8x8 (10. 347)

da ba dee: a bardcore version of Eiffel 65’s ‘Blue’  

palace intrigue: a cracked encoded missive sent by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V to his French ambassador—via Language Log  

correctional facility: unearthed cache of photographs of San Quentin prison taken by inmates—via tmn  

circumnavigation: a recreation to explore Ferdinand Magellan’s trip around the world—via Pasa Bon!  

antidisestablishmentarianism: the UK is demographically no longer a majority Christian country 

still-life: a study of meta-trolling—see also  

eadburg: eight century individual scribbles in a medieval manuscript  

boards of canada: psychedelic ‘Aquarius’ remixed with Deforum Stable Diffusion

dei delitti e delle pene (10. 346)

Though preceded by periods of temporary abolishment in Japan, China and the Kievan Rus’, the first modern and permanent ban on the capital punishment was enacted on this day in 1769 by Pietro Leopoldo, ruler of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany (later Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II), directly influenced by the writing of Enlightenment author Cesare Beccaria in his 1764 Of Crimes and Punishment (antiporta, frontispiece, frontespizio pictured)—widely translated and well read all over Europe—the first study of the discipline of penology and championing reform of the criminal law system. The Florentine state did away with torture and the death penalty and this anniversary is commemorated annual as “Cities for Life Day” with thousands of towns and dozens of capitals lobbying for stays in executions and restructuring incarceration.

7x7 (10. 344)

canopic jars: a mummy called Pachery is the only individual found so far with his internal organs intact—via Messy Nessy Chic    

hardbottom communities: researchers work to preserve Florida’s coral reef    

nightfall: researchers discover two new minerals sourced from a meteorite strike in Somalia    

thirteenth studio album: imaging a fantasy concept record after 1970’s Let It Be for the Beatles    

kraft dinner: a Florida woman is suing Macaroni & Cheese over misleading preparation time    

crown of thorns: some Australian politicians take issue with the ‘endangered’ status for the Great Barrier Reef—see previously    

khufu: an interactive virtual tour of the Pyramids of Giza—via Maps Mania

mахновщина (10. 340)

Established on this day in 1918 with the capture of Huliaipole, the home town in the region of Zaporizhzhia and later capital city of the stateless, anarchist society that existed under the aegis, protection of the revolutionary forces of Nestor Makhno, Makhnovshchina (Makhno’s Movement) was under the control of free soviet (unaligned with any party and encouraging workers to self-manage through direct democracy) and libertarian communes until the end of August 1921 when leadership was was forced into exile in Romania. Based on the theories of anarcho-communism, the anti-hierarchical network promoted a government based on popular assemblies and committees and a federated alliance within territories outside of the control of Bolsheviks. The banner of the coalition—white Cyrillic text on a black background—reads “Power breeds parasites. Long live the Anarchy!” Власть рождает паразитов. Да здравствует анархия!

6x6 (10. 291)

verifiable: Norman Bates checks out of Twitter  

deatheaters vs sapsuckers: mycologists give an overview of the epic fungal wars happening all around us  

key moment: an analysis in the dearth of modulation in pop music since the 2000s—this 80s number has one of the best  

the mansion on o street: Washington DC’s secret civil rights landmark with a heroes-in-residence programme 

mapping emissions: charting out the biggest polluters near you

éminence grise: Twitter’s Blue Check verification scheme causing chaos

7x7 (10. 284)

big bounce: some astrophysicists suspect that things were happening in the Cosmos prior to the Big Bang—via Damn Interesting’s Curated Links  

nogoodnik: Russia reactivates its bot and troll army to muddy the US mid-term elections  

fivethirtyeight: mapping out when individual voting jurisdictions announce results  

jazz harp: the musical stylings of Turiyasangitananda—a.k.a. Ms Alice Coltrane—via Messy Nessy Chic

false prophets: a denunciation of America’s Christian nationalism—via Miss Cellania  

battleground states: artists reflect on the consequential American election 

hero’s journey: avoiding the perils of the monomyth in storytelling

sounder (10. 265)

Via the always engrossing Things Magazine, we are introduced to a quandary and at the same time provided with a solution from the cadre of medievalists at the University of Leiden questioning the depiction of Middle Ages porcines in contemporary video games, which portray pigs of yore as the kept and fattened beasts of today whereas in actuality those swine were more svelte and highly regulated as the matter of legislation—see also. The article furthermore links to other studies in our piggy friends, including their prophetic powers as depicted in The Black Cauldron in the prognostications of Hen Wen.

woty: permacrisis (10. 262)

Collins Dictionary has declared its word of the year with the neologism that summarises the truly rotten experience of 2022 has been for many with the war in Ukraine, UK political chaos, the possibility of a resurgent pandemic and global economic instability, beating out other contenders from the past twelve months to include Partygate, sportswashing, splooting and quiet quitting.

untenured (10. 241)

Holding office for a tumultuous forty-five days (the shortest of the United Kingdom’s sixty-eight) though spanning two monarchs and some cabinet reshuffling, Liz Truss resigned as prime minister after a week marked by market crashes, an exodus of deputies and general lack of confidence in her leadership abilities built momentum for a general election. This collapsed government that upheld the conservative, Tory party totems of Brexit and austerity speaks to the abject failure of such regressive, nihilist politics that are out-of-step and untethered from the electorate. The party will choose a new prime minister by 28 October but does not preclude a Labour government being established.

leader lars (10. 221)

Via Slashdot, we are directed to the newest Danish polity hoping to secure a seat in the Folketing in the country’s upcoming general election called the Synthetic Party (Det Syntetiske Parti). The chatbot figurehead (see also) which is eager to debate anyone has been trained on the policies and priorities of fringe groups from 1970 onward in order to appeal to the fifth of voters who feel unrepresented and disenfranchised, possibly marshalling solutions and consensus better than a human candidate. Learn more about this civics experiment at the link above.

§§ (10. 219)

The oldest formal data protection law in the world, the State of Hessen promulgated its Data Protection Act (das Datenschutzgesetz) on this day in 1970. A model for privacy legislation to follow, it was authored chiefly by Spiros Simitis, inspired by a visionary article in the Frankfurter Allegemeinen Zeitung (FAZ) warning of the potential pitfalls of widespread computer use and when the law was adopted by the Landtag to great zeal, it was declared that omniscient, panopticon of survellience would not be able to gain purchase here, setting up an independent institution to monitor against Orwellian practises. Though lacking a robust regulatory framework by today’s standards, evolution and articulation of the law enshrined for us in iterations the concepts of retention and disposition schedules, data earmarking and anonymization as well as informed consent and the right of information self-determination.

7x7 (10. 206)

soundscape: calls for submissions for Wikipedia’s sonic logo  

parametric design: letting AI run wild to reimagine the future of architecture  

cactus buddy and friends: adult Happy Meals are causing chaos, workers beg customers to stop 

solidarity: Marge Simpson cutting her iconic hair graffitied on the Iranian Consulate in Milano  

shinkansen: a classic 99% Invisible explores how three very different bird species informed the bullet train’s redesign 

kill the wabbit: try to name these escapingly familiar works of classical music—see also  

obituaries: the swiftness of Wikipedia’s deaditors is astounding

7x7 (10. 191)

stanford torus: maybe if we solve Earth, we can have a little space donut as a treat—see previously

matriculation: Merriam-Webster’s Word Induction Ceremony for a class of 369 neologisms

industrial light and magic: a coming-of-age film set during the summer of Star Wars released after being shelved for twenty years—because of the prequels—via Miss Cellania  

elections matter: revisiting The Survey Graphic, February 1939 edition  

toyko build: exquisite scale models of structures and architectural elements from around the metropolis

gespräch einer hausschnecke mit sich selbst: a snail’s monologue in verse  

feline dynamics: the US Air Force tossed cats in zero-gravity to study its effects on human physiology—see also—via Everlasting Blört

qualifying life event (10. 179)

Via Waxy, videographer Brian David Gilbert, American with lapsed health coverage commissioned Louie Zong to compile a retro treasury of corporate music (see also) as accompaniment to his expert, genuinely helpful explainer (and insightful indictment) of the dread and kafkaesque jargon and fraught terminology of the US insurance industry as an aid for the next hapless soul to find themselves in this situation.

sip (10. 167)

Via tmn, our attention is again directed towards bespoke, luxury fallout shelters, bunkers, panic rooms flogged (also a punishment for criminal offences for the not so well-appointed) to the rich and powerful—only this time, the glamorous, underground residences, replete with fake skies over courtyards with swimming pools, private theatres, wine cellars, conference centres and showcase galleries and garages, or anything else the client can imagine, are being pushed on the influx of multi-millionaires resettling in the United Arab Emirates. What do you thinK? The firm offering such fantastical and secure retreats is a Swiss company called Oppidum—the Latin term for a fortified city. I thought only pharaoh in his pyramid could only be so entombed.

tortious acts (10. 160)

Whilst not the competent authority for an arraignment, the office of the New York attorney general has announced that the Trump family syndicate, at the conclusion of the a three-year investigation, are facing a civil lawsuit over rank fraud by grossly exaggerating the worth of their assets and property over at least the past decade in order to get preferential treatment from banks and take on more loans in order to lessen their tax liabilities. Among over two hundred cited examples of this inflation to increase the net-worth of their portfolio through alleged misleading of accountants, underwriters and insurers the case includes the Trump’s valuation of $740, 000, 000 for his estate and resort Mar-a-Lago whereas it has been appraised (generously) at less than a tenth of that amount and more than trebling the square-footage of his Manhattan penthouse, and the most expensive in the borough. Among other things, the suit seeks to prohibit the family from conducting business activities within the court’s jurisdiction. This legal development comes as a higher court vacates the earlier ruling and allows investigative proceedings to continue using the classified material discovered in Trump’s Florida residence. Regarding this new development and violation of the Presidential Records Act, Trump maintains that he had the prerogative to mentally declassify documents.

potus (10. 157)

Premiering on this day in 1999 on NBC and running for seven seasons with two specials, the serial political drama created by Aaron Sorkin with ensemble cast including Stockard Channing, Allison Janney, Rob Lowe, Moira Kelly, Martin Sheen, Dulé Hill, Bradley Whitford and Janel Moloney The West Wing covered the fictitious administration of US President Josiah Bartlet. Showered with accolades including two Peabodys, three Golden Globes and twenty-six Emmys, the series ranks among the best television shows ever produced. The short segment from the pilot episode shows the first occurrence of Sorkin’s signature ”walk and talk” expository technique.

6x6 (10. 151)

teenage rampage: 70s sing-a-long pop was edgier than one thought   

on tyranny: twenty lesson on unfreedom and defending democracy

heptominos: geometric magic squares from Lee Sallows—see also

cross-hatched: dozens of security envelope patterns  

quiet quitting: these scenes of office drudgery are a form of protest

rainbow quest: Pete Seeger’s 1960s folk music television show

kleiner freiheitsbrief (10. 142)

Drafted and issued in the milieu of the conflicts between the great houses of the Holy Roman Empire and struggle for overlordship, Frederick Barbarossa signed the title deed known as Privilegium Minus that elevated the frontier march of Austria to the status of a duchy, separate from Bavaria and an inheritable fiefdom, on this date in 1156.This denotation is perfect contrast to the Privilegium Maius (der Großer Freiheitsbrief), a forgery drawn up at the behest of Hapsburg duke Rudolf IV, a beneficiary and ruling by grace of the former proclamation, two centuries later in 1359 which not only raised Austria’s status higher to an archduchy, it was not intended to replace Barbarossa’s deed but rather supplant it by sourcing some of the documentation to Julius Caesar for the Roman province of Noricum (roughly modern day Austria). The original was conveniently lost and many courtiers found the new document suspect—including Petrarch, who openly declared it a fake. Any grumblings were for nought, however, with the election of Frederick III to the imperial office in 1452, who had the prerogative to confirm the authenticity, making fiction fact, and conferring in perpetuity the rights contained therein.

ccc (10. 126)

Founded on this day in the offices of the West Berlin newspaper Die Tageszeigtung (TAZ) by journalist and information security advocate Wau Holland in 1981, Chaos Computer Club is Europe’s largest association of white-hat hackers was established with the mandate to champion freedom of information worldwide, transparency in government and business practices and universal access to digital information. Through its hacktivism and penetration-testing, it has exposed several weaknesses and structural shortcomings that undermine privacy and user rights and it often deferred to as an expert witness for German and EU legislation and court filings, informing policy and openly criticizing decisions that fail to redress concerns for public-welfare. Their activities rose to prominence first in 1984 when exposing the security flaws of teletext (Bildschirmtext, see also here and here), arranging a large transfer of funds from a bank to the club’s account. More recently, they demonstrated that inherent insecurity of biometrics by obtaining and publishing the fingerprints of the Interior Minister (lifted off of a water glass) in 2008. The group hosts the annual Chaos Communication Congress, originally hosted in Hamburg but since 2017 at the Leipzig Trade Fair Grounds (Leipzigermesse) in addition to retreats, camps and workshops to supplement its media outreach. The pictured flag (Pesthörnchen, Datenpirat—a variant on the federal postal service logo, indicting their careless custody of customer data) is from a local chapter.