Mike Monteiro on how to survive being online. “The first four years of Donald Trump was a continuous panic attack. I’m not going through that again. You don’t have to either. They’re on stage, but you don’t have to be their audience.”
Jason Kottke’s weblog, home of fine hypertext products since 1998
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What the…??! It seems that Back to the Future and The Goonies...
What the…??! It seems that Back to the Future and The Goonies were both set on the same day, Saturday, Oct. 26, 1985. (And it might be a Spielberg Easter egg.)
Live Animated Broadcasts of the Australian Open
Following on from last year’s successful trial, the Australian Open is once again broadcasting all their matches, nearly live and in their entirety, on YouTube — but with animated avatars in place of the players. Here’s how it looks in practice, kind of Wii Tennis; this is a...
Noah Kalina celebrates 25 years of taking a photo of himself every...
Finally! Soup you can suck on! “It’s Progresso Chicken Noodle Soup like...
Finally! Soup you can suck on! “It’s Progresso Chicken Noodle Soup like you never expected — a convenient, on-the-go soup experience.” Who says innovation is dead?
USPS Announces Goodnight Moon Stamps
The USPS has announced that they will be issuing stamps based on the children’s classic Goodnight Moon, written by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by Clement Hurd, and first published in 1947.
The Postal Service notes that “these designs are preliminary and may change”. Goodnight Moon was the very first bedtime book for our kids — we read it to them so so so many times. I will be buying some of these stamps for sure.
Tags: books · Goodnight Moon · stamps · USPS
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The Forgotten Woman Who Transformed Forensics (by inventing the rape kit). “In...
The Forgotten Woman Who Transformed Forensics (by inventing the rape kit). “In a cruel irony, a woman who drove major social change failed to get her due as a result of politics and sexism.”
“Being a person with deadly, incurable cancer who is nonetheless still alive...
“Being a person with deadly, incurable cancer who is nonetheless still alive for an indefinite timeframe gives me an interesting metaphor that helps me deal with things like large-scale corruption in government or commerce.” Great perspective.
The 25 Best Films of 2024: A Video Countdown
Film critic David Ehrlich has dropped his annual visual love letter to cinema in the form of an expertly cut & crafted video countdown of his top 25 movies of 2024. You can also watch on Vimeo. Please note before you watch though:
This video includes a significant amo...
I loved the pop-up cubicle at Grand Central that Apple did for...
I loved the pop-up cubicle at Grand Central that Apple did for the second season of Severance.
Provocative from Tim Carmody: David Lynch was America’s greatest conservative filmmaker. “There...
Provocative from Tim Carmody: David Lynch was America’s greatest conservative filmmaker. “There is an assumption that great artists, especially subversive ones, live radical lives and embrace progressive politics. But Lynch…”
On Leadership and Doing Time
Over the last few days, I’ve been reading Ken Liu’s new translation of Laozi’s Dao De Jing. (Liu translated the first and third books in The Three-Body Problem trilogy.) Today, on a dark day for America, I thought that we could all use some of his wisdom.
Favor takes power ...
The Kindle version of Ken Liu’s new translation of Laozi’s Dao De...
The Kindle version of Ken Liu’s new translation of Laozi’s Dao De Jing is on sale for only $1.99. Laozi loved a good bargain! 🤔
Film director David Lynch has died at the age of 78. RIP,...
OOO: I’ll See You Next Week
Hey folks. After a busy and productive fall & holiday season, kottke.org will be closed this week for some much-needed rest, relaxation, and recharging. I will be back next week, ready to gooooo!
Tags: kottke.org
I paged through this illustrated retrospective of Hayao Miyazaki’s work at the...
I paged through this illustrated retrospective of Hayao Miyazaki’s work at the bookstore a few months ago and it was gorgeous. “The book is artistic biography, aesthetic treatise, creative process explication, and celebration of the filmmaker’s work.”
Want to Wear a Tiny Apollo Guidance Computer on Your Wrist?
A British company is selling a wristwatch that’s a shrunk-down replica of the Apollo Guidance Computer interface that the Apollo astronauts used to maneuver their spacecraft to the Moon and back. From Gizmodo:
The original AGCs were used by astronauts for guidance and nav...
Did we all know this already? “Chip is a nickname for a...
The Art of the Snack Solo. “And now I am into my...
The Art of the Snack Solo. “And now I am into my stride. A fig is plucked. The cornichons emerge. The cheeses multiply. Little packets of oatcakes are opened. Maple syrup is experimentally poured.” (I…do not eat this way. 100% mealer here.)
Post-Apocalyptic Orbs
While these might look like they are AI-generated, these floating orb-structures created by Masakatsu Sashie are actually oil paintings. You can check out more of his work on Instagram and Facebook. (via colossal)
Tags: art · Masakatsu Sashie
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33 Ways To Improve Your Life, Japanese Style. Including “be happy in...
33 Ways To Improve Your Life, Japanese Style. Including “be happy in your own company”, “find your inner otaku”, “take inspiration — but with respect”, and “be reliable”.
Jessica Hische & Chris Shiflett are launching a company called Studioworks that...
Jessica Hische & Chris Shiflett are launching a company called Studioworks that makes business management software for creative studios.
An Ambient 24/7 Streaming Video of Chill Work/Study Vibes
Back in 2016, I wrote about The Most Relaxing Song in the World, an ambient track by Marconi Union called Weightless. Today I learned the band’s record label hosts a 24/7 streaming video of their music on YouTube:
I am adding this to my chill working music rotation immediately, alongside this 10-hour version of Weightless.
(via jodi ettenberg)
Tags: Marconi Union · meditative · music · video
Learning from Finland’s success in combatting homelessness. “It is the result of...
Learning from Finland’s success in combatting homelessness. “It is the result of a sustained, well-resourced national strategy […] which provides people experiencing homelessness with immediate, independent, permanent housing…”
The Rollercoaster of Compassionate Death
The Euthanasia Coaster is designed to thrill the hell out of its passengers just before it kills them.
Each inversion would have a smaller diameter than the one before in order to inflict 10 g to passengers while the train loses speed. After a sharp right-hand turn the t...
When Your Terminal Illness Makes You a TikTok Star. “After being diagnosed...
When Your Terminal Illness Makes You a TikTok Star. “After being diagnosed with A.L.S. in 2022, Brooke Eby could have turned inward. Instead, she opened up — and found a fan base online.” This was a really great & poignant read.
The Design of Classic Doctor Who Title Cards
While designing a one-off t-shirt for a holiday gift, I stumbled across this amazing page on the Doctor Who Wiki about the design of the show’s title cards. It’s a pretty thorough resource and includes the typefaces used for the titles — like Grotesque, Eurostile, Futura, Della Robbia, and OPTI Formula One.
I put together a few representative samples from episodes featuring the first four Doctors, after which the designs get less interesting IMO. Enjoy.
See also a video of All Doctor Who Title Sequences: 1963-2023.
Tags: design · Doctor Who · TV · typography
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The Beauty Of Old Hollywood In One Scene. Evan Puschak dissects a...
The Beauty Of Old Hollywood In One Scene. Evan Puschak dissects a scene from The Philadelphia Story, featuring Katherine Hepburn & Jimmy Stewart.
How Ernest Wright Makes Scissors
Ernest Wright has been making scissors in Sheffield, England since 1902. This video takes a look at how they make one of the their most sought after models.
In this episode of Sheffield Makes we visit Ernest Wright to follow the production of the Kutrite kitchen scissor,...
What Dinosaurs Were Really Like. This is an entertaining and informative look...
What Dinosaurs Were Really Like. This is an entertaining and informative look at what we know about dinosaurs today (for those of us who haven’t kept up much since Jurassic Park).