quod erat demonstrandum

Having devoted a rather joyful semester of study to Oliver Byrne’s masterful and lucid textbook adaptation of Euclid’s Elements during college, I am finding myself genuinely delighted and nostalgic to see that there’s going to be a re-issue of the authoritative 1847 tome on geometry, illustrating his proofs with colours rather than letters.
The geometer himself provided no pictures and relied on his pupils’ imagination—causing poet Edna St. Vincent Millay to extol that “Euclid alone has looked on Beauty bare” and I even semi-seriously contemplated getting a tattoo of the Pythagorean theorem or another of Byrne’s elegant diagrams—across my back where if I flexed and brought my shoulder blades together (or some such nonsense) the axiom would reveal itself—QED. More to explore at the link above, including a nice primer on the subject.

we have defeated isis in syria, my only reason for being there during the trump presidency

To the consternation and concern of US military top brass that have been pushing for a continued troop presence for stabilisation, rebuilding and not to afford the Cosplay Caliphate another chance to regain a purchase, Trump announced his intentions to redeploy all soldiers from Syria, some two thousand individuals.
While the majority of the territory once held by the terrorist group in a sliver of what it once was, the situation is still precarious and the likelihood of a revanchment seems in the realm of possibilities. Aside from the suffering of the Syrian population that might be forestalled, geopolitically Trump’s announcement—which he perhaps offers as a human-shield to deflect the ratcheting up of the Special Counsel Investigation into the campaign and administration’s ties to Russia and easing sanctions in exchange for real estate development opportunities but only serves to reaffirm the relationship—is a huge concession to Putin and Russian interests in the country and ensures that the rebellion will be quashed. Also by withdrawing from their base near the Turkish border, the US is abandoning its at least nominal ally in the Kurds and inadvertently (given the diplomatic tensions and trade disputes) by affording the Erdoğan government the chance to further marginalise this group.

frames

Dezeen reports that precision audio equipment corporation Bose will be entering the wearables market with an innovative pair of sunglasses whose earpieces contain speakers primed to deliver a sonic augmented reality experience in addition to playing music and podcast feeds.
There is also a microphone for summoning up one’s digital assistant. Unveiled over the summer as a concept design, the glasses should be on the market next month with an array of AR applications available on the company’s platform to follow. More information at the link above.

joyeux noël

We enjoyed reading through this handy guide from the local’s French edition deciphering the holidays—especially taken with learning that there is a chant profane (a Christmas carol not on the subject of the Nativity) called “Vive le Vent” (Long Live the Wind) that’s sung to the tune of Jingle Bells and has lyrics about Father Time, Baby New Year and New Year’s Day. Entitled “One Horse Open Sleigh,” the original jingle by composer James Lord Pierpont was incidentally the first musical piece performed in space by humans during a Gemini mission in 1965, the astronauts having smuggled a harmonica and bells on board to the surprise of Mission Control.