10,000 Drum Machines is a growing collection of web-based drum machines. I...
10,000 Drum Machines is a growing collection of web-based drum machines. I like the Extremely Long-Term Drum Machine (“20 bass drums a millennium”).
Jason Kottke’s weblog, home of fine hypertext products since 1998
- Generator
- Movable Type 4.2
Nine Rules for Evaluating New Technology
In 1987, Wendell Berry wrote an essay called Why I Am Not Going to Buy a Computer. In it, he outlined his standards for adopting new technology in his work.
The new tool should be cheaper than the one it replaces.
It should be at least as small in scale as the one it rep...
The End of Rule of Law in America. “After these first three...
The End of Rule of Law in America. “After these first three tyrannical, lawless months of this presidency, surely Americans can understand now that Donald Trump is going to continue to decimate America for the next three-plus years.”
Three Fascism Experts on Why They’re Leaving the US
At the end of March, I posted some news about three prominent scholars of fascism and authoritarianism who were leaving the United States to live and work in Canada. In this video for the NY Times, We Study Fascism, and We’re Leaving the U.S., Marci Shore, Timothy Snyder, ...
When the world is going to shit, people need music; they need...
When the world is going to shit, people need music; they need to dance. Especially those whose communities are under attack and who feel unsafe. See also Sinners. (That scene! You know the one…)
How to Sniff Out ‘Copaganda’: When the Police and the Media Manipulate...
How to Sniff Out ‘Copaganda’: When the Police and the Media Manipulate Our News. “The selective curation of anecdote is an essential mechanism of copaganda.”
Lololol: Max is changing its name back to HBO Max. It’s a...
Lololol: Max is changing its name back to HBO Max. It’s a real golden age of rich people revealing how not that smart they are. And now some more laughing: hahahaha.
It’s Interesting How the Past Can Make You Think About the Present....
It’s Interesting How the Past Can Make You Think About the Present. Hamilton Nolan reads a book about the beginning of WWII and “found over and over again that certain entries would vividly remind me of things happening today”.
Alchemists rejoice! Scientists have turned lead into gold using the Large Hadron...
Alchemists rejoice! Scientists have turned lead into gold using the Large Hadron Collider. “The ALICE scientists calculate that, while they are colliding beams of lead nuclei, they produce about 89,000 gold nuclei per second.”
New Report Finds Vacationing Sources Habla Un Poquito De Español. “We discovered...
New Report Finds Vacationing Sources Habla Un Poquito De Español. “We discovered that the sample population was eager to approach locals and strike up conversations about la comida, la playa, y las chicas bonitas.”
What I Learned at My First Tree-Climbing Workshop. “For many, climbing also...
What I Learned at My First Tree-Climbing Workshop. “For many, climbing also rekindled a connection to the natural world. ‘It reconnected me with nature in a way that I haven’t really felt since I was a kid.’”
A cute Minecraft-y clicker game. Big plus: finishing it doesn’t take forever....
A cute Minecraft-y clicker game. Big plus: finishing it doesn’t take forever.
Forget Psychedelics. Everyone’s Microdosing Ozempic Now. (In Hollywood, at least.) “They are...
Forget Psychedelics. Everyone’s Microdosing Ozempic Now. (In Hollywood, at least.) “They are doing it not primarily for weight loss…but for the surprising and widely touted side benefits, particularly its anti-inflammatory properties.”
“ICE has become Trump’s private militia. It must be abolished.” Reminder: ICE...
“ICE has become Trump’s private militia. It must be abolished.” Reminder: ICE was formed in 2003 by the Homeland Security Act, which was criticized at the time for enabling exactly these kinds of abuses.
Eminem’s Lose Yourself, Sung by 331 Movies
A Young Readers Edition of Ed Yong’s award-winning An Immense World is...
A Young Readers Edition of Ed Yong’s award-winning An Immense World is out today. “Did you know that there are turtles who can track the Earth’s magnetic fields? That some fish use electricity to talk to each other?”
I somehow missed this: after a federal judge in VT ordered her...
I somehow missed this: after a federal judge in VT ordered her freed from a Louisiana detention center, Tufts PhD student Rümeysa Öztürk was released later that day. 🙏
Scientist Kseniia Petrova came to US to study aging. In Feb, she...
Scientist Kseniia Petrova came to US to study aging. In Feb, she was detained for a minor offense, had her visa revoked, and has spent 3 months in a detention center in Louisiana. She just wants to get back to her work.
How Trump’s Anti-Trans Policies Mirror the WWII Persecution of Japanese Americans. “Of...
How Trump’s Anti-Trans Policies Mirror the WWII Persecution of Japanese Americans. “Of the 120,000 people of Japanese descent whom our government sent to American concentration camps, approximately two-thirds were fellow citizens.”
“Boredom: the great engine of creativity. I now believe with all my...
“Boredom: the great engine of creativity. I now believe with all my heart that it’s only in the crushing silences of boredom — without all that black-mirror dopamine — that you can access your deepest creative wells.”
In Poland, We Know All About Fighting Illiberal Regimes. Here Are Our...
In Poland, We Know All About Fighting Illiberal Regimes. Here Are Our Lessons for the Trump Age. “Diversity matters most. Not just in communication tools, but in the social makeup of the protest movement.”
I am cautiously optimistic about F1. (The Brad Pitt movie — there’s...
I am cautiously optimistic about F1. (The Brad Pitt movie — there’s a full trailer out today.)
The Three Types of Specialists Needed for Any Revolution
From a passage of Kurt Vonnegut’s Bluebeard, the three types of specialists needed for the success of any revolution.
Slazinger claims to have learned from history that most people cannot open their minds to new ideas unless a mind-opening team with a peculiar membership g...
In Shanghai, “a new crowd-sourced transit platform allows riders to propose, vote...
In Shanghai, “a new crowd-sourced transit platform allows riders to propose, vote on, and activate new bus lines in as little as three days”.
The Trumpist assault on the federal government is a “civil war by...
The Trumpist assault on the federal government is a “civil war by other means”, says Rebecca Solnit. “It is a war against the government of the United States and the land and people of this country.”
“The Trump administration’s policy ideas to incentivize women to have more kids...
“The Trump administration’s policy ideas to incentivize women to have more kids resemble those pushed by authoritarian regimes throughout history.”
On Male Social Isolation
I thought this whole Tumblr post by @skaldish was fascinating. The author is a trans man1 who has experienced social situations presenting as both a woman and a man.
There’s a huge sense of social isolation that comes with being perceived as male, because now people are su...
OMG! The universe is going to decay into nothingness 10^1022 times sooner...
OMG! The universe is going to decay into nothingness 10^1022 times sooner than previously expected. Carpe diem, everyone!
Enjoying the Lane 8 Spring 2025 Mixtape this afternoon....
Enjoying the Lane 8 Spring 2025 Mixtape this afternoon.
This is a little bit genius: an analysis of OpenAI based on...
This is a little bit genius: an analysis of OpenAI based on a close reading of a 22-second video of CEO Sam Altman cooking pasta. “His kitchen is a catalogue of inefficiency, incomprehension, and waste.”