The presence of pet dogs and strollers for small dogs is highly noticeable in South Korea, including where I live. A recent article from Korea JoongAng Daily suggests that the increase in dog strollers might also be due to changes in policies at shops and venues, which now require dogs to be in strollers for entry.
You should check out this informative Vox video that discusses why electric cars require artificial sound. The video provides captivating insights into the technology behind sound production in electric cars, known as “Acoustic Vehicle Alerting Systems,” and the creative designers who develop distinctive sounds that meet specific criteria.
In a recent episode of the BBC podcast “Thinking Allowed,” Grazia Ting Deng shares fascinating research on the spread of Chinese-owned coffee bars in Italy. As a former Bologna resident, I too was initially surprised by the high number of bars managed by Chinese or Chinese-Italian people. These bars served some of the best and most reasonably priced coffees, cappuccinos (complete with coffee art!), and breakfast pastries. The only aspect I didn’t like was that their cafes were often selling lottery tickets and having gambling machines in the back.
Here is a noteworthy product announcement from Cloudflare. To combat the increase of AI-related web crawlers, the company is introducing tools to assist companies in managing and monetizing their website data. According to their blog post, this also tackles the issue of AI services decreasing website traffic by users opting for LLM services instead of visiting websites.
While reading The Korean Herald at my local library, I came across a column by Robert J. Fouser about the “soundscape of Korean cities”. It’s possible that he’s correct about cities like Seoul being quieter due to reduced noise from cars, public transportation, and people. However, I can certainly confirm that there are other noise disturbances, such as the music coming from street shops and the sounds of people’s digital devices (notifications, audio from videos). Here’s an excerpt from the article:
Tim Harford released another outstanding episode in his “Cautionary Tale” podcast series. The episode is called “Flying Too High: AI and AirFrance Flight 447” and tells a a frightening tale of a fatal plane crash caused by pilot errors when the fly-by-wire system temporarily malfunctioned.
In my exploration of Heinrich Schliemann, a German archaeologist and businessman, I came across information about his involvement in funding the demolition of a medieval “Frankish tower” at the Acropolis of Athens. The transformation and adaptation of monuments under the prevailing zeitgeist is quite revealing. If you’re interested in the Acropolis changes, Dr. Rachel Kousser’s article on Khan Academy is worth a read.
An interesting “memory strategy” featured in this MIT Press Reader article draws inspiration from actors’ approaches to memorizing dialogue.
In describing how they remember their lines, actors are telling us an important truth about memory — deep understanding promotes long-lasting memories. […] Focusing on [the] visual, acoustic, and conceptual aspects […] correspond to shallow, moderate, and deep levels of processing, and the depth of processing that is devoted to an item or event affects its memorability. Memory is typically enhanced when we engage in deep processing that provides meaning for an item or event, rather than shallow processing. Given a list of common nouns to read, people recall more words on a surprise memory test if they previously attended to the meaning of each word than if they focused on each word’s font or sound.
The following video from “Le dessous des images” explores the popularity of cooking videos on platforms like TikTok. Those cooking videos offer a seductive experience with quick edits and a POV perspective. Furthermore, the video compares these new formats format by looking into the history of cooking shows on television. What crossed my mind was how those videos simplify the cooking process, making it seem easier for everyone. However, this approach also means that they omit many of the steps involved in cooking, especially in comparison to older educational cooking shows. One surprising example is the segment showcasing an old French show centred on rural cuisine, even showing the actual process of butchering a duck.
The MIT Press Reader shared an article excerpted from the book “Cultures of Contagion”. The article highlights how the study of radioactive particle movements worldwide during the 1950s and beyond has played a crucial role in shaping our understanding of global interconnectedness of our biosphere.