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The latest links
Daft Punk is releasing a "drumless" edition of their album Random Access Memories. It'll be out in Nov.
Desalination system could produce freshwater that is cheaper than tap water. "Engineers at MIT and in China are aiming to turn seawater into drinking water with a completely passive device that is inspired by the ocean, and powered by the sun."
Part one of Erin Kissane's investigation into the role Facebook/Meta played in the genocide of the Rohingya people in Myanmar. "The harms Meta passively and actively fueled destroyed or ended hundreds of thousands of lives."
Ethiopian Tigst Assefa is the new women's marathon record-holder: 2:11:53. The men's record in 1965 was 2:12, but the women are getting faster quicker. Since '65: men are 11m faster while women are an hour faster. (And 5m vs 9m since '98.)
Hamburger Helper Unveils New Line Of Erotic Casseroles Meant To Be Eaten Off Naked Body. "The erotic casserole's box would include step-by-step instructions on how to blindfold one's partner and titillatingly dribble hot grease on their chest."
"Health experts are calling for a 'feminist approach' to cancer to eliminate inequalities, as research reveals 800,000 women worldwide are dying needlessly every year because they are denied optimal care."
The Norwegian secret: how friluftsliv boosts health and happiness. "Friluftsliv is not a specific activity. Hiking in the forest, kayaking along the fjords and skiing in the mountains could all be part of it, but so [is] simply sitting in the woods."
Actor Michael Gambon has died at the age of 82. He had a long career on stage and screen and gained international fame as Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter films.
September 26
Scientific American: How to Survive Mercury in Retrograde. "What does Mercury in retrograde have to do with electronics malfunctioning or social interactions taking a negative turn? Well, nothing."
Wow, all 67 episodes of Moonlighting will be available to stream on Hulu starting Oct 10. I loved this show as a kid and am curious to see how it holds up.
Corporate America Promised to Hire a Lot More People of Color. It Actually Did. "The year after Black Lives Matter protests, the S&P 100 added more than 300,000 jobs — 94% went to people of color."
This has greatly improved my macOS Notes experience: you can change the link color from that what-were-they-thinking yellow to a useful color by going to System Settings / Appearance and changing the "Accent color".
New York's Hottest Steakhouse Was a Fake, Until Saturday Night. How an in-joke amongst an extremely online group of friends became a restaurant/performance art piece for one night. "The menu purported to follow the life cycle of a cow."
In honor of National Pancake Day, may I humbly offer you The World's Best Pancake Recipe.
America's 2023 Covid booster rollout has been slow and uneven because it works like the rest of our health care system now (whereas before it was a single-payer program run by the US government).
Scientists Witnessed The Birth Of A New Accent In Antarctica. "The changes in accent were subtle, but significant enough to be acoustically measured and even predicted by a computational model."
September 25
David Frum in 2018: "If conservatives become convinced that they cannot win democratically, they will not abandon conservatism. They will reject democracy."
Physicians say transgender sports bans are a health issue. "Physically active youths have improved mental health outcomes, greater self-esteem and social supports, increased school retention rates..."
Painter David Salle has been working with an AI program trained on his work. "Salle had to admit the machine was finally starting to spawn images with true artistic value."
Jesus Chris, Nepo Baby. "I totally understand that people think I got my job because of my dad, but I definitely would have still been the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ even if my dad wasn't God."
Taylor Lorenz: The makers of counterfeit Louis Vuitton bags are promoting their wares with live fashion shows on TikTok.
Today is the day: every US household can sign up to receive four free at-home Covid tests delivered right to your residence. All you need to do is put in your name and address — it took me 20 seconds this AM. Pls boost/repost!
A timely message for tech/web workers watching the WGA get what they wanted from the Hollywood studios: Ethan Marcotte's new book You Deserve a Tech Union. "By standing together, we can build a better version of the tech industry."
The Writer's Guild and the Hollywood studios reach a tentative deal after 146 days of striking. WGA's negotiating committee: "We can say, with great pride, that this deal is exceptional..." Unions work — form them, join them.
September 23
Biden Will Join Autoworkers on Picket Line in Michigan, a Historic Move. "There is little to no precedent for a sitting president joining striking workers on a picket line."
September 22
How Big Ben Works: A Detailed Look Inside London’s Beloved Victorian Clock Tower. Always down for a clock mechanism explainer.
There's No Such Thing as an Ethical Museum. "At its core, an art museum is essentially a narrative of empire. If, as Napoleon quipped, history is a set of lies agreed upon, a museum is their physical manifestation."
How to identify and pronounce the names of ten common types of clouds, including cirrus, cumulonimbus, and nimbostratus.
The JWST has found carbon on the surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa. It's got water, it's got carbon...it's got life maybe?
Why Scalpers Can Get Olivia Rodrigo Tickets and You Can't. "Ticketmaster's 'Verified Fan' system doesn't help fans. It helps scalpers who have hundreds of accounts, use special internet browsers, and have dozens of credit cards."
Clarence Thomas Secretly Participated in Koch Network Donor Events. Just staggering corruption. As Jamelle Bouie says, this shows Thomas's contempt not only for the American public but the Supreme Court as well.
September 21
Studio Ghibli has sold a controlling stake to Nippon Television and will become a subsidiary of the Japanese broadcaster.
"If AI takes over those mundane projects and tasks that aren't creatively engaging or necessarily important, you free up designers to be creative in the same way the computer first did when it arrived on the scene."
"A tachyonic antitelephone is a hypothetical device in theoretical physics that could be used to send signals into one's own past."
Kinda fascinating piece about TikTokers Mixie and Munchie. "Instagram, I look at it now, is the stage. Pick who you want to play, look how you want to look. Create a character of your own because everyone online is fake, anyway."
Never past your prime! 13 peaks we reach at 40 or later. "Ageing doesn't have to mean slowing down. In fact, you're more likely to win an ultramarathon in midlife, not to mention get happier, wiser and more body confident."
Bentley vs. Train. This is peak internet right here. We will be whispering "tren" in my household for a long time to come.
The US government is restarting their program to send 4 free at-home Covid tests to every household in the country — you can sign up starting Sept 25th.
September 20
People's behaviour at music gigs is getting worse. I have three rules to solve that. "Most of these conventions simply fall under the catch-all rubric of Don't Be a Selfish Idiot. Being a selfish idiot, however, is very on-trend."
An essay on friendship. "Friendship is a form of purposive idleness. The relationship is based on equality, not on power."
The Zeitpyramide is a public art work designed to celebrate the 1200th anniversary of a German town. One block of the pyramid will be laid every 10 years until completion in 3183. The 4th block was just laid about a week ago.
Huh, you can take in-person and live virtual tours of Amazon's warehouses. "The tour shows you how products move through our fulfillment centers, focusing on four main processes: Pick, Pack, SLAM, and Ship."
"B612 is an highly legible open source font family designed and tested to be used on aircraft cockpit screens."
With democracy on the ballot, the mainstream press must change its ways. "We have to be truthful, not neutral. I would make sure that you don't just give a platform ... to those who want to crash down the constitution and democracy."
September 19
Son, You're Old Enough to Know the Truth, There is No Such Thing as the "Invisible Hand of the Market". "The fingers! They're unregulated!"
Close to 2,000 Environmental Activists Killed Over Last Decade. "Violence, intimidation, and harassment are also being inflicted to silence defenders around the world,"
Global adventurer Jan Chipchase just returned from a month-long trip in the Pamir Mountains, including lots of time in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. His travelogues are fascinating — start here and work your way forward.
The Man Who Became Uncle Tom. Clint Smith examines Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin and the remarkable, complicated man who helped inspire the title character, Josiah Henson.
Learn how to process your own JWST photos at home, "no technical experience required to start".
Ok wow, they are making Kristen Roupenian's Cat Person into a movie? And if you read the original short story in the New Yorker, you'll find the movie poster very familiar.