Snark Week: The cat that jumped the shark

Welcome to Snark Week 2018! Not all cute-but-scary animals are biological. Allow me to expand the remit of Snark Week to include the dreaded CryptoKitty. Adorable and fluffy? Absolutely. Existentially dangerous? Most certainly. This creature packs a triple punch. Once critically endangered, it is now trying to claw its way out of jeopardy – on […]

A Bitcoin Dummy Has Questions

Even if you develop hives at the sight of the words “bitcoin” and “blockchain”, you probably couldn’t help noticing the shouty news the past week. Bitcoin is down! Bitcoin is slightly up! Way down! Little bit up again. As LWON went to press, Bitcoin was either on the verge of another runaway valuation that would climb […]

The Last Word

This week Cameron ponders the color, shape and purpose of eggs. It sounds like an odd thing to think about until you realize it’s a pretty big deal for the one who laid it. Helen shares a cartoon to commemorate her 20-year anniversary with a very special partner – her sunglasses. Rebecca says that an […]

Powerless And Fully Dark

The hail was the first thing to wake me up. First a light patter, like pennies falling off the counter and onto the floor, but then it got worse. Thunk. It sounded like someone had thrown a rock at my window. For a second I thought it might shatter, spilling wind and rain into my […]

To The Moon, For the Last Refuge of Human Knowledge

After several thousand years spent looking up and contemplating the nature of the cosmos, as well as what’s for dinner, we humans have amassed a lot of knowledge. We know the precise age of the Earth and the universe. We know how life sends copies of itself into the future. We know, with amazing accuracy, […]

The Last Word

May 7 – May 11, 2018 Ann starts off the week by tapping into her inner Aldo Leopold and remembering the forests of her youth in Northern Illinois. The trees and critters and flowers might be the same but you can’t ever really go home again. Jessa discusses the Green Party and the party over […]

End stage capitalism in the multiverse

It started with the maggots. One hot Australian January morning, unlucky beachcombers had discovered millions of the fleshy nubs orgiastically crawling over each other and everything else on Newport Beach. No one knew where they had come from, and the beach-storming maggots left without an explanation. But when they returned, it was for good. They […]

Heartland Driving is Good for the Soul

If you are feeling down, or housebound or just uninspired, there are few better salves than a drive. First, put on comfortable pants. Then get in the car and drive to the nearest highway. Choose any direction; it usually doesn’t matter. Set your cruise control to 65. After a few minutes, the right angles of […]