There’s a meme going around that generations should now be divided by “Too old to know Homestar Runner/at the right age to know and love Homestar Runner/too young to know Homestar Runner.” Admittedly, this is rather prejudiced towards knowing Homestar Runner, but seeing as I do (and seriously Stwong Bad, he’s the bee’s knees!), I don’t find this a problem. In part, because I think anyone at any age can discover the sparkling majesty of…
SimCity was a delightful timesink for me throughout the 90s, so I’ve always kind of wondered how actual city designers tackle problems, seeing that they can’t drag and drop things with ease. In another of Wired’s [TOPIC] Support series, urban designer Alexandros Washburn covers a cost of city planning questions you didn’t know you have.
It’s October 9th, which means it’s Leif Erikson Day here in the United States, which you’ll be forgiven for not knowing exists, unless you, say, grew up in a household full of history buffs with Scandinavian heritage. Then, you bite your thumb, sir, at Columbus Day. It’s a Viking thing. But is it, really? Enter Cat Jarman to give us all some much needed Viking Support:
I’ve been a fan of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver pretty much since it’s inception, as my regular readers may have guessed. Last Week Tonight is funny, insightful, enraging, and understands that sight gags, especially those involving mascots, are comedy gold. Like Jon Stewart and The Daily Show before him, Oliver pushes back at the label of “journalist,” even as he delivers information that might otherwise be called news. (Considering Oliver started as a…
I never got to all the Origin of Everything series when it first debuted, but the algorithm serves up videos from time to time, but I enjoy how they cover a lot of ground in a short amount of time. Case in point: this dub-seven minute piece on middle names that covers their use from multiple cultures across many time periods.
On this, International Talk Like a Pirate Day, it is only just and right that we talk about pirates not simply like them. Now, I’ve posted about pirates before, and you should definitely check out Isli Lawrence’s video which I linked to before. She also has this piece specifically about famous pirates: But why confine yourself to just one pirate historian? Enter Rebecca Simon, who has a whole host of insights to give you that’ll…
Since I was recently speaking about cinematic joy, this is a story that absolutely gives The Force “the feels.” There’s a brand new language dub of the original Star Wars in the Ojibwe language. The group can be found across the northern United States and Canada, so, when digging for more news, I found many a local report, as they appear to have sought speakers from all over to bring this latest version of the…
Somewhat derailed by yesterday’s news, I pushed this post until today, but I wanted to offer a counter-balance to last’s week’s video tearing apart the tech industry mania of about AI with a thoughtful one from a different Adam. The video could be divided into two parts, one about AI and the other about connecting with people online (or the difficulty therein). And while there may not be a through-line at first glance, it flows…
This isn’t the first post I’ve done about artificial intelligence. It isn’t even the first AI post involving Adam Conover, but given last week’s post about the future of TV and tech companies’ hand in it all, it felt right to revisit AI. Also, I posted about the possible tech bubble of AI all the way back in February, so it feels right to revisit. Enter Adam Conover and this interview with Ed Zitron from…
I had to bump the post I planned for today after seeing this, because, while I can’t say it’s the best episode of Hot Ones (I haven’t caught up since realizing posting about it this February), it’s everything you would hope it to be. As a reminder, Hot Ones is an interview show where host Sean Evans asks well-researched questions that often get insightful answers from celebrities, often actors, while they both eat chicken wings…