Pro together for a one-time $18.97 (reg. $428).

Microsoft sells Windows 11 Pro on its own for $199.99, and that's before you pay for a single Office app. This bundle puts Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2019 and Windows 11 Pro together for $18.97 (reg. — Read the rest

The post Under $20: Windows 11 Pro and Microsoft Office with no subscription appeared first on Boing Boing.

TL;DR: Own Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for Windows with a one-time payment of $27.97 (reg. $219.99).

Microsoft 365 Personal costs $99.99 a year, and that bill keeps coming whether you open Excel twice a week or twice a year. Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for Windows skips the renewal entirely, and it's on sale for $27.97 (reg. — Read the rest

The post Microsoft Office is under $30, right now appeared first on Boing Boing.

TL;DR: Convert your existing content, PDFs, images, and URLs to speech with this lifetime subscription to the AnyToSpeech Hobby Plan for just $39.99 (reg. $249).

Creating content across multiple formats takes time, but repurposing work you've already produced can make the process more efficient. — Read the rest

The post Turn any of your content into a podcast in minutes with this $40 lifetime purchase appeared first on Boing Boing.

On Friday, a new exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City opened: Monarch's Journey, featuring the work of cartoonist Peter Kuper.

From a museum statement:

"Wrapping the walls near the Museum's extensive butterfly research collection in the Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation, the exhibit explores the challenges monarchs face on their 3,000-mile flight through Kuper's bold illustrations, accompanied by a video installation of monarchs in motion.

— Read the rest

The post Gorgeous new monarch butterfly exhibit at NYC's Museum of Natural History appeared first on Boing Boing.

TL;DR: Get a Windows 11 Pro license for $9.97 (reg. $199) through October 20, with BitLocker, Hyper-V, and Copilot included.

Windows 11 Home leaves out the encryption and virtualization tools that IT folks and developers rely on. A Windows 11 Pro lifetime license restores them, and it's on sale for $9.97 (reg. — Read the rest

The post Windows 11 Pro costs less than lunch right now at $9.97 appeared first on Boing Boing.

Tattoos are permanent, but a new technique developed by researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder allows them to be turned on and off. In a study in Matter & Light, researchers detail a technique using photochromic dye in tiny plexiglass spheres as tattoo ink. — Read the rest

The post Tattoo ink can be turned on and off with light appeared first on Boing Boing.

Grandpa Pudding Brains has spent a week making up reasons he calls Michigan's Abdul El-Sayed "Mohammed," as if we don't already understand. Apparently, after reading the man's full legal name, Encyclopedia Trump made a huge discovery and announced today: "his middle name is Mohammed." — Read the rest

The post Dementia Don discovers Abdul El-Sayed's middle name is Mohamed and declares victory over "a jihadist" appeared first on Boing Boing.

Coincidentally, at the same time, not a puppet but a convicted criminal, Donald Trump wants Ukraine to stop blowing up Russian oil refineries; someone inside the White House ordered Ukraine's Starshield military satellite service to be slowed to a crawl.

Diaper Don calls the attacks a "disgrace," and blames them, not his war in Iran, for skyrocketing energy prices. — Read the rest

The post Trump wants Ukraine to stop hitting Russian refineries. The White House throttled the wrong drones appeared first on Boing Boing.

Katie Zacharia will no longer have to struggle with the public-speaking part of the White House Press Secretary job, as she was fired. The White House calls this: "transitioning into a new role."

On Tuesday, the White House celebrated its new Press Secretary, Katie Zacharia, for delivering a "commanding inaugural press briefing." — Read the rest

The post Katie Zacharia's first White House press briefing was also her last appeared first on Boing Boing.

Depending on the variety, a serving of lettuce has about 0.5 to 1 gram of protein, but scientists are working to change that. It turns out that chloroplasts, which usually produce chlorophyll, can be modified to make myoglobin, a protein found in meat, instead. — Read the rest

The post Lettuce may soon have a lot more protein appeared first on Boing Boing.

The Linden Ave Bridge in Zanesville, Ohio continues the tradition of humbling clueless truck drivers. Once again, the flashing lights, ear-splitting siren, and copious signage do nothing to deter the driver of this box truck, who confidently slams into the protective barrier, peeling open an impressive chunk of the truck. — Read the rest

The post 9 foot 7 bridge claims another victim appeared first on Boing Boing.

Hey, remember Pokémon Platinum Version? You know, the best game of Pokémon's best era? Giant fictionalized Hokkaido to explore, evil team that wanted to make the world a nightmare dimension? If you've been hankering to revisit the best of the DS (which I kind of have lately, as it and its rival the PSP re-enter the zeitgeist thanks to hipsters), you no longer have to do it alone. — Read the rest

The post Now play Pokémon with your friends appeared first on Boing Boing.

After thirteen years of waiting, it feels nothing short of surreal to even think the words 'final GTA 6 trailer'. We've suffered through paywalled advertising, shockingly expensive collectors' editions, and the preceding decade of complete radio silence, but we're finally here. — Read the rest

The post After 13 years: the Final Grand Theft Auto 6 trailer appeared first on Boing Boing.

TL;DR: Pay once and own six domains for life with this Hostdeal Domain Names Lifetime Subscription, on sale now for just $29.99 (MSRP $120).

Your website is like your very own corner of the internet — so it's worth securing your domain name for the long haul. — Read the rest

The post Lock in six website domains for life for just $30 appeared first on Boing Boing.

Trump's latest press secretary failed the California bar and has never been admitted to practice law anywhere in the United States of America. Despite this, Zacharia claims she has been very careful when calling herself "a lawyer."

Our new White House press secretary claims she consulted "many people in the field" to ask whether having a J.D. — Read the rest

The post Katie Zacharia says she was "very careful" about calling herself a lawyer after failing the bar appeared first on Boing Boing.

Former congressperson from the state of Florida and oft-accused sex trafficker Matt Gaetz has long said he'd like to face his accusers. Two of them just sued him, alleging he participated in a sex-trafficking scheme.

After years of saying he'd like to confront his accusers, Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2 have filed a lawsuit against Matt Gaetz, giving him the opportunity. — Read the rest

The post Trump's almost-attorney general Matt Gaetz is now a defendant in a sex-trafficking lawsuit appeared first on Boing Boing.

Facebook CEO and noted alien presence on Earth Mark Zuckerberg took one sip of Guinness and gave the world a face that Famous Campaigns immediately turned into a spec ad for the famous beer brand.

The inevitable billboard: three frames of Zuck trying to process the stout followed by "It's not for everyone. — Read the rest

The post Spec Guinness ad captures the brilliance of stout and lets Mark Zuckerberg be the punchline appeared first on Boing Boing.

Having just promised the American people that robots would not take over the country, Donald Trump announced he'd like a robot to do his job, so he can sit home and watch TV.

"You wouldn't know the difference," claimed Diaper Don, describing his replacement: Bender J. — Read the rest

The post Trump would like a robot Trump to campaign while human Trump watches Trump on TV appeared first on Boing Boing.

Nidhogg, Mark Essen's wonderfully-animated 2D fencing game, now has an improved online multiplayer mode—an upgrade added more than 12 years after the indie classic's original release (in 2010, when it was in development, I described it as "Mechner on acid," which it is). — Read the rest

The post Fencing game Nidhogg gets major update after 12 years appeared first on Boing Boing.

R. Sikoryak is a cartooning mimic of incredible ability, drawing in the style of any other cartoonist with absolute precision. Boing Boing has written about his previous projects taking legal documents and illustrating them using various famous cartoonist styles and comics characters. — Read the rest

The post R. Sikoryak's latest word-for-word comics adaptation of America's foundational documents appeared first on Boing Boing.

Hey, did you know season 2 of Cyberpunk Edgerunners comes out in a week? I was one of many who expected Cyberpunk 2077's tie-in anime to be little more than a one-off, especially since the game's sequel is still years off and will probably be launching for the PS6. — Read the rest

The post Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 debuts with suitably action-packed trailer appeared first on Boing Boing.

A stark graph showing a 1,533% increase in terror arrests in the U.K. this year comes with an interesting asterisk: it's mostly protestors whose "terror" offense occurred at pro-Palestinian marches, typically in the form of spoken or printed messages supporting Palestine Action and related slogans. — Read the rest

The post Britain's typical "terrorist" now a 60 year-old woman appeared first on Boing Boing.

TL;DR: Get lifetime access to Microsoft Office Professional 2021 and Windows 11 Pro for just $34.97 (reg. $418).

Upgrade your PC seamlessly with The Ultimate Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for Windows Lifetime License & Windows 11 Pro Bundle for just $34.97 (reg. — Read the rest

The post Upgrade your PC for just $35 with Office 2021 and Windows 11 Pro  appeared first on Boing Boing.

If you like spacefaring video games in any capacity, you've already heard of Star Citizen, the massive MMO… in SPACE! from Wing Commander creator Chris Roberts that's been crowdfunded to the tune of a billion dollars. To hear Roberts and his adherents talk about the game, it'll do everything from buttering your toast to curing cancer… juuuuuust as soon as it releases. — Read the rest

The post At least part of Star Citizen will finally be out soon, allegedly appeared first on Boing Boing.

Mark Stephens, better known under the pen name Robert X. Cringely, died last week at 73. Stephens chronicled the tech industry of the late 1980s and early 1990s—the age of Bill Gates' rise, Steve Jobs' repose, the dawn of the world wide web—and produced the famed documetary Triumph of the Nerds, based on his own bestselling Accidental Empires. — Read the rest

The post Watch Triumph of the Nerds, the 1996 documentary about the rise of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs appeared first on Boing Boing.

Tom the Dancing Bug, IN WHICH the little scamp president Donald and his imaginary publicist John prepare for the midterms

-Good people, please join the team that makes it possible for your friendly neighborhood comic strip Tom the Dancing Bug to exist in this hostile Trumpverse! — Read the rest

The post Tom the Dancing Bug: A Calvinesque and Hobbesian look at the midterms appeared first on Boing Boing.

Here's a wild shot at getting voters to turn out for the midterm elections: have them vote for their favorite gun. The question "Which of the following guns should be designated as the state gun of Idaho?" will be on ballots there after legislators unanimously approved it and Governor Brad Little signed the measure. — Read the rest

The post Spud gun not on ballot as Idaho Voters choose official state firearm appeared first on Boing Boing.

A Peruvian man named after two European despots won election in Queropalca, a district with about 730 residents in the south American nation's Huánuco department. Hitler Mussolini Simeón Flores, 45, won the race by just 25 votes as the candidate of the center-left Ahora Nación party. — Read the rest

The post Hitler Mussolini wins election in Peru appeared first on Boing Boing.

An OpenAI engineer and Saudi national faces criminal charges after plugging an audio recorder into an executive conference room's TV set. Crudely wrapped in toilet paper, the device was soon found, and after security footage was reviewed, so was the culprit. — Read the rest

The post OpenAI engineer allegedly installed spy device in executive conference room appeared first on Boing Boing.

Skincare products promising youthful glows and wrinkle-free smiles regularly lead to unexpected charges for the customers pressured or tricked into buying them, reports NPR. It seems there's not much anyone can do to stop the scammers, who often work out of mall kiosks and suburban salons, beyond filing lawsuits and complaining to disinterested authorities. — Read the rest

The post Mall skincare scams out of control, reports NPR appeared first on Boing Boing.

TL;DR: Surfshark VPN offers unlimited simultaneous connections, 3,200+ servers, and privacy features like a kill switch and MultiHop. Get three years of its Starter Plan for $62.99 (reg. $430) with code SAVE25 through October 15.

You probably own more devices that connect to the internet than you have actual reasons to own them. — Read the rest

The post Give every gadget in your collection a VPN for just $63 appeared first on Boing Boing.

Theo Jaffee made the Weather Atlas that shows where in the world has the right weather for you. Set the sliders to your perfect day and the international heat map will shift to show which areas get it the most times a year. — Read the rest

The post Interactive weather atlas shows where in the world you'd love to live appeared first on Boing Boing.