DNA Lounge: Wherein the Dazzle Masks are here, the Dazzle Masks are here!

New product alert!

Our Dazzle Masks are guaranteed to prevent the enemy from getting a lock on your heading and range!

Styled after the distinctive paint job in DNA Lounge's "Dazzle Room", itself based on the "razzle-dazzle camouflage" used on warships early in World War II, prior to the invention of Radar. Camouflage designed not to conceal but to confuse.

And every one of these masks is different: we have sixty-four different patterns, selected for you randomly!

They are of the same high quality construction as the Deluxe Masks: hand-made cotton twill masks with built-in over-the-nose wire. $25 each.

I expect these to be quite popular, so get your order in now! Our first batch is in stock, and we've already got a second run of them in production.

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PG&E

This electrical transmission tower has a little problem. can you spot it? Actually, it's not a small problem -- it cost us 16.65 *billion* dollars and caused the deaths of 85 people. [...]

Remember that worn C hook? How long was it rubbing against the hangar bracket? The answer is that we don't know. we think it is about 97 (!) years old, but we're not sure because PG&E didn't keep records about it.

After the fire, many of the pieces were taken to the FBI lab's metallurgical unit at Quantico, and they determined that the C hook was made of cast iron. Not all the C hooks on these 100-year old towers were made of cast iron -- many were made of steel. But again: no records.

PG&E knew that this was a problem because at some point they bolted on L brackets and moved the C hooks onto the new brackets, probably concerned that the old bracket hole had mostly worn through. we don't know when they did this because they kept no records.

And yes, PG&E is legally required to inspect these towers periodically. We don't know exactly when, because (you guessed it) no records from before the year 2000.

The investigating team interviewed troublemen (inspectors for PG&E) to find out exactly how they did the inspections. They were done mostly from helicopters. and despite having official procedures, here's what they did:

☑️ Is the tower still standing?

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LOCAL58TV



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The schmendrick of all schmendricks.

Woodward evidently realized that he was dealing with a chump, a sucker, a patsy, a galoot -- the schmendrick of all schmendricks.

For what it's worth, I believe that there is much less than meets the eye to the most headline-grabbing quote in Rage: "I wanted to always play it down. I still like playing it down, because I don't want to create a panic."

As recorded, that reads like a cold-blooded confession that Trump intentionally concealed deadly knowledge at a time -- February and March -- when that knowledge could have saved lives. But you can reach that conclusion only if you believe that Trump knows things the way fully rational people know them: as statements about reality that exist independently from the speaker. Trump's mind does not work that way. He does not observe the world and then use words to describe it. He speaks the words he wishes you to believe, and then trusts the world to conform to his wishes. [...]

But despite the hashtag #TrumpKnew, Trump did not actually know anything. He said things to meet the need of the fleeting moment.

Previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously.

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Huge swarms of mosquitoes kill hundreds of horses and cows by draining blood

Parts of Louisiana hit hard by Hurricane Laura have been left fighting off hordes of mosquitoes so vast they are killing farm animals by biting them in huge numbers.

The animals are dying from the sheer number of bites, which leave them anemic and bleeding under the skin, as well as from the exhaustion caused by constantly moving to avoid the insects.

According to Dr Craig Fontenot, a vet in the city of Ville Platte, the "vicious little suckers", pushed out of marshes by the huge storm, have already claimed some 300-400 cattle, as well as a few horses. [...]

Hurricanes often present a risk of surging mosquito populations, as eggs laid by floodwater mosquitoes in previous floods start to hatch. While adult mosquitoes generally do not survive a hurricane's high winds, the egg-hatching phase that kicks in after a storm can drive a huge increase in the population.

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Why I never play video games any more

tl;dr - because sysadminning a console is the worst game ever.

  1. Hear about [REDACTED] being released for PS3.
  2. Wonder if I can download that.
  3. Turn on PS3 for the first time in... a year?
  4. Remember that for some reason it stopped being able to connect to the network.
  5. Dick around in settings for 30 minutes.
  6. Completely disassemble it. (Wow, those heat sinks are not fucking around!)
  7. Detect nothing obviously unseated. Re-assemble.
  8. Dick around in settings again. Oh, now it wants to download an update! I guess the network is working again.
  9. Download. Wait.
  10. Install. Wait.
  11. It gets to 99%, aaaaaand....
  12. Yup. Repeatedly.
  13. Download PS3UPDAT.PUP to a thumb drive. Ignored.
  14. Safe mode? Nope, it goes right back to the installer loop, but this time in glorious SD.
  15. Pull the drive to see if I can replace the PS3UPDAT.PUP there surgically. Nope, it's in some goofball file system that a Mac can't mount.
  16. Safe mode with the drive pulled? Nope.
  17. I guess I don't have a PS3 any more, now I have a brick. Hooray!

Previously, previously, previously.
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Grocery Can Liberation


PDFs for all the labels are here!

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Berkeley Cop Trading Cards

In 2002, Berkeley UCPD made trading cards for their officers so students could get to know their cops. It's been a while, so we updated the initiative.

"Sgt Andrew Tucker, who hospitalized four students in 2011. Maybe they asked for it, though: Chancellor Robert Birgeneau called the protestors "not non-violent" because they'd linked their arms together."

"Barry Boersma, who killed a man with a carotid hold and shot another in the back with a Taser while working for Vallejo PD."

"Berkeley UCPD Sgt. Billy Brashear, the cops' student body liaison. In 2011, Brashear liaisoned with students' bodies by beating them with a baton, even though one had already fallen to the ground."

Long thread is long.

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Paypal's War on Tardigrades

ArchieMcPhee:

Just an FYI that @PayPal is currently blocking all transactions containing the word "tardigrade" in the product name or description. We've contacted them and they told us we should just stop using the word tardigrade.

PS This is not limited to Archie McPhee. This is ALL OF PAYPAL! And they give a message that the USER is violating their agreement. It's scaring customers away!

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DNA Lounge: Wherein there's some press about our lockdown webcast series

Broke-Ass Stuart has a run-down of our extensive set of online events:

How DNA Lounge Is Keeping Sf Weird During The Pandemic:

The DNA Lounge webcast -- dnalounge.com/webcast/ -- has, for nearly 20 years, been piping audio and video of its live events onto the internet. Now, under the direction of general manager Devon Dossett, and with crews of dedicated producers, promoters, performers and techs, the club has significantly upgraded its webcast technology, and has transformed itself into a de facto television studio, for broadcasting live events from its stage to the world. [...]

Events so far have included live variety shows, projection-mapping artists, DJ parties with full club lighting and go-go dancers, and even an appearance by EDM luminary Shlump, on his way to perform at an outdoor, drive-in rave in Colorado. [...]

Hopefully better Federal leadership and real solutions will come soon, and we'll be able to return to live shows and live gatherings before it's too late for local venues and local live entertainment. In the meantime, DNA Lounge, and all its partners, are doing what they can to keep San Francisco's independent, non-corporate entertainment business alive and viable for the Bay Area's future.

SF Weekly spoke to a number of venues, including us, about our disparate, desperate efforts:

Trials & Innovations: Live Music During COVID-19.
Socially distanced shows, live streams, and new tech won't be enough.


Instead of going outdoors, DNA Lounge has responded to the pandemic by going online. Ever since reopening in 2001, DNA Lounge has made live-streaming events online a major part of the club's identity. [...] A little less than a week after the Red Room Orchestra played the Chapel, the DNA held their own music event: a quasi-live performance by chiptune and electronic band Crashfaster in which half the band filmed themselves playing, and then the other half performed over that prerecorded video. "They even had a friend of theirs record a performance of some laser equipment," Dossett says, a testament to the kind of creative thinking artists are putting into practice these days. [...]

However, as with the Red Room Orchestra show at the Chapel, Dossett says DNA's currently scheduled events aren't really about making money. It's just an attempt to keep nightlife alive during the pandemic. Live music, he says, is "vital to people's emotional wellbeing." [...]

The reality for musicians and venues alike, is that until touring returns -- until venues can open to full capacity and it is possible for bands to safely travel the country again -- both are going to be hurting. Badly. [...]

Back in June, the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) estimated that 90 percent of America's independent venues were likely to close during lockdown due to lost revenue. In July, Senators Amy Klobuchar (D) and John Cornyn (R) introduced to the Senate the Save Our Stages act (S. 4258). If passed, the bill would authorize up to $12 billion in grants for venues and industry workers from the Small Business Administration.

And The Examiner, as well:

SF clubs mix things up to avoid a last call Proprietors get creative with money-raising efforts during pandemic

"None of this is even remotely sustainable," says Zawinski. "So, like every other nightlife-related business, we're all just sitting here watching the clock tick and waiting for the money to run out." [...]

Club owners and managers all hang varying degrees of hope on the local Independent Venue Alliance, which represents and educates a group of over 20 mostly closed nightlife venues on state and federal funding initiatives. [...] But with little financial assistance from the government thus far or any clear-cut timeline as to when bars and clubs will be allowed to fully reopen, many remain forced to rely on limited patronage and donations from longtime customers.

As always, if you want to ensure that DNA Lounge will still be here for you once the pandemic is over, contribute to our Patreon or make a one-time donation. And buying some pizza or cocktails helps, too!

And while we wait, tune in tomorrow for Turbo Drive and Saturday for Hubba Hubba Revue...

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