A couple years ago, it was my distinct displeasure to inform you about the advent of Sora AI-generated video just before the resulting tidal wave of slop rendered truth a luxury. It's my even more distinct displeasure to inform you that we could be standing at the edge of a similar precipice — at least, according to a few investors. — Read the rest

The post Investors panic over Google's AI game generator, tank gaming stocks appeared first on Boing Boing.

Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said at a news conference Thursday that the LAPD will not enforce recently enacted state and local laws prohibiting federal law enforcement officers from wearing masks. "It's not a good public policy decision, and it wasn't well thought-out, in my opinion," he said. — Read the rest

The post LAPD chief says enforcing ICE mask ban could cause "armed conflict" between cops and federal agents appeared first on Boing Boing.

A cache of original paintings by Bob Ross just sold for $1.2 million! A tidy return on a body of work created for public television, while Public Broadcasting Service faces existential funding cuts from a political movement that has spent years sneering at the very idea of shared culture. — Read the rest

The post Bob Ross paintings sell for $1.2 million as Trump guts public TV appeared first on Boing Boing.

The latest DOJ Epstein files dump has the internet abuzz. They appear to show a series of emails from 2012 in which Elon Musk repeatedly attempts to arrange a visit to Jeffrey Epstein's private island, growing increasingly eager and looking for a "wild party." — Read the rest

The post Emails appear to show Elon Musk trying very hard to get invited to Jeffrey Epstein's party appeared first on Boing Boing.

Elon Musk claimed that he was "photobombed" by Ghislaine Maxwell in the infamous shot of them together at the Vanity Fair Oscars party in 2014: "Don't know Ghislaine at all. She photobombed me once at a Vanity Fair party several years ago. — Read the rest

The post Elon Musk email to Epstein revealed: "What day/night will be the wildest party on your island?" appeared first on Boing Boing.

Darren Aranofsky's "On This Day… 1776" is a forthcoming AI-generated TV series featuring short narrative stories about the War of American Independence. The voices are human actors, so it may be considered as animation. Even so, it's extremely uncanny and mostly interesting as an example of the sort of thing AI bros on Twitter declare will completely replace humans immediately ("Hollywood is cooked!") — Read the rest

The post Darren Aranofsky's AI-animated show about the AAMEREEDD revolution is a true horror appeared first on Boing Boing.

A New York police officer opened fire at a suspect Thursday on Rockaway Beach, killing his target: a raccoon whose behavior had led someone to call 911 to report a "vicious animal." The officer is on modified duty "while the matter is reviewed." — Read the rest

The post New York police officer kills raccoon at area beach appeared first on Boing Boing.

A half-naked man, his body painted yellow, a duck's beak affixed to his nose, and his belly inscribed with "flappy one" in thick black marker, vandalized a subway train in Glasgow by pouring milk and cereal over his head.

"Behaviour such as this is clearly unacceptable and will not be tolerated," the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) said in a statement. — Read the rest

The post Man dressed as duck pours milk and cereal over himself in subway train appeared first on Boing Boing.

There's the classic "not screened for critics," and then there's this: Variety reports that mainstream press were "blocked" from watching the premiere of "Melania," the "documentary" that cost Amazon $40m up front and another $35m in marketing costs.

Reporters from The New York Times, The Washington Post, AP and Vanity Fair, among dozens of other outlets on the carpet, were not granted tickets to the invite-only screening in the Opera House, located one floor above the carpet.

— Read the rest

The post No seats for mainstream media at premiere of "Melania" appeared first on Boing Boing.

Former CNN anchor Don Lemon was arrested late Thursday on federal charges stemming from a January 18 protest at a St. Paul church where an ICE official serves as pastor.

Attorney General Pam Bondi ordered the arrests of Lemon along with three others: activists Trahern Jeen Crews and Jamael Lydell Lundy, and independent journalist Georgia Fort. — Read the rest

The post Bondi arrests Don Lemon after judge and appeals court refused appeared first on Boing Boing.

"Grey's Anatomy" is halting production Friday to join the national anti-ICE shutdown, TheWrap reports. The long-running ABC medical drama is shutting down for the day in solidarity with protests following the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. — Read the rest

The post "Grey's Anatomy" halts production for ICE shutdown appeared first on Boing Boing.

Luigi Mangione, the man accused of shooting and killing insurance executive Brian Thompson, will not receive the death penalty if convicted. A federal judge ruled today that capital punishment may not be sought in the case, disappointing prosecutors who demanded it. — Read the rest

The post Judge rules Luigi Mangione will not receive death penalty if convicted appeared first on Boing Boing.

The Lego Smart Brick is the building block for its new Smart Play ecosystem of lights, sensors, location tags and other gadgets to trigger sounds and LEDs. It reacts to movements, touch and other interactions (including being combined with other bricks) Builds won't require an app to program or play with, making the platform a screen-free environment. — Read the rest

The post Lego Smart brick sets shipping in march appeared first on Boing Boing.

Printer ink is more expensive than vintage champagne, human blood and fine perfume, lubricating a "razor and blades" business model where they sell you the printer cheap then run you with recurring costs. This is facilitated by the DRM ink cartridges, which are designed to be single-use to deter refilling. — Read the rest

The post Los Angeles may ban unrecyclable printer ink cartridges appeared first on Boing Boing.

In a series of press releases over the past week, National Nurses United (NNU), the largest union of registered nurses, with more than 225,000 members across the United States, has expressed their "outrage" against ICE, has stated that ICE's "violence, terror, and lawlessness" constitute "a dire public health threat to the entire country and all our communities," and has demanded "the immediate abolition of ICE."  — Read the rest

The post "ICE messed with the wrong profession": National Nurses United joins ICE Out of Everywhere National Day of Action appeared first on Boing Boing.

University of Minnesota students are leading a national shutdown on Friday, January 30, calling on Americans to skip work, school, and shopping to protest ICE operations. On Saturday, the grassroots organization 50501 has coordinated "ICE Out of Everywhere" protests in all 50 states. — Read the rest

The post ICE OUT national shutdown Friday. Protests in all 50 states on Saturday. appeared first on Boing Boing.

Hundreds of demonstrations and similar actions are planned for this weekend, January 30 and 31, 2026 as part of the "ICE OUT" strike and protest against the violent reign of terror that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) are inflicting upon our neighborhoods, cities, communities, and residents.  — Read the rest

The post As part of the "ICE OUT" strike, consider boycotting these companies that have the biggest ICE contracts appeared first on Boing Boing.

MAGA man Anthony Kazmierczak, who squirted Democratic U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar with vinegar at an event in Minneapolis on Tuesday night, now faces federal charges of assault and intimidation.

Authorities also say that Kazmierczak told a close associate several years ago that "somebody should kill" Omar, court documents say.

— Read the rest

The post Charges announced for man who squirted vinegar on Ilhan Omar appeared first on Boing Boing.

The German government issued a travel advisory for the United States, warning travelers about political instability and street violence—and to expect to be required to show ID to local security forces. They've seen this movie before.

Protests have been held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and other cities against the actions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol officers enforcing Trump's immigration crackdown.

— Read the rest

The post Germany warns of U.S. street violence in travel advisory appeared first on Boing Boing.

France made marital rape a crime in 1994, but it nonetheless retains in law a marital duty to have sex. In 2026, the land of love is to finally abolish conjugal rights.

A bill approved on Wednesday in the National Assembly adds a clause to the country's civil code to make clear that "community of living" does not create an "obligation for sexual relations".

— Read the rest

The post France to abolish marital duty to have sex appeared first on Boing Boing.

Early ticket sales were a warning, and early screenings are now sounding the alarm about tomorrow's general release of Melania, the documentary about America's first lady. It's projected to make just $1m in its first week, reports The New Republic, having cost $75m to make and market. — Read the rest

The post $75m "Melania" documentary projected to make $1m in first week appeared first on Boing Boing.

During Tesla's earnings call, investors got a guided tour of Elon Musk's robot fantasies, presented as the company's future. This, on the heels of Trump chief of staff Susie Wiles referring to Musk as an "avowed ketamine user." This description is important to remember when a CEO pivots from selling cars to promising humanoid companions and automated destiny. — Read the rest

The post An 'avowed ketamine user' explains why robots are the future appeared first on Boing Boing.

Failing at the one job that mattered most, Waymo's self-driving car saw a child, made a decision, and followed through.

Waymo said its robotaxi struck the child at 6 miles per hour, after braking "hard" from around 17 miles per hour.

— Read the rest

The post Waymo saw a child, slowed down, still hit it appeared first on Boing Boing.

TL;DR: Learn to play piano better no matter your current level with a 5-year subscription to the flowkey piano learning app for $99.99, or 88% off the suggested retail price of $899.

Making music makes us humans happy. Piano learning app flowkey is designed to teach you how to make music by teaching you to play the piano or play it better, whether you're a complete beginner or a practiced student who just wants to improve. — Read the rest

The post Learn to play the Tetris theme flawlessly for hundreds less with flowkey appeared first on Boing Boing.

We've heard plenty about how digital life wrecks our focus and atrophies our social skills. But Patricia Martin's book Will the Future Like You?: Reflections on the Age of Hyper-reinvention (out today, January 29 from Karnac Books) argues the damage cuts deeper: constant connectivity is eroding our ability to form a stable sense of self. — Read the rest

The post The internet isn't just shortening your attention span — it's dissolving your identity appeared first on Boing Boing.

Nearly half of American consumers went into debt during holiday shopping, and many are now avoiding the bill. Psychiatrist and neuroscientist Judson Brewer calls this "money avoidance" — ignoring our financial situation, often to our detriment. NPR's Life Kit talked to him about how to break the habit. — Read the rest

The post Scared to check your bank balance? A neuroscientist has tips for you. appeared first on Boing Boing.

Virginia "Ginny" Oliver, Maine's "Lobster Lady," died January 21 at 105. She'd been hauling lobster traps since 1928 — starting at eight years old with her father and brother — and didn't stop until a fall at 103, reports The Guardian. — Read the rest

The post Maine's "Lobster Lady," who fished for 97 years, has died at 105 appeared first on Boing Boing.

NPR traveled to Caroline County, Maryland — which voted for Trump more than 2-to-1 — to ask residents what they think about the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good by federal agents in Minneapolis. Their responses reveal a vast information divide. — Read the rest

The post "Paperwork's important": Trump voter defends his own mother's deportation appeared first on Boing Boing.

Kevin Westerhold, 51, was arrested this week and charged with exposing his sexual organs after what Osceola Count Sheriff's Office described as a "sexual performance with a vacuum cleaner."

The Oviedo, Florida man was identified after reports of a man "exposing his sexual organs in front of a residence" on Grassendale Street in Kissimmee's Windsor Hills Resort; video was provided to officers of the act as described. — Read the rest

The post Florida man arrested after "sexual performance" with vacuum cleaner appeared first on Boing Boing.

In 1935, German-Jewish critic Walter Benjamin wrote an essay that reads like prophecy today. "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" analyzed how mass media — radio, photography, film — transforms us into distracted spectators, turning politics into entertainment. — Read the rest

The post In 1935, a critic predicted how mass media would enable fascism appeared first on Boing Boing.

Elon Musk got a trillion dollars from Tesla shareholders last year. The implicit deal: focus on the company. He hasn't. Instead, he's been posting about "White people" being a "rapidly dying minority," promoting fraud allegations about Minnesota child care facilities, and signaling he'll stay involved in the 2026 midterms, reports The Washington Post. — Read the rest

The post Tesla's 2025 profits down 61% as Musk's politics continue to hurt it appeared first on Boing Boing.

If you're watching TikTok, TikTok is watching you—and that data now goes to a consortium of Trump cronies and billionaires much closer to home than the Chinese parent company that just sold it to them. Censorship is being reported by users, including a Peabody-winning Palestinian journalist, though the company claims its having datacenter problems. — Read the rest

The post TikTok users delete app after right-wing takeover appeared first on Boing Boing.

Unlike most lottery winners, John Eric Spiby didn't fritter away his £2.4 million jackpot on frivolous things. Instead, he built it into what police claim was a £288m drug empire, constructing a lab to manufacture benzodiazepines in a building opposite his cottage in Wigan, England. — Read the rest

The post 80-year-old used £2.4 million lottery win to build drug empire appeared first on Boing Boing.

Nicky Case — creator of interactive explainers like "The Evolution of Trust" — looked into research literature on depression treatments and reports that vitamin D and omega-3 supplements may have larger effect sizes on depression than antidepressants, according to recent meta-analyses. — Read the rest

The post Vitamin D and Omega-3 may outperform antidepressants, research suggests appeared first on Boing Boing.

Elizabeth Swaney made it to the 2018 Winter Olympics in women's halfpipe skiing by perfecting a simple strategy: don't fall. No tricks, no air, no backflips — just ski down the halfpipe, go up one side, come down, go up the other side, repeat. — Read the rest

The post The skiier who gamed her way to the Olympics appeared first on Boing Boing.

About a dozen FBI agents executed a search warrant on Wednesday at Fulton County, Georgia's election center, seeking to seize ballots from the 2020 election. The move deploys the Justice Department's investigative power behind Trump's repeatedly debunked claims that the election was stolen from him — claims Georgia's own Republican officials have refuted, reports The New York Times. — Read the rest

The post Trump's FBI raids Georgia election center to seize 2020 ballots appeared first on Boing Boing.

Kevin Couch lasted less than a week as the Kennedy Center's new senior vice president of artistic programming. The center announced his hiring on January 16, praising his "clear-eyed approach to curating a roster of compelling shows" for "the Trump Kennedy Center." — Read the rest

The post Kennedy Center programming head quits after six days on the job appeared first on Boing Boing.

A new book called Forrest Trump: The Half-Wit and Wisdumb of America's Last President and First Führer collects Trump's real quotes organized into helpful categories. The author, Tom Asspain, describes it as "an act of Anticipatory Disobedience, published while we still have a chance to express free speech." — Read the rest

The post Forrest Trump: The Half-Wit and Wisdumb of America's Last President and First Fuhrer appeared first on Boing Boing.

Greenlanders intervened to stop a man who tried to raise a US flag in Nuuk, with Denmark's TV2 news showing video of the incident in the island's capital city. As translated by Google:

A person attempted to raise the American flag in Nuuk on Wednesday, the Greenland Police confirmed to TV 2.

— Read the rest

The post Greenland locals stop man trying to raise US flag appeared first on Boing Boing.

In case you missed the news this past July, a life-sized Ronald McDonald statue was stolen from a McDonald's restaurant in Pennsylvania. The McThieves were a group of youngsters who apparently couldn't bear to leave Ronald behind. Footage shows them casually walking out of the restaurant, holding Ronald by the legs. — Read the rest

The post Life-size Ronald Mcdonald statue stolen from Pennsylvania McDonald's, caught on camera appeared first on Boing Boing.

If you're curious about the morbid genre of things found in museums, the Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum has the preserved head of a killer from 1931. Peter Kürten committed a series of horrible crimes in Düsseldorf and was beheaded and dissected as a result. — Read the rest

The post Ripley's Museum has a serial killer's preserved head appeared first on Boing Boing.

Tim Cook has been giving Apple a bad look for some time. The typically charming CEO's public image as an intelligent, well-spoken leader who keeps customers front of mind and never misses a chance to speak out for representation has taken a beating. — Read the rest

The post Tim Cook gave Trump a gold iPad stand. Now he wants employees to calm down appeared first on Boing Boing.

Carl von Clausewitz said it's wise to "never forget that no military leader has ever become great without audacity." What a relief, then, that the facility managers of the Pentagon have seen fit to install equipment that trains officers to be bold, take risks, and continue to strive in the face of adversity. — Read the rest

The post The Pentagon has failed eight consecutive audits and has $4.7 trillion in assets. Now it has a gambling machine too. appeared first on Boing Boing.

Writer and comics historian Mark Evanier writes about an auction of a famous piece of art that is currently up for bid.

In 1969, publisher Jim Warren must have taken a look at the demographic group buying horror comics in his magazines Creepy and Eerie and realized that the exact same group might be interested in a bit of sexual content. — Read the rest

The post You can bring Vampirella into your home… but she might be wearing less than you expect appeared first on Boing Boing.

Bruce Springsteen has just released a song about the horrors playing out in Minnesota, "Streets of Minneapolis."

He wrote on Bluesky:

I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis.

— Read the rest

The post Bruce Springsteen's new song honors the heroes of Minneapolis appeared first on Boing Boing.

Marcin Wichary, author of the marvelous Shift Happens, established a collection of favorite well-made apps and sites. The crowdsourced but curated selection includes things you've seen before if you read Boing Boing, such as Ian's Shoelace Site and Neal Agarwal's fun stuff, but plenty I was unfamiliar with, such as Plain Text Sports and the rekall cyberpunk mood board. — Read the rest

The post Well-made apps and sites appeared first on Boing Boing.

Overlooked in the Kepler data and discovered by a citizen scientist, HD 137010 b is one of the most interesteing exoplanets yet observed. Check out A Cool Earth-sized Planet Candidate Transiting a Tenth Magnitude K-dwarf From K2, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. — Read the rest

The post Newly-noticed exoplanet may be the Earthiest yet appeared first on Boing Boing.

After talking about cracking down for months, YouTube favoring slop over its human creators has finally come to an end: the video platform is removing and gutting the top slop channels. This comes days after the CEO, Neal Mohan, targeted "low-quality AI content" in a recent blog post about "managing AI slop." — Read the rest

The post YouTube cracks down on AI slop appeared first on Boing Boing.

TL;DR: The Mymanu Orb Open-Ear AI Translation Earbuds provide real-time, AI-powered translations for over 50 languages. Grab a pair for just $139.99 (reg. $179.99). 

Language barriers are part and parcel of traveling, but there is nothing more frustrating than having to quickly load up your translation app before missing the moment entirely. — Read the rest

The post Step into the future with these translation earbuds, now 22% off  appeared first on Boing Boing.

Archeologists found a 430,000-year-old tool, and it isn't Rupert Murdoch. The artifact, one of two found at a lake shore in Greece, are the oldest wooden implements ever identified. Described as a "spindly stick" about 2 and half feet long, it could have been used to dig. — Read the rest

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