[BLOG] Some Sunday links

Many things accumulated after a pause of a couple of months. Here are some of the best links to come about in this time.

• Anthrodendum considers the issue of the security, or not, of cloud data storage used by anthropologists.
• Architectuul takes a look at the very complex history of urban planning and architecture in the city of Skopje, linked to issues of disaster and identity.
• Centauri Dreams features an essay by Ioannis Kokkidinis, examining the nature of the lunar settlement of Artemis in Andy Weir’s novel of the same. What is it?
• Crux notes the possibility that human organs for transplant might one day soon be grown to order.
• D-Brief notes evidence that extrasolar visitor ‘Oumuamua is actually more like a comet than an asteroid.
• Bruce Dorminey makes the sensible argument that plans for colonizing Mars have to wait until we save Earth. (I myself have always thought the sort of environmental engineering necessary for Mars would be developed from techniques used on Earth.)
• The Everyday Sociology Blog took an interesting look at the relationship between hobbies and work.
• Far Outliers looks at how, in the belle époque, different European empires took different attitudes towards the emigration of their subjects depending on their ethnicity. (Russia was happy to be rid of Jews, while Hungary encouraged non-Magyars to leave.)
• The Finger Post shares some photos taken by the author on a trip to the city of Granada, in Nicaragua.
• The Frailest Thing’s L.M. Sacasas makes an interesting argument as to the extent to which modern technology creates a new sense of self-consciousness in individuals.
• Inkfish suggests that the bowhead whale has a more impressive repertoire of music–of song, at least–than the fabled humpback.
• Information is Beautiful has a wonderful illustration of the Drake Equation.
• JSTOR Daily takes a look at the American women who tried to prevent the Trail of Tears.
• Language Hat takes a look at the diversity of Slovene dialects, this diversity perhaps reflecting the stability of the Slovene-inhabited territories over centuries.
• Language Log considers the future of the Cantonese language in Hong Kong, faced with pressure from China.
• Lawyers, Guns and Money notes how negatively disruptive a withdrawal of American forces from Germany would be for the United States and its position in the world.
• Lingua Franca, at the Chronicle, notes the usefulness of the term “Latinx”.
• The LRB Blog reports on the restoration of a late 19th century Japanese-style garden in Britain.
• The New APPS Blog considers the ways in which Facebook, through the power of big data, can help commodify personal likes.
• Neuroskeptic reports on the use of ayahusasca as an anti-depressant. Can it work?
• Justin Petrone, attending a Nordic scientific conference in Iceland to which Estonia was invited, talks about the frontiers of Nordic identity.
• Personal Reflections’ Jim Belshaw writes about what it is to be a literary historian.
• Drew Rowsome praises Dylan Jones’ new biographical collection of interviews with the intimates of David Bowie.
• Peter Rukavina shares an old Guardian article from 1993, describing and showing the first webserver on Prince Edward Island.
• Seriously Science notes the potential contagiousness of parrot laughter.
• Understanding Society’s Daniel Little t.com/2018/06/shakespeare-on-tyranny.htmltakes a look at the new Stephen Greenblatt book, Shakespeare on Power, about Shakespeare’s perspectives on tyranny.
• Window on Eurasia shares speculation as to what might happen if relations between Russia and Kazakhstan broke down.
• Worthwhile Canadian Initiative noticed, before the election, the serious fiscal challenges facing Ontario.
• Yorkshire Ranter Alex Harrowell points out that creating a national ID database in the UK without issuing actual cards would be a nightmare.
• Arnold Zwicky reports on a strand of his Swiss family’s history found in a Paris building.