Hello darkness my old friend internet friends,

I have to use Pocket this week because Instapaper decided to not want European users anymore. And eh. I don’t like change.

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I didn’t watch Tennis for a long time, but this sounds like a pretty amazing story: Naomi Osaka Is the Coolest Thing in Tennis

At a press conference after the finals match, Naomi Osaka described the feeling of winning her first title the way any champion would: in reference to a meme.

Youths! They’re alright.

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I read this article and you won’t believe what happened next: How everything on the internet became clickbait – I mean even on bloody YouTube every channel had Laurel/Yanny video. Let me know in the comments what you heard, give it a thumbs up and smash that bell icon.

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Why You Should Stop Being So Hard on Yourself Thanks, Charlotte. But you’re wrong, I’m actually pretty terrible and probably not hard enough on my self.

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Now this is content everybody can enjoy: Corgis race their butts off for 1st SoCal nationals at Santa Anita race track in Arcadia

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Toodles!

Hello internet friends,

let’s be honest here: 2018 so far isn’t exactly funny. Another data point for this? Wodehouse prize for comic fiction withheld after judges fail to laugh
On the other hand, this made me laugh: Hippos Poop So Much That Sometimes All the Fish Die
I’m a simple man.

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Now I’ve been told in the past that I should stay away from the subject of sex robots. But how is it my fault when there are pretty good articles exploring that subject? Are We Ready for Robot Sex?
Somehow the author manages to make her visit to a sex robot company rather funny and deeply sad.

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But obviously there are more wholesome hobbies around: One could decide to visit all the train stations in any given country as these two people did in the UK or maybe collect rocks that look food: If You’re Collecting Rocks, Might as Well Find Ones That Look Like Meat

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Oh, this is just lovely: ‘Beautiful’ dinosaur tail found preserved in amber – feathers and all. (Click and scroll down for the cutest dinosaur drawing you’ve seen in a long time.)

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At some point in the last year I managed to fall into the world of endurance sports car races. And it didn’t take long until I found Radio Le Mans – an enthusiast radio station covering endurance races all over the world. And what a story it has: Meet the Man Behind the Voice of Sports Car Racing

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Be kind. Toodles!

Hello internet friends,

I haven’t put it on the website for this newsletter but just because everybody is talking about data protection these days: This newsletter is hosted on Tinyletter, which is run by MailChimp. Their privacy policy is here. I do have access to your email addresses but I’m not doing anything with them except smiling when I see a familiar name in one of those “You’ve got a new subscriber!” notifications.
With that out of the way: onwards!

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These days we have all these fancy machines to do our bidding. Some of them even react when we speak to them. Turns out they not only hear us, (big surprise!) they also hear other stuff and can be hacked by audio: Alexa and Siri Can Hear This Hidden Command. You Can’t.
Ah, the future.

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The Outline asks How do I announce my divorce on Facebook? and… uhm. Maybe just don’t. Just silently remove your relationship status and tell your friends. It’s probably the sanest way.

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Are you in the US and on the lookout for a new pet? How about those? The Radioactive Puppies of Chernobyl Will Find Homes in the United States

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Nifty: How the 50-mm Lens Became ‘Normal’

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Toodles!

Hello internet friends,

this dispatch (woah) reaches you deep from the dark bowels of a hotel lobby where I procrastinate writing this by creepily looking through the big windows to watch the ~locals~ walk home after their day at work. It is also a day late because I frankly had something better to do yesterday evening. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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I’ve been at a conference the last two days (beyond tellerrand if you need more details about my whereabouts) and what I’ve noticed during the breaks when everybody stormed outside to get some fresh air: there were a lot of vapists. (Turns out: vapists don’t like being called vapists.) But it is one thing when people who go to tech conferences do that, it is another thing when teens do it. And as it ~turns out~ the teens are at it: The Promise of Vaping and the Rise of Juul

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I don’t really have the words to add anything useful and/or worthwhile to this, so just go and read it, it is very good: My name is Wil Wheaton. I live with chronic Depression, and I am not ashamed.

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Meanwhile at the department of “The Struggle Is Real:” Oh No, the Proles Are Invading the Airport Lounges!
I mean, ugh. What’s the whole point og lounges when everyone can go there?

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Well, that’s it for this week. Have a good one.
Be kind.
Toodles!

Hello internet friends,

now this sounds “fun:” Here’s What Happened After I Left a 3-Star Yelp Review for a Pizza Parlor
Maybe it is time to rethink the whole reputation economy thing.

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This is a long one but worth the time – and I’d bet that people are already trying to turn it into a series: The Spy Who Came Home

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This is rather unfortunate:
‘Catastrophe’: French museum discovers half of its collection are fakes

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I admit it, I only send you to this one because I really the gif: Tesla Doesn’t Burn Fuel, It Burns Cash
But the article itself is also pretty interesting, if you happen to be interested in that kind of stuff.

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Ugh, young people, amiright? Well, as we all know, this has been a complaint since forever: The 2,500-year-old history of adults blaming the younger generation
I don’t know. From what I’ve seen the kids are alright.

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Facebook! Let’s all leave it! Right? Well, turns out it is not that easy: I tried leaving Facebook. I couldn’t

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Toodles!

Hello internet friends,

sitting comfortably? Great! Let’s look at the internet together for a while. (Or not. Just put your phone or computer away and go for a walk instead. You’ll not miss anything important and it is good for you.)

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I’m not too sure articles like these don’t give the wrong people bad ideas: Hacking a satellite is surprisingly easy – I mean, sure, state-sponsored hackers probably know all about it, but Johnny Scriptkiddie next door?

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Acquisition news! Valve buys Campo Santo, developer of Firewatch I really enjoyed Firewatch (go get it, if you like calm, meditative games with a great atmosphere and easy enough controls for everybody) and I’m sure In the Valley of Gods, their next title, will be great. But after this? Who knows with Valve.

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Acquisition news! Again! Family-owned Smugmug acquires Flickr, rescuing it from the sinking post-Yahoo ship Weeeell, let’s see how this turns out. Haven’t heard much from Smugmug lately, either.
At least it’s not Zooomr.

(For some nostalgia: A Brief History of the Flickr Photo Page

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Remember Fyre Fest? Well, turns out you might remember it again soon: Revive Your Addiction to Fyre Fest News With the Coming Docuseries

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Toodles!

Hello, so called “internet friends,”

so Jason Kottke was asking his readers for their favourite blogs and newsletters and not one of you thought about sending him this way? Shame on you. You’re all such a disappointment.

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I’m pretty sure we all watched Wild Wild Country by now – the Netflix documentary on Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and his followers. If not, go watch it, it is very good: Wild Wild Country review – Netflix’s take on the cult that threatened American life
And now I wanted to to cleverly segue to a hot take that the whole post–60s-hippies thing was really the start of the current type of induvidualistic capitalism but it seems like they put it behind a pay wall by now. (Here, try it, maybe you’re more lucky than I am: The 1960s were about capitalism, not radicalism)

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Still mad at you.

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As if linking to the Financial Times isn’t bad enough, here’s a link to Business Insider: Hackers once stole a casino’s high-roller database through a thermometer in the lobby fish tank
Nice going there, securing your network, random casino.

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I don’t have much to say about Jeff Goldblum Cooks With Jonathan Gold except that it is 12 minutes of pure Goldblum, which you’ll love if you like the guy and if not – what’s wrong with you? Not liking Goldblum and not telling Kottke about this newsletter?

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I can’t really add anything to this take: MySpace Tom beat Facebook in the long run – he seems to have a pretty nice life these days.

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Okay, okay. I can’t stay angry at you all for long. I know what it is. You’re like those hipsters who don’t want their favourite band to suddenly become big and share the auditorium with a bunch of normies. I understand.
Toodles!