$$$
“Daddy, why do you work?”
“Um, so we can have money.” Thinking, crap, I should have said something more meaningful like “well, son, I work to make the world a better place.” Ah well, better roll with it.
“But money comes from the machine.”
“Yes, but work puts it in the machine.”
My son thinks about this for a very long time, then walks off without saying anything. I’m pretty sure he thinks my job is to actually load money into ATM’s.
Eh. As long as he’s proud of me.
Hi, I’m John Tolva!
The Ampcamper
How I hauled myself, two teens, an 80 lb dog, and a whole load of crap 4000+ miles across six states in twenty days using an electric vehicle. And survived to tell the tale.
The Terror Tourist
A roughly monthly exploration of places in horror fiction — real or imagined, geographical or psychological — culled from The Heavy Leather Horror Show.
Subscribe to the podcast or the email newsletter or just read through the archives posted here.
Views From The Tank
Coral and fish photos, water chemistry data, and notes on home reef-keeping. Dive in.
Latest Photos
Marginalia
Stuff I’ve found interesting from around the web lately.
The UX of LEGO Interface Panels
Piloting an ocean exploration ship or Martian research shuttle is serious business. Let's hope the control panel is up to scratch. Two studs wide and angled at 45°, the ubiquitous "2x2 decorated slope" is a LEGO minifigure's interface to the world.
no hello
please don't say just hello in chat
How America Can Break Its Highway Addiction
More highway lanes won’t actually ease traffic.
Sample Breakdown: The Most Iconic Electronic Music Sample of Every Year (1990-2024)
YOUR TURN 🫵 Win $10,000, a Ninja Tune release, and a Sample Breakdown : https://tracklib.com/electronic (it's free to enter) We're now giving you the opportunity to become part of the video and its lineage of legends. Make the next iconic flip to win $10,000, get a Sample Breakdown of your track
NASA Rocket Engine Fireplace
Just what you need for the holidays… the coziness of a crackling and roaring rocket engine! Technically, this fireplace packs the heat of FOUR RS-25 rocket engines and a pair of solid rocket boosters – just enough to get you to the Moon. (And get through the holidays with your in-laws.)
Home
My name is Brandon Silverman. I’m a dad, former start-up founder and these days, a transparency activist (you can read more about some of my story here). But I’m also a designer. And like most designers, I’ve spent a lot of time over the last 15 years reading kottke.org.
For Love of God, Make Your Own Website
Browsing the internet used to be a hobby of mine. Ever since my dad got us a modem when I was around ten, I spent hours at a time just looking at different websites. The internet felt like a limitless expanse of free expression.
A universal ‘Plug and Charge’ protocol for EV charging is coming in 2025
The fragmented and frustrating nature of our current EV charging landscape has been widely — and correctly — cited as one of the most significant barriers to EV adoption.
The Invention That Accidentally Made McMansions
This is a really interesting video about something called the gang-nail plate, a construction innovation that enabled larger roofs to be built on houses, removed the need for internal load-bearing walls, and made the process of construction cheaper & more efficient.
https://gothamist.com/arts-entertainment/meet-the-sculptor-tricking-new-yorkers-with-art-dedicated-to-the-citys-fake-history?utm_source=sfmc&utm_medium=nypr-email&utm_campaign=Gothamist+Daily+Newsletter&utm_term=https://gothamist.com/arts-entertainment/meet-the-sculptor-tricking-new-yorkers-with-art-dedicated-to-the-citys-fake-history&utm_id=405796&sfmc_id=105306723&utm_content=20241216&nypr_member=False
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