“The reason it is so uncannily familiar today is simple: We are now living in a world of computing that the Alto created.” David C. Brock examines the legacy of the Xerox Alto 50 years later for IEEE Spectrum.

“In 1932, a sideshow magician known only as Mr. Electrico disappeared into the American heartland,” writes Erik Ofgang in Smithsonian Magazine, “The only evidence of the performer’s existence was a memory shared by the acclaimed science fiction writer Ray Bradbury, who credited a strange, seemingly mystical encounter with Mr. Electrico with changing his life.”

“25 years is more than half of my life, spanning four decades (the 90s, 00s, 10s, and 20s) and around 40,000 posts — almost cartoonishly long for a medium optimized for impermanence.” Jason Kottke marks 25 years of kottke.org. (See also: Chase McCoy on how blogs shaped the web.)

“I’m learning to trust that progress looks like different things at different times, and a big, fat word count is not necessarily proof of progress.” Nita Prose talks about her writing process with CrimeReads. 

“The 18 key conclusions in this report provide an impressively comprehensive yet succinct description of our situation—the ultimate TL;DR of Earth’s climate.” Ars Technica covers the IPCC’s latest Synthesis Report on the state of climate change.