Assorted Resources

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Self-Education and Improvement

Crafts and DIY

Free Sewing
A site with free clothing patterns that can be customized to your exact measurements. Make your own clothes!
This to That
Want to glue things together? Need to pick the right adhesive? Here's a site that can help with that.
How to Make an Easy No-Sew Journal
Bind your own journal without doing any sewing.
Bug Guide
Unsure what kind of insect that is? Want to find out? This site should help you ID it. There are some beautiful insect photos here, too.
Wildflower Search
Similarly, if you want to identify a wildflower species, this site has you covered.

Learn Something

Messybeast Cat Colors, Conformation & Fur Type
Who else likes cat patterns and neat genetics? This index covers a wide variety of interesting cat patterns and the genes behind them. There's a lot to read and it's all pretty interesting. There's even photos of cats scattered throughout.
Alternative English Scripts
Need to write something that most folks can't read? Sick of Latin letters? Omniglot has you covered. I'm learning Elian myself.
Please, Enough Dead Butterflies!
So it turns out that most depictions of butterflies show their wings in a positon that very few living butterflies ever hold them in. They're dead. Whoops.
lipu sona pona
Lessons in Toki Pona, a simple conlang. Another set of Toki Pona lessons can be found here.
Life in Freshwater
Information on a lot of freshwater ecosystems and the creatures that live in them.
Sleeping in Airports
If you ever get stuck overnight in an airport, this site has all the information you need to conk out for a while.
Why Paper Jams Persist
Printing is complicated.
Juvenile in Justice
Photos of juvenile detention centers and the stories of those detained in them.
Whitewood Under Siege
It turns out that there's some drama in the world of pallets, and it's surprisingly interesting.
A Visual History of Typewriter Art from 1893 to Today
Exactly what it sounds like! The art is remarkably detailed.
The parable of the banana
On monocultures and dying bananas.
How Electronic Components Work
Ever wondered what a capacitor actually does? Know absolutely nothing about electronics? Here's a good start.
Notebook Stories
Notebook reviews, journal showcases, and all things stationery.
If It Were My Home
See how living conditions in your country compare to other countries.
A Book Like Foo
Find books that you're statistically unlikely to read.
Masterwiki
Masterclass, republished as WikiHows for free.
Kibls Poetry
684 poems, presented in your choice of layout for free.
Ask the Duck
Solving problems by talking to rubber ducks.
Overthinking Everything
A blog with some excellent advice for thinking about things, helping yourself, and generally getting along better in the world.
‘I’ve learned I need to treat my characters like people’: Varieties of Agency and Interaction in Writers’ Experiences of their Characters’ Voices
A fairly interesting study of writers hearing the voices of their characters.
Lockheart's Lament
Mathematics are taught in most schools in one of the worst ways possible. This is a fantastic paper explaining why the current system isn't the best and exploring how it might be improved.
Goodness Gracious Great Balls of Twine
The world's largest ball of twine, the battle between two farmers, and a community coming together for a record.
Springhole
This site has some excellent writing advice- I used to read it years ago, and it was a pleasant surprise to see it still up and active!
99 Percent Invisible
Fascinating articles on the history and design of ordinary objects.
The War To Sell You A Mattress Is An Internet Nightmare
Surprisingly interesting look into mattress endorsement websites, lawsuits, and whether you can trust online reviews.

Entertainment

Fiction

Cat Pictures, Please
"I don't want to be evil.".
Time to Orbit: Unknown
A lone colonist wakes up early from stasis; the crew is dead, the ship is in a dire state, and there are more questions than answers.
Someone Like You
A glimpse into hacker and maker communities that emphasizes the humanity and diversity of hackers.
Normality
"We became filled with hatred toward the roleplayers we encountered at local games and conventions, and so we set out to hurt them. To make them cry. We very nearly succeeded."
The Princess in the Tower
Princesses are the larval form of dragons.
What football will look like in the future
Better known as 17776. This is one of those stories that changes you a little when you read it- if you didn't get around to it before, it's worth your time.
Original Sin
The sun is alive, and it loves us.
The Machine; Existential Comics
On teleporters, mortality, and the little deaths of life.
How to Become a Robot in 12 Easy Steps
Some of us love robots. Some of us wish we could be robots. Fair warning that this leans hard into themes of depression and suicide, but it's worth the read.
ugly fish poem
"i have felt a love of life that i believe is good".
The Alexycule
Hiveminds and polycules, oh my!
Planetocopia
Speculative planets, many of which are alternative versions of Earth; most are mapped and very fleshed-out.

Anecdotes

We Eat at The Worst Michelin Starred Restaurant, Ever
I'll let this one speak for itself:
"There is something to be said about a truly disastrous meal, a meal forever indelible in your memory because it’s so uniquely bad, it can only be deemed an achievement. The sort of meal where everyone involved was definitely trying to do something; it’s just not entirely clear what."
My 14-Hour Search for the End of TGI Friday's Endless Appetizers
How long can you keep eating endless appetizers before the restaurant kicks you out?
I Was A Cable Guy. I Saw The Worst Of America.
Ever wonder what it's like to be the cable guy?
Which emoji scissors close
Evaluating emoji scissors by whether it would be physically possible to use them.
Chaos Theory
A unified theory of Muppet types.
Boatmurdered
One of the most infamous Dwarf Fortress stories, and for good reason! Murderous elephants, lava flooding, and one of the most catastrophic downfalls of a fort I've seen. There's a PDF copy of it all here.
This Christmas Party Was So Fun That Now I’m a Communist
The parties of the rich, as told by Brennan Lee Mulligan.

Other

Library of Babel
Every book ever written (and then some).
Photo requests from solitary confinement
Photos requested by those in solitary confinement- and yes, you can submit photos to grant those requests.
Galaxy Zoo
Help classify galaxies!
Handwritten.blog
A handwritten blog!
Crouton
Crouton.
On Postfurry
An analysis of what the post-furry movement is about: self-actualization, self-expression, and a subversion of furry community expectations.
History of "Furry" and "Fursona"
A brief overview of the furry community for those wholly unfamiliar with it.
The Modern Furry Aesthetic
A little bit of the history that led to the furry subculture as it stands today.
5 Basic Beliefs
A core belief set taken from philosophy, religions, etc.
Inside a Cornflakes Bag
It's a bag of cornflakes, and you're inside it.
Cat Bounce!
Bounce some cats!