Madplanet

Nov 16

A brief Akutagawa interlude -

Nice haiku quoted in this Asahi article, from a recently discovered letter by Akutagawa Ryunosuke:

もの言はぬ研ぎ屋の業や梅雨入空

梅雨入空 is read “ついりぞら” here. It seems to be an invention of Akutagawa’s, and the elided reading seems clever but slightly unfair until you try saying it and the “proper” reading back to back a few times and realise that they’re nearly indistinguishable. At which point you are again inclined to think that Akutagawa was, indeed, a clever bastard.

thedaytheytriedtokillme:

Why Is China Building These Gigantic Structures In the Middle of the Desert?

Targeting grids for orbital weapons? Floor plans for colossal ziggurats?

thedaytheytriedtokillme:

Why Is China Building These Gigantic Structures In the Middle of the Desert?

Targeting grids for orbital weapons? Floor plans for colossal ziggurats?

Oct 27

EFF: "We are generally satisfied with the privacy design of Silk" -

Gratifying to hear that Amazon seems to have taken the non-evil route, despite initial comments suggesting they would have access to Kindle Fire users’ browsing habits. Let’s hope this is indeed the case.

Oct 18

Disgraced scientist clones coyote -

…and will continue cloning them until he has a coyote army.

Sep 28

Up to 16 die from listeria in US -

“Contaminated cantaloupes from Colorado” is positively Gilbert and Sullivan.

It’s official: Apple will announce one new iPhone, or possibly several; they will be bigger than iPhone 4, or smaller, or about the same size; and will be radically redesigned, or will look pretty much like iPhone 4 -

Dan Lyons in inimitable form, on the new iPhone(s).

Sep 27

Virtual monkeys write Shakespeare -

Slightly disingenuous bit of headline-writing, but a fun article, particularly the last paragraph.

Aug 28

Holiday reading list

『虐殺器官』伊藤計劃

『ハーモニー』伊藤計劃

“The Windup Girl,” Paolo Bacigalupi

“Perdido Street Station,” China Mieville

伊藤計劃さんは僕の3週間前に生まれ、2009年に亡くなっていたことを知って悲しくなった。

Aug 24

Jun 12

May 08

May 07

May 04