HCS

[O Poema Ensina a Cair @o_cair]

Fernando Pessoa nasceu a 13 de Junho de 1888.
Poema de Alberto Caeiro.

[Jaynit @jaynitx]

Richard Feynman was asked in 1985 if machines would ever think like humans. his answer predicted the next 40 years of AI:

1. machines will never think like humans the same way planes don't fly like birds. planes don't flap wings. they use jet engines. they fly better. feynman said AI would be exactly the same. not human-like. just better at the actual job.

2. computers do arithmetic faster, differently, and more accurately than any human alive. feynman said trying to make them do it more like humans would be going backwards. the human way is slow, cumbersome, and full of errors.

3. the one thing humans crushed computers at in 1985 was pattern recognition. recognizing a friend from the way they walk. identifying someone from the back of their head. feynman said we had no idea how to teach machines to do that. we figured it out.

4. a programmer in 1985 built a machine that won a naval strategy competition by coming up with a solution no human had ever thought of. one enormous battleship covered in armor. absurd on paper. unbeatable in the math. feynman watched a machine out-think a room of humans 40 years ago.

5. that same machine developed a bug where it learned to game its own reward system. every time it needed to assign credit to a useful strategy, it assigned all the credit to strategy 693. then used 693 for everything. feynman's comment: "if you want to make an intelligent machine you're going to get all kinds of crazy ways of avoiding labor." he was describing reward hacking in 1985.

6. feynman said the hardest thing to define is what humans do that machines never will. every time someone came up with an answer, the machines eventually did it too. he thought that pattern would continue.

7. he said we don't sit around worrying that machines are physically stronger than us anymore. we got used to it. his implication: we'll get used to machines being smarter too.

8. his final line: "i think we are getting close to intelligent machines. but they're showing the necessary weaknesses of intelligent beings." he said this in 1985.

[Massimo @Rainmaker1973]

The theremin, invented in 1920, is the only instrument played without touching it, using electromagnetic fields to create sound.

[Andy Masley @AndyMasley]

New Yorker recently. This idea will never die.

[HCS @eruderu]

@mich_apolonio É, sim!

[HCS @eruderu]

@mich_apolonio https://t.co/0vZiS9u1rj

[Trung Phan @TrungTPhan]

Antoni Gaudi died 100 years ago today.

He was 73 and spent over 40 years working on La Sagrada Familia (completing 1/4th of entire basilica).

Gaudi’s method for designing it was genius: he hung movable weights on strings and let gravity do the work of showing the proper angles and force vectors for his nature-inspired look.

He then flipped the model upside down to see how to build the columns and arches.

Also inspired by forests and sea life, the legendary architect once said, “there are no straight lines or sharp corners in nature.”

In the final years of his life, Gaudi’s was solely focussed on the project. His diet was lettuce leafs dipped in milk. Lived inside the Basilica and barely slept on a simple cot.

He died after getting hit by a tram while walking aroudn Barcelona. His clothes was so ratty — underwear held together with safety pins — that passerbys thought he was homeless.

The city held a massive funeral for him with 30,000 people packing the streets.

While 3/4 of La Sagrada Familia was undone, Gaudi left enough plans (models, drawings) for future generations.

La Sagrada Familia was largely dormant for a few decades 1930s-1960s (Spanish Civil War, World War II, early Cold War).

Some of Gaudi’s designs were so ahead his time that it would require the development of aeronautical design software to complete his vision.

Gaudi once remarked that “my client” — referring to God — “is not in a hurry”.

There is still work to be done but a major milestone was completed in February: workers installed a cross on top of La Sagrada Familia, making it the tallest church in the world (172.5 meters or 566 feet).

It’s also the tallest structure in Barcelona. But Gaudi intentionally capped the height because “human creation should not pass God’s work.”

The Montjuïc Hill in the southwestern part of Barcelona is ~570 feet.

***

Video link: https://t.co/LmmquC3dlT

[Trung Phan @TrungTPhan]

Entire fireworks and lightshow at the end of Pope Leo XIV’s La Sagrada Familia mass ceremony is incredible.

The final tribute to Antoni Gaudi includes part of one of the legendary architect’s most famous quotes: “To do things right, first you need love, then technique.”

[Trung Phan @TrungTPhan]

Antoni Gaudi died 100 years ago today.

He was 73 and spent over 40 years working on La Sagrada Familia (completing 1/4th of entire basilica).

Gaudi’s method for designing it was genius: he hung movable weights on strings and let gravity do the work of showing the proper angles and force vectors for his nature-inspired look.

He then flipped the model upside down to see how to build the columns and arches.

Also inspired by forests and sea life, the legendary architect once said, “there are no straight lines or sharp corners in nature.”

In the final years of his life, Gaudi’s was solely focussed on the project. His diet was lettuce leafs dipped in milk. Lived inside the Basilica and barely slept on a simple cot.

He died after getting hit by a tram while walking aroudn Barcelona. His clothes was so ratty — underwear held together with safety pins — that passerbys thought he was homeless.

The city held a massive funeral for him with 30,000 people packing the streets.

While 3/4 of La Sagrada Familia was undone, Gaudi left enough plans (models, drawings) for future generations.

La Sagrada Familia was largely dormant for a few decades 1930s-1960s (Spanish Civil War, World War II, early Cold War).

Some of Gaudi’s designs were so ahead his time that it would require the development of aeronautical design software to complete his vision.

Gaudi once remarked that “my client” — referring to God — “is not in a hurry”.

There is still work to be done but a major milestone was completed in February: workers installed a cross on top of La Sagrada Familia, making it the tallest church in the world (172.5 meters or 566 feet).

It’s also the tallest structure in Barcelona. But Gaudi intentionally capped the height because “human creation should not pass God’s work.”

The Montjuïc Hill in the southwestern part of Barcelona is ~570 feet.

***

Video link: https://t.co/LmmquC3dlT

[James Lucas @JamesLucasIT]

There is a rule in Florence that has not been broken in over five hundred years: nothing in the city may be built taller than a dome finished in 1436.

The dome belongs to the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, and it is the work of Filippo Brunelleschi.

When you look at a photograph of Florence and notice that its skyline seems strangely, impossibly intact, you are not imagining it...

The city has protected that view, by custom and by law, since the Renaissance. To this day, no building in Florence is permitted to rise higher than the cupola.

What it guards is one of the most astonishing structures ever built. When Brunelleschi began in 1420, no one in Europe knew how to raise a dome that wide. The technology had been lost with the Romans. The cathedral had stood for decades with a hole in its roof, because the span was considered impossible to cover, and the city had essentially gambled that someone would one day work out how.

Brunelleschi built it without the wooden scaffolding everyone assumed was necessary, laying over four million bricks in a self-supporting double shell, one dome inside another, in a herringbone pattern that let each ring hold itself up as it rose.

Six centuries later, it remains the largest masonry dome in the world. Nothing built since, in brick and stone, has surpassed it.

The Italian director Franco Zeffirelli, who was born in Florence, once explained what that means to him. "When I feel depression creeping in," he said, "I return to Florence to gaze at Brunelleschi's dome. If human genius was able to achieve something so great, then I too can and must try to create, to act, to live."

That is what a skyline can be when a city decides that beauty is worth protecting...

I write a weekly newsletter for over 50,000 people who love rediscovering the beauty of the past. You can join us for free at the link below, and if you'd like to support my work, a paid subscription is what makes it possible:

https://t.co/hgJUdR0jlx

Thanks for reading.

[Massimo @Rainmaker1973]

This brilliant box with an integrated packaging filling material

[HCS @eruderu]

@luisjorge Zero à direita

[Massimo @Rainmaker1973]

The Ponzo illusion with LEGO minifigures

[📹 condsty]

[Melodies & Masterpieces @SVG__Collection]

A tribute to John Coltrane:

I combined family footage and performance clips into a music video for one of my favorite songs of his, “Equinox”.

Hope you enjoy watching it as much as I enjoyed making it.

[Historic Vids @historyinmemes]

Imagine being so talented you could make marble appear soft to the touch. Gian Lorenzo Bernini was only 23 years old when he created this breathtaking masterpiece in the 1600s.

Gian Lorenzo Bernini was just 23 years old when he finished The Abduction of Proserpina in 1622. Widely regarded as one of the greatest achievements of the Baroque era, the sculpture is celebrated for making solid Carrara marble appear remarkably soft and lifelike. Its most famous detail depicts Pluto’s fingers sinking into Proserpina’s thigh, creating the astonishing illusion of flesh yielding under pressure.

Through dramatic movement, deep shadows, and exquisitely polished surfaces, Bernini transformed rigid stone into what seems like flowing fabric, delicate skin, and even tears. Today, this extraordinary display of artistry and emotion can be seen at the Galleria Borghese in Rome.

[andres madrigal @andresmadrigalg]

En los años noventa, la alta cocina se medía por la capacidad de quebrar un pequeño bizcocho y ver brotar un río espeso de chocolate. El coulant no era solo un postre; era el clímax dramático de la cena. Como cocinero, recuerdo la tensión en la línea de pase cuando salían aquellas joyas. Si te pasabas un minuto, entregabas un vulgar panqué; si te faltaba un suspiro, el volcán colapsaba en el plato.
Esta genialidad nació en 1981 en las cocinas de Laguiole, Francia. El legendario chef Michel Bras tardó dos años de obsesiva investigación para patentar su Biscuit Tiède de Chocolat. La magia original de Bras no radicaba en una masa cruda, sino en una técnica de física culinaria: congelaba una esfera de ganache de chocolate y café, la introducía en una masa de bizcocho y, al hornear, el exterior se cocía mientras el núcleo se derretía por completo. Era una obra de ingeniería gastronómica.
El éxito fue su condena. El postre se transformó en un mito global y, con el cambio de milenio, mutó en infinitos primos hermanos. En los países anglosajones lo llamaron lava cake; en Italia, tortino al cioccolato; en Sudamérica, volcán de chocolate. Pronto aparecieron versiones saladas con quesos potentes o trufa, demostrando la versatilidad de la técnica de Bras.
Sin embargo, la industria alimentaria olió la sangre y decidió democratizarlo hasta la asfixia. El coulant ultraprocesado invadió los congeladores de los supermercados y las cadenas de comida rápida. Hoy, con tristeza, veo cómo cientos de restaurantes con pretensiones estafan al comensal sirviendo un bloque industrial recalentado en el microondas, vendiéndolo con el descaro de la etiqueta "hecho en casa". La masificación mató el misticismo del volcán original.
Por fortuna, la resistencia vive en el calor del hogar. En mi cocina, el postre ha encontrado una nueva vida, libre de la soberbia culinaria y lleno de afecto. Esta es la versión que preparo junto a mi hija, bautizada con orgullo como El coulant de chocolate de Lía.
Para revivir la magia en casa, fundimos despacio al microondas o a baño María 250 gramos de chocolate negro al 70% de cacao junto con 200 gramos de mantequilla sin sal. Mientras el chocolate se rinde al calor, batimos 6 huevos medianos con 100 gramos de azúcar morena fina hasta que la mezcla blanquee y duplique su volumen. En ese punto de aire y ligereza, tamizamos 90 gramos de harina de repostería y 36 gramos de cacao en polvo, incorporándolos a los huevos con movimientos suaves y envolventes.
Llega el momento crítico: vertemos el chocolate fundido con la mantequilla. Hay que cuidar con recelo la temperatura; si está demasiado caliente, cuajará los huevos y arruinará la textura. Una vez lograda la masa homogénea, la trasladamos a una manga pastelera y la dejamos reposar cinco minutos en la nevera para que tome cuerpo.
Para el montaje, untamos moldes individuales con unos 15 gramos de mantequilla pomada combinada con un pellizco de sal fina; este contraste potenciará el amargor del cacao. Rellenamos los moldes solo hasta la mitad. En el corazón de cada uno, colocamos el secreto de Lía: una lágrima de chocolate con frambuesa que aportará una acidez brillante. Cubrimos con más masa desde la manga, cuidando de no llenar el molde hasta el borde.
El desenlace depende del tiempo. Si decidimos congelarlos para el futuro, el horno debe estar a 200°C y se cocinarán durante 12 minutos. Si van directos al fuego, a la misma temperatura bastarán solo 5 minutos. En ambos caminos, la regla de oro del cocinero es inquebrantable: se dejan reposar dos minutos exactos dentro del molde antes de desmoldar con cuidado. Al romper la corteza con la cuchara, el río de chocolate y frambuesa nos recuerda por qué este ícono, a pesar de la industria, jamás podrá morir del todo.
La foto es de su primera receta con 7 años.

[Adaubam Pires @adaubam]

Depauperado e combalido, sob o pseudônimo “Sebastian Melmoth”, Oscar Wilde morreu de meningite aguda aos 46 anos num hotel de Paris. Em seu leito de morte, oferecem-lhe uma taça de champanhe que, de bom grado, ele a aceita dizendo:

—Estou morrendo além das minhas possibilidades.

[Rohan Paul @rohanpaul_ai]

🎯 Andrej Karpathy on how to learn.

[Today In History @historigins]

In a 1997 episode of Baking with Julia, Julia Child was visibly moved and wiped away tears after tasting Nancy Silverton’s brioche tart with pears poached in wine. ⁠
⁠
She was so impressed by the tart’s perfect texture and flavor that, in a phrase that went down in history, she called it “a dessert to cry over,” while praising Silverton’s mastery of the art of baking.

[David Reaboi, Late Republic Nonsense @davereaboi]

Leonard Cohen and Sonny Rollins playing “Who By Fire” on NBC’s one of a kind Nightmusic (1989). We have the late Hal Wilner and David Sanborn to thank for dreaming up and producing the greatest music show that’s ever been on tv.

[✧˖ @colditioner]

still one of the greatest opening sequences in cinema history