Electrons composing signals representing bits abstracted into data presented as visual and aural stimuli intended to convey meaning
Chinese ethnic minority theme parks
Ethnic Han make up 96% of China’s population according to official statistics. Other ethnic groups might be found performing in an ethnic theme park.
The most famous park, the Nationalities Park in Beijing, is a combination of museum and fairground. Ethnic workers from across China dress up in their native costumes for mostly Han tourists. (For a while, English signs there read “Racist Park,” an unfortunate translation of the Chinese name.) In some parks, Han workers dress up as natives — a practice given legitimacy by the Chinese government when Han children marched out in the costumes of the 55 minorities during the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Having just seen a play recently on the history of Minstrel shows, it’s hard to be too judgmental.
The School of Mathematics
Kottke recently linked to the first post in a series of articles meant to “give you a better feeling for what math is all about.”
I am a big proponent of this type of informal education and must share a related effort called The School of Mathematics. It’s a free, ongoing workshop that meets in a Brooklyn studio on Saturdays. From the most recent email announcement:
We will discuss probability: either its origins (what does it even mean?) or its applications (game theory).
Meeting at 11am, bagels at 10:45.