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how the first piece of AI music was born in 1956

December 7, 2021 by sergneri Leave a Comment

‘He touched a nerve’: how the first piece of AI music was born in 1956 Long before Auto-Tune and deepfake compositions, university professor Lejaren Hiller premiered a concert recital composed by a computer and became an overnight celebrity The Guardian Electronic music Jeff Gage Tue 7 Dec 2021 Illiac Suite

Posted in: Faits Divers, Modern Music, Science, Sea Stories, Thinking about Tagged: AI, artificial intelligence, classical, classical music, computer, Computing, David Rosenboom, electronic brain, Electronic music, experimental, Experimental music, George Andrix, Iannis Xenakis, Illiac, Illiac Suite, John Cage, Lejaren Hiller, Leonard M Isaacson, Sanford Reuning, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

A Life of Terror

December 3, 2021 by sergneri Leave a Comment

Humboldt Times, 13 October 1883 A Life of Terror. Rochester Herald. The Ford brothers have been starring through the country as murderers, but just at the present they are not happy. The acquittal of Frank James, brother of Jesse, whom one of the boys treach- erously shot from behind his back, as well as the … [Read more…]

Posted in: California Newspaper Archive, Faits Divers, Obituaries, Sea Stories Tagged: 1883, Bob Ford, fire-arms, Ford Brothers, Frank James, James Brothers, Jesse James, six-shooters

Seacharger

November 13, 2021 by sergneri Leave a Comment

I can’t believe I didn’t post about this back in 2016 when I was following it, getting updates often and hoping for the success of the voyage. http://www.seacharger.com/ SeaCharger completed its voyage from California to Hawaii on July 22, 2016! Distance: 2413 miles Time at sea: 41.4 days Average speed: 58.3 miles per day, 2.43 … [Read more…]

Posted in: Environment, Faits Divers, Science, Sea Stories Tagged: AUTONOMOUS, BOAT, Damon McMillan, JT Zemp, Matt Stowell, Ocean, oceangoing, sea, SEACHARGER, solar powered, Troy Arbuckle

Will the U.S. Pass a Point of No Return?

August 16, 2021 by sergneri Leave a Comment

In the Atlantic, James Fallows reports on the Ancient Rome and Modern American analogies. Now, chapter four: crossing the Rubicon. Schnurer argues that this is more than just a familiar phrase. And he says that a U.S. Rubicon moment is in view—which would be triggered by a possible indictment of Donald Trump. At the end … [Read more…]

Posted in: Climate Change, Environment, Ethical and green living, Faits Divers, Obituaries, Pandemic, Politics, Racism, Sea Stories, Trump Tagged: Augustus, Catiline, Donald J. Trump, immunity, Julius Caesar, Marc Antony, Roman, Roman Empire, Roman Republic, Rome, Rubicon

Spain bans small boats from stretch of water after orca encounters

August 8, 2021 by sergneri Leave a Comment

In today’s Guardian, an article about the recent spate of encounters between small sail boats and Orca’s off the coast of Spain.

Posted in: Climate Change, Environment, Ethical and green living, Faits Divers, Science, Sea Stories, the Anthropocene Tagged: Cape Trafalgar, cetaceans, ferries, fishing, Galicia, Gibraltar, Orca, sailboats, Spain, whale watching

NUCLEAR BOMBS CAN CAUSE GEOMAGNETIC STORMS

July 31, 2021 by sergneri Leave a Comment

Over on spaceweather.com is this interesting recap of the impact of Starfish Prime, a 1962 low orbit nuclear test.

Posted in: Climate Change, Environment, Ethical and green living, Nuclear Industry, Politics, Science, Sea Stories, Thinking about Tagged: electromagnetic pulse, EMP, high-altitude, high-altitude nuclear blast, magnetotelluric, magnetotelluric survey, nuclear blast, nuclear warheads, Starfish Prime, thermonuclear, thermonuclear warhead, warhead

Roberto Calasso, Renaissance Man of Letters, Dies at 80

July 31, 2021 by sergneri Leave a Comment

In the NY Times: Roberto Calasso, Renaissance Man of Letters, Dies at 80 A Florentine by birth, he was a polymath as an author and publisher (Kafka, Verdic philosophy, Greek mythology) who reached a wide international readership. In “The Art of the Publisher,” his reflections on his decades in publishing, Mr. Calasso was diffident about … [Read more…]

Posted in: Faits Divers, Obituaries, Sea Stories, Thinking about Tagged: 2021, Adelphi Edizioni, ancient human consciousness, author, civilization, Greek mythology, Ka, Kafka, Milan, myths, polymath, publisher, rituals, Roberto Calasso, shared stories, The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony, translator, Verdic philosophy

Yep, it’s bleak, says expert who tested 1970s end-of-the-world prediction

July 25, 2021 by sergneri Leave a Comment

In the Guardian, Yep, it’s bleak, says expert who tested 1970s end-of-the-world prediction, A controversial MIT study from 1972 forecast the collapse of civilization – and Gaya Herrington is here to deliver the bad news

Posted in: Climate Change, Environment, Ethical and green living, Faits Divers, Future of Work, IT Failures, Pandemic, Politics, Science, Sea Stories, the Anthropocene, Thinking about Tagged: 1972, Beyond Growth, climate crisis, Club of Rome, Earth First!, economic growth, extreme weather, Gaya Herrington, geopolitical instability, Greenpeace, Limits to Growth, MIT, Population, social unrest, sustainability

Chad Kalepa Baybayan

May 15, 2021 by sergneri Leave a Comment

Chad Kalepa Baybayan Seafarer Who Sailed Using the Stars, Dies at 64 He was a torchbearer for the celestial navigation art known as wayfinding, which ancestral Polynesian sailors used to navigate the Pacific Ocean. From a NYT obituary, May 15,2021

Posted in: Environment, Ethical and green living, Faits Divers, Obituaries, Racism, Science, Sea Stories Tagged: captain, celestial navigation, Hawaiian, Hokule’a, master navigator, navigate, Polynesian, Polynesian Voyaging Society, sailors, seafarer, Star of Gladness, Tahiti, trade winds, voyaging canoe, wayfinding

The humble shrub that’s predicting a terrible fire season

April 19, 2021 by sergneri Leave a Comment

Over at Ars-Technia, an interesting view on “Chamise is kind of a crystal ball for understanding how badly California might burn. ” And nothing scares a fire weather scientist quite like a year with dehydrated chamise. If it’s dry, then that’s a good indicator that everything is dry. “Right now, these are the lowest April … [Read more…]

Posted in: Climate Change, Environment, Ethical and green living, Faits Divers, Science, Sea Stories, Thinking about Tagged: California, Chamise, ecosystem, fire scientists, fire-season, flammable vegetation
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