SATURDAY NIGHT OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN, JOHN FARNHAM.

Sorry for the inexcusably long hiatus. Too much going on, still trying to keep the company afloat (but for now we are still heading in the right direction), still undergoing chemo (73rd cycle of Darzalex/Lenalidomide now, but situation still stable), trying to give our kids a decent start in life (daughter just graduated as a Graphics designer, son finished High School, still has to decide what to study next), and overall we are witnessing the breakdown of society, what with levels of migration reaching unprecedented levels and I am already feeling as being a minority in my own country.

And on August 6, I turned 60. Did me nothing. I don't even feel old yet.

My goals in life - I still have them - are, if I survive long enough despite Kahler, pay off the debts for the two company buildings (in five and seven years, respectively), liquidate it all, and with the proceeds making sure my wife and kids are safe and sound financially, then write books (again, my remaining time permitting), and embark on astronomy.

And the most important book I have in mind is intended to be a roadmap for young white people in the West. They have been betrayed and sold out by the most wretched class of politicians ever to walk this Earth.

But this is a Saturday night evening, so...


... let me start with Olivia Newton-John's A little More Love. From her 1978 album Totally Hot.





It's incredibly how good this number has withstood time - in three years it will be half a century old! Sadly, Olivia Newton-John passed away too soon in 2022 already.



John Farnham with You're the Voice. From the album Whispering Jack (1986).





Australian singer/songwriter, but born in Essex, UK.



Good night.



MFBB.

MAY 2ND, 2025.

Another year has passed. It's been fourteen years now since my father died.

On Monday, May 2nd, 2011, at about 22.05, my father left this world after four weeks on Intensive Care.

Only some weeks before, on March 24, 2011, he had turned 77. Apart from some minor troubles normal for a man his age, he was a healthy person. Not a week before being admitted to the hospital, he went with my mom to the annual dinner event of his old Institut Technique Ath schoolmates, and was by all accounts the healthiest and fittest of the group. Four days later he was on Intensive Care. Four weeks after that he was dead.

"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me." ~ Psalm 23:4 ~

I went with my mom, 85 now, to the cemetery this afternoon. Since she's having major troubles with her back, right hip and right knee, it fell to me to clean pa's gravestone. I was grateful that we interred him the way he always insisted was the right one: in a coffin, under a sculpted granite slab, with a cross and a headstone. Like me, he abhorred cremation and putting away the ashes in an urn. Or worse: these days they disperse them on a small grassfield for the purpose. Good riddance! Typical for this cursed age of hedonism, broken families, vanity and emptyness. In 2011 it hadn't become mainstream yet, now it is. Dad would have bristled at the practice.


Anyway, because of his insistence on being buried the classical way, my mom, siblings and I have an anchor to get back to, a digified place where his mortal remains rest, having been reclaimed by Earth. Earlier this Spring, I reserved the plot just behind his - and my mom's. I want to be buried near those who gave me Life.


Rest in Peace father. It's been fourteen long years, but we still think of you. God Bless.


MFBB.

RECOMMENDED VIDEO: PAPER SKIES' "HOW SOVIET PILOTS CHEATED ON GUNNERY TESTS."

Truly an interesting YouTube channel! Well, uh, for aviation geeks at least!



MFBB.

HAPPY EASTER 2025!

To all DowneastBlog's followers, like every year I sincerely wish you a Happy Easter!





May God bless you and your loved ones, and give you the strength to face and conquer the challenges life throws at you.



MFBB.

SATURDAY NIGHT MOLCHAT DOMA, BILLY JOEL.

Molchat Doma with Volny (Waves). From their second studio album Etazhi (2018).





Molchat Doma (Russian: Молчат Дома, lit. 'Houses Are Silent'), is a Belarusian post-punk band from Minsk, formed in 2017. Its current lineup is Egor Shkutko (vocals), Roman Komogortsev (guitar, synthesizer, drum machine), and Pavel Kozlov (bass guitar, synthesizer). Hat tip OutlawSon.



Billy Joel with A Room Of Our Own. From the 1982 album The Nylon Curtain.





The album through which I got to know Billy Joels music, and a masterpiece in my opinion. I would say that 6 out of its 9 tracks are hit material, and the other three are decent songs. Produced by Phil Ramone, it is one of the first albums to be digitally recorded, mixed, and mastered.


Goede nacht.



MFBB.

RECOMMENDED READS: "A BRIEF HISTORY OF QUANTUM COMPUTERS."

Via Physics in History (X: @PhysInHistory):

A brief history of Quantum computers 👇

1905: Albert Einstein explains the photoelectric effect and suggests that light consists of quantum particles or photons

1924: Max Born uses the term quantum mechanics for the first time

1925: Werner Heisenberg, Max Born, and Pascual… pic.twitter.com/qdKJMT8GLa

— Physics In History (@PhysInHistory) April 1, 2025

Further interesting tweets from this account:

Distributed quantum computing across an optical network link https://t.co/mwsbyoRtaR

— Jim Bergquist (httprover2) (@httprover2) April 2, 2025

Nite.



MFBB.

RECOMMENDED READS: SOMMERFELD's FINE STRUCTURE CONSTANT.

Over at Space dot com, astrophysicist Paul M. Sutter has this interesting column on Sommerfeld's Fine Structure Constant, a universal constant which is a measure of the strength of the interaction between charged particles and the electromagnetic force. It's value is approximately 1/137.






MFBB.

SATURDAY NIGHT THE SMITHS, STILL CORNERS.

The Smiths with Well I wonder. Album Meat is Murder (1985).





Possibly the best The Smiths song, Johnny Marr outdoing himself with wondrous guitar work and sound effects, and the ballad fittingly concluded with the sound of falling rain. The images are from the 1958 French crime thriller Ascenseur pour l'Echafaud (Elevator to the Gallows) featuring, a.o., young and pretty Jeanne Moreau.



Still Corners with The Trip. From the album Strange Pleasures, released in 2013.





British/American dream pop duo, formed in 2007 and consisting of songwriter/producer/multi-instrumentalist Greg Hughes and vocalist/keyboardist Tessa Murray.


Nite.



MFBB.

CHINA'S ZUCHONGZHI-3 BASED QUANTUM COMPUTER OUTPACES GOOGLE'S SYCAMORE BY SIX ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE.

🇨🇳CHINA’S NEW QUANTUM COMPUTER CRUSHES GOOGLE—BY A MILLION TIMES

China just pulled ahead in the quantum race, unveiling Zuchongzhi-3—a 105-qubit machine that makes Google's Sycamore processor look slow.

Researchers say this quantum beast performs calculations one million times… https://t.co/qhKsd2H9p3 pic.twitter.com/gCgCuk5h7S

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) March 8, 2025

Via SciTechDaily:

"...A new quantum computing breakthrough has sent shockwaves through the tech world. Researchers at USTC unveiled Zuchongzhi-3, a 105-qubit machine that processes calculations at speeds that dwarf even the most powerful supercomputers. It marks another leap forward in the quest for quantum supremacy, with the team demonstrating computational power orders of magnitude beyond Google’s latest results.


Breakthrough in Quantum Computing with Zuchongzhi-3

A research team from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, along with its partners, has made significant progress in random quantum circuit sampling using Zuchongzhi-3 — a superconducting quantum computing prototype equipped with 105 qubits and 182 couplers. Zuchongzhi-3 operates at an astonishing speed, performing computations 1015 times faster than the most powerful supercomputer available today and one million times faster than Google’s latest published quantum computing results. This achievement marks a major breakthrough in quantum computing, building on the success of its predecessor, Zuchongzhi-2. The study, led by Jianwei Pan, Xiaobo Zhu, Chengzhi Peng, and other researchers from both China and abroad, was published as a cover article in Physical Review Letters.


The Road to Quantum Supremacy

Quantum supremacy, the ability of a quantum computer to perform tasks beyond the reach of classical computers, has been a key goal in the field. In 2019, Google’s 53-qubit Sycamore processor completed a random circuit sampling task in 200 seconds, a feat estimated to take 10,000 years on the world’s fastest supercomputer at the time. However, in 2023, USTC researchers demonstrated more advanced classical algorithms capable of completing the same task in 14 seconds using over 1,400 A100 GPUs. With the advent of the Frontier supercomputer, equipped with expanded memory, this task can now be performed in just 1.6 seconds, effectively challenging Google’s earlier claim of quantum supremacy.


Pushing the Boundaries: Jiuzhang and Zuchongzhi Milestones

Subsequently, using the optimal classical algorithm as its benchmark, the same team at USTC achieved the first rigorously proven quantum supremacy with the Jiuzhang photonic quantum computing prototype in 2020. This was followed in 2021 by a superconducting demonstration using the Zuchongzhi-2 processor. In 2023, the team’s development of the 255-photon Jiuzhang-3 demonstrated quantum supremacy that surpassed classical supercomputers by 1016 orders of magnitude. In October 2024, Google’s 67-qubit superconducting quantum processor, Sycamore, demonstrated quantum supremacy by outperforming classical supercomputers by nine orders of magnitude.


Zuchongzhi-3: A Leap in Quantum Performance

Building upon the 66-qubit Zuchongzhi-2, the USTC research team significantly enhanced key performance metrics to develop Zuchongzhi-3, which features 105 qubits and 182 couplers. The quantum processor achieves a coherence time of 72 μs, a simultaneous single-qubit gate fidelity of 99.90%, a simultaneous two-qubit gate fidelity of 99.62%, and a simultaneous readout fidelity of 99.13%. The extended coherence time provides the necessary duration for performing more complex operations and computations.To evaluate its capabilities, the team conducted an 83-qubit, 32-layer random circuit sampling task on the system. The results demonstrated a computational speed that outpaces the world’s most powerful supercomputer by 15 orders of magnitude and surpasses Google’s latest quantum computing results by six orders of magnitude, establishing the strongest quantum computational advantage in a superconducting system to date..."

MFBB.

SATURDAY NIGHT GENESIS, LED ZEPPELIN.

Genesis with Hairless Heart. From the album The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway (1974).





English rock band Genesis formed at Charterhouse School, Godalming, Surrey, in 1967. In their heyday, the band's line-up consisted of keyboardist Tony Banks, bassist/guitarist Mike Rutherford, drummer/singer Phil Collins, singer Peter Gabriel and guitarist Steve Hackett.



Led Zeppelin with Immigrant Song. Found on Led Zeppelin III (1970).





Legendary English rock band, formed in 1968 by guitarist Jimmy Page (ex-Yardbirds), singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham.


Nite.



MFBB.

PRAGER UNIVERSITY: THE WRAP UP , JANUARY 11, 2025.

NEW: Los Angeles is devastated by massive wildfires, as criticism of California’s leaders heats up.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the social media company is abandoning third-party fact-checkers.

Nations across the world are making digital IDs mandatory.

And McDonald’s… pic.twitter.com/NjfgmnAwc8

— PragerU (@prageru) January 11, 2025

As regards the havoc being wrought on LA, while there is certainly a lot of blame to go around, it is worth giving some serious thought to Leighton Woodhouse's POV. Give it a read please.


Good night.



MFBB.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2025!!!

Like every year, DowneastBlog wishes its readers a Happy New Year!!!





And of course a solid health. It's only when your health is compromized that you start to realize it's the foundation of everything else. My body, my temple and all that, but it's true. Whether it's about your love life, your business acumen, your day-to-day operations... without a good health all of it is in serious jeopardy.


Thanks for following DB, and enjoy New Year's Eve!



MFBB.

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2024!!!

DowneastBlog wishes all its readers of good will a Merry Christmas!





And while hopefully - I sincerely wish so - you are enjoying a hearty meal and the company of loved ones and friends, please spare a thought and a prayer for (I hope your German can cope):

pic.twitter.com/RVuNJ2OD1W

— Anabel Schunke (@ainyrockstar) December 24, 2024

God Bless, and Good Night.



MFBB.

IN MEMORIAM ANDRE GLEISSNER.

Prayers are asked for the victims of the Magdeburg islamic terror attack, in particular for André Gleissner:

André 9 years old, innocent victim in Magdeburg. The real responsible for what happened in Germany are the German socialist politicians. pic.twitter.com/5UJWzpyDab

— RadioGenoa (@RadioGenoa) December 21, 2024

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever.
Amen.

André kam übrigens direkt aus meiner Gegend. Wer für die Familie spenden will, kann das hier tun 🙏 pic.twitter.com/IZD3zsKmjp

— Anabel Schunke (@ainyrockstar) December 21, 2024

MFBB.

SUNDAY NIGHT ART SNACK: CARL MOLL, WALTER LEISTIKOW, FRANCIS CADELL.

I cannot emphasize enough that imho, one of X's best art accounts is the one by Richard Morris. Even though the time frame from which he borrows his subjects is relatively small (by and large early 1800s - mid 1900s), he keeps coming up with lovely works crafted by artists whose fame is inversely proportional to their obvious talent. Without Mr Morris, I would probably never have heard of Carl Moll, Laura Knight, Edward Seago, Wilhelm Hammershoi and many, many others. Here are three individuals whose work merits far more attention and appreciation:


(via wikipedia) Carl Julius Rudolf Moll (23 April 1861 – 12 April 1945) was an Austrian Art Nouveau painter active in Vienna at the start of the 20th century. He was one of the artists of the Vienna Secession who took inspiration from the pointillist techniques of French Impressionists. He was an early supporter of the Nazis and committed suicide as Soviet forces approached Vienna at the end of World War II.

Art in Vienna around the turn of the 20thC is synonymous with the vibrant, extravagant canvases of Gustav Klimt. By contrast, the quiet, reflective painting 'At the Lunch Table,' (1901) by Carl Moll may strike one as an anomaly of the period, nevertheless it is a portrayal of… pic.twitter.com/w7LPS2Apmi

— Richard Morris (@ahistoryinart) December 15, 2024

Walter Leistikow (1865–1908) was a German landscape painter, graphic artist, designer and art critic. In 1903, he was one of the co-founders of the Deutsche Kuenstlerbund. He committed suicide in 1908.

'Hafen.' (1890) Throughout his career, Walter Leistikow focused on landscapes, a mix of naturalism and abstraction, Impressionism and expressive colour eccentricities; capturing the mood of what he saw through the play of light and shadow at the beginning and ending of the day. pic.twitter.com/FJQnIcJmcN

— Richard Morris (@ahistoryinart) December 12, 2024

(via wikipedia) Francis Campbell Boileau Cadell RSA (12 April 1883 – 6 December 1937) was a Scottish Colourist painter, renowned for his depictions of the elegant New Town interiors of his native Edinburgh, and for his work on Iona.

Francis Cadell's move to 6 Ainslie Place in Edinburgh in 1920 was to provide a stability and security that was reflected in his paintings. A chair often featured in his interiors and serves to emphasise the elegant proportions, refinement and class of the room. pic.twitter.com/9QKIkRqEII

— Richard Morris (@ahistoryinart) December 10, 2024

Good night.



MFBB.

RECOMMENDED VIDEO: EVEN BANANAS WITH "THE MOST NEUTRINOS EVER".

An immense amount of neutrino research is going on in the US, Japan and even Antarctica. On DowneastBlog, we've already mentioned several of these projects. This Even Bananas video deals with Fermilab's "near" detector, the SBND, for Short-Baseline Near Detector (the "far" one being ICARUS).






MFBB.

RECOMMENDED VIDEO: "THORIUM REACTORS: WHY IS THIS TECHNOLOGY QUITE SO EXCITING."

The Thorium Fuel Cycle has been known for over 50 years and had staunch advocates, a.o. in The Netherlands, which in the 70s even boasted an experimental Thorium Reactor, KEMA, in Arnhem. But nothing came of it because it was the height of the Cold War, and the Thorium Fuel Cycle doesn't lead to Plutonium for atom bombs (to recap, in the thorium fuel cycle Th-232 absorbs a neutron, so that it transmutes into Th-233. Th-233 then beta decays to Pa-233 and finally undergoes a second beta minus decay to become U-233).


But, after that false start, Thorium may well become an important fuel in the nuclear technology mix:





Good night.



MFBB.

SATURDAY NIGHT CULTS, GORILLAZ.

Cults with Always Forever. From the album Static (2013).





Cults is an American indie pop duo formed in New York City in 2010. Madeline Follin is singer, Brian Oblivion guitarist.



Gorillaz with On Melancholy Hill. Album Plastic Beach (2010).





Gorillaz are a British virtual band formed in 1998 by British musician Damon Albarn (ex Blur) and artist Jamie Hewlett, from London. The band consists of four fictional members: 2-D (vocals, keyboards), Murdoc Niccals (bass guitar), Noodle (guitar, keyboards, vocals) and Russel Hobbs (drums).


Good night.



MFBB.

RECOMMENDED VIDEO: A WIDENING IDEOLOGICAL GAP BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN?

Via my Twitter/X pal Kuruki (@Kuruki23882260), this new Lotuseaters episode:





Have a nice weekend.



MFBB.

SUNDAY NIGHT ART SNACK: JOSEPH DECKER, WILLIAM NICHOLSON, JAMES HAMILTON HAY, TRISTRAM HILLIER.

Imho one of the best art accounts on Twitter/X (can't get used to the latter) is Richard Morris's, who focuses on non-mainstream, but excellent, painters of, generally, the last two centuries.

'Green Plums.' (1882) While Joseph Decker's work received critical attention during his lifetime, it is only within the past thirty years or so that he has been recognised as one of America's most notable still-life painters. This picture ranks with the best of his work. A critic… pic.twitter.com/1A4YHjaMG9

— Richard Morris (@ahistoryinart) November 14, 2024

Joseph Decker (c. 1853 – 1 April 1924) was a German-born American painter who specialized in still-lifes. Later in his career he tried his hand at landscapes. It's too bad the man died destitute in Brooklyn in 1924, the value of his work only called to attention in 1949 by the art historian Alfred Frankenstein.

'The First Communion,' (1907) shows a young girl running from a house in a floating communion dress. These flat architectural façades set in a shallow picture space feature in several works by William Nicholson but the division into light and shade is novel, and little details… pic.twitter.com/KdICG1s1Td

— Richard Morris (@ahistoryinart) November 12, 2024

Sir William Newzam Prior Nicholson (5 February 1872 – 16 May 1949) was a British painter of still-life, landscape and portraits. This particular work calls to mind of John Singer Sargent.

James Hamilton Hay had a passion for Japanese colour prints and this influence is reflected in the decorative nature of many of his works including this beautifully lit, Whistlerian work, 'The Golden Blinds,' from 1909. pic.twitter.com/e09Roueif4

— Richard Morris (@ahistoryinart) November 8, 2024

James Hamilton Hay (1874-1916) was, apart from painter, also a printmaker. Born in Birkenhead, Liverpool, the son of an architect, he trained in St Ives, Cornwall with Julius Olsson (q.v.) in the 1890s, then at Liverpool School of Art. He painted and etched landscapes, marine scenes and portraits and was influenced by Spencer Gore (q.v.), the Camden Town Group and the work of Francis Dodd…

'The Kitchen Table.' (1958) Tristram Hiller painted still lifes throughout his career always preferring to paint objects which he said showed character or personality and developing as he did so his hard-edged disquieting style of work, helped greatly by using tempera which… pic.twitter.com/0ZrrACOVgN

— Richard Morris (@ahistoryinart) November 7, 2024

A British painter of landscape, still-life, and occasional religious subjects, Tristram Hillier was born in Beijing, where his father was manager of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank. After two years studying at Cambridge University (which he described as ‘a waste of time’), he was apprenticed to a London firm of chartered accountants, but he quickly abandoned this career to study at the Slade School under Tonks (1926–1927), while also attending evening classes at the Westminster School of Art. He then went to Paris, where he studied at the Académie Colarossi under Lhote, and until 1940 he lived mainly in the south of France, with visits to Spain, which he ‘came to love above all other countries’. (via artuk dot org)



Good night, and may you have a productive and happy week ahead of you.



MFBB.