Newsletter Leaf Journal CLXXVIII 〜 Probably not a language model
Welcome to the 178th edition of The Newsletter Leaf Journal, the official newsletter of the perennially virid online writing magazine, The New Leaf Journal. This news letter comes to you as always from the waterproof keyboard of the editor of The New Leaf Journal, Nicholas A. Ferrell. We have new articles to get to as well as other news and notes, so let's get to it.
Leaves from the week that was
I published four new articles since mailing Newsletter 177.
Humane Content in World of Language Models
Nicholas A. Ferrell. March 11.
Inspired by another blog post, I consider the value of writing for human beings as we see more AI language model-generated content to go along with more traditional SEO spam.
Itsuomi Nagi’s Hair Color Experiments
Nicholas A. Ferrell. March 12.
My fifth (and probably final) article on hair color in A Sign of Affection covered the reason behind one young man's "silver" hair.
Donut Fender in Greenpoint, Brooklyn
Nicholas A. Ferrell. March 13.
Scenes from a rare trip to Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
Boku no Shokora – Visual Novel Review
Nicholas A. Ferrell. March 14.
I commemorated White Day (a Japan-exclusive March follow-up to Valentine's Day) with a review of an unofficial translation of a freeware Japanese visual novel that came with a White Day scenario.
Leaves from around the web
Let's check in on what is going on around the world wide web.
Everything is about me
Designer of Brooklyn Bridge Park tells more about the ‘magical berms’
Brooklyn Eagle. March 12, 2024.
I have never seen the berms look as green as they do in these pictures.
Your car is spying on you and upping your insurance rates: report
Ariel Zilber for the New York Post. March 12, 2024.
Joke is on you: I don't have a car.
You Could Run a 'Penguin Post Office' in Antarctica
Sarah Kuta for Smithsonian Magazine. March 12, 2024.
I don't think I want to though.
I answer your headlines
Why a 1-Cent Postage Stamp Could Sell for $5 Million
Julia Binswanger for Smithsonian Magazine. March 12, 2024.
Probably because at least one person is willing to pay $5 million for it.
To death don't us part: Why Uncle Sam keeps paying benefits to dead people
Stephen Dinan for The Washington Times. March 13, 2024.
Probably because the U.S. government is not very careful with other people's money.
What the U.S. can learn from India’s TikTok ban
Russell Brandom and Nilesh Christopher. February 6, 2023.
The ban part.
Technology loss
Google to shut down Keen, its experimental Pinterest-like social media platform
Mauricio B. Holguin for AlternativeTo. March 14, 2024.
I never heard of Keen but I will pretend to be offended that Google is shutting it down.
Pornhub disables website in Texas over objection to age verification law
Taylor Goldenstein for Houston Chronicle. March 14, 2024.
Oh no. That is terrible. (Said in a monotone.)
Israeli and Lebanese users of dating apps are made strange bedfellows by war-baffled GPS
Times of Israel. March 11, 2024.
Can Israel "fix" all of the dating apps?
Hindsight is 20/20
Failed American Startups: The Pony Express and Pets.Com
Mark Harvey for 3 Quarks Daily. March 11, 2024.
The problem is that the founders of The Pony Express and Pets.Com failed to work together.
Wood spikes from Roman fort conserved
The History Blog. March 5, 2024.
The Roman soldiers wrongly thought that they could bury the past.
Newsletters just wanna have pun
Feds aren't doing asbestos checks in most government buildings
Stephen Dinan for The Washington Times. March 5, 2024.
The feds aren't sending their asBESTos.
The Best Pencils and Pens for Bibles and Other Books with Thin Paper
JetPens. March 12,2024.
In case you're in the mark-it.
Once and future(?) kings (quality may vary)
A Manual for Adversity
Darran Anderson for City Journal. Winter 2024.
A critical meditation on Marcus Aurelius' Meditations.
Jimmy ‘Barbecue’ Chérizier: the gangster behind the violence in Haiti who may have political aspirations of his own
Amalendu Misra for The Conversation. March 12, 2024.
Why be king-maker when no one is left to stop you from being king?
Ask not why...
Altoids Tin Keyboard Is a Breath of Fresh Air Kristina Panos for Hackaday. February 4, 2024.
Now that's a keyboard.
Dr. Pepper fans create online map of Japan cataloging everywhere you can buy the divisive drink
Casey Baseel for SoraNews24. March 11, 2024.
Dr. Pepper is good but this requires serious dedication.
Orange things
An Ode to NYC’s Orange Subway Seats
Emmalyn Meyer for Untapped New York. March 8, 2024.
A bit nostalgic although these were never my most-used subway lines.
Orange and grey
Chris Lovie-Tyler. February 11, 2024.
A painting from a beach photo.
Lives well-lived
Paul Alexander: 'Man in the iron lung' dies at the age of 78
Ido Vock and Cat Snowdon for BBC News. March 13, 2024.
He certainly made the most of a very unfortunate hand. R.I.P.
Former gas station owner and JCPenney manager who became a millionaire after 50 dies at 94, leaving his company to employees
Sasha Rogelberg for Fortune. February 15, 2024.
He made a fine company that continues to provide me with many breakfasts. R.I.P.
The Old Leaf Journal
Let's dig into our archives...
The Pony-Sizing Cannon
Nicholas A. Ferrell. September 16, 2020.
This invention would be better than AI.
Save the Date – Visual Novel Review
Nicholas A. Ferrell. March 14, 2022.
2024 is not the first time I reviewed a visual novel for White Day.
Justin & Justina: White Day Reciprocity
Nicholas A. Ferrell. February 17, 2021.
A dialogue explaining White Day for the uninitiated.
My Bonnie Steed – 1842 poem
Nicholas A. Ferrell. February 19, 2023.
Re-printing a poem about an exceptionally handsome (non-pony-sized) horse.
On Learning How to Ride a Skateboard Before Learning Tricks
Nicholas A. Ferrell. April 9, 2021.
I have never ridden a skateboard but I think my advice here is sound.
Existential Crisis of the Rotting Pumpkin
Nicholas A. Ferrell. October 17, 2022.
I am very happy to report that the four-year reign of rotting pumpkins taking over Brooklyn sidewalks was ended this year.
Most-turned leaves of the newsletter week
I list our most-read articles from the previous newsletter week (Friday to Saturday) in each edition of The Newsletter Leaf Journal. These statistics come courtesy of Koko Analytics, our local, privacy friendly page-counting solution (see my review).
Below, you will find the five most-visited articles of 2024 newsletter week 11 (March 9-15) along with their 2024 statistics and all-time statistics, which go back to the first week of 2021. (Note: My numbering was off by one for a couple weeks -- this is indeed week 11.)
[1] Yuki's Hair Color in A Sign of Affection
Nicholas A. Ferrell. February 2, 2024.
2024: 6 appearances and 2 top placements.
[2] An In-Depth Look at Norton Safe Search
Nicholas A. Ferrell. October 18, 2022.
2024: 6 appearances.
Overall: 18 appearances and 5 top placements.
[3] Itsuomi's Hair Color in A Sign of Affection
Nicholas A. Ferrell. February 5, 2024.
2024: 5 appearances and 3 top placements.
[4] The Pokémon Special Split in Generation 2 - Statistics and Analysis
Nicholas A. Ferrell. January 18, 2022.
2024: 5 appearances.
Overall: 51 appearances and 4 top placements.
[5] Installing GrapheneOS on a Google Pixel 6a
Nicholas A. Ferrell. May 15, 2023.
2024: NEW
Overall: 9 appearances.
Analysis
We came in below week 10 for our new weakest week of 2024 (although still strong by non-2024 standards). Our Google views are down slightly but we have seen a noticeable drop in DuckDuckGo and Bing in the last two weeks. The issue seems to be a decline in my Norton Safe Search review which had been (and remains) our top article on the Bing side of things. However, on the Google side, hair color in A Sign of Affection continues to carry the day. After narrowly taking its first top rank in week 10, my Yuki hair color article posted its best week in what proved to be a dominant week 11 performance, taking the top spot easily and making it five in a row for hair color in A Sign of Affection when combined with the first Itsuomi article, which dropped one spot from second to third in this week's ranking. A Sign of Affection's penultimate episode airs today (today being March 16), so the Yuki article (which appears to have established itself as the new top article in the series) should have a couple more weeks of strong performances.
News & Notable Leaf Journal
I have no New Leaf Journal news to report beyond the fact that I am continuing to work on new articles and other projects.
I mentioned last week that I am trying Zim Wiki as a task manager. One week in and it is working well -- I credit it in part with helping me organize Boku no Shokora visual novel review quickly (I only discovered the novel on Saturday evening and decided to schedule a review for Thursday). I will keep at it and see how I can develop it.
For those of you looking for something to listen to this weekend, I hear through the grapevine of my feed aggregator site that New Leaf Journal author Victor V. Gurbo published a new recording on YouTube.
Taking leaf
I have some plans today (we may top the 14.3 mile walk I described in my article on Greenpoint), so I will take leave here so I can get ready for that. Thank you for reading and if you are not already a regular reader, consider signing up for our Saturday email or simply add this newsletter's RSS feed to your favorite feed reader (see options). You can learn about how the feed option works here.
Until March 23 -- Cura ut valeas,
Nicholas A. Ferrell, Editor of The New Leaf Journal