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morning computer schwa

Published May 15, 2025 by Warren Ellis

Schwa by Minoo Marasi

“Schwa is a breathing companion designed to gently guide anxious bodies back to calm.

“Inspired by a therapeutic hug, where one person’s steady breath helps regulate another, Schwa offers a rhythmic rise and fall across the chest, inviting the wearer to unconsciously synchronise their breath.

“Its quiet form blends into daily life, offering support without demanding attention. When activated, it engages the body’s somatic intelligence – not through thought, but through feeling.

“Schwa creates a moment of reconnection, restoring a sense of safety and ease. It is not a crutch, but a quiet co-regulator – a companion, a breath you can lean on.”

I was greatly amused to see this design-fiction device be named Schwa. Because, yes:

Schwa is the name for the most common sound in English. It is a weak, unstressed sound and it occurs in many words. It is often the sound in grammar words such as articles and prepositions.

But also, if you were around in the 1990s, it means something very different. It am SCHWA:

Schwa is the underground conceptual artwork of Bill Barker (born 1957). Barker draws deceptively simple black and white stick figures and oblong alien ships. However, the artwork is not about the aliens: it is about how people react to the presence of the aliens and branding, and Barker uses them as a metaphor for foreign and unknown ideas. Schwa became an underground hit in the 1990s.

I had a bunch of these, way back when:

Anxiety art!

morning computer: some useful things first thing in the day.

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morning computer portals

Published May 12, 2025 by Warren Ellis

Eli McMullen.

New York-based Studio Bucky has designed a furniture collection informed by Ireland’s ancient megalithic tombs from reclaimed maple wood.

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Named the Portals Collection, the pieces draw on Irish portal tombs. A type of megalithic tomb, these often consist of large upright rocks, known as portal stones, supporting a large capstone.

The article I found the watch below in sadly does not make it clear which specific make of the Jaeger-LeCoultre it is, but it’s a good portal too.

…the motif of the magic circle serves as a boundary between the natural and supernatural, and the possible mediations between them that are made possible by the circle itself. Hence the magic circle is not only a boundary, but also a passage, a gateway, a portal.

In the Dust of This Planet: Horror of Philosophy by Eugene Thacker (UK) (US+)

morning computer: some useful things first thing in the day.

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morning computer clock time

Published April 25, 2025 by Warren Ellis

Maybe Next Time.

While the exhibition is physically immersive, its conceptual focus is time (or rather, how time is experienced in prison). As Caputo explains, “Time in prison is never neutral; it is structured, regimented, and often experienced as an oppressive force.” The exhibition’s title, Prison Times, nods to this fragmented, fictional timescale, where the outside world runs on one clock and the incarcerated on another.

A jacket with built-in electric fans designed by Japanese fashion brand Anrealage keeps staff cool at the Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation pavilion at the Osaka Expo.

The pavilion aims to depict the future of communication, and Morinaga applied the same idea when designing the uniforms.

“These clothes transcend division and disparity, connect the dots and expand human potential by sharing senses,” the designer explained.

morning computer: some useful things first thing in the day.

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morning computer damaged gods

Published April 23, 2025 by Warren Ellis

Penny Goring.

I’m actually just gong to leave that there on its own. I think it’s brilliant. Click through on her name there to see the rest of the exhibition.

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morning computer of rainy days

Published April 21, 2025 by Warren Ellis

Tom Leighton.

Xiao Jiang. I don’t know if there is actually any rain outside that window, but the whole image reminds me of melancholy, disappointed rainy days from childhood.

Alex Robbins’ design process for this cover:

Imagine a Slushee composed of ammonia and water encased in a hard shell of water ice. Now picture these ice-encrusted slushballs, dubbed “mushballs,” raining down like hailstones during a thunderstorm, illuminated by intense flashes of lightning.

Planetary scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, now say that hailstorms of mushballs accompanied by fierce lightning actually exist on Jupiter. In fact, mushball hailstorms may occur on all gaseous planets in the galaxy, including our solar system’s other giant planets, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

morning computer: some useful things first thing in the day.

My free weekly newsletter is at https://orbitaloperations.beehiiv.com/

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morning computer dem bones

Published April 14, 2025 by Warren Ellis

Cindy Ji Hye Kim.

More than 100 years after the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings, new interpretations of the burial are still emerging. A recent article published in the Journal of Egyptian Archaeology proposes that a set of seemingly plain, functional objects are in fact a key part of the complex rituals which would ensure the transformation and regeneration of the young king in the afterlife.

Philippe Starck designs a funeral urn:

I’ve been invited to a private dining experience in Kennington where I’ll be served several dishes made exclusively from roadkill. Petr Davydtchenko, a Russian performance artist, and Michelin star chef Masayoshi Haraguch are hosting the dinner. 
I arrive an hour before the other guests to chat with Petr. Me and Petr speak about the reasoning behind his practice. Starting in 2016, he decided to move to the south of France, detach from society, and learn how to be completely self-sufficient. He mentions evading capitalism and embracing brutality. Every morning he would wake with the sun and cycle for thirty kilometers looking for roadkill. Donkeys. Badgers. Deer. Pheasants. Rats. Then there’s the animals we’re all a bit more fond of. Cats and dogs. Sad to think about, but still a natural part of life.

Probably not useful, actually:

The best way to prepare a fox is to leave its body in a running stream for 24 hours, this will tenderize the meat, making it softer and easier to eat. For some reason, this feels like incredibly useful information and something I’ll probably tell my kids. 

morning computer: some useful things first thing in the day.

My free weekly newsletter is at https://orbitaloperations.beehiiv.com/

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morning computer cosmic questions

Published April 7, 2025 by Warren Ellis

Daniel Martin Diaz Encodes Cosmic Questions into Geometric Paintings and Prints.

The “music” of starquakes—enormous vibrations caused by bursting bubbles of gas that ripple throughout the bodies of many stars—can reveal far more information about the stars’ histories and inner workings than scientists thought.

While it was getting ready to power down its Gaia spacecraft, the European Space Agency encountered some unusual resistance.

The spacecraft, which has been creating a highly detailed three-dimensional map of more than a billion stars throughout the Milky Way and beyond, proved surprisingly difficult to kill.

“Switching off a spacecraft at the end of its mission sounds like a simple enough job,” said Gaia spacecraft operator Tiago Nogueira in an ESA statement. “But spacecraft really don’t want to be switched off.”

morning computer: some useful things first thing in the day.

My free weekly newsletter is at https://orbitaloperations.beehiiv.com/

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morning computer new words

Published March 31, 2025 by Warren Ellis

Tia Keobounpheng:

During the pandemic, Keobounpheng was helping her son during a distance-learning 4th-grade geometry class, and a particular phrase caught her attention. “Geo means earth, so geometry is just measuring the earth,” the teacher said.

“These words… changed my worldview and reminded me that underneath rigid linear laws, an entire foundation of forgotten circular consciousness exists,” the artist says. “Aside from the powerful conceptual connections I was able to draw from geometry as a visual language to understand and express a circular, expansive worldview, the physical motions of spinning the compass awakened something deep within me.”

Dezeen:

Master of Architecture students are pioneering paludiculture, using reed fibres, eggshells and textile waste to develop sustainable building materials and redefine architecture’s role in tackling climate change.

Paludiculure was a new word to me.

I learned the word taphonomy from a forensic scientist friend last week.

morning computer: some useful things first thing in the day.

My free weekly newsletter is at https://orbitaloperations.beehiiv.com/

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morning computer timeblind

Published March 28, 2025 by Warren Ellis

Rui Sasaki.

The report opens with a stark observation: we’re living in the “Age of Big Content”—a time of infinite scrolls, algorithmic recommendations, and what Stocksy calls “vibe-less mood boards”. The result is a creative landscape experiencing both “Peak Complexity” and the “Meh-ocene,” where global aesthetics are collapsing into sameness.

As the report notes, “Cafes look the same in Tokyo and Mexico City,” while creative industries struggle with originality—evidenced by the fact that not a single original film (as opposed to a sequel, reboot or remake) cracked 2024’s top 15 highest-grossing movies.

The Curation Paradox at Creative Boom. I’m amused by the Meh-ocene, the natural stagnation of atemporality, which was on our minds fifteen years ago.

Photo by Marc Weidenbaum I had to save.

8ball:

morning computer: some useful things first thing in the day.

My free weekly newsletter is at https://orbitaloperations.beehiiv.com/

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