estherschindler
Writer. Editor. Baseball. Cats. Chocolate. Not necessarily in that order.
Joined Dec 2017
"Unlike most rock stars who go through instruments as quickly as they do groupies, Springsteen has been a monogamist in this area. He bought the guitar in 1973, around the time he released his debut album, Greetings From Asbury Park."
https://www.mensjournal.com/entertainment/the-story-of-bruce-springsteens-1-guitar-w444730
FRIDAY ENERGY
Blue canary in the outlet by the light switch
Who watches over you
Make a little birdhouse in your soul
Not to put too fine a point on it
Say I'm the only bee in your bonnet
Make a little birdhouse in your soul
https://tmbgshop.com/collections/all/products/blue-canary-night-light
Accessibility in gaming expands with Sony’s new Access Controller for PS5
I WROTE A THING.
The gaming industry is actively removing barriers for gamers with disabilities, developing accessible hardware like Sony’s new Access Controller for PS5. I spoke with Sony about the Access Controller’s design process, with useful advice for any developer.
https://www.cnn.com/cnn-underscored/electronics/accessibility-in-gaming-ps5-access-controller
Democrat Karen Smith officially took up the role at Central Bucks School Board on Monday (4 December), during a ceremony in which she took her oath on a pile of six books that have been opposed by Republicans. Among the books: The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison, All Boys Aren’t Blue, by George Johnson, Mike Curato’s Flamer, Susan Kuklin’s Beyond Magenta, and Night, an autobiography by Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel.
https://www.thepinknews.com/2023/12/07/moms-for-liberty-banned-books/
Goodbye, stethoscope?
Scientists developed a laser-based system, embedded with AI, that tracks heartbeats through skin vibrations on the throat. They say it’s easier to use and more accurate than cold metal on skin. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/dec/02/laser-reads-heartbeat-through-throat-could-replace-stethoscopes
Newly entering the public domain in 2024 will be:
* works by people who died in 1953, for countries with a copyright term of “life plus 70 years” (e.g. UK, Russia, most of EU and South America);
* works by people who died in 1973, for countries with a term of “life plus 50 years” (e.g. New Zealand, and most of Africa and Asia);
* films and books (incl. artworks featured) published in 1928 for the United States.
https://publicdomainreview.org/features/entering-the-public-domain/2024/
‘In the Court of the Crimson King’ Review: 50 Years of Off-Kilter Rock: Toby Amies’s documentary dives into the history of the British progressive rock band King Crimson and its chief disciplinarian, Robert Fripp.
(gift link) https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/02/movies/in-the-court-of-the-crimson-king-king-crimson-at-50-review.html
"If there’s one thing I learned in this odyssey, it’s that automatic cat feeders are the equivalent of giving a piece of dental floss to someone serving life in prison. With infinite time, you can escape anything, and (it turns out) break into almost any robot." https://blondihacks.com/furiosas-cat-feeder/
Your awww of the day.
It was 1978, and a man named Michael Hurwitz had approached [Norman] Lear with a unique request: he wanted Lear to write to his infant niece, Lisa—a message she would open 19 years later, on her 21st birthday.
https://news.lettersofnote.com/p/only-lisa-can-make-lisa-happy?
"I decided to be the voice of the many designers who had to go through this traumatic event. I ran a survey and received 159 answers." https://matejlatin.com/blog/designer-layoff-stories
Eight months ago, ChatGPT wrote ugly, broken ransomware code (with much offense). Today, that's all changed. https://www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/2023/11/will-chatgpt-write-ransomware-yes
"Lee then dropped a passenger, who had been stuck on board for the whole affair, at a Waffle House before driving eight miles to Stone Mountain Park. There, he became stuck after he could not figure out how to put the bus in reverse."
‘How do you reduce a national dish to a powder?’: the weird, secretive world of crisp flavours (by which they mean potato chips)
"I’ve sampled Hawaii-style Poké Bowl crisps in Hungary and chocolate-coated potato snacks in Finland; I have turned away from Sweet Mayo Cheese Pringles in South Korea. So why can you get lasagne flavour Lay’s in Thailand but not in Italy, home of the dish? Who figures out which country gets which crisps?"
https://www.theguardian.com/food/2023/dec/02/the-weird-secretive-world-of-crisp-flavours
In today's WTF moment: People are paying between $200 and $300 to Santos for various flavors of communication. https://www.semafor.com/article/12/06/2023/george-santos-is-earning-six-figures-from-cameo-videos
Things to know to put together tech meetup events. Excellent advice. It reminds me so much of my days in computer user groups. https://davekiss.com/blog/12-lessons-from-5-years-of-running-a-tech-meetup
Sometimes I find a brilliantly written job req that I want to cheer even if it’s not written for me.
Case in point: this marvelously written job ad for the McDonald’s director of social media and influencer marketing. Which includes, in part:
> We’re looking for someone to lead one of the most influential corporate social presence. This will make you very popular anywhere you go, but also means you will get to read 675 comments about the snack wraps every single day.
https://linkinbio.jobboardfire.com/director-social-media-and-influencer-marketing-6a2255be9062
estherschindler
Writer. Editor. Baseball. Cats. Chocolate. Not necessarily in that order.
Joined Dec 2017