random-walk or playable character

Via Waxy, we are introduced to a text-based, pixel art choose one’s own adventure game based around Wikipedia’s Application Programming Interface (API) that allows one to explore, interact with objects, talk to characters associated with each location and enter direct commands at the prompt—like go to 1889.  This is really nostalgic and fun for those of us who remember the original King’s Quest computer games and similar series and how one would try to test the parameters of language and direction, especially when stuck in a seemingly inextricable dead-end.  I wonder, if in the Wikipedia platform, one can simply walk into Daventry.

boundary street

Though arguably the sunset for the British Empire occurred that moment when they could no longer operate unilaterally and the US opposed their seizure of the Suez Canal and the seaways of the Arab Gulf in 1956, those in attendance for the transfer of sovereignty ceremony for Hong Kong on this day in 1997 expressed a palpable sense of the UK’s imperium having come to a close.
Although Hong Kong island and Kowloon peninsula (with that unsupervised exclave within an enclave) were ceded to the UK in perpetuity under the terms of the Treaty of Nanking and only the New Territories around Hong Kong bay were subject to a ninety-nine year lease, but during negotiation between the Chinese government and Prime Minister Thatcher in the mid-eighties, the UK conceded that Hong Kong could continue to be prosperous without the full territorial integrity enjoyed for the last century. And with assurances that the residents’ previous capitalist system and way of life would remain unchanged for the next fifty years. While Hong Kong residents enjoy considerable autonomy and is considered a separate jurisdiction by other nations and international organisations, there is also a sense of incursion and abandonment from its former metropolitan. When the handover occurred, few would have predicted that China would have produced economic centres—bastions of finance and industry—to rival the former colony’s allure. Nonetheless, however, that capital diminished to an extent and Hong Kong, because of its special status, soon became more of a harbour to park wealth and facilitate money-laundering. Thinking strategically, perhaps if Hong Kong had remained unique as an economic powerhouse it was hoped that Hong Kong’s model would become something infectious for the mainland and result in the spread of democracy. With tensions rising on each successive anniversary, it’s becoming less and less clear whether Hong Kong’s culture and politics will be suffered lightly for the next thirty years.

le grand large

Back in 1989, a sportscaster convinced Dear Leader to lend his brand and sponsorship to a bicycle race through the US mid-Atlantic states meant to rival and eventually supplant in popularity the Tour de France. As the Tour de Trump was being organised, Dear Leader’s legal team prepared to undermine and file charges against a bike race being held in Colorado called Tour de Rump—claiming libel and infringement on the name of this “inaugural” event would cause confusion.
The suit was dismissed and there’s been a lot of mileage to be had from the apt similarity ever since, which as the Colorado race was scheduled independently and far in advance of the East Coast one was a comparison that Dear Leader brought on himself. The first competitors included members of the Soviet national men’s cycling team among others and was jeered by (prescient) protestors during its first stage in upstate New York through to the final stage that passed by his casinos in New Jersey, waving placards that advised to “Fight Trumpism!” and “Die Yuppie $cum!” The race was held for a second year under Dear Leader’s patronage before he surrendered his stake to the chemical company that was co-sponsoring the event, with the last Tour de Trump to be won by Mexican national Raúl Alcalá Gallegos.

mooswand

Though by no means intended to supplant urban parks or regulation and reduction efforts for air-pollution problems, these moss walls installations from Berlin-based Green City Solutions are said to have the purifying capabilities of a small forest and bring attention to our worsening air-quality. The cleansing membrane framed within a seating area—with WiFi, reminds me of salterns that we’ve encountered and reportedly has the same cooling effect. CityTrees as they’re called have been installed in urban-centres worldwide but there is an especially high concentration in Germany, like the one pictured in Jena—which we’ll have to seek out next time we’re in the area.

LOLcats

Inevitable as it was, we’re still privileged and excited to report that Lewis & Quark’s creative neural network (previously here, here and here) has been assigned the task of naming cats and kittens.
A feline rescue shelter in Alabama reached out to robot’s proctors and asked if they might gin up some positive press and find these animals good homes. Some names come across as a little too alien or arch—like Lord Magian, Parihen the Thawk, Teaw Mos Tilypsronvynkor, Haldir of the Saleword Barga, but most are quite fitting, like Mag Jeggles, Mumcake, Mister Hinkles and Big Wiggy Bool. Go to the link up top to see a whole gallery of these very special cats up for adoption and learn more about cultivating one’s own learning algorithm.

billions and billions

Writing for The Atlantic, correspondent Adrienne Lafrance share her extensive and dogged research in solving a mystery she encountered while studying the resurgence in interest in the Voyager programme, those two message in bottles dispatched and committed to the void four decades ago.
Generally, I am not one to hold others in suspense but I also don’t want to spoil the surprise that’s revealed in an excellent crescendo of engineering ingenuity and curating the gallery of sounds and images that will our ombudsmen to a future alien civilisation. The Golden Records, whose makers believe that if the crafts are not catastrophically destroyed will be playable in the for at least the next billion years, contain a sampling of Earth sounds meant to convey a sense of culture and the ecology of the planet. Many of the Foley artists are credited and known (go to the link to hear the whole album) but not for the voice behind the genuine laughter close to the beginning. The investigation teaches a lot about the production of this mission and the identity of the laugher shows that Voyager was not just a scientific expedition but also a cosmic and timeless love letter, which is probably the best sort of message to send out and hope that it’s a representation that we can live up to.