"Americans receive billions of robocalls per month. That number could start to dwindle with new FCC rules going into place next year."
Oh, please god. But also, this story goes into detail about what it means for marketing and business. https://sherwood.news/business/the-industry-blasting-your-phone-with-spam-calls-and-texts-is-about-to/

All hail the golden mole—recently rediscovered after being thought extinct for over eight decades! https://theconversation.com/golden-mole-that-swims-through-sand-is-rediscovered-in-south-africa-after-86-years-219022

This is how you change someone's life forever. https://www.tiktok.com/@thevital2/video/7399793332815138090

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OpenStreetMap Is Turning 20 https://stevecoast.substack.com/p/the-days-are-long-but-the-years-are

TIL Star Trek’s cast has carved out a remarkably robust second collective career as video game voice actors. https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2023/12/live-long-and-prosper-a-retrospective-of-video-game-roles-played-by-star-trek-actors/

For writers who are struggling with their work today:
"I am going to write a little Book for Murray on orchids," Darwin wrote, "and today I hate them worse than everything." https://www.npr.org/sections/krulwich/2012/10/18/163181524/charles-darwin-and-the-terrible-horrible-no-good-very-bad-day

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“The first debate challenge is to walk up a ramp, and we both walk up the ramp slowly and carefully, but everyone agrees that I walked the ramp better.” (gift link) https://wapo.st/3WYa4NI

Frank Zappa’s kids are still grappling with his legacy — and each other (gift link)
Long, fascinating article about what he left behind. https://wapo.st/4dE8pm4

"And then some absolute son of a bitch created ChatGPT, and now look at us. Look at us, resplendent in our pauper's robes, stitched from corpulent greed and breathless credulity, spending half of the planet's engineering efforts to add chatbot support to every application under the sun when half of the industry hasn't worked out how to test database backups regularly." https://ludic.mataroa.blog/blog/i-will-fucking-piledrive-you-if-you-mention-ai-again/

“Our client has been forced to walk back his demand that advertisers “go fuck themselves” and resort to legal threats in order to reinstate his revenue stream, causing him embarrassment and effort that would otherwise be spent sharing flaccid memes without attribution.” https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/x-sends-a-cease-and-desist-letter-to-a-former-user

Cartoon Network Website Shuts Down, Warner Bros. Discovery Kicks Visitors Over to Max
https://variety.com/2024/digital/news/cartoon-network-shuts-down-warner-bros-discovery-max-signup-1236101422/

Testing in production is NEVER a good idea. Yet here we are.

"NASA fears that Boeing's software update could brick one of the two crewed-vehicle docking ports on the ISS. If the space agency decided to autonomously return the Starliner to Earth, it must be absolutely certain that it wouldn't render the port inoperable." https://jalopnik.com/boeing-starliner-could-brick-iss-docking-port-if-crew-a-1851615463

API anxiety: Yelp angers devs. https://techcrunch.com/2024/08/02/yelps-lack-of-transparency-around-api-charges-angers-developers/

Amnesty International has published a lengthy list of human rights victories that occurred in the last six months—from the release of political prisoners to safeguarding press freedoms, enshrining LGBTQ+ and gender rights, and successfully holding governments to account. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/impact/2024/07/six-months-of-wins-for-human-rights/

Treat yourself to these amazing BBC music performances, showcasing some of the best musicians of the past 50 years. This will keep you busy for hours! https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2022/oct/06/the-100-greatest-bbc-music-performances-ranked

My only comment is that of Puck upon mortals. I fear that to me Siamese cats belong to the fauna of Mordor, but you need not tell the cat breeder that.

J. R. R. Tolkien
Letter to his publisher
14 October 1959

—The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien

"The plan was called toll broadcasting, and its purpose was to make radio profitable by allowing companies to market their services in purchased blocks of time. Thus began the business of radio commercials." https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2024/08/making-radio-pay-toll-broadcasting-and-the-first-ad-on-the-airwaves/

Governor Tim Walz put a Little Free Library in the Minnesota capitol. https://lithub.com/this-veep-likes-books-governor-tim-walz-put-a-little-free-library-in-the-minnesota-capitol/