precursor (13. 892)

Broadcast on BBC2 in late September of 1990, the fifty-minute-long documentary written by and costarring Douglas Adams as a computer user with Doctor Who’s Tom Baker as a personification of agentic software. Exploring existent but nascent technology like Apple’s hypercard and Knowledge Navigator, Douglas, bored with the tedium and the passivity of television, disposes his TV in a rubbish kip, where he encounters Baker, who introduces him to interactive media—acting as a docent inside a virtual space shows Douglas the potential of linked text, sounds, images and video, a daisy-chain of connected topics to discover. Whilst Adams browses, clicking the animated icons, various historic figures related to the concept of hypertext—like Vannevar Bush and the Memex, the graphical narratives of Kurt Vonnegut are presented as Adams connects the Atlantic Ocean to Xanadu and back again—two and a half years ahead Tim Berners-Lee releasing hypertext markup language protocol to the public domain.

allrbg (13. 874)

Though seemingly in living colour, one’s screens are limited to a palette of sixteen million seven hundred seventy seven two hundred sixteen under the red, green, blue additive model (see also, see previously). Courtesy of ibīdem, we are led to a repository of artwork which aims to exhaustively use all these digital display possibilities pixel by pixel without repetition or omission, some in the gallery apparently grey-scale but only owning to resolution and hue placement. We like admire everything driven by completist compulsives.

pointer party (13. 871)

Speaking of neal.fun, our congratulations to Mr Agarwal and collaborators for winning this year’s Tiny Awards for their hand-rendered, multiplayer summer camp experience that’s a real digital demesne to poke around in and a place to get-away that’s not trying to monetise anything. Check out the honourable mentions and the archives of this celebration of the inspired, small, poetic, handmade web, exactly the sort of thing we need much more of.

10x10 (13. 846)

john henry was a steel-driving man: the limits metaphor, transduction and the calcification of man vs machine trope  

baxian: the enduring popularity of the Eight Immortals and other Taoist mythology 

rheinstone cowboy: yodelling and its exports 

vienna model: solutions to the housing crisis across Europe—more here  

fandeliers: McMansion Hell (previously) wonders what’s going on with ceiling fans recently displaying drone-like ambitions 

tears in the rain: debate rages over the ethics of AI agent dungeon 

ticker-tape: a look at Bloomberg trading terminals and antecedent technologies of getting ahead of the markets

figures of tolerable disorder (if not used too often nor too thick): the virtue and vice of the parenthesis—see also here, here and here 

kidnapping of the sun and the moon: Hungarian pop art cartoonist Sándor Reisenbüchler  

from the performative gibberish department: Trump introduces meaningless “morally binding” guardrails for Super Intelligence in the same spirit as Big Tech’s self-regulation

9x9 (13. 836)

cyberselfish: Paulina Borsook’s 2000 book about the libertarian, uncharitable culture of high tech is back in print after a reevaluation of its foresight 

the full english: breaches of British etiquette no one will ever call you out for transgressing—via Nag on the Lake  

el niño: the coming weather pattern, climatologist predict, will be the most powerful in recorded history  

familect: jargon and running-jokes only understood within one’s extended household—what are some of your examples? 

i want an explanation—why is there a child on the bridge: the series finale of the 80s sitcom Webster had a cross-over with Star Trek: TNG—see also   

artist’s bigature: Grace Baldwin’s larger-than-life junk drawer  

deliquesce: of a solid structure or lattice, to melt or dissolve by absorbing moisture from the atmosphere—like exposed salts or wilting mushrooms  

nor’easter: powerful, unseasonably early storm slams eastern seaboard  

symphonie magnétophonique: a profile of Else Marie Pade, the first Danish composer of electronic and concrete music

hardfork (13. 787)

Having encountered multiple instances of esoteric programming languages beforehand, we were pleased to add another one to our toolbox in the literally object-oriented coding of efghij—everyday food, garden and home item jenga.  Arranging a still-life out of a set of ordinary, with the fork as a variable, the glasses, clothes peg and condiments expressing specific functions and conditional constructs, the pictured conditions yields the output “Hello world!” (see above) as a pillow-case bearing that message. The title refers to a change in command protocol that is not backwards compatible, splitting the network into separate versions, one path following the new rules and the other the old rules. More regarding syntax, ease of use from Futility Closet at the link above.

i palindrome i (13. 774)

Having always been a little obsessed with the topic and enjoying the near-misses and deceptive examples nearly as much, we enjoyed learning that for the August 2010 edition of Word Ways journal (see previously) one contributor, Jef Raskin—an pioneer of computer science who helped create the Macintosh and Lisa, incidentally, and coined the term app originally as an information appliance, distinguished from a general use computer as a device designed to perform a specific electronic task as part of their work on machine-human interface, found themselves less than enchanted with the contorted syntax and characteristic vocabulary of palindromes, inspiring the the invention of the plaindrome. Something following the conventional scansion and stilted language of all but the best, examples include: “An item? No, revolt took Natasha” or “Money-man I, an Adam, not even a doom.” The reader adds the concept of ungrams as a foil to the anagram, with Richard M Nixon / Noxious Charmer and Brooklyn Bridge / Good ride by Lake. One could become addicted to making such misleading epigrams.  An antigram, by comparison, is rearranging the letters of a word or phrase to give the opposite meaning, as in “forty five” transforms into “over fifty” or Satan into Santa.

synchronoptica

one year ago: Our Lady of Meritxell (with synchronoptica), Trumps ousts trans troops from the military plus AI-sparked delusion

two years ago: incantations of Legal Latin, the founding of the Kievan Rus’, more diplomatics, American Beauty (1999) plus another summer compilation from DJ Earworm 

three years ago: Star Trek: the Animated Series 

four years ago: Perry Rhodan (1961), assorted links to revisit plus the death of Queen Elizabeth II

five years ago: your daily demon, the premier of Star Trek (1966), Ford pardons Nixon (1974), books and cheese, an unfortunate juxtaposition plus how language evolves

six years ago: Hopi kachina dolls, a Volvo six-wheeler, more links to enjoy, photographer Manfred Thierry Mugler plus Noncensorship (1922)

👅 (13. 754)

Inclined to screw up my face and stick out my tongue when doing a delicate or precision task, I can well imagine that this slim dental retainer with a pressure sensitive trackpad to be worn on the palette that personal experience is testimony to the accuracy of the tongue, clicking, scrolling, swiping and dragging—with a range of other haptic cues—to keep one’s pointer from being lost on the screen. Moving from the experimental phase with volunteer trials to public sales, we learn courtesy of Clive Thompson’s Linkfest—individuals with mobility limitation are the first priority, but the hands-free Mouthpad (see also this kiss-by-wire prototype which we are not sure went anywhere) but hundred of individuals have signed on to the waitlist to purchase the device, including professionals like surgeons, pianists, mechanics and technicians. The makers have also recognised the potential to incorporate it with other wearables for text to speech applications with augmented-reality spectacles. More at the links above.

little computer people (13. 742)

Via MetaFilter, we are directed towards this rather incredible exhibit from the Internet Archive of early computer software that purports some aspect of artificial intelligence with the programme acting as task-masters, adversaries or interlocutors—illustrating the some of the first interactions between humans and machines. Not only does the curated collection feature text-based adventures (see more) with graphical interfaces, like the 1985 titular game (also branded for some markets and systems as House-on-a-Disk) considered the precursor to The Sims, multiple iterations of the Game of Life and interactive and a few franchise quests, each exhibit has detailed information on its play and provenance plus an emulator to (re)experience them—a few however have an appropriately vintage protocol to run the programme which, on a QWERTZ Mac keyboard—press Scroll Lock and then F2—was at a loss to puzzle out and would be nigh impossible on a Handy. Do poke around and let us know what you find.

7x7 (13. 692)

astro-boy: striking photographs of Jupiter made with a Nintendo handheld game  

gobaith newydd: Star Wars dubbed into for the first time Welsh airing on Christmas Day—see previously  

vatnajökull: Icelandic environmental activist turns to his his skill as a storyteller to champion the melting glaciers and icecaps—see previously  

turingery: the resourceful tricks underpinning the Colossus codebreaker that deciphered Enigma—see previously—via Kottke  

troubled waters: Trump administration opens up pristine nature reserves in the Pacific ocean to commercial fishing  

the i’s have it: parsing a new possessive construction first documented in a 1992 episode of Married with Children  

path of totality: your local view of the upcoming sunset solar eclipse, Wednesday 12 August—via Maps Mania

vocation (13. 629)

One of the first individuals to receive a doctorate in computer science, having previously earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in mathematics in 1965, fellow student Irving Tang was awarded his by the University of Wisconsin-Madison on the same day, educator and pioneer Sister Mary Kenneth Keller, a nun of the Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, an order originally from Ireland established to minister to Catholic immigrants in Iowa territory (see previously) wrote her dissertation on “Inductive Inference on Computer-Generated Patters,” focusing on developing algorithms on algebraic expressions. Her graduate studies include contributions to the programming language BASIC and more elective courses at Dartmouth. Committed to realising the potential for computers for the free exchange of knowledge and to promote learning, Keller established the first small college computer science department at the women’s school of Clarke University, endowed by the Sisters of Charity in Dubuque, teaching there for over twenty years, making strides in applications from graphics to home economics.

unsung (13. 628)

Courtesy of Web Curios, we are directed season one of hopefully many in an essay series by Richard Sedley profiling those neglected innovators who have contributed to our understanding of the world in significant ways whose stories deserve to be better known. Briefs include glosses (with some AI tarnish admittedly) of Marie Tharp whom brought what was considered a fringe theory of plate tectonics into mainstream acceptance by pouring over data of sonar soundings collected by survey ships trawling the oceans, Pierre Bézier whom revolutionised computer-aided drafting though control points to create a smooth curve for fonts, animation and automotive prototyping and Major Jack Mullin whom brought experimental 1940s technology from Germany back to the US and developed audio tape recording commercially—recognising its potential along with Bing Crosby, not only augmenting the fidelity of the performance captured but also in a format that was editable.

synchronoptica

one year ago: telework for religious observance (with synchronoptica) plus Paris Flash (1958)

two years ago: the Bell Systems’ Science series plus the medium is the metaphor

three years ago: photos of the Anthropocene plus Russian blockade of the Black Sea  

four years ago: Handel’s Water Music (1717) plus a visit to Amersfoort

five years ago: Emoji Day plus a visit to Kristinehamn

six years ago: the Feast of the Romanovs, the working couple’s cookbook plus Banksy on lockdown

the tyranny of small decisions (13. 620)

Via Kottke, we learn of the best and worst paradox, eponym of computer scientist and physicist Edward Fredkin, known for advances in deterministic, reversible programming in the tradition of Konrad Zuse and experiments with cellular automata, which proffers that the more attractive two alternatives seem, the harder it can be to choose between them—no matter that, in the same degree, the choice can only matter less. Though unclear what the context was for the formulation of Fredkin’s Paradox—probably frustration over coding architecture—it explains why nothing seems to get done with the most time and effort going to decisions of least consequence, and whilst an intuitive solution would be to match each point in planning with the importance of the decision (see also) but that leads to a further spiral and vicious cycle with the optimisation of the optimisation and so on ad infinitum.

synchronoptica

one year ago: a cinematic lexicon of infrequent words (with synchronoptica) plus Cyberstress! (1997)

two years ago: a storied gay bar in Seattle, the Great White Way, an unavailable lecture by Grace Hopper plus assorted links to revisit

three years ago: a Talking Heads’ album, molecule of the month, social summarisations plus Marie Antoinette 

four years ago: Dr Spock’s baby book plus assorted links worth the revisit 

five years ago: the coat of arms of Black County, Fortress Kronoberg, roadside attractions in Götaland plus camping in Vadstena

six years ago: filmmaker Kenneth Anger 

the innovator’s dilemma (13. 604)

Despite the early acquisition of DeepMind and a bit contrary to the overall consensus regarding the quality of search that’s a bit poisoned by AI tangents (the AI underpinnings should be disclosed but it has a visibility problem—not in its inscrutability—but it making it seen, many problem don’t benefit from shoehorning it into everything and putting it on display in a why that overshadows its potential use as a sounding board or a brainstorming interlocutor), Google has consistently fallen in second place in the field of artificial intelligence. A Planet Money interview with an author profiling the founder and current chief executive officer of the company’s AI research laboratory, now called Google Brain, Demis Hassbis, aside from covering the computer scientist’s lofty and noble ambitions and striving for fundamental understanding, the author also puts forward an intriguing set of reasons that might account for the tech giant’s self-sabotage. As with the case-studies of industry leaders developing potential disruptive innovations—Kodak inventing the first digital cameras, Blockbuster’s early partnership with Netflix, Xerox’ pioneering of the personal computer—likewise for Google, whose business model is based on reliable search results and serving advertising, it may have perceived a threat to its reputation should those answers be seen as something below what we’ve become accustomed to and reluctance to deviate from a proven formula. More from the NPR podcast at the link above.

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links to revisit (with sychronoptica) plus Campus Crusades for Christ

two years ago: Savage Curtain, impressions of West Berlin in the summer of 1977 plus Project 2025

three years ago: more links to enjoy 

four years ago: TRON (1982), the first animated Hobbit, Choreography for a Copy Machine, Prague’s Charles Bridge plus even more links

five years ago: pets’ past lives regression, more on the Know Nothing Party plus underway to Sweden

six years ago: Bernkastle-Kues, more of Mittlemosel plus the Republic of Palau (1981)

404 (13. 548)

Having had the tragic but increasing common experience of clicking on a dead link, most recently the personal webpage of evolutionary biologist and science historian Stephen Jay Gould to find it appropriated by gambling company, the sort that is guaranteed to give one’s computer a venereal disease—we were brought up on the belief (of stranger-danger and) that the internet is forever when it turns out it’s very ephemeral and there are old, moribund sites I don’t dare click to avoid the inevitable heartbreak—and I’d much prefer it to be broken or have succumbed to the usual dilapidation of linkrot, we appreciated the referral courtesy of Tedium to this Wisconsin death trip, deathwatch vigil, a project that ironically looks abandoned as well, called RIPSO, a digital graveyard with obituaries. Wings of the catacombs that date back to the 1980s mostly entomb discontinued services, platforms and messengers, apps rather than outlets and websites (maybe impossible to catalogue), but gives a sense of what’s died the death (with indignities or otherwise—with or without resuscitation notices) and stresses the importance of the work that archivists do.

@bitnic (13. 545)

Building off of the concept of distribution lists developed for IBM mainframes to handle email aliases, software engineer Éric Thomas studying at École Centrale Paris released the stable version of his modified application, with his own code, LISTSERV with automated features that allowed subscribers to join or leave groups without human administration as postmasters, edit templates and create auto-replies for system and welcome messages. Still foundational architecture, Thomas’ programme also included the first double opt-in methods and spam filters for junk- and grey-mail (bulk mailers at one point solicited but now considered a nuisance).

synchronoptica

one year ago: the menhirs of Bretagne (with synchronoptica) plus the Quiberon peninsula

two years ago: Lukmanier pass plus arriving at Lake Maggiore

three years ago: assorted links worth revisiting 

four years ago: a banger from The Knack, Logan’s Run plus the sterling area

five years ago: harvesting solar power plus Mid-Summer celebrations

six years ago: more links to enjoy, satisdiction plus scratching an itch

four colour theorem (13. 538)

The heretofore unverified but practically applied in cartography conjecture that no more than four colours are needed to distinguish bordering regions on a map was announced as proven on this day in 1976 after more than century since it was first proposed by two mathematicians at the the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus. Not feasible to perform the brute calculation by hand, this topology problem (see previously) was solved with the aid of a supercomputer, the first instance of a technical assist for a math problem, the claim rejected by some peers at the time because they couldn’t check the work.

synchronoptica

one year ago: arriving in Morbihan (with synchronoptica)

two years ago: Putin and Kim hold a summit, the premiere of Evita plus the estate of Jim Henson selling off its Hollywood lot

three years ago: California v Miller plus assorted links worth the revisit

four years ago: pioneering parachutist Tiny Broadwick (1913), Texas v Johnson plus more links to enjoy

five years ago: the Stonehenge Free Festival (1974), the introduction of the LP record (1948) plus Return to Oz (1985) 

six years ago: a CNN competitor (1982), EU proposes a digital services tax, remixing the Bayeux tapestry, setting the record straight, AI-generated perfumes plus Internation Yoga Day

9x9 (13. 533)

biometrics: the after effects of gamification of physical activity—sometimes I want to launch my pedometer and everything else into the Sun 

sovereign wealth fund: Bernie Sanders’ proposal to cede control and profits of AI to the American public  

cinecope: an archive of rare and rarefied films—via Web Curios  

battle of the bit: an authoritative archive of chiptune and MIDI renditions  

otome: the rise of synthetic, choose-your-own-adventure romance  

a privet matter: a farmer hacks down China’s lonely tree—see also here and here  

chromacity: the colours on the spectrum that your screens cannot deliver—via MetaFilter  

a show of hands: designing more finger-friendly haptics for our devices—plus dispelling old myths, via Waxy  

dark flow: how your scrolling addiction was built off casino gambling

8x8 (13. 520)

bff: open-source branding for fast foods and convenience stores  

slopaganda: the fake Canadians behind Alberta’s separatist movement  

painting with light: a look back at the pioneering Quantel Paintbox system that debuted in 1981  

it is long since i saw you: the flying monk Eilmer of Malmesbury who witnessed Halley’s Comet twice  

jam handy to the rescue: The Girl on the Magazine Cover (1940)—say do you mind if I take a picture?  

biosphere: the unrealised spherical, utopian architecture of nineteenth century France—via Messy Nessy Chic  

homefront: mapping all Russian casualties in the Ukraine war in order to expose the human costs of the fighting  

at participating locations: a 1977 commercial for the McFeast

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links to revisit (with synchronopticæ) plus photographer Lycien-David Cséry

bunny-rabbit style (13. 505)

Via Kottke, we are directed to a decades long, well maintained passion project that has reliably remained the go-to destination on the internet for educating oneself about shoelacing and knot tying. There’s a wealth of useful and practical advice here with contributions of fans and enthusiasts spanning years. New to us, we happily don’t arrive here too late to find it retired, archived or worse zombified, a fall that befalls many inactive sites that once had a following as a landing page for catch-penny SEO, or even worse succumbed to enshittification by the platforms and infrastructure that undergird such veteran webpages, but there is a tinge of sadness to learning about Ian’s Shoelace Site, a dying breed whose likes are disappearing from the web, resilient to the above symptoms that make the internet brittle and anaemic it’s still susceptible to the sleek plagiarism and repackaging that erodes the quality of the lessons, not only with AI scrapping and TikTok artists reposting content without attribution but also usually get things wrong. I am going to learn some new, satisfying knot techniques and wish I had known years before in protest to the heartbreaking hunger that the web has developed.

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links to revisit (with synchronopticæ)

twelve years ago: travels in Liguria 

thirteen years ago: flooding in the Danube 

fourteen years ago: mood rings and classroom metrics plus EU economics rollercoaster