Glass Wings Blog

The Glass Wings mailing list and blog is for general idle chit-chat about things we find interesting, especially humor, animation or other subjects relevant to the Glass Wings web site.

Penguins starving to death is a sign that something’s very wrong in the Antarctic

Sat, 21 Oct 2017 23:05:54 +1100

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

<https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/oct/13/penguins-starving-death-something-very-wrong-antarctic>

"Overfishing, oil drilling, pollution and climate change are imperilling
the ecosystem. But ocean sanctuaries could help protect what belongs to
us all"

Neil Gaiman: "My friend told me a story he hadn’t told anyone for years"

Sat, 21 Oct 2017 23:05:06 +1100

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

<http://neil-gaiman.tumblr.com/post/166082106996/my-friend-told-me-a-story-he-hadnt-told-anyone>

"‘I met David Bowie once,’ was the thing that my friend said, that
caught my attention."

2017 Nikon Macro Photo Contest Winners Show The World Like You’ve Never Seen Before

Fri, 20 Oct 2017 21:23:59 +1100

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

<https://www.boredpanda.com/nikon-small-world-photomicrography-competition-2017-winners/>

"Sometimes bigger is better, but other times it's all about the details,
and as you can see from the winners of Nikon's 2017 Small World
Photomicrography competition, it doesn't get more detailed than this."

Nightmare at PDX

Fri, 20 Oct 2017 21:23:00 +1100

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

https://aclu-or.org/en/news/nightmare-pdx

"Cristina Alonso, a 22-year-old college student from Spain, planned to
visit Oregon for six weeks this summer. Instead, border agents sent her
to NORCOR jail in the The Dalles for two nights. Her friend, Professor

State Borders

Thu, 19 Oct 2017 22:44:58 +1100

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

https://xkcd.com/1902/

"It was scary when the graphic designers seized control of the country,
but it turned out they just wanted to fix some things about the state
borders that had always bothered them."

Human success at the expense of other species is “a pretty awful legacy”

Thu, 19 Oct 2017 22:42:46 +1100

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

<https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2017/10/11/16457432/elizabeth-kolbert-biodiversity>

"As humans have grown and spread, they have jammed unfamiliar animals
and pathogens together in the geological blink of an eye, driving
countless species to extinction."

What Facebook and Google Can Learn From the First Major News Hoax

Wed, 18 Oct 2017 21:53:31 +1100

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

<https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/10/facebook-google-fake-news-hoax/542406/>

"The original American penny press told readers that horny bat-people lived on
the moon. The year was 1835. Even in 2017, its lessons are more relevant than
ever."

How Hurricane Response Efforts Are Sorting People into Deserving and Undeserving Poor

Wed, 18 Oct 2017 21:51:53 +1100

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

<https://talkpoverty.org/2017/10/06/hurricane-response-deserving-undeserving/>

"Hurricanes Irma and Harvey delivered a devastating one-two punch to
Texas and Florida, forcing millions to evacuate and leaving thousands
displaced. Now, as emergency responders try to help hurricane victims

‘Pokémon Go with a social conscience’ to fight homelessness

Tue, 17 Oct 2017 21:31:23 +1100

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

<http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/pokemon-go-with-a-social-conscience-to-fight-homelessness-460621.html>

"Social entrepreneur and urban planning expert Phillip Crowe has set up
Space Engagers — a platform that allows people to map Ireland online."

Solving Google’s, Facebook’s, and Twitter’s Russian (and other) Ad Problems

Tue, 17 Oct 2017 21:30:10 +1100

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

<https://lauren.vortex.com/2017/10/10/solving-russian-and-other-ad-problems-google-facebook-twitter>

"Since the level of interaction granularity is so deep on major search
and social media sites, the precision ad targeting opportunities become
vastly greater, and potentially much more opaque to outside observers."