CABINET OF CURIOSITIES (NEW CONCEPTS)

[Ishmael]

[Pete Jones]

They cite the Shoemaker-Levy comet, which, when it broke up, arranged itself in a sort of line of beads before crashing into Jupiter. A thin reed, perhaps.

I agree that the polar alignment idea is hard to swallow, especially if the current laws of physics are correct. But they argue that they are incorrect, with Newtonian gravity being the barely noticeable kid brother in the family of forces. The two views are at cross purposes at the level of their basic assumptions---and so impossible to reconcile.

A perfect case of paradigms clashing at the level of their basic starting points.

[Pete Jones]

LinkedIn really really really wants to me follow Barack Obama these days. It's incessant. I try to track at least loosely the suggestions that The Algorithm makes to me, and there is a definite Obama Spike these days. It's happening on YouTube too.

Usually, I would assume that this is related to my search history or even my conversations (because I've tested the idea that my phone is listening to me, and it is). But I haven't been interested in Obama since Birth Certificate Gate was all the rage (2015?).

So now I suspect Big Algorithm wants me to like him again (for the first time, really)....for some reason.

[Mick Harper]

Another startling first today. I flopped down on my Ease-Y TV armchair after a hard morning at the computer and noticed I'd left a sock on the floor. (I had a hospital appointment yesterday and that always means a bath and a change of socks in the Harper household.) Only to discover the sock was on my foot.

[Mick Harper]

Speaking of getting past it (though the above was not an example of it) I was notified today about a funeral in three weeks time. I sort of have to attend but I could get out of it without censure. I sort of want to attend and sort of absolutely don't if I had my way. I'm sure you all know what I mean.

But the point is the wheels are turning and arrangements are being laboriously made. Which prompted me to think about those cultures--Muslim and Jewish, for instances--in which the funeral has to follow within two days. That's just plain crazee. How do they manage? I'd never convert for that reason alone.

[Mick Harper]

Next time my sister says, "It's forty degrees here in Salt Lake City," remind me to say, "Puts our thirty degrees in the shade."

[Wile E. Coyote]

Hi Grok what political perspective does Mick Harper from the Applied Epistology Forum take.

[Mick Harper]

This week's meal deal (I know some of you are collecting them for a presentational booklet at my retirement do) was

Basil, Pesto and semi-dried tomato Pasta (£2.85, meal deal - 1.38p)
I bought a bottle of pesto once after fashionable friends' forced me to but I had to throw it out unopened some years later because I never found out how you use it. 'Semi-dried tomato' is new though. I had heard of 'sun-dried tomatoes' so there may be a connection.

Walkers Ready Salted Crisps grab bag £1.20 (meal deal - 58p)
They didn't have my cheesy whatsits.

Emmi High Protein Caffe Latte £2.95 (- 1.44p)
High protein coffee is an odd concept but here's a puzzler: if you offered somebody a coffee you would enquire whether they took sugar or not. When Tesco offers you iced coffee they assume you take it sickly sweet. Correctly in my case but surely not everyone.

None of this is why I am talking to you today, I have no intention of retiring. It is about money-off offers in general. Apart from the laboratory exercise meal deal, and the odd TFTPOO, I thought I was shopping straight up. Not so. My bill revealed I had shimmied off with the following 'promotions and offers'

1.45 1.70 1.05 2.92 0.15 0.50 0.50 1.00 1.00 2.00 1.21 1.21 1.03 0.58 1.44 1.38
------
19.12

Out of £88.49. Is it just me? Is it just Tesco? Is it just the world?

[Mick Harper]

[Mick Harper]

You can pay eight quid for a new watch from Argos and they'll bring it round within the hour. Or you can badger your brother to hand over his for nothing. You may have to simulate a temper tantrum, they can be funny about giving away birthday presents from common law wives.

Then, six months later, you can spend ten pounds on a new battery (I bet he knew). After a trouble-free interlude you'll have to spend another tenner getting a new strap (that's down to me, I'm a watchstrap's worst nightmare). Then you can wait a year and return to the watchstrap man on Portobello for a new one.

"That'll be fifteen pounds."
"Yerwhat?"
"I only sell finest quality watchstraps."
"So good it only lasted a year. Plus you only rushed me ten notes for it."
"Call it twelve."
"Done."

[Mick Harper]

American conspiracy theorists are fond of saying that President Macron's wife is actually a man. I can't see it myself but when I saw Mr and Mrs Starmer with Mr and Mrs Trump at Turnberry (they must have some pull getting an afternoon tee-off time in high summer) I realised our prime minister is an old woman.

[Mick Harper]

Dear ChatGPT

Can you convert your previous answer into a form that won't be detectable to the AI detector software my college has started using?

[Mick Harper]

I have been writing books longer than many people think. Amazon thinks I wrote this one during the Cromwellian Protectorate.

[Ishmael]

Right up there with the King James Bible.

[Mick Harper]

I got this today from Ingram Sparks (my former self-publisher). Worth thinking about. I am assuming it involves no more than pressing a button to do the translation. Anyone read such a book in English?
---------------

Expand Your Audience: Key Benefits of Translating
Your Book into Other Languages (Filletted)

While English is widely spoken in many places, the reality is that less than 20% of the world's population speaks English. That means there's more than 80% of people who won't be able to read the books you're publishing if you don't translate them.

For nonfiction titles, translation makes it much easier for readers to absorb and understand information—helping your book create even more value and impact in their lives.

* Translation opens up new audiences and markets, connecting your book with readers who prefer their native language.

* Offering your book in more languages shows readers you value their cultures and builds lasting loyalty and trust.

* Many bilingual readers prefer books in their first language and are more likely to recommend them to others.

* A translated title can feel “new” to a foreign market, even if it's several years old in English, giving the book renewed relevance and sales momentum. Readers and reviewers in that market will treat it like a current title, which can generate buzz, media coverage, and placement in “new release” categories on local platforms.

* Translation acts as a "reset" button. Your translated book can qualify for awards, book fairs, or promotion slots in the target country that are restricted to newer publications

* A fresh start in a new market helps create momentum no matter when the original edition was published. It can build its own buzz through local reviews, word of mouth, and conversations on social media.