(11. 997)

synchronoptica

one year ago: a medieval large language model (with synchronoptica),  a new family of goblin spiders, a novel way to hack light pollution plus block printing personal narratives

seven years ago: tariffs on Chinese aluminium, revolutionary terrariums plus using AI to minimise road-kill, disruption to migration

eight years ago: RIP Leonard Cohen

nine years ago: assorted links worth revisiting plus emoji syntax across different platforms

ten years ago: more on the spread of Indo-European languages

backsplash, splashback (11. 996)

Having previously explored the influence of architect and resistance-fighter through her Frankfurt model kitchen that has become the standard design for the Western world, we were pleased to learn that personal domestic space of Margarete Schütte-Lihotzsky has been carefully conserved and made accessible to the public in her Vienna apartment. The modern, fitted standard with harmonised features now taken for granted, like broad counter surfaces, tiled Spritzschutz which are reversed for British and American English and plenty of recessed storage room was first introduced in 1926 and the restored 1970s version in her former home. Despite of the impact of her installation, Schütte-Lihotzsky, who never was a homemaker nor cook prior and relied on interviews, was understandably resentful for only being remembered for this singular innovation at the expense of social aspect of architecture and urban-planning.

pont y borth (11. 995)

A temporary export bar has been placed on a 1827 needlework sampler made by Mary Anne Hughes, aged eleven, to prevent the national treasure (“rare, modest and of enduring interest”) from leaving the UK by giving institutions (see previously) the chance to raise funds for its purchase ahead of auction. The image depicts the Menai Bridge, opened to the public just the year before after seven years of construction, Designed by Scottish engineer Thomas Telford as the first suspension span of this scale and carries road traffic to this day, the bridge connects Anglesey to the Welsh mainland, bypassing a treacherous water route (particularly for fording livestock) through the Menai Strait. More from The History Blog at the link above.

the holy or the broken (11. 994)

Via our faithful chronicler, we are reminded how on this day in 2016, on the first episode of the show

following the US presidential election, Kate McKinnon, appearing in character as Hillary Clinton in their signature white pants suit, performed the cold open for Saturday Night Live singing a sombre and poignant rendition of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah (a moving anthem that famously the artist took five years to finish and had upwards of one hundred eighty draft verses, which cycled in and out of live shows, demonstrating that good things take time), as tribute both to her alter-ego for losing to Trump and the death of Cohen himself, which had occurred in the preceding days as well. “I’m not giving up and neither should you.”

synchronoptica

one year ago: Connections (with synchronoptica) plus Remembrance Sunday

seven years ago: a German true crime mystery that’s partially never been solved 

nine years ago: gasholders plus a photography clearing house

ten years ago: taxi cab confessions plus Roman Mainz

eleven years ago: some nimble and sure-footed goats 

ny-21 (11. 993)

With control of the House of Congress yet to be called, and removing the New York representative from the legislative body (as one cannot work for two branches of government at the same time) narrows the Republicans’ narrow control further, Trump announces one of his first cabinet picks (amid a lot of speculation) as Elise Stefanik in the role of US ambassador to the United Nations (a position formerly held by Nikki Haley). Though with little foreign policy experience and given her spot on congressional committees after the GOP stripped Liz Cheney of her membership for being critical of Trump, Ms Stefanik has been a vocal supporter of the administration (if inconsistent but ultimately blamed Nancy Pelosi for the January Sixth Capitol Attack) and Israel and played a high-profile part in hearings that led to the resignations of several American university presidents for their stance on campus protests and unrest in support of the Palestinian people.

terrain model theory (11. 992)

Though still unclear that RFK, Jr will play a significant role in the Trump administration’s setting of medical care policy and public health practises, a staunch proponent of the anti-vaccine movement accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic but also with antecedent denialism over AIDS and a host of other ailments as well as promoting the idea that the standard, lifesaving regimen of childhood vaccinations cause autism and lately advocates removing fluoride from drinking water, Kennedy’s conspiracy theories have fuelled the embrace of rival Antoine Béchamp’s disproven alternative (see also) to Louis Pasteur’s model of germ theory: pleomorphism—that the state of the internal topology of the body (accumulation of toxins due to poor diet and exercise) is the cause of disease by attracting scavengers and not compromised immunology by invading pathogens.

minority report (11. 991)

With the possibility for insight but far more likely to skew towards red-herrings, misassociation and even dangerous omission, Anthopic’s Claude AI model (see previously) will partner with Palantir and Amazon Web Services to process and analyse classified information for undisclosed US defence and intelligence agencies. 

Accredited to scrape data up to secret, the contract is being criticised for being in opposition to Anthropic’s motto of “show, don’t tell” oriented toward safe and ethical use of AI, and comes after a demonstration project by Peter Theil’s analytics platform (named for the magical, scrying palantíri, the far-seeing stones, of The Lord of the Rings used for communication across space and time—or to spread propaganda) for an insurance underwriter which cut down claims processing time from weeks to hours—the company also not disclosed and with no independent assessment of its success rate—and strikes one as something akin to a credit score and equally non-perspicacious. Another way of saving on man hours it takes to conduct this type of undertaking is to throw one’s workload in the garbage.

synchronoptica

one year ago: a WWII musical documentary (with synchronoptica), an ancient supermassive black hole discovered plus the diplomatic tactic of constructive ambiguity

seven years ago: Carnival season begins plus the outsized influence of Futurama

nine years ago: the retirement crunch

ten years ago: more on the Fifth Season 

eleven years ago: extremophile bacteria that survive in space, a trip to Oppenheim plus more on combatting light pollution

the grudge (11. 990)

Of course the best revenge would be having a successful final term, maintaining the strong economy that he inherited and not starting World War III, but as to forgive and forget does not seem to be in Trump’s quiver, allies and opponents alike are expecting a wave of retribution and recrimination for those who crossed him whilst out of power, making good on his platform’s appeal to the aggrieved. The scope and scale of his quid pro quo may hinge upon his selection to lead the Department of Justice and could be more muted than expected—with no guardrails in the government to stop or discourage him there is still thankfully the self-limiting factor of Trump’s own attention span and bandwidth and penchant to discard loyalists. Advisors are split on how his campaign of vengeance might detract from other policy initiatives (such as they are: immigration, tariffs and tax-cuts, without mentioning cultural and values issues) while other proxies are intent on keeping him on task and moving forward with punishing his adversaries.