in which I am the night

May 27, 2019

Welcome to Corgi-Class Starship, the newsletter that was not in any way prepared for how fuzzy Detective Pikachu turned out to be, despite having seen the trailer a few times. 

You'll Like This

Update(s) on thing(s) I made or somehow helped to bring about.Idea Factory Giveaway110 - Soup Witch"Jon (@ferociousj), guest co-host Kelly, and special guest Amy L unveil quite frankly astonishing ideas for a strongly-branded restaurant, celebrity-based experiences, and candy swapping at scale."I feel like I say this a lot, but this particular episode contains a fair amount of actual idea gold that I'm convinced could be a reasonable (or at the very least entertaining) business or two.If you haven't yet, subscribe by searching "Idea Factory Giveaway" in your podcatcher of choice (and let me know if it doesn't pop up). If you're already there, feel free to leave a 5-star rating and a nice review (it helps; algorithms, etc, you know the deal).Instant Band Night 7-11I have a special shirt I'm going to wear for this one. That's all I can say for right now. That, and if you haven't come to an Instant Band Night yet, you really really should make the time. Failing that, please send the info to whoever you know in the Bay Area who you think would enjoy a highly unique night out: everything you need to know is here. 

Medium Ramble

Skippable if you're in a hurry.My request to you for this week is to actually listen to this week's episode of the podcast, because I want to talk about the email-based idea Amy uncovered therein, but I need you to have the context. Do this and we'll talk next week. Thanks; have a good week in the meantime. 

#dadthoughts

Also skippable if you're in a hurry or don't care. No judgment.A long while back, Quentin started to play around with toy balls, tossing or batting them around such that they rolled under the furniture. This demanded a solution, which came in the form of me constructing crude bumpers out of boxes (mostly empty diaper boxes, oddly, though a couple of Amazon ones came in handy) and shoving them under the couch and TV hutch. From there, they could block anything from going so far under the furniture that it couldn't be easily retrieved by hand, and in many cases serve as something for an errant ball to bounce off of and roll back into plain sight, which was great. I highly recommend this to anyone, with the proviso that you need something to throw inside your bumpers to weigh them down a little -- a pair of shoes you're not using, or some workout weights you're not using, or ........... you get the idea. All this is to say that I have found the orange foam baseball, which had somehow gotten past my very clever bumper system and ended up underneath the couch in a far corner I didn't think to inspect. I went down to adjust the bumpers this morning and boom, there it was!I also located the + sign from the fridge magnet set! Our stove and fridge bump up against each other, but there's a very thin gap between them, and I noticed Quentin messing around there a few days ago. Lo and behold, the + sign was in that gap, stuck to the fridge as a good magnet should.I am the world's greatest detective.Now is the time to grab a wire coathanger and make the tool I need to retrieve the 4 from his fridge magnet set. Let this serve as both record and ultimatum to myself: this week. This week!! 

Fascination Corner

I read a lot of newsletters; here are some links that caught my eye. 

  • [taps mic] It only takes 3.5% of a country's population actively participating in protests to effect political change. (BBC) 

  • Hmmmmmmmmmm: social media and the end of forgetting. (Vox) 

  • I have questions about this Uber submarine thing. It's a two-person sub. Does that mean you and a pal get to just hop in and take the controls? Surely fucking not, right? So one of those people has to be a pilot. So you don't get to bring a friend? Or is the sub remotely piloted and you do get a +1? I don't see a control cable attached, so that doesn't seem very likely either. I'm just wondering out loud here. (Brisbane Times) 

  • There's too much stuff. (Atlantic) 

  • Rap lyrics are talking more and more about depression and anxiety these days; coincidence? (Quartzy) 

  • Listen, I know what you're here for, and that's hard-hitting investigative pizza-centric journalism (MEL) 

  • I love that mystery is in fact still possible in this day and age. (CNN) 

  • Somebody sent this person's cat a Very Weird DM on Twitter and you have to read the ensuing thread; the resulting GoogleDoc is ........... it's something to see. (Twitter thread) 

  • You know what, as long as I'm linking to Twitter threads, how about this one, too. (also a Twitter thread) 

  • Neural laces just took a step forward, folks: researchers have developed tiny brain implants that can be scattered throughout neural tissue and communicate with each other/outside computers at 10Mb/s speeds. (IEEE Spectrum) 

  • GOATLARP. Be sure to read all of the available material, including the optional rules supplement. (GOATLARP) 

  • If you live in Mexico City and you're stuck in traffic, you can get Burger King delivered right to your car via motorcycle. (WaPo) 

  • Would you want smart clothes that can keep you warm in the cold and cool in the heat, ditching the need for AC? Or would that be weird? (UCSD press release) 

  • This interview with Mark Dacascos about John Wick 3 is a treat; savor it. Also, spoilers for John Wick 3. (Vulture) 

  • Wait, Pluto has a subsurface ocean too? (Nova) 

  • It is goddamn hard to argue against having more community spaces in our towns, America. (Atlantic) 

  • I'm 100% serious when I say this article about cardboard boxes is actually interesting, and [Simpsons box factory joke.txt]. (Fast Company) 

  • Maisie Williams had a good idea for a startup, y'all. (TechCrunch) 

  • The Finns are tackling fake news and winning; is this something we can import? (CNN) 

  • Here's the rundown on that lunar mission. I for one would love to see us break ground on a moonbase in nine years, hot damn. (Ars Technica) 

A Fictional Thing

Something made-up that somehow suggested itself to me and which I could not escape.A band and their albumThe Hammer From Above, We Are Ready to Teach You 

Thanks

If you've read this far, I thank you. Feel free to forward this to someone you like, or inflict upon someone you don't.