“Most technologies are like guns. They tend to get aggregated and captured by those who already have a lot. Technology, in other words, generally exhibits preferential attachment to power.”
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The First Animation That Hayao Miyazaki Directed on His Own: Watch Footage...
The First Animation That Hayao Miyazaki Directed on His Own: Watch Footage from the Pilot of Yuki’s Sun (1972).
“A flock of ring-necked parakeets that were filmed feasting on the wall...
Koyaanisqatsi In Five Minutes
Wyatt Hodgson took Koyaanisqatsi and sped it up 1552% so you can watch the whole movie in about five minutes.
Reggio uses time lapse in the film to great effect — you notice different things at different playback speeds — and Hodgson’s clever use of the same technique reveals the overall structure of the film much more than watching it in realtime…but the emotion of the film is completely removed. (via the candler blog)
[This is a vintage post originally from Feb 2012.]
Tags: Godfrey Reggio · Koyaanisqatsi · movies · time lapse · timeless posts · Wyatt Hodgson
Incredible drone footage of a pileup of 100+ cars, trucks, and semis...
In 1983 Steve Dyer created the Usenet group soc.motss, possibly the first-ever...
In 1983 Steve Dyer created the Usenet group soc.motss, possibly the first-ever online LGBT community.
One Year of Trump. The Time to Act Is Now, While We...
One Year of Trump. The Time to Act Is Now, While We Still Can. “We can’t count on change being brought about by elections when we can’t count on elections. We can’t count on the freedoms & resources we enjoy today to still be available to us tomorrow.”
Lydia Polgreen: In Minneapolis, I Glimpsed a Civil War. “Good’s killing was...
Lydia Polgreen: In Minneapolis, I Glimpsed a Civil War. “Good’s killing was emblematic of [the occupation’s] true mission: to stage a spectacle of cruelty upon a city that stands in stark defiance against Trump’s dark vision of America.”
A report from occupied Minneapolis: So, How’s the Occupation Going for You?...
A report from occupied Minneapolis: So, How’s the Occupation Going for You? “The physical machinations of the occupation are nearly impossible to avoid. ICE stops people randomly on the street. ICE rams cars, sometimes through intersections…”
Margaret Sullivan: With Democracy in Free Fall, the Media Must (Finally) Wake...
Margaret Sullivan: With Democracy in Free Fall, the Media Must (Finally) Wake Up. “It’s as if a five-alarm fire is consuming a city and the mainstream outlets are saying they might smell something burning…”
Reporting on Homeland Security’s seige of Minneapolis. “No one…is even really bothering...
Reporting on Homeland Security’s seige of Minneapolis. “No one…is even really bothering with the pretext that they’re here to make the city safer. This is Donald Trump’s revenge campaign, and they’re the foot soldiers.”
“Scientists have been forced to rethink the intelligence of cattle after an...
“Scientists have been forced to rethink the intelligence of cattle after an Austrian cow named Veronika displayed an impressive – and until now undocumented – knack for tool use.” And: “We don’t believe that Veronika is the Einstein of cows…”
This is a wild Bluesky thread (and bus ride). “they switched drivers...
This is a wild Bluesky thread (and bus ride). “they switched drivers at a rest stop and the new driver is telling everyone that they’re the ones on the wrong bus??” (Gotta be logged in to Bluesky to read, sorry.)
A Visualization of the Evolution of Paris, 300 BCE to 2025
This is an animated 3D visualization of the growth of Paris from 300 BCE to the present day. It was made with Blender (no AI) by Christian Ivan, who notes that it’s a “simplification” and so might not be 100% accurate. To my eye, the broad strokes are all there. The subtle sound design helps with the overall effect as well.
The rate at which the universe is expanding differs depending on how...
The rate at which the universe is expanding differs depending on how it’s measured. Gravitationally lensed supernovas could solve the discrepancy; the lensing allows for the tracking of the supernovas over time.
The Ping-Pong Hustler Who Inspired ‘Marty Supreme’. “If Chalamet has found, in...
The Ping-Pong Hustler Who Inspired ‘Marty Supreme’. “If Chalamet has found, in this role, an all-time character, it is surely in no small part because Reisman was an all-time character.” (Saw the movie; loved it.)
How Russia’s Children Got So Violent. “There is no positive ideology for...
How Russia’s Children Got So Violent. “There is no positive ideology for children in a country fighting a murderous war.” Ultranationalist & xenophobic violence is encouraged by Putin’s regime.
This website is compiling a sourced list of ICE abuses in Minnesota....
This website is compiling a sourced list of ICE abuses in Minnesota. (Click on “List” for the full listing.)
Photos of China’s Green Energy Transition
These photos by Chu Weimin show the mind-boggling scale of China’s green energy buildout.
Last year China installed more than half of all wind and solar added globally. In May alone, it added enough renewable energy to power Poland, installing solar panels at a rate of roughly 100 every second.
The massive buildout is happening across the country, from crowded eastern cities increasingly topped by rooftop solar panels to remote western deserts where colossal wind farms sprawl across the landscape.
Tags: China · Chu Weimin · energy · photography
Wikipedia turns 25 years old. (I can’t believe it’s only been around...
Wikipedia turns 25 years old. (I can’t believe it’s only been around for 25 years…trying to imagine the web without it is impossible at this point.)
At the Stone Skimming World Championships in Scotland (at an old slate...
At the Stone Skimming World Championships in Scotland (at an old slate quarry), it’s distance that counts, not the number of skips. “Anyone who is familiar with slate could instinctively tell you that it’s a particularly good rock for skimming.”
By All Measures. “Our scales are too imbalanced; we are unable to...
By All Measures. “Our scales are too imbalanced; we are unable to think the unthinkable. It goes without saying that it can be paralyzing, demoralizing, to be an individual acting as part of the collective, globe-sized world.”
Visualizations of the growing undersea network of submarine cables, 2013-2025....
The Florentine Codex
The Florentine Codex is a 16th-century illustrated encyclopedia of indigenous Mexico, “the most reliable source of information about Mexica culture, the Aztec Empire, and the conquest of Mexico.” Courtesy of the Getty, the entire document is online and searchab...
Many of us have “lost the future” during the radical uncertainty brought...
Many of us have “lost the future” during the radical uncertainty brought about by polycrisis. “I hadn’t fully grasped how the idea of a better future sustained me — now I, like many others, find it difficult to be productive.”
From XKCD, some common sailing rigs, including the ketch, schooner, offset rig,...
From XKCD, some common sailing rigs, including the ketch, schooner, offset rig, and oops all spinnakers.
Bread Infographic
London bakery The Dusty Knuckle cleverly used a loaf of bread as a graph to illustrate the costs of running their business:
From their post:
This comes off the back of a big decision to increase our bakers’ pay ahead of the new London Living Wage coming in April 2026. Th...
“This should be the year you stop trying so hard to turn...
“This should be the year you stop trying so hard to turn yourself into a better person, and focus instead on actually leading a more absorbing life.”
Divers
Claudette Colvin, Who Refused to Give Her Bus Seat to a White...
Claudette Colvin, Who Refused to Give Her Bus Seat to a White Woman, Dies at 86. “History had me glued to the seat.” Her refusal predates Rosa Parks’ similar stand, but she was deemed “too dark-skinned and too poor” to be a civil rights symbol.