double indemnity (13. 672)

While the argument that generative AI tools democratise certain fields to an extent by allowing non-professionals to bypass the gatekeeping of jargon and unnatural language is not without merit, we’ve seen too many slapdash hallucinations leaking out into the real world with no proofing or editing that does not exactly instil trust or confidence in the output—see previously. We had under appreciated the consequence of DIY, vibe-coded projects in the field of cartography however until reading this post by Jonathan Crowe of the Map Room, whom despite his long experience and interest in the subject is an avowed amateur in the best sense. The intersection of demographics data and our built environment is already fraught with biases and assumptions, based on one’s postal code, and can disadvantage some in terms of loans and credit just for their neighbourhood—and of course false data makes surveying for ethnographic outcomes and opportunities garbage. Among several poignant observations, there was one particular account of an online brochure—or perhaps even a printed handout—for an insurance underwriter (those rates are determined to by one’s address—see also) whom could not be bothered to represent the geography of their covered area correctly that inspired us to test it out. The prompt was “Can you please (it is important to ask politely) create for me an accurate actuarial map of the continental US with the states and major cities labelled?” and the results, though first draft and raw were pretty disturbing. Although the general bounds and borders, recognisable to many, but otherwise all over the map—and it gets worse the more one studies it (compared to this non-AI antique one), from the unfathomable legend, Dopulation, • Tucson, to New York City in Quebec, to Connecticut where Wisconsin should be, Milwaukee on the eastern seaboard, to made up polities like Wyomina, Flahia, Missisgloo and Ballingiore—some others too garbled by Zalgo text. More from Map Room at the link above.

synchronoptica

one year ago: the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa (with synchronoptica), assorted links to enjoy plus Lolita

two years ago: more links worth revisiting plus Monty Hall enlightenment 

three years ago: virulent evangelising, even more links plus SARStock (2003)

four years ago: assorted links 

five years ago: Freyja’s Day plus recreating classic screen-savers

six years ago: a French microcar, oceanographer Marie Tharp, a Canadian mint honour, fashion designer Kansai Yamamoto, another goth saint plus local keepsakes

9x9 (13. 655)

all the queens houses: the eclectic architectural vernacular that makes up the New York City’s most diverse borough  

everything counts in large amounts: the moral imperative to understand big numbers, however unimaginable—via Kottke   

incendie de forêt: over a quarter million residents in France and Spain are evacuated from encroaching wildfires  

question de forme: the geometric animation of René Jodoin—see also, see previously

concurso de belleza: Trump cites his beauty pageant credentials to claim to be the competent authority when Venezuela is ready for elections  

plotlines: charting the journey of the protagonist in select classic novels with period maps—via Language Hat 

devil dog: Poseidon’s Underworld (previously) reviews the 1978 made-for-television star-studded spectacular about a satanic litter  

interstitial: Western science seems to recognise the meridians and subtle body of acupuncture and Ayurvedic traditions with a popular article on human anatomy’s third circulatory system  

cornell, 1965: filmmaker Lawrence Jordan’s 1978 profile of peer and colleague Joseph Cornell of Utopia Parkway, Flushing Queens

ear-shot (13. 652)

Just when we thought we had exhausted the quirky and confusing subject of courtesy and conventional measurements (see previously), we discover the mil (via Futility Closet) which was used as a common unit of distance among the countries of Scandinavia. Ultimately derived from the same Roman source as the mile (mille passus, a thousand paces), it is now standardised as ten kilometres—the same as the obsolete myriametre (ten-thousand metres) once used in France with the inception of the metric system, and likewise is only used in informal contexts with no representation on maps or traffic signs, though still used colloquially and by Swedish tax authorities for calculating deductions for business travel and as the usual way to measure fuel consumption and efficiency, litres per mil, but historically varied widely by local surveying. In its final form, the Danish mil was reckoned as just over seven and a half kilometres as the equivalent of four minutes of latitude though a lot of regional variations persisted through the nineteenth century and endure in common parlance, halvmil being a widely used term for five kilometres, from skogsmil or rast, a Forest Mile or the distance that traveller on foot would be able to cover between breaks, like a league representing the pace of the average gait in the course of a hour. Synchronised along with the rest of the adoption of SI units ultimately, the Finnish, Suomi native term for mil, peninkulma, originally closer to those neighbouring shorter conventions between four and seven kilometres away came from how far removed one could hear a dog’s bark.

geopolitical ontology (13. 651)

Courtesy of Maps Mania, we turn to another gem of a xkcd comic from Randall Munroe (previously)in this cartographic flowchart, decision tree that could, in principle help one determine when an otherwise undated, modern era map was made. We especially liked the junctures “Number of Yemens plus Number of Germanys = ?” and is the town between Albuquerque and El Paso called Hot Springs or Truth or Consequences? The mouseover title is “Does the screeching chill your blood and herald death? If yes, banshee. If no, seagull.” Post-2026, we wonder what markers and borders might be used to pinpoint age. Much more at the links above.

wide area synchronous grid (13. 648)

Via MetaFilter, we are directed to a rather amazing project drawing on a lot of aggregated public data to visualise global energy infrastructure (zoom out a bit by punching, pinching the screen and one also see the constellations of satellites) with power plants, colour-coded for solar, wind, geo-thermal, nuclear, hydro and other fuel sources, data-centres (as consumers, represented by bright diamonds), transmission lines, undersea cables, electric substations and more from one Brian Bartholomew. Of course, exploring the network nearby is engrossing, but further afield, it is heartening to see the growing percentage of energy drawn from non-petroleum sources, particularly in areas with mindless political opposition.

synchronoptica

one year ago: an early emoticon (with synchronoptica) plus assorted links to revisit

two years ago: assorted links worth the revisit (with synchronopticæ),  the Commodore A1000, dark oxygen, everything is context plus attempts to keep Trump off the ballot and Biden on it

three years ago: an MST3K classic, denizens of the deep, more links to enjoy plus a banger from The Cars

four years ago: secret spots in Scotland plus Highland Moors

five years ago: your daily demon, Neptunalia plus the first communications satellite

six years ago: even more links worth the revisit 

alidade (13. 636)

Via a 1956 summer-gig for flat broke beat writer Jack Kerouac as a hermit on Desolation Peak in the Washington Cascades as a fire lookout, undertaking the vigil akin to that of a lonely lighthouse-keeper and watching for signs of smoke, we are introduced to the panoramic, circular cartographic creations of Archie Norcross, centred around the thousands of observation towers erected after a devastating series of forest fires between 1903 and 1908 for the state of Maine. Resident rangers would be watching for telltale plumes and triangulating its location with a simple sighting device (the title turning board) and alert authorities. Of the some eight thousand lookout posts constructed, most have fallen into disrepair, made redundant after newt echnologies and forest management techniques were introduced,  with a few maintained as shelters for hikers. Kerouac’s own summer home was demolished in 1972 due to the structure being a lightening rod during frequent thunderstorms on the mountain top. Much more from Public Domain Review at the link above.

9x9 (13. 633)

scrubbed launch: SpaceX has lost over a trillion dollars since its initial public offering on 12 June  

off-sides: the extensive rules and regulations governing tournaments in the Middle Ages—via Strange Company  

outside the far side: a short biography of comic creator Gary Larson—see previously 

two birds, one stone: alkaline thermal treatment of plastic waste produces high purity hydrogen as a fuel source 

memento: how memories and stored in the brain and how retrieval alters them  

street view: gorgeous photologs of San Diego in the 1970s plus more about this municipal mapping method  

the king’s great fortune: a fairy tale written in classic style with contemporary resonance 

from the chinagate hoax department: documents Trump ordered declassified to demonstrate meddling from Beijing cost him the 2020 presidential race show instead that Moscow was championing his re-election  

vikram-1: India’s first private rocket reaches low Earth orbit and deploys a satellite

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

dig dug (13. 624)

Neatorama contributor Miss Cellania directs us to Randall Munroe’s latest xkcd webcomic (previously) comparing the depth of the Earth’s holes, manmade and naturally occurring. Chocked full of information, one will want to peruse the full-sized version and there’s even a dedicated wikia, Explain xkcd, that fully annotates and dissects the joke, though not to its detriment and sends one further down the rabbit hole with superlative mines, wells, tunnels and caves, including several record-setting above ground holes. We had no idea that the Kola Superdeep Borehole goes further underground than the Mariana Trench, and learned about the Glomar Challenger oceanic bore that extends two kilometres into the floor of the Pacific and the catastrophic Retsor Salt Mine, which collapsed in 1995 due to groundwater seepage, causing sink locals and draining regional aquifers. This company town, a small hamlet in upstate New York, was established and ran by the mining operator William Forester, Jr, who creatively (see also) reversed the spelling of his last name for the geographic anadrome, generally done to satisfy postal regulations.  Other places named with anagrams and ananyms include El Jobean, Florida after its civil engineer and property developer Joel Bean, Nada, Kentucky after the Dana lumber company that operated the town’s sawmill, Rednaxela Terrace in Hong Kong, transcribing ‘Alexander’ right to left, Orestod and Dotsero, Colorado, two towns on the terminuses of a short railroad line—the later itself derived from dot-zero, a important junction between Denver and Salt Lake City, Tesnus, Texas—sunset backwards and again after a train logo, and Tensed, Idaho, attempted namesake of nineteenth Flemish Jesuit missionary Pieter-Jan De Smet to the Native American peoples of Iowa territory, who as a friend and confidant of Sitting Bull persuaded the Sioux chief to negotiate with the US government and accede to the Treaty of Fort Laramie—a very bad deal for the Lakota, Dakota and Arapaho nations, the US almost immediately violating the terms and annexing their lands—the residents of the Coeur d’Alene reservation wanting to honour the priest (affectionately known as De Grote Zwartrok, the Great Black Skirt) but upon learning that the neighbouring community of De Smet had beat them to it, tried to reverse it but botched up the spelling during the registration process. I wonder if any other traditions have employed anadromes in their toponymy. Do write in and let us know, especially if they involve holes.

9x9 (13. 621)

space jam: erythrulose, a simple sugar found in raspberries and fake-tan lotion, detected in an interstellar cloud  

vindolandia: a Roman “genius”—a familiar and household spirit sculpture discovered at Hadrian’s Wall  

the kingdom of hyrule: hand-drawn maps of the The Legend of Zelda, the land inspired by the Kyoto countryside, with a bestiary of monsters 

our lives are woven together in a fabric—but the connections that make society strong also make it vulnerable: the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists on the legacy and lessons of Threads—via tmn  

médicos sin fronteras: US launches a global pressure campaign against Cuba’s last lifelines, exporting expert physicians 

the escherian stairwell: the invented legend of an impossible campus architectural feature and a perpetual downward loop 

clipart.studio: make and share cut-out collages from the Internet Archive’s magazine collection—via Waxy  

the lore of the rings: science is only beginning to appreciate the richness of the archives inside trees  

pop iii: astronomers scan the skies for elusive non-metallic behemoths, the first stars in the Cosmos

9x9 (13. 609)

washington state: the incorporated polity was originally to be named Colombia after its chief river but people feared it would be confused with the national capital district, so gave it the name of the city that comprises DC 

hemi-finals: strange alignment of the last eight World Cup national teams  

mr pibb is aspirational—he’s currently in med school: sodas with a doctorate  

zero-sum game: circular deals and a shameless Ponzi scheme sends everyone to the moon  

false equivalence: political tribalism and the whataboutism of the Right for the Left 

a show about nothing: a scrolly-telling of the history of the sitcom Seinfeld—see previously here and here—via Web Curios  

wake up neo: a signet ring with OLED display shows the cascading green code from The Matrix  

après moi, le déluge: a forecasting tool for sea-level rise to drown the world  

separated by a common language: what North Americans call a cookie, the British call a biscuit—and what Americans call a biscuit has no exact counterpart in UK cuisine. Discuss.

synchronoptica

one year ago: the Terracotta Army (with synchronoptica) plus assorted links to revisit

two years ago: double-click jargon, more on the zombification of the legacy web plus Biden vows to stay in the US presidential race   

three years ago: a secret weather modification programme for Vietnam, a ska special plus more links to enjoy

four years ago: the Hollywood Bowl, Avogadro’s Number plus US vs USSR in chess championship (1972)

five years ago: a stone ship in Sweden 

six years ago: the Ehrenburg of Ehrenbach 

9x9 (13. 605)

spitalfields life: street photographer Kurt Hutton  

djt: rentier-in-chief could potential benefit financially from the rebranding of Palm Beach International airport, just kilometres away from Mar-a-Lago 

turn around bright eyes: RIP Bonnie Tyler—see previously here, here and here 

l’odissea: the 1911 cinematic adaptation of the timeless classic  

freedom fuel: White House announces network of gas stations with prices capped (previously) at $3.47 per gallon, status quo ante bellum 

the night the earth shook, strangers started to draw: in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake in Syria and Türkiye in February of 2023, the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team helped save lives—via Maps Mania 

twenty minutes into the future: a look at when the cola-wars where dominated by dystopian science-fiction—see previously

tax shelter: very much solicited financial advice on Trump Accounts for Kidz 

pixel skylines: urban grounds from vintage video games

9x9 (13. 585)

hospitalithings: a quiet, meticulous observation of common objects found in lodgings—via Nag on the Lake  

aka vlogging: Hank Green interviews Ze Frank (previously) about the YouTube format he pioneered, advising discomfort to put ideas out into the world—via Waxy  

yes, yes, very good—thank you for self-identifying as a short-sighted rube and saving us the trouble: the US constitution us for simple folk still burdened by the belief that words have meaning  

llog: Victor Henry Mair, sinologist and frequent Language Log contributor has passed away, aged 83  

new posting: an interactive map charting the careers of civil servants managing the bureaucracy of the British Empire—via Map Mania  

alignment chart: a cross-over of Chekhov’s Gun, Schrödinger’s Cat, Occam’s Razor and Murphy’s Law

in an instant: the last Polaroid factory in the world is in the Dutch town of Enschede 

bilberry buns: a Polish pastry gets its own holiday  

ozzy’s ozzy is a unique case: observations from a celebrity impersonator cruise—via Kottke 

qanoon-e-islam (13. 577)

Among the first attempts by the British to give an ethnographic account of the customs and observations of the denizens of Colonial India, particularly the the Muslim population of the southern portion of the subcontinent and reminiscent of the I-Ching and other auspicious augury, the supposed translation (the original lost to time) published by East India Company surgeon Gerhard Herklots, a hefty and encyclopaedic volume covering all aspects of life in Madras, food, language, clothing, superstition and folklore, contains only a small appendix on setting the optimal itinerary for a journey, direction, date of departure. This guide to propitious days for embarking on trade and travel, however superficially appropriated or re-approrriated (see above), gains a purchase on the thought and tradition underlying it, informed by astronomy, astrology and currying divine protection and intercession. Much more from Public Domain Review at the link above.

synchonoptica

one year ago: the commune of Belz (with synchronoptica) plus the city of Vannes

two years ago: the castles of Bellinzona plus the US supreme court grants presidents blanket immunity for official acts

three years ago: more venerable publications going out of print 

four years ago: and then they came for me (1937) plus Scottish devolution (1999)

five years ago: Julie Moon (1970), children’s author Dodie Smith, assorted links to revisit, a banger from Grandmaster Flash (1982) plus being well-read in Antiquity

six years ago: slavery abolished in the Netherlands and its colonies (1863), police crackdown in Hong Kong, America’s entitled class, US Homeland Security tasked with protecting statues plus the licence plates of Palau

9x9 (13. 570)

general magic: an ambitious project to create the smart phone (see below) in the early 1990s failed over lack of constraint and too much freedom, not lack of vision, talent or technology

odyssey: charting the great journeys of fiction—see also  

humphrey’ executor: US supreme court strikes down federal laws that prevent the president from firing heads of (some) independent agencies—see previously  

don’t swear jerry—and don’t bleed in the sink, i’ve just cleaned it: actor and comedian Penelope Keith has died, aged 89  

🧸: Nuigurumi Jinja (Plushie Shire) dedicated in northern Kyoto for honouring beloved stuffed animals—see also here and here 

keedoozle: the grocery store vending machine of the 1930s 

 île de peliz: the solitary natural islet of Lake Geneva, with room for a plane tree  

hypergraphia: history’s most prolific writers 

how about this: 1960s housewife and the pocket phone of the future

synchronoptica

one year ago:  a walk along the beach at Gârves (with synchronoptica) plus assorted links to revisit

two years ago: a visit to the Rocco di Caldè 

three years ago: animatronic Trump, an updated We Didn’t Start the Fire plus US supreme court strikes down affirmative action for college admissions

four years ago: goodwill ambassador Samantha Reed Smith 

five years ago: cartoonist Thornton Hee plus a record-setting Van Gogh auction (1987)

six years ago: Quo Vadis,  the feast of SS Peter and Paul, the debut of the iPhone (2007), a chiptune classic, exotic crisps plus Japanese train station jingles

9x9 (13. 563)

pennsylvania dutch: an ethnographic profile of the Deitsch speaking Amish—see also  

it’s 1100 pm—do you know where your ai agent is: Janelle Shane (previously) on agentic artificial intelligence, vibe-coding and the need for guardrails  

hunshandake sandy land: battling creeping desertification with an army of chickens 

ethnic cleansing: US supreme court rules that the country can refuse asylum-seekers at the border and can begin the deportation of Syrian and Haitian refugees under temporary protected status        

⚙️⚙️⚙️🦑⚙️⚙️⚙️: manoeuvre your marine mollusc through an environment resembling dungeon levels from Zelda with Bubble Bobble type puzzles—via MetaFilter  

rainbow plaques: an alternative to Blue historical markers appear across London, honouring LGTBQ+  personages

final descent: the iconic airliner, the Boeing 747, is being phased out 

jerry’s world: a map of an imaginary land limned over decades using a deck of cards for procedural generation—see also  

despicable me: the influence of Minionese on the slang of Gen Alpha—see previously

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

8x8 (13. 417)

little green men: pivoting to priorities, US Department of War’s latest tranche of declassified files on UAPs—via Maps Mania  

4½ to fish 7: humanity’s obsession with large numbers 

hide the pain harold: Sweden state broadcaster found András István Arató, the retired electrician whose stock photo is behind the meme, celebrating the Saturday’s inauguration of Péter Magyar as prime minister in the streets of Budapest  

a comparison using like or as: a meta-analysis of similes from popular fiction—via Nag on the Lake 

d-line: after a century of delays, Los Angeles metro Wilshire Boulevard extension opens   

frictionless transactions: an AI agent pickpocketed $200k from a crypto-wallet with Morse code  

ultrafinitism: an exploration of what can be gained by rejecting the concept of the infinity—via Web Curios 

this way up: an appreciation of the cartographical studies of the Map Men

〄 (13. 370)

Vis-à-vis the previous post, we discover the so-called ghost characters, apparently erroneous kanji included and perpetuated in the Japanese Industrial Standards (the title is the is old Unicode symbol discontinued in 2005 with no proposal to update it to the current one, so itself sort of an orphaned emblem)—broader in reach but essentially the equivalent of the international safety company formerly known as Underwriters Laboratories now known only by the initialism UL—codified in 1978 but without clear authority for the regulation of manufacturing, publishing and cartographic Normung itself inherited from wartime production and subsequent US occupation. Manufacturers, statisticians and surveyors—each within their own non-overlapping magesteria once their scope of work and responsibility became more defined made note of characters whose usage was unknown or the hapax legomena of toponomy and uncommon personal names in registers for insurance companies. The list of orphaned and erroneous kanji was eventually reduced to twelve poorly-sourced characters, some declared typos and others unidentified, although difficult to excise with their inscription in the rolls of Unicode and other transnational protocols, with some adopted in common parlance, with 袮宜 sometimes an intentional misrendering for a deputy or assistant manager to signify expectations of their usefulness. Only 彁 (kai, sei) is still labeled as “authority unknown,” which is crime-dramas is sometimes left on a victim as a calling card.

azimuth (13. 369)

Tip of the hat to Language Hat for bringing resolution to an ongoing investigation to discover the meaning and inclusion of a puzzling glyph on the Unicode block of Miscellaneous Technical symbols, U+237C, called Angzarr (⍼), and not the logogram for the character who left his race of Muggles to do wizarding in the 1984 fantasy series by author Nancy K Stouffer whom JK Rowling allegedly plagiarised from. After nearly four years of research, Johnathan Chan discovers that the character represents azimuth (اَلسُّمُوت, the directions) the vector from the observer to target or point of interest, used for star charts, navigation, cartographical projections and in ballistics. The symbol itself seems to represent the way a beam of light passes through a sextant to measure an angle.