Electric Road Trip Acid Test
Notes from driving several hundred miles in an electric vehicle not made by the evil DOGE guy.
Culture
Media, food, games, and the rest of the world outside a text editor.
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Once More (Sigh), Into The Starfield
About the time I liked a video game so much it got my post pulled down from Reddit.
Okay Doomer
What If… the last few years of the MCU had been heading toward Robert Downey, Jr. coming back all along, and it all didn’t feel so thirsty?
A Poke In The Eye
A blurry patch in my vision led to a retinal vein occlusion diagnosis and a clinical trial involving injections into my eye.
Because I Could Not Stop For Death
How I learned to stop worrying and love “Elden Ring”
The fandomification of global conflict
Ryan Broderick rounded up the internet’s reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which by the way has exemplified all the ways the internet has broken all of our brains more than anything I’ve seen in the last 20 years. For the rest of…
2 weeks with the Fuji X100V
I got a new camera for summer vacation shooting. Fuji’s fixed-lens compact is a lot of fun.
Bird, Caged
Scaling back Twitter before my brain gets any mushier
“The right words on climate have already been said”
Sarah Miller writes about how it feels to talk and write about climate change now that the first wave of climate disasters have begun: I probably talked for 11 minutes straight. I told her I didn’t have anything to say about climate…
2019 in Review
Looking back on a year of Material Design work, conference talks, family travel, and life with a new puppy named Johnny Cash.
Way More Than You Ever Wanted To Know About “Animaniacs”
Exactly what it says.
Humans Playing Humans on “Mad Men”
Josh Fischel talks to Hilary Beth Hendel, a psychotherapist who worked as a "mental health consultant" on the first four seasons of Mad Men, about why the show feels so real: One of their early discussions focused on an idea Weiner had in…
Serious Eats Goes Behind The Scenes At Maker’s Mark
Including a slideshow that explains the whole process of making bourbon. (Mmmm, bourbon.)
Made (Better) in Japan
Tom Downey, reporting in the Wall Street Journal Magazine on Japanese artisans replicating, then often obsessively improving on, everyone else's fashion and cuisine: Such obsessive—some might say insane—pursuit of perfection, in coffee…
Trailer for ‘The Dark Knight Rises’
Thank goodness. Now I never have to see Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.
Taking Pictures of Taking Pictures
Mark Richardson, for Pitchfork: "Wicked Game" covers were as common this year as covers of Springsteen's "I'm on Fire" were in 2007. Washed Out's tossed-off take was weak, but something about the Widowspeak's carbon-copy version hit home…
“Mad Men” Available on Netflix Streaming Today
Our non-cable-having, non-DVD-renting friends will have no further excuses for not caring about who Don's sleeping with, what Joan is wearing, or whether Pete Campbell is a dick.
Chuck Klosterman on “Breaking Bad” and morality
Chuck Klosterman writes for Grantland on the four Great American T.V. Shows of the 2000’s — The Sopranos, The Wire, Mad Men and Breaking Bad — and why, for him, Breaking Bad is the greatest of the four: I suspect Breaking Bad will be the…
“How Valid Is The Implied Legal Advice in Jay-Z’s ’99 Problems’?”
I don't know what's crazier: that someone on Quora asked this question, or that the answers were so detailed and thoughtful: "Well do you mind if I look around the car a little bit?" Well my glove compartment is locked, so is the trunk in…
Masterpiece: DuckTales on the NES
Ars Technica's Ben Kuchera remembers Capcom's early-‘90s NES adaptation of the Disney cartoon series featuring Scrooge McDuck. I straight-up loved this game when I was a kid.
Anheuser-Busch Buying Chicago’s Goose Island
For readers who aren't Chicagoans or beer fans (but who'd get a coffee reference), Goose Island is sort of like the beer version of Intelligentsia Coffee: local, independently owned, way too big to be called a "micro" brewery, but still…
Michael Lewis on Ireland’s Financial Meltdown
Completing his world tour of spectacularly bankrupt European nations, the author of The Big Short asks around about how Ireland went from poverty to "Celtic Tiger" during the real estate boom, then back again when the bubble burst: When I…
Oh Look, It’s The Oscar Nominees
In short: The King's Speech and The Social Network got the most nominations. In The Social Network's case, that includes well deserved ones for Jesse Eisenberg (Actor), Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross (Original Score), and of course, David…
Scotch Whisky in a Can Contains Eight Shots of Liquor
Yes, this is an actual product sold to actual humans. The company, based in Panama, also makes a non-alcoholic whisky for the Muslim market, which I think is actually stranger than selling whisky in a can.
The ‘Walking Dead’ Theory of Financial Markets
You know your favorite zombie-apocalypse cable TV drama has become a cultural touchstone when economics bloggers are using it to illustrate a point, as Mike Konczal does writing here about insurance regulation: Speaking at a conceptual…
Who The Hell Is Actually Running Twitter?
First Jack Dorsey was CEO and Ev Williams was chairman. Then Ev took over as CEO and Dorsey became chairman. Now Dick Costolo has been promoted to CEO, Ev is just a "co-founder" who's "focused on product", and today Nick Carlson reports…
MTV Selling “Rock Band”, Going Back To Having Little Or Nothing To Do With Music
Less than three weeks after the launch of Rock Band 3, the latest installment in a franchise most of us thought was a smash hit, Harmonix is being put up for sale by Viacom/MTV Games. And Wired's interpretation of Viacom's balance sheet…
In the Life of ‘The Wire’
Lorrie Moore looks back at the show and its legacy in The New York Review of Books: In exposing the nerves, fallout, and sealed fates caused by a remorseless breed of capitalism and its writing-off of whole swathes of the populace, and by…
Sample Trent Reznor’s Score for “The Social Network”
Short verdict: You'll like this score a lot if you're a fan of Ghosts I-IV, Nine Inch Nails's calming/haunting instrumental album from 2008. The soundtrack album releases on Sept. 28, but you can get a free 5-track sampler starting today,…
North Korean Soccer Team Punished for Losing the World Cup
Remember how the North Korean soccer team managed to give the Brazil—then considered the world's greatest team—a workout during the just-ended World Cup before being eliminated in the group stage? Remember how some people joked about the…
I Like You, That’s Why I Stuck This Dirty Piece of Paper Into Your Food
The latest trend in online dating (according to the NYT): printed calling cards you casually slip to hot strangers you're too nervous to walk over and talk to: Willa Bernstein, 43, who uses Cheek’d, was recently making eyes with a man at…
“You’re A Virgin Who Can’t Drive”
Tom Vanderbilt in Slate on Hollywood's habit of depicting non-drivers as losers: In The 40-Year-Old-Virgin, for example, Steve Carell is that rarest of filmic creatures: a bona-fide bike commuter, shown pedaling to work, navigating the…
PvZ’s Michael Jackson Zombie Sent Back to the Grave
The Michael Jackson lookalike zombie in _Plants vs. Zombies_—one of that game's best, most surprising enemies—is being phased out on the request of the late King of Pop's estate. PopCap Games's official statement: The Estate of Michael…
Put Down The Hamster And Slowly Back Away
Next on Crazy Things Banned By Municipal Governments: San Francisco is seriously considering a ban on pet sales (except fish, who don't count) within the city limits: The ban would include mice, rats, chinchillas, guinea pigs, birds,…
In which David discusses Wicker Park’s new coffee shop renaissance
The year: 2007. Filter closes (along with my ex-favorite hot dog joint, Swank Frank) after losing their lease, to be replaced by a Bank of America branch at North/Damen/Milwaukee. Now, Filter wasn't the only place to get a cup of coffee…
Joystiq’s Coverage of “Rock Band 3”
A few of the major new features had leaked previously, like vocal harmonies (a holdover from Beatles Rock Band), a new instrument (a keytar) and a "Pro" mode that makes playing Rock Band more like actual music. But wait, there's more!…
FiveThirtyEight Joining NYTimes.com
Nate Silver: Some exciting news this morning: We have reached agreement in principle to incorporate FiveThirtyEight's content into NYTimes.com. In the near future, the blog will "re-launch" under a NYTimes.com domain. It will retain its…
‘NBA JAM’ Coming to Wii This Fall
The only sports video game I ever loved is coming back. The new game is being developed by EA SPORTS (in collaboration with the original game's lead programmer/designer), and came about after EA had started planning a different basketball…
Too Weird for “The Wire”
From back in 2008: the story of how black drug dealers from Baltimore came to use a crazy legal defense first developed and employed by white supremacists in the 1970s: A few minutes after 10 a.m., United States District Court Judge Andre…
Nate Silver Analyzes The Double Down
On its face, the Double Down looks disgustingly unhealthy. But how does it really compare in a world of Thickburgers, Angry Tendercrisps and Triple Baconators? FiveThirtyEight's Nate Silver took a break from politics to do some math and…
Commuting
Jonah Lehrer discusses some of the latest research on the effect of long commutes on happiness. It won't surprise you to learn that the effect is not positive.
Weathermen Have The Best Names
Clay Risen found the ten best weatherman names in America. The intro: Think of every TV news team you’ve ever watched. Lead anchor: John, vaguely Midwestern, definitely tanned. Co-anchor: Julie the Blonde/Vaguely Asian or Hispanic.…
‘Tea Parties’ Making it Harder to Find Tea Parties
The conservative Tea Party movement so dominates the Google rankings, it's becoming harder and harder to find information pertaining to actual tea, y'know, the stuff you drink. From the Tribune: "I certainly can see and have seen some…
You Just Keep On Trying Till You Run Out Of Cake
If you hadn't heard, Valve is expected to announce Portal 2 this Tuesday at GDC. GameInformer's upcoming cover story on the new game leaked over the weekend, and the helpful folks at the Portal Wiki scanned and transcribed it. The whole…
Depression’s Upside
Sadness, it turns out, may have benefits. A pair of psychologists believes that when we suffer setbacks, ruminating over them actually helps us recover and improve by forcing us to study painful situations, and come to logical conclusions…
Wikipedia of the day: Chicken McNuggets
Would you believe I've never really thought about the freakishly regular shapes McNuggets come in? McNuggets come in three different shapes: "The Boot", named for its boot-like appearance, "The Tombstone", named for its tombstone-like…
Food Sell-By Dates are Meaningless
Nadia Arumugam, for Slate: Not only are expiration dates misleading, but there's no uniformity in their inaccuracy. Some manufacturers prefer the elusive "Best if used by," others opt for the imperative "Use by," and then there are those…
Ferran Adrià Closing El Bulli Permanently
The title of “world’s greatest restaurant” is now really up for grabs. Adrià had already planned to take a 2-year hiatus starting in 2012, but now will be focusing indefinitely on establishing a foundation and culinary academy in Barcelona.
Ferran Adrià is closing El Bulli for two years to tinker
Via Salt & Fat: The inventive Spanish restaurant is currently only open for half a year as it is and quite possibly the most difficult reservation in the world. The good news is that he’s compiling everything he learns during his hiatus…
Dungeons & Dragons Prison Ban Upheld
The words are the NYT's, but italics are mine: Prison officials said they banned the game at the recommendation of the prison’s specialist in gangs, who said it could lead to gang behavior and fantasies about escape. The game could…
McLaundry
Mark Vanhoenacker visits, compares and contrasts two icons of American food—Thomas Keller's French Laundry, and Mickey D's—and finds them to be, in some ways, not all that different from each other: At McDonald's one is not likely to be…