Per noi, almeno per adesso, è marginale. Però questo ritratto di Ted Cruz è fichissimo.
Money quote: “His pitch for votes was still an off-the-rack Tea Party platform, complete with warnings about the menace of creeping progressivism, delivered at a slightly mechanical pace but with lots of punch. The woman next to me remarked, “This is the fire in the gut! Like he had the first time!” referring to Cruz’s successful long-shot run in the 2011 Texas Republican Senate primary. And it’s true—the speech was exactly like one Cruz would have delivered in 2011, right down to one specific detail: he never mentioned Donald Trump by name.”
https://harpers.org/archive/2018/11/the-tragedy-of-ted-cruz/
Money quote: “His pitch for votes was still an off-the-rack Tea Party platform, complete with warnings about the menace of creeping progressivism, delivered at a slightly mechanical pace but with lots of punch. The woman next to me remarked, “This is the fire in the gut! Like he had the first time!” referring to Cruz’s successful long-shot run in the 2011 Texas Republican Senate primary. And it’s true—the speech was exactly like one Cruz would have delivered in 2011, right down to one specific detail: he never mentioned Donald Trump by name.”
https://harpers.org/archive/2018/11/the-tragedy-of-ted-cruz/
Harper's magazine
The Tragedy of Ted Cruz
Does likability still matter in politics?
Cose che, secondo alcuni amici americani, stanno scomparendo
Money quotes:
Music CD’s - it was announced recently that a couple of big box stores are dropping them from their shelves.
The word “TWICE”. No, really! Just start listening out for it and you’ll notice that almost every TV advert that should be using the word will say “TWO TIMES” instead…and it’s spreading, I hear this ugly replacement for a perfectly good word in news stories too. Why? It’s a total mystery! (Of course “THRICE” already went the way of the Dodo…so…)
Stick-shift cars. Most new cars no longer come with the option to drive stick.
The grammatical rule that disallows “split infinitives” (Like “To boldly go where no man has gone before!”…which should strictly be “To go boldly…”)
In the USA - extending tape measures with inches on one edge of the tape and centimeters on the other. I broke mine a few months ago and neither of the local DIY stores have anything other than “Easy Read” tape measures with only inches. I had to hunt around online to find one that I could still order.
Cash. Already, several countries are considering completely abolishing cash…and a while back, I needed cash for something (I forget what) - and realized that I’ve had no cash in my wallet for more than two years!
Philips screw heads. (The ones like a plus sign) The replacement is the six-sided “torx” head screws (like a star sign) - and in some cases the Allen head - which is a regular hexagon. With the improvement in design of electric screwdrivers, the old philips screws (which are DESIGNED to strip under high torque to protect the tool from damage) are overdue for replacement.
Money quotes:
Music CD’s - it was announced recently that a couple of big box stores are dropping them from their shelves.
The word “TWICE”. No, really! Just start listening out for it and you’ll notice that almost every TV advert that should be using the word will say “TWO TIMES” instead…and it’s spreading, I hear this ugly replacement for a perfectly good word in news stories too. Why? It’s a total mystery! (Of course “THRICE” already went the way of the Dodo…so…)
Stick-shift cars. Most new cars no longer come with the option to drive stick.
The grammatical rule that disallows “split infinitives” (Like “To boldly go where no man has gone before!”…which should strictly be “To go boldly…”)
In the USA - extending tape measures with inches on one edge of the tape and centimeters on the other. I broke mine a few months ago and neither of the local DIY stores have anything other than “Easy Read” tape measures with only inches. I had to hunt around online to find one that I could still order.
Cash. Already, several countries are considering completely abolishing cash…and a while back, I needed cash for something (I forget what) - and realized that I’ve had no cash in my wallet for more than two years!
Philips screw heads. (The ones like a plus sign) The replacement is the six-sided “torx” head screws (like a star sign) - and in some cases the Allen head - which is a regular hexagon. With the improvement in design of electric screwdrivers, the old philips screws (which are DESIGNED to strip under high torque to protect the tool from damage) are overdue for replacement.
"Aquaman", grandi effetti speciali per una storia non irresistibile - la mia recensione per Fumettologica
http://www.fumettologica.it/2018/12/aquaman-recensione-film/
http://www.fumettologica.it/2018/12/aquaman-recensione-film/
Fumettologica
"Aquaman", grandi effetti speciali per una storia non irresistibile - Fumettologica
Aquaman è una pellicola nobilitata dagli effetti speciali, ben recitata ma assolutamente implausibile dal punto di vista della narrazione.
TLDR: siamo in guerra e non lo sapevamo. Non sembra che finirà bene.
Money quote: "The Information World War has already been going on for several years. We called the opening skirmishes “media manipulation” and “hoaxes”, assuming that we were dealing with ideological pranksters doing it for the lulz (and that lulz were harmless).
In reality, the combatants are professional, state-employed cyberwarriors and seasoned amateur guerrillas pursuing very well-defined objectives with military precision and specialized tools. Each type of combatant brings a different mental model to the conflict, but uses the same set of tools."
https://www.ribbonfarm.com/2018/11/28/the-digital-maginot-line/
Money quote: "The Information World War has already been going on for several years. We called the opening skirmishes “media manipulation” and “hoaxes”, assuming that we were dealing with ideological pranksters doing it for the lulz (and that lulz were harmless).
In reality, the combatants are professional, state-employed cyberwarriors and seasoned amateur guerrillas pursuing very well-defined objectives with military precision and specialized tools. Each type of combatant brings a different mental model to the conflict, but uses the same set of tools."
https://www.ribbonfarm.com/2018/11/28/the-digital-maginot-line/
JustWrite, quando la carta diventa digitale - Il mio articolo per La Stampa (a pagamento)
https://www.lastampa.it/2018/12/21/tecnologia/justwrite-quando-la-carta-diventa-digitale-BBFLE3vOe9uIaMwDPATz1L/premium.html
https://www.lastampa.it/2018/12/21/tecnologia/justwrite-quando-la-carta-diventa-digitale-BBFLE3vOe9uIaMwDPATz1L/premium.html
LaStampa.it
JustWrite, quando la carta diventa digitale
L’americana E Ink presenta il nuovo schermo pieghevole per ebook e tablet che non richiede alimentazione e permette di scrivere oltre che leggere senza affaticare gli occhi
Cinque anni fa arrivava l’ultimo Mac Pro. A quando il prossimo? - Il mio articolo per Macity
https://www.macitynet.it/cinque-anni-fa-arrivava-lultimo-mac-pro-a-quando-il-prossimo/
https://www.macitynet.it/cinque-anni-fa-arrivava-lultimo-mac-pro-a-quando-il-prossimo/
Macitynet.it
Cinque anni fa arrivava l’ultimo Mac Pro. A quando il prossimo? - Macitynet.it
La storia di un computer che non vuole cambiare e del mercato dei professionisti che forse non ne ha più bisogno
Mentre molti siti e canali Telegram si affannano a segnalare sconti e promozioni online (per massimizzare gli incassi con la percentuale prevista dai siti di ecommerce) c’è anche chi immagina un Natale differente. Questa è la stagione dell’anno in cui mi viene da pensare alla decrescita felice...
Forwarded from Scrivere zen
Tu ce l’hai una storia così da raccontare? https://www.internazionale.it/notizie/joe-pinsker/2018/12/20/niente-regali-a-natale 🎄🎅🏻
Internazionale
La gioia di non fare regali a Natale
Molte persone si ribellano al lato consumistico e stressante dello scambio dei regali, sperimentando nuove tradizioni e alternative che rispettano l’ambiente. Leggi
Strani mix: vegetarianesimo e femminismo delle origini, con il movimento delle suffragette. Ma pensa.
Money quote: “At the time, home cooking was considered to be almost exclusively a feminine task. So some suffragettes thought that cooking the likes of beans and grains, instead of meat, would make it less time-consuming. Others empathized with the subservient roles of animals in human society. One suffragette speaker, quoted by Leneman, argued that feminism and vegetarianism were entwined: so much so, that if a woman was unable to help the movement outside the home, even cooking vegetarian food for her family was a step towards empowerment. “Vegetarianism aims so directly, as we women aim, at the abolition of the unregenerate doctrine of physical force,” she said.”
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/what-did-british-suffragettes-eat
Money quote: “At the time, home cooking was considered to be almost exclusively a feminine task. So some suffragettes thought that cooking the likes of beans and grains, instead of meat, would make it less time-consuming. Others empathized with the subservient roles of animals in human society. One suffragette speaker, quoted by Leneman, argued that feminism and vegetarianism were entwined: so much so, that if a woman was unable to help the movement outside the home, even cooking vegetarian food for her family was a step towards empowerment. “Vegetarianism aims so directly, as we women aim, at the abolition of the unregenerate doctrine of physical force,” she said.”
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/what-did-british-suffragettes-eat
Atlas Obscura
How Vegetarian Food Fueled the British Suffragette Movement
Some even started a cafe.
Altra proposta: backup sicuro con BackBlaze: lo utilizzo da alcuni anni. Le verifiche che ho fatto sono ottime. Usando il mio codice avremo, sia io che voi, tre mesi gratuiti di utilizzo sottoscrivendo un abbonamento (equivale al 25% di sconto sul prosieguo del l’abbonamento). https://secure.backblaze.com/r/01ti3i
Criticando l’idea che le teorie in fisica debbano essere anche belle.
Money quote: “This has been going on for about 40 years. In these 40 years, aesthetic arguments have flourished into research programmes – such as supersymmetry, the multiverse and grand unification – that now occupy thousands of scientists. In these 40 years, society spent billions of dollars on experiments that found no evidence to support the beautiful ideas. And in these 40 years, there has not been a major breakthrough in the foundations of physics.
My colleagues argue that criteria of beauty are experience-based. The most fundamental theories we currently have – the standard model of particle physics and Albert Einstein’s general relativity – are beautiful in specific ways. I agree it was worth a try to assume that more fundamental theories are beautiful in similar ways. But, well, we tried, and it didn’t work. Nevertheless, physicists continue to select theories based on the same three criteria of beauty: simplicity, naturalness, and elegance.”
https://aeon.co/ideas/beauty-is-truth-truth-is-beauty-and-other-lies-of-physics
Money quote: “This has been going on for about 40 years. In these 40 years, aesthetic arguments have flourished into research programmes – such as supersymmetry, the multiverse and grand unification – that now occupy thousands of scientists. In these 40 years, society spent billions of dollars on experiments that found no evidence to support the beautiful ideas. And in these 40 years, there has not been a major breakthrough in the foundations of physics.
My colleagues argue that criteria of beauty are experience-based. The most fundamental theories we currently have – the standard model of particle physics and Albert Einstein’s general relativity – are beautiful in specific ways. I agree it was worth a try to assume that more fundamental theories are beautiful in similar ways. But, well, we tried, and it didn’t work. Nevertheless, physicists continue to select theories based on the same three criteria of beauty: simplicity, naturalness, and elegance.”
https://aeon.co/ideas/beauty-is-truth-truth-is-beauty-and-other-lies-of-physics
aeon.co
Beauty is truth, truth is beauty, and other lies of physics | Aeon Ideas
After spending billions trying (and failing) to support beautiful ideas in physics, is it time to let evidence lead the way?
La diversità culturale è una cosa seria. E anche un problema, per le grandi narrazioni globali. Ragione del malessere crescente nei confronti del “politicamente corretto”, probabilmente. Qui comunque si parla di Moana, cioè del film Disney Oceania (da noi, causa impraticabilità in un film Disney del nome di una notoria pornostar nostrana: altro problema sulla globalità dei concetti).
Money quote: “And I learned a lot. I learned that some people were upset about the presentation of Māui, a hero of Māori mythology, as vain and pretentious. Others were upset about the mixing together of importantly different traditions into one homogenous pan-Polynesian culture set on the fictional island of ‘Motunui’. Yet others, concerned about offensive cultural stereotypes, complained about the portrayal of Polynesian people as heavyset or overweight. And some complained about the ‘Kakamora’, an antagonist group in the film who look like coconuts with limbs, literally embodying a racial slur.
So I found out that some people were upset. But did I learn anything about the attitudes of Polynesians? Who gets to speak on behalf of such a diverse group as the indigenous people of more than 1,000 different islands, totalling nearly 700,000 people?”
https://aeon.co/essays/does-anyone-have-the-right-to-speak-on-the-behalf-of
Money quote: “And I learned a lot. I learned that some people were upset about the presentation of Māui, a hero of Māori mythology, as vain and pretentious. Others were upset about the mixing together of importantly different traditions into one homogenous pan-Polynesian culture set on the fictional island of ‘Motunui’. Yet others, concerned about offensive cultural stereotypes, complained about the portrayal of Polynesian people as heavyset or overweight. And some complained about the ‘Kakamora’, an antagonist group in the film who look like coconuts with limbs, literally embodying a racial slur.
So I found out that some people were upset. But did I learn anything about the attitudes of Polynesians? Who gets to speak on behalf of such a diverse group as the indigenous people of more than 1,000 different islands, totalling nearly 700,000 people?”
https://aeon.co/essays/does-anyone-have-the-right-to-speak-on-the-behalf-of
Aeon
Does anyone have the right to ‘speak on the behalf of’? | Aeon Essays
In the tapestry of diverse social groups, the loudest and most extreme get heard. To whom should we actually listen?
Forwarded from Fumettologica
Sbeffeggiato dai fan, deriso dalla critica, lo "Star Wars Holiday Special" compie quarant'anni ed è, nonostante tutto, uno dei prodotti più affascinanti della saga. Questa è la sua (strampalata) storia.
http://www.fumettologica.it/2018/12/star-wars-holiday-special/
http://www.fumettologica.it/2018/12/star-wars-holiday-special/
Fumettologica
Star Wars Holiday Special, storia del Natale in casa Skywalker - Fumettologica
Sbeffeggiato dai fan, deriso dalla critica, lo "Star Wars Holiday Special" compie 40 anni e rimane uno dei prodotti più affascinanti della saga.
Non solo Elon Musk: dietro di lui per guidare SpaceX c’è una grande donna: Gwynne Shotwell
Money quote: “Shotwell has rarely taken credit for any of this. “I try to run the company the way I think Elon would want me to run it,” she says. “He makes great decisions with good data. It’s irritating that he is right as often as he is.” That’s not to say he’s always right. Years earlier, Musk ordered Falcon Heavy canceled, forcing Shotwell, who’d been tipped off by another SpaceX employee, to sprint to a conference room and remind him that the U.S. Air Force, a critical customer, had already purchased a launch.”
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-07-26/she-launches-spaceships-sells-rockets-and-deals-with-elon-musk
Money quote: “Shotwell has rarely taken credit for any of this. “I try to run the company the way I think Elon would want me to run it,” she says. “He makes great decisions with good data. It’s irritating that he is right as often as he is.” That’s not to say he’s always right. Years earlier, Musk ordered Falcon Heavy canceled, forcing Shotwell, who’d been tipped off by another SpaceX employee, to sprint to a conference room and remind him that the U.S. Air Force, a critical customer, had already purchased a launch.”
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-07-26/she-launches-spaceships-sells-rockets-and-deals-with-elon-musk
Bloomberg.com
SpaceX’s Secret Weapon Is Gwynne Shotwell
“We’re doing really cool stuff.”
I cinque signori del telefono low cost - il mio articolo per Macity
https://www.macitynet.it/i-cinque-signori-del-telefono-low-cost/
https://www.macitynet.it/i-cinque-signori-del-telefono-low-cost/
Macitynet.it
I cinque signori del telefono low cost - Macitynet.it
Sono cinque i marchi che dominano il mercato degli “feature phone”. Da Nokia-Hdm a Samsung, ma ci sono anche altre aziende. E con apparecchi 4G con Whatsapp, batterie che durano una settimana e scocche industruttibili, anche il futuro sembra roseo
Visto che durante le vacanze di Natale spesso si è in viaggio, un po' di abc dell’hacking: come ottenere connessione senza limiti in hotel, stazione e aeroporti che la limitano a 15, 30, 45 minuti. Nei commenti, tecniche ancora più semplificate soprattutto se utilizzate Linux. Serve la riga di comando.
https://gkbrk.com/2018/12/free-hotel-wifi-with-python-and-selenium/
https://gkbrk.com/2018/12/free-hotel-wifi-with-python-and-selenium/
gkbrk.com
Free Hotel Wifi with Python and Selenium
Recently I took my annual leave and decided to visit my friend during the holidays. I stayed at a hotel for a few days but to my surprise, the hotel charged money to use their wifi. In $DEITY’s year 2000 + 18, can you imagine?
Un viaggio meraviglioso (e tecnico al limite della nausea) nella specifica dei CD audio. Per capire tutto, ma veramente tutto, e soprattutto poterli rippare come se non ci fosse mai stato un domani
Money quote: “The piano arrangement album 帰るべき城 by Altneuland was published in 2005. I discovered it in 2008 (probably on YouTube), downloaded the best copy I could find, and filed it away in the TODO list. Recent advances in international parcel forwarding technology let me buy a used copy last year, but when it arrived none of my CD drives could read track #3. This sort of thing is common when buying used CDs, especially if they need to transit a USPS international shipping center. I shelved it and kept on the lookout for another copy, which I located last month. It arrived on Friday, I immediately tried to rip it, and hit the exact same error. This didn’t seem to be an issue of wear or damage – the CD itself was probably defective from the factory.
I had three choices: accept an imperfect rip in my archives1, hope to find another copy some day that would rip successfully (unlikely), or somehow regenerate the original audio data from my corrupt copies. You already know which branch I took.”
https://john-millikin.com/%F0%9F%A4%94/why-i-ripped-the-same-cd-300-times
Money quote: “The piano arrangement album 帰るべき城 by Altneuland was published in 2005. I discovered it in 2008 (probably on YouTube), downloaded the best copy I could find, and filed it away in the TODO list. Recent advances in international parcel forwarding technology let me buy a used copy last year, but when it arrived none of my CD drives could read track #3. This sort of thing is common when buying used CDs, especially if they need to transit a USPS international shipping center. I shelved it and kept on the lookout for another copy, which I located last month. It arrived on Friday, I immediately tried to rip it, and hit the exact same error. This didn’t seem to be an issue of wear or damage – the CD itself was probably defective from the factory.
I had three choices: accept an imperfect rip in my archives1, hope to find another copy some day that would rip successfully (unlikely), or somehow regenerate the original audio data from my corrupt copies. You already know which branch I took.”
https://john-millikin.com/%F0%9F%A4%94/why-i-ripped-the-same-cd-300-times
John Millikin
Why I Ripped The Same CD 300 Times
A quanto pare l’articolo più importante tra quelli che ho condiviso qui nel 2018 è quello sulla tecnica di Feynman per imparare qualsiasi cosa. Visto che ci siamo, lo ripropongo come lettura di Natale. Auguri!
Money quote: “There are two types of knowledge and most of us focus on the wrong one. The first type of knowledge focuses on knowing the name of something. The second focuses on knowing something. These are not the same thing. The famous Nobel winning physicist Richard Feynman understood the difference between knowing something and knowing the name of something and it’s one of the most important reasons for his success. In fact, he created a formula for learning that ensured he understood something better than everyone else.”
https://fs.blog/2012/04/learn-anything-faster-with-the-feynman-technique/
Money quote: “There are two types of knowledge and most of us focus on the wrong one. The first type of knowledge focuses on knowing the name of something. The second focuses on knowing something. These are not the same thing. The famous Nobel winning physicist Richard Feynman understood the difference between knowing something and knowing the name of something and it’s one of the most important reasons for his success. In fact, he created a formula for learning that ensured he understood something better than everyone else.”
https://fs.blog/2012/04/learn-anything-faster-with-the-feynman-technique/
Farnam Street
The Feynman Technique: Master the Art of Learning
Master any subject with the Feynman Technique, a proven four-step method for effective learning. Dive into the art of choosing a concept, teaching it to a child, refining your understanding, and organizing your knowledge for continual growth. Discover how…
Il regalo di Natale del roaming nell'Unione Europea per il 2019 - Il mio articolo per Macity
https://www.macitynet.it/il-regalo-di-natale-del-roaming-nellunione-europea-per-il-2019/
https://www.macitynet.it/il-regalo-di-natale-del-roaming-nellunione-europea-per-il-2019/
Macitynet.it
Il regalo di Natale del roaming nell'Unione Europea per il 2019 - Macitynet.it
Dal 1 gennaio 2019 aumentano i gigabyte, sms e minuti disponibili in Europa per chi va temporaneamente in un altro paese dell'Unione. Ecco come funzionerà.
Quando chiesero a Bill Joy (avete presente BSD Unix?) come aveva fatto a scrivere uno stack TCP/IP migliore di quello Unix standard, rispose che aveva letto la documentazione e scritto il codice. Sembra una risposta arrogante o scema, ma a quanto pare anche in un approccio a due passi c’è un sacco di gente che riesce a perdersene per strada almeno uno.
Money quote: “For better or worse, Requests for Comments (RFCs) are how we specify many protocols on the Internet. These documents are alternatively treated as holy texts by developers who parse them for hidden meanings, then shunned as irrelevant because they can’t be understood. This often leads to frustration and – more significantly – interoperability and security issues.
However, with some insight into how they’re constructed and published, it’s a bit easier to understand what you’re looking at. Here’s my take, informed from my experiences with HTTP and a few other things.”
https://www.mnot.net/blog/2018/07/31/read_rfc
Money quote: “For better or worse, Requests for Comments (RFCs) are how we specify many protocols on the Internet. These documents are alternatively treated as holy texts by developers who parse them for hidden meanings, then shunned as irrelevant because they can’t be understood. This often leads to frustration and – more significantly – interoperability and security issues.
However, with some insight into how they’re constructed and published, it’s a bit easier to understand what you’re looking at. Here’s my take, informed from my experiences with HTTP and a few other things.”
https://www.mnot.net/blog/2018/07/31/read_rfc
«Oggi, Natale, è anche l'anniversario della morte del celebre scrittore e intellettuale Robert Walser. Walser scrisse, tra l'altro, il libro "La passeggiata". Morì d'improvviso mentre si faceva una passeggiata. Dal che ho concluso che il titolo del mio prossimo libro sarà "La modella di lingerie"» (R.R.Corsi, resident poet di Mostly, I Write)