Observations

Things worth stopping for.

The internet still contains places that reward a little wandering. This is where we collect a few of them, alongside things we’ve read, noticed or think deserve another look. Some may grow into longer pieces. Others can simply be interesting for five minutes without having to turn into a project.

01: A few good places to get distracted

A website with a weather forecast

Low-tech Magazine runs a solar-powered website that can go offline when the cloudy weather lasts too long. It uses a deliberately lightweight design to reduce the electricity needed to serve its pages. We rather like the honesty of that arrangement. The energy supply is part of the experience, visible enough to interrupt it, rather than an invisible expense somewhere else. It makes the expectation that everything should be available at every moment feel like a choice we might occasionally discuss.

Read about Low-tech Magazine’s solar website.

Other people were wonderfully strange, too

The Public Domain Review explores old art, books, images and ideas, finding things that deserve another audience. Its collections are a good place to loosen the grip of whatever everyone is arguing about today. We like the care involved in choosing something, giving it context and helping a stranger see why it matters. There’s an enormous amount of culture behind us. It’s reassuring to find people opening the cupboards and showing us what’s in there.

Explore The Public Domain Review.

Turn the world instead of the dial

Radio Garden lets you explore live radio by rotating a globe. It’s a lovely premise for a listening session: start with somewhere, then find out what’s on. We like the small reversal involved. Instead of asking a service to predict what we already enjoy, we can let a place suggest something. There’s still room for curiosity in choosing what comes out of the speakers.

Explore Radio Garden.