IT lists

Saying “Those who love Thelonious Monk are pure of heart” isn’t moralizing; it describes a listener’s stance. Monk trusts silence and space, letting the room around the piano sound. A “pure” listener resists rushing to fill gaps, dwelling in aftertones. Another kind of purity is honesty toward roughness: Monk’s seconds, tritones, and whole-tone moves push abrasive chords, asking us to accept reality’s grain. His rhythm lives in displacement, asking the body to fall into the pocket; melodies kink and dance rather than run straight. Hear the tenderness in “’Round Midnight” and “Ruby, My Dear,” the wit of “Epistrophy” and “Well You Needn’t,” the measured joy of “Straight, No Chaser” and “Blue Monk.” Not verbosity, but rigorous choice. Purity means not imposing your “answer” on the sound, welcoming surprise, and seeing differences within repetition. Alone your ear opens; together the beat sways—enjoy that paradox.

 A “routing test” in ChatGPT is an experiment that sends the same query through multiple models, prompts, or tool paths, measures quality, latency, and cost, and learns the optimal route. However, it often becomes opaque; accountability, reproducibility, and consent-by-design are the key concerns. For chat services, GPT functions like a CPU: a core computational unit that processes natural language and reasoning. Performance improvements matter, but on their own they do not create a full user experience. The real value lies in the surrounding “OS-like layers,” which include routing, safety guardrails, UI/UX design, and integration with external APIs or search. These correspond to schedulers, memory management, interfaces, and drivers in traditional computing, and they form the key points of differentiation among services. Since GPT-3.5, competition has often been framed as if the model itself were the essence, but in reality overall system design defines the quality of the experien...

 There are indeed people who attempt to link the spiritual world with quantum entanglement. Notable examples include physicist Harold Puthoff, who engaged in parapsychology research, and the declassified CIA document Quantum Physics and Parapsychology , both of which explore connections between quantum theory and paranormal phenomena. In spiritual and popular writings, the idea that “observation determines reality” in quantum mechanics is often paralleled with spiritual worldviews, and some propose quantum brain theories suggesting that entanglement in the brain underlies consciousness or spiritual phenomena. Main arguments include: (1) nonlocality, where distant particles instantly correlate, likened to remote spiritual influence; (2) wavefunction collapse through observation linked to the intervention of consciousness; (3) quantum effects in the brain hypothesized as the basis for spirit and awareness; and (4) higher-dimensional models taken as potential bridges to a spiritual di...

 Algal biomass refers to the biological material obtained by cultivating microalgae or seaweeds, which can provide lipids, carbohydrates, and proteins as raw materials for biofuels, fertilizers, feed, and chemicals. Compared to terrestrial plants, algae grow faster, can be produced in non-arable land or aquatic areas, and absorb CO₂, making them promising sustainable resources. Advantages include high productivity, avoidance of land competition, and versatility, while challenges remain: high costs, difficulties in scaling up, large water and nutrient demands, energy-intensive drying, and insufficient yields, so commercial applications are still limited.

 An activist is someone who actively seeks social, environmental, or political change through protests, petitions, media, or policy advocacy. Examples include Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and Greta Thunberg, known for environmental activism.

 MMT (Modern Monetary Theory) argues that since governments can issue their own currency, they should not be constrained by fiscal deficits or the goal of achieving a primary balance (PB) surplus. What truly matters are inflation and employment levels. PB surpluses, especially during recessions, may worsen the economy. Therefore, MMT holds that PB surplus should not be a policy objective.

Handjeklap was a hand-clap, open-outcry auction method established in the 17-century Amsterdam Exchange. Sellers and buyers alternately slapped the back of each other’s hand while shouting their prices; with every clap the quoted figure moved up or down. A seller began with a high ask, the buyer clapped back with a lower bid, and the price zig-zagged until it converged. When both sides agreed, they sealed the deal with a firm handshake, wrote the contract on the spot, and settled later at the Bank of Amsterdam. Multiple pairs performed the same ritual simultaneously, so overall prices shifted whenever fresh news—such as a ship’s arrival, the course of a war, or the quality of a spice cargo—hit the floor; morning highs could reverse into afternoon lows. In effect, handjeklap functioned as a human-powered continuous double auction: by gathering people and information around one pillar, it created liquidity and allowed demand and supply to rebalance in real time. Prices not only wobbled c...

 Mikhail Bakunin (1814–1876) was a revolutionary thinker from the Russian Empire and a pioneer of modern anarchism. Born into nobility, he turned to revolutionary activity after military service and took part in the 1848 European revolutions. Denouncing the state as a “machinery of violence,” he advocated collective ownership, direct action, and grassroots solidarity. He authored Statism and Anarchy and the unfinished God and the State , and clashed with Marx within the First International. Arrested in St. Petersburg and imprisoned, he was released only to be pursued again, forcing him into exile. Even in exile, he continued his activities, leaving a profound and lasting influence on 20th-century anarchist movements.

 Zombie cinema began in 1932 with White Zombie, featuring voodoo-raised corpses but no flesh-eating. In 1968, George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead defined the modern zombie—transmission by bite and attacks in hordes—and his 1978 Dawn of the Dead layered on a consumer-society critique, inaugurating the social horror subgenre. During the 1980s and ’90s, Italian splatter films and comedies like The Return of the Living Dead ran in parallel, with advances in home video and special makeup effects fueling ever more extreme gore. In Japan, late-night cult screenings proliferated, and the 1996 game Resident Evil sparked a resurgence in zombie visuals. The 2000s saw Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later (2002) redefine fear with fast-moving “infected,” while Zack Snyder’s Dawn remake and Britain’s Shaun of the Dead (both 2004) balanced panic and parody. The 2010s brought Korea’s Train to Busan (2016) and the Zombieland films, infusing family drama and coming-of-age themes, and The Walking Dea...

The theoretical foundation of the Hough Transform lies in a mathematical approach that reinterprets pattern detection as an inverse problem: mapping a set of points into a shape's parameter space. In image processing, geometric shapes such as lines and circles are defined by collections of edge points, but detecting these shapes directly in image space is often hindered by noise and missing data. The Hough Transform addresses this by converting each point into a set of possible shapes—represented as curves in a parameter space (e.g., distance and angle for lines). Points that lie on the same shape in image space will correspond to curves that intersect at a single point in parameter space. This method exploits the duality between points and geometric primitives (lines or circles), transforming the original shape detection into the problem of identifying peak intersections in parameter space. These intersections indicate the most likely shapes. Conceptually, the Hough Transform can ...

 The 2007 Phys.org article “Coil design confines plasma in stellarator fusion reactor” highlights work by NYU researchers Romeo Alexander and Paul Garabedian on a new coil configuration for stellarator-type fusion reactors. They proposed arranging twelve twisted circular coils around a toroidal core so that the external magnetic field aligns more closely with the plasma’s internal field, reducing instabilities and particle losses while improving confinement. Unlike tokamaks, which require a large plasma current that can cause disruptive instabilities, stellarators rely solely on external magnetic fields, offering potential for continuous and stable operation. The key challenge, however, has been the complexity of coil geometries. Their design minimizes coil number and ensures smooth shapes to ease fabrication and avoid unwanted harmonics that could degrade magnetic surfaces. Monte Carlo simulations of thermal transport further suggested that quasi-axial symmetric (QAS) stellarator...

 Semiconductor circuits and multilayer perceptrons (MLPs) can both perform computations, but they differ greatly in how gate count scales with input dimensionality. Semiconductors excel at low-dimensional, simple tasks: a 2-input AND/OR takes only a few gates, an 8-bit adder ~200–300 gates, and a 32-bit adder ~1,000–2,000 gates. However, for arbitrary functions, gate counts grow exponentially with inputs: n=10 may require thousands to tens of thousands of gates, while n=100 implies 2^100 ≈ 10^30 cases—physically impossible. MLPs scale polynomially: a 784-dim input (28×28 pixels) can be handled by a hidden layer of several hundred to 1,000 units (10^5–10^6 parameters). Even 3,000-dim inputs are manageable with a few thousand units, and 10,000-dim inputs can be tackled with tens of thousands of units and tens of millions of parameters. Thus, for n≦32, semiconductors remain superior—fast, efficient, exact. But for n≧100, high-dimensional, nonlinear problems, MLPs are practical, avoidi...

 Mozart’s Piano Sonata in C major, K.545 is often called a textbook of Classical harmony, especially in the first movement where the cadential formula ii → I⁶⁴ (cadential 6-4) → V → I appears in the closing section. In Classical practice, the ii chord functions as a “predominant,” leading into the dominant, and thereby strengthening the V–I resolution. Thus, the ii–V–I exists in Classical music, but unlike in jazz, it is not repeated cyclically; rather, it appears as a standard device to establish closure. By contrast, in jazz standards such as Autumn Leaves , the ii–V–I progression forms the backbone of the piece, continuously unfolding with added tensions and substitutions to enrich the sonority. Conversely, jazz also features progressions close to the Classical I–IV–V–I , as in C Jam Blues or When the Saints Go Marching In , where the simple triadic movement between I, IV, and V is foundational. Yet, in performance, these are quickly expanded with tensions, substitutions, or...

 NASA and Goodyear have developed an airless, superelastic “Superelastic Tire” made from Nitinol wire mesh. It recovers from 8–10% deformation on lunar and Martian terrain, preventing cracks. Lightweight and cold-resistant, its fatigue life and production costs are still under evaluation, and actual deployment is planned for next-generation rovers. By solving the cracking issues of aluminum wheels, it also eliminates flat tires. Tested on analogue courses in the U.S. and Europe, it’s being considered for Artemis lunar rovers and future Mars vehicles. However, long-term fatigue data under extreme thermal cycles and scalable manufacturing processes must be matured, so challenges remain.

 Jair Bolsonaro, President of Brazil, downplayed the COVID-19 crisis from the outset, calling it a “mild flu.” His rhetoric dismissed protective measures as “overreactions” and prioritized reopening the economy. His interests lay in avoiding lockdowns to maintain short-term economic activity, limit unemployment and corporate damage, and secure ruling party support. He also fueled distrust toward experts and international institutions, projecting an anti-elite stance to solidify his base. In reality, cases and deaths surged, drawing strong domestic and international criticism for neglecting public health. This strategy sharpened the divide between “economic priority” and “public health priority,” and ultimately positioned Bolsonaro, alongside Donald Trump, as an international symbol of the COVID-19 skeptic movement.

 The blue whale, the largest animal on Earth, primarily feeds on krill, especially during summer in polar seas. It lunges with its mouth wide open into swarms of krill, taking in large volumes of water, then filters out the water using baleen plates, trapping the prey. It can consume about 4 tons of krill per day.

 The origin of statistics dates back to 17th-century Europe, beginning with the development of probability theory to calculate gambling odds. Thinkers like Pascal and Fermat laid the groundwork by attempting to express chance mathematically. This foundation later extended to applications in astronomy and population data, eventually evolving into modern statistics. Fisherian statistics is a method that tests the significance of results by setting a null hypothesis and evaluating p-values. It introduced tools like analysis of variance (ANOVA) and maximum likelihood estimation, forming the basis of experimental design. It aims to show non-random patterns rather than proving truth. Bayesian statistics, once deemed heretical for assigning probabilities to hypotheses, has recently gained renewed attention in fields like AI and medicine where uncertainty matters. By combining prior beliefs with data to calculate posterior probabilities, it enables rational decisions that surpass mere intu...

This three-line JavaScript utility defines an enhanced debug logging function. When called as log(label, v), it outputs not only a custom label and value but also key numerical environment metrics retrievable from the browser. Specifically, it collects the number of logical CPU cores (navigator.hardwareConcurrency), available device memory (navigator.deviceMemory in GB), network downlink speed (navigator.connection.downlink in Mbps), round-trip time (navigator.connection.rtt in ms), and the current window dimensions (innerWidth and innerHeight). This makes it easier to capture runtime context and detect environment-dependent issues. By embedding these quantitative details directly into every log, developers gain clearer insight into execution conditions, which significantly improves debugging efficiency and reduces reproduction effort.

The next stage of generative AI may lie in the holonic concept. Arthur Koestler proposed the idea of the "holon"—a unit that is both a whole and a part—suggesting that nature and society are organized in hierarchical yet autonomous layers. This idea resonates with fractal structures, where each part reflects the whole. While today's generative AI models possess a kind of totality, their components lack true autonomy and cooperative dynamics. In the future, if individual AI agents can develop their own beliefs and goals while working in concert, a more sustainable and meaningful AI society may emerge.

 Physiocracy, or agrarianism, emerged in 18th-century France, advocating that agriculture was the true source of national wealth and promoting the liberalization of grain trade. However, this market liberalization caused significant fluctuations in grain prices. In years of good harvest, grain prices plummeted, severely reducing the incomes of small farmers and plunging them into poverty. Conversely, during poor harvests or distribution disruptions, prices soared, making bread difficult to obtain in cities, which led to incidents such as the “Flour War” riots in 1775. The freedom that physiocrats sought through market principles resulted in instability for both farmers and urban dwellers, causing widespread social unrest. Consequently, government intervention and controls on grain prices and distribution were reintroduced to stabilize the situation. While the theories of physiocracy were partially adopted in policy, it became clear in practice that the challenges of society could n...

 Psychiatrist Kunihiko Tominaga rereads Dazai’s novels, letters, and chronology through a medical lens, linking impulsive acts, substance abuse, social anxiety, and excessive talkativeness to core ADHD symptoms. Repeated suicide attempts, turbulent romances, and creative bursts are framed as self-regulation difficulties stemming from undiagnosed neurodivergence. Using DSM-IV criteria, he weighs family history and era, viewing traits as characteristics rather than illness, thus enriching both disability awareness and literary interpretation. Appendices include a self-check list, timeline, and major-works guide.

Google has announced "Gemini CLI," an AI agent that runs directly in the terminal. Based on Gemini 2.5 Pro, it’s an open-source interactive assistant capable of code generation, debugging, file operations, web search, and even image and video creation through natural language. It supports the Model Context Protocol (MCP), enabling flexible integration with external tools. With a 1M-token context window and a generous free usage limit (60 requests per minute, 1,000 per day), it’s accessible to anyone with a Google account. Easy to install, it significantly enhances CLI-based workflows for developers.

 An echo chamber is an information environment where one’s own views keep reverberating while opposing opinions are shut out. Social media optimization and homogeneous connections reinforce confirmation bias, fostering division and fixation of false beliefs. Related concepts include the filter bubble and groupthink. Example: viewing only political posts from one’s own side while muting opposing views.

  In 1948 at NYC’s Onyx Club, Parker (as) and Monk (p) deliver a rare, electric pairing on “Well, You Needn’t.” Though rough, Benedetti’s private tape captures the room. Their official collaborations were few—making 1950’s “Bird and Diz” key—limited by cabaret card suspensions.

  Key findings A 2025 Japanese cohort study reported that people who eat ramen three or more times per week had ~1.5× higher all-cause mortality risk (HR ≈ 1.52) than those who rarely/never do (especially among men and those under 70). A 2014 study found that frequent instant-noodle (ramen-type) intake was associated with metabolic syndrome (obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia), suggesting increased cardiovascular risk. Regional analyses have also reported a correlation between higher ramen-shop density and higher stroke mortality (ecological correlation). How to interpret this These are observational studies; they do not prove causation . Other factors (habit of drinking most of the salty broth, alcohol use, low physical activity, overall diet pattern, socioeconomic status, etc.) may drive the association. Risk signals are strongest for intake patterns like “≥3 times/week” or “drinking almost all the broth,” not for occasional consumption. Practical steps ...

 Key points from Elon Musk’s latest remarks: He hasn’t been to D.C. since May and says “government is basically unfixable.” xAI is expanding the Memphis “Colossus” toward gigawatt scale, stressing the view that massive compute drives intelligence (think 10× compute ≈ 2× intelligence). He forecasts that next year AI will be “smarter than any individual,” and by around 2030 “smarter than humanity in aggregate.” His top focus is the humanoid robot Optimus v3, with the crucial challenge being hands—roughly 27–28 degrees of freedom comparable to human dexterity. He rates its difficulty above the Model X but below Starship. Industry-wide, GW–10-GW data centers are advancing, and markets reflect an “AI trade,” exemplified by gains in Oracle and others. Note: these are strong projections, not a scholarly consensus.

  Sensor Candidates (with links) Neuro/biometric OpenBCI (EEG/biometric platform for research and prototyping). Muse S (consumer EEG; the latest Athena line combines EEG + fNIRS). EMOTIV EPOC X / FLEX (14–32-channel wireless EEG). Position & movement Quuppa RTLS (BLE-based indoor positioning with tags). Qorvo (formerly Decawave) UWB module DWM1001 (eval board for high-precision indoor positioning). Field detection (thermal/search) DJI Mavic 3T / Enterprise (thermal payload; SAR and nighttime ops). NASA/DHS “FINDER” (radar that detected breathing/heartbeats under rubble; tech demonstration). Practical Use Cases (System Designs) Large-scale event operations With participant consent, provide light EEG/heart-rate wearables plus smartphones. Deploy Quuppa or UWB anchors for indoor positioning. A dashboard visualizes “congestion × stress hotspots,” enabling immediate rerouting and rest prompts. Disaster-site search & rescue Rescue ...

Hegel Philosophy Cheat Sheet Hegel's Philosophy of History Cheat Sheet (1856) Introduction (The Origins of Philosophy) Philosopher Hegel's Evaluation Thales Regarded as the origin of philosophy; positive Anaximander Valued for the concept of apeiron (the indefinite); positive Anaximenes Naïve but progressive; somewhat positive The Greek Spirit Philosopher Hegel's Evaluation Pythagoras Criticized for abstract focus on numbers; neutral to somewhat negative Heraclitus Highly praised for the principle of becoming; strongly positive Parmenides Valued for the absolute being; positive Zeno (Eleatic) Valued for dialectical reasoning; positive Empedocles Eclectic with the four elements; neutral Anaxagoras Highly praised for the concept of nous (mind); positive Democritus Criticized for mechanical materialism; somewhat negative Sophists Critic...

 The rapid increase in Japan’s wealthy population is driven by multiple economic factors. First, the monetary easing policies since 2020 and the global stock market boom have played a major role. The Nikkei Stock Average has reached its highest levels since the bubble era, causing the value of stocks and real estate owned by individuals and companies to soar. Particularly, owners of listed companies and property holders in major urban areas have greatly benefited. Additionally, the sharp depreciation of the yen has boosted the valuation of dollar-denominated assets and stocks of companies with high overseas sales, further increasing wealth. Japan’s aging population has also led to active inheritance and gifting from older to younger generations. In cities like Tokyo and Osaka, rising land prices have enabled many to inherit assets worth hundreds of millions of yen. Moreover, the expansion of private banking and investment trust products tailored for the wealthy has made reinvesting...

  George Russell (1923–2009) was one of the most important theorists in 20th-century jazz. His Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization (first published in 1953) revolutionized jazz theory. Russell is said to have developed this theory while recovering from tuberculosis. His goal was to go beyond the increasingly complex chord changes of bebop (as pioneered by Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie) and create a music theory based on a more "natural tonal gravity." Traditional jazz theory had developed primarily around the major scale (Ionian mode). However, Russell revisited the natural tuning system derived from stacking perfect fifths (Pythagorean tuning) and identified the Lydian scale (C-D-E-F#-G-A-B) as the true "center of tonal gravity." Compared to the Ionian, the Lydian scale raises the fourth degree, creating a unique balance of stability and floating quality. Russell viewed this scale as the "parent" of all chords, scales, and modes, organiz...

  Conspiracy theories about the deep state and Japan’s Ministry of Finance cult can be seen as proxy wars between economic schools. Let’s frame them as critiques of bureaucracy. In the U.S., the deep state is often associated with a distorted Keynesianism, targeted by Austrian economists and MMT theorists. In Japan, the obsession with primary balance plays a similar role, upheld by bureaucrats as fiscal dogma. The main opposition comes from MMT, which emphasizes sovereign currency issuance and rejects fiscal constraint as ideology. On taxation, the dominant view justifies hikes in the name of fiscal health. MMT sees taxes as tools for inflation control, not revenue. The Austrian school advocates for minimal taxation and limited government. On currency, the mainstream fears debt and inflation. MMT supports unrestricted issuance for public needs. Austrians distrust credit expansion and call for hard monetary limits. For stimulus, the dominant position wavers between spending and fisc...

 D&D and Web3 are highly compatible. In D&D, players traditionally manage their characters' growth and item acquisition themselves. With Web3 technology, character sheets can be turned into NFTs, recording progression and loot on the blockchain, ensuring tamper-proof histories and cross-session compatibility. DAOs allow players to participate in worldbuilding and rule revisions. Projects like Loot and Forgotten Runes are experimenting with decentralized RPG models. While D&D's official publishers haven’t adopted Web3 yet, individuals can already prototype using tools like OpenSea and IPFS.

Title Author Description Link Our Cats and All About Them Harrison Weir Illustrated 1889 guide to breeds, habits and care of domestic cats. Project Gutenberg The Domestic Cat Gordon Stables 1895 zoological study of cat classification, anatomy and behavior. Project Gutenberg Concerning Cats: My Own and Some Others Helen M. Winslow Essays on the author’s own cats and their personalities. Project Gutenberg The Cat: Its Natural History; Domestic Varieties; Management and Treatment Philip M. Rule 1896 scientific work on cat origins, breeds, care and management. Project Gutenberg The Soul of a Cat, and Other Stories Margaret Benson Stories exploring feline instincts and bonds. Project Gutenberg Anatomy of the Cat Jacob Reighard; H. S. Jenni...

 Lenia is a continuous cellular automaton introduced by Bert Wang-Chak Chan in 2019. Unlike the traditional "Game of Life," Lenia features smoothly continuous states, space, and time, enabling it to autonomously generate a wide variety of complex and organic life-like patterns. Lenia is gaining attention as a new model for studying self-organization and pattern formation, making it significant in artificial life and computational biology research.

 George Orwell’s 1949 dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four is set in a world of perpetual war and total information control, where three super-states dominate the globe. The story unfolds in London, capital of the totalitarian state of Oceania. Winston Smith, a low-ranking Party member who works at the Ministry of Truth falsifying historical records, secretly doubts the Party’s absolute rule. Citizens are suppressed by round-the-clock surveillance through “telescreens” and by the Thought Police, and they are steered into hatred during the daily “Two Minutes Hate.” The Party shackles thought by shrinking language into Newspeak and by encouraging doublethink , the simultaneous acceptance of contradictions, while its iconic leader Big Brother enforces loyalty. Winston mounts small acts of rebellion: an illicit affair with the pleasure-seeking Julia, stolen moments in a rented attic over an old bookshop, and tentative contact with the underground “Brotherhood.” Yet charismatic Inne...

 E-Seed is a bio-inspired seed capsule that enhances the Erodium seed’s natural self-burying drill with three wooden coils. Thin bamboo and cedar veneers are laminated with their grain directions offset, creating hinges that flex strongly with humidity changes. When rain or dew swells the coils, they spin quickly and autonomously drive the payload—seeds plus fertilizer, mycorrhizae, or sensors—up to 30 mm deep even on flat ground. Field tests show an 80 % burial success rate and a load capacity about 100 times that of natural seeds (72 mg). A single rainfall completes the process, greatly boosting germination and early survival. The capsule biodegrades in 6–18 months, leaving no harm to soil organisms. Drone dispersal allows efficient revegetation of burn scars, wastelands, and steep slopes. Developed by Carnegie Mellon’s Morphing Matter Lab, it was reported in Nature (2023) and had a U.S. patent filed in 2022. It is currently in pilot distribution to NGOs and forestry agencies; m...

  In recent years, more developers want to work with Unity on smartphones and tablets when away from their desktop. To achieve this, three main approaches are effective: Running Unity builds inside Docker or cloud CI/CD , Accessing the Unity Editor remotely from mobile devices , Triggering builds via mobile-accessible web interfaces . Below are practical methods and real-world examples. Unity Builds with Docker Community-maintained Docker images allow Unity Editor and build automation to run in containers. The most widely used are the unityci/editor images provided by the GameCI project . These come with Git/LFS and build modules preinstalled. For example: docker run -it -- rm unityci/editor:2023.1.0f1-android-1.0.0 bash Inside the container, you can invoke /opt/Unity/Editor/Unity to run builds or tests. Licensing (including Personal edition) is supported via CLI. GameCI clearly states: “All Unity CI projects use game-ci/docker, published as unityci/editor on D...