From the Vault 2011 Again - As Assad revs up and flies to Moscow

Archives When buffers overflow their psychic boundaries, rage is feared by peace lovers. In Afghanistan and Yugoslavia, the simmer and pop of ethnic churn cycles always held the threat of breakout. Jerusalem has had these qualities. In fact, Iraq post Saddham is supposed to be a model. News goes bang in the middle but it happens at the edges too.

http://radio-weblogs.com/0115044/2004/04/15.html

Mystery Ice Station - YouTube Vault

Strongman Trump Returns

 

Democrats lose Senate. Harris wins in VA, MD, Del., NY, NJ, Conn, RI, Mass, NH, Vermont, Ill, Minn, Colo, NM, Wash,Ore, Calif.- 

Neural Nets Nab Nobel

Hopfield circuit

I was pretty lucky to cover neural networks on occasions for EDN Product News in the 1990s. I'd edited articles on the topic previously for ESD. So always paid close attention  .. and more so  as machine learning increasingly concentrated on neural engines. So, when The Nobel Prize for Physics went to Hopfield and Hinton, I shifted from on project and wrote an old style tech news story. A bit of a pleasant rush, especially to complete for Miller Time for my Progressive Gauge Blog.  Here I insert some images that basically show neurals. Admit the story lacked that. JV

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences today announced that neural network science pioneers John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton will be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for 2024. The two researchers are cited for “foundational discoveries and inventions that enable machine learning with artificial neural networks.”

The Nobel award is a capstone of sorts for two premier researchers in neural networks. This computer technology has gained global attention in recent years as the underpinning engine for large-scale advances in computer vision, language processing, prediction and human-machine interaction.

Sunnyland Slim - Everytime I Get To Drinkin' (Live Video - 1969)

Blind Willie Johnson - Sings for Dearly Departed

Boston Punk Rock Discussion

 A Discussion: Boston Punk Rock: Landmarks, Bands, and the Scene - Saturday, September 14, 3:00pm–4:30pm Parker Hill – Registration is required.

 

Raw and simple, punk music emerged in the 1970s in reaction to mainstream rock of the era. It was DIY - you just needed three chords, and you didn’t have to be in tune.

 

That is arguably background for Saturday’s special discussion which features A.J. Wachtel who has covered the Boston Entertainment scene as a music journalist for over 40 years. He is the host on Wachtelligence podcast, where he has interviewed such Boston music mainstays as Rick Berlin, famed of Orchestra Luna, Steve Cataldo of The Nervous Eaters, Bob Margolin of the Muddy Waters Band, and many others.

 

The event is intended as a celebration of the city's vibrant punk heritage, spotlighting influential bands, iconic venues -- Who went to The Ratskellar?! -- and the indelible impact they've made on the genre.

 

In fact, the discussion is part of the Boston Public Library’s ongoing “Revolutionary Music: Music for Social Change” Project, which covers musical innovation going back to the American Revolution, and up to the present. https://www.bpl.org/revolutionary-music/

 

The Friends of the Parker Hill Branch Library Newsletter spoke with Amy Layton, PHBL Generalist II, to get a view on the meaning of Punk music in the context of community. We asked what was the value of the Punk movement viewed from this 21st Century vantage point. She said:

 

“The first and foremost thing is that it really does connect a community together, especially from a do-it-yourself aspect. And I think, too, it would be really fun for the people who have actually been in the original scene to be able to connect with some of the youth now in the movement, so to speak, and just be able to share their experience.”

 

Notably, the Boston Punk Rock discussion kicks off a week of Punk-related specials at the Branch! Punk Rock Week events include : Drop-in Zine Making Tuesday, September 17, 4:00pm–5:00pm; Vinyl Record Painting [which now has a wait list and has full registration] and Mosh Pit Injury Prevention - Wednesday, September 18, 1:00pm–3:00pm. Call for information.

 

Til next time – Keep Reading!

Walking by Blues on a brickwall

 

A favorite picture of Cecelia [in Chicago, late 1970s]

Moon Times

NIST researchers have developed a system called lunar coordinate time with the express purpose to achieve precise timekeeping on the Moon. 

 We may recall US astronauts wore Omegas to the Moon. But maybe their time was off.

 That’s because the Moon's weaker gravity causes clocks to tick faster than on Earth. That’s due to what Einstein reckoned was gravity’s influences on passage of time,

 I guess you could “synchronize watches” as they did in every Mission Impossible heist, and you’d remain in time with your bro buddies, if not the cosmos.

 That may not work when the great era of colonized lunacy arrives, and the machines inside different Ice Stations Gamma Alpha and Zebra call each other at an agreed-to time.

 NIST boffins say this innovation paves the way for a GPS-like navigation system on the Moon, which would greatly enhance lunar exploration efforts by enabling precise landing and navigation capabilities.

 Will they use a distinct satellite network?

 Proposed is a system that aims to create a lunar equivalent of GPS, referred to as a "lunar positioning system," by establishing a network of atomic clocks at specific locations on the Moon's surface and in lunar orbi

Lunar orbiting atomic clocks would function similarly to GPS satellites, providing accurate timing signals for navigation. That to answer the question: “Where’s Neil?”

 NIST, heck yeah!