Hello Dear Readers!
Here’s a fresh serving of links to tickle you rcuriosity in June:
Spike Japan, is an old blog that looks at the decaying and depopulated parts of Japan. Check out this travelogue of Kinugawa Onsen – NSFW part at end:
GANBROOD is an artist who makes satisfyingly-ambiguous images with AI.
Nat Sarkissian’s flowers are a generative artwork that can “sway in the wind”
I hate the idea of NFTs, but I love this hot gushy AI Slop by artist ClownVamp 💗💗💗💗 (here’s a writeup on this art installation)
So, I was reading about the battle of Dien Bien Phu, where the Vietnamese broke the French’s colonial dominance over “Indochina”. And this little detail jumped out:
The French forces came to Điện Biên Phủ accompanied by two bordels mobiles de campagne, (mobile field brothels), served by Algerian and Vietnamese women. When the siege ended, the Viet Minh sent the surviving Vietnamese women for “re-education”.
But of course the French army travels with combat brothels! And they brought two to this battle!
Dien Bien Phu was a whopper of a battle:
- The French artillery commander Piroth committed suicide in his dugout by hugging a grenade.
- Colonel de Castries effectively checked out and hid in his bunker during the battle. Allegedly leading to a “paratrooper putsch” where another commander took over.
- About 50,000 Vietnamese combat personnel fought against 14,000 French.
- The battle lasted 55 days – from 13 March – 7 May 1954 (55 days)
Finally, the Viet Minh detonated a 1-tonne explosive mine under the French position on hill A1 and made it disappear:
Reading about the field brothels is a hoot. I especially appreciate that the last one was shut down because of a complaint from a Brazilian pimp about “unfair competition” from the French government. Truly, the wholesome little guy fighting for what’s right.
What’s another year?: The now largely overlooked story of the American civilians that stayed behind in Saigon after April 30, 1975, some due to haplessness, others for heroics, or because they did not want to leave.
Robin Sloan’s An app can be a home-cooked meal and Maggie Appleton’s Home-Cooked Software and Barefoot Developers. I spent a lot of April and May building a “home cooked game” to play with a specific group of people on a specific date. These two articles were on my mind.
From Robin Sloan’s post:
The exhortation “learn to code” has its foundations in market value. “Learn to code” is suggested as a way up, a way out. “Learn to code” offers economic leverage, professional transformation. “Learn to code” goes on your resume.
But let’s substitute a different phrase: “learn to cook”. People don’t only learn to cook so they can become chefs. Some do! But many more people learn to cook so they can eat better, or more affordably. Because they want to carry on a tradition. Sometimes they learn because they’re bored! Or even because they enjoy spending time with the person who’s teaching them.
Weird device: the Cuttelola Dotspen – the motorized pen that puts down dots for you!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zZU05eafFM
I was reading a library book. Whoever read it before, couldn’t help but correct this book’s grammar with a pencil:
That’s it for now – if you liked one of these links, share it with your friends!
Remember: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin and Twitter intentionally hide links that you share on their platform. Because they hate the Web. Each link you share is a little bit of spit in their eye. A tiny likkle spittle for our beautiful friend Mark.
