July 7, 2018
possibly the only survivor of a lost dog lineage is a venereal tumor
As outlined in a comprehensive study published Thursday in Science, indigenous dogs migrated to North America at least 10,000 years ago, alongside their human companions—the ancestors of Native American peoples. When the European colonization of the Americas began in the 1400s, these original canines, or “PCDs” (precontact dogs) quickly vanished. [...] The genomic analysis of these dogs revealed that they descended from Siberian canine stock, not wild North American wolves, as previously speculated. Though they thrived on the continent, practically none of their DNA is present in modern North American dogs. “Although greater degrees of PCD ancestry may remain in American dogs that have not yet been sampled, our results suggest that European dogs almost completely replaced native American dog lineages...” The Mysterious Disappearance of North America's First Dogs
Who is the best stamp licker around? Jax is!
A song about a girl
First Album, First Side, First Song
NPR compiles a Spotify playlist of their 150 favorite First Album, First Side, First Song tracks across history. The first five are Elton John -- Empty Sky; The Shins -- Caring Is Creepy; Jimi Hendrix -- Purple Haze; Jackson Browne -- Jamaica Say You Will; Living Colour -- Cult Of Personality [more inside]
Shut Up and Sit Down Recommends 🍐
In this golden age of board games how can you sift through all the new releases and find the gems and avoid the duds? Shut Up & Sit Down is a website all about board games, card games, and all the other games you can play in your very own house. They have podcasts and videos as well as written reviews. They also have their own convention - Shux18. [more inside]
Tour de France starts
Tour de France starts... [more inside]
Life on the breadline: Australians in poverty share their stories.
Life on the breadline: Australians living in poverty share their day to day lives
Once I have been paid, I have money for that day and perhaps the next if I am lucky. After rent, electricity, phone, gas, internet, registration for the car and petrol for college there is no discretionary income at all. Notice that I haven’t included food. That is because I buy that last with whatever is left over.According to the latest Acoss (Australian Council for Social Services) poverty report, in 2014 there were 2.99 million Australians living below the poverty line. Of those, 731,000 are children. The Guardian Australia is running a series of stories by these Australians. Meanwhile, business groups, economists and charities are united in their call for an increase in Newstart, the most standard payment offered to jobseekers.
Some reviews & reviewers of 2018's SF/F short fiction so far
Samantha Mills's short story "Strange Waters" (Strange Horizons, 2 April 2018) received a glowing review from Danielle Maurer at SFFReviews: "Every now and then, you find a story that resonates with you on a deep level. 'Strange Waters' is that story for me." SFFReviews launched last summer in part thanks to this Twitter thread encouraging people to review SF/F short fiction because so much is available--the site has achieved fairly wide coverage but aims for more. Setting aside stories posted previously, a selection of recommendations from other sources offers additional perspective on six months of SF/F short fiction. [more inside]
My Depression Is Like Having A Bad Dog
People who know me personally will know that I have a dog and that I'm fairly open about it, but it isn't something I discuss much publicly. I prefer to wait a while to introduce people to it, because my dog is difficult. My dog is not a good dog. [more inside]
Here is a nice tree.
Overhead, swaying ... a tree in Spain ... some forest birdsong ... in Japan ... a forest at night ... in England ... falling autumnal leaves and rain ... in Italy ... a birch tree, swaying ... in Canada ... a strong wind blows through trees ... in New Zealand ... and some forests, also in New Zealand ... in Wales ... stark Norwegian trees in winter ... in England (and album) ... timelapses through Norwegian forests ... in Scotland ... timelapses of trees in Jämtland, Sweden.
Five weeks, five records: Kanye's Wyoming Sessions
Kanye publicized a daunting plan to release five records in five weeks back in late April, sparking much anticipation. All artists involved stuck to the release schedule and now it's been a bit over a week since the completion of the so-called "Wyoming Sessions," named for the recording and record release party location of the following records*: Pusha-T - Daytona (May 25); Kanye - ye (June 1); Kanye and Kid Cudi - Kids See Ghosts (June 8); Nas - Nasir (June 15); and Teyana Taylor - K.T.S.E. (June 22) [5x official audio YouTube playlists]. NME has a recap of the records and picks their top 10 tracks, cutting the almost two hours down to around 35 minutes. [more inside]
New Exhibits at Monticello
On the weekend of June 16th 2018, around 300 descendants of the slave population at Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s plantation near Charlottesville, attended the opening of new exhibits that “mark the restoration and reopening of a new interpretive approach that centers the experience of the enslaved.” [more inside]
"I brought my diploma to my cell window so people could see it."
“Cards. Deal With It.”
“Everyone hates learning the rules to tabletop games. It's like going to one of those long timeshare presentations before getting your free vacation: if you want to have fun, you have to suffer through boring torture first. That is... until now! My name is Jeff Kornberg, and I make "How To Play" board game tutorial videos on my channel called "The Dragon's Tomb." A lot of other YouTube channels currently make similar kinds of videos, but most of them get the rules wrong, go on too long, or have boring hosts who are nerdy. My channel aims to fix all that. Each one of my videos concisely covers all rules of each game, while being hosted by someone who isn't a nerd (me). I am planning on making a "How To Play" video for every board game that exists, so if you get a new game, please wait until I make a video for it before attempting to play.” [via: Kotaku] [more inside]
Card Catalogues and The Crow Fair
Nine out of ten people like chocolate. The tenth person always lies.
Whatever you do this World Chocolate Day, don’t buy yourself an 85% dark chocolate and sea salt bar solely as a tool to look down on those who prefer white chocolate, because “dark chocolate is real chocolate, unlike that sweet filth other people eat”. Don’t be that person. No-one likes that person. [more inside]
Spiders use electricity
Spiders Can Fly Hundreds of Miles Using Electricity. Scientists are finally starting to understand the centuries-old mystery of “ballooning.”
...Erica Morley and Daniel Robert have an explanation. The duo, who work at the University of Bristol, has shown that spiders can sense the Earth’s electric field, and use it to launch themselves into the air.
Greatest Story Ever Told, Greatest Trick Ever Pulled
Authority - "We construct authority. How we construct it is among the most important social, ethical, and technological problems we face." [more inside]
It's Coming Home...
While England has a few more hours to dream, the BBC has a look back at the defining song of Euro 96, as well as a half hour special on 5 Live
bypassing consciousness
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