Christopher Lantz

Nine years ago today, 4chan’s photoshop experts discovered this palindromic-mirroring technique (now commonly referred to as “UNITINU”) after a news photograph of the-then United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice with her hand raised at a U.N. Security Council meeting went viral on /b/.

The El Portal Fire burns on a hillside in the Stanislaus National Forest and Yosemite National Park on Sunday evening July 27, 2014. The community of El Portal was under a mandatory evacuation. By Tuesday the blaze had burned nearly 3,000 acres. Long exposure image.

The Etiwanda Fire burns shortly after dusk on April 30, 2014 in Rancho Cucamonga, CA. Long exposure image.

The news of deadly wildfires ravaging California has been as awe-inspiring as it is terrifying. Great swaths of forests, mountains, fields, and entire neighborhoods can be incinerated in moments leaving nothing unscathed. For the last few years, Los Angeles-based photographer Stuart Palley has been shooting these fires as they rage across Southern California as part of a series he calls Terra Flamma.

More than just capturing flames or firefighters, Palley focuses instead on the entire landscape surrounding each event. By utilizing long exposure techniques he incorporates trails of sparks, the lights of firefighting aircraft, and even the stars above to create images that speak more to the strange beauty of wildfires than simple editorial documentation.

Though Palley often jumps at the opportunity to photograph a fire at a moment’s notice, he’s also well prepared. He takes a number of precautions including completion of the US Forestry Service’s “Introduction to Wildland Fire Behavior” to better ensure his safety.

You can follow more of Palley’s work on Instagram. (via PetaPixel)

The French Fire burns overnight in the Sierra National Forest near the town of North Fork, CA on August 1st, 2014. The blaze was burning in steep, rugged, and remote terrain.

The Way Fire burns on August 19, 2014 in the Sierra National Forest near Kernville, CA overnight. Long exposure image.

The Meadow Fire burns overnight near Half Dome in Yosemite National Park early Monday September 8, 2014. As of Wednesday the fire had burned over 4,500 acres and was 10% contained. Long exposure image.

The Shirley Fire burns at night off of Old State Rd near Lake Isabella, CA while a helicopter circles overhead and crews work on a slopover. Long exposure image.

The Lake Fire burns in the San Bernardino National Forest Thursday June 18, 2015. By evening the fire burned over 10,000 acres and was 5% contained. The Lake Fire burns along its northern flank at night in the San Bernardino National Forest Late Thursday night.

The Lake Fire burns in the San Bernardino National Forest Thursday June 18, 2015. By evening the fire burned over 10,000 acres and was 5% contained. The Lake Fire burns along its northern flank at night in the San Bernardino National Forest Late Thursday night.

The Lake Fire burns in the San Bernardino National Forest Thursday June 18, 2015. By evening the fire burned over 10,000 acres and was 5% contained. The Lake Fire burns along its northern flank at night in the San Bernardino National Forest Late Thursday night.

The Lake Fire burns in the San Bernardino National Forest Friday June 19, 2015. By evening the fire burned over 13,000 acres and was 10% contained.

The Lake Fire burns in the San Bernardino National Forest Friday June 19, 2015. By evening the fire burned over 13,000 acres and was 10% contained.

Magician Rahat Hussein recently puzzled and freaked out unsuspecting fast food drive-thru employees by pulling up to their window with a hungry humanoid robot in the driver’s seat in his latest prank. When employees made the gentle robot angry, his tone amplified and the blue glowing face quickly turned red with rage. This is a clever, futuristic take on his original Headless Car Driver Prank series.

In the gorgeous photo series “Drosera“, Finnish nature photographer Joni Niemelä has captured the incredible up-close beauty of the colorfully tentacled carnivorous plants commonly known as Sundews. Sundews are also featured in his newest series “Other Worldly Blues“, where Niemelä played upon their alien-like appearance and their predatory nature.

Sundews have always fascinated me, and I have been photographing these alien-like plants for several years now. My first first photo series ‘Drosera’ was mostly bright and vibrant, so I wanted to have some contrast to that in my second series of Sundews. I think the colors and the mood of ‘Otherworldly Blues’ reflect aptly the true nature of these carnivorous plants.

images via Joni Niemelä

via Colossal

I could watch a Han & Chewie spaceship repair show

The Dark Knight gets persuasive.

Wizard duels in Harry Potter have nothing on this epic battle between Price and Karloff in the classic Roger Corman film of "The Raven," from 1963. Cinematic quality nevermore.

The objective of NEVER GO TO WORK is in its title: Your alarm goes off just after 6 AM, and it's time to get to the office. Except arriving there ends the game, and you don't really want to go to work, anyway.

You are Agenesia, disgruntled and harboring a crush on your unreliable bus driver, and your meandering takes you all over town. Anything can go wrong: I was killed by ghosts on a mini golf course, and found myself inexplicably on a riverboat. I wanted to go to the strip club, but it was closed. I kind of like the gritty caprice of Agenesia's world: The rough textures of the graphical interface, the not knowing what to expect—is my intentional avoidance of efficient bus routes going to make my lateness to work sprawl wonderfully on the digital clock before me, or will I accidentally stumble into a game-over?

Some of the opacity doesn't serve the experience though, something I don't mind saying as developer Rani Baker (who also made this buggy but nifty nostalgic rebuild of Demon's Forge, the kind of Apple IIe game that I'm weird enough to still be excited about) is still taking feedback toward a final version of the game. I have a pack of cigarettes in my inventory slot, but while clicking it sometimes takes me to a wonderful neon ritual site, at other times it gets me stuck in an endless loop. I'm not sure what it's for. I enjoy the tension between needing to keep moving and not wanting to arrive at work, but while the collague of unpredictable moments feels creative and cool, at times I wish there were a little more for me to do.

NEVER GO TO WORK is free to play in your browser. It is the latest title to be commissioned by the Interactive Fiction Fund, which aims to support both established and up-and-coming interactive fiction makers with actual money (I'm a backer; consider becoming one yourself here). The last title was Morning Rituals, a game about a Satanic Keurig machine (which we liked).

joga:

Bill Gates, 1985

One Wes Charnock observed the mystery pigeon, depicted above in London newspaper Metro. Expert consensus is that it has been dyed, or is a tourist from Mauritius.

Here's just two of the many beautiful, serene GIF animations depicting life in Japan, by @1041uuu. [via Hacker News & designmadeinjapan]

We are giddy with excitement that Martin Olson and Olivia Olson are coming to our Weekend of Wonder in Southern California (September 18-20). Olivia is the voice of Marceline the Vampie Queen in Adventure Time. And her father Martin (who is also a screenwriter from Phineas And Ferb) voices Hunson Abadeer (a.k.a. the Lord of Evil).

Martin and Olivia are going to perform music at Weekend of Wonder, answer questions about Adventure Time, and sign copies of their upcoming book, Adventure Time: The Enchiridion & Marcy's Super Secret Scrapbook!!!

Register here to join us at Boing Boing's Weekend of Wonder.

Adventure Time: The Enchiridion & Marcy's Super Secret Scrapbook!!! by Martin Olson and Olivia Olson (aka the Lord of Evil and Marceline the Vampire Queen) © Abrams Books, 2015

deisel1984 uploaded an insane video of a Sabula, Iowa police officer requesting Iowa Department of Transportation to help with a swarm of millions of mayflies (shadflies) that had taken over the Sabula-Savanna Bridge that crosses the Mississippi River. The DOT had to use a snowplow to clear the bridge.

Sabula Iowa Police department was called to assist a motorist on the Sabula Savanna bridge. When the officer arrived he realized what had happened. Millions of shad-flies had hatched and made the bridge like ice. There were literally inches of the bugs on the ground. Crews from the Sabula Fire, Savanna Fire, and both Iowa and Illinois DOT were on scene to help clean up the mess.

via WQAD

Hatoful Boyfriend, a deeply weird yet touching visual novel where you date birds, has just come out for PlayStation 4 and its attendant handheld, the Vita, so it's a good time for us to recommend it. As I write this, there is a virulent thrumming, like a sick animal growl, coming from our windowsill: It is the persistent, almost threatening coo of a local city pigeon who has decided our bird feeder is now its territory. I'm going to just go ahead and suggest you play the pigeon dating game.

If you want to know more about it, last year Laura wrote about Hatoful Boyfriend for Rock Paper Shotgun, and without spoiling anything she digs into the genuinely-subversive elements of the game, aspects that have fun at the expense of the visual novel format, its tropes and conventions. Just when you think you have mastered all the conceits of bird-dating, something unexpected happens.

If you don't have a PlayStation platform you can check out Hatoful Boyfriend on Steam, and you can get a free demo here.

That pigeon is still outside. It is starting to frighten me. This isn't a joke.

Warning: Not recommended. If you see stranded marine life, call your local fish and wildlife authority, or ask a marine biologist.

This guy's brother worked hard “to save an injured hammerhead shark on the Destin, Florida shoreline and bravely took it to safety away from the public,” says the guy who uploaded this video to YouTube.

The 10-foot-long hammerhead shark was stranded on Florida beach, and the men removed several large deep sea fishing hooks fishing hooks from its mouth. They then dragged the shark back out to sea, but it appears to remain disoriented, and wanders back to shore.

My brother, once realizing it was injured, swam out to bring it to shore away from people still in the water. I filmed this heroic display as he dragged the injured 10 ft. hammerhead to shore. The shark was pulled to shore and we realized it had several deep sea fishing hooks in its mouth as well as steel fishing line tangled in and around its head. My brother, along with help from bystanders worked to get the hooks out and save the dying shark. My brother was able to pull the shark into deeper water until it was able to swim away safely in an attempt to avoid further injuring itself or the public.

All of the distress and yelling heard in the background were caused by a natural fear from certain individuals and lack of understanding the situation as well as the behaviors of hammerhead sharks. Once bystanders realized we were trying to help the shark they quickly did what they could to help

Shot on a GoPro Hero 3+ and iPhone 5

Where do you start? Kubrick? Malick? Bay? [via Jason Kottke]

NASA's new Space Launch System (SLS) is about to go into full-scale fabrication after a detailed review. SLS Block 1, which just passed a design review milestone, will go to an asteroid placed in lunar orbit, and eventually to Mars.

The in-depth review – the first in almost 40 years for a NASA exploration class vehicle -- provides a final look at the design and development of the integrated rocket before full-scale fabrication begins. Throughout the course of 11 weeks, 13 teams – including representatives from several NASA field centers – reviewed more than 1,000 files of data as part of the comprehensive assessment process.

NASA's Space Launch System Design 'Right on Track' for Journey to Mars (NASA.gov)

The Skysphere is a futuristic-looking living space created by designer and engineer Jono Williams. Its circular design features 270 square feet in the living area which includes a bed, custom couches, and even a “couch integrated beer dispenser.” The Skysphere is powered entirely by solar panels, and the electronics are controlled using a version of the Android operating system.

Williams regularly posts updates about the Skysphere’s progress on a Facebook page created for the project.

photos via Skysphere

via Contemporist

In a recent video by CollegeHumor, Emily Axford makes a staunch and high-five-filled defense of puns as she schools her coworkers and the viewer about wordplay.

“Sex Offender Shuffle” is a parody by Scott Gairdner of the awkwardly classic “Super Bowl Shuffle” performed by the 1985 Chicago Bears. However, instead of rapping about football, the actors rap about their supposed crimes.

For comparison, here is the original “Super Bowl Shuffle.”

via reddit