Drones in Ukraine; the Future of Watching Sports; 7 Guys Adrift for 52 Hours in a Raft
It's Free for All Friday!
It’s Free for ALL Friday!
Each week I keep track of some of the off-the-path things I've found, and work extra-hard to make sure you never hit a paywall, using my own subscriptions, gift links, and other (legal) hocus-pocus.
How Suicide Drones Transformed the Front Lines in Ukraine
Outnumbered and desperate, the nation began hacking cheap consumer drones with explosives — bringing a brutal new form of violence to 21st-century warfare.
We'll start with a serious one: This is the future of warfare, and maybe terror, and we'll need to find ways to prepare.
I can't really excerpt the article very well here without skipping a lot, but it's by Chris "C.J." Chivers of the New York Times, a former Marine Corps infantry officer who clearly spent a lot of time on the ground in Ukraine for this article, who has been one of the best war correspondents of his generation.
Is This Weird Dome the Future of Watching Sports?
Part sports bar and part planetarium, the screen-based entertainment venue Cosm promises an immersive game-day experience at a fraction of stadium prices.
For Dallas Cowboys fans gathered at Cosm, a new sports venue just north of Dallas, the climax of the Nov. 24 National Football League game against the Washington Commanders delivered a heart-attack-worthy spectacle.
Cowboys fans all over the planet witnessed the same bewildering victory on TV. But few Dallas die-hards had better seats for this shocking turnabout than those watching at Cosm, an immersive sports theater that opened in August in The Colony, a north Dallas suburb. Hundreds of fans gathered inside the facility’s cavernous dome to watch a Sunday stunner on a concave three-story screen — an experience immense and vivid enough to be lifelike.
Fourth-and-inches hits different when the screen is so large that a fraction of a yard is rendered at full scale. Like a demi-sized version of Sphere, the space-age entertainment venue that opened in Las Vegas last year, Cosm uses streaming technology and vast curving LED screens to deliver views that rival the best seats in arenas, ballparks and stadiums around the world. With outposts in Los Angeles and Dallas and more on the way — including a development set to break ground in downtown Detroit in 2025 — Cosm hopes to provide a destination experience for sports nuts that doubles as a neighborhood anchor.
U.S. Postal Service Faces Huge Threat as Mail Workers Steal Millions and Are Targeted by Criminal Rings
One of the biggest threats to the United State Postal Service is not the ever-growing cost of stamps, long lines at the post office or even delayed mail.
The biggest threats to USPS may be the mail handlers themselves.
Auditors found that a tiny percentage of them steal. And they steal a lot, according to a stunning federal investigation of a dozen mail sorting facilities across the U.S.
In mid-December, federal prosecutors charged two postal workers with stealing more than $1 million in business checks. The two worked at postal facilities in Virginia and North Carolina.
But that’s not the whole mail bag on the matter. In a stunning finding by the USPS Office of Inspector General, I.G. Tammy L. Hull writes that “criminal organizations are targeting, recruiting and colluding with postal employees to move narcotics through the postal network and to steal checks – both personal and government-issued checks — credit cards and other valuables from the mail.”
The ‘Lucky 7’ Share What It Was Like to Endure 52 Hours in a Life-Raft as Friends and Family Prepared for the Worst
When a group of seven fishermen went missing off the northeast coast of Newfoundland in July, the small community of New-Wes-Valley was gripped with dread.
Coast Guard captain Colin Roul describes the waters around Newfoundland and Labrador as dangerous and unforgiving.
“Usually, when you hear distress situations like this, where no sign or sound was heard from these guys, yeah, the outcome is bleak,” he said.
As 24 hours turned to 36, then 48, not much hope remained.
“We knew this was going to be a regional funeral,” said Michael Tiller, mayor of New-Wes-Valley, where five of the seven men were from. “The food was ready. The place was booked. We were ready to help this town go through one of the worst disasters that it could ever go through.”
But then, news of the nearly impossible — the men were found in a raft about 270 kilometres from shore.
They had survived on sips of water and sugar cubes.
And although their rescue was celebrated all over the country, few know the story of what it was like for the men to endure 52 hours in a life-raft the size of a small car.
(CBC News)
From Taylor Swift Tickets to Social Media Bans, Here Are New 2025 State Laws
Across the country, the new year ushered in thousands of new state laws.
At least 20 states increase statewide minimum wage starting Jan. 1 — the highest in Washington state at $16.66 an hour, followed by California at $16.50.
Kentucky becomes the latest state to legalize medical marijuana and several states, including Delaware, tighten gun control.
(NPR)
Want to Lose Weight This Year? Start With What You Drink
Sugary drinks are sneakier than equally high-calorie foods—and even diet soda can affect your metabolism.
Your health is more than just a number on a scale. But if losing a little weight is a New Year goal, skip fad diets and hard-to-maintain fitness resolutions.
Instead, nutrition experts recommend something simpler: Don’t drink your calories.
Sugar tends to hide in beverages, and a happy-hour cocktail or fancy holiday latte can pack as many calories as a Big Mac.
(WSJ)
8 Ways to Stay Happier This Year, According to Science
Why not try these science-backed tips to get more happiness in your life?
Some people are born to be happier than others. But whether you're the kind of person who sings in the shower and dances in the rain, or of a more dour inclination, contentment isn't just something that happens to us. We can all change our habits to coax more of it into our lives.
So, here are our top tips for a happier 2025.
(BBC)
Thank you so much for including the article about the rescued fishermen. I needed an uplifting story today.
Interesting articles. The war one was just depressing, the things humans do to each for power is disgusting. The fishermen story was a miracle. And the diet drink was a good reminder. The mail, well we just had a month-long mail strike in Canada and I am not sure many people noticed. We’ve had delivery for two weeks now and have gotten two pieces of mail. I don’t know how you stop some people from taking the easy way out. There will always be people who take advantage of the situation.