Flow, the secret to happiness
"I tried to understand: where -- in everyday life, in our normal experience -- do we feel really happy?"--Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi https://www.ted.com/talks/mihaly_csikszentmihalyi_flow_the_secret_to_happiness/transcript

SpaceX is actively working on a plan to fly Starliner's crew home.
https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/08/yes-nasa-really-could-bring-starliners-astronauts-back-on-crew-dragon/

Only 45 accounts on X, that appear to be bots, have generated over 4 billion views while amplifying racist and sexualised abuse, conspiracy theories, and climate disinformation. https://www.globalwitness.org/en/press-releases/newly-identified-bot-accounts-are-generating-billions-impressions-sowing-division-and-spreading-disinformation-x/

Public Work is an image search engine that boasts 100,000 “copyright-free” images from institutions like the NYPL, the Met, etc. It’s fast with a relatively simple interface and uses AI to auto-categorize and suggest possibly related images. https://kottke.org/24/07/public-work-a-fast-search-engine-for-public-domain-images

Hong Kong Taunts Italy With Pineapple Pizza After Olympics Fencing Win

Okay, I laughed.

(gift link)
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/30/world/olympics/hong-kong-italy-fencing-pineapple-pizza.html

Apparently, this was a hit back in 2016, but I never heard the song until today. It's beautiful and sadly relevant. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hI8TCA3fJcs

Before Gershkovich was freed, his captors "had another piece of writing they required from him, an official request for presidential clemency. The text, moreover, should be addressed to Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin. . . . the Journal’s Russia correspondent filled the page. The last line submitted a proposal of his own: After his release, would Putin be willing to sit down for an interview?"
(gift link)

https://www.wsj.com/world/europe/evan-gershkovich-prisoner-exchange-ccb39ad3

How to write a love poem

The first known written love poem is from around 2000 BCE in ancient Mesopotamia: You have captivated me; I stand trembling before you.
https://psyche.co/guides/how-to-write-a-love-poem-and-make-a-truly-lasting-impression

.

I laughed

SC Media’s 2024 Women in IT Security nominations begin today, and we need your help to nominate women leaders, entrepreneurs, rising stars and advocates.
https://www.scmagazine.com/news/2024-women-in-it-security-call-for-nominations-now-open

The Art Resource Center in Tempe Arizona is a non-profit providing arts & crafts materials free to educators and other non-profit organizations. https://blog.fabrics-store.com/2024/08/01/second-hand-fabric-shopping-in-phoenix-arizona/

"They counted more than 100 bottles of champagne in the wreck, off the coast of Sweden. And now Tomasz Stachura, of Polish diving group Baltitech, believes the shipment could have been destined for a Russian tsar."

Admit it: You're now singing, "100 bottles of beer on the wall...."
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c51y85ern11o

Feel like making a difference? TechCongress is recruiting for the next class of Congressional Innovation Fellows through 8/7. https://www.techcongress.io/apply

“The function of Science Fiction is not to predict the future, but to prevent it.“– Ray Bradbury

> Among his plans to downsize the State, President Milei has been saying that he intends to replace government workers and organizations with AI systems. The first role that he will give to this technology, however, will be an expansion of state agencies: on Monday his government created the Unit of Artificial Intelligence Applied to Security. https://english.elpais.com/international/2024-07-30/javier-mileis-government-will-monitor-social-media-with-ai-to-predict-future-crimes.html

"Archaeologists at Cambridge University have reconstructed the 'biographies' of hundreds of the city’s ordinary medieval residents by examining their skeletons in detail, using a wealth of scientific data to fill out the life stories of poor or disadvantaged people whose names were never recorded." https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/dec/01/archaeologists-life-stories-medieval-cambridge

Your employee asked for a raise, which is a big challenge for any manager. How you respond can affect morale, retention, and your budget.
https://getlighthouse.com/blog/employees-ask-for-a-raise/

Mastodon users donate a quarter million dollars in 2 days for VP Harris #MastodonForHarris https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/7/25/2257916/-Mastodon-users-donate-a-quarter-million-dollars-in-2-days-for-VP-Harris-MastodonForHarris

Banana for scale

Overheard: I've been wondering if we need to amend Hanlon's razor: ”Don't attribute to malice what can be attributed to ignorance or an inappropriately triggered automation.”