I happened to notice today that the "Itchy and Scratch Land" episode of The Simpsons aired just over 30 years ago (on Oct. 2nd, 1994).

That means that, for a full 3 decades now, I have checked every single gift, souvenir, and tourist shop I've been in for a Bort plate. Its not obsessive and I'm not going out of my way, but if I see a rack of novelty license plates I make a point to look for Bort.

Anyone else, or am I alone in this particular pop culture predilection?

Thought about posting this to lemmybewholesome, but thought it might not fit everyone's definition.

via

The weird get weirder. He apparently spent $4000 to smash a guitar that was next to a signature.

A man who for some reason smashed up a guitar with a hammer in Texas may have thought it had been signed by Taylor Swift — but it was not, in fact, an official Swift-certified guitar.

But contrary to media reports, the guitar the man destroyed had not been signed by Swift — and was not a certified official guitar used by the singer, a source close to her merch company confirmed to Variety. The organization that held the auction, the Ellis County WildGame Dinner, presented the guitar with a signed CD insert but the guitar itself was not signed.

Some North Carolina cities were forecasted to receive 10 times their monthly rainfall amount.

The emergency flash flood warning issued by the NWS says that at least 3,000 people are at risk of emergency flooding downstream of the Broad River and Lake Lure Dam

This is in additional to the flash flood warnings happening all over the state.

Thanks to Costco fueled bulk buying, between the last time I bought deodorant and this week, my deodorant changed from the Scent of Adventure to the Scent of Cypress.

So is Cypress the sum total of adventure or an overdue respite?

I don't know why my brain connected Trump's "a concept of a plan" and his obsession with Hannibal (Lecter, but I went with Smith), but here you go.

Original post via JenniferJorgenson@mstdn.social

Stratasys is claiming infringements on patents it owns (included ones acquired from Makerbot) on things like purge towers, heated beds, and force detection. Many of them things common to most FFF/FDM 3D printers.

Its an interesting coincidence that this lawsuit against one printer maker is happening on the same day as a new product announcement (the Prusa MK4s) from another major printer maker.

In two complaints, filed in the Eastern District of Texas, Marshall Division, against six entities related to Bambu Lab, Stratasys alleges that Bambu Lab infringed upon 10 patents that it owns, some through subsidiaries like Makerbot (acquired in 2013). Among the patents cited are US9421713B2, "Additive manufacturing method for printing three-dimensional parts with purge towers," and US9592660B2, "Heated build platform and system for three-dimensional printing methods."

There are not many, if any, 3D printers sold to consumers that do not have a heated bed, which prevents the first layers of a model from cooling during printing and potentially shrinking and warping the model. "Purge towers" (or "prime towers" in Bambu's parlance) allow for multicolor printing by providing a place for the filament remaining in a nozzle to be extracted and prevent bleed-over between colors.

The SLAPP seems to working as intended.

An advertising industry initiative targeted by an Elon Musk lawsuit is "discontinuing" its activities and has deleted the member list from its website.

Stephan Loerke, the CEO of the WFA, wrote in an email to members, seen by Business Insider, that the decision was "not made lightly" but that GARM is a not-for-profit organization with limited resources.

Today, the House Judiciary GOP's official account on X called GARM being discontinued a "big win for the First Amendment" and a "big win for oversight." X CEO Linda Yaccarino also applauded the news.

Originally set to return in mid-June, Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams may be on the station until February, 2025.

During a press conference today, NASA representatives confirmed they have a contingency plan to bring astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams home from the International Space Station (ISS) early next year. If they’re unable to leave sooner aboard the Boeing Starliner spacecraft that brought them there

Tests conducted at NASA’s White Sands Test Facility pointed to deformed Teflon seals being a potential cause of the Starliner’s thrusters failing, but the agency isn’t expected to make a final decision on whether or not Williams and Wilmore will return using Boeing’s spacecraft until mid-August.

Back in the 00s there was a Canadian nature show called The Nature Nut (hosted by John Acorn) that did an episode of dedicated to beavers. It featured a catchy kids tune Big Wet Rodent Day that got some internet attention back then... mostly in kids music circles- never mind what age I was. At some point people decided this celebratory day was July 26th and we'd celebrate the beavers, nutria, coypu, and alike every year.

Full Episode of the Nature Nut episode in question
Same episode, timestamped to the original song

With beavers large and muskrats small
We stop to celebrate them all
The glory of a beaver dam
That makes you say I am (that makes me say I am)
A big wet rodent fan.