“It isn’t the great book I had hoped it would be. It’s just run-of-the-mill.” How The Grapes of Wrath came to be.
Steinbeck: "I want to put a tag of shame on the greedy bastards who are responsible for this.” https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2019/aug/13/the-grapes-of-wrath-john-steinbeck

12 application security tool trends to watch https://techbeacon.com/security/12-app-sec-tool-trends-watch

Supercharging the Band-Aid: Five futuristic bandages that could take wound healing to the next level https://newatlas.com/band-aid-futuristic-bandages-five/61049

Milky Way’s Black Hole Just Flared, Growing 75 Times as Bright for a Few Hours https://www.universetoday.com/143150/milky-ways-black-hole-just-flared-growing-75-times-as-bright-for-a-few-hours/#more-143150

Australia may no longer be able to call some local cheeses feta. The EU wants a trade deal to protect the names of hundreds of products, including scotch beef and gorgonzola. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/aug/13/branding-cheese-as-feta-and-gruyere-may-be-banned-in-australia-under-eu-deal

"What was once associated with a degree of toughness or vigor, and perhaps suggested some hard-earned power—a boss might yell, or a military general—is now considered aggressive and domineering, an odious side effect of hubris and privilege." https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/the-decline-of-yelling

A beautiful digital edition of Emily Dickinson's herbarium, a collection of pressed plants & flowers, is now online. http://www.openculture.com/2019/08/discover-emily-dickinsons-herbarium.html

Cleopatra may have smelled like this. A team of researchers have recreated “the Chanel No. 5 of ancient Egypt.” https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/may-be-what-cleopatra-smelled-180972854/

Via Moris

Want better #FOIA & transparency? FOIA Advisory Committee is putting on a survey to help better focus future reforms and improvements to the process. Take it here please! surveymonkey.com/r/Requester

Three Years of Misery Inside Google, the Happiest Company in Tech

A #longread but Wow.

https://www.wired.com/story/inside-google-three-years-misery-happiest-company-tech/

The internet has folded itself

https://twitter.com/sfmnemonic/status/1160921698142760961

The typos that saved people’s lives
In the digital world, one missing letter can trigger huge, unintended consequences. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/aug/03/wrongful-arrest-life-saving-romance-typos-that-changed-lives

Did John Steinbeck spy for the CIA?
Yes. https://www.thedailybeast.com/john-steinbeck-did-nobel-prize-winning-novelist-spy-for-the-cia-in-paris

How Japanese Candy Art Is Made https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=14&v=udSzcAEjs4s

You can now practice firing someone in virtual reality https://www.technologyreview.com/f/614102/you-can-now-practice-firing-someone-in-virtual-reality

Why your fitness tracker may be wrong, and what you can do about it. https://www.theverge.com/2019/8/12/20798928/how-to-fitness-tracker-step-count-accuracy-smartwatch-numbers

Overheard: "We know it was suicide. We just don't know who did it."

A Twitter thread about POW bracelets made me realize that a bunch of young folks may never have heard of them.
https://www.pow-miafamilies.org/history-of-the-powmia-bracelets.html

All the best engineering advice I stole from non-technical people https://medium.com/@bellmar/all-the-best-engineering-advice-i-stole-from-non-technical-people-eb7f90ca2f5f

From ball pits to water slides: The designer who changed children’s playgrounds for ever
"Here, at last, was a place that had been built specifically for you and then left to your dominion." https://www.theguardian.com/news/2019/aug/09/ball-pits-water-slides-playground-design-eric-mcmillan-childrens-village-ontario-place-toronto