2022-12-24

🟩Introduction

Hello one and all, welcome to the second edition of Crow’s Curios. The keen eyed may notice that it’s been less than a week since the last edition, and wonder if I’m being a bit hasty in publishing another collection of curios so soon.

Well, for one thing it is Christmas Eve, and I need to publish before my holiday festivities begin in earnest. Additionally, my readership may only be me at this point, and so I’m unlikely to ruffle any feathers in sharing this a bit early.

However, if you are a reader that isn’t me, here’s the shiny curios I’ve gathered for this week.

-crow

🟩Writing of the Week: A Heart Chilling Church Discovery

This discovery would stimulate a whole tangle of tales and speculations, involving spectral monks, badly behaved vicars, embalmed crusader’s hearts, and dissected noblemen.

A Ghostly Monk and an Ancient Heart Preserved in a Church Pillar

by David Castleton for Mysterious Universe

On the night of the Winter Solstice, in the midst of the dark and cold, I came across this mystifying story from David Castleton (@david_castleton@universeodon.com).

I find that stories about strange relics from the past that are suddenly rediscovered tend to renew my sense of mystery about the world.

I don’t want to spoil the fun of the folklore, so enjoy this bit of legend that weaves together ghosts, a crusader, noblemen, and more.

And speaking of interesting tidbits being rediscovered, here’s a piece of computer trivia that I only learned about this week…

🟩Factoid of the Week: Programmable Looms

If you mention punch cards in the context of programming, it’s likely the people will envision FORTRAN or COBOL punched cards. But using punch cards to “program” a machine occurred much earlier than the computer age.

Patented all the way back in 1804, the Jacquard machine was a device that was fitted to a loom, which allowed for automated weaving of complex patterns via punch cards. It’s considered one of the major developments that allowed for the birth of modern computing.

So without the loom, it’s possible that this next item in my collection never would’ve come about…

🟩Mini Game of the Week: Garden Shifter

Garden Shifter is a gem of a mini game, which was made by Major Bruno (@majorbruno@mastodon.gamedev.place) as part of recent game jam. Just check out the super cute music:

Don’t let the music fool you though. With a fun puzzle game loop and just the right level of strategy, Garden Shifter is a great ~6-8 minute web game you’ll be sure to play a few times in a row.

And if you like bite sized fun, hopefully you’ll like this next (very) short story…

🟩Mastodon Post of the Week: Mouse Police

I’m continuing to enjoy my time on Mastodon, and in fact I discovered a majority of the curios this week via my timeline.

There are a lot of really talented artists to discover, and this tiny story from @ruralgloom@c.im grabbed my attention:

I don’t know what’s more chilling, the mystery embalmed heart from above, or the thought of being confronted by Disney’s security forces.

🟩Afterword

I enjoyed putting this collection together this week, hopefully the shine of one of these curios caught your eye as well. As a follow on from last week, I did indeed finish backing up my library of ebooks.

Now assuming Amazon’s DRM servers collapsing doesn’t coincide with the end of civilization, I’ll have plenty of my favorite books to read in electronic format for many years to come.

If you celebrate this holiday season, I hope you enjoy the festivities. Shortly I’ll be partaking of some traditional egg nog by the fireplace, and wish a warm and pleasant end of the year to you as well.

-crow