synchronoptica
one year ago: Weird Al parodies Bob Dylan with palindromes (with synchronopticรฆ) plus more gerrymandering
twelve years ago: a possible clue to hidden Nazi loot hidden on sheet music
fourteen years ago: the Pope comes home to Germany
fifteen years ago: GMO salmon
Interested in the ways brains process visual information and the influence of context and frame of reference, psychologist Jules Beuchet first described his eponymous chair illusion in the mid twentieth century, and while popular for museum installations and retaining the effect in photographs unlike some others (see also here and here), we learn that the compelling dissonance, accidentally exemplified by this image of the giant Bidens with the tiny Carters without set up—courtesy of Futility Closet—we discover a new, more portable technique for disabusing this trick, staged easier with a tripod, a miniature frame and piece of upholstery, requiring much less space and focal length to achieve the result.
Very much enjoying these tales of recycled props and sets (see previously here and here), we were thrilled that not only did the author get to see his namesake disaster flick on the big screen for the first time, that cinematic experience allowed him pinpoint the provenance of elements of the decor. 
The golden panels that clad the walls of the cruise ship’s mess were repurposed from Cleopatra, and feature Egyptians and hieroglyphics although the boat is named the SS Poseidon after the Greek sea god for a bit of mixed mythology. The skylight “ceiling” of the ballroom is also the backdrop of the Harmonia Gardens number featured in Hello Dolly!—both the Taylor and Streisand films being a huge expense for the studios, it made sense to do some double-dipping. Much more from Poseidon’s Underworld at the link above.
Whilst transcripts of the telephone call between Trump and President Xi of China emphasis progress on 
trade amid the American tariff war, curbing the supply of fentanyl and the divesture of TikTok in order to stop a ban on the popular social media platform, the released summaries failed to make any mention Taiwan, and given the timing of the reported decision for a pause in US aid and weapons sales to Taipei, it is feared that US dropping its support—a “temporary tactical concession”—for neighbouring Republic of China is being used as leverage for open markets and better positions Beijing to annex the break-away island which has long enjoyed American backing over symbolic promises like to quell the flow compounds that can be used to make drugs.
synchronoptica
one year ago: residential fire safety (with synchronopticรฆ), assorted links to revisit plus anti-social media
twelve years ago: the constellation of Nintendo games
thirteen years ago: smear campaigns, wine pairings plus the banner of the Sรกmi people
fourteen years ago: EU monetary policy
fifteen years ago: regulating speech on the internet
sixteen years ago: yearbook yourself
admissible evidence: AI translations of animal vocalisations in the court room and other assorted legal stupidity
mulholland drive: the Mid-Century Modern estate of David Lynch (previously) in the Hollywood Hill is up for sale
happy blogoversary: Damn Interesting turns twenty
รตhuruum: more incursions of Russian fighter jets into NATO airspace, this time over Estonia—see previously
⠝⠕⠍⠕⠎: overcoming wartime injuries that took both his sight and hands, a Greek youth taught himself to read Braille with his tongue and became a lawyer
ministry of public enlightenment and propaganda: from the wires, 4 February 1939
phlegmatic: the ancient origins of personality typing
yawaraka jazz: an individual in Japan expertly DJs their collection of vintage vinyls with no commercial interruptions—via Web Curios
feme covert, feme sole: Brigitte Macron, wife of the French president and whole human being in her own right, has agreed to provide scientific evidence to a US court to prove that she is biologically female from birth—via the New Shelton wet/dry
Via Super Punch, we glean this little fact of television heritage and show-DNA, though mindful that this is the news and crisis that the US administration wants us to be talking about rather than war, trade, financial misdeeds or sex-crimes: 
Live! hosted by comedian Jimmy Kimmel debuting in January of 2003 was the mid-season replacement for Bill Maher’s Politically Incorrect when ABC (under its then newly acquired parent corporation of Walt Disney) cancelled the late-night panel show after the moderator took exception with US foreign policy and with the characterisation by the Bush government that the 9/11 terrorists were “cowards”—“although terrible people,” they were not cowards, “What was cowardly, Maher rebuked, “was America’s relationship with the rest of the world.” Too soon perhaps but far from a full-throated endorsement of al Qaeda, causing complaints to roll in and advertisers retreat from the programme. Of course back then, there was also no coercion from hypocritical government officials to self-censor editorialising or free-speech.
synchronoptica
one year ago: the Oscars of US government workers (with synchronopticรฆ), getting to philosophy, Israel attacks Hezbollah with booby-trapped walkie-talkies plus sinkholes and megaslumps
thirteen years ago: a theme song for a blog plus auditory cues
fourteen years ago: Germany’s Pirate Party
fifteen years ago: Moore’s Law and quantum computing
seventeen years ago: a turn in the weather
The winners of the annual Ig Nobel prizes (see previously) were recently announced and there are, across several categories and disciplines, a host of ridiculous and thought-provoking studies to ponder. Several of the experiments were alcohol related, such as research into the effects of lowered inhibitions on language proficiency—outside of one’s mother tongue, garnering top prize for the peace division—and the effects of naturally occurring ethanol consumption on the ability of bats to navigate and echolocate. There were quite a few examples of culinary chemistry as well—plus a peer-reviewed field trial on the efficacy of dazzle camouflage as repellant for biting insects—previously here and here. See all the laureates at Ars Technica at the link above.
Statue at large enacted at the the end of July of the same year, the US National Security Act took effect on this day in 1947 after the senate confirmed the nomination of James Forrestal as the first secretary of defence (transitioning from his role as the last cabinet-level appointee as secretary of the navy) and was a significant restructuring of the government’s armed forces, merging the army, naval commands (granting autocephaly to the marine corps) and the then newly established air force formerly under the aegis of the Department of War. .png)
The result of efforts of president Harry S Truman during the waning days of WWII in the European Theatre, the legislature for reform and reorganisation to ensure better communication and cooperation was taken up by congress in the aftermath of the surprise attack on Pearl Harbour with army and navy commanders at odds on how to best respond to warnings of an imminent ambush on the Hawaiian outpost, the culmination of failed joint operations and internecine turf battles during ground operations which ignored air power. Budgetary constraints and the customary relinquishing of executive powers during times of relative peace also influenced its passage, though resistance to change was notable. Through numerous rounds of debate, compromise created a council of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, creations of agencies for overall logistics, contracting, training and educational support as well as the Central Intelligence Agency. The act was signed into law by Truman whilst in transit aboard a custom Douglas C-45 Skymaster, call-sign Sacred Cow and the first aircraft designated as Air Force One, during a visit to see his ailing mother in Grandview Missouri. Promised cost savings evaporated almost immediately due to the start of the Cold War with Soviet advances in nuclear weapons and the crisis on the Korean peninsula. Revertion to the old name took place with a minimal amount of reflection or consultation.
