7/27/26 - Speed Limits, Mimes, and E-Ink!

Monday 7/27/26

Celebrate:

Bagpipe Appreciation Day

Cross Atlantic Communication Day

National Chicken Finger Day

National Creme Brulee Day

National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day

National Scotch Day

Take Your Houseplants for a Walk Day

Take Your Pants For a Walk Day

Walk on Stilts Day

The "father of the modern role play game," Gary Gygax, one of the creators of Dungeons & Dragons, is celebrated today, on the anniversary of his birth. Friends gather together to play Dungeons & Dragons, Gygax's other games, and other role-playing games.

Born in 1936, he co-created Dungeons & Dragons in 1974.

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Weekend Box Office

1. The Odyssey $87.0M

2. Moana $10.5M

3. Toy Story 5 $10.0M

4. Hadestown: The Musical $9.7M

5. Minions & Monsters $9.6M

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A new study (in Communications Sustainability) found that by simply following posted speed limits, U.S. drivers would save 6.7 million gallons of fuel every day. Even better, based on data collected from millions of vehicle trips, given an average daily driving distance of 28.6 miles, driving at or below the posted limit adds just 54 more seconds of driving per day.

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A community in Massachusetts spent weeks bewildered by a local figure who frequented a popular walking trail dressed in full old-timey mime makeup and attire. Local social media initially treated the character as a harmless, colorful eccentric. However, police ultimately intervened over the weekend after multiple trailgoers reported the individual for silently staring people down with an unsettling, unmoving smile while following them along the path.

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Wearable tech trends are moving away from bright, distracting glass touchscreens toward low-glare, outdoor-friendly devices. Consumer interest has surged for solar-powered E-Ink wristwear and ambient lighting smartwatches designed for high visibility in direct sunlight. The devices focus heavily on offline health tracking, long battery life, and screen-free outdoor living.

E-Ink is what your Kindle Paperwhite uses.

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It started out as memes and short videos; it moved into the movies, and now Backrooms is a live attraction!

The internet's creepiest creepypasta meme—originating from a single eerie photo of empty, yellow carpeted rooms—has officially spawned real-world immersive tourist experiences and maze attractions.

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Remember back in the day when astronauts returned to earth they were quarantined? 

Scientists are advocating for a permanent isolation and quarantine laboratory ON the Moon to safely analyze samples returned from Mars before bringing them to Earth.

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Today’s Useless Fact of the Day is about the "London Beer Flood," where giant vats burst in 1814, releasing over a million gallons of porter into the streets. A massive vat of fermenting beer burst at a London brewery, sending a huge wave of porter through nearby streets and homes. The incident, now known as the London Beer Flood, claimed eight lives and left lasting changes in the brewing industry.

According to multiple reports, an estimated 580,000 to 1.47 million litres of beer gushed out of the brewery within moments.

The torrent smashed through the rear wall of the brewery and surged into the St Giles rookery, one of London's poorest and most overcrowded neighbourhoods at the time.

The powerful wave swept through narrow streets and fragile homes, causing buildings to collapse and trapping residents beneath the debris.

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