Basho

“Space, I reasoned while still in earliest youth, is absurdly vast and has expanded - with its orbits, stars, and yawning parabolas - to infinity. But if one tucks it inside numbers and meanings, it will easily fit on two or three bookshelves."

[suiheisen]

MONKEY MAN (2024)

[fuckyeahchinesefashion]

paper folding | paper umbrella 

[eldritchscholar]

So the other night during D&D, I had the sudden thoughts that:

1) Binary files are 1s and 0s

2) Knitting has knit stitches and purl stitches

You could represent binary data in knitting, as a pattern of knits and purls…

You can knit Doom.

However, after crunching some more numbers:

The compressed Doom installer binary is 2.93 MB. Assuming you are using sock weight yarn, with 7 stitches per inch, results in knitted doom being…

3322 square feet

Factoring it out…302 people, each knitting a relatively reasonable 11 square feet, could knit Doom.

[benegesserwitch]

Hi fun fact!!

The idea of a “binary code” was originally developed in the textile industry in pretty much this exact form. Remember punch cards? Probably not! They were a precursor to the floppy disc, and were used to store information in the same sort of binary code that we still use:

Here’s Mary Jackson (c.late 1950s) at a computer. If you look closely in the yellow box, you’ll see a stack of blank punch cards that she will use to store her calculations.

This is what a card might look like once punched. Note that the written numbers on the card are for human reference, and not understood by the computer. 

But what does it have to do with textiles? Almost exactly what OP suggested. Now even though machine knitting is old as balls, I feel that there are few people outside of the industry or craft communities who have ever seen a knitting machine. 

Here’s a flatbed knitting machine (as opposed to a round or tube machine), which honestly looks pretty damn similar to the ones that were first invented in the sixteenth century, and here’s a nice little diagram explaining how it works:

But what if you don’t just want a plain stocking stitch sweater? What if you want a multi-color design, or lace, or the like? You can quite easily add in another color and integrate it into your design, but for, say, a consistent intarsia (two-color repeating pattern), human error is too likely. Plus, it takes too long for a knitter in an industrial setting. This is where the binary comes in!

Here’s an intarsia swatch I made in my knitwear class last year. As you can see, the front of the swatch is the inverse of the back. When knitting this, I put a punch card in the reader,

and as you can see, the holes (or 0′s) told the machine not to knit the ground color (1′s) and the machine was set up in such a way that the second color would come through when the first color was told not to knit.

tl;dr the textiles industry is more important than people give it credit for, and I would suggest using a machine if you were going to try to knit almost 3 megabytes of information.

[darkersolstice]

@we-are-threadmage

[systlin]

Someone port Doom to a blanket

[rolypolywardrobe]

I really love tumblr for this 🙌

[isnerdy-deactivated20190101]

It goes beyond this.  Every computer out there has memory.  The kind of memory you might call RAM.  The earliest kind of memory was magnetic core memory.  It looked like this:

Wires going through magnets.  This is how all of the important early digital computers stored information temporarily.  Each magnetic core could store a single bit - a 0 or a 1.  Here’s a picture of a variation of this, called rope core memory, from one NASA’s Apollo guidance computers:

You may think this looks incredibly handmade, and that’s because it is.  But these are also extreme close-ups.  Here’s the scale of the individual cores:

The only people who had the skills necessary to thread all of these cores precisely enough were textile and garment workers.  Little old ladies would literally thread the wires by hand.

And thanks to them, we were able to land on the moon.  This is also why memory in early computers was so expensive.  It had to be hand-crafted, and took a lot of time.

[dollsahoy]

(little old ladies sewed the space suits, too)

[butts-for-days]

Fun fact: one nickname for it was LOL Memory, for “little old lady memory.”

[costumersupportdept]

I mean let’s also touch on the Jacquard Loom, if you want to get all Textiles In Sciencey. It was officially created in 1801 or 1804 depending on who you ask (although you can see it in proto-form as early as 1725) and used a literal chain of punch cards to tell the loom which warps to raise on hooks before passing the weft through. It replaced the “weaver yelling at Draw Boy” technique, in which the weaver would call to the kid manning the heddles “raise these and these, lower these!” and hope that he got it right. 

With a Jacquard loom instead of painstakingly picking up every little thread by hand to weave in a pattern, which is what folks used to do for brocades in Ye Olde Times, this basically automated that. Essentially all you have to do to weave here is advance the punch cards and throw the shuttle. SO EASY. 

ALSO, it’s not just “little old ladies sewed the first spacesuits,” it’s “the women from the Playtex Corp were the only ones who could sew within the tolerances needed.” Yes, THAT Playtex Corp, the one who makes bras. Bra-makers sent us to the moon. 

And the cool thing with them was that they did it all WITHOUT PINS, WITHOUT SEAM RIPPING and in ONE TRY. You couldn’t use pins or re-sew seams because the spacesuits had to be airtight, so any additional holes in them were NO GOOD. They were also sewing to some STUPID tight tolerances-in our costume shop if you’re within an eighth of an inch of being on the line, you’re usually good. The Playtex ladies were working on tolerances of 1/32nd of an inch. 1/32nd. AND IN 21 LAYERS OF FABRIC. 

The women who made the spacesuits were BADASSES. (and yes, I’ve tried to get Space-X to hire me more than once. They don’t seem interested these days)

[synebluetoo]

This is fascinating. I knew there was a correlation between binary and weaving but this just takes it to a whole nother level. 

[moiraecrochet]

I’m in Venice, Italy several times a year (lucky me!) and last year I went on a private tour of the Luigi Bevilacqua factory. Founded in 1875, they still use their original jacquard looms to hand make velvet. Here are the looms:

Here are the punch cards:

Some of these looms take up to 1600 spools. That is necessary to make their many different patterns.  Here are some patterns:

How many punchcards per pattern?

 This many:

Modern computing owes its very life to textiles - And to women. From antiquity weaving has been the domain of women. Sure, we remember Ada Lovelace and Hedy Lamarr, but while Joseph Marie Jacquard gets all the credit for his loom, the operators and designers were for the most part women.

[the-fibre-stuff]

I’ve seen this cross my dash a few times, but I’ve never watched the video before. Maybe I just didn’t pay attention when I was a kid, but I don’t remember ever seeing just how the Jacquard loom works. I just knew that the punch cards controlled which threads were raised. It’s cool to see the how, not just the what.

[swords-n-spindles]

Don’t hide this in the tags, @drylime :D

[everythingstarstuff]

[blogging-at-your-funeral]

[lessdanthree]

what drugs were they on when they made this

[meanmisscharles]

Cab Calloway rotascoped!

[badgyal-k-deactivated20190901]

Whoever thought of this was drinking absinthe

[protectblkwomen]

Thanks, Now I have nightmares

[brunhiddensmusings]

this was long before cartoons were ever thought of as ‘for kids’, the target audience of this one was roughly 20-40 betty boop cartoons featuring cab calloway singing, yes, but slang has changed so much you dont realize he was singing about opium, sugar daddies, death, weed, sex, booze, and gambling back when gambling was nearly as tabboo as sex and drugs. ‘minnie the moocher’ where cab calloway is a dancing walrus is specifically about someone who does literally everything on that list but die

most of the animation studios had their ‘thing’ to make their animation stand out, disney had fluid motion linked with quality music, warner brothers had top notch dialogue with carefully crafted facial expressions, MGM had comedic timing down to the individual frame that no live action comedian could dream of achieving, terrytoons had the budget of a ham sandwitch and a fistfull of nickels fleischer studios however had authentic jazz and heavy toned subject matter, often crossing the line of what we think of as ‘cartoon violence’ into realistic

[peathefeary]

idk why this is making me so emotional???

[mcloveleigh]

I love this. I’ve always had a love for cartoons

[melaninondeck-deactivated201907]

Cab Calloway, he was a legend performer and entertainer, although he’s listed as a jazz singer he did much more with his voice, his singing style and delivery was very unique. Cab (with his band) was the first black artist to sell over a million copies of a single record and he paved the way for many artists to come. Happy Black History Month.

[impormable]

sorry to make this long post longer, but I feel like it needed some actual photos of Cab Calloway, who is, in fact, the greatest

[thestoicgod]

G.O.A.T.🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[hello-robin-goodfellow]

@detective-jasminesa

[coutureicons]

pink label congo collection by hanifa

[unihumanitia]

I find this whole concept so fascinating. First it was begun before the whole quarantine. Second it was made by a black woman and the invisible model itself is curvy as fuck. Completely going against what a model is supposed to be "a walking clothes hanger", which would have been perfect for a virtual model but she went completely against that idea.

Watch it as fashion company completely rips her off and use invisible model with unreasonable body proportions to promote their product and do not forget who started it all.

[hymnostic]

black lives matter and pride are intrinsically linked. the black trans community have done so much for us, we owe it to them to not forget their movement this month. without black lives, there would be no pride. black lives matter, today and always

[gaylienz]

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/this-nurse-didnt-just-create-a-replacement-n95-mask-hers-filters-more/

Tommye Austin has created a new better mask!

This Nurse Didn’t Just Create a Replacement N95 Mask – Hers Filters More

A Texas "nurse scientist" created a better face mask, in case her nursing staff ever ran out—and Tommye Austin’s TM 2020 is a better one by

The name N95 comes from the fact the masks filter 95% of airborne particles, such as viruses. Lab results show Tommye’s masks block 96.5%.

N95s weren’t intended for all-day use, so they tend to carve painful, unsightly marks into noses, cheeks and chins. Hers don’t.

With nowhere for exhaled carbon dioxide to escape, N95 wearers sometimes suffer dizziness or headaches. Hers have an air pocket so the C02 floats more easily away

[drek-odradek-deactivated2022031]

She even provided her instructions for free, what an amazing woman

[kabaks]

it’s britney bitch

[britnxyspears]

Everytime Britney does something cool I want you to remember that she literally has like no power: that she's a marginalized group herself (disabled) and was poor in her life, and exploited for wealth; her conservatorship is worth someone who abused her himself and she literally controls NOTHING. Not her money, not when she can see her kids, not her medical choices, not even marriage or like, visitors in her own home.

When Britney says stuff like this it's a huge deal and extremely brave.

[slicedmelatonin]

@dollarperfetus @transliquidsnake could you share your source for this? I’d like to read more, I’d never heard that she doesn’t control her wealth before

[britnxyspears]

She's been under a conservatorship since her 2007 breakdown. If you dont know what conservatorships are, it's basically you are placed in custody of someone as though you were a child, you don't control much of anything. Seriously, it's major but seldom talked about disability civil rights issue, not just for Britney but she's often used as a prime example of how a good intended system goes wrong.

Usually there's two people involved, the one who has the conservatorship (Britney's father currently) and a lawyer to act as like checks and balances, tries to make sure her human rights aren't being glaringly violated, or she's being exploited. Well... her Lawyer was kind of forced out so. Checks and balances are kind of diddly squat now, as they usually are. She's at the mercy of her father and is desperately trying to get rid of it.

For those who don't know, too, Britney's parents were always horrendously abusive, but most officiated information on that is on her mother's abuse, not her father. But it's been obvious for a while that he absolutely took part in exploiting her as a child.

This is what the #freebritney was about earlier in 2019.

Brit's conservatorship is kept very private which is a good and bad thing because it means people aren't going to humiliate her in the media, but also means that she's kind of on her own. Some fans go too far with the freebritney which from what I'm guessing from how her sister responds to those people, only causes more problems for her rather than helps.

The source in those screenshots is here, not my favorite source, but it explains it pretty well with the knowledge we 100% have

[kitschyliving]

Chocolate box collection. Little ole lady style

[uwcairns]

Vintage Galentine’s Day party?

We think this “Spinster Tea” would make a fabulous Galentine’s Day party!

Call number: Cairns GV 1471 L56 1906.

Bright ideas for entertaining. Mrs. Herbert B. Linscott. Philadelphia: George W. Jacobs & Co., 1905.

-Samantha, graduate student employee.

February 13, 2020

[heaveninawildflower]

Studies of pigeons (Japan, 19th century). 118 ornithological studies of pigeons.

Ink, colour and gold on paper (handscroll).

Images and text information courtesy Freer Sackler.

Copyright with museum.

[resinsculpture-deactivated20221]

@birdblogwhichisforbirds

[photografya-deactivated20230917]

[tastefullyoffensive]

[modelsailboats-deactivated20171]

Fuck this is the funniest thing ever

[kglsudav]

[comtedemoney]

October 14, 1977, Anita Bryant is pied for her antigay bigotry at a press conference in Des Moines, IA.

[bandit1a]

It was 40 years ago today…

[madroxxordam-deactivated2018121]

Never gets old.

[yeahiwasintheshit]

40 years on and it still is gratifying

[howdoyoulikethemeggrolls]

Anita’s still alive and kicking and being anti-gay. Thom Higgins, who threw the pie when he was 27 – and was poetically from Beaver Dam – passed away 17 years later at 44. Info on his life is here. The pie throwing was a big deal. In an age before the internet let gays feel connected, and long before ACT UP, the pie showed small pockets of gays that we could fight back.

[brunhiddensmusings]

it showed that gays were human beings, who might be in the room with you, that you had been accepting as being equals and treating as people. you didnt suspect them as bieng gay, why should you treat them different after? do they become less human after finding out? i mean, its almost like you just found out they have an oppinion on your bullshit

[ontheavalanche]

Anita Bryant was also the spokeswoman of Florida Orange Juice! Getting pied in the face was iconic and a huge deal but what really made an impact was that the LGBT Community and its allies started a boycott against Florida Orange Juice. People stopped buying Florida Orange Juice and Florida Citrus as direct pushback against Anita Bryant and her “Save Our Children” anti-gay coalition. 

Harvey Milk was even in on it and told people to stop drinking the stuff at breakfast. Gay and lesbian bars refused to serve orange juice or any drink made with it. They would make screwdrivers and other cocktails that traditionally called for orange juice with other alternatives like grapefruit. The only way you could get something with orange juice in it was if you brought your own fresh oranges and squeezed them yourself (some bars had handheld citrus juicers on the bar top) but if you brought in something with Florida Citrus on the label, it would get poured down the drain.

This was the first organized boycott in support the LGBT community. People called it the Gaycott and it got national coverage. Anita Bryant and her homophobic propaganda (she was the one who famously would tout “Gays can’t reproduce so they have to recruit.” and spread fear towards parents about gays corrupting children) truly gave gays across the nation something to unite against and it inadvertently gave LGBT people a much larger stage to have their voices heard. Wherever she went, there were protests. There were magazine covers, tv reports, songs about the boycott, and a whole bunch of anti-Anita/anti-orange juice merch. 

[midnight-spectrum-again]

Fucking amazing

[poetsandwriters]

I always go to Samuel Beckett’s ‘Fail again. Fail better.’ And, Toni Morrison’s 'A failure is just information.’ Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about Isak Dinesen’s 'I write a little every day, without hope, without despair.’

Helen Phillips, in this week’s Ten Questions; read the rest at pw.org! (via poetsandwriters)