Avians of Hong Kong & Southeast Asia, Part 1
A few of the birds I photographed in Hong Kong's Aviary, Hong Kong Island, and the various trails in Hong Kong.
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A blog by another name.
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I'm Begging You: Never Write With AI - Brett Stephens NY Times
The problem with writing with AI is that it’s mentally enfeebling—an escalator toward a result when you really need to make a daily habit of taking the stairs.
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This cartoonist must have visited Hong Kong
"See a queue? Get in it!" seems to be a rule of thumb for locals and tourists in Hong Kong.
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Great interview with Christopher Nolan by Zhong Shu
A too-brief interview with Christopher Nolan about The Odyssey that is worth watching.
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Part of the reason for all the AI hype is not what you thought Daring Fireball
The whole essay is very much worth reading, and might make you feel saner for harboring your own doubts regarding just how much has been changed in the world by generative AI.
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Your home vacuum is going to take out the military? Mac Rumors
Let magazine editors onto "secure" chats during military ops? Sure. Let consumers buy great robo vacuums? Danger!
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The Human Body's Hidden Pathways NYTimes
“This is clearly a third bodily system for the circulation of fluids,” in addition to the cardiovascular and lymphatic systems, says Rebecca Wells, a professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
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Was the Trojan War real?
Yes and no—the no part being the plot and characters (and the big horse); the yes part being the city and the siege.
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Researchers let AI models run a simulated society. Grok is extinct in four days. Fortune
Researchers let AI models run a simulated society. Claude was the safest—and Grok committed 180 crimes and went extinct within 4 days
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Negative Capability
I’m wondering if John Keats can’t shake us awake before we crumble to insensate beings, doom-scrolling, giving up on science, and accepting that people need to be defined by party affiliation first and as Americans second.
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American Wealth Pizza
A pizza graphic representing how many slices of pie Americans are getting.
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Artist Anthony Triano
New Jersey Artist and Sculptor Anthony Triano (1928-97)
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BBC 3-hour David Attenborough Nature Feature
Three hours of incredible best-of BBC David Attenborough Nature features.
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On the ending of Colbert's Late Night
CBS caved, law firms caved, Tech giants caved. Colbert instead has the entire CBS building sucked into a green vortex, shrunk, and put into a snow globe
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I'm applying for my part of the Trump Slush Fund
It’s time to stake a claim in the new $1.776 billion slush fund for those unfairly targeted by the government. I will accept nothing less than $5 million for: The fact that every day I have to live with the shame of being an American; That my subscriptions to media outlets, which I had formerly enjoyed, are now brimming with the evil committed by a salacious regime only moderately acquainted with the Constitution or the nation’s history; That their attorneys...
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I tramp a perpetual journey (Whitman)
Section 46, Song of Myself, Walt Whitman
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Tolstoy Diary Entry
Tolstoy diary entry as a young man
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Time is Joy (“El tiempo es alegría”)
Pablo Neruda poem.
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Perfect Days
The film follows the routine life of Hirayama, who cleans public restrooms and during his breaks, relaxes by having a bite to eat on a park bench and taking photos of the sun shining through the leaves above. I have since learned that the word in Japanese for the appreciation of sunlight coming through a canopy of leaves overhead is komorebi (木漏れ日). I have a trove of photos like that, so it should have its own word. I also learned...
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Himeji Castle
Himeji Castle is located in Himeji, about 55km west of Kobe. It is the largest surviving feudal castle complex in Japan.
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