- Just in time for Penguin Awareness Day (on Thursday, January 20th), the Wildlife Conservation Society‘s Argentina Program has released amazing underwater selfie video recently taken by a male Gentoo penguin fitted with a special camera.
- Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada, said, “I don’t know if the bird flu will become a pandemic, but if it does, we are screwed.” – via The Curious About Everything Newsletter
- In the city of Poznań, Poland, a group of eight clams controls the local water supply through a clever bio-monitoring system. – via kottke
- I have been trying unsuccessfully for a while now to find the recipe for the Pistachio & Orange “Redemption Cake” that Amelia Le Bruin made on The Great British Baking Show: Holidays (S7: E1 “The Great Christmas Baking Show”). If anyone has any leads, please let me know. [Update: I sent her an Instagram DM and she replied to tell me she’d try to find the recipe in her notes!]
- Oysters and Beer Have Always Been on the Menu at One of America’s Oldest, Most Renowned Restaurants. I have been here many times, including a memorable birthday dinner in my 40s, and can confirm that The Union Oyster House is a national treasure. – via my dad
- Netflix Is Telling Writers to Dumb Down Shows Since Viewers Are on Their Phones – via The Dailies
- The essay Who Goes Nazi? from the August 1941 issue of Harper’s Magazine should be required reading at every high school in America. – via Laura Olin (threads / bluesky)
- It was fun to read about all the wild Christmas gifts NFL quarterbacks got their offensive lineman last week. Did you know that NFL teams are required to provide “three dozen sliced oranges for halftime” for the visiting team? And that each team easily goes through at least 80,000 Uncrustables each year? Oh, and Notre Dame winning the Sugar Bowl on January 2, 2025 ensured a Black head coach will be in an FBS national championship game for the first time ever. – via The Athletic (threads / bluesky)
- People often ask me what I think their children should study to learn how to be a programmer, or create video games or apps and I always answer that they should start with the absolute basics. Learn Bash Scripting in 10 minutes is a great example.
Posts tagged “Boston”
Once upon a midnight dreary
Happy birthday, Edgar Allan Poe!
- “Hey gamers remember, on Dec 26 a lot of kids are gonna be online playing with their gifted console/game/pc for the first time. Be nice.” – via @dinocornel
- An Ode to Christmas Eve
- It’s a Christmas miracle! Netflix subscribers can play Civilization VI on iOS devices, free and with no ads. – via hiro.report
- In 1996 Sir Purr became the only NFL mascot to ever be involved in a live play. – via @gregstreetz83
- Is it just me or does every Instagram link shared via Apple Messages on iOS 18 take you to the wrong post? And the preview of the link in Messages never works.
The Alphabet Fades Away – via @anthony_onumonu- Democratic Representative Abigail Spanberger, on lawmakers’ unfounded theories about those weird drones over New Jersey: “Members of Congress need to not be opportunistic idiots who say shit that’s not true.” – via crooked
- Drinking caffeine (the equivalent of a very strong cup) thirty minutes before aerobic exercise increases fat oxidation by 11% in the morning and by 13% in the afternoon. – via Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s Pump Club
- A pregnant woman in Texas claimed her fetus was an HOV lane passenger, but got a ticket anyway.
- New England’s largest outdoor sculpture park is in Brookline, New Hampshire, about an hour north of Boston. – via my dad
Mall Parking Lots / on Holidays
Notes on a run
A Man Can Stand Up
Running to stand still
- Team owners Frank and Jamie McCourt paid a Russian physicist at least six figures — for five years! — to transmit positive energy to the Dodgers from his home in the Boston suburbs.
These LEGO recreations of iconic photographs are pretty cool.- Some friendly Mormons have posted an exhaustive guide to overcoming masturbation.
- Everyone knows that Jack sits right on the court. But who are all the other purple and gold fanatics? Someone has investigated and detailed the entire (updated) arrangement of Lakers courtside seating.
- Die-hard college sports fans will likely enjoy following The Bylaw Blog: The Unofficial Blog of NCAA Compliance. (RSS feed)
- I’m fairly confident that the NCAA and / or the NFL will not be happy about broncogator.com.
- California has — of course — the coolest proposed license plate redesign.
These #FridayFive: Favorite Northern Cities
View the Friday Five from June 11th, 2010
#FridayFive: Favorite Places to Drink Beer
Of course, the best place to drink a beer is in the garage after you just finished mowing the lawn.
Spenser: For Hire
On the death of my favorite author
There Are Places I Remember
There are places I remember In my life … though some have changed Some forever not for better Some have gone and some remain All these places have their moments … I miss my grandmother’s house sometimes. It’s interesting (to me, at least) because I’m not normally one to “miss” anything or anyone. People come,