9x9 (11. 467)

and palmeres for to seken straunge strondes: the Gentle Author makes a pilgrimage along London’s ancient Black Path 

the 2531 sato-san problem: given demographic trends, legal requirements and custom, all Japanese residents could eventually share the same surname  

symphony № 42: animator Réka Busci presents forty-seven ironic vignettes  

double doors open, why aren’t i reacting in this shot: a literal video version of Total Eclipse of the Heart—I walk out on a terrace where I think I’m alone, but Arthur Fonzarelli’s got an army of clones  

into the butterverse: the variations of the Unicode emoji—via Pasa Bon!  

chalcolithic tattooing: a study of Ötzi the ice mummy’s body markings on living volunteers—via Super Punch  

apiculture: experiments involving social problem-solving suggest that bees have the capacity to pass on learnt experience  

not a bug but a feature: a collection of absurd software and end-user errors solved—via Waxy  

the society of wood engravers: the art and illustration of carver Harry Brockway—via Things Magazine

synchronoptica

one year ago: New York v Trump plus Finland’s accession to NATO

two years ago: Japanese police boxes plus the Ukrainian roots of world-wide wheat

three years ago: your daily demon: Samigina, Winston Smith makes a diary entry plus the Hildesheimer Dom

four years ago: the flag of Hong Kong (1990), assorted links to revisit plus St Tigernach

five years ago: the founding of NATO (1949),  saving the pollinators, the Buttigieg bid for US president plus historic mass transit systems

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cheesemongering: a specialist seller experiments with fifty-six varieties to find the perfect grilled sandwich 

vector portraits: photographs of drivers at speed traveling in Los Angeles  

decision 2024: this is the biggest year yet—and possibly democracy’s biggest test with over half the world’s population voting within the next twelve months  

run, rabbit, run: an AI-powered gadget designed to use one’s apps for one sells out 

electronics gives us a way of classifying things: Microsoft (now the most valued company in the world thanks to its part in AI, a font of misinformation) once explained to author Terry Pratchett how technology referees would make propaganda a thing of the past  

squaring the circle: Substackers against Nazis—reloaded—and a reminder that one can’t be just a little bit facist  

re-migration: a coalition of the far-right met outside of Berlin in November to discuss mass deportations  

blanket immunity: Trump’s legal team presents arguments for a president above the law—setting up the US Supreme Court to either rule on his exoneration or eligibility  

proxima swarm: US space agency supports bold proposal to reach the next nearest star system with a wall of tiny craft propelled by photons—see previously 

flower taxi: a mobile florist from 1960s London  

marie harel: producers of Camembert in Normandy fear EU recycling regulation could mean the end for their traditional wooden box packaging

londontown

The Big Think features a review of the newly released Curiocity, which is a celebration of the city of London told through a soulful geographic introduction that combines the best elements of atlases, trivia and more conventional travel guides to address those deceptively straightforward questions and statistics that allude answer or definition. The verdict on London’s etymology is still at large, as are the city-limits and the city’s central point—the Omphalos (Greek for navel), the spot on the Isle of Dogs (no one knows how this eyot got its name either) where John Dee and Christopher Marlowe performed a magical rite in 1593 to establish the psychic base of the British Empire, is our favourite contender. Visit the links up top for more information and imponderables to ponder.

birthday suit or trooping the colours

Though I’d say that the Queen’s choice of posh-frock for her birthday procession was a slight wardrobe malfunction, but the Photoshop battle royale that it inspired was in good spirits. Her highly visible dress (not quite day-glow) did really look like a chroma-key green-screen—and the fun ensues.

synchronicity or time and tide

If you are not already a regular listener, be sure to check out Futility Closet’s phenomenal podcasts. In their most recent episode, they tell the story of a multi-generational career of London’s last time-carrier, a dedicated woman who bore the precise time to subscription-holders up until the outbreak of WWII by consulting the only definitive source available, the Astronomer Royal of the Greenwich Observatory—who, in turn, stole the exact time from the heavens.
All Futility Closet shows are regaled with fascinating facts but what I find consistently intriguing is that their well researched topics invariably make us think about some aspect that hadn’t occurred to us beforehand. I knew that standardising civil time came with shipping and the railroads, eventually transforming into an oppressive bully that conjured up the idea of punctuality and made rushing a virtue, but never considered how reliable time-keeping devices were commercially available before the whole world was on a time-table. Even though the clocks kept very good time, there was no way for the owners of these fancy devices to set them to the agreed upon hour (no means of broadcasting time and tide and bell towers rang on their own schedule, as well) rendering them rather useless, so they engaged the services of said time-carriers in order to ensure that they were properly synchronised by means of a pocket-watch carried around the city in a handbag.