- I’ve been using the free native Apple Reminders app for over a decade now and at this point I’d be lost without it.
- The Best Black Friday Heist: They Told People It Was a Scam. People Paid Anyway. – via @froggyb.bsky.social
- How to read the entire Dog Man universe in order
- “If you’re going to talk shit about Kamala Harris‘ Bluetooth avoidance, please be aware Taylor Swift also follows a similar threat profile. For paparazzi spying on new music files before release.” – via SwiftOnSecurity
- If you didn’t read this the previous time I posted it, here’s a second chance: AI is a great idea if you think nobody at your company is great at what they do. [See also.]
- Did you hear about the cannibal who was expelled from school? He was buttering up his teacher.
- Olympic Gold Medalist Dominates the 100m at Her Kid’s Sports Day Event – via kottke
- Last year, Pakistan installed an incredible 22 gigawatts of solar power – more than Canada has ever built, and more than the UK has added in the past five years combined.
- I’ve (finally) started watching Andor S2 and am riveted. It’s definitely not as kid-friendly as the usual Star Wars fare, but I think it’s fantastic.
Hand Covers Bruise:
- POTUS signs (technically non-binding and illegal) executive order directing federal funding cuts to PBS and NPR.
- Despite their formal attire, penguins simply aren’t known for conducting commerce with the USA.
- Migrants held in Texas fearing deportation to notorious El Salvador prison work together to form human SOS.
- Beginning in the 2025-26 school year, thousands of high school students in Oklahoma will be required to learn about debunked claims that the 2020 election was tainted by fraud. The lesson will not be part of a course on conspiracy theories, but an official component of the new social studies curriculum created by Republican Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters.
- A third of parents with children aged 0 to 13 reported wishing they had more time to read to their children, and the number of parents saying their children have too much schoolwork to read books has risen significantly. – via kottke
- The official White House account posted an AI-generated picture of the POTUS holding a red lightsaber on Sunday, May 4th – the unofficial Star Wars day – intentionally mocking the point of the entire franchise. – via my dad
Posts tagged “POTUS”
- AI is a great idea if you think nobody at your company is great at what they do. This is an absolute must-read from Anil.
- My son sent me a silly YouTube short about a guy stumbling upon some ancient Greek statues buried at the beach. It sounded fishy to me, and the YouTube short gets many of the details wrong, but the Riace bronzes are very much real and the true story is just as wild. – via my son
- The Weird History of Fuzzy Toilet Seat Covers and Accessories – via my dad
- Why isn’t the state of Florida producing highly ranked quarterback recruits?
- I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned these, but I highly recommend getting JETech screen protectors for all your digital devices. There are oodles of companies that make screen protectors, but I like these because they’re so inexpensive, they work well, and they come with a cool installation kit that makes it very easy to apply the thing straight and without any air bubbles.
Everybody Wants to Rule the World:
- The Senate voted down a resolution to block the POTUS global tariffs. Everyone is angry at Whitehouse for skipping the vote, but it was never going to pass the House, and would have gotten vetoed regardless.
- It’s frightfully clear that, worm-infested or not, Kennedy‘s brain is marinated in wild conspiracy theories and dangerous misinformation.
- Internet laughs at White House briefing with Temu Draco Malfoy
- The Vietnam War Is Still Killing People, 50 Years Later
- Staff members at the National Science Foundation were told on April 30th to, “stop awarding all funding actions until further notice.”
- Jill Sobule, Singer-Songwriter of Groundbreaking 1995 Song I Kissed a Girl, Dies in House Fire – via @scalzi.com
- Egyptologist in Paris Discovers Secret Messages on the Luxor Obelisk: The 3,300-year-old monument has sat in the French capital’s center for almost 200 years, but no one else noticed these strange encryptions.
- I took the boys to see Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith in the theater on the 20th anniversary of its release. I saw it in Century City (several days before the official release) two decades ago (and then again a few days later!) and am happy to report that also viewing it hundreds of times on a TV did not detract at all from the thrill of seeing it on the big screen. We loved it. It’s wild that the re-release of a twenty-year old movie made north of $42M over the weekend. Related: I love reading about Star Wars movie mistakes.
- “The choice of wood was completely incomprehensible,” isn’t the best line in this story about a concentration camp violin, but it’s up there.
- In sport, turning 30 was once the point where pundits started sharpening retirement speeches. But Cristiano Ronaldo, LeBron James, and Lewis Hamilton didn’t just stretch the narrative, they shattered it.
Boulevard of Broken Dreams:
- “DOGE” has tapped into some of the most sensitive and valuable data in the world. Now it’s starting to put it to work.
- Related: “DOGE” says it has saved $160 billion. Those cuts have cost taxpayers $135 billion. – via @heidiyounggrasshopper
- Public health, modern medicine, and disease mitigation will suffer under RFK Jr. because he sees sick people – not sickness – as the problem.
- Vince Vaughn poses with POTUS in the Oval Office. Pathetic.
- Senate Democrats who took heat for government shutdown vote now feel vindicated. Pathetic.
- Oh Great, Millionaires Are Racing Sperm Now
- The Supreme Court’s Late-Night Alien Enemy Act Intervention
- The Falconer time travel sketch is genius, and I can’t believe it took me almost twenty years to see it.
- Space Pants is almost as good. (Check out its Reddit thread and backstory, too.)
- Ballad of a Thin Man has always reminded me of The Second Coming. It’s more than a little disturbing that they’re equally relevant these days. – via my dad
- The Roman Empire’s original smartwatch: portable sundials
- I have been using Dotster as my registrar for this site for more than 25 years. I was a little miffed to learn last year that they were acquired by Web.com, but didn’t think much of it because my site’s registration is paid far in advance and I rarely think about it. Today I got an email telling me that Web.com was acquired by Network Solutions, and I cannot stand their platform. Most of my 50+ domains are registered at Dreamhost, so I’ll likely be switching soon.
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world:
- “The last ship from China will dock at a West coast port on the 29th, and the last Chinese ship will dock on the East coast around May 10th. […] We’re screwed.“
- [Current] administration officials are placing dozens of posters of arrested unauthorized immigrants along the White House driveway.
- POTUS pardons Nevada politician who paid for cosmetic surgery with funds to honor a slain officer.
- A little-known firm with investors linked to JD Vance, Elon Musk, and POTUS could get a piece of the federal expense card system — and its hundreds of millions in fees.
- Republicans are trying to steal an election in North Carolina.
- Please understand that when 2A cultists point their fingers at bizarre tragedies – like what happened recently in Vancouver – as some sort of justification for their infantile predilection for firearms, an excruciatingly rational response is that the entire automobile industrial complex is also misguided, cancerous, and evil.
- “Stranger, here you will do well to tarry; here our highest good is pleasure.”
- In Praise of The Pitt, the Most Normal Show on Television
- Bluesky has overtaken its flailing rival Twitter in hosting posts related to new academic research. – via eicathomefinn.bsky.social
- How do you get over losing The Masters?
- Rick Steves is now on Bluesky!
- For your enjoyment: Here is Secretary of Education Linda McMahon talking about implementing AI in schools, but pronouncing it “A1” as in “A1 Steak Sauce” – via joshkovensky.bsky.social
- This Is Not Normal:
- Daughter captures the moment masked ICE agents smash the window of her mother’s car in order to take her into custody. – via mims.bsky.social
- America Is Backsliding Toward Its Most Polluted Era
- WITAF? Members of the cabinet, as well as Congresspeople and Senators, are being instructed to wear a golden POTUS bust lapel pin as a tribute to their inglorious, convicted felon leader. – via kwcollins.bsky.social
- Just weeks away from graduation, at least 50 international students at Arizona State University have inexplicably had their visas revoked and have been blocked from completing their degrees.
- The acting head of the Internal Revenue Service resigned after the Treasury Department and Homeland Security reached an agreement to share tax data from some immigrants living in the country without legal status.
- The director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement said that deportation should operate just like Amazon “But With Human Beings” – via thebasement.nz
- Days after being confirmed in February, FBI Director Kash Patel was apparently removed from his post as the acting chief of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives – via girlsreallyrule.bsky.social
- On The (Apocryphal?) Rules of Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote Cartoons – via kottke, natch
- With the possible – possible – exception of Sonny Corleone‘s toll booth scene, I cannot think of anything in the universe that wouldn’t be dramatically improved by adding a college marching band.
- Netflix is developing a reality television series based on the classic board game Monopoly. Fingers crossed that the producers convey that the only realistic way to win the game is to hoard all the money and property, causing everyone else to eventually quit in despair and destitution, and that unfettered capitalism is actually terrible for any species. – via The Dailies
- Good news! AP wins reinstatement to White House events after judge rules government can’t bar its journalists
- A federal judge ruled former Florida QB signee Jaden Rashada can proceed with his lawsuit against Gators football coach Billy Napier over a $13M NIL deal gone wrong.
- There are actually a few cool items in this Wirecutter article: 18 Things You Didn’t Know Your iPhone Could Do
- Instagram users under 16 will no longer be able to livestream or unblur nudity in direct messages without parental approval. This seems like something that should have already been the policy, but I guess I’ll take the win. – via me
- Why don’t we remember being a baby? Infants can encode specific memories, a new Yale study shows, suggesting “infantile amnesia” might be a memory retrieval problem.
When Is This Going to Stop?
- POTUS signs executive orders to… boost coal production.
- China slams Vance for ‘peasants’ slur as tariff war intensifies – via thebasement.nz
- WTF? Administration orders half of national forests open for logging – via moudhy.bsky.social
- 20 Rude Questions the Media Should Ask – via markjacob.bsky.social
- Inside ICE Air: Flight Attendants on Deportation Planes Say Disaster Looms
- The AARP strikes again, this time with a quick and easy form you can use to urge your representatives to protect Social Security.
- A few weeks ago I was behind a woman in a bright blue Jeep Wrangler with one of those custom spare tire covers on the back. It was emblazoned with “Life Is Better in Flip-Flops” in cursive. Now, I cannot stand flip-flops. I hate them with the burning intensity of a million suns. I think they’re annoying and slovenly and uncomfortable and I detested every time either of my beloved grandmothers bought me a pair for the beach. (Even though they hardly knew each other and were separated by 1200 miles, they somehow both bought me and my siblings multiple pairs over the years.) Wearing flip-flops gave me blisters every time and they always broke or got snagged on something. I hate flip-flops. But, and I mean this so hard, that crazy woman in her Jeep does not hurt me at all by loving flip-flops. This is America. If it doesn’t hurt you (or anyone else), let people love what they love. [This is not about flip-flops.]
- Tina Fey Sparks Debate After Calling Out Rich Celebrities Who Have A ‘Side Hustle’… on an episode of the Amy Poehler side hustle podcast Good Hang.
- The Hubble Space Telescope explores the universe 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. That means it has observed some fascinating cosmic wonder every day of the year, including on your birthday. – via kottke
- It’s too bad there’s no trustworthy way to add third-party custom Apple Watch faces, because I would love making mine look like the Fallout 4 Pip-Boy.
- One more thing? It just feels wrong to watch The Handmaid’s Tale on Disney+.
Garbage World:
- Here’s a depressing (but important) crowdsourced Google Doc detailing all the resignations, layoffs, terminations, and general bad news from the US Department of Health and Human Services – via YLE
- POTUS pardoned a company sentenced to $100 million in fines for breaking money laundering laws, because he clearly thinks money laundering is what makes America great.
- The national security of the United States is in the hands of incompetent miscreants who don’t understand anything about technology or security.
- The U.S. Naval Academy has removed nearly 400 books from its library after being told by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to review and get rid of ones that promote diversity, equity and inclusion.
- The current administration is actually dedicating federal resources to investigate the feasibility of invading Greenland.
- The administration has fired staff who were working on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration bird flu response as part of its mass layoffs at the Department of Health and Human Services.
- Whoa! Archaeologists Discover Tomb of Unknown Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh. (Doesn’t that make two this year?!)
- My son and I somehow got sucked into a rabbit hole watching Michael Jordan YouTube highlight videos and I had fun trying to explain to him just how jaw-dropping the 1997 flu game was to watch live.
- I recently listened to the Smartless podcast interview with John Lithgow, which reminded me that for a couple of years I lived on the fringe of Beverly Hills and frequently saw him walking his dog around the neighborhood when I’d go on my morning runs. (We never interacted beyond a gentlemanly nod, but he seemed like a lovely man.)
- France‘s far-right leader Marine Le Pen has been barred from seeking office for five years after being found guilty of embezzling funds from the European Union. It’s always refreshing to see powerful politicians held accountable for breaking the law. We should try that in the US.
- The first Shohei Ohtani card to sell for $1 million included a coveted piece of his pants.
- I really love these LEGO picture frames, shelves, and office organizers.
- Apple is pretending to sell the computers from Severance, which I think is a cute little marketing gimmick.
Good News for People Who Like Bad News:
- Turkish student at Tufts University detained by masked men claiming to be police
- Top FDA Vaccine Official Resigns, Citing RFK Jr.‘s ‘Misinformation and Lies’
- FCC commissioner opens investigation into Disney and ABC for diversity policies
- How a Landlord and a Florida PR Firm Helped POTUS Kick Off the Tren de Aragua Gang Panic
- Administration Abruptly Cuts Billions from State Health Services
- The Florida State Health Department released a letter with a surprising new recommendation that contradicts standard of practice guidelines for measles outbreaks. – via YLE
- A paralysed man can stand on his own after receiving an injection of neural stem cells to treat his spinal cord injury.
- From the Department of NSS: Media Use Is Linked to Lower Psychological Well-Being “The more time spent on screens, the greater the negative effects—especially among young people. The study suggests excessive media consumption disrupts essential psychological needs, such as real-world social interaction, physical activity, and sleep quality.” – via Arnold’s Pump Club, which is a surprisingly informative daily newsletter
- Lionel Messi trading card controversy: Who is signing his autographs? (See also: Why do companies buy memorabilia like the Ohtani ball and Skenes card? It goes back to Babe Ruth.)
- Tesla Is Dying, and Polestar Wants to Kill It
- The nightmare scenario for Hollywood has arrived: Viewers are choosing free creator content over premium subscriptions. Nielsen data for February 2025 show YouTube now dominates nearly 12% of total TV viewing time—more than Disney and about equal to Netflix and Amazon combined. And this doesn’t even count viewership on phones and tablets, where creators dominate even more. – via The Dailies
- Good news: Kentucky governor vetoes GOP abortion bill, says it undermines doctors and endangers pregnant women.
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad opened at the Magic Kingdom in 1980 and I still think of it as one of the newer rides.
Where Have You Gone, Joe DiMaggio?
- I don’t understand why the AP bent over backwards to avoid mentioning the political party affiliation of an ex-North Dakota lawmaker sentenced to ten years in prison for going to Europe with intent to pay for sex with a minor.
- Lest We Forget the Horrors: An Unending Catalog of [the Current Administration’s] Cruelties, Collusions, Corruptions, and Crimes
- “DOGE” claims it’s not an agency that has to comply with FOIA requests, so The Intercept is suing them.
- POTUS nominates Republican once accused of mishandling taxpayer funds as HHS watchdog
- For Fascists, Hypocrisy Is a Virtue
- In the new documentary Secret Mall Apartment, a group of artists recount how they turned a hidden nook in a Providence shopping center into a living space for four years. – via my dad
- If you’re ever in Los Angeles, check out The Nicolosi Estate. The long-abandoned 8700-square-foot, 4-bedroom, 5-bath home is encircled by an amazing 300-foot-long serpentine swimming pool, complete with rock bridges and grotto-style hot tubs, which is visible from the road. The estate was commissioned by Johnny Weissmuller, who won five gold Olympic medals in swimming (and a bronze in water polo!) and portrayed Tarzan in a dozen films from 1932 to 1948.
- Apple is losing a billion dollars per year on Apple TV+ and that’s just fine. – via @TrungTPhan
- I cannot tell you how many times I’ve used these CSS drop-shadow snippets.
- Technofossils: How humanity’s eternal testament will be plastic bags, cheap clothes, and chicken bones. – via kottke
This Is Exhausting:
- “Under the previous administration, we looked like fools. Not anymore.” – Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, shortly before accidentally texting war plans to a journalist.
- A federal judge temporarily blocked the Environmental Protection Agency‘s attempt to recoup $20 billion in Biden-era climate grants, dealing the latest judicial setback for [the current administration]’s attempt to assert unilateral control over spending.
- There Is No Method to [the President]’s Madness. He’s Simply Insane.
- The corporation behind Roundup herbicide has paid out nearly $11 billion in lawsuits. Now it’s backing an EPA rule that would stop the bleeding.
- An Austin attorney is suing the Department of Education after seeing her student loan payments skyrocket.
- A Coast Guard Commander Miscarried. She Nearly Died After Being Denied Care.