above the line

While so far the idea of abating the creeping and insidious traps that come with low income and institutionalised poverty with a universal basic income have failed in the Netherlands and Switzerland, Ontario is ready to embark upon this experiment in the coming year.

A former provincial senator will spearhead a pilot project that will eventual replace some of the entrapment of welfare programmes that can sometimes prove demeaning and arguably counter-productive with a $1320 monthly income. What do you think?  The new programme will have a lot of unanswered questions (and the effects of social nudges) vested in it and trials will certainly be under due scrutiny, but Canada really deserves applause for trying to redress financial and time (having the luxury to pursue higher education rather than entering the workforce straightaway or having to tend after a sick loved one or young child alone and having to choose between a career and care) poverty and social disparity.

deepest, darkest

We here at PfRC have been previously acquainted with fantastic pigment library of Harvard and its collection which conserves the intersection of chemistry and art, curating the most curious of artisanal hues with often the strangest compositions from deadly toxins to cattle fed on a specific diet.
And naturally, we were pleased to learn it had of late acquired a specimen of Vantablack. This substance, Vertically Aligned Nano Tube Arrays, absorbs nearly one hundred percent of visible light—less than a tenth of a percent away from absorbing all the incident light compared to conventional black’s mere ninety-seven percent, making it as dark as empty space and contours appear flat to the eye. As it’s not a very easy medium to work with and grants are limited, Vantablack hasn’t yet been used on many artists’ palette and its chief application has been in the aerospace and defence industry. Thanks to its inclusion, however, at least its formula will be part of the spectrum.

tchin tchin!

UNESCO is adding the beers of Belgium to its representative list of intangible cultural heritage of humanity, this rich tradition matriculating with Uzbek humour, the pottery of Portugal and falconry in the UK and joins the ranks of champagne and an array of French wine and the cuisine of Mexico. How nice that we can raise a glass to this deserved accolade, though absolute purists may not exactly appreciate that this currant beer is the only one we have on hand.

5x5

piscine matrix: a fish’s virtual swim is neurologically no different than the authentic experience

koyaanisqatsi: time-lapse of satellite telemetry shows urban-sprawl and changing landscapes over the past thirty-two years

ill-will ambassador: for ten years a Turkish and Ghanaian crime syndicate operated a phoney US embassy in Accra selling thousands of fake visas and passports, via Super Punch

and that’s a fact: a preview of fifty-two things consultant Tom Whitwell shared learning this past year from Kottke – how many mentioned did you learn about as well?

fête: bon viviant Messy Nessy Chic crashes a surreal party held in an abandoned warehouse in Paris

lux or southern-exposure

On many old brick buildings across England, one might find the notice bracketing window-sills of “Ancient Lights.”

Dating back to 1663 and then later codified after the Great Fire, the property rights law stated that if a window providing occupants of tenement natural light for a period of twenty years unimpeded, then neighbouring properties could not be granted permission to build or landscape in a manner that might obscure said ancient window, but the onus was on the owners to mark it as such. Throughout the Victorian era up until modern times when home were electrified, there was a lot of serious study devoted to the minimum candlepower (lux) that humans needed to be kept in humane conditions. Be sure to visit the link up top to see a gallery of strategically placed portals. Maybe there is something more to be found beyond these thresholds.