Winding Down
An idiosyncratic look at, and comment on, the week's net, technology, science and other news
by Alan Lenton
21 May 2023
Well, as you can see we are back on one of what seems a rare weekend that isn’t a UK holiday weekend! This week the essays section contains material on armaments, criminal gangs using encrypted phones, climate change, and finally the alternative right wing economy.
Next there is a piece on the AI Index, followed by material on the smallest armadillo species, and one on Roman roads.
There are two pictures this week, one an amusing painting of a lion (highly recommended) and the other of a group of sea lions. The quote is from Oliver Cromwell – short, to the point, and still valid today!
Finally, there is a slightly extended Scanner section to cover the gap in publications.. There are URLs covering summer heat, the threat to ground astronomy from satellites, a ludicrous PC gaming chair (a snip at US$2,099.00), New York sinking, the importance of moss, recharging aquifers, accidental foods, and crypto-casinos. Phew!
Enjoy!
Alan Lenton
Publishing schedule: Next issue will be published on 28 May, even though it’s a holiday weekend in the UK.
Credits: Thanks to Fi for editing, correcting errors, etc.
Essays:
New Left Review has an attention grabbing short piece in its free ‘Sidecar’ section. It looks at the arms industry, in particular the transition from named ‘Merchants of Death’ in the first part of the twentieth century to the ‘International Arms Industry,’ and what it means in the way we think of and accept it.
It’s a interesting read, highly recommended.
https://newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/death-merchants
The New Yorker has a story about a different set of ‘death merchants’ – criminal gangs – and their use of encrypted phone systems that turned out to have been cracked by the US and European police forces. At the time of going to press the article is available even if you don’t have a subscription, but I don’t know how long that will be for so if you are interested, I suggest you give the piece priority! It’s a fascinating, and frightening story.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/04/24/crooks-mistaken-bet-on-encrypted-phones
I’m not sure I agree with the conclusions of the next piece, but I think that it is important enough to draw people’s attention to. Basically it is a study looking at the climate, environment and energy crises as linked and what this means in terms of their possible solutions.
See what you think of its proposed solutions.
https://techxplore.com/news/2023-04-nuclear-power-environment-systematic-survey.html
Finally in this section, I’d draw your attention to the rise of a parallel right wing economy which is creating a safe haven for conservative (very conservative) influences banned by the mainstream media/online institutions.. Frankly, I had no idea it was so well organised with its own platforms, credit cards, payment systems and the like, not just conspiracies....
https://theconversation.com/the-parallel-economy-the-rightwing-movement-creating-a-safe-haven-for-deplatformed-conservative-influencers-201999
Artificial Intelligence:
AI is becoming a big issue, and it’s not going away any time soon, so I thought I would draw readers’ attention to the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence’s AI Index report, which appears annually. This works with many individuals and organisations in the field to track progress in artificial intelligence. Well worth keeping an eye on, given the way AI is continually in the news and exciting the politicians at the moment.
https://aiindex.stanford.edu/report/
Environment:
I couldn’t resist this. Earlier this year wandering around the web I came across a story about a creature called the pink fairy armadillo (Chlamyphorus truncatus). I thought it was spoof, but at the time we were nowhere near April Fools day, so I had a look round the net and found that it did really exist. It is the smallest of the armadillo family, and it is pink! It’s difficult to find because it lives only in one stretch of desert in Argentina’s Mendoza Province and burrows underground. It’s small enough to fit on an adult human hand. Need I say that it’s an endangered species?
I suggest you take a look at the article in Atlas Obscura, and mentally file the info away until someone tries one-upmanship on you!
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/pink-fairy-armadillo
As most people know the ancient Romans were in the habit of building roads. Usually straight roads, I might add. The strange thing about those roads is that although the purpose of those roads was to allow Roman soldiers to get from A to B as fast as possible, they also generated
prosperity wherever they went.
That, in itself is not surprising, if you make it easy for people to get to a place more people are likely to move into the area, and more people mean more customers to attract trade. What is weird, though, is the fact that 2,000 years later the routes of the Roman roads are still linking up areas of prosperity, even when the roads themselves no longer exist!
Fascinating!
https://www.sciencealert.com/ancient-roman-roads-still-have-a-mysterious-effect-even-when-they-vanish
Pictures:
This week’s picture is one of my favourites. It’s a detail from a fifteenth century painting, and I’m not going to spoil it by telling you anything more about it – you can read the blurb for yourself!
https://boingboing.net/2023/05/09/freaked-out-lion-is-getting-his-nails-done.html
There’s also a rather nice picture of sea lions on a rocky and wild coast line. Dramatic!
https://photocontest.smithsonianmag.com/photocontest/detail/the-dramatic-life-of-a-sea-lion/
Quotes:
In these turbulent times, I couldn’t think of a better quote to give, but this rather famous one from Oliver Cromwell:
“You have sat here too long for any good you have been doing. Depart, I say, and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go!”
Cromwell was addressing the UK’s Rump Parliament on 20 April 1653.
Scanner:
Hottest days are warming twice as fast as average summer temperature in north-west Europe – new research
https://theconversation.com/hottest-days-are-warming-twice-as-fast-as-average-summer-temperature-in-north-west-europe-new-research-205500
Satellite megaconstellations are threatening astronomy. What can be done?
https://www.space.com/satellite-megaconstellations-astronomy-dark-skies
I guess it’s the latest and hottest in chairs – eyeball the CLUVENS ScorpionPC Gaming Chair
https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Hot-selling-zero-gravity-CLUVENSScorpion_1600112626433.html
New York City could be sinking under the weight of its skyscrapers
https://www.sciencealert.com/new-york-city-could-be-sinking-under-the-weight-of-its-skyscrapers
‘We were gobsmacked’: giant study reveals why moss is vital for the planet
https://www.sciencealert.com/we-were-gobsmacked-giant-study-reveals-why-moss-is-vital-for-the-planet
Farmers used California’s “Atmospheric River” to recharge aquifers
https://reasonstobecheerful.world/california-farmers-atmospheric-river-recharge-aquifers/
Cryptocasinos are evolving worryingly fast – here’s how to get to grips with them
https://theconversation.com/cryptocasinos-are-evolving-worryingly-fast-heres-how-to-get-to-grips-with-them-205039
Footnote:
Please send suggestions for stories to alan@ibgames.com and include the words Winding Down in the subject line, unless you want your deathless prose gobbled up by my voracious Thunderbird spam filter...
Alan Lenton
alan@ibgames.com
21 May 2023
Alan Lenton is a retired on-line games designer, programmer and sociologist (among other things), the order of which depends on what he is currently working on! His web site is at http://www.ibgames.net/alan/index.html.
Past issues of Winding Down can be found at http://www.ibgames.net/alan/winding/index.html.
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