Friday Miscellany!

• Russian troops have seized strategic areas of the Crimean area of Ukraine (2) (3), and have promised to issue Russian passports to members of Ukraine's disbanded riot police squad. I'm surprised more Americans aren't alarmed by this.


• Yes, Virginia, the government is actively engaging in COINTELPRO, and they're using social media to do it.


• European engineers have deployed the first outdoor flocks of autonomous flying robots. I can actually see a lot of beneficent applications for this technology, but it will almost certainly be used to kill people soon.


• Compare this doctrine of women as the "flexible, adaptive" helpmeet to the commanding man against the Chinese concepts of yin and yang, respectively.


• Decoding the Voynich Manuscript (PDF) — interesting the points-of-view of both a cryptologist and a Renaissance history buff.


• Reminder: My wife has an art show at Wells & Verne (Southeast Portland, Oregon) this evening. See you there?