🧭 (11. 738)

Via the Map Room, we are directed to Map Happenings’ tenth instalment of cartographic innovations (previously) that changed how we navigate in this in the long tail of that led to the founding and subsequent demise of MapQuest. A printing concern in Lancaster, Pennsylvania—notably in Amish country, a culture that famously eschews the transportation and technological developments that lead up to our subject, established in the mid-nineteenth century by one Richard Robert Donnelley, which acquired clients commissioning catalogues, magazines, telephone directories and marketing material convinced oil companies to distribute road maps (in the same vein as Michelin guides) for drivers and distributors ultimately a century later to Donnelley Cartographic Services and in 1990 a partnership with a startup called Spatial Data Services, accruing more clients in the industries of car-rental, travel agents, real-estate and motoring associations. Within a few years, accelerated and informed by the burgeoning internet, MapQuest was formed and expanded globally—the first (dis)service to offer geocentric advertising and satellite imagery. I can remember carrying around printouts for various itineraries, creased and well-worn or otherwise. Much more at the links above.

i miss lorina bulwer well known by that name (11. 737)

Via Nag on the Lake we are referred to the rather sad and anguished life of needleworker Lorina Bulwer through her lengthy embroidered autobiographic tapestries created after becoming an inmate of a workhouse in Great Yarmouth and consigned to the Female Lunatic Ward. These samplers—see also—contain a message of protest for her station and predicament, likely institutionalised by her brother after the death of her parents, her life’s history with some possibly creative genealogy—these artefacts first coming to the public’s attention after being misattributed to Baroness Rosina Bulwer Lytton similarly falsely confined by her novelist husband. Click through at the link up top for a full transcript of the longest (over four metres) hand-stitched missive, in all capital letters and with no punctuation, which makes this quiet legacy all the more poignant.

number one observatory circle (11. 736)

In anticipation of a new highly incriminating tape to be released the following week (see previously) that would likely result in impeachment or resignation, White House chief of staff Alexander Haig came to visit the vice presidential couple in their home in Alexandria, Virginia, the Fords not having yet had the chance to move to the official residence after the departure of Spiro Agnew and Ford’s elevation—urging him to be prepared to step up for his new role. Ford replied, “Betty, I don’t think we’re ever going to live in the vice president’s house. Meanwhile the same day congressional leadership scheduled the impeachment trial and approved gavel-to-gavel television coverage of proceedings.

 synchronoptica

one year ago: the publication of Dune (with synchronoptica), assorted links worth revisiting plus Trump indicted for a third time

seven years ago: modern day presidential, alien ctenophores plus more links to enjoy

eight years ago: lavish lodgings for bees, isolating effects of technology, permanent botanicals plus augmented realities

ten years ago: the Croatian language

eleven years ago: Revivalist architecture plus classic book jackets as ice-cream flavours

chiliad (11. 735)

Via Curious Notions, we learn the above term from the Ancient Greek χῑλιάς for a grouping a thousand things mostly encountered in modern English in the form of chiliastic, a Christian doctrine associated with the a thousand-year period of peace and prosperity the would follow the return of Jesus or—synonymously—believe in an apocalyptic millennium. Used generally to denote large in number or uncountable, it is on tenth of a myriad (M̄, the subject numeral rendered as X̄, with the largest Greek exponent M̄M̄ denoting a hundred million—see previously)), probably from the Greek word for swarming ants (μύρμηξ) and both can be used as a noun or adjective (distinguished in the cases “chiliad reasons” or “a myriad of reasons”) with hyper-pedantically, as with decimate, the former citing exactly a thousand causes and the former meaning a diverse basket of them.

somewhat agree (11. 735)

Via tmn, we become more familiar with the pervasive rating scale used on polls, research questionnaires and surveys, a range of response choices that are immediately recognisable, but that we didn’t know that the psychometrics are called the after their namesake, social psychologist Rensis Likert. Also developing ostensibly the antithesis in open-ended interviewing—to glean more information from respondents on their perspectives and preferences but filtered with a funnelling technique that narrows down answers towards a given goal—and management system styles that are also pretty well-known and pop-up on leadership and workplace satisfaction assessments too: Exploitative Authoritative, Benevolent Authoritative, Consultative, Participative, the scale of agreement and disagreement and measure of intensity has slowly seeped out academics and test markets to rankings, reviews and instant feedback quantified for everything. How likely are you to recommend the Likert scale to your colleagues?

commonwealth electoral act (11. 734)

Receiving Royal Assent on this day in 1924 by George V in his capacity as King of Australia, the collection of statutes governing eligibility and processes established compulsory voting for referenda and federal elections for enrolled, registered voters. In effect a century later, individuals who fail to cast a ballot face not insignificant fines if unable to give an adequate excuse. Inspired by low turn out during the 1922 by-elections and local and state mandates already in place in Queensland, participation jumped instantly from under sixty percent to over ninety. No explicit requirement is made to vote for any candidate and abstention is possible, only to enrol, show up to a polling station, mark the ballot and go into the voting booth, with whatever the mark signifies left up to the conscience of the individual (a secret ballot a radical idea), with early-voting and mail-in ballots as options offered to avoid sanction. While having consistent levels of engagement, some have lobbied against the practise, calling it paternalistic and claiming that involuntary participation illegitimates the outcome for those who disagree or hold no opinion. 

synchronoptica

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

seven years ago: life as an expression of the laws of thermodynamics plus Einstein’s brain

eight years ago: vintage Cuban propaganda, a visit to a vineyard plus Portugal’s experiment with drug decriminalisation

nine years ago: more links to enjoy plus time zone deviants

ten years ago: arming Israel and Russian incursions in Ukraine, the Pope on fostering happiness, more adventures in Croatia plus Apple fashion

 

monty hall enlightenment (11. 733)

Via Quantum of Sollazzo, we are invited to revisit the sometimes fiercely and vehemently counterintuitive probability puzzle based on the TV game show Let’s Make a Deal. Though it is easy to demonstrate that one should always switch doors, have a two out three chance of winning rather than staying with one’s original choice, there are an array of perfectly unreasonable factors that at play that make people stick with their original bet and believing the odds to be even, whereas they’re only ⅓ as likely to not walk away with a prize goat, the dilemma and its trenchant nature says a lot about human bias and errors of commission. Even mathematicians and physicists come to the wrong conclusion until being disabused (sometimes it never takes as our original selection is endowed by magical thinking and those times when we switch and lose cling to our minds more) by brute repetition or by positioning themselves as host and realising that certain protocols are followed in games of chance. This is a specific and tenacious example which illustrates our withering capacity for judgment but I wonder if there are analogous other odds that we similarly misunderstand.

7x7 (11. 732)

autotopia 2000: a consumerist satire from animation team Halas and Batchelor, best-known for their adaptation of Animal Farm 

broligarchs: the Trump-Vance tax proposal that is courting the support of Silicon Valley billionaires 

supermarket sweep: a monograph on graphic designer Ted Eron, who was responsible for the aesthetics of the food aisle  

kamal holding vinyls: Ms Harris will display your favourite album covers—via kraftfuttermischwerk  

run: an appreciation of the consequential and formative programming language BASIC—see previously—via Damn Interesting’s Curated Links  

i’m a little teapot, short and stout: the analogy from Betrand Russell that shifts the philosophical burden of proof to the party making unfalsiable claims  

goalball: a team of animators illustrate explainers for Paralympic events

synchronoptica

one year ago: Christian comics (with synchronoptica), assorted links worth revisiting plus Molson Ice Rocks for Canada

seven years ago: Ottoman bird palaces plus superstitious etiquette

eight years ago: the Vegetable Lamb of Tartary and other mythical beasts plus custom automatons

nine years ago: Esperanto enthusiasts plus a helpful cheese chart

ten years ago: William Barker’s Schwa

midnight special (11. 731)

As our faithful chronicler informs, the Dick Ebersol production for NBC, previously in the role of Director of Late Night programming, debuted the music video and variety programme to capitalise on the popularity of MTV on this day in 1983, airing for nearly two decades though in the end mainly featuring stand-up comedians. Having co-created Saturday Night Live with Lorne Michaels and displacing the Canadian-import sketch-show SCTV, this segue block on broadcast television was far more widely available than its cable originator and was further simulcasted on affiliate radio for a stereo listening experience. Popular segments included the “Video Vote” request line and celebrity cohosts, often pairing network celebrities, like the casts of The Cosby Show, The Facts of Life, Kate & Allie, Growing Pains, Cheers and Family Ties as well as prominent musicians as video-jockeys.

ambrosia (11. 730)

The Olympic Committee issued an apology for a tableau during the Paris Olympic’s opening ceremonies that some claimed was deeply offensive to Christian communities and blasphemous—notably the shrillest outrage from US conservatives—for depicting The Last Supper with drag queens. Except it was not inspired by Da Vinci’s depiction of Jesus and his apostles, as the spectacle’s director explained—though few could hear it over the social media torrent—and the performance had to be regrettably recanted, but rather by Le Festin des Dieux, a seventeenth century work by painter Jan van Bijlert prominently displayed in the national gallery in Dijon. While the Dutch artist himself was referencing Leonardo’s earlier work and one sees what one wants to see, the mythology figures are patently recognisable, including Apollo, Pan, Mars, Minerva and Dionysus, the father of the Gallo-Roman goddess Sequana (and whose totem spirit, familiars are ducks), the deification of the Seine, sourced in Côte-d’Or is not far from Dijon.

and always twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom (11. 729)

In more meme news, the presumptive Democratic nominee made a surprise showing during the conclusion of the San Diego Comic-Con panel on The Simpsons, reciting a slogan from the Treehouse of Horror VII special from 1996, the short Citizen Kang, about the recurring alien characters interfering in the then upcoming contest between Bill Clinton and Bob Dole, eventually replacing the candidates with themselves. While unclear if Harris endorsed this message specifically for the weekend’s forum—or if it was an older clip that a group of political science students arranged when tasked with getting a politician to make a statement about America’s two-party system (see above), her appearance nonetheless energised the crowd. A self-described superfan of the long running show—and maybe this fellow GenXer also pretends it ended circa 1997 instead of entering its thirty-sixth season, which is probably the best approach—Harris’ other solid Simpsons association comes from the 2000 episode Bart to the Future, wherein a similarly dressed Lisa succeeds Donald Trump as US president—which seems a bit more prescient than it was, Trump having been a serial candidate before finally securing the Republican party’s nomination in 2016.

ad copy (11. 728)

Via Web Curios, we enjoyed perusing this gallery of mostly—but not exclusively—vintage Anglophone print advertisements that make the exception to the curator’s collection entitled, “Nobody Reads Ads” from Miguel Ferreira, who writes a lot about commericals and creativity. There are some really effective and arresting ones, though not the ones that everyone remembers as indisputable examples, that are lost in the data of engagement and targeting and each demonstrates a subtle hook to an audience that is not exactly self-selecting. What are some of your favourites or ones you think have been overlooked and should be included?  Much more at the links above.

couch gag (11. 727)

In some strange conflation between Trump’s running-mate, Trump’s supreme court pick Brett Kavanaugh and the Mandala effect for the spectrum of possible things that’s allowing the memes of production to take over, the episode was not recorded in JD Vance’s memoir and the whole thing was a joke, but the temporary virality revealed some ever weirder hang-ups and proclivities which are on the record. Vance in a 2021 bemoaned how the Democratic party was led by “a bunch if childless cat ladies who are miserable with their own lives,” specifically naming Kalama Harris, Pete Buttigieg (his prospective challengers) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, rehashing the interview’s soundbite with the argument that childless people are unfit to govern because they have no stake in the future. Other classic talking-points have emerged regarding what Vance—including universal childcare—as a threat to traditional families.

synchronoptica

one year ago: St Martha of Bethany (with synchronoptica)

seven years ago: Xerox wants you to stop genericising its brand

eight years ago: a millennium of food and drink in art, a dog train, punctuation in road signage plus an artificial leaf

nine years ago: nature vs nurture plus assorted links worth revisiting

ten years ago: the monuments of Croatia

bright lights city gonna set my soul, gonna set my soul on fire (11. 726)

Via friend of the blog, the marvellous Nag on the Lake, we learn about the origins of the classic Elvis Presley officiated wedding tradition—sourced to the time that The King and Priscilla visited a beautiful sanctuary in Las Vegas, and though declining the venue over the lack of room for the planned guest list, Presley gave his blessing, subject to later disputes disputes by his estate and record label over copycat ceremonies but now apparently litigation has relented in order to uphold the tradition, to rebrand the little chapel as Graceland, spawning the destination matrimony up and down the Strip and much further afield. We did not realise, however, despite our upbringing in Texarkana replete with local lore ranging from literary and musical mentions Ross Perot, Scott Joplin and ragtime plus a historically prosperous Black centre of commerce that was devastated Tulsa-style, that the first recorded professional impersonator hailed from the Arkansas-side in the figure of one Carl “Cheesie” Nelson who had a special knack for impersonation and was even invited to perform alongside the genuine article once in Memphis in 1954. Topical singer Philip Ochs first made parodies of Elvis’ discography into protest anthems in the late 1960s, well ahead of the artist’s death and joining a long line of enthusiasts of varying talent. Much more at the links above.

 

synchronoptica

one year ago: sculptor Vinne Ream (with synchronoptica) plus assorted links worth revisiting

seven years ago: an archive of daily internet snapshots from a decade ago, never wear green on television plus Japan’s Good Design Awards

eight years ago: Bexell’s Talking Stones, a look at the backlash to women’s voting rights plus tubular floating bridges for Norway

ten years ago: a NATO doomsday bunker plus more adventures in Croatia

eleven years ago: copycat blockbusters, German weather plus a visit to Gelnhausen

dioecesis selenis (11. 725)

Delving the depths of Wikipedia, we learn via Neatorama that the bishop of the diocese of Orlando, Florida established in 1968, citing the 1917 Code of Canon Law (Iuris Codex Canonici) which extended pastoral jurisdiction over newly discovered territories to the episcopal authority of the diocese from which the expedition was launched, claimed the Moon in the name of the Church, his appointment coinciding with the Apollo missions to the lunar surface. With a counter-claimant in the archbishop of New York as vicar of the Military Ordinariate as chaplain to all military bases, including Cape Canaveral, the matter was never resolved as it was ultimately a papal decision and Pope Paul VI was bemused by the question, not issuing an official response.

my beautiful christians (11. 724)

Just after reneging on his commitment for a second debate as his sparring partner is more formidable and has the power for a real dressing down—whist sexist and racist attacks by surrogates on Harris increase, Trump held a rally near Mar-a-Lago

unabashedly promoting theocracy and an end to representative democracy. Imploring the crowd to mobilise just this once, Trump said, “You have to get out and vote. You won’t have to do it anymore. Four years, it will be fixed, it will be fine. You won’t have to vote anymore.. In four years, you won’t have to vote again.” Incoherent and meandering at times, the speech reiterated in no uncertain terms how the regime has no intentions of conceding or being bound by law or norms.

 synchronoptica

one year ago: the Indian diamond-bourse’s new headquarters (with synchronoptica) plus destination-specific travel disorders

seven years ago: animations by Frédéric Vayssouze-Faure, actor Bryan Cranston, Trump’s policy platform plus more on the custom cars of George Barris

eight years ago: a practise environment for Martian colonisation, Wikipedia’s photo competitions, manhole print tee-shirts plus more on terror attacks across Europe

nine years ago: naturally occurring nuclear fission

ten years ago: further adventures in Croatia

pont d‘austerlitz (11. 723)

Overcoming the chaos of an arson attack that sabotaged rail transport into the city and a downpour of driven rain—and a few skeptics who believed the four-hour long spectacle that spanned six kilometers along the Seine with thousands of performers was too ambitious, Paris pulled off the Games’ opening ceremonies with excitement and fanfare and kitsch that embraced and celebrated gentle French stereotypes, poking fun at themselves.

The rooftop dancing and roving torch-bearer combined with the flotilla of boats carrying the national teams down the river, along with the individual numbers, were quite impressive.

synchronoptica

one year ago: a banger from Peter Gabriel (with synchronoptica), art appreciation with the Flop House plus RIP Sinéad O’Connor

seven years ago: AI scours Street View for aesthetic photographs,  assorted links worth revisiting plus Soviet election interference

eight years ago: gumption and the complacent class,  feline delusions, artist Victor Vaserely plus Russian election interference

nine years ago: TTIP negotiations plus stress and emotional capacity

ten years ago: ephemeral social media, Croatia Week, Croatia’s founding, tiki couture plus Croatia’s natural wonders

9x9 (11. 722)

circumlocution: a useful synonym for circular logic  

we choose freedom: Kamala Harris’ first campaign advertisement reclaims the Trump GOP’s “so much freedom”  

hitchcock presents: the director’s cameos over five decades  

homobone: why an impact with our humerus hurts so much and is not so funny  

art but make it sports: finding classic analogues in modern day competitions  

forget it jake—it’s chinatown: the reason behind the common aesthetic dating back to the 1906 San Francisco earthquake—via Card House  

in memoriam: a mid-year obituary of those celebrities we have lost  

ε ind ɑ: JWST directly observes an massive exoplanet a dozen light years away but shouldn’t be where it is  

multum in parvo: the Flemish Academy concocted Snelpaardelooszonderspoorwegpetrolrijtuig for horseless-carriage for those who had never encountered one

arcus constantini (11. 721)

Opened to the public on this day in 315 and spanning Rome’s Via Triumphalis amid the decennalia, a series of festivities and games held every decade since 27 BC when Augustus declined the offer of supreme power for life but would accept it for a decade—a tradition upheld by later, non-term-limited emperors to solemnise (they would symbolically relinquish imperium only to have it foisted back on them by popular acclaim) the sacrifice of their predecessor, the Arch of Constantine was dedicated by the Senate to celebrate the the tenth year of his reign and his victory over the forces of Maxentius during the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, ending the civil wars of the terarchy, power disputes among the co-emperors. 

The decorations and the frieze, recounting Constantine’s exploits, along the crowning entablature and colossal proportions make the fourth century archway one of the most iconic examples of the architecture of late Antiquity, but there is some scholarly controversy on its actual builder and purpose, some suggesting it was the vanquished Maxentius who began its construction, his imprimatur erased by damnatio memoriae, particularly since as the emperor was by then more interested in founding his new capital in the East, Constantinople, rather than erecting public buildings in a declining Rome.

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links worth revisiting (with synchronoptica)

seven years ago: the French comic that heavily influenced Star Wars, domestic double-agents plus the heart of man

eight years ago: alchemist Paracelsus plus the châteaux of the Loire

nine years ago: more links to enjoy

eleven years ago: a mystery ranging leaflet 

united states v richard milhous nixon, president of the united states, et al (11. 720)

On this day in 1974, the US supreme court issued a unanimous order to the seated incumbent to surrender tape recordings and other subpoenaed material related to the Watergate scandal to the federal district court for the district of Columbia, amidst the continuing impeachment trial for his part in the affair begun two years prior. In April, Nixon had furnished edited transcripts in hopes that the concession would satisfy the prosecution and the public, to which the Attorney General responded: “The President wants me to argue that he is as powerful a monarch as Louis XIV, only four years at a time, and is not subject to the processes of any court in the land except the court of impeachment.” Arguing that the president should not be subject to “judicial resolution” as a concern of the executive branch, the appeals of the president’s defence team were ultimately rejected, overriding the position that privilege and the doctrine of separation of powers could hinder the process of justice but failing to define its bounds. In lieu of impeachment, Nixon tendered his resignation sixteen days later on 9 August.

topographic map non-linear confidentiality algorithm (11. 719)

Lured by the slightly hyperbolic title Every Map of China is Wrong—with one’s mind going elsewhere to Tibet, Taiwan and maritime trade routes at first, via ibīdem, we are directed to a rather fascinating look at geodesic reference points (see also), international standards and those conventions that are the exception. China’s coordinate system is informed by Global Positioning System and the US National Geospatial Intelligence Agency surveys but has inserted an obfuscating formula when it comes to matching satellite telemetry with digital maps and is proprietary (in the name of economic and national security, restricted to a handful of domestic companies which foreign interests must partner with) and cannot be aligned because of the randomness of the algorithm. The drift is especially apparent at border regions and for those travelling between Macau, Hong Kong and the mainland, as those special administrative regions are on the international standard. Much more at the links above.

ausspioniern (11. 718)

Via Quantum of Sollazzo, we are referred to a fascinating joint investigation from Bayerischer Rundfunk and Netzpolitik (EN/DE) on how location data (see previously) jeopardises security, with brokers amassing people’s a litany of details about daily routines and selling (or giving them away) on line, making the matter of triangulating anonymised information a rather disturbingly easy process for the team of journalists to prise into the private lives of others and handily identify spies or others affiliated with the intelligence and defence communities by following their trails of digital breadcrumbs from office to home.

big chris, little chris (11. 717)

Venerated on this day in German-speaking dioceses (the following day on the General Roman Calendar of the Saints) on the occasion of his martyrdom in 251 in Anatolia, the Canaanite of legendary stature, imposing and standing at five cubits (2,3 metres), called Reprobus (reprobate and also by some accounts and portrayals, dog-headed due to a misunderstanding of the Latin demonym Cananeus for suggesting cynocephaly) was determined to be in service to the greatest king of all, and upon seeing his ruler blessing

himself with the sacrament of the sign of the cross at the mention of Satan and reasoning that the devil able to inspire such trepidation must certainly be more powerful abandoned his post and sought out this master to service. Falling in with a gang of robbers claiming to be in league with the devil, the giant of a man was again disappointed by seeing the leader avoiding Christian iconography and sought out the faith under the guidance of a hermit he had encountered. Responding with prayer and fasting when asked how to best serve Christ, Reprobus answered that would be unable to comply with either of those tasks. The hermit reasoned due his size and strength he could please Christ by helping people ford a treacherous river. One day after many successful and easy crossings, a young boy sought passage with the burden becoming almost too much to bear and the river difficult to trudge across, the rapids becoming leaden around his legs. After the arduous journey, the passenger revealed himself to be Christ his king, whom was well served by this work. The ferryman henceforth was known as Christopher (Χριστόφορος, the Christ-bearer), ultimately beheaded in Lycia for his evangelising and refusing to sacrifice to the local pagan gods. Patron saint of Baden, Mecklenburg and Braunschweig, Rab in Croatia, Vilnius, Riga and St Kitts, Christopher is also the protector of athletes, mariners and travellers, as well as invoked as an intercessor against sudden death (owing to the dangerous river-crossing) an toothaches. This spurious association comes from a donation of a supposed relic in the form of a giant moral to a group of friars in the Piedmontese town of Vercelli in the late Middle Ages. Described by one of the numerous pilgrims seeking relief over centuries, the silver and gold reliquary as dena molaris pugno major (a tooth bigger than a fist), the inheriting order of the Barnabites had the attraction examined scientifically in the late eighteenth century and was determined to have belonged to a hippopotamus. The object was summarily deaccessioned and forbidden to be treated with idolatry. The community apparently keeps the tooth out of public view as a curiosity in their monastery.

synchronoptica

one year ago: the death of Twitter (with synchronoptica) plus AI and dragnet surveillance

seven years ago: a Tagalong word for overwhelming cuteness plus an act to prevent pernicious political activities

eight years ago: acts of terrorism across Europe, visiting Château d’Oléron, a coup in Turkey, presidential commercial interests, colouring black and white photos per algorithm, lanterns of the dead plus punditry in America

nine years ago: a Venus flytrap, assorted links worth revisiting plus Samuel Taylor Coleridge on Cologne

eleven years ago: the frequency illusion

swing state (11. 716)

US Speaker of the House of Representatives who is calling on Joe Biden to resign immediately rather than serve out his term, arguing if he is too frail to stand for re-election he is unfit for office, has further threatened a legal challenge against the campaign to file suit, at least in some jurisdictions with more proscriptive voting laws or in pivotal places like Georgia, Nevada and Wisconsin, to keep the incumbent on the ballot and put Harris on the Democratic party ballot. Despite the precedence from the recent supreme court ruling that Colorado could not exclude Trump for his participation in the storming of the capitol, the Biden had not yet formally received his party’s nomination and that none of these states’ law would prohibit such a change, with a legal system ready to advocate for Trump and legislative ambiguity a matter for the courts now with the end of the Chevron deference, it is difficult to predict what other specious obstacles the GOP might bring forward.

🥥🌴🇺🇸 (11. 715)

Having missed the reference, we appreciated this—attempted—explainer on the memes again in circulation after Joe Biden’s endorsement of Kamala Harris via Miss Cellania. Adopted by supporters of her bid to express enthusiasm, it originates from a set of remarks given by Harris back in May of 2023 at the swearing-in ceremony for a group of commissioners tasked with improving economic and educational outcomes for Hispanic communities:
“Everything is in context… My mother—would give us a hard time sometimes, and she would say, ‘I don’t know what’s wrong with you young people. You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?’ You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.”

Formerly the gauge of a president’s relatability, likability was whether or not you could enjoy a beer with them (or at least if their taste and style of eating wasn’t off-kilter) but now it seems memeification (see also) speaks to that question and will continue to inform the campaign. More from NPR at the link above including a round up of other viral moments.

“I can imagine what can be, unburdened by what has been.”

abysmal zone (11. 714)

Via Kottke, we learn that after over a decade of readings that suggested significant amounts of oxygen were being produced on the seafloor, dismissed as an error since no photosynthesis can occur in the region of the deep where no sunlight penetrates, researchers have now concluded that the “dark oxygen” is real and likely produced by polymetalic nodules strewn across the ocean floor in the Clarion-Clipperton region—see also below. The result of millions of years of accretion of elements dissolved in seawater, these lumps, composed of manganese, copper, cobalt and lithium, working in concert are natural batteries, cause electrolysis and split seawater into its component hydrogen and oxygen with its voltage. Maybe abiotic pathways for oxygen resources could support life elsewhere. It is precisely this property that has attracted mining companies with proposals to harvest the nodules for raw material for battery manufacture, with many in the scientific community calling for a moratorium on development for fear it would destroy a potential ecosystem that we know nothing about.

a1000 (11. 713)

Released on this date in 1985, introduced at a gala held at Lincoln Center in New York City by Andy Warhol (see also) and Debbie Harry, but not widely available to the public until the following year due to production and distribution difficulties by Commodore International, the first personal computer of the Amiga series was powerful day standards of the day and featured a preemptive multitasking operating system that allowed it process high quality graphics and sounds, including a text-to-speech library and voice input/output, without degrading performance. The innovative model was especially well received by the gaming community and visual artists.

8x8 (11. 712)

veepstakes: Sherwin-Williams paint colour or potential running-mate for Kamala Harris 

prince rupert’s cube: Platonic solids will fit through an identically shaped one, thanks to the ponderings of a seventeenth century Rheinland monarch—see previously  

hollywood walk-outs: publicity stills from film’s Golden Age of movie casts in full costume paraded outside between takes—via Messy Nessy Chic  

bareback: the bleaching, normalising of a rather vulgar terms used in wide contexts  

news cycle: breaking stories happening faster than area man can generate uninformed opinions  

orrery: a look at the Royal Eise Eisinga Planetarium, the world’s oldest and smallest functioning astronomical theatre created by a weaver turned star-gazer and purchased by the king—via ibīdem  

she’s just not sufficiently grateful: all the ways the GOP is melting down over the changed presidential race

 synchronoptica

one year ago: another MST3K classic (with synchronoptica), a virtual diving-bell, assorted links worth revisiting plus a banger from The Cars

seven years ago: mushroom season, poorly drawn cats plus boustrophedic writing

nine years ago: more on author Karl May plus comic book heroes

eleven years ago: a haircut for Greece plus ceremonial government roles

fourteen years ago: more bad banks plus Oktoberfest and other attractions

wilde karde (11. 711)

During the mid to late summer, fields can filled with these tall flowering perennials that had always called thistles (Disteln, a much shorter cousin it turns out) but are properly classified under Linnean taxonomy Dipsacus fullonum (teasel or by the title common name in German) from the Greek δισᴨα for thirst for the cup-like catchments that form where the leaves merge with the stem that collects water. These little obstacles may have evolved to prevent bugs from climbing up to the inflorescence (blooming like a pineapple, where they differ from thistles) of pink to purple flowers. With a wide range from Africa to Eurasia, the dried heads are an important over-wintering food resource for birds and the plant formerly played a role in the textile industry (see also) as a natural comb for teasing, raising the nap on fabrics, particularly wool—a process called fulling.

tron/troff (11. 710)

Via Slashdot, we are directed towards a reflective essay from Harvard Computer Science professor Harry R Lewis, whom taught both Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, positing the two enduring lessons of technology: be careful what you ask them for and it can be hard to tell what they are doing. Gleaned already back in the mid- to late-1960s when electromechanical computers were far from inscrutable, prior to miniaturisation of circuits, Lewis, through switches and dials, learned how to listen to machines to not only diagnose problems but also, with careful attention (see also), to know if a programme was going to deliver reliable results and goes on to address the doubly blackboxed array of algorithms and lickspittle mimicry of artificial intelligence by never bypassing human judgment from the parameters and recognising that the humanities don’t provide ready answers but rather better informed questions and lines of inquiry.

synchronoptica

one year ago: Mary Magdalen (with synchronoptica)

seven years ago: assorted links worth revisiting,  a challenging diplomatic mission plus a history of ink

eleven years ago: a toy drone

fourteen years ago: a storied Berlin discothek plus a Bulli cake

in the best interest of my party and my country (11. 709)

Abruptly, though anticipated, Joe Biden announced from his Delaware home that he will not be seeking his party’s nomination for the Democratic ticket during the convention to be held in Chicago in less than a month’s time following a poor showing during a June debate against Trump and at the urging of the party’s senior leadership. Later on Sunday, Biden endorsed vice-president Harris for as candidate. While some news sources are focused on the internecine turmoil and compressed chaos—Biden ending a fifty year career as a public servant and there have been no switching tickets this late in the election since the DNC was hosted by the same city more than half a century ago—Trump, who already expressed that he favoured Biden staying in, has been staging a campaign of anti-incumbency (though they are both essentially incumbents) and personal insults, and a new contender, be it Harris (a former prosecutor against a hardened felony could be interesting) or another to be picked at the accelerated primary redux during the convention, shifts dynamics that the Trump campaign may not be able to adapt sufficiently to the new fundamentals, even with Trump’s near martyrdom and a streak of apparent wins in court, given the majority of Americans have long expressed that they did not want to see a rematch between the two.

we shape our tools and then the tools shape us (11. 708)

Subtitled An Inventory of Effects and co-created by media analyst who coined the phrase referenced Marshall McLuhan in 1967, the collaborative best-seller experimentally formatted had the imprimatur of McLuhan himself to call out how various outlets massaged our senses in order to maintain currency and hold interest—with some anecdotes that it was a typo that stuck—arguing that technologies, from the wheel, to the loom, to the printing press and beyond rather than their content as an extension (and increasingly necessary aid thereto in order to function therein) of our perceptions of the world, informed by the same progress. The recording is not exactly an audio book but rather a montage of main statements punctuated by dissonant sound-effects meant to suggest the fragmentation of the listening experience.

10x10 (11. 707)

the institute for controlled speleogenesis: an fictional organisation designing artificial caves  

indecent proposal: the infamous 1994 advertising campaign, Love Letters from Fiat 

a river runs through it: the consequences of taming—and rewilding—the Los Angeles River (see previously)—via Nag on the Lake  

amazombies: online retail giant’s affiliate programme for customer returns are overtaxing for brick-and-mortar partners  

one hundred days of cultural clarity: an exploration of recent memes and trends  

bootstraps: JD Vance as the toxic byproduct of America’s obsession with rags-to-riches narratives  

polkamania: Weird AI (see below) drops a new new medley of song parodies  

posse: publish (on your) own site, syndicate elsewhere  

fiddler on the forum: male exploitation on the Carol Burnett Show—see also 

nietzsche and the noonday demon: the fictitious French philosopher, Jean-Baptiste Botul, whose writings are often cited

12ᵉ arrondissement (11. 706)

Owing to its historic location on the bank of the Seine and adjacent to Paris but not within the city limits, a large portion of the municipality of Bercy began in the eighteenth century as a entrepôt, a warehousing centre fore receiving all manner of goods destined for consumption by the Parisians but not subject to import levies. The quarter for nearly two hundred years was the heart of the wine trade particularly and a unique commercial culture developed with essentially factory outlet taverns and venues operating along side the merchants, bottlers and distributors. Shifting expectations in the decanting and ouillage (the practise of mixing vintages to top off a bottle) and technological advances sent the bottling and sales back to individual vintners and by the 1960s the importance of the marketplace was in decline, and in the 1980s, the warehouse district was razed to make way for a sports stadium. Much more from Messy Nessy Chic at the link up top.

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links worth revisiting (with synchronoptica)

seven years ago: the first sixth months of Trump plus Harlem hoarders

eight years ago: driverless cars plus more links to enjoy