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Tag: Education
Unveiling Ancient Numeric Codes in “Slave for Sale” by José Jiménez Aranda | June 27 2025, 21:00
An interesting painting “Slave for Sale” (Una Esclava en Venta), 1897, by Spanish artist Jose Jimenez Aranda.
From it, I learned that just as there were Roman numerals, there were Greek ones in Greece. Pay attention to the plate. It reads ΡΟΔΟΝ ΕΤΩΝ ΙΗ ΠΩΛΕΙΤΑΙ ΜΝΑΣ Ω, which translates to “Rhodon, 18 years old, for sale for 800 minae”.
In the Greek text, there are two numbers – ΙΗ and Ω. In those times, Greeks wrote numbers using letters: Α (alpha) = 1, Β = 2, …, I = 10, K = 20, …, Ρ = 100, Σ = 200, …, Ω = 800.
Accordingly, ΙΗ is 18. The line above it indicates that it is a number, as does the line above Ω.
Faustian Dialogues in Modern Project Management | June 20 2025, 15:00
I think project managers can very well speak to developers in the words of Faust.
Well, here we go again, in the old manner
With you – all is uncertainty, all doubts,
In everything you create difficulties,
And for all, you wish for new rewards!
When will you, without any further talk, —
One, two: look, — and everything is ready soon!
(For context – this is Faust’s reaction to the refusal of the seemingly omnipotent Mephistopheles (Devil) to bring Helen of Troy and Paris from the realm of shadows to the stage for the Emperor’s amusement)
director
Don’t forget anything:
What can be done immediately,
Why put it off till tomorrow?
We must instantly grasp
All that is necessary and possible
(…)
“You have poorly executed it,
And left a gap in the corner”
And the designer might reply:
And you do not see, how vile and shameful
This craft?
Am I not an artist?
To the Manager:
“Fire! Help! Hell! We are all going to burn now!”
Switching to Pencil: Mastering the Art of Drawing with Three and a Half Rules | June 20 2025, 12:53
In the studio, we decided to switch from oil to pencil, which I hadn’t touched for years (and, frankly, never really knew how to use properly). But with practice, I understood just three and a half rules of good drawing.
1. Draw what you see, not what you think you should see if you look at the reference. This is the most difficult part because it involves fighting your own brain, which is convinced it knows what things look like.
2. Judgment of proportions. If something occupies a fifth on the reference, you need to distinguish it from a sixth or a fourth, and of course, see exact halves and thirds clearly. It’s like having a musical ear. If an imaginary line ends at a point on the ear, you need to see this imaginary line. It’s not hard, but requires practice, and it seems you need to practice it all your life. Interestingly, you are initially surprised at how wrong you are about proportions. There are many small optical illusions that one must get used to.
2.5. Angles. A continuation of judging proportions. You need to see the difference between, say, 45 and 40 degrees at least. And see where to turn the wrong line and by how much.
3. Ability to simplify. Any complex shape needs to be simplified in the mind to straight lines and shapes and draw those first, and also to reduce reality to spots of a maximum of a few shades (with white and black at the edges).
That’s all. If you master just these three and a half points, you won’t need anything else for a long time. No knowledge of anatomy, understanding of materials, or laws of perspective (all this is important, but comes later).
Cultural Codes: How T-Shirt Messages Connect Us Globally | June 19 2025, 16:13
I’ve long noticed that in the USA, people read the inscriptions on t-shirts and polos. When I lived in Russia, I remember, generally nobody pays attention to them. Or they do, and forget the next second. It’s normal for us to comment if we like something. I wonder what it’s like in Europe.
I have a t-shirt that says “2020 ★☆☆☆☆ Very bad. Would not recommend”. It’s already outdated, but I still regularly get comments on it.
In certain groups here, there’s a whole communication system based on what you wear. It seems among teenagers, it’s especially strict, and standing out isn’t welcomed, which is why many just dress like “carbon copies” — the same colors, the same brands 🙂 Well, obviously, students wear hoodies and t-shirts with their university’s symbols (I can hardly imagine putting my RGRTA on a t-shirt).
Exploring Faust and the Zoologist: The Dual Life of Translator Khodkovsky | June 18 2025, 04:06
I’m listening to the second part of Faust and simultaneously googling translator Holodkovsky. It turns out that translating Faust was something of a hobby for the scholar-zoologist Holodkovsky, spanning 60 years. Holodkovsky has hardly any original writings—only translations, and from the translations, everything else, as they say, is minor details.
That is, Goethe wrote Faust for 60 years, and the entomologist-translator translated it for 40 years and spent another 20 catching bugs, imagine? What a scale of projects.
In fact, apart from being the author of probably the best translation of Faust, Holodkovsky is almost absent in literature. But as a zoologist, he left much more of a mark. True, it’s hard for non-entomologists to read without a smile, but here are his main works: “Male Genitalia of Diptera,” “Atlas of Human Helminths,” “On the Oral Organs of Some Insects Parasitizing Humans,” “Coexistence and Societies of Animals,” and others.
Heightened Alert: Navigating Uncertainty and Vigilance | June 12 2025, 22:56
“Due to increased regional tensions.” The Consular Affairs office of the State Department in its notice advised U.S. citizens to “exercise increased caution.” Such news always reminds me of this picture.
Preserving History in Metal: The Story of U.S. Historical Markers | June 08 2025, 13:24
A rather useful thing was invented in the USA. How do you make sure that history is preserved for centuries? Books burn, the internet is obviously a temporary phenomenon. Across the entire US territory stand these signs called Historical Markers. There are already over 220,000 of them. They are practically indestructible — these are raised letters on a thick metal plate. Often there’s a quite wordy paragraph on them, and they are placed not only in recreational areas but often in places where you can neither drive up to them nor easily walk up. For example, you’re driving on a highway where you can’t go under 40 miles per hour, and there’s nowhere to stop, and somewhere off the road in the field there’s a marker for deer about some battle. Well, apparently, they believe that when they will be needed, there won’t be a problem in accessing them.
Discovering Goethe’s Faust at 47 | June 08 2025, 01:57
At 47, I finally got around to Goethe’s “Faust.” Ordered the book on Ozon, but it will only reach me in a month. So, I decided to start with the audiobook. And what a fabulous production it is! I’ve listened to eight out of sixteen hours, covering all of the first part and a bit of the second. Probably will spend another week chewing through the second part. And when the book arrives – I’ll read it all over again after the audio, which should go really well.
Trukhan’s performance is a masterpiece! The cello, the choice of voice actors, the intonations. I could not imagine a better “Faust” than the one voiced by Chonishvili. Highly recommend. Only occasionally there’s a bit too much with the musical numbers, but I need to check the text, maybe you can’t remove words from a song. The end of the first part in the prison is just fire.
A Close Encounter with a Scentless Fawn | June 04 2025, 15:13
I walked with Yuki and he passed by a little deer less than a meter away without noticing. This is a dog that can smell a hare running past the house by scent. It turns out that fawns are born almost odorless, and this saves their lives.
It is precisely because of their nearly complete lack of smell that does leave their young alone for extended periods. Mothers leave fawns for several hours at a time during the first weeks after birth so that their own smell does not transfer to the babies. During this time, the mother returns several times a day to feed her young. Although she may not be continuously near the fawn, she is usually somewhere close by, and surely worried about seeing us around her baby.
However, it’s not only the lack of smell that helps fawns remain hidden from potential predators. The white spots on their fur are another protective measure. When a fawn walks, the spots may seem obvious, but when the mother leaves it to hide in tall grass or other covers, these spots mimic dappled sunlight falling on the forest floor, as noted by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Such spotted coloring, combined with the faint smell, makes it difficult for predators to find fawns. Typically, the spots disappear by winter when young deer are old enough to survive on their own.
It is said that fawns are born in late May-early June. Today is precisely June 4. They’re right on schedule!
Despite the fact that he is lying in the open sun in thirty-degree heat, overall, if necessary, he can move on his own. Fawns are born generally ready for life in the wild and are generally able to run immediately after birth (albeit poorly).
Hi, I'm Rauf Aliev. 