9x9 (12. 381)

domestic box office: in response to escalating tariffs, China is curtailing the number of American films screened in the country  

redeployment: decision to reposition US troops stationed in Poland causing concern  

dixonary: improprieties in pronunciation among New Englanders 

 𐦉: the Latin alphabet expressed as hieroglyphics  

now is a great time to buy—$djt: social media posts and a spike in options activity may indicate insider trading within the administration  

א₀: physicist Dominic Walliman charts out the fields of mathematics and how the academic informs application 

from the gigantic bones displayed at roncesvalles: an adjective that should be brought part back into use 

a man, a plan: US defence secretary floats idea of reopening mothball military bases from the 1989 invasion of Panama 

trading floor: the history of the ticker-tape machine

people were getting yippy (12. 380)

Though the markets reacted with a rally that restored some of the trillions in wealth evaporated in the chaos of the past few days, nothing is fixed by this pause for bespoke tariffs—the universal tax of ten percent is being levied on exports from essentially every country on Earth and for Chinese goods, at the time of writing, facing a 125% duty. This is America’s Brexit moment: the multi-front trade war may have been polarised between Washington and Beijing but this negotiation period of three months is highly unlikely to net any real progress—especially through the lens of the UK’s departure from the EU and the drawn out complexity of leaving and reintegrating with continental partners as a bloc that is still fraught with challenges and damaged trade relations. China’s refusal to withdraw its retaliatory measures and to go toe-to-toe with Trump will only escalate matters. And while stocks may have pivoted in response to this less worse news, the credibility is squandered not only by this abrupt turn-about, that the US flinched, but moreover there’s no guarantee that negotiators could keep their end of a bargain and it unclear what if any concessions would be offered in return for relocating manufacturing or loosening regulations on environmental and safety standards. For a brief time it seemed that Trump would not be cowed by the markets—and from his telling, it was always part of genius plan—it seems that he was not wholly untethered to economic forces and nearly as one can surmise, the threat to the bond exchange (investors, foreign and domestic, generally retreating to buying and holding US debt as a safe haven in times of broader turmoil) with the usual flock not materialising this time was sufficient to spook his advisors and convince him to change course. With little investor appetite for government securities, the US would need to offer higher interest to finance their debts, whose rates determine all others and could very quickly make borrowing for anyone very difficult and lead to a panic. China and Trump are both willing to gamble with the economic future, though the former is positioned to gain in the long-term by standing fast in this trial if it is able to shift its focus from exports toward consumption whereas for the latter, the market is very much saturated. Unfortunately countries uncoupled from doing business together are generally disengaged from working together on tackling bigger problems, like foreign policy and the environment, as well.

maga maoism (12. 376)

Though government officials, members of the armed services and civil servants are not yet subject to an explicit loyalty oath, pledging fealty to Trump, we learn—via Boing Boing—that there’s been an unsubtle change in dress-code on the Hill and in the Cabinet in the form a garish oversized golden lapel pin, replacing the usual flags and other charges, of a bust of the president. As China is adopting America’s own tactics when it comes too punishing tariffs that disrupt the global economic order (after relenting for most other nations, which is a positive sign but the vacillation runs counter to any of the stated aims of attracting foreign factories when such longterm commitments betray a capacious time horizon with the real objective seemingly to create a fire-sale on commodities by crashing the market), the US has reached back to the days of Chairman Mao and the Cultural Revolution for a show of allegiance and blind faith as regressive policies, urging unwarranted patience for a big gamble that is certain to fail spectacularly. The latest escalation was in part prompted by JD Vance referring to the Chinese workforce as peasants, which is not only insulting but a deflection of the US’s own feudalism and indenturedness, beholden to Trump’s ruinous ego and incompetence.

synchronoptica

one year ago: the opposite of Schadenfreude (with synchronoptica) plus assorted links worth revisiting

seven years ago: Trump and the Saudis plus the toads are spawning

eight years ago: Russia and LiveJournal

nine years ago: swanky office attire plus Jedi stew

ten years ago: a trip to the US, from whale oil to petroleum plus a monopoly on sainthood

8x8 (12. 365)

museum of now: This American Life invites us to sit with and reflect on the artefacts of day and hour 

rift valley: a Trump appointed special envoy to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tiffany’s father-in-law, seeking to make a deal on mineral resources in hopes of securing peace with Rwandan rebels 

fay wray: a swarm of drones recreate the iconic scene of King Kong scaling the Empire State building  

toast malone: a short clip of the singer performing Circles, animated on one hundred thirty-three slices of bread  

altair 8800: a retrospective of Microsoft at fifty 

the bronx is up and the battery’s down: new NYC subway map is an homage to an early digrammatic version  

blanket non-fraternisation policy: US bans government personnel stationed in China from forming relationships with locals 

national endowment for the humanities: US museums, libraries and archives see their grants terminated—see previously

9x9 (12.357)

gondor assault small group: a poem for the first of April  

unitedhealthcare: US attorney Pam Boni general will seek the death penalty in the slaying of company CEO  

yield my time: Senator Cory Booker’s speech on the chamber floor at eighteen hours and counting 

dataviz: an infographic challenge round to recreate the WEB Du Bois economic and demographic charts as presented during the 1900 Paris Exposition using modern tools—via Quantum of Sollazo  

nearby jobs: Chinese omni-app points flexible users to local gig opportunities and side-quests—shake it ’til you make it 

unabhängigkeitserklärung: from Der Zeit, Europe frees itself from American hegemony but starving their attention—via Kottke  

wyld stallyns: texting conversation demonstrates that we’re in the wrong timeline  

mora, negare, deponere: archaeologists uncover fresco foretelling the coming of Saint Luigi 

 i scorn the morn: ‘conjugated nouns’ by linguist Arnold M Zwicky

put down artist (12. 345)

There’s a Chinese expression in romanji that’s curiously enunciated, masticated as its acronym, spelt out P-U-A for pick up artist which entered common-parlance a few years ago but still very much circulating and having acquired more nuance synonymic with the concept of gaslighting, manipulative but perhaps not on the same level of flattery, though with same ends, and maybe more akin to the retired, superannuated phrase being owned or pwn’d (pronounced poned). The prescribed antidote is to not have ambitions party to seduction. More on leetspeak and linguistic disabusement with a sample in context from Language Log at the link above.

dim sum and then some (12. 337)

Via the New Shelton wet/dry, we are directed to problem of how most cuisine is reduced to a flag and cordoned in by national borders, which is serviceable to an extent but results in a monolithic understanding when regional dishes are in reality much more granular foodways. Chinese cooking has been categorised in popular culture into eight styles, Sichuan, Cantonese, Anhui, Hunan, Jiangsu, Shandong, Fujian and Zhejiang as a start (based off the order of courses presented in banqueting tradition) but is far more rarefied in reality, even to the exclusion of standard dishes which so far not been subject to an official count but seems conservatively to number in the scores with this “coffee table” enumeration of representative recipes, ingredients and trajectories.

gentlemen—you can’t fight in here—this is the war room (12. 324)

Though denied as rumour and fake news, the Pentagon had set up a briefing for Elon Musk it seems on the potential for conflict with China. This meeting, if it occurs as scheduled, follows the abrupt and unexpected closure of the Office of the Secretary of Defence’s Net Assessment group, an internal think-tank projecting decades into the military’s future and produced prognoses and reports of long-term threats based on their research, and the meeting in the Tank, a secure conference room, privileging the unelected bureaucrat to unprecedented information on American strategic capabilities and its intelligence on China’s perhaps is the armed forces’ five bullets to DOGE to keep them from culling vital positions and funding within the military needed for such a stand-off—already having pressured the Pentagon from buying jet fighters made by one of his space-launch competitors. Giving the CEO of a defence contractor access to this level of information and a role in influencing direction, plus wanting to infiltrate Chinese markets, is certainly a conflict of interest and presents grave consequences for forward posture.

snow recedes, mist lingers in the air (12. 303)

Courtesy of the always excellent Web Curios, we get a chance to revisit the topic of microseasons (候, kō) with this guide to the twenty-four solar terms or sekki, a phenomenal calendar in driven by the cycles of nature instead of fixed dates used traditionally for agrarian purposes in China and Japan, timing planting and harvesting. Harmonised nicely with yesterday’s lunar eclipse (see previously here and here), we are presently in Keichitsu or Jingzhe (啓蟄, the going-out of the worms) the days when insects awaken from their winter hiberation. Once I accidentally disturbed a nest of dormant lady bugs checking a barrel for rainwater and was devastated for days that I had interrupted their winter nap, still to this day. Even with the climate catastrophe and global weirding, there’s comfort in looking forward to Seimei (the first rainbows and geese migrate) and Shunbun (the sparrows return and the cherry blossoms bloom), the swallows come back to Capistrano and April showers.

9x9 (12. 257)

johnny 5: artificial intelligence and inkblot tests—see previously  

hop-on, hop-off: a new train route through Central Europe allows passengers to visit cities at their own pace  

boone and wesson: the disturbing trend of aggressive baby names in the US—see also, see previously—via Miss Cellania

sixth-tenths of a letter: the depth of natural history visualised as pages in a book  

ok boomer: Chinese netizens’ approach to uncomfortable questions is reply at random (一都乱会, everything is chaotic, xīqiè dōu shì hǔnluàn de) and defuse intergenerational conflict 

bluelights in the basement: RIP Roberta Flack  

protect & survive: Shades another post-apocalyptic UK mini-series in the vein of Threads and The Day After Tomorrow

express limited: a collection of Showa-era Japanese gate entry tickets, a unique surcharge of the train system 

integrated information theory: Richard Dawkins (previously) chats with AI, asks it is it conscious

7x7 (12. 243)

tvwishes: a reappraisal of digital preservation—via Waxy  

wasp 121β: ultra hot Jupiter exoplanet has a uniquely layered and roiling atmosphere—see previously  

unitary executive theory: latest Trump EO reigns in independent agencies, testing the limits of presidential power  

the doors of kypseli: the intricate entrances of an Athens neighbourhood  

gesserit jazz: a 1977 funk album inspired by Frank Herbert’s epic novel—see previously 

jikipedia: the rise and fall of China’s Urban Dictionary of internet slang  

dark entry records: queer album cover art from Gwenaël Rakkte

de minimis exemption (12. 206)

Amid the US announcing an additional ten percent tariff on all Chinese imports—to which China has responded in kind—the American postal service (see previously) will no longer accept parcels and packages from the mainland or Hong Kong. Whilst no official reason was given for the suspension—confoundingly reversed hours later causing turmoil for freight companies, it is presumably to seal a legal loophole that permitted small shipments to be shipped without being subject to duties and customs fees. Retailers, particularly in the fast-fashion industry, have exploited this exemption to—according to certain viewpoints—flood the market with cheap goods. The EU, which has a lower threshold, is planning similar legislation in order to foster a more competitive e-commerce sector.

 synchronoptica

one year ago: Assyrian canine figurines (with synchronoptica), a short-lived tv show plus airspace maps

seven years ago: music for felines, the roots of February plus Germany united longer than it was divided

eight years ago: more Trump Dumps, archiving US government websites plus faux four-leafed clover

nine years ago: assorted links worth revisiting, micro-aggressions, a boutique bookshop plus ergonomic exoskeletons

ten years ago: new world order, solutions for the German housing shortage, the Mandela Effect, Kulturkampf plus the lithium-ion battery

the gourd question (12. 195)

First documented around two thousand years ago in divination manuals, the tradition of playing the race game called huluwen (translated as above but has many regional variations and diverse and contemporary themes, also called “to drive away eight snakes,” “bureaucratic promotion table or “chaos at dragon palace” for example) during family gatherings for the Spring Festival has endured and evolved over the centuries with the gods and political or career ambitions. Players advance according to a roll of the dice (or a spin of a dreidel-like top) a certain number of spaces landing on an image and then must jump forward or back to an identical square, the first reaching the centre winning. Though the seemingly humble gourd was not always the goal, in Taoism the calabash (互录, also a homophone for “interactive recording,” hence the streaming service) symbolises longevity through medical or miraculous intervention and can also represent a portal to another realm or be interpreted as a scapegoat or pharmakós, a object that could absorb bad luck and be cast out—from the same Greek root as drugs, potions and spells.

10x10 (12. 191)

i saw, i cut, i applied: a retrospective of the textile art of Ayako Miyawaki (宮脇綾子) at the Tokyo Station Gallery 

hadron therapy: researchers at CERN are collaborating with oncologists to develop precision treatment that last a fraction of a second—via the new Shelton wet/dry 

drag and drop: the development of tools that easily move data around with confidence it would not be lost

shǒusuì: an exhibition on community resilience through helps gird one for the trying year ahead 

two-minute warning: the Bulletin of Atomic Sciences (see previously) advance the second hand once again as a warning to world leaders  

oreoboros: a round-up of recently introduced snacks and treats—via MetaFilter 

comparative entomology: an 1879 study in the colour patterns in moths and butterflies 

object impermanence: a glitchy and broken AI knock-off of Minecraft makes for a strangely compelling experience  

experimental advanced superconducting tokamak: an artificial sun burned for nearly eighteen minutes at the EAST plasma physics lab in Hefei—a significant milestone for sustainable fusion reactions—via Boing Boing 

the little loomhouse: the history and evolution of an ensemble of Kentucky cabins to a thriving arts community

deepseek (12. 189)

A scrappy, lean and open-source AI developed on a budget of just six million dollars has punched a hole of over a trillion dollars in global technology markets, raising doubts about the sustainability and infiltration in the boom led by the same cadre of grifters who upsold crypto and NTFs (and still trying to make fetch happen) cum beneficiaries of the tech-feudalism panopticon, bowdlerising and exploiting one’s sentiments and information as much as any accusations lobbed outside, that demonstrates that benchmarks in artificial intelligence utility can be set and surpassed without premium micro-processors (Nvidia chips, considered state-of-the-art, were subject to an export embargo in China since 2022) and without extensive infrastructure for computing power, spurring American companies to invest in server farms and nuclear plants to fuel their resource-hungry models—prompting a sober reevaluation of enthusiasm and underwriting and tuition for training. Liang Wenfeng, entrepreneur and hedge-fund manager, developed the model as a hobby to identify patterns in stock prices, and while remaining focused on research rather than commercial products has released a personal assistant as a free download to showcase its potential and make AI transparent and universally accessible (the algorithms can be adapted by anyone)—and the app is the most popular in its category, really handicapping the present US broligarchy (a real fail-whale) the declared American national emergency over energy.

12x12 (12. 179)

contraception begins at erection: Mississippi lawmaker has introduced a bill called ‘contraception begins at erection’ outlawing male masturbation, hoping to bring balance to the reproductive rights’ restriction that focus on women—via the New Shelton wet/dry  

obayashi world: Japan’s most Lynchian filmmaker  

so long and thanks for all the fish: Joan Ocean’s Dolphin Connection—via Web Curios  

crass competing abstrusities: official, sanctioned transcription of US secretary of state Marco Rubio (鲁比奥) changed—possibly as a way to get around the ban the Chinese government itself imposed plus other politicians’ names—see previously  

 

but if you don’t make your product in america—which is your prerogative—then very simply you will have to pay a tariff: though vacillating somewhat on his commitment and working from home, Trump delivers a message to the Davos WEF summit  

she was nasty in tone, not compelling or smart: Bishop Budde won’t apologise for her appeal for mercy and hospitality  

the birthright citizens’ brigade: a list of organisations pushing back against the slide to authoritarianism in the US  

dreiundfünfzig tage: how Hitler dismantled a constitution republic through constitutional means  

xanthelasma: Florida man on diet of beef, cheese and sticks of butter oozes cholesterol from his skin—see also—via Miss Cellania  

a catalyst for curiosity: Wikenigma documents the unexplained—via Kottke—those scientific and academic questions that evade a definitive answer, like the Collatz conjecture 

you remind me of the babe: Robert Eggers to make a sequel for Labyrinth  

unplanned pregnancy: as an encore to freeing all the January Sixth rioters, Trump pardons dozens of anti-abortion protesters, some jailed for violent tactics to block clinic access and intimidating doctors ahead of the Right to Life March

little red book (12. 186)

The expected consequence of the looming TikTok ban in the United States was for users to find alternative outlets, but an unexpected one is happening with the influx of Americans, some seven hundred thousand, flocking to a similar social media and e-commerce app called RedNote (小紅書, literally translated as the above, as in Chairman Mao’s collected sayings). Despite the US wanting to ban the former because of national security concerns and worries that the personal data of its citizens could be harvested and shared with the Chinese government, many, out of spite and feeling the charges to be trumped-up and parochial at best, are turning to this networking platform, not subject to the usual firewall placed on the outside world, and interacting and communicating with three hundred million native users and with the surprising outcome of forging new friendships, cultural exchanges and even some language learning. The trend may not last and the platform could become subject to the same suspicions that it could become a tool for espionage and indoctrination by the Chinese government.

synchronoptica

one year ago: a classic from Joni Mitchell (with synchronoptica) plus assorted links worth the revisit

seven years ago: more links to enjoy, a false alarm in Hawaii, the Matt Drudge breaks the Clinton-Lewinski scandal (1998) plus museum doppelgängers 

eight years ago: gas for Europe and Russian aggression in Ukraine plus global net worth

nine years ago: Medieval Death Trip, boreal rings, degrees of temperature plus microscopic detail

ten years ago: artist Aubrey Beardsley, long receipts plus the magic of the Google Translate app

city不city (12. 091)

Sixth Tone has announced its Chinese language buzzwords that defined this past year (see previously) with the above dominating question, translating, “city or not”—cosmopolitan, sophisticated, the viral phenomenon illustrated below, which demonstrates how seamlessly loan words can be incorporated into the language’s structure. Other shortlisted neologisms include yìng kòng (硬控, pinned in place) borrowed from stalemate and the gaming world as an arresting rubber-necking and the inescapable allure of trending items, bān wèi (班味, office stench) to address that lingering malaise that comes from toil at a job that is not ideal, tōu găn (偷感, thief vibes) used to describe an individual whose definition of oversharing is different from their cadre and introduced as a shorthand for the preoccupation with MBTI personality profiles (see previously here and here), 淡人 vs 浓人 (dàn rén and nóng rén, introverted versus extroverted)—also expressed with 😐/😝. More at the links above.

*    *    *    *    *

synchronoptica

one year ago: Pope decrees that blessings can be given to same-sex couples (with synchroptica), machine embodiment plus a special deck of playing cards

seven years ago: the Status Quo Ladder plus elevator operators are not extinct careerwise

eight years ago: gemstone batteries plus Spain reconsiders the siesta

nine years ago: emergency lights, weird antique Christmas greetings plus assorted links worth revisiting

ten years ago: Christmas markets past plus the paternalistic nature of the Internet of Things

not my name (12. 088)

Via the always interesting quantum of sollazzo data newsletter, we are directed towards a fascinating project exploring the complexity of Chinese personal and family names and the challenges of Pinyin romanisation (see previously), which whilst creating name recognition for a global audience, creates ambiguities in the simplification, leaving out tonal qualities and how multiple characters can share the same transliteration. Over thirteen million individuals have Ma as a surname but it sourced from either 马, 吗 or less commonly 麻 (others have dozens of possibility occurring in the population) depending on stress, intonation and of course carry deeper meaning and associations—etymological and familial—than what can be conveyed in the Pinyin and comparable systems. Explore more on onomastics and naming conventions at the links above and hear examples of pronunciation that can vary widely and are quite distinct.

synchronoptica

one year ago: On the Beach (1959) with synchronoptica

seven years ago: youthquake plus molten salt reactors

eight years ago: Ottoman fairy tales, assorted links worth revisiting, railway competition, a lesson on euphemisms plus signs of the year

nine years ago: more links to enjoy, a special Jedi holiday service plus comparative cinematography 

ten years ago: biological burps on Mars, the Becker of St Hedwig plus Christmas Colorforms

one-trick pony (12. 056)

After threatening Mexico, Canada and China with punishing tariffs less for economic reasons but rather to staunch the flow of illegal immigration and illicit drugs—Trudeau as a seeming by-stander had an emergency dinner-date with Trump for damage control to which Trump offered an easy way out, to unify with American, politely declining, I wish the prime-minister had spit in his face—Trump is now threatening the BRICS nations with hundred percent export levies should they continue to entertain the idea of de-dollarisation and choose the path of less dependence to trade, hypothetically, in another reserve currency or pursue their own monetary union. Certain members of this cohort, whether or not contemplating an alternative (see also) whose negotiations would extend beyond current regimes, have already been effectively pushed out thanks to sanctions and manipulation that leverages American interests and priorities.