Ash Ponders is judging the Smithsonian Photo Contest
@ashponders.bsky.social
I was a poet but then I wanted
to get paid
worse.
I make photos for news.
@ashponders.01 on signal.
http://ashponders.com
to get paid
worse.
I make photos for news.
@ashponders.01 on signal.
http://ashponders.com
Pinned
Hey friends. I'm doing a holiday printsale over on ashponders.darkroom.com. Please take a look, I make images of pretty things like monkeys who are disappointed in you and rainbows that aren't. If you can buy a print, do!
Ok! A buncha people came through & suggested some images I've made that might find a home on the walls of my many many admirers.
Because of their wonderful labor, I've increased the 'bluesky' discount to 50% and refunded the difference to those of you who've used the code when it was only 25%.
Because of their wonderful labor, I've increased the 'bluesky' discount to 50% and refunded the difference to those of you who've used the code when it was only 25%.
November 29, 2025 at 7:29 AM
Reposted by Ash Ponders is judging the Smithsonian Photo Contest
I really vibe with @tonx.coffee's unfussy approach to coffee, you really can't lose with this deal:
A Black Friday deal now live on our flagship blend The Mix — a great time to test drive our beautiful beans.
And a deep discount for pre-paid gift subscriptions of anywhere from 2 to 24 shipments! Holiday shopping: sorted! ☕️🎁
And a deep discount for pre-paid gift subscriptions of anywhere from 2 to 24 shipments! Holiday shopping: sorted! ☕️🎁
November 26, 2025 at 7:43 PM
I really vibe with @tonx.coffee's unfussy approach to coffee, you really can't lose with this deal:
Reposted by Ash Ponders is judging the Smithsonian Photo Contest
I recently bought a Yes Plz subscription for my brother-in-law's birthday. I'm sad I can't try the coffee as I don't live in the States anymore, but he is very happy with his gift.
Buy Tony's coffee imo.
Buy Tony's coffee imo.
I dislike both selling stuff to make a living and self promotion, but there are bills to pay and my coffee is pretty dang good actually so perhaps more people should try it.
A Black Friday deal now live on our flagship blend The Mix — a great time to test drive our beautiful beans.
And a deep discount for pre-paid gift subscriptions of anywhere from 2 to 24 shipments! Holiday shopping: sorted! ☕️🎁
And a deep discount for pre-paid gift subscriptions of anywhere from 2 to 24 shipments! Holiday shopping: sorted! ☕️🎁
November 28, 2025 at 9:04 PM
I recently bought a Yes Plz subscription for my brother-in-law's birthday. I'm sad I can't try the coffee as I don't live in the States anymore, but he is very happy with his gift.
Buy Tony's coffee imo.
Buy Tony's coffee imo.
Reposted by Ash Ponders is judging the Smithsonian Photo Contest
Talked about this article somewhere else and someone wanted me to talk a bit more about it so here ya go! First, gift link. Second, my overwhelming takeaway is that, in a world where we rebuild in the coming decades, a good chunk of universities need new leadership.
www.wsj.com/us-news/educ...
www.wsj.com/us-news/educ...
Arizona State’s President Is Pulling Out All the Stops to Get on Trump’s Good Side
ASU is positioning itself as the anti-Harvard in Trump’s campaign to remake higher education.
www.wsj.com
November 28, 2025 at 7:29 PM
Talked about this article somewhere else and someone wanted me to talk a bit more about it so here ya go! First, gift link. Second, my overwhelming takeaway is that, in a world where we rebuild in the coming decades, a good chunk of universities need new leadership.
www.wsj.com/us-news/educ...
www.wsj.com/us-news/educ...
Reposted by Ash Ponders is judging the Smithsonian Photo Contest
Police raided the wrong home, killed an innocent woman, then planted marijuana in her basement to cover up their mistake.
Episode One: Dirty Business
The Atlanta narcotics unit’s deadly raid on 92-year-old Kathryn Johnston.
interc.pt
November 28, 2025 at 7:05 PM
Police raided the wrong home, killed an innocent woman, then planted marijuana in her basement to cover up their mistake.
Reposted by Ash Ponders is judging the Smithsonian Photo Contest
I don’t know if anyone else notices or cares, but when I see a presentation in which the speaker uses obviously generated-AI images to illustrate their slides, it makes me immediately less confident in whatever other content they’re presenting.
November 28, 2025 at 3:07 PM
I don’t know if anyone else notices or cares, but when I see a presentation in which the speaker uses obviously generated-AI images to illustrate their slides, it makes me immediately less confident in whatever other content they’re presenting.
Interesting to see Lissitzky’s red wedge used in Switzerland so quickly after El moved to Germany. Semiotic graphic design was zipping around so fluidly in the European interbellum.
Max Bill's covers of the Swiss anti-fascist journal Information: Wirtschaft, Wissenschaft, Erziehung, Technik, Kunst (1932-1933; Merrill C. Berman Collection; #skystorians): mcbcollection.com/campaigns/vi...
November 28, 2025 at 1:58 PM
Interesting to see Lissitzky’s red wedge used in Switzerland so quickly after El moved to Germany. Semiotic graphic design was zipping around so fluidly in the European interbellum.
Reposted by Ash Ponders is judging the Smithsonian Photo Contest
The research is quite clear: diverse teams produce better outcomes. In the context of software architecture and sociotechnical design, this happens because a variety of perspectives introduces necessary friction. This friction tests our models against reality before we commit them to code....
November 28, 2025 at 11:30 AM
The research is quite clear: diverse teams produce better outcomes. In the context of software architecture and sociotechnical design, this happens because a variety of perspectives introduces necessary friction. This friction tests our models against reality before we commit them to code....
Reposted by Ash Ponders is judging the Smithsonian Photo Contest
Hate to be posting this on a holiday, but there's been renewed interest in the CIA-backed Zero Units in Afghanistan. Here's a good summary of @propublica.org's 2022 reporting on the units and just some of the civilian casualties they were responsible for:
What We Know About U.S.-Backed Zero Units in Afghanistan
Deadly night raids. Faulty U.S. intelligence. A “classified” war loophole. Reporter Lynzy Billing’s investigation offers an unprecedented insight into the civilian casualties of Afghanistan’s Zero Uni...
www.propublica.org
November 28, 2025 at 2:11 AM
Hate to be posting this on a holiday, but there's been renewed interest in the CIA-backed Zero Units in Afghanistan. Here's a good summary of @propublica.org's 2022 reporting on the units and just some of the civilian casualties they were responsible for:
Reposted by Ash Ponders is judging the Smithsonian Photo Contest
i made my own and it was a big hit
November 28, 2025 at 1:20 AM
i made my own and it was a big hit
Reposted by Ash Ponders is judging the Smithsonian Photo Contest
"They had submitted extensive paperwork and paid fees. The foreign spouses had been fingerprinted and passed medical exams. None had criminal records. None had entered the country illegally. They had already been granted employment authorization." www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/u...
Green Card Interviews End in Handcuffs for Spouses of U.S. Citizens
www.nytimes.com
November 28, 2025 at 12:38 AM
"They had submitted extensive paperwork and paid fees. The foreign spouses had been fingerprinted and passed medical exams. None had criminal records. None had entered the country illegally. They had already been granted employment authorization." www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/u...
Reposted by Ash Ponders is judging the Smithsonian Photo Contest
If you’re interested in rum, I highly recommend Matt’s and Alexandre’s new book “The Rum Never Sets”. It’s detailed, but not too detailed, richly illustrated, and fascinating.
For years, the Royal Navy’s true rum recipe felt like a ghost—stories, guesses, half-truths. Then a former Royal Navy storehouse man stepped forward with his handwritten notes to reveal a level of detail never publicly known. The latest on my Rum Wonk Substack.
www.rumwonk.com/p/this-man-s...
www.rumwonk.com/p/this-man-s...
This Man Saved the Royal Navy’s Rum Recipe
A forgotten notebook. A chance encounter. The Royal Navy’s rum recipe stayed secret—until now.
www.rumwonk.com
November 24, 2025 at 3:04 PM
If you’re interested in rum, I highly recommend Matt’s and Alexandre’s new book “The Rum Never Sets”. It’s detailed, but not too detailed, richly illustrated, and fascinating.
Reposted by Ash Ponders is judging the Smithsonian Photo Contest
The stovetop here has a QUICK BOIL button, but I prefer old-fashioned, slow-boiled water. It’s less convenient, sure, but if you give it time, it’s so much juicier. The water just falls off the bone.
November 27, 2025 at 8:16 PM
The stovetop here has a QUICK BOIL button, but I prefer old-fashioned, slow-boiled water. It’s less convenient, sure, but if you give it time, it’s so much juicier. The water just falls off the bone.
Reposted by Ash Ponders is judging the Smithsonian Photo Contest
The Taco Bell Baja Blast pie is pretty intense. Interesting. Tastes exactly like Baja Blast, also has some kind of citric tingle that mimics the effervescence of Mountain Dew.
November 27, 2025 at 9:55 PM
The Taco Bell Baja Blast pie is pretty intense. Interesting. Tastes exactly like Baja Blast, also has some kind of citric tingle that mimics the effervescence of Mountain Dew.
November 27, 2025 at 9:42 PM
Reposted by Ash Ponders is judging the Smithsonian Photo Contest
We have discovered a planet. It is a land beyond suffering or torment-- but with birds. Clouds made of helium drift through the skies. I want to find joy there.
November 27, 2025 at 1:20 PM
We have discovered a planet. It is a land beyond suffering or torment-- but with birds. Clouds made of helium drift through the skies. I want to find joy there.
Reposted by Ash Ponders is judging the Smithsonian Photo Contest
remember kids, don't let your cat burn down the house today
November 27, 2025 at 1:22 PM
remember kids, don't let your cat burn down the house today
Canada has had an opening for a show that takes place in a corner store for a few years now.
I think if Canada wants to have a strong cultural identity we need to go back to doing what we're best at, making the weirdest fucking TV shows you've ever seen
November 27, 2025 at 5:06 AM
Canada has had an opening for a show that takes place in a corner store for a few years now.
Fascinating and gratifying to learn. A significant change from what I was taught in anthro 101 way back when.
How Easter Island's giant statues were transported remained unsolved for decades. Physics, morphological analysis and a comprehensive 3D map now show the moai, or statues, were "walked" upright across the landscape using principles of lateral oscillation. buff.ly/Lj0PMep
November 27, 2025 at 1:34 AM
Fascinating and gratifying to learn. A significant change from what I was taught in anthro 101 way back when.
She’s the best.
Did you know? Black Friday is named in honor of Rebecca Black, who invented Friday in 2011.
November 27, 2025 at 12:35 AM
She’s the best.
Reposted by Ash Ponders is judging the Smithsonian Photo Contest
WASHINGTON (AP) — Trump administration orders 500 more National Guard members to Washington after shooting, Hegseth says.
November 26, 2025 at 10:28 PM
WASHINGTON (AP) — Trump administration orders 500 more National Guard members to Washington after shooting, Hegseth says.
Reposted by Ash Ponders is judging the Smithsonian Photo Contest
Important study found ag pesticides all throughout wildlife refuges in the Sacramento Valley. Location within reserves had no impact on pesticide presence, suggesting no place within these protected areas is safe from such contamination. Not great. 🧪
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Pesticide contamination detected across five wildlife refuges in the Sacramento Valley of California
An important goal for the applied ecological sciences is to understand the extent to which the biodiversity on conserved or managed lands is exposed t…
www.sciencedirect.com
November 26, 2025 at 10:17 PM
Important study found ag pesticides all throughout wildlife refuges in the Sacramento Valley. Location within reserves had no impact on pesticide presence, suggesting no place within these protected areas is safe from such contamination. Not great. 🧪
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Ash Ponders is judging the Smithsonian Photo Contest
Rep. Nick Kupper, a Republican from Surprise, wants Arizona to follow in California's footsteps to require companies that sell digital downloads or streams of movies and video games to disclose to customers that they’re not purchasing permanent copies of that media.
Story by @jerodmacevoy.com
Story by @jerodmacevoy.com
Republican proposal would tell AZ consumers when a digital purchase isn't really a purchase | Arizona Mirror
Companies that sell digital downloads or streams of movies and video games should have to disclose to customers that they’re not purchasing permanent copies of that media, an Arizona state representat...
azmirror.com
November 26, 2025 at 9:24 PM
Rep. Nick Kupper, a Republican from Surprise, wants Arizona to follow in California's footsteps to require companies that sell digital downloads or streams of movies and video games to disclose to customers that they’re not purchasing permanent copies of that media.
Story by @jerodmacevoy.com
Story by @jerodmacevoy.com