I missed the last dash for last week's newsletter, which failed to render a horizontal rule after the intro. I apologize deeply and profusely for this grave error.

React Still Feels Insane And No One Is Talking About It
You can do so much better than React.

Your "Yukon Gold" Potatoes Probably Aren't Yukons—Here's Why
Potanoooooooooo

Microsoft is quietly walking back its diversity efforts
I guess being cartoonishly evil was not enough for Microsoft.

Your Data Might Determine How Much You Pay for Eggs
Fuck Target, and invest in a VPN.

Japanese game developers face ridiculously high font license fees following US acquisition of major domestic provider. Live-service games to take the biggest blow
Going from $380 USD a year to $20,500 is, uh, a pretty significant increase.

Raccoon goes on drunken rampage in Virginia liquor store and passes out on bathroom floor
Not all heroes wear capes.

Scientists Unearth Fossil of Car-Sized Millipede That Roamed Earth 326 Million Years Ago
I must ride it.

Psychology of craft
"But craft asks instead, what are you doing? What reality comes into being with your shaping and working?"

Stop Saying Democratize When You Mean Dumb Down
"Going from difficult but free to simple but controlled by a single company is almost the exact opposite of what the word democratization means."

Chernobyl Fungus Appears to Have Evolved an Incredible Ability
Good job, fungus!

The only winning move is not to play
"Why would I reduce myself to quality control on a slop assembly line and then, with my whole chest, tell people I am the human in the loop? Why should we debase ourselves by implying that our expertise is replaceable?"

Intertapes
"Intertapes is an updating collection of found cassette tapes from different locations. The audio fragments include: voice memos, field recordings, mixtapes, bootlegs and more."

Microsoft’s Attempts to Sell AI Agents Are Turning Into a Disaster
Nobody wants this shit.

Laptops in the Long Run: Evidence from the One Laptop per Child Program in Rural Peru
I keep a OLPC behind me in my office as a reminder of the dangers of building something for a population without asking them if its something they actually want or need.

‘The goal was to scare a kid’: the wild world of films-within-films
Lynn is so damn cool, ahhhhh!

The f off contact page*
Nic is so damn cool, ahhhhh!

Tides are weirder than you think
Do you want to know about: tides.

Why do Gen Z have a growing appetite for retro tech?
Don't know why all these people would be into a thing you actually own that you don't have to pay a recurring fee for as it gets worse and worse.

Colors of Growth
"We develop a novel approach to measuring long-run economic growth by exploiting systematic variation in the use of color in European paintings."

Fizz Buzz using Modern CSS (no HTML)
Here's a great way to get kicked out of an interview.

Havfarm 1 – Mammoth, semi-submersible, exposed aquaculture pen arrives in Norway
Big fish boat! Big fish boat!

Companies Could Use A Librarian
We had a librarian when I worked for a newspaper. She was great.

The Tate Modern posted my job application on the internet
"The story adds to the growing body of literature on the bizarre humiliation ritual that is the contemporary job application."

How a Janet Jackson song crashed laptops for 9 years
Muad'Dib!

RFK Jr.’s Deepening Threat to Public Health
"The destruction of the world’s leading public health organization endangers us all. Congress has the power to stop it—if necessary, by impeaching and removing the most dangerous HHS secretary in U.S. history."

Jonathan Frakes Wants Your Attention, And You Must Not Give It To Him
Art.

The Problem With Palantir’s New Neurodivergent Fellowship
Tired: Rainbowitizing corporate logos during Pride month. Wired: Whatever the fuck this is.

AI optimism is a class privilege
"AI optimism requires you to see yourself and your loved ones as safe from AI; as the passengers in the self-driving car, and not as the pedestrians it might run over."

Digital Sewer Socialism
Gimme gimme gimme!

The Mastermind Box Cover: What the Hell Were They Thinking?
"Right. Here it is. Black void. Two adults. No board. No pegs."

Public design systems are worth it
Resisting the urge to share this in the Slack channel for GitHub's design system the way Martin Luther nailed Ninety-five Theses to the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church.

McDonald’s Pulls Down AI-Generated Holiday Ad After Deluge of Mockery
Bullying works.