Here are today's Boing Boing stories. Thanks for being a paid subscriber!
Shopping for consumer electronics in Scotland
Rob Beschizza / 9:45 am PT Wed Mar 5, 2025
I've been rediscovering Limmy's Show lately, and among his finest work is this sketch about the hovering salespeople in high-street electronic stores and how they transmit market segmentation to the customer. The key difference between Scotland and America is that in America the store is the size of an aircraft hangar and the margins are so thin the helpfulness inevitably homes in on the need to get gadget insurance or a store card.
Shop Assistant- A sketch from Limmy's Show. Watch Limmy on Twitch Livestream at twitch.tv/limmy
Failing to protest meaningfully, Democrats criticized for not clapping enough
Jason Weisberger / 9:31 am PT Wed Mar 5, 2025
The lack of a unified Democratic front and scattershot attempts at protest at Convicted Felon's speech before the joint Houses of Congress were remniscent of the dance protest at the Kennedy Center, still Republicans are pissed off. Democrats didn't clap!!
Doubling down on the condemnation, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Democrats "reminded us they are the party of insanity and hate."
"They could not even clap for a child battling cancer, or mothers who lost their children," she said on X.
…
White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller asked in a heated X rant: "Has there ever been a more disgraceful and pitiful and malicious display in politics than Congressional Democrats refusing to stand for heartbroken families and courageous heroes?"
Two of Trump's most vile spokesmonsters on the attack, when all the Democrats did was show up, which was more than they likely should have done. With no ability to demonstrate their protest, what they are protesting or dispute Trump's lies in the moment, Democrats should have stayed out of the room and not given the address credibility. Rep. Al Green did not get the message about keeping things calm, however, stood up to Trump and was tossed out by MAGA Mike.
I have heard many reassuring things about Senator Slotkin's rebuttal, but I found it to be more of the same stuff Democrats have lost on. "We're actually a lot like Republicans and think Trump just needs to go about this a little differently." Can't we all come together in the face of citizens losing their rights, civil servants losing their jobs, and shortly our retirees losing social security and health care. All while prices skyrocket. This is precisely what Trump and Elon promised before the election, and it is what the Republicans voted for.
M4 Mac Studio has up to 512GB of RAM shared with GPU
Rob Beschizza / 7:48 am PT Wed Mar 5, 2025
Should I upgrade? The new Mac Studio has Thunderbolt 5, up to 512GB of RAM (shared with the GPU, for AI!) and 16TB of storage. It's big in every respect but the size of the case (a mere 3.7 liters). The "M4 Max or M3 Ultra" option seems an odd meeting of Apple's minimal branding and maximal segmentation —they must be reserving the M4 Ultra for Mac Pro.
Mac Studio is a powerhouse for AI, capable of running large language models (LLMs) with over 600 billion parameters entirely in memory, thanks to its advanced GPU and up to 512GB of unified memory with M3 Ultra — the most ever in a personal computer. It's also built for Apple Intelligence, the personal intelligence system that transforms how users work, communicate, and express themselves, while protecting their privacy. The new Mac Studio is available to pre-order today, with availability beginning March 12.
I made the mistake of getting only 512GB of storage with my current Mac Studio, a relative slowpoke with its M2 chip. So today is a day of self-discipline.
M4 MacBook Air comes in "Sky Blue"
Rob Beschizza / 7:36 am PT Wed Mar 5, 2025
Apple's MacBook Air M4 comes with up to 32GB of RAM and the powerful M4 processor. It also comes in "Sky Blue," a silvery shade where the blue is like the vermouth in Winston Churchill's martini.
MacBook Air is by far the world's most popular laptop, and today we're giving everyone even more reasons to love it, including a big boost in performance with the M4 chip, a new Center Stage camera, and a beautiful new sky blue color," said Greg Joswiak, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. "Combined with its thin and light, fanless design, all-day battery life, and the incredible capabilities of macOS Sequoia with Apple Intelligence, MacBook Air is unlike any other laptop. And with a new lower starting price of $999, MacBook Air delivers more value to consumers than ever before, making this the perfect moment to upgrade or experience the Mac for the first time."
I made a mistake getting only 512GB in my Mac Studio, and I'm not sure I made the right decision going back to a desktop anyway. So it's tempting! But it's also $2,000 with 32GB and a terabyte of storage, which is a stiff price tag for even a very nice laptop. Things missing from it that are present not only on MacBook Pros but iPads—nicer displays, for example—are also a minus.
All that said, the base model comes in at $999 and has 16GB of RAM: this is a great choice for an ultraportable for anyone but gamers or MacOS haters.
Klikbeet lampoons Trump and Vance's attack on Zelensky (video)
Jason Weisberger / 7:19 am PT Wed Mar 5, 2025
This fantastic video from humor and satire program Klikbeet perfectly demonstrates why you must say "thank you."
Donald "Russian Asset" Trump and his sidekick, Shady JD, surprised Ukrainian President Zelensky, and planned a ridiculous public attack to shame him into surrendering to Putin. While Republicans at home are pretending this is a confidence-building master stroke of negotiation the rest of the world sees the US as a Russian satellite state.
Apple Polishing Cloth compatible with new M3 iPad Air
Rob Beschizza / 7:18 am PT Wed Mar 5, 2025
Apple yesterday announced the M3 iPad Air, as if there were a pressing need for more powerful models, and Aaron Perris of MacRumors noted that Apple's Polishing Cloth, a steal at $19, was officially compatible with the upgraded devices.
My favorite Apple thingy was the AA battery charger, sadly discontinued. Is there a word for mundane peripherals sold by high-end brands to go with their distinctive products? More than mere merchandise, but comically short of a distinctive product in its own right. I propose "Vebling" or "Veblito/veblita": a tiny Veblen good.
The secret history behind that infamous "Jesus Is My Friend" song
Thom Dunn / 7:03 am PT Wed Mar 5, 2025
We've all seen the video. It's one of those timeless hallmarks of weird Internet virality — a public access recording that's somehow both of the '50s and '80s, with a lilywhite ska band singing, "Jesus my friend! I have a friend named Jesus!" basically ad nauseam until the hilarity stops.
Those in the know know that song was performed by a band called Sonseed (which, as I learned, is apparently pronounced like "sun-seed"). But that's about all that anyone's ever really known about this classic viral video gem.
Until now.
In a recent episode of the podcast In Defense of Ska, hosts Aaron Carnes and Adam Davis dig deep into the history behind "Jesus Is My Friend". And in their search for an answer to how it become such an evergreen delight, they discover something even more incredible: the man who wrote the song. A man named Sal Polichetti, who is full of boisterous enthusiasm without a sense of shame, and is all too happy to talk about the secret history of his silly little song.
Don't worry — there's no dark, seedy underbelly to this story. In fact, it's mostly what you'd expect. But it's worth listening to the episode just to hear Polichetti's gregarious New York accent, as he gleefully recalls something silly and seemingly forgetful that happened to him in the early 1980s, which has since managed to captivate millions and millions of people. It's a delightful episode, and really made me appreciate the song even more. And I didn't even know that was possible!
You can listen to the In Defense of Ska episode about "Jesus Is My Friend" on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and most other podcast platforms.
Do all those viral recipes really work? One man's quest to find out
Grant St. Clair / 6:52 am PT Wed Mar 5, 2025
If you've been on the Internet for any amount of time, you've probably seen one of those viral recipe videos, most often consisting of a creepily smiling influencer putting together some gourmet dish using a "life hack" that's almost certainly too good to be true. With so many being churned out by the content machine, it's impossible to tell which ones are worth your time and which aren't – which is where FutureCanoe comes in. This faceless New York-based YouTuber approaches viral recipes as a normal (and pretty lazy) amateur chef, with the sole goal of seeing which ones are actually feasible for everyday people. He also credits the original creators, which puts him above 99% of YouTubers just by default.
It's no gourmet steak, and FutureCanoe is no Gordon Ramsay, but the sheer amount of relatability here is what makes him stand out – because yeah, I would probably also mess up a few steps (and, indeed, have after being inspired to try a few of these recipes as well). No dish is perfect, and no chef is either, and it's refreshing to see someone demonstrate that.
Goat statue with gold penis and fake Trump money sells for $300K
Jennifer Sandlin / 6:37 am PT Wed Mar 5, 2025
A goat statue with a golden schlong (as well as golden hooves and horns), wearing a red MAGA hat, and covered with fake hundred-dollar bills emblazoned with Trump's face and the words "In Trump We Trust," sold recently at Mar-a-Lago fundraiser.
Meidas News reports:
It was auctioned during the "Cigars and Cars Under the Stars" event, benefiting, in part, Big Dog Ranch Rescue (BDRR), a charity that boasts of dog rescues and has ties to the Trump family.
Additionally, BDRR has faced scrutiny from local authorities for purchasing puppies from a puppy mill.
The goat has been displayed at Mar-a-Lago for the last few weeks, and was created by the folks at "Project G.O.A.T" (which stands for "Global Offensive Against Trafficking"). The Project G.O.A.T. website explains that it is an "art-based awareness and support campaign in the fight against human trafficking and sexual exploitation of children." It continues:
The goal of Project G.O.A.T. is to bring much needed awareness and utilize the G.O.A.T. to raise funds to fight Human Trafficking and child sexual exploitation, a growing problem across the globe. Behind drug and arms trade, human trafficking is the 3rd largest organized criminal activity. It is only a matter of time before human trafficking becomes the leading contributor to criminal activity.
The website explains that the original goat sculpture was created and cast by Scott Joseph Moore in February 2019, and to date 55 additional goat statues, each of which weighs 75 pounds, and is 48 inches tall and 60 inches long, have been created and then painted or decorated by "artists and, in many cases, represented by celebrity athletes, actors, musicians, and others."
You can see a gallery of the goat sculptures—which the Project G.O.A.T. website describes as "amazing works of art"— here, although it doesn't include the Trump Goat.
Project G.O.A.T. is an initiative of "Athletes & Causes," a Florida-based organization that connects athletes with various philanthropic campaigns. Its founder, Rob Canton (whose "pronoun" is "dude," according to his Xitter account) has been posting about the auction on social media, calling the statue "my Trump GOAT," so it seems that he's the one who originally owned it and donated it to the auction.
The winner of the auction paid $300,000 for this monstrosity, because of course they did. Here's a video that captures the moment of the 'winning' bid. Project GOAT included this caption along with the clip:
Trump GOAT raised $300,000 at auction yesterday supporting @bigdogranchrescue, @thehometownfoundationinc and @_projectgoat. Congratulations to @sparky18888 for adding the #GOAT to your collection! #MAGA
Yeah, congratulations, Sparky18888. Great job. Very cool goat. Terrific use of $300,000.
Another MAGA Congressperson wants Trump's face on our currency—this time the $100
Jennifer Sandlin / 6:34 am PT Wed Mar 5, 2025
On the heels of MAGA Congressperson Joe Wilson's (R-SC) asinine idea to put President Trump's face on a $250 bill, another MAGA Congressperson, first-term representative Brandon Gill (R-TX) has come forward with more absurd ideas for our money. Gill has just introduced the "Golden Age Act of 2025," which would require President Trump's face to be on all $100 bills produced after December 31, 2028.
On March 3, Gill's office posted a press release announcing the ridiculous legislation. Here's an excerpt:
"President Trump could be enjoying his golden years golfing and spending time with his family. Instead, he took a bullet for this country and is now working overtime to secure our border, fix our uneven trade relationship with the rest of the world, make America energy independent again, and put America first by ending useless foreign aid," said Congressman Gill. "There has been no one who has done more to bring America into the golden age than President Trump. Featuring him on the $100 bill is a small way to honor all he will accomplish these next four years."
Gill also shared a mock-up image of the Trump $100 note on his Xitter, with the caption: "I'm introducing the GOLDEN AGE ACT to put President Donald J. Trump on the $100 bill. Let's make history."
The proposed measure demands that the Secretary of Treasury create a preliminary design for the Trump $100 bill and share it with the public by December 31, 2026, and begin production of the new currency by December 31, 2028.
Good luck with that. The Hill explains succinctly that "Laws currently prevent a living person from appearing on U.S. currency." Too bad that doesn't seem to be stopping these MAGA jerks from trying.
Super-Fun-Pak Comix, feat. Marital Mirth, Public Domain Mickey Mouse, and MORE!
Ruben Bolling / 6:00 am PT Wed Mar 5, 2025
Get the new book that explains it all. "IT'S THE GREAT STORM, TOM THE DANCING BUG!" collects all Tom the Dancing Bug comics from 2020-2023 (and more!)! Now accepting orders right HERE! Get your personalized / signed / sketched / swagged copy while it's still legal to buy. "Intricate, incisive, shape-shifting" – The New Yorker
Sign up for the free weekly Tom the Dancing Bug Review! Not nearly as good as joining the Inner Hive, but it's free!
Follow @RubenBolling on Bluesky and/or Mastodon. Or, if you must: Threads, Facebook and Instagram.
Read more Tom the Dancing Bug comics on Boing Boing
Elon's MAGA love affair costs him 40% of stock value as Tesla sales crater 76% in Germany
Ellsworth Toohey / 5:00 am PT Wed Mar 5, 2025
Elon's love affair with fascism isn't playing well with those Europeans, as Tesla sales in Germany nosedived a whopping 76% after the billionaire boy genius couldn't stop himself from becoming MAGA's favorite sh*tlord.
Tesla's stock also took a 40% nosedive after his democracy-sucks strategy somehow failed to win over the marketplace. It turns out telling Germans to get over that pesky Holocaust guilt isn't exactly a winning marketing strategy. Who knew?
The schadenfreude isn't limited to Germany either. As reported in The New York Times, Tesla's seeing red across Europe faster than Elon's face during a fact-check. Sales dropped 26% in France, nearly halved in Norway (where they used to dominate), and tumbled 48% in Denmark. Even the Tesla-friendly Norwegians are having second thoughts, with their market share crashing from 20% to a sad little 8.8%.
In the meantime, London protesters are running a "Ditch Your Tesla" campaign, while French activists are handing out "Stay Away from the E.U." stickers. "Over the weekend, Tesla vehicles in a parking lot in southern France were set ablaze, which prosecutors said were 'not at all accidental,'" reports the Times. Is that French for "completely on purpose?"
Meanwhile, Tesla's stock has dropped 40% from its December peak. Who could have predicted that actions would have consequences for the poor little special boy besides literally everyone?
EFF creates a $20 device to detect cellular spying: Rayhunter
Ellsworth Toohey / 4:27 am PT Wed Mar 5, 2025
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has created Rayhunter, a $20 device that helps people detect if police are using fake cell towers to spy on their phones. The device uses a simple traffic-light system — showing a green line when everything is normal, changing to red when it detects potential surveillance.
Police surveillance devices called "Stingrays" mimic real cell towers to trick nearby phones into connecting to them instead of legitimate networks. These fake cell towers can track phones' exact locations, collect unique device identifiers, and potentially intercept communications — all without requiring cooperation from phone companies.
Rayhunter monitors cell tower communications in real-time, alerting users when it spots suspicious activity like attempts to force phones onto less secure networks. When the device detects potential surveillance, it warns users to turn off their phones and saves detailed logs that can be analyzed by security experts.
Unlike previous detection methods that required either modified Android phones or costly radio equipment, Rayhunter works on modern 4G networks using just a simple mobile hotspot. It's designed to be simple enough for anyone to use — from journalists to activists — to help map where and how police are deploying fake cell towers worldwide.
Mice act as first responders to help unconscious companions
Ellsworth Toohey / 3:50 am PT Wed Mar 5, 2025
Mice instinctively act as first responders when they encounter unconscious companions, focusing intense grooming efforts on their peers' heads to help revive them, according to new research from UCLA scientists.
The study, published in Science, reveals that mice can detect when their fellow rodents are unresponsive and spring into action with targeted helping behaviors. The mice don't just randomly interact with their sedated companions – they deliberately concentrate their attention on the face and mouth areas, similar to how human paramedics might check an unconscious person's airway.
When encountering an unresponsive mouse, they focused on head-directed grooming, while stressed mice received more body-focused grooming. The behavior works even in complete darkness, suggesting mice rely on multiple sensory cues beyond vision to detect and respond to an unconscious companion. Using advanced imaging techniques, they identified a specific region of the mouse brain – the medial amygdala (MeA) – that controls this helping response.
Most surprisingly, the mice's emergency response efforts appeared to work. As reported in Science, their head-directed grooming led to "increased motor responses in sedated recipients, including tail twitching and expedited recovery from the unresponsive state."
JD Vance gripes about Trump's speech length on hot mic — Mike Johnson quickly covers it up (video)
Carla Sinclair / 3:47 am PT Wed Mar 5, 2025
JD Vance was bored even before Donald Trump launched into his 99-minute speech last night, complaining to House Speaker Mike Johnson on a hot mic.
"By the way, I think the speech is going to be great. But I don't know how you do this for 90 minutes," said Vance, clearly longing for his couch. To which his sharper colleague, who was obviously aware of the hot mic, made a quick and smooth pivot.
"The hardest thing was doing it during Biden, when his speech was a stupid campaign speech," Johnson replied, pushing down the mic and then pushing it down some more, obvious enough for Vance to catch on. (See clip, posted by The Independent.)
Before Vance griped out loud, he whispered into Johnson's ear, but his muffled words remain a secret.
Previously: Entitled man-child JD Vance throws tantrum about UK's war record, forgets Google exists
Brother printers joins the Evil Empire, blocks third-party ink with stealth updates
Ellsworth Toohey / 2:56 am PT Wed Mar 5, 2025
Printer manufacturer Brother, once the last bastion of hope for people who don't have spare Krugerrands lying around to buy printer ink, has quietly joined the dark side of proprietary ink enforcement. Through forced firmware updates, the company is now blocking third-party cartridges and removing older firmware versions that allowed them to work.
Famous repair advocate Louis Rossmann revealed Brother's heel turn in a recent video, expressing chagrin since he long recommended their printers as a solution for people fed up with HP and Canon's cartridge restrictions. "Brother is among the rest of them now," Rossmann says.
The company's new strategy involves two particularly devious tactics. First, firmware updates are quietly pushing out changes that render previously compatible third-party cartridges unusable. Second, Brother has scrubbed older firmware versions from their support sites, preventing users from rolling back to more permissive software. For color printer owners, the updates even disable color calibration features when using non-Brother cartridges.
The shift marks the end of an era for budget printing. Brother had carved out a reputation as the consumer-friendly choice by allowing third-party ink — a position that saved users significant money compared to name-brand cartridges that can cost more per ounce than vintage champagne.
Rossmann advice for current Brother printer owners? Keep your device offline and reject all firmware updates – before Brother's software sends your third-party cartridges to the great recycling bin in the sky.
[Via Tom's Hardware]
E.T. is satanic. The Smurfs too, don't ya know (video)
Allan Rose Hill / 3:14 pm PT Tue Mar 4, 2025
In this delightful 1980s news clip below from Twin Cities Live recorded at the Minnesota State Fair, we learn that E.T the Extraterrestrial is a satanist. Also the Smurfs. And He-Man? More like He-Demon!
That brilliant fellow shedding God's light on these dark "occultic images" is Phil Phillips, author of Turmoil in the Toy Box, a 1994 Satanic Panic classic.
"Many of these writers and creators [of cartoons] came out of the 60's generation and the drug era, during which they were involved in Eastern religions, such as Hinduism and Buddhism," he wrote. "Some are still involved in these practices. Many live in Hollywood… the very nature of Hollywood leads to a hedonistic way of living, which often involves 'meditation', drugs and Eastern religious influences. In line with their lifestyles, most of these cartoon writers and toy designers are not church-going people."
Here's more on Phillips at Cartoon Brew. !nataS liaH
Meet the woolly mouse, the first step toward bringing back the woolly mammoth from extinction
Allan Rose Hill / 2:27 pm PT Tue Mar 4, 2025
Today, the gene jockeys at Colossal Biosciences introduced us to the woolly mouse, a extra-bushy rodent they say is the first step toward using biotechnology to bring back the extinct woolly mammoth. Along with its notable shag, the mouse has other mammoth traits such as its color and ability to deal with cold temperatures.
From Scientific American:
What was the purpose of this feat of genetic engineering? Colossal's pitch is that, with biodiversity going the way of the dodo (which the company also hopes to resurrect), saving existing species will require tweaking their DNA to make them more resilient. The researchers at the company also claim that bringing back extinct species can help the environment. For example, they say that mammoths can help fight climate change by tamping down Arctic permafrost, reducing how much of it is thawing and releasing methane into the atmosphere. Company co-founder and CEO Ben Lamm puts the approach in startling terms: "Why leave nature to chance?" In pursuit of such "de-extinction" goals, Colossal has raised hundreds of millions of dollars from everyone from celebrities to the CIA.
Some paleontologists and conservationists are unsurprisingly skeptical of this kind of de-extinction.
We're looking at a warming world, and [Colossal's researchers] want to bring back creatures that are adapted to the cold?" says National Museums Scotland paleontologist Elsa Panciroli. "I study animals from the past, and they should stay in the past. Lack of habitat, human conflict, agriculture, climate change—the idea that they can fix that with gene editing is missing the big picture."
LA Times AI defends the Ku Klux Klan
Jason Weisberger / 1:07 pm PT Tue Mar 4, 2025
After suggesting the KKK may not be a hate-based movement, the LA Times has removed the feature from their article on the Klan.
Having done exactly what it was asked to do, offer different perspectives, the LA Times' AI tried to provide some alternative reasons for people joining the Klan. Failing to recognize that not every story has two sides or needs an alternative perspective, the LA rag again opened themselves up to humiliation.
But the feature produced by AI company Particle—which debuted on Monday for "Voices" pieces and has been heavily touted by billionaire owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong—included a defense for the group under a banner that offered "different views on the topic."
"Local historical accounts occasionally frame the 1920s Klan as a product of 'white Protestant culture' responding to societal changes rather than an explicitly hate-driven movement, minimizing its ideological threat," the point read.
Within hours of its debut, the feature was removed from the column. It remains available on other "Voices" pieces that offer points of view, which includes news commentary and reviews, among others.
The Times did not respond to a request for comment. The gaffe was first spotted by New York Times reporter Ryan Mac.
Watch this woman pull a horse's tail causing it to buck and throw off child riding it
Allan Rose Hill / 12:26 pm PT Tue Mar 4, 2025
Police arrested a San Francisco woman for pulling a horse's tail while a child was riding it. The tug startled the horse, causing it to buck and throw off the child, injuring them. Video below.
Tomasa Panjojleon, 29, was ultimately arrested on felony child endangerment charges and tossed in the pokey.
"Pretty much, we were doing our normal pasture pony ride where we take kids out on a little ten-to-fifteen-minute ride to get them used to horses and comfortable," Caroline Reed of Ocean View Stables told KRON4. "[The video of the incident] was very blown up on social media, obviously because it was a very odd circumstance. You wouldn't think anyone would walk up to a horse and just yank its tail. That's not really the normal thing for someone to do around an animal like that. We've been in cooperation with the police since. From what we're being told, the child is okay."