What I Want

Edition № 4 · Wednesday, 12 August 2026 · 10 items

React to the titles by gut — “number three, more like this” is enough. One of these ten is your assignment to actually consume; the fold-in reveals which, after your first pass.

1

16 Hours in an Oakland Dive Bar

Longreads · essay

"Very few Oakland establishments open before noon. Club 2101 in Dimond is one of them. For patrons, it’s a second home."

2

Post Office and Telecommunications Center in Skopje, North Macedonia

Atlas Obscura · essay

The capital of North Macedonia is characterized by its pompous, classically styled buildings that line both sides of the Vardar River, further enhanced by numerous statues, some of them…

3

Reading Maps : Journeys from books & films (Moby-Dick,...

Kottke.org · essay

Reading Maps : Journeys from books & films (Moby-Dick, Murder on the Orient Express, The Hunt for Red October, The Muppet Movie, etc.) plotted on a map.

4

How to Give a Killer Job Talk (guest post)

Daily Nous · essay

“Talks are not merely communication: they are also a performance… So many talks that could have been successful end up flopping because they’re not serious performances.” That’s one…

5

Dupeless Needication

In the Pipeline (Derek Lowe) · essay

Here’s a really interesting (but rather unnerving) look at the state of “big data” in biomedical science. The author had been working on some software tools to find copy-pasted blocks of…

Expedition — testing Do expert medicinal-chem posts still pay?
6

How FX Artists Make #Zombie Puppets Look SO Real (and #Scary!)

Adam Savage's Tested · video

At special-effects studio KNB EFX, shop supervisor Carey Jones tells #AdamSavage the secret to making zombies (like those in #TheWalkingDead) look so darn real!

7

Get An Early Start!

In the Pipeline (Derek Lowe) · essay

Edit: as of February 19, this paper has picked up (rather rapidly) an Editorial Expression of Concern. ". . .concerns have been raised regarding inconsistencies between the registration…

8

A Telomerase Inhibitor Revealed

In the Pipeline (Derek Lowe) · essay

Here’s a very nice structural biology paper on an important target, telomerase. This has become a famous enzyme over the years because of its role in maintaining a crucial part of…

9

In Paris, in Tokyo, in Singapore, in Prague, I Stumble Out, Insane with Coffee

The Paris Review Daily · essay

“In the pen barrel was a picture of a ferryboat, which sailed to the other end if you tilted the pen, turning the Mississippi into Niagara Falls.”

Expedition — testing Does foreign place writing trigger longing?
10

Here’s the Crater SpaceX’s Rocket Left on the Moon

Nautilus · essay

The crater could measure 100 feet in diameter The post Here’s the Crater SpaceX’s Rocket Left on the Moon appeared first on Nautilus .

Wildcard — Moon rocket impact crater