8x8 (13. 824)

claudefishing: AI slop is a new kind of creative poverty  

saint-pierre-et-miquleon: Mark Carney meets with Emmanuel Macron on the small French overseas territorial collective, which once toyed with the idea of joining the United States, just off the coast of Newfoundland  

soundscape: avian vocalisations can boost one’s mood but the positive effects are negated by traffic noise  

an imperfect analogy: what lessons nuclear proliferation treaties have for AI containment  

jefferies tubes: the first physical model of the Enterprise finds a home at the MIT museum  

old dog, new tricks: OK Go’s “White Knuckles” video sixteen yearrs on—see previously  

apostolic journey: the Pope’s upcoming to France includes a stop in Metz to pay tribute to Robert Schuman, one of the Founding Fathers of the European Union  

sunshine superman: understanding intention, agnosticism and the new uncanny valley

 synchronoptica

one year ago: a thwarted assassination attempt led to an involuntary outing (with synchronoptica), carbon-dating plus Donald in Mathmagic Land (1961)

two years ago: the Tanaka Memorial of 1927  

three years ago: a musical montage from DJ Earworm, an exhibition of antique home entertainment, assorted links to revisit plus The Love Boat (1977)

four years ago: more links to enjoy,  Our Lady of Mercy plus even more links

five years ago: assorted links to revisit plus punctuation appreciation day

six years ago: Pope Liberius, more links worth revisiting plus the 1976 Swine Flu outbreak

seven years ago: Trump pressures Ukrainian authorities for dirt on his apparent political opponent, more synthetic models, UK courts rule that the suspension of Parliament was an abuse of power plus variations on Misirlou

eight years ago: an atlas of remote islands, theatrics trumps discourse, and more and more links plus twenty-seven songs about the twenty-seven amendments to the US constitution

 

10x10 (13. 807)

the alignment problem: the insincerity of Big Tech on the pause and the incoherence of fascism (a bundle of sticks) 

aspect ratio: using a train or ferry as a massive flatbed scanner  

coliseum: Trump administration may just demolish the Kennedy Centre, replacing the national stage with an amphitheatre  

new harmony: the failed utopian commune of southern Indiana—see previously  

pokémon sleep: giant ball opens as guest lodging in the woodlands of Hokkaido 

joe cool: Hallmark’s custom university posters that played to institutions’ reputations as party schools  

safety curtain series: each year, the Vienna State Opera brings large format art to its proscenium—see also regarding fire curtains 

the apprentice: a biography of Roy Cohn (see previously here and here) and his influence on Trump’s politics of resentment

vinkenzetting: a DIY electronic-ink picture frame sketches birds by identifying them by their call  

the chinese room: a thought experiment by philosopher John Searle in 1980 arguing that a computer executing a programme cannot have a mind, understanding or consciousness

synchronoptica

one year ago: Trump, Epstein and a State Visit to the UK still on schedule (with synchronoptica), the US National Security Act of 1947 plus the Ig Nobel laureates

two years ago: assorted links worth the revisit 

three years ago: contingency elections to bypass the US electoral college 

four years ago: a photo from Voyager I that puts everything in perspective, St Joseph of Cupertino, photographer Harold Feinstein plus triangulating Instagram

five years ago: your daily demon: Stolas,  anthrax in the mail, arcade animations, more on Wikipedia edit-wars plus post-Brexit UK planning to return to Imperial Measurements

six years ago: vaporware and its antecedents, “producing geese,” “without worries,” the Interkosmos Group plus AI tries to create a universal and enduring warning for the ages

seven years ago: US congress debates abolishing the Electoral College, taboos surrounding talking about death, Germany Calling! (1939) plus flight-shaming and train-bragging

eight years ago: keep-sakes,  more links to enjoy plus a hydrogen powered locomotive

 

lucky shot (13. 748)

Via ibidem—whilst readily admitting that the profusion of photography competitions is something we’ve bemoaned in the past to the point that PfRC has considered launching its own, thinking about the opened-hand slap of a comment that a college classmate of mine expressed thirty years ago, “Well—who wouldn’t have taken a picture of that,” which I think about every time I photograph something patently photogenic and already on everyone’s Instagram feed, and that smartphone contests really ought not to be a category apart given their ubiquity and automatic and deskilling obliquity that optimises now without consent we did quite enjoy scrolling through these superlative images from the nineteenth annual IPPAWARDS crediting the photographer’s eye rather than their equipment, acknowledging that the latter does define the former and who gets to call themselves an auteur with cameras at the ready for billions, presented in a format similar to the photo app of the iPhone with minimal details and specifications. Take a gander and let us know your favourites.

ho (13. 717)

Though the Navi had guided us along Hovej multiple times, we deferred exploring the town and bay (Ho Bugt) until now. The short toponym for the waterway which gives its name to the village—a thatched reed houseboat for Ho by British artist Simon Starling who specialises in nautical themes engaging with vernacular architecture and local building media was added to the shore in 2023—comes from the Old Danish Hōi meaning trough or tub and a fjord (an inlet) that resembles one. The bay at the northern tip of the Wadden Sea was targeted for a major land reclamation project in 1941 but fortunately the sanctuary was spared from development over concerns that the removal would cause the channels in and out of Esjberg to quickly silt over. The nature reserve home to sea birds features an ellipse to let one walk out over the estuary—particularly at high tide.

Afterwards, returning to the campsite, we took a longer walk on the beach and explored the narrow footpaths through the lush littoral, getting a better look at the landmark called the Ringebjerge Båke (a historical beacon or seamark erected in 1884 that was until 1978 illuminated at night as a guide for passing ships) on the southern part of Vejers strand, with more gentle reminders that this area is a military training ground. The red ball raises to the top of the pole when there is an active exercise, warning civilians to stay away. A know-it-all neighbour at the camp grounds had told us that a major one was to take place early this week—I wondered how she might know—but has not materialised yet.

 

synchronoptica

one year ago: signifiers of etiquette (with synchronoptica), Trump’s Nobel ambitions plus Müritzer cheese

 

two years ago: design one’s own Amsterdam, AI or Die, license to serve plus assorted links to revisit

three years ago: more links to enjoy plus the final Ring cycle (1876)

four years ago: ABBA’s last album plus even more links

five years ago: assorted links worth revisiting, the world’s first animated film (1908), significant digits plus cartographic gaps

six years ago: a tragedy at Uluru (1980),  Operation Warp Speed plus the dotted and dotless i

birds v beethoven (13. 650)

Via MetaFilter, we learn that the European Central Bank has issued a jury selected shortlist of new euro notes by ten designers for the public to vote on. Each suite of the paper denominations feature either historical human or avian elements. Some proposals are vertical euros.

Birds (plus rivers) and institutional buildings versus Beethoven is a runoff between: 

 €5 the Wallcreeper (Tichodroma muraria) with the European Parliament on the reverse or Greek opera singer with a scene illustrative of the cultural elements on the back
€10 the Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) with the European Commission v the German composer
€20 the Bee-Eater (Meropidae bonaparte) with the ECB (see previously here and here) v Polish-French scientist Marie Curie-Skłodowska
€50 the White Stork Ciconia ciconia with the Court of Justice of the European Union v author Miguel Cervantes 

€100 the Avocet (Recurvirostra avosetta) with the European Council v Italian polymath Leonardo da Vinci
€200 the Northern Gannet (Morus bassanus)with the European Court of Auditors v Austrian pacifistic Bertha von Suttner

What’s your favourite? I am team bird but I did like the bridges on the current series.

synchronoptica

one year ago: outsider artist Martin Ramírez (with synchronoptica), an orbital handshake plus superlative hour-glasses

two years ago: St Christopher, how location data compromises security and intelligence, every map of China is inaccurate plus SCOTUS orders Nixon to release the tapes (1974)

three years ago: farewell Twitter plus AI-enhanced spying

four years ago: Stirling Castle plus Smoo Cave 

five years ago: assorted links to revisit, highbrow porn, a party in a box plus a freight yard symphony

six years ago: politician Bela Abzug, Christina the Astonishing plus El Topo (1970)

6x6 (13. 491)

common loon: one hundred greatest bird names—see previously—via Nag on the Lake  

continue y/n: test how carefully one reads AI agent requests and permission fatigue—via Quantum of Sollazzo  

weather rothkos: meteorologically up-to-date, location-based abstract art—via Web Curios  

the seduction of ingmar bergman: a concept album involving the abduction of the famed Swedish director pressed into making American cinema  

descartes against humanity: games reimagined as designed by philosophers  

apartment birds: recent avian visitors

7x7 (12. 799)

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

9x9 (12. 784)

readme.txt: an experiment to assess whether AI can parse the drastic downfall of the United States and pen near-term speculative fiction that forecasts the next four years based on the daily news cycle—via Web Curios  

citation needed: famous cognitive truisms that fail replication 

take the a-train: a data-driven tribute to the New York City subway  

peso convertible: despite US government shutdown impasse and soaring inflation, the US is bailing out the Argentinian economy  

out of all the clergy, why did ice target the hot priest: minister scoured with pepper ball ammunition rebukes US administration’s narrative about lawlessness in Chicago  

dead reckoning: quantum sensing of the magnetic field of the Earth’s core could prove to be a more reliable method of aerial navigation in the age of GPS spoofing and jamming, see also—Via Clive Thompson’s Linkfest  

rezagado: Trump suggests ejecting Spain from NATO for their failure to show commitment snail’s pace: a sculptural statement on the frenetic everyday  

coo-coo-ca-choo: birds across all species seem to understand the universal cry of warning of predatory nesters  

babystar: a cautionary influencer tale with echos of The Truman Show

hedgehog highways (12. 733)

Via Metafilter, we learn that a cross-bench committee of peers of the House of Lords are debating amendments to the planning and infrastructure bill before parliament that’s been deemed woefully inadequate by conservation groups for allowing offsets for developers to pay into rather than building in a minimal, sustainable and cohabiting manner on new properties. Mandates for new construction include the above corridors for small mammals to increase their range across neighbourhood gardens, special glass to reduce bird-strikes, nesting boxes, so called “swift bricks,” as refuges for avian friends, bats, insects and others. More from The Guardian at the link above.

synchronoptica

one year ago: a versatile French pronoun (with synchronopticæ) 

11 x 11 (12. 622)

ped x’ing: an urban hawk takes advantage of a crosswalk signal to shield it from view as it stalks its pigeon bounty—via Clive Thompson’s Linkfest  

whispering gallery mode: peacock plumage can be induced to emit lasers—via the New Shelton wet/dry  

pix: US government going after Brazil’s native digital payment platform—calling it an unfair barrier to trade—meanwhile only President Lula da Silva is standing up to Trump’s tariff bullying  

showrunner: Amazon investing in AI start-up Fable that allows subscribers to make their own TV shows  

pro-somnolence: the technique of cognitive shuffling to quiet the mind and get back to sleep 

manifesto antropófago: a 1928 counter-colonialism and counter-appropriation movement venturing out of São Paulo 

the candy factory: the unique artists’ commune in New York City founded by Ann Ballentine—via Messy Nessy Chic  

query-agnostic adversarial triggers: feline-related textual asides cause marked increase in AI error rates  

one year ago, america was a dead country, now it is the hottest country anywhere in the world: Trump escalates trade war with Canada as Carney suggests they may miss the deadline  

living batteries: cable bacteria thriving in muddy harness chemical gradients to create and electrical circuit and get oxygen in an anoxic environment  

starling network: Benn Jordan saved a .PNG image to a bird by turning a drawing into audio which could be mimicked and reproduced, see also—via Waxy

a symphony in the sky (12. 458)

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 (鴿鈴, 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.

synchronoptica

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

field recording (12. 192)

For COP16 held in Cali, Colombia back in October 2024, a team of scientist and musicians went an expedition to nature reserves across the country to sample the cries and calls of forty-one species of native birds, moneys and whales and transform the cacophony of animals sounds of one of the most biologically diverse places in the world into a natural version of the stirring national anthem, adapted from a 1850 poem set to music to celebrate the dissolution of Gran Colombia and the emergence of the independent nations of Colombia and Panama, whose lyrics unfortunately don’t reference this abundance of wildlife but do mention centaurs and the Battle of Thermopylae. Read more about its making and the environment of the host country from Smithsonian magazine at the link above.

*    *    *    *    *

synchronoptica

one year ago: Eastern European vintage animation (with synchronoptica) plus the passage of different units of time

seven years ago: surveying 1950s Americans about the Cold War, unfolding tweetstorms, US dispensaries making their own generic versions of drugs plus Brexit commemorate stamps

eight years ago: defeating an internet censorship bill but speech is still under assault, psychic warriors plus legislating and/or

nine years ago: teletext pages plus the carillon of Oslo’s city hall honours recently departed musicians

ten years ago: Marilyn Monroe building drones plus AI card tricks

10x10 (11. 981)

peer pressure: Australia proposes a ban on social media for under sixteens 

this is the hour of lead: a few cathartic, consoling verses  

affiliate marketing: the banal world of recommendation-culture—via the New Shelton wet/dry  

airborne microplastic: our pollution influences more than sealife and can facilitate cloud formation and disrupt a whole of ecological systems 

club dei 27: a profile of the very exclusive group of Giuseppe Verdi super fans—via tmn  

augury: from the Greek for “bird talk” plus bonding with poultry 

you won’t believe this: research suggests that people can be inoculated against misinformation by warning them that they might be manipulated and eyebrow-raising antibodies  

die dame von kölleda: Merovingian burial chamber in Thüringen shown to the public  

word of the day: recrudescence: n— the return of something terrible after a time of reprieve 

bytedance: Canadian government orders TikTok to shut down operations in the country but still permits the app and users license to create content

eye of the storm (11. 881)

As Hurricane Helene moved inland levelling destruction across Florida, Georgia and North Carolina from the Gulf of Mexico, satellite radar revealed a splotchy mass in the normally calm and clear centre of the cyclone. Meteorologists soon realised that they were seeing the signature of thousands of migrating seabirds caught in the middle of the towering thunderstorms that make up the boundaries of the eyewall and were circling the moving tranquil region unable to escape. The flock at the focus of this unusual but not undocumented phenomenon will dissipate as the storm weakens.

synchronoptica

one year ago: an impending shut down of the US government (with synchronoptica) 

seven years ago: another photogenic tree chopped down, more on the gig-economy plus Garbage Patch passports

eight years ago: the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards plus assorted links worth revisiting

nine years ago: more links to enjoy

ten years ago: philosopher Alan Watts on timing and being present plus Leipzig 1989

8x8 (11. 755)

hillbilly eulogy: the producer’s apparent misjudgement in adapting JD Vance’s memoir—and suggestion that Ron Howard might be playing the long-game to torpedo the MAGA ticket’s chances of ever returning to power—via Miss Cellania  

feint and parry: Ukrainian incursions into Russian territory catches Moscow off guard  

rarissima: bibliolyte, a destroyer of books, and other bookish terms  

veepstakes: the question of casting the nominees on the upcoming season of Saturday Night Live—see previously  

grit and glitter: new Museum of London logo of a pooing pigeon is dividing opinions—via Strange Company—see previously  

schrimp jesus: the origins and drivers (including Meta’s own incentives) of Facebook AI slop—see previously   

human shields: Israeli air strike on Gaza school sheltering the displaced leaves almost one hundred dead—the IDF claiming the building was being used by Hamas agents 

tim walz will teach you how to parallel park: the VP pick’s Midwestern dad energy plus the not so Midwestern origins of ope

7x7 (11. 668)

zungenbrecher: revisiting the topic of German tongue-twisters whose recitation challenges are also trending on the socials—via Language Hat  

nuts and bolts: hyperrealistic pencil-drawings of metallic objects by Kohei Ohmori  

heraclea sintica: a near-complete statue of Hermes discovered whilst excavating a Roman sewer in southwest Bulgaria 

murder by contract: Poseidon’s Underworld reviews the 1958, low-budget Vince Edwards vehicle  

ovocipede: a personal mobility vehicle conceived by Salvador Dalí  

game over: a stop-motion animation re-creates classic arcade game play with food and candy  

dawn chorus: explore morning birdsong from around the globe—via Nag on the Lake’s Sunday Links (lots more to see there)

synchronoptica

one year ago: the first summer study abroad programme (plus synchronoptica) 

seven years ago: Trump and the press, more on still-lives plus superlative drone photography

eight years ago: the Iraq Inquiry

nine years ago: the taxonomy of Jorge Luis Borge plus assorted links to revisit

ten years ago: advertising hoardings that serve as shelters plus ISIS’ wanton destruction of cultural treasure

counting crows (11. 621)

Previously we’ve visited general corvid intelligence (see previously here and here) and numeracy in bees—and given the recent discoveries of a whale language (not forgetting the Plant Kingdom, ibīdem) and elephantine endonymy—it is no wonder that we learn, via Clive Thompson’s latest Linkfest, that our cawing friends too understand the concept of numbers, according to preliminary studies undertaken at the University of Tübingen. Crows furthermore have been shown to vocalise actual numerals, corresponding to values from one to four consistently and have sophisticated maths skills. More at the links above.

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links worth revisiting

two years ago: the precursor to the bicycle, Cleopatra (1957) plus good wine needs no bush

three years ago: Clash of the Titans (1981), shutter sounds, Russia Day, Deep Throat (1972), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) plus the tripartite devil

four years ago: Loving Day, more concatenation plus a unique geometrical construct

five years ago: Canada decriminalises abortion and homosexuality (1969), Volkswagen tries to clean up its reputation, vintage Kellogg’s advertising plus a horse of a different colour

jenny wren (11. 601)

Via Sentence First, we learn how the robin (and its distant American cousin—not closely related) got its name.  Prior to scientific and ordered taxonomy, in fifteenth century England—and elsewhere—it was common practise to give familiar species human names, this companionable nomenclature enduring in some of the more common monickers, like magpies from flocks originally called Margarets or a daw named Jack, and Robin Redbreast—from the diminutive form of Robert and their distinctive, easily recognisable orange plumage, the colour unknown and not distinguished until the introduction of the fruit about a hundred years later. More from Bird History at the link up top.

7x7 (11. 509)

betteridge’s law: the legacy of Alfred Harmsworth, Viscount Northcliffe, and commoditising fascinating factiods to sell newspapers  

congestion pricing: overtourism and its consequences  

disclose, divest: on the 1968 anniversary of the protest that ousted the university’s president and established the student body senate, activism on Columbia’s campus is again in the national spotlight over Palestine  

grace period: America’s addiction to credit cards  

zoonosis: concern rises over avian flu as it appears in cows and wild animal communities  

nonstop flight: the epic migration of the Bar-tailed Godwit and the engineering of feathers—via the New Shelton wet/dry  

catch-and-kill: deal to bury stories unfavourable to Trump by tabloid The National Enquirer was an “agreement between friends”

passerine dream (11. 493)

Via Damn Interesting’s Curated Links, not only do we learn that our avian friends also dream, singing silently in their sleep, but researchers are able after a fashion, to decipher these nocturnal rehearsals by carefully monitoring unconscious muscle contractions along a bird subject’s vocal tract, akin to eye-movements during REM sleep, amplifying and correlating the series of calls with observed behaviours. These dream sounds, using a Great Kiskadee (pitogue, bichofeo—a member of the tyrant flycatcher family and named onomatopoeically for its exuberant call, bien-te-veo or “I see you well”) from Central and South America for the study, suggest that the specimen was replaying a daytime territorial defence with an encroaching intruder, insightful surely but given the nature of dreaming, perhaps only part of the story. More from New Atlas on the methodology, anatomy of birdsong and a sound-clip at the link above.