Reading about the last remaining telegraph stations in China closing a few months ago, we were excited for another look at the topic from the angle of the challenges overcome to adapt sinographs to telegraphy and more broadly to mechanical reproduction—ironically having invented the printed word but challenged with technology made for alphabetic encoding and decoding.
amor fati: Fredrich Nietzsche’s philosophy (previously) of passing on engagement can break the cycle of polarisation without becoming disengaged and nihilistic
the memes of production: the internet reacts to Zohran Mamdani’s mayorial win in New York City
unpaving paradise: an urban greening game to optimise replacing parking spaces in Berlin with trees
№: why number is English is abbreviated n-o
no springs: a hypnotic video of manufacturing robots politely waiting their turn in the assembly process—see also
alive internet theory: a seance with the vibrant web and all its expressive artefacts against the countervailing argument it has become overrun by bots—see also—via Waxy
gathering wool: online apparel retailers in China employ oversized hangtags to curb high return rates
hatch act violation: US federal judge rules administration overstepped its bounds by inserting partisan blaming into furloughed government employees’ out-of-office autoreplies
bleak outlook: astronomical survey deposits galaxy could be riddled with the artefacts of long dead alien civilisations that could avoid destroying themselves—we suppose that depends on what sort of religion they develop—see also, see previously—via MetaFilter
synchronoptica
one year ago: a monument to the Armenian diaspora (with synchronopticรฆ), the Carrington count, backstage customs plus US presidential numbering
fourteen years ago: food and drink prohibited plus Inventors’ Day
pareidolia: a massive rock formation outside of Sedona Arizona looks like Snoopy atop his dog house
birch benders: tell-tale rounded type that AI seems to prefer
chaotic evil: wildly popular Sultan’s Game has a labyrinthine narrative that evokes Borges’ The Garden of Forking Paths
can you do facial: US customs and border protection forced scans and use of automated recognition to verify citizenship judged illegal
locofaulism: hyper-specific, hyper-local insults, mostly Dutch
ultracrepidarian: Chinese legislation prevents influencers from addressing important topics unless they are licensed professionals—see previously
groked and pilfered: Wikipedia alternative (see previously) has a penchant for plagiarism and heavy citation
storch und stag: concept power lines shaped as giant animals for Austria
synchronoptica
one year ago: the Park of Monsters (with synchronopticรฆ), assorted links worth the revisit, Ford turns his back on NYC, Trump and the stock market, the Rumble in the Jungle plus a poem for the battle-worn
twelve years ago: bridging the Bosphorus plus spying on the conclave
fourteen years ago: goats and horses
fifteen years ago: air travel security theatre
With a mission to curate a vanishing aesthetic referred to as millennial or Chinese dreamcore—nostalgic but a bit mordant with the energy of moribund malls, architecture student Liu Yujia has crisscrossed the country on foot, bike and train documenting the building boom of the 1990s and 2000s that echoed the beginning of the era of economic prosperity and unprecedented growth as told through vernacular towers, industrial parks and ageing apartment blocks dismissed by many as ostentatious and ugly, with little regard afforded for their demolition as relics of China’s rise, cleared away to make room for more growth and development. Liu’s catalogue is focused on some ten-thousand structures already slated for the wrecking-ball, hoping to create an archive of these high-rise enclaves that were once important symbols of China’s ambitions for progress. More from Sixth Tone at the link above.
synchronoptica
one year ago: cruise packages and Gen Z (with synchronopticรฆ) plus international maritime signal flags
fifteen years ago: handmade heraldry
do not comply in advance: many news organisations are refusing to sign on to new US department of war rules to report on only officially vetted items
haibao: a look back at the 2010 Shanghai world Expo plus a menagerie of other mascots
touched by an angle: more biblically accurate heavenly hosts—see also here and here
the lighthouse, the prioritiser and the flashlight: dozens of strategies for safeguarding one’s attention in an exhausting environment—via MetaFilter
xeno canto: a geocaching tutorial for birdsong—from a revamped Maps Mania
zoomorphic stereotypes: the 1806 human-animal hybrid caricatures of Charles Le Brun
sos: Save our Signs project aims to preserve ten thousand placards in US national parks threatened with deletion for telling uncomfortable truths of the past for present and future generations
snaggletoothed landfill goblins: a journey into the heart of the Pop Mart economy—via Web Curios
battle-rattle: a Wikipedia-style directory on camouflage—via ibฤซdem
urgent fury: revisiting Grenada and arguably the only modern foreign war that the US ever won
lahaina noon: twice annually objects in the between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn lose their shadows
my life of the ptsd list: Kathy Griffin—don’t call it a come back—via MetaFilter
yclept: a gloss on the Old English term that is still in common-parlance—via Strange Company
the niรฑa, the pinta and the santa marรญa: Trump issues a declaration ahead of the US federal holiday to re-enshrine the myth of Columbus’ discover and the settlers’ conquest
Whilst transcripts of the telephone call between Trump and President Xi of China emphasis progress on 
trade amid the American tariff war, curbing the supply of fentanyl and the divesture of TikTok in order to stop a ban on the popular social media platform, the released summaries failed to make any mention Taiwan, and given the timing of the reported decision for a pause in US aid and weapons sales to Taipei, it is feared that US dropping its support—a “temporary tactical concession”—for neighbouring Republic of China is being used as leverage for open markets and better positions Beijing to annex the break-away island which has long enjoyed American backing over symbolic promises like to quell the flow compounds that can be used to make drugs.
synchronoptica
one year ago: residential fire safety (with synchronopticรฆ), assorted links to revisit plus anti-social media
twelve years ago: the constellation of Nintendo games
thirteen years ago: smear campaigns, wine pairings plus the banner of the Sรกmi people
fourteen years ago: EU monetary policy
fifteen years ago: regulating speech on the internet
sixteen years ago: yearbook yourself
life is too short to not say exactly what you mean all the time: folk singer Jessie Welles (previously) on one’s calling and being candid in trying times
post-parade afterglow: clips of Chinese soldiers returning home with identical tan-lines from drilling in the helmets in the sun for the event commemorating the eightieth anniversary of the end of World War II
crash blossoms: Tropic Storm Gabrielle Spaghetti Models as Hurricane Chances Increase and other headlines
bijin-ga: a selection of Japanese prints featuring cats and butterflies eau de eight-bit: fragrances inspired by classic home computers
analyst call: Trump urges US Securities and Exchange Commission to eliminate quarterly reporting requirements for businesses, afraid of how markets will react to the knock on effects of tariffs of
brahmins and buddhists: an exploration of a right-wing ideologue and influencer who brought yoga to the West
99% invisible: Roman Mars takes listener and staff questions for a fifteenth anniversary special
fire and ice: immigration raids in the US hinder fighting forest fires
expert build: modelling Kowloon Walled City in Minecraft—see previously
petri dish: rather than going viral, the latest Tik-Tok accelerated coffee trend is very much bacterial and potentially sickening
not with a bang but with bad branding: democracy loosing the attention wars to autocracy
vynรกlez zkรกzy: the fantastic posters of Karel Zeman’s films
when the snow leaves town: photographic dispatches from a thawing Greenland
health and human services: as distrust in US public health authorities grow—prompting some states to conduct their own research— RFK Jr testifies before the senate
excited state: the thermodynamics of Mine Sweeper—see also
ccc: after Trump failed to dismantle the nature conservancy volunteer agency fully, legislation is introduced to rebrand AmeriCorps into America First Corps, shifting focus away from disaster response and stewardship of public lands
retuna: a second-hand only Swedish shopping experience
Although pidgin dialects (widely believed to be a distortion of the English word for business rather than the folk etymology from a messenger pigeon) conveys connotations of broken speech oftentimes rather than bridging a communications barrier in necessary and creative ways, the local contact language of Shanghai has a rich history and legacy deserving of celebration and study. 
The title term for Mandarin, Wu pidgin arising in the 1830s derived from the name of a small creek, a tributary of the Huangpu river that marked the boundary between the British and French concessions (ๆดๆถๆต่ฑ่ช, Yรกng jฤซng bฤng yฤซngyว)—which was eventually paved over for Edward VII Avenue (modern East Yan’an Road) following the Opium Wars (see also here and here) and influx of foreign merchants with coerced trading arrangements. While the educational system and the language of business has become has become more formalised, linguistic fossils of Shanghainese creole have remained and spread into common-parlance beyond. The simplification endures with unfortunate stereotypical constructions and the order to hasten things along in chop-chop or no tickee, no shirtee—a backronym applied to Chinese launderers—but also in expressions like “long time, no see,” “look-see,” “one piece” (to engage with, to make a deal) “chow-down” and “can do” with “no can do” from keyi and bu keyi also understood as OK and no way.
may every day be another wonderful secret: a round up on the Epstein files and Trump’s tantrums—for MAGA, Nazis are cool but they’re drawing the line here—at least there’s a line, hopefully
infra-realism: off-the-spectrum photographs of Palm Springs California by Kate Ballis—see previously
power of the purse: a much diminished US legislator’s concessions to the directive of the administration not only slashes the budget for public broadcasting and foreign aid, it also signals their redundancy as a rubber stamp for the executive branch
let’s go fly a kite: instead of windmills, Ireland tries an alternative to harness energy
there’s a little frank lloyd wrong in all of us: a horrendous split level property in North Carolina gets the McMansion Hell treatment—previously, via Neatorama
photovoltaic array: a gallery of images from China showing the future of clean, renewable energy
fascism for first time founders: the broligraghy, the dictator trap and the invisible brain-drain
long photographs: contemplative landscapes from Noah Kalina
the colbert report: CBS cancelling The Late Show next summer after host openly criticised the settlement between Trump and parent company Paramount—though cites purely financial reasons
Recent intelligence suggests that China might be attempting to revive a Cold War leviathan known as the 
Soviet sea monster of the Caspian, the semi-legendary ekranoplan (ัะบัะฐะฝะพะฟะปะฐ́ะฝ, a screen-glider or ground-effect vehicle) an airfoil designed to fly just over the crests of the waves, invisible to radar, impervious to mines riding on a cushion of high air pressure and achieving speeds ten times faster than traditional maritime vessels, leaving fleets and coast defences no time to react. Photographs have emerged of apparent trials in the Sea of Bohai, near the Korean peninsula. DARPA was working on its own for the US navy—called a Liberty Lifter, the concept vehicle also known for its increased cargo delivery capacity with advantages other both ships and planes—but the programme was abruptly cancelled last month.
synchronoptica
one year ago: claim-jumping in the Arctic (with synchronopticรฆ), reproductive care in international waters, a local air show plus a failed assassination attempt on Donald Trump
thirteen years ago: the Period Table typeface
fourteen years ago: debt and pensions
Having been discovered by a group of farmers, Wang Puzhi and his neighbour Yang Zhifa (with his five brothers), in March of the year prior, the archaeological community marked a pivotal moment on this day in 1975 in the excavation of the site, unearthing the central burial pits around the tomb of Qin dynasty’s founder and first emperor (็ๅธ, huรกngdรฌ) of a unified China to reveal a retinue of some eight thousand life-sized terracotta figures of soldiers and horses standing guard for his journey into the afterlife. 
The necropolis is a microcosm of the imperial palace with halls, offices and the thousands of replica units, armed, standing in formation. The tomb itself at the centre of the terracotta army (previously) is hermetically sealed and remains unopened to prevent degradation of the body, artefacts and grave goods inside as well as out of concerns for safety of researchers, with artificial rivers of mercury and other toxic decorative elements suspected to be contained within—possibly also an element of revenant superstition. Aside from the Qin emperor, a mass though ceremonious grave holding the remains of one-hundred-twenty-one individuals has been uncovered, whom researchers believe to have been labourers and artisans that built the necropolis.
synchronoptica
one year ago: double-click jargon (with synchronopticรฆ), more on the zombification of the legacy web plus Biden vows to stay in the US presidential race
thirteen years ago: a hundred-handed cactus plus subversive stickers
fourteen years ago: odious debts
Being for a long time fascinated by the idea of the crowded, lawless and ungoverned exclave within an enclave called Kowloon Walled City (see previously), we were astonished to be referred this recorded walk-through captured in the space of an afternoon (no daylight reaching the lowest storeys) by University of Hong Kong architecture student Suenn Ho, 
having no idea that such footage and interviews existed, taken in 1991, a couple years prior to its demolition, evicting the some thirty-five thousand who lived and worked within the confines of less than three hectares—translating to an incredible population density of over one and a quarter million residents per square kilometre. The former footprint now a park and its reputation sanitised, Hong Kongers, formerly condemned Kowloon as a dangerous slum when mass-urbanisation started in the 1960s, are now romanticising this dystopian neighbourhood and we are happy this documentary has been preserved for posterity. The Japanese film crew mentioned early on also produced a short piece, available here.
synchronoptica
one year ago: exploring the Vesser valley (with synchronoptica)
seven years ago: photographer Zofia Rydet plus potentially eliminating the deadliest disease vector
eight years ago: a poem for Manchester, Trump to visit the Pope, micro-mastery, diplomatic indiscretions plus America’s designs on its southern neighbours during the US civil war
nine years ago: Kraftwerk animated plus that proposal for an elevated bus
twelve years ago: a day-by-day account of World War I
higher power: traditionally anodyne, new Chinese spaceflight mission patches (see also) might betray some secrets
triple word score: fun variants, house rules and more Scrabble-related news—see previously
a stra ze neca: no, the multinational pharmaceutical concern name does not mean “a road to death” in Latin
hamburgervons: a flip book of font specimens to build the perfect typeface—the heading a typographer’s tool to test layout and legibility—see also
there i ruined it: interesting mashup of US national anthem to the tune of Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun”
kyphosis bicyclistarum: an 1893 warning from the Lancet for wheelmen on the bad posture and stoop that frequent cycling can cause—see also
sunny days: after Trump defunds PBS and NPR, Netflix is championing Sesame Street
micro-camper: a well-appointed mobile tiny home in the bed of kei truck—via Things Magazine (much more to discover there)
fan theory: Doctor Who’s “Interstellar Song Contest”—Eurovision counter programming—teases the return of a classic arch-villainess
pinball wizard: the 1976 NBC gameshow flop, The Magnificent Marble Machine, with celebrity players
niallia tiangongensis: evolution on display in novel bacteria found aboard China’s space-station—via Damn Interesting
synchronoptica
one year ago: more on the Kessler Effect (with synchronoptica), AI overviews plus two classes of typos
seven years ago: Pentecost, for-profit colleges plus a ride on a steam locomotive
eight years ago: reforming the US electoral college, the Global Seed Vault is flooding, protesting Trump’s bribes plus an AI names bespoke colours
nine years ago: a visit to Tintagel
ten years ago: a time lapse of climate change, assorted links to revisit plus the making of The Shining
Although I’d not sure that the calls and coos of our feathered friends (see previously) lack for anything, and who am I to say that birds wouldn’t like playing musical instruments—we found this ancient practise of crafting and outfitting pigeon whistles (้ดฟ้ด, geling—also known as pigeon bells) quite fascinating. 
These tiny bamboo flutes, even the most elaborate ones weighing no more than eight grams so as not to harm the wearer or impede flight, form a wind section on the wing, attached to the tail feathers and emitting harmonising rhythms as they fly. Though there are fewer pigeon fanciers in urban centres like Beijing, the traditions are still maintained and breeders create a signature sound for their flocks. Much more from Present /&/ Correct at the link up top.
one year ago: progrock supergroup Asia (with synchronoptica), The Swimmer (1968), outsider artist Melvin May plus a declaration of independence
seven years ago: the catalogue of degenerate art, proposed national IDs for access to adult websites plus One Hundred Scenes of Kobe
eight years ago: rescoring Star Trek: The Motion Picture, a celebration of London plus avian predation
ten years ago: assorted links to revisit plus a semi-legendary Confederate gold vault
eleven years ago: freedom gas and influence peddling
Whilst not wholly unrolling all barriers to trade nor unable to undo the disruption already wrought on global supply chains and proffer any sort of future security and certainty when it comes to relocating both manufacturing and sourcing, businesses, investors and consumers welcomed the deescalation following talks among intermediaries in Switzerland which defused, at least temporarily the retaliatory brinksmanship that Trump’s Liberation Day of reciprocal tariffs started with China the only party willing to raise the stakes. 
Washington and Beijing have retreated back to less punishing levies of thirty and ten percent respectively, discounting other measures already in place. Both delegations conceded that a decoupling of the two major economies benefited no one, with sanctions heretofore approaching the level of a trade embargo and hoped that this initial pause might gain a purchase on negotiations that would promote the predictability needed by all parties, despite the magnanimity for which the ordeal was played, appealing to Trump’s vanities to let him claim credit for solving a crisis of his own making. This deal follows talks between Starmer and Trump that while the blanket duty of ten percent remains on most international exports to the US removed tariffs on UK steel, aluminium and automobiles, in exchange for relaxing regulatory limits previously imposed on American beef and chlorinated poultry. The truce with Xi pointedly does not extend to those same heavy industry items or pharmaceuticals, the same day pledging an incredulous ninety-percent drop in medicine prices, aiming to “equalise,” redistribute drug costs with other countries, saying Europe and the rest of the world will apid more so the US can pay less.
shooting the messager: the AP reporter fired and blacklisted for scooping the story of Nazi Germany’s surrender eight years ago—via Strange Company
๐: Shanghai metro lets riders design their own bus routes
vision cantos: Denis Cooper on filmmaker Jud Yalkut—via { feuilleton }
grave of the fireflies: Ze Frank (previously) on what’s happening with our bioluminescent friends
the poyais scam: confidence tricker Gregor MacGregor’s con to lure investors in a fictional central American territory
that’s why the apostrophe is single and not plural: the story of Anna Jarvis—the creator that later sued for the abolition of Mother’s Day
flugsteighalle: a digital exhibition of Berlin’s monumental Tempelhof airport—previously—via das Kraftfuttermischwerk
the madison avenue beat: a selection of vintage advertising jingles presented as a dance remix
corner of the city: street photographer Tong Ho Chung Howard’s most famous image captures the traditional tong lau (ๅๆจ) architecture of Hong Kong, gradually being replaced by urban renewal programmes
root causes: competing narratives for WWII Victory Day celebrations
At the end of last month, one of the few remaining telegraph stations in China prepared to shut down, thousands traveled to Hangzhou in far eastern Zhejiang province to pay their respects and dispatch last missives (see previously). We enjoyed the shared memories of workers and patrons as told through the story of one individual who undertook a rather epic journey on a slow train east to send his first and last messages. Writing out their notes by hand, character by character, people sent telegrams to themselves, friends and relatives both yet to be born and departed and operators recalled the echoing cadence of the office and specific numerical sequences used to encode words and phrases. 
The once vital communications network has all but disappeared, although during the last day of operation, the station, which had in recent years only been sending an average of twenty-five a year, processed nearly six-thousand telegrams. Memories are not so far removed as China has had telegraphy technology since the nineteenth century, it remained popular and the only guaranteed method of reaching someone urgently until peaking in the late 1980s when more than forty million messages were sent annually, individual stations handling on average a hundred thousand each.
domestic box office: in response to escalating tariffs, China is curtailing the number of American films screened in the country
redeployment: decision to reposition US troops stationed in Poland causing concern
dixonary: improprieties in pronunciation among New Englanders
๐ฆ: the Latin alphabet expressed as hieroglyphics
now is a great time to buy—$djt: social media posts and a spike in options activity may indicate insider trading within the administration
ื₀: physicist Dominic Walliman charts out the fields of mathematics and how the academic informs application
from the gigantic bones displayed at roncesvalles: an adjective that should be brought part back into use
a man, a plan: US defence secretary floats idea of reopening mothball military bases from the 1989 invasion of Panama
trading floor: the history of the ticker-tape machine
