Last minute geek

1. I found the perfect distraction-free writing device
(English/BoingBoing ibag)

... small amount of personal writing time I have at my disposal. Happily, I finally found the tool I've been longing for: the KingJim Pomera DM30. I imported mine from Japan (although you can sometimes find ...

2. Google's Files app now streams local media to your Chromecast
(English/engadget)

Google just made it decidedly easier to beam your personal media collection to your Chromecast device of choice. An updated version of the Files by Google app includes long-in-the-making support for playing ...

3. Rudy Giuliani's shady links to Ukraine energy projects probed by feds
(English/BoingBoing ibag)

... of Trump's longtime ally and former personal attorney told others that Giuliani stood to profit from a natural gas project pitched alongside campaign for investigations of Joe Biden, reports Rebecca Davis ...

4. What to do when everything on their holiday wish list is digital
(English/engadget)

The following scenario will play out thousands of times this holiday season, and if you're buying a lot of presents for friends and family, it'll likely affect your life personally. You: What ...

5. Kentucky atheist can get ‘IM GOD’ license plate, US court rules
(English/BoingBoing ibag)

A federal court ruled today that an atheist gentleman from Kentucky should be permitted to get a personalized license plate from the state with the phrase “IM GOD” on it. The man is committed to his cause ...

6. Federal Court: Kentucky discriminated by disallowing "IM GOD" license plate
(English/BoingBoing ibag)

... power to put the kibosh on the plate. From WDRB: (The judge wrote) that courts have ruled that such plates convey a “personalized message with intrinsic meaning … specific to the owner.” Even the state’s ...

7. Hundreds of journalists are sharing their salary information in a spreadsheet
(English/BoingBoing ibag)

... though there isn't any proof of that (and I can personally assure you that my personal information is on that list and that my public school teacher mom and print salesman dad are not rolling in the dough). As ...

8. Trump says daughter Ivanka has created "created 14 million jobs"
(English/BoingBoing ibag)

... US workforce. Thanks, Ivanka! From The Intelligencer: At a speech to the Economic Club of New York today, President Trump declared that his daughter, Ivanka, has personally created 14 million new jobs. ...

9. PHOTO: Rudy Giuliani with Lev Parnas, Igor Fruman, third 'unnamed associate'
(English/BoingBoing ibag)

One for the ages. Almost looks like one of those garage sale black velvet paintings with the dogs playing poker. THIS is an absolutely incredible new photo of former Donald Trump's personal lawyer and ...

10. Trump policies result in 69,550 migrant children held in U.S. government custody over past year
(English/BoingBoing ibag)

... where they’re trying to go to school and piece their lives back together. About 4,000 are still in government custody, some in large, impersonal shelters. And more arrive every week. The video in this ...

11. This $3.5 million mansion includes a replica of Bruce Wayne's study and so much more
(English/BoingBoing ibag)

Former Pittsburgh radio personality T.J. Lubinsky is selling his home, about a half-hour outside the city in Gibsonia, Pennsylvania. I'll be honest, I've never heard of this guy. But apparently he has ...

12. Bill Gates just accidentally proved that even "unsuccessful" antitrust enforcement works
(English/BoingBoing ibag)

... of this story, that goes like this: being dragged through antitrust enforcement actions for a decade was deeply, profoundly traumatic for Microsoft and for Gates, personally. This trauma changed the corporate ...

13. Engadget giveaway: Win a DiskStation DS218+ NAS courtesy of Synology!
(English/engadget)

If you've been eyeballing data independence, Synology's DS218+ NAS can help you on your way. You can backup your own data, host a cloud server and even stream personal multi-media files all from ...

14. Former Twitter employees charged with spying for Saudis
(English/BoingBoing ibag)

... through "thousands of private accounts seeking personal information" of use to the kingdom's security forces, reports NPR. Ahmad Abouammo, a U.S. citizen, was a media partnerships manager at Twitter who ...

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

... is also charged with falsifying an invoice to obstruct an FBI investigation. The second former Twitter employee — Ali Alzabarah, a Saudi citizen — was accused of accessing the personal information of more ...

16. Robert Crumb's iconic "Stoned Agin!" original art up for auction
(English/BoingBoing ibag)

... swapping some rare old blues 78 records for the artwork. The original has remained in our consignor’s personal collection ever since, buried away and securely stored for more than four decades, which has ...

17. Rudy Giuliani almost starred in ‘Fraud Guarantee’ cable TV infomercials
(English/BoingBoing ibag)

Oh, imagine the internet content glory we almost had. Lev Parnas and his associate David Correia were planning to produce a series of ‘Fraud Guarantee’ TV infomercials starring Donald Trump's personal ...

18. Trump must turn over his taxes according to federal appeals court ruling today
(English/BoingBoing ibag)

... Office subpoenaed eight years of Trump's corporate and personal taxes as part of an investigation into whether the Trump Organization violated New York laws by fabricating business records connected to ...

19. Vincent Price and Boris Karloff both used some weird ingredients in their homemade guacamole recipes
(English/BoingBoing ibag)

... recipe was originally published in a newspaper (I couldn't track the original source, but the earliest date the image appears online is from November 2013). I personally prefer a squeeze of lime, rather ...

20. In the mood for a different kind of horror movie tonight? Go see Parasite
(English/BoingBoing ibag)

... and all-out war, but stay for the interpersonal relationships, architectural allegories and shocking scares that emerge over the course of Bong Joon Ho’s latest film. The film is essentially about class ...

21. Televangelist and 'prosperity gospel' pastor Paula White joins Trump administration
(English/BoingBoing ibag)

... the Trump administration. Ms. White is a televangelist based in Florida who has served for some time as a “personal pastor” to Trump. They've been acquainted since 2002. She joins the administration in ...

22. Challenge: Eat 'biggest burger' in Bangkok, a 10,000-calorie monstrosity
(English/BoingBoing ibag)

... personalities started challenging one another to try and finish it. Among the poor fellows who managed to do it -- but not within the time limit -- was one guy who said, “I will eat a burger at some ...

23. Loot: a kids-only comic "store" in Brooklyn that incubates young comics fans and creators
(English/BoingBoing ibag)

... sells $30/month memberships that entitle kids to use copious art supplies and meet with artist-mentors, as well as to borrow comics from the store's library. The library came from the personal collection ...

24. After suing NSO Group for hacking Whatsapp, Facebook kicks NSO employees off its services
(English/BoingBoing ibag)

... that NSO employees could appeal the notices. A message board popular in Israel indicated that the deletion was widespread. "I had just personally verified it (I have friends working there)," one person ...

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

... from laundry detergent pods to AirPods to whisky pods to, yes, my brother's WalkingPod. From the Washington Post: “When I think of a pod, I think of personal space,” said Rick Pescovitz, the CEO of ...