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Tom Cardy: The Ballad of Smokin' Joe Rudeboy [previously 1, 2, 3]
posted by lazaruslong at 10:46 PM PST - 7 comments

Asteroid Launcher: not your parents' Asteroids. Choose a type of NEO, how large it is, how fast it's going, and the angle of impact when it hits the Earth's atmosphere. Pick a point on the map, and hit the LAUNCH ASTEROID button. The app will show on the map and tell you factoids about the resultant crater, fireball, shock wave, highest wind speed, and earthquake. But ya gotta aim and chuck it just right, and then quick, hide behind the moon so the earth doesn't know what hit it!
posted by not_on_display at 10:30 PM PST - 30 comments

At its surface, it seems like a simple problem with a simple solution. Across the country, medicine cabinets are littered with unused, potentially addictive opioids. So the federal government wants to distribute prepaid envelopes alongside new painkiller prescriptions, allowing Americans to mail back their leftovers. But the seemingly innocuous proposal has generated opposition from a surprising source: the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America, a powerful nonprofit organization that has dominated drug policy advocacy in Washington for decades.
posted by Etrigan at 5:39 PM PST - 37 comments

The FTC will sue to block the $69bn acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft. Activision Blizzard CEO says 'the allegation that this deal is anti-competitive doesn't align with the facts.' The FTC says 'Microsoft has already shown that it can and will withhold content from its gaming rivals.' Pitfall Harry could not be reached for comment.
posted by box at 12:52 PM PST - 27 comments

Many staffers at the New York Times are going on strike today. [more inside]
posted by hydra77 at 9:24 AM PST - 59 comments

Raspberry (the people with the tiny computers) had the great idea of hiring a former surveillance cop to be a "maker in residence." The lack of enthusiasm for this decision has been answered on Twitter and Mastodon with snark and blocking, so all is going just fine.
posted by dominik at 9:11 AM PST - 93 comments

Maria Farrell explains why "plantations" is a better term. Metaphors work best when we consciously use them as tools to look with, rather than as the whole thing we’re seeing. [more inside]
posted by kingless at 8:02 AM PST - 27 comments

President Biden says WNBA star Brittney Griner has been freed from a Russian prison. "Moments ago I spoke to Brittney Griner. She is safe. She is on a plane. She is on her way home," he wrote on Twitter. Previously and previouslier.
posted by ellieBOA at 5:38 AM PST - 100 comments

There's a poem at the end of Minecraft, but Minecraft doesn't own it. Quite a story by an author who lives in the gift economy as much as he can.
posted by Nancy Lebovitz at 5:09 AM PST - 29 comments