Things I learned lately 18 Jun

• Bitcoin reached a high of almost $69,000 in 2021, but recently is only worth just under USD$20,000.
• Vkusno-i Tochka. Look that up on Google to see the logo. A stylized burger and two fries. That's what will be replacing McDonalds in Russia now that the global brand has completely pulled out of Russia.
  
  
  
• If you love sriracha sauce you might want to get an extra bottle because Huy Fong Foods has suspended production due to a crop failure of spring chili. Please - no hoarding!
• Jean-Baptiste Kempf, the current President of the VideoLAN non-profit organization that makes the multimedia player VLC, refused a lot of money to make it an ad-supported or paid software. He prefers to keep it free and abhors others online who try to bundle VLC with other crapware. VideoLAN has so little money, they can't even afford to sue anyone who misuses their software. 
• There is a 32 km stretch of highway in South Korea between Daejon and Sejong, where the highway center divider is completely covered in solar panels. Underneath those panels is a bicycle path, so that cyclists can ride the path in the shade. Cyclists use subterranean tunnels to enter and exit the path, which boosts safety tremendously since they can get on and off the bikeway without interfacing regular traffic. They're shielded from traffic by barriers. The panels produce more than enough electricity to power the lighting of the highway and the electric vehicle charging stations. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuYsYLqjUtU
• In December of 2016, the Barbados Postal Service issued a limited edition series of 27 stamps celebrating some of its citizens who lived to the ripe old age of 100. The collection was the largest stamp issue the country ever released.
• In his inauguration address, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy of Ukraine urged ministers and government officials to resign if they aren't willing to work for change. He urged Cabinet leaders and others not to put his portrait on their office walls. "I really do not want my pictures in your offices, for the President is not an icon, an idol or a portrait. Hang your kids' photos instead, and look at them each time you are making a decision."
• Nails.INC of London is offering limited edition nail polish that mimics the look of melted Velveeta cheese sauce spilled on your nails. It even smells like cheese once it's dried. The polish is available as a two-pack for $15, one bottle that's Velveeta yellow, the other in red for the base colour. The first run of this limited-edition polish sold out in 9 days.
• Telephone booths are icons. And now in New York City, they're gone. The NYC government began removing payphones in 2014 and replacing them with kiosks that offer Wi-Fi and mobile device charging. There are now 2,000 such kiosks across the city. That conversion project is almost over. The final payphone kiosk at the corner of 7th Avenue and 50th St in midtown Manhattan has been removed. It will be on display at the Museum of the City of New York as part of an exhibit on life before the computer age.