June 18
Shelly’s Leg
What If You Bought the Lifetime Warranty... every time?
"Rachel knew, early on, that she would keep Charriot for a long time..." (SLYT) This is the short story of someone who buys the extended, lifetime warranty, every time.
Happy viewing, everyone!
An Actual Legend Of Zelda
In the most recent summer Nintendo Direct (where the video game maker releases info on their major holiday season titles), one of the biggest announcements was for The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom - the first time in the (actual) franchise's history where the title character is also the protagonist. [more inside]
The Irish Unification of 2024*
United Ireland Should Be Political Objective, Former PM Says [ungated] - "'What I hope we'll see happen in the next government, no matter which parties are in it, is that that we'll see what is a long standing political aspiration toward unification become a political objective,' [former Prime Minister Leo] Varadkar said at an event in Belfast on Saturday." [more inside]
You got your Euro in my English!
The European Union has twenty-four official languages, but, according to Jeremy Gardner, a senior translator at the European Court of Auditors, the real number is closer to twenty-three and a half. Gardner has compiled an anthology of offenses committed in what has come to be known as Eurenglish—an interoffice dialect that, as he writes in “A Brief List of Misused English Terms in E.U. Publications,” relies upon “words that do not exist or are relatively unknown to native English speakers outside the E.U. institutions.” Lauren Collins for the New Yorker (2013). A PDF version of Jeremy Gardner's report from 2016 is available here: "words that do not exist or are relatively unknown to native English speakers outside the EU
institutions and often even to standard spellcheckers/grammar checkers (‘planification’, ‘to precise’ or ‘telematics’ for example)" [more inside]
Republicans block cleanup until polluters get immunity
From Tom Perkins in The Guardian: Wisconsin Republicans are withholding $125m designated for cleanup of widespread PFAS contamination in drinking water and have said they will only release the funds in exchange for immunity for polluters. The move is part of a broader effort by Republicans in the state to steal power from the Democratic governor, Tony Evers, the funding’s supporters say, alleging such “political games” are putting residents’ health at risk. [more inside]
Beavers create habitat suitable for water voles in Scottish rainforest
Beavers create habitat suitable for water voles in Scottish rainforest. Beavers’ dams have created more places for water voles to hide from predators and hopefully flourish, say experts.
Best video for cats I've ever seen
YouTube video from Paul Birder titled "Cat games mouse hide & seek, squeaking and playing for cats to watch".
The Woman Who Created the Modern Cookbook
"When Ms. Jones began her career in publishing in the 1950s, cookbooks and food writing in general weren’t taken seriously, often lumped in with technical manuals and textbooks. Their editing focused on the recipe instructions, without thought to point of view, cultural context or the beauty of language." [Archive]
Sparkling, Shining Stars
Ilid Kaolo is a singer-songwriter and Outlet Drift is a three piece rock band. Both acts draw on their roots as Indigenous Taiwanese people to create wonderful fusions. [more inside]
One of the great performance pieces in Los Angeles history
On any reasonably sunny day, the pool would by then be echoing with the names of well-known people being called to the phone, as well as with the names of unknown people being called to the phone by themselves in the forlorn hope that one day this would help them become well known, too. From his vantage in front of his cabana, Irving could not only watch the parade go by but get the parade to sit down with him and play cards. from The Man Who Spent Forty-two Years at the Beverly Hills Hotel Pool [The New Yorker, 1993; ungated] [more inside]
“We’re DSA if they were good.”
Columbia Journalism Review on The New Old Liberals Neoliberalism had become a slur. A group of very online young politicos set out to change that.
June 17
A Single Mutation Gave These Fish a Sense of Curiosity
looking at one thing at a time
The just-before or the just-after tell a story; whether of becoming, or of letting go. For over 12 years, Mary Jo Hoffman has been taking a daily image of a gathered natural object (usually plants, sometimes dead birds and in one case, a live toad). Click on "details" at the bottom right of each object for, well, details. Hoffman on technique: "I spend a lot of time waiting for the sun to go behind a cloud so I can get softer lighting."
if, then
George Boole tried to "create a calculus to reduce all logical syllogisms, deductions, and inferences to the manipulation of mathematical symbols, and to cast a precise foundation for the theory of probability. This resulted in his greatest work: An Investigation of the Laws of Thought, [on which are founded the Mathematical Theories of Logic and Probabilities. (Gutenberg, pdf)] a book that laid out the rules of his new symbolic logic and also outlined, in the opening chapter, his grand intention to capture, with mathematics, the language of that ghost that whispers within the tortuous pathways of our minds." [Harper’s]
Every act of fitness is part of how the Short Creek community rebuilds
Fifteen-year-old Darlene hadn’t been in a classroom since fourth grade. She worked 11-hour days at a chicken restaurant, a step up from the slaughterhouse where she’d worked when she was younger. Every paycheck went to her parents who turned it over to the prophet. Everything the hardworking people did was in service to the prophet and to build up the church. Darlene’s future was determined for her: She’d be a wife and mother, and serve the church and her husband. from This Is Not an Escape Story [Runner's World; ungated]
Every Queen Song, Analyzed
The Struggle to Contain, and Eat, the Invasive Deer Taking over Hawaii
Invasive species are well known to be a threat to the native ecosystem (usgs.gov pdf titled Wild Sheep and Deer in Hawai`i—a Threat to Fragile Ecosystems). Axis deer are particularly damaging, running rampant on Maui. They were introduced to the Big Island in 2009 and it took 5 years of government sponsored effort to successfully eradicate them. One of those involved in that project, Jack Muise (long interview on the podcast The Drive with the story of his life and how he got started) has started a business humanely hunting axis deer for commercial resale. The Struggle to Contain, and Eat, the Invasive Deer Taking over Hawaii. Axis deer were first brought to the islands in the 1860s. Now they number in the tens of thousands. (Modern Farmer). How Hawaii Became the Source of a Rare and Tasty Breed of Venison (By Evan Bleier for Inside Hook) "Harvested at night across 250,000 acres from 50 to 75 yards away using surveillance drones, UTVs and long-range rifles equipped with infrared scopes, Maui Nui’s deer are killed under the watchful eyes of a USDA inspector in a manner that is designed to make the deer unaware they are being hunted."
Human hair; wool could be used for lithium batteries
Human hair and unwanted wool could be turned into a vital component for lithium batteries, researchers say. Charles Sturt University researchers say synthetic graphite made from hair and wool offcuts could help meet growing demand for the mineral, which is used to make lithium-ion batteries.
A Semester of African American Humanism at Pitzer College
Made possible by an endowment offered through the Freedom From Religion Foundation, Sikivu Hutchinson has become "the first Black woman to teach a course on African American humanism," which was held at Pitzer College. [more inside]
nm/sqrt(nm)
Nearly a year and a half ago, Joseph Newton did an excellent video about Cursed units. Now he's back with Cursed Units 2: Curseder Units! From fuel efficiency in square millimetres to the barrer, the definition of which has cm appear no less than four times, you're sure to encounter some weird (metric) units you'd not heard of. [2LYT]
I set up in the kitchen, as I will every day going forward
Rebekah Peppler on Julia Child and cooking in the south of France: "The kitchen remains as one imagines it did when Julia Child built it. Tart rings, copper pots, measuring spoons, and whisks line the four walls, with outlines marking a designated spot for every single item. Market baskets pile high in a corner; the screened door bangs shut in a way that feels like many have entered through it. And many have." [more inside]
... but I'm not sure if I *really* have gender dysphoria?
That's Gender Dysphoria This experience of discontinuity between the societal presumed gender and the internal sense of self is what we describe as Gender Dysphoria, and is common among nearly all trans individuals, regardless of their position within or outside of the gender binary. This has at times been something of a political topic within trans communities, as different groups have their own ideas of what Gender Dysphoria is, how it manifests itself, and what qualifies a person as being trans. [more inside]
Never quite made it into the respectable hard sciences
Telepathy might initially seem a much softer, psychological proposition, tainted with a sense of the supernatural. Yet both Campbell and Clarke were lifelong advocates of the view that telepathy was highly probable, the scientific proof of its existence likely just around the corner. The promise of telepathy – soon to be achieved, not far off, only a few test subjects away – feels very familiar when reading Musk’s boosterish announcements on Neuralink’s latest breakthroughs. The promise that telepathy is just about to be realised is not confined to entrepreneurs and science-fiction writers alone. For more than a century, there have consistently been figures in the scientific establishment who have entertained similar hopes that telepathy would soon reach the threshold of proof, promising everything from opening a new evolutionary phase of human development to a new psychic front in the global arms race. from Tomorrow People [Aeon; ungated]
'Tis almost the longest day .. your longest day .. and your free thread
'Tis the week of midsummer and the solstice, when people gather for early sunrises, and late sunsets (northern hemisphere edition) impress. Bonfires are lit, and rituals to cleanse abound, in many places (anywhere you want) and not just overcrowded Stonehenge. But what was your "longest day" (and interpret that in any you see fit)? Happy, sad, epic, life-changing, life-affirming? On your own, with a loved one, a friend, or a crowd? Or just write about whatever is on your mind, in your heart, or on your plate, because this is your weekly free thread. Happy midsummer, MeFites!
June 16
"For all it's material advantages, the sedentary life has left us edgy"
Subbed by: xX_geocitiesSUBCREW95_Xx
Punch Punch Forever is (currently) a two episode cartoon parody of both fighting tournament anime and fandom subbing culture, arising from out of Newgrounds (remember them?) and made by animator speedoru. It presents itself as a lost anime series from the 90s; it also goes by at 90 miles an hour. It's in Japanese with subtitles. So far there's the pilot (8 minutes) and the second episode, My Little Slasher (12 minutes). CW: juvenile humor, cartoon violence and gore. It's very silly. [more inside]
An amazing woman has gone to sleep and her language with her
A linguist shares the story of his study with the last remaining speaker of South Tsimshian As shared to r/linguistics in 2013: “Today, Violet Neasloss, aka Nanny Violet, passed away. she was the oldest resident of Klemtu BC, 99 years old, and also one of the happiest, quickest, and most caring.
With her death, the South Tsimshian, or SgüüXs language is now sleeping, but because of her, and the hundreds of hours of exhausting mental work she committed to over those months, at some point in the future, members of her community will have the option to wake it up again, and some have already started. [more inside]
Exact replicas of the Parthenon marbles
This team went guerilla-style into the British Museum to create exact replicas of the Parthenon marbles. This archaeologist and his team had a simple plan — take 3D scans of the Parthenon marbles and recreate them for the British Museum so the originals could be returned to Greece. When the museum said no, they went in anyway, guerilla-style.
The basic urge is surprisingly complex
To most people, pulling into a highway rest stop is a profoundly mundane experience. But not to neuroscientist Rita Valentino, who has studied how the brain senses, interprets and acts on the bladder’s signals. She’s fascinated by the brain’s ability to take in sensations from the bladder, combine them with signals from outside of the body, like the sights and sounds of the road, then use that information to act—in this scenario, to find a safe, socially appropriate place to pee. “To me, it’s really an example of one of the beautiful things that the brain does,” she says. from How Do We Know When to Pee? [Smithsonian; ungated]
“The whole place feels like wildfire.”
The Lonely, Resolute Path of Oklahoma Lesiglator Mauree Turner (slWaPo) "Being the nation’s first Black, Muslim, nonbinary state lawmaker, let alone the first in Oklahoma, was never going to be easy."
Probably X but Possibly O
Probabilistic Tic-Tac-Toe – The rules are the same as normal tic-tac-toe, but each square has a different probability of a good (smiley face), neutral (meh face), or bad (frowny face) event happening when selected. [more inside]
Good News: Cancer Edition
13 year old Lucas Jemeljanova becomes first person to be cured of DIPG, a mostly fatal pediatric brain cancer, after traveling to France to participate in a study on the effectiveness of 3 cancer drugs. The same mRNA technology that brought us the COVID-19 vaccine could also be used to create a vaccine for cancer. Microrobots made of algae can carry chemo directly to lung tumors, improving cancer treatment. The American Society of Clinical Oncology met this year to share their latest findings on ways to treat cancer: from “melting away” tumors, to more accurate cancer screenings, and clinical trials for promising cancer vaccines.
Excavation of a stone palace complex on the Tintagel peninsula
English Heritage’s Properties Curator, Win Scutt said: “These finds reveal a fascinating insight into the lives of those at Tintagel Castle more than 1,500 years ago. It is easy to assume that the fall of the Roman Empire threw Britain into obscurity, but here on this dramatic Cornish cliff top they built substantial stone buildings, used fine table wares from Turkey, drank from decorated Spanish glassware and feasted on pork, fish and oysters." 2016 excavations report. Guardian article about a truly extraordinary window ledge inscription from the 7th century. More about Tintagel for folks who've never heard of it. [more inside]
Dentist Discovers Human-Like Jawbone and Teeth in a Floor Tile
Dentist Discovers Human-Like Jawbone and Teeth in a Floor Tile at His Parents' Home. Scientists are planning to study the specimen, embedded in travertine from western Turkey, in hopes of dating and identifying it. He found the jawbone in a tile made of travertine, a type of limestone that typically forms near hot springs. This specific tile came from a quarry in the Denizli Basin of western Turkey. The travertine excavated there formed between 0.7 million and 1.8 million years ago, which suggests the mandible did not come from a person who died recently.
To see beauty in limitation is not an easy thing
In our technological age people are often caught between two worlds, forced to choose between what is pleasurable and what is beyond pleasurable. Activity A may be a genuinely enjoyable activity, but as an ordinary pleasure it comes with certain discomforts and limitations. Activity B, on the other hand, promises to move past those limitations, satiating our desire for maximal pleasure. Who wouldn’t want to choose Activity B, then, when the option is presented so readily? from The Rise of Hyperpleasures by Samuel C. Heard (Mere Orthodoxy; ungated)
June 15
}🖼️{
This volume thus builds upon growing art historical, anthropological, and historical literature that argues that “art” is far from a natural category of human endeavor, but instead represents a historically specific idea and practice emerging in Europe from the Enlightenment and its aftermath [:] the radical and unprecedented bifrucation of the artist, as the genius who produces things of beauty, from the skilled artisan or crafts[person] who produces useful objects. [what’s the use of art?] [more inside]
Q: Is this site comprehensive and complete? A: Heavens no.
DrawingMachines.org attempts to simultaneously be scholarly, technical, engaging, inspirational, and, most of all, useful. Every attempt is made to satisfy the academic art historian, the artist, the designer, the tinkerer and the student. If you are looking for historical or technical information, this site aims to satisfy both. This is a reference site, but aimed at different audiences interested in drawing.
Parliamentarians helped foreign interference in Canadian elections
On March 8, 2024, the Canadian National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) provided Prime Minister Justin Trudeau with the Special Report on Foreign Interference in Canada’s Democratic Processes and Institutions (redacted pdf). On June 3, NSICOP tabled the report in Parliament. The document alleges that while "parliamentarians were unaware they were the target of foreign interference", others have been "wittingly assisting foreign state actors," though maybe not anybody currently in Parliament. [more inside]
All Shook Up
The search for the mysterious company behind a scheme to steal Elvis Presley’s Graceland estate ended last week, not in Nigeria--where initial clues seemed to lead--but at the front door of "a grandmother in Branson, Missouri, a con woman with a decades long rap sheet of romance scams, forged checks and bank fraud totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars, for which she did time in state and federal prison."
Can I pet the d... ... eel...?
Cop Rot
A Washington Post investigation found hundreds of law enforcement officers in the United States have sexually exploited kids. Many avoid prison time. From the various LinkMe requests over here, because there are a lot of bad cop stories this week. Sigh. [more inside]
Christian nationalists in the court system
Justice Alito Caught on Tape Discussing How Battle for America 'Can't Be Compromised' [ungated] - "In a new, secret recording, the Supreme Court justice says he 'agrees' that the U.S. should return to a place of godliness." [more inside]
Just the facts, ma'am/man
There are a variety of "low-carbon" or "bandwidth-friendly" variants of news sites out there that load headlines with little styling and no images, such as CBC Lite, and much, much more. [more inside]
The Art of Translation
See how a translator carries a book from one language to another, line by line. Much like a crossword, a translation isn’t finished until all the answers are present and correct, with each conditioning the others. But when it comes to literature, there is rarely ever just one solution, and my job is to test as many as possible. A word can be a perfect fit until something I try in the next clause introduces a clumsy repetition or infelicitous echo. Meaning, connotation and subtext all matter, but so does style. Below are two attempts to show the thought processes involved in the kind of translation I do.
Sophie Hughes for the New York Times.
This outback property is home to 37 species found nowhere else
This outback property is home to 37 species found nowhere else in the world, many hiding in springs for millennia.
Unique species of fish, snails, and crustaceans have existed on this isolated property in Western Queensland since the dinosaur age when it was deep under water as part of the Eromanga Sea.
A watershed, not a holiday
We might now be on the cusp of a similar sea change, with American policymakers, especially Democrats and the broader center-Left, beginning to craft a new industrial policy and seeking to decouple economically from China. This decoupling is accompanied by an ersatz new Cold War with China—reminding us of how an earlier era of more activist liberal government required the Cold War to legitimate and underpin it. Whether such efforts will take hold is, for now, unclear. But understanding what these efforts are designed to overturn requires returning to the pivotal years of America in the 1990s. from What the 1990s Did to America [Public Books]
June 14
This Famicom bootleg game costs $5000
In which youtuber f4mi talks famiclones, bootleg software, and demake ports of popular games, long after the West had given up on the NES, with a focus on one very special demake in particular... [SLYT]
Shit's on Fire, Yo!
[two hours, SLYT] From a talk presented at https://cackalackycon.org/, professional physical pentester Deviant Ollam explains fire codes and fire safety systems (such as fire doors and sprinkler systems). [more inside]