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Somerton Man mystery ‘solved’: Professor identifies man found on beach in 1948 The Somerton Man (previously 1, 2, 3), was an unidentified man found dead on a beach outside Adelaide, Australia in 1948. His identity has been a mystery ever since. Professor Derek Abbott from the University of Adelaide claims to have identified the man as Carl “Charles” Webb, from Melbourne. Professor Abbott used DNA from hair found in a plaster "death" mask police made in the late 1940s. Abbott supervised a review of the case in 2009. [more inside]
posted by kirkaracha at 10:48 PM PST - 10 comments

Seeing double: Near-identical films that came out at the same time.
posted by Literaryhero at 10:00 PM PST - 39 comments

Based on a company meeting recording and other leaks from Meta employees, The Verge reports that the company and its head, secure in his position thanks to his holdings, are putting pressure on the employees to perform leaner as a number of challenges threaten Meta.
posted by NoxAeternum at 3:01 PM PST - 76 comments

emoji.supply provides two services:

• Customized emoji wallpaper for you background needs
• Adding two emoji together to create a custom .png as defined by Google's Emoji Kitchen

posted by Going To Maine at 11:29 AM PST - 32 comments

Bail conditions for climate change activists linked with Blockade Australia have clauses "that would prohibit the use of encrypted communication apps such as WhatsApp and Signal. [New South Wales] police also imposed conditions forcing the activists to hand over any communications device to police and provide passcodes upon request." Elsewhere, "A protest planned by hundreds of bank depositors in central China seeking access to their frozen funds has been thwarted because the authorities have turned their health code apps red", which left them unable to travel. (Previously.) [more inside]
posted by brainwane at 9:06 AM PST - 18 comments

Why none of Cory Doctorow books are available on Audible. A brief history of audiobooks, and a criticism of DRM, Amazon and Audible. A post which Doctorow has also turned into a free audiobook, titled Why None of My Books Are Available on Audible And Why Amazon Owes Me $3,218.55 through Amazon's ACX platform. ACX facilitates scamming authors, like Doctorow, who avoid or reject Audible's platform. [more inside]
posted by zenon at 8:52 AM PST - 27 comments

Virology: Essays for the Living, the Dead, and the Small Things In Between by Joe Osmundson is an ambitious book that succeeds in its efforts to shed light on viruses with science writing, yes, but also to shed light on the messy realities of life with queer theory, journey entries, archival data, personal essays, and above all else, naked honesty. [Autostraddle]
posted by ellieBOA at 8:12 AM PST - 4 comments

Fans of quidditch are now fans of quadball, the new name for the real-life sport that was first inspired by the Harry Potter book series. U.S. Quidditch and Major League Quidditch announced the name change on Tuesday as well as their own rebranding as U.S. Quadball and Major League Quadball. The groups announced their intention to find a new name for the sport in December, citing what they called anti-trans positions of Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling.
posted by Etrigan at 7:30 AM PST - 57 comments

Joni Mitchell performed at the Newport Folk Festival in 1967, fifty-five years ago. This past Sunday, in a surprise appearance with Brandi Carlisle, she returned for another full set, her first in over two decades. More clips inside, have some tissues ready. [more inside]
posted by Ipsifendus at 4:52 AM PST - 45 comments