2023-05-20
(next week there will not be an issue of Unfocused because I will be travelling)
Readings
An introduction to the sRGB colour space: https://www.tomshardware.com/reference/what-is-srgb-a-basic-definition
UFL researchers have demonstrated the ability to easily extract high-quality human DNA traces from areas people have passed through, raising some (I think easy) ethical questions: https://news.ufl.edu/2023/05/human-dna-everywhere-ethics/
Progress towards carbon capture and industrial use of its byproducts: https://phys.org/news/2023-05-catalyst-carbon-dioxide-sustainable-byproduct.html
Eye prostheses to cure some kinds of blindness may be near being a purchasable product: https://science.xyz/news/announcing-the-science-eye
Models of Uranus’ moons suggest four of them may have subsurface water: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/new-study-of-uranus-large-moons-shows-4-may-hold-water
Biomimicry-inspired hydrogel-based microfibers: https://techxplore.com/news/2023-05-self-healable-crack-resistant-hydrogel-microfibers-spider.html
By now most of us have probably heard about the fungus that can commandeer the bodies of certain flies; new research on the mechanisms of that: https://phys.org/news/2023-05-puppeteer-fungus-takeover-zombie-flies.html
Interesting to read about sensors with operating environments that are moving us closer (not there yet) to machinery that might function on Venus: https://techxplore.com/news/2023-05-sensors-high-temperatures-extreme-environments.html
How early medieval guilds worked (I don’t like the variant term “gilds” they use, but it’s apparently not just them):
Thoughts
Recently in some online arguments with Libertarians who want their system imposed on countries (I once also believed this), I found it useful to distinguish two (distinct and in this particular case opposing) notions of authoritarianism - procedural and contentful. Procedural authoritarianism is when someone would become the author of a society, setting up all of its laws and then locking many of them into place because of those laws’ presumed fairness. Contentful authoritarianism is based on a society having rules/laws that excessively constrain individual autonomy. The distinction became clear in the claims of authoritarianism that were flying back and forth between the sides; I think there’s a case to (potentially) be made for either, even though I think the level of sensitivity that a Libertarian or AnCap would have towards “excessively constrain” is set far too high.
One of the difficult things to manage to be a respectable intellectual (in my eyes) is to be just the right amount (and kind) of “alt”. I think it’s important to be willing to break from broadly held taboos, definitions, and the like, but ideally to do so with care and realise that when one steps away from the mainstream, if one is not careful one can easily end up in strange and often awful places. Some of the intellectuals I generally admire have fumbled here and there when they do this (one of my favourites ended up being strongman-curious for a bit, which was disappointing). It’s hard to get this kind of thing right.
One of the main stumbling blocks that stops DEI from actually being a way to reduce the degree that workplaces can be hostile is a lack of humilty and reflectiveness; the missing insight is that such programs themselves can and often do create hostile work environments, because they don’t realise that their asks often impinge on people as much as (if not more, because they’re usually policy) any behaviour they would clamp down on. This is why in my view DEI is almost never a real solution to problems, just a fake one that its proponents are irritatingly unable to see through.
Current Events
The Russian invasion of Ukraine continues, with Ukraine having weathered more attacks on its civilians using American anti-missile technologies and new aircraft delivery on its way. We’ve heard about both advances and losses near Bakhmut this week
The civil war in Sudan continues, with another peace deal between the two military forces ineffective. Neighbouring countries are attempting to remain neutral, and the war threatens to spill beyond its borders. There are new claims of ethnic cleansing in areas outside the capital.
Cyclone Mocha struck Burma and Bangladesh, with at least half a million people displaced
The Thai election saw pro-military political parties lose ground to others; it is unclear if the military will cede power (given that they removed the previous leaders in a military coup)
The Turkish election saw the fundamentalist AKP party retain power, while their leader Erdogan will need to face a run-off on the 28th to retain power
Syrian dictator al-Assad attended his first Arab League meeting since Syria’s expulsion years ago over Assad’s genocide (and Obama’s biggest foreign policy failure - isolating the regime over its atrocities without ensuring its removal)
In the US, the initial shape of the pool of Republican candidates for President are coming into shape
Reviewlets
Quantum Break (video game) - Replaying this after many years; I’m still struck by how well the story is put together, and Aidan Gillen (Irish actor) does a great job playing the hero/anagonist of the story (it’s bold of them to go with a story where the protagonist means well but dooms humanity). Unfortunately, the game (at least the Windows Store version, maybe the Steam version is better on this front) doesn’t handle modern graphics hardware very well, with horrible lighting issues. The game engine is also pretty dated and glitchy; overall the game doesn’t replay well in the modern era, even though people after story might rightly struggle through the issues for the highlights.
The Long War (Long Earth Scifi novel series) - This is the second in the series, and starts to dig into interesting topics over what nations are, the psychology they make, and why they make war, with the backdrop of the American Revolutionary War being a very noisy elephant in the room. I’m about a third of the way through and I’m enjoying how different-but-good it is from its predecessor.
Bulwark Live (in-person event) - This was an enjoyable way to spend an evening, significantly for the novelty. I appreciate spending time in spaces where people don’t share my politics but are still reasonably sane, and never-Trump conservatives are among the easier conservatives for me to do that with. It was often funny, and often insightful (very occasionally at the same time), and occasionally a bit uncomfortably spiteful (but again, I don’t share the personal sense of betrayal that pre-Trump conservatives have for Trump’s people - for me it’s just disgust). The venue is a place that has done a lot of varied events I’ve enjoyed, and it’s fine.
Amusements
Amusing but also saddening and very weird, it’s interesting to see a lawsuit filed by a LA HS student over her being prevented from advocating for alternatives to dairy milk; the school justified its restrictions on the basis that such advocacy could cost them their school lunch program under some unfortunate laws and USDA policy. https://gizmodo.com/la-teen-sues-school-district-over-non-dairy-milk-1850449063
A cute project to create one’s own POTS network: https://www.hackster.io/news/use-weebell-to-create-your-own-local-landline-telephone-service-9d6ad9624efb
Some theories as to the meaning of the ending of Time Bandits (a film that I love but think has a weak ending); I’m not sure if I buy these but they’re at least interesting:
Mostly amusing because it reads like something from the strata of tabloids that don’t try to be accurate, just weird: https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/05/cosmic-rays-reveal-hidden-ancient-burial-chamber-underneath-naples/
Another bit of weird science, Japan-based company Jizai Arms has given Doc Ock (a Spiderman villain who is far more interesting than the Spiderman character) fans something to think about: https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/ai-arms-controlled-by-humans
Recent Music
Say Uncle - Vienna Teng - About mourning and lost opportunities
Say it to me now - Glen Hansard - From a film on a topic I’m very sensitive about, but still a melancholy one to fit my current mood
Four Kinds of Horses (Bright-Side mix) - Peter Gabriel - I like the weird complexity of this piece; it brings to mind mental imagery of someone with a lot of static electricity walking along and having little sparks with every step