It looks like a photo of Vladimir Putin baring his chest. But hidden in the metadata—the written data in the PNG or JPEG file—are Russian-language instructions for how to avoid censorship and access accurate news about the war in Ukraine.
https://www.fastcompany.com/90735408/when-a-shirtless-image-of-vladimir-putin-becomes-a-secret-weapon-in-the-information-war

The estate of J.R.R. Tolkien has recently released previously unseen content, including illustrations done by the author, on its new Tolkien Estate website. https://www.thebookseller.com/news/news/tolkien-estate-updates-website-with-previously-unseen-content

A common mistranslation involves writing “language” instead of “tongue.” https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/why-bad-menu-translations-fails

The Polish Literacy Foundation launched a campaign to supply books to Ukrainian refugee children https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-industry-news/article/88700-polish-literacy-foundation-leads-relief-efforts-for-ukrainian-kids.html

I can't imagine how much work it took to do this. But it looks so cool! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ploiiCA7fwc

"Ukraine appears on these maps as a puzzle piece amid the rest of the puzzle of Europe, a shape at the center surrounded by small pieces of surrounding nations." But, this article points out, there are other ways to map this war. https://www.niemanlab.org/2022/03/how-maps-show-and-hide-key-information-about-the-ukraine-war/

The question of which of these people and events, if any, are historical has captivated scholars for centuries https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/in-search-of-troy-180979553/

We're old enough that people have to explain this stuff to younger people. https://dfarq.homeip.net/how-much-did-vhs-tapes-cost-in-the-80s/

Without much fuss and even less public attention, America is in the midst of a multibillion-dollar shift to cage-free eggs in response to new laws and demands from restaurants. Cage-free housing has soared from 4% in 2010 to 28% in 2020, and is expected to reach 70% by 2025. The change marks one of the animal welfare movement’s biggest successes after years of battles with the food industry. https://apnews.com/article/business-iowa-des-moines-animals-animal-welfare-1a611490e5af70a9b9d7b9f8b903bb6f

Russia faces a critical IT storage crisis after Western cloud providers pulled out of the country, leaving Russia with only two more months before they run out of data storage. https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/technology/russia-faces-it-crisis-with-just-two-months-of-data-storage-left/

Just what I wanted, but didn't know it: a history of houseplants. You want to read this too, I assure you. https://annehelen.substack.com/p/the-age-of-houseplants

A student comes to a young professor's office hours. She glances down the hall, closes his door, and kneels pleadingly. "I would do anything to pass this exam."
She leans closer to him, flips back her hair, gazes meaningfully into his eyes. "I mean," she whispers, "I would do anything."
He returns her gaze. "Anything?"
"Anything."
His voice turns to a whisper. "Would you... study?"

Sometimes Amazon Vine offers me things to review that make me say WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?!

Unless it's, "What to get for the person who has everything." ...but really, get them something else.

https://amzn.to/3Iiewwk

I woke up this morning and a crown popped off a molar so I'm now trying to get an emergency appointment at the dentist so how's your day going?

When people’s average perceptions of group sizes are compared to actual population estimates, an intriguing pattern emerges: Americans tend to vastly overestimate the size of minority groups. This holds for sexual minorities, including the proportion of gays and lesbians (estimate: 30%, true: 3%), bisexuals (estimate: 29%, true: 4%), and people who are transgender (estimate: 21%, true: 0.6%).

https://today.yougov.com/topics/politics/articles-reports/2022/03/15/americans-misestimate-small-subgroups-population

Our cat Dylan died last night.

Please hug your critters extra-hard for us, this morning. Even if they squirm.

"Please be sure it doesn't get printed."
https://www.buzzfeed.com/alanamohamed/13-drafts-from-famous-authors-that-only-writers-can

It is DEFINITELY time for me to re-read Dorothy Sayers. https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2022/03/10/cooking-with-dorothy-sayers/

It's important to judge whether you'll fit into the company culture, I wrote back in 2009. You want a job that makes you excited to get up and go to work, don't you? https://www.computerworld.com/article/2767448/judging-the-corporate-culture-during-the-job-interview.html