Kevin Bates, creator of the credit card-sized Arduboy game system, now sells a $149 digital candle that uses a small neural network ("8-dimensional latent, convolutional decoder, 3,545 parameters, 30 fps") to generate a realistic flame simulation on its low-resolution display. — Read the rest

The post Arduboy Digital Candle has AI-simulated flame appeared first on Boing Boing.

Police are using AI to generate reports on "suspicious" driving patterns, using data from license-plate cameras, then pulling over motorists based on that pretext.

The ACLU's Jay Stanley reports the example of Grace Knowles, a woman in her 20s, whose September 2005 road trip to Florida was deemed suspicious by the Flock-based system. — Read the rest

The post Cops using AI to justify stops for "suspicious driving patterns" appeared first on Boing Boing.

In May, when federal Judge April Perry uncovered apparent grand jury misconduct, the underlying Broadview Six prosecution collapsed. Perry began examining whether federal prosecutors were candid with her about what happened and whether officials outside the Chicago U.S. attorney's office were involved. — Read the rest

The post DOJ tells judge probing prosecutor misconduct that Trump can make it go away appeared first on Boing Boing.

ICE agents retaliated against two U.S. citizens observing them in Portland by pushing a shopping cart at them, tailing them, boxing in their vehicle, and finally slashing one of its tires. An official complaint filed by the ACLU of Oregon requests a prompt investigation into the incident and discipline for the responsible agents. — Read the rest

The post ICE agent filmed slashing car tire appeared first on Boing Boing.

Knightmare, the classic virtual reality TV show that sent a blindfolded adventurer into a green-screen CG dungeon, is coming back as a point-and-click adventure game in 2027. It'll be a free download and star most of the show's original cast, including Hugo Myatt as dungeon master Treguard, and has a lovely hand-drawn cartoon style. — Read the rest

The post Classic UK dungeon crawl show Knightmare to return as adventure game appeared first on Boing Boing.

I only bought four pens when I was in Japan earlier this month. And I wish I'd bought more. As usual. But I like all four of them.

I picked them up at a fantastic department store called Hands, formerly Tokyu Hands, but it changed its name a couple of years ago. — Read the rest

The post Four cool pens I bought in Japan appeared first on Boing Boing.

TL;DR: Compare answers from Claude, Gemini, ChatGPT, and more in one search with a lifetime subscription to Clearafi's Tier 1 Plan for $49.99 (reg. $299).

Getting a second opinion on an AI answer usually means pasting the same question into another chatbot and comparing the replies yourself. — Read the rest

The post This AI tool asks multiple chatbots your question and shows where they agree, and a lifetime subscription is only $50 appeared first on Boing Boing.

Say what you will about gaming auteur and Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima, but the man clearly has a talent for the pitch. On its surface, post-apocalyptic mailman simulator Death Stranding doesn't lend itself well to a cinematic universe, given its slow, action-averse gameplay. — Read the rest

The post Death Stranding gets a second animation before the first is out appeared first on Boing Boing.

David S. Pumpkins returned to SNL in 2022 and, importantly, had not changed.

Still dancing, still confounding horror-seekers, David S. Pumpkins came back, ostensibly from Ibiza.

These skits almost justify SNL's continued existence.

Previously:
• David S. Pumpkins week begins now. — Read the rest

The post We learn that David S. Pumpkins is from Ibiza appeared first on Boing Boing.

TL;DR: Get a lifetime license to Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for Windows for $27.97 through November 1, with no recurring subscription fees.

Microsoft 365 Personal costs $99.99 per year, even if you only use Word or Excel occasionally. Microsoft Office Professional 2021 gives you another option: pay once and keep the productivity software without annual renewals. — Read the rest

The post For only $28, get Word, Excel, Outlook, Access, and more without recurring subscription fees appeared first on Boing Boing.

Whenever I need a good laugh, I look at an Instagram account called Good Advice for Shitty People. This satirical account is like an advice column for the worst people ever, determined to stay that way. Every time I start reading through it, I can't stop because it's so ridiculous and funny. — Read the rest

The post Good Advice for Shitty People is an advice column for the worst people ever appeared first on Boing Boing.

Did you miss out on National Pumpkin Day? If so, this video has you covered. Watch three cute and ferocious little hippos enjoy their pumpkins at the Cincinnati Zoo.

Eating a handful of pumpkin seeds takes me at least a few minutes. — Read the rest

The post Watch the Cincinnati Zoo's hippos eat whole pumpkins like potato chips appeared first on Boing Boing.

These stone face artworks by Chen and Kai make me so happy to look at. These decorative works can be placed on your bookshelf, coffee table, or wherever else you choose. Each one features a spooky and simple face carved from a slab of stone. — Read the rest

The post These spooky stone faces look like little spirits emerging from the rock appeared first on Boing Boing.

This video shows what happens when you allow a puppy to watch a large steak cooking on TV. The confused dog thinks it's real. Despite the screen having no flavor, the puppy is determined to lick through the screen and get to the steak. — Read the rest

The post Puppy tries to lick a steak off the TV screen appeared first on Boing Boing.

This photograph shows Tim Burton as a kid wearing his Halloween costume in 1967. If you've seen The Nightmare Before Christmas, you'll immediately recognize the similarity between this costume and Jack Skellington. I have a feeling that this creation made by Tim Burton's mom (at least subconsciously) influenced the design of Jack Skellington. — Read the rest

The post Tim Burton's 1967 skeleton costume looks a lot like Jack Skellington appeared first on Boing Boing.

This video shows a gigantic water spout seen on the Kama River in the Perm region of Russia. The water spout against the sunlight looks like a portal leading up into the sky. It's fascinating that something real can look so supernatural. — Read the rest

The post A giant waterspout on a Russian river looks like a portal to the sky appeared first on Boing Boing.

TL;DR: Catch threats before they can strike with this GhostShield AI-Powered VPN Premium Plan lifetime subscription, on sale now for just $49.99 (MSRP $399).

A VPN is the most basic way to protect your online privacy, but sometimes you need a little more. — Read the rest

The post One $50 payment gets you lifetime VPN protection on 10 devices appeared first on Boing Boing.

Patrick Stewart, the Olivier award-winning Shakespearean actor who achieved international stardom as Star Trek's Jean-Luc Picard and The X-Men's Professor X, is dead at 86.

Already a distinguished stage and screen presence when he took the role of the Enterprise's new captain, Stewart went on to star as Picard in seven seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation, three of Picard, four motion pictures, and at least 10 video games. — Read the rest

The post Patrick Stewart dead at 86 appeared first on Boing Boing.

Last month I went to Japan with my family. It was my 10th time in Japan. But until this visit, I had never gone to any island other than Honshu, the one that has Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka. This time we went to Kyushu, which is south of Honshu. — Read the rest

The post Why a Fukuoka subway sign calls your backpack a "rucksack" appeared first on Boing Boing.

A few years ago, I was on a plane with my Kindle Paperwhite in my lap, and when I grabbed the seatbelt to strap in, the buckle hit the screen and cracked it. It was still usable, but the bright spot was distracting. — Read the rest

The post My Kindle cracked again, so I switched to a tiny Xteink e-reader appeared first on Boing Boing.

Tom the Dancing Bug, IN WHICH Elon Musk and His Doge Pals must finad and defeat the biggest threat to Western Civilization!

-> "Back in 2012 Bolling — noting that the comic was more widely read than ever yet generating less money than ever — started a subscription membership called The Inner Hive. — Read the rest

The post Tom the Dancing Bug: Elon Musk and His Doge Pals hunt down the threat to Western Civilization appeared first on Boing Boing.

It feels like AI is coming for everybody's jobs, but especially for phone scammers. Thanks to the availability of consumer AI, anyone in any call center anywhere can throw up a decently convincing-sounding AI agent to fleece people out of their money with no effort required. — Read the rest

The post Bankrupting scammers is surprisingly easy appeared first on Boing Boing.

Keep your Cyberpunks or your Fallout 76es: when it comes to launch disasters, No Man's Sky remains the undisputed champion, which I'm not sure is something to be proud of. Something Hello Games can be proud of, however, is its continued and intensive effort to raise the game above its buggy, barebones launch state with more than a decade of constant updates. — Read the rest

The post Somehow, No Man's Sky is still getting updates appeared first on Boing Boing.

TL;DR: Prep for nine CompTIA exams with the 2026 CompTIA Certification Training Complete Exam Prep Bundle for $24.99 (reg. $269.91).

Preparing for CompTIA exams usually means buying a separate prep course for each certification. If you'd rather get them all at once (and for a whole lot cheaper), try the 2026 CompTIA Certification Training Complete Exam Prep Bundle. — Read the rest

The post Breaking into IT? Start with nine CompTIA exam prep courses for $24.99 appeared first on Boing Boing.

Adam Lawson's Zac-OS-9 is a completist recreation of the classic Mac desktop experience for Debian Linux, "drawn pixel by pixel from scratch." Modeled on the last versions before the switch to Mac OS X (more than 25 years ago!) it's not just a skin: it replicates the window manager, file browser, menu bar and every control panel. — Read the rest

The post How to turn modern Linux into an old Mac appeared first on Boing Boing.

TL;DR: Get ChatPlayground AI's Unlimited Lifetime Plan for just $79 (MSRP $619), with side-by-side comparisons across 20-plus AI models and more.

Asking three chatbots the same question shouldn't require three tabs and a spreadsheet. ChatPlayground AI's Unlimited Lifetime Subscription is on sale right now for just $79 (MSRP $619), putting multiple AI responses in one window so you can spend less time copying and more time deciding. — Read the rest

The post Get lifetime of ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini + more in a single workspace for $79 appeared first on Boing Boing.

If you need a lot of fake blood for Halloween this year, this is the video for you. It's a tutorial that shows you how to make realistic fake blood.

It starts with a base of corn syrup plus red food coloring. — Read the rest

The post How to make realistic fake blood for Halloween appeared first on Boing Boing.

Ahead of Grand Theft Auto 6's preload early next month, I and many others have been wondering how much space to clear before it smacks into our collective hard drives with the force of a thousand suns. Triple-A games have been steadily ballooning in size, after all, partially to force other games off of your system and partially because devs don't seem to care much about compression anymore. — Read the rest

The post Grand Theft Auto 6 will take up 210 gigabytes of your hard drive appeared first on Boing Boing.

The Comu Action Pro is a surprisingly capable little recorder; the hoops Apple makes these developers jump through are dopey.

I was excited to try the Comu TN20 Pro, as I wanted an AI transcription device. Recording oral stories and getting a quick transcription is something I'd wanted for a while, and I kept forgetting my iPhone should just do it for me. — Read the rest

The post This excellent little AI recorder makes me resent the App Store appeared first on Boing Boing.

Overgrown is a Chrome browser extension that plants seeds in neglected browser tabs, which slowly become overwhelmed by spreading foliage. Creator Charlie Gerard was inspired by a creative exercise around the word and decided to do something special.

I then wanted to apply this idea to the digital world, and the word "abandoned" made me think of my browser tabs… What if my tabs were slowly taken over by plants the longer I left them unread?

— Read the rest

The post Chrome extension lets weeds overgrow your neglected browser tabs appeared first on Boing Boing.

After Florida cop Brian Louis Sguros performed a welfare check at Dennis West's home and found his dead body, he did what any reasonable law enforcement officer would do under the circumstances: he moved in, assumed West's identity, and renovated the Lauderhill dwelling. — Read the rest

The post Florida cop moved into dead man's house, renovated it and impersonated him appeared first on Boing Boing.

A long-awaited OLED upgrade to Apple's iPad Mini launched this week with an international marketing campaign. But a moment in one ad has drawn controversy in South Korea, as the pinch gesture in it means "you have a small penis" and carries popular connotations of feminism. — Read the rest

The post iPad Mini ad edited in Korea to remove gesture inadvertantly mocking your penis appeared first on Boing Boing.

TL;DR: Get five years of flowkey Classic for $59.97 (reg. $899), including interactive piano lessons, real-time note feedback, and more than 1,000 classical and public-domain songs.

A piano teacher can tell you when you've hit the wrong note, but scheduling regular lessons isn't always convenient. — Read the rest

The post Your piano-playing ambitions could use this $60 learning app appeared first on Boing Boing.

A stolen painting was identified at Parma's annual antiquity fair by cops using AI software trained on photos of missing works.

the police system flagged one of the snapshots with an alert signal: a painting of a young, fair-skinned woman wearing aquamarine and red, holding up a half-unravelled parchment scroll.

— Read the rest

The post Italian police use AI to identify stolen painting at antiquities fair appeared first on Boing Boing.

Melvin West, 70, cut a rare map from a 17th-century atlas at the Caird Library in Greenwich, London, and was sentenced to three years in jail for the theft. But the 1684 map, cut out with a utility knife, has not been recovered, and the presiding judge at Woolwich Crown Court said West had led authorities on a "merry dance" over where it was. — Read the rest

The post Map thief jailed after refusing to show the way appeared first on Boing Boing.

The Atlanta Falcons declined to comment after being contacted regarding its "New PFP" ("new profile picture") on social media, other than to deny that it is an official logo. The design has the same design as the Nazi variant of the German Reichskriegsflagge ("imperial war flag"), but it seems unlikely we'll ever find out how intentional the error was; all we can do is trust that their heart goes out to us all. — Read the rest

The post Atlanta Falcons debuts new profile pic resembling Nazi war flag appeared first on Boing Boing.

Hundreds of spiders decided to hang out on a power line in Indonesia. They wove their webs around the power lines, creating a giant invisible wall where they all stand guard. This scene is an arachnophobe's nightmare.

Seeing this in the daytime would be one thing. — Read the rest

The post Hundreds of spiders turned a power line in Indonesia into a giant web wall appeared first on Boing Boing.

A kind man named John wanted to help the squirrels in his neighborhood feel safe and comfortable. He built squirrel boxes around his neighborhood to serve as homes and shelters for local squirrels. The squirrel boxes are simple wood shelters that the squirrels can freely enter and exit as they wish. — Read the rest

The post A man built cozy squirrel boxes with cameras inside, and the squirrels love them appeared first on Boing Boing.

The series of photos shows what a particularly cold district in Vorkuta, Russia looks like in the dead of winter. The images at the beginning of the series show a town covered in a heavy blanket of snow, with only slivers of cars and buildings visible. — Read the rest

The post Photos show bedrooms in an Arctic Russian town filled with icicles appeared first on Boing Boing.

America is a politically polarized country. But one topic has both the left and the right in full agreement: Flock cameras suck. No one likes the government spying on them.

To make matters worse, police and 911 staff enjoy using Flock cameras to stalk their exes. — Read the rest

The post Police and 911 staff have used Flock cameras to stalk their exes appeared first on Boing Boing.

A man and his wife were taking a relaxing poolside vacation when suddenly a monkey jumped into his lap. Instead of being afraid, the man decided to cuddle the monkey back. The monkey had already decided that this man was her new best friend, and what happens next is unbelievably sweet. — Read the rest

The post A mama monkey picks a vacationing man as her safe place to rest with her baby appeared first on Boing Boing.

Often, the coolest art comes from simple, often unnoticed materials. When reimagined into a new context, everyday household materials can be the base for wonderful works of art. I've always loved watching people transform everyday materials into new ideas.

This aluminum foil piece, Cats and Mice by artist Dean Millien, fills me with joy. — Read the rest

The post An artist sculpts magical cats and mice out of aluminum foil appeared first on Boing Boing.

This fascinating animation clip is from a film called Renaissance, made in 1963 by Walerian Borowczyk. The stop-motion animation shows a destroyed room that slowly puts itself back together. It suggests that a ghost is moving everything around and reconstructing each broken item. — Read the rest

The post In this 1963 stop-motion film, a destroyed room puts itself back together appeared first on Boing Boing.

TL;DR: Use GPT-5.5 Pro, Claude 4.6 Sonnet, and Gemini 3.1 Pro in one app with a 1min.AI Advanced Business Plan for a one-time $69.97 (reg. $540).

Every few months, a new chatbot is declared the winner in the ChatGPT versus Claude debate, and testing them yourself usually means paying $20 a month for each. — Read the rest

The post Settle the ChatGPT vs. Claude debate yourself for $70 appeared first on Boing Boing.

There are details, but the whole story is in the headline. Conspiracy theorist weirdo RFK Jr. says a racist thing and is immediately wrong.

Campaigning in Michigan for Mike Rogers, the Secretary of Health and Human Services took a break from spreading falsehoods about good health practices and instead turned to racist lies trying to undermine an excellent Senate candidate. — Read the rest

The post RFK Jr. says Arabs don't win Nobel Prizes. Last year's chemistry winner was born in Jordan appeared first on Boing Boing.

Thick as thieves, Don Jr. and his wedding-bankrolling Russian oligarch buddy went off to kill the threatened Mongolian Altai argali sheep. This is not the first time Don Jr. has killed an argali, or had a wedding.

Kremlev put hundreds of thousands of dollars toward the May wedding, including covering a fireworks show and event planning, ProPublica reported.

— Read the rest

The post Don Jr. went sheep hunting with the Russian oligarch who bankrolled his wedding appeared first on Boing Boing.

Diaper Don's crowning achievement, the Jeffrey Epstein Memorial Ballroom, seems less popular than expected.

The Orange Menace likes to talk about his probably illegal ballroom. At Monday night's rally in Corinth, Mississippi, an attendee had apparently heard enough. "Shove that ballroom up your fat ass!" — Read the rest

The post "Shove that ballroom up your fat ass!" Trump gets some architectural feedback appeared first on Boing Boing.

When it comes to YouTube chefs, Guga is one of the best. His experiments are clear, and while you might not even want to try some of them, like long-aging steaks in just about every goo he can find, the results are always amazing and educational. — Read the rest

The post Guga puts the baking soda/ground beef trick to the test appeared first on Boing Boing.

There is no doubt that ancient Egyptians drilled holes in granite. Archaeologists and laypeople have marveled at cores and tool marks for hundreds of years, wondering, "How'd they do that?" Into The Map decided to stop wondering and figure it out. — Read the rest

The post This ridiculous human-powered machine tests an ancient Egyptian engineering problem appeared first on Boing Boing.

I think it's going to be a good long while before I stop feeling sad about Mass Effect: Universe. Since its abrupt cancellation and its studio's closure, more information has been leaking out in bits and pieces from former BioWare devs, although some are admittedly more believable than others. — Read the rest

The post Mass Effect 5 composer releases incomplete soundtrack appeared first on Boing Boing.