Boing Boing, September 27, 2024

All our articles from the last 24 hours in one long post

Activision's "River Raid" is still a great play

Jason Weisberger / 10:29 am PT Fri Sep 27, 2024

Image: Boing Boing

One of my favorite games for the Atari 2600 is still surprisingly fun to play.

Last night, I wanted to re-earn the 15,000-point River Raid patch, just like I did as a kid. I have an Atari 2600+ plugged into my gaming monitor and got to work. I quickly learned the joysticks are far too OE and hurt my hands badly after a mere one or two games, so I had to quit. My second game, however, got to 8900 points, so I hope I will be a champion again by swapping in the 7800-style gamepad.

My pictured copy of River Raid is suffering a little Plaqutivision, but I don't think it is nearly bad enough to replace the sticker.

Previously:
• UK approves Microsoft acquisition of Activision-Blizzard

DataToaster 3000 holds data, doesn't make toast

Rob Beschizza / 10:09 am PT Fri Sep 27, 2024

Photo: Alex Meub

Alex Meub's DataToaster 3000 is an extraordinarily handsome NAS device that will leave your data perfectly and consistently browned. [via Tom's Hardware]

With toast slots compatible with 3.5-inch hard disks, the DataToaster 3000 instantly shares files across your network without subscription fees or the uncertainties of sending your data to the "cloud". With the DataToaster 3000, all your precious data stays crisp and ready, stored safely on your kitchen counter.

You're probably already thinking that this is the greatest thing since sliced bread, but wait there's more! The DataToaster 3000 also features a MoodGlow Knob, letting you change the color of the power LED for a personalized touch. Feeling energized? Set it to a bold red. In the zone and ready to focus? Cool blue has you covered. Ready to unwind after a long day? A calming green sets the perfect tone. There are endless possibilities!

Nothing more delicious than Kerrygold Naturally Soft on a rack of secure, private data.

Warning, DataToaster is not compatible with all storage media. White bread and wheat bread are not supported. Limited bagel support.

NPS uses MC Hammer's 'U Can't Touch This' to warn visitors

Jennifer Sandlin / 10:02 am PT Fri Sep 27, 2024

Wildlife Petting Chart, created and distributed by the U.S. National Park Service to promote wildlife safety in parks. The image shows which parts of a bison are safe to touch (none). Image from Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wildlife_Petting_Chart_(NPS).jpg

It must be super frustrating for the U. S. National Park Service to constantly observe visitors touching things they shouldn't, especially when they put themselves and the flora and fauna that thrive in the parks in danger. The NPS has been trying for years to educate the public to keep their hands to themselves—check out this "Wildlife Petting Chart" they created to promote wildlife safety in the parks. It shows clearly which parts of a bison are safe to touch—spoiler alert: NOT A SINGLE PART OF A BISON IS SAFE TO TOUCH!

People don't seem to listen, though, so the good folks at Badlands National Park are now trying again, this time in the form of an awesome music video set to the MC Hammer's iconic song, "U Can't Touch This." When releasing the video on their social media, they included this description:

Maybe this time, the public will listen, but I'm not holding my breath.

Previously:
• $100m gift to the National Park Service is 'transformative'

Another fantastic Leslie Jones segment on TDS

Jason Weisberger / 9:24 am PT Fri Sep 27, 2024

Leslie Jones is my favorite host on The Daily Show. Her energy and honesty keep me laughing, even though I should probably cry.

This piece by Leslie Jones on her trip to France for the Olympics is pure comedy gold. The filmed bits of European people on the street are fun. Jones's reactions are always perfect, and she's always right.

Previously:
• The Daily Show recommends Leslie Jones as the solution to annoying family at Thanksgiving dinner

Listen to the first new The Cure song since 2008

Thom Dunn / 9:19 am PT Fri Sep 27, 2024

The last time The Cure released a new album, George W. Bush was still the President of the United States of America. Much has changed in the intervening years—but, based on the band's newest single, "Alone," the band's emotionally pining synthesizer symphonies might be a consistently cathartic constant.

Robert Smith, the be-gothified frontman of The Cure, has been teasing a new album for the last five years or so, and the band even debuted a few potential songs from the record on their recent tour. But now, it's officially announced: the new Cure album Songs For A New World will finally be out on November 1, 2024.

You can listen to the debut single above. It sounds like something right off of "Disintegration" (also known as the Best Album Ever).

Previously:
• Incredibly touching performance of 'And Nothing is Forever' from The Cure's forthcoming album

Meta fined 91m euros for storing passwords in plaintext

Rob Beschizza / 8:10 am PT Fri Sep 27, 2024

Photo: Shutterstock

The European Union's privacy regulator fined Meta, parent company of Facebook, 91 million euros for storing users' passwords in plaintext. It was a bug—sloppy, but not intentional—and they turned themselves in. The fine was for failure to implement "data protection by design and by default."

Meta publicly acknowledged the incident at the time and the DPC said the passwords were not made available to external parties. "It is widely accepted that user passwords should not be stored in plaintext, considering the risks of abuse that arise from persons accessing such data," Irish DPC Deputy Commissioner Graham Doyle said in a statement. A Meta spokesperson said the company took immediate action to fix the error after identifying it during a security review in 2019, and that there is no evidence the passwords were abused or accessed improperly

Facebook's total GDPR bill is 2.5 billion euros so far. For a company that makes tens of billions a year in profits, it's just another cost of doing business.

Previously:
• Grindr fined $6m for passing user data to commercial partners
• UK MPs recommend laws compelling Google to censor search results
• CCPA: California to enforce new digital privacy law starting today, despite calls for further pandemic delay
• Zuckerberg: Facebook will not stop spying on Americans to comply with EU privacy law
• Facebook expects up to $5 billion FTC fine over privacy

Sheriff who killed judge pleads not guilty and has not resigned

Rob Beschizza / 7:25 am PT Fri Sep 27, 2024

Image: Sheriff Stines and Judge Mullins / official photos

What does it take to quickly get rid of a sheriff who killed a judge in his own chambers? Tell Kentucky governor Andy Beshear, left to make a show of demanding that the incarcerated lawman resign. It's been decades since a sheriff was fired in the state and it took six months to force him out then.

Gov. Andy Beshear is asking for the resignation of Letcher County Sheriff Mickey Stines. Stines, 43, was arrested last week for the alleged shooting death of Letcher District Court Judge Kevin Mullins, 54. In a letter dated Sept. 25, Beshear called on Stines to step down by the end of the day Friday, and if he declines, Beshear said he would begin the process of removing him from office. State law allows the governor to remove a peace officer for neglect of duty.

Sheriff Stines has pleaded not guilty to the charge of murder.

What transpired in the judge's chambers moments before the fatal shooting that afternoon is still being investigated, authorities said. Other people were in the building when the judge was shot but no one else was inside his chambers, Kentucky State Police Trooper Matt Gayheart has said.

Stines' job made him responsible for security at county courthouses, including the personal security of judges, according to the Kentucky Sheriff's Association. He's now facing a first-degree murder charge, and it's unclear who will take his place as sheriff.

Elected cops! God bless America. Here's his jailhouse mugshot:

Maggie Smith, famed star of Downton Abbey, dead at 89

Rob Beschizza / 7:02 am PT Fri Sep 27, 2024

Maggie Smith in 2012. Photo: Landmark Media / Shutterstock

Dame Maggie Smith, latterly famed for the cantankerous matriarchs she played so well but long-recognized for a lifetime of acting excellence, is dead at 89.

Smith's sons, Chris Larkin and Toby Stephens, said in a statement that Smith died early Friday in a London hospital."She leaves two sons and five loving grandchildren who are devastated by the loss of their extraordinary mother and grandmother," they said in a statement issued through publicist Clair Dobbs. Smith was frequently rated the preeminent British female performer of a generation that included Vanessa Redgrave and Judi Dench, with a clutch of Academy Award nominations and a shelf full of acting trophies.

Dame Smith won two Oscars, two Golden Globes and a BAFTA, and was nominated for many more. She didn't seem to think much of some of her later roles: "Harry Potter is my pension." What a legend.

Maggie Smith in a 1970 publicity photo (public domain)

New Chinese nuclear sub sinks before leaving dock

Rob Beschizza / 6:46 am PT Fri Sep 27, 2024

Image courtesy Planet Labs PBC

Mr. Goodenough is China's equivalent of the British botcher or the American slacker: someone who gets it done and always has an explanation for why it wasn't done right. The country's latest Zhou-class nuclear submarine sank before it was even completed, according to U.S. military sources, but the excuse "Cha Bu Duo" was surely not available to whomever was responsible.