As part of a larger discussion on the pace of technological advancement, Marginal Revolution’s Tyler Cowen introduces us to the Grand Ise Shirine complex in the Mie prefecture of Japan and how process and institutional knowledge play a big role in progress.
Thursday 2 August 2018
talent pool
catagories: ๐ฏ๐ต, ๐ญ, architecture, religion
Wednesday 1 August 2018
of pageants and placements
Though not nearly as polished as the top entrants of the International Garden Photographer of the Year contest—co-sponsored by Kew Gardens—learning of the inclusion of a Macro Art category inspired me to share a couple of serendipitous, up-close shots of a dragonfly (eine Libelle) and a butterfly (ein Schmetterling) from our back garden. What do you think? What would be a good niche class of photography to hold a contest for?
out to pasture
Via Kottke, we’re directed toward a rather powerful and immediate way to visualise land-use in the United States of America by projecting percentages on to a map of the contiguous states. Each pixel represents one million acres (about four hundred thousand hectares) and an enormous amount is allotted to ranches, ranges and pasturelands for livestock and for raising feed for the animals with crops for human consumption dwarfed in comparison. One would think that in this day and age, one could find a better use for more than a third of one’s territory than the upkeep of cattle and wonder how other countries and regions rank.
catagories: ๐บ๐ธ, ๐ณ, ๐บ️, environment, food and drink, lifestyle
kleptocracy
This thoughtful essay from economist Susan Crawford on the inherently paradoxical nature of good governance—how the most vital and integral public services are the most vulnerable to being dismantled by oligarchs by dint of their invisibility—initially reminded us of a parallel phenomena that we encountered a few weeks ago that spoke to how we perceive laisse-faire attitudes and confidence in market-corrections: a search void.
รญ embรฆtti
On this day in 1980, Vigdรญs Finnbogadรณttir became the first democratically directly elected female president (forseti—the presiding one and derived from the รsir god Fosite, the personification of justice and reconciliation), assuming the high office in Iceland. Though she initially won by only a slight majority of voters, she went on to serve three more terms, running in two of the elections unopposed, making her also the longest serving—to date—female head of state, with an administration of exactly sixteen years. In 1996, Vigdรญs chose not to be considered for re-election but has remained active since as a goodwill ambassador, lobbying on behalf of minority languages and world peace.
catagories: ๐ฎ๐ธ
flagged content
The experimental social media chatbot Tay that quickly suffered a racist meltdown after less than a day’s exposure to the Internet wilds has a younger sibling called Zo, whose programming dictates she follows the protocols of their aggregate idea of a typical teenage American girl.
catagories: ๐ค, networking and blogging