@obtusatum
Mountains and websites; maps and birds; context collapse. Projects: https://subject.space/. Work: Data, research and technology for investigations @bellingcat.com. Personal account, posts/opinions are my own. New York via Amsterdam and Oregon.
Repeal the gas tax. Make car registration free. Close the DMV. Close the DOT. Stop fixing potholes. Let the girders rust and the asphalt frost heave and the bridges collapse. May it all be washed away in the rain.
Looking forward to seeing what you do next!
Satellite company @planet.com has announced a *14 day delay* to the release of imagery in the MidEast.
This will be a huge setback for those trying to verify events in the region.
NYC urgently needs your help:
Tues night is the annual HOPE count, when 1000+ NYers fan out across the city to identify the # of people experiencing homelessness
This year's count was rescheduled due to snow storm. And now the # of vols signed up is only 50% of last year
Join here: nyc.gov/hope
Bellingcat researcher and weapons expert Trevor Ball ( @easybakeovensz.bsky.social ) will be talking to our Discord Server on Thursday about identifying key munitions being used in the Iran-US-Israel war. Join us live at 11am EDT: discord.gg/bellingcat?e...
New video footage shows a US Tomahawk missile hitting an IRGC facility in Minab, Iran, on Feb 28, showing for the first time that the US struck the area. The footage also shows smoke already rising from the vicinity of the girls’ school, where 175 people were reportedly killed, including children.
A photo of a POS machine, which says “Escape is not allowed at this point.”
Escape is not allowed at this point.
the Trumpeter Swan has only been around a few days but they're already cleaning up the place
they saved money on 't's and passed it on to you
i love the new york city subway
hehe
a really fucked up subway map. it's because Manhattan is not aligned north/south
I know there have been a lot of strong feelings about the new NYC subway diagram. I think I have found a new map layout that should make everyone happy.
More precisely, flying towards Iran to be in position at US airbases in the region.
Trying to make sense of an aircraft’s movements during a conflict? Context is everything. That’s why we built Turnstone, an open source tool that searches historical flight data to allow researchers to explore flight patterns over time and in specific locations. www.bellingcat.com/resources/20...
Quick piece mapping this police station strike as well as 14 other police stations visibly damaged or destroyed in PlanetScope imagery from @planet.com with a few geolocated by @geoconfirmed.org.
Check out the March 1-3 map made by @obtusatum.bsky.social.
Link: www.bellingcat.com/news/middle-...
if you're into experimental casiotone jazz you should watch my friend's amazing live performance and donate to ME/CFS research
Join us on Sunday 22 March 2026 for an evening of games and talks about hopeful optimism in the service of bottomless longing.
[untitled games event] #3
"secret handshake"
Sunday 22 March 2026
1700-1900
Tussen de Bogen 46
Amsterdam 1013JB
buttondown.com/untitledgame...
I do have to question whether it is the best use of municipal resources to have NYC DOT apply salt today. (38/34 degrees, raining)
These racks cost the city of New York $6000 each apparently
They’re the engine of the city’s budget, but unequal and outdated. Here’s your guide on how property taxes work — and how they affect everyone, not just owners.
www.thecity.nyc/2026/02/25/p...
Top left, bottom right
Here's a story about his death www.investigativepost.org/2026/02/25/b...
snow creature chilling on a bench with a coffee
a moth with grass antenna
enormous, well crafted psyduck
a snek
blurry snapshots of brooklyn park creatures
transit-pilled kia boyz
At least some of it seems to be terrain, not just urbanization?
One of my favorite pieces of MTA public art. emmettpalaima.com/CHAMBERS-HUM
historic bridges, post offices, warehouses for schools, for spaceflight, on Pacific islands, buoys, gunranges, laboratories for nuclear research and for tree fruit, schools, childcare centers, airport control towers, barracks, datacenters, ranger stations, radar systems, greenhouses, hospitals
the checklist ID S46116491 is entered, highlighting that user and their connections across the network
To find your own dot in the eBird network, you just need the ID of one your checklists (e.g. S46116491, which you can find from the URL of a checklist, ebird.org/checklist/S4...)
Then enter that ID into subject.space/projects-sta... and the visualization will show connections for that eBirder 🪶
a graph also showing a central point in New York, but with many more lines drawn to highlighted points around the world.
The most connected birder on eBird (using the measure of "betweenness centrality") is none other than Chris Wood, Director of eBird at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. ebird.org/profile/MTQ3... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Between...
