The ring date from the 1970s and were used by KGB agents during the Soviet Union era. They are believed to be the only ones of their kind in the world.
Soviet Spy High definition Camera Rings
U.K. PRIME MINISTER BORIS JOHNSON MAKES SECRET TRIP TO UKRAINE, MEETS WITH ZELENSKY.
Two men allegedly impersonated federal agents to get access to Secret Service
An actual extreme sport in which people take ironing boards to remote locations and iron items of clothing. According to the Extreme Ironing Bureau, extreme ironing is “the latest danger sport that combines the thrills of an extreme outdoor activity with the satisfaction of a well-pressed shirt.”
Extreme Ironing: Japan’s Tiny Police Boxes
On the road with Bashō
At nippon.com Fukasawa Shinji follows the trail of Matsuo Bashō: A Literary Wanderer.
We
50 best sci-fi books ?
Yet more lists: at Esquire Adrienne Westenfeld offers a list of The 50 Best Sci-Fi Books of All Time -- though they undermine that claim by having the ridiculous "one book per author"-limitation (that remains far too popular with these kind of lists).
With Neal Stephenson placing 49th (with Snow Crash), Stanisław Lem 46th (with Solaris), and William Gibson 45th (with Neuromancer) they're setting the bar pretty high -- and there is a bit of a contemporary bias (i.e. more relatively recent works than deserve to be there), so overall it is, as most such lists are, a mixed and debatable bag. Still, a lot of good books here.
Ukraine and literature
As Vladimir Putin's outrageous and ill-conceived war against Ukraine and the terrible toll it is taking continue there has been quite a lot of coverage of Ukrainian writers and writing: recent pieces now include Philipp Jedicke at Deutsche Welle considering Can literature rise up against Russia's war in Ukraine ? and in Tablet Vladislav Davidzon and and Kate Tsurkan offer a survey of The Landscape of Ukrainian Literature.
(Updated - 24 March): See now also John Self on The stories that reveal the soul of Ukraine at the BBC.
The Science of Nuclear Weapons, Visualized - Visual Capitalist “an online publisher that creates data visualizations, has created an infographic depicting the scientific process of nuclear weapons. The infographic shows the process of nuclear fission, nuclear fusion, and the height and radius of atomic and hydrogen bombs used in the past. One section of the infographic displays the scale of atomic bombs Little Boy and Fat Man used in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, hydrogen bomb Castle Bravo that the United States’ used in its largest-ever nuclear weapon test in 1954, and hydrogen bomb Tsar Bomba that the Soviet Union tested in 1961, compared to the size of Mount Everest. According to this visualization, Tsar Bomba produced 51,000 kilotons of TNT and a mushroom cloud over 67 kilometers or 42 miles high.” [via Center for Data Innovation]
- Libraries and the Contested Terrain of “Neutrality” – Rick Anderson is University Librarian at Brigham Young University. His commentary addresses timely, divisive and critical conversations and actions that involve censorship, book banning, library ethics, and professional responsibility across our professional communities.
- Truth to Power – Robert McKaydiscusses his appreciation of the important function of the House of Butter blog, established and run by Sean Hocking. This publication has been continuously engaged in addressing wide reaching, significant issues concerning the environment and law, the defence and protection of rule of law and in support of those in legal practice who stand up for human rights and equality, rather than simply being focused on profit.
- The intentional law office – Legal sector analyst Jordan Furlong writes that it’s taken two years of rolling pandemic lockdowns to shake us from our torpid habit of gathering together only to work alone. Over the next decade, a Stanford professor estimates, US workers will spend a quarter of their work time at home — “the number of person-days in the office is never going back to pre-pandemic average, ever.” This has obvious ramifications for corporate office space, employee well-being, and even climate change. But the workplace itself is ground zero for this change, and there will be enormous ramifications in this regard alone. Furlong’s thought provoking essay identifies critical choices that can be made that will result in better outcomes for law firms moving forward.
- The Russian invasion shows how digital technologies have become involved in all aspects of war – Since Russia invaded Ukraine, we keep hearing that this war is like no other; because Ukrainians have cellphones and access to social media platforms, the traditional control of information and propaganda cannot work and people are able to see through the fog of war. For these communications scholars and historians, Professors Katharina Niemeyer, Dominique Trudel, Heidi J. S. Tworek, Maria Silina and Svitlana Matviyenko, it is important to add nuance to such claims. The question is not so much what is “new” in this war, but rather to understand its specific media dynamics. One important facet of this war is the interplay between old and new media — the many loops that go from Twitter to television to TikTok, and back and forth.
- Ukraine doomscrolling can harm your cognition as well as your mood – here’s what to do about it– What use are we in helping to solve difficult global challenges if we’re so depressed and cognitively depleted that we can’t think of the best actions to take? Ukraine doomscrolling can harm your cognition as well as your mood. Professors Barbara Jacquelyn Sahakian, Christelle Langley, Chun Shen and Jianfeng Feng describe their research findings on what to do about it.
- Pete Recommends Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, March 26, 2022 – Four highlights from this week: How to secure your home and office network: FBI: Americans lost $7B in 2021 to Internet crime; The best DNS blockers and firewalls; Bank’s Machine Learning Systems Are Ripe for Sabotage; Blockchain: Financial and Non-Financial Uses and Challenges; and DHS seeks to automate video surveillance on ‘soft targets’ like transit systems, schools.
- Pete Recommends Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, March 20, 2022 – Four highlights from this week: Report: Cybersecurity teams need nearly 100 days to develop threat defenses; Russian General Killed After Using Unsecured Phone; A sustainable look at secure device destruction; and Ukraine reportedly adopts Clearview AI to track Russian invaders.
- Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, March 12, 2022 – Four highlights from this week: 2022 Guide to Internet Privacy Resources and Tools; Russia creates its own TLS certificate authority to bypass sanctions; Twitter quietly launches Tor service in the face of Russian censorship; Decentralized identity using blockchain.
- Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, March 6, 2022 – Four highlights from this week: How to make software supply chains resilient to cyber attacks; Russian Invasion Highlights Growing Importance of Open Source Intelligence; Cybersecurity: Internet Architecture is Considered Resilient, but Federal Agencies Continue to Address Risks; and Senate passes major cybersecurity legislation to force reporting of cyberattacks and ransomware.
50 best sci-fi books ?
Yet more lists: at Esquire Adrienne Westenfeld offers a list of The 50 Best Sci-Fi Books of All Time -- though they undermine that claim by having the ridiculous "one book per author"-limitation (that remains far too popular with these kind of lists).
With Neal Stephenson placing 49th (with Snow Crash), Stanisław Lem 46th (with Solaris), and William Gibson 45th (with Neuromancer) they're setting the bar pretty high -- and there is a bit of a contemporary bias (i.e. more relatively recent works than deserve to be there), so overall it is, as most such lists are, a mixed and debatable bag. Still, a lot of good books here.