In the NS era, archaeology was used for a lot of propaganda things, usually to show that Germans are The Best Thing Ever and everybody else was, at best, second grade, and that from the Stone Age onwards. Or so. (This, by the way, is said to be one of the reasons why German archaeology after the war became this hard-facts-only science that is rather sparse with interpretations, if compared to how things are done in other countries.)

The Kreismuseum Syke is working on a case that will give some information about archaeology in that era, and while doing the prep and research for that, they stumbled across an interesting history surrounding a Thanksgiving present to Hitler. If you read German, you can follow that story in a digital exhibition on the museum website. (If you don't read German, you're welcome to look at the pictures and old letters there, but the whole thing is heavily reliant on the texts - and it's quite interesting how the writing styles changed over time.)

I think it's a very good idea to do that exhibition case, and the digital exhibition too!

...here is one:  

Unfortunately, I was not so happy as to sleep on the computer, as there were things to do on it. (The paw placed strategically where it was not supposed to go did not help...) 

Some things are taking on shape, though. Including a credit card payment method for the webshop, which will hopefully pass the testing phase soon! 

It's quite amusing how some fields suddenly have a cross-over with an entirely different one. Remember the pdf I linked to a while ago, with the vegan sausages? Published under "physics of fluids". 

Similarly, braids have been a topic for mathematicians as well, and that for a good while. Maybe you have seen one of the "mystery braid bracelets" at some point, usually a three-end braid made by cutting two slits in a piece of leather (so that the three ends that makes are still solidly connected at both top and bottom) and then braiding it. Yes, that works. Go try it if you've never done so before, it's fun!

Anyway, there's a whole mathematical paper written back in 1962 about braids that can be done with both sides of the ends connected. If you'd like to see it, it's available at JSTOR (where you should be able to get a free account with limited free articles per month to read it). 

If you weave narrow wares (inkle bands, rigid heddle bands, tablet woven bands), you could help Mari with her research if you participate in her survey on dedicated apps and other digital aids used in narrow wares' weaving. Mari's reason for the survey?

I am a weaver and teacher of narrow wares' weaving, but I also study IT. My bachelor's thesis for Laurea University of Applied Sciences
researches digital aids used in band weaving with a rigid heddle or string heddles and tablet weaving. My main focus is on the use of
dedicated narrow wares' weaving apps, but I also look into other digital aids used for designing and weaving warp-faced bands and for
teaching band weaving and tablet weaving. The purpose of this survey is to find out which apps and other digital aids are used at the
moment and which features in the apps are or would be important to weavers, designers, and teachers of narrow wares' weaving.

The survey is short and quick to fill out; you can find the survey form here. 

Please read the terminology note at the top of the introduction before scrolling down to the survey itself. The survey does not ask for any personal information and even the obligatory background questions all have the option of not telling anything. Survey responses will be destroyed as soon as the thesis has been approved by the university, at the latest by the end of 2024.

You have a week to participate, responses are collected until the end of October 10, 2024 (the survey closes at midnight Finnish time [EEST/UTC +3]). 

Feel free to share the survey form link with others, too - it definitely helps to have many responses on surveys like that!

It's time for a few days off - I will be back on the blog on Monday! 

Meanwhile, if you're interested in finding out a little more about AI, take a look at this "AI productivity guide" - maybe it's helpful. (I haven't looked into AI support for stuff yet, but in the way and speed that this develops, it's only a question of time for it to become part of daily life and daily work life...)

The 21st Roman Military Equipment Conference will take place in Brno next year, June 2-6. Conference topic is "Body armour and defensive equipment" which, of course, will include some textile elements. 

If you're interested in the conference, you can find out more about it on their webpage.  

One of the things you hear again and again these days is that less meat in the diet is better - for both health (generally speaking) and the environment. 

That is all well and good; however, what I don't really get is the many fake meat products. Usually heavily processed and full of stuff to make the result more or less seem like a meat sausage or whatnot, they are also generously packaged in lots of plastic and usually at least at the price point of actual meat products... even if you buy organic.

As a rule, I don't go for these stand-in products unless there's an opportunity to try a tiny little bit of it. And until now, I have not found any of them to really come close to the stuff they are trying to copy. Even if the texture of some fine-ground sausage is actually quite close to the original, the taste just is... off. It lacks the taste of meat (which is logical, but, well, if you eat it because you like the pork taste... it's lacking). 

Apparently it's also really difficult to emulate the structure of meat by processing and mixing other things. There's a paper about this (from Physics of Fluids, interestingly), that is freely available. So if you're interested in a very close look at Veggie sausage compared to the meaty stuff... enjoy.