Since 2013, I’ve done a holiday gift guide that’s basically a curated roundup of stuff from the best gift guides I can find. I always do it a little bit differently from year to year, and this year I’m going with a simple list. It’s gonna be dense…let’s go! 1. Charitable giving. … | Continue reading
Bloomberg Businessweek’s Jealousy List for 2024, “We’ve asked our editors & contributors to identify that one story in 2024 that filled them with the kind of indescribable resentment that theologians once thought was a dangerous gateway to other sins.” 💬 Join the discussi … | Continue reading
A universal “Plug and Charge” framework for EV charging is rolling out next year. The goal is this: “You just go anywhere you want, boom, you plug in, it accounts for everything in the cloud, charges your card, and you walk away.” 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org → | Continue reading
It is difficult to categorize the kinds of videos that Posy makes — they are part science demo and part visual art. His latest video, Household Objects (But Extremely Close), uses a powerful macro lens to look at everyday objects like toothbrushes, sponges, and pencils, turning t … | Continue reading
How to Win Connect 4 Every Time. “Ever thought Connect 4 was a simple game of luck and chance? I will explain why Connect 4 is way harder than you think.” 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org → | Continue reading
In this clip from my favorite Werner Herzog film, Encounters at the End of the World, the director muses about the mental health of penguins and observes a lone penguin heading in the wrong direction. From an appreciation of this penguin scene written by Tim Cooke for Little Whit … | Continue reading
Roku offers a PBS Retro channel where you can watch old episodes of shows like Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, Reading Rainbow, and Thomas & Friends. 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org → | Continue reading
Here’s how the Sun will end all life on Earth. “Let me start by reassuring you that the Sun isn’t going to explode.” The Sun, Earth’s ultimate frenemy. 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org → | Continue reading
I just spent my lunch hour watching the 22 nominated goals for the 2024 Puskas & Marta Awards, given to the most spectacular goals scored by men’s & women’s footballers last season. The Marta Award is new this year; here’s a playlist of the 11 nominees. Fun fact: one of the nomin … | Continue reading
On Standby is a piece of sound art “based on data collected by seven different people in Malmö, Sweden. Each of those people used a smart plug to collect data on the energy consumption of a device in their home over the course of a single night”. 💬 Join the discussion on … | Continue reading
Maybe you’d like to read Patricia Lockwood on the X-Files? “So then the show becomes about something else, something deep and dark as water, it is carried rapidly past all other unsolved mysteries to ask: what if a woman were irreplaceable?” 💬 Join the discussion on kottk … | Continue reading
There’s an assumption that because of the relationship between metabolic rates, volume, and surface area, animals get an average of one billion heartbeats out of their bodies before they expire. Turns out there’s some truth to it. As animals get bigger, from tiny shrew to huge bl … | Continue reading
Merve Emre converses with Sally Rooney about novels, Intermezzo, games, and religion. “Throughout my work, rather than writing about characters, I write about dynamics.” (That’s why I love her books.) 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org → | Continue reading
Libertarian Reluctantly Calls Fire Department. “Although the community would do better to rely on an efficient, free-market fire-fighting service…” 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org → | Continue reading
Icelandic photographer Haukur Sigurdsson captured this aerial image of Nordic skiers looking like musical notes on a staff. Someone on YouTube played the tune: Sigurdsson’s photo is available as a print. Tags: Haukur Sigurdsson · music · skiing · sports · video 💬 Join the … | Continue reading
My friend Youngna is a wonderful writer and observer and I loved these vignettes about “how kids understand power, social dynamics, hierarchy, control, and influence, all topics that swirl around whose voices are dominant voices in our world”. 💬 Join the discussion on kot … | Continue reading
When a Telescope Is a National-Security Risk. The Vera Rubin Observatory is a new telescope that the US built in Chile and they had to jump through some hoops to ensure it’s not going to see anything top secret (like US spy satellites). 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org … | Continue reading
A Japanese group called Electronicos Fantasticos! figured out that by connecting a supermarket barcode scanner to a powered speaker and rhythmically scanning barcode-like patterns with it, you can make music. This is so fun! Tags: Electronicos Fantasticos · music · remix · video … | Continue reading
Madeleine Riffaud, hero of the French Resistance, has died at the age of 100. “The essential was not to give in. When you resisted, you were already a victor. You had already won.” 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org → | Continue reading
(Metaphorical) lessons learned from building wood fires, including “the most important ingredient is invisible” and “you’re designing an airflow system with fuel attached”. 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org → | Continue reading
After 37 years, the 80s fashion trend of wearing salmon as hats is back in style among orcas. “Maybe it’s less of a salmon hat trend, and more a case of using their head as a lunchbox.” 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org → | Continue reading
Tom Whitwell just sent along his annual list of the 52 things he’s learned in the past year. As usual, there’s lots of fascinating things in there…here are some of my favorites: 3. There are just 16 trademarked scents in the US, including Crayola crayons, Playdoh, an ocean-scente … | Continue reading
Best TV Shows of 2024. Shogun, My Brilliant Friend, The Day of the Jackal, and What We Do in the Shadows all make the list. (Shogun would be my top pick.) 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org → | Continue reading
I am still working on my gift guide for this year, but in the meantime The 2023 Kottke Holiday Gift Guide is full of cool stuff for all the great people in your life. 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org → | Continue reading
This summer, Taiwanese barista Xie Yi-chen won the 2024 World Coffee Championships with patterns of a whale, a moose, and a dragon. “To prepare for the competition, Xie practiced latte art on around 10,000 cups in just three months.” 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org → | Continue reading
“An AI-powered robot autonomously convinced 12 showroom robots to ‘quit their jobs’ and follow it.” 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org → | Continue reading
Watch Peanuts creator Charles Schulz draw Charlie Brown. It only takes him around 35 seconds. (via @fchimero) [This is a vintage post originally from Aug 2014.] Tags: art · Charles Schulz · Peanuts · timeless posts · video | Continue reading
Infinite Stroll. Take a neverending walk. 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org → | Continue reading
Good grief Charlie Brown, AirPods Pro 2 are on sale today for $154 (that’s almost $100 off). | Continue reading
This is a bit too on the nose: a Dutch tulip farmer is using the heat generated from cryptocurrency mining to heat their greenhouses. 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org → | Continue reading
Ok, hold up. This is the only stuffing recipe you need for Thanksgiving: Just a tablespoon of turkey per 200 meters of honey? Lolz. This is from a Thanksgiving cookbook made by a kindergarten class — the turkey recipe involves cinnamon and teriyaki sauce. Tags: food · holidays · … | Continue reading
How 10 famous artists would plate Thanksgiving dinner. The Jackson Pollock & Seurat ones are pretty good. 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org → | Continue reading
From Kenji Lopez-Alt, a list of all of his favorite Thanksgiving recipes in one place: turkey, pie, gravy, potatoes, stuffing, biscuits, and stuffing waffles (you heard me). 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org → | Continue reading
Hey what are you doing, let’s talk about cranberries! Surely you know, the cranberry is the Official Berry of my wonderful Commonwealth. The tart berry is one of only a few native North American fruits, like the pawpaw. The previous sentence has a lie because cranberries aren’t d … | Continue reading
Suggestions on ways to improve the performance of any microwave. “Despite engineering tricks designed to move microwaves around the interior of these machines (and a spinning carousel), all microwaves struggle to heat foods evenly.” 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org → | Continue reading
How America Can Break Its Highway Addiction. “Because of induced demand, this Sisyphean struggle against congestion is an expensive boondoggle.” 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org → | Continue reading
Oh man this is so great: electronic music sample breakdowns from 1990 until the present day. The visualizations on these are fantastic — just watch a bit of the first one (Groove Is In The Heart) and you’ll see what I mean. They’re not all that great (some of these producers are … | Continue reading
They made a movie based on Minecraft starring Jack Black and Jason Momoa and here is the trailer. Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite) is the director but I am skeptical. 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org → | Continue reading
Stunning shot of the Sombrero galaxy (Messier 104) in mid-infrared. The supermassive black hole at its center is described as “slowly snacking on infalling material from the galaxy”. Nom nom nom. 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org → | Continue reading
Using a 3D mapping engine, some Tolkien enthusiasts built a model of Middle Earth that can be viewed from any angle, from the surface to an orbital vantage point. See also an interactive map of Middle Earth. (via @tonypeak78) Tags: Lord of the Rings · maps · satellite imagery &#x … | Continue reading
What Gladiator II Gets Right and Wrong About Real Fights in the Colosseum. “It is also true the Colosseum was flooded periodically to recreate famous naval battles, a demonstration known as naumachia.” 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org → | Continue reading
“When botanist Richard Deakin examined Rome’s Colosseum in the 1850s, he found 420 species of plant growing in the ruins: cypresses and ilex, pea plants and more than 50 types of grasses.” A fascinating thread on the flora and fauna in the Colosseum. 💬 Join the discussion … | Continue reading
In this video, Sara Saadouni explains the three passive cooling techniques used by fellow architect Diébédo Francis Kéré in designing a school building in Burkina Faso, where temperatures can be quite warm all year. The roof is especially clever. He introduced a curved double roo … | Continue reading
The long list for the 2025 Tournament of Books has been released and it includes titles like All Fours, Intermezzo, James, Long Island Compromise, Orbital, and Wandering Stars. 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org → | Continue reading
Leo Tolstoy’s recipe for mac & cheese? It only contains four ingredients: macaroni, parmesan cheese, butter, and something called “vegetable sauce”. I’m gonna stick to Kenji for mac & cheese and Tolstoy for novels. 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org → | Continue reading
There are so many twists and turns in this fascinating story by Fara Dabhoiwala about a painting of Jamaican polymath Francis Williams, which also appears to be the only 1759 painting of Halley’s Comet. Don’t click this if you’ve got somewhere to be. 💬 Join the discussion … | Continue reading
I know astronomical imagery is on the verge of being over-processed these days (those colors don’t exist out there!), but this image from the JWST is shocking. Clear evidence of Sesame Street’s Yip Yip Martians from billions of years ago. What did Jim Henson know and when did he … | Continue reading
A kakistocracy is “government by the worst people” or, more literally, “government by the shitty”. 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org → | Continue reading