Parcel Liveblogging

Parcel liveblogging
Parcel liveblogging flickr photo by NomadWarMachine shared under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license
Today’s TDC says

The Guardian published a giggle generating list of 18 terms describing the current state of tech. Use at least 5 in an uplifting poem or maybe a motivational poster?

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/aug/18/dickovers-baggravation-botiquette-18-new-words-tech-hellscape

I chose ‘parcel liveblogging’

The sheer amount of hand-holding that comes with ordering a package online is frankly unnecessary. You can expect to receive messages informing you of every single step in the process. Officially you will receive the “We’ve got your order!” email, the “Your order is on the move!” email, the “Your order has reached our network!” email, the “Your order is progressing through our network!” email and the “Your order will be delivered today!” email. Unofficially, you will also receive the “We attempted delivery!” email (accompanied by a photo of the corner of a shipping container nowhere near your house), and the email telling you to collect it from a depot 20 minutes away.

I asked Nightcafe for:

a brown paper parcel tied up with string. It has arms and legs and a big smile. It has speech bubbles coming from it saying “I will be here soon”, “nearly there”, “can’t wait to meet you” and “what is your pet called?”

You can see the result, including typos not made by me, at the top of this page.

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Eigendrum

Today’s TDC is a fun one!

Draw and shape or explore preset ones and watch/hear it turned into a drum sound. I think that’s what Eigendrum does, it’s as nerdy as one can get with the physics / math of drum shape / sounds.

Of course I drew a cat, and you  can hear what it sounds like by clicking on the cat image here.

Eigendrum Cat
Eigendrum Cat flickr photo by NomadWarMachine shared under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license

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Brambles

I blogged my responses to the TDC thoughout August, and I kind of missed doing that today so here’s this one.  Today’s TDC says:

Today is the first day of meteorological autumn in the northern hemisphere. Make us something autumnal – maybe a picture or a poem.

I don’t have any autumnal photos for this year yet – though we noticed that the trees were starting to drop their leaves when we visited Mugdock earlier this week I didn’t take any pics. But here’s a pic I took yesterday of a fat, juicy, ripe blackberry against a bule sky.

Brambles
Brambles flickr photo by NomadWarMachine shared under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license
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8 months of daily photos in 2026

Another 31 days of daily photos checked off. One photo a day, every day, uploaded to Flickr. A moment where I pause each day and appreciate where I am.

Photo of the Day 2026

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Sinister

During the month of August I will be participating in Blaugust, a month long blogging challenge.

Todys TDC just says:

Show us something sinister.

Most of my study is sinister, as I am left handed. Here’s my left handed clock – bought as a joke, but my brain’s now got used to it being ‘back to front’.

Let Handed Clock
Let Handed Clock flickr photo by NomadWarMachine shared under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license

And here’s a left handed pencil, part of a box bought for dad some years ago

275/365 Left handed pencil
275/365 Left handed pencil flickr photo by NomadWarMachine shared under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license

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Gargoyle with Cone

During the month of August I will be participating in Blaugust, a month long blogging challenge.

Today’s TDC says:

The Duke of Wellington statue stands outside GoMA, and is a Glasgow icon. He usually has one cone on his head, sometimes more. Recently it’s being taken to ridiculous extremes, and some people are not happy about it. And – worse – our trend has spread to Edinburgh, and they are horrified.

Find a statue, or a photo of one, and decorate it with a traffic cone. Be safe as you do it!

I chose a pic I had taken earlier this year of one of my favourite statues, the gargoyle at the Heritage Hotel in Glasgow, and downloaded a pic of a traffic cone to add to his head. Powerpoint was all that I needed to quickly do this, then I screenshot the result and uploaded to Flickr.

Gargoyle with Cone
Gargoyle with Cone flickr photo by NomadWarMachine shared under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license

 

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Silent Sunday

234/365 Black Headed Gull
234/365 Black Headed Gull flickr photo by NomadWarMachine shared under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license

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Centred Pentagonal Number Art

During the month of August I will be participating in Blaugust, a month long blogging challenge.

Today’s TDC says:

 I love numbers, so today I learned that 106 is a centred pentagonal number! If you draw a star made of five equal branches, each branch made of zero or more blocks, and one block at the centre, then the number of blocks will be such a number.

Make some art based on this thought

First I took a screen shot of the pic

Centred pentagonal number art
Centred pentagonal number art flickr photo by NomadWarMachine shared under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license

And then I turned it into a gif

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Border Force

During the month of August I will be participating in Blaugust, a month long blogging challenge.

Today’s TDC says:

Your keywords for today’s TDC are: on the border.

Make something and/or show us something that goes with these words.

Border Force
Border Force flickr photo by NomadWarMachine shared under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-SA 2.0) license

I searched through my Flickr albums for ‘border’ and found this picture of a boat, taken in Oban a few years ago. I wondered at the time what this was – it seemed a strange thing to find in a Scottish tourist resort. However,  a Google AI summary tells me today that:

The UK Border Force operates Coastal Patrol Vessels (CPVs) along the west coast of Scotland to secure shallow waters, marinas, and beaches around the Sound of Kerrera and the Isle of Mull. These vessels deploy directly out of major hubs or regional bases when required.

The UK Border Force patrols Oban because its complex coastline serves as a major gateway to the Highlands and Islands, making it vulnerable to maritime crime. While the town is famous for tourism and Caledonian MacBrayne ferries, the vast, rugged geography of Argyll and Bute presents specific security challenges that require a targeted border presence.

So there you have it – this boat protects Scotland from illicit smuggling, and other nefarious practices. Gee, thanks!

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Virtual Communities – Hip Hip Corner

During the month of August I will be participating in Blaugust, a month long blogging challenge.

Today’s TDC says:

The Virtual Community Center  is a database of, well, virtual communities. Take a look and see who you find there. Tell us about them, or another community that is not there, but you think should be.  Find out more about the initiative from Howard Rheingold if you are interested.

I hopped over to Davey D’s Hip Hop Corner to find out about The Hardest Working Man in Hip Hop. Sadly the links to his speeches and interviews are lost to the world, but it looks as if he was (is?) a busy man – or at least he was in 2009.

Oh, he’s still active on Facebook!

I also hiphopped over to the History of Hip Hop page and bookmarked that to read when I’m not meant to be working.

All in all, a nice site and a great way to spend some time

Posted in Blaugust, DailyCreate, DS106 | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments