Tootfinder

Good Morning #Canada
Are you still looking for that perfect Christmas gift? Years ago I found myself shopping for my wife's Christmas present on December 23rd. Never again. For those of you still shopping it's inevitable that you're going to be standing in front of the Gift Card rack and mentally convincing yourself that the recipient will love a full gas tank or a Timmies coffee and donut. Canadians will buy close to $12 billion in Gift Cards in 2025, with a lot of that in the next 5 days. Recent changes to legislation have made it illegal to charge processing or activation fees on cards purchased with cash and there is no expiry date. That last point is important because companies are betting that a certain percentage of cards are never redeemed and it's estimated that approximately 40% of all cards are never used. I personally like getting a gift card as it allows me to choose something I want, and I always thank the gifter once I've used it.
#CanadaIsAwesome #GiftCards
YES, I love giving and receiving Gift Cards
NO, I'm not happy when I have to buy or get a Gift Card

“God gave us this incredible gift of an intellect and curiosity and an opportunity to explore how nature works,”
Dr Francis Collins, former director of National Institutes of Health said.
“And God gave us nature as well
and we get the chance through science to do that.
I think of science as glimpsing God’s mind.
Science is almost a form of worship because what you’re trying to do there is to be completely caught up in the awe of what we’ve been given in natu…

Francis Collins and Marc Siegel say medicine is a gift from God
“To have Christians be the group that was most resistant” to the Covid vaccine “really seems wrong here,” said former NIH Director Francis Collins.

https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2025/02/trump-musk-press-freedom/681777/?gift=7dKtnNrILXcLLty1b9gh3m-0XLxOe2ECYx1itaDCfr4&…

The free-speech phonies
Donald Trump and Elon Musk never believed in anyone’s free speech except their own.

Buchgrafik als optische Umweltgestaltung
https://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/buecher/zum-100-gebur…

Zum 100. Geburtstag des Buchgestalters Willy Fleckhaus
Er orientierte sich an der Tradition der farbenfreudigen Moderne von Mondrian bis Albers: Zum hundertsten Geburtstag des genialen Buchgestalters Willy Fleckhaus.

While researching gift cards this morning I learned that fraud has increased significantly and that the card balance can be drained before your recipient gets a chance to spend it. It's still relatively rare but possible.
#FraudAwareness
https://www.cbc.ca/news/gopublic/go-public-gift-cards-theft-organized-crime-1.7475283

Having watched the first two episodes, the standouts IMO were Nus Braka (Paul Giamatti), SAM (Kerrice Brooks), Lura Thok (Gina Yashere), and Jett Reno (Tig Notaro).
I fear that, like #StarTrekDiscovery, #StarfleetAcademy’s strong, female captain may be its least interesting character. H…

🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on KEXP's #MorningShow
The Feal:
🎵 Gift Horse
#TheFeal
https://thefealmusic.bandcamp.com/track/gift-horse
https://open.spotify.com/track/2t5Bibs4manXbXD52aiDdb

Trump Doesn’t Want Legal Immigrants Either - The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/01/trump-legal-immigration/685649/?gift=7dKtnNrILXcLLty1b9gh3mf0GxxWISlQQCHvppqliIM

Trump Doesn’t Want Legal Immigrants Either
New limits reflect sloppy reasoning and a desire for collective punishment.

A profile of Wikipedia as it faces challenges, including attacks from Elon Musk and the far right, reduced traffic due to AI, and legal challenges in India (Darren Loucaides/Financial Times)

"Jesse Jackson was a gift from God and a witness that God exists in the ways he cared for and lifted all people, the way he called forth a rainbow coalition of people to challenge economic and social inequality from the pulpit to a historic presidential run, the way he dared to keep hope alive whenever the nation struggled with being who she says she is and yet ought to be."
—The Rev. Dr. William Barber
Full statement here:

So, one of our bonus daughters came over for the first time this year and we did our Christmas gift exchange and she made EACH of us a little stuffed cat, our two eldest cats (RIP) and our youngin’ cat (the one on the right)
❤️❤️❤️❤️🤩
She has a site, apparently!
https://linktr.ee/fuzzyfamiliars

Erneut teile ich dieses wundervolle Saag-Shrimp-Rezept mit Euch Folgenden, und es schmeckt auch mit einem Drittel der Ghee-Menge und ohne "heavy cream" fantastisch. #nommention

Saag Shrimp Recipe (Gift Recipe)
Saag comes in so many ingenious variations. Leafy greens, such as spinach, amaranth, mustard greens or fenugreek, make up the bulk. A heady blend of spices and aromatics provide the foundation, and different proteins can be added to enhance texture and flavor. This version, adapted from the chef Pourin Singh’s recipe at Le Taj in Montreal, is made with plump shrimp, which add a complementary brininess. The secret to Mr. Singh’s version is the freshness of his ingredients: the spices, the sp…

Gedupeerde legt beslag op sculptuur in de tuin van het Ministerie van Financiën en dat toont zich een slecht verliezer: niet betalen, wel procederen. Wat een stelletje loosers... https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2026/02/16/toeslagenouder-legt-beslag-op-standbeeld-ministerie-wegens-niet-betaalde-dwangsom-a4920556?gift_token=4920556~1771887853~8461zGC_TN2dSsAGxzbXqQ~FlTaSN3r5EixCKiaAypwg1_QAt6rljSqGBaow7g_cEY

Nice! A clean getaway >:3
Anyway, enjoy the $20 gift cards!
Verizon blames nationwide outage on a "software issue"
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/mobile/verizon-blames-nationwide-outage-on-a…

Verizon blames nationwide outage on a "software issue"
Verizon has confirmed that yesterday's nationwide wireless outage was caused by a software issue, though the company has not shared additional details about what went wrong.

Trump’s National Gallery Portrait - The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026/01/trumps-national-gallery-portrait/685666/?gift=7dKtnNrILXcLLty1b9gh3r8RoKTaVZ0EL18buU6YwR8 "The photo in…

Trump’s National Gallery Portrait
The National Portrait Gallery removed key details from the caption beside the president’s photograph. It still has a story to tell.

OpenAI hires former UK chancellor George Osborne to lead OpenAI for Countries, the global expansion arm of its $500B Stargate data center initiative (Financial Times)

moreno_taro: Papuan gift-giving (1970)
A network of gift-giving relationships (taro exchange) among households in a Papuan village. Data collected by survey c.1970.
This network has 22 nodes and 78 edges.
Tags: Social, Offline, Unweighted
https://networks.skewed.de/net/moreno_ta…

'The More I'm Around Young People, the More Panicked I Am' (Yair Rosenberg/The Atlantic)
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/12/american-anti-semitism-youth/685261/?gift=201cWZnM2XBz2eP81zy0pKzalIF1o9O62TXPXN_SOP8&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
http://www.memeorandum.com/251215/p109#a251215p109

This piece (gift) https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/12/camp-of-saints-jean-raspail/685213/?gift=UABFCv9wcedkDH-6g8sMn4pxKH_kT31HyDyWrhMG6YM&…

We zijn in acuut gevaar, maar blijven wensdenken over de VS.
https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2026/02/13/we-zijn-in-acuut-gevaar-maar-blijve…

Opinie | We zijn in acuut gevaar, maar blijven wensdenken over de VS
Geopolitiek: Amerika heeft zich niet alleen van ons af, maar tégen ons gekeerd, ziet Joris Luyendijk. Maar om hem heen doen de meesten alsof er uiteindelijk niets aan de hand is.

A gift to Putin! Controversial bill in the US congress could leave NATO without American support: https://benborges.xyz/2025/12/10/a-gift-to-putin-controversial.html

AI toys for kids talk about sex and issue Chinese Communist Party talking points, tests show
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/ai-toys-gift-present-safe-kids-robot-child-miko-grok-alilo-miiloo-rcna246956

AI kids' toys give explicit and dangerous responses in tests
AI-powered kids' toys like Miko 3 have hit shelves this holiday season, claiming to rely on sophisticated chatbots to animate interactive robots for children.

Trump's Injustice department launches "investigation" of Minnesota's governor and Minneapolis mayor.
(Gift link)
https://wapo.st/4jJTJ8Y

🎁 Looking for the perfect festive gift for the reader in your life? Give the gift of adventure this Christmas!
Dive into the epic worlds created by author Linda Teppler, including the compelling tale of Hunchback and the fantasy saga Champions of Falural.
Find them on Kindle today in ebook, audiobook, paperback, and hardback editions! Please hit Follow on her author page—it's the best digital stocking stuffer!

Machado gave Trump the Nobel prize medal and got a swag bag in return, aha. Not even a t-shirt?!?
And of course he kept the medal—it’s made of gold, after all.
https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/15/americas/venezuela-machado-trump-meeting-nobel-intl-hnk

Großer Häfenreport - Das passiert in Zellen: Gift, Handys, Social Media #News #Nachrichten

De luchtvaartsector, inclusief het ministerie, blijven op #vliegtuigstand staan als het gaat om kritiek:
Nieuwe Schipholwet lijkt strenger, maar helpt omwonenden niet echt.
Tijd voor amendementen die de geluidsregels, uitvoerbaar en handhaafbaar maken, en die omwonenden wel beschermen.
https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2026/02/15/nieuwe-schipholwet-zou-omwonenden-beter-beschermen-beloofde-demissionair-kabinet-maar-de-nieuwe-wet-legaliseert-vooral-bestaande-overlast-a4920219?gift_token=4920219~1771851019~8461zGC_TN2dSsAGxzbXqQ~cgoUj5sXhuEtcrJtZzl8pyu5skTZglVmxcDtedNhUgA

FPF Holiday Gift Guide for AI-Enabled, Privacy-Forward AgeTech
https://fpf.org/blog/fpf-holiday-gift-guide-for-ai-enabled-privacy-forward-agetech/
@…

Zum Tod von Cees Notsboom
https://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/buecher/autoren/tod-von-cees-noteboo…

Tod von Cees Noteboom: Er war Chaos und Ordnung
Ein großes Sensorium für die Kunst in der Welt und die Welt in der Kunst: Zum Tod des niederländischen Schriftstellers Cees Nooteboom

Sources detail Mark Zuckerberg's all-in bet to make Meta an AI leader, with some saying Alexandr Wang finds Zuckerberg's micromanagement of AI work suffocating (Financial Times)

moreno_taro: Papuan gift-giving (1970)
A network of gift-giving relationships (taro exchange) among households in a Papuan village. Data collected by survey c.1970.
This network has 22 nodes and 78 edges.
Tags: Social, Offline, Unweighted
https://networks.skewed.de/net/moreno_ta…

#canada #denmark

I guess no-one should ever buy Apple gift cards. https://hey.paris/posts/appleid/

In a world with kings, our only agency is to beg “please, sir, be kind.”
#apple #BigTech

20 Years of Digital Life, Gone in an Instant, thanks to Apple
Summary: A major brick-and-mortar store sold an Apple Gift Card that Apple seemingly took offence to, and locked out my entire Apple ID, effectively bricking my devices and my iCloud Account, Apple Developer ID, and everything associated with it, and I have no recourse. Can you help? Email paris AT paris.id.au (and read on for the details). ❤️ Here’s how Apple “Permanently” locked my Apple ID. I am writing this as a desperate measure.

Shares of Kyndryl, the US company that will take control of the Dutch DigID digital identity app (if government doesn't prevent this) crash as the CFO leaves and the quarterly report is postponed.

De koers keldert van Kyndryl, het bedrijf dat Solvinity wil kopen
De koers van het Amerikaanse bedrijf Kyndryl is meer dan gehalveerd op Wall Street. Dat volgde op het nieuws dat de financiële topman van de IT-dienstverlener maandag opstapte en het bedrijf zijn volledige kwartaalrapport later indient, melden persbureaus. Kyndryl is een afsplitsing van IBM. Het bedrijf kwam recent in Nederland in het nieuws omdat Kyndryl het van oorsprong Nederlandse bedrijf…

I regret that I have inadvertantly informed you falsely. Yes, there is widespread fraud in gift cards around but Apple (and Shoppers Drug Mart) did deliver when I found the right strip to scan.
The link below has not been changed but I have deleted what I typed
https://glo…

B.C. charity warns of gift card scam after purchased and loaded card was blank
Experts say this kind of scam is becoming increasingly common, and in some cases, scammers pull gift cards from racks, record the PIN, and then put them back.

Jesus fucking christ.
https://hey.paris/posts/appleid/

20 Years of Digital Life, Gone in an Instant, thanks to Apple
Summary: A major brick-and-mortar store sold an Apple Gift Card that Apple seemingly took offence to, and locked out my entire Apple ID, effectively bricking my devices and my iCloud Account, Apple Developer ID, and everything associated with it, and I have no recourse. Can you help? Email paris AT paris.id.au (and read on for the details). ❤️ Here’s how Apple “Permanently” locked my Apple ID. I am writing this as a desperate measure.

They're tear-gassing children. For no reason. (gift link)
https://www.theverge.com/policy/872783/tear-gas-children-portland-ice-labor?view_token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJpZCI6Ik82RXlIMFRrQmciLCJwIjoiL3BvbGljeS84NzI3ODMvdGVhci1nYXMtY2hpbGRyZW4tcG9ydGxhbmQtaWNlLWxhYm9yIiwiZXhwIjoxNzcwNTU5NDA5LCJpYXQiOjE3NzAxMjc0MDl9.NXDhQVZs0OcbLM77v7-6vvt15w2y84nywTGWgPgZ1uo&utm_medium=gift-link

I love The Onion.
Go buy a gift subscription for loved ones this holiday season.
#gifts

Give yourself the gift of digital permanence by applying for a DPOE grant to pay for digital preservation training this spring.
Students who've applied it to my online DIG 550 class https://DigitalCuration.UMaine.edu say it's easy and paid for the course.
---

“So I would advise and caution against purchasing an AI toy for Christmas and think about other options of things that parents and kids can enjoy together that really build that social connection with the family, not the social connection with a parasocial AI toy.”
Many of these toys are happy to engage in discussions inappropriate for children, such as dangerous activities or sexual practices. Some are programmed to cause addiction.

Column | Afscheid van de vrije samenleving
https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2025/12/09/afscheid-van-de-vrije-samenleving-a4914779?gift_token=4914779~1765966073~…

Holiday gift guide 2025: Something for every sports fan on your list https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6834129/2025/12/01/sports-fan-holiday-gift-guide-books-apparel-kids/

On the immaterial spirit of giving:
https://salrandolph.substack.com/p/ways-of-seeing-the-gift-2025

Ways of Seeing: The Gift
The gift as a form of attention, exploring the gift economies described by Marcel Mauss and Lewis Hyde.

my university friend group's Secret Santa got delayed until today, but that only made the gift I got hit harder

A post from the archive 📫:
The gift of time
#musings

Best voorspelbaar dit, los van dat ik een groot voorstander ben van reguleren BigTech

In Australië zijn sociale media al verboden voor jongeren. Werkt dat? ‘Ik ken niemand die geen account meer heeft’
De eerste Australische zomervakantie sinds een verbod op sociale media voor kinderen is voorbij. De meeste scholieren in Sydney hebben weinig van de maatregel gemerkt. "Voor mij bleef alles hetzelfde, ik hoefde niet eens te liegen."

"I volunteer in a repair cafe: we can help you learn to fix your broken Christmas gift"
#Christmas #RepairCafe

I volunteer in a repair cafe: we can help you learn to fix your broken Christmas gift
Hundreds of items are taken to repair cafes after Christmas in the hope that they can be fixed.

Cowboys WR trolls Dak Prescott with custom gift over Egg Bowl rivalry https://www.si.com/nfl/cowboys/onsi/news/dallas-cowboys-wr-trolls-dak-prescott-custom-gift-over-egg-bowl-rivalry

Y’know, if history’s anything to go by, that kind of sentiment’s likely to have your corpse exhumed and tried for regicide. https://tomkahe.com/@GiftArticles/116073977239739909

🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on KEXP's #VarietyMix
Mark Hollis:
🎵 The Gift
#MarkHollis
https://open.spotify.com/track/7nviB40euH8GciNuOn7uci

Elon Musk Cannot Get Away With This (The Atlantic)
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/01/elon-musk-cannot-get-away-with-this/685606/?gift=nwn-guseqS6cY1kVeEKZARPUD5FicQUDwrnSCQCdUjM
http://www.memeorandum.com/260113/p169#a260113p169

Think of this as a good place to start
— for you and your loved ones
— to expand your knowledge of indie news outlets
who are more deserving of your time and money than corporate, billionaire-owned media.
And feel free to add your suggestions in the comments.
https://www.thehandbaske…

Giving the gift of independent journalism: a guide
The Handbasket has subscription suggestions for almost everyone on your list.

A profile of Wikipedia as it faces challenges, including attacks from Elon Musk and the far right, reduced traffic due to AI, and legal challenges in India (Darren Loucaides/Financial Times)

A look at Kari Lake's 11 months as US Agency for Global Media de facto head, as she wasted money and blocked work to bring reliable news to repressive countries (The Atlantic)
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/02/

What Is Kari Lake Trying to Achieve?
The Arizona politician has wasted millions of dollars while blocking U.S. efforts to bring reliable news to repressive countries.

NS Dutch Railways transfers part of its ICT from a Dutch supplier to an American-owned company, which offered a low price.

NS besteedt ict deels uit aan Amerikaanse leverancier
Strategische autonomie: Ondanks alle discussies over strategische autonomie kiest NS een Amerikaanse beheerder voor cruciale IT-diensten. „Als iedereen zo handelt als NS, bouwen we nooit eigen digitale infrastructuur.”

moreno_taro: Papuan gift-giving (1970)
A network of gift-giving relationships (taro exchange) among households in a Papuan village. Data collected by survey c.1970.
This network has 22 nodes and 78 edges.
Tags: Social, Offline, Unweighted
https://networks.skewed.de/net/moreno_ta…

I love that Elon Musk is the only one that didn’t need makeup to be made into a clown.
https://www.

I love The Onion.
Go buy a gift subscription for loved ones this holiday season.
#gifts

🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on KEXP's #MorningShow
The Feal:
🎵 Gift Horse
#TheFeal
https://thefealmusic.bandcamp.com/track/gift-horse
https://open.spotify.com/track/2t5Bibs4manXbXD52aiDdb

Onderzoekers: Tweede Kamerverkiezingen verliepen ‘onder dreiging’, online manipulatie neemt snel toe.

Verkiezingen en online manipulatie
Pieter van Boheemen | directeur Post-X Society: Politieke beïnvloeding via het buitenland, online haatcampagnes en AI-filmpjes met nepbeelden. Ze ondermijnen de democratie, schrijven onderzoekers in een rapport over de vorige verkiezingen. „Het toezicht vanuit de overheid moet veel strenger worden.”

Donald Trump’s administration is preparing to turn to private businesses to help mount offensive cyberattacks against foreign adversaries (Gift Link)

Holiday gift guide 2025: Something for every sports fan on your list https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6834129/2025/12/01/sports-fan-holiday-gift-guide-books-apparel-kids/

Mit Orzo perlato, Sellerieknöllchen, weißen Bohnen und etwas Stängelkohl als Substitutionssubstanzen. Let this be recommended. #nommention
https://<…

Chickpea Stew With Orzo and Mustard Greens Recipe (Gift Recipe)
A complex and colorful chickpea stew, this is rich with vegetables, olive oil and Parmesan cheese. You can vary the vegetables to use what you’ve got. Here, I keep to the basics, adding carrots for sweetness, fennel or celery for depth, cherry tomatoes for looks. Tender greens, wilted into the bubbling mixture at the end, are optional, but they do add a bright, almost herbal note. I particularly love using baby mustard greens, which are pleasantly peppery. But spinach, arugula and kale work w…

Think of this as a good place to start
— for you and your loved ones
— to expand your knowledge of indie news outlets
who are more deserving of your time and money than corporate, billionaire-owned media.
And feel free to add your suggestions in the comments.
https://www.thehandbask…

Giving the gift of independent journalism: a guide
The Handbasket has subscription suggestions for almost everyone on your list.

Youp van het Hek: "Om een misverstand te voorkomen: rechtsbescherming betekent niet het beschermen van rechts. Veel VVD’ers denken trouwens van wel."
#VVD https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2025/12/12/beschermd-rechts-a4915240?gift_token=4915240~1766240879~8461zGC_TN2dSsAGxzbXqQ~sibxnyKMqH1gz2wSmd1Sa7sb__kHOGnXumK4DgHkHPU

https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2026/02/03/hoe-worden-jonge-mensen-weer-gelukkig-een-leeslijst-a4918663?gift_token=4918663~1770813433~Wxt5IeCzQJi7_…

Column | Hoe worden jonge mannen weer gelukkig? Een leeslijst
Volgens Thomas van Aquino zijn dure auto’s een substituut voor God. Eerlijk gezegd denk ik niet dat hij het precies zo heeft opgeschreven, maar het was wel iets met theologie en spullen. En dat je hier op aarde niet gelukkig wordt van bezit, maar wel van liefde en zinvol werk. Hoe Word Je Gelukkig Zoals Thomas Aquinas, schreef de gelukscolumnist van The Atlantic een maand of twee geleden. Helaas…

The Epstein Emails Show How the Powerful Talk About Race (Ali Breland/The Atlantic)
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/2026/02/epstein-race-science-watson-pinker-chomsky-musk/685965/?gift=Je3D9AQS-C17lUTOnl2W8NL7Rf5F6iPj5drDx91LO5k&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
http://www.memeorandum.com/260212/p52#a260212p52

A post from the archive 📫:
The gift of time
#musings

Russia removes WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram from a Roskomnadzor-run online directory, essentially blocking them in the country without workarounds (Financial Times)

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/07/600-week-buys-freedom-fear/613972/?gift=7dKtnNrILXcLLty1b9gh3v55Ifcy-zz6-SVLZ4NDiZw

$600 a Week Buys Freedom From Fear
An extra $600 a week buys freedom from fear.

🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on KEXP's #MorningShow
The Feal:
🎵 Gift Horse
#TheFeal
https://thefealmusic.bandcamp.com/track/gift-horse
https://open.spotify.com/track/2t5Bibs4manXbXD52aiDdb

„In een groot deel van het mondiale zuiden wordt de AI-revolutie niet ervaren als een dramatische breuk. Integendeel. De echte revolutie ligt in hoe snel AI alledaags is geworden."

Payal Arora digitaal antropoloog
Payal Arora | digitaal antropoloog: In veel westerse landen zorgt AI voor angst. In een groot deel van het mondiale zuiden is AI stilletjes een instrument geworden dat gewoon werkt, geleid door een uit noodzaak geboren optimisme.

Trevor Lawrence's AFC South championship trifecta: Hat, shirt and a grill https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/47506957/jacksonville-jaguars-trevor-lawrence-mouth-grill-gift

AI toys for kids talk about sex and issue Chinese Communist Party talking points, tests show (NBC News)
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/ai-toys-gift-present-safe-kids-robot-child-miko-grok-alilo-miiloo-rcna246956
http://www.memeorandum.com/251211/p56#a251211p56

FAFO: the same internal mechanisms used to deny minorities also work equally well at crushing dissent, from wherever it stems. https://tomkahe.com/@GiftArticles/116060293291811840

*nochmalskicher*
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DSKoD3wiAF6/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

ISTB University of Vienna on Instagram: "We are deeply honoured and delighted that the South Asian, Tibetan, and Buddhist Studies Library has been selected as one of the distinguished institutions to receive the eighty-volume commemorative edition of the Tipitaka, published in Thailand in 2016 to mark the seventieth anniversary of His Majesty King Bhumibol’s accession to the throne. The Thai monarchy has long upheld a well-established tradition of commissioning, presenting, and receiving editions of the Pali Canon. In 1893, King Rama V commissioned the first printed edition of the Tipitaka in Thailand, which was subsequently presented as a gift to institutions in more than twenty-five countries. The 40-volume “King Bhumibol Edition” allows monks and Buddhist laity worldwide to chant the Tipiṭaka in a consistent, rule-based manner. It is accompanied by the 40-volume “Queen Sirikit Edition” which reproduces King Rama V’s use of Syām-Pāli annotation with additional notes. The ISTB library provides an ideal home for this new edition of the Tipitaka. With a collection of more than 70,000 volumes in over ninety Asian languages, it serves as a vital centre for research and teaching in South Asian, Tibetan, and Buddhist Studies at the University of Vienna."
20 likes, 0 comments - istb_univienna on December 12, 2025: "We are deeply honoured and delighted that the South Asian, Tibetan, and Buddhist Studies Library has been selected as one of the distinguished institutions to receive the eighty-volume commemorative edition of the Tipitaka, published in Thailand in 2016 to mark the seventieth anniversary of His Majesty King Bhumibol’s accession to the throne. The Thai monarchy has long upheld a well-established tradition of commissioning, presentin…

moreno_taro: Papuan gift-giving (1970)
A network of gift-giving relationships (taro exchange) among households in a Papuan village. Data collected by survey c.1970.
This network has 22 nodes and 78 edges.
Tags: Social, Offline, Unweighted
https://networks.skewed.de/net/moreno_ta…

Researchers say GPT 4.1, Claude 3.7 Sonnet, Gemini 2.5 Pro, and Grok 3 can reproduce long excerpts from books they were trained on when strategically prompted (Alex Reisner/The Atlantic)
https://www.

AI's Memorization Crisis
Large language models don’t “learn”—they copy. And that could change everything for the tech industry.

"This instinct—to ignore existing borders, laws, and treaties; to treat other countries as artificial; to break up trade links and destroy friendships, all because the Leader wants to look powerful—is one that Trump shares with imperialists of the past."

Trump Triggers a Crisis in Denmark—And Europe
What a single phone call from the president-elect did to an unswerving American ally

Een moslim docent waar menig autochtoon (inclusief Wilders en Baudet) nog veel van kan leren m.b.t. oer-Hollandse waarden als gelijke rechten en tolerantie ‘Ook automonteurs moeten op school horen over seksualiteit en diversiteit’ https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2025/12/11/deze-docent-brengt-paarse-vrijdag-naar-zijn-roc-ook-automonteurs-moeten-in-hun-opleiding-horen-over-seksualiteit-en-diversiteit-a4914774?gift_token=4914774~1766008370~8461zGC_TN2dSsAGxzbXqQ~-ZoojjBVuwjyHe_jdxZ74I7GhuajJ0pHZNMGlPZgUEs

🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on KEXP's #MorningShow
The Feal:
🎵 Gift Horse
#TheFeal
https://thefealmusic.bandcamp.com/track/gift-horse
https://open.spotify.com/track/2t5Bibs4manXbXD52aiDdb

The Trump administration recently dropped its
National Security Strategy
and, like all things Trump,
it’s equal parts nonsense and vitriol.
It signals a self-defeating retreat from any sort of global leadership
and the regime’s open promotion of white nationalism at home and abroad.
The document is extremely light on the “strategy” part,
but is chock full of naked racism and Great Replacement rhetoric.
If you fed a low-rent knockoff version o…

We're the baddies now. Our new Security Strategy shows it.
It's a gift to the Kremlin and a middle finger to our erstwhile allies.

How smuggled Starlink receivers and customized software let some Iranians evade a near-total internet blackout as the regime brutally cracked down on protesters (Financial Times)

moreno_taro: Papuan gift-giving (1970)
A network of gift-giving relationships (taro exchange) among households in a Papuan village. Data collected by survey c.1970.
This network has 22 nodes and 78 edges.
Tags: Social, Offline, Unweighted
https://networks.skewed.de/net/moreno_ta…

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/02/evangelicals-trump-national-prayer-breakfast/685908/?gift=7dKtnNrILXcLLty1b9gh3j2xxOJGDWeh1CcTB3EHKnY

The Evangelicals Who See Trump’s Viciousness as a Virtue
At the National Prayer Breakfast, the president tested his audience’s commitment to Christian ethics.

Goed artikel van NRC over Groenland,
https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2026/01/09/groenland-waarom-grootmachten-azen-op-dit-stukje-poolgebie…

Groenland: waarom grootmachten azen op dit stukje poolgebied
Het Noordpoolgebied en Groenlands grondstoffen trekken de aandacht van wereldmachten. Wat staat er op het spel voor VS, Rusland, China en Europa?

Maxim Februari: "Het wereldbeeld van Trump is een afscheid van de Bijbel" https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2025/12/09/afscheid-van-de-vrije-samenleving-a4914779?gift_token=4914779~1765965809~8461zGC_TN2dSsAGxzbXqQ~gkA0wjrelee0mk-GQUI2Aw9tie_oPYd9ekq4pEfbwvI

The Hole in Trump's Rationale for Acquiring Greenland (The Atlantic)
https://www.theatlantic.com/national-security/2026/01/pentagon-arctic-greenland-china-russia/685553/?gift=YomuSz8U7hgV6-iiBzXx_DUBUJLpiEJkNSXs5GxZeDo&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
http://www.memeorandum.com/260109/p112#a260109p112

Despite talk of an existential US-China AI race, the Chinese state and its major companies are spending more to dominate other domains, such as EVs and robotics (Tim Wu/Financial Times)

First the Shooting. Then the Lies. - The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/01/ice-defense-minnesota-killing/685549/?gift=7dKtnNrILXcLLty1b9gh3uNV_IsjBz2Ks4Qga58XlIY

First the Shooting. Then the Lies.
The Trump administration has perfected the smear campaign.

🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on KEXP's #AstralPlane
GIFT:
🎵 Shadow Stealer
#GIFT
https://giftbandnyc.bandcamp.com/track/shadow-stealer
https://open.spotify.com/track/15JRNk1Xr4ZNYBczGooGBv

moreno_taro: Papuan gift-giving (1970)
A network of gift-giving relationships (taro exchange) among households in a Papuan village. Data collected by survey c.1970.
This network has 22 nodes and 78 edges.
Tags: Social, Offline, Unweighted
https://networks.skewed.de/net/moreno_ta…

Ik moest hier zo enorm om lachen, daarom even delen (gratis link),
http…

Japke-d. denkt mee: als je het allerengste in je leven moet doen, heb je niets aan deze 13 adviezen
Iedereen moet wel eens iets engs doen. Vlak daarvoor krijg je vaak lieve goedbedoelde adviezen die totáál niet helpen. Japke-d. Bouma deed afgelopen week zélf het allerengste uit haar hele leven. En zet de slechtste tips op een rij.

Minister voor algemeen belang (van de gokbranche)... https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2025/12/10/minister-dekker-onderhield-nauw-contact-met-gokbranche-bij-legalisering-online-gokken-gelukt-well-done-a4914955?gift_token=4914955~1766006001~8461zGC_TN2dSsAGxzbXqQ~MffUY-nt_ch_twC9th81Xif4Ml_3qEZrXWsWiDLdGC8

How Anthropic's bet on enterprise users is paying off; sources: Anthropic has guided investors that annualized revenue will exceed $30B by the end of 2026 (George Hammond/Financial Times)

DOJ-released emails: Jeffrey Epstein helped Ian Osborne, founder of London-based fund Hedosophia, after Osborne's outreach to help Epstein fix his image in 2011 (Financial Times)

A look at claims from Google and others about quantum computing breakthroughs over the past few months that helped boost quantum computing stocks in 2025 (Richard Waters/Financial Times)

US tech stocks and bitcoin rally after three days of selling; Nasdaq Composite closed up 2.18%, Broadcom 7.22%, Strategy 26.11%, and bitcoin rebounded to ~$70K (Emily Herbert/Financial Times)