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"Never Quiet Again" (Catapult, May 12, 2017): "It's not that we don't remember what it was like before the sound. If you asked us, we could tell you." "All the Ways He Won't Die" (Catapult, Feb. 17, 2017): "Someday he'll meet a fate I didn't think of, and that will be my fault, too." Jess Zimmerman has several notable previouslies, e.g 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.
posted by Wobbuffet at 10:54 PM PST - 3 comments

What makes Knuth’s role in typographical history so special was just how much he cared about the appearance of typography in the 1970s—and the fact that he used his technical abilities to emulate the art he so appreciated from the Monotype era. Eddie Smith at Practically Efficient essays some 6000 words on the history of mathematical typography.
posted by cgc373 at 7:48 PM PST - 33 comments

Simon's Cat: Spider Cat Edition (slyt) (previously)
posted by aniola at 7:15 PM PST - 12 comments

Curie built traveling x-ray vehicles for battlefield use. She had been told to take a break from radium for her health's sake, and she did. During the break, she designed and had built these traveling x-ray vehicles to take triage and diagnoses to the front line. Meanwhile, to help morale, the Doughnut Dollies were making and handing out hot fresh doughnuts to the troops. doughnut heroines
posted by MovableBookLady at 4:26 PM PST - 17 comments

Humble Bundle has been acquired by media giant IGN. [Gamasutra] “Media giant IGN announced today that it has acquired Humble Bundle, the company best known for selling packs of indie games at pay-what-you-want prices. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. This is potentially a big deal for game developers, since Humble has expanded beyond its bundling business to publish games, pay devs to make games for its subscription-based monthly game club, maintain a subscription-based online game trove, and operate an online game storefront. However, a press release confirming the deal also noted that Humble will continue to operate independently in the wake of the acquisition, with no significant business or staffing changes.”
posted by Fizz at 1:50 PM PST - 31 comments

As part of writing a literary biography of H.G. Wells, SF author and critic Adam Roberts is reading and blogging about everything Wells wrote.
posted by Chrysostom at 1:44 PM PST - 8 comments

The Way We Talk About Puerto Rico Is Bullshit
The Media Really Has Neglected Puerto Rico [more inside]
posted by the man of twists and turns at 12:30 PM PST - 40 comments

Director Barry Jenkins, in partnership with The Chopstars has released a chopped and screwed version of the Grizzly Bear albums Veckatimest and Painted Ruins. [more inside]
posted by sleeping bear at 11:40 AM PST - 3 comments

A trailer for The New Mutants has creeped outta the shadows. Bear with it, there's a different feel to it, the breakdown is here, with plenty of potential spoilers. What are The New Mutants? Only one of the best comic books you've probably never read.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:12 AM PST - 54 comments

The ACLU has filed a federal lawsuit arguing a Kansas law requiring all state contractors to certify that they aren’t boycotting Israel violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments. Text of the complaint, Koontz v. Watson, is here. [more inside]
posted by marycatherine at 10:05 AM PST - 25 comments

"Jan Pascoe and her husband, John, were trapped. The world was on fire, and Jan was hyperventilating from fear. Then they remembered their neighbors’ pool."
posted by the turtle's teeth at 8:38 AM PST - 28 comments

Match.com went live in 1995. A new wave of dating websites, such as OKCupid, emerged in the early 2000s. And the 2012 arrival of Tinder changed dating even further. Today, more than one-third of marriages start online. Clearly, these sites have had a huge impact on dating behavior. But now the first evidence is emerging that their effect is much more profound.

Online dating may be enhancing racial integration and building stronger marriages. MIT Technology Review writes about a recent study.
posted by polywomp at 8:31 AM PST - 56 comments

If you're looking to be properly un-spoopy in October, specifically on today, Friday the 13th, Beck's 13th studio album Colors might be the thing for you, if you want some solid, generally upbeat dance-rock. "It's like if the Clash decided to bring in some disco and hip-hop beats," he explains. "I wanted the songs to sound great in the car or at a party." (Sydney Morning Herald interview with Andrew Murfett, with a long look at Beck's life and musical career) If that sounds like your kind of thing, you can stream it on YouTube, Apple Music or Spotify via Pitchfork, and Soundcloud Go+. [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief at 7:50 AM PST - 17 comments

After the banning of Rose McGowan showed that nothing's changed at Twitter, a flood of users have decided to boycott Twitter today. The tweets that got McGowan temporarily banned were part of the conversation about sexual harassment in the film industry prompted by allegations against Harvey Weinstein (previously).
posted by clawsoon at 4:11 AM PST - 286 comments