Winding Down
An idiosyncratic look at, and comment on, the week's net, technology, science and other news
by Alan Lenton
22 December 2024
Welcome to this fortnight’s edition of the Winding Down newsletter.
Christmas, they say, comes but once a year. One would have expected, now we have a Labour government here in the UK, that we could have it twice a year, and three times on election years!
Definitely a missed opportunity there.
So, to the newsletter. This week we have articles drawing your attention to GCHQ’s Christmas Challenge, research into female politicians being targeted for violence, tech companies going back to using buttons instead of touch screens, a hidden street in the heart of Edinburgh, a plastic bag failure, and cats at the museum.
The quote is from dramatist Bertolt Brecht, and the pictures are of a whale shaped butterdish, and a selection of extremely good astro-photos.
Scanner points you at material on the UK parliament and assisted dying, the sustainable Christmas tree debate, Microsoft Windows 11 market share falls, local councils and bought in software, a rise in vasectomies in the US, digital transformation (a hardy perennial), and a serious maths error. Finally, there’s a short warning note about a widespread, and ongoing, user data fishing attempt.
The GCHQ Christmas Challenge 2024
GCHQ, home of the UK’s counterspies (and maybe some of its spies), has now released its Christmas Challenge for those of you who fancy your chances. This year’s challenge comes in the form of a Christmas card and features seven puzzles. Should be more than enough to keep you busy for the next week of so!
https://www.gchq.gov.uk/news/gchq-christmas-challenge-2024
Why are female politicians more often targeted with violence? New findings confirm depressing suspicions.
The Conversation has an interesting piece of research on this question. The study was conducted in Italy and it discovered that female elected mayors were roughly three times more likely to experience an attack than male mayors. This is the first decent piece I’ve seen on this subject, and I would recommend it as a useful starting point for anyone interested in the issue.
https://theconversation.com/why-are-female-politicians-more-often-targeted-with-violence-new-findings-confirm-depressing-suspicions-238483
Tech companies are clamouring to re-buttonize their products
It seems that after years of replacing buttons on consumer electronics with touch screens, companies are now moving in the opposite direction. Personally, I’ve always been a bit leery about touch screens – especially the ones in hospitals and doctors surgeries, where everyone has to touch the screen to announce their arrival. I’ve always felt they could be a suitable vector for transmitting common ailments...
https://www.usermag.co/p/have-we-reached-peak-touchscreen
The forgotten street found behind a hidden library door
Imagine opening a door inside a building and finding a hidden street behind it! That actually happened deep within the lower floors of the National Library of Edinburgh. It turns out that it’s part of the old city that was mostly built over. The pictures at the URL give you some idea of just how cramped and crowded things used to be. Pretty impressive, though, but I have to confess that I prefer Narnian wardrobes...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cly2l119zlpo
Banning free plastic bags for groceries resulted in customers purchasing more plastic bags, study finds
Pysorg has a report of a study made to look at the effects of banning free single-use plastic bags being given out in grocery stores and other retail outlets in Austin and Dallas. The intention was to help the environment. Unfortunately... this turned out not to be such a brilliant idea, because, having not been given a free plastic bag customers simply bought plastic bags to make up the difference!
https://phys.org/news/2024-11-free-plastic-bags-groceries-resulted.html
Hundreds of Curious Cats Contemplated Ancient Egyptian Artifacts During a Series of ‘Meowseum Nights’ in China image
You’ve got to hand it to the Shanghai Museum in China. Because their current display is Ancient Egyptian themed, and the ancient Egyptians loved cats, the museum is hosting a series of ‘Meowseum Nights’ at which visitors bring their cats to see the show. The ten night series was a definite hit! A wonderful piece of work on the part of the staff there!
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/hundreds-of-curious-cats-contemplated-ancient-egypt-artifacts-during-a-series-of-meowseum-nights-in-china-180985612/
Quotes worth remembering:
Dramatist Bertolt Brecht on the uprising against the Soviet occupying forces in East Germany in 1953:
“Would it not be easier
In that case for the government
To dissolve the people
And elect another?”
Pictures:
Whale Butter Dish
OK, OK, I know it’s weird, and way too expensive to buy, but I just couldn’t resist including it...
https://shop.spoon-tamago.com/products/whale-butter-dish
Southern Sky astrophotography exhibition 2024
Here are an amazing selection of pictures from the exhibition.
https://www.theguardian.com/science/gallery/2024/dec/15/southern-sky-astrophotography-exhibition-2024-pictures-david-malin-awards
Scanner:
How every UK MP voted on the assisted dying bill
https://www.politics.co.uk/news/2024/11/29/how-every-mp-voted-on-the-assisted-dying-bill/
Real vs fake: The sustainable Christmas tree debate
https://phys.org/news/2024-12-real-fake-sustainable-christmas-tree.html
Windows 11 market share falls despite Microsoft ad blitz
https://www.theregister.com/2024/12/02/windows_11_market_share/
Young American deaths from cervical cancer fall sharply after HPV vaccine
https://www.sciencealert.com/young-american-deaths-from-cervical-cancer-fall-sharply-after-hpv-vaccine
UK local councils struggle with ill-fitting software despite spending billions with suppliers
https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/05/local_council_tech_struggles/
Vasectomy appointments see ‘unprecedented’ increase in take-up after the 2024 US election results
https://www.thepinknews.com/2024/11/25/vasectomy-appointments-unprecedented-increase/
Why digital transformation happens to you – iterate every day or face the consequences
https://lizlutgendorff.substack.com/p/why-digital-transformation-happens
Huge math error corrected in black plastic study; authors say it doesn’t matter
https://arstechnica.com/health/2024/12/huge-math-error-corrected-in-black-plastic-study-authors-say-it-doesnt-matter/
Coda:
WARNING: increase in “PayPal” phishing attempts over the earlier part of the week.
This week there appears to have been a substantial increase in fake “PayPal” invoices. There is no need to panic. In particular, don’t call the number listed on the attack. That’s exactly how the scammers, pretending to help, gather the information they need to clean out your bank account. I expect you all knew that anyway! But I thought I would mention it, just in case...
Footnote:
Please send suggestions for stories to alan@ibgames.com and include the words Winding Down in the subject line, unless you want your deathless prose gobbled up by my voracious Thunderbird spam filter...
Alan Lenton
alan@ibgames.com
22 December 2024
Alan Lenton is a retired on-line games designer, programmer and sociologist (among other things), the order of which depends on what he is currently working on! His web site is at http://www.ibgames.com/alan/index.html.
Past issues of Winding Down can be found at http://www.ibgames.com/alan/winding/index.html.
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