👾 Newly Discovered Nazca Drawings

In September, researchers published a paper titled AI-accelerated Nazca survey nearly doubles the number of known figurative geoglyphs and sheds light on their purpose (https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2407652121)

TL;DR version: Researchers used existing geoglyph images, chopping, rotating, and recoloring them to create training data. Using this as input, software analyzed a large map of the area and flagged areas that matched patterns. Researchers then investigated these “hotspots”, ultimately confirming hundreds of new geoglyphs of various shapes and sizes.

This is a great example of the "centaur concept" — the idea that a human-computer partnership is more effective than either working alone.


You can read more about the geoglyphs on the Smithsonian Magazine Website: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/see-newly-discovered-nazca-drawings-depict-llamas-human-sacrifices-more-180985133/

Projects Progress

This quarter, we've focused on at least four large external projects. While these projects are fulfilling, confidentiality challenges mean we can’t share many details. This makes it difficult to promote our work, showcase our expertise, or set ourselves up for future projects when case studies are full of redactions!

Externally:
• Continued development of a web and iOS prototype for ███████████, which is close to securing funding, meaning our role is winding down.
• Our Spatial Computing prototype app for ██████████ has pivoted slightly to focus primarily on the tablet version.
• Secret NDA project for █████ had a quick turn around. Our role was to assist with ideation, planning, and ensuring the project stayed on track. Now, we wait to see if █████ will continue its development.
• Cancelled a project in Australia due to expanding scope, complexity, and cost. It was meant to connect and manage two different online software tools, but it proved too extensive for now.
• Surveys, surveys and more surveys! Fall brings a surge in surveys, followed by a quiet period, with another round in the spring.


Internally:
• Reassessing income, costs, hours, and project load. We’re analyzing our operations to get back in sync.
• Preparing our print-on-demand projects for the holiday season.

Available for Projects

Q3 Writing

In Q3, we published six weeknotes and maintained our newsletter schedule with one ◍ Quarternotes and a ⪮ Good Morning episode each month.


⪮ Good Morning Newsletter Season 3

Adventure Mazes

We’ve been working on our print-on-demand adventure mazes, aiming to expand our product offerings without managing inventory.

In 2023, we started with Christmas-themed maze books, ideal for Secret Santa gifts. We’ve since expanded with more mazes and a Halloween edition. Our newest project—a summer hexagon maze—is currently in development. ⬡⬡⬡

🐝 Here is a PDF to print and try it yourself.

🎄 Christmas and 🎃 Halloween books are available on Amazon US/UK and as digital versions on Gumroad.

Give it a try for free - the website has several sample PDF mazes.

A0 Annual Calendar

This will be our 9th year of creating large, A-series wall calendars. A PHP script generates SVG output, which we edit into a PDF for print. The calendar includes Icelandic holidays, old Icelandic months, Icelandic Yule Lads, full moons, equinoxes, solstices, and more. Add your own holidays and translations!

We found a local print-shop and printed these on their B&W architectural plotter on 80g paper for cheap!

Download the print-ready 02025 PDF and source code on GitHub:
https://github.com/optional-is/calendaring/blob/master/A0-Yearly/02025-Misseristal-A0.pdf

Merch