gb 12982-2004

Adopted this day in 1949 and first flown by the People's Liberation Army over Tiananmen Square three days later, the national flag of China charged with five golden stars representing unity among the social classes had its construction details presented the following during the first plenary session of the People's Political Consultative Conference.
The design by economist Zeng Liansong (*1971 - †1999) was selected by Zhou Enlai (though choosing to edit out the hammer and sickle in the large star in the canton, the upper-most hoist quarter of flags) out of some three thousand entrants. The published instructions, then distributed across the country, are filed under a mandatory standard Guobiao (国标, GB), similar to (and conforming with in most cases) ISO or DIN.

opening titles

Courtesy of the Awesomer, we are treated to the musical stylings of the duo Bei Bei Zheng with piano accompaniment from Vera Yaqi Mackay performing a singular cover of Dick Dale and the Del Tones’ surf rock anthem Misirlou (previously). Bei Bei replaces the guitar with the traditional Chinese instrument called the zheng (箏), an ancient pentatonic zither dated from the Qin dynasty with twenty-one strings to the tune, itself inspired by an Ottoman folksong referring to an Egyptian girl in Turkish that was often used for belly dancing. The up and down harmonic progression is known as hijaz kar.

7x7

alltid öppet: McDonald’s franchises in Sweden (previously) install insect hotels in their signage and billboards

.xlsx: a concerning amount of scientific research contains data misinterpreted by spreadsheet software

glory to hong kong: protestors create their own anthem and rallying cry

metallic wood: researchers create a porous nickel-based matrix (see also) as strong as titanium though exceedingly light

schism: Pope Francis unafraid of conservative groups calling his leadership too progressive

k2-18β: astronomers detect water vapour in the atmosphere of a distant super earth that could harbour life as we know it

gravy train: bug-based pet food better for canine and feline companions and for the environment

7x7

gotham: photographer Amey Kandalgaonkar captures Art Deco Shanghai as informed by the dark backgrounds of Batman: The Animated Series—via Nag on the Lake

east-enders: a beautiful collection of photographs from the 1920s—via Strange Company

my geode must be acknowledged: the brilliant career of Russi Taylor (RIP, *1944 – †2019), actor who voiced Minnie Mouse and Martin Prince—among many, many others

reon pocket: Sony test-markets a wearable air-conditioner

e-plein: Renault may bring back its classic beach buggy as an electric vehicle

pen and ink changes: the British Library has dozens of instructional programmes on how medieval manuscripts were made—via the Art of Darkness

daily planet: visualising how a constellation of satellites work together to create a diurnal snapshot of the Earth—previously 

遍地開花

After the storming of the Legislative Council building on the 1 July anniversary of the 1997 return of the former UK crown colony of Hong Kong to China, protesters have embraced non-violent ways of continuing to express their displeasure and fear that the residents of territory will see liberties erode further.
Taking a cue from the Lennon Wall in Prague, activists have canvased any available space with colourful self-adhering notices, an outlet that’s passive and anonymous enough to keep most individuals out of danger but still one that the authorities cannot easily ignore and now the symbols themselves incite rallies around pro- and anti-government camps. The title refers to the spontaneity of the walls as “blossoming everywhere.” These mosaics, with tens of thousands of missives advocating for freedom and democracy, originate from a central display in Hong Kong five years earlier, erected during the Umbrella Movement, a seventy-nine day occupation of the city to demand transparency in municipal elections—which were perceived to be controlled by Beijing. Protesters carried umbrellas to shield themselves from tear gas that the police lobbed at them to break up the crowds.

yolo

Much like Emperor Claudius believed he vastly improved Latin orthography with his contribution of three new letters (namely Ⅎ for the w-sound, Ↄ for the ps and bs plosives and a Ⱶ, a half of an haitch that is of disputed meaning), seventh century Chinese Empress Wu Zetian imposed somewhere between a dozen and thirty new characters as a demonstration of her power and influence.
In both cases, use of the new characters was mandated but quickly were abandoned and reverted to their old style of writing (see also) after their reigns ended, though unlike with the Romans, a few of the so called Zeitan characters have been incorporated into modern usage. For example, the Empress wanted the term xīng, star to be rendered as 〇 instead of 星, with the former ideogram now representing the number zero, and Wu thought the perfectly cromulent way of expessing a person (rén, 人) should be articulated 𤯔, that is the ideogram for life capped with numeral one to convey the aphorism that everyone only lives once, adopted for contemporary parlance

the thirty-fifth of may

The Tiananmen Square protests, prompted by the death of reformer and voice of liberalisation Hu Yaobang (*1915 – †1989), forced once again to resign in disgrace after a life-long series of purges and recalls, and demanded the government reassess and rehabilitate his reputation and legacy on his death, concluded on this day and into the following day in Beijing three decades ago and precipitated a violent crackdown that resulted in a massacre of protestors and the imposition of martial law, with upwards of ten thousand activists killed or disappeared.

This movement, fomenting the revolutions of the autumn in Eastern Europe but abortive domestically, had originally sought the platform of a visit earlier in May by Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev to normalise Sino-Soviet relations but was not picked up by the international press and failed to garner the desired attention and draw attention to their plight. Though subsequent rallies received heavy coverage, famously the unknown protester called Tank Man who faced down an approaching column once the People’s Army was activated, the movement was suppressed, heavily censored, revised, rewritten and ultimately crushed.

7x7

bit part: a preview of a biopic about Claude Shannon (previously)—the unsung Father of Information Theory

the revolution will not be biennialised: Banksy (previously) makes an appearance at a Venice expo, selling paintings of giant cruise ships moored in the canals

en pointe: the Hong Kong Ballet celebrates its fortieth birthday

😾 😾 😾: Thangrycat is exploiting vulnerabilities in the underpinning architecture of the internet

urban spelunking: when the Jehovah’s Witnesses relocated from Brooklyn Heights to upstate, their vacated properties included a series of underground passageways, via Super Punch

conducive to learning: a collection of striking maps and charts that inspired pupils in the late nineteenth century

walking trot: phones can now determine who is carrying them by knowing their users’ gait and other kinematic factors, via Slashdot

foot traffic

Spanning the Dong River that divides the historic city centre, Jishou in Hunan Province in south-central China has an impressive new art gallery composed of two stacked bridges. Preserving public right-of-way as a pedestrian path and most direct route through the bustling downtown, the museum intercedes as a part of residents’ daily routine, incorporating arts and culture as something commonplace rather than the reserve of a separate, designated destination.  Learn more at Design Boom at the link above.

ox horn campus

A Chinese telecoms giant has built a research and development centre near Shenzhen, which will be home to some twenty-five thousand employees (find out more about model factory towns here) and which includes twelve faithful recreations (see also) of European landmarks. Among them are the Neckar Bridge and Palace of Heidelberg, the halls of Oxford, Freiburg and Verona, co-located on the car-free compound serviced by a Swiss Rail train. Learn more and peruse a slide show gallery at the link up top (nur auf Deutsch).

mars: the ride

Via the always interesting Kottke, we find ourselves transported to the desert hills of the Gobi where a company called C-Space has recently opened a simulated Martian base as an education and outreach facility and tourist destination, with a space-themed hotel and restaurant. Though perhaps more of an amusement park than practical training centre, vis-à-vis institutions like Space Camp and similar programmes especially, we ought not to underestimate the power to inspire. Browse an extensive gallery of the base and its features at the links above.

8x8

shuudan koudou: the Japanese art of synchronised, precision walking

how happy we could be if we’d only listen to our kitschy teacups: cheerfulness is not a virtue and rather an equal opportunity vice

shortlisted: a curated selection of submissions to National Geographic’s travel photography competition

the wookie roars: RIP Peter Mayhew (*1944 – †2019)

tiger on tour: during the height of the Space Race, Esso gave away maps of the Moon

deplatformed: garbage social media ejected a bunch of garbage provocateurs, though the stunt is more publicity for the banned

klimaanlage: researchers in Karlsruhe study enlisting air conditioning units to pull carbon dioxide out of the air

yijin jing: watching Shaolin Kung Fu training from above (previously)

7x7

imperium: the rise and fall of colonial powers visualised

aggressively, chillingly ahuman: for some inscrutable algorithmic purpose, a bot created a video of a blog post—via Super Punch

wholecloth: these colourful quilts from artist Bisa Butler that tell a story

acanthus leaf: Plants and their Application to Ornament (1896) from Eugène Grasset

totus mundus agit histrionem: for the Bard’s birthday, a Shakespearean version of Trivial Pursuit

law-suuuuuuuu-uuuit: the yodeller behind the Yahoo! campaign was led to believe it was only a regional promotion—via Miss Cellania’s Links

belt and road project: the Australian Strategic Policy Institute conducted a comprehensive study of Chinese technological influence globally—via Maps Mania 

duck pond town

Seeing this news brief about how Kunming, the provincial capital of Yunnan in the southwest, is directing real estate developers to avoid foreign, strange and particularly repetitive place names in order to promote historical and cultural heritage made me think of the phenomenon of pleonasms and tautological (同義反覆) toponymy.
Thousands of properties might be affected and need new signage to be in compliance. I realise that the regulation is probably meant to halt the profusion of centres and towers, but it also might be aimed at curbing repetition that comes systematically in translation, like in the case of the Yunling Mountains (the Cloudy Mountains Mountains), Jiayugun Pass (Jiayu Pass Pass), Nathu La Pass (Listening Ears Pass Pass), or the Gobi Desert (the Desert Desert).

7x7

squala mater: a definitive Latin translation of Baby Shark—via Super Punch

sonovox: watch Lucille Ball demonstrate the “voice-box” technique that Peter Frampton popularised

amplifying random noise: regional terms for carbonated beverages in the United States

the wandering earth: big budget scifi movie from author Liu Cixin (previously) has excellent New Year’s debut

from snowman to gingerbread man: the surprisingly flat dimensions of Ultima Thule (previously) baffles researchers

gregg-ruled: edition of Alice in Wonderland transcribed in shorthand—with illustrations to help the reader keep his or her place

embroidered stories: an exhibition of samplers (previously) from Scotland

6x6

don’t seem to rouse themselves for anything besides the birth and death days of idolised rock stars: a Stasi guide of negative-decadent youth subcultures in East Germany

backboard: neglected community basket ball courts revived and rehabilitated as canvases for monumental paintings

sandbox: the development of electronic music owes a debt to songs aimed at a very young demographic

what pedantry is this: more questions and answers from the Chicago Manual of Style—via Coudal Partners

i’ll be waiting for you on the dark side of the moon: Earthrise from above the lunar far-side from the Longjiang-2 orbiter

tilt-shift: an immersive tour of the North Korean capital

7x7

sp!n doctor: this is indeed a clever top

take a number: considering queueing theory and misconceptions about waiting one’s turn

bismillah: an homage to “Bohemian Rhapsody” (previously here and here) in dank meme form—stick with it at least until after the first Brian May guitar solo

like some cat from japan: archivists uncover hitherto unknown footage of David Bowie’s first televised appearance as Ziggy Stardust

oppositional research: a desperate Facebook deputises young people as data-dragnets—updated

cornucopia: artist Uli Westphal artfully arranges produce to highlight agricultural diversity

hanziverse: an interactive exploration of Chinese characters, via Maps Mania  

exploratorium

As a celebration and showcase of the port city’s rich history of trade, manufacturing and research, the coastal metropolis of northern China, Tiānjīn (天津 – the delta of the Yellow River and literally meaning the “Ford of Heaven”), commissioned the international architectural studio of Bernard Tschumi to create a huge exhibition and conference space.
The perforated copper façade covered with portholes evokes the smokestacks of industry and will be the focal point of an urban revitalisation project that establishes a cultural centre in the Binhai New Area—just adjacent to the old town—and will be ready to receive its collections and first visitors in the autumn of this year. Learn more and see additional interior and exterior shots at Dezeen at the link above.

big pixel or shanghai surprise

Via Super Punch, we learn of a massive photographic panorama of the city shot from the two-hundred thirty metre tall Oriental Pearl Tower that allows users to zoom in and pivot from all angles. Resolution and clarity is especially sharp as the image is comprised of one-hundred ninety-five giga (billion) pixels—whereas for reference, the standard smart phone is a paltry twelve megapixels.
Though taken in 2015, there is a renewed interest in the image over rumours that it is satellite telemetry enhanced by “quantum technology,” which has since been debunked. Still having this sort of snap-shot available for inspection is a rather fraught development when it comes to surveillance and personal privacy. The controls for Big Pixel are optimised for a touchscreen interface but will work on laptops as well. After four years, I wonder how much technology has improved.

extra-terrarium or the effect of gamma rays on man-in-the-moon marigolds

Within a tiny biosphere transported to the far side of the lunar surface by the Chang’e-4 probe (previously) containing various plants, yeast and fruit-fly eggs, so far only the cotton seed has germinated and is sprouting. Researchers are closely monitoring the sealed environment to see what happens next. There have been many experiments with plants in microgravity beforehand but this represents the first time to attempt to cultivate something on the Moon.