Your interactive moment of zen https://dgreenheck.github.io/threejs-procedural-planets/

Found in a job application, and now I wish more companies included it:

> What’s one thing about your background or past experience that you want to be sure we notice? (1000 characters maximum)

"While his first book was weird and esoteric enough to have obviously been written by a human, this one reads like a politician’s memoir churned out by ChatGPT..." and other examples of The Most Scathing Book Reviews of 2023
https://lithub.com/the-most-scathing-book-reviews-of-2023/

Truth

Barry Manilow: "I think every Jewish and Italian boy cannot get out of Brooklyn NY unless he learns how to play the accordion. There's a guard at the Brooklyn Bridge. And you have to play 'Lady of Spain' before you can go over the bridge. Everybody I knew played the accordion - badly."
https://www.npr.org/2023/12/08/1217824491/barry-manilow-reflects-on-writing-songs-and-making-the-whole-world-sing

An apartment in Japan went up in flames after a man got a bit too zealous while killing a cockroach. https://www.businessinsider.com/apartment-blew-up-after-using-insecticide-to-kill-roach-report-2023-12

GM’s Cruise laying off 900 employees, or 24% of its workforce https://www.cnbc.com/2023/12/14/gms-cruise-laying-off-900-or-24percent-of-its-workforce.html

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Meta is beginning to test making Threads posts available on ActivityPub-supporting services. https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/13/24000120/threads-meta-activitypub-test-mastodon

Moderna Melanoma Vaccine Cuts Death Rate in Half https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/benefits-moderna-merck-melanoma-vaccine-plus-keytruda-extend-three-years-2023-12-14/

Today I'm reminded of my 2009 article, "10 Business Lessons I Learned from Playing Dungeons & Dragons" https://www.computerworld.com/article/2774693/10-business-lessons-i-learned-from-playing-dungeons---dragons.html

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For my SF/F friends: Enter the F&SF Humor Competition! Deadline Thursday, Dec 14

This is lightweight and fun. Typically the grand prize is an autographed copy of a book/ARC. Runners-up get a one-year magazine subscription.
https://carolpinchefsky.com/blog/enter-fsf-humor-competition-105-tagline/

SoCal to Vegas in two hours? High-speed rail comes closer to reality with $3-billion award
The trip on the 218-mile electrified line from Rancho Cucamonga to Las Vegas will take just over two hours, with stops in Hesperia or Apple Valley.
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-12-05/socal-to-vegas-in-two-hours-high-speed-rail-comes-closer-to-reality-with-3-billion-award

Create Christmas decorations using chemistry? Why yes, I DO know my friends. https://www.thoughtco.com/make-holiday-ornaments-using-chemistry-606135

I’m behind on this news, but I just learned that Bob Ostrander, a major figure in the shareware industry, passed away from cancer in September. https://www.facebook.com/groups/softwarepubnews/posts/9897727370269145/

An antelope whose species was declared Extinct in the Wild has today been downlisted to endangered – the direct result of a globally coordinated effort. https://www.zsl.org/news-and-events/news/oryx-downlisted-conservation-success

Fake belly buttons are temporary tattoo-style stickers. Placed a few inches above your navel, they give the illusion of longer legs. One Chinese reviewer described them as “the most successful invention of 2023.” https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/gender-diversity/article/3230438/fake-belly-buttons-all-rage-china-women-seek-freedom-dress-and-boost-confidence-some-raise-body

We find wisdom wherever we encounter it. And since I’m at the ballpark a lot of the time, that’s where I get my tech business lessons. https://www.tomshardware.com/opinion/everything-i-know-about-the-tech-industry-i-learned-from-baseball

(reprise, but maybe you don't mind)