Ice, music, and mirror balls!

• The first 21 seconds of Leroy and Leroy's video about Saskatchewan's oldest ice rink is one of the best introductions I've seen on YouTube recently. It's brave to fulfil the promise of the video title in the first minute! But by the end of that minute, it's clear that this is a video with solid on-camera personality and a good story to tell; a charming look into one part of life in a remote Canadian town with less than 200 inhabitants. If nothing else, stick around for the "Zamboni". (Side note: Leroy and Leroy's "best of Saskatchewan" compilation over on TikTok is also worth a watch.)
   
• Look Mum No Computer has been making weird analog synthesisers for years, like an organ made with dozens of Furby toys. He's posted a couple of covers recently: Blur's Song 2 performed live in concert, and Robbie Williams' Supreme. Doing cover songs is always tricky for an artist; it can get you a lot of new exposure, but at the risk of them outweighing your original work in the public eye. Hopefully LMNC's able to find a balance, because they're solid covers!
   
• Hand-making an artisanal mirror-ball, in the last mirror-ball factory in Japan. No commentary here: just slow, careful documentation and subtitles to explain the process. I've seen a few videos in this style from Japan now, and it's a great way to make videos that work for an international audience without needing to dub a voiceover in many languages.
   

• Spending an afternoon in the Sizewell nuclear power plant control room simulator.
   
• Turning Apple AirPods into a Morse code transmitter is exactly the sort of ridiculous thing I'd have made if I'd a) thought of it and b) had any of the necessary coding skills.
   
• And here's a report by Trend Micro on how criminals are using generative artificial intelligence. Yes, Trend Micro are selling cybersecurity stuff, but part of that selling is making sure that they're putting together competent reports and information: and there really isn't much of an advert in here. Instead, it's an executive summary of "what the bad guys are doing with AI"; it's a quick and interesting read.
   

And finally, the 11-foot-8 bridge may have been raised... but it's clearly not enough. Although, for once, it seems like the bridge comes off worse.

All the best,

— Tom