Greg de St. Maurice
@gdsm.bsky.social
Cultural anthropology • Food studies • Japanese studies • Craft, cuisine, place, branding, design
Fascinating stuff.
Migrating moths can read the stars
Even with brains smaller than a grain of rice, Bogong moths are expert navigators.
www.popsci.com
October 17, 2025 at 1:56 AM
Fascinating stuff.
Reposted by Greg de St. Maurice
It's really saddening the extent to which xenophobic anti-foreigner-blaming rhetoric has completely taken over the Japanese election, in many ways distracting from much more significant issues affecting Japanese society.
japanesemodernity.substack.com/p/xenophobic...
japanesemodernity.substack.com/p/xenophobic...
Xenophobic Rhetoric in the 2025 House of Councillors Campaigns
In the lead-up to the July 2025 House of Councillors election, nearly all parties—especially right-leaning ones—devoted significant attention to proposals on foreign residents (Asahi Shimbun 2025a).
japanesemodernity.substack.com
July 20, 2025 at 1:11 AM
It's really saddening the extent to which xenophobic anti-foreigner-blaming rhetoric has completely taken over the Japanese election, in many ways distracting from much more significant issues affecting Japanese society.
japanesemodernity.substack.com/p/xenophobic...
japanesemodernity.substack.com/p/xenophobic...
Unconscionable. I hope this gets remedied soon. Thankfully, there are NGOs doing admirable work to prevent human trafficking, rescue victims, and bring perpetrators to justice.
Trump cuts 69 global programs tackling child labor and human trafficking
More than $500m in grants axed as US risks decades of progress in protecting vulnerable workers worldwide
www.theguardian.com
July 18, 2025 at 11:23 AM
Unconscionable. I hope this gets remedied soon. Thankfully, there are NGOs doing admirable work to prevent human trafficking, rescue victims, and bring perpetrators to justice.
Reposted by Greg de St. Maurice
The other day, I was telling friends and family how a housewife originated these Tokyo Metro transfer and exit guides, and they thought I was kidding. It used to be a well-known story. If you don't know it, here's a quick summary.
July 14, 2025 at 3:33 AM
The other day, I was telling friends and family how a housewife originated these Tokyo Metro transfer and exit guides, and they thought I was kidding. It used to be a well-known story. If you don't know it, here's a quick summary.
“We might also be heading toward something like Posting Zero, a point at which normal people—the unprofessionalized, uncommodified, unrefined masses—stop sharing things on social media as they tire of the noise, the friction, and the exposure.”
Social media minus the social?
Social media minus the social?
Are You Experiencing Posting Ennui?
Sharing casual moments from our lives on social media doesn’t seem to make sense the way it used to.
www.newyorker.com
July 11, 2025 at 6:05 AM
“We might also be heading toward something like Posting Zero, a point at which normal people—the unprofessionalized, uncommodified, unrefined masses—stop sharing things on social media as they tire of the noise, the friction, and the exposure.”
Social media minus the social?
Social media minus the social?
“A lot of my peers understand that nothing is guaranteed really, no matter what you study, so you should just study the thing that matters the most to you,” Balh said. “AI doesn't feel like a reason to stop making art. If anything, it’s a reason to keep making and insist on making art.”
NYC art schools see record-high application numbers as Gen Zers clamber to enroll
Yes, even in this economy.
gothamist.com
July 11, 2025 at 2:35 AM
“A lot of my peers understand that nothing is guaranteed really, no matter what you study, so you should just study the thing that matters the most to you,” Balh said. “AI doesn't feel like a reason to stop making art. If anything, it’s a reason to keep making and insist on making art.”
Reposted by Greg de St. Maurice
The Maintainers have released their “Maintainers Study Guide: A Guide to Ground Your Practice in Principles of Maintenance, Repair + Care” — a resource that “reflects nearly a decade of work” across The Maintainers’ conferences, fellowships, research networks, etc
themaintainers.org/study-guide/
themaintainers.org/study-guide/
July 10, 2025 at 1:05 AM
The Maintainers have released their “Maintainers Study Guide: A Guide to Ground Your Practice in Principles of Maintenance, Repair + Care” — a resource that “reflects nearly a decade of work” across The Maintainers’ conferences, fellowships, research networks, etc
themaintainers.org/study-guide/
themaintainers.org/study-guide/
Reposted by Greg de St. Maurice
The age of the AI scraping free-for-all may be coming to an end—at least if Cloudflare gets its way. The IT infrastructure firm has switched to blocking AI crawlers by default for its customers and is moving forward with a Pay Per Crawl program.
Cloudflare Is Blocking AI Crawlers by Default
The age of the AI scraping free-for-all may be coming to an end. At least if Cloudflare gets its way.
wrd.cm
July 6, 2025 at 11:56 PM
The age of the AI scraping free-for-all may be coming to an end—at least if Cloudflare gets its way. The IT infrastructure firm has switched to blocking AI crawlers by default for its customers and is moving forward with a Pay Per Crawl program.
Reposted by Greg de St. Maurice
My statement on Donald Trump's threat to deport me and his praise for Eric Adams, who the President "helped out" of legal accountability.
July 1, 2025 at 9:01 PM
My statement on Donald Trump's threat to deport me and his praise for Eric Adams, who the President "helped out" of legal accountability.
Reposted by Greg de St. Maurice
In 1987, on the eve of the release of Studio Ghibli's Grave of the Fireflies, director Takahata Isao sat down for an interview with Nosaka Akiyuki, the author who penned the semi-autobiographical novel on which the film is based.
A few highlights from their totally fascinating discussion:
A few highlights from their totally fascinating discussion:
June 28, 2025 at 8:18 PM
In 1987, on the eve of the release of Studio Ghibli's Grave of the Fireflies, director Takahata Isao sat down for an interview with Nosaka Akiyuki, the author who penned the semi-autobiographical novel on which the film is based.
A few highlights from their totally fascinating discussion:
A few highlights from their totally fascinating discussion:
Reposted by Greg de St. Maurice
"The Mamdani campaign’s identity is the work of a tiny design co-op called Forge, and specifically its designer Aneesh Bhoopathy, formerly of Queens and now living in Philadelphia" — a little bit Bollywood, a little bit bodega :)
Zohran Mamdani’s campaign had a visual language like no other, drawing on hand-painted bodega signage and New York iconography in a completely fresh way.
Zohran Mamdani’s Campaign Logo Looked Nothing Like a Campaign Logo
Zohran Mamdani’s campaign had a visual language like no other, drawing on hand-painted bodega signage and New York iconography in a completely fresh way.
www.curbed.com
June 26, 2025 at 2:51 AM
"The Mamdani campaign’s identity is the work of a tiny design co-op called Forge, and specifically its designer Aneesh Bhoopathy, formerly of Queens and now living in Philadelphia" — a little bit Bollywood, a little bit bodega :)
Reposted by Greg de St. Maurice
The number of drinks vending machines in Japan fell from 2.47 mln in 2014 to 2.04mln in 2024, and 10% are still unprofitable. When a 500ml bottle of Coke goes to 200 yen, some 20-30% may become unprofitable. toyokeizai.net/articles/-/8...
【限界の自販機】｢コカ･コーラ｣200円時代突入へ､今秋値上げで赤字自販機は2～3割に激増も。サントリーやダイドーも苦戦で、連携の動きは加速か
6月中旬、都内の気温が30度を超えた真夏日。汗だくになりながら道端を歩いていると、コカ・コーラの自動販売機が目にとまった。飲み物を買おうと近づくと、ミネラルウォーター「いろはす」（540ミリリットル）が14…
toyokeizai.net
June 25, 2025 at 3:04 AM
The number of drinks vending machines in Japan fell from 2.47 mln in 2014 to 2.04mln in 2024, and 10% are still unprofitable. When a 500ml bottle of Coke goes to 200 yen, some 20-30% may become unprofitable. toyokeizai.net/articles/-/8...
Agricultural tariff schedule. There’s so much here. And yet, I’m left with so many questions.
www.trade.gov
June 24, 2025 at 7:57 AM
Agricultural tariff schedule. There’s so much here. And yet, I’m left with so many questions.
I saw this woman feeding stray dogs in Patan, Nepal. They knew who she was and all but one went over to her immediately. Seeing so many strays was sad, but they clearly weren’t afraid of people. I saw some in stores, hanging out. At night, some of them were sleeping in the middle of the street.
June 13, 2025 at 10:10 AM
I saw this woman feeding stray dogs in Patan, Nepal. They knew who she was and all but one went over to her immediately. Seeing so many strays was sad, but they clearly weren’t afraid of people. I saw some in stores, hanging out. At night, some of them were sleeping in the middle of the street.
W. David Marx compares AI generated art to polyester. From an aesthetic perspective, it’s already losing value just like the artificial fabric did. culture.ghost.io/genai-is-our...
GenAI is Our Polyester
The best way to understand generative AI art and aesthetics is to consider how previous "synthetics" lost value in the long-run
For the first half of the 20th century, white-collar workers wore busin...
culture.ghost.io
June 11, 2025 at 11:53 PM
W. David Marx compares AI generated art to polyester. From an aesthetic perspective, it’s already losing value just like the artificial fabric did. culture.ghost.io/genai-is-our...
Nepal has been one discovery after another. This one is chhang: a fermented rice beverage low in alcohol. The taste varies from family to family. This one has a lactic acid flavor with vegetal and herbal notes.
June 9, 2025 at 4:59 AM
Nepal has been one discovery after another. This one is chhang: a fermented rice beverage low in alcohol. The taste varies from family to family. This one has a lactic acid flavor with vegetal and herbal notes.
9 out of 10. Wasn’t confident about a few of them, though.
Only 8 out of 10.
"Real or AI Quiz: Can You Tell the Difference?"
britannicaeducation.com/blog/quiz-re...
"Real or AI Quiz: Can You Tell the Difference?"
britannicaeducation.com/blog/quiz-re...
Real or AI Quiz: Can You Tell the Difference? » Britannica
Investigate strategies for detecting real versus fake images. Test your students' image evaluation skills with our interactive challenge!
britannicaeducation.com
May 28, 2025 at 9:49 AM
9 out of 10. Wasn’t confident about a few of them, though.
Me: Carpets are dust and stain magnets and unhygienic. Dislike!
Also me: There’s such a thing as a Yeti rocking chair?!? Want!
Also me: There’s such a thing as a Yeti rocking chair?!? Want!
May 27, 2025 at 2:22 AM
Me: Carpets are dust and stain magnets and unhygienic. Dislike!
Also me: There’s such a thing as a Yeti rocking chair?!? Want!
Also me: There’s such a thing as a Yeti rocking chair?!? Want!
Absurdly proud of the first garlic bulb I’ve grown. It’s so small because I had to harvest it early after spotting the allium leaf miner infestation on my balcony.
May 25, 2025 at 4:23 AM
Absurdly proud of the first garlic bulb I’ve grown. It’s so small because I had to harvest it early after spotting the allium leaf miner infestation on my balcony.
Reposted by Greg de St. Maurice
"The Food Action Awards support internat'l practitioners, community-led prjcts, collectives, + researchers advancing food practices that confront extractive food systems + climate breakdown. Via CLIMAVORE x Jameel @ Royal College of Art." £25,000! Apps due April 22! www.instagram.com/p/DIReq-QIcDz/
April 11, 2025 at 12:40 AM
"The Food Action Awards support internat'l practitioners, community-led prjcts, collectives, + researchers advancing food practices that confront extractive food systems + climate breakdown. Via CLIMAVORE x Jameel @ Royal College of Art." £25,000! Apps due April 22! www.instagram.com/p/DIReq-QIcDz/