Is the number sign ... some kind of inside joke?
I never answer my work phone, as a rule, because callers are inevitably publicists, trolls or total whack jobs. (There’s also a bit of overlap there.) HOWEVER, after I got four calls in a row from the same unknown number this morning, I decided to bite the bullet and chat with the “free-thinking” 85-year-old lady on the other end. In between monologues about her millionaire relatives, the inadvertent political messaging of my April Fool’s Day story, and her failed marriage to a schizophrenic Venetian man, she got to the main point of her call: I included a hashtag in my story, and she did NOT know what that was.
“Is the number sign ... some kind of inside joke?” She ventured. Which -- basically, yeah, pretty much.
1. Tomorrow is April Fool’s Day. So is today. And yesterday. Setting aside one day for pranks is dreadfully old-school! On the Internet, we can -- and do -- hoax each other any/all the time.
2. Does patience have a place in the digital age? Recent research would suggest not: We spend less than 15 seconds on the average webpage, we don’t save money, and we can’t stand the slow pace of museums.
3. In defense of Twitter outrage. Maybe #CancelColbert was "silly and dumb and wrong in spirit," and maybe Twitter makes a bad platform for serious discourse. That doesn't mean anyone should dismiss it out of hand.
Every Monday ever. (h/t @JoshPetri)
Postscripts: Tortoise costumes. Seal selfies. How Twitter’s changed over the years. This is what’s in famous chefs’ fridges and this is what’s cool, according to kids. 10 tech terms, etymologized. 41 email sign-offs, defined. Today, in horrifying hybrid foods: Peeps donuts, Campbell’s K-cups, bourbon and Girl Scout cookie pairings. Wanna give up your personal data? Now you can do so -- for good!
Programming note: “Links” will not publish tomorrow or the day after, but expect it back again on Thursday! In the meantime, I give you this list of terrible puns. You’re welcome/I'm sorry.
Until Thursday, @caitlindewey
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