Boing Boing, September 7, 2024
All our articles from the last 24 hours in one long post
Did you survive "avocado hand" summer?
Jennifer Sandlin / 9:07 am PT Sat Sep 7, 2024
Alexis Foto Guevara/shutterstock.com
I hope you survived "avocado hand" summer! Did you know that, according to research, the most popular months to slice your hand open while cutting an avocado are April through July? In a recent article, The Independent explains what "avocado hand" is:
According to research, thousands of people slice their hands and fingers annually while cutting avocados primarily between April and July. Surgeons have seen these injuries so often that they have begun to call them "avocado hand" injuries, due to the injury typically occurring while cutting an avocado.
People lose their grip on the avocado and accidentally slice their palms or fingers, doctors have warned. When this happens, there's a high likelihood of people accidentally severing their nerves or tendons. However, people also tend to stab themselves in the hand as they attempt to use the knife tip to remove the avocado pit.
These injuries have increased over time in the United States, as America's love affair with avocados has grown over the last twenty years. Research has also shed light on just who is suffering from "avocado hand." In an article published in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine in 2020, researchers Kevin X. Farley and colleagues described and quantified avocado-knife-related injuries that required emergency department visits. Farley and colleagues explain that they searched the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System for avocado-related knife injuries that occurred between 1998 and 2017. They found that women comprised the vast majority (80%) of such injuries, and more specifically, that women between the ages of 23 to 29 made up more than a third of all cases. What demographic was least likely to be injured? Males under the age of 17 (at .9%). Here are their full findings:
There were an estimated 50,413 (95% Confidence Interval: 46,333–54,492) avocado-related knife injuries from 1998 to 2017. The incidence of avocado-related knife injuries increased over this time period (1998–2002 = 3143; 2013–2017 = 27,059). This increase correlated closely with a rise in avocado consumption in the U.S. (Pearson's Correlation: 0.934, p < 0.001) Women comprised 80.1% of injuries. The most common demographic injured were 23 to 39-year old females (32.7%), while the least common was males under the age of 17 (0.9%). Most ED presentations occurred on Saturdays (15.9%) or Sundays (19.9%) and the majority occurred during the months of April through July (45.6%). Injuries were much more common on the left (and likely non-dominant) hand.
I beg you, folks, stop slicing your hands open while prepping avocados! Here's how I avoid avocado injuries: I use a butter knife to slice the avocado in half, and then scoop out the flesh with a spoon. Does this method create the same beautiful thin slices that a sharp knife does? No. But it lowers my risk of avocado-related knife injuries to pretty much zero, so I'll deal with not-so-pretty avocado blobs!
Rock wizard create an impossible-looking stone cairn
Popkin / 9:00 am PT Sat Sep 7, 2024
Image: Lovebalancing / YouTube
In this impressive video, a dude in a stream shows his wild rock balancing skills. I've only ever seen vertical rock towers, but this skilled guy arranges the stack of rocks horizontally like a bridge, wedged between two boulders. The only thing keeping them in place is the way that they are tightly sandwiched together.
It takes the guy multiple attempts to get this right, and after he does, he adds a vertical rock tower on top of the horizontal one. To top it off, he adds a rock to the top of the vertical tower that is much larger than the ones underneath it, and it seems nearly impossible that he was able to get all of this to balance.
I wonder how long it took him to get to this pro level of rock balancing. I'd feel like a wizard if I had this guy's skill level. Watching this video in a timelapse was very cool, but I'd love to know how long the entire process took him.
See also:
The Kummakivi Balancing Rock is one strange rock
Woman started wildfires so she could flirt with sexy firefighters
Rob Beschizza / 8:00 am PT Sat Sep 7, 2024
Firefighters in footage posted online of Greek wildfires
A 44-year-old woman from Tripoli, Greece, was sentenced to three years imprisonment after deliberately starting two wildfires. Local media reports that she wanted to flirt with the sexy firefighters responding to douse the blazes, which did not spread far before being put out.
The fire department there announced the arrest of "a Greek citizen, who is responsible for causing two fires on farmland, intentionally and repeatedly (on August 24th and 25th), in the area of Kerasitsa, in the Municipality of Tripoli in Arcadia."
Greece has suffered a bad wildfire season, according to Reuters. An earlier case saw a 51-year-old man arrested on suspicion of causing three fires on farmland, for which he was fined $1,550. In that case, there was no suggestion of a sexy firefighters motive.
I know the app is called "Tinder" but it's not meant to be taken literally.
Previously:
• Could wild horses save us from wildfires?
• Video: Maui wildfires caused by downed powerlines
• Man who claimed wildfires were a government conspiracy was setting them himself
The trailer for "Flow" shows a different kind of buddy animal film
Gail Sherman / 7:50 am PT Sat Sep 7, 2024
Image: YouTube
The beginning of the Flow trailer could be a sequel to Stray or Little Kitty, Big City, both cat video games I loved. Instead, it introduces us to a cast of non-anthropomorphized animal characters in a gorgeous CGI film. It begins with a flood and a scared, wet cat. The cat finds refuge on a boat and finds… a capybara. Now you have my attention, Flow. The cat and capybara are joined by a lemur, a dog, and a bird of some kind. (Sorry, I am terrible at identifying birds.)
The world seems to be coming to an end, teeming with the vestiges of a human presence. Cat is a solitary animal, but as its home is devastated by a great flood, he finds refuge on a boat populated by various species, and will have to team up with them despite their differences. In the lonesome boat sailing through mystical overflowed landscapes, they navigate the challenges and dangers of adapting to this new world.
The cat is animated incredibly well, and the whole thing looks spectacular. The trailer and the entire film are dialogue-free. Flow has a 100% fresh rating from critics and will be released in the US on November 22nd, starting in New York and LA. Also, I would absolutely play this if it were a game.
Previously: A missed jump causes anarchy in a room full of cats
House crushed by tree on market for $500k
Rob Beschizza / 7:39 am PT Sat Sep 7, 2024
The bargain remains of 113 S Mountain Ave, Monrovia, CA 91016. Zillow.
A house cut in half by a falling tree is on the market for $500k. No significant repairs have been made: you are getting half a house for half a million dollars. Welcome to real estate in Los Angeles, 2024.
The one-bedroom, one-bathroom bungalow in suburban Monrovia, northeast of Los Angeles, was crushed by a tree in May with two renters and two dogs inside. There were no injuries, but a fence and most of the roof were mangled.
Now what's left of the property — with missing walls, hanging wires and no ceilings — is for sale at $499,999.
Listing agent Kevin Wheeler quipped to the Los Angeles Times that it's an "open-concept floor plan."
He adds: "There's been a lot of interest so far because demand is so high and inventory, especially at this price, is so low."
Neither the Times or the A.P. link to the damned listing or even have the address. Here it is: "Lots of meat left on the bone for investors."
~Miracle on Mountain~ A flat and abated lot / partial structure ready for new construction or rebuild. Did you see on TV the home destroyed by an old stone pine? Perhaps miraculously, no one was hurt. But the house was 100 years old and red tagged. Pricing based on 249 N Mountain Avenue Monrovia, and with seller open to carrying the note – a construction loan may not be necessary. Lots of meat left on the bone for investors. Already a great location and as Monrovia rezones could this be next? Build your dream. It was always destiny.
100W charger the size of a matchbox
Rob Beschizza / 6:30 am PT Sat Sep 7, 2024
Image: Anker
Anker's new 100W Nano Charger is the tiniest yet—barely larger than a matchbox—and costs $45.
The new frame is about 26 percent smaller and 30 percent lighter than Anker's Prime 100W GaN charger, which is the smallest 100W power adapter the company previously sold with two USB-C ports and a single USB-A.
To better put the Nano's size into perspective, with its prongs folded, it's only about 17 percent larger than the Apple AirPods Pro 2's charging case
I see current models of this size at 65W. 100W is more than enough for most laptops under load. I keep deciding against getting a "gaming" laptop because the battery life is terrible, and those 230W power bricks really are bricks. 100W won't be enough to prevent ongoing drain, but would surely be enough to stop worrying about at least one of those problems at a time. Anyone have experience keeping something beastly from Razer or Asus on life support with GaN chargers?
Starliner returns safely to Earth, without the astronauts
Rob Beschizza / 6:02 am PT Sat Sep 7, 2024
NASA footage
Starliner, Boeing's fabulously expensive new spaceship, has returned to Earth without its astronauts after questions were raised about the craft's safety. Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams remain on the International Space Station, their weeklong mission indefinitely extended as NASA figured out the best way to bring them home. The current plan: they'll get a lift back on a SpaceX Crew Dragon run there early next year.
After Starliner's return, a Nasa spokesman said he was pleased at the successful landing but wished it could have gone as originally planned.
The flight back lasted six hours. After it re-entered the Earth's atmosphere parachutes were used to slow its descent at the White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico on Saturday at 23:01 local time (05:01 GMT).
Nasa said earlier that Butch and Suni were in good spirits and in regular contact with their families.
The Friday evening mission schedule had me anxious about NASA and Boeing's expectations.
Boeing is on the hook for the Starliner's unanticipated costs—a miracle of foresight in government procurement. Consider that if Starliner hadn't gotten back in one piece, the U.S. space program would be more dependent on Elon Musk and Roscosmos than it already is.
Michigan judge suspended after racist, homophobic remarks: "I'm not systemically racist. I'm a new racist."
Rob Beschizza / 5:39 am PT Sat Sep 7, 2024
An official photo of Judge Ryan
What does it take to fire a Michigan judge? Oakland County Probate Judge Kathleen Ryan was removed from her docket in August for undisclosed reasons, and it turns out a whistleblower recorded her making racist and homophobic remarks.
In the phone recordings, Ryan uses a anti-gay slur against David Coulter, the county's highest elected official, who is gay. She also referred to Blacks in the U.S. as lazy. It is legal to record phone calls in Michigan if one party consents. In this matter, it was Hutton, who said Ryan had called him at work and after-hours for years.
The AP is acquiring a taste for editorialized understatement in such matters (cf. sanewashing)—she actually said "the typical Black American a f cking lazy piece of sh t." It's not her first rodeo, either. In fact, she is the rodeo.
The vulgar recordings aren't Ryan's first example of using coarse language against those she considers her inferiors. In November 2021, she was charged with domestic violence. The case was dismissed in March 2022. According to a police report of the incident obtained from the Wixom Police Department, Ryan had been drinking and repeatedly struck a male companion during an argument, injuring the victim's face. Although she was uninjured, Ryan was evaluated at Ascension Providence Hospital, and while there she shouted obscenities at police officers and hospital staff, tried to walk away from custody and told everyone that she was a judge and would be "coming after" them, the report states.
I've written many times about bad judges, but this is the first where I have to give serious consideration to the possibility she will appear outside my house at 2 a.m., screaming and shitfaced, throwing half-consumed cans of Stroh Light at the door.
Previously:
• Judge who accepted private-prison bribes to send black kids to jail sentenced to 28 years
• Computer says no: British judge refuses to cancel divorce resulting from computer mistake
• Illinois judge fired for misconduct after circumventing law to reverse rape conviction
Exploring the atmosphere of "Your Past Reality": A journey through nostalgia and liminal spaces
Popkin / 5:19 am PT Sat Sep 7, 2024
Lately, I've become addicted to browsing Your Past Reality, an instagram page blending nostalgia-inducing images with ambient music, creating an atmosphere that transports viewers back to the 90s and early 2000s.
The page is a mix of empty streets covered in autumn leaves, suburban houses photographed in the glow of streetlights, and vacant spaces that seem frozen in time—all evoking a sense of both comfort and unease.
At the core of your past reality is a concept that has grown increasingly popular on the internet in recent years: liminal spaces. The term "liminal" originates from the Latin word limen, meaning "threshold." In this context, liminal spaces refer to places that are transitional or in-between, often devoid of people and seemingly caught between two states. These spaces are familiar yet strange—like a school hallway late at night, an empty parking lot at dawn, or an abandoned mall during the off-hours. The eeriness of these environments creates a unique atmosphere many people find to be both unsettling and deeply compelling.
I find it important to look at this page with the audio fully on. It feels like the audio somehow activates the images and transports me back in time. Looking at Your Past Reality has been my favorite way to unwind for a few minutes after getting home in the afternoon. Pages like this make instagram feel a little more worthwhile to spend time on.
See also: Jetliners have hidden rooms, but not for passengers or cargo
Dial an Insult: The bizarre 90s ad that feels like a fever dream
Popkin / 4:00 am PT Sat Sep 7, 2024
Screenshot: Dial an Insult / YouTube
Dial an Insult was a bizarre 1990's advertisement that feels like a fever dream. I have a feeling that to many kids who saw this on TV, they wonder now if it was just some weird hallucination. Luckily, it's been uploaded to YouTube and those who saw this on TV can rest assured (or perhaps, disturbed), that this funny, bizarre ad was not a mere figment of their imaginations.
This was a pretty self explanatory ad. You simply dial the number on the screen, and receive an insult that is guaranteed to make your bad day even worse. If this wasn't enough to convince you to dial, the ad also promises that every day there will be fresh new insults ready for you.
From YouTube:
"I was a staff video editor at a post-production facility in Los Angeles in 1990 and one of our clients was Fun Lines, Inc., and, yes, I was the editor for "1-900-2-INSULT" and I did get a T-shirt. The lip sync was a little tricky to match — the animation was on a loop. They were good clients — no insults. This commercial was given the "Most WTF Commercial Ever Created" award by Edilones at The most "wtf" commercial ever created which I will gratefully accept at the next CLIO Awards. The best comments are at http://www.retrojunk.com/commercial/s…. Sadly (?) the phone number no longer exists. Enjoy."
See also: Tens of thousands of old phones linger in vintage seller's inventory
Dick Cheney to vote for Kamala Harris
Jason Weisberger / 1:19 pm PT Fri Sep 6, 2024
Vice President Dick Cheney bids farewell to Vice President-elect Joe Biden Thursday, November 13, 2008, following their nearly hour-long visit at the Vice President’s Residence at the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. White House photo by David Bohrer
Republican former Congressperson Liz Cheney announced her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, will be voting for Kamala Harris.
Republicans who take a stand for what is truly important tend to find themselves derided by their party. The Cheney's make folks like Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene look like the ineffective clowns they are. The Republican coalition in Congress prefers these nut cases to anyone with backbone.
Former Rep. Liz Cheney revealed Friday that Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, has secured the vote of powerful Republican who once held significant power in the White House.
The Republican also happens to be Cheney's dad.
"Dick Cheney will be voting for Kamala Harris," the former Wyoming representative said at the Texas Tribune Festival in Austin.
Replied the moderator, "Wow."
Previously:
• Sacha Baron Cohen punks Dick Cheney in promo for his new undercover show