Pook-Emu Bee: Links For 04-06-26

The Pook-Emu Bee, your favorite (or “favourite” if you prefer British English) daily links collection, returns after taking two days off for Newsletter Leaf Journal Saturday and Easter.

1. E-Bikes = Freedom (Matthew Morgan at World of Matthew. April 6, 2026.)

The “Why the hatred of e-bikes?” section summarizes my feelings about e-bikes in Brooklyn, New York City.

1. Mamdani signs ’emergency’ order to block concerts, food festivals at NYC parks during FIFA World Cup (Carl Campanile for the New York Post. April 6, 2026.)

The actual policy does not affect me. But I include the link to note that the World Cup games are being played in New Jersey , not New York City. After the Mayor suggested last week that being able to commute across the Brooklyn Bridge has something to do with accessing World Cup matches in New Jersey, I am beginning to think the leadership of New York City is suffering from some sort of collective delusion.

1. AI-Generated Data Can Poison Future AI Models (Rahul Rao for Scientific American. July 28, 2023.)

This bridge had been crossed before this article was published in July 2023.

1. Noelia Castillo Ramos and the Dictatorship of Happiness (Tiare Gatti Mora for Compact. April 3, 2026.)

What we value is no longer a meaningful life, but a life in which we achieve and maintain a positive emotional state.

1. George Harrison Explains Why Everyone Should Play the Ukulele (Open Culture. October 16, 2024.)

My first thought when I read this was Haruko’s “ukulele no good” line in episode 3 of FLCL. Of course, she was using the ukulele as a weapon, which was a very different use-case than what George Harrison had in mind.

1. Claude Code’s source reveals extent of system access (Thomas Claburn for The Register. April 1, 2026.)

I employ a secret method to ensure that Claude does not have access to my system. I won’t reveal it (proprietary, unlike some of Claude’s source code now), but I will tell you that I achieve it without installing anything.

1. Rookies almost never make good teams better (Henry Abbott at TrueHoop. April 3, 2026.)

Despite being the person who wrote an entire essay arguing the contrarian position that the Detroit Pistons would not have been better off had they drafted Carmelo Anthony over Darko Milicic in 2003, Mr. Abbott’s position is far too extreme for my taste. For example, while he notes that Cooper Flagg’s advanced stats are middling, I do not think it follows that Flagg would not have potentially made a good team better in a smaller role than he is playing for the Mavericks.

1. Microsoft inches closer to glass storage breakthrough that could finally make ransomware attacks impossible in the data center and hyperscalers — but only Azure customers will benefit from it (Keumars Afifi-Sabet for Tech Radar. December 6, 2023.)

Glass storage looks aesthetic. I approve.

1. The Melancholy Of Haruhi Suzumiya 20th Anniversary Project Revealed With New PV And Art (Orpheus Joshua for Noisy Pixel. April 3, 2026.)

I watched Haruhi a few years after it aired in 2026. The titular character is still an all-timer in 2D person stage presence. (I referenced her in my best female character award section for 2024 and in a short post about anime characters with brown hair). Haruhi also informed my articles on Halloween in Japan and anime characters with brown hair. Haruhi as a show? I still think it is good but it is certainly not the best-aging show of the era. Speaking of the era, I need to do a 2006 Anime Review at some point. 2006 was loaded. Of course, I need to write 2025 first…

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