A weekly collection of links to interesting things curated by Colin Wright.
Most NY Artists Are Financially Unstable, Survey Finds
Out of 13,377 respondents who participated in the “Portrait of New York State Artists” survey over the course of three months in 2022, more than half (57.3%) said that they made under $25,000 the previous year, and 85.7% earned less than $50,000. Compounding this distressful reality, nearly half of the survey participants (45.5%) said that they depended on gig work and temporary jobs, while 63% revealed that if they were suddenly required to pay an unexpected $400 in cash or a cash equivalent today, they would be unable to do so without using credit.
Gray Hair, Huge Muscles: Why Older Women are Bulking Up
For many women over 50, there is a new playbook for aging. Strength-training workouts, boxing, Olympic weightlifting and even mastering pull-ups are helping them build muscle, bone density and mind-body confidence in their 50s, 60s and beyond. Workout brands and studios report a growing number of older participants and members signing up for their services.
He Makes Giant Trolls Out of Trash, Hides Them in Woods for People to Find
Dambo gathered the trash and hauled in about 25 tons of scrap wood, then brought together 300 volunteers in Detroit Lakes, Minn., to make gargantuan outdoor public art.
Working together, they built five enormous trolls and a looming golden rabbit that was accented with salvaged wiper-blade whiskers and motorcycle helmets for eyes. The supersize artworks — ranging in height from 16 to 42 feet — were then hidden in forested parks around the city.
The Economics of Writing Technical Books
I heard from publishers that 10k copies sold is considered a success, and the publisher may ask you to write another one. According to this blog, 96% of books (mostly fiction) sell less than 5000 copies per year. For technical books, it may be worse.
How else can you get a feel for the number of copies sold? On Leanpub, many authors show the number of copies sold. For example, Simon Brown’s Software Architecture for Developers sold almost 27k copies as of May 2024. That can include giveaways, but is a very decent number in any case, as you may guess by it being #4 on the all-time bestseller list. 37 Things is #40, partly because it evolved into the Software Architect Elevator (interested readers should buy that book instead).
Costco's Bold New Plan for the California Housing Crisis
The design, Cohen says, comes from a confluence of factors. First, to comply with some necessary state-level criteria that would trigger construction incentives (that is to say: to make it easier, faster, and cheaper to build), housing must comprise at least two-thirds of the total square footage of the mixed-use development. With a 185,000-square-foot Costco at street level, that adds up to a lot of residential space to fill. Second, to keep labor costs low, Thrive Living will rely on pre-fabricated apartment “modules” that can be quickly loaded from trucks. The pre-fab apartments need to be easily transportable from factory to site, so they can’t be so large that they won’t fit under bridges or on the backs of trucks. The small footprint for each ready-built apartment means more total units.
How Does Your State Make Electricity?
Natural gas surpassed coal as the country’s top source of power in 2016, and renewables like wind and solar have grown quickly to become major players in the U.S. power system.
But every state has its own story.
Nashville Man Arrested for Running “Laptop Farm” to Get Jobs for North Koreans
The North Korean IT workers using Knoot's laptop farm generated revenue of more than $250,000 each between July 2022 and August 2023. Much of the funds were then funneled to North Korea’s weapons program, which includes weapons of mass destruction, prosecutors said.
Knoot faces charges, including wire fraud, intentional damage to protected computers, aggravated identity theft, and conspiracy to cause the unlawful employment of aliens. If found guilty, he faces a maximum of 20 years in prison.