Free for All Friday
You want links? We've got links—and they're delicious.
Another 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 (100% legal) hocus-pocus.
Thanks for being here as we get Understandably up to its full potential again. Let’s dive in …
Crowds Flocked to the New York-Dublin Livestream. Then Things Got Racy.
A public-art installation fostered connections across the Atlantic. But when behavior took an inappropriate turn, both cities turned the screens off.
What happens when you open a public livestream between two major cities? As New York City and Dublin learned this past week, people go wild.
Starting Wednesday, May 8, an art installation called “the Portal” drew massive crowds to Flatiron Plaza in New York and O’Connell Street in Dublin to watch a 24-hour video stream coming from each city.
Reception was joyous at first. Groups of dancers in both cities organized live performances, loved ones blew kisses through the screen and strangers smiled and waved at each other from thousands of miles and several time zones away.
But it took less than one week for a handful of lewd interactions to temporarily shut down the project.
Could Your Car Power Your Home? Gm Makes It a Reality in an EV Truck Demo
Let's face it: The American power grid is a hot mess.
The system is outdated and overstressed by amp-sucking appliances, air conditioning units, and extreme weather. Depending on where you live, it's likely only a matter of time before your home will experience a blackout.
GM Energy, a subsidiary of General Motors, is here to help.
At a demonstration in a swanky 10,000-square-foot mansion in Beverly Hills, California, where I counted 51 recessed lights in the great room, the new home products from GM Energy easily kept the electrons flowing, eschewing the grid and drawing power from the 200 kWh battery in a 2024 Chevrolet Silverado RST.
The Vietnamese Computer Scientist Who Made Toy Story Possible
Even if you don’t know who he is, you’ve probably seen the work of Bùi Tường Phong.
A Vietnamese computer scientist working in the United States in 1973, Bùi developed the Phong shading and reflection algorithms, which have been ubiquitous in computer-generated movies and 3D video games for the last 50 years. Bùi’s algorithms excelled at depicting plastics, and are one reason that the film Toy Story (1995), the first entirely computer-animated feature film, was about toys.
Bùi originally was able to immigrate because the U.S. was pouring resources into science and technology—especially the nascent field of computer science—in a Cold War race to establish supremacy in space exploration and military weaponry. Here’s his story.
The Power Move of Working the 5-to-9 Before the 9-to-5
Working a regular day, even into the evening, is for mere mortals. Those out to impress start well before dawn. (I’m not necessarily telling you to do this; just showing what the competition says it’s doing.)
As a competitive rower in my long-ago prime I sometimes used a racing strategy called fly and die. Sprinting to an early lead often yielded a fast overall time, even if I couldn’t hold my torrid pace through the finish line.
Some professionals take a similar approach to their desk jobs, starting their workdays with a 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. shift. They are up before the sun—and, more important, before their co-workers—to get a jump on the workday and impress the boss.
Nothing screams go-getter like a predawn email! Getting stuff done early allows them to clock out midafternoon and still look like stars, even if their routines require Ben Franklin-esque sleep schedules and vats of caffeine.
Around-the-World Cruises: Everything Travelers Need to Know About These Epic Voyages
Plus, the best around-the-world cruises to book in 2025 and beyond.
If an epic voyage across multiple oceans and continents fits into your future, be prepared to plan the trip far in advance. World cruises have a strong following among cruisers—many of the sailings can sell out up to a year before departure.
Travelers can also book shorter “segments” joining the ship for only a portion of the journey, but cruise lines often add significant value-adds to those booking the entire voyage—everything from free business class airfare to other exclusives like special parties and invite-only shore excursions.
Here's everything travelers need to know about taking an around-the-world cruise, including tricks from veteran world cruisers, booking tips, and some of the best itineraries in 2025 and beyond.
Every Day, Look Forward to a Really Good Sandwich
Whatever is going on right now, give yourself something to look forward to. It doesn’t have to be big.
My favorite question to ask strangers and dear friends alike is what they are looking forward to. “In life?” they might reply. “This year?”
“Yes,” I reply, “all of the above.” This life, this year, this week, today.
When it comes to looking forward to things, long-term items are wonderful, but ideally, the horizon of looking-forward-to isn’t excruciatingly long. Five business days or fewer tends to be the sweet spot; otherwise you’re left panting until the next reprieve, whenever that is. We’re all looking forward to rare banner days, but who knows when they’ll strike?
A Judge Just Issued an Important Ruling: Tacos and Burritos are Officially Sandwiches
Also this week in sandwich news …
Are tacos considered sandwiches? According to one judge in Fort Wayne, Ind., the answer is yes. Burritos, too.
Superior Court Judge Craig J. Bobay wrote in a ruling that tacos and burritos are “Mexican-style sandwiches,” which means they can be sold in a shopping center where zoning prohibits fast food restaurants, but makes an exception for restaurants whose primary business is to sell “made-to-order” or Subway-style sandwiches.
Hypothetically, other restaurants that serve made-to-order items, including “Greek gyros, Indian naan wraps or Vietnamese banh mi,” would also be allowed, Bobay wrote in his decision.
File this one away in the "good to know" category. Also, now I'm off for lunch.
These people that spend their complete days working amaze me. For what?
“Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work and driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for - in order to get to the job you need to pay for the clothes and the car, and the house you leave vacant all day so you can afford to live in it.”
- Ellen Goodman
My addition to this is that then you die having accomplished nothing that really matters.
Of course tacos & burritos are sandwiches 😋
Altho I make them into salads 😋x 2