- 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.
Posts tagged “space”
When Indiana Jones tells you he needs your help fighting Nazis, you help Indiana Jones fight Nazis. – via @laurenthomanwrites (Vote!)- If you’re looking for some good news: The population decline of honeybees has actually reversed! – via @dirtyrealism42
- In 2034 people are going to rediscover these unhinged John Mulaney musical sketches and realize they were incredibly brilliant and hysterical. #SNL – via @gatordavid
- The Boss opening his show in Montreal with a cover of Ghostbusters makes me really happy. – via @coachbennett
- I wonder how many of the rabid anti-immigration folks in the US could pass a citizenship test?
- Learn programming by playing games! – via @denicmarko_
- I’m no rocket scientist, but this headline seems bad. The International Space Station Has Been Leaking for Five Years – via @laura.helmuth
- The Athletic just published a great article about sports video game soundtracks that’s worth a read.
- “Can you imagine the beautiful chaos if LinkedIn allowed commenting on open job positions?” – via @regina.thequeen.bee (I love this idea! Couldn’t someone make a browser extension for this?)
- Chocolate is America’s favorite Halloween candy, with Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups once again the top choice in an overwhelming majority of states. But don’t sleep on Nerds Gummy Clusters, which boosted sales at Ferrara Candy Company from $40 million in 2018 to $800 million last year.
- Wow. Texas leads the nation in wind energy generation with over 15,000 turbines producing between a bit more than 10% of the total electricity in the United States.
- An Expert’s Guide to Protein for Athletes – via @sweatscience
- New research found that if you want to feel younger later in life, don’t go easy on your training. – via Arnold’s Pump Club
- I’ve always been a sucker for black holes, so these thought experiments that fray the fabric of space-time were fun. – via kottke, of course
- Take thirty seconds out of your day to read this brilliant poem, If Adam Picked the Apple, by Danielle Coffyn. – also via kottke
Life in Space
An exploration of life aboard the International Space Station, and the surprising reasons the mission is still worthwhile
- Let’s go for a swim! (Don’t forget your sunscreen!)
- A friend of mine discovered what may be the most horrifying cause of death in the history of the world.
- College football season starts in just about eight weeks. Much of it is televised. You should watch.
- Driving with His Lordship would make getting lost pretty scary.
- The Rolling Stone article concludes by declaring we have no hope of winning in Afghanistan. That is 10,000 times more important than any stupid snipe by an unnamed “aide”.
- If you have an old iPhone collecting dust, you can easily convert it into an iPod Touch. Or you could simply try to let yourself be bored.
- Did you know that an astronaut on the International Space Station was tweeting photos from space? (see also)
- You Were Doing It Wrong is the best Ask.MeFi thread ever. It should be required reading for everyone on the planet. (Second best!)
2024-06-10: Broken links in this post have been removed and/or updated.
The Orbital Debris Quarterly News
Just can’t get enough news about space garbage? Well you are in luck, my friend! From this week’s TMQ comes news of what has got to be the strangest mailing list to which you can subscribe: The Orbital Debris Quarterly News is a publication of the NASA Orbital Debris Program Office. It is published four
Geostationary Banana Over Texas
From TheBrad comes news of a project to put a Geostationary Banana Over Texas. Obviously I am in love with the URL. (It’s hard to believe that someone else hadn’t already registered that particular domain name.) Plus it gives me another reason to use my favorite banana image before the end of the year. And
It Keeps Going, and Going …
On one of the most amazing accomplishments of mankind
Eddie
On eddies in the space-time continuum
Determined Chimp
If the space program teaches us anything about electroshock conditioning, it’s that a strong mind can get past it. Enos, a 39-pound chimpanzee, was trained with the technique to run through the routine he’d need to complete the first primate orbiting of the Earth. During months of training, if he pulled a switch or lever