№ 770. "Hearsay is not excluded"

№ 769. Walking Up to Non-Binary Dreams

Online Academic Community

It measures just 4cm squared but it possesses almost inconceivable speed.

Google has built a computing chip that takes just five minutes to complete tasks that would take 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 years for some of the world’s fastest conventional computers to complete.

That’s 10 septillion years, a number that far exceeds the age of our known universe and has the scientists behind the latest quantum computing breakthrough reaching for a distinctly non-technical term: “mindboggling”.

The new chip, called Willow and made in the California beach town of Santa Barbara, is about the dimensions of an After Eight mint, and could supercharge the creation of new drugs by greatly speeding up the experimental phase of development.

Reports of its performance follow a flurry of results since 2021 that suggest we are only about five years away from quantum computing becoming powerful enough to start transforming humankind’s capabilities to research and develop new materials from drugs to batteries, one independent UK expert said. Governments around the world are pouring tens of billions of dollars into research.

Significantly, Willow is claimed to be far less prone to error than previous versions and could swell the potential of the already fast-developing field of artificial intelligence.

Quantum computing – which harnesses the discovery that matter can exist in multiple states at once – is predicted to have the power to carry out far bigger calculations than previously possible and so hasten the creation of nuclear fusion reactors and accelerate the impact of artificial intelligence, notably in medical science. For example, it could allow MRI scans to be read in atom-level detail, unlocking new caches of data about human bodies and disease for AI to process, Google said.

№ 768. What is Sexism in Language?

 

Gender-Fair Language

№ 767. The Salt Doll

Screenrant

A salt doll journeyed for thousands of miles over land until it finally came to the sea. 

It was fascinated by this strange, moving mass quite unlike anything it had ever seen before. 

‘Who are you?’ the Salt Doll asked the sea. 

The sea smilingly replied, ‘Come in and see.’ 

So the doll waded in. The farther it walked into the sea, the more it dissolved until there was only very little of it left.

Before that last bit dissolved, the doll exclaimed in wonder, ‘Now I know what I am!’”

№ 766. Anomie

Quora

№ 765. Dilbert's Business Intelligence

 

№ 764. Serenity Prayer 2025-2029

 

№ 763. The World in 2050

 

№ 762. The Ink Spots

 

№ 761. Happy Feet 2

Quezon City, February 2024

“At some point, all the horizontal trips in the world stop compensating for the need to go deep, into somewhere challenging and unexpected; movement makes most sense when grounded in stillness.In an age of speed, I began to think, nothing could be more invigorating than going slow. In an age of distraction, nothing could feel more luxurious than paying attention. And in an age of constant movement, nothing is more urgent than sitting still.” --- Pico Iyer

Uluru / Ayers Rock, Norther Territory, Australia, July 2023

№ 760. Disney Vacation Plan

 

№ 759. Elderly Filipino Week

 Film showing for the office celebration of Elderly Filipino Week

№ 758. Worth of Human Life

In many studies the value also includes the quality of life,

the expected life time remaining, as well as the earning potential

of a given person especially for an after-the-fact payment

in a wrongful death claim lawsuit.

№ 757. The Bygones

 

№ 756. Friends

Screenrant

It was on a night out in 1995 in Los Angeles that Friends writer Adam Chase realised the show had become a phenomenon. Out for dinner, while he was writing season two, he overheard a conversation. People weren’t just talking about Friends: they were quoting it. “It became a constant,” he says. “You would go out and you would hear at least one or two people quoting our jokes, arguing about whether they were a ‘Rachel’ or a ‘Monica’.”

That was just the start. Launched 30 years ago this month, the sitcom – which followed six twentysomethings living in New York, largely hanging out in the fictional coffee shop Central Perk – would become a cultural touchpoint for a generation. At its height, it was broadcast in 60 countries, each episode watched by 22 million viewers, all bewitched by sarcastic roommates Chandler (Matthew Perry) and Joey (Matt LeBlanc), uptight siblings Ross (David Schwimmer) and Monica (Courteney Cox), spoiled-but-sweet Rachel (Jennifer Aniston), and kooky Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow).

№ 755. If It Ain't Broke....

 

№ 754. Para Kay G - September 11, 2009

№ 753. Tipas Bakery

 

№ 752. Red

 

 

№ 751. Paris Flea Market at Saint Ouen

 

№ 750. Bill Watterson's Speech

SOME THOUGHTS ON THE REAL WORLD BY ONE WHO GLIMPSED IT AND FLED

Bill Watterson
Kenyon College Commencement
May 20, 1990

№ 749. Meaning v. Happiness

Meaning

Yet another relatively uncontroversial element of the concept of meaningfulness in respect of individual persons is that it is logically distinct from happiness or rightness (emphasized in Wolf 2010, 2016). First, to ask whether someone’s life is meaningful is not one and the same as asking whether her life is pleasant or she is subjectively well off. A life in an experience machine or virtual reality device would surely be a happy one, but very few take it to be a prima facie candidate for meaningfulness (Nozick 1974: 42–45). Indeed, a number would say that one’s life logically could become meaningful precisely by sacrificing one’s well-being, e.g., by helping others at the expense of one’s self-interest. Second, asking whether a person’s existence over time is meaningful is not identical to considering whether she has been morally upright; there are intuitively ways to enhance meaning that have nothing to do with right action or moral virtue, such as making a scientific discovery or becoming an excellent dancer. Now, one might argue that a life would be meaningless if, or even because, it were unhappy or immoral, but that would be to posit a synthetic, substantive relationship between the concepts, far from indicating that speaking of “meaningfulness” is analytically a matter of connoting ideas regarding happiness or rightness. The question of what (if anything) makes a person’s life meaningful is conceptually distinct from the questions of what makes a life happy or moral, although it could turn out that the best answer to the former question appeals to an answer to one of the latter questions.

№ 748. The Ghost Month, Love & Other Monsters

Pacita Abad's 

MY LIFE AND YOUR LIFE, 2002

№ 747. Carl Sagan & Science

“Science is more than a body of knowledge.

 

It is a way of thinking; a way of skeptically interrogating the universe with a fine understanding of human fallibility. If we are not able to ask skeptical questions, to interrogate those who tell us that something is true, to be skeptical of those in authority, then, we are up for grabs for the next charlatan (political or religious) who comes rambling along.” 

― Carl Sagan

Note Bene:

"Science is looking for a conclusion for explain their evidence, and religion is looking for evidence to support their conclusion." --- a misguided fool.

I think about them, therefore, they exist.

№ 746. NFL & Pilates

Medium

№ 745. Tennis, Djokovic's Gold & the Paris 2024 Olympics

Forbes

№ 744. Good News Monday

 

Medal Tally as of August 5, 2024

№ 743.Happy Habits

Pinterest

№ 742. Civil v. Common

Sprouts Schools

№ 741. Tarzan, Olympic Opening Ceremonies, Scandals & Other Trivia

 OPENING CEREMONIES from 1908 London to 2016 Rio de Janeiro

№ 740. Money = Happiness?!

X

№ 739. ‘I eat no for breakfast.’

Washington Post

№ 738. Manila Extract 4 (West Philippine Sea)

Manila Times

You are tense.
A Gordian knot
kneaded by diplomacy.

You are pawn.
Cross hairs
of myths and murmurs.

You are Manila.
Unspooled lances
stirring tempest in the sea.

№ 737. The Politics of the Mind

Mindfulness

№ 736. Never-Mind Friday

 

Mindfulness

№ 735. Circle of Life

 

№ 734. Beethoven's 9th Symphony

Robert Loves Pi

№ 733. The CEO as a Leader

Marketoonist

№ 732. The US Supreme Court

The Philadelphia Inquirer

№ 731. Chinese in the Philippines & Southeast Asia

Geography Politics & Maps

№ 730. Flying is safe.

Safety Infographic

№ 729. Creative Writing

With his customary wisdom and wit, Vonnegut put forth 8 basics of what he calls Creative Writing 101:


1.  Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.

2.  Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.

3.  Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.

4.  Every sentence must do one of two things—reveal character or advance the action.

5.  Start as close to the end as possible.

6.  Be a sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them—in order that the reader may see what they are made of.

7.  Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.

8.  Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To heck with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.

№ 728. Renewable Energy

 

Our World in Data

A cleaner, more sustainable form of energy, renewables draw power from natural sources such as the sun (solar), wind (aeolian), ocean (marine), rivers (hydroelectric), and the Earth’s internal heat (geothermal). However, this also means they can be affected by environmental, seasonal and daily cycles that can limit their use or efficiency. As such, renewable energy cannot always consistently produce energy at all hours of the day – this is called intermittency. 

Solar and wind farms energy production in Europe have been known to fluctuate between 0 to 23 and 24GW of energy respectively during peak times. While these peak production periods provide a large share of energy, the sometimes unpredictable lulls are what define the intermittency of renewables. This intermittency is contrasted by the constant power output that can be generated by fossil fuel-based power plants using coal or natural gas, this has often been referred to as base-load energy. These power plants are able to provide a constant source of energy but do so at the cost of the environment. 

 Intermittency has always been an issue limiting the growth of renewable energy, but the development of high-capacity batteries capable of storing large quantities of power has changed that. Being able to store excess energy produced by renewable energy during peak cycles, storage provides power grids with the ability to tap into those reserves when the cycles dip – negating the intermittency of renewables. Recent studies have shown that the use of large-scale batteries in the United States could both help reduce renewable energy infrastructure costs and provide over 80% of the nation’s power demands through sustainable energy.

№ 727. Food Security in the 21st Century

UN Food and Agriculture Organization

№ 726. Taxation of Streaming Platforms

Canada has ordered large online streaming services to pay 5 percent of their Canadian revenue to the government in a program expected to raise $200 million per year to support local news and other home-grown content. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) announced its decision yesterday after a public comment period.


"Based on the public record, the CRTC is requiring online streaming services to contribute 5 percent of their Canadian revenues to support the Canadian broadcasting system. These obligations will start in the 2024–2025 broadcast year and will provide an estimated $200 million per year in new funding," the regulator said.

Tax Foundation

№ 725. Something Inside So Strong

№ 724. “Omnia ex scrineis praeter stilum”

 

№ 723. Beyond Borders: Fratelli Tutti

World Nationalism

"3. There is an episode in the life of Saint Francis that shows his openness of heart, which knew no bounds and transcended differences of origin, nationality, colour or religion. It was his visit to Sultan Malik-el-Kamil, in Egypt, which entailed considerable hardship, given Francis’ poverty, his scarce resources, the great distances to be traveled and their differences of language, culture and religion. That journey, undertaken at the time of the Crusades, further demonstrated the breadth and grandeur of his love, which sought to embrace everyone. Francis’ fidelity to his Lord was commensurate with his love for his brothers and sisters. Unconcerned for the hardships and dangers involved, Francis went to meet the Sultan with the same attitude that he instilled in his disciples: if they found themselves “among the Saracens and other nonbelievers”, without renouncing their own identity they were not to “engage in arguments or disputes, but to be subject to every human creature for God’s sake”. [3] In the context of the times, this was an extraordinary recommendation. We are impressed that some eight hundred years ago Saint Francis urged that all forms of hostility or conflict be avoided and that a humble and fraternal “subjection” be shown to those who did not share his faith.

4. Francis did not wage a war of words aimed at imposing doctrines; he simply spread the love of God. He understood that “God is love and those who abide in love abide in God” (1 Jn 4:16). In this way, he became a father to all and inspired the vision of a fraternal society. Indeed, “only the man who approaches others, not to draw them into his own life, but to help them become ever more fully themselves, can truly be called a father”. [4] In the world of that time, bristling with watchtowers and defensive walls, cities were a theatre of brutal wars between powerful families, even as poverty was spreading through the countryside. Yet there Francis was able to welcome true peace into his heart and free himself of the desire to wield power over others. He became one of the poor and sought to live in harmony with all. Francis has inspired these pages."

№ 722. End Game: Retirement

Tanseco

But of course, retirement is only common in the middle class in the Philippines, where you’d need at least P5 million to live comfortably in retirement. Most Filipinos work until old age, but big family units make it easier to pull back from working in your later years.

Big 7 Travel ranked its Best Places to Retire list based on a number of factors, namely: quality of life, cost of living, rent index, restaurant price index, average annual temperatures, the easiness of obtaining a visa or residency, healthcare, hospitality, language barriers, and the range of things to do.

The Philippines, surprisingly, ranked higher than Luxembourg, Ireland, and New Zealand. Meanwhile, the best countries to retire in are Slovenia, Portugal, Estonia, Spain, and Paraguay. But you won’t have to fly halfway across the world for a cozy retirement community when you can find it right here in the Philippines.

№ 721. May 1 is Labor Day

Pablo Baen Santos, Labor and Monkey Business, 2010,

Oil on canvas, 6 x 7 ft

№ 721. Rilke & Kafka

Poets

№ 720. Happy Feet: Paris

№ 719. The Cruellest Month

April Fools

April is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
Winter kept us warm, covering
Earth in forgetful snow, feeding
A little life with dried tubers.

--- TS Eliot

№ 718. Lau Pa Sat

 

№ 717. Typefaces & Fonts

When you read — a book, a traffic sign, a billboard, this article — how much do you really notice the letters? If you’re like most people, the answer is probably not at all.

But even if you don’t really notice them, you might sense it if something has subtly changed. That’s a feeling some people have had in recent weeks when they turn on their Microsoft Word programs.

Glasbergen

№ 716. Change, Direction and Speed

 

№ 715. Goodbye, Things.

7 Powerful Lessons from "Goodbye, Things: The New Japanese Minimalism" by Fumio Sasaki:

1. Happiness Comes from Within, Not Possessions: The book argues that the pursuit of material possessions often leads to stress, anxiety, and a sense of emptiness. True happiness comes from cultivating meaningful relationships, pursuing passions, and living in alignment with your values.

2. Decluttering is a Liberating Experience: Letting go of excess belongings can be a deeply liberating experience. It can free up your physical space, mental energy, and emotional baggage. This allows you to focus on what truly matters and live a lighter, more fulfilling life.

3. Less is More: Sasaki advocates for a minimalist approach to life, suggesting that having less paradoxically leads to more. With fewer possessions, you have more time, energy, and freedom to pursue your passions and experience life to the fullest.

4. Curate Your Space, Reflect Your Values: The book encourages you to surround yourself with only objects that bring you joy, utility, or beauty. This creates a space that reflects your values and priorities, fostering a sense of peace and well-being.

5. Gratitude for What You Have: By focusing on the things you own and appreciate, rather than what you lack, you cultivate a sense of gratitude and contentment. This shift in perspective leads to a more positive and fulfilling life.

6. Quality over Quantity: The book encourages prioritizing quality over quantity when acquiring possessions. Invest in fewer, well-made items that you truly cherish and use regularly, rather than accumulating cheap, disposable goods.

7. Minimalism is a Journey, Not a Destination: Sasaki emphasizes that minimalism is not about achieving a perfect state of emptiness. It's a continuous process of decluttering, evaluating, and refining your relationship with your possessions. The goal is to live with intention and purpose, focusing on what truly matters to you.

Letting go of things can be challenging, but the rewards are significant. By embracing minimalism, you can create a life that is more intentional, fulfilling, and free from the burdens of material possessions.

BOOK: https://amzn.to/498vw6o

№ 714. Emotional Weather Report

Big Brother sells. It sells because it still entertains --- even in this 21st century age of TikTok, crypto-x, and AI. The video bites are such a guilty pleasure, much like eye candy or caffeine.

Calvin & Hobbes

№ 713. Why Add Salt to Tea?

Meanwhile, in the Twitter-verse

№ 712. Success

№ 711. Leron Leron Sinta from Sweden

 

№ 710. Emotional Weather Report