Tootfinder

Because I constantly hear myths about the good old compact cassette here's a longer post dispelling them:
1. They can sound as good as CDs
2. They don't wear out
3. You can't use a pencil to wind them
4. You can go to specific tracks automatically
5. You don't need to carry around extra batteries
I will elaborate below:
1. Sound Quality
Many higher-end decks can record cassettes on metal tape with various Dolby noise reduction settings; especially the combination of metal tape and Dolby S will make tapes that are pretty much indistinguishable from listening to a CD.
Even normal or chrome tape with Dolby B (around since the 1970s) will give great results; likely indistinguishable from a CD when played in a car or while out and about with a personal player.
Some extremely high-end tape decks produce better than CD results in some regards (for example some Nakamichi models go to 26KHz with frequency response, while CD are inherently limited to top out at 22KHz).
It's true that the dynamic range of CDs is much better than either vinyl records or tapes. However, unless you're super into classical music there's likely not much music for which this truly matters, as 99% is mastered to use much less dynamic range than provided by any audio media format. (If you're super into classical music you probably want SACD or other high-res lossless sources anyway, not CDs.)
2. Yes, it will wear out mechanically but you will wear out mechanically before it does. Please watch VWestlife's video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dgJ4hRHBiw
3. European and American pencils are too thin to engage the cassette reel cogs. (You'd need to get a Japanese pencil. People mostly used BIC pens for this purpose which have the right thickness.)
4. Most (nice) decks and personal players from the early-to-mid nineties onwards have track skip features (e.g. Sony has AMS, Automatic Music Sensor), which allow precise winding to a specific track.
Some decks even did this in the early 80s!
5. My late-90s Walkman has seventy-eight (78) hours of playback on one (1) single AA battery.
Anyway, the main reason why I like them is they're fun to use and recording them is very deliberate instead of algorithms selecting music for me. :)

Google's Epic settlement term sheet prohibits Tim Sweeney from criticizing Google's app policies until at least September 2032 and mandates he praise them (Sean Hollister/The Verge)
https://www.theverge.com/news/889595/tim-sweeney…

Tim Sweeney signed away his right to criticize Google until 2032
Epic CEO Tim Sweeney signed away Epic’s rights to sue and disparage the company and his right to advocate for any further changes to Google’s app store polices.

Scientists discover Nothing travels faster than light.
#science

Scientists Just Discovered There’s Actually Something Faster than the Speed of Light
Scientists experimentally confirmed what we’ve known to be true for half a century—darkness can “travel” faster than light.

Three years ago,
on Feb. 3, 2023,
the Norfolk Southern train derailment and chemical disaster
—one of the worst industrial disasters in US history
—took place in the small town of
East Palestine, Ohio.
Since that fateful day,
residents have been exploited and abandoned by Norfolk Southern,
the government,
opportunistic politicians,
sensationalist media outlets,
and self-serving attorneys
-- but we haven’t forgotten them.

A billion-dollar company poisoned their town, then moved on. Now people are dying.
“It doesn't matter what side of the political spectrum you're coming from, nobody cared about us… we've been so let down and our trust is so broken. Everything's been taken from us.”

Noch ein paar der zuletzt hier besonders häufig geteilten #News:
Mobilfunk von Google: KI lauscht mit und verbessert den Ton

NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Llamas will do the traditional Super Bowl pre-game interview with the president, to be taped on Wednesday with parts aired that day (Brian Steinberg/Variety)
https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/tom-llamas-super-bow…

Tom Llamas Will Tackle Trump Interview During Super Bowl Pre-Game
Tom Llamas Will Tackle Trump Interview For Super Bowl Pre-Game for NBC News

🇺🇦 Auf #radioeins läuft...
Yndling:
🎵 Time Time Time (I'm in the Palm of Your Hand)
#NowPlaying #Yndling
https://yndling.bandcamp.com/album/time-time-time-im-in-the-palm-of-your-hand

"More than 87m people impacted by climate-related disasters in 2025"
#Climate #ClimateChange

More than 87m people impacted by climate-related disasters in 2025
In 2025, more than 200 climate-related disasters affected more than 87.8 million people worldwide, according to preliminary figures from the International Disaster Database analyzed by Mongabay. The disasters include flash floods, landslides, severe storms, wildfires and droughts. Drought and food insecurity impacted the largest number of people. In Syria, which faced its worst drought in […]

> Somebody had to move first
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/b-c-adopting-year-round-daylight-time-9.7111657

OpenAI says GPT-5.3 Instant's tone should feel less "cringe" than GPT-5.2 Instant and has a smoother, more to-the-point conversational style (Marcus Schuler/Implicator.ai)
https://www.implicator.ai/openai-ships-gpt-5-…

OpenAI Ships GPT-5.3 Instant With 27% Fewer Hallucinations and a Less Preachy Tone
GPT-5.3 Instant replaces ChatGPT's default model with up to 26.8% fewer hallucinations, reduced refusals, and a less defensive tone.