8x8 (12. 990)

boîte aux lettres: a gallery of modernist mailboxes found around France—via Messy Nessy Chic  

áramótaskaupið: two decades of explaining the smells and bells of the holiday season in Iceland  

semiquaver: “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” is a fine carol but lacks punctuation—via Miss Cellania 

k-id: Australia begins to enforce the world’s first social media ban for under sixteen-year-olds  

there is consensus to merge republican makeup into this article: Mar-a-Lago face, a plastic surgery trend among American conservatives has its own Wikipedia entry—via Nag on the Lake 

zipf’s law: a collection of nearly universal facets of human language  

linus and lucy: A Charlie Brown Christmas premiered on this day in 1965—see previously here and here  

intermodal container: the history of compartmentalised freight and how one innovation in transportation can influence another

pepperoni and mushroom (12. 978)

As Boing Boing informs, on this day in 1974, Donald Sherman, who had Möbius Syndrome, a rare congenital disease that results in facial paralysis, and had the inability to speak, was able to order a pizza by placing a call from the Michigan State University’s Artificial Language Laboratory. The revolutionary text-to-voice synthesiser (see also) was designed by university researchers and the successful exchange was captured for posterity by local media, though it didn’t go off without a hitch as the synthetic voice was unexpected by the operators—with major delivery chain Domino’s hanging up on the caller—until a sympathetic employee at a small pizzeria took the order. Celebrated annually on campus, Domino’s has been furnishing free pizzas for the commemoration, ostensibly out of the bad publicity for hanging up on Sherman all those years ago.

*    *    *    *    * 

synchronoptica

one year ago: the accidental Republic of Cospaia (with synchronopticæ), a counterfeit caper plus US president-elect Trump threatens global tariffs

twelve years ago: Germany takes on informal hoteliers  

thirteen years ago: Nativity scenes plus more examples of pareidolia 

fourteen years ago: unseasonable weather, loose change plus piracy and net-neutrality

sixteen years ago: US pressures allies on Afghanistan 

seventeen years ago: bail-outs and quasi financial institutions 

t-1500 (12. 975)

In anticipation of the fiftieth anniversary of the introduction of its first digital wrist watch, the world’s first multifunction model, the Casiotrom X-1, the company has curated a gallery of all its models from 1976 to today with a brief history for each point on the timeline. I have my retro classic but am also really intrigued about their innovative wearables, like the 1985 “Data Bank” that had a rolodex and calendar function or a universal remote for TVs and VCRs and analogues of contemporary smart watches with pedometer and pulse-check capabilities and even a calculator with touch-sensitive display and an advanced horologium decades ahead of its time. Check out the whole catalogue from Casio at the link above. The model with a face that flips open like a compact for extra features and input is pretty cool but apparently not currently on offer.

10x10 (12. 973)

no time for dancing or lovey-dovey: David Byrne’s ensemble Tiny Desk concert—see previously  

bathing beauties: the nautical folk art of Kyler Martz—via Messy Nessy Chic  

ac/dc: the unlikely friendship of Mark Twain and Nikola Tesla 

warrior ethos: the Canadian publisher of the beloved children’s book series Franklin the Turtle strongly objects to US Secretary of War’s depiction of him firing on boats of supposed narco-terrorists 

the downfall of joann: the US craft and hobby economy ruined by private equity—via MetaFilter—see previously  

steerage: turned upside down, this grainy photograph of a third-class cabin appears to expand into a grand stateroom  

not even a squib of an entry: a steeple chase of an etymological mystery that may have arisen out of a case of mis-division—see also 

exalting the beauty of an overcast sky: Luke Howard (previously) on cloud-modification and his correspondence with Goethe  

nuns on the run: a rebel sisterhood who escaped from a nursing home to return to their abandoned convent refuse to give up their social media accounts as it would deprive them from the protection of an interested public 

chanson pour tout le monde: “Song for the Children” was by Jimmy Buffet, released on his 1979 album Volcano

light-emitting diode (12. 964)

Whilst LEDs had been in use since the early 1960s as electronic components, with applications in remote control circuits, converting a pulse of current into a beam of infra-red light, and as indicator lamps for always-on appliances and in seven-segment displays, it was not until this day in 1996 when the Nichia Corporation, a Japanese chemical engineering and manufacturing concern, held a press-conference introducing brilliant white gallium nitride light-emitting diodes, after three years of experimentation and research, that the semiconductor dim bulbs, only capable of shining in invisible wavelengths to low-intensity red, hinted at their potential as a commercial lighting alternative to an infrastructure built for energy-intensive incandescents. Despite skepticism over the viability of producing a prototype using conventional technology, Nichia supported the R&D efforts of Shuji Nakamura (中村 修二, only given a token honorium for his invention, he later sued for a commensure share of the profits) whose experiments eventually netted not only the illusive white LED but also the blue laser diode in the process, the solid-state stylus for HD DVDs and Blu-Ray Discs. Incoherent and giving the illusion of pure colour saturation—like pixels and their subdivisions—LEDs produce light through electrolumininescence, the wavelength determined by the recombination of electrons and electron holes, the space of an atomic lattice where an ejected particle once was and in accordance with the shell-model could be replaced, over the gradient of the semiconductive circuit, pushing out a photon.

synchronoptica

one year ago: Panasonic to digitally resurrect its departed CEO (with synchronopticæ), Now, That’s What I Call Music, phonological jargon as effective insults, Tulip Mania redux plus superstitious storeys

thirteen years ago: bot-driven traffic plus personalised medication

fourteen years ago: language lessons 

fifteen years ago: US-EU diplomatic relations 

sixteen years ago: a Thanksgiving feast plus first Advent 

for full measure, agitate lever (12. 959)

The always interesting Present /&/ Correct (do check out their sundries), directs our an auction catalogue of antique vending and gum-ball machines (see also). Though such coin-op delivery systems, and the logistical network to keep them stocked has been supplanted to some extent in many markets, there still are notable hold-outs and arguably a renaissance of such retail modes in delivery robots and roving cornershops. The modern introduction of automats for bottled beverages, newspapers and convenient snacks that began in the 1880s, proliferating into all sectors, is a revival itself that is rooted in some very ancient engineering with Hero of Alexandria credited with inventing the first vending machine in the second century A.D. with a contraption of weighs and counter-balances that dispensed a measure of wine—or perhaps holy water—in exchange for a coin. The second-wave rediscovery saw its earliest prototypes in selling tobacco and stamps with first recognisable machines for envelopes, postcards and other stationary items.

synchronoptica

one year ago: 1924’s first Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade (with synchronopticæ), assorted links to revisit, the fabulous Miss Raquel Welch plus impoundment of appropriated funds

thirteen years ago: Spectropia 

fourteen years ago: Black Friday goes international 

9x9 (12. 953)

architectural digest: a guided two-hour walking tour of New York City’s most iconic buildings  

1999 a.d.: a paleo-future vision from 1967 that asks if the cusp year will be too computerised, too cold  

shinbun: a hypnotic, phrenetic collage of Japanese newspaper clippings from 1991 to the present—see also  

meet the aphantasics: more on those who don’t form mental images 

i wool survive: a flock of ostracised gay rams from Germany have a haute-couture debut on a Manhattan catwalk  

electric pentacle: the occult detective Thomas Carnacki created by William Hope Hodgson who despite his supernatural inclinations has a skeptical side and is unafraid to use nascent technology as his red-herring or MacGuffin 

doge: the US Department of Government Efficiency quietly closed down 

field-expedient gadgets: preparing meals in maximum security plus other prison inventions  

diorama: Theria Sofia reworks Polly Pocket sets—originally fashioned from a makeup compact as a toy

stigler’s law of eponymy (12. 894)

Via Kottke, we are introduced to the above occurrence, recursive like instances pleonasmy, which proposed by statistics professor Stephen Stigler in 1980, attributes his own discovery to an idea formulated by sociologist Robert Merton, whom also popularised such notions as unintended consequences, reference groups, role models and self-fulfilling prophecies, and holds that no scientific discovery is named after its original pioneer, citing Hubble’s Law of universal expansion derived by Georges Lemaître among others and that credit is an object lesson in plagiarism and immodesty. Fully aware of his legacy, Merton’s own version was a variation on his so called Matthew Effect of cumulative advantage from the gospel summarised in the adage “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer,” though the apostle was quoting the rubric of Jesus—specifically referring to women’s sidelining in the academia and the arts, like the Matilda effect or the Bechdel test who repeatedly attributed the idea to her friend Liz Wallace but to no avail.

patent pendency (12. 851)

A long established fact about the US Patent Office is its signature agnosticism regarding submissions and filings, only the competent authority of whether a proposal can be trademarked and copyrighted “to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries” and not a judge of an idea’s quality or utility, though happy to collect registration fees, with any surplus above overhead operating costs being diverted to the general Treasury. Accordingly we appreciated this context-free gallery—via Things Magazine—of the figures and schematics (for applications recently submitted—see previously). There’s something that defaults to a little sinister when trying to surmise what’s being conveyed in this illustrations. Of course the details behind the pictures and prototypes can be easily and fully researched on the registry. Examiners, whilst specialists in their respective fields, are not necessarily lawyers, whereas trademark attorneys field work involving intellectual property.   

of laureates and laurels (12. 740)

The winners of the annual Ig Nobel prizes (see previously) were recently announced and there are, across several categories and disciplines, a host of ridiculous and thought-provoking studies to ponder. Several of the experiments were alcohol related, such as research into the effects of lowered inhibitions on language proficiency—outside of one’s mother tongue, garnering top prize for the peace division—and the effects of naturally occurring ethanol consumption on the ability of bats to navigate and echolocate. There were quite a few examples of culinary chemistry as well—plus a peer-reviewed field trial on the efficacy of dazzle camouflage as repellant for biting insects—previously here and here. See all the laureates at Ars Technica at the link above.

contrology (12. 715)

Courtesy of Weird Universe, we are referred to one of twenty-six patents filed by physical trainer, professional boxer, circus performer and self-defence educator Joseph Hubertus Pilates—best known for his eponymous mind-body exercise method (see also), primarily developed during his internment by British authorities in Lancaster Castle (later on the Isle of Man) during World War I by dent of his German citizenship in England earning a living doing the latter jobs and training police in his ways at Scotland Yard—in the form of this rather intriguing v-shaped, cradle-like bed, which purports to support good spinal alignment during sleep. I don’t know whether such a configuration would alleviate cramping legs and constant tossing and turning and switching sides—which may have more to do with sharing sleeping quarters with a dog and another human—but seems plausible and maybe worth a try. While a pilates regimen as an activity is of course better than being sedentary and improves balance and muscle definition, studies show it does not live up to loftier claims of treating any illness or medical condition, however. Immigrating to New York City in 1925, Pilates set up a studio and taught classes with his wife Clara née Zeuner into the 1960s and invented the bed and several other exercise and wellness apparatuses during this period, and while the copyright for these devices holds, pilates itself is not professionally regulated and accredited, ruled a generic term and something anyone can claim—at least in the US—to be a master of. More at the link above.

tal und berg, time and temperature (12. 688)

Running some errands back in the Geratal region, we took a stroll through the village above the valley called Geraberg, higher up on the slope of the Arlesberg on the northern edge of the Thüringer Wald. Though first mentioned in a deed of gift to the Henneberg knights for its vineyards in the eleventh century, the area was more famous of its traditions of mining and forestry, fuelling the smelting of iron ore. The cadet industries of glass-making and porcelain manufacturer developed in the nineteenth century and taking advantage of one by-product of mining operations, mercury, Geraberg became a centre of technical expertise for the making of clinical thermometers (that’s one in the main traffic circle) and other glass medical instruments, beginning in 1873 and lasting until 1990, employing some two-thousand individuals. There was also a museum dedicated to the village’s association with the device, along with the broader technological advancements from contact to digital thermometers and thermostats, closed Mondays but looks worth checking out on a return trip.

synchronoptica

one year ago: a pivotal moment in the Star Trek timeline (with synchronopticæ), aspiring travel-writers, assorted links worth revisiting, a trip to Schwickershausen plus the largest aerospace exhibition

thirteen years ago: Saxon castles plus selbst gebackt biscotti

fourteen years ago: holding the UN for ransom 

fifteen years ago: more ado about Glühbirne plus conceptual Star Wars posters

agrovoltaics (12. 620)

Via Clive Thompson’s latest Linkfest—with back links to previous research on the topic, we return to the subject of growing crops underneath solar panels, addressing some of reasonable objections to industrial scale solar-farms (see previously) taking up arable land. Colocation provides numerous mutual benefits that are only beginning to be factored in—not least of which is public support for solar when it’s dual-use but also the symbiosis between plants and their artificial photovoltaic counterparts, many plants growing better with the added shade and the panels trap water vapour, yielding quite impressive leafy greens and the photovoltaic array also get the advantage from the undergrowth by regulating ambient heat and helping to maintain an optimal operating temperature by their off-gassing. Much more at the links above.

synchronoptica

one year ago: mandatory voting in Australia (with synchronopticæ), psychometric scales plus prosperity and apocalypse

twelve years ago: daily affirmations plus more fairy tale Germany 

fourteen years ago: goblin holes plus toponymic etymology

fifteen years ago: for profit privacy 

9x9 (12. 588)

may every day be another wonderful secret: a round up on the Epstein files and Trump’s tantrums—for MAGA, Nazis are cool but they’re drawing the line here—at least there’s a line, hopefully  

infra-realism: off-the-spectrum photographs of Palm Springs California by Kate Ballis—see previously  

power of the purse: a much diminished US legislator’s concessions to the directive of the administration not only slashes the budget for public broadcasting and foreign aid, it also signals their redundancy as a rubber stamp for the executive branch 

let’s go fly a kite: instead of windmills, Ireland tries an alternative to harness energy  

there’s a little frank lloyd wrong in all of us: a horrendous split level property in North Carolina gets the McMansion Hell treatment—previously, via Neatorama  

photovoltaic array: a gallery of images from China showing the future of clean, renewable energy  

fascism for first time founders: the broligraghy, the dictator trap and the invisible brain-drain 

long photographs: contemplative landscapes from Noah Kalina 

 the colbert report: CBS cancelling The Late Show next summer after host openly criticised the settlement between Trump and parent company Paramount—though cites purely financial reasons

ekranoplan (12. 576)

Recent intelligence suggests that China might be attempting to revive a Cold War leviathan known as the Soviet sea monster of the Caspian, the semi-legendary ekranoplan (экранопла́н, a screen-glider or ground-effect vehicle) an airfoil designed to fly just over the crests of the waves, invisible to radar, impervious to mines riding on a cushion of high air pressure and achieving speeds ten times faster than traditional maritime vessels, leaving fleets and coast defences no time to react. Photographs have emerged of apparent trials in the Sea of Bohai, near the Korean peninsula. DARPA was working on its own for the US navy—called a Liberty Lifter, the concept vehicle also known for its increased cargo delivery capacity with advantages other both ships and planes—but the programme was abruptly cancelled last month.

synchronoptica

one year ago: claim-jumping in the Arctic (with synchronopticæ), reproductive care in international waters, a local air show plus a failed assassination attempt on Donald Trump

thirteen years ago: the Period Table typeface 

fourteen years ago: debt and pensions 

télégraph aérien (12. 575)

Having previously learned about the invention of the optical or semaphore communications system of Claude Chappe, we appreciated this retrospective and chance to revisit the contentious innovation that informed public perception and art movements into the nineteenth century. Hailed as a great advancement, the tachygraphic network that was being introduced just as the French Revolution was beginning in 1792 as a series of relay towers throughout the countryside and in metropolitan areas was by turns regarded as an achievement, condemned as an eyesore and viewed with suspicion. The cellular masts (or windmills) of their day, their addition to the tops of buildings, profane and sacred, was considered despoiling aesthetically—numerous examples of paintings from that period feature them prominently, sort of like the scaffolding that encased the Statue of Liberty during the eighties that become as iconic and emblematic as the unobscured monument—and the coded messages (the arrangement of the blades or wings corresponded to ninety-eight numbers) to be deciphered and passed on the next operator) were taken as something sinister, prompting the destruction of some towers either as signs of witchcraft (compare to the attacks on the 5G masts during COVID either as its cause or a government conspiracy to implant microchips in the population to control it) or to hinder accelerated responses to quell uprisings, the government privileged with this speeded up reaction not available to the protesters. A group of investors in Bordeaux were jailed, though ultimately acquitted, for bribing operators to transmit stock market figures from Paris hours ahead of when the gains and losses would be available to the competition—an abuse for the sight-lines that was never envisioned. Much more from Hyperallergic at the link above.

the new tymbal orchestra (12. 534)

Although seemingly a bit cruel, the conscripted performers were unharmed by this musical interlude—we learn via Strange Company—that a group of students at Cornell university have demonstrated that cicadas connected to tiny electrodes can be stimulated to chirp on demand as a sort of insect-computer hybrid sound-system. The orchestra is coordinated and they keep time with the piece, Pachelbel’s Canon in D (plus ‘Danger Zone’ from Top Gun), but the individuals’ biological variation and agency, as with all musicians, comes through to show they’re not cyborgs. The researchers don’t plan to make some new bizarre symphonium out of their test subjects but rather hope to further research into such collaborations to harness nature to forego wiring and components and ultimately decrease the impact of deploying infrastructure, especially for ad hoc and emergency situations.

*    *    *    *    *

synchronoptica

one year ago: an MS Paint photo filter (with synchronoptica), commemorating mass-deportations from the Baltic states under Soviet rule plus comedians get a papal audience

seven years ago: a Bayeux tapestry of a government worker’s office calendar, mapping out Dante’s Inferno plus sobriety tests for passengers

eight years ago: deifying the Singularity, simulating the universe, early ink-blots plus an antique railway hotel

nine years ago: massacre motivations, motion-capture technology, the foot from Monty Python, more on the mass-shooting in Orlando, EU proposes using Türkei as a buffer zone for migration plus a Photo-Shop battle for the Queen

ten years ago: Doomsday bunkers plus finding Dr Livingstone

avant la lettre (12. 525)

We thoroughly enjoyed this appreciation of one of the most successful products of all time in the BiC Cristal, introduced in 1950, the ballpoint pen ubiquitous and archetypal surpassing one hundred billion sold in 2006. In development since 1930 when inventor Lázló Bíró (the genericised namesake of the writing instrument “biro” in many European countries) when inspired for the mechanism, a rolling metal nib, by witnessing a group of children playing with marbles in a muddy puddle and observing how the objects left a trail of water in their wake, Bíró experimented with various models and eventually recreated a prototype with a narrow reservoir of viscous ink encased in the body and kept from drying out by the nib and cap. Incremental improvements continued over the every years until the launch of Cristal. The pen was enshrined in the permanent collection in the Museum of Modern Art (see previously), the design virtually unchanged for decades. Much more from Open Culture at the link above.

synchronoptica

one year ago: the EU votes (with synchronoptica) plus assorted links worth revisiting

seven years ago: recycled illustrations and early modern memes plus the Alexander method for improving poise and posture

eight years ago: hung parliament in the UK  

nine years ago: an advertising homage to the cats of the internet, world food resources, removing Confederate symbols from Washington’s National Cathedral, Star Trek coins from the Canadian Mint, a sci-fi screenplay written by AI plus the gig economy and moonlighting

ten years ago: more links to enjoy 

 

hohenwartetalsperre iv (12. 500)

We took a short drive to look at the Hohenwarte dam wall (Staumauer, see previously) and took a nice long walk with the dogs down a trail through an enchanted forest (there were a lot activities set up for kids hidden amongst the trees, like our own Zwergweg) and across the basis by a former cardboard factory. We could see the Pumpspecicherwerk (pumped hydroelectric energy storage plant in the far distance, a gravitational sink that is a source of potential energy, channelling water uphill to a higher holding basis during off-peak hours and releasing it during higher periods of demand to generate electricity in the turbines.

Such a plant also allows excess energy from intermittent sources—like solar and wind—to be saved. The lake and surrounding area were full of recreational opportunities, more wandering and cruises over the length and breath of reservoir.

voice writers (12. 494)

Having known just a little about the development and integration of closed-captioning technology, we really appreciated this fascinating deep dive from Radio Lab into its history and struggle for equal access that followed, with accommodation, advances in hardware and software, representation and mandates all intertwined and informing one another, concluding with a reflection on how the process is being automated with artificial intelligence and how in training the machine, we ourselves are transformed through the collaboration. Of course the story didn’t end with triumph of accessibility through the above first demonstration, as the advances for the hearing impaired community were not widely accessible: most programming was not captioned and for those that were an expensive decoder was required as a television peripheral. The situation gradually improved and after the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, TV sets were required to include closed captioning technology and all broadcasts were mandated to include subtitles. A workforce of thirty thousand transcriptionists were at work to capture all stations’ content and in order to reach all of the growing market with the rise of cable programming, institutions providing the service turn to emerging voice recognition systems. These early versions were too bug-prone to be useful, especially for realtime applications and failed to keep pace with live dialogue, seizing up at the slightest accent. Researchers, however, discovered that they were more responsive and accurate with the voices of the trial participants, and soon one devised helping the computer by reading back the words in a steady, well-enunciated manner that it could manage. A team of voice writers across the States repeated scripted shows and news reports as they were aired and achieved a pretty good level of fidelity by 2003. Even with only their master’s voice, the programme still had its shortcomings and the voice writers developed a code of substitute words to clear up homophones and short prepositions, for example: echoing, “She has tootoo daughters inly college comma tootaloo period” would yield the yield the desired text, “She has two daughters in college, too.” Two decades on, the software has advanced to the point where it can transcribe instantly without the help of an interpreter and is improving with AI refinements.