1,277,500 sunrises, 1,277,500 sunsets experienced. The oldest olive tree in the world is on the island of Crete, about 3500 years old. 💚☘️🌿🌱🌲🌳🍀💚

every word of this went in directions I never would've guessed in a thousand years

Odd This Day@oddthisday.bsky.social · 3d ago

Tragically today, it’s the 386th anniversary of the death of René Descartes’ daughter Francine at the age of just five—to which he responded by building a robot daughter he took everywhere with him until she was murdered by superstitious sailors, hastening the philosopher’s own death Well... 🧵

It's Labor Day, so I'm laboring today. I'm pretty sure that's not how holidays are supposed to work.

An interesting perspective from one of my favorite down to earth tech experts. Well worth reading.

Bill Thompson@billt.bsky.social · 4d ago

I want us to think about agentic swarms as being more like organs formed from cooperating cells than emerging intelligence. Otherwise our descent into anthroporphism will distract us, On LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/pulse/civili... and my blog astickadogandaboxwithsomethinginit.com/not-a-civili...

You gotta admit, that's funny. And by funny, I mean absolutely fucking hilarious.

Patton Oswalt@pattonoswalt.bsky.social · 5d ago

Apparently people are sharing this far and wide on social media, which I think is horrible. This could cripple ICE operations. PLEASE do not share this.

10 years ago, DeepMind's AlphaGo defeated grandmaster Lee Sedol. Since then, AI has gotten a hell of a lot better. Shin Jin-seo must be doing something pretty astonishing to defeat KataGo. www.pcgamer.com/software/ai/...

Go grandmaster becomes first human to win series against advanced AI engine in 3-hour match

We've still got some fight left in us.

pcgamer.com

A couple of weeks ago @jameswallis.bsky.social posted about the government's official list of Great British Films for immigrants to understand our culture. Mine's somewhat different. (And sorry, James, no Bond.) mattkelland.substack.com/p/great-brit...

Great British films

The films that sum up who we are aren’t the ones the Government thinks they are.

mattkelland.substack.com

Impressed with Charlie's Subaru in Augusta. A bit on my Forester broke. Estimated repair cost was well over $1000. Subaru had issued an extended warranty as it's a known defect, but it expired about a year ago. However, the dealership decided to honor the warranty anyway and fixed it at zero cost.

That's a damn fine dedication.

laura olin@lauraolin.bsky.social · 7d ago

If you haven’t read the dedication of Gloria Steinem’s autobiography My Life on the Road, it is really worth taking a second today.

If you're planning to vote by mail, assume that USPS will refuse to deliver your ballot. Even if you've done everything perfectly, if there's an issue with just one of your neighbors, your ballot will be thrown out along with theirs and you will not be notified.

Matt Novak@paleofuture.bsky.social · last wk.

This is pretty fucking wild. I had assumed in a worst case scenario he would target blue zip codes and toss ballots based on technicalities but this is even worse than I imagined.

Up to episode 20 with my music radio experiment. Weekly on Friday an hour of all my favourite records and a bit of chat about me, and trivia about music and life. Join the literally *tens* of people who choose The Black Room for their weekly radio entertainment mixcloud.com/philsouth

Phil South

Phil South is on Mixcloud. Listen for free to their radio shows, DJ mix sets and Podcasts

mixcloud.com

Like everyone else, I was taught HOMES, but now it's Superior Huron America Michigan Erie SHAME

Alt National Park Service@altnps.bsky.social · 2w ago

Google Maps has officially caved and changed the map.

Solutions to all the world's problems #cartoon

Because OF COURSE THEY DID. What else were they going to do? americansongwriter.com/dolly-parton...

Dolly Parton’s Grand Ole Opry Tribute Saves Its Most Emotional Moment for Last

Dolly Parton got the last word at her Grand Ole Opry tribute, as the audience watched her 2020 performance of "I Will Always Love You."

americansongwriter.com

I always thought Gibraltar was the very southern tip of Spain, close to Morocco. But nope, that's Faro Isla de las Palomas.

My favorite piece of Tim Curry music isn't Sweet Transvestite, or anything else from Rocky Horror. It's this powerful little number, from his 1978 solo album Read My Lips. (Written by Bob Ezrin & Michael Kamen, later famously covered by Joe Bonamassa.) www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmRe...

Tim Curry - Sloe Gin (HQ)

YouTube video by AmirSuperTube

youtube.com

Reading and writing are taking a back seat for a while. Big changes are happening, and I'm not going to have time for much else until November or December. mattkelland.substack.com/p/my-septemb...

My September reading list - yeah, about that...

Why I won't be reading or writing much for a couple of months

mattkelland.substack.com

Imagine a world in which Welles and Wells got together to talk about War of the Worlds... it actually happened. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iexi...

From War of the Worlds to Citizen Kane: Wells & Welles | Their Historic1940 Interview Meeting

YouTube video by YesterHear

youtube.com

A thought I can’t get out of my head since Dolly Parton died: Can you *imagine* what kind of world we’d be living in if everyone who had the same kind of money as Dolly had was spending their money on the same sorts of things Dolly spent hers on…?

This one's all the fault of @jameswallis.bsky.social - sorry, James, there are no Bond movies on my list either. (To be published in about a week over at the Other Place.)

I've seen RHPS far too many times. I guess I'll be watching this instead.

Zuck's vision of AI is that it will eventually do everything for you, including reading, watching TV, listening to music, and your hobbies. So what exactly are humans supposed to do? Lie around in a coma? What's the point of being alive if all the things you actually enjoy are done by a machine?

Dolly may have saved my life. And yours. ❤️

Amadi Lovelace@amaditalks.bsky.social · 2w ago

Remember that if you got the Moderna Covid vaccine, you have Dolly Parton to thank, she gave the largest individual contribution toward their research to make it possible.

Most people know me as a metalhead / rocker, but I have to admit, the finest gig I ever went to was Dolly Parton.

In my mind, I hear, "Bye bye, boys, have fun pulling the castle!" japantoday.com/category/nat...

1,000 help tow 400-ton castle keep closer to original position

About 1,000 people towed the roughly 400-ton keep of a traditional castle in northeastern Aomori Prefecture on Sunday, moving it 109 centimeters closer to its original position after it was relocated ...

japantoday.com

I can't choose between Raccoon Bordello and The Grateful Raccoon.

James Wallis@jameswallis.bsky.social · 3w ago

Raccoon Town

Most people can't stand liver and onions. I am not most people.

I had plans for today. Important, stuff-needs-doing plans. Instead I read two books, listened to a lot of Tool and Pineapple Thief, watched the Dutch GP and not a lot else. Come to think of it, it's been a busy day.

I remember something similar when I changed my profession from computer programmer to software designer. (Or the other way round, it was 35+ yrs ago.) Algorithms and personalized pricing are stupid.

Miles 🩻@blacksmoke1033.bsky.social · 3w ago

I insured my first car on Friday and idk who needs to hear this, but changing my profession from ‘artist’ to ‘illustrator’ dropped the quote by £70 and I don’t know why either

I am so sick of people telling me that I can’t use em-dashes because they make me look like an AI. I’m looking forward to telling them that not using em-dashes now makes you look like an AI. Oh, and my overuse of commas is now a badge of pride.