Issue 115
Bizarro Devs is a monthly newsletter with the weird and wonderful tech news, tools, and websites.
🏅 HOW TO ATTAIN MASTERY OF A CHOSEN SKILL. PLUS, SPACEX & ANIMATED PIXEL ART
Heya,
This week, I am getting some help from Robert who found a bunch of intriguing links for you.
What did he find?
🚀 The skinny on SpaceX and private space travel.
🧠 The guide to attaining mastery.
💸 Taxes, the boardgame.
Enjoy,
Chris.
📰 From the Newsroom
Deep dive into the SpaceX factor 🚀
What's the deal? Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, AKA SpaceX, is Elon Musk's multinational space transport service firm from Hawthorne, California. It's been nearly twenty years since he decided to “revolutionize space technology, with the ultimate goal of enabling people to live on other planets".
How's it working out? SpaceX recently sent NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the International Space Station on an historical mission. Fortunately, they also had a plan to bring the astronauts home. Bob and Doug made splash in the Gulf of Mexico two weeks ago to complete the first ever passenger flight to the ISS and back.
What's the latest? To start with, SpaceX intentionally focused on small orbital rockets, instead of complicated and risky launch vehicles. After Elon Musk’s visit to Russia in 2002, he calculated that the raw materials needed for constructing a rocket would cost only 3% of the price of a Russian rocket. But, reusable rockets are the key to making it all work and SpaceX successfully launched a full-size Starship prototype rocket, working on one prototype that is meant to be fully reusable. If Starship and its Super Heavy rocket booster end up being fully reusable, the systems costs will be reduced significantly.
How close are they? Very. The Starship rocket, also known as SN5, took off using only one single Raptor rocket engine. The prototype flew for about 40 seconds, 150m up in the sky and successfully landed on a concrete pad. After the test, Elon Musk said that for the next test, the landing legs “will be ~60% longer”, the rocket will be bigger, “but capable of landing on unimproved surfaces and auto-leveling”.
businessinsider.com
⛓️ Ten Must See Links of the Month
1. This year might have been the worst decade ever, but it might be a good time for dedicated practice. If you're looking to attain mastery, then this guide to mastery can help you get there sooner.
2. See all the photos taken from the ISS ever.
3. Coffee is the only reason I get out of bed, now I don't even have to leave the bedroom.
4. Your Taxes: The Board Game bringing fun to the torturous routine of labyrinthian paperwork.
5. Not to labor the point, but this year might have been the worst hundred years ever but maybe you could start a lil' side-hustle? Start a small business with help from this guide.
6. Pixel Jeff makes pixel art with a lo-fi vibe.
7. Big Heads helps you build cute avatars for apps and sites. You can even download them in SVG.
8. For anyone who can barely crawl with two fonts, a handy step-by-step guide for font pairing.
9. Lazy loading iframes is a powerful trick for anyone interested in performant websites.
10. Website builders for designers.
🎤 It’s How They Said It
Outro
That's it for the week.
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Have a great week,
Chris.
