“Between 2015 and 2020, ICE deported at least 70 people who were U.S. citizens” and detained or arrested many more. “ICE has not implemented a reliable system to track and correct its mistakes.” (Or: the purpose of a system is what it does.)
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The New Vera C. Rubin Observatory Is a Firehose of Astronomical Imagery & Data
The Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile is operational and will soon embark on its primary mission: to take a detailed image of the sky every night for the next ten years.
A powerful new observatory has unveiled its first images to the public, showing off what it can do...
Last Week Tonight’s John Oliver on AI slop. “Do you hear us,...
Last Week Tonight’s John Oliver on AI slop. “Do you hear us, cabbage Hulk? Stay the hell away from John’s cabbage wife.” ??!?
The Classic Web account on Bluesky is currently going through kottke.org’s blogroll...
The Classic Web account on Bluesky is currently going through kottke.org’s blogroll list from 2004 and displaying screenshots of those sites as they appeared then. Look at all those varied designs!
Jaws turns 50 years old this summer. Here’s an interview with marine...
Jaws turns 50 years old this summer. Here’s an interview with marine biologist & shark conservationist David Schiffman about the huge impact Jaws had on society’s perception of sharks. People were scared to go to swimming pools!
An excellent profile of design legend Michael Bierut, who recently “retired” as...
An excellent profile of design legend Michael Bierut, who recently “retired” as a Pentagram partner. There wisdom throughout this piece about retaining & flexing your humanity in the dehumanizing world of business.
From The Onion: Congress, Now More Than Ever, Our Nation Needs Your...
From The Onion: Congress, Now More Than Ever, Our Nation Needs Your Cowardice. “Now is not the time for bravery or valor! This is the time for protecting your own hide and lining your pocket.” (They sent a copy of this to every member of Congress.)
To The People I Know Who Voted for Him. “you had a...
To The People I Know Who Voted for Him. “you had a chance…to condemn his criminality, to prevent his lawlessness, to denounce his bigotry — and you flat-out refused. More than that, you celebrated it. That’s not something I can quietly abide.”
Happening all day today: a Reading Rainbow marathon on PBS Retro. PBS...
Happening all day today: a Reading Rainbow marathon on PBS Retro. PBS Retro is available on Plex, Roku, and Prime Video.
For fans of Edith Zimmerman, a new Etsy offering: “A 4x6” made-to-order...
For fans of Edith Zimmerman, a new Etsy offering: “A 4x6” made-to-order printing of any single comics frame of your choosing, from my newsletter.”
Play Along With This Gestural Verbing Interactive Video
I love this interactive video at Design Ah! Exhibition Neo at Tokyo Node. The display introduces the audience to a series of simple hand gestures, followed by some outcomes of their performance, e.g. a squeezing motion leading to soapy spray on a window or toothpaste on a ...
Formula One Cars Are Fast. Like Super Fast.
Speaking of what fast looks like, here’s a pair of synced videos that show just how fast F1 cars are. On the left are drivers participating in a track day, that is, normal folks who want to drive their cars fast on a real race course. A couple of them look like actual GT car...
As an aid to his travel planning, Kevin Kelly has compiled a...
As an aid to his travel planning, Kevin Kelly has compiled a meta-calendar of Asian festivals.
A group of researchers tracked down the original photo used in the...
A group of researchers tracked down the original photo used in the final scene of The Shining. “It was a real photo from the 1920s, and Nicholson’s face had been superimposed over someone. But whose face was it?”
Yawns
If you’re like most people, you probably started yawning as soon as you read the title of this post and saw the video’s thumbnail. And then yawned like two or three times watching it. That’s because a) yawning is contagious, and b) that video is chock-a-block with clips of people and animals yawning.
Yawning is so weird. It’s even a strange word. Yaaaaawwwwwnnnn. And like I mentioned, it’s contagious. In fact, it’s so contagious that even reading or overhearing someone talking about yawning can cause you to yawn. Why the hell do we do this weird thing? Perhaps to cool our brains.
(via the kid should see this)
Tags: video
Today’s weather report styled like The Weather Channel in the 90s: WeatherStar...
Today’s weather report styled like The Weather Channel in the 90s: WeatherStar 4000+.
You Sure You’re In The Mood For Another Wes Anderson Film With...
You Sure You’re In The Mood For Another Wes Anderson Film With Everything That’s Going On? “Tom Hanks and Bryan Cranston rattling off my signature droll dialogue — enticing or not?”
Decisions and opportunity in America are no longer cheap. “Life is an...
Decisions and opportunity in America are no longer cheap. “Life is an open world game. It rewards you for exploring. And capitalism cannot fucking stand that. It wants you on rails.”
A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again
In 1996, Harper’s published a long piece by David Foster Wallace called Shipping Out, in which Wallace, a decidedly non-luxury cruise person, goes on a week-long luxury cruise in the Caribbean.
I have now seen sucrose beaches and water a very bright blue. I have seen an al...
Your beginning-of-summer PSA: Drowning Doesn’t Look Like Drowning. “There is very little...
Your beginning-of-summer PSA: Drowning Doesn’t Look Like Drowning. “There is very little splashing, no waving, and no yelling or calls for help of any kind.” So here’s what to look for…
Want to use your phone less? Try Forest. “Whenever you want to...
Want to use your phone less? Try Forest. “Whenever you want to stay focused, plant a [virtual] tree. Your tree will grow while you focus on your work. Leaving the app halfway will cause your tree to die.”
The Fear of Never Landing is a new album from ambient music...
The Fear of Never Landing is a new album from ambient music band Marconi Union, whose 2011 song Weightless has been described as “the world’s most relaxing song”. Get it on YT, Bandcamp, Spotify, and Apple Music.
New Music Video for Talking Heads’ Psycho Killer (feat. Saoirse Ronan)
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the band, Talking Heads have released a new music video for their iconic 1997 single, Psycho Killer. The video stars Saoirse Ronan and was directed by Mike Mills.
Tags: music · Saoirse Ronan · Talking Heads · video
They are doing a Spaceballs 2. (“They” includes Mel Brooks and Rick...
They are doing a Spaceballs 2. (“They” includes Mel Brooks and Rick Moranis, who has not appeared in a live-action film since 1997.) “I am one with the Schwartz and the Schwartz is with me.”
A new study from MIT’s Media Lab (not yet peer-reviewed & small...
A new study from MIT’s Media Lab (not yet peer-reviewed & small sample size): ChatGPT May Be Eroding Critical Thinking Skills.
The [NYC] Subway Is Not Scary. “It’s fine and safe. It’s full...
The [NYC] Subway Is Not Scary. “It’s fine and safe. It’s full of women and children. There are tons of old ladies on there.” And: “You sound real corny being scared of the subway.”
What Is Juneteenth and Why Does It Matter?
Historian Heather Cox Richardson is now doing visual versions of her daily newsletter on YouTube. Yesterday’s video explains the origins and significance of Juneteenth.
Black people in Galveston met the news Order No. 3 brought with celebrations in the streets, but emanc...
Just dropped yesterday: Lane 8’s Summer 2025 Mixtape. Got this on right...
Just dropped yesterday: Lane 8’s Summer 2025 Mixtape. Got this on right now trying to coax the ol’ brainpan back into work mode.
When In Rome
Ok, having been all over the western Mediterranean for the past two weeks, I’m back. *sigh* Here, without comment or context (I know, I know), are some of the things I saw:
Not pictured: a bunch of amazing food we ate over the course of the trip.
Tags: Jason Kottke · photography · Rome · travel
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Bernini’s Ratto di Proserpina
I’m in Rome with my family to celebrate a milestone. We went to the Borghese Gallery this morning and I got to see my favorite sculpture, Bernini’s Ratto di Proserpina. A masterpiece. The photos both do and do not do it justice — so grateful to get to see it in person.
Tags: art · Bernini · Rome · sculpture · travel
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