March 16, 2022
Software With Infinite Patience
Who was Thomas Buchler, the late creator of beloved Torah program TropeTrainer? And can anything be done to revive his life’s work? S.I. Rosenbaum recounts the surprisingly complex story for Input.
Marie-Louise Christophe, Queen of Haiti
The Fanm Rebèl Project, "Marie-Louise Christophe: A Haitian Queen in Great Britain" (30 mins.): "In 1821, one year after the death of the Haitian King Henry Christophe, his widow, Marie-Louise Christophe, immigrated to England." "Account of Marie-Louise Christophe in Pisa." Last Will and Testament. Project gallery. See also La Gazette Royale d'Hayti: "Here, you can journey through the northern government of Haiti's official newspapers and explore its yearly almanacs," including a four day (untranslated) account of the fête of Queen Marie-Louise. Related: Marlene L. Daut writing for Aeon on "How a utopian vision of Black freedom and self-government was undone" (also portrayed in a ~5 minute animation; cw: suicide).
Avtar Singh Jouhl - How One Man Helped Desegregate Britain’s Pubs
Breaking the Color Bar - David Jesudason, writing at Good Beer Hunting
During the early 1960s, the IWA used these tactics in the town’s pubs, organizing pub crawls with white left-wing university students who would buy their comrades of color pints in a nationwide campaign. When landlords noticed the color bar was being broken, they would bar the “offenders,” and campaigners such as Jouhl would then give evidence at licensee meetings, which resulted in some pub landlords losing their licenses. [more inside]
During the early 1960s, the IWA used these tactics in the town’s pubs, organizing pub crawls with white left-wing university students who would buy their comrades of color pints in a nationwide campaign. When landlords noticed the color bar was being broken, they would bar the “offenders,” and campaigners such as Jouhl would then give evidence at licensee meetings, which resulted in some pub landlords losing their licenses. [more inside]
Circus Mircus brings the funky earworm to Eurovision 2022
Back in November, Earthlings received an intriguing message from Circus Mircus, the Georgian representative for Eurovision Song Contest 2022. On March 9 they released the addictive Lock Me In, foregoing the official video in solidarity with Ukraine. [more inside]
it's about ethics in drug discovery
Dual use of artificial-intelligence-powered drug discovery (Urbina, F., Lentzos, F., Invernizzi, C. et al. Nat Mach Intell (2022):
Our drug discovery company received an invitation to contribute a presentation on how AI technologies for drug discovery could potentially be misused. The thought had never previously struck us.... When we think of drug discovery, we normally do not consider technology misuse potential. We are not trained to consider it, and it is not even required for machine learning research.[more inside]
Sky Was All Orange
Guessopotamia
Globle! It's Wordle, but for globes. Well actually there's just one globe, and you have to guess a country. And it hasn't been bought by the New York Times. But the globe spins and it's 3D, and real snazzy! You get the idea. A game by @theAbeTrain. [more inside]
Yet another example of systemic racism in the UK
Two years ago, teaching staff at a London school "smelled cannabis" on a fifteen year old child. Despite searching her bag, clothes and shoes and finding nothing, the police were called. [CW: sexual abuse of a minor by police] [more inside]
A Man in a High Castle
A Holocaust Survivor's Hardboiled Science Fiction [ungated] - "Though he rarely discussed them, Stanisław Lem's experiences in wartime Poland weighed on him and affected his stories." (previously) [more inside]
Inside the Succession Drama at Scholastic
When the CEO of Scholastic died suddenly last year, he left control of the family empire to a former colleague—his ex-girlfriend. Now there may be a showdown brewing over billions of dollars in kids’ fare.
« Previous day | Next day »