Todd
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Todd
@toddbarnard.bsky.social
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Finally home.
Don't even get me started with the plans for "dirigible docking" at 30 Rock, Empire State, etc. which included a scheduled but never completed attempt by the **Hindenburg**.
2. The building is "30 Rock" in a grotesque display of the Rockefeller family's obscene wealth at the hight of the Great Depression.

3. The original photo is now owned by China and it's one of Xi's most prized possessions in his "fallen America" collection.

None of this bodes well for AI.
December 11, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Not citing the original work, 'Lunch atop a Skyscraper (1938.)C'mon guys.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunch_a...
December 11, 2025 at 5:02 PM
Sorta disappointed they didn't have 'Enter Sandman' by Metallica blasting from speakers mounted on the helicopters. You're slipping, Pete. C'mon
WATCH: U.S. forces seize oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela
December 11, 2025 at 3:42 AM
Green light for all our enemies to start seizing Exxon's oil tankers 🍿
December 11, 2025 at 3:34 AM
Fellow fans of the book know all attempts to make it a film have been cursed and doomed (and most of us think that's a good thing.)
variety.com/2025/film/gl...
Johnny Depp Sets First English-Language Adaptation of Mikhail Bulgakov’s Classic ‘The Master and Margarita’
Johnny Depp is set to produce and possibly star in the first English-language adaptation of Mikhail Bulgakov’s classic 'The Master and Margarita.'
variety.com
December 10, 2025 at 9:39 PM
The pointlessness is that it's China's oil so it cannot be sailed into Houston and made into gasoline but at the same time it has freaked the wolves of Wall Street out and oil prices have spiked causing the price of gas to go up a midst the affordability crisis.
www.cnbc.com/2025/12/10/u...
U.S. seizes oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela: Report
The White House has undertaken a large military buildup in the Caribbean and launched deadly strikes against boats that it claims were trafficking drugs.
www.cnbc.com
December 10, 2025 at 8:06 PM
@ibogost.com Burger related news you may have already read but if not..

In and Out no longer using order number 67 in all locations because of the connection to social media slang for "meh, maybe, so-so." FYI
December 10, 2025 at 7:58 PM
Please refrain from using pr0n slang when covering this latest development, the formal term - "pansperma" - is gross enough 🤢

'Mysterious interstellar object spreading life-creating particles throughout the solar system'
avi-loeb.medium.com/is-3i-atlas-...
Is 3I/ATLAS a Friendly Gardener or a Serial Killer?
Spectroscopic observations of the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS by the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA), were reported…
avi-loeb.medium.com
December 10, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Lurssen finally finished Serge Brin's yacht. Here it is in Miami where it requires **10** (ten!) normal sized dock slips.

Really need Oscar Isaac to reprise his role as Serge in 'Ex Machina' (2014) and do a video tour.
m.youtube.com/watch?v=410B...
Dragonfly by Lürssen – The Largest Mega Yacht EVER to Visit Miami (2025)
YouTube video by Alejandro Jose Farias
m.youtube.com
December 10, 2025 at 5:55 AM
December 10, 2025 at 2:38 AM
I prefer "New Talent Rodeo" but Ok.

Europe is also having a new talent rodeo of super smart people who are currently in the US on H1-Bs.

"Brain drain" still applies here too.
December 9, 2025 at 11:46 PM
Reposted by Todd
I love adding this one data point to economic charts. It works every time.
April 29, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Reposted by Todd
The 19 richest U.S. households saw a $1 trillion wealth increase in 2024, a rise that exceeds the size of Switzerland’s economy.

These 19 households now control $2.6 trillion in wealth — almost as much wealth as the bottom 50% of American households.

If this isn't an oligarchy, what is?
April 28, 2025 at 4:51 PM
TIL Daredevil/Matt Murdock's law partner Foggy Nelson is also the president of the soybean association.
December 9, 2025 at 10:13 PM
WaPo's ability to clean up, embellish, extrapolate and reimagine his tweet is impressive.
December 9, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Very different than 2011's 9.0 violent uplift and plunge downward. But still 7.5 long horizontal slide is nothing to sneeze at. There have been more 7.0 or higher in the past six months than in the past six years.
www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/...
Japan issues mega-quake advisory after M7.5 tremor | NHK WORLD-JAPAN News
Japan is on alert for a possible mega quake after a magnitude 7.5 tremor hit northern regions late on Monday, prompting tsunami warnings. Authorities say the next few days will be critical.
www3.nhk.or.jp
December 9, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Reposted by Todd
I am brimming with holiday spirit
December 8, 2025 at 12:47 PM
Self aggrandizing blog post from one of the companies tasked with improving civic spaces for the 2028 Olympics. Some oddly worded descriptions for built environments that are used differently by different people - oddest is "typologies."
www.rios.com/news/designi...
Designing with Purpose: RIOS' Wonder-Driven Architecture and Design
RIOS designs buildings, districts, and masterplans that inspire wonder and adapt over time. See how our approach to architecture, landscape architecture, and interiors creates meaningful spaces that c...
www.rios.com
December 9, 2025 at 2:15 AM
Honestly Google are we really doing this again?
www.theverge.com/tech/839392/...
December 8, 2025 at 10:45 PM
Supposedly this is proof of human operator removing VR headset but hilarious even if it isn't.
www.reddit.com/r/teslamotor...
From the teslamotors community on Reddit: Tesla Optimus
Explore this post and more from the teslamotors community
www.reddit.com
December 8, 2025 at 5:29 PM
This thing is amazing! I rhetorically asked for a 20 story apartment building-sized catamaran that can do 45 knots and CDK Technologies in France has actually built it. Insane.
m.youtube.com/watch?v=HryD...
The extraordinary Gitana 18 trimaran - Is this the Ultimate Ultim?
YouTube video by Sail-World
m.youtube.com
December 8, 2025 at 3:59 AM
We've failed, obvs.
www.co2.earth/daily-co2
December 8, 2025 at 12:45 AM