Latest news with #ScottKim
The Guardian
04-08-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Did you solve it? Ambigrams – you won't believe these flipping words!
Earlier today I wrote about ambigrams, a type of writing that is designed to be read in more than one way. Typically, an ambigram is a word or phrase that has left-right mirror symmetry, or reads the same upside down. (To read the article click here.) I set the following challenge – scroll down to see designs by ambigram author (and public intellectual) Douglas Hofstadter and by readers of this column. Flipping words Design an ambigram for the following words: 1. DAVE 2. OHIO 3. UTAH 4. RED 5. Your own name First, here are Hofstadter's designs, taken from his latest book, Ambigrammia. 1. And another Dave: 2. 3. above the headline, and here is his name: Thanks to all the readers who sent it examples. Here are my favourites: Ambigrammia by Douglas Hofstadter, with an introduction by Scott Kim, is out now on Yale University Press. I've been setting a puzzle here on alternate Mondays since 2015. I'm always on the look-out for great puzzles. If you would like to suggest one, email me.
The Guardian
04-08-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Can you solve it? Ambigrams – you won't believe these flipping words!
Douglas Hofstadter is probably best known as the author of Gödel, Escher Bach, a classic of popular science writing published in 1979. In 1983, he coined the word 'ambigram', meaning a piece of text that can be read in more than one way, an art form pioneered in the 1970s by the typographers Scott Kim and John Langdon. Typically, an ambigram is a word or phrase that has left-right mirror symmetry, or reads the same upside down. Hofstadter, aged 80, is professor of cognitive science and comparative literature at Indiana University, and has produced thousands of ambigrams over the decades. Here's one that is pleasingly self-referential, taken from his latest book, Ambigrammia. It has a vertical line of symmetry through the 'g', which means you can read it left to right, and also in a mirror. The 'ambi' when reflected reads 'rams'. Here's another one, geographically appropriate, that has 180 degree rotational symmetry. (It reads the same upside down.) Isn't it clever? The dots underneath the 'r' and the 't' do not distract from the letters, but when upside down are clearly the dots on two 'i's. Hofstadter describes each ambigram as a 'pocket-sized creativity puzzle.' So I thought they would make a perfect challenge for this column. Flipping words Design an ambigram for the following words: 1. DAVE 2. OHIO 3. UTAH 4. RED 5. Your own name The aim in an ambigram is legibility. You want the word to be as readable as possible. Usually an ambigram has perfect symmetry (mirror or rotational) as in the the two examples above, but not always, as in 'GREEN' in the top image. You can use upper case, lower case, or a mixture of the two. You will need to experiment at first. How much you can tweak a letter without making it unrecognisable, and how much you can add without overwhelming the eye? With DAVE, the A and the V are (almost) inversions of each other. Harder is to see how to make an E into an upside down D. I'll be back at 5pm UK with Hofstadter's designs for 1 to 5. If you would like me to feature your designs of your names in that post, please either email me or tag me on Twitter or Bluesky. Ambigrammia by Douglas Hofstadter, with an introduction by Scott Kim, is out now on Yale University Press I've been setting a puzzle here on alternate Mondays since 2015. I'm always on the look-out for great puzzles. If you would like to suggest one, email me.
Korea Herald
26-05-2025
- Business
- Korea Herald
Metalogics, Blad Group forge strategic alliance to build practical Web3-AI ecosystem
Korean AI investment analytics company Metalogics said Sunday that it has signed a strategic memorandum of understanding with a Web3 ecosystem development company, Blad Group. The partnership, which was forged in Seoul on May 12, aims to integrate Web3 and AI technologies and accelerate global expansion, particularly through emerging markets in Southeast Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. This partnership will connect Blad's flagship Project, an agentic AI-powered decentralized education and content platform, with Metalogics' Credit IP Platform, operated by its affiliate S2N Tech. XIIID offers AI-generated personalized learning content, smart contract-based revenue sharing through non-fungible tokens and decentralized content distribution. Meanwhile, CIP tokenizes real-world assets such as real estate and renewable energy into digital assets and uses AI to optimize investment portfolios and risk analysis. The two companies will co-develop integrated AI-Web3 solutions, including HiKive's AI Smart Editor for automated multilingual document generation and S2N Tech's AI Agent for investment intelligence. Their collaboration will also address legal and regulatory risks through joint Know Your Customer and Anti-Money Laundering systems and global legal networks. Both companies emphasized that the alliance is not just about tech synergy but about establishing a user-centric, incentive-based ecosystem with real-world value. 'XIIID is a new standard of participatory Web3 education,' said Blad Group Chair Scott Kim. 'Its integration with CIP will bring scalable and profitable expansion.' Metalogics Chair Lee Chang-taek added, 'AI-powered asset management and Web3 tokenization are proven models that, combined with XIIID's revenue-sharing structure, will drive user growth.'
