Ursine of the times
Bird flu is back, and immigration raids along with the government shutdown are making it impossible to get a complete picture of outbreaks. / The New York Times [$]
In the bankruptcy hearings for Claire’s, the judge and lawyers share their memories of ear piercings. / The Wall Street Journal [$]
Cory Doctorow on how companies use apps—because they fall under a different legal category than websites—to break the law and make it a crime to stop them. / Literary Hub
When the Pasco, Wash., city council went MAHA, removing fluoride from the water supply suddenly became a hot topic, despite most residents opposing it. / High Country News
A wild American black bear snuck into a Northern California zoo and interacted with three black bears through their habitat fencing: “Overall, he was a very polite visitor.” / Los Angeles Times
“If you…are laid-back, messy, or broke, you might be better suited to portraying an American.” Caity Weaver becomes a Revolutionary War reenactor. / The Atlantic [$]
The co-artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company says young actors who trained on Zoom during Covid need additional help developing vocal presence. / The Guardian
Everything is becoming television—from social media (of course) to podcasts and even AI, there’s no escaping “the continuous flow of episodic video.” / Derek Thompson
Apparently there were plans in 1961 for a television series based on Some Like It Hot, but it went unsold and now you can watch the entire pilot episode. / YouTube
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“I wonder…if the AI already has a preset of what my face looks like because I upload so much content of myself.” AI-generated influencer scandals are here. / Spitfire News
AI is eating into Wikipedia’s traffic, after an unexpected surge in traffic this spring that turned out to be bots designed to masquerade as humans. / Observer
The cartography of generative AI shows the people, data centers, and natural resources it takes to power a prompt. / FlowingData
To build online spaces that encourage “amiable interaction among disparate, difficult (and sometimes disagreeable) people,” look to the meetings of the Depression-era Vienna Circle. / A List Apart
Starbucks didn’t invent the pumpkin spice latte. Other coffee shops were making them first—and the first-known mention of the concoction came from Tori Amos. / Snack Stack
“You burn yourself a lot.” The artisans who are keeping the “lost art” of neon signs alive. / 404 Media
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