“As of late September 2024, residential households in the U.S. are eligible for another order of 4 free at-home [Covid] tests from USPS.” Order here! [special.usps.com]

Old photos of basketball games and boxing matches often have a pleasing hazy blue background that modern photos lack. “The blue haze that adds such a wonderful ambience to the arena is caused by cigarette smoke.” [petapixel.com]

Why Old Sports Photos Often Have a Blue Haze

Rich Clarkson’s photo of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, then named Lew Alcindor, in the 1968 NCAA Men’s National Basketball Final Four semifinal game in Los Angeles

I appreciate this no-nonsense flight safety video from Emirates. All the jokey entertaining ones are corny and have grown tiresome. [youtube.com]

Our New No-Nonsense Safety Video | Emirates

If you’re expecting dancers, movie stars and singers, we’ve saved that for our inflight entertainment. We take your safety seriously. So here’s our refreshed, no-nonsense safety video for your next Emirates flight.

In the late 19th century, hotels started building fully outfitted darkrooms for travelling photographers to develop their plates. [schneidan.com]

A brief history of hotels’ photographic darkrooms

Deciding on a hotel to stay in, you’re likely to look for a gym, a business center, a continental breakfast or a pool. But a darkroom for guests?

Kodak and the Invention of Popular Photography. “It’s about what happens when a powerful technology, originally only understood by a select few, can suddenly fit in your hand.” [kottke.org]

Kodak and the Invention of Popular Photography

In 1888, the Eastman Kodak Company rolled out a new camera and a new slogan. “You press the button, we do the rest.” To say this moment revolutionized photography would be an understatement. But this story isn’t just a

Fun little word game: Alphaguess. “Guess the word of the day. Each guess reveals where the word sits alphabetically.” (Today’s puzzle took me 16 guesses…is that good?) (via @unlikelywords.bsky.social[alphaguess.com]

alphaguess: a word game

Guess the word of the day. Guesses reveal where the word is positioned alphabetically. Everyone plays the same word each day.

The Pudding has collected satellite imagery of all 59,507 outdoor basketball courts in the United States. [pudding.cool]

Every Outdoor Basketball Court in the U.S.A.

Explore Satellite Imagery of 59,507 Basketball Courts

Adam DiCarlo takes photos of commuters (mostly bikers) as they exit the Williamsburg Bridge bike path on the Manhattan side and posts them to his Instagram account. [kottke.org]

The Williamsburg Bridge Riders

Adam DiCarlo takes photos of commuters (mostly bikers) as they exit the Williamsburg Bridge bike path on the Manhattan side and posts them to his Instagram account. (via @BAMstutz)

Dark Matter Could Be Hiding Out as Atom-Sized Black Holes. “Black holes the size of an atom that contain the mass of an asteroid may fly through the inner solar system about once a decade”…and we can theoretically detect them through planetary wobble. [scientificamerican.com]

Dark Matter Black Holes Could Fly through the Solar System Once a Decade

The universe’s hidden mass may be made of black holes, which could wobble the planets of the solar system when they pass by

The Return of Ta-Nehisi Coates, a lengthy profile of the writer on the eve of the publication of The Message, his book about “three resonant sites of conflict”, including Palestine. [nymag.com]

The Return of Ta-Nehisi Coates

A decade after “The Case for Reparations,” he is ready to take on Israel, Palestine, and the American media.