perfect for roquefort cheese

Wednesday, 14 October 2026

9x9 (13. 883)

distressed assets: Disney to acquire chatbot that allegedly encouraged a fourteen-year old to commit suicide

id 400: a profile of artist Tomoko Sawada’s self-portraiture

forrester’s pictorial miscellany: the stilted knitting shepherds of Basque Les Bas Landes, a lovely rabbit-hole to tumble down

nächster halt: digital train journeys with passing scenery from footage of the route—via Web Curios

spruce wench: Tom Jones’ “Sexbomb” arranged as a chanson from the 1500s—see also

please and thank you don’t cost a thing: the language for abusing machines is drawn from the human one

step into the light: a longitudinal study on belief in the great hereafter—via Nag on the Lake

space and place: the artwork of Ann Toebbe

1up: a toxicologist tries to find out how and why amanita muscaria gummies exist—see previously here and here

synchronoptica

one year ago: Moog-artist Mort Garson (with synchronoptica) plus AI over-confidence and latent belief

two years ago: Pulp Fiction, a simplified LED typeface plus a mysterious visit from Mr Babbage

three years ago: AI can unredact documents

four years ago: Denmark plans a Synthetic Party led by an AI, the first rail route in Japan (1872), more radio calling cards plus a song from English Beat

five years ago: Faust (1926) plus the architecture of Hélène Binet

six years ago: special meal requests plus more natic movements in plants

seven years ago: nominees for Word of the Year, Germany’s Mushroom of the Year plus New York City through an AI lens

eight years ago: the world’s first motion picture (1888), Apollo 7 transmits from the Moon (1968), The Watersons, The Bells of Rhymney plus diplomatic tensions between the US and Turkey

Tuesday, 13 October 2026

day two hundred nineteen (13. 882)

As Trump issues apologetics for China and Russia over helping Iran, Kyiv sustains blows from Moscow without the usual pre-warnings from NATO. Houthi rebels report attacks in Sanaa on Yemeni petroleum infrastructure from Saudi-led forces—more airports and oil installations came under fire as the US leans on Ankara for protection. After a Bulgarian tanker was sunk in the Black Sea by a Russian submarine drone, Sophia recalls its ambassador.

sonnenobservatorium goseck und naumburg (13. 881)

synchronoptica

one year ago: reprogramming government funding to dull the public pain of the US government shutdown (with synchronoptica), penmanship instruction plus more oblique strategies

two years ago: university commas, Peabody visual aides, an out-of-season bloom plus Dungeons & Dragons as group therapy

three years ago: assorted links to revisit plus unlucky thirteen

four years ago: another MST3K classic, the world’s first personal data protection law plus assorted links to revisit

five years ago: your daily demon: Focalor, The Style Council plus a psychedelic design collective

six years ago: a fashion show with puppets plus Witchtok community doing the Lord’s Work

seven years ago: the introduction of the Ampelmännchen (1961), more links to enjoy plus more mushroom finds

eight years ago: democracy by lottery, vintage Sainsbury’s packaging plus a music video from Bob Sinclar

Monday, 12 October 2026

day two hundred eighteen (18. 880)

Ignoring Trump“s unilateral truce (which the American president admits to fabricating) on energy infrastructure, Russian immediately strikes nuclear facilities at Kharkiv and Ukraine continues to lob missiles and drones at Russian oil fields and refineries. Kyiv also targets Yandex data centres, reportedly blunting disinformation bots’ activity with noticeably less campaign engineering than usual. Houthi rebels shut down Saudi airspace again and Iran, reputedly, disables Qatari natural gas exports. Ship-spotting suggests that Moscow is buying diesel from Tehran and selling it to America.

bad kösen, schulpforte, freyburg (unstrut), an der poststraße (13. 879)

synchronoptica

one year ago: a never-ending, generative Wikipedia (with synchronoptica) plus Edwardian scrapbooking

two years ago: assorted links worth the revisit

three years ago: macroscopic seeds plus first kindergarten in the United States and its pedagogical method

four years ago: the lingua cosma of SETI, assorted links to revisit plus building the fake, composite bridges shown on euro bill

five years ago: typographical ornament, a plan for Italy to be annexed by the US plus Jesus Christ Superstar

six years ago: an AI makes memes, Free-Thought Day and other celebrations, a Khrushchev colouring book plus foliage studies

seven years ago: Étienne de Silhouette, the founding of Iran plus social media’s sins of omission

eight years ago: more links to enjoy, mapping returns on solar panels plus the miniature world Tatsuya Takana

Sunday, 11 October 2026

day two hundred seventeen (13. 878)

Shrugging off resounding criticism over his diesel deal with Russia—which is only for about two days worth of consumption—by allies and even members of his own party, Trump elevates his stab in the back for Zelenskyy, threatening to stop intelligence sharing with Ukraine if they don’t stop destroying Russian refineries and suggesting that the country needs a leadership change. At a campaign rally in Tennessee—in what should be a GOP stronghold but has come into play with the disastrous administration—the American president tells the crowd, ”I could say the dumbest thing and you would still clap,“ to thunderous applause. The original MoU having expired on Monday, negotiations between Washington and Tehran remain deadlocked, Trump falsely claiming that direct talks are occurring with the Revolutionary Guards regarding surrender. Hurricane Isaias batters the US gulf coast, leaving hundreds of thousands without electricity and threatening to severely disrupt US petroleum production in the corridor corresponding to the cone of predictably.