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The latest links
Lofi Cafe: relaxing beats for your workday.  lofi.cafe · via @sidebario
This is pretty cool: a DIY open-source split-flap display. If I had a small IRL business of some sort (bakery, cafe, package shipping place), I'd 100% have a functioning split-flap display on the wall.  github.com
How Fit Can You Get From Just Walking? "Walking is probably the single most underutilized tool in health and wellness."  gq.com
They're making a second Downton Abbey film. Inject this low-stakes Britishness right into my veins!  variety.com
Why You Can't Hear The Dialogue in Tenet. This drove me nuts – one of the reasons I was really disappointed in Tenet.  youtube.com
I guess "Are Outdoor Mask Mandates Still Necessary?" is a perfectly fine question to ask but is this really an urgent concern right now?  theatlantic.com
Herman Miller is acquiring Knoll to create a modern design supercompany.  newleaderinmoderndesign.com
"We're talking about a deadly flesh-eating vapor cloud that could affect 1 million people."  drillednews.com
The rules for Covid chess. "The queen just got her first dose of the Moderna vaccine and now thinks she can fly diagonally, horizontally, or vertically to Austin for vacation."  newyorker.com
"All adults in every U.S. state, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico are now eligible for a Covid-19 vaccine, meeting the April 19 deadline that President Biden set two weeks ago."  nytimes.com
April 16
Decades ago, Mac computers came with a sound that played when the machine couldn't boot properly. Behold, the Mac Chimes of Death.  512pixels.net · via @daringfireball
Audio from a hog calling contest mashed up with heavy metal music.  youtube.com · via @pomeranian99
A big update to Google Earth's Timelapse feature: "24 million satellite photos from the past 37 years have been compiled into an interactive 4D experience. Now anyone can watch time unfold and witness nearly four decades of planetary change."  blog.google
The Nation's Corn Belt Has Lost a Third of Its Topsoil. "I think it's probably an underestimate. There are areas where there's probably a centimeter of topsoil left."  smithsonianmag.com
Yet another small study indicates that psilocybin may be an effective treatment for depression.  bbc.com
April 15
I love the economic way in which this story by @migold & @choire is written: quick, dense sentences, short paragraphs, lots of links, informative but also opinionated. Reminds me of Suck.  nytimes.com
Fascinating Vintage Photos of a Batman-Themed Dance Class in New York in the 1960s.  vintag.es · via @lauraolin
An interview with Roxane Gay about art and art collecting. I love hearing curious and creative people talk about new obsessions – you tend to get a hybrid expert/beginner perspective that's really valuable.  news.artnet.com
Radiohead's first EP, Drill (1992), has found its way onto streaming services.  open.spotify.com
April 14
This is an interesting take on media via @austinkleon: there are centripetal books/movies/podcasts/etc. that suck you in and centrifugal media that spins you out.  austinkleon.com
Return the National Parks to the Tribes. "All 85 million acres of national-park sites should be turned over to a consortium of federally recognized tribes in the United States."  theatlantic.com
This is a really great website and you should see it.  y-n10.com · via @craigmod
Maybe America Is Racist. "Of all the manufactured hypotheses that attempt to explain these racial disparities, none of them even comes close to the simplest explanation. It's racism."  theroot.com
April 13
"Every act of gun violence is forever hurting countless lives – even when it's not taking them."  twitter.com
Citing "an abundance of caution", the FDA & CDC called for a temporary pause in giving the J&J Covid-19 vaccine to investigate a rare blood clot disorder that developed in six women (out of 7 million vaccine recipients).  nytimes.com
April 12
The majority of US state names have Native American origins.  reddit.com
Russia's official Covid-19 death toll in 2020 was ~57,000, but their total excess deaths were more than 362,000. "[The excess deaths] belie Putin’s contention that the country has managed the virus better than most."  nytimes.com
The Marshall Project has released a new style guide: 'What Words We Use — and Avoid — When Covering People and Incarceration'. For example, instead of "inmates" or "convicts", they recommend using "incarcerated people".  themarshallproject.org
Today I learned you can buy meal kits directly from Xi'an Famous Foods. Hand-pulled noodles at home!!  xiankits.com
A list of the 100 Greatest Korean Films Ever, as chosen by 158 international film critics from 28 countries. Films by Bong Joon-ho, Lee Chang-dong, and Park Chan-wook all rank highly.  koreanscreen.com
The first genetically modified mosquitos will be released in Florida this spring. "When released GM males breed with wild female mosquitoes, the resulting generation does not survive into adulthood, reducing the overall population."  undark.org
A short compilation of research on how being wealthy affects people's psychology. "To understand how money affects politics, we need to understand how money affects psychology."  theatlantic.com
"What exactly is meant by the term 'Holocaust'? It means that the global Jewish population in 2019 (~15 mil) is still lower than it was in 1939 (16.6 mil). So many Jews were murdered that we still haven't recovered demographically after 80 years."  yair.substack.com
Tracking down the original server that Yahoo was hosted on before it was called Yahoo.  twitter.com
April 9
A ranking of Anthony Hopkins' 20 best movie performances. Somehow, Silence of the Lambs *isn't* #1.  theguardian.com
A 900-Page Pre-Pantone Guide to Color from 1692: A Complete High-Resolution Digital Scan.  openculture.com
Thandiwe Newton Revealed That Everyone Has Been Spelling Her Name Wrong For 30 Years. "from now on, Thandiwe will be going by her given name, which is pronounced 'tan-DEE-way.'"  buzzfeed.com
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, dies aged 99.  theguardian.com
April 8
Light a virtual candle to honor the memory of someone murdered in the Holocaust. For a virtual experience, this was surprisingly moving. Did some research on my person: only 43 of 1600 people transferred to Auschwitz with her survived.  illuminatethepast.org
"Cycling is ten times more important than electric cars for reaching net-zero cities"  theconversation.com
New vocab word: "deal friends". Realizing I don't have those kind of friends. I've learned how to figure out who just wants things from me, then I just stop engaging on that basis, and they drift off in search of others to feed on.  theatlantic.com
"FDA approves first test of CRISPR to correct genetic defect causing sickle cell disease". CRISPR & mRNA vaccines are going to change a lot of things in the next 10 years.  news.berkeley.edu
'Welcome 2 America' is a 2010 Prince album that will be released for the first time in July.  nytimes.com
Terrifying short science fiction story. "What great message to another civilization can you possibly send with only 248 bits of information?"  reddit.com · via @kbiegel
A new documentary reveals why the supposed Leonardo painting Salvator Mundi was not displayed at the Louvre as planned. "The scientific evidence was that Leonardo da Vinci only made a contribution to the painting. There was no doubt."  theartnewspaper.com
A new HIV vaccine has shown promise in Phase I trials. "The vaccine successfully stimulated the production of the rare immune cells needed to generate antibodies against HIV in 97 percent of participants."  europeanpharmaceuticalreview.com
CDC (finally!): The risk of Covid-19 infection from contact with contaminated surfaces (fomites) is low. Let's end this "deep cleaning" hygiene theater and focus instead on hand washing, masking, and ventilation.  cdc.gov
"The contracts the Trump administration signed with the vaccine manufacturers prohibit the U.S. from sharing its surplus doses with the rest of the world."  vanityfair.com
April 4
A Ruthless Ranking Of The 25 Best Muppets. #1 is obvious, but I don't think I like where Big Bird is here.  npr.org
The Galactic Federation interviews Earth for membership. "Is there enough food to go around? It's looks like some people are starving."  twitter.com
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