AI Use and Awareness Around The World

"The future is already here — it's just not evenly distributed." — William Gibson

Long story short: AI use and awareness are inversely proportional to average national income.

[Graphic from 2026 Gallup Poll results]

A Superb and Exceptionally Rare Carved Emerald-Green Jadeite 'Taotie' Snuff Bottle

Made in the late Qianlong Period [1736-1795], it will be sold at a Sotheby's Hong Kong auction on October 28, 2026.

It is 2 1/8 in. (5.5 cm.) high with a pink tourmaline stopper.

Estimate: HKD 3,500,000 – HKD 5,500,000 (US $450,000 – US $700,000)

Swiss Government Emergency Preparation Calculator

This emergency supplies calculator has you enter your household size and its members' ages, dietary needs, and pets, then tells you what you need to have on hand while you ride out the Apocalypse.

Giant Waterlilies So Big They Can Be Seen From Space

Reaching nearly 10 feet in diameter, 

the waterlilies were discovered by chance deep in a remote Colombian rainforest.

[via The Guardian]; a paper published two weeks ago in Phytotaxa describes the new species in detail.]

SmudgeGuard — Lefties/Artists/Tablet Users, Your Ship Has Come In

Jeannie Lit invented it in 2006 and more than 40,000 have been sold since.

She created it because her young left-handed son always came home from school with graphite smudges along the side of his left hand from writing and drawing.

Fits either hand.

Check out the testimonials: a lot of heavy hitters there.

Size Guide here.

One-finger: $16.99.

Two-fingers: $18.99.

'Treatise on Colors Used in Watercolor Painting' —1692

Centuries before Pantone, in over 900 pages of handwritten Dutch, the author — who identifies himself as A. Boogert — describes how to make watercolor paints.

In the 17th century, the "Golden Age of Dutch Painting," this manual was likely ubiquitous.

Now comes modern technology with a complete high-resolution digital scan of the compendium.

More at Open Culture.

Fair warning: there goes the day.

Wait a sec — what's that song I'm hearing?

Brancusi's Heads — Jessica Fisher

Best Sign So Far This Year

It's to be found outside the Little A'Le'Inn (pronounced Little Alien), a bar and restaurant in Rachel, Nevada, along State Route 375 

(above and below), 

officially known since 1996 as the Extraterrestrial Highway.

Take My Advice — I'm Not Using It

Above, four buttons which I've had on my fridge since last century.

They've never steered me wrong.

Try 'em all!

If you're not delighted with how much better your life gets let me know and I will cheerfully refund three times what you paid to read this inane post.

That's the bookofjoeWay©®™.

Instant Washcloth

Remember those tiny shrimp or suchlike to which you added water and suddenly they expanded a billion or two times while you watched?

You don't?

Huh.

Maybe they were a twentieth-century thing.

No matter.

These nifty pill-like thingies work on the same principle.

Just don't confuse them with Alka-Seltzer.

No — I have no idea what that principle is nor do I care.

Sheesh. 

Now where was I?

From websites:

.....

InstaCloth

Keep a washcloth always on hand!

No washcloth in your room? No problem!

Just splash a little water on one of the 1"-diameter tablets and it will unfold into a full-sized disposable white washcloth.

• Additive-free.

• Super-absorbant.

• Package dimensions: 5.5" x 2.75" x 0.5".

• Great for home, auto, camping, and travel.

.....

Pack of 8: $2.95.

94 MPH on a Skateboard: New World Record

2.5 million views since it was uploaded to YouTube 2 days ago.

The Power of Doing Nothing

It cannot be overstated.

When I get an email that makes me uneasy, unhappy or feel out of sorts, my response is predictable after the initial wave of alarm, anxiety et al: I move on, preferring to deal with it the next day. 

No matter how disheartening the content, it's never as powerful and upsetting the next morning.

It's as if the emotional payload loses some of its power overnight.

This pattern of behavior stems from something I read early this century, to wit: "Anxiety is interest paid on a balance that may never come due."

I don't recall the source but there's truth in that epigram.

And that's all I have to say about that.

Giant Tweezers

I've had these since forever: they're great for all sorts of things.

From websites:

.....

Retrieve items in jars, disposals, or drains.

Convenient hole for hanging.

Serrated handles and tips.

Stainless steel, 12" long.

.....

Two for $5.99.

Do a solid for a friend and give them the second one.

Especially delightful if they're the sort of person who thinks they have everything.

Any Human Ever — 'Draw a Random Life'

"Over 100,000,000,000 have ever lived — choose one."

"You'll draw, step by step: a year; a place; a life, each taken at random from real data."

"One life, drawn at random from over 100 billion who have ever lived."

Perplexity Pro knows how to wrap a package; Google throws it in a spare plastic bag

In addition to its excellent AI capability, Perplexity Pro does an excellent job of presenting its results.

Above, how a typical response looks on my MacBook screen.

Below, what I get when I put the identical query into Google search.

You be the judge.

Japanese Cypress Broom

From the website:

.........

This incredible broom is hand made in Japan by Takada.

The bristles are made of shuro bark fiber.

The stem is gorgeous Japanese cypress.

Form meets function meets cool.

..........

$265.

Life Hack: How To Decide Quickly Whether Or Not To Purchase A Book

Apply the McCluhan Test: Read page 69 and, if you like it, buy the book.

[via Susan Elderkin, writing in the February 17, 2007 Financial Times]

Hummingbird Eyelashes

Photographed by Nicolas Reusens at the Hummingbird Sanctuary (Santuario de Colibríes) in Mexico City.

Said Reusens: 

"When I saw the detail of this particular hummingbird, I was blown away; those tiny symmetrical feathers, perfectly aligned. Absolutely amazing!

[via My Modern Met]

On passing on information

One thing I've always loved doing is passing on to others things I think might be of interest to them.

I've been this way since I was in college: back in the day it was newspaper and magazine articles I'd accumulate and then mail.

These days there's a list of people and online publications I subscribe to and regularly update with things they might want to share with their readers.

Here they are:

The Linkfest (Clive Thompson)

Dense Discovery (Kai Brach)

Scope of Work (Spencer Wright)

Kottke (Jason Kottke)

Damn Interesting Digest (Alan Bellows)

The Overspill (Charles Arthur)

New Things (Joanna Stern)

Unsung (Marcin Wichary)

Benedict Evans

The Browser

Recomendo (Kevin Kelly, Mark Frauenfelder, and Claudia Dalton)

It's taken me a while to realize that I will never ever hear back from Jason Kottke, Kai Brach, Joanna Stern, or Benedict Evans, but I keep sending them stuff anyhoo.

FunFact: It was around twenty years that the penny dropped and I recalled that my mother used to do exactly the same thing: every month or so when I was in college and med school I'd get a fat manila envelope filled with newspaper and magazine clippings.

Clearly the acorn doesn't fall very far from the tree.

macOS 27 Easter Egg

One of my favorite things about being an Apple fanboi from inception (I bought my first Mac in the early 1980s) is how much delight I still get uncovering an Easter egg.

Above and below, the latest.

It appeared after I updated to macOS 27 (Golden Gate); I noticed it last week.

When I use the cursor to include more than one item on my desktop, the number of items included appears inside a giant red dot (top).

But wait — there's more!

If the number of items exceeds nine, the dot changes shape (below) to accommodate the added digits without altering the size of the included font.

It's the little things that give me the most happiness.

Wait a sec — what's that song I'm hearing?

1.5 billion views!

Oba-Q Lamp — Shiro Kuramata

I've loved this lamp ever since I first saw it around the turn of the century.

A 1970 design in hand-cast acrylic.

22" x 22" x 22".

$5,000.

EPA Map of Radon Zones

Forty-five years ago when I was a buyer in search of my first house, radon was a major consideration — many potential buyers insisted on a certified radon level test done inside the house before agreeing to sign a contract (I didn't ask for a test).

At that time radon was considered by many doctors (not me, based on my reading of the contemporaneous medical literature) as a significant cancer risk and for some people high levels would cause them to walk away from an otherwise perfect property.

Time passes and like reefer madness, radon fear has dwindled away to a mere echo of what it once was. 

I haven't seen radon-related articles in decades.

I happened on the EPA Radon Zone map up top and thought it would be of interest.

FunFact: Albemarle County, Virginia, where I live, is in Zone 1: "Highest potential; average indoor radon levels may be greater than 4 pCi/L (picocuries per liter)."

After I bought my house I ordered a radon test kit and followed the instructions to the letter.

The results: well over 4 pCi/L, considered at the time — and still — hazardous by the EPA.

After I got the results I shrugged and went on with my business.

Both back then and now, the potential danger of living in a house with high radon levels seemed to me not worth worrying about.

Genius Hacksaw Hack

Way back in 2007 one of Mister Jalopy's "Blast From The Past" features in Make magazine was titled "Old-School Hand Tool Hacks: What I Learned From The 1963 Bureau of Naval Personnel Training Course."

Among the many interesting tips was the one featured here, which made me swoon with delight at 1) its simplicity and 2) its obviousness — after the fact.

Many have been the occasions in the past when my hacksaw proceedings have been truncated prematurely by throat-size limitation issues.

Never again.

Rebecca Hall x Maison Margiela

YouTube description:

....................

"ANONYMITY" starring Rebecca Hall. A trailer for a psychological thriller.

As she prepares for a role, an actress repeatedly comes face-to-face with her masked double, forcing her to confront her own identity.

But who is real? How can we truly know ourselves? The stakes have never been higher. That is "ANONYMITY."

'Boo! You've Been Buried Alive' — Roz Chast

 

"The first time I saw a mausoleum, I felt like I was home free."