Graphically design your farm by dragging and dropping plants into the map. https://farm.bot/

Kim Jong Il decided that North Korea needed a better state-run brewery. But instead of building a brewery from scratch, the North Korean leader decided to go shopping for one. For £1.5 million, North Korea bought the 175-year-old Ushers of Trowbridge Brewery. Russians entirely dismantled the brick-walled factory, then the North Koreans shipped all four million pounds of it to Pyongyang. https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/taedonggang-brewing-company

Wife texts husband on a cold winter morning: "Windows frozen, won't open."

Husband texts back: "Gently pour some lukewarm water over it and gently tap edges with hammer."

Wife texts back 5 minutes later: "Computer really messed up now.”

McSweeney's imagines what happens when "T.S. Eliot goes to a Planet Fitness gym."
https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/t-s-eliot-goes-to-a-planet-fitness-gym

The stone phalluses of Pompeii, Italy – pointing to the nearest brothel https://stumblesafari.com/the-dirty-secrets-of-pompeii/

A skin-like smart foam allows robots to “feel” objects. It’s also self-repairing. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/smart-foam-material-gives-robotic-hand-ability-self-repair-2021-07-06/

Graphic novels made up almost 20% of adult fiction sales in the first half of 2021, more than double last year’s share. https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bookselling/article/86863-print-book-sales-soar-in-year-s-first-half.html

The Hollywood Spy, the latest from Susan Elia MacNeal, isn't quite the "escape to a historical happy-ever-after" you might have in mind. But I still liked it. A lot.
#cosobookclub
https://amzn.to/36Llg5q

A Pong game is in development; meanwhile the machine makes an impressive room heater. https://hackaday.com/2021/07/12/the-first-new-vacuum-tube-computer-design-for-well-over-half-a-century/

I am now a Nashville Predators fan.

Not that I know the first thing about hockey.

https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/nashville-predators-prospect-comes-out-gay-making-nhl-history-n1274361

"All passengers, regardless of age, can download up to four e-books using a smartphone, tablet or laptop. Once downloaded, readers can access the text offline almost anywhere they are traveling to during their loan period of three weeks." https://www.kron4.com/news/bay-area/san-jose-airport-launches-new-free-digital-library-for-travelers/

Attempts to carry phototelevision cameras to Venus in 1962 and 1965 failed, but the Venera-9 orbiter performed the first long-term imaging survey of cloud circulation, in 1975. http://mentallandscape.com/C_CatalogVenus.htm

I wish I wrote this.
"From the fourth century onwards, the great monkish wfh experiment fell out of fashion and monks flooded into monasteries – just as many employers hope their staff will do this summer, as life reverts to some semblance of its before-covid (bc) self." https://www.economist.com/1843/2021/07/14/hell-is-other-people-a-monks-guide-to-office-life

The internet collective MSCHF unveiled today five toys called the Dead Startup Toys collection. The miniature toys include the Juicero juicer, the One Laptop Per Child laptop project, the Theranos miniLab, the Jibo robot and the Coolest Cooler. The catalog for each $40 toy highlights why they failed and how many millions of dollars they wasted in the process. https://deadstartuptoys.com

NYC Mesh, a nonprofit community Wi-Fi initiative ... power to the people, baby! https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/16/nyregion/nyc-mesh-community-internet.html

Two AI hiring tools gave good marks to an applicant who read a German-language Wikipedia page instead of answering questions. https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/07/07/1027916/we-tested-ai-interview-tools/

Painting knees really was “all that jazz” for flapper women embracing the freedom of shorter dresses and loser morals. https://www.messynessychic.com/2021/07/15/the-peculiar-flapper-fad-of-rouged-and-decorated-knees/

Take a virtual tour of the Statue of Liberty. https://www.nps.gov/stli/learn/photosmultimedia/hdp-virtualtour.htm

>>I decided to reimmerse myself in the giddy anxiety of last summer. I planned to speak with some of those who had received the packages, dissect the hullabaloo around them, and construct the definitive account of the seeds-from-China moral panic.
>>It seemed straightforward enough. I had no idea.

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2021/07/unsolicited-seeds-china-brushing/619417/

"A Slice of the Pie:" Analysis Finds a Few Restaurants Received Most of Pandemic Relief Aid https://thecounter.org/restaurant-revitalization-fund-small-business-administration-sba-covid-19/