Notices by kottke.org (kottke@mastodon.social)

This guy hooked his hamster’s wheel up to Strava — Mollie is logging 5-6 miles per day. https://www.runnersworld.com/news/a73355106/hamster-wheel-strava-running

How the Words We Teach English Language Learners Changed, and What That Says About Us. “The shifts reflect a life that moved further from its own making: less tied to tools, animals, food…; more tied to global institutions, categories, systems…” https://pudding.cool/2026/07/essential-words

New orca behavior unlocked. They’ve been known to sink boats and wear salmon for hats; now they’re ramming fish so hard they explode. “Orcas were observed to hold sunfish in their jaws while a second whale smashed into the target at high speed…” https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jul/23/orcas-ramming-prey-hard-explodes-playing-game

What do America’s earliest restaurant menus teach us about America? “A menu describes what a restaurant serves — but a menu also describes who is being served. They reflect the class, gender, political, technological, and environmental shifts of history.” https://pudding.cool/2026/06/menu-story

Legibility of effort in the LLM age. “What software (and writing, to an extent) is missing now is legibility of effort - the ability to tell at a glance whether something took a human meaningful work.” https://eieio.games/blog/legibility-of-effort

Trump Dismantled a Federal Climate Website. These Women Rebuilt It. “It’s not a pretty picture for climate communication and climate journalism right now.” You can check out the new site at climate.us. https://19thnews.org/2026/07/noaa-climate-data-website

Once Unimaginable, Publishers Are Preparing to Opt Out of Google Search. “We’ve been clear about what we want. We want a technical solution that allows you to be discoverable without having to give your content away for free.” https://www.adweek.com/media/publishers-opt-out-google-search

Do you believe that everybody should have fun or that only a few people should have fun? “This is what it means to be entertained in the United States of America in 2026. Want to have fun? Like, the most fun? Get rich, or die trying.” https://thewhitepages.net/p/do-you-believe-that-everybody-should

The End of Reading Is Here. “The decline of reading will bring about changes of the same magnitude. It will affect our innermost thoughts, our society’s politics and culture, and how we tell the history of our civilization.” https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/08/reading-crisis-postliterate-age/687618?gift=j9r7avb6p-KY8zdjhsiSZyM-26EN9jpQa5BZoBCHLjE

Parker Molloy on why the panic about trans women in sports is not actually about fairness or protecting women & girls (in the similar way Gamergate was not about “ethics in games journalism”). https://www.readtpa.com/p/reasonable-concerns

The US Constitution Is for Simple Folk Still Burdened by the Belief That Words Have Meaning. “The true Constitution is not a document. It’s more of a gut feeling. It is a shimmering legal gas that settles wherever conservatives need it most…” https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/the-us-constitution-is-for-simple-folk-still-burdened-by-the-belief-that-words-have-meaning

Scientists have found evidence of mass death due to the plague 5000 years ago, which goes against the prevailing theory that plague wasn’t that deadly until more recently. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/17/science/oldest-plague-siberian-skeletons.html?unlocked_article_code=1.q1A.O2Sp.c_lRCbbUA4dk

A new seismic phenomenon: seismic waves from the 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake ricocheted off the Earth’s core and shifted the entirety of Japan 6 millimeters to the east, enough to disrupt GPS measurements. https://www.404media.co/scientists-propose-black-holes-dont-exist-are-something-much-stranger

Human brains were not designed to deal with an endless supply of bad news. “We are the same species as we were thousands of years ago. What’s changed is the size of the world it’s asked to scan for threats.” https://theconversation.com/why-40-per-cent-of-people-are-avoiding-the-news-according-to-a-psychologist-282023

Commodore (you know, the 64 folks) is releasing a flip phone. “No social media, no browser. Runs 99% of Android apps (without Android). T9-style texting adds mindful friction. Audiophile grade HD Audio.” https://commodore.net/callback

The SpaceX IPO Is A Giant Unworkable Con Orchestrated By An Overt White Supremacist Huckster. “He’s endlessly mythologized by a shitty corporate press, eager to ignore his virulent racism & financial fraud bc he’s accumulated obscene amounts of money.” https://karlbode.com/the-spacex-ipo-is-a-giant-unworkable-con-orchestrated-by-an-overt-white-supremacist-huckster

Ian’s Shoelace Site Is Still The Best Site For Tying Your Shoes. However: “What is the point of adding value to the internet if it is only going to rob you? Why do research, make diagrams, and develop new knots?” https://aftermath.site/ians-shoelace-site-is-still-the-best-destination-for-tying-your-shoes

Billionaires’ Billions Are Increasing Faster Than Ever. 15 years ago, billionaires had $4.5 trillion. “Now, their combined wealth totals $20.1 trillion — an amount that is equivalent to nearly a fifth of the entire world’s total yearly output.” https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/09/business/economy/billionaires-musk-gabriel-zucman.html?unlocked_article_code=1.pFA.dLQV.6d9-fXSuW6k3

Good news! As of June 1, a transmission line is delivering hydro-generated electricity into NYC: “1,250 megawatts of clean energy directly into New York City’s power grid”. That’s around 20% of the city’s total electric load, now clean. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/doreen-harris-08a76115_today-after-15-years-of-development-programming-share-7467198233719525376-LE0s?rcm=ACoAABWQIJgBYm5O3PGaD1koUqfY2tBgeH6H56s

The Supreme Court Has Invented a Right to Discriminate. “The Roberts Court has replaced the Fifteenth Amendment’s ban on racial discrimination in voting with a right to engage in racial discrimination in voting.” https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/06/alabama-racial-discrimination-voting/687448?gift=Je3D9AQS-C17lUTOnl2W8PXx3PqdVJDy2VNT4oMQvd0