This week: wargames, vapes, and fighting stick figures.

• "I Wargamed With NATO" is a fascinating presentation from Perun, who normally makes military analysis videos, about being invited to observe an actual NATO wargame. I say "presentation" because this is just a (clearly-human) voiceover along with slides -- watching it feels like attending a really good talk at a conference. This is a look behind-the-scenes at why the military plays actual, physical wargames, and what they might learn from it.
   
• An incredible build video which has clocked up two million views in a week: Chris Doel powers his house using 500 disposable vapes! As a sign of how weak my electrical engineering knowledge is: there was more than one time in this video where Chris was protecting himself against a dangerous failure state that I hadn't even thought of.
   
• I've known Evan Edinger for years, he's been on Lateral, I'm in one of his upcoming videos, we've hung out plenty of times: and I had absolutely no idea that, for a lot of the time I've known him, he was struggling with an addiction to a drug that's sold in a lot of US gas stations. (Occasional strong language.) This is a personal, heartfelt story that's told with laser-like precision in word choice, and I'd recommend it -- if only to learn what this stuff is so you stay away from it.
   

• "When stick figures fought" is the history of the Flash-based stick-fight animations that I remember from 20+ years ago. And I never knew this history! They were just a thing on the internet, an artifact passed by email or instant messenger.
   
• Paris had a moving sidewalk in 1900, and a Thomas Edison film captured it in action.
   
• I don't know how "Australian bird news" became a regular thing in this newsletter, but: a cassowary wandering 150km from home baffles residents.

And finally, over on TikTok: how to holler at your crush.

All the best,

— Tom