Month: October 2024

Celebrating Alfred Sisley: From Obscurity to Renowned Impressionist | November 01 2024, 03:42

Today, let’s talk about Alfred Sisley, who would have turned 185 yesterday.

Unappreciated in his lifetime, Sisley has since become a symbol of Impressionism, though he faced countless hardships during his life. He joined the ranks of artists whose talents were only recognized posthumously.

Sisley was friends with other Impressionists, including Monet, Pissarro, and Renoir, and participated in the earliest Impressionist exhibitions. Yet, his works rarely sold. Art dealers, such as Durand-Ruel, tried to support him with modest stipends, but his art never brought him wealth. Poverty shadowed him to the end, and he relied on the kindness of friends and the occasional buyer.

Over time, Sisley’s health declined, and he grew more reserved. While his peers gained fame, he remained in obscurity. His long-awaited solo exhibition in 1897 ended in disappointment—none of his works sold.

Sisley died in abject poverty from throat cancer, just months after losing his wife. Ironically, only a year after his death, his painting Flood at Port-Marly (1876) sold to Isaac de Camondo for 43,000 francs—a sum that could buy several houses in smaller towns or a fine home in Paris—more than Sisley had earned in his entire life.

After his death, interest in his work surged, with paintings that once fetched nearly nothing now selling for tens of thousands. In February 2008, Snow at Louveciennes (1878) sold at Christie’s in London for £3.7 million, or roughly $7.8 million.

Posts like this can be found under #artrauflikes, and all 125 are available on beinginamerica.com in the “Art Rauf Likes section—unlike Facebook, which often overlooks nearly half of them.

Enhancing an EPUB Converter for Complex Texts | October 30 2024, 22:46

I have enhanced my EPUB converter for reading complex English literary texts. In the previous version, I used to send chapters to ChatGPT, asking it to translate (in brackets) the difficult words. I was asked in the comments how the difficult words are determined. In general, after having read the first quarter of the book this way, I realized that not all difficult words are considered difficult by ChatGPT, including some obviously complex ones, which it doesn’t translate.

Ultimately, I made a new version. Visually, it differs in that translations now appear above words. This arrangement does not break the sentences into pieces like when the translation was in brackets. But that’s not all.

I have changed the method for identifying “difficult words requiring translation.” It now operates with a list of 300,000 words based on their frequency of use in the English language. The first 3.5% of this frequency-sorted list (determined empirically) are now considered simple and do not require translation. The rest do. Technically, I also have a difficulty group for each word rated 1-30, but unfortunately, I cannot highlight them in colors in Books.

Then, the word needs to be translated into Russian somehow. To avoid using LLM for this, I found Müller’s dictionary with 55,954 words. The word that needs translation is put into its normal form and searched in the dictionary. If found, the first definition from the dictionary is taken. Unfortunately, the first one is not always correct, but it works most of the time. If Müller’s dictionary does not have it, the system moves to LLM. Here, I have two implementations – using local LLAMA3 and using OpenAI. The local one is obviously slower and the translation quality worse, but it is free. There is a separate system that checks what LLAMA3 has translated and makes it redo it if it returns something inappropriate (e.g., too long or containing special characters).

In addition, for LLM-based translations, the system is provided with more context — the sentence that contains the word to be translated. This makes the translation closer to the text. There are still minor flaws, but they are generally livable.

However, even with all this, the translation via LLM is of low-quality. Ideally, additional dictionaries should be connected so that if a word is not found in Müller’s, other dictionaries are tried, and only then, if still not found, would we use LLM. I’ve already acquired one and will be experimenting.

If the system tags too many obvious words, I can adjust a coefficient, and the frequency group from which words are not translated will be larger, and surely these obvious words will stop being translated. Of course, there are always “rare” words that do not need to be translated because their translation is obvious. But it’s not easy to teach the script to recognize such instances; it’s easier to just leave it as it rarely happens.

Next, the translation is displayed above the word. For Books, this also involves some complex maneuvers, but it eventually worked on both iPad and laptop. Unfortunately, for the phone, it needs to be done slightly differently, so the book version for the phone and the version for iPad/computer will be different. But this doesn’t really bother me much, what’s the difference.

Essential Guide to Voting Procedures and Options | October 30 2024, 20:35

Voted!

Interestingly, all you need to vote are your legs and just a bit of paperwork, provided of course that you’re already registered in the system (which requires internet access).

The final and main voting day will be November 5th, but early voting is allowed starting from September 20th.

At the site, you need to introduce yourself, receive a ballot, fill it out, and scan it. In the room where you draw circles on the ballot, talking to each other is not permitted, and if you really need to talk, you should have filled out a form designed for assistance beforehand—for example, if an elderly grandmother needs her granddaughter’s help.

“Introducing yourself” typically means showing a driver’s license or any other form of identity proof. Valid proofs of identity include even work IDs, student IDs, or even a utility bill, bank statement, government check, or payroll summary issued within the last 12 months that includes the voter’s name and address. Overall, the list even contains “any other valid government document that includes your name and address”, but even if none of this is available, it’s no trouble—you need to fill out a “Statement of Identity Confirmation” declaring that you are the registered voter you claim to be, and then vote.

Notably, there is criminal liability for impersonating someone else at this stage. For example, in our state, it’s a serious offense, punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $2500.

The ballot asks you to vote for the future president (you can write in anyone’s name, and they will be added to the statistics), choose a senator from Virginia, and a representative in the House of Representatives from our district. It also asks you to select the city mayor—there’s only one name listed, but you’re free to write in anyone else.

On the other side—there’s a survey. It begins with the question of whether a Constitutional amendment in Virginia (yes, in the USA, each state has its own Constitution) is needed—to grant or not a tax relief to the widows of servicemen who died on duty, and not just in battle. Currently, the wives of soldiers who died in battle are entitled to a property tax exemption. However, those whose loved ones died while performing their duties (for example, as a result of an accident or mishap not related to combat) are not eligible for this benefit.

The rest is about money. The district is asking for permission to raise up to $10 million for improving school facilities, roughly the same for replacing a fire station and purchasing equipment, up to $53.78 million for building and improving sports and entertainment complexes, parks (listed in detail), as well as up to $151.16 million for expanding and improving road infrastructure, including widening roads and creating new interchanges.

At the exit, you scan your ballot and that’s it, you’re free. No tables with free cookies and music at the entrance. On the election day, you’ll have to walk there and see what’s different.

Exploring the Lesser-Known: Artist Alexander Savin | October 30 2024, 14:20

Alexander Savin (1949) is a Soviet and Russian artist, virtually unknown to the general public. Many of his paintings contrast the vastness and openness of the world with something insignificant happening within it. To me, his works are very unusual and intriguing. His latest works on the site are dated 2014. The grandfather is now 75 years old, and I’m not sure whether he is still painting or not.

Posts like this are grouped under the #artrauflikes tag, and the “Art Rauf Likes” section on beinginamerica.com contains all 124 of them (unlike Facebook, which neglects almost half).

Navigating the Complexity of Global Numerical Nomenclatures | October 29 2024, 22:55

Russian TV channels have demanded two undecillion (2*10^36) rubles from Google. But what amused me was something else — technically, Google, or rather Googol, stands for 10^100. So, they’ve got plenty left in reserve.

But it was also interesting to learn that for large numbers there are two different systems of nomenclature. They diverge starting from billion, which in one system is 10^9 (equivalent to a milliard in the other) and in the other system it’s a trillion, which is 1000 times more, and this trillion in the second system means quintillion in the first, and so on, ultimately making the undecillion of the first system equivalent to sextillion in the second. It’s quite a mess, really.

The complexity is further increased by a third variant, called “the first, but not quite” — with the amendment that 10^9 is still considered a milliard, not a billion.

Different countries historically use different scales. The first, which is called the short scale, has primarily been adopted in English-speaking countries. In their scale (thus, ours) — 10^9 is a billion. In the Arab world, it’s generally a milliard (مليار), like in Saudi Arabia, it’s a billion (بليون).

Russia is also among those using the short scale. Hence, they demand an undecillion from Google, not a sextillion.

The second scale, which is long, is used by the Danes, French, Germans, Portuguese, and Spanish. For them, 10^9 is called a milliard with adjustments for pronunciation and grammatical representation in the language.

And then there’s a slew of exceptions, including countries that don’t fit into either of these two “camps.”

But what’s even more interesting is that until 1974, Britain called a billion a milliard, a trillion was known as a billion, and a quadrillion as a billiard. In 1974, they officially switched to the short system.

Canada faces the toughest situation. There’s already confusion with units, and the big number systems add to the mix. Officially, it adopts the short system, like the US, but due to bilingualism (English and French) and significant cultural influence from France, you might occasionally encounter the long system. South Africa is in a similar situation.

Curiously, the only article about this in French (and it says sextillion!) — is from RT. No one else in the world seems to care about this stuff. 🙂

Exploring the Evolution of Typewriters and Their Impact | October 29 2024, 01:17

I just found out that IBM used to manufacture mechanical typewriters, which a) had a Backspace key b) featured a moving print head.

The 1984 model is called IBM Correcting Selectric III. It has an intriguing way of deleting a letter – it strikes the paper with a special adhesive tape that removes the ink without a trace.

Interestingly, in 1976, the USSR developed a keylogger for American typewriters and somehow installed them in the typewriters at the US Embassy. It is reported that many secrets were uncovered this way.

I was also curious about how they managed with this in Japan and China. Their typewriters don’t have a thousand buttons. Believe it or not, they have a single button. But. A thousand squares where they aim the “sight”. Well, I mean, there are different kinds, also like usual ones, but there are models where it’s like this (attaching a few photos). There is even a model with a cylinder that holds 2400 Japanese characters, and you need to rotate and shift the cylinder for each character. I’ll leave a video in the comments. A very elegant engineering solution.

Moreover, in 1947 in China, the Mingkwai typewriter was invented and released, which theoretically allowed typing up to 90,000 characters at a speed of 50 characters per minute. Imagine what an engineering feat that was for the time. You press a key – nothing happens, something clicks inside the typewriter. You press a second time – something else clicks, but this time options that meet the criteria set by those two presses appear on the screen. And the third press essentially selects one of these characters. Meanwhile, the screen… what screen in 1947… It was a window through which characters from a large set were displayed. One character – three presses.

Only today did I realize that the Shift key is called Shift because it physically shifted the basket on typewriters. And while I’m at it, I’ll write about the Return or CR key – carriage return (known as Enter), which is so named because it physically returned the carriage to the beginning of the line. And the underscore (_) was invented to underline previously typed words.

It’s also interesting that the QWERTY layout was dictated by the need to spread frequently consecutive characters further apart to prevent the levers from crashing into each other during fast typing.

My introduction to typewriters in childhood, it seems, began with electric ones, although, of course, I also typed on mechanical ones. Interestingly, Friedrich Nietzsche’s encounter with the typing machine also started with electric ones. I read that he had the first shrivekugel.

In New York, I once saw a store (the only one I know of) that still trades typewriters.

Another interesting fact: when Edwin Hunter McFarland was developing a typewriter for Thailand, he ran out of keys for two consonants (“ฎ” and “ฅ”), and ultimately they disappeared from the language.

Also interesting is that the record for typing speed of 216 words per minute was set 78 years ago by Stella Pajunas-Garnand on a typewriter. In 2005 Barbara Blackburn came close (212 wpm), and in 2019 Anthony “Chark” Ermolin broke the record (233 wpm). Interestingly, such championships are organized by the company daskeyboard, I have two keyboards from them at home and am thinking of buying a third (by the way, has anyone bought one recently?)

In the comments, links to various things from ^^^^

Diane Leonard | October 28 2024, 16:31

Today’s feature is the American impressionist painter Diane Leonard (b. 1949). Mothers, children, the sea, umbrellas, sunshine. It’s interesting how, for many artists, the journey to their style is nowhere to be found online. It’s as if they’ve spent their entire lives painting these same umbrellas, seasides, and families. But life doesn’t work that way. Marketing, however, thrives when an artist has a recognizable style. By the time you turn 75, only the works that support auction sales make it to the web—everything else stays hidden. As a result, we often see only a few paintings, and they tend to look similar. And that always leaves you wondering: what are we not seeing?

Posts like this are tagged under #artrauflikes, and you can find all 123 of them on beinginamerica.com under the “Art Rauf Likes” section (unlike Facebook, which forgets—or buries—nearly half of them).

Exploring Brilliant Mechanisms with Alec Watson: A Must-Watch Video | October 27 2024, 20:49

If you enjoy brilliant mechanisms, then this video is for you. I’m utterly fascinated by such things, so Alec Watson is a must-see for me. I’m also subscribed to the Russian translations, and today it just popped up again, reminded me. The original video is about five years old. Here I’m posting the Russian translation, but really you should watch it on @technologyconnections

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeWGsZGABDE

The Bitter Lesson: ABBYY’s Decline and the Shift in Computational Linguistics | October 27 2024, 12:43

Very interesting material about the decline of ABBYY and the crisis in computer linguistics, how AI is taking over ABBYY’s business and what Compreno is and why it didn’t take off as expected.

https://sysblok.ru/blog/gorkij-urok-abbyy-kak-lingvisty-proigrali-poslednjuju-bitvu-za-nlp/