- newThe British government has kept a cat on the payroll since 1929
On June 3, 1929, a Treasury official named A.E. Banham authorized the Office Keeper at 10 Downing Street "to spend 1d a day from petty cash towards the maintenance of an efficient cat." The job remains to this day. Britain's official resident cat now…
- 17 hours ago 11 Jul 26, 7:28pm -
- newLos Angeles police pause Flock's surveillance of everyday life
Los Angeles police are ending their three-year agreement with Flock Safety after privacy and civil liberties concerns, which is what happens when "neighborhood safety camera" starts sounding a lot like "citywide photographic dragnet."KABC reports th…
- 20 hours ago 11 Jul 26, 4:55pm -
- newYou should get a Sam's Club Membership for $25
TL;DR: New members can score a 1-year Sam's Club membership for just $25 for a limited time.Warehouse clubs get a bad rap for feeling like a chore, but Sam's Club has quietly become one of the easiest ways to cut your grocery bill without chang…
- 21 hours ago 11 Jul 26, 4:00pm -
- Kill a subscription and own Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for life for just $30
TL;DR: A lifetime license to Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for Windows is available now for only $29.97 (MSRP $219.99).Another subscription bites the dust — get the classic 2021 Microsoft Office suite for a one-time purchase to own Excel…
- 1 day ago 11 Jul 26, 10:00am -
- Anthony Hopkins releases first album at 88
Anthony Hopkins, famed for his Oscar-winning performance as serial killer Hannibal Lecter among many other movie and television roles, has his first album coming out at 88 years of age. A lifelong composer, but busy with other work ("Music was my fir…
- 2 days ago 10 Jul 26, 5:31pm -
- Watch Asian swamp eels emerge from the mud for feeding time
The Asian swamp eel (Monopterus albus) is an unusual freshwater fish with a snake-like body and no scales. Native to East and Southeast Asia, it lives in wetlands, rice paddies, canals, and slow-moving streams. It can breathe through its skin and the…
- 2 days ago 10 Jul 26, 4:57pm -
- The Hastings Museum celebrates Kool-Aid's origins with a permanent exhibit
Hastings, Nebraska, is the birthplace of Kool-Aid, and the city's museum has a permanent exhibit dedicated to the powdered drink's history. You can see photos of it here on Atlas Obscura. The display follows inventor Edwin Perkins, who transformed an…
- 2 days ago 10 Jul 26, 4:52pm -
- Gaza's ceasefire has somehow expanded Israel's control to nearly 70%
Nine months into a ceasefire, Israel now controls nearly 70% of Gaza, up from 50% before the "ceasefire," because apparently the "cease" part was more of a branding exercise.NPR reports that when the ceasefire began in October, Israel controlled ab…
- 2 days ago 10 Jul 26, 4:45pm -
- SleepScroll is the anti-feed your brain has been waiting for
SleepScroll is a free browser toy that offers an alternative to the endless social media feed. Instead, you are invited to interact with something designed to help you fall asleep rather than keep you awake. You scroll through a night sky where every…
- 2 days ago 10 Jul 26, 4:31pm -
- Louisville's Can Opener gives 11foot8 a run for its money, peeling open trucks at a rate of about 1 per day
Since North Carolina's famed 11-foot-8-inch can-opener bridge was raised to 12 feet and 4 inches, the bridge's steady flow of victims has slowed to a trickle. Thanks to a major road closure, an overpass in Louisville, Kentucky, has stepped up its gam…
- 2 days ago 10 Jul 26, 4:28pm -