Open Thread for August 2026
We haven’t done an open thread for awhile, so… What have you been working on? How are you feeling? What’s on your mind these days? What’s the best thing you’ve seen this week? Have you called a plumber to your home lately?
Are you new here? Introduce yourself if you feel like it. Heck, if you’re a regular commenter, reintroduce yourself if you’d like.
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I'm downsizing somewhat in advance of my move, so I posted a bunch of stuff for sale and for free on the local message board here, including a collection of stuffed animals. A woman just came to get the stuffed animals and I was out on my deck and she called out, “Are you the stuffed animal guy?” I replied, “Yes, and I don’t think I’ve ever been referred to in that way before.”
I'm not new to KDO, just the membership, so I'll make my first comment something Jason-like. An interesting thing I've seen would be this video: How Blackwing Pencils are Made.
Japan? Pencils? How things are made? I might have to post this on main.
Oh, I love Blackwing pencils. I feel so fancy when I draw with them.
I love this.
Maybe not the best thing but this past week but I smiled. It was a sign at the entry to a cottage with a picture of a dog and the caption under Warning. “I can make it to this fence in 2.5 seconds. Can you?”
I also had someone send me a picture of my doppelgänger - or my twin. I saw a very small resemblance - but not really. But most of the time people say “I saw your twin at XYZ” - but they never send a picture. So that was a nice aspect of the whole thing. But it shows that usually, your twin likely isn’t.
Finally, I have been thinking of H.A.L. from 2001: A space odyssey. He went rogue because he was lied to. Who is lying to AI today?
Longtime reader and occasional commenter! The most Kottke-coded link I've encountered this month is this archive.org upload of the original (unaired?) Muppet Show pilot which popped up in late July: https://archive.org/details/muppet-show-prowse-pilot
A friend put me onto this documentary about a bunch of misfits (read possibly meth heads) who collect scrap from live fire military ranges out by the Salton Sea. It's kinda nuts.
https://vimeopro.com/route07productions/filmsawards/video/341331549
Follow up thing I'm pleased with: having solar installed on my home. It's only been 3 months and I know it's been nothing but that nectar of sweet summer sun, but my PGE bill has gone from $365 to $50. And $26 dollars of that is gas! Such a game changer.
Last spring I started taking German A1 and A2 classes in person. There is a small German school in the town where I work. It’s so nice to be in a challenging but low stakes classroom environment. It’s a heck of a lot better than Duolingo. The past two weeks we’ve been learning and baking German cakes on Friday nights. They all seemed so daunting and complicated but it’s really incredible how easy it is when you are in a group of enthusiastic learners. It’s nice to have found a little community, too.
Here's a really cool new watch that incorporates a 3D-printed alloy that is half the weight of titanium (which is already considerably lighter than steel) and a "3 GB NanoFiche 'cultural payload' that will last 1,000 years or more. It includes 286 UNESCO preamble translations, curated global artworks, a visual sound artifact by Richard D. James, children's paintings by R.O.C.K., and the original French edition of Le Petit Prince."
I handled one of these the other day and it's an amazing achievement.
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