Over in their Science section, Smithsonian Magazine has taken a stab at answering the question we’ve all been wondering: Why have female animals evolved such wild genitals?Link: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/why-have-female-animals-evolved-such-wild-genitals-18097 … | Continue reading
My pal Rich W. has long had a gripe with appliance maker Dyson, namely that they spend massive amounts of time and energy solving relatively inconsequential problems. Perhaps most famously, they perfected the vacuum cleaner, a device whose previous incarnations already did the jo … | Continue reading
A decade or so ago, while waiting for a table in a vegetarian restaurant, I saw a video touting Breatharianism. This bizarre pseudoscience claims it’s possible to live without food (and perhaps without even water. Wikipedia wisely notes that it’s dangerous, and that “several adhe … | Continue reading
Three years ago, I wrote about Cooler Screens, the horrible cooler-door screen company trying to embed advertising in yet another facet of our lives. Alas, my plea for them to just stop has (predictably) been unsuccessful. The displays are now in thousands of Walgreens stores, an … | Continue reading
Earlier this week, I mailed out a card to a few dozen friends. But you, dear reader? You deserve a card too. Why look, it’s a card for you! With a lovely matching stamp, affixed at a jaunty angle! It’s so festive! Well, that’s very nice. But wait, what the hell holiday are we … | Continue reading
During hunting season, elk may be hunted on public lands, but not on private lands. Somehow, the elk figured this out, and when hunting season began, elk in Utah began taking refuge. “The state had been getting complaints on both sides of the issue with elk migrating to private l … | Continue reading
Speaking of missing chips, Ford is apparently going to start selling Ford Explorers without the chips that power rear air conditioning and heating controls. Ford spokesperson Said Deep told The Verge that heating and air condition will still be controllable from the front seats, … | Continue reading
Rather than raise prices, many companies are quietly shrinking the size of their products. Frito-Lay confirmed Doritos shrunk their bags due to pandemic pressures. “Inflation is hitting everyone…we took just a little bit out of the bag so we can give you the same price and you ca … | Continue reading
A week ago today, the Green Line of Boston’s subway system opened an extension. This upgrade was first committed to back in 1990, so it’s been a long, long, long time coming. For WBUR’s Sharon Brody and her two sons, the expansion was especially personal.Link: https://www.wbur.or … | Continue reading
Recently, writer Fred Kaplan penned a piece describing a potential peace deal to end Russia’s war against Ukraine. I keep returning to it in mind, as it continues to seem like the best possible outcome to this horrific affair.Link: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2022/03/how- … | Continue reading
In the ’80s and ’90s, teaching people to type was big business. Nintendo’s Mario was happy to instruct you, or you might go with the much more staid Typing Tutor. The biggest name in typing utilities, however, was Mavis Beacon, of “Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing”. “I remember, at [ … | Continue reading
Meet Shoji Morimoto, a man paid to do nothing. [O]ver the past four years, Shoji Morimoto, 38, has built a cult following by offering himself as a warm body who can simply be there, liberating his clients from the social expectations of the spoken and unspoken norms of Japanese s … | Continue reading
Thanks to the internet, hackers associated with Anonymous have reportedly been able to distribute the modern-day equivalent of airplane leaflets all over Russia. Using a printer hack, they claim to have printed tens of thousands of pages to vulnerable printers across Russians. Th … | Continue reading
How about a stern reprimand, and maybe confiscating the silly string? | Continue reading
In case you missed it, early in the war in Ukraine, an amazing incident was reported to have taken place on Snake Island: …13 border guards stationed on a roughly 16-hectare (40-acre) rocky island about 186 miles (300km) west of Crimea reportedly replied, when asked to surrender: … | Continue reading
In much of this country, folks are celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, often by drinking copious amounts of alcohol. Here in Boston however, we celebrate a different holiday: Evacuation Day. Rather than (just) a nod to the vomiting that’s likely to ensue from all that binge drinking, … | Continue reading
One of my least favorite things about living in Boston are the winter sunsets, which occur as early as 4:13 PM. That’s simply too damned early for the sun to be setting. Meanwhile, at the far west end of the Eastern time zone, Detroit gets summer sunsets as late as 9:15 PM. That … | Continue reading
When a friend’s parents ended service on the home phone number they’d had for decades, an interesting question came up in conversation. How many phone numbers do you have memorized? A (Possibly Complete) List of Phone Numbers I Have Memorized: My own cell phone It’s been the sam … | Continue reading
Two things related to NFL quarterback Tom Brady happened yesterday, and together, they add up to hilarity. First, the football from Brady’s final touchdown pass sold at auction for over half a million dollars. The ball was thrown 55 yards to receiver Mike Evans during the Tampa B … | Continue reading
Recently in Utah, a man seemingly vying for the title of world’s worst father apparently instructed his four-year-old son to shoot at police. This occurred as the man was stopped by police for brandishing a firearm at McDonald’s employees, following a purported issue with his dri … | Continue reading
Kori Schake hypothesizes that Putin’s disastrous invasion of Ukraine has revitalized the liberal international order. It’s horrible to see a nation unjustly attacked by a dictator. However, the response from governments around the world has me feeling more optimistic than I have … | Continue reading
Ukraine is doing a masterful job of cultivating popular public opinion. | Continue reading
Eddie Murphy and SNL already reimagined Gumby 40 years ago, thank you very much. | Continue reading
Mid-war snark is particularly impressive. | Continue reading
Russian pleasure yacht, go fuck yourself. | Continue reading
Peace is more precious than triumph. | Continue reading
“Russian warship, go fuck yourself.” | Continue reading
If the DNA doesn't match, you must only catch. And not euthanize. | Continue reading
They get high(er) with a little help from their friends. | Continue reading
Not one, not two, but three own goals. | Continue reading
It's just so romantical. | Continue reading
I'm not even sure it'd be worth it for a gold medal. | Continue reading
This is just so very gross. | Continue reading
Don't bother touching that dial. It won't work. | Continue reading
This is just so utterly ridiculous. | Continue reading
I do a pretty good job of unsubscribing from nonsense, but it never stops completely. | Continue reading
If you've got any cars just sitting around, now's the time to cash in. | Continue reading
“The administration believes it was some kind of a lapse in sanity” | Continue reading
I have never before heard of an exercise ball being called a “Swiss ball”, but apparently that's a thing. | Continue reading
“savePro™” really cracks me up. | Continue reading
Did they really need to include pictures? Cheese and crackers! | Continue reading
I'm also a big fan of “The Big Leplowski”. | Continue reading
How much is enough, Jeff? | Continue reading
It sounds like an awful lot of human interaction. | Continue reading
And a bunch of morons lose their minds. | Continue reading
I suppose that it the more likely type of Goldilocks, given the inability of real-world bears to build houses. | Continue reading