homeaboutarchivenewslettermembership!
aboutarchivemembership!
aboutarchivemembers!

Quick Links for February 2018

The 52-hertz whale is the loneliest whale in the world
Working at Google sounds idiotic
Demo track recorded by a 17-year-old Amy Winehouse
A new report says services like Uber & Lyft are congesting cities and pulling riders away from public transportation
Give a Child the Universe: donate a movie ticket to a child or teen so they can see @ava's upcoming A Wrinkle in Time
How to sneeze or cough: into your elbow, not into your hands. Any recent caregiver to small children already knows this, but for the rest of you...
If you're reading this, you probably bend over wrong. "When you hip hinge, your spine stays in a neutral position. The bending occurs at the hip joint — which is the king of motion."
The discovery of possible pre-human footprints in Crete from 5.6 million years ago (well before pre-humans are thought to have migrated out of Africa) and the controversy surrounding them
Six Degrees of Wikipedia: find the shortest hyperlinked paths between any two pages on Wikipedia
Who's Missing From America's Colleges? Rural High School Graduates.
From a 1972 episode of All in the Family, Archie Bunker's comedic call to "arm the passengers" on planes to deter hijackings
An interesting assertion that Kristen Roupenian's Cat Person essay in the New Yorker may be a reworking of an early Nabokov novel
Singapore's Changi Airport, already the world's best, is about to get an upgrade in the form of a dome housing a 5-story garden, hedge maze, 100-foot waterfall, etc.
Long profile of Donald Glover in the New Yorker
Fact-check things before you share them on social media...it takes less than a minute to do so. (Whenever I don't do this, it bites me in the ass.)
First Dance, an iPhone X commercial from Apple highlighting and celebrating gay marriage
Charles Blow: the current push for stricter gun control is insufficient
Charts and graphs showing the alarming & unprecedented warming and lack of sea ice in the Arctic over the past month
Thanks everyone for letting me know that's SSL certificate is expired. My web host is on the case, spankings are being administered, etc.
Am I Going Blind? Frank Bruni woke up one morning with his vision suddenly impaired. A visually impaired colleague offered some advice: "There are things much harder than this."
Installation of the Clock of the Long Now has begun in West Texas. The clock is designed to last 10,000 years "with minimal maintenance and interruption".
Rural Chinese funerals often feature strippers who "pay tribute to fertility"
Good news! Gothamist, LAist, DCist, and DNAinfo have been bought by a trio of public radio stations (thanks to two anonymous donors)
FTL, a sci-fi short about faster-than-light travel
My First Year Sober, a comic by @edithzimmerman about how and why she quit drinking
"Clarence Thomas Sexually Harassed Me. Yes, He Should Be Impeached."
Here's Why Models Were Carrying Their Own Heads at Gucci. 2018, y'all!
The Kids Are Alright, a cartoon by @PiaGuerra
Stranger Things, but it's just Dustin swearing
This is some inspiring shit right here: "Just days after surviving a mass shooting, a team of teens are trying to start a revolution from their parents' living rooms."
Google Maps has incredible backwards compatibility...it still works on devices from 2007
A network map of the characters and movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (X-Men, Avengers, Iron Man). The map has gotten increasingly dense and interconnected in recent years.
Radiohead announces US & Canada tour dates in July & August 2018 (NYC, Boston, Philly, Montreal, etc.)
Interesting piece by Jelani Cobb: "In Ryan Coogler's 'Black Panther,' the hero and his antagonist are essentially duelling responses to five centuries of African exploitation at the hands of the West."
Since 1999, almost 150,000 orangutans living on Borneo have died due to hunting and their habitats being taken over by logging, mining, and farming.
Federal Judge Says Embedding a Tweet Can Be Copyright Infringement. "Even worse, the logic of the ruling applies to all in-line linking, not just embedding tweets." WTF?
More on how Trump and his lawyers used payouts, intimidation, and powerful friends at tabloid magazines to cover up his extramarital affairs
"With new evidence that Clarence Thomas lied to get onto the Supreme Court, it's time to talk seriously about impeachment."
Ronan Farrow on how Donald Trump managed his affairs with multiple women, including payments & secret settlements. This was published two days ago, and it's already forgotten. Any other person and this would be front page news for MONTHS.
"The car exceeded its 36,000 mile warranty 615.4 times while driving around the Sun." Where is the Tesla Roadster that was shot into space?
Black Panther is a huge success at the box office. Here's what that might mean for the cast, crew, Hollywood, and moviegoers.
Smart critique of Star Trek: Discovery, a show with infinite potential and a lot of squandered chances
Atlas Obscura asked readers to send in the best things they found pressed between the pages of old books
Original cast sequel to The Karate Kid whaaaaat?
It's official: Jeffrey Tambor will not return to Transparent after an investigation in sexual harassment claims. I love Transparent and his character in particular but: good, get him out.
Transgender Woman Breast-Feeds Baby After Hospital Induces Lactation
Wondering why stock prices for firearm companies jumped after the Parkland school shooting yesterday? Because the mass killing of children is good for business.
The discovery of a bright red pigment made from the cochineal bug native to present-day Mexico revolutionized European painting in the 16th century
Moodica: relaxing and satisfying videos with themes like momentum, cool down, zero gravity, and art therapy.
If you're as into Dunkirk as I am, you might enjoy this 30-minute making-of feature
The laws of physics at work: if you fire a soccer ball at 50mph out of cannon mounted on the back of a truck going 50mph in the opposite direction, what happens?
Candy heart messages written by a neural network. "LOVE BOT" "COOL CUD" "TIME HUG" "SWEAT PEAR" "YOU ARE BAG"
According to a recent analysis, the US govt cancelling all student debt would increase the GDP by $86-108 billion over 10 years, add 1.2-1.5 million jobs, and reduce the unemployment rate by 0.22-0.36%.
New satellite data says "Sea Level Rise Is Accelerating: 4 Inches Per Decade (or More) by 2100"
At NiemanLab, @laurahazardowen interviewed me about @kottke turning 20, the melancholy nature of the conversation about the open web, the surprising durability of email, and not having a plan.
Pickup lines generated by a neural network. "You look like a thing and I love you."
"The capacity to be alone is the capacity to love."
Just in case you need your kitchen mixer murdered out
Every reason that provoked David Banner to turn into the Hulk. "Being pushed down a mountainside by a bigfoot impersonator." "Being fed poisoned sushi."
Remember that scene in Jurassic Park where the velociraptor opens the door to the kitchen? Well, now Boston Dynamics' robot dogs can do the same.
Tumblr of succulent & cactus photos. (Currently 18% of my house is succulents and they're growing quickly...)
The Hip-Hop Word Count Database traces the language of hip-hop in over 50,000 songs going back to 1979 ht @dancohen
JUMPSUIT, an ungendered, multi-use monogarment for everyday wear. (They're selling jumpsuits and will also offer a free pattern for download.)
Ten female photojournalists who have won a World Press Photo Award share the stories behind their photographs
This study looks at how dice changed over 2,000 years to become more fair
After kicking an OxyContin habit, artist Nan Goldin is going after the drug's maker
Great no-holds-barred interview with Quincy Jones. Michael Jackson's thievery, Brando sexcapades, the Kennedy assassination, and a short history of pop music.
Austin Kleon: "Feeling blocked? Play with blocks!"
Interview with @choire about how he went from amateur blogger to the Styles editor at the NY Times
Remember The King of Kong, that documentary about Donkey Kong high scorers? Billy Mitchell has been caught cheating and his highest scores have been scrubbed from the list.
That time Jimi Hendrix covered Sgt. Pepper's right after the album was released with McCartney and George Harrison in the audience
Insider documents unveil Republicans' years-long scheme to gerrymander America and undermine democracy
This is interesting: Apple's HomePod speaker analyzes "the acoustics of the room" and adjusts the playback to suit
"Tom Hardy quoting Bane lines to his dog with a nut cup over his face is, without question, the best video I've ever seen"
What I Learned from Watching My iPad's Slow Death by @jwherrman. My son is working with this exact iPad right now and is wrestling with some of these same issues.
The Met Museum has 100s of art books available to read online for free
A photo tour of the shuttered storefronts of the West Village; high-rent blight in action
Clickhole: "McDonald's Is Releasing A New Fig And Ladyfinger McFlurry For Fancy Little Boys Who Desire A Treat"
Christine Peterson tells the story of how she coined the term "open source" 20 years ago.
This is the best explanation of Bitcoin I've ever read
This Is Why Uma Thurman Is Angry. Uma Thurman on what Harvey Weinstein (attacked her) and Quentin Tarantino (almost killed her filming Kill Bill) did to her.
Make sure you check out this week's issue of Noticing, the @kottke newsletter:]
The philosophical significance of breakfast in the movie Groundhog Day (at the B&B, at the diner, at the site)
On building private versions of Foursquare and Mapzen for personal archiving purposes
Imagined literary mashups, from Mrs. Gatsby (Woolf/Fitzgerald) to Of Rabbits and Men (Steinbeck vs. Watership Down)
I'm the Wife of a Former N.F.L. Player. Football Destroyed His Mind.
The Beautiful Shitholes, a playlist by David Byrne that represents the "smallest sample of the depth and range of creativity that continues to pour out of the countries in Africa and the Caribbean"
This killer whale can say "hello", "bye bye", and "Amy" (the name of her trainer)
28 essential films from the 20th century pertaining to African-American experiences, one for each day of Black History Month
Conflicted about the NFL's politics but still want to watch the Super Bowl? Purchase karma offsets in the form of charitable donations.
This video about how speedrunners gradually improved their times on Super Mario Bros level 4-2 through persistant innovation was way more interesting than I expected. Humans are relentlessly inventive.
A study of speeding tickets: "We found a large increase in the average speed of drivers who received speeding tickets on the weekends after 'Fast and Furious' releases."
Nintendo is making a mobile version of Mario Kart called Mario Kart Tour!
Wired is putting up a paywall around their content. Would have loved to see them try an "unlocking the commons" approach like The Guardian, Wait But Why, or @kottke instead
This is clever promotion by Kanye of his Yeezy Season 6 fashion collection
"San Francisco will retroactively apply California's marijuana-legalization laws to past criminal cases...expunging or reducing misdemeanor and felony convictions going back decades."
January 2018 Archives »