February 28
The church in a gang-controlled area of San Salvador where ex-gang members run a bakery. "During an interview, one man remarked that I'd probably never killed someone before; I confirmed that was true."
Simpsons characters drawn with pure CSS. The eyes blink!
February 27
A visualization of how coronavirus cases spiked in South Korea, linked to Patient #31. "Doctors at the hospital suggested she be tested, as she had a high fever. Instead, the woman went to a buffet lunch with a friend at a hotel."
A ranking by a planetary scientist of the "ringed planet" emojis from MS, FB, Apple, etc. and how close they are to Saturn. "Tilt: 45°, should be 26.7°"
Are you reading Laura Olin's newsletter? It's one of my favorites, published every Thurs. Here is this week's installment.
February 26
RIP Michael Hertz, whose firm designed the NYC subway map. "All New Yorkers carry some image of Mike's subway map in their heads."
Bob Iger has stepped down as Disney CEO, effective immediately. The company has been incredibly successful during his tenure.
February 25
February 24
Harvey Weinstein has been found guilty of rape. "A jury convicted Mr. Weinstein of felony sex crime and rape, but acquitted him of the most serious charges against him, predatory sexual assault."
You're Likely to Get the Coronavirus. "Lipsitch predicts that, within the coming year, some 40 to 70 percent of people around the world will be infected with the virus that causes COVID-19."
The trailer for season 2 of HBO's My Brilliant Friend series based on Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan novels. I loved season 1. March 16, can't wait!
This is sad: Michael Hughes died soon after the launch of his self-built rocket while filming a reality TV show for the "Science" Channel. He was trying to prove the Earth was flat.
February 21
Was Leonardo DiCaprio Actually a Star Before Titanic? What an odd question. The answer is obviously yes – and Titanic made him go supernova.
February 20
Being a Hollywood assistant sounds terrible. "I don't understand how a man can treat a person who has access to all of his bank accounts, emails, and Viagra prescriptions so poorly."
Oh no they're making a third season of Westworld? Spoiler alert: this show isn't going anywhere and we're going to be disappointed in the end.
Surprisingly frank interview with Ben Affleck about his divorce and alcoholism. "Shame is really toxic. There is no positive byproduct of shame. It's just stewing in a toxic, hideous feeling of low self-worth and self-loathing."
We worry about the effect of deepfake videos on politics & journalism, but 96% of the total deepfake videos online involve the sexual exploitation & abuse of women (e.g. "face-swap" videos & photos in which clothes are digitally removed).
February 19
Historian and political scientist Stephen Walt: "After impeachment, the president has been passing most of the checkpoints on the way to authoritarianism." And: "There are some flashing red lights on the dashboard."
A space tourism company is partnering with SpaceX to send 4 paying customers into orbit for 3-5 days (40-50 orbits). Price rumored to be "not dramatically less" than $50 million per person.
"Has Britain finally lost its marbles?" The British Museum may have to return the Parthenon Marbles to Greece under the UK's new Brexit-induced trade agreement with the EU.
February 18
Wikipedia article titles that are singable to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle theme song, incl. "Microsoft Solutions Framework", "Side Impact Protection System", and "Lincoln County, South Dakota"
In Focus is featuring photo stories of all 50 states this year. This week's installment is Vermont! Lots of fall foliage, water, green, and snow.
February 17
Backgammon legend Matvey Natanzon (aka Falafel) has died. This 2013 New Yorker profile of Falafel is supremely entertaining.
Researchers have discovered a T-cell found in human blood that can target cancerous cells while leaving healthy cells alone. The hope is that it can be used to develop a universal cancer therapy.
February 14
February 13
"Children can foster climate change concern among their parents". Daughters were particularly effective in shifting perspectives and male conservative parents "more than doubled their concern level".
February 12
Trailer for The Jesus Rolls, a sequel (of sorts) to The Big Lebowski featuring John Turturro's Jesus Quintana character. Turturro stars & directs. Early reviews aren't great.
February 7
Superb notebooks recording 30 years of meals through gorgeous illustrations. "Kobayashi's pen has accounted for every last spring onion and grain of rice, for the sheer pleasure of tasting life twice."
February 6
This has been featured on the blog in the past but it's always fun and very impressive to see Justin Obeirne's super detailed looks at Apple map expansions. This time the Jan 30th update which now covers 99.8% of the U.S.
February 5
Troubling. "Essentially, we're taking terra firma and making it terra soupy."
February 4
The kids are alright. "Teenagers are using group accounts to flood Instagram with random user data that can't be tied to a single person."
Breathtaking botanical animation with a hint of old-school encyclopedia illustrations. "Growing, blooming, rooting. Soil aeration, pollination. Enduring wind, rain, and pollution, dispersing seeds, and growing anew."
February 3
Meditation Barbie. Really. "Can it be those things? Yes. Do we need to feed kids a message that self-care looks a certain way or comes with expensive bath bombs, at an age when they'd be just as satisfied playing with the box Barbie came in? Probably not."
February 2
My Culture Is Not Super Bowl Entertainment. "Chiefs fans will don headdresses and mark themselves with red paint to perform the 'tomahawk chop'". We've seen the best and absolute bottom-feeding worst of sports fandom this week.
