phonics rule everything around me

October 09, 2023

Welcome to Corgi-Class Starship, the newsletter that has survived the horrible hot weather and is now contemplating when to pack the AC out of the kids' room (Halloween maybe) 

You'll Like This

Update(s) on thing(s) I made or somehow helped to bring about.Idea Factory GiveawayI know I say this every week, but the possibility that we may return to podcasting cannot be mathematically excluded! In the meantime, you can find the show's Apple Podcasts presence here, which includes a back catalog over 150 episodes long chock-full of excellent ridiculousness, including an experimental tabletop RPG and a couple of Star Trek fantasy drafts that could almost be their own show if I had the time to make yet another podcastInstant Band Night 23: YOUThe last Instant Band Night of the year is in just about a month and you should be there! We'll create bands on the spot from people who've just met and they will astonish you — come play or just come watch! Every band needs an audience, and this one is maybe the best in the entire Bay. I don't know how it happened; it just did, and I'm not about to mess with it. Come see for yourself!Nov 9 2023 (click to add to your Gcal)6p$10East Bay Community Space507 55th St 94609(Eventbrite) (Facebook)+ +  T E L L   Y O U R   F R I E N D S  + ++ +  S E E   Y O U   T H E R E  + +Surprising and Unique Ceramics For YOUI've decided to experiment a little with the pricing in the shop, so if you haven't stopped by, or if you know someone with excellent taste who needs something that literally can't be bought anywhere else, maybe take a look right now and consider some clever ceramics! Brilliant little statues for your garden or home! A place to put your fruit! A little buddy to hold your garlic! I'm working (slowly) on even more delightful little weirdos and I hope to show you soon. 

Medium Ramble

Skippable if you're in a hurry.I've got nothing for this part today, folks; long weekend with a lot in it. Maybe next week! 

#dadthoughts

Also skippable if you're in a hurry or don't care. No judgment.Watching how Quentin's mind works while he's learning to read and write is a beautiful thing. Today he drew me a picture of a dragon and wrote a label on it with an arrow pointing to the creature in question; the label said JRAGIN. Which c'mon! That totally fucking scans if you read it out loud! That is pure phonetic logic and it's great. I'm going to be slightly crestfallen to introduce him to the polyglot viper's nest that is spelling in English.Felix's language skills have also been increasing at what seems like an asymptotic rate over the last couple of weeks. He seems to understand pretty much everything we tell him, and he's even got short sentences of his own. "I see it" or "I want this one" or whatnot have been common. When he sees a lot of something — bubbles, for instance — he points and announces excitedly, "So many so many!" When we were all sitting at the table for dinner, he looked around and said "So many guys!" which Mavis and I are pretty sure was an expression of his satisfaction at being there with his whole family, judging by his little smile. Kids! Not bad!!!! 

Fascination Corner

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

  • "America needs to talk about the right’s ‘Red Caesar’ plan for U.S. dictatorship: “Thought leaders” of the far right talk openly about a 2025 dictatorship. People need to be alarmed." (Philadelphia Inquirer) 

  • Aaaahahahahaha the MyPillow guy says he's broke! Hahahahahahahaha (NBC News) 

  • Here, go ahead and explore this climate vulnerability map (you can do it by zipcode). (Overall Climate Vulnerability) 

  • The Scientists have invented yet another method for direct-air carbon capture. Again!! (Northwestern) 

  • "The 2010s was a decade of protests. Why did so many revolutions fail? Journalist Vincent Bevins grapples with failed revolutions from Egypt to Brazil to Hong Kong." (Vox) 

  • The Scientists have demonstrated in mice a wild new vaccine concept for hospital-transmitted pathogens that puts the immune system on wide-spectrum alert, making it capable of defeating a range of potential threats on first intrusion. (USC) 

  • The three co-head writers on the Drew Barrymore show have decided not to come back, understandably. (NBC News) 

  • I can't decide if these Meta AI-generated stickers are tragic or hilarious. (Motherboard) 

  • Same-sex sexual behavior seems to have evolved multiple times independently in mammals, but The Scientists who ran the study caution that their methods don't really explain how it ended up appearing in humans. ($NYT) (Paper) 

  • The Science Alert writeup is actually better than the press release on this: The Scientists have ginned up something they call "assembly theory" that combines physics and biology to explain and even predict the emergence of life from raw atoms. (Science Alert) (Paper) 

  • The Scientists are seriously looking into the possibilities of designing artificial life forms, initially for medical purposes. (Southern Denmark U) (Paper) 

  • In terms of the fear they inspire in the beasts of the African savannah, lions ain't shit compared to the sound of humans talking, which is ......... kinda sad, actually. They know we're fucking monsters. (Cell Press via Science Daily) (Paper) 

  • Checks out: "Awe-inspiring science can have a positive effect on mental wellbeing, new research finds" (U of Warwick) (Paper) 

  • It turns out a lot more mammals fluoresce than we thought, though we're still not sure exactly why. (Science Alert) (Paper) 

  • The Jimmy Dubs has spotted about 40 pairs of Jupiter-sized rogue planets bopping around the Orion Nebula, and The Scientists have no idea what they're doing there or why there are so damn many of 'em. (BBC) 

  • Some Engineers have figured out how to make a surface that can stay dry for months of submersion in water. (Harvard) 

  • The oldest human footprints in North America have been conclusively dated to 21-23K years ago, placing humans on this continent much earlier than previously thought. (USGS) 

  • Forensic cartridge comparisons that don't match are more likely to be reported as "inconclusive" than a straight up mismatch, which uhhhhhh is a huge problem! For that whole "justice" thing! (Iowa State) 

  • The Scientists have invented a way to bioprint full-thickness human skin, which is fantastic news for healing wounds. (Wake Forest Inst for Regenerative Medicine) 

  • Folks, don't forget to say thank you to your relationship partners. (U of Illinois Urbana-Champaign) 

  • Some Engineers built an instance of The Machine that can design a new robot from scratch using evolutionary algorithms in seconds on a laptop instead of a supercomputer. (Northwestern) (Paper) 

  • Looks like NASA got more asteroid material with the OSIRIS-REx sample than expected, which is pretty damn great. (NASA) 

  • A new study provides a five-point spectrum of internet addiction that I'm just not going to look at too closely in case it reveals something unpleasant. (U of Surrey) 

  • I'm just glad I'm not the only one who found the Ahsoka show baffling, although I think it still would've been weird even if I'd watched the cartoons; the performances from just about everybody were weird as hell. (Polygon) 

  • The Scientists have figured out a way to use microbes to refine rare earth metals instead of harsh chemicals; they think they'll have a pilot program set up in about five years. (Cornell) (Paper) 

  • This is fascinating: a personal statement from the chef of a restaurant that was open for literally a week during the span of about a month before closing permanently. Good for her, though, for figuring out so quickly that restaurant cooking just wasn't for her. (Mama Judy on Instagram) 

  • Who ordered a piezoelectric sensor the size of a single molecule? Anybody? Oh, it turns out everybody wants one? (Curtin U) (Paper) 

  • Some Engineers have demonstrated a method for changing the direction of laser beams using nothing but a patch of air being mangled by ultrasound waves. (DESY) (Paper) 

  • Although The Scientists think they're getting closer to nailing down the physical and even neurological mechanisms behind how cats purr, there are still no concrete answers as to exactly why. (U of Vienna) (Paper) 

  • Is there another Kuiper belt past our existing Kuiper belt? Why is ours so small, anyway? And if there are two, why is there a gap between them? What's in there? (Science) 

A Fictional Thing

Something made-up that somehow suggested itself to me and which I could not escape.A band and their album

Photo by Rebootanika on Unsplash(I remembered a formula for making fake album covers that involves searching for a random appropriately licensed photo and then applying your best Graphic Design Skills to the result; let me know what you think this band/album sounds like, because your answers are always incredible) 

New Music Roundup

Last week's band/album was:

Photo by Will Rust on UnsplashNo interpretations came in for this one, which seems to me like the side project of a prominent children's artist who just wants to cut loose a little without it blowing back on their brand. 

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.