Author

@social.emucafe.org

Bluesky account for https://social.emucafe.org. Linked using the ATmosphere plugin (https://activitypub.blog/2026/05/20/atmosphere-1-0-0-liftoff/). Admin Bluesky account: https://bsky.app/profile/naferrell.com.

Posts

103

Publications

The Emu Café SocialJul 25, 2026

On Tactics to Hit the Hacker News Front Page

I read a post by Herbert Lui titled 5 tactics for hitting the Hacker News front page. I had six New Leaf Journal articles make Hacker News page one between April 2021 and January 2024, and can say with certainty that I never employed any of Mr. Lui's recommendations or things not to do. I...

backlinkshacker news

The Emu Café SocialJul 24, 2026

Tadej Pogacar Shatters Pantani’s 1995 Alpe d’Huez Record by 1:15

I haven't watched the Tour de France since 2016, mainly due to the fact I dropped cable and would need to subscribe to a streaming service that may or may not work with my all-Linux set-up. But I stay abreast of the big stories, as I proved last year with my articles on the superhuman...

JulyReplyroad bicycle racing

The Emu Café SocialJul 22, 2026

Were AI Blog Post Images Ever Cool?

I read an interesting blog post by Panagiotis Vryonis titled AI-generated blog post images are not cool any more. My first thought was "they were never cool." But I read on to see his perspective. While I and many others serve as proof that asserting that "everyone does it" is flippant, he does offer a...

aiblogging

The Emu Café SocialJul 22, 2026

Light Phone Continues to Fail QWERTY Test

I have read some articles about the Light Phone and other "minimalist" phones. As someone who wrote not one but two articles on my "ideal" phone concept (creative concept photography included), I am always interested in seeing new ideas in the space. I called for open source software, QWERTY keyboard, and an e-ink screen. The...

einkJulyReply

The Emu Café SocialJul 17, 2026

Cup Noodle (Cold Edition) in Japan

SoraNews24, which covers news from Japan, is a long-time member of my feed collection and a regular article contributor to the "Around the Web" secution of my weekly newsletter. They cover some "news" news, see for example an article I wrote based in significant part on a SoraNews24 report about dress code rules in Japanese...

japanJulyReply

The Emu Café SocialJul 15, 2026

Fortunate NBA Champions (2001-2016)

Writing for The Pudding, Russell Samora recently put together a list of the "most ethical" NBA champions, wherein he used a formula (with many entertaining graphs) to determine, going back to 2001, which NBA champions benefited the least and most from missed games against their playoff rivals. I followed the NBA closely for most of...

basketballJulyReply

The Emu Café SocialJul 14, 2026

Pook-Emu Bee: Links For 07-14-26

Two consecutive editions of Pook-Emu Bee daily links? What in the world is going on here? [caption id="attachment_6415" align="aligncenter" width="1275"] Seen here is the Brooklyn Bridge Park Marina on July 13, 2026. I lined the American Flags, so I took a couple of photos. To the left you see Manhattan and off in the distance...

aibrooklyn bridge

The Emu Café SocialJul 14, 2026

DRM-Free Ebook Sources

I read a blog post on Schemescape titled Using the Xteink X4, a minimalist e-reader. I have one, and I will have everyone know that I ordered mine in fall 2025 after reading about it in Liliputing before it apparently became an online "thing." But that aside, the Schemescape post, in noting that the X4...

drmebooks

The Emu Café SocialJul 13, 2026

Pook-Emu Bee: Links For 07-13-26

It has been 12 days since I last published "daily" Pook-Emu Bee links due to some combination of being busy and not feeling my best. Both of those blockers exist today, but I have time to squeeze in a new edition. [caption id="attachment_6359" align="aligncenter" width="1000"] I photographed this bee hard at work in Brooklyn Bridge...

beesbirds

The Emu Café SocialJul 13, 2026

Favorite Summer Songs

Laura Cameron at The Well-Apportioned Desk is wrote a post titled Journal Prompt July. She decided to tackle July journal prompts compiled at the BaronFig blog in 2024. While I do not have a journal, this struck me as promising JulyReply material, so I looked at the five prompts she singled out as interesting examples...

5 centimeters per secondair (key)

The Emu Café SocialJul 12, 2026

The Sinking of Victory Chimes

In late 2024, I wrote a research article on Victory Chimes, a historic schooner that was docked at Brooklyn Bridge Park and was in the process of being converted into a restaurant boat. My article perfomed well on NLJ, earning a Wikipedia citation and rating as my 22nd most-visited article of 2025. Granting its past...

boatsbrooklyn bridge park

The Emu Café SocialJul 12, 2026

Nagoya Basho Predictions

The Nagoya Basho grand sumo tournament is about to begin. I watched the first three tournaments of the year (January, March, and May) and am excited for the fourth. I would not yet deem myself competent to predict the records of all the participants like Tim Edwards does on his always-interesting Sumo Stomp! blog, but...

JulyReplypredictions