Wednesday 19 February 2014

you don't say?

I like how the cork on this bottle of prosecco (vino frizzante oder Italienischer Perlwein) bears some visual instructions. I suppose some people might use their teeth, in desperation. This particular vintage hails from Treviso and has the poetic name derived from joyful and amorous march, Marca Gioiosa et Amorosa, of the Trevisan region—a very romantic (but appropriate, as the Venetian exclave lying between Lake Garda and Trieste) way to refer to a territorial claim that usually designated a borderland or buffer-zone between two stronger powers. These tense places that were subject to change ownership often—outposts, were ruled by nobles with the rank marquess or margrave (Markgraf).

Tuesday 18 February 2014

speed-trap oder blitz-schnell

Thanks to Tom Tom and habitual caution, I have never been ticketed for exceeding the speed-limit. Navigation devices of course are good at plotting out established obstacles, as I catch myself sometimes accelerating unconsciously to keep up, and the traffic report on the radio is reliable snitch for temporary installations that the police have set up—while this practise is tolerated in the European Union, I've learned that in Switzerland, issuing such fore-warnings are illegal, sort of like the interstate black-market for dashboard radar-detectors in the States (I admit that I only know about such debates from watching the home-shopping network and have no idea if this is still the case, and I guess it shows my age and detachment, as if I were to entitle this post, 'Smile, you're on Candid-Camera,' whose descendents are nonetheless wildly popular too).
Speeders generally receive a citation with a grainy black and white photograph that memoralises the moment, Blitzers (Starenkasten) these devices are called because of the blinding flash they emit when triggered. I learned, however, that the traffic cameras in Germany are not the property of the municipalities that they guard but are rather rented to towns and villages by a company based near Cottbus who earn a commission, like asking to install a vending-machine in a high-traffic areas, complete with terms and an end-user agreement. I am astounded that the same racket has not blocked all such warnings for speed-cameras, as it is a synchronised slow-down by those in the wise.  The company that provides this service is not exactly in the business of public safety, as the firm dictates their placement in order to maximise profit. Thus, aberrations in the road could sometimes be created for the sake of the franchise rather than in response to some place that was truly accident prone, though with little potential as a speed-trap.

Monday 17 February 2014

electric avenue

Plans to construct an electric corridor within the next decade, some four-hundred fifty kilometers north to south through Saxony-Anhalt through Hof and the Oberpfalz along the Czech border to just north of the Augsburg-Mรผnchen, to deliver wind-generated power from the North and Baltic Seas to insatiable metropolises in the southern part of the country is not be greeted with optimism by all.

Just one conduit of four proposed, those in the path of the energy-Autobahn (Stromtrasse) are fearful what the giant masts and towers will do to the natural landscape, the wires necessary robust and bundled to prevent too much dissipation of power over the long journey—though the circuit only takes a nanosecond for the electricity to transverse, and the debated and unknown affects that living in proximity to strong magnetic fields poses. While being able to siphon off surplus renewable energy to climes less capable of producing it for themselves is certainly laudable, I do also respect the rights of the residents to question the long-term consequences and second their concerns, as a project of this scale has inertia and cannot be easily stopped or re-directed, much like the pledges to take all the German nuclear reactors off-line, and the electric Autobahn project is being managed by concerns with vested-interests and a subsidised agenda that would blanch at the idea of detours and diversions—even of the resourceful and innovative variety. It seems like an awfully big amount of money to devote to rehabilitating infrastructure that might be better served with something more ambitious, like a massive lightening-rod or a space-elevator, a cable tethered to a satellite in orbit to harness cosmic-rays. What do you think? Are more power-lines the answer or should we be more willing to explore novel ways of moving supply to demand?

Sunday 16 February 2014

survey sez or keeping up appearances

The discouraging results of a 2012 survey of American's acumen and performance on a battery of basic science questions were revealed just recently and show that a dumbfounding 26% believe that the Sun transits the Earth, rather than the other way around.  These sort of things that the pollsters asked where not just matters of trivia but rather established facts and necessary for the most elementary of further inquiries.
I do, however, wonder why the National Science Foundation delayed releasing the news of the abysmal state of education, having lost a couple years to help correct the matter, and why draw parallels to an even more outdated, yet equally symptomatic and depressing round of questions from European and Asian demographics that fares worse. Having such non-compartmenalised knowledge or disengaged guardians is not what a vengeful Church was to Galileo.  Maybe it was due to all the negative and anti-academic that has mounted against environmentalists over climate change—or perhaps, hopefully (statistics being what they are), these respondents, schooled aright, realised the nature of these trick-questions, though the Earth is not the pivot point of the Sun, that neither does our planet orbits a point negotiated between our star and the rest of the universe. Far fewer still could correctly locate Atlantis on a map. Such optimistic thinking is probably out of line, however, and the outcome is never that skewed.

at the star wars, star wars cantina or non-canonical

Looking through some old photographs, I found a picture I had taken of the curio-cabinet that housed primarily Star Wars action figures, circa 1991 (I imagine it was a few years later but would be embarrassing to admit, seeing as I had made trousers for the brooding Luke Skywalker from Revenge of the Jedi and set up an infirmary for G.I.*Joe characters in need of repair—the rubber-bands for their twistable torsos having snapped with a waiting area). Besides the meticulously curated cast of the original saga, it is interesting to see who else shared this prime real estate: the villains of Cobra, an out-of-proportion Insectoid and Thundercat, Happy Meal toys, Animaniacs, PEZ dispensers and a few other sundries and ephemera are represented, including a student council campaign sticker advising to “free your mind.” I believe I still have everyone of these people, somewhere, and I think I ought to recreate this Wunderkammer.

Saturday 15 February 2014

preterite or palabra jot

The German language is adaptive one, which irks many purists to no end—and most languages adopt certain prevailing styles from commerce and other engendering and endangering factors, as well, and one of the more irresonate constructions one commonly hears (though there are many others) is the German congegation of the English infinitive to google—googeln.

It is especially bizarre in the past tense, zum Beispiel: ,,Ich habe schon es gegoolgelt aber kein exakter Treffer gab” (I have already googled it but there were no exact matches) where one is just as likely to encounter gegoogled—which preserves the grammatical participles, artefacts of both languages, the ge- prefix and the -ed suffix. I wondered if there are parallels to be found elsewhere and I found some very well defined ways to communicate the act of an internet search, literally and figuratively:
 
Language Infinitive: to google Gerund: googling Past-Perfect: have googled
Dutch googelen googelde gegoogeld
Norwegian รฅ google googly har googla
Spanish googlear googleando haber googleado
French googler googliser
googolisai

Most other European languages (and these certainly are not the sole representatives) that I could identify either had similar conjugations or did not bother to incorporate in greater detail, but I would like to learn more and see the list expanded. I am no polyglot and think that the pervasiveness of English does harm to lingual diversity in many cases but was very pleased to learn that come-lately words and concepts still have to stick to established rules.

media matters or upright citizens' brigade

In 1971 an activist group, after thorough planning and casing the facility burgled the Federal Bureau of Investigation's office in a small Pennsylvania town and obtained more than one thousand documents of a sensitive nature.
The Citizens' Commission to Investigate the FBI submitted the pilfered material, which revealed the extent of the Bureau's focus on the profiling and surveillance of pacifist organisation's and willingness to target petty crimes and inconsequential conduct and overlook larger, systemic damage done by groups with power and influence, to many press outlets but most of it went unpublished until (for fear of reprisal or doing damage to on-going operations) until a journal advocating non-violent resistance disclosed the entire cache. Ultimately, the revelations led to congressional investigations, which caused the Bureau to abandon its most controversial and politically motivated programmes, although the efforts were just splintered and buried with more secrecy and overtaken by more inscrutable agencies. The FBI let the case go after the expiration of the statue of limitations and the perpetrators went unknown until just now, with the release of a memoir and documentary on the break-in and players. Just after the get-away, one member recalls, they called a journalist from a phone-booth and delivered a powerful statement, challenging the members of the media who have demonstrated integrity and concern for the truth to help bring about reform and justice by broadcasting their modus operandi that prosecuted the war in Vietnam against the will of the America's to appease a few masters in politics and industry.