Sunspots 884

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to others*:

Computing: Gizmodo reports on how often our presence is registered by someone we didn't ask to do this, on-line. (For example, how Google gets information on you, and shows you ads, when you do a search.) Normal internet users leak such information into the hundreds of times a day.

Environment: Gizmodo reports that major oil companies are selling off some of their structure to smaller companies, which are unregulated, and increase emitting greenhouse gases.

Politics: Relevant reports that Americans are a lot more interested in the Depp-Heard trial than in Roe vs. Wade.

Science: Gizmodo reports that NASA has detected a magnitude 5 earthquake on Mars.

A writer in The Scientist discusses sex, and argues that sex differences are much less binary than some would have us believe.

The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, it is free to use like this.

*I try not to include items that require a password or fee to view.

Thanks for reading.

Sunspots 612

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

Christianity: A Relevant writer says that our prayers probably should be simpler.

In Christianity Today, a short discussion of addiction to pornography, and how prevalent it is.

Morgan Busse repeats some classic, and needed, guidelines on what to say, or not.


Computing: Gizmo's Freeware reports on a Chrome browser extension that searches your Internet cache. In other words, it looks in what you've already looked at, rather than the entire web. Should be a big help in finding things you only partly remember, that you've already seen.

Google has made 819 typefaces available for free. One catch -- you can't download these to your computer, and use them in, say, Word. They are designed to be added to part or all of a web page.

Gizmo's also notes that a new version of Libre Office, a freeware substitute for Microsoft Office, is available for download.

Health: Scientific American reports that the dust mites that you may be allergic to cannot survive in a dry area, like, say, Arizona or Utah.

History: Listverse reports on 10 amazing items (or groups of items) of considerable value found with a metal detector.

Philosophy: Scientific American reports on research that shows that most people think that they are morally superior to others.


Politics: (And the environment) The Guardian reports that a house bill would, if adopted as law, sell a chunk of public land "as large as Connecticut." Please don't.

FiveThirtyEight on how Judge Gorsuch (if confirmed) and additional Supreme Court Justices appointed by President Trump might change previous decisions, such as Roe v. Wade/Doe v. Bolton.

Listverse discusses 10 problems with where and how we get our news. And "fake news" is on the list, but it's not the only problem.

Science: Scientific American discusses "strategic retreat" from rising bodies of water, caused by climate change.


Image source (public domain)