- Take a moment this holiday season to indulge in the Southern University sousaphones playing the Veggie Tales theme in the Superdome parking lot.
- Actor Michael Sheen purchased and then forgave $1.3 million of his neighbors’ debts.
- This first-person account from a high school kicker of what it’s like to miss a game-tying PAT is riveting.
- There are no words to convey how excited I am about the return of The Muppet Show, even if it’s just a one-off. See also: Forks Out: A Benoit Blanc Sesame Street Mystery
- Yes, There’s a Parallel Parking Championship – via Jason
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“For every complex problem, there is a solution that is clear, simple, and wrong.” – H. L. Mencken
If you’ve been extremely online (and building things on the web) since the middle of the 1990s, you will enjoy reading this Christoffer Artmann essay: 30 Years of <br> Tags
- After much cajoling, last night our son finally convinced us to watch Interstellar (2014, Matthew McConaughey) and I loved it. Brilliant film.
- I feel like this archive of fictional companies is missing a few thousand references from The Simpsons alone, but it’s a good start.
- Fahlo is a wonderful service that (for a nominal fee) allows you to track an animal in the wild. I can confirm that kids love this app.
- The full story of Fedora Man is in the running for the best thing on the Internet this year.
- Ugh: The rise of deepfake cyberbullying poses a growing problem for schools.
- The serial killer epidemic in 1970–80s US may have been caused by lead fumes from cars and factories, and solved by environmental regulations. – via Tom Whitwell
- Take a minute to recall The 2017 Hater’s Guide To The Williams-Sonoma Catalog – via Lauren
- Friendly reminder: The mass deportation of undocumented people was one of Hitler’s largest coercive policies before the war.
- Just in time for Christmas! “This lightproof, soundproof vat filled with our signature vine-ripened, zesty sauce marks the beginning of an exciting new era in tomato-based relaxation.
Posts tagged “internet”
- A study of 500 diners found “attractive servers earn approximately $1,261 more per year in tips than unattractive servers.” Mostly because of “female customers tipping attractive females more than unattractive females.” – via 52 things I learned in 2025
- A recent randomized trial on exercise for cancer patients breaks new ground in showing the life-extending powers of a workout.
- Scope Creep is an online horror video game about being a project manager.
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“Time is indeed a cruel mistress.”
History and the Passing of Time is a brilliant (and short) essay by Daniele Bolelli, host of the History on Fire podcast.
- This is your annual reminder that the album Sugar & Booze by SNL alum Ana Gasteyer is chock full of fantastic holiday music and you can stream it on Alexa.
- I have at least eight of these Wyze smart plugs and they are great for scheduling holiday decorations. (I have two Wyze outdoor plugs, too.) This year I bought two more of these battery-to-plug adapters. (They let you convert battery-powered decorations—like snow globes and animated Santas—so you can plug them into the wall.)
- And you may ask yourself, “How did I get here?” (This is actually a fabulous explanation of how the Internet works and not, sadly, a site about Talking Heads. Coincidentally, I just learned a few days ago that David Byrne was at RISD at the same time that my dad was at PC, and my dad said Byrne used to work in the window of a New York System place grilling hot dogs.)
This might be the most wholesome thing on YouTube. Dad, How Do I? is a collection of videos teaching you how to do all sorts of basic things. – via Jason- It’s hard for me to believe it’s been a decade since the release of The Force Awakens. (I still love BB-8 and was pleasantly surprised to learn he was imagined into existence by J.J. Abrams himself!)
- In Bolivia a team of paleontologists have discovered and meticulously documented 16,600 footprints left by theropods, the dinosaur group that includes the Tyrannosaurus rex.
- How Jeffrey Lurie, Jason Kelce, and the Eagles saved the tush push.
- Police in France have found the long-lost graveside bust of Jim Morrison.
- It was never meant to be proprietary. That’s just one of many good points Anil makes in MCP is the coming of Web 2.0 2.0.
- Pope Leo XIV heads the Catholic church from Vatican City, where a secret tennis court awaits.
- Holy smokes. That Preakness win by Journalism was incredible.
- The epic collapse of Florida governor Ron DeSantis is well deserved.
Stuck in the Middle With You:
- The current administration is trying to repeal a Biden rule that requires lead water pipes to be replaced. – via kellster.bsky.social
- U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi sold between $1M and $5M worth of shares on April 2, just before the POTUS “Liberation Day” press conference that sent the stock market tumbling. – via darthbluesky.bsky.social
- I strongly agree with this statement, because it’s hard to stomach the idea that Everyone Is Cheating Their Way through College – via my friend
- Is anyone truly surprised that Kristi Noem, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, has no idea what habeas corpus means? See also: The Questionable Case of Kristi Noem’s $50 Million Luxury Jet
- Criminal investigation launched related to Hope Florida, the sham charity championed by DeSantis and his wife. – via progressflorida.org
- Here’s a really lovely resource: Mister Rogers on How to Talk to Kids About Distressing News Events – via kottke
- Of two drivers heading towards each other down a one-way street, surely it is the one driving the wrong way who is most sorely in need of feedback. But it is unfortunately unusual to get a focused note of timely, specific, and usable criticism before things go too badly wrong.
- Scientists are using AI to decipher old scrolls charred by the Vesuvius volcano.
AI means the end of internet search as we’ve known it is a great article from MIT Technology Review about the history of Google and search engines and the wonders of the (inevitable) artificial intelligence future, but I fear we’re looking at yet another Torment Nexus. – via Jodi Ettenberg- “He’s the Veruca Salt of presidents.”
- The current administration is staging a coup, trying to illegally eliminate agencies, seize control of the U.S. government’s payment systems, and gain access to sensitive data on all Americans without any oversight. It’s time to fight back like our democracy depends on it. – via Laura Olin
- “DOGE” has already thrown entire swaths of the federal government and its programs into disarray – programs that serve millions of Americans. ProPublica is is attempting to document who is involved and what they are doing.
- Billionaire’s blitzkrieg on D.C. has brought into focus his vision for a dramatically smaller and weaker government, as he and a coterie of aides move to control, automate – and substantially diminish – thousands of public functions.
- ICE is gaming Google to create a mirage of mass deportations.
- The team at Court Watch is maintaining an ongoing list of Lawsuits Related to Trump Admin Executive Orders.
- Take a minute today to read this tribute to Dan Jezek and the story of his website, bricklink, the world’s largest online LEGO marketplace.
- A Guide to Using Signal for Government Workers – via kottke, who is doing a great job reporting on the ongoing coup
- In less than eight years the NCAA went from banning North Carolina from hosting championships due to its bathroom bill to [kowtowing to a cartoonishly evil conman]. – via @bubbaprog.lol
The universe could undergo a ‘catastrophic change’ that could alter absolutely everything, quantum machine shows.- Hopefully reading this will help convince you to dump Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and Twitter. The Technological Poison Pill: How the ATProtocol Baked into Bluesky Encourages Competition, Resists Evil Billionaires, Lock-In & Enshittification – via Jodi Ettenberg
- The President’s plan to dismantle the Department of Education could prove more costly for red states than blue.
- Incompetence and desperation are a bad combination. The important thing to remember is that [the “DOGE” attempt to get employees to resign] isn’t about economic efficiency, despite what the billionaire at the helm may say. It’s about efficiently breaking morale within the federal government to make it easier to dismantle from the inside.
- Related: “DOGE” staffer steps down after racist posts emerge
- “NOAA workers ordered to stop all communications with foreign nationals. Workers covering things like air transportation safety, drought, monitor coral reef destruction, and guarding railway shipping carriers against dangerous weather affected.” – via @timmarchman.bsky.social
- “Twenty years ago, when Jeremiah Trotter, Sr won an NFC championship with the Eagles, baby Trotter Jr. was on the field, in his father’s arms. Now he’s playing for the Eagles in this year’s Super Bowl.” – via @npr.org
The Death of Twitter
In which he laments the demise of a once-beautiful service
Wireless XBOX 360 + DirecTV
Update Feb 2017: If you are lucky enough to have one of the newer DirecTV DVRs, you may notice that there are two networking / CAT-5 ports on the back. If the DVR is on your WiFi network and / or connected to it via the top port, you can plug a CAT-5 cable directly
TinyURL! Bookmarklet
In which I explain how to create a handy bookmarklet
Terms of Use
I can’t tell if Mike’s Terms of Use are supposed to be serious or if they’re parody. That worries me.
