Notices by kottke.org (kottke@mastodon.social), page 5

Pricing calculator for creator economy platforms. For instance, if you have a newsletter with 1000 subscribers that pay $5/mo, Substack will cost you $500/mo, Patreon $400/mo, Ghost $19/mo, Beehiiv $39/mo, Ko-fi $6/mo, Buttondown $29/mo. https://buttondown.com/comparison-guides/take-rates

Megastars used a pandemic-era grant intended to save music venues from closing to pay for sneakers and birthday parties, which is especially annoying because of how many venues closed after not receiving funding. https://www.businessinsider.com/lil-wayne-chris-brown-covid-relief-funds-svog-grant-2024-12

I am almost positive that I have posted this before but I don’t care: rotating sandwiches. (There seem to be a couple spinning clockwise but maybe that’s just an optical illusion?) https://rotatingsandwiches.wordpress.com/

Jamelle Bouie: “Either democracy was on the ballot in November, or it wasn’t, and if it was, it makes no political, ethical or strategic sense to act as if we live in normal times.” 100,000%!! This is driving me *nuts*. Dem pols: fight or piss off. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/18/opinion/democrats-trump-opposition.html?unlocked_article_code=1.iU4.fXzt.xNNqTSiwCocp

Then Comes The Body is a great short documentary on a Nigerian ballet school. The school’s founder taught himself how to dance ballet from watching YouTube tutorials. “There’s no ballet here… The only thing you have is yourself and the internet.” https://kottke.org/24/12/then-comes-the-body

HPV vaccines have been linked to a steep drop in cervical cancer deaths in young women. “We observed a substantial reduction in mortality — a 62% drop in cervical cancer deaths over the last decade.” https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/human-papillomavirus-hpv/hpv-vaccines-linked-drop-cervical-cancer-deaths

Billie Eilish’s Tiny Desk Concert. She played The Greatest, L’Amour de Ma Vie, i love you, and Birds of a Feather. Lovely. https://kottke.org/24/12/billie-eilishs-tiny-desk-concert

The Invention That Accidentally Made McMansions. A fascinating look at how a seemingly small innovation can contribute to large societal shifts. https://kottke.org/24/12/the-invention-that-accidentally-made-mcmansions

Six Childhood Scourges We’ve Forgotten About, Thanks to Vaccines. “Parents in the early 1950s lived with a terror: the substantial prospect that their child could touch the wrong toy and end up in a wheelchair, an iron lung or a grave.” https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/13/health/childhood-diseases-vaccines-preventable.html?unlocked_article_code=1.hE4.p5SD.glGRi3cObUcX

Great Casey Johnston piece on how chronic pain & capitalism intersect in contemporary America. “The safety net they were promised would back up their commitment not only isn’t there, but is actually more like a spider’s web that will entangle them…” https://www.shesabeast.co/back-injury-chronic-pain-uhc-shooter-luigi-mangione/

A Japanese convenience store is selling drinkable mayonnaise. (All mayonnaise is drinkable if you believe in yourself!) https://kottke.org/24/12/now-serving-drinkable-mayonnaise

A thread of some letters people wrote to each other on clay tablets in Mesopotamia thousands of years ago. “I am the servant of my lord. May my lord not withhold a chariot from me.” https://bsky.app/profile/paulmmcooper.bsky.social/post/3lb5bn253gc2x

The oldest known wild bird, Wisdom, a 74 year old Laysan albatross, has a new egg. Laysan albatrosses mate for life, but Wisdom’s mate hadn’t been seen in a few years. Last week, she landed in Hawaii and started cavorting with a new male. https://www.facebook.com/USFWS/posts/pfbid0ygoib6CCE9F5TZHvUReYdyR85BG2KFRKdU1KnyR4n92EcA4pPyqv2xVLALJQnXDFl

“subtle foreshadowing” — I laughed unbelievably hard at this, just absolutely gasping to breathe. Academy Award winner for best editing right here. https://www.tiktok.com/@xran..domx/video/7432653206154530080

How many giant balloons can a compound bow pop? https://kottke.org/24/12/this-is-what-the-internets-for

404 Media, reporting on 404’d media: big health insurance companies are removing information about their executive leadership teams from their websites. https://www.404media.co/multiple-major-health-insurance-companies-take-down-leadership-pages-following-murder-of-united-healthcare-ceo/

An unidentified disease (“Disease X”) in the Democratic Republic of Congo has infected 376 people, killed 79 people (mostly children), and “appears to be airborne”. They hope to have an ID by the weekend. This seems bad? https://healthpolicy-watch.news/drc-expects-diagnosis-of-disease-x-by-weekend-mpox-continues-to-spread/

When a Telescope Is a National-Security Risk. The Vera Rubin Observatory is a new telescope that the US built in Chile and they had to jump through some hoops to ensure it’s not going to see anything top secret (like US spy satellites). https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2024/12/vera-rubin-telescope-spy-satellite/680814/?gift=j9r7avb6p-KY8zdjhsiSZ-HMpFlupKvFkkt9Fqm4eNs

Musical Skiers, an aerial photo of Nordic skiers looking like musical notes. And someone on YouTube played the tune… https://kottke.org/24/12/musical-skiers

Madeleine Riffaud, hero of the French Resistance, has died at the age of 100. “The essential was not to give in. When you resisted, you were already a victor. You had already won.” https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/23/world/europe/madeleine-riffaud-dead.html?unlocked_article_code=1.dU4.LF78.GsGVLXus8Ry6