make sure you choose a password that contains capital letters, numbers, and special symbols so that someday the data broker who purchases your info can go "ooh good password" after your login details are inevitably leaked in a data breach you can do nothing to prevent

Not what the fossil fuel oligarchs had in mind, exactly. But very, very nice.

"A spokesperson for Reform added: "Too often some public spaces are presenting divisive views of history that are designed to make people feel guilty."

On this point, too:

The past doesn't owe you comfort, and it doesn't owe you a life without reflection.

The past doesn't owe you anything.

WG Grace played his 870th and final first-class match in the season opener between Surrey and Gentlemen of England at The Oval starting on April 20th 1908. Grace, three months shy of his 60th birthday, captained the Gentlemen, scoring 15 and 25

67 years old

Happy Birthday Robert Smith, lead guitarist of Siouxsie and the Banshees from 1982 to 1984 and continuous member of post-punk band The Cure since 1978, born on this day in 1959 in Black Pool, UK

📸 Tom Sheehan

#robertsmith #postpunk #history #otd

“Coalition of chaos”.

Briony Neilson Briony Neilson Editorial and Manuscript Services – assisting writers and academic researchers through all stages of the writing and publishing process

I've been working as a freelance professional academic editor for over 15 years and have finally got around to creating a website. If you're an academic writer seeking experienced editorial help on a writing project (e.g. book, chapter, journal article), get in touch! And please spread the word ✏️📖

Wow, impressive. But if you think that’s good wait until you learn about these things called “trains”.

You young people don't know, but when we Gen X were kids there were TV presenters who looked like this.

I’ve had the same editor since 1967. Many times he has said to me over the years or asked me, Why would you use a semicolon instead of a colon? And many times over the years I have said to him things like: I will never speak to you again. Forever. Goodbye. That is it. Thank you very much. And I leave. Then I read the piece and I think of his suggestions. I send him a telegram that says, OK, so you’re right. So what? Don’t ever mention this to me again. If you do, I will never speak to you again

Maya Angelou on the joys of being edited

20 years of pickup truck design progress in one photo

So the PM is Chris and he succeeded Chris. Now Chris is Opposition Leader and he wants to have another crack at Chris in November. The only problem is that Chris wants to replace Chris before then if he can get the numbers, so he can face Chris at the election.

Friction makes things stick. Cultural experiences. Music. Learning. A book you have to work through rather than skate over. Not like inconvenience for its own sake is a virtue, but the friction imposed by it can be genuinely meaningful in a lot of contexts.

The sunlit crescent of Earth sets behind the gray, cratered surface of the Moon.

The Sun and the Moon
Earth and all its neighbors too
Awe, never-ending

Happy #HaikuDay!

(📸 NASA)

Tracking Microplastics Above and Below the Waves - Eos Measuring plastic particles carried on Cozumel’s sea breezes and ocean currents reveals how simple physics shapes the particles’ pathways and the impacts they may have on coastal regions.

On the winds and waves
Microplastics everywhere
We should track that stuff

eos.org/science-upda... #HaikuDay

imagine trying to kill bluesky with a DoS attack when it was already dying of the woke mind virus

A kākāpō chick at a nest. Credit: Andrew Digby

There are currently 94 #kakapo chicks alive, with 59 on Anchor, 22 on Whenua Hou, at least 10 on Te Kākahu and 3 in hospital. We lost a chick to a freak flooding of a nest earlier this week on Anchor. #kakapo2026 #conservation #birds

Screenshot of the How Reading Made Us BBC Sounds page

If, like me, you have loved reading & writing & words all your life, and you're mystified and a bit lost in a world that thinks reading is inconvenient & slow, this amazing radio series - How Reading Made Us - is for you. Reading DOES matter & this explores how & why.
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

I’m sure the breathing in of lead at the nation’s petrol stations had a deleterious impact on young brains and made them more susceptible to Facebook’s seeping poison.

Given that everyone in that photo appears to be roughly the same age as me, I’m wondering what happened to kids in the 1970s to make so many of us like this. Lead paint? Sniffing meths from the Gestetnered school notices?

Rod Drury faced misconduct complaint

A wealthy businessman getting a vaunted vanity award only for it to be revealed that they've engaged in grotty personal misconduct? This must be unprecedented in New Zealand history

The New Twin Fossil Shock | Ember How the energy crises of the 2020s speed up the electric age

"In power, solar plus storage now costs below $60 per megawatt hour (MWh) at a global level. The variable cost of LNG-fired power in Asia, at $20 per million British thermal units (MMBtu), exceeds $160 per MWh – nearly three times the cost of never needing fuel again."

Any questions?

Taxidermy Puffin standing on rock with egg between its feet. Black and white bird famous for its colourful beak.

Happy #WorldPuffinDay! Puffins are known locally as "tammie norries” and arrive at their breeding colonies in Orkney from late April to August. May and June are the best puffin-spotting months.

Overdue 😍
Post-punk icons Joy Division and New Order have finally received the recognition they deserve: Both bands have been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2026. After three nominations—the first two of which failed—they've finally made it.

#postpunk #joydivision #neworder

It's so funny to me that right-wingers love to pretend to love the Middle Ages and the Crusades and all that and then complain that the Pope shouldn't get involved in politics.

My concern is that the money isn’t just going to disappear. If it’s Putin’s money, he’ll find another route to funnel it through eventually, even if there’s short-term disruption.

The decision every sane Aucklander has to make before leaving the house between April and November is whether it’s an umbrella or a raincoat day.

Oi!