Kickoff For June 10, 2024
I've been thinking about the number of links that I put into each edition of the Kickoff. Mainly, is it just too many? I'd like your feedback. So if you could take a moment to participate in this anonymous poll, I'd appreciate it. The poll is open for the next six days. Thanks!
With that out of the way, let's get Monday started with these links:
Harry Houdini and the Art of Escape — wherein David Denby explores several sides, and several interpretations, of the famed escape artist to try to understand his motivations and his enduring appeal
From the article:
He was, for many, the ultimate immigrant success story—a sort of diminutive Liberty holding aloft a pair of empty handcuffs as his torch. He was the outsider who fights his way out of obscure and even sordid circumstances and finds distinction and public acclaim.
Why Tree Wells Are So Deadly For Skiers And Snowboarders — wherein we learn about a hidden hazard for people who partake in certain winter sports, and the problems that safety professionals have trying to predict where those hazards will be and trying to rescue victims.
From the article:
The best way to prevent death or injury from falling into a tree well is to always go out with a partner, and make sure you and that partner always stay within eyesight of each other. As long as someone sees another person fall into a tree well, the inherent risks are significantly reduced as it’s usually relatively easy to pull another person out.
We Need to Decarbonize Software — Wherein we learn a bit about the impact of software and unneeded data on the environment, and about the initiatives to make the processes around creating and running software greener.
From the article:
“It’s not just lines of code. Those lines have an impact on human beings,” says June Sallou, a postdoctoral researcher specializing in sustainable-software engineering at the Delft University of Technology, in the Netherlands. Because of AI’s societal impact in particular, she adds, developers have a responsibility to ensure that what they’re creating isn’t damaging the environment.
Our days are both rough and slippery. Hope brings traction — wherein John Lysaker writes a paen to the idea of hope and why it's something to grasp and hold on to, and not dismiss and scorn.
From the article:
Radical hopes are singular, both in what they endure and whatever future they bear. But they also disclose something general: hope aspires for something better than would otherwise be. And this is integral to hope’s beauty.
Pressure-and-Release: Writing Shanghai’s Rooftoppers — Wherein Aube Rey Lescure recounts her time spent researching daredevils for a novel, looks at why some Chinese youth partake in potentially deadly stunts above cities, and recalls time spent in China as a youth among those labelled problem students.
From the article:
In the rooftopping videos I watched, strong winds whip the rooftoppers’ clothes in a violent flap-flap-flap. Often you hear heavy breathing from the person recording. In a DW documentary, a Shanghainese young man called Jason scales a tower’s lightning rod conductor, and once at the very top, he lets go of any handholds, feet on a tiny grid, black baseball cap looking down at the dwarfed cityscape below. Only the most daring shots earn respect in the rooftopping community.
After Appalachian Hospitals Merged Into a Monopoly, Their ERs Slowed to a Crawl — Wherein we're reminded of the dangers of monopolies in health care (and of any kind), and the effects a monopoly can have on patients in need of immediate assistance.
From the article:
In the six years since lawmakers in both states waived anti-monopoly laws and Ballad was formed, ER visits for patients sick enough to be hospitalized grew more than three times as long and now far exceed the criteria set by state officials
How did the Big Bang get its name? Here’s the real story — Wherein we learn that the name used to describe event that's theorized to have created the universe was originally intended as a metaphor (and nothing more), and how it slowly became part of both scientific and popular nomenclature.
From the article:
None of the few cosmologists in favour of the exploding Universe, such as Lemaître and Gamow, was offended by the term. Hoyle later explained that he needed visual metaphors in his broadcast to get across technical points to the public, and the casual coining of ‘Big Bang’ was one of them.
Is This Ugly or Heroic? An Eyesore or Gem? What Is ‘Ugly’? — Wherein Martin Pedersen explores the titular idea, at least when it comes to architecture, and ponders just how subjective that idea is not only from person to person but also from era to era.
From the article:
Ugly was redefined in the 20th century, when the aesthetic gates were flung open, and a new ugly was suddenly present, an alternative universe of perception now defining two aesthetic attitudes like matter and antimatter.
Chevron owns this city's news site. Many stories aren't told — Wherein we learn about the dangers of a corporation owning and running what's essentially its own propaganda arm and how that company uses the news to control public discourse.
From the article:
Markets where news outlets shut down are often called news deserts. The Standard has created something of a news mirage: Stories are told — but with an agenda. Facts displeasing to Chevron are omitted; hard truths softened. The company is seeking to get its point of view across and to convey that it can be trusted.