Jeremy Johnson, It’s time to get a real watch, and an Apple Watch doesn’t count:

…watches are one of the key pieces of jewelry I can sport, and while many have no clue what’s on my wrist, those that do… well do. And they are investments. Usually good purchases will not only last forever (with a little love and care), but go up or retain most of their value over time.

When pal Marcos started talking to me about watches, I realized they checked all the boxes cars do, but at a fraction of the price. If cars check your boxes, look into watches. Jeremy’s intro will get you started without breaking the bank.

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My first car. Except not right-hand drive. 1989 Honda Accord. And it was not nearly so clean, or grey. But you could fit a double bass in the front seat! Pretty practical for my high school needs.

A bold, future-retro Audi dash

I’m officially intrigued by the Audi TT and R8 going with no center display. The look is retro and functional. Will it annoy passengers, or do passengers who want to change the radio or see the map even matter in those cars? Worth noting that the 2016 A4 has the same display for the instrument cluster and a giant center display.

Another cool design detail: the A/C controls are on the center of the eyeball vents. Pretty cool!

This is how you chalkboard

By pal Brandon Keepers, who I had no idea had that kind of talent. Well done!

Friday at a Mexican restaurant

Could be any Mexican restaurant. Could be any Friday. This one seemed special to me.

Humankind’s genius turned upon itself

When We Tested Nuclear Bombs. An absolutely fantastic collection of photos from the nuclear test program. Beautiful to look at, terrifying to contemplate the ramifications in context. It’s harrowing to think that one of science’s greatest achievements could undo so much of science’s achievement.

Gird your greyscales

Logan Hicks has some really great subterranean photography going on. (Via Infrastructurist)

And if you like that, you’d probably also like some Russian submarines, their interiors, and their underground bases.

While we’re dwelling on intriguing/depressing concrete structures: one dude’s home built into a former missile silo and the Oak Ridge plant where the materials for the Manhattan Project were refined.

A slide in the workplace

The Red Bull headquarters in London has a slide going between floors.

I want to go to there. Photo credit: Alexander K.

Underwater volcano go boom

I think one of the first things I decided I wanted to “be” when I was a wee lad was a volcanologist. I’d still love to go to an actual volcano, preferably active. Thusly, the pictures of undersea eruptions near Tonga from the Big Picture are, without a doubt, spectacular.

Eye candy for everyone

Scaling and scale models. So much great imagery here, you’re just going to have to click the link and check it out. Sculpture not your thing? Try Round trip with Endeavor, the space shuttle hitching a ride on the back of a 747. Then there’s the always great Feltron Annual Report. The paper prototype for Shaun Inman’s homebrew Wii game is also awesome. If you’re still unimpressed, Punch card is pretty clever.