December 24
Vermont has a monolith now. This is less than an hour from my house...I suppose I should make a pilgrimage?
Making a digital clock in Google Sheets. "'This is cool, really cool, but I feel like maybe you need an intervention' - Friend's reaction when I showed them this."
Several ways to think about the question "Is a hot dog a sandwich?" I love the incorrectly cut bagel halfway down the thread: "Gaze upon it. Can you accept this, in your heart? Can you call this a sandwich?"
American schoolchildren are going through school shooting drills while learning from home. Our society is sick sick sick.
New cosmological observations confirm that the universe is expanding faster than expected. The search continues for "some unknown quickening agent" that's driving the expansion.
True bookstore stories from the holiday season. "...a book called The Shrunken White Elephants of Style..."
Death to 2020 is a mockumentary by the Black Mirror creators about the year that was. Leslie Jones in the trailer: "I'd say [2020] was a train wreck and a shitshow but that would be unfair to trains and shit."
December 23
"Trump's cult of personality inspired abundant irrational betting" with MAGA worshipers continuing to back him in betting markets to win the election well into December. "It's the most irrational market I ever saw."
Russia's FSB (the modern-day version of the KGB and under the control of Putin) tried to assassinate opposition leader Alexei Navalny back in August. Navalny was able to fool an FSB operative into telling him all about the attempt for 49 minutes.
Good thread by @trvrb on the variant of SARS-CoV-2 that has emerged in the UK. Looks like it spreads more rapidly but we don't know by how much and exactly why yet.
The death rate in the US increased by ~15% over last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. "That would mark the largest single-year percentage leap since 1918" (WWI + flu pandemic).
December 21
From NiemanLab: Predictions for Journalism 2021. "Each year, we ask some of the smartest people in journalism and media what they think is coming in the next 12 months."
This is an upsetting, puzzling, and incredible read about a journalist who fell in love with "pharma bro" Martin Shkreli. "Over the course of nine months...Smythe quit her job, moved out of the apartment, and divorced her husband."
Just like a broken clock is right twice a day, here are 13 positive effects of Trump's presidency. "Trump's legendary laziness has left the world a cleaner and greener place."
December 20
December 19
The Ban Christmas movement (and SantaCon!) in America dates back to at least 1659 when Massachusetts Puritans banned the holiday for 22 years.
December 18
From Rob Walker, The 15 Objects That Defined 2020. Face masks, sweatpants, rubber bullets, heat lamps, monoliths, and Home Depot's 12-foot skeleton.
December 17
People Thought Covid-19 Was Relatively Harmless for Younger Adults. They Were Wrong. "New research shows that July may have been the deadliest month for young adults in modern American history."
The effect of so many restaurants closing will be devastating to the nation. Beyond shameful that government has done so little to help the industry and all the people it employs.
Tales of wedding photographers in the time of Covid. "I've been in hotel ballrooms inside and it's been packed like sardines and everyone's having a great time. No one's wearing masks."
A division of the CDC is developing standards for face mask filtration effectiveness. Great, but where was this in April or May?
Virus levels are high in the US so gathering is dangerous right now. But with effective vaccines arriving and treatment improving, there is genuine hope. So, a suggestion from @zeynep: hold off on gatherings for a few months to keep everyone safe.
December 16
The interesting/unfortunate thing about Tom Cruise yelling at his Mission Impossible crew for not following Covid-19 guidelines is that Cruise's pictured mask is vented. When he exhales, he unsafely spreads unfiltered air to those around him.
My pal Jessamyn noticed that Vermont's fleet of snowplows are unnamed, so she's soliciting some good names on Twitter. So far, I like Bernie Sander, How Now Brown Plow, Maplow Syrup, and Charles Vermontgomery Burns.
This is really fun: Blob Opera. "Play four voices with the help of machine learning."
Debunking false claims about Covid-19 deaths. "A larger share of Americans died in the 1st 9 months of 2020 than in any of past 50 yrs" and (after cancer & heart disease) Covid-19 was the 3rd leading cause of death in the US this year.
December 15
The Pfizer & Moderna Covid-19 vaccine results indicate that a single dose might be highly effective in curbing infection. Here @zeynep muses about the pros (getting more ppl vaccinated quicker) and cons (not enough data yet) of single dosing.
December 14
Austin Kleon on The Vampire Test, "a simple way to know who you should let in and out of your life".
For a new project, Roxane Gay is looking for nonfiction essays from emerging writers. Pays $2000/story. Details here.
Susan Orlean on why she reads mostly on the Kindle. Same here. If paper books were the only option, I'd probably end up reading only one book a year, at the beach in July.
The first Covid-19 vaccinations in the US were administered this morning in Queens. Only 11 months after the first diagnosed case in the country. What an amazing achievement.
December 12
December 11
December 10
"The worst people imaginable are dining out, study finds." Tipping is down, sexual harassment is up, and staff are being asked by patrons to "take off your mask so I know how much to tip you".
A look at life in countries that have controlled Covid-19 very well. "I don't feel anxious about catching the virus. I don't feel scared about not wearing a mask to public places. For lack of a better word, it's really normal."
December 9
From Sarah Larson at the New Yorker, the best podcasts of 2020. Great list, but IMO any list that leaves off @yourewrongabout is incomplete.
Some good guidance from the CDC about ventilation interventions that individuals, schools, businesses, and other facilities can use to mitigate indoor transmission of Covid-19. Ventilation is important and US businesses are still not up to speed.
Here's Why Vaccinated People Still Need to Wear a Mask. "The new vaccines will probably prevent you from getting sick with Covid. No one knows yet whether they will keep you from spreading the virus to others..."
December 8
Nepal and China have announced the results of a new official measurement: Mount Everest is officially 29,031 feet tall. "According to Nepal's Department of Survey, the measurement is within centimeters of accuracy."
The FDA's analysis of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine is looking really good. "This is what an A+ report card looks like for a vaccine."
Saying goodbye to 500 places that have closed in NYC during the pandemic. "It is difficult to locate the right perspective from which to mourn the death of a favorite business when we are also surrounded by sickness and death."
December 7
Important thing to know about the Covid-19 vaccines: they will keep you from getting sick *but* a vaccinated person may still be able to transmit the virus to others. "This is how vaccines generally work..."
How Japanese People Stay Fit for Life, Without Ever Visiting a Gym. "The first thing we wanted was just to get people walking. Everyone can do that. You walk, you talk, you get exercise and that helps build up a sense of community."
Combat at the Movies. "In each game you will encounter a classic film as acted out by one or more tanks from the game Combat by Atari." Movies include Citizen Kane, 2001, and Tokyo Story.
Tis the season: how to make your own "John McClane in the air duct" Die Hard Christmas tree ornament.
How Dating During a Pandemic Is Like Being in a Jane Austen Novel. "You regularly inquire about the health of each other's family members."
December 4
24 high-quality Covid illustrations. Free for commercial and personal use.
How 700 Epidemiologists Are Living Now, and What They Think Is Next. "I expect that wearing a mask will become part of my daily life, moving forward, even after a vaccine is deployed." <– same
December 3
How to post a tweet that contains a link to the tweet itself. "Fundamentally the challenge is just correctly guessing what ID a given tweet is going to get..."
Warner Bros. is releasing all 17 of their 2021 movies (plus Wonder Woman 1984) simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max. Films include Dune, the new Space Jam, The Suicide Squad, and Matrix 4.
Great lede from a high school journalism student about a hypothetical fire in the cafeteria. Quick, someone hire her!
"The story of the coronavirus in [Iowa] is one of government inaction in the name of freedom and personal responsibility." Heartbreaking and heartbreakingly avoidable. This extremist philosophy has got to be stamped out.
Video of the closed Verrazano Bridge oscillating in high winds. Don't miss the musical tune played by the bridge as it flexes – it sounds like a track from the score of Christopher Nolan's next film.
If @kottke readers have been wondering where @tcarmody went last year, he explains in a long, brutally honest newsletter entry. "Stick with me a little longer, and I think we can make this work."
Japanese businesses that last for hundreds of years (like a 1020-year-old mochi shop) may hold some lessons on how to build a resilient business. "Each generation is like a runner in a relay race. What's important is passing the baton."
Repurposing WWII-era posters warning against sexually transmitted diseases for the Covid-19 era. "Covid can be cured. But there's no medicine for regret."
December 2
From the NY Times, The 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century (So Far), including Michael B. Jordan, Saoirse Ronan, Viola Davis, Keanu Reeves, and Daniel Day-Lewis. Would love to see a companion list of 25 obvious omissions.
Paul Ford interprets the Salesforce press release about the company's purchase of Slack. "The raw hot synergy coming off this paragraph could merge lead into gold."
I raised my kids on Pixar – and it has ruined classic cinema for them. "The 13-year-old's counterpoint, incidentally, is that the kids are OK and it is adults who have been ruined by Game of Thrones."
How Your COVID-Flooded Hospital Will Triage. In California: "Doctors recommended not to try saving those already dying."
Syllabus for a Harvard class on Transgender Rights and the Law. "How does American law treat transgender, genderfluid, nonbinary, agender, and gender-nonconforming people?"
December 1
Japan's govt is subsidizing 80-100% of wages due to Covid-19. Norway: up to 90%. Italy: 80%. The US: 0%. We're killing people, destroying businesses, and bankrupting folks because, god forbid, we can't possibly just give people money!