The system failed to resolve other debates in the world of art history though. The 17th-century Italian painter, Caravaggio,…

“The system failed to resolve other debates in the world of art history though. The 17th-century Italian painter, Caravaggio, allegedly gave one of the figures in his altarpiece The Entombment of Christ the features of Michelangelo. But the computer found no matches when it compared the figure, Nicodemus, with bronze busts and a chalk drawing of Michelangelo.”

–Possible Anne Boleyn portrait found using facial recognition software (viaiamdanw)

At the moment, Belgium is surviving with help from a mild winter, but, to put the situation in perspective, regulators there are…

“At the moment, Belgium is surviving with help from a mild winter, but, to put the situation in perspective, regulators there are offering a dedicated blackout warning app and website. With diminished reserves, the country would have seen 25 days of blackouts (so far, in mid-February) given a winter on par with 2010/2011. Brutal.”

–The Grid Algorithm that Might Black Out Entire Countries (viaiamdanw)

What Is Ritual?

ritual, culture, society, religion, rationality, irrationality, time, sacrifice, performance, bondin

Time is the default sacrifice. It is the measure of sacrifice that underlies our complex economic order, so it is no surprise that it also underlies our ritual order. In religions that have a Sabbath, an entire day of productivity is sacrificed to God every week. Every ceremony involves the sacrifice of the time of participants; often, ceremonies involve the sacrifice of time by high-status persons. An arraignment is a ceremony in which the legitimacy of a person’s incarceration is established; not much information is exchanged, but the ceremony requires sacrifice in the form of a grand courtroom built for the purpose, as well as the time of grand personages such as the judge and two attorneys. Ritual attendants such as court reporters and bailiffs are required as well. The sacred value of “justice” is understood to be the target of these sacrifices.

http://www.ribbonfarm.com/2015/02/11/what-is-ritual/

“We are nonchalantly throwing all of our data into what could become an information black hole without realising it. We digitise…

“We are nonchalantly throwing all of our data into what could become an information black hole without realising it. We digitise things because we think we will preserve them, but what we don’t understand is that unless we take other steps, those digital versions may not be any better, and may even be worse, than the artefacts that we digitised,” Cerf told the Guardian. “If there are photos you really care about, print them out.”

–Google boss warns of ‘forgotten century’ with email and photos at risk | Technology | The Guardian (viaphotographsonthebrain)