Planet Database

The Muffled Thud of Fire in the Hole

From a 2014 article on The Dark Power of Fraternities by Caitlin Flanagan, this is one hell of an opening paragraph: One warm spring night in 2011, a young man named Travis Hughes stood on the back deck of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity house at Marshall University, in West Vi…

It’s time to de-privatize the US government. “The problem...

It’s time to de-privatize the US government. “The problem is not just that privatization is often inefficient because it adds a nontransparent layer of profiteering on top of government functions. The problem is that government loses basic capacity.”

Q: “An AI tool with all your passwords or a bear in the...

Q: “An AI tool with all your passwords or a bear in the woods?” Signal president Meredith Whittaker: “Look, I know social media wants this. I know you guys want this little clip. But what the fuck? What the fuck?? Both are bad!”

May Peace Prevail on Earth

Here are some photos I’ve taken during my time in Tokyo so far. I’ve been posting new stuff more or less daily to Instagram. Somehow I’m already about halfway through my stay. Somehow these images both capture and don’t even come…

On the Conflict of Losing a Photo Printer

For several years, my main printer was the Canon Prograf 1000. In fact, I've used it several times in camera reviews to discuss how high ISO output looked. But then we stopped doing that, and the printer wasn't used all that much. Most recently, the print head needed replacement…

Better HTTP/1 connection reuse

The Go Blog Better HTTP/1 connection reuse Nicholas Husin and Damien Neil 14 October 2026 Take a look at the following function: func getStatus(url string) (int, error) { resp, err := http.Get(url) if err != nil { return 0, err…

“‘Digger’ has a lot of haters. Here’s why they’re wrong.”...

“‘Digger’ has a lot of haters. Here’s why they’re wrong.” Digger is fascinating — I can’t remember another big movie where public opinion has been so divided (it’s either genius or garbage). I saw it with a friend and he loved it so much he went again.

Anthropic says that, as of Sept ‘26, they were merging...

Anthropic says that, as of Sept ‘26, they were merging 30,000 code changes per day, a 12-fold increase from just four months earlier. The volume increased so much that they wrote their own Git alternative.

Whoa, the Lion Nebula!

NASA’s JWST recently snapped this image of the Lion Nebula (NGC 2392). Massive stars undergo supernova explosions at the end of their lives, but these kinds of events are few and far in between. Most of the universe’s stars have lower masses, like the one belonging to N…

The Case for Quitting: The Surprising Benefits of Opting...

The Case for Quitting: The Surprising Benefits of Opting Out by Lindsay Crouse. “When perseverance turns against us, quitting isn’t just a way out. Often, it’s the first step to something better. A pivot. A break. A chance to go further — or be free.”

Pergear 50mm f1.4 Review: Exploring the Fish Scale Bokeh Look

The Pergear 50mm f1.4 lens promised the look of fish scale bokeh in its images. In practice though, my review is debunking that idea despite the fact that the image quality is still something very wonderful. For what it's worth, Pergear is the maker of one of my favorite 35mm f1…

Jamel Shabazz Has a New Mission

There are two photographers in their 60s and 70s whom I speak with often. One of them has mostly transitioned away from photography and does a ton of video work for brands like Amazon, teaches photography workshops abroad, and spends a lot of time focusing on social media with a…

The New Fujifilm Instax Soft Haze Film Brings 90s Style

Typically photographers love using mist filters on their camera lenses to get a soft glow, but the newest Fujifilm Instax film is doing that for them. To us, it already did a good job of that anyway. Fujifilm's instax series has won over millions of young photographers and casua…

“If a human did this, it would be an instant Fields...

“If a human did this, it would be an instant Fields Medal, no questions asked.” OpenAI recently released 350+ proofs of mathematical theorems, all in one go. “I imagine many mathematicians, like me, felt like they got punched in the stomach yesterday,”

Zero

The term “no-brainer” refers to a suggestion that is so compelling that it would be foolish to even consider not doing it. I came across a no-brainer recently, thanks to Matt Hobbs: Make all UK Government websites free to access without mobile data charges. When I was…

Fujifilm Instax Square 2 Review: How I made Over 40 People Smile

For most of my career, I've looked at Fujifilm's more affordable Instax camera options and kind of scoffed at them, but 20 years into my career, and I'm absolutely charmed by cameras like the Fujifilm Instax Square 2. Not only is it adorable, but if you're a photographer who act…

The first trailer for Greta Gerwig’s Narnia: The...

The first trailer for Greta Gerwig’s Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew. I love Gerwig and I know this will be good, but I’m cautiously optimistic that it will be great. (I still forever have “Chronicwhatcles of Narnia” stuck in my head tho…)

Girls is coming back to HBO for a 5-episode run. Lena...

Girls is coming back to HBO for a 5-episode run. Lena Dunham, Allison Williams, Jemima Kirke, Zosia Mamet, and Andrew Rannells are all returning. I loved this show and will tune in for sure.

The Nikon Z8 Behind a Wildlife Photographer of the Year Winner

The Natural History Museum's Wildlife Photographer of the Year Awards are back, with the main award going to Italian wildlife photographer Federico Veronesi. The image was chosen from record-breaking entries of 65,403 images from 121 countries and territories. This is also the v…

So Many Different Mes

Japanese photographer and artist Tomoko Sawada works primarily in self-portraiture. For her first project, she visited ID photo booths to take hundreds of photos of herself, dressed, posed, and presented differently. Eugenie Shin of Tokyo Weekender calls that 1998 project, ID…

ArtCraft is building open source versions of what looks...

ArtCraft is building open source versions of what looks like most of Adobe’s Creative Cloud apps. Oh, and a word processor and a spreadsheet app because why not?

Meet the Sponsors Behind the 5 Boro Foto Fest

A festival built around real, human-made photography still needs real support to happen, and the 5 Boro Foto Fest is sponsored in part by Printique by Adorama, Sigma, and Signs365. All three are brands that make sense for an event built around actual prints and actual photograph…

Reelizer: A Trove of Movie Art

Reelizer is a personal project by Roger Erik Tinch that is a collection of movie art: prints, posters, illustrations, albums, books, covers, etc. Careful, you can lose hours here…Tinch has a great eye. A few of my favorites: Tags: art · movie pos…

Thing I am going to make time for in the next few days:...

Thing I am going to make time for in the next few days: Harry Styles and Thom Yorke in conversation. “My laptop has been dead for about 6 years. I don’t know where my charger is.” There’s an accompanying Rolling Stone cover story.

The People Holding Up the Internet. Amazing to see how...

The People Holding Up the Internet. Amazing to see how much of the modern internet still depends on the volunteer work of individual people. 4 billion phones rely on the time zone database, a text file edited by just two people in their spare time.

Overdose Offsets: Why Every Bag of Fentanyl I Sell Is Net...

Overdose Offsets: Why Every Bag of Fentanyl I Sell Is Net Life-Positive. “Every death on my corner is offset, with a third of a toddler left over, and I’d like that number in the conversation the next time somebody calls me a murderer…”

“I’m forced to admit that these AI-decompiled web browser...

“I’m forced to admit that these AI-decompiled web browser ports of Call of Duty: Black Ops, Halo: CE, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Skate 3, and The Simpsons: Hit and Run actually seem to run very well.”

The Early 2010s Were the Pinnicle of Human Photography. Can We Go Back?

Recently, I gave my designer friend a camera; he then proceeded to show me a few images. "What I lack in understanding of the camera … I made it up in post editing … Lol," he texted me. Make no mistake, the technology of modern mirrorless cameras is exemplary in the hands of…