notes on notes (13. 607)

With correspondence to our contemporary online landscape of anonymous and atomised enthusiasts and such projects like From the Depths of Wikipedia and a host of niche, speciality sub-Reddits, we discover Notes & Queries—a venerable journal founded in 1849 by House of Lords clerk and researcher William Thorns as a digest for amateur scholars, himself counted among those and a reminder that they do it for love of the subject, and a platform for Victorians to share academic discoveries (notes) and expound on them (queries). The weekly publication’s one time motto was the catch-phrase of Captain Cuttle or Dickens’ Dombey and Son, “When found, make a note of it.”  Still in existence today under the aegis of the Oxford University Press, established as a “medium of inter-communication for literary men [folklorist Eliza Gulch was one of the biggest contributors], artists, antiquaries, genealogists, &c.,” the submitted briefs and replies has held to the original format, with many emulators including a section in The Guardian with the same name. Where do you find the most elaborate pith of his researches? Much more from Public Domain Review at the link above.

synchronoptica

one year ago: subterranean rescues (with synchronoptica) plus a Trump chaos omnibus

two years ago: scanning code from magazines, the artistic side of Samuel Morse plus Surrealistic logos

three years ago: Quintette du Hot Club plus assorted links to revisit 

four years ago: Escape from New York (1981) plus more links to enjoy

five years ago: the equal sign, Afternoon Delight (1976) plus our first stop in Sweden

six years ago: Roman Moselle plus at the foot of the Burgen

day one-hundred twenty-nine (13. 606)

Funeral processions held across Iran and Iraq for the former ayatollah have concluded with Ali Khamenei entombed at the shrine of Imam Reza in Mashhad. US strikes destroy railway bridges, other infrastructure and hit near the Bushehr nuclear power plant. American commanders insist Tehran does not control the Strait of Hormuz though the situation looks to be the opposite. Foreign minister Abbas Araqchi increases efforts to garner international support against US adventurism with counterparts in Oman, Türkiye and Pakistan over renewed fighting and tensions trouncing the ceasefire arrangement and further stalling negotiations. Israeli defence minister Israel Katz prepares the military to reengage Iran if needed.

9x9 (13. 605)

spitalfields life: street photographer Kurt Hutton  

djt: rentier-in-chief could potential benefit financially from the rebranding of Palm Beach International airport, just kilometres away from Mar-a-Lago 

turn around bright eyes: RIP Bonnie Tyler—see previously here, here and here 

l’odissea: the 1911 cinematic adaptation of the timeless classic  

freedom fuel: White House announces network of gas stations with prices capped (previously) at $3.47 per gallon, status quo ante bellum 

the night the earth shook, strangers started to draw: in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake in Syria and Türkiye in February of 2023, the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team helped save lives—via Maps Mania 

twenty minutes into the future: a look at when the cola-wars where dominated by dystopian science-fiction—see previously

tax shelter: very much solicited financial advice on Trump Accounts for Kidz 

pixel skylines: urban grounds from vintage video games

the innovator’s dilemma (13. 604)

Despite the early acquisition of DeepMind and a bit contrary to the overall consensus regarding the quality of search that’s a bit poisoned by AI tangents (the AI underpinnings should be disclosed but it has a visibility problem—not in its inscrutability—but it making it seen, many problem don’t benefit from shoehorning it into everything and putting it on display in a why that overshadows its potential use as a sounding board or a brainstorming interlocutor), Google has consistently fallen in second place in the field of artificial intelligence. A Planet Money interview with an author profiling the founder and current chief executive officer of the company’s AI research laboratory, now called Google Brain, Demis Hassbis, aside from covering the computer scientist’s lofty and noble ambitions and striving for fundamental understanding, the author also puts forward an intriguing set of reasons that might account for the tech giant’s self-sabotage. As with the case-studies of industry leaders developing potential disruptive innovations—Kodak inventing the first digital cameras, Blockbuster’s early partnership with Netflix, Xerox’ pioneering of the personal computer—likewise for Google, whose business model is based on reliable search results and serving advertising, it may have perceived a threat to its reputation should those answers be seen as something below what we’ve become accustomed to and reluctance to deviate from a proven formula. More from the NPR podcast at the link above.

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links to revisit (with sychronoptica) plus Campus Crusades for Christ

two years ago: Savage Curtain, impressions of West Berlin in the summer of 1977 plus Project 2025

three years ago: more links to enjoy 

four years ago: TRON (1982), the first animated Hobbit, Choreography for a Copy Machine, Prague’s Charles Bridge plus even more links

five years ago: pets’ past lives regression, more on the Know Nothing Party plus underway to Sweden

six years ago: Bernkastle-Kues, more of Mittlemosel plus the Republic of Palau (1981)

day one-hundred twenty-eight (13. 603)

Speaking at the NATO summit, Trump says that the US is preparing to launch a heavy assault on Iran—“I’ll give a little warning: we are going to hit them hard tonight”—after declaring that the truce was over and suggesting that return to war is imminent, the military conducting further strikes to “degrade their ability to threaten freedom of navigation.” Despite disparaging comments by Trump “not wanting to deal with them,” the US president adds that negotiations will continue. The US president further suggests that they might seize Kharg Island with Iranian forces already retaliating. As hopes dim that the MOU could lead to permanent peace in the region, oil prices soar and world stock markets tumble.  Although the NATO meeting could have gone worse for the alliance, with Trump airing old grievance, repeating demands for Greenland and stopping all trade with Spain, he did not denounce Article V, the pledge for mutual protection and was cordial with Zelenskyy, even granting the license to Ukraine to build its own Patriot missile systems.

brandweer (13. 602)

Mindful of how Marcus Lininius Crassus financed the First Triumvirate, overseeing the transition of the Republic to an Empire with his enormous wealth earned in large part by controlling the original bucket-brigade in Rome, dispatching slaves ready to extinguish a conflagration but doing little until the distressed owners of the property agreed to a fire-sale and leasing back to the former as tenants, we had thought that the public good of a fire department had just evolved slowly with gradual technological improvements and had not appreciated how maturity came rapidly thanks to a painter and tinkerer in seventeenth century Amsterdam. As the richest city in the world at the time, the capital had recognised and developed a relatively sophisticated system for dealing with burning homes and businesses, a daily occurrence given over to select guilds to patrol with suppression facilitated by easy access to water from the city’s network of canals. After the Great Fire of London, which proved uncontrollable and resulted in the invention of fire insurance, echoing the scheme from Ancient Rome with underwriters installing plaques, fire marks, on covered buildings, and enduring their own losses, artist and inventor Jan van der Heyden suggested improvements to hoses and pumps greatly increasing efficacy. At the expense of his artistic career, van der Heyden engineered a more efficient fire-fighting team, supported by municipalities and illuminated Amsterdam with patrols of gas lamp lighters, which contributed to no blazes in the city.

synchronoptica

one year ago: gendered characters in children’s literature (with synchronoptica), ending the prohibition on churches endorsing political candidates plus assorted links worth revisiting

two years ago: the 1948 London Games plus the Thirteen Colonies’ attempt to avoid open conflict with Britain (1775)

three years ago: everything under the Sun, Jupiter’s moons plus more fortifications along the US-Mexico border

four years ago: the Roswell incident (1947), AI ethics plus the animations of Sam Lyon 

five years ago: your daily demon, a lexical database of marine life, uncombable hair syndrome, the first certified Gold Record plus the death of Shelley (1822)

six years ago: the martyrdom of St Kilian plus the Upper Moselle 

day one-hundred twenty-seven (13. 601)

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has targeted US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain in retaliation to American strikes against Iran following attacks on ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Washington restores economic pressure on Tehran, curtailing exports. The NATO alliance annual leadership summit begins in Türkiye. Israeli settlers are emboldened to take more land in the West Bank ahead of Netanyahu’s reelection bid. Damascus is rocked by bomb blasts during a visit from Macron to Syria. Team USA out of the World Cup, bested by Belgium, after pressure scandal.

9x9 (13. 600)

we don’t need anybody’s help but before i asked they said they wouldn’t be there: Trump airs classic grievances upon his arrival for the NATO summit in Ankara 

artisanal work culture: beekeeping, baking and candlestick-making as rebellion and a shift to the approach of skilled trade  

you don’t have to blog like me: just write  

project 2029: the crusade against the annoyance economy   

cheddaring: a cheese heist and other organised food crimes  

confessions of a dachsund: these videos were a little less David Attenborough and a little more Baby Reindeer  

rollerena: NYC’s queer fairy godmother  

doomjobbing: an employment system trusted by no one 

bel:usa: America out of the World Cup play-offs after excoriating defeat by Belgium