Frederic Edwin Church, Aurora Borealis, 1865.
Click through the image above and scroll down to see more drawings and paintings of the aurora borealis through the ages. From a first class rabbit hole, the Public Domain Review, containing images going back centuries, all in the public domain and searchable, which was how I found the northern (and southern) lights.
(h/t Kottke)

If like me you saw Colossus: The Forbin Project too young and as a result were forever scarred by the notion of sentient AI, go here to read Erik J. Larson. Quote: “We can see now what machine learning CAN DO, and so we can start to glimpse in more empirical and less speculative terms WHAT IT CAN’T.”
(h/t John Naughton)

If you’re dismayed by the nonsense going on in government these days, read this and feel better. Quote: “I don’t think I’m going out on a limb in saying that I don’t believe this crew of nitwits is capable of deleting the U.S. federal government.” (h/t Today in Tabs, and thanks for that, Rusty.)

James Fallows on the Opposing Bases podcast about the DC crash. Quote: “…at a minimum I hope that any reporter covering this issue will check this program out—and that members of the flying public will be aware of its arguments.” (Breaking the News, 2/7/25)

I am a huge fan of Liberty Puzzles; I buy them for myself and I give them as gifts. (Can’t wait to hear what KQ and the gang think of the Prosperity Dragon puzzle they got for Christmas). But Liberty’s Great Blue Heron puzzle, drawing by John J. Audubon, is the best puzzle I’ve ever worked on. The irregular border, the whimsey pieces reflecting the heron’s environment (the grasses!), the placement of those pieces (the creepy-crawly-slitheries right where they should be), the multiple mini-puzzles inside the larger puzzle, the laser-cut wooden pieces in weird and marvelous shapes that must be coaxed into place. This puzzle is art and craftsmanship coming together in the most satisfying way possible for any puzzler. Enjoy!

Outro…

Chatter Lagniappe Sunday Break the News colligo erik j larson fine young cannibals James Fallows john naughton Liberty Puzzles public domain review Rusty Foster Today in Tabs