Huge drop in homicides in the first half of 2024 in many...
Huge drop in homicides in the first half of 2024 in many US cities: Baltimore (-37%), Cleveland (-33%), Philly (-42%), Boston (-78%). Overall violent crime down too.
Jason Kottke’s weblog, home of fine hypertext products since 1998
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Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta recently hired a team of professional pickpockets to...
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta recently hired a team of professional pickpockets to take items from his players’ pockets during a team dinner to teach them “a valuable lesson about being alert and prepared at all times”.
Always. Be. Knolling.
You’ve probably seen instances of knolling without knowing there was a word for it. Knolling at the Apple Store:
Knolling the contents of your bag:
Knolling a recipe for a book:
Knolling the parts of a machine:
Knolling is the practice of organizing objects in parallel or at 90° angles. The term has been popularized by artist Tom Sachs; he picked it up from Andrew Kromelow when both were working at Frank Gehry’s furniture fabrication shop. Gehry was designing chairs for furniture company Knoll, and Kromelow would arrange unused tools in a manner similar to Knoll furniture. Hence, knolling.
Update: Things Organized Neatly is really something. Lots of knolling.
[This is a vintage post originally from Mar 2014.]
Tags: Andrew Kromelow · design · Knoll · language · timeless posts · Tom Sachs
Republicans Will Refuse to Certify a Harris Win. “There are more than...
Republicans Will Refuse to Certify a Harris Win. “There are more than enough [pro-Trump election conspiracists] in these key posts to bring us to a constitutional crisis.” (Have you noticed Trump isn’t really campaigning? This is one reason why.)
Nancy Pelosi’s Art of Power, a short profile by David Remnick. My...
Nancy Pelosi’s Art of Power, a short profile by David Remnick. My friend Meg sent me this, saying that this Pelosi quote should be on a t-shirt: “You have to be willing to throw a punch. For the children.”
Mushroom Color Atlas: A Rainbow of Dye Colors
The Mushroom Color Atlas is a resource and reference for everyone curious about mushrooms and the beautiful and subtle colors derived from dyeing with mushrooms. But it is also the start of a journey and a point of departure, introducing you to the kaleidoscopic fungi kingdom and our connection to it.
I love stuff like the Mushroom Color Atlas. There’s a book version coming out soon — you can pre-order at Amazon, Bookshop.org, or Chronicle Books. (via @presentandcorrect)
Tags: color · mushrooms
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Study: Gen Z Having Less Sex Due To Allure Of Leftovers At...
Study: Gen Z Having Less Sex Due To Allure Of Leftovers At Home. “Many Gen Zers are removing dating apps from their phones and replacing them with Grubhub, Doordash, and other food delivery apps.” Same!
If elected in November, Kamala Harris would be the first US president...
If elected in November, Kamala Harris would be the first US president to have worked at McDonald’s. “She joins 41 million Americans, including Jeff Bezos, who worked at the Golden Arches.”
Scott Heiferman sold his dotcom company in 1999 and then went to...
Scott Heiferman sold his dotcom company in 1999 and then went to work the counter at McDonald’s “to help get back in touch with the real world”. One takeaway: “most of my mcdonald’s co-workers did their jobs much better than i ever could.”
The free healthcare for athletes in the Olympic Village shines a bright...
The free healthcare for athletes in the Olympic Village shines a bright light on one of America’s most shameful, uh, “features”. “The Olympic Village offers free healthcare. The United States, of course, does not.” God, this is just embarrassing.
The Political “Center” Between Fascism and Democracy Is Fascism
What “Center” Is That, Exactly? A.R. Moxon on the continuing pleas from political “centrists” for the Democratic Party to find common ground with a party dedicated to extremist white Christian nationalism and whose party members joyously brandish MASS DEPORTATION NOW signs a...
Vivian Jenna Wilson, Elon Musk’s estranged daughter, excoriates Walter Isaacson for his...
Vivian Jenna Wilson, Elon Musk’s estranged daughter, excoriates Walter Isaacson for his misrepresentation of her in his “puff-piece” Musk biography. “You portrayed me in a light that is genuinely defamatory and I’m not going to mince my words.”
The Oldest World Map in the World
Irving Finkel, a curator at the British Museum and an expert in cuneiform, takes a look at a 2900-year-old Mesopotamian tablet that contains a map of the world as it was known at the time.
The Babylonian map of the world is the oldest map of the world, in the world. Writt...
Feist plays a Tiny Desk Concert for NPR....
Saturday Night
Saturday Night is a forthcoming movie directed by Jason Reitman about the premiere of Saturday Night Live.
At 11:30pm on October 11, 1975, a ferocious troupe of young comedians and writers changed television — and culture — forever. Directed by Jason Reitman and written b...
A lovely ode to soil by Ferris Jabr. “I now see soil...
A lovely ode to soil by Ferris Jabr. “I now see soil not simply as a medium for life, but as a living entity in its own right.”
Diary Comics, July 6
Tags: diary comics
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Pete Wells’s last column for the NY Times as restaurant critic: I...
Pete Wells’s last column for the NY Times as restaurant critic: I Reviewed Restaurants for 12 Years. They’ve Changed, and Not for the Better. “We feel increasingly alienated from the people who cook and serve our food.”
Is this a new streaming device for your TV or the bar...
Is this a new streaming device for your TV or the bar of soap in the shower that’s been worn down to a sliver but your parents won’t throw it out because “there’s still a lot of soap there”?
Tim Walz Fixed Your Bicycle
Immediately after Tim Walz was announced as Kamala Harris’s VP pick, the memes started. Most zeroed in on Walz’s potent Midwestern dad energy; he’s the kind of guy who would help a neighbor fix a car, pick you up from the airport, or bring you some soup when you’re sick. For...
The Portable Feminist Reader, edited by Roxane Gay. Includes writing by Agrippa,...
The Portable Feminist Reader, edited by Roxane Gay. Includes writing by Agrippa, Kimberlé Crenshaw, bell hooks, Audre Lorde, The Guerrilla Girls, and more.
How Technology Is Making Olympic Mountain Bikers Faster
I watched the men’s Olympic mountain biking race last week and something one of the announcers said caught my attention. She was describing the electronic shifters the cyclists use and then said that many of the competitors were also using an AI-controlled suspension syste...
Yes, the “ope!” explainer that America needs right now. As a native...
Yes, the “ope!” explainer that America needs right now. As a native of the upper Midwest, I use “ope” all the time. (But it’s not actually a Midwestern thing?!)
The Undisguised Extremism of the Republican Party
Michelle Goldberg writes about a new book, a fascist manifesto, written by antisemite and white nationalist Jack Posobiec (and his ghostwriter) called Unhumans.
The word “fascist” gets thrown around a lot in politics, but it’s hard to find a more apt one for “Unhumans,” whi...
Utah is basically burning books now. “State has ordered books by 13...
Utah is basically burning books now. “State has ordered books by 13 authors, 12 of them women, to be removed from every public school, classroom and library.” Includes books by Margaret Atwood, Judy Blume, and Rupi Kaur.
Why the word “Taiwan” is banned at the Olympics. “Taiwan is one...
Why the word “Taiwan” is banned at the Olympics. “Taiwan is one of just three teams whose flag is banned at the Olympics. The other two are Russia and Belarus — banned as punishment for Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.”
The World’s First Medieval Electronic Instrument
The EP–1320 Medieval is, amazingly, a real gadget being sold by Teenage Engineering — it’s a “beat machine” (or “instrumentalis electronicum”) loaded with a bunch of musical phrases and instruments from the Dark Ages.
Hurdy gurdys, lutes, Gregorian chants, thundering drums and punishing percussive Foley FX. The EP-1320 is the first of its kind: featuring a large library of phrases, play ready instruments and one-shot samples from an age where darkness reigned supreme, the instrumentalis electronicum is the ultimate, and only, medieval beat machine.
This is ludicrous and I love it.
Tags: music · Teenage Engineering
The theme for the Cooper Hewitt’s upcoming Design Triennial (in collaboration with...
The theme for the Cooper Hewitt’s upcoming Design Triennial (in collaboration with the National Museum of African American History and Culture) is Making Home.
55 Things to Know About Tim Walz
Over at Politico, Anusha Mathur compiled 55 facts about Kamala Harris’s running mate, Minnesota governor Tim Walz. Here are some of my favorites:
3. Walz credits his rural upbringing for his values: “A town that small had services like that and had a public school with a g...
An English couple took photos in front of a Swiss glacier in...
An English couple took photos in front of a Swiss glacier in 2009 & 2024 and the difference is shocking. “Switzerland has lost one-third of its glacier volume since 2000…and 10% has disappeared in the last two years alone.”