bookofjoe

Octopuses Gone Wild

[Octopuses caught on video throwing silt and shells around themselves and at each other.]

YouTube description: "Octopuses appear to deliberately throw debris, sometimes directed at other octopuses, according to a study published November 9, 2022 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE."

Darren Incorvaia, in a New York Times story published that same day, offered an entertaining perspective on the scientists' findings as well as commentary by octopus authorities not involved in the work.

Find the 12 differences

Original photo on the left.

Altered image on the right.

Answers here.

Production notes: I've been trying to figure out how to return this quite popular boj feature, for years appearing on Sunday morning.

Once I abandoned posting photos as a result of the near-fatal hairball Typepad coughed up recently, featuring nothing but broken photo links if anything at all appeared, and moved on to 100% YouTube videos for graphic content, I pretty much thought that was the end for "Find the 12 differences."

As any fool can plainly see, it's back.

What I did was place the two images side by side on my MacBook Pro 16" screen, then put my iPhone on my fancypants new tripod and frame and light the image as best I could, then hit "Record" on the video camera.

Only after the colorful flowers onscreen defaulted to my screen saver setting (note to self: disable screen saver for the next episode) did I see myself reflected in the screen for the 8 seconds it took me to realize what had happened.

Lucky I had pants on!

My TechnoDolt©® video editing skilz are nonexistent, as is appropriate for such a designation, and thus I do not dare try to edit the video and eliminate my cameo lest I erase the whole thing.

So have at it!

You will be glad to know that I tried and succeeded in finding the 11 of the 12 differences using ONLY the video you see up top, blown up to full screen.

Pro Tip: Pause the video and you won't have to keep replaying it while you attempt to find the differences.

It's important here in Podunk Valley to eat your own dog food, what?

One more thing: I'm aware that the lighting is uneven, brighter in the center than the sides; I will use better lighting  for the next episode.

Stay tuned!

'How We Make Jacker Snacks'

It first glance I thought this was a clever riff but upon further inspection my Crackerjack Research Team©® assured me it was no humbug.

CB's Nuts makes Robust Roast Peanuts in the Shell that are almost always sold out.

I know why: it's because they're sooooo good.

I visited their online shop to see if perhaps they were back in stock but alas you have to buy a bulk 12-pound box.

That's nuts.

However, browsing the store I happened on Jacker Snacks, new since my last visit: tell you what, they had me in an upscale minute.

I wonder how long till Cracker Jack's parent company sends them a cease-and-desist.

I'm not waiting to find out.

$10.