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Sewing pattern makers to fold
As a consequence of private equity closing JoAnn’s fabrics, and tariffs, the company that prints sewing patterns will now be liquidated.
The legacy sewing pattern brands Simplicity, Butterick, McCalls, and Vogue, commonly referred to as the Big 4, have been sold to a liquidator.
The brands were owned by IG Design Group, a leading manufacturer and distributor of stationery, crafts, party, and gift products based in the UK. On Friday, the company announced it had sold its US division, IG Design Group Americas (DGA), which owns the sewing pattern brands, to Hilco Capital, a liquidation firm. DGA also owns other craft brands, including Boye needles, Wrights trim, and Perler fusible beads, among others. Hilco has also been involved with liquidating Joann’s assets after it filed for bankruptcy in January.
IG Design Group cited the impact of tariffs imposed by the US as a factor. Over 50% of DGA’s products are manufactured in China, although the sewing patterns are made in the US. The company also mentioned a softening market over the last several years, as well as the bankruptcy of Joann, as factors in the sale.
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Mary Meeker covers AI trends
For the better part of the 2010s, Mary Meeker’s trends report was a must read for anyone working in technology. 2019 was the last edition, but she’s returned, delving into AI.
Venture capitalist Mary Meeker just dropped a 340-page slideshow report — which used the word “unprecedented” on 51 of those pages — to describe the speed at which AI is being developed, adopted, spent on, and used, backed up with chart after chart.
“The pace and scope of change related to the artificial intelligence technology evolution is indeed unprecedented, as supported by the data,” she writes in the report, called “Trends — Artificial Intelligence.”
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Ukraine also fighting the media war
After Ukraine bombed Russia, images and other media of its success proliferated online. And that’s part of the war.
Within just hours, three videos of the strike spread from Ukraine’s federal security agency to a journalist based in the country, later spilling into social media and news outlets worldwide. The videos appear to be filmed from the perspective of a drone, complete with an overlay of information about the drone’s telemetry.
In one video, the drone flies over an airfield, passing clouds of dark gray smoke billowing from multiple warplanes. Another clip apparently captures the moment a plane explodes into a tower of flames. The third shows a drone descending toward an aircraft, with the video suddenly freezing and displaying the message “Warning no data” upon reaching the plane.
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Do you want others to succeed?
Kottke found a video and provided a transcript of a simple social experiment: everyone in a class gets an A if the class votes unanimously for it.
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Chefs sprinkle in some ChatGPT
Chefs have started using ChatGPT as a tool to think up flavors, learn obscure cooking techniques outside of their repertoire, keep track of seasonal ingredients, and concoct plating designs. One of those chefs is Grant Achatz, of Alinea.
Since Mr. Achatz’s first serious experiments with ChatGPT, about a year ago, it has become his favorite kitchen tool, something he used to say about Google. Its answers to his questions about paleontology and Argentine cuisine helped him create a dish inspired by Patagonian fossils at his flagship restaurant, Alinea.
I had the opportunity to dine at Alinea last April, and this dish was served. The presentation appeared as a miniature archealogical dig, complete with tools, and while interesting, wasn’t our favorite dish
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Reconnecting with friends
Once you hit a certain age, life accumulates, and staying in touch with friends becomes a challenge. Here are a few tips to reconnect with friends you’ve grown apart from.
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Flooded with AI slop
The ability of AI to near instantaneously churn out paragraphs of text is being weaponized to overwhelm well meaning officials.
One morning in October of 2024, Fredericton city councillor Margo Sheppard received an email with the subject line: “The Real Policy Crisis: Prioritizing ‘Nature’ Over People.” It was polished — almost algorithmically smooth — and it calmly urged her to reconsider Fredericton’s net-zero policies.
Over the next month, a flood of similar emails followed, all aimed at getting Fredericton to abandon global climate targets. Sheppard is used to emails from organizations on all kinds of issues, but not this many, not on this issue — and not so well crafted. She grew suspicious.
“If we’re getting them in Fredericton,” Sheppard thought, “councillors all across the country must be getting them too.”
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Ukraine hunting drones with a shotgun and an airplane
It’s such a simple idea: fly a two seater single engine plane, give the passenger a shotgun, and go drone hunting. Click through for a crazy picture of one setup.
