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Spectator
2 hours ago
- Spectator
The mysteries of ‘spoof'
'Spook or spoof?' asked my husband, throwing a copy of the paper over to me, and only missing by a foot. When I'd picked it up, I read the headline: 'Fully Chinese-made drone spooking Ukraine air defence.' Then I read the introduction of the report: 'A new Russian decoy drone used to spoof Ukrainian air-defences is made up entirely of Chinese parts.' Well, to spook a person or an animal is to frighten them. It has been in use in America since between the wars and comes from the Dutch for a ghost. Spoof is a more mysterious word. Since the 1970s, to spoof has acquired the meaning 'To render (a radar system, etc) useless by providing it with false information'. Originally the noun spoof in the 1880s meant 'A game of a hoaxing and nonsensical character', or so the OED says. But I think it got things wrong from the first. In 1914 it published its entry for spoof, noting: 'Invented by A. Roberts (b. 1852), comedian.' Arthur Roberts was famous then and nine years later published his autobiography Fifty Years of Spoof. I've just read it and in a way it won't do at all, being full of unconvincing, unhilarious anecdotes. It has, however, a flavour of the late 19th century: champagne, the Prince of Wales, Dan Leno, night houses in the Haymarket, Phil May drinking. But by 1923, Roberts was not claiming to have invented spoof. He says that he was at a racecourse and saw men 'engaged in what seemed to be an entirely new form of confidence trick'. Asking the name of the game, he was told: 'Oh, it's only spoof, Arthur.' He does not explain the game. Our own Michael Heath has depicted the venerable Soho game of spoof, where two players simultaneously reveal how many coins are in their hand after declaring the total number while their fists are still clenched. It may be different from Roberts's racecourse spoof, but if not it predates Roberts's adoption of the term.
Spectator
2 hours ago
- Spectator
Successful modern design follows no rules
It is more than 40 years since Tom Wolfe said to me, in a Chinese restaurant on Manhattan's Lexington Avenue, that 'Modern' had become an historical style label. He meant it was not, as the high modernists believed, the inevitable conclusion to all artistic progress, but had a beginning and an end as nearly precise as, say, Baroque or Rococo. And I should write a book about it, he added. This was a brilliant suggestion which I flubbed. I wrote about design instead. But 'modern' and 'design' are inextricably linked. Franco Albini's handrails for the Milan metro? Raymond Loewy's Studebaker Avanti? Charles Eames's chair, which he designed for Billy Wilder? Ubiquitous Apples? All are frequently cited as masterpieces of modern design. But what exactly is the property they have in common? 'Design' was the last style of the Analogue Era, even if its high priests rejected such a frivolous notion. It was a utopian cult with religious texts all of its own, not dissimilar in character to the Shakers or the Perfectionists (who believed they had designed the perfect shoe, unalterable and eternal). It was intended to be a cure for various ills. If we had more modern design, more beautiful and useful things, people would be happy. Luxury would be democratised and everyday objects would be aestheticised according to some rules which we can now see as being daft. 'Form follows function' they said, and suggested that when it did, beauty would result. But some things that are impressively functional, a B-52 bomber say, are beautiful only to those with specialist tastes. The people who fly those ruthless planes call them BUFF, which stands for Big Ugly Fat Fuckers. Or what about 'truth to materials' – a moral demand that makes sense if you are working with stone? But just what truth does graphene beg to express? It really was mostly about exciting consumer desire by streamlining a fridge, or making clunky data compression technology into irresistible iPods. Steve Jobs said you know a design is good if you want to lick it, nicely suggesting an occult eroticism in these matters. This was what the Marxist critic Wolfgang Fritz Haug grumbled about – that design was a shameless accomplice of capitalist desire. Now with off-shoring, blurred national identities, the monetarisation of everything and a general weariness about material goods, here comes Maggie Gram to explain what happens next. She is a writer and teacher who leads Google's Experience Design Unit, or UX in the parlance. That's 'User Experience'. Her perspective is explicitly American, so readers will have to tolerate expressions such as 'black tenure-track design faculty' in what is otherwise a thoughtful and carefully argued book, even if the old modernist principle of less is more might profitably have been applied to the word count. Gram begins with an engrossing chapter about the ceramicist Eva Zeisel, an adventuress and one-time lover of Arthur Koestler. She follows with an account of the career of Walter Dorwin Teague, one of the pioneer design consultants who set up shop in New York in the 1920s. Teague began as a draftsman of decorative borders for advertising but was soon designing gas compressors. Gram has fun with the absurdity of this, because the innards of a gas compressor are invisible and have no need to be aestheticised. But this allows her to develop her central theme, which is that designers have a unique way of seeing and organising things, a vision that is either above or below reason but certainly not subject to it. In 1940, Teague published Design This Day – The Technique of Order in the Machine Age. Fifteen years later he designed the interior of the Boeing 707, establishing our common assumption of what the UX of jet travel should be. The way designers can help in problem-solving is Gram's preoccupation, as is the way design has evolved from being a simple description of what someone does, to a larger concept which may lead to Google creating a unified theory of it. But long before Silicon Valley, designers had seen the opportunity to apply creative principles not just to products but to whole organisations. When IBM's Thomas Watson asked his friend Eliot Noyes (a protégé of the Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius) what he should do about the messy look of his sprawling conglomerate, Noyes said: 'You would prefer neatness' – surely the most succinct management advice ever given. Noyes went on to supervise IBM's products, graphics and architecture. This was called 'corporate identity' by Gordon Lippincott, the designer of Campbell's soup's red and white tin. The great value in The Invention of Design is that Gram has thought long and hard about decision-making. She is especially interested in Herbert Simon, not a designer but a Nobel prize-winning 'general problem-solver'. Of course, the problem with problem-solvers is that they tend not to find solutions but to restate problems in a new way. Thomas Piketty, gets a look in, too. Design is essentially intuitive and not systematic. That Eames chair was inspired by a baseball mitt. You are not going to get that from Simon's explanation that you must create 'conditions for the existence of positive solution vectors for input-output matrices'. Try telling that to Jaguar Land Rover's Gerry McGovern, who has taken inspiration from the sight of Lycra-clad bottoms on the exercise bike in front of him at the gym. You can see that in the fine surfacing of the latest Range-Rover. Gram concedes that the results of applying scientifically determined design principles are mixed, at best. She discusses how problem-solving designers systematically failed to improve the troubled city of Gainesville, Florida, although similar methods did lead to an increase in legibility of American census forms, so that's something. In the 18th century, builders used pattern-books, which established standards, and this is why we all like Georgian architecture. But design doesn't have fixed principles. We work in the dark. We do what we can… we give what we have. Our doubt is our passion and our passion is our task. The rest is the madness of art. Or so Henry James believed. And I agree. This is a good and important book, even if it's inconclusive. Weirdly, it has few pictures, demonstrating that design thinking is difficult to illustrate – a nice paradox. At the end, Gram seems almost humbled by her task of enlarging what design thinking can actually achieve. No need to worry! Design is unpredictable and its processes chaotic, led by people who won't be told what to do. Just like the Baroque.
Daily Record
10 hours ago
- Daily Record
Prince Andrew bombshell claims from 'sex crazed hotel nights' to Prince William's 'plans' to evict him
A revealing new royal book exploring the lives of Prince Andrew and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, is set to be released, featuring a number of shocking allegations A bombshell new royal biography about Prince Andrew is set to be released and it features some explosive claims about the disgraced Duke of York. From allegations of being a "serial sex addict" to reportedly enraging Prince William with remarks about Princess Kate, the claims in the book are extensive. Titled ''Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the Yorks', the new book by Andrew Lownie offers a rare and revealing look into the lives of both Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson. It is the first joint biography of the former couple, who remain close friends and continue to live together despite their separation. The disgraced Duke stepped back from royal duties in 2019 following his disastrous BBC Newsnight interview regarding his connection to convicted sex offender Jefferey Epstein, the Mirror reports. Since then, he has remained out of the public eye, with additional controversies - including his links to alleged Chinese spy - further tarnishing his reputation. Now it seems this latest royal book, means Andrew's troubles are far from over. 'Randy Andy' nickname Prince Andrew was nicknamed 'Randy Andy' in the press for many years before his public downfall, but the author reveals that the infamous nickname actually originated much earlier. The name is believed to have first emerged during Andrew's time at Gordonstoun School in the north of Scotland - the same boarding school as King Charles - where he reportedly given the name early on. According to the biography, even as a teenager, Andrew had no issues getting girlfriends and already had a lot of sexual experience. The nickname followed him out of school. Andrew's many lovers The author claims that Prince Andrew has slept with over 1,000 women in the course of his life. Lowie alleges that the Duke has slept with adult film stars, political figures, nightclub staff and bartenders. A 20-year-old model, shared for the novel: "He wanted me to engage in kinky sexual activity. He had no boundaries. He told me he had an open marriage arrangement with his wife." "After returning to London, I never heard from him again. I felt like he used me for a few days, so he could live his wildest fantasies." Thailand hotel shock According to the biography, during a 2006 trip to Thailand where Andrew represented the crown at the King of Thailand's Diamond Jubilee, he allegedly demanded that over 40 women be brought to his hotel room. Lownie quotes a witness who claims: "Often, as soon as one left, another would arrive." Some days, more than 10 women are claimed to have gone to his hotel room, leaving staff in shock." These allegations have been supported by royal expert Tom Sykes of the Daily Beast, who reported that his own sources had made similar claims and confirmed that the rumours had circulated for years about the trip. "My sources have confirmed Lownie's account of Andrew's industrial-scale sexual consumption, carried out under the auspices of royal diplomacy with the full apparatus of the British state behind him," said Sykes. He also revealed that one source claimed that Andrew saw "access to a revolving door of female bodies as part of the perks of office" adding that the Duke and other unnamed dignitary would allegedly exchange "girls to each other via luxury car services in a horrific power play masquerading as a twisted mark of respect." Extensive affairs According to his former driver, Prince Andrew is alleged to have had "more than a dozen affairs" in the first 12 months of his marriage to Sarah Ferguson - though it wasn't long before Fergie also strayed. In 1989, she began a relationship with American Steve Wyatt, and later, when he returned to the US to make a name for himself, she also got involved with his pal John Bryan. Photos of the two enjoying a sun-soaked holiday made the front pages of the Daily Mirror in 1992, but the book suggest that Andrew came to terms with his wife's romantic affairs. According to the claims, the Duke of York would often dine alone in his study, while she ate with her other partners in a separate room. However, the book claims Fergie never quite came to terms with Andrew's infidelity. One insider revealed: "It used to be a bit of a joke that whenever Andrew showed too close an interest in a girl, the Queen promptly issued an invitation to Fergie for afternoon tea at Windsor," in the name of making her daughter-in-law feel better about what was going on. The book claims that Sarah and Andrew ended their physical relationship in the early 1990s, yet remained emotionally close and continued to maintain a strong bond in every other aspect. 'Pathetic move' According to Lowie a friend of the Duke said, Andrew has spent much of his life effortlessly attracting women. Sources claim he rarely chased women, instead expecting women to either approach him or be 'presented' to him. One woman who caught his attention told the author that his approach to flirting was far from impressive. "He's about as subtle as a hand grenade," she claimed. "His favourite trick is to rub your knee under the table. It's pathetic." Loner lifestyle The book claims that, despite his outwardly relaxed demeanour, Andrew is actually something of a loner - a trait that existed long before he was pushed out of the public eye. He is said to have confided to a friend in the 1980s, "I am a loner - I really am. Yet when I say that, no one believes me." Others who knew him in his younger years told the author that forming personal connections with him was challenging. The book includes a quote from a Navy colleague, describing Andrew as somewhat of a loner who used his royal persona as a mask to hide his underlying shyness. Bizarre pranks The book claims that Andrew has a fondness for bizarre pranks, particularly ones that humiliate whoever is on the receiving end. According to the author, the Duke would make party guests close their eyes and extend their hands, then ask them to clap - without telling them they were holding an open tube of mustard, which ended up smeared across their faces. He is also accused of pushing a dinner companion's face into their food and unzipping a woman's dress all the way down during a high-society event William and Harry's 'real feelings' toward Andrew Neither Prince William nor Prince Harry is particularly fond of their uncle, the book claims. William is said to refer to Prince Andrew using less-than-flattering nicknames, a sentiment shared by his younger brother. The future king is also reportedly not fond of Sarah Ferguson. The Prince of Wales is reportedly involved in efforts to encourage the former couple to move out of their residence at Royal Lodge. Some of his resentment towards Andrew is said to stem from instances when his uncle was rude about Princess Kate. A source told the author that William, "can't wait for the day when his father throws them both out. If Charles doesn't, I guarantee you the first thing William does when he eventually becomes king is to get them evicted." Fergie's extravagant demands Sarah Ferguson, known as Fergie, is alleged to have spent lavishly on staff, holidays, parties, and flowers during her marriage to Prince Andrew, showing little concern for settling bills. The Duchess, who was married to the disgraced Duke of York from 1986 to 1996, was reportedly bailed out "on several occasions," according to renowned historian Andrew Lownie. One notable instance involved a payment of £500,000 in April 1994, when the bank Coutts "demanded £500,000 within 14 days." The Duchess is alleged to have spent hundreds of thousands of pounds of royal staff, renting foreign villas. As well as demanding security for her two daughters, Eugenie and Beatrice. Lownie writes: "The bubbly young redhead was initially seen as a breath of fresh air when she married him in 1986, but her exploitation of her royal status to make money has seen her join her ex-husband as a hugely diminished figure." Despite a series of failed business ventures, many of which relied on her royal connections, including lending her name to a chain of retirement homes that went bankrupt,Ferguson reportedly had debts in excess of £3.7 million by 1994. Lownie states "she needed bank approval to pay even modest cheques. But even then, according to a member of her staff, she always believed there would be 'a deal around the corner' that would solve all her problems." Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. 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