In a US first, California will pilot solar-panel canopies over canals

“India already has solar panels over canals, but the mile-long Project Nexus in California’s San Joaquin Valley will be the first of its kind in the US.” Go Turlock! [Link]

Epic Games Acquires Bandcamp as 'Fortnite' Maker Expands Into Music

“Bandcamp will play an “important role in Epic’s vision to build out a creator marketplace ecosystem for content, technology, games, art, music and more,” the games company said. According to Bandcamp, under its revenue model artists receive net an average of 82% of every sale.” Fascinating! [Link]

Reading, watching, playing, using: February, 2022

This is my monthly roundup of the books, articles, and streaming media I found interesting. Here's my list for February, 2022. Apps + Websites Globle. Like Wordle but for countries. “Every day, there is a new Mystery Country. Your goal is to guess the mystery country using the fewest

Waterstones acquires Blackwell’s, the UK’s biggest independent bookseller

Very, very sad to see Blackwell’s purchased - by the hedge fund that owns Barnes and Noble, no less. [Link]

I'm common as muck and spent £150 in a Michelin star restaurant to see if it was worth it

“I've never grown up thinking of food as anything other than fuel to get through the day. I grew up on free school meals (chips and gravy, for the most part). As an adult, celebratory meals out are spent at Toby Carvery, where the all-you-can-eat roasters fill all

Build the smallest, simplest thing you can

Here’s how I think about software development: All code is an assumption until it meets its real-life context: its user, real-world data, the situation it’ll be used in. The goal in a startup should be to prove all your core assumptions as quickly as possible. Whereas in an

Fairness Friday: Equality Texas

I’m posting Fairness Fridays: a new community social justice organization each week. I donate to each featured organization. If you feel so inclined, please join me. This week I donated to Equality Texas. Based in Austin, Equality Texas “works to secure full equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and

Ukrainian refugees are already being driven out by the Russian invasion

“EU countries might be more open to absorbing Ukrainians fleeing the wrath of their adversary. But there might also be more willingness to accept Ukrainians because they are white, European, and majority Christian, revealing the “troubling rise of nationalist movements rooted in fear of the other,”” [Link]

Documenting and Debunking Dubious Footage from Ukraine’s Frontlines

“With every alleged provocation a potential pretext for conflict, Bellingcat has decided to track and detail such claims as well as the circumstances surrounding them.” [Link]

Facebook Allows Praise of Ukraine’s Neo-Nazi Azov Battalion

“Facebook will temporarily allow its billions of users to praise the Azov Battalion, a Ukrainian neo-Nazi military unit previously banned from being freely discussed under the company’s Dangerous Individuals and Organizations policy, The Intercept has learned.” [Link]

America’s most widely consumed cooking oil causes genetic changes in the brain

“Used for fast food frying, added to packaged foods, and fed to livestock, soybean oil is by far the most widely produced and consumed edible oil in the U.S., according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In all likelihood, it is not healthy for humans.” [Link]

Ukraine

I’m not remotely qualified to talk about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in any level of competent detail, but I am qualified to discuss my feelings about it. These things seem to rarely be fought on real principles; instead, war puts ordinary peoples’ lives on the line in the