#me developing mnemonic devices

[vaticinatrix]

ah yes the four biosafety levels:

1: if you get sick from this, you're a weapons-grade dumbass and it's almost impressive

2: you can get sick from this, but you'd still have to fuck something up seriously

3: honestly pretty risky, but with proper procedures, there's no reason to be scared

4: honestly, you should be scared

[furmity]

[George Hand Right, The Binding of Fenrir appeared in Hamilton Wright Mabie, Norse Stories Retold from the Eddas (Dodd Mead,1908).

Law degree part 3: Tyr  ᛏ

As a heathen with the ambition of earning a law degree, I am naturally a devotee of Tyr. I'd been aware of him before, but only started reading about his myths and worship while applying for university.

I was immensely drawn to the myth of his missing hand. The idea of self- sacrifice in lawgivers really left an impression on me. The resignation of “this has to be done and it must be me“. Honour and oath- making can be over- emphasised in heathenry, I don’t look on him as “the first oath- breaker” or any of that. This myth reminds us of the need for deception when we can protect ourselves and others. Honesty is akin to obeying the law: it’s the right thing until it’s the wrong thing, they have their reasons and limits. Tyr knows the difference.

So I introduced myself and volunteered to be a tool of his will. His shrine was on my desk. I prayed a novena in the lead up to my first semester, offering single malt whiskey. He was with me as I watched my first lecture. I’d give thanks for evidence that I was learning and laid good grades at his feet. His candle burned while I studied for exams. I dedicated last year’s Lent to him, but prayer cycles generally followed the academic calendar.

My UPG impressions are of a very serious individual who listens quietly and holds you accountable. I believe Tyr stands for democracy and local government. I'm all for strategic lawbreaking where obeying the law is wrong, and malicious compliance is a tool for change. Know the law to change the law. This stance feels right around Tyr, to me.

Tyr’s martial aspect is not something I really get into. I painted a Tiwaz icon on fabric patterned with medieval banners, saddled knights, and archers- but I’m a pacifist thank you so much. I’d like international law to really do something about keeping the peace and rounding up war criminals. Surely a lawgiving war god is the one to pray to for peace. He’s a war god who disabled himself! He nips problems in the bud. I should lean into that more: Please may diplomacy prevail, make Putin rot. Please may Australia always remain friendly with China, for the sake of Chinese- Australians above all.

At the beginning of last year I was absorbed by Lynne Kelly’s memory palace work (introduced by my dad, dammit, see part 2). I highly recommend her book Memory Craft and there are some good interviews with ABC. The various techniques are as useful for students as they are for remembering names and lists. My law notes were transformed into illuminated manuscripts on her instruction, and held up to Tyr. There’s so much law now that no one can remember it all, but I honour the oral lawgivers of old. I would really like to develop a devotional chaplet to him which works as a memory palace for law. Rosaries are mnemonic devices after all.

As a cultural Christian, my sky god of justice slots neatly into the mental space of a judging heavenly father. I recognise that may put certain people off. My moniker of “heretical heathen” has as much to do with being unbaptised in a Christian culture as it does with Norse gods. My pagan practice is synchretised with Christianity and I've noticed Tyr resists this. While I may dedicate a Christian period of sacrifice to him, divination tells me not to conflate him with Jehovah or Christ. The common law is very Christian and I don’t think that sits well with him. I respect that.

Just before my first year began, my sister stick- poked Tiwaz into my skin (I know, I know [1], I could well have chosen a hand), which I consecrated to my patron. Rather than waiting until I’d accomplished my goal, I did it to sort of bind myself to the path. I knew the degree was going to be difficult and unlike anything I’d done before... I didn’t want to drop out. Since I have dropped out and will not be studying this year, well, the tattoo seems to catch my eye a lot.

Of the many reasons I left, an important one was my ability to do the thing justice. It would surely not please my patron if I slid through like “Ps get degrees”. They do, but will you know your stuff? When I had to retake an exam I didn’t beg to get through, but asked for the opportunity to prove I know this. I didn’t pray to Tyr when I made my decision to leave (I didn’t pray to anything). I don’t seek his forgiveness, but I am sheepish about approaching him. I haven’t lit his candle in six months but his icon remains on the altar.

I have now decided to resume study next year... or part time second semester? I feel it is time to speak to the One- Handed and decide what I’m about. “I want a law degree”, I’d said. I got lost in the idea of prestige received for being a lawyer. I know I will be better placed with an ombudsman (one of few Scandinavian legal ideas we use here), a government department, or a union. I kind of toy with the idea of only doing pro bono legal work for activist groups. No small inspiration for studying law was hearing that organisations like the Satanic Temple (no, I’ don’t endorse) have in- house lawyers. There’s a niche somewhere for me, where I can be most useful and satisfied.

I want to read a couple of textbooks cover to cover this year, work on the manuscripts, get my base knowledge really solid. Program them into that chaplet.

Yes, it’s time for a blót.

[1] No frith with fascists! In re Tiwaz:

As you can see, these abominations don’t understand runes much anyway.

[mathsprogram]

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[awitchandhersecrets]

My opinion: old school and really Wiccan. I liked the sentiment at one point and wish there was a little goodbye that was just ours, and maybe some witchy youtubers sign off might turn into that one day. The mote it was the way I ended my spells, to kind of seal it, when I was a newbie. Now it's like a mnemonic device for me unfortunately and still taps into the part of my brain when I don't think a spell has been sealed and ready to be delivered. I think I'll try some chaos magick to undo that tie on my brain, maybe replace it, but that'll take work and discipline.

So I guess what I'm saying is, whatever you use, don't get attached maybe? Or maybe be careful what habits you develop because they tend to stick with your practice even when you've decided you don't want it anymore.

uh calling more experienced witches… thoughts on using ‘so mote it be’ and ‘blessed be’?

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

“How can we best promote world peace? As always, Thomas Friedman has a stunningly original answer: by building more McDonald’s. Here’s Friedman’s “Golden Arches Theory of Conflict Prevention” from his new book The Lexus and the Olive Tree:

…[A]s I Quarter-Poundered my way around the world in recent years, I began to notice something intriguing. I don’t know when the insight struck me. It was a bolt out of the blue…. And it was this:

No two countries that both had McDonald’s had fought a war against each other since each got its McDonald’s.

That’s what passes for an insight, in what passes for the mind of Thomas Friedman. Please note that this man is the possessor of what he himself calls “the best job in the world”: Foreign Correspondent for the New York Times. He is paid a huge salary to Quarter-Pound his way around the world producing “insights” like this. That’s the most interesting aspect of the whole Friedman phenomenon: not that Friedman is a bear of very little brain (because after all, there are a lot of Poohs in the woods) but that this Pooh is a leading writer for America’s newspaper of record.

Why would a hegemonic world power hire an outright halfwit as spokesman?

The very stupidity of Friedman’s analyses must somehow serve the Empire’s purposes. Once you admit this possibility, you can see that it fits an historical pattern. Again and again, the truly powerful Empires hire mediocrities; it’s the marginal empires which generate the great sloganeers – Mao, for example. Whatever else may be said about him, Mao came up with some great lines, from “paper tiger” to “Let a hundred flowers bloom.” When those five-million-strong crowds chanted in Tienanmen, they were quoting some first-rate poetry. That little red book they waved enclosed some of the best lines of the century.

Friedman, slogan kommissar of a much stronger Empire, couldn’t get drunken Manchester United fans chanting. Consider his use of numbers. This was one of Mao’s favorite mnemonic devices; “Smash the four olds!” “Destroy the Seventh Snake!” All Friedman has to offer is “The Three Democratizations” – but Friedman’s three D’s are so uninspiring that two days after finishing his book, I can only name two of them. If this guy was working for the Chinese Propaganda Ministry, he’d soon find himself collecting glowing camel-dung in the most radioactive districts of Sinkiang.

But the US, like nineteenth-century Britain, is so strong that it doesn’t want talented poets working for it. Think of the intentionally flat slogans of the British Empire:

“England expects every man to do his duty.” “The battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton.”

Dull lines – meant to be dull. The British, in their glory days, revelled in their dullness, associating real poetry with women, the French, and other lesser species. There was an element of gloating in the very dullness of their slogans: let the conquered know that they are ruled by mediocrities.

The slogans Friedman develops in this book have the same triumphant dullness. Their purpose is not to inspire Americans, but to convince everyone else that there’s no way to stop “Globalization-Americanization” (his term). Take his favorite oxymoron, “The Golden Straitjacket,” his name for the state-model created by Thatcher and Reagan. It’s “Golden” because if you implement it, your country will supposedly get rich. It’s a “Straitjacket” because, as Friedman says over and over again, it takes away all your freedom. He compares this straitjacket to the Mao suit, evoking those grey-clad crowds in the great Tienanmin Square rallies:

‘The Golden Straitjacket is the defining garment of this globalization era. The Cold War had the Mao suit, the Nehru jacket, the Russian fur [sic]. Globalization has only the Golden Straitjacket. If your country has not been fitted for one, it will be soon.”

Friedman comes up with dozens of glib, sloppy metaphors implying that there is no way out of “globalization-Americanization,” and that anyone who tries to resist will be stampeded. He refers to the wired-up leaders of the movement as “the Electronic herd,” which tramples anything in its way. He takes the cattle-herd metaphor further, dividing the wired American elite into “long-horn” and “short-horn” cattle, and adds that the herd is served by the “bloodhounds” of financial-rating services like Moody’s.

Friedman doesn’t seem to know that cattle herds aren’t usually guided by bloodhounds. But the clumsiness of his metaphors is part of his job. He’s here to threaten those who seem reluctant to join the herd. Who wants subtlety from a leg-breaker? The cruder the metaphor, the more frightening. Good poets don’t make good goons. And Friedman is pure goon, brass-knuckled platitudes all the way. Like a Naked Gun voiceover, he lets his violent metaphors stampede where they will. One of the most ham-handed metaphorical panics is what happens to this “electronic herd.” Within pages of its introduction, the “herd” is transformed from cattle to wildebeest, grazing the Savannah. Ah, but that’s only the beginning. You have to read it to believe it, so take a deep breath and follow Mr. Friedman into the Serengeti of international finance:

Think of the Electronic Herd as being like a herd of wildebeests grazing over a wide area of Africa. When a wildebeest on the edge of the herd sees something move in the tall, thick brush next to where it’s feeding, that wildebeest doesn’t say to the wildebeest next to it, “Gosh, I wonder if there’s a lion moving around there in the brush.” No way. That wildebeest just starts a stampede, and these wildebeests don’t stampede for a mere hundred yards. They stampede to the next country and crush everything in their path. So how do you protect your country from this? Answer: You cut the grass, and clear away the brush, so that the next time the wildebeest sees something rustle in the grass it thinks, “No problem, I see what it is. It’s just a bunny rabbit.” […] What transparency does is get more information to the wildebeests faster, so whatever they want to do to save their skins they can do in an orderly manner. In the world of finance this can mean the difference between having your market take a little dip and having it nosedive into sustained losses that take months or years to recover from.

Is he TRYING to be ridiculous here? I don’t think so. Friedman is a perfect spokes-beest for the entire herd. His endless Mister-Ed monologues comfort the other ruminants, reminding them of their hegemony.

But that doesn’t make for great Imperial poetry. In fact, by the end of that paragraph, with its African bunny rabbits, transparent wildebeest and brush-clearance program, poor old Mao is banging his head against the coffin-lid. Mao’s corpse is praying to Marx, Stalin, and Kwan-Yin for one day back on Earth, just time enough to liquidate this Friedman, whose hack-work shames ideological poets everywhere. In fact, seismologists detect widespread vibrations as Imperial poets from Virgil to Kipling batter their coffin-lids, screaming in agony, as Friedman drones on.

But there are horses for courses, and this garrulous Mister Ed is perfect as mouthpiece of the gloating, swaggering American Empire in its moment of triumph. Because Friedman’s not just dumb; he’s mean, too. He just loves to tell those about to undergo “Globalization-Americanization” that the process is going to hurt:

Unfortunately, the Golden Straitjacket is pretty much ‘one size fits all.’ So it pinches certain groups, squeezes others….It is not always pretty or gentle or comfortable. But it’s here and it’s the only model on the rack this historical season.

But of course he has to offer something which passes for evidence. So, to fill the time between “insights,” he recounts inspirational anecdotes gleaned from lickspittles and Uncle Toms the world over. Friedman meets the son of a leading PLO general, and is gratified that the boy is now working as a software salesman with no hard feelings over the fact that his father took a hundred bullets from an Israeli hit team. He is told by Anatoly Chubais, that herd bull of the Russian Young Wildebeest herd, that it’s Russia’s own fault entirely that the country is in ruins.

Russia, in fact, is the villain of this book. Friedman hates Russia – truly hates it, with a mealy-mouthed venom which does not make pleasant reading. His book begins with a quote from an American businessman whining that it’s “aggravating” that the Russian crash actually affects his profits. When he needs a bad example, it’s always Russian. He tells the hoary anecdote (an “insight” in this case, naturally) about the Russian elevator with misnumbered floors, and the equally venerable anecdote about the Russian who drives his tank to town because he doesn’t have a car. Oh, those funny, funny Russians, with their aggravating habit of starving to death just when we want to celebrate. Like many of the Empire’s leg-breakers, Friedman hates Russia for all sorts of reasons: as a child of cold-war America; as an Israel-can-do-no-wrong Middle-East correspondent; and above all as a popularizer of the get-with-the-program hegemony of the Golden Straitjacket. Russia doesn’t fit into the Golden Straitjacket very well. In fact, the Straitjacket made Russia so uncomfortable that by 1998, its screams were audible even in the offices of the New York Times. Friedman and his masters will never forgive Russia for ruining the gloat-fest with that discordant scream.”

- John Dolan, “THOMAS FRIEDMAN: THE EMPIRE’S USEFUL IDIOT: AN EXILE CLASSIC.” The eXiled. June 8, 2000. Issue 92.

[listicle-monster]

Otome game routes

*Games with asterisks are ones I haven't finished playing (e.g. demo, discontinued, or episodic release)

Cinderella Phenomenon: Karma's, with Walt's as a close second. Karma is adorable. I got Karma's route first and even after trying out everybody's, I still like Karma's route. As for Waltz, it was also a good route but I feel like most of the drama happened in the backstory than the present. I still like him, though, so his route's second.

Doppelganger Dawn of the Inverted Souls: I'm not really sure. It was the first VN I've ever played so it's been a long time. I remember getting Lee's route first (mostly because I thought sticking with your best friend was the safest). Every other route was enjoyable (I unlocked all of the endings to Lee's route so it really made me dislike him). Clifford's was pretty wholesome for the most part. Blake's was chill and refreshing. Raphael's route wasn't my type but it did reveal some interesting backstory. Yuri's was the most action-packed, and most dramatic second only to Lee's. I guess I'll go with Neo's route since it has the most backstory and Lucia's character development. He's awesome objectively, but I felt drawn to Yuri the most.

Autumn's Journey: Ilmari's. Kerr grew on me and my previous self would've liked him first, but I like how Ilmari's just so interested in the heavenkind world. Then again, the thing with a close-knit trio is that it feels wrong to have a couple somehow, IDK.

The Pirate Mermaid*: The sorcerer's, obviously. Don't you wanna tease that guy?

Nova Synthesis Creaturum: Duran's. There's something about short sulky messy-haired boy-next-door types.

Reimei no Gauken*: Sin's, probably. It has the most chemistry, imo. MC who sits on the edge of a high veranda and frequently escapes responsibilities plus an asocial guy who's drawn to her for an inexplicable reason. Both mysterious individually, an even greater mystery if they end up together. Lagi's someone I wish was real and his power really make for a complex dynamic, but for me it doesn't go with my first impression of the MC's personality. Hiryuu's admirable, but I think I'd go for him if I was playing a more realistic, less fantastical game. Aito's also bound to raise an interesting route being human and I would want to protect him, just not romantically. Osamu might have chemistry with the MC, but I don't like him. Lastly, Fraser's character design is awesome, but I don't know enough about him from what I've played.

Candied Carols*: Dietrich's. It's not even a bad guy turning good or an abusive guy playing nice. It's just an admirable human...I mean, rat being.

When the Night Comes*: August's. I didn't expect to be attracted to an authority figure or even a co-worker, but the boss it is. The theme background music kills me, too. Runner-up routes would be Alkar and Omen (individually or both) but a far second.

Cute Demon Crashers: Akki's. Orias' is a far second. I like the dynamics with Akki as a whole. Orias is definitely awesome, but feels like from a different world.

The Pretenders Guild: Rafael's. Even his theme background music kills me.

Mnemonic Devices: Alto's. I mean. *gestures wildly*

Arena Circus*: I respect the devs' decisions but I was hoping for a Fenris route, if not a Lucy or Santana one. I'm kinda hoping for my heart to be broken knowing my ships won't be together as often as a ringmaster and their harlequin, or even Lilié X Natalia.

Reanimation Scheme*: Sebastien's or Aldrias'. Originally there were only 3 routes, but fans recognized Sebastien's appeal.

Andromeda Six*: Damon's for sure. I didn't even try to get his route, my choices just clicked with him. I got his route first, which kinda sucks because the others ended up paling in comparison. Bash's would've been a far second, but I don't wanna get in between him and someone else (weird cuz I'm definitely between Damon and someone else).

[sioneioane]

Spatial Design III

Field Conditions by Stan Allen in Points + Lines, 1985 Field Condition article written by Stan Allen lectures about the experience and representing of space. Field condition is more about the development, experience, and portrayal of space and how we deal with space. While trying to extend our general translation of engineering thoughts, its emphasis is on a variety of undertakings by both craftsmen and designers that reclassify the connections amongst imperceptible and unmistakable, figure and ground, limited and endless. Stan Allen mention in his essay about “the convention of classic architecture dictate not only the proportion of individual elements but also the relationship between individual elements”. In this text, the writer talks more about the relationship between respective elements in space. This idea of respecting relationship between individual elements in a space relates to our spatial project. This semester I wanted to explore the relationship between humans and the atmosphere that surrounds us. I wanted to design a walkway with some design ideas inspired by Filipe Tohi. Filipe Tohi based his work and idea around Pacific Island art form of lalava(lashing) that was used for joining and binding materials together. Meters of colored sennit(kafa) were wound and tied so as to create distinct geometric patterns that were a well -established part of daily life. I believe lalava patterns were a mnemonic device for representing a life philosophy.

Site Visit

What is the importance of colours in relation to the Architectural World?

Numerous hypothetical research work in various orders of learning have managed the subject of colour, its properties, frameworks, and connections. Colour is significantly more than just a layer of paint on a surface, or an instrument of enhancement. It is a fundamental component of plan, and the most expressive, by the importance it passes on, and the mental consequences for the watchers. Colour is a basic component of our reality in the regular habitat as well as in the architectural enviroment. Colour constantly assumed a job in the human transformative process. The earth and its colours are seen, and the cerebrum procedures and judges what it sees on a goal and emotional premise. Mental impact, correspondence, data, and consequences for the mind are parts of our perceptual judgment forms. Subsequently, the objectives of shading outline in a design space are not consigned to embellishment alone.

For this Semester, I want my design to reflect the idea of Colour Complex and relationship between spatial practices and colour, colour as integral to materials, applied to materials, embedded into materials and colour as immaterial.

One of the readings called “Importance of Colour in Interior Architectural Space on the Creation of Brand Identity”, Alnasser addresses the theoretical study behind the idea of colour in relationship between spatial practices. Colour is firmly identified with frame and might be one of its essential properties. Much the same as structures what's more, shapes have their own measurements and measures, hues additionally have their measurements also, physical properties, which will be managed in this work to investigate the likelihood of essentially applying them as indicated by specific specializations. Distinctive hues communicate with one another on logical, basic, and creative bases, as they have their claim frameworks and connections. (Alnasser2013)

Artist Model Filipe Tohi

Examples of Filipe Tohi’s work

Filipe Tohi is also known for his sculptures, Tohi defines lalava as the ‘intersection of two strings that form patterns as they spiral up and down. Without both strings (lines) there are no patterns, both must go together’ Looking at these designs one finds a balance that can be equated with male and female; the lalava becomes a metaphor for the ways people and cultures interact. It is this notion of balance — of the interaction of two entities that so intrigues Tohi. He has attempted to demonstrate this in his models of the lalava designs. Expanding the patterns into three dimensions allows the viewer to see the geometric nature of the patterns, and more importantly to see them from multiple perspectives. Sculptures by Filipe Tohi

Filipe Tohi has always insisted that lalava offer a way of preserving and communicating information. He describes lalava as a ‘visual language’ that can convey ‘principles of cultural knowledge and history’ as well as ‘memories and experiences’. It has not always been easy, though, for audiences to access all of the information encoded in Tohi’s lalava. The patterns of his sculptures and drawings often seem to connote rather than denote - they remind us, with their artful arrangement of lines, of the seas and landscapes Tonga, but they do not obviously communicate specific information.

Weaving

https://artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/inspired-crafts-of-samoa-ichcap/WAJCX9ba-dwMLQ?hl=en

Architecture of Atmosphere by Mark Wigely

In the text “The Architecture of Atmosphere” Mark Wigley talks about the importance of atmosphere in the architecture industry and what atmosphere really construct in a design. “Likewise, the atmosphere of a building seems to be produced by the physical form” The atmosphere is something that brings life into a space or a place. In the beginning of the text, Mark Wigley indicate the fact that the atmosphere of a building is by all accounts delivered by the physical form. The physical form helps to create the atmosphere around a space or a place. Atmosphere alluding to the sensorial characteristics of a space, it insinuates a prompt type of physical discernment, and is perceived through our enthusiastic sensibility. Actually, the atmosphere in a given space or inside is particularly controlled by the way a space is utilized and our discernment of the space is to huge degree likewise what we encounter. In this semester, we were given a site that is based in Glen Innes for our project assignments. The site was Omaru River. Omaru River is waterway in Glen Innes that is now one of the most polluted river in New Zealand. When we went to visit the site, the atmosphere from this waterway was different from the others, because Omaru River is now one of the most polluted waterway in New Zealand, the atmosphere change. The smell of the site was unpleasant. A fresh air brings life into a place, it also compose a space to be alive, and because the smell or the air around Omaru River was muck, the place became dead and lifeless. 

Site Analysis

Auckland City has many different ethnic or national cultures mingling freely. It can also refer to political or social policies which support or encourage such a coexistence. Important in this is the idea that cultural practices, no matter how unusual, should be tolerated as a measure of respect. I wanted to highlight different cultures on my sit analysis, each colour represent different cultures moving around the city. 

Design Concept

Research Context

     “We understand colour in much the same way that we understand the shape of the earth. The earth is round, but we experience it as flat, and act on it according to that practical perception of flatness. Color is light alone, but it is experienced so directly and powerfully that we think of it as a physical entity. No matter what we may understand about the science of color, or what color technology is available, we believe our eyes. Color problems in the design industries are solved with the human eye. Designers work with color from the evidence of their eyes”. (Holtzshue, 2012)

Holtzshue describes how we experience colour in our everyday life. Colour is a tangible observation, and as any tactile discernment, it has impacts that are representative, cooperative, synesthetic, and passionate. This undeniable rationale has been demonstrated by logical examination. Since the body and brain are one element, neuropsychological viewpoints, psychosomatic impacts, visual ergonomics, and colours mental impacts are the parts of shading ergonomics. These being outline objective contemplations that interest adherence to secure human mental and physiological prosperity inside their man-made condition. The colour specifier/creator has the assignment of knowing how the gathering of visual incitement, its preparing and evoked reactions related to the hormonal framework, delivers the best potential outcomes for the welfare of individuals. This is of most extreme significance in differed conditions, for example, restorative and mental offices, workplaces, modern and creation plants, instructive offices, homes for the elderly, remedial offices, et cetera. Each inside themselves having distinctive assignment and capacity territories.  Colour plays an important role in our everyday life, I mean colours has numerous impacts in our regular day to day existences. We have figured out how to react to specific hues in certain ways. For instance, red implies alert/blood/ stop.

Holtzshue describe colour as light (Holtzshue, 2012). The connection among light and architecture happens unavoidably. Light, contingent upon how it is utilized and how it can change the spatial setting. It can influence a space to appear to be wonderful or unpalatable, light likewise plays with scale or it could be utilized basically to feature components inside a space. In my experience with light and colour, these two components gives life to a space nor a place, it makes places more pleasant, agreeable, inhabitable and noticeable. Peter Zumthor in his book called Atmosphere, he mention that

    “the light on things, is so moving to me that I feel it almost spiritual quality. When the sun comes up in the morning- which I always find so marvellous, absolutely fantastic the way way it comes back every morning – and casts its light on things, it doesn’t feel as if it quite belongs in this world.” (Zumthor, 2006)

Zumthor addresses the idea of light or colour and how it impacts us in our regular day to day existence. Light or colour helps makes that magnificent climate inside a space. Zumthor utilizes the daylight early in the day for instance of light that gives us life. At the point when that sun comes up in the morning, when I open the curtains and the light from the sun hits my face, that lights brings euphoria and fervour. It brings new life, new day and new me. We've all experience some tough occasions previously we go to bed however when we wake up and that sun ascends once more, it implies it's another day, disregard what happened yesterday and proceed onward.

Alnasser also mention that there are various perspectives in characterizing hues and their developments. The physicist characterizes colour to be not just a property of things, of surfaces, or spaces, yet additionally that inclination realized by specific sorts of light that can be seen and deciphered by the brain(Alnasser,2013). In addition, Alnasser highlighted the importance of colour and light to the human eye and how we experience it. Colour has the intensity of communicating sentiments and feelings.

Fort Lane at Night time

Experimental Design

Rough Design context (Walkway)

Renders

[womenintranslation]

Women in Amerindian Literature: an essay by Elisa Taber

(Image: armadillo carving, a handicraft of the Mbya Guaraní, the indigenous community the poet Alba Eiragi Duarte belongs to.)

Women writing in indigenous languages in Latin America are working to both decolonize hegemonic feminism and to counter systematic linguistic censorship. Their poetic discourse posits that women’s rights do not need to be individualistic but communal and that national identity needs to be multicultural. It is not why but how they write, and the range of languages they use, that makes their writings impossible to group together under the label “indigenous literature.” The Mixe writer and linguist Yasnaya Elena Aguilar Gil has rejected the standard binary imposed on literary production in indigenous languages in Mexico, “I have yet to find a common trait that justifies that a literature written in such distinct languages and that belongs to eleven disparate linguistic families shares any grammatical features or poetic devices that, together, can be contrasted to Spanish.” (“(Is There) An Indigenous Literature?”) The distinctiveness of each indigenous language and culture must be respected and the conception of a ‘minority’ literary category that homogenizes them must be questioned.

Those eager to discover linguistic, cosmological, and poetic diversity should read the work of the following contemporary women writers: Natalia Toledo and Irma Pineda, Zapotec poets; Ruperta Bautista Vázquez and Marga Beatriz Aguilar Montejo, Maya Tsotsil and Maya Yucatec poets, respectively; Liliana Ancalao and Faumelisa Manquepillán, Mapuche poets; Lucila Lema Otavalo and Eugenia Carlos Ríos, Quechua poets; Alba Eiragi Duarte and Susy Delgado, Mbya Guaraní and Jopara poets, respectively.

The community of Latin American writers and academics studying Amerindian poetry–especially Violeta Percia and Juan G. Sánchez Martínez–have generously shared with me the work of these contemporary women writers. I encourage readers to visit Sánchez Martínez’s multilingual digital collaborative anthology platform, Siwar Mayu. The digital nature of this anthology shows that, as Walter Ong posits, it is electronic, rather than print, media that makes visible the transgressions writing inflects on transcribed orality. The auditory and visual performance components of oral literature are rendered through multimedia; i.e. the translated text is accompanied by recordings and illustrations. A lyrical, fictional, or non-fictional piece is published in the original indigenous language as well as in Spanish and English, together with an illustration by an indigenous artist and an essay by an indigenous academic reflecting on the work’s literary value. The result, which is not simply the transcription but the multi-sequential and multisensory translation of oral literature, calls forth a secondary orality.

The poetry of these Zapotec, Maya, Mapuche, Quechua, and Guaraní poets present distinct modes of production, lyrical devices, and linguistic features that are jointly defiant of their Western counterparts. Their collections live between Spanish and an endangered indigenous language. They are crafted and distributed orally; transcription is a secondary and sometimes unnecessary step. Many are self-published in print or online, via social media. Language loses its weight this way; it becomes ephemeral, alterable, it ceases to belong to one person. However, the content is firmly rooted in the soil, sometimes focused on the quotidian–specifically, the act of boiling a potato–and other times on the metaphysical– specifically, the distance between life and death bridged by another conception of corporeality within time and space. I believe this poetry is excluded from the national canon of each country these poets belong to precisely because there is so much complexity encrypted in its apparent simplicity.

In this post I will introduce the poetry of the Paraguayan poet, Alba Eiragi Duarte, who writes in Mbya Guaraní (which is distinct from Jopara, a variant of Spanish-inflected Guaraní) and will discuss how her work is excluded by a definition of national literature so narrow that it has no place for indigenous poetries. Eiragi Duarte has introduced, illustrated, and self-published her collection Ñe'ẽ yvoty, ñe'e poty (Our Earth and Our Mother), writing bilingually in Spanish and Mbya Guaraní. The first section consists of sixteen of her own poems. The language and content are simple. The poems address ontological subjects: what it takes to survive, to cook, sleep, and work. Or what it means to be alive: the passing of the seasons, the transition from dawn to dusk, the birth and death of loved ones. The lines are short but read as sentences, almost like instructions. The language is formal and distant until speech erupts, In “Pore’ỹ” (The Absence), the third person narration shifts to the first with the lines

Che kérape rohecha,

che páype rohechase

che membymi porãite

I see you in my dreams and

when I wake, I wish to see you,

my daughter, my life.

Emotion is unmediated yet counters nostalgia with a sense of what is real now: her daughter is deceased and the narrator, alive. There is nothing mythical about these poems, if myth is defined as the attribution of human intentionality to the inexplicable or meaningless.

In her last poem, “Che Rata” (My Fire), day dawns, the narrator lights a fire and sets a sweet potato, a mandioca, and a kettle atop it. The poem ends with the lines, “che rata ikatupyry, / ombojy ha’uva’erã” (fire is vital, / it cooks food). Life appears to be as simple as waking. Regaining this clarity is a task that is as complex for the reader as it is for the author. The poet refuses to be distracted by the superfluous and encourages the reader to do the same. Alba Eiragi Duarte is, above all, an ethical poet. There is a circularity in each text that is intrinsic to the author’s conception of life and poetry: what is simple is complex and what is complex is simple. She has no need to resort to complex metafictional device to underscore this paradox.

In the second section, titled “Mombe’u añeteguaite Avá Ruguái rehegua” (The True Story of Avá Ruguái), Eiragi Duarte retells a religious myth. (In Guaraní Avá means man and ruguái, armadillo.) Avá Ruguái is like a man, but is more solitary, agile, and cruel. When men hunting in the jungle enter too deep to return before nightfall, he puts them to sleep and kills, quarters, and skins them. The poet recounts the story of the man who kills Avá Ruguái because Ruguái has killed his brother. In one scene, the narrator squats in the scrubland, watching Avá Ruguái lift his sleeping brother by the nape of his neck. There is something cinematic about the specificity with which corporeality in space is described. Time is ambiguous but the events that are recounted seem to occur in the span of one night.

The wilderness—its flora and fauna—is heightened by the descriptions and accompanying illustrations. It is as though the quebracho and palm trees witness the events as the readers do. Behind a low stand of thorn bushes, a man lies stiffly on the ground. The tips of his feet point right. He wears a dark shirt and light pants. His silhouette is delineated by the darkest line in the drawing. His eyes and mouth are lightly sketched, they fade into the white paper. He grips his hand over his abdomen. He seems dead, not asleep. Another man stands over him with a bow in his hands and a sack full of arrows on his back. Palm trees lean left and right in the background. The rigidity and lack of expression of the human figures is in stark contrast to the ornamentation and movement of the bushes and trees. The book’s illustrations underscore people’s inflexibility towards the elements of nature, which in turn adapt to them. The narrative shows the retribution of nature, embodied by Avá Ruguái, to the transgressions of humans.

Eiragi Duarte recites these poems and stories, transcribed on illustrated placards, to children in rural schools across Paraguay. This educational program counters the loss of knowledge of the Mbya Guaraní language and of sacred narratives. She comes from an oral or mnemonic tradition in which authorship is not individual but communal. The poet compensates for the transgressions writing inflects on transcribed orality by combining her poetry with stories that have been passed down to her and by illustrating both on the placards.

She aspires to create a national Paraguayan literature that is multilingual and multicultural. Yet her poetry is intrinsically untranslatable unless the conception of literature broadens to include her manifesto of social ecology. In the introduction to the book she not only posits an equality between genders but also between human beings and nature. By conceiving of human rights and authorship in a communal sense, and at the same time blurring the distinction between the social and ecological, she forces readers to regard the parts of a whole as distinct yet interconnected in new ways. Behind the apparent simplicity of these poems and stories lies a true reconception of reality and how it is rendered in fiction and poetry.

The term literature must be challenged because it reduces these verbally organized materials to a variant further developed by literate cultures. With respect to sacred narratives, the term authorship must shift from an individual to a communal definition. The narratives do not belong to the ones reciting them—they only author a version—but rather to the millenary indigenous cultures the reciters belong to. The history of the transcription and translation into Spanish of poetry from indigenous languages since the conquest has three stages. The first was carried out by missionaries; the second, by social scientists, specifically linguists and anthropologists; and the third, by writers.

I have featured the work of Alba Eiragi Duarte in this post because it speaks to the literary properties of the text, rather than exclusively to its cultural or linguistic aspects. She shows that the culture or language is not so much in danger of extinction as it is at risk of voluntarily subjugating itself through national aspirations to westernization. She also proposes that her translations are parallel versions of the original. It is only by challenging the terms “literature and authorship” that the national as well as the continental canon will be broadened to include indigenous poetry. Failing that, its lyrics will continue to circulate orally as common knowledge, but without validation as artistic works in their own right, not folkloric artifacts.

—Elisa Taber

Works Cited

Aguilar Gil, Yasnaya Elena. “(Is There) an Indigenous Literature?” Translated by Gloria E. Chacón. Diálogo, vol. 19, no. 1, Spring 2016, pp. 157-159. (Original article in Spanish published in March 2015 in Letras libres (https://www.letraslibres.com/mexico-espana/libros/literatura-indigena).

[sophiachoi1019]

Writing Initiative #1

1. Describe 1–2 media and/or materials you would like to explore

As I am initiating my 4D project (mobile application), I would like to explore different app prototyping tools such as AdobeXD, Sketch or Figma. This is essential to executing my app idea as it helps me understand how to translate my low-fidelity wireframe sketches to high-fidelity digital wireframes that would later perform as a working prototype.

2. Explain whether/how these reflect what you have learned about the word.

The word Mnemonic is described as: 

“A mnemonic device, or memory device, is any learning technique that aids information retention or retrieval in the human memory. Mnemonics make use of elaborative encoding, retrieval cues, and imagery as specific tools to encode any given information in a way that allows for efficient storage and retrieval.”

I believe that my 4D mobile application project is the epitome of this definition as it would be a wayfinding app that would aid early-onset Alzhimer’s patients to correlate certain objects & subjects to the space they are in to stimulate their brain/thinking; It may not be a preventive solution to Alzhimer’s, but it would help patients develop a technique that could help in the aspect of spatial orientation.

[mathsprogram]

Struggling with math? Find a reliable and experienced math tutor near you to boost your understanding and confidence

Are you struggling with math and struggling to keep up with your classes? Whether it's algebra, geometry, calculus, or any other branch of mathematics, feeling overwhelmed by math is a common experience for many students. The good news is that there is a reliable solution to help you boost your understanding and confidence in math – finding a reliable and experienced math tutor near me.

Finding the best math tutoring can make all the difference in your math journey. From after-school math classes to personalized one-on-one tutoring, various options are available to suit your learning style and schedule. If you're based in Sharjah, you're in luck because there are plenty of qualified math tutors in Sharjah who can provide the support and guidance you need to excel in math.

One of the key benefits of seeking out a math tutor near you is the personalized attention and tailored approach to learning. Unlike a busy classroom setting where the teacher's time is divided among many students, a math tutor can focus solely on your individual needs. This allows for a deeper understanding of the concepts, targeted practice, and the opportunity to ask questions without hesitation.

Moreover, the best math tutoring goes beyond just helping you with homework or exam preparation. A committed math tutor will collaborate with you to determine your areas of strength and weakness, focus on those that require development, and create a personalized learning plan to address those areas. This personalized approach can significantly boost your understanding of mathematical concepts and improve your grades.

Whether you're struggling with basic arithmetic or advanced calculus, a skilled math tutor can provide the clarity and guidance you need to overcome your challenges. They can simplify and make difficult ideas easier to understand and apply by breaking them down into smaller, more doable steps. A math tutor can also offer valuable tips, tricks, and mnemonic devices to help you remember key formulas and principles more effectively.

For many students, seeking help outside of the classroom can be intimidating. On the other hand, locating a trustworthy maths tutor in your area can significantly impact your academic performance. Your confidence and attitude will both increase and your maths skills will improve with the help of the right maths tutor. Overcoming your arithmetic difficulties can provide you a newfound sense of empowerment and enthusiasm for learning.

When searching for a math tutor in Sharjah, it's essential to consider the qualifications and experience of potential tutors. Seek out tutors who have a proven track record of assisting students in developing their maths skills, a strong background in mathematics, and relevant teaching experience. You can also look into internet resources that pair students with experienced tutors, or ask friends, family, or teachers for recommendations.

In conclusion, if you struggle with math, don't hesitate to seek the best math tutoring available. Whether through after-school math classes or personalized one-on-one sessions, finding a reliable and experienced math tutor near you can help boost your understanding and confidence in math. With the right support and guidance, you can overcome your math struggles and unlock your full potential in this critical subject.

[lokbobpop]

Device

1 : something devised or contrived: such as. a(1) : plan, procedure, technique a marketing device mnemonic devices. (2) : a scheme to deceive : stratagem, trick. b : something fanciful, elaborate, or intricate in design

The noun device comes from the Old French word devis, meaning “division,” “separation,” “wish,” or “desire.” That original meaning is only retained in the expression “left to your own devices,” meaning "you're on your own." Otherwise, devices are things that perform a specific function, like tools, instruments or ...

Device de vice devic e dev ice

Writing the word device

The device im writing with right now an electronic device how i cant live without devices like my phone like my iPad i live on them all day long people are even dying on these things with selfies falling off cliffs and so on but if it wasn’t this it was newspapers im sure many have died not paying attention to whats going on.

Reading the word device

To device a way to do something this is where im not very good but chris is good at this he thinks of ideas a device to help I think how did he think of that why couldn’t my mind think of something like that i want my mind to think of things like that thoughts of not being good enough comes up.

My friends the old fellas always have great ideas and devices for me to us i really want to be able to think like them create like them.

When they device a plan to get a car over a river i think it was in the car program top gear it was like all minds got together to get over a river with there cars so very interesting on how they work it out how a mind can work this stuff out its amazing to me that some have the intelligence to do such things.

Im only now developing my device the mind with common sense of having solutions before i would just get angry upset and not want to see solutions for things it was all to hard to do and i didnt like the solutions but now i do i want the best solutions it’s a working process but im building on it.

The dogger a device to get your tyres off cars.

Saying device out loud

Something to help you do something that pacific like saw hammer nails it might be small but its still a device to help you build or you can then do to a crane a Lorry truck combine harvester all deceives we use.

Sf

Does this definition support me no i see i have a belief im not good enough within this word that i cant think of a way to device something or a device to help create something i see i makes myself as not being good enough here to do this and see others as better than me.

Device de cife

Device

To device a way to do something like to device a way to help myself with living words ask for help build up a board to help me plan out how im goin to do this

Something that helps you do something like the boards for my living words again lol

I will live this word with creating my creative mind and building things to help me with process or something i just want to create that i can do i have the ideas i just need ot put them into plan.

[burpenterprisejournal]

WJM FOR INVINCIBILITY

2018/07/18 Invincibility: First Night  ANY MARTA ZAPPAROLI WJM Loophole Berlin - DE

Wednesday, July 18 - 2018 h: 8:00 PM Loophole Boddinstrasse 60, 12053 Berlin Invincibility First Night  ANY MARTA ZAPPAROLI WJM Details // English Six exclusive commissioned works to be performed live by the artists on the two nights of July 18th and 19th. Invincibility represents an ancient dream, a point of freedom from being vulnerable; but simultaneously, it is a mark of and absolute ruler. Between these two poles there’s a horizon of cultural, political and personal associations. "Invincibility” is an event of the "Pop-Kultur Lokal" series, supported by the Senate Department for Culture and Europe of Berlin and with funds of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). Pop-Kultur Berlin http://www.pop-kultur.berlin/en/ ANY (angela nina yeowell) spies on the subconscious and transmits the resulting data through voice and electronics. She is interested in where noise meets music, where un-rhythm meets accuracy and where raw meets craft. She predominantly plays in her duo Slow Slow Loris. https://soundcloud.com/angelanina http://www.slowslowloris.com/ https://www.facebook.com/slowslowloris/ Marta Zapparoli is an active experimental sound artist, improviser, performer, self-taught researcher . She works and lives in Berlin since 2007. In the past fourteen years her sonic work is focused on self recorded sound from the external world using a wide of devices, microphones, sensors, ultrasonic, digital and analogue recorders and in the past four years also antennas, radio receivers, detectors, with out borders and many unconventional techniques . She is interested on the boundaries and relations between acoustic ecology, electro-smog (radio waves),EMF, natural radio phenomenas, wireless communication. With all the recordings she capture around the world, she builds strongly narrative and imaginative sonic pieces through live improvisation with real-time tape manipulation. Beside her solo project she has extensive active duos and larger group collaborations include the Berlin’s 24-piece Splitter Orchester, Pareidolia with (Liz Allbee), The Elks (Fagaschinski, Roisz, Allbee), CIRCUIT TRAINING assemble, Fahrstuhl with (Burkhard Beins), Duo with (Greta Christensen). She has played with many regarded musicians and bands and performed throughout the EU as well as Turkey, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, UK and the USA in festivals such as Maerzmusik, Atonal, A’LARM, Fusion, Darmstädt, Sincussion, (Germany), Huddersfield, Sonorities (UK), Borealis (Norway), Crack (France), Sonic Circuit , High Zero (USA), Geiger (Sweden) and many more. She has been an artist in Residence at EMS (Sweden), AIR (Austria), AIR (Lithuania). http://martazapparoli.blogspot.de/ http://soundcloud.com/martazapparoli WJM Roberta WJM Andreucci is a percussionist,  an experimental producer and DJ, and on air personality. She has more than twenty year of experience organizing and promoting alternative music events. She practices plagiarism and the cutting and mixing of musical and ambiental aural sources. Early in her career she started focusing on the use of voices and on vocal metalinguism, focalizing on her personal practice of “cuttingandslicing” and on rhythm patterns obtained through an improper use of her tools of the trade (cdjs, cd player, md, me mixer). Through the years her percussion set morphed into a hybrid encompassing a dj booth, a radio dj one, a microphone station for electroacustic experiments, and a mnemonic butcher’s slab. She is a founding member of performing music units such as Jealousy Party, Semerssuaq, The Secretaries and Sistemi Audiofobici Burp. She is the director of the music label Burp Publications. https://soundcloud.com/roberta-wjm-andreucci Details // German Sechs vom Loophole Berlin in Auftrag gegebene exklusive Werke, die am 18. und 19. Juli von den Künstlerinnen live präsentiert werden. "Invincibility" steht im Englischen für Unbesiegbarkeit, einen uralten Traum, der davon handelt, nicht länger verwundbar und verletzlich sein zu müssen. Zugleich markiert Unbesiegbarkeit absolute Herrschaft. Zwischen diesen Bedeutungszentren öffnet sich ein assoziativer Spielraum, der ins Kulturelle, Private und Politische greift. Invicibility ist eine Veranstaltung im Rahmen von Pop-Kultur Lokal, gefördert durch die Senatsverwaltung für Kultur und Europa des Landes Berlin aus Mitteln des Europäische Fonds für Regionale Entwicklung (EFRE) im Programm "Stärkung des Innovationsportals in der Kultur II (INP II)..." Pop-Kultur Berlin http://www.pop-kultur.berlin/en/ Artwork by Maria Mendes http://mariabarbedomendes.tumblr.com/ https://www.instagram.com/maria______mendes/

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[spatial-design-year-4]

WEEK 3

Developed positioning statement:

"Landscapes and buildings constitute the most important externalisation of human memory”

                                                                                        - Mark Treib

For centuries, humans have adapted and re-purposed the remnants of pre-existing space to abide by the social and political needs of our ever progressing society. Whether it be the Reichstag building in Berlin or the popular student accomodation on Marion Street that was once a brothel, architecture of the past always leaves traces in the present that remind us of a social construct that once existed. This idea is especially present when we reject and identify against these remnants that are left behind, and we come to realise that our social and political standpoint connects us to the architecture. This raises the question how an individual that identifies against what a space represented in the past now fits within the walls of architecture that has lived through this social and political trauma. Although space is constantly being re-used and adapted, the architecture of what once was still holds on to these moments. “Architecture and designed landscapes serve as grand mnemonic devices that record and transmit vital aspects of culture and history” (Treib, 2009).

I am aiming to investigate past instances and moments of social and political trauma that dwell inside of the physical architecture of space and how this influences the perception of the architecture, as well as how it influences the bodies movement and interaction within the space. More specifically, I aim to look into sites within New Zealand which have dealt with numerous amounts of illicit activity and illicit history, becoming significantly disconnected to what is seen as a ‘socially acceptable’ place. This relationship to me is very interesting, how we bring our “lares with us” (Bachelard, 1964), how architecture can be a medium to contain memories and how this relationship brings out our social and political world views. As Sean Lally states, “our bodies are working in relation to space that is unlike any time prior”. We are more aware than ever of space as being something much more than just something physical, we are becoming more conscious of the relationship we have to space and how we feel within it. The standard person “has a more critical, self conscious outlook with critical opinions and beliefs” (Moulder, 2012). These ideas point to the fact that we are more aware of our surrounding environment and the experiences we encounter, more aware that architecture is a medium to hold on to past trauma and memory. This initiates a certain response in us to sites which hold illicit identities, we tend to either avoid or judge the architecture in ways that we wouldn’t otherwise. I want to create an intervention within this idea that is able to reconnect and offer a new perspective on how we should treat these types of spaces.

Ideas of memory and association have a distinct relationship to traumatic experiences. “There is an awareness that trauma and memory are connected - trauma is expressed, processed and integrated in the act of remembering” is a quote which enforces this relationship. “Past spaces that we have enjoyed or found comfort in live somewhere within us” (Bachelard, 1964), I think can also relate to traumatic encounters or any significant emotional responses to space for that matter. How we know that deep down within these walls these illicit and socially/politically unacceptable events happened. This leads me to believe that architecture is able to hold on to these moments within itself, and project these moments onto the body. An invisible yet always present phenomenon. This gives architecture an almost human like quality, influencing our bodies to holster a deeper and more personal relationship to it and influencing the ways in which we interact and function within the space. It raises questions regarding a shift in power dynamic between the inhabitant of the space and the architecture itself. “Buildings and landscapes, too, can acquire wisdom in their fabrics. They can tell us things, should we choose to ask and listen - assuming we know their language” (Treib, 2009). I am interested in this dynamic and how this is able to harbour an empathetic response to the architecture of spaces that would otherwise be avoided or misinterpreted.

How does this fit into a spatial design framework? I think that by looking through a lens that is able to connect the individual to the sites’ architecture in an empathetic way will be able to generate the most effective response. Rather than seeing the space as a place that influenced these illicit activities of the past but seeing it as something humane, something that endured this trauma and outlived it.

This project will mainly be influenced by the practice arena ‘The City of Time and Change, Past and Present’, as well as hold a lot of key ideas from the practice arena ‘The Mediated City’. My body of previous work has been heavily influenced by these practice arenas in the past, and the themes presented by both arenas are areas of practice that I am extremely interested in.

Key words:

- Accretion

- Overwriting

- Trauma

- Illicit

- Re-invention

- Connection

- Identity

[talabib]

What Every Speaker Can Learn from Barack Obama

On October 2, 2002, at the very same time that President George W. Bush and Congress were announcing their joint resolution to authorize the invasion of Iraq, Obama, then an Illinois State senator, spoke at an antiwar rally in Federal Plaza in Chicago. The New Republic reported an eyewitness account: Jesse Jackson was to be the day’s marquee speaker. But it was Obama, wearing a war-is-not-an-option lapel pin, who stole the show. Obama’s 926-word speech denounced a “dumb war. A rash war. A war based not on reason but on passion, not on principle but on politics.” The electrified crowd knew that a political star was born.

Barack Obama is, by any standard, a very good, if not a great speaker. But his talent did not spring from birth or from mystical magical powers. Obama uses a set of accessible techniques that you, too, can use.

1. Verbalization: Obama practices verbalization. In a Washington Post story he was quoted as saying, “My general attitude is practice, practice, practice ... Besides campaigning, I have always said that one of the best places for me to learn public speaking was actually teaching –– standing in a room full of 30 or 40 kids and keeping them engaged, interested and challenged.”

2. Person-to-person, head nods, read the reaction/adjust your content. A New Yorker magazine profile of Obama gave an example of his campaign for his Illinois Senate seat. When speaking to a group of AFL-CIO building tradesmen who had supported his opponent in the state primary, Obama adjusted his content to include a pro-labor message. The result: “Heads began nodding slowly, jaws set, as he drove home his points.”

3. Think “You.” Obama used that persuasive word strategically throughout his campaign for the Democratic nomination: on his Web site and in his speeches.

4. Speak with your body language.

Eye Contact: Obama’s strong eye contact is apparent in every type of speaking situation.

Reach Out: Time magazine reported,“Physically, he is uncommonly restrained: He keeps his hands close to his head, and his shoulders are always tight and squared.”

Animation: In all settings, large and small, Obama is always animated, his face expressive, breaking into a ready smile or expressing the meaning of his words with passionate emphasis.

5. Control your cadence and complete the arc. Emulating Reagan, Obama rolls out his words in long arcs, like a ship riding the waves on the high seas, completing each arc by dropping his voice, and punctuating each point forcefully. The pauses between the arcs allow his listeners to absorb the meaning of his words, if not to become captivated by his compelling rhythm.

How to Prepare Your Content

Many presenters and speakers, pressured by the demands of business and daily life, often beg, borrow, or steal a colleague’s material or put off their own preparation until the eleventh hour. Your presentation will be much stronger if you spend enough time to organize, develop, and think through your content. During the preparation, clear your mind by eliminating all the superfluous material and identifying the essential. Here are seven ways to prepare your content for presentation:

1. Establish the framework of your presentation. Define your objective. What is your call to action? What does your audience need to know in order to respond to your call to action?

2. Brainstorming: Consider all the possibilities. Distill all your ideas into a few main themes.

3. Roman Columns: Find a mnemonic device for your main themes. If you visit Rome today and tour the ruins of the great Forum, you are likely to hear your guide talk about the classic Roman orators who spoke in the Forum for hours on end without any notes. To help them remember what to say, the orators used the stately marble columns of the Forum as prompts. The object of your brainstorming is to develop the Roman columns of your own story; about five or six in all is optimal.

4. Flow Structure: Provide a road map for your audience and for you. Give the individual components of your story a meaningful, orderly flow. Two of the simplest and most common flow structures are chronological (track your story along a timeline) and numerical (Combine all your Roman columns and assign them a number, then count down for your audience as you discuss each column). Think of David Letterman’s Top Ten.

5. Graphics: Use visual aids, but give your graphics their proper role as support for your narrative.

6. Ownership: Take charge of your own presentation. Become a hands-on presenter and supervise your presentation’s development at pivotal points.

7. Verbalization: Practice the right way. In your rehearsals, speak the actual words of your presentation or speech aloud, just the way you will do it when you are in front of your intended audience. Verbalization crystallizes ideas.

“Good speakers are born, not made,” and its extended variation, “That person has natural charisma” are often said about a presenter’s delivery skills. The corollary implication of this view is “Change is impossible.” You either have it or you do not. For some unearthly reason, many people cling to this preconception, and recite it, almost as a pledge of allegiance. Change is possible for anyone.

Bill Clinton, with his usual rhetorical flair and an established reputation as a superstar of the keynote circuit, seemingly did not need any makeovers. But Clinton was not born with this capability. He admits as much in his autobiography, calling his first speech effort while in high school “unremarkable.” He was still far less than remarkable in 1988 when, as the governor of Arkansas, he gave a nominating speech for Michael Dukakis at the Democratic National Convention in Atlanta. Clinton rambled on for so long that the delegates began to chant, “We want Mike!” And when he finally said, “In closing …” the crowd roared their approval. In his autobiography, Clinton confessed, “It was 32 minutes of total disaster.”

[jackygsguitarguide]

Hello everyone, 

Welcome to Jacky G’s Guitar Guide. Every week a new blog will be posted pertaining to beginner guitar concepts. My hope is that you enjoy this blog and are able to develop your guitar skills to keep improving yourself as a player on your own.

 A little bit about me - 

Name: Jackson

Age: 22

Residence: Georgia, USA

Guitar Experience: 8+ years

Today, we will be discussing the most basic of concepts: the tuning of the guitar strings. Standard tuning, as it is most commonly known, is read from the thickest string to the thinnest in the following order: E-A-D-G-B-e. Another way of wording this concept is that when you are holding the guitar in a playing position, the string closest to you is the “Low�� E and the string furthest from you is the “high” e.

The predecessor to the guitar we know today was called a baroque guitar, and had 5 strings instead of today’s 6. It was usually tuned E-B-G-D-A, quite different from the standard tuning we are used to now. By the end of the 18th century, a sixth string was added, and gradually the tuning became what we know today. 

Musically, standard tuning for guitars is mostly fourth intervals with one major third, between the G and the B. This means that on a piano, between each note there is 5 keys, except for the G and B, which has 4 keys apart. The reason for this slight interval change is to make it easier for the player to utilize scales and chords instead of just one or the other. In most bands, there is at least one rhythm guitarist, who typically plays chords, and one lead guitarist, who plays licks, riffs, and solos. Being able to play both individual melody lines and chords is the primary reason why we use these intervals for standard tuning. 

An easy mnemonic device I was taught to memorize the tuning of the chords is “Eddie Ate Dynamite, Good Bye Eddie.” There are numerous other phrases out there, and you can always make your own. Stick with whatever is easiest for you to remember the tuning intervals, it will be different for everyone. 

While standard tuning is by far the most common, there are numerous other guitar tunings to experiment with. One common alternate tuning is Eb-Ab-Db-Gb-Bb-Eb, otherwise known as “half-step down” tuning, which is very common for some artists to use during concerts and live performances. Another popular alternate tuning is D-A-D-G-B-E, known as ‘Drop D” tuning, which can be used to get a heavier sounding D chord. I encourage you all to explore these other tunings at your own pace as your knowledge of the instrument grows. 

This will conclude today’s lesson. I hope this has given you a foundation and interest in continuing to learn about the guitar. Next week, we will go over some easy beginner chords and songs to practice. Rock on!

[evanvanness]

Narrative edition, Week in Ethereum News, Jan 12, 2020

This is the 5th edition of the 6 annotated versions that I committed in my head to doing when I decided to see how an annotated edition would be received.

Given the response on my Gitcoin matching grant, I may have to keep going.  Check it out - giving 1 DAI right now will get more than 100x matching.

Thanks to everyone who has given on my Gitcoin grant.  It’s the best way to show you want these annotated editions to continue.

Even 1 Dai is super appreciated given the matching!  Since Tumblr adds odd forwarders to links, here’s the text of the link: https://gitcoin.co/grants/237/week-in-ethereum-news

Eth1

Latest core devs call. Notes from Tim Beiko, discussion of EIPs 2456, 1962, 2348

EthereumJS v4.13 – bugfix release for Muir Glacier

Slockit released a stable version of their Incubed stateless ultralight client, aimed at IoT devices. 150kb to verify transactions or 500kb including EVM. incentive layer coming soon.

A little slow on in the eth1 section, but Incubed getting to be stable is cool.  Obviously if they can get the incentive layer worked out, that will be fantastic.

When I think about that that I was wrong about, definitely if I go back to q1 or q2 2017, I  thought that IoT Ethereum was much more of a thing.   There was Brody’s early washing machine prototype, Airlock->Oaken, Slockit had some stuff 3 years ago, etc.  It hasn’t really happened.

Why not?  It seems to me like most of those things require enterprises to take the plunge.  No one is going to go out and manufacture a domestic electronic device just yet with all the uncertainty there.  

And light client server incentivization hasn’t happened yet.  There’s just things to be built still. So it’s cool to see Incubed hitting a stable release.  Slowly but surely all the necessary primitives get built.  I still think there will be lots of robots transacting some day.

Eth2

Latest Eth2 implementer call. Notes from Mamy and from Ben.

Latest what’s new in Eth2

Spec version v0.10 with BLS standards

Prysmatic restarted its testnet with a newer version of the spec and mainnet config

Lodestar update on light clients and dev tooling

3 options for state providers

Eth2 for Dummies

Exploring validator costs

Eth2 for dummies was the most clicked this week.  Even within the universe of people who subscribe to the newsletter, there’s always demand for high level explainers.

The spec is essentially finalized and out the door for auditing, so now it’s a sprint towards shipping, though of course there may be some minor changes as a result of further networking and of course from the audit.

Lately some in the community have been promoting a July ship date and I personally would be disappointed if it slipped that far.

Layer2

Optimistic rollup for tokens Fuel ships first public testnet

Optimistic Game Semantics for a generalized layer2 client

Loopring presents full results of their zk rollup testing

StarkEx says they can do 9000 trades per second at 75 gas per trade with offchain data, with the limiting factor being the prover, not onchain throughput.

9000 is a pretty crazy number, although since the data is offchain that makes it a Plasma construct and not a rollup.   StarkWare to my memory hasn’t provided details on what the exit game is - as an end user do i get a proof I can submit if i need to exit?  I have no idea.

Anyway, it’s very cool that the limiting factor is the prover, ie, nothing about Ethereum is what is currently limiting the 9000 transactions per second number.

Of course Loopring would also have a fairly crazy number if they did offchain data, but they have a thousand or 2k tps per second number with onchain data, and let’s be honest: right now the limiting factor here is the demand for dexes.   No dex at the moment can fill even a hundred transactions per second.  But as trades get cheaper, presumably there is more demand.   And token trading will certainly increase in the next bull market.

Meanwhile Fuel shipped its first testnet.  Very neat.

Stuff for developers

An update on the Vyper compiler: there’s now two efforts, a new one in Rust using YUL to target both EVM & ewasm as well as the existing one in Python.

A look at vulnerabilities of deployed code over time

a beginner’s guide to the K framework

Vulnerability: hash collisions with multiple variable length arguments

Verifying wasm transactions (and part2)

Austin Griffith’s eth.build metatransactions

Build your own customized Burner Wallet

Abridged v2 aiming to make it easy to onboard new users of web2 networks

Ethcode v0.9 VSCode extension

Embark v5

The Vyper saga is interesting. The existing Vyper compiler had a number of security holes found.  EF’s Python team decided they didn’t like the existing codebase.  So now some of the existing Vyper team is continuing on with the existing Python compiler, whereas there will also be an effort to write a Vyper compiler in Rust but to the intermediate language Yul, which means it will have both ewasm and EVM.

Also interesting to see the data viz of depoyed vulnerabilities over time.  App security has been improving!

Ecosystem

RicMoo: SQRLing mnemonic phrases

ethsear.ch – Ethereum specific search engine

Avado’s RYO node – nodes opt-in and let users access them via load balancer

30 days of Eth ecosystem shipping

Aztec’s BN-254 trusted setup ceremony post-mortem. Confidential transactions launching this month

RicMoo always has interesting posts on techniques to use in Ethereum that aren’t mainstream.  This one is pretty interesting.

I’m very excited about Aztec’s confidential transactions shipping this month.   Much like Tornado, this is huge.  The difference is that Aztec is about obscuring transaction amounts.   Well, it’s about more than that and will be an interesting primitive for people to build with.

Enterprise

700m USD volume on Komgo commodity trade finance platform

TraSeable seafood tracker article on the challenges points out the troubles with no private chain interoperability

Caterpillar business process management system

Q&A with Marley Gray about the EEA’s Token Taxonomy Initiative

700m USD.  It continues to strike me that enterprise is one of Ethereum’s biggest moats, and yet I don’t think I do a great job covering it.  Much of what gets published is press release rewrites.

And of course I did a small bit of editorializing by noting that an article on private chains was finding how hard it was to have all these private chains.  They need mainnet!

Governance and standards

EIP1559 implementation discussion

EIP2456: Time based upgrades

Metamask’s bounty for a generalized metatransaction standard

1559 is important because it kills economic abstraction forever!  It’s happening in eth2, it’d be nice to have it happen in eth1.   While I think some of the tradeoffs have not been written about - and that originally caused me to be a bit skeptical, perhaps i’ll write a post about that -- it’d be great to get 1559 into production.

In general, Eth needs better standardization around wallets for frontend devs.

Application layer

Flashloans within one transaction using Aave Protocol are live on mainnet

Orchid’s decentralized VPN launches

Data viz on dexes in 2019

ZRXPortal for ZRX holders to delegate their tokens to stakers

Dai Stability Fee and Dai Savings Rate go up to 6%, while Sai Stability Fee at 5%

EthHub’s new Ethereum user guides

It’s great that EthHub is doing user guides, that’s something that is missing.  What’s also missing is a concerted Ethereum effort to link to stuff so that old uncle Google does a better job of returning search results.

Aave’s flashloans is another neat primitive.  Things unique to DeFi.

Tokens/Business/Regulation

David Hoffman: the money game landscape

Australia experimenting with a digital Aussie dollar, with a prototype on a private Ethereum chain

3 cryptocurrency regulation themes for 2020

OpenSea’s compendium of NFT knowledge

A newsletter to keep track of the NFT space

Initial Sardine Coin Offering

NBA guard Spencer Dinwiddie’s tokenized contract launches January 13

Progressive decentralization: a dapp business plan

I wrote a Twitter thread about Dinwiddie’s tokens.  I’m curious how they do, given that the NBA made him change plans and just do a bond.  I haven’t seen the prospectus, and press accounts have conflicting information, but it appears that the annual interest rate is 14%.  In that case, I wonder who puts fiat in?  I doubt anyone would sell their ETH at these prices for a 14% USD return.  There is some risk, but it basically requires Dinwiddie to lose the plot and get arrested or fail a drug test.  So it seems like quite a good return given the low risk (assuming it is indeed 14%)

That Sardine token is wild, but not crazy.  I won’t even try to summarize it, but perhaps even weirder is that they announced it at CES.  Is your average CES attendee going to have any idea what ETH is during the depths of cryptowinter?  Unclear to me.

Lots of good stuff in this section this week.   Jesse Walden wrote up the “get product market fit, then community, then decentralize” which has worked for a bunch of DeFi protocols.   

It’s also the opposite of what folks like Augur and Melon have done.  So far the “decentralize later” camp has gotten more traction, but I personally don’t consider this argument decided at all, especially if you are in heavily regulated industries like Augur or Melon where regulators might put you into bankruptcy just because they got up on the wrong side of the bed that morning.

I also think Augur could be a sleeper hit for 2020, and I think Melon’s best days are still in front of it.

General

Andrew Keys: 20 blockchain predictions for 2020

Haseeb Qureshi’s intro to cryptocurrency class for programmers

Ben Edgington’s BLS12-381 for the rest of us

Visualizing efficient Merkle trees for zero knowledge proofs

Eli Ben-Sasson’s catalog of the Cambrian zero knowledge explosion

Bounty for breaking RSA assumptions

It’s amusing how heavy crypto stuff often gets put into this section.  The cryptography stuff is all super interesting, but not sure I can provide much more context for it.

Juxtaposed with intense cryptography in this section is Andrew Keys’ annual new year predictions.  Always a fun read.

Haseeb’s class looked great.  A place to pick up all the knowledge that has taken some of us years to piece together, blog post by blog post.  

Full Week in Ethereum News issue.