A cosa servono i robotaxi? A molte cose, il semplice trasporto dal punto A al punto B a quanto pare non è l'unica e neanche la principale. A San Francisco, infatti, a quanto pare i robotaxi sono alcove viaggianti.

Money quote: "“We got in and just got straight to it, making out,” said Megan, who got into the Cruise wearing nothing but a robe. “One thing led to another, and he made sure that I was taken care of, if you will. … I was like, ‘I have no underwear on, and I am ready to go in this kimono.’ And I was using his slippers that were like five sizes too big.” "

https://sfstandard.com/2023/08/11/san-francisco-robotaxi-cruise-debauchery/

A quanto pare, le persone uditive sono cognitivamente diverse dalle persone visive. E chissà quante altre forme di diversità neurologica esistono. Perché l'idea che ci sia un solo tipo di persone (per di più di sesso maschile) è alquanto limitante oltre che limitata.

Money quote: "Our research is about how this simple choice influences people’s thinking. If the way a person thinks about incoming information is based only on the content itself, then it should not matter whether they hear or read it. But in recent experiments, we have found evidence that this seemingly inconsequential choice of modality does have an impact on how people reason."

https://psyche.co/ideas/do-you-think-more-clearly-when-reading-or-when-listening

I migliori libri per chi ama l'architettura - la mia booklist per Macity

https://www.macitynet.it/i-migliori-libri-per-chi-ama-larchitettura/

Sono allergico a cani e gatti quindi me per tutto questo è letteralmente fantascienza. Tuttavia, posso capire che la vera ricerca delle intelligenze aliene è sul nostro pianeta: è quella degli altri mammiferi superiori con i quali stiamo assieme tutti i giorni. (Voi, perlomeno, perché a me viene l'asma, oltre a puzzare di brutto).

Money quote: "When I was writing my first book on dog cognition, I asked my friend what he would like to know about a dog’s mind. At the time, he lived with Maggie, a good-natured mixed breed. “What does she know about me?” he said. His response has stayed with me, as it is not uncommon: People wonder not just what their dogs are thinking but what they are thinking about them—whether they see through our deceits or feel the love we feel for them."

https://archive.is/jjzDY

(Originale: https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2022/09/what-dogs-know-about-people/671454/ )

Stiamo decostruendo le nostre costruzioni mentali: concettuali, sociali e altro. Ad esempio, i dinosauri che governavano il mondo. Tutto questo e molto altro viene rimesso in fila con questo articolo. Aeon, e il sito gemello Psyche, stanno facendo un lavoro incredibile.

Money quote: "The last day of the Cretaceous was different, a cataclysm of unfathomable speed and violence. The flying pterosaurs, the coil-shelled ammonites and all dinosaurs but birds vanished, not to mention deep losses to surviving groups of creatures such as lizards and mammals. No species could have prepared for what was to come, even if they had somehow been granted foreknowledge of the calamity. Within minutes of impact, the ground under the feet of dinosaurs in ancient Montana began to shake from seismic shockwaves emanating from the strike. Only a few hours later, tiny chunks of rock, glass and other debris thrown into the atmosphere by the strike began to rain down all over the planet. No single particle had much of an effect, but together the millions of tons of byproduct produced by the impact created so much friction that the result was a horrific heat pulse – hot enough to cause dry forest tinder to burst into flame. Earth’s temperature was set to broil, turning the last non-avian dinosaurs into what could be described as Cretaceous chickens in the oven. The mammals, birds, lizards and other meek creatures that would survive that first day did so by finding shelter underground, little more than a few inches of soil or water shielding them from the global conflagration.

And that was merely the first day, followed by three years of a biting, impact winter that would almost bring photosynthesis to a halt and test the limits of biological resilience. About 75 per cent of all known species went extinct in a geological snap of the fingers."

https://aeon.co/essays/earths-story-is-not-about-dynasties-but-communities

Gli orologi sono una passione, tipicamente maschile. Chi non ce l'ha (la maggior parte degli abitanti del pianeta) non riesce a capire cosa la generi e a cosa serva. Letteralmente, non lo capisce. Ma per chi è stato morso dalla mania degli orologi, è un'infezione che non si cura più.

Beh, a vederla da fuori sembra una cosa da matti e non c'è molto di più da dire. In realtà, è tutto molto più complicato e sofisticato. E questo, il più grande collezionista e commerciante di Rolex al mondo, è in una sotto-sotto-sotto nicchia molto particolare. Alla quale aggiunge anche molto dal suo.

Money quote: "“Rolex has done an extraordinary job with its marketing, and still does — its ties to sport, Hollywood and so on — even to the point that it’s been criticized for running ad campaigns for watches nobody can buy,” explains Silver. “Does Rolex make the best watches in the world? No. They’re not even that rare — Rolex makes hundreds of thousands of watches every year. But there’s a genius in creating a brand and a product that’s so desirable to all creeds and walks of life. And the substance is there.”

“For me, as for a lot of people, it’s about the design, the colors, the outside of the watch,” he adds, noting that classic Rolex models the likes of the Oyster and Submariner are likely the most copied watches — by other watch brands, never mind counterfeiters — ever. “If I was in a hostage situation and had to name all the parts of a mechanical watch movement, I’d probably fail. Customers typically know more about watches than me. But I do know what sells. I know how to dress a watch up.”"

https://www.insidehook.com/article/watches/vintage-watch-company-worlds-largest-rolex-collection

Uno dei discorsi più lucidamente capace di predire il futuro, ancora attualissimo. Perdete dieci minuti a leggerlo, non ve ne pentirete.

Money quote: "They want to bring them up in space, they want to colonize the Moon, they can’t wait to go to Jupiter, much less Mars. They’re all very busy, they’re coming around, they even have long hair and they even have beards, and they come around and they say ‘Oh, I can’t wait to get into my first space shuttle!’—that is the future.

This is regarded as ecology and it’s not ecology. It’s futurism! It’s what Exxon wants to do. It’s what Chase Manhattan wants to do. It’s what all the corporations want to do. But it is not utopia, it is pure futurism. It is the present extended into the future."

https://unevenearth.org/2019/10/bookchin_doing_the_impossible/

Come trasformare un fastidioso ritardo nella partenza di un aereo in una opportunità di fare non solo buone PR ma anche notizia: lei e lui si incontrano mentre sono al bar che aspettano di partire, scocca la scintilla e oggi si sposano.

Money quote: "Liz Edwards, communications director at Tui UK, said: “No one likes a flight delay but this one was clearly meant to happen."

https://www.indy100.com/news/love-is-in-the-air-pair-to-marry-after-delayed-plane-led-to-chance-meeting

Non solo Heineken se ne va dalla Russia, ma la multinazionale olandese chiude la commercializzazione di tutti i suoi marchi in quel Paese. Come la globalizzazione è passata attraverso la diffusione uniforme di determinati prodotti in tutto il mondo (con la trasformazione di supermercati, ristoranti, negozi ovunque), così la sua amputazione delle carcasse in cancrena passa attraverso la cancellazione completa.

Money quote: "La cervecera holandesa Heineken ha completado la venta de sus operaciones en Rusia al Grupo Arnest al precio de 1 euro, una operación que supondrá que el grupo se anote una perdida acumulada total de unos 300 millones de euros."

https://www.elmundo.es/economia/empresas/2023/08/25/64e887e6e4d4d80c748b45ab.html

Lettura domenicale! Se vi piace la fotografia (a me piace!) e vi interessa provare a fare foto quadrate, che poi sarebbe il formato del 6x6, ecco qualche consiglio utile.

Money quote: "2 - A square frame is equal and balanced on all sides, which lends itself well to compositions that involve symmetry. Look for opportunities to split the frame equally on both sides with similar shapes, patterns, or reflections.

Placing the horizon line horizontally through the middle of the frame, along with a reflection works well for this, or try an upside down double exposure with the subject overlapping in the middle of the frame.

Symmetry can be used well in other aspect ratios too, but the square frame presents some unique opportunities for this technique."

https://shootitwithfilm.com/six-composition-tips-when-shooting-square-format/

Come perlopiù tutte le domeniche, la mia newsletter Mostly Weekly è anche online!

https://antoniodini.com/weekly/235/

Perché, al posto di un diario, non fare un "brag document", un testo dove ce la meniamo cioè flexiamo tutti i risultati che abbiamo raggiunto? Tipo, non solo per le promozioni, anche per tenerci su il morale quando serve.

Money quote: "There’s this idea that, if you do great work at your job, people will (or should!) automatically recognize that work and reward you for it with promotions / increased pay. In practice, it’s often more complicated than that – some kinds of important work are more visible/memorable than others. It’s frustrating to have done something really important and later realize that you didn’t get rewarded for it just because the people making the decision didn’t understand or remember what you did. So I want to talk about a tactic that I and lots of people I work with have used!

This blog post isn’t just about being promoted or getting raises though. The ideas here have actually been more useful to me to help me reflect on themes in my work, what’s important to me, what I’m learning, and what I’d like to be doing differently. But they’ve definitely helped with promotions!"

https://jvns.ca/blog/brag-documents/

Dopo 46 anni torna una versione abbastanza fedele (e persino retrocompatibile!) del mitico Atari 2600, che peraltro è stata la mia seconda console, la prima console a cartucce (sì, sono vecchio, lo so).

"Staying true to its iconic 1977 design, the Atari 2600+ keeps the fake wood grain panel and is compatible with actual Atari 2600 and 7800 cartridges. Don’t own any OG Atari cartridges? Not a problem! The Atari 2600+ comes with a 10-in-1 game cartridge with classics like Missile Command, Video Pinball, and Yars’ Revenge. No Pac-Man, Space Invaders, or Frogger, though, but if you still have the original cartridges, you can go crazy".

https://www.inverse.com/tech/atari-2600-plus-console-remake-hdmi-usb-ports

Questo è uno bravo a scrivere, ma la cosa che ha fatto è interessante per vari motivi oltre alla cosa in sé, tra i quali l'idea che oggi sempre più il lavoro di chi scrive sia di testimoniare in prima persona non quel che succede ma cosa si prova quando succede. È una differenza abbastanza radicale perché, ad esempio se uno fa un reportage dal mondo del cinema porno non ci si aspetta che partecipi a un film. Invece, Clive Thompson, che come ho detto è uno bravo davvero, ha fatto la stessa cosa. Solo, con la bici.

Money quote: "What’s the longest bike ride you’ve ever taken? Clive Thompson probably has you beat. In April, the journalist and author set out to bicycle across the entire country — coast-to-coast, 4,150 miles total — as part of the reporting for his next book.

He documented his trip in real time — 70 days, 10 weeks on the road, broken up by a brief return trip home — on Strava, the social app that tracks your bike rides, runs and hikes. Thompson is a lively and entertaining writer, a journalist who covers technology and science for the New York Times, Wired, the Smithsonian and on his own Medium page. He is the author of two books: “Smarter Than You Think: How Technology is Changing Our Minds for the Better” and “Coders: The Making of a New Tribe and the Remaking of the World.”"

https://www.bkmag.com/2023/08/21/from-brooklyn-to-astoria-oregon-what-its-like-to-bike-4k-miles-across-the-country/

Personalmente quando faccio una intervista prendo appunti al computer e cerco di trascrivere il più possibile fedelmente quello che la persona dice, nonostante tenga sempre una registrazione come backup. Questo perché mi aiuta a concentrarmi su quel che sta dicendo. Vuol dire scrivere un sacco (vado veloce sulla tastiera, più che non a penna) ma ha sempre funzionato così per me. Invece, in questo articolo, che non è rivolto a chi fa il giornalista, l'idea è esattamente l'opposto: scrivere a mano è meglio. Concordo su tutto tranne l'idea che non ci sia la memoria muscolare in funzione, perché scrivere a macchina velocemente non è concettualmente diverso dallo scrivere a penna

Money quote: "Researchers have found that note-taking associated with keyboarding involves taking notes verbatim in a way that does not involve processing information, and so have called this “non-generative” note-taking. By contrast, taking notes by hand involves cognitive engagement in summarizing, paraphrasing, organizing, concept and vocabulary mapping — in short, manipulating and transforming information that leads to deeper understanding."

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/note-taking-by-hand-a-powerful-tool-to-support-memory

Capire le Light novel - il mio articolo per Fumettologica

https://fumettologica.it/2023/09/capire-le-light-novel/

A quanto pare se uno ha fatto i vaccini per il covid sempre nello stesso braccio è vaccinato di più.

Money quote: "Study participants were randomized to receive both doses in one arm or the second dose in the opposite arm. Two weeks after receiving the shots, researchers discovered certain immune cells – commonly known as “killer T cells” – were detected in 67% of people who received both injections in the same arm versus only 43% of those who got them in different arms."

https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2023/08/17/arm-for-vaccine-shots-matter/70604228007/

Un giornalista è sopravvissuto ai grandi incendi avvenuti in Canada e spiega: ormai sta andando tutto a rotoli ed è solo colpa nostra. Non possiamo più fare finta di niente.

Money quote: "This was not another report of melting icecaps, rising oceans, blistering heat or unusual tornadoes somewhere far away; this was a horizon-to-horizon pall over us, rising from infernos across the great Canadian north that had been ignited by record temperatures, record drought and ceaseless lightning storms. Nothing like it had ever happened before — these wildfires began far earlier and spread far faster than usual, and they have burned far more boreal forest than any fire in Canada’s modern history."

https://archive.is/aVAo5

(Originale)

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/23/opinion/canada-wildfires-climate-change.html

Taiwan ha una cura per la miopia e la perdita di diottrie in generale. O almeno, così dicono. Perché dietro c'è un problema gigantesco che ci travolgerà tutti.

Money quote: "Myopia, or what we commonly call nearsightedness, happens when the eyeball gets too long—it deforms from soccer ball to American football—and then the eye focuses light not on the retina but slightly in front of it, making distant objects appear blurry. The longer the eyeball becomes, the worse vision gets. Ophthalmologists measure this distortion in diopters, which refer to the strength of the lens required to bring someone’s vision back to normal. Anything worse than minus 5 diopters is considered “high myopia”—somewhere between 20 and 25 percent of myopia diagnoses around the world are in this category. In China, up to 90 percent of teenagers and young adults are myopic. In the 1950s the figure was as low as 10 percent. A 2012 study in Seoul found that an astonishing 96.5 percent of 19-year-old men were nearsighted. Among high schoolers in Taiwan, it’s around 90 percent. In the US and Europe, myopia rates across all ages are well below 50 percent, but they’ve risen sharply in recent decades. It’s estimated that by 2050, half the world’s population will need glasses, contacts, or surgery to see across a room. High myopia is now the leading cause of blindness in Japan, China, and Taiwan.
If those trends continue, it’s likely that millions more people around the world will go blind much earlier in life than they—or the societies they live in—are prepared for. It’s a “ticking time bomb,” says Nicola Logan, an optometry professor at the UK’s Aston University. She wasn’t the only expert I talked to who used that phrase."

https://archive.is/JRsVX

Oggi si festeggiano i 20 anni dalla fondazione del sito del Papersera. Correva l'anno 2003...

Auguri, Papersera 🥳

https://l1nq.com/Ji46j

Il canone del surrealismo è legato a figure di artisti e performer di sesso maschile. Ma in realtà le donne c'erano e hanno avuto un ruolo fondamentale. Lo ha studiato all'inizio degli anni Settanta Gloria Feman Orenstein e adesso si può vedere bene in questo cortometraggio di Cheri Gaulke.

Money quote: "In Gloria’s Call, the Los Angeles-based artist and filmmaker Cheri Gaulke manifests Orenstein’s journey into the surreal with collage-like animations. Through her appropriately trippy visual style and glimpses of the mindbending work of these female surrealists, Gaulke illustrates the undeniable brilliance of a generation of artists who might have been overlooked were it not for a like-minded feminist critic."

https://aeon.co/videos/a-mindbending-trip-that-summons-the-forgotten-women-of-surrealism