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I have not had much time to post new articles (long or short lately), but let us get the last full week of September off to a good start with a new edition of the Pook-Emu Bee.

1 | Linux 7.3 Adds Support For Victrix Pro BFG & Azeron Controllers (Michael Larabel for Phoronix. Sep. 20, 2026.)
I have questions here. First, why is that controller $269? Second, why does it look like a hand with six fingers? I can’t weigh in on the new Linux support until those threshold questions are answered.

2 | Jane Austen’s 8-Bit Adventure Switch Review (Game Slush Pile. Sep. 19, 2026.)
The review makes it sound uninspiring. But what if you tried playing it with the “hand” controller? (See above.)

3 | NYC judge fails to take bite out of crime after repeat offender chomps on cop (Tina Moore for the New York Post. Sep. 19, 2026.)
I understand that the pro-crime judge is reluctant to remand anyone to custody, but what if we compromised and all agreed to send him to the pound?

4 | Hyperlocal New York City publications are having a moment (Hannah Frishberg for Gothamist. Sep. 17, 2026.)
I added a few of these to my feed collection. We’ll see if there are any Pook-Emu Bee links to be had.

5 | Judge Strikes Down Controversial Rule Changes Benefitting Embattled Brooklyn Party Boss (The City Repoter (via The Haitian Times). Sep. 17, 2026.)
Call me a romantic but I’m not counting out the possibility that Frank Seddio still has some magic left (see link 9 in Pook-Emu Bee 08-27-26). There are some notable contextual omissions in this ostensibly straightforward news report, but I choose to stick with the Seddio jokes.

6 | NYC ‘animal lover’ accused of stealing beloved bodega cat furiously claims she was unfairly arrested (Georgett Roberts and Jorge Fitz-Gibbon for the New York Post. Sep. 16, 2026.)
Pro-tip: If your position is that you are just a cat lover who genuinely thought the cat was a stray, try to avoid repeatedly referring to the cat you claim you thought you were rescuing as the “f—ing cat.”

7 | AOC Blasts Patriots Owner Robert Kraft for ‘Censoring’ Macklemore from Criticizing Israel (Dylan Gwinn for the New York Post. Sep. 16, 2026.)
Strange. Here I thought the Congresswoman was a big fan of Israel-related boycotts.

8 | After Landmarks Review, Hotel Bossert Moves Ahead With Reno, Ritz-Carlton (Anna Bradley-Smith for Brownstoner. Sep. 16, 2026.)
It sounds like the new owners are working in good faith to maintain the landmark while getting it up and running again. I approve.

9 | Who Is feeding the sudden panic about AI? (Issues & Insights. Sep. 15, 2026.)
The big AI companies and their lobbyists (both of the witting and unwitting variety). I try to be a reality-based AI critic as I fight to keep the scrapers from crashing my sites (preventing stealing my stuff is nice but sometimes you have to focus on the practical wins). That leads us to a fitting final link…

10 | Daily News Stuff 20 September 2026 (Pixy Misa at Ambient Irony. Sep. 20, 2026.)
The replies to excerpts from AI safety conversations have gotten unbelievable made me laugh and reminded me of how my friend was able to make himself look smart in front of friends and colleagues by sharing my 2021 election wisdom that, notwithstanding the polls, there was in fact no scenario wherein Andrew Yang would become Mayor of New York City.

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I have been watching all of the top division bouts at the 2026 Aki Basho (September Grand Sumo Tournament). One of the highlight bouts on day 4 featured Yokozuna Onosato vs Takayasu. Takayasu delivered a brutal hit at the Tachiai, forcing the Yokozuna back. Onosato backpedaled, and circling away, tried to guide Takayasu out of the ring. He very nearly succeeded, but Takayasu gracefully twirled one leg, staying in. Unfortunately for Yokozuna Onosato, he ended up twirling as well, but without the same success as the light-footed Takayasu. YouTube user Wegwezen decided to set the slow-motion highlights to music, and I must say that I fully approve of his music selection. Consider this video a “must watch.”

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My posting out-put has been subpar of late, but today the Pook-Emu Bee links return for the first time since September 10.

1 | 25 Years Since the Worst Day in My Lifetime (Andrew R. Arthur for Center for Immigration Studies. Sep. 11, 2026.)
Memories of 9/11 and border/visa security in the ensuing quarter-century.

2 | New World Trade Center is fine but it could have been great (Steve Cuozzo for the New York Post. Sep. 12, 2026.)
Given the number of stupid ideas that were floating around in the wake of 9/11 (many of which are noted in this op-ed), I am willing to count the “fine” Freedom Tower as a “W.”

3 | What 9/11 was like for veteran Post police reporter: ‘Nothing could prepare me’ (Larry Celona for the New York Post. Sep. 11, 2026.)
Memories from a repporter who had covered 9/11 on the ground.

4 | The Second Life of Crayons (Dan Lewis for Now I Know. May 15, 2019.)
Innovative crayon recycling.

5 | Guess Who Helped Doxx the Holdout Juror in the Lindsay Clancy Case (Victoria Taft for PJ Media. Sep. 13, 2026.)
Someone ought to look into whether attorney Reddington and his wife have been communicating with some of the “11” subsequent to the trial.

6 | 220 million traveler records exposed in Vietnam-linked APIS leak (Ax Sharma for Bleeping Computer. Sep. 8, 2026.)
I’m 100% sure I am not part of this leak thanks to one simple trick.

7 | Bernie Sanders proposes 20 year prison sentence for AI devs who plow ahead with Artificial Superintelligence plans — penalty on par with illegally developing rogue nuclear weapons (Mark Tyson for Bleeping Computer. Sep. 13, 2026.)
Superintelligence relative to what? If the bar for human intelligence is this proposal than the original Mario Party devs are in trouble.

8 | Publishing your work increases your luck (Aaron Francis for The ReadME Project. Juuly 12, 2022.)
Every Pook-Emu Bee is a roll of the dice.

9 | You Can Drop SEO (Ibrahim Diallo at iDiallo. Sep. 12, 2026.)
Not here I can’t. The “brand SEO” of “Pook-Emu Bee” is too elite.

10 | Feds accuse China of ‘systematic’ distillation of U.S. AI models (Derek B. Johnson for Cyberscoop. Sep. 8, 2026.)
To be fair to China… a decent number try to scrape my sites directly

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Before July’s Nagoya Basho (July grand sumo tournament), I predicted which wrestlers I thought would reach 10 wins. Now, one tournament wiser, I will predict the entire field for the September 2026 Aki Basho (running from September 13-27, 2026). To see predictions from more learned sumo observers, see Tim Edwards’ predictions at Sumo Stomp and the Fantasy Basho predictions. Note that I am assuming for purposes of my predictions that all wrestlers who are slated to compete on day one will compete all 15 days.

  • 12-3: O1e Kirishima
  • 11-4: Y1e Onosato
  • 10-5: O2e Aonishki, M6w Ichiyamamoto, M8e Takerufuji, M8w Hiradoumi, M16e Toshinofuji
  • 9-6: S1e Atamifuji, M10e Oho, M11w Shodai, M12w Asahakuryu, M15e Asasuiryu
  • 8-7: O1w Kotozakura, K1e Hakunofuji, M1w Kotoeiho, M2e Takayasu, M2w Yoshinofuji, M4w Fujiryoga, M13e Asakoryu
  • 7-8: K1w Daieisho, M1e Kotoshoho, M4e Takanosho, M7e Fujiseiun, M13w Abi
  • 6-9: S1w Fujinokawa, M3e Gonoyama, M6e Asanoyama, M9e Ura, M9w Shishi, M10w Kinbozan, M11e Wakamotoharu, M14e Tobizaru, M15w Tokihayate
  • 5-10: M3w Churanoumi, M5e Roga, M5w Oshoma, M7w Nishikifuji, M14w Chiyoshoma, M17e Shonannoumi

I made my picks conservatively, generally avoiding picking extreme records for this tournament. To be sure, I am sure there will be some 3-12/4-13 records on the low-end and I would not be surprised to see one of the wrestlers in my 10+ win group run up a 13-2 record (most likely Kirishima, Onosato, or Aonishki, health permitting on the latter two). Based on other picks I have seen, I will mark M6w Ichiyamamoto and M8w Hiradoumi as my “surprise” picks for this basho.

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We went just over one week without daily Pook-Emu Bee links. Sickness (probably mostly allergies) and work intervened. But today I have a window for links. Back and better than ever?

1 | NCAA declares it cannot overturn outcome of game following Western Michigan’s appeal (Daniel Hager for ON3. Sep. 9, 2026.)
I didn’t watch Michigan get saved from defeat against Western Michigan in a manner reminiscent of the Soviet men’s basketball team in the 1972 Summer Olympics, but the story reminded me of when Appalachian State stunned Michigan in its season opener on September 1, 2007. I did watch that 2007 game.

2 | Google Earth’s AI experiment lasted 24 hours. The damage to trust will linger (Masha Alimardani for Rest of World. Sep. 10, 2026.)
I didn’t closely follow the Google Earth AI experiment but I’ll note that the delusional consumers of Iranian lego videos have many tools at their disposal.

3 | Can the UK defend the Falkland Islands? (Richard Thomas for Army Technology. Sep. 4, 2026.)
At the moment the UK hasn’t demonstrated the ability to consistently defend itself from rafts crossing the channel from France, so put me down in the “doubt” category, granting all of Argentina’s technical and political limitations noted in the article.

4 | Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan Elevate Relations to Alliance (Vusal Guliyev for Jamestown. Sep. 9, 2026.)
The alliance the caucuses/Central Asia region has been waiting for?

5 | U.S. Open Fans Nauseated by Smell of Human Waste from Restrooms: ‘You’re Breathing in Sh*t’ (Warner Todd Huston for Breitbart. Sep. 8, 2026.)
New York City has had some “sewer smell” problems which I noticed began intensifying around 2020. My working theory is that some parts of the Department of Sanitation are still on vacation. In any event, I suppose even our betters at the U.S. Open must deal with plebian problems.

6 | US forces sink fifth ‘refueling vessel’ linked to Los Choneros terrorist organization (Washington Examiner. Sep. 8, 2026.)
Buried lede: These cartels have refueling vessels?

7 | NYC’s first racial equity plan sets new framework for future budget decisions (Adam Daly for amNY. Sep. 1, 2026.)
“The racial equity planning process stems from ballot measures approved by NYC voters in 2022 that amended the City Charter, created the Office of Racial Equity and required the city to regularly produce racial equity plans.” (Don’t look at me: I voted NO.)

8 | Your Roku TV Offers AI Slop For Free (If You’re Into That Sort Of Thing) (Novak Božović for Endgadget. Sep. 5, 2026.)
My Roku TV does not offer me “AI Slop” because I do not connect it to the internet. But if you have a Roku TV and connect it to the internet, maybe you enjoy the AI slop?

9 | NYC’s notoriously violent West Indian American Day parade to end early in effort to curb crime (Matthew Fischetti and Zoe Hussain for the New York Post. Sep. 4, 2026.)
To the shock of no one who has been alive in Brooklyn for more than 5 minutes, it didn’t work (noble plan though, noble plan).

10 | Gen Z isn’t interested in Burning Man (Matty Merritt for Morning Brew. Sep. 4, 2026.)
I’m squarely “millennial” by birth and have made it through life in general ignorance of Burning Man. Thus, I suppose I must side with “Gen Z.”

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I discovered two new bots in my server logs last week: RSSAmplifierBot and BriskBot. They come from RSS Amplifier and Brisk News respectively. Bot sites are built by Profullstack, Inc. I discovered that RSS Amplifier, unbeknownst to me, had been crawling New Leaf Journal’s ATOM feed and re-publishing (albeit they would not describe it as such) the entire contents of my article under the RSS Amplifier banner (note it appears it took entire articles because I offer full-text feeds; it had truncated entries for sites that do not offer full text feeds). While the articles are attributed with links back to my original source, I do not approve of wholesale re-publishing (as should have been clear from my About Page). Worse yet, RSS Amplifier describes its purpose in part as making articles from around the web readily available for AI crawlers (live About Page) and they sell access to their data (live Training Data page). Brisk News appears to host articles from around the web with AI summaries, but there is less information about the project on site.

I present this information for the consideration of my fellow webmasters. I took it upon myself to block both RSS Amplifier and Brisk News at the server level and have a pending take-down request with RSS Amplifier. Alternatively, a webmaster who wants to be part of the collection may want to test whether the team responds to requests about data handling (RSS Amplifier does insist you can make a request to be in the directory but not have your site’s data sold, but I have my doubts on how that would work in practice). In any event, for those who are interested in learning more:

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My throat is irrtated, my nose is stuffy, and I have a slight headache. It’s ragweed season. Unrelated: It’s time for our daily Pook-Emu Bee links.

Photo of a blue bench resting against a black cast iron fence next to potted shrubs in front of a restaurant.
I took this photo in what I think was Cobble Hill on the afternoon of August 23, 2026.

1 | Dating App Adds Feature Allowing Men To Filter Out Women Who Support Lindsay Clancy (The Babylon Bee. April 27, 2026.)
An all-timer from Babylon Bee.

2 | Iconic, stained glass ‘Watertower’ above Brooklyn Bridge Park dismantled (Mary Frost for Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Sep. 1, 2026.)
I’m a fan of the watertower. I am sure I have a photo of it somewhere. But fear not, it is only being taken down temporarily.

3 | This open-source tool was built for academics, and it’s the best productivity tool I own (Yash Patel for XDA. Sep. 1, 2026.)
Zotero is indeed great. Especially when combined with Syncthing for file sync.

4 | Review: Planetarian: The Reverie of a Little Planet—Using a Little to Say a Lot (June for Fuwanovel. August 25, 2026.)
According to Steam, I played Planetarian in 2015. Count me as a fan, it’s an excellent short visual novel. Maybe I should review it since it is also relevant to the history of Insani.

5 | Dyson launches $499 toothbrush with built-in camera, AI technology (Bradford Betz for Fox Business. Sep. 1, 2026.)
GPTeeth?

6 |  Convicted cab driver rapist Gurmeet Singh stripped of US citizenship 15 years after assaulting passenger (Emily Goodin and Chris Nesi for the New York Post. Aug. 31, 2026.)
Now now. I’m sure Mr. Signh’s forgetting that he had brutally raped (not “assaulted” NY Post headline writers) a woman weeks earlier when he was filling out his Form N-400, Application for Naturalization, was nothing more than an honest clerical oversight.

7 | Delicate white blossoms on a tree branch (Doncoombez on Upslash. March 17, 2026.)
This photo appeared as a Brave new tab image on my phone. I liked it, so you can enjoy it too. While you’re in the area, enjoy my 2022 re-publication of a poem about apple blossoms.

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Liked 9 Games to Know Me (Strange Voyages)
Part of the User Manual Series where I give some brief overviews of the media, experiences, thoughts that help make me...me. Released hourly on my 32nd birthday.

I read a post on the Strange Voyages blog titled 9 Games to Know Me (HT Bubbles Weekly). It caught my interest because the concept struck me as similar (albeit not identical) to my September 2023 article titled Ranking My Big Impression Video Games (see simple list version), wherein I ranked the 12 video games that left the biggest impression on me. The author at Strange Voyages states that he put the list together for his 32nd birthday, which would have him being born in August 1994. Thus, the author a bit younger than me, given that was about when I received my first video game console (model 2 Sega Genesis) and game (Sonic 2) (see my recent discussion). Because early games often have ways of leaving big impressions, a difference in when one first encounters games will likely affect these sorts of lists. With that being said, my big impression list and the Strange Voyages 9 games list both include Persona 4 Golden (I included it in one selection with the original Persona 4). The Strange Voyages list also has later entries in two series I included in mine. Strange Voyages has Pokémon HeartGold while my list had the original Pokémon Gold (to be sure, Heart Gold is a better game than the original Gold/Silver) along with Pokémon Red (which I ranked number one) and Pokémon Ruby. Strange Voyages has Animal Crossing: New Horizons while I had the original Animal Crossing for GameCube.

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I read an August 31, 2026 article in SoraNews24 titled Tamagotchi evolves into a ring for its 30th anniversary, preorders now open. I had a Tamagotchi at some point in the 90s, but I do not think it left a big impression on me. But this headline made me think. Pokémon celebrated its 30th anniversary on February 27 of this year. Is Pokémon older than Tamagotchi? I would have probably tentatively guessed “no” had I been asked before seeing this SoraNews24 article, but the headline suggests that Pokémon is older. Unfortunately, the SoraNews24 report did not note when the first Tamagotchi was released. Onto internet research. My search for an authoritative resource led me to the Tamagotchi history page on the official U.S. website. I quote:

Tamagotchi was released on November 23, 1996.

Tamagotchi (U.S.) History of Tamagotchi Page

The original Pokémon Red and Green in Japan beat Tamagotchi by just under nine months. However, Tamagotchi was released just before the first copies of the Japanese Pokémon Blue were mailed out. Since the international Pokémon Red and Blue are based on the Japanese Pokémon Blue rather than the original Red and Green (which had been released on February 27, 1996), I suppose we can make a case that Pokémon only wins a partial victory as far as international audiences go.

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For the first time in about a week (if not a little more), I do not have a tight work deadline. Thus, I present you with a relatively leisurely edition of the Pook-Emu Bee to kick off September.

Three white flowers and leaves, shot from overhead. In the top right corner we see a bee flying toward the flowers.
Note the bee in the top right. I took this photograph in Brooklyn Bridge Park on August 28, 2026.

1 | Expression After Hit By Car (Ojai Raptor Center (via Owl’s in Towels). Oct. 11, 2024.)
That raptor has seen more things than the original raptors.

2 | GrapheneOS might skip the Pixel 11 series over the lack of MTE hardware security support (Paul for AlternativeTo. Sep. 1, 2026.)
Pixels are going in the wrong direction, but my (LineageOS-powered) 3a XL is going stron[-ish].

3 | Tether Brings the Apple Continuity Experience to Linux (Sourav Rudra for It’s FOSS. Aug. 31, 2026.)
I don’t run iOS (see above), but this looks like a neat project for Linux/iOS people. I have now done my PSA duty for the week.

4 | “A Cute Little LibGen Babysitter”: Music Publishers Sue Anthropic Founders Over Torrenting Spree (Ernesto Van der Sar for Torrent Freak. Sep. 1, 2026.)
I’m somehow not surprised that the Claude leadership described their thoughts about torrenting pirated works contemporaneously in the style of teenage girls keeping a diary.

5 | The 3DO Is Getting A New DOOM-Esque Shooter Featuring The Voice Of Silent Hill’s Lisa Garland (Sep. 1, 2026.)
Having conquered ONScripter-EN, should I make my next visual novel for 3DO?

6 | Dem AG urges Jewish voters to put humanity above ‘safety and security’ of own people (Alec Schemmel for Fox News. Sep. 1, 2026.)
I could state the obvious here. But instead I will offer a more novel take. How in the world did a woman with these political instincts win state-wide office in one of the biggest states in the union?

7 | I built my own streaming box, and it beats every smart TV I’ve owned (Anurag Singh for XDA. Aug. 31, 2026.)
I just use a mini PC running Fedora with KDE Plasma. With that being said, I should really test out LineageOS with Waydroid on my TV.

8 | Homan Denies Yiannopoulos Deported Quickly to Bypass ICE Detention (Pam Key for Breitbart. Aug. 31, 2026.)
I know this is going to be hard for a reporter at CNN to understand, so we can go slowly. Detention occurs in the course of removal proceedings or in the period after an alien has been ordered removed but has not for one reason or another been removed. Mr. Yiannopoulous had already been ordered removed in absentia, apparently did not seek to reopen his removal proceedings, and did not otherwise try to obstruct his removal to the United Kingdom, which apparently did not refuse to accept the return of its national (between the return of Prince Harry and Mr. Yiannopoulous, they are having a rough stretch). Thus, Mr. Yiannopoulous was removed expeditiously after DHS performed a social media touchdown dance instead of being detained pending nothing whatsoever. With my “Ted Talk” completed, I will note with some surprise that the new position of CNN is “the prompt execution of removal orders is special treatment.”

9 | Aki 2026 Banuzke Analysis (Fantasy Basho. Sep. 1, 2026.)
I’m thinking about putting together some detained predictions for the upcoming Aki Banuzke. Not fantasy though. Real, ice-cold predictions.

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Quoted Fujinokawa Gives Kyoto 1st Sekiwake in 2 Centuries by The Yomiuri Shimbun (japannews.yomiuri.co.jp)
According to the JSA, Fujinokawa becomes the first wrestler from Kyoto Prefecture to reach sekiwake in 198 years, following in the footsteps of Hiodoshi, who made it for the October tournament in 1828.

The 2026 Aki banzuke (September Grand Sumo tournament) were released yesterday. 21-year-old Fujinokawa, one of the smallest wrestlers in the top-division, was expected to make his san’yaku debut after finishing 8-7 at maegashira-1 in July. The more burning question was whether he would make his san’yaku debut at Komosubi or the higher Sekiwake rank. Sekiwake is is for Fujinokawa. In makin. The Yomiuri Shimbun reported that Fujinokawa is the first Kyoto-born sumo wrestler to make the san’yaku ranks in 198(!?) years, with the most recent prior to 2026 being Hiodoshi, he made it for the 1828 October tournament. Fujinokawa has been on a history-making run of late. Back in July he became the first wrestler in the post-war era to win his first four bouts against Yokozuna. Fujinokawa will have a tough slate at his new highest rank, but he has certainly been one of the most exciting (and historic) wrestlers of 2026 thus far.

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We bring August to a close with one Pook-Emu Bee for the road.

A rectangular yellow street sing which says "SLOW" above a silhouette of a running boy, under which we see the text "CHILDREN AT PLAY." Photo taken in the evening against the backdrop of a brick building and window.
I photographed this Children at Play sign on Love Lane in Brooklyn Heights on August 21, 2026.

1 | Understanding And Dealing With Kim Jong-Un’s Resilience (Mario Alexis Portella for American Thinker. August 31, 2026.)
I attribute Kim Jong-un’s resiliance to his looking at everything.

2 | Israel Continues Elimination Campaign Against October 7 Perpetrators and Gaza Terror Commanders (Vijeta Uniyal for Legal Insurrection. August 29, 2026.)
There seems to be a growing correlation between having participated in October 7 and suffering an untimely demise.

3 | Calibre 9.14 Open-Source E-Book Manager Is Out with More AI Features (Marcus Nestor for 9 To 5 Linux. August 27, 2026.)
I’m not one of the people dropping Calibre because of optional AI features (some of which are relatively inoffensive, albeit not useful to me), nor am I in the business of telling people how to run their free and open source projects. With that being granted, I hope we are also working on the non-AI features.

4 | A proposal for new Netflix content rating icons (Eric Bailey. August 25, 2026.) (HT Jim Nielsen.)
I don’t use Netflix, but I see the point about its rating icons. Coincidentally, I was reminded of my article on rating scales.

5 | “I just chose words carefully.” (Marcin Wichary at Unsung. August 30, 2026.)
I never tried typesetting in monospace, but I do use monospace for most of my drafting in my markdown editor.

6 | California lawmakers unanimously pass Linux exemption from age-verification law — software distributed under the GPL, MIT, BSD, and Apache licenses are exempt (Luke James for Tom’s Hardware. August 29, 2026.)
Gavin Newsom dreamed of being President of the United States. He will settle for being accidental Stallman (with hair gel).

7 | Brooklyn city councilmembers look to silence Navy Yard’s noisy raves (Joe Hong for Gothamist. August 29, 2026.)
The correct number of raves in Brooklyn Navy Yard would be 0.

8 | Read This Before You Buy That TV Streaming Stick (Brian Krebs at Krebs on Security. July 30, 2026.)
Alternatively, consider reading “this” and the not buying “that” TV streaming stick.

9 | Bronx Mother Found Not Responsible for Killing Her Two Boys Because of ‘Postpartum Psychosis’ (Lowell Cauffiel for Breitbart. August 29, 2026.)
Someone needs to check in on the Bronx. Not me, mind you. I haven’t been to the Bronx in seven years and that was maybe for a combined 15-20 minutes. I’m good.

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Favorited To the Moon creator explains why he still makes games with RPG Maker. The “just right” simplicity that lets you focus on the creative sides of development. by AUTOMATON WESTAUTOMATON WEST (automaton-media.com)
Interview with To the Moon developer Kan Gao about making games in RPG Maker.

Kan Gao is the creator of the successful indie To the Moon series. I am not personally a fan of To the Moon. I tried the first entry and it just was not working for me, so I never finished. But despite not being a fan of the series, I read with some interest a recent Automation West interview with Mr. Gao. Automation West asked Mr. Gao why he chose to make To the Moon in RPG Maker instead of a different tool or engine. Mr. Gao replied:

It was the tool with the least friction capable of making what I needed to make. I think an important rule for me is to choose not the most elaborate, fancy or feature-heavy tool, but rather the simplest one that’s capable of doing what I need for the project. Friction is the enemy of making multi-media projects, and I tend to become my own obstacle when choosing a needlessly complex tool for the job.

Kan Gao

Well put. Now that I am a totally professional visual novel developer, I continue to think about which tools to use for new projects. I made my most recent visual novel in ONScripter-EN, which I suppose has its roots in the same era as Mr. Gao’s tool of choice, RPG Maker XP. None of this is to say that old engines (or old school engines) are necessarily better than the new. but tools are a means to an end. The best tool is the one that efficiently helps one reach the end goal of, as Mr. Gao puts it, making “interactive experiences that someone might remember one day.”

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Pook-Emu Bee will be taking the weekend off, first for Newsletter Saturday and probably for Sunday, so let us finish this work week strong before I return to my day job.

Two One Way signs and a State St street sign on the ground with construction in Brooklyn Heights.
I took this photo at the corner of State and Clinton Streets in Brooklyn Heights on the evening of August 26, 2026. This is just up the block from where I documented two downed Stop Signs on State in October 2020.

1 | Study Linking Solar Farms to Bird Loss Draws Scrutiny in China (Jiang Xinyi for Sixth Tone. August 28, 2026.)
I found myself scrutinizing the claim that the Chinese government is focusing on solar because it is concerned with China’s carbon emissions.

2 | What the $131 Billion F-15 Contract May Mean For the Air Force (Stephen Losey for Air & Space Forces Magazine. August 27, 2026.)
It may not end up costing $131 billion. Use-dependent.

3 | Brave launches Email Aliases and new Brave Accounts that keep passwords off its servers (Mauricio B. Holguin for AlternativeTo. August 28, 2026.)
I approve of making email aliases more accessable. With that being said here, I will stick with my SimpleLogin subscription.

4 | “Difference, Power & Oppression”: OSU Requires Students to Take Courses on How to “Disrupt” the “Systems of Oppression” in the United States” (Jonathan Turley. August 19, 2026.)
With hope, at least some of the students will come away wanting to disrupt systems of ideological indoctrination in higher education.

5 | Data Center Madness Isn’t About AI (Cremieux Recueil. August 27, 2026.)
This is a good survey of surveys. His conclusions check out but I’ll submit AI is at a minimum not helping the perception of the data centers.

6 | Unhinged straphanger stabs MTA cleaner who scolded him for urinating on busy NYC subway platform: cops, sources (Amanda Woods for the New York Post. August 27, 2026.)
I’d say this guy is behaving like a dog but that would be uncharitable to most of the dogs. Worse yet, he’s probably going around trying to mark every Subway station in New York City without paying the fare.

7 | Italian Teen Girl Nearly Killed by Propeller on Migrant Smuggler Boat (Oliver JJ Lane for Breitbart. August 27, 2026.)
I’d say that I’m looking forward to Sardinian law enforcement explaining why they seem to have been on a mission to minimize the near-vehicular homicide right up until video became public, but alas… I doubt any such explanation is forthcoming.

8 | Wealthy Americans look to New Zealand as demand for ‘golden visas’ booms (Eric Revell for Fox Business. August 10, 2026.)
$5 million? I tip my hat to New Zealand. That is much more expensive that our (often-abused) EB-5 program.

9 | Why won’t the Times name ALL the thieves it has ID’d up in Albany? (New York Post Editorial Board. August 21, 2026.)
I agree with the Post Editorial Board’s theory. With that being said, have they considered that the NYP is one of the most-circulated newspapers in the United States and has major corporate backing? They could… I don’t know… dig into the issue themselves and name names that the Times omitted for reasons we can only imagine? Who works decides.

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Bookmarked Extract and Review Web Page Links Using a Bookmarklet by Adam Douglas (Adam Douglas)
To help combat these obstacles I set out to figure out a solution to extract and then review all web page links using a bookmarklet. I’ve found the bookmarklet I created “List Page Links” to be quite useful and figured I should share it with you dear reader. Come along to discover what are bookmarklets, the advantages of this simple bookmarklet, how to install and run it.

I saw a post in my feed collection by Adam Douglas titled Extract and Review Web Page Links Using a Bookmarklet. As the title suggests, he created a bookmarklet which “will create a new local web page with a page heading of ‘List of Links Found’, source web page address, total count of links found, and an unordered list of each link found on the source web page.” I have confirmed that it works as promised. Very neat. You can find the bookmarket and full explanation in his link.