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

“A three-month national investigation by Beyond Plastics found that not a single tracked Starbucks cold-beverage cup ended up at a recycling facility — even when the cups were placed in clearly marked recycling bins inside Starbucks stores.” https://www.beyondplastics.org/press-releases/starbucks-cups-recyclable-report

No reparations for Black Americans. No student loan forgiveness for folks struggling w/ debt. No UBI for working Americans. But reparations, treason forgiveness, and UBI for Jan 6th insurrectionists who attacked Congress. Got it. https://joycevance.substack.com/p/kleptocracy

Jamelle Bouie writes that each US president molds the presidency in his own image and Trump has constructed a "government as protection racket and the president as mob boss". https://kottke.org/26/05/our-mob-boss-president

“Somewhere between ‘Let’s catch up soon’ and ‘Sorry, life has been hectic’, adult friendship became one of the most emotionally significant and least discussed losses of modern life.” https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/civil-irony/the-quiet-grief-of-adult-friendship

The fake courtesy machine is a wooden hand-cranked contraption that types “I hope this email finds you well” over and over again. Jacquard loom & player piano vibes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKs_-uN6SSQ

Infants are dying because parents are opting-out of vitamin K shots. “In the hopes of safeguarding their newborns from what they see as unnecessary medical intervention, they have shunned fundamental and scientifically sound pharmaceutical intervention.” https://www.propublica.org/article/more-parents-decline-vitamin-k-shot-newborns

The Booksellers is a 2019 feature-length documentary film about antiquarian and rare book dealers; you can watch the whole movie for free on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oM17mX_C0Cw

“They Would Never Use the Death Star on Us”: Alderaan Residents Reflect on Their Support for the Empire as a Large Imperial Installation Enters the System. “The Senate was ineffective, and the liberal Jedi were out of touch…” https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/they-would-never-use-the-death-star-on-us-alderaan-residents-reflect-on-their-support-for-the-empire-as-a-large-imperial-installation-enters-the-system

The Supreme Court Is Corrupt. This Is What We Can Do About It. This is *excellent*; Jamelle Bouie makes his case for why the SC is corrupt and how to stop it (weaken the power of the court). https://kottke.org/26/05/the-supreme-court-is-corrupt-this-is-what-we-can-do-about-it

Presidents Can Be Impeached Because Benjamin Franklin Thought It Was Better Than Assassination. “The Constitution’s impeachment procedures make the removal of the chief magistrate less violent, less disruptive, and less error-prone than assassination.” https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/american-presidents-can-be-impeached-because-benjamin-franklin-thought-it-was-better-assassination-180961500/

Trials for a pancreatic cancer mRNA vaccine: “Nearly 90% of people whose immune systems responded to the vaccine were still alive up to six years after receiving the last treatment. The five-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer is around 13%…” https://www.mskcc.org/news/can-mrna-vaccines-fight-pancreatic-cancer-msk-clinical-researchers-are-trying-find-out

Researchers have found that some aspects of sperm whales’ communication are “remarkably similar” to human languages. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/apr/15/sperm-whales-alphabet-vocalizations-similar-humans

Artist Maarten Baas has created The People's Clock, a timepiece made of people. To create the clock's "workings", Baas recorded more than 1000 volunteers moving as the clock's hands over a 12-hour period. https://kottke.org/26/04/the-peoples-clock

If Every Congressman Facing Credible Rape Allegations Resigned, We’d Have No One Left to Govern the Country. “It’s naïve to imagine the government can continue to function without the tireless dedication of our best and brightest rapists.” https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/if-every-congressman-facing-credible-rape-allegations-resigned-wed-have-no-one-left-to-govern-the-country

“The internet known within China is a very different internet to the one known by the world at large. It is censored, regulated and structured quite differently. It is controlled and managed, rather than organic and sprawling.” https://vale.rocks/posts/chinas-web

For decades, Aadam Jacobs recorded live music shows. His collection of over 10,000 shows since 1984 features Nirvana, R.E.M., The Pixies, Björk, Depeche Mode, The Cure, and so many more — and they're now available on the Internet Archive for free. https://kottke.org/26/04/online-treasure-trove-secret-concert-recordings

An interactive explainer on the physics of GPS. “The answer is in some ways simpler than you’d expect, and in other ways more complex. GPS is fundamentally a translation tool: it converts time into distance.” https://perthirtysix.com/how-does-gps-work

An AI bot created by Andon Labs is running its own retail store in San Francisco. The bot has hired a pair of human employees and “has a corporate card, a phone number, email, internet access and eyes through security cameras”. https://andonlabs.com/blog/andon-market-launch

Media companies are increasingly blocking the Internet Archive from archiving their material (but at the same time using the site to gather data for their stories). https://www.wired.com/story/the-internets-most-powerful-archiving-tool-is-in-mortal-peril/

This is incredible: Google Has a Secret Reference Desk. Here’s How to Use It. I knew some of these but not all, e.g. verbatim mode “returns results for exactly what you typed, stripped of personalization and synonym-swapping.” https://cardcatalogforlife.substack.com/p/google-has-a-secret-reference-desk