Roku offers a PBS Retro channel where you can watch old episodes of shows like Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, Reading Rainbow, and Thomas & Friends.
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Jason Kottke’s weblog, home of fine hypertext products since 1998
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Here’s how the Sun will end all life on Earth. “Let me...
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.
The Best Goals in Football for 2024
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 nominees is Brazilian legend Marta, after whom the award is named. She was 37 when she fizzed this goal in against Jamaica.
Here’s a playlist of the nominees for the Puskas Award. Generally, I prefer goals with a bit of buildup to bicycle kicks or rockets from outside the 18-yard box, but these were all fun to watch.
Tags: best of · best of 2024 · soccer · sports · video
On Standby is a piece of sound art “based on data collected...
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”.
Maybe you’d like to read Patricia Lockwood on the X-Files? “So then...
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?”
Does Every Species Get a Billion Heartbeats Per Lifetime?
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 t...
Merve Emre converses with Sally Rooney about novels, Intermezzo, games, and religion....
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.)
Libertarian Reluctantly Calls Fire Department. “Although the community would do better to...
Libertarian Reluctantly Calls Fire Department. “Although the community would do better to rely on an efficient, free-market fire-fighting service…”
Musical Skiers
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
My friend Youngna is a wonderful writer and observer and I loved...
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”.
When a Telescope Is a National-Security Risk. The Vera Rubin Observatory is...
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).
Playing Music With Barcode Scanners
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
Madeleine Riffaud, hero of the French Resistance, has died at the age...
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.”
(Metaphorical) lessons learned from building wood fires, including “the most important ingredient...
(Metaphorical) lessons learned from building wood fires, including “the most important ingredient is invisible” and “you’re designing an airflow system with fuel attached”.
After 37 years, the 80s fashion trend of wearing salmon as hats...
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.”
Always Interesting: “52 Things I Learned in 2024”
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 oce...
Best TV Shows of 2024. Shogun, My Brilliant Friend, The Day of...
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.)
I am still working on my gift guide for this year, but...
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.
This summer, Taiwanese barista Xie Yi-chen won the 2024 World Coffee Championships...
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.”
“An AI-powered robot autonomously convinced 12 showroom robots to ‘quit their jobs’...
“An AI-powered robot autonomously convinced 12 showroom robots to ‘quit their jobs’ and follow it.”
Watch Charles Schulz Draw Charlie Brown
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
Infinite Stroll. Take a neverending walk....
Infinite Stroll. Take a neverending walk.
Good grief Charlie Brown, AirPods Pro 2 are on sale today for...
Good grief Charlie Brown, AirPods Pro 2 are on sale today for $154 (that’s almost $100 off).
This is a bit too on the nose: a Dutch tulip farmer...
This is a bit too on the nose: a Dutch tulip farmer is using the heat generated from cryptocurrency mining to heat their greenhouses.
Thanksgiving Recipes by Kindergarteners
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 · Thanksgiving
How 10 famous artists would plate Thanksgiving dinner. The Jackson Pollock &...
How 10 famous artists would plate Thanksgiving dinner. The Jackson Pollock & Seurat ones are pretty good.
From Kenji Lopez-Alt, a list of all of his favorite Thanksgiving recipes...
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).
Cranberry Bogs Use Spiders Instead Of Pesticides
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 are...
Suggestions on ways to improve the performance of any microwave. “Despite engineering...
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.”
How America Can Break Its Highway Addiction. “Because of induced demand, this...
How America Can Break Its Highway Addiction. “Because of induced demand, this Sisyphean struggle against congestion is an expensive boondoggle.”