#Joe Pitkin

[scififr]

Exit black, par Joe Pitkin (Blackstone, février 2024)

Lors de l’inauguration du premier hôtel orbital le personnel et, surtout, les quelques milliardaires invités sont pris en otage. Mais c’est sans compter les ressources et le courage de Chloe Bonita, une biologiste qui profitait des lieux pour ses travaux…

Comme dit l’accroche de couverture : « Die Hard in space » ! En encore moins crédible, sans trace d’humour et en plus téléphoné… Et c’est quoi cette idée de mettre en prologue un des pics d’intensité de l’ouvrage à venir ? Serait-ce que l’auteur (ou l’éditeur) ait si peu confiance dans le texte qu’il se sente obligé d’ajouter cette incitation��?

[sad-little-ghost-hunter]

NEW THINKING CLOTH CONTENT

GUYS we got new thinking cloth content from joe cornish's instagram

some highlights:

"George's biscuits, DO NOT TOUCH. GET YOUR OWN LOCKWOOD"

"CEO of cooking" - George

the three exclamation marks after "rumour he was eaten by rats!!!"

"Probably CAT again" in reference to Mrs. Wick's house (it's from the books it's the thing from the books!!!)

Lucy calling lockwood a pedant after he fixes her grammar

"Mustard is the fool's condiment" - Lockwood

Lockwood being angsty and quoting FRANKENSTEIN god i love him

LOCKWOOD QUOTING EMILY DICKINSON "Forever is composed of nows" GOD I LOVE HIM

"George stop being so annoying" - Lucy

"TEA EMERGENCY, we're out of Pitkins! Can you get some from Arif's later? :D" (yes the :D is actually on the cloth)

THE LITTLE DRAWING OF THE TRIO DONE BY ONE OF THEM, IDK WHO BUT IT'S THE CUTEST FUCKING THING IVE EVER SEEN (first image, lefthand side)

I don't know I correctly interpreted who said all of these, but I'm pretty sure blue pen is Lockwood, messy scrawl is George, and slightly neater scrawl is Lucy

Enjoy :)

[nem0c]

Vietnam War - Galaxy Science Fiction Magazine, June 1968

Sourced from: http://natsmusic.net/articles_galaxy_magazine_viet_nam_war.htm

Transcript Below

We the undersigned believe the United States must remain in Vietnam to fulfill its responsibilities to the people of that country.

Karen K. Anderson, Poul Anderson, Harry Bates, Lloyd Biggle Jr., J. F. Bone, Leigh Brackett, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Mario Brand, R. Bretnor, Frederic Brown, Doris Pitkin Buck, William R. Burkett Jr., Elinor Busby, F. M. Busby, John W. Campbell, Louis Charbonneau, Hal Clement, Compton Crook, Hank Davis, L. Sprague de Camp, Charles V. de Vet, William B. Ellern, Richard H. Eney, T. R. Fehrenbach, R. C. FitzPatrick, Daniel F. Galouye, Raymond Z. Gallun, Robert M. Green Jr., Frances T. Hall, Edmond Hamilton, Robert A. Heinlein, Joe L. Hensley, Paul G. Herkart, Dean C. Ing, Jay Kay Klein, David A. Kyle, R. A. Lafferty, Robert J. Leman, C. C. MacApp, Robert Mason, D. M. Melton, Norman Metcalf, P. Schuyler Miller, Sam Moskowitz, John Myers Myers, Larry Niven, Alan Nourse, Stuart Palmer, Gerald W. Page, Rachel Cosgrove Payes, Lawrence A. Perkins, Jerry E. Pournelle, Joe Poyer, E. Hoffmann Price, George W. Price, Alva Rogers, Fred Saberhagen, George O. Smith, W. E. Sprague, G. Harry Stine (Lee Correy), Dwight V. Swain, Thomas Burnett Swann, Albert Teichner, Theodore L. Thomas, Rena M. Vale, Jack Vance, Harl Vincent, Don Walsh Jr., Robert Moore Williams, Jack Williamson, Rosco E. Wright, Karl Würf.

We oppose the participation of the United States in the war in Vietnam.

Forrest J. Ackerman, Isaac Asimov, Peter S. Beagle, Jerome Bixby, James Blish, Anthony Boucher, Lyle G. Boyd, Ray Bradbury, Jonathan Brand, Stuart J. Byrne, Terry Carr, Carroll J. Clem, Ed M. Clinton, Theodore R. Cogswell, Arthur Jean Cox, Allan Danzig, Jon DeCles, Miriam Allen deFord, Samuel R. Delany, Lester del Rey, Philip K. Dick, Thomas M. Disch, Sonya Dorman, Larry Eisenberg, Harlan Ellison, Carol Emshwiller, Philip José Farmer, David E. Fisher, Ron Goulart, Joseph Green, Jim Harmon, Harry Harrison, H. H. Hollis, J. Hunter Holly, James D. Houston, Edward Jesby, Leo P. Kelley, Daniel Keyes, Virginia Kidd, Damon Knight, Allen Lang, March Laumer, Ursula K. LeGuin, Fritz Leiber, Irwin Lewis, A. M. Lightner, Robert A. W. Lowndes, Katherine MacLean, Barry Malzberg, Robert E. Margroff, Anne Marple, Ardrey Marshall, Bruce McAllister, Judith Merril, Robert P. Mills, Howard L. Morris, Kris Neville, Alexei Panshin, Emil Petaja, J. R. Pierce, Arthur Porges, Mack Reynolds, Gene Roddenberry, Joanna Russ, James Sallis, William Sambrot, Hans Stefan Santesson, J. W. Schutz, Robin Scott, Larry T. Shaw, John Shepley, T. L. Sherred, Robert Silverberg, Henry Slesar, Jerry Sohl, Norman Spinrad, Margaret St. Clair, Jacob Transue, Thurlow Weed, Kate Wilhelm, Richard Wilson, Donald A. Wollheim.

[randomvarious]

Today’s compilation:

BBE Sampler 1998 Funk / Disco / Deep House

Here's something I posted about the excellent BBE label yesterday, regarding the second and final volume of their late 90s BBE Sampler series:

BBE really is just one of the greatest labels to ever do it, folks. The London-based outfit has always kept it eclectic since its mid-90s inception, reaching across every continent besides Antarctica to deliver all kinds of music that's tangentially rooted in either jazz, soul, funk, or R&B. And there have been countless genres that have manifested themselves over the years from those genres too, from neo-soul, to future jazz, to broken beat, to disco, to hip hop, to downtempo, to house, to drum n bass, to breakbeat, to trip hop, to electro, and more. BBE releases all of it. They are one of the premier labels for crate diggers, founded by a pair of crate diggers themselves.

And this compilation is formulated just like Vol. 2: it's frontloaded with gobs of brilliant and obscure crate-dug funk-and-disco gold from the 60s through early 80s, and it's capped off with contemporaneous songs that BBE put out itself, with five offerings from their first five 12-inches.

Now, while this is an excellent compilation that shows off the label's prolific crate digging chops, with songs from briefly existing acts like late 70s Hawaiian funk band Lemuria and late 70s Philly disco-funk steel band John Gibbs & The U.S. Steel Orchestra, it's actually the contemporaneous tunes at the end where this album starts to sag. Don't get me wrong, there's a couple great tracks from Aydin the Funki Chile (aka ATFC) (who also appears on Vol. 2) and Brains Unchained, who deliver a difficult-to-pigeonhole bit of midtempo nu-disco-funk, but the other tracks on this final leg of the album aren't as good as the contemporaneous crop on Vol. 2.

Still though, these were early days for BBE. They'd soon get the hang of being a well-equipped two-pronged label, which becomes more apparent in volume two: they could simultaneously celebrate a largely unknown and buried past of absolute gems while also maintaining a deeply eclectic underground spirit to impact the present.

Such a fantastic record label.

Highlights:

Starvue - "Bodyfusion" Ravi Harris and The Prophets - "Ravi's Thing" Family of Eve - "I Wanna Be Loved by You" Lemuria - "Hunk of Heaven" Masta Ace - "Sittin On Chrome (Pitkin Ave. Mix)" John Gibbs and The U.S. Steel Orchestra - "Trinidad" Carlos Garnett - "Mystery of Ages" Joe Washington - "Blueberry Hill" Alan Hawkshaw - "Collect" Aydin the Funki Chile - "Circus '97" Brains Unchained - "Do It Some More"

More BBE posts:

Off-Centre: A Riot On Old Street BBE Sampler Volume Two

[paulsemel]

While Joe Pitkin's sci-fi thriller "Exit Black" isn't the first story to be likened to "'Die Hard' on a ______," it is the first to be "'Die Hard' on a space hotel...with 'Knives Out'." To find out how that works, check out this exclusive interview. https://paulsemel.com/exclusive-interview-exit-black-author-joe-pitkin/ 📖🚀🏨

[xtruss]

Souls Grown Deep Like the Rivers Review – Art of Poverty and Resilience From the US South!

This moving show considers the wealth of inventive and work by African American artists from communities that remained in southern states after the civil war

— Royal Academy, London | Ashish Ghadiali | Tuesday 14 March 2023

A Cosmic Night Sky … Thornton Dial, Stars of Everything, 2004. Photograph: Stephen Pitkin/Pitkin Studio/2023, Estate of Thornton Dial/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/DACS, London 2023

Narratives of the great migration and the Harlem renaissance have dominated conversations around African American art in the 20th century, but a new exhibition, Souls Grown Deep Like the Rivers, which opens at the Royal Academy in London this week, invites us to consider the cultural contribution of artists from the American south. Communities that remained there in the aftermath of the civil war continued to be exposed to extremes of racial violence, segregation and the hardship of economic exclusion.

Burgle Boys, 2007 by Mary Lee Bendolph. © ARS, New York and DACS, London 2023.

The psychic scars of that collective trauma run deep through many of the works in the show. Alabama native Thornton Dial’s Blue Skies: The Birds That Didn’t Learn How to Fly, for example, where cloth rags hang limp from a rubber-coated copper wire, paints a picture of abjection, while Mary T Smith’s We All Want a Jobe, created in the early 1980s during her retirement in Hazlehurst, Mississippi, positions a line of blurred faces beside the desperate, scrawled text of the title to create a tableau haunted by otherness. In Keeping a Record of It (Harmful Music), Lonnie Holley, also a native of Birmingham, Alabama, positions an animal skull in the centre of a salvaged record player, gripped as though by a pincer in the record player’s arm while Ronald Lockett’s Oklahoma, made in 1995 in response to the Oklahoma City bombing, pieces together sheets of metal, tin, wire and nails on wood to conjure the horror of murderous white supremacy.

Martha Jane Pettway’s Housetop — Nine-block Half-Log Cabin Variation, c1945. Photograph: Stephen Pitkin/Pitkin Studio/© Estate of Martha Jane Pettway / ARS, NY and DACS, London 2023

At times the exhibition feels overwhelmingly bleak. And yet in the material inventiveness of the works and in the sense of meaning made in community, with what materials are available, a powerful counterpoint to suffering emerges. It speaks to resilience, innovation and a propensity for survival that, through these artists, continues to exert an influence on prominent African American artists including Theaster Gates and Leonardo Drew (whose new work Number 360 opens at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park chapel this week) who have also made use of waste materials to propose an art of reclamation.

‘The 400 Years Journey of Africans in America’ … Joe Minter, And He Hung His Head and Died, 1999. Photograph: Stephen Pitkin/Pitkin Studio/ARS, NY and DACS, London 2023

Dial’s Stars of Everything, for example, transforms old cans into a cosmic night sky and a spray paint can and a piece of old carpet into an almost human presence that dances in the centre of this assemblage. His Tree of Life pulls together fragments of found wood, roots, rubber tyres and air freshener to create a monument to being that also reflects his 30 years’ experience as a steelworker in Bessemer, Alabama, where his sons, Thornton Jr and Richard (both artists in the exhibition too) also worked.

Ralph Griffin’s Eagle, 1988, ‘its wing a clattering array of sticks’. © ARS, New York and DACS, London 2023

The theme of intergenerational conversation and a creative tradition sustained through adversity underpins the exhibition and is also evident in the display of quilts (intended as objects to help people keep warm economically) that were made through the course of the 20th century in Gee’s Bend, on the banks of the Alabama River, by artists including Rachel Carey George, Martha Jane Pettway and Loretta Pettway. “I came to realise,” Loretta Pettway has written, “that my mother, her mother, my aunts, and all the others from Gee’s Bend had sewn the foundations, and all I had to do now was thread my own needle and piece a quilt together.”

Purvis Young, Untitled (Narrative Scene), 1980s. Photograph: Maciej Urbanek/© 2023 The Larry T. Clemons Collection / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Rashaad Newsome’s Stop Playing In My Face!, 2016. Photograph: Courtesy of Rashaad Newsome Studio and Jessica Silverman, San Francisco

In the early 1980s, when the boxcar factory that was employing Dial and his sons shut down, they went on to set up a metal patio furniture business together where they would, on the side, experiment with making sculptures from scrap metal. Jesse Aaron, working as a cabinet maker in Lake City, Florida turned his skills in woodworking to the task of carving faces on trees around his property to act as protective presences. Joe Minter’s And He Hung His Head and Died draws on the artist’s experience as a welder in the construction industry, also in Birmingham, Alabama, to evoke “the 400 years journey of Africans in America” – a theme that also runs through the immersive environment, African Village in America, that he has installed behind his house to preserve the tradition of the yard show – artists, for want of any kind of institutional support, would exhibit works at their properties.

Lonnie Holley, Keeping a Record of It (Harmful Music), 1986. Photograph: Stephen Pitkin/Pitkin Studio/2023 Lonnie Holley / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / DACS, London

There’s a giddying contrast in seeing these works now on display, when so many of the artists included in the exhibition are already dead, in the vaulted galleries of the Royal Academy where so much of the wealth and cultural capital amassed through the era of the plantation has been preserved. Placed here, this show speaks, above all, to the cultural life that has prevailed in communities shaped by histories of African exploitation and enslavement on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, and that contrast, though uneasy, feels generative, too, and perhaps the first intimation of a longer process of reparation that is to come.

Red/ Meridian, 2021-22 by Lina Iris Viktor. Photograph: © 2022. Courtesy the Artist and Hayward Gallery

— Souls Grown Deep Like the Rivers: Black Artists from the American South is at the Royal Academy, London, from 17 March to 18 June.

[starkiddreamcasting]

Starkid On the Town

It’s a helluva town! For the brithday of On the Town, in I come with’s Starkid dreamcast! This is one that was stirring around my head since September, but it took a bit to iron out with the varying levels of dancing ability the Starkid actors have, but know it’s here!

1. Curt Mega as Gabey 2. Brian Rosenthal as Chip 3. James Tolbert as Ozzie 4. Britney Coleman as Ivy Smith 5. Lauren Lopez as Hildy Estherhazy 6. Kim Whalen as Claire De Loone 7. Joe Walker as Judge Pitkin W. Bridgewater 8. Jaime Lyn Beatty as Maude P. Dilly/Little Old Lady 9. Rachael Soglin as Lucy Schmeeler/Nun/Singer 10. Jim Povolo as Bimmy/Miss Turnstiles Annoucer/Dream Coney Island Master of Ceremonies/1st Workman/Judge Pitkin W. Bridgewater (u/s) 11. Joey Richter as Musican/Ensemble 12. Meredith Stepien as Diana Dream/Dolores Dolores/Ensemble/Hildy Estherhazy (u/s)/Maude P. Dilly (u/s) 13. Dylan Saunders as Nedick’s Attendent/Diamond Eddie’s Master of Ceremonies/Ensemble 14. Robert Manion as Lonely Town Sailor/Ensemble/Gabey (u/s) 15. Mariah Rose Faith as High School Girl/Girl in Green/Ensemble 16. Brian Holden as Tom/Policeman/Ensemble 17. Corey Dorris as Policeman/4th Workman/Ensemble/Judge Pitkin W. Bridgewater (u/s) 18. Bryce Charles as Flossie/Ensemble/Claire De Loone (u/s) 19. AJ Holmes as S. Uperman/3rd Workman/Ensemble 20. Jeff Blim as Conga Cabana Master of Ceremonies/Primitive Man/Ensemble 21. Denise Donovan as First Dancing Girl/Flossie’s Friend/Ensemble/Ivy Smith (u/s)/Lucy Schmeeler (u/s) 22. Jon Matteson as Musican/Waiter/Ensemble/Chip (u/s) 23. Tiffany Williams as High School Girl/Ensemble/Claire De Loone (u/s) 24. Angela Giarratana as High School Girl/Ensemble/Hildy Estherhazy (u/s)/Lucy Schmeeler (u/s) 25. Tyler Brunsman as Actor/Policeman/Ensemble/Gabey (u/s)/Ozzie (u/s) 26. Alle Faye Monka as Lonely Town Girl/Ensemble/Ivy Smith (u/s) 27. Nick Lang as Figment/Bill Poster/Conducter/Ensemble 28. Brant Cox as Andy/2nd Workman/Ensemble/Chip (u/s)/Ozzie (u/s) 29. Julia Albain as Doll Girl/Shawl Girl/Ensemble 30. Ali Gordon as Swing 31. Jamie Burns as Swing/Maude P. Dilly (u/s) 32. Clark Baxtresser as Swing 33. Nick Gage as Swing

Make sure to leave any show suggestions or any questions on my casting choices so I can explain them.

[eksopolitiikka]

Luis Elizondo sanoo lähtevänsä TTSA:sta

Luis Elizondo sanoo lähtevänsä TTSA:sta

MYSTERY WIRE / Duncan Phoenix — George Knapp aloitti sunnuntaisen haastattelunsa Coast to Coast AM -radiossa yksinkertaisella lausunnolla, “Tehdäänpä aaltoja.” On ihan reilua sanoa, että ‘tehtävä suoritettu.’

Knappin vieraana oli Luis Elizondo, entinen USA:n armeijan ja puolustusministeriön tiedustelu-upseeri, joka on ollut UFO-keskustelun keskiössä viimeisen kolmen vuoden ajan.

Luis Elizondo on puhunut George Knappin kanssa usean vuoden ajan hänen mukanaolostaan salaisessa Pentagonin UFO-tutkimusohjelmassa.

    Knapp on haastattellut Elizondoa monta kertaa, voit katsoa hänen haastattelunsa Elizondon ja muiden merkkihenkilöiden kanssa Mystery Wiren sivuilta.

Illalla tehdyn haastattelun pohjalta julkaistiin useita otsikoita mediassa:

Elizondo ilmaisi aikeensa, että hän, Chris Mellon ja Steve Justice tulevat lähtemään “To the Stars Academy”:sta (TTSA).

Elizondo ehdotti laajemman, pysyvän ja hyvin rahoitetun UFO-tutkimusohjelman luomista.

Elizondo ilmaisi, että nykyinen UAP-toimikunta on saanut haltuunsa kuvia useista tunnistamattomista ilmassa olevista kappaleista, mm. kirkkaan kuvan mystisestä kolmiosta, joka nousee ilmaan merestä, armeijan pilottien kuvaamina.

Elizondo vihjasi, että hän aikoo laajentaa UAP-tutkimuksia ja vaivannäköään UFO-paljastuksen eteen globaalille tasolle.

UFO-bloggaaja Danny Silva nopeasti julkaisi Knappin ja Elizondon keskustelun sisällöstä kertovan jutun, joka koski hänen suhdettaan TTSA:han.

George Knapp “Mitä TTSA:lla oikein tapahtuu? Huhuja liikkuu siitä, että tammikuussa tehdään ilmoitus joka tulee vavisuttamaan juttuja hieman. Mitä, jos yhtään mitään, voit sanoa tästä?” Lue Elizondo “No, en voi puhua TTSA:n puolesta. Sinun pitäisi mennä TTSA:n kanavia pitkin ja kysyä heiltä TTSA:sta, voin kertoa omasta perspektiivistäni että rakastan ystäviäni TTSA:lla. He ovat uskomattomia ihmisiä, mutta minun pitää myös sanoa että tehtäväni on aina ollut erittäin selkeä, George, ja se on puskea UFO-paljastusta eteenpäin. Siinä kaikki. Mielestäni näiden kolmen vuoden jälkeen, tiedätkö, voin katsoa taaksepäin ja mielestäni me olemme saavuttaneet paljon siitä mitä ryhdyimme tekemään. TTSA, ei se ole mikään salaisuus, keskittyy myös omaan viihdeosastoonsa, ja tiedäthän, kaverit kuten Chris Mellon ja Steve Justice ja minä, me emme ole viihdetaiteilijoita. Me emme ole. Joten kuten History Channelin projekti, me olemme saavuttaneet tavoitteemme. Tehtävä suoritettu. Me olemme tehneet enemmän kolmen vuoden aikana kollektiivisesti kuin kukaan oli mielestäni odottanut meidän edes saavuttavan. Nyt on tullut aika siirtää katse… tiedäthän, se on niinkuin auto? Puhun autoista, olen eräänlainen harrastaja, joten mielestäni on tullut aika siirtyä ykkösvaihteelta kakkosvaihteelle. Meillä on tarpeeksi liikemäärää, tarpeeksi energiaa jossa voimme vaihtaa seuraavalle vaihteelle ja jatkaa eteenpäin ja sitä varten minunkaltaiseni kaverit etsivät uusia ja kiinnostavia tapoja laajentaa tuota keskustelua yhä vain laajemmalle yleisölle, samalla kun pysytään rehellisinä omalle UFO-paljastuksen ydintehtävällemme.” George Knapp “Luulen ymmärtäväni mitä juuri sanoit.”

COAST TO COASTin haastattelu, puhtaaksikirjoittanut DANNY SILVA

Haastattelun puskiessa eetteriin monet ihmiset UFO-yhteisössä jakoivat ajatuksiaan sosiaalisessa mediassa. Yksi niistä oli Joe Murgia, Twitterissä @UFOJoe11.

Twitter-ketjussaan Murgia käy läpi sitä mitä haastiksessa on puhuttu. Yksi kiinnostavista aiheista oli tuore F-18 -hävittäjän ohjaamosta kuvatun kappaleen paljastus ja julkaisu.

(Kuva: thedebrief.org)

Murgia twiittasi, että Elizondo oli sanonut, “Sen ei ole osoitettu olevan ilmapallo. Useilla ihmisillä on eriäviä mielipiteitä siitä mitä valokuva esittää.”

Toisessa twiitissä Murgia kirjoittaa, että Knapp oli kysynyt väitetystä kolmio-UFOsta, joka on nousemassa esiin vedestä. Elizondo vastasi sanomalla, että hän on vakuuttunut valokuvan olemassaolosta. Elizondo lisäsi myös, että se saattaa myös olla freimi videokuvasta.

Knapp ja Elizondo puhuivat siitä miten paljon on kolmen vuoden aikana asiat muuttuneet, että tarvitaan pitkää pinnaa kun puhutaan paljastuksesta, ja puhuttiimpa myös korkean tason briiffauksista joihin Elizondo oli osallistunut, joka oli heille suotu “kuuma peruna”.

Elizondo ylisti myös Floridan senaattoria Marco Rubiota hänen halukkuudestaan puhua UFOista julkisesti.

Sitten Murgia twiittasi Knappin kysyneen oliko tämä (UFO-)mysteeri ratkaistavissa “vain tarkastelemalla sitä miten armeija kohtaa UFOja vai pitääkö meidän laajentaa ajatusmallejamme (kuten AAWSAP teki) ja tarkastella muita aiheita kuten poltergeisteja & isojalkoja jotka tuntuvat olevan yhteydessä kohtaamistapauksiin.”

Tähän Elizondo vastasi sanomalla, että valtion ohjelmilla on rajoitteensa kuten kyvyttömyys puhua kaupallisten pilottien kanssa havainnoista.

Knapp kysyi sen jälkeen harkitsisiko hän koskaan palaavansa valtiolle töihin uuteen UAP-toimikuntaan (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena task force, UAPTF). Murgia twiittasi Elizondon sanoneen, että hän joutuisi olemaan erittäin tarkka perheensä kanssa ja yksimielinen siitä, ja jos hän koskaan menisi takaisin, hän vetäisi ohjelmaa eri tavalla kuin mitä Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Programia (AATIP) Pentagonissa.

Elizondo sanoi, että hän tavoittelisi avoimuutta kansan parissa ja työskentelisi purkamaan niitä esteitä ja stigmaa, joita UFOt voivat aiheuttaa.

Artikkelin julkaissut Mystery Wire

https://eksopolitiikka.fi/eksopolitiikka/luis-elizondo-sanoo-lahtevansa-ttsasta/?utm_source=TR&utm_medium=Tumblr+%230&utm_campaign=SNAP%2Bfrom%2B_%7C+Eksopolitiikka.fi+%7C_

[hukkablog-blog]

Digitalouden 10 Trendiä (paranneltu versio)

Lähdin analysoimaan Ericssonin julkaisemaa tutkimusta vuoden 2018 kymmenestä kuluttajien trendeistä. Otin käsittelyyn kolme mielestäni mielenkiintoisinta trendiä ja seuraavaksi avaan niiden sisältöä ja kerron omakohtaisia kokemuksia.

Älyllinen mainonta

Monesta voi tuntua, että robotit tulevat olemaan tulevaisuudessa liian älykkäitä, mutta voiko näin tapahtua mainoksillekin? Ericssonin tutkimuksen mukaan kuluttajilla on viha-rakkaussuhde mainontaan. Suurinta osaa tutkimukseen osallistuneista ei mainonta haittaa, jos sen kautta voi saada etuja. Kolmasosa vastaajista koki mainonnan jopa epämiellyttäväksi.

 Eläessämme asiakkaan aikakaudella, markkinointi keskittyy päivä päivältä enemmän luomaan elämyksiä ja kanssakäymistä asiakkaan välillä. Tekoälyä käytetään mainonnassa joka paikassa, kuten esimerkiksi markkinoinnin automaatiossa. Kiinassa on jo normaalia, että kaduilla on tekoälyllä toimivia digitaalisia mainostauluja. Niissä on kasvojentunnistus järjestelmä, jonka myötä mainos pystyy reaaliajassa kohdentamaan sen suoraan kohdehenkilön mukaan. 

Henkilökohtaisesti tämä kuulostaa hieman pelottavalta ja utopistiselta. Koen sen kuitenkin olevan arkipäivää, sillä älypuhelimessanikin on laaja skaala ohjelmia, jotka käyttävät kasvojen tunnistusta, äänentunnistusta ja sijaintia. Toisaalta tämä saattaa olla myös kätevää, sillä epäolennaiset mainokset tuntuvat jäävän huomioni ulkopuolelle usein. Hyöty taitaa kuitenkin olla enimmäkseen yrityksen puolella, kuin kuluttajan.

 Teknologian kehitys vie työpaikat

Elämme parhaimmillaan tekoälyn kulta-aikaa, monella lukijalla on varmasti herännyt tunne, että joka päivä syntyy joku uusi keksintö, joka hyödyntää tekoälyä. Teknologian kehityksen myötä varmastikin lähitulevaisuudessa suurin osa rutiinin omaisista työtehtävistä muuttuu monilla aloilla. Aivotutkijoiden Minna Huotilaisen ja Katri Saarikiven mukaan tarve yhteiskunnan tarve inhimillisille taidoille tulee kuitenkin säilymään.

Teknologia auttaa ylittämään inhimillisten kykyjen rajoituksia, mutta vastavuorovoisesti ihmisten älylliset ominaisuudet tukevat teknologian mahdollisuuksia. Tuottavuus ei siis automaattisesti kasva automaation myötä, vaan sen tueksi tarvitaan ihmisaivojen ainutlaatuisia ominaisuuksia.

Epäröin hieman yhteishaku vaiheessa kaupallista alaa, sillä olin lukenut mediasta artikkeleja, joiden mukaan tradenomi tutkinto on turha nykyteknologiassa. Kuitenkin ensimmäisen työharjoitteluni jälkeen huomasin, että vuorovaikutus taidot tietoteknisen osaamisen tukena tulevat aina olemaan tärkeä osaamisalue. Siihen ei tekoäly todennäköisesti ikinä tule kykenemään. Myöskin luova ajattelu, uusien asioiden keksiminen ja innovaatiot ovat vain ihmisälyn ominaisuuksia, jotka tulevaisuuden työelämässä ovat isossa roolissa.

 Ilmatilan hyödyntäminen kaupungeissa

Kaupungit alkavat tulla ahtaiksi rakennuksista ja asukkaista päivä päivältä enemmän. Droneja alkaa näkymään kaupungeissa useammin, mutta onko niissä tulevaisuus? Monet ravintolaketjut suunnittelevat parhaillaan kotiinkuljetusyhteyksiä taivaan kautta. Ravintolaketju Pizza Hut sai suurta medianäkyvyyttä kaksi vuotta sitten luodullaan tempauksellaan. Siinä he kuljettivat ensimmäisinä pizzalähetyksen dronen avulla asiakkaalleen Yhdysvalloissa.

Monilla on kiinnostusta ihmisten kuljetukseen ilmatilan kautta, kuten lentäviin takseihin. Mikään jo olemassa oleva kaupunki ei taida olla tarpeeksi turvallinen tämän kaltaisen idean toteuttamiseen. Lentävät autot ovat olleet jo näkyvillä 80-luvun elokuvissa, kuten Paluu tulevaisuuteen. Elon Musk kertoi mielipiteensä Joe Roganin podcastissa asiasta. Odotin tiedemieheltä ja suurelta innovaattorilta erilaista vastausta, hän totesi vain lyhyesti: ”Se olisi liian äänekästä. Jos haluatte luoda lentävän auton, miksi ette laita vaan helikopteriin renkaita?”.

Ilmatilan hyödyntäminen näillä tavoilla on enimmäkseen fiktiivistä pohdintaa. Todellisuudessa tilanne on päinvastoin, maanalaista tilaa on suunnitteilla hyödyntää esimerkiksi liikkumiseen. Los Angelesiin on suunnitteilla maanalainen tunneliverkosto, jota pitkin voi ajaa autolla jopa 240/Kmh. Projekti on ironisesti nimetty Boring Tunnel:iksi.

Uskaltaisitko sinä ajaa autolla maanalaista tunnelia pitkin?

Lähteet

Ericssonin tutkimus

Duunitorin artikkeli

BBC:n video

Kuva 1

Kuva 2

[quakerjoe]

The sheriff of Pitkin County, Colorado, is slamming Mike Pence for not paying the $24,000 bill to provide security for him when he came to town for a high-dollar fundraiser.

Pence was the star attraction at a fundraiser at the Caribou Club in Aspen, where couples paid $35,000 each to attend. Pence also spoke to the Republican Governors Association at the St. Regis Aspen Resort.

Pitkin County Sheriff Joe DiSalvo told the Aspen Daily News that the police who worked to secure the venue for Pence are owed payment, and he is upset that they haven't received it.

"We had a SWAT team from Garfield County here that I want to see get reimbursed. We had Carbondale officers here that I want to see get reimbursed. They don’t have this kind of money — I don’t have this kind of money," he said.

[aphoticrealm]

The Wingbuilder by Joe Pitkin

The Wingbuilder by Joe Pitkin is available NOW on Aphotic Realm! #StrangeandSinister #horror #FreetoRead #FreetoReadFriday #shortstories #goodreads

by Joe Pitkin

  “Maybe we can stay here,” the boy says.

“Here on this pillar?” I ask. “I think we’ll be ready to climb down by morning.”

“No, I mean here. The Sanctuary.”

“So it’s The Sanctuary now?”

The boy is old enough to sense my low opinion of the name. “Well, what would you call it then?”

“That is a most excellent question,” I say.

I prefer to use, when possible, the original names for…

[cac-bgsu]

The Irresistible Lure of Collecting Glass Once Made in Northwest Ohio

The northwest Ohio glass industry has been a major draw for researchers and collectors visiting the CAC.  Many visitors wish to know more about the history of this once important local industry. In the late 1880s a natural gas boom temporarily put Bowling Green, Ohio on the map and blessed neighboring communities of Findlay, Fostoria, and Tiffin with a more extended stay in the glass production business.

Bowling Green’s city fathers lured businesses to the area with the prospect of free gas and land.  In this flurry of prosperity approximately half a dozen glass companies including the Canastota Glass Works, Lythgoe Glass Company, Bowling Green Glass Company, and Crystal City Glass Company sprouted on the east side of Bowling Green.  This fledgling glass industry prospered near the railroad track with easy transportation of finished products including window glass, pharmaceutical bottles, canning jars, and to a lesser extent glass novelty and decorative items.  By the 1890s, the gas had run out and the glass manufacturers left.

The enterprising city of Bowling Green however was fortunate to have spawned a second smaller glass industry in the wake of the first and concentrated primarily on the cutting and decorating of glassware made out of the area.  The Ohio Cut Glass Company and Pitkin & Brooks operated Glass decorating factories here in the early 1900s.  Glass cutting and decorating remained in the city until the mid-1950s thanks primarily to the Earl W. Newton Company founded in the 1920s as a small glass decorating business located on the west side of Bowling Green near the city park. An earlier glass cutting business had been started by Earl W. Newton at 250 North Main Street in 1918.  It was noted that Mr. Newton obtained his blank glassware for decorating from Libbey Glass in Toledo, Ohio.

Mr. Newton’s father, Civil War veteran, Captain Joseph Newton, was active in the local Bowling Green glass industry in the late 1880s.  He had been affiliated with the Buckeye Novelty Glass Company, Ohio Cut Glass, and was president of the Ohio Flint Glass Company.  In fact, Earl had been employed at Ohio Flint Glass and his brother Charles was a traveling salesman for the company.  Prior to World War I, Earl W. Newton and Associates, a wholesale company, was begun in Chicago promoting the sale of glass and china all over the United States.  Earl was working as a sales agent in Chicago for among others, the Imperial Glass Company of Bellaire, Ohio, one of the nation’s most prosperous glass makers.  He eventually became head of sales and during the Great Depression from 1931 until 1940, served as president of the post-bankruptcy Imperial Glass Corporation.  He introduced two of the company’s most famous patterns, Cape Cod and Candlewick which continue to be popular with collectors to the present day.

During World War II Early continued his Chicago business selling only what was absolutely necessary and limiting production of fancy goods.   Apparently the cut glass from his Bowling Green factory was about the only luxury line of glass he sold during the war years.  He operated the Earl W. Newton Company until his retirement in 1955.  He died two years later.

Local historian, Joe Terry, has recorded the history of the local glass manufacturers in his book “Ghosts in the Glass.”  He interviewed local residents and read newspapers and possibly industry publications to create a detailed history of the glass companies for which little exists in the way of original company records, photographs, and the like.  Another source, “Blowpipes: Northwest Ohio Glassmaking in the Gas Boom of the 1880s” by Jack K. Paquette, covers more broadly glass making in northwest Ohio during the gas boom of the late 19th century. 

Several Northwest Ohio glass manufacturers were located in Tiffin, Findlay, and Fostoria producing more decorative lines of wares over a longer time period than the Bowling Green glass companies. The CAC acquired the United States Glass Company records, MS-401, in 1984.  These were included with the Tiffin Glass Company records at the former factory.  Tiffin was known as Company R within the USGC whose general offices moved to Tiffin from Pittsburg in 1938.  Glass manufacturing began in Tiffin in 1888 at the Beatty Glass Company and would continue to be made in Tiffin until approximately 1983.  Glass collectors visit the CAC to use primarily the glass pattern and design files.  Also available to researchers is an interview with former Tiffin glass worker and engineer, Paul Williams, MMS-1016, documenting his time at the glass works from approximately 1922 to 1976.

In his interview Williams mentioned that Tiffin Glass manufactured an extensive array of perfume bottle atomizers from the DeVilbiss Company in Toledo.  Interestingly the records of Toledo’s DeVilbiss Corporation MS-604 were donated to the CAC in 2000 and 2010 and a few years ago an elaborate collector’s guide to the history of the atomizers sold by the company was produced by researchers using this collection. 

One of the early collections that I processed during my career at the CAC was MS-401.  As a youngster I had a dear older friend who used to be a glass selector at Tiffin for many years.  I was told that inspecting the glassware was a very important job.  These people learned what was acceptable and what was not.  Collectors should do the same things.  The imperfect glassware had to be set aside.  An outlet store, near the factory in Tiffin, sold the seconds or imperfect pieces.  My first purchase was a set of 6 triple lead undecorated goblets (blanks) with multifaceted stem decor.  When tapped they rang like a bell.  The clarity was unbelievable.  This was the beginning of my enchantment with glass.  Now I collect pressed glass such as pedestaled cake plates or salvers.  Not only are they enchanting to look at but they serve a practical purpose for displaying other pieces of glass.  When in storage they organize your cupboard contents.  Two examples attributed to the Dalzell, Gilmore and Leighton Company of Findlay, Ohio appear here. The patterns are called Eyewinker and Quaker Lady. 

Eyewinker, below and above.

If you have an interest in glassware manufactured in northwest Ohio do not hesitate to visit the CAC to discover more about this beautiful history.

Quaker Lady, below and above.

Written by Eric Honneffer, Document Conservator/Archivist, Center for Archival Collections, BGSU

[whiteantcrawls]

This is the funniest story I’ve read all day:

Vice President Mike Pence's neighbors hung a 'Make America Gay Again' banner outside his Aspen-area residence, according to a report published Friday.

The neighbors posted the words, which were written on a rainbow flag, on a stone pillar that sits at the end of the driveways to both homes, Pitkin County Sheriff's Deputy Michael Buglione told The Aspen Times.

Pitkin County Sheriff Joe DiSalvo said when a man who lives in the home hung the banner, the Secret Service didn't stop him.

"He was real sheepish and thought he might be confronted by the Secret Service or deputies who'd tell him he couldn't do it," DiSalvo said. "When they said, 'We're not here to control your free speech rights,' they came out with chili and began feeding them. "He continued: "They've been really nice to us."

[xtruss]

OVERRUN NATIONAL FORESTS PROMP ACTION FROM US CONGRESS

— By Justin Wingerter | June 20, 2021 | Associated Press

DENVER (AP) — A few years ago, the U.S. Forest Service sat down with Eagle County officials and delivered some bad news: The federal agency was short-staffed and would be closing campgrounds in the mountainous county that includes Vail, where outdoor recreation is king.

Eagle County responded by spending its own tax dollars to pay USFS employees, an unusual arrangement that has become commonplace in Colorado’s high country, where waves of tourists have poured into some of the most-visited forests in the nation.

“It has rubbed some within the community the wrong way because it’s a federal property and they should manage it with federal money,” Eagle County Commissioner Jeanne McQueeney said. “But if that money is not allocated then they manage it by closing. They don’t have the people.”

Colorado’s ski areas send about $25 million a year in fees to the federal treasury in exchange for being on federal land, and only a small fraction returns to those forests for management. That is a frustrating contrast for ski companies that can’t get expansions and upgrades approved in a timely way and for local governments that must maintain the forests or lose their economies’ golden goose.

“Why is that money being generated here and then taken to Washington and thrown into the treasury,” Breckenridge Mayor Eric Mamula said, “instead of being allocated for things that are needed in the forests?”

Coloradans in Congress from both political parties have sought a solution for several years but nothing has made its way to a president’s desk yet. The latest bill has the support of Colorado’s two U.S. senators, as well as Democratic Rep. Joe Neguse and Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert, who together represent all of the high country.

Neguse calls the current arrangement “outrageous,” saying the Forest Service “has been unable or unwilling to invest the necessary resources to do the work they are obligated to do under federal law.”

— “A Lot To Handle”

White River National Forest, which spans nine counties and a dozen ski areas across northwest Colorado, is the most popular forest in the U.S. In 2008, its Eagle-Holy Cross ranger district in Eagle County had seven full-time employees on front country management — permitting, interacting with visitors, maintaining facilities.

A decade later, in 2018, it had one, according to the Northwest Colorado Council of Governments.

“That’s a lot of forest for one guy,” said Jon Stavney, the council’s executive director, “You wouldn’t run a sheriff’s department that way.” His organization sent a letter to Congress in 2018 warning of the shortage and urging action.

Ski areas saw the problem first. For those 122 nationwide that reside on federal land, changes to slopes must be approved by the U.S. Forest Service, which studies their environmental impact. But the years-long delays mean “ski areas are slow to upgrade critical infrastructure,” Alan Henceroth, chief operating officer at Arapahoe Basin, recently told a congressional panel.

By 2018, mountain counties realized the problem was beyond the ski areas: Rangers were tasked with overseeing massive stretches of land, making it difficult for them to put out all the campfires left burning.

Summit County voters created a fund in 2018 that is used for wildfire mitigation and ranger work. Summit and Eagle counties also created front country ranger programs — partnerships between the counties and the forest service to add patrols in the White River National Forest at the expense of county taxpayers.

Since 2019, Eagle County and its towns have spent $387,000 on front country rangers, according to a county spokeswoman. In 2020, when the coronavirus had many people seeking outdoor fun, those rangers extinguished 32 fires and hauled out 5,000 pounds of garbage, along with human and dog waste, abandoned RVs and illegal campsites.

“People come here, want to access our trails and fourteeners, and they’re overrun with people. They need management. The parking needs management. The trails need management. It’s a lot to handle,” McQueeney said. “We’re happy to do it, but we do hear pushback: ‘Is that really our role?’ So far, every year, we’ve managed to say, ‘Yes, it is’ and our constituents are agreeing with us.”

Summit County Commissioner Elisabeth Lawrence calls the unusual arrangement an “insurance policy” for her tourism-dependent county, which includes Breckenridge, “because if some huge wildfire takes out Summit County, the economic impact would be devastating for generations to come.”

Pitkin County also spends money maintaining national forest land and Garfield County pays for staff at Hanging Lake in White River National Forest, according to the Northwest Colorado Council of Governments. Several mayors and county commissioners told The Denver Post they felt their hands were tied; the threat of fires and closed campgrounds forced them to act.

— “A Little More Perfect”

Earlier this month, the Ski Hill Resources for Economic Development Act, or SHRED Act, debuted in Congress. Forests that account for more than $15 million in ski fees — such as White River — could spend 60% of it on staffing, trail improvements and other ranger work. Those that take in less than $15 million per year, including Colorado’s nine other national forests, would keep 75%.

The bill’s odds appear good: It has bipartisan support in both the House, where two Democrats and two Republicans introduced it, as well as in the Senate, where it’s sponsored by Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado and Republican Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the Forest Service, will support the bill with a few technical changes, according to Jennifer Eberlien, associate deputy chief of the National Forest System. And no opposition was voiced during a recent two-hour House hearing.

(The hearing briefly attracted national attention when Texas GOP Rep. Louie Gohmert asked Eberlein whether the forest service can shift the moon’s orbit and the Earth’s orbit to combat climate change. Eberlein said she would have to get back to Gohmert.)

Neguse, who chaired the hearing, expects the bill will be amended sometime this summer before going to the full House for a vote.

When asked why the forest service is underfunded, Neguse said “administration after administration in Washington, on both sides of the aisle, (have been) neglecting the agency.” Because the vast majority of national forests are in the West, “it can be a bit difficult for the appropriators in Washington … to fully appreciate the scope of the need,” he added.

For the high country mayors, commissioners and county managers who have felt required to spend their constituents’ tax dollars maintaining federal forests, the SHRED Act is a welcome alternative to the strange arrangement they’ve put up with for several years.

“In a perfect world, this wouldn’t be happening,” McQueeney said, “and maybe this bill will make it a little more perfect.”

[baileye]

“Thompson argued that people should support the young unknown candidates with progressive attitudes, the so-called “freaks,” because they were the ones capable of rising against the old conservative politicians who weren’t willing to adapt their traditionalist ideals to the social and cultural needs of a progressive society. The article led to the term “Freak Power.” Joe Edwards used the term as a part of his campaign and Thompson wholeheartedly supported him.

Although the odds were in Edwards’ favor by the end of the campaign season, he ended up losing by a mere six votes. He decided not to remain involved in politics, but Thompson was keen on continuing with the “Freak Power” campaign. A year later, he ran for sheriff of Aspen and Pitkin County. His symbol was a raised fist holding a peyote superimposed over the sheriff’s star and the changes he proposed throughout his campaign were rather radical.”

“The Battle of Aspen”: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Battle_of_Aspen

[pansneksual]

Rules: Tag 10 people you want to get to know better

(Thanks @the-long-dog! I am DEFINITELY not procrastinating my school paper by doing this)

Relationship status: Taken

Favorite color: Purple

Lipstick or chapstick: If I have to choose, chapstick. I don’t care much for either tbh

Three favorite foods: Dumplings, Thanksgiving Stuffing, Fruit Snacks

Last song I listened to: Wonderland - Round Three from The Adventure Zone by Griffin McElroy

Last movie I watched: Koe no Katachi (A Silent Voice), saw it in theatre, then I made my girlfriend watch it with me at home lol

Top 3 shows: Steven Universe, Avatar: the Last Airbender/The Legend of Korra, Kemono no Souja Erin

Top 3 bands/artists: It changes up a lot, but Florence and the Machine, Bastille, and Marina and the Diamonds are some of my favorites

Book(s) I’m currently reading: Stranger Bird by Joe Pitkin

Tagging: @rainbowsnakes, @fimbry-talks, @lachryphage, @faithbeforefear, @almightyshadowchan, @flygex-eatin-on-softies, @poikilomatters, @fawncynoodles, @reptilenexus, @avsaroke