in search of the maximum disrespect-per-action function

April 25, 2022

Welcome to Corgi-Class Starship, the newsletter that urges everyone within range of this transmission to see EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE immediately 

You'll Like This

Update(s) on thing(s) I made or somehow helped to bring about.Idea Factory GiveawayThe thing about having a 4yo and a baby who doesn't yet sleep through the night is that you can't put them in the same room together overnight, and it's also not possible to put yourself in the room with him without causing even more sleep complications. Long story short, we're sleeping in the office (the house's third and possibly actual master bedroom, considering it has the attached half bath) on the pull-out couch, which is also where my computer is, so the edit on the last episode we recorded (which admittedly was last year) still isn't quite complete. But it'll get there someday!As of the time of this writing, there are still not only 43 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ratings, but someone managed to slip past the perimeter and enter another lovely review, which I only just saw now! Whoever you are, you have not only our thanks but our favor should we ascend to the throne. The rest of you: a new standard has been set!!Instant Band Night 15: TIME WARPJuly 14th! The line must be drawn here and no further!! We WILL have an explosive celebration of musical creativity that must be seen to be believed, and you! will! be! there! (Eventbrite) (Facebook)+ +  r e t u r n i n g   i n   2 0 2 2  + ++ +  h a n g   i n   t h e r e  + + 

Medium Ramble

Skippable if you're in a hurry.A question I've asked different groups of friends (and also Twitter): let's say you're standing in front of someone you dislike. You blow your nose directly into your hand (no tissue); which of the following is the more disrespectful gesture: 

  1. Slapping them in the face with your snot hand

  2. Wiping your snot hand onto their shirt, like right on the chest under the neck or something

The first one feels like the right answer at first, but ever since formulating the question, I'd harbored a vague but inescapable suspicion that the true answer was actually the second option. A buddy of mine made the point that the slap's violence (mild though it may be) would always be the overriding aspect of the first option -- it makes it about the slap first and foremost. The second one shows more contempt in a "you are beneath me" sort of way. Plus, depending on how germophobic they are and how messy your snot is, maybe they have to go home and change their shirt right away: you've derailed their whole day, or at least the next hour or two. "Not only do I not respect you, I don't respect your time, motherfucker." I'm trying to derive the most efficiently contemptuous gesture possible in case I ever come face to face with Trump or Mitch, basically. 

#dadthoughts

Also skippable if you're in a hurry or don't care. No judgment.Short one today: Felix keeps getting teeth, but also his mobility powers are growing: having more or less mastered the side roll, the spin-in-place on his tummy, and the backwards scoot, we think any day now he's going to figure out how to scootch himself forward or even just start crawling. He just turned 9mo, that's how it works, right? 

Fascination Corner

I read a lot of newsletters; here are some links that caught my eye. 

  • "Only One Blue State Is Fully Preparing for the Next Phase of the Abortion Wars" (Slate) 

  • Read this if you would like to get very mad at capitalism! (Brookings Institute) 

  • Dolls are apparently big right now? (~$Elle) 

  • The almost unbelievably hubristic cryptocurrency concept of "code is law" let an attacker pull off a perfectly valid heist of $182 million in about 13 seconds. Great work, everybody! (The Verge) 

  • Hmm: "The Internet is Made of Demons" (Damage) 

  • Some Engineers have figured out how to 3D print things that contain solids and liquids. (CU Boulder) 

  • Individual Starbucks are going to keep on unionizing, looks like! (Vice) 

  • Community input: maybe not a great idea after all. (~$Atlantic) 

  • The world's coral reefs are in serious goddamn trouble. (U of Leicester) 

  • Analysis seems to show that people with imposter syndrome tend (understandably) to be more other-oriented, which makes them better team players at work. (Science Alert) 

  • Some Engineers have demonstrated the potential of nanoscale robots working in swarms. (Hokkaido U) 

  • This is one study whose paper I want to read just to see how they handled biases, because wow: The Scientists built an algorithm based on thousands of impressions of computer-generated faces that gives opinions on real faces: intelligent? electable? trustworthy? etc. (Stevens Institute of Tech) 

  • Holy shit, I'm glad someone thought of this: what about turning old oil wells into geothermal power sites? (Recode) 

  • At least one new computer model of the oceans seems to think a bunch of ocean currents will actually speed up as the climate warms. (Scripps UCSD) 

  • It's early days for "holoportation" technology right now, but that doesn't stop its pioneer users from being endearingly nerdy in the photos. (Science Alert) 

  • The Scientists have done some highly important work in the field of Oreo-splitting research. (Vice) 

  • A recent study seems to indicate that if you pay Fox News watchers to give CNN a try instead, some of their brains will somewhat realign toward reality over a long enough trial. (The Wrap) (Paper) 

  • "Our Hybrid Work Policy Requires You In The Office Twice A Week To Battle The Bog Man" (McSweeney's) 

  • Some Engineers have invented a way to print tiny glass structures using lasers; there are nifty pictures. (UC Berkeley) 

  • Your gut microbiome might be responsible for your cravings. (U Pitt) 

  • The Scientists are building a radio telescope out in the South African desert from parts you'd find at a hardware store. (Supercluster) 

  • It might be a good idea to start using our poop for something other than just flushing down a toilet. (Aeon) 

  • I guess we're going to try figuring out how to visit Uranus soon? (Nature) 

A Fictional Thing

Something made-up that somehow suggested itself to me and which I could not escape.A band and their albumCast Iron Corgi, An Extraordinary Act of Trust(If you've made it this far, feel free to hit REPLY and tell me what you think this band/album sounds like, because now I'm curious) 

Thanks

If you've read this far, I thank you. Feel free to forward this to someone you like, or inflict upon someone you don't.