Tootfinder

Q&A with TPM founder Josh Marshall on the rise of independent journalism, early blogging vs. newsletters, and feeling bullish about the media ecosystem (Thor Benson/Long Lead Presents)
https://depthperception.longlead.com/p/tpm-josh…

TPM’s Josh Marshall on blogs, newsletters, and independent journalism's resurgence
Talking Points Memo founder Josh Marshall says independent journalists’ success is the "sustainable" solution to traditional media’s woes.

Just email someone. I always like it when people email me about some weird blog post or project I’ve done.
https://goodinternetmagazine.com/why-i-email-complete-strangers/

Why I email complete strangers
The first time I emailed a stranger, I swear my cursor hovered over Send for a full five minutes. I had plenty of justifiable reasons to remain hesitant. Not wanting to take up their time, feeling bothersome, worried my question was a silly one... A hundred disparate excuses leading back

Extreme rainfall is worsening algal blooms along South Korea's coast #SouthKorea

Extreme rainfall is worsening algal blooms along South Korea's coast
Extreme rainfall is reshaping coastal waters along South Korea's shoreline, flushing nutrients from land into the sea and fueling the growth of algal blooms. A new multi-year study, published in Frontiers in Marine Science, tracked water quality in and around a major river estuary and shows how intense downpours can shift where and when these blooms appear, with consequences for marine ecosystems and coastal communities.

How AI is impacting the romance novel industry, with authors failing to disclose AI use and using pen names more, bogging down the publishing ecosystem (Alexandra Alter/New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/08/busin…

GCVE-BCP-08 - GCVE GNA Directory File
Following some good pre-discussion at #fosdem - a first draft of the directory file specification has been updated. The goal is clarify some of the fields. Feedback is more than welcome.
@…@…

GCVE-BCP-08 - GCVE GNA Directory File (draft)
Following various discussions and the meeting at FOSDEM, we will create the GCVE-BCP-08 describing the directory JSON format. GCVE-BCP-08 - GCVE GNA Directory File Status of This Document This document defines GCVE-BCP-08, which specifies the structure and semantics of the GCVE GNA Directory File. This file gcve.json enumerates known GCVE Numbering Authorities (GNAs) and associated metadata used by the GCVE ecosystem. Scope The GCVE GNA Directory File is a JSON document containing an array…

The Richmond Free Press, a 34-year-old Black-owned weekly, shuts down due to falling ad revenue as the Black press suffers from the dispersion of its readership (Scott Nover/Washington Post)

A Black newspaper in the former capital of the Confederacy is closing
The Richmond Free Press, a Black newspaper in Virginia’s capital city, ceases publication after three decades.

I spend a lot of time being worried or angry or annoyed at the way that generative ai fervor is undermining our ecosystems (environmental, cultural, epistemic, digital, etc).
But right now I'm just feeling mournful. Seeing project after project, institution after institution run enthusiastically into a future where we boil our oceans to better insulate ourselves from one another is ... tragic. We're losing a lot right now, and we're going to have to come to terms with that.…

Outgoing Republican senator
Thom Tillis has vowed to block any nominee to permanently replace Pam Bondi as attorney general
if the candidate excuses the January 6 attack on the US Capitol
– a threat that could deprive the White House of a crucial vote.
“The threshold for somebody following Pam Bondi ends the moment I hear they said one thing that excused the events of January 6,”
Tillis said in an interview with CNN.
The North Carolina lawmaker, who is ret…

Iranian cryptoasset outflows reached ~$10.3M between February 28 and March 2 amid US and Israeli strikes; in 2025, Iran's crypto ecosystem was worth $7.8B (Chainalysis)
https://www.chainalysis.com/blog/iranian-crypto-outflows-spike-after-airstrikes/

Iranian Crypto Outflows Spike After Airstrikes
On-chain data shows a sharp increase in activity from major Iranian exchanges in the hours following the February 28, 2026 US-Israeli airstrikes.

How AI is impacting the romance novel industry, with authors failing to disclose AI use and using pen names more, bogging down the publishing ecosystem (Alexandra Alter/New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/08/busines

Can AI Chatbots Write Emotionally Rich Romance Books?
The romance industry, always at the vanguard of technological change, is rapidly adapting to A.I. Not everyone is on board.