synchronoptica
one year ago: Panasonic to digitally resurrect its departed CEO (with synchronopticรฆ), Now, That’s What I Call Music, phonological jargon as effective insults, Tulip Mania redux plus superstitious storeys
thirteen years ago: bot-driven traffic plus personalised medication
fourteen years ago: language lessons
fifteen years ago: US-EU diplomatic relations
sixteen years ago: a Thanksgiving feast plus first Advent
The misogynist rhetoric directed towards female politicians and journalists is nothing new and Trump does not have a monopoly on using disparaging words that translate into actual violence—and whilst wishing that the media would stop hanging on his every demented utterance and thus dignifying his addled, hateful invectives, we do hope that every reporter in the press pool is crafting their response of a colourful epithet, an insult to lob back that if it doesn’t get them arrested would at least result in a ban from the White House, 
something which the outlets have already signalled their willingness to give up (see previously) with what would be the most withering to these monsters by starving them of attention—and betrays a real weakness of character and a vulnerability to shield from the public at all costs. I’ve got my duly vulgar aspersion to cast on the non-zero chance that I would get called on to use it. What’s your prepared statement? Senator Mark Kelly has entered the chat. Not to psychoanalyse broken, small characters, but we suspect that Trump’s attacks against competent women—and their reception by his base, splintering as it is—is due in large part to the fact he’s only ever beaten female challengers for the presidency, those pyrrhic “victories” not without contention, so much winning, and feels denied the chance of a worthy opponent to trounce.
content without context: think twice before making that AI generated video—especially featuring a cameo of yourself
things that aren’t doing the thing: anticipation is not the same as execution
dead wood: the evolution, anatomy and biological system of our tree friends
lightbox: TIME magazine’s photos of the year
inbox: a clever way of researching and processing the tranches of email released by the Epstein estate with an interface that’s like going through one’s own account from Like Igel and Riley Walz (previously)—via Web Curios
traceroute: an overview of how the series of tubes work
the dog’s pyjamas: dressing up canines has a longer history than one might expect—via Strange Company
never break the chain: streaks are important motivators and one should pair new habits and practise with “micro-versions” to avoid feeling derailed
$spsc: Trump’s World Liberty Financial (see previously) promotes another shock token as a legitimate store of wealth
synchronoptica
one year ago: assorted links to revisit (with synchronopticรฆ) plus the discovery of the first pulsar (1967)
fourteen years ago: sociologist Jรผrgen Habermas on post-democratic Europe
fifteen years ago: more flea market finds plus security theatre and a crackdown on counterfeits
We’re heard of plenty of sorrowful instances of zombification of abandoned personal pages and outright vandalism or kettling but we had not encountered until now, courtesy of MetaFilter, with the discovery of the moribund Yahoo! GeoCities page of the musical theatre composer and impresario (previously) last updated in 2003 and restore it to full-functionality as a NeoCity. Though some elements, like the title, seem to verge on gentle parody—but who could say for sure as websites at that time were vehicles for confession and reflection rather than self-promotion, it’s a privilege to page through the newspaper clippings, dream diary, home recipes and so on.
First coined circa 2022, the German neologism formulated in English in response to the popular rediscovery of the concept of Schadenfreude (see more here plus an obscure native synonym) has through variants. The apotheosis of its source, word connotes the contagious nature of joy—whose own English equivalent is the uncommon confelicity—is also sparking compound snowclones to express appreciation for tiny victories: Parkenfreude, Schlangefreude, Platzenfreude, etc. Alternatively, there is the nascent Schadenfreudeschaden, for the compounded misery experienced by witness the former delight in one’s misfortune. Can you come up with some more examples?
The always interesting Present /&/ Correct (do check out their sundries), directs our an auction catalogue of antique vending and gum-ball machines (see also). 
Though such coin-op delivery systems, and the logistical network to keep them stocked has been supplanted to some extent in many markets, there still are notable hold-outs and arguably a renaissance of such retail modes in delivery robots and roving cornershops. The modern introduction of automats for bottled beverages, newspapers and convenient snacks that began in the 1880s, proliferating into all sectors, is a revival itself that is rooted in some very ancient engineering with Hero of Alexandria credited with inventing the first vending machine in the second century A.D. with a contraption of weighs and counter-balances that dispensed a measure of wine—or perhaps holy water—in exchange for a coin. The second-wave rediscovery saw its earliest prototypes in selling tobacco and stamps with first recognisable machines for envelopes, postcards and other stationary items.
synchronoptica
one year ago: 1924’s first Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade (with synchronopticรฆ), assorted links to revisit, the fabulous Miss Raquel Welch plus impoundment of appropriated funds
thirteen years ago: Spectropia
fourteen years ago: Black Friday goes international
Through the lens of his nocturnal series documenting the comings and goings, rushing from haunt to haunt and the desolation of the darkness that created some of the most iconic pictures of the City of Lights of the 1920s, we appreciated this introduction to photographer and filmmaker Gyula Halรกsz, of Transylvanian extraction and know professionally as Brassaรฏ, the pseudonym after his home village. 
Wandering the streets of Montparnasse with a cadre of young artists, writers and expatriates, his collection ranged from the seedier side of night life to high society and portraits of his circle of friends that included Matisse, Picasso and Dalรญ, from cabarets to opera houses to those liminal places bereft of foot traffic—see also here and here—every image is quite arresting and enveloping, like the representative picture of a figure inspecting the beacon of a Litfass column. At first only trying to supplement his irregular income with commissions, Brassaรฏ went on to become an advisor and founding member of the first press agency specialising in street photography in 1933, which enabled him and compatriots to license their work and secure royalties. There’s a whole gallery of photographs curated by Messy Nessy Chic at the link above.
Via Kottke, we are directed to a thoughtful essay by Josh Collinsworth comparing the quest for the Philosophers’ Stone (previously here and here) with the present obsession of spinning straw into gold through creating art with artificial intelligence—with parallels to other useful commodities precious by medieval standards yet now considered nearly disposable for their ubiquity and effortless extraction, like salt and spices or clean water—like how aluminium foil was once such a rarity until the refinement process was perfected, thanks in large part to this forerunner of chemistry. Making the valuable commonplace for the temporary enrichment of a few is nothing sustainable. The value of creative expression is derived by the work that goes into it, the artist and their motivation, not the output itself, derivative, uninspired and only glancingly aesthetic (with diminishing returns) in application. It’s a doomed venture—this approach—but perhaps like these earlier pursuits will eventually yield useful results re-directed towards turning a real scarcity into something abundant, or maybe getting rid of something we have too much of.
synchronoptica
one year ago: the literature of Prairie Dawn (with synchronopticรฆ), a pirated television signal plus Macquarie Dictionary’s Word of the Year
thirteen years ago: the Pope’s biography of Jesus plus PfRC goes social
fifteen years ago: tuition rate hikes in the UK plus seasonal traditions
