bathroom bill (12. 019)

The stupidities of American politics and culture wars is grindingly wearisome and beyond the bandwidth of most to follow—although that’s by design and the slights large and small cannot go unnoticed. Trump’s nominee for Education Secretary, a former wrestling executive officer, to dismantle the agency at a pivotal time when public school districts are underfunded and higher learning is facing an existential crisis with the prospect of artificial intelligence supplanting expertise is shocking enough, though the feeling is a little blunted given the fact the same individual headed the Small Business Administration during his first term. In the same news cycle, however, the Republic-controlled incoming Congress welcomed—on Transgender Day of Remembrance, memorialising victims of transphobia—the first openly member to identify as such by introducing a measure for the House of Representatives that would ban in the Capitol transgender women from using bathrooms designated for cisgendered women. Unclear if it will be brought to the floor to vote on house rules, the sponsor decrying an assault of women’s rights and safety with this ideology, which the target of the vitriol, newly elected member from Delaware, dismissed the proposal as a distraction from the job of governance and will make do, their platform and focus, telling of its poverty, being “Kamala is for they/them. President Trump is for you.”

the power of positive thinking (12. 018)

Increasing notably in look-ups after athletes and performers spoke imaging their success and calling it into existence, Cambridge Dictionary (previously) selected manifest as its Word of the Year. With roots in the Theosophical movement, the idea—which can be delusional or dangerous if not underpinned with actual effort—has moved from the realm of self-help to the mainstream. While have a healthy level of self-esteem, confidence and goal-setting is essential, magical thinking can create unrealistic expectations and leverage feelings that poor outcomes happened because one did not want them bad enough—or harboured doubts. The six century history of the term illustrates how language evolves, with Geoffrey Chaucer first citing Manyfest in the sense of obvious or easily noticed, demonstrated. Other contenders that Cambridge began monitoring in 2024 included: resenteeism—a portmanteau of resentment and absenteeism being used increasingly by dissatisfied employees, gymfluencer and the cocktail party effect, the difficulty on focusing on one voice in a crowded setting now applied to AI as a selective attention model.

 synchronoptica

one year ago: The Day After (1983—with synchronoptica) 

seven years ago: the monumental challenge of carbon removal, Jim Henson’s IBM ad campaign, toys and gadgets spying on children plus more on The Day After

eight years ago: Windows 1.0 (1985), German Youth Word of the Year, Star Wars Identities, US Army illustrated Code of Personal Conduct plus Trump’s policy agenda

nine years ago: more on Einstein’s centenary, assorted links to revisit plus the Trump candidacy

ten years ago: Norway’s new passport design, a newspaper assembly line, Anglo-Saxons plus lingual laziness

are you tired of having your hands cut off by snowblowers and the inevitable heart-attacks that come with shovelling snow (12. 017)

As our faithful chronicler informs, this day in 1992 saw the original airing of Mr Plow (S04:E09), in which Homer purchases a snowplow and his success clearing driveways inspires a rivalry with his friend Barney, who quickly corners the market. Dan Castellaneta, voicing both Simpson and Gumble, garnered his second Emmy for the episode (after “A Streetcar Named Marge”), considered one of the best in the show’s long history. As a late night spot on public access television originally attracted customers, Barney commissions Linda Ronstadt to perform the jingle for his competitor, Plow King—and escalating the advertising campaign, Mr Plow secures the services of an agency to create an avant garde and perplexing commercial that fails to land with the public. Batman’s Adam West makes a cameo too, and there are as well dozens of obscure cultural references. Call Klondike 5-3-2-2-6 right now.

𝚒𝚖𝚐_𝟶𝟶𝟶𝟷 (12. 016)

Via Waxy, we are directed towards this fascinating clip-culling project from Riley Walz, which scoured the video-hosting service for the default naming convention that the iPhone camera app employed for their feature “Send to YouTube,” circa 2009 until 2012. The service saw a whopping seventeen hundred percent increase in uploads but Apple eventually parted ways after sharing became less technically encumbered and bandwidth was less of an issue. Randomised they make interesting for snapshot of moments from the lives of strangers, unrehearsed and unedited. There’s a lot of baby and pet antics, trips to amusement parks, concerts, talent shows and even forgotten trends, like the Ice Bucket Challenge—anonymous scrapbooks. Although there are a few actual accidents, natural disasters and surprise proposals, most of these short videos are wholesome and wholly unspectacular although one feels a bit of tension building for the unexpected that fails to materialise but are nonetheless fascinating to watch, as a time-capsule barely seen and hardly searchable—see previously.

day 1000 (12. 015)

Addressing a special session of the EU parliament to mark a thousand days since the beginning of the Russian offensive in Ukraine, president Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged Europe to “push harder” against Putin’s aggression, adding that Russian resources, will and patience was not inexhaustible and there comes a breaking point and have to pursue a “just peace.” The speech and grim milestone come a day after Joe Biden lifted sanctions on the use of US-supplied long-range missile systems outside of Ukraine’s own borders, the approval following incursions into the Kursk region and the expected response by Russian and North Korean troops.

the seal of solomon (12. 014)

Regarded as a patron of the army and surely with significance to the Roman calvary garrisoned, an amulet bearing the figure of the prophetic king Solomon horseback and spearing a demon has been uncovered by an archaeological team excavating the site of Hadrianopolis (Edirne) on the Black Sea. The fifth century pendant bears the inscription “Our Lord has overcome evil,” with the obverse listing the archangels Azrael, Michael, Gabriel and Israfil. Though no artefact of this type has been previously discovered in Anatolia, the motiff was a popular one, eventually replaced by St George and the dragon in the Middle Ages, where as the former eventually meets his down fall by the devils he enslaved.

summerisle (12. 013)

Having previously looked into the movie, The Wicker Man, inspired by true events, we enjoyed this interview with the documentary filmmaker Rupert Russell’s latest project in The Last Sacrifice investigating this unsolved murder from 1945 and the repressed mindset of inherently destructive natures, thrown into sharp contrast through the genre of British folk horror that the killing and subsequent reportage established and informed. Much more from Dangerous Minds at the link above.

synchronoptica

one year ago: German mite cheese (with synchronoptica) plus the first laser show

seven years ago: dragnet surveillance unsecured on the cloud plus heritage per photograph

eight years ago: a hangover recovery bar, a referendum on public education plus how the parties got their colours

nine years ago: assorted links worth revisiting, the OED selects an emoji as Word of the Year plus Chinese hackers infiltrate the US Office of Personnel Management

ten years ago: legendary voyages plus a parting gift from Steve Jobs

8x8 (12. 012)

hundreds of beavers: an anarchic slapstick comedy about a drunken salesman lost in the wilderness who has to trap his way out  

this is for you, human: a student seeking homework help from a chatbot receives a chilling threat  

fold, spindle and mutilate: after five years in development, LG introduces a prototype stretchable digital screen  

i got the worms workin’ under my skirt: Nate and Hila the Earth compose raps about composing and ecology—via MetaFilter 

worry stone: pre-fab pet rocks with a name, backstory and MTBI personality type are the latest craze among China’s youth  

zoom room: in 1916, just a year after the first transcontinental telephone call, the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (predecessor to the IEEE) held a teleconference with over five thousand attendees across the US—via tmn  

butlerian jihad: Dune-franchise television series finally portrays the rise and downfall of the Thinking Machines—see previously 

dr horrible’s sing-along blog: a fun, definitive listing of best movie musicals