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Appleseed WA 38
Washington Apple Growers Sink Their Teeth Into The New Cosmic Crisp
- "He doesn't remember the day in 1997 when he took a bite of an apple from the tree that was labeled WA 38. But it must have made a good impression because he and his colleagues kept it around. It's still there, in a research orchard near Wenatchee. Most of the orchard is filled with rows of young seedlings, the latest products of Washington state's breeding program. At the far end of the orchard, though, stands the original WA 38 'mother tree'. Every one of the millions of Cosmic Crisp trees now growing in orchards and nurseries is a clone of this tree."
An annoying distraction from Eurovision
Prime Minister Theresa May has announced a general election for the UK on the 8th June. In a speech, the PM describes Brexit, unity et al, and Jeremy Corbyn, the Liberal Democrats and the SNP as the core reasons. With "I have only recently and reluctantly come to this conclusion", this reverses her previous position on a snap election. The PM needs first to overturn the 2011 Fixed-term Parliaments Act, which will be attempted in the House of Commons tomorrow. Before the general election, there are the local elections on May 4th.
Please recommend your soothing and friendly TV / games / films
All of a sudden, the on-screen emotional human drama and violence and general human nastiness is really affecting me, I think real life is giving me my quota of horrid things at the moment - please can you recommend some certified non-pointy things that don't take me to the mental Bad Place?
LiveJournal now bans political talk, LGBT talk.
Thanks to Russian Internet laws, LiveJournal posters are forbidden from certain topics of interest.
Now that LiveJournal is now owned by Russians and the servers are there, LiveJournal has now banned "political solicitation" discussion, which can refer to fun things such as criticism of the Russian government and talking about anything LGBT-related such as slashfic. Yes, this applies to you even if you're not in Russia.
Strategies for getting sh*t done while depressed
For the last few months, I've been situationally depressed – I've been dealing with a breakup, shake-ups at work and other life stuff. I know that "this too shall pass" and I'm talking about all of this in therapy. HOWEVER, my therapist is not very good at giving me practical advice for keeping it together day-to-day, and that's what I'm asking about here.
Who would pay $5 to support a website?
Medium
is now selling monthly subscriptions
Intersectional foodies of PDX
Started as a reaction to the (mostly) so-white Portland Oregon food scene, Racist Sandwich is a podcast where Soleil Ho, Zahir Janmohamed, and a variety of guests take on both the local scene and broader topics exploring the intersection of food, race, gender, and class. They also maintain the PDX POC Food Directory of restaurants and grocery stores owned and operated by people of color.
Meet Julia
via Sesame Street: "We’re very excited to announce that a new friend will be joining us on Sesame Street! Our new friend is Julia; she is a 4-year-old with autism! " "Julia started last year as a character in Sesame's books and digital offerings. Sesame decided on a two-fold mission for the related campaign "See Amazing in All Children," to give children with autism and their families someone to identify with — and those that don't a window into their world."
AT&T dismissed the idea that providers would redline
The Digital Redlining Of Cleveland
A new report from the National Digital Inclusion Alliance finds that AT&T systematically deployed high speed technology to wealthier homes, while relegating poorer neighborhoods to the slowest connections.
Version control ain't easy
Most of us in the room were dumbfounded. “What did he say?”
At the end of the original film, Rebel ships fly along the Death Star trench in an attempt to blow up the space station. Look at the photo of the Death Star at the top of this post: can you point to the trench that Luke and the Rebels flew down to fire upon the exhaust port that would ultimately destroy the space station?
At the end of the original film, Rebel ships fly along the Death Star trench in an attempt to blow up the space station. Look at the photo of the Death Star at the top of this post: can you point to the trench that Luke and the Rebels flew down to fire upon the exhaust port that would ultimately destroy the space station?
"It's only a little bit live!"
Three Englishmen, an electric fence, and a tangled bike. [NSFW-swears]
A transit planner looks at Mini Metro
Mini Metro (previously) is a transit planning game, simplified to the point of abstraction. On Waypoint, Robert Rath speaks to the developers and a real transit planner about how the game has been received in the transit planning community.
The Lawsuit That Could Save the Planet
A while ago, several kids brought a lawsuit against the Obama administration for potentially ruining their futures with climate change. They just won the right to go to trial. If Obama’s people settle it before Jan. 20, “… Such a settlement would result in a court order that the Trump administration would then have to abide by — it could attempt to overturn the order, but that could take years.” If Obama doesn't settle, the case goes on to Trump. The main lawyer involved is an Oregon mom who has founded Our Childrens’ Trust to continue the litigation.
Portland Protests
Portland protests
For the fourth night, protests continue in Portland. KGW is broadcasting live.
Women Who Wish They'd Never Had Kids
Women all over the world are coming forward to say it: I regret having my children.
Honesty this surprising and inconvenient breeds harsh backlash wherever it goes. In response to Dutton's Daily Mail story, some comments were vicious. "What an utterly miserable, cold-hearted and selfish woman," noted one. Another was astonished "such a vile creature could exist." Some have even accused these mothers of committing child abuse for daring to utter such thoughts.
Honesty this surprising and inconvenient breeds harsh backlash wherever it goes. In response to Dutton's Daily Mail story, some comments were vicious. "What an utterly miserable, cold-hearted and selfish woman," noted one. Another was astonished "such a vile creature could exist." Some have even accused these mothers of committing child abuse for daring to utter such thoughts.
I want to make cheese
How do the revered do it? And what's the science? Perhaps you want to build a home cheese cave? Well, the Discovery channel explain how to turn 30,000 liters of milk into 1,400 blocks of Mozzarella, while the making of Blue Stilton, and then Swiss Cheese, are revealed. Elsewhere, Channel Cheese shows traditional Toma Ossolana, and Ricotta, making while The British Cheese Board have a short documentary. There's also some serious cheese making action in Somerset, Mary Rose Livingston, farmer owner of Northland Sheep Dairy in New York, talks about her cheesemaking, and John from the north of England makes a nice Blue Stilton.
PUTANA DA SEATBELTZ
Every Joke in Airplane!, Ranked.
We rated each joke only in reference to other Airplane! jokes. Airplane! threes and fours are probably equivalent to most other movies’ nines and tens.
We're going to assume a Twinkie is a simple box
Serious Eats' J. Kenji López-Alt has done the math, and Ghostbusters' 35-foot-long, 600lb Twinkie just isn't possible.
The Full English Brexit
Brexit: why Britain left the EU, explained with a simple cartoon [Vox] // UK appeals for calm as markets drop, EU leaders huddle [AP] // David Cameron resigns after UK votes to leave European Union [Guardian], Brexit: David Cameron rules out second EU referendum [Independent] // Brexit: Six key questions after Britain's vote to exit the EU [BBC] // Brexit loophole? MPs must still vote in order for Britain to leave the EU, top lawyers say [Independent] // Brexit: Germany rules out informal negotiations [BBC]
The History of Farting for Money
Linda Rodriguez at The New Republic: “Roland, court minstrel to 12th century English king Henry II, probably had many talents. But history has recorded only one.” (Originally posted with a few additional pictures on Atlas Obscura.)
Dead ding dong is the witch.
Of Oz the Wizard.
Finally someone put it in alphabetical order! SLVimeo.
The Beginning of the End of Big Government IT
The state of California just announced that the new technology underpinning its Child Welfare System [pdf] won't be the usual "IT Solution" bought up in one big lump to follow a 4000-page specification. Instead, it's going to be built as a series of smaller modular projects driven by user needs, drawing on agile methodologies, a wider range of vendors, and, wherever possible, open standards and open source software. The decision, made in collaboration with Code for America and the federal government, sets an important precedent for how governments on all levels can get past the pitfalls of the standard procurement model.
"You are very welcome to this sad, tattered and abused old world."
"We have not learned, even, to live with our fellow man. Instead we have perfected more means to annihilate him -- to wipe him (and ourselves) from the face of the Earth." A 1974 letter from Lieutenant Colonel Clyde S. Shield, lead test pilot for the Manhattan project, to his newborn grandson.
D'ya get me, bruv?
A new London accent strikingly different from Cockney has emerged in the last few years. Linguists call it "Multicultural London English" (or MLE) and although it has obvious roots in the London black community it's now displacing Cockney to become a universal accent for working class London youth, regardless of race. Change is spreading so fast that London teens often have radically different accents from their own parents.
Greenpeace vs. Shell Oil: the Portland edition
A standoff between Greenpeace and Shell Oil is happening right now high above the Willamette River in Portland, Ore. Yesterday, using mountaineering equipment, thirteen protestors lowered themselves down from the magestically large St. Johns Bridge in a bid to prevent the passage of Shell's icebreaking ship MSV Fennica, which had been undergoing repairs in Portland and was scheduled to depart to assist Shell's oil drilling activities in the Arctic. The protesters have supplies to stay awhile. For now, the ship has turned around and a judge has ruled that Greenpeace will be charged $2500 for every hour the protest continues.
Turns out, I'm an asshole
It's become abundantly clear that the way in which I lose my temper and the frequency with which I do so is (and it's hard to admit this) abusive. My wife has rightly given me an ulitmatum. I need a plan and I have no idea how or where to begin.
"It's not gonna hurt me when you cry"
I'm still here, but yet I'm goneI'm Not Gonna Miss You is Glen Campbell latest and last ever song. Diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease back in 2011, he embarked on his farewell tour which finished 2012. Now checked into a long term Alzheimer's care facility, "I'm Not Gonna Miss You" is his farewell song to his wife in the knowledge that the disease is taking away his memories of her.
I don't play guitar or sing my songs
They never defined who I am
The man that loves you 'til the end
You're the last person I will love
You're the last face I will recall
And best of all, I'm not gonna to miss you.
A hue angle of 270 degrees, a saturation of 50% and a lightness of 40%
Eric Meyer is an expert on the Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) system used to control the appearance of web documents. He's the author of multiple books on CSS, and the "chaperone" of the css-discuss mailing list. His daughter, Rebecca, passed away, and her family asked that those attending memorial services wear purple, her favorite color. Dominique Hazaël-Massieux requested that a purple be added to the CSS color list be named "Becca Purple" in her memory. Eric suggested that it be named
rebeccapurple because his daughter wanted everyone to call her Rebecca after she turned six, and she was six for almost twelve hours. Today, a co-chair of the CSS Working Group announced approval of the change. From now on, rebeccapurple means #663399.The Mother of All Self Links?
Metafilter is laying off 3 of its staff, including long time moderator and frequent moral compass Jessamyn who is moving on to Internet Archive’s Open Library. November 2012, Metafilter experienced a sharp drop in traffic. Slate asks "Why has Google forsaken Metafilter?" But the problem is endemic of a larger issue. Google is breaking the internet.
Where can I fill my growler near Pasadena?
I have a growler from Pyramid breweries with a plastic screw top. I bought it because I figured I'd be able to fill it up all the time. Unfortunately, I just got off the phone with Stone Brewery in Pasadena and they won't fill my growler because it's a plastic screw top (must be a flip top) and because it has a different companies logo on it (though they said I could scrape it off, which I don't mind). Any other ideas for where I could fill my growler for a party tonight?
How Obama's tech team saved his presidency a second time
Inside the Nightmare Launch of HealthCare.Gov
- "Unknown to a nation following the fiasco, McDonough's assignment from the President had boiled down to something more dire than how to fix the site. As the chief of staff remembers his mission, it was 'Can it be patched and improved to work, or does it need to be scrapped to start over? He wanted to know if this thing is salvageable.' Yes, on Oct. 17, the President was thinking of scrapping the whole thing and starting over." (previously)
help me reverse my cravings for distracting information
Over the past year, I noticed some pretty frustrating behavior in myself (it wasn't always like this). It seems like I'm always craving a distraction and so these distractions have become highly interspersed with my work -- a huge time sucker.
Now that's a big family
Now we are five:
David Sedaris, on the suicide of his sister Tiffany.
The hits keep going...
Radio Free Earth
"Radio Free Earth finds the #1 song according to the Billboard Charts on a random (or determined) date, measures how long ago that date was, finds a named star that distance away, and then outputs which star that #1 song is just reaching at this moment."
Eiji Toyoda, Promoter of 'Toyota Way,' Dies at 100
Eiji Toyoda, architect of the “lean manufacturing” method helped turned the automaker Toyota, into a global powerhouse and changed the face of modern manufacturing.
'In almost six decades with the company he helped transform a tiny spinoff of a textile loom maker into the world’s biggest automaker. Early on, he helped put Toyota at the forefront of a wave of automobile production in Japan, pushing it to bolster its lineup, first by adding compact vehicles and sports cars in the 1960s and 1970s. In the 1980s he initiated the development of luxury models to compete with the likes of Mercedes-Benz and BMW, culminating with the Lexus brand in 1989.'
¡Atención!", "1234567890"
Find a short wave radio and before long you should be able to tune into The Lincolnshire Poacher - the station plays an introduction comprising part of the eponymous folk tune followed by a robotic female voice reading strings of numbers: listen! So called Numbers Stations have been a mysterious constant of short wave radio for several decades. The Conet Project [previously 1, 2, 3] has made a collection of the recordings available allowing you to listen to "Ready! Ready! 15728", "The Buzzer" (especially mysterious), "Gong Station Chimes", "Magnetic Fields" and many others....
I can FizzBuzz! Where do I go from here?
I am teaching myself how to program. But there seems to be a big gap between intro courses/resources (CodeCademy, O'Reilly books, Learn X the Hard Way) and Actually Doing Things. Help me figure out a road plan?
This Wedding Season, Say Yes to Strangers
This past month we learned about a pair of viral Craigslist ads that some nice young men had (successfully) used to find wedding dates. This was old news to me. In 2008, I was named a bridesmaid against my will, and I prepared to suffer through all the standard requirements that come with the duty. Usually, you simply grin and bear these life necessities, but when the bride vehemently insisted that we all have dates despite the fact that several of us were single, I decided to respond to her myopia with outright insolence, with the support of and in the shared name of my bridal party cohorts. On July 8, 2008, I posted the following ad to Craigslist:
“seeking awful date for awful wedding (w4m)”
i’m a bridesmaid in a terrible wedding. i need a date to ruin it with, preferably one that is either ridiculously unkempt or too hot to be able to enjoy with a straight face. i’ll buy you however many shots you might need to make it through this endeavor. you send me 25 words or less on why it should be you and a picture.
"Tell them what really happened, Sting."
A joint interview with the Police from April 2000.
A career-spanning reminiscence rich with bickering, musical insights, and curse words.