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caesar novus

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Posts posted by caesar novus


  1. Here is a malaria map of Italy 1882 but the hotspot returned in the 1940s when Germans sabotaged drainage canals from the Roman thru Mussolini era in deliberate biological warfare.

    Map-of-malaria-distribution-in-Italy-Tor

    See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontine_Marshes for this swamp shaping the location of Via Appia, and how pre Mussolini:

    Quote

    The Italian Red Cross related that, during the malaria season, 80% of those having spent one night in the marsh became infected.

    So for south of Rome it was solved in the 1930s, backfired cruelly in the 1940s, and:

    Quote

    The last of the malaria was conquered in the 1950s, with the aid of DDT.

    After benefiting from DDT tough love, the first world scaremongered third world countries out of even one time eradications.

    • Like 1

  2. Granted, much of the age categories are uninteresting but that is just one of 10 ways to break it down, like whether self employed. Even aside of timeframes and breakdowns, I am amazed at some of the overall wealth levels in spite of housing or wuflu cycles. How representative are these survey responders?

    The main thing is the 25 or so types of financial issues, and secondarily to map across time. The tertiary age details do let'you examine for instance how are the recently retired faring or the middle aged. The 75+ group seems to be doing surprising well as in not running out of money. The young are struggling in various ways sensitive to interest rates, which the fed is setting. Other gov't may use these numbers to adjust social security.

    More example chart variations:

    Debt by current work status of reference person

    Net worth by current work status of reference person

    Debt by age of reference person


  3. How are your neighbors doing? The US Federal Reserve offers interactive charts of income, net worth, debt, vehicles, real estate, etc from surveys the last 33 years. I about fell off my chair at the numbers, altho not so much the change over time. Best to leave it showing median rather than mean or else the crazy outliers will dominate. You can slice it many ways, like to see if folks were house-rich but cash-poor at a certain year and age group.

    I will show examples by age breakdown, but keep in mind that it's not the same people over time but the same age group at each year. One distortion is that a pension really means the custodian has to have a hidden million or so to fund it, while someone who retires only on their own savings looks deceptively well off especially when they will have to pay cap gains taxes on liquidation. Play with the charts as you like:

    https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/scf/dataviz/scf/chart/#series:Before_Tax_Income;demographic:agecl;population:1,2,3,4,5,6;units:median

    https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/scf/dataviz/scf/chart/#series:Assets;demographic:agecl;population:1,2,3,4,5,6;units:median


  4. 12 hours ago, guidoLaMoto said:

    wife wants us to move to Honolulu

    Retirees may find an arbitrage opportunity for mainland vs Honolulu real estate. The former high vs the latter maybe impacted by China's real estate crash. I know someone who did this during Japan's crash a couple decades ago.

    Wealthy Chinese invested in various Honolulu luxury towers just for asset hiding; rarely actually occupied I believe. Desperation sales may arise, but often for units intended for transient time shares with the associated fees. But U.S. mainlanders rarely last more than a few years in Hawaii, which has unique flavors of dysfunction yet strives to adopt California type dysfunction.


  5. I understood that they first used conventional approach to virtually unwrap and examine,  as done for the dead sea scrolls. Then let the contestants try to find still elusive words:

    Quote

    “crackle” — that seemed to form the shapes of Greek letters. Luke Farritor, an undergraduate studying computer science at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, used the crackle to train a machine-learning algorithm

    That was from skimming the Nature article; maybe I missed something from the videos which are too linear for my patience. The news article may have oversold/clickbaited the AI angle.


  6. I wonder if they can make an estimate of how accurate their AI results are. Pattern matching approaches may be biased to find known stereotypes. Maybe they can calibrate by running against remains of an old Torah vs. modern, which I gather doesn't change even punctuation marks for ages.

    I had involvement in early AI approaches, which were quite elegant in tracking degree of certainty and could even explain it's reasoning. But sometimes this approach hits a wall, and fuzzy pattern matching approaches became popular, which I didn't respect much.

    An example of the difference is innocence vs reasonable doubt of guilt (= not guilty). An exact AI system may flail forever trying to determine innocence with uncertainty of alibis etc. A pattern matcher can step back and rule not guilty if the perp looks anywhere from 0 to 98% guilty (with 99-100% being guilty). BTW I hate those "innocence projects" that crow about tiny adjustments of reasonable doubt.

    Wikipedia unexpectedly has a very lucid description of various current AI approaches https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_intelligence which puts me more at ease that more than just pattern matching is used. The sloppy AI narrations common on youtube probably shouldn't blacken the reputation of AI in general.


  7. 18 hours ago, guidoLaMoto said:

    it would be broos- ketta. Neither is right

    I'm still clinging to the hard c approach, as claimed in wiki: Italian: [bruˈsketta]. Once an effete waitress on Oxford campus condescendingly corrected me with the sh sound, and regardless of her Nobel prizes I want to think my way was closer to correct. Otherwise my only claim to worldly distinction was once being asked directions by a UPS man in my first few minutes in London. I may have been helpful since I memorize maps of new places rather than use anything digital.

    Quote

    hope everything is alright by you...

    We were one magnitude short of looting in the streets, which happens with extended power outages even among gentle acculturated people. The issue of structural safety is more slow-burn, with tension cables stealthily snapping within concrete. Takes a few years to catastrophically fail... or be found and fixed. Tension cables seem a nasty invention less forgiving than rebar.


  8. Ciao is supposed to retain it's intimate origin by not being used with strangers by Italians according to https://italyexplained.com/the-history-of-the-word-ciao-why-you-shouldnt-say-it-in-italy/ . Sort of like another hello/goodbye word aloha. But the foreign enthusiasm for the word detached from it's origin may seep into Italy.

    I am surprised foreigners properly pronounce the Italian i as h (ciao=chow) and (lasagna=lazonya) and (pizza=peetsa). But they don't remain true to phonetic rules to harden the ch in bruschetta or silence the first i in Gianni.

    Word origins may sometimes carry almost no meaning except as a random seed for a utilitarian word or phrase. The most annoying of such is to reward a sloppy malignant sneezer with a blessing which happens in several languages as a vacuous placeholder according to video below. I propose the sneeze response instead to demand accountability, as in "can't you spare a penny for your allergy with an antihistamine?" or "don't you ever wash your hands?" or "wear a dustmask when you vacuum, knucklehead!".

     

     

     

    P.S. this post was composed during a 5.7 magnitude earthquake, but power is still up...


  9. Roman Philadelphia, now with historical captions defaulted to "on" based on my urging. This one is a little spread out so you may want to increase the playback speed. Have you neglected to use captions on Prowalk's umpteen other Roman site walkthrus?

     

    No, the below isn't another diversity rant on how princess Snow White was in reality a Kalahari Bushwomen:

     


  10. 3 hours ago, guy said:

    The fact that none of the fragments were curved, however, makes me think a column was unlikely.

    Oh, I just meant the principle of an elevated viewpoint to any tall vertical (or horizontal) surface . Actually that column is supposed to be viewed as almost a wall. Scholars say you don't follow the spiral but view narrative from the bottom to top from 2 nearly opposed sides. Maybe that is why I found the unraveled spiral casts at the EUR museum unsatisfying.

    Anyway new answers and questions from:

     

    • Thanks 1

  11. 10 hours ago, guidoLaMoto said:

    Maybe the original was actually placed on the floor? 

    Stanford has the 1000+ fragments crisply digitized even in 3d, so maybe you can look for signs of sandal abrasion vs vertical weathering: http://formaurbis.stanford.edu/ They also show 87 lost fragments from Renaissance drawings of them! Furthermore Stanford has a project that maps transport networks throughout Roman empire: https://orbis.stanford.edu/

    expdot_800.png


  12. Besides the "map" superimposed on a 300 year old map of Rome, they are refurbishing it's whole dilapidated historic property including walkable grounds with archeo fragments. Hopefully this will extend the foot traffic on kind of the "wrong" shadeless desolate side of the coliseum, and bridge to onward attractions like Baths of Caracalla / St John Lateran / Via Appia.

    I love walking the continuous fabric of a city instead of being abruptly plunked at spots, although the shade of a few more umbrella pines there would help. Maybe can't dig a hole for a root ball without unearthing a zeroth-century vomitorium? Anyway, even Ostia Appia seems closer using a nearby train station. https://www.finestresullarte.info/en/archaeology/rome-caelian-archaeological-park-opens-to-the-public-with-new-forma-urbis-museum

    Quote

    The project is part of a broader transformation of the Caelian Hill and the entire Monumental Archaeological Center, starting with a number of important interventions: consolidation and rehabilitation work on the former Municipal Antiquarium will begin shortly, which will put an end to the building’s almost century-long neglect. In addition, the green area of the Caelian will be upgraded in vegetation, paths, overlooks toward the Palatine and connections with the Colosseum area, through a project by the Department of Environmental Protection. Finally, the New Archaeological Walkway, along Via di San Gregorio, will connect the Caelian Park with the Monumental Archaeological Center.

    May be some risk to the proliferation of niche museums in Rome, showing this new restoration and that. Often they are relatively expensive and you can see everything twice in 20 or 30 minutes. Then on to the next 5 niche mu$eum$ that day, some of which require inflexible appointments and weren't what you expected. They tend to have low attendance and are hard to staff. A normal medium or giant museum has diversity so a few disappointments are balanced by unexpected things that ring your bell. I knocked a ton of these small museums off on a "free museum" week they have around April, and got quite a perspective.


  13. The Pantheon sometimes opens interesting back rooms in a structure that was meant to reinforce an area developing cracks early on. There are even a couple of external flying buttresses there. I speculate that the huge front portico must be pressing the drum structure to the rear (no cracks on it's sides). Anyway this vid shows exhibits there including nice decorative fragments:

     

    By the way, here is how decorative elements can be robo-sculpted now in case you want some Corinthian topped columns:

     


  14. Good work. This one seemed to address my concerns on an earlier one - probably because they were obvious. But just in case of someone listening I will try to suggest refinements.

    Mainly I think the roofs are too look-alike as if they had the exact same roofer and materials with the exact same amount of weathering (say 40 years). It's nice the facades are weathered with hints of staining, but still a bit uniform, without a peppering of new construction.

    Nice that the colors are muted like their mineral colorants, and mostly confined to highlights seems plausible. Nice localized smoke and mist, although I would like to see more dappled light due to cloud patches. Is there something stagey about the people, like lack of kids, dogs, or ragamuffins?


  15. 5 hours ago, Gordopolis said:

    Is the Maritime Musuem the same as the Arsenale?

    Oh no, Maritime museum is closed for renovation except for a small annex. Arsenale is nearby but not sure how much is open; I actually never found an entrance. To east is spacious area to wander since Napoleon had a canal converted to a wide boulevard with parks and uncrowded benches to eat snacks etc. https://www.marina.difesa.it/EN/history/museums/Pagine/museostoriconavale.aspx

    If it is in season, drink plenty of fresh squeezed arancia rossa which is like rasberries. I just scored a bag of these and am in the afterglow of first taste in a while:

    1000_F_21113423_2vP0vFsiCLgdjzHwJHNlmt1k


  16.  

    https://www.thebyzantinelegacy.com/ven-byzantine- sez (embolded by me):

    Quote

    Venetian-Byzantine Architecture

    All across the city, Venice shows complex influences of Byzantine, Islamic and Gothic architecture. It is under the rule of Byzantium, that Venice came into existence. While little remains from the earliest period, it can best be seen in Torcello Cathedral, north of Venice. The Basilica of Saint Mark (San Marco), though, is the most spectacular example. Modeled after the Church of the Holy Apostles, it is is one of the best places to see a Byzantine church is all of its glory. There are other examples though. The Murano Church, just north of the main group of islands, dates to the 12th century and has a great example of a Byzantine mosaic floor. There is also Ca' da Mosto, a Venetian-Byzantine style palace from the early 13th century, which is the oldest building on the Grand Canal. The Fondaco dei Turchi is another 13th century example of Venetian-Byzantine architecture. It would later serve as the fondaco (a one-building ghetto) for the Ottoman Turks involved in trade in Venice.

    I am a Venice fanatic but not so much the Byz angle (St Mark etc) so may be a contra-indicator for you. I found Murano and Torcello islands painfully blah. Pay attention to ferry schedule for Torcello; you may have to commit to a very short or long wait for the return. Stopover in Burano which is super cute, if well over the top. They have/had coin bathrooms with no change made at the time. 

    Mosto and Turchi facades go by fast on a waterbus, so maybe look for viewpoints from other side of canal. One is a hotel and the other a zoolog museum, so visiting may have complications. I normally love museums, but in Venice I only find the huge Maritime museum inspiring. Nobody visits there, and the staff tries to herd everyone out way before the 1:30 closing, but you may find Byz cannons or whatever.

    Consider a quick excursion to Padua for mosaics, etc. The charming neighborhoods in Venice are Dorsoduro (SW) and Castello (NE). The famous walk of train station - Rialto bridge - San Marco is a cattle drive horror show punctuated by pigeon poop. To get from west to east walk the alternate route of bus station - Academy bridge and onward; that's what Italian commuters do.

    Venice has the worst food in Italy since it has negligible Italian customers. Instead of tourist gelato which tastes like shaving cream with food coloring, get sorbetto tailored to more refined taste. Instead of stockpiled wet cardboard pizza slices, order a whole pie with gourmet ingredients they have to prepare for you. Above all, wander around at dawn and night when daytripper hordes are gone.

    • Like 2

  17. New York's wonderful lost tribute to baths of Caracalla is well summarized in first 5 minutes here:

     

    To go beyond the simple sad narrative of Roman style monuments lost, take a look at one of the most engaging architect historian ever on a longer riff on that Penn Station. He ties it together with so many fascinating developments (fine art, engineering, finance) that makes it seem a miracle that the things worked out at least briefly.

    https://www.c-span.org/video/?309730-1/history-york-citys-penn-station

    That professor Barry Lewis can talk about most any architecture history in a way that gets exponentially more interesting as the clock moves on, and can be found not on youtube but at:

    https://www.c-span.org/search/?searchtype=Videos&sort=Newest&personid[]=9278702


  18. I thought I would pass on some Roman smuggling info from TV series. They aren't worth a separate topic and I will only mention once since I have stopped watching these 7 or so series.

    There are actually 2 series covering Spain, which seems to be inundated by South American drug traffickers. It's kind of interesting how their law enforcers seem to be small and ageing vs the violators who may be large and aggressive. Anyway the Roman connection is that their coast guard checks underwater wrecks about once a month with divers to see if looting takes place. Expensive operation which might attract notice from bad actors.

    There are series for just about every country in South America which has interesting no-nonsense enforcement styles, but a Roman connection appeared in the US based one. They found huge real mosaics in storage along with tons of loose ancient tile which they were using to "enhance" the mosaics. We saw a familiar Roman scholar from Yale or whatever value these for a jillion dollars. The perpetrator was dead and I forget the result, but they may have been waiting to see what country to return it to. The US style is depicted as a bit more clumsy and bureaucratic than other countries, and super eager to repatriate things unasked with skimpy evidence. 

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