National Answer Your Cat’s Questions Day!

Pick Of The Day — 22nd January 2024 — The value of a website, a sandwich short of a Boost, phantom readers and cloned accounts, a bully turned friend, investing in yourself, limitarianism, fascism on the prowl, AI plagiarism, misogyny, relocalisation, Veganuary, a happier life, the breathings of your heart, very organised crime, your cat’s questions, a rhumba, absquatulate and a roadblock.

This series features some of the best of Medium, and the wider world, rumoured to exist outside of the platform.

Pick of Medium — The value of a website, a sandwich short of a Boost, phantom readers and cloned accounts, and a bully turned friend.

David McIlroy describes how is making a success out of Wordpress, which he describes as hard work but worthwhile:

CarolF spills the beans on the origin of a sandwich:

If you haven’t given up on the very flawed Boost system, Susie Kearley has some tips about the hoops to jump through:

Adrian CDTPPW highlights the ongoing problems with phantom readers and cloned accounts:

Ben Ulansey relates how a school tormentor became a friend, after an unlikely encounter

Medium tip of the day — Invest in yourself

The Professor of Medium recommends investing in yourself:

Outside of Medium: limitarianism, fascism on the prowl, AI plagiarism, misogyny, relocalisation, and Veganuary.

A new book sets out the case for something I am very much in favour of to create a better world — an upper limit on wealth, in the same way we have a minimum wage:

Seventy years after the last World War, the spectre of fascism still hangs over Europe:

Artists are considering a class legal action against AI platforms that have trained computers on their work, in flagrant breach of copyright:

Misogyny is alive and well among some shock jocks like Joey Barton, still vainly kicking back about women in sport:

After shocks to global supply chains, there are calls for a relocalisation of jobs and production, that would also reduce pollution:

The founders of “Veganuary” reflect on the success of their creation:

A job in a bookshop brought unexpected rewards for this writer, who fought for fair pay and union rights for retail workers in Australia, and found strong bonds between workers in different sectors.

Life Hack of the day –

Vincent has some tips for a happier life:

Quote of the day:

“Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.” ― William Wordsworth

Joke of the day:

(Health warning — swallow coffee before reading)

My friend used to sell Filofaxes to the Mafia: very organised crime.

National Days:

National Answer Your Cat’s Questions Day, National Blonde Brownie Day, National Hot Sauce Day, National Appreciation of Life Day, Wellington Anniversary Day, Community Manager Appreciation Day, National Polka Dot Day. (All of these are genuine!)

Did you know?

The collective noun for a group of rattlesnakes is a rhumba!

Word of the day: Absquatulate

Absquatulate is a slang term from 19th century America, meaning to “depart suddenly” or “abscond.” According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the “Newbern Sentinel” newspaper in North Carolina ran a story about an unpublished dictionary called “The Cracker Dictionary” in 1830, which included this term.

Clip of the day: Roadblock cleared with explosives

A Californian landslide blocking a road is cleared by explosives:

As always, thank you for reading, and enjoy your day.

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