A cyberdeck is a homemade portable computer in the cyberpunk mold (utilitarian, DIY) and NickZero's Ultra Minimal Cyberdeck [instructables.com] is exemplary: just a single-board computer, a tiny keyboard (cf. my… Read the rest of the article: Cyberdeck with punishingly minimal 30% keyboard
Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields [airfields-freeman.com] collects America's half-forgotten strips and reconstructs each one's history from old aeronautical charts, topographic maps, aerial photographs, and tips from readers who flew or lived… Read the rest of the article: The obscure airfields of America
When astronomers first observed iPTF14hls in September 2014, they identified it as a supernova and expected it to dim within 100 days. Instead, it kept erupting. Over approximately 1,000 days,… Read the rest of the article: A star discovered in 2014 has exploded six times and none of the theories explain it
The Honjō Masamune, forged in the 13th or 14th century and passed from shōgun to shōgun as a symbol of the Tokugawa dynasty, is considered one of the finest Japanese… Read the rest of the article: Japan's greatest sword was surrendered to a US sergeant in 1946. Nobody knows where it is.
In February 1985, a 29-year-old woman from Tokyo's Suginami neighborhood sent a letter to the Japanese magazine Book Magazine. "I'm not sure why," she wrote, "but since about two or… Read the rest of the article: In 1985, a Japanese woman wrote a letter about bookstores making her need to use the bathroom. It became a phenomenon.
From 1970 to 1974, the Varosha district of Famagusta, Cyprus, was "one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world," a favorite of Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Raquel Welch,… Read the rest of the article: In 1974, Turkish forces fenced off a Cyprus beach resort. It's still empty.
John Lahr, writing in the London Review of Books, offers the sharpest piece I've read on Sid Caesar — ostensibly a review of David Margolick's new biography When Caesar Was… Read the rest of the article: Sid Caesar built the writers' room that taught Mel Brooks, Neil Simon, Carl Reiner, and Woody Allen how to be funny
A study published in Neuroscience by researchers at Spain's University of Zaragoza scanned the brains of 100 young adults and found structural differences in those who hold authoritarian beliefs —… Read the rest of the article: Brain scans of authoritarians show reduced grey matter in regions for empathy and social reasoning
I'm a huge fan of street art, and this recent piece in Naples, Italy by World Press Photo Award winner and acclaimed photojournalist Eduardo Castaldo is one of the best I've… Read the rest of the article: "Donald Dump" depicts Trump with sludge oozing out of his mouth
I've previously written about the glorious ASMR videos starring King Bumi, a long-snouted, toothless, bushy-tailed, coarse-haired giant anteater who lives at the North Florida Wildlife Center in Lamont, Florida, a nonprofit… Read the rest of the article: This giant anteater uses his dancing tongue to keep cool in the summer's sweltering heat
Science fiction aficionados and fans of practical effects will want to pour one out today: Brian Johnson, a man responsible for building some of the most iconic sci-fi craft in… Read the rest of the article: The man who built the spaceships for 2001, Alien, and Empire has died
With so much going sideways since… forever, it can be hard to recall that some great stuff has happened. This week marked 43 years since Sally Ride strapped her ass… Read the rest of the article: Sally Ride flew to space 43 years ago today. She still has the best astronaut name.
A dude who goes by Marketplace Builds on Instagram uploaded this hilarious video of a pink toy car that has been hacked to go much faster than normal. This is… Read the rest of the article: Man supercharges a child's pink ride-on car, sends it flying
The Indri is the largest living lemur and one of the most distinctive primates in Madagascar. It lives only in the eastern rainforests of the island and is known for… Read the rest of the article: Lemur makes an alarming sound when communicating
This powerful storm rolled through near Lorenzo, Nebraska, on June 7th, 2026. It ended up being one of those rare setups that looks almost unreal on camera. It started building… Read the rest of the article: Nebraska supercell near Lorenzo looked almost too perfect to be real
The Old English Wordhord unlocks one medieval word a day, pairing each term with its definition, pronunciation and, often, a manuscript illustration. The site's creator (or should it be wordwyrm?)… Read the rest of the article: Old English word of the day
TL;DR: For $129.97 (reg. $999), you can get lifetime access to MagellanTV, an ad-free documentary streaming service with over 4,000 high-quality documentary movies and TV series from around the globe. Deal Days… Read the rest of the article: Get smarter on your downtime with lifetime documentary streaming for $130 during Deal Days
TL;DR: Get Drime's 6TB of lifetime encrypted cloud storage, compliance tracking, and collaboration tools for $189.97 (reg. $599) during Deal Days through June 28. Nobody ever deletes anything anymore. Screenshots from… Read the rest of the article: This Deal Days discount gets you 6TB of secure cloud storage for $190
The lining of the Reflecting Pool at Washington D.C.'s Lincoln Memorial was painted blue to please Trump: a no-bid $14.7m contract that went to a company that had worked on… Read the rest of the article: New blue paint under Reflecting Pool already peeling
TL;DR: This 1-year Intuit QuickBooks Desktop Pro Plus 2024 subscription for Windows gives you all the financial tools you need to manage your business in one place for just $299.99 (reg. $536). … Read the rest of the article: Centralize essential accounting tasks with QuickBooks Desktop Pro Plus for $300 during Deal Days
