2019-01-14

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2019-01-14 12:19 am

The invention of the movie

Communication of counterfactual situations through dynamic visual stories feels on par with the invention of language.

The shift in consciousness away from films as animated photographs to films as stories, or narratives, began to take place about the turn of the century and is most evident in the work of the
French filmmaker Georges Méliès. Méliès was a professional magician who had become interested in the illusionist possibilities of the cinématographe;

Initially Méliès used stop-motion photography (the camera and action are stopped while something is added to or removed from the scene; then filming and action are continued) to make one-shot “trick” films in which objects disappeared and reappeared or transformed themselves into other objects entirely.

Soon, however, Méliès began to experiment with brief multiscene films, such as L’Affaire Dreyfus (The Dreyfus Affair, 1899), his first, which followed the logic of linear temporality to establish causal sequences and tell simple stories. By 1902 he had produced the influential 30-scene narrative Le Voyage dans la lune (A Trip to the Moon). Adapted from a novel by Jules Verne, it was nearly one reel in length (about 825 feet [251 metres], or 14 minutes).

https://www.britannica.com/art/history-of-the-motion-picture

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2019-01-14 09:28 am

(no subject)

With all due respect, if Watson and Crick didn't discover the double–helix structure of the DNA, another group of researchers would make the same discovery within few months. For comparison, Darwin kept his theory of natural selection ] under wraps for years and years, until a friend warned him that Wallace was about to publish on the same idea.
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2019-01-14 11:29 am
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Fucking Moron (tm)

A 3-minute video from Fox Business Network / WSJ that explains Covfefe's BS about the border wall.

"There's an agreement that could be reached very easily if you really focused on what produces results... But to make the whole thing about the wall is to be symbolic and performative, rather than practical and result-oriented."

https://www.wsj.com/video/series/wsj-at-large/chertoff-on-the-debate-over-the-border-wall/AA702293-AE37-4C38-9E01-1410A404D562
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2019-01-14 01:34 pm

(no subject)

Как трудно живется [анти-]советскому человеку в городе Санта Круз, Калифорния:

Демократы ищут вырождения белой расы, чтобы всех потом заменить на undocumented immigrants. У тех со скрепами все в порядке, те вырождаться не будут.

https://chasovschik.livejournal.com/1230476.html?thread=13578636#t13578636
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2019-01-14 06:54 pm
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(no subject)

К четвергу готовлю 20-минутный standup на тему происходящей революции в инвестициях. Заодно думаю о возможных сценариях тотального коллапса американской финансовой системы. Почему? Потому что на днях наше лживое хуйло заявило, что если захочет, то уничтожит турецкую экономику.

А если наоборот? Если кто-то захочет нанести превентивный удар, и при этом еще хорошо заработать? Изменилась ли ситуация за последние 10-15 лет настолько, что ее можно перевернуть?

Если бы Америка была развивающейся страной, ее финансовая система была бы близка к полному развалу. РАзница в том, что американский доллар - мировая резервная валюта. Успешная атака на доллар приведет к коллапсу взаимосвязанной сети leveraged частных и государственных долгов размером > $100T. В результате действий нынешней администрации, вероятность такой атаки увеличивается.
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2019-01-14 11:27 pm
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Models and civilization

https://sciencepolicy.colorado.edu/students/envs_5110/tecnics_and_civilization.pdf

There's a list of inventions at the bottom of the file. Clearly, most successful technological innovations, e.g. 19th century, have no model behind them whatsoever. Also, the list doesn't contain any financial innovations.
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2019-01-14 11:58 pm
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TIL: pet obesity

The worldwide prevalence of pet obesity lies between 22% and 44%, and rates seem to be rising.

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20190109-what-we-can-learn-from-overweight-pets-about-human-obesity