A US-based project arranges for handwork projects uncompleted by people before they died to be finished by fellow crafters. It eases grief, and inspires community and generosity, say the women behind it
https://www.positive.news/society/the-strangers-stepping-up-to-finish-craft-projects-that-loved-ones-leave-behind/

Once grown almost solely by enslaved people, the fish pepper was nearly lost forever until a chance find in a freezer revived the plant and it's now more popular than ever.

This is a cool story!

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20240216-the-us-pepper-that-was-nearly-lost

For random reasons, I found myself looking up old handheld electronic games, like the Mattel Dungeons & Dragons game. They all made a LOT of noise. https://www.pcmag.com/news/10-classic-portable-games-of-the-1980s

A teenager brings home her new boyfriend to meet her parents. They’re disgusted by his haircut, tattoos, piercings.

Afterwards, the girl’s mom says, “Honey, he doesn’t seem to be a very nice boy.”

“Oh come on Mom” says the daughter. “If he wasn’t nice, would he be doing 500 hours of community service?”

"Handel for All will see the composer’s entire catalogue – all 42 operas (in concert performances), 29 oratorios, well over 100 cantatas, concertos, and chamber works of all kinds – filmed by the orchestra and released online, where it will exist in perpetuity as a library and archive: freely available to everyone." https://www.gramophone.co.uk/features/article/the-english-concert-embarks-on-an-ambitious-project-to-film-and-release-handel-s-complete-works-online

Duke University announced this week that its iconic 100-year-old herbarium will be closing in the next 2 or 3 years, a decision that immediately sparked protests from scientists at the university and elsewhere.
https://www.science.org/content/article/tragic-mistake-decision-close-duke-university-s-herbarium-triggers-furor

Any self-respecting software QA professional knows that they should pay attention to quality metrics. But which ones? Consult this list to see what matters for your team. https://www.functionize.com/blog/10-key-kpis-driving-continuous-improvement-in-qa-teams

TIL There was an episode of “Gilligan’s Island” about doing Hamlet as a musical. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKMOClN9ITg

A new chatbot called Goody-2 takes AI safety to the next level: It refuses every request. https://www.wired.com/story/goody-2-worlds-most-responsible-ai-chatbot/

How design collective Hipgnosis redefined the album cover: from AC/DC to Pink Floyd.
https://www.interviewmagazine.com/music/how-the-design-collective-hipgnosis-reinvented-the-album-cover

.

If you’re a cat lover (and who isn’t?) Amsterdam is the place for you. https://www.iamsterdam.com/en/see-and-do/amsterdam-for-cat-lovers

The number of people who die after a breast cancer diagnosis in England has decreased by two-thirds since the 1990s, a study of more than half a million women has shown. 'We knew that mortality had reduced during the past 20 years, but we didn’t know by how much.' (Subscription required but it's pretty much all in the headline.) https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-02075-w

"The Football Association of Finland, in cooperation with the University of Jyväskylä, has launched a new database that compiles Finnish scientific research on football, futsal and other football-related formats in one place." https://www.uefa.com/insideuefa/news/0282-184ec883d76b-3b8da6b3bd64-1000--finland-scientific-research-on-football-in-one-database/

Years Before Stonewall, a Chef Published the First Gay Cookbook https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/gay-cookbook

The name Sonia Delaunay is synonymous with kaleidoscopic colours and prismatic designs that seem to splinter, shift and dance before our eyes. https://blog.fabrics-store.com/2024/02/18/sonia-delaunay-wearable-art/

Do you have a grassroots effort to promote community control over data and tech? Are you building something new?

Apply for the Data Empowerment Fund: $50K or $100K
🚨🚨🚨Proposals due March 5!🚨

(Found elsewhere, I have no affiliation) https://dataempowerment.fund

This

Now this is sweet.
https://alaskapublic.org/2024/02/15/hometown-hero-valdez-may-soon-get-a-life-sized-statue-of-a-star-trek-icon/