Cats can be great companions, or they can sit on your keyboard.

Mine converted my Chrome "language" into Arabic.

You can see more videos at Furball Fables.

Open thread below...

As the world continues to deal with the ongoing demands of COVID-19, NFPA and the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition (HFSC) have cancelled live events that week in favor of a North America wide virtual effort to show the value of home fire sprinklers from May

The HyperX x Ducky One 2 Mini mechanical gaming keyboard features HyperX red linear mechanical switches built for performance, longevity and an 80 million lifetime click rating per switch.

The post HyperX Teams up with Ducky and Launches HyperX x Ducky One 2 Mini Mechanical Gaming Keyboard appeared first on ThinkComputers.org.

As scientists continue to weigh in, one thing is clear: the "monster black hole" discovered in 2019 doesn't exist.

Crafters began making fabric masks when the public learned that COVID-19 was causing a major shortage of personal protective equipment. But since the CDC changed its recommendation on April 3 to urge that everyone wears a mask when leaving the house, sewing machines around the world have been working harder than ever. Here’s what you need to know if you plan to make fabric masks to wear or to donate.[...]

NOAA has released a series of virtual dives to keep stay-at-homers entertained, educated and interested in the undersea world even when everybody's stuck on the couch. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration takes viewers deep into national marine sanctuaries, revealing sights non-divers have likely never seen.[...]

For those fortunate enough to have some outdoor space, gardening has become a top pandemic activity. It gets people outdoors doing something constructive while maintaining social distancing. You might even grow something to eat. But as all eco-conscious people know, gardening requires water. Sometimes a lot of water.[...]

From climbing walls to a roaming music studio, we've seen a lot of ingenious tiny house features over the years. But this tiny home on wheels from Movable Roots has a distinct feature we never thought was possible — a walk-in hot tub! The Culp is a 500-square-foot home that, in addition to its accessible, spa-like bathroom, boasts unique cork flooring and an incinerating toilet.[...]

Chapel Hill-based firm Arielle Condoret Schechter is known for its commitment to building sustainable homes that don't sacrifice elegance or comfort. The company's latest work includes the spacious Haw River House, which was built with several efficient features to create a net-zero energy home that is seamlessly linked with its natural surroundings.[...]

This video is well-enhanced by the title. Bird Guy lives up to his name as he waits for his Evening Grosbeaks to come visit. Seems like a great life, but that hoodie will need laundering often. Worth it. -via Metafilter

A new malware campaign has been found using coronavirus-themed lures to strike government and energy sectors in Azerbaijan with remote access trojans (RAT) capable of exfiltrating sensitive documents, keystrokes, passwords, and even images from the webcam. The targeted attacks employ Microsoft Word documents as droppers to deploy a previously unknown Python-based RAT dubbed "PoetRAT" due to

Cybersecurity researchers from ESET on Thursday said they took down a portion of a malware botnet comprising at least 35,000 compromised Windows systems that attackers were secretly using to mine Monero cryptocurrency. The botnet, named "VictoryGate," has been active since May 2019, with infections mainly reported in Latin America, particularly Peru accounting for 90% of the compromised

A gift from our guest: dried cyclamen, a ballet of expressive flowers! Today's Expression: Prenez soin de vous : take care of yourself (plural: yourselves) Audio file: Click here to listen to today's phrase in French and English A DAY IN A FRENCH LIFE by Kristi Espinasse Someone close to us, someone young and strong, had an accident--une chute while alone at home-- followed by a trip to ER for some points! The emotional and physical scars are there, but our bien-aimé is here with us now and will stay in time to recover from the choc. Today's short entry is a reminder to you and me to continue to check in with those who are living alone. Which of our friends are on their own? Which family members? Which colleagues? Have you seen the post lady lately? Big, strong, young? Grand, fort, jeune? Don't forget to check on these ones! Check on everyone. Self-check. Vérifie! I am off to check on our guest, who somehow managed--between the ER and here--to pack a bunch of goodies for us to share at the table: gingembre, poireaux, citrons, oranges--les agrumes--which have since been added to soup and put into a simple cake....

“…and while we’re at it, would you like to super-size your order? We can give you a five-hundred or thousand-round case instead of just that fifty-round box…” Yes, brothers and sisters, the Covid-19 crisis has led us to…drive-through gun sales. … Read more

By Dan Duddy  Published: May 06th, 2020 

By Dan Duddy  Published: May 08th, 2020 

Alexis Hockley hooked it up with a quick and informative thread on what's potentially taking place in our brains right now, as result of the strange shift in external circumstances. Now more than ever is a time to spread that love and kindness. 

yeah, I see him. Don't care. Totally worth it. B*tches love money.

Real women have curvy headphones.

Take a look at the bottom right-hand corner of that phone, the reflection tells the story of a guy who's going to get a severe talking to.

Jedi Master Luke Skywalker, Lor San Tekka, and young Ben Solo encounter the Knights of Ren

As is tradition, it's time for the first of our season preview podcasts with Ken Early of Second Captains. We chat about subscriptions, the new rules coming into the Premier League this season – in particular VAR and wonder about the impact it will have on things. Then there's discussion of each of the top five, including Man City, Man Utd, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal, before Ken reminds me we forgot Sp*rs. There's loads here, including worries about Arsenal's defence – all before we heard about the David Luiz news, so we'll cover that on the next show.

Follow Ken @kenearlys and visit secondcaptains.com

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On this week's episode, the issue of football players taking pay cuts is to the fore, and with me to discuss that is Rory Smith, Chief Soccer Correspondent for the New York Times. We chat about an issue which all clubs are dealing with, not just Arsenal, at a time when the precarious nature of football finance is becoming very clear. Should players be responsible for cost savings which wealthy owners could easily cover? What other avenues could clubs go down, regarding salary caps? Will we see a more prudent landscape when we do see games played again? And how realistic is the idea of the Premier League season finishing by June 30th? All this and more with Rory.

Follow Rory on Twitter @RorySmith

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Would you like to leave the rat-race and replace your 9-5 with network marketing jobs? Here are 5 tips to financial freedom.

If you want to grow your Usana Malaysia business fast you need to expand worldwide and have a team that is growing in many locations. The big question is how is that possible? Good question, if you continue to use the techniques that you are using now it is pretty much impossible!

Okay, you are here to find out how to reply on Twitter. Some people will think this is totally obvious answer but is it?

In an attempt to break down of some the basics, I will reveal how to retweet in Twitter. I am going to reveal two simple ways to do this.

My plan is to give you 2 very easy techniques to get some real targeted web site traffic to your money site or Blog. One of the major issues that new marketers face is getting traffic.

Evolv Independent Distributors, I am going to show you how to get free MLM leads. The great thing is you can generate hundreds of them with only 30 minutes effort per day.

What’s keeping YOU from being creative? Discipline? Scheduling? Good old fashioned “writer’s block”?

Todd Brison has made a name for himself by tackling these problems head-on and discovering how to make the most of your muse. In his extremely popular posts on Medium and his two amazing books The Unstoppable Creative and The Creative’s Curse, he breaks down strategies for doing creative work whenever you need!

This episode is like one of the best creative coaching sessions you’ll ever get. Tune in!

Today’s links: 

• https://www.toddbrison.com/
• https://medium.com/@ToddBrison
• https://twitter.com/ToddBrison
• https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GGPDLY4
• Theme song by topmen.bandcamp.com!

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This survey is ancient in terms of the progression of COVID-19, but there’s still interesting figures in this survey from @nifty conducted at the end of March into COVID-19. This survey was conducted before the Olympics were postponed and the state of emergency declared. So far I’d put myself in the not really worried category; […]

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• SREs with a Linux and web hosting focus (load balancers, Redis, web servers, etc.)
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Watching the Superb Owl with this magnificent fluffer Frank. https://ift.tt/2Ok6r0O

Current status: no power at home, so an early dinner out with David instead of our planned cooking. https://ift.tt/2T0Cx3j

Warming up with some light deadlifts. Hashtag flex https://ift.tt/39qt7oR

I bless your timeline with inside out Fezzik! #cat https://ift.tt/39Q0Esz

Here is Microcosm's statement and my response.

Microcosm's Statement:
It has been way too long since Cindy Crabb asked us to write a public statement regarding allegations of Joe Biel’s history of emotional abuse and manipulation. It is not because we have chosen to ignore this issue. On the contrary, we have spent many hours discussing this topic. But we are not writing today to provide excuses. We hope to provide some answers and to encourage more questions.

Cindy is right that collectives need to confront abuse in all its forms by members within their collectives, even if it is just a collectively-ran business, but especially when that business lays claim to radical politics. It is for this reason that we want to say that we do recognize Joe’s history of emotional abuse and manipulation. Not just with Alex, but within other relationships as well. We know that Joe has been involved in one failed mediation attempt with Alex. We also know that he was involved in a more recent process that fell apart (this was outlined in posts by Cindy and Alex). Unfortunately, the collective was made aware of this latter accountability process only shortly before it fell apart. We, the collective and Joe, have recently started working with a counselor who is helping us to reconcile many issues within the collective. We do not believe this is a replacement for a larger accountability process, but we do see it as an important first step for our involvement and for the betterment of Microcosm as a collectively-ran company.

We recognize and agree with the statement put out by the Athens Support Network, who mediated the last accountability process.

“Joe is in therapy, and we feel that he is making progress through therapy. He has identified a large number of behavior issues and has done work and continues to do work to change them. He believes that he honors Alex’s experience. We, however, feel that he still has extreme problems with control, manipulation, defensiveness, and portraying himself as the victim.”
We have noticed some positive improvements in Joe’s behavior, but he does have a long way to go. We do believe that he can work through this and therefore choose, at this time, to continue working with him. We welcome suggestions on how we, the collective, can better facilitate this process. In the meantime, we will continue to work through this and figure things out as we go.

Cindy also pointed out that she would like more transparency about how things are run at microcosm. For that reason, we will soon be releasing some information on our website about how we run things. We honestly want to be a more transparent organization (which is why we’ve started posting annual financial statements). Over the past year, we have begun to change and implement a lot of new policies to help spread power among all of the collective members. We are excited about these changes and equally excited to share them with you.

Alex was right in that we need to hear from you. We know that Microcosm could be better and we want it to be so. For that reason, we need to know what it is that you think we need to fix. We’ve already heard some great things and we’ve worked to improve those. We’ll share more about that later, though. We want the focus to stay where Cindy and others have asked us to focus it for now - on Joe’s accountability.

Thank you Cindy, Alex, Ciara, and everyone who has put pressure on us to make change. It is a wonderful example of collective action. And we hope it proves that while we may be relatively large in the zine world, we are still just a small group of people who still love the community we are a part of and hope to make it a better place.

With sincerity and humility,
The Microcosm Collective


In response to Microcosms statement about Joes manipulative and abusive behavior.

This statement is to let it be known that despite Microcosms recent public statement finally acknowledging Joe Biel’s abusive and manipulative behavior, I will not be distributing Doris though Microcosm any longer. They published Doris 23, the Doris Anthology, the Support zine and Learning Good Consent, so I don’t have control of those publications.

In July, 2010, I asked Microcosm to write a statement, or have each collective member contact me with a personal statement, as a precondition to my continuing to work with them. I was following my sincere belief that organizations should have a chance to admit to the abusive behaviors of members, and that as long as they show a commitment to change, they should not necessarily be shunned. Below is part of the statement I made.

I believe that collectives, even when they are just collective businesses, are responsible for confronting issues of patriarchy (and other forms of domination) within their collectives, and working on change and transparency. I believe that Joe's behavior stems from patriarchy … the communication/manipulation models he uses are … patriarchtical.
In order to feel comfortable continuing to be published by Microcosm, I would need to know either from each collective member or from the collective as a whole (with a minority dissenting opinion) that they don't think Alex was crazy or that the attempts to deal with the situation are a witch-hunt. I would need to know from each member, or the collective as a whole (with a minority dissenting opinion,) that the collective recognizes that Joe still has issues with control and manipulation… I need to feel like the collective takes this seriously and does not put the burden of instigating change on the survivor/s, or on people negatively affected by Joe's behavior.

I do believe there are good people who work at Microcosm. I don’t want those people to suffer because of Joe’s behavior. I wanted to give the workers at Microcosm a chance to show their commitment to confronting Joe’s manipulative behavior, and a chance to make a strong stance against abuse. The statement that was recently released by Microcosm is too little, too late. I can’t believe it took 6 months to write a statement that could easily be summed up as “we agree with the statement made by the Athens Support Network.” Microcosm’s statement gives the impression that Joe has made more changes than he has.

I was hopeful that Microcosm might be able to take a strong stand against abuse. I feel like they failed. If this statement had come out immediately, and they had followed up with concrete examples of change months later, that would have been great. If they had waited six months and come up with a statement that firmly placed the responsibility of change on Joe’s feet, discussed concrete changes the collective was making to deal with his abusive behavior, and took a strong stand against abuse, that would have been great. This statement is very weak, particularly considering that Joe’s abuse has been known for years.

There have also been a number of incidents and issues that have come up since I made my request for a public statement that have contributed to my decision to not work with Microcosm anymore:

- I had asked that a public statement be made or that each collective member contact me with a statement about their beliefs. I received two statements, both of which referred to problems between Joe and Alex; neither called it abuse.

- Joe wrote a statement about his behavior, which I found extremely disturbing. Among other problems, it was very minimizing of Alex’s experiences of abuse, and minimizing of the extent of his current manipulative behavioral problems.

- I had a number of business discussions with people at Microcosm, where the communication was unclear and I felt like I was being manipulated.

- I was told by someone at Microcosm that they were unclear what exactly Microcosm would need to do for me to continue working with them. This was months after I had made these conditions known. Often, in accountability situations, the perpetrator and the people who benefit from continued friendship/relationship with the perpetrator want to know exactly what needs to be done to fix it. This need for an exact recipe puts the burden back on the survivor/people who support the survivor.

All of these things have added to my feeling that the collective is not taking Joe’s abusive patterns seriously.

I would like to take this chance to clear up some misconceptions about the accountability process I was involved in with Joe:

In late 2009, Joe told me that he had been in intensive therapy, had changed, and had no way of clearing his name. I helped set up an accountability team that was designed to confirm that Joe had recognized and changed his behavior; to help him deal with rumors, and to help him make amends. It was not designed to be a full accountability process.

Early on, it became clear that Joe still had very abusive/manipulative behaviors and that he was unwilling to own up to most of it. Joe had lied about the level of changes he had made. Because of this, the accountability process was disbanded.

I am disgusted by Joe’s abuse of his former partner, disgusted by his continuing manipulative behavior. I do not think he has even begun to make the kinds of fundamental changes necessary. I take abuse very seriously and while I think there are some people in Microcosm who are committed to working for a world without abuse, I also think there is complicity within the organization. I have been disturbed by my recent interactions with people working at Microcosm. I am glad they made a public statement, and that they have a counselor helping them deal with internal issues but am skeptical about their priorities, since they have not posted their public statement on their website. I feel mistrustful of the organization. I have a hard time not thinking that most people just signed on to the statement, hoping to save their pants. I understand that they have been working to be more transparent. I hope that they are able to change. I, however, will not be working with Microcosm any longer.

I switched my theme to fix Google Search Console errors. It complained that I had pages and posts with breadcrumb issues, and switching the theme was the easiest way to fix it. You can understand the importance of Breadcrumbs in this article.  If you don’t fix these errors, then your site is less likely to […]

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$100 Carraway sounded too good to be true… Photo courtesy of Courtney S. Bootleg golf bag likely from China. 

VIDEO: Just Go With It (2011) Claire: 3.3/5 stars, 7.2/10. Carolyn: 3/5 stars, 7/10. Native ratings: 3.8/5 stars Netflix, 6.3/10 IMDB. Claire’s thoughts: It was a pretty funny movie. Nothing super, but high quality for a generic rom-com. Not the peak work of anyone in it, but a good cast nonetheless.  It felt like it […]

How do I correct wrongly assembled PAX toe kick? I have recently moved into my first own apartment and invested in a new IKEA Pax System. It consists of two separate corpuses, 100cm and 75cm, both 227cm high. We have already built them, screwed the two together and added the doors. Now to the problem:  On the […]

The post Q: Need help with IKEA PAX crooked toe kick appeared first on IKEA Hackers.