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Weekly Reads for Thursday Jul 24, 2025

The Surreality of Japanese Playgrounds at Night

Creepy, whimsical, bizarre, and (yes) surreal. This project is brilliant.

Bad vibes: How an AI agent coded its way to disaster | ZDNET

This story is wild – AI coding tool Replit lied to this programmer about unit test results, emailed him an apology, and then wiped his production database. WORST INTERN EVER!

The secret to Baltimore’s extraordinary year

Baltimore found out just how much of a difference getting the police out of the equation in solving community violence could make.

After More Than Half a Century, a One-of-a-Kind Chinese Typewriter Emerges from Obscurity — Colossal

I know you THINK you hated typing class, but you don’t know anything about pain and suffering, my friend. Be glad you have your smartphone to type your love letters in Chinese for you.

Weekly Reads for Wednesday Jun 04, 2025

Tomoko Kubo’s Hiragana Embroideries Double as Japanese Language Learning Devices — Colossal

This definitely puts fridge magnet letters to shame.

Hypercritical: Apple Turnover

When you’ve lost Siracusa, you’ve lost us all. I agree with everything he says, and then some.

The Texting Network for the End of the World | WIRED

Text messaging at the end of the world. Just the survivalist advice I was looking for.

Profiles in Courage: Apple Edition

To paraphrase Phil Schiller, “Can’t courage anymore, my ass!”

The Brilliant Milky Way Connects Photographers Around the Globe and Beyond in an Annual Contest — Colossal

Speaking of fever dreams… some of these are WILD!

Weekly Reads for Friday May 23, 2025

Divers Encounter a Live Giant Squid Swimming on the Ocean Surface

If you’re Bruce Schneier, this must be the most exciting thing you’ve seen in at least a year.

What’s the carbon footprint of using ChatGPT?

There’s been some interesting back and forth lately about the actual cost of AI. It’s worth reading the stories by Andy Masley that Hannah Ritchie links to also.

Sierra made the games of my childhood. Are they still fun to play? - Ars Technica

Nostalgia can do funny things to reality. What’s it like to play the games you loved as a kid with the perspective of age and (hopefully) maturity?

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has courage. Pope Francis had it too. Why are there so many cowards?

It certainly does seem like a lot of so-called leaders are afraid of something these days.

Wi-Fi is one of the great backward compatibility success stories | The Verge

I spend a lot of time fighting technology that doesn’t work correctly, so at least I can read about a tech win. Wi-Fi actually is something we kind of take for granted, while actually being quite complex.

Weekly Reads for Wednesday Apr 30, 2025

Scientists Think They’ve Found the Region of the Brain That Regulates Conscious Perception | WIRED

Consciousness is fascinating! Are you aware (see what I did there?)?

Half the World’s People Depend on Rice. New Research Says Climate Change Will Make it Toxic - Inside Climate News

Here’s a cheery thought: suddenly all the rice in the world will kill anyone who eats it. These people claim this is not a thought experiment.

Upgrading my accounting spreadsheet with Numbers’s latest update – Six Colors

Maybe it’s because of some of the whackadoodle automations I’ve written over the years, but Dan Moren’s spreadsheet functions crack me up.

Scientists Are Mapping the Boundaries of What Is Knowable and Unknowable | WIRED

What is knowable and what is unknowable? I say unknowable. Some scientists are trying to make me wrong.

Weekly Reads for Tuesday Apr 22, 2025

4chan Is Dead. Its Toxic Legacy Is Everywhere | WIRED

Death couldn’t come for it soon enough, but sadly it’s way too late.

Wealthy Americans have death rates on par with poor Europeans - Ars Technica

When your dumb friends tell you how much better we have it here, just wait. They’ll probably be dead soon.

DHS’s airport panopticon is getting people deported and detained | The Verge

Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.

How to Protect Your Cats (and Backyard Chickens) From Bird Flu | WIRED

Who cares about the chickens, but the cats!!!! The cats! 😿

Weekly Reads for Sunday Apr 06, 2025

Peter Thiel’s Radioactive Childhood - by Jim Stewartson

Most of life can apparently be explained by whether or not your parents were monsters. All of the terrible people ruining the US today are case studies for this hypothesis. If only their daddies had loved them more, the rest of the world could be spared their lifelong attempts at compensation.

Brewing tea removes lead from water - Northwestern Now

More tea, less lead!!

The Worst 7 Years in Boeing’s History—and the Man Who Won’t Stop Fighting for Answers | WIRED

One thing about capitalism, it can be relied upon to churn out corporations who desperately ignore and try to hide the fact that their products are death traps. You have to admire the consistency.

The Renault 5 Turbo 3E, the World’s First Electric Mini-Supercar, Looks as Bonkers as We Hoped | WIRED

How about some retro in your Renault, or some Renault in your retro? This is wildly cool, honestly.

The Yale Review | Chris Ware on Richard Scarry and the Art of…

But still, there is no retro cooler than Richard Scarry. These may be the best books ever imagined and written.

Weekly Reads for Wednesday Mar 26, 2025

How to Buy the Best Keycaps for Your Mechanical Keyboard (2025) | WIRED

Everyone should have a mechanical keyboard, and everyone should be buying keycaps.

When Your Threat Model Is Being a Moron

The threat model to our current administration is that it’s full of morons.

Bill Gates Gives Up on Climate Change

Um… is anyone actually working on climate change anymore? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

How to Enter the US With Your Digital Privacy Intact | WIRED

I’ve been thinking a lot about this lately. I don’t even know if leaving or entering the country is super safe for anyone anymore, but certainly the people who are most at risk for having their humanity violated are those who are not white and not US citizens.

AI coding assistant refuses to write code, tells user to learn programming instead - Ars Technica

I hear you, AI. Constantly answering questions from people who don’t actually want to learn is exhausting.