What changes next
Deadlines and effective dates already reported across the network, in the order they arrive. Each one links to the article that carries the primary source.
- 15Oct
Open now · closes 7 Dec 2026
Medicare Open Enrollment
- 1Nov
Open now · closes 15 Jan 2027
ACA Marketplace Open Enrollment
- 19Oct
In effect since 19 Oct 2026
Treasury's card-payment rule takes effect
- 19Oct
In effect since 19 Oct 2026
USPS starts charging unpaid foreign customs charges back
As of 3 Nov 2026. Subscribe instead of checking: add the calendar to your phone and the dates arrive as reminders. A date on this list is not a substitute for checking it — rules get stayed, vacated and amended.
Every site
Each one is its own site on its own subdomain, with its own byline and its own update schedule
The rules, explained without the billable hour.
Plain-language guides to US law for people without a lawyer: employment, contracts, accidents and family — and what varies by state.
Understand the policy before you pay for it.
How US health, life and auto insurance actually work: premiums, deductibles, networks, exclusions and claims, and the tradeoffs behind them.
Do the math first. Then decide.
Personal finance for US households: emergency funds, index funds, fees and mortgages. No forecasts, no hype — the arithmetic and the tradeoffs.
The sky, measured rather than predicted.
Moon phase and rise times, sunrise and sunset, eclipses and meteor showers — computed from published ephemeris for where you actually stand.
Evidence-based, not trending.
Lab results, chronic conditions, nutrition and exercise. We only cover the parts the evidence actually supports.
Reviews that respect your time and your wallet.
Game reviews and buying guides for people who play a lot and spend carefully: judging a game before you buy, and what free-to-play costs.
Tools that earn their place on your desk.
AI tools, hardware and gadgets — what they actually do, what they cost to run, and who they are for. Practical and evergreen, no launch-day hype.
5 more editions are in preparation on this same architecture, under the same standards — Mind (psychology), Inquiry (philosophy), Cosmos (physics), Archive (history), Nest (everyday life) — and each opens once it has published enough to be worth the visit.
Next to open: Meridian — moon phases, rise and set times, eclipses and meteor showers, computed from published ephemeris rather than written. Its address, sky.omc.center, is already configured and answering; the pages are being built.
Start here
A few pieces picked across the network — good places to begin
The Sun is not in your constellation on your birthday
Precession has moved the equinox 28° since the zodiac was fixed, so the Sun is about a month behind the sign — and the signs are not constellations.
Meteor showers: what ZHR means, and why the number never happens
A shower's published rate assumes a perfect sky and the radiant overhead. Here is what the figures mean and how to pick a night that is worth staying up for.
Absentee vs. mail voting: what is the difference?
Absentee voting is reason-based; mail voting is the delivery method; all-mail elections send every voter a ballot. Here is how the three terms differ.
Latest
Everything published across the network, newest first
Do You Need More Console Storage? What Each Console Accepts, and What to Check First
Extra storage buys back re-download time, not backlog space. What PS5, Xbox and Switch 2 each accept, the figures that decide fit, and what to skip.
America.gov Weekly: A Late Changelog Line, a Contested Sign-In, and the First Audit of Chatbot Voter Guides
October 27–November 3, 2026: a late changelog entry, a withdrawn feature, SBA routing fraud tips to the portal, and Treasury choosing ID.me over Login.gov.
The green flash lasts about a second and is entirely predictable
Refraction splits the setting Sun into coloured images stacked vertically. For a moment only the green one is above the horizon.
Why stars twinkle and planets do not
Scintillation is an angular-size effect. A star is a point of light, so the atmosphere can knock it about; a planet is a small disc, so it averages out.
Is a Password Manager Worth It? Judge It by the Failure You Can Recover From
A password manager does not delete risk — it concentrates it behind one master password. Decide by what you can recover from: a forgotten key, or a leak.
Cheap Keys from Gray-Market Resellers: What the Discount Actually Buys You
A key at a third of the price is a transfer of risk. Where reseller keys come from, what happens when one is revoked, and how to judge the trade.
Why one hub and many sites
Topics stop diluting each other
Someone searching for a labor-law question and someone searching for quantum mechanics want completely different things. Crammed into one domain, both signals get muddied. Split apart, each site stays tightly on topic.
Independence builds trust
Law, insurance and money demand accuracy and a clear boundary of responsibility. A separate domain, a separate byline and a separate disclaimer make it easier to judge who wrote what.
Cost barely moves
One codebase, one build, one deploy. Adding a field means adding a directory — no extra server, no second release pipeline, no new certificate.