Glass Wings Blog

The Glass Wings mailing list and blog is for general idle chit-chat about things we find interesting, especially humor, animation or other subjects relevant to the Glass Wings web site.

COVID-19 Is Six Today. What We’ve Learned

Fri, 2 Jan 2026 11:32:51 +1100

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2025/12/31/COVID-Six-What-Learned/

"Last year on this date, I published a Tyee article about the fifth
anniversary of the first public announcement of what we now know as COVID-19.

Worker exploitation can hide in plain sight. Here’s how to ensure an ethical summer holiday

Fri, 2 Jan 2026 11:31:07 +1100

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

<https://theconversation.com/worker-exploitation-can-hide-in-plain-sight-heres-how-to-ensure-an-ethical-summer-holiday-270077>

"If they haven’t already, many Australians will soon head off for summer
holidays. But behind every smooth check-in, cocktail or airport gate smile is
one of more than an estimated 270 million tourism workers – about 8.2% of the

The limits of Superman

Fri, 2 Jan 2026 11:30:24 +1100

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

<https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/culture/71842/the-limits-of-superman-james-gunn-the-definitive-history>

"The dumbest controversy of 2025—and it is a hotly contested category—came
after some remarks the film director James Gunn made about his new Superman
movie. “Superman is the story of America,” he told the Sunday Times in

2025: Reign of the Mad Kings

Fri, 2 Jan 2026 11:28:02 +1100

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

https://www.patreon.com/posts/covid-january-1-147125357

"2025 saw unprecedented regressions in disease prevention and truly disastrous
rollbacks of public health – in many countries, though this pivotal catastrophe
is wholly led by the United States. We will endure repercussions and losses for

A new frog species emerges from Peru’s cloud forests — and it’s already at risk

Fri, 2 Jan 2026 04:02:03 +1100

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

<https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/a-new-frog-species-emerges-from-perus-cloud-forests-and-its-already-at-risk/>

"Deep within the cloud forests of the San Martín region of Peru lie two places
so high, cold and remote that they remained virtually unexplored for decades.
In 2022, and again in 2025, monitors from three Indigenous and local

A small preserve leads a big effort to save native plants in the Bahamas

Fri, 2 Jan 2026 04:00:37 +1100

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

<https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/a-small-preserve-leads-a-big-effort-to-save-native-plants-in-the-bahamas/>

"ELEUTHERA, Bahamas — Tucked away beside the main road that runs along
Eleuthera, a narrow island in the Bahamas, the Leon Levy Native Plant Preserve
holds 12 hectares (30 acres) of dense subtropical dry forest.

Meet five new species discovered in 2025

Fri, 2 Jan 2026 03:59:16 +1100

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

<https://www.npr.org/2025/12/31/nx-s1-5662605/five-new-species-discovered-2025>

"Even as some scientists search for signs of life beyond Earth, other
researchers have been discovering new species on our own humble planet faster
than ever before.

Public Domain Day 2026 in Literature

Fri, 2 Jan 2026 03:58:21 +1100

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

https://standardebooks.org/blog/public-domain-day-2026

"Happy Public Domain Day!

Around the world, people celebrate Public Domain Day on January 1, the day in

Pluralistic: The Post-American Internet

Fri, 2 Jan 2026 03:56:41 +1100

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

https://pluralistic.net/2026/01/01/39c3/#the-new-coalition

“Many of you know that I'm an activist with the Electronic Frontier Foundation
– EFF. I'm about to start my 25th year there. I know that I'm hardly unbiased,
but as far as I'm concerned, there's no group anywhere on Earth that does the

From 2015, it’s uBeam — never mind reality, here’s the VCs

Fri, 2 Jan 2026 03:54:39 +1100

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

<https://pivot-to-ai.com/2025/12/31/from-2015-its-ubeam-never-mind-reality-heres-the-vcs/>

"Today’s a holiday special, and we’re not really doing AI at all. But we sort
of are — this is about the AI venture capitalists, how they think, and how they
were always like this.