Weckert’s earlier work involved using 99 smartphones in a cart to make Google Maps believe there was a traffic jam. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/feb/03/berlin-artist-uses-99-phones-trick-google-maps-traffic-jam-alert

Not a good choice of thread title on my part…I thought adding the tag would help but it probably didn’t… What got my attention in the article was the idea that websites may be specifically tailored to get picked up by AI. Sort of the next generation of SEO. And that people either won’t take the time or maybe don’t even think to investigate what sources the chatbot used. The possibility for mischief explodes with AI. This post was linked in the Guardian story and flushes it out more: https://responsiblestatecraft.org/israel-influence-chatgpt/

This is Jon Batiste’s lovely tribute to Dolly Parton: https://www.facebook.com/reel/1807922880366556 ️️️

I was reading about him and I didn’t realize that the RHPS was his debut movie. Wow!

Meal

@AndyD I worked on those bits a little bit yesterday, and my fingering is the same as yours. Of course I’m only just getting into this part, so it might change, or maybe my teacher will suggest a change. But this fingering is also in line with how the score is written, and I’d prefer to play it that way. In his video, Hugh Sung says he tries to make fingering choices that avoid over-stretching the hand. This is a good idea as a general rule, and I usually do the same. But those LH notes are not held notes and you don’t need to keep your pinkie on that Db (for example) so I don’t think playing those first four notes with the LH will necessarily cause an over-stretch. Actually, maybe it’s just as important to work on bringing the LH over (to the right) as you play those notes… I’m trying to remember which video it was, but I was watching someone play CdL with a nice overhead video shot and really noticing the horizontal movement of their hands. Anyway, I’m not saying I’m in a position to question an accomplished pianist like Hugh Sung, but for now, I’m going with the standard fingering. Also, as an aside, I seem to keep wanting to type this name as Huge Sung…. And the famous actor as Huge Grant… (Sometimes you can’t blame it on autocorrect…)

@DougG certainly not me, I don’t have a word for that…

Some people are beyond stupid and ignorant. Big Al

As an adult I was in the office of a high school principal long ago. Cracking down on the kids was what he was talking about. Punishment was obviously was motivated him. Education was not on his mind. I think Burnside is an exceptional principal.

@Bernard I hope everything works out! Private (one-on-one) lessons can be quite expensive, so I can get why you might prefer the group lessons. Also, the group lessons sound like they have an interesting and compelling dynamic, I would be interested in that if we had something like that here. At the uni music program, the only group lessons they offer for non-majors are for very beginning level pianists. I think there's something called a studio class which is a group class and students play for each other (and the teacher of course). It kind of sounds like a semester-long masterclass. But you have to be a music major (or music grad student) to enroll.

So I also officially started working on Don’t Know Why yesterday. It’s a little tricky just because I don’t usually play jazz (or jazz adjacent). But it’s also almost comical how much easier it feels compared to Claire de Lune! DKW is also only 23 measures (not counting the repeats of course), so it’s a third of the length of CdL and that makes it feel easier as well. Having said that, this doesn’t mean I’ll be able to play DKW with the proper jazz inflection. We’ll see. But it’s super fun to play and I really like the arrangement I picked.

Also, Italian plums/prunes are ripe here, and they’re perfect in plum torte. [image: 1787703006044-05f54ea9-19cf-46a5-953a-b4e23e669309-resized.jpeg] Recipe here It’s a mashup of recipes, and benefits from cornmeal being subbed for part of the flour.

A traumatic brain injury can result in the skull hitting or being hit with less than 10 mph or force moving against a stationary object. At least that's what the advocacy group told us after my then 16 year old brother's skull hit the stationary A pillar of a crashed truck at 40 mph with no seatbelt. Anyone who thinks some football players aren't being severely damaged is an idiot.

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https://www.inquirer.com/health/measles-deaths-lancaster-county-pennsylvania-20260825.html Pennsylvania reported two measles-related deaths on Tuesday, the first fatalities from the highly contagious disease in the state in 35 years and the only deaths involving the highly contagious disease confirmed nationally so far this year. The deaths occurred in Lancaster County, the center of a major measles outbreak that has sickened nearly 400 people this year, state officials said. Both people were unvaccinated.

We have lots of ticks in my neck of the woods and our public health offers identification for free if you send the ticks to them. We have a conservation area beside my old school so I would take my students there for walks and we would often come back and find ticks on the kiddos. Always dog ticks, thankfully. There are deer ticks in our area (which carry Lyme) but mostly in wilderness areas so I don’t stumble into them.

Lucky you guys! I haven't been and if I did go I would make a pilgrimage to the Place Vendôme. Napoleon's architecture is great. I'd like to see it The main reason I'd like to visit is because of the jewelers who immigrated here from other countries in the late 19th century. It was then and is still today home to many great house's retail spaces and workshops on the upper floors. Place Vendôme - Wikipedia https://share.google/ob1OjxHGN6lh7MlFN

So word is Harry is in trouble with the Feds because he told material lie(s) in his immigration paperwork. My source is LadyC (pen name obviously), who divorced a peer, The Duke of Argyll https://share.google/SJ0k4DAiCBaSkqnHg She's one of the most reliable sources I know. The only one I'd put in the same category is Tom Bower the investigative journalist. She shares what she knows within legal constraints; she's entertaining; and her analytical skill is a joy to witness. Harry, as I've long predicted he would be, is in a bad way.

He needed this too... Dumfries House - Dumfries House https://share.google/y1JUQgQyFMEXFR1qh 9th generation marquess sold his family's house with Chippendale furniture in situ. How could Charles resist? He and Camilla (hers really because I watched her say it) have a narrative that it was a dilapidated property (it wasn't) and it needed to be saved (it didn't), and finally, it was bought by a charity for charitable purposes (do I need to comment). He has scrubbed the place clean and it is an exquisite house.