Tuesday, March 19, 2024

QUOTE FOR THE DAY

 


- Lewis Carroll, 'Through the Looking Glass'

OXFORD WORD OF THE YEAR 203


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The Oxford Word of the Year is a word or expression that has attracted a great deal of interest over the last 12 months. Every year the candidates are discussed and evaluated to choose a winner that is judged to reflect the ethos, mood, or preoccupations of that particular year and to have lasting potential as a word of cultural significance.

See if you agree with rhe selections below . . .

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Word of the Year:

Rizz:

After more than 32,000 votes, and a team of language experts, Oxford’s Word of the Year 2023 is...
rizz

2023 marked the era of personal – and professional – PR. And what does it take to command attention? A whole lot of charisma, or the shortened form, ‘rizz’.

Pertaining to someone’s ability to attract another person through style, charm, or attractiveness, this term is from the middle part of the word ‘charisma’, which is an unusual word formation pattern. Other examples include ‘fridge’ (refrigerator) and ‘flu’ (influenza).

Use of the word as recorded has increased dramatically in 2023, with a peak in June 2023, when actor Tom Holland was asked in a widely reported interview about his ‘rizz’, to which he answered, ‘I have no rizz whatsoever, I have limited rizz.’

The word ‘rizz’ can also be used as a verb, often in the phrase ‘rizz up’, which means ‘to attract, seduce, or chat up (a person)’.

Urban Dictionary:
Rizz actually comes from the word charisma, where in southern Baltimore they've started to shorten it, to "rizzma" (the noun replacing charisma) and to "rizz" (the action of showing charisma), through twitch live streamer Kai Cenat's editor, a resident of south Baltimore, he started putting rizz in the compilation thumbnails and the word was adopted all over the United States

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The finalists:

Prompt:

An instruction given to an artificial intelligence program, algorithm, etc., which determines or influences the content it generates.

As AI became more prevalent, so too did the need for human skills to moderate and direct these advances. Harnessing its potential means providing a ‘prompt’ to influence the content generated.

Words relating to AI have been particularly prominent in 2023, with use of the word ‘prompt’ in contexts that relate to AI increasing hugely this year from very little use before 2022.

As AI systems have spread to business, education, creative contexts, and elsewhere, more people have developed the skills needed to use them effectively and, in some cases, becoming specialized as ‘prompt engineers’.

This new meaning is a development of a wider sense: ‘Something said or done to aid the memory; a reminder; spec. a word or phrase spoken to remind an actor, reciter, etc., of a forgotten word or line (cf. prompt v. 1)’. Use of this word reflects the increased prominence of artificial intelligence in society and highlights the interaction of humans with machines.
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Situationship:

A romantic or sexual relationship that is not considered to be formal or established.



2023 reevaluated how we connect with one another and the words we use to describe our relationships – and how some of those relationships defy convention.

Etymologically, ‘situationship’ is a blend of ‘situation’ and ‘relationship’. Blending is a notable source of new words in English, particularly when words are coined self-consciously to describe a new phenomenon.

A term popularized by social media and modern dating shows, the term seems to have been coined in the late noughties or early 2010s’

The word captures the uncertainty and lack of formalization that many people feel about their relationships. Its usage has been growing steadily in frequency showing that the term has resonated with people.
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Swiftie:

An enthusiastic fan of the singer Taylor Swift.

2023 saw us being influenced more than ever by public figures, whether traditional superstars or those who have become famous on the internet. And it's hard to think of this year without thinking about fandom culture and Taylor Swift, who dominated headlines with her record-breaking tour, movie deal, and billionaire empire.

The term ‘Swiftie’ seems to date from the late noughties and has been gradually growing in prominence.

The word was more than 10 times more common in September 2023 than a year before in September 2022, use of the word likely related to coverage of Swift’s highly successful Eras tour.

Etymologically, the word ‘Swiftie’ is formed from the singer’s name, with the suffix ‘ie’ (or ‘y’), which is often used to form diminutives or pet names, with an implication of affection.

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By the way:

There is a funny character on Youtube videos called Uncle Roger (he calls people uncle, auntie etc), played by the Malaysian comedian Nigel Ng.

In one video, link below, when reviewing a cooking video by Brooklyn Beckham, he uses the term ‘nepo baby’.

Urban Dictionary:
nepo baby:
a child of a famous actor/celebrity who got famous due to nepotism.
“Did you hear about Jamie? She’s such a nepo baby.”


The video:

The quote:

“Brooklyn Beckham, the son of David Beckham, he’s the second most famous baby, right behind Jesus Christ.”

Another funny video is Uncle Roger reviewing ‘Andy Cooks Chicken Rice’:



Monday, March 18, 2024

QUOTE FOR THE DAY

 


VINTAGE PHOTOGRAPHS: AUSTRALIA

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Caution:

Some of the following images are confronting.

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Roseville, as it appeared in a postcard taken in the period 1900–192
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Roseville Bridge with the Roseville Baths in 1965.
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North Narrabeen Bridge in the Northern Beaches region of Sydney in the 1920s.
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Old Windsor Rd, Wentworthville NSW c.a.1913.
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University of Sydney (year unknown).
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Old country homestead, Western Australia, 1946.
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Parramatta Road, c 1879
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Captive and chained Aboriginals, early 1900s, Wyndham prison, Western Australia
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Ballarat, Victoria, 1900
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George Street, Sydney 1906
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An illegal abortion clinic in the late 1930s. It shows a room fitted with a single bed, chair and dresser. The dresser has a bottle on top and various other utensils for surgery.
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A car ploughed into a shopfront at night in the early 1940s on Liverpool Street. Onlookers including a group of sailors inspect the damage
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A seemingly quiet Liverpool Street near the corner of Riley Street at Darlinghurst in 1936. Darlinghurst was home to a turf war between razor gangs in the 1920s and 1930s
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Detectives wearing suits, coats and hats cover their faces with handkerchiefs in this picture taken in 1933
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Women doing their laundry in the 1950s, outback Australia
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Pioneer settler
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Drinking fountain near Fort St School 1924
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Bush home in Australia, c 1895
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Noarlunga in South Australia in 1860.The photo show the Horseshoe Inn, first licensed in 1840.
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Cobb & Co. Coach outside of Harcourt Warburton, Victoria.
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The body of Joe Byrne, one of the Kelly Kang, propped up for photography after the siege at Genrowan, 1880




Sunday, March 17, 2024

QUOTE FOR THE DAY

“. . . the war situation has developed not necessarily to Japan's advantage . . . “

- Japanese Emperor Hirohito,
radio broadcast 14 August 1945, accepting the terms for Japanese surrender after the dropping of the two atomic bombs

HISTORY: LITTLE MAN, BOCKSCAR AND MORE

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What happened to Enola Gay and Bockscar after they dropped their atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

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Enola Gay:

The plane which dropped the first atomic bomb, on Hiroshima, was named Enola Gay by the pilot Colonel Paul Tibbets after his mother, who in turn had been named after a heroine in a novel

The director of the Manhattan Project, Major General Leslie R. Groves, Jr., wanted the event recorded for posterity, so the takeoff was illuminated by floodlights. When he wanted to taxi, Tibbets leaned out the window to direct the bystanders out of the way. On request, he gave a friendly wave for the cameras.


Enola Gay returned safely to its base, several hundred people, including journalists and photographers, having gathered to watch the planes return. Tibbets was the first to disembark and was presented with the Distinguished Service Cross on the spot.

Enola Gay landing at its base after its bombing of Hiroshima


Enola Gay, with a different crew, participated in the second atomic attack as the weather reconnaissance aircraft for the primary target of Kokura. Clouds and drifting smoke resulted in a secondary target, Nagasaki, being bombed instead.

After the war, the Enola Gay returned to the United States, where it was operated from Roswell Army Air Field, New Mexico. In 1946 it was transferred to the Smithsonian Institution, and spent many years parked at air bases exposed to the weather and souvenir hunters, before being disassembled and transported to the Smithsonian's storage facility at Suitland, Maryland, in 1961.

In the 1980s, veterans groups engaged in a call for the Smithsonian to put the aircraft on display, leading to an acrimonious debate about exhibiting the aircraft without a proper historical context. The cockpit and nose section of the aircraft were exhibited at the National Air and Space Museum (NASM) in downtown Washington, D.C., for the bombing's 50th anniversary in 1995, amid controversy. Since 2003, the entire restored B-29 has been on display at NASM's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.

Enola Gay nose, port side, at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.

Tibbets died in 2007 at age 92. He had requested cremation and no physical memorial, because it would become a pilgrimage site for nuclear protesters.

Col Paul Tibbets

Enola Gay Tibbets 1890-1966

Interviewed after the mission, Tibbets confessed that he was embarrassed at having attached his mother’s name to such a fateful mission.

Asked in an interview “If you had to drop the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima again and the conditions were similar, would you?”“I wouldn’t hesitate a minute,” Tibbets replied.
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Bockscar:

Three days later another B 29, named Bockscar, sometimes written as Bock’s Car, dropped a second atomic bomb, named Fat Boy, on Nagasaki.

B-29 Bockscar at the National Museum USAF

Bockscar at Dayton before it was moved indoors. On the Nagasaki mission, it flew without nose art added after the mission), and with a triangle N tail marking, rather than the circle arrowhead shown here.

Bockscar with temporary triangle N tail marking, on 9 August 1945, the day of its atomic bombing mission

About 44% of the city was destroyed; 35,000 people were killed and 60,000 injured.

The name Bockscar was a play on words of the railroad term boxcar in that the captain of the plane was Captain Frederick Bock.

Captain Frederick Bock (1918-2000)


After the war, Bockscar returned to the United States in November 1945. In September 1946, it was given to the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. The aircraft was flown to the museum on 26 September 1961, and its original markings were restored (nose art was added after the mission). Bockscar is now on permanent display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, Dayton, Ohio, next to a replica of the Fat Man bomb.
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The bombs:

Two variations of designs for atomic bombs were developed through the Manhattan Project.

Both Little Boy and Fat Man were nuclear bombs that worked through the principle of nuclear fission. A free neutron would hit one atom of the fissionable material in the bomb. The atom would then split into two, and release its components, more neutrons, and energy. Those neutrons would go on to hit more atoms and cause more fission, and so on and on. This rapid chain reaction releases so much energy that it ultimately causes the massive explosion.

One of the issues at the time of development of the atomic bombs featured in the film Oppenheimer was whether the fission would keep happening uncontrolled and destroy the world.

What set the bombs apart was their design, mode of detonation, and the elements used.

 

Little Boy

Fat Man

Type

Gun-type

Implosion-type

Element used

Uranium

Plutonium

Weight

9,700 pounds

10,800 pounds

Target city

Hiroshima, Japan

Nagasaki, Japan

Detonation time

8:15 AM, August 6, 1945

11:01 AM, August 9, 1945

Carrier

Boeing B-29

Boeing B-29

Impact force

Equal to 15,000 tons of TNT.

Equal to 21,000 tons of TNT

Impact area

5 square miles

3 square miles

Approximate death toll by year-end

140,000

140,000

 

Little Boy and Fat Man
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By the way:

Another mattter addressed in the film Oppenheimer is Oppenheimer's change of attitude after being instrumental in developing the bomb, becoming  pposed to its development and use.

A 1995 report in the Atlantic on the day of the detonation describes that “the room was packed with whistling, cheering, foot-stomping scientists and technicians and that he (Oppenheimer) was sorry that the bomb had not been ready in time for use on Germany.” Oppenheimer even advised the B-29 bomber planes on how to deploy the bombs in the most effective manner while inflicting the most damage on the Japanese people.

However, Oppenheimer had a major change in disposition only a month later when he visited President Harry S Truman and told him “I have blood on my hands.” President Truman was reportedly annoyed with Oppenheimer’s regret and told his staff “Don’t let that crybaby in here again” while telling Oppenheimer that the blood was on his hands.

By November 1945 a communication to his fellow workers at the Los Alamos laboratory, Oppenheimer had said, “If you are a scientist you believe . . .that it is good to turn over to mankind at large the greatest possible power to control the world and to deal with it according to its lights and vales.”

After being excommunicated by President Truman, Oppenheimer devoted his life to regulating the use of nuclear power.

The real Oppenheimer and film Oppenheimer





 

Saturday, March 16, 2024

QUOTE FOR THE DAY


 

FROM THE VAULT: ST PATRICK'S DAY

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From Bytes, March 17, 2018

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I do not understand why otherwise normal, sane people suddenly start talking in Irish accents on a certain day each year, drink Guinness and Irish whisky and start wearing green. Sure to be sure, that day is St Patrick’s Day, when both Irish and non-Irish alike go a bit gaga. A bit like Melbourne Cup day when people who know nothing about horses and racing, and who couldn’t care less about them for the rest of the year, suddenly start organising sweeps and assessing the field for a winner. Still, they’re harmless bits of fun and any excuse for a pissup, at least for some.

So here is some St Patrick’s Day trivia . .
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St Patrick's Day is a global celebration of Irish culture on or around March 17. It particularly remembers St Patrick, one of Ireland's patron saints, who ministered Christianity in Ireland during the fifth century.

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Saint Patrick was not Irish.

· Born in Great Britain, when he was 16 he was kidnapped by pirates and held in captivity in Ireland for six years. During this time he found religion, which helped him survive and eventually escape.

· He returned to Ireland a few years later as a Christian missionary.
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St. Patrick's Day is celebrated on March 17th each year because St. Patrick died on March 17, 461 AD.
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The first Saint Patrick’s Day parade. . .

· Boston is arguably the most Irish city in the US.

· According to legend, the earliest celebration of the holiday in America took place in Boston in 1737, when colonists of Irish descent marked the event with a modest parade. Thereafter parades continued to be held.

· New Yorkers also claim the honour of the first St Patrick’s Day parade . . .

· It is said that on March 17, 1762, 14 years before the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Irish soldiers serving in the British army marched to honor the Catholic feast day of St. Patrick, their country’s patron saint. With Irish immigrants flocking to the United States, and in large numbers to New York, in the mid-19th century, the parade became an annual tradition and spread elsewhere in the country.

· In 1891 in Boston, the Ancient Order of Hibernians adopted the familiar parade route, the march up Fifth Avenue, which it still follows today. And other practices, such as the banning of wagons and floats, also became standard. The parade as it exists today is essentially the same as it would have been in the 1890s, with many thousands of people marching, accompanied by bagpipe bands as well as brass bands.

· The Boston parade is listed as the second largest parade in the country, drawing between 600,000 and 1 million people each year.


John & Jacqueline Kennedy, Boston St. Patrick’s Day Parade 1958
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Chicago dyes its river green to celebrate St Patrick’s Day.


As part of a more than fifty-year-old Chicago tradition, the Chicago River is dyed green in observance of St. Patrick's Day. The tradition of dyeing the river green arose by accident when plumbers used fluorescein dye to trace sources of illegal pollution discharges. The dyeing of the river is still sponsored by the local plumbers union. The United States Environmental Protection Agency outlawed the use of fluorescein for this purpose, since it was shown to be harmful to the river. The parade committee has since switched to a mix involving powdered vegetable dye.

In 2009 First Lady Michelle Obama, a Chicago native, requested that the White House fountains be dyed green to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.
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Leprechauns are actually fairies/shoemakers in Irish folklore.

A leprechaun is a type of fairy in Irish folklore. They are usually depicted as little bearded men, wearing a coat and hat, who partake in mischief. They are solitary creatures who spend their time making and mending shoes and have a hidden pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. If captured by a human, they often grant three wishes in exchange for their freedom. Leprechaun-like creatures rarely appear in Irish mythology and only became prominent in later folklore. Modern depictions of leprechauns are largely based on derogatory 19th-century caricatures and stereotypes of the Irish.

If you’ve never seen it, watch Darby O’Gill and the Little People, featuring a very young Sean Connery who also sings. (f you do a search on Google, you will be able to purchase it for AUD$9.99).


Video of Sean Connery singing:

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The shamrock’s three leaves are meant to represent the Holy Trinity.

The national symbol for Saint Patrick’s Day is a three-leaf shamrock. According to legend, Saint Patrick used shamrocks to teach children about the Holy Trinity.

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St Patrick did not really drive the snakes out of Ireland.

Although legend says that he did, there were actually no snakes in Ireland. The snake reference is considered a metaphorical explanation for St. Patrick driving evil and paganism out of Ireland.

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The original colour for St Patrick’s Day was blue.

The Order of St. Patrick, established in 1783, selected blue as its colour because dark green was already taken. Green became popular with the 1798 Irish Rebellion when wearing a clover on a lapel became a sign.

Badge of the Order of St. Patrick
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The Celtic harp is a national symbol of Ireland, making it the only country to have a musical instrument as a national symbol.

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Criticism . . .

In recent decades, St Patrick's Day celebrations have been criticised, particularly for their association with public drunkenness and disorderly conduct. Some argue that the festivities have become too commercialised. St Patrick's Day celebrations have also been criticised for fostering demeaning stereotypes of Ireland and Irish people. An example is the wearing of 'leprechaun outfits', which are based on derogatory 19th century caricatures of the Irish. In the run up to St Patrick's Day 2014, the Ancient Order of Hibernians successfully campaigned to stop major American retailers from selling novelty merchandise that promoted negative Irish stereotypes.

Some have described St Patrick's Day celebrations outside Ireland as displays of "Plastic Paddyness"; where foreigners appropriate and misrepresent Irish culture, claim Irish identity, and enact Irish stereotypes.

LGBT groups in the US were banned from marching in St. Patrick's Day parades in New York City and Boston, resulting in the landmark Supreme Court decision of Hurley v. Irish-American Gay, Lesbian, & Bisexual Group of Boston*. In New York City, the ban was lifted in 2014, but LGBT groups still find that barriers to participation exist. In Boston, the ban on LGBT group participation was lifted in 2015.

The Court ruled that private organisations, even if they were planning on and had permits for a public demonstration, were permitted to exclude groups if those groups presented a message contrary to the one the organizing group wanted to convey. Addressing the specific issues of the case, the Court found that private citizens organizing a public demonstration may not be compelled by the state to include groups who impart a message the organizers do not want to be presented by their demonstration, even if the intent of the state was to prevent discrimination.

Rosary Rally to Defend the Faith at NYC St. Patrick's Day Parade
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By the way:

A favourite Irish joke –

Into a Belfast pub comes Paddy Murphy, looking like he'd just been run over by a train. His arm is in a sling, his nose is broken, his face is cut and bruised and he's walking with a limp.

‘What happened to you?' asks Sean the bartender.

‘Jamie O'Conner and me had a fight,' says Paddy.

‘That little sod, O'Conner?' says Sean, ‘He couldn't do that to you, he must have had something in his hand.'

‘That he did...' says Paddy, ‘...a shovel is what he had, and a terrible lickin he gave me with it.'

‘Well,' says Sean, ‘You should've defended yourself...didn't you have something in your hand?'

‘That I did,' said Paddy. ‘Mrs. O'Conner's breast, and a thing of beauty it was...but useless in a fight.'