Category: Random

It will have been 14 years this March since R.E.M. — an Athens, Georgia, foursome that for a stretch of about five years in the 1990s was arguably the biggest rock band on the planet — released its final album, “Collapse into Now.” Six months later, the band retired, with Stipe saying, “the skill in attending a party is knowing when it’s time to leave. We built something extraordinary together. We did this thing. And now we’re going to walk away from it.”

Opinion | R.E.M. taught Gen X it’s better to fade away than to burn out – Washington Post

If you’re going to stand up then for goodness’ sake stand like a person! What are you doing with your hands? Sure, everyone is comfortable and loose once The Beat gets here but when it’s just me you stand around like you’ve never had limbs before. Kids. You don’t appreciate the full experience of a song. It’s all about instant gratification. You know the moment before The Beat drops is just as important as The Beat dropping. I set you up for him. Get you primed and aching for him to arrive. Don’t you want The Beat to drop? Aren’t you just PRAYING The Beat will drop right about now? That’s because of ME.
— Read on www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/i-am-the-moment-right-before-the-beat-drops

Writing compels us to think — not in the chaotic, non-linear way our minds typically wander, but in a structured, intentional manner. By writing it down, we can sort years of research, data and analysis into an actual story, thereby identifying our main message and the influence of our work. This is not merely a philosophical observation; it is backed by scientific evidence. For example, handwriting can lead to widespread brain connectivity1 and has positive effects on learning and memory.

Writing is thinking | Nature Reviews Bioengineering

Twenty years! It’s been twenty years since Bloc Party’s debut album Silent Alarm was released. To celebrate, the band stopped by the NPR office’s for a Tiny Desk Concert.
— Read on kottke.org/25/07/bloc-partys-tiny-desk-concert

But maybe the most endearing part of this hawk’s tale is the idea that it took advantage of a crosswalk signal at all—an environmental cue that, under most circumstances, is totally useless to birds and perhaps a nuisance. To see any animal blur the line between what we consider the human and non-human spheres is eerie, but also humbling: Most other creatures, Plotnik said, are simply more flexible than we’d ever think.
— Read on www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2025/05/hawk-new-jersey-traffic/682913/

Large media companies, and the NY Times in particular these days, like to use the phrase “experts said” instead of simply stating facts. The thing is, many other statements of plain truth in that brief Times post lack the confirmation of expertise. To aid the paper in steering their readers away from notions of objective truth, here’s a suggested rewrite of that Bluesky post:
— Read on kottke.org/25/07/journalisms-experts-said-conclusion

But even more sober experts have conceded that the threat posed by space weather is primarily due to its totalizing potential — its capacity to induce cascading failures in multiple social and economic functions. A 2019 FEMA report presented two possible catastrophes that could affect the entire U.S. — a pandemic and a solar storm. In the event of a truly massive storm affecting multiple nations all at once, Gibbs told me, “The concept of mutual aid goes out the door.”
— Read on www.noemamag.com/the-unseen-fury-of-solar-storms/

She then discussed a poignant conversation she had with Lynch, her neighbour, last year. “Natasha, This is a pencil,” Lynch reportedly told Lyonne. The publication then states that Lynch said, “Everyone has access to a pencil, and likewise, everyone with a phone will be using AI, if they aren’t already,” before adding, “It’s how you use the pencil. You see?”
— Read on faroutmagazine.co.uk/natasha-lyonne-reveals-david-lynch-supporter-ai/

The money drop was apparently the last wish of the owner of a nearby car wash. Knife said the man recently died due to Alzheimer’s Disease and his funeral was Friday.

Despite the mad dash for free cash, the incident remained peaceful, if hectic, Knife said.

“There was no fighting, none of that,” she said. “It was really beautiful.”
— Read on www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2025/06/27/witnesses-helicopter-dropped-thousands-of-dollars-onto-gratiot-avenue-detroit-michigan/84391286007/

“Our innovation ecosystem in the 20th century was about making opportunities for human flourishing more accessible,” says Shannon Vallor, a technology philosopher at the Edinburgh Futures Institute and author of The AI Mirror, a book about reclaiming human agency from algorithms. “Now, we have an era of innovation where the greatest opportunities the technology creates are for those already enjoying a disproportionate share of strengths and resources.”
— Read on www.wired.com/story/generative-ai-backlash/