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πŸ”— Simon Oxley, famous tech logo designer, has died

πŸ”— Biography πŸ”— Biography/arts and entertainment

Simon Oxley (1969 – April 2026) was a British freelance graphic designer and illustrator who was most famous for designing the original bird logo for Twitter, the Octocat logo for GitHub, the puffer fish for Bitly, and Sammy the Shark for DigitalOcean. Operating predominantly under the studio pseudonym Idokungfoo, Oxley became a pioneer in the microstock economy and played a seminal role in establishing the friendly, mascot-driven aesthetic of the Web 2.0 era.

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πŸ”— I know that I know nothing

πŸ”— Philosophy πŸ”— Philosophy/Logic πŸ”— Philosophy/Ancient philosophy πŸ”— Philosophy/Epistemology

"I know that I know nothing" is a saying derived from Plato's account of the Greek philosopher Socrates. Socrates himself was never recorded as having said this phrase, and scholars generally agree that Socrates only ever asserted that he believed that he knew nothing, having never claimed that he knew that he knew nothing. It is also sometimes called the Socratic paradox, although this name is often instead used to refer to other seemingly paradoxical claims made by Socrates in Plato's dialogues (most notably, Socratic intellectualism and the Socratic fallacy).

This saying is also connected or conflated with the answer to a question Socrates (according to Xenophon) or Chaerephon (according to Plato) is said to have posed to the Pythia, the Oracle of Delphi, in which the oracle stated something to the effect of "Socrates is the wisest person in Athens." Socrates, believing the oracle but also completely convinced that he knew nothing, was said to have concluded that nobody knew anything, and that he was only wiser than others because he was the only person who recognized his own ignorance.

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πŸ”— Phugoid

πŸ”— Aviation πŸ”— Physics πŸ”— Physics/Fluid Dynamics

In aviation, a phugoid or fugoid ( ) is an aircraft motion in which the vehicle pitches up and climbs, and then pitches down and descends, accompanied by speeding up and slowing down as it goes "downhill" and "uphill". This is one of the basic flight dynamics modes of an aircraft (others include short period, roll subsidence, dutch roll, and spiral divergence).

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πŸ”— Solar storm of 1859

πŸ”— Telecommunications πŸ”— Meteorology πŸ”— Astronomy πŸ”— Solar System

The solar storm of 1859 (also known as the Carrington Event) was a powerful geomagnetic storm during solar cycle 10 (1855–1867). A solar coronal mass ejection (CME) hit Earth's magnetosphere and induced the largest geomagnetic storm on record, September 1–2, 1859. The associated "white light flare" in the solar photosphere was observed and recorded by British astronomers Richard C. Carrington (1826–1875) and Richard Hodgson (1804–1872). The storm caused strong auroral displays and wrought havoc with telegraph systems. The now-standard unique IAU identifier for this flare is SOL1859-09-01.

A solar storm of this magnitude occurring today would cause widespread electrical disruptions, blackouts and damage due to extended outages of the electrical grid. The solar storm of 2012 was of similar magnitude, but it passed Earth's orbit without striking the planet, missing by nine days.

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πŸ”— National Popular Vote Interstate Compact

πŸ”— United States πŸ”— Politics πŸ”— Politics/American politics πŸ”— Elections and Referendums πŸ”— United States/U.S. presidential elections

The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC) is an agreement among a group of U.S. states and the District of Columbia to award all their electoral votes to whichever presidential candidate wins the overall popular vote in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The compact is designed to ensure that the candidate who receives the most votes nationwide is elected president, and it would come into effect only when it would guarantee that outcome. As of MarchΒ 2020, it has been adopted by fifteen states and the District of Columbia. Together, they have 196 electoral votes, which is 36% of the Electoral College and 73% of the 270 votes needed to give the compact legal force. Certain legal questions, however, may affect implementation of the compact.

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πŸ”— The Myth of Mental Illness

πŸ”— Books πŸ”— Psychology

The Myth of Mental Illness: Foundations of a Theory of Personal Conduct is a 1961 book by the psychiatrist Thomas Szasz, in which the author criticizes psychiatry and argues against the concept of mental illness. It received much publicity, and has become a classic, well known as an argument that "mentally ill" is a label which psychiatrists have used against people "disabled by living" rather than truly having a disease.

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πŸ”— List of military tactics

πŸ”— Military history πŸ”— Military history/Military science, technology, and theory πŸ”— Military history/Weaponry πŸ”— Lists πŸ”— Military history/Intelligence πŸ”— Military history/Military land vehicles

This page contains a list of military tactics.

The meaning of the phrase is context sensitive, and has varied over time, like the difference between "strategy" and "tactics".

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πŸ”— Barbie Liberation Organization

πŸ”— Sociology πŸ”— Organizations πŸ”— Media πŸ”— Culture πŸ”— Sociology/social movements πŸ”— Toys

The Barbie Liberation Organization or BLO, sponsored by RTMark, were a group of artists and activists involved in culture jamming. They gained notoriety in 1993 after switching voice boxes in talking G.I. Joes and Barbie dolls. The BLO performed "surgery" on a reported 300–500 dolls from retail and returned them to shelves, an action they refer to as shopgiving. Thus, Teen Talk Barbie dolls would say phrases such as "Vengeance is mine", while G.I. Joe dolls would say phrases such as "The beach is the place for summer!"

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πŸ”— Senet: board game from predynastic and ancient Egypt

πŸ”— Ancient Egypt πŸ”— Board and table games

Senet (or senat) is a board game from ancient Egypt, whose original rules are the subject of conjecture. The oldest hieroglyph resembling a senet game dates to around 3100 BC. The full name of the game in Egyptian is thought to have been zn.t n.t αΈ₯ˁb, meaning the "game of passing".

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πŸ”— Kakistocracy

πŸ”— Politics

A kakistocracy [kΓ¦kΙͺ'stΙ‘krΙ™si] is a system of government that is run by the worst, least qualified, and/or most unscrupulous citizens. The word was coined as early as the seventeenth century, but gained significant use in the first decades of the 20th century to criticize populist governments emerging in different democracies around the world.

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