Category: Longform
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I did a bit of traveling this week, and that meant flying in and out of Newark, which… has been in the news.
We seemed to avoid most of it, but before flying back, I was somewhat relieved to read this thread by a pilot about all the backups they have.
Not something anyone ever wants, but good to know that if everything goes wrong, you’re mostly going to be OK.
Since it’s in the news at EWR:
I’m as guilty as anyone at just listening to the same old albums over and over, or letting the streaming service pic, but I do sort of miss the days of digging through a music store.
Every once in a while you would have something catch your eye, and you knew you just had to hear it.
I guess I never thought of the start of album art, but it’s always fascinating to read how something so ubiquitous got its start.
I’m still not sure where we’re going with AI.
There’s something there, but I don’t think it’s fully show us what it’s going to be yet.
Still, if it gives us better LEGO models, I’m here for it.
New Lego-building AI creates models that actually stand up in real life
What I’m hyped for:
Poker Face is back.
I think this kinda flew under everyone’s radar it’s first season, but sometimes you just need a procedural.
Add in Rian Johnson and Natasha Lyonne, and you have yourself a good time.
Look, Peacock is an also ran, but wait until all the episodes come out, and get it for a month. It’s worth it.
What I Watched This Week:
Going into a Shop Just to Use Their Toilet
Links I Should Share So I Can Close Some Tabs
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I often struggle to find something to listen to throughout the day while I’m working.
I want something that will play continuously without me thinking about it, but it would also be nice to have someone pick the music, or at least change up the style every once in a while.
This was a lot easier in the days of radio, but true, live person DJ shows are not always easy to find.
I came across this list of great radio stations from around the world, and I’ve been giving them a go through out the day.
Not all of them have been amazing, but it’s still fun to cycle through them.
The 15 Coolest Internet Radio Stations Around the World
This is just a cool sport, and the birds are just amazing to look at.
I can’t even imagine hunting with one for years, only to let it go free, but that itself is still amazing.
The Eagle Hunters Of Kyrgyzstan
Out of all the dumb things we believed as kids, somehow mood rings were just one of those things that felt fake from the moment you saw one.
Sure, they would come with these cool cards telling you what the different colors meant about how you were feeling, but I just remember thinking how fake that sounded.
Maybe it was because it was the same tech that they put into the stickers on some of the Transformers, and then told us to heat it with out hands.
The mood ring’s mysterious history
What I’m hyped for:
I’m probably going to need a new car soon, and part of me would love a pickup, just to tool around in, and be able to throw my bike in the bed.
However, pickup trucks are just ridiculously big now, to the point of self parody, and I really just want a two door, small truck.
The Slate has my interest piqued.
I wish it was all wheel, and not real wheel, but for a second, “getting around” car, this would be a lot of what I would want.
What I Watched This Week:
I’m not sure why I watched a 30 min video about a horrible book, written to be the vanity vehicle for an ex-band promoter, but I’m glad I did.
Honestly, I think I’m just a sucker for videos about bad books.
The Handbook for Mortals Bestseller List Scam: A Retrospective
Links I Should Share So I Can Close Some Tabs
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Working in New York, I often find myself wondering around, and every once in a while, you come across some tiny bit of land that hasn’t been touched, at least in recent times, or I see a dig site, and wonder what are they digging through.
It’s weird to walk through some place so built up, covered with concrete and asphalt, and realize that this used to be farm lands, woods, and hunting grounds.
I came across NYGB’s Welikia Project, and have been zooming in and around different parts of the city as a bit of time traveling.
I love movie mistakes where after you know they exist, you can’t help to see them every time you watch the movie.
It’s even better when you can kinda split your disbelief, and you make a little head canon about it. (I choose to believe that the stormtrooper in Star Wars is just that clumsy.)
Then there’s the ones that even the film makers probably forgot about.
The Movie Mistake Mystery from “Revenge of the Sith”
Don’t know which wine to get?
Look for a bird.
Even better? Look for a fish.
What I’m hyped for:
Look, I don’t need to tell you to watch Andor.
If you like Star Wars, you probably already know it’s one of the best things out there right now.
And if you hate Star Wars, no amount of telling you how great the story of every day people fighting back against impossible odds is going to change your mind.
Still, you should watch Andor.
(And I will die on the hill that Rouge One is the second best Star Wars movie.)
What I Watched This Week:
This started out looking like someone dunking on people who still log onto a virtual world 15 years after everyone left, but by the end, it was a story of friendship, and people looking for a place to belong.
I Spent 30 Days in a Dead Game
Links I Should Share So I Can Close Some Tabs
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It’s always interesting when you start seeing something slowly pop up as a piece of pop culture, only to learn it’s been around in some other country for decades.
Tintin and the Smurfs were a bit like that, and now I have started to see Moomins all over the place.
So I enjoyed this deep dive into their creator, how she processed her life through their stories, even when people wanted her to keep it light.
I look at this, and I just wonder if there was ever a trade of knock-off black turtlenecks when Jobs was alive.
I guess I get that you may want to aspire to be like these tech CEOs, but has there ever been an angel investor who was like, “I don’t know if this tech is worth it, but his leather coat looks so cool…”
Eh, I guess it sort of worked for Elizabeth Holmes, so who knows.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s Iconic Look Used to Promote Knockoff Leather Jackets
Ronaldo is in a new game… that’s not soccer, buttt… you CAN beat him up. So win all around, I guess.
Cristiano Ronaldo is playable in Fatal Fury because reality wasn’t absurd enough already
What I’m hyped for:
I’ve been following Dan Trachtenberg for a long time now, since the Totally Rad Show days.
It’s been great to see him break out in the world of Hollywood, and to thoughtfully take on beloved franchises.
I love Prey, and while I wasn’t looking for an animated series showing Predators through time, I’m going to watch it.
Predator: Killer of Killers | First Look | Hulu
What I Watched This Week:
While not the most exciting topic, this video did get me thinking, and I finally took the plunge and jailbroke my Kindle this week.
I honestly hadn’t touched my Kindle in awhile, partly because I was reading EPubs on my iPad, but mostly because I HATED the page turn mechanics on my 7th gen Paperwhite.
For some reason, when reading in bed, I would always increase the font when trying to turn a page.
I’m not saying witching to KOReader is going to solve everything, but it’s a start.
Oh, and I was able to switch my lock screen to these cyberpunk bunnies, which trills me to no end.
It’s Time To Jailbreak Your Kindle.
Links I Should Share So I Can Close Some Tabs
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All this time I was under the impression that that famous photo from The Shining (the one Jack ends up in at the end of the movie) was something staged for the movie. Apparently that’s not the case, it was a real photo… only, no one was quite sure where it was from.
Last week, two researches, Aric Toler and Alastair Spark, announced that the photo was from a Valentine’s Day dance on Feb, 15, 1921.
Just a cool story about uncovering mysteries you might not even know are mysteries.
Researchers have discovered the original source of The Shining’s iconic end photograph
Just a nice piece about people buying a dive bar frequented by locals, and doing their best to keep it feeling like the same place.
How to Save a Dive Bar—Without Ruining It
I think, as a whole, I liked Ben Affleck as Batman, but I disliked every movie he played him in. Great portrayal, bad story.
And it sounds like he started to see it the same way when he realized that his son was scared to watch the movies.
Batman can be a lot of things, but when you’re scaring kids with a comic book character, it’s time to rethink things.
Ben Affleck Realizes Now His Batman Was, Like, Way Too Dark
In that same vain of, “What was DC’s plan?,” David Ayer still seems to think he can get the, “Ayer Cut” of The Suicide Squad released after Zack Snyder got his.
Man, take the L, and let it go. They already released a better cut of that movie, only it was directed by James Gunn.
David Ayer Still Has Hope His Suicide Squad Cut Will Be Released
What I’m Hyped For
I’m a sucker for anything Ghost In The Shell. I’ve watched the movies, Stand Alone Complex, Arise, and yes, even the Netflix series. I can’t defend it all, but I will continue to watch it all.
We knew a new series was coming next year, but a new teaser dropped this week, and I am ready.
TV Animation “THE GHOST IN THE SHELL” 2nd Teaser Trailer｜Scheduled for 2026
What I Watched This Week
Very cool to see the animal kingdom distilled down through one common trait, in this case eyes.
Every Eye In the Animal Kingdom | Wired
Links I Should Share So I Can Close Some Tabs
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Apparently the creator of Pirate Booty has been trying to declare himself mayor of his Long Island town, despite losing the election 1064 votes to 62. He recently busted into city claiming he had enough signatures to dissolve the town, which produced this amazing quote:
“He had a FedEx-type envelope that was sealed that he was waving around,” allegedly with petition signatures, at the March 10 meeting, Kennedy said. “And when he was asked, ‘Do you want to submit that?’ and he said, ‘No.'"
FYI, he hasn’t owned the brand since 2013, so much away.
I’ve been rooting for the USMNT for years, and for the longest time it felt like, “We’re so close, next time we could do it.” But now, things feel… off. Honestly, I completely forgot the Cup is next year, and that the US is hosting. Given waves vaguely in the air everything, I don’t have high hopes for next year.
The US men’s national team aren’t just underachievers; they’re unlikeable
Have you ever watched someone so talented at something that even when you watch them closely you still have no idea how they did it? That’s how I feel watching this speedcuber solve this cube in less than six seconds.
I’ve followed Kevin Rose for awhile now, and while not everything he’s into is great (he was super into NFTs for a minute), I find the results of a recent survey he did on people’s favorite products interesting. There’s not a ton of shockers here, but it’s neat to see what’s current, and what’s coming up.
KRO Community Favorite Products (Q2 2025)
I will say, I am surprised his tech focused community is still so high on Chrome. I would have thought Arc would have beat it out at this point.
Personally I’ve been moving a lot more over to Zen. I’m not the biggest Firefox fan, but it’s cribbing all the good stuff that I liked from Arc, and it sill lets me use Ublock Origin.
What I’m hyped for(?):
Do I think the Tron movies are good movies that make sense? No. Do I love them anyway? Yes. Do I like Jerad Leto? Helllll no. Am I excited for Tron: Aries? Maybe?
If nothing else here’s hoping we at least get another BANGER of a soundtrack.
What I watched this week:
I stumbled upon Todd In The Shadows a few months ago, and it quickly became one of those channels where I go back and watch everything. Thankfully he’s still making videos and this new one on the history of The Veronicas, a band I think I only vaguely know.
ONE HIT WONDERLAND: “Untouched” by The Veronicas
Links I Should Share So I Can Close Some Tabs
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It always seemed as if onomatopoeic words for animal sounds would be the same across cultures, but it turns out that many different factors go into how languages make cat sounds. How do animals sound across languages?
I don’t really miss Flash. It was bulky, resource intensive, and overused for a long time. Still…
How flash Games shaped the video game industry
You know what’s never cool? When comic book publishers try to get you think comic book writers and artists are cool. That said, while I don’t think we need a Hush 2, the duo of Lobe and Lee is an all time great one.
DC Really Hopes Hush 2 Gets You to Read More Batman Comics
What I’m hyped for:
Lazarus. I LOVED Cowboy BeBop. Whole part of that show live rent free in my head, and the soundtrack is THE GoAT. I liked, Samurai Champloo, but didn’t get into it the same way I did with Bebop. So when I heard that Watanabe had a new Sci-fi cyberpunk anime, I was in. And then the first tracks of the soundtrack hit this week, and I am locked in. Episodes start April 5th on Adult Swim, with re-airings starting on Max a few days later on the 10th.
Before Lazarus hits Adult Swim, listen to some of its transcendent music
What I watched this week:
Jacob Collier on Ask Hank Anything
I only have a passing knowledge of Jacob Collier, but I can listen to him an Hank talk about creativity forever.
