December 13, 2020
I drink until I feel like I’m going to throw up water.
Death of the Perfect Spy
John le Carré, pen name of David Cornwell, writer of spy novels for over 50 years, has passed away at the age of 89. HE is probably best known for the character of George Smiley, who was the protagonist of many of his Cold War novels. HE also wrote The Constant Gardener, among several other stories set closer to the present. [more inside]
Biogen Boston Superspreader Event Tied to 300K+ COVID-19 Cases
Biogen Conference in Boston Now Tied to More than 300,000 Coronavirus Cases (NBC, Dec. 11, 2020; latest research paper; NYT link). On February 1, Massachusetts confirmed its first, and the USA's eighth, coronavirus patient (NBC). The Biogen leadership conference, held February 26-27 at the Boston Marriott Long Wharf, drew approximately 175 US and international attendees and was linked to eight cases of COVID-19 on March 6 (STAT News), 100 cases on March 17 (Biospace), and 20K cases by August 26 (TheScientist.com). Biogen has about 7,500 employees around the world. [more inside]
Don't get together for Christmas
Covid loves the holidays. A short, funny, nightmare-fuel video from the Government of Alberta. [more inside]
Endless Creation Out of Nothing
A universe is the greatest gift that an experimentalist could hope to get out of the vacuum. Inside, the gift might contain early atomists who consider the vacuum as empty, followed by scientists who end up creating a new universe out of it. What a spectacular interpretation that would be of Rilke’s phrase: "inexhaustible creation, enduring beyond the fate of earth."Endless Creation Out of Nothing
Fucking Cameras, How Do They Work?
Bartosz Ciechanowski explains how cameras and lenses work by building a simple camera from first principles, aided by plenty of interactive simulations.
And then they turned her into a frog
BDSM as a healing modality
New study on LGBTQ kinksters reveals BDSM's healing capabilities. NSFW reporter Ana Valens writes: "The age-old claim that 'BDSM is abuse!' has haunted online social media platforms like Tumblr and Twitter for years, much to kinksters’ dismay. But that argument now has one less leg to stand on. A new study reveals the myriad positive experiences LGBTQ people have within queer kink spaces and recommends therapists become more 'kink-aware' ..." [more inside]
The most popular museum on TikTok
From The Guardian: The Black Country Living Museum is an open-air attraction that tells the story of Britain’s early manufacturing history, set in the defiantly unstarry town of Dudley, in England’s industrial Midlands. Among the exhibits that have earned it a clutch of awards are two mine shafts, a lime kiln and a collection of postwar trolley buses. This month the visitor attraction gained another, more unexpected accolade, becoming – it believes – the most popular museum in the world on TikTok. [more inside]
Space Mail
General Horse and the Package of Doom is a full motion video space adventure. Marvel at the trailer! Features method acting and wigs galore. Here's a review at Buried Treasure, for a more in-depth look! [more inside]
Fully and robustly tested and meets the banking industry standards
For years the UK Post Office denied there were any fundamental problems with the Horizon software, provided by IT specialist Fujitsu. Instead, it blamed mistakes on dishonesty from sub-postmasters, who run most of its 11,500 branches.
Introduced in 1995 as a PFI deal costing £1 billion, problems with the system were first reported in early 2000.
Hundreds of post masters and other Post Office employees have since been jailed and financially ruined.
In 2019, class action civil litigation, brought by 550 sub-postmasters was settled by the Post Office.
In December 2020 the first sub-postmasters wrongly accused of theft and fraud have finally had their convictions quashed.
In 2019, class action civil litigation, brought by 550 sub-postmasters was settled by the Post Office.
In December 2020 the first sub-postmasters wrongly accused of theft and fraud have finally had their convictions quashed.
I think the mountains have meant more to me than people.
Given recent tragic news, perhaps a small celebration of one of the UK's other famous authors and climbers is in order: Gwen Moffat (Wikipedia). Deserting the military after World War II, she lived a life of adventure, becoming Britain's first female certified mountain guide, and supporting herself with whatever came to hand. This included writing 1961's bestseller Space Below My Feet (Google preview), and, ultimately, some 34 other books. You can see excerpts from an interview with the author herself in Jen Randall and Claire Carter's absolutely delightful 2015 short film Operation Moffat (skip to 2:15 to avoid the ridiculous RedBull intro) (acrophobia warning: the film itself contains cliff climbing. Nothing bad happens!). Bonus text interview.
The Injustices that Arise from the Accumulation of Wealth by One Person
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