Tag: Entertainment
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Does NASA know something?
NASA’s new probe to Venus reminds me of one specific animal. I wonder if the Venusians will agree?
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Say the black, do the red (reprint)
Batya is missing the point, intentionally or not: No admission that they got it wrong. No analysis of why. No discussion of how they demonized and silenced people who turned out to be right. Just gaslighting and distraction and a new topic for everyone to dance in lockstep to. It’s ok to be wrong. Everyone…
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It’s Pi Day!
Polistra and Happystar celebrate National Pi Day with a formal proof! = = = = = Sidenote: After this I posted a sort of followup to the Phlogiston item with some old info about eclipses that struck me as an interesting ‘debunk’. After more thinking, I realized it wasn’t interesting and didn’t disprove any conventional…
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New GenRad toy 2/2
Last year I bought an incomplete GenRad octave analyzer, as part of my overall move back to analog stuff. This machine is especially rare and useful, so it’s worth fixing. The microphone is missing, and I’ve been watching Ebay since then, hoping to grab up the mic or another ‘parts car’. So far no mic,…
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Nature wants us to match wits
Via UncommonDescent, a spider develops fiendishly clever strategies for catching and eating another spider. One group of jumping spiders, Portia, lures female spiders of another species (Eurytattus) to their deaths by mimicking the way a courting male spider shakes her nest and then attacking. They also attack web-building spiders by mimicking the tug on the…
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Kirn and McIntyre, even closer
A while back I compared Walter Kirn with Oscar Odd McIntyre. = = = = = START REPRINT: It struck me that Kirn’s short takes on Twitter are a close modern equivalent of McIntyre’s short takes in print. I tried to find more of McIntyre’s real columns, without luck. Though part of his work was…
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The magic lantern lasted longer…
Last year I delved into the intersection of science and entertainment in the 1850s, focusing on the Magic Lantern. = = = = = START PARTIAL REPRINT: I had thought the magic lantern was just a slide projector with light furnished by flame instead of electricity. The machine was partly similar, but the ACTUAL USE…
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Zenith
I haven’t made any new graphics in MANY months. I used up my graphics gumption during 2020, in a frantic outpouring of science as entertainment to counterbalance the Nazi torturers misusing “science” as a god of genocide. During most of 2021 I was just weary, bombarded with especially awful weather along with the torture. 2022…
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The missing element
After being relatively inactive for a couple months, American Radio Library is flooding their website with new and interesting materials. In previous post I was reading some Education in Radio journals from an arrogantly elitist group. Now a larger pile of more general discussions has appeared. From 1922 to 1952 to 2022, one crucial element…
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Extinct chords
Singing used to be universal. Everybody knew how to sing, and performers could count on an audience to sing together accurately if not in complex harmony. When competence starts early, extreme expertise gets a head start. I was discussing this point in journalism, and it also applies to music. With skills that require practice, a…
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A sharp rebuke to drabness
A sharp rebuke from Lulu Meservey, one of the Substack executives. Technology is magical. But the language of technology has become generic and sterile: “User” “Creator” “Device” “Content” We should go back to the days of Greek and Latin: “Television” (far-seeing) “ Automobile” (self-moving) “Facsimile” (made alike) Words that sound magical. = = = =…
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Neat graph
The Tonga eruption sent out a shockwave in the air as well as an underwater wave. A meteorologist in Iowa created an animated graph showing the wave passing over the entire US from west to east, based on sudden changes in barometer readings.
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Arnades of Christmas Past
Looking through American Radio History as usual, trying for some nostalgic connection with WIBW, my nocturnal input in the ’50s. In one of WIBW’s program guides from ’55, found this intriguing brief item. During the recent snowstorm we had an interesting personality visit our staff. Walter E. Divine, with long hair and beard, is riding…
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