Links: fun

It's all right there in the title. A little delight on a Friday thanks to Simple Bits' weekly newsletter.

I've had this tab open for months. What is Nestflix? A (searchable!) collection of 800 fake tv shows and movies that have been mentioned in tv shows or movies. I happened on this favorite with Jenna Maroney and it makes me smile every time I inventory said tabs. This, a weirdly specific project by Lynn Fisher who just updated her personal site for 2025.

I have a shortcut to this web page on my desktop (thanks to Kottke). Checking it every day until it blooms. Side note: I tidy my desktop every morning and decided to give the link this custom macOS icon.

Greater Cincinnati (Newport, KY) has a place you can rent time to build Lego kits. It's reasonable and you pay by the complexity of the set. I need to go to here.

Fun little Reel that shows the magic of mixing color and light. It is taking a lot of willpower to not buy red, green and blue flashlights right now. / thanks Tom!

A video why the vlogbrothers are relaunching their Nerdfighteria email newsletter. Because the internet is awesome, but also needs to change, yet man it's hard to beat algos, though humans have good qualities. It's called "We're Here" and you can subscribe right here.

I think I first learned of Nik Bentel on Colossal. But it was this feature of the brand refresh on Under Consideration that brought me back to the site. I do love some Optima. And this wallet makes me smile. The name alone!

Tucked away in their footer is a link under about us that simply reads awesomeness. Well that's delightful! / thanks Erik!

Thanks to this CBS Sunday Morning segment, I now know the person who created Stompers (and a BUNCH of other iconic toys) is named Eddy Goldfarb and his daughter made a documentary about him, toys and aging.

Select a color, fill or pattern and click to paint. It's fun and easy. A project by @yasly & @sabrichu with thanks to to Kid Pix, JS Paint, interact.js, Sustem.oss, and the OG Susan Kare. / via Yewknee

Sam Copeland and Aleia Murawski make these miniature sets. These particular ones are populated by snails and they put a big smile on my face. Oodles more shots on Aleia’s insta.

A collection of desk setups from all sorts of folks. Most are pristine (admission: I almost always tidy my workspace before taking a snapshot) — but there are a few lived in examples as well. A bonus of sites like this? All the new paths to wander and explore different personal corners of the internet!

Designer Yuma Kano with the help of Komuro Industry in Osaka made these screws with smiley faces (and accompanying screwdriver). It's now a participatory art project with a map of all the screws photographed around the world. I love this. / via Things to Click

Jordan Fridal has quite the knack.

Reddit user LobsterThermidor calls this “The Landscape Photographer”. I’d dig seeing a Lego series like this, with artists in their element/studio over recreating just their works.

And Almost Everyone There Is Over 65. (This thread by Joe Bernstein is a great introduction to his article about the “Geezer Happy Hour”).

And then click on the paw icon, repeatedly. / via my friend Zana's retweet

"Reviews of products that mostly do not exist..." as Kevin Fanning puts it, "This is so dumb, But maybe it’s not totally dumb?" (but it's also about just writing, you know, for fun.)

Nathan Friend brought Spirograph to the browser (and an app). / via Sidebar

With headlights, turn signals and reverse indicators! Now I'm furiously searching to see if anything like this is available to buy.

There is not only wisdom in this Tiktok, but also joy. Weewhoo! / via @realdougwilson

Tina Fey, Seth Meyers, Lorne Michaels, and more look back on Betty White's unforgettable week at Saturday Night Live. ( I'm going to ready this Vanity Fair article after work)

Overlay spaceships from Star Wars, Star Trek, Mass Effect and more on a map for scale. Then press the play button to fly around. Fun. / via @CincinnatiPhil

You get 5 tries to guess a single word each day. It's like Mastermind, but with language. Super fun. / via Waxy

A thought in four panels

Click or tap anywhere to change up the pattern. Mesmerizing.