lix and liberal leave (12. 220)

Having no truck with this gladiatorial spectacle, I never took advantage of the policy of granting service members of the armed forces and the civilian component a delayed reporting due to Super Bowl and the time difference between the US and Europe, the game starting at 00:30 and continuing through the small hours. With Monday, however, being the first day of many agencies that have not already implemented the RTO (return to office policy) of Trump’s executive order, I do wonder how it will play out, begging the question whether they, the newly minted Secretary of Defence (someone said Kegsbreath) know or care about the nuances of their global mission, factoring in limited office space, serviced clients, funding sources, morale, etc. Will this be a delayed reporting and treated like another snow day?

curds and whey (12. 215)

Google has edited its commercial slotted to play during the Super Bowl, promoting its Gemini AI model pitching the use-case scenario of a small, independent cheesemonger using the chatbot to craft a description about Gouda for his shop’s website. The erroneous statistic that Gouda makes up “fifty to sixty percent of the world’s cheese consumption” was replaced in the ad with “one of the most popular cheeses in the world,” the false claim apparently regurgitated from a webpage called cheese.com filled with AI generated, SEO-optimised (see redundant acronym syndrome) blogs. The AI assistant’s responses have the disclaimer that they are “not intended to be factual” but rather framed as a writing aid and that one should perform some fact-checking, presumably googling it.

pop-tarts bowl (12. 120)

Amazingly held annually (at different venues and with different sponsorship arrangements) since 1990 the college football play-off tournament, now under the patronage of the Kelloggs / Kellanova brand beginning in 2020 to promote its snack-crackers and toaster-pastries (previously), a vote was put to fans for which flavours were to serve as the game’s main mascot. The winner, Strawberry, was ritually sacrificed in a giant oven but was resurrected during a half-time tribute. Superpunch has a highlights reel from yesterday’s event.

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links to revisit (with synchronoptica) plus the Trail of Tears (1835)

seven years ago: the US and the Metric System, stop using Facebook and start using your browser, more links to enjoy plus The People’s History of Tattooine

eight years ago: sumptuary laws, RIP Debbie Reynolds plus the legacy of the Cathars

nine years ago: more on monomyths, de-icing, re-post for luck, no one’s watching week plus the US-Iranian Hostage Crisis

ten years ago: the Art of Asking,  Dürer’s Rhinoceros, the shortest river in France plus questions to librarians