The DAK catalog archive
"You might fantasize about owning one of these items. You might dream about how your life will change with it in your home. And you’ll be blown away by the price. But really, it’s all because of the copy." https://cabel.com/2023/11/06/dak-and-the-golden-age-of-gadget-catalogs/

Lukather: We were sold on: “It’s going to be the new Star Wars.” https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/the-unlikely-story-of-totos-soundtrack-for-david-lynchs-infamous-dune-adaptation/

I just watched From Time to Time on Prime Video. The movie has quite a cast, including many Downton Abbey actors. You had me at Maggie Smith!

The story spans a family's experiences in an old house across two time periods, 1944 and 1809. A ghost story in reverse, sort of.

It's a sweet mystery/time travel story. Fairly predictable, but in a nice way. It'd be a good choice for a night when your brain is tired, and you don't want to work too hard.

https://amzn.to/3y4V7jf

The untold story of a world-renowned architect, an obsessive librarian, and a $5,500 house that never was.
https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/frank-lloyd-wright-edith-carlson-untold-story/

This might be useful if I had an L-shaped cat. https://amzn.to/3Wa4hD7

Songs you didn't know were inspired by literature
Worth reading the comments, for a change, which add some songs the article missed.
https://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2016/may/20/10-songs-inspired-by-literature

Sound on, folks! https://defrag98.com

Researchers at the University of Washington conducted a three-month autoethnographic study — drawing on their own experiences as people with and without disabilities — to test AI tools’ utility for accessibility. Though researchers found cases in which the tools were helpful, they also found significant problems with AI tools in most use cases." https://www.washington.edu/news/2023/11/02/ai-accessibility-chatgpt-midjourney-ableist/

I needed to hear Kevin Kline singing "Pirate King."

I'm sure you need it too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uH4IuO55U9I

“My one-on-one meetings go like this,” Jackson tells me:
Manager: “How is everything?”
Jackson: “Pretty good.”
Manager: “Cool! …Well, these meetings just get shorter and shorter, don’t they?"

(by me in 2016) https://www.oreilly.com/content/3-reasons-to-stop-hating-one-on-one-meetings/

Historic England is on the hunt for ghost signs -- those beautifully faded painted signs advertising businesses and products of the past. https://historicengland.org.uk/whats-new/features/ghost-signs/

Beyond the wonders of a quickly developing art form and technology lay widespread lack of control over one’s own image, perverse incentives to make a quick buck, and generalized fear at the prospect of humiliation and the invasion of privacy. https://www.historynewsnetwork.org/article/overexposed

TIL The first assassination attempt against a president occurred in 1835, when Richard Lawrence attempted to fire two pistols at Andrew Jackson. His pistols misfired and Jackson used his cane to severely beat Lawrence.

https://imperfectunion.substack.com/p/dangerous-waters

Essential oils have a long history of straddling the lines between magic, medicine, and scam.
Long read, but both educational and entertaining.
https://www.sciencehistory.org/stories/magazine/the-big-business-of-wish-fulfillment/

The Department of City Planning (DCP) rolled out an updated version of the NYC Street Map tool, providing users with a record of not just the altered streets but also the original ones dating back to the early 20th century. The tool offers a digital compilation of the entire history of New York City’s 32,000-plus streets. https://streets.planning.nyc.gov/about

Just because you can doesn't mean you should https://www.foodandwine.com/cup-noodles-campfire-smores-flavor-walmart-8672499

This is Your Brain on Zoom

Neural signaling during online exchanges is substantially suppressed compared to activity in face-to-face conversations.
https://news.yale.edu/2023/10/25/zooming-our-brains-zoom

Older news story, but you need the timeline cleanser: A tortoise called Charles Darwin officially opened a science laboratory at the University of Lincoln. The presenter held him while he munched through a ribbon made of rocket and dandelion leaves at the opening of the new Joseph Banks laboratories.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-32306558

Hundreds of Roman Empire forts popped up in old spy satellite imagery depicting regions of Syria, Iraq and nearby "fertile crescent" territories of the eastern Mediterranean.
https://www.space.com/spy-satellite-images-declassified-roman-empire-forts-discovered