Last minute geek

1. China has 500+ Uighur camps and prisons and is holding far more than one million, activists say
(English/BoingBoing ibag)

... cited figure of one million people. From AFP via Yahoo News: The East Turkistan National Awakening Movement, a Washington-based group that seeks independence for the mostly Muslim region known to China ...

2. Facial recognition tools shared by 'Massive, secretive network of police departments'
(English/BoingBoing ibag)

... requests in Washington state were made through a previously undisclosed email listserv known as FITlist. FITlist — with FIT standing for “Fraud and Identity Theft” — includes officers from at least a dozen ...

3. Trump says something stupid: 'They shouldn’t be having public hearings'
(English/BoingBoing ibag)

... this spectacle live in Washington. After weeks of Republicans demanding that Schiff open up the doors and allow the public to see the impeachment proceedings, Trump says this morning: “They shouldn’t ...

4. President tweets something dumb again, slurs 'three lowlife reporters' at Washington Post
(English/BoingBoing ibag)

... can't get any more surreal and weird, and it does. Every. God. Damned. Day. Lots of this today. The walls are closing in. The degenerate Washington Post MADE UP the story about me asking Bill Barr to ...

5. Overturned mango truck makes mess of Maryland morning commute
(English/BoingBoing ibag)

... & Rescue Service spokesman Pete Piringer told a reporter that one person suffered minor injuries. No word on what caused the truck to roll over, but the Washington Post reports traffic was backed ...

6. DOJ charges former Twitter staff with spying for Saudi Arabia, digging into MBS critics' accounts
(English/BoingBoing ibag)

... charges here. MBS and the KSA are believed to have murdered Washington Post journalist and U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi by cutting off his head and dismembering him alive. “One of those implicated in ...

7. Costco and Instacart are testing one-hour prescription deliveries
(English/engadget)

People on the west coast who need medication quickly might be able to get their medication delivered in as little as 60 minutes. Costco and Instacart are testing prescription deliveries in Washington and ...

8. New national poll shows top 4 Democrats beating Trump
(English/BoingBoing ibag)

A new Washington Post/ABC News poll shows just about everyone beating Trump. Washington Post: Former vice president Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) run strongest ...

9. Smugglers are sawing through Trump's border wall with a $100 cordless cutter
(English/BoingBoing ibag)

Mexican drug smugglers are using cordless reciprocating saws to cut holes in Trump's new border wall. The holes are large enough for people and drug packages to go through, reports The Washington Post. The ...

10. New rare book catalog features book with Martian flora from 1903
(English/BoingBoing ibag)

One of most most memorable Cool Tools podcast episodes was with rare book expert Rebecca Romney. She recently started a new rare book firm in Washington D.C. called Type Punch Matrix and she sent me a ...

11. Lyft's stricter safety policy could make it harder to ban bad drivers
(English/engadget)

Lyft has implemented a new set of safety guidelines and protocols that current and former employees worry will allow unsafe drivers to return to the platform, according to The Washington Post. In June, ...

12. Wearable pop-up personal tent
(English/BoingBoing ibag)

... but it's actually now being used by delivery people, police officers, and various other folks who have to move around in the rain. The Washington Post has a feature about the popularity of "pod" products, ...

13. Trump administration may blacklist Chinese firms that routinely copy tech
(English/engadget)

The US trade war is meant in part to punish China for allowing intellectual property theft, but the Trump administration might not be convinced it goes far enough. Washington Post sources claim that White ...

14. Jane Fonda continua la protesta contro l'inquinamento
(Italiano/Ecoblog)

Il tema dei cambiamenti climatici e del contrasto al surriscaldamento globale sta molto a cuore a Jane Fonda che, per la terza volta è stata arrestata a Washington per le proteste ambientaliste di...  ...

15. Leaked audio captures Sundar Pichai discussing leaks at Google
(English/engadget)

Tonight the Washington Post has published audio from a Google all-hands meeting that took place on Thursday, as execs responded to employee questions about a number of issues. Those include the hiring ...

16. Feds blew the door off a safe in Giuliani associate raids
(English/BoingBoing ibag)

... ago of his brother, Igor Fruman, and another defendant, Lev Parnas, at a Washington-area airport. Since then, investigators have doled out multiple subpoenas and conducted several property searches, in ...

17. Trump spokesmonster Kellyanne Conway threatens reporter
(English/BoingBoing ibag)

... expose the personal lives of news reporters. And yet, here she is, doing just that, to a Washington Examiner (!) reporter. Excerpt from transcript of the phone call between Kellyanne Conway and Caitlin ...

18. Seattle authorities used "Red Flag" gun laws to disarm a Neo-Nazi
(English/BoingBoing ibag)

Kaleb J. Cole (aka "Khimaere") is the 24-year-old leader of the Washington State cell of the Atomwaffen Division, an international network of violent Neo-Nazis. Aside from generally spewing hateful rhetoric, ...

19. A machine-learning system may have predicted the World Series winner
(English/engadget)

The 2019 MLB postseason has been a wild one. The Dodgers imploded in the first round, clearing the way for the Washington Nationals to rout a listless Cardinals team and win their first NLCS since 1933. ...

20. Gentleman accused of hiding manbun under MAGA cap, also arrested for spraying crowd with bear repellent
(English/BoingBoing ibag)

... tear gas weapon and assaulting the crowd with a caustic chemical," according to The Washington Post. From KTLA 5: [Dempsey] was seen in witness video arguing with protestors opposed to President Trump ...

21. Trump tweets new Jamal Khashoggi murder disinformation
(English/BoingBoing ibag)

The apparent coverup of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi's murder at the direction of Prince Mohammad Bin Salman ("MBS") and the government of Saudi Arabia continues. Donald Trump, who is serving ...

22. Tasmanian tiger: thought to be extinct yet sighted two months ago
(English/BoingBoing ibag)

... a Washington DC zoo, c.1906 (public domain) Read the rest Read all  ...

23. Facebook will remove advertisements that are visually misleading, but not advertisements containing false statements
(English/BoingBoing ibag)

... pro-Biden ads that featured non-interactive graphics resembling buttons like the advertisements seen above. And Facebook is likely to remove any advertisement that mentions the state of Washington: Last ...

24. Actual police reports dramatically read by Port Townsend residents
(English/BoingBoing ibag)

Evidently Port Townsend, Washington has a real sense of humor. Read the rest Read all  ...

25. The Washington Post food critic wore a hilarious disguise for a live interview
(English/BoingBoing ibag)

Longtime Washington Post food critic Tom Sietsema participated in a live interview at the Washington Post food lab. Within minutes, his fake mustache was falling off. Questions answered included which ...