bookofjoe

Where the languages are

From Visual Capitalist:

This infographic by Alberto Lucas Lopez condenses the 7,102 known living languages into a stunning visualization, with individual colors representing each world region.

Only 23 languages are spoken by at least 50 million people.

What's more, over half the planet are native speakers of at least one of these 23 languages.

Chinese dominates as a macrolanguage, but it's important to note that it consists of numerous languages. Mandarin, Yue (including Cantonese), Min, Wu, and Hakka cover over 200 individual dialects, which vary further by geographic location.

 

After Chinese, the languages of Spanish and English sit in second and third place in terms of global popularity.

The rapid proliferation of these languages can be traced back to the history of Spanish conquistadors in the Americas, and British colonies around the world.

Today, Spanish has 399 million native speakers, but these are mostly concentrated in Latin America. English has 335 million native speakers, with a widespread reach all over the globe.

 

Language Forecast

At this point in time, English is the lingua franca — adopted as a common language among speakers with different mother tongues.

However, this status might soon be fuzzier as demographic trends continue.

The rise of China is an obvious one to consider.

As China continues to increase its economic might and influence, its languages will proliferate as well.

At the same time, 26 African countries — many of which speak French as a first language — are projected to double their current populations.

One study by investment bank Natixis suggests that Africa's growth may well bring French to the forefront, making it the most-spoken language by 2050.

Is it possible that French provides a certain je ne sais quoi that no other world language can quite replace?

No bridge? No problem!

Violet Snail

DeepSeaNews described "The harrowing life of the violet snail" here.

paint everything everywhere!

Fair warning:

There goes the rest of the day.

Bread Lamp

That's different.

From the website:

Having noticed how delicious bread has the power to make people feel happy and warm, Japanese artist and baker Yukiko Morita created Pampshade to harness this delicate charm and to let "the delicious light of bread gently illuminate."

Brilliantly crafted from just-baked artisan breads, each light is one of a kind.

To create the light within the bread's crust, the inside is hollowed out (and kept for use in other recipes, no crumb goes to waste — also, if possible, unsold bread is used).

50,000-hour LED lights are carefully placed inside and the bread is coated with an anti-bacterial and anti-fungal resin to protect and seal the lamp for years to come.

All products are made at Yukiko's workshop in Japan.

Resembling the button mushrooms of its French namesake, Champignon is a fresh take on this boulangerie classic.

Its impressive form is sure to please true bread connoisseurs or anyone with a taste for fine whimsy. 

This Pampshade provides a gentle ambient light source and is designed to be displayed on a table.

Features and Details:

• 2"-3" Ø

• Hand made one at a time

• Battery-powered LED light

• LED lifetime: approximately 50,000 hours

• Materials: Bread flour, cake flour, salt, yeast, LED lights

• Luminosity: This lamp will softly illuminate a space within hand's reach

• Power supply: AA battery x 1 (not included); lasts approximately 50 hours

• Important: This product is fragile and should be handled delicately and with care

• Operation: To turn on/off this product, simply place it on a flat surface to activate the sensor switch

• Because each lamp is made from real bread, there will be natural variations in color, size, and shape

$78.

World Record Domino Robot

The robot arranged 100,000 dominoes into a Super Mario Bros. mural in one day.

Back story here.

Fingerspelling — 'Learn sign language with your webcam'

Free, the way we like it.

700 years of raindrops

Stone on an Italian castle worn down by 700 years of raindrops falling from the roof.

'You don't need to read a book — just buy it and put it on the shelf' — Truman Capote

Capote's bon mot serves as the basis for a habit I've long had, namely, assembling the materials necessary to make a repair at the place to be fixed, then leaving both the unrepaired problem and its remediation components at the site for weeks or months, until one day for no apparent reason I decide "today's the day" and fix it.

Up top, a problem area outside a large sliding glass door: it's a wooden threshold that's been replaced twice since I've lived here (from 1983) and, as you can see, is well on its way to number three.

I'll patch the defect.

Eventually.

Full disclosure: the repair materials have been in situ as pictured since June.

What is it?

Answer here this time tomorrow.

Hint: smaller than a bread box.

Another: no moving parts.

A third: made by hand in Japan.

Waves of Deadwood

From Colossal:

Between November 2020 and March 2021, artist and photographer Jörg Gläscher spent his days in a secluded location near Hamburg,

where he gathered deadwood and constructed nine massive crests —

the largest of which spans four meters high and nine meters wide —

that overwhelm the forest floor in undulating layers of branches and twigs.

Each iteration, which he photographed and then promptly destroyed in order to reuse the materials,

overwhelms the existing landscape with pools of the formerly thriving matter.

Prints are available: apply within.

Wild Venus Flytrap

Wild Venus flytrap flowers are located far away from their traps so they don't accidentally kill their pollinators.

FunFact: Charles Darwin called the Venus flytrap "the most wonderful plant in the world."

Find the 12 differences

Fair warning: there goes the day.

$1 bill c. 1900

"History instructing youth" on the front; Martha and George Washington on the reverse.

Note that it's a silver certificate redeemable for one silver dollar.

From Wikipedia:

Silver certificates are a type of representative money issued between 1878 and 1964 in the U.S.

They were produced in response to silver agitation by citizens who were angered by the Fourth Coinage Act, which had effectively placed the United States on a gold standard.

The certificates were initially redeemable for their face value in silver dollar coins and later (for one year — June 24, 1967 to June 24, 1968) in raw silver bullion.

Since 1968 they have been redeemable only in Federal Reserve Notes and are thus obsolete, but still valid legal tender at their face value and an accepted form of currency.

'Ugh'/'Meh' Earrings

From the website:

Hand-stamped circle-shaped brass earrings that read "UGH" and "MEH."

Because sometimes there are people, places, and situations in life that can only be described in sounds.

Disgruntled sounds.

Features and Details:

• Not all earrings are alike due to the nature of hand-stamping: each pair of earrings is thus unique

• Materials: Raw brass with hypoallergenic surgical grade A titanium earring wire

• Titanium has no traces of nickel and is the premier metal for sensitive ears

• Each letter is hammered into the brass individually

• 100% hand made from start to finish

• Hand-stamped with a 3-step process

• Size: Approximately 8mm Ø

• Made in the U.S.A.

Note: Raw brass will naturally add patina over time.

if you prefer a bright gold brass color, you can rub earrings with a jewelry polishing cloth or brighten them with lemon juice.

$38.