On MAGA Caps and WordCamps: The WordPress community is talking about banning red MAGA caps at its popular developer events, which are called WordCamps.



“Like Going Out Half Dressed When you Brush Your Teeth and Neglect to Massage Your Gums,” Hemp gum massager, 1933 via


The Milwaukee - ca. 1900 Via


Mirantis co-founder leaves to create open-source 5G startup - Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols:

Boris Renski, co-founder of OpenStack and Kubernetes power Mirantis, is turning his attention to open-sourcing 4G LTE and 5G with his new company FreedomFi.



Cory Doctorow: A Flat Earther commits suicide by conspiracy theory

“Mad Mike” Hughes crashed a homemade rocket he intended to ride to prove the Earth is flat.

Belief in crazy conspiracy theories is pandemic today because so many crazy conspiracies are real: climate change denialism, the opioid epidemic, Jeffrey Epstein’s pedo ring, etc.



Why do people listen to #NeverTrump Republicans lecturing Democrats on how the Democrats are on a path to failure beating Trump?

#NeverTrumpers know nothing about beating Trump, and have nothing to contribute to that conversation.

If #NeverTrumpers knew how to beat Trump THEY WOULD HAVE DONE IT.


A San Diego family cloned their dog for $50,000

“Marley,” a golden retriever, saved owner Alicia Tschirhart’s life while she was pregnant, five years ago, by jumping between her and a rattlesnake; Marley died a few months later of heart cancer. Now the Tschirharts have “Ziggy,” a 10-month-old pup, who is Marley’s clone.

Sorry, Minnie. When you go, we’re not spending $50 large to clone you. If it makes you feel any better, I’m not being cloned after I go either.


Cadillac “Magnificent Beyond All Expectations!” 1950’s Nat. Geo Magazine Via


Holiday Inn, 1976 Via


I support Sanders. My first choice is Warren, but he’s a close second.

And I’m glad to see the Republicans turn on him now, and I hope to see his Democratic rivals turn on the heat too.

Not just about his visiting Russia in 1988 and being a socialist (which he’s not), because those things are old news.

I want Sanders' opponents to dig up dirt on him now. All of it. And shout it loud.

Because if he’s vulnerable, let’s find out now, while there are still alternatives.

I don’t know if Sanders can beat Trump. But right now it looks like he’s got a better shot than any other Democrat, because those guys don’t even seem to be able to beat Sanders.



“I, Claudius” drinking game: Drink whenever a character shrieks, shouts or weeps.

Double when they do all three at the same time.

Finish the whole bottle in one draft when they do all four while begging for mercy.


ME: I’m going to have to get up and pee soon. Not right now though.

[Moments later a 15-pound cat climbs up and settles in to sleep on my lap.]


A group of ex-NSA and Amazon engineers are building a “GitHub for data”

A service called “Gretel” lets developers share data sets for building applications the way GitHub lets them share code.


You don’t know Esther Williams

Williams starred in midcentury movies featuring her water dancing and synchronized swimming. She presented an image of delicate, wholesome femininity.

In reality she was a tough athlete, who used her body as fiercely as any Hollywood stuntman and fended off sexual harassment from studio moguls and co-stars.

She had four unhappy marriages, dropped acid, and made a comeback when she was in her 60s.


Two stories about Americans who fled in search of better lives.

While millions of people have come to America to make a fresh start, sometimes the flow is in the other direction.


The Nuclear Family Was a Mistake

While politicians and pundits say we need to preserve the American nuclear family, it’s extended families that have held society together and supported individuals for generations.

David Brooks digs deep into history and anthropology, and describes how people today are building families that aren’t related by birth. Which turns out to be even older than what we usually think of as extended families