Cool Stuff Daily

Latest Episodes:

Thu. 07/29 - Kids Are Using Soda To Fake Positive COVID Tests Jul 29, 2021

Show notes

Why it could take you months to get a new sofa. Kids are trying to get out of class by using soda to fake positive COVID tests. And how to reinvigorate your health with a “microadventure.”

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Wed. 07/28 - Why the COVID Vaccines WEREN'T Hacked... So Far Jul 28, 2021

Show notes

How a task force prevented the COVID-19 vaccines from being hacked because, yes, that was a real and valid concern. Plus, the sometimes controversial history of timekeeping at the Olympics and the AI-based innovations introduced this year. And, how the garbage industry is a lucrative one in the US because of course.

Sponsor:

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Links:

The COVID-19 vaccines weren’t hacked — this task force is one reason why (The Verge)
Thu. 10/22 - The Rare Tree Needed for a COVID-19 Vaccine (Kottke Ride Home)
Wed. 12/16 - What Pfizer Can Learn From Dippin’ Dots (Kottke Ride Home)
Fri. 07/23 - Time Keeps on Slipping, Slipping, Slipping (Kottke Ride Home)
What Happened to Milorad Cavic? (The Ringer)
How AI Will Help Keep Time at the Tokyo Olympics (Wired)
How the garbage industry outperformed the market (CNBC)
Here's why we call this time of year the 'dog days' of summer (National Geographic)
Fri. 07/10 - Groceries Delivered Via Puppy (Kottke Ride Home)
Kottke.Org
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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Tue. 07/27 - Are Personalized Digital Billboards the Future? Jul 27, 2021

Show notes

The history and future of billboard advertising. The surprisingly big challenge of recycling bowling balls. And the YouTube Creator who just got hired by Lucasfilm.

Sponsor:

Green Chef, go to GreenChef.com/kottke100 and use code kottke100 to get $100 off including free shipping

Links:

Billboard History: How Outdoor Advertising Came to Cover the Landscape (Tedium)
Ford Wants to Bring Billboards Inside Your Car, Beamed to the Dashboard Screen (Motor Trend)
Giant cat on 3D illusion jumbo display in Tokyo Shinjuku Japan (Kotaku)
Meet 'The Giant.' a 10-story movable statue that could come to Phoenix (AZ Central)
No, You Can’t Recycle a Bowling Ball (But People Sure Keep Trying) (Curbed)
Wed. July 14th episode about bowling balls under the man's house (Kottke Ride Home)
Lucasfilm hires the YouTube deepfaker who put its Luke, Leia and Tarkin cameos to shame (The Verge)
Kottke.Org
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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Mon. 07/26 - An Olympic Medal For Designing Olympic Medals Jul 26, 2021

Show notes

A look back at when the Olympics used to give out medals in artistic categories, including the designing of Olympic medals, and the case for why they should bring that back this year in particular. Plus, some more background on how the wildfires on the west coast of Canada and the US are affecting weather and health all the way in New York City and beyond. And, the Cleveland baseball team has officially changed their name––something they used to do quite a bit around the turn of the century.

Sponsor:

Green Chef, go to GreenChef.com/kottke100 and use code kottke100 to get $100 off including free shipping

Links:

The Olympics Could Be a Covid-19 ‘Super-Evolutionary Event’ (Wired)
Olympic pictogram sequence: The Opening Ceremony highlight for many, but what was it all about? (Olympics)
Olympic Pictograms: Design through History – Media Made Great (Media Made Great)
When the Olympics Gave Out Medals for Making Medals (Mental Floss)
Remember When the Olympics Used to Have an Art Competition? No? (The Atlantic)
2020 Tokyo Olympics: Medals made from recycled metal are unveiled (Washington Post)
How can smoke from West Coast fires cause red sunsets in New York? (The Conversation)
Wildfire Smoke Makes Sun Glow Red in New York City (NY Mag)
The Bootleg Fire Is Now Generating Its Own Weather? (NY Times)
See How Wildfire Smoke Spread Across America (NY Times)
Cleveland's MLB team rebrands as 'Guardians,' dropping 'Indians' name (Washington Post)
Cleveland's baseball team goes from Indians to Guardians (Indian Country Today)
Tokyo Olympics: 13-Year-Old Stars Win Women's Skateboarding (Time)
Glenn Fleishman on Twitter
Kottke.Org
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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Fri. 07/23 - Time Keeps on Slipping, Slipping, Slipping Jul 23, 2021

Show notes

Rounding errors may cause winners to become losers and losers winners, Bezos and James Webb both fall to Earth, and beyond lobster shortages, now crabs.

Links:

The floating point: Rounding error in timing devices (American Journal of Physics)
Apple’s weather app won’t say it’s 69 degrees (The Verge)
Progressives call out Jeff Bezos’s space flight as “self-indulgent” and renew calls for wealth tax (CNN)
NASA investigates renaming James Webb telescope after anti-LGBT+ claims (Nature)
Consider the $34 Lobster Roll (New York Times)
Record lobster prices sign of sky-high demand (SeafoodSource)
Mysterious blue crab shortage spawns big-time sticker shock (E&E News)
Glenn on Twitter (Twitter)

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Thu. 07/22 - Venmore You Venknow Jul 22, 2021

Show notes

Your payments for dog walking and, er, “love hotels” via Venmo are now no longer subject to global scrutiny, neutron stars have wee tiny mountains, smaller than predicted, pool parties by the hour via Swimply, and former Colombian guerrillas tour you through the beauty of the jungle they still inhabit.

Links:

Venmo drops the global social feed that could make your payments visible to strangers (The Verge)
The Venmo App You Know and Love Now Has a New Look and Feel (PayPal Newsroom)
Venmo payment records reveal a vast network of young women received money from Rep. Matt Gaetz’s associate, the accused sex trafficker Joel Greenberg (The Daily Beast)
Gaetz associate Joel Greenberg scheduled to be sentenced in August (CNN)
We Found Joe Biden’s Secret Venmo. Here’s Why That’s A Privacy Nightmare For Everyone. (Buzzfeed)
Venmo Will Now Let You Hide Your Friend List Because We Found Biden’s Account (Buzzfeed)
Thanks to Venmo, We Now All Know How Cheap Our Friends Are (New York Times)
Modelling neutron star mountains paper (F. Gittins, N. Andersson, and D. I. Jones)
Gravitational waves from star-eating black holes detected on Earth (The Guardian)
An ‘Airbnb for Pools’ Is Making a Splash This Summer (Wall Street Journal)
Swimply
Oklahoma City homeowners cashing in on the ‘Airbnb for your pool’ (The Oklahoman)
Is There a Urine Detector for Swimming Pools? (ThoughtCo)
Tourists In Colombia Can Now Take Jungle Hikes With Ex-FARC Guerrilla Guides (NPR)
FARC Wants You to Come Stay in the Jungle—Voluntarily (The Daily Beast)
Glenn on Twitter (Twitter)

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Wed. 07/21 - It Was in All the Papers Jul 21, 2021

Show notes

How did paper sizes fall into their century-long groove, how low-wage workers seem to have the upper hand in the job market despite pandemic job losses, and the very newest, freshest words are in.

Links:

The Reason Why a Standard Piece of Paper Is 8.5 Inches by 11 Inches (Mental Floss)
Grandma’s Cooking Secret (Snopes)
Who decided our paper should measure 8.5” x 11”? (International Paper Company)
Library of Congress Bibles Collection (Library of Congress)
The Article About Paper Sizes You Didn’t Know You Needed (Modus)
International standard paper sizes (Markus Kuhn)
Unemployment Rates During the COVID-19 Pandemic, June 15, 2021 (Congressional Research Service)
Low Pay, No Benefits, Rude Customers: Restaurant Workers Quit At Record Rate (NPR)
Oof, Y’all, Dictionary.com Just Added Over 300 New Words And Definitions (NPR)
From “5G” to “Zaddy”: Dictionary.com Adds Over 300 New Words And Definitions (Dictionary.com)
A Word on ‘Descriptive’ and ‘Prescriptive’ Defining (Merriam-Webster)
‘Fewer’ and ‘Less’ (Merriam-Webster)
Should “Decimate” be Annihilated? (OUPblog)
Glenn on Twitter (Twitter)

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Tue. 07/20 - Creepy Clown Town 2021 Jul 20, 2021

Show notes

Was the Chinese seed scare of mid-2020 just a matter of delayed orders and pandemic memory? The Ever Green clogging the Suez Canal is probably a sign of things to come, not a one-off accident. And Wally Funk returns from space—oh, also, Jeff Bezos was there and he gave a bunch of money to the Smithsonian.

Links:

2016 clown sightings (Wikipedia)
Invasion of the Clowns (New York Times)
The Truth Behind the Amazon Mystery Seeds (The Atlantic)
What Changes to the Universal Postal Union Treaty Mean for Your Business (Red Stag Fulfillment)
How One of the World’s Biggest Ships Jammed the Suez Canal (New York Times)
Six Days in Suez: The Inside Story of the Ship That Broke Global Trade (Bloomberg News)
Columbia RiverMaritime Museum
The 20-Ton Packet (Wired)
Mary Robinette Kowal’s Web site
Bezos Launches to Space, Aiming to Reignite His Rocket Company’s Ambitions (New York Times)
Jeff Bezos Gives $200 Million to National Air and Space Museum (New York Times)
Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum to Begin Seven-Year Renovation (Smithsonian)
National Air and Space Museum Receives $60 Million Pledge for its Dulles Center (Smithsonian)
You Could Win a Seat on One of the First Virgin Galactic Space Flights (Mental Floss)
David Koch, one half of controversial Koch brothers, donates $35 million to Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History (MassLive)
Smithsonian Stands By Wildly Misleading Climate Change Exhibit Paid For By Kochs (ThinkProgress)
We are cultivating a movement to expand access to space for all of humanity (Space for Humanity)
Glenn on Twitter (Twitter)

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Mon. 07/19 - It Brings Good Things Back to Life Jul 19, 2021

Show notes

Coca-Cola brings your dead taste buds back to life with a new Coke Zero formulation that probably definitely certainly won’t produce a New Coke outrage, Olympic athletes can perform team gymnastics on the beds provided in Japan, and how to watch Jeff Bezos fly into space with all his money. All that and duck-tape fashion.

Links:

Coca-Cola Is Changing the Flavor of a Soda. Again. (New York Times)
The Story of One of the Most Memorable Marketing Blunders Ever (Coca-Cola Company)
Don Keough Speech Classic Coke
Poochie (Simpsons Wiki)
Goodbye, Poochie (YouTube)
New Coke Didn’t Fail. It Was Murdered (Mother Jones)
Was the ‘New Coke’ Fiasco Just a Clever Marketing Ploy? (Snopes)
‘Old Coke’ Booster Can’t Taste the Difference (AP)
The Real Coke, the Real Story by Thomas Oliver (Penguin Random House)
Anti-sex beds tweet by Rhys McClenaghan (Twitter)
“Thanks for debunking the myth” from the official Olympics account (Twitter)
‘Anti-Sex’ Beds in the Olympic Village? A Social Media Theory Is Soon Debunked (New York Times)
Why some athletes at the Tokyo Olympics won’t be vaccinated (Axios)
SpaceX’s 22nd Cargo Resupply Mission Underway as Dragon Journeys to Station (NASA)
As Artemis Moves Forward, NASA Picks SpaceX to Land Next Americans on Moon (NASA)
Richard Branson and Virgin Galactic crew go to the edge of space and back (Los Angeles Times)
How to Watch Jeff Bezos Go to Space (Wired)
2021 Stuck At Prom Entry Gallery (Duck Brand duct tape)
Glenn on Twitter (Twitter)

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Fri. 07/16 - People Have Reservations about Deep-Faking Bourdain’s Voice Jul 16, 2021

Show notes

The flood of robocalls may soon abate due to a technology named after James Bond’s martini instructions to bartenders, an ethical debate over whether we can revive the dead’s voices to simulate what they said or wrote in life after a documentary filmmaker deep-faked Anthony Bourdain, and dropping fish from planes, Among Us in Irish, and the Hubble, rebooted.

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