Leafy intro

Welcome to the 275th edition of The Newsletter Leaf Journal, the official newsletter of the perennially virid online writing magazine, The New Leaf Journal ("NLJ") and its short-form writing sister publication, The Emu Café Social ("ECS"). This newsletter comes to you as always from the administrator, editor, and writer of both publications, Nicholas A. Ferrell.

Leaves from around the week that was

I published four New Leaf Journal articles since mailing Newsletter 274. With that being said, it was not my most productive week, but let no one say I did not leave you with something to read in NLJ.

Last Saturday I published two articles after mailing the Newsletter. One was March 2026 at The New Leaf Journal, wherein I reviewed the month that was in March (surprisingly timely!). Even if you are up-to-date with my March articles, do check in for my photograph and our list of most-visited articles of the month (we had some interesting ones). The other new article was Inflatable Easter Bunny in Columbia Street Waterfront District (2026) (very much an "as advertised" article).

On the 7th, I published Using Marginalia Search’s Backlink Search. Marginalia Search is a very neat open source search engine which focuses on independent/vintage websites and has its own crawler and index (give it a try). In addition to search, it can also display information about websites in its index. In this article, I focused on its backlink search tool, which has some interesting use-cases for people looking for links to their own sites (or links between any sites).

Finally, I published Uganda, Israel, and Iran in 2026 vs 1976. This article was prompted by the very pro-Israel X posting of General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the Ugandan Defense Minister andson of President Yoweri Musevni (who is in his 40th year in office). Mr. Kainerugaba is presumptive heir apparent to the presidency. I pondered how this story would have been very difficult to explain to someone 50 years ago with the 50th anniversary of Israel's daring hostage rescue Entebbe Raid coming up this summer.

I published 19 new ECS posts, although we can sift through them quickly since a few are parts of series (I published a few NLJ/Newsletter post updates that I will exclude since I covered all my new posts above).

• Daily Pook-Emu Bee Link Posts: 04-06, 04-07, 04-08, 04-09, and 04-10.

• Things I Learned: The Former Bronx Zoo Platypuses, High Ad Block Usage in Indonesia, April’s Pink Moon, Japan’s Oil Imports.

• Good News: U.S. Special Operations Forces Rescue Air Force Officer.

• Humor: Touching the Gowanus Canal? and Grokipedia Thinks I Wrote About Persona Q2 (I Have Never Played Persona Q2).

• Cautionary Tales: Storing Photos on Someone Else’s Computer.

• Blocking Bots: Blocking Bad Bots With AbuseIPD Blacklist.

• Cool Stuff: The “Build A Boy” Project.

• Hot Takes on Tech: On the Phone Map Crisis and Non-Meta Smartglasses and my Pet Issues.

Finally, I published to Pixelfed my 2025 photo of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Roman Catholic Church in Brooklyn, which I had featured in my Easter article last year. As I noted on Pixelfed, I took this photo within 10-15 minutes of my current profile photo on NLJ and ECS.

Leaves from around the web

I had 21 links from around the web prepared. I found a time-sensitive link after finishing my draft. Now you get to enjoy 22 links from around the web (with my world-famous commentary).

Lunar news

Jennifer Mills News, Vol. 25, Issue 39
Jennifer Mills for Jennifer Mills News. April 10, 2026.

"Jennifer Mills, 41, a resident of Brooklyn and modern woman on earth found herself engrossed this week in NASA's Artemis II's mission to the moon."

Astronauts suggest naming a moon crater 'Carroll' after their commander's late wife
Rachel Treisman for NPR. April 7, 2026.

"Mission specialist Jeremy Hansen, on the line with mission control, suggested that the first crater be named after their spacecraft, 'Integrity.' For the second, they suggested Carroll, in honor of [Reid] Wiseman's wife, who died of cancer in 2020 at age 46."

Sailor Moon’s Artemis is part of the Artemis II NASA mission control team[Video]
Casey Baseel for SoraNews24. April 5, 2026.

Despite being an anime guy, I would have missed the reference because I have not watched Sailor Moon.

Making things unnecessarily complicated

Regulating the Sex Robot Revolution
Tim Rosenberger and Vilda Westh Blanc for City Journal. April 10, 2026.

The problem with policy/regulation wonks is that they miss the forest through the trees. In this case, the forest creatures are screaming "once you accept the sex bots and start quibbling over the parameters of acceptable sex bot design, you have already ceded the hill," but the wonks cannot hear because they are contemplating that "states should mandate transparency standards for AI systems marketed as 'companions' and restrict the collection of biometric and voice data gathered through these devices."

Are Prediction Markets Gambling?
Charles Fain Lehman for City Journal. April 8, 2026.

For the first time ever, I will write an entire reply article in the Around the Web section of this humble newsletter. Are you ready? Really ready? Here it goes: "Yes."

Worlds of make-believe

Mamdani signs ‘emergency’ order to block concerts, food festivals at NYC parks during FIFA World Cup
Carl Campanile, Larry Calona, and Jorge Fitz-Gibbon for the New York Post. April 6, 2026.

The New York City government is committed to the bit of pretending that World Cup matches will be taking place in New York City (there will be no World Cup matches in New York state, much less New York City).

Drinking water in the Middle Ages
Fake History Hunter. February 2, 2026.

I have heard the "fake history" that people in the Middle Ages did not drink water. I think it is popular in school history classes along with the fake history fact that people in the Middle Ages thought the Earth was flat.

“The First Tell Was the File Name of the Principal Brief: ‘Cocounsel Skill Results’”
Eugene Volokh for The Volokh Conspiracy (quoting at length U.S. v. Ferris, No. 65-5623 (6th Cir. 2026)). April 9, 2026.

Never a good sign when the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit refers to defense counsel by his last name sans honorific throughout a decision. Worse sign when the panel recommends the decision for publication as precedent.

Snack time

Pop-Tarts Debuts Super Stuffed Line With 50% More Filling
Vending Connection. March 26, 2026.

That cinnamon caramel one looks intriguing...

A Kyoto factory vending machine sells gourmet mystery meals at bargain prices
Eliot Hale for SoraNews24. April 4, 2026.

"For 400 yen (US$2.50) you can enjoy a bundle of three frozen packages, but due to the 'gacha' element, you’ll have no idea what they can contain until they clatter out of the machine. But what sort of obanzai dinners could you be getting…and just what is obanzai?"

Snack Boats・スナックボート
Daniel Sofer at Hermosawave Photography. December 13, 2025.

"These boats travel up and down the river, offering food and drinks to passengers cruising the river in flat bottomed yakatabune boats."

How to be a bro's bro, bro

Raccoonfooding 🦝
Gerben Jacons. December 11, 2025.

"Instead of using your own products and services, you intend to use your friends creations."

Eddy Curry says Charles Oakley once handed him $70K in cash to buy a Bentley
Peter Sunjic for Basketball Network. November 26, 2025.

What have you done for your teammates lately?

Let's check in on the schools

Qatar Is Pushing for ‘Social Justice’ Lessons and Arabic Classes in US K-12 Schools
Simone for Weicheslbaum for The Washington Free Beacon. January 28, 2026.

I'm not in favor but willing to re-consider my position if Qatar gives the administrators and teachers who think this is a good idea jobs in Qatar (one-way tickets only, however).

Exclusive: Teacher Sexual Misconduct Is ‘Rampant’ in U.S. Schools, Leading Experts Find
Lowell Cauffiel for Breitbart. March 29, 2026.

Unlike bad experts say articles, this one cites to specific experts, offers some basis for their expertise, and links to their work so that readers can evaluate it. Well done.

NYC schools drop more than $350K on ‘creepy’ new digital hall pass scheme — that tracks kids’ toilet trips and more
Brooke Steinberg and Marie Pohl for the New York Post. March 25, 2026.

This is what happens when the people setting public school policy would have difficulty passing 6th grade exams.

Clearing out our saved golf links (pun intended)

Augusta Fans Not Happy with Jason Kelce's Antics at The Masters
Dylan Gwinn for Breitbart. April 10, 2026.

One would think that I would be surprised that ESPN is apparently trying to turn The Masters into the celebrity game on NBA All Star weekend. But I know enough about ESPN to not be surprised.

How the Segmented Game changed, through the Eyes of Golf
Nicole Branagan. December 21, 2025.

I had a few of these sorts of segmented game devices in the 90s. Other than some of Nintendo's mini Game & Watch re-releases (Parachute is great), they didn't quite measure up to Sega Genesis and Game Boy.

Prehistoric chariot wheel unearthed at Highland golf course
BBC. April 23, 2025.

You never know what you'll find in those links bunkers.

What is the history of the green jacket?
Stephanie Royer for PGA Tour.com. April 5, 2026.

I found this one after I had drafted this newsletter . "Time sensitive," so in it goes!

Ways of communicating

Inventing Japanese Braille
Wei Yu Wayne Tan for History Workshop. May 1, 2025.

Very interesting article (but the sporadic capitalization of [B]raille, [B]lind, and [D]eaf, while explained at the end, is distracting).

Bees learn to read simple ‘Morse code’
Queen Mary University of London News Release. November 12, 2025.

Come back to me when they start "bzz'ing" in Morse Code.

Most-turned leaves of the newsletter week

I use a privacy-friendly and entirely local tool called Koko Analytics (see my 2025 article) to track page visits. In each issue of the newsletter, I list our five most-visited articles, according to Koko Analytics, for the one-week period beginning with Saturday and ending with Friday. Below, you will find our most-visited articles for the week of April 4-10 with notes on their cumulative ranking statistics going back to 2021.

1. Catching 151 Pokémon in Google Search
   N.A. Ferrell. April 17, 2025.
   This Year: 15 appearances and 13 top placements.
   Cumulative: 42 appearances and 34 top placements.

2. Adding noai.duckduckgo.com as Custom Search Engine
   N.A. Ferrell. January 21, 2026.
   12 appearances and 2 top placements.

3. Amazon “Cargo Bikes” in Brooklyn
   N.A. Ferrell. April 9, 2025.
   This Year: 7 appearances.
   Cumulative: 42 appearances and 8 top placements.

4. Finally Solving My HDMI ARC Problems
   N.A. Ferrell. December 5, 2025.
   First appearance.

5. My Logitech Washable Wired Keyboard K310
   N.A. Ferrell. January 20, 2024.
   2026: First appearance.
   Cumulative: 3 appearances.

Analysis

The top-two articles remain the same for the 12th consecutive week, with Catching 151 Pokémon in Google Search easily securing its seventh consecutive top-placement. Positions 3-5 were of interest this week. 2025 runner-up Amazon “Cargo Bikes” in Brooklyn returns to the weekly ranking for the first time since February, perhaps bouncing back from a relatively weak showing in March (it is currently the 4th most-visited article of 2026). In fourth place, Finally Solving My HDMI ARC Problems, which I published in December, made its weekly ranking debut. The top-five was rounded out by My Logitech Washable Wired Keyboard K310, which has now made a single weekly ranking appearance in each of the three years it has been online. With the two new weekly-top five articles, we have had 21 different articles make at least one weekly ranking in the first 15 weeks of 2026. Not included are nine of our 19 most-visited articles of 2026 thus far, so we may see more new weekly ranking articles in the coming weeks.

News Leaf Journal

I had been "daily driving" Ubuntu Touch as my phone OS on my Google Pixel 3a XL since late September. Before that, I had been using a GrapheneOS-powered Google Pixel 6a, but my Pixel 6a is unfortunately one of the units with a defective battery. I have everything I need to replace the battery, but I have not yet brought myself to undertake the project. I figured it would be fun to try Ubuntu Touch with an eye toward a review. I would still be using Ubuntu Touch but for one minor flaw: It came to my attention that I was not consistently receiving phone calls when I missed a rare phone call from my real-life employer. After determining that I could not consistently ensure that I was receiving phone calls, I re-flashed my Google Pixel 3a XL with the Android-derived LineageOS. Readers who follow the notes on my phone photos may recall that I had run LineageOS on my Pixel 3a XL from late 2022 through part of 2024 before switching to the now-defunct DivestOS and finally to my Pixel 6a with GrapheneOS. We have come almost full circle! For readers, this will mean three things:

1. I should publish a review (of sorts) of Ubuntu Touch soon.

2. My new photos will be better since the LineageOS camera app is demonstrably better than the Ubuntu Touch Camera App.

3. I should have two "watch" reviews soon, with the second being possible now that I am running an Android-derivative again.

4. I may soon actually replace the battery in my Pixel 6a! Maybe.

Notable Leaf Journal

I activated a "comments" form on the Newsletter. To the best of my recollection, this was previously only available on paid Buttondown plans, but I think it is now available for everyone. My understanding is you have to be an email subscriber to use the comments. If you happen to be an RSS subscriber or archive page bookmarker, you can check in using our Guestbook.

Taking leaf

There's some kid birthday party going on next door. Despite being in the middle of a residential neighborhood, they decided to hire an MC with a sound set-up. She is singing (poorly). Adults are mingling. Kids are just there (strangely quiet). I would say that this is a sign for me to wrap things up and go outside, but I cannot be sure because I can't hear myself think. Let us just assume I am being told to finish this newsletter.

Thank you as always for reading The Newsletter Leaf Journal. If you enjoyed this issue and have not done so already, you can follow this newsletter by signing up for our weekly email, adding our RSS feed to your favorite feed reader, or checking in on our archive page.

Until next week,
Cura ut valeas -- N.A. Ferrell.