Category Archives: Kultcha

A Metaphor for Something…

I was very struck by this photo of zebras trekking on the open sands, a photo posted on twitter by one Lars-Johan Larsson, now making the rounds online. It seems the black images are the Zebras’ shadows. The actual zebras are hard to see, and at lower resolutions only somewhat visible even if you magnify the picture.

But what really makes it apt is that on Twitter Larsson captioned it “National Geographic Picture of The Year”. He may just have meant it as a compliment, as in “should be”, or may have been echoing an appellation that seems almost as old as the picture. Certainly many seem to have taken this appellation literally…and as far as I can tell from looking at the actual 2022 winners, it’s no such thing this year, nor in 2018 when I think it first appeared online. (The photographer appears to be by professional wildlife photographer Bevery Joubert, but I don’t have an Instagram account to check it.)

So we have a photo of incredible concealment, undermined by sunlight, resulting in shadows almost worthy of Plato’s cave–except without distortion!–that is itself likely misidentified either by the original poster or via sharing on social media, and presented as by reposters as new in 2022 although it is actually four years old.

Certainly ought to be the Picture of the Year in some category.

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An Xmas Song You Will Like

I am not a fan of Xmas music. Indeed, one of the few benefits of being in never-ending quarantine has been that I have not set foot in a single shop playing an endless loop of carols or, worse, muzak carols. (Negative props to ‘Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer’ and its ilk, none of which improves with repetition either.)

But I liked this one. And I don’t think it’s just because it has pedant appeal:

Thanks to Wendy G. for sending it my way!

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Apple’s Great New Privacy Commercial vs Reality

Apple has unveiled a terrific new video/commercial for the privacy features of the iPhone:

While I do think Apple deserves real credit for resisting government attempts to get a back door into iPhone encryption, I can’t help but view that video a little cynically in light of reports, not so long ago, that more than half of the App Store privacy labels were false.

Bonus shout-out to “Mind Your Own Business” by Delta 5 which provides the background.

Posted in Kultcha, Law: Privacy, Sufficiently Advanced Technology | 8 Comments

“Constitutional Law: It’s a Lot Like Cornbread and Slaw”

The Constitutional Law Song–With Banjo, Fiddle & Ukulele– is something:

(Spotted via Ben Davis on a mailing list)

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Song of the Year?

F2020. And we haven’t even had November yet.

(Don’t click if you are sensitive to blurred-out digital hand gestures.)

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Lifted from the Florida Bar News

I did not know this:

When it comes to US 1 Radio/FM 104’s “Ed Scales Show” — a weekly trove of 60s, 70s, and 80s classic hits — there’s more than meets the ear. Most listeners know the eponymous host for his encyclopedic knowledge of all things Rolling Stones, Beatles, The Who, and a pantheon of guitar gods led by Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton. But what most listeners don’t know is that “Ed Scales” is Third District Court of Appeal Judge Edwin A. Scales III.

Of course, the show has a web page.

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