Via Clive Thompson’s latest linkfest (lots more to discover there), we discover this catalogue of scores of visual phenomena and optical illusions catalogued and indexed by one Michael Bach, polymath and ophthalmologist. 
Each entry includes details about the provenance and with an explanation of what’s going on perception-wise, including how to unsee it. Furthermore, unlike this sample GIF of Roget’s Palisade, the illusion first described by the author of the eponymous thesaurus though his take on the mechanism behind the illusion does not quite fit with the current understanding of what’s classed as the rolling shutter effect, the animations that Bach has created can be paused, the colours denuded and sped up or slowed down. Let us know your favourites and what you find most befuddling.
Thursday, 14 May 2026
gestalt (13. 431)
day seventy-five (13. 430)
Trump’s high-stakes meeting with Xi ends after two hours with the US president preparing to depart for home, Trump characterising their relationship as “better than ever” following bilateral talks. Concerns that America would abandon Taiwan appear to be unfounded with that sticking point papered over for now as the Chinese leader, citing the Thucydides Trap, used to describe US-China relations and the fear of being displaced by an emerging power, like the Greeks to the Spartans, should be avoided and work towards becoming “partners and not rivals.” It is unclear what concrete outcomes were achieved. 
Vice president Vance announces that progress has been made in negotiations with Iran but is yet unclear if Tehran’s concessions will satisfy Trump’s red lines on Iranian nuclear ambitions. Fifteen ships carrying humanitarian aid have been allowed to pass through the US naval blockade of the Persian gulf after a month of the sea embargo being in operation. The almost complete internet blackout in the country reaches its seventh fifth day as the government names Mohammad Reza Aref new cyberspace policy chief. Continued attacks in Lebanon has reportedly increased support for Hezbollah.
synchronoptica
one year ago: the latest mashup from DJ Earworm (with synchronopticรฆ) plus night fishing for distant broadcasts
thirteen years ago: the origins of the peace symbol, the magic roundabout plus a collection of food and drink patron saints
Wednesday, 13 May 2026
hairsplitting (13. 429)
US secretary of state Marco Rubio was able to accompany Trump on his brief visit to Beijing despite being under sanctions from China—a manoeuvre more favoured by the Americans to confer status non gratis to critics—thanks to, we learn via Super Punch, to a diplomatic workaround put in place shortly after Trump’s return to the presidency and installing Rubio in his cabinet. As a senator, the Cuban-American who staunchly opposes Communism, Rubio had a long track record of stances against China, including speaking out against posture in Hong Kong and legislation that condemning allegations of slave labour and oppression of the Uyghur population and reaffirming US quasi-support for Taiwanese self-governance, garnering his ban as a possible contender for high office. 
Though the embargo still stands against ้ฆฌๅฏ·ๅฎๆฑๅฐผๅฅง·้ฒๆฏๅฅฅ (Mวkฤ ฤndลngnรญร o Lว Bวร o) for his words and deeds, according to the embassy, a slight linguistic, tonal shift, with a different character to transliterate lu (from ๅข to ้ฒ, reflecting his policy shift away from human rights issues and full alignment with Trump and possible heir apparent)—was enough to grant him entry for officials, whereas the slightest discrepancy between what’s presented one’s identity documents and voter registration rolls would merit disenfranchisement if not arrest (see also, see previously). Trump himself is referred to variously as telangpu or chuanpu by the state and in the media. Moreover, Rubio was also seen lounging on Air Force One’s redeye flight in the track suit worn by Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro after the US kidnapped him—steal his look. Despite the urgent focus on trade, AI-dominance and a peace settlement in the Middle East, the US softening its support for Taiwan, major producer of the advanced chips needed for advancing artificial intelligence, seems to be the objective, changing the official language from America “not supporting” Taipei independence to “opposing” it.
unraveled (13. 428)
Illustrated by AI generated images with the off-the-shelf prompt “lovely knitting” to demonstrate not only the lack of understanding that automated arbitrage has for physical processes and outcomes but outright disdain and disrespect that ascends to a level of hubris that rises above the liar and the disinformed who usually have some level of underlying respect and command of their subject, if only to warp the truth more effectively, Kate Davies channels Princeton philosopher Harry Frankfurt’s definition of the lack of connection and indifference, hollowing out reality and tradition with the performative in his seminal 1986 essay “On Bullshit” (see also here, here and here) to call out the slop factories, we learn via MetaFilter. 
Depressingly, it has been pointed out in various ways that everything is phoney and no one cares, from profile avatars, vibe-coding, self-appointed thought-leaders to the president of the United States of America and his court, and in its defence, the company mass-producing and distributing uninspired, paper-thin how-to tutorials and podcasts assembled by artificial intelligence argues that their output does not matter as the stakes are low to begin with—an assertion the knitting community would object to with the fire of a million suns, but the novice turning seeking knowledge might sadly walk away from the hobby less enthralled and no more educated, perhaps requiring deprogramming after the experience to be ever enthused about it in the future. It’s well worth your time reading the entire post from an actual apparel designer and textile artist in full and reflect on what is happening when actual craft and croft in any form is slurped up and regurgitated and served back to us and labelled harmless palaver when it’s in no way without offence and ill-effect.
⏼ (13. 427)
Via Kraftfuttermischwerk, we are directed to the Listening Museum’s exhibit of power-on, boot chimes from a collection of early computers, gaming consoles, operating systems and messaging services, each tone with an audio sample—some inspiring nostalgia for lost sounds—
and information about the composer or voice actor going back nearly five decades leaving out latter day contemporary pings that can be a nuisance or anxiety-causing rather than something that receiver is looking forward to. There’s AOL’s Welcome and email alert and Brian Eno’s commission for the start up flourish for Windows 95. Though the jingles fell out of favour for some time (like with commericals), they are making a comeback.
schotter plots (13. 426)
Via this demonstration of reinterpreting an ALCOL code from 1968 to regenerate the iconic early computer art (see also here and here) of pioneer Georg Nees with a modern programming language, Python with an injection of randomness, we are pleased to have made the acquaintance—courtesy of Quantum of Sollazzo—of the founding champion of computer-aided design and architecture and studies in computer graphics. 
Working as a mathematician for Siemens electrical engineering division in Erlangen, Nees (*1926 - †2016) got his first experience with programming in 1959, eventually graduating to a Zuse Graphomat Z64 plotter to create his computer sculptures, his original commission being charged with finding a practical use for the machine, the milling and carving of components controlled by the programme, prefiguring 3D printing and showed how code can produce such “gravel,” distorting and rotating the squares to introduce chaos or equally bringing back order. Retiring from Siemens in 1985, Nees focused on aesthetics and semiotics, the study of symbols and signs, as applied to media and design, exhibiting his collaborative work with rudimentary AI engines, as one of the first centaurs, seeding the instructions and prompts with philosophical and mythical commands to see the effects on the output. The Schotter Plots are exhibited in the Victoria & Albert museum. Much more at the links above.
day seventy-four (13. 425)
Oil is expected to remain over a hundred dollars per barrel for the remainder of the year with derivatives including fertiliser remaining prohibitively expensive for farmers. Trump also reaffirmed he is considering resuming major combat operations over Tehran’s unwillingness to accept the terms of the US deal. Saudi Arabia and the UAE have been conducting covert, undeclared attacks on Iran, and Israel, keeping up its assault on Hezbollah elements in Lebanon, have reservations about the US negotiating position, worried that Trump will strike a bad deal with the Revolutionary Guard, as Pakistan’s role as intermediary faces criticism for strategic opportunism rather than being an honest broker in mediation by some.
one year ago: the Episcopal church breaks with the US government over immigration policy (with synchronopticรฆ) plus Qatar gifts Trump an airplane
Tuesday, 12 May 2026
powers of darkness (13. 424)
Though we couldn’t quite place the memory at first something familiar about this intriguing side-quest from the Allusionist hooked us immediately with a literary mystery regarding the Icelandic language version of Bram Stoker’s Dracula (see previously, see also) discovered more than a century after its publication, first serialised in the magazine Fjalkonan (The Mountain Lady) by Valdimar รsmundsson in 1900—three years after the original, was determined in 2014 not to be the translation of the novel it purported to be but rather a work of fan-fiction that took several liberties with the plot.
A third of the length of Stoker’s work, Makt myrkanna did not preserve the epistolary format and is by degrees raunchier, racist and political, and—moreover—was itself found to be an almost direct adaptation of a Swedish serialisation, Mรถrkrets Makter, authored by an anonymous individual going by the initials A.—E., with both Nordic vampires championing social Darwinism and leading an international conspiracy to take Great Britain down a notch as the world power and undermine Western democracy as degenerate for not recognising those on the fringes of society as the true leaders. Listen to the first chapter from our dungeon-master and guide Helen Zaltzman (with excellent plot synopses and fun insights) at the link above and take many different tangents on the esteem of the fanfic genre, the shadowy business of editors and popular fiction and monsters as a vehicle of allegory.
