Issue 127
Bizarro Devs is a monthly collection of weird tech links, tools, and more.
FACEBOOK AND RAY BANS MAKE A BIG ANNOUNCEMENT; PLUS, WEALTHY DUDES TRY TO CHEAT DEATH
Heya.
Stuck in the captain's chair myself for this month, and only one day late. Not bad.
This month:
🔉 Amazon takes another giant leap into audio.
💵 A website that tracks dollar bills through serial numbers.
🦹♂️ bitcoin becomes legal tender in El Salvador.
Enjoy,
Chris.
📰 From the Newsroom
Facebook teases Ray-Ban smartglasses recording in new video 😎
It's not a case of calling the glasses old and out-of-touch; Facebook isn't that kind of kettle. Instead, we're treated to video frolics from a Zuckerberg family vacation.
As the latest step in Facebook's quest to Matrixize society, the videos are a bit meh. For me, the highlight was seeing Mark Zuckerberg almost get wiped out by a flying cushion. To be fair, they're probably made of diamonds and cashmere.
Facebook claimed the glasses bring us "one step closer to full augmented reality glasses." In their defense, if I was going to nominate a branch of metaphysics to be augmented, reality is the one I'd choose.
We also got some much-needed clarification as to the style of the glasses, which will have Ray-Ban's "iconic form factor" and the famous fashion sense Facebook is known for.
You can sign up to receive the official notification (tomorrow) at the Ray-Ban website. The fact that the background looks hypnotic is, for sure, unrelated to the neural wristband technology currently in development.
uploadvr.com
Super wealthy fund mysterious lab to unlock immortality.
Not sure when tech news just became a series of events from Lex Luthor's dream journal. But now the super-wealthy want to do to death what they did to taxes; stop doing it.
So, here we are just months from the latest announcement that humans definitely, certainly, 100% do have a maximum lifespan, and a cabal of super-wealthy people are preparing to effectively bribe the grim reaper to stay out of their affairs.
Among the interesting facts,
One of the recruited scientists is known for his research into building a human-pig chimera.
The only goal is to create "great science", but one suspects that "great science" has a pretty narrow definition; time machine or immortality.
futurism.com
Amazon quietly building live audio business 🔉
It feels like the end of an era, all of the tech giant have finished their schooling. Now, they're all going in different directions as they pursue their big dream: NASA contracts.
Now that Clubhouse has built a market it's only fair that Amazon takes their tribute. Although, who would've thought live audio would be the big thing of 2021?
Amazon will host music, celebrities, and podcasters on their new network.
The plan is to give 55 million Amazon music subscribers access to live performances.
Plans for audio will also include Twitch which should get some new audio features soon.
axios.com
⛓️ Ten Must See Links of the Month
Free open-source illustrations with multiple colors and available in SVG!
This website simulates the path a single rain drop takes after it falls on the United States.
An open-source project that lets you use Figma designs directly in Vue.js.
There's a missile base for sale in North Dakota.
Sad to say, but I don't actually have a single. But you do, how does this site that tracks dollar bills through their serial numbers perform?
This database will let you know if anyone reported a UFO sighting in your area. This might give you time to pack.
Integrately is a more affordable version of Zapier.
This is kinda cool Youglish searches YouTube for a particular phrase and returns hundreds of videos where it is used.
Where is this dish from? the GeoGuessr of food.
🎤 It’s How They Said It
🧮 The numbers game
24.5 hours - the monthly in-app time of the average U.S. TikTok user.
$21 million - the amount of bitcoin El Salvador purchased before making it legal currency.
10,000 pounds - the amount of steel required to make the first-ever 3D printed steel bridge.
Outro
That's it for the week. If you have links to share, then my emails are always open. Simply reply to this email to land in my inbox.
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Have a great month, Chris