The New York Times – Sunday, June 4, 2023

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In a Contentious Lawmaking Season, Red States Got Redder and Blue Ones Bluer

In Michigan, Democrats won full control of the Legislature for the first time since the 1980s.

With single-party statehouse control at its highest level in decades, legislators across much of the country leaned into cultural issues and bulldozed the opposition.

India’s Worst Rail Disaster in Decades Convulses Country Dependent on Trains

At least 120 killed and 400 injured in three-train crash in India

The disaster killed at least 288 people, and a preliminary government report described it as a “three-way accident” involving two passenger trains and an idled cargo train. Officials were investigating possible signal failure.

Raw Meat and Moon Signs: Inuit Lessons for Soldiers in the Arctic

Humbled by centuries of fatal colonial expeditions, Canada’s military is learning Arctic survival strategies from the austere area’s only inhabitants.

In Russian Schools, It’s Recite Your ABC’s and ‘Love Your Army’

The curriculum for young Russians is increasingly emphasizing patriotism and the heroism of Moscow’s army, while demonizing the West as “gangsters.” One school features a “sniper”-themed math class.

Art, Arts & Literature, Profiles, Views

Art: Illustrator Giovanni Alberti’s “Portraits”

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GIOVANNI ALBERTI

Trieste, Italy

Portraits of contemporary politicians – 2022

Classical Music Composers – 2018

Art, Art Galleries, Arts & Literature, Reviews

Toronto Art: ‘Dominic Besner’ – Galerie LeRoyer

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Galerie LeRoyer (June 3, 2023) – A corpus called “Migratory Series”. It is an ode to manifest colours, driven by the hot winds of June and the full moon of strawberries. Coming from elsewhere, like the tropical butterfly, their glass hooves fuel the playfulness of our fantasies.

DOMINIC BESNER

“Migratory Series”

JUNE 2023

Dominic Besner’s creative work is based on a mixed technique on canvas. He has a preference for oil sticks and their rich palette of colours as well as acrylic paint, structural mortar, china marker and aerosol paint. In addition to these materials, he uses a technique of application by the fingers and scraping of the canvas.

Cities, Travel, Videos, Views

Walking Tour: Sausalito In Northern California (4K)

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Traveling with Andrew Films (June 3, 2023) – Sausalito is a city in Marin County, California, across the Golden Gate Strait from San Francisco. It’s known for its Richardson Bay houseboat enclaves, built by artist squatters after WWII.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Bay Model Visitor Center has a functioning 3D hydraulic model of the Bay Area, plus exhibits about the area’s waterways. The Marin Headlands offers Golden Gate Bridge views.

Recording Date: May 2023

Analysis, Interviews, Military, Reviews, Videos

Views: Ukraine’s Zelensky On The Counteroffensive

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Wall Street Journal (June 3, 2023) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke with Wall Street Journal editor in chief Emma Tucker in Odesa ahead of his meeting with European leaders to press for membership in NATO and as the world waits for Ukraine’s counteroffensive against Russia.

Video timeline: 0:00 Ukraine’s counteroffensive 0:50 Ukraine’s long-term security and Western allies 2:23 U.S. election’s effect on Ukraine 4:03 Ukrainian weapons 5:44 NATO and Ukraine 7:05 Zelensky’s thoughts on China 7:38 How Zelensky is personally dealing with the war

#Ukraine #Zelensky #WSJ

Green Design, Reviews, Sustainability, Technology, Videos

World Economic Forum: Top Stories- June 3, 2023

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World Economic Forum (June 3, 2023) – This week’s top stories of the week include:

0:15 Spain just powered itself entirely from renewables – Mainland Spain’s electricity needs were met solely by wind, solar and hydropower between 10am and 7pm on Tuesday, 16 May. Impressively, this happened on a weekday when demand is highest. Last year, 42% of Spain’s electricity was generated renewably. This could rise above 50% this year, experts say

1:31 This school teaches students in the Metaverse – Donning VR headsets, pupils can visit the planets in our solar system, get up close and personal with a woolly mammoth or walk through the chambers of a human heart. They can practice their pronunciation in a simulated French restaurant or travel back in time to World War II. The cutting-edge lessons are on offer at Reddam House School in the UK.

3:06 New York City is sinking under the weight of its skyscrapers – Scientists calculated the mass of all the buildings in New York City. Including the Central Park Tower and the Empire State. In total, there are 1.1 million buildings, weighing a total of 762 million tonnes. The same as 64 million city buses. While most of the city is built on solid bedrock, softer parts of the earth are compressing under the enormous weight. Sending the Big Apple downwards at 1-2mm a year on average and up to 4mm a year in some areas.

4:28 Scientists have developed Eco-Friendly Ammonia – Used in many cleaning products and agricultural fertilizer. Their method uses water, nitrogen, a catalyst and a sprayer. If successfully scaled up, researchers say it could make a big dent in CO2 emissions, while helping to feed the world’s growing population sustainably.

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The World Economic Forum is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation. The Forum engages the foremost political, business, cultural and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. We believe that progress happens by bringing together people from all walks of life who have the drive and the influence to make positive change.

News, Podcasts, Politics, Stories

Saturday Morning: News And Stories From London

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Monocle on Saturday, June 3, 2023: Updates on the weekend’s culture news and current affairs with Emma Nelson.

British classical-music radio and television broadcaster Petroc Trelawny reviews the papers, French journalist Agnès Poirier discusses France’s debt and Monocle’s Monica Lillis speaks with author Beth Lewis about cults.

Design, Innovations, Previews, Reviews, Technology

Augmented Reality: Apple Unveils ‘Glass Air’ Glasses

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Yanko Design (June 2, 2023) – Augmented Reality has always been Tim Cook’s favorite buzzword, and he’s consistently pushed for Apple to have a presence in this space. It’s expected that all this will culminate in what analysts and leakers call “Reality”, Apple’s first XR headset. This cutting-edge device, expected to be unveiled at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference, aims to pioneer the relatively uncharted realm of mixed-reality technology.

With a price tag of approximately $3,000, the ‘Reality’ headset has been seven years in the making, and has been apparently filled with controversy too, with a large chunk of Apple’s own employees expressing doubt and disdain. However, here’s everything we know about the Reality headset (or could it be a pair of glasses?) that’s set to launch this Monday.

The headset’s design journey has oscillated between being thick and obtrusive, like your average VR headset, to being as slim as a pair of spectacles, or realistically, a pair of chunky ski goggles. At its heart, however, lies the innovative xrOS, designed to provide an interface that echoes the familiar iOS experience. The new operating system (which is pretty much confirmed thanks to a trademark filed by Apple in New Zealand) is set to revolutionize how users interact with their devices, presenting a traditional Home Screen in an entirely new dimension filled with apps and customizable widgets.

One of the most exciting features of ‘Reality’ is its ability to merge digital elements with the real world. The xrOS software could potentially project AR app interface elements onto actual objects, creating a seamless mixed-reality overlay effect. This represents a significant leap forward in AR technology, blurring the boundaries between the physical and digital worlds. According to MacRumors, the ‘Reality’ device will achieve this using “dual high-resolution 4K micro OLED displays with up to 3,000 pixels per inch for a rich, realistic, and immersive viewing experience.” To operate the device, the user’s hands and eyes will be monitored by over a dozen optical cameras. The user can select an on-screen item by simply looking at it and activate it by making a hand gesture, such as a pinch.

READ MORE AT YANKO DESIGN

Landmarks, Landscape, Travel, Videos, Views

Mediterranean Travel: An Aerial Tour Of Malta (4K)

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Gaëtan Piolot Films (June 3, 2023) – Malta is an archipelago in the central Mediterranean between Sicily and the North African coast. It’s a nation known for historic sites related to a succession of rulers including the Romans, Moors, Knights of Saint John, French and British. It has numerous fortresses, megalithic temples and the Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum, a subterranean complex of halls and burial chambers dating to circa 4000 B.C.