piso mojado (11. 241)

Via Miss Cellania, we not only learn of the existence of a universally understood slipping hazard sign, a wet floor marker in the shape of a banana peel but also there is a whole sub-site devoted to their sightings. We’ve never encountered such a warning (we wonder where they are most common as opposed to the foldable one that props up) and though the trope of the obstacle and the prat fall certainly still are prevalent and comprehensible, it seems a little ironic that the cultivation practises of the fruit has led to the extinction of the variety that was particularly prone to cause tumbling, prompting concern for public safety in the mid-nineteenth century when importation became especially popular in America (leading to the gag) and municipal ordinances (with posted signage) regarding their proper disposal.

synchronoptica

one year ago: the Dark Forest of the Internet plus outsourcing one’s outlet

two years ago: assorted links to revisit 

three years ago: Trump harasses election officials plus more facts gleaned from the past year

four years ago: AI generated beetles, an anti-Bob Ross, a book on bricks plus cities coping with sea-level rise

five years ago: preserving the present plus more links to enjoy

memeification (11. 188)

We quite enjoyed the rather uniting distillation of the year’s news in meme form from Hyperallergic, covering topics from Barbieheimer, orcas attacking yachts, AI images of the Pope and how most men think about the Roman Empire on a daily basis, a viral moment of Karenness and the mugshot of Donald Trump all re-contextualised.

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links to revisit plus Dune (1984)

two years ago: Preserved Fish III, the Wall Street Charging Bull, more MST3K classics, mushroom-derived dyes plus pyrotechnic posters

three years ago: End Times,  Saint Nicasius, filming locations for Topaz plus Well-Armed Peasants

four years ago: first-flight (1782) 

five years ago: interesting trivia, the brief monarchy of Finland plus predictive text

schminkautomat (11. 182)

Via Messy Nessy Chic’s peripatetic findings and although originally staged as a hoax (Aprilscherz from the photo archives of the Süddeustsche Zeitung), such acoin-op beauty dispensary must certainly be a contemporary, inevitable reality regardless of whether the calibre of the technology has seen much improvement over the intervening century. 

Prospective users are invited gauge the colours to right tones and style, insert 10₰, face the portal and turn the hand crank. A bell sounds when the makeup (the word comes from the Late Middle High German verbs for smearing and stroking) has been applied.

9x9 (11. 169)

sub-space: the potential problems of communications with relativistic spacecraft, traveling at a fraction the speed of light with solar-sails  

new quality productivity: Chinese buzz-words of the year, including a coinage by President Xi 

ailex: artist Alicia Framis announces her marriage to a hologram  

der nussknacker: the Füchtner family who made the first traditional nutcracker is still in the business  

wallsynth: Love Hultén’s custom, one-of-a-kind musical creations have a Mid-Century Modern aesthetic  

the day of the animals: a 1977 nature rampage film from William Girdler  

network effects: building a better, unbundled Craigslist turned out like the trajectory of Twitter 

american dream: Investopedia’s most searched economic terms of the year reveal a lot about how people feel about their financial situation 

 in space, no one can hear you kern: when lost in the inner Solar System, typography can come in handy

synchronoptica

one year ago: Blue Marble (1972), Sovereign Citizens plus using AI to invent a language

two years ago: galaxies outside our own plus assorted links to revisit

three years ago: birdsong in December, more links to enjoy, non-conterminious territory plus more words of the year

four years ago: the Guzman Prize awarded (1969), Scientology HQ plus a lunar cruise

five years ago: the etymology of chauvinism, Dr Magnus Hirschfeld, circular economies, more movie typography plus juxtaposing photography

 

fifty-two things (11. 154)

Continuing an annual tradition, Tom Whitwell shares some interesting and intriguing things, one per week, learned over the past year. Some of the more tantalising facts (most new to us) include how there was a hourly bank robbery in Los Angeles three decades ago, the apparent kidnapping of solar pioneer George Cove, forest cover in Scotland and England have returned to levels not seen in a thousand years, fake navel tattoos that create the illusion of height is hailed as one of the best inventions of the year plus the advent of psychedelic cryptography, concealed messages that can only be received by those on LSD. Much more at the link up top.

top of the deck (11. 136)

Fellow peripatetic and committed flaneur Diamond Geezer is celebrating the milestone of his ten-thousand post, mini-essays since starting blogging back in 2002. We especially appreciate the data analysis that’s typical of his content, showing trends and distribution over the years, unlike my deportment, counting the quick missives and links (increasingly dead ones) and the tendency lately to fudge the dates, use placeholders and shift things around a bit so PfRC doesn’t seem so neglected. Crunch the number, so to speak, he compiled a rather resonant and relatable list of common tropes (not labels) characteristic to his blog: 

• I went for a walk

• I went on a journey
• I went sightseeing
• I went somewhere seemingly mundane
• I visited disjoint linked locations
• I spotted something unusual
• I invented a silly challenge
• I attended an event
• I see TfL have done something
• I wouldn't have done it like that
• I disapproved of some marketing
• I considered the human condition
• I dug into some data
• I made some lists
• I scoured a map
• I made a quiz
• I looked back in my diary
• I was inspired by today's date
• I reacted to the news
• I am being sarcastic

The blogosphere congratulates Diamond Geezer on this achievement and speaking on behalf of quite a few of us, we are grateful to the Blogger platform for its consistency and dependability over the years.

dak industries incorporated (11. 100)

Via Waxy, we are directed to Cabel Sasser’s decade-long curation of a consumer electronics catalog print editions from company founder and enthusiast Drew Andrew Kaplan who operated his mail-order service out of North Hollywood from the mid-1980s to the early 90s. Assembling the ephemera to complete the collection, a retrospect appreciation of the Golden Age of Gadgetry and it’s a rather fascinating anthology of glossy, ad-filled hand-selected inventories to see what was available and aspirational, including pedometer, heart-monitoring wrist watches, exquisite telephones, synthesisers and all variety of hi-fi and recording media and is certainly worth the slow scroll though this gallery (with links to the complete catalogues) of competitors, antecedents and predecessors, like the iconic though arguably derivative Sharper Image.

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links to revisit, a Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes classic plus Gustavus Adolphus Day

two years ago: a classic from Cher plus more links to enjoy 

three years ago: clashes in the Gutenberg workshop plus even more links worth revisiting

four years ago: the geometrical art of Lorentz Stöer

five years ago: low-angle satellite imagery, Meet the Press,  recreating the Old Dutch Masters with packaging material plus an illustrated Roman iterarium

the murmur of the snarkmatrix (11. 092)

In honour of the collective’s twentieth anniversary, Kottke has declared today Snarkmarket Day—actually the quietly influential, occasional blog that’s not been so active in the past few years (I can relate) is pretty thoughtful and reflective and not particularly snarky—and is turning over the reins to members and guest hosts Tim Carmody, Robin Sloan and Matt Thompson for an indulgent cast back to earlier days of the blogosphere and think about how online interactions have changed in the past two decades. Much more at the links above including some pieces I can remember from over the years and a prescient 2010 coinage about generative chat called the “speakularity.”

synchronoptica

one year ago: another classic from Enya, Saint Hubertus plus assorted links to revisit

two years ago: a classification of creatives, another MST3K classic plus more links to enjoy

three years ago: the November Revolution that led to the formation of the Weimar Republic plus Carrie (1976)

four years ago: a pervasive number from Rusted Root, more awful library books plus an embarassment of social media platforms

five years ago: Nixon’s Silent Majority plus a trip through the Rhön

digital chindōgu (11. 066)

Via fellow internet caretaker Pasa Bon!’s latest link roundup, we are pointed to an constantly updated directory of “pointless sites” to poke around and play with. In the spirt of the Tiny Web and recalling the above concept of “unuselessness,” this carefully curated catalogue of dedicated pages and apps that do (or don’t do) one thing is anything but pointless and enjoyed discovering infuriatingly challenging games and puzzles like pick the colour not the word, a museum of dead links and the lava lamp emulator. There’s a showcase of most popular places to visit and a reliquary of the least favourited spots to waste one’s time.

happy blogoversary (11. 022)

Go check out fellow internet caretaker’s veteran blog, Everlasting Blört, and raise a glass for twenty-three years of finely curated posts, active non-stop since we were collectively recovering from our y2k celebration hangover. Some greatest hit have been collected from the past years but do indulge in a long scroll. I regret that EU service providers seem to take objection to the ‘meepzorp’ extension and we find ourselves not able to visit as much as we’d like, but we take advantage whenever we can to check in.  Here’s to many, many more years of quality hyperlinked content.

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links to revisit, the JWST eyes Neptune, more luxury bunkers plus exploring the inaccessible with elementary particles

two years ago: a Scissor Sisters’ hit, a Wagner classic, sneakers patterned off of vintage VHS packaging plus a visit to Gemünden am Main

three years ago: the first radio-controlled robot (1906), Facebook modelled itself off Big Tobacco plus something expressed in gesture alone

four years ago: the first newspaper in the Americas, the downfall of Thomas Cook plus the US constitution’s Bill of Rights

five years ago: Looney Tunes’ propaganda, the Rubik’s Cube plus misheard lyrics of a Star Wars anthem

scissor sisters vs the beatles vs george michael vs aretha franklin (11. 018)

Pluralistic from Cory Doctorow, settling up his link debt of interesting quick-takes, directs us towards a musical montage by Danny Moore (aka DJ Earworm, previously) composed of equal parts of the above seemingly incongruous group of artists called “No One Takes Your Freedom.” It’s got a nice beat—you can dance to it. Many more curated curiosities to be found above as well as thoughtful long-form reads to be found at the hyperlink up top.

 

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links to enjoy,  Our Lady of Mercy plus more links

two years ago: more links to revisit plus punctuation appreciation day

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

four 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

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

webring (11. 003)

Via the always worthwhile Web Curios weekly roundup, we are directed toward this curation of the Small Web in this directory-assistance project from search-engine Kagi that brings back the serendipity of twenty years ago of advancing to the next blog post—see previously here and here. One could really spend hours of exploration here.  Open-source (so one can replicate the feed and make one’s own) and taking nominations, it’s a better way to get back to the roots of the larger project of the internet and getting to know one’s neighbours.

 synchronoptica

one year ago: the Mexican War of Independence, The Hounds of Love (1985) plus assorted links to revisit 

two years ago: the founding of Harvard, a wild orchid plus a Wikipedia digest

three years ago: narrative yoga not just for kids, a comparison of sci-fi worms plus the beginnings of Big Data

four years ago: fleeing East Germany by balloon (1979),  the Montreal Convention to eliminate CFCs (1987), RIP Ric Osasek plus more Brexit omnishambles

five years ago: culling social studies curriculum, the untrodden path plus repurposing an Italian protest anthem

7x7 (10. 970)

pagerank: Google has lost the quarter-century battle over overindexing versus useful search results—via Waxy  

1 346 000/km²: a tour of what was once the most densely populated area in the world, a largely ungoverned Chinese exclave within the territory of Hong Kong—see previously here and here  

corner suite: a visit to a unique corporate headquarters in Czechia with an office in an elevator—see previously 

lunar codex: an archive and time capsule of human creativity launched to the Moon—see also  

motor overflow: sticking out our tongues during complicated manual tasks reveal truths about our brains’ connections—via Damn Interesting  

gone to pasture: an abandoned luxury development in China overtaken by farmers and livestock—via Messy Nessy Chic

cryogenics: Wordpress offers to archive one’s digital estate for a century

synchronoptica

one year ago: another MST3K classic plus assorted links to revisit

two years ago: the chemical element meitnerium, the founding of Greenland, white-winged doves and saguaro cactuses plus introducing Nirvana (1991) 

three years ago: mystic Manly Palmer Hall, Wuppertal’s Schwebebahn, inventor Otis Frank Boykin, liturgical cheese plus Netflix (1997)

five years ago: Trump lashes out against perceived social media bias against him plus Keith Houston on the history of emoji

8x8 (10. 957)

☃️: brr (previously) on electricity and power generation at the South Pole 

blogoversary: Miss Cellania reflects on eighteen years of blogging  

©️: judge rules that generative art is not subject to copyright protections 

ascertainment bias: people who submit to genetic testing and studies are predisposed for it—via Kottke  

pulmonic egressive sounds: an individual who can talk backwards—via the new shelton wet/dry 

lending-library: appealing an injunction, the Internet Archive removes commercially available titles from its public database—via Waxy 

it’s-a me: the voice of Mario, Charles Martinet, retiring after a quarter of a century 

əʊ: lignuists observe the birth of a new accent forming among Antarctic communities

 synchronoptica

one year ago: the State of Idaho, assorted links to revisit plus the plague of overtourism

two years ago: Petra rediscovered (1812), the moon Iapetus, more links to enjoy plus My Little Occult Book Club

three years ago: a canine saint,  AI poetry plus happy birthday Ray Bradbury

four years ago: returning to the Bretange

five years ago: dualling Trump trial coverage, a Romano-Gaul called Ultragoth plus gravity wells and potential energy

happy blogoversary to us—we are fifteen (10. 943)

As PfRC turns fifteen we wanted to once again extend our thanks and gratitude to our readership and to the members of the wider blogosphere (listed under our Smøgåsblog) for their sustainment and inspiration that keeps the internet curious, entertaining, engrossing and engaging.  

Since hitting our last milestone, here’s a roundup of some of our most popular posts with a few honourable mentions:

10. A post on the New York premier of Stravinsky’s Firebird with Marie Tallchief  

9. A growing collection of bad book covers

8. The oldest formal data protection law from the State of Hessen, promulgated in 1970

7. a city map generator with a nice aesthetic

6. the graphic design of Joe and Elinor Selame

5. Street photographer Harold Feinstein

 4. The tyranny of time

3. an AI presents the most popular Halloween candy for each US state

2. an unusual beach house in Baja California

1. The celebration of the Discovery of the True Cross

Honourable mentions go to a claymation short expressing evolving human conscious, a scopitone classic and pie charts to dissect our anxieties

Wishing you all the best for the balance of the year and don’t be a stranger!

synchronoptica

one year ago: our blogging birthday, another Roman holiday, assorted links to revisit plus private equity

two years ago: our thirteenth blogoversary, Nixon takes the US off of the gold standard (1971), the Eternal Word Television Network (1980) plus a modern Euclidean proof

three years ago: high-brow toilet humour,  PfRC turns twelve, more gachapon machines plus a new logo for the beleaguered US postal service

four years ago: Woodstock (1969), a US seafood franchise, our blogging birthday, more on what3words, Japan surrenders (1945) plus the Kölner Dom

five years ago: we turn ten, composer Lalo Schifrin, an architect experiments with public versus private space, plocka uppa plus imagining written English were spoken phonetically

 

hat-tip or honour among thieves (10. 922)

Veteran blogger Ernie Smith brings us back to a time a decade ago when individually curated websites were the acknowledged primary sources for leads and a mainstay for uncovering interesting things. As these finds were propagated, attribution and due credit increasingly were elided over for the sake of virality, damaging the revenue and reputation of the original posters. A curators’ code was proposed in attempts to raise the standard of citation to academic and journalistic levels with an ↬ as a back link and a second ᔥ that’s a direct link to the source. The markup language didn’t quite catch on but hopefully the intent and the collegial spirit remains even as the old, weird web is cannibalised.

bye-bye blue bird (10. 903)

Rebranded as X, Elon Musk who owns the transformed social media platform which he plans to ultimately recreate as an everything-app akin to China’s WeChat, presumably replacing the bird logo across all devices once updates are pushed through, announced that tweets will henceforth be stylised hash marks as well, though the roll-out seems a bit uneven. Calling for submissions, Musk promised he would make the change immediate with a good enough monogram was proposed, and the 𝕏 selected seems to be a decorative insignia from the Monotype foundry’s Special Alphabets 4 font. The choice may prove provisional, however. The original x.com was co-founded by Musk—later rebranded as Paypal after Mush was unceremoniously ousted as CEO.  Though we’d given up on the site some time ago, we’ll still miss our little friend.

synchronoptica 

one year ago: the fall of Stirling Castle (1304) plus the sea cave of Smoo

two years ago: assorted links to revisit,  highbrow smut, a party in a box plus a student animation project that previsions CGI

three years ago: Congresswomen Bela Abzug, St Christina the Astonishing plus El Topo (1970)

four years ago: artefacts and equipment that travelled to the Moon,  the United States v Nixon (1974) plus re-tweet remorse

five years ago: the thagomizer, mapping the brain of a fruit fly plus the god of satire

6x6 (10. 884)

purl 2.0: performative social media is symptomatic of influencer culture and won’t get better until we do  

flag of convenience: the secret language of ships  

extended character set: contenders for inclusion on the new Emoji list include a Phoenix and a broken chain 

new normal: a third of the US under a dangerous heatwave  

sag-aftra: members of the Hollywood actors’ guild join the writers’ strike—see previously, see more 

eternal september: the Threads bandwagon, matriculation is “a contradictory mixture of earnest online community building and craven creator-brained growth hacking”

synchronoptica

 one year ago: “Hanoi Jane” (1972) plus Gangam Style (2012)

two years ago: the elder Fuþark and the runestone of Rök plus the Stone Ship of Nässja

three years ago: a variant line-rider animation with a synchronised roller coaster, Pollux and Castor plus more official American state junk

four years ago: Trump attacks the Squad, honouring Alan Turing plus finding Bob Ross’ lost landscapes

five years ago: assorted links to revisit, Trump’s Scottish golf course, Nintendo made a sewing machine game plus more Brexit fun—aren’t we having fun yet

doxbin (10. 882)

Via ibīdem (plus a lot more worth pursuing), this sort of profile, social summary that analyses one’s tweets and online affiliations generated by GPT might have been more fun and interesting back before the social media platform’s exodus and imminent implosion—and apologies for not being rid of these sharing buttons, it’s some fossilised code that I can’t seem to extract from my Frankenstein of a website without breaking something—but its nonetheless humourous and probably has pretty accurately sized me up and is a nice snapshot of one’s past presence and gift registry. 

 

let’s get tiny (10. 861)

Via Kottke, we learn about the Tiny Awards, chaired among others by Andy Baio of Waxy, that seeks to recognise the best old school sites that “embodies the idea of a small, playful and heartfelt web” with distinction and an honorarium. Candidates include the Ohh! directory, a blogging aggregator, and Brr, a journal about being stationed in Antarctica, all of which we can highly recommend. Check out the other contenders, rewild your browsing and register your endorsement at the link up top.  Rotating sandwiches!