Saturday, 8 August 2026

day one hundred fifty six

Greenlandic authorities issue stern warnings to a Trump-linked, Texas-based oil company when drilling equipment arrives and is unloaded via tugboats on the semi-autonomous arctic island without permission—or license for petroleum extraction with Nuuk having a moratorium on exploration since 2021 for environmental concerns and the site borders on a protected wetland. Scheduled to begin drilling according to the company in October, claiming there are a trillion barrels in the reservoir and ostensibly a path to lowering gas prices just before the midterms and a casus belli for annexation should Greenland refuse allowing kit to be put in place.



The US president responds to the situation with a dumb but very menacing AI generated image. The Revolutionary Guard announces that the exclusively Iranian-Omani deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz is indefinitely postponed due to American interference and not honouring terms of their negotiations unless America corrects its behaviour, despite major concessions already granted—with extra disdain for Trump trying to insert himself into the talks that the US administration had nothing to do part in.

(13. 697)

 

synchronoptica

one year ago: Ringo Starr for president (with synchronoptica) plus assorted links to revisit

two years ago: Laverne and Shirley billing 

three years ago: the alien artwork of Karla Knight 

four years ago: Nixon resigns plus more links to enjoy

five years ago: your daily demon plus an MST3K classic

six years ago: a cosmic running soundtrackXanadu (1980) plus LEGO computer consoles

Friday, 7 August 2026

day one-hundred fifty-five (13. 696)

Tรผrkiye enters a defence pact with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, saying the alliance does not contradict its commitment to NATO. Small municipal water utilities across the US experience cyber attacks on their equipment, with authorities suspecting Iranian hackers though Trump dismisses the assessment—instead blaming the incompetence of political opponents like Wisconsin governor Tim Walz. America promises to lift the blockade of Iranian ports without conditions once Tehran and Muscat finalise negotiations to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

๐Ÿฅ (13. 695)

Web Curios directs our attention to an engrossing tool that explores planar percussion, allowing one to experiment with different drums and hear and explore the sonic output in great detail. With Eigendrum (see also) can also outline their own drum and listen to the acoustics, no matter how implausible, with visualisations of the reverb and fade and mallet. The intersection of maths and music, the sound of a standing wave across a bounded surface is −∇²u = ฮปu, u being the edge where it zeroes out and lambda wave length. Most planes however are eigenvalues and do not follow the formula and must be solved numerically, scaled by inputs—in the case of one’s own creations. Bang a gong and do let us know what you discover.

synchronoptica

one year ago: the Milgram experiments (with synchronoptica) plus assorted links to enjoy 

two years ago: retroactive statehood for Ohio 

three years ago: an atlas of the internet, then and now 

four years ago: Come on Eileen 

five years ago: St Donatus, letters from space, dazzle camouflage for cars, mysterious emojis plus husband-and-wife trees

six years ago: getting rid of the rum-ration plus wine windows

Thursday, 6 August 2026

go tell aunt rhody (13. 694)

We have very much enjoyed this curation and appreciation from The Art Room Plant on author and illustrator Aliki Brandenberg. Graduating from the Philadelphia Museum School of Art, Aliki (usually going by her mononym) had a brief stint as commercial graphic designer and founded her own greeting card company before in 1956 returning to Europe to explore her Greek heritage, meeting Swiss native Franz Brandenberg—eventually marrying—and inspired to write her first children’s book on the legend of William Tell, the expert archer of Switzerland.
Well received, her first publication in 1960 started a long career adapting fables and myths with other works on a broad range of topics from her personal life, dinosaurs to Shakespeare. The pictured illustrations are from My Hands and The Listening Walk with Paul Showers of the “Let’s Read and Find Out” series.  Much more at the link above.

day one-hundred fifty-four (13. 693)

After a series of intense bombardments of Kyiv, Ukraine hits back with more attacks on Wildberries fulfilment centres and petroleum refineries deep inside Russia, confounding its ability to finance its war. US secretary of state Rubio and UK foreign minister Milliband emphasised their shared commitment to open shipping channels and preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. Houthis stage a violent coup against the recognised Yemeni government as the movement announces expanded military operations. The Strait of Hormuz is reported of the verge of being reopened as Tehran and Muscat agree upon the coordinates of the route for the transit chokepoint. Whilst Trump, excluded from the negotiation process maintains that he would much rather reach a deal with Iran rather than resume the US offensive, Netanyahu, ahead of elections, hints at unilateral action to prolong and undoubted escalate this costly and illegal joint undertaking.

synchronoptica 

one year ago: the Vostok 2 mission (with synchronoptica) plus assorted links worth the revisit

two years ago: a 1963 surf-rock banger, chess notation plus presidential candidate Kamala Harris introduces running-mate Tim Walz

three years ago: Stay by Lisa Loeb (1994) plus born this day in 1911, Lucille Ball 

four years ago: the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire (1806) plus more links to enjoy 

five years ago: Klaus Nomi, Ghanaian heraldic standards plus Olympic trivia

six years ago: Trieste street photography, anime Spongebob plus caveat scriptor

Wednesday, 5 August 2026

7x7 (13. 692)

astro-boy: striking photographs of Jupiter made with a Nintendo handheld game  

gobaith newydd: Star Wars dubbed into for the first time Welsh airing on Christmas Day—see previously  

vatnajรถkull: Icelandic environmental activist turns to his his skill as a storyteller to champion the melting glaciers and icecaps—see previously  

turingery: the resourceful tricks underpinning the Colossus codebreaker that deciphered Enigma—see previously—via Kottke  

troubled waters: Trump administration opens up pristine nature reserves in the Pacific ocean to commercial fishing  

the i’s have it: parsing a new possessive construction first documented in a 1992 episode of Married with Children  

path of totality: your local view of the upcoming sunset solar eclipse, Wednesday 12 August—via Maps Mania

day one-hundred fifty-three (13. 691)

Houthi rebels target a Saudi Arabian oil tanker in the Gulf of Aden, issuing more warning to vessels to avoid Saudi ports. IDF launches strikes on the suburbs south of Beirut. Tehran and Muscat appear ready to finalise a deal for entrance and egress respectively cleaving to the coastlines of the Islamic Republic and the Sultanate, presaging reopening of the Hormuz under their joint-administration, barring interference from certain third-parties.  Meanwhile Trump lauds the deal to restore access “tomorrow or the next day” with the US manifestly excluded from negotiations, conditioned on the end of the American blockade. Humanoid character and US secretary of the treasury Scott Bessent: “Is this a pigeon?”

synchronoptica

one year ago: posthumously restoring citizenship to a confederate general (with synchronoptica), Trump eliminates board of labour statistics following a week jobs report plus ant-eater coevolution

two years ago: Trump assures Christian supporters that if they vote for him this once, they’ll never have to worry about voting again plus assorted links worth revisiting 

three years ago: an anomaly observatory, more links to enjoy plus the Nixon tapes

four years ago: a chart-topper from Doris Day, an album from Pink Floyd, an insightful globe plus an aesthetic mapping app

five years ago: even more links, a Da Vinci sketch plus a classic from The Beatles

six years ago: potential TikTok ban in the US, early advances in telegraphy, even more links plus a critique of The Giving Tree