the machine stops (12. 858)

Expanding on the E M Forester dystopian novella, which first revealed its resonance to many during the COVID pandemic and lockdown when most were confined to a hexagonal cell with creature comforts and on-demand entertainment provided much like the main characters, we appreciated the chance to revisit the story and its litany of predictions courtesy of Better Living Through Beowulf. Written as a rebuttal to HG Wells more utopian and slightly paternalistic vision of the future, Forester wants to emphasise the authoritarian nature of rapid technological advance set in a future then very near to its publication. Most of the human population has gone subterranean after extreme climate change and toxic air has made the Earth’s surface uninhabitable. A benevolent omnipotent, super-intelligence caterers to its kept humans’ every need who in physical isolation only engage in the activity of posting on social media, texting and Zoom calls. Travel is permitted but deemed unnecessary and the super-intelligence, simply the Machine, is worshiped as a god—with orthodoxy reenforced by social creditworthiness. When the Machines begins to malfunction, people accept defects and hallucinations as the whims of omniscient providence until the disruptions become intolerable but unfixable as knowledge of how to affect repairs has become lost, if it was ever understood in the first place. After a catastrophic collapse of its circuits, people slowly reemerge and begin to rebuild civilisation.

synchronoptica

one year ago: Germany’s coalition government faces collapse (with synchronopticæ), an archive of military uniforms, America’s first Red Scare plus assorted links worth the revisit

i think i’ll transfer you to the undergrowth department, brackens, small shrubs, that sort of thing…(12. 857)

Via our faithful chronicler, we are reminded that on this day in 1981 after a successful midsummer debut in the UK, Terry Gilliam’s critically acclaimed feature had its North American premiere. The project was born out of frustration in 1979 when the filmmaker could not find backing for his ambitious dystopian black comedy Brazil—that temporarily shelved idea eventually realised as the second instalment of his “Trilogy of Imagination” that began with Time Bandits and ended with The Adventures of Baron Munchhausen. Though violent and bleak at times, Gilliam sought to produce a family movie from the perspective of a child, with the camera angled accordingly for a kid’s point of view, but fearing a young boy wouldn’t be able to sustain the narrative alone, he cast the bandits who pilfered the map of holes in spacetime for looting with actors of a similar height. Produced by George Harrison’s HandMade Films studio, the elevator-pitch whilst playing a round of golf to the esteemed performer who would play Achilles, picture it: “Removing his helmet reveals himself to be none other than Sean Connery or an actor of equal but cheaper stature,” and as a Monty Python fan agreed to do the role. The picture also stars Shelley Duvall, Ian Holm, David Rappaport, Kenny Baker (R2D2), Jack Purvis and troupe alumni John Cleese and Michael Palin.

baumol’s cost disease (12. 856)

Courtesy of NPR’s always engrossing Planet Money podcast, discussing inflation and the various factors that contribute to the rise of the costs of goods and services, pointedly discussing another sector—which I think should not be taken as letting those usual suspects, private equity and their ilk, off the hook for being caught holding the bag—pointedly discussing some of the pain points of veterinary medicine, we learn about prolific economics writer and namesake of the above effect in labour markets. In collaboration with economist and academic William Gordon Bowen (who also founded the digital library JSTOR), William Baumol (also a prolific sculptor and painter who helped create cultural economics, calling art collecting and patronage a gamble and presaging its fetishisation as an investment , evinced by these animal spirits) described the outcome of stagnant productivity countered with rising wages in certain sectors, which cannot innovate or advance on the same terms as other fields. Enterprises that rely on manufacturing and mass-production or mass-distribution for instance have benefited from technology that allows for automation and removing human labour from the picture. Other industry’s reliant on human expertise and interaction, like veterinarians, concert violinists, barbers, educators and carpenters, are unable to increase their output at scale. And while arguably some trades and professions—especially in the US, teacher—are not so richly compensated, their higher wages are sustained by cross-demand at the expense of profit because of their essential nature and lack of serviceable substitute. Furthermore unwillingness to offer competitive pay would led to a scarcity of expertise and prevents the greater misalignment that would come of no one entering these fields.  

synchronoptica

one year ago: Democrats concede (with synchronopticæ) 

twelve years ago: war-mongering, jackalopes plus more on Germany’s Fateful Day (9 November)

thirteen years ago: the G20 and the US elections, marine parasites plus an R2D2 scooter

fourteen years ago: questionable dental hygiene 

fifteen years ago: bisphenol in everything 

sixteen years ago: need-to-know news 

first-in first-out (12. 855)

For some time, a local shop has been more visibly attempting to reduce spoilage by discounting perishable items about to expire with mark-downs, now adding “no to throwing me in the bin,” not only to reduce waste but also to keep food items out of landfills where it produces methane aside from taking up space, and so we appreciated this reporting from Spoon & Tamago about Family Mart, one of Japan’s largest konbini (コンビニ) franchises, a bodega or convenience shop, about its campaign to raise awareness and appeal consumer sympathy through an array of more emotive anthropomorphic characters, teary-eyed and asking for help.  Following trials that demonstrated shoppers were willing to help rotate stock and feedback from customers, the company rolled them out nationwide and made design template free for any one to use to cut waste in their own stores with the stickers. Learn more at the links above.

capricious and mercurial (12. 854)

Though the US supreme court has during its shadow docket reliably sided with president, at least on a provisional basis, over the past several months, for the justices’ first properly vetted and argued case regarding the legality of Trump’s imposition of tariffs through a 1977 emergency powers act—not mentioning trade or embargo—is marked with scepticism and seemingly signals in the midst of the longest shutdown of the federal government and the Democrats winning several special elections a referenda on the hallmarks of Trump’s economic and foreign policy agendas, not to mention his style magisterial style of governance that has dulled the enumerated powers of the judiciary and legislature. Although much of the opening argument was given over to definitions, semantics and pragmatics and whether the major questions doctrine of the court, a statutory interpretation of the law that issues of major political or fiscal importance holding that congressional powers cannot be delegated to the executive—cited when clawing back the initiatives of student loan forgiveness under Joe Biden over the hundred billion dollar discharge though its applicability and precedent questioned over potentially trillions, the case does not address more fundamental questions whether tariffs are themselves an effective foreign policy tool privileged as they are over the regular channels of diplomacy and negotiation for attracting international investment and reshoring given the turmoil and chaos that such vacillations are inspiring, an productive instrument of national security for stemming drug-trafficking or even a constructive way of generating revenue for the treasury given that they are effectively a tax on US consumers—again the defence for the US government deflecting the scope of the case by saying that the monies made are “only incidental,” not convincing the panel of judges. Deliberations could take a month—rather swift by the court’s standards as the administration has demanded that this case be expedited.

she’ll say i’m not so tough—just because (12. 853)

The doo-wop single from the Billy Joel’s ninth studio album, An Innocent Man, inspired by the sound and energy of Frankie Valli’s Four Seasons and released late September climbed to the top of the UK charts on this day in 1983, holding the number one spot for five weeks—eventually displaced by “Karma Chameleon” one to become the best-selling song of the year. Conceived originally by his relationship, which Joel judged as asymmetrical, with supermodel Elle Macpherson, Uptown Girl ended up being about his new girlfriend and soon-to-be spouse Christie Brinkley. The music video portrays Joel (previously) and backup performers as blue collar auto mechanics presaged by footage of “Tell Her About It” shown on a portable television with a poster of Brinkley on the wall of the garage. “Keeping the Faith,” “All About Soul,” “River of Dreams,” “Leningrad” and “A Matter of Trust” were all dedicated to featured Joel’s wife, whereas as his amicable ex- has “And So it Goes” plus “This Night.” Predating them both, “Just the Way You Are” was written for his first wife and business manager Elizabeth Weber, who were against including the track on his 1977 album The Stranger, but was persuaded by Linda Ronstadt, whom was recording in a neighbouring booth in the same studio, sessions for Simple Dreams featuring “It’s So Easy” and “Blue Bayou.”

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synchronoptica 

one year ago: America votes (with synchronopticæ), Trump and Guy Fawkes plus medieval produce in art

twelve years ago: NYT on mindfulness, a guide for gentleman farmers plus more on US mass-surveillance 

thirteen years ago: bully pulpits 

fifteen years ago: mad-bombers 

we did it, zoh (12. 852)

Progressive Democratic Socialist candidate Zohran Mandami wins the New York City mayoral race—with Californian voters also moving forward with a proposition allowing for redrawing congressional districts to boost Democratic seats ahead of next year’s mid-term elections, prompted by Republicans’ disenfranchisement in Texas and other jurisdictions. Democrats are also elected to governorships in Virginia and New Jersey.

patent pendency (12. 851)

A long established fact about the US Patent Office is its signature agnosticism regarding submissions and filings, only the competent authority of whether a proposal can be trademarked and copyrighted “to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries” and not a judge of an idea’s quality or utility, though happy to collect registration fees, with any surplus above overhead operating costs being diverted to the general Treasury. Accordingly we appreciated this context-free gallery—via Things Magazine—of the figures and schematics (for applications recently submitted—see previously). There’s something that defaults to a little sinister when trying to surmise what’s being conveyed in this illustrations. Of course the details behind the pictures and prototypes can be easily and fully researched on the registry. Examiners, whilst specialists in their respective fields, are not necessarily lawyers, whereas trademark attorneys field work involving intellectual property.