This is pretty bonkers. Southern Illinois University put out a call to professors to suggest names of recent PhDs who could be hired for $0:

These blanket zero-time adjunct graduate faculty appointments are for 3-year periods, and can be renewed. While specific duties of alumni adjuncts will likely vary across academic units, examples include service on graduate student thesis committees, teaching specific graduate or undergraduate lectures in one's area of expertise, service on departmental or university committees, and collaborations on grant proposals and research projects.

If you don't want to do this, you must not be pure and good and love what you do.

via elsewhere

Sir Kraab writes: Interesting set up for a recommended reading list: "21 Books You Don't Have to Read (and 21 You Should Read Instead)". Some of the contributing writers are clearly amping up their criticism to flaunt their transgressive cred, but there are definitely some books I want to check out.

I'm not sure what my own don't-have-to-read/read-instead combo would be. I was disappointed when I finally got around to reading Fahrenheit 451 as a adult. Maybe The Plot Against America as a substitute? It doesn't have the sci-fi element, but it's the only thing coming to mind other than Orwell, Sinclair Lewis, Huxley, and the other dystopian writers who already show up on required lists. There are plenty of current examples, obvs., but I can't think of one that's really well written.

Heebie's take: This is a good prompt! I don't have any pairings off the top of my head. Mostly I haven't read the 21 linked books that I don't have to, nor any of the 21 that I should read instead. Of the remaining, I have even fewer opinions. Here they are:

- They say not to read and I agree they're terrible: Old Man and the Sea, The Alchemist. Who even says to read The Alchemist? It's the absolute worst and I only read it because my friend's mom is in our book club and I really like the mom a lot. Farewell to Arms. Why is Hemingway on here twice?

- They say not to read but I liked it: Slaughterhouse Five, Catch-22

Additional questions: are people really recommending Keith Richard's book as a must read? And the Bible? I assume they're vaguely trying to be funny there.

About a month ago, I was having teeny tiny ants periodically on my desk. No food source. With the custodian, I took everything off, wiped it down, and they went away. We couldn't locate where they were coming from.

Last week I saw one or two. Just now, I ate lunch, and left my plate sitting out with some crumbs and mustard on my desk for about 20 minutes while I played online. I just now noticed a mini-swarm of teeny tiny ants all under the plate. (But not on the plate, with the crumbs). I wiped them up and yet again cannot figure out where they're coming from.

How did they find the food so fast, yet are so gone? I can't find any sort of trail. I would not be able to see them on the carpet, unless I got very lucky to spot one, but I can't even find them heading onto the side of the desk anywhere.

I know, this is a fascinating mystery.

I can't tell if this is new and interesting (and worth of late-stage capitalism hang-wringing) or more of the same old.

It's common knowledge that passengers pay different prices for their seats. Someone who bought well in advance is likely to have paid a different airfare than a passenger who purchased their ticket at the last minute, while those who set flight alerts have a good chance of scoring a deal.

But according to one software company, airlines may soon begin charging passengers different prices based on who they are.

...Airline websites will be able to identify customers by their IP addresses and mine data for their flying history. The revenue management system would then create a person-specific fare based off criteria like loyalty status or business/leisure traveler. Loyal customers and leisure travelers would likely pay less, while those who are willing to pay more -- like business travelers with a company credit card -- would likely see higher prices.

Sure, one possibility is that business travelers would get charged more. Another possibility is that it would serve to screw over traditionally marginalized groups. I don't have an exact mechanism except the oft-said thing around here that airlines truly don't give a flying fuck about anyone who flies less than ten times a year.

If your question is, "Weren't they already doing this?" the answer is "Apparently not." Here's a thing I really don't know anything about:

However, before airlines implement a "pure" version of dynamic pricing, reports Travel Weekly, they have to move away from the legacy distribution system put in place after 1978 deregulation. Airline pricing has a limited number of fare classes, each with their own price points and restrictions. Airlines rotate which fare classes are available through their sale cycles. While current customers may believe their fare is unique, they've actually fallen into a specific fare class.

The linked article is short, uninformative, and autoplayed an ad at me. But knock yourself out.

I don't know if you know this, but skincare has become a rather large thing lately. I knew it, because fashion bloggers that I like have all started to post incessantly about skincare. There's lots of articles about feminism and aging and its relation to skincare, the size of the industry and the recent explosion and whether or not it's all bullshit. (Seriously, to have your mind blown, check the link I hid until "to" above.)

If you'll recall, I personally posted a query upon turning 40 a few months ago, and as a result, started using a daily sunscreen. I also think that the main reason I look older is that my features are getting blockier and drifting gradually up my face, and a skincare regimen ain't going to help that. Did I mention I'm a flounder?

On different sorts of skincare: for my first tattoo session, I started off without any drugs, and then took two ibuprofen after about 30 minutes. It took the edge off but it was still very intense. That session lasted about 3 1/2 hours. At the end of it, I was a wreck. It took a big physical toll (and also I hadn't prepared in terms of having food on hand. I hadn't realized that I'd be so zapped.)

For my second session, I took four ibuprofen ahead of time. This time I felt absolutely zilch on the pain scale. I could have fallen asleep. It was a fucking breeze. This session was two hours long. On the one hand, it feels a bit inauthentic to be drugged to the gills and coast through a tattoo. On the other hand, who cares. I have probably 3-5 more sessions to go.