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Greg de St. Maurice @gdsm.bsky.social · 10d

About nine million years ago, a hybridization involving the lineage of another farmers market star gave rise to the modern-day cultivated potato

www.scientificamerican.com

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Reposted by Greg de St. Maurice

Nick Kapur @nickkapur.bsky.social · Jul 20

It's really saddening the extent to which xenophobic anti-foreigner-blaming rhetoric has completely taken over the Japanese election, in many ways distracting from much more significant issues affecting Japanese society.

japanesemodernity.substack.com/p/xenophobic...

Xenophobic Rhetoric in the 2025 House of Councillors Campaigns

In the lead-up to the July 2025 House of Councillors election, nearly all parties—especially right-leaning ones—devoted significant attention to proposals on foreign residents (Asahi Shimbun 2025a).

japanesemodernity.substack.com

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Greg de St. Maurice @gdsm.bsky.social · Jul 20

Exactly. Politicians should have to actually address economic / cost of living issues.

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Greg de St. Maurice @gdsm.bsky.social · Jul 18

Unconscionable. I hope this gets remedied soon. Thankfully, there are NGOs doing admirable work to prevent human trafficking, rescue victims, and bring perpetrators to justice.

Trump cuts 69 global programs tackling child labor and human trafficking

More than $500m in grants axed as US risks decades of progress in protecting vulnerable workers worldwide

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Greg de St. Maurice

mulboyne.bsky.social @mulboyne.bsky.social · Jul 14

The other day, I was telling friends and family how a housewife originated these Tokyo Metro transfer and exit guides, and they thought I was kidding. It used to be a well-known story. If you don't know it, here's a quick summary.

Photo of a Nanboku Line 乗り換え出口案内 (transfer and exit guide) on a station platform.

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Greg de St. Maurice @gdsm.bsky.social · Jul 11

“We might also be heading toward something like Posting Zero, a point at which normal people—the unprofessionalized, uncommodified, unrefined masses—stop sharing things on social media as they tire of the noise, the friction, and the exposure.”

Social media minus the social?

Are You Experiencing Posting Ennui?

Sharing casual moments from our lives on social media doesn’t seem to make sense the way it used to.

www.newyorker.com

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Greg de St. Maurice @gdsm.bsky.social · Jul 11

“A lot of my peers understand that nothing is guaranteed really, no matter what you study, so you should just study the thing that matters the most to you,” Balh said. “AI doesn't feel like a reason to stop making art. If anything, it’s a reason to keep making and insist on making art.”

NYC art schools see record-high application numbers as Gen Zers clamber to enroll

Yes, even in this economy.

gothamist.com

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Reposted by Greg de St. Maurice

Shannon Mattern @shannonmattern.bsky.social · Jul 10

The Maintainers have released their “Maintainers Study Guide: A Guide to Ground Your Practice in Principles of Maintenance, Repair + Care” — a resource that “reflects nearly a decade of work” across The Maintainers’ conferences, fellowships, research networks, etc

themaintainers.org/study-guide/

The study guide cover — white background, photo of a garage packed with tools, and the title

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Reposted by Greg de St. Maurice

WIRED @wired.com · Jul 6

The age of the AI scraping free-for-all may be coming to an end—at least if Cloudflare gets its way. The IT infrastructure firm has switched to blocking AI crawlers by default for its customers and is moving forward with a Pay Per Crawl program.

Cloudflare Is Blocking AI Crawlers by Default

The age of the AI scraping free-for-all may be coming to an end. At least if Cloudflare gets its way.

wrd.cm

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Greg de St. Maurice @gdsm.bsky.social · Jul 6

DNA reveals female-centered society in 9,000-year-old Neolithic city of Çatalhöyük

DNA from Çatalhöyük reveals a female-centered society with matrilineal lineage and rich burial rites for women over 9,000 years ago.

archaeologymag.com

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Reposted by Greg de St. Maurice

Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · Jul 1

My statement on Donald Trump's threat to deport me and his praise for Eric Adams, who the President "helped out" of legal accountability.

The President of the United States just threatened to have me arrested, stripped of my citizenship, put in a detention camp and deported. Not because I have broken any law but because I will refuse to let ICE terrorize our city.

His statements don’t just represent an attack on our democracy but an attempt to send a message to every New Yorker who refuses to hide in the shadows: if you speak up, they will come for you. We will not accept this intimidation.

That Trump included praise for Eric Adams in his authoritarian threats is unsurprising, but highlights the urgency of bringing an end to this Mayor’s time in City Hall. At the very moment when MAGA Republicans are attempting to destroy the social safety net, kick millions of New Yorkers off of healthcare and enrich their billionaire donors at the expense of working families, it is a scandal that Eric Adams echoes this President’s division, distraction and hate.

Voters will resoundingly reject it in November.

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Greg de St. Maurice @gdsm.bsky.social · Jul 1

That is on the agenda. My Japanese family has also expressed interest so it could even happen as early as next year!

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Greg de St. Maurice @gdsm.bsky.social · Jun 30

Yeow. I didn’t know that! And Kochi is on the list of places I really want to check out.

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Greg de St. Maurice @gdsm.bsky.social · Jun 30

That last part is disappointing! I wonder what it’s like now. When I make it to Shikoku…

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Greg de St. Maurice @gdsm.bsky.social · Jun 30

What’s in Nakamura?

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Reposted by Greg de St. Maurice

David Fedman @dfeds.bsky.social · Jun 28

In 1987, on the eve of the release of Studio Ghibli's Grave of the Fireflies, director Takahata Isao sat down for an interview with Nosaka Akiyuki, the author who penned the semi-autobiographical novel on which the film is based.

A few highlights from their totally fascinating discussion:

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Reposted by Greg de St. Maurice

Shannon Mattern @shannonmattern.bsky.social · Jun 26

"The Mamdani campaign’s identity is the work of a tiny design co-op called Forge, and specifically its designer Aneesh Bhoopathy, formerly of Queens and now living in Philadelphia" — a little bit Bollywood, a little bit bodega :)

New York Magazine @nymag.com · Jun 25

Zohran Mamdani’s campaign had a visual language like no other, drawing on hand-painted bodega signage and New York iconography in a completely fresh way.

Zohran Mamdani’s Campaign Logo Looked Nothing Like a Campaign Logo

Zohran Mamdani’s campaign had a visual language like no other, drawing on hand-painted bodega signage and New York iconography in a completely fresh way.

www.curbed.com

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Reposted by Greg de St. Maurice

mulboyne.bsky.social @mulboyne.bsky.social · Jun 25

The number of drinks vending machines in Japan fell from 2.47 mln in 2014 to 2.04mln in 2024, and 10% are still unprofitable. When a 500ml bottle of Coke goes to 200 yen, some 20-30% may become unprofitable. toyokeizai.net/articles/-/8...

【限界の自販機】｢コカ･コーラ｣200円時代突入へ､今秋値上げで赤字自販機は2～3割に激増も。サントリーやダイドーも苦戦で、連携の動きは加速か

6月中旬、都内の気温が30度を超えた真夏日。汗だくになりながら道端を歩いていると、コカ・コーラの自動販売機が目にとまった。飲み物を買おうと近づくと、ミネラルウォーター「いろはす」（540ミリリットル）が14…

toyokeizai.net

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Greg de St. Maurice @gdsm.bsky.social · Jun 24

Agricultural tariff schedule. There’s so much here. And yet, I’m left with so many questions.

www.trade.gov

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Greg de St. Maurice @gdsm.bsky.social · Jun 22

New dating for White Sands footprints confirms controversial theory

Results are consistent with two earlier studies dating the footprints to between 22,000 and 24,000 years ago.

arstechnica.com

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Greg de St. Maurice @gdsm.bsky.social · Jun 22

Scientists reconstruct 10,500-year-old woman’s face using DNA | CNN

Researchers studying the remains of a prehistoric woman who lived around 10,500 years ago in what is now Belgium have produced a reconstruction of her face using ancient DNA.

edition.cnn.com

Greg de St. Maurice @gdsm.bsky.social · Jun 13

I saw this woman feeding stray dogs in Patan, Nepal. They knew who she was and all but one went over to her immediately. Seeing so many strays was sad, but they clearly weren’t afraid of people. I saw some in stores, hanging out. At night, some of them were sleeping in the middle of the street.

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Greg de St. Maurice @gdsm.bsky.social · Jun 11

W. David Marx compares AI generated art to polyester. From an aesthetic perspective, it’s already losing value just like the artificial fabric did. culture.ghost.io/genai-is-our...

GenAI is Our Polyester

The best way to understand generative AI art and aesthetics is to consider how previous "synthetics" lost value in the long-run For the first half of the 20th century, white-collar workers wore busin...

culture.ghost.io

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Greg de St. Maurice @gdsm.bsky.social · Jun 11

They use a starter, yes. Not sure exactly what but I actually came across some starters they sold for fermenting rice beverages.

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Greg de St. Maurice @gdsm.bsky.social · Jun 9

Absolutely! They also have a fermented millet beverage that is low in alcohol content (and is delicious).

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