Taffy Brodesser-Akner, writing for New York Magazine, has a great story about Taylor Swift.

Our only proof that she was actually in the stadium was that the people close to the stage seemed to believe that she was, and we chose to believe them.

Great piece of writing.

According to a post on his official Facebook page that was reposted on his Twitter/X account, legendary comic book artist Keith Giffen—co-creator of Marvel’s Rocket Raccoon and DC’s Ambush Bug, Lobo and [the Jaime Reyes version of the Blue Beetle](nerdist.com/article/w… His run on the Legion of Super-Heroes was a favorite growing up. I also enjoyed his “Bwa-ha-ha-ha” version of the Justice League.

The Nones.

In many countries around the world, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of people who are nonbelievers or unaffiliated with any organized religion. These so-called ‘nones’ — atheists, agnostics, or nothing in particular — comprise 30% or more of the adult population in the United States and Canada, as well as numerous European countries. Japan, Israel and Uruguay are among other nations where large numbers of people are secular.

More of this.

Dick Butkus has died. He was 80.

So many great remembrances: Josh Whitman, Chicago Bears, Illinois Athletics. For me, the two best things to watch that encapsulated the man are his Illinois Hall of Fame speech and his press conference after the unveiling of his statue at the Smith Center on the University of Illinois campus.

Scott Young wrote a blog post detailing the advice he would give his 18-year-old self. Lessons include cooking and traveling more, embracing one’s weirdness, and avoiding assholes. What a cool idea.

Joshua Weissman has spent countless hours honing his cooking craft, first in professional kitchens and then at home, for his millions of YouTube fans. Here are his 100 nifty tips that may make you a better cook.

A compilation of my favorite cliche in music.

Bryce Harper flips out on Angel Hernandez, the absolute worst major league umpire, for calling a ball a strike. As usual, Jomboy has some fun with it. Rich Eisen chimes in as well.

At some point, Hernandez has to be relieved of his duties, right?

Here’s a trip down memory lane. Top 10 Arcades Games Every Year From 1980-1989 (100 Games)

Jennifer Maas, writing in Variety, has the scoop on the writer’s strike.

On the 148th day of the work stoppage, the board of the WGA West and council of the WGA East voted unanimously on Tuesday to lift the strike order as of 12:01 a.m. PT on Wednesday. following a tentative agreement on a new minimum basic agreement (MBA) contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). That means writers can go back to work as of Wednesday even before the final ratification vote on the contract.

I wonder, in the long run, who wins. I’m betting not the writers.

The Overview Effect YouTube channel has an interesting video focusing on the scientifically accurate depiction of where a select few sci-fi star systems are in our galaxy.

The Dune ones were interesting, as I don’t know where they got the stars for those planets.

According to a rumor from World of Reel, Christopher Nolan is allegedly in talks to write and direct the next two James Bond movies for EON. The outlet notes the company plans to present a “full reboot” of the franchise, adapting remakes of the Ian Fleming novels in period settings, sticking “close to the original source material.”

Doing period-piece spy movies is the only way to differentiate James Bond from modern action spy movies like the Mission Impossible franchise.

Jason Koebler, writing for 404 Media, looks into the shady world of Ticketmaster.

Olivia Rodrigo is using a system very similar to the one used by Taylor Swift, which Ticketmaster calls “Verified Fan.” This is essentially a weighted lottery in which people have to pre-register for a chance to buy tickets. Ticketmaster then uses an algorithm that is nominally tied to previous buying history, the age of an account, and the account’s geographic location to determine whether that account can have a chance to buy tickets for specific shows.

The problem with this is that normal people have one Ticketmaster account tied to one email address and can therefore enter this lottery one time for one specific show. Serious ticket scalpers have many accounts (hundreds or thousands) tied to many different email addresses, with credit cards all over the country and can enter the lottery as many times as they want. As Joseph and I showed earlier this year, there is a black market for “aged” Ticketmaster accounts that are years old and might have a better chance of winning the Verified Fan lottery. Scalpers can buy “100 Phone Verified Ticketmaster Accounts” for $500 from a scalper-focused website, or they can buy “1,000 Phone Verified Ticketmaster Accounts.”

This, obviously, should be illegal.

Ashley Belanger, writing for Ars Technica, has the story of popular authors joining together to sue OpenAI, alleging the company trained its large language models by pirating their books.

Yesterday, popular authors including John Grisham, Jonathan Franzen, George R.R. Martin, Jodi Picoult, and George Saunders joined the Authors Guild in suing OpenAI, alleging that training the company’s large language models (LLMs) used to power AI tools like ChatGPT on pirated versions of their books violates copyright laws and is “systematic theft on a mass scale.”

“Generative AI is a vast new field for Silicon Valley’s longstanding exploitation of content providers," Franzen said in a statement provided to Ars. “Authors should have the right to decide when their works are used to ‘train’ AI. If they choose to opt in, they should be appropriately compensated.”

OpenAI has previously argued against two lawsuits filed earlier this year by authors making similar claims that authors suing “misconceive the scope of copyright, failing to take into account the limitations and exceptions (including fair use) that properly leave room for innovations like the large language models now at the forefront of artificial intelligence.”

This latest complaint argued that OpenAI’s “LLMs endanger fiction writers’ ability to make a living, in that the LLMs allow anyone to generate—automatically and freely (or very cheaply)—texts that they would otherwise pay writers to create.”

I bet OpenAI uses ChatGPT to answer the suit.

It’s Decorative Gourd Season, Motherfuckers.

I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to get my hands on some fucking gourds and arrange them in a horn-shaped basket…

This evergreen McSweeney’s piece always makes me laugh.

Late-night hosts Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, and John Oliver have joined forces for a new joint podcast called Strike Force Five. It’s their simple way of earning money for their striking staffs without crossing the picket lines.

You should listen, it’s funny.

Jordan Ritter Conn, writing for The Ringer, has the scoop on Deion Sanders and Colorado football.

For a brief moment, on Saturday afternoon in Boulder, Deion Sanders is invisible. Hard to believe, I know. Since he took over as head coach at the University of Colorado, Sanders has become college football’s centrifugal force, the planet around which attentions circle on loop after thirsty loop. The Buffaloes were on Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff the past two weeks, and will host ESPN’s College GameDay this coming weekend. Sanders’s every word—whether spoken in press conferences or in private locker-room meetings—seems to not only get filmed, but to go instantly viral.

He’s still a douchebag.

AP News –

The leading decongestant used by millions of Americans looking for relief from a stuffy nose is likely no better than a dummy pill, according to government experts who reviewed the latest research on the long-questioned drug ingredient.

This is like a bit on SNL or something. Unbelievable.